The Usual Place Of Rendezvous For The Indolent Is The King's Tent; Where
Great Liberty Of Speech Seems To Be Exercised By The Company Towards Each
Other; While In Speaking Of Their Chief They Express But One Opinion.
In
praise of their sovereign they are unanimous.
Songs are composed in his
honour, which the company frequently sing in concert; but they are so
loaded with gross adulation, that no man but a Moorish despot could hear
them without blushing. The king is distinguished by the fineness of his
dress; which is composed of blue cotton-cloth, brought from Tombuctoo, or
white linen or muslin from Morocco. He has likewise a larger tent than
any other person, with a white cloth over it; but, in his usual
intercourse with his subjects, all distinctions of rank are frequently
forgotten. He sometimes eats out of the same bowl with his camel driver,
and reposes himself, during the heat of the day, upon the same bed. The
expenses of his government and household are defrayed by a tax upon his
Negro subjects, which is paid by every householder, either in corn,
cloth, or gold-dust; a tax upon the different Moorish Korrees, or
watering places, which is commonly levied in cattle; and a tax upon all
merchandize which passes through the kingdom, and is generally collected
in kind. But a considerable part of the king's revenue arises from the
plunder of individuals. The Negro inhabitants of Ludamar, and the
travelling merchants, are afraid of appearing rich; for Ali, who has
spies stationed in the different towns, to give him information
concerning the wealth of his subjects, frequently invents some frivolous
plea for seizing their property, and reducing the opulent to a level with
their fellow citizens.
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