Travels in Morocco Volume I Part 10

Mr. Phillips has applied to the British Vice-consul to know whether, in case of his going up to Morocco to carry a present for the Belgium merchants, here, Phillips, being a Jew, will be obliged to pull off his shoes, which would be depriving him of the rights of British-born subjects, who stand with their shoes on in the Shereefian presence. The Consul says he cannot answer the question, and must send a dispatch to Mr. Hay. Mr. Willshire complimented Phillips: "Ah Phillips, you are always proposing to me some knotty question. You profoundly perplex the mind of Mr. Consul-general Hay."

This leads me to notice the affecting case of the Israelite, Darmon, at one time the French Vice-consul at Mazagran. This young Darmon was fond of Moorish women, and always intriguing with them. Hay Mousa, Governor of Mazagran, reported him to the Emperor, and his Highness sent orders to have him decapitated. It was said afterwards by the Maroquine Government, that "The order was merely to bring him to Morocco, and that, when being conveyed as prisoner, and after attempting to run away, the soldiers of his escort shot him." The Moorish Government also pretend that Darmon attempted first to shoot the guards who shot him, in self-defence.

With regard to his being a French Consul, it is said by the French Government, that he was not their consul at the time, having resigned.

It appears besides that members of his family are French, and others Moorish subjects. Indeed, these Mauro-European Jews give great troubles to the consuls; the various persons of a single family being often under the protection of three or four consuls. It will thus be seen how full of difficulties was this Darmon affair, and what a door it opened to tedious Moorish diplomacy. The French Government arranged ultimately with the Sultan a compromise, a sum of money being paid to the murdered man's family, and the Governor of Mazagran was dismissed.

When young Darmon fell into disgrace, his father, one of the Imperial merchants, was at Morocco. The father inquired of the Minister whether the Sultan would receive his present now his son had fallen into disgrace. The cruelly avaricious tyrant deigned to accept it of the father it is said, at the very moment when the order to decapitate his son had been sent to Mazagran. No doubt it was a barbarous action, but the extreme imprudence of the young man provoked the government to extremities. The court was so irritated at the time, that it even issued an order to place all Jews, natives, foreigners, or Europeans upon the same level of exposure to Moorish insult and oppression. Speaking to Mr.

Willshire about this order, he smilingly observed: "Say nothing, it will soon be forgotten." The government never intended to carry it out. Years ago, the Emperor gave orders that Jews coming from European countries should be placed on the same footing as native Jews, but the Imperial edicts were unnoticed.

A curious order was given about smoking some time ago in this city. It was represented to the Governor that during Ramadan, Kafer-Nazarenes went about smoking, occasioning the Faithful to sniff up the smoke, and so break the Holy Fast. The Christians were likewise accused of going near the mosques to fill them with filthy smoke.

The Governor, in a circular, begged of the Consuls to prohibit their countrymen, or "subjects," from smoking in the streets. The French Consul considering this a police regulation, summoned together the French subjects, and begged of them to comply with the non-smoking order. Mr. Willshire took no notice of the affair, knowing it would soon pa.s.s over.

Mr, Willshire is a veteran in Morocco, and understands the genius of its government. He considers the _laissez faire_ system the very best, and this is all very well, provided the Sultan respects the heads of Her Majesty's subjects.

Haj Mousa, Governor of Mazagran, who was mixed up with the Darmon affair, deserves notice from his brutal ferocity towards Europeans. With great difficulty and damage to their lives, Europeans reside in Mazagran, and it is not therefore surprising that the imprudent Darmon fell into the clutches of this provincial tyrant, who probably ensnared him as a prey. Up to the time of this affair, Haj Mousa had been an irremoveable governor. The Sultan himself never attempted to displace him, although he had committed, from time to time, the greatest enormities. Other governors had been bled, fleeced, and impaled over and over again; but the caitiff, Haj, always remained in possession of the fruits of his tyranny.

The reason for this tolerant conduct of the Emperor towards him is, that when Muley Abd Errahman was in difficulties and obliged to fly for his life, in the convulsions previous to his reign, Haj Mousa sent the young prince a mule and thirty ducats; with this, the prince was enabled to escape, and he saved his life to be afterwards proclaimed Meer-el-Moumeneen. On receiving the mule and money, he exclaimed in a transport of grat.i.tude to the Governor of Mazagran, "I will never forget you!" It is unfortunate the good faith of the Emperor's word has been so deplorably abused by this tyrant, for it is considered certain, that though temporarily removed from Mazagran, he will return, or be made governor of another city.

