[Footnote 129: I have been informed that there are still at Marocco, apartments wherein the dead were placed; and that after the whole family was swept away the doors were built up, and remain so to this day.]

[Footnote 130: There died, during the whole of the above periods, in the city of Marocco, 50,000; in Fas, 65,000; in Mogodor, 4500; and in Saffy, 5000; in all 124,500 souls!]

After this violent and deadly calamity had subsided, we beheld a general alteration in the fortunes and circumstances of men; we saw persons who before the plague were common labourers, now in possession of thousands, and keeping horses without knowing how to ride them. Parties of this description were met wherever we went, 171 and the men of family called them in derision el wuratu, the inheritors.[131] Provisions also became extremely cheap and abundant; the flocks and herds had been left in the fields, and there was now no one to own them; and the propensity to plunder, so notoriously attached to the character of the Arab, as well as to the Shelluh and Moor, was superseded by a conscientious regard to justice, originating from a continual apprehension of dissolution, and that the el khere[132], as the plague was now called, was a judgment of the Omnipotent on the disobedience of man, and that it behoved every individual to amend his conduct, as a preparation to his departure for paradise.

[Footnote 131: Des gens parvenus, as the French express it; or upstarts.]

[Footnote 132: The good, or benediction.]

The expense of labour at the same time increased enormously[133], and never was equality in the human species more conspicuous than at this time; when corn was to be ground, or bread baked, both were performed in the houses of the affluent, and prepared by themselves, for the very few people whom the plague had spared, were insufficient to administer to the wants of the rich and independent, and they were accordingly compelled to work for themselves, performing personally the menial offices of their respective families. 172 [Footnote 133: At this time I received from Marocco a caravan of many camel-loads of bees-wax, in serrons containing 200 lbs. each; I sent for workmen to place them one upon another, and they demanded one dollar per serron for so moving them.]

The country being now depopulated, and much of the territory without owners, vast tribes of Arabs emigrated from their abodes in the interior of Sahara, and took possession of the country contiguous to the river Draha, as well as many districts in Suse; and, in short, settling themselves, and pitching their tents wherever they found a fertile country with little or no population.

The symptoms of this plague varied in different patients, the variety of age and constitution gave it a like variety of appearance and character. Those who enjoyed perfect health were suddenly seized with head-aches and inflammations; the tongue and throat became of a vivid red, the breath was drawn with difficulty, and was succeeded by sneezing and hoarseness; when once settled in the stomach, it excited vomitings of black bile, attended with excessive torture, weakness, hiccough, and convulsion. Some were seized with sudden shivering, or delirium, and had a sensation of such intense inward heat, that they threw off their clothes, and would have walked about naked in quest of water wherein to plunge themselves. Cold water was eagerly resorted to by the unwary and imprudent, and proved fatal to those who indulged in its momentary relief. Some had one, two, or more buboes, which formed themselves, 173 and became often as large as a walnut, in the course of a day; others had a similar number of carbuncles; others had both buboes and carbuncles, which generally appeared in the groin, under the arm, or near the breast. Those who were affected[134] with a shivering, having no buboe, carbuncle, spots, or any other exterior disfiguration, were invariably carried off in less than twenty-four hours, and the body of the deceased became quickly putrified, so that it was indispensably necessary to bury it a few hours after dissolution. It is remarkable, that the birds of the air fled away from the abode of men, for none were to be seen during this 174 calamitous period; the hyaenas, on the contrary, visited the cemeteries, and sought the dead bodies to devour them. I recommended Mr. Baldwin's[135] invaluable remedy of olive oil, applied according to his directions; several Jews, and some Muselmin[136], were induced to try it, and I was afterwards visited by many, to whom I had recommended it, and had given them written directions in Arabic how to apply it: and I do not know any instance of its failing when persevered in, even after the infection had manifested itself.

[Footnote 134: M'drob is an idiom in the Arabic language somewhat difficult to render into English; it is well known that the Muhamedans are predestinarians, and that they believe in the existence of spirits, devils, &c.; their idea of the plague is, that it is a good or blessing sent from God to clear the world of a superfluous population—that no medicine or precaution can cure or prevent it; that every one who is to be a victim to it is (mktube) recorded in the Book of Fate; that there are certain Genii who preside over the fate of men, and who sometimes discover themselves in various forms, having often legs similar to those of fowls: that these Genii are armed with arrows: that when a person is attacked by the plague, which is called in Arabic l'amer, or the destiny or decree, he is shot by one of these Genii, and the sensation of the invisible wound is similar to that from a musquet-ball; hence the universal application of M'drob to a person afflicted with the plague, i.e. he is shot; and if he die, ufah ameruh, his destiny is completed or terminated (in this world). I scarcely ever yet saw the Muselman who did not affirm that he had at some time of his life seen these Genii; and they often appear, they say, in rivers.]

[Footnote 135: Late British Consul in Egypt.]

[Footnote 136: Muselman, sing.: Muselmin. plur.]

I have no doubt but the epidemy which made its appearance at Cadiz, and all along the southern shores of Spain, immediately as the plague was subsiding in West Barbary, was the same disorder with the one above described, suffering, after its passage to a Christian country, some variation, originating from the different modes of living, and other circumstances; for nothing can be more opposite than the food, dress, customs, and manners of Muhamedans and Christians, notwithstanding the approximation of Spain to Marocco. We have been credibly informed, that it was communicated originally to Spain, by two infected persons, who went from Tangier to Estapona, a small village on the opposite shore; who, after eluding the vigilance of the guards, reached Cadiz. We have also been assured that it was communicated by some infected persons who 175 landed in Spain, from a vessel that had loaded produce at L'Araiche in West Barbary. Another account was, that a Spanish privateer, which had occasion to land its crew for the purpose of procuring water in some part of West Barbary, caught the infection from communicating with the natives, and afterwards proceeding to Cadiz, and spread it in that town and the adjacent country.

It should be observed, for the information of those who may be desirous of investigating the nature of this extraordinary distemper, that, from its character and its symptoms, approximating to the peculiar plague, which (according to the before mentioned Arabic record) ravaged and depopulated West Barbary four centuries since, the Arabs and Moors were of opinion it would subside after the first year, and not appear again the next, as the Egyptian plague does; and agreeably to this opinion, it did not re-appear the second year: neither did St. John's day, or that season, affect its virulence; but about that period there prevails along the coast of West Barbary, a trade-wind, which, beginning to blow in the month of May, continues throughout the months of June, July, and August, with little intermission. It was apprehended that the influence of this trade-wind, added to the superstitious opinion of the plague ceasing on St. John's day, would stop, or at least sensibly diminish the mortality; but no such thing happened: the wind did set in, as it invariably does, about St. John's day; the 176 disorder, however, increased at that period, rather than diminished. Some persons were of opinion, that the infection maintained its virulence till the last; that the decrease of mortality did not originate from a decrease of the miasma, but from a decrease of population, and a consequent want of subjects to prey upon; and this indeed is a plausible idea; but admitting it to be just, how are we to account for the almost invariable fatality of the disorder, when at its height, and the comparative innocence of it when on the decline? for then, the chance to those who had it, was, that they would recover and survive the malady.

The old men seemed to indulge in a superstitious tradition, that when this peculiar kind of epidemy attacks a country, it does not return or continue for three or more years, but disappears altogether, (after the first year,) and is followed the seventh year by contagious rheums and expectoration, the violence of which lasts from three to seven days, but is not fatal. Whether this opinion be in general founded in truth I cannot determine; but in the spring of the year 1806, which was the seventh year from the appearance of the plague at Fas in 1799, a species of influenza pervaded the whole country; the patient going to bed well, and, on rising in the morning, a thick phlegm was expectorated, accompanied by a distressing rheum, or cold in the head, with a cough, which quickly reduced those affected to extreme weakness, but was seldom fatal, continuing from three to seven days, with more or less violence, and then gradually disappearing. 177 During the plague at Mogodor, the European merchants shut themselves up in their respective houses, as is the practice in the Levant; I did not take this precaution, but occasionally rode out to take exercise on horseback. Riding one day out of the town, I met the Governor's brother, who asked me where I was going, when every other European was shut up? "To the garden," I answered.—"And are you not aware that the garden and the adjacent country is full of (Jinune) departed souls, who are busy in smiting with the plague every one they meet?" I could not help smiling, but told him, that I trusted to God only, who would not allow any of the Jinune to smite me unless it were his sovereign will, and that if it were, he could effect it without the agency of Jinune. On my return to town in the evening, the beach, from the town-gate to the sanctuary of Seedi,[137] Mogodole was covered with biers. My daily observations convinced me that the epidemy was not caught by approach, unless that approach was accompanied by an inhaling of the breath, or by touching the infected person; I therefore had a separation made across the gallery, inside of my house, between the kitchen and dining parlour, of the width of three feet, which is sufficiently wide to prevent the inhaling the 178 breath of a person. From this partition or table of separation I took the dishes, and after dinner returned them to the same place, suffering none of the servants to come near me; and in the accounting-house, I had a partition made to prevent the too near approach of any person who might call on business; and this precaution I firmly believe to be all that is necessary, added to that of receiving money through vinegar, and taking care not to touch or smell infectious substances.

[Footnote 137: A sanctuary a mile south-east of the town of Mogodor, from whence, the town receives its name.]

