Travels in Morocco Volume I Part 13

Their penurious lord keeps down their pin-money to the lowest point, and is not more liberal to his ladies than to his other subjects. Former sultans were accustomed to allow their ladies half a dollar a day, but these have but twopence, or at least fourpence. Muley Abd Errahman even traffics in his beauties, and will now and then make a present of one to a governor, in consideration of receiving an adequate return of money, or presents. Sometimes, the Moors pay their Shereefian Sultan a similar compliment, by presenting him with slaves from their harem. [38]

Madame Bousac is, of course, a perfect lady according to Moorish ideas, but her fascinations on the mind of the Emperor, arise more from her wit and ability than her feminine grace and delicacy. She is anything but a beauty, according to our ideas, being of a dark complexion, of middle height, of large and powerful muscular proportions, very upright, as if bending backwards, and with a hoa.r.s.e and masculine voice. Like most women in this part of the world, she is married to a man old enough to be her father, or even grandfather, being even more than double her age.

She herself may be about thirty, at which age the beauty of Barbary women is gone for ever. Such is the court-dame who has courage enough to speak to the Emperor of Morocco in public. She conversed with us about her affairs, telling us the Emperor had not yet advanced to her husband the loan of 10,000 dollars as promised, nor did she expect it, for she knew his avarice. "Rather would he sell one of his Sultanas." But he had sent her a present of four haiks, which she shewed us; they were extremely fine and white. "These," she observed, "are the ten thousand dollars paid in private, but which the Sultan could not refuse me in public."

Another character whom we visited, was the distinguished Rabbi, Coriante. The priest entertained us with dissertations upon various subjects. First of slavery. "It is unlawful to steal blacks, the Mosaic law denouncing such theft with the punishment of death. Nevertheless, if the Jews of this country had the power, they would enslave the Mussulman, and well castigate them."

This latter remark, Coriante uttered with an emphasis, denoting the revenge which his countrymen would inflict upon their Mahometan oppressors, who had kept them in chains for a series of ages. He remarked, however, that the Sultan might give way on the question of negro slavery, after the first shock to his prejudices.

The Rabbi treated us with wine, but one of us, moved by curiosity, having touched the bottle, he remarked to his daughter in an under-tone; "It's all gone," (the rest of the wine is spoiled). Among these extremely superst.i.tious Barbary rabbies, it is a pollution to their wine if a Christian touch even the bottle containing the juice of the grape, and they will not drink it afterwards.

We asked the reason of his not being able to drink, and found it was, first, because women work in the vineyards, and the second, because the Pope p.r.o.nounces his blessing upon the vintage. After these Jews have eaten meat, they are obliged to wait some time before they can eat b.u.t.ter, or drink milk; in fact, their superst.i.tions are numberless. The Rabbi read to us portions of the proverbs of Solomon, and told us Solomon was well acquainted with steam engines and railways, "Only they were of no use in the Holy Land when G.o.d was always with his people." He then gave us his blessing, and me this solemn warning. "Take care the Emperor does not cut off your head, as he has cut off the head of our young Darmon." [39]

END OF VOL. I.

[1] According to Xavier Darrieu.

[2] It has always been the policy of Mahometan States to send their troublesome subjects, such as were not considered rebel enough to decapitate or to imprison, on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Instead of expiating the sins of a buoyant patriotism at the galleys or the Bermudas, they are sent to slake their patriotic ardour at the holy wells of El-Kaaba.

[3] The late Emperor of Morocco.

[4] "Our Lord Jesus," the name by which the Moors, always mention Our Saviour.

[5] Moors entertain the lowest opinion possible of Spaniards. In an intercepted correspondence of the Emperor of Morocco, found at the Battle of Isly, Spaniards are called, "The most degraded of the human race."

[6] The climate of North Africa is remarkable for rusting everything which can contract rust. This may be the reason of the Moors representing Spain and other European countries as free from rust, because there it is not so soon contracted.

[7] Lord Palmerston proceeded in the same determined way with the Schah of Persia (See Parliamentary Papers on the Slave Trade, cla.s.s D, presented 1848). But Colonel s.h.i.+el was fortunate in obtaining several opinions of Mahomet that--"The worst of men is the seller of men"--was a powerful auxiliary. The perseverance of the Minister and his agents in Persia has been crowned with complete success; the Schah has issued a firman prohibiting the Slave Trade in his territories. This firman will complete our command over the Persian Gulf and the Arabian seas, and enable our cruisers to intercept the slavers from the eastern sh.o.r.e of Africa.

[8] No people understand better than the Moors the n.o.ble feeling of grat.i.tude, contained in the words "Non n.o.bis, Domine," &c.

[9] Although _Sultana_, i.e., "Sultanness or Princess," is a frequent name for a woman in this country, I hare never heard of a man being called Sultan; and, indeed, I imagine the jealousy of the reigning sovereign would never permit the use of such a name. But even in this country, where women are treated as so many household chattels, Moorish gallantry is sufficient to overlook these trivial or serious pretensions.