A Sous Jew called upon me one day, who is well acquainted with the Shelouh or, Berber of the South. On asking if he would make a translation of the book of Genesis from Hebrew into Shelouh, he replied:

"No, I cannot. In the first place, the Emperor would cut off my head for doing such a thing; and, again, it would be a sin to convert the Holy Hebrew character into such a language of Infidels."

We continued our discussion on a more practical subject.

_Traveller_ (to the Jew)--"I am told that among you, Jews of Morocco, it is a merit to rob us Christians and the Moors. Your young children are even praised by their mothers if they commit a theft without being found out: [27] is this right?"

_The Jew_.--"You are all _Goyeem_ [28] (Gentiles), but it is not true that we rob you, Christians. If we rob Mussulmen, it's because they rob us first."

The case really is, the Jews are literally being robbed every day by the Moors one way or the other, and, if the people do not rob them, the const.i.tuted authorities continue to make exactions under every pretence.

I am inclined, nevertheless, to think, without prejudice, that it is a received maxim with _all native_ Barbary Jews, "to rob unbelievers, Moors and Christians, when you can do so _safely_." This was the opinion which a very respectable European Jew, resident in Tunis, entertained of his brethren. At the same time, Ihere are numerous exceptions.

Many of the lower cla.s.ses of Moors likewise, think there is little or no harm in robbing Jews and Blacks, that is, all who are Infidels and Christians.

I may mention, in connection with the above, the system of False-Weights, which is an enormous scandal to this great commercial city. It appears that almost every tradesman, and every imperial merchant have two sets of weights, one to buy and another to sell with.

A merchant once had the impudence to cry out to his clerk when weighing, "Oh, you are wrong, these are my _selling_ weights; bring me my _buying_ weights. Am I not buying?"

A Jew, once purchasing oil from a poor Arab, carried his villainy so far as actually to make his tare and tret weigh more than the skin-bag when full of oil, and coolly told the amazed Arab he had no money to give him for the value received. "Give me back my oil!" cried the Arab. At this the audacious Jew retorted, "There is none!" A European merchant interfered, and saved the Jew from the bastinado he so richly deserved.

A Kady hearing of these abominations, took upon himself to begin a reform, and went about examining weights. For his honest pains, and, in the midst of his work of reform, the officious functionary received an order from the Sultan, enjoining him to cease his interference, and condemning him, as a punishment for his over-righteousness, "_to teach twelve little boys to read every day, and not to sit at his own door for the s.p.a.ce of one year_." So unthankful, so odious is the task of reforming in Morocco and many other countries.

This account of the abominable system of two kinds of weights, I derived from most unquestionable authority, otherwise I could not have given credit to the statement.

There were incessant rumours of war from the North. The Emperor had got himself into difficulties with Spain and France. Orders had been sent down to reinforce this garrison and that of Aghadir. The day before, the Governor, calling his troops before him, did not shew his usual good sense and prudence. He thus harangued them:--"Now, let those who want new arms come and take them, and bring back the old ones. Let all have courage, and fear not the Christians; fear not, women and children!"

The movement of troops was part of a general measure, extending to all the coasts, and was, in fact, a review _en ma.s.se_ of the disposable forces throughout the empire. Eighty thousand men were expected in this city or the suburbs. The Sultan was reported to be on the march towards the North with an army of 200,000 men.

The Sultan did not expect to make use of his new levies, but the policy of the thing was good. His Highness is evidently a pacific ruler, he has but few regular troops, and he pays them badly. His predecessor had a large army and paid them well.

Great discontent prevailed among the soldiers, and the Emperor never feels himself secure on his throne.

This apparent crusade against the Infidels has no doubt tended to make him popular, and to consolidate his power. True, it excited the tribes of the interior against the Christians, but it was better to inflame them against the Christians than to lose his own throne.

The French Consul waited upon the Governor for explanations about the movements of the troops. His Excellency observed, "I am ordered by my Sultan to defend this city against all a.s.sailants, and I shall do so till I am buried beneath its ruins. Though all the coast-cities were captured, Mogador should never be surrendered."

Some of the credulous Moors said, "The Shereefs will come from Tafilet, led on by our Lord Mahomet, and destroy all the cursed Nazarenes. The Sheerefs will fire against the French leaden b.a.l.l.s, and silver b.a.l.l.s."

Another observed to me, "If a fleet should come here, it will be immediately sunk, because our Sultan has ordered every ball to hit, and none to miss."

This is not unlike what a Turk of Tripoli once said to me about the Grand Signor and his late reforms. "The Turks will soon be civilized, because the Sultan has given an order for all the Turks to be civilized." The large guns of the forts were practised, and the guns of the grand battery loaded. The infantry continued to practise on the beach of the port: their manoeuvres were very uncouth and disorderly, they merely moved backwards and forwards in lines of two deep. The French Consul, Monsieur Jorelle, discontinued his usual promenade, to prevent his being insulted, and so to avoid the the painful necessity of demanding satisfaction.