Fear had an extraordinary effect in disposing the body to receive the infection; and those who were subject thereto, invariably caught the malady, which was for the most part fatal. At the breaking out of the plague at Mogodor, there were two medical men, an Italian and a Frenchman, the latter, a man of science, a great botanist, and of an acute discrimination; they, however, did not remain, but took the first opportunity of leaving the place for Teneriffe, so that the few Europeans had no expectation of any medical assistance except that of the natives. Plaisters of gum ammoniac, and the juice of the leaves of the opuntia, or kermuse ensarrah, i.e. prickly pear, were universally applied to the carbuncles, as well as to the buboes, which quickly brought them to suppuration: many of the people of property took copious draughts of coffee and Peruvian bark. The Vinaigre de quatre voleurs, was 179 used by many, also camphor, smoking tobacco, or fumigations of gum Sandrac; straw was also burned by some, who were of opinion, that any thing which produced abundance of smoke, was sufficient to purify the air of pestilential effluvia.

During the existence of the plague, I had been in the chambers of men on their death-bed: I had had Europeans at my table, who were infected, as well as Moors, who actually had buboes on them; I took no other precaution than that of separation, carefully avoiding to touch the hand, or inhale the breath; and, notwithstanding what may have been said, I am decidedly of opinion that the plague, at least this peculiar species of it, is not produced by any infectious principle in the atmosphere, but caught solely by touching infected substances, or inhaling the breath of those who are diseased; and that it must not be confounded with the common plague of Egypt, or Constantinople, being a malady of a much more desperate and destructive kind. It has been said, by persons who have discussed the nature and character of the plague, that the cultivation of a country, the draining of the lands, and other agricultural improvements, tend to eradicate or diminish it; but, at the same time, we have seen countries depopulated where there was no morass, or stagnate water for many days' journey, nor even a tree to impede the current of air, or a town, nor any thing but encampments of Arabs, who procured water from wells of a great depth, and 180 inhabited plains so extensive and uniform, that they resemble the sea, and are so similar in appearance after, as well as before sun-rise, that if the eye could abstract itself from the spot immediately surrounding the spectator, it could not be ascertained whether it were sea or land.

I shall now subjoin a few cases for the further elucidation of this distemper, hoping that the medical reader will pardon any inaccuracy originating from my not being a professional man.

Case I.—One afternoon, I went into the kitchen, and saw the cook making the bread; he appeared in good health and spirits; I afterwards went into the adjoining parlour, and took up a book to read; in half an hour the same man came to the door of the room, with his eyes starting from his head, and his bed-clothes, &c. in his hands, saying, "open the gate for me, for I am (m'dorb) smitten." I was astonished at the sudden transition, and desired him to go out, and I would follow and shut the gate. The next morning he sent his wife out on an errand, and got out of bed, and came to the gate half-dressed, saying that he was quite recovered, and desired I would let him in. I did not, however, think it safe to admit him, but told him to go back to his house for a few days, until he should be able to ascertain that he was quite well; he accordingly returned to his apartments, but expired that evening, and before day-break his body was in such a state, that his feet 181 were actually putrified. His wife, by attending on him, caught the infection, having a carbuncle, and also buboes, and was confined two months before she recovered.

Case II.—L'Hage Hamed O Bryhim, the old governor of Mogodor, had twelve or more children, and four wives, who were all attacked, and died (except only one young wife); he attended them successively to the grave, and notwithstanding that he assisted in performing the religious ceremony of washing the body, he never himself caught the infection; he lived some years afterwards, and out of the whole household, consisting of wives, concubines, children, and slaves, he had but one person left, which was the before-mentioned young wife: this lady, however, had received the infection, and was confined some time before she recovered.

Case. III.—Hamed ben A—— was smitten with the plague, which he compared to the sensation of two musket balls fired at him, one in each thigh; a giddiness and delirium succeeded, and immediately afterwards a green vomiting, and he fell senseless to the ground; a short time afterwards, on the two places where he had felt as if shot, biles or buboes formed, and on suppurating, discharged a foetid black pus; a (jimmera) carbuncle on the joint of the arm near the elbow was full of thin ichor, contained in an elevated skin, surrounded by a burning red colour; after three months' confinement, being reduced to a skeleton, the disorder appeared to 182 have exhausted itself, and he began to recover his strength, which in another month was fully reestablished. It was an observation founded on daily experience, during the prevalence of this disorder, that those who were attacked with a nausea at the stomach, and a subsequent vomiting of green or yellow bile, recovered after suffering in various degrees, and that those who were affected with giddiness, or delirium, followed by a discharge or vomiting of black bile, invariably died after lingering one, two, or three days, their bodies being covered with small black spots similar to grains of gun-powder; in this state, however, they possessed their intellects, and spoke rationally till their dissolution.

When the constitution was not disposed, or had not vigour enough to throw the miasma to the surface in the form of biles, buboes, carbuncles, or blackish spots, the virulence is supposed to have operated inwardly, or on the vital parts, and the patient died in less than twenty-four hours, without any exterior disfiguration.

Case IV.—It was reported that the Sultan had the plague twice during the season, as many others had; so that the idea of its attacking like the small-pox, a person but once in his life, is refuted: the Sultan was cured by large doses of Peruvian bark frequently repeated, and it was said that he found such infinite benefit from it, that he advised his brothers never to travel without having a good supply. The Emperor, since the plague, always has by him a sufficient quantity of quill bark to supply his emergency. 183 Case V.—H.L. was smitten with the plague, which affected him by a pain similar to that of a long needle (as he expressed himself) repeatedly plunged into his groin. In an hour or two afterwards, a (jimmera) carbuncle appeared in the groin, which continued enlarging three days, at the expiration of which period he could neither support the pain, nor conceal his sensations; he laid himself down on a couch; an Arabian doctor, applied to the carbuncles the testicles of a ram cut in half, whilst the vital warmth was still in them; the carbuncle on the third day was encreased to the size of a small orange; the before-mentioned remedy was daily applied during thirty days, after which he resorted to cataplasms of the juice of the (opuntia) prickly pear-tree, (feshook) gum ammoniac, and (zite el aud) oil of olives, of each one-third; this was intended to promote suppuration, which was soon effected; there remained after the suppuration a large vacuity, which was daily filled with fine hemp dipped in honey; by means of this application the wound filled up, and the whole was well in thirty-nine days.

Case VI.—El H—t—e, a trading Jew of Mogodor, was sorely afflicted; he called upon me, and requested some remedy; I advised him to use oil of olives, and having Mr. Baldwin's mode of 184 administering it[138], I transcribed it in the Arabic language, and gave it to him; he followed the prescription, and assured me, about six weeks afterwards, that (with the blessing of God) he had preserved his life by that remedy only; he said, that after having been anointed with oil, his skin became harsh and dry like the scales of a fish, but that in half an hour more, a profuse perspiration came on, and continued for another half hour, after which he experienced relief: this he repeated forty days, when, he was quite recovered.

[Footnote 138: Mr. Baldwin observed, that, whilst the plague ravaged Egypt, the dealers in oil were not affected with the epidemy; and he accordingly recommended people to anoint themselves with oil every day as a remedy.]

Case VII.—Moh—m'd ben A—— fell suddenly down in the street; he was conveyed home; three carbuncles and five buboes appeared soon after in his groin, under the joint of his knee, and arm-pits, and inside the elbow; he died in three hours after the attack.

Case VIII.—L.R. was suddenly smitten with this dreadful calamity, whilst looking over some Marocco leather; he fell instantaneously; afterwards, when he had recovered his senses, he described the sensation as that of the pricking of needles, at every part wherein the carbuncles afterwards appeared: he died the same day in defiance of medicine.

Case IX.—Mr. Pacifico, a merchant, was attacked, and felt a pricking pain down the inside of the thick part of the thigh, near the sinews; he was obliged to go to bed. I visited him the next day, and was going to approach him, but he exclaimed, "Do not come 185 near for although I know I have not the prevailing distemper, yet your friends, if you touch me, may persuade you otherwise, and that might alarm you; I shall, I hope, be well in a few days." I took the hint of Don Pedro de Victoria, a Spanish gentleman, who was in the room, who, offering me a sagar, I smoked it, and then departed; the next day the patient died. He was attended during his illness by the philanthropic Monsieur Soubremont, who did not stir from his bed-side till he expired; but after exposing himself in this manner, escaped the infection, which proceeded, as he thought, from his constantly having a pipe in his mouth.

Case X.—Two of the principal Jews of the town giving themselves up, and having no hope, were willing to employ the remainder of their lives in affording assistance to the dying and the dead, by washing the bodies and interring them; this business they performed during thirty or forty days, during all which time they were not attacked: when the plague had nearly subsided, and they began again to cherish hopes of surviving the calamity, they were both smitten, but after a few days' illness recovered, and are now living.

From this last case, as well as from many others similar, but too numerous here to recapitulate, it appears that the human constitution requires a certain miasma, to prepare it to receive the pestilential infection.

General Observation.—When the carbuncles or buboes appeared to 186 have a blackish rim round their base, the case of that patient was desperate, and invariably fatal. Sometimes the whole body was covered with black spots like partridge-shot; such patients always fell victims to the disorder, and those who felt the blow internally, showing no external disfiguration, seldom survived more than a few hours.

The plague appears to visit this country about once in every twenty years[139]: the last visitation was in 1799 and 1800, being more fatal than any ever before known.

[Footnote 139: This opinion is confirmed by the plague, being now (1820) in Marocco just twenty years since the last plague. 65,000 persons have been lately carried off by this disease in the cities of Old and New Fas.]

* * * * *

Observations respecting the Plague that prevailed last Year in West Barbary, and which was imported from Egypt; communicated by the Author to the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Literature, Science, and the Arts, edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, No, 15, published in October, 1819.

