an empire of Africa, comprehending Situation a considerable part of the ancient Mauritania, is bound and bounded on the west by the Atlantic ocean; on the east by daries, the river Mulvya, which separates it from Algiers; on the north by the Mediterranean; and on the south by Mount Atlas, or rather by the river Sus, which divides it from the kingdom of Tafilet. Its greatest length is from the north-east to the south-west, amounting to above 590 miles; its breadth is not above 260 where broadest, and in the narrowest places it is not above half that breadth.

The ancient history of Morocco has been already History given under the article MAURITANIA. It continued under the dominion of the Romans upwards of 400 years. On the decline of that empire it fell under the Goths, who held it till about the year 600, when the Goths were driven out by the Vandals, the Vandals by the Greeks, and they in their turn by the Saracens, who conquered not only this empire, but may say the whole continent of Africa; at least their religion, one way or other, is to be found in all parts of it. The Saracen empire did not continue long united under one head, and many princes set up for themselves in Africa as well as elsewhere, through whose dissensions the Almoravides were at length raised to the sovereignty, as related under the article Algiers, No. 2. Yulef, or Joseph, the second monarch of that line, built the city of Morocco, conquered the kingdom of Fez, and the Moorish dominions in Spain; all which were lost by his grandson Abbu Halli, who was defeated and killed by the Spaniards. On this prince's death the crown passed to the Mohedians, or Almohedes, with whom it had not continued above three generations, when Mohammed the son of Al Manfur lost the famous battle of Sierra Morena, in which 200,000 Moors were slain, and in consequence of which Alphonso X. retook a great many of the Moorish conquests immediately after.

Mohammed died soon after this disgrace, and left several sons, between whom a civil war ensued, during which the viceroys of Fez, Tunis, and Tremefen, found means to establish themselves as independent princes. At length one of the princes of the royal blood of Tremefen having defeated the Almohedes, made himself master of the kingdoms of Morocco and Fez, and entailed them on his own family. In a short time, however, this family was expelled by the Merini, the Merini by the Oatazes, and these by the Sharifs of Hafcen, who have kept the government ever since.

Nothing can be conceived more unjust and despotic than the government of Morocco, and nothing more degenerate than the character of the people. The emperor is allowed to have not only an uncontrollable power over the lives and fortunes of his subjects, but in a great measure over their consciences, in as much as he is the only person who, as the successor of the prophet, has a right to interpret the Koran; and appoints all the judges under him, of whom those of Morocco and Fez are the chief, whose business it is to explain and dispense all matters relating to their religion; and who, being his creatures and dependents, dare not steer otherwise than as he directs. Whenever therefore the laws are enacted by him, and proclaimed by his governors in all the provinces, as is commonly done, that none may plead ignorance, they are everywhere received with an implicit and religious submission. On the other hand, the subjects are bred up with a notion, that those who die in the execution of his command are entitled to an immediate admittance into paradise, and those who have the honour to die by his hand to a still greater degree of happiness in it. After this we need not wonder at finding so much cruelty, oppression, and tyranny on the one side, and so much submission, patience, and misery on the other.

This latter, however, extends no farther than the Moors: for as to the mountaineers, the subjection and tribute they pay to those tyrants was always involuntary; and as for the negroes, their zeal and attachment is owing merely to the great sway and power which they have gained in the government, on various accounts. They were first introduced, or rather their importation increased, by the policy of Muley Ishmael, a late emperor, at a period when there was a great decrease of population in the empire, occasioned in some degree by the enormous cruelties exercised by its former sovereigns, who have been known not unfrequently, through a slight disgust, to abandon a whole town or province to the sword. In the character of Muley Ishmael were found the most singular inconsistencies; for it is certain, that although a tyrant, yet in other respects, as if to repair the mischief which he committed, he left nothing undone for the encouragement of population.—He introduced large colonies of negroes from Guinea; built towns for them, many of which are still remaining, affiged them portions of land, and encouraged their increase by every possible means. He soon initiated them in the Mahometan faith; and had his plan been followed, the country by this time would have been populous, and probably flourishing. As the negroes are of a more lively, active and enterprising disposition than the Moors, they might soon have been taught the arts of agriculture; and their singular ingenuity might have been directed to other useful purposes. It is true, Muley Ishmael, when he adopted this plan, had more objects in view than that of merely peopling his dominions. He saw plainly that his own subjects were of too capricious a disposition to form foldiers calculated for his tyrannical purposes. They had uniformly manifested an inclination to change their sovereigns, though more from the love of variety than to reform the government, or restrain the abuses of tyranny. Muley Ishmael had discernment enough to see, that by forming an army of slaves, whose sole dependence should rest upon their master, he could easily train them in such a manner as to act in the strictest conformity to his wishes. He soon learnt that the great object with the negroes was plenty of money and liberty of plunder; in these he liberally indulged them, and the plan fully answered his expectations. Though, however, Muley Ishmael had no great merit in introducing subjects for the purposes of tyranny, yet the good effects of this new colonization were very generally experienced. By intermarrying among themselves, and intermixing among the Moors (for the Moors will keep negro women as concubines, though they seldom marry them), a new race of people started up, who became useful subjects as the native inhabitants, and brought the empire into a much more flourishing state than it had ever been in since their great revolution.

Sidi Mahomet, his grandson and successor, had different views, and was actuated by different motives. From his inordinate avarice, he ceased to act towards his black troops in the generous manner which had distinguished his predecessor Muley Ishmael; and they soon showed themselves discontented with his conduct. They offered to place his eldest son Muley Ali, on the throne; but this prince, not unmindful of the duty which he owed his father and sovereign, declined their offer. They next applied to Muley Yazid, who at first accepted of the affiance they tendered, but in a short time relinquished the plan. Sidi Mahomet, disgusted with this conduct of the negroes, determined to curb their growing power, by disbanding a considerable part of these troops, and banishing them to distant parts of the empire.

A most flagrant species of despotism, which renders the emperors more formidable to their subjects, is their of the emperors making themselves their sole heirs, and, in virtue of that, perors, feigning upon all their effects, and making only such provision for their families as they think proper; and often, on some frivolous pretence, leaving them destitute of any, according to the liking or dislike they bear to the deceased; so that, upon the whole, they are the only makers, judges, and interpreters, and in many instances likewise the executioners, of their own laws, which have no other limits than their own arbitrary will. The titles which the emperors of Morocco assume, are those of Most glorious, mighty, and noble emperor of Africa; king of Fez and Morocco, Taflet, Sus, Dorka, and all the Algarbe, and its territories in Africa; grand Sharif (or, as others write it, Xarif), that is, successor or vicegerent, of the great Prophet Mohammed, &c.