[10] "Souvenir d'un Voyage du Maroc," par M. Rey, Paris.

[11] The value of this ducat is about half-a-crown English money.

[12] Count Qrabert gives the following account of Maroquine Blacks: "The Blacks who form a very numerous part of the population are most of them slaves, and as it is customary in barbarous countries, become an object of trade, though not to be compared with that carried on in other parts of Barbary. The Black is generally of a soft and kind disposition, bears fatigue with patience, and shows a serene and lively temper, totally different in that respect from the Moor, who is taciturn and sullen.

Some of them have become men of prosperity and note, after having recovered their liberty. They are renowned for their fidelity, and form the most numerous part of the body-guards of the Sultan; that body-guard makes about the half of the army, which on an average compose a total of ten thousand men. The greater part of those Blacks comes from Senegambia, Guinea, and the dominions of the Fellah or Fellani."

(_Specchio geografico e Statistico dell' Impero di Marocco. Geneva._)

[13] Some time since, when the French Government were anxious to get supplies of grain from the Levant, for the north of France, they sent steamers to the Straits, to be ready to tow the vessels through, an example worthy of imitation, in other times besides seasons of famine.

[14] This conduct of Roman Catholic sailors has often been noticed.

Mahometans do the same, and resign themselves to fate, _i.e._, make no effort to save themselves; the only difference is, they are less noisy, and more sullen in their spiritless resignation.

[15] The entrance to the port of Mogador, however, is difficult to all seamen. We were besides in the depth of winter. The Prince de Joinville describes his mishaps during the height of summer, or in August, when placing his vessels in position before the town. He says in his report of the bombardment: "New difficulties, and of more than one kind awaited us. For four days, the violence of the wind and the roughness of the sea prevented us from communicating with one another. Anch.o.r.ed upon a rocky bottom, our anchors and cables broke, and the loss of them deprived us of resources which were indispensable in order to obtain our object.

Some vessels had only one chain and one anchor. We could not think of maintaining ourselves before Mogador under sail. The violence of the currents and of the gale, would probably have carried us too far, and we should have lost the opportunity of acting. Besides, in causing the steamers to get to proceed with us, they would have consumed their fuel, and in leaving them by themselves they would be exposed to run short of provisions and water. It was therefore necessary to remain at anchor. At last, the wind abated, and there remained of the hurricane of the preceding days, a considerable swell from N.N.W. Then the vessels were tormented by the swell, and became ungovernable."

[16] The Ancient Numidians rode without saddle or bridle They were celebrated as the "reinless" Numidians--

"Numidae infraeni."--(aenaid, iv., 41.)

We are aware that another meaning to _infraeni_ has been given, that of "indomitable;" but the peculiarity of these hors.e.m.e.n riding without reins is the usual rendering. But ordinarily, the modern Moorish cavalry is very comfortably mounted. Their saddles, with high backs, are as commodious as a chair. The large, broad, shovel-stirrups enable the rider to stand upright as on terra firma, whilst the sharp iron edges of the stirrups goring the ribs of the poor animal, serve as spurs. These lacerating stirrups are tied up short to the saddle, and the knees of the rider are bent forwards in a very ungainly manner. Nevertheless, the barb delights in the "powder play" as much as his master, and--

"Each generous steed to meet the play aspires, And seconds, with his own, his master's fires; He neighs, he foams, he paws the ground beneath, And smoke and flame his swelling nostrils breathe."

[17] The fire of the Barbary horse is generally known, but few reflect upon the power of endurance which this animal possesses. I have known them to go without water for two or three days when crossing the Desert, during which time they will only receive a small measure of corn or a few dates. On the coast, they are driven hard a long day, sweating, and covered with foam, their sides bleeding from the huge sharp-edged stirrups. Without the slightest covering, they are left out the whole night, and their only evening meal is a little chopped barley-straw.

Our European horses would perish under such circ.u.mstances, and the French have lost the greater part of the horses they imported from France for the cavalry. But this hard fare keeps down the fiery spirit of these stallion barbs, otherwise they would be unmanageable. When turned out to gra.s.s, they soon become wild. Crossing a field one day, mounted, I was set upon by a troop of these wild, grazing horses, and was instantly knocked to the ground, where I lay stunned. A cavalry officer, who was riding with me, had only just time to escape, and saved himself by dismounting, and letting his horse go.

It was some hours before we could rescue the horses of our party from their wild mates, sporting and bounding furiously over the plains. The barb horses being all stallions (for the Moors consider it a crime to geld so n.o.ble an animal), the fiercest and most terrific battles ensue on a stud breaking loose from their pickets. These battles are always between strangers, for the barb is the most affectionate of horses, and if he is known to another, and become his mate, he will, as the Arabs say, "die to be with him."