His Majesty's ship, which was lying in the port of Alexandria, when Colonel Fitzclarence passed through Egypt, from India, on his way to England, convoyed to Tangier a vessel which had on board two of the sons of Muley Soliman, emperor of Marocco; on their arrival at Tangier, the princes immediately landed and proceeded to their father at Fas; but it was discovered by the governor or alkaid of 187 Tangier, that during the passage some persons had died; and accordingly the alkaid would not suffer any of the passengers to land, except the princes, until he should have received orders from the Emperor how to act; he accordingly wrote to Fas, for the imperial orders, and in the mean time the princes arrived, and presented themselves to the emperor: the latter wrote to the alkaid, that as the princes had been suffered to land, it would be unjust to prohibit the other passengers from coming ashore also. He therefore ordered the alkaid to suffer all the passengers, together with their baggage, to be landed, and soon afterwards the plague appeared at Fas, and at Tangier. Thus the contagion which is now ravaging West Barbary was imported from Egypt. It does not appear that the mortality is, or has been, during its acme at Fas, any thing comparable to what it was during the plague that ravaged this country in 1799,[140] and which carried off more than two-thirds of the population of the empire.

[Footnote 140: It has been asserted by a physician who has lately written, Observations on contagion, as it relates to the plague and other epidemical diseases, reviewed in article 20th of the British Review, and London Critical Journal, published in May last, that I have asserted that the deaths during the prevalence of that disorder in West Barbary in 1799, amounted to 124,500; but on a reference to my account of Marocco, Timbuctoo, &c., 2d or 3d edition, note, page 174, it will appear, that this mortality was that of two cities, and two sea-ports only, viz., the cities of Fas and Marocco, and the ports of Saffy and Mogodor; the mortality, however, was equally great in the imperial cities of Mequinas and Terodant, and in the sea-port towns of Tetuan, Tangier, Arzilla, L'Araich, Salee, Rabat, Dar el Bieda, Azamore, Mazagan, and Santa Cruz, or Agadeer; and considerably greater among the populous and numerous encampments of the Arabs, throughout the various provinces of the empire; not to mention the incredible mortality in the castles, towns, and other walled habitations of the Shelluh province of Haha, the first province, travelling from the shores of the Mediterranean, where the people live in walled habitations, the seaports excepted.] 188 Whence proceeds this difference? Is it a different species of plague, and not so deadly a contagion? Or is it because the remedy of olive oil, applied and recommended generally by me, and by some other Europeans during the plague of 1799, is now made public and generally administered? This is an inquiry well deserving the attention of scientific men. And His Majesty's ministers might procure the information from the British consul at Tangier, or from the governor of Gibraltar: perhaps the truth is, that the contagion is of a more mild character.

With regard to the remedy of olive oil applied[141] internally, I should, myself, be disposed to doubt its efficacy unless M. Colaco, 189 the Portuguese consul at L'Araich, is competent to declare, from his own knowledge and experience, that this remedy has been administered effectually by him to persons having the plague, who did not also use the friction with oil. I say, till this can be ascertained, I think the remedy of oil applied externally, should not be forsaken; as it has been proved during the plague in Africa, in 1799, to be infallible, and therefore indispensable to people whose vocation may lead them to associate with, or to touch or bury the infected. For the rest, such persons as are not compelled to associate with the infected, may effectually avoid the contagion, however violent and deadly it may be, by avoiding contact. I am so perfectly convinced of this fact, from the experience and observation I have made during my residence at Mogodor, whilst the plague raged there in 1799, that I would not object to go to any country, although it were rotten with the plague, provided my going would benefit mankind, or serve any useful purpose; and I would use no fumigation, or any other remedy but what I actually used at Mogodor in 1799. I am so convinced from my own repeated and daily experience, that the most deadly plague is as easy to be avoided BY STRICTLY ADHERING TO THE PRINCIPLE OF AVOIDING PERSONAL CONTACT AND INHALATION, AND THE CONTACT OF INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES, that I would ride or walk through the most 190 populous and deeply-infected city, as I have done before, without any other precaution than that of a segar in my mouth, when, by avoiding contact and inhalation, I should most assuredly be free from the danger of infection!!

[Footnote 141: Mr. Colaco, having lately observed that oil was used externally to anoint the body, as a preservative against the plague; conceived the idea of administering this simple remedy internally to persons already infected; numerous experiments were made by this gentleman, who administered from four to eight oz. olive oil at a dose; and out of 300 individuals already infected, who resorted to this remedy, only twelve died.]

When these precautions are strictly observed, I maintain, (in opposition to all the theoretical dogmas that have lately been propagated) that there is no more danger of infection with the plague, than there is of infection from any common cold or rheum.

191

JOURNEY FROM TANGIER TO RABAT THROUGH THE PLAINS OF SEBOO,



To accompany Dr. Bell, in Company with the Prince Muley Teib and an Army of Cavalry.

Officiated as Interpreter between the Prince and Dr. Bell.—Description of Food sent to us by the Prince.—The Plains of M'sharrah Rummellah, an incomparable fine and productive Country.—The Cavalry of the Amorites,—their unique Observations on Dr. Bell.—their mean Opinion of his Art, because he could not cure Death.—Passage of the River Seboo on Rafts of inflated Skins.—Spacious Tent of Goat's Hair erected for the Sheik, and appropriated to the Use of the Prince.—Description of the magnificent Plains of M'sharrah Rummellah and Seboo.—Arabian Royalty.—Prodigious Quantity of Corn grown in these Plains.—Matamores, what they are.—Mode of Reaping.—The Prince presents the Doctor with a Horse, and approves of his Medicines.—The Prince and the Doctor depart south-eastwardly, and the Author pursues his Journey to Rabat and Mogodor.

I happened to be at Tangier when the (shereef) prince Muley Teib was collecting an army to join that of the emperor, which was on the banks of the river Morbeya, (see the map of West Barbary, p. 55,) in Shawiya. Doctor Bell, who had then recently arrived from Gibraltar, to attend the prince, whose lungs were affected, was to 192 accompany his Royal Highness; and, as I had nothing to detain me in Tangier, and was going to Rabat, I engaged to accompany the doctor, and offered to officiate as interpreter between him and the prince till our arrival at Rabat; after which I should leave him, and proceed to Mogodor. The Doctor readily assented to my proposition, because it is considered more respectable in this country, where the Jews are reprobated and despised, to have for an interpreter a Christian; the prince also, when he heard that I had thus offered my services, expressed himself much gratified, and I received a very polite message from him. The next day we started from Tangier, in the morning at ten o'clock. The army halted east of Arzilla, in the plains: the prince sat down under the shade of a tree to dinner, Dr. Bell and myself under another tree, about 100 yards distant. The Prince sent us a capon stewed a-la-mauresque with saffron, the exquisite flavour of which proved that he had an excellent cook with him. We departed in half an hour; and the tents were pitched at sunset, in a campaign country, between Arzilla and L'Araich. The Ait-Amor or Amorites who formed a part of this army, a wild, uncontrolled race of Berebbers, saw the attention that was paid by the shereef to the doctor, and after dinner they were determined to see what sort of a fellow this doctor was, whom the shereef treated so familiarly. They galloped their high-mettled horses up to the doctor; and stopping short to examine him, made a 193 reflection on him and returned. The doctor observed the wild and tattered appearance of these excellent horsemen. There was nothing evil-minded in them; but their observations were remarkable. The Doctor wore powder, a custom unknown in this country: one party would say, "He has got lime in his head to kill the vermin;" another would observe that "He was old or grey-headed." The Doctor was fond of his bottle, and some said skurren bel akkaran, i.e. "The[142] son of a cuckold is drunk." Others would bawl out, Wa Tebeeb washka't dowie elmoot, i.e. "O, doctor, canst thou cure death?" To which he replied, "No."—"Then," returned they, "thou art no doctor!" On the following morning at sun-rise we proceeded, and reached L'Araich at twelve o'clock; we did not enter the town, but dined in the plains, and proceeding afterwards out of the main road, we directed our course south-east, till we reached a most beautiful and very extensive plain, called M'sharrah Rummellah. This plain was covered with numerous and immense flocks of sheep and horned cattle, and is many times more extensive than Salisbury plain. We pitched our tents near a very extensive and populous douar of Arabs. We departed the next morning at sun-rise, and reached the plains of the river Seboo about two o'clock in the afternoon; which plains are a continuation of those of M'sharrah 194 Rummellah; the army were engaged the remaining part of the day and the whole night crossing the river Seboo, on rafts made of inflated cow-hides, covered with planks and straw. The river is here about twenty yards wide, but very deep and rapid; the Arabs had a long and spacious sheik's tent pitched for the reception of the prince, about forty feet long and fifteen wide, somewhat similar to the hull of a ship reversed, having the long side open to the sun. These tents are the palace of the sheik of the Arabs, and are erected on great occasions only, such as that of the emperor, or a prince passing through their territory. The plains of M'sharrah Rummellah are one hundred and fifty British miles in circumference, perfectly flat, without a stone, a tree, a hedge, or a ditch; with the majestic river Seboo passing through the centre of the plain. The soil of this territory, which, in the hands of Europeans, might be made a terrestrial paradise, is a rich, productive, decomposed vegetable earth, which extends, as we perceived from various chasms, to the depth of several feet from the surface. It produces incredible quantities of the finest wheat, of a hard grain, very large and long, clear as amber, and yielding a prodigious increase of flour, so that a saa of wheat[143] produces a saa and a sixth of 195 flour. The prince, Muley Teeb, seated on an eminence in this spacious tent, resembled what we should imagine the patriarch Abraham to have been, entertaining his friends; or Saul upon his throne, with his javelin in his hand. He had twelve lanciers, six on each side of him in a row, standing with their lances erect, the Prince having one in his hand. It appears that this is the Arabian etiquette; and the Arabs appeared much gratified that the prince had personified their sheik, with all the paraphernalia of royalty. His Royal Highness whose mind seemed moved with the beauty of this country, sent for the Doctor and myself, and asked us if we had ever seen such a country before. We frankly confessed we had not. The prince smiled, and said, that the (sehell) plain we were on, although extremely populous, and full of douars, could grow seventeen times as much corn as the inhabitants could consume; that there was then corn enough in the matamores[144] of this plain, to supply (El garb kamel) the whole of El garb, i.e. the country north of the river Morbeya.[145]

[Footnote 142: Intoxication is a damnable vice with these people; and when they remark drunkenness, they invariably add an opprobrium to the observation.]