The judges or magistrates who act immediately under the emperor are either spiritual or temporal, or rather ecclesiastical and military. The mufti and the cadis are judges of all religious and civil affairs; and the bashaws, governors, alcaldes, and other military officers, of those that concern the state or the army: all of them the most obsequious creatures and slaves of their prince, and no less the rapacious tyrants of his subjects, and from whom neither justice nor favour can be obtained but by mere dint of money and extortionate bribery, from the highest to the lowest. Neither can it indeed be otherwise in such an arbitrary government, where the highest posts must not only be bought of the prince at a most extravagant price, and kept only by as exorbitant a tribute, which is yearly paid to him, but where no one is sure to continue longer than he can bribe some of the courtiers to insinuate to the monarch that he pays to the utmost of his power and much beyond what was expected from him. There are instances of the sultan elevating at once a common folder to the rank of a bashaw, or making him a confidential friend; the following day he would perhaps imprison him, or reduce him again to the station of a private folder. Yet such is the disposition of these people, that they have an unbounded thirst for rank and power with all their uncertainties; and what is more extraordinary, when they have obtained a high station, they seldom fail to afford their sovereign a plea for ill treating them, by abusing in some way or other their trust.

From what has been said, it may be reasonably concluded that the revenue arising to the emperor from the last-mentioned source, that of bribery, extortion, and confiscation, must be very considerable, though there is no possibility to make any other conjecture of its real amount than that it must be an immense one. Another considerable branch is the piratical trade, which brings the greater income into his treasury, as he is not at any expense either for fitting out of corsair vessels, or maintaining their men; and yet has the tenth of all the cargo and of all the captives; besides which, he appropriates to himself all the rest of them, by paying the captors 50 crowns per head, by which means he engrosses all the slaves to his own service and advantage. This article is indeed a very considerable addition to his revenue, not only as he sells their ransom at a very high rate, but likewise as he has the profit of all their labour, without allowing them any other maintenance than a little bread and oil, or any other assistance when sick, than what medicines a Spanish convent, which he tolerates there, gives them gratis; and which, nevertheless, is forced to pay him an annual present for that toleration, besides furnishing the court with medicines, and the slaves with lodging and diet when they are not able to work. Another branch of his revenue consists in the tenth part of all cattle, corn, fruits, honey, wax, hides, rice, and other products of the earth, which is exacted of the Arabs and Berbers, as well as of the natives; and these are levied, or rather farmed, by the bashaws, governors, alcaldes, &c., with all possible severity. The Jews and Christians likewise pay an income or capitulation, the former of six crowns per head on all males from 15 years and upwards, besides other arbitrary imposts, fines, &c. That on the Christians, for the liberty of trading in his dominions, rises and falls according to their number, and the commerce they drive; but which, whatever it may bring yearly into his coffers, is yet detrimental to trade in general, seeing it discourages great numbers from settling there, notwithstanding the artful invitations which the emperors and their ministers make use of to invite them to it; for, besides those arbitrary exactions, there is still another great hardship attending them, viz. that they cannot leave the country without forfeiting all their debts and effects to the crown. The duties on all imports and exports is another branch of his income, the amount of which, it is said, does not exceed 165,000l. per annum.

The climate of the empire of Morocco is in general sufficiently temperate, healthy, and not so hot as its situation might lead us to suppose. The chain of mountains which form Atlas, on the eastern side, defends it from the east winds, that would scorch up the earth were they frequent. The summit of these mountains is always covered with snow; and their abundant descending streams spread verdure through the neighbourhood, make the winter more cold, and temper the heats of summer. The sea on the west side, which extends along the coast from north to south, also refreshes the land with regular breezes, that seldom vary according to their seasons. At a distance from the sea, within land, the heat is so great, that the rivulets become dry in summer; but as in hot countries dews are plentiful, the nights are there always cool. The rains are tolerably regular in winter; and are even abundant, though the atmosphere is not loaded with clouds as in northern latitudes. Those rains which fall by intervals are favourable to the earth, and increase its fecundity. In January the country is covered with verdure, and enamelled with flowers. Barley is cut in March, but the wheat harvest is in June. All fruits are early in this climate; and in forward years the vintage is over in the beginning of September. Though in general there is more uniformity and less variation in hot than in northern climates, the first are nevertheless exposed to the intemperance of weather: too heavy rains often impede the harvest; and drought has still greater inconveniences, for it endures the propagation of locusts.

The soil of Morocco is exceedingly fertile. It is soil, and most so in the inland provinces. On the western coast it is in general light and stony, and is better adapted to the vine and olive than the culture of wheat. They annually burn, before the September rains, the stubble, which is left rather long; and this and the dung of cattle, every day turned to pasture, form the sole manure the land receives. The soil requires but little labour, and the ploughing is so light that the furrows are scarcely five inches deep; for which reason, in some provinces, wooden ploughshares are used for cheapness.

The empire of Morocco might supply itself with all productions, as well from the abundance and nature of its products, as from the few natural or artificial wants of the Moors occasioned by climate or education. Its wealth consists in the fruitfulness of its soil: its corn, fruits, fruits, flocks, flax, salt, gums, and wax, would not only supply its necessities, but yield a superflux, which might become an object of immense trade and barter with other nations. Such numerous exports might return an inexhaustible treasure, were its government fixed and secure, and did subjects enjoy the fruits of their labour and their property in safety. The increase of corn in Morocco is often as sixty to one, and thirty is held to be but an indifferent harvest.

The Moors, naturally indolent, take little care of the culture of their fruits. Oranges, lemons, and thick-skinned fruits, the trees of which require little nurture, grow in the open fields; and there are very large plantations of them found, which they take the trouble to water in order to increase their product. Their vines, which yield excellent grapes, are planted as far as the 33rd degree, as in the southern provinces of France, and are equally vigorous. But at Morocco, where they yield a large and delicious grape, they are supported by vine poles five and six feet above ground; and as they are obliged to be watered, the little wine made there is seldom preserved. Figs are very good in some parts of the empire, but toward the south they are scarcely ripe before they are full of worms; the heats and night dews may, perhaps, contribute to this speedy decay. Melons, for the same reason, are rarely eatable; they have but a moment of maturity; which passes so rapidly that it is with difficulty seized. Water melons are everywhere reared, and in some provinces are excellent. Apricots, apples, and pears, are in tolerable plenty in the neighbourhood of Fez and Mequinez, where water is less scarce and the climate more temperate. But in the plain, which extends along the western coast, these delicate fruits are very indifferent, have lost juice or taste, and the peaches there do not ripen. The tree called the prickly pear, or the Barbary fig, is plentifully found in the empire of Morocco; and is planted round vineyards and gardens, because its thick and thorny leaves, which are wonderfully prolific, form impenetrable hedges. From these leaves a fruit is produced, covered with a thorny skin, that must be taken off with care. This fruit is mild, and full of very hard, small kernels. The olive is everywhere found along the coast, but particularly to the south.

In the province of Suz, between the 25th and 30th degrees, the inhabitants have an almond harvest, which varies little because of the mildness of the climate; but the fruit is small, for which reason they take little care of the trees, and they degenerate with time. The palm tree is common in the southern provinces of Morocco; but dates ripen there with difficulty, and few are good except in the province of Suz and toward Taflet. On the coast of Sallee and Mamora there are forests of oak, which produce acorns near two inches long. They taste like chestnuts, and are eaten raw and roasted. Salt abounds in the empire, and in some places on the coast requires only the trouble of gathering. Independent of the salt pits formed by the evaporation of the soft water, there are pits and lakes in the country whence great quantities are obtained. It is carried even as far as Tombut, whence it passes to the interior parts of Africa.

