animal! The charms of sleep he knew little of at Tangier. There was first the military patrol, who are stationed in different parts of the town, and who call out in stentorian sounds the watch-word every five minutes. Next comes the sepulchral voice of the Muedden, or crier, who calls from the top of the minaret to the inhabitants, summoning them to prayer long before the morning breaks. And, lastly, the stranger is tormented by the bellowing of one or more of the saints,-a peculiarly disagreeable race of devotees, and one of the greatest curiosities of Tangier.

This holy man, who is easily recognized by his uncovered head, his filthy raiment, and a long staff, with the aid of which he slowly perambulates the streets, is distinguishable from other saints by a loud peculiar bellowing, which is so strange and incessant, as to induce some to suppose that it is the howling of an evil spirit, which by some means or other has got possession of the good old man's inside. At cock-crow his daily roarings commence, usually stationing himself at the door of the fondâk or caravansery, which is a short distance above the English house. The utmost respect and obedience are paid by the Moors to this old madman, who acts in some respects with considerable method and forethought. Every market day he makes his appearance in the sôk, provided with a capacious basket, which he fills at the different stalls with whatever pleases his fancy best, and for which payment is never demanded. It is amusing enough to see how well the holy man forages for himself: from one he takes a piece of meat, from another bread, from a third vegetables, until at last, having got sufficient to stop the throat of his noisy companion within him, he makes a quiet and orderly retreat.'-vol. i. pp. 157, 158.

Law is administered in Tangier in the most summary manner; suits are frequently heard in the open street before the judge, who sits at the door of some shop, and decides the point at issue without much delay. If any difficulty arise, it is left to arbitration. The usual punishment is the bastinado. Society in Tangier, as well as elsewhere in the empire of Morocco, has been usually and correctly divided into three classes-the Sultan, those who beat, and those who are beaten. Those found guilty of serious crimes are speedily beheaded. In point of comfort, Sir Arthur says that he was much better off than when in Spain. The travelling, indeed, was somewhat different. In the Peninsula, he was sure to meet with a venta or a posada at the end of his day's journey, whereas in Barbary, he was obliged to tent it, or bivouac under the canopy of the sky. It was in this way that he reached Tetuan, which is seated in a pleasant valley, enclosed by the chain of the Lower Atlas, at a distance of something more than a league from the Mediterranean. In size, population, and general appearance, Tetuan is greatly superior to Tangier.

"The streets of Tetuan, as in all Moorish towns, are narrow and winding, and in some of the quarters are covered at the top as at Fez, forming succession of long dark galleries. These are used as a bazaar for the sale of different goods, or occupied by shoe-makers, there being a considerable

manufactory of Morocco slippers, which are superior in quality to those made at Tangier.

It is a curious sight in these covered streets to observe the Moorish shopkeepers, perched up cross-legged in their Lilliputian shops, or rather cupboards, opening into the street by an outward shutter, which, when let down, presents an aperture wherein the owner crawls. Here, during the hours of business, which are few, the latter seats himself on a shopboard in the centre of his little magazine: without moving from his seat, he is enabled with ease to supply his customers, who stand at the door or window, for it is both, with whatever they may be in want of, from drawers, which are ranged around him within arms' length. When no customer appears, the shopkeeper is generally to be seen occupied in reading aloud the Koran, with studied dignity and formality, accompanied by a swinging motion of the body, similar to the manner in which the Jews perform their devotions. The Moorish rosary consists of a long string of polished black beads, ninety-nine in number, in all those that I have observed; and, as the devotee repeats each sentence, he passes one of the beads through his fingers. The Mahometan sabbath is Friday, and the Moorish shopkeeper merely ceases business during the time of service at the mosque, when he closes his shop, which, however, is more than can be said in general of Spaniards. In other respects the sabbath is observed with greater decorum and propriety than in Christian countries, which may be attributed to the gravity of conduct and demeanour, and the serious and orderly manners which characterise the Mahometan race.'-vol. i. pp. 211, 212.

The manufacturers of Tetuan are but little inferior to those of Fez, the great emporium of commerce with the interior of Africa. Its silks, slippers, gunpowder, fire arms, and earthern vessels, are of an excellent quality, particularly the latter, whose shapes indicate a classical and elegant taste. Its glazed tiles, matting and snuff, are celebrated throughout Morocco. The author is very eloquent upon the tyrannical system of government, which prevails in this and other parts of that empire. He becomes quite poetical in his praises of the Tetuan ladies, whose costume he describes with a minuteness, that must excite the envy of those litterateurs who cater for our milliners. Retracing his steps from Tetuan to Tangier, Sir Arthur shaped his course, in a south-westerly direction, for Arzilla, permission having been refused him, through the usual Moorish jealousy of foreigners, to visit Fez, whither he had wished to be allowed to proceed. Passing through Larache, which he found in a ruinous state, he kept his way along the coast; the general appearance of the scenery here is not uninteresting.

