Travels through the Empire of Morocco Part 4

Fez, ---- 1806.

Edris; the founder of Mahometanism in Barbary, was succeeded by his posthumous son, _Edris the Second_, who founded the first monarchy, after that of Mahomet, in these regions; and it was called the Kingdom of the West. The family of Edris continued to reign for about a hundred and fifty years; but was disturbed, during the tenth century, by several intestine divisions, excited by a crowd of usurpers, which terminated in the total extinction of the Edrissites.

The tribe of Mequinici seized on several provinces, and founded, on the ruins of the ancient, the present city of Mequinez.

_Abu-Tessifin_, a Maraboot, or Monk, taking advantage of the divisions which convulsed these countries, and above all of the credulity of this fickle people, sent several of his disciples to preach and excite the mult.i.tude to revolt, under the pretext of recovering their liberties. This great impostor was the chief of the tribe of _Lamthunes_, surnamed _Morabethoon_, on account of the extreme rigour with which they observed the forms of the new religion.

This tribe resided between Mount Atlas and the Desert. The Moors being weary of their Arabian rulers, flocked in crowds to the standard of Tessefin, who soon found himself at the head of a large army, by means of which he conquered, many provinces, and established himself Sovereign of Mauritania.

He was succeeded by his son _Joseph-Ben-Tessefin_, who in 1086 finished the city of Morakesh, or Morocco, which his father had begun, and there fixed his seat of government. In 1097 he seized on the kingdom of Fez, and united it to that of Morocco: he also joined his forces to those of the Mahometans in Spain, and conquered the city of Seville, subdued all Andalusia, Grenada, and Murcia, penetrated as far as Cordova, and defeated the army of Alphonso VI. of Spain. After which he returned, loaded with spoils, to Morocco, where he died. He was succeeded by his son _Aly_, who likewise pa.s.sed over into Spain, but was defeated and slain by Alphonso at the battle of Moriella.

His son _Brahem_, an indolent prince, and much addicted to pleasure, was proclaimed King of Morocco. His profligacy favoured the ambitious projects of a Mahometan preacher, named _Mahomet Abdallah_. This impostor a.s.sumed the name of _Mahedi, Commander of the Faithful_, and drew a host of people to his standard. In the course of his mission, he met another preacher, at the head of a mult.i.tude of followers, who also styled himself _Mahedi_, or _the Prophet_ expected at the end of ages.

These two adventurers, consulting their mutual interest, coalesced, and having completely succeeded in seducing the people, by projects of reformation, _Abdallah_ was proclaimed King of Morocco, and _Abdul-Momen_, the other imposter, General of the Faithful. This haying effected the destruction of Brahem, he contrived to dispatch his colleague so privately as to avoid the imputation of being accessary to his death, and succeeded him in the sovereignty. He demolished all the palaces and mosques of the Kings in Morocco, and laid the greater part of that city in ruins, it having shut its gates against him when, he presented himself before it; and he destroyed the young son of Brahem with his own hands. He afterwards, however, rebuilt Morocco, and died in 1155, in possession of the sovereign power.

He was succeeded by his son Joseph, who pa.s.sed over into Spain, and engaging with the armies of the Kings of Portugal and Leon, he was killed by a fall from his horse. His son _Abu-Jacob_, surnamed _Almonsor_ the Invincible, a.s.sumed the government, suppressed the divisions that distracted the country, and, rendered himself so powerful and formidable, that the Mahometan Kings in Spain elected him as their supreme ruler. After performing numberless gallant exploits, he disappeared on a sudden, as some a.s.sert, to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca; but it is most probable, he was secretly murdered and buried by the descendants of Abdallah. His son ascended the throne, but died in a very short time of grief, in consequence of his losses in Spain.

He was the last King of this family.

_Abdallah_, the Governor of Fez, of the tribe of Benimecius, usurped the crown of his master. Of his successors, the only prince who took part in the Mahometan wars in Spain was _Abul Ha.s.sen_, who conquered Gibraltar, and built the fort which still retains the name of the _Moorish Castle_. He was dethroned and a.s.sa.s.sinated by his son, _Abul Ha.s.sen_, a ferocious and ambitious tyrant, who left a son, named _Abu-Said_, of a very depraved character, in whose reign Ceuta, after a long siege, was taken by Don John, King of Portugal.