[Footnote 143: A saa of wheat is little less than two Winchester bushels. The wheat is very heavy, and this measure weighs 100 lb., equal to 119 lb. English.]

[Footnote 144: The matamores are subterraneous depositories for corn, in which they preserve the wheat sound and good thirty years; but when a matamore is once opened, it is expedient to consume the corn immediately, otherwise it contracts what is called the matamore twang. These depositories are indispensable in countries exposed to drought, scarcity, or locusts, and should be adopted in our colony of South Africa. The art of constructing them is very peculiar, and I devoted some time in learning it.]

[Footnote 145: See the map of West Barbary.] 196 We took our leave of the Prince, who appeared much gratified with the hospitable entertainment of the Arabs, and with their patriarchal style of living, and sent us an enormous dish of cuscasoe, coloured with saffron.

Encamped in the centre of this plain, when the sun had set, and the twilight came on, we could have imagined ourselves in the midst of the ocean. Not a cloud was in the sky, nor a hill on the land, to intercept the uniformity of the horizon; the moon shone so bright, that we could read by its light, and the universal novelty of the scene resembled enchantment.

On this rich land they use no dung: they reap the corn about a foot from the ground, and burn the stubble. The produce is greater even than that of the new-dyke land, on the banks of the river Ems, in North Holland. The allotments of land are ascertained by a large stone, placed at each corner of the square, when the reapers reach these stones, they desist from proceeding or reaping the corn of other proprietors. We rose early in the morning, and found the air of this terrestrial paradise strongly perfumed with millions of odoriferous flowers, that were growing spontaneously throughout the plains. Walking with Dr. Bell through the Prince's camp, we saw a beautiful grey horse. The doctor admired it. I recommended him to ask the Prince for it, he was not acquainted with the customs of 197 this country, and ridiculed my observation. "If you wish to have that horse, Doctor," said I, "I will engage that the Prince will get it for you. I represented immediately to His Royal Highness, that the Doctor had taken a liking to the horse, and would wish to buy it. Not buy it," said the Prince; "he will receive it as a present from me. Tell him, he deserves seven horses for the benefit he has done me: all doctors that I have heretofore had have taken twenty-four hours to give me ease; he relieves me in one. Tell him so," said the prince, "and that he (massab ala genibuna) is in the number of my dearest friends. (e jeek elkhere attibib u asselem), Good be with you, doctor, and peace be with you." Thus ended the negociation for the horse. I found afterwards that it belonged to a sheik of the Arab province of Beni Hassen, who regretted parting with it, but the Prince gave him the value of it, and much courtesy withal. We struck our tents next morning at eleven o'clock, and, travelling southward, the Prince received an express from the Emperor to join his imperial army forthwith: accordingly the Prince and his doctor departed south-east, and I took leave of them, and pursued my journey to Rabat.

198

OF THE EXCAVATED RESIDENCES OF THE INHABITANTS OF ATLAS: THE ACEPHALI, HEL SHUAL, AND HEL ELKILLEB:



The Discovery of Africa not to be effected by the present System of solitary Travellers; but by a grand Plan, with a numerous Company; beginning with Commerce, as the natural Prelude to Discovery, the Fore-runner of Civilization, and a preliminary Step, indispensable to the Conversion of the native Negroes to Christianity.

The inhabitants of the snowy or upper regions of the Atlas live, during the months of November, December, January, February, and half of March, in caves or excavations in the mountains; the snow then disappears, and they begin to cultivate the earth.

I have repeatedly heard reports of the (Helel Killeb,[146]) dog-faced race; of the (Hel Shual,) tailed race; and of the race 199 having one eye,[147] and that in the breast. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the origin of these reports, which are so involved in metaphor that the signification is not intelligible to Europeans; their existence is not doubted, however, in Africa. Of the Hel El Killeb some ignorant people affirm that the Almighty transformed one of the tribes of the Jews into these people, and that these are their descendants; others report them to be a mongrel breed, between the human and ape species; their strength is said to be very great. The Africans assert with considerable confidence, which is corroborated, that the Hel Shual have a tail half a cubit long; that they inhabit a district in the Desert at an immense distance south-east of Marocco; that the Hel El Killeb[148] 200 are in a similar direction; that the latter are diminutive, being about two or three cubits[149] in height; that they exclaim bak, bak, bak, and that they have a few articulate sounds, which they mutually understand among themselves; that they are extremely swift of foot, and run as fast as horses. The Arimaspi of Herodotus are called by the Arabs Hel Ferdie, these are represented by the Arabs of the Desert as living at the foot of the lofty mountains of the Moon, near Abyssinia: the male and female are equally without hair on their head, having large chins and nostrils, like the ape species; they are said to have a language of their own; their costume is a jelabea,[150] and a belt, without shoes or head dress; their country is said to abound in gold. It is "a consummation devoutly to be wished," that our knowledge of Africa should increase so as to enable us to unravel the mystery of these doubtful reports, to ascertain the degree of credit that is due to these mysterious traditions. These desiderata, however, can hardly 201 be expected, whilst the present injudicious plans for the discovery of Africa are persevered in. We must, if we desire to discover effectually the hidden recesses and reported wonders of this continent, adopt plans and schemes very different from any that have hitherto been suggested; we must adopt a grand system upon an extensive scale, a system directed and moved by a person competent to so great an undertaking. The head or director of such an expedition should be master of the general travelling and trafficking language of Africa, the modern Arabic: he should moreover be acquainted with the character of the people, their habits, modes of life, religious prejudices, and fanaticism. A grand plan, thus directed, could hardly fail to secure the command of the commerce of Africa to Great Britain. Then the discovery of the inmost recesses would follow the path of commerce, and that continent, which has baffled the researches of the moderns as well as of the ancients, would lay open its treasures to modern Europe, and civilisation would be the natural result. Then would be the period to attempt the conversion of the Negroes to Christianity; and the standard of peace and good will towards men might be successfully planted on the banks of the Nile El Kabeer, or Nile Assudan, the Great Nile, or Nile of Sudan, or Nigritia, commonly called the Niger.

[Footnote 146: Apollonius Rhodius calls these people [Greek: emikuges] or half-dogs.]

[Footnote 147: The ingenious author of Philosophic Researches concerning the Americans, speaking of a race which appear to resemble the Acephali of Herodotus, or the race of men having one eye, and that in their chest, says, "There is in Canibar a race of savages who have hardly any neck, and whose shoulders reach up to their ears. This monstrous appearance is artificial, and to give it to their children they put enormous weights upon their heads, so as to make the vertebrae of the neck enter, if we may so say, the channel bone, (clavicule.) These barbarians, from a distance, seem to have their mouth in the breast; and might well enough, in ignorant and enthusiastic travellers, serve to revive the fable of the Acephali, or men without heads." (See Larcher's Notes on Herodotus's Melpomene, cap. 191.)—Saint Augustin, whose veracity is scarcely to be doubted, declared in his thirty-third sermon, intituled "A ses Freres dans le Desert"—Avoir vu en Ethiopie des hommes et des femmes sans tete avec des grands yeux sur le poitrine.]

[Footnote 148: We have heard of a pig-faced lady; if there is such a person, there might also be a pig-faced gentleman, and these might generate a pig-faced race; and if a pig-faced race, why not a dog-faced race?]

[Footnote 149: Seven Cubits make four English yards.]

[Footnote 150: The best description I can give of a jelabea is this: Take a large sack and cut a hole in the bottom, big enough to admit the head; then cut the two bottom corners off to admit the arms: this garment will then resemble the jelabea.]

202

CAUTIONS TO BE USED IN TRAVELLING.



Danger of travelling after Sun-set.—The Emperor holds himself accountable for Thefts committed on Travellers, whilst travelling between the rising and the setting Sun.—Emigration of Arabs.—Patriarchal Style of living among the Arabs; Food, Clothing, domestic Looms, and Manufactures.—Riches of the Arabs calculated by the Number of Camels they possess.—Arabian Women are good Figures, and have personal Beauty; delicate in their Food; poetical Geniuses; Dancing and Amusements; Musical Instruments; their Manners are courteous.

Travellers in West and South Barbary should never be out after sun-set: it is not safe to travel in many parts of the country during the night. The emperor holds himself accountable for thefts committed between the rising and the setting sun; so that, if a traveller be robbed of property, the value should be ascertained, and an application being made to the bashaw of the province where the robbery was committed it will be restored forthwith; but if there be any demur, an application should be made to the Emperor, personally, if possible, but if not, by letter; and the district is immediately ordered to pay double the loss, one half to the person robbed, and the other half to the Imperial treasury. 203 These robberies, however, rarely occur; for the bashaws of the provinces and the alkaids of the douars feel it a duty incumbent on them to protect all travellers and strangers; so that they would, in the event of a robbery being committed, expose themselves to a severe reprimand from the emperor, and an intimation that they were, by suffering such irregularity, incompetent to their situation, and would be liable to a heavy fine, or a discharge from their office, for neglect of vigilance, which, in this country, is considered very reprehensible.

