With Their Prince, Don Sebastian,
Perished The Flower Of The Portuguese Nobility And Chivalry Of That
Time.
War, indeed, was found "a dangerous game" on that woeful day:
Both
for princes and nobles, and many a poor soul was swept away
"Floating in a purple tide."
But the "trade of war" has been carried on ever since, and these
lessons, written in blood, are as useless to mankind as those dashed off
by the harmless pen of the sentimental moralist. El-Kesar is placed in
Latitude, 35 deg. 1 10" N.; Longitude, 5 deg. 49' 30" W.
Mequinez, [25] in Arabic, Miknas (or Miknasa), is a royal residence, and
city of the province of Fez, situate upon a hill in the midst of a
well-watered and most pleasant town, blessed with a pure and serene air.
The city of Miknas is both large and finely built, of considerable
interest and of great antiquity. It was founded by the tribe of Berbers
Meknasab, a fraction of the Zenatah, in the middle of the tenth century,
and called Miknasat, hence is derived its present name. The modern town
is surrounded with a triple wall thirteen feet high and three thick,
enclosing a spacious area. This wall is mounted with batteries to awe
the Berbers of the neighbouring mountains. The population amounts to
about twenty thousand souls, (some say forty or fifty thousand) in which
are included about nine thousand Negro troops, constituting the greater
portion of the Imperial guard. Two thousand of these black troops are in
charge of the royal treasures, estimated at some fifty millions of
dollars, and always increasing. These treasures consist of jewels, bars
of gold and silver, and money in the two precious metals, the greater
part being Spanish and Mexican dollars.
The inhabitants are represented as being the most polished of the Moors,
kind and hospitable to strangers. The palace of the Emperor is extremely
simple and elegant, all the walls of which are _embroidered_ with the
beautiful stucco-work of Arabesque patterns, as pure and chaste as the
finest lace. The marble for the pillars was furnished from the ruins
adjacent, called Kesar Faraoun, "Castle of Pharoah" (a name given to
most of the old ruins of Morocco, of whose origin there is any doubt).
During the times of piracy, there was here, as also at Morocco, a
Spanish hospitium for the ransom and recovery of Christian slaves. Even
before Mequinez was constituted a royal city, it was a place of
considerable trade and riches. Nothing of any peculiar value has been
discovered among the extensive and ancient ruins about a mile distant,
and which have furnished materials for the building of several royal
cities; they are, however, supposed to be Roman. Scarcely a day's
journey separates Mequinez from Fez. It is not usual for two royal
cities to be placed so near together, but which must render their
fortunes inseparable.
Fez, or Fas. According to some, the name Fas, which signifies in Arabia
a pickaxe, was given to it because one was found in digging its
foundations. Others derive it from Fetha, silver. It is no longer the
marvellous city described by Leo Africanus, yet its learning, wealth,
and industry place it in the first rank of the cities of Morocco. During
the eighth century, the Arabs, masters of Tunis, of all Algeria, and the
maritime cities of Morocco, seemed to think only of invading Europe and
consolidating their power in Spain; but at this epoch, a descendant of
Ali and Fatima, Edris Ben Abdalluh, quitted Arabia, passed into Morocco,
and established himself at Oualili, the capital, where he remained till
his death, and where he was buried. His character was generally known
and venerated for its sanctity, and drew upon him the affectionate
regard of the people, and all instinctively placed themselves near him
as a leader of the Faithful, likely to put an end to anarchy, and
establish order in the Mussulman world. His son, Edris-Ben-Edris, who
inherited his virtues and influence, offering a species of ancient
prototype to Abd-el Kader and his venerable father, Mahadin, was the
first _bona-fide_ Mussulman sovereign of the Maroquine empire, and
founded Fez.
Fez is a most ancient centre of population, and had long been a famed
city, before Muley Edris, in the year A.D. 807 (others in 793), gave it
its present form and character.
From that period, however, Fez [26] dates its modern celebrity and rank
among the Mahometan capitals of the world, and especially as being the
second city of Islamism, and the "palace of the Mussulmen Princes of the
West." That the Spanish philologists should make Fut, of the Prophet
Nahum, to be the ancient capital of Fez, is not remarkable, considering
the numerous bands of emigrants, who, emerging from the coast, wandered
as far as the pillars of Hercules; and, besides, in a country like North
Africa, the theatre of so many revolutions, almost every noted city of
the present period has had its ancient form, from which it has been
successively changed.
The modern capital is placed in a valley upon the gentle slope of
several hills by which it is surrounded, and whose heights are crowned
with lovely gardens breathing odoriferous sweets. Close by is a little
river, or a branch of the Tebou, named Wad-el-Juhor, or "streamlet,"
which supplies the city with excellent water.
The present buildings are divided into old and new Fez. The streets are
so narrow that two men on horseback could scarcely ride abreast; they
are, besides, very dark, and often arched over. Colonel Scott represents
some of the streets, however, as a mile in length. The houses are high,
but not handsome. The shops are numerous and much frequented, though not
very fine in appearance. Fez contains no less than seven hundred
mosques, fifty of which are superb, and ornamented with fine columns of
marble; there is, besides, a hundred or more of very small and ill-built
mosques, or rather, houses of prayer.
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