The Moors cultivate their lands only in proportion to their wants; hence two-thirds of the empire at least lie waste. Here the doum, that is, the fan or wild palm tree, grows in abundance; and from which those people, when necessity renders them industrious, find great advantage. The shepherds, mule-drivers, camel drivers, and travellers, gather the leaves, of which they make mats, fringes, baskets, hats, boarsis or large wallets to carry corn, twine, ropes, girths, and covers for their pack saddles. This plant, with which also they heat their ovens, produces a mild and resinous fruit that ripens in September and October. It is in form like the raisin, contains a kernel, and is astringent and very proper to temper and counteract the effects of the watery and laxative fruits, of which these people in summer make an immoderate use.

Unacquainted with the sources of wealth of which their ancestors were possessed, the Moors pretend there are gold and silver mines in the empire, which the emperors will not permit to be worked, lest their subjects should thus find means to shake off their yoke. It is not improbable but that the mountains of Atlas may contain unexplored riches; but there is no good proof that they have ever yielded gold and silver. There are known iron mines in the south; but the working of them has been found too expensive, that the natives would rather use imported iron, notwithstanding the heavy duty it pays, by which its price is doubled. There are copper mines in the neighbourhood of Santa Cruz, which are not only sufficient for the small consumption of the empire, where copper is little used, but are also an object of exportation, and would become much more so were the duties less immoderate.

Neither the elephant nor the rhinoceros is to be found either in this or the other states of Barbary; but the deserts abound with lions, tigers, leopards, hyenas, and monstrous serpents. The Barbary horses were formerly very valuable, and thought equal to the Arabian. Though the breed is now said to be decayed, yet some very fine ones are occasionally imported into England. Camels and dromedaries, asses, mules, and kumrabs (a most serviceable creature, begot by an ass upon a cow), are their beasts of burden. Their cows are but small, and barren of milk. Their sheep yield but indifferent fleeces, but are very large, as are their goats. Bears, porcupines, foxes, apes, hares, rabbits, ferrets, weasels, moles, chameleons, and all kinds of reptiles, are found here. Partridges and quails, eagles, hawks, and all kinds of wild fowl, are frequent on the coast.

The principal mountains form the chain which goes under the name of Mount Atlas, and runs the whole length of Barbary from east to west, passing through Morocco, and abutting upon that ocean which separates the eastern from the western continent, and is from this mountain called the Atlantic Ocean. See Atlas. The principal rivers, besides the Malva or Muluya above mentioned, which rises in the deserts, and running from south to north divides Morocco from the kingdom of Algiers, are the Suz, Ommirabib, Rabbata, Larache, Darodt, Sebon, Gueron, and Tensift, which rise in Mount Atlas, and fall into the Atlantic ocean.

The traffic of the empire by land is either with Arabia-Inlandia or Negroland: to Mecca they send caravans, consisting of several thousand camels, horses, and mules, twice every year, partly for traffic, and partly on a religious account; for numbers of pilgrims take that opportunity of paying their devotions to their great prophet. The goods they carry to the east are woollen manufactures, manufactures, leather, indigo, cochineal, and ostrich feathers; and they bring back from thence, silk, muslins, and drugs. By their caravans to Negroland, they fend salt, silk, and woollen manufactures, and bring back gold and ivory in return, but chiefly negroes.

The caravans always go strong enough to defend themselves against the wild Arabs in the deserts of Africa and Asia; though, notwithstanding all their vigilance, some of the stragglers and baggage often fall into their hands: they are also forced to load one-half of their camels with water, to prevent their perishing with drought and thirst in those inhospitable deserts. And there is still a more dangerous enemy, which is the sand itself: when the winds rise, the caravan is perfectly blinded with dust; and there have been instances both in Africa and Asia, where whole caravans, and even armies, have been buried alive in the sands.

The natives have hardly any trading vessels, but are seldom without some corsairs. These, and European merchant ships, bring them whatever they want from abroad; as linen and woollen cloth, stuffs, iron wrought and unwrought, arms, gunpowder, lead, and the like: for which they take in return, copper, wax, hides, Morocco leather, wool (which is very fine), gums, soap, dates, almonds, and other fruits. The duties paid by the English in the ports of Morocco are but half those paid by other Europeans. It is a general observation, that no nation is fond of trading with these states, not only on account of their capricious despotism, but the villany of their individuals, both natives and Jews, many of whom take all opportunities of cheating, and when detected are seldom punished.

The land forces of the emperor of Morocco consist principally of black troops, and some few white; amounting altogether to an army of about 36,000 men upon the establishment, two-thirds of which are cavalry. This establishment, however, upon occasion, admits of a considerable increase, as every man is supposed to be a soldier, and when called upon is obliged to act in that capacity. About 6000 of the standing forces form the emperor's body guard, and are always kept near his person; the remainder are quartered in the different towns of the empire, and are under the charge of the bashaws of the provinces. They are all clothed by the emperor, and receive a trifling pay; but their chief dependence is on plunder, which they have frequent opportunities of acquiring.

The black troops are naturally of a very fiery disposition, capable of enduring great fatigue, hunger, thirst, and every difficulty to which a military life is exposed. They appear well calculated for skirmishing parties, or for the purpose of harassing an enemy; but were they obliged to undergo a regular attack, from their total want of discipline they would soon be routed. In all their manoeuvres they have no notion whatever of order and regularity, but have altogether more the appearance of a rabble than of an army.

The emperor's navy consists of about 15 small frigates, a few xebecs, and between 20 and 30 row-galleys. The whole is commanded by one admiral; but as these vessels are principally used for the purposes of piracy, they seldom unite in a fleet. The number of the seamen in service is computed at 6000.

The coins of this empire are a fluce, a blanquil, and ducat. The fluce is a small copper coin, 20 whereof make a blanquil, of the value of twopence sterling. The blanquil is of silver, and the ducat of gold, not unlike that of Hungary, and worth about nine shillings. Both these pieces are liable to be clipped and filed by the Jews, that the Moors always carry scales in their pockets to weigh them; and when they are found to be much diminished in their weight, they are recoined by the Jews, who are matters of the mint, by which they gain a considerable profit; as they do also by exchanging the light pieces for those that are full weight. Merchants accounts are kept in ounces, 10 of which make a ducat; but in payments to the government, it is said they reckon 17 one-half for a ducat.

With respect to religion, the inhabitants of Morocco are Mohammedans, of the sect of Ali; and have a chief or high-priest, who is also the supreme civil magistrate, and the last resort in all causes ecclesiastical and civil. They have a great veneration for their hermits, and for idiots and madmen; as well as for those who by their tricks have got the reputation of wizzard: all whom they look upon as inspired persons, and not only honour as saints while they live, but build tombs and chapels over them when dead; which places are not only religiously visited by their devotees far and near, but are esteemed inviolable sanctuaries for all sorts of criminals except in cases of treason.