'We were now close to the coast, and the first streaks of light had just appeared in the east when we reached the sea-shore, and proceeded along the fine sands, from which the waves were fast retreating. The morning was chill and lowering, and, as we pursued our silent way, the murmuring of the surge, and the mournful cry of the sea fowl, added to the melancholy wildness of the scene. While the Spanish muleteer beguiles his lengthened march with his irregular melodies, the Moor journeys on with the characVOL. II. (1831.) No. II.

R

teristic gravity of the Mahometan, and utters scarcely a single word for miles. Our lonely journey was now somewhat cheered by the welcome rays of the sun, which appeared above the horizon and lighted up the dark waste of the ocean. As the tide was far out, I dismounted, and, with my gun in hand, proceeded on foot in quest of wild fowl and sea birds. The western coast of Morocco is generally a fine smooth sand, with so gentle a descent that a trifling depth is only attained at a considerable distance from the shore, and on this account it is most dangerous to navigators. No sight can be more beautiful or striking than, while this immense body of water is hushed, and is a perfect calm, to see its swelling lines advancing from a great distance in uniform succession towards the shore, impelled forward by an invisible power, until, rearing itself into a lofty and magnificent curl of several miles in length, it suddenly breaks into a tremendous and irresistible surf.

'As we proceeded, I found the features of the coast flat and dreary, altogether destitute of boldness, and presenting a contrast to the magnificent mountain cliffs I had been accustomed to on the coast of Lapland. Here the sea barrier consisted of low rounded hills, partly covered with the sand that had been blown up from the shore, or of cliffs of fine clay-slate, of inconsiderable height. After having proceeded a few miles, we came to a sanctuary, which stood on rising ground close to the shore; there was a small garden and habitation adjoining it, but no appearance of inhabitants. The Moors alighted to offer up their prayers, and, after halting for a few minutes, we continued our way. The coast here assumed an appearance somewhat bolder; and a projecting headland prevented our further progress along the shore. We were obliged, in consequence, to make our way up the sloping cliffs, by a steep and dangerous track, which the mules found such difficulty in scrambling up with their heavy loads, that the greatest care was necessary to prevent their losing their balance, and going over the sides. We proceeded for a short distance along a level bush country, when we followed a sheltered valley covered with luxuriant shrubs, and again reached the sea-shore.

I had been in hopes, according to the report I had heard at Tangier, of finding the nautilus in abundance. In this, however, I was disappointed, and I did not meet with a trace of it; indeed scarcely a shell of any description was visible. The beautiful argo, or paper nautilus, is a species of the argonauta, and is found chiefly between Cape Spartel, and Cape Malabat, on the Barbary coast, during the winter season, and mostly after northerly and easterly gales. They are very rarely found on the European side of the Straits, though, on my return to Gibraltar, I heard of one that had been recently picked up on a part of the rock. It may be supposed that so delicate a shell as that of the argo, and which is like silver paper in appearance, and almost as fine in its texture, is peculiarly liable to fracture, from the boisterous nature of the element of which it is a native. When an accident of this kind happens, the little animal shows his skill as a shipwright, in ingeniously strengthening and repairing his shattered bark by a peculiar process, of which I have seen more than one example among the specimens I have met with. The animal is very wary, and it is not an easy thing to intercept it on the surface, as, on the least aların, it tilts its shell aside, and both vessel and crew go to the bottom, and are so quickly embedded in the sand as to elude search or pursuit When our little sailor

wishes to appear again at the top, he expels the water from his shell, so as to render it lighter than the surrounding fluid, and then rises to the surface, where he makes use of a thin membrane, with which he is furnished, for a sail, employing at the same time his feelers as oars. The nautilus appears only in very calm weather on the surface; and it is then that this little fairy navigator, mounting from the bottom of the deep to the world above, is occasionally seen hoisting the sail of its frail silvery bark, and catching the warm African zephyr, scuds like a snow-white feather along the bosom of the main.

