the capacities of my patients, and soon acquired among them as much undeserved commendation as I had incurred unmerited reproach.

*Most of the women in the harem were under thirty years of age, of a corpulent habit, and of a very aukward gait. Their knowledge, of course, from having led a life of total seclusion from the world, was entirely confined to the occurrences in their harem; where, as they were allowed a free access to each other, they conversed upon such subjects as their uninformed understandings served to furnish them with. They are never suffered to go out, but by an express order from the prince; and then only when removing from one place of residence to another. I in general found them extremely ignorant, proud, and vain of their persons, even to a degree which bordered upon childishness. Among many ridiculous questions, they asked my interpreter if I could read and write; upon being answered in the affirmative, they expressed the utmost surprise and admiration at the abilities of the Christians. There was not one among them who could do either; these rudiments of learning are indeed only the lot of a few of their men, who on that account are named Talbs, or explainers of the Mahometan law. "Among the concubines of the prince there were six female slaves of the age of fifteen, who were presented to him by a Moor of distinction. One of these was descended from an English renegado, another from a Spanish, and the other four were of Moorish

extraction.

"Where the more solid and useful accomplishments are least cultivated, a taste is often found to prevail for those which are purely ornamental and frivolous. These devoted victims of libidinous pleasure received a daily lesson of music, by order of the prince, from a Moor who had passed some little time

in London and Italy, where he had acquired a slight knowledge of that science. I had an opportunity of being present at one of these performances, but cannot say I received much amusement, in a musical view, from my visit. It was a concert, vocal and instrumental: the instruments used upon this occasion were the mandoline, a kind of violin with only two strings, and the tabor. The principal object in their performance seemed to be noise; it was without the least attention to melody, variety, or taste, and was merely drawing out a wild and melancholy strain.

"Conversation, however, forms the principal entertainment in these gloomy retirements. When I visited the haren, I never found the women engaged in any other employment than that of conversing on the ground in circles. In fact, as all their needle-work is performed by Jewesses, and their cookery, and the management of their chambers, by their slaves and domestics, of which they have a proportionable number, according to the favour they are in with the prince, it is not easy for them to find means of occupying their time, and particularly since none of them are able to read or write. It is impossible, indeed, to reflect on the situation of these unfortunate women without the most lively sentiments of compassion. Excluded from the enjoyment of fresh air and exercise, so necessary for the support of health and life; deprived of all society but that of their fellow-sufferers, a society to which most of them would prefer solitude itself; they are only to be considered as the most abject of slaves slaves to the vices and caprice of a licentious tyrant, who exacts even from his wives themselves a degree of submission and respect which borders upon idolatry, and which God and nature never meant should be paid to a mortal."

THE city of Morocco, which lies about one hundred and twenty miles to the north of Tarudant, ninety to the east of Mogodore, and three hundred and fifty to the south of Tangier, is situated in a beautiful valley, formed by a chain of mountains on the northern side, and those of the Atlas, from which it is distant about twenty miles, on the south and east. The country which immediately surrounds it is a fertile plain, beautifully diversified with clumps of palmtrees and shrubs, and watered by small and numerous streams, which descend from Mount Atlas. The emperor's out-gardens, which are situated at the distance of about five miles to the south of the city, and are large plantations of olives walled in, add considerably to the beauty of the scene.

Morocco, though one of the capitals of the empire-for there are three, Morocco, Mequinez, and Fez-has nothing to recommend it but its great extent, and the royal palace. It is enclosed by remarkably strong walls, built of tabby, the circumference of which is about eight miles. On these walls there are no guns mounted, but they are flanked with square towers, and surrounded by a wide and deep ditch. The city has a number of entrances, consisting of large double porches of tabby, in the Gothic stile, the gates of which are regularly shut every night at certain hours. As polygamy is allowed by the Mahometan religion, and is supposed in some degree to affect population, it would be difficult to form any computation near the truth with respect to the number of inhabitants which this city may contain.

The mosques, which are the only public buildings, except the palace, worth noticing at Morocco, are more numerous than magnificent; one of them is ornamented with a very high and square tower, built of cut

stone, which is visible at a considerable distance from the city.

The streets are very narrow, dirty, and irregular, and many of the houses are uninhabited and falling to ruin. Those which are decent and respectable in their appearance are built of tabby, and enclosed in gardens. That of the effendi is among the best in Morocco. This house, which in 1812 consisted of two stories, had elegant apartments both. above and below, furnished in a stile far su-perior to any thing seen in that country.The court, into which the lower apartments opened, was very neatly paved with glazed blue and white tiling, and had in its centre a beautiful fountain. The upper apartments. were connected together by a broad gallery, the ballusters of which were painted of different colours. The hot and cold baths were. very large, and had every convenience which art could afford. Into the garden, which was laid out in a tolerably neat stile, opened a room adjoining to the house, which had a broad arched entrance, but no door, beautifully ornamented with checquered tiling; and at both ends of the apartment the walls were entirely covered with looking-glass.The flooring of all the rooms was covered with beautiful carpeting, the walls ornamented with large and valuable lookingglasses, intermixed with watches and clocks in glass cases. The ceiling was carved woodwork, painted of different colours, and the whole was in a superior stile of Moorish grandeur. This and a few others are the only decent habitations in Morocco. The generality of them serve only to impress the traveller with the idea of a miserable and deserted city.