Travelling through the province of Suse, I once witnessed the emigration of an extensive douar of Arabs, amounting to about 200 families. They were just leaving their habitation, where they had been encamped only a few months: it was a fine grazing country; the camels, horses, mules, asses, oxen and cows, were all laden with the tents and baggage of these wanderers. On enquiring the cause of this emigration, I was told that the inhabitants were infested with musquitoes and fleas to such a degree, that they had all unanimously resolved to emigrate to another place, which they had fixed upon, and that they would reach it by night. These wandering Arabs, without any fixed habitation, are of a restless, ungovernable spirit: they never cultivate the earth, as do the Arabs of the plains of Marocco, but live, for the most part, on camels' milk, occasionally killing a camel or a goat for food; 204 grazing their camels in the adjacent country: they live in the true Patriarchal style, and seek the means of supplying all their wants within themselves. To effect this purpose, they barter a few of their camels for wool, and thus supply themselves with that article for clothing, which is made in every (keyma) Arab tent, by the women, at their own respective looms; each female being the manufacturer for her own family. The cloth is wove in pieces of seven cubits long and about two and a half broad, of the natural colour of the wool: these pieces of cloth are afterwards converted into cloaks, mantles, and tunics. Those who choose to indulge in the luxury of dress, by wearing linen, or turbans, send a few goat-skins, collected from the goats that have served them occasionally for food, to Mogodor, or Marocco, or barter them with some Jews for linen or shoes, and thus supply all their wants; so that their resources considerably exceed their wants, for some of them have several thousand camels which cost them nothing. These animals browse on the bushes in the environs of their habitations, and are continually increasing and multiplying. They never kill any animal for food until full grown: this custom, from which the Arab never departs, is manifestly calculated to increase property, which, being invested in camels, is transportable, without trouble or expense, wherever they choose.

The Arabs are gay and cheerful; the brow of care is rarely seen 205 among them. The more children they have, the greater the blessing. They turn their hands in early youth to some useful purpose: so soon as they can walk they attend the camels, or are put to some domestic occupation; thus forming a useful link in the chain of their patriarchal society. The independence of these Arabs is depicted in their physiognomy; they are oppressed by no cankering care, no anxiety, no anticipation of distress. The food and clothing of the Arab is always at hand; fuel is not required in this warm country; and a glass of cool water is all that is desired to allay the thirst. This simple and abstemious mode of living is congenial to the human constitution; accordingly they enjoy uninterrupted health: sickness is so uncommon with them that to be old and to be sick are synonymous terms. They think one cannot happen without the other. Some of the women of these people, whilst young, are extremely delicate, handsome, and have elegant figures. They account it gross to swallow food, that would, they say, fatten them like their Moorish neighbours; they therefore masticate it only. Their physiognomy is very interesting and animated; their features are regular; large black expressive eyes; a ready wit, poetic fancy, expressing themselves in poetic effusions, in which, from constant habit, some of them have become such adepts, that they with facility speak extempore poetry; those who are unable to 206 converse in this manner are less esteemed. Their evening amusements consist in dancing and music, vocal and instrumental. Generally, throughout all the Arab provinces, but particularly in Suse, among the Mograffra Arabs, the Woled Abbusebah, and Woled Deleim, the whole country is in a blaze of light of a summer's evening; music, dancing, and rejoicing, is heard in every direction. Their music consists of a kettle-drum, a flute or reed, similar to what Homer describes as the instrument of the ancient shepherds, a rhabeb or two-stringed fiddle, played with a semicircular bow, a tamboureen, and brass castanets. They play in precise time; and the ladies arrange themselves at the entrance of the sheik's tent. It is pleasant to observe the beauty of their fine-formed feet, uninjured by tight shoes, and free from corns and all excrescences. They dance some dances barefooted, making very short steps, scarcely raising the foot from the ground, in a peculiar manner. They have elegant and circular ankles; and their light motions fascinate the eyes of the spectators and the admiring strangers, who occasionally exclaim, (Allah ehrduh alikume ia Elarb) "the protection of God be upon you, O Arabs!" (makine fal Elarb,) "there are none comparable to the Arabs!" They have a very elegant shawl-dance: in the management of the shawl they display singular grace, and practise elegant figures, sometimes concealing their faces, 207 sometimes showing their brilliant eyes through an opening in the shawl. The manners of these ladies is courteous, but chaste; perfectly modest, but without reserve; and the other sex pay them courteous attention.

208

ABUNDANCE OF CORN PRODUCED IN WEST BARBARY.



Costly Presents made by Spain to the Emperor.—Bashaw of Duquella's weekly Present of a Bar of Gold.—Mitferes or Subterraneous Depositories for Corn.

The empire of Marocco, west of the Atlas, during the reign of Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah, father of the present Emperor Soliman, was one continued corn-field. At that time the exportation was free to all parts of the world. It is impossible to conceive the abundance produced in this prolific land, none but those who have actually seen the standing corn in the ear, and have seen it reaped, can form any correct idea of its prodigious increase. The plains of Rahamena, of Shawiya, of Temsena, of Abda, and Duquella, those immense plains of M'sharrah Rummellah, of Ait-Amor, and many others, form each, separately, extensive fields of corn, farther than the eye can reach. To give an idea of the quantity produced in the plains near Dar El Beida, it will be sufficient to say, that 250 sail of ships, from 150 to 700 tons, were loaded at that port in one year of Seedy Muhamed's reign. At the other ports on the 209 shores of the Atlantic, viz. at Arzilla, L'Araich, Meheduma, Rabat, Azamor, Mazagan, Saffy, and Mogodor, were shipped a quantity, almost equal in proportion to what was shipped at Dar-El-Beida, so that the duties at one dollar per fanegue, of 80 lb. weight on the exportation of wheat, barley, Indian corn, caravances, beans, and seeds, in one year, according to the imperial registers, amounted to 5,257,320 Mexico dollars.[151] Besides which, presents to an incalculable amount were made from time to time by Spain and Portugal, particularly by the former, to keep the Emperor in good humour, and to prevent him from prohibiting the exportation of grain, of which however there was little chance, as his Imperial Majesty was always diligent in the accumulation of treasure, and let no opportunity pass of encouraging the agriculture of his dominions. This system gave general occupation to the Arabs, or agriculturists, and enriched them so universally, that the diffusion of wealth among them, produced other incalculable sources of revenue, insomuch that it was customary for Muhamed Ben Amaran, Bashaw of Duquella, to present to the Emperor at Marocco, every Friday, (the Muhamedan sabbath), as he returned home from the mosque, a massive bar of pure gold of Timbuctoo, valued at some 210 thousand dollars; which was considered as the fee by which he held his bashawick. The Arabs who are the agriculturists of the before-mentioned plains, besides the corn exported, lay up immense quantities in subterraneous caverns, constructed by a curious process, well deserving the attention of the colonists of South Africa; these repositories are called mitferes[152], they are constructed in a conical form, and will contain from 200 to 2000 quarters of corn.[153] It is expedient, in their construction, to exclude the atmospheric air; and the soil, in which they are constructed, should be essentially conservative, the air being never changed, is constantly of the same temperature, very dry, and not subject to the variations of humidity, which affect the external air: this, with other necessary precautions being observed, they will preserve the corn twenty or thirty years perfectly sound. In countries, (like that of the Cape of Good Hope,) subject to drought, inundations, or locusts, these mitferes, or catacombs are indispensable, as they preserve corn as a reserve stock, in the event of scarcity, or famine, produced by any of the before mentioned calamities, or providential visitations. It is 211 more than probable that this singular art of constructing mitferes, was derived in ancient times from the catacombs of Egypt, and that Joseph might have preserved Pharaoh's corn[154] upwards of seven years, in similar magazines. The Emperor Seedi Muhamed, who possessed considerable talent, and had a perfect knowledge of the disposition and character of his subjects, used to say in the (em'shoer,) place of audience, before all the people, in the latter part of his reign:—"You complain of my decrees; but when I am departed from this world, you shall seek for one day of Seedi Muhamed's reign, but you shall not find it." This prediction has been literally verified throughout the respective reigns of his sons Muley Yezzed, and Muley El Hesham, and even his son the present Emperor has often manifested an anti-commercial system, and has accordingly (probably by the advice of the Fakeers belonging to the divan) prohibited the exportation of most articles of clothing, and provision, such as wool, Fas manufactures, corn, olive oil, raisins, &c.[155]

[Footnote 151: Barley and wheat imported from different ports of England and from the Continent into London (which is more than is imported into Great Britain) in 1818, was 6,179,330 quintals or saas of Barbary, which are equal to 7,415,390 fanegues $.]

[Footnote 152: Genesis, xli. 9.—"And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea very much."]

[Footnote 153: I descended into a mitfere in the Arab province of Duquella, and remained there whilst the Arab explained to me the mode of constructing them; this was near the douar of Woled Aisah (see the map): it had just been emptied, and produced 3450 saas or quintals.]

[Footnote 154: Genesis, xli. 48.]

[Footnote 155: The result of this anti-commercial system is, that corn is dearer than it was during the exportation. Many millions of acres of the finest and most productive land lies fallow for want of a market for its produce; indeed, the produce has sometimes been so low for want of a market, that I have known instances of the corn having been left standing, not being worth the expense of reaping. Now this prohibition undoubtedly will appear to many intelligent readers bad policy in his Imperial Majesty, but it is nevertheless consistent policy. The sine qua non of the court of Marocco is to keep the inhabitants poor. It is asserted by the political economists of this country, that the Arab should not have more than sufficient to feed and clothe him; every thing beyond this turns to evil, and is an incentive to rebellion: the superflux, they maintain, should go to (Beit el melh d'el muselmen,) the Muselman treasury.]

