An Account Of Timbuctoo And Housa Territories In The Interior Of Africa Part 14

[Footnote 157: This word is called by Europeans _haram_ or seraglio; but haram thus applied, is a barbarism: it signifies _vicious_. Horam is the correct p.r.o.nunciation: it signifies a place of safety, that admits of no intrusion.]

[Footnote 158: Thales, the chief of the seven wise men of Greece, detected the existence of electricity in amber about 600 years before the Christian era. He was the first who observed _attraction_ to be the distinguis.h.i.+ng property of amber; and he was so forcibly struck with this singular discovery, that he was almost led to suppose that it possessed animation. The term electricity is derived from the Greek word ??e?t???, amber. See Remarks on Electricity and Galvanism, by M. La Beaume, p. 29.]

[Footnote 159: There was a breed of these goats on the island of MoG.o.dor, kept there by the emperor's orders. This island is the state-prison of the empire.]

219

ON THE STATE OF SLAVERY IN MUHAMEDAN AFRICA.

The state of slavery in this country is very different from that which is experienced by the unfortunate men who are transported from Africa to work under our Christian brethren in the West India islands. No man, who is sufficiently erudite to read the Koran can be (_abd_) a slave in a Muhamedan country. It is inc.u.mbent on a good muselman to give such his liberty, that the propagation of the (_Deen el Wasah_[160]) muselman faith, be not impeded. A man who has served his master faithfully[161] seven years, sometimes gets liberated. This liberation, however, is not compulsory; but conscientious muselmen, of good moral character, often adopt this enlarging system. I have, however, met with many Moors, who, on offering liberty to their slaves, the latter have declined it, preferring to continue in obeisance; a clear proof that their servitude is not very severe. All slaves, without exception, are brought to this country from the various territories of Sudan, by the akkabars, kaffilas, or caravans, that traverse Sahara. They are all pagans or idolaters (from the interior regions). They are worth 220 from ten to twenty dollars at Timbuctoo; and at Marocco and Fas they sell for, from seventy to one hundred dollars. They are received into the Moorish families as domestic servants, and soon forget their idolatrous superst.i.tions, and become (nominally at least) Muhamedans. After which, many learn to read the Koran, and becoming observers of ablution and prostration, often procure their liberation; for if any one should neglect to liberate such a slave, his brethren in Muhamed will urge him to it, as a good and charitable work, becoming a true, muselman.[162]

[Footnote 160: So called by Muhamedans: _literally_ means the liberal of _wide doctrine_, alluding to that of the Arabian Prophet.]

[Footnote 161: Jeremiah, x.x.xiv. 14.]

[Footnote 162: The etymology of _muselman_ is, a man of peace; from _salem_, peace.]

The man who wrote the letter from Timbuctoo, giving his master at MoG.o.dor an account of Mungo Park, having visited Kabria, which letter I read, and reported its contents on my arrival in England from MoG.o.dor, about the year 1807, to my Lord Moira (now the Marquis of Hastings), to Sir Joseph Banks, and to Sir Charles Morgan, was a liberated negro of Seed el Abes Buh.e.l.lel, a Fas merchant, whose father had an establishment at Timbuctoo. When Buh.e.l.lel liberated this negro, he had such confidence in him, that he advanced to him, on his own personal credit, goods to a considerable amount, with which he crossed Sahara, and took them to Timbuctoo for a market. It were to be desired, for the sake of _humanity_, that our West-India planters would take a lesson on this subject from the Moors, whose conduct, in this particular, is worthy of imitation.

221

THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS.

_Their incredible Destruction.--Used as Food.--Remarkable Instance of their destroying every Green Herb on one Side of a River, and not on the other._

In the autumn of 1792, (Jeraad) locusts began to appear in West Barbary. The corn was in ear, and therefore safe, as this devouring insect attacks no hard substance. In (the _liahli_,) the period of heavy rains comprised between the forty longest nights, _old style_, they disappeared; so that one or two only were seen occasionally: but so soon as the _liahli_ had pa.s.sed, the small young green locust began to appear, no bigger than a fly. As vegetation increased, these insects increased in size and quant.i.ty.

