After Having Passed The
Evening In The Company Of A Numerous Party Of Barbary Jews, I Retired
To Bed; And In The Morning I Waited On The Governor, To Pay My
Respects To Him.
On our way thither, I was not a little surprised to
see our Vice-consul pull off his slippers as we passed the mosques,
and walk bare-footed.
I soon learned, that the Jews are compelled to
pay this tribute of respect, from which Christians are exempt,
although they do not escape very frequent insults when walking through
the city.
We found His Excellency sitting cross-legged on a tiger-skin, smoking
his pipe, under a niche in one of the courts of his mansion. He
received me with great politeness, and assured me that every thing
should be arranged to render my journey to Larache safe and
agreeable. Both, the Governor and his secretary asked me numberless
questions respecting the laws and manners of the English; to all of
which I gave short and general answers.
As we returned from the castle we passed through a street of unusual
breadth, on each side of which were the shops of the merchants. I
thence proceeded to take a general survey of the city; examining the
different places allotted to people engaged in various branches of
trade, and the manufactories of silk, carpets, and mats; and
afterwards went to the public markets for meat, poultry, vegetables,
cattle, sheep, horses, and mules. They are in spacious squares, and
are exceedingly well stocked.
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