Notwithstanding the natives are zealous Mohammedans, they allow foreigners the free and open profession of their religion, and their very slaves have their priests and chapels in the capital city; though it must be owned that the Christian slaves are here treated with the utmost cruelty. Here, as in all other Mohammedan countries, the Alcoran and their comments upon it are their only written laws; and though in some instances their cadi and other civil magistrates are controlled by the arbitrary determinations of their princes, bashaws, generals, and military officers, yet the latter have generally a very great deference and regard for their laws. Murder, theft, and adultery, are commonly punished with death: and their punishments for other crimes, particularly those against the state, are very cruel; as impaling, dragging the prisoner through the streets at a mule's heels till all his flesh is torn off, throwing him from a high tower upon iron hooks.

The inhabitants of the empire of Morocco, known by the name of Moors, are a mixture of Arabian and of the African nations formed into tribes; with the origin of Morocco, of whom we are but imperfectly acquainted. These tribes, each strangers to the other, and ever divided by traditional hatred or prejudice, seldom mingle. It seems probable that most of the caits who occupy the provinces of Morocco have been repulsed from the eastern to the western Africa, during those different revolutions by which this part of the world has been agitated; that they have followed the standard of their chiefs, whose names they have preserved; and that by these they, as well as the countries they inhabit, are distinguished. At present these tribes are called cabilles or cabiles, from the Arabic word kabilea; and they are so numerous, that it is impossible to have a knowledge of them all. The native subjects of the empire of Morocco may be divided into two principal classes; the Brebes and the Moors.

The etymology of the name, and the origin of the people, of the first class, are equally unknown. Like the Moors, at the time of the invasion by the Arabs, they may have adopted the Mahometan religion, which is consonant to their manners and principal usages; but they are an ignorant people, and observe none of the precepts of that religion, but the aversion it enjoins against other modes of worship.

Confining to the mountains, the Brebes preserve great animosity against the Moors, whom they confound with the Arabs, and consider as usurpers.—They thus contract in their retreats a ferocity of mind, and a strength of body, which makes them more fit for war and every kind of labour than the Moors of the plains in general are. The independence they boast of gives even a greater degree of expression to their countenance. The prejudices of their religion make them submit to the authority of the emperors of Morocco; but they throw off the yoke at their pleasure, and retire into the mountains, where it is difficult to attack or overcome them. The Brebes have a language of their own, and never marry but among each other. They have tribes or castes among them who are exceedingly powerful both by their number and courage.

The Moors of the plains may be distinguished into those who lead a pastoral life, and those who inhabit the cities.

The former live in tents; and that they may allow their ground a year's rest, they annually change the place of their encampments, and go in search of fresh pasturage; but they cannot take this step without acquainting their governor. Like the ancient Arabs, they are entirely devoted to a pastoral life: their encampments, which they call douchars, are composed of several tents, and form a crescent; or they are ranged in two parallel lines, and their flocks, when they return from pasture, occupy the centre.

The tents of the Moors, viewed in front, are of a conical figure; they are from 8 to 10 feet high, and from 20 to 25 feet long; like those of high antiquity, they resemble a boat reversed. They are made of cloth composed of goats and camels' hair, and the leaves of the wild palm, by which they are rendered impervious to water; but at a distance their black colour gives them a very disagreeable look.

The Moors, when encamped, live in the greatest simplicity, and exhibit a faithful picture of the inhabitants of the earth in the first ages of the world. The nature of their education, the temperature of the climate, and the rigour of the government, diminish the wants of the people, who find in their plains, in the milk and wool of their flocks, every thing necessary for food and clothing. Polygamy is allowed among them; a luxury so far from being injurious to a people who have few wants, that it is a great convenience in the economy of those societies, because the women are intrusted with the whole care of the domestic management. In their half-closed tents, they are employed in milking the cows for daily use; and when the milk abounds, in making butter, in picking their corn, their barley, and pulse, and grinding their meal, which they do daily in a mill composed of two stones about 18 inches in diameter, the uppermost having a handle, and turning on an axis fixed in the under one: they make bread likewise every day, which they bake between two earthen plates, and often upon the ground after it has been heated by fire. Their ordinary food is the coofcoofoo; which is a paste made with their meal in the form of small grains like Italian pasta. This coofcoofoo is dressed in the vapour of boiling soup, in a hollow dish perforated with many small holes in the bottom, and the dish is enclosed in a kettle where meat is boiled; the coofcoofoo, which is in the hollow dish, grows gradually soft by the vapour of the broth, with which it is from time to time moistened. This simple food is very nourishing, and even agreeable when one has got the better of the prejudices which every nation entertains for its own customs. The common people eat it with milk or butter indifferently; but those of higher rank, such as the governors of provinces and lieutenants, who live in the centre of the encampments, add to it some succulent broth, made with a mixture of mutton, poultry, pigeons, or hedgehogs, and then pour on it a sufficient quantity of fresh butter.

The women in their tents spin wool, and weave it into cloth on looms suspended the whole length of the tent. Each piece is about five ells long, and one and a half broad; it is neither dressed nor dyed, and it has no seam; they wash it when it is dirty; and as it is the only habit of the Moors, they wear it night and day. It is called haick, and is the true model of the ancient draperies.

The Moors of the plain wear nothing but their dres, &c., woollen stuff; they have neither shirts nor drawers. Linen among these people is a luxury known only to those of the court or the city. The whole wardrobe of a country Moor in easy circumstances consists in a haick for winter, another for summer, a red cap, a hood, and a pair of flippers. The common people both in the country and in towns wear a kind of tunic of woollen cloth, white, gray, or striped, which reaches to the middle of the leg, with great sleeves and a hood; it resembles the habit of the Carthusians.

The women's dres in the country is likewise confined to a haick, which covers the neck and the shoulders, and is fastened with a silver clasp. The ornaments they are fondest of are ear rings, which are either in the form of rings or crescents, made of silver, bracelets, and rings for the small of the leg; they wear these trinkets at their most ordinary occupations; less out of vanity than because they are unacquainted with the use of caskets or cabinets for keeping them. They also wear necklaces made of coloured glass beads or cloves strung on a cord of silk.

The Moors consider their wives less in the light of companions than in that of slaves destined to labour. Except in the business of tillage, they are employed in every servile operation; nay, in some of the poorer quarters a woman is often seen yoked in a plough along with a mule, an ass, or some other animal. When the Moors remove their douchars, all the men seat themselves in a circle on the ground; and with their elbows resting on their knees, pass the time in conversation, while the women strike the tents, fold them up into bundles, and place them on the backs of their camels or oxen. The old women are then each loaded with a parcel, and the young carry the children on their shoulders. shoulders suspended in a cloth girt round their bodies.

In the more southern parts the women are likewise employed in the care of the horses: the husband, who in these climates is always a depot, ifuses his orders, and seems only made to be obeyed.

The marriage ceremonies of the Moors that live in tents pretty much resemble those of the same people that live in the cities. In the douchars they are generally most brilliant and gay; the strangers that pass along are invited, and made to contribute to the feast; but this is done more from politeness than from any mercenary motive.

