_ 165 _ Item 36: Jidda is on the mainland. Amir Hussain surrounded it on the landward side with a wall for fear of the Ben Ibrahim Bedouin. Seven years ago, they robbed a caravan that was on a pilgrimage to Cairo and they even entered the sanctuary of Mohammed and plundered it. Fearing that they would come and sack Jidda, Amir Hussain surrounded it with a wall on the landward side though Sherif Barakat, one of the nobles of Jidda and Mecca, objected to fortifying it on the seaward side. I believe that now that Your Highness’s fleet has penetrated as far as Kamaran, the word throughout the whole of the Moorish community is that the Commander’s intention is none other than to go to Jidda. It seems to me that is why they fortified the seaward side. Whoever has a fortress in Arkik will be the Lord of India, because the one who holds the key to the safe can lock it and put in it whatever he likes. With the sunsets he will come and conquer Aden and with the sunrises Jedda. He will once more take shelter at its entrance and ensure that no supplies get through to Jidda. The fortress at Arkik can be maintained with very few troops. With the said fortress there, Your Highness has no need to send a fleet to India, but to Arkik, until the Turks have been completely crushed.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy