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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10356-0.txt b/10356-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e912d69 --- /dev/null +++ b/10356-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5404 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10356 *** + +[Illustration] + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, + +BY THE LATE JAMES RICHARDSON, + +AUTHOR OF "A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA," +"TRAVELS IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA," &C. + +EDITED BY HIS WIDOW. + +[Illustration] + +IN TWO VOLUMES. + +VOL. II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elæonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + +APPENDIX. + + + + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + + +Notwithstanding the imbecile prejudices of the native Barbary Jews, such +of them who adopt European habits, or who mix with European merchants, +are tolerably good members of society, always endeavouring to restrain +their own peculiarities. The European Jewesses settled in Mogador, are +indeed the belles of society, and attend all the balls (such as they +are). The Jewess sooner forgets religious differences than the Jew, and +I was told by a Christian lady, it would be a dangerous matter for a +Christian gentleman to make an offer of marriage to a Mogador Jewess, +unless in downright earnest; as it would be sure to be accepted. + +Monsieur Delaport, Consul of France, was the first official person who +brought prominently forward the native and other Jews into the European +society of this place, and since then, these Jews have improved in their +manners, and increased their respectability. The principal European Jews +are from London, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. Many native Jews have +attempted to wear European clothes; and a European hat, or coat, is now +the rage among native Jewesses, who all aspire to get a husband wearing +either. Such are elements of the progress of the Jewess population in +this part of the world, and there is no doubt their position has been +greatly ameliorated within the last half century, or since the time of +Ali Bey, who thus describes their wretched condition in his days. + +"Continual disputes arise between the Jew and the Moor; when the Jew is +wrong, the Moor takes his own satisfaction, and if the Jew be right, he +lodges a complaint with the judge, who always decides in favour of the +Mussulman. I have seen the Mahometan children amuse themselves by +beating little Jews, who durst not defend themselves. When a Jew passes +a mosque, he is obliged to take off his slippers, or shoes; he must do +the same when he passes the house of the Kaëd, the Kady, or any +Mussulman of distinction. At Fez, and in some other towns, they are +obliged to walk barefooted." Ali Bey mentions other vexations and +oppressions, and adds, "When I saw the Jews were so ill-treated and +vexed in every way, I asked them why they did not go to another country. +They answered that they could not do so, because they were slaves of the +Sultan." Again he says, "As the Jews have a particular skill in +thieving, they indemnify themselves for the ill-treatment they receive +from the Moors, by cheating them daily." + +Jewesses are exempt from taking off their slippers, or sandals, when +passing the mosques. The late Emperor, Muley Suleiman, [1] professed to +be a rigidly exact Mussulman, and considered it very indecent, and a +great scandal that Jewesses, some of them, like most women of this +country, of enormous dimensions, should be allowed to disturb the decent +frame of mind of pious Mussulmen, whilst entering the threshold of the +house of prayer, by the sad exhibitions of these good ladies stooping +down and shewing their tremendous calves, when in the act of taking off +their shoes before passing the mosques. For such reasons, Jewesses are +now privileged and exempted from the painful necessity of walking +barefoot in the streets. + +The policy of the Court in relation to the Jews continually fluctuates. +Sometimes, the Emperor thinks they ought to be treated like the rest of +his subjects; at other times, he seems anxious to renew in all its +vigour the system described by Ali Bey. Hearing that the Jews of +Tangier, on returning from Gibraltar, would often adopt the European +dress, and so, by disguising themselves, be treated like Christians and +Europeans, he ordered all these would-be Europeans forthwith to be +undressed, and to resume their black turban. + +Alas, how were all these Passover, Tabernacle and wedding festivals, +these happy and joyous days of the Jewish society of Mogador, changed on +the bombardment of that city! What became of the rich and powerful +merchants, the imperial vassals of commerce with their gorgeous wives +bending under the weight of diamonds, pearls, and precious gems, during +that sad and unexpected period? The newspapers of the day recorded the +melancholy story. Many of the Jews were massacred, or buried underneath +the ruins of the city; their wives subjected to plunder; the rest were +left wandering naked and starving on the desolate sandy coast of the +Atlantic, or hidden in the mountains, obtaining a momentary respite from +the rapacious fury of the savage Berbers and Arabs. + +It is well known that, while the French bombarded Tangier and Mogador +from without, the Berber and Arab tribes, aided by the _canaille_ of the +Moors, plundered the city from within. Several of the Moorish rabble +declared publicly, and with the greatest cowardice and villainous +effrontery, "When the French come to destroy Mogador, we shall go and +pillage the Jews' houses, strip the women of their ornaments, and then +escape to the mountains from the pursuit of the Christians." These +threats they faithfully executed; but, by a just vengeance, they were +pillaged in turn, for the Berbers not only plundered the Jews +themselves, but the Moors who had escaped from the city laden with their +booty. + +It is to be hoped that a better day is dawning for North African Jews. +The Governments of France and England can do much for them in Morocco. + +The Jews of the Atlas formed the subject of some of Mr. Davidson's +literary labours; I have made further inquiries and shall give the +reader some account of them, adding that portion of Mr. Davidson's +information which was borne out by further investigation. The Atlas Jews +are physically, if not morally, superior to their brethren who reside +among the Moors. They are dispersed over the Atlas ranges, and have all +the characteristics of mountaineers. They enjoy, like their neighbours, +the Berbers and Shelouhs, a species of quasi-independence of the +Imperial authority, but they usually attach themselves to certain Berber +chieftains who protect them, and whose standards they follow. + +These are the only Jews in Mahometan countries of whom I have heard as +bearing arms. They have, however, their own Sheiks, to whose +jurisdiction all domestic matters are referred. They wear the same +attire as the mountaineers, and are not distinguishable from them, they +do not address the Moors by the term of respect and title "Sidi," but in +the same way as the Moors and Arabs when they accost each other. They +speak the Shelouh language. + +Mr. Davidson mentions some curious circumstances about these Jews, and +of their having a city beyond the Atlas, where three or four thousand +are living in perfect freedom, and cultivating the soil, which they have +possessed since the time of Solomon. The probability is that Mr. +Davidson's informant refers to the Jews of the Oasis of Sahara, where +there certainly are some families of Jews living in comparative freedom +and independence. + +As to the peculiarities of the religion of the Atlas Jews, they are said +not to have the Pentateuch and the law in the same order as Jews +generally. They are unacquainted with Ezra, or Christ; they did not go +to Babylon at the captivity, but were dispersed over Africa at that +period. They are a species of Caraaites, or Jewish Protestants. Shadai +is the name which they apply to the Supreme Being, when speaking of him. +Their written law begins by stating that the world was many thousand +years old when the present race of men was formed, which, curiously +enough, agrees with the researches of modern geology. The present race +of men are the joint offspring of different and distinct human species. +The deluge is not mentioned by them. God, it is said, appeared to +Ishmael in a dream, and told him he must separate from Isaac, and go to +the desert, where he would make him a great nation. There would ever +after be enmity between the two races, as at this day there is the +greatest animosity between the Jews and Mahometans. + +The great nucleus of these Shelouh Jews is in _Jebel Melge_, or the vast +ridge of the Atlas capped with eternal snows; and they hold +communications with the Jews of Ait Mousa, Frouga or Misfuvâ. They +rarely descend to the plains or cities of the empire, and look upon the +rest of the Jews of this country as heretics. Isolation thus begets +enmity and mistrust, as in other cases. A few years ago, a number came +to Mogador, and were not at all pleased with their visit, finding fault +with everything among their brethren. These Jewish mountaineers are +supposed to be very numerous. In their homes, they are inaccessible. So +they live in a wild independence, professing a creed as free as their +own mountain airs. God, who made the hills, made likewise man's freedom +to abide therein. Before taking leave of the Maroquine Israelites, I +must say something of their personal appearance. Both in Tangier and +Mogador, I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with families, who +could boast of the most perfect and classic types of Jewish female +loveliness. Alas, that these beauties should be only charming _animals_, +their minds and affections being left uncultivated, or converted into +caves of unclean and tormenting passions. The Jewesses, in general, +until they become enormously stout and weighed down with obesity, are of +extreme beauty. Most of them have fair complexions; their rose and +jasmine faces, their pure wax-like delicate features, and their +exceedingly expressive and bewitching eyes, would fascinate the most +fastidious of European connoisseurs of female beauty. + +But these Israelitish ladies, recalling the fair image of Rachel in the +Patriarchal times of Holy Writ, and worthy to serve as models for a +Grecian sculptor, are treated with savage disdain by the churlish Moors, +and sometimes are obliged to walk barefoot and prostrate themselves +before their ugly negress concubines. The male infants of Jews are +engaging and goodlooking when young; but, as they grow up, they become +ordinary; and Jews of a certain age, are decidedly and most disgustingly +ugly. It is possible that the degrading slavery in which they usually +live, their continued habits of cringing servility, by which the +countenance acquires a sinister air and fiendishly cunning smirk, may +cause this change in their appearance. But what contrasts we had of the +beauty of countenance and form in the Jewish society of Mogador! You +frequently see a youthful woman, nay a girl of exquisite beauty and +delicacy of features, married to an old wretched ill-looking fellow of +some sixty or seventy years of age, tottering over the grave, or an +incurable invalid. To render them worse-looking, whilst the women may +dress in any and the gayest colours, the men wear a dark blue and black +turban and dress, and though this is prescribed as a badge of +oppression, they will often assume it when they may attire themselves in +white and other livelier colours. However, men get used to their misery, +and hug their chains. + +The Jews, at times, though but very rarely, avail themselves of their +privilege of four wives granted them in Mahometan countries, and a nice +mess they make of it. I knew a Jew of this description in Tunis. He was +a lively, jocose fellow, with a libidinous countenance, singing always +some catch of a song. He was a silk-mercer, and pretty well off. His +house was small, and besides a common _salle-à -manger_, divided into +four compartments for his four wives, each defending her room with the +ferocity of a tigress. Two of them were of his own age, about fifty, and +two not more than twenty. The two elder ones, I was told by his +neighbours, were entirely abandoned by the husband, and the two younger +ones were always bickering and quarrelling, as to which of them should +have the greater favour of their common tyrant; the house a scene of +tumult, disorder and indecency. Amongst the whole of the wives, there +was only one child, a boy, of course an immense pet, a little surly +wretch; his growth smothered, his health nearly ruined, by the +overattentions of the four women, whom he kicked and pelted when out of +humour. + +This little imp was the fit type, or interpretation of the presiding +genius of polygamy. I once visited this happy family, this biting satire +on domestic bliss and the beauty of the harem of the East. The women +were all sour, and busy at work, weaving or spinning cotton, "Do you +work for your husband?" I asked, + +_The women_.--"Thank Rabbi, no." + +_Traveller_.--"What do you do with your money?" + +_The women_.--"Spend it ourselves." + +_Traveller_.--"How do you like to have only one husband among you four?" + +_The women_.--"Pooh! is it not the will of God?" + +_Traveller_.--"Whose boy is that?" + +_The women_.--"It belongs to us all." + +_Traveller_.--"Have you no other children?" + +_The women_.--"Our husband is good for no more than that." + +Whilst I was talking to these angelic creatures, their beloved lord was +quietly stuffing capons, without hearing our polite discourse. A +European Jew who knew the native society of Jews well, represents +domestic bliss to be a mere phantom, and scarcely ever thought of, or +sought after. Poor human nature! + +I took a walk round the suburbs one morning, whilst a strong wind was +bringing the locusts towards the coast, which fell upon us like +hailstones. Young locusts frequently crowd upon the neighbouring hills +in thousands and tens of thousands. They are little green things. No one +knows whence they come and whither they go. These are not destructive. +Indeed, unless swarms of locusts appear darkening the sky, and full +grown ones, they do not permanently damage the country. The wind usually +disperses them; they rarely take a long flight, except impelled by a +violent gale. Arabs attempt to destroy locusts by digging pits into +which they may fall. This is merely playing with them. Jews fry them in +oil and salt, and sell them as we sell shrimps, the taste of which they +resemble. + +On my return, I passed a Mooress, or rather a Mauritanian Venus, who was +so stout that she had fallen down, and could not get up. A mule was +fetched to carry her home. But the Moor highly relishes these enormous +lumps of fat, according to the standard beauty laid down by the +talebs--"Four things in a woman should be ample, the lower part of the +back, the thighs, the calves of the legs and the knees." + +Some time ago, there were discovered at Malta various rude statues of +women very ample in the lower part of the "back," supposed to be of +Libyan origin, so that stout ladies have been the choicest of the +fashion for ages past; the fattening of women, like so many capons and +turkeys, begins when they are betrothed. + +They then swallow three times a day regular boluses of paste, and are +not allowed to take exercise. By the time marriage takes place, they are +in a tolerable good condition, not unlike Smithfield fattened heifers. +The lady of one of the European merchants being very thin, the Moors +frequently asked her husband how it was, and whether she had enough to +eat, hinting broadly that he starved her. + +On the other hand, two or three of the merchant's wives were exceedingly +stout, and of course great favourites with the men folks of this city. + +The discrepancies of age, in married people, is most unnatural and +disgusting; whilst the merchants were at Morocco, a little girl of nine +years of age was married to a man upwards of fifty. Ten and eleven is a +common age for girls to be married. Much has been said of the reverence +of children for their parents in the East, and tribes of people +migrating therefrom, and the fifth commandment embodies the sentiment of +the Eastern world. But there is little of this in Mogador; a European +Jewess, who knows all the respectable Jewish and many of the Moorish +families, assured me that children make their aged parents work for +them, as long as the poor creatures can. "Honour thy father and thy +mother," is quite as much neglected here as in Europe. However, there is +some difference. The indigent Moors and Jews maintain their aged parents +in their own homes, and we English Christian shut up ours in the Union +Bastiles. + +To continue this domestic picture, the marriage settlements, especially +among the Jews, are ticklish and brittle things, as to money or other +mercenary arrangements. + +A match is often broken off, because a lamp of the value of four dollars +has been substituted for one of the value of twenty dollars, which was +first promised on the happy day of betrothal. + +Indeed, nearly all marriages here are matters of sale and barter. Love +is out of the question, he never flutters his purple wings over the +bridal bed of Mogador. A Jewish or Moorish girl having placed before her +a rich, old ugly man, of mean and villanous character, of three score +years and upwards, and by his side, a handsome youth of blameless +character and amiable manners, will not hesitate a moment to prefer the +former. As affairs of intrigue and simple animal enjoyment are the great +business of life, the ways and means, in spite of Moorish and Mahometan +jealousy, as strong as death, by which these young and frail beauties +indulge in forbidden conversations, are innumerable. Although the Moors +frequently relate romantic legends of lovely innocent brides, who had +never seen any other than the faces of their father, or of married +ladies, who never raised the veil from off their faces, except to +receive their own husbands, and seem to extol such chastity and +seclusion; they are too frequently found indulging in obscene +imaginations, tempting and seducing the weaker sex from the path of +virtue and honour. So that, if women are unchaste here, or elsewhere, +men are the more to blame: if woman goes one step wrong, men drag her +two more. Men corrupt women, and then punish her for being corrupt, +depriving them of their natural and unalienable rights. + +Salt in Africa as in Europe is a domestic superstition. A Jewess, one +morning, in bidding adieu to her friends, put her fingers into a +salt-cellar, and took from it a large pinch of salt, which her friend +told me afterwards was to preserve her from the evil one. Salt is also +used for a similar important purpose, when, during the night, a person +is obliged to pass from one room into another in the dark. It would be +an entertaining task to collect the manifold superstitions in different +parts of the world, respecting this essential ingredient of human food. + +The habit of drinking white brandy, stimulates the immorality of this +Maroquine society. The Jews are the great factors of this _acqua +ardiente_, its Spanish and general name. Government frequently severely +punishes them for making it; but they still persevere in producing this +incentive to intoxication and crime. In all parts of the world, the most +degraded classes are the factors of the means of vice for the higher +orders of society. Moors drink it under protest, that it is not the +juice of the grape. On the Sabbath, the Jewish families are all flushed, +excited, and tormented by this evil spirit; but when the highest +enjoyments of intellect are denied to men, they must and will seek the +lower and beastly gratifications. + +Friend Cohen came in one afternoon, and related several anecdotes of the +Maroquine Court. When Dr. Brown was attending the Sultan, the Vizier +managed to get hold of his cocked hat, and placing it upon his head, +strutted about in the royal gardens. Whilst performing this feat before +several attendants, the Sultan suddenly made his appearance in the midst +of them. The minister seeing him, fell down in a fright and a fit. His +Imperial Highness beckoned to the minister in such woful plight, to +pacify himself, and put his cloak before his mouth to prevent any one +from seeing him laugh at the minister, which he did most immoderately. + +Cohen, who is a quack, was once consulted on a case of the harem. Cohen +pleaded ignorance, God had not given him the wit; he could do nothing +for the patient of his Imperial Highness. This was very politic of +Cohen, for another quack, a Moor, had just been consulted, and had had +his head taken off, for not being successful in the remedies he +prescribed. There would not be quite so much medicine administered among +us, weak, cracky, crazy mortals, in this cold damp clime, if such an +alternative was proposed to our practitioners. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + + +Morocco, an immense and unwieldly remnant of the monarchies formed by +the Saracens, or first Arabian conquerors of Africa, has had a series of +dynasties terminating in that of the Shereefs. + +1st. The Edristees (pure Saracens,) their capital was Fez, founded by +their great progenitor, Edrio. The dynasty began in A.D. 789, and +continued to 908. + +2nd. The Fatamites (also Saracens.) These conquered Egypt, and were the +faction of or lineal descendants of the daughter of the Prophet, the +beautiful pearl-like Fatima, succeeding to the above: this dynasty +continued to 972. + +3rd. The Zuheirites (Zeirities, or Zereids) were usurpers of the former +conquerors; their dynasty terminated in 1070. + +4th. Moravedi (or Marabouteen,) that is to say, Marabouts, [2] who rose +into consequence about 1050, and their first prince was Aberbekr Omer El +Lamethounx, a native of Sous. Their dynasty terminated in 1149. + +5th. The Almohades. These are supposed to be sprung from the Berber +tribes. They conquered all North Western Morocco, and reigned about one +hundred years, the dynasty terminated in 1269. + +6th. The Merinites. These in 1250 subjugated the kingdoms of Fez and +Morocco; and in 1480 their dynasty terminated with the Shereef. + +7th. The Oatagi (or Ouatasi) [3] were a tribe of obscure origin. In +their time, the Portuguese established themselves on the coast of +Morocco; their dynasty ended in 1550. + +8th. The Shereefs (Oulad Ali) of the present dynasty, whose founder was +Hasein, have now occupied the Imperial throne more than three centuries. +This family of Shereefs came from the neighbourhood of Medina in Arabia, +and succeeded to the empire of Morocco by a series of usurpations. They +are divided into two branches, the Sherfah Hoseinee, so named from the +founder of the dynasty, who began to reign at Taroudant and Morocco in +1524, and over all the empire in 1550, and the Sherfah El Fileli, or +Tafilett, whose ancestor was Muley Shereef Ben Ali-el-Hoseinee, and +assumed sovereign power at Tafilett in 1648, from which country he +extended his authority over all the provinces of that empire. Thus the +Shereefs began their reign in the middle of the seventeenth century, and +have now wielded the sword of the Prophet as Caliph of the West these +last two hundred years. I have not heard that there is anywhere a +dynasty of Shereefs except in this country. They are, therefore, +profoundly venerated by all true Mussulmen. It was a great error to +suppose that Abd-el-Kader could have succeeded in dethroning the Emperor +during the hostilities of the Emir against the lineal representative of +the Prophet. Abd-el-Kader is a marabout warrior, greatly revered and +idolized by all enthusiastic Mussulmen throughout North Africa, more +especially in Morocco, the _terre classique_ of holy-fighting men; but +though the Maroquines were disaffected, groaning under the avarice of +their Shereefian Lord, and occasionally do revolt, nevertheless they +would not deliberately set aside the dynasty of the Shereefs, the +veritable root and branch of the Prophet of God, for an adventurer of +other blood, however powerful in arms and in sanctity. + +Morocco is the only independent Mussulman kingdom remaining, founded by +the Saracens when they conquered North Africa. Tunis and Tripoli are +regencies of the Port of Tunis, having an hereditary Bey, while Tripoli +is a simple Pasha, removable at pleasure. Algeria has now become an +integral portion of France by the Republic. + +Muley Abd Errahman was nominated to the throne by the solemn and dying +request of his uncle, Muley Suleiman, to the detriment of his own +children. + +He belonged to one of the most illustrious branches of the reigning +dynasty. In the natural order of succession, he ought to have taken +possession of the Shereefian crown at the end of the last age; but, +being a child, his uncle was preferred; for Mahometan sovereigns and +empire are exposed to convulsions enough, without the additional dangers +and elements of strife attendant on regencies. + +In transmitting the sceptre to him, Muley Suleiman, therefore, only +performed an act of justice. + +Muley Abd Errahman, during his long reign, rendered the imperial +authority more solid than formerly, and established a species of +conservative government in a semi-barbarous country, and exposed to +continual commotions, like all Asiatic and African states. In governing +the multitudinous and heterogeneous tribes of his empire, his grand +maxim has ever been, like Austria, with her various states and hostile +interests of different people, "Divide et empera." When will sovereigns +learn to govern their people upon principles of homogenity of interests, +natural good will, and fraternal feeling? Alas! we have reason to fear, +never. It seems nations are to be governed always by setting up one +portion of the people against the other. + +Muley Abd Errahman was chosen by his uncle, on account of his pacific +and frugal habits, educated as he was by being made in early life the +administrator of the customs in Mogador, and as a prince likely to +preserve and consolidate the empire. The anticipations of the uncle have +been abundantly realized by the nephew, for Muley Abd Errahman, with the +exception of the short period of the French hostilities, (which was not +his own work and happened in spite of him), has preserved the intact +without, and quiet during the many years he has occupied the throne. + +His Moorish Majesty, who is advanced in life, is a man of middle +stature. He has dark and expressive eyes, and, as already observed, is a +mulatto of a fifth caste. Colour excites no prejudices either in the +sovereign or in the subject. This Emperor is so simple in his habits and +dress, that he can only be distinguished from his officers and governors +of provinces by the _thall_, or parasol, the Shereefian emblem of +royalty. The Emperor's son, when out on a military expedition, is also +honoured by the presence of the Imperial parasol, which was found in +Sidi Mohammed's tent at the Battle of Isly. Muley Abd Errahman is not +given to excesses of any kind, (unless avarice is so considered), though +his three harems of Fas, Miknas, and Morocco may be _stocked_, or more +politely, adorned, with a thousand ladies or so, and the treasures of +the empire are at his disposal. He is not a man of blood; [4] he rarely +decapitates a minister or a governor, notwithstanding that he frequently +confiscates their property, and sometimes imprisons them to discover +their treasures, and drain them of their last farthing. The Emperor +lives on good terms with the rest of his family. He has one son, +Governor of Fez (Sidi Mohammed), and another son, Governor of Rabat. The +greater part of the royal family reside at Tafilett, the ancient country +of the _Sherfah_, or Shereefs, and is still especially appropriated for +their residence. Ali Bey reported as the information of his time, that +there were at Tafilett no less than two thousand Shereefs, who all +pretended to have a right to the throne of Morocco, and who, for that +reasons enjoyed certain gratifications paid them by the reigning Sultan. +He adds that, during an interregnum, many of them took up arms and threw +the empire into anarchy. This state of things is happily past, and, as +to the number of the Shereefs at Tafilett, all that we know is, there is +a small fortified town, inhabited entirely by Shereefs, living in +moderate, if not impoverished circumstances. + +The Shereefian Sultans of Morocco are not only the successors of the +Arabian Sovereigns of Spain, but may justly dispute the Caliphat with +the Osmanlis, or Turkish Sultans. Their right to be the chiefs of +Islamism is better founded than the pretended Apostolic successors at +Rome, who, in matters of religion, they in some points resemble. + +I introduce here, with some unimportant variations, a translation from +Gräberg de Hëmso of the Imperial Shereefian pedigree, to correspond with +the genealogical tableaux, which the reader will find in succeeding +pages, of the Moorish dynasties of Tunis and Tripoli. + + +GENEALOGY OF THE REIGNING DYNASTY OF MOROCCO. + +1. Ali-Ben-Abou-Thaleb; died in 661 of the Christian Era; surnamed "The +accepted of God," of the most ancient tribe of Hashem, and husband of +Fatima, styled Ey-Zarah, or, "The Pearl," only daughter of Mahomet. + +2. Hosein, or El-Hosein-es-Sebet, _i.e._ "The Nephew;" died in 1680; +from him was derived the patronymic El-Hoseinee, which all the Shereefs +bear, + +3. Hasan-el-Muthna, _i.e._ "The Striker;" died in 719; brother of +Mohammed, from whom pretended to descend, in the 16th degree, Mohammed +Ben Tumert, founder of the dynasty of the Almohadi, in 1120. + +4. Abdullah-el-Kamel, _i.e._ "The Perfect;" in 752, father of Edris, the +progenitor or founder of the dynasty of the Edristi in Morocco, and who +had six brothers. + +5. Mohammed, surnamed "The pious and just soul;" in 784, had five +children who were the branches of a numerous family. (Between Mohammed +and El-Hasem who follows, some assert that three gererations succeeded). + +6. El-Kasem, in 852; brother of Abdullah, from whom it is said the +Caliphs of Egypt and Morocco are descended. + +7. Ismail; about 890. + +8. Ahmed; in 901. + +9. El-Hasan; in 943. + +10. Ali; in 970, (excluded from the genealogy published by Ali Bey, but +noted by several good authorities). + +11. Abubekr; 996. + +12. El-Husan, in 1012. + +13. Abubekr El-Arfat, _i.e._ "The Knower," in 1043. + +14. Mohammed, in 1071. + +15. Abdullah, in 1109. + +16. Hasan, in 1132; brother of a Mohammed, who emigrated to Morocco. + +17. Mohammed, in 1174. + +18. Abou-el-Kasem Abd Errahman, in 1207. + +19. Mohammed, in 1236. + +20. El-Kaseru, in 1271, brother of Ahmed, who also emigrated into +Africa, and was father of eight children, one of whom was: + +21. El-Hasan, who, in 1266, upon the demand of a tribe of Berbers of +Moghrawa, was sent by his father into the kingdom of Segelmesa (now +Tafilett) and Draha, where, through his descendants, he became the +common progenitor of the Maroquine Shereefs. + +22. Mohammed, in 1367. + +23. El-Hasan, in 1391, by his son, Mohammed, he became grandfather of +Hosem, who, during 1507, founded the first dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs in Segelmesa, and the extreme south of Morocco, which dynasty, +after twelve years, made itself master of the kingdom of Morocco. + +24. Ali-es-Shereef, _i.e._ "The noble," died in 1437, was the first to +assume this name, and had, after forty years elapsed, two sons, the +first, Muley Mahommed, by a concubine, and the second: + +25. Yousef, by a legitimate wife; he retired into Arabia, where he died +in 1485. It was said of Yousef, that no child was born to him until his +eightieth year, when he had five children, the first born of which was, + +26. Ali, who died in 1527, and had at least, eighty male children. + +27. Mohammed, in 1691, brother of Muley Meherrez, a famous brigand, and +afterwards a king of Tafilett: this Mohammed was father of many +children, and among the rest-- + +28. Ali, who was called by his uncle from Zambo (?) into +Moghrele-el-Aksa Morocco about the year 1620, and died in 1632, after +having founded the second, and present, dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs, surnamed the _Filei_, + +29. Muley Shereeff, died in 1652; he had eighty sons, and a hundred +and twenty-four daughters. + +30. Muley Ismail, in 1727. + +31. Muley Abdullah, in 1757. + +32. Sidi Mohammed, in 1789. + +33. Muley Yezeed, who assumed the surname of El-Mahdee _i.e._ "the +director," in 1792. + +34. Muley Hisham, in 1794. + +35. Muley Suleiman, in 1822. + +36. Muley Abd Errahman, nephew of Muley Suleiman and eldest son of +Muley Hisham, the reigning Shereefian prince. [5] + +In the Shereefian lineage of Muley Suleiman, copied for Ali Bey by the +Emperor himself, and which is very meagre and unsatisfactory, we miss +the names of the two brothers, the Princes Yezeed and Hisham, who +disputed the succession on the death of their father, Sidi Mohammed +which happened in April 1790 or 1789, when the Emperor was on a military +expedition to quell the rebellion of his son, Yezeed--the tyrant whose +bad fame and detestable cruelties filled with horror all the North +African world. The Emperor Suleiman evidently suppressed these names, as +disfiguring the lustre of the holy pedigree; although Yezeed was the +hereditary prince, and succeeded his father three days after his death, +being proclaimed Sultan at Salee with accustomed pomp and magnificence. +This monster in human shape, having excited a civil war against himself +by his horrid barbarities, was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow, +shot from a secret hand, and died in February 1792, the 22nd month of +his reign, and 44th year of his age. + +On being struck with the fatal weapon, he was carried to his palace at +Dar-el-Beida, where he only survived a single day; but yet during this +brief period, and whilst in the agony of dissolution, it is said, the +tyrant committed more crimes and outrages, and caused more people to be +sacrificed, than in his whole lifetime, determining with the vengeance +of a pure fiend, that if his people would not weep for his death they +should mourn for the loss of their friends and relations, like the old +tyrant Herod. How instinctively imitative is crime! Yezeed was of +course, not buried at the cross-roads, (Heaven forefend!) or in a +cemetery for criminals and infidels, for being a Shereef, and divine +(not royal) blood running in his veins, he was interred with great +solemnities at the mosque of _Kobah Sherfah_ (tombs of the Shereefs), +beside the mausoleums wherein repose the awful ashes of the princes and +kings, who, in ages gone by, have devastated the Empire of Morocco, and +inflicted incalculable miseries on its unfortunate inhabitants, whilst +plenarily exercising their divine right, to do wrong as sovereigns, or +as invested with inviolable Shereefian privileges as lineal successors +of the Prophets of God! [6] + +A civil war still followed this monster's death, and the empire was rent +and partitioned into three portions, in each of which a pretender +disputed for the possession of the Shereefian throne. The poor people +had now three tyrants for one. The two grand competitors, however, were +Muley Hisham, who was proclaimed Sultan in the south at Morrocco and +Sous, and Muley Suleiman, who was saluted as Emperor in the north at +Fez. In 1795, Hisham retired to a sanctuary where he soon died, and then +Muley Suleimau was proclaimed in the southern provinces +Emir-el-Monmeneen, and Sultan of the whole empire. + +Muley Suleiman proved to be a good and patriotic prince, "the Shereef of +Shereefs," whilst he maintained, by a just administration, tranquility +in his own state, and cultivated peace with Europe. During his long +reign of a quarter of a century, at a period when all the Christian +powers were convulsed with war, he wisely remained neutral, and his +subjects were happy in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity. He died on +the 28th March 1820, about the 50th year of his age, after having, with +his last breath declared his nephew, Muley Abd Errahman, the legitimate +and hereditary successor of the Shereefs, and so restoring the lineal +descent of these celebrated Mussulman sovereigns. The most glorious as +well as the most beneficent and acceptable act of the reign of Muley +Suleiman, so far as European nations were concerned, was the abolition +of Christian slavery in his States. In former times, the Maroquine +Moors, smarting under the ills inflicted upon them by Spain and +breathing revenge, subjected their Christian captives to more cruel +bondage, than, ever were experienced by the same victims of the Corsairs +in Algeria, the stronghold of this nefarious trade. + +The Shereefs have been accustomed to wrap themselves up in their sublime +indifference, as to the fate and fortunes of Europe. During late +centuries, their diplomatic intercourse with European princes has been +scarcely relieved by a single interesting event, beyond their piratical +wars and our complaisant redemptions of their prisoners. But, in the +reign of Louis XIV., Muley Ismail having heard an extremely seductive +account of the Princesse de Conti (Mademoiselle de Blois), natural +daughter of the Grand Monarch and Mademoiselle de la Valliere, by means +of his ambassador, Abdullah Ben Aissa, had the chivalrous temerity to +demand her in marriage. "Our Sultan," said the ambassador, "will marry +her according to the law of God and the Prophet, but she shall not be +forced to abandon her religion, or manner of living; and she will be +able to find all that her heart desires in the palace of my +sovereign--if it please God." + +This request, of course, could not be granted, but the "king of +Christian kings" replied very graciously, "that the difference alone of +religion prevented the consummation of the happiness of the Shereef of +Shereefs." This humble demand of the hand of the princess mightily +amused "the Court of Courts," and its hireling poets taxed their wit to +the utmost in chanting the praises of the royal virgin, who had attacked +the regards (or the growls) of the Numidian Tiger, as Muley Ismail was +politely designated. Take this as a specimen,-- + + "Votre beauté, grande princesse, + Porte les traits dont elle blesse + Jusques aux plus sauvages lieux: + L'Afrique avec vous capitule, + Et les conquêtes de vos yeux + Vont plus loin que celles d'Hercule." + +The Maroquine ambassador, who was also grand admiral of the Moorish +navy, witnessing all the wonders of Paris at the epoch of the Great +Monarch, was dazzled with its beauty and magnificence; nevertheless, he +remained a good Mussulman. He was besides a grateful man, for he saw our +James II. in exile, who had given the admiral liberty without ransom +when he had been captured by English cruisers, and heartily thanked the +fallen prince for his own freedom whilst he condoled with him in his +misfortunes. But the Moorish envoy, in spite of his great influence, was +unable to conclude the treaty of peace, which was desired by France. On +his return to Morocco, the ambassador had so advanced in European ideas +of convenience, or civilization, that he attempted to introduce a taste +for Parisian luxury among his own countrymen. + +As in many other parts of the Mediterranean, France and England have +incessantly contended for influence at the Court of Morocco. Various +irregular missions to this Court have been undertaken by European +powers, from the first establishment of the Moorish empire of the West. +The French entered regularly into relations with the western Moors +shortly after us; their flag, indeed, began to appear at their ports in +1555, under Francis I. They succeeded in gaining the favour of the Moors +whilst we occupied Tangier, and Louis XIV. encouraged them in their +efforts to attack or harass our garrison. The nature of our struggles +with the Moors of Morocco can be at once conjectured from the titles of +the pamphlets published in those times, viz. + +"_Great_ and _bloody_ news of Tangier," (London 1680), and "The Moors +_blasted_, being a discourse concerning Tangier, especially when it was +under the Earl of Teviot," (London, 1681). But, after the peace of +Utrecht, conceding Gibraltar to England, and which more than compensated +us for the loss of Tangier, the influence of France in Morocco began to +wane, and the trade of this empire was absorbed by the British during +the 18th century. Then, in the beginning of our own age, the battle of +Trafalgar, and the fall of Napoleon, established the supremacy of +British influence over the minds of the Shereefs, which has not been yet +entirely effaced. + +Our diplomatic intercouse has been more frequent and interesting with +the Western Moors since the French occupation of Algeria, and we have +exerted our utmost to neutralize the spirit of the war party in Fez, +seconding the naturally pacific mind of Muley Abd Errahman, in order to +remove every pretext of the French for invading this country. How we +succeeded in a critical period will be mentioned at the close of the +present work. [7] But this port, and our influence receiving thereby a +great shock, I am happy to state that the latest account from this most +interesting Moorish country, represents Muley Abd Errahman as steadily +pursuing, by the assistance of his new vizier, Bouseilam, the most +pacific policy. This minister, being very rich, is enabled to +consolidate his power by frequent presents to his royal master, thus +gratifying the most darling passion of Muley Abd Errahman, and Vizier +and Sultan amuse themselves by undertaking plundering expeditions +against insurrectionary tribes, whose sedition they first stimulate, and +then quell, that is to say, by receiving from the unlucky rebels a +handsome gratification. + +The late Mr. Hay entered into a correspondence with the Shereefian Court +for the purpose of drawing its attention to the subject of the +slave-trade, and I shall make an extract or two from the letters, +bearing as they do on my present mission. + +From three letters addressed by the Sultan to Mr. Hay, I extract the +following passages. "Be it known to you, that the traffic in slaves is a +matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the +sons of Adam, (on whom be the peace of God up to this day). And we are +not yet aware of its being prohibited by the laws of any sect, and no +one need ask this question, the same being manifest to both high and +low, and requires no more demonstration than the light of the day." + +The Apostle of God is quoted as enforcing upon the master to give his +slave the same clothing as himself, and not to exact more labour from +him than he can perform. + +Another letter. "It has been prohibited to sell a Muslem, the sacred +_misshaf_, and a young person to an unbeliever," that is to any one who +does not profess the faith of Islam, whether Christian, Jew, or Majousy. +To make a present, or to give as in alms is held in the same light as a +sale. The said Sheikh Khalil also says, "a slave is emancipated by the +law if ill-treated, that is, whether he intends or does actually +ill-treat him. But whether a slave can take with him what he possesses +of property or no, is a matter yet undecided by the doctors of the law." + +Another. "Be it known to you, that the religion of Islam--may God exalt +it! has a solid foundation, of which the corner stones are well secured, +and the perfection whereof has been made known to us by God, to whom +belongs all praise in his book, the Forkam (or Koran,) which admits +neither of addition nor diminution. As regards the making of slaves and +trading therewith, it is confirmed by our book, as also of the _Sunnat_ +(or traditions) of our Prophet. There is no controversy among the +_Oulamma_ (doctors) on the subject. No one can allow what is prohibited +or prohibit that which is lawful." + +These extracts shew the _animus_ of the Shereefian correspondence. To +attack the Shereefs on this point of slavery, is to besiege the citadel +of their religion, or that is the interpretation which they are pleased +to put upon the matter; but all forms of bigotry and false principles +will ultimately succumb to the force of truth. + +It is necessary to persevere, to persevere always, and the end will be +obtained. + +I shall add a word or two on our treaties, or capitulations, as they are +disgracefully called, with the Empire of Morocco, intimating, as they +do, our former submission to the arrogant, piratical demands of the +Barbary Powers in the days of their corsair glory. Our political +relations with Morocco officially commenced in the times of Elizabeth, +or Charles I; but the formal treaty of peace was not concluded until the +last year of the reign of George I, which was ratified in 1729 by George +II, and by the Sultan Muley Ahmed-elt-Thabceby "The golden." Then +followed various other treaties for the security of persons and trade, +and against piracy. All, however, of any value, are embodied in the +treaty between Great Britain and Morocco, signed at Fez, 14th June 1801, +and confirmed, 19th January 1824 by the Sultan Muley Suleiman, which is +considered as still in force, and from which I shall extract two or +three articles, appending observations, for the purpose of shewing its +spirit and bearing on European commerce and civilization. Common sense +tells us that trade can only flourish where there is security for life +and property. We have to examine, whether this security is fully +guaranteed to British subjects, residing in and trading with the empire +to Morocco, by the treaty of 1801 and 1824. + +This treaty begins with consuls, and sufficiently provides for their +honour and safety. It then states the privilege of British subjects, and +more particulary of merchants, residing in, and wishing to engage in +commercial speculations in Morocco. These privileges are, on the whole, +also explicitly stated. Afterwards follows two articles on "disputes," +which clauses were amended and explained in January 1824, when the +treaty was confirmed. These are:-- + +"VII. Disputes between Moorish subjects and English subjects, shall be +decided in the presence of the English Consuls, provided the decision be +comformable to the Moorish law, in which case the English subject shall +not go before the Kady or Hakem, as the Consul's decision shall suffice. + +"VIII. Should any dispute occur between English subjects and Moors, and +that dispute should occasion a complaint from either of the parties, the +Emperor of Morocco shall only decide the matter. If the English subject +be guilty, he shall not be punished with more severity than a Moor would +be; should he escape, no other subject of the English nation shall be +arrested in his stead, and if the escape be made after the decision, in +order to avoid punishment, he shall be sentenced as a Moor would be who +had committed the same crime. Should any dispute occur in the English +territories, between a Moor and an English subject, it shall be decided +by an equal number of the Moors residing there and of Christians, +according to the custom of the place, if not contrary to the Moorish +law." + +In the amended clause of Article VIII. We have for any complaint, +substituted serious personal injury, and I cannot but observe that the +making of the Emperor the final judge, in such case, is a stretch of too +great confidence in Moorish justice. + +Not that a Sultan of Morocco is necessarily bad or worse than an +European Sovereign, but because a personage of such power and character, +armed with unbounded attributes of despotism over his own subjects, who +are considered his Abeed, or slaves, whilst feebly aided by the +perception of the common rights of men, and imperfectly acquainted with +European civilization, can never, unless, indeed by accident or miracle, +justly decide upon the case of an Englishman, or upon a dispute between +his own and a foreign subject; for besides the ideas and education of +the Emperor, there is the necessity which his Imperial Highness feels, +despot as he is, of exhibiting himself before his people as their +undoubted friend and partial judge. + +So strongly have Sultans of Morocco felt this, that many anecdotes might +be cited where the Emperor has indemnified the foreigner for injury done +to him by his own subjects, whilst he has represented to them that he +has decided the case against the stranger. It is surprising how a +British Government could surrender the settlement of the dispute of +their subjects to the final appeal of the Court of Morocco in the +nineteenth century, and, moreover, allow them to be decided, according +to the maxims of the Mohammedan code, or comformable to the Moorish law! +It is not long ago since, indeed just before my arrival in Morocco, that +the Emperor decided a dispute in rather a summary manner, without even +the usual Moorish forms of judicial proceedure by decapitating, a +quasi--European Jew, under French protection, and who once acted as the +Consul of France. + +There is something singularly deficient and wrong, although to persons +unacquainted with Barbary, it looks sufficiently fair and just, in the +provision--"he (the English guilty subject) shall not be punished with +more severity than a Moor could be," fairly made? In the first place, +although this does not come under the idea of "serious personal injury," +would the English people approve of their countrymen suffering the same +punishment as the Moors for theft, by cutting off their right hand? +Moors and Arabs have been so maimed for life, on being convicted of +stealing property to the value of a single shilling! Who will take upon +himself to enumerate the punishments, which may be, and are inflicted +for grave offences? It may be replied that this stipulation of punishing +British subjects, like Moorish, is only on paper, and we have no +examples of its being put into execution. I rejoin, without attempting +to cite proof, that, whilst such an article exists in a treaty, said to +be binding on the Government of England as well as Morocco, there can be +no real security for British subjects in this country; for in the event +of the Maroquines acting strictly upon the articles of this treaty, what +mode of inculpation, or what colour of right, can the British Government +adopt or shew against them? and what are treaties made for, if they do +not bind both parties? + +In illustration of the way in which British subjects have their disputes +sometimes settled, according to Articles VII and VIII, I take the +liberty of introducing the case of Mr. Saferty, a respectable Gibraltar +merchant, settled at Mogador. A few months before my arrival in that +place, this gentleman was adjudged, in the presence of his Consul, Mr. +Willshire, and the Governor of Mogador, for repelling an insult offered +to him by a Moor, and sentenced to be imprisoned with felons and +cut-throats in a horrible dungeon. However, Mr. Saferty was attended by +a numerous body of his friends; so when the sentence was given, a cry of +indignation arose, a scuffle ensued, and the prisoner was rescued from +the Moorish police-officers. Mr. Willshire found the means of patching +up the business with the Moorish authorities, and the case was soon +forgotten. "All's well that ends well." + +I do not say that the Moors are determinedly vindictive, or seek +quarrels with Europeans; on the contrary, I believe the cause of the +dispute frequently rests with the European, and the bonâ-fide agressor, +some adventurer whose conduct was so bad in his own country, that he +sought Barbary as a refuge from the pursuit of the minister of justice. +What I wish to lay stress on is, the enormous power given to the +Emperor, by a solemn treaty, in making him the final judge, and the +imminent exposure of British subjects to the barbarous punishments of a +semi-civilized people. + +Article X is a most singular one. "Renegades from the English nation, or +subjects who change their religion to embrace the Moorish, they being of +unsound mind at the time of turning Moors, shall not be admitted as +Moors, and may again return to their former religion; but if they +afterwards resolve to be Moors, they must abide by their own decision, +and their excuses will not be accepted." + +It was a wonderful discovery of our modern morale, that a renegade, +being a madman, should not be considered a renegade in earnest, or +responsible for his actions. Nevertheless, these unfortunate beings, +should they have better thoughts, or as mad-doctors have it, "a lucid +interval," and leave the profession of the Mahometan faith, and +afterwards again relapse into madness, and turn Mahometans once more, +are doomed to irretrievable slavery, or if they relapse, to death +itself; the Mahometan law, punishes relapsing renegades with death. This +curious clause says, "that though being madmen, they must abide their +decision (of unreason) and their excuses will not be accepted." This +said article was confirmed as late as the year 1824 by the +plenipotentiary of a nation, which boasts of being the most free and +civilized of Europe, and whose people spend annually millions for the +conversion of the heathen, and the extinction of the slave-trade. + +The last clause of Article IV also demands our attention, viz. "And if +any English merchant should happen to have a vessel in or outside the +port, he may go on board himself, or any of his people, without being +liable to pay anything whatever." + +Now in spite of this (but of course forgotten) stipulation, the +merchants of Mogador are not permitted to visit their own vessels, nor +those of other persons which may happen to be in or outside the port. It +is true, the authorities plead the reason of their refusal to be, "The +merchants are indebted to the Emperor:" neither will the authorities +take any security, and arbitrarily, and insolently prohibit, under any +circumstances, the merchants from visiting their vessels. I have said +enough to shew that our treaties (I beg the reader's pardon, +"capitulations") with the Emperor of Morocco, require immediate +revision, and to be amended with articles more suited to the spirit of +the age, and European civilization, as likewise more consistent with the +dignity of Great Britian. + +The treaty for the supply of provisions, especially cattle, to the +garrison of Gibraltar is either a verbal one, or a secret arrangement, +for no mention is made of it in the published state paper documents. It +is probably a mere verbal unwritten understanding, but, neverthelesss is +more potent in its working than the written treaties. This is not the +first time that the unwritten has proved stronger than the written +engagement. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elæonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + + +The empire of Morocco may be considered under two aspects, as to its +extent, and as to its influence. It may be greatly circumscribed or +expanded to an almost indefinite extent, according to the feelings, or +imagination, of the writer, or speaker. A resident here gave me a meagre +_tableau_, something like this, + + The city of Morocco 50,000 souls. + " Fez 40,000 " + " Mequinez 25,000 " + ------- + 115,000 " + +The maritime cities contain little more than 100,000 inhabitants, making +altogether about 220,000. Over the provinces of the south, Sous and +Wadnoun, the Sultan has no real power; so the south is cut off as an +integral portion of the empire. Over the Rif, or the northern Berber +provinces, the Sultan exercises a precarious sovereignty, every man's +gun or knife is there his law and authority. Fez contains a disaffected +population, teeming some years since with the adherents of Abd-el-Kader. +Then the Atlas is full of quasi-independent Berber tribes, who detest +equally the Arabs and the Moorish government; finally, Tafilett and the +provinces on the eastern side of the Atlas, are too remote to feel the +influence of the central government. + +As to military force, the Emperor's standing army does not amount to +more than 20 or 30,000 Nigritian troops, and all cavalry. The irregular +and contingent cavalry and infantry can never be depended upon, even +under such a chief as Abd-el-Kader was. They must always be fed, but +they will not, at any summons, leave the cultivation of their fields, or +their wives and children defenceless. + +As to the commerce of the Empire, with fifty ships visiting Mogador and +other maritime cities, the amount, per annum, does not exceed forty +millions of francs, or about a million and a half sterling including +imports and exports. Such is the view of the Empire on the depreciating +side. + +Another resident of this country gives the opposite or more favourable +view. + +The Sultan is the head of the orthodox religion of the Mussulmen of the +West, and more firmly established on his throne than the Sultan of the +Ottomans. His influence, as a sovereign Shereef, spreads throughout +Western Barbary and Central Africa, wherever there is a Mussulman to be +found. In the event of an enemy appearing in the shape of a Christian, +or Infidel, all would unite, including the most disjointed and hostile +tribes against the common foe of Islamism. + +The Sultan, upon an emergency or insurrection in his own empire, by the +politic distribution of titles of _Marabout_ (often used as a species of +degree of D.D.) and other honours attached to the Shereefian Parasol, +can likewise easily excite one chief against another, and consolidate +his power over their intestine divisions. His Moorish Majesty, at any +rate, has always actual possession in his favour; and, whether he really +governs the whole Empire or not, or to the extent which he has presumed +to mark out its boundaries, he can always proclaim to his disjointed +provinces that he does so govern it and exercise authority; and, in +general, he does succeed in making both his own people and foreign +nations believe in his pretensions, and acknowledge his power. + +The truth lies, perhaps, between these extremes. The Shereefs once +pretended to exercise authority over all Western Sahara as far as +Timbuctoo, that is to say, all that region of the great desert lying +west of the Touaricks. + +The account of the expedition of the Shereef Mohammed, who penetrated as +far as Wadnoun, and which took place more than three centuries ago, as +related by Marmol, leaves no doubt of the ancient ambition of the +sovereign of Morocco. And although this pretension has now been given +up, they still claim sovereignty over the oases of Touat, a month's +journey in the Sahara. Formerly, indeed, the authority of the Maroquine +Sultans over Touat and the south appears to have been more real and +effective. + +Diego de Torres relates that, in his time, the Shereefs maintained a +force of ten thousand cavalry in the provinces of Draha, Tafilett and +Jaguriri, and Monsieur Mouette counts Touat as one of the provinces of +the Empire. The Sheikh Haj Kasem, in the itinerary which he dictated to +Monsieur Delaporte, says that, about forty years ago, Agobli and +Taoudeni depended on Morocco. This, however, is what the people of +Ghadames told me, whilst they admitted that the oases neither did +contain a single officer of the Emperor, nor did the people pay his +Shereefian Highness the smallest impost. The Sultan's authority is now +indeed purely nominal, and the French look forward to the time when +these fine and centrally placed oases will form "une dependance de +l'Algérie." + +The only countries in the South which now pay a regular impost to the +Emperor, are Tafilett, limited to the valley of Fez, Wad-Draha as far as +the lake Ed-Debaia, and Sous. The countries of Sidi, Hashem, and Wadnoun +nominally acknowledge the Emperor, and occasionally send a present; but +the most mountainous, between Sous and Wad-Draha, which has been called +Guezoula or Gouzoula, and is said to be peopled by a Berber race, sprang +from the ancient Gelulir, is entirely independent. In the north and west +are also many quasi-independent tribes, but still the Emperor keeps up a +sort of authority over them; and, if nothing more, is content simply +with being called their Sultan. + +Maroquine Moors call their country El-Gharb, "The West," and sometimes +Mogrel-el-Aksa, that is "The far West:" [8] the name seems to have +originated something in the same way among the Saracenic conquerors, as +the "Far West" with the Anglo-Americans, arising from an apprehensive +feeling of indefinite extent of unexplored country. Among the Moors +generally, Morocco is now often called, "Blad Muley Abd Errahman", or +"Country of the Sultan Muley Abd Errahman." The northwestern portion of +Morocco was first conquered; Morocco Proper, Sous and Tafilett were +added with the progress of conquest. But scarcely a century has elapsed +since their union under one common Sultan, whilst the diverse population +of the four States are solely kept together by the interests and +feelings of a common religion. + +The Maroquine Empire, with its present limits, is bounded on the north +by the Mediterranean Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar, on the west by +the Atlantic Ocean and the Canary and Madeira Islands, on the south by +the deserts of Noun Draha and the Sahara, on the east by Algeria, the +Atlas, and Tafilett, on the borders of Sahara beyond their eastern +slopes. The greatest length from north to south is about five hundred +miles, with a breadth from east to west varying considerably at an +average of two hundred, containing an available or really _dependent_ +territory of some 137,400 square miles, or nearly as large as Spain; and +the whole is situate between the 28° and 40° N. Latitude. Monsieur +Benou, in his "Description Géographique de l'Empire de Maroc" says +Morocco "comprend une superficie d'environ 5,775 myriamètres carrés, un +peu plus grande, par conséquant, que celle de la France, qui équivaut à +5,300." This then is the available and immediate territory of Morocco, +not comprising distant dependencies, where the Shereefs exercise a +precarious or nominal sovereignty. + +Previously to particularizing the population of Morocco, I shall take +the liberty of introducing some general observations on the whole of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this country was +successively peopled and conquered. Greek and Roman classics contain +only meagre and confused notions of the aborigines of North Africa, +although they have left us a mass of details on the Punic wars, and the +struggles which ensued between the Romans and the ancient Libyans, +before the domination of the Latin Republic could be firmly established. +Herodotus cites the names of a number of people who inhabited North +Africa, mostly confining himself to repeat the fables or the more +interesting facts, of which they were the object. + +The nomenclature of Strabo is neither so extensive, nor does it contain +more precise or correct information. He mentions the celebrated oasis of +Ammonium and the nation of the Nasamones. Farther west, behind Carthage +and the Numidians, he also notices the Getulians, and after them the +Garamantes, a people who appear to have colonized both the oasis of +Ghadames and the oases of Fezzan. Ptolemy makes the whole of the +Mauritania, including Algeria and Morocco, to be bounded on the south by +tribes, called Gaetuliae and Melanogaeluti, on the south the latter +evidently having contracted alliance of blood with the negroes. + +According to Sallust, who supports himself upon the authority of +Heimpsal, the Carthaginian historian, "North Africa was first occupied +by Libyans and Getulians, who were a barbarous people, a heterogeneous +mass, or agglomeration of people of different races, without any form of +religion or government, nourishing themselves on herbs, or devouring the +raw flesh of animals killed in the chase; for first amongst these were +found Blacks, probably some from the interior of Africa, and belonging +to the great negro family; then whites, issue of the Semitic stock, who +apparently constituted, even at that early period, the dominant race or +caste. Later, but at an epoch absolutely unknown, a new horde of +Asiatics," says Sallust, "of Medes, Persians, and Armenians, invaded the +countries of the Atlas, and, led on by Hercules, pushed their conquests +as far as Spain." [9] + +The Persians, mixing themselves with the former inhabitants of the +coast, formed the tribes called Numides, or Numidians (which embrace the +provinces of Tunis and Constantina), whilst the Medes and the Armenians, +allying themselves with the Libyans, nearer to Spain, it is pretended, +gave existence to a race of Moors, the term Medes being changed into +that of Moors. [10] + +As to the Getulians confined in the valleys of the Atlas, they resisted +all alliance with the new immigrants, and formed the principal nucleus +of those tribes who have ever remained in North Africa, rebels to a +foreign civilization, or rather determined champions of national +freedom, and whom, imitating the Romans and Arabs, we are pleased to +call Barbarians or Berbers (Barbari Brâber [11]), and whence is derived +the name of the Barbary States. But the Romans likewise called the +aboriginal tribes of North Africa, Moors, or Mauri, and some contend +that Moors and Berbers are but two different names for the aboriginal +tribes, the former being of Greek and the latter of African origin. The +Romans might, however, confound the African term berber with barbari, +which latter they applied, like the Greeks, to all strangers and +foreigners. The revolutions of Africa cast a new tribe of emigrants upon +the North African coast, who, if we are to believe the Byzantine +historian, Procopius, of the sixth century, were no other than +Canaanites, expelled from Palestine by the victorious arms of Joshua, +when he established the Israelites in that country. Procopius affirms +that, in his time, there was a column standing at Tigisis, on which was +this inscription:--"We are those who fled from the robber Joshua, son of +Nun." [12] Now whether Tigisis was in Algeria, or was modern Tangier, as +some suppose, it is certain there are several traditions among the +Berber tribes of Morocco, which relate that their ancestors were driven +out of Palestine. Also, the Berber historian, Ebn-Khal-Doun, who +flourished in the fourteenth century, makes all the Berbers descend from +one Bar, the son of Mayigh, son of Canaan. However, what may be the +truths of these traditions of Sallust or Procopius, there is no +difficulty in believing that North Africa was peopled by fugitive and +roving tribes, and that the first settlers should be exposed to be +plundered by succeeding hordes; for such has been the history of the +migrations of all the tribes of the human race. + +But the most ancient historical fact on which we can depend is, the +invasion, or more properly, the successive invasions of North Africa by +the Phoenicians. Their definite establishment on these shores took place +towards the foundation of Carthage, about 820 years before our era. Yet +we know little of their intercourse or relations with the aboriginal +tribes. When the Romans, a century and a half before Christ, received, +or wrested, the rule of Africa from the Phoenicians, or Carthaginians, +they found before them an indigenous people, whom they indifferently +called Moors, Berbers, or Barbarians. A part of these people were called +also Nudides, which is perhaps considered the same term as nomades. + +Some ages later, the Romans, too weak to resist a vigorous invasion of +other conquerors, were subjugated by the Vandals, who, during a century, +held possession of North Africa; but, after this time, the Romans again +raised their heads, and completely expelled or extirpated the Vandals, +so that, as before, there were found only two people or races in Africa: +the Romans and the Moors, or aborigines. + +Towards the middle of the seventh century after Christ, and a few years +after the death of Mahomet, the Romans, in the decline of their power, +had to meet the shock of the victorious arms of the Arabians, who poured +in upon them triumphant from the East; but, too weak to resist this new +tide of invasion, they opposed to them the aborigines, which latter were +soon obliged to continue alone the struggle. + +The Arabian historians, who recount these wars, speak of _Roumi_ or +Romans (of the Byzantine empire) and the Brâber--evidently the +aboriginal tribes--who promptly submitted to the Arabs to rid themselves +of the yoke of the Romans; but, after the retreat of their ancient +masters, they revolted and remained a long time in arms against their +new conquerors--a rule of action which all subjugated nations have been +wont to follow. Were we English now to attempt to expel the French from +Algeria, we, undoubtedly, should be joined by the Arabs; but who would, +most probably, soon also revolt against us, were we to attempt to +consolidate our dominion over them. + +In the first years of the eighth century, and at the end of the first +century of the Hegira, the conquering Arabs passed over to Spain, and, +inasmuch as they came from Mauritania, the people of Spain gave them the +name of Moors (that of the aborigines of North Africa), although they +had, perhaps, nothing in common with them, if we except their Asiatic +origin. Another and most singular name was also given to these Arab +warriors in France and other parts of Europe--that of Saracens--whose +etymology is extremely obscure. [13] From this time the Spaniards have +always given the names of Moors (_los Moros_), not only to the Arabs of +Spain, but to all the Arabs; and, confounding farther these two +denominations, they have bestowed the name of _Moros_ upon the Arabs of +Morocco and those in the environs of Senegal. + +The Arabs who invaded Northern Africa about 650, were all natives of +Asia, belonging to various provinces of Arabia, and were divided into +Ismaelites, Amalekites, Koushites, &c. They were all warriors; and it is +considered a title of nobility to have belonged to their first irruption +of the enthusiastic sons of the Prophet. + +A second invasion took place towards the end of the ninth century--an +epoch full of wars--during which, the Caliph Kaïm transported the seat +of his government from Kairwan to Cairo, ending in the complete +submission of Morocco to the power of Yousef Ben Tashfin. One cannnot +now distinguish which tribe of Arabs belong to the first or the second +invasion, but all who can shew the slightest proof, claim to belong to +the first, as ranking among a band of noble and triumphant warriors. + +After eight centuries of rule, the Arabs being expelled from Spain, took +refuge in Barbary, but instead of finding the hospitality and protection +of their brethren, the greater part of them were pillaged or massacred. +The remnant of these wretched fugitives settled along the coast; and it +is to their industry and intelligence that we owe the increase, or the +foundation of many of the maritime cities. Here, considered as strangers +and enemies by the natives, whom they detested, the new colonists sought +for, and formed relations with Turks and renegades of all nations, +whilst they kept themselves separate from the Arabs and Berbers. This, +then, is the _bonâ-fide_ origin of the people whom we now generally call +Moors. History furnishes us with a striking example of how the expelled +Arabs of Spain united with various adventurers against the Berber and +North African Arabs. In the year 1500, a thousand Andalusian cavaliers, +who had emigrated to Algiers, formed an alliance with the Barbarossas +and their fleet of pirates; and, after expelling the native prince, +built the modern city of Algiers. And such was the origin of the +Algerine Corsairs. + +The general result of these observations would, therefore, lead us to +consider the Moors of the Romans, as the Berbers or aborigines of North +Africa, and the Moors of the Spaniards, as pure Arabians; and if, +indeed, these Arabian cavaliers marshalled with them Berbers, as +auxiliaries, for the conquest of Spain, this fact does not militate +against the broad assumption. + +The so-called Moors of Senegal and the Sahara, as well as those of +Morocco, are chiefly a mixture of Berbers, Arabs and Negroes; but the +present Moors located in the northern coast of Africa, are rather the +descendants from the various conquering nations, and especially from +renegades and Christian slaves. + +The term Moors is not known to the natives themselves. The people speak +definitely enough of Arabs and of various Berber tribes. The population +of the towns and cities are called generally after the names of these +towns and cities, whilst Tuniseen and Tripoline is applied to all the +inhabitants of the great towns of Tunis and Tripoli. Europeans resident +in Barbary, as a general rule, call all the inhabitants of towns--Moors, +and the peasants or people residents in tents--Arabs. But, in Tripoli, I +found whole villages inhabited by Arabs, and these I thought might be +distinguished as town Arabs. Then the mountains of Tripoli are covered +with Arab villages, and some few considerable towns are inhabited by +people who are _bonâ-fide_ Arabs. Finally, the capitals of North Africa +are filled with every class of people found in the country. + +The question is then where shall we draw the line of distinction in the +case of nationalities? or can we, with any degree of precision, define +the limits which distinguish the various races in North Africa? With +regard to the Blacks or negro tribes, there can be no great difficulty. +The Jews are also easily distinguished from the rest of the people as +well by their national features as by their dress and habits or customs +of living. But, when we come to the Berbers, Arabs, Moors and Turks, we +can only distinguish them in their usual and ordinary occupations and +manners of life. Whenever they are intermixed, or whenever they change +their position, that is to say, whenever the Arab or Berber comes to +dwell in a town, or a Moor or a Turk goes to reside in the country, +adopting the Arab or Berber dress and mode of living, it is no longer +possible to distinguish the one from the other, or mark the limitation +of races. + +And since it is seen that the aborigines of Northern Africa consisted, +with the exception of the Negro tribes, of the Asiatics of the Caucasian +race or variety, many of whom, like the Phoenicians, have peopled +various cities and provinces of Europe, it is therefore not astonishing +we should find all the large towns and cities of North Africa, where the +human being becomes _policed_, refined and civilized sooner than in +remote and thinly-inhabited districts, teeming with a population, which +at once challenges an European type, and a corresponding origin with the +great European family of nations. + +North Africa is wonderfully homogeneous in the matter of religion. The +people, indeed, have but one religion. Even the extraneous Judaism is +the same in its Deism--depression of the female--circumcision and many +of the religious customs, festivals and traditions. And this has a +surprising effect in assimilating the opposite character and sharpest +peculiarities of various races of otherwise distinct and independant +origin. + +The population of Morocco presents five distant races and classes of +people; Berbers, Arabs, Moors, Jews and Negroes. Turks are not found in +Morocco, and do not come so far west; but sons of Turks by Moorish women +in Kouroglies are included among the Moors, that have emigrated from +Algeria. Maroquine Berbers, include the varieties of the Amayeegh [14] +and the Shelouh, who mostly are located in the mountains, while the +Arabs are settled on the plains. + +The Moors are the inhabitants of towns and cities, consisting of a +mixture of nearly all races, a great proportion of them being of the +descendants of the Moors expelled from Spain. All these races have been, +and will still be, farther noticed in the progress of the work. The +proximate amount of this population is six millions. The greater number +of the towns and cities are situate on the coast, excepting the three or +four capitals, or imperial cities. The other towns of the interior +should be considered rather as forts to awe neighbouring tribes, or as +market villages (_souks_), where the people collect together for the +disposal and exchange of their produce. Numerous tribes, located in the +Atlas, escape the notice of the imposts of imperial authority. Their +varieties and amount of population are equally unknown. In the immense +group of Gibel Thelge (snowy mountains), some of the tribes are said to +have their faces shaved, like Christians, and to wear boots. We can +understand why a people inhabiting a cold region of rain and mists and +perpetual snow should wear boots; but as to their shaving like +Christians, this is rather vague. But it is not impossible the Atlas +contains the descendants of some European refugees. + +The nature of the soil and climate of Morocco are not unlike those of +Spain and Portugal; and though Morocco does not materially differ from +other parts of Barbary, its greater extent of coast on the Atlantic, +along which the tradewind of the north coast blows nine months out of +twelve, and its loftier ridges of the Atlas, so temper its varied +surface of hill and plain and vast declivities that, together with the +absence of those marshy districts which in hot climates engender fatal +disease, this country may be pronounced, excepting perhaps Tunis, the +most healthy in all Africa. + +In the northern provinces, the climate is nearly the same as that of +Spain; in the southern there is less rain and more of the desert heat, +but this is compensated for by the greater fertility in the production +of valuable staple articles of commerce. Nevertheless, Morocco has its +extremes of heat and cold, like all the North African coast. + +The most striking object of this portion of the crust of the globe, is +the vast Atlas chain of mountains [15], which traverses Morocco from +north-east to south-west, whose present ascertained culminating point, +Miltsin, is upwards of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, or equal +to the highest peaks of the Pyrenees. The Maroquine portion of the Atlas +contains its highest peaks, which stretch from the east of Tripoli to +the Atlantic Ocean, at Santa Cruz; and we find no mountains of equal +height, except in the tenth degree of North latitude, or 18,000 miles +south, or 30,000 south, south-east. The Rif coast has a mountainous +chain of some considerable height, but the Atlantic coast offers chiefly +ridges of hills. The coasts of Morocco are not much indented, and +consequently have few ports, and these offer poor protection from the +ocean. + +The general surface of Morocco presents a large ridge or lock, with two +immense declivities, one sloping N.W. to the ocean, with various rivers +and streams descending from this enormous back-bone of the Atlas, and +the other fulling towards the Sahara, S.E., feeding the streams and +affluents of Wad Draha, and other rivers, which are lost in the sands of +the Desert. This shape of the country prevents the formation of those +vast _Sebhahas_, or salt lakes, so frequent in Algeria and the south of +Tunis. We are acquainted only with two lakes of fresh or sweet +water--that of Debaia, traversed by Wad Draha,--and that of +Gibel-Akhder, which Leo compares to Lake Bolsena. The height of the +mountains, and the uniformity of their slopes, produce large and +numerous rivers; indeed, the most considerable of all North Africa. +These rivers of the North are shortest, but have the largest volume of +water; those of the South are larger, but are nearly dry the greater +part of the year. None of them are navigable far inland. Some abound +with fish, particularly the Shebbel, or Barbary salmon. It is neither so +rich nor so large as our salmon, and is whitefleshed; it tastes +something like herring, but is of a finer and more delicate flavour. +They are abundant in the market of Mogudor. The Shebbel, converted by +the Spaniards Sabalo, is found in the Guadalquivir. + +The products of the soil are nearly the same as in other parts of +Barbary. On the plains, or in the open country, the great cultivation is +wheat and barley; in suburban districts, vegetables and fruits are +propagated. In a commercial point of view, the North exports cattle, +grain, bark, leeches, and skins; and the South exports gums, almonds, +ostrich-feathers, wax, wool, and skins, as principle staple produce. +When the rains cease or fail, the cultivation is kept up by irrigation, +and an excellent variety of fruits and esculent vegetables are produced; +indeed, nearly all the vegetables and fruit-trees of Southern Europe are +here abundantly and successfully cultivated, besides those peculiar to +an African clime and soil. In the south, grows a tree peculiar to this +country, the Eloeondenron Argan, so called from its Arabic name Argan. +This tree produces fruit resembling the olive, whose egg-shaped, brown, +smooth and very hard stone, encloses a flat almond, of a white colour, +and of a very disagreeable taste, which, when crushed, produces a rancid +oil, used commonly as a substitute for olive-oil. The tree itself is +bushy and large, and sometimes grows of the size to a wide-spreading +oak. Not far from Mogador are several Argan forests. The level country +of the north is covered with forests of dwarfish oak; some bear sweet, +and others bitter acorns, and also the cork-tree, whose bark is a +considerable object of commerce. In the Atlas, has been found the +magnificent cedar of Lebanon. This tree has also been met with in +Algeria, but only on the mountains, some forty thousand feet above the +level of the sea. + +In the South there is, of course, growing in all its Saharan vigour, the +noble date-palm, and by its side, squats the palmetto, or dwarf-palm (in +Arabic _dauma_). Of trees and plants, the usual tinzah, and snouber or +pine of Aleppo, are used for preparing the fine leathers of Morocco. +Many plants are also deleteriously employed for exciting intoxication, +or inflaming the passions. + +Morocco has its mines of gold, silver, lead, iron, tin, sulphur, +mineral, salt, and antimony; but nearly all are neglected, or unworked. +Government will not encourage the industry of the people, for fear of +exciting the cupidity of foreigners. A Frenchman, a short time ago, +reported a silver mine in the south, and Government immediately bribed +him to make another statement that there was no such mine. At Elala and +Stouka, in the province of Sous, are several rich silver mines. Gold is +found in the Atlas and the Lower Sous. But this country is especially +rich in copper mines. A great number of ancient and modern authors speak +of these mines, which are situate in the mountainous country comprised +between Aghadir, Morocco, Talda, Tamkrout, and Akka. The mines most +worked, are those of Tedsi and Afran. At the foot of the Atlas, near +Taroudant, is a great quantity of sulphur. In the neighbourhood of +Morocco, saltpetre is found. In the province of Abda is an extensive +salt lake, and salt has been exported from this country to Timbuctoo. Of +precious stones, some fine specimens of amethyst have been discovered. + +There are scarcely any animals peculiar to Morocco, or which are not +found in other parts of North Africa. Davidson mentions some curious +facts relative to the desert horse; "_sherb-errech_, wind-bibber, or +drinker of the wind," a variety of this animal, which is not to be met +with in the Saharan regions of Tunis, or Tripoli. + +This horse is fed only on camel's milk, and is principally used for +hunting ostriches, which are run down by it, and then captured. [16] The +_sherb-errech_ will continue running three or four days together without +any food. It is a slight and spare-formed animal, mostly in wretched +condition, with ugly thick legs, and devoid of beauty as a horse. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + + +Morocco has been divided into States, or kingdoms by Europeans, although +such divisions scarcely exist in the administration of the native +princes. The ancient division mentioned by Leo was that of two large +provinces of Morocco and Fez, separated by the river Bouragrag, which +empties itself into the sea between Rabat and Salee; and, indeed, for +several centuries, these districts were separated and governed by +independent princes. Tafilett always, and Sous occasionally, were united +to Morocco, while Fez itself formed a powerful kingdom, extending itself +eastward as far as the gates of Tlemsen. + +The modern division adopted by several authors, is-- + +Northern, or the kingdom of Fez. Central, or the kingdom of Morocco. +Eastern, or the Province of Tafilett. Southern, or the province of Sous. +Some add to this latter, the Province of Draha. + +Then, a great number of districts are enumerated as comprehended in +these large and general divisions; but the true division of all +Mussulman States is into tribes. There is besides another, which more +approaches to European government, viz, into kaidats, or jurisdictions. +The name of a district is usually that of its chief tribe, and mountains +are denominated after the tribes that inhabit them. There is, of course, +a natural division, sometimes called a dividing into zones or specific +regions, which has already been alluded to in enumerating the natural +resources of Morocco, and which besides corresponds with the present +political divisions. + +I. The North of the Atlas: coming first, the Rif, or mountainous region, +which borders the Mediterranean from the river Moulwia to Tangier, +comprising the districts of Hashbat west, and Gharet and Aklaia east. +Then the intermediate zone of plains and hills, which extends from the +middle course of the Moulwia to Tangier on one coast, and to Mogador on +the other. + +II. The Central Region, or the great chain of the Atlas. The Deren [17] +of the natives, from the frontiers of Algeria east to Cape Gheer, on the +south-west. This includes the various districts of the Gharb, Temsna, +Beni Hasan, Shawia, Fez, Todla, Dukala, Shragno, Abda, Haha, Shedma, +Khamna, Morocco, &c. + +III. South of the Atlas: or quasi-Saharan region, comprising the various +provinces and districts of Sous, Sidi Hisham, Wadnoun, Guezoula, Draha +(Drâa), Tafilett, and a large portion of the Sahara, south-east of the +Atlas. + +As to statistics of population I am inclined fully to admit the +statement of Signor Balbi that, the term of African statistics ought to +be rejected as absurd. Count Hemo de Gräberg, who was a long time Consul +at Tangier, and wrote a statistical and geographical account of the +empire of Morocco, states the number of the inhabitants of the town of +Mazagran to be two thousand. Mr. Elton who resided there several months, +assured me it does not contain more than one hundred. Another gentleman +who dwelt there says, three hundred. This case is a fair sample of the +style in which the statistics of population in Morocco are and have been +calculated. + +Before the occupation of Algeria by the French, all the cities were +vulgarly calculated at double, or treble their amount of population. +This has also been the case even in India, where we could obtain, with +care, tolerably correct statistics. The prejudices of oriental and +Africo-eastern people are wholly set against statistics, or numbering +the population. No mother knows the age of her own child. It is +ill-omened, if not an affront, to ask a man how many children he has; +and to demand the amount of the population of a city, is either +constructed as an infringement upon the prerogative of the omnipotent +Creator, who knows how many people he creates, and how to take care of +them, or it is the question of a spy, who is seeking to ascertain the +strength or weakness of the country. Europeans can, therefore, rarely +obtain any correct statistical information in Morocco: all is proximate +and conjectural. [18] I am anxious, nevertheless, to give some +particulars respecting the population, in order that we may really have +a proximate idea of the strength and resources of this important +country. In describing the towns and cities of the various provinces, I +shall divide them into, + +1. Towns and cities of the coast. + +2. Capital or royal cities. + +3. Other towns and remarkable places in the interior [19]. + +The towns and ports, on the Mediterranean, are of considerable interest, +but our information is very scanty, except as far as relates to the +_praesidios_ of Spain, or the well-known and much frequented towns of +Tetuan and Tangier. + +Near the mouth of the Malwia (or fifteen miles distant), is the little +town of Kalat-el-wad, with a castle in which the Governor resides. +Whether the river is navigable up to this place, I have not been able to +discover. The water-communication of the interior of North Africa is not +worth the name. Zaffarinds or Jafarines, are three isles lying off the +west of the river Mulweeah, at a short distance, or near its mouth. +These belong to Spain, and have recently been additionally fortified, +but why, or for what reason, is not so obvious. Opposite to them, there +is said to be a small town, situate on the mainland. The Spaniards, in +the utter feebleness and decadence of their power, have lately dubbed +some one or other "Captain-general of the Spanish possessions, &c. in +North Africa." + +Melilla or Melilah is a very ancient city, founded by the Carthaginians, +built near a cape called by the Romans, _Rusadir_ (now Tres-Forcas) the +name afterwards given to the city, and which it still retains in the +form of Ras-ed-Dir, (Head of the mountain). This town is the capital of +the province of Garet, and is said to contain 3,000 souls. It is situate +amidst a vast tract of fine country, abounding in minerals, and most +delicious honey, from which it is pretended the place receives its name. + +On an isle near, and joined to the mainland by a draw-bridge, is the +Spanish _praesidio_, or convict-settlement called also Melilla, +containing a population of 2,244 according to the Spanish, but Rabbi and +Gräberg do not give it more than a thousand. At a short distance, +towards the east, is an exceedingly spacious bay, of twenty-two miles in +circumference, where, they say, a thousand ships of war could be +anchored in perfect safety, and where the ancient galleys of Venice +carried on a lucrative trade with Fez. Within the bay, three miles +inland, are the ruins of the ancient city of Eazaza, once a celebrated +place. + +Alhucemos, is another small island and _praesidio_ of the Spaniards, +containing five or six hundred inhabitants; it commands the bay of the +same name, and is situate at the mouth of the river Wad Nechor, where +there is also the Islet of Ed-Housh. Near the bay, is the ancient +capital, Mezemma, now in ruins; it had, however, some commercial +importance in the times of Louis XIV., and carried on trade with France. + +Peñon de Velez is the third _praesidio_-island, a convict settlement of +the Spaniards on this coast, and a very strong position, situate +opposite the mouths of the river Gomera, which disembogues in the +Mediterranean. The garrison contains some nine hundred inhabitants. So +far as natural resources are concerned, Peñon de Velez is a mere rock, +and a part of the year is obliged to be supplied with fresh water from +the mainland. Immediately opposite to the continent is the city of +Gomera (or Badis), the ancient Parientina, or perhaps the Acra of +Ptolemy, afterwards called Belis, and by the Spaniards, Velez de la +Gomera. The name Gomera, according to J.A. Conde, is derived from the +celebrated Arab tribe of the Gomeres, who flourished in Africa and Spain +until the last Moorish kings of Granada. Count Graberg pretends Gomera +now contains three thousand inhabitants! whilst other writers, and of +later date, represent this ancient city, which has flourished and played +an important part through many ages, as entirely abandoned, and the +abode of serpents and hyaenas. Gellis is a small port, six miles east of +Velez de Gomera. + +Tegaza is a small town and port, at two miles or less from the sea near +Pescadores Point, inhabited mostly by fishermen, and containing a +thousand souls. + +The provinces of Rif and Garet, containing these maritime towns are rich +and highly cultivated, but inhabited by a warlike and semi-barbarous +race of Berbers, over whom the Emperor exercises an extremely precarious +authority. Among these tribes, Abd-el-Kader sought refuge and support +when he was obliged to retire from Algeria, and, where he defied all the +power of the Imperial government for several months. Had the Emir +chosen, he could have remained in Rif till this time; but he determined +to try his strength with the Sultan in a pitch battle, which should +decide his fate. + +The savage Rifians assemble for barter and trade on market-days, which +are occasions of fierce and incessant quarrels among themselves, when it +is not unusual for two or three persons to be left dead on the spot. +Should any unfortunate vessel strike on these coasts, the crew find +themselves in the hands of inhuman wreckers. No European traveller has +ever visited these provinces, and we may state positively that +journeying here is more dangerous than in the farthest wastes of the +Sahara. Spanish renegades, however, are found among them, who have +escaped from the _praesidios_, or penal settlements. The Rif country is +full of mines, and is bounded south by one of the lesser chains of the +Atlas running parallel with the coast. Forests of cork clothe the +mountain-slopes; the Berbers graze their herds and flocks in the deep +green valleys, and export quantities of skins. + +Tetuan, the Yagath of the Romans, situate at the opening of the Straits +of Gibraltar, four or five miles from the sea, upon the declivity of a +hill and within two small ranges of mountains, is a fine, large, rich +and mercantile city of the province of Hasbat. It has a resident +governor of considerable power and consequence, the name of the present +functionary being Hash-Hash, who has long held the appointment, and +enjoys great influence near the Sultan. Half a mile east of the city +passes from the south Wad Marteen, (the Cus of Marmol) which disembogues +into the sea; on its banks is the little port of Marteen or Marteel, not +quite two miles distant from the coast, and about three from the city, +where a good deal of commerce is carried on, small vessels, laden with +the produce of Barbary, sailing thence to Spain, Gibraltar, and even +France and Italy. The population of Tetouan is from nine to twelve +thousand souls, including, besides Moors and Arabs, four thousand Jews, +two thousand Negroes, and eight thousand Berbers. The streets are +generally formed into arcades, or covered bazaars. + +The Jews have a separate quarter; their women are celebrated for their +beauty. The suburbs are adorned with fine gardens, and olive and vine +plantations. Orange groves, or rather orange forests, extend for miles +around, yielding their golden treasures. A great export of oranges could +be established here, which might be conveyed overland to India. +Altogether, Tetuan is one of the most respectable coast-cities of +Morocco, though it has no port immediately adjoining it. Its +fortifications are only strong enough to resist the attack of hostile +Berbers. The town is about two-thirds of a day's journey from Tangier, +south-east. A fair day's journey would be, in Morocco, upwards of thirty +English miles, but a good deal depends upon the season of the year when +you travel. + +Ceuta is considered to be Esilissa of Ptolemy, and was once the capital +of Mauritania Tingitana. The Arabs call it Sebât and Sebta, _i.e._, +"seven," after the Romans, who called it _Septem fratres_, and the +Greeks the same, apparently on account of the seven mountains, which are +in the neighbourhood. Ceuta, or Sebta, is evidently the modern form of +this classic name. It is a very ancient city and celebrated fortress, +situate fourteen miles south of Gibraltar, nearly opposite to it, as a +species of rival stronghold, and placed upon a peninsula, which detaches +itself from the continent on the east, and turns then to the north. The +city extends over the tongue of land nearest the continent; the citadel +occupies Monte-del-Acho, called formerly Jibel-el-Mina, a name still +preserved in Almina, a suburb to the south-east. + +In the beginning of the eighth century, Ceuta, which was inhabited by +the Goths, passed into the hands of the Arabs, who made it a point of +departure for the expeditions into Spain. It was conquered by the +powerful Arab family of the Ben-Hamed, one of whom, called Mohammed +Edris, invaded Spain, and, after several conquests, was proclaimed King +of Cordova, in A.D. 1,000, + +On 21st of August, 1415, the Portuguese conquered it, and it was the +first place which they occupied in Africa. In 1578, at the death of Don +Sebastian, Ceuta passed with Portugal and the rest of the colonies into +the power of Spain; and when, in 1640, the Portuguese recovered their +independence, the Spaniards were left masters of Ceuta, which continues +still in their hands, but is of no utility to them except as a +_praesidio_, which makes the fourth penal settlement possessed by them +on this coast. + +Ceuta contains a garrison of two or three thousand men. The free +population amounts to some five or six thousand. It has a small and +insecure port. Here is the famed Gibel Zaterit, "Monkey's promontory," +or "Ape's Hill," which has occasioned the ingenious fable, that, +inasmuch as there are no monkeys in any part of Europe except Gibraltar, +directly opposite to this rock, where also monkeys are found, there must +necessarily be a subterranean passage beneath the sea, by which they +pass and re-pass to opposite sides of the Straits, and maintain a +friendly and uninterrupted intercourse between the brethren of Africa +and Europe. Anciently, the mountains hereabouts formed the African +pillars of Hercules opposite to Gibraltar, which may be considered the +European pillar of that respectable hero of antiquity. + +Passing Tangier after a day's journey, we come to Arzila or Asila, in +the province of Hasbat, which is an ancient Berber city, and which, when +conquered by the Romans, was named first Zilia and afterwards Zulia, +_Constantia Zilis_. It is placed on the naked shores of the Atlantic, +and has a little port. Whilst possessed by the Portuguese, it was a +place of considerable strength, but its fortifications being, as usual, +neglected by the Moors, are now rapidly decaying. [20] The population is +about one thousand. The country around produces good tobacco. The next +town on the Atlantic, after another day's journey southwards, is El +Araish, _i.e._, the trellices of vines; vulgarly called Laratsh. This +city replaces the ancient Liscas or Lixus and Lixa, whose ruins are +near. The Arabs call it El-Araish Beai-Arous, _i.e._, the vineyards of +the Beni-Arous, a powerful tribe, who populate the greater part of the +district of Azgar, of which it is the capital and the residence of the +Governor. It was, probably, built by this tribe about 1,200 or 1,300, +AD. El-Araish contains a population of 2,700 Moors, and 1,300 Jews, or +4,000 souls; but others give only 2,000 for the whole amount, of which +250 are Jews. It has a garrison of 500 troops. The town is situate upon +a small promontory stretching into the sea, and along the mouth of the +river Cos, or Luccos (Loukkos), which forms a secure port, but of so +difficult access, that vessels of two hundred tons can scarcely enter +it. In winter, the roadstead is very bad; [21] the houses are +substantially built; and the fortifications are good, because made by +the Spaniards, who captured this place in 1610, but it was re-taken by +Muley Ishmael in 1689. The climate is soft and delicious. In the +environs, cotton is cultivated, and charcoal is made from the Araish +forest of cork-trees. El-Araish exports cork, wool, skins, bark, beans, +and grain, and receives in exchange iron, cloth, cottons, muslins, sugar +and tea. The lions and panthers of the mountains of Beni Arasis +sometimes descend to the plains to drink, or carry off a supper of a +sheep or bullock. Azgar, the name of this district, connects it with one +of the powerful tribes of the Touaricks; and, probably, a section of +this tribe of Berbers were resident here at a very early period (at the +same time the Berber term _ayghar_ corresponds to the Arabic _bahira_, +and signifies "plain.") + +The ancient Lixus deserves farther mention on account of the interest +attached to its coins, a few of which remain, although but very recently +deciphered by archeologists. There are five classes of them, and all +Phoenician, although the city now under Roman rule, represents the +vineyard riches of this part of ancient Mauritania by two bunches of +grapes, so that, after nearly three thousand years, the place has +retained its peculiarity of producing abundant vines, El-Araish, being +"the vine trellices;" others have stamped on them "two ears of corn" and +"two fishes," representing the fields of corn waving on the plains of +Morocco, and the fish (shebbel especially) which fills its northern +rivers. + +Strabo says:--"Mauritania generally, excepting a small part desert, is +rich and fertile, well watered with rivers and washed with lakes; +abounding in all things, and producing trees of great dimensions." +Another writer adds "this country produces a species of the vine whose +trunk the extended arms of two men cannot embrace, and which yields +grapes of a cubit's length." "At this city," says Pliny, "was the palace +of Antaeus, and his combat with Hercules and the gardens of Hesperides." + +Mehedia or Mâmora, and sometimes, Nuova Mamora, is situate upon the +north-western slope of a great hill, some four feet above the sea, upon +the left bank of the mouth of the Sebon, and at the edge of the +celebrated plain and forest of Mamora, belonging to the province of +Beni-Hassan. According to Marmol, Mamora was built by Jakob-el-Mansour +to defend the embouchure of the river. It was captured by the Spaniards +in 1614, and retaken by the Moors in 1681. The Corsairs formerly took +refuge here. It is now a weak and miserable place, commanded by an old +crumbling-down castle. There are five or six hundred fishermen, +occupying one hundred and fifty cabins, who make a good trade of the +Shebbel salmon; it has a very small garrison. The forest of Mamora, +contains about sixty acres of fine trees, among which are some splendid +oaks, all suitable for naval construction. + +Salee or Sala, a name which this place bore antecedently to the Roman +occupation, is a very ancient city, situate upon the right bank of the +river Bouragrag, and near its mouth. This place was captured in 1263, by +Alphonso the Wise, King of Castille, who was a short time after +dispossessed of his conquest by the King of Fez; and the Moorish Sultans +have kept it to the present time, though the city itself has often +attempted to throw off the imperial yoke. The modern Salee is a large +commercial and well-fortified city of the province of Beni-Hassan. Its +port is sufficiently large, but, on account of the little depth of +water, vessels of large burden cannot enter it. The houses and public +places are tolerably well-built. The town is fortified by a battery of +twenty-four pieces of cannon fronting the sea, and a redoubt at the +entrance of the river. What navy the Maroquines have, is still laid up +here, but the dock-yard is now nearly deserted, and the few remaining +ships are unserviceable. The population, all of whom are Mahometans, are +now, as in Corsair times, the bitterest and most determined enemies of +Christians, and will not permit a Christian or Jew to reside among them. +The amount of this population, and that of Rabat, is thus given, + + _Salee Rabat_ + Gräberg 23,000 27,000 + Washington 9,000 21,000 + Arlett 14,000 24,000 + +but it is probably greatly exaggerated. + +A resident of this country reduces the population of Salee as low as two +or three thousand. For many years, the port of Salee was the rendezvous +of the notorious pirates of Morocco, who, together with the city of +Rabat, formed a species of military republic almost independent of the +Sultan; these Salee rovers were at once the most ferocious and +courageous in the world. Time was, when these audacious freebooters lay +under Lundy Island in the British Channel, waiting to intercept British +traders! "Salee," says Lemprière, "was a place of good commerce, till, +addicting itself entirely to piracy, and revolting from the allegiance +to its Sovereign, Muley Zidan, that prince in the year 1648, dispatched +an embassy to King Charles 1, of England, requesting him to send a +squadron of men-of-war to lie before the town, while he attacked by +land." This request being acceded to, the city was soon reduced, the +fortifications demolished, and the leaders of the rebellion put to +death. The year following, the Emperor sent another ambassador to +England, with a present of Barbary horses and three hundred Christian +slaves. + +Rabat, or Er-Rabat, and on some of the foreign maps Nuova Sale, is a +modern city of considerable extent, densely populated, strong and +well-built, belonging to the province of Temsna. It is situated on the +declivity of a hill, opposite to Salee, on the other side of the river, +or left side of the Bouragrag, which is as broad as the Thames at +London Bridge, and might be considered as a great suburb, or another +quarter of the same city. It was built by the famous Yakob-el-Mansour, +nephew of Abd-el-Moumen, and named by him Rabat-el-Fatah, _i.e._, "camp +of victory," by which name it is now often mentioned. + +The walls of Rabat enclose a large space of ground, and the town is +defended on the seaside by three forts, erected some years ago by an +English renegade, and furnished with ordnance from Gibraltar. Among the +population are three or four thousand Jews, some of them of great wealth +and consequence. The merchants are active and intelligent, carrying on +commerce with Fez, and other places of the interior, as also with the +foreign ports of Genoa, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. In the middle ages, +the Genoese had a great trade with Rabat, but this trade is now removed +to Mogador, Many beautiful gardens and plantations adorn the suburbs, +deserving even the name of "an earthly paradise." + +The Moors of Rabat are mostly from Spain, expelled thence by the +Spaniards. The famous Sultan, Almanzor, intended that Rabat should be +his capital. His untenanted mausoleum is placed here, in a separate and +sacred quarter. This prince, surnamed "the victorious," (Elmansor,) was +he who expelled the Moravedi from Spain. He is the Nero of Western +Africa, as Keatinge says, their "King Arthur." Tradition has it that +Elmansor went in disguise to Mecca, and returned no more. Mankind love +this indefinite and obscure end of their heroes. Moses went up to the +mountain to die there in eternal mystery. At a short distance from Rabat +is Shella, or its ruins, a small suburb situated on the summit of a +hill, which contains the tombs of the royal family of the Beni-Merini, +and the founder of Rabat, and is a place of inviolate sanctity, no +infidel being permitted to enter therein. Monsieur Chenier supposes +Shella to have been the site of the metropolis of the Carthaginian +colonies. + +Of these two cities, on the banks of the Wad-Bouragrag, Salee was, +according to D'Anville, always a place of note as at the present time, +and the farthest Roman city on the coast of the Atlantic, being the +frontier town of the ancient Mauritania Tingitana. Some pretend that all +the civilization which has extended itself beyond this point is either +Moorish, or derived from European colonists. The river Wad-Bouragrag is +somewhat a natural line of demarcation, and the products and animals of +the one side differ materially from those of the other, owing to the +number and less rapid descent of the streams on the side of the north, +and so producing more humidity, whilst the south side, on the contrary, +is of a higher and drier soil. + +Fidallah, or Seid Allah, _i. e_., "grace," or "gift of God," is a +maritime village of the province of Temsa, founded by the Sultan +Mohammed in 1773. It is a strong place, and surrounded with walls. +Fidallah is situated on a vast plain, near the river Wad Millah, where +there is a small port, or roadstead, to which the corsairs were wont to +resort when they could not reach Salee, long before the village was +built, called Mersa Fidallah. The place contains a thousand souls, +mostly in a wretched condition. Sidi Mohammed, before he built Mogador, +had the idea of building a city here; the situation is indeed +delightful, surrounded with fertility. + +Dar-el-Beida (or Casa-Blanco, "white house,") is a small town, formerly +in possession of the Portuguese, who built it upon the ruins of Anfa or +Anafa, [22] which they destroyed in 1468. They, however, scarcely +finished it when they abandoned it in 1515. Dar-el-Beida is situate on +the borders of the fertile plains of the province of Shawiya, and has a +small port, formed by a river and a spacious bay on the Atlantic. The +Romans are said to have built the ancient Anafa, in whose time it was a +considerable place, but now it scarcely contains above a thousand +inhabitants, and some reduce them to two hundred. Sidi Mohammed +attempted this place, and the present Sultan endeavoured to follow up +these efforts. A little commerce with Europe is carried on here. The bay +will admit of vessels of large burden anchoring in safety, except when +the wind blows strong from the north-west. Casa Blanco is two days +journey from Rabat, and two from Azamor, or Azemmour, which is an +ancient and fine city of the province of Dukaila, built by the Amazigh +Berbers, in whose language it signifies "olives." It is situate upon a +hill, about one hundred feet above the sea, and distant half a mile from +the shore, not far from the mouth of the Wad-Omm-er-Rbia (or Omm-Erbegh) +on its southern bank, and is everywhere surrounded by a most fertile +soil. Azamor contains now about eight or nine hundred inhabitants, but +formerly was much more populated. The Shebbel salmon is the principal +commerce, and a source of immense profit to the town. The river is very +deep and rapid, so that the passage with boats is both difficult and +dangerous. It is frequently of a red colour, and charged with slime like +the Nile at the period of its inundations. The tide is felt five or six +leagues up the river, according to Chénier. Formerly, vessels of every +size entered the river, but now its mouth has a most difficult bar of +sand, preventing large vessels going up, like nearly all the Maroquine +ports situate on the mouths, or within the rivers. + +Azamor was taken by the Portuguese under the command of the Duke of +Braganza in 1513 who strengthened it by fortifications, the walls of +which are still standing; but it was abandoned a century afterwards, the +Indies having opened a more lucrative field of enterprise than these +barren though honourable conquests on the Maroquine coast. This place is +half a day's journey, or about fourteen miles from Mazagran, _i. e_. the +above Amayeeghs, an extremely ancient and strong castle, erected on a +peninsula at the bottom of a spacious and excellent bay. It was rebuilt +by the Portuguese in 1506, who gave it the name of Castillo Real. The +site has been a centre of population from the remotest period, chiefly +Berbers, whose name it still bears. The Arabs, however, call it +El-Bureeja, i.e., "the citadel." The Portuguese abandoned it in 1769; +Mazagran was the last stronghold which they possessed in Morocco. The +town is well constructed, and has a wall twelve feet thick, strengthened +with bastions. There is a small port, or dock, on the north side of the +town, capable of admitting small vessels, and the roadstead is good, +where large vessels can anchor about two miles off the shore. Its +traffic is principally with Rabat, but there is also some export trade +to foreign parts. Its population is two or three hundred. [23] After +proceeding two days south-west, you arrive at Saffee, or properly +Asafee, called by the natives Asfee, and anciently Soffia or Saffia, is +a city of great antiquity, belonging to the province of Abda, and was +built by the Carthaginians near Cape Pantin. Its site lies between two +hills, in a valley which is exposed to frequent inundations. The +roadstead of Saffee is good and safe during summer, and its shipping +once enabled it to be the centre of European commerce on the Atlantic +coast. The population amounts to about one thousand, including a number +of miserable Jews. The walls of Saffee are massy and high. The +Portuguese captured this city in 1508, voluntarily abandoning it in +1641. The country around is not much cultivated, and presents melancholy +deserts; but there is still a quantity of corn grown. About forty miles +distant, S.E., is a large salt lake. Saffee is one and a half day's +journey from Mogador. + +Equidistant between Mazagran and Saffee is the small town of El-Waladia, +situate on an extensive plain. Persons report that near this spot is a +spacious harbour, or lagune, sufficiently capacious to contain four or +five hundred sail of the line; but, unfortunately, the entrance is +obstructed by some rocks, which, however, it is added, might easily be +blown up. The lagune is also exposed to winds direct for the ocean. The +town, enclosed within a square wall, and containing very few +inhabitants, is supposed to have been built in the middle of the +seventeenth century by the Sultan Waleed. after whom it was named. + +This brings us to Mogador, which, with Aghadir, have already been +described. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + + +The royal or capitals of the interior now demand our attention, which +are El-Kesar, Mequinez, Fez, and Morocco. + +El-Kesar, or Al-Kesar, [24] styled also El-Kesue-Kesar, is so named and +distinguished because it owes its enlargement to the famous Sultan of +Fez, Almansor, who improved and beautified it about the year 1180, and +designed this city as a magazine and rendezvous of troops for the great +preparations he was making at the time for the conquest of Granada. +El-Kesar is in the province of the Gharb, and situate on the southern +bank of the Luccos; here is a deep and rapid stream, flowing W. 1/4 N.W. +The town is nearly as large as Tetuan, but the streets are dirty and +narrow, and many of the houses in a ruinous condition, This fortified +place was once adorned by some fifteen mosques, but only two or three +are now fit for service. The population does not exceed four or five +thousand souls, and some think this number over-estimated. + +The surrounding country is flat meadowland, but flooded after the rains, +and producing fatal fevers, though dry and hot enough in summer. The +suburban fields are covered with gardens and orchards. It was at +El-Kesar, where, in A.D. 1578, the great battle of The Three Kings came +off, because, besides the Portuguese King, Don Sebastian, two Moorish +princes perished on this fatal day. But one of them, Muley Moluc, died +very ill in a litter, and was not killed in the fight; his death, +however, was kept a secret till the close of the battle, in order that +the Moors might not be discouraged. With their prince, Don Sebastian, +perished the flower of the Portuguese nobility and chivalry of that +time. War, indeed, was found "a dangerous game" on that woeful day: both +for princes and nobles, and many a poor soul was swept away + + "Floating in a purple tide." + +But the "trade of war" has been carried on ever since, and these +lessons, written in blood, are as useless to mankind as those dashed off +by the harmless pen of the sentimental moralist. El-Kesar is placed in +Latitude, 35° 1 10" N.; Longitude, 5° 49' 30" W. + +Mequinez, [25] in Arabic, Miknas (or Miknasa), is a royal residence, and +city of the province of Fez, situate upon a hill in the midst of a +well-watered and most pleasant town, blessed with a pure and serene air. +The city of Miknas is both large and finely built, of considerable +interest and of great antiquity. It was founded by the tribe of Berbers +Meknâsab, a fraction of the Zenatah, in the middle of the tenth century, +and called Miknasat, hence is derived its present name. The modern town +is surrounded with a triple wall thirteen feet high and three thick, +enclosing a spacious area. This wall is mounted with batteries to awe +the Berbers of the neighbouring mountains. The population amounts to +about twenty thousand souls, (some say forty or fifty thousand) in which +are included about nine thousand Negro troops, constituting the greater +portion of the Imperial guard. Two thousand of these black troops are in +charge of the royal treasures, estimated at some fifty millions of +dollars, and always increasing. These treasures consist of jewels, bars +of gold and silver, and money in the two precious metals, the greater +part being Spanish and Mexican dollars. + +The inhabitants are represented as being the most polished of the Moors, +kind and hospitable to strangers. The palace of the Emperor is extremely +simple and elegant, all the walls of which are _embroidered_ with the +beautiful stucco-work of Arabesque patterns, as pure and chaste as the +finest lace. The marble for the pillars was furnished from the ruins +adjacent, called Kesar Farâoun, "Castle of Pharoah" (a name given to +most of the old ruins of Morocco, of whose origin there is any doubt). + +During the times of piracy, there was here, as also at Morocco, a +Spanish hospitium for the ransom and recovery of Christian slaves. Even +before Mequinez was constituted a royal city, it was a place of +considerable trade and riches. Nothing of any peculiar value has been +discovered among the extensive and ancient ruins about a mile distant, +and which have furnished materials for the building of several royal +cities; they are, however, supposed to be Roman. Scarcely a day's +journey separates Mequinez from Fez. It is not usual for two royal +cities to be placed so near together, but which must render their +fortunes inseparable. + +Fez, or Fas. According to some, the name Fas, which signifies in Arabia +a pickaxe, was given to it because one was found in digging its +foundations. Others derive it from Fetha, silver. It is no longer the +marvellous city described by Leo Africanus, yet its learning, wealth, +and industry place it in the first rank of the cities of Morocco. During +the eighth century, the Arabs, masters of Tunis, of all Algeria, and the +maritime cities of Morocco, seemed to think only of invading Europe and +consolidating their power in Spain; but at this epoch, a descendant of +Ali and Fatima, Edris Ben Abdalluh, quitted Arabia, passed into Morocco, +and established himself at Oualili, the capital, where he remained till +his death, and where he was buried. His character was generally known +and venerated for its sanctity, and drew upon him the affectionate +regard of the people, and all instinctively placed themselves near him +as a leader of the Faithful, likely to put an end to anarchy, and +establish order in the Mussulman world. His son, Edris-Ben-Edris, who +inherited his virtues and influence, offering a species of ancient +prototype to Abd-el Kader and his venerable father, Mahadin, was the +first _bona-fide_ Mussulman sovereign of the Maroquine empire, and +founded Fez. + +Fez is a most ancient centre of population, and had long been a famed +city, before Muley Edris, in the year A.D. 807 (others in 793), gave it +its present form and character. + +From that period, however, Fez [26] dates its modern celebrity and rank +among the Mahometan capitals of the world, and especially as being the +second city of Islamism, and the "palace of the Mussulmen Princes of the +West." That the Spanish philologists should make Fut, of the Prophet +Nahum, to be the ancient capital of Fez, is not remarkable, considering +the numerous bands of emigrants, who, emerging from the coast, wandered +as far as the pillars of Hercules; and, besides, in a country like North +Africa, the theatre of so many revolutions, almost every noted city of +the present period has had its ancient form, from which it has been +successively changed. + +The modern capital is placed in a valley upon the gentle slope of +several hills by which it is surrounded, and whose heights are crowned +with lovely gardens breathing odoriferous sweets. Close by is a little +river, or a branch of the Tebou, named Wad-el-Juhor, or "streamlet," +which supplies the city with excellent water. + +The present buildings are divided into old and new Fez. The streets are +so narrow that two men on horseback could scarcely ride abreast; they +are, besides, very dark, and often arched over. Colonel Scott represents +some of the streets, however, as a mile in length. The houses are high, +but not handsome. The shops are numerous and much frequented, though not +very fine in appearance. Fez contains no less than seven hundred +mosques, fifty of which are superb, and ornamented with fine columns of +marble; there is, besides, a hundred or more of very small and ill-built +mosques, or rather, houses of prayer. The most famous of these temples +of worship is El-Karoubin (or El-Karouïin), supported by three hundred +pillars. In this is preserved the celebrated library of antiquity, +where, it is pretended, ancient Greek and Latin authors are to be found +in abundance with the lost books of Titus Livy. + +This appears to be mere conjecture. [27] But the mosque the more +frequented and venerated, is that dedicated to the founder of the city, +Muley Edris, whose ashes repose within its sacred enclosure. So +excessive is this "hero-worship" for this great sultan, that the people +constantly invoke his name in their prayers instead of that of the +Deity. The mausoleum of this sacro-santo prince is inviolable and +unapproachable. The university of Fez was formally much celebrated, but +little of its learning now remains. Its once high-minded orthodox mulahs +are now succeeded by a fanatic and ignorant race of marabouts. +Nevertheless, the few _hommes de lettres_ found in Morocco are +congregated here, and the literature of the empire is concentrated in +this city. Seven large public schools are in full activity, besides +numbers of private seminaries of instruction. The low humour of the +talebs, and the fanaticism of the people, are unitedly preserved and +developed in this notorious doggerel couplet, universally diffused +throughout Morocco:-- + + _Ensara fee Senara + Elhoud fee Sefoud_ + + "Christians on the hook + Jews on the spit," or + + "Let Christians be hooked, + And let Jews be cooked." + +The great division of the Arabic into eastern and western dialects makes +little real difference in a practical point of view. The Mogrebbin, or +western, is well understood by all travellers, and, of course, by all +scholars from the East. + +The palace of the Sultan is not large, but is handsome. There are +numerous baths, and an hospital for the mad or incurable. The population +was estimated, not long ago, at 88,000 souls, of which there were 60,000 +Moors and Arabs (the Moors being chiefly immigrants from Spain), 10,000 +Berbers, 8,000 Jews, and 10,000 Negroes. But this amount has been +reduced to 40,000, or even 30,000; and the probability is, the present +population of Fez does not by any means, exceed 50,000, if it reaches +that number. Nearly all the Jews reside in the new city, which, by its +position, dominates the old one. The inhabitants of Fez, in spite of +their learning and commerce, are distinguished for their fanaticism; and +an European, without an escort of troops, cannot walk in the streets +unless disguised. It was lately the head-quarters of the fanatics who +preached "the holy war," and involved the Emperor in hostilities with +the French. + +The immense trade of every kind carried on at Fez gives it almost the +air of an European city. In the great square, called Al-Kaisseriah, is +exhibited all the commerce of Europe and Africa--nay, even of the whole +world. The crowd of traffickers here assemble every day as at a fair. +Fez has two annual caravans; one leaves for Central Africa, or +Timbuctoo; and another for Mecca, or the caravan of pilgrims. The two +great stations and rendezvous points of the African caravan are Tafilett +and Touat. The journey from Fez to Timbuctoo occupies about ninety days. +The Mecca caravan proceeds the same route as far as Touat, and then +turns bank north-east to Ghadames, Fezzan, and Angelah, and thence to +Alexandria, which it accomplishes in four or five, to six months. All +depends on the inclination of the Shereef, or Commandant, of the +caravan; but the journey from Fez to Alexandria cannot, by the quickest +caravan, be accomplished in much less time than three months and a half, +or one hundred days. The value of the investments in this caravan has +been estimated at a million of dollars; for the faithful followers of +the Prophet believe, with us, that godliness is profitable in the life +that now is, as well as in that which is to come. + +Fez is surrounded with a vast wall, but which is in decay. What is this +decay! It applies almost to every Moorish city and public building in +North Africa. And yet the faith of the false prophet is as strong as +ever, and with time and hoary age seems to strike its roots deeper into +the hearts of its simple, but enthusiastic and duped devotees! + +The city has seven gates, and two castles, at the east and west, form +its main defence. These castles are very ancient, and are formed and +supported by square walls about sixty feet in front, Ali Bey says, +subterraneous passages are reported to exist between these castles and +the city; and, whenever the people revolt against the Sultan, cannon are +planted on the castles with a few soldiers as their guard. The +fortifications, or Bastiles, of Paris, we see, therefore, were no new +invention of Louis Philippe to awe the populace. The maxims of a subtle +policy are instructive in despotism of every description. + +The constituted authorities of Fez are like those of every city of +Morocco. The Governor is the lieutenant of the sovereign, exercising the +executive power; the Kady, or supreme judge, is charged with the +administration of the law, and the Al-Motassen fixes the price of +provisions, and decides all the questions of trade and customs. There +are but few troops at Fez, for it is not a strong military possession; +on the contrary, it is commanded by accessible heights and is exposed to +a _coup-de-main_. + +Fez, indeed, could make no _bonâ-fide_ resistance to an European army. +The manufactures are principally woollen haiks, silk handkerchiefs, +slippers and shoes of excellent leather, and red caps of felt, commonly +called the fez; the first fabrication of these red caps appears to have +been in this city. The Spanish Moorish immigrants introduced the mode of +dressing goat and sheep-skins, at first known by the name of Cordovan +from Cordova; but, since the Moorish forced immigration, they have +acquired the celebrated name of Morocco. The chief food of the people is +the national Moorish dish of _cuscasou_, a fine grained paste, cooked by +steam, with melted fat, oil, or other liquids poured upon the dish, and +sometimes garnished with pieces of fowl and other meat. A good deal of +animal food is consumed, but few vegetables. The climate is mild in the +winter, but suffocating with heat in the summer. This city is placed in +latittude 34° 6' 3" N. longitude 4° 38" 15'W. + +Morocco, or strictly in Arabic, _Maraksh_, which signifies "adorned," +is the capital of the South, and frequently denominated the capital of +the Empire, but it is only a _triste_ shadow of its former greatness. It +is sometimes honoured with the title of "the great city," or "country." +Morocco occupies an immense area of ground, being seven miles in +circumference, the interior of which is covered with heaps of ruins or +more pleasantly converted into gardens. Morocco was built in 1072 or +1073 by the famous Yousel-Ben-Tashfin, King of Samtuna, and of the +dynasty of the Almoravedi, or Marabouts. Its site is that of an ancient +city, Martok, founded in the remotest periods of the primitive Africans, +or aboriginal Berbers, in whose language it signifies a place where +everything good and pleasant was to be found in abundance. + +Bocanum Hermerum of the Ancients was also near the site of this capital, +Morocco attained its greatest prosperity shortly after its foundation, +and since then it has only declined. In the twelfth century, under the +reign of Jâkoub Almanzor, there were 10,000 houses and 700,000 souls, +(if indeed we can trust their statistics); but, at the present time, +there are only some forty to fifty thousand inhabitants, including 4,000 +Shelouhs and 5,000 Jews. Ali Bey, in 1804, estimates its population at +only 30,000, and Captain Washington in 1830 at 80, or 100,000. This vast +city lies at the foot of the Atlas, or about fourteen miles distant, +spread over a wide and most lovely plain of the province of Rhamma, +watered by the river Tensift, six miles from the gates of the capital. + +The mosques are numerous and rich, the principal of which are +El-Kirtubeeah, of elegant architecture with an extremely lofty minaret; +El-Maazin, which is three hundred years old, and a magnificent building; +and Benious, built nearly seven hundred years ago of singular +construction, uniting modern and ancient architecture. The mosque of the +patron saint is Sidi Belabbess. Nine gates open in the city-walls; these +are strong and high, and flanked with towers, except on the south east +where the Sultan's palace stands. The streets are crooked, of uneven +width, unpaved, and dirty in winter, and full of dust in summer. + +There are several public squares and marketplaces. The Kaessaria, or +commercial quarter, is extensive, exhibiting every species of +manufacture and natural product. + +The manufactures of this, as of other large places, are principally, +silks, embroidery, and leather. The merchants of Mogador have magazines +here; this capital has also its caravans, which trade to the interior, +passing through Wadnoun to the south. + +The Imperial palace is without the city and fortified with strong walls. +There are large gardens attached, in one of which the Emperor receives +his merchants and the diplomatic agents. The air of the country, at the +foot of the Atlas, is pure and salubrious. The city is well supplied +with water from an aqueduct, connecting it with the river Tensift, which +flows from the gorges of the Atlas. But the inhabitants, although they +enjoy this inestimable blessing in an African climate, are not famous +for their cleanliness; Morocco, if possessing any particular character, +still must be considered as a commercial city, for its learning is at a +very low ebb. Its interior wears a deeply dejected, nay a profoundly +gloomy aspect. + + "Horrendum incultumque specus." + +and the European merchants, when they come up here are glad to get away +as soon as possible. + +Outside the city, there is a suburb appropriated to lepers, a +Lazar-house of leprosy, which afflicting and loathsome disease descends +from father to son through unbroken generations; the afflicted cannot +enter the city, and no one dare approach their habitations. The Emperor +usually resides for a third portion of his time at Morocco the rest at +Fez and Mequinez. Whenever his Imperial Highness has anything +disagreeable with foreign European powers, he comes down from Fez to +Morocco, to get out of the way. Occasionally, he travels from town to +town of the interior, to awe by his presence the ever restless +disaflfection of the tribes, or excite their loyalty for the Shereefian +throne. + +Morocco is placed in Lat. 31° 37" 31' N. and Long. 7° 35" 30', W. + +Tafilett consists of a group of towns or villages, situate on the +south-eastern side of the Atlas, which may he added to the royal cities, +being inhabited in part by the Imperial family, and is the birth-place +of their sovereign power--emphatically called Beladesh-Sherfa, "country +of the Shereefs." The country was anciently called Sedjelmasa, and +retained this name up to 1530 A.D., when the principal city acquired the +apellation of Tafilett, said to be derived from an Arab immigrant, +called Filal, who improved the culture of dates, and whose name on this +account, under the Berber form of Tafilett, was given to a plantation of +dates cultivated by him, and then passed to the surrounding districts. + +At the present time, Tafilett consists of a group of fortified or +castle-built villages, environed by walls mounted with square towers, +which extend on both sides of the river Zig. There is also a castle, or +rather small town, upon the left side of the river, called by the +ordinary name of Kesar, which is in the hands of the Shereefs, and +inhabited entirely by the family of the Prophet. The principal and most +flourishing place was a long time called Tafilett, but is now according +to Callie, Ghourlan, and the residence of the Governor of the province +of Ressant, a town distinguished by a magnificent gateway surrounded +with various coloured Dutch tiles, symmetrically arranged in a diamond +pattern. This traveller calls the district of Tafilett, Afile or Afilel. + +It is probable that from the rains of the ancient Sedjelmasa, some of +the modern villages have been constructed. The towns and districts of +Tafilett once formed an independent kingdom. The present population has +been estimated at some ten thousand, but this is entirely conjectural. +Callié mentions the four towns of Ghourlan, L'Eksebi, Sosso and Boheim +as containing eleven or twelve thousand souls. The soil of Tafilett is +level, composed of sand of an ashy grey, productive of corn, and all +sorts of European fruits and vegetables. The natives have fine sheep, +with remarkably white wool. The manufactures, which are in woollen and +silk, are called Tafiletes. + +Besides being a rendezvous of caravans, radiating through all parts of +the Sahara, Tafilett is a great mart of traffic in the natural products +of the surrounding countries. A fine bridge spans the Zig, built by a +Spaniard. When the Sultan of Morocco finds any portion of his family +inclined to be naughty, he sends them to Tafilett, as we are wont to +send troublesome people to "Jericho." This, at any rate, is better than +cutting off their heads, which, from time immemorial, has been the +invariable practice of African and Oriental despots. The Maroquine +princes may be thankful they have Tafilett as a place of exile. The +Emperors never visit Tafilett except as dethroned exiles. A journey to +such a place is always attended with danger; and were the Sultan to +escape, he would find, on his return, the whole country in revolt. + +Regarding these royal cities, we sum up our observations. The destinies +of Fez and Mequinez are inseparable. United, they contain one hundred +thousand inhabitants, the most polished and learned in the Empire. Fez +is the city of arts and learning, that is of what remains of the once +famous and profound Moorish doctors of Spain. Mequinez is the strong +place of the Empire, an emporium of arms and imperial Cretsures. Fez is +the rival of Morocco. The two cities are the capitals of two kingdoms, +never yet amalgamated. The present dynasty belongs not to Fez, but to +Morocco; though a dynasty of Shereefs, they are Shereefs of the south, +and African blood flows in their veins. + +The Sultan generally is obliged to give a preference to Fez for a +residence, because his presence is necessary to maintain the allegiance +of the north country, and to curb its powerful warparty, his son in the +meanwhile being left Governor during his absence. But all these royal +cities are on the decline, the "sere and yellow leaf" of a well nigh +defunct civilization. Morocco is a huge shell of its former greatness, a +monster of Moresque dilapidations. France may awaken the slumbering +energies of the population of these once flourishing and august cities, +but left to themselves they are powerless, sinking under their own +weight and uncouth encumbrances, and will rise no more till +reconstructed by European hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + + +We have briefly to notice the remaining towns and cities of the +interior, with some other remarkable places. + +First, these distinguished and well ascertained places in the kingdom of +Fez. + +Seisouan, or Sousan, is the capital of the Rif province, situate also on +the borders of the province of the Habat, and by the sources of a little +river which runs into the Mediterranean, near Cape Mazari. The town is +small, but full of artizans and merchants. The country around is +fertile, being well irrigated with streams. Sousan is the most +beautifully picturesque of all the Atlas range. + +Sofou, or Sofron, is a fine walled city, southeast of Fez, situate upon +the river Guizo; in a vast and well-watered plain near, are rich mines +of fossil salt. + +Wazen, or Wazein, in the province of Azgar, and the region of the Gharb, +is a small city without Walls, celebrated for being the residence of +the High Priest, or Grand Marabout of the Empire. This title is +hereditary, and is now (or up to lately) possessed by the famous +Sidi-el-Haj-el-Araby-Ben-Ali, who, in his district, lives in a state of +nearly absolute independence, besides exercising great influence over +public affairs. This saint, or priest, has, however, a rival at Tedda. +The two popes together pretend to decide the fate of the Empire. The +districts where these Grand Marabouts reside, are without governors, +and the inhabitants pay no tribute into the imperial coffers, they are +ruled by their two priests under a species of theocracy. The Emperor +never attempts or dares to contest their privileges. Occasionally they +appear abroad, exciting the people, and declaiming against the vices of +the times. His Moorish Majesty then feels himself ill at ease, until +they retire to their sanctuaries, and employs all his arts to effect +the object, protesting that he will be wholly guided by their councils +in the future administration of the Empire. With this humiliation of +the Shereefs, they are satisfied, and kennel themselves into their +sanctum-sanctorums. + +Zawiat-Muley-Driss, which means, retirement of our master, Lord Edris +(Enoch) and sometimes called Muley Edris, is a far famed city of the +province of Fez, and placed at the foot of the lofty mountains of +Terhoun, about twenty-eight miles from Fez, north-west, amidst a most +beautiful country, producing all the necessaries and luxuries of human +life. The site anciently called Tuilet, was perhaps also the Volubilis +of the ancients. Here is a sanctuary dedicated to the memory of Edris, +progenitor and founder of the dynasty of Edrisiti. + +The population, given by Gräberg, is nine thousand, but this is +evidently exaggerated. Not far off, towards the west, are some +magnificent ruins of an ancient city, called Kesar Farâoun, or "Castle +of Pharoah." + +Dubdu, called also Doubouton, is an ancient, large city, of the district +of Shaous, and once the residence of an independent prince, but now +fallen into decay on account of the sterility of its site, which is upon +the sides of a barren mountain. Dubdu is three days' journey southeast +of Fez, and one day from Taza, in the region of the Mulweeah. Taza is +the capital of the well-watered district of Haiaina, and one of the +finest cities in Morocco, in a most romantic situation, placed on a rock +which is shaped like an island, and in presence of the lofty mountains +of Zibel Medghara, to the south-west. Perhaps it is the Babba of the +ancients; a river runs round the town. The houses and streets are +spacious, and there is a large mosque. The air is pure, and provisions +are excellent. The population is estimated at ten or twelve thousand, +who are hospitable, and carry on a good deal of commerce with Tlemsen +and Fez. Taza is two days from Fez, and four from Oushda. + +Oushda is the well-known frontier town, on the north-east, which +acquired some celebrity during the late war. It is enclosed by the walls +of its gardens, and is protected by a large fortress. The place contains +a population of from six hundred to one thousand Moors and Arabs. There +is a mosque, as well as three chapels, dedicated to Santous. The houses, +built of clay, are low and of a wretched appearance; the streets are +winding, and covered with flints. The fortress, where the Kaed resides, +is guarded in ordinary times by a dozen soldiers; but, were this force +increased, it could not be defended, in consequence of its dilapidated +condition. A spring of excellent water, at a little distance from +Oushda, keeps up the whole year round freshness and verdure in the +gardens, by means of irrigation. Cattle hereabouts is of fine quality. +Oushda is a species of oasis of the Desert of Angad, and the aridity of +the surrounding country makes these gardens appear delicious, melons, +olives, and figs being produced in abundance. + +The distance between Tlemsen and Oushda is sixteen leagues, or about +sixteen hours' march for troops; Oushda is also four or five days from +Oran, and six days from Fez. The Desert commences beyond the Mulweeah, +at more than forty leagues from Tlemsen. Like the Algerian Angad, which +extends to the south of Tlemsen, it is of frightful sterility, +particularly in summer. In this season, one may march for six or eight +hours without finding any water. It is impossible to carry on military +operations in such a country during summer. On this account, Marshal +Bugeaud soon excavated Oushda and returned to the Tlemsen territory. + +Aghla is a town, or rather large village, of the district of Fez, where +the late Muley Suleiman occasionally resided. It is situated along the +river Wad Vergha, in a spacious and well-cultivated district. A great +market of cattle, wool, and bees'-wax, is held in the neighbourhood. The +country abounds in lions; but, it is pretended, of such a cowardly race, +that a child can frighten them away. Hence the proverb addressed to a +pusillanimous individual, "You are as brave as the lions of Aghla, whose +tails the calves eat." The Arabs certainly do occasionally run after +lions with sticks, or throw stones at them, as we are accustomed to +throw stones at dogs. + +Nakhila, _i.e._, "little palm," is a little town of the province of +Temsna, placed in the river Gueer; very ancient, and formerly rich and +thickly populated. A great mart, or souk, is annually held at this +place. It is the site of the ancient Occath. + +Meshru Khaluf, _i.e._, "ford, or watering-place of the wild-boar," in +the district of the Beni-Miskeen, is a populated village, and situated +on the right bank of the Ovad Omm-Erbergh, lying on the route of many of +the chief cities. Here is the ford of Meshra Khaluf, forty-five feet +wide, from which the village derives its name. + +On the map will be seen many places called Souk. The interior tribes +resort thither to purchase and exchange commodities. The market-places +form groups of villages. It is not a part of my plan to give any +particular description of them. + +Second, those places distinguished in the kingdom of Morocco, including +Sous, Draha, and Tafilett. + +Tefza, a Berber name, which, according to some, signifies "sand," and to +others, "a bundle of straw," is the capital of the province of Todla, +built by the aborigines on the slope of the Atlas, who surrounded it +with a high wall of sandstone (called, also, Tefza.) At two miles east +of this is the smaller town of Efza, which is a species of suburb, +divided from Tefza by the river Derna. The latter place is inhabited +certainly by Berbers, whose women are famous for their woollen works and +weaving. Tefza is also celebrated for its native black and white woollen +manufactures. The population of the two places is stated at upwards of +10,000, including 2,000 Jews. + +Pitideb, or Sitideb, is another fine town in the neighbourhood, built by +the Amazirghs on the top of a high mountain. The inhabitants are +esteemed the most civilized of their nation, and governed by their own +elders and chiefs, they live in a state of almost republican +independence. Some good native manufactures are produced, and a large +commerce with strangers is carried on. The women are reputed as being +extremely fair and fascinating. + +Ghuer, or Gheu, (War, _i.e._, "difficult?") is a citadel, or rather a +strong, massive rock, and the most inaccessible of all in Morocco, +forming a portion of the mountains of Jedla, near the sources of the Wad +Omm-Erbegh. This rocky fort is the residence of the supreme Amrgar, or +chief of the Amazirghs, who rendered himself renowned through the empire +by fighting a pitch-battle with the Imperial troops in 1819. Such chiefs +and tribes occasion the weakness of the interior; for, whenever the +Sultan has been embroiled with European Powers, these aboriginal +Amazirghs invariably seized the opportunity of avenging their wrongs and +ancient grudges. The Shereefs always compound with them, if they can, +these primitive tribes being so many centres of an _imperium imperio_, +or of revolt and disaffection. + +Tijijet in the province of Dukkalah, situate on the left bank of the +river Omm-Erbegh, along the route from Fez to Morocco, is a small town, +but was formerly of considerable importance. + +A famous market for grain is held here, which is attended by the tribe +of the Atlas: the country abounds in grain and cattle of the finest +breed. + +Bulawan or Bou-el-Awan, "father of commodious ways or journeys," is a +small town of 300 houses, with an old castle, formerly a place of +consequence; and lying on an arm of the river Omm-Erbegh _en route_ from +Morocco to Salee and Mequinez and commanding the passage of the river. +It is 80 miles from Morocco, and 110 from Salee. On the opposite side of +the river, is the village of Taboulaunt, peopled mostly with Jews and +ferrymen. + +Soubeit is a very ancient city on the left bank of the Omm-Erbegh, +surrounded with walls, and situate twenty miles from El-Medina in a +mountainous region abounding with hares; it is inhabited by a tribe of +the same name, or probably Sbeita, which is also the name of a tribe +south of Tangier. + +Meramer is a city built by the Goths on a fertile plain, near Mount +Beni-Megher, about fourteen miles east of Saffee, in the province of +Dukkala, and carrying on a great commerce in oil and grain. + +El-Medina is a large walled populous city of merchants and artizans, and +capital of the district of Haskowra; the men are seditious, turbulent +and inhospitable; the women are reputed to be fair and pretty, but +disposed, when opportunity offers, to confer their favours on strangers. + +There is another place four miles distant of nearly the same name. + +Tagodast is another equally large and rich city of the province of +Haskowra crowning the heights of a lofty mountain surrounded by four +other mountains, but near a plain of six miles in extent, covered with +rich vegetation producing an immense quantity of Argan oil, and the +finest fruits. + +This place contains about 7,000 inhabitants, who are a noble and +hospitable race. Besides, Argan oil, Tagodast is celebrated for its red +grapes, which are said to be as large as hen's eggs--the honey of +Tagodast is the finest in Africa. The inhabitants trade mostly with the +south. + +Dimenet or Demnet is a considerable town, almost entirely populated by +the Shelouhs and Caraaite Jews; it is situate upon the slopes of a +mountain of the same name, or Adimmei, in the district of Damnat, +fifteen miles distant from Wad Tescout, which falls into the Tensift. +The inhabitants are reputed to be of a bad and malignant character, but, +nevertheless, learned in Mussulman theology, and fond of disputing with +foreigners. Orthodoxy and morality are frequently enemies of one +another, whilst good-hearted and honest people are often hetherodox in +their opinions. + +Aghmat, formerly a great and flourishing city and capital of the +province of Rhamna, built by the Berbers, and well fortified--is now +fallen into decay, and consists only of a miserable village inhabited by +some sixty families, among which are a few Jews--Aghmat lies at the foot +of Mount Atlas, on the road which conducts to Tafilett, near a river of +the same name, and in the midst of a fine country abounding in orchards +and vine-yards; Aghmat was the first capital of the Marabout dynasty. + +Fronga is a town densely populated almost entirely by Shelouhs and Jews, +lying about fifteen miles from the Atlas range upon an immense plain +which produces the finest grain in Morocco. + +Tednest, the ancient capital of the province of Shedmah, and built by +the Berbers, is deliciously placed upon a paridisical plain, and was +once the residence of the Shereefs. It contains a population of four +thousand souls, one thousand eight hundred being Jews occupied with +commerce, whilst the rest cultivate the land. This is a division of +labour amongst Mahometans and Israelites not unfrequent in North Africa. +But, as in Europe, the Jew is the trader, not the husbandman. + +Tekoulet is a small and pretty town, rising a short distance from the +sea, by the mouth of the stream Dwira, in the province of Hhaha. The +water is reckoned the best in the province, and the people are honest +and friendly; the Jews inhabit one hundred houses. + +Tesegdelt, is another city of the province of Hhaha, very large and +rich, perched high upon a mountain, and that fortified by nature. The +principal mosque is one of the finest in the empire. + +Tagawost is a city, perhaps the most ancient, and indeed the largest of +the province of Sous. It is distant ten miles from the great river Sous, +and fifty from the Atlas. The suburbs are surrounded with huge blocks of +stone. Togawost contains a number of shops and manufactories of good +workmen, who are divided into three distinct classes of people, all +engaged in continual hostilities with one another. The men are, however, +honest and laborious, while the women are pretty and coquettish. People +believe St. Augustine, whom the Mahometans have dubbed a Marabout, was +born in this city. Their trade is with the Sahara and Timbuctoo. + +Fedsi is another considerable city, anciently the capital of Sous, +reclining upon a large arm of the river Sous, amidst a fruitful soil, +and contains about fourteen thousand inhabitants, who are governed by +republican institutions. It is twenty miles E.N.E. of Taroudant. + +Beneali is a town placed near to the source of the river Draha, in the +Atlas. It is the residence of the chief of the Berbers of Hadrar, on the +southern Atlas. + +Beni-Sabih, Moussabal, or Draha, is the capital of the province of +Draha, and a small place, but populated and commercial. On the river of +the same name, was the Draha of ancient geography. + +Tatta and Akka, are two towns or villages of the province of Draha, +situate on the southern confines of Morocco, and points of rendezvous +for the caravans in their route over the Great Desert. + +Tatta is four days direct east from Akka, and placed in 28° 3' lat. and +90° 20' long. west of Paris. Akka consists of two hundred houses, +inhabited by Mussulmen, and fifty by Jews. The environs are highly +cultivated. Akka is two days east of Wadnoun, situate on a plain at the +foot of Gibel-Tizintit, and is placed in 28° 3' lat. and 10° 51' long. +west of Paris. + +Messah, or Assah. Messa is, according to Gräberg, a walled city, built +by the Berbers, not far from the river Sous, and divided like nearly all +the cities of Sous, into three parts, or quarters, each inhabited by +respective classes of Shelouhs, Moors, and Jews. Cities are also divided +in this manner in the provinces of Guzzala and Draha. The sea on the +coast of Sous throws up a very fine quantity of amber. Male whales are +occasionally visitors here. The population is three thousand, but Mr. +Davidson's account differs materially. The town is named Assah, and +distant about two miles from the sea, there being a few scattered houses +on each side of the river, to within half a mile of the sea. The place +is of no importance, famed only for having near it a market on Tuesday, +to which many people resort. The population may be one hundred. Assah is +also the name of the district though which the Sous river flows. The +Bas-el-wad (or head of the river) is very properly the name of the upper +part of the river; when passing through Taroudant it takes the name of +Sous. Fifteen miles from Assah is the town of Aghoulon, containing about +six hundred people. + +Talent, or Tilin, the difference only is the adding of the Berber +termination. The other consonants are the same, perhaps, as Mr. Davidson +incidentally mentions. It is a strong city, and capital of the province +of Sous-el-Aksa, or the extreme part of Sous. This province is sometimes +called Tesset, or Tissert. A portion of it is also denominated +Blad-Sidi-Hasham, and forms a free and quasi-independant state, founded +in 1810 by the Emir Hasham, son of the Shereef Ahmed Ben Mousa. This +prince was the bug-bear of Captain Riley. The district contains upwards +of twenty-five thousand Shelouhs and industrious Arabs. Talent is the +residence of the prince, and is situate on the declivity of a hill, not +far from the river Wad-el-Mesah, or Messa, and a mile from Ilekh, or +Ilirgh, a populous village, where there is a famous sanctuary, resorted +to by the Mahometans of the surrounding regions, of the name of Sidi +Hamed-ou-Mousa, (probably Ben Mousa). The singularity of this sacred +village is, that Jews constitute the majority of the population. But +they seem absolutely necessary to the very existence of the Mussulmen of +North Africa, who cannot live without them, or make profitable exchange +of the products of the soil, or of native industry, for European +articles of use and luxury. + +Shtouka, or Stuka, is, according to some, a large town or village; or, +as stated by Davidson, a _district_. The fact is, many African districts +are called by the name of a principal town or village in them, and _vice +versâ_. This place stands on the banks of the Wad-el-Mesah, and is +inhabited by some fifteen hundred Shelouhs, who are governed by a +Sheikh, nearly independent of Morocco. + +On Talent and Shtouka, Mr. Davidson remarks. "There is no town called +Stuka; it is a district; none that I can find called Talent; there is +Tilin. The Mesah flows through Stuka, in which district are twenty +settlements, or rather towns, some of which are large. They are known in +general by the names of the Sheikhs who inhabit them. I stopped at +Sheikh Hamed's. Tilin was distant from this spot a day's journey in the +mountains towards the source of the river. If by Talent, Tissert is +meant, Oferen (a town) is distant six miles." + +On the province of Sous generally, Don J.A. Conde has this note:-- + +"In this region (Sous) near the sea, is the temple erected in honour of +the prophet Jonas; it was there he was cast out of the belly of the +whale." This temple, says Assed Ifriki, is made of the bones of whales +which perish on this coast. A little further on, he alludes to the +breaking of horses, and being skilful in bodily exercises, for the Moors +and Numidians have always been renowned in that respect. + +In the lesser and more remote towns, I have followed generally the +enumeration of Count Gräberg, but there are many other places on the +maps, with varieties of names or differences of position. Our geography +of the interior of Morocco, especially in the South, is still very +obscure, and I have only selected those towns and places of whose +present existence there is no question. My object, in the above +enumeration, has been simply to give the reader a proximate estimate of +the population and resources of this country. Of the strength and number +of the tribes of the interior, we know scarcely anything. The names of +the towns and villages of the South, so frequently beginning and ending +with T., sufficiently indicate the preponderance of the Berber +population, under the names of Shelouh or Amazirgh, whilst the great +error of writers has been to represent the Arabs as more numerous than +this aboriginal population. + +Monsieur E. Renou, in his geographical description of the Empire of +Morocco (Vol. VIII. of the "Exploration Scientifique," &c.) foolishly +observes that there is no way of arriving at correct statistics of this +empire, except by comparing it with Algeria; and then remarks, which is +true enough, "Malheureusement, la population de l'Algérie n'est pas +encore bien connue." When, however, he asserts that the numbers of +population given by Jackson and Gräberg are gross, and almost +unpardonable exaggerations, given at hazard, I am obliged to agree with +him from the personal experience I had in Morocco, and these Barbary +countries generally. + +Jackson makes the whole of the population to amount to almost fifteen +millions, or nearly two thirds more than it probably amounts to. Gräberg +estimates it at eight millions and a half. But how, or why, or +wherefore, such estimates are made is not so easy to determine. Certain +it is, that the whole number of cities which I have enumerated, scarcely +represent one million of inhabitants. But for those who like to see +something more definite in statistics, however exaggerated may be the +estimate, I shall give the more moderate calculations of Gräberg, those +of Jackson being beyond all rhyme or reason. Gräberg thus classifies and +estimates the population. + + Amazirghs, Berbers, and Touaricks 2,300,000 + Amazirghs, Shelouhs and Arabs 1,450,000 + Arabs, mixed Moors, &c. 3,550,000 + Arabs pure, Bedouins, &c. 740,000 + Israelites, Rabbinists, and Caraites 339,500 + Negroes, Fullans, and Mandingoes 120,000 + Europeans and Christians 300 + Renegades 200 + ---------- + Total 8,500,000 + +If two millions are deducted from this amount, perhaps the reader will +have something like a probable estimate of the population of Morocco. It +is hardly correct to classify Moors as mixed Arabs, many of them being +simply descendants of the aboriginal Amazirghs. I am quite sure there +are no Touaricks in the Empire of Morocco. + +Of the Maroquine Sahara, I have only space to mention the interesting +cluster of oases of Figheegh, or Figuiq. Shaw mentions them as "a knot +of villagers," noted for their plantations of palm-trees, supplying the +western province of Algeria with dates. We have now more ample +information of Figheegh, finding this Saharan district to consist of an +agglomeration of twelve villages, the more considerable of which are +Maiz, counting eight hundred houses, El-Wadghir five hundred, and Zenega +twelve hundred. The others vary from one or two hundred houses. The +villages are more or less connected together, never farther apart than a +quarter of a league, and placed on the descent of Wal-el-Khalouf ("river +of the wild boar") whence water is procured for the gardens, containing +varieties of fruit-trees and abundance of date-palms, all hedged round +with prickly-pears. Madder-root and tobacco are also cultivated, besides +barley sufficient for consumption. The wheat is brought from the Teli. +The Wad-el-Khalouf is dry, except in winter, but its bed is bored with +inexhaustible wells, whose waters are distributed among the gardens by +means of a _clepsydra_, or a vessel which drops so much water in an +hour. The ancients measured time by the dropping of water, like the +falling of sand in the hour-glass. + +Some of the houses in these villages have two stories, and are well +built; each place has its mosque, its school, its kady, and its sheikh, +and the whole agglomeration of oases is governed by a Sheikh Kebir, +appointed by the Sultan of Morocco. These Saharan villages are eternally +in strife with one another, and sometimes take up arms. On this account, +they are surrounded by crenated walls, defended by towers solidly built. +The immediate cause of discord here is water, that precious element of +all life in the desert. But the imaginations of the people are not +satisfied with this simple reason, and they are right, for the cause +lies deeply in the human heart. They say, however, their ancestors were +cursed by a Marabout, to punish them for their laxity in religion, and +this was his anathema, "God make you, until the day of judgment, like +wool-comber's cards, the one gnawing the other!" + +Their wars, in fact, are most cruel, for they destroy the noble and +fruitful palms, which, by a tacit convention, are spared in other parts +of the Sahara when these quarrels proceed to bloodshed. They have, +besides, great tact in mining, and their reputation as miners has been a +long time established. But, happily, they are addicted to commerce and +various branches of industry, as well as war, having commercial +relations with Fez, Tafilett and Touat, and the people are, therefore, +generally prosperous. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + + +We have at times imported into Mogador a stray London Jew or so, of the +lower lemon-selling sort. These lads from the Minories, are highly +exasperated against the Moors for treating them with so much contempt. +Indeed, a high-spirited London Jew-boy will not stop at Mogador, though +the adult merchant will, to get money, for mankind often learn baseness +with age, and pass to it through a golden door. One of these Jew-boys, +being cursed by a man, naturally cursed him again, "an eye for an eye, a +tooth for a tooth." Mr. Willshire did not think so; and, on the +complaint of the Moor, the British Consul threw the British Jew-boy into +a Moorish prison, where he remained for some days. This is one more +instance of the disadvantage of having commercial consuls, where +everything is sacrificed to keep on good terms with government +authorities. + +A fire happened the other night, breaking out in the house of one of the +rich Jewish merchants; but it was soon extinguished, the houses being +built chiefly of mortar and stone, with very little wood. The Governor +got up, and went to the scene of "conflagration;" he cracked a few jokes +with the people and went home to bed. The Moors were sorry the fire did +not extend itself, wanting to have an opportunity of appropriating a few +of the merchant's goods. + +I accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Elton, with other friends, to spend the day +in the pleasant valley of the Saneeates-Sultan, (Garden of the Emperor) +sometimes called Gharset-es-Sultan, three or four hours' ride south from +Mogador. The small river of Wad-el-Kesab, (overlooked by the village of +Deeabat, where watch-dogs were barking apparently all day long as well +as night), lay in our way, and was with difficulty forded, heavy rain +having fallen up the country, though none on the coast. These Barbary +streams are very deceptive, illustrating the metaphor of the book of +Job, "deceitful as a brook." To-day, their beds are perfectly dry; +to-morrow, a sheet of turbid water dashing and foaming to the ocean, +covers them and the country round, whilst the immediate cause is +concealed. Abrupt and sudden overflowings occur in all rivers having +their source in mountains. The book of Job may also refer to the +disappointment of Saharan travellers, who, on arriving weary and +thirsty, dying for water, at the stream of the Desert, find it dried up, +and so perish. + +The country in the valley of the Emperor's garden offers nothing +remarkable. Bushes of underwood covering sandy mounds, a few palmettos +and Argan trees, in which wild doves fluttered and flew about, were all +that broke the monotony of a perfect waste. There were no cultivated +lands hereabouts, and I was told that a great part of Morocco presents +this desolate aspect. We visited, however, the celebrated Argan tree, +which the people pretend was planted by the lieutenant of the Prophet, +the mighty Okba, who, having spurred his horse in the roaring rebellious +surge of the Atlantic, wept and wailed before Heaven that there were no +more nations in whose heart to plunge his awful scimitar--so teaching +them the mercy of God! Alas! the old hoary tree, with a most peaceful +patriarchal look, seemed to belie the honour, stretching out its broad +sinewy arm to shelter a hundred people from the darting fires of an +African sun. A more noble object of inanimate nature is not to be +contemplated than a large and lofty branching tree; in its boughs and +leaves, endlessly varying, matted together and intersecting each other, +we see the palpable image of infinity. But in the dry and hot climate of +Africa, this tree is a luxury which cannot be appreciated in Europe. + +We sat under its fresh shade awhile, gazing with security at the bright +fires of the sun, radiating over and through all visible nature. To +check our enthusiasm, we had strewn at our feet old broken bottles and +crockery, the _débris_ and classic relics of former visitors, who were +equally attentive to creature-comforts as to the grandeur of the Argan +monarch of the surrounding forest. + +The Emperor's garden contains a well of water and a few fruit-trees, on +the trunk of one of which, a fine fig-tree, were carved, in durable +bark, the names of European visitors. Among the rest, that of a famous +_belle_, whose gallant worshippers had cut her name over all its broad +trunk, though they may have failed to cut their own on the plastic and +india-rubber tablet of the fair one's heart. This carving on the +fig-tree is the sum of all that Europeans have done in Morocco during +several ages. We rather adopt Moorish habits, and descend to their +animal gratifications than inculcate our own, or the intellectual +pleasures of Christian nations. European females brought up in this +country, few excepted, adopt with gusto the lascivious dances of the +Mooresses; and if this may be said of them, what may we not think of the +male class, who frequently throw off all restraint in the indulgence of +their passions? + +While reposing under the umbrageous shade of the Argan tree, a Moor +related to us wondrous sprite and elfin tales of the forests of of these +wilds. At one period, the Argan woods were full of enchantresses, who +prevented good Mussulmen from saying their prayers, by dancing before +them in all their natural charms, to the sounds of melodious and +voluptuous music; and if a poor son of the Prophet, perchance, passed +this way at the stated times of prayer, he found it impossible to attend +to his devotions, being pestered to death by these naughty houries. + +On another occasion, when it was high summer and the sun burnt every +leaf of the black Argan foliage to a yellow red, and whilst the arid +earth opened her mouth in horrid gaps, crystal springs of water were +seen to bubble forth from the bowels of the earth, and run in rills +among _parterres_ of roses and jessamines. The boughs of the Argan tree +also suddenly changed into _jereeds_ of the date-palm burdened with +luscious fruit; but, on weary travellers descending to slake their +parching thirst and refresh themselves, they fell headlong into the +gaping holes of the ground, and disappeared in the abyss of the dark +entrails of the world. + +These Argan forests continued under the fearful ban of the enchantress +and wicked jinns, until a holy man was brought from the farthest desert +upon the back of a flying camel, who set free the spell-bound wood by +tying on each bewitched tree a small piece of cork bark on which was +inscribed the sacred name of the Deity. The legends of these haunted +Argan forests remind us of the enchanted wood of Tasso, whose +enchantment was dissolved by the gallant knight, Rinaldo, and which +enabled the Crusaders to procure wood for the machines of war to assault +and capture the Holy City. Two quotations will shew the universality and +permanence of superstition, begotten of human hopes and fears. Such is +the beautiful imagery devoted to superstitious musings, by the +illustrious bard:-- + + "While, like the rest, the knight expects to hear + Loud peals of thunder breaking on his ear, + A dulcet symphony his sense invades, + Of nymphs, or dryads, warbling through the shades. + Soft sighs the breeze, soft purls the silver rill. + The feathered choir the woods with music fill; + The tuneful swan in dying notes complains; + The mourning nightingale repeats her strains, + Timbrels and harps and human voices join, + And in one concert all the sounds combine!" + +Then for the streamlets and flowerets-- + + "Where'er he treads, the earth her tribute pours, + In gushing springs, or voluntary flowers. + Here blooms the lily; there the fragrant rose; + Here spouts a fountain; there a riv'let flows; + From every spray the liquid manna trills, + And honey from the softening bark distills. + Again the strange the pleasing sound he hears, + Of plaints and music mingling in his ears; + Yet naught appears that mortal voice can frame. + Nor harp, nor timbrel, whence the music came." + +I had another interview with the Governor on Anti-Slavery subjects. Mr. +Treppass accompanied me, and assisted to interpret. His Excellency was +very condescending, and even joked about his own slaves, asking me how +much I would give him for them. He then continued:--"I am happy to see +you before your departure. Whilst you have been here, I have heard +nothing of your conduct but what was just and proper. You are a quiet +and prudent man, [28] and I am sorry I could not assist you in your +business (abolition). The Sultan will be glad that you and I have not +quarrelled, but are friends." I then asked His Excellency if a person +were to come direct from our Government, with larger powers and +presents, he would have a better chance of success. The Governor +replied, "Not the least whatever. You have done all that could have been +done. We look at the subject, not the persons. The Sultan will never +listen to anybody on this subject. You may cut off his head, but cannot +convince him. If all the Christians of the world were to come and take +this country, then, of course, the Mussulmen would yield the question to +superior force, to the decree of God, but not till then." + +Myself.--"How is it, Sidi, that the Bey of Tunis, and the Imaum of +Muscat have entered into engagements with Christians for the suppression +of slavery, they being Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"I'll tell you; we Mussulmen are as bad as you Christians. +We are full of divisions and sects. Some of our people go to one mosque, +and will not go to another. They are foolish (_mahboul_). So it is with +the subject of slaves. Some are with you, but most are with me. The Bey +of Tunis, and the Imaum have a different opinion from us. They think +they are right, and we think we are right; but we are as good as they." + +Myself.--"Sidi, does not the Koran encourage the abolition of slavery, +and command it as a duty to all pious Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"No, it does not command it, but those who voluntarily +liberate their slaves are therein commended, and have the blessing of +God on them." [29] + +Myself.--"Sidi, is it in my power to do anything for you in London?" + +The Governor.--"Speak well of me, that is all. Tell your friends I did +all I could for you." + +I may mention the opinions of the more respectable Moors, as to the +mission. They said, "If you had managed your mission well, the Sultan +would have received your Address; your Consul is slack; the French +Consul is more active, because he is not the Sultan's merchant. Our +Sultan must receive every person, even a beggar, because God receives +all. You would not have obtained the liberation of our slaves, but the +Sultan would have promised you everything. All that emanates from the +English people is good this we are certain of; but it would have been +better had you come with letters from the Bey of Tunis, shewing what had +been done in that country." Mr. Treppass is also of the opinion, that a +deputation of several persons, accompanied with some presents for the +Emperor and his ministers, would have produced a better effect, by +making an appearance of shew and authority, suitable to the ideas of the +people. [30] If coming direct from Government, it would have greater +weight. + +He thinks, besides, there are a good number of Moors who are favourable +to abolition. Of the connexion between the east and Morocco, he says, +all the Barbary States look up to the Sultan of Constantinople as to a +great authority, and during the last few years, an active +correspondence, on religious matters, has been carried on between +Morocco and Constantinople, chiefly through a celebrated doctor of the +name of Yousef. If the Turkish Sultan, therefore, would _bonâ-fide_ +abolish the slave-markets, I have no doubt this would produce an +impression in Morocco favourable to abolition. + +During the time I was in Morocco, I distributed some Arabic tracts, +translated from the English by Professor Lee of Cambridge, on the +abolition of slavery. A few Arabic Bibles and Hebrew New Testaments were +also placed at my disposal for circulation by the Societies. I also +wrote an Anti-slavery circular to the British merchants of Mogador, on +Lord Brougham's Act. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + + +El-Jereed, or Belad-el-Jereed, the country of dates, or literally, the +country of the palm branches, is a part of the Sahara, or the hot dry +country lying in the immediate vicinity of the Great Desert. Its +principal features of soil and climate offer nothing different from +other portions of the Sahara, or the Saharan regions of Algeria and +Morocco. The Belad-el-Jereed, therefore, may be properly called the +Tunisian Sahara. Shaw observes generally of Jereed:--"This part of the +country, and indeed the whole tract of land which lies between the +Atlantic and Egypt, is by most of the modern geographers, called +Biledulgerid, a name which they seem to have borrowed from +Bloid-el-Jeridde, of the Arabians, who merely signify the dry country; +though, if we except the Jeridde, a small portion of it which is situate +on this side of Lesser Syrtis, and belongs to the Tunisians, all the +rest of it is known by no other general name than the Sahara or Sahra, +among those Arabs, at least, whom I have conversed with." + +Besides the grand natural feature of innumerable lofty and branching +palms, whose dark depending slender leaves, are depicted by the Arabian +poet as hanging gracefully like the dishevelled ringlets of a beautiful +woman in distress, there is the vast salt lake, El-Sibhah, or literally +the "salt plain," and called by some modern geographers the +Sibhah-el-Soudeeat, or Lake of Marks, from having certain marks made of +the trunks of the palm, to assist the caravans in their marches across +its monotonous samelike surface. + +This vast lake, or salt plain, was divided by the ancients into three +parts, and denominated respectively, Palus Tritonis, Palus Pallas, and +Palus Libya. The first is derived from the river Triton, which according +to Ptolemy and other ancient geographers, is made to pass through this +lake in its course to the sea, but which is the present river Ghobs, +where it falls into the Mediterranean. The name Pallas is derived from +the tradition of Pallas having accompanied Sesostris in his Asiatic +expeditions with the Lybian women, and she may have been a native of the +Jereed. The lake measures from north-east to south-west about seventy +English miles, with a third of the breadth, but it is not one collection +of water; there being several dry places, like so many islands, +interspersed over its surface, depending however, as to their number and +extent upon the season of the year, and upon the quantity of water in +the particular season. + +"At first, on crossing it," says a tourist, "the grass and bushes become +gradually scarcer; then follows a tract of sand, which some way beyond, +becomes in parts covered with a thin layer of salt. This, as you +advance, is thicker and more united; then we find it a compact and +unbroken mass or sheet, which can, however, be penetrated by a sword, or +other sharp instrument, and here it was found to be eleven inches in +depth; and finally in the centre, it became so hard, deep, and +concentrated, as to baffle all attempts at breaking its surface except +with a pickaxe. The horse's shoe, in fact, makes no impression upon its +stone-like surface." + +The salt of the lake is considerably weaker than that of the sea, and +not adapted for preserving provisions, though its flavour is very +agreeable; it is not exported, nor made in any way an article of +commerce. + +The Jereed, from the existence in it of a few antiquities, such as +pieces of granite and marble, and occasionally a name or a classic +inscription, is proved to have been in the possession of the Romans, and +undoubtedly of the Carthaginians before them, who could have had no +difficulty in holding this flat and exposed country. + +The trade and resources of this country consist principally in dates. +The quantity exported to other parts of the Regency, as well as to +foreign countries, where their fine quality is well known, is in round +numbers on an average from three to four thousand quintals per annum. +But in Jereed itself, twenty thousand people live six months of the year +entirely on dates. + +"A great number of poles," says Sir Grenville Temple, "are arranged +across the rooms at the height of eight or nine feet from the ground, +and from these are suspended rich and large bunches of dates, which +compose the winter store of the inhabitants; and in one corner of the +room is one or more large earthern jars about six or seven feet high, +also filled with dates pressed close together, and at the bottom of the +jar is a cock, from which is drawn the juice in the form of a thick +luscious syrup. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more +palatable than this 'sweet of sweets.'" + +As we are writing of the country of dates, _par excellence_, I must +needs give some description of the palm, but it will be understood that +the information is Tunisian, or collected in Tunis, and may differ in +some respects from details collected in other parts of North Africa. The +date-palm abounds in the maritime as well as in the inland districts of +North Africa. They are usually propagated from shoots of full grown +trees, which if transplanted and taken care of, will yield in six or +seven years, whilst those raised immediately from the stone require +sixteen years to produce fruit. + +The date-palm is male and female, or _dioecious_, and requires +communication, otherwise the fruit is dry and insipid. The age of the +palm, in its greatest vigour, is about thirty years, according to the +Tunisians, after planting, and will continue in vigour for seventy +years, bearing anually fifteen or twenty clusters of dates, each of them +fifteen or twenty pounds in weight; after this long period, they begin +gradually to wither away. But the Saharan Tripolitans will tell you that +the date-palm does not attain its age of full vigour till it reaches a +hundred years, and then will flourish two or or three centuries before +it withers! + +The only culture requisite, is to be well watered at the roots once in +four or five days, and to have the lower boughs cut off when they begin +to droop and wither. Much rain, however, injures the dates, and we know +that the countries in which they flourish, are mostly without rain. In +many localities in Africa, date-palms can never be watered in the dry +season; it is nevertheless observable that generally wherever a palm +grows and thrives water may usually be obtained by boring. The sap, or +honey of the palm is a delicious and wholesome beverage when drunk quite +fresh; but if allowed to remain for some hours, it acquires a sharp +taste, something like cider, and becomes very intoxicating. It is called +poetically _leghma_, "tears" of the dates. When a tree is found not to +produce much fruit, the head is cut off, and a bowl or cavity scooped +out of the summit, in which the rising sap is collected, and this is +drunk in its pure state without any other preparation. If the tree be +not exhausted by draining, in five or six months it grows afresh; and, +at the end of two or three years, may again be cut or tapped. The palm +is capable of undergoing this operation five or six times, and it may be +easily known how often a tree has been cut by the number of rings of a +narrow diameter which are seen towards its summit; but, if the sap is +allowed to flow too long, it will perish entirely at the end of a year. +This sap, by distillation, produces an agreeable spirit called _Arâky_ +or _Arâk_: from the fruit also the Jews distil a spirit called _bokka_, +or what we should call _toddy_. It is usual for persons of distinction +to entertain their friends upon a marriage, or the birth of a child, +with this pure sap, and a tree is usually tapped for the purpose. It +would appear that tapping the palm was known to the ancients, for a +cornelian _intaglio_ of Roman antiquity, has been found in the Jereed, +representing a tree in this state, and the jars in which the juice was +placed. + +Dates are likewise dried in the sun, and reduced into a kind of meal, +which will keep for any length of time, and which thus becomes a most +valuable resource for travellers crossing the deserts, who frequently +make it their only food, moistening a handful of it with a little water. +Certain preparations are made of the male plant, to which medicinal +virtues are attributed; the younger leaves, eaten with salt, vinegar, +and oil, make an excellent salad. The heart of the tree, which lies at +top between the fruit branches, and weighs from ten to twenty pounds, is +eaten only on grand occasions, as those already mentioned, and possesses +a delicious flavour between that of a banana and a pine-apple. + +The palm, besides these valuable uses to which it is applied, +superseding or supplying the place of all other vegetables to the tribes +of the Jereed, is, nevertheless, still useful for a great variety of +other purposes. The most beautiful baskets, and a hundred other +nick-nackery of the wickery sort are made of its branches; ropes are +made and vestments wove from the long fibres, and its wood, also, when +hardened by age, is used for building. Indeed, we may say, it is the all +and everything of the Jereed, and, as it is said of the camel and the +desert, _the palm is made for the Jereed, and the Jereed is made for the +palm_. + +The Mussulmen make out a complete case of piety and superstition in the +palm, and pretend that _they are made for the palm, and the palm is made +for them_, alleging that, as soon as the Turks conquered Constantinople, +the palm raised its graceful flowing head over the domes of the former +infidel city, whilst when the Moors evacuated Spain, the palm pined +away, and died. "God," adds the pious Mussulman, "has given us the palm; +amongst the Christians, it will not grow!" But the poetry of the palm is +an inseparable appendage in the North African landscape, and even town +scenery. The Moor and the Arab, whose minds are naturally imbued with +the great images of nature, so glowingly represented also in the sacred +leaves of the Koran, cannot imagine a mosque or the dome-roof of a +hermitage, without the dark leaf of the palm overshadowing it; but the +serenest, loveliest object on the face of the landscape is _the lonely +palm_, either thrown by chance on the brow of some savage hill or +planted by design to adorn some sacred spot of mother-earth. + +I must still give some other information which I have omitted respecting +this extraordinary tree. And, after this, I further refer the reader to +a Tour in the Jereed of which some details are given in succeeding +pages. A palm-grove is really a beautiful object, and requires scarcely +less attention than a vineyard. The trees are generally planted in a +_quincunx_, or at times without any regular order; but at distances from +each other of four or five yards. The situation selected is mostly on +the banks of some stream or rivulet, running from the neighbouring +hills, and the more abundant the supply of water, the healthier the +plants and the finer the fruit. For this tree, which loves a warm +climate, and a sandy soil, is yet wonderfully improved by frequent +irrigation, and, singularly, the _quality_ of the water appears of +little consequence, being salt or sweet, or impregnated with nitre, as +in the Jereed. + +Irrigation is performed in the spring, and through the whole summer. The +water is drawn by small channels from the stream to each individual +tree, around the stalk and root of which a little basin is made and +fenced round with clay, so that the water, when received, is detained +there until it soaks into the earth. (All irrigation is, indeed, +effected in this way.) As to the abundance of the plantations, the fruit +of one plantation alone producing fifteen hundred camels' loads of +dates, or four thousand five hundred quintals, three quintals to the +load, is not unfrequently sold for one thousand dollars. Besides the +Jereed, Tafilett, in Morocco, is a great date-country. Mr. Jackson says, +"We found the country covered with most magnificent plantations, and +extensive forests of the lofty date, exhibiting the most elegant and +picturesque appearance that nature on a plain surface can present to the +admiring eye. In these forests, there is no underwood, so that a +horseman may gallop through them without impediment." + +Our readers will see, when they come to the Tour, that this description +of the palm-groves agrees entirely with that of Mr. Reade and Captain +Balfour. I have already mentioned that the palm is male and female, or, +as botanists say, _dioecious_; the Moors, however, pretend that the palm +in this respect is just like the human being. The _female_ palm alone +produces fruit and is cultivated, but the presence or vicinity of the +_male_ is required, and in many oriental countries there is a law that +those who own a palm-wood must have a certain number of _male_ plants in +proportion. In Barbary they seem to trust to chance, relying on the male +plants which grow wild in the Desert. They hang and shake them over the +female plants, usually in February or March. Koempfe says, that the male +flowers, if plucked when ripe, and cautiously dried, will even, in this +state, perform their office, though kept to the following year. + +The Jereed is a very important portion of the Tunisian territory, +Government deriving a large revenue from its inhabitants. It is visited +every year by the "Bey of the Camp," who administers affairs in this +country as a sovereign; and who, indeed, is heir-apparent to the +Tunisian throne. Immediately on the decease of the reigning Bey, the +"Bey of the Camp" occupies the hereditary beylick, and nominates his +successor to the camp and the throne, usually the eldest of the other +members of the royal family, the beylick not being transmitted from +father to son, only on the principle of age. At least, this has been the +general rule of succession for many years. + +The duties of the "Bey of the Camp" is to visit with a "flying-camp," +for the purpose of collecting tribute, the two circuits or divisions of +the Regency. + +I now introduce to the reader the narrative of a Tour to the Jereed, +extracted from the notebooks of the tourists, together with various +observations of my own interspersed, and some additional account of +Toser, Nefta, and Ghafsa. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + + +The tourists were Captain Balfour, of the 88th Regiment, and Mr. Richard +Reade, eldest son of Sir Thomas Reade. + +The morning before starting from Tunis they went to the Bardo to pay +their respects to Sidi Mohammed, "Bey of the Camp," and to thank him for +his condescending kindness in taking them with him to the Jereed. The +Bey told him to send their baggage to Giovanni, "Guarda-pipa," which +they did in the evening. + +At nine A. M. Sidi Mohammed left the Bardo under a salute from the guns, +one of the wads of which nearly hit Captain Balfour on the head. The Bey +proceeded across the plain of Manouba, mounted on a beautiful bay +charger, in front of the colours, towards Beereen, the greater part of +the troops of the expedition following, whilst the entire plain was +covered with baggage-camels, horses, mules, and detached parties of +attendants, in glorious confusion. + + The force of the camp consisted of--Mamelukes + of the Seraglio, superbly mounted 20 + + Mamelukes of the Skeefah, or those who + guard the entrance of the Bey's + palace, or tent, and are all Levantines 20 + + Boabs, another sort of guard of the Bey, + who are always about the Bey's + tent, and must be of this country 20 + + Turkish Infantry 300 + Spahis, o. mounted Arab guards 300 + Camp followers (Arabs) 2,000 + ----- + Total 2,660 + +This is certainly not a large force, but in several places of the march +they were joined for a short time by additional Arab troops, a sort of +honorary welcome for the Bey. As they proceeded, the force of the +camp-followers increased; but, in returning, it gradually decreased, the +parties going home to their respective tribes. We may notice the total +absence of any of the new corps, the Nithà lm. This may have been to +avoid exciting the prejudices of the people; however, the smallness of +the force shows that the districts of the Jereed are well-affected. The +summer camp to Beja has a somewhat larger force, the Arabs of that and +other neighbouring districts not being so loyal to the Government. + +Besides the above-named troops, there were two pieces of artillery. The +band attendant on these troops consisted of two or three flageolets, +kettle-drums, and trumpets made of cow-horns, which, according to the +report of our tourists, when in full play produced the most diabolical +discord. + +After a ride of about three hours, we pitched our tents at Beereen. +Through the whole of the route we marched on an average of about four +miles per hour, the horses, camels, &c., walking at a good pace. The +Turkish infantry always came up about two hours after the mounted +troops. Immediately on the tents being pitched, we went to pay our +respects to the Bey, accompanied by Giovanni, "Guardapipa," as +interpreter. His Highness received us very affably, and bade us ask for +anything we wanted. Afterwards, we took some luncheon with the Bey's +doctor, Signore Nunez Vaise, a Tuscan Jew, of whose kindness during our +whole tour it is impossible to speak too highly. The doctor had with him +an assistant, and tent to himself. Haj Kador, Sidi Shakeer, and several +other Moors, were of our luncheon-party, which was a very merry one. + +About half-way to Beereen, the Bey stopped at a marabet, a small square +white house, with a dome roof, to pay his devotions to a great Marabout, +or saint, and to ask his parting blessing on the expedition. They told +us to go on, and joined us soon after. Two hours after us, the Turkish +Agha arrived, accompanied with colours, music, and some thirty men. The +Bey received the venerable old gentleman under an immense tent in the +shape of an umbrella, surrounded with his mamelukes and officers of +state. After their meeting and saluting, three guns were fired. The Agha +was saluted every day in the same manner, as he came up with his +infantry after us. We retired for the night at about eight o'clock. + +The form of the whole camp, when pitched, consisting of about a dozen +very large tents, was as follows:--The Bey's tent in the centre, which +was surrounded at a distance of about forty feet with those of the +Bash-Hamba [31] of the Arabs, the Agha of the Arabs, the Sahab-el-Tabah, +Haznadar or treasurer, the Bash-Boab, and that of the English tourists; +then further off were the tents of the Katibs and Bash-Katib, the +Bash-Hamba of the Turks, the doctors, and the domestics of the Bey, with +the cookery establishment. Among the attendants of the Bey were the +"guarda-pipa," guard of the pipe, "guarda-fusile," guard of the gun, +"guarda-café," guard of the coffee, "guarda-scarpe," guard of the shoes, +[32] and "guarda-acqua," guard of water. A man followed the Bey about +holding in his hand a golden cup, and leading a mule, having two paniers +on its back full of water, which was brought from Tunis by camels. There +was also a story-teller, who entertained the Bey every night with the +most extraordinary stories, some of them frightfully absurd. The Bey did +not smoke--a thing extraordinary, as nearly all men smoke in Tunis. His +Highness always dined alone. None of his ladies ever accompany him in +these expeditions. + +The tents had in them from twenty to fifty men each. Our tent consisted +of our two selves, a Boab to guard the baggage, two Arabs to tend the +horses and camels, and another Moor of all work, besides Captain +Balfour's Maltese, called Michael. We had three camels for our baggage. +The first night we found very cold; but having abundance of clothing, we +slept soundly, in spite of the perpetual wild shoutings of the Arab +sentries, stationed round the camp, the roaring and grumbling of the +camels, the neighing and coughing of the horses, all doing their utmost +to drive away slumber from our eyelids. + +We halted on the morrow, which gave us an opportunity of getting a few +things from Tunis which we had neglected to bring. But before returning, +we ate some sweetmeats sent us by the guarda-pipa, with a cup of coffee. +The guarda-pipa is also a dragoman interpreter of his Highness, and a +Genoese by birth, but now a renegade. In this country they do not know +what a good breakfast is; they take a cup of coffee in the morning +early, and wait till twelve or one o'clock, when they take a hearty +meal, and then sup in the evening, late or early, according to the +season. Before returning to Tunis, we called upon his Highness, and told +him our object. We afterwards called to see the Bey every morning, to +pay our respects to him, as was befitting on these occasions. His +Highness entered into the most familiar conversation with us. + +On coming back again from Tunis, it rained hard, which continued all +night. In the evening the welcome news was proclaimed that the tents +would not be struck until daylight: previously, the camp was always +struck at 3 o'clock, about three hours before daylight, which gave rise +to great confusion, besides being without shelter during the coldest +part of the night (three hours before sun-rise) was a very serious trial +for the health of the men. The reason, however, was, to enable the +camels to get up to the new encampment; their progress, though regular +and continual, is very slow. + +Of a morning the music played off the _réveil_ an hour before sunrise. +The camp presented an animated appearance, with the striking of tents, +packing camels, mounting horses, &c. We paid our respects to his +Highness, who was sitting in an Arab tent, his own being down. The music +was incessantly grating upon our ears, but was in harmony with the +irregular marching and movements of the Arabs, one of them occasionally +rushing out of the line of march, charging, wheeling about, firing, +reloading, shouting furiously, and making the air ring with his cries. + +The order of march was as follows:--The Bey mounts, and, going along +about one hundred yards from the spot, he salutes the Arab guards, who +follow behind him; then, about five or six miles further, overtaking the +Turkish soldiers, who, on his coming up, are drawn up on each side of +the road, his Highness salutes them; and then afterwards the +water-carriers are saluted, being most important personages in the dry +countries of this circuit, and last of all, the gunners; after all +which, the Bey sends forward a mameluke, who returns with the Commander, +or Agha of the Arabs, to his Highness. This done, the Bey gallops off to +the right or left from the line of march, on whichsoever side is most +game--the Bey going every day to shoot, whilst the Agha takes his place +and marches to the next halting-place. + +One morning the Bey shot two partridges while on horseback. "In fact," +says Mr. Rade, "he is the best shot on horseback I ever saw--he seldom +missed his game." As Captain B. was riding along with the doctor, they +remarked a cannon-ball among some ruins; but, being told a saint was +buried there, they got out of the way as quick as if a deadly serpent +had been discovered. Stretching away to the left, we saw a portion of +the remains of the Carthaginian aqueduct. The march was only from six to +eight miles, and the encampment at Tfeefleeah. At day-break, at noon, at +3 o'clock, P.M. and at sunset, the Muezzen called from outside and near +the door of the Bey's tent the hour of prayer. An aide-de-camp also +proclaimed, at the same place, whether we should halt, or march, on the +morrow, The Arabs consider fat dogs a great delicacy, and kill and eat +them whenever they can lay hands upon them. Captain B. was fortunate in +not bringing his fat pointer, otherwise he would have lost him. The +Arabs eat also foxes and wolves, and many animals of the chase not +partaken of by us. The French in Algiers kill all the fat cats, and turn +them into hares by dexterous cooking. The mornings and evenings we found +cold, but mid-day very hot and sultry. + +We left Tfeefleeah early, and went in search of wild-boar; found only +their tracks, but saw plenty of partridges and hares; the ground being +covered with brushwood and heath, we soonæ lost sight of them. The Arabs +were seen on a sudden running and galloping in all directions, shouting +and pointing to a hill, when a huge beast was put up, bristling and +bellowing, which turned out to be a hyæna. He was shot by a mameluke, Si +Smyle, and fell in a thicket, wallowing in his blood. He was a fine +fellow, and had an immense bead, like a bull-dog. They put him on a +mule, and carried him in triumph to the Bey. When R. arrived at the +camp, the Bey sent him the skin and the head as a present, begging that +he would not eat the brain. There is a superstitious belief among the +Moors that, if a person eats the brain of a hyæna he immediately becomes +mad. The hyæna is not the savage beast commonly represented; he rarely +attacks any person, and becomes untameably ferocious by being only +chained up. He is principally remarkable for his stupidity when at large +in the woods. The animal abounds in the forests of the Morocco Atlas. +Our tourists saw no lions _en route_, or in the Jereed; the lion does +not like the sandy and open country of the plain. Very thick brushwood, +and ground broken with rocks, like the ravines of the Atlas, are his +haunts. + +Several Arabs were flogged for having stolen the barley of which they +had charge. The bastinado was inflicted by two inferior mamelukes, +standing one on each side of the culprit, who had his hands and his feet +tied behind him. In general, it may be said that bastinadoing in Tunis +is a matter of form, many of the strokes ordered to be inflicted being +never performed, and those given being so many taps or scratches. It is +very rare to see a man bleeding from the bastinado; I (the author) never +did. It is merely threatened as a terror; whilst it is not to be +overlooked, that the soles of the feet of Arabs, and the lower classes +in this country, are like iron, from the constant habit of going +barefoot upon the sharpest stones. Severe punishments of any kind are +rarely inflicted in Tunis. + +The country was nearly all flat desert, with scarcely an inhabitant to +dissipate its savage appearance. The women of a few Arab horsehair tents +(waterproof when in good repair) saluted us as we passed with their +shrill looloos. There appeared a great want of water. We passed the +ruins of several towns and other remains. The camels were always driven +into camp at sunset, and hobbled along, their two fore-legs being tied, +or one of them being tied up to the knee, by which the poor animals are +made to cut a more melancholy figure than with their usual awkward gait +and moody character. + +We continued our march about ten miles in nearly a southern direction, +and encamped at a place called Heelet-el-Gazlen. + +One morning shortly after starting, we came to a small stream with very +high and precipitous banks, over which one arch of a fine bridge +remained, but the other being wanting, we had to make a considerable +_détour_ before we could cross; the carriages had still greater +difficulty. Here we have an almost inexcusable instance of the +disinclination of the Moors to repairs, for had the stream been swollen, +the camp would have been obliged to make a round-about march by the way +of Hamman-el-Enf, of some thirty miles; and all for the want of an arch +which would scarcely cost a thousand piastres! This stream or river is +the same as that which passes near Hamman-el-Enf, and the extensive +plain through which it meanders is well cultivated, with douwars, or +circular villages of the Arabs dotted about. We saw hares, but, the +ground being difficult running for the dogs, we caught but few. Bevies +of partridges got up, but we were unprepared for them. In the evening, +the Bey sent a present of a very fine bay horse to R. Marched about ten +miles, and halted at Ben Sayden. + +The following day after starting, we left the line of march to shoot; +saw one boar, plenty of foxes and wolves, and we put up another hyæna, +but the bag consisted principally of partridges, the red-legged +partridge or _perdix ruffa_, killed, by the Bey, who is a dead-shot. Our +ride lay among hills; there was very little water, which accounted for +the few inhabitants. After dinner, went out shooting near Jebanah, and +bagged a few partridges, but, not returning before the sun went down, +the Bey sent a dozen fellows bawling out our names, fearing some harm +had befallen us. + +On leaving the hills, there lay stretched at our feet a boundless plain, +on which is situate Kairwan, extending also to Susa, and leagues around. +North Africa, is a country of hills and plains--such was the case along +our entire route. We saw a large herd of gazelles feeding, as well as +several single ones, but they have the speed of the greyhound, so we did +not grace our supper with any. Saw several birds called Kader, about the +size of a partridge, but we shot none. A good many hares and partridges +either crossed our path or whirred over our heads. Passed over a running +stream called Zebharah, where we saw the remains of an ancient bridge, +but in the place where the baggage went over there was a fine one in +good repair. Here was a small dome-topped chapel, called Sidi Farhat, in +which are laid the ashes of a saint. We had seen many such in the hills; +indeed these gubbah abound all over Barbary, and are placed more +frequently on elevations. We noticed particularly the 300 Turkish +infantry; they were irregulars with a vengeance, though regulars +compared to the Arabs. On overtaking them, they drew up on each side, +and some dozen of them kept up a running sham fight with their swords +and small wooden and metal shields before the Bey. The officers kissed +the hand of the Bey, and his treasurer tipped their band, for so we must +call their tumtums and squeaking-pipes. This ceremony took place every +morning, and they were received in the camp with all the honours. They +kept guard during the night, and did all they could to keep us awake by +their eternal cry of "Alleya," which means, "Be off," or "Keep your +distance!" These troops had not been recruited for eight years, and will +soon die off; and yet we see that the Bey treats these remnants of the +once formidable Turkish Tunisian Janissaries with great respect; of +course, in an affair with the Arabs, their fidelity to the Bey would be +most unshaken. + +As we journeyed onward, we saw much less vegetation and very little +cultivation. An immense plain lay before and around us, in which, +however, there was some undulating ground. Passed a good stone bridge; +were supplied with water near a large Arab encampment, around which were +many droves of camels; turned up several hares, partridges, and +gazelles. One of the last gave us a good chase, but the greyhounds +caught him; in the first half mile, he certainly beat them by a good +half of the instance, but having taken a turn which enabled the dogs to +make a short cut, and being blown, they pulled the swift delicate +creature savagely down. There were several good courses after hares, +though her pursuers gave puss no fair play, firing at her before the +dogs and heading her in every possible way. + +Rode to Kairwan. Few Christians arrive in this city. Prince Pückler +Muskau was the fourth when he visited it in 1835. The town is clean, but +many houses are in ruins. The greater part of a regiment of the Nitham +are quartered here. The famous mosque, of course, we were not allowed to +enter, but many of its marble pillars and other ornaments, we heard from +Giovanni, were the spoils of Christian churches and Pagan temples. The +house of the Kaëd was a good specimen of dwellings in this country. +Going along a street, we were greatly surprised at seeing our +attendants, among whom were Si Smyle (a very intelligent and learned +man, and who taught Mr. R. Arabic during the tour) and the Bash-Boab, +jumping off their horses, and, running up to an old-looking Moor, and +then seizing his hand, kissed it; and for some time they would not leave +the ragged ruffian-like saint. + +At last, having joined us, they said he was Sidi Amour Abeda, a man of +exceeding sanctity, and that if the Bey had met the saint, his Highness +must have done the same. The saint accompanied us to the Kaëd's house; +and, on entering, we saw the old Kaëd himself, who was ill and weeping +on account of the arrival of his son, the commander of a portion of the +guards of the camp. We went up stairs, and sat down to some sweetmeats +which had been prepared for us, together with Si Smyle and Hamda, but, +as we were commencing, the saint, who was present, laid hold of the +sweets with his hands, and blessed them, mumbling _bismillas_ [33] and +other jargon. We afterwards saw a little house, in course of erection by +order of the Bey, where the remains of Sidi Amour Abeda are to be +deposited at his death, so that the old gentleman can have the pleasure +of visiting his future burial-place. In this city, a lineal descendant +of the Prophet, and a lucky guesser in the way of divining, are the +essential ingredients in the composition of a Moorish saint. Saints of +one order or another are as thick here as ordinary priests in Malta, +whom the late facetious Major Wright was accustomed to call +_crows_--from their black dress--but better, cormorants, as agreeing +with their habits of fleecing the poor people. Sidi Amour Abeda's hands +ought to be lily-white, for every one who meets him kisses them with +devout and slavering obeisance. The renegade doctor of the Bey told us +that the old dervish now in question would like nothing better than to +see us English infidels burnt alive. Fanaticism seems to be the native +growth of the human heart! + +We afterwards visited the Jabeah, or well, which they show as a +curiosity, as also the camel which turns round the buckets and brings up +the water, being all sanctified, like the wells of Mecca, and the +drinking of the waters forming an indispensable part of the pilgrimage +to all holy Mohammedan cities. + +We returned to the Kaëd's, and sat down to a capital dinner. The old +Governor was a great fanatic, and when R. ran up to shake hands with +him, the mamelukes stopped R. for fear he might be insulted. We visited +the fortress, which was in course of repair, our _cicerone_ being Sidi +Reschid, an artillery-officer. We then returned to the camp, and found +Santa Maria, the French officer, had arrived, who, during the tour, +employed himself in taking sketches and making scientific observations. +He was evidently a French spy on the resources of the Bey. It was given +out, however, that he was employed to draw charts of Algiers, Tunis, and +Tripoli, by his Government. He endeavoured to make himself as unpopular +as some persons try to make themselves agreeable, being very jealous of +us, and every little thing that we had he used to cry for it and beg it +like a child, sometimes actually going to the Bey's tent in person, and +asking his Highness for the things which he saw had been given to us. + +We went to see his Highness administer justice, which he always did, +morning and evening, whilst at Kairwan. There were many plaintiffs, but +no defendants brought up; most of them were turned out in a very summary +manner. To some, orders were given, which we supposed enabled them to +obtain redress; others were referred to the kadys and chiefs. The Bey, +being in want of camels, parties were sent out in search of them, who +drove in all the finest that they could find, which were then marked +("tabâ,") _à la Bey_, and immediately became the Bey's property. It was +a curious sight to see the poor animals thrown over, and the red-hot +iron put to their legs, amidst the cries and curses of their late +different owners--all which were not in the least attended to, the wants +of the Bey, or Government, being superior on such occasions of +necessity, or what not, to all complaint, law, or justice. About two +hundred changed hands in this way. + +The Bey of Tunis has an immense number of camels which he farms out. He +has overseers in certain districts, to whom he gives so many camels; +these let them out to other persons for mills and agricultural labours, +at so much per head. The overseers annually render an account of them to +Government, and, when called upon, supply the number required. At this +time, owing to a disorder which had caused a great mortality, camels had +been very scarce, and this was the reason of the extensive seizure just +mentioned. If an Arab commits manslaughter, his tribe is mulcted +thirty-three camels; and, as the crime is rather common in the Bedouin +districts, the Bey's acquisition in this way is considerable. A few +years ago, a Sicilian nobleman exported from Tunis to Sicily some eighty +camels, the duty for which the Bey remitted. The camel, if ever so +healthy and thriving in the islands of the Mediterranean, could never +supersede the labour of mules. The camel is only useful where there are +vast plains to travel, as in North Africa, Arabia, Persia, Australasia, +and some parts of the East Indies. + +A hundred more Arabs joined, who passed in a single file before the Bey +for inspection: they came rushing into the camp by twos and threes, +firing off their long guns. + +We crossed large plains, over which ran troops of gazelles, and had many +gallops after them; but they go much faster than the greyhound, and, +unless headed and bullied, there is little chance of taking them, except +found asleep. On coming on a troop unawares, R. shot one, which the dogs +caught. R. went up afterwards to cut its throat _à la Moresque_, when he +was insulted by an Arab. R. noticed the fellow, and afterwards told the +Bey, who instantly ordered him to receive two hundred bastinadoes, and +to be put in chains; but, just as they had begun to whip him, R. went up +and generously begged him off. This is the end of most bastinados in the +country. We passed a stream which they said had swallowed up some +persons, and was very dangerous. A muddy stream, they add, is often very +fatal to travellers. The Bey surprised Captain B. by sending him a +handsome black horse as a present; he also sent a grey one to the +Frenchman, who, when complaining of it, saying that it was a bad one, to +the Bey's mamelukes, his Highness sent for it, and gave him another. +Under such circumstances, Saint Mary ought to have looked very foolish. +The Bey shot a kader, a handsome bird, rather larger than a partridge, +with black wings, and flies like a plover. We had a large +hawking-establishment with us, some twenty birds, very fine falconry, +which sometimes carried off hares, and even attacked young goat-kids. +Marched to a place called Gilma, near which the road passes through an +ancient town. Shaw says, "Gilma, the ancient Cilma, or Oppidum +Chilmanenense, is six leagues to the east-south-east of Spaitla. We have +here the remains of a large city, with the area of a temple, and some +other fragments of large buildings. According to the tradition of the +Arabs, this place received its name in consequence of a miracle +pretended to have been wrought by one of their marabouts, in bringing +hither the river of Spaitla, after it was lost underground. For Ja Elma +signifies, in their language, 'The water comes!' an expression we are to +imagine of surprise at the arrival of the stream." + +During our tour, the mornings were generally cold. We proceeded about +twenty miles, and encamped near a place called Wady Tuckah. This river +comes from the hills about three or four miles off, and when the camp +arrives at Kairwan, the Bey sends an order to the Arabs of the district +to let the water run down to the place where the tents are pitched. When +we arrived, the water had just come. We saw warrens of hares, and caught +many with the dogs. Troops of gazelles were also surprised; one was +fired at, and went off scampering on three legs. The hawks caught a +beautiful bird called hobara, or habary, [34] about the size of the +small hen-turkey, lily white on the back, light brown brindle, tuft of +long white feathers on its head, and ruffle of long black feathers, +which they stretch out at pleasure, with a large grey eye. A curious +prickly plant grows about here, something like a dwarf broom, if its +leaves were sharp thorns, it is called Kardert. The Bey made R. a +present of the hobara. + +One day three gazelles were caught, and also a fox, by R.'s greyhound, +which behaved extremely well, and left the other dogs in the rear, every +now and then attacking him in the hind-quarters. Saw seven or eight +hobaras, but too windy for the hawks to be flown. Captain B. chased a +gazelle himself, and had the good fortune to catch him. As soon as an +Arab secures an animal, he immediately cuts its throat, repeating +"Bismillah, Allah Akbar," "In the name (of God), God is great." + +We marched seventeen miles to a place called Aly Ben Own, the name of +the saint buried close by. The plain we crossed must have been once +thickly inhabited, as there were many remains. We were joined by more +Arabs, and our force continued to augment. The Bey, being in want of +horses, the same system of seizing them was adopted as with the camels. + +One splendid morning that broke over our encampment we had an +opportunity of witnessing Africa's most gorgeous scenery. [35] Plenty of +hobaras; they fly like a goose. The hawks took two or three of them, +also some hares. The poor hare does not know what to make of the hawks; +after a little running, it gives itself up for death, only first dodging +out of the bird's pounce, or hiding itself in a tuft of grass or a bush, +but which it is not long allowed to do, for the Arabs soon drive it out +from its vain retreat. The hawk, when he seizes the hare with one claw, +catches hold of any tuft of grass or irregularity of the ground with the +other; a strong leather strap is also fastened from one leg to the +other, to prevent them from being pulled open or strained. We came upon +a herd of small deer, called ebba, which are a little larger than the +gazelle, but they soon bounded beyond our pursuit, leaving us scarcely +time to admire their delicate make and unapproachable speed. + +We crossed a range of hills into another plain, at the extremity of +which lies Ghafsa. The surface was naked, with the exception of tufts of +strong, rushy grass, almost a sure indication of hares, and of which we +started a great number. We saw another description of bird, called +rhaad, [36] with white wings, which flew like a pigeon, but more +swiftly. Near our tract were the remains of a large tank of ancient +Roman construction. The Bey shot a fox. Marched fourteen or fifteen +miles to Zwaneah, which means "little garden," though there is no sign +of such thing, unless it be the few oranges, dates, and pomegranates +which they find here. We had water from a tank of modern construction; +some remains were close to the camp, the ancient cistern and stone duct +leading from the hills. We had two thousand camels with the camp and +following it, for which not a single atom of provender is carried, the +camels subsisting scantily upon the coarse grass, weeds or thorns, which +the soil barely affords. The camel is very fond of sharp, prickly +thorns. You look upon the animal, with its apparently most tender mouth, +chopping the sharpest thorns it can find, full of amazement! Some of the +chiefs who have lately joined us, have brought their wives with them, +riding on camels in a sort of palanquin or shut-up machine. These +palanquins have a kind of mast and shrouds, from which a bell is slung, +tinkling with the swinging motion of the camel. This rude contrivance +makes the camel more than ever "the ship of the Desert." Several fine +horses were brought in as presents to the Bey, one a very fine mare. + +Our next march was towards Ghafsa, about twenty miles off. We were +joined by a considerable number of fresh Arabs, who "played at powder," +and kept firing and galloping before the Bey the whole day; some of them +managed themselves and their arms and horses with great address, +balancing the firelock on their heads, firing it, twisting it round, +throwing it into the air, and catching it again, and all without once +losing the command of their horses. An accident happened amidst the fun; +two of the parties came in contact, and one of them received a dreadful +gash on the forehead. The dresses of some of them were very rich, and +looked very graceful on horseback. A ride over sand-hills brought us in +view of the town, embedded in olive and date-trees, looking fresh and +green after our hot and dusty march; it lay stretched at the foot of a +range of hills, which formed the boundaries of another extensive plain. + +We halted at Ghafsa, [37] which is almost a mass of rubbish filled with +dirty people, although there are plenty of springs about, principally +hot and mineral waters. Although the Moors, by their religion, are +enjoined the constant use of the bath, yet because they do not change +their linen and other clothes, they are always very dirty. They do not, +however, exceed the Maltese and Sicilians, and many other people of the +neighbourhood, in filth, and perhaps the Moors are cleaner in their +hahits than they. The Arabs are extremely disgusting, and their women +are often seen in a cold winter's evening, standing with their legs +extended over a smoky wood fire, holding up their petticoats, and +continuing in this indelicate position for hours together. + +In these Thermæ, or hot, sulphurous, and other mineral springs, is the +phenomenon of the existence of fish and small snakes. These were +observed by our tourists, but I shall give three other authorities +besides them. Shaw says: "'The Ouri-el-Nout,' _i.e_., 'Well of Fish,' +and the springs of Ghasa and Toser, nourish a number of small fishes of +the mullet and perch kind, and are of an easy digestion. Of the like +quality are the other waters of the Jereed, all of them, after they +become cold, being the common drink of the inhabitants." Sir Grenville +Temple remarks: "The thermometer in the water marked ninety-five +degrees; and, what is curious, a considerable number of fish is found in +this stream, which measure from four to six inches in length, and +resemble, in some degree, the gudgeon, having a delicate flavour. Bruce +mentions a similar fact, but he says he saw it in the springs of +Feriana. Part of the ancient structure of these baths still exists, and +pieces of inscriptions are observed in different places." + +Mr. Honneger has made a sketch of this fish. The wood-cut represents it +one half the natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The snake, not noticed by former tourists, has been observed by Mr. +Honneger, which nourishes itself entirely upon the fish. The wood-cut +represents the snake half its natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The fish and the snake live together, though not very amicably, in the +hot-springs. Prince Pükler Muskau, who travelled in Tunis, narrates +that, "Near the ruins of Utica was a warm spring, in whose almost hot +waters we found several turtles, _which seemed to inhabit this basin_." + +However, perhaps, there is no such extraordinary difficulty in the +apprehension of this phenomenon, for "The Gulf Stream," on leaving the +Gulf of Mexico, "has a temperature of more than 27° (centigrade), or +80-6/10 degrees of Fahrenheit." [38] + +Many a fish must pass through and live in this stream. And after all, +since water is the element of fish, and is hotter or colder in all +regions, like the air, the element of man, which he breathes, warmer or +cooler, according to clime and local circumstances--there appear to be +no physical objections in the way of giving implicit credence to our +tourists. + +Water is so abundant, that the adjoining plain might be easily +irrigated, and planted with ten thousand palms and forests of olives. +God is bountiful in the Desert, but man wilfully neglects these aqueous +riches springing up eternally to repair the ravages of the burning +simoum! In one of the groves we met a dervish, who immediately set about +charming our Boab. He began by an incantation, then seized him round the +middle, and, stooping a little, lifted him on his shoulders, continuing +the while the incantation. He then put him on his feet again, and, after +several attempts, appeared to succeed in bringing off his stomach +something in the shape of leaden bullets, which he then, with an air of +holy swagger, presented to the astonished guard of the Bey. The dervish +next spat on his patient's hands, closed them in his own, then smoothed +him down the back like a mountebank smooths his pony, and stroked also +his head and beard; and, after further gentle and comely ceremonies of +this sort, the charming of the charmer finished, and the Boab presented +the holy man with his fee. We dined at the Kaëd's house; this +functionary was a very venerable man, a perfect picture of a patriarch +of the olden Scriptural times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There was +not a single article of furniture in the room, except a humble sofa, +upon which he sat. + +We inspected the old Kasbah at Ghafsa, which is in nearly a state of +ruin, and looked as if it would soon be down about our ears. It is an +irregular square, and built chiefly of the remains of ancient edifices. +It was guarded by fifty Turks, whose broken-down appearance was in +perfect harmony with the citadel they inhabited. The square in a +building is the favourite form of the Moors and Mohammedans generally; +the Kaaba of Mecca, the _sanctum sanctorum_, is a square. The Moors +endeavour to imitate the sacred objects of their religion in every way, +even in the commonest affairs of human existence, whilst likewise their +troops of wives and concubines are only an earthly foretaste and an +earnest of the celestial ladies they expect to meet hereafter. + +We saw them making oil, which was in a very primitive fashion. The +oil-makers were nearly all women. The olives were first ground between +stones worked by the hands, until they became of the consistence of +paste, which was then taken down to the stream and put into a wooden tub +with water. On being stirred up, the oil rises to the top, which they +skim off with their hands and put into skins or jars; when thus skimmed, +they pass the grounds or refuse through a sieve, the water running off; +the stones and pulp are then saved for firing. But in this way much of +the oil is lost, as may be seen by the greasy surface of the water below +where this rude process is going on. Among the oil-women, we noticed a +girl who would have been very pretty and fascinating had she washed +herself instead of the olives. We entered an Arab house inhabited by +some twenty persons, chiefly women, who forthwith unceremoniously took +off our caps, examined very minutely all our clothes with an excited +curiosity, laughed heartily when we put our hands in our pockets, and +wished to do the same, and then pulled our hair, looking under our faces +with amorous glances. On the hill overlooking the town, we also met two +women screaming frightfully and tearing their faces; we learned that one +of them had lost her child. The women make the best blankets here with +handlooms, and do the principal heavy work. + +We saw some hobaras, also a bird called getah, smaller than a partridge, +something like a ptarmigan, with its summer feathers, and head shaped +like a quail. The Bey sent two live ones to R., besides a couple of +large jerboahs of this part, called here, _gundy_. They are much like +the guinea-pig, but of a sandy colour, and very soft and fine, like a +young hare. The jerboahs in the neighbourhood of Tunis are certainly +more like the rat. The other day, near the south-west gates, we fell in +with a whole colony of them--which, however, were the lesser animal, or +Jerd species--who occupied an entire eminence to themselves, the +sovereignty of which seemed to have been conceded to them by the Bey of +Tunis. They looked upon us as intruders, and came very near to us, as if +asking us why we had the audacity to disturb the tranquillity of their +republic. The ground here in many places was covered with a substance +like the rime of a frosty morning; it tastes like salt, and from it they +get nitre. Captain B. thinks it was salt. The water which we drank was +brought from Ghafsa: the Bey drinks water brought from Tunis. We marched +across a vast plain, covered with the salt just mentioned, which was +congealed in shining heaps around bushes or tufts of grass, and among +which also scampered a few hares. We encamped at a place called +Ghorbatah. Close to the camp was a small shallow stream, on each side of +which grew many canes; we bathed in the stream, and felt much refreshed. +The evening was pleasantly cool, like a summer evening in England, and +reminded us of the dear land of our birth. Numerous plains in North +Africa are covered with saline and nitrous efflorescence; to the +presence of these minerals is owing the inexhaustible fertility of the +soil, which hardly ever receives any manure, only a little stubble being +occasionally burnt. + +We saw flights of the getah, and of another bird called the gedur, +nearly the same, but rather lighter in colour. When they rise from the +ground, they make a curious noise, something like a partridge. We were +unusually surprised by a flight of locusts, not unlike grasshoppers, of +about two inches long, and of a reddish colour. Saw also gazelles. +Halted by the dry bed of a river, called Furfouwy. A pool supplied the +camp: in the mountains, at a distance, there was, however, a delicious +spring, a stream of liquid pearls in these thirsty lands! A bird called +mokha appeared now and then; it is about the size of a nightingale, and +of a white light-brown colour. We seldom heard such sweet notes as this +bird possesses. Its flying is beautifully novel and curious; it runs on +the ground, and now and then stops and rises about fifteen feet from the +surface, giving, as it ascends, two or three short slow whistles, when +it opens its graceful tail and darts down to the ground, uttering +another series of melodious whistles, but much quicker than when it +rises. + +We continued our march over nearly the same sort of country, but all was +now flat as far as the eye could see, the hills being left behind us. +About eight miles from Furfouwy, we came to a large patch of date-trees, +watered by many springs, but all of them hot. Under the grateful shade +of the lofty palm were flowers and fruits in commingled sweetness and +beauty. Here was the village of Dra-el-Hammah, surrounded, like all the +towns of the Jereed, with date-groves and gardens. The houses were most +humbly built of mud and bricks. After a scorching march, we encamped +just beyond, having made only ten miles. Saw quantities of bright soft +spar, called talc. Here also the ground was covered with a saline +effloresence. Near us were put up about a dozen blue cranes, the only +birds seen to-day. A gazelle was caught, and others chased. We +particularly observed huge patches of ground covered with salt, which, +at a distance, appeared just like water. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + + +Leaving Dra-el-Hammah, after a hot march of five or six miles, we +arrived at the top of a rising ground, at the base of which was situate +the famous Toser, the head-quarters of the camp in the Jereed, and as +far as it goes. Behind the city was a forest of date-trees, and beyond +these and all around, as far as the eye could wander, was an +immeasurable waste--an ocean of sand--a great part of which we could +have sworn was water, unless told to the contrary. We were met, before +entering Toser, with some five or six hundred Arabs, who galloped before +the Bey, and fired as usual. The people stared at us Christians with +open mouths; our dress apparently astonished them. At Toser, the Bey +left his tent and entered his palace, so called in courtesy to his +Highness, but a large barn of a house, without any pretensions. We had +also a room allotted to us in this palace, which was the best to be +found in the town, though a small dark affair. Toser is a miserable +assemblage of mud and brick huts, of very small dimensions, the beams +and the doors being all of date-wood. The gardens, however, under the +date-trees are beautiful, and abundantly watered with copious streams, +all of which are warm, and in one of which we bathed ourselves and felt +new vigour run through our veins. We took a walk in the gardens, and +were surprised at the quantities of doves fluttering among the +date-trees; they were the common blue or Barbary doves. In the environs +of Mogador, these doves are the principal birds shot. + +Toser, or Touzer, the _Tisurus_ of ancient geography, is a considerable +town of about six thousand souls, with several villages in its +neighbourhood. + +The impression of Toser made upon our tourists agrees with that of the +traveller, Desfontaines, who writes of it in 1784:--"The Bey pitched his +tent on the right side of the city, if such can be called a mass of +_mud-houses_." The description corresponds also with that of Dr. Shaw, +who says that "the villages of the Jereed are built of mud-walls and +rafters of palm-trees." Evidently, however, some improvement has been +made of late years. The Arabs of Toser, on the contrary, and which very +natural, protested to the French scientific commission that Toser was +the finest city in El-Jereed. They pretend that it has an area as large +as Algiers, surrounded with a mud wall, twelve or fifteen feet high, and +crenated. In the centre is a vast open space, which serves for a +market-place. Toser has mosques, schools, Moorish baths--a luxury rare +on the confines of the Desert, fondouks or inns, &c. The houses have +flat terraces, and are generally well-constructed, the greater part +built from the ruins of a Roman town; but many are now dilapidated from +the common superstitious cause of not repairing or rebuilding old +houses. The choice material for building is brick, mostly unbaked or +sun-dried. + +Most of these houses stand detached. + +Toser, situate in a plain, is commanded from the north-west by a little +rocky mountain, whence an abundant spring takes its source, called +_Meshra_, running along the walls of the city southward, divides itself +afterwards in three branches, waters the gardens, and, after having +irrigated the plantations of several other villages, loses itself in the +sand at a short distance. The wells within the city of Toser are +insufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants, who fetch water +from Wad Meshra. The neighbouring villages are Belad-el-Ader, Zin, +Abbus; and the sacred villages are Zaouweeat, of Tounseea, Sidi Ali Bou +Lifu, and Taliraouee. The Arabs of the open country, and who deposit +their grain in and trade with these villages, are Oulad Sidi Sheikh, +Oulad Sidi Abeed, and Hammania. The dates of Toser are esteemed of the +finest quality. + +Walked about the town; several of the inhabitants are very wealthy. The +dead saints are, however, here, and perhaps everywhere else in Tunis, +more decently lodged, and their marabets are real "whitewashed +sepulchres." They make many burnouses at Toser, and every house presents +the industrious sight of the needle or shuttle quickly moving. We tasted +the leghma, or "tears of the date," for the first time, and rather liked +it. On going to shoot doves, we, to our astonishment, put up a snipe. +The weather was very hot; went to shoot doves in the cool of the +evening. The Bey administers justice, morning and evening, whilst in the +Jereed. An Arab made a present of a fine young ostrich to the Bey, which +his Highness, after his arrival in Tunis, sent to R. The great man here +is the Sheikh Tahid, who was imprisoned for not having the tribute ready +for the Bey. The tax imposed is equivalent to two bunches for each +date-tree. The Sheikh has to collect them, paying a certain yearly sum +when the Bey arrives, a species of farming-out. It was said that he is +very rich, and could well find the money. The dates are almost the only +food here, and the streets are literally gravelled with their stones. +Santa Maria again returned his horse to the Bey, and got another in its +stead. He is certainly a man of _delicate_ feeling. This gentleman +carried his impudence so far that he even threatened some of the Bey's +officers with the supreme wrath of the French Government, unless they +attended better to his orders. A new Sheikh was installed, a good thing +for the Bey's officers, as many of them got presents on the occasion. + +We blessed our stars that a roof was over our heads to shield us from +the burning sun. We blew an ostrich-egg, had the contents cooked, and +found it very good eating. They are sold for fourpence each, and it is +pretended that one makes an ample meal for twelve persons. We are +supplied with leghma every morning; it tastes not unlike cocoa-nut milk, +but with more body and flavour. R. very unwell, attributed it to his +taking copious draughts of the leghma. Rode out of an evening; there was +a large encampment of Arabs outside the town, thoroughly sun-burnt, +hardy-looking fellows, some of them as black as negroes. Many people in +Toser have sore eyes, and several with the loss of one eye, or nearly +so; opthalmia, indeed, is the most prevalent disease in all Barbary. The +neighbourhood of the Desert, where the greater part of the year the air +is filled with hot particles of sand, is very unfavourable to the sight; +the dazzling whiteness of the whitewashed houses also greatly injures +the eyes. But the Moors pretend that lime-washing is necessary to the +preservation of the houses from the weather, as well as from filth of +all sorts. We think really it is useful, by preventing dirty people in +many cases from being eaten up by their own filth and vermin, +particularly the Jews, the Tunisian Jews being the dirtiest persons in +the Regency. The lime-wash is the grand _sanitary_ instrument in North +Africa. + +There are little birds that frequent the houses, that might be called +Jereed sparrows, and which the Arabs name boo-habeeba, or "friend of my +father;" but their dress and language are very different, having reddish +breasts, being of a small size, and singing prettily. Shaw mentions them +under the name of the Capsa-sparrow, but he is quite wrong in making +them as large as the common house-sparrow. He adds: "It is all over of a +lark-colour, excepting the breast, which is somewhat lighter, and +shineth like that of a pigeon. The boo-habeeba has a note infinitely +preferable to that of the canary, or nightingale." He says that all +attempts to preserve them alive out of the districts of the Jereed have +failed. R. has brought several home from that country, which were alive +whilst I was in Tunis. There are also many at the Bardo in cages, that +live in this way as long as other birds. + +Went to see the houses of the inhabitants: they were nearly all the +same, the furniture consisting of a burnouse-loom, a couple of +millstones, and a quantity of basins, plates, and dishes, hung upon the +walls for effect, seldom being used; there were also some skins of +grain. The beams across the rooms, which are very high, are hung with +onions, dates, and pomegranates; the houses are nearly all of one story. +Some of the women are pretty, with large long black eyes and lashes; +they colour the lower lid black, which does not add to their beauty, +though it shows the bewitching orb more fully and boldly. They were +exceedingly dirty and ragged, wearing, nevertheless, a profusion of +ear-rings, armlets, anclets, bracelets, and all sorts of _lets_, with a +thousand talismanic charms hanging from their necks upon their ample +bosoms, which latter, from the habit of not wearing stays, reach as low +down as their waists. They wrap up the children in swaddling-clothes, +and carry them behind their backs when they go out. + +Two men were bastinadoed for stealing a horse, and not telling where +they put him; every morning they were to be flogged until they divulged +their hiding-place. + +A man brought in about a foot of horse's skin, on which was the Bey's +mark, for which he received another horse. This is always done when any +animal dies belonging to the Beys, the man in whose hands the animal is, +receiving a new one on producing the part of the skin marked. The Bey +and his ministers and mamelukes amused themselves with shooting at a +mark. The Bey made some good hits. + +The Bey and his mamelukes also took diversion in spoiling the appearance +of a very nice young horse; they daubed hieroglyphics upon his shoulders +and loins, and dyed the back where the saddle is placed, and the three +legs below the knee with henna, making the other leg look as white as +possible. Another grey horse, a very fine one, was also cribbed. We may +remark here, that there were very few fine horses to be met with, all +the animals looking poor and miserable, whilst these few fine ones fell +into the hands of the Bey. It is probable, however, that the Arabs kept +their best and most beautiful horses out of the way, while the camp was +moving among them. + +The old Sheikh still continued in prison. The bastinadoes with which he +had been treated were inflicted on his bare person, cold water being +applied thereto, which made the punishment more severe. After receiving +one hundred, he said he would shew his hiding-place; and some people +being sent with him, dug a hole where he pointed out, but without coming +to anything. This was done several times, but with the same effect. He +was then locked up in chains till the following morning. Millions of +dollars lie buried by the Arabs at this moment in different parts of +Barbary, especially in Morocco, perhaps the half of which will never be +found, the owners of them having died before they could point out their +hoarded treasures to their relatives, as but a single person is usually +in the secret. Money is in this way buried by tribes, who have nothing +whatever to fear from their sovereigns and their sheikhs; they do it +from immemorial custom. It is for this reason the Arabs consider that +under all ancient ruins heaps of money are buried, placed there by men +or demons, who hold the shining hoards under their invincible spell. +They cannot comprehend how European tourists can undertake such long +journeys, merely for the purpose of examining old heaps of stones, and +making plans and pictures of such rubbish. When any person attempts to +convince the Arabs that this is the sole object, they only laugh with +incredulity. + +Went to Nefta, a ride of about fourteen miles, lying somewhat nearer the +Sahara than Toser. The country on the right was undulating sand, on the +left an apparently boundless ocean, where lies, as a vast sheet of +liquid fire, when the sun shines on it, the now long celebrated Palus +Libya. In this so-called lake no water is visible, except a small marsh +like the one near Toser, where we went duck-shooting. Our party was very +respectable, consisting of the Agha of the Arabs, two or three of the +Bey's mamelukes, the Kaëd of the Jereed, whose name is Braun, and fifty +or sixty Arab guards, besides ourselves. On entering Nefta, the escort +immediately entered, according to custom, a marabet (that of Sidi Bou +Aly), Captain B. and R. meanwhile standing outside. + +There were two famous saints here, one of whom was a hundred years of +age. The other, Sidi Mustapha Azouz, had the character of being a very +clever and good man, which also his intelligent and benevolent +appearance betokened, and not a fanatic, like Amour Abeda of Kairwan. +There were at the time of our visit to him about two hundred people in +his courtyard, who all subsisted on his charities. We were offered +dates, kouskousou, [39] and a seed which they call sgougou, and which +has the appearance of dried apple-seed. The Arabs eat it with honey, +first dipping their fingers into the honey, and then into the seed, +which deliciously sticks to the honey. The Sheikh's saint also +distributed beads and rosaries. He gave R. a bag of sgougou-seed, as +well as some beads. These two Sheikhs are objects of most religious +veneration amongst all true believers, and there is nothing which would +not be done at their bidding. + +Nefta, the Negeta of the ancients, is the frontier town of the Tunisian +territories from the south, being five days' journey, or about +thirty-five or forty leagues from the oases of Souf, and fifteen days' +from Ghadumes. Nefta is not so much a town as an agglomeration of +villages, separated from one another by gardens, and occupying an extent +of surface twice the size that of the city of Algiers. These villages +are Hal Guema, Mesâba, Zebda Ouled, Sherif, Beni Zeid, Beni Ali, Sherfa, +and Zaouweeah Sidi Ahmed. + +The position of Nefta and its environs is very picturesque. Water is +here abundant. The principal source, which, under the name of Wad Nefta, +takes its rise at the north of the city, in the midst of a movement of +earth, enters the villages of Sherfa and Sidi Ahmed; divides them in +two, and fecundates its gardens planted with orange-trees, pomegranates, +and fig-trees. The same spring, by the means of ducts of earth, waters a +forest of date-trees which extends some leagues. A regulator of the +water (kaëd-el-ma) distributes it to each proprietor of the plantation. + +The houses of Nefta are built generally of brick; some with taste and +luxury; the interior is ornamented with Dutch tiles brought from Tunis. +Each quarter has its mosque and school, and in the centre of the group +of villages is a place called Rebot, on the banks of Wad Nefta, which +serves for a common market. Here are quarters specially devoted to the +aristocratic landed proprietors, and others to the busy merchants. The +Shereefs are the genuine nobles, or seigneurs of Nefta, from among whom +the Bey is wont to choose the Governors of the city. The complexion of +the population is dark, from its alliance with Negress slaves, like most +towns advanced in the Desert. The manners of the people are pure. They +are strict observers of the law, and very hospitable to strangers. +Captain B., however, thought that, had he not been under the protection +of the Bey, his head would not have been worth much in these districts. +Every traveller almost forms a different opinion, and frequently the +very opposite estimate, respecting the strangers amongst whom he is +sojourning. A few Jewish artizans have always been tolerated here, on +condition of wearing a black handkerchief round their heads, and not +mount a horse, &c. Recently the Bey, however, by solemn decrees, has +placed the Jews exactly on the same footing of rights and privileges as +the rest of his subjects. + +Nefta is the intermediate _entrepôt_ of commerce which Tunis pours +towards the Sahara, and for this reason is called by the Arabs, "the +gate of Tunis;" but the restrictive system established by the Turks +during late years at Ghadumes, has greatly damaged the trade between the +Jereed and the Desert. The movement of the markets and caravans takes +place at the beginning of spring, and at the end of summer. Only a +portion of the inhabitants is devoted to commerce, the rich landed +proprietory and the Shereefs representing the aristocracy, lead the +tranquil life of nobles, the most void of care, and, perhaps, the +happiest of which contemplative philosophy ever dreamed. The oasis of +Nefta, indeed, is said to be the most poetic of the Desert; its gardens +are delicious; its oranges and lemons sweet; its dates the finest fruit +in the "land of dates." Nearly all the women are pretty, of that beauty +peculiar to the Oriental race; and the ladies who do not expose +themselves to the fierce sun of the day, are as fair as Mooresses. + +Santa Maria left for Ghabs, to which place there is not a correct route +laid down in any chart. There are three routes, but the wells of one are +only known to travellers, a knowledge which cannot be dispensed with in +these dry regions. The wells of the other two routes are known to the +bordering tribes alone, who, when they have taken a supply of water, +cover them up with sand, previously laying a camel-skin over the +well-mouth, to prevent the sand falling into the water, so that, while +dying with thirst, you might be standing on a well and be none the +wiser. The Frenchman has taken with him an escort of twelve men. The +weather is cooler, with a great deal of wind, raising and darkening the +sky with sand; even among the dategroves our eyes and noses were like so +many sand-quarries. + +Sheikh Tahib has been twice subjected to corporal punishment in the same +way as before mentioned, with the addition of fifty, but they cannot +make him bleed as they wish. He declares he has not got the money, and +that he cannot pay them, though they cut him to pieces. As he has +collected a great portion of the tribute of the people, one cannot much +pity the lying rogue. + +We were amused with the snake-charmers. These gentry are a company under +the protection of their great saint Sidi Aysa, who has long gone +upwards, but also is now profitably employed in helping the juggling of +these snake-mountebanks. These fellows take their snakes about in small +bags or boxes, which are perfectly harmless, their teeth and poison-bags +being extracted. They carry them in their bosoms, put them in their +mouths, stuffing a long one in of some feet in length, twist them around +their arms, use them as a whip to frighten the people, in the meanwhile +screaming out and crying unto their Heavenly protector for help, the +bystanders devoutly joining in their prayers. The snake-charmers usually +perform other tricks, such as swallowing nails and sticking an iron bar +in their eyes; and they wear their hair long like women, which gives +them a very wild maniacal look. + +Three of the mamelukes and ourselves went to Wedyen, a town and +date-wood about eight miles from Toser, to the left. The date-grove is +extensive, and there are seven villages in it of the same name. We slept +in the house of the Sheikh, who complained that the Frenchman, in +passing that way, had allowed his escort to plunder, and actually bound +the poor Sheikh, threatening him on his remonstrating. What conduct for +Christians to teach these people! + +One morning before daylight, we were on horseback, and _en route_ +towards the hills, for the purpose of shooting loted, as they call a +species of deer found here. The ground in the neighbourhood of Wedyen is +tossed about like a hay-field, and volcanic looking. About four miles +off we struck into the rocks, on each side of our path, rising +perpendicularly in fantastic shapes. On reaching the highest ground, the +view was exceedingly wild. Much of the rock appeared as if it had only +just been cooled from a state of fusion; there was also a quantity of +tuffo rock, similar to that in the neighbourhood of Naples. The first +animal we saw was a wolf, which, standing on the sky-line of the +opposite hill, looked gigantic. The deep valley between, however, +prevented our nearer approach. + +We soon after came on a loted, who took to his heels, turning round a +mass of rock; but, soon after, he almost met as, and we had a view of +him within forty yards. Several shots were fired at him without effect, +and he at last made his escape, with a speed which defied all our +attempts at following him. Dismounting, the Sheikh Ali, of the Arab +tribe Hammama, who was with us, and who is the greatest deer-stalker in +the country, preceded us a little distance to look out for deer, the +marks of which were here very numerous. After a short time, an Arab +brought information of a herd of some thirty, with a good many young +ones; but our endeavours to have a shot at them were fruitless, though +one of the Arabs got near enough to loose the dogs at them, and a +greyhound was kicked over for his pains. We saw no more of them; but our +want of success was not surprising, silence not being in the least +attended to, and our party was far too large. The Arabs have such a +horrible habit of vociferation, that it is a wonder they ever take any +game at all. About the hills was scattered a great variety of aromatic +plants, quantities of shells, and whole oyster-beds, looking almost as +fresh as if they had been found by the sea-side. + +On our return from Toser, we had an extensive view of the Sahara, an +ocean as far as the eye could see, of what one would have taken his oath +was water, the shores, inlets, and bays being clearly defined, but, in +reality, nothing but salt scattered on the surface. Several islets were +apparently breaking its watery expanse, but these also were only heaps +of sand raised from the surrounding flat. The whole country, hills, +plains and deserts, gave us an idea as if the materials had been thrown +together for manufacture, and had never been completed. Nevertheless +these savage deserts of boundless extent are as complete in their kind +as the smiling meadows and fertile corn-fields of England, each being +perfect in itself, necessary to the grand whole of creation, and forming +an essential portion of the works of Divine Providence. + +The Sheikh Tahib's gardens were sold for 15,000 piastres, his wife also +added to this 1,000, and he was set at liberty. The dates have been +coming in to a great amount. There are many different kinds. The +principal are:--Degalah, the most esteemed, which are very sweet and +almost transparent. Captain B. preferred the Trungah, another first-rate +sort, which are plum-shaped, and taste something like a plum. There are +also the Monachah, which are larger than the other two, dryer and more +mealy, and not so sweet as Degalah, and other sorts. The dates were very +fine, though in no very great abundance, the superior state of ripeness +being attributed to there only being a single day of rain during the +past year in the Jereed. Rain is bad for the dates, but the roots of the +tree cannot have too much water. + +The tent-pitchers of the camp went round and performed, in mask, actions +of the most revolting description, some being dressed as women, and +dancing in the most lascivious and indecent manner. One fellow went up +to R., who was just on the point of knocking him down, when, seeing the +Treasurer of the Bey cracking his sides with laughter, he allowed the +brute to go off under such high patronage. It was even said that these +fellows were patronized by his Highness. But, on all Moorish feastdays, +lascivious actions of men and women are an indispensable part of their +entertainment. This is the worst side of the character of the Moors. The +Moorish women were never so profligate as since the arrival of the +French in Algeria. + +One of the greatest chiefs, Sultan Kaëd, of the Hammama has just died. +He was an extremely old man, and it is certain that people live to a +good old age in this burning clime. During his life, he had often +distinguished himself, and lastly against the French, before +Constantina. Whilst in the hills one day, we came suddenly upon a set of +Arabs, about nine in number, who took to their heels on seeing us. A man +has just been killed near this place, probably by the same gang. For +robbery and murder, no hills could be better fitted, the passes being so +intricate, and the winds and turns so sudden and sharp. The Sheikh Ali +brought in two loteds, a female and its young one, which he had shot. +The head of the loted is like a deer's, but the eye is further up: it is +about a fallowdeer's size. The female has not the beard like a goat, but +long hair, reaching from the head to the bottom of the chest, and over +the fore-legs. These loteds were taken in consequence of an order from +the Bey, that they should not return without some. + +On our march back to Tunis, we encamped for two days by the foot of a +range of hills at Sheesheeah, about ten miles off. The water, brought +from some distance, was bad and salt. + +We proceeded to Ghortabah, our old place. Two of the prisoners (about +twelve of whom we had with us), and one of the Turks, died from the +excessive heat. The two couriers that were sent with despatches for the +Government were attacked near this place by the Arabs, and the horse of +one was so injured, that it was necessary to kill him; the man who rode +the horse was also shot through the leg. This was probably in revenge +for the exactions of the Bey of the Camp on the tribes. + +On our return to Ghafsa, we had rain, hail, and high wind, and +exceedingly cold--a Siberian winter's day on the verge of the scorching +desert. The ground, where there was clay, very slippery; the camels +reeled about as if intoxicated. The consequence was, it was long before +the tents came up, and we endured much from this sudden change of the +weather. Our sufferings were, however, nothing as compared to others, +for during the day, ten men were brought in dead, from the cold (three +died four days before from heat), principally Turks; and, had there been +no change in the temperature, we cannot tell how many would have shared +the same fate. Many of the camels, struggling against the clayey soil, +could not come up. + +Eight more men were shortly buried, and three were missing. The sudden +transition from the intense heat of the one day to the freezing cold of +the next, probably gave the latter a treble power, producing these +disastrous effects, the poor people being sadly ill-clad, and quite +unprepared for such extreme rigour. Besides, on our arrival at the camp, +all the money in Europe could not have purchased us the required +comforts, or rather necessaries, to preserve our health. Cold makes +everybody very selfish. We were exceedingly touched on hearing of the +death of a little girl, whom we saw driven out of a kitchen, in which +the poor helpless little thing had taken refuge from the inclemency of +the weather. + +Santa Maria arrived from Ghabs without accident, having scarcely seen a +soul the whole of the way. He certainly was an enterprizing fellow, +worthy of imitation. He calculated the distance from Ghabs to Toser at +200 miles. There are a number of towns in the districts of Ghabs better +built than those of Nefta and Toser; Ghabs river is also full of water +and the soil of the country is very fertile. The dates are not so good +as those of the Jereed. Ghabs is about 130 miles from Ghafsa. We here +took our farewell of Santa Maria; he went to Beja, the head-quarters of +the summer-camp: thence, of course, he would proceed to Algiers, to give +an account of his _espionage_. Next season, he said, he would go to +Tripoli and Ghadames; he had been many years in North Africa, and spoke +Arabic fluently. + +We next marched to Byrlafee, about twenty miles, and ninety-one from +Toser, where there are the ruins of an old town. The weather continued +cold and most wintry. Here is a very ancient well still in use. +Fragments of cornices and pillars are strewn about. The foundations of +houses, and some massive stone towers, which from their having a pipe up +the centre, must have had something to do with regulating the water, are +all that remain. + +We had now much wind, but no rain. A great many camels and horses +perished. Altogether, the number of camels that died on the return of +the camp, was 550. The price of a camel varies from 60 to 200 piastres. +Many good ones were sold at the camp for eighty piastres each, or about +two pounds ten shillings, English money. A good sheep was disposed of +for four or five piastres, or about three shillings. There were also +some ludicrous sales. A horse in the extremities of nature, or near to +the _articulo mortis_, was sold for a piastre, eight pence; a camel, in +a like situation, was sold for a piastre and a half. A tolerably good +horse in Tunis sells at from 800 to 1000 piastres. + +There are the remains of an aqueduct at Gilma, and several other +buildings, the capitals of the pillars being elaborately worked. It is +seen that nearly the entire surface of Tunis is covered with remains of +aqueducts, Roman, Christian, and Moorish. If railways be applied to this +country--the French, are already talking about forming one from Algiers +to Blidah, across the Mitidjah--unquestionably along the lines will be +constructed ducts for water, which could thus be distributed over the +whole country. Instead of the camels of the "Bey of the Camp" carrying +water from Tunis to the Jereed, the railway would take from Zazwan, the +best and most delicious water in the Regency, to the dry deserts of the +Jereed, with the greatest facility. As to railways paying in this +country, the resources of Tunis, if developed, could pay anything. + +Marching onwards about eighteen miles, we encamped two or three beyond +an old place called Sidi-Ben-Habeeba. A man murdered a woman from +jealousy in the camp, but made his escape. Almost every eminence we +passed was occupied with the remains of some ancient fort, or temple. +There was a good deal of corn in small detached patches, but it must be +remembered, the north-western provinces are the corn-districts. + +In the course of the following three days, we reached Sidi-Mahammedeah, +where are the magnificent remains of Udina. After about an hour's halt, +and when all the tents had been comfortably pitched, the Bey astonished +us with an order to continue our march, and we pursued our way to +Momakeeah, about thirty miles, which we did not reach until after dark. +We passed, for some three or four hours, through a flight of locusts, +the air being darkened, and the ground loaded with them. At a little +distance, a flight of locusts has the appearance of a heavy snow-storm. +These insects rarely visit the capital; but, since the appearance of +those near Momakeeah, they have been collected in the neighbourhood of +the city, cooked, and sold among the people. Momakeeah is a countryhouse +belonging to the Bey, to whom, also, belongs a great portion of the land +around. There is a large garden, laid out in the Italian style attached +to this country-seat. + +On arriving at Tunis, we called at the Bardo as we passed, and saw the +guard mounting. There was rather a fine band of military music; Moorish +musicians, but playing, after the European style, Italian and Moorish +airs. + +We must give here some account of our Boab's domestic concerns. He +boasted that he had had twenty-seven wives, his religion allowing four +at once, which he had bad several times; he was himself of somewhat +advanced years. According to him, if a man quarrels with his wife, he +can put her in prison, but must, at the same time, support her. A +certain quantity of provision is laid down by law, and he must give her +two suits, or changes, of clothes a year. But he must also visit her +once a week, and the day fixed is Friday. If the wife wishes to be +separated, and to return to her parents, she must first pay the money +which he may demand, and must also have his permission, although he +himself may send her to her parents whenever he chooses, without +assigning any reason. He retains the children, and he may marry again. +The woman is generally expected to bring her husband a considerable sum +in the way of dowry, but, on separation, she gets nothing back. This was +the Boab's account, but I think he has overdone the harshness and +injustice of the Mohammedan law of marriage in relating it to our +tourists. It may be observed that the strict law is rarely acted upon, +and many respectable Moors have told me that they have but one wife, and +find that quite enough. It is true that many Moors, especially learned +men, divorce their wives when they get old, feeling the women an +embarrassment to them, and no wonder, when we consider these poor +creatures have no education, and, in their old age, neither afford +connubial pleasure nor society to their husbands. With respect to +divorce, a woman can demand by law and right to be separated from her +husband, or divorced, whenever he ill-treats her, or estranges himself +from her. Eunuchs, who have the charge of the women, are allowed to +marry, although they cannot have any family. The chief eunuch of the +Bardo has the most revolting countenance. + +Our tourists brought home a variety of curious Jereed things: small +date-baskets full of dates, woollen articles, skins of all sorts, and a +few live animals. Sidi Mohammed also made them many handsome presents. +Some deer, Jereed goats, an ostrich, &c., were sent to Mr. R. after his +return, and both Captain B. and Mr. R. have had every reason to be +extremely gratified with the hospitality and kind attentions of the "Bey +of the Camp." + +It is very difficult to ascertain the amount of tribute collected in the +Jereed, some of which, however, was not got in, owing to various +impediments. Our tourists say generally:-- + + Camel-loads. [40] + Money, dollars, and piastres, (chiefly I + imagine, the latter.) 23 + + Burnouses, blankets, and quilts, &c. 6 + + Dates (these were collected at Toser, + and brought from Nefta and the surrounding + districts) 500 + ---- + Total 529 + + It is impossible, with this statement + before us, to make out any exact + calculation of the amount of tribute. + A cantar of dates varies from fifteen + to twenty-five shillings, say on an + average a pound sterling; this will + make the amount of the 500 camel-loads + at five cantars per load £2,500 + + Six camel-loads of woollen manufactures, + &c., at sixty pound per load, value 360 + ------ + Total £2,860 + +The money, chiefly piastres, must be left to conjecture. However, Mr. +Levy, a large merchant at Tunis, thinks the amount might be from 150 to +200,000 piastres, or, taking the largest sum, £6,250 sterling: + + Total amount of the tribute of the Jereed: + in goods £2,860 + Ditto, in money: 6,250 + ------ + Total £9,110 + +To this sum may be added the smaller presents of horses, camels, and +other beasts of burden. + + * * * * * + +Before leaving Mogador, in company with Mr. Willshire, I saw his +Excellency, the Governor again, when I took formal leave of him. He +accompanied me down to the port with several of the authorities, waiting +until I embarked for the Renshaw schooner. Several of the Consuls, and +nearly all the Europeans, were also present. On the whole, I was +satisfied with the civilities of the Moorish authorities, and offer my +cordial thanks to the Europeans of Mogador for their attentions during +my residence in that city. + +A little circumstance shews the subjection of our merchants, the Consul +not excepted, to the Moorish Government. One of the merchants wished to +accompany me on board, but was not permitted, on account of his +engagements with the Sultan. + +A merchant cannot even go off the harbour to superintend the stowing of +his goods. Never were prisoners of war, or political offenders, so +closely watched as the boasted imperial merchants of this city. + +After setting sail, we were soon out of sight of Mogador; and, on the +following day, land disappeared altogether. During the next month, we +were at sea, and out of view of the shore. I find an entry in my +journal, when off the Isle of Wight. We had had most tremendous weather, +successive gales of foul wind, from north and north-east. Our schooner +was a beautiful vessel, a fine sailer with a flat bottom, drawing little +water, made purposely for Barbary ports. She had her bows completely +under water, and pitched her way for twenty-five succeeding days, +through huge rising waves of sea and foam. During the whole of this +time, I never got up, and lived on bread and water with a little +biscuit. Captain Taylor, who was a capital seaman, and took the most +accurate observations, lost all patience, and, though a good methodist, +would now and then rush on deck, and swear at the perverse gale and +wrathful sea. We took on board a fine barb for Mr. Elton, which died +after a few days at sea, in these tempests. I had a young vulture that +died a day before the horse, or we should have fed him on the carcase. + +[Illustration] + +An aoudad which we conveyed on account of Mr. Willshire to London, for +the Zoological Society, outlived these violent gales, and was safely and +comfortably lodged in the Regent's Park. After my return from Africa, I +paid my brave and hardy fellow-passenger a visit, and find the air of +smoky London agrees with him as well as the cloudless region of the +Morocco Desert. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The following account of the bombardment of Mogador by the French, +written at the period by an English Resident may be of interest at the +present time. + +Mogador was bombarded on the 13th of August, 1844. Hostilities began at +9 o'clock A.M., by the Moors firing twenty-one guns before the French +had taken up their position, but the fire was not returned until 2 P.M. +The 'Gemappes,' 100; 'Suffren,' 99; 'Triton,' 80; ships of the line. +'Belle Poule,' 60, frigate; 'Asmodée' and 'Pluton,' steamers, and some +brigs, constituted the bombarding squadron. The batteries were silenced, +and the Moorish authorities with many of the inhabitants fled, leaving +the city unprotected against the wild tribes, who this evening and the +next morning, sacked and fired the city. On the 16th, nine hundred +French were landed on the isle of Mogador. After a rude encounter with +the garrison, they took possession of it and its forts. Their loss was, +after twenty-eight hours' bombarding, trifling, some twenty killed and +as many more wounded; the Moors lost some five hundred on the isle +killed, besides the casualties in the city. + +The British Consul and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, with +others, were obliged to remain in the town during the bombardment on +account of their liabilities to the Emperor. The escape of these people +from destruction was most miraculous. + +The bombarding squadron reached on the 10th, the English frigate, +'Warspite,' on the 13th, and the wind blowing strong from N.E., and +preventing the commencement of hostilities, afforded opportunity to +save, if possible, the British Consul's family and other detained +Europeans; but, notwithstanding the strenuous remonstrances of the +captain of the 'Warspite', nothing whatever could prevail upon the +Moorish Deputy-Governor in command, Sidi Abdallah Deleero, to allow the +British and other Europeans to take their departure. The Governor even +peremptorily refused permission for the wife of the Consul to leave, +upon the cruel sophism that, "The Christian religion asserts the husband +and wife to be one, consequently," added the Governor, "as it is my +duty, which I owe to my Emperor, to prevent the Consul from leaving +Mogador, I must also keep his wife." + +The fact is the Moors, in their stupidity, and perhaps in their revenge, +thought the retaining of the British Consul and the Europeans might, in +some way or other, contribute to the defence of themselves, save the +city, or mitigate the havoc of the bombardment. At any rate, they would +say, "Let the Christians share the same fate and dangers as ourselves." +During the bombardment, the Moors for two hours fought well, but their +best gunner, a Spanish renegade, Omar Ei-Haj, being killed, they became +dispirited and abandoned the batteries. The Governor and his troops, +about sunset, disgracefully and precipitately fled, followed by nearly +all the Moorish population, thereby abandoning Mogador to pillage, and +the European Jews to the merciless wild tribes, who, though levied to +defend the town, had, for some hours past, hovered round it like droves +of famished wolves. + +As the Governor fled out, terrified as much at the wild tribes as of the +French, in rushed these hordes, led on by their desperate chiefs. These +wretches undismayed, unmoved by the terrors of the bombarding ravages +around, strove and vied with each other in the committal of every act of +the most unlicensed ferocity and depredation, breaking open houses, +assaulting the inmates, murdering such as shewed resistance, denuding +the more submissive of their clothing, abusing women--particularly in +the Jewish quarter--to all which atrocities the Europeans were likewise +exposed. + +At the most imminent hazard of their lives, the British Consul and his +wife, with a few others, escaped from these ruffians. Truly providential +was their flight through streets, resounding with the most turbulent +confusion and sanguinary violence. It was late when the plunderers +appeared before the Consulates, where, without any ceremony, by +hundreds, they fell to work, breaking open bales of goods, ransacking +places for money and other treasures; and, thus unsatisfied in their +rapacity, they tore and burnt all the account-books and Consular +documents. + +Other gangs fought over the spoil; some carrying off their booty, and +others setting it on fire. It was a real pandemonium of discord and +licentiousness. During the darkness, and in the midst of such scenes, it +was that the Consul and his wife threaded their precarious flight +through the streets, and in their way were intercepted by a marauding +band, who attacked them; tore off his coat; and, seizing his wife, +insisted upon denuding her, four or five daggers being raised to her +throat, expecting to find money concealed about their persons; nor would +the ruffians desist until they ascertained they had none, the Consul +having prudently resolved to take no money with them. Fortunately, at +this juncture, his wife was able to speak, and in Arabic (being born +here, and daughter of a former Consul), therefore she could give force +to her entreaties by appealing to them not to imbue their hands in the +blood of their countrywomen. This had the desired effect. The chief of +the party undertook to conduct them to the water-port, when, coming in +contact with another party, a conflict about booty ensued, during which +the Consul's family got out of the town to a place of comparative +security. + +Incidents of a similar alarming nature attended the escape of Mr. +Robertson, his wife, and four children; one, a baby in arms. In the +crowd, Mr. Robertson, with a child in each hand, lost sight of Mrs. +Robertson, with her infant and another child. Distracted by sad +forebodings, poor Mr. Robertson forced his way to the water-port, but +not before a savage mountainer--riding furiously by him--aimed a +sabre-blow at him to cut him down; but, as the murderous arm was poised +above, Mr. Robertson stooped, and, raising his arm at the time, warded +it off; the miscreant then rode off, being satisfied at this cut at the +detested Nazarene. + +Another ruffian seized one of his little girls, a pretty child of nine +years old, and scratched her arm several times with his dagger, calling +out _flous_ (money) at each stroke. At the water-port, Mr. Robertson +joined his fainting wife, and the British Consul and his wife, with Mr. +Lucas and Mr. Allnut. An old Moor never deserted the Consul's family, +"faithful among the faithless;" and a Jewess, much attached to the +family, abandoned them only to return to those allied to her by the ties +of blood. + +Their situation was now still perilous, for, should they be discovered +by the wild Berbers, they all might be murdered. This night, the 15th, +was a most anxious one, and their apprehensions were dreadful. Dawn of +day was fast approaching, and every hour's delay rendered their +condition more precarious. In this emergency, Mr. Lucas, who never once +failed or lost his accustomed suavity and presence of mind amidst these +imminent dangers, resolved upon communicating with the fleet by a most +hazardous experiment. On his way from the town-gate to the water-port, +he noticed some deal planks near the beach. The idea struck him of +turning these into a raft, which, supporting him, could enable their +party to communicate with the squadron. Mr. Lucas fetched the planks, +and resolutely set to work. Taking three of them, and luckily finding a +quantity of strong grass cordage, he arranged them in the water, and +with some cross-pieces, bound the whole together; and, besides, having +found two small pieces of board to serve him as paddles, he gallantly +launched forth alone, and, in about an hour, effected his object, for he +excited the attention of the French brig, 'Canard,' from which a boat +came and took him on board. + +The officers, being assured there were no Moors on guard at the +batteries, and that the Berbers were wholly occupied in plundering the +city, promptly and generously sent off a boat with Mr. Lucas to the +rescue of the alarmed and trembling fugitives. The Prince de Joinville +afterwards ordered them to be conveyed on board the 'Warspite.' The +self-devotedness, sagacity, and indefatigable exertions of the excellent +young man, Mr. Lucas, were above all encomiums, and, at the hands of the +British Government, he deserved some especial mark of favour. + +Poor Mrs. Levy (an English Jewess, married to a Maroquine Jew), and her +family were left behind, and accompanied the rest of the miserable Jews +and natives, to be maltreated, stripped naked, and, perhaps, murdered, +like many poor Jews. Mr. Amrem Elmelek, the greatest native merchant and +a Jew, died from fright. Carlos Bolelli, a Roman, perished during the +sack of the city. + +Mogador was left a heap of ruins, scarcely one house standing entire, +and all tenantless. In the fine elegiac bulletin of the bombarding +Prince, "Alas! for thee, Mogador! thy walls are riddled with bullets, +and thy mosques of prayer blackened with fire!" (or something like +these words.) + + +COMMERCE WITH MOROCCO. + +TANGIER. + +Tangier trades almost exclusively with Gibraltar, between which place +and this, an active intercourse is constantly kept up. + +The principal articles of importation into Tangier are, cotton goods of +all kinds, cloth, silk-stuffs, velvets, copper, iron, steel, and +hardware of every description; cochineal, indigo, and other dyes; tea, +coffee, sulphur, paper, planks, looking-glasses, tin, thread, +glass-beads, alum, playing-cards, incense, sarsaparilla, and rum. + +The exports consist in hides, wax, wool, leeches, dates, almonds, +oranges, and other fruit, bark, flax, durra, chick-peas, bird-seed, oxen +and sheep, henna, and other dyes, woollen sashes, haicks, Moorish +slippers, poultry, eggs, flour, &c. + +The value of British and foreign goods imported into Tangier in 1856 +was: British goods, £101,773 6_s_., foreign goods, £33,793. + +The goods exported from Tangier during the same year was: For British +ports, £63,580 10_s_., for foreign ports, £13,683. + +The following is a statement of the number of British and foreign ships +that entered and cleared from this port during the same year. Entered: +British ships 203, the united tonnage of which was 10,883; foreign ships +110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Cleared: British ships 207, the united tonnage of which was 10,934; +foreign ships 110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Three thousand head of cattle are annually exported, at a fixed duty of +five dollars per head, to Gibraltar, for the use of that garrison, in +conformity with the terms of special grants that have, from time to +time, been made by the present Sultan and some of his predecessors. In +addition to the above, about 2,000 head are, likewise, exported +annually, for the same destination, at a higher rate of duty, varying +from eight dollars to ten dollars per head. Gibraltar, also, draws from +this place large supplies of poultry, eggs, flour, and other kinds of +provisions. + +MOGADOR. + +From the port of Mogador are exported the richest articles the country +produces, viz., almonds, sweet and bitter gums, wool, olive-oil, seeds +of various kinds, as cummin, gingelen, aniseed; sheep-skins, calf, and +goat-skins, ostrich-feathers, and occasionally maize. + +The amount of exports in 1855 was: For British ports, £228,112 3_s_. +2_d_., for foreign ports, £55,965 13_s_. 1_d_. + +The imports are Manchester cotton goods, which have entirely superseded +the East India long cloths, formerly in universal use, blue salampores, +prints, sugar, tea, coffee, Buenos Ayres slides, iron, steel, spices, +drugs, nails, beads and deals, woollen cloth, cotton wool, and mirrors +of small value, partly for consumption in the town, but chiefly for that +of the interior, from Morocco and its environs, as far as Timbuctoo. + +The amount of imports in 1855 was: British goods, £136,496 7_s_. 6_d_., +foreign goods £31,222 11_s_. 5_d_. + +The trade last year was greatly increased by the unusually large demand +for olive-oil from all parts, and there is no doubt that, under a more +liberal Government, the commerce might be developed to a vast extent. + +RABAT. + +The principal goods imported at Rabat are, alum, calico of different +qualities, cinnamon, fine cloth, army cloth, cloves, copperas, cotton +prints, raw cotton, sewing cotton, cutlery, dimity, domestics, +earthenware, ginger, glass, handkerchiefs (silk and cotton), hardware, +indigo, iron, linen, madder root, muslin, sugar (refined and raw), tea, +and tin plate. + +The before-mentioned articles are imported partly for consumption in +Rabat and Sallee, and partly for transmission into the interior. + +The value of different articles of produce exported at Rabat during the +last five years amounts to £34,860 1_s_. + +There can be no doubt that the imports and exports at Rabat would +greatly increase, if the present high duties were reduced, and +Government monopolies abolished. Large quantities of hides were exported +before they were a Government monopoly: now the quantity exported is +very inconsiderable. + +MAZAGAN. + +_Goods Imported_.--Brown Domestics, called American White, muslins, raw +cotton, cotton-bales, silk and cotton pocket-handkerchiefs; tea, coffee, +sugars, iron, copperas, alum; many other articles imported, but in very +small quantities. + +A small portion of the importations is consumed at Mazagan and Azimore, +but the major portions in the interior. + +The amount of the leading goods exported in 1855 was:--Bales of wool, +6,410; almonds, 200 serons; grain, 642,930 fanegas. + +No doubt the commerce of this port would be increased under better +fiscal laws than those now established. + +But the primary and immediate thing to be looked after is the wilful +casting into the anchorage-ground of stone-ballast by foreigners. +British masters are under control, but foreigners will persist, chiefly +Sardinian masters. + + + + +THE END + + + + +[1] The predecessor of Muley Abd Errahman. + +[2] On account, of their once possessing the throne, the Shereefs have a +peculiar jealousy of Marabouts, and which latter have not forgotten +their once being sovereigns of Morocco. The _Moravedi_ were "really a +dynasty of priests," as the celebrated Magi, who usurped the throne of +Cyrus. The Shereefs, though descended from the Prophet, are not strictly +priests, or, to make the distinction perfectly clear the Shereefs are to +be considered a dynasty corresponding to the type of Melchizdek, uniting +in themselves the regal and sacerdotal authority, whilst the +_Marabouteen_ were a family of priests like the sons of Aaron. +Abd-el-Kader unites in himself the princely and sacerdotal authority +like the Shereefs, though not of the family of the Prophet. Mankind have +always been jealous of mere theocratic government, and dynasties of +priests have always been failures in the arts of governing, and the +Egyptian priests, though they struggled hard, and were the most +accomplished of this class of men, could not make themselves the +sovereigns of Egypt. + +[3] According to others the Sâdia reigned before the Shereefs. + +[4] I was greatly astonished to read in Mr. Hay's "Western Barbary," (p. +123), these words--"During one of the late rebellions, a beautiful young +girl was offered up as a propitiatory sacrifice, her throat being cut +before the tent of the Sultan, and in his presence!" This is an +unmitigated libel on the Shereefian prince ruling Morocco. First of all, +the sacrifice of human beings is repudiated by every class of +inhabitants in Barbary. Such rites, indeed, are unheard of, nay, +unthought of. If the Mahometan religion has been powerful in any one +thing, it is in that of rooting out from the mind of man every notion of +human sacrifice. It is this which makes the sacrifice of the Saviour +such an obnoxious doctrine to Mussulmen. It is true enough, at times, +oxen are immolated to God, but not to Moorish princes, "to appease an +offended potentate." One spring, when there was a great drought, the +people led up to the hill of Ghamart, near Carthage, a red heifer to be +slaughtered, in order to appease the displeasure of Deity; and when the +Bey's frigate, which, a short time ago, carried a present to her +Britannic Majesty, from Tunis to Malta, put back by stress of weather, +two sheep were sacrificed to some tutelar saints, and two guns were +fired in their honour. The companions of Abd-el-Kader in a storm, during +his passage from Oran to Toulon, threw handsful of salt to the raging +deep to appease its wild fury. But as to sacrificing human victims, +either to an incensed Deity, or to man, impiously putting himself in the +place of God, the Moors of Barbary have not the least conception of such +an enormity. + +It would seem, unfortunately, that the practice of the gentleman, who +travelled a few miles into the interior of Morocco on a horse-mission, +had been to exaggerate everything, and, where effect was wanting, not to +have scrupled to have recourse to unadulterated invention. But this +style of writing cannot be defended on any principle, when so serious a +case is brought forward as that of sacrificing a human victim to appease +the wrath of an incensed sovereign, and that prince now living in +amicable relations with ourselves. + +[5] Gräberg de Hemso, whilst consul-general for Sweden and Sardinia (at +Morocco!) concludes the genealogy of these Mussulman sovereigns with +this strange, but Catholic-spirited rhapsody:-- + +"Muley Abd-ur-Bakliman, who is now gloriously and happily reigning, whom +we pray Almighty God, all Goodness and Power, to protect and exalt by +prolonging his life, glory, and reign in this world and in the next; and +giving him, during eternity, the heavenly beatitude, in order that his +soul, in the same manner as flame to flame, river to sea, may be united +with his sweetest, most perfect and ineffable Creator. Amen." + +[6] Yezeed was half-Irish, born of the renegade widow of an Irish +sergeant of the corps of Sappers and Miners, who was placed at the +disposition of this government by England, and who died in Morocco. On +his death, the facile, buxom widow was admitted, "nothing loath," into +the harem of Sidi-Mohammed, who boasted of having within its sacred +enclosure of love and bliss, a woman from every clime. + +Here the daughter of Erin brought forth this ferocious tyrant, whose +maxim of carnage, and of inflicting suffering on humanity was, "My +empire can never be well governed, unless a stream of blood flows from +the gate of the palace to the gate of the city." To do Yezeed justice, +he followed out the instincts of his birth, and made war on all the +world except the English (or Irish). Tully's Letters on Tripoli give a +graphic account of the exploits of Yezeed, who, to his inherent cruelty, +added a fondness for practical (Hibernian) jokes. + +His father sent him several times on a pilgrimage to Mecca to expiate +his crimes, when he amused, or alarmed, all the people whose countries +he passed through, by his terrific vagaries. One day he would cut off +the heads of a couple of his domestics, and play at bowls with them; +another day, he would ride across the path of an European, or a consul, +and singe his whiskers with the discharge of a pistol-shot; another day, +he would collect all the poor of a district, and gorge them with a +razzia he had made on the effects of some rich over-fed Bashaw. The +multitude sometimes implored heaven's blessing on the head of Yezeed. at +other times trembled for their own heads. Meanwhile, our European +consuls made profound obeisance to this son of the Shereef, enthroned in +the West. So the tyrant passed the innocent days of his pilgrimage. So +the godless herd of mankind acquiesced in the divine rights of royalty. + +[7] See Appendix at the end of this volume. + +[8] The middle Western Region consists of Algiers and part of Tunis. + +[9] Pliny, the Elder, confirms this tradition mentioned by Pliny. Marcus +Yarron reports, "that in all Spain there are spread Iberians, Persians, +Phoenicians, Celts, and Carthaginians." (Lib. iii. chap. 2). + +[10] In Latin, Mauri, Maurice, Maurici, Maurusci, and it is supposed, so +called by the Greeks from their dark complexions. + +[11] The more probable derivation of this word is from _bar_, signifying +land, or earth, in contradistinction from the sea, or desert, beyond the +cultivable lands to the South. To give the term more force it is +doubled, after the style of the Semitic reduplication. De Haedo de la +Captividad gives a characteristic derivation, like a genuine hidalgo, +who proclaimed eternal war against Los Moros. He says--"Moors, Alartes, +Cabayles, and some Turks, form all of them a dirty, lazy, inhuman, +indomitable nation of beasts, and it is for this reason that, for the +last few years, I have accustomed myself to call that land the land of +Barbary." + +[12] Procopius, de Bello Vandilico, lib. ii. cap. 10. + +[13] Some derive it from _Sarak_, an Arabic word which signifies to +steal, and hence, call the conquerors thieves. Others, and with more +probability, derive it from _Sharak_, the east, and make them Orientals, +and others say there is an Arabic word _Saracini_, which means a +pastoral people, and assert that Saracine is a corruption from it, the +new Arabian immigrants being supposed to have been pastoral tribes. + +[14] Some suppose that _Amayeegh_ means "great," and the tribes thus +distinguished themselves, as our neighbours are wont to do by the phrase +"la grande nation." The Shoulah are vulgarly considered to be descended +from the Philistines, and to have fled before Joshua on the conquest of +Palestine. + +In his translation of the Description of Spain, by the Shereef El-Edris +(Madrid, 1799), Don Josef Antonio Conde speaks of the Berbers in a +note-- + +"Masmuda, one of the five principal tribes of Barbaria; the others are +Zeneta, called Zenetes in our novels and histories, Sanhagha which we +name Zenagas; Gomêsa is spelt in our histories Gomares and Gomeles. +Huroara, some of these were originally from Arabia; there were others, +but not so distinguished. La de Ketâma was, according to tradition, +African, one of the most ancient, for having come with Afrikio. + +"Ben Kis Ben Taifi Ben Tebâ, the younger, who came from the king of the +Assyrians, to the land of the west. + +"None of these primitive tribes appear to have been known to the Romans, +their historians, however, have transmitted to us many names of other +aboriginal tribes, some of which resemble fractions now existing, as the +Getules are probably the present Geudala or Geuzoula. But the present +Berbers do not correspond with the names of the five original people +just mentioned. In Morocco, there are Amayeegh and Shelouh, in Algeria +the Kabyles, in Tunis the Aoures, sometimes the Shouwiah, and in Sahara +the Touarichs. There are, besides, numerous subdivisions and admixtures +of these tribes." + +[15] Monsieur Balbi is decidedly the most recent, as well as the best +authority to apply to for a short and definite description of this most +celebrated mountain system, called by him "Système Atlantique," and I +shall therefore annex what he says on this interesting subject, +"Orographie." He says--"Of the 'Système Atlantique,' which derives its +name from the Mount Atlas, renowned for so many centuries, and still so +little known; we include in this vast system, all the heights of the +region of Maghreb--we mean the mountain of the Barbary States--as well +as the elevations scattered in the immense Sahara or Desert. It appears +that the most important ridge extends from the neighbourhood of Cape +Noun, or the Atlantic, as far as the east of the Great Syrte in the +State of Tripoli. In this vast space it crosses the new State of +Sidi-Hesdham, the Empire of Morocco, the former State of Algiers, as +well as the State of Tripoli and the Regency of Tunis. It is in the +Empire of Morocco, and especially in the east of the town of Morocco, +and in the south-east of Fez, that that ridge presents the greatest +heights of the whole system. It goes on diminishing afterwards in height +as it extends towards the east, so that it appears the summits of the +territory of Algiers are higher than those on the territory of Tunis, +and the latter are less high than those to be found in the State of +Tripoli. Several secondary ridges diverge in different directions from +the principal chain; we shall name among them the one which ends at the +Strait of Gibraltar in the Empire of Morocco. Several intermediary +mountains seem to connect with one another the secondary chains which +intersect the territories of Algiers and Tunis. Geographers call Little +Atlas the secondary mountains of the land of Sous, in opposition to the +name of Great Atlas, they give to the high mountains of the Empire of +Morocco. In that part of the principal chain called Mount Gharian, in +the south of Tripoli, several low branches branch off and under the +names of Mounts Maray, Black Mount Haroudje, Mount Liberty, Mount +Tiggerandoumma and others less known, furrow the great solitudes of the +Desert of Lybia and Sahara Proper. From observations made on the spot by +Mr. Bruguière in the former state of Algiers, the great chain which +several geographers traced beyond the Little Atlas under the name of +Great Atlas does not exist. The inhabitants of Mediah who were +questioned on the subject by this traveller, told him positively, that +the way from that town to the Sahara was through a ground more or less +elevated, and slopes more or less steep, and without having any chain of +mountains to cross. The Pass of Teniah which leads from Algiers to +Mediah is, therefore, included in the principal chain of that part of +the Regency. + +[16] Xenophon, in his Anabasis, speaks of ostriches in Mesopotamia being +run down by fleet horses. + +[17] Mount Atlas was called Dyris by the ancient aborigines, or Derem, +its name amongst the modern aborigines. This word has been compared to +the Hebrew, signifying the place or aspect of the sun at noon-day, as if +Mount Atlas was the back of the world, or the cultivated parts of the +globe, and over which the sun was seen at full noon, in all his fierce +and glorious splendour. Bochart connects the term with the Hebrew +meaning 'great' or 'mighty,' which epithet would be naturally applied to +the Atlas, and all mountains, by either a savage or civilized people. We +have, also, on the northern coast, Russadirum, the name given by the +Moors to Cape Bon, which is evidently a compound of _Ras_, head, and +_dirum_, mountain, or the head of the mountain. + +We have again the root of this word in Doa-el-Hamman, Tibet Deera, &c., +the names of separate chains of the mighty Atlas. Any way, the modern +Der-en is seen to be the same with the ancient Dir-is. + +[18] The only way of obtaining any information at all, is through the +registers of taxation; and, to the despotism and exactions of these and +most governments, we owe a knowledge of the proximate amount of the +numbers of mankind. + +[19] Tangier, Mogador, Wadnoun, and Sous have already been described, +wholly, or in part. + +[20] In 936, Arzila was sacked by the English, and remained for twenty +years uninhabited. + +[21] According to Mr. Hay, a portion of the Salee Rovers seem to have +finally taken refuge here. Up the river El-Kous, the Imperial squadron +lay in ordinary, consisting of a corvette, two brigs, (once +merchant-vessels, and which had been bought of Christians), and a +schooner, with some few gun-boats, and even these two or three vessels +were said to be all unfit for sea. But, when Great Britain captured the +rock of Gibraltar, we, supplanting the Moors became the formidable +toll-keepers of the Herculean Straits, and the Salee rivers have ever +since been in our power. If the Shereefs have levied war or tribute on +European navies since that periods it has been under our tacit sanction. +The opinion of Nelson is not the less true, that, should England engage +in war with any maritime State of Europe, Morocco must be our warm and +active friend or enemy, and, if our enemy, we must again possess +ourselves of our old garrison of Tangier. + +[22] So called, it is supposed, from the quantity of aniseed grown in +the neighbourhood. + +[23] Near Cape Blanco is the ruined town of Tit or Tet, supposed to be +of Carthaginian origin, and once also possessed by the Portuguese, when +commerce therein flourished. + +[24] El-Kesar is a very common name of a fortified town, and is usually +written by the Spaniards Alcazar, being the name of the celebrated royal +palace at Seville. + +[25] Marmol makes this city to have succeeded the ancient Roman town of +Silda or Gilda. Mequinez has been called Ez-Zetounah, from the immense +quantities of olives in its immediate vicinity. + +[26] Don J. A. Conde says--"Fes or sea Fez, the capital of the realm of +that name; the fables of its origin, and the grandeur of the Moors, who +always speak of their cities as foundations of heroes, or lords of the +whole world, &c., a foible of which our historians are guilty. +Nasir-Eddin and the same Ullug Beig say, for certain, that Fez is the +court of the king in the west. I must observe here, that nothing is less +authentic than the opinions given by Casiri in his Library of the +Escurial, that by the word Algarb, they always mean the west of Spain, +and by the word Almagreb, the west of Africa; one of these appellations +is generally used for the other. The same Casiri says, with regard to +Fez, that it was founded by Edno Ben Abdallah, under the reign of +Almansor Abu Giafar; he is quite satisfied with that assertion, but does +not perceive that it contains a glaring anachronism. Fez was already a +very ancient city before the Mohammed Anuabi of the Mussulmen, and +Joseph, in his A. J., mentions a city of Mauritania; the prophet Nahum +speaks of it also, when he addresses Ninive, he presents it as an +example for No Ammon. He enumerates its districts and cities, and says, +Fut and Lubim, Fez and Lybia, &c. + +[27] I imagine we shall never know the truth of this until the French +march an army into Fez, and sack the library. + +[28] It is true enough what the governor says about _quietness_, but the +novelty of the mission turned the heads of the people, and made a great +noise among them. The slave-dealers of Sous vowed vengeance against me, +and threatened to "rip open my bowels" if I went down there. + +[29] The Sultan's Minister, Ben Oris, addressing our government on the +question says, "Whosoever sets any person free God will set his soul +free from the fire," (hell), quoting the Koran. + +[30] A person going to the Emperor without a present, is like a menace +at court, for a present corresponds to our "good morning." + +[31] _Bash_, means chief, as Bash-Mameluke, chief of the Mamelukes. It +is a Turkish term. + +[32] This office answers vulgarly to our _Boots_ at English inns. + +[33] Bismilla, Arabic for "In the name of God!" the Mohammedan grace +before meat, and also drink. + +[34] Shaw says.--"The hobara is of the bigness of a capon, it feeds upon +the little grubs or insects, and frequents the confines of the Desert. +The body is of a light dun or yellowish colour, and marked over with +little brown touches, whilst the larger feathers of the wing are black, +with each of them a white spot near the middle; those of the neck are +whitish with black streaks, and are long and erected when the bird is +attacked. The bill is flat like the starling's, nearly an inch and a +half long, and the legs agree in shape and in the want of the hinder toe +with the bustard's, but it is not, as Golins says, the bustard, that +bird being twice as big as the hobara. Nothing can be more entertaining +than to see this bird pursued by the hawk, and what a variety of flights +and stratagems it makes use of to escape." The French call the hobara, a +little bustard, _poule de Carthage_, or Carthage-fowl. They are +frequently sold in the market of Tunis, as ordinary fowls, but eat +something like pheasant, and their flesh is red. + +[35] The most grandly beautiful view in Tunis is that from the +Belvidere, about a mile north-west from the capital, looking immediately +over the Marsa road. Here, on a hill of very moderate elevation, you +have the most beautiful as well as the most magnificent panoramic view +of sea and lake, mountain and plain, town and village, in the whole +Regency, or perhaps in any other part of North Africa. There are besides +many lovely walks around the capital, particularly among and around the +craggy heights of the south-east. But these are little frequented by the +European residents, the women especially, who are so stay-at-homeative +that the greater part of them never walked round the suburbs once in +their lives. Europeans generally prefer the Marina, lined on each side, +not with pleasant trees, but dead animals, sending forth a most +offensive smell. + +[36] Shaw says: "The rhaad, or safsaf, is a granivorous and gregarious +bird, which wanteth the hinder toe. There are two species, and both +about and a little larger than the ordinary pullet. The belly of both is +white, back and wings of a buff colour spotted with brown, tail lighter +and marked all along with black transverse streaks, beak and legs +stronger than the partridge. The name rhaad, "thunder," is given to it +from the noise it makes on the ground when it rises, safsaf, from its +beating the air, a sound imitating the motion." + +[37] Ghafsa, whose name Bochart derives from the Hebrew "comprimere," +is an ancient city, claiming as its august founder, the Libyan +Hercules. It was one of the principal towns in the dominions of +Jugurtha, and well-fortified, rendered secure by being placed in the +midst of immense deserts, fabled to have been inhabited solely by +snakes and serpents. Marius took it by a _coup-de-main_, and put all +the inhabitants to the sword. The modern city is built on a gentle +eminence, between two arid mountains, and, in a great part, with the +materials of the ancient one. Ghafsa has no wall of _euceinte_, or +rather a ruined wall surrounds it, and is defended by a kasbah, +containing a small garrison. This place may be called the gate of the +Tunisian Sahara; it is the limit of Blad-el-Jereed; the sands begin now +to disappear, and the land becomes better, and more suited to the +cultivation of corn. Three villages are situated in the environs, Sala, +El-Kesir, and El-Ghetar. A fraction of the tribe of Hammand deposit +their grain in Ghafsa. This town is famous for its manufactories of +baraeans and blankets ornamented with pretty coloured flowers. There is +also a nitre and powder-manufactory, the former obtained from the earth +by a very rude process. + +The environs are beautifully laid out in plantations of the fig, the +pomegranate, and the orange, and especially the datepalm, and the +olive-tree. The oil made here is of peculiarly good quality, and is +exported to Tugurt, and other oases of the Desert. + +[38] Kaemtz's Meteorology, p. 191. + +[39] This is the national dish of Barbary, and is a preparation of +wheat-flour granulated, boiled by the steam of meat. It is most +nutritive, and is eaten with or without meat and vegetables. When the +grains are large, it is called hamza. + +[40] A camel-load is about five cantars, and a cantar is a hundred +weight. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: In this electronic edition, the footnotes were +numbered and relocated to the end of the work. In ch. 3, "Mogrel-el-Aska" +was corrected to "Mogrel-el-Aksa"; in ch. 4, "lattely" to "lately"; in +ch. 7, "book" to "brook"; in ch. 9, "cirumstances" to "circumstances". +Also, "Amabasis" was corrected to "Anabasis" in footnote 16.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2., by James Richardson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10356 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f56817 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10356 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10356) diff --git a/old/10356-8.txt b/old/10356-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4aea7e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10356-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5830 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2., by James Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2. + +Author: James Richardson + +Release Date: December 1, 2003 [EBook #10356] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, VOL. 2. *** + + + + +Produced by Carlo Traverso, Tom Allen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + +[Illustration] + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, + +BY THE LATE JAMES RICHARDSON, + +AUTHOR OF "A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA," +"TRAVELS IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA," &C. + +EDITED BY HIS WIDOW. + +[Illustration] + +IN TWO VOLUMES. + +VOL. II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elæonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + +APPENDIX. + + + + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + + +Notwithstanding the imbecile prejudices of the native Barbary Jews, such +of them who adopt European habits, or who mix with European merchants, +are tolerably good members of society, always endeavouring to restrain +their own peculiarities. The European Jewesses settled in Mogador, are +indeed the belles of society, and attend all the balls (such as they +are). The Jewess sooner forgets religious differences than the Jew, and +I was told by a Christian lady, it would be a dangerous matter for a +Christian gentleman to make an offer of marriage to a Mogador Jewess, +unless in downright earnest; as it would be sure to be accepted. + +Monsieur Delaport, Consul of France, was the first official person who +brought prominently forward the native and other Jews into the European +society of this place, and since then, these Jews have improved in their +manners, and increased their respectability. The principal European Jews +are from London, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. Many native Jews have +attempted to wear European clothes; and a European hat, or coat, is now +the rage among native Jewesses, who all aspire to get a husband wearing +either. Such are elements of the progress of the Jewess population in +this part of the world, and there is no doubt their position has been +greatly ameliorated within the last half century, or since the time of +Ali Bey, who thus describes their wretched condition in his days. + +"Continual disputes arise between the Jew and the Moor; when the Jew is +wrong, the Moor takes his own satisfaction, and if the Jew be right, he +lodges a complaint with the judge, who always decides in favour of the +Mussulman. I have seen the Mahometan children amuse themselves by +beating little Jews, who durst not defend themselves. When a Jew passes +a mosque, he is obliged to take off his slippers, or shoes; he must do +the same when he passes the house of the Kaëd, the Kady, or any +Mussulman of distinction. At Fez, and in some other towns, they are +obliged to walk barefooted." Ali Bey mentions other vexations and +oppressions, and adds, "When I saw the Jews were so ill-treated and +vexed in every way, I asked them why they did not go to another country. +They answered that they could not do so, because they were slaves of the +Sultan." Again he says, "As the Jews have a particular skill in +thieving, they indemnify themselves for the ill-treatment they receive +from the Moors, by cheating them daily." + +Jewesses are exempt from taking off their slippers, or sandals, when +passing the mosques. The late Emperor, Muley Suleiman, [1] professed to +be a rigidly exact Mussulman, and considered it very indecent, and a +great scandal that Jewesses, some of them, like most women of this +country, of enormous dimensions, should be allowed to disturb the decent +frame of mind of pious Mussulmen, whilst entering the threshold of the +house of prayer, by the sad exhibitions of these good ladies stooping +down and shewing their tremendous calves, when in the act of taking off +their shoes before passing the mosques. For such reasons, Jewesses are +now privileged and exempted from the painful necessity of walking +barefoot in the streets. + +The policy of the Court in relation to the Jews continually fluctuates. +Sometimes, the Emperor thinks they ought to be treated like the rest of +his subjects; at other times, he seems anxious to renew in all its +vigour the system described by Ali Bey. Hearing that the Jews of +Tangier, on returning from Gibraltar, would often adopt the European +dress, and so, by disguising themselves, be treated like Christians and +Europeans, he ordered all these would-be Europeans forthwith to be +undressed, and to resume their black turban. + +Alas, how were all these Passover, Tabernacle and wedding festivals, +these happy and joyous days of the Jewish society of Mogador, changed on +the bombardment of that city! What became of the rich and powerful +merchants, the imperial vassals of commerce with their gorgeous wives +bending under the weight of diamonds, pearls, and precious gems, during +that sad and unexpected period? The newspapers of the day recorded the +melancholy story. Many of the Jews were massacred, or buried underneath +the ruins of the city; their wives subjected to plunder; the rest were +left wandering naked and starving on the desolate sandy coast of the +Atlantic, or hidden in the mountains, obtaining a momentary respite from +the rapacious fury of the savage Berbers and Arabs. + +It is well known that, while the French bombarded Tangier and Mogador +from without, the Berber and Arab tribes, aided by the _canaille_ of the +Moors, plundered the city from within. Several of the Moorish rabble +declared publicly, and with the greatest cowardice and villainous +effrontery, "When the French come to destroy Mogador, we shall go and +pillage the Jews' houses, strip the women of their ornaments, and then +escape to the mountains from the pursuit of the Christians." These +threats they faithfully executed; but, by a just vengeance, they were +pillaged in turn, for the Berbers not only plundered the Jews +themselves, but the Moors who had escaped from the city laden with their +booty. + +It is to be hoped that a better day is dawning for North African Jews. +The Governments of France and England can do much for them in Morocco. + +The Jews of the Atlas formed the subject of some of Mr. Davidson's +literary labours; I have made further inquiries and shall give the +reader some account of them, adding that portion of Mr. Davidson's +information which was borne out by further investigation. The Atlas Jews +are physically, if not morally, superior to their brethren who reside +among the Moors. They are dispersed over the Atlas ranges, and have all +the characteristics of mountaineers. They enjoy, like their neighbours, +the Berbers and Shelouhs, a species of quasi-independence of the +Imperial authority, but they usually attach themselves to certain Berber +chieftains who protect them, and whose standards they follow. + +These are the only Jews in Mahometan countries of whom I have heard as +bearing arms. They have, however, their own Sheiks, to whose +jurisdiction all domestic matters are referred. They wear the same +attire as the mountaineers, and are not distinguishable from them, they +do not address the Moors by the term of respect and title "Sidi," but in +the same way as the Moors and Arabs when they accost each other. They +speak the Shelouh language. + +Mr. Davidson mentions some curious circumstances about these Jews, and +of their having a city beyond the Atlas, where three or four thousand +are living in perfect freedom, and cultivating the soil, which they have +possessed since the time of Solomon. The probability is that Mr. +Davidson's informant refers to the Jews of the Oasis of Sahara, where +there certainly are some families of Jews living in comparative freedom +and independence. + +As to the peculiarities of the religion of the Atlas Jews, they are said +not to have the Pentateuch and the law in the same order as Jews +generally. They are unacquainted with Ezra, or Christ; they did not go +to Babylon at the captivity, but were dispersed over Africa at that +period. They are a species of Caraaites, or Jewish Protestants. Shadai +is the name which they apply to the Supreme Being, when speaking of him. +Their written law begins by stating that the world was many thousand +years old when the present race of men was formed, which, curiously +enough, agrees with the researches of modern geology. The present race +of men are the joint offspring of different and distinct human species. +The deluge is not mentioned by them. God, it is said, appeared to +Ishmael in a dream, and told him he must separate from Isaac, and go to +the desert, where he would make him a great nation. There would ever +after be enmity between the two races, as at this day there is the +greatest animosity between the Jews and Mahometans. + +The great nucleus of these Shelouh Jews is in _Jebel Melge_, or the vast +ridge of the Atlas capped with eternal snows; and they hold +communications with the Jews of Ait Mousa, Frouga or Misfuvâ. They +rarely descend to the plains or cities of the empire, and look upon the +rest of the Jews of this country as heretics. Isolation thus begets +enmity and mistrust, as in other cases. A few years ago, a number came +to Mogador, and were not at all pleased with their visit, finding fault +with everything among their brethren. These Jewish mountaineers are +supposed to be very numerous. In their homes, they are inaccessible. So +they live in a wild independence, professing a creed as free as their +own mountain airs. God, who made the hills, made likewise man's freedom +to abide therein. Before taking leave of the Maroquine Israelites, I +must say something of their personal appearance. Both in Tangier and +Mogador, I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with families, who +could boast of the most perfect and classic types of Jewish female +loveliness. Alas, that these beauties should be only charming _animals_, +their minds and affections being left uncultivated, or converted into +caves of unclean and tormenting passions. The Jewesses, in general, +until they become enormously stout and weighed down with obesity, are of +extreme beauty. Most of them have fair complexions; their rose and +jasmine faces, their pure wax-like delicate features, and their +exceedingly expressive and bewitching eyes, would fascinate the most +fastidious of European connoisseurs of female beauty. + +But these Israelitish ladies, recalling the fair image of Rachel in the +Patriarchal times of Holy Writ, and worthy to serve as models for a +Grecian sculptor, are treated with savage disdain by the churlish Moors, +and sometimes are obliged to walk barefoot and prostrate themselves +before their ugly negress concubines. The male infants of Jews are +engaging and goodlooking when young; but, as they grow up, they become +ordinary; and Jews of a certain age, are decidedly and most disgustingly +ugly. It is possible that the degrading slavery in which they usually +live, their continued habits of cringing servility, by which the +countenance acquires a sinister air and fiendishly cunning smirk, may +cause this change in their appearance. But what contrasts we had of the +beauty of countenance and form in the Jewish society of Mogador! You +frequently see a youthful woman, nay a girl of exquisite beauty and +delicacy of features, married to an old wretched ill-looking fellow of +some sixty or seventy years of age, tottering over the grave, or an +incurable invalid. To render them worse-looking, whilst the women may +dress in any and the gayest colours, the men wear a dark blue and black +turban and dress, and though this is prescribed as a badge of +oppression, they will often assume it when they may attire themselves in +white and other livelier colours. However, men get used to their misery, +and hug their chains. + +The Jews, at times, though but very rarely, avail themselves of their +privilege of four wives granted them in Mahometan countries, and a nice +mess they make of it. I knew a Jew of this description in Tunis. He was +a lively, jocose fellow, with a libidinous countenance, singing always +some catch of a song. He was a silk-mercer, and pretty well off. His +house was small, and besides a common _salle-à-manger_, divided into +four compartments for his four wives, each defending her room with the +ferocity of a tigress. Two of them were of his own age, about fifty, and +two not more than twenty. The two elder ones, I was told by his +neighbours, were entirely abandoned by the husband, and the two younger +ones were always bickering and quarrelling, as to which of them should +have the greater favour of their common tyrant; the house a scene of +tumult, disorder and indecency. Amongst the whole of the wives, there +was only one child, a boy, of course an immense pet, a little surly +wretch; his growth smothered, his health nearly ruined, by the +overattentions of the four women, whom he kicked and pelted when out of +humour. + +This little imp was the fit type, or interpretation of the presiding +genius of polygamy. I once visited this happy family, this biting satire +on domestic bliss and the beauty of the harem of the East. The women +were all sour, and busy at work, weaving or spinning cotton, "Do you +work for your husband?" I asked, + +_The women_.--"Thank Rabbi, no." + +_Traveller_.--"What do you do with your money?" + +_The women_.--"Spend it ourselves." + +_Traveller_.--"How do you like to have only one husband among you four?" + +_The women_.--"Pooh! is it not the will of God?" + +_Traveller_.--"Whose boy is that?" + +_The women_.--"It belongs to us all." + +_Traveller_.--"Have you no other children?" + +_The women_.--"Our husband is good for no more than that." + +Whilst I was talking to these angelic creatures, their beloved lord was +quietly stuffing capons, without hearing our polite discourse. A +European Jew who knew the native society of Jews well, represents +domestic bliss to be a mere phantom, and scarcely ever thought of, or +sought after. Poor human nature! + +I took a walk round the suburbs one morning, whilst a strong wind was +bringing the locusts towards the coast, which fell upon us like +hailstones. Young locusts frequently crowd upon the neighbouring hills +in thousands and tens of thousands. They are little green things. No one +knows whence they come and whither they go. These are not destructive. +Indeed, unless swarms of locusts appear darkening the sky, and full +grown ones, they do not permanently damage the country. The wind usually +disperses them; they rarely take a long flight, except impelled by a +violent gale. Arabs attempt to destroy locusts by digging pits into +which they may fall. This is merely playing with them. Jews fry them in +oil and salt, and sell them as we sell shrimps, the taste of which they +resemble. + +On my return, I passed a Mooress, or rather a Mauritanian Venus, who was +so stout that she had fallen down, and could not get up. A mule was +fetched to carry her home. But the Moor highly relishes these enormous +lumps of fat, according to the standard beauty laid down by the +talebs--"Four things in a woman should be ample, the lower part of the +back, the thighs, the calves of the legs and the knees." + +Some time ago, there were discovered at Malta various rude statues of +women very ample in the lower part of the "back," supposed to be of +Libyan origin, so that stout ladies have been the choicest of the +fashion for ages past; the fattening of women, like so many capons and +turkeys, begins when they are betrothed. + +They then swallow three times a day regular boluses of paste, and are +not allowed to take exercise. By the time marriage takes place, they are +in a tolerable good condition, not unlike Smithfield fattened heifers. +The lady of one of the European merchants being very thin, the Moors +frequently asked her husband how it was, and whether she had enough to +eat, hinting broadly that he starved her. + +On the other hand, two or three of the merchant's wives were exceedingly +stout, and of course great favourites with the men folks of this city. + +The discrepancies of age, in married people, is most unnatural and +disgusting; whilst the merchants were at Morocco, a little girl of nine +years of age was married to a man upwards of fifty. Ten and eleven is a +common age for girls to be married. Much has been said of the reverence +of children for their parents in the East, and tribes of people +migrating therefrom, and the fifth commandment embodies the sentiment of +the Eastern world. But there is little of this in Mogador; a European +Jewess, who knows all the respectable Jewish and many of the Moorish +families, assured me that children make their aged parents work for +them, as long as the poor creatures can. "Honour thy father and thy +mother," is quite as much neglected here as in Europe. However, there is +some difference. The indigent Moors and Jews maintain their aged parents +in their own homes, and we English Christian shut up ours in the Union +Bastiles. + +To continue this domestic picture, the marriage settlements, especially +among the Jews, are ticklish and brittle things, as to money or other +mercenary arrangements. + +A match is often broken off, because a lamp of the value of four dollars +has been substituted for one of the value of twenty dollars, which was +first promised on the happy day of betrothal. + +Indeed, nearly all marriages here are matters of sale and barter. Love +is out of the question, he never flutters his purple wings over the +bridal bed of Mogador. A Jewish or Moorish girl having placed before her +a rich, old ugly man, of mean and villanous character, of three score +years and upwards, and by his side, a handsome youth of blameless +character and amiable manners, will not hesitate a moment to prefer the +former. As affairs of intrigue and simple animal enjoyment are the great +business of life, the ways and means, in spite of Moorish and Mahometan +jealousy, as strong as death, by which these young and frail beauties +indulge in forbidden conversations, are innumerable. Although the Moors +frequently relate romantic legends of lovely innocent brides, who had +never seen any other than the faces of their father, or of married +ladies, who never raised the veil from off their faces, except to +receive their own husbands, and seem to extol such chastity and +seclusion; they are too frequently found indulging in obscene +imaginations, tempting and seducing the weaker sex from the path of +virtue and honour. So that, if women are unchaste here, or elsewhere, +men are the more to blame: if woman goes one step wrong, men drag her +two more. Men corrupt women, and then punish her for being corrupt, +depriving them of their natural and unalienable rights. + +Salt in Africa as in Europe is a domestic superstition. A Jewess, one +morning, in bidding adieu to her friends, put her fingers into a +salt-cellar, and took from it a large pinch of salt, which her friend +told me afterwards was to preserve her from the evil one. Salt is also +used for a similar important purpose, when, during the night, a person +is obliged to pass from one room into another in the dark. It would be +an entertaining task to collect the manifold superstitions in different +parts of the world, respecting this essential ingredient of human food. + +The habit of drinking white brandy, stimulates the immorality of this +Maroquine society. The Jews are the great factors of this _acqua +ardiente_, its Spanish and general name. Government frequently severely +punishes them for making it; but they still persevere in producing this +incentive to intoxication and crime. In all parts of the world, the most +degraded classes are the factors of the means of vice for the higher +orders of society. Moors drink it under protest, that it is not the +juice of the grape. On the Sabbath, the Jewish families are all flushed, +excited, and tormented by this evil spirit; but when the highest +enjoyments of intellect are denied to men, they must and will seek the +lower and beastly gratifications. + +Friend Cohen came in one afternoon, and related several anecdotes of the +Maroquine Court. When Dr. Brown was attending the Sultan, the Vizier +managed to get hold of his cocked hat, and placing it upon his head, +strutted about in the royal gardens. Whilst performing this feat before +several attendants, the Sultan suddenly made his appearance in the midst +of them. The minister seeing him, fell down in a fright and a fit. His +Imperial Highness beckoned to the minister in such woful plight, to +pacify himself, and put his cloak before his mouth to prevent any one +from seeing him laugh at the minister, which he did most immoderately. + +Cohen, who is a quack, was once consulted on a case of the harem. Cohen +pleaded ignorance, God had not given him the wit; he could do nothing +for the patient of his Imperial Highness. This was very politic of +Cohen, for another quack, a Moor, had just been consulted, and had had +his head taken off, for not being successful in the remedies he +prescribed. There would not be quite so much medicine administered among +us, weak, cracky, crazy mortals, in this cold damp clime, if such an +alternative was proposed to our practitioners. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + + +Morocco, an immense and unwieldly remnant of the monarchies formed by +the Saracens, or first Arabian conquerors of Africa, has had a series of +dynasties terminating in that of the Shereefs. + +1st. The Edristees (pure Saracens,) their capital was Fez, founded by +their great progenitor, Edrio. The dynasty began in A.D. 789, and +continued to 908. + +2nd. The Fatamites (also Saracens.) These conquered Egypt, and were the +faction of or lineal descendants of the daughter of the Prophet, the +beautiful pearl-like Fatima, succeeding to the above: this dynasty +continued to 972. + +3rd. The Zuheirites (Zeirities, or Zereids) were usurpers of the former +conquerors; their dynasty terminated in 1070. + +4th. Moravedi (or Marabouteen,) that is to say, Marabouts, [2] who rose +into consequence about 1050, and their first prince was Aberbekr Omer El +Lamethounx, a native of Sous. Their dynasty terminated in 1149. + +5th. The Almohades. These are supposed to be sprung from the Berber +tribes. They conquered all North Western Morocco, and reigned about one +hundred years, the dynasty terminated in 1269. + +6th. The Merinites. These in 1250 subjugated the kingdoms of Fez and +Morocco; and in 1480 their dynasty terminated with the Shereef. + +7th. The Oatagi (or Ouatasi) [3] were a tribe of obscure origin. In +their time, the Portuguese established themselves on the coast of +Morocco; their dynasty ended in 1550. + +8th. The Shereefs (Oulad Ali) of the present dynasty, whose founder was +Hasein, have now occupied the Imperial throne more than three centuries. +This family of Shereefs came from the neighbourhood of Medina in Arabia, +and succeeded to the empire of Morocco by a series of usurpations. They +are divided into two branches, the Sherfah Hoseinee, so named from the +founder of the dynasty, who began to reign at Taroudant and Morocco in +1524, and over all the empire in 1550, and the Sherfah El Fileli, or +Tafilett, whose ancestor was Muley Shereef Ben Ali-el-Hoseinee, and +assumed sovereign power at Tafilett in 1648, from which country he +extended his authority over all the provinces of that empire. Thus the +Shereefs began their reign in the middle of the seventeenth century, and +have now wielded the sword of the Prophet as Caliph of the West these +last two hundred years. I have not heard that there is anywhere a +dynasty of Shereefs except in this country. They are, therefore, +profoundly venerated by all true Mussulmen. It was a great error to +suppose that Abd-el-Kader could have succeeded in dethroning the Emperor +during the hostilities of the Emir against the lineal representative of +the Prophet. Abd-el-Kader is a marabout warrior, greatly revered and +idolized by all enthusiastic Mussulmen throughout North Africa, more +especially in Morocco, the _terre classique_ of holy-fighting men; but +though the Maroquines were disaffected, groaning under the avarice of +their Shereefian Lord, and occasionally do revolt, nevertheless they +would not deliberately set aside the dynasty of the Shereefs, the +veritable root and branch of the Prophet of God, for an adventurer of +other blood, however powerful in arms and in sanctity. + +Morocco is the only independent Mussulman kingdom remaining, founded by +the Saracens when they conquered North Africa. Tunis and Tripoli are +regencies of the Port of Tunis, having an hereditary Bey, while Tripoli +is a simple Pasha, removable at pleasure. Algeria has now become an +integral portion of France by the Republic. + +Muley Abd Errahman was nominated to the throne by the solemn and dying +request of his uncle, Muley Suleiman, to the detriment of his own +children. + +He belonged to one of the most illustrious branches of the reigning +dynasty. In the natural order of succession, he ought to have taken +possession of the Shereefian crown at the end of the last age; but, +being a child, his uncle was preferred; for Mahometan sovereigns and +empire are exposed to convulsions enough, without the additional dangers +and elements of strife attendant on regencies. + +In transmitting the sceptre to him, Muley Suleiman, therefore, only +performed an act of justice. + +Muley Abd Errahman, during his long reign, rendered the imperial +authority more solid than formerly, and established a species of +conservative government in a semi-barbarous country, and exposed to +continual commotions, like all Asiatic and African states. In governing +the multitudinous and heterogeneous tribes of his empire, his grand +maxim has ever been, like Austria, with her various states and hostile +interests of different people, "Divide et empera." When will sovereigns +learn to govern their people upon principles of homogenity of interests, +natural good will, and fraternal feeling? Alas! we have reason to fear, +never. It seems nations are to be governed always by setting up one +portion of the people against the other. + +Muley Abd Errahman was chosen by his uncle, on account of his pacific +and frugal habits, educated as he was by being made in early life the +administrator of the customs in Mogador, and as a prince likely to +preserve and consolidate the empire. The anticipations of the uncle have +been abundantly realized by the nephew, for Muley Abd Errahman, with the +exception of the short period of the French hostilities, (which was not +his own work and happened in spite of him), has preserved the intact +without, and quiet during the many years he has occupied the throne. + +His Moorish Majesty, who is advanced in life, is a man of middle +stature. He has dark and expressive eyes, and, as already observed, is a +mulatto of a fifth caste. Colour excites no prejudices either in the +sovereign or in the subject. This Emperor is so simple in his habits and +dress, that he can only be distinguished from his officers and governors +of provinces by the _thall_, or parasol, the Shereefian emblem of +royalty. The Emperor's son, when out on a military expedition, is also +honoured by the presence of the Imperial parasol, which was found in +Sidi Mohammed's tent at the Battle of Isly. Muley Abd Errahman is not +given to excesses of any kind, (unless avarice is so considered), though +his three harems of Fas, Miknas, and Morocco may be _stocked_, or more +politely, adorned, with a thousand ladies or so, and the treasures of +the empire are at his disposal. He is not a man of blood; [4] he rarely +decapitates a minister or a governor, notwithstanding that he frequently +confiscates their property, and sometimes imprisons them to discover +their treasures, and drain them of their last farthing. The Emperor +lives on good terms with the rest of his family. He has one son, +Governor of Fez (Sidi Mohammed), and another son, Governor of Rabat. The +greater part of the royal family reside at Tafilett, the ancient country +of the _Sherfah_, or Shereefs, and is still especially appropriated for +their residence. Ali Bey reported as the information of his time, that +there were at Tafilett no less than two thousand Shereefs, who all +pretended to have a right to the throne of Morocco, and who, for that +reasons enjoyed certain gratifications paid them by the reigning Sultan. +He adds that, during an interregnum, many of them took up arms and threw +the empire into anarchy. This state of things is happily past, and, as +to the number of the Shereefs at Tafilett, all that we know is, there is +a small fortified town, inhabited entirely by Shereefs, living in +moderate, if not impoverished circumstances. + +The Shereefian Sultans of Morocco are not only the successors of the +Arabian Sovereigns of Spain, but may justly dispute the Caliphat with +the Osmanlis, or Turkish Sultans. Their right to be the chiefs of +Islamism is better founded than the pretended Apostolic successors at +Rome, who, in matters of religion, they in some points resemble. + +I introduce here, with some unimportant variations, a translation from +Gräberg de Hëmso of the Imperial Shereefian pedigree, to correspond with +the genealogical tableaux, which the reader will find in succeeding +pages, of the Moorish dynasties of Tunis and Tripoli. + + +GENEALOGY OF THE REIGNING DYNASTY OF MOROCCO. + +1. Ali-Ben-Abou-Thaleb; died in 661 of the Christian Era; surnamed "The +accepted of God," of the most ancient tribe of Hashem, and husband of +Fatima, styled Ey-Zarah, or, "The Pearl," only daughter of Mahomet. + +2. Hosein, or El-Hosein-es-Sebet, _i.e._ "The Nephew;" died in 1680; +from him was derived the patronymic El-Hoseinee, which all the Shereefs +bear, + +3. Hasan-el-Muthna, _i.e._ "The Striker;" died in 719; brother of +Mohammed, from whom pretended to descend, in the 16th degree, Mohammed +Ben Tumert, founder of the dynasty of the Almohadi, in 1120. + +4. Abdullah-el-Kamel, _i.e._ "The Perfect;" in 752, father of Edris, the +progenitor or founder of the dynasty of the Edristi in Morocco, and who +had six brothers. + +5. Mohammed, surnamed "The pious and just soul;" in 784, had five +children who were the branches of a numerous family. (Between Mohammed +and El-Hasem who follows, some assert that three gererations succeeded). + +6. El-Kasem, in 852; brother of Abdullah, from whom it is said the +Caliphs of Egypt and Morocco are descended. + +7. Ismail; about 890. + +8. Ahmed; in 901. + +9. El-Hasan; in 943. + +10. Ali; in 970, (excluded from the genealogy published by Ali Bey, but +noted by several good authorities). + +11. Abubekr; 996. + +12. El-Husan, in 1012. + +13. Abubekr El-Arfat, _i.e._ "The Knower," in 1043. + +14. Mohammed, in 1071. + +15. Abdullah, in 1109. + +16. Hasan, in 1132; brother of a Mohammed, who emigrated to Morocco. + +17. Mohammed, in 1174. + +18. Abou-el-Kasem Abd Errahman, in 1207. + +19. Mohammed, in 1236. + +20. El-Kaseru, in 1271, brother of Ahmed, who also emigrated into +Africa, and was father of eight children, one of whom was: + +21. El-Hasan, who, in 1266, upon the demand of a tribe of Berbers of +Moghrawa, was sent by his father into the kingdom of Segelmesa (now +Tafilett) and Draha, where, through his descendants, he became the +common progenitor of the Maroquine Shereefs. + +22. Mohammed, in 1367. + +23. El-Hasan, in 1391, by his son, Mohammed, he became grandfather of +Hosem, who, during 1507, founded the first dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs in Segelmesa, and the extreme south of Morocco, which dynasty, +after twelve years, made itself master of the kingdom of Morocco. + +24. Ali-es-Shereef, _i.e._ "The noble," died in 1437, was the first to +assume this name, and had, after forty years elapsed, two sons, the +first, Muley Mahommed, by a concubine, and the second: + +25. Yousef, by a legitimate wife; he retired into Arabia, where he died +in 1485. It was said of Yousef, that no child was born to him until his +eightieth year, when he had five children, the first born of which was, + +26. Ali, who died in 1527, and had at least, eighty male children. + +27. Mohammed, in 1691, brother of Muley Meherrez, a famous brigand, and +afterwards a king of Tafilett: this Mohammed was father of many +children, and among the rest-- + +28. Ali, who was called by his uncle from Zambo (?) into +Moghrele-el-Aksa Morocco about the year 1620, and died in 1632, after +having founded the second, and present, dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs, surnamed the _Filei_, + +29. Muley Shereeff, died in 1652; he had eighty sons, and a hundred +and twenty-four daughters. + +30. Muley Ismail, in 1727. + +31. Muley Abdullah, in 1757. + +32. Sidi Mohammed, in 1789. + +33. Muley Yezeed, who assumed the surname of El-Mahdee _i.e._ "the +director," in 1792. + +34. Muley Hisham, in 1794. + +35. Muley Suleiman, in 1822. + +36. Muley Abd Errahman, nephew of Muley Suleiman and eldest son of +Muley Hisham, the reigning Shereefian prince. [5] + +In the Shereefian lineage of Muley Suleiman, copied for Ali Bey by the +Emperor himself, and which is very meagre and unsatisfactory, we miss +the names of the two brothers, the Princes Yezeed and Hisham, who +disputed the succession on the death of their father, Sidi Mohammed +which happened in April 1790 or 1789, when the Emperor was on a military +expedition to quell the rebellion of his son, Yezeed--the tyrant whose +bad fame and detestable cruelties filled with horror all the North +African world. The Emperor Suleiman evidently suppressed these names, as +disfiguring the lustre of the holy pedigree; although Yezeed was the +hereditary prince, and succeeded his father three days after his death, +being proclaimed Sultan at Salee with accustomed pomp and magnificence. +This monster in human shape, having excited a civil war against himself +by his horrid barbarities, was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow, +shot from a secret hand, and died in February 1792, the 22nd month of +his reign, and 44th year of his age. + +On being struck with the fatal weapon, he was carried to his palace at +Dar-el-Beida, where he only survived a single day; but yet during this +brief period, and whilst in the agony of dissolution, it is said, the +tyrant committed more crimes and outrages, and caused more people to be +sacrificed, than in his whole lifetime, determining with the vengeance +of a pure fiend, that if his people would not weep for his death they +should mourn for the loss of their friends and relations, like the old +tyrant Herod. How instinctively imitative is crime! Yezeed was of +course, not buried at the cross-roads, (Heaven forefend!) or in a +cemetery for criminals and infidels, for being a Shereef, and divine +(not royal) blood running in his veins, he was interred with great +solemnities at the mosque of _Kobah Sherfah_ (tombs of the Shereefs), +beside the mausoleums wherein repose the awful ashes of the princes and +kings, who, in ages gone by, have devastated the Empire of Morocco, and +inflicted incalculable miseries on its unfortunate inhabitants, whilst +plenarily exercising their divine right, to do wrong as sovereigns, or +as invested with inviolable Shereefian privileges as lineal successors +of the Prophets of God! [6] + +A civil war still followed this monster's death, and the empire was rent +and partitioned into three portions, in each of which a pretender +disputed for the possession of the Shereefian throne. The poor people +had now three tyrants for one. The two grand competitors, however, were +Muley Hisham, who was proclaimed Sultan in the south at Morrocco and +Sous, and Muley Suleiman, who was saluted as Emperor in the north at +Fez. In 1795, Hisham retired to a sanctuary where he soon died, and then +Muley Suleimau was proclaimed in the southern provinces +Emir-el-Monmeneen, and Sultan of the whole empire. + +Muley Suleiman proved to be a good and patriotic prince, "the Shereef of +Shereefs," whilst he maintained, by a just administration, tranquility +in his own state, and cultivated peace with Europe. During his long +reign of a quarter of a century, at a period when all the Christian +powers were convulsed with war, he wisely remained neutral, and his +subjects were happy in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity. He died on +the 28th March 1820, about the 50th year of his age, after having, with +his last breath declared his nephew, Muley Abd Errahman, the legitimate +and hereditary successor of the Shereefs, and so restoring the lineal +descent of these celebrated Mussulman sovereigns. The most glorious as +well as the most beneficent and acceptable act of the reign of Muley +Suleiman, so far as European nations were concerned, was the abolition +of Christian slavery in his States. In former times, the Maroquine +Moors, smarting under the ills inflicted upon them by Spain and +breathing revenge, subjected their Christian captives to more cruel +bondage, than, ever were experienced by the same victims of the Corsairs +in Algeria, the stronghold of this nefarious trade. + +The Shereefs have been accustomed to wrap themselves up in their sublime +indifference, as to the fate and fortunes of Europe. During late +centuries, their diplomatic intercourse with European princes has been +scarcely relieved by a single interesting event, beyond their piratical +wars and our complaisant redemptions of their prisoners. But, in the +reign of Louis XIV., Muley Ismail having heard an extremely seductive +account of the Princesse de Conti (Mademoiselle de Blois), natural +daughter of the Grand Monarch and Mademoiselle de la Valliere, by means +of his ambassador, Abdullah Ben Aissa, had the chivalrous temerity to +demand her in marriage. "Our Sultan," said the ambassador, "will marry +her according to the law of God and the Prophet, but she shall not be +forced to abandon her religion, or manner of living; and she will be +able to find all that her heart desires in the palace of my +sovereign--if it please God." + +This request, of course, could not be granted, but the "king of +Christian kings" replied very graciously, "that the difference alone of +religion prevented the consummation of the happiness of the Shereef of +Shereefs." This humble demand of the hand of the princess mightily +amused "the Court of Courts," and its hireling poets taxed their wit to +the utmost in chanting the praises of the royal virgin, who had attacked +the regards (or the growls) of the Numidian Tiger, as Muley Ismail was +politely designated. Take this as a specimen,-- + + "Votre beauté, grande princesse, + Porte les traits dont elle blesse + Jusques aux plus sauvages lieux: + L'Afrique avec vous capitule, + Et les conquêtes de vos yeux + Vont plus loin que celles d'Hercule." + +The Maroquine ambassador, who was also grand admiral of the Moorish +navy, witnessing all the wonders of Paris at the epoch of the Great +Monarch, was dazzled with its beauty and magnificence; nevertheless, he +remained a good Mussulman. He was besides a grateful man, for he saw our +James II. in exile, who had given the admiral liberty without ransom +when he had been captured by English cruisers, and heartily thanked the +fallen prince for his own freedom whilst he condoled with him in his +misfortunes. But the Moorish envoy, in spite of his great influence, was +unable to conclude the treaty of peace, which was desired by France. On +his return to Morocco, the ambassador had so advanced in European ideas +of convenience, or civilization, that he attempted to introduce a taste +for Parisian luxury among his own countrymen. + +As in many other parts of the Mediterranean, France and England have +incessantly contended for influence at the Court of Morocco. Various +irregular missions to this Court have been undertaken by European +powers, from the first establishment of the Moorish empire of the West. +The French entered regularly into relations with the western Moors +shortly after us; their flag, indeed, began to appear at their ports in +1555, under Francis I. They succeeded in gaining the favour of the Moors +whilst we occupied Tangier, and Louis XIV. encouraged them in their +efforts to attack or harass our garrison. The nature of our struggles +with the Moors of Morocco can be at once conjectured from the titles of +the pamphlets published in those times, viz. + +"_Great_ and _bloody_ news of Tangier," (London 1680), and "The Moors +_blasted_, being a discourse concerning Tangier, especially when it was +under the Earl of Teviot," (London, 1681). But, after the peace of +Utrecht, conceding Gibraltar to England, and which more than compensated +us for the loss of Tangier, the influence of France in Morocco began to +wane, and the trade of this empire was absorbed by the British during +the 18th century. Then, in the beginning of our own age, the battle of +Trafalgar, and the fall of Napoleon, established the supremacy of +British influence over the minds of the Shereefs, which has not been yet +entirely effaced. + +Our diplomatic intercouse has been more frequent and interesting with +the Western Moors since the French occupation of Algeria, and we have +exerted our utmost to neutralize the spirit of the war party in Fez, +seconding the naturally pacific mind of Muley Abd Errahman, in order to +remove every pretext of the French for invading this country. How we +succeeded in a critical period will be mentioned at the close of the +present work. [7] But this port, and our influence receiving thereby a +great shock, I am happy to state that the latest account from this most +interesting Moorish country, represents Muley Abd Errahman as steadily +pursuing, by the assistance of his new vizier, Bouseilam, the most +pacific policy. This minister, being very rich, is enabled to +consolidate his power by frequent presents to his royal master, thus +gratifying the most darling passion of Muley Abd Errahman, and Vizier +and Sultan amuse themselves by undertaking plundering expeditions +against insurrectionary tribes, whose sedition they first stimulate, and +then quell, that is to say, by receiving from the unlucky rebels a +handsome gratification. + +The late Mr. Hay entered into a correspondence with the Shereefian Court +for the purpose of drawing its attention to the subject of the +slave-trade, and I shall make an extract or two from the letters, +bearing as they do on my present mission. + +From three letters addressed by the Sultan to Mr. Hay, I extract the +following passages. "Be it known to you, that the traffic in slaves is a +matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the +sons of Adam, (on whom be the peace of God up to this day). And we are +not yet aware of its being prohibited by the laws of any sect, and no +one need ask this question, the same being manifest to both high and +low, and requires no more demonstration than the light of the day." + +The Apostle of God is quoted as enforcing upon the master to give his +slave the same clothing as himself, and not to exact more labour from +him than he can perform. + +Another letter. "It has been prohibited to sell a Muslem, the sacred +_misshaf_, and a young person to an unbeliever," that is to any one who +does not profess the faith of Islam, whether Christian, Jew, or Majousy. +To make a present, or to give as in alms is held in the same light as a +sale. The said Sheikh Khalil also says, "a slave is emancipated by the +law if ill-treated, that is, whether he intends or does actually +ill-treat him. But whether a slave can take with him what he possesses +of property or no, is a matter yet undecided by the doctors of the law." + +Another. "Be it known to you, that the religion of Islam--may God exalt +it! has a solid foundation, of which the corner stones are well secured, +and the perfection whereof has been made known to us by God, to whom +belongs all praise in his book, the Forkam (or Koran,) which admits +neither of addition nor diminution. As regards the making of slaves and +trading therewith, it is confirmed by our book, as also of the _Sunnat_ +(or traditions) of our Prophet. There is no controversy among the +_Oulamma_ (doctors) on the subject. No one can allow what is prohibited +or prohibit that which is lawful." + +These extracts shew the _animus_ of the Shereefian correspondence. To +attack the Shereefs on this point of slavery, is to besiege the citadel +of their religion, or that is the interpretation which they are pleased +to put upon the matter; but all forms of bigotry and false principles +will ultimately succumb to the force of truth. + +It is necessary to persevere, to persevere always, and the end will be +obtained. + +I shall add a word or two on our treaties, or capitulations, as they are +disgracefully called, with the Empire of Morocco, intimating, as they +do, our former submission to the arrogant, piratical demands of the +Barbary Powers in the days of their corsair glory. Our political +relations with Morocco officially commenced in the times of Elizabeth, +or Charles I; but the formal treaty of peace was not concluded until the +last year of the reign of George I, which was ratified in 1729 by George +II, and by the Sultan Muley Ahmed-elt-Thabceby "The golden." Then +followed various other treaties for the security of persons and trade, +and against piracy. All, however, of any value, are embodied in the +treaty between Great Britain and Morocco, signed at Fez, 14th June 1801, +and confirmed, 19th January 1824 by the Sultan Muley Suleiman, which is +considered as still in force, and from which I shall extract two or +three articles, appending observations, for the purpose of shewing its +spirit and bearing on European commerce and civilization. Common sense +tells us that trade can only flourish where there is security for life +and property. We have to examine, whether this security is fully +guaranteed to British subjects, residing in and trading with the empire +to Morocco, by the treaty of 1801 and 1824. + +This treaty begins with consuls, and sufficiently provides for their +honour and safety. It then states the privilege of British subjects, and +more particulary of merchants, residing in, and wishing to engage in +commercial speculations in Morocco. These privileges are, on the whole, +also explicitly stated. Afterwards follows two articles on "disputes," +which clauses were amended and explained in January 1824, when the +treaty was confirmed. These are:-- + +"VII. Disputes between Moorish subjects and English subjects, shall be +decided in the presence of the English Consuls, provided the decision be +comformable to the Moorish law, in which case the English subject shall +not go before the Kady or Hakem, as the Consul's decision shall suffice. + +"VIII. Should any dispute occur between English subjects and Moors, and +that dispute should occasion a complaint from either of the parties, the +Emperor of Morocco shall only decide the matter. If the English subject +be guilty, he shall not be punished with more severity than a Moor would +be; should he escape, no other subject of the English nation shall be +arrested in his stead, and if the escape be made after the decision, in +order to avoid punishment, he shall be sentenced as a Moor would be who +had committed the same crime. Should any dispute occur in the English +territories, between a Moor and an English subject, it shall be decided +by an equal number of the Moors residing there and of Christians, +according to the custom of the place, if not contrary to the Moorish +law." + +In the amended clause of Article VIII. We have for any complaint, +substituted serious personal injury, and I cannot but observe that the +making of the Emperor the final judge, in such case, is a stretch of too +great confidence in Moorish justice. + +Not that a Sultan of Morocco is necessarily bad or worse than an +European Sovereign, but because a personage of such power and character, +armed with unbounded attributes of despotism over his own subjects, who +are considered his Abeed, or slaves, whilst feebly aided by the +perception of the common rights of men, and imperfectly acquainted with +European civilization, can never, unless, indeed by accident or miracle, +justly decide upon the case of an Englishman, or upon a dispute between +his own and a foreign subject; for besides the ideas and education of +the Emperor, there is the necessity which his Imperial Highness feels, +despot as he is, of exhibiting himself before his people as their +undoubted friend and partial judge. + +So strongly have Sultans of Morocco felt this, that many anecdotes might +be cited where the Emperor has indemnified the foreigner for injury done +to him by his own subjects, whilst he has represented to them that he +has decided the case against the stranger. It is surprising how a +British Government could surrender the settlement of the dispute of +their subjects to the final appeal of the Court of Morocco in the +nineteenth century, and, moreover, allow them to be decided, according +to the maxims of the Mohammedan code, or comformable to the Moorish law! +It is not long ago since, indeed just before my arrival in Morocco, that +the Emperor decided a dispute in rather a summary manner, without even +the usual Moorish forms of judicial proceedure by decapitating, a +quasi--European Jew, under French protection, and who once acted as the +Consul of France. + +There is something singularly deficient and wrong, although to persons +unacquainted with Barbary, it looks sufficiently fair and just, in the +provision--"he (the English guilty subject) shall not be punished with +more severity than a Moor could be," fairly made? In the first place, +although this does not come under the idea of "serious personal injury," +would the English people approve of their countrymen suffering the same +punishment as the Moors for theft, by cutting off their right hand? +Moors and Arabs have been so maimed for life, on being convicted of +stealing property to the value of a single shilling! Who will take upon +himself to enumerate the punishments, which may be, and are inflicted +for grave offences? It may be replied that this stipulation of punishing +British subjects, like Moorish, is only on paper, and we have no +examples of its being put into execution. I rejoin, without attempting +to cite proof, that, whilst such an article exists in a treaty, said to +be binding on the Government of England as well as Morocco, there can be +no real security for British subjects in this country; for in the event +of the Maroquines acting strictly upon the articles of this treaty, what +mode of inculpation, or what colour of right, can the British Government +adopt or shew against them? and what are treaties made for, if they do +not bind both parties? + +In illustration of the way in which British subjects have their disputes +sometimes settled, according to Articles VII and VIII, I take the +liberty of introducing the case of Mr. Saferty, a respectable Gibraltar +merchant, settled at Mogador. A few months before my arrival in that +place, this gentleman was adjudged, in the presence of his Consul, Mr. +Willshire, and the Governor of Mogador, for repelling an insult offered +to him by a Moor, and sentenced to be imprisoned with felons and +cut-throats in a horrible dungeon. However, Mr. Saferty was attended by +a numerous body of his friends; so when the sentence was given, a cry of +indignation arose, a scuffle ensued, and the prisoner was rescued from +the Moorish police-officers. Mr. Willshire found the means of patching +up the business with the Moorish authorities, and the case was soon +forgotten. "All's well that ends well." + +I do not say that the Moors are determinedly vindictive, or seek +quarrels with Europeans; on the contrary, I believe the cause of the +dispute frequently rests with the European, and the bonâ-fide agressor, +some adventurer whose conduct was so bad in his own country, that he +sought Barbary as a refuge from the pursuit of the minister of justice. +What I wish to lay stress on is, the enormous power given to the +Emperor, by a solemn treaty, in making him the final judge, and the +imminent exposure of British subjects to the barbarous punishments of a +semi-civilized people. + +Article X is a most singular one. "Renegades from the English nation, or +subjects who change their religion to embrace the Moorish, they being of +unsound mind at the time of turning Moors, shall not be admitted as +Moors, and may again return to their former religion; but if they +afterwards resolve to be Moors, they must abide by their own decision, +and their excuses will not be accepted." + +It was a wonderful discovery of our modern morale, that a renegade, +being a madman, should not be considered a renegade in earnest, or +responsible for his actions. Nevertheless, these unfortunate beings, +should they have better thoughts, or as mad-doctors have it, "a lucid +interval," and leave the profession of the Mahometan faith, and +afterwards again relapse into madness, and turn Mahometans once more, +are doomed to irretrievable slavery, or if they relapse, to death +itself; the Mahometan law, punishes relapsing renegades with death. This +curious clause says, "that though being madmen, they must abide their +decision (of unreason) and their excuses will not be accepted." This +said article was confirmed as late as the year 1824 by the +plenipotentiary of a nation, which boasts of being the most free and +civilized of Europe, and whose people spend annually millions for the +conversion of the heathen, and the extinction of the slave-trade. + +The last clause of Article IV also demands our attention, viz. "And if +any English merchant should happen to have a vessel in or outside the +port, he may go on board himself, or any of his people, without being +liable to pay anything whatever." + +Now in spite of this (but of course forgotten) stipulation, the +merchants of Mogador are not permitted to visit their own vessels, nor +those of other persons which may happen to be in or outside the port. It +is true, the authorities plead the reason of their refusal to be, "The +merchants are indebted to the Emperor:" neither will the authorities +take any security, and arbitrarily, and insolently prohibit, under any +circumstances, the merchants from visiting their vessels. I have said +enough to shew that our treaties (I beg the reader's pardon, +"capitulations") with the Emperor of Morocco, require immediate +revision, and to be amended with articles more suited to the spirit of +the age, and European civilization, as likewise more consistent with the +dignity of Great Britian. + +The treaty for the supply of provisions, especially cattle, to the +garrison of Gibraltar is either a verbal one, or a secret arrangement, +for no mention is made of it in the published state paper documents. It +is probably a mere verbal unwritten understanding, but, neverthelesss is +more potent in its working than the written treaties. This is not the +first time that the unwritten has proved stronger than the written +engagement. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elæonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + + +The empire of Morocco may be considered under two aspects, as to its +extent, and as to its influence. It may be greatly circumscribed or +expanded to an almost indefinite extent, according to the feelings, or +imagination, of the writer, or speaker. A resident here gave me a meagre +_tableau_, something like this, + + The city of Morocco 50,000 souls. + " Fez 40,000 " + " Mequinez 25,000 " + ------- + 115,000 " + +The maritime cities contain little more than 100,000 inhabitants, making +altogether about 220,000. Over the provinces of the south, Sous and +Wadnoun, the Sultan has no real power; so the south is cut off as an +integral portion of the empire. Over the Rif, or the northern Berber +provinces, the Sultan exercises a precarious sovereignty, every man's +gun or knife is there his law and authority. Fez contains a disaffected +population, teeming some years since with the adherents of Abd-el-Kader. +Then the Atlas is full of quasi-independent Berber tribes, who detest +equally the Arabs and the Moorish government; finally, Tafilett and the +provinces on the eastern side of the Atlas, are too remote to feel the +influence of the central government. + +As to military force, the Emperor's standing army does not amount to +more than 20 or 30,000 Nigritian troops, and all cavalry. The irregular +and contingent cavalry and infantry can never be depended upon, even +under such a chief as Abd-el-Kader was. They must always be fed, but +they will not, at any summons, leave the cultivation of their fields, or +their wives and children defenceless. + +As to the commerce of the Empire, with fifty ships visiting Mogador and +other maritime cities, the amount, per annum, does not exceed forty +millions of francs, or about a million and a half sterling including +imports and exports. Such is the view of the Empire on the depreciating +side. + +Another resident of this country gives the opposite or more favourable +view. + +The Sultan is the head of the orthodox religion of the Mussulmen of the +West, and more firmly established on his throne than the Sultan of the +Ottomans. His influence, as a sovereign Shereef, spreads throughout +Western Barbary and Central Africa, wherever there is a Mussulman to be +found. In the event of an enemy appearing in the shape of a Christian, +or Infidel, all would unite, including the most disjointed and hostile +tribes against the common foe of Islamism. + +The Sultan, upon an emergency or insurrection in his own empire, by the +politic distribution of titles of _Marabout_ (often used as a species of +degree of D.D.) and other honours attached to the Shereefian Parasol, +can likewise easily excite one chief against another, and consolidate +his power over their intestine divisions. His Moorish Majesty, at any +rate, has always actual possession in his favour; and, whether he really +governs the whole Empire or not, or to the extent which he has presumed +to mark out its boundaries, he can always proclaim to his disjointed +provinces that he does so govern it and exercise authority; and, in +general, he does succeed in making both his own people and foreign +nations believe in his pretensions, and acknowledge his power. + +The truth lies, perhaps, between these extremes. The Shereefs once +pretended to exercise authority over all Western Sahara as far as +Timbuctoo, that is to say, all that region of the great desert lying +west of the Touaricks. + +The account of the expedition of the Shereef Mohammed, who penetrated as +far as Wadnoun, and which took place more than three centuries ago, as +related by Marmol, leaves no doubt of the ancient ambition of the +sovereign of Morocco. And although this pretension has now been given +up, they still claim sovereignty over the oases of Touat, a month's +journey in the Sahara. Formerly, indeed, the authority of the Maroquine +Sultans over Touat and the south appears to have been more real and +effective. + +Diego de Torres relates that, in his time, the Shereefs maintained a +force of ten thousand cavalry in the provinces of Draha, Tafilett and +Jaguriri, and Monsieur Mouette counts Touat as one of the provinces of +the Empire. The Sheikh Haj Kasem, in the itinerary which he dictated to +Monsieur Delaporte, says that, about forty years ago, Agobli and +Taoudeni depended on Morocco. This, however, is what the people of +Ghadames told me, whilst they admitted that the oases neither did +contain a single officer of the Emperor, nor did the people pay his +Shereefian Highness the smallest impost. The Sultan's authority is now +indeed purely nominal, and the French look forward to the time when +these fine and centrally placed oases will form "une dependance de +l'Algérie." + +The only countries in the South which now pay a regular impost to the +Emperor, are Tafilett, limited to the valley of Fez, Wad-Draha as far as +the lake Ed-Debaia, and Sous. The countries of Sidi, Hashem, and Wadnoun +nominally acknowledge the Emperor, and occasionally send a present; but +the most mountainous, between Sous and Wad-Draha, which has been called +Guezoula or Gouzoula, and is said to be peopled by a Berber race, sprang +from the ancient Gelulir, is entirely independent. In the north and west +are also many quasi-independent tribes, but still the Emperor keeps up a +sort of authority over them; and, if nothing more, is content simply +with being called their Sultan. + +Maroquine Moors call their country El-Gharb, "The West," and sometimes +Mogrel-el-Aksa, that is "The far West:" [8] the name seems to have +originated something in the same way among the Saracenic conquerors, as +the "Far West" with the Anglo-Americans, arising from an apprehensive +feeling of indefinite extent of unexplored country. Among the Moors +generally, Morocco is now often called, "Blad Muley Abd Errahman", or +"Country of the Sultan Muley Abd Errahman." The northwestern portion of +Morocco was first conquered; Morocco Proper, Sous and Tafilett were +added with the progress of conquest. But scarcely a century has elapsed +since their union under one common Sultan, whilst the diverse population +of the four States are solely kept together by the interests and +feelings of a common religion. + +The Maroquine Empire, with its present limits, is bounded on the north +by the Mediterranean Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar, on the west by +the Atlantic Ocean and the Canary and Madeira Islands, on the south by +the deserts of Noun Draha and the Sahara, on the east by Algeria, the +Atlas, and Tafilett, on the borders of Sahara beyond their eastern +slopes. The greatest length from north to south is about five hundred +miles, with a breadth from east to west varying considerably at an +average of two hundred, containing an available or really _dependent_ +territory of some 137,400 square miles, or nearly as large as Spain; and +the whole is situate between the 28° and 40° N. Latitude. Monsieur +Benou, in his "Description Géographique de l'Empire de Maroc" says +Morocco "comprend une superficie d'environ 5,775 myriamètres carrés, un +peu plus grande, par conséquant, que celle de la France, qui équivaut à +5,300." This then is the available and immediate territory of Morocco, +not comprising distant dependencies, where the Shereefs exercise a +precarious or nominal sovereignty. + +Previously to particularizing the population of Morocco, I shall take +the liberty of introducing some general observations on the whole of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this country was +successively peopled and conquered. Greek and Roman classics contain +only meagre and confused notions of the aborigines of North Africa, +although they have left us a mass of details on the Punic wars, and the +struggles which ensued between the Romans and the ancient Libyans, +before the domination of the Latin Republic could be firmly established. +Herodotus cites the names of a number of people who inhabited North +Africa, mostly confining himself to repeat the fables or the more +interesting facts, of which they were the object. + +The nomenclature of Strabo is neither so extensive, nor does it contain +more precise or correct information. He mentions the celebrated oasis of +Ammonium and the nation of the Nasamones. Farther west, behind Carthage +and the Numidians, he also notices the Getulians, and after them the +Garamantes, a people who appear to have colonized both the oasis of +Ghadames and the oases of Fezzan. Ptolemy makes the whole of the +Mauritania, including Algeria and Morocco, to be bounded on the south by +tribes, called Gaetuliae and Melanogaeluti, on the south the latter +evidently having contracted alliance of blood with the negroes. + +According to Sallust, who supports himself upon the authority of +Heimpsal, the Carthaginian historian, "North Africa was first occupied +by Libyans and Getulians, who were a barbarous people, a heterogeneous +mass, or agglomeration of people of different races, without any form of +religion or government, nourishing themselves on herbs, or devouring the +raw flesh of animals killed in the chase; for first amongst these were +found Blacks, probably some from the interior of Africa, and belonging +to the great negro family; then whites, issue of the Semitic stock, who +apparently constituted, even at that early period, the dominant race or +caste. Later, but at an epoch absolutely unknown, a new horde of +Asiatics," says Sallust, "of Medes, Persians, and Armenians, invaded the +countries of the Atlas, and, led on by Hercules, pushed their conquests +as far as Spain." [9] + +The Persians, mixing themselves with the former inhabitants of the +coast, formed the tribes called Numides, or Numidians (which embrace the +provinces of Tunis and Constantina), whilst the Medes and the Armenians, +allying themselves with the Libyans, nearer to Spain, it is pretended, +gave existence to a race of Moors, the term Medes being changed into +that of Moors. [10] + +As to the Getulians confined in the valleys of the Atlas, they resisted +all alliance with the new immigrants, and formed the principal nucleus +of those tribes who have ever remained in North Africa, rebels to a +foreign civilization, or rather determined champions of national +freedom, and whom, imitating the Romans and Arabs, we are pleased to +call Barbarians or Berbers (Barbari Brâber [11]), and whence is derived +the name of the Barbary States. But the Romans likewise called the +aboriginal tribes of North Africa, Moors, or Mauri, and some contend +that Moors and Berbers are but two different names for the aboriginal +tribes, the former being of Greek and the latter of African origin. The +Romans might, however, confound the African term berber with barbari, +which latter they applied, like the Greeks, to all strangers and +foreigners. The revolutions of Africa cast a new tribe of emigrants upon +the North African coast, who, if we are to believe the Byzantine +historian, Procopius, of the sixth century, were no other than +Canaanites, expelled from Palestine by the victorious arms of Joshua, +when he established the Israelites in that country. Procopius affirms +that, in his time, there was a column standing at Tigisis, on which was +this inscription:--"We are those who fled from the robber Joshua, son of +Nun." [12] Now whether Tigisis was in Algeria, or was modern Tangier, as +some suppose, it is certain there are several traditions among the +Berber tribes of Morocco, which relate that their ancestors were driven +out of Palestine. Also, the Berber historian, Ebn-Khal-Doun, who +flourished in the fourteenth century, makes all the Berbers descend from +one Bar, the son of Mayigh, son of Canaan. However, what may be the +truths of these traditions of Sallust or Procopius, there is no +difficulty in believing that North Africa was peopled by fugitive and +roving tribes, and that the first settlers should be exposed to be +plundered by succeeding hordes; for such has been the history of the +migrations of all the tribes of the human race. + +But the most ancient historical fact on which we can depend is, the +invasion, or more properly, the successive invasions of North Africa by +the Phoenicians. Their definite establishment on these shores took place +towards the foundation of Carthage, about 820 years before our era. Yet +we know little of their intercourse or relations with the aboriginal +tribes. When the Romans, a century and a half before Christ, received, +or wrested, the rule of Africa from the Phoenicians, or Carthaginians, +they found before them an indigenous people, whom they indifferently +called Moors, Berbers, or Barbarians. A part of these people were called +also Nudides, which is perhaps considered the same term as nomades. + +Some ages later, the Romans, too weak to resist a vigorous invasion of +other conquerors, were subjugated by the Vandals, who, during a century, +held possession of North Africa; but, after this time, the Romans again +raised their heads, and completely expelled or extirpated the Vandals, +so that, as before, there were found only two people or races in Africa: +the Romans and the Moors, or aborigines. + +Towards the middle of the seventh century after Christ, and a few years +after the death of Mahomet, the Romans, in the decline of their power, +had to meet the shock of the victorious arms of the Arabians, who poured +in upon them triumphant from the East; but, too weak to resist this new +tide of invasion, they opposed to them the aborigines, which latter were +soon obliged to continue alone the struggle. + +The Arabian historians, who recount these wars, speak of _Roumi_ or +Romans (of the Byzantine empire) and the Brâber--evidently the +aboriginal tribes--who promptly submitted to the Arabs to rid themselves +of the yoke of the Romans; but, after the retreat of their ancient +masters, they revolted and remained a long time in arms against their +new conquerors--a rule of action which all subjugated nations have been +wont to follow. Were we English now to attempt to expel the French from +Algeria, we, undoubtedly, should be joined by the Arabs; but who would, +most probably, soon also revolt against us, were we to attempt to +consolidate our dominion over them. + +In the first years of the eighth century, and at the end of the first +century of the Hegira, the conquering Arabs passed over to Spain, and, +inasmuch as they came from Mauritania, the people of Spain gave them the +name of Moors (that of the aborigines of North Africa), although they +had, perhaps, nothing in common with them, if we except their Asiatic +origin. Another and most singular name was also given to these Arab +warriors in France and other parts of Europe--that of Saracens--whose +etymology is extremely obscure. [13] From this time the Spaniards have +always given the names of Moors (_los Moros_), not only to the Arabs of +Spain, but to all the Arabs; and, confounding farther these two +denominations, they have bestowed the name of _Moros_ upon the Arabs of +Morocco and those in the environs of Senegal. + +The Arabs who invaded Northern Africa about 650, were all natives of +Asia, belonging to various provinces of Arabia, and were divided into +Ismaelites, Amalekites, Koushites, &c. They were all warriors; and it is +considered a title of nobility to have belonged to their first irruption +of the enthusiastic sons of the Prophet. + +A second invasion took place towards the end of the ninth century--an +epoch full of wars--during which, the Caliph Kaïm transported the seat +of his government from Kairwan to Cairo, ending in the complete +submission of Morocco to the power of Yousef Ben Tashfin. One cannnot +now distinguish which tribe of Arabs belong to the first or the second +invasion, but all who can shew the slightest proof, claim to belong to +the first, as ranking among a band of noble and triumphant warriors. + +After eight centuries of rule, the Arabs being expelled from Spain, took +refuge in Barbary, but instead of finding the hospitality and protection +of their brethren, the greater part of them were pillaged or massacred. +The remnant of these wretched fugitives settled along the coast; and it +is to their industry and intelligence that we owe the increase, or the +foundation of many of the maritime cities. Here, considered as strangers +and enemies by the natives, whom they detested, the new colonists sought +for, and formed relations with Turks and renegades of all nations, +whilst they kept themselves separate from the Arabs and Berbers. This, +then, is the _bonâ-fide_ origin of the people whom we now generally call +Moors. History furnishes us with a striking example of how the expelled +Arabs of Spain united with various adventurers against the Berber and +North African Arabs. In the year 1500, a thousand Andalusian cavaliers, +who had emigrated to Algiers, formed an alliance with the Barbarossas +and their fleet of pirates; and, after expelling the native prince, +built the modern city of Algiers. And such was the origin of the +Algerine Corsairs. + +The general result of these observations would, therefore, lead us to +consider the Moors of the Romans, as the Berbers or aborigines of North +Africa, and the Moors of the Spaniards, as pure Arabians; and if, +indeed, these Arabian cavaliers marshalled with them Berbers, as +auxiliaries, for the conquest of Spain, this fact does not militate +against the broad assumption. + +The so-called Moors of Senegal and the Sahara, as well as those of +Morocco, are chiefly a mixture of Berbers, Arabs and Negroes; but the +present Moors located in the northern coast of Africa, are rather the +descendants from the various conquering nations, and especially from +renegades and Christian slaves. + +The term Moors is not known to the natives themselves. The people speak +definitely enough of Arabs and of various Berber tribes. The population +of the towns and cities are called generally after the names of these +towns and cities, whilst Tuniseen and Tripoline is applied to all the +inhabitants of the great towns of Tunis and Tripoli. Europeans resident +in Barbary, as a general rule, call all the inhabitants of towns--Moors, +and the peasants or people residents in tents--Arabs. But, in Tripoli, I +found whole villages inhabited by Arabs, and these I thought might be +distinguished as town Arabs. Then the mountains of Tripoli are covered +with Arab villages, and some few considerable towns are inhabited by +people who are _bonâ-fide_ Arabs. Finally, the capitals of North Africa +are filled with every class of people found in the country. + +The question is then where shall we draw the line of distinction in the +case of nationalities? or can we, with any degree of precision, define +the limits which distinguish the various races in North Africa? With +regard to the Blacks or negro tribes, there can be no great difficulty. +The Jews are also easily distinguished from the rest of the people as +well by their national features as by their dress and habits or customs +of living. But, when we come to the Berbers, Arabs, Moors and Turks, we +can only distinguish them in their usual and ordinary occupations and +manners of life. Whenever they are intermixed, or whenever they change +their position, that is to say, whenever the Arab or Berber comes to +dwell in a town, or a Moor or a Turk goes to reside in the country, +adopting the Arab or Berber dress and mode of living, it is no longer +possible to distinguish the one from the other, or mark the limitation +of races. + +And since it is seen that the aborigines of Northern Africa consisted, +with the exception of the Negro tribes, of the Asiatics of the Caucasian +race or variety, many of whom, like the Phoenicians, have peopled +various cities and provinces of Europe, it is therefore not astonishing +we should find all the large towns and cities of North Africa, where the +human being becomes _policed_, refined and civilized sooner than in +remote and thinly-inhabited districts, teeming with a population, which +at once challenges an European type, and a corresponding origin with the +great European family of nations. + +North Africa is wonderfully homogeneous in the matter of religion. The +people, indeed, have but one religion. Even the extraneous Judaism is +the same in its Deism--depression of the female--circumcision and many +of the religious customs, festivals and traditions. And this has a +surprising effect in assimilating the opposite character and sharpest +peculiarities of various races of otherwise distinct and independant +origin. + +The population of Morocco presents five distant races and classes of +people; Berbers, Arabs, Moors, Jews and Negroes. Turks are not found in +Morocco, and do not come so far west; but sons of Turks by Moorish women +in Kouroglies are included among the Moors, that have emigrated from +Algeria. Maroquine Berbers, include the varieties of the Amayeegh [14] +and the Shelouh, who mostly are located in the mountains, while the +Arabs are settled on the plains. + +The Moors are the inhabitants of towns and cities, consisting of a +mixture of nearly all races, a great proportion of them being of the +descendants of the Moors expelled from Spain. All these races have been, +and will still be, farther noticed in the progress of the work. The +proximate amount of this population is six millions. The greater number +of the towns and cities are situate on the coast, excepting the three or +four capitals, or imperial cities. The other towns of the interior +should be considered rather as forts to awe neighbouring tribes, or as +market villages (_souks_), where the people collect together for the +disposal and exchange of their produce. Numerous tribes, located in the +Atlas, escape the notice of the imposts of imperial authority. Their +varieties and amount of population are equally unknown. In the immense +group of Gibel Thelge (snowy mountains), some of the tribes are said to +have their faces shaved, like Christians, and to wear boots. We can +understand why a people inhabiting a cold region of rain and mists and +perpetual snow should wear boots; but as to their shaving like +Christians, this is rather vague. But it is not impossible the Atlas +contains the descendants of some European refugees. + +The nature of the soil and climate of Morocco are not unlike those of +Spain and Portugal; and though Morocco does not materially differ from +other parts of Barbary, its greater extent of coast on the Atlantic, +along which the tradewind of the north coast blows nine months out of +twelve, and its loftier ridges of the Atlas, so temper its varied +surface of hill and plain and vast declivities that, together with the +absence of those marshy districts which in hot climates engender fatal +disease, this country may be pronounced, excepting perhaps Tunis, the +most healthy in all Africa. + +In the northern provinces, the climate is nearly the same as that of +Spain; in the southern there is less rain and more of the desert heat, +but this is compensated for by the greater fertility in the production +of valuable staple articles of commerce. Nevertheless, Morocco has its +extremes of heat and cold, like all the North African coast. + +The most striking object of this portion of the crust of the globe, is +the vast Atlas chain of mountains [15], which traverses Morocco from +north-east to south-west, whose present ascertained culminating point, +Miltsin, is upwards of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, or equal +to the highest peaks of the Pyrenees. The Maroquine portion of the Atlas +contains its highest peaks, which stretch from the east of Tripoli to +the Atlantic Ocean, at Santa Cruz; and we find no mountains of equal +height, except in the tenth degree of North latitude, or 18,000 miles +south, or 30,000 south, south-east. The Rif coast has a mountainous +chain of some considerable height, but the Atlantic coast offers chiefly +ridges of hills. The coasts of Morocco are not much indented, and +consequently have few ports, and these offer poor protection from the +ocean. + +The general surface of Morocco presents a large ridge or lock, with two +immense declivities, one sloping N.W. to the ocean, with various rivers +and streams descending from this enormous back-bone of the Atlas, and +the other fulling towards the Sahara, S.E., feeding the streams and +affluents of Wad Draha, and other rivers, which are lost in the sands of +the Desert. This shape of the country prevents the formation of those +vast _Sebhahas_, or salt lakes, so frequent in Algeria and the south of +Tunis. We are acquainted only with two lakes of fresh or sweet +water--that of Debaia, traversed by Wad Draha,--and that of +Gibel-Akhder, which Leo compares to Lake Bolsena. The height of the +mountains, and the uniformity of their slopes, produce large and +numerous rivers; indeed, the most considerable of all North Africa. +These rivers of the North are shortest, but have the largest volume of +water; those of the South are larger, but are nearly dry the greater +part of the year. None of them are navigable far inland. Some abound +with fish, particularly the Shebbel, or Barbary salmon. It is neither so +rich nor so large as our salmon, and is whitefleshed; it tastes +something like herring, but is of a finer and more delicate flavour. +They are abundant in the market of Mogudor. The Shebbel, converted by +the Spaniards Sabalo, is found in the Guadalquivir. + +The products of the soil are nearly the same as in other parts of +Barbary. On the plains, or in the open country, the great cultivation is +wheat and barley; in suburban districts, vegetables and fruits are +propagated. In a commercial point of view, the North exports cattle, +grain, bark, leeches, and skins; and the South exports gums, almonds, +ostrich-feathers, wax, wool, and skins, as principle staple produce. +When the rains cease or fail, the cultivation is kept up by irrigation, +and an excellent variety of fruits and esculent vegetables are produced; +indeed, nearly all the vegetables and fruit-trees of Southern Europe are +here abundantly and successfully cultivated, besides those peculiar to +an African clime and soil. In the south, grows a tree peculiar to this +country, the Eloeondenron Argan, so called from its Arabic name Argan. +This tree produces fruit resembling the olive, whose egg-shaped, brown, +smooth and very hard stone, encloses a flat almond, of a white colour, +and of a very disagreeable taste, which, when crushed, produces a rancid +oil, used commonly as a substitute for olive-oil. The tree itself is +bushy and large, and sometimes grows of the size to a wide-spreading +oak. Not far from Mogador are several Argan forests. The level country +of the north is covered with forests of dwarfish oak; some bear sweet, +and others bitter acorns, and also the cork-tree, whose bark is a +considerable object of commerce. In the Atlas, has been found the +magnificent cedar of Lebanon. This tree has also been met with in +Algeria, but only on the mountains, some forty thousand feet above the +level of the sea. + +In the South there is, of course, growing in all its Saharan vigour, the +noble date-palm, and by its side, squats the palmetto, or dwarf-palm (in +Arabic _dauma_). Of trees and plants, the usual tinzah, and snouber or +pine of Aleppo, are used for preparing the fine leathers of Morocco. +Many plants are also deleteriously employed for exciting intoxication, +or inflaming the passions. + +Morocco has its mines of gold, silver, lead, iron, tin, sulphur, +mineral, salt, and antimony; but nearly all are neglected, or unworked. +Government will not encourage the industry of the people, for fear of +exciting the cupidity of foreigners. A Frenchman, a short time ago, +reported a silver mine in the south, and Government immediately bribed +him to make another statement that there was no such mine. At Elala and +Stouka, in the province of Sous, are several rich silver mines. Gold is +found in the Atlas and the Lower Sous. But this country is especially +rich in copper mines. A great number of ancient and modern authors speak +of these mines, which are situate in the mountainous country comprised +between Aghadir, Morocco, Talda, Tamkrout, and Akka. The mines most +worked, are those of Tedsi and Afran. At the foot of the Atlas, near +Taroudant, is a great quantity of sulphur. In the neighbourhood of +Morocco, saltpetre is found. In the province of Abda is an extensive +salt lake, and salt has been exported from this country to Timbuctoo. Of +precious stones, some fine specimens of amethyst have been discovered. + +There are scarcely any animals peculiar to Morocco, or which are not +found in other parts of North Africa. Davidson mentions some curious +facts relative to the desert horse; "_sherb-errech_, wind-bibber, or +drinker of the wind," a variety of this animal, which is not to be met +with in the Saharan regions of Tunis, or Tripoli. + +This horse is fed only on camel's milk, and is principally used for +hunting ostriches, which are run down by it, and then captured. [16] The +_sherb-errech_ will continue running three or four days together without +any food. It is a slight and spare-formed animal, mostly in wretched +condition, with ugly thick legs, and devoid of beauty as a horse. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + + +Morocco has been divided into States, or kingdoms by Europeans, although +such divisions scarcely exist in the administration of the native +princes. The ancient division mentioned by Leo was that of two large +provinces of Morocco and Fez, separated by the river Bouragrag, which +empties itself into the sea between Rabat and Salee; and, indeed, for +several centuries, these districts were separated and governed by +independent princes. Tafilett always, and Sous occasionally, were united +to Morocco, while Fez itself formed a powerful kingdom, extending itself +eastward as far as the gates of Tlemsen. + +The modern division adopted by several authors, is-- + +Northern, or the kingdom of Fez. Central, or the kingdom of Morocco. +Eastern, or the Province of Tafilett. Southern, or the province of Sous. +Some add to this latter, the Province of Draha. + +Then, a great number of districts are enumerated as comprehended in +these large and general divisions; but the true division of all +Mussulman States is into tribes. There is besides another, which more +approaches to European government, viz, into kaidats, or jurisdictions. +The name of a district is usually that of its chief tribe, and mountains +are denominated after the tribes that inhabit them. There is, of course, +a natural division, sometimes called a dividing into zones or specific +regions, which has already been alluded to in enumerating the natural +resources of Morocco, and which besides corresponds with the present +political divisions. + +I. The North of the Atlas: coming first, the Rif, or mountainous region, +which borders the Mediterranean from the river Moulwia to Tangier, +comprising the districts of Hashbat west, and Gharet and Aklaia east. +Then the intermediate zone of plains and hills, which extends from the +middle course of the Moulwia to Tangier on one coast, and to Mogador on +the other. + +II. The Central Region, or the great chain of the Atlas. The Deren [17] +of the natives, from the frontiers of Algeria east to Cape Gheer, on the +south-west. This includes the various districts of the Gharb, Temsna, +Beni Hasan, Shawia, Fez, Todla, Dukala, Shragno, Abda, Haha, Shedma, +Khamna, Morocco, &c. + +III. South of the Atlas: or quasi-Saharan region, comprising the various +provinces and districts of Sous, Sidi Hisham, Wadnoun, Guezoula, Draha +(Drâa), Tafilett, and a large portion of the Sahara, south-east of the +Atlas. + +As to statistics of population I am inclined fully to admit the +statement of Signor Balbi that, the term of African statistics ought to +be rejected as absurd. Count Hemo de Gräberg, who was a long time Consul +at Tangier, and wrote a statistical and geographical account of the +empire of Morocco, states the number of the inhabitants of the town of +Mazagran to be two thousand. Mr. Elton who resided there several months, +assured me it does not contain more than one hundred. Another gentleman +who dwelt there says, three hundred. This case is a fair sample of the +style in which the statistics of population in Morocco are and have been +calculated. + +Before the occupation of Algeria by the French, all the cities were +vulgarly calculated at double, or treble their amount of population. +This has also been the case even in India, where we could obtain, with +care, tolerably correct statistics. The prejudices of oriental and +Africo-eastern people are wholly set against statistics, or numbering +the population. No mother knows the age of her own child. It is +ill-omened, if not an affront, to ask a man how many children he has; +and to demand the amount of the population of a city, is either +constructed as an infringement upon the prerogative of the omnipotent +Creator, who knows how many people he creates, and how to take care of +them, or it is the question of a spy, who is seeking to ascertain the +strength or weakness of the country. Europeans can, therefore, rarely +obtain any correct statistical information in Morocco: all is proximate +and conjectural. [18] I am anxious, nevertheless, to give some +particulars respecting the population, in order that we may really have +a proximate idea of the strength and resources of this important +country. In describing the towns and cities of the various provinces, I +shall divide them into, + +1. Towns and cities of the coast. + +2. Capital or royal cities. + +3. Other towns and remarkable places in the interior [19]. + +The towns and ports, on the Mediterranean, are of considerable interest, +but our information is very scanty, except as far as relates to the +_praesidios_ of Spain, or the well-known and much frequented towns of +Tetuan and Tangier. + +Near the mouth of the Malwia (or fifteen miles distant), is the little +town of Kalat-el-wad, with a castle in which the Governor resides. +Whether the river is navigable up to this place, I have not been able to +discover. The water-communication of the interior of North Africa is not +worth the name. Zaffarinds or Jafarines, are three isles lying off the +west of the river Mulweeah, at a short distance, or near its mouth. +These belong to Spain, and have recently been additionally fortified, +but why, or for what reason, is not so obvious. Opposite to them, there +is said to be a small town, situate on the mainland. The Spaniards, in +the utter feebleness and decadence of their power, have lately dubbed +some one or other "Captain-general of the Spanish possessions, &c. in +North Africa." + +Melilla or Melilah is a very ancient city, founded by the Carthaginians, +built near a cape called by the Romans, _Rusadir_ (now Tres-Forcas) the +name afterwards given to the city, and which it still retains in the +form of Ras-ed-Dir, (Head of the mountain). This town is the capital of +the province of Garet, and is said to contain 3,000 souls. It is situate +amidst a vast tract of fine country, abounding in minerals, and most +delicious honey, from which it is pretended the place receives its name. + +On an isle near, and joined to the mainland by a draw-bridge, is the +Spanish _praesidio_, or convict-settlement called also Melilla, +containing a population of 2,244 according to the Spanish, but Rabbi and +Gräberg do not give it more than a thousand. At a short distance, +towards the east, is an exceedingly spacious bay, of twenty-two miles in +circumference, where, they say, a thousand ships of war could be +anchored in perfect safety, and where the ancient galleys of Venice +carried on a lucrative trade with Fez. Within the bay, three miles +inland, are the ruins of the ancient city of Eazaza, once a celebrated +place. + +Alhucemos, is another small island and _praesidio_ of the Spaniards, +containing five or six hundred inhabitants; it commands the bay of the +same name, and is situate at the mouth of the river Wad Nechor, where +there is also the Islet of Ed-Housh. Near the bay, is the ancient +capital, Mezemma, now in ruins; it had, however, some commercial +importance in the times of Louis XIV., and carried on trade with France. + +Peñon de Velez is the third _praesidio_-island, a convict settlement of +the Spaniards on this coast, and a very strong position, situate +opposite the mouths of the river Gomera, which disembogues in the +Mediterranean. The garrison contains some nine hundred inhabitants. So +far as natural resources are concerned, Peñon de Velez is a mere rock, +and a part of the year is obliged to be supplied with fresh water from +the mainland. Immediately opposite to the continent is the city of +Gomera (or Badis), the ancient Parientina, or perhaps the Acra of +Ptolemy, afterwards called Belis, and by the Spaniards, Velez de la +Gomera. The name Gomera, according to J.A. Conde, is derived from the +celebrated Arab tribe of the Gomeres, who flourished in Africa and Spain +until the last Moorish kings of Granada. Count Graberg pretends Gomera +now contains three thousand inhabitants! whilst other writers, and of +later date, represent this ancient city, which has flourished and played +an important part through many ages, as entirely abandoned, and the +abode of serpents and hyaenas. Gellis is a small port, six miles east of +Velez de Gomera. + +Tegaza is a small town and port, at two miles or less from the sea near +Pescadores Point, inhabited mostly by fishermen, and containing a +thousand souls. + +The provinces of Rif and Garet, containing these maritime towns are rich +and highly cultivated, but inhabited by a warlike and semi-barbarous +race of Berbers, over whom the Emperor exercises an extremely precarious +authority. Among these tribes, Abd-el-Kader sought refuge and support +when he was obliged to retire from Algeria, and, where he defied all the +power of the Imperial government for several months. Had the Emir +chosen, he could have remained in Rif till this time; but he determined +to try his strength with the Sultan in a pitch battle, which should +decide his fate. + +The savage Rifians assemble for barter and trade on market-days, which +are occasions of fierce and incessant quarrels among themselves, when it +is not unusual for two or three persons to be left dead on the spot. +Should any unfortunate vessel strike on these coasts, the crew find +themselves in the hands of inhuman wreckers. No European traveller has +ever visited these provinces, and we may state positively that +journeying here is more dangerous than in the farthest wastes of the +Sahara. Spanish renegades, however, are found among them, who have +escaped from the _praesidios_, or penal settlements. The Rif country is +full of mines, and is bounded south by one of the lesser chains of the +Atlas running parallel with the coast. Forests of cork clothe the +mountain-slopes; the Berbers graze their herds and flocks in the deep +green valleys, and export quantities of skins. + +Tetuan, the Yagath of the Romans, situate at the opening of the Straits +of Gibraltar, four or five miles from the sea, upon the declivity of a +hill and within two small ranges of mountains, is a fine, large, rich +and mercantile city of the province of Hasbat. It has a resident +governor of considerable power and consequence, the name of the present +functionary being Hash-Hash, who has long held the appointment, and +enjoys great influence near the Sultan. Half a mile east of the city +passes from the south Wad Marteen, (the Cus of Marmol) which disembogues +into the sea; on its banks is the little port of Marteen or Marteel, not +quite two miles distant from the coast, and about three from the city, +where a good deal of commerce is carried on, small vessels, laden with +the produce of Barbary, sailing thence to Spain, Gibraltar, and even +France and Italy. The population of Tetouan is from nine to twelve +thousand souls, including, besides Moors and Arabs, four thousand Jews, +two thousand Negroes, and eight thousand Berbers. The streets are +generally formed into arcades, or covered bazaars. + +The Jews have a separate quarter; their women are celebrated for their +beauty. The suburbs are adorned with fine gardens, and olive and vine +plantations. Orange groves, or rather orange forests, extend for miles +around, yielding their golden treasures. A great export of oranges could +be established here, which might be conveyed overland to India. +Altogether, Tetuan is one of the most respectable coast-cities of +Morocco, though it has no port immediately adjoining it. Its +fortifications are only strong enough to resist the attack of hostile +Berbers. The town is about two-thirds of a day's journey from Tangier, +south-east. A fair day's journey would be, in Morocco, upwards of thirty +English miles, but a good deal depends upon the season of the year when +you travel. + +Ceuta is considered to be Esilissa of Ptolemy, and was once the capital +of Mauritania Tingitana. The Arabs call it Sebât and Sebta, _i.e._, +"seven," after the Romans, who called it _Septem fratres_, and the +Greeks the same, apparently on account of the seven mountains, which are +in the neighbourhood. Ceuta, or Sebta, is evidently the modern form of +this classic name. It is a very ancient city and celebrated fortress, +situate fourteen miles south of Gibraltar, nearly opposite to it, as a +species of rival stronghold, and placed upon a peninsula, which detaches +itself from the continent on the east, and turns then to the north. The +city extends over the tongue of land nearest the continent; the citadel +occupies Monte-del-Acho, called formerly Jibel-el-Mina, a name still +preserved in Almina, a suburb to the south-east. + +In the beginning of the eighth century, Ceuta, which was inhabited by +the Goths, passed into the hands of the Arabs, who made it a point of +departure for the expeditions into Spain. It was conquered by the +powerful Arab family of the Ben-Hamed, one of whom, called Mohammed +Edris, invaded Spain, and, after several conquests, was proclaimed King +of Cordova, in A.D. 1,000, + +On 21st of August, 1415, the Portuguese conquered it, and it was the +first place which they occupied in Africa. In 1578, at the death of Don +Sebastian, Ceuta passed with Portugal and the rest of the colonies into +the power of Spain; and when, in 1640, the Portuguese recovered their +independence, the Spaniards were left masters of Ceuta, which continues +still in their hands, but is of no utility to them except as a +_praesidio_, which makes the fourth penal settlement possessed by them +on this coast. + +Ceuta contains a garrison of two or three thousand men. The free +population amounts to some five or six thousand. It has a small and +insecure port. Here is the famed Gibel Zaterit, "Monkey's promontory," +or "Ape's Hill," which has occasioned the ingenious fable, that, +inasmuch as there are no monkeys in any part of Europe except Gibraltar, +directly opposite to this rock, where also monkeys are found, there must +necessarily be a subterranean passage beneath the sea, by which they +pass and re-pass to opposite sides of the Straits, and maintain a +friendly and uninterrupted intercourse between the brethren of Africa +and Europe. Anciently, the mountains hereabouts formed the African +pillars of Hercules opposite to Gibraltar, which may be considered the +European pillar of that respectable hero of antiquity. + +Passing Tangier after a day's journey, we come to Arzila or Asila, in +the province of Hasbat, which is an ancient Berber city, and which, when +conquered by the Romans, was named first Zilia and afterwards Zulia, +_Constantia Zilis_. It is placed on the naked shores of the Atlantic, +and has a little port. Whilst possessed by the Portuguese, it was a +place of considerable strength, but its fortifications being, as usual, +neglected by the Moors, are now rapidly decaying. [20] The population is +about one thousand. The country around produces good tobacco. The next +town on the Atlantic, after another day's journey southwards, is El +Araish, _i.e._, the trellices of vines; vulgarly called Laratsh. This +city replaces the ancient Liscas or Lixus and Lixa, whose ruins are +near. The Arabs call it El-Araish Beai-Arous, _i.e._, the vineyards of +the Beni-Arous, a powerful tribe, who populate the greater part of the +district of Azgar, of which it is the capital and the residence of the +Governor. It was, probably, built by this tribe about 1,200 or 1,300, +AD. El-Araish contains a population of 2,700 Moors, and 1,300 Jews, or +4,000 souls; but others give only 2,000 for the whole amount, of which +250 are Jews. It has a garrison of 500 troops. The town is situate upon +a small promontory stretching into the sea, and along the mouth of the +river Cos, or Luccos (Loukkos), which forms a secure port, but of so +difficult access, that vessels of two hundred tons can scarcely enter +it. In winter, the roadstead is very bad; [21] the houses are +substantially built; and the fortifications are good, because made by +the Spaniards, who captured this place in 1610, but it was re-taken by +Muley Ishmael in 1689. The climate is soft and delicious. In the +environs, cotton is cultivated, and charcoal is made from the Araish +forest of cork-trees. El-Araish exports cork, wool, skins, bark, beans, +and grain, and receives in exchange iron, cloth, cottons, muslins, sugar +and tea. The lions and panthers of the mountains of Beni Arasis +sometimes descend to the plains to drink, or carry off a supper of a +sheep or bullock. Azgar, the name of this district, connects it with one +of the powerful tribes of the Touaricks; and, probably, a section of +this tribe of Berbers were resident here at a very early period (at the +same time the Berber term _ayghar_ corresponds to the Arabic _bahira_, +and signifies "plain.") + +The ancient Lixus deserves farther mention on account of the interest +attached to its coins, a few of which remain, although but very recently +deciphered by archeologists. There are five classes of them, and all +Phoenician, although the city now under Roman rule, represents the +vineyard riches of this part of ancient Mauritania by two bunches of +grapes, so that, after nearly three thousand years, the place has +retained its peculiarity of producing abundant vines, El-Araish, being +"the vine trellices;" others have stamped on them "two ears of corn" and +"two fishes," representing the fields of corn waving on the plains of +Morocco, and the fish (shebbel especially) which fills its northern +rivers. + +Strabo says:--"Mauritania generally, excepting a small part desert, is +rich and fertile, well watered with rivers and washed with lakes; +abounding in all things, and producing trees of great dimensions." +Another writer adds "this country produces a species of the vine whose +trunk the extended arms of two men cannot embrace, and which yields +grapes of a cubit's length." "At this city," says Pliny, "was the palace +of Antaeus, and his combat with Hercules and the gardens of Hesperides." + +Mehedia or Mâmora, and sometimes, Nuova Mamora, is situate upon the +north-western slope of a great hill, some four feet above the sea, upon +the left bank of the mouth of the Sebon, and at the edge of the +celebrated plain and forest of Mamora, belonging to the province of +Beni-Hassan. According to Marmol, Mamora was built by Jakob-el-Mansour +to defend the embouchure of the river. It was captured by the Spaniards +in 1614, and retaken by the Moors in 1681. The Corsairs formerly took +refuge here. It is now a weak and miserable place, commanded by an old +crumbling-down castle. There are five or six hundred fishermen, +occupying one hundred and fifty cabins, who make a good trade of the +Shebbel salmon; it has a very small garrison. The forest of Mamora, +contains about sixty acres of fine trees, among which are some splendid +oaks, all suitable for naval construction. + +Salee or Sala, a name which this place bore antecedently to the Roman +occupation, is a very ancient city, situate upon the right bank of the +river Bouragrag, and near its mouth. This place was captured in 1263, by +Alphonso the Wise, King of Castille, who was a short time after +dispossessed of his conquest by the King of Fez; and the Moorish Sultans +have kept it to the present time, though the city itself has often +attempted to throw off the imperial yoke. The modern Salee is a large +commercial and well-fortified city of the province of Beni-Hassan. Its +port is sufficiently large, but, on account of the little depth of +water, vessels of large burden cannot enter it. The houses and public +places are tolerably well-built. The town is fortified by a battery of +twenty-four pieces of cannon fronting the sea, and a redoubt at the +entrance of the river. What navy the Maroquines have, is still laid up +here, but the dock-yard is now nearly deserted, and the few remaining +ships are unserviceable. The population, all of whom are Mahometans, are +now, as in Corsair times, the bitterest and most determined enemies of +Christians, and will not permit a Christian or Jew to reside among them. +The amount of this population, and that of Rabat, is thus given, + + _Salee Rabat_ + Gräberg 23,000 27,000 + Washington 9,000 21,000 + Arlett 14,000 24,000 + +but it is probably greatly exaggerated. + +A resident of this country reduces the population of Salee as low as two +or three thousand. For many years, the port of Salee was the rendezvous +of the notorious pirates of Morocco, who, together with the city of +Rabat, formed a species of military republic almost independent of the +Sultan; these Salee rovers were at once the most ferocious and +courageous in the world. Time was, when these audacious freebooters lay +under Lundy Island in the British Channel, waiting to intercept British +traders! "Salee," says Lemprière, "was a place of good commerce, till, +addicting itself entirely to piracy, and revolting from the allegiance +to its Sovereign, Muley Zidan, that prince in the year 1648, dispatched +an embassy to King Charles 1, of England, requesting him to send a +squadron of men-of-war to lie before the town, while he attacked by +land." This request being acceded to, the city was soon reduced, the +fortifications demolished, and the leaders of the rebellion put to +death. The year following, the Emperor sent another ambassador to +England, with a present of Barbary horses and three hundred Christian +slaves. + +Rabat, or Er-Rabat, and on some of the foreign maps Nuova Sale, is a +modern city of considerable extent, densely populated, strong and +well-built, belonging to the province of Temsna. It is situated on the +declivity of a hill, opposite to Salee, on the other side of the river, +or left side of the Bouragrag, which is as broad as the Thames at +London Bridge, and might be considered as a great suburb, or another +quarter of the same city. It was built by the famous Yakob-el-Mansour, +nephew of Abd-el-Moumen, and named by him Rabat-el-Fatah, _i.e._, "camp +of victory," by which name it is now often mentioned. + +The walls of Rabat enclose a large space of ground, and the town is +defended on the seaside by three forts, erected some years ago by an +English renegade, and furnished with ordnance from Gibraltar. Among the +population are three or four thousand Jews, some of them of great wealth +and consequence. The merchants are active and intelligent, carrying on +commerce with Fez, and other places of the interior, as also with the +foreign ports of Genoa, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. In the middle ages, +the Genoese had a great trade with Rabat, but this trade is now removed +to Mogador, Many beautiful gardens and plantations adorn the suburbs, +deserving even the name of "an earthly paradise." + +The Moors of Rabat are mostly from Spain, expelled thence by the +Spaniards. The famous Sultan, Almanzor, intended that Rabat should be +his capital. His untenanted mausoleum is placed here, in a separate and +sacred quarter. This prince, surnamed "the victorious," (Elmansor,) was +he who expelled the Moravedi from Spain. He is the Nero of Western +Africa, as Keatinge says, their "King Arthur." Tradition has it that +Elmansor went in disguise to Mecca, and returned no more. Mankind love +this indefinite and obscure end of their heroes. Moses went up to the +mountain to die there in eternal mystery. At a short distance from Rabat +is Shella, or its ruins, a small suburb situated on the summit of a +hill, which contains the tombs of the royal family of the Beni-Merini, +and the founder of Rabat, and is a place of inviolate sanctity, no +infidel being permitted to enter therein. Monsieur Chenier supposes +Shella to have been the site of the metropolis of the Carthaginian +colonies. + +Of these two cities, on the banks of the Wad-Bouragrag, Salee was, +according to D'Anville, always a place of note as at the present time, +and the farthest Roman city on the coast of the Atlantic, being the +frontier town of the ancient Mauritania Tingitana. Some pretend that all +the civilization which has extended itself beyond this point is either +Moorish, or derived from European colonists. The river Wad-Bouragrag is +somewhat a natural line of demarcation, and the products and animals of +the one side differ materially from those of the other, owing to the +number and less rapid descent of the streams on the side of the north, +and so producing more humidity, whilst the south side, on the contrary, +is of a higher and drier soil. + +Fidallah, or Seid Allah, _i. e_., "grace," or "gift of God," is a +maritime village of the province of Temsa, founded by the Sultan +Mohammed in 1773. It is a strong place, and surrounded with walls. +Fidallah is situated on a vast plain, near the river Wad Millah, where +there is a small port, or roadstead, to which the corsairs were wont to +resort when they could not reach Salee, long before the village was +built, called Mersa Fidallah. The place contains a thousand souls, +mostly in a wretched condition. Sidi Mohammed, before he built Mogador, +had the idea of building a city here; the situation is indeed +delightful, surrounded with fertility. + +Dar-el-Beida (or Casa-Blanco, "white house,") is a small town, formerly +in possession of the Portuguese, who built it upon the ruins of Anfa or +Anafa, [22] which they destroyed in 1468. They, however, scarcely +finished it when they abandoned it in 1515. Dar-el-Beida is situate on +the borders of the fertile plains of the province of Shawiya, and has a +small port, formed by a river and a spacious bay on the Atlantic. The +Romans are said to have built the ancient Anafa, in whose time it was a +considerable place, but now it scarcely contains above a thousand +inhabitants, and some reduce them to two hundred. Sidi Mohammed +attempted this place, and the present Sultan endeavoured to follow up +these efforts. A little commerce with Europe is carried on here. The bay +will admit of vessels of large burden anchoring in safety, except when +the wind blows strong from the north-west. Casa Blanco is two days +journey from Rabat, and two from Azamor, or Azemmour, which is an +ancient and fine city of the province of Dukaila, built by the Amazigh +Berbers, in whose language it signifies "olives." It is situate upon a +hill, about one hundred feet above the sea, and distant half a mile from +the shore, not far from the mouth of the Wad-Omm-er-Rbia (or Omm-Erbegh) +on its southern bank, and is everywhere surrounded by a most fertile +soil. Azamor contains now about eight or nine hundred inhabitants, but +formerly was much more populated. The Shebbel salmon is the principal +commerce, and a source of immense profit to the town. The river is very +deep and rapid, so that the passage with boats is both difficult and +dangerous. It is frequently of a red colour, and charged with slime like +the Nile at the period of its inundations. The tide is felt five or six +leagues up the river, according to Chénier. Formerly, vessels of every +size entered the river, but now its mouth has a most difficult bar of +sand, preventing large vessels going up, like nearly all the Maroquine +ports situate on the mouths, or within the rivers. + +Azamor was taken by the Portuguese under the command of the Duke of +Braganza in 1513 who strengthened it by fortifications, the walls of +which are still standing; but it was abandoned a century afterwards, the +Indies having opened a more lucrative field of enterprise than these +barren though honourable conquests on the Maroquine coast. This place is +half a day's journey, or about fourteen miles from Mazagran, _i. e_. the +above Amayeeghs, an extremely ancient and strong castle, erected on a +peninsula at the bottom of a spacious and excellent bay. It was rebuilt +by the Portuguese in 1506, who gave it the name of Castillo Real. The +site has been a centre of population from the remotest period, chiefly +Berbers, whose name it still bears. The Arabs, however, call it +El-Bureeja, i.e., "the citadel." The Portuguese abandoned it in 1769; +Mazagran was the last stronghold which they possessed in Morocco. The +town is well constructed, and has a wall twelve feet thick, strengthened +with bastions. There is a small port, or dock, on the north side of the +town, capable of admitting small vessels, and the roadstead is good, +where large vessels can anchor about two miles off the shore. Its +traffic is principally with Rabat, but there is also some export trade +to foreign parts. Its population is two or three hundred. [23] After +proceeding two days south-west, you arrive at Saffee, or properly +Asafee, called by the natives Asfee, and anciently Soffia or Saffia, is +a city of great antiquity, belonging to the province of Abda, and was +built by the Carthaginians near Cape Pantin. Its site lies between two +hills, in a valley which is exposed to frequent inundations. The +roadstead of Saffee is good and safe during summer, and its shipping +once enabled it to be the centre of European commerce on the Atlantic +coast. The population amounts to about one thousand, including a number +of miserable Jews. The walls of Saffee are massy and high. The +Portuguese captured this city in 1508, voluntarily abandoning it in +1641. The country around is not much cultivated, and presents melancholy +deserts; but there is still a quantity of corn grown. About forty miles +distant, S.E., is a large salt lake. Saffee is one and a half day's +journey from Mogador. + +Equidistant between Mazagran and Saffee is the small town of El-Waladia, +situate on an extensive plain. Persons report that near this spot is a +spacious harbour, or lagune, sufficiently capacious to contain four or +five hundred sail of the line; but, unfortunately, the entrance is +obstructed by some rocks, which, however, it is added, might easily be +blown up. The lagune is also exposed to winds direct for the ocean. The +town, enclosed within a square wall, and containing very few +inhabitants, is supposed to have been built in the middle of the +seventeenth century by the Sultan Waleed. after whom it was named. + +This brings us to Mogador, which, with Aghadir, have already been +described. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + + +The royal or capitals of the interior now demand our attention, which +are El-Kesar, Mequinez, Fez, and Morocco. + +El-Kesar, or Al-Kesar, [24] styled also El-Kesue-Kesar, is so named and +distinguished because it owes its enlargement to the famous Sultan of +Fez, Almansor, who improved and beautified it about the year 1180, and +designed this city as a magazine and rendezvous of troops for the great +preparations he was making at the time for the conquest of Granada. +El-Kesar is in the province of the Gharb, and situate on the southern +bank of the Luccos; here is a deep and rapid stream, flowing W. 1/4 N.W. +The town is nearly as large as Tetuan, but the streets are dirty and +narrow, and many of the houses in a ruinous condition, This fortified +place was once adorned by some fifteen mosques, but only two or three +are now fit for service. The population does not exceed four or five +thousand souls, and some think this number over-estimated. + +The surrounding country is flat meadowland, but flooded after the rains, +and producing fatal fevers, though dry and hot enough in summer. The +suburban fields are covered with gardens and orchards. It was at +El-Kesar, where, in A.D. 1578, the great battle of The Three Kings came +off, because, besides the Portuguese King, Don Sebastian, two Moorish +princes perished on this fatal day. But one of them, Muley Moluc, died +very ill in a litter, and was not killed in the fight; his death, +however, was kept a secret till the close of the battle, in order that +the Moors might not be discouraged. With their prince, Don Sebastian, +perished the flower of the Portuguese nobility and chivalry of that +time. War, indeed, was found "a dangerous game" on that woeful day: both +for princes and nobles, and many a poor soul was swept away + + "Floating in a purple tide." + +But the "trade of war" has been carried on ever since, and these +lessons, written in blood, are as useless to mankind as those dashed off +by the harmless pen of the sentimental moralist. El-Kesar is placed in +Latitude, 35° 1 10" N.; Longitude, 5° 49' 30" W. + +Mequinez, [25] in Arabic, Miknas (or Miknasa), is a royal residence, and +city of the province of Fez, situate upon a hill in the midst of a +well-watered and most pleasant town, blessed with a pure and serene air. +The city of Miknas is both large and finely built, of considerable +interest and of great antiquity. It was founded by the tribe of Berbers +Meknâsab, a fraction of the Zenatah, in the middle of the tenth century, +and called Miknasat, hence is derived its present name. The modern town +is surrounded with a triple wall thirteen feet high and three thick, +enclosing a spacious area. This wall is mounted with batteries to awe +the Berbers of the neighbouring mountains. The population amounts to +about twenty thousand souls, (some say forty or fifty thousand) in which +are included about nine thousand Negro troops, constituting the greater +portion of the Imperial guard. Two thousand of these black troops are in +charge of the royal treasures, estimated at some fifty millions of +dollars, and always increasing. These treasures consist of jewels, bars +of gold and silver, and money in the two precious metals, the greater +part being Spanish and Mexican dollars. + +The inhabitants are represented as being the most polished of the Moors, +kind and hospitable to strangers. The palace of the Emperor is extremely +simple and elegant, all the walls of which are _embroidered_ with the +beautiful stucco-work of Arabesque patterns, as pure and chaste as the +finest lace. The marble for the pillars was furnished from the ruins +adjacent, called Kesar Farâoun, "Castle of Pharoah" (a name given to +most of the old ruins of Morocco, of whose origin there is any doubt). + +During the times of piracy, there was here, as also at Morocco, a +Spanish hospitium for the ransom and recovery of Christian slaves. Even +before Mequinez was constituted a royal city, it was a place of +considerable trade and riches. Nothing of any peculiar value has been +discovered among the extensive and ancient ruins about a mile distant, +and which have furnished materials for the building of several royal +cities; they are, however, supposed to be Roman. Scarcely a day's +journey separates Mequinez from Fez. It is not usual for two royal +cities to be placed so near together, but which must render their +fortunes inseparable. + +Fez, or Fas. According to some, the name Fas, which signifies in Arabia +a pickaxe, was given to it because one was found in digging its +foundations. Others derive it from Fetha, silver. It is no longer the +marvellous city described by Leo Africanus, yet its learning, wealth, +and industry place it in the first rank of the cities of Morocco. During +the eighth century, the Arabs, masters of Tunis, of all Algeria, and the +maritime cities of Morocco, seemed to think only of invading Europe and +consolidating their power in Spain; but at this epoch, a descendant of +Ali and Fatima, Edris Ben Abdalluh, quitted Arabia, passed into Morocco, +and established himself at Oualili, the capital, where he remained till +his death, and where he was buried. His character was generally known +and venerated for its sanctity, and drew upon him the affectionate +regard of the people, and all instinctively placed themselves near him +as a leader of the Faithful, likely to put an end to anarchy, and +establish order in the Mussulman world. His son, Edris-Ben-Edris, who +inherited his virtues and influence, offering a species of ancient +prototype to Abd-el Kader and his venerable father, Mahadin, was the +first _bona-fide_ Mussulman sovereign of the Maroquine empire, and +founded Fez. + +Fez is a most ancient centre of population, and had long been a famed +city, before Muley Edris, in the year A.D. 807 (others in 793), gave it +its present form and character. + +From that period, however, Fez [26] dates its modern celebrity and rank +among the Mahometan capitals of the world, and especially as being the +second city of Islamism, and the "palace of the Mussulmen Princes of the +West." That the Spanish philologists should make Fut, of the Prophet +Nahum, to be the ancient capital of Fez, is not remarkable, considering +the numerous bands of emigrants, who, emerging from the coast, wandered +as far as the pillars of Hercules; and, besides, in a country like North +Africa, the theatre of so many revolutions, almost every noted city of +the present period has had its ancient form, from which it has been +successively changed. + +The modern capital is placed in a valley upon the gentle slope of +several hills by which it is surrounded, and whose heights are crowned +with lovely gardens breathing odoriferous sweets. Close by is a little +river, or a branch of the Tebou, named Wad-el-Juhor, or "streamlet," +which supplies the city with excellent water. + +The present buildings are divided into old and new Fez. The streets are +so narrow that two men on horseback could scarcely ride abreast; they +are, besides, very dark, and often arched over. Colonel Scott represents +some of the streets, however, as a mile in length. The houses are high, +but not handsome. The shops are numerous and much frequented, though not +very fine in appearance. Fez contains no less than seven hundred +mosques, fifty of which are superb, and ornamented with fine columns of +marble; there is, besides, a hundred or more of very small and ill-built +mosques, or rather, houses of prayer. The most famous of these temples +of worship is El-Karoubin (or El-Karouïin), supported by three hundred +pillars. In this is preserved the celebrated library of antiquity, +where, it is pretended, ancient Greek and Latin authors are to be found +in abundance with the lost books of Titus Livy. + +This appears to be mere conjecture. [27] But the mosque the more +frequented and venerated, is that dedicated to the founder of the city, +Muley Edris, whose ashes repose within its sacred enclosure. So +excessive is this "hero-worship" for this great sultan, that the people +constantly invoke his name in their prayers instead of that of the +Deity. The mausoleum of this sacro-santo prince is inviolable and +unapproachable. The university of Fez was formally much celebrated, but +little of its learning now remains. Its once high-minded orthodox mulahs +are now succeeded by a fanatic and ignorant race of marabouts. +Nevertheless, the few _hommes de lettres_ found in Morocco are +congregated here, and the literature of the empire is concentrated in +this city. Seven large public schools are in full activity, besides +numbers of private seminaries of instruction. The low humour of the +talebs, and the fanaticism of the people, are unitedly preserved and +developed in this notorious doggerel couplet, universally diffused +throughout Morocco:-- + + _Ensara fee Senara + Elhoud fee Sefoud_ + + "Christians on the hook + Jews on the spit," or + + "Let Christians be hooked, + And let Jews be cooked." + +The great division of the Arabic into eastern and western dialects makes +little real difference in a practical point of view. The Mogrebbin, or +western, is well understood by all travellers, and, of course, by all +scholars from the East. + +The palace of the Sultan is not large, but is handsome. There are +numerous baths, and an hospital for the mad or incurable. The population +was estimated, not long ago, at 88,000 souls, of which there were 60,000 +Moors and Arabs (the Moors being chiefly immigrants from Spain), 10,000 +Berbers, 8,000 Jews, and 10,000 Negroes. But this amount has been +reduced to 40,000, or even 30,000; and the probability is, the present +population of Fez does not by any means, exceed 50,000, if it reaches +that number. Nearly all the Jews reside in the new city, which, by its +position, dominates the old one. The inhabitants of Fez, in spite of +their learning and commerce, are distinguished for their fanaticism; and +an European, without an escort of troops, cannot walk in the streets +unless disguised. It was lately the head-quarters of the fanatics who +preached "the holy war," and involved the Emperor in hostilities with +the French. + +The immense trade of every kind carried on at Fez gives it almost the +air of an European city. In the great square, called Al-Kaisseriah, is +exhibited all the commerce of Europe and Africa--nay, even of the whole +world. The crowd of traffickers here assemble every day as at a fair. +Fez has two annual caravans; one leaves for Central Africa, or +Timbuctoo; and another for Mecca, or the caravan of pilgrims. The two +great stations and rendezvous points of the African caravan are Tafilett +and Touat. The journey from Fez to Timbuctoo occupies about ninety days. +The Mecca caravan proceeds the same route as far as Touat, and then +turns bank north-east to Ghadames, Fezzan, and Angelah, and thence to +Alexandria, which it accomplishes in four or five, to six months. All +depends on the inclination of the Shereef, or Commandant, of the +caravan; but the journey from Fez to Alexandria cannot, by the quickest +caravan, be accomplished in much less time than three months and a half, +or one hundred days. The value of the investments in this caravan has +been estimated at a million of dollars; for the faithful followers of +the Prophet believe, with us, that godliness is profitable in the life +that now is, as well as in that which is to come. + +Fez is surrounded with a vast wall, but which is in decay. What is this +decay! It applies almost to every Moorish city and public building in +North Africa. And yet the faith of the false prophet is as strong as +ever, and with time and hoary age seems to strike its roots deeper into +the hearts of its simple, but enthusiastic and duped devotees! + +The city has seven gates, and two castles, at the east and west, form +its main defence. These castles are very ancient, and are formed and +supported by square walls about sixty feet in front, Ali Bey says, +subterraneous passages are reported to exist between these castles and +the city; and, whenever the people revolt against the Sultan, cannon are +planted on the castles with a few soldiers as their guard. The +fortifications, or Bastiles, of Paris, we see, therefore, were no new +invention of Louis Philippe to awe the populace. The maxims of a subtle +policy are instructive in despotism of every description. + +The constituted authorities of Fez are like those of every city of +Morocco. The Governor is the lieutenant of the sovereign, exercising the +executive power; the Kady, or supreme judge, is charged with the +administration of the law, and the Al-Motassen fixes the price of +provisions, and decides all the questions of trade and customs. There +are but few troops at Fez, for it is not a strong military possession; +on the contrary, it is commanded by accessible heights and is exposed to +a _coup-de-main_. + +Fez, indeed, could make no _bonâ-fide_ resistance to an European army. +The manufactures are principally woollen haiks, silk handkerchiefs, +slippers and shoes of excellent leather, and red caps of felt, commonly +called the fez; the first fabrication of these red caps appears to have +been in this city. The Spanish Moorish immigrants introduced the mode of +dressing goat and sheep-skins, at first known by the name of Cordovan +from Cordova; but, since the Moorish forced immigration, they have +acquired the celebrated name of Morocco. The chief food of the people is +the national Moorish dish of _cuscasou_, a fine grained paste, cooked by +steam, with melted fat, oil, or other liquids poured upon the dish, and +sometimes garnished with pieces of fowl and other meat. A good deal of +animal food is consumed, but few vegetables. The climate is mild in the +winter, but suffocating with heat in the summer. This city is placed in +latittude 34° 6' 3" N. longitude 4° 38" 15'W. + +Morocco, or strictly in Arabic, _Maraksh_, which signifies "adorned," +is the capital of the South, and frequently denominated the capital of +the Empire, but it is only a _triste_ shadow of its former greatness. It +is sometimes honoured with the title of "the great city," or "country." +Morocco occupies an immense area of ground, being seven miles in +circumference, the interior of which is covered with heaps of ruins or +more pleasantly converted into gardens. Morocco was built in 1072 or +1073 by the famous Yousel-Ben-Tashfin, King of Samtuna, and of the +dynasty of the Almoravedi, or Marabouts. Its site is that of an ancient +city, Martok, founded in the remotest periods of the primitive Africans, +or aboriginal Berbers, in whose language it signifies a place where +everything good and pleasant was to be found in abundance. + +Bocanum Hermerum of the Ancients was also near the site of this capital, +Morocco attained its greatest prosperity shortly after its foundation, +and since then it has only declined. In the twelfth century, under the +reign of Jâkoub Almanzor, there were 10,000 houses and 700,000 souls, +(if indeed we can trust their statistics); but, at the present time, +there are only some forty to fifty thousand inhabitants, including 4,000 +Shelouhs and 5,000 Jews. Ali Bey, in 1804, estimates its population at +only 30,000, and Captain Washington in 1830 at 80, or 100,000. This vast +city lies at the foot of the Atlas, or about fourteen miles distant, +spread over a wide and most lovely plain of the province of Rhamma, +watered by the river Tensift, six miles from the gates of the capital. + +The mosques are numerous and rich, the principal of which are +El-Kirtubeeah, of elegant architecture with an extremely lofty minaret; +El-Maazin, which is three hundred years old, and a magnificent building; +and Benious, built nearly seven hundred years ago of singular +construction, uniting modern and ancient architecture. The mosque of the +patron saint is Sidi Belabbess. Nine gates open in the city-walls; these +are strong and high, and flanked with towers, except on the south east +where the Sultan's palace stands. The streets are crooked, of uneven +width, unpaved, and dirty in winter, and full of dust in summer. + +There are several public squares and marketplaces. The Kaessaria, or +commercial quarter, is extensive, exhibiting every species of +manufacture and natural product. + +The manufactures of this, as of other large places, are principally, +silks, embroidery, and leather. The merchants of Mogador have magazines +here; this capital has also its caravans, which trade to the interior, +passing through Wadnoun to the south. + +The Imperial palace is without the city and fortified with strong walls. +There are large gardens attached, in one of which the Emperor receives +his merchants and the diplomatic agents. The air of the country, at the +foot of the Atlas, is pure and salubrious. The city is well supplied +with water from an aqueduct, connecting it with the river Tensift, which +flows from the gorges of the Atlas. But the inhabitants, although they +enjoy this inestimable blessing in an African climate, are not famous +for their cleanliness; Morocco, if possessing any particular character, +still must be considered as a commercial city, for its learning is at a +very low ebb. Its interior wears a deeply dejected, nay a profoundly +gloomy aspect. + + "Horrendum incultumque specus." + +and the European merchants, when they come up here are glad to get away +as soon as possible. + +Outside the city, there is a suburb appropriated to lepers, a +Lazar-house of leprosy, which afflicting and loathsome disease descends +from father to son through unbroken generations; the afflicted cannot +enter the city, and no one dare approach their habitations. The Emperor +usually resides for a third portion of his time at Morocco the rest at +Fez and Mequinez. Whenever his Imperial Highness has anything +disagreeable with foreign European powers, he comes down from Fez to +Morocco, to get out of the way. Occasionally, he travels from town to +town of the interior, to awe by his presence the ever restless +disaflfection of the tribes, or excite their loyalty for the Shereefian +throne. + +Morocco is placed in Lat. 31° 37" 31' N. and Long. 7° 35" 30', W. + +Tafilett consists of a group of towns or villages, situate on the +south-eastern side of the Atlas, which may he added to the royal cities, +being inhabited in part by the Imperial family, and is the birth-place +of their sovereign power--emphatically called Beladesh-Sherfa, "country +of the Shereefs." The country was anciently called Sedjelmasa, and +retained this name up to 1530 A.D., when the principal city acquired the +apellation of Tafilett, said to be derived from an Arab immigrant, +called Filal, who improved the culture of dates, and whose name on this +account, under the Berber form of Tafilett, was given to a plantation of +dates cultivated by him, and then passed to the surrounding districts. + +At the present time, Tafilett consists of a group of fortified or +castle-built villages, environed by walls mounted with square towers, +which extend on both sides of the river Zig. There is also a castle, or +rather small town, upon the left side of the river, called by the +ordinary name of Kesar, which is in the hands of the Shereefs, and +inhabited entirely by the family of the Prophet. The principal and most +flourishing place was a long time called Tafilett, but is now according +to Callie, Ghourlan, and the residence of the Governor of the province +of Ressant, a town distinguished by a magnificent gateway surrounded +with various coloured Dutch tiles, symmetrically arranged in a diamond +pattern. This traveller calls the district of Tafilett, Afile or Afilel. + +It is probable that from the rains of the ancient Sedjelmasa, some of +the modern villages have been constructed. The towns and districts of +Tafilett once formed an independent kingdom. The present population has +been estimated at some ten thousand, but this is entirely conjectural. +Callié mentions the four towns of Ghourlan, L'Eksebi, Sosso and Boheim +as containing eleven or twelve thousand souls. The soil of Tafilett is +level, composed of sand of an ashy grey, productive of corn, and all +sorts of European fruits and vegetables. The natives have fine sheep, +with remarkably white wool. The manufactures, which are in woollen and +silk, are called Tafiletes. + +Besides being a rendezvous of caravans, radiating through all parts of +the Sahara, Tafilett is a great mart of traffic in the natural products +of the surrounding countries. A fine bridge spans the Zig, built by a +Spaniard. When the Sultan of Morocco finds any portion of his family +inclined to be naughty, he sends them to Tafilett, as we are wont to +send troublesome people to "Jericho." This, at any rate, is better than +cutting off their heads, which, from time immemorial, has been the +invariable practice of African and Oriental despots. The Maroquine +princes may be thankful they have Tafilett as a place of exile. The +Emperors never visit Tafilett except as dethroned exiles. A journey to +such a place is always attended with danger; and were the Sultan to +escape, he would find, on his return, the whole country in revolt. + +Regarding these royal cities, we sum up our observations. The destinies +of Fez and Mequinez are inseparable. United, they contain one hundred +thousand inhabitants, the most polished and learned in the Empire. Fez +is the city of arts and learning, that is of what remains of the once +famous and profound Moorish doctors of Spain. Mequinez is the strong +place of the Empire, an emporium of arms and imperial Cretsures. Fez is +the rival of Morocco. The two cities are the capitals of two kingdoms, +never yet amalgamated. The present dynasty belongs not to Fez, but to +Morocco; though a dynasty of Shereefs, they are Shereefs of the south, +and African blood flows in their veins. + +The Sultan generally is obliged to give a preference to Fez for a +residence, because his presence is necessary to maintain the allegiance +of the north country, and to curb its powerful warparty, his son in the +meanwhile being left Governor during his absence. But all these royal +cities are on the decline, the "sere and yellow leaf" of a well nigh +defunct civilization. Morocco is a huge shell of its former greatness, a +monster of Moresque dilapidations. France may awaken the slumbering +energies of the population of these once flourishing and august cities, +but left to themselves they are powerless, sinking under their own +weight and uncouth encumbrances, and will rise no more till +reconstructed by European hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + + +We have briefly to notice the remaining towns and cities of the +interior, with some other remarkable places. + +First, these distinguished and well ascertained places in the kingdom of +Fez. + +Seisouan, or Sousan, is the capital of the Rif province, situate also on +the borders of the province of the Habat, and by the sources of a little +river which runs into the Mediterranean, near Cape Mazari. The town is +small, but full of artizans and merchants. The country around is +fertile, being well irrigated with streams. Sousan is the most +beautifully picturesque of all the Atlas range. + +Sofou, or Sofron, is a fine walled city, southeast of Fez, situate upon +the river Guizo; in a vast and well-watered plain near, are rich mines +of fossil salt. + +Wazen, or Wazein, in the province of Azgar, and the region of the Gharb, +is a small city without Walls, celebrated for being the residence of +the High Priest, or Grand Marabout of the Empire. This title is +hereditary, and is now (or up to lately) possessed by the famous +Sidi-el-Haj-el-Araby-Ben-Ali, who, in his district, lives in a state of +nearly absolute independence, besides exercising great influence over +public affairs. This saint, or priest, has, however, a rival at Tedda. +The two popes together pretend to decide the fate of the Empire. The +districts where these Grand Marabouts reside, are without governors, +and the inhabitants pay no tribute into the imperial coffers, they are +ruled by their two priests under a species of theocracy. The Emperor +never attempts or dares to contest their privileges. Occasionally they +appear abroad, exciting the people, and declaiming against the vices of +the times. His Moorish Majesty then feels himself ill at ease, until +they retire to their sanctuaries, and employs all his arts to effect +the object, protesting that he will be wholly guided by their councils +in the future administration of the Empire. With this humiliation of +the Shereefs, they are satisfied, and kennel themselves into their +sanctum-sanctorums. + +Zawiat-Muley-Driss, which means, retirement of our master, Lord Edris +(Enoch) and sometimes called Muley Edris, is a far famed city of the +province of Fez, and placed at the foot of the lofty mountains of +Terhoun, about twenty-eight miles from Fez, north-west, amidst a most +beautiful country, producing all the necessaries and luxuries of human +life. The site anciently called Tuilet, was perhaps also the Volubilis +of the ancients. Here is a sanctuary dedicated to the memory of Edris, +progenitor and founder of the dynasty of Edrisiti. + +The population, given by Gräberg, is nine thousand, but this is +evidently exaggerated. Not far off, towards the west, are some +magnificent ruins of an ancient city, called Kesar Farâoun, or "Castle +of Pharoah." + +Dubdu, called also Doubouton, is an ancient, large city, of the district +of Shaous, and once the residence of an independent prince, but now +fallen into decay on account of the sterility of its site, which is upon +the sides of a barren mountain. Dubdu is three days' journey southeast +of Fez, and one day from Taza, in the region of the Mulweeah. Taza is +the capital of the well-watered district of Haiaina, and one of the +finest cities in Morocco, in a most romantic situation, placed on a rock +which is shaped like an island, and in presence of the lofty mountains +of Zibel Medghara, to the south-west. Perhaps it is the Babba of the +ancients; a river runs round the town. The houses and streets are +spacious, and there is a large mosque. The air is pure, and provisions +are excellent. The population is estimated at ten or twelve thousand, +who are hospitable, and carry on a good deal of commerce with Tlemsen +and Fez. Taza is two days from Fez, and four from Oushda. + +Oushda is the well-known frontier town, on the north-east, which +acquired some celebrity during the late war. It is enclosed by the walls +of its gardens, and is protected by a large fortress. The place contains +a population of from six hundred to one thousand Moors and Arabs. There +is a mosque, as well as three chapels, dedicated to Santous. The houses, +built of clay, are low and of a wretched appearance; the streets are +winding, and covered with flints. The fortress, where the Kaed resides, +is guarded in ordinary times by a dozen soldiers; but, were this force +increased, it could not be defended, in consequence of its dilapidated +condition. A spring of excellent water, at a little distance from +Oushda, keeps up the whole year round freshness and verdure in the +gardens, by means of irrigation. Cattle hereabouts is of fine quality. +Oushda is a species of oasis of the Desert of Angad, and the aridity of +the surrounding country makes these gardens appear delicious, melons, +olives, and figs being produced in abundance. + +The distance between Tlemsen and Oushda is sixteen leagues, or about +sixteen hours' march for troops; Oushda is also four or five days from +Oran, and six days from Fez. The Desert commences beyond the Mulweeah, +at more than forty leagues from Tlemsen. Like the Algerian Angad, which +extends to the south of Tlemsen, it is of frightful sterility, +particularly in summer. In this season, one may march for six or eight +hours without finding any water. It is impossible to carry on military +operations in such a country during summer. On this account, Marshal +Bugeaud soon excavated Oushda and returned to the Tlemsen territory. + +Aghla is a town, or rather large village, of the district of Fez, where +the late Muley Suleiman occasionally resided. It is situated along the +river Wad Vergha, in a spacious and well-cultivated district. A great +market of cattle, wool, and bees'-wax, is held in the neighbourhood. The +country abounds in lions; but, it is pretended, of such a cowardly race, +that a child can frighten them away. Hence the proverb addressed to a +pusillanimous individual, "You are as brave as the lions of Aghla, whose +tails the calves eat." The Arabs certainly do occasionally run after +lions with sticks, or throw stones at them, as we are accustomed to +throw stones at dogs. + +Nakhila, _i.e._, "little palm," is a little town of the province of +Temsna, placed in the river Gueer; very ancient, and formerly rich and +thickly populated. A great mart, or souk, is annually held at this +place. It is the site of the ancient Occath. + +Meshru Khaluf, _i.e._, "ford, or watering-place of the wild-boar," in +the district of the Beni-Miskeen, is a populated village, and situated +on the right bank of the Ovad Omm-Erbergh, lying on the route of many of +the chief cities. Here is the ford of Meshra Khaluf, forty-five feet +wide, from which the village derives its name. + +On the map will be seen many places called Souk. The interior tribes +resort thither to purchase and exchange commodities. The market-places +form groups of villages. It is not a part of my plan to give any +particular description of them. + +Second, those places distinguished in the kingdom of Morocco, including +Sous, Draha, and Tafilett. + +Tefza, a Berber name, which, according to some, signifies "sand," and to +others, "a bundle of straw," is the capital of the province of Todla, +built by the aborigines on the slope of the Atlas, who surrounded it +with a high wall of sandstone (called, also, Tefza.) At two miles east +of this is the smaller town of Efza, which is a species of suburb, +divided from Tefza by the river Derna. The latter place is inhabited +certainly by Berbers, whose women are famous for their woollen works and +weaving. Tefza is also celebrated for its native black and white woollen +manufactures. The population of the two places is stated at upwards of +10,000, including 2,000 Jews. + +Pitideb, or Sitideb, is another fine town in the neighbourhood, built by +the Amazirghs on the top of a high mountain. The inhabitants are +esteemed the most civilized of their nation, and governed by their own +elders and chiefs, they live in a state of almost republican +independence. Some good native manufactures are produced, and a large +commerce with strangers is carried on. The women are reputed as being +extremely fair and fascinating. + +Ghuer, or Gheu, (War, _i.e._, "difficult?") is a citadel, or rather a +strong, massive rock, and the most inaccessible of all in Morocco, +forming a portion of the mountains of Jedla, near the sources of the Wad +Omm-Erbegh. This rocky fort is the residence of the supreme Amrgar, or +chief of the Amazirghs, who rendered himself renowned through the empire +by fighting a pitch-battle with the Imperial troops in 1819. Such chiefs +and tribes occasion the weakness of the interior; for, whenever the +Sultan has been embroiled with European Powers, these aboriginal +Amazirghs invariably seized the opportunity of avenging their wrongs and +ancient grudges. The Shereefs always compound with them, if they can, +these primitive tribes being so many centres of an _imperium imperio_, +or of revolt and disaffection. + +Tijijet in the province of Dukkalah, situate on the left bank of the +river Omm-Erbegh, along the route from Fez to Morocco, is a small town, +but was formerly of considerable importance. + +A famous market for grain is held here, which is attended by the tribe +of the Atlas: the country abounds in grain and cattle of the finest +breed. + +Bulawan or Bou-el-Awan, "father of commodious ways or journeys," is a +small town of 300 houses, with an old castle, formerly a place of +consequence; and lying on an arm of the river Omm-Erbegh _en route_ from +Morocco to Salee and Mequinez and commanding the passage of the river. +It is 80 miles from Morocco, and 110 from Salee. On the opposite side of +the river, is the village of Taboulaunt, peopled mostly with Jews and +ferrymen. + +Soubeit is a very ancient city on the left bank of the Omm-Erbegh, +surrounded with walls, and situate twenty miles from El-Medina in a +mountainous region abounding with hares; it is inhabited by a tribe of +the same name, or probably Sbeita, which is also the name of a tribe +south of Tangier. + +Meramer is a city built by the Goths on a fertile plain, near Mount +Beni-Megher, about fourteen miles east of Saffee, in the province of +Dukkala, and carrying on a great commerce in oil and grain. + +El-Medina is a large walled populous city of merchants and artizans, and +capital of the district of Haskowra; the men are seditious, turbulent +and inhospitable; the women are reputed to be fair and pretty, but +disposed, when opportunity offers, to confer their favours on strangers. + +There is another place four miles distant of nearly the same name. + +Tagodast is another equally large and rich city of the province of +Haskowra crowning the heights of a lofty mountain surrounded by four +other mountains, but near a plain of six miles in extent, covered with +rich vegetation producing an immense quantity of Argan oil, and the +finest fruits. + +This place contains about 7,000 inhabitants, who are a noble and +hospitable race. Besides, Argan oil, Tagodast is celebrated for its red +grapes, which are said to be as large as hen's eggs--the honey of +Tagodast is the finest in Africa. The inhabitants trade mostly with the +south. + +Dimenet or Demnet is a considerable town, almost entirely populated by +the Shelouhs and Caraaite Jews; it is situate upon the slopes of a +mountain of the same name, or Adimmei, in the district of Damnat, +fifteen miles distant from Wad Tescout, which falls into the Tensift. +The inhabitants are reputed to be of a bad and malignant character, but, +nevertheless, learned in Mussulman theology, and fond of disputing with +foreigners. Orthodoxy and morality are frequently enemies of one +another, whilst good-hearted and honest people are often hetherodox in +their opinions. + +Aghmat, formerly a great and flourishing city and capital of the +province of Rhamna, built by the Berbers, and well fortified--is now +fallen into decay, and consists only of a miserable village inhabited by +some sixty families, among which are a few Jews--Aghmat lies at the foot +of Mount Atlas, on the road which conducts to Tafilett, near a river of +the same name, and in the midst of a fine country abounding in orchards +and vine-yards; Aghmat was the first capital of the Marabout dynasty. + +Fronga is a town densely populated almost entirely by Shelouhs and Jews, +lying about fifteen miles from the Atlas range upon an immense plain +which produces the finest grain in Morocco. + +Tednest, the ancient capital of the province of Shedmah, and built by +the Berbers, is deliciously placed upon a paridisical plain, and was +once the residence of the Shereefs. It contains a population of four +thousand souls, one thousand eight hundred being Jews occupied with +commerce, whilst the rest cultivate the land. This is a division of +labour amongst Mahometans and Israelites not unfrequent in North Africa. +But, as in Europe, the Jew is the trader, not the husbandman. + +Tekoulet is a small and pretty town, rising a short distance from the +sea, by the mouth of the stream Dwira, in the province of Hhaha. The +water is reckoned the best in the province, and the people are honest +and friendly; the Jews inhabit one hundred houses. + +Tesegdelt, is another city of the province of Hhaha, very large and +rich, perched high upon a mountain, and that fortified by nature. The +principal mosque is one of the finest in the empire. + +Tagawost is a city, perhaps the most ancient, and indeed the largest of +the province of Sous. It is distant ten miles from the great river Sous, +and fifty from the Atlas. The suburbs are surrounded with huge blocks of +stone. Togawost contains a number of shops and manufactories of good +workmen, who are divided into three distinct classes of people, all +engaged in continual hostilities with one another. The men are, however, +honest and laborious, while the women are pretty and coquettish. People +believe St. Augustine, whom the Mahometans have dubbed a Marabout, was +born in this city. Their trade is with the Sahara and Timbuctoo. + +Fedsi is another considerable city, anciently the capital of Sous, +reclining upon a large arm of the river Sous, amidst a fruitful soil, +and contains about fourteen thousand inhabitants, who are governed by +republican institutions. It is twenty miles E.N.E. of Taroudant. + +Beneali is a town placed near to the source of the river Draha, in the +Atlas. It is the residence of the chief of the Berbers of Hadrar, on the +southern Atlas. + +Beni-Sabih, Moussabal, or Draha, is the capital of the province of +Draha, and a small place, but populated and commercial. On the river of +the same name, was the Draha of ancient geography. + +Tatta and Akka, are two towns or villages of the province of Draha, +situate on the southern confines of Morocco, and points of rendezvous +for the caravans in their route over the Great Desert. + +Tatta is four days direct east from Akka, and placed in 28° 3' lat. and +90° 20' long. west of Paris. Akka consists of two hundred houses, +inhabited by Mussulmen, and fifty by Jews. The environs are highly +cultivated. Akka is two days east of Wadnoun, situate on a plain at the +foot of Gibel-Tizintit, and is placed in 28° 3' lat. and 10° 51' long. +west of Paris. + +Messah, or Assah. Messa is, according to Gräberg, a walled city, built +by the Berbers, not far from the river Sous, and divided like nearly all +the cities of Sous, into three parts, or quarters, each inhabited by +respective classes of Shelouhs, Moors, and Jews. Cities are also divided +in this manner in the provinces of Guzzala and Draha. The sea on the +coast of Sous throws up a very fine quantity of amber. Male whales are +occasionally visitors here. The population is three thousand, but Mr. +Davidson's account differs materially. The town is named Assah, and +distant about two miles from the sea, there being a few scattered houses +on each side of the river, to within half a mile of the sea. The place +is of no importance, famed only for having near it a market on Tuesday, +to which many people resort. The population may be one hundred. Assah is +also the name of the district though which the Sous river flows. The +Bas-el-wad (or head of the river) is very properly the name of the upper +part of the river; when passing through Taroudant it takes the name of +Sous. Fifteen miles from Assah is the town of Aghoulon, containing about +six hundred people. + +Talent, or Tilin, the difference only is the adding of the Berber +termination. The other consonants are the same, perhaps, as Mr. Davidson +incidentally mentions. It is a strong city, and capital of the province +of Sous-el-Aksa, or the extreme part of Sous. This province is sometimes +called Tesset, or Tissert. A portion of it is also denominated +Blad-Sidi-Hasham, and forms a free and quasi-independant state, founded +in 1810 by the Emir Hasham, son of the Shereef Ahmed Ben Mousa. This +prince was the bug-bear of Captain Riley. The district contains upwards +of twenty-five thousand Shelouhs and industrious Arabs. Talent is the +residence of the prince, and is situate on the declivity of a hill, not +far from the river Wad-el-Mesah, or Messa, and a mile from Ilekh, or +Ilirgh, a populous village, where there is a famous sanctuary, resorted +to by the Mahometans of the surrounding regions, of the name of Sidi +Hamed-ou-Mousa, (probably Ben Mousa). The singularity of this sacred +village is, that Jews constitute the majority of the population. But +they seem absolutely necessary to the very existence of the Mussulmen of +North Africa, who cannot live without them, or make profitable exchange +of the products of the soil, or of native industry, for European +articles of use and luxury. + +Shtouka, or Stuka, is, according to some, a large town or village; or, +as stated by Davidson, a _district_. The fact is, many African districts +are called by the name of a principal town or village in them, and _vice +versâ_. This place stands on the banks of the Wad-el-Mesah, and is +inhabited by some fifteen hundred Shelouhs, who are governed by a +Sheikh, nearly independent of Morocco. + +On Talent and Shtouka, Mr. Davidson remarks. "There is no town called +Stuka; it is a district; none that I can find called Talent; there is +Tilin. The Mesah flows through Stuka, in which district are twenty +settlements, or rather towns, some of which are large. They are known in +general by the names of the Sheikhs who inhabit them. I stopped at +Sheikh Hamed's. Tilin was distant from this spot a day's journey in the +mountains towards the source of the river. If by Talent, Tissert is +meant, Oferen (a town) is distant six miles." + +On the province of Sous generally, Don J.A. Conde has this note:-- + +"In this region (Sous) near the sea, is the temple erected in honour of +the prophet Jonas; it was there he was cast out of the belly of the +whale." This temple, says Assed Ifriki, is made of the bones of whales +which perish on this coast. A little further on, he alludes to the +breaking of horses, and being skilful in bodily exercises, for the Moors +and Numidians have always been renowned in that respect. + +In the lesser and more remote towns, I have followed generally the +enumeration of Count Gräberg, but there are many other places on the +maps, with varieties of names or differences of position. Our geography +of the interior of Morocco, especially in the South, is still very +obscure, and I have only selected those towns and places of whose +present existence there is no question. My object, in the above +enumeration, has been simply to give the reader a proximate estimate of +the population and resources of this country. Of the strength and number +of the tribes of the interior, we know scarcely anything. The names of +the towns and villages of the South, so frequently beginning and ending +with T., sufficiently indicate the preponderance of the Berber +population, under the names of Shelouh or Amazirgh, whilst the great +error of writers has been to represent the Arabs as more numerous than +this aboriginal population. + +Monsieur E. Renou, in his geographical description of the Empire of +Morocco (Vol. VIII. of the "Exploration Scientifique," &c.) foolishly +observes that there is no way of arriving at correct statistics of this +empire, except by comparing it with Algeria; and then remarks, which is +true enough, "Malheureusement, la population de l'Algérie n'est pas +encore bien connue." When, however, he asserts that the numbers of +population given by Jackson and Gräberg are gross, and almost +unpardonable exaggerations, given at hazard, I am obliged to agree with +him from the personal experience I had in Morocco, and these Barbary +countries generally. + +Jackson makes the whole of the population to amount to almost fifteen +millions, or nearly two thirds more than it probably amounts to. Gräberg +estimates it at eight millions and a half. But how, or why, or +wherefore, such estimates are made is not so easy to determine. Certain +it is, that the whole number of cities which I have enumerated, scarcely +represent one million of inhabitants. But for those who like to see +something more definite in statistics, however exaggerated may be the +estimate, I shall give the more moderate calculations of Gräberg, those +of Jackson being beyond all rhyme or reason. Gräberg thus classifies and +estimates the population. + + Amazirghs, Berbers, and Touaricks 2,300,000 + Amazirghs, Shelouhs and Arabs 1,450,000 + Arabs, mixed Moors, &c. 3,550,000 + Arabs pure, Bedouins, &c. 740,000 + Israelites, Rabbinists, and Caraites 339,500 + Negroes, Fullans, and Mandingoes 120,000 + Europeans and Christians 300 + Renegades 200 + ---------- + Total 8,500,000 + +If two millions are deducted from this amount, perhaps the reader will +have something like a probable estimate of the population of Morocco. It +is hardly correct to classify Moors as mixed Arabs, many of them being +simply descendants of the aboriginal Amazirghs. I am quite sure there +are no Touaricks in the Empire of Morocco. + +Of the Maroquine Sahara, I have only space to mention the interesting +cluster of oases of Figheegh, or Figuiq. Shaw mentions them as "a knot +of villagers," noted for their plantations of palm-trees, supplying the +western province of Algeria with dates. We have now more ample +information of Figheegh, finding this Saharan district to consist of an +agglomeration of twelve villages, the more considerable of which are +Maiz, counting eight hundred houses, El-Wadghir five hundred, and Zenega +twelve hundred. The others vary from one or two hundred houses. The +villages are more or less connected together, never farther apart than a +quarter of a league, and placed on the descent of Wal-el-Khalouf ("river +of the wild boar") whence water is procured for the gardens, containing +varieties of fruit-trees and abundance of date-palms, all hedged round +with prickly-pears. Madder-root and tobacco are also cultivated, besides +barley sufficient for consumption. The wheat is brought from the Teli. +The Wad-el-Khalouf is dry, except in winter, but its bed is bored with +inexhaustible wells, whose waters are distributed among the gardens by +means of a _clepsydra_, or a vessel which drops so much water in an +hour. The ancients measured time by the dropping of water, like the +falling of sand in the hour-glass. + +Some of the houses in these villages have two stories, and are well +built; each place has its mosque, its school, its kady, and its sheikh, +and the whole agglomeration of oases is governed by a Sheikh Kebir, +appointed by the Sultan of Morocco. These Saharan villages are eternally +in strife with one another, and sometimes take up arms. On this account, +they are surrounded by crenated walls, defended by towers solidly built. +The immediate cause of discord here is water, that precious element of +all life in the desert. But the imaginations of the people are not +satisfied with this simple reason, and they are right, for the cause +lies deeply in the human heart. They say, however, their ancestors were +cursed by a Marabout, to punish them for their laxity in religion, and +this was his anathema, "God make you, until the day of judgment, like +wool-comber's cards, the one gnawing the other!" + +Their wars, in fact, are most cruel, for they destroy the noble and +fruitful palms, which, by a tacit convention, are spared in other parts +of the Sahara when these quarrels proceed to bloodshed. They have, +besides, great tact in mining, and their reputation as miners has been a +long time established. But, happily, they are addicted to commerce and +various branches of industry, as well as war, having commercial +relations with Fez, Tafilett and Touat, and the people are, therefore, +generally prosperous. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + + +We have at times imported into Mogador a stray London Jew or so, of the +lower lemon-selling sort. These lads from the Minories, are highly +exasperated against the Moors for treating them with so much contempt. +Indeed, a high-spirited London Jew-boy will not stop at Mogador, though +the adult merchant will, to get money, for mankind often learn baseness +with age, and pass to it through a golden door. One of these Jew-boys, +being cursed by a man, naturally cursed him again, "an eye for an eye, a +tooth for a tooth." Mr. Willshire did not think so; and, on the +complaint of the Moor, the British Consul threw the British Jew-boy into +a Moorish prison, where he remained for some days. This is one more +instance of the disadvantage of having commercial consuls, where +everything is sacrificed to keep on good terms with government +authorities. + +A fire happened the other night, breaking out in the house of one of the +rich Jewish merchants; but it was soon extinguished, the houses being +built chiefly of mortar and stone, with very little wood. The Governor +got up, and went to the scene of "conflagration;" he cracked a few jokes +with the people and went home to bed. The Moors were sorry the fire did +not extend itself, wanting to have an opportunity of appropriating a few +of the merchant's goods. + +I accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Elton, with other friends, to spend the day +in the pleasant valley of the Saneeates-Sultan, (Garden of the Emperor) +sometimes called Gharset-es-Sultan, three or four hours' ride south from +Mogador. The small river of Wad-el-Kesab, (overlooked by the village of +Deeabat, where watch-dogs were barking apparently all day long as well +as night), lay in our way, and was with difficulty forded, heavy rain +having fallen up the country, though none on the coast. These Barbary +streams are very deceptive, illustrating the metaphor of the book of +Job, "deceitful as a brook." To-day, their beds are perfectly dry; +to-morrow, a sheet of turbid water dashing and foaming to the ocean, +covers them and the country round, whilst the immediate cause is +concealed. Abrupt and sudden overflowings occur in all rivers having +their source in mountains. The book of Job may also refer to the +disappointment of Saharan travellers, who, on arriving weary and +thirsty, dying for water, at the stream of the Desert, find it dried up, +and so perish. + +The country in the valley of the Emperor's garden offers nothing +remarkable. Bushes of underwood covering sandy mounds, a few palmettos +and Argan trees, in which wild doves fluttered and flew about, were all +that broke the monotony of a perfect waste. There were no cultivated +lands hereabouts, and I was told that a great part of Morocco presents +this desolate aspect. We visited, however, the celebrated Argan tree, +which the people pretend was planted by the lieutenant of the Prophet, +the mighty Okba, who, having spurred his horse in the roaring rebellious +surge of the Atlantic, wept and wailed before Heaven that there were no +more nations in whose heart to plunge his awful scimitar--so teaching +them the mercy of God! Alas! the old hoary tree, with a most peaceful +patriarchal look, seemed to belie the honour, stretching out its broad +sinewy arm to shelter a hundred people from the darting fires of an +African sun. A more noble object of inanimate nature is not to be +contemplated than a large and lofty branching tree; in its boughs and +leaves, endlessly varying, matted together and intersecting each other, +we see the palpable image of infinity. But in the dry and hot climate of +Africa, this tree is a luxury which cannot be appreciated in Europe. + +We sat under its fresh shade awhile, gazing with security at the bright +fires of the sun, radiating over and through all visible nature. To +check our enthusiasm, we had strewn at our feet old broken bottles and +crockery, the _débris_ and classic relics of former visitors, who were +equally attentive to creature-comforts as to the grandeur of the Argan +monarch of the surrounding forest. + +The Emperor's garden contains a well of water and a few fruit-trees, on +the trunk of one of which, a fine fig-tree, were carved, in durable +bark, the names of European visitors. Among the rest, that of a famous +_belle_, whose gallant worshippers had cut her name over all its broad +trunk, though they may have failed to cut their own on the plastic and +india-rubber tablet of the fair one's heart. This carving on the +fig-tree is the sum of all that Europeans have done in Morocco during +several ages. We rather adopt Moorish habits, and descend to their +animal gratifications than inculcate our own, or the intellectual +pleasures of Christian nations. European females brought up in this +country, few excepted, adopt with gusto the lascivious dances of the +Mooresses; and if this may be said of them, what may we not think of the +male class, who frequently throw off all restraint in the indulgence of +their passions? + +While reposing under the umbrageous shade of the Argan tree, a Moor +related to us wondrous sprite and elfin tales of the forests of of these +wilds. At one period, the Argan woods were full of enchantresses, who +prevented good Mussulmen from saying their prayers, by dancing before +them in all their natural charms, to the sounds of melodious and +voluptuous music; and if a poor son of the Prophet, perchance, passed +this way at the stated times of prayer, he found it impossible to attend +to his devotions, being pestered to death by these naughty houries. + +On another occasion, when it was high summer and the sun burnt every +leaf of the black Argan foliage to a yellow red, and whilst the arid +earth opened her mouth in horrid gaps, crystal springs of water were +seen to bubble forth from the bowels of the earth, and run in rills +among _parterres_ of roses and jessamines. The boughs of the Argan tree +also suddenly changed into _jereeds_ of the date-palm burdened with +luscious fruit; but, on weary travellers descending to slake their +parching thirst and refresh themselves, they fell headlong into the +gaping holes of the ground, and disappeared in the abyss of the dark +entrails of the world. + +These Argan forests continued under the fearful ban of the enchantress +and wicked jinns, until a holy man was brought from the farthest desert +upon the back of a flying camel, who set free the spell-bound wood by +tying on each bewitched tree a small piece of cork bark on which was +inscribed the sacred name of the Deity. The legends of these haunted +Argan forests remind us of the enchanted wood of Tasso, whose +enchantment was dissolved by the gallant knight, Rinaldo, and which +enabled the Crusaders to procure wood for the machines of war to assault +and capture the Holy City. Two quotations will shew the universality and +permanence of superstition, begotten of human hopes and fears. Such is +the beautiful imagery devoted to superstitious musings, by the +illustrious bard:-- + + "While, like the rest, the knight expects to hear + Loud peals of thunder breaking on his ear, + A dulcet symphony his sense invades, + Of nymphs, or dryads, warbling through the shades. + Soft sighs the breeze, soft purls the silver rill. + The feathered choir the woods with music fill; + The tuneful swan in dying notes complains; + The mourning nightingale repeats her strains, + Timbrels and harps and human voices join, + And in one concert all the sounds combine!" + +Then for the streamlets and flowerets-- + + "Where'er he treads, the earth her tribute pours, + In gushing springs, or voluntary flowers. + Here blooms the lily; there the fragrant rose; + Here spouts a fountain; there a riv'let flows; + From every spray the liquid manna trills, + And honey from the softening bark distills. + Again the strange the pleasing sound he hears, + Of plaints and music mingling in his ears; + Yet naught appears that mortal voice can frame. + Nor harp, nor timbrel, whence the music came." + +I had another interview with the Governor on Anti-Slavery subjects. Mr. +Treppass accompanied me, and assisted to interpret. His Excellency was +very condescending, and even joked about his own slaves, asking me how +much I would give him for them. He then continued:--"I am happy to see +you before your departure. Whilst you have been here, I have heard +nothing of your conduct but what was just and proper. You are a quiet +and prudent man, [28] and I am sorry I could not assist you in your +business (abolition). The Sultan will be glad that you and I have not +quarrelled, but are friends." I then asked His Excellency if a person +were to come direct from our Government, with larger powers and +presents, he would have a better chance of success. The Governor +replied, "Not the least whatever. You have done all that could have been +done. We look at the subject, not the persons. The Sultan will never +listen to anybody on this subject. You may cut off his head, but cannot +convince him. If all the Christians of the world were to come and take +this country, then, of course, the Mussulmen would yield the question to +superior force, to the decree of God, but not till then." + +Myself.--"How is it, Sidi, that the Bey of Tunis, and the Imaum of +Muscat have entered into engagements with Christians for the suppression +of slavery, they being Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"I'll tell you; we Mussulmen are as bad as you Christians. +We are full of divisions and sects. Some of our people go to one mosque, +and will not go to another. They are foolish (_mahboul_). So it is with +the subject of slaves. Some are with you, but most are with me. The Bey +of Tunis, and the Imaum have a different opinion from us. They think +they are right, and we think we are right; but we are as good as they." + +Myself.--"Sidi, does not the Koran encourage the abolition of slavery, +and command it as a duty to all pious Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"No, it does not command it, but those who voluntarily +liberate their slaves are therein commended, and have the blessing of +God on them." [29] + +Myself.--"Sidi, is it in my power to do anything for you in London?" + +The Governor.--"Speak well of me, that is all. Tell your friends I did +all I could for you." + +I may mention the opinions of the more respectable Moors, as to the +mission. They said, "If you had managed your mission well, the Sultan +would have received your Address; your Consul is slack; the French +Consul is more active, because he is not the Sultan's merchant. Our +Sultan must receive every person, even a beggar, because God receives +all. You would not have obtained the liberation of our slaves, but the +Sultan would have promised you everything. All that emanates from the +English people is good this we are certain of; but it would have been +better had you come with letters from the Bey of Tunis, shewing what had +been done in that country." Mr. Treppass is also of the opinion, that a +deputation of several persons, accompanied with some presents for the +Emperor and his ministers, would have produced a better effect, by +making an appearance of shew and authority, suitable to the ideas of the +people. [30] If coming direct from Government, it would have greater +weight. + +He thinks, besides, there are a good number of Moors who are favourable +to abolition. Of the connexion between the east and Morocco, he says, +all the Barbary States look up to the Sultan of Constantinople as to a +great authority, and during the last few years, an active +correspondence, on religious matters, has been carried on between +Morocco and Constantinople, chiefly through a celebrated doctor of the +name of Yousef. If the Turkish Sultan, therefore, would _bonâ-fide_ +abolish the slave-markets, I have no doubt this would produce an +impression in Morocco favourable to abolition. + +During the time I was in Morocco, I distributed some Arabic tracts, +translated from the English by Professor Lee of Cambridge, on the +abolition of slavery. A few Arabic Bibles and Hebrew New Testaments were +also placed at my disposal for circulation by the Societies. I also +wrote an Anti-slavery circular to the British merchants of Mogador, on +Lord Brougham's Act. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + + +El-Jereed, or Belad-el-Jereed, the country of dates, or literally, the +country of the palm branches, is a part of the Sahara, or the hot dry +country lying in the immediate vicinity of the Great Desert. Its +principal features of soil and climate offer nothing different from +other portions of the Sahara, or the Saharan regions of Algeria and +Morocco. The Belad-el-Jereed, therefore, may be properly called the +Tunisian Sahara. Shaw observes generally of Jereed:--"This part of the +country, and indeed the whole tract of land which lies between the +Atlantic and Egypt, is by most of the modern geographers, called +Biledulgerid, a name which they seem to have borrowed from +Bloid-el-Jeridde, of the Arabians, who merely signify the dry country; +though, if we except the Jeridde, a small portion of it which is situate +on this side of Lesser Syrtis, and belongs to the Tunisians, all the +rest of it is known by no other general name than the Sahara or Sahra, +among those Arabs, at least, whom I have conversed with." + +Besides the grand natural feature of innumerable lofty and branching +palms, whose dark depending slender leaves, are depicted by the Arabian +poet as hanging gracefully like the dishevelled ringlets of a beautiful +woman in distress, there is the vast salt lake, El-Sibhah, or literally +the "salt plain," and called by some modern geographers the +Sibhah-el-Soudeeat, or Lake of Marks, from having certain marks made of +the trunks of the palm, to assist the caravans in their marches across +its monotonous samelike surface. + +This vast lake, or salt plain, was divided by the ancients into three +parts, and denominated respectively, Palus Tritonis, Palus Pallas, and +Palus Libya. The first is derived from the river Triton, which according +to Ptolemy and other ancient geographers, is made to pass through this +lake in its course to the sea, but which is the present river Ghobs, +where it falls into the Mediterranean. The name Pallas is derived from +the tradition of Pallas having accompanied Sesostris in his Asiatic +expeditions with the Lybian women, and she may have been a native of the +Jereed. The lake measures from north-east to south-west about seventy +English miles, with a third of the breadth, but it is not one collection +of water; there being several dry places, like so many islands, +interspersed over its surface, depending however, as to their number and +extent upon the season of the year, and upon the quantity of water in +the particular season. + +"At first, on crossing it," says a tourist, "the grass and bushes become +gradually scarcer; then follows a tract of sand, which some way beyond, +becomes in parts covered with a thin layer of salt. This, as you +advance, is thicker and more united; then we find it a compact and +unbroken mass or sheet, which can, however, be penetrated by a sword, or +other sharp instrument, and here it was found to be eleven inches in +depth; and finally in the centre, it became so hard, deep, and +concentrated, as to baffle all attempts at breaking its surface except +with a pickaxe. The horse's shoe, in fact, makes no impression upon its +stone-like surface." + +The salt of the lake is considerably weaker than that of the sea, and +not adapted for preserving provisions, though its flavour is very +agreeable; it is not exported, nor made in any way an article of +commerce. + +The Jereed, from the existence in it of a few antiquities, such as +pieces of granite and marble, and occasionally a name or a classic +inscription, is proved to have been in the possession of the Romans, and +undoubtedly of the Carthaginians before them, who could have had no +difficulty in holding this flat and exposed country. + +The trade and resources of this country consist principally in dates. +The quantity exported to other parts of the Regency, as well as to +foreign countries, where their fine quality is well known, is in round +numbers on an average from three to four thousand quintals per annum. +But in Jereed itself, twenty thousand people live six months of the year +entirely on dates. + +"A great number of poles," says Sir Grenville Temple, "are arranged +across the rooms at the height of eight or nine feet from the ground, +and from these are suspended rich and large bunches of dates, which +compose the winter store of the inhabitants; and in one corner of the +room is one or more large earthern jars about six or seven feet high, +also filled with dates pressed close together, and at the bottom of the +jar is a cock, from which is drawn the juice in the form of a thick +luscious syrup. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more +palatable than this 'sweet of sweets.'" + +As we are writing of the country of dates, _par excellence_, I must +needs give some description of the palm, but it will be understood that +the information is Tunisian, or collected in Tunis, and may differ in +some respects from details collected in other parts of North Africa. The +date-palm abounds in the maritime as well as in the inland districts of +North Africa. They are usually propagated from shoots of full grown +trees, which if transplanted and taken care of, will yield in six or +seven years, whilst those raised immediately from the stone require +sixteen years to produce fruit. + +The date-palm is male and female, or _dioecious_, and requires +communication, otherwise the fruit is dry and insipid. The age of the +palm, in its greatest vigour, is about thirty years, according to the +Tunisians, after planting, and will continue in vigour for seventy +years, bearing anually fifteen or twenty clusters of dates, each of them +fifteen or twenty pounds in weight; after this long period, they begin +gradually to wither away. But the Saharan Tripolitans will tell you that +the date-palm does not attain its age of full vigour till it reaches a +hundred years, and then will flourish two or or three centuries before +it withers! + +The only culture requisite, is to be well watered at the roots once in +four or five days, and to have the lower boughs cut off when they begin +to droop and wither. Much rain, however, injures the dates, and we know +that the countries in which they flourish, are mostly without rain. In +many localities in Africa, date-palms can never be watered in the dry +season; it is nevertheless observable that generally wherever a palm +grows and thrives water may usually be obtained by boring. The sap, or +honey of the palm is a delicious and wholesome beverage when drunk quite +fresh; but if allowed to remain for some hours, it acquires a sharp +taste, something like cider, and becomes very intoxicating. It is called +poetically _leghma_, "tears" of the dates. When a tree is found not to +produce much fruit, the head is cut off, and a bowl or cavity scooped +out of the summit, in which the rising sap is collected, and this is +drunk in its pure state without any other preparation. If the tree be +not exhausted by draining, in five or six months it grows afresh; and, +at the end of two or three years, may again be cut or tapped. The palm +is capable of undergoing this operation five or six times, and it may be +easily known how often a tree has been cut by the number of rings of a +narrow diameter which are seen towards its summit; but, if the sap is +allowed to flow too long, it will perish entirely at the end of a year. +This sap, by distillation, produces an agreeable spirit called _Arâky_ +or _Arâk_: from the fruit also the Jews distil a spirit called _bokka_, +or what we should call _toddy_. It is usual for persons of distinction +to entertain their friends upon a marriage, or the birth of a child, +with this pure sap, and a tree is usually tapped for the purpose. It +would appear that tapping the palm was known to the ancients, for a +cornelian _intaglio_ of Roman antiquity, has been found in the Jereed, +representing a tree in this state, and the jars in which the juice was +placed. + +Dates are likewise dried in the sun, and reduced into a kind of meal, +which will keep for any length of time, and which thus becomes a most +valuable resource for travellers crossing the deserts, who frequently +make it their only food, moistening a handful of it with a little water. +Certain preparations are made of the male plant, to which medicinal +virtues are attributed; the younger leaves, eaten with salt, vinegar, +and oil, make an excellent salad. The heart of the tree, which lies at +top between the fruit branches, and weighs from ten to twenty pounds, is +eaten only on grand occasions, as those already mentioned, and possesses +a delicious flavour between that of a banana and a pine-apple. + +The palm, besides these valuable uses to which it is applied, +superseding or supplying the place of all other vegetables to the tribes +of the Jereed, is, nevertheless, still useful for a great variety of +other purposes. The most beautiful baskets, and a hundred other +nick-nackery of the wickery sort are made of its branches; ropes are +made and vestments wove from the long fibres, and its wood, also, when +hardened by age, is used for building. Indeed, we may say, it is the all +and everything of the Jereed, and, as it is said of the camel and the +desert, _the palm is made for the Jereed, and the Jereed is made for the +palm_. + +The Mussulmen make out a complete case of piety and superstition in the +palm, and pretend that _they are made for the palm, and the palm is made +for them_, alleging that, as soon as the Turks conquered Constantinople, +the palm raised its graceful flowing head over the domes of the former +infidel city, whilst when the Moors evacuated Spain, the palm pined +away, and died. "God," adds the pious Mussulman, "has given us the palm; +amongst the Christians, it will not grow!" But the poetry of the palm is +an inseparable appendage in the North African landscape, and even town +scenery. The Moor and the Arab, whose minds are naturally imbued with +the great images of nature, so glowingly represented also in the sacred +leaves of the Koran, cannot imagine a mosque or the dome-roof of a +hermitage, without the dark leaf of the palm overshadowing it; but the +serenest, loveliest object on the face of the landscape is _the lonely +palm_, either thrown by chance on the brow of some savage hill or +planted by design to adorn some sacred spot of mother-earth. + +I must still give some other information which I have omitted respecting +this extraordinary tree. And, after this, I further refer the reader to +a Tour in the Jereed of which some details are given in succeeding +pages. A palm-grove is really a beautiful object, and requires scarcely +less attention than a vineyard. The trees are generally planted in a +_quincunx_, or at times without any regular order; but at distances from +each other of four or five yards. The situation selected is mostly on +the banks of some stream or rivulet, running from the neighbouring +hills, and the more abundant the supply of water, the healthier the +plants and the finer the fruit. For this tree, which loves a warm +climate, and a sandy soil, is yet wonderfully improved by frequent +irrigation, and, singularly, the _quality_ of the water appears of +little consequence, being salt or sweet, or impregnated with nitre, as +in the Jereed. + +Irrigation is performed in the spring, and through the whole summer. The +water is drawn by small channels from the stream to each individual +tree, around the stalk and root of which a little basin is made and +fenced round with clay, so that the water, when received, is detained +there until it soaks into the earth. (All irrigation is, indeed, +effected in this way.) As to the abundance of the plantations, the fruit +of one plantation alone producing fifteen hundred camels' loads of +dates, or four thousand five hundred quintals, three quintals to the +load, is not unfrequently sold for one thousand dollars. Besides the +Jereed, Tafilett, in Morocco, is a great date-country. Mr. Jackson says, +"We found the country covered with most magnificent plantations, and +extensive forests of the lofty date, exhibiting the most elegant and +picturesque appearance that nature on a plain surface can present to the +admiring eye. In these forests, there is no underwood, so that a +horseman may gallop through them without impediment." + +Our readers will see, when they come to the Tour, that this description +of the palm-groves agrees entirely with that of Mr. Reade and Captain +Balfour. I have already mentioned that the palm is male and female, or, +as botanists say, _dioecious_; the Moors, however, pretend that the palm +in this respect is just like the human being. The _female_ palm alone +produces fruit and is cultivated, but the presence or vicinity of the +_male_ is required, and in many oriental countries there is a law that +those who own a palm-wood must have a certain number of _male_ plants in +proportion. In Barbary they seem to trust to chance, relying on the male +plants which grow wild in the Desert. They hang and shake them over the +female plants, usually in February or March. Koempfe says, that the male +flowers, if plucked when ripe, and cautiously dried, will even, in this +state, perform their office, though kept to the following year. + +The Jereed is a very important portion of the Tunisian territory, +Government deriving a large revenue from its inhabitants. It is visited +every year by the "Bey of the Camp," who administers affairs in this +country as a sovereign; and who, indeed, is heir-apparent to the +Tunisian throne. Immediately on the decease of the reigning Bey, the +"Bey of the Camp" occupies the hereditary beylick, and nominates his +successor to the camp and the throne, usually the eldest of the other +members of the royal family, the beylick not being transmitted from +father to son, only on the principle of age. At least, this has been the +general rule of succession for many years. + +The duties of the "Bey of the Camp" is to visit with a "flying-camp," +for the purpose of collecting tribute, the two circuits or divisions of +the Regency. + +I now introduce to the reader the narrative of a Tour to the Jereed, +extracted from the notebooks of the tourists, together with various +observations of my own interspersed, and some additional account of +Toser, Nefta, and Ghafsa. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + + +The tourists were Captain Balfour, of the 88th Regiment, and Mr. Richard +Reade, eldest son of Sir Thomas Reade. + +The morning before starting from Tunis they went to the Bardo to pay +their respects to Sidi Mohammed, "Bey of the Camp," and to thank him for +his condescending kindness in taking them with him to the Jereed. The +Bey told him to send their baggage to Giovanni, "Guarda-pipa," which +they did in the evening. + +At nine A. M. Sidi Mohammed left the Bardo under a salute from the guns, +one of the wads of which nearly hit Captain Balfour on the head. The Bey +proceeded across the plain of Manouba, mounted on a beautiful bay +charger, in front of the colours, towards Beereen, the greater part of +the troops of the expedition following, whilst the entire plain was +covered with baggage-camels, horses, mules, and detached parties of +attendants, in glorious confusion. + + The force of the camp consisted of--Mamelukes + of the Seraglio, superbly mounted 20 + + Mamelukes of the Skeefah, or those who + guard the entrance of the Bey's + palace, or tent, and are all Levantines 20 + + Boabs, another sort of guard of the Bey, + who are always about the Bey's + tent, and must be of this country 20 + + Turkish Infantry 300 + Spahis, o. mounted Arab guards 300 + Camp followers (Arabs) 2,000 + ----- + Total 2,660 + +This is certainly not a large force, but in several places of the march +they were joined for a short time by additional Arab troops, a sort of +honorary welcome for the Bey. As they proceeded, the force of the +camp-followers increased; but, in returning, it gradually decreased, the +parties going home to their respective tribes. We may notice the total +absence of any of the new corps, the Nithàlm. This may have been to +avoid exciting the prejudices of the people; however, the smallness of +the force shows that the districts of the Jereed are well-affected. The +summer camp to Beja has a somewhat larger force, the Arabs of that and +other neighbouring districts not being so loyal to the Government. + +Besides the above-named troops, there were two pieces of artillery. The +band attendant on these troops consisted of two or three flageolets, +kettle-drums, and trumpets made of cow-horns, which, according to the +report of our tourists, when in full play produced the most diabolical +discord. + +After a ride of about three hours, we pitched our tents at Beereen. +Through the whole of the route we marched on an average of about four +miles per hour, the horses, camels, &c., walking at a good pace. The +Turkish infantry always came up about two hours after the mounted +troops. Immediately on the tents being pitched, we went to pay our +respects to the Bey, accompanied by Giovanni, "Guardapipa," as +interpreter. His Highness received us very affably, and bade us ask for +anything we wanted. Afterwards, we took some luncheon with the Bey's +doctor, Signore Nunez Vaise, a Tuscan Jew, of whose kindness during our +whole tour it is impossible to speak too highly. The doctor had with him +an assistant, and tent to himself. Haj Kador, Sidi Shakeer, and several +other Moors, were of our luncheon-party, which was a very merry one. + +About half-way to Beereen, the Bey stopped at a marabet, a small square +white house, with a dome roof, to pay his devotions to a great Marabout, +or saint, and to ask his parting blessing on the expedition. They told +us to go on, and joined us soon after. Two hours after us, the Turkish +Agha arrived, accompanied with colours, music, and some thirty men. The +Bey received the venerable old gentleman under an immense tent in the +shape of an umbrella, surrounded with his mamelukes and officers of +state. After their meeting and saluting, three guns were fired. The Agha +was saluted every day in the same manner, as he came up with his +infantry after us. We retired for the night at about eight o'clock. + +The form of the whole camp, when pitched, consisting of about a dozen +very large tents, was as follows:--The Bey's tent in the centre, which +was surrounded at a distance of about forty feet with those of the +Bash-Hamba [31] of the Arabs, the Agha of the Arabs, the Sahab-el-Tabah, +Haznadar or treasurer, the Bash-Boab, and that of the English tourists; +then further off were the tents of the Katibs and Bash-Katib, the +Bash-Hamba of the Turks, the doctors, and the domestics of the Bey, with +the cookery establishment. Among the attendants of the Bey were the +"guarda-pipa," guard of the pipe, "guarda-fusile," guard of the gun, +"guarda-café," guard of the coffee, "guarda-scarpe," guard of the shoes, +[32] and "guarda-acqua," guard of water. A man followed the Bey about +holding in his hand a golden cup, and leading a mule, having two paniers +on its back full of water, which was brought from Tunis by camels. There +was also a story-teller, who entertained the Bey every night with the +most extraordinary stories, some of them frightfully absurd. The Bey did +not smoke--a thing extraordinary, as nearly all men smoke in Tunis. His +Highness always dined alone. None of his ladies ever accompany him in +these expeditions. + +The tents had in them from twenty to fifty men each. Our tent consisted +of our two selves, a Boab to guard the baggage, two Arabs to tend the +horses and camels, and another Moor of all work, besides Captain +Balfour's Maltese, called Michael. We had three camels for our baggage. +The first night we found very cold; but having abundance of clothing, we +slept soundly, in spite of the perpetual wild shoutings of the Arab +sentries, stationed round the camp, the roaring and grumbling of the +camels, the neighing and coughing of the horses, all doing their utmost +to drive away slumber from our eyelids. + +We halted on the morrow, which gave us an opportunity of getting a few +things from Tunis which we had neglected to bring. But before returning, +we ate some sweetmeats sent us by the guarda-pipa, with a cup of coffee. +The guarda-pipa is also a dragoman interpreter of his Highness, and a +Genoese by birth, but now a renegade. In this country they do not know +what a good breakfast is; they take a cup of coffee in the morning +early, and wait till twelve or one o'clock, when they take a hearty +meal, and then sup in the evening, late or early, according to the +season. Before returning to Tunis, we called upon his Highness, and told +him our object. We afterwards called to see the Bey every morning, to +pay our respects to him, as was befitting on these occasions. His +Highness entered into the most familiar conversation with us. + +On coming back again from Tunis, it rained hard, which continued all +night. In the evening the welcome news was proclaimed that the tents +would not be struck until daylight: previously, the camp was always +struck at 3 o'clock, about three hours before daylight, which gave rise +to great confusion, besides being without shelter during the coldest +part of the night (three hours before sun-rise) was a very serious trial +for the health of the men. The reason, however, was, to enable the +camels to get up to the new encampment; their progress, though regular +and continual, is very slow. + +Of a morning the music played off the _réveil_ an hour before sunrise. +The camp presented an animated appearance, with the striking of tents, +packing camels, mounting horses, &c. We paid our respects to his +Highness, who was sitting in an Arab tent, his own being down. The music +was incessantly grating upon our ears, but was in harmony with the +irregular marching and movements of the Arabs, one of them occasionally +rushing out of the line of march, charging, wheeling about, firing, +reloading, shouting furiously, and making the air ring with his cries. + +The order of march was as follows:--The Bey mounts, and, going along +about one hundred yards from the spot, he salutes the Arab guards, who +follow behind him; then, about five or six miles further, overtaking the +Turkish soldiers, who, on his coming up, are drawn up on each side of +the road, his Highness salutes them; and then afterwards the +water-carriers are saluted, being most important personages in the dry +countries of this circuit, and last of all, the gunners; after all +which, the Bey sends forward a mameluke, who returns with the Commander, +or Agha of the Arabs, to his Highness. This done, the Bey gallops off to +the right or left from the line of march, on whichsoever side is most +game--the Bey going every day to shoot, whilst the Agha takes his place +and marches to the next halting-place. + +One morning the Bey shot two partridges while on horseback. "In fact," +says Mr. Rade, "he is the best shot on horseback I ever saw--he seldom +missed his game." As Captain B. was riding along with the doctor, they +remarked a cannon-ball among some ruins; but, being told a saint was +buried there, they got out of the way as quick as if a deadly serpent +had been discovered. Stretching away to the left, we saw a portion of +the remains of the Carthaginian aqueduct. The march was only from six to +eight miles, and the encampment at Tfeefleeah. At day-break, at noon, at +3 o'clock, P.M. and at sunset, the Muezzen called from outside and near +the door of the Bey's tent the hour of prayer. An aide-de-camp also +proclaimed, at the same place, whether we should halt, or march, on the +morrow, The Arabs consider fat dogs a great delicacy, and kill and eat +them whenever they can lay hands upon them. Captain B. was fortunate in +not bringing his fat pointer, otherwise he would have lost him. The +Arabs eat also foxes and wolves, and many animals of the chase not +partaken of by us. The French in Algiers kill all the fat cats, and turn +them into hares by dexterous cooking. The mornings and evenings we found +cold, but mid-day very hot and sultry. + +We left Tfeefleeah early, and went in search of wild-boar; found only +their tracks, but saw plenty of partridges and hares; the ground being +covered with brushwood and heath, we soonæ lost sight of them. The Arabs +were seen on a sudden running and galloping in all directions, shouting +and pointing to a hill, when a huge beast was put up, bristling and +bellowing, which turned out to be a hyæna. He was shot by a mameluke, Si +Smyle, and fell in a thicket, wallowing in his blood. He was a fine +fellow, and had an immense bead, like a bull-dog. They put him on a +mule, and carried him in triumph to the Bey. When R. arrived at the +camp, the Bey sent him the skin and the head as a present, begging that +he would not eat the brain. There is a superstitious belief among the +Moors that, if a person eats the brain of a hyæna he immediately becomes +mad. The hyæna is not the savage beast commonly represented; he rarely +attacks any person, and becomes untameably ferocious by being only +chained up. He is principally remarkable for his stupidity when at large +in the woods. The animal abounds in the forests of the Morocco Atlas. +Our tourists saw no lions _en route_, or in the Jereed; the lion does +not like the sandy and open country of the plain. Very thick brushwood, +and ground broken with rocks, like the ravines of the Atlas, are his +haunts. + +Several Arabs were flogged for having stolen the barley of which they +had charge. The bastinado was inflicted by two inferior mamelukes, +standing one on each side of the culprit, who had his hands and his feet +tied behind him. In general, it may be said that bastinadoing in Tunis +is a matter of form, many of the strokes ordered to be inflicted being +never performed, and those given being so many taps or scratches. It is +very rare to see a man bleeding from the bastinado; I (the author) never +did. It is merely threatened as a terror; whilst it is not to be +overlooked, that the soles of the feet of Arabs, and the lower classes +in this country, are like iron, from the constant habit of going +barefoot upon the sharpest stones. Severe punishments of any kind are +rarely inflicted in Tunis. + +The country was nearly all flat desert, with scarcely an inhabitant to +dissipate its savage appearance. The women of a few Arab horsehair tents +(waterproof when in good repair) saluted us as we passed with their +shrill looloos. There appeared a great want of water. We passed the +ruins of several towns and other remains. The camels were always driven +into camp at sunset, and hobbled along, their two fore-legs being tied, +or one of them being tied up to the knee, by which the poor animals are +made to cut a more melancholy figure than with their usual awkward gait +and moody character. + +We continued our march about ten miles in nearly a southern direction, +and encamped at a place called Heelet-el-Gazlen. + +One morning shortly after starting, we came to a small stream with very +high and precipitous banks, over which one arch of a fine bridge +remained, but the other being wanting, we had to make a considerable +_détour_ before we could cross; the carriages had still greater +difficulty. Here we have an almost inexcusable instance of the +disinclination of the Moors to repairs, for had the stream been swollen, +the camp would have been obliged to make a round-about march by the way +of Hamman-el-Enf, of some thirty miles; and all for the want of an arch +which would scarcely cost a thousand piastres! This stream or river is +the same as that which passes near Hamman-el-Enf, and the extensive +plain through which it meanders is well cultivated, with douwars, or +circular villages of the Arabs dotted about. We saw hares, but, the +ground being difficult running for the dogs, we caught but few. Bevies +of partridges got up, but we were unprepared for them. In the evening, +the Bey sent a present of a very fine bay horse to R. Marched about ten +miles, and halted at Ben Sayden. + +The following day after starting, we left the line of march to shoot; +saw one boar, plenty of foxes and wolves, and we put up another hyæna, +but the bag consisted principally of partridges, the red-legged +partridge or _perdix ruffa_, killed, by the Bey, who is a dead-shot. Our +ride lay among hills; there was very little water, which accounted for +the few inhabitants. After dinner, went out shooting near Jebanah, and +bagged a few partridges, but, not returning before the sun went down, +the Bey sent a dozen fellows bawling out our names, fearing some harm +had befallen us. + +On leaving the hills, there lay stretched at our feet a boundless plain, +on which is situate Kairwan, extending also to Susa, and leagues around. +North Africa, is a country of hills and plains--such was the case along +our entire route. We saw a large herd of gazelles feeding, as well as +several single ones, but they have the speed of the greyhound, so we did +not grace our supper with any. Saw several birds called Kader, about the +size of a partridge, but we shot none. A good many hares and partridges +either crossed our path or whirred over our heads. Passed over a running +stream called Zebharah, where we saw the remains of an ancient bridge, +but in the place where the baggage went over there was a fine one in +good repair. Here was a small dome-topped chapel, called Sidi Farhat, in +which are laid the ashes of a saint. We had seen many such in the hills; +indeed these gubbah abound all over Barbary, and are placed more +frequently on elevations. We noticed particularly the 300 Turkish +infantry; they were irregulars with a vengeance, though regulars +compared to the Arabs. On overtaking them, they drew up on each side, +and some dozen of them kept up a running sham fight with their swords +and small wooden and metal shields before the Bey. The officers kissed +the hand of the Bey, and his treasurer tipped their band, for so we must +call their tumtums and squeaking-pipes. This ceremony took place every +morning, and they were received in the camp with all the honours. They +kept guard during the night, and did all they could to keep us awake by +their eternal cry of "Alleya," which means, "Be off," or "Keep your +distance!" These troops had not been recruited for eight years, and will +soon die off; and yet we see that the Bey treats these remnants of the +once formidable Turkish Tunisian Janissaries with great respect; of +course, in an affair with the Arabs, their fidelity to the Bey would be +most unshaken. + +As we journeyed onward, we saw much less vegetation and very little +cultivation. An immense plain lay before and around us, in which, +however, there was some undulating ground. Passed a good stone bridge; +were supplied with water near a large Arab encampment, around which were +many droves of camels; turned up several hares, partridges, and +gazelles. One of the last gave us a good chase, but the greyhounds +caught him; in the first half mile, he certainly beat them by a good +half of the instance, but having taken a turn which enabled the dogs to +make a short cut, and being blown, they pulled the swift delicate +creature savagely down. There were several good courses after hares, +though her pursuers gave puss no fair play, firing at her before the +dogs and heading her in every possible way. + +Rode to Kairwan. Few Christians arrive in this city. Prince Pückler +Muskau was the fourth when he visited it in 1835. The town is clean, but +many houses are in ruins. The greater part of a regiment of the Nitham +are quartered here. The famous mosque, of course, we were not allowed to +enter, but many of its marble pillars and other ornaments, we heard from +Giovanni, were the spoils of Christian churches and Pagan temples. The +house of the Kaëd was a good specimen of dwellings in this country. +Going along a street, we were greatly surprised at seeing our +attendants, among whom were Si Smyle (a very intelligent and learned +man, and who taught Mr. R. Arabic during the tour) and the Bash-Boab, +jumping off their horses, and, running up to an old-looking Moor, and +then seizing his hand, kissed it; and for some time they would not leave +the ragged ruffian-like saint. + +At last, having joined us, they said he was Sidi Amour Abeda, a man of +exceeding sanctity, and that if the Bey had met the saint, his Highness +must have done the same. The saint accompanied us to the Kaëd's house; +and, on entering, we saw the old Kaëd himself, who was ill and weeping +on account of the arrival of his son, the commander of a portion of the +guards of the camp. We went up stairs, and sat down to some sweetmeats +which had been prepared for us, together with Si Smyle and Hamda, but, +as we were commencing, the saint, who was present, laid hold of the +sweets with his hands, and blessed them, mumbling _bismillas_ [33] and +other jargon. We afterwards saw a little house, in course of erection by +order of the Bey, where the remains of Sidi Amour Abeda are to be +deposited at his death, so that the old gentleman can have the pleasure +of visiting his future burial-place. In this city, a lineal descendant +of the Prophet, and a lucky guesser in the way of divining, are the +essential ingredients in the composition of a Moorish saint. Saints of +one order or another are as thick here as ordinary priests in Malta, +whom the late facetious Major Wright was accustomed to call +_crows_--from their black dress--but better, cormorants, as agreeing +with their habits of fleecing the poor people. Sidi Amour Abeda's hands +ought to be lily-white, for every one who meets him kisses them with +devout and slavering obeisance. The renegade doctor of the Bey told us +that the old dervish now in question would like nothing better than to +see us English infidels burnt alive. Fanaticism seems to be the native +growth of the human heart! + +We afterwards visited the Jabeah, or well, which they show as a +curiosity, as also the camel which turns round the buckets and brings up +the water, being all sanctified, like the wells of Mecca, and the +drinking of the waters forming an indispensable part of the pilgrimage +to all holy Mohammedan cities. + +We returned to the Kaëd's, and sat down to a capital dinner. The old +Governor was a great fanatic, and when R. ran up to shake hands with +him, the mamelukes stopped R. for fear he might be insulted. We visited +the fortress, which was in course of repair, our _cicerone_ being Sidi +Reschid, an artillery-officer. We then returned to the camp, and found +Santa Maria, the French officer, had arrived, who, during the tour, +employed himself in taking sketches and making scientific observations. +He was evidently a French spy on the resources of the Bey. It was given +out, however, that he was employed to draw charts of Algiers, Tunis, and +Tripoli, by his Government. He endeavoured to make himself as unpopular +as some persons try to make themselves agreeable, being very jealous of +us, and every little thing that we had he used to cry for it and beg it +like a child, sometimes actually going to the Bey's tent in person, and +asking his Highness for the things which he saw had been given to us. + +We went to see his Highness administer justice, which he always did, +morning and evening, whilst at Kairwan. There were many plaintiffs, but +no defendants brought up; most of them were turned out in a very summary +manner. To some, orders were given, which we supposed enabled them to +obtain redress; others were referred to the kadys and chiefs. The Bey, +being in want of camels, parties were sent out in search of them, who +drove in all the finest that they could find, which were then marked +("tabâ,") _à la Bey_, and immediately became the Bey's property. It was +a curious sight to see the poor animals thrown over, and the red-hot +iron put to their legs, amidst the cries and curses of their late +different owners--all which were not in the least attended to, the wants +of the Bey, or Government, being superior on such occasions of +necessity, or what not, to all complaint, law, or justice. About two +hundred changed hands in this way. + +The Bey of Tunis has an immense number of camels which he farms out. He +has overseers in certain districts, to whom he gives so many camels; +these let them out to other persons for mills and agricultural labours, +at so much per head. The overseers annually render an account of them to +Government, and, when called upon, supply the number required. At this +time, owing to a disorder which had caused a great mortality, camels had +been very scarce, and this was the reason of the extensive seizure just +mentioned. If an Arab commits manslaughter, his tribe is mulcted +thirty-three camels; and, as the crime is rather common in the Bedouin +districts, the Bey's acquisition in this way is considerable. A few +years ago, a Sicilian nobleman exported from Tunis to Sicily some eighty +camels, the duty for which the Bey remitted. The camel, if ever so +healthy and thriving in the islands of the Mediterranean, could never +supersede the labour of mules. The camel is only useful where there are +vast plains to travel, as in North Africa, Arabia, Persia, Australasia, +and some parts of the East Indies. + +A hundred more Arabs joined, who passed in a single file before the Bey +for inspection: they came rushing into the camp by twos and threes, +firing off their long guns. + +We crossed large plains, over which ran troops of gazelles, and had many +gallops after them; but they go much faster than the greyhound, and, +unless headed and bullied, there is little chance of taking them, except +found asleep. On coming on a troop unawares, R. shot one, which the dogs +caught. R. went up afterwards to cut its throat _à la Moresque_, when he +was insulted by an Arab. R. noticed the fellow, and afterwards told the +Bey, who instantly ordered him to receive two hundred bastinadoes, and +to be put in chains; but, just as they had begun to whip him, R. went up +and generously begged him off. This is the end of most bastinados in the +country. We passed a stream which they said had swallowed up some +persons, and was very dangerous. A muddy stream, they add, is often very +fatal to travellers. The Bey surprised Captain B. by sending him a +handsome black horse as a present; he also sent a grey one to the +Frenchman, who, when complaining of it, saying that it was a bad one, to +the Bey's mamelukes, his Highness sent for it, and gave him another. +Under such circumstances, Saint Mary ought to have looked very foolish. +The Bey shot a kader, a handsome bird, rather larger than a partridge, +with black wings, and flies like a plover. We had a large +hawking-establishment with us, some twenty birds, very fine falconry, +which sometimes carried off hares, and even attacked young goat-kids. +Marched to a place called Gilma, near which the road passes through an +ancient town. Shaw says, "Gilma, the ancient Cilma, or Oppidum +Chilmanenense, is six leagues to the east-south-east of Spaitla. We have +here the remains of a large city, with the area of a temple, and some +other fragments of large buildings. According to the tradition of the +Arabs, this place received its name in consequence of a miracle +pretended to have been wrought by one of their marabouts, in bringing +hither the river of Spaitla, after it was lost underground. For Ja Elma +signifies, in their language, 'The water comes!' an expression we are to +imagine of surprise at the arrival of the stream." + +During our tour, the mornings were generally cold. We proceeded about +twenty miles, and encamped near a place called Wady Tuckah. This river +comes from the hills about three or four miles off, and when the camp +arrives at Kairwan, the Bey sends an order to the Arabs of the district +to let the water run down to the place where the tents are pitched. When +we arrived, the water had just come. We saw warrens of hares, and caught +many with the dogs. Troops of gazelles were also surprised; one was +fired at, and went off scampering on three legs. The hawks caught a +beautiful bird called hobara, or habary, [34] about the size of the +small hen-turkey, lily white on the back, light brown brindle, tuft of +long white feathers on its head, and ruffle of long black feathers, +which they stretch out at pleasure, with a large grey eye. A curious +prickly plant grows about here, something like a dwarf broom, if its +leaves were sharp thorns, it is called Kardert. The Bey made R. a +present of the hobara. + +One day three gazelles were caught, and also a fox, by R.'s greyhound, +which behaved extremely well, and left the other dogs in the rear, every +now and then attacking him in the hind-quarters. Saw seven or eight +hobaras, but too windy for the hawks to be flown. Captain B. chased a +gazelle himself, and had the good fortune to catch him. As soon as an +Arab secures an animal, he immediately cuts its throat, repeating +"Bismillah, Allah Akbar," "In the name (of God), God is great." + +We marched seventeen miles to a place called Aly Ben Own, the name of +the saint buried close by. The plain we crossed must have been once +thickly inhabited, as there were many remains. We were joined by more +Arabs, and our force continued to augment. The Bey, being in want of +horses, the same system of seizing them was adopted as with the camels. + +One splendid morning that broke over our encampment we had an +opportunity of witnessing Africa's most gorgeous scenery. [35] Plenty of +hobaras; they fly like a goose. The hawks took two or three of them, +also some hares. The poor hare does not know what to make of the hawks; +after a little running, it gives itself up for death, only first dodging +out of the bird's pounce, or hiding itself in a tuft of grass or a bush, +but which it is not long allowed to do, for the Arabs soon drive it out +from its vain retreat. The hawk, when he seizes the hare with one claw, +catches hold of any tuft of grass or irregularity of the ground with the +other; a strong leather strap is also fastened from one leg to the +other, to prevent them from being pulled open or strained. We came upon +a herd of small deer, called ebba, which are a little larger than the +gazelle, but they soon bounded beyond our pursuit, leaving us scarcely +time to admire their delicate make and unapproachable speed. + +We crossed a range of hills into another plain, at the extremity of +which lies Ghafsa. The surface was naked, with the exception of tufts of +strong, rushy grass, almost a sure indication of hares, and of which we +started a great number. We saw another description of bird, called +rhaad, [36] with white wings, which flew like a pigeon, but more +swiftly. Near our tract were the remains of a large tank of ancient +Roman construction. The Bey shot a fox. Marched fourteen or fifteen +miles to Zwaneah, which means "little garden," though there is no sign +of such thing, unless it be the few oranges, dates, and pomegranates +which they find here. We had water from a tank of modern construction; +some remains were close to the camp, the ancient cistern and stone duct +leading from the hills. We had two thousand camels with the camp and +following it, for which not a single atom of provender is carried, the +camels subsisting scantily upon the coarse grass, weeds or thorns, which +the soil barely affords. The camel is very fond of sharp, prickly +thorns. You look upon the animal, with its apparently most tender mouth, +chopping the sharpest thorns it can find, full of amazement! Some of the +chiefs who have lately joined us, have brought their wives with them, +riding on camels in a sort of palanquin or shut-up machine. These +palanquins have a kind of mast and shrouds, from which a bell is slung, +tinkling with the swinging motion of the camel. This rude contrivance +makes the camel more than ever "the ship of the Desert." Several fine +horses were brought in as presents to the Bey, one a very fine mare. + +Our next march was towards Ghafsa, about twenty miles off. We were +joined by a considerable number of fresh Arabs, who "played at powder," +and kept firing and galloping before the Bey the whole day; some of them +managed themselves and their arms and horses with great address, +balancing the firelock on their heads, firing it, twisting it round, +throwing it into the air, and catching it again, and all without once +losing the command of their horses. An accident happened amidst the fun; +two of the parties came in contact, and one of them received a dreadful +gash on the forehead. The dresses of some of them were very rich, and +looked very graceful on horseback. A ride over sand-hills brought us in +view of the town, embedded in olive and date-trees, looking fresh and +green after our hot and dusty march; it lay stretched at the foot of a +range of hills, which formed the boundaries of another extensive plain. + +We halted at Ghafsa, [37] which is almost a mass of rubbish filled with +dirty people, although there are plenty of springs about, principally +hot and mineral waters. Although the Moors, by their religion, are +enjoined the constant use of the bath, yet because they do not change +their linen and other clothes, they are always very dirty. They do not, +however, exceed the Maltese and Sicilians, and many other people of the +neighbourhood, in filth, and perhaps the Moors are cleaner in their +hahits than they. The Arabs are extremely disgusting, and their women +are often seen in a cold winter's evening, standing with their legs +extended over a smoky wood fire, holding up their petticoats, and +continuing in this indelicate position for hours together. + +In these Thermæ, or hot, sulphurous, and other mineral springs, is the +phenomenon of the existence of fish and small snakes. These were +observed by our tourists, but I shall give three other authorities +besides them. Shaw says: "'The Ouri-el-Nout,' _i.e_., 'Well of Fish,' +and the springs of Ghasa and Toser, nourish a number of small fishes of +the mullet and perch kind, and are of an easy digestion. Of the like +quality are the other waters of the Jereed, all of them, after they +become cold, being the common drink of the inhabitants." Sir Grenville +Temple remarks: "The thermometer in the water marked ninety-five +degrees; and, what is curious, a considerable number of fish is found in +this stream, which measure from four to six inches in length, and +resemble, in some degree, the gudgeon, having a delicate flavour. Bruce +mentions a similar fact, but he says he saw it in the springs of +Feriana. Part of the ancient structure of these baths still exists, and +pieces of inscriptions are observed in different places." + +Mr. Honneger has made a sketch of this fish. The wood-cut represents it +one half the natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The snake, not noticed by former tourists, has been observed by Mr. +Honneger, which nourishes itself entirely upon the fish. The wood-cut +represents the snake half its natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The fish and the snake live together, though not very amicably, in the +hot-springs. Prince Pükler Muskau, who travelled in Tunis, narrates +that, "Near the ruins of Utica was a warm spring, in whose almost hot +waters we found several turtles, _which seemed to inhabit this basin_." + +However, perhaps, there is no such extraordinary difficulty in the +apprehension of this phenomenon, for "The Gulf Stream," on leaving the +Gulf of Mexico, "has a temperature of more than 27° (centigrade), or +80-6/10 degrees of Fahrenheit." [38] + +Many a fish must pass through and live in this stream. And after all, +since water is the element of fish, and is hotter or colder in all +regions, like the air, the element of man, which he breathes, warmer or +cooler, according to clime and local circumstances--there appear to be +no physical objections in the way of giving implicit credence to our +tourists. + +Water is so abundant, that the adjoining plain might be easily +irrigated, and planted with ten thousand palms and forests of olives. +God is bountiful in the Desert, but man wilfully neglects these aqueous +riches springing up eternally to repair the ravages of the burning +simoum! In one of the groves we met a dervish, who immediately set about +charming our Boab. He began by an incantation, then seized him round the +middle, and, stooping a little, lifted him on his shoulders, continuing +the while the incantation. He then put him on his feet again, and, after +several attempts, appeared to succeed in bringing off his stomach +something in the shape of leaden bullets, which he then, with an air of +holy swagger, presented to the astonished guard of the Bey. The dervish +next spat on his patient's hands, closed them in his own, then smoothed +him down the back like a mountebank smooths his pony, and stroked also +his head and beard; and, after further gentle and comely ceremonies of +this sort, the charming of the charmer finished, and the Boab presented +the holy man with his fee. We dined at the Kaëd's house; this +functionary was a very venerable man, a perfect picture of a patriarch +of the olden Scriptural times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There was +not a single article of furniture in the room, except a humble sofa, +upon which he sat. + +We inspected the old Kasbah at Ghafsa, which is in nearly a state of +ruin, and looked as if it would soon be down about our ears. It is an +irregular square, and built chiefly of the remains of ancient edifices. +It was guarded by fifty Turks, whose broken-down appearance was in +perfect harmony with the citadel they inhabited. The square in a +building is the favourite form of the Moors and Mohammedans generally; +the Kaaba of Mecca, the _sanctum sanctorum_, is a square. The Moors +endeavour to imitate the sacred objects of their religion in every way, +even in the commonest affairs of human existence, whilst likewise their +troops of wives and concubines are only an earthly foretaste and an +earnest of the celestial ladies they expect to meet hereafter. + +We saw them making oil, which was in a very primitive fashion. The +oil-makers were nearly all women. The olives were first ground between +stones worked by the hands, until they became of the consistence of +paste, which was then taken down to the stream and put into a wooden tub +with water. On being stirred up, the oil rises to the top, which they +skim off with their hands and put into skins or jars; when thus skimmed, +they pass the grounds or refuse through a sieve, the water running off; +the stones and pulp are then saved for firing. But in this way much of +the oil is lost, as may be seen by the greasy surface of the water below +where this rude process is going on. Among the oil-women, we noticed a +girl who would have been very pretty and fascinating had she washed +herself instead of the olives. We entered an Arab house inhabited by +some twenty persons, chiefly women, who forthwith unceremoniously took +off our caps, examined very minutely all our clothes with an excited +curiosity, laughed heartily when we put our hands in our pockets, and +wished to do the same, and then pulled our hair, looking under our faces +with amorous glances. On the hill overlooking the town, we also met two +women screaming frightfully and tearing their faces; we learned that one +of them had lost her child. The women make the best blankets here with +handlooms, and do the principal heavy work. + +We saw some hobaras, also a bird called getah, smaller than a partridge, +something like a ptarmigan, with its summer feathers, and head shaped +like a quail. The Bey sent two live ones to R., besides a couple of +large jerboahs of this part, called here, _gundy_. They are much like +the guinea-pig, but of a sandy colour, and very soft and fine, like a +young hare. The jerboahs in the neighbourhood of Tunis are certainly +more like the rat. The other day, near the south-west gates, we fell in +with a whole colony of them--which, however, were the lesser animal, or +Jerd species--who occupied an entire eminence to themselves, the +sovereignty of which seemed to have been conceded to them by the Bey of +Tunis. They looked upon us as intruders, and came very near to us, as if +asking us why we had the audacity to disturb the tranquillity of their +republic. The ground here in many places was covered with a substance +like the rime of a frosty morning; it tastes like salt, and from it they +get nitre. Captain B. thinks it was salt. The water which we drank was +brought from Ghafsa: the Bey drinks water brought from Tunis. We marched +across a vast plain, covered with the salt just mentioned, which was +congealed in shining heaps around bushes or tufts of grass, and among +which also scampered a few hares. We encamped at a place called +Ghorbatah. Close to the camp was a small shallow stream, on each side of +which grew many canes; we bathed in the stream, and felt much refreshed. +The evening was pleasantly cool, like a summer evening in England, and +reminded us of the dear land of our birth. Numerous plains in North +Africa are covered with saline and nitrous efflorescence; to the +presence of these minerals is owing the inexhaustible fertility of the +soil, which hardly ever receives any manure, only a little stubble being +occasionally burnt. + +We saw flights of the getah, and of another bird called the gedur, +nearly the same, but rather lighter in colour. When they rise from the +ground, they make a curious noise, something like a partridge. We were +unusually surprised by a flight of locusts, not unlike grasshoppers, of +about two inches long, and of a reddish colour. Saw also gazelles. +Halted by the dry bed of a river, called Furfouwy. A pool supplied the +camp: in the mountains, at a distance, there was, however, a delicious +spring, a stream of liquid pearls in these thirsty lands! A bird called +mokha appeared now and then; it is about the size of a nightingale, and +of a white light-brown colour. We seldom heard such sweet notes as this +bird possesses. Its flying is beautifully novel and curious; it runs on +the ground, and now and then stops and rises about fifteen feet from the +surface, giving, as it ascends, two or three short slow whistles, when +it opens its graceful tail and darts down to the ground, uttering +another series of melodious whistles, but much quicker than when it +rises. + +We continued our march over nearly the same sort of country, but all was +now flat as far as the eye could see, the hills being left behind us. +About eight miles from Furfouwy, we came to a large patch of date-trees, +watered by many springs, but all of them hot. Under the grateful shade +of the lofty palm were flowers and fruits in commingled sweetness and +beauty. Here was the village of Dra-el-Hammah, surrounded, like all the +towns of the Jereed, with date-groves and gardens. The houses were most +humbly built of mud and bricks. After a scorching march, we encamped +just beyond, having made only ten miles. Saw quantities of bright soft +spar, called talc. Here also the ground was covered with a saline +effloresence. Near us were put up about a dozen blue cranes, the only +birds seen to-day. A gazelle was caught, and others chased. We +particularly observed huge patches of ground covered with salt, which, +at a distance, appeared just like water. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + + +Leaving Dra-el-Hammah, after a hot march of five or six miles, we +arrived at the top of a rising ground, at the base of which was situate +the famous Toser, the head-quarters of the camp in the Jereed, and as +far as it goes. Behind the city was a forest of date-trees, and beyond +these and all around, as far as the eye could wander, was an +immeasurable waste--an ocean of sand--a great part of which we could +have sworn was water, unless told to the contrary. We were met, before +entering Toser, with some five or six hundred Arabs, who galloped before +the Bey, and fired as usual. The people stared at us Christians with +open mouths; our dress apparently astonished them. At Toser, the Bey +left his tent and entered his palace, so called in courtesy to his +Highness, but a large barn of a house, without any pretensions. We had +also a room allotted to us in this palace, which was the best to be +found in the town, though a small dark affair. Toser is a miserable +assemblage of mud and brick huts, of very small dimensions, the beams +and the doors being all of date-wood. The gardens, however, under the +date-trees are beautiful, and abundantly watered with copious streams, +all of which are warm, and in one of which we bathed ourselves and felt +new vigour run through our veins. We took a walk in the gardens, and +were surprised at the quantities of doves fluttering among the +date-trees; they were the common blue or Barbary doves. In the environs +of Mogador, these doves are the principal birds shot. + +Toser, or Touzer, the _Tisurus_ of ancient geography, is a considerable +town of about six thousand souls, with several villages in its +neighbourhood. + +The impression of Toser made upon our tourists agrees with that of the +traveller, Desfontaines, who writes of it in 1784:--"The Bey pitched his +tent on the right side of the city, if such can be called a mass of +_mud-houses_." The description corresponds also with that of Dr. Shaw, +who says that "the villages of the Jereed are built of mud-walls and +rafters of palm-trees." Evidently, however, some improvement has been +made of late years. The Arabs of Toser, on the contrary, and which very +natural, protested to the French scientific commission that Toser was +the finest city in El-Jereed. They pretend that it has an area as large +as Algiers, surrounded with a mud wall, twelve or fifteen feet high, and +crenated. In the centre is a vast open space, which serves for a +market-place. Toser has mosques, schools, Moorish baths--a luxury rare +on the confines of the Desert, fondouks or inns, &c. The houses have +flat terraces, and are generally well-constructed, the greater part +built from the ruins of a Roman town; but many are now dilapidated from +the common superstitious cause of not repairing or rebuilding old +houses. The choice material for building is brick, mostly unbaked or +sun-dried. + +Most of these houses stand detached. + +Toser, situate in a plain, is commanded from the north-west by a little +rocky mountain, whence an abundant spring takes its source, called +_Meshra_, running along the walls of the city southward, divides itself +afterwards in three branches, waters the gardens, and, after having +irrigated the plantations of several other villages, loses itself in the +sand at a short distance. The wells within the city of Toser are +insufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants, who fetch water +from Wad Meshra. The neighbouring villages are Belad-el-Ader, Zin, +Abbus; and the sacred villages are Zaouweeat, of Tounseea, Sidi Ali Bou +Lifu, and Taliraouee. The Arabs of the open country, and who deposit +their grain in and trade with these villages, are Oulad Sidi Sheikh, +Oulad Sidi Abeed, and Hammania. The dates of Toser are esteemed of the +finest quality. + +Walked about the town; several of the inhabitants are very wealthy. The +dead saints are, however, here, and perhaps everywhere else in Tunis, +more decently lodged, and their marabets are real "whitewashed +sepulchres." They make many burnouses at Toser, and every house presents +the industrious sight of the needle or shuttle quickly moving. We tasted +the leghma, or "tears of the date," for the first time, and rather liked +it. On going to shoot doves, we, to our astonishment, put up a snipe. +The weather was very hot; went to shoot doves in the cool of the +evening. The Bey administers justice, morning and evening, whilst in the +Jereed. An Arab made a present of a fine young ostrich to the Bey, which +his Highness, after his arrival in Tunis, sent to R. The great man here +is the Sheikh Tahid, who was imprisoned for not having the tribute ready +for the Bey. The tax imposed is equivalent to two bunches for each +date-tree. The Sheikh has to collect them, paying a certain yearly sum +when the Bey arrives, a species of farming-out. It was said that he is +very rich, and could well find the money. The dates are almost the only +food here, and the streets are literally gravelled with their stones. +Santa Maria again returned his horse to the Bey, and got another in its +stead. He is certainly a man of _delicate_ feeling. This gentleman +carried his impudence so far that he even threatened some of the Bey's +officers with the supreme wrath of the French Government, unless they +attended better to his orders. A new Sheikh was installed, a good thing +for the Bey's officers, as many of them got presents on the occasion. + +We blessed our stars that a roof was over our heads to shield us from +the burning sun. We blew an ostrich-egg, had the contents cooked, and +found it very good eating. They are sold for fourpence each, and it is +pretended that one makes an ample meal for twelve persons. We are +supplied with leghma every morning; it tastes not unlike cocoa-nut milk, +but with more body and flavour. R. very unwell, attributed it to his +taking copious draughts of the leghma. Rode out of an evening; there was +a large encampment of Arabs outside the town, thoroughly sun-burnt, +hardy-looking fellows, some of them as black as negroes. Many people in +Toser have sore eyes, and several with the loss of one eye, or nearly +so; opthalmia, indeed, is the most prevalent disease in all Barbary. The +neighbourhood of the Desert, where the greater part of the year the air +is filled with hot particles of sand, is very unfavourable to the sight; +the dazzling whiteness of the whitewashed houses also greatly injures +the eyes. But the Moors pretend that lime-washing is necessary to the +preservation of the houses from the weather, as well as from filth of +all sorts. We think really it is useful, by preventing dirty people in +many cases from being eaten up by their own filth and vermin, +particularly the Jews, the Tunisian Jews being the dirtiest persons in +the Regency. The lime-wash is the grand _sanitary_ instrument in North +Africa. + +There are little birds that frequent the houses, that might be called +Jereed sparrows, and which the Arabs name boo-habeeba, or "friend of my +father;" but their dress and language are very different, having reddish +breasts, being of a small size, and singing prettily. Shaw mentions them +under the name of the Capsa-sparrow, but he is quite wrong in making +them as large as the common house-sparrow. He adds: "It is all over of a +lark-colour, excepting the breast, which is somewhat lighter, and +shineth like that of a pigeon. The boo-habeeba has a note infinitely +preferable to that of the canary, or nightingale." He says that all +attempts to preserve them alive out of the districts of the Jereed have +failed. R. has brought several home from that country, which were alive +whilst I was in Tunis. There are also many at the Bardo in cages, that +live in this way as long as other birds. + +Went to see the houses of the inhabitants: they were nearly all the +same, the furniture consisting of a burnouse-loom, a couple of +millstones, and a quantity of basins, plates, and dishes, hung upon the +walls for effect, seldom being used; there were also some skins of +grain. The beams across the rooms, which are very high, are hung with +onions, dates, and pomegranates; the houses are nearly all of one story. +Some of the women are pretty, with large long black eyes and lashes; +they colour the lower lid black, which does not add to their beauty, +though it shows the bewitching orb more fully and boldly. They were +exceedingly dirty and ragged, wearing, nevertheless, a profusion of +ear-rings, armlets, anclets, bracelets, and all sorts of _lets_, with a +thousand talismanic charms hanging from their necks upon their ample +bosoms, which latter, from the habit of not wearing stays, reach as low +down as their waists. They wrap up the children in swaddling-clothes, +and carry them behind their backs when they go out. + +Two men were bastinadoed for stealing a horse, and not telling where +they put him; every morning they were to be flogged until they divulged +their hiding-place. + +A man brought in about a foot of horse's skin, on which was the Bey's +mark, for which he received another horse. This is always done when any +animal dies belonging to the Beys, the man in whose hands the animal is, +receiving a new one on producing the part of the skin marked. The Bey +and his ministers and mamelukes amused themselves with shooting at a +mark. The Bey made some good hits. + +The Bey and his mamelukes also took diversion in spoiling the appearance +of a very nice young horse; they daubed hieroglyphics upon his shoulders +and loins, and dyed the back where the saddle is placed, and the three +legs below the knee with henna, making the other leg look as white as +possible. Another grey horse, a very fine one, was also cribbed. We may +remark here, that there were very few fine horses to be met with, all +the animals looking poor and miserable, whilst these few fine ones fell +into the hands of the Bey. It is probable, however, that the Arabs kept +their best and most beautiful horses out of the way, while the camp was +moving among them. + +The old Sheikh still continued in prison. The bastinadoes with which he +had been treated were inflicted on his bare person, cold water being +applied thereto, which made the punishment more severe. After receiving +one hundred, he said he would shew his hiding-place; and some people +being sent with him, dug a hole where he pointed out, but without coming +to anything. This was done several times, but with the same effect. He +was then locked up in chains till the following morning. Millions of +dollars lie buried by the Arabs at this moment in different parts of +Barbary, especially in Morocco, perhaps the half of which will never be +found, the owners of them having died before they could point out their +hoarded treasures to their relatives, as but a single person is usually +in the secret. Money is in this way buried by tribes, who have nothing +whatever to fear from their sovereigns and their sheikhs; they do it +from immemorial custom. It is for this reason the Arabs consider that +under all ancient ruins heaps of money are buried, placed there by men +or demons, who hold the shining hoards under their invincible spell. +They cannot comprehend how European tourists can undertake such long +journeys, merely for the purpose of examining old heaps of stones, and +making plans and pictures of such rubbish. When any person attempts to +convince the Arabs that this is the sole object, they only laugh with +incredulity. + +Went to Nefta, a ride of about fourteen miles, lying somewhat nearer the +Sahara than Toser. The country on the right was undulating sand, on the +left an apparently boundless ocean, where lies, as a vast sheet of +liquid fire, when the sun shines on it, the now long celebrated Palus +Libya. In this so-called lake no water is visible, except a small marsh +like the one near Toser, where we went duck-shooting. Our party was very +respectable, consisting of the Agha of the Arabs, two or three of the +Bey's mamelukes, the Kaëd of the Jereed, whose name is Braun, and fifty +or sixty Arab guards, besides ourselves. On entering Nefta, the escort +immediately entered, according to custom, a marabet (that of Sidi Bou +Aly), Captain B. and R. meanwhile standing outside. + +There were two famous saints here, one of whom was a hundred years of +age. The other, Sidi Mustapha Azouz, had the character of being a very +clever and good man, which also his intelligent and benevolent +appearance betokened, and not a fanatic, like Amour Abeda of Kairwan. +There were at the time of our visit to him about two hundred people in +his courtyard, who all subsisted on his charities. We were offered +dates, kouskousou, [39] and a seed which they call sgougou, and which +has the appearance of dried apple-seed. The Arabs eat it with honey, +first dipping their fingers into the honey, and then into the seed, +which deliciously sticks to the honey. The Sheikh's saint also +distributed beads and rosaries. He gave R. a bag of sgougou-seed, as +well as some beads. These two Sheikhs are objects of most religious +veneration amongst all true believers, and there is nothing which would +not be done at their bidding. + +Nefta, the Negeta of the ancients, is the frontier town of the Tunisian +territories from the south, being five days' journey, or about +thirty-five or forty leagues from the oases of Souf, and fifteen days' +from Ghadumes. Nefta is not so much a town as an agglomeration of +villages, separated from one another by gardens, and occupying an extent +of surface twice the size that of the city of Algiers. These villages +are Hal Guema, Mesâba, Zebda Ouled, Sherif, Beni Zeid, Beni Ali, Sherfa, +and Zaouweeah Sidi Ahmed. + +The position of Nefta and its environs is very picturesque. Water is +here abundant. The principal source, which, under the name of Wad Nefta, +takes its rise at the north of the city, in the midst of a movement of +earth, enters the villages of Sherfa and Sidi Ahmed; divides them in +two, and fecundates its gardens planted with orange-trees, pomegranates, +and fig-trees. The same spring, by the means of ducts of earth, waters a +forest of date-trees which extends some leagues. A regulator of the +water (kaëd-el-ma) distributes it to each proprietor of the plantation. + +The houses of Nefta are built generally of brick; some with taste and +luxury; the interior is ornamented with Dutch tiles brought from Tunis. +Each quarter has its mosque and school, and in the centre of the group +of villages is a place called Rebot, on the banks of Wad Nefta, which +serves for a common market. Here are quarters specially devoted to the +aristocratic landed proprietors, and others to the busy merchants. The +Shereefs are the genuine nobles, or seigneurs of Nefta, from among whom +the Bey is wont to choose the Governors of the city. The complexion of +the population is dark, from its alliance with Negress slaves, like most +towns advanced in the Desert. The manners of the people are pure. They +are strict observers of the law, and very hospitable to strangers. +Captain B., however, thought that, had he not been under the protection +of the Bey, his head would not have been worth much in these districts. +Every traveller almost forms a different opinion, and frequently the +very opposite estimate, respecting the strangers amongst whom he is +sojourning. A few Jewish artizans have always been tolerated here, on +condition of wearing a black handkerchief round their heads, and not +mount a horse, &c. Recently the Bey, however, by solemn decrees, has +placed the Jews exactly on the same footing of rights and privileges as +the rest of his subjects. + +Nefta is the intermediate _entrepôt_ of commerce which Tunis pours +towards the Sahara, and for this reason is called by the Arabs, "the +gate of Tunis;" but the restrictive system established by the Turks +during late years at Ghadumes, has greatly damaged the trade between the +Jereed and the Desert. The movement of the markets and caravans takes +place at the beginning of spring, and at the end of summer. Only a +portion of the inhabitants is devoted to commerce, the rich landed +proprietory and the Shereefs representing the aristocracy, lead the +tranquil life of nobles, the most void of care, and, perhaps, the +happiest of which contemplative philosophy ever dreamed. The oasis of +Nefta, indeed, is said to be the most poetic of the Desert; its gardens +are delicious; its oranges and lemons sweet; its dates the finest fruit +in the "land of dates." Nearly all the women are pretty, of that beauty +peculiar to the Oriental race; and the ladies who do not expose +themselves to the fierce sun of the day, are as fair as Mooresses. + +Santa Maria left for Ghabs, to which place there is not a correct route +laid down in any chart. There are three routes, but the wells of one are +only known to travellers, a knowledge which cannot be dispensed with in +these dry regions. The wells of the other two routes are known to the +bordering tribes alone, who, when they have taken a supply of water, +cover them up with sand, previously laying a camel-skin over the +well-mouth, to prevent the sand falling into the water, so that, while +dying with thirst, you might be standing on a well and be none the +wiser. The Frenchman has taken with him an escort of twelve men. The +weather is cooler, with a great deal of wind, raising and darkening the +sky with sand; even among the dategroves our eyes and noses were like so +many sand-quarries. + +Sheikh Tahib has been twice subjected to corporal punishment in the same +way as before mentioned, with the addition of fifty, but they cannot +make him bleed as they wish. He declares he has not got the money, and +that he cannot pay them, though they cut him to pieces. As he has +collected a great portion of the tribute of the people, one cannot much +pity the lying rogue. + +We were amused with the snake-charmers. These gentry are a company under +the protection of their great saint Sidi Aysa, who has long gone +upwards, but also is now profitably employed in helping the juggling of +these snake-mountebanks. These fellows take their snakes about in small +bags or boxes, which are perfectly harmless, their teeth and poison-bags +being extracted. They carry them in their bosoms, put them in their +mouths, stuffing a long one in of some feet in length, twist them around +their arms, use them as a whip to frighten the people, in the meanwhile +screaming out and crying unto their Heavenly protector for help, the +bystanders devoutly joining in their prayers. The snake-charmers usually +perform other tricks, such as swallowing nails and sticking an iron bar +in their eyes; and they wear their hair long like women, which gives +them a very wild maniacal look. + +Three of the mamelukes and ourselves went to Wedyen, a town and +date-wood about eight miles from Toser, to the left. The date-grove is +extensive, and there are seven villages in it of the same name. We slept +in the house of the Sheikh, who complained that the Frenchman, in +passing that way, had allowed his escort to plunder, and actually bound +the poor Sheikh, threatening him on his remonstrating. What conduct for +Christians to teach these people! + +One morning before daylight, we were on horseback, and _en route_ +towards the hills, for the purpose of shooting loted, as they call a +species of deer found here. The ground in the neighbourhood of Wedyen is +tossed about like a hay-field, and volcanic looking. About four miles +off we struck into the rocks, on each side of our path, rising +perpendicularly in fantastic shapes. On reaching the highest ground, the +view was exceedingly wild. Much of the rock appeared as if it had only +just been cooled from a state of fusion; there was also a quantity of +tuffo rock, similar to that in the neighbourhood of Naples. The first +animal we saw was a wolf, which, standing on the sky-line of the +opposite hill, looked gigantic. The deep valley between, however, +prevented our nearer approach. + +We soon after came on a loted, who took to his heels, turning round a +mass of rock; but, soon after, he almost met as, and we had a view of +him within forty yards. Several shots were fired at him without effect, +and he at last made his escape, with a speed which defied all our +attempts at following him. Dismounting, the Sheikh Ali, of the Arab +tribe Hammama, who was with us, and who is the greatest deer-stalker in +the country, preceded us a little distance to look out for deer, the +marks of which were here very numerous. After a short time, an Arab +brought information of a herd of some thirty, with a good many young +ones; but our endeavours to have a shot at them were fruitless, though +one of the Arabs got near enough to loose the dogs at them, and a +greyhound was kicked over for his pains. We saw no more of them; but our +want of success was not surprising, silence not being in the least +attended to, and our party was far too large. The Arabs have such a +horrible habit of vociferation, that it is a wonder they ever take any +game at all. About the hills was scattered a great variety of aromatic +plants, quantities of shells, and whole oyster-beds, looking almost as +fresh as if they had been found by the sea-side. + +On our return from Toser, we had an extensive view of the Sahara, an +ocean as far as the eye could see, of what one would have taken his oath +was water, the shores, inlets, and bays being clearly defined, but, in +reality, nothing but salt scattered on the surface. Several islets were +apparently breaking its watery expanse, but these also were only heaps +of sand raised from the surrounding flat. The whole country, hills, +plains and deserts, gave us an idea as if the materials had been thrown +together for manufacture, and had never been completed. Nevertheless +these savage deserts of boundless extent are as complete in their kind +as the smiling meadows and fertile corn-fields of England, each being +perfect in itself, necessary to the grand whole of creation, and forming +an essential portion of the works of Divine Providence. + +The Sheikh Tahib's gardens were sold for 15,000 piastres, his wife also +added to this 1,000, and he was set at liberty. The dates have been +coming in to a great amount. There are many different kinds. The +principal are:--Degalah, the most esteemed, which are very sweet and +almost transparent. Captain B. preferred the Trungah, another first-rate +sort, which are plum-shaped, and taste something like a plum. There are +also the Monachah, which are larger than the other two, dryer and more +mealy, and not so sweet as Degalah, and other sorts. The dates were very +fine, though in no very great abundance, the superior state of ripeness +being attributed to there only being a single day of rain during the +past year in the Jereed. Rain is bad for the dates, but the roots of the +tree cannot have too much water. + +The tent-pitchers of the camp went round and performed, in mask, actions +of the most revolting description, some being dressed as women, and +dancing in the most lascivious and indecent manner. One fellow went up +to R., who was just on the point of knocking him down, when, seeing the +Treasurer of the Bey cracking his sides with laughter, he allowed the +brute to go off under such high patronage. It was even said that these +fellows were patronized by his Highness. But, on all Moorish feastdays, +lascivious actions of men and women are an indispensable part of their +entertainment. This is the worst side of the character of the Moors. The +Moorish women were never so profligate as since the arrival of the +French in Algeria. + +One of the greatest chiefs, Sultan Kaëd, of the Hammama has just died. +He was an extremely old man, and it is certain that people live to a +good old age in this burning clime. During his life, he had often +distinguished himself, and lastly against the French, before +Constantina. Whilst in the hills one day, we came suddenly upon a set of +Arabs, about nine in number, who took to their heels on seeing us. A man +has just been killed near this place, probably by the same gang. For +robbery and murder, no hills could be better fitted, the passes being so +intricate, and the winds and turns so sudden and sharp. The Sheikh Ali +brought in two loteds, a female and its young one, which he had shot. +The head of the loted is like a deer's, but the eye is further up: it is +about a fallowdeer's size. The female has not the beard like a goat, but +long hair, reaching from the head to the bottom of the chest, and over +the fore-legs. These loteds were taken in consequence of an order from +the Bey, that they should not return without some. + +On our march back to Tunis, we encamped for two days by the foot of a +range of hills at Sheesheeah, about ten miles off. The water, brought +from some distance, was bad and salt. + +We proceeded to Ghortabah, our old place. Two of the prisoners (about +twelve of whom we had with us), and one of the Turks, died from the +excessive heat. The two couriers that were sent with despatches for the +Government were attacked near this place by the Arabs, and the horse of +one was so injured, that it was necessary to kill him; the man who rode +the horse was also shot through the leg. This was probably in revenge +for the exactions of the Bey of the Camp on the tribes. + +On our return to Ghafsa, we had rain, hail, and high wind, and +exceedingly cold--a Siberian winter's day on the verge of the scorching +desert. The ground, where there was clay, very slippery; the camels +reeled about as if intoxicated. The consequence was, it was long before +the tents came up, and we endured much from this sudden change of the +weather. Our sufferings were, however, nothing as compared to others, +for during the day, ten men were brought in dead, from the cold (three +died four days before from heat), principally Turks; and, had there been +no change in the temperature, we cannot tell how many would have shared +the same fate. Many of the camels, struggling against the clayey soil, +could not come up. + +Eight more men were shortly buried, and three were missing. The sudden +transition from the intense heat of the one day to the freezing cold of +the next, probably gave the latter a treble power, producing these +disastrous effects, the poor people being sadly ill-clad, and quite +unprepared for such extreme rigour. Besides, on our arrival at the camp, +all the money in Europe could not have purchased us the required +comforts, or rather necessaries, to preserve our health. Cold makes +everybody very selfish. We were exceedingly touched on hearing of the +death of a little girl, whom we saw driven out of a kitchen, in which +the poor helpless little thing had taken refuge from the inclemency of +the weather. + +Santa Maria arrived from Ghabs without accident, having scarcely seen a +soul the whole of the way. He certainly was an enterprizing fellow, +worthy of imitation. He calculated the distance from Ghabs to Toser at +200 miles. There are a number of towns in the districts of Ghabs better +built than those of Nefta and Toser; Ghabs river is also full of water +and the soil of the country is very fertile. The dates are not so good +as those of the Jereed. Ghabs is about 130 miles from Ghafsa. We here +took our farewell of Santa Maria; he went to Beja, the head-quarters of +the summer-camp: thence, of course, he would proceed to Algiers, to give +an account of his _espionage_. Next season, he said, he would go to +Tripoli and Ghadames; he had been many years in North Africa, and spoke +Arabic fluently. + +We next marched to Byrlafee, about twenty miles, and ninety-one from +Toser, where there are the ruins of an old town. The weather continued +cold and most wintry. Here is a very ancient well still in use. +Fragments of cornices and pillars are strewn about. The foundations of +houses, and some massive stone towers, which from their having a pipe up +the centre, must have had something to do with regulating the water, are +all that remain. + +We had now much wind, but no rain. A great many camels and horses +perished. Altogether, the number of camels that died on the return of +the camp, was 550. The price of a camel varies from 60 to 200 piastres. +Many good ones were sold at the camp for eighty piastres each, or about +two pounds ten shillings, English money. A good sheep was disposed of +for four or five piastres, or about three shillings. There were also +some ludicrous sales. A horse in the extremities of nature, or near to +the _articulo mortis_, was sold for a piastre, eight pence; a camel, in +a like situation, was sold for a piastre and a half. A tolerably good +horse in Tunis sells at from 800 to 1000 piastres. + +There are the remains of an aqueduct at Gilma, and several other +buildings, the capitals of the pillars being elaborately worked. It is +seen that nearly the entire surface of Tunis is covered with remains of +aqueducts, Roman, Christian, and Moorish. If railways be applied to this +country--the French, are already talking about forming one from Algiers +to Blidah, across the Mitidjah--unquestionably along the lines will be +constructed ducts for water, which could thus be distributed over the +whole country. Instead of the camels of the "Bey of the Camp" carrying +water from Tunis to the Jereed, the railway would take from Zazwan, the +best and most delicious water in the Regency, to the dry deserts of the +Jereed, with the greatest facility. As to railways paying in this +country, the resources of Tunis, if developed, could pay anything. + +Marching onwards about eighteen miles, we encamped two or three beyond +an old place called Sidi-Ben-Habeeba. A man murdered a woman from +jealousy in the camp, but made his escape. Almost every eminence we +passed was occupied with the remains of some ancient fort, or temple. +There was a good deal of corn in small detached patches, but it must be +remembered, the north-western provinces are the corn-districts. + +In the course of the following three days, we reached Sidi-Mahammedeah, +where are the magnificent remains of Udina. After about an hour's halt, +and when all the tents had been comfortably pitched, the Bey astonished +us with an order to continue our march, and we pursued our way to +Momakeeah, about thirty miles, which we did not reach until after dark. +We passed, for some three or four hours, through a flight of locusts, +the air being darkened, and the ground loaded with them. At a little +distance, a flight of locusts has the appearance of a heavy snow-storm. +These insects rarely visit the capital; but, since the appearance of +those near Momakeeah, they have been collected in the neighbourhood of +the city, cooked, and sold among the people. Momakeeah is a countryhouse +belonging to the Bey, to whom, also, belongs a great portion of the land +around. There is a large garden, laid out in the Italian style attached +to this country-seat. + +On arriving at Tunis, we called at the Bardo as we passed, and saw the +guard mounting. There was rather a fine band of military music; Moorish +musicians, but playing, after the European style, Italian and Moorish +airs. + +We must give here some account of our Boab's domestic concerns. He +boasted that he had had twenty-seven wives, his religion allowing four +at once, which he had bad several times; he was himself of somewhat +advanced years. According to him, if a man quarrels with his wife, he +can put her in prison, but must, at the same time, support her. A +certain quantity of provision is laid down by law, and he must give her +two suits, or changes, of clothes a year. But he must also visit her +once a week, and the day fixed is Friday. If the wife wishes to be +separated, and to return to her parents, she must first pay the money +which he may demand, and must also have his permission, although he +himself may send her to her parents whenever he chooses, without +assigning any reason. He retains the children, and he may marry again. +The woman is generally expected to bring her husband a considerable sum +in the way of dowry, but, on separation, she gets nothing back. This was +the Boab's account, but I think he has overdone the harshness and +injustice of the Mohammedan law of marriage in relating it to our +tourists. It may be observed that the strict law is rarely acted upon, +and many respectable Moors have told me that they have but one wife, and +find that quite enough. It is true that many Moors, especially learned +men, divorce their wives when they get old, feeling the women an +embarrassment to them, and no wonder, when we consider these poor +creatures have no education, and, in their old age, neither afford +connubial pleasure nor society to their husbands. With respect to +divorce, a woman can demand by law and right to be separated from her +husband, or divorced, whenever he ill-treats her, or estranges himself +from her. Eunuchs, who have the charge of the women, are allowed to +marry, although they cannot have any family. The chief eunuch of the +Bardo has the most revolting countenance. + +Our tourists brought home a variety of curious Jereed things: small +date-baskets full of dates, woollen articles, skins of all sorts, and a +few live animals. Sidi Mohammed also made them many handsome presents. +Some deer, Jereed goats, an ostrich, &c., were sent to Mr. R. after his +return, and both Captain B. and Mr. R. have had every reason to be +extremely gratified with the hospitality and kind attentions of the "Bey +of the Camp." + +It is very difficult to ascertain the amount of tribute collected in the +Jereed, some of which, however, was not got in, owing to various +impediments. Our tourists say generally:-- + + Camel-loads. [40] + Money, dollars, and piastres, (chiefly I + imagine, the latter.) 23 + + Burnouses, blankets, and quilts, &c. 6 + + Dates (these were collected at Toser, + and brought from Nefta and the surrounding + districts) 500 + ---- + Total 529 + + It is impossible, with this statement + before us, to make out any exact + calculation of the amount of tribute. + A cantar of dates varies from fifteen + to twenty-five shillings, say on an + average a pound sterling; this will + make the amount of the 500 camel-loads + at five cantars per load £2,500 + + Six camel-loads of woollen manufactures, + &c., at sixty pound per load, value 360 + ------ + Total £2,860 + +The money, chiefly piastres, must be left to conjecture. However, Mr. +Levy, a large merchant at Tunis, thinks the amount might be from 150 to +200,000 piastres, or, taking the largest sum, £6,250 sterling: + + Total amount of the tribute of the Jereed: + in goods £2,860 + Ditto, in money: 6,250 + ------ + Total £9,110 + +To this sum may be added the smaller presents of horses, camels, and +other beasts of burden. + + * * * * * + +Before leaving Mogador, in company with Mr. Willshire, I saw his +Excellency, the Governor again, when I took formal leave of him. He +accompanied me down to the port with several of the authorities, waiting +until I embarked for the Renshaw schooner. Several of the Consuls, and +nearly all the Europeans, were also present. On the whole, I was +satisfied with the civilities of the Moorish authorities, and offer my +cordial thanks to the Europeans of Mogador for their attentions during +my residence in that city. + +A little circumstance shews the subjection of our merchants, the Consul +not excepted, to the Moorish Government. One of the merchants wished to +accompany me on board, but was not permitted, on account of his +engagements with the Sultan. + +A merchant cannot even go off the harbour to superintend the stowing of +his goods. Never were prisoners of war, or political offenders, so +closely watched as the boasted imperial merchants of this city. + +After setting sail, we were soon out of sight of Mogador; and, on the +following day, land disappeared altogether. During the next month, we +were at sea, and out of view of the shore. I find an entry in my +journal, when off the Isle of Wight. We had had most tremendous weather, +successive gales of foul wind, from north and north-east. Our schooner +was a beautiful vessel, a fine sailer with a flat bottom, drawing little +water, made purposely for Barbary ports. She had her bows completely +under water, and pitched her way for twenty-five succeeding days, +through huge rising waves of sea and foam. During the whole of this +time, I never got up, and lived on bread and water with a little +biscuit. Captain Taylor, who was a capital seaman, and took the most +accurate observations, lost all patience, and, though a good methodist, +would now and then rush on deck, and swear at the perverse gale and +wrathful sea. We took on board a fine barb for Mr. Elton, which died +after a few days at sea, in these tempests. I had a young vulture that +died a day before the horse, or we should have fed him on the carcase. + +[Illustration] + +An aoudad which we conveyed on account of Mr. Willshire to London, for +the Zoological Society, outlived these violent gales, and was safely and +comfortably lodged in the Regent's Park. After my return from Africa, I +paid my brave and hardy fellow-passenger a visit, and find the air of +smoky London agrees with him as well as the cloudless region of the +Morocco Desert. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The following account of the bombardment of Mogador by the French, +written at the period by an English Resident may be of interest at the +present time. + +Mogador was bombarded on the 13th of August, 1844. Hostilities began at +9 o'clock A.M., by the Moors firing twenty-one guns before the French +had taken up their position, but the fire was not returned until 2 P.M. +The 'Gemappes,' 100; 'Suffren,' 99; 'Triton,' 80; ships of the line. +'Belle Poule,' 60, frigate; 'Asmodée' and 'Pluton,' steamers, and some +brigs, constituted the bombarding squadron. The batteries were silenced, +and the Moorish authorities with many of the inhabitants fled, leaving +the city unprotected against the wild tribes, who this evening and the +next morning, sacked and fired the city. On the 16th, nine hundred +French were landed on the isle of Mogador. After a rude encounter with +the garrison, they took possession of it and its forts. Their loss was, +after twenty-eight hours' bombarding, trifling, some twenty killed and +as many more wounded; the Moors lost some five hundred on the isle +killed, besides the casualties in the city. + +The British Consul and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, with +others, were obliged to remain in the town during the bombardment on +account of their liabilities to the Emperor. The escape of these people +from destruction was most miraculous. + +The bombarding squadron reached on the 10th, the English frigate, +'Warspite,' on the 13th, and the wind blowing strong from N.E., and +preventing the commencement of hostilities, afforded opportunity to +save, if possible, the British Consul's family and other detained +Europeans; but, notwithstanding the strenuous remonstrances of the +captain of the 'Warspite', nothing whatever could prevail upon the +Moorish Deputy-Governor in command, Sidi Abdallah Deleero, to allow the +British and other Europeans to take their departure. The Governor even +peremptorily refused permission for the wife of the Consul to leave, +upon the cruel sophism that, "The Christian religion asserts the husband +and wife to be one, consequently," added the Governor, "as it is my +duty, which I owe to my Emperor, to prevent the Consul from leaving +Mogador, I must also keep his wife." + +The fact is the Moors, in their stupidity, and perhaps in their revenge, +thought the retaining of the British Consul and the Europeans might, in +some way or other, contribute to the defence of themselves, save the +city, or mitigate the havoc of the bombardment. At any rate, they would +say, "Let the Christians share the same fate and dangers as ourselves." +During the bombardment, the Moors for two hours fought well, but their +best gunner, a Spanish renegade, Omar Ei-Haj, being killed, they became +dispirited and abandoned the batteries. The Governor and his troops, +about sunset, disgracefully and precipitately fled, followed by nearly +all the Moorish population, thereby abandoning Mogador to pillage, and +the European Jews to the merciless wild tribes, who, though levied to +defend the town, had, for some hours past, hovered round it like droves +of famished wolves. + +As the Governor fled out, terrified as much at the wild tribes as of the +French, in rushed these hordes, led on by their desperate chiefs. These +wretches undismayed, unmoved by the terrors of the bombarding ravages +around, strove and vied with each other in the committal of every act of +the most unlicensed ferocity and depredation, breaking open houses, +assaulting the inmates, murdering such as shewed resistance, denuding +the more submissive of their clothing, abusing women--particularly in +the Jewish quarter--to all which atrocities the Europeans were likewise +exposed. + +At the most imminent hazard of their lives, the British Consul and his +wife, with a few others, escaped from these ruffians. Truly providential +was their flight through streets, resounding with the most turbulent +confusion and sanguinary violence. It was late when the plunderers +appeared before the Consulates, where, without any ceremony, by +hundreds, they fell to work, breaking open bales of goods, ransacking +places for money and other treasures; and, thus unsatisfied in their +rapacity, they tore and burnt all the account-books and Consular +documents. + +Other gangs fought over the spoil; some carrying off their booty, and +others setting it on fire. It was a real pandemonium of discord and +licentiousness. During the darkness, and in the midst of such scenes, it +was that the Consul and his wife threaded their precarious flight +through the streets, and in their way were intercepted by a marauding +band, who attacked them; tore off his coat; and, seizing his wife, +insisted upon denuding her, four or five daggers being raised to her +throat, expecting to find money concealed about their persons; nor would +the ruffians desist until they ascertained they had none, the Consul +having prudently resolved to take no money with them. Fortunately, at +this juncture, his wife was able to speak, and in Arabic (being born +here, and daughter of a former Consul), therefore she could give force +to her entreaties by appealing to them not to imbue their hands in the +blood of their countrywomen. This had the desired effect. The chief of +the party undertook to conduct them to the water-port, when, coming in +contact with another party, a conflict about booty ensued, during which +the Consul's family got out of the town to a place of comparative +security. + +Incidents of a similar alarming nature attended the escape of Mr. +Robertson, his wife, and four children; one, a baby in arms. In the +crowd, Mr. Robertson, with a child in each hand, lost sight of Mrs. +Robertson, with her infant and another child. Distracted by sad +forebodings, poor Mr. Robertson forced his way to the water-port, but +not before a savage mountainer--riding furiously by him--aimed a +sabre-blow at him to cut him down; but, as the murderous arm was poised +above, Mr. Robertson stooped, and, raising his arm at the time, warded +it off; the miscreant then rode off, being satisfied at this cut at the +detested Nazarene. + +Another ruffian seized one of his little girls, a pretty child of nine +years old, and scratched her arm several times with his dagger, calling +out _flous_ (money) at each stroke. At the water-port, Mr. Robertson +joined his fainting wife, and the British Consul and his wife, with Mr. +Lucas and Mr. Allnut. An old Moor never deserted the Consul's family, +"faithful among the faithless;" and a Jewess, much attached to the +family, abandoned them only to return to those allied to her by the ties +of blood. + +Their situation was now still perilous, for, should they be discovered +by the wild Berbers, they all might be murdered. This night, the 15th, +was a most anxious one, and their apprehensions were dreadful. Dawn of +day was fast approaching, and every hour's delay rendered their +condition more precarious. In this emergency, Mr. Lucas, who never once +failed or lost his accustomed suavity and presence of mind amidst these +imminent dangers, resolved upon communicating with the fleet by a most +hazardous experiment. On his way from the town-gate to the water-port, +he noticed some deal planks near the beach. The idea struck him of +turning these into a raft, which, supporting him, could enable their +party to communicate with the squadron. Mr. Lucas fetched the planks, +and resolutely set to work. Taking three of them, and luckily finding a +quantity of strong grass cordage, he arranged them in the water, and +with some cross-pieces, bound the whole together; and, besides, having +found two small pieces of board to serve him as paddles, he gallantly +launched forth alone, and, in about an hour, effected his object, for he +excited the attention of the French brig, 'Canard,' from which a boat +came and took him on board. + +The officers, being assured there were no Moors on guard at the +batteries, and that the Berbers were wholly occupied in plundering the +city, promptly and generously sent off a boat with Mr. Lucas to the +rescue of the alarmed and trembling fugitives. The Prince de Joinville +afterwards ordered them to be conveyed on board the 'Warspite.' The +self-devotedness, sagacity, and indefatigable exertions of the excellent +young man, Mr. Lucas, were above all encomiums, and, at the hands of the +British Government, he deserved some especial mark of favour. + +Poor Mrs. Levy (an English Jewess, married to a Maroquine Jew), and her +family were left behind, and accompanied the rest of the miserable Jews +and natives, to be maltreated, stripped naked, and, perhaps, murdered, +like many poor Jews. Mr. Amrem Elmelek, the greatest native merchant and +a Jew, died from fright. Carlos Bolelli, a Roman, perished during the +sack of the city. + +Mogador was left a heap of ruins, scarcely one house standing entire, +and all tenantless. In the fine elegiac bulletin of the bombarding +Prince, "Alas! for thee, Mogador! thy walls are riddled with bullets, +and thy mosques of prayer blackened with fire!" (or something like +these words.) + + +COMMERCE WITH MOROCCO. + +TANGIER. + +Tangier trades almost exclusively with Gibraltar, between which place +and this, an active intercourse is constantly kept up. + +The principal articles of importation into Tangier are, cotton goods of +all kinds, cloth, silk-stuffs, velvets, copper, iron, steel, and +hardware of every description; cochineal, indigo, and other dyes; tea, +coffee, sulphur, paper, planks, looking-glasses, tin, thread, +glass-beads, alum, playing-cards, incense, sarsaparilla, and rum. + +The exports consist in hides, wax, wool, leeches, dates, almonds, +oranges, and other fruit, bark, flax, durra, chick-peas, bird-seed, oxen +and sheep, henna, and other dyes, woollen sashes, haicks, Moorish +slippers, poultry, eggs, flour, &c. + +The value of British and foreign goods imported into Tangier in 1856 +was: British goods, £101,773 6_s_., foreign goods, £33,793. + +The goods exported from Tangier during the same year was: For British +ports, £63,580 10_s_., for foreign ports, £13,683. + +The following is a statement of the number of British and foreign ships +that entered and cleared from this port during the same year. Entered: +British ships 203, the united tonnage of which was 10,883; foreign ships +110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Cleared: British ships 207, the united tonnage of which was 10,934; +foreign ships 110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Three thousand head of cattle are annually exported, at a fixed duty of +five dollars per head, to Gibraltar, for the use of that garrison, in +conformity with the terms of special grants that have, from time to +time, been made by the present Sultan and some of his predecessors. In +addition to the above, about 2,000 head are, likewise, exported +annually, for the same destination, at a higher rate of duty, varying +from eight dollars to ten dollars per head. Gibraltar, also, draws from +this place large supplies of poultry, eggs, flour, and other kinds of +provisions. + +MOGADOR. + +From the port of Mogador are exported the richest articles the country +produces, viz., almonds, sweet and bitter gums, wool, olive-oil, seeds +of various kinds, as cummin, gingelen, aniseed; sheep-skins, calf, and +goat-skins, ostrich-feathers, and occasionally maize. + +The amount of exports in 1855 was: For British ports, £228,112 3_s_. +2_d_., for foreign ports, £55,965 13_s_. 1_d_. + +The imports are Manchester cotton goods, which have entirely superseded +the East India long cloths, formerly in universal use, blue salampores, +prints, sugar, tea, coffee, Buenos Ayres slides, iron, steel, spices, +drugs, nails, beads and deals, woollen cloth, cotton wool, and mirrors +of small value, partly for consumption in the town, but chiefly for that +of the interior, from Morocco and its environs, as far as Timbuctoo. + +The amount of imports in 1855 was: British goods, £136,496 7_s_. 6_d_., +foreign goods £31,222 11_s_. 5_d_. + +The trade last year was greatly increased by the unusually large demand +for olive-oil from all parts, and there is no doubt that, under a more +liberal Government, the commerce might be developed to a vast extent. + +RABAT. + +The principal goods imported at Rabat are, alum, calico of different +qualities, cinnamon, fine cloth, army cloth, cloves, copperas, cotton +prints, raw cotton, sewing cotton, cutlery, dimity, domestics, +earthenware, ginger, glass, handkerchiefs (silk and cotton), hardware, +indigo, iron, linen, madder root, muslin, sugar (refined and raw), tea, +and tin plate. + +The before-mentioned articles are imported partly for consumption in +Rabat and Sallee, and partly for transmission into the interior. + +The value of different articles of produce exported at Rabat during the +last five years amounts to £34,860 1_s_. + +There can be no doubt that the imports and exports at Rabat would +greatly increase, if the present high duties were reduced, and +Government monopolies abolished. Large quantities of hides were exported +before they were a Government monopoly: now the quantity exported is +very inconsiderable. + +MAZAGAN. + +_Goods Imported_.--Brown Domestics, called American White, muslins, raw +cotton, cotton-bales, silk and cotton pocket-handkerchiefs; tea, coffee, +sugars, iron, copperas, alum; many other articles imported, but in very +small quantities. + +A small portion of the importations is consumed at Mazagan and Azimore, +but the major portions in the interior. + +The amount of the leading goods exported in 1855 was:--Bales of wool, +6,410; almonds, 200 serons; grain, 642,930 fanegas. + +No doubt the commerce of this port would be increased under better +fiscal laws than those now established. + +But the primary and immediate thing to be looked after is the wilful +casting into the anchorage-ground of stone-ballast by foreigners. +British masters are under control, but foreigners will persist, chiefly +Sardinian masters. + + + + +THE END + + + + +[1] The predecessor of Muley Abd Errahman. + +[2] On account, of their once possessing the throne, the Shereefs have a +peculiar jealousy of Marabouts, and which latter have not forgotten +their once being sovereigns of Morocco. The _Moravedi_ were "really a +dynasty of priests," as the celebrated Magi, who usurped the throne of +Cyrus. The Shereefs, though descended from the Prophet, are not strictly +priests, or, to make the distinction perfectly clear the Shereefs are to +be considered a dynasty corresponding to the type of Melchizdek, uniting +in themselves the regal and sacerdotal authority, whilst the +_Marabouteen_ were a family of priests like the sons of Aaron. +Abd-el-Kader unites in himself the princely and sacerdotal authority +like the Shereefs, though not of the family of the Prophet. Mankind have +always been jealous of mere theocratic government, and dynasties of +priests have always been failures in the arts of governing, and the +Egyptian priests, though they struggled hard, and were the most +accomplished of this class of men, could not make themselves the +sovereigns of Egypt. + +[3] According to others the Sâdia reigned before the Shereefs. + +[4] I was greatly astonished to read in Mr. Hay's "Western Barbary," (p. +123), these words--"During one of the late rebellions, a beautiful young +girl was offered up as a propitiatory sacrifice, her throat being cut +before the tent of the Sultan, and in his presence!" This is an +unmitigated libel on the Shereefian prince ruling Morocco. First of all, +the sacrifice of human beings is repudiated by every class of +inhabitants in Barbary. Such rites, indeed, are unheard of, nay, +unthought of. If the Mahometan religion has been powerful in any one +thing, it is in that of rooting out from the mind of man every notion of +human sacrifice. It is this which makes the sacrifice of the Saviour +such an obnoxious doctrine to Mussulmen. It is true enough, at times, +oxen are immolated to God, but not to Moorish princes, "to appease an +offended potentate." One spring, when there was a great drought, the +people led up to the hill of Ghamart, near Carthage, a red heifer to be +slaughtered, in order to appease the displeasure of Deity; and when the +Bey's frigate, which, a short time ago, carried a present to her +Britannic Majesty, from Tunis to Malta, put back by stress of weather, +two sheep were sacrificed to some tutelar saints, and two guns were +fired in their honour. The companions of Abd-el-Kader in a storm, during +his passage from Oran to Toulon, threw handsful of salt to the raging +deep to appease its wild fury. But as to sacrificing human victims, +either to an incensed Deity, or to man, impiously putting himself in the +place of God, the Moors of Barbary have not the least conception of such +an enormity. + +It would seem, unfortunately, that the practice of the gentleman, who +travelled a few miles into the interior of Morocco on a horse-mission, +had been to exaggerate everything, and, where effect was wanting, not to +have scrupled to have recourse to unadulterated invention. But this +style of writing cannot be defended on any principle, when so serious a +case is brought forward as that of sacrificing a human victim to appease +the wrath of an incensed sovereign, and that prince now living in +amicable relations with ourselves. + +[5] Gräberg de Hemso, whilst consul-general for Sweden and Sardinia (at +Morocco!) concludes the genealogy of these Mussulman sovereigns with +this strange, but Catholic-spirited rhapsody:-- + +"Muley Abd-ur-Bakliman, who is now gloriously and happily reigning, whom +we pray Almighty God, all Goodness and Power, to protect and exalt by +prolonging his life, glory, and reign in this world and in the next; and +giving him, during eternity, the heavenly beatitude, in order that his +soul, in the same manner as flame to flame, river to sea, may be united +with his sweetest, most perfect and ineffable Creator. Amen." + +[6] Yezeed was half-Irish, born of the renegade widow of an Irish +sergeant of the corps of Sappers and Miners, who was placed at the +disposition of this government by England, and who died in Morocco. On +his death, the facile, buxom widow was admitted, "nothing loath," into +the harem of Sidi-Mohammed, who boasted of having within its sacred +enclosure of love and bliss, a woman from every clime. + +Here the daughter of Erin brought forth this ferocious tyrant, whose +maxim of carnage, and of inflicting suffering on humanity was, "My +empire can never be well governed, unless a stream of blood flows from +the gate of the palace to the gate of the city." To do Yezeed justice, +he followed out the instincts of his birth, and made war on all the +world except the English (or Irish). Tully's Letters on Tripoli give a +graphic account of the exploits of Yezeed, who, to his inherent cruelty, +added a fondness for practical (Hibernian) jokes. + +His father sent him several times on a pilgrimage to Mecca to expiate +his crimes, when he amused, or alarmed, all the people whose countries +he passed through, by his terrific vagaries. One day he would cut off +the heads of a couple of his domestics, and play at bowls with them; +another day, he would ride across the path of an European, or a consul, +and singe his whiskers with the discharge of a pistol-shot; another day, +he would collect all the poor of a district, and gorge them with a +razzia he had made on the effects of some rich over-fed Bashaw. The +multitude sometimes implored heaven's blessing on the head of Yezeed. at +other times trembled for their own heads. Meanwhile, our European +consuls made profound obeisance to this son of the Shereef, enthroned in +the West. So the tyrant passed the innocent days of his pilgrimage. So +the godless herd of mankind acquiesced in the divine rights of royalty. + +[7] See Appendix at the end of this volume. + +[8] The middle Western Region consists of Algiers and part of Tunis. + +[9] Pliny, the Elder, confirms this tradition mentioned by Pliny. Marcus +Yarron reports, "that in all Spain there are spread Iberians, Persians, +Phoenicians, Celts, and Carthaginians." (Lib. iii. chap. 2). + +[10] In Latin, Mauri, Maurice, Maurici, Maurusci, and it is supposed, so +called by the Greeks from their dark complexions. + +[11] The more probable derivation of this word is from _bar_, signifying +land, or earth, in contradistinction from the sea, or desert, beyond the +cultivable lands to the South. To give the term more force it is +doubled, after the style of the Semitic reduplication. De Haedo de la +Captividad gives a characteristic derivation, like a genuine hidalgo, +who proclaimed eternal war against Los Moros. He says--"Moors, Alartes, +Cabayles, and some Turks, form all of them a dirty, lazy, inhuman, +indomitable nation of beasts, and it is for this reason that, for the +last few years, I have accustomed myself to call that land the land of +Barbary." + +[12] Procopius, de Bello Vandilico, lib. ii. cap. 10. + +[13] Some derive it from _Sarak_, an Arabic word which signifies to +steal, and hence, call the conquerors thieves. Others, and with more +probability, derive it from _Sharak_, the east, and make them Orientals, +and others say there is an Arabic word _Saracini_, which means a +pastoral people, and assert that Saracine is a corruption from it, the +new Arabian immigrants being supposed to have been pastoral tribes. + +[14] Some suppose that _Amayeegh_ means "great," and the tribes thus +distinguished themselves, as our neighbours are wont to do by the phrase +"la grande nation." The Shoulah are vulgarly considered to be descended +from the Philistines, and to have fled before Joshua on the conquest of +Palestine. + +In his translation of the Description of Spain, by the Shereef El-Edris +(Madrid, 1799), Don Josef Antonio Conde speaks of the Berbers in a +note-- + +"Masmuda, one of the five principal tribes of Barbaria; the others are +Zeneta, called Zenetes in our novels and histories, Sanhagha which we +name Zenagas; Gomêsa is spelt in our histories Gomares and Gomeles. +Huroara, some of these were originally from Arabia; there were others, +but not so distinguished. La de Ketâma was, according to tradition, +African, one of the most ancient, for having come with Afrikio. + +"Ben Kis Ben Taifi Ben Tebâ, the younger, who came from the king of the +Assyrians, to the land of the west. + +"None of these primitive tribes appear to have been known to the Romans, +their historians, however, have transmitted to us many names of other +aboriginal tribes, some of which resemble fractions now existing, as the +Getules are probably the present Geudala or Geuzoula. But the present +Berbers do not correspond with the names of the five original people +just mentioned. In Morocco, there are Amayeegh and Shelouh, in Algeria +the Kabyles, in Tunis the Aoures, sometimes the Shouwiah, and in Sahara +the Touarichs. There are, besides, numerous subdivisions and admixtures +of these tribes." + +[15] Monsieur Balbi is decidedly the most recent, as well as the best +authority to apply to for a short and definite description of this most +celebrated mountain system, called by him "Système Atlantique," and I +shall therefore annex what he says on this interesting subject, +"Orographie." He says--"Of the 'Système Atlantique,' which derives its +name from the Mount Atlas, renowned for so many centuries, and still so +little known; we include in this vast system, all the heights of the +region of Maghreb--we mean the mountain of the Barbary States--as well +as the elevations scattered in the immense Sahara or Desert. It appears +that the most important ridge extends from the neighbourhood of Cape +Noun, or the Atlantic, as far as the east of the Great Syrte in the +State of Tripoli. In this vast space it crosses the new State of +Sidi-Hesdham, the Empire of Morocco, the former State of Algiers, as +well as the State of Tripoli and the Regency of Tunis. It is in the +Empire of Morocco, and especially in the east of the town of Morocco, +and in the south-east of Fez, that that ridge presents the greatest +heights of the whole system. It goes on diminishing afterwards in height +as it extends towards the east, so that it appears the summits of the +territory of Algiers are higher than those on the territory of Tunis, +and the latter are less high than those to be found in the State of +Tripoli. Several secondary ridges diverge in different directions from +the principal chain; we shall name among them the one which ends at the +Strait of Gibraltar in the Empire of Morocco. Several intermediary +mountains seem to connect with one another the secondary chains which +intersect the territories of Algiers and Tunis. Geographers call Little +Atlas the secondary mountains of the land of Sous, in opposition to the +name of Great Atlas, they give to the high mountains of the Empire of +Morocco. In that part of the principal chain called Mount Gharian, in +the south of Tripoli, several low branches branch off and under the +names of Mounts Maray, Black Mount Haroudje, Mount Liberty, Mount +Tiggerandoumma and others less known, furrow the great solitudes of the +Desert of Lybia and Sahara Proper. From observations made on the spot by +Mr. Bruguière in the former state of Algiers, the great chain which +several geographers traced beyond the Little Atlas under the name of +Great Atlas does not exist. The inhabitants of Mediah who were +questioned on the subject by this traveller, told him positively, that +the way from that town to the Sahara was through a ground more or less +elevated, and slopes more or less steep, and without having any chain of +mountains to cross. The Pass of Teniah which leads from Algiers to +Mediah is, therefore, included in the principal chain of that part of +the Regency. + +[16] Xenophon, in his Anabasis, speaks of ostriches in Mesopotamia being +run down by fleet horses. + +[17] Mount Atlas was called Dyris by the ancient aborigines, or Derem, +its name amongst the modern aborigines. This word has been compared to +the Hebrew, signifying the place or aspect of the sun at noon-day, as if +Mount Atlas was the back of the world, or the cultivated parts of the +globe, and over which the sun was seen at full noon, in all his fierce +and glorious splendour. Bochart connects the term with the Hebrew +meaning 'great' or 'mighty,' which epithet would be naturally applied to +the Atlas, and all mountains, by either a savage or civilized people. We +have, also, on the northern coast, Russadirum, the name given by the +Moors to Cape Bon, which is evidently a compound of _Ras_, head, and +_dirum_, mountain, or the head of the mountain. + +We have again the root of this word in Doa-el-Hamman, Tibet Deera, &c., +the names of separate chains of the mighty Atlas. Any way, the modern +Der-en is seen to be the same with the ancient Dir-is. + +[18] The only way of obtaining any information at all, is through the +registers of taxation; and, to the despotism and exactions of these and +most governments, we owe a knowledge of the proximate amount of the +numbers of mankind. + +[19] Tangier, Mogador, Wadnoun, and Sous have already been described, +wholly, or in part. + +[20] In 936, Arzila was sacked by the English, and remained for twenty +years uninhabited. + +[21] According to Mr. Hay, a portion of the Salee Rovers seem to have +finally taken refuge here. Up the river El-Kous, the Imperial squadron +lay in ordinary, consisting of a corvette, two brigs, (once +merchant-vessels, and which had been bought of Christians), and a +schooner, with some few gun-boats, and even these two or three vessels +were said to be all unfit for sea. But, when Great Britain captured the +rock of Gibraltar, we, supplanting the Moors became the formidable +toll-keepers of the Herculean Straits, and the Salee rivers have ever +since been in our power. If the Shereefs have levied war or tribute on +European navies since that periods it has been under our tacit sanction. +The opinion of Nelson is not the less true, that, should England engage +in war with any maritime State of Europe, Morocco must be our warm and +active friend or enemy, and, if our enemy, we must again possess +ourselves of our old garrison of Tangier. + +[22] So called, it is supposed, from the quantity of aniseed grown in +the neighbourhood. + +[23] Near Cape Blanco is the ruined town of Tit or Tet, supposed to be +of Carthaginian origin, and once also possessed by the Portuguese, when +commerce therein flourished. + +[24] El-Kesar is a very common name of a fortified town, and is usually +written by the Spaniards Alcazar, being the name of the celebrated royal +palace at Seville. + +[25] Marmol makes this city to have succeeded the ancient Roman town of +Silda or Gilda. Mequinez has been called Ez-Zetounah, from the immense +quantities of olives in its immediate vicinity. + +[26] Don J. A. Conde says--"Fes or sea Fez, the capital of the realm of +that name; the fables of its origin, and the grandeur of the Moors, who +always speak of their cities as foundations of heroes, or lords of the +whole world, &c., a foible of which our historians are guilty. +Nasir-Eddin and the same Ullug Beig say, for certain, that Fez is the +court of the king in the west. I must observe here, that nothing is less +authentic than the opinions given by Casiri in his Library of the +Escurial, that by the word Algarb, they always mean the west of Spain, +and by the word Almagreb, the west of Africa; one of these appellations +is generally used for the other. The same Casiri says, with regard to +Fez, that it was founded by Edno Ben Abdallah, under the reign of +Almansor Abu Giafar; he is quite satisfied with that assertion, but does +not perceive that it contains a glaring anachronism. Fez was already a +very ancient city before the Mohammed Anuabi of the Mussulmen, and +Joseph, in his A. J., mentions a city of Mauritania; the prophet Nahum +speaks of it also, when he addresses Ninive, he presents it as an +example for No Ammon. He enumerates its districts and cities, and says, +Fut and Lubim, Fez and Lybia, &c. + +[27] I imagine we shall never know the truth of this until the French +march an army into Fez, and sack the library. + +[28] It is true enough what the governor says about _quietness_, but the +novelty of the mission turned the heads of the people, and made a great +noise among them. The slave-dealers of Sous vowed vengeance against me, +and threatened to "rip open my bowels" if I went down there. + +[29] The Sultan's Minister, Ben Oris, addressing our government on the +question says, "Whosoever sets any person free God will set his soul +free from the fire," (hell), quoting the Koran. + +[30] A person going to the Emperor without a present, is like a menace +at court, for a present corresponds to our "good morning." + +[31] _Bash_, means chief, as Bash-Mameluke, chief of the Mamelukes. It +is a Turkish term. + +[32] This office answers vulgarly to our _Boots_ at English inns. + +[33] Bismilla, Arabic for "In the name of God!" the Mohammedan grace +before meat, and also drink. + +[34] Shaw says.--"The hobara is of the bigness of a capon, it feeds upon +the little grubs or insects, and frequents the confines of the Desert. +The body is of a light dun or yellowish colour, and marked over with +little brown touches, whilst the larger feathers of the wing are black, +with each of them a white spot near the middle; those of the neck are +whitish with black streaks, and are long and erected when the bird is +attacked. The bill is flat like the starling's, nearly an inch and a +half long, and the legs agree in shape and in the want of the hinder toe +with the bustard's, but it is not, as Golins says, the bustard, that +bird being twice as big as the hobara. Nothing can be more entertaining +than to see this bird pursued by the hawk, and what a variety of flights +and stratagems it makes use of to escape." The French call the hobara, a +little bustard, _poule de Carthage_, or Carthage-fowl. They are +frequently sold in the market of Tunis, as ordinary fowls, but eat +something like pheasant, and their flesh is red. + +[35] The most grandly beautiful view in Tunis is that from the +Belvidere, about a mile north-west from the capital, looking immediately +over the Marsa road. Here, on a hill of very moderate elevation, you +have the most beautiful as well as the most magnificent panoramic view +of sea and lake, mountain and plain, town and village, in the whole +Regency, or perhaps in any other part of North Africa. There are besides +many lovely walks around the capital, particularly among and around the +craggy heights of the south-east. But these are little frequented by the +European residents, the women especially, who are so stay-at-homeative +that the greater part of them never walked round the suburbs once in +their lives. Europeans generally prefer the Marina, lined on each side, +not with pleasant trees, but dead animals, sending forth a most +offensive smell. + +[36] Shaw says: "The rhaad, or safsaf, is a granivorous and gregarious +bird, which wanteth the hinder toe. There are two species, and both +about and a little larger than the ordinary pullet. The belly of both is +white, back and wings of a buff colour spotted with brown, tail lighter +and marked all along with black transverse streaks, beak and legs +stronger than the partridge. The name rhaad, "thunder," is given to it +from the noise it makes on the ground when it rises, safsaf, from its +beating the air, a sound imitating the motion." + +[37] Ghafsa, whose name Bochart derives from the Hebrew "comprimere," +is an ancient city, claiming as its august founder, the Libyan +Hercules. It was one of the principal towns in the dominions of +Jugurtha, and well-fortified, rendered secure by being placed in the +midst of immense deserts, fabled to have been inhabited solely by +snakes and serpents. Marius took it by a _coup-de-main_, and put all +the inhabitants to the sword. The modern city is built on a gentle +eminence, between two arid mountains, and, in a great part, with the +materials of the ancient one. Ghafsa has no wall of _euceinte_, or +rather a ruined wall surrounds it, and is defended by a kasbah, +containing a small garrison. This place may be called the gate of the +Tunisian Sahara; it is the limit of Blad-el-Jereed; the sands begin now +to disappear, and the land becomes better, and more suited to the +cultivation of corn. Three villages are situated in the environs, Sala, +El-Kesir, and El-Ghetar. A fraction of the tribe of Hammand deposit +their grain in Ghafsa. This town is famous for its manufactories of +baraeans and blankets ornamented with pretty coloured flowers. There is +also a nitre and powder-manufactory, the former obtained from the earth +by a very rude process. + +The environs are beautifully laid out in plantations of the fig, the +pomegranate, and the orange, and especially the datepalm, and the +olive-tree. The oil made here is of peculiarly good quality, and is +exported to Tugurt, and other oases of the Desert. + +[38] Kaemtz's Meteorology, p. 191. + +[39] This is the national dish of Barbary, and is a preparation of +wheat-flour granulated, boiled by the steam of meat. It is most +nutritive, and is eaten with or without meat and vegetables. When the +grains are large, it is called hamza. + +[40] A camel-load is about five cantars, and a cantar is a hundred +weight. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: In this electronic edition, the footnotes were +numbered and relocated to the end of the work. In ch. 3, "Mogrel-el-Aska" +was corrected to "Mogrel-el-Aksa"; in ch. 4, "lattely" to "lately"; in +ch. 7, "book" to "brook"; in ch. 9, "cirumstances" to "circumstances". +Also, "Amabasis" was corrected to "Anabasis" in footnote 16.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2., by James Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, VOL. 2. *** + +***** This file should be named 10356-8.txt or 10356-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/5/10356/ + +Produced by Carlo Traverso, Tom Allen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10356-8.zip b/old/10356-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c436dd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10356-8.zip diff --git a/old/10356.txt b/old/10356.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..384d8e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10356.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5830 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2., by James Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2. + +Author: James Richardson + +Release Date: December 1, 2003 [EBook #10356] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, VOL. 2. *** + + + + +Produced by Carlo Traverso, Tom Allen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + +[Illustration] + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, + +BY THE LATE JAMES RICHARDSON, + +AUTHOR OF "A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA," +"TRAVELS IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA," &C. + +EDITED BY HIS WIDOW. + +[Illustration] + +IN TWO VOLUMES. + +VOL. II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elaeonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + +APPENDIX. + + + + +TRAVELS IN MOROCCO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Mogador Jewesses.--Disputes between the Jew and the Moor.--Melancholy +Scenes.--The Jews of the Atlas.--Their Religion.--Beautiful Women.--The +Four Wives.--Statues discovered.--Discrepancy of age of married people.-- +Young and frail fair ones.--Superstition respecting Salt.--White +Brandy.--Ludicrous Anecdote. + + +Notwithstanding the imbecile prejudices of the native Barbary Jews, such +of them who adopt European habits, or who mix with European merchants, +are tolerably good members of society, always endeavouring to restrain +their own peculiarities. The European Jewesses settled in Mogador, are +indeed the belles of society, and attend all the balls (such as they +are). The Jewess sooner forgets religious differences than the Jew, and +I was told by a Christian lady, it would be a dangerous matter for a +Christian gentleman to make an offer of marriage to a Mogador Jewess, +unless in downright earnest; as it would be sure to be accepted. + +Monsieur Delaport, Consul of France, was the first official person who +brought prominently forward the native and other Jews into the European +society of this place, and since then, these Jews have improved in their +manners, and increased their respectability. The principal European Jews +are from London, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. Many native Jews have +attempted to wear European clothes; and a European hat, or coat, is now +the rage among native Jewesses, who all aspire to get a husband wearing +either. Such are elements of the progress of the Jewess population in +this part of the world, and there is no doubt their position has been +greatly ameliorated within the last half century, or since the time of +Ali Bey, who thus describes their wretched condition in his days. + +"Continual disputes arise between the Jew and the Moor; when the Jew is +wrong, the Moor takes his own satisfaction, and if the Jew be right, he +lodges a complaint with the judge, who always decides in favour of the +Mussulman. I have seen the Mahometan children amuse themselves by +beating little Jews, who durst not defend themselves. When a Jew passes +a mosque, he is obliged to take off his slippers, or shoes; he must do +the same when he passes the house of the Kaed, the Kady, or any +Mussulman of distinction. At Fez, and in some other towns, they are +obliged to walk barefooted." Ali Bey mentions other vexations and +oppressions, and adds, "When I saw the Jews were so ill-treated and +vexed in every way, I asked them why they did not go to another country. +They answered that they could not do so, because they were slaves of the +Sultan." Again he says, "As the Jews have a particular skill in +thieving, they indemnify themselves for the ill-treatment they receive +from the Moors, by cheating them daily." + +Jewesses are exempt from taking off their slippers, or sandals, when +passing the mosques. The late Emperor, Muley Suleiman, [1] professed to +be a rigidly exact Mussulman, and considered it very indecent, and a +great scandal that Jewesses, some of them, like most women of this +country, of enormous dimensions, should be allowed to disturb the decent +frame of mind of pious Mussulmen, whilst entering the threshold of the +house of prayer, by the sad exhibitions of these good ladies stooping +down and shewing their tremendous calves, when in the act of taking off +their shoes before passing the mosques. For such reasons, Jewesses are +now privileged and exempted from the painful necessity of walking +barefoot in the streets. + +The policy of the Court in relation to the Jews continually fluctuates. +Sometimes, the Emperor thinks they ought to be treated like the rest of +his subjects; at other times, he seems anxious to renew in all its +vigour the system described by Ali Bey. Hearing that the Jews of +Tangier, on returning from Gibraltar, would often adopt the European +dress, and so, by disguising themselves, be treated like Christians and +Europeans, he ordered all these would-be Europeans forthwith to be +undressed, and to resume their black turban. + +Alas, how were all these Passover, Tabernacle and wedding festivals, +these happy and joyous days of the Jewish society of Mogador, changed on +the bombardment of that city! What became of the rich and powerful +merchants, the imperial vassals of commerce with their gorgeous wives +bending under the weight of diamonds, pearls, and precious gems, during +that sad and unexpected period? The newspapers of the day recorded the +melancholy story. Many of the Jews were massacred, or buried underneath +the ruins of the city; their wives subjected to plunder; the rest were +left wandering naked and starving on the desolate sandy coast of the +Atlantic, or hidden in the mountains, obtaining a momentary respite from +the rapacious fury of the savage Berbers and Arabs. + +It is well known that, while the French bombarded Tangier and Mogador +from without, the Berber and Arab tribes, aided by the _canaille_ of the +Moors, plundered the city from within. Several of the Moorish rabble +declared publicly, and with the greatest cowardice and villainous +effrontery, "When the French come to destroy Mogador, we shall go and +pillage the Jews' houses, strip the women of their ornaments, and then +escape to the mountains from the pursuit of the Christians." These +threats they faithfully executed; but, by a just vengeance, they were +pillaged in turn, for the Berbers not only plundered the Jews +themselves, but the Moors who had escaped from the city laden with their +booty. + +It is to be hoped that a better day is dawning for North African Jews. +The Governments of France and England can do much for them in Morocco. + +The Jews of the Atlas formed the subject of some of Mr. Davidson's +literary labours; I have made further inquiries and shall give the +reader some account of them, adding that portion of Mr. Davidson's +information which was borne out by further investigation. The Atlas Jews +are physically, if not morally, superior to their brethren who reside +among the Moors. They are dispersed over the Atlas ranges, and have all +the characteristics of mountaineers. They enjoy, like their neighbours, +the Berbers and Shelouhs, a species of quasi-independence of the +Imperial authority, but they usually attach themselves to certain Berber +chieftains who protect them, and whose standards they follow. + +These are the only Jews in Mahometan countries of whom I have heard as +bearing arms. They have, however, their own Sheiks, to whose +jurisdiction all domestic matters are referred. They wear the same +attire as the mountaineers, and are not distinguishable from them, they +do not address the Moors by the term of respect and title "Sidi," but in +the same way as the Moors and Arabs when they accost each other. They +speak the Shelouh language. + +Mr. Davidson mentions some curious circumstances about these Jews, and +of their having a city beyond the Atlas, where three or four thousand +are living in perfect freedom, and cultivating the soil, which they have +possessed since the time of Solomon. The probability is that Mr. +Davidson's informant refers to the Jews of the Oasis of Sahara, where +there certainly are some families of Jews living in comparative freedom +and independence. + +As to the peculiarities of the religion of the Atlas Jews, they are said +not to have the Pentateuch and the law in the same order as Jews +generally. They are unacquainted with Ezra, or Christ; they did not go +to Babylon at the captivity, but were dispersed over Africa at that +period. They are a species of Caraaites, or Jewish Protestants. Shadai +is the name which they apply to the Supreme Being, when speaking of him. +Their written law begins by stating that the world was many thousand +years old when the present race of men was formed, which, curiously +enough, agrees with the researches of modern geology. The present race +of men are the joint offspring of different and distinct human species. +The deluge is not mentioned by them. God, it is said, appeared to +Ishmael in a dream, and told him he must separate from Isaac, and go to +the desert, where he would make him a great nation. There would ever +after be enmity between the two races, as at this day there is the +greatest animosity between the Jews and Mahometans. + +The great nucleus of these Shelouh Jews is in _Jebel Melge_, or the vast +ridge of the Atlas capped with eternal snows; and they hold +communications with the Jews of Ait Mousa, Frouga or Misfuva. They +rarely descend to the plains or cities of the empire, and look upon the +rest of the Jews of this country as heretics. Isolation thus begets +enmity and mistrust, as in other cases. A few years ago, a number came +to Mogador, and were not at all pleased with their visit, finding fault +with everything among their brethren. These Jewish mountaineers are +supposed to be very numerous. In their homes, they are inaccessible. So +they live in a wild independence, professing a creed as free as their +own mountain airs. God, who made the hills, made likewise man's freedom +to abide therein. Before taking leave of the Maroquine Israelites, I +must say something of their personal appearance. Both in Tangier and +Mogador, I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with families, who +could boast of the most perfect and classic types of Jewish female +loveliness. Alas, that these beauties should be only charming _animals_, +their minds and affections being left uncultivated, or converted into +caves of unclean and tormenting passions. The Jewesses, in general, +until they become enormously stout and weighed down with obesity, are of +extreme beauty. Most of them have fair complexions; their rose and +jasmine faces, their pure wax-like delicate features, and their +exceedingly expressive and bewitching eyes, would fascinate the most +fastidious of European connoisseurs of female beauty. + +But these Israelitish ladies, recalling the fair image of Rachel in the +Patriarchal times of Holy Writ, and worthy to serve as models for a +Grecian sculptor, are treated with savage disdain by the churlish Moors, +and sometimes are obliged to walk barefoot and prostrate themselves +before their ugly negress concubines. The male infants of Jews are +engaging and goodlooking when young; but, as they grow up, they become +ordinary; and Jews of a certain age, are decidedly and most disgustingly +ugly. It is possible that the degrading slavery in which they usually +live, their continued habits of cringing servility, by which the +countenance acquires a sinister air and fiendishly cunning smirk, may +cause this change in their appearance. But what contrasts we had of the +beauty of countenance and form in the Jewish society of Mogador! You +frequently see a youthful woman, nay a girl of exquisite beauty and +delicacy of features, married to an old wretched ill-looking fellow of +some sixty or seventy years of age, tottering over the grave, or an +incurable invalid. To render them worse-looking, whilst the women may +dress in any and the gayest colours, the men wear a dark blue and black +turban and dress, and though this is prescribed as a badge of +oppression, they will often assume it when they may attire themselves in +white and other livelier colours. However, men get used to their misery, +and hug their chains. + +The Jews, at times, though but very rarely, avail themselves of their +privilege of four wives granted them in Mahometan countries, and a nice +mess they make of it. I knew a Jew of this description in Tunis. He was +a lively, jocose fellow, with a libidinous countenance, singing always +some catch of a song. He was a silk-mercer, and pretty well off. His +house was small, and besides a common _salle-a-manger_, divided into +four compartments for his four wives, each defending her room with the +ferocity of a tigress. Two of them were of his own age, about fifty, and +two not more than twenty. The two elder ones, I was told by his +neighbours, were entirely abandoned by the husband, and the two younger +ones were always bickering and quarrelling, as to which of them should +have the greater favour of their common tyrant; the house a scene of +tumult, disorder and indecency. Amongst the whole of the wives, there +was only one child, a boy, of course an immense pet, a little surly +wretch; his growth smothered, his health nearly ruined, by the +overattentions of the four women, whom he kicked and pelted when out of +humour. + +This little imp was the fit type, or interpretation of the presiding +genius of polygamy. I once visited this happy family, this biting satire +on domestic bliss and the beauty of the harem of the East. The women +were all sour, and busy at work, weaving or spinning cotton, "Do you +work for your husband?" I asked, + +_The women_.--"Thank Rabbi, no." + +_Traveller_.--"What do you do with your money?" + +_The women_.--"Spend it ourselves." + +_Traveller_.--"How do you like to have only one husband among you four?" + +_The women_.--"Pooh! is it not the will of God?" + +_Traveller_.--"Whose boy is that?" + +_The women_.--"It belongs to us all." + +_Traveller_.--"Have you no other children?" + +_The women_.--"Our husband is good for no more than that." + +Whilst I was talking to these angelic creatures, their beloved lord was +quietly stuffing capons, without hearing our polite discourse. A +European Jew who knew the native society of Jews well, represents +domestic bliss to be a mere phantom, and scarcely ever thought of, or +sought after. Poor human nature! + +I took a walk round the suburbs one morning, whilst a strong wind was +bringing the locusts towards the coast, which fell upon us like +hailstones. Young locusts frequently crowd upon the neighbouring hills +in thousands and tens of thousands. They are little green things. No one +knows whence they come and whither they go. These are not destructive. +Indeed, unless swarms of locusts appear darkening the sky, and full +grown ones, they do not permanently damage the country. The wind usually +disperses them; they rarely take a long flight, except impelled by a +violent gale. Arabs attempt to destroy locusts by digging pits into +which they may fall. This is merely playing with them. Jews fry them in +oil and salt, and sell them as we sell shrimps, the taste of which they +resemble. + +On my return, I passed a Mooress, or rather a Mauritanian Venus, who was +so stout that she had fallen down, and could not get up. A mule was +fetched to carry her home. But the Moor highly relishes these enormous +lumps of fat, according to the standard beauty laid down by the +talebs--"Four things in a woman should be ample, the lower part of the +back, the thighs, the calves of the legs and the knees." + +Some time ago, there were discovered at Malta various rude statues of +women very ample in the lower part of the "back," supposed to be of +Libyan origin, so that stout ladies have been the choicest of the +fashion for ages past; the fattening of women, like so many capons and +turkeys, begins when they are betrothed. + +They then swallow three times a day regular boluses of paste, and are +not allowed to take exercise. By the time marriage takes place, they are +in a tolerable good condition, not unlike Smithfield fattened heifers. +The lady of one of the European merchants being very thin, the Moors +frequently asked her husband how it was, and whether she had enough to +eat, hinting broadly that he starved her. + +On the other hand, two or three of the merchant's wives were exceedingly +stout, and of course great favourites with the men folks of this city. + +The discrepancies of age, in married people, is most unnatural and +disgusting; whilst the merchants were at Morocco, a little girl of nine +years of age was married to a man upwards of fifty. Ten and eleven is a +common age for girls to be married. Much has been said of the reverence +of children for their parents in the East, and tribes of people +migrating therefrom, and the fifth commandment embodies the sentiment of +the Eastern world. But there is little of this in Mogador; a European +Jewess, who knows all the respectable Jewish and many of the Moorish +families, assured me that children make their aged parents work for +them, as long as the poor creatures can. "Honour thy father and thy +mother," is quite as much neglected here as in Europe. However, there is +some difference. The indigent Moors and Jews maintain their aged parents +in their own homes, and we English Christian shut up ours in the Union +Bastiles. + +To continue this domestic picture, the marriage settlements, especially +among the Jews, are ticklish and brittle things, as to money or other +mercenary arrangements. + +A match is often broken off, because a lamp of the value of four dollars +has been substituted for one of the value of twenty dollars, which was +first promised on the happy day of betrothal. + +Indeed, nearly all marriages here are matters of sale and barter. Love +is out of the question, he never flutters his purple wings over the +bridal bed of Mogador. A Jewish or Moorish girl having placed before her +a rich, old ugly man, of mean and villanous character, of three score +years and upwards, and by his side, a handsome youth of blameless +character and amiable manners, will not hesitate a moment to prefer the +former. As affairs of intrigue and simple animal enjoyment are the great +business of life, the ways and means, in spite of Moorish and Mahometan +jealousy, as strong as death, by which these young and frail beauties +indulge in forbidden conversations, are innumerable. Although the Moors +frequently relate romantic legends of lovely innocent brides, who had +never seen any other than the faces of their father, or of married +ladies, who never raised the veil from off their faces, except to +receive their own husbands, and seem to extol such chastity and +seclusion; they are too frequently found indulging in obscene +imaginations, tempting and seducing the weaker sex from the path of +virtue and honour. So that, if women are unchaste here, or elsewhere, +men are the more to blame: if woman goes one step wrong, men drag her +two more. Men corrupt women, and then punish her for being corrupt, +depriving them of their natural and unalienable rights. + +Salt in Africa as in Europe is a domestic superstition. A Jewess, one +morning, in bidding adieu to her friends, put her fingers into a +salt-cellar, and took from it a large pinch of salt, which her friend +told me afterwards was to preserve her from the evil one. Salt is also +used for a similar important purpose, when, during the night, a person +is obliged to pass from one room into another in the dark. It would be +an entertaining task to collect the manifold superstitions in different +parts of the world, respecting this essential ingredient of human food. + +The habit of drinking white brandy, stimulates the immorality of this +Maroquine society. The Jews are the great factors of this _acqua +ardiente_, its Spanish and general name. Government frequently severely +punishes them for making it; but they still persevere in producing this +incentive to intoxication and crime. In all parts of the world, the most +degraded classes are the factors of the means of vice for the higher +orders of society. Moors drink it under protest, that it is not the +juice of the grape. On the Sabbath, the Jewish families are all flushed, +excited, and tormented by this evil spirit; but when the highest +enjoyments of intellect are denied to men, they must and will seek the +lower and beastly gratifications. + +Friend Cohen came in one afternoon, and related several anecdotes of the +Maroquine Court. When Dr. Brown was attending the Sultan, the Vizier +managed to get hold of his cocked hat, and placing it upon his head, +strutted about in the royal gardens. Whilst performing this feat before +several attendants, the Sultan suddenly made his appearance in the midst +of them. The minister seeing him, fell down in a fright and a fit. His +Imperial Highness beckoned to the minister in such woful plight, to +pacify himself, and put his cloak before his mouth to prevent any one +from seeing him laugh at the minister, which he did most immoderately. + +Cohen, who is a quack, was once consulted on a case of the harem. Cohen +pleaded ignorance, God had not given him the wit; he could do nothing +for the patient of his Imperial Highness. This was very politic of +Cohen, for another quack, a Moor, had just been consulted, and had had +his head taken off, for not being successful in the remedies he +prescribed. There would not be quite so much medicine administered among +us, weak, cracky, crazy mortals, in this cold damp clime, if such an +alternative was proposed to our practitioners. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Maroquine dynasties.--Family of the Shereefian Monarchs.--Personal +appearances and character of Muley Abd Errahman.--Refutation of the +charge of human sacrifices against the Moorish Princes.--Genealogy of +the reigning dynasty of Morocco.--The tyraufc Yezeed, (half +Irish).--Muley Suleiman, the "The Shereeff of Shereefs."--Diplomatic +relations of the Emperor of Morocco with European Powers.--Muley Ismael +enamoured with the French Princess de Conti.--Rival diplomacy of France +and England near the Maroquine Court.--Mr. Hay's correspondence with +this Court on the Slave-trade.--Treaties between Great Britain and +Morocco; how defective and requiring amendment.--Unwritten engagements. + + +Morocco, an immense and unwieldly remnant of the monarchies formed by +the Saracens, or first Arabian conquerors of Africa, has had a series of +dynasties terminating in that of the Shereefs. + +1st. The Edristees (pure Saracens,) their capital was Fez, founded by +their great progenitor, Edrio. The dynasty began in A.D. 789, and +continued to 908. + +2nd. The Fatamites (also Saracens.) These conquered Egypt, and were the +faction of or lineal descendants of the daughter of the Prophet, the +beautiful pearl-like Fatima, succeeding to the above: this dynasty +continued to 972. + +3rd. The Zuheirites (Zeirities, or Zereids) were usurpers of the former +conquerors; their dynasty terminated in 1070. + +4th. Moravedi (or Marabouteen,) that is to say, Marabouts, [2] who rose +into consequence about 1050, and their first prince was Aberbekr Omer El +Lamethounx, a native of Sous. Their dynasty terminated in 1149. + +5th. The Almohades. These are supposed to be sprung from the Berber +tribes. They conquered all North Western Morocco, and reigned about one +hundred years, the dynasty terminated in 1269. + +6th. The Merinites. These in 1250 subjugated the kingdoms of Fez and +Morocco; and in 1480 their dynasty terminated with the Shereef. + +7th. The Oatagi (or Ouatasi) [3] were a tribe of obscure origin. In +their time, the Portuguese established themselves on the coast of +Morocco; their dynasty ended in 1550. + +8th. The Shereefs (Oulad Ali) of the present dynasty, whose founder was +Hasein, have now occupied the Imperial throne more than three centuries. +This family of Shereefs came from the neighbourhood of Medina in Arabia, +and succeeded to the empire of Morocco by a series of usurpations. They +are divided into two branches, the Sherfah Hoseinee, so named from the +founder of the dynasty, who began to reign at Taroudant and Morocco in +1524, and over all the empire in 1550, and the Sherfah El Fileli, or +Tafilett, whose ancestor was Muley Shereef Ben Ali-el-Hoseinee, and +assumed sovereign power at Tafilett in 1648, from which country he +extended his authority over all the provinces of that empire. Thus the +Shereefs began their reign in the middle of the seventeenth century, and +have now wielded the sword of the Prophet as Caliph of the West these +last two hundred years. I have not heard that there is anywhere a +dynasty of Shereefs except in this country. They are, therefore, +profoundly venerated by all true Mussulmen. It was a great error to +suppose that Abd-el-Kader could have succeeded in dethroning the Emperor +during the hostilities of the Emir against the lineal representative of +the Prophet. Abd-el-Kader is a marabout warrior, greatly revered and +idolized by all enthusiastic Mussulmen throughout North Africa, more +especially in Morocco, the _terre classique_ of holy-fighting men; but +though the Maroquines were disaffected, groaning under the avarice of +their Shereefian Lord, and occasionally do revolt, nevertheless they +would not deliberately set aside the dynasty of the Shereefs, the +veritable root and branch of the Prophet of God, for an adventurer of +other blood, however powerful in arms and in sanctity. + +Morocco is the only independent Mussulman kingdom remaining, founded by +the Saracens when they conquered North Africa. Tunis and Tripoli are +regencies of the Port of Tunis, having an hereditary Bey, while Tripoli +is a simple Pasha, removable at pleasure. Algeria has now become an +integral portion of France by the Republic. + +Muley Abd Errahman was nominated to the throne by the solemn and dying +request of his uncle, Muley Suleiman, to the detriment of his own +children. + +He belonged to one of the most illustrious branches of the reigning +dynasty. In the natural order of succession, he ought to have taken +possession of the Shereefian crown at the end of the last age; but, +being a child, his uncle was preferred; for Mahometan sovereigns and +empire are exposed to convulsions enough, without the additional dangers +and elements of strife attendant on regencies. + +In transmitting the sceptre to him, Muley Suleiman, therefore, only +performed an act of justice. + +Muley Abd Errahman, during his long reign, rendered the imperial +authority more solid than formerly, and established a species of +conservative government in a semi-barbarous country, and exposed to +continual commotions, like all Asiatic and African states. In governing +the multitudinous and heterogeneous tribes of his empire, his grand +maxim has ever been, like Austria, with her various states and hostile +interests of different people, "Divide et empera." When will sovereigns +learn to govern their people upon principles of homogenity of interests, +natural good will, and fraternal feeling? Alas! we have reason to fear, +never. It seems nations are to be governed always by setting up one +portion of the people against the other. + +Muley Abd Errahman was chosen by his uncle, on account of his pacific +and frugal habits, educated as he was by being made in early life the +administrator of the customs in Mogador, and as a prince likely to +preserve and consolidate the empire. The anticipations of the uncle have +been abundantly realized by the nephew, for Muley Abd Errahman, with the +exception of the short period of the French hostilities, (which was not +his own work and happened in spite of him), has preserved the intact +without, and quiet during the many years he has occupied the throne. + +His Moorish Majesty, who is advanced in life, is a man of middle +stature. He has dark and expressive eyes, and, as already observed, is a +mulatto of a fifth caste. Colour excites no prejudices either in the +sovereign or in the subject. This Emperor is so simple in his habits and +dress, that he can only be distinguished from his officers and governors +of provinces by the _thall_, or parasol, the Shereefian emblem of +royalty. The Emperor's son, when out on a military expedition, is also +honoured by the presence of the Imperial parasol, which was found in +Sidi Mohammed's tent at the Battle of Isly. Muley Abd Errahman is not +given to excesses of any kind, (unless avarice is so considered), though +his three harems of Fas, Miknas, and Morocco may be _stocked_, or more +politely, adorned, with a thousand ladies or so, and the treasures of +the empire are at his disposal. He is not a man of blood; [4] he rarely +decapitates a minister or a governor, notwithstanding that he frequently +confiscates their property, and sometimes imprisons them to discover +their treasures, and drain them of their last farthing. The Emperor +lives on good terms with the rest of his family. He has one son, +Governor of Fez (Sidi Mohammed), and another son, Governor of Rabat. The +greater part of the royal family reside at Tafilett, the ancient country +of the _Sherfah_, or Shereefs, and is still especially appropriated for +their residence. Ali Bey reported as the information of his time, that +there were at Tafilett no less than two thousand Shereefs, who all +pretended to have a right to the throne of Morocco, and who, for that +reasons enjoyed certain gratifications paid them by the reigning Sultan. +He adds that, during an interregnum, many of them took up arms and threw +the empire into anarchy. This state of things is happily past, and, as +to the number of the Shereefs at Tafilett, all that we know is, there is +a small fortified town, inhabited entirely by Shereefs, living in +moderate, if not impoverished circumstances. + +The Shereefian Sultans of Morocco are not only the successors of the +Arabian Sovereigns of Spain, but may justly dispute the Caliphat with +the Osmanlis, or Turkish Sultans. Their right to be the chiefs of +Islamism is better founded than the pretended Apostolic successors at +Rome, who, in matters of religion, they in some points resemble. + +I introduce here, with some unimportant variations, a translation from +Graeberg de Hemso of the Imperial Shereefian pedigree, to correspond with +the genealogical tableaux, which the reader will find in succeeding +pages, of the Moorish dynasties of Tunis and Tripoli. + + +GENEALOGY OF THE REIGNING DYNASTY OF MOROCCO. + +1. Ali-Ben-Abou-Thaleb; died in 661 of the Christian Era; surnamed "The +accepted of God," of the most ancient tribe of Hashem, and husband of +Fatima, styled Ey-Zarah, or, "The Pearl," only daughter of Mahomet. + +2. Hosein, or El-Hosein-es-Sebet, _i.e._ "The Nephew;" died in 1680; +from him was derived the patronymic El-Hoseinee, which all the Shereefs +bear, + +3. Hasan-el-Muthna, _i.e._ "The Striker;" died in 719; brother of +Mohammed, from whom pretended to descend, in the 16th degree, Mohammed +Ben Tumert, founder of the dynasty of the Almohadi, in 1120. + +4. Abdullah-el-Kamel, _i.e._ "The Perfect;" in 752, father of Edris, the +progenitor or founder of the dynasty of the Edristi in Morocco, and who +had six brothers. + +5. Mohammed, surnamed "The pious and just soul;" in 784, had five +children who were the branches of a numerous family. (Between Mohammed +and El-Hasem who follows, some assert that three gererations succeeded). + +6. El-Kasem, in 852; brother of Abdullah, from whom it is said the +Caliphs of Egypt and Morocco are descended. + +7. Ismail; about 890. + +8. Ahmed; in 901. + +9. El-Hasan; in 943. + +10. Ali; in 970, (excluded from the genealogy published by Ali Bey, but +noted by several good authorities). + +11. Abubekr; 996. + +12. El-Husan, in 1012. + +13. Abubekr El-Arfat, _i.e._ "The Knower," in 1043. + +14. Mohammed, in 1071. + +15. Abdullah, in 1109. + +16. Hasan, in 1132; brother of a Mohammed, who emigrated to Morocco. + +17. Mohammed, in 1174. + +18. Abou-el-Kasem Abd Errahman, in 1207. + +19. Mohammed, in 1236. + +20. El-Kaseru, in 1271, brother of Ahmed, who also emigrated into +Africa, and was father of eight children, one of whom was: + +21. El-Hasan, who, in 1266, upon the demand of a tribe of Berbers of +Moghrawa, was sent by his father into the kingdom of Segelmesa (now +Tafilett) and Draha, where, through his descendants, he became the +common progenitor of the Maroquine Shereefs. + +22. Mohammed, in 1367. + +23. El-Hasan, in 1391, by his son, Mohammed, he became grandfather of +Hosem, who, during 1507, founded the first dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs in Segelmesa, and the extreme south of Morocco, which dynasty, +after twelve years, made itself master of the kingdom of Morocco. + +24. Ali-es-Shereef, _i.e._ "The noble," died in 1437, was the first to +assume this name, and had, after forty years elapsed, two sons, the +first, Muley Mahommed, by a concubine, and the second: + +25. Yousef, by a legitimate wife; he retired into Arabia, where he died +in 1485. It was said of Yousef, that no child was born to him until his +eightieth year, when he had five children, the first born of which was, + +26. Ali, who died in 1527, and had at least, eighty male children. + +27. Mohammed, in 1691, brother of Muley Meherrez, a famous brigand, and +afterwards a king of Tafilett: this Mohammed was father of many +children, and among the rest-- + +28. Ali, who was called by his uncle from Zambo (?) into +Moghrele-el-Aksa Morocco about the year 1620, and died in 1632, after +having founded the second, and present, dynasty of the Hoseinee +Shereefs, surnamed the _Filei_, + +29. Muley Shereeff, died in 1652; he had eighty sons, and a hundred +and twenty-four daughters. + +30. Muley Ismail, in 1727. + +31. Muley Abdullah, in 1757. + +32. Sidi Mohammed, in 1789. + +33. Muley Yezeed, who assumed the surname of El-Mahdee _i.e._ "the +director," in 1792. + +34. Muley Hisham, in 1794. + +35. Muley Suleiman, in 1822. + +36. Muley Abd Errahman, nephew of Muley Suleiman and eldest son of +Muley Hisham, the reigning Shereefian prince. [5] + +In the Shereefian lineage of Muley Suleiman, copied for Ali Bey by the +Emperor himself, and which is very meagre and unsatisfactory, we miss +the names of the two brothers, the Princes Yezeed and Hisham, who +disputed the succession on the death of their father, Sidi Mohammed +which happened in April 1790 or 1789, when the Emperor was on a military +expedition to quell the rebellion of his son, Yezeed--the tyrant whose +bad fame and detestable cruelties filled with horror all the North +African world. The Emperor Suleiman evidently suppressed these names, as +disfiguring the lustre of the holy pedigree; although Yezeed was the +hereditary prince, and succeeded his father three days after his death, +being proclaimed Sultan at Salee with accustomed pomp and magnificence. +This monster in human shape, having excited a civil war against himself +by his horrid barbarities, was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow, +shot from a secret hand, and died in February 1792, the 22nd month of +his reign, and 44th year of his age. + +On being struck with the fatal weapon, he was carried to his palace at +Dar-el-Beida, where he only survived a single day; but yet during this +brief period, and whilst in the agony of dissolution, it is said, the +tyrant committed more crimes and outrages, and caused more people to be +sacrificed, than in his whole lifetime, determining with the vengeance +of a pure fiend, that if his people would not weep for his death they +should mourn for the loss of their friends and relations, like the old +tyrant Herod. How instinctively imitative is crime! Yezeed was of +course, not buried at the cross-roads, (Heaven forefend!) or in a +cemetery for criminals and infidels, for being a Shereef, and divine +(not royal) blood running in his veins, he was interred with great +solemnities at the mosque of _Kobah Sherfah_ (tombs of the Shereefs), +beside the mausoleums wherein repose the awful ashes of the princes and +kings, who, in ages gone by, have devastated the Empire of Morocco, and +inflicted incalculable miseries on its unfortunate inhabitants, whilst +plenarily exercising their divine right, to do wrong as sovereigns, or +as invested with inviolable Shereefian privileges as lineal successors +of the Prophets of God! [6] + +A civil war still followed this monster's death, and the empire was rent +and partitioned into three portions, in each of which a pretender +disputed for the possession of the Shereefian throne. The poor people +had now three tyrants for one. The two grand competitors, however, were +Muley Hisham, who was proclaimed Sultan in the south at Morrocco and +Sous, and Muley Suleiman, who was saluted as Emperor in the north at +Fez. In 1795, Hisham retired to a sanctuary where he soon died, and then +Muley Suleimau was proclaimed in the southern provinces +Emir-el-Monmeneen, and Sultan of the whole empire. + +Muley Suleiman proved to be a good and patriotic prince, "the Shereef of +Shereefs," whilst he maintained, by a just administration, tranquility +in his own state, and cultivated peace with Europe. During his long +reign of a quarter of a century, at a period when all the Christian +powers were convulsed with war, he wisely remained neutral, and his +subjects were happy in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity. He died on +the 28th March 1820, about the 50th year of his age, after having, with +his last breath declared his nephew, Muley Abd Errahman, the legitimate +and hereditary successor of the Shereefs, and so restoring the lineal +descent of these celebrated Mussulman sovereigns. The most glorious as +well as the most beneficent and acceptable act of the reign of Muley +Suleiman, so far as European nations were concerned, was the abolition +of Christian slavery in his States. In former times, the Maroquine +Moors, smarting under the ills inflicted upon them by Spain and +breathing revenge, subjected their Christian captives to more cruel +bondage, than, ever were experienced by the same victims of the Corsairs +in Algeria, the stronghold of this nefarious trade. + +The Shereefs have been accustomed to wrap themselves up in their sublime +indifference, as to the fate and fortunes of Europe. During late +centuries, their diplomatic intercourse with European princes has been +scarcely relieved by a single interesting event, beyond their piratical +wars and our complaisant redemptions of their prisoners. But, in the +reign of Louis XIV., Muley Ismail having heard an extremely seductive +account of the Princesse de Conti (Mademoiselle de Blois), natural +daughter of the Grand Monarch and Mademoiselle de la Valliere, by means +of his ambassador, Abdullah Ben Aissa, had the chivalrous temerity to +demand her in marriage. "Our Sultan," said the ambassador, "will marry +her according to the law of God and the Prophet, but she shall not be +forced to abandon her religion, or manner of living; and she will be +able to find all that her heart desires in the palace of my +sovereign--if it please God." + +This request, of course, could not be granted, but the "king of +Christian kings" replied very graciously, "that the difference alone of +religion prevented the consummation of the happiness of the Shereef of +Shereefs." This humble demand of the hand of the princess mightily +amused "the Court of Courts," and its hireling poets taxed their wit to +the utmost in chanting the praises of the royal virgin, who had attacked +the regards (or the growls) of the Numidian Tiger, as Muley Ismail was +politely designated. Take this as a specimen,-- + + "Votre beaute, grande princesse, + Porte les traits dont elle blesse + Jusques aux plus sauvages lieux: + L'Afrique avec vous capitule, + Et les conquetes de vos yeux + Vont plus loin que celles d'Hercule." + +The Maroquine ambassador, who was also grand admiral of the Moorish +navy, witnessing all the wonders of Paris at the epoch of the Great +Monarch, was dazzled with its beauty and magnificence; nevertheless, he +remained a good Mussulman. He was besides a grateful man, for he saw our +James II. in exile, who had given the admiral liberty without ransom +when he had been captured by English cruisers, and heartily thanked the +fallen prince for his own freedom whilst he condoled with him in his +misfortunes. But the Moorish envoy, in spite of his great influence, was +unable to conclude the treaty of peace, which was desired by France. On +his return to Morocco, the ambassador had so advanced in European ideas +of convenience, or civilization, that he attempted to introduce a taste +for Parisian luxury among his own countrymen. + +As in many other parts of the Mediterranean, France and England have +incessantly contended for influence at the Court of Morocco. Various +irregular missions to this Court have been undertaken by European +powers, from the first establishment of the Moorish empire of the West. +The French entered regularly into relations with the western Moors +shortly after us; their flag, indeed, began to appear at their ports in +1555, under Francis I. They succeeded in gaining the favour of the Moors +whilst we occupied Tangier, and Louis XIV. encouraged them in their +efforts to attack or harass our garrison. The nature of our struggles +with the Moors of Morocco can be at once conjectured from the titles of +the pamphlets published in those times, viz. + +"_Great_ and _bloody_ news of Tangier," (London 1680), and "The Moors +_blasted_, being a discourse concerning Tangier, especially when it was +under the Earl of Teviot," (London, 1681). But, after the peace of +Utrecht, conceding Gibraltar to England, and which more than compensated +us for the loss of Tangier, the influence of France in Morocco began to +wane, and the trade of this empire was absorbed by the British during +the 18th century. Then, in the beginning of our own age, the battle of +Trafalgar, and the fall of Napoleon, established the supremacy of +British influence over the minds of the Shereefs, which has not been yet +entirely effaced. + +Our diplomatic intercouse has been more frequent and interesting with +the Western Moors since the French occupation of Algeria, and we have +exerted our utmost to neutralize the spirit of the war party in Fez, +seconding the naturally pacific mind of Muley Abd Errahman, in order to +remove every pretext of the French for invading this country. How we +succeeded in a critical period will be mentioned at the close of the +present work. [7] But this port, and our influence receiving thereby a +great shock, I am happy to state that the latest account from this most +interesting Moorish country, represents Muley Abd Errahman as steadily +pursuing, by the assistance of his new vizier, Bouseilam, the most +pacific policy. This minister, being very rich, is enabled to +consolidate his power by frequent presents to his royal master, thus +gratifying the most darling passion of Muley Abd Errahman, and Vizier +and Sultan amuse themselves by undertaking plundering expeditions +against insurrectionary tribes, whose sedition they first stimulate, and +then quell, that is to say, by receiving from the unlucky rebels a +handsome gratification. + +The late Mr. Hay entered into a correspondence with the Shereefian Court +for the purpose of drawing its attention to the subject of the +slave-trade, and I shall make an extract or two from the letters, +bearing as they do on my present mission. + +From three letters addressed by the Sultan to Mr. Hay, I extract the +following passages. "Be it known to you, that the traffic in slaves is a +matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the +sons of Adam, (on whom be the peace of God up to this day). And we are +not yet aware of its being prohibited by the laws of any sect, and no +one need ask this question, the same being manifest to both high and +low, and requires no more demonstration than the light of the day." + +The Apostle of God is quoted as enforcing upon the master to give his +slave the same clothing as himself, and not to exact more labour from +him than he can perform. + +Another letter. "It has been prohibited to sell a Muslem, the sacred +_misshaf_, and a young person to an unbeliever," that is to any one who +does not profess the faith of Islam, whether Christian, Jew, or Majousy. +To make a present, or to give as in alms is held in the same light as a +sale. The said Sheikh Khalil also says, "a slave is emancipated by the +law if ill-treated, that is, whether he intends or does actually +ill-treat him. But whether a slave can take with him what he possesses +of property or no, is a matter yet undecided by the doctors of the law." + +Another. "Be it known to you, that the religion of Islam--may God exalt +it! has a solid foundation, of which the corner stones are well secured, +and the perfection whereof has been made known to us by God, to whom +belongs all praise in his book, the Forkam (or Koran,) which admits +neither of addition nor diminution. As regards the making of slaves and +trading therewith, it is confirmed by our book, as also of the _Sunnat_ +(or traditions) of our Prophet. There is no controversy among the +_Oulamma_ (doctors) on the subject. No one can allow what is prohibited +or prohibit that which is lawful." + +These extracts shew the _animus_ of the Shereefian correspondence. To +attack the Shereefs on this point of slavery, is to besiege the citadel +of their religion, or that is the interpretation which they are pleased +to put upon the matter; but all forms of bigotry and false principles +will ultimately succumb to the force of truth. + +It is necessary to persevere, to persevere always, and the end will be +obtained. + +I shall add a word or two on our treaties, or capitulations, as they are +disgracefully called, with the Empire of Morocco, intimating, as they +do, our former submission to the arrogant, piratical demands of the +Barbary Powers in the days of their corsair glory. Our political +relations with Morocco officially commenced in the times of Elizabeth, +or Charles I; but the formal treaty of peace was not concluded until the +last year of the reign of George I, which was ratified in 1729 by George +II, and by the Sultan Muley Ahmed-elt-Thabceby "The golden." Then +followed various other treaties for the security of persons and trade, +and against piracy. All, however, of any value, are embodied in the +treaty between Great Britain and Morocco, signed at Fez, 14th June 1801, +and confirmed, 19th January 1824 by the Sultan Muley Suleiman, which is +considered as still in force, and from which I shall extract two or +three articles, appending observations, for the purpose of shewing its +spirit and bearing on European commerce and civilization. Common sense +tells us that trade can only flourish where there is security for life +and property. We have to examine, whether this security is fully +guaranteed to British subjects, residing in and trading with the empire +to Morocco, by the treaty of 1801 and 1824. + +This treaty begins with consuls, and sufficiently provides for their +honour and safety. It then states the privilege of British subjects, and +more particulary of merchants, residing in, and wishing to engage in +commercial speculations in Morocco. These privileges are, on the whole, +also explicitly stated. Afterwards follows two articles on "disputes," +which clauses were amended and explained in January 1824, when the +treaty was confirmed. These are:-- + +"VII. Disputes between Moorish subjects and English subjects, shall be +decided in the presence of the English Consuls, provided the decision be +comformable to the Moorish law, in which case the English subject shall +not go before the Kady or Hakem, as the Consul's decision shall suffice. + +"VIII. Should any dispute occur between English subjects and Moors, and +that dispute should occasion a complaint from either of the parties, the +Emperor of Morocco shall only decide the matter. If the English subject +be guilty, he shall not be punished with more severity than a Moor would +be; should he escape, no other subject of the English nation shall be +arrested in his stead, and if the escape be made after the decision, in +order to avoid punishment, he shall be sentenced as a Moor would be who +had committed the same crime. Should any dispute occur in the English +territories, between a Moor and an English subject, it shall be decided +by an equal number of the Moors residing there and of Christians, +according to the custom of the place, if not contrary to the Moorish +law." + +In the amended clause of Article VIII. We have for any complaint, +substituted serious personal injury, and I cannot but observe that the +making of the Emperor the final judge, in such case, is a stretch of too +great confidence in Moorish justice. + +Not that a Sultan of Morocco is necessarily bad or worse than an +European Sovereign, but because a personage of such power and character, +armed with unbounded attributes of despotism over his own subjects, who +are considered his Abeed, or slaves, whilst feebly aided by the +perception of the common rights of men, and imperfectly acquainted with +European civilization, can never, unless, indeed by accident or miracle, +justly decide upon the case of an Englishman, or upon a dispute between +his own and a foreign subject; for besides the ideas and education of +the Emperor, there is the necessity which his Imperial Highness feels, +despot as he is, of exhibiting himself before his people as their +undoubted friend and partial judge. + +So strongly have Sultans of Morocco felt this, that many anecdotes might +be cited where the Emperor has indemnified the foreigner for injury done +to him by his own subjects, whilst he has represented to them that he +has decided the case against the stranger. It is surprising how a +British Government could surrender the settlement of the dispute of +their subjects to the final appeal of the Court of Morocco in the +nineteenth century, and, moreover, allow them to be decided, according +to the maxims of the Mohammedan code, or comformable to the Moorish law! +It is not long ago since, indeed just before my arrival in Morocco, that +the Emperor decided a dispute in rather a summary manner, without even +the usual Moorish forms of judicial proceedure by decapitating, a +quasi--European Jew, under French protection, and who once acted as the +Consul of France. + +There is something singularly deficient and wrong, although to persons +unacquainted with Barbary, it looks sufficiently fair and just, in the +provision--"he (the English guilty subject) shall not be punished with +more severity than a Moor could be," fairly made? In the first place, +although this does not come under the idea of "serious personal injury," +would the English people approve of their countrymen suffering the same +punishment as the Moors for theft, by cutting off their right hand? +Moors and Arabs have been so maimed for life, on being convicted of +stealing property to the value of a single shilling! Who will take upon +himself to enumerate the punishments, which may be, and are inflicted +for grave offences? It may be replied that this stipulation of punishing +British subjects, like Moorish, is only on paper, and we have no +examples of its being put into execution. I rejoin, without attempting +to cite proof, that, whilst such an article exists in a treaty, said to +be binding on the Government of England as well as Morocco, there can be +no real security for British subjects in this country; for in the event +of the Maroquines acting strictly upon the articles of this treaty, what +mode of inculpation, or what colour of right, can the British Government +adopt or shew against them? and what are treaties made for, if they do +not bind both parties? + +In illustration of the way in which British subjects have their disputes +sometimes settled, according to Articles VII and VIII, I take the +liberty of introducing the case of Mr. Saferty, a respectable Gibraltar +merchant, settled at Mogador. A few months before my arrival in that +place, this gentleman was adjudged, in the presence of his Consul, Mr. +Willshire, and the Governor of Mogador, for repelling an insult offered +to him by a Moor, and sentenced to be imprisoned with felons and +cut-throats in a horrible dungeon. However, Mr. Saferty was attended by +a numerous body of his friends; so when the sentence was given, a cry of +indignation arose, a scuffle ensued, and the prisoner was rescued from +the Moorish police-officers. Mr. Willshire found the means of patching +up the business with the Moorish authorities, and the case was soon +forgotten. "All's well that ends well." + +I do not say that the Moors are determinedly vindictive, or seek +quarrels with Europeans; on the contrary, I believe the cause of the +dispute frequently rests with the European, and the bona-fide agressor, +some adventurer whose conduct was so bad in his own country, that he +sought Barbary as a refuge from the pursuit of the minister of justice. +What I wish to lay stress on is, the enormous power given to the +Emperor, by a solemn treaty, in making him the final judge, and the +imminent exposure of British subjects to the barbarous punishments of a +semi-civilized people. + +Article X is a most singular one. "Renegades from the English nation, or +subjects who change their religion to embrace the Moorish, they being of +unsound mind at the time of turning Moors, shall not be admitted as +Moors, and may again return to their former religion; but if they +afterwards resolve to be Moors, they must abide by their own decision, +and their excuses will not be accepted." + +It was a wonderful discovery of our modern morale, that a renegade, +being a madman, should not be considered a renegade in earnest, or +responsible for his actions. Nevertheless, these unfortunate beings, +should they have better thoughts, or as mad-doctors have it, "a lucid +interval," and leave the profession of the Mahometan faith, and +afterwards again relapse into madness, and turn Mahometans once more, +are doomed to irretrievable slavery, or if they relapse, to death +itself; the Mahometan law, punishes relapsing renegades with death. This +curious clause says, "that though being madmen, they must abide their +decision (of unreason) and their excuses will not be accepted." This +said article was confirmed as late as the year 1824 by the +plenipotentiary of a nation, which boasts of being the most free and +civilized of Europe, and whose people spend annually millions for the +conversion of the heathen, and the extinction of the slave-trade. + +The last clause of Article IV also demands our attention, viz. "And if +any English merchant should happen to have a vessel in or outside the +port, he may go on board himself, or any of his people, without being +liable to pay anything whatever." + +Now in spite of this (but of course forgotten) stipulation, the +merchants of Mogador are not permitted to visit their own vessels, nor +those of other persons which may happen to be in or outside the port. It +is true, the authorities plead the reason of their refusal to be, "The +merchants are indebted to the Emperor:" neither will the authorities +take any security, and arbitrarily, and insolently prohibit, under any +circumstances, the merchants from visiting their vessels. I have said +enough to shew that our treaties (I beg the reader's pardon, +"capitulations") with the Emperor of Morocco, require immediate +revision, and to be amended with articles more suited to the spirit of +the age, and European civilization, as likewise more consistent with the +dignity of Great Britian. + +The treaty for the supply of provisions, especially cattle, to the +garrison of Gibraltar is either a verbal one, or a secret arrangement, +for no mention is made of it in the published state paper documents. It +is probably a mere verbal unwritten understanding, but, neverthelesss is +more potent in its working than the written treaties. This is not the +first time that the unwritten has proved stronger than the written +engagement. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The two different aspects by which the strength and resources of the +Empire of Morocco may be viewed or estimated.--Native appellation of +Morocco.--Geographical limits of this country.--Historical review of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this region was +successively peopled and conquered.--The distinct varieties of the human +race, as found in Morocco.--Nature of the soil and climate of this +country.--Derem, or the Atlas chain of mountains.--Natural +products.--The Shebbel, or Barbary salmon; different characters of +exports of the Northern and Southern provinces.--The Elaeonderron +Argan.--Various trees and plants.--Mines.--The Sherb-Errech, or +Desert-horse. + + +The empire of Morocco may be considered under two aspects, as to its +extent, and as to its influence. It may be greatly circumscribed or +expanded to an almost indefinite extent, according to the feelings, or +imagination, of the writer, or speaker. A resident here gave me a meagre +_tableau_, something like this, + + The city of Morocco 50,000 souls. + " Fez 40,000 " + " Mequinez 25,000 " + ------- + 115,000 " + +The maritime cities contain little more than 100,000 inhabitants, making +altogether about 220,000. Over the provinces of the south, Sous and +Wadnoun, the Sultan has no real power; so the south is cut off as an +integral portion of the empire. Over the Rif, or the northern Berber +provinces, the Sultan exercises a precarious sovereignty, every man's +gun or knife is there his law and authority. Fez contains a disaffected +population, teeming some years since with the adherents of Abd-el-Kader. +Then the Atlas is full of quasi-independent Berber tribes, who detest +equally the Arabs and the Moorish government; finally, Tafilett and the +provinces on the eastern side of the Atlas, are too remote to feel the +influence of the central government. + +As to military force, the Emperor's standing army does not amount to +more than 20 or 30,000 Nigritian troops, and all cavalry. The irregular +and contingent cavalry and infantry can never be depended upon, even +under such a chief as Abd-el-Kader was. They must always be fed, but +they will not, at any summons, leave the cultivation of their fields, or +their wives and children defenceless. + +As to the commerce of the Empire, with fifty ships visiting Mogador and +other maritime cities, the amount, per annum, does not exceed forty +millions of francs, or about a million and a half sterling including +imports and exports. Such is the view of the Empire on the depreciating +side. + +Another resident of this country gives the opposite or more favourable +view. + +The Sultan is the head of the orthodox religion of the Mussulmen of the +West, and more firmly established on his throne than the Sultan of the +Ottomans. His influence, as a sovereign Shereef, spreads throughout +Western Barbary and Central Africa, wherever there is a Mussulman to be +found. In the event of an enemy appearing in the shape of a Christian, +or Infidel, all would unite, including the most disjointed and hostile +tribes against the common foe of Islamism. + +The Sultan, upon an emergency or insurrection in his own empire, by the +politic distribution of titles of _Marabout_ (often used as a species of +degree of D.D.) and other honours attached to the Shereefian Parasol, +can likewise easily excite one chief against another, and consolidate +his power over their intestine divisions. His Moorish Majesty, at any +rate, has always actual possession in his favour; and, whether he really +governs the whole Empire or not, or to the extent which he has presumed +to mark out its boundaries, he can always proclaim to his disjointed +provinces that he does so govern it and exercise authority; and, in +general, he does succeed in making both his own people and foreign +nations believe in his pretensions, and acknowledge his power. + +The truth lies, perhaps, between these extremes. The Shereefs once +pretended to exercise authority over all Western Sahara as far as +Timbuctoo, that is to say, all that region of the great desert lying +west of the Touaricks. + +The account of the expedition of the Shereef Mohammed, who penetrated as +far as Wadnoun, and which took place more than three centuries ago, as +related by Marmol, leaves no doubt of the ancient ambition of the +sovereign of Morocco. And although this pretension has now been given +up, they still claim sovereignty over the oases of Touat, a month's +journey in the Sahara. Formerly, indeed, the authority of the Maroquine +Sultans over Touat and the south appears to have been more real and +effective. + +Diego de Torres relates that, in his time, the Shereefs maintained a +force of ten thousand cavalry in the provinces of Draha, Tafilett and +Jaguriri, and Monsieur Mouette counts Touat as one of the provinces of +the Empire. The Sheikh Haj Kasem, in the itinerary which he dictated to +Monsieur Delaporte, says that, about forty years ago, Agobli and +Taoudeni depended on Morocco. This, however, is what the people of +Ghadames told me, whilst they admitted that the oases neither did +contain a single officer of the Emperor, nor did the people pay his +Shereefian Highness the smallest impost. The Sultan's authority is now +indeed purely nominal, and the French look forward to the time when +these fine and centrally placed oases will form "une dependance de +l'Algerie." + +The only countries in the South which now pay a regular impost to the +Emperor, are Tafilett, limited to the valley of Fez, Wad-Draha as far as +the lake Ed-Debaia, and Sous. The countries of Sidi, Hashem, and Wadnoun +nominally acknowledge the Emperor, and occasionally send a present; but +the most mountainous, between Sous and Wad-Draha, which has been called +Guezoula or Gouzoula, and is said to be peopled by a Berber race, sprang +from the ancient Gelulir, is entirely independent. In the north and west +are also many quasi-independent tribes, but still the Emperor keeps up a +sort of authority over them; and, if nothing more, is content simply +with being called their Sultan. + +Maroquine Moors call their country El-Gharb, "The West," and sometimes +Mogrel-el-Aksa, that is "The far West:" [8] the name seems to have +originated something in the same way among the Saracenic conquerors, as +the "Far West" with the Anglo-Americans, arising from an apprehensive +feeling of indefinite extent of unexplored country. Among the Moors +generally, Morocco is now often called, "Blad Muley Abd Errahman", or +"Country of the Sultan Muley Abd Errahman." The northwestern portion of +Morocco was first conquered; Morocco Proper, Sous and Tafilett were +added with the progress of conquest. But scarcely a century has elapsed +since their union under one common Sultan, whilst the diverse population +of the four States are solely kept together by the interests and +feelings of a common religion. + +The Maroquine Empire, with its present limits, is bounded on the north +by the Mediterranean Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar, on the west by +the Atlantic Ocean and the Canary and Madeira Islands, on the south by +the deserts of Noun Draha and the Sahara, on the east by Algeria, the +Atlas, and Tafilett, on the borders of Sahara beyond their eastern +slopes. The greatest length from north to south is about five hundred +miles, with a breadth from east to west varying considerably at an +average of two hundred, containing an available or really _dependent_ +territory of some 137,400 square miles, or nearly as large as Spain; and +the whole is situate between the 28 deg. and 40 deg. N. Latitude. Monsieur +Benou, in his "Description Geographique de l'Empire de Maroc" says +Morocco "comprend une superficie d'environ 5,775 myriametres carres, un +peu plus grande, par consequant, que celle de la France, qui equivaut a +5,300." This then is the available and immediate territory of Morocco, +not comprising distant dependencies, where the Shereefs exercise a +precarious or nominal sovereignty. + +Previously to particularizing the population of Morocco, I shall take +the liberty of introducing some general observations on the whole of the +inhabitants of North Africa, and the manner in which this country was +successively peopled and conquered. Greek and Roman classics contain +only meagre and confused notions of the aborigines of North Africa, +although they have left us a mass of details on the Punic wars, and the +struggles which ensued between the Romans and the ancient Libyans, +before the domination of the Latin Republic could be firmly established. +Herodotus cites the names of a number of people who inhabited North +Africa, mostly confining himself to repeat the fables or the more +interesting facts, of which they were the object. + +The nomenclature of Strabo is neither so extensive, nor does it contain +more precise or correct information. He mentions the celebrated oasis of +Ammonium and the nation of the Nasamones. Farther west, behind Carthage +and the Numidians, he also notices the Getulians, and after them the +Garamantes, a people who appear to have colonized both the oasis of +Ghadames and the oases of Fezzan. Ptolemy makes the whole of the +Mauritania, including Algeria and Morocco, to be bounded on the south by +tribes, called Gaetuliae and Melanogaeluti, on the south the latter +evidently having contracted alliance of blood with the negroes. + +According to Sallust, who supports himself upon the authority of +Heimpsal, the Carthaginian historian, "North Africa was first occupied +by Libyans and Getulians, who were a barbarous people, a heterogeneous +mass, or agglomeration of people of different races, without any form of +religion or government, nourishing themselves on herbs, or devouring the +raw flesh of animals killed in the chase; for first amongst these were +found Blacks, probably some from the interior of Africa, and belonging +to the great negro family; then whites, issue of the Semitic stock, who +apparently constituted, even at that early period, the dominant race or +caste. Later, but at an epoch absolutely unknown, a new horde of +Asiatics," says Sallust, "of Medes, Persians, and Armenians, invaded the +countries of the Atlas, and, led on by Hercules, pushed their conquests +as far as Spain." [9] + +The Persians, mixing themselves with the former inhabitants of the +coast, formed the tribes called Numides, or Numidians (which embrace the +provinces of Tunis and Constantina), whilst the Medes and the Armenians, +allying themselves with the Libyans, nearer to Spain, it is pretended, +gave existence to a race of Moors, the term Medes being changed into +that of Moors. [10] + +As to the Getulians confined in the valleys of the Atlas, they resisted +all alliance with the new immigrants, and formed the principal nucleus +of those tribes who have ever remained in North Africa, rebels to a +foreign civilization, or rather determined champions of national +freedom, and whom, imitating the Romans and Arabs, we are pleased to +call Barbarians or Berbers (Barbari Braber [11]), and whence is derived +the name of the Barbary States. But the Romans likewise called the +aboriginal tribes of North Africa, Moors, or Mauri, and some contend +that Moors and Berbers are but two different names for the aboriginal +tribes, the former being of Greek and the latter of African origin. The +Romans might, however, confound the African term berber with barbari, +which latter they applied, like the Greeks, to all strangers and +foreigners. The revolutions of Africa cast a new tribe of emigrants upon +the North African coast, who, if we are to believe the Byzantine +historian, Procopius, of the sixth century, were no other than +Canaanites, expelled from Palestine by the victorious arms of Joshua, +when he established the Israelites in that country. Procopius affirms +that, in his time, there was a column standing at Tigisis, on which was +this inscription:--"We are those who fled from the robber Joshua, son of +Nun." [12] Now whether Tigisis was in Algeria, or was modern Tangier, as +some suppose, it is certain there are several traditions among the +Berber tribes of Morocco, which relate that their ancestors were driven +out of Palestine. Also, the Berber historian, Ebn-Khal-Doun, who +flourished in the fourteenth century, makes all the Berbers descend from +one Bar, the son of Mayigh, son of Canaan. However, what may be the +truths of these traditions of Sallust or Procopius, there is no +difficulty in believing that North Africa was peopled by fugitive and +roving tribes, and that the first settlers should be exposed to be +plundered by succeeding hordes; for such has been the history of the +migrations of all the tribes of the human race. + +But the most ancient historical fact on which we can depend is, the +invasion, or more properly, the successive invasions of North Africa by +the Phoenicians. Their definite establishment on these shores took place +towards the foundation of Carthage, about 820 years before our era. Yet +we know little of their intercourse or relations with the aboriginal +tribes. When the Romans, a century and a half before Christ, received, +or wrested, the rule of Africa from the Phoenicians, or Carthaginians, +they found before them an indigenous people, whom they indifferently +called Moors, Berbers, or Barbarians. A part of these people were called +also Nudides, which is perhaps considered the same term as nomades. + +Some ages later, the Romans, too weak to resist a vigorous invasion of +other conquerors, were subjugated by the Vandals, who, during a century, +held possession of North Africa; but, after this time, the Romans again +raised their heads, and completely expelled or extirpated the Vandals, +so that, as before, there were found only two people or races in Africa: +the Romans and the Moors, or aborigines. + +Towards the middle of the seventh century after Christ, and a few years +after the death of Mahomet, the Romans, in the decline of their power, +had to meet the shock of the victorious arms of the Arabians, who poured +in upon them triumphant from the East; but, too weak to resist this new +tide of invasion, they opposed to them the aborigines, which latter were +soon obliged to continue alone the struggle. + +The Arabian historians, who recount these wars, speak of _Roumi_ or +Romans (of the Byzantine empire) and the Braber--evidently the +aboriginal tribes--who promptly submitted to the Arabs to rid themselves +of the yoke of the Romans; but, after the retreat of their ancient +masters, they revolted and remained a long time in arms against their +new conquerors--a rule of action which all subjugated nations have been +wont to follow. Were we English now to attempt to expel the French from +Algeria, we, undoubtedly, should be joined by the Arabs; but who would, +most probably, soon also revolt against us, were we to attempt to +consolidate our dominion over them. + +In the first years of the eighth century, and at the end of the first +century of the Hegira, the conquering Arabs passed over to Spain, and, +inasmuch as they came from Mauritania, the people of Spain gave them the +name of Moors (that of the aborigines of North Africa), although they +had, perhaps, nothing in common with them, if we except their Asiatic +origin. Another and most singular name was also given to these Arab +warriors in France and other parts of Europe--that of Saracens--whose +etymology is extremely obscure. [13] From this time the Spaniards have +always given the names of Moors (_los Moros_), not only to the Arabs of +Spain, but to all the Arabs; and, confounding farther these two +denominations, they have bestowed the name of _Moros_ upon the Arabs of +Morocco and those in the environs of Senegal. + +The Arabs who invaded Northern Africa about 650, were all natives of +Asia, belonging to various provinces of Arabia, and were divided into +Ismaelites, Amalekites, Koushites, &c. They were all warriors; and it is +considered a title of nobility to have belonged to their first irruption +of the enthusiastic sons of the Prophet. + +A second invasion took place towards the end of the ninth century--an +epoch full of wars--during which, the Caliph Kaim transported the seat +of his government from Kairwan to Cairo, ending in the complete +submission of Morocco to the power of Yousef Ben Tashfin. One cannnot +now distinguish which tribe of Arabs belong to the first or the second +invasion, but all who can shew the slightest proof, claim to belong to +the first, as ranking among a band of noble and triumphant warriors. + +After eight centuries of rule, the Arabs being expelled from Spain, took +refuge in Barbary, but instead of finding the hospitality and protection +of their brethren, the greater part of them were pillaged or massacred. +The remnant of these wretched fugitives settled along the coast; and it +is to their industry and intelligence that we owe the increase, or the +foundation of many of the maritime cities. Here, considered as strangers +and enemies by the natives, whom they detested, the new colonists sought +for, and formed relations with Turks and renegades of all nations, +whilst they kept themselves separate from the Arabs and Berbers. This, +then, is the _bona-fide_ origin of the people whom we now generally call +Moors. History furnishes us with a striking example of how the expelled +Arabs of Spain united with various adventurers against the Berber and +North African Arabs. In the year 1500, a thousand Andalusian cavaliers, +who had emigrated to Algiers, formed an alliance with the Barbarossas +and their fleet of pirates; and, after expelling the native prince, +built the modern city of Algiers. And such was the origin of the +Algerine Corsairs. + +The general result of these observations would, therefore, lead us to +consider the Moors of the Romans, as the Berbers or aborigines of North +Africa, and the Moors of the Spaniards, as pure Arabians; and if, +indeed, these Arabian cavaliers marshalled with them Berbers, as +auxiliaries, for the conquest of Spain, this fact does not militate +against the broad assumption. + +The so-called Moors of Senegal and the Sahara, as well as those of +Morocco, are chiefly a mixture of Berbers, Arabs and Negroes; but the +present Moors located in the northern coast of Africa, are rather the +descendants from the various conquering nations, and especially from +renegades and Christian slaves. + +The term Moors is not known to the natives themselves. The people speak +definitely enough of Arabs and of various Berber tribes. The population +of the towns and cities are called generally after the names of these +towns and cities, whilst Tuniseen and Tripoline is applied to all the +inhabitants of the great towns of Tunis and Tripoli. Europeans resident +in Barbary, as a general rule, call all the inhabitants of towns--Moors, +and the peasants or people residents in tents--Arabs. But, in Tripoli, I +found whole villages inhabited by Arabs, and these I thought might be +distinguished as town Arabs. Then the mountains of Tripoli are covered +with Arab villages, and some few considerable towns are inhabited by +people who are _bona-fide_ Arabs. Finally, the capitals of North Africa +are filled with every class of people found in the country. + +The question is then where shall we draw the line of distinction in the +case of nationalities? or can we, with any degree of precision, define +the limits which distinguish the various races in North Africa? With +regard to the Blacks or negro tribes, there can be no great difficulty. +The Jews are also easily distinguished from the rest of the people as +well by their national features as by their dress and habits or customs +of living. But, when we come to the Berbers, Arabs, Moors and Turks, we +can only distinguish them in their usual and ordinary occupations and +manners of life. Whenever they are intermixed, or whenever they change +their position, that is to say, whenever the Arab or Berber comes to +dwell in a town, or a Moor or a Turk goes to reside in the country, +adopting the Arab or Berber dress and mode of living, it is no longer +possible to distinguish the one from the other, or mark the limitation +of races. + +And since it is seen that the aborigines of Northern Africa consisted, +with the exception of the Negro tribes, of the Asiatics of the Caucasian +race or variety, many of whom, like the Phoenicians, have peopled +various cities and provinces of Europe, it is therefore not astonishing +we should find all the large towns and cities of North Africa, where the +human being becomes _policed_, refined and civilized sooner than in +remote and thinly-inhabited districts, teeming with a population, which +at once challenges an European type, and a corresponding origin with the +great European family of nations. + +North Africa is wonderfully homogeneous in the matter of religion. The +people, indeed, have but one religion. Even the extraneous Judaism is +the same in its Deism--depression of the female--circumcision and many +of the religious customs, festivals and traditions. And this has a +surprising effect in assimilating the opposite character and sharpest +peculiarities of various races of otherwise distinct and independant +origin. + +The population of Morocco presents five distant races and classes of +people; Berbers, Arabs, Moors, Jews and Negroes. Turks are not found in +Morocco, and do not come so far west; but sons of Turks by Moorish women +in Kouroglies are included among the Moors, that have emigrated from +Algeria. Maroquine Berbers, include the varieties of the Amayeegh [14] +and the Shelouh, who mostly are located in the mountains, while the +Arabs are settled on the plains. + +The Moors are the inhabitants of towns and cities, consisting of a +mixture of nearly all races, a great proportion of them being of the +descendants of the Moors expelled from Spain. All these races have been, +and will still be, farther noticed in the progress of the work. The +proximate amount of this population is six millions. The greater number +of the towns and cities are situate on the coast, excepting the three or +four capitals, or imperial cities. The other towns of the interior +should be considered rather as forts to awe neighbouring tribes, or as +market villages (_souks_), where the people collect together for the +disposal and exchange of their produce. Numerous tribes, located in the +Atlas, escape the notice of the imposts of imperial authority. Their +varieties and amount of population are equally unknown. In the immense +group of Gibel Thelge (snowy mountains), some of the tribes are said to +have their faces shaved, like Christians, and to wear boots. We can +understand why a people inhabiting a cold region of rain and mists and +perpetual snow should wear boots; but as to their shaving like +Christians, this is rather vague. But it is not impossible the Atlas +contains the descendants of some European refugees. + +The nature of the soil and climate of Morocco are not unlike those of +Spain and Portugal; and though Morocco does not materially differ from +other parts of Barbary, its greater extent of coast on the Atlantic, +along which the tradewind of the north coast blows nine months out of +twelve, and its loftier ridges of the Atlas, so temper its varied +surface of hill and plain and vast declivities that, together with the +absence of those marshy districts which in hot climates engender fatal +disease, this country may be pronounced, excepting perhaps Tunis, the +most healthy in all Africa. + +In the northern provinces, the climate is nearly the same as that of +Spain; in the southern there is less rain and more of the desert heat, +but this is compensated for by the greater fertility in the production +of valuable staple articles of commerce. Nevertheless, Morocco has its +extremes of heat and cold, like all the North African coast. + +The most striking object of this portion of the crust of the globe, is +the vast Atlas chain of mountains [15], which traverses Morocco from +north-east to south-west, whose present ascertained culminating point, +Miltsin, is upwards of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, or equal +to the highest peaks of the Pyrenees. The Maroquine portion of the Atlas +contains its highest peaks, which stretch from the east of Tripoli to +the Atlantic Ocean, at Santa Cruz; and we find no mountains of equal +height, except in the tenth degree of North latitude, or 18,000 miles +south, or 30,000 south, south-east. The Rif coast has a mountainous +chain of some considerable height, but the Atlantic coast offers chiefly +ridges of hills. The coasts of Morocco are not much indented, and +consequently have few ports, and these offer poor protection from the +ocean. + +The general surface of Morocco presents a large ridge or lock, with two +immense declivities, one sloping N.W. to the ocean, with various rivers +and streams descending from this enormous back-bone of the Atlas, and +the other fulling towards the Sahara, S.E., feeding the streams and +affluents of Wad Draha, and other rivers, which are lost in the sands of +the Desert. This shape of the country prevents the formation of those +vast _Sebhahas_, or salt lakes, so frequent in Algeria and the south of +Tunis. We are acquainted only with two lakes of fresh or sweet +water--that of Debaia, traversed by Wad Draha,--and that of +Gibel-Akhder, which Leo compares to Lake Bolsena. The height of the +mountains, and the uniformity of their slopes, produce large and +numerous rivers; indeed, the most considerable of all North Africa. +These rivers of the North are shortest, but have the largest volume of +water; those of the South are larger, but are nearly dry the greater +part of the year. None of them are navigable far inland. Some abound +with fish, particularly the Shebbel, or Barbary salmon. It is neither so +rich nor so large as our salmon, and is whitefleshed; it tastes +something like herring, but is of a finer and more delicate flavour. +They are abundant in the market of Mogudor. The Shebbel, converted by +the Spaniards Sabalo, is found in the Guadalquivir. + +The products of the soil are nearly the same as in other parts of +Barbary. On the plains, or in the open country, the great cultivation is +wheat and barley; in suburban districts, vegetables and fruits are +propagated. In a commercial point of view, the North exports cattle, +grain, bark, leeches, and skins; and the South exports gums, almonds, +ostrich-feathers, wax, wool, and skins, as principle staple produce. +When the rains cease or fail, the cultivation is kept up by irrigation, +and an excellent variety of fruits and esculent vegetables are produced; +indeed, nearly all the vegetables and fruit-trees of Southern Europe are +here abundantly and successfully cultivated, besides those peculiar to +an African clime and soil. In the south, grows a tree peculiar to this +country, the Eloeondenron Argan, so called from its Arabic name Argan. +This tree produces fruit resembling the olive, whose egg-shaped, brown, +smooth and very hard stone, encloses a flat almond, of a white colour, +and of a very disagreeable taste, which, when crushed, produces a rancid +oil, used commonly as a substitute for olive-oil. The tree itself is +bushy and large, and sometimes grows of the size to a wide-spreading +oak. Not far from Mogador are several Argan forests. The level country +of the north is covered with forests of dwarfish oak; some bear sweet, +and others bitter acorns, and also the cork-tree, whose bark is a +considerable object of commerce. In the Atlas, has been found the +magnificent cedar of Lebanon. This tree has also been met with in +Algeria, but only on the mountains, some forty thousand feet above the +level of the sea. + +In the South there is, of course, growing in all its Saharan vigour, the +noble date-palm, and by its side, squats the palmetto, or dwarf-palm (in +Arabic _dauma_). Of trees and plants, the usual tinzah, and snouber or +pine of Aleppo, are used for preparing the fine leathers of Morocco. +Many plants are also deleteriously employed for exciting intoxication, +or inflaming the passions. + +Morocco has its mines of gold, silver, lead, iron, tin, sulphur, +mineral, salt, and antimony; but nearly all are neglected, or unworked. +Government will not encourage the industry of the people, for fear of +exciting the cupidity of foreigners. A Frenchman, a short time ago, +reported a silver mine in the south, and Government immediately bribed +him to make another statement that there was no such mine. At Elala and +Stouka, in the province of Sous, are several rich silver mines. Gold is +found in the Atlas and the Lower Sous. But this country is especially +rich in copper mines. A great number of ancient and modern authors speak +of these mines, which are situate in the mountainous country comprised +between Aghadir, Morocco, Talda, Tamkrout, and Akka. The mines most +worked, are those of Tedsi and Afran. At the foot of the Atlas, near +Taroudant, is a great quantity of sulphur. In the neighbourhood of +Morocco, saltpetre is found. In the province of Abda is an extensive +salt lake, and salt has been exported from this country to Timbuctoo. Of +precious stones, some fine specimens of amethyst have been discovered. + +There are scarcely any animals peculiar to Morocco, or which are not +found in other parts of North Africa. Davidson mentions some curious +facts relative to the desert horse; "_sherb-errech_, wind-bibber, or +drinker of the wind," a variety of this animal, which is not to be met +with in the Saharan regions of Tunis, or Tripoli. + +This horse is fed only on camel's milk, and is principally used for +hunting ostriches, which are run down by it, and then captured. [16] The +_sherb-errech_ will continue running three or four days together without +any food. It is a slight and spare-formed animal, mostly in wretched +condition, with ugly thick legs, and devoid of beauty as a horse. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Division of Morocco into kingdoms or States, and zones or regions.-- +Description of the towns and cities on the Maroquine coasts of the +Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.--The Zafarine Isles.--Melilla.-- +Alhucemas.--Penon de Velez.--Tegaza.--Provinces of Rif and Garet.-- +Tetouan.--Ceuta.--Arzila.--El Araish.--Mehedia.--Salee.--Rabat.-- +Fidallah.--Dar-el-Beidah.--Azamour.--Mazagran.--Saffee.--Waladia. + + +Morocco has been divided into States, or kingdoms by Europeans, although +such divisions scarcely exist in the administration of the native +princes. The ancient division mentioned by Leo was that of two large +provinces of Morocco and Fez, separated by the river Bouragrag, which +empties itself into the sea between Rabat and Salee; and, indeed, for +several centuries, these districts were separated and governed by +independent princes. Tafilett always, and Sous occasionally, were united +to Morocco, while Fez itself formed a powerful kingdom, extending itself +eastward as far as the gates of Tlemsen. + +The modern division adopted by several authors, is-- + +Northern, or the kingdom of Fez. Central, or the kingdom of Morocco. +Eastern, or the Province of Tafilett. Southern, or the province of Sous. +Some add to this latter, the Province of Draha. + +Then, a great number of districts are enumerated as comprehended in +these large and general divisions; but the true division of all +Mussulman States is into tribes. There is besides another, which more +approaches to European government, viz, into kaidats, or jurisdictions. +The name of a district is usually that of its chief tribe, and mountains +are denominated after the tribes that inhabit them. There is, of course, +a natural division, sometimes called a dividing into zones or specific +regions, which has already been alluded to in enumerating the natural +resources of Morocco, and which besides corresponds with the present +political divisions. + +I. The North of the Atlas: coming first, the Rif, or mountainous region, +which borders the Mediterranean from the river Moulwia to Tangier, +comprising the districts of Hashbat west, and Gharet and Aklaia east. +Then the intermediate zone of plains and hills, which extends from the +middle course of the Moulwia to Tangier on one coast, and to Mogador on +the other. + +II. The Central Region, or the great chain of the Atlas. The Deren [17] +of the natives, from the frontiers of Algeria east to Cape Gheer, on the +south-west. This includes the various districts of the Gharb, Temsna, +Beni Hasan, Shawia, Fez, Todla, Dukala, Shragno, Abda, Haha, Shedma, +Khamna, Morocco, &c. + +III. South of the Atlas: or quasi-Saharan region, comprising the various +provinces and districts of Sous, Sidi Hisham, Wadnoun, Guezoula, Draha +(Draa), Tafilett, and a large portion of the Sahara, south-east of the +Atlas. + +As to statistics of population I am inclined fully to admit the +statement of Signor Balbi that, the term of African statistics ought to +be rejected as absurd. Count Hemo de Graeberg, who was a long time Consul +at Tangier, and wrote a statistical and geographical account of the +empire of Morocco, states the number of the inhabitants of the town of +Mazagran to be two thousand. Mr. Elton who resided there several months, +assured me it does not contain more than one hundred. Another gentleman +who dwelt there says, three hundred. This case is a fair sample of the +style in which the statistics of population in Morocco are and have been +calculated. + +Before the occupation of Algeria by the French, all the cities were +vulgarly calculated at double, or treble their amount of population. +This has also been the case even in India, where we could obtain, with +care, tolerably correct statistics. The prejudices of oriental and +Africo-eastern people are wholly set against statistics, or numbering +the population. No mother knows the age of her own child. It is +ill-omened, if not an affront, to ask a man how many children he has; +and to demand the amount of the population of a city, is either +constructed as an infringement upon the prerogative of the omnipotent +Creator, who knows how many people he creates, and how to take care of +them, or it is the question of a spy, who is seeking to ascertain the +strength or weakness of the country. Europeans can, therefore, rarely +obtain any correct statistical information in Morocco: all is proximate +and conjectural. [18] I am anxious, nevertheless, to give some +particulars respecting the population, in order that we may really have +a proximate idea of the strength and resources of this important +country. In describing the towns and cities of the various provinces, I +shall divide them into, + +1. Towns and cities of the coast. + +2. Capital or royal cities. + +3. Other towns and remarkable places in the interior [19]. + +The towns and ports, on the Mediterranean, are of considerable interest, +but our information is very scanty, except as far as relates to the +_praesidios_ of Spain, or the well-known and much frequented towns of +Tetuan and Tangier. + +Near the mouth of the Malwia (or fifteen miles distant), is the little +town of Kalat-el-wad, with a castle in which the Governor resides. +Whether the river is navigable up to this place, I have not been able to +discover. The water-communication of the interior of North Africa is not +worth the name. Zaffarinds or Jafarines, are three isles lying off the +west of the river Mulweeah, at a short distance, or near its mouth. +These belong to Spain, and have recently been additionally fortified, +but why, or for what reason, is not so obvious. Opposite to them, there +is said to be a small town, situate on the mainland. The Spaniards, in +the utter feebleness and decadence of their power, have lately dubbed +some one or other "Captain-general of the Spanish possessions, &c. in +North Africa." + +Melilla or Melilah is a very ancient city, founded by the Carthaginians, +built near a cape called by the Romans, _Rusadir_ (now Tres-Forcas) the +name afterwards given to the city, and which it still retains in the +form of Ras-ed-Dir, (Head of the mountain). This town is the capital of +the province of Garet, and is said to contain 3,000 souls. It is situate +amidst a vast tract of fine country, abounding in minerals, and most +delicious honey, from which it is pretended the place receives its name. + +On an isle near, and joined to the mainland by a draw-bridge, is the +Spanish _praesidio_, or convict-settlement called also Melilla, +containing a population of 2,244 according to the Spanish, but Rabbi and +Graeberg do not give it more than a thousand. At a short distance, +towards the east, is an exceedingly spacious bay, of twenty-two miles in +circumference, where, they say, a thousand ships of war could be +anchored in perfect safety, and where the ancient galleys of Venice +carried on a lucrative trade with Fez. Within the bay, three miles +inland, are the ruins of the ancient city of Eazaza, once a celebrated +place. + +Alhucemos, is another small island and _praesidio_ of the Spaniards, +containing five or six hundred inhabitants; it commands the bay of the +same name, and is situate at the mouth of the river Wad Nechor, where +there is also the Islet of Ed-Housh. Near the bay, is the ancient +capital, Mezemma, now in ruins; it had, however, some commercial +importance in the times of Louis XIV., and carried on trade with France. + +Penon de Velez is the third _praesidio_-island, a convict settlement of +the Spaniards on this coast, and a very strong position, situate +opposite the mouths of the river Gomera, which disembogues in the +Mediterranean. The garrison contains some nine hundred inhabitants. So +far as natural resources are concerned, Penon de Velez is a mere rock, +and a part of the year is obliged to be supplied with fresh water from +the mainland. Immediately opposite to the continent is the city of +Gomera (or Badis), the ancient Parientina, or perhaps the Acra of +Ptolemy, afterwards called Belis, and by the Spaniards, Velez de la +Gomera. The name Gomera, according to J.A. Conde, is derived from the +celebrated Arab tribe of the Gomeres, who flourished in Africa and Spain +until the last Moorish kings of Granada. Count Graberg pretends Gomera +now contains three thousand inhabitants! whilst other writers, and of +later date, represent this ancient city, which has flourished and played +an important part through many ages, as entirely abandoned, and the +abode of serpents and hyaenas. Gellis is a small port, six miles east of +Velez de Gomera. + +Tegaza is a small town and port, at two miles or less from the sea near +Pescadores Point, inhabited mostly by fishermen, and containing a +thousand souls. + +The provinces of Rif and Garet, containing these maritime towns are rich +and highly cultivated, but inhabited by a warlike and semi-barbarous +race of Berbers, over whom the Emperor exercises an extremely precarious +authority. Among these tribes, Abd-el-Kader sought refuge and support +when he was obliged to retire from Algeria, and, where he defied all the +power of the Imperial government for several months. Had the Emir +chosen, he could have remained in Rif till this time; but he determined +to try his strength with the Sultan in a pitch battle, which should +decide his fate. + +The savage Rifians assemble for barter and trade on market-days, which +are occasions of fierce and incessant quarrels among themselves, when it +is not unusual for two or three persons to be left dead on the spot. +Should any unfortunate vessel strike on these coasts, the crew find +themselves in the hands of inhuman wreckers. No European traveller has +ever visited these provinces, and we may state positively that +journeying here is more dangerous than in the farthest wastes of the +Sahara. Spanish renegades, however, are found among them, who have +escaped from the _praesidios_, or penal settlements. The Rif country is +full of mines, and is bounded south by one of the lesser chains of the +Atlas running parallel with the coast. Forests of cork clothe the +mountain-slopes; the Berbers graze their herds and flocks in the deep +green valleys, and export quantities of skins. + +Tetuan, the Yagath of the Romans, situate at the opening of the Straits +of Gibraltar, four or five miles from the sea, upon the declivity of a +hill and within two small ranges of mountains, is a fine, large, rich +and mercantile city of the province of Hasbat. It has a resident +governor of considerable power and consequence, the name of the present +functionary being Hash-Hash, who has long held the appointment, and +enjoys great influence near the Sultan. Half a mile east of the city +passes from the south Wad Marteen, (the Cus of Marmol) which disembogues +into the sea; on its banks is the little port of Marteen or Marteel, not +quite two miles distant from the coast, and about three from the city, +where a good deal of commerce is carried on, small vessels, laden with +the produce of Barbary, sailing thence to Spain, Gibraltar, and even +France and Italy. The population of Tetouan is from nine to twelve +thousand souls, including, besides Moors and Arabs, four thousand Jews, +two thousand Negroes, and eight thousand Berbers. The streets are +generally formed into arcades, or covered bazaars. + +The Jews have a separate quarter; their women are celebrated for their +beauty. The suburbs are adorned with fine gardens, and olive and vine +plantations. Orange groves, or rather orange forests, extend for miles +around, yielding their golden treasures. A great export of oranges could +be established here, which might be conveyed overland to India. +Altogether, Tetuan is one of the most respectable coast-cities of +Morocco, though it has no port immediately adjoining it. Its +fortifications are only strong enough to resist the attack of hostile +Berbers. The town is about two-thirds of a day's journey from Tangier, +south-east. A fair day's journey would be, in Morocco, upwards of thirty +English miles, but a good deal depends upon the season of the year when +you travel. + +Ceuta is considered to be Esilissa of Ptolemy, and was once the capital +of Mauritania Tingitana. The Arabs call it Sebat and Sebta, _i.e._, +"seven," after the Romans, who called it _Septem fratres_, and the +Greeks the same, apparently on account of the seven mountains, which are +in the neighbourhood. Ceuta, or Sebta, is evidently the modern form of +this classic name. It is a very ancient city and celebrated fortress, +situate fourteen miles south of Gibraltar, nearly opposite to it, as a +species of rival stronghold, and placed upon a peninsula, which detaches +itself from the continent on the east, and turns then to the north. The +city extends over the tongue of land nearest the continent; the citadel +occupies Monte-del-Acho, called formerly Jibel-el-Mina, a name still +preserved in Almina, a suburb to the south-east. + +In the beginning of the eighth century, Ceuta, which was inhabited by +the Goths, passed into the hands of the Arabs, who made it a point of +departure for the expeditions into Spain. It was conquered by the +powerful Arab family of the Ben-Hamed, one of whom, called Mohammed +Edris, invaded Spain, and, after several conquests, was proclaimed King +of Cordova, in A.D. 1,000, + +On 21st of August, 1415, the Portuguese conquered it, and it was the +first place which they occupied in Africa. In 1578, at the death of Don +Sebastian, Ceuta passed with Portugal and the rest of the colonies into +the power of Spain; and when, in 1640, the Portuguese recovered their +independence, the Spaniards were left masters of Ceuta, which continues +still in their hands, but is of no utility to them except as a +_praesidio_, which makes the fourth penal settlement possessed by them +on this coast. + +Ceuta contains a garrison of two or three thousand men. The free +population amounts to some five or six thousand. It has a small and +insecure port. Here is the famed Gibel Zaterit, "Monkey's promontory," +or "Ape's Hill," which has occasioned the ingenious fable, that, +inasmuch as there are no monkeys in any part of Europe except Gibraltar, +directly opposite to this rock, where also monkeys are found, there must +necessarily be a subterranean passage beneath the sea, by which they +pass and re-pass to opposite sides of the Straits, and maintain a +friendly and uninterrupted intercourse between the brethren of Africa +and Europe. Anciently, the mountains hereabouts formed the African +pillars of Hercules opposite to Gibraltar, which may be considered the +European pillar of that respectable hero of antiquity. + +Passing Tangier after a day's journey, we come to Arzila or Asila, in +the province of Hasbat, which is an ancient Berber city, and which, when +conquered by the Romans, was named first Zilia and afterwards Zulia, +_Constantia Zilis_. It is placed on the naked shores of the Atlantic, +and has a little port. Whilst possessed by the Portuguese, it was a +place of considerable strength, but its fortifications being, as usual, +neglected by the Moors, are now rapidly decaying. [20] The population is +about one thousand. The country around produces good tobacco. The next +town on the Atlantic, after another day's journey southwards, is El +Araish, _i.e._, the trellices of vines; vulgarly called Laratsh. This +city replaces the ancient Liscas or Lixus and Lixa, whose ruins are +near. The Arabs call it El-Araish Beai-Arous, _i.e._, the vineyards of +the Beni-Arous, a powerful tribe, who populate the greater part of the +district of Azgar, of which it is the capital and the residence of the +Governor. It was, probably, built by this tribe about 1,200 or 1,300, +AD. El-Araish contains a population of 2,700 Moors, and 1,300 Jews, or +4,000 souls; but others give only 2,000 for the whole amount, of which +250 are Jews. It has a garrison of 500 troops. The town is situate upon +a small promontory stretching into the sea, and along the mouth of the +river Cos, or Luccos (Loukkos), which forms a secure port, but of so +difficult access, that vessels of two hundred tons can scarcely enter +it. In winter, the roadstead is very bad; [21] the houses are +substantially built; and the fortifications are good, because made by +the Spaniards, who captured this place in 1610, but it was re-taken by +Muley Ishmael in 1689. The climate is soft and delicious. In the +environs, cotton is cultivated, and charcoal is made from the Araish +forest of cork-trees. El-Araish exports cork, wool, skins, bark, beans, +and grain, and receives in exchange iron, cloth, cottons, muslins, sugar +and tea. The lions and panthers of the mountains of Beni Arasis +sometimes descend to the plains to drink, or carry off a supper of a +sheep or bullock. Azgar, the name of this district, connects it with one +of the powerful tribes of the Touaricks; and, probably, a section of +this tribe of Berbers were resident here at a very early period (at the +same time the Berber term _ayghar_ corresponds to the Arabic _bahira_, +and signifies "plain.") + +The ancient Lixus deserves farther mention on account of the interest +attached to its coins, a few of which remain, although but very recently +deciphered by archeologists. There are five classes of them, and all +Phoenician, although the city now under Roman rule, represents the +vineyard riches of this part of ancient Mauritania by two bunches of +grapes, so that, after nearly three thousand years, the place has +retained its peculiarity of producing abundant vines, El-Araish, being +"the vine trellices;" others have stamped on them "two ears of corn" and +"two fishes," representing the fields of corn waving on the plains of +Morocco, and the fish (shebbel especially) which fills its northern +rivers. + +Strabo says:--"Mauritania generally, excepting a small part desert, is +rich and fertile, well watered with rivers and washed with lakes; +abounding in all things, and producing trees of great dimensions." +Another writer adds "this country produces a species of the vine whose +trunk the extended arms of two men cannot embrace, and which yields +grapes of a cubit's length." "At this city," says Pliny, "was the palace +of Antaeus, and his combat with Hercules and the gardens of Hesperides." + +Mehedia or Mamora, and sometimes, Nuova Mamora, is situate upon the +north-western slope of a great hill, some four feet above the sea, upon +the left bank of the mouth of the Sebon, and at the edge of the +celebrated plain and forest of Mamora, belonging to the province of +Beni-Hassan. According to Marmol, Mamora was built by Jakob-el-Mansour +to defend the embouchure of the river. It was captured by the Spaniards +in 1614, and retaken by the Moors in 1681. The Corsairs formerly took +refuge here. It is now a weak and miserable place, commanded by an old +crumbling-down castle. There are five or six hundred fishermen, +occupying one hundred and fifty cabins, who make a good trade of the +Shebbel salmon; it has a very small garrison. The forest of Mamora, +contains about sixty acres of fine trees, among which are some splendid +oaks, all suitable for naval construction. + +Salee or Sala, a name which this place bore antecedently to the Roman +occupation, is a very ancient city, situate upon the right bank of the +river Bouragrag, and near its mouth. This place was captured in 1263, by +Alphonso the Wise, King of Castille, who was a short time after +dispossessed of his conquest by the King of Fez; and the Moorish Sultans +have kept it to the present time, though the city itself has often +attempted to throw off the imperial yoke. The modern Salee is a large +commercial and well-fortified city of the province of Beni-Hassan. Its +port is sufficiently large, but, on account of the little depth of +water, vessels of large burden cannot enter it. The houses and public +places are tolerably well-built. The town is fortified by a battery of +twenty-four pieces of cannon fronting the sea, and a redoubt at the +entrance of the river. What navy the Maroquines have, is still laid up +here, but the dock-yard is now nearly deserted, and the few remaining +ships are unserviceable. The population, all of whom are Mahometans, are +now, as in Corsair times, the bitterest and most determined enemies of +Christians, and will not permit a Christian or Jew to reside among them. +The amount of this population, and that of Rabat, is thus given, + + _Salee Rabat_ + Graeberg 23,000 27,000 + Washington 9,000 21,000 + Arlett 14,000 24,000 + +but it is probably greatly exaggerated. + +A resident of this country reduces the population of Salee as low as two +or three thousand. For many years, the port of Salee was the rendezvous +of the notorious pirates of Morocco, who, together with the city of +Rabat, formed a species of military republic almost independent of the +Sultan; these Salee rovers were at once the most ferocious and +courageous in the world. Time was, when these audacious freebooters lay +under Lundy Island in the British Channel, waiting to intercept British +traders! "Salee," says Lempriere, "was a place of good commerce, till, +addicting itself entirely to piracy, and revolting from the allegiance +to its Sovereign, Muley Zidan, that prince in the year 1648, dispatched +an embassy to King Charles 1, of England, requesting him to send a +squadron of men-of-war to lie before the town, while he attacked by +land." This request being acceded to, the city was soon reduced, the +fortifications demolished, and the leaders of the rebellion put to +death. The year following, the Emperor sent another ambassador to +England, with a present of Barbary horses and three hundred Christian +slaves. + +Rabat, or Er-Rabat, and on some of the foreign maps Nuova Sale, is a +modern city of considerable extent, densely populated, strong and +well-built, belonging to the province of Temsna. It is situated on the +declivity of a hill, opposite to Salee, on the other side of the river, +or left side of the Bouragrag, which is as broad as the Thames at +London Bridge, and might be considered as a great suburb, or another +quarter of the same city. It was built by the famous Yakob-el-Mansour, +nephew of Abd-el-Moumen, and named by him Rabat-el-Fatah, _i.e._, "camp +of victory," by which name it is now often mentioned. + +The walls of Rabat enclose a large space of ground, and the town is +defended on the seaside by three forts, erected some years ago by an +English renegade, and furnished with ordnance from Gibraltar. Among the +population are three or four thousand Jews, some of them of great wealth +and consequence. The merchants are active and intelligent, carrying on +commerce with Fez, and other places of the interior, as also with the +foreign ports of Genoa, Gibraltar, and Marseilles. In the middle ages, +the Genoese had a great trade with Rabat, but this trade is now removed +to Mogador, Many beautiful gardens and plantations adorn the suburbs, +deserving even the name of "an earthly paradise." + +The Moors of Rabat are mostly from Spain, expelled thence by the +Spaniards. The famous Sultan, Almanzor, intended that Rabat should be +his capital. His untenanted mausoleum is placed here, in a separate and +sacred quarter. This prince, surnamed "the victorious," (Elmansor,) was +he who expelled the Moravedi from Spain. He is the Nero of Western +Africa, as Keatinge says, their "King Arthur." Tradition has it that +Elmansor went in disguise to Mecca, and returned no more. Mankind love +this indefinite and obscure end of their heroes. Moses went up to the +mountain to die there in eternal mystery. At a short distance from Rabat +is Shella, or its ruins, a small suburb situated on the summit of a +hill, which contains the tombs of the royal family of the Beni-Merini, +and the founder of Rabat, and is a place of inviolate sanctity, no +infidel being permitted to enter therein. Monsieur Chenier supposes +Shella to have been the site of the metropolis of the Carthaginian +colonies. + +Of these two cities, on the banks of the Wad-Bouragrag, Salee was, +according to D'Anville, always a place of note as at the present time, +and the farthest Roman city on the coast of the Atlantic, being the +frontier town of the ancient Mauritania Tingitana. Some pretend that all +the civilization which has extended itself beyond this point is either +Moorish, or derived from European colonists. The river Wad-Bouragrag is +somewhat a natural line of demarcation, and the products and animals of +the one side differ materially from those of the other, owing to the +number and less rapid descent of the streams on the side of the north, +and so producing more humidity, whilst the south side, on the contrary, +is of a higher and drier soil. + +Fidallah, or Seid Allah, _i. e_., "grace," or "gift of God," is a +maritime village of the province of Temsa, founded by the Sultan +Mohammed in 1773. It is a strong place, and surrounded with walls. +Fidallah is situated on a vast plain, near the river Wad Millah, where +there is a small port, or roadstead, to which the corsairs were wont to +resort when they could not reach Salee, long before the village was +built, called Mersa Fidallah. The place contains a thousand souls, +mostly in a wretched condition. Sidi Mohammed, before he built Mogador, +had the idea of building a city here; the situation is indeed +delightful, surrounded with fertility. + +Dar-el-Beida (or Casa-Blanco, "white house,") is a small town, formerly +in possession of the Portuguese, who built it upon the ruins of Anfa or +Anafa, [22] which they destroyed in 1468. They, however, scarcely +finished it when they abandoned it in 1515. Dar-el-Beida is situate on +the borders of the fertile plains of the province of Shawiya, and has a +small port, formed by a river and a spacious bay on the Atlantic. The +Romans are said to have built the ancient Anafa, in whose time it was a +considerable place, but now it scarcely contains above a thousand +inhabitants, and some reduce them to two hundred. Sidi Mohammed +attempted this place, and the present Sultan endeavoured to follow up +these efforts. A little commerce with Europe is carried on here. The bay +will admit of vessels of large burden anchoring in safety, except when +the wind blows strong from the north-west. Casa Blanco is two days +journey from Rabat, and two from Azamor, or Azemmour, which is an +ancient and fine city of the province of Dukaila, built by the Amazigh +Berbers, in whose language it signifies "olives." It is situate upon a +hill, about one hundred feet above the sea, and distant half a mile from +the shore, not far from the mouth of the Wad-Omm-er-Rbia (or Omm-Erbegh) +on its southern bank, and is everywhere surrounded by a most fertile +soil. Azamor contains now about eight or nine hundred inhabitants, but +formerly was much more populated. The Shebbel salmon is the principal +commerce, and a source of immense profit to the town. The river is very +deep and rapid, so that the passage with boats is both difficult and +dangerous. It is frequently of a red colour, and charged with slime like +the Nile at the period of its inundations. The tide is felt five or six +leagues up the river, according to Chenier. Formerly, vessels of every +size entered the river, but now its mouth has a most difficult bar of +sand, preventing large vessels going up, like nearly all the Maroquine +ports situate on the mouths, or within the rivers. + +Azamor was taken by the Portuguese under the command of the Duke of +Braganza in 1513 who strengthened it by fortifications, the walls of +which are still standing; but it was abandoned a century afterwards, the +Indies having opened a more lucrative field of enterprise than these +barren though honourable conquests on the Maroquine coast. This place is +half a day's journey, or about fourteen miles from Mazagran, _i. e_. the +above Amayeeghs, an extremely ancient and strong castle, erected on a +peninsula at the bottom of a spacious and excellent bay. It was rebuilt +by the Portuguese in 1506, who gave it the name of Castillo Real. The +site has been a centre of population from the remotest period, chiefly +Berbers, whose name it still bears. The Arabs, however, call it +El-Bureeja, i.e., "the citadel." The Portuguese abandoned it in 1769; +Mazagran was the last stronghold which they possessed in Morocco. The +town is well constructed, and has a wall twelve feet thick, strengthened +with bastions. There is a small port, or dock, on the north side of the +town, capable of admitting small vessels, and the roadstead is good, +where large vessels can anchor about two miles off the shore. Its +traffic is principally with Rabat, but there is also some export trade +to foreign parts. Its population is two or three hundred. [23] After +proceeding two days south-west, you arrive at Saffee, or properly +Asafee, called by the natives Asfee, and anciently Soffia or Saffia, is +a city of great antiquity, belonging to the province of Abda, and was +built by the Carthaginians near Cape Pantin. Its site lies between two +hills, in a valley which is exposed to frequent inundations. The +roadstead of Saffee is good and safe during summer, and its shipping +once enabled it to be the centre of European commerce on the Atlantic +coast. The population amounts to about one thousand, including a number +of miserable Jews. The walls of Saffee are massy and high. The +Portuguese captured this city in 1508, voluntarily abandoning it in +1641. The country around is not much cultivated, and presents melancholy +deserts; but there is still a quantity of corn grown. About forty miles +distant, S.E., is a large salt lake. Saffee is one and a half day's +journey from Mogador. + +Equidistant between Mazagran and Saffee is the small town of El-Waladia, +situate on an extensive plain. Persons report that near this spot is a +spacious harbour, or lagune, sufficiently capacious to contain four or +five hundred sail of the line; but, unfortunately, the entrance is +obstructed by some rocks, which, however, it is added, might easily be +blown up. The lagune is also exposed to winds direct for the ocean. The +town, enclosed within a square wall, and containing very few +inhabitants, is supposed to have been built in the middle of the +seventeenth century by the Sultan Waleed. after whom it was named. + +This brings us to Mogador, which, with Aghadir, have already been +described. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.-- +El-Kesar.--Mequinez.--Fez.--Morocco.--The province of Tafilett, the +birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs. + + +The royal or capitals of the interior now demand our attention, which +are El-Kesar, Mequinez, Fez, and Morocco. + +El-Kesar, or Al-Kesar, [24] styled also El-Kesue-Kesar, is so named and +distinguished because it owes its enlargement to the famous Sultan of +Fez, Almansor, who improved and beautified it about the year 1180, and +designed this city as a magazine and rendezvous of troops for the great +preparations he was making at the time for the conquest of Granada. +El-Kesar is in the province of the Gharb, and situate on the southern +bank of the Luccos; here is a deep and rapid stream, flowing W. 1/4 N.W. +The town is nearly as large as Tetuan, but the streets are dirty and +narrow, and many of the houses in a ruinous condition, This fortified +place was once adorned by some fifteen mosques, but only two or three +are now fit for service. The population does not exceed four or five +thousand souls, and some think this number over-estimated. + +The surrounding country is flat meadowland, but flooded after the rains, +and producing fatal fevers, though dry and hot enough in summer. The +suburban fields are covered with gardens and orchards. It was at +El-Kesar, where, in A.D. 1578, the great battle of The Three Kings came +off, because, besides the Portuguese King, Don Sebastian, two Moorish +princes perished on this fatal day. But one of them, Muley Moluc, died +very ill in a litter, and was not killed in the fight; his death, +however, was kept a secret till the close of the battle, in order that +the Moors might not be discouraged. With their prince, Don Sebastian, +perished the flower of the Portuguese nobility and chivalry of that +time. War, indeed, was found "a dangerous game" on that woeful day: both +for princes and nobles, and many a poor soul was swept away + + "Floating in a purple tide." + +But the "trade of war" has been carried on ever since, and these +lessons, written in blood, are as useless to mankind as those dashed off +by the harmless pen of the sentimental moralist. El-Kesar is placed in +Latitude, 35 deg. 1 10" N.; Longitude, 5 deg. 49' 30" W. + +Mequinez, [25] in Arabic, Miknas (or Miknasa), is a royal residence, and +city of the province of Fez, situate upon a hill in the midst of a +well-watered and most pleasant town, blessed with a pure and serene air. +The city of Miknas is both large and finely built, of considerable +interest and of great antiquity. It was founded by the tribe of Berbers +Meknasab, a fraction of the Zenatah, in the middle of the tenth century, +and called Miknasat, hence is derived its present name. The modern town +is surrounded with a triple wall thirteen feet high and three thick, +enclosing a spacious area. This wall is mounted with batteries to awe +the Berbers of the neighbouring mountains. The population amounts to +about twenty thousand souls, (some say forty or fifty thousand) in which +are included about nine thousand Negro troops, constituting the greater +portion of the Imperial guard. Two thousand of these black troops are in +charge of the royal treasures, estimated at some fifty millions of +dollars, and always increasing. These treasures consist of jewels, bars +of gold and silver, and money in the two precious metals, the greater +part being Spanish and Mexican dollars. + +The inhabitants are represented as being the most polished of the Moors, +kind and hospitable to strangers. The palace of the Emperor is extremely +simple and elegant, all the walls of which are _embroidered_ with the +beautiful stucco-work of Arabesque patterns, as pure and chaste as the +finest lace. The marble for the pillars was furnished from the ruins +adjacent, called Kesar Faraoun, "Castle of Pharoah" (a name given to +most of the old ruins of Morocco, of whose origin there is any doubt). + +During the times of piracy, there was here, as also at Morocco, a +Spanish hospitium for the ransom and recovery of Christian slaves. Even +before Mequinez was constituted a royal city, it was a place of +considerable trade and riches. Nothing of any peculiar value has been +discovered among the extensive and ancient ruins about a mile distant, +and which have furnished materials for the building of several royal +cities; they are, however, supposed to be Roman. Scarcely a day's +journey separates Mequinez from Fez. It is not usual for two royal +cities to be placed so near together, but which must render their +fortunes inseparable. + +Fez, or Fas. According to some, the name Fas, which signifies in Arabia +a pickaxe, was given to it because one was found in digging its +foundations. Others derive it from Fetha, silver. It is no longer the +marvellous city described by Leo Africanus, yet its learning, wealth, +and industry place it in the first rank of the cities of Morocco. During +the eighth century, the Arabs, masters of Tunis, of all Algeria, and the +maritime cities of Morocco, seemed to think only of invading Europe and +consolidating their power in Spain; but at this epoch, a descendant of +Ali and Fatima, Edris Ben Abdalluh, quitted Arabia, passed into Morocco, +and established himself at Oualili, the capital, where he remained till +his death, and where he was buried. His character was generally known +and venerated for its sanctity, and drew upon him the affectionate +regard of the people, and all instinctively placed themselves near him +as a leader of the Faithful, likely to put an end to anarchy, and +establish order in the Mussulman world. His son, Edris-Ben-Edris, who +inherited his virtues and influence, offering a species of ancient +prototype to Abd-el Kader and his venerable father, Mahadin, was the +first _bona-fide_ Mussulman sovereign of the Maroquine empire, and +founded Fez. + +Fez is a most ancient centre of population, and had long been a famed +city, before Muley Edris, in the year A.D. 807 (others in 793), gave it +its present form and character. + +From that period, however, Fez [26] dates its modern celebrity and rank +among the Mahometan capitals of the world, and especially as being the +second city of Islamism, and the "palace of the Mussulmen Princes of the +West." That the Spanish philologists should make Fut, of the Prophet +Nahum, to be the ancient capital of Fez, is not remarkable, considering +the numerous bands of emigrants, who, emerging from the coast, wandered +as far as the pillars of Hercules; and, besides, in a country like North +Africa, the theatre of so many revolutions, almost every noted city of +the present period has had its ancient form, from which it has been +successively changed. + +The modern capital is placed in a valley upon the gentle slope of +several hills by which it is surrounded, and whose heights are crowned +with lovely gardens breathing odoriferous sweets. Close by is a little +river, or a branch of the Tebou, named Wad-el-Juhor, or "streamlet," +which supplies the city with excellent water. + +The present buildings are divided into old and new Fez. The streets are +so narrow that two men on horseback could scarcely ride abreast; they +are, besides, very dark, and often arched over. Colonel Scott represents +some of the streets, however, as a mile in length. The houses are high, +but not handsome. The shops are numerous and much frequented, though not +very fine in appearance. Fez contains no less than seven hundred +mosques, fifty of which are superb, and ornamented with fine columns of +marble; there is, besides, a hundred or more of very small and ill-built +mosques, or rather, houses of prayer. The most famous of these temples +of worship is El-Karoubin (or El-Karouiin), supported by three hundred +pillars. In this is preserved the celebrated library of antiquity, +where, it is pretended, ancient Greek and Latin authors are to be found +in abundance with the lost books of Titus Livy. + +This appears to be mere conjecture. [27] But the mosque the more +frequented and venerated, is that dedicated to the founder of the city, +Muley Edris, whose ashes repose within its sacred enclosure. So +excessive is this "hero-worship" for this great sultan, that the people +constantly invoke his name in their prayers instead of that of the +Deity. The mausoleum of this sacro-santo prince is inviolable and +unapproachable. The university of Fez was formally much celebrated, but +little of its learning now remains. Its once high-minded orthodox mulahs +are now succeeded by a fanatic and ignorant race of marabouts. +Nevertheless, the few _hommes de lettres_ found in Morocco are +congregated here, and the literature of the empire is concentrated in +this city. Seven large public schools are in full activity, besides +numbers of private seminaries of instruction. The low humour of the +talebs, and the fanaticism of the people, are unitedly preserved and +developed in this notorious doggerel couplet, universally diffused +throughout Morocco:-- + + _Ensara fee Senara + Elhoud fee Sefoud_ + + "Christians on the hook + Jews on the spit," or + + "Let Christians be hooked, + And let Jews be cooked." + +The great division of the Arabic into eastern and western dialects makes +little real difference in a practical point of view. The Mogrebbin, or +western, is well understood by all travellers, and, of course, by all +scholars from the East. + +The palace of the Sultan is not large, but is handsome. There are +numerous baths, and an hospital for the mad or incurable. The population +was estimated, not long ago, at 88,000 souls, of which there were 60,000 +Moors and Arabs (the Moors being chiefly immigrants from Spain), 10,000 +Berbers, 8,000 Jews, and 10,000 Negroes. But this amount has been +reduced to 40,000, or even 30,000; and the probability is, the present +population of Fez does not by any means, exceed 50,000, if it reaches +that number. Nearly all the Jews reside in the new city, which, by its +position, dominates the old one. The inhabitants of Fez, in spite of +their learning and commerce, are distinguished for their fanaticism; and +an European, without an escort of troops, cannot walk in the streets +unless disguised. It was lately the head-quarters of the fanatics who +preached "the holy war," and involved the Emperor in hostilities with +the French. + +The immense trade of every kind carried on at Fez gives it almost the +air of an European city. In the great square, called Al-Kaisseriah, is +exhibited all the commerce of Europe and Africa--nay, even of the whole +world. The crowd of traffickers here assemble every day as at a fair. +Fez has two annual caravans; one leaves for Central Africa, or +Timbuctoo; and another for Mecca, or the caravan of pilgrims. The two +great stations and rendezvous points of the African caravan are Tafilett +and Touat. The journey from Fez to Timbuctoo occupies about ninety days. +The Mecca caravan proceeds the same route as far as Touat, and then +turns bank north-east to Ghadames, Fezzan, and Angelah, and thence to +Alexandria, which it accomplishes in four or five, to six months. All +depends on the inclination of the Shereef, or Commandant, of the +caravan; but the journey from Fez to Alexandria cannot, by the quickest +caravan, be accomplished in much less time than three months and a half, +or one hundred days. The value of the investments in this caravan has +been estimated at a million of dollars; for the faithful followers of +the Prophet believe, with us, that godliness is profitable in the life +that now is, as well as in that which is to come. + +Fez is surrounded with a vast wall, but which is in decay. What is this +decay! It applies almost to every Moorish city and public building in +North Africa. And yet the faith of the false prophet is as strong as +ever, and with time and hoary age seems to strike its roots deeper into +the hearts of its simple, but enthusiastic and duped devotees! + +The city has seven gates, and two castles, at the east and west, form +its main defence. These castles are very ancient, and are formed and +supported by square walls about sixty feet in front, Ali Bey says, +subterraneous passages are reported to exist between these castles and +the city; and, whenever the people revolt against the Sultan, cannon are +planted on the castles with a few soldiers as their guard. The +fortifications, or Bastiles, of Paris, we see, therefore, were no new +invention of Louis Philippe to awe the populace. The maxims of a subtle +policy are instructive in despotism of every description. + +The constituted authorities of Fez are like those of every city of +Morocco. The Governor is the lieutenant of the sovereign, exercising the +executive power; the Kady, or supreme judge, is charged with the +administration of the law, and the Al-Motassen fixes the price of +provisions, and decides all the questions of trade and customs. There +are but few troops at Fez, for it is not a strong military possession; +on the contrary, it is commanded by accessible heights and is exposed to +a _coup-de-main_. + +Fez, indeed, could make no _bona-fide_ resistance to an European army. +The manufactures are principally woollen haiks, silk handkerchiefs, +slippers and shoes of excellent leather, and red caps of felt, commonly +called the fez; the first fabrication of these red caps appears to have +been in this city. The Spanish Moorish immigrants introduced the mode of +dressing goat and sheep-skins, at first known by the name of Cordovan +from Cordova; but, since the Moorish forced immigration, they have +acquired the celebrated name of Morocco. The chief food of the people is +the national Moorish dish of _cuscasou_, a fine grained paste, cooked by +steam, with melted fat, oil, or other liquids poured upon the dish, and +sometimes garnished with pieces of fowl and other meat. A good deal of +animal food is consumed, but few vegetables. The climate is mild in the +winter, but suffocating with heat in the summer. This city is placed in +latittude 34 deg. 6' 3" N. longitude 4 deg. 38" 15'W. + +Morocco, or strictly in Arabic, _Maraksh_, which signifies "adorned," +is the capital of the South, and frequently denominated the capital of +the Empire, but it is only a _triste_ shadow of its former greatness. It +is sometimes honoured with the title of "the great city," or "country." +Morocco occupies an immense area of ground, being seven miles in +circumference, the interior of which is covered with heaps of ruins or +more pleasantly converted into gardens. Morocco was built in 1072 or +1073 by the famous Yousel-Ben-Tashfin, King of Samtuna, and of the +dynasty of the Almoravedi, or Marabouts. Its site is that of an ancient +city, Martok, founded in the remotest periods of the primitive Africans, +or aboriginal Berbers, in whose language it signifies a place where +everything good and pleasant was to be found in abundance. + +Bocanum Hermerum of the Ancients was also near the site of this capital, +Morocco attained its greatest prosperity shortly after its foundation, +and since then it has only declined. In the twelfth century, under the +reign of Jakoub Almanzor, there were 10,000 houses and 700,000 souls, +(if indeed we can trust their statistics); but, at the present time, +there are only some forty to fifty thousand inhabitants, including 4,000 +Shelouhs and 5,000 Jews. Ali Bey, in 1804, estimates its population at +only 30,000, and Captain Washington in 1830 at 80, or 100,000. This vast +city lies at the foot of the Atlas, or about fourteen miles distant, +spread over a wide and most lovely plain of the province of Rhamma, +watered by the river Tensift, six miles from the gates of the capital. + +The mosques are numerous and rich, the principal of which are +El-Kirtubeeah, of elegant architecture with an extremely lofty minaret; +El-Maazin, which is three hundred years old, and a magnificent building; +and Benious, built nearly seven hundred years ago of singular +construction, uniting modern and ancient architecture. The mosque of the +patron saint is Sidi Belabbess. Nine gates open in the city-walls; these +are strong and high, and flanked with towers, except on the south east +where the Sultan's palace stands. The streets are crooked, of uneven +width, unpaved, and dirty in winter, and full of dust in summer. + +There are several public squares and marketplaces. The Kaessaria, or +commercial quarter, is extensive, exhibiting every species of +manufacture and natural product. + +The manufactures of this, as of other large places, are principally, +silks, embroidery, and leather. The merchants of Mogador have magazines +here; this capital has also its caravans, which trade to the interior, +passing through Wadnoun to the south. + +The Imperial palace is without the city and fortified with strong walls. +There are large gardens attached, in one of which the Emperor receives +his merchants and the diplomatic agents. The air of the country, at the +foot of the Atlas, is pure and salubrious. The city is well supplied +with water from an aqueduct, connecting it with the river Tensift, which +flows from the gorges of the Atlas. But the inhabitants, although they +enjoy this inestimable blessing in an African climate, are not famous +for their cleanliness; Morocco, if possessing any particular character, +still must be considered as a commercial city, for its learning is at a +very low ebb. Its interior wears a deeply dejected, nay a profoundly +gloomy aspect. + + "Horrendum incultumque specus." + +and the European merchants, when they come up here are glad to get away +as soon as possible. + +Outside the city, there is a suburb appropriated to lepers, a +Lazar-house of leprosy, which afflicting and loathsome disease descends +from father to son through unbroken generations; the afflicted cannot +enter the city, and no one dare approach their habitations. The Emperor +usually resides for a third portion of his time at Morocco the rest at +Fez and Mequinez. Whenever his Imperial Highness has anything +disagreeable with foreign European powers, he comes down from Fez to +Morocco, to get out of the way. Occasionally, he travels from town to +town of the interior, to awe by his presence the ever restless +disaflfection of the tribes, or excite their loyalty for the Shereefian +throne. + +Morocco is placed in Lat. 31 deg. 37" 31' N. and Long. 7 deg. 35" 30', W. + +Tafilett consists of a group of towns or villages, situate on the +south-eastern side of the Atlas, which may he added to the royal cities, +being inhabited in part by the Imperial family, and is the birth-place +of their sovereign power--emphatically called Beladesh-Sherfa, "country +of the Shereefs." The country was anciently called Sedjelmasa, and +retained this name up to 1530 A.D., when the principal city acquired the +apellation of Tafilett, said to be derived from an Arab immigrant, +called Filal, who improved the culture of dates, and whose name on this +account, under the Berber form of Tafilett, was given to a plantation of +dates cultivated by him, and then passed to the surrounding districts. + +At the present time, Tafilett consists of a group of fortified or +castle-built villages, environed by walls mounted with square towers, +which extend on both sides of the river Zig. There is also a castle, or +rather small town, upon the left side of the river, called by the +ordinary name of Kesar, which is in the hands of the Shereefs, and +inhabited entirely by the family of the Prophet. The principal and most +flourishing place was a long time called Tafilett, but is now according +to Callie, Ghourlan, and the residence of the Governor of the province +of Ressant, a town distinguished by a magnificent gateway surrounded +with various coloured Dutch tiles, symmetrically arranged in a diamond +pattern. This traveller calls the district of Tafilett, Afile or Afilel. + +It is probable that from the rains of the ancient Sedjelmasa, some of +the modern villages have been constructed. The towns and districts of +Tafilett once formed an independent kingdom. The present population has +been estimated at some ten thousand, but this is entirely conjectural. +Callie mentions the four towns of Ghourlan, L'Eksebi, Sosso and Boheim +as containing eleven or twelve thousand souls. The soil of Tafilett is +level, composed of sand of an ashy grey, productive of corn, and all +sorts of European fruits and vegetables. The natives have fine sheep, +with remarkably white wool. The manufactures, which are in woollen and +silk, are called Tafiletes. + +Besides being a rendezvous of caravans, radiating through all parts of +the Sahara, Tafilett is a great mart of traffic in the natural products +of the surrounding countries. A fine bridge spans the Zig, built by a +Spaniard. When the Sultan of Morocco finds any portion of his family +inclined to be naughty, he sends them to Tafilett, as we are wont to +send troublesome people to "Jericho." This, at any rate, is better than +cutting off their heads, which, from time immemorial, has been the +invariable practice of African and Oriental despots. The Maroquine +princes may be thankful they have Tafilett as a place of exile. The +Emperors never visit Tafilett except as dethroned exiles. A journey to +such a place is always attended with danger; and were the Sultan to +escape, he would find, on his return, the whole country in revolt. + +Regarding these royal cities, we sum up our observations. The destinies +of Fez and Mequinez are inseparable. United, they contain one hundred +thousand inhabitants, the most polished and learned in the Empire. Fez +is the city of arts and learning, that is of what remains of the once +famous and profound Moorish doctors of Spain. Mequinez is the strong +place of the Empire, an emporium of arms and imperial Cretsures. Fez is +the rival of Morocco. The two cities are the capitals of two kingdoms, +never yet amalgamated. The present dynasty belongs not to Fez, but to +Morocco; though a dynasty of Shereefs, they are Shereefs of the south, +and African blood flows in their veins. + +The Sultan generally is obliged to give a preference to Fez for a +residence, because his presence is necessary to maintain the allegiance +of the north country, and to curb its powerful warparty, his son in the +meanwhile being left Governor during his absence. But all these royal +cities are on the decline, the "sere and yellow leaf" of a well nigh +defunct civilization. Morocco is a huge shell of its former greatness, a +monster of Moresque dilapidations. France may awaken the slumbering +energies of the population of these once flourishing and august cities, +but left to themselves they are powerless, sinking under their own +weight and uncouth encumbrances, and will rise no more till +reconstructed by European hands. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Description of the towns and cities of the Interior, and those of the +Kingdom of Fez.--Seisouan.--Wazen.--Zawiat.--Muley Dris.--Sofru.-- +Dubdu.--Taza.--Oushdah.--Agla.--Nakbila.--Meshra.--Khaluf.--The Places +distinguished in. Morocco, including Sous, Draka, and Tafilett.--Tefza. +--Pitideb.--Ghuer.--Tyijet.--Bulawan.--Soubeit--Meramer.--El-Medina.-- +Tagodast.--Dimenet.--Aghmat.--Fronga.--Tedmest.--Tekonlet.--Tesegdelt.-- +Tagawost.--Tedsi Beneali.--Beni Sabih.--Tatta and Akka.--Mesah or +Assah.--Talent.--Shtouka.--General observations on the statistics of +population.--The Maroquine Sahara. + + +We have briefly to notice the remaining towns and cities of the +interior, with some other remarkable places. + +First, these distinguished and well ascertained places in the kingdom of +Fez. + +Seisouan, or Sousan, is the capital of the Rif province, situate also on +the borders of the province of the Habat, and by the sources of a little +river which runs into the Mediterranean, near Cape Mazari. The town is +small, but full of artizans and merchants. The country around is +fertile, being well irrigated with streams. Sousan is the most +beautifully picturesque of all the Atlas range. + +Sofou, or Sofron, is a fine walled city, southeast of Fez, situate upon +the river Guizo; in a vast and well-watered plain near, are rich mines +of fossil salt. + +Wazen, or Wazein, in the province of Azgar, and the region of the Gharb, +is a small city without Walls, celebrated for being the residence of +the High Priest, or Grand Marabout of the Empire. This title is +hereditary, and is now (or up to lately) possessed by the famous +Sidi-el-Haj-el-Araby-Ben-Ali, who, in his district, lives in a state of +nearly absolute independence, besides exercising great influence over +public affairs. This saint, or priest, has, however, a rival at Tedda. +The two popes together pretend to decide the fate of the Empire. The +districts where these Grand Marabouts reside, are without governors, +and the inhabitants pay no tribute into the imperial coffers, they are +ruled by their two priests under a species of theocracy. The Emperor +never attempts or dares to contest their privileges. Occasionally they +appear abroad, exciting the people, and declaiming against the vices of +the times. His Moorish Majesty then feels himself ill at ease, until +they retire to their sanctuaries, and employs all his arts to effect +the object, protesting that he will be wholly guided by their councils +in the future administration of the Empire. With this humiliation of +the Shereefs, they are satisfied, and kennel themselves into their +sanctum-sanctorums. + +Zawiat-Muley-Driss, which means, retirement of our master, Lord Edris +(Enoch) and sometimes called Muley Edris, is a far famed city of the +province of Fez, and placed at the foot of the lofty mountains of +Terhoun, about twenty-eight miles from Fez, north-west, amidst a most +beautiful country, producing all the necessaries and luxuries of human +life. The site anciently called Tuilet, was perhaps also the Volubilis +of the ancients. Here is a sanctuary dedicated to the memory of Edris, +progenitor and founder of the dynasty of Edrisiti. + +The population, given by Graeberg, is nine thousand, but this is +evidently exaggerated. Not far off, towards the west, are some +magnificent ruins of an ancient city, called Kesar Faraoun, or "Castle +of Pharoah." + +Dubdu, called also Doubouton, is an ancient, large city, of the district +of Shaous, and once the residence of an independent prince, but now +fallen into decay on account of the sterility of its site, which is upon +the sides of a barren mountain. Dubdu is three days' journey southeast +of Fez, and one day from Taza, in the region of the Mulweeah. Taza is +the capital of the well-watered district of Haiaina, and one of the +finest cities in Morocco, in a most romantic situation, placed on a rock +which is shaped like an island, and in presence of the lofty mountains +of Zibel Medghara, to the south-west. Perhaps it is the Babba of the +ancients; a river runs round the town. The houses and streets are +spacious, and there is a large mosque. The air is pure, and provisions +are excellent. The population is estimated at ten or twelve thousand, +who are hospitable, and carry on a good deal of commerce with Tlemsen +and Fez. Taza is two days from Fez, and four from Oushda. + +Oushda is the well-known frontier town, on the north-east, which +acquired some celebrity during the late war. It is enclosed by the walls +of its gardens, and is protected by a large fortress. The place contains +a population of from six hundred to one thousand Moors and Arabs. There +is a mosque, as well as three chapels, dedicated to Santous. The houses, +built of clay, are low and of a wretched appearance; the streets are +winding, and covered with flints. The fortress, where the Kaed resides, +is guarded in ordinary times by a dozen soldiers; but, were this force +increased, it could not be defended, in consequence of its dilapidated +condition. A spring of excellent water, at a little distance from +Oushda, keeps up the whole year round freshness and verdure in the +gardens, by means of irrigation. Cattle hereabouts is of fine quality. +Oushda is a species of oasis of the Desert of Angad, and the aridity of +the surrounding country makes these gardens appear delicious, melons, +olives, and figs being produced in abundance. + +The distance between Tlemsen and Oushda is sixteen leagues, or about +sixteen hours' march for troops; Oushda is also four or five days from +Oran, and six days from Fez. The Desert commences beyond the Mulweeah, +at more than forty leagues from Tlemsen. Like the Algerian Angad, which +extends to the south of Tlemsen, it is of frightful sterility, +particularly in summer. In this season, one may march for six or eight +hours without finding any water. It is impossible to carry on military +operations in such a country during summer. On this account, Marshal +Bugeaud soon excavated Oushda and returned to the Tlemsen territory. + +Aghla is a town, or rather large village, of the district of Fez, where +the late Muley Suleiman occasionally resided. It is situated along the +river Wad Vergha, in a spacious and well-cultivated district. A great +market of cattle, wool, and bees'-wax, is held in the neighbourhood. The +country abounds in lions; but, it is pretended, of such a cowardly race, +that a child can frighten them away. Hence the proverb addressed to a +pusillanimous individual, "You are as brave as the lions of Aghla, whose +tails the calves eat." The Arabs certainly do occasionally run after +lions with sticks, or throw stones at them, as we are accustomed to +throw stones at dogs. + +Nakhila, _i.e._, "little palm," is a little town of the province of +Temsna, placed in the river Gueer; very ancient, and formerly rich and +thickly populated. A great mart, or souk, is annually held at this +place. It is the site of the ancient Occath. + +Meshru Khaluf, _i.e._, "ford, or watering-place of the wild-boar," in +the district of the Beni-Miskeen, is a populated village, and situated +on the right bank of the Ovad Omm-Erbergh, lying on the route of many of +the chief cities. Here is the ford of Meshra Khaluf, forty-five feet +wide, from which the village derives its name. + +On the map will be seen many places called Souk. The interior tribes +resort thither to purchase and exchange commodities. The market-places +form groups of villages. It is not a part of my plan to give any +particular description of them. + +Second, those places distinguished in the kingdom of Morocco, including +Sous, Draha, and Tafilett. + +Tefza, a Berber name, which, according to some, signifies "sand," and to +others, "a bundle of straw," is the capital of the province of Todla, +built by the aborigines on the slope of the Atlas, who surrounded it +with a high wall of sandstone (called, also, Tefza.) At two miles east +of this is the smaller town of Efza, which is a species of suburb, +divided from Tefza by the river Derna. The latter place is inhabited +certainly by Berbers, whose women are famous for their woollen works and +weaving. Tefza is also celebrated for its native black and white woollen +manufactures. The population of the two places is stated at upwards of +10,000, including 2,000 Jews. + +Pitideb, or Sitideb, is another fine town in the neighbourhood, built by +the Amazirghs on the top of a high mountain. The inhabitants are +esteemed the most civilized of their nation, and governed by their own +elders and chiefs, they live in a state of almost republican +independence. Some good native manufactures are produced, and a large +commerce with strangers is carried on. The women are reputed as being +extremely fair and fascinating. + +Ghuer, or Gheu, (War, _i.e._, "difficult?") is a citadel, or rather a +strong, massive rock, and the most inaccessible of all in Morocco, +forming a portion of the mountains of Jedla, near the sources of the Wad +Omm-Erbegh. This rocky fort is the residence of the supreme Amrgar, or +chief of the Amazirghs, who rendered himself renowned through the empire +by fighting a pitch-battle with the Imperial troops in 1819. Such chiefs +and tribes occasion the weakness of the interior; for, whenever the +Sultan has been embroiled with European Powers, these aboriginal +Amazirghs invariably seized the opportunity of avenging their wrongs and +ancient grudges. The Shereefs always compound with them, if they can, +these primitive tribes being so many centres of an _imperium imperio_, +or of revolt and disaffection. + +Tijijet in the province of Dukkalah, situate on the left bank of the +river Omm-Erbegh, along the route from Fez to Morocco, is a small town, +but was formerly of considerable importance. + +A famous market for grain is held here, which is attended by the tribe +of the Atlas: the country abounds in grain and cattle of the finest +breed. + +Bulawan or Bou-el-Awan, "father of commodious ways or journeys," is a +small town of 300 houses, with an old castle, formerly a place of +consequence; and lying on an arm of the river Omm-Erbegh _en route_ from +Morocco to Salee and Mequinez and commanding the passage of the river. +It is 80 miles from Morocco, and 110 from Salee. On the opposite side of +the river, is the village of Taboulaunt, peopled mostly with Jews and +ferrymen. + +Soubeit is a very ancient city on the left bank of the Omm-Erbegh, +surrounded with walls, and situate twenty miles from El-Medina in a +mountainous region abounding with hares; it is inhabited by a tribe of +the same name, or probably Sbeita, which is also the name of a tribe +south of Tangier. + +Meramer is a city built by the Goths on a fertile plain, near Mount +Beni-Megher, about fourteen miles east of Saffee, in the province of +Dukkala, and carrying on a great commerce in oil and grain. + +El-Medina is a large walled populous city of merchants and artizans, and +capital of the district of Haskowra; the men are seditious, turbulent +and inhospitable; the women are reputed to be fair and pretty, but +disposed, when opportunity offers, to confer their favours on strangers. + +There is another place four miles distant of nearly the same name. + +Tagodast is another equally large and rich city of the province of +Haskowra crowning the heights of a lofty mountain surrounded by four +other mountains, but near a plain of six miles in extent, covered with +rich vegetation producing an immense quantity of Argan oil, and the +finest fruits. + +This place contains about 7,000 inhabitants, who are a noble and +hospitable race. Besides, Argan oil, Tagodast is celebrated for its red +grapes, which are said to be as large as hen's eggs--the honey of +Tagodast is the finest in Africa. The inhabitants trade mostly with the +south. + +Dimenet or Demnet is a considerable town, almost entirely populated by +the Shelouhs and Caraaite Jews; it is situate upon the slopes of a +mountain of the same name, or Adimmei, in the district of Damnat, +fifteen miles distant from Wad Tescout, which falls into the Tensift. +The inhabitants are reputed to be of a bad and malignant character, but, +nevertheless, learned in Mussulman theology, and fond of disputing with +foreigners. Orthodoxy and morality are frequently enemies of one +another, whilst good-hearted and honest people are often hetherodox in +their opinions. + +Aghmat, formerly a great and flourishing city and capital of the +province of Rhamna, built by the Berbers, and well fortified--is now +fallen into decay, and consists only of a miserable village inhabited by +some sixty families, among which are a few Jews--Aghmat lies at the foot +of Mount Atlas, on the road which conducts to Tafilett, near a river of +the same name, and in the midst of a fine country abounding in orchards +and vine-yards; Aghmat was the first capital of the Marabout dynasty. + +Fronga is a town densely populated almost entirely by Shelouhs and Jews, +lying about fifteen miles from the Atlas range upon an immense plain +which produces the finest grain in Morocco. + +Tednest, the ancient capital of the province of Shedmah, and built by +the Berbers, is deliciously placed upon a paridisical plain, and was +once the residence of the Shereefs. It contains a population of four +thousand souls, one thousand eight hundred being Jews occupied with +commerce, whilst the rest cultivate the land. This is a division of +labour amongst Mahometans and Israelites not unfrequent in North Africa. +But, as in Europe, the Jew is the trader, not the husbandman. + +Tekoulet is a small and pretty town, rising a short distance from the +sea, by the mouth of the stream Dwira, in the province of Hhaha. The +water is reckoned the best in the province, and the people are honest +and friendly; the Jews inhabit one hundred houses. + +Tesegdelt, is another city of the province of Hhaha, very large and +rich, perched high upon a mountain, and that fortified by nature. The +principal mosque is one of the finest in the empire. + +Tagawost is a city, perhaps the most ancient, and indeed the largest of +the province of Sous. It is distant ten miles from the great river Sous, +and fifty from the Atlas. The suburbs are surrounded with huge blocks of +stone. Togawost contains a number of shops and manufactories of good +workmen, who are divided into three distinct classes of people, all +engaged in continual hostilities with one another. The men are, however, +honest and laborious, while the women are pretty and coquettish. People +believe St. Augustine, whom the Mahometans have dubbed a Marabout, was +born in this city. Their trade is with the Sahara and Timbuctoo. + +Fedsi is another considerable city, anciently the capital of Sous, +reclining upon a large arm of the river Sous, amidst a fruitful soil, +and contains about fourteen thousand inhabitants, who are governed by +republican institutions. It is twenty miles E.N.E. of Taroudant. + +Beneali is a town placed near to the source of the river Draha, in the +Atlas. It is the residence of the chief of the Berbers of Hadrar, on the +southern Atlas. + +Beni-Sabih, Moussabal, or Draha, is the capital of the province of +Draha, and a small place, but populated and commercial. On the river of +the same name, was the Draha of ancient geography. + +Tatta and Akka, are two towns or villages of the province of Draha, +situate on the southern confines of Morocco, and points of rendezvous +for the caravans in their route over the Great Desert. + +Tatta is four days direct east from Akka, and placed in 28 deg. 3' lat. and +90 deg. 20' long. west of Paris. Akka consists of two hundred houses, +inhabited by Mussulmen, and fifty by Jews. The environs are highly +cultivated. Akka is two days east of Wadnoun, situate on a plain at the +foot of Gibel-Tizintit, and is placed in 28 deg. 3' lat. and 10 deg. 51' long. +west of Paris. + +Messah, or Assah. Messa is, according to Graeberg, a walled city, built +by the Berbers, not far from the river Sous, and divided like nearly all +the cities of Sous, into three parts, or quarters, each inhabited by +respective classes of Shelouhs, Moors, and Jews. Cities are also divided +in this manner in the provinces of Guzzala and Draha. The sea on the +coast of Sous throws up a very fine quantity of amber. Male whales are +occasionally visitors here. The population is three thousand, but Mr. +Davidson's account differs materially. The town is named Assah, and +distant about two miles from the sea, there being a few scattered houses +on each side of the river, to within half a mile of the sea. The place +is of no importance, famed only for having near it a market on Tuesday, +to which many people resort. The population may be one hundred. Assah is +also the name of the district though which the Sous river flows. The +Bas-el-wad (or head of the river) is very properly the name of the upper +part of the river; when passing through Taroudant it takes the name of +Sous. Fifteen miles from Assah is the town of Aghoulon, containing about +six hundred people. + +Talent, or Tilin, the difference only is the adding of the Berber +termination. The other consonants are the same, perhaps, as Mr. Davidson +incidentally mentions. It is a strong city, and capital of the province +of Sous-el-Aksa, or the extreme part of Sous. This province is sometimes +called Tesset, or Tissert. A portion of it is also denominated +Blad-Sidi-Hasham, and forms a free and quasi-independant state, founded +in 1810 by the Emir Hasham, son of the Shereef Ahmed Ben Mousa. This +prince was the bug-bear of Captain Riley. The district contains upwards +of twenty-five thousand Shelouhs and industrious Arabs. Talent is the +residence of the prince, and is situate on the declivity of a hill, not +far from the river Wad-el-Mesah, or Messa, and a mile from Ilekh, or +Ilirgh, a populous village, where there is a famous sanctuary, resorted +to by the Mahometans of the surrounding regions, of the name of Sidi +Hamed-ou-Mousa, (probably Ben Mousa). The singularity of this sacred +village is, that Jews constitute the majority of the population. But +they seem absolutely necessary to the very existence of the Mussulmen of +North Africa, who cannot live without them, or make profitable exchange +of the products of the soil, or of native industry, for European +articles of use and luxury. + +Shtouka, or Stuka, is, according to some, a large town or village; or, +as stated by Davidson, a _district_. The fact is, many African districts +are called by the name of a principal town or village in them, and _vice +versa_. This place stands on the banks of the Wad-el-Mesah, and is +inhabited by some fifteen hundred Shelouhs, who are governed by a +Sheikh, nearly independent of Morocco. + +On Talent and Shtouka, Mr. Davidson remarks. "There is no town called +Stuka; it is a district; none that I can find called Talent; there is +Tilin. The Mesah flows through Stuka, in which district are twenty +settlements, or rather towns, some of which are large. They are known in +general by the names of the Sheikhs who inhabit them. I stopped at +Sheikh Hamed's. Tilin was distant from this spot a day's journey in the +mountains towards the source of the river. If by Talent, Tissert is +meant, Oferen (a town) is distant six miles." + +On the province of Sous generally, Don J.A. Conde has this note:-- + +"In this region (Sous) near the sea, is the temple erected in honour of +the prophet Jonas; it was there he was cast out of the belly of the +whale." This temple, says Assed Ifriki, is made of the bones of whales +which perish on this coast. A little further on, he alludes to the +breaking of horses, and being skilful in bodily exercises, for the Moors +and Numidians have always been renowned in that respect. + +In the lesser and more remote towns, I have followed generally the +enumeration of Count Graeberg, but there are many other places on the +maps, with varieties of names or differences of position. Our geography +of the interior of Morocco, especially in the South, is still very +obscure, and I have only selected those towns and places of whose +present existence there is no question. My object, in the above +enumeration, has been simply to give the reader a proximate estimate of +the population and resources of this country. Of the strength and number +of the tribes of the interior, we know scarcely anything. The names of +the towns and villages of the South, so frequently beginning and ending +with T., sufficiently indicate the preponderance of the Berber +population, under the names of Shelouh or Amazirgh, whilst the great +error of writers has been to represent the Arabs as more numerous than +this aboriginal population. + +Monsieur E. Renou, in his geographical description of the Empire of +Morocco (Vol. VIII. of the "Exploration Scientifique," &c.) foolishly +observes that there is no way of arriving at correct statistics of this +empire, except by comparing it with Algeria; and then remarks, which is +true enough, "Malheureusement, la population de l'Algerie n'est pas +encore bien connue." When, however, he asserts that the numbers of +population given by Jackson and Graeberg are gross, and almost +unpardonable exaggerations, given at hazard, I am obliged to agree with +him from the personal experience I had in Morocco, and these Barbary +countries generally. + +Jackson makes the whole of the population to amount to almost fifteen +millions, or nearly two thirds more than it probably amounts to. Graeberg +estimates it at eight millions and a half. But how, or why, or +wherefore, such estimates are made is not so easy to determine. Certain +it is, that the whole number of cities which I have enumerated, scarcely +represent one million of inhabitants. But for those who like to see +something more definite in statistics, however exaggerated may be the +estimate, I shall give the more moderate calculations of Graeberg, those +of Jackson being beyond all rhyme or reason. Graeberg thus classifies and +estimates the population. + + Amazirghs, Berbers, and Touaricks 2,300,000 + Amazirghs, Shelouhs and Arabs 1,450,000 + Arabs, mixed Moors, &c. 3,550,000 + Arabs pure, Bedouins, &c. 740,000 + Israelites, Rabbinists, and Caraites 339,500 + Negroes, Fullans, and Mandingoes 120,000 + Europeans and Christians 300 + Renegades 200 + ---------- + Total 8,500,000 + +If two millions are deducted from this amount, perhaps the reader will +have something like a probable estimate of the population of Morocco. It +is hardly correct to classify Moors as mixed Arabs, many of them being +simply descendants of the aboriginal Amazirghs. I am quite sure there +are no Touaricks in the Empire of Morocco. + +Of the Maroquine Sahara, I have only space to mention the interesting +cluster of oases of Figheegh, or Figuiq. Shaw mentions them as "a knot +of villagers," noted for their plantations of palm-trees, supplying the +western province of Algeria with dates. We have now more ample +information of Figheegh, finding this Saharan district to consist of an +agglomeration of twelve villages, the more considerable of which are +Maiz, counting eight hundred houses, El-Wadghir five hundred, and Zenega +twelve hundred. The others vary from one or two hundred houses. The +villages are more or less connected together, never farther apart than a +quarter of a league, and placed on the descent of Wal-el-Khalouf ("river +of the wild boar") whence water is procured for the gardens, containing +varieties of fruit-trees and abundance of date-palms, all hedged round +with prickly-pears. Madder-root and tobacco are also cultivated, besides +barley sufficient for consumption. The wheat is brought from the Teli. +The Wad-el-Khalouf is dry, except in winter, but its bed is bored with +inexhaustible wells, whose waters are distributed among the gardens by +means of a _clepsydra_, or a vessel which drops so much water in an +hour. The ancients measured time by the dropping of water, like the +falling of sand in the hour-glass. + +Some of the houses in these villages have two stories, and are well +built; each place has its mosque, its school, its kady, and its sheikh, +and the whole agglomeration of oases is governed by a Sheikh Kebir, +appointed by the Sultan of Morocco. These Saharan villages are eternally +in strife with one another, and sometimes take up arms. On this account, +they are surrounded by crenated walls, defended by towers solidly built. +The immediate cause of discord here is water, that precious element of +all life in the desert. But the imaginations of the people are not +satisfied with this simple reason, and they are right, for the cause +lies deeply in the human heart. They say, however, their ancestors were +cursed by a Marabout, to punish them for their laxity in religion, and +this was his anathema, "God make you, until the day of judgment, like +wool-comber's cards, the one gnawing the other!" + +Their wars, in fact, are most cruel, for they destroy the noble and +fruitful palms, which, by a tacit convention, are spared in other parts +of the Sahara when these quarrels proceed to bloodshed. They have, +besides, great tact in mining, and their reputation as miners has been a +long time established. But, happily, they are addicted to commerce and +various branches of industry, as well as war, having commercial +relations with Fez, Tafilett and Touat, and the people are, therefore, +generally prosperous. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan +Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the +Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery. + + +We have at times imported into Mogador a stray London Jew or so, of the +lower lemon-selling sort. These lads from the Minories, are highly +exasperated against the Moors for treating them with so much contempt. +Indeed, a high-spirited London Jew-boy will not stop at Mogador, though +the adult merchant will, to get money, for mankind often learn baseness +with age, and pass to it through a golden door. One of these Jew-boys, +being cursed by a man, naturally cursed him again, "an eye for an eye, a +tooth for a tooth." Mr. Willshire did not think so; and, on the +complaint of the Moor, the British Consul threw the British Jew-boy into +a Moorish prison, where he remained for some days. This is one more +instance of the disadvantage of having commercial consuls, where +everything is sacrificed to keep on good terms with government +authorities. + +A fire happened the other night, breaking out in the house of one of the +rich Jewish merchants; but it was soon extinguished, the houses being +built chiefly of mortar and stone, with very little wood. The Governor +got up, and went to the scene of "conflagration;" he cracked a few jokes +with the people and went home to bed. The Moors were sorry the fire did +not extend itself, wanting to have an opportunity of appropriating a few +of the merchant's goods. + +I accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Elton, with other friends, to spend the day +in the pleasant valley of the Saneeates-Sultan, (Garden of the Emperor) +sometimes called Gharset-es-Sultan, three or four hours' ride south from +Mogador. The small river of Wad-el-Kesab, (overlooked by the village of +Deeabat, where watch-dogs were barking apparently all day long as well +as night), lay in our way, and was with difficulty forded, heavy rain +having fallen up the country, though none on the coast. These Barbary +streams are very deceptive, illustrating the metaphor of the book of +Job, "deceitful as a brook." To-day, their beds are perfectly dry; +to-morrow, a sheet of turbid water dashing and foaming to the ocean, +covers them and the country round, whilst the immediate cause is +concealed. Abrupt and sudden overflowings occur in all rivers having +their source in mountains. The book of Job may also refer to the +disappointment of Saharan travellers, who, on arriving weary and +thirsty, dying for water, at the stream of the Desert, find it dried up, +and so perish. + +The country in the valley of the Emperor's garden offers nothing +remarkable. Bushes of underwood covering sandy mounds, a few palmettos +and Argan trees, in which wild doves fluttered and flew about, were all +that broke the monotony of a perfect waste. There were no cultivated +lands hereabouts, and I was told that a great part of Morocco presents +this desolate aspect. We visited, however, the celebrated Argan tree, +which the people pretend was planted by the lieutenant of the Prophet, +the mighty Okba, who, having spurred his horse in the roaring rebellious +surge of the Atlantic, wept and wailed before Heaven that there were no +more nations in whose heart to plunge his awful scimitar--so teaching +them the mercy of God! Alas! the old hoary tree, with a most peaceful +patriarchal look, seemed to belie the honour, stretching out its broad +sinewy arm to shelter a hundred people from the darting fires of an +African sun. A more noble object of inanimate nature is not to be +contemplated than a large and lofty branching tree; in its boughs and +leaves, endlessly varying, matted together and intersecting each other, +we see the palpable image of infinity. But in the dry and hot climate of +Africa, this tree is a luxury which cannot be appreciated in Europe. + +We sat under its fresh shade awhile, gazing with security at the bright +fires of the sun, radiating over and through all visible nature. To +check our enthusiasm, we had strewn at our feet old broken bottles and +crockery, the _debris_ and classic relics of former visitors, who were +equally attentive to creature-comforts as to the grandeur of the Argan +monarch of the surrounding forest. + +The Emperor's garden contains a well of water and a few fruit-trees, on +the trunk of one of which, a fine fig-tree, were carved, in durable +bark, the names of European visitors. Among the rest, that of a famous +_belle_, whose gallant worshippers had cut her name over all its broad +trunk, though they may have failed to cut their own on the plastic and +india-rubber tablet of the fair one's heart. This carving on the +fig-tree is the sum of all that Europeans have done in Morocco during +several ages. We rather adopt Moorish habits, and descend to their +animal gratifications than inculcate our own, or the intellectual +pleasures of Christian nations. European females brought up in this +country, few excepted, adopt with gusto the lascivious dances of the +Mooresses; and if this may be said of them, what may we not think of the +male class, who frequently throw off all restraint in the indulgence of +their passions? + +While reposing under the umbrageous shade of the Argan tree, a Moor +related to us wondrous sprite and elfin tales of the forests of of these +wilds. At one period, the Argan woods were full of enchantresses, who +prevented good Mussulmen from saying their prayers, by dancing before +them in all their natural charms, to the sounds of melodious and +voluptuous music; and if a poor son of the Prophet, perchance, passed +this way at the stated times of prayer, he found it impossible to attend +to his devotions, being pestered to death by these naughty houries. + +On another occasion, when it was high summer and the sun burnt every +leaf of the black Argan foliage to a yellow red, and whilst the arid +earth opened her mouth in horrid gaps, crystal springs of water were +seen to bubble forth from the bowels of the earth, and run in rills +among _parterres_ of roses and jessamines. The boughs of the Argan tree +also suddenly changed into _jereeds_ of the date-palm burdened with +luscious fruit; but, on weary travellers descending to slake their +parching thirst and refresh themselves, they fell headlong into the +gaping holes of the ground, and disappeared in the abyss of the dark +entrails of the world. + +These Argan forests continued under the fearful ban of the enchantress +and wicked jinns, until a holy man was brought from the farthest desert +upon the back of a flying camel, who set free the spell-bound wood by +tying on each bewitched tree a small piece of cork bark on which was +inscribed the sacred name of the Deity. The legends of these haunted +Argan forests remind us of the enchanted wood of Tasso, whose +enchantment was dissolved by the gallant knight, Rinaldo, and which +enabled the Crusaders to procure wood for the machines of war to assault +and capture the Holy City. Two quotations will shew the universality and +permanence of superstition, begotten of human hopes and fears. Such is +the beautiful imagery devoted to superstitious musings, by the +illustrious bard:-- + + "While, like the rest, the knight expects to hear + Loud peals of thunder breaking on his ear, + A dulcet symphony his sense invades, + Of nymphs, or dryads, warbling through the shades. + Soft sighs the breeze, soft purls the silver rill. + The feathered choir the woods with music fill; + The tuneful swan in dying notes complains; + The mourning nightingale repeats her strains, + Timbrels and harps and human voices join, + And in one concert all the sounds combine!" + +Then for the streamlets and flowerets-- + + "Where'er he treads, the earth her tribute pours, + In gushing springs, or voluntary flowers. + Here blooms the lily; there the fragrant rose; + Here spouts a fountain; there a riv'let flows; + From every spray the liquid manna trills, + And honey from the softening bark distills. + Again the strange the pleasing sound he hears, + Of plaints and music mingling in his ears; + Yet naught appears that mortal voice can frame. + Nor harp, nor timbrel, whence the music came." + +I had another interview with the Governor on Anti-Slavery subjects. Mr. +Treppass accompanied me, and assisted to interpret. His Excellency was +very condescending, and even joked about his own slaves, asking me how +much I would give him for them. He then continued:--"I am happy to see +you before your departure. Whilst you have been here, I have heard +nothing of your conduct but what was just and proper. You are a quiet +and prudent man, [28] and I am sorry I could not assist you in your +business (abolition). The Sultan will be glad that you and I have not +quarrelled, but are friends." I then asked His Excellency if a person +were to come direct from our Government, with larger powers and +presents, he would have a better chance of success. The Governor +replied, "Not the least whatever. You have done all that could have been +done. We look at the subject, not the persons. The Sultan will never +listen to anybody on this subject. You may cut off his head, but cannot +convince him. If all the Christians of the world were to come and take +this country, then, of course, the Mussulmen would yield the question to +superior force, to the decree of God, but not till then." + +Myself.--"How is it, Sidi, that the Bey of Tunis, and the Imaum of +Muscat have entered into engagements with Christians for the suppression +of slavery, they being Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"I'll tell you; we Mussulmen are as bad as you Christians. +We are full of divisions and sects. Some of our people go to one mosque, +and will not go to another. They are foolish (_mahboul_). So it is with +the subject of slaves. Some are with you, but most are with me. The Bey +of Tunis, and the Imaum have a different opinion from us. They think +they are right, and we think we are right; but we are as good as they." + +Myself.--"Sidi, does not the Koran encourage the abolition of slavery, +and command it as a duty to all pious Mussulmen?" + +The Governor.--"No, it does not command it, but those who voluntarily +liberate their slaves are therein commended, and have the blessing of +God on them." [29] + +Myself.--"Sidi, is it in my power to do anything for you in London?" + +The Governor.--"Speak well of me, that is all. Tell your friends I did +all I could for you." + +I may mention the opinions of the more respectable Moors, as to the +mission. They said, "If you had managed your mission well, the Sultan +would have received your Address; your Consul is slack; the French +Consul is more active, because he is not the Sultan's merchant. Our +Sultan must receive every person, even a beggar, because God receives +all. You would not have obtained the liberation of our slaves, but the +Sultan would have promised you everything. All that emanates from the +English people is good this we are certain of; but it would have been +better had you come with letters from the Bey of Tunis, shewing what had +been done in that country." Mr. Treppass is also of the opinion, that a +deputation of several persons, accompanied with some presents for the +Emperor and his ministers, would have produced a better effect, by +making an appearance of shew and authority, suitable to the ideas of the +people. [30] If coming direct from Government, it would have greater +weight. + +He thinks, besides, there are a good number of Moors who are favourable +to abolition. Of the connexion between the east and Morocco, he says, +all the Barbary States look up to the Sultan of Constantinople as to a +great authority, and during the last few years, an active +correspondence, on religious matters, has been carried on between +Morocco and Constantinople, chiefly through a celebrated doctor of the +name of Yousef. If the Turkish Sultan, therefore, would _bona-fide_ +abolish the slave-markets, I have no doubt this would produce an +impression in Morocco favourable to abolition. + +During the time I was in Morocco, I distributed some Arabic tracts, +translated from the English by Professor Lee of Cambridge, on the +abolition of slavery. A few Arabic Bibles and Hebrew New Testaments were +also placed at my disposal for circulation by the Societies. I also +wrote an Anti-slavery circular to the British merchants of Mogador, on +Lord Brougham's Act. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +El-Jereed, the Country of Dates.--Its hard soil.--Salt Lake. Its vast +extent.--Beautiful Palm-trees.--The Dates, a staple article of Food.-- +Some Account of the Date-Palm.--Made of Culture.--Delicious Beverage.-- +Tapping the Palm.--Meal formed from the Dates.--Baskets made of the +Branches of the Tree.--Poetry of the Palm.--Its Irrigation.-- +Palm-Groves.--Collection of Tribute by the "Bey of the Camp." + + +El-Jereed, or Belad-el-Jereed, the country of dates, or literally, the +country of the palm branches, is a part of the Sahara, or the hot dry +country lying in the immediate vicinity of the Great Desert. Its +principal features of soil and climate offer nothing different from +other portions of the Sahara, or the Saharan regions of Algeria and +Morocco. The Belad-el-Jereed, therefore, may be properly called the +Tunisian Sahara. Shaw observes generally of Jereed:--"This part of the +country, and indeed the whole tract of land which lies between the +Atlantic and Egypt, is by most of the modern geographers, called +Biledulgerid, a name which they seem to have borrowed from +Bloid-el-Jeridde, of the Arabians, who merely signify the dry country; +though, if we except the Jeridde, a small portion of it which is situate +on this side of Lesser Syrtis, and belongs to the Tunisians, all the +rest of it is known by no other general name than the Sahara or Sahra, +among those Arabs, at least, whom I have conversed with." + +Besides the grand natural feature of innumerable lofty and branching +palms, whose dark depending slender leaves, are depicted by the Arabian +poet as hanging gracefully like the dishevelled ringlets of a beautiful +woman in distress, there is the vast salt lake, El-Sibhah, or literally +the "salt plain," and called by some modern geographers the +Sibhah-el-Soudeeat, or Lake of Marks, from having certain marks made of +the trunks of the palm, to assist the caravans in their marches across +its monotonous samelike surface. + +This vast lake, or salt plain, was divided by the ancients into three +parts, and denominated respectively, Palus Tritonis, Palus Pallas, and +Palus Libya. The first is derived from the river Triton, which according +to Ptolemy and other ancient geographers, is made to pass through this +lake in its course to the sea, but which is the present river Ghobs, +where it falls into the Mediterranean. The name Pallas is derived from +the tradition of Pallas having accompanied Sesostris in his Asiatic +expeditions with the Lybian women, and she may have been a native of the +Jereed. The lake measures from north-east to south-west about seventy +English miles, with a third of the breadth, but it is not one collection +of water; there being several dry places, like so many islands, +interspersed over its surface, depending however, as to their number and +extent upon the season of the year, and upon the quantity of water in +the particular season. + +"At first, on crossing it," says a tourist, "the grass and bushes become +gradually scarcer; then follows a tract of sand, which some way beyond, +becomes in parts covered with a thin layer of salt. This, as you +advance, is thicker and more united; then we find it a compact and +unbroken mass or sheet, which can, however, be penetrated by a sword, or +other sharp instrument, and here it was found to be eleven inches in +depth; and finally in the centre, it became so hard, deep, and +concentrated, as to baffle all attempts at breaking its surface except +with a pickaxe. The horse's shoe, in fact, makes no impression upon its +stone-like surface." + +The salt of the lake is considerably weaker than that of the sea, and +not adapted for preserving provisions, though its flavour is very +agreeable; it is not exported, nor made in any way an article of +commerce. + +The Jereed, from the existence in it of a few antiquities, such as +pieces of granite and marble, and occasionally a name or a classic +inscription, is proved to have been in the possession of the Romans, and +undoubtedly of the Carthaginians before them, who could have had no +difficulty in holding this flat and exposed country. + +The trade and resources of this country consist principally in dates. +The quantity exported to other parts of the Regency, as well as to +foreign countries, where their fine quality is well known, is in round +numbers on an average from three to four thousand quintals per annum. +But in Jereed itself, twenty thousand people live six months of the year +entirely on dates. + +"A great number of poles," says Sir Grenville Temple, "are arranged +across the rooms at the height of eight or nine feet from the ground, +and from these are suspended rich and large bunches of dates, which +compose the winter store of the inhabitants; and in one corner of the +room is one or more large earthern jars about six or seven feet high, +also filled with dates pressed close together, and at the bottom of the +jar is a cock, from which is drawn the juice in the form of a thick +luscious syrup. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more +palatable than this 'sweet of sweets.'" + +As we are writing of the country of dates, _par excellence_, I must +needs give some description of the palm, but it will be understood that +the information is Tunisian, or collected in Tunis, and may differ in +some respects from details collected in other parts of North Africa. The +date-palm abounds in the maritime as well as in the inland districts of +North Africa. They are usually propagated from shoots of full grown +trees, which if transplanted and taken care of, will yield in six or +seven years, whilst those raised immediately from the stone require +sixteen years to produce fruit. + +The date-palm is male and female, or _dioecious_, and requires +communication, otherwise the fruit is dry and insipid. The age of the +palm, in its greatest vigour, is about thirty years, according to the +Tunisians, after planting, and will continue in vigour for seventy +years, bearing anually fifteen or twenty clusters of dates, each of them +fifteen or twenty pounds in weight; after this long period, they begin +gradually to wither away. But the Saharan Tripolitans will tell you that +the date-palm does not attain its age of full vigour till it reaches a +hundred years, and then will flourish two or or three centuries before +it withers! + +The only culture requisite, is to be well watered at the roots once in +four or five days, and to have the lower boughs cut off when they begin +to droop and wither. Much rain, however, injures the dates, and we know +that the countries in which they flourish, are mostly without rain. In +many localities in Africa, date-palms can never be watered in the dry +season; it is nevertheless observable that generally wherever a palm +grows and thrives water may usually be obtained by boring. The sap, or +honey of the palm is a delicious and wholesome beverage when drunk quite +fresh; but if allowed to remain for some hours, it acquires a sharp +taste, something like cider, and becomes very intoxicating. It is called +poetically _leghma_, "tears" of the dates. When a tree is found not to +produce much fruit, the head is cut off, and a bowl or cavity scooped +out of the summit, in which the rising sap is collected, and this is +drunk in its pure state without any other preparation. If the tree be +not exhausted by draining, in five or six months it grows afresh; and, +at the end of two or three years, may again be cut or tapped. The palm +is capable of undergoing this operation five or six times, and it may be +easily known how often a tree has been cut by the number of rings of a +narrow diameter which are seen towards its summit; but, if the sap is +allowed to flow too long, it will perish entirely at the end of a year. +This sap, by distillation, produces an agreeable spirit called _Araky_ +or _Arak_: from the fruit also the Jews distil a spirit called _bokka_, +or what we should call _toddy_. It is usual for persons of distinction +to entertain their friends upon a marriage, or the birth of a child, +with this pure sap, and a tree is usually tapped for the purpose. It +would appear that tapping the palm was known to the ancients, for a +cornelian _intaglio_ of Roman antiquity, has been found in the Jereed, +representing a tree in this state, and the jars in which the juice was +placed. + +Dates are likewise dried in the sun, and reduced into a kind of meal, +which will keep for any length of time, and which thus becomes a most +valuable resource for travellers crossing the deserts, who frequently +make it their only food, moistening a handful of it with a little water. +Certain preparations are made of the male plant, to which medicinal +virtues are attributed; the younger leaves, eaten with salt, vinegar, +and oil, make an excellent salad. The heart of the tree, which lies at +top between the fruit branches, and weighs from ten to twenty pounds, is +eaten only on grand occasions, as those already mentioned, and possesses +a delicious flavour between that of a banana and a pine-apple. + +The palm, besides these valuable uses to which it is applied, +superseding or supplying the place of all other vegetables to the tribes +of the Jereed, is, nevertheless, still useful for a great variety of +other purposes. The most beautiful baskets, and a hundred other +nick-nackery of the wickery sort are made of its branches; ropes are +made and vestments wove from the long fibres, and its wood, also, when +hardened by age, is used for building. Indeed, we may say, it is the all +and everything of the Jereed, and, as it is said of the camel and the +desert, _the palm is made for the Jereed, and the Jereed is made for the +palm_. + +The Mussulmen make out a complete case of piety and superstition in the +palm, and pretend that _they are made for the palm, and the palm is made +for them_, alleging that, as soon as the Turks conquered Constantinople, +the palm raised its graceful flowing head over the domes of the former +infidel city, whilst when the Moors evacuated Spain, the palm pined +away, and died. "God," adds the pious Mussulman, "has given us the palm; +amongst the Christians, it will not grow!" But the poetry of the palm is +an inseparable appendage in the North African landscape, and even town +scenery. The Moor and the Arab, whose minds are naturally imbued with +the great images of nature, so glowingly represented also in the sacred +leaves of the Koran, cannot imagine a mosque or the dome-roof of a +hermitage, without the dark leaf of the palm overshadowing it; but the +serenest, loveliest object on the face of the landscape is _the lonely +palm_, either thrown by chance on the brow of some savage hill or +planted by design to adorn some sacred spot of mother-earth. + +I must still give some other information which I have omitted respecting +this extraordinary tree. And, after this, I further refer the reader to +a Tour in the Jereed of which some details are given in succeeding +pages. A palm-grove is really a beautiful object, and requires scarcely +less attention than a vineyard. The trees are generally planted in a +_quincunx_, or at times without any regular order; but at distances from +each other of four or five yards. The situation selected is mostly on +the banks of some stream or rivulet, running from the neighbouring +hills, and the more abundant the supply of water, the healthier the +plants and the finer the fruit. For this tree, which loves a warm +climate, and a sandy soil, is yet wonderfully improved by frequent +irrigation, and, singularly, the _quality_ of the water appears of +little consequence, being salt or sweet, or impregnated with nitre, as +in the Jereed. + +Irrigation is performed in the spring, and through the whole summer. The +water is drawn by small channels from the stream to each individual +tree, around the stalk and root of which a little basin is made and +fenced round with clay, so that the water, when received, is detained +there until it soaks into the earth. (All irrigation is, indeed, +effected in this way.) As to the abundance of the plantations, the fruit +of one plantation alone producing fifteen hundred camels' loads of +dates, or four thousand five hundred quintals, three quintals to the +load, is not unfrequently sold for one thousand dollars. Besides the +Jereed, Tafilett, in Morocco, is a great date-country. Mr. Jackson says, +"We found the country covered with most magnificent plantations, and +extensive forests of the lofty date, exhibiting the most elegant and +picturesque appearance that nature on a plain surface can present to the +admiring eye. In these forests, there is no underwood, so that a +horseman may gallop through them without impediment." + +Our readers will see, when they come to the Tour, that this description +of the palm-groves agrees entirely with that of Mr. Reade and Captain +Balfour. I have already mentioned that the palm is male and female, or, +as botanists say, _dioecious_; the Moors, however, pretend that the palm +in this respect is just like the human being. The _female_ palm alone +produces fruit and is cultivated, but the presence or vicinity of the +_male_ is required, and in many oriental countries there is a law that +those who own a palm-wood must have a certain number of _male_ plants in +proportion. In Barbary they seem to trust to chance, relying on the male +plants which grow wild in the Desert. They hang and shake them over the +female plants, usually in February or March. Koempfe says, that the male +flowers, if plucked when ripe, and cautiously dried, will even, in this +state, perform their office, though kept to the following year. + +The Jereed is a very important portion of the Tunisian territory, +Government deriving a large revenue from its inhabitants. It is visited +every year by the "Bey of the Camp," who administers affairs in this +country as a sovereign; and who, indeed, is heir-apparent to the +Tunisian throne. Immediately on the decease of the reigning Bey, the +"Bey of the Camp" occupies the hereditary beylick, and nominates his +successor to the camp and the throne, usually the eldest of the other +members of the royal family, the beylick not being transmitted from +father to son, only on the principle of age. At least, this has been the +general rule of succession for many years. + +The duties of the "Bey of the Camp" is to visit with a "flying-camp," +for the purpose of collecting tribute, the two circuits or divisions of +the Regency. + +I now introduce to the reader the narrative of a Tour to the Jereed, +extracted from the notebooks of the tourists, together with various +observations of my own interspersed, and some additional account of +Toser, Nefta, and Ghafsa. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Tour in the Jereed of Captain Balfour and Mr. Reade.--Sidi Mohammed.-- +Plain of Manouba.--Tunis.--Tfeefleeah.--The Bastinado.--Turkish +Infantry.--Kairwan.--Sidi Amour Abeda.--Saints.--A French Spy-- +Administration of Justice.--The Bey's presents.--The Hobara.--Ghafsa. +Hot streams containing Fish.--Snakes.--Incantation.--Moorish Village. + + +The tourists were Captain Balfour, of the 88th Regiment, and Mr. Richard +Reade, eldest son of Sir Thomas Reade. + +The morning before starting from Tunis they went to the Bardo to pay +their respects to Sidi Mohammed, "Bey of the Camp," and to thank him for +his condescending kindness in taking them with him to the Jereed. The +Bey told him to send their baggage to Giovanni, "Guarda-pipa," which +they did in the evening. + +At nine A. M. Sidi Mohammed left the Bardo under a salute from the guns, +one of the wads of which nearly hit Captain Balfour on the head. The Bey +proceeded across the plain of Manouba, mounted on a beautiful bay +charger, in front of the colours, towards Beereen, the greater part of +the troops of the expedition following, whilst the entire plain was +covered with baggage-camels, horses, mules, and detached parties of +attendants, in glorious confusion. + + The force of the camp consisted of--Mamelukes + of the Seraglio, superbly mounted 20 + + Mamelukes of the Skeefah, or those who + guard the entrance of the Bey's + palace, or tent, and are all Levantines 20 + + Boabs, another sort of guard of the Bey, + who are always about the Bey's + tent, and must be of this country 20 + + Turkish Infantry 300 + Spahis, o. mounted Arab guards 300 + Camp followers (Arabs) 2,000 + ----- + Total 2,660 + +This is certainly not a large force, but in several places of the march +they were joined for a short time by additional Arab troops, a sort of +honorary welcome for the Bey. As they proceeded, the force of the +camp-followers increased; but, in returning, it gradually decreased, the +parties going home to their respective tribes. We may notice the total +absence of any of the new corps, the Nithalm. This may have been to +avoid exciting the prejudices of the people; however, the smallness of +the force shows that the districts of the Jereed are well-affected. The +summer camp to Beja has a somewhat larger force, the Arabs of that and +other neighbouring districts not being so loyal to the Government. + +Besides the above-named troops, there were two pieces of artillery. The +band attendant on these troops consisted of two or three flageolets, +kettle-drums, and trumpets made of cow-horns, which, according to the +report of our tourists, when in full play produced the most diabolical +discord. + +After a ride of about three hours, we pitched our tents at Beereen. +Through the whole of the route we marched on an average of about four +miles per hour, the horses, camels, &c., walking at a good pace. The +Turkish infantry always came up about two hours after the mounted +troops. Immediately on the tents being pitched, we went to pay our +respects to the Bey, accompanied by Giovanni, "Guardapipa," as +interpreter. His Highness received us very affably, and bade us ask for +anything we wanted. Afterwards, we took some luncheon with the Bey's +doctor, Signore Nunez Vaise, a Tuscan Jew, of whose kindness during our +whole tour it is impossible to speak too highly. The doctor had with him +an assistant, and tent to himself. Haj Kador, Sidi Shakeer, and several +other Moors, were of our luncheon-party, which was a very merry one. + +About half-way to Beereen, the Bey stopped at a marabet, a small square +white house, with a dome roof, to pay his devotions to a great Marabout, +or saint, and to ask his parting blessing on the expedition. They told +us to go on, and joined us soon after. Two hours after us, the Turkish +Agha arrived, accompanied with colours, music, and some thirty men. The +Bey received the venerable old gentleman under an immense tent in the +shape of an umbrella, surrounded with his mamelukes and officers of +state. After their meeting and saluting, three guns were fired. The Agha +was saluted every day in the same manner, as he came up with his +infantry after us. We retired for the night at about eight o'clock. + +The form of the whole camp, when pitched, consisting of about a dozen +very large tents, was as follows:--The Bey's tent in the centre, which +was surrounded at a distance of about forty feet with those of the +Bash-Hamba [31] of the Arabs, the Agha of the Arabs, the Sahab-el-Tabah, +Haznadar or treasurer, the Bash-Boab, and that of the English tourists; +then further off were the tents of the Katibs and Bash-Katib, the +Bash-Hamba of the Turks, the doctors, and the domestics of the Bey, with +the cookery establishment. Among the attendants of the Bey were the +"guarda-pipa," guard of the pipe, "guarda-fusile," guard of the gun, +"guarda-cafe," guard of the coffee, "guarda-scarpe," guard of the shoes, +[32] and "guarda-acqua," guard of water. A man followed the Bey about +holding in his hand a golden cup, and leading a mule, having two paniers +on its back full of water, which was brought from Tunis by camels. There +was also a story-teller, who entertained the Bey every night with the +most extraordinary stories, some of them frightfully absurd. The Bey did +not smoke--a thing extraordinary, as nearly all men smoke in Tunis. His +Highness always dined alone. None of his ladies ever accompany him in +these expeditions. + +The tents had in them from twenty to fifty men each. Our tent consisted +of our two selves, a Boab to guard the baggage, two Arabs to tend the +horses and camels, and another Moor of all work, besides Captain +Balfour's Maltese, called Michael. We had three camels for our baggage. +The first night we found very cold; but having abundance of clothing, we +slept soundly, in spite of the perpetual wild shoutings of the Arab +sentries, stationed round the camp, the roaring and grumbling of the +camels, the neighing and coughing of the horses, all doing their utmost +to drive away slumber from our eyelids. + +We halted on the morrow, which gave us an opportunity of getting a few +things from Tunis which we had neglected to bring. But before returning, +we ate some sweetmeats sent us by the guarda-pipa, with a cup of coffee. +The guarda-pipa is also a dragoman interpreter of his Highness, and a +Genoese by birth, but now a renegade. In this country they do not know +what a good breakfast is; they take a cup of coffee in the morning +early, and wait till twelve or one o'clock, when they take a hearty +meal, and then sup in the evening, late or early, according to the +season. Before returning to Tunis, we called upon his Highness, and told +him our object. We afterwards called to see the Bey every morning, to +pay our respects to him, as was befitting on these occasions. His +Highness entered into the most familiar conversation with us. + +On coming back again from Tunis, it rained hard, which continued all +night. In the evening the welcome news was proclaimed that the tents +would not be struck until daylight: previously, the camp was always +struck at 3 o'clock, about three hours before daylight, which gave rise +to great confusion, besides being without shelter during the coldest +part of the night (three hours before sun-rise) was a very serious trial +for the health of the men. The reason, however, was, to enable the +camels to get up to the new encampment; their progress, though regular +and continual, is very slow. + +Of a morning the music played off the _reveil_ an hour before sunrise. +The camp presented an animated appearance, with the striking of tents, +packing camels, mounting horses, &c. We paid our respects to his +Highness, who was sitting in an Arab tent, his own being down. The music +was incessantly grating upon our ears, but was in harmony with the +irregular marching and movements of the Arabs, one of them occasionally +rushing out of the line of march, charging, wheeling about, firing, +reloading, shouting furiously, and making the air ring with his cries. + +The order of march was as follows:--The Bey mounts, and, going along +about one hundred yards from the spot, he salutes the Arab guards, who +follow behind him; then, about five or six miles further, overtaking the +Turkish soldiers, who, on his coming up, are drawn up on each side of +the road, his Highness salutes them; and then afterwards the +water-carriers are saluted, being most important personages in the dry +countries of this circuit, and last of all, the gunners; after all +which, the Bey sends forward a mameluke, who returns with the Commander, +or Agha of the Arabs, to his Highness. This done, the Bey gallops off to +the right or left from the line of march, on whichsoever side is most +game--the Bey going every day to shoot, whilst the Agha takes his place +and marches to the next halting-place. + +One morning the Bey shot two partridges while on horseback. "In fact," +says Mr. Rade, "he is the best shot on horseback I ever saw--he seldom +missed his game." As Captain B. was riding along with the doctor, they +remarked a cannon-ball among some ruins; but, being told a saint was +buried there, they got out of the way as quick as if a deadly serpent +had been discovered. Stretching away to the left, we saw a portion of +the remains of the Carthaginian aqueduct. The march was only from six to +eight miles, and the encampment at Tfeefleeah. At day-break, at noon, at +3 o'clock, P.M. and at sunset, the Muezzen called from outside and near +the door of the Bey's tent the hour of prayer. An aide-de-camp also +proclaimed, at the same place, whether we should halt, or march, on the +morrow, The Arabs consider fat dogs a great delicacy, and kill and eat +them whenever they can lay hands upon them. Captain B. was fortunate in +not bringing his fat pointer, otherwise he would have lost him. The +Arabs eat also foxes and wolves, and many animals of the chase not +partaken of by us. The French in Algiers kill all the fat cats, and turn +them into hares by dexterous cooking. The mornings and evenings we found +cold, but mid-day very hot and sultry. + +We left Tfeefleeah early, and went in search of wild-boar; found only +their tracks, but saw plenty of partridges and hares; the ground being +covered with brushwood and heath, we soonae lost sight of them. The Arabs +were seen on a sudden running and galloping in all directions, shouting +and pointing to a hill, when a huge beast was put up, bristling and +bellowing, which turned out to be a hyaena. He was shot by a mameluke, Si +Smyle, and fell in a thicket, wallowing in his blood. He was a fine +fellow, and had an immense bead, like a bull-dog. They put him on a +mule, and carried him in triumph to the Bey. When R. arrived at the +camp, the Bey sent him the skin and the head as a present, begging that +he would not eat the brain. There is a superstitious belief among the +Moors that, if a person eats the brain of a hyaena he immediately becomes +mad. The hyaena is not the savage beast commonly represented; he rarely +attacks any person, and becomes untameably ferocious by being only +chained up. He is principally remarkable for his stupidity when at large +in the woods. The animal abounds in the forests of the Morocco Atlas. +Our tourists saw no lions _en route_, or in the Jereed; the lion does +not like the sandy and open country of the plain. Very thick brushwood, +and ground broken with rocks, like the ravines of the Atlas, are his +haunts. + +Several Arabs were flogged for having stolen the barley of which they +had charge. The bastinado was inflicted by two inferior mamelukes, +standing one on each side of the culprit, who had his hands and his feet +tied behind him. In general, it may be said that bastinadoing in Tunis +is a matter of form, many of the strokes ordered to be inflicted being +never performed, and those given being so many taps or scratches. It is +very rare to see a man bleeding from the bastinado; I (the author) never +did. It is merely threatened as a terror; whilst it is not to be +overlooked, that the soles of the feet of Arabs, and the lower classes +in this country, are like iron, from the constant habit of going +barefoot upon the sharpest stones. Severe punishments of any kind are +rarely inflicted in Tunis. + +The country was nearly all flat desert, with scarcely an inhabitant to +dissipate its savage appearance. The women of a few Arab horsehair tents +(waterproof when in good repair) saluted us as we passed with their +shrill looloos. There appeared a great want of water. We passed the +ruins of several towns and other remains. The camels were always driven +into camp at sunset, and hobbled along, their two fore-legs being tied, +or one of them being tied up to the knee, by which the poor animals are +made to cut a more melancholy figure than with their usual awkward gait +and moody character. + +We continued our march about ten miles in nearly a southern direction, +and encamped at a place called Heelet-el-Gazlen. + +One morning shortly after starting, we came to a small stream with very +high and precipitous banks, over which one arch of a fine bridge +remained, but the other being wanting, we had to make a considerable +_detour_ before we could cross; the carriages had still greater +difficulty. Here we have an almost inexcusable instance of the +disinclination of the Moors to repairs, for had the stream been swollen, +the camp would have been obliged to make a round-about march by the way +of Hamman-el-Enf, of some thirty miles; and all for the want of an arch +which would scarcely cost a thousand piastres! This stream or river is +the same as that which passes near Hamman-el-Enf, and the extensive +plain through which it meanders is well cultivated, with douwars, or +circular villages of the Arabs dotted about. We saw hares, but, the +ground being difficult running for the dogs, we caught but few. Bevies +of partridges got up, but we were unprepared for them. In the evening, +the Bey sent a present of a very fine bay horse to R. Marched about ten +miles, and halted at Ben Sayden. + +The following day after starting, we left the line of march to shoot; +saw one boar, plenty of foxes and wolves, and we put up another hyaena, +but the bag consisted principally of partridges, the red-legged +partridge or _perdix ruffa_, killed, by the Bey, who is a dead-shot. Our +ride lay among hills; there was very little water, which accounted for +the few inhabitants. After dinner, went out shooting near Jebanah, and +bagged a few partridges, but, not returning before the sun went down, +the Bey sent a dozen fellows bawling out our names, fearing some harm +had befallen us. + +On leaving the hills, there lay stretched at our feet a boundless plain, +on which is situate Kairwan, extending also to Susa, and leagues around. +North Africa, is a country of hills and plains--such was the case along +our entire route. We saw a large herd of gazelles feeding, as well as +several single ones, but they have the speed of the greyhound, so we did +not grace our supper with any. Saw several birds called Kader, about the +size of a partridge, but we shot none. A good many hares and partridges +either crossed our path or whirred over our heads. Passed over a running +stream called Zebharah, where we saw the remains of an ancient bridge, +but in the place where the baggage went over there was a fine one in +good repair. Here was a small dome-topped chapel, called Sidi Farhat, in +which are laid the ashes of a saint. We had seen many such in the hills; +indeed these gubbah abound all over Barbary, and are placed more +frequently on elevations. We noticed particularly the 300 Turkish +infantry; they were irregulars with a vengeance, though regulars +compared to the Arabs. On overtaking them, they drew up on each side, +and some dozen of them kept up a running sham fight with their swords +and small wooden and metal shields before the Bey. The officers kissed +the hand of the Bey, and his treasurer tipped their band, for so we must +call their tumtums and squeaking-pipes. This ceremony took place every +morning, and they were received in the camp with all the honours. They +kept guard during the night, and did all they could to keep us awake by +their eternal cry of "Alleya," which means, "Be off," or "Keep your +distance!" These troops had not been recruited for eight years, and will +soon die off; and yet we see that the Bey treats these remnants of the +once formidable Turkish Tunisian Janissaries with great respect; of +course, in an affair with the Arabs, their fidelity to the Bey would be +most unshaken. + +As we journeyed onward, we saw much less vegetation and very little +cultivation. An immense plain lay before and around us, in which, +however, there was some undulating ground. Passed a good stone bridge; +were supplied with water near a large Arab encampment, around which were +many droves of camels; turned up several hares, partridges, and +gazelles. One of the last gave us a good chase, but the greyhounds +caught him; in the first half mile, he certainly beat them by a good +half of the instance, but having taken a turn which enabled the dogs to +make a short cut, and being blown, they pulled the swift delicate +creature savagely down. There were several good courses after hares, +though her pursuers gave puss no fair play, firing at her before the +dogs and heading her in every possible way. + +Rode to Kairwan. Few Christians arrive in this city. Prince Pueckler +Muskau was the fourth when he visited it in 1835. The town is clean, but +many houses are in ruins. The greater part of a regiment of the Nitham +are quartered here. The famous mosque, of course, we were not allowed to +enter, but many of its marble pillars and other ornaments, we heard from +Giovanni, were the spoils of Christian churches and Pagan temples. The +house of the Kaed was a good specimen of dwellings in this country. +Going along a street, we were greatly surprised at seeing our +attendants, among whom were Si Smyle (a very intelligent and learned +man, and who taught Mr. R. Arabic during the tour) and the Bash-Boab, +jumping off their horses, and, running up to an old-looking Moor, and +then seizing his hand, kissed it; and for some time they would not leave +the ragged ruffian-like saint. + +At last, having joined us, they said he was Sidi Amour Abeda, a man of +exceeding sanctity, and that if the Bey had met the saint, his Highness +must have done the same. The saint accompanied us to the Kaed's house; +and, on entering, we saw the old Kaed himself, who was ill and weeping +on account of the arrival of his son, the commander of a portion of the +guards of the camp. We went up stairs, and sat down to some sweetmeats +which had been prepared for us, together with Si Smyle and Hamda, but, +as we were commencing, the saint, who was present, laid hold of the +sweets with his hands, and blessed them, mumbling _bismillas_ [33] and +other jargon. We afterwards saw a little house, in course of erection by +order of the Bey, where the remains of Sidi Amour Abeda are to be +deposited at his death, so that the old gentleman can have the pleasure +of visiting his future burial-place. In this city, a lineal descendant +of the Prophet, and a lucky guesser in the way of divining, are the +essential ingredients in the composition of a Moorish saint. Saints of +one order or another are as thick here as ordinary priests in Malta, +whom the late facetious Major Wright was accustomed to call +_crows_--from their black dress--but better, cormorants, as agreeing +with their habits of fleecing the poor people. Sidi Amour Abeda's hands +ought to be lily-white, for every one who meets him kisses them with +devout and slavering obeisance. The renegade doctor of the Bey told us +that the old dervish now in question would like nothing better than to +see us English infidels burnt alive. Fanaticism seems to be the native +growth of the human heart! + +We afterwards visited the Jabeah, or well, which they show as a +curiosity, as also the camel which turns round the buckets and brings up +the water, being all sanctified, like the wells of Mecca, and the +drinking of the waters forming an indispensable part of the pilgrimage +to all holy Mohammedan cities. + +We returned to the Kaed's, and sat down to a capital dinner. The old +Governor was a great fanatic, and when R. ran up to shake hands with +him, the mamelukes stopped R. for fear he might be insulted. We visited +the fortress, which was in course of repair, our _cicerone_ being Sidi +Reschid, an artillery-officer. We then returned to the camp, and found +Santa Maria, the French officer, had arrived, who, during the tour, +employed himself in taking sketches and making scientific observations. +He was evidently a French spy on the resources of the Bey. It was given +out, however, that he was employed to draw charts of Algiers, Tunis, and +Tripoli, by his Government. He endeavoured to make himself as unpopular +as some persons try to make themselves agreeable, being very jealous of +us, and every little thing that we had he used to cry for it and beg it +like a child, sometimes actually going to the Bey's tent in person, and +asking his Highness for the things which he saw had been given to us. + +We went to see his Highness administer justice, which he always did, +morning and evening, whilst at Kairwan. There were many plaintiffs, but +no defendants brought up; most of them were turned out in a very summary +manner. To some, orders were given, which we supposed enabled them to +obtain redress; others were referred to the kadys and chiefs. The Bey, +being in want of camels, parties were sent out in search of them, who +drove in all the finest that they could find, which were then marked +("taba,") _a la Bey_, and immediately became the Bey's property. It was +a curious sight to see the poor animals thrown over, and the red-hot +iron put to their legs, amidst the cries and curses of their late +different owners--all which were not in the least attended to, the wants +of the Bey, or Government, being superior on such occasions of +necessity, or what not, to all complaint, law, or justice. About two +hundred changed hands in this way. + +The Bey of Tunis has an immense number of camels which he farms out. He +has overseers in certain districts, to whom he gives so many camels; +these let them out to other persons for mills and agricultural labours, +at so much per head. The overseers annually render an account of them to +Government, and, when called upon, supply the number required. At this +time, owing to a disorder which had caused a great mortality, camels had +been very scarce, and this was the reason of the extensive seizure just +mentioned. If an Arab commits manslaughter, his tribe is mulcted +thirty-three camels; and, as the crime is rather common in the Bedouin +districts, the Bey's acquisition in this way is considerable. A few +years ago, a Sicilian nobleman exported from Tunis to Sicily some eighty +camels, the duty for which the Bey remitted. The camel, if ever so +healthy and thriving in the islands of the Mediterranean, could never +supersede the labour of mules. The camel is only useful where there are +vast plains to travel, as in North Africa, Arabia, Persia, Australasia, +and some parts of the East Indies. + +A hundred more Arabs joined, who passed in a single file before the Bey +for inspection: they came rushing into the camp by twos and threes, +firing off their long guns. + +We crossed large plains, over which ran troops of gazelles, and had many +gallops after them; but they go much faster than the greyhound, and, +unless headed and bullied, there is little chance of taking them, except +found asleep. On coming on a troop unawares, R. shot one, which the dogs +caught. R. went up afterwards to cut its throat _a la Moresque_, when he +was insulted by an Arab. R. noticed the fellow, and afterwards told the +Bey, who instantly ordered him to receive two hundred bastinadoes, and +to be put in chains; but, just as they had begun to whip him, R. went up +and generously begged him off. This is the end of most bastinados in the +country. We passed a stream which they said had swallowed up some +persons, and was very dangerous. A muddy stream, they add, is often very +fatal to travellers. The Bey surprised Captain B. by sending him a +handsome black horse as a present; he also sent a grey one to the +Frenchman, who, when complaining of it, saying that it was a bad one, to +the Bey's mamelukes, his Highness sent for it, and gave him another. +Under such circumstances, Saint Mary ought to have looked very foolish. +The Bey shot a kader, a handsome bird, rather larger than a partridge, +with black wings, and flies like a plover. We had a large +hawking-establishment with us, some twenty birds, very fine falconry, +which sometimes carried off hares, and even attacked young goat-kids. +Marched to a place called Gilma, near which the road passes through an +ancient town. Shaw says, "Gilma, the ancient Cilma, or Oppidum +Chilmanenense, is six leagues to the east-south-east of Spaitla. We have +here the remains of a large city, with the area of a temple, and some +other fragments of large buildings. According to the tradition of the +Arabs, this place received its name in consequence of a miracle +pretended to have been wrought by one of their marabouts, in bringing +hither the river of Spaitla, after it was lost underground. For Ja Elma +signifies, in their language, 'The water comes!' an expression we are to +imagine of surprise at the arrival of the stream." + +During our tour, the mornings were generally cold. We proceeded about +twenty miles, and encamped near a place called Wady Tuckah. This river +comes from the hills about three or four miles off, and when the camp +arrives at Kairwan, the Bey sends an order to the Arabs of the district +to let the water run down to the place where the tents are pitched. When +we arrived, the water had just come. We saw warrens of hares, and caught +many with the dogs. Troops of gazelles were also surprised; one was +fired at, and went off scampering on three legs. The hawks caught a +beautiful bird called hobara, or habary, [34] about the size of the +small hen-turkey, lily white on the back, light brown brindle, tuft of +long white feathers on its head, and ruffle of long black feathers, +which they stretch out at pleasure, with a large grey eye. A curious +prickly plant grows about here, something like a dwarf broom, if its +leaves were sharp thorns, it is called Kardert. The Bey made R. a +present of the hobara. + +One day three gazelles were caught, and also a fox, by R.'s greyhound, +which behaved extremely well, and left the other dogs in the rear, every +now and then attacking him in the hind-quarters. Saw seven or eight +hobaras, but too windy for the hawks to be flown. Captain B. chased a +gazelle himself, and had the good fortune to catch him. As soon as an +Arab secures an animal, he immediately cuts its throat, repeating +"Bismillah, Allah Akbar," "In the name (of God), God is great." + +We marched seventeen miles to a place called Aly Ben Own, the name of +the saint buried close by. The plain we crossed must have been once +thickly inhabited, as there were many remains. We were joined by more +Arabs, and our force continued to augment. The Bey, being in want of +horses, the same system of seizing them was adopted as with the camels. + +One splendid morning that broke over our encampment we had an +opportunity of witnessing Africa's most gorgeous scenery. [35] Plenty of +hobaras; they fly like a goose. The hawks took two or three of them, +also some hares. The poor hare does not know what to make of the hawks; +after a little running, it gives itself up for death, only first dodging +out of the bird's pounce, or hiding itself in a tuft of grass or a bush, +but which it is not long allowed to do, for the Arabs soon drive it out +from its vain retreat. The hawk, when he seizes the hare with one claw, +catches hold of any tuft of grass or irregularity of the ground with the +other; a strong leather strap is also fastened from one leg to the +other, to prevent them from being pulled open or strained. We came upon +a herd of small deer, called ebba, which are a little larger than the +gazelle, but they soon bounded beyond our pursuit, leaving us scarcely +time to admire their delicate make and unapproachable speed. + +We crossed a range of hills into another plain, at the extremity of +which lies Ghafsa. The surface was naked, with the exception of tufts of +strong, rushy grass, almost a sure indication of hares, and of which we +started a great number. We saw another description of bird, called +rhaad, [36] with white wings, which flew like a pigeon, but more +swiftly. Near our tract were the remains of a large tank of ancient +Roman construction. The Bey shot a fox. Marched fourteen or fifteen +miles to Zwaneah, which means "little garden," though there is no sign +of such thing, unless it be the few oranges, dates, and pomegranates +which they find here. We had water from a tank of modern construction; +some remains were close to the camp, the ancient cistern and stone duct +leading from the hills. We had two thousand camels with the camp and +following it, for which not a single atom of provender is carried, the +camels subsisting scantily upon the coarse grass, weeds or thorns, which +the soil barely affords. The camel is very fond of sharp, prickly +thorns. You look upon the animal, with its apparently most tender mouth, +chopping the sharpest thorns it can find, full of amazement! Some of the +chiefs who have lately joined us, have brought their wives with them, +riding on camels in a sort of palanquin or shut-up machine. These +palanquins have a kind of mast and shrouds, from which a bell is slung, +tinkling with the swinging motion of the camel. This rude contrivance +makes the camel more than ever "the ship of the Desert." Several fine +horses were brought in as presents to the Bey, one a very fine mare. + +Our next march was towards Ghafsa, about twenty miles off. We were +joined by a considerable number of fresh Arabs, who "played at powder," +and kept firing and galloping before the Bey the whole day; some of them +managed themselves and their arms and horses with great address, +balancing the firelock on their heads, firing it, twisting it round, +throwing it into the air, and catching it again, and all without once +losing the command of their horses. An accident happened amidst the fun; +two of the parties came in contact, and one of them received a dreadful +gash on the forehead. The dresses of some of them were very rich, and +looked very graceful on horseback. A ride over sand-hills brought us in +view of the town, embedded in olive and date-trees, looking fresh and +green after our hot and dusty march; it lay stretched at the foot of a +range of hills, which formed the boundaries of another extensive plain. + +We halted at Ghafsa, [37] which is almost a mass of rubbish filled with +dirty people, although there are plenty of springs about, principally +hot and mineral waters. Although the Moors, by their religion, are +enjoined the constant use of the bath, yet because they do not change +their linen and other clothes, they are always very dirty. They do not, +however, exceed the Maltese and Sicilians, and many other people of the +neighbourhood, in filth, and perhaps the Moors are cleaner in their +hahits than they. The Arabs are extremely disgusting, and their women +are often seen in a cold winter's evening, standing with their legs +extended over a smoky wood fire, holding up their petticoats, and +continuing in this indelicate position for hours together. + +In these Thermae, or hot, sulphurous, and other mineral springs, is the +phenomenon of the existence of fish and small snakes. These were +observed by our tourists, but I shall give three other authorities +besides them. Shaw says: "'The Ouri-el-Nout,' _i.e_., 'Well of Fish,' +and the springs of Ghasa and Toser, nourish a number of small fishes of +the mullet and perch kind, and are of an easy digestion. Of the like +quality are the other waters of the Jereed, all of them, after they +become cold, being the common drink of the inhabitants." Sir Grenville +Temple remarks: "The thermometer in the water marked ninety-five +degrees; and, what is curious, a considerable number of fish is found in +this stream, which measure from four to six inches in length, and +resemble, in some degree, the gudgeon, having a delicate flavour. Bruce +mentions a similar fact, but he says he saw it in the springs of +Feriana. Part of the ancient structure of these baths still exists, and +pieces of inscriptions are observed in different places." + +Mr. Honneger has made a sketch of this fish. The wood-cut represents it +one half the natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The snake, not noticed by former tourists, has been observed by Mr. +Honneger, which nourishes itself entirely upon the fish. The wood-cut +represents the snake half its natural size: + +[Illustration] + +The fish and the snake live together, though not very amicably, in the +hot-springs. Prince Puekler Muskau, who travelled in Tunis, narrates +that, "Near the ruins of Utica was a warm spring, in whose almost hot +waters we found several turtles, _which seemed to inhabit this basin_." + +However, perhaps, there is no such extraordinary difficulty in the +apprehension of this phenomenon, for "The Gulf Stream," on leaving the +Gulf of Mexico, "has a temperature of more than 27 deg. (centigrade), or +80-6/10 degrees of Fahrenheit." [38] + +Many a fish must pass through and live in this stream. And after all, +since water is the element of fish, and is hotter or colder in all +regions, like the air, the element of man, which he breathes, warmer or +cooler, according to clime and local circumstances--there appear to be +no physical objections in the way of giving implicit credence to our +tourists. + +Water is so abundant, that the adjoining plain might be easily +irrigated, and planted with ten thousand palms and forests of olives. +God is bountiful in the Desert, but man wilfully neglects these aqueous +riches springing up eternally to repair the ravages of the burning +simoum! In one of the groves we met a dervish, who immediately set about +charming our Boab. He began by an incantation, then seized him round the +middle, and, stooping a little, lifted him on his shoulders, continuing +the while the incantation. He then put him on his feet again, and, after +several attempts, appeared to succeed in bringing off his stomach +something in the shape of leaden bullets, which he then, with an air of +holy swagger, presented to the astonished guard of the Bey. The dervish +next spat on his patient's hands, closed them in his own, then smoothed +him down the back like a mountebank smooths his pony, and stroked also +his head and beard; and, after further gentle and comely ceremonies of +this sort, the charming of the charmer finished, and the Boab presented +the holy man with his fee. We dined at the Kaed's house; this +functionary was a very venerable man, a perfect picture of a patriarch +of the olden Scriptural times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There was +not a single article of furniture in the room, except a humble sofa, +upon which he sat. + +We inspected the old Kasbah at Ghafsa, which is in nearly a state of +ruin, and looked as if it would soon be down about our ears. It is an +irregular square, and built chiefly of the remains of ancient edifices. +It was guarded by fifty Turks, whose broken-down appearance was in +perfect harmony with the citadel they inhabited. The square in a +building is the favourite form of the Moors and Mohammedans generally; +the Kaaba of Mecca, the _sanctum sanctorum_, is a square. The Moors +endeavour to imitate the sacred objects of their religion in every way, +even in the commonest affairs of human existence, whilst likewise their +troops of wives and concubines are only an earthly foretaste and an +earnest of the celestial ladies they expect to meet hereafter. + +We saw them making oil, which was in a very primitive fashion. The +oil-makers were nearly all women. The olives were first ground between +stones worked by the hands, until they became of the consistence of +paste, which was then taken down to the stream and put into a wooden tub +with water. On being stirred up, the oil rises to the top, which they +skim off with their hands and put into skins or jars; when thus skimmed, +they pass the grounds or refuse through a sieve, the water running off; +the stones and pulp are then saved for firing. But in this way much of +the oil is lost, as may be seen by the greasy surface of the water below +where this rude process is going on. Among the oil-women, we noticed a +girl who would have been very pretty and fascinating had she washed +herself instead of the olives. We entered an Arab house inhabited by +some twenty persons, chiefly women, who forthwith unceremoniously took +off our caps, examined very minutely all our clothes with an excited +curiosity, laughed heartily when we put our hands in our pockets, and +wished to do the same, and then pulled our hair, looking under our faces +with amorous glances. On the hill overlooking the town, we also met two +women screaming frightfully and tearing their faces; we learned that one +of them had lost her child. The women make the best blankets here with +handlooms, and do the principal heavy work. + +We saw some hobaras, also a bird called getah, smaller than a partridge, +something like a ptarmigan, with its summer feathers, and head shaped +like a quail. The Bey sent two live ones to R., besides a couple of +large jerboahs of this part, called here, _gundy_. They are much like +the guinea-pig, but of a sandy colour, and very soft and fine, like a +young hare. The jerboahs in the neighbourhood of Tunis are certainly +more like the rat. The other day, near the south-west gates, we fell in +with a whole colony of them--which, however, were the lesser animal, or +Jerd species--who occupied an entire eminence to themselves, the +sovereignty of which seemed to have been conceded to them by the Bey of +Tunis. They looked upon us as intruders, and came very near to us, as if +asking us why we had the audacity to disturb the tranquillity of their +republic. The ground here in many places was covered with a substance +like the rime of a frosty morning; it tastes like salt, and from it they +get nitre. Captain B. thinks it was salt. The water which we drank was +brought from Ghafsa: the Bey drinks water brought from Tunis. We marched +across a vast plain, covered with the salt just mentioned, which was +congealed in shining heaps around bushes or tufts of grass, and among +which also scampered a few hares. We encamped at a place called +Ghorbatah. Close to the camp was a small shallow stream, on each side of +which grew many canes; we bathed in the stream, and felt much refreshed. +The evening was pleasantly cool, like a summer evening in England, and +reminded us of the dear land of our birth. Numerous plains in North +Africa are covered with saline and nitrous efflorescence; to the +presence of these minerals is owing the inexhaustible fertility of the +soil, which hardly ever receives any manure, only a little stubble being +occasionally burnt. + +We saw flights of the getah, and of another bird called the gedur, +nearly the same, but rather lighter in colour. When they rise from the +ground, they make a curious noise, something like a partridge. We were +unusually surprised by a flight of locusts, not unlike grasshoppers, of +about two inches long, and of a reddish colour. Saw also gazelles. +Halted by the dry bed of a river, called Furfouwy. A pool supplied the +camp: in the mountains, at a distance, there was, however, a delicious +spring, a stream of liquid pearls in these thirsty lands! A bird called +mokha appeared now and then; it is about the size of a nightingale, and +of a white light-brown colour. We seldom heard such sweet notes as this +bird possesses. Its flying is beautifully novel and curious; it runs on +the ground, and now and then stops and rises about fifteen feet from the +surface, giving, as it ascends, two or three short slow whistles, when +it opens its graceful tail and darts down to the ground, uttering +another series of melodious whistles, but much quicker than when it +rises. + +We continued our march over nearly the same sort of country, but all was +now flat as far as the eye could see, the hills being left behind us. +About eight miles from Furfouwy, we came to a large patch of date-trees, +watered by many springs, but all of them hot. Under the grateful shade +of the lofty palm were flowers and fruits in commingled sweetness and +beauty. Here was the village of Dra-el-Hammah, surrounded, like all the +towns of the Jereed, with date-groves and gardens. The houses were most +humbly built of mud and bricks. After a scorching march, we encamped +just beyond, having made only ten miles. Saw quantities of bright soft +spar, called talc. Here also the ground was covered with a saline +effloresence. Near us were put up about a dozen blue cranes, the only +birds seen to-day. A gazelle was caught, and others chased. We +particularly observed huge patches of ground covered with salt, which, +at a distance, appeared just like water. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Toser.--The Bey's Palace.--Blue Doves.--The town described.--Industry +of the People.--Sheikh Tahid imprisoned and punished.--Leghorn.--The +Boo-habeeba.--A Domestic Picture.--The Bey's Diversions.--The Bastinado.-- +Concealed Treasure.--Nefta.--The Two Saints.--Departure of Santa Maria.-- +Snake-charmers.--Wedyen.--Deer Stalking.--Splendid view of the Sahara.-- +Revolting Acts.--Qhortabah.--Ghafsa.--Byrlafee.--Mortality among the +Camels--Aqueduct.--Remains of Udina.--Arrival at Tunis.--The Boab's +Wives.--Curiosities.--Tribute Collected.--Author takes leave of the +Governor of Mogador, and embarks for England.--Rough Weather.--Arrival +in London. + + +Leaving Dra-el-Hammah, after a hot march of five or six miles, we +arrived at the top of a rising ground, at the base of which was situate +the famous Toser, the head-quarters of the camp in the Jereed, and as +far as it goes. Behind the city was a forest of date-trees, and beyond +these and all around, as far as the eye could wander, was an +immeasurable waste--an ocean of sand--a great part of which we could +have sworn was water, unless told to the contrary. We were met, before +entering Toser, with some five or six hundred Arabs, who galloped before +the Bey, and fired as usual. The people stared at us Christians with +open mouths; our dress apparently astonished them. At Toser, the Bey +left his tent and entered his palace, so called in courtesy to his +Highness, but a large barn of a house, without any pretensions. We had +also a room allotted to us in this palace, which was the best to be +found in the town, though a small dark affair. Toser is a miserable +assemblage of mud and brick huts, of very small dimensions, the beams +and the doors being all of date-wood. The gardens, however, under the +date-trees are beautiful, and abundantly watered with copious streams, +all of which are warm, and in one of which we bathed ourselves and felt +new vigour run through our veins. We took a walk in the gardens, and +were surprised at the quantities of doves fluttering among the +date-trees; they were the common blue or Barbary doves. In the environs +of Mogador, these doves are the principal birds shot. + +Toser, or Touzer, the _Tisurus_ of ancient geography, is a considerable +town of about six thousand souls, with several villages in its +neighbourhood. + +The impression of Toser made upon our tourists agrees with that of the +traveller, Desfontaines, who writes of it in 1784:--"The Bey pitched his +tent on the right side of the city, if such can be called a mass of +_mud-houses_." The description corresponds also with that of Dr. Shaw, +who says that "the villages of the Jereed are built of mud-walls and +rafters of palm-trees." Evidently, however, some improvement has been +made of late years. The Arabs of Toser, on the contrary, and which very +natural, protested to the French scientific commission that Toser was +the finest city in El-Jereed. They pretend that it has an area as large +as Algiers, surrounded with a mud wall, twelve or fifteen feet high, and +crenated. In the centre is a vast open space, which serves for a +market-place. Toser has mosques, schools, Moorish baths--a luxury rare +on the confines of the Desert, fondouks or inns, &c. The houses have +flat terraces, and are generally well-constructed, the greater part +built from the ruins of a Roman town; but many are now dilapidated from +the common superstitious cause of not repairing or rebuilding old +houses. The choice material for building is brick, mostly unbaked or +sun-dried. + +Most of these houses stand detached. + +Toser, situate in a plain, is commanded from the north-west by a little +rocky mountain, whence an abundant spring takes its source, called +_Meshra_, running along the walls of the city southward, divides itself +afterwards in three branches, waters the gardens, and, after having +irrigated the plantations of several other villages, loses itself in the +sand at a short distance. The wells within the city of Toser are +insufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants, who fetch water +from Wad Meshra. The neighbouring villages are Belad-el-Ader, Zin, +Abbus; and the sacred villages are Zaouweeat, of Tounseea, Sidi Ali Bou +Lifu, and Taliraouee. The Arabs of the open country, and who deposit +their grain in and trade with these villages, are Oulad Sidi Sheikh, +Oulad Sidi Abeed, and Hammania. The dates of Toser are esteemed of the +finest quality. + +Walked about the town; several of the inhabitants are very wealthy. The +dead saints are, however, here, and perhaps everywhere else in Tunis, +more decently lodged, and their marabets are real "whitewashed +sepulchres." They make many burnouses at Toser, and every house presents +the industrious sight of the needle or shuttle quickly moving. We tasted +the leghma, or "tears of the date," for the first time, and rather liked +it. On going to shoot doves, we, to our astonishment, put up a snipe. +The weather was very hot; went to shoot doves in the cool of the +evening. The Bey administers justice, morning and evening, whilst in the +Jereed. An Arab made a present of a fine young ostrich to the Bey, which +his Highness, after his arrival in Tunis, sent to R. The great man here +is the Sheikh Tahid, who was imprisoned for not having the tribute ready +for the Bey. The tax imposed is equivalent to two bunches for each +date-tree. The Sheikh has to collect them, paying a certain yearly sum +when the Bey arrives, a species of farming-out. It was said that he is +very rich, and could well find the money. The dates are almost the only +food here, and the streets are literally gravelled with their stones. +Santa Maria again returned his horse to the Bey, and got another in its +stead. He is certainly a man of _delicate_ feeling. This gentleman +carried his impudence so far that he even threatened some of the Bey's +officers with the supreme wrath of the French Government, unless they +attended better to his orders. A new Sheikh was installed, a good thing +for the Bey's officers, as many of them got presents on the occasion. + +We blessed our stars that a roof was over our heads to shield us from +the burning sun. We blew an ostrich-egg, had the contents cooked, and +found it very good eating. They are sold for fourpence each, and it is +pretended that one makes an ample meal for twelve persons. We are +supplied with leghma every morning; it tastes not unlike cocoa-nut milk, +but with more body and flavour. R. very unwell, attributed it to his +taking copious draughts of the leghma. Rode out of an evening; there was +a large encampment of Arabs outside the town, thoroughly sun-burnt, +hardy-looking fellows, some of them as black as negroes. Many people in +Toser have sore eyes, and several with the loss of one eye, or nearly +so; opthalmia, indeed, is the most prevalent disease in all Barbary. The +neighbourhood of the Desert, where the greater part of the year the air +is filled with hot particles of sand, is very unfavourable to the sight; +the dazzling whiteness of the whitewashed houses also greatly injures +the eyes. But the Moors pretend that lime-washing is necessary to the +preservation of the houses from the weather, as well as from filth of +all sorts. We think really it is useful, by preventing dirty people in +many cases from being eaten up by their own filth and vermin, +particularly the Jews, the Tunisian Jews being the dirtiest persons in +the Regency. The lime-wash is the grand _sanitary_ instrument in North +Africa. + +There are little birds that frequent the houses, that might be called +Jereed sparrows, and which the Arabs name boo-habeeba, or "friend of my +father;" but their dress and language are very different, having reddish +breasts, being of a small size, and singing prettily. Shaw mentions them +under the name of the Capsa-sparrow, but he is quite wrong in making +them as large as the common house-sparrow. He adds: "It is all over of a +lark-colour, excepting the breast, which is somewhat lighter, and +shineth like that of a pigeon. The boo-habeeba has a note infinitely +preferable to that of the canary, or nightingale." He says that all +attempts to preserve them alive out of the districts of the Jereed have +failed. R. has brought several home from that country, which were alive +whilst I was in Tunis. There are also many at the Bardo in cages, that +live in this way as long as other birds. + +Went to see the houses of the inhabitants: they were nearly all the +same, the furniture consisting of a burnouse-loom, a couple of +millstones, and a quantity of basins, plates, and dishes, hung upon the +walls for effect, seldom being used; there were also some skins of +grain. The beams across the rooms, which are very high, are hung with +onions, dates, and pomegranates; the houses are nearly all of one story. +Some of the women are pretty, with large long black eyes and lashes; +they colour the lower lid black, which does not add to their beauty, +though it shows the bewitching orb more fully and boldly. They were +exceedingly dirty and ragged, wearing, nevertheless, a profusion of +ear-rings, armlets, anclets, bracelets, and all sorts of _lets_, with a +thousand talismanic charms hanging from their necks upon their ample +bosoms, which latter, from the habit of not wearing stays, reach as low +down as their waists. They wrap up the children in swaddling-clothes, +and carry them behind their backs when they go out. + +Two men were bastinadoed for stealing a horse, and not telling where +they put him; every morning they were to be flogged until they divulged +their hiding-place. + +A man brought in about a foot of horse's skin, on which was the Bey's +mark, for which he received another horse. This is always done when any +animal dies belonging to the Beys, the man in whose hands the animal is, +receiving a new one on producing the part of the skin marked. The Bey +and his ministers and mamelukes amused themselves with shooting at a +mark. The Bey made some good hits. + +The Bey and his mamelukes also took diversion in spoiling the appearance +of a very nice young horse; they daubed hieroglyphics upon his shoulders +and loins, and dyed the back where the saddle is placed, and the three +legs below the knee with henna, making the other leg look as white as +possible. Another grey horse, a very fine one, was also cribbed. We may +remark here, that there were very few fine horses to be met with, all +the animals looking poor and miserable, whilst these few fine ones fell +into the hands of the Bey. It is probable, however, that the Arabs kept +their best and most beautiful horses out of the way, while the camp was +moving among them. + +The old Sheikh still continued in prison. The bastinadoes with which he +had been treated were inflicted on his bare person, cold water being +applied thereto, which made the punishment more severe. After receiving +one hundred, he said he would shew his hiding-place; and some people +being sent with him, dug a hole where he pointed out, but without coming +to anything. This was done several times, but with the same effect. He +was then locked up in chains till the following morning. Millions of +dollars lie buried by the Arabs at this moment in different parts of +Barbary, especially in Morocco, perhaps the half of which will never be +found, the owners of them having died before they could point out their +hoarded treasures to their relatives, as but a single person is usually +in the secret. Money is in this way buried by tribes, who have nothing +whatever to fear from their sovereigns and their sheikhs; they do it +from immemorial custom. It is for this reason the Arabs consider that +under all ancient ruins heaps of money are buried, placed there by men +or demons, who hold the shining hoards under their invincible spell. +They cannot comprehend how European tourists can undertake such long +journeys, merely for the purpose of examining old heaps of stones, and +making plans and pictures of such rubbish. When any person attempts to +convince the Arabs that this is the sole object, they only laugh with +incredulity. + +Went to Nefta, a ride of about fourteen miles, lying somewhat nearer the +Sahara than Toser. The country on the right was undulating sand, on the +left an apparently boundless ocean, where lies, as a vast sheet of +liquid fire, when the sun shines on it, the now long celebrated Palus +Libya. In this so-called lake no water is visible, except a small marsh +like the one near Toser, where we went duck-shooting. Our party was very +respectable, consisting of the Agha of the Arabs, two or three of the +Bey's mamelukes, the Kaed of the Jereed, whose name is Braun, and fifty +or sixty Arab guards, besides ourselves. On entering Nefta, the escort +immediately entered, according to custom, a marabet (that of Sidi Bou +Aly), Captain B. and R. meanwhile standing outside. + +There were two famous saints here, one of whom was a hundred years of +age. The other, Sidi Mustapha Azouz, had the character of being a very +clever and good man, which also his intelligent and benevolent +appearance betokened, and not a fanatic, like Amour Abeda of Kairwan. +There were at the time of our visit to him about two hundred people in +his courtyard, who all subsisted on his charities. We were offered +dates, kouskousou, [39] and a seed which they call sgougou, and which +has the appearance of dried apple-seed. The Arabs eat it with honey, +first dipping their fingers into the honey, and then into the seed, +which deliciously sticks to the honey. The Sheikh's saint also +distributed beads and rosaries. He gave R. a bag of sgougou-seed, as +well as some beads. These two Sheikhs are objects of most religious +veneration amongst all true believers, and there is nothing which would +not be done at their bidding. + +Nefta, the Negeta of the ancients, is the frontier town of the Tunisian +territories from the south, being five days' journey, or about +thirty-five or forty leagues from the oases of Souf, and fifteen days' +from Ghadumes. Nefta is not so much a town as an agglomeration of +villages, separated from one another by gardens, and occupying an extent +of surface twice the size that of the city of Algiers. These villages +are Hal Guema, Mesaba, Zebda Ouled, Sherif, Beni Zeid, Beni Ali, Sherfa, +and Zaouweeah Sidi Ahmed. + +The position of Nefta and its environs is very picturesque. Water is +here abundant. The principal source, which, under the name of Wad Nefta, +takes its rise at the north of the city, in the midst of a movement of +earth, enters the villages of Sherfa and Sidi Ahmed; divides them in +two, and fecundates its gardens planted with orange-trees, pomegranates, +and fig-trees. The same spring, by the means of ducts of earth, waters a +forest of date-trees which extends some leagues. A regulator of the +water (kaed-el-ma) distributes it to each proprietor of the plantation. + +The houses of Nefta are built generally of brick; some with taste and +luxury; the interior is ornamented with Dutch tiles brought from Tunis. +Each quarter has its mosque and school, and in the centre of the group +of villages is a place called Rebot, on the banks of Wad Nefta, which +serves for a common market. Here are quarters specially devoted to the +aristocratic landed proprietors, and others to the busy merchants. The +Shereefs are the genuine nobles, or seigneurs of Nefta, from among whom +the Bey is wont to choose the Governors of the city. The complexion of +the population is dark, from its alliance with Negress slaves, like most +towns advanced in the Desert. The manners of the people are pure. They +are strict observers of the law, and very hospitable to strangers. +Captain B., however, thought that, had he not been under the protection +of the Bey, his head would not have been worth much in these districts. +Every traveller almost forms a different opinion, and frequently the +very opposite estimate, respecting the strangers amongst whom he is +sojourning. A few Jewish artizans have always been tolerated here, on +condition of wearing a black handkerchief round their heads, and not +mount a horse, &c. Recently the Bey, however, by solemn decrees, has +placed the Jews exactly on the same footing of rights and privileges as +the rest of his subjects. + +Nefta is the intermediate _entrepot_ of commerce which Tunis pours +towards the Sahara, and for this reason is called by the Arabs, "the +gate of Tunis;" but the restrictive system established by the Turks +during late years at Ghadumes, has greatly damaged the trade between the +Jereed and the Desert. The movement of the markets and caravans takes +place at the beginning of spring, and at the end of summer. Only a +portion of the inhabitants is devoted to commerce, the rich landed +proprietory and the Shereefs representing the aristocracy, lead the +tranquil life of nobles, the most void of care, and, perhaps, the +happiest of which contemplative philosophy ever dreamed. The oasis of +Nefta, indeed, is said to be the most poetic of the Desert; its gardens +are delicious; its oranges and lemons sweet; its dates the finest fruit +in the "land of dates." Nearly all the women are pretty, of that beauty +peculiar to the Oriental race; and the ladies who do not expose +themselves to the fierce sun of the day, are as fair as Mooresses. + +Santa Maria left for Ghabs, to which place there is not a correct route +laid down in any chart. There are three routes, but the wells of one are +only known to travellers, a knowledge which cannot be dispensed with in +these dry regions. The wells of the other two routes are known to the +bordering tribes alone, who, when they have taken a supply of water, +cover them up with sand, previously laying a camel-skin over the +well-mouth, to prevent the sand falling into the water, so that, while +dying with thirst, you might be standing on a well and be none the +wiser. The Frenchman has taken with him an escort of twelve men. The +weather is cooler, with a great deal of wind, raising and darkening the +sky with sand; even among the dategroves our eyes and noses were like so +many sand-quarries. + +Sheikh Tahib has been twice subjected to corporal punishment in the same +way as before mentioned, with the addition of fifty, but they cannot +make him bleed as they wish. He declares he has not got the money, and +that he cannot pay them, though they cut him to pieces. As he has +collected a great portion of the tribute of the people, one cannot much +pity the lying rogue. + +We were amused with the snake-charmers. These gentry are a company under +the protection of their great saint Sidi Aysa, who has long gone +upwards, but also is now profitably employed in helping the juggling of +these snake-mountebanks. These fellows take their snakes about in small +bags or boxes, which are perfectly harmless, their teeth and poison-bags +being extracted. They carry them in their bosoms, put them in their +mouths, stuffing a long one in of some feet in length, twist them around +their arms, use them as a whip to frighten the people, in the meanwhile +screaming out and crying unto their Heavenly protector for help, the +bystanders devoutly joining in their prayers. The snake-charmers usually +perform other tricks, such as swallowing nails and sticking an iron bar +in their eyes; and they wear their hair long like women, which gives +them a very wild maniacal look. + +Three of the mamelukes and ourselves went to Wedyen, a town and +date-wood about eight miles from Toser, to the left. The date-grove is +extensive, and there are seven villages in it of the same name. We slept +in the house of the Sheikh, who complained that the Frenchman, in +passing that way, had allowed his escort to plunder, and actually bound +the poor Sheikh, threatening him on his remonstrating. What conduct for +Christians to teach these people! + +One morning before daylight, we were on horseback, and _en route_ +towards the hills, for the purpose of shooting loted, as they call a +species of deer found here. The ground in the neighbourhood of Wedyen is +tossed about like a hay-field, and volcanic looking. About four miles +off we struck into the rocks, on each side of our path, rising +perpendicularly in fantastic shapes. On reaching the highest ground, the +view was exceedingly wild. Much of the rock appeared as if it had only +just been cooled from a state of fusion; there was also a quantity of +tuffo rock, similar to that in the neighbourhood of Naples. The first +animal we saw was a wolf, which, standing on the sky-line of the +opposite hill, looked gigantic. The deep valley between, however, +prevented our nearer approach. + +We soon after came on a loted, who took to his heels, turning round a +mass of rock; but, soon after, he almost met as, and we had a view of +him within forty yards. Several shots were fired at him without effect, +and he at last made his escape, with a speed which defied all our +attempts at following him. Dismounting, the Sheikh Ali, of the Arab +tribe Hammama, who was with us, and who is the greatest deer-stalker in +the country, preceded us a little distance to look out for deer, the +marks of which were here very numerous. After a short time, an Arab +brought information of a herd of some thirty, with a good many young +ones; but our endeavours to have a shot at them were fruitless, though +one of the Arabs got near enough to loose the dogs at them, and a +greyhound was kicked over for his pains. We saw no more of them; but our +want of success was not surprising, silence not being in the least +attended to, and our party was far too large. The Arabs have such a +horrible habit of vociferation, that it is a wonder they ever take any +game at all. About the hills was scattered a great variety of aromatic +plants, quantities of shells, and whole oyster-beds, looking almost as +fresh as if they had been found by the sea-side. + +On our return from Toser, we had an extensive view of the Sahara, an +ocean as far as the eye could see, of what one would have taken his oath +was water, the shores, inlets, and bays being clearly defined, but, in +reality, nothing but salt scattered on the surface. Several islets were +apparently breaking its watery expanse, but these also were only heaps +of sand raised from the surrounding flat. The whole country, hills, +plains and deserts, gave us an idea as if the materials had been thrown +together for manufacture, and had never been completed. Nevertheless +these savage deserts of boundless extent are as complete in their kind +as the smiling meadows and fertile corn-fields of England, each being +perfect in itself, necessary to the grand whole of creation, and forming +an essential portion of the works of Divine Providence. + +The Sheikh Tahib's gardens were sold for 15,000 piastres, his wife also +added to this 1,000, and he was set at liberty. The dates have been +coming in to a great amount. There are many different kinds. The +principal are:--Degalah, the most esteemed, which are very sweet and +almost transparent. Captain B. preferred the Trungah, another first-rate +sort, which are plum-shaped, and taste something like a plum. There are +also the Monachah, which are larger than the other two, dryer and more +mealy, and not so sweet as Degalah, and other sorts. The dates were very +fine, though in no very great abundance, the superior state of ripeness +being attributed to there only being a single day of rain during the +past year in the Jereed. Rain is bad for the dates, but the roots of the +tree cannot have too much water. + +The tent-pitchers of the camp went round and performed, in mask, actions +of the most revolting description, some being dressed as women, and +dancing in the most lascivious and indecent manner. One fellow went up +to R., who was just on the point of knocking him down, when, seeing the +Treasurer of the Bey cracking his sides with laughter, he allowed the +brute to go off under such high patronage. It was even said that these +fellows were patronized by his Highness. But, on all Moorish feastdays, +lascivious actions of men and women are an indispensable part of their +entertainment. This is the worst side of the character of the Moors. The +Moorish women were never so profligate as since the arrival of the +French in Algeria. + +One of the greatest chiefs, Sultan Kaed, of the Hammama has just died. +He was an extremely old man, and it is certain that people live to a +good old age in this burning clime. During his life, he had often +distinguished himself, and lastly against the French, before +Constantina. Whilst in the hills one day, we came suddenly upon a set of +Arabs, about nine in number, who took to their heels on seeing us. A man +has just been killed near this place, probably by the same gang. For +robbery and murder, no hills could be better fitted, the passes being so +intricate, and the winds and turns so sudden and sharp. The Sheikh Ali +brought in two loteds, a female and its young one, which he had shot. +The head of the loted is like a deer's, but the eye is further up: it is +about a fallowdeer's size. The female has not the beard like a goat, but +long hair, reaching from the head to the bottom of the chest, and over +the fore-legs. These loteds were taken in consequence of an order from +the Bey, that they should not return without some. + +On our march back to Tunis, we encamped for two days by the foot of a +range of hills at Sheesheeah, about ten miles off. The water, brought +from some distance, was bad and salt. + +We proceeded to Ghortabah, our old place. Two of the prisoners (about +twelve of whom we had with us), and one of the Turks, died from the +excessive heat. The two couriers that were sent with despatches for the +Government were attacked near this place by the Arabs, and the horse of +one was so injured, that it was necessary to kill him; the man who rode +the horse was also shot through the leg. This was probably in revenge +for the exactions of the Bey of the Camp on the tribes. + +On our return to Ghafsa, we had rain, hail, and high wind, and +exceedingly cold--a Siberian winter's day on the verge of the scorching +desert. The ground, where there was clay, very slippery; the camels +reeled about as if intoxicated. The consequence was, it was long before +the tents came up, and we endured much from this sudden change of the +weather. Our sufferings were, however, nothing as compared to others, +for during the day, ten men were brought in dead, from the cold (three +died four days before from heat), principally Turks; and, had there been +no change in the temperature, we cannot tell how many would have shared +the same fate. Many of the camels, struggling against the clayey soil, +could not come up. + +Eight more men were shortly buried, and three were missing. The sudden +transition from the intense heat of the one day to the freezing cold of +the next, probably gave the latter a treble power, producing these +disastrous effects, the poor people being sadly ill-clad, and quite +unprepared for such extreme rigour. Besides, on our arrival at the camp, +all the money in Europe could not have purchased us the required +comforts, or rather necessaries, to preserve our health. Cold makes +everybody very selfish. We were exceedingly touched on hearing of the +death of a little girl, whom we saw driven out of a kitchen, in which +the poor helpless little thing had taken refuge from the inclemency of +the weather. + +Santa Maria arrived from Ghabs without accident, having scarcely seen a +soul the whole of the way. He certainly was an enterprizing fellow, +worthy of imitation. He calculated the distance from Ghabs to Toser at +200 miles. There are a number of towns in the districts of Ghabs better +built than those of Nefta and Toser; Ghabs river is also full of water +and the soil of the country is very fertile. The dates are not so good +as those of the Jereed. Ghabs is about 130 miles from Ghafsa. We here +took our farewell of Santa Maria; he went to Beja, the head-quarters of +the summer-camp: thence, of course, he would proceed to Algiers, to give +an account of his _espionage_. Next season, he said, he would go to +Tripoli and Ghadames; he had been many years in North Africa, and spoke +Arabic fluently. + +We next marched to Byrlafee, about twenty miles, and ninety-one from +Toser, where there are the ruins of an old town. The weather continued +cold and most wintry. Here is a very ancient well still in use. +Fragments of cornices and pillars are strewn about. The foundations of +houses, and some massive stone towers, which from their having a pipe up +the centre, must have had something to do with regulating the water, are +all that remain. + +We had now much wind, but no rain. A great many camels and horses +perished. Altogether, the number of camels that died on the return of +the camp, was 550. The price of a camel varies from 60 to 200 piastres. +Many good ones were sold at the camp for eighty piastres each, or about +two pounds ten shillings, English money. A good sheep was disposed of +for four or five piastres, or about three shillings. There were also +some ludicrous sales. A horse in the extremities of nature, or near to +the _articulo mortis_, was sold for a piastre, eight pence; a camel, in +a like situation, was sold for a piastre and a half. A tolerably good +horse in Tunis sells at from 800 to 1000 piastres. + +There are the remains of an aqueduct at Gilma, and several other +buildings, the capitals of the pillars being elaborately worked. It is +seen that nearly the entire surface of Tunis is covered with remains of +aqueducts, Roman, Christian, and Moorish. If railways be applied to this +country--the French, are already talking about forming one from Algiers +to Blidah, across the Mitidjah--unquestionably along the lines will be +constructed ducts for water, which could thus be distributed over the +whole country. Instead of the camels of the "Bey of the Camp" carrying +water from Tunis to the Jereed, the railway would take from Zazwan, the +best and most delicious water in the Regency, to the dry deserts of the +Jereed, with the greatest facility. As to railways paying in this +country, the resources of Tunis, if developed, could pay anything. + +Marching onwards about eighteen miles, we encamped two or three beyond +an old place called Sidi-Ben-Habeeba. A man murdered a woman from +jealousy in the camp, but made his escape. Almost every eminence we +passed was occupied with the remains of some ancient fort, or temple. +There was a good deal of corn in small detached patches, but it must be +remembered, the north-western provinces are the corn-districts. + +In the course of the following three days, we reached Sidi-Mahammedeah, +where are the magnificent remains of Udina. After about an hour's halt, +and when all the tents had been comfortably pitched, the Bey astonished +us with an order to continue our march, and we pursued our way to +Momakeeah, about thirty miles, which we did not reach until after dark. +We passed, for some three or four hours, through a flight of locusts, +the air being darkened, and the ground loaded with them. At a little +distance, a flight of locusts has the appearance of a heavy snow-storm. +These insects rarely visit the capital; but, since the appearance of +those near Momakeeah, they have been collected in the neighbourhood of +the city, cooked, and sold among the people. Momakeeah is a countryhouse +belonging to the Bey, to whom, also, belongs a great portion of the land +around. There is a large garden, laid out in the Italian style attached +to this country-seat. + +On arriving at Tunis, we called at the Bardo as we passed, and saw the +guard mounting. There was rather a fine band of military music; Moorish +musicians, but playing, after the European style, Italian and Moorish +airs. + +We must give here some account of our Boab's domestic concerns. He +boasted that he had had twenty-seven wives, his religion allowing four +at once, which he had bad several times; he was himself of somewhat +advanced years. According to him, if a man quarrels with his wife, he +can put her in prison, but must, at the same time, support her. A +certain quantity of provision is laid down by law, and he must give her +two suits, or changes, of clothes a year. But he must also visit her +once a week, and the day fixed is Friday. If the wife wishes to be +separated, and to return to her parents, she must first pay the money +which he may demand, and must also have his permission, although he +himself may send her to her parents whenever he chooses, without +assigning any reason. He retains the children, and he may marry again. +The woman is generally expected to bring her husband a considerable sum +in the way of dowry, but, on separation, she gets nothing back. This was +the Boab's account, but I think he has overdone the harshness and +injustice of the Mohammedan law of marriage in relating it to our +tourists. It may be observed that the strict law is rarely acted upon, +and many respectable Moors have told me that they have but one wife, and +find that quite enough. It is true that many Moors, especially learned +men, divorce their wives when they get old, feeling the women an +embarrassment to them, and no wonder, when we consider these poor +creatures have no education, and, in their old age, neither afford +connubial pleasure nor society to their husbands. With respect to +divorce, a woman can demand by law and right to be separated from her +husband, or divorced, whenever he ill-treats her, or estranges himself +from her. Eunuchs, who have the charge of the women, are allowed to +marry, although they cannot have any family. The chief eunuch of the +Bardo has the most revolting countenance. + +Our tourists brought home a variety of curious Jereed things: small +date-baskets full of dates, woollen articles, skins of all sorts, and a +few live animals. Sidi Mohammed also made them many handsome presents. +Some deer, Jereed goats, an ostrich, &c., were sent to Mr. R. after his +return, and both Captain B. and Mr. R. have had every reason to be +extremely gratified with the hospitality and kind attentions of the "Bey +of the Camp." + +It is very difficult to ascertain the amount of tribute collected in the +Jereed, some of which, however, was not got in, owing to various +impediments. Our tourists say generally:-- + + Camel-loads. [40] + Money, dollars, and piastres, (chiefly I + imagine, the latter.) 23 + + Burnouses, blankets, and quilts, &c. 6 + + Dates (these were collected at Toser, + and brought from Nefta and the surrounding + districts) 500 + ---- + Total 529 + + It is impossible, with this statement + before us, to make out any exact + calculation of the amount of tribute. + A cantar of dates varies from fifteen + to twenty-five shillings, say on an + average a pound sterling; this will + make the amount of the 500 camel-loads + at five cantars per load L2,500 + + Six camel-loads of woollen manufactures, + &c., at sixty pound per load, value 360 + ------ + Total L2,860 + +The money, chiefly piastres, must be left to conjecture. However, Mr. +Levy, a large merchant at Tunis, thinks the amount might be from 150 to +200,000 piastres, or, taking the largest sum, L6,250 sterling: + + Total amount of the tribute of the Jereed: + in goods L2,860 + Ditto, in money: 6,250 + ------ + Total L9,110 + +To this sum may be added the smaller presents of horses, camels, and +other beasts of burden. + + * * * * * + +Before leaving Mogador, in company with Mr. Willshire, I saw his +Excellency, the Governor again, when I took formal leave of him. He +accompanied me down to the port with several of the authorities, waiting +until I embarked for the Renshaw schooner. Several of the Consuls, and +nearly all the Europeans, were also present. On the whole, I was +satisfied with the civilities of the Moorish authorities, and offer my +cordial thanks to the Europeans of Mogador for their attentions during +my residence in that city. + +A little circumstance shews the subjection of our merchants, the Consul +not excepted, to the Moorish Government. One of the merchants wished to +accompany me on board, but was not permitted, on account of his +engagements with the Sultan. + +A merchant cannot even go off the harbour to superintend the stowing of +his goods. Never were prisoners of war, or political offenders, so +closely watched as the boasted imperial merchants of this city. + +After setting sail, we were soon out of sight of Mogador; and, on the +following day, land disappeared altogether. During the next month, we +were at sea, and out of view of the shore. I find an entry in my +journal, when off the Isle of Wight. We had had most tremendous weather, +successive gales of foul wind, from north and north-east. Our schooner +was a beautiful vessel, a fine sailer with a flat bottom, drawing little +water, made purposely for Barbary ports. She had her bows completely +under water, and pitched her way for twenty-five succeeding days, +through huge rising waves of sea and foam. During the whole of this +time, I never got up, and lived on bread and water with a little +biscuit. Captain Taylor, who was a capital seaman, and took the most +accurate observations, lost all patience, and, though a good methodist, +would now and then rush on deck, and swear at the perverse gale and +wrathful sea. We took on board a fine barb for Mr. Elton, which died +after a few days at sea, in these tempests. I had a young vulture that +died a day before the horse, or we should have fed him on the carcase. + +[Illustration] + +An aoudad which we conveyed on account of Mr. Willshire to London, for +the Zoological Society, outlived these violent gales, and was safely and +comfortably lodged in the Regent's Park. After my return from Africa, I +paid my brave and hardy fellow-passenger a visit, and find the air of +smoky London agrees with him as well as the cloudless region of the +Morocco Desert. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The following account of the bombardment of Mogador by the French, +written at the period by an English Resident may be of interest at the +present time. + +Mogador was bombarded on the 13th of August, 1844. Hostilities began at +9 o'clock A.M., by the Moors firing twenty-one guns before the French +had taken up their position, but the fire was not returned until 2 P.M. +The 'Gemappes,' 100; 'Suffren,' 99; 'Triton,' 80; ships of the line. +'Belle Poule,' 60, frigate; 'Asmodee' and 'Pluton,' steamers, and some +brigs, constituted the bombarding squadron. The batteries were silenced, +and the Moorish authorities with many of the inhabitants fled, leaving +the city unprotected against the wild tribes, who this evening and the +next morning, sacked and fired the city. On the 16th, nine hundred +French were landed on the isle of Mogador. After a rude encounter with +the garrison, they took possession of it and its forts. Their loss was, +after twenty-eight hours' bombarding, trifling, some twenty killed and +as many more wounded; the Moors lost some five hundred on the isle +killed, besides the casualties in the city. + +The British Consul and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, with +others, were obliged to remain in the town during the bombardment on +account of their liabilities to the Emperor. The escape of these people +from destruction was most miraculous. + +The bombarding squadron reached on the 10th, the English frigate, +'Warspite,' on the 13th, and the wind blowing strong from N.E., and +preventing the commencement of hostilities, afforded opportunity to +save, if possible, the British Consul's family and other detained +Europeans; but, notwithstanding the strenuous remonstrances of the +captain of the 'Warspite', nothing whatever could prevail upon the +Moorish Deputy-Governor in command, Sidi Abdallah Deleero, to allow the +British and other Europeans to take their departure. The Governor even +peremptorily refused permission for the wife of the Consul to leave, +upon the cruel sophism that, "The Christian religion asserts the husband +and wife to be one, consequently," added the Governor, "as it is my +duty, which I owe to my Emperor, to prevent the Consul from leaving +Mogador, I must also keep his wife." + +The fact is the Moors, in their stupidity, and perhaps in their revenge, +thought the retaining of the British Consul and the Europeans might, in +some way or other, contribute to the defence of themselves, save the +city, or mitigate the havoc of the bombardment. At any rate, they would +say, "Let the Christians share the same fate and dangers as ourselves." +During the bombardment, the Moors for two hours fought well, but their +best gunner, a Spanish renegade, Omar Ei-Haj, being killed, they became +dispirited and abandoned the batteries. The Governor and his troops, +about sunset, disgracefully and precipitately fled, followed by nearly +all the Moorish population, thereby abandoning Mogador to pillage, and +the European Jews to the merciless wild tribes, who, though levied to +defend the town, had, for some hours past, hovered round it like droves +of famished wolves. + +As the Governor fled out, terrified as much at the wild tribes as of the +French, in rushed these hordes, led on by their desperate chiefs. These +wretches undismayed, unmoved by the terrors of the bombarding ravages +around, strove and vied with each other in the committal of every act of +the most unlicensed ferocity and depredation, breaking open houses, +assaulting the inmates, murdering such as shewed resistance, denuding +the more submissive of their clothing, abusing women--particularly in +the Jewish quarter--to all which atrocities the Europeans were likewise +exposed. + +At the most imminent hazard of their lives, the British Consul and his +wife, with a few others, escaped from these ruffians. Truly providential +was their flight through streets, resounding with the most turbulent +confusion and sanguinary violence. It was late when the plunderers +appeared before the Consulates, where, without any ceremony, by +hundreds, they fell to work, breaking open bales of goods, ransacking +places for money and other treasures; and, thus unsatisfied in their +rapacity, they tore and burnt all the account-books and Consular +documents. + +Other gangs fought over the spoil; some carrying off their booty, and +others setting it on fire. It was a real pandemonium of discord and +licentiousness. During the darkness, and in the midst of such scenes, it +was that the Consul and his wife threaded their precarious flight +through the streets, and in their way were intercepted by a marauding +band, who attacked them; tore off his coat; and, seizing his wife, +insisted upon denuding her, four or five daggers being raised to her +throat, expecting to find money concealed about their persons; nor would +the ruffians desist until they ascertained they had none, the Consul +having prudently resolved to take no money with them. Fortunately, at +this juncture, his wife was able to speak, and in Arabic (being born +here, and daughter of a former Consul), therefore she could give force +to her entreaties by appealing to them not to imbue their hands in the +blood of their countrywomen. This had the desired effect. The chief of +the party undertook to conduct them to the water-port, when, coming in +contact with another party, a conflict about booty ensued, during which +the Consul's family got out of the town to a place of comparative +security. + +Incidents of a similar alarming nature attended the escape of Mr. +Robertson, his wife, and four children; one, a baby in arms. In the +crowd, Mr. Robertson, with a child in each hand, lost sight of Mrs. +Robertson, with her infant and another child. Distracted by sad +forebodings, poor Mr. Robertson forced his way to the water-port, but +not before a savage mountainer--riding furiously by him--aimed a +sabre-blow at him to cut him down; but, as the murderous arm was poised +above, Mr. Robertson stooped, and, raising his arm at the time, warded +it off; the miscreant then rode off, being satisfied at this cut at the +detested Nazarene. + +Another ruffian seized one of his little girls, a pretty child of nine +years old, and scratched her arm several times with his dagger, calling +out _flous_ (money) at each stroke. At the water-port, Mr. Robertson +joined his fainting wife, and the British Consul and his wife, with Mr. +Lucas and Mr. Allnut. An old Moor never deserted the Consul's family, +"faithful among the faithless;" and a Jewess, much attached to the +family, abandoned them only to return to those allied to her by the ties +of blood. + +Their situation was now still perilous, for, should they be discovered +by the wild Berbers, they all might be murdered. This night, the 15th, +was a most anxious one, and their apprehensions were dreadful. Dawn of +day was fast approaching, and every hour's delay rendered their +condition more precarious. In this emergency, Mr. Lucas, who never once +failed or lost his accustomed suavity and presence of mind amidst these +imminent dangers, resolved upon communicating with the fleet by a most +hazardous experiment. On his way from the town-gate to the water-port, +he noticed some deal planks near the beach. The idea struck him of +turning these into a raft, which, supporting him, could enable their +party to communicate with the squadron. Mr. Lucas fetched the planks, +and resolutely set to work. Taking three of them, and luckily finding a +quantity of strong grass cordage, he arranged them in the water, and +with some cross-pieces, bound the whole together; and, besides, having +found two small pieces of board to serve him as paddles, he gallantly +launched forth alone, and, in about an hour, effected his object, for he +excited the attention of the French brig, 'Canard,' from which a boat +came and took him on board. + +The officers, being assured there were no Moors on guard at the +batteries, and that the Berbers were wholly occupied in plundering the +city, promptly and generously sent off a boat with Mr. Lucas to the +rescue of the alarmed and trembling fugitives. The Prince de Joinville +afterwards ordered them to be conveyed on board the 'Warspite.' The +self-devotedness, sagacity, and indefatigable exertions of the excellent +young man, Mr. Lucas, were above all encomiums, and, at the hands of the +British Government, he deserved some especial mark of favour. + +Poor Mrs. Levy (an English Jewess, married to a Maroquine Jew), and her +family were left behind, and accompanied the rest of the miserable Jews +and natives, to be maltreated, stripped naked, and, perhaps, murdered, +like many poor Jews. Mr. Amrem Elmelek, the greatest native merchant and +a Jew, died from fright. Carlos Bolelli, a Roman, perished during the +sack of the city. + +Mogador was left a heap of ruins, scarcely one house standing entire, +and all tenantless. In the fine elegiac bulletin of the bombarding +Prince, "Alas! for thee, Mogador! thy walls are riddled with bullets, +and thy mosques of prayer blackened with fire!" (or something like +these words.) + + +COMMERCE WITH MOROCCO. + +TANGIER. + +Tangier trades almost exclusively with Gibraltar, between which place +and this, an active intercourse is constantly kept up. + +The principal articles of importation into Tangier are, cotton goods of +all kinds, cloth, silk-stuffs, velvets, copper, iron, steel, and +hardware of every description; cochineal, indigo, and other dyes; tea, +coffee, sulphur, paper, planks, looking-glasses, tin, thread, +glass-beads, alum, playing-cards, incense, sarsaparilla, and rum. + +The exports consist in hides, wax, wool, leeches, dates, almonds, +oranges, and other fruit, bark, flax, durra, chick-peas, bird-seed, oxen +and sheep, henna, and other dyes, woollen sashes, haicks, Moorish +slippers, poultry, eggs, flour, &c. + +The value of British and foreign goods imported into Tangier in 1856 +was: British goods, L101,773 6_s_., foreign goods, L33,793. + +The goods exported from Tangier during the same year was: For British +ports, L63,580 10_s_., for foreign ports, L13,683. + +The following is a statement of the number of British and foreign ships +that entered and cleared from this port during the same year. Entered: +British ships 203, the united tonnage of which was 10,883; foreign ships +110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Cleared: British ships 207, the united tonnage of which was 10,934; +foreign ships 110, the total tonnage of which was 4,780. + +Three thousand head of cattle are annually exported, at a fixed duty of +five dollars per head, to Gibraltar, for the use of that garrison, in +conformity with the terms of special grants that have, from time to +time, been made by the present Sultan and some of his predecessors. In +addition to the above, about 2,000 head are, likewise, exported +annually, for the same destination, at a higher rate of duty, varying +from eight dollars to ten dollars per head. Gibraltar, also, draws from +this place large supplies of poultry, eggs, flour, and other kinds of +provisions. + +MOGADOR. + +From the port of Mogador are exported the richest articles the country +produces, viz., almonds, sweet and bitter gums, wool, olive-oil, seeds +of various kinds, as cummin, gingelen, aniseed; sheep-skins, calf, and +goat-skins, ostrich-feathers, and occasionally maize. + +The amount of exports in 1855 was: For British ports, L228,112 3_s_. +2_d_., for foreign ports, L55,965 13_s_. 1_d_. + +The imports are Manchester cotton goods, which have entirely superseded +the East India long cloths, formerly in universal use, blue salampores, +prints, sugar, tea, coffee, Buenos Ayres slides, iron, steel, spices, +drugs, nails, beads and deals, woollen cloth, cotton wool, and mirrors +of small value, partly for consumption in the town, but chiefly for that +of the interior, from Morocco and its environs, as far as Timbuctoo. + +The amount of imports in 1855 was: British goods, L136,496 7_s_. 6_d_., +foreign goods L31,222 11_s_. 5_d_. + +The trade last year was greatly increased by the unusually large demand +for olive-oil from all parts, and there is no doubt that, under a more +liberal Government, the commerce might be developed to a vast extent. + +RABAT. + +The principal goods imported at Rabat are, alum, calico of different +qualities, cinnamon, fine cloth, army cloth, cloves, copperas, cotton +prints, raw cotton, sewing cotton, cutlery, dimity, domestics, +earthenware, ginger, glass, handkerchiefs (silk and cotton), hardware, +indigo, iron, linen, madder root, muslin, sugar (refined and raw), tea, +and tin plate. + +The before-mentioned articles are imported partly for consumption in +Rabat and Sallee, and partly for transmission into the interior. + +The value of different articles of produce exported at Rabat during the +last five years amounts to L34,860 1_s_. + +There can be no doubt that the imports and exports at Rabat would +greatly increase, if the present high duties were reduced, and +Government monopolies abolished. Large quantities of hides were exported +before they were a Government monopoly: now the quantity exported is +very inconsiderable. + +MAZAGAN. + +_Goods Imported_.--Brown Domestics, called American White, muslins, raw +cotton, cotton-bales, silk and cotton pocket-handkerchiefs; tea, coffee, +sugars, iron, copperas, alum; many other articles imported, but in very +small quantities. + +A small portion of the importations is consumed at Mazagan and Azimore, +but the major portions in the interior. + +The amount of the leading goods exported in 1855 was:--Bales of wool, +6,410; almonds, 200 serons; grain, 642,930 fanegas. + +No doubt the commerce of this port would be increased under better +fiscal laws than those now established. + +But the primary and immediate thing to be looked after is the wilful +casting into the anchorage-ground of stone-ballast by foreigners. +British masters are under control, but foreigners will persist, chiefly +Sardinian masters. + + + + +THE END + + + + +[1] The predecessor of Muley Abd Errahman. + +[2] On account, of their once possessing the throne, the Shereefs have a +peculiar jealousy of Marabouts, and which latter have not forgotten +their once being sovereigns of Morocco. The _Moravedi_ were "really a +dynasty of priests," as the celebrated Magi, who usurped the throne of +Cyrus. The Shereefs, though descended from the Prophet, are not strictly +priests, or, to make the distinction perfectly clear the Shereefs are to +be considered a dynasty corresponding to the type of Melchizdek, uniting +in themselves the regal and sacerdotal authority, whilst the +_Marabouteen_ were a family of priests like the sons of Aaron. +Abd-el-Kader unites in himself the princely and sacerdotal authority +like the Shereefs, though not of the family of the Prophet. Mankind have +always been jealous of mere theocratic government, and dynasties of +priests have always been failures in the arts of governing, and the +Egyptian priests, though they struggled hard, and were the most +accomplished of this class of men, could not make themselves the +sovereigns of Egypt. + +[3] According to others the Sadia reigned before the Shereefs. + +[4] I was greatly astonished to read in Mr. Hay's "Western Barbary," (p. +123), these words--"During one of the late rebellions, a beautiful young +girl was offered up as a propitiatory sacrifice, her throat being cut +before the tent of the Sultan, and in his presence!" This is an +unmitigated libel on the Shereefian prince ruling Morocco. First of all, +the sacrifice of human beings is repudiated by every class of +inhabitants in Barbary. Such rites, indeed, are unheard of, nay, +unthought of. If the Mahometan religion has been powerful in any one +thing, it is in that of rooting out from the mind of man every notion of +human sacrifice. It is this which makes the sacrifice of the Saviour +such an obnoxious doctrine to Mussulmen. It is true enough, at times, +oxen are immolated to God, but not to Moorish princes, "to appease an +offended potentate." One spring, when there was a great drought, the +people led up to the hill of Ghamart, near Carthage, a red heifer to be +slaughtered, in order to appease the displeasure of Deity; and when the +Bey's frigate, which, a short time ago, carried a present to her +Britannic Majesty, from Tunis to Malta, put back by stress of weather, +two sheep were sacrificed to some tutelar saints, and two guns were +fired in their honour. The companions of Abd-el-Kader in a storm, during +his passage from Oran to Toulon, threw handsful of salt to the raging +deep to appease its wild fury. But as to sacrificing human victims, +either to an incensed Deity, or to man, impiously putting himself in the +place of God, the Moors of Barbary have not the least conception of such +an enormity. + +It would seem, unfortunately, that the practice of the gentleman, who +travelled a few miles into the interior of Morocco on a horse-mission, +had been to exaggerate everything, and, where effect was wanting, not to +have scrupled to have recourse to unadulterated invention. But this +style of writing cannot be defended on any principle, when so serious a +case is brought forward as that of sacrificing a human victim to appease +the wrath of an incensed sovereign, and that prince now living in +amicable relations with ourselves. + +[5] Graeberg de Hemso, whilst consul-general for Sweden and Sardinia (at +Morocco!) concludes the genealogy of these Mussulman sovereigns with +this strange, but Catholic-spirited rhapsody:-- + +"Muley Abd-ur-Bakliman, who is now gloriously and happily reigning, whom +we pray Almighty God, all Goodness and Power, to protect and exalt by +prolonging his life, glory, and reign in this world and in the next; and +giving him, during eternity, the heavenly beatitude, in order that his +soul, in the same manner as flame to flame, river to sea, may be united +with his sweetest, most perfect and ineffable Creator. Amen." + +[6] Yezeed was half-Irish, born of the renegade widow of an Irish +sergeant of the corps of Sappers and Miners, who was placed at the +disposition of this government by England, and who died in Morocco. On +his death, the facile, buxom widow was admitted, "nothing loath," into +the harem of Sidi-Mohammed, who boasted of having within its sacred +enclosure of love and bliss, a woman from every clime. + +Here the daughter of Erin brought forth this ferocious tyrant, whose +maxim of carnage, and of inflicting suffering on humanity was, "My +empire can never be well governed, unless a stream of blood flows from +the gate of the palace to the gate of the city." To do Yezeed justice, +he followed out the instincts of his birth, and made war on all the +world except the English (or Irish). Tully's Letters on Tripoli give a +graphic account of the exploits of Yezeed, who, to his inherent cruelty, +added a fondness for practical (Hibernian) jokes. + +His father sent him several times on a pilgrimage to Mecca to expiate +his crimes, when he amused, or alarmed, all the people whose countries +he passed through, by his terrific vagaries. One day he would cut off +the heads of a couple of his domestics, and play at bowls with them; +another day, he would ride across the path of an European, or a consul, +and singe his whiskers with the discharge of a pistol-shot; another day, +he would collect all the poor of a district, and gorge them with a +razzia he had made on the effects of some rich over-fed Bashaw. The +multitude sometimes implored heaven's blessing on the head of Yezeed. at +other times trembled for their own heads. Meanwhile, our European +consuls made profound obeisance to this son of the Shereef, enthroned in +the West. So the tyrant passed the innocent days of his pilgrimage. So +the godless herd of mankind acquiesced in the divine rights of royalty. + +[7] See Appendix at the end of this volume. + +[8] The middle Western Region consists of Algiers and part of Tunis. + +[9] Pliny, the Elder, confirms this tradition mentioned by Pliny. Marcus +Yarron reports, "that in all Spain there are spread Iberians, Persians, +Phoenicians, Celts, and Carthaginians." (Lib. iii. chap. 2). + +[10] In Latin, Mauri, Maurice, Maurici, Maurusci, and it is supposed, so +called by the Greeks from their dark complexions. + +[11] The more probable derivation of this word is from _bar_, signifying +land, or earth, in contradistinction from the sea, or desert, beyond the +cultivable lands to the South. To give the term more force it is +doubled, after the style of the Semitic reduplication. De Haedo de la +Captividad gives a characteristic derivation, like a genuine hidalgo, +who proclaimed eternal war against Los Moros. He says--"Moors, Alartes, +Cabayles, and some Turks, form all of them a dirty, lazy, inhuman, +indomitable nation of beasts, and it is for this reason that, for the +last few years, I have accustomed myself to call that land the land of +Barbary." + +[12] Procopius, de Bello Vandilico, lib. ii. cap. 10. + +[13] Some derive it from _Sarak_, an Arabic word which signifies to +steal, and hence, call the conquerors thieves. Others, and with more +probability, derive it from _Sharak_, the east, and make them Orientals, +and others say there is an Arabic word _Saracini_, which means a +pastoral people, and assert that Saracine is a corruption from it, the +new Arabian immigrants being supposed to have been pastoral tribes. + +[14] Some suppose that _Amayeegh_ means "great," and the tribes thus +distinguished themselves, as our neighbours are wont to do by the phrase +"la grande nation." The Shoulah are vulgarly considered to be descended +from the Philistines, and to have fled before Joshua on the conquest of +Palestine. + +In his translation of the Description of Spain, by the Shereef El-Edris +(Madrid, 1799), Don Josef Antonio Conde speaks of the Berbers in a +note-- + +"Masmuda, one of the five principal tribes of Barbaria; the others are +Zeneta, called Zenetes in our novels and histories, Sanhagha which we +name Zenagas; Gomesa is spelt in our histories Gomares and Gomeles. +Huroara, some of these were originally from Arabia; there were others, +but not so distinguished. La de Ketama was, according to tradition, +African, one of the most ancient, for having come with Afrikio. + +"Ben Kis Ben Taifi Ben Teba, the younger, who came from the king of the +Assyrians, to the land of the west. + +"None of these primitive tribes appear to have been known to the Romans, +their historians, however, have transmitted to us many names of other +aboriginal tribes, some of which resemble fractions now existing, as the +Getules are probably the present Geudala or Geuzoula. But the present +Berbers do not correspond with the names of the five original people +just mentioned. In Morocco, there are Amayeegh and Shelouh, in Algeria +the Kabyles, in Tunis the Aoures, sometimes the Shouwiah, and in Sahara +the Touarichs. There are, besides, numerous subdivisions and admixtures +of these tribes." + +[15] Monsieur Balbi is decidedly the most recent, as well as the best +authority to apply to for a short and definite description of this most +celebrated mountain system, called by him "Systeme Atlantique," and I +shall therefore annex what he says on this interesting subject, +"Orographie." He says--"Of the 'Systeme Atlantique,' which derives its +name from the Mount Atlas, renowned for so many centuries, and still so +little known; we include in this vast system, all the heights of the +region of Maghreb--we mean the mountain of the Barbary States--as well +as the elevations scattered in the immense Sahara or Desert. It appears +that the most important ridge extends from the neighbourhood of Cape +Noun, or the Atlantic, as far as the east of the Great Syrte in the +State of Tripoli. In this vast space it crosses the new State of +Sidi-Hesdham, the Empire of Morocco, the former State of Algiers, as +well as the State of Tripoli and the Regency of Tunis. It is in the +Empire of Morocco, and especially in the east of the town of Morocco, +and in the south-east of Fez, that that ridge presents the greatest +heights of the whole system. It goes on diminishing afterwards in height +as it extends towards the east, so that it appears the summits of the +territory of Algiers are higher than those on the territory of Tunis, +and the latter are less high than those to be found in the State of +Tripoli. Several secondary ridges diverge in different directions from +the principal chain; we shall name among them the one which ends at the +Strait of Gibraltar in the Empire of Morocco. Several intermediary +mountains seem to connect with one another the secondary chains which +intersect the territories of Algiers and Tunis. Geographers call Little +Atlas the secondary mountains of the land of Sous, in opposition to the +name of Great Atlas, they give to the high mountains of the Empire of +Morocco. In that part of the principal chain called Mount Gharian, in +the south of Tripoli, several low branches branch off and under the +names of Mounts Maray, Black Mount Haroudje, Mount Liberty, Mount +Tiggerandoumma and others less known, furrow the great solitudes of the +Desert of Lybia and Sahara Proper. From observations made on the spot by +Mr. Bruguiere in the former state of Algiers, the great chain which +several geographers traced beyond the Little Atlas under the name of +Great Atlas does not exist. The inhabitants of Mediah who were +questioned on the subject by this traveller, told him positively, that +the way from that town to the Sahara was through a ground more or less +elevated, and slopes more or less steep, and without having any chain of +mountains to cross. The Pass of Teniah which leads from Algiers to +Mediah is, therefore, included in the principal chain of that part of +the Regency. + +[16] Xenophon, in his Anabasis, speaks of ostriches in Mesopotamia being +run down by fleet horses. + +[17] Mount Atlas was called Dyris by the ancient aborigines, or Derem, +its name amongst the modern aborigines. This word has been compared to +the Hebrew, signifying the place or aspect of the sun at noon-day, as if +Mount Atlas was the back of the world, or the cultivated parts of the +globe, and over which the sun was seen at full noon, in all his fierce +and glorious splendour. Bochart connects the term with the Hebrew +meaning 'great' or 'mighty,' which epithet would be naturally applied to +the Atlas, and all mountains, by either a savage or civilized people. We +have, also, on the northern coast, Russadirum, the name given by the +Moors to Cape Bon, which is evidently a compound of _Ras_, head, and +_dirum_, mountain, or the head of the mountain. + +We have again the root of this word in Doa-el-Hamman, Tibet Deera, &c., +the names of separate chains of the mighty Atlas. Any way, the modern +Der-en is seen to be the same with the ancient Dir-is. + +[18] The only way of obtaining any information at all, is through the +registers of taxation; and, to the despotism and exactions of these and +most governments, we owe a knowledge of the proximate amount of the +numbers of mankind. + +[19] Tangier, Mogador, Wadnoun, and Sous have already been described, +wholly, or in part. + +[20] In 936, Arzila was sacked by the English, and remained for twenty +years uninhabited. + +[21] According to Mr. Hay, a portion of the Salee Rovers seem to have +finally taken refuge here. Up the river El-Kous, the Imperial squadron +lay in ordinary, consisting of a corvette, two brigs, (once +merchant-vessels, and which had been bought of Christians), and a +schooner, with some few gun-boats, and even these two or three vessels +were said to be all unfit for sea. But, when Great Britain captured the +rock of Gibraltar, we, supplanting the Moors became the formidable +toll-keepers of the Herculean Straits, and the Salee rivers have ever +since been in our power. If the Shereefs have levied war or tribute on +European navies since that periods it has been under our tacit sanction. +The opinion of Nelson is not the less true, that, should England engage +in war with any maritime State of Europe, Morocco must be our warm and +active friend or enemy, and, if our enemy, we must again possess +ourselves of our old garrison of Tangier. + +[22] So called, it is supposed, from the quantity of aniseed grown in +the neighbourhood. + +[23] Near Cape Blanco is the ruined town of Tit or Tet, supposed to be +of Carthaginian origin, and once also possessed by the Portuguese, when +commerce therein flourished. + +[24] El-Kesar is a very common name of a fortified town, and is usually +written by the Spaniards Alcazar, being the name of the celebrated royal +palace at Seville. + +[25] Marmol makes this city to have succeeded the ancient Roman town of +Silda or Gilda. Mequinez has been called Ez-Zetounah, from the immense +quantities of olives in its immediate vicinity. + +[26] Don J. A. Conde says--"Fes or sea Fez, the capital of the realm of +that name; the fables of its origin, and the grandeur of the Moors, who +always speak of their cities as foundations of heroes, or lords of the +whole world, &c., a foible of which our historians are guilty. +Nasir-Eddin and the same Ullug Beig say, for certain, that Fez is the +court of the king in the west. I must observe here, that nothing is less +authentic than the opinions given by Casiri in his Library of the +Escurial, that by the word Algarb, they always mean the west of Spain, +and by the word Almagreb, the west of Africa; one of these appellations +is generally used for the other. The same Casiri says, with regard to +Fez, that it was founded by Edno Ben Abdallah, under the reign of +Almansor Abu Giafar; he is quite satisfied with that assertion, but does +not perceive that it contains a glaring anachronism. Fez was already a +very ancient city before the Mohammed Anuabi of the Mussulmen, and +Joseph, in his A. J., mentions a city of Mauritania; the prophet Nahum +speaks of it also, when he addresses Ninive, he presents it as an +example for No Ammon. He enumerates its districts and cities, and says, +Fut and Lubim, Fez and Lybia, &c. + +[27] I imagine we shall never know the truth of this until the French +march an army into Fez, and sack the library. + +[28] It is true enough what the governor says about _quietness_, but the +novelty of the mission turned the heads of the people, and made a great +noise among them. The slave-dealers of Sous vowed vengeance against me, +and threatened to "rip open my bowels" if I went down there. + +[29] The Sultan's Minister, Ben Oris, addressing our government on the +question says, "Whosoever sets any person free God will set his soul +free from the fire," (hell), quoting the Koran. + +[30] A person going to the Emperor without a present, is like a menace +at court, for a present corresponds to our "good morning." + +[31] _Bash_, means chief, as Bash-Mameluke, chief of the Mamelukes. It +is a Turkish term. + +[32] This office answers vulgarly to our _Boots_ at English inns. + +[33] Bismilla, Arabic for "In the name of God!" the Mohammedan grace +before meat, and also drink. + +[34] Shaw says.--"The hobara is of the bigness of a capon, it feeds upon +the little grubs or insects, and frequents the confines of the Desert. +The body is of a light dun or yellowish colour, and marked over with +little brown touches, whilst the larger feathers of the wing are black, +with each of them a white spot near the middle; those of the neck are +whitish with black streaks, and are long and erected when the bird is +attacked. The bill is flat like the starling's, nearly an inch and a +half long, and the legs agree in shape and in the want of the hinder toe +with the bustard's, but it is not, as Golins says, the bustard, that +bird being twice as big as the hobara. Nothing can be more entertaining +than to see this bird pursued by the hawk, and what a variety of flights +and stratagems it makes use of to escape." The French call the hobara, a +little bustard, _poule de Carthage_, or Carthage-fowl. They are +frequently sold in the market of Tunis, as ordinary fowls, but eat +something like pheasant, and their flesh is red. + +[35] The most grandly beautiful view in Tunis is that from the +Belvidere, about a mile north-west from the capital, looking immediately +over the Marsa road. Here, on a hill of very moderate elevation, you +have the most beautiful as well as the most magnificent panoramic view +of sea and lake, mountain and plain, town and village, in the whole +Regency, or perhaps in any other part of North Africa. There are besides +many lovely walks around the capital, particularly among and around the +craggy heights of the south-east. But these are little frequented by the +European residents, the women especially, who are so stay-at-homeative +that the greater part of them never walked round the suburbs once in +their lives. Europeans generally prefer the Marina, lined on each side, +not with pleasant trees, but dead animals, sending forth a most +offensive smell. + +[36] Shaw says: "The rhaad, or safsaf, is a granivorous and gregarious +bird, which wanteth the hinder toe. There are two species, and both +about and a little larger than the ordinary pullet. The belly of both is +white, back and wings of a buff colour spotted with brown, tail lighter +and marked all along with black transverse streaks, beak and legs +stronger than the partridge. The name rhaad, "thunder," is given to it +from the noise it makes on the ground when it rises, safsaf, from its +beating the air, a sound imitating the motion." + +[37] Ghafsa, whose name Bochart derives from the Hebrew "comprimere," +is an ancient city, claiming as its august founder, the Libyan +Hercules. It was one of the principal towns in the dominions of +Jugurtha, and well-fortified, rendered secure by being placed in the +midst of immense deserts, fabled to have been inhabited solely by +snakes and serpents. Marius took it by a _coup-de-main_, and put all +the inhabitants to the sword. The modern city is built on a gentle +eminence, between two arid mountains, and, in a great part, with the +materials of the ancient one. Ghafsa has no wall of _euceinte_, or +rather a ruined wall surrounds it, and is defended by a kasbah, +containing a small garrison. This place may be called the gate of the +Tunisian Sahara; it is the limit of Blad-el-Jereed; the sands begin now +to disappear, and the land becomes better, and more suited to the +cultivation of corn. Three villages are situated in the environs, Sala, +El-Kesir, and El-Ghetar. A fraction of the tribe of Hammand deposit +their grain in Ghafsa. This town is famous for its manufactories of +baraeans and blankets ornamented with pretty coloured flowers. There is +also a nitre and powder-manufactory, the former obtained from the earth +by a very rude process. + +The environs are beautifully laid out in plantations of the fig, the +pomegranate, and the orange, and especially the datepalm, and the +olive-tree. The oil made here is of peculiarly good quality, and is +exported to Tugurt, and other oases of the Desert. + +[38] Kaemtz's Meteorology, p. 191. + +[39] This is the national dish of Barbary, and is a preparation of +wheat-flour granulated, boiled by the steam of meat. It is most +nutritive, and is eaten with or without meat and vegetables. When the +grains are large, it is called hamza. + +[40] A camel-load is about five cantars, and a cantar is a hundred +weight. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: In this electronic edition, the footnotes were +numbered and relocated to the end of the work. In ch. 3, "Mogrel-el-Aska" +was corrected to "Mogrel-el-Aksa"; in ch. 4, "lattely" to "lately"; in +ch. 7, "book" to "brook"; in ch. 9, "cirumstances" to "circumstances". +Also, "Amabasis" was corrected to "Anabasis" in footnote 16.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Travels in Morocco, Vol. 2., by James Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS IN MOROCCO, VOL. 2. *** + +***** This file should be named 10356.txt or 10356.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/5/10356/ + +Produced by Carlo Traverso, Tom Allen and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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