These usurpers were completely extirpated by the house of Merini, which family in its turn was overcome by _Muley Mahomet_, a Xeriffe of the same tribe, who seized the reins of government. His successors did not long enjoy the fruit of their usurpation, but were most dreadfully disturbed by a series of revolutions and murders, fomented and perpetrated by the mountaineers, a resolute, ferocious, and restless people, who, after raising the various parts of the country in arms one against the other, and subjecting them to all the calamities of civil war, cruelly butchered _Muley Achmet_, the last of the sons of _Muley Sidan_ and proclaimed their chief, _Crom-el-Hadgy_, a bloodthirsty ruffian, of low birth, and eminent in cruelties, in his stead. This tyrant, to secure his new acquisition, inhumanly ma.s.sacred all the male descendants of the Xeriffes. He soon became the object of universal detestation, and was poignarded by his Sultana on the day of marriage. She was of the family of the Xeriffes, and consented to marry him, only that she might have a better opportunity of sacrificing him to her revenge, for the murder of her family.

After the tragical end of the descendants of the Xeriffes, these countries, but more especially the province of Tafilet, experienced all the horrors of famine and pestilence, for several years. The people of Tafilet considered it as a judgment from their Prophet for their injustice; and, to appease him, they made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and easily prevailed on a Xeriffe, a descendant of Mahomet, named _Muley Aly_, who resided in a town near Medina, to accompany them back to this country. In the mean time, the seasons having become more genial, the harvests were so abundant, that this credulous and superst.i.tious people attributed the change entirely to the arrival of the pious Xeriffe. He was unanimously proclaimed King of Tafilet, by the name of _Muley Xeriffe_; and as such acknowledged by the other provinces, with the exception of Morocco and its environs, which were then in the possession of _Crom-el-Hadgy_, who having ended his career in the manner described, was soon followed by his son; and the ancient families who had ruled the empire being completely extinct, the new King of Tafilet, from his birth, religion, and the public election, was confirmed the legitimate Sovereign of the whole county.

Muley Xeriffe was the founder of the dynasty of _Fileli_, from which the present reigning family is descended. This country, totally exhausted by divisions and civil wars, acquired the enjoyments of peace and plenty, during the reign of this prince, who resided at Tafilet, and caused the Governors, who were entrusted with provinces, to rule with equity. He made it his whole study to render this fickle and turbulent people happy; the latter part of his reign was perfectly undisturbed, and his death was universally and justly lamented. He was succeeded by his eldest son, who was proclaimed, without the disturbances usual on those occasions, by the name of _Muley Mahomet_.

This prince, equally just and pious with his father, reigned for some time very peaceably; and from his exemplary conduct would have continued to do so to his death, to the increasing prosperity of his subjects, but for his brother, _Muley Arshid_, an ambitious prince, who, endowed with an intelligent mind, equal to the vast project he had in contemplation, raised a rebellion, with a view to seize on the sovereign power. At the head of a numerous party, in a pitched battle, he was however defeated, and taken prisoner, by his brother _Muley Mahomet_. But he recovered his liberty, by the aid of a negro slave, whom he rewarded by striking off his head at the very instant he had enabled the monster to recover his liberty.

After wandering about for some time, stirring up the minds of the people to revolt, Muley Arshid fled to the mountains of Rif, where he offered his services to the Sovereign of those districts, who, unfortunately discovering the abilities of the stranger, confided to him the administration of his territories, when, after having by stratagem and prodigality gained the troops and the people to his interests, he dethroned and inhumanly butchered his royal benefactor. He then defeated his brother _Mahomet_, and closely besieged him in Tafilet, whence that good prince died of grief. To enumerate the b.l.o.o.d.y exploits of this prince would extend my letter to a volume; suffice it therefore to say, that his reign was short, and the remembrance of it never to be effaced. He died in 1672 of a fractured skull, in consequence of a fall from his horse.

He was succeeded by his brother _Muley Ishmael_, who distinguished himself by some brave actions; and his reign would have formed a grand epoch in the history of this country, had he not stained it by a succession of tyranny and cruelties, too shocking to dwell upon. He died in 1727 at the advanced age of eighty-one, leaving behind him a numerous offspring. This prince, in order to ensure his despotic and arbitrary power, contrived to form a regular army of foreign soldiers, which he effected, partly from the negro families, then settled in Barbary, but princ.i.p.ally from a vast number of blacks which he obtained from the coast of Guinea.