But the country did not yet seem to suffer from them. About the end of March, they increased rapidly. I was at (_Larsa Sultan_) the emperor's garden, which belongs to the Europeans, and which was given to the merchants of MoG.o.dor by the emperor Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah, in the kabyl of Idaugourd, in the province of Haha, and the garden flourished with every green herb, and the fruit-trees were all coming forward in the productive beauty of spring. I went there the following day, and not a green leaf was to be seen: an 222 army of locusts had attacked it during the night, and had devoured every shrub, every vegetable, and every green leaf; so that the garden had been converted into an unproductive wilderness. And, notwithstanding the incredible devastation that was thus produced, not one locust was to be seen. The gardener reported, that (_sultan jeraad_) the king of the locusts had taken his departure eastward early in the morning; the myriads of locusts followed, so that in a quarter of an hour not one was to be seen. The depredations of these devouring insects was too soon felt, and a direful scarcity ensued. The poor would go out a locusting, as they termed it: the bushes were covered; they took their (_haik_) garment, and threw it over them, and then collected them in a sack. In half an hour they would collect a bushel. These they would take home, and boil a quarter of an hour; they would then put them into a frying-pan, with pepper, salt, and vinegar, and eat them, without bread or any other food, making a meal of them. They threw away the head, wings, and legs, and ate them as we do prawns. They considered them wholesome food, and preferred them to pigeons. Afterwards, whenever there was any public entertainment given, locusts was a standing dish; and it is remarkable that the dish was always emptied, so generally were they esteemed as palatable food.

A few years after the locusts appeared, I performed a journey from 223 MoG.o.dor to Tangier. The face of the country appeared like a newly ploughed field of a brown soil; for it was completely covered with these insects, insomuch that they had devoured even the bark of the trees. They rose up about a yard, as the horses went on, and settled again; in some places they were one upon another, three or four inches deep on the ground; a few were flying in the air, and they flew against the face, as if they were blind, to the no small annoyance of the traveller. It is very remarkable, that on reaching the banks of the river[163] Elkos, which we crossed, there was not, on the north side of that river, to my great astonishment, one locust any where to be seen; but the country was flouris.h.i.+ng in all the luxuriance of verdure, although the river was not wider than the Thames at Windsor. This extraordinary circ.u.mstance was accounted for by the Arabs, who said that not a locust would cross the river, till (_sultan jeraad_) the king of the locusts should precede and direct the way.

[Footnote 163: See the Map of the empire of Marocco.]

224

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIANITY _ON THE MOORS_.

(Mat. vii. 12.)

_Of the Propagation of Christianity in Africa.--Causes that prevent it.--The Mode of promoting it is through a friendly and commercial Intercourse with the Natives.--Exhortation to Great Britain to attend to the Intercourse with Africa.--Danger of the French colonizing Senegal, and supplanting us, and thereby depreciating the Value of our West-India Islands._

That it is a Christian duty to attempt, by lenient measures, to propagate the Christian religion among the Idolaters and Muhamedans of Africa, I think cannot be doubted; but this propagation will not spread to any considerable extent until, (in that country,) the morals of Christians in general shall approach nearer than they actually do to the standard of Christian perfection. It is, however, most certain that there never was a more promising, or a more favourable opportunity of subverting paganism in Africa, and establis.h.i.+ng Christianity on its ruins, than at this present period; and I think the best method to effect this desirable purpose is through the medium of commerce, which must, in that continent, necessarily precede science and civilisation. It is well 225 known, by all men of penetration who have resided in Muhamedan countries, that the principles of the religion of Muhamed are not so repugnant to Christianity as many, nay, most persons have imagined. Various causes, however, tend to increase the hostility that exists between the two religions. First, it is augmented by the fakeers, and by political men, who are ever active in bringing to their aid superst.i.tion and enthusiasm, to increase the hostility. Secondly, it is augmented by the very little intercourse which they have with Christians, originating, for the most part, in our ignorance of the Arabic language, an ignorance which has been lamented by the emperor[164] Seedy Muhamed ben Abdallah himself.