The Elcaisseria is a particular part of the town where stuffs and other valuable articles are exposed to sale. It consists of a number

of small shops, formed in the walls of the houses, about a yard from the ground, of such an height within as just to admit a man to sit in one of them cross-legged. The goods and drawers are so arranged round him, that when he serves his customers, who are standing all the time out in the street, he can reach down any article he wants, without being under the necessity of moving. These shops, which are found in all the other towns of the empire, are sufficient to afford a striking example of the indolence of the Moors.

There are three daily markets in different parts of the town at Morocco, where provisions are sold, and two weekly fairs or markets for the disposal of cattle, where the same custom is observed as at Tarudant.

The city is supplied with water by means of wooden pipes connected with the neighbouring streams, which empty themselves into reservoirs placed for the purpose in the suburbs, and some few in the centre of the

town.

The castle is a large and ruinous building, the outer walls of which enclose a space of ground about three miles in circumference. It has a mosque built by Muley Abdallah, father to Sidi Mahomet, on the top of which are three large balls; these, the Moors allege, are formed of solid gold, but as no person is permitted to ascend to them, we must trust to their word for the truth of this assertion. The castle is almost a town of itself; it contains a number of inhabitants, who in some department or other are in the service of the emperor, and all under the direction of a particular Alcaide, who is quite independent of the governor of the town.

On the outside of the castle, between the Moorish town and the Jewdry, are several small, distinct pavilions, enclosed in gardens of orange-trees, which are intended as occasional places of residence for such of the emperor's sons or brothers as happen to be at Morocco. As they are covered with coloured tiling, they have at a small distance rather a neat appearance, but on approaching or entering them that effect in a great measure

ceases.

It is a singular circumstance, that in the immediate vicinity of Morocco, and for some

distance round the city, the ground is totally occupied by a great number of rats, of a species which burrow under ground, and, like rabbits, allow strangers to approach very near before they retire to their holes. They impress the idea of a rabbit warren in miniature. The Jews, who are at this place pretty numerous, have a separate town to themselves, walled, and under the charge of an alcaide appointed by the emperor. It has two large gates, which are regularly shut every evening, about nine o'clock, after which time no person whatever is permitted to enter or go out of the Jewdry, till they are opened again the following morning. The Jews have a market; and, as at Tarudant, when they enter the Moorish town, castle, or palace, they are always compelled to be barefooted.

The palace of Morocco is an ancient building, surrounded by a square wall, the height of which nearly excludes from the spectator the other buildings. Its principal gates are constructed with gothic arches, composed of cut stone, which conduct to several open and spacious courts, through which it is necessary to pass before we reach any of the buildings. These open courts were used by Sidi Maho met for the purposes of transacting public business, and exercising his troops.

The habitable part of the palace consists of several irregular square pavilions, built of tabby, and whitened over; some of which communicate with each other, others are distinct, and most of them receive their names from the different towns of the empire. The principal pavilion is named by the Moors the doubar, and is more properly the palace, or seraglio, than any of the others. It consists of the emperor's place of residence, and the harem, forming altogether a building of considerable extent. The other pavilions are merely for the purposes of pleasure or business, and are quite distinct from the douhar.

The Mogodore pavilion, so named from the emperor's partiality to that town, has by far the fairest claim to grandeur and munificence. This apartment was the work of Sidi Mahomet, and is lofty and square. It is built of cut stone, handsomely ornamented with windows, and covered with varnished tiles of various colours; and its elegance and

neatness, contrasted altogether with the simplicity and irregularity of the other buildings, produce a most striking effect. In the inside, besides several other apartments, we find in the pavilion a spacious room, floored with blue and white checquered tiling; its ceiling covered with curiously carved and painted wood, and its stuccoed walls variously ornamented with looking-glasses and watches, regularly disposed in glass cases. To this pavilion Sidi Mahomet manifested an exclusive preference, frequently retiring to it both for the purposes of business and of recrea

tion.

The apartments of the emperor have in general a much smaller complement of furniture than those of the Moors in the inferior walks of life. Handsome carpetting, a mattress on the ground, covered with fine linen, a couch and a couple of European bedsteads, are the principal articles they contain. The gardens within the walls of the palace, of which he has several, are very neat: they contain orange and olive trees, variously disposed and arranged, and intersected with streams of water, fountains, and reservoirs. Those on the outside are nothing more than large tracts of ground, irregularly planted with olives, having four square walks, and surrounded by walls of which the architecture is neither distinguished by stability nor elegance.

The chief of this establishment bears the title of El Emkaddem, or ancient, like that of Mulei Edris at Fez; he is equally respected, and is almost looked upon as a saint. The two greatest saints of all the empire of Morocco are Sidi Ali Benhamét, who resides at Wazein, and Sidi Alarbi Benmate, who lives at Tedla.