_Muley-Achmet-Daiby_, one of the numerous sons of Ishmael, ascended the throne of Morocco, and, after reigning two years, died of a dropsy. His successor, _Muley Abdallah_, by far surpa.s.sed all his predecessors in point of vices and cruelty. His conduct was so flagrant, that he was deposed no less than six times, but as often re-elected. Amidst civil wars, divisions, and devastations, the plague again made its appearance, and committed the same dreadful ravages as in the reign of _Ishmael_. Being reinstated for the sixth time, _Abdallah_ took advantage of the troubles occasioned by this terrible disease, to excite divisions among his negro soldiers, by whose power alone he had suffered all his humiliations. Vast numbers of this warlike race fell the victims of his treachery, and he succeeded in reducing them so low, that they were no longer a subject of dread to him. Having thus freed himself of all cause of restraint, he recovered his power, and, if possible, plunged deeper than ever into the gulf of iniquity; and each succeeding day was stained with crimes of the blackest hue. The only sentiments with which he inspired his unhappy people were those of terror and disgust. At length, worn out with age, he died at Fez in 1757; and was succeeded by his son _Sidi Mahomet_, who had begun to reform several abuses, during the latter part of his father's reign, when he had been entrusted with the government of Morocco.

This prince, the father of the present Emperor, was endowed with an intelligent mind, and possessed nothing of the barbarian. His political views, and excellent regulations, soon restored the order of things. He directed all his care to the welfare of his people, both at home and abroad; he concluded, and renewed, several advantageous commercial treaties, with England, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, with all of whom he maintained a good understanding till 1777; when, gained over by the courts of France and Spain, he broke the treaty with England, and refused to supply Gibraltar with fresh provisions. He appointed officers of the strictest integrity, and of moderate and resolute characters, to the government of his provinces; and the whole period of his reign was exempt from those horrible cruelties which had almost invariably disgraced the sceptres of his predecessors. He died at an advanced age, at _Rabat_, on the 11th of April 1790.

After the old Emperor's death, the states of Barbary became convulsed by the civil discords, attended with great effusion of b.l.o.o.d.y occasioned by Sidi Mahomet's numerous sons, who severally aspired to the crown. The contest was for a long time doubtful and b.l.o.o.d.y; but at length, Muley Yezid was proclaimed Emperor, by a powerful party. As the whole country was up in arms, he had to combat with many difficulties in establishing himself on the throne. He was no sooner confirmed in his power, than he exercised it with uncommon cruelty towards his captives. Under the idea of striking terror into the minds of his subjects, by the force of example, and deterring them from revolting again, he inflicted the most dreadful punishment on those who had opposed his authority; some he caused to be hung up by the feet, and suffered to perish for want of sustenance; others, to be crucified at the gates of the city; and several high priests, and officers of state, he deprived of the blessing of sight.

But his cruelty and inhumanity did not rest here. In the above proceedings he might possibly urge in palliation a regard to his personal safety, and the possession of a crown which he held by so precarious a tenure as the caprice of a mult.i.tude, who might wrest it from him with as little scruple as they had bestowed it, if not awed by some terrible example; but where shall we seek an excuse for his execrable barbarity to the poor Jews in his dominions, whom he ordered to be ma.s.sacred, without distinction? The carnage was most horrible; and the property of this persecuted people was indiscriminately plundered by their rapacious murderers. Six young Jewesses, who ventured to intercede for their unhappy fathers and relations, were burned alive. My blood runs cold at the idea of such depravity; and I shrink, from the reflection that our own history will furnish us with annals, almost or fully as replete with horror as the one I am now relating.

It is not all surprising that such unjustifiable cruelty should kindle disgust in the minds of those who were not totally divested of the feelings of humanity. Several of his provinces rebelled, but he successively reduced them to obedience; and in the last battle which he fought, before the city of Morocco, and gained, he was severely wounded. The rebel army was surrounded, and defeated with great slaughter. _Muley Yezid_ was carried to the castle, and his wound dressed; but his treatment was so improper, that, after lingering a few days in the most excruciating torture, he died in 1794.