The tribes of the plain generally avoid mixing by marriage with one another: the prejudices that divide these people are commonly perpetuated; or, if they are partially healed, they never fail to revive upon trifling occasions, such as a strayed camel, or the preference of a pasture or a well. Marriages have sometimes taken place among them, that, so far from cementing their differences, have occasioned the most tragical scenes. Husbands have been known to murder their wives, and women their husbands, to revenge national quarrels.

Parents are not encumbered with their children, however numerous they may be, for they are very early employed in domestic affairs; they tend the flocks, they gather wood, and they assist in ploughing and reaping. In the evening, when they return from the field, all the children of the douchar assemble in a common tent, where the iman, who himself can hardly spell, makes them read a few sentences from the Koran written on boards, and instructs them in their religion by the light of a fire made of straw, of bushes, and cow dung dried in the sun. As the heat is very great in the inland parts of the country, children of both sexes go quite naked till the age of nine or ten.

The douchars dispersed over the plains are always in the neighbourhood of some rivulet or spring, and they are a kind of inns for the reception of travellers. There is generally a tent erected for their use, if they have not brought one along with them, where they are accommodated with poultry, milk, and eggs, and with whatever is necessary for their horses. Instead of wood for fuel, they have the cow dung, which, when mixed with charcoal, makes a very brisk fire. A guard is always set on the tents of travellers, especially if they are Europeans, because the opinion of their wealth might tempt the avidity of the Moors, who are naturally inclined to thieving.

With respect to the roads, a very judicious policy is established, which is adapted to the character of the Moors, and to their manner of life. The douchars are responsible for robberies committed in their neighbourhood and in sight of their tents: they are not only obliged to make restitution, but it gives the sovereign a pretence for exacting a contribution proportioned to the abilities of the douchar. In order to temper the rigour of this law, they are made responsible only for such robberies as are committed during the day; those that happen after sunset are not imputed to them, as they could neither see nor prevent them: on this account, people here travel only from sunrise to sunsetting.

To facilitate the exchange of necessaries, there is in the fields every day, except Friday, which is a day of prayer, a public market in the different quarters of Morocco, each province. The Moors of the neighbourhood assemble to sell and buy cattle, corn, pulse, dried fruits, carpets, haicks, and in short all the productions of the country. This market, which is called Soc, resembles our fairs. The bustle of the people who go and come, gives a better idea of the manner of life of the Moors than can be had in the cities. The alcaldes, who command in the neighbourhood, always attend these markets with soldiers to keep the peace; as it frequently happens that the grudges which these tribes harbour against one another break out upon such occasions into open violence.

The Moors who inhabit the cities differ from the others only in having a little more urbanity and a more easy deportment. Though they have the same origin with those of the plains, they affect to decline all intercourse with them. Some writers, without any foundation, have given the name of Arabs to the inhabitants of the towns, and that of Moors to those of the plains. But the greater part of the cities of this empire are more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs, who themselves lived in tents.

The houses in most of the towns in this empire appear at a little distance like vaulted tombs in a church-house and yard; and the entrance into the best of them has but furniture, a mean appearance. The rooms are generally on the ground floor, and whitened on the outside. As the roofs are quite flat, they serve as verandahs, where the Moorish women commonly sit for the benefit of the air; and in some places it is possible to pass nearly over the whole town without having occasion to descend into the street.

As the best apartments are all backwards, a stable, or perhaps something worse, is the place to which visitors are first introduced. Upon entering the house, the stranger is either detained in this place, or in the street, till all the women are despatched out of the way; he is then allowed to enter a square court, into which four narrow and long rooms open by means of large folding doors, which, as they have no windows, serve likewise to introduce light into the apartments. The court has generally in its centre a fountain; and if it is the house of a Moor of property, it is floored with blue and white chequered tiling. None of the chambers have fire places; and their victuals are always dressed in the court-yard in an earthen stove heated with charcoal. When the visitor enters the room, where he is received by the master of the house, he finds him sitting cross-legged and barefooted on a mattress, covered with fine white linen, and placed on the floor or else on a common mat. This, with a narrow piece of carpeting, is in general the only furniture he will meet with in Moorish houses, though they are not destitute of other ornaments.

The wardrobe of the inhabitants of cities is but little dear of the different from that of those who live in tents.—Like the men latter, they have a haick, and a hood more or less fine, and have also a hood of coarse European cloth of dark blue for the winter. What farther distinguishes them from the country Moors is, that they wear a shirt and linen drawers, and an upper garment of cotton in summer, and of cloth in winter, which they call a caftan. The white or blue hood, the purpose of which seems to be to guard against bad weather, and which is called bernus. Morocco, bernut, is likewise a ceremonial part of dress; without which, together with sabre and canjer (or dagger) worn in a bandelier, persons of condition never appear before the emperor.

The Moorish women who live in cities are, as in other nations, more addicted to show and finery in dress than those of the country; but as they generally leave the house only one day in the week, they seldom dress themselves. Not allowed to receive male visitors, they remain in their houses employed in their families, and so totally in deshabille that they often wear only a shift, and another coarser shift over the first, tied round their waist, with their hair plaited, and sometimes with, though often without, a cap. When dressed, they wear an ample and fine linen shift, the bosom embroidered in gold; a rich caftan of cloth, stuff, or velvet, worked in gold; and one or two folds of gauze, streaked with gold and silk, round the head, and tied behind so as that the fringes, intermingled with their tresses, descend as low as the waist; to which some add a ribbon of about two inches broad, worked in gold or pearls, that encircles the forehead in form of a diadem. Their caftan is bound round their waist by a crimson velvet girdle, embroidered in gold, with a buckle of gold or silver, or else a girdle of tamboured stuff, manufactured at Fez.

The women have yellow slippers, and a custom of wearing a kind of stocking of fine cloth somewhat large, which is tied below the knee and at the ankle, over which it falls in folds. This stocking is less calculated to show what we call a handsome leg, than to make it appear thick; for to be fat is one of the rules of beauty among the Moorish women. To obtain this quality, they take infinite pains, feed when they become thin on a diet somewhat like forced meat balls, a certain quantity of which is given them daily; and in fine, the same care is taken among the Moors to fatten young women as is in Europe to fatten fowls.

The Negroes, who constitute a large proportion of the emperor's subjects, are better formed than the Moors; and as they are more lively, daring, and active, they are intrusted with an important share in the executive part of government. They constitute in fact the most considerable part of the emperor's army, and are generally appointed to the command of provinces and towns. This circumstance naturally creates a jealousy between them and the Moors, the latter considering the negroes as usurpers of a power which they have no right to assume. Besides those negroes which form the emperor's army, there are a great many others in the country, who either are or have been slaves to private Moors: every Moor of consequence, indeed, has his proportion of them in his service. To the disgrace of Europe, the Moors treat their slaves with humanity, employing them in looking after their gardens, and in the domestic duties of their houses. They allow them to marry among themselves; and after a certain number of years, spontaneously present them with the invaluable boon of liberty. They soon are initiated in the Mahometan persuasion, though they sometimes intermix with a few of their original superstitious customs. In every other respect they copy the dress and manners of the Moors.