A wine company, consisting of gentlemen of practical experience in that branch of business, might form a most beneficial establishment 212 at Santa Cruz, whither the grapes of Edautenan are brought to market, and other grapes from the Arab countries, of exquisite quality and flavour, infinitely superior in richness, size, and flavour to those of Spain and Portugal, or any part of Italy; indeed, I have no hesitation in declaring, (without fear of contradiction,) that this country produces the finest grapes, oranges, and pomegranates in the world, and in the greatest abundance. I have myself tasted at Marocco, at a Hebrew Rabbi's table, excellent imitations of burgundy, claret, champagne, madeira, and rhenish, or old hock, all the produce of grapes reared in the plains of that city, and in the adjacent mountains. The port of Santa Cruz, if purchased of the Emperor by the English, would, besides securing the trade to Sudan, and the interior of Africa, supply the London market with abundance of all these excellent wines. 213 DOMESTIC SERPENTS OF MAROCCO.

Every house in Marocco has, or ought to have, a domestic serpent: I say ought to have, because those that have not one, seek to have this inmate, by treating it hospitably whenever one appears; they leave out food for it to eat during the night, which gradually domiciliates this reptile. These serpents are reported to be extremely sagacious, and very susceptible. The superstition of these people is extraordinary; for rather than offend these serpents, they will suffer their women to be exposed during sleep to their performing the office of an infant. They are considered, in a house, emblematical of good, or prosperity, as their absence is ominous of evil. They are not often visible; but I have seen them passing over the beams of the roof of the apartments. A friend of mine was just retired to bed at Marocco, when he heard a noise in the room, like something crawling over his head, he arose, looked about the room, and discovered one of these reptiles about four feet long, of a dark colour, he pricked it with his sword, and killed it, then returned to bed. In the morning he called to him the master of the house where he was a guest, and telling him he had attacked the serpent, the Jew was chagrined, and expostulated with him, for the injury he had done him: apprehensive that evil would visit him, he intimated to his guest, that he hoped he would leave his house, as he feared the malignity of the serpent; and he was not reconciled until my friend discovered to him that he had actually killed the reptile.

214

MANUFACTURES OF FAS.

Superior Manufacture of Gold-thread.—Imitation of precious Stones.—Manufactory of Gun-barrels in Suse.—Silver-mine.



The manufactures of West Barbary, are of various kinds. They excel, in the city of Fas, in the manufacture of woollens, cottons, silks, and gold-thread. The wool and cotton are made into hayks, which are pieces of cloth five feet wide, and about three and a half, or four yards long, used to throw loosely over the dress, when they go out into the external air: it resembles the Roman toga, and when tastefully adjusted, gives an elegance to the Moorish costume. These hayks are manufactured in most of the private families of Fas; the women employ themselves about them, and sell them to the merchants. They are sometimes made of cotton mixed with silk, and also altogether of silk. They make also pieces of silk of various bright colours, called bulawan; the sky-blue, dark-blue, scarlet, and yellow, are vivid colours, produced by their mode of dying the silk before it is manufactured. They manufacture their silks from Bengal raw silk, which they call emfitla. The bulawan is 215 striped, or chequered, pink, blue, yellow, scarlet, and green: it resembles what is called, in England, Persian, but it is much stronger, and more[156] durable, though equally light. The silk sashes, called hazam, are made in large quantities, and are deserving of imitation in Europe; they are very substantial, but of the same superior colours with the bulawan. They are made generally half a yard wide, and three yards long: these sell at Fas, from two to fifty dollars each. The superior kind made for the ladies of the horam[157], or emperor's seraglio, for the ladies of the bashaws, and for those of the great and opulent, are intermixed with a beautiful gold-thread, much superior to any that is manufactured in Europe, insomuch, that the gold-thread imported from Leghorn and Marseilles is used only in such hazams as are made for exportation to Sudan, Draha, or Bled-el-Jereed, but those made for the great and opulent, for home consumption, are manufactured with the gold thread of the Fas manufacture. Whether these expert artificers learned the mystery of gold beating, and gold wire drawing, by which they obtain gold-thread, from the 216 Egyptians, I am not competent to say; but they say they derived it in ancient times from the Arabs, as well as the art of cutting, polishing, and setting precious stones. They make a composition in imitation of amber, which cannot, by the keenest eye, be distinguished from the natural amber, the latter, however, by[158] friction attracts cotton, but the manufactured amber does not; this is the only criterion by which they ascertain the true from the false amber. They also compose artificial stones with equal sagacity; the topaz, the emerald, and the ruby they imitate to perfection. The wool with which they make shawls almost equal in appearance to those of Kashmere, is procured from the sheep of the province of Tedla, and is finer than the Spanish Merino. They might manufacture shawls of goats' hair, equal to those of Kashmere, from the goats of the eastern declivity of the Atlas, whose hair is like silk: these goats are called (el maize Felelley,) i.e. Tafilelt goats.[159] There can be no doubt, if our intercourse with Marocco 217 had not been impeded by a general ignorance of the language of that country, that we might long since have received from the manufacturers of Fas, shawls of Tafilelt goat-hair, equal to the finest of the Kashmere manufacture. There is a very extensive manufactory of red woollen caps at Fas, the contexture of which is well deserving investigation. There is also a manufactory of gun locks and barrels; the former appear to have reached the acme of the art, the latter are not so good as those which they procure from Europe: so that a Spanish or an English barrel, and a Fas lock, is considered a complete gun. Such articles of manufacture as require a complication of machinery and power to produce they import from Europe, except only when the market is bare, and then necessity compels them to attempt their construction. The (hayk Filelly,) i.e. Tafilelt hayk, is a fine elegant woollen cloth, thin as a muslin. The Emperor Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah patronised this manufacture of his native country, and never wore any other. The art of manufacturing leather is carried to great perfection at Mequinas: shoes of the thinnest leather are there made impervious to water. The manufactures at Marocco and Terodant are similar to those of Fas, with the exception of that of gold-thread, and the cutting and polishing of precious stones. The preparation of leather at Marocco surpasses any thing known in Europe: lion and tiger skins they prepare white as snow, and soft as silk. There are 218 two plants that grow in the Atlas mountains, the leaves of which they use in the manufacture of leather; they are called tizra, and tasaya. Whether these render the leather impervious, I am not competent to say; every inquiry that I have made at Marocco respecting this beautiful manufacture, has been unsatisfactory. I have always found the manufacturers very guarded, and extremely jealous; but I have often thought that two or three of our leather manufacturers, well versed in their art, and withal of penetrating minds, might contrive to extract the secret from them. In the mountains of Idaultit, in Lower Suse, they have iron-mines, and they make gun-barrels and gun-locks equal to what are made at Fas. The temptations to agriculture, however, are such, that sufficient only for the consumption of their own kabyl are manufactured; which is done rather from a principle of self-defense, and from the amor patriae, than with a view to gain. The silver from the mines of Elala, comes to the Santa Cruz market pure, and in round lumps, weighing about two ounces each. I have bought it for its weight in Spanish dollars; but it is generally taken to the Mint for sale. Ores of gold from the mines of South Barbary, and silver dust from the bed of the river at Messa, collected personally by me, I sent to England to be assayed: the person who got them assayed, reported, that the metal yielded was scarcely sufficient to pay the charges of assaying; so that the speculation was abandoned.

[Footnote 156: The spirit of avarice does not sufficiently prevail to induce the manufacturer to make imperfect articles for the purpose of sale only. Moreover, they are restrained from deception by an officer, who inspects the quality of manufactures, and does not suffer an imperfect article to be sold.]

[Footnote 157: This word is called by Europeans haram or seraglio; but haram thus applied, is a barbarism: it signifies vicious. Horam is the correct pronunciation: it signifies a place of safety, that admits of no intrusion.]

[Footnote 158: Thales, the chief of the seven wise men of Greece, detected the existence of electricity in amber about 600 years before the Christian era. He was the first who observed attraction to be the distinguishing property of amber; and he was so forcibly struck with this singular discovery, that he was almost led to suppose that it possessed animation. The term electricity is derived from the Greek word [Greek: electron], amber. See Remarks on Electricity and Galvanism, by M. La Beaume, p. 29.]

[Footnote 159: There was a breed of these goats on the island of Mogodor, kept there by the emperor's orders. This island is the state-prison of the empire.]

219

ON THE STATE OF SLAVERY IN MUHAMEDAN AFRICA.



The state of slavery in this country is very different from that which is experienced by the unfortunate men who are transported from Africa to work under our Christian brethren in the West India islands. No man, who is sufficiently erudite to read the Koran can be (abd) a slave in a Muhamedan country. It is incumbent on a good muselman to give such his liberty, that the propagation of the (Deen el Wasah[160]) muselman faith, be not impeded. A man who has served his master faithfully[161] seven years, sometimes gets liberated. This liberation, however, is not compulsory; but conscientious muselmen, of good moral character, often adopt this enlarging system. I have, however, met with many Moors, who, on offering liberty to their slaves, the latter have declined it, preferring to continue in obeisance; a clear proof that their servitude is not very severe. All slaves, without exception, are brought to this country from the various territories of Sudan, by the akkabars, kaffilas, or caravans, that traverse Sahara. They are all pagans or idolaters (from the interior regions). They are worth 220 from ten to twenty dollars at Timbuctoo; and at Marocco and Fas they sell for, from seventy to one hundred dollars. They are received into the Moorish families as domestic servants, and soon forget their idolatrous superstitions, and become (nominally at least) Muhamedans. After which, many learn to read the Koran, and becoming observers of ablution and prostration, often procure their liberation; for if any one should neglect to liberate such a slave, his brethren in Muhamed will urge him to it, as a good and charitable work, becoming a true, muselman.[162]

[Footnote 160: So called by Muhamedans: literally means the liberal of wide doctrine, alluding to that of the Arabian Prophet.]

[Footnote 161: Jeremiah, xxxiv. 14.]

[Footnote 162: The etymology of muselman is, a man of peace; from salem, peace.]