Thirdly, the hostility of these two religions is augmented by a very ancient tradition, that the country will be invaded by the Christians, and converted to Christianity, that this event will happen on a Friday (the Muhamedan sabbath), during the time that they are at the (_silla dohor_) prayers at half past one o'clock, 226 P.M.; so that throughout the empire they close the gates of all the towns on this day, at this period of time, till two o'clock, P.M.: when the prayers are over, and the people go out of the mosques, the gates are again thrown open. This tradition, which is universally believed, acts on the minds of the whole community, and fans the embers of hostility already lighted between Christians and Muhamedans, bringing to the recollection of the latter the hostile intentions of the former to invade and take their country from them, when an opportunity shall offer. On the other hand, what tends to reconcile the two creeds is, the influence that European commerce, and the principles of the Christian doctrine, have had on the muselmen of Africa. This influence extends as far as the commerce with Europeans extends. Wherever the Europeans negociate with the Moors, the great principle of the Christian doctrine is known and discussed,--that principle which surpa.s.ses every doctrine propagated by the Grecian philosophers, or the wise men of the East,--that truly n.o.ble, liberal, and charitable principle, "Do as you would be done by," influences the conduct of the better educated muselmen who have had long intercourse and negociations with Christians; and they do not fail to retort it upon us, whenever _our conduct_ deviates from it. Thus, the minds of muselmen, wherever European commerce flows, are tinctured with this great principle of the Christian doctrine. And, to an accurate 227 observer of mankind, it will appear that this principle, from its own intrinsic beauty, has in many superseded the muselman retaliative system of morality, originating in the Mosaic law,--"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." For I have heard muselmen, in their individual disputes with one another, advance this precept as a rule of conduct. If, therefore, this divine principle be recognised by muselmen, who have had intercourse and commercial negociations with Europeans, in defiance of the obstacles to this doctrine suggested by the fakeers and political men; what might we not expect from the due cultivation of an extensive commerce, upon a grand national scale, with this interesting continent? Might we not expect a gradual diffusion of the principles of Christianity among the muselmen, as well as among the pagans and idolaters, of Africa? I would venture to a.s.sert, that in the event of the British government engaging, with energy and determination, to cultivate a commercial intercourse and extensive connection with Africa, that the negroes, and possibly even the Muhamedans, might gradually be converted to Christianity.

This event would take a long time to accomplish, but its gradual progress, most probably, would be more rapid than was the progress of Muhamedanism during the life of the Arabian prophet.

[Footnote 164: When this Emperor, for the purpose of satisfying his people that he administered retributive justice, ordered two teeth of an English merchant to be drawn, he repented so much of what he had done, that he offered to make any amends that the merchant might require, expressing his wish that he had an English consul with whom he could converse colloquially, without the inconvenience of an interpreter; and for this purpose the Emperor, after granting him considerable favours, urged him to accept of the British consuls.h.i.+p; adding, that he himself would secure him the appointment, and that he would then refuse nothing, but whatsoever the English should ask of him, they should have.]

a.s.sociations have been formed in this philanthropic country, through the medium of extensive subscriptions, for the civilisation 228 of Africa, and the abolition of the slave trade: the greatest merit is due to the individuals who have subscribed to such inst.i.tutions; their motives have been unexceptionable, but we grossly deceive ourselves, and the whole is an illusion! The French, as it were, have taken the staff out of our hands; and whilst we are in vain endeavouring to abolish the trade in slaves, _by the capture of slave-s.h.i.+ps at sea_[165], they are insidiously cultivating the growth of cotton, coffee, sugar, indigo, and other colonial produce, on the banks of the Senegal river; insomuch that if we shall continue thus supinely to disregard their important African agricultural operations, the result in a few years will probably be, that they will be able to undersell us in West-India produce, in the markets of continental Europe; for they can cultivate, with free negroes at Senegal, colonial produce at considerably less expense than our West-India cultivation. The voyage, also, is not half the distance; so that the continental market for the sale of West-India produce will be shortly supplied from Senegal, from 229 whence it is more than probable that colonial produce will be imported to Europe at little more than half the expense of importing it from the West Indies: thus Great Britain may be driven out of the market for colonial produce, except for what may be sufficient for her own domestic supply.