Mr. Willshire, being well known to the Mogador population, had not so much to fear. Here is the advantage of a long residence in a country.

The French Government lose by the frequent changing of their consuls.

Still, M. Jorelle was right in not exposing himself to the mob, or the wild levies who had come from their mountains. The fault of the Governor was, in exciting the warlike fanaticism of the tribes of the interior against the Christians, which he ought to have known the city authorities might have extreme difficulty in keeping within bounds. No European could pa.s.s the gates of the city without being spat upon, and cursed by the barbarous Berbers.

I paid a visit to M. Authoris, the Belgium merchant, and the only European trader carrying on business independently of the Emperor. He represented the commerce of the country to be in a most deplorable condition. "There is now nothing to buy or sell on which there is a gain of one per cent. The improvidence of the people is so great that, should one harvest fail, inevitable famine would be the result, there not being a single bushel of grain more in the country than is required for daily consumption. Nor will the people avail themselves of any opportunity of purchasing a thing cheap when it is cheap; they simply provide for their hourly wants. They act in the literal sense of 'Take no thought for the morrow, but let the morrow take care of itself.' As to the Jews, they feast one day and fast the next." With regard to the excitement then existing, M. Authoris observed. "This Government, on hearing rumours of Spanish and French expeditions against the country, must naturally make use of what power it has, the Holy War power, to excite the people in their own defence. The Moors cannot discriminate Gazette intelligence.

When a worthless newspaper mentions an expedition being fitted out against Morocco, the Emperor immediately sees a fleet of ships within sight of his ports, and hears the reports of bombarding cannon." The raw levies of Shedmah and Hhaha continued to enter the town, but only a small number at a time, lest they should alarm the inhabitants. They went about, peeping into houses, and wherever a door was open they would walk in, staring with a wild curiosity.

I had some conversation with my Moorish friends respecting the abolition of slavery. An old doctor observed, "The English are not more humane than other nations, but G.o.d has decreed that they should destroy the slave-trade among the Christians. This, however, is no praise to them, for they could not resist acting according to the will and mind of G.o.d.

As for the Mussulmen, what they do is for the benefit of slaves, especially females, who, one and all, are doomed to death; [29] but, when purchased by the slave-dealers, their lives are spared, and they are made True Believers. Still, the Mussulmen would a.s.sist the English in destroying the ships which carry slaves;" (as if the Moors had any fleet).

The number of slaves in this city is from eight hundred to one thousand.

It is difficult to ascertain any thing like the exact number, the opulent Moors having many negress slaves, with whom they live in a state of concubinage. Young, rich, and fashionable Moors, I was told for the first time in a Mahommedan country, have become disgusted with the old habit of managing and taking a wife early, and adopt the immoral practice of buying female slaves, by which they avoid, as they say, the trouble and expense of marrying females of their own rank in Moorish society. A good Mussulman must however, marry once in his life. Slaves are imported via Wadnoun from Timbuctoo and Soudan, and even from the western coast. Negroes of the Timbuctoo market are more esteemed than those of Guinea, being a stronger and more laborious race. The common price of a slave in Mogador is from 60 to 90 ducats; one day a beautiful African girl, freshly exported from the interior, was sold for 160 ducats, or about 20 sterling. This is considered an extraordinary high price.

Slaves are sold by criers about the streets in Morocco, and most towns, and not in bazaars, as in the East. But the most remarkable feature of slavery in this part of the world, is the Christian or European slavery carried further south, in the regions extending on the line of coast below Wadnoun, and the adjacent Sahara. Something like a regular system of Christian slavery is there going on, whilst its head-quarters are not more than five or six days' journey from this residence of the European Consuls. This white slavery consists in seizing shipwrecked sailors, numbers being fishermen from the Canary Islands. We know little about these poor captives, although we are so near Wadnoun, and are continually trading with Sous and this country. Mr. Davidson casually mentions them in his journal.

It is a settled and religious practice of merchants to keep Europeans ignorant of the south and the Desert; we only hear of these captives now and then, when one escapes, and after being bought and sold by a hundred different masters, is fortunate enough to be redeemed; of his companions in shipwreck, the escaped captive rarely knows anything. They are gone: they are either drowned near the coast, plundered and ma.s.sacred, or carried far away into the Desert, and perhaps for ever. Formerly vessels navigated through the channel (if it may be so called) of the Canary Islands and the Wadnoun coast, by which they often got on shoal water, and were cast away; in this manner, whites were enslaved. Happily now, masters of vessels have become acquainted with this dangerous coast.