The present Emperor, _Muley Solyman_, was the youngest prince, and lived retired in the city of Fez, a.s.siduously occupied in studying the Alcoran and the laws of the empire, in order to qualify himself for the office of high-priest, which he was intended to fill. From this retreat he was called by the priests, the highest in repute as saints, in the neighbourhood of Fez, and a small party of the Moorish militia, and by them prevailed upon to come forward as a candidate for the crown, in opposition to his three brothers, who were waging war with each other, at the head of numerous forces. In the midst of this anarchy and confusion, the young prince was proclaimed Emperor at Fez, by the name of _Muley Solyman_; and having collected a strong force, aided by the counsels of a number of brave and experienced officers, he advanced to Mequinez, which he reduced, after two successive pitched battles. This place was defended by one of his brothers, who shortly after acknowledged him as Emperor, joined him, and brought over to his interests a great number of friends and partisans. He served Solyman faithfully ever after, which enabled him to withstand the united forces of his two other brothers. At length, owing to the little harmony that prevailed in the armies of his compet.i.tors, he effected his purpose. Taking advantage of their increasing animosity, he advanced towards Morocco, fighting and conquering the whole way. He entered the capital in triumph, after a general and decisive battle; and he was again proclaimed Emperor.

This brave young prince had now reduced Barbary entirely under his sway, with the exception of the kingdom of Tangiers. Thither the two unfortunate princes retired, in order to make a last and desperate stand; but after a variety of struggles, to regain some degree of ascendancy, one was compelled to solicit the protection of the Dey of Algiers, and the other was taken prisoner, and banished to a remote province.

From that period, the Emperor has dedicated the whole of his time and pursuits to the amelioration of his people's condition, by improving his financial resources, and appointing over his provinces, mild and humane Governors, whom he strictly superintends, occasionally deposing such as have deviated from his orders, and often inflicting upon these his representatives the most severe corporal punishments, previous to their imprisonment for life.

LETTER XIII.

_Responsibility of the Governors--Empire beautiful and productive--Humane Efforts of the Emperor--Blind Submission to his Will--Great Number of Negroes naturalized--The Moors might be truly formidable.--Emperor's Brother--Fez divided into two Parts--Magnificent Mosques--Commercial Privileges--Indignities which Christians undergo--Singular Supply of Water--The Imperial Gardens--Propensity to defraud--Factories--Exports--Costume--Character--Manner of living--Domestic Vermin._

Fez.

Having extended my last letter to an unusual length, I broke off rather abruptly; I shall therefore resume the subject in this.

The Governors commanding large districts or provinces in Barbary, are answerable for the crimes and misdemeanors committed in their governments, if they fail to bring the offenders to public justice; consequently they impose very heavy fines on the community, to impel them to seize, and deliver to them, the murderer or robber. The sudden and frequent changes in the public offices keep the most powerful Governors in the empire in continual awe and depression; and the fear of being, in an instant, hurled from the height of prosperity to the lowest abyss of adversity, usually prevents them from ama.s.sing great wealth, as it is sure to pa.s.s into the Emperor's treasury on their disgrace; and the same cause prevents the forming of dangerous cabals. Yet some of them contrive, during their short-lived administration, to squeeze from their wretched va.s.sals as much money as they can, by every fraudful artifice and despotic violence. The sufferers murmur, and complain; but the government appears to wink at the oppression for a time, and reserves its dreadful vengeance till the annual review, on the plains of Fez, where the collected spoils of the cruel peculator are seized, and himself deposed, imprisoned, and the whole fruit of his rapine transferred to the royal treasury.

This empire is one of the most beautiful and fertile countries, perhaps in the world; but the despotism under which it has groaned, and the capricious humours of its former rulers, destroyed, and prevented the effects of industry; besides, the rapacity of the Sheiks, who are the Bashaws of the country, carried off every thing that labour could collect. The present Emperor is endeavouring to correct these abuses, and to bring about a reformation, which I am sure he will never effect, owing to the great influence of the priests and saints in these states. Although this monarch is humane and impartial, and possesses nothing of the ferocious character of his predecessors, yet seldom a day pa.s.ses without some executions.

The people regard their Emperor as a G.o.d upon earth, and revere him as a descendant of their great prophet. All his commands, right or wrong, just or unjust, they consider as the decrees of Heaven. A blind obedience to the will of their Sovereign, is inculcated in the minds of their youth, more as a matter of religion than of state; and the Emperor may put as many of his subjects to death as he deems expedient, without a.s.signing any other motive for so doing than secret inspiration. When at war with any Christian prince, it is considered as a war of religion, and the Moors who fall in the field of battle, are accounted martyrs.

