The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction No. 485, by Various

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction No. 485
Vol. 17, No. 485, Saturday, April 16, 1831

Author: Various

Release Date: June 29, 2004 [EBook #12781]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

VOL. 17, No. 485.] SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1831. [PRICE 2d.

* * * * *

MOCHA.

[Illustration: MOCHA.]

"_Bon pour la digestion_," said the young Princess Esterhazy, when sent to
bed by her governess without her dinner; we say the same of _coffee_; and
hope the reader will think the same of Mocha, or the place whence the
finest quality is exported.

Mocha, the coffee-drinker need not be told, is a place of some importance
on the borders of the Red Sea, in that part of Arabia termed "Felix," or
"Happy." "The town looks white and cheerful, the houses lofty, and have a
square, solid appearance; the roadstead is almost open, being only
protected by two narrow spits of sand--on one of which is a round castle,
and the other an insignificant fort."

Lord Valentia[1] visited Mocha repeatedly during his examination of the
shores of the Red Sea; and his description is the most full and minute:--

[1] From whose work the Engraving is copied.

"Its appearance from the sea is, he says, tolerably handsome, as all the
buildings are white-washed, and the minarets of the three mosques rise to
a considerable height. The uniform line of the flat-roofed houses is also
broken by several circular domes of _kobbas_, or chapels. On landing at a
pier, which has been constructed for the convenience of trade, the effect
is improved by the battlements of the walls, and a lofty tower on which
cannon are mounted, which advances before the town, and is meant to
protect the sea gate. The moment, however, that the traveller passes the
gates, these pleasing ideas are put to flight by the filth tha