[Footnote 165: Many naval officers concur in thinking, that to suppress the slave trade, by interrupting the s.h.i.+ps, would employ all the navy of Great Britain; and entail a war-expense on the nation; besides the enormous expense that will be necessarily incurred by the various commissions dispatched to Sierra Leone, Havannah, &c. &c. for the adjudication of slave-causes. To which may be added, our expensive presents to Spain and Portugal, to induce those powers to coalesce in the abolition; which there is too much reason to apprehend will be evaded by the subjects of those powers.]

This has been a favourite scheme of the French, who have now begun to taste the fruits of it: they have had it in view and in operation _ever since we gave them possession of Senegal_. It was the system of her late Emperor, Bonaparte, suggested to him by the arch and brilliant genius of Talleyrand, to indemnify the loss of St. Domingo.

Moreover, the French, who are cultivating the territory of Senegal with indefatigable industry, will be, in a few years, not only able to supply the continental markets of Europe with colonial produce, but they will become masters of North Africa, establish another Ceuta at the African promontory of the Cape de Verd, and, in the event of a war, annoy incalculably our East-India trade, and enhance the price of East-India produce in the British dominions; whilst they will, by the aid of the Americans, who will be always ready to a.s.sist them, form a depot for East-India goods at the Cape de Verd, and from thence introduce them into Africa and France, to the almost total exclusion of Great Britain. If we are to prevent these events from taking place, we must adopt different measures 230 from what we have adopted; we must move in a very different sphere from that in which we have been accustomed to move; we must be much more energetic, more vigilant, and more active than we have been, with respect to African matters. It is presumed that these suggestions are well deserving the consideration of His Majesty's ministers. May they view with the eye of an eagle and the wisdom of the serpent the insidious encroachments that are thus making on our colonial markets!!

The Africans, by which term I mean the natives, viz. the Moors, the Arabs, the Berebbers, the Sh.e.l.luhs, and the Negroes, (not the Jews, who, although numerous in this country, yet, as they are and have been ever since their Theocratical Government, a distinct race, and their customs and manners well known, I do not include them in the term Africans, although from their birth they are ent.i.tled to the appellation,)--the Africans, I say, are seldom met with in closed rooms, but are constantly in the open air, transacting their business in _dwarias_, which are detached rooms, or apartments, with three sides, the fourth being supported by pillars; this custom of living continually in or exposed to the external air renders them strong and healthy, wherefore their bodies, by an _antiperistasis_, have the natural heat repelled and kept within, increasing by this action their appet.i.te for food, which is always strong. They live in a frugal manner, seldom eating but of one 231 food: the prevailing dish throughout North Africa is cuscasoe, a granulated paste, cooked by steam, and garnished with vegetables, and chickens, or mutton; this is a very nutritive, palatable, and wholesome dish. They are not inc.u.mbered at their meals with a variety of dishes; but a large bowl, or s.p.a.cious plate, is introduced on a round table, supported by one pillar, like the _Monopodia_ of the ancients, rather larger than the bowl or dish, and about six inches high. Half a dozen Moors sit round this repast, on cus.h.i.+ons or on the ground, cross-legged; a position which they remain in with perfect ease and pliability from custom and the loose dress they wear. When the company have seated themselves, a slave or a servant comes round to the guests, to perform the ceremony of (_togreda_) was.h.i.+ng of the hands; a bra.s.s bason or pan, which they call _tas_, is brought round to all the company, the slave holding it by his left hand, while, with the right hand, he pours water on the hands of the guests from a (_garoff_) pitcher, in the form of an Etruscan vase, having (_zeef_) a towel thrown over his shoulder to dry their hands. This ceremony is performed before and after meals. The master of the feast, before they begin to eat, p.r.o.nounces (_Bismillah_) the grace before meat, which signifies, "In the name of G.o.d;" after the repast, he says (_El Ham'd u lillah_) "Praise be to G.o.d." Each guest eats with the fingers of his right hand, none ever touching the food with their left. If a piece of meat, or a joint of a fowl 232 or chicken is to be divided, two of the guests take hold of it, and pull it till it is divided. This is somewhat repugnant to an European's ideas of delicacy; but if we consider that the hands are previously washed, and that they never come in contact with the mouth in decent or respectable society, there is not so insuperable an objection to this way of eating as might otherwise appear. Each person in eating the granulated flour or cuscasoe, puts his two fore-fingers into the dish before him, and by a dextrous turn of the hand converts the quant.i.ty taken up into the form of a ball, which he, with a peculiar dexterity, jirks into the mouth. The Africans never drink till they have done eating; when dinner is over, a large goblet, or _poculum amicitiae_, of pure water is pa.s.sed round, and each person drinks copiously; the was.h.i.+ng is then repeated, and the repast is terminated. Afterwards coffee is introduced, without milk: the cup is not placed in a saucer, nor do they hand you a spoon, for the sugar is mixed in the coffee-pot; the cup is presented in an outer cup of bra.s.s, which preserves the fingers from being burned. They use no bells in their tents; but the slaves or servants are called by the master when wanted, one generally standing in the corner of the tent to superintend the others. The pipe is sometimes introduced after the coffee, but this is by no means a general custom, except among the negroes. The pipe is of rose-wood, of jasmin, or of rhododendrum wood: great 233 quant.i.ties of the latter are conveyed across the Sahara, for pipe-tubes for the negroes of Timbuctoo, and other territories of Sudan, bordering on the Nile el Abeed, or Nile of the Negroes (Niger).

