A Traveller In This Country Must,
Therefore, Never Trust A Maroquine Jew In A Matter Of Vital Importance.
Mr. Drummond Hay, our Consul at Tangier, advised me to return to
Gibraltar, and to go by sea to Mogador, and thence to Morocco, where the
Emperor was then residing.
Adopting his advice, I left the same evening
for Gibraltar. I took my passage in a very fine cutter, which had
formerly been a yacht, and had since been engaged as a smuggler of
Spanish goods. I confess, I was not sorry to hear that the Spanish
custom-house was often duped. The cutter had been purchased for the
Gibraltar secret service.
The Anti-Slavery Society had placed at my disposal a few yards of green
cloth, for a present to the minister of the Emperor. At the custom-house
of Havre-de-Grace, I paid a heavy duty on it. But, when I got to Irun,
on the Spanish frontier, (having determined to come through Spain in
order to see the country), the custom-house officers demanded a duty
nearly double the cost of the cloth in London, so that there was no
alternative but to leave it in their possession. The only satisfaction,
or revenge which I had, was that of calling them _ladrones_ in the
presence of a mob of people, who, to do justice to the Spanish populace,
all took my part.
When I complained of this conduct at Madrid, my friends laughed at my
simplicity, and told me I was "green" in Spanish; and in travelling
through "the land of chivalry," and of "ingeniosos hildagos," ought, on
the contrary, to thank God that I had arrived safe at Madrid with a
dollar in my pocket; whilst they kindly hinted, if I should really get
through the province of Andalusia safe to Cadiz, without being stripped
of everything, I must record it in my journal as a miracle of good luck.
This was, however, exaggeration. I had no reason to complain of anything
else during the time I was in Spain. My fellow travellers (all
Spaniards), nevertheless, rebuked me for want of tact. "You ought," they
said, "to have given a few pesetas to the guard of the diligencia, who
would have taken charge of your cloth, and kept it from going through
the custom-house."
On reaching Gibraltar, I made the acquaintance of Frenerry, who for
thirty years has been a merchant in Morocco. Mr. Frenerry had frequent
opportunities of personal intercourse with Muley Abd Errahman, and had
more influence with him than the British Consul. Indeed, at all times, a
merchant is always more welcome to his Imperial Highness than a
diplomatic agent, who usually is charged with some disagreeable mission.
Mr. Frenerry was called, par excellence, "the merchant of the West." Of
course, Mr. Frenerry's opinions must be valuable on Maroquine affairs.
He says: - "The Morocco Moors like the English very much, and better than
any other Europeans, for they know the English to be their best friends.
At the same time, the Moors feel their weakness. They know also, that a
day might come when the English would be against them, or have disputes
with them, as in days past. The Moors are, therefore, jealous of the
English, though they consider them their friends; and do not like
Englishmen more than any other Christians to travel in their country. In
other respects, if well managed and occasionally coaxed or bribed with a
present, the Moors are very good natured, and as tractable as children."
However, I find since the murder of Mr. Davidson, both the people and
government of Morocco have got a bad name in Gibraltar; and opinion
begins to prevail that it is almost impossible for an Englishman to
travel in the country. Mr. Frenerry recommends that a Moor should be
treated not proudly, but with a certain degree of firmness, to shew him
you will not be trifled with. In this way, he says, you will always
continue friends.
With regard to the present Emperor, Mr. Frenerry is a great apologist of
his system.
"The Emperor is obliged to exclude foreigners as much as possible from
his country. He does not want to tempt the cupidity of Europeans, by
showing them the resources of the empire. They are prying about for
mines of iron and silver. He is obliged to forbid these geological
wanderings. The subjects of his empire are divided in their feelings and
interests, and have been driven there by every wave of human
revolutions. The Emperor does not wish to discover his weakness abroad,
by letting Europeans witness the bad faith and disloyalty of his
heterogeneous tribes. The European consuls are much to blame; they
always carry their heads too high, if not insolently. They then appoint
Jewish consuls along the coast, a class of men whom the hereditary
prejudices of his Mussulman subjects will not respect."
There is certainly something, if not a good deal, to be said _for_ the
emperor as well as _against_ him. I was obliged to wait some time at
Gibraltar before I could get a vessel for Mogador. I missed one
excellent opportunity from the want of a note from the Gibraltar
government. A Moor offered to allow me to take a passage without any
expense in his vessel, provided I could obtain a note from our
government; but the Governor of Gibraltar required an introduction in
form, and, before I could receive a letter from Mr. Hay to present to
him, the vessel left for Mogador. I therefore lost money and time
without any necessity.
CHAPTER IV.
Departure from Gibraltar to Mogador. - The Straits. - Genoese Sailors. -
Trade-wind Hurricanes en the Atlantic Coast of Morocco. - Difficulties of
entering the Port of Mogador. - Bad provisioning of Foreign
Merchantmen. - The present Representative of the once far-famed and
dreaded Rovers. - Disembarkation at Mogador. - Mr. Phillips, Captain of
the Port - Rumours amongst the People about my Mission. - Visit to the
Cemeteries. - Maroquine Wreckers. - Health of the inhabitants of
Mogador.
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