No. 389.
Mr. Mathews to Mr. Evarts.
Consulate
of the United States,
Tangier
,
July 5, 1878.
(Received August 15.)
No. 287.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith inclosed
the list of prices of different articles of food which, owing to the
complete failure of the crops, are being imported at the various ports of
Morocco.
Great distress prevails among the Arabs and the poorer classes of the Jews.
Large numbers continue to arrive at the southern ports from the interior and
also from the southern districts, who are solely dependent upon the charity
given by the European merchants, who distribute daily to the most needy.
Hundreds of starving men, women, and children are flocking into Mogador and
Saffi, many dying of hunger and sickness on the way. Living skeletons and
sickly, emaciated forms are seen in the streets. The famine will grow worse
from month to month, and disease, its natural consequence, is already rife
among the poor inhabitants, and as autumn and winter approach the distress
will be terrible and appalling.
The government do not assist these poor people in any way. The Jews are
somewhat relieved by their coreligionists. There is a great deal of disease
among them, and still more among the Moors, and a good many cases of
death.
I am informed that there are large stacks of both wheat and barley deposited
in metamors (subterranean depots), but the owners do not dare to open them
for fear of being imprisoned and their grain confiscated by their petty
chiefs, which greatly tends to keep up the prices of bread-stuffs.
The only hope left at present for the relief of these poor unfortunate people
is the result of the appeals made to the public in England, and the
Gibraltar subscriptions.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 287.]
List of the prices of grain in the markets at the
ports of Morocco on the 1st of July,
1878.
tangier.
- Wheat, $1.62 per measure of 62 pounds, English.
- Barley, $1 per measure of 33 pounds, English.
- Dhourra (millet), $1.30 per measure of 40 pounds, English.
- Flour, $9 per sack of 244 pounds, English.
A specimen of the “dhourra,” or fowl seed, which is also used for bread
by the natives, is herein inclosed.
[Page 687]
kabat.
- Wheat, $1.40 per measure of 44 pounds, Moorish.
- Barley, 62 cents per measure of 24 pounds, Moorish.
- Pease (garbanzes), $1.15 per measure of 36 pounds, Moorish.
- Maize, 75 cents per measure of 36 pounds, Moorish.
- Dhourra, 94 cents per measure of 36 pounds, Moorish.
N. B.—One hundred pounds Moorish equal to 112 pounds English. The four
last-mentioned grains in very small supply.
casablanca.
- Wheat, $6 per measure of 263 pounds, English.
- Barley, $3.35 per measure of 180 pounds, English.
- Beans, $3.20 per measure of 230 pounds, English.
- Rice, $5 per cwt., English.
mazagan.
- Wheat, $5.50 per measure of 200 pounds, English.
- Barley, $3 per measure of 130 pounds, English.
- Flour, $4.75 per measure of 118 pounds, English.
- Rice, $4.75 per cwt., English.
Only small quantities of rice and flour have been imported at Mazagan,
the demand being small and only for local consumption, and merchants
complain that there is no margin at present prices.
saffi.
- Wheat, $12.50 to $13.75 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Barley, $12 to $12.50 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Maize, $15 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Rice, $4 to $4.50 per cwt., English.
- Flour, $5 per cwt., English.
Ordinary value of above in seasons of abundance:
- Wheat, $3 to $4.50 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Barley, $1.75 to $2 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Maize, $3 to $3.50 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Rice, $3.25 to $3.50 per cwt.,
- English. Flour, not imported.
mogador.
- Wheat, $12 per quarter of 480 pounds, English.
- Barley, $6.12 per karroba of 210 pounds, English.
- Maize, $7.50 per karroba of 280 pounds, English.
- Beans, $6.50 per karroba of 260 pounds, English.
- Rice, $4.60 per cwt., English.
laraiche.
- Wheat, $2.13 per measure of 88 pounds, English.
- Barley, 87 cents to 98 cents per measure of 53 pounds,
English.
- Dhourra (millet), $1.15 to $1.36 per measure of 85 pounds,
English.