Pa.s.sing through this territory of encampments, when travellers are disposed to sleep at a douar, one of the party presents himself at the confines of the encampment, and exclaims (_Deef Allah_) "The guest of G.o.d." The sheik of the douar is immediately apprised of the circ.u.mstance; and after investigating the rank of the travellers, he enquires if they have tents with them; if they have not, he has his own or (_kheyma deaf_) the guest's tent appropriated for the travellers. If they have their own tents, which persons of respectability generally have, the sheik comes and directs the servants where to pitch them; the camels and mules are disburdened, and the sheik declares (_ats.h.i.+e m'ha.s.sub alia_) "For all this baggage I hold myself accountable." Europeans travelling in this country generally follow their own customs: accordingly, among the English, tea is ordered; a most delectable refreshment after a fatiguing journey on horseback, exposed to the scorching rays of the African sun. If the sheik and a few of his friends are invited to tea, which these Arabs designate by (_elma skoon u el hadra_) hot water and conversation, they like it very sweet, and drink half-a-dozen cups at least. Nothing ingratiates travellers with these people so much as distributing a few lumps of sugar 234 among them: sugar, honey, or any thing sweet, being with these Arabs emblematical of peace and friends.h.i.+p. Some of the women of the Arabs are extremely handsome; in all the simplicity of nature "when unadorned adorned the most." To fine figures they unite handsome profiles, good and white teeth, and large, black, expressive, intelligent eyes, like the eyes of a gazel; dark eye-brows, and dark long eye-lashes, which give a peculiar warmth and softness to the eye. They concern themselves little about time, and will sometimes come to converse after midnight with the Europeans. When the guard of the tent informs them they cannot go in, that the Christian is a-bed and undressed, they are not less astonished than we are to see them sleeping in the open air at night, on the ground, with their clothes on. When candles are brought into the tent at night, the servant wishes the company a good evening: he says "_M'sah elkhere_," the literal meaning of which is "_Good be with you this evening_;" which salutation it is courteous to return, even to a slave; and if any one, however great his rank, were not to return it, he would be considered a bad muselman, a disaffected and inhospitable barbarian. The morning salutation is (_Alem Allah sebak_,) "May your morning be accompanied with the knowledge of G.o.d;" or, (_Sebah el khere_, or _sebahk b'elkhere_) "Good morning to you," or "May your morning be good." Equals meeting, touch hands, and then each kisses his own 235 respectively; they then say, (I now speak of the middle order of society,) "And how are you, and how have you been: how long it is since I saw you! and how are you, and how are your children; (_uhel Dar'k.u.me_,) and the people of your family, how are they, certainly you are well:" and so they will go on, sometimes for a quarter of an hour, repeating the same thing. If an inferior meets a superior, he kisses his hand or his garment and retires, when there is a greater disparity of rank, the inferior kisses the stirrup of the superior; or prostrates himself if the superior is a prince, a fakeer, or a bashaw.