They pa.s.s to the east of the Canaries, and fewer vessels are shipwrecked hereabouts.

The Spanish fishermen of the Canaries are chiefly now made captives.

These poor people are either seized when becalmed near the coast, or captured on being cast on sh.o.r.e by the furious trade-winds, which sweep these desolate sh.o.r.es (often nine months out of twelve) and carry utter destruction with them. The wild and wandering Bedouins in bad weather, with the true storm scent of the wrecker, patiently watch the coasts, pouncing on their prey, with the voracity of the vulture, as it is thrown up from the deep, along the inhospitable sh.o.r.e. Having got the shipwrecked men in their possession, they act with the cunning and avarice of slave-dealers, and are aided by the still craftier Jews, who always render it very difficult for the consular agents to redeem these unhappy captives. For although a Jew, by the Mahometan law, cannot purchase slaves, yet by buying them-through Mussulmen, who share in the profits, from the Arabs who first seized the captives, the slaves are frequently kept back months in the Desert, being parted from one another before they can be ransomed.

Sometimes the Arabs alluringly question their captives to see if they understand any mechanical arts, which are greatly esteemed, being very useful in these almost tenantless regions; and should they discover that they do, they carry them away into hopeless captivity, through the wilds of the Desert, refusing to sell them at any price or offer of ransom.

But those who cannot, or will not make themselves useful, are generally redeemed by the Mogador Consuls, should they escape being ma.s.sacred in the quarrels of the Arabs for the booty when they are first captured.

There is, at the present time, a Spanish fisherman near Wadnoun, waiting to be redeemed. The Arab Sheikh who holds him, demands two hundred dollars for his redemption. Mr. Wiltshire objects to the price, as being too much. Besides this, he is afraid to advance any money for a Spanish captive's release, lest it should never be refunded. The Spanish Government, representing a people so chivalrous in bygone times, and so proud of their ancient exploits over the Moors of this very country, are not now-a-days over zealous in redeeming their countrymen held in bondage by these people. Mr. Willshire ransomed a Spanish boy, and waited several years before he could get this imbecile Government to refund the money. Espartero at last, however, interfered authoritatively for the repayment to our generous consul.

In the present case of the poor fisherman, the captive Spaniard lingers between hope and fear, his only protection being the avarice of his master, who, like all slave-dealers, is willing to take care of him as he takes care of his horse. He is one out of four, the other three having been ma.s.sacred by the Arabs, or perished on the coast. But, at present, we know nothing certain of this, although but a few days'

journey from the scene where the disaster took place--so miserable are our means of information for enabling us to put an end to this system of Christian slavery. Certainly some representations should be made to the Emperor, who pretends to have jurisdiction over Wadnoun, and the adjacent countries, that these captives may be delivered up to the Consuls of Mogador. A fair remuneration might be given to the persons bringing them safely to this town.

I am told, the Ironmongers' Company of London have at their disposal funds for the liberation of such British captives as are enslaved in Southern Morocco. This money was left by a merchant who himself was made a slave there; and since that time, owing to the few British captives redeemed, it has increased to an enormous amount. Not knowing what to do with the money, the Company, it is said, are about to pet.i.tion Parliament to build a school with a portion; but I should suggest that it would be more in accordance with the original object, and declared intention of the benevolent, donor, were this large surplus fund devoted to the redemption of all other Christian captives, of whatever nation or country. Because two hundred dollars are not forthcoming which could easily be supplied from the Ironmongers' Company's funds, a poor Spaniard is condemned to a cruel and hopeless slavery, wandering in the wilds of the great African wilderness. It is impossible to tell the number of Christian slaves who perish in the South of Morocco. Many of the Consular agents of this city are as ignorant of the country as persons residing in London. This subject absolutely demands the attention of the governments of Europe. Our humanity and civilization are in question.

The opinions of the Jews here, are the same as those of American slave-holders, with this slight difference, that they consider it right to make slaves of white men and Europeans, as well as of black men, negroes, and Africans, in which idea they are more consistent than their Yankee men-selling brethren.

As there are many Barbary Jews at Mogador, more or less under British protection, I took the liberty of reminding them of their liabilities as British subjects, by circulating among them copies of Lord Brougham's Act.

I had some conversation with Rabbi-El Melek and other Jews about the question of abolition,

_Traveller_.--"What is the opinion of the Jews of this country on the matter of slavery?"

_Rabbi-El-Melek._--"I will show you," (taking the Hebrew Bible he read) "'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.'"