The man who wrote the letter from Timbuctoo, giving his master at Mogodor an account of Mungo Park, having visited Kabria, which letter I read, and reported its contents on my arrival in England from Mogodor, about the year 1807, to my Lord Moira (now the Marquis of Hastings), to Sir Joseph Banks, and to Sir Charles Morgan, was a liberated negro of Seed el Abes Buhellel, a Fas merchant, whose father had an establishment at Timbuctoo. When Buhellel liberated this negro, he had such confidence in him, that he advanced to him, on his own personal credit, goods to a considerable amount, with which he crossed Sahara, and took them to Timbuctoo for a market. It were to be desired, for the sake of humanity, that our West-India planters would take a lesson on this subject from the Moors, whose conduct, in this particular, is worthy of imitation.

221

THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS.

Their incredible Destruction.—Used as Food.—Remarkable Instance of their destroying every Green Herb on one Side of a River, and not on the other.



In the autumn of 1792, (Jeraad) locusts began to appear in West Barbary. The corn was in ear, and therefore safe, as this devouring insect attacks no hard substance. In (the liahli,) the period of heavy rains comprised between the forty longest nights, old style, they disappeared; so that one or two only were seen occasionally: but so soon as the liahli had passed, the small young green locust began to appear, no bigger than a fly. As vegetation increased, these insects increased in size and quantity. But the country did not yet seem to suffer from them. About the end of March, they increased rapidly. I was at (Larsa Sultan) the emperor's garden, which belongs to the Europeans, and which was given to the merchants of Mogodor by the emperor Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah, in the kabyl of Idaugourd, in the province of Haha, and the garden flourished with every green herb, and the fruit-trees were all coming forward in the productive beauty of spring. I went there the following day, and not a green leaf was to be seen: an 222 army of locusts had attacked it during the night, and had devoured every shrub, every vegetable, and every green leaf; so that the garden had been converted into an unproductive wilderness. And, notwithstanding the incredible devastation that was thus produced, not one locust was to be seen. The gardener reported, that (sultan jeraad) the king of the locusts had taken his departure eastward early in the morning; the myriads of locusts followed, so that in a quarter of an hour not one was to be seen. The depredations of these devouring insects was too soon felt, and a direful scarcity ensued. The poor would go out a locusting, as they termed it: the bushes were covered; they took their (haik) garment, and threw it over them, and then collected them in a sack. In half an hour they would collect a bushel. These they would take home, and boil a quarter of an hour; they would then put them into a frying-pan, with pepper, salt, and vinegar, and eat them, without bread or any other food, making a meal of them. They threw away the head, wings, and legs, and ate them as we do prawns. They considered them wholesome food, and preferred them to pigeons. Afterwards, whenever there was any public entertainment given, locusts was a standing dish; and it is remarkable that the dish was always emptied, so generally were they esteemed as palatable food.

A few years after the locusts appeared, I performed a journey from 223 Mogodor to Tangier. The face of the country appeared like a newly ploughed field of a brown soil; for it was completely covered with these insects, insomuch that they had devoured even the bark of the trees. They rose up about a yard, as the horses went on, and settled again; in some places they were one upon another, three or four inches deep on the ground; a few were flying in the air, and they flew against the face, as if they were blind, to the no small annoyance of the traveller. It is very remarkable, that on reaching the banks of the river[163] Elkos, which we crossed, there was not, on the north side of that river, to my great astonishment, one locust any where to be seen; but the country was flourishing in all the luxuriance of verdure, although the river was not wider than the Thames at Windsor. This extraordinary circumstance was accounted for by the Arabs, who said that not a locust would cross the river, till (sultan jeraad) the king of the locusts should precede and direct the way.

[Footnote 163: See the Map of the empire of Marocco.]

224

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE MOORS. (Mat. vii. 12.)

Of the Propagation of Christianity in Africa.—Causes that prevent it.—The Mode of promoting it is through a friendly and commercial Intercourse with the Natives.—Exhortation to Great Britain to attend to the Intercourse with Africa.—Danger of the French colonizing Senegal, and supplanting us, and thereby depreciating the Value of our West-India Islands.



That it is a Christian duty to attempt, by lenient measures, to propagate the Christian religion among the Idolaters and Muhamedans of Africa, I think cannot be doubted; but this propagation will not spread to any considerable extent until, (in that country,) the morals of Christians in general shall approach nearer than they actually do to the standard of Christian perfection. It is, however, most certain that there never was a more promising, or a more favourable opportunity of subverting paganism in Africa, and establishing Christianity on its ruins, than at this present period; and I think the best method to effect this desirable purpose is through the medium of commerce, which must, in that continent, necessarily precede science and civilisation. It is well 225 known, by all men of penetration who have resided in Muhamedan countries, that the principles of the religion of Muhamed are not so repugnant to Christianity as many, nay, most persons have imagined. Various causes, however, tend to increase the hostility that exists between the two religions. First, it is augmented by the fakeers, and by political men, who are ever active in bringing to their aid superstition and enthusiasm, to increase the hostility. Secondly, it is augmented by the very little intercourse which they have with Christians, originating, for the most part, in our ignorance of the Arabic language, an ignorance which has been lamented by the emperor[164] Seedy Muhamed ben Abdallah himself. Thirdly, the hostility of these two religions is augmented by a very ancient tradition, that the country will be invaded by the Christians, and converted to Christianity, that this event will happen on a Friday (the Muhamedan sabbath), during the time that they are at the (silla dohor) prayers at half past one o'clock, 226 P.M.; so that throughout the empire they close the gates of all the towns on this day, at this period of time, till two o'clock, P.M.: when the prayers are over, and the people go out of the mosques, the gates are again thrown open. This tradition, which is universally believed, acts on the minds of the whole community, and fans the embers of hostility already lighted between Christians and Muhamedans, bringing to the recollection of the latter the hostile intentions of the former to invade and take their country from them, when an opportunity shall offer. On the other hand, what tends to reconcile the two creeds is, the influence that European commerce, and the principles of the Christian doctrine, have had on the muselmen of Africa. This influence extends as far as the commerce with Europeans extends. Wherever the Europeans negociate with the Moors, the great principle of the Christian doctrine is known and discussed,—that principle which surpasses every doctrine propagated by the Grecian philosophers, or the wise men of the East,—that truly noble, liberal, and charitable principle, "Do as you would be done by," influences the conduct of the better educated muselmen who have had long intercourse and negociations with Christians; and they do not fail to retort it upon us, whenever our conduct deviates from it. Thus, the minds of muselmen, wherever European commerce flows, are tinctured with this great principle of the Christian doctrine. And, to an accurate 227 observer of mankind, it will appear that this principle, from its own intrinsic beauty, has in many superseded the muselman retaliative system of morality, originating in the Mosaic law,—"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." For I have heard muselmen, in their individual disputes with one another, advance this precept as a rule of conduct. If, therefore, this divine principle be recognised by muselmen, who have had intercourse and commercial negociations with Europeans, in defiance of the obstacles to this doctrine suggested by the fakeers and political men; what might we not expect from the due cultivation of an extensive commerce, upon a grand national scale, with this interesting continent? Might we not expect a gradual diffusion of the principles of Christianity among the muselmen, as well as among the pagans and idolaters, of Africa? I would venture to assert, that in the event of the British government engaging, with energy and determination, to cultivate a commercial intercourse and extensive connection with Africa, that the negroes, and possibly even the Muhamedans, might gradually be converted to Christianity. This event would take a long time to accomplish, but its gradual progress, most probably, would be more rapid than was the progress of Muhamedanism during the life of the Arabian prophet.

[Footnote 164: When this Emperor, for the purpose of satisfying his people that he administered retributive justice, ordered two teeth of an English merchant to be drawn, he repented so much of what he had done, that he offered to make any amends that the merchant might require, expressing his wish that he had an English consul with whom he could converse colloquially, without the inconvenience of an interpreter; and for this purpose the Emperor, after granting him considerable favours, urged him to accept of the British consulship; adding, that he himself would secure him the appointment, and that he would then refuse nothing, but whatsoever the English should ask of him, they should have.]

Associations have been formed in this philanthropic country, through the medium of extensive subscriptions, for the civilisation 228 of Africa, and the abolition of the slave trade: the greatest merit is due to the individuals who have subscribed to such institutions; their motives have been unexceptionable, but we grossly deceive ourselves, and the whole is an illusion! The French, as it were, have taken the staff out of our hands; and whilst we are in vain endeavouring to abolish the trade in slaves, by the capture of slave-ships at sea[165], they are insidiously cultivating the growth of cotton, coffee, sugar, indigo, and other colonial produce, on the banks of the Senegal river; insomuch that if we shall continue thus supinely to disregard their important African agricultural operations, the result in a few years will probably be, that they will be able to undersell us in West-India produce, in the markets of continental Europe; for they can cultivate, with free negroes at Senegal, colonial produce at considerably less expense than our West-India cultivation. The voyage, also, is not half the distance; so that the continental market for the sale of West-India produce will be shortly supplied from Senegal, from 229 whence it is more than probable that colonial produce will be imported to Europe at little more than half the expense of importing it from the West Indies: thus Great Britain may be driven out of the market for colonial produce, except for what may be sufficient for her own domestic supply.

[Footnote 165: Many naval officers concur in thinking, that to suppress the slave trade, by interrupting the ships, would employ all the navy of Great Britain; and entail a war-expense on the nation; besides the enormous expense that will be necessarily incurred by the various commissions dispatched to Sierra Leone, Havannah, &c. &c. for the adjudication of slave-causes. To which may be added, our expensive presents to Spain and Portugal, to induce those powers to coalesce in the abolition; which there is too much reason to apprehend will be evaded by the subjects of those powers.]

This has been a favourite scheme of the French, who have now begun to taste the fruits of it: they have had it in view and in operation ever since we gave them possession of Senegal. It was the system of her late Emperor, Bonaparte, suggested to him by the arch and brilliant genius of Talleyrand, to indemnify the loss of St. Domingo.