Among the inhabitants of Morocco there is another class, of whom we must not omit to make mention. These are the Renegadoes, or foreigners, who Morocco have renounced their religion for the faith of Mahomet. Of these there are a great number who have been originally Jews; they are held in little estimation by the Moors; and would be held in abhorrence by the Jews, if they durst freely express their aversion. The families of these apostates are called Toornadis: not having at any time married with the Moors, they still preserve their ancient characteristics, and are known almost at sight to be the progeny of those who formerly embraced the Mahometan religion. The Christian renegadoes are but few; and generally are fugitive peculators of Spain, or men fallen from power, who because of their misconduct, or in despair, quit one unfortunate situation for another much more deplorable.

The Jews were formerly very numerous in this empire. After being prohibited in Spain and Portugal, multitudes of them passed over to Morocco, and spread themselves through the towns and over the country. By the relations they themselves give, and by the extent of the places assigned them to dwell in, it would appear there were more than 30,000 families, of whom at present there is scarcely a residue of one-twelfth; the remainder either having changed their religion, sunk under their sufferings, or fled from the vexations they endured, and the arbitrary taxes and tolls imposed upon them. The Jews possess neither lands nor gardens, nor can they enjoy their fruits in tranquillity: they must wear only black; and are obliged, when they pass near mosques, or through streets in which there are sanctuaries, to walk barefoot. The lowest among the Moors imagines he has a right to ill-treat a Jew; nor dares the latter defend himself, because the Koran and the judge are always in favour of the Mahometan.—Notwithstanding this state of oppression, the Jews have many advantages over the Moors: they better understand the spirit of trade; they act as agents and brokers, and profit by their own cunning and the ignorance of the Moors.

The Moors, who derive their language and religion from the Arabs, seem not in any manner to have participated of their knowledge. United and confounded among the Moors, as those of Morocco have been with the Moors of Spain, the latter of whom cultivated the arts and gave birth to Averroes, and many other great men, the Moors of this empire have preserved no traces of the genius of their ancestors. They have no conception of the speculative sciences. Education consists merely in learning to read and write; and as the revenues of the learned are derived from these talents, the priests and talbes among them are the sole depositaries of thus much knowledge: the children of the Moors are taught in their schools to read and repeat some sixty lessons, selected from the Koran, which for the sake of economy are written upon small boards.

The Moors who formerly inhabited Spain gave great application to physic and astronomy; and they have left manuscripts behind them which still remain monuments of their genius. The modern Moors are infinitely degenerate; they have not the least inclination to the study of science; they know the properties of some simples; but as they do not proceed upon principle, and are ignorant of the causes and effects of diseases, they generally make a wrong application of their remedies. Their most useful physicians are their talbes, their fa- kirs, and their saints, in whom they place a superstitious confidence.

Notwithstanding the Moors have occupied themselves little in the study of astronomy, they have been eager after astrology. This imaginary science, which made so rapid a progress at Rome in spite of the edicts of the emperors, may be conceived to make still greater advances among a people wholly stupid and ignorant, and ever agitated by the dread of present evils, or the hope of a more happy futurity. Magic, the companion of astrology, has here also found its followers, and is particularly studied by the talbes in the southern parts, who successfully use it in imposing upon Moorish credulity with strange dreams and ambiguous forebodings and prophecies.

The Moorish manufactures are—The haick, which as was before observed, is a long garment composed of white wool and cotton, or cotton and silk woven together, and is used by the Moors for the purpose of covering their under dress when they go abroad, which they do by totally wrapping themselves in it in a careless but easy manner; silk handkerchiefs of a particular kind, prepared only at Fez; silk chequered with cotton; carpeting, little inferior to that of Turkey; beautiful matting, made of the palmetto or wild palm tree; paper of a coarse kind; cordovan, commonly called Morocco leather; gunpowder of an inferior nature; and long-barrelled muskets, made of Biscay iron. The Moors are unacquainted with the mode of casting cannon: and therefore those few which are now in the country are obtained from Europeans.—The manufacture of glass is likewise unknown to them; as indeed they make great use of earthen ware, and have few or no windows to their houses, this commodity may be of less importance to them than many others. They make butter, by putting the milk into a goat skin, with its outward coat turned inwards, and shaking it till the butter collects on the sides, when it is taken out for use. From this operation it proves always full of hairs, and has an insipid flavour. Their cheese consists merely of curds hardened and dried, and has uniformly a disagreeable taste. The bread in some of the principal towns, particularly at Tangier and Sallee, is remarkably good, but in many other places it is coarse, black, and heavy.

Their looms, forges, ploughs, carpenters tools, &c., are much upon the same construction with the improved instruments of the same kind which are used at this time in some parts of Europe, only still more clumsily finished. In their work, they attend more to strength than neatness or convenience; and, like all other ignorant people, they have no idea that what they do is capable of improvement. It is probable, indeed, that the Moors have undergone no very material change since the revolution in their arts and sciences, which took place soon after their expulsion from Spain. Previous to that period, it is well known they were an enlightened people, at a time when the greater part of Europe was involved in ignorance and barbarism; but owing to the weakness and tyranny of their princes, they gradually sunk into the very opposite extreme, and may now be considered as but a few degrees removed from a savage state.

Their mosques or places of public worship are usually large square buildings, composed of the same materials as the houses. The building consists of broad and lofty piazzas, opening into a square court, in a manner in some degree similar to the Royal Exchange of London. In the centre of the court is a large fountain, and a small stream surrounds the piazzas, where the Moors perform the ceremony of ablution. The court and piazzas are floored with blue and white chequered tiling; and the latter are covered with matting, upon which the Moors kneel while repeating their prayers. In the most conspicuous part of the mosque fronting the east, stands a kind of pulpit, where the talbe or priest occasionally preaches. The Moors always enter this place of worship barefooted, leaving their slippers at the door. On the top of the mosque, is a square steeple with a flag staff, whither at stated hours the talbe ascends, hoists a white flag, and calls the people to prayers, for they have no bells. From this high situation the voice is heard at a considerable distance; and the talbes have a monotonous mode of enunciation, the voice sinking at the end of every short sentence, which in some measure resembles the sound of a bell. The moment the flag is displayed, every person forsakes his employment, and goes to prayers. If they are near a mosque, they perform their devotions within it, otherwise immediately on the spot where they happen to be, and always with their faces towards the east, in honour of their prophet Mahomet, who it is well known was buried at Medina.

Their Sabbath is on our Friday, and commences from six o'clock the preceding evening. On this day they use a blue flag instead of the white one. As it has been prophesied that they are to be conquered by the Christians on the Sabbath day, the gates of all the towns and of the emperor's palaces are shut when at divine service on that day, in order to avoid being surprised during that period. Their talbes are not distinguished by any particular dress.

