Not Many Years Since, This
City Was The Imperial Residence, And Contained Six Hundred And Fifty
Thousand Inhabitants; But The Late Civil Wars, And The Plague, Which
Raged With Such Violence, In The Beginning Of The Present Emperor's
Reign, Nearly Depopulated It.
In consequence of the latter melancholy
event, the court was removed to Fez and Mequinez.
To this account we
may place the present desolate appearance of Morocco. The Imperial
palace is, however, kept in repair, as the Emperor goes to Morocco
annually to spend the fast-days, which are during the months of
October and November; scarcely one fourth of the other palaces and
houses are inhabited; but though this city now exhibits evident
symptoms of rapid decay, we may still form a just idea of its former
grandeur and magnificence.
The plain of Morocco is bounded by that long ridge of mountains called
_Atlas_, which screen the town from the scorching heat of the easterly
winds, while the snow, with which their summits are covered, renders
the climate more temperate than in other parts of
Barbary. Notwithstanding the salubrity of the climate of Morocco, a
residence there is rendered miserable, by the multitudes of scorpions,
serpents, gnats, and bugs, which infest the town and its
neighbourhood.
His Imperial Majesty holds a court of justice here, previous to the
commencement of the holidays, and also issues orders for a general
ablution by men, women, and children, of every class: this, no doubt,
is very necessary, as the common people seldom change their linen, and
the greater part of them are covered with vermin. During the fast they
dare not touch any food while the sun is up, and when at night they
are allowed to break their fast, they absolutely make perfect beasts
of themselves. Smoking, or chewing tobacco, and taking snuff, are
strictly prohibited, by an edict from the Emperor: the vender is
punished with the bastinado, and a confiscation of all his goods and
cattle, and the buyer with six years imprisonment.
Owing to the intense heat of the weather lately, there is a great
scarcity of water: so that we were obliged to carry it up in bags made
of goat-skin, to supply us on the road; and coming back we took the
same precaution.
When at Morocco, I was extremely anxious to visit _Mogedor_, a
sea-port town, and the island of _Erythia_, now also called Mogedor,
which island contains a castle of considerable strength, defended by a
strong garrison, stationed there chiefly, as I have been told, to
protect the gold-mines in the neighbourhood; but the distance was very
great, and my time so limited, that I could not spare a fortnight,
which it would at least have required to get there and back again. I
have been returned here two days, and, as I observed before, not so
much gratified as I expected.
As I passed one of the courts of the palace yesterday, a fellow was
receiving punishment for a robbery.
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