Another salutation among respectable individuals is, by each placing his right hand on his heart, indicating that part to be the residence of the friend!

The Jews of this country retain the customs of their ancestors more pure and unmixed than those in other countries.

When a Jew dies he is interred the same day, or the day after at farthest. The female relations and the friends of the deceased a.s.semble round the corpse, and utter bitter lamentations, tearing their faces and their hair in a most woeful manner; they disfigure their faces with their finger-nails, till they bleed, and during the whole time keep stamping or moving their legs, beating time, as it were, with their feet; these lamentations are continued, with occasional intermission, till the body of the deceased is carried 236 away for interment. The performers of these bitter lamentations appear to have all the marks of hideous grief inscribed on their faces, but most of them feel no real concern; some of the girls, young and handsome, near akin to the deceased, are ambitious to disfigure themselves, and they lacerate their pretty faces most lamentably. The more wounds these bear on their cheeks the greater is their grief considered to be. But the corpse being removed the mourners regale themselves with _Mahaya_, or African brandy, and make up for their lamentations, by converting their bitter strains into conviviality.

There is a strange resemblance between this custom and that practised by the inhabitants of New Zealand; insomuch that we might imagine the latter to be one of the lost tribes of this extraordinary people. It is true that we have no record of such a perfection of navigation as to enable us to conjecture how a tribe of Jews could reach New Zealand: but many things remain in great obscurity even in this enlightened age; and we have had no historical record transmitted to us from the ancients of many extraordinary discoveries that recently have been made in Egypt.

237

INTEREST OF MONEY.

_Application of the Superflux of Property or Capital._

In this country the law allows no interest of money; the consequence is, that the country is overwhelmed with usurers, who exact, generally, an oath of secrecy, and lend money on pledges of valuable and convertible merchandise: the interest paid on these negociations is most exorbitant; I have known five, six, eight, ten, and even twelve per cent, per month paid for the use of money!

There is no paper money in this country; but a bank might be established at MoG.o.dor, for the convenience of internal trade: the _sine qua non_ of the bank should be, AN ADEQUATE CAPITAL. The advantages that would necessarily result from an establishment of this kind are incalculable; the paper of a bank, _thus established_, would be current in a short time, UNDER JUDICIOUS AND INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT, in all the territories of Sudan, through the heart of Africa, through Bambara, Timbuctoo, Houssa, Cashna, w.a.n.gara, Bernoh, Fas, and Marocco, and various other countries. The 238 immense advantages of the carriage of paper through the Desert and through Sudan, _convertible_ into cash at every commercial city, port, or district in a country like this, would greatly facilitate the operations of commerce; this must be evident to every political economist acquainted with the nature of commercial negociations in Africa.

The superflux of coin, consisting princ.i.p.ally of Mexico dollars, and doubloons, (over and above the quantum necessary for the circulating medium of commercial negociations,) is either buried under ground by the owner, or converted into jewels for the ladies of his family; there is a general propensity to these subterraneous hordes; the bulk of the people, the lower cla.s.ses in particular, have an idea that they will enjoy in the next world what they save in this; which opinion is not extraordinary, when we consider how many cases there are, wherein we see the sublimest capacity prostrate at the shrine of an _early imbibed_ superst.i.tion. Many of these erring philosophers, therefore, attentive to the acc.u.mulation of riches, retire from this sublunary world with an immense immolated treasure, wherewith to begin, as they imagine, their career in the world to come!