The Moors have three solemn devotional periods in the course of the year. The first, which is named Aid de Cabier, is held in commemoration of the birth of Mahomet. It continues seven days; during which period, every person who can afford the expense kills a sheep as a sacrifice, and divides it among his friends. The second is the Ramadam. This is held at the season when Mahomet disappeared in his flight from Mecca to Medina. Every man is obliged at that period to fast (that is, to abstain from animal food from sunrise to sunset each day) for 30 days; at the expiration of which time a feast takes place, and continues a week. The third is named Layabore, and is a day set apart by Mahomet for every person to compute the value of his property, in order for the payment of zakat, that is, one-tenth of their income to the poor, and other pious uses. Although this feast only lasts a single day, yet it is celebrated with far greater magnificence than either of the others.

The Moors compute time by lunar months, and count the days of the week by the first, second, third, &c., beginning from our Sunday. They use a common creed for writing, and begin their manuscripts from right to left.

The Moors of the empire of Morocco, as well as those to the northern limits of Africa, speak Arabic; but this language is corrupted in proportion as we retire farther from Asia, where it first took birth; the intermixture intermixture which has happened among the African nations, and the frequent transmigrations of the Moors, during a succession of ages, have occasioned them to lose the purity of the Arabic language; its pronunciation has been vitiated, the use of many words lost, and other foreign words have been introduced without thereby rendering it more copious; the pronunciation of the Africans, however, is softer to the ear and less guttural than that of the Egyptians. The language, when written, is in effect much the same at Morocco as at Cairo, except that there are letters and expressions among the Moors which differ from those of the Oriental Arabs, who, however, understand the Moors in conversation, notwithstanding their vitiated manner of pronouncing. They mutually read each others writings with some difficulty.

The Moors are naturally of a grave and pensive disposition, servid in professions of friendship, but very insincere in their attachments. They have no curiosity, no ambition of knowledge; an indolent habit, united to the want of mental cultivation, renders them perhaps even more callous than other unenlightened people to every delicate sensation; and they require more than ordinary excitement to render them sensible of pleasure or of pain. This languor of sentiment is, however, unaccompanied with the smallest spark of courage or fortitude. When in adversity, they manifest the most abject submission to their superiors; and in prosperity their tyranny and pride are inapplicable.

Personal cleanliness has been considered as one of those circumstances which serve to mark and determine the civilization of a people. It was in vain that Mahomet enjoined the frequency of ablution as a religious duty to the Moors. Their dress, which should be white, is but seldom washed; and their whole appearance evinces that they perform this branch of their religious ceremonies in but a slovenly manner. With this degree of negligence as to their persons, we may be justly surprized to find united a most scrupulous nicety in their habitations and apartments. They enter their chambers barefooted, and cannot bear the slightest degree of contamination near the place where they are seated. This delicacy again is much confined to the insides of their houses. The streets receive the whole of their rubbish and filth; and by these means the ground is so raised in most parts of the city of Morocco, that the new buildings always stand considerably higher than the old.

With respect to the hours for eating, the people of this country are remarkably regular. Very soon after daybreak they take their breakfast, which is generally a composition of flour and water boiled thin, together with an herb which gives it a yellow tinge. The male part of the family eat in one apartment and the female in another. The children are not permitted to eat with their parents, but take their meals afterwards with the servants; indeed in most other respects they are treated exactly as servants or slaves by their parents. The meal is put into an earthen bowl, and brought upon a round wooden tray. It is placed in the centre of the guests, who sit cross-legged either on a mat or on the floor, and who form a circle for the purpose. Having previously washed themselves, a ceremony always performed before and after meals, each person with his spoon attacks vigorously the bowl, while they diversify the entertainment by eating with it fruit or bread. At twelve o'clock they dine, performing the same ceremonies as at breakfast. For dinner, from the emperor down to the peasant, their dish is universally coq/coq/coq, the mode of preparing which has been already described. The dish is brought in upon a round tray and placed on the floor, round which the family sit as at breakfast, and with their fingers commit a violent assault on its contents: they are at the same time, however, attended by a slave or domestic, who presents them with water and a towel occasionally to wash their hands. From the want of the simple and convenient invention of knives and forks, it is not uncommon in this country to see three or four people pulling to pieces the same piece of meat, and afterwards with their fingers stirring up the paste or coq/coq/coq, of which they often take a whole handful at once into their mouth. At sunset they sup upon the same dish; and indeed supper is their principal meal.

But the common people must content themselves with a little bread and fruit instead of animal food, and sleep in the open streets. This kind of existence seems ill calculated to endure even in an inactive state; far more severe must it therefore be to those who exercise the laborious employment of couriers in this country, who travel on foot a journey of three hundred or four hundred miles at the rate of between thirty or forty miles a-day, without taking any other nourishment than a little bread, a few figs, and some water, and who have no better shelter at night than a tree. It is wonderful with what alacrity and perseverance these people perform the most fatiguing journeys at all seasons of the year. There is a regular company of them in every town, who are ready to be dispatched at a moment's warning to any part of the country their employers may have occasion to send them.

As the Moors are not fond of admitting men into their houses except upon particular occasions, if the weather be fine they place a mat, and sometimes a carpet, on the ground before the door, seat themselves upon it cross-legged, and receive their friends, who form a circle, sitting in the same manner, with their attendants on the outside of the group. Upon these occasions they either drink tea or smoke and converse. The streets are sometimes crowded with parties of this kind; some engaged in playing at an inferior kind of chess or draughts, at which they are very expert; but the majority in conversation. The people of this country, indeed, are so decidedly averse to standing up, or walking about, that if only two or three people meet, they squat themselves down in the first clean place they can find, if the conversation is to hold but for a few minutes.

The Moors have in general but few amusements; their sedentary life they lead in cities is little varied except by the care they take of their gardens, which are rather kept for profit than pleasure. Most of these gardens are planted with the orange, the lemon tree, and the cedar, in rows, and in such great quantities, that the appearance is rather that of a forest than that of a garden. The Moors sometimes, though rarely, have music in these retreats: a state of slavery but ill agrees with the love of pleasure: the people of Fez alone, either from a difference in education, or because their organs and sensibility are more delicate, make make music a part of their amusements. There are not in Morocco, as in Turkey, public coffee-houses, where people meet to inquire the news of the day; but instead of these, the Moors go to the barbers' shops, which in all countries seem to be the rendezvous of newsmongers. These shops are surrounded by benches; on which the customer, the inquisitive, and the idle, seat themselves, and when there are no more places vacant, they crouch on the ground like monkeys.

A common diversion in the towns where there are soldiers, as well as in the country, is what the Moors call the game of gunpowder; a kind of military exercise, that is the more pleasing to these people, inasmuch as, by the nature of their government, they all are, or are liable to become, soldiers, therefore all have arms and horses. By explosions of powder, too, they manifest their fertility on their holidays. Their game of gunpowder consists in two bodies of horse, each at a distance from the other, galloping in successive parties of four and four, and firing their pieces charged with powder. Their chief art is in galloping up to the opposite detachment, suddenly stopping, firing their muskets, facing about, charging, and returning to the attack; all which manoeuvres are imitated by their opponents. The Moors take great pleasure in this amusement, which is only an imitation of their military evolutions.

