MOROCO. walls of which enclose a space of ground about three miles in circumference. It has a mosque, on the top of which are three large balls, formed, as the Moors allege, of solid gold. 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 upon approaching or entering them, that effect in a great measure ceases.
The Jews, who are at this place pretty numerous, have a separate town to themselves, walled in, 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 of their own; and when they enter the Moorish town, castle, or palace, they are always compelled to be barefooted.
The palace is an ancient building, surrounded by a square wall, the height of which nearly excludes from the view of 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 these it is necessary to pass before we reach any of the buildings. These open courts were used by the late emperor for the purposes of transacting public business and exercising his troops. The habitable part 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 Douhar, 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 Mogadore pavilion, so named from the late emperor's partiality to that town, has by far the fairest claim to grandeur and magnificence. 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 chequered 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 the late emperor manifested an exclusive preference, frequently retiring to it both for the purpose of business
and of recreation. 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 carpeting, 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.