[18] These trained bands of negroes call themselves _Abeed-Sidi-Bokhari_, from the patron saint whom they adopted on settling in Morocco, the celebrated Sidi-Bokhari, commentator on the Koran, and a native of Bokhara, as his name implies. His commentary is almost as much venerated as the Koran itself.

[19] The _lex talion_ is frequently enforced in North Africa.

[20] Maroquine Moors drench you with tea! they guzzle sweet tea all day long, as the Affghans gulp down their tea, with b.u.t.ter in it, from morning to night.

[21] Native Jews manage most of the business of the interior, and farm the greater part of the monopolies. But the Emperor must have some European merchants connected with these Jews to maintain the commercial relations of his country with Europe. The Jewish High Priest of Mogador is a merchant, it being considered no interference with his sacred functions.

[22] See Appendix at end of Vol. II.

[23] Muley Abd Errahman is averse to treating his governors with extreme rigour. Mr. Hay gives an appalling account of private individuals arrested on suspicion of possessing great wealth--"The most horrible tortures are freely resorted to for forcing confessions of hidden wealth. The victim is put in a slow oven, or kept standing for weeks in a wooden dress; splinters are forced between the flesh and the nail of the fingers; two fierce cats are put alive into his wide trousers, and the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of his women are twisted with pincers. Young children have sometimes been squeezed to death under the arms of a powerful man, before the eyes of their parents."

A wealthy merchant at Tangier, whose _auri sacra fames_ had led him to resist for a long time the cruel tortures that had been, employed against him, yielded at length to the following trial. "He was placed in a corner of the room, wherein a hungry lion was chained in such a manner as to be able to reach him with his claws, unless he held himself in a most unnatural position." This reads very much like a description of the torments of the Inquisition. The Moors may have imported this system of torture from Spain. Similar barbarities were said to have been inflicted by King Otho on prisoners in Greece, even on British Ionian subjects! I recollect particularly the sewing up of fierce cats in the petticoats of women. My experience in Morocco does not permit me to authenticate Mr.

Hay's horrible picture.

[24] "To his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Morocco, Sidi Muley Abd Errahman.

"May it please your Majesty,

"A Society in England, having for its object the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade throughout the world, and denominated the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, being informed of the pacific intentions and friendly disposition of your Majesty towards our Sovereign Queen and Government, and being informed likewise, that your Majesty, in diplomatic relations with other Foreign Princes and States, has universally manifested the greatest desire to preserve peace amongst nations, and, of necessary consequence, the happiness of the human race, are encouraged to approach your Majesty, and to plead on behalf of a numerous and important cla.s.s of your subjects, the negro and other black slaves.

"These are a people always faithful to their friends and protectors (a most conspicuous and immediate proof of which is seen in your Majesty's Imperial Guard, formed princ.i.p.ally of this cla.s.s of your faithful subjects,) and exhibiting under suffering and oppression the greatest patience and fort.i.tude, yet, during the long course of bygone centuries, they have been subjected to horrid cruelties and barbarities, in order to pander to the vices and to satiate the avarice of their oppressors.

"Now we, the Society in England aforesaid, address your Majesty for the succour and protection of this cruelly oppressed portion of the human race, and in order that you may be graciously pleased to remove the chain of bondage from off these unfortunate victims of the violence and cupidity of wicked men, who, in defiance of all justice and mercy, claim them as their property, and buy and sell them as cattle.

"We further entreat that your Majesty would be graciously pleased to place the slaves in your Imperial dominions upon a footing of equality with the rest of your faithful subjects, and to make them free men, having the rightful possession of their own persons, and being at liberty to travel whithersoever they will.

"For your Majesty rightly understands and knows as well as we do, that G.o.d the Almighty Maker of us and you, has made all men equal, and has not permitted man to have property in his fellow man, which reduces them to the level of brutes; therefore, to make slaves of our fellows, our brothers and sisters, is to sin against the will and mind of G.o.d, and to provoke his wrath and indignation against us, and against our children after us.

"Consequently, we, the Society in England, aforesaid, in common with some of your own Mussulman sovereigns and people, hold Slavery, and the Slave Trade in extreme abhorrence, because it kills and destroys our brothers whom we ought to love and cherish, because it makes them like brutes, whom we ought to esteem as reasonable beings, because it hardens our own hearts and makes us cruel towards our fellows, whom we ought to treat with kindness and compa.s.sion, and because it deforms G.o.d's creatures, in whom we ought to revere his spiritual likeness, man being made after the likeness of G.o.d, in possessing a spiritual reasoning soul; these evils, however, are the direct and inevitable consequences of the accursed Slave Trade, and for such reasons we, the people of England in general, abhor it, and seek, in every legitimate and righteous way, to persuade men of every nation in the world to abandon this inhuman and wicked traffic.