"We," they say, "convert our superflux to jewels and costly apparel for our females, and we have the gratification of seeing them well apparelled and agreeably ornamented. Moreover, a great part of our possessions is appropriated to the sacred rites of hospitality, 239 which you Christians know not how to practise; for you wors.h.i.+p the idol of ostentation; you invite your friends to dinner; you incur an intolerable and injudicious expense, and provide a multiplicity of dishes to pamper their appet.i.tes, sufficient for a regiment of muselmen; when nature and national beings, which men were born to be, require only one dish. Moreover, your sumptuous entertainments are given to those only who do not want; therefore is it an ostentatious and a wanton waste! We, on the contrary, that is to say, every good Muselman, gives one-tenth of his property to the poor; and moreover much of his substance is appropriated to the support, not of the rich and independent, who do not want it, but to (_deefan_) strange guests who journey from one country to another; insomuch that, with us, a poor man may travel by public beneficence and apt hospitality from the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean to the borders of Sahara, without a fluce[166] in (_has.h.i.+tuh_) the corner of his garment.[167] A traveller, however poor he may be, is never at a loss for a meal, several meals, and even for three days entertainment, wherever he travels through our country; and if any man were to go to a douar in any of the Arab 240 provinces of our Sovereign's empire, and not receive the entertainment and courtesy of a brother, that douar would be stamped with a stigma of indelible disgrace! Pardon us, therefore, if we say, you have not such hospitality in your country, although the great principle of (_Seedna Aisa_) our Lord Jesus, is charity." [168] I should, however, observe that this hospitality is shown almost exclusively to Muhamedans.

[Footnote 166: A fluce is a copper coin, one hundred of which are equal to sixpence English.]

[Footnote 167: In the corner of his garment:--The Africans have no pockets; they carry their money in the corner of their garment, and tie it with a knot to secure it.]

[Footnote 168: The Muhamedans acknowledge Jesus Christ to have been a Prophet that worked miracles; the indelible proof of his mission.]

Respecting women and horses, speaking of the treatment of them in England, they remark, that "England is a paradise for women, who are there exalted beyond the fitness of things; and it is (_gehennum_) a h.e.l.l for horses, for those poor ill-treated animals in the hackney coaches and carts, need only to be seen to be pitied; the hard blows which they receive from their cruel masters are calculated to impress our minds with an opinion that we are in a land of barbarians, whereas you call yourselves a civilised people: You say you are such; your actions deny the fact, and we judge by actions, not by words or self-commendations. When, therefore, you pride yourselves on your superiority and civilisation the whole is a delusion; and when we hear you set forth these absurd pretensions, we are compelled to commiserate our common race, and to exclaim, Alas, poor human nature!" This is the 241 verbatim reply that a very intelligent but irritated Muselman made to my animadversions on the absurdity of burying treasure. This gentleman's father had been amba.s.sador from the Emperor of Marocco to Great Britain, and to France; and had seen much of French, Spanish, and English manners, among the higher orders of society in those countries.

Too much cannot be said in commendation of this generous, open-hearted philanthropy of the Arabs, here described: but the intelligent reader will understand, that it applies particularly to the Arabs, or cultivators of the plains, in the empire of Marocco; and, in its large and unlimited extent, to the Bedouin or roving Arabs of the Sahara, and of Lower Suse, from whose (_kabyles_) clans, the Arabs cultivators are early emigrations; almost all of them having their original stock in the Sahara. It is also confined, almost exclusively, to Muhamedans, and does not, like the divine doctrine of Jesus Christ, with universal benevolence embrace all mankind, without distinction of party, sect, or nation;--a doctrine which has lately been put in considerable practice in our own country, by inst.i.tutions supported by voluntary subscriptions for the dest.i.tute, for foreigners in distress, and for negroes; by inst.i.tutions in aid and support of all needy persons labouring under sickness, or having need of surgical aid; by inst.i.tutions for the encouragement of industry, for the refutation of vice and 242 immorality; by inst.i.tutions that reflect immortal honour on this country, and cast a l.u.s.tre on the respective individuals who have contributed to all these heart-approving inst.i.tutions, which are calculated to afford relief to almost every description of suffering humanity!!