These Towers, As Well As The Mosques, Are Covered With Lead, And
Adorned With Gilding, And Tiles Of Variegated Colours.
No woman is
allowed to enter the Moorish places of worship.
Several of the aqueducts, which were constructed by the Carthaginians
and Romans, are still to be seen; and the ruins of amphitheatres, and
other public buildings, are found in the town and neighbourhood of
Fez: likewise many Saracen monuments of the most stupendous
magnificence, which were erected under the Caliphs of Bagdad. The
mosques and ruins are frequented by a great number of storks, which
are very tame, and are regarded by the Moors as a kind of inferior
saints.
The baths here are wonderfully well constructed for the purpose. Some
of them are square buildings, but the greater part are circular, paved
with black or white polished marble, and containing three rooms: the
first for undressing and dressing, the second for the water, and in
the third is the bath. Their manner of bathing is very curious: the
attendant rubs the person with great force, then pulls and stretches
the limbs, as if he meant to dislocate every joint. This exercise to
these indolent people is very conducive to health.
The bazars in which the tradesmen have their shops, are very
extensive. These shops are filled with all kinds of merchandise. In
the centre of the town is a rectangular building, with colonnades,
where the principal merchants attend daily to transact business.
The inhabitants of Fez are of a large muscular stature, fair
complexion, with black beards and eyes; extremely amorous and jealous
of their women, whom they keep strictly guarded. Their houses consist
of four wings, forming a court in the centre, round which is an
arcade, or piazza, with one spacious apartment on each side. The court
is paved with square pieces of marble, and has a basin of the same in
the centre, with a fountain. They keep their houses remarkably clean
and neat; but all the streets of this immense town are narrow, very
badly paved with large irregular stones, and most shockingly
dirty. The tops of their houses, like those of Tetuan, and other towns
in Barbary, are flat, for the purpose of recreation.
Among the remnants of several amphitheatres, there is one very nearly
entire, which is kept in constant repair at the expense of the
Emperor, and appropriated as a menagerie for lions, tigers, and
leopards. As I was contemplating it the other day, I felt at a loss to
account for this being kept in repair, while the others were suffered
to moulder into dust, unheeded, excepting a very few, and those but
partially prevented from sharing the general wreck. I had stood some
time, thus employed, when I was suddenly interrupted in my
meditations, by the sound of voices close behind me; on turning I
perceived two Jews, one of whom I knew very well, from having given
advice to some part of his family. I immediately inquired how it
happened that the building before us was so carefully preserved from
going to ruin, as happened to most of the others. He informed me, that
it was a kind of menagerie for wild beasts. "It was the same in the
time of the late Emperor," continued he; "and a very curious incident
befell one of my brethren in that place." As the narrative was not
merely very curious, but really wonderful, I cannot forbear sending
you the substance of it; as to give it you in the very circuitous way
it came to me, would be rather a tax upon your patience, particularly,
as you may not be so destitute of resources of amusement, as, I
confess, I was at that moment.
It appears, that Muley Yezid, the late Emperor, had a great and
invincible antipathy to the Jews (indeed it was but too evident in the
horrible transaction I mentioned in a former letter). An unfortunate
Israelite, having incurred the displeasure of that prince, was
condemned to be devoured by a ferocious lion, which had been purposely
left without food for twenty-four hours: when the animal was raging
with hunger, the poor Jew had a rope fastened round his waist, and in
the presence of a great concourse of people was let down into the den;
his supplications for mercy, and screams of terror, availing him
nothing. The man gave himself up for lost, expecting every moment to
be torn in pieces by the almost famished beast, who was roaring most
hideously; he threw himself on the ground in an agony of mind, much
better conceived than described. While in this attitude, the animal
approached him, ceased roaring, smelt him two or three times, then
walked majestically round him, and gave him now and then a gentle
whisk with his tail, which seemed to signify that he might rise, as he
would not hurt him; finding the man still continue motionless with
fear, he retreated a few paces, and laid himself down like a
dog. After a short time had elapsed, the Jew, recovering from his
insensibility, and perceiving himself unmolested, ventured to raise
himself up, and observing the noble animal couched, and no symptom of
rage or anger in his countenance, he felt animated with confidence. In
short, they became quite friendly, the lion suffering himself to be
caressed by the Jew with the utmost tameness. It ended with the man
being drawn up again unhurt, to the great astonishment of the
spectators. A heifer was afterwards let down, and instantly devoured.
You may be sure this story was too great a triumph on the part of the
Israelites, to pass without a number of annotations and reflections
from the narrator, all tending to prove the victory of their nation
over the heathens. For my part, I could not help thinking that there
was too much of the miraculous in it. However, I have often heard it
asserted that the lion will never touch a man who is either dead, or
counterfeits death; indeed here they tell me, that, unless pressed by
hunger or rage, it never molests a man; and they assure me even that
upon no account will these animals injure a woman, but, on the
contrary, will protect her, when they meet her at a
watering-place.
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