And XII. - Copies of two Letters received from the Government
bf Morocco, to which Dr. Buffa has hitherto been unable to reply.
TRAVELS,
&c.
LETTER I.
Inducement for the Journey - Arrive at Tangiers - Its History -
Situation - Inhabitants - Military - Governor - Fortifications -
Subterraneous Passage - Socco, or Market - Adjacent Villas - Invited to
Larache.
Tangiers, January 12th, 1806.
I have long felt very desirous to visit a country, which,
notwithstanding the many revolutions it has undergone, and the
enlightened characters of its conquerors, is regarded as still
immersed in a degree of barbarism almost unparalleled. It appeared to
me next to impossible that a nation so contiguous to Europe, with
which it has for centuries maintained a constant intercourse, could
have remained in a state of such profound ignorance.
Impressed with these ideas, I readily embraced the offer of a friend
to accompany him from Gibraltar to this place, intending to travel
further up the country, should I meet with sufficient inducement from
the result of my observations here. We landed on the first of this
month, and the intermediate time I have employed in obtaining
information relative to the town of Tangiers from the earliest
tradition to the present time. As the particulars I have collected do
not appear devoid of Interest, I flatter myself, you will be gratified
that I should have made them the subject of a letter.
This town, which by the ancients was called _Tingis_, or Tingir, and
appears to have been the metropolis of the _Western Mauritania_, or
Tingitania, as it was named, to distinguish it from _Mauritania
Caesariensis_; according to Pliny and others, was first founded
ed fay _Antaeus_ (about a thousand years before Christ), the
same who was afterwards conquered and slain by _Hercules_. The giant
is supposed to have been buried here: and the report of Plutarch, that
his tomb was opened by Sertorius, and a corpse sixty cubits or more in
length, taken out of it, confirms the idea. But according to others,
_Tingis_, or the present _Tangiers_, lays claim to a more ancient
founder than _Antaeus_. Procopius mentions, that in his time
were standing two pillars of white stone, upon which were inscribed in
the Phoenician characters the following words: _"We are the Canaanites
who fed from Joshua, the son of Nun."_
A colony of Carthaginians settled here, and it is most probable that a
flourishing trade was carried on by them, as the situation of Tangiers
is extremely well adapted for that purpose. Indeed the name _Tingis_,
in the language of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, signifies an
_emporium_. When the Mauritaniae became subject to the Romans,
in the reign of Julius Caesar, Bocchus, the son-in-law of
Jugurtha, having defeated Bogud, the king of _Mauritania Tingitania_,
he became possessed of that country, and Augustus, or, as some say,
Octavius, confirmed this acquisition to him; and the inhabitants of
_Tingis_ were allowed the privileges of Roman citizens.
I cannot discover any thing further remarkable of Tangiers from the
time it became a Roman colony, and during the period it was possessed
by the Saracens, till the latter end of the fourteenth century, when
it was taken by the Portuguese, who erected fortifications and other
public works. It continued in their possession for nearly two
centuries; and was at length given to our King, Charles the Second, as
part of the dowry of his consort Catharine, We did not keep it long;
for, owing to the little harmony that subsisted between that Monarch
and his Parliament, it was ceded to the Moors in 1684, after we had
blown up all the fortifications, and utterly destroyed the
harbour. Since that event, it seems to have been gradually dwindling
into its present insignificance.
I have before observed, that the situation of Tangiers is well adapted
to the purposes of commerce, being about two miles within the Straits
of Gibraltar (or Hercules); but the ruins of the fortifications and
harbour have rendered the anchorage in the bay of Tangiers very
unsafe. This is a great obstacle to trade; very little is carried on
there at present, and that little is by a few Jews, and lately, by a
Spanish merchant of the name of Don Pedro.
The town being built on the declivity of that high tract of land
called Cape Spartel (the Cape _Cottes_ or _Ampelusian_ of the
ancients), it is seen at a great distance; but on entering the bay, it
appears to the best advantage. It is defended by two martello towers,
a castle, and a large battery; but I am confident that it could not
withstand the attack of a few English frigates, and that such a force
from the bay might destroy the town in the space of a few
hours. Notwithstanding the vicissitudes to which this place has been
exposed, it still possesses a superiority over the other towns in the
empire of Morocco; it is the capital of the kingdom, and the residence
of the Consuls General of the powers in amity with his Imperial
Majesty. The houses of these foreign residents are constructed with
great taste in the European style; the habitations of the Moors are
neat; the air is pure and salubrious; the supply of excellent water,
abundant; and the market cheap and plentiful. This combination of
advantages renders Tangiers, in many points of view, an eligible
residence. The European society, which consists almost solely of the
families of the foreign consuls, is pleasant and agreable, The
adjacent country is beautifully romantic; and the opposite coast and
bay present a most delightful prospect. The Moorish inhabitants are
all soldiers, very poor, and entirely subject to the arbitrary will of
the Emperor. It is capable of furnishing, at a moment's warning,
three thousand cavalry, and two thousand infantry and artillery-men;
but these troops are badly trained, and without order or discipline: I
attended their evening parade yesterday, and was truly diverted with
the sorry appearance of their best militia-men, who were to mount
guard for the night.
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