Moreover, the French, who are cultivating the territory of Senegal with indefatigable industry, will be, in a few years, not only able to supply the continental markets of Europe with colonial produce, but they will become masters of North Africa, establish another Ceuta at the African promontory of the Cape de Verd, and, in the event of a war, annoy incalculably our East-India trade, and enhance the price of East-India produce in the British dominions; whilst they will, by the aid of the Americans, who will be always ready to assist them, form a depot for East-India goods at the Cape de Verd, and from thence introduce them into Africa and France, to the almost total exclusion of Great Britain. If we are to prevent these events from taking place, we must adopt different measures 230 from what we have adopted; we must move in a very different sphere from that in which we have been accustomed to move; we must be much more energetic, more vigilant, and more active than we have been, with respect to African matters. It is presumed that these suggestions are well deserving the consideration of His Majesty's ministers. May they view with the eye of an eagle and the wisdom of the serpent the insidious encroachments that are thus making on our colonial markets!!

The Africans, by which term I mean the natives, viz. the Moors, the Arabs, the Berebbers, the Shelluhs, and the Negroes, (not the Jews, who, although numerous in this country, yet, as they are and have been ever since their Theocratical Government, a distinct race, and their customs and manners well known, I do not include them in the term Africans, although from their birth they are entitled to the appellation,)—the Africans, I say, are seldom met with in closed rooms, but are constantly in the open air, transacting their business in dwarias, which are detached rooms, or apartments, with three sides, the fourth being supported by pillars; this custom of living continually in or exposed to the external air renders them strong and healthy, wherefore their bodies, by an antiperistasis, have the natural heat repelled and kept within, increasing by this action their appetite for food, which is always strong. They live in a frugal manner, seldom eating but of one 231 food: the prevailing dish throughout North Africa is cuscasoe, a granulated paste, cooked by steam, and garnished with vegetables, and chickens, or mutton; this is a very nutritive, palatable, and wholesome dish. They are not incumbered at their meals with a variety of dishes; but a large bowl, or spacious plate, is introduced on a round table, supported by one pillar, like the Monopodia of the ancients, rather larger than the bowl or dish, and about six inches high. Half a dozen Moors sit round this repast, on cushions or on the ground, cross-legged; a position which they remain in with perfect ease and pliability from custom and the loose dress they wear. When the company have seated themselves, a slave or a servant comes round to the guests, to perform the ceremony of (togreda) washing of the hands; a brass bason or pan, which they call tas, is brought round to all the company, the slave holding it by his left hand, while, with the right hand, he pours water on the hands of the guests from a (garoff) pitcher, in the form of an Etruscan vase, having (zeef) a towel thrown over his shoulder to dry their hands. This ceremony is performed before and after meals. The master of the feast, before they begin to eat, pronounces (Bismillah) the grace before meat, which signifies, "In the name of God;" after the repast, he says (El Ham'd u lillah) "Praise be to God." Each guest eats with the fingers of his right hand, none ever touching the food with their left. If a piece of meat, or a joint of a fowl 232 or chicken is to be divided, two of the guests take hold of it, and pull it till it is divided. This is somewhat repugnant to an European's ideas of delicacy; but if we consider that the hands are previously washed, and that they never come in contact with the mouth in decent or respectable society, there is not so insuperable an objection to this way of eating as might otherwise appear. Each person in eating the granulated flour or cuscasoe, puts his two fore-fingers into the dish before him, and by a dextrous turn of the hand converts the quantity taken up into the form of a ball, which he, with a peculiar dexterity, jirks into the mouth. The Africans never drink till they have done eating; when dinner is over, a large goblet, or poculum amicitiae, of pure water is passed round, and each person drinks copiously; the washing is then repeated, and the repast is terminated. Afterwards coffee is introduced, without milk: the cup is not placed in a saucer, nor do they hand you a spoon, for the sugar is mixed in the coffee-pot; the cup is presented in an outer cup of brass, which preserves the fingers from being burned. They use no bells in their tents; but the slaves or servants are called by the master when wanted, one generally standing in the corner of the tent to superintend the others. The pipe is sometimes introduced after the coffee, but this is by no means a general custom, except among the negroes. The pipe is of rose-wood, of jasmin, or of rhododendrum wood: great 233 quantities of the latter are conveyed across the Sahara, for pipe-tubes for the negroes of Timbuctoo, and other territories of Sudan, bordering on the Nile el Abeed, or Nile of the Negroes (Niger).

Passing through this territory of encampments, when travellers are disposed to sleep at a douar, one of the party presents himself at the confines of the encampment, and exclaims (Deef Allah) "The guest of God." The sheik of the douar is immediately apprised of the circumstance; and after investigating the rank of the travellers, he enquires if they have tents with them; if they have not, he has his own or (kheyma deaf) the guest's tent appropriated for the travellers. If they have their own tents, which persons of respectability generally have, the sheik comes and directs the servants where to pitch them; the camels and mules are disburdened, and the sheik declares (atshie m'hassub alia) "For all this baggage I hold myself accountable." Europeans travelling in this country generally follow their own customs: accordingly, among the English, tea is ordered; a most delectable refreshment after a fatiguing journey on horseback, exposed to the scorching rays of the African sun. If the sheik and a few of his friends are invited to tea, which these Arabs designate by (elma skoon u el hadra) hot water and conversation, they like it very sweet, and drink half-a-dozen cups at least. Nothing ingratiates travellers with these people so much as distributing a few lumps of sugar 234 among them: sugar, honey, or any thing sweet, being with these Arabs emblematical of peace and friendship. Some of the women of the Arabs are extremely handsome; in all the simplicity of nature "when unadorned adorned the most." To fine figures they unite handsome profiles, good and white teeth, and large, black, expressive, intelligent eyes, like the eyes of a gazel; dark eye-brows, and dark long eye-lashes, which give a peculiar warmth and softness to the eye. They concern themselves little about time, and will sometimes come to converse after midnight with the Europeans. When the guard of the tent informs them they cannot go in, that the Christian is a-bed and undressed, they are not less astonished than we are to see them sleeping in the open air at night, on the ground, with their clothes on. When candles are brought into the tent at night, the servant wishes the company a good evening: he says "M'sah elkhere," the literal meaning of which is "Good be with you this evening;" which salutation it is courteous to return, even to a slave; and if any one, however great his rank, were not to return it, he would be considered a bad muselman, a disaffected and inhospitable barbarian. The morning salutation is (Alem Allah sebak,) "May your morning be accompanied with the knowledge of God;" or, (Sebah el khere, or sebahk b'elkhere) "Good morning to you," or "May your morning be good." Equals meeting, touch hands, and then each kisses his own 235 respectively; they then say, (I now speak of the middle order of society,) "And how are you, and how have you been: how long it is since I saw you! and how are you, and how are your children; (uhel Dar'kume,) and the people of your family, how are they, certainly you are well:" and so they will go on, sometimes for a quarter of an hour, repeating the same thing. If an inferior meets a superior, he kisses his hand or his garment and retires, when there is a greater disparity of rank, the inferior kisses the stirrup of the superior; or prostrates himself if the superior is a prince, a fakeer, or a bashaw.

Another salutation among respectable individuals is, by each placing his right hand on his heart, indicating that part to be the residence of the friend!

The Jews of this country retain the customs of their ancestors more pure and unmixed than those in other countries.

When a Jew dies he is interred the same day, or the day after at farthest. The female relations and the friends of the deceased assemble round the corpse, and utter bitter lamentations, tearing their faces and their hair in a most woeful manner; they disfigure their faces with their finger-nails, till they bleed, and during the whole time keep stamping or moving their legs, beating time, as it were, with their feet; these lamentations are continued, with occasional intermission, till the body of the deceased is carried 236 away for interment. The performers of these bitter lamentations appear to have all the marks of hideous grief inscribed on their faces, but most of them feel no real concern; some of the girls, young and handsome, near akin to the deceased, are ambitious to disfigure themselves, and they lacerate their pretty faces most lamentably. The more wounds these bear on their cheeks the greater is their grief considered to be. But the corpse being removed the mourners regale themselves with Mahaya, or African brandy, and make up for their lamentations, by converting their bitter strains into conviviality.

There is a strange resemblance between this custom and that practised by the inhabitants of New Zealand; insomuch that we might imagine the latter to be one of the lost tribes of this extraordinary people. It is true that we have no record of such a perfection of navigation as to enable us to conjecture how a tribe of Jews could reach New Zealand: but many things remain in great obscurity even in this enlightened age; and we have had no historical record transmitted to us from the ancients of many extraordinary discoveries that recently have been made in Egypt.

237

INTEREST OF MONEY.

Application of the Superflux of Property or Capital.



In this country the law allows no interest of money; the consequence is, that the country is overwhelmed with usurers, who exact, generally, an oath of secrecy, and lend money on pledges of valuable and convertible merchandise: the interest paid on these negociations is most exorbitant; I have known five, six, eight, ten, and even twelve per cent, per month paid for the use of money! There is no paper money in this country; but a bank might be established at Mogodor, for the convenience of internal trade: the sine qua non of the bank should be, AN ADEQUATE CAPITAL. The advantages that would necessarily result from an establishment of this kind are incalculable; the paper of a bank, thus established, would be current in a short time, UNDER JUDICIOUS AND INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT, in all the territories of Sudan, through the heart of Africa, through Bambara, Timbuctoo, Houssa, Cashna, Wangara, Bernoh, Fas, and Marocco, and various other countries. The 238 immense advantages of the carriage of paper through the Desert and through Sudan, convertible into cash at every commercial city, port, or district in a country like this, would greatly facilitate the operations of commerce; this must be evident to every political economist acquainted with the nature of commercial negociations in Africa.