and was told she was ill. On enquiry he found it was in consequence of the cruel operation she had undergone. He had no recollection of the order he had given; and to make some reparation to the injured lady, he ordered all the teeth of the operator to be drawn, and sent to her in a box.

Seedy Muhamed, who succeeded Abdallah in 1757, was of a milder character a. It may here be observed that an Emperor of Marocco whose name is Muhamed is called Seedy, Master; if he have any other name, he is called Muley, Prince. An ambassador was sent from Great Britain to Seedy Muhamed, and when he appeared at court, he was told by the master of the audience that it was customary for all persons to take off their shoes, before they appeared before the emperor, and to prostrate themselves in his presence. To these ceremonies the ambassador objected, saying, that he wore his shoes before the king, his master, and stood erect. On this being reported to the emperor, he seemed to think the ambassador ra⚫ther presumptuous in placing a Christian king on an equal footing with a Muselman sultan; but he ordered him to be dismissed, and to attend on the following day. He then directed the master of the audience to enquire how the Christians conducted themselves in prayer; and when he was informed that they prayed standing, and uncovered only the head, he said, "Let the ambassador be presented to me in the same manner; for I cannot require more respect from a man than he pays to Almighty God."

b In whatever part of the empire the monarch

happens to be, he gives public audience, sometimes four times, and always twice a week for the dispensation of justice. He sits on horseback, under an umbrella, which is held by one of his grooms. Here none but the sultan, his sons and brothers, dare make use of an umbrella. All his subjects, without exception, who have any complaint, or remonstrance to make, have liberty to come to the public audience, and no one retires unheard. The meanest may boldly tell his tale. Indeed, if he hesitate, or appear diffident, his cause is weakened in proportion. Each is expected to accompany his complaint with a present, according to his condition; and it is invariably accepted, if it be only eggs, fruit, or flowers. Judgment is always prompt, decisive, plausible, and generally

correct.

d Punishments are always inflicted in the presence of the emperor; but not, as formerly, by his own hand; he having resigned the respectable office of executioner to one of his soldiers. One of the emperor's sons having promised to speak to him in favour of a European, excused himself for not having yet done so, by saying, "When I saw my father, he was engaged in putting some persons to death."

A sovereign should no more be an executioner, than a butcher should be a juryman.

The Emperor of Marocco is never seen on foot, but in his palace, at his devotions, and, on some few occasions, in his gardens. He eats alone, and the officers who attend him are afterwards served from his table. Cuscasoe is the prin

⚫ Jackson.

d Lempriere.

• Chenier.

cipal dish, in the palace of the emperor, as in the hovel of the subject; and it is dressed in such quantities in the former, that the vessel which contains it is sometimes carried by poles, like a sedan-chair. The emperor is served by slaves, who receive no emolument but the perquisites arising from the business they transact. They are clothed once a year. The taylors of the city, who are mostly Jews, are obliged to perform their work without reward, except so far as they can indemnify themselves by filching the materials.

f The word death is not to be mentioned in the presence of the emperor. If a person have to inform his majesty of the death of a Muselman, he says, "He has completed his destiny," and the answer is," God be merciful to him." If the death of a Jew were to be reported to any great man, it would be said, "He is dead Sir; pardon me for mentioning in your presence a name so contemptible" (as that of a Jew). If the deceased were a Christian, the expression would be, "The infidel," or "the cuckold," or, "the son of a cuckold is dead."

In places remote from the emperor's court, the petty officers learn, by their spies, when any person is possessed of considerable property; and an excuse is never wanting to deprive him of it. But it happens also that the emperor has his spies, and that he obliges his substitutes to transfer their illacquired wealth to the imperial treasury. This .system of depredation renders each man afraid of his neighbour, and all are careful to make no display which might awaken the avidity of their

"Thou must needs be very rich," governors. said a shereef to a Moor, who, to preserve his garden-walls, had them white-washed. The Moors wear no jewels, and few of them have even a ring or a watch.

Power and weakness, rank and meanness, opulence and indigence, are equally dependent, and equally uncertain in Marocco. There are instances of a sultan elevating, at one stroke, a private soldier to the rank of a bashaw, or making him a confidential friend; and, at another, reducing him again to the situation of a common soldier, or sending him to prison; i of a governor deposed by the sovereign, and condemned to sweep the streets of the town he had governed. Yet, with such examples before them, when these people have attained a high station, they seldom fail to afford their sovereign a plea for punishing them, by abusing their trust. Once stripped of his effects, however, the governor may be re-instated in his former dignity; the sinner being absolved by rendering up his riches.

k Near the north-west point of the walls of Marocco is a village of lepers. They are obliged to wear a straw hat, with a brim about nine inches broad, as their badge of separation from persons who are clean; but they are allowed to beg by the highway side, where they hold a wooden bowl before them, and exclaim, as people pass, "Bestow upon me the property of God! All belongs to God!" I rode through their village, and saw many of them collected at their doors. In general, no external disfiguration was apparent; but

h Lempriere.

i Chenier.

k Jackson.

their complexion was sallow; and some young women, who would otherwise have been very handsome, had either scanty eyebrows, or none at all.

CHAPTER XXI.

HOREM, ATLAS, TAFILELT.

MAROCCO TO RABAT, MEQUINAS, AND FAS.

DURING my stay at Marocco, I was sent for, in my medical capacity by one of the emperor's sons. The pavilion in which he received strangers and transacted business, was situated at the extremity of a long walk in a garden of orange trees. The prince expressed great pleasure at seeing me; said the English were his brothers and best friends; and desired me to feel his pulse, and inform him whether he was in health. When I had assured him that he was perfectly well, he desired me to be seated on a narrow carpet, placed within the circle formed by his courtiers, and ordered one of his pages to bring tea. Tea is the highest compliment that can be offered by a Moor, and it is generally presented to a respected visitor, whatever be the time of day. It is prepared by putting green tea, a small quantity of tansey and of mint, and a lage quantity of sugar, into the tea-pot; and when these are infused a proper time, the liquid is poured into extremely small cups of fine porcelain, and handed round to the company with