He Said He Had Not; But That He Was
Well Acquainted With The Writings Of Volney And Mirabeau.
I made
no answer; whereupon he added, that it was by no means his habit to
introduce such subjects, and that there were very few persons to
whom he would speak so unreservedly, but that I had very much
interested him, though our acquaintance had been short.
I replied,
that he would scarcely have spoken at Boston in the manner that I
had just heard him, and that it was easy to perceive that he was
not a New Englander. "I assure you," said he, "I should as little
have thought of speaking so at Charleston, for if I held such
conversation there, I should soon have had to speak to myself."
Had I known less of deists than it has been my fortune to know, I
should perhaps have endeavoured to convince this young man of the
erroneousness of the ideas which he had adopted; but I was aware of
all that he would have urged in reply, and as the believer has no
carnal arguments to address to carnal reason upon this subject, I
thought it best to avoid disputation, which I felt sure would lead
to no profitable result. Faith is the free gift of God, and I do
not believe that ever yet was an infidel converted by means of
after-dinner polemics. This was the last evening of my sojourn in
Gibraltar.
CHAPTER LIV
Again on Board - The Strange Visage - The Hadji - Setting Sail - The
Two Jews - American Vessel - Tangier - Adun Oulem - The Struggle - The
Forbidden Thing.
On Thursday, the 8th of August, I was again on board the Genoese
bark, at as early an hour as on the previous morning. After
waiting, however, two or three hours without any preparation being
made for departing, I was about to return to the shore once more,
but the old Genoese mate advised me to stay, assuring me that he
had no doubt of our sailing speedily, as all the cargo was on
board, and we had nothing further to detain us. I was reposing
myself in the little cabin, when I heard a boat strike against the
side of the vessel, and some people come on board. Presently a
face peered in at the opening, strange and wild. I was half
asleep, and at first imagined I was dreaming, for the face seemed
more like that of a goat or an orge than of a human being; its long
beard almost touching my face as I lay extended in a kind of berth.
Starting up, however, I recognised the singular-looking Jew whom I
had seen in the company of Judah Lib. He recognised me also, and
nodding, bent his huge features into a smile. I arose and went
upon deck, where I found him in company with another Jew, a young
man in the dress of Barbary. They had just arrived in the boat. I
asked my friend of the beard who he was, from whence he came, and
where he was going? He answered, in broken Portuguese, that he was
returning from Lisbon, where he had been on business, to Mogadore,
of which place he was a native. He then looked me in the face and
smiled, and taking out a book from his pocket, in Hebrew
characters, fell to reading it; whereupon a Spanish sailor on board
observed that with such a beard and book he must needs be a sabio,
or sage. His companion was from Mequinez, and spoke only Arabic.
A large boat now drew nigh, the stern of which was filled with
Moors; there might be about twelve, and the greater part evidently
consisted of persons of distinction, as they were dressed in all
the pomp and gallantry of the East, with snow-white turbans,
jabadores of green silk or scarlet cloth, and bedeyas rich with
gold galloon. Some of them were exceedingly fine men, and two
amongst them, youths, were strikingly handsome, and so far from
exhibiting the dark swarthy countenance of Moors in general, their
complexions were of a delicate red and white. The principal
personage, and to whom all the rest paid much deference, was a tall
athletic man of about forty. He wore a vest of white quilted
cotton, and white kandrisa, whilst gracefully wound round his body,
and swathing the upper part of his head, was the balk, or white
flannel wrapping plaid always held in so much estimation by the
Moors from the earliest period of their history. His legs were
bare and his feet only protected from the ground by yellow
slippers. He displayed no farther ornament than one large gold
ear-ring, from which depended a pearl, evidently of great price. A
noble black beard, about a foot in length, touched his muscular
breast. His features were good, with the exception of the eyes,
which were somewhat small; their expression, however, was, evil;
their glances were sullen; and malignity and ill-nature were
painted in every lineament of his countenance, which seemed never
to have been brightened with a smile. The Spanish sailor, of whom
I have already had occasion to speak, informed me in a whisper,
that he was a santuron, or big saint, and was so far back on his
way from Mecca; adding, that he was a merchant of immense wealth.
It soon appeared that the other Moors had merely attended him on
board through friendly politeness, as they all successively came to
bid him adieu, with the exception of two blacks, who were his
attendants. I observed that these blacks, when the Moors presented
them their hands at departing, invariably made an effort to press
them to their lips, which effort was as uniformly foiled, the Moors
in every instance, by a speedy and graceful movement, drawing back
their hand locked in that of the black, which they pressed against
their own heart; as much as to say, "though a negro and a slave you
are a Moslem, and being so, you art our brother - Allah knows no
distinctions." The boatman now went up to the hadji, demanding
payment, stating, at the same time, that he had been on board three
times on his account, conveying his luggage.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 204 of 218
Words from 208011 to 209058
of 222596
