Travels in Morocco, Vol. 1. | Page 4

the Port of Mogador.--Bad provisioning of Foreign Merchantmen.--The present Representative of the once far-famed and dreaded Rovers.--Disembarkation at Mogador.--Mr. Phillips, Captain of the Port.--Rumours amongst the People about my Mission.--Visit to the Cemeteries.--Maroquine Wreckers.--Health of the inhabitants of Mogador.--Moorish Cavaliers "playing at powder" composed of the ancient Numidians.--The Barb.--The Life Guards of the Moorish Emperor.--Martial character of the Negro.--Some account of the Black Corps of the Shereefs.--Orthodoxy of the Shereefs, and illustrative anecdotes of the various Emperors.

CHAPTER V
.
Several visits from the Moors; their ideas on soldiers and payment of public functionaries.--Mr. Cohen and his opinion on Maroquine affairs.-- Phlebotomising of Governors, and Ministerial responsibility.--Border Travels of the Shedma and Hhaha tribes.--How the Emperor enriches himself by the quarrels of his subjects.--Message from the Emperor respecting the Anti-Slavery Address.--Difficulties of travelling through or residing in the Interior.--Use of Knives, and Forks, and Chairs are signs of Social Progress.--Account of the periodical visit of the Mogador Merchants to the Emperor, in the Southern Capital.

CHAPTER VI
.
Influence of French Consuls.--Arrival of the Governor of Mogador from the Capital; he brings an order to imprison the late Governor; his character, and mode of administering affairs.--Statue of a Negress at the bottom of a well.--Spanish Renegades.--Various Wedding Festivals of Jews.--Frequent Fêtes and Feastings among the Jewish population of Morocco.--Scripture Illustration, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!"--Jewish Renegades.--How far women have souls.--Infrequency of Suicides.

CHAPTER VII
.
Interview with the Governor of Mogador, on the Address of the Anti-Slavery Society.--Day and night side of the Mission Adventure.--Phillips' application to be allowed to stand with his "shoes on" before the Shereefian presence.--Case of the French Israelite, Darmon, who was killed by the Government.--Order of the Government against Europeans smoking in the streets.--Character of Haj Mousa, Governor of Mazagran.--Talmudical of a Sousee Jew.--False weights amongst the Mogador Merchants.--Rumours of war from the North, and levy of troops.--Bragadocio of the Governor.--Mr. Authoris's opinion on the state of of the Country.--Moorish opinions on English Abolition.-- European Slavery in Southern Morocco.--Spanish Captives and the London Ironmongers Company.--Sentiments of Barbary Jews on Slavery.

ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOL. I.
Interior of a Moorish House
City of Tangier
Port of Mogador
Christian Burial Place
Moorish Cemetery
Nubian Cavalry of Ancient Africa
Wadnoun
VOL. II.
The Snake-Charmer
City of Morocco
Fish found in Hot Springs
Water-Snake
The Aoudad

TRAVELS IN MOROCCO.

CHAPTER I
.
Policy of the Court of Morocco.--Its strength.--Diplomatic Intercourse with England.--Distrust of Europeans.--Commercial Relations.
Morocco is the China of North Africa. The grand political maxim of the Shereefian Court is, the exclusion of strangers; to look upon all strangers with distrust and suspicion; and should they, at any time, attempt to explore the interior of Morocco, or any of the adjacent counties, to thwart and circumvent their enterprise, is a veritable feat of statesmanship in the opinion of the Shereefian Court. The assassination of Mr. Davidson, some years since, is an odious and enduring stigma on the Moorish Court, notwithstanding the various efforts which have been made to deny the personal responsibility of the Emperor in that transaction.
The Prince de Joinville was once going to open Morocco, as we opened China; but bullets and shot which his Royal Highness showered upon Tangier and Mogador, only closed faster the approaches and routes of this well-guarded empire--only more hermetically sealed the capitals of Fez and Morocco against the prying or morbid curiosity of the tourist, or the mappings and measurings of the political spy. The striking anecdote, illustrating the exclusive policy of the Maroquine Court, is familiar to all who have read the history of the Moorish Sultans of the Mugreb. Years ago, a European squadron threatened to bombard Tangier, unless their demands were instantly satisfied; and the then reigning Sultan sent down from Fez this imperial message:
"How much will the enemy give me if I myself burn to ashes my well-beloved city of Tangier? Tell the enemy, O governor of the mighty city of Tangier, that I can reduce this self-same city to a heap of smoking ruins, at a much cheaper rate than he can, with all his ships, his warlike machines, and his fighting men."
The strength of Morocco lies in her internal cities, her inland population, and the natural difficulties of her territory; about her coast she cares little; but the French did not find this out till after their bombardments. The unwonted discovery led them afterwards to boast that they had at length opened Morocco by the other and opposite system of a pacific mission. The parties forming the mission, pretended to have obtained from the Emperor permission for Europeans "to travel in Morocco without let or hindrance whithersoever they will." But the opposition press justly ridiculed the pretensions of the alleged concession, as the precarious and barren result of a mission costing several million of francs. Even an Englishman, but much more a Frenchman--and the latter is especially hated and dreaded in all the Maroquine provinces, would have considerably hesitated in placing confidence in the safe conduct