The number of negroes that have been imported into this country, and are now settled in these states, is astonishing. The amount is little less than three hundred thousand. The Emperor's body-guard, which consists of eighteen thousand hors.e.m.e.n, is chiefly composed of negroes, who enjoy every privilege that despotic power can confer, and are ready upon all occasions to enforce the royal mandate.

The great schools for the Moorish gentry are the chanceries of the Bashaws, where the young men learn the arts of dissimulation and duplicity in the greatest perfection, and become, very, early such great adepts in these valuable acquirements, that in my opinion they are fully able to cope with Monsieur Talleyrand, and the best politicians at the court of St. Cloud. They are very dexterous also in the art of temporizing with an enemy, and deluding him by a thousand little expedients. It is therefore fortunate for Europe, that the Moors are so indolent a set of people; for the immense power this empire might have; were it peopled by an industrious and ambitious race of men, would render it the most formidable in the world.

I shall now return to my own affairs, from the period at which they were left off in a former letter. The Emperor had requested me to report to him, personally, every morning, the state of his favourite Sultana; I therefore waited upon him regularly at five o'clock, and was extremely happy that I was enabled to make the report more welcome each day. After this visit to His Imperial Majesty, I daily paid my devoirs to the blind prince, the only remaining brother of the Emperor now in Barbary, and who took no part in the disputes of former times; and I then called upon the great officers of state.

Finding the Sultana in such a fair way of recovery, the Emperor dismissed his Governors to their respective provinces, and removed his court to Mequinez, his favourite summer residence, leaving me here, to complete the cure of the Sultana, and to attend several of his subjects, who stand high in his favour, in the lower town of Fez. As the attendance required by my patients does not occupy the whole of my time, I employ my leisure in observing such things as appear most worthy of remark.

The town (or rather _towns_ of Fez, this city being divided into two distinct parts, the one called Upper, the other Lower Fez) is the capital of the kingdom of that name, and is supposed to contain about three hundred thousand inhabitants, besides foreigners of their own persuasion. There are upwards of five hundred mosques: one of them in particular, which was built by Edris the Second, and in which his remains were deposited, is magnificent beyond description, and is about a mile and a half in circ.u.mference. There is another very little inferior to this, which was erected by the Arabs of Caiwan, and called _Carubin_. The other mosques have been constructed since. To most of the mosques are annexed several colleges, religious schools, and hospitals for the pilgrims who visit this place, for, in point of holiness, it is considered as next to Mecca and Medina.

The lower town of Fez was built by Edris the Second, about the end of the eighth century, and is taken notice of by Pliny under the name of _Volubilis_. According to that author, and others, this city ranked amongst the princ.i.p.al inland towns of Mauritania, and was a Roman colony. It is a place of considerable trade; the inhabitants are mostly freed men, engaged in commerce, and reputed to be very opulent and industrious; they have purchased a charter, by which they ensure a kind of independence, and are totally unmolested in their traffic; in short, there are great privileges attached to this town, which are not to be met with in any other part of Barbary. The lower town is almost entirely surrounded by hills, which are highly cultivated, and abound with vineyards, and gardens producing most exquisite fruits.

Upper Fez is situated on one of the highest of the hills which almost encircle the lower town, and contains the imperial palace and seraglio, several old palaces occupied by the sons of the Emperor, and the habitations of the princ.i.p.al officers in the household. Contiguous to these, is the inclosed town belonging solely to the Jews, who are about thirty thousand in number, having one hundred and fifty synagogues. On that part of the wall of the Jewish town which overlooks Lower Fez, are placed several heavy pieces of ordnance, which, in case of an insurrection in the latter, would very soon demolish it: as the lower town is by much the most populous and extensive, this precaution may not be unnecessary. The Jewish town is commanded by an Alcaid, who cannot however shield its unfortunate inhabitants from oppression and insults. These people are obliged to walk barefooted through the Moorish streets; and they suffer the greatest outrages without a murmur, nay, some of them have been actually murdered in the act of selling their goods to the Moors. No Christian is allowed to appear publicly in the streets of Fez, without a special permission from the Emperor, and a military escort.