'Little occurred to vary the scene along these lonely coasts; and while the country seemed quite uninhabited and without a vestige of man, the wide waste of ocean before us was equally desert, without even the white gleam of a distant sail to carry the mind to some happier shores. The eastern sky became now overcast, and we urged on our beasts in expectation of bad weather. The shores became more rocky; and the projecting cliffs again impeding our passage, we once more ascended by a narrow winding track, and pursued our way as fast as we could over wild tracks of moor, where no signs of animal life appeared, except an occasional flight of the whistling plover across the waste. In spite of the haste we made, the pelting storm overtook us, and continued until we again got sight of the coast, and, to my great satisfaction, the lofty palm trees and towers of Arzilla appeared. The date, or palm-tree, although it is not very common in the northern parts of Morocco, adds much to the peculiar character of African scenery, when its solitary tufted head is seen at a distance, towering above the crumbling walls of a Moorish town. As we approached the gardens at a short distance from the walls, we entered a long sandy lane, bordered by hedges, which were covered by the common bramble in such luxuriance, that I might have almost fancied myself in an English lane, if the occasional sight of an olive-tree and the prickly cactus, had not reminded me that I was in a southern land.'-vol. ii. pp. 99–104.

By limiting, whether from necessity or otherwise, his journey to Arzilla, on one side of Tangier, and to Tetuan on the other, Sir Arthur Brooke has been unable to add much, in the way of novelty, to the works which have been already published upon Barbary. He merely, as it appears, skirted the coast, and yet, upon his usual generalizing system, he has undertaken to present a kind of summary of the Moorish character.

'If the character of the Moor be examined, it will be found to consist of a compound of every thing that is worthless and contemptible, and the few good qualities he possesses are quite lost in the dark shade thrown around them. Utterly destitute of faith, his vows and promises are made at the same time, with such a resemblance of sincerity, as rarely to fail of deceiving his victim: truth is an utter stanger to his lips, and falsehood so familiar with him, that dependence can rarely be placed on any thing that he says. Like the catholics, who are accused of upholding the doctrine that no faith should be observed towards heretics, the Moor glories in keeping none with Christians: these tenets are to be attributed to the influence which the bigoted character of his religion has upon him from his

*

* Most falsely.

earliest years. In his disposition he is cruel, merciless, overbearing, and tyrannical; and benevolence and humanity are strangers to his breast. Proud, arrogant, and haughty as his general demeanour is, particularly to his inferiors, he is fawning and cringing to those above him, and the veriest slave imaginable, when in contact with those whose power he has reason to be afraid of. Suspicious perhaps as much from the general uncertainty of life and property in Morocco, as from his own natural disposition, there is no tie of faith or friendship which is not capable of being dissolved when any thing is likely to be obtained; to accomplish which he will descend to the lowest flattery, and the most servile acts of cunning wheedling. Liberality and generosity are unknown to him, or if he display those qualities, it is done from a certainty that he shall be well repaid for the exercise of them. It would have filled many of these pages had I related the numerous and almost incredible acts of meanness, even in the most paltry matters, which characterize all classes, but more particularly the higher, without even excepting the Sultan himself.

The Moor is avaricious to a degree; and in proportion as the danger is great, of being opulent, so does his desire seem to increase of amassing wealth. The great risk that every one who has the reputation of being rich incurs from the griping claws of the Sultan, obliges all to affect an appearance of poverty for their own security. On this account no Moor ever boasts or talks about his own possessions; and if you have a mind to frighten him effectually, you need only tax him with being wealthy. In his religion he is cruel and bigoted in the greatest extreme, persecuting Christians of all denominations, but more particularly holding in abhorrence the members of the Roman Catholic church, whom he considers as idolaters. The feelings of the Moor on this head are remarkably strong and universal; and no figure or resemblance of the human form is ever to be seen, whether in manuscript, drawings, ornaments, ornamental designs, or in any shape whatsoever, it being considered a sin; and when any portrait of a man, or print of the human figure, is shewn to them, it is easy to perceive demonstrations of uneasiness and aversion. From ignorance of the strong feelings entertained on this head, instances have occurred of costly presents having been made by the European powers to the Sultan, of plate magnificently chased and embossed with figures, but which has been instantly melted down; and one of the sovereigns of Spain having sent his own portrait, a compliment not unusual among European princes, it was immediately sent back.

'The above are sufficient to show the opinions they entertain in this respect. As to the other parts of the Moor's character, they may be summed up by observing, that he is naturally indolent, both from climate and general habits, grossly ignorant, hypocritical, zealous, vindictive, and a coarse and abandoned sensualist. On the other hand, he is patient under suffering, perfectly resigned to whatever infliction Providence may choose to visit him with, a scrupulous and rigid observer of the forms of his religion, and a firm and conscientious believer in its faith and his holy prophet. His predestinarian principles teach him to bear misfortunes with the patience and firmness of a philosopher, and on this account instances of suicides rarely occur.

If the Moor possess few of the virtues of civilized nations, despicable and worthless as his general character unquestionably is, still he is