The common topics for conversation among the Moors, are the occurrences of the place, religion, their women, but above all their horses. This last topic, indeed, appears to occupy by far the greatest portion of their attention. These animals are seldom kept in stables in Morocco. They are watered and fed only once a-day, the former at one o'clock at noon, and the latter at sunset; and the only one mode which they use to clean them is by walking them all over in a river two or three times a-week, and furling them to dry themselves.

Like all barbarous nations, the Moors are passionately fond of music, and some few have a taste for poetry. Their flow airs, for want of that variety which is introduced when the science has attained a degree of perfection, have a very melancholy appearance; but some of their quick tunes are beautiful and simple, and partake in some degree of the characteristic melody of the Scotch airs. The poetry of their songs, the constant subject of which is love, though there are few nations perhaps who are less sensible of that passion, has certainly less merit than the music.

Their instruments are a kind of hautboy, which differs from ours only in having no keys; the mandoline, which they have learnt to play upon from their neighbours the Spaniards; another instrument, bearing some resemblance to a violin, and played upon in a similar manner, but with only two strings; the large drum, the common pipe, and the tabor. These united, and accompanied with a certain number of voices, upon many occasions form a band, though folk music is more common in this unpolished country.

The Moors marry very young, many of their females not being more than 12 years of age at their nuptials. As Mahometans, it is well known that their religion admits of polygamy to the extent of four wives, and as many concubines as they please; but if we except the very opulent, the people seldom avail themselves of this indulgence, since it entails on them a vast additional expense in house-keeping, and in providing for a large family. In contracting marriage, the parents of both parties are the only agents; and the intended bride and bridegroom never see each other till the ceremony is performed. The marriage settlement is made before the cadi; and then the friends of the bride produce her portion, or if not, the husband agrees to settle a certain sum upon her in case he should die, or divorce her on account of barrenness, or any other cause. The children of the wives have all an equal claim to the effects of the father and mother, but those of the concubines can each only claim half a share.

When the marriage is finally agreed upon, the bride is kept at home eight days, to receive her female friends, who pay congratulatory visits every day. At the same time a talbe attends upon her, to converse with her relative to the solemn engagement on which she is about to enter; on these occasions he commonly accompanies his admonitions with singing a pious hymn, which is adapted to the solemnity. The bridegroom, on the other hand, receives visits from his male friends in the morning, and in the evening rides through the town accompanied by them, some playing on hautboys and drums, while others are employed in firing volleys of musketry. In all their festivals the discharge of musketry indeed forms a principal part of the entertainment. Contrary to the European mode, which particularly aims at firing with exactness, the Moors discharge their pieces as irregularly as possible, so as to have a continual succession of reports for a few minutes.

On the day of the marriage, the bride in the evening is put into a square or octagonal cage about twelve feet in circumference, which is covered with fine white linen, and sometimes with gaufes and silks of various colours. In this vehicle, which is placed on a mule, she is paraded round the streets, accompanied by her relations and friends, some carrying lighted torches, others playing on the hautboys, and a third party again firing volleys of musketry. In this manner she is carried to the house of her intended husband, who returns about the same time from performing similar ceremonies. On her arrival, she is placed in an apartment by herself, and her husband is introduced to her alone for the first time, who finds her sitting on a silk or velvet cushion (supposing her to be a person of consequence), with a small table before her, upon which are two wax candles lighted. Her shift, or more properly shawl, hangs down like a train behind her, and over it is a silk or velvet robe with close sleeves, which at the breast and wrists is embroidered with gold; this dress reaches something lower than the calf of the leg. Round her head is tied a black silk scarf, which hangs behind as low as the ground. Thus attired, the bride sits with her hands over her eyes, when her husband appears, and receives her as his wife without any further ceremony; for the agreement made by the friends before the cadi is the only specific contract which is thought necessary.

If the husband should have any reason to suspect that his wife has not been strictly virtuous, he is at liberty to divorce her and take another. For some time after marriage, the family and the friends are engaged in... much feasting, and a variety of amusements, which last a longer or shorter time according to the circumstances of the parties. It is usually customary for the man to remain at home eight days and the woman eight months after they are first married; and the woman is at liberty to divorce herself from her husband, if she can prove that he does not provide her with a proper subsistence.

Women suffer but little inconvenience in this country from child-bearing; they are frequently up the next day, and go through all the duties of the house with the infant upon their backs. In celebrating the rite of circumcision, the child is dressed very sumptuously, and carried on a mule, or, if the parents are in poor circumstances, on an ass, accompanied with flags flying and musicians playing on hautboys and beating drums. In this manner they proceed to the mosque, where the ceremony is performed. Children, as soon as they can be made in the least degree useful, are put to the various kinds of labour adapted to their age and strength. Others, whose parents are in better circumstances, are sometimes sent to school; and those who are intended for the church, usually continue their studies till they have nearly learnt the Koran by rote. In that case they are enrolled among the talbes, or learned men of the law; and upon leaving school are paraded round the streets on a horse, accompanied by music and a large concourse of people.

When any person dies, a certain number of women are hired for the purpose of lamentation; in the performance of which, nothing can be more grating to the ear, or more unpleasant, than their frightful moans, or rather howlings: at the same time, these mercenary mourners beat their heads and breasts, and tear their cheeks with their nails. The bodies are usually buried a few hours after death. Previous to interment, the corpse is washed very clean, and sewed up in a shroud, with the right hand under the head, which is pointed towards Mecca: it is carried on a bier supported upon men's shoulders, to the burying place, which is always, with great propriety, on the outside of the town; for they never bury their dead in the mosques, or within the bounds of an inhabited place.

city of the kingdom of Morocco in Barbary, lying about 120 miles to the north of Tarudant, 90 to the east of Mogodore, and 350 to the south of Tangier. It is situated in a beautiful valley, formed by a chain of mountains on the northern side, and those of Atlas, from which it is distant about 20 miles, on the south and east. The country which immediately surrounds it is a fertile plain, beautifully diversified with clumps of palm trees 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 Morocco porches of tabby in the Gothic style, 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 or prime minister (according to Mr Lempriere, from whose Tour* this account is transcribed), was among the best in Morocco. This house, which consisted of two stories, had elegant apartments both above and below, furnished in a style far superior to any thing our author ever saw 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 balusters 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 style, opened a room adjoining to the house, which had a broad arched entrance but no door, beautifully ornamented with chequered 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 looking glasses, intermixed with watches and clocks in glass cases. The ceiling was carved woodwork, painted of different colours; and the whole was in a superior style 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 Elcaifferia 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 a height within as just to admit a man to fit 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 indulgence of the Moors. There are three daily markets in different parts of the town of Morocco where provisions are sold, and two weekly fairs or markets for the disposal of cattle. 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 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 Jewry, 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 Jewry 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 feraglio 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 Mogador 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.

Marroquin, the skin of a goat, or some other animal resembling it, dressed in tannin or galls, and coloured at pleasure; much used in bookbinding, &c. The name is commonly derived from the kingdom of Morocco, whence it is supposed the manner of preparing these skins was first borrowed. We have Morocco skins brought from the Levant, Barbary, Spain, Flanders, and France; red, black, yellow, blue, &c. For the manner of preparing them, see LEATHER.