These towns are supplied with water in a most singular manner from a river, called _Rasalema_, which takes its source in a valley near the road to Mequinez. It issues from a rock, about eight or ten feet above the ground, in a stream, that, from the form of the valley through which it runs, appears a continued waterfall. It is conveyed into the Emperor's garden by means of a large wheel, about twenty-five feet in diameter, round which, at regular distances, are small buckets, which, as the wheel goes round, are alternately filled, and emptied into a reservoir at the top of the wall of the garden. From the reservoir the water is also conveyed to the upper and lower towns by aqueducts.

On the outside of one of the western gates of Upper Fez are the gardens of the Emperor, surrounded by a good stone wall, within which are a number of s.p.a.cious walks, shaded by rows of tall trees, on each side, and intersected by parterres and gra.s.s-plots, on which are elegant pavilions, some in a pyramidical, others in a conical form, where the Emperor frequently retires, to take his repose, or to amuse himself with his courtiers. These pavilions are between thirty and forty feet in height, covered on the outside with varnished tiles of different colours, and contain three and sometimes four neat apartments, furnished in the most simple style imaginable, having in general nothing more than a carpet, several couches, a few arm-chairs, a table, a clock, and a tea-equipage of china. The cornices round the walls of these apartments are embellished with pa.s.sages from the Koran, and other Arabic sentences, carved in cedar-wood.

The propensity to cheating, so prevalent in all Barbary, is no where so notorious as in the lower town of Fez; and the Europeans who trade with the Moorish merchants here must employ the same means as themselves, or submit to be most flagitiously imposed upon.

I have visited several manufactories of carpets, mats, silk, linen, and leather, of which the merchants export great quant.i.ties. I have also seen some beautifully embroidered shawls, scarfs, and sword-knots, of the manufacture of this country. Their exports besides are, elephants' teeth, ostrich feathers, copper, tin, wool, hides, honey, wax, dates, raisins, olives, almonds, gum-arabic, and sandrach. They carry on a considerable trade, by caravans, to Mecca and Medina, the inland regions of Africa, and to the farthermost parts of the coast of Guinea; from which last place they bring gold-dust, and a prodigious number of negroes, some of whom are destined to serve in the Emperor's armies; the rest are slaves in the Moorish houses and fields.

The dress of the Moors is composed of a linen shirt, over which they fasten a cloth or silk vestment with a sash, loose trowsers reaching to the knee, a white serge cloak, or capote, and yellow slippers: their arms and legs are quite bare. The princ.i.p.al people are distinguished by the fineness of their turbans, their linen shirts, and cloth or silk garments, which are richly embroidered with gold; when they go abroad, they cover this dress with an alhaik, differing in quality according to the circ.u.mstances of the wearer; and which they fold round them like a large blanket. They never move their turbans, but pull off their slippers, when they attend religious duties, or their Sovereign, or visit their relatives, friends, priests, or civil and military officers.

The Moorish gentry are clean in their persons, in their manners tolerably genteel and complaisant, far from being loquacious, though not p.r.o.ne to reflection. They possess an unbounded degree of duplicity and flattery; are perfectly strangers to the notions of truth and honour, promising a thing one day which they utterly deny the next. They are less irascible than many other nations; but when grossly injured, seek revenge in a.s.sa.s.sination. They are more vindictive than brave, more superst.i.tious than devout, firmly attached to their ancient customs, and wholly averse to every kind of innovation.

The Moors, in general, are extremely fond of fruit and vegetables, which contribute very much to their contentment. The peasants eat meat only on certain great days. They are excessively dirty in their cooking, and the style of their dishes is not at all adapted to the taste of an Englishman. Their soups are made most intolerably hot with spices; and their favourite dish is _cous-ca-sou_, which appears to me to be prepared in the following manner: The meat and vegetables are laid alternately in a large bowl, and seasoned; then the whole is covered with fine wheaten flour, made into small grains, very like the Italian pastes. It is raised into the form of a pyramid, and I should imagine stewed, or rather steamed, as the outside remains perfectly white, which it would not were it baked. The whole of the inside, when brought to table, is mingled almost into one ma.s.s; the meat separating from the bones, without the smallest difficulty: it does not contain any gravy, and the Moors eat it by handsfull.

I generally live upon mutton and veal, both of which are very good: the bread and b.u.t.ter are excellent, but the latter will not keep more than twenty-four hours without becoming rancid. My greatest annoyance here is the infinite number of bugs and fleas, which infest me by day and night most intolerably.

LETTER XIV.