The oppressor, however, relented a little on the death of one
of his victim's sons; released him from confinement, and gave the
ex-bashaw two houses, one for himself and the other for his surviving
son. The old captain of the port has been no less than a dozen times in
prison, under the exhausting pressure of the Emperor. After the imperial
miser has copiously bled his captain, he lets him out to fill his skin
again. The old gentleman is always merry and loyal, in spite of the
treatment from his imperial taskmaster.
Very funny stories are told by the masters of the small craft, who
transport the bullocks from hence to Gibraltar. The government of that
place are only allowed to export, at a low duty per annum, a certain
number of bullocks. The contractor's agents come over; and at the moment
of embarking the cattle, something like the following dialogue
frequently ensues.
_Agent of Contractor_. - "Count away!"
_Captain of the Port_. - "One, two, three, &c. Thirty, forty. Ah! stop!
stop! too many."
_Agent of Contractor_. - "No, you fool, there are only thirty."
_Captain of the Port_. - "You lie! there are forty."
_Agent of Contractor_. - "Only thirty, I tell you," (putting three or
four dollars into his hand).
_Captain of the Port_. - "Well, well, there are only thirty."
And, in this way, the garrison of Gibraltar often gets 500 or 1,000 head
of cattle more than the stipulated number, at five dollars per head duty
instead of ten. Who derives the benefit of peculation I am unable to
state. An anecdote recurs to me of old Youssef, Bashaw of Tripoli,
illustrative of the phlebotomizing system now under consideration.
Colonel Warrington one day seriously represented to the bashaw how his
functionaries robbed him, and took the liberty of mentioning the name of
one person. "Yes, yes," observed the bashaw, "I know all about him; I
don't want to catch him yet; he's not fat enough. When he has gorged a
little more, I'll have his head off."
The Emperor of Morocco, however, usually treats his bashaws of the coast
with greater consideration than those of the interior cities, the former
being more in contact with Europeans, his Highness not wishing his
reputation to suffer in the eyes of Christians.
CHAPTER III.
The Posada. - Ingles and Benoliel. - Amulets for successful
parturition. - Visits of a Moorish Taleb and a Berber. - Three Sundays
during a week in Barbary. - M. Rey's account of the Empire of
Morocco. - The Government Auctioneer gives an account of Slavery and the
Slave Trade in Morocco. - Benoliel as English Cicerone. - Departure from
Tangier to Gibraltar. - How I lost my fine green broadcloth. - Mr.
Frenerry's opinion of Maroquine Affairs.
I took up my stay at the "English Hotel" (posada Ingles), kept by
Benoliel, a Morocco Jew, who spoke tolerable English.