These two saints decide almost on the fate of the whole empire, as it is supposed that they attract the blessings of heaven on the country. The departments which they inhabit have no Pasha, no kaid or governor of the sultan; the inhabitants of them pay no kind of tribute, and are entirely ruled by those two saints, under a kind of theocracy. The veneration which they enjoy is so great that upon occasions where they visit the provinces, the governors take their orders and advice. They preach submission to the

sultan, domestic peace, and the practice of virtue. They receive considerable presents and alms, and there is not a woman in the empire that would not seek an occasion to consult them when they come within reach. Upon such religious excursions, they are followed by a crowd of poor, who sing the praises of Alla and of all holy personages. A number of armed men are continually in their retinue, and ready to defend the divine cause with their weapons.

"Holiness (says Ali Bey) is hereditary in some families: the father of Sidi Ali was a great saint; Sidi Ali is now as much venerated, and his son Sidi Bentzami begins already to become so. As the productive power is the gift of heaven, these saints enjoy it in a most distinguished manner; for Sidi Ali keeps a number of negro women, and has a great many children. Besides his lawful wives and his common concubines, Sidi Alarbi keeps eighteen young negro girls.

"I had once the honour of an interview with Sidi Ali when he came to Morocco; he quieted some scruples in my, too delicate conscience. I made him a little present of about fifty pounds, and he returned me a * lion's skin, on which he had been in the habit of saying his prayers for thirteen years. Besides this he gave me a quantity of sweetmeats, and a large bottle of lemon syrup, which he used to mix with his tea. I did not fail to praise it highly. This holy man, free from all worldly interest, employed the money which I had given him, and that which he had been raising by alms, in the purchase of guns and other weapons for the defenders of the faith who escorted him.

"Sidi Ali was about fifty years old. He had a round ruddy coloured face, lively eyes, and a small beard white as snow; he was of a low stature, full and well proportioned. His dress was always the same; it consisted of a kind of shirt or small white woollen caftan, a little turban and a sort of haik, or light woollen cloth, which covered his head, and hung down behind, and on the sides, like a small cloak. He spoke a little through the nose, but with much sweetness. The eldest son of this saint follows the footsteps of his

g

father, and notwithstanding his youth, begins to partake of his sanctity. He is only twenty-six years of age, but taller and larger than his father, and much redder in the face. The saint was accompanied by other sons, which he had by his negro women, and was on his journey placed on a litter, suspended between two mules, which was long enough for him to stretch on, after the fatigue of his fervent prayers, which he says in order to attract the blessings of heaven on the country. I did not see Sidi Alarbi, who was at Tedla, but I became acquainted with one of his nephews, who came in his name. He was so stout, red, and fat, that he could hardly breathe; and I was told that Sidi Alarbi is still taller and larger, a proof that fasting and mortification impairs neither the health nor the vigour of the saints. Notwithstanding his size, Sidi Alarbi is said to be easy on horseback, and a clever shot. There were unfortunately some difficulties existing between him and the sultan Muley Soliman on account of a mosque, which the latter had been building at Tedla, and which the former had changed into stables. The sultan, to appease the holy man, sent him at present of a thousand ducats, and the saint returned a thousand sheep to the sultan.

The emperor's title is-Emperor of Africa; emperor of Morocco; king of Fez, Suz, and Gago; lord of Dara, and Guinea; and great shariff of Mahomet.

Previous to a stranger, whether an European or Moor, obtaining an audience of his Moorish majesty, a present is always made to one of his ministers, as an inducement to him to acquaint his sovereign that a stranger solicited that honour. The first present, unless it is something very handsome, does not always succeed; and it is frequently necessary to apply to two or three ministers to procure a speedy audience, or even to send in a present to one of the sul tanas, none of whom entertain any very uneasy sensations about accepting the compliment. The latter is indeed the most certain mode of succeeding.

After having so far accomplished his wishes, the stranger is next liable to be detained a longer or shorter time before the capricious monarch would fix on a day for receiving

him. Even after this he would frequently send for him in a violent hurry to the palace, and when there, keep him standing in one of the open courts several hours; he would then send an excuse for not admitting him on that day; and this agreeable process was in many instances repeated three or four times. The tardiness, insolence, and irregularity of the court of Morocco is indeed beyond conception; and those who have business there ought to be possessed of all the philosophy and patience of a stoic, if they would avoid the deprivation of their senses. No person whatever, whether Moor or Christian, was admitted into the presence of the sovereign, but when accompanied with an handsome present, more or less valuable, in proportion to the favour intended to be requested. Even the emperor's own sons were not exempted from this custom, upon paying their first visit after a previous absence. The generosity of the suitor must not even stop here; for when the audience is over, the master of the ceremonies with his servants, and the porters of all the gates in the palace, which are rather numerous, have a claim for their perquisites, and are not to be got rid of till they obtain something. Indeed, as they receive no pay from their royal master, these perquisites were the only means they had of gaining a subsistence.

The following is a list of expences at