troops o f the Emperor, with whom they have had v e ry frequent encounters, but have never been permanently subdued : they esteem it the greatest advantage possible to fight on their own territory. T h e ir allegiance to the Emperor has often been secured b y retaining their chiefs at court, conferring favours on them, appointing them to offices o f state, and to seats in the Diwan ; thus making them hostages, as it were, for the peaceable conduct o f the ir respective Kabyles. T h e Shelluhs inhabit the A tla s mountains, and their various branches south o f Marocco ; they liv e generally in walled h a bitations, or in towns, and are, for the most part, occupied in husbandry like the Berebbers, though differing from them in the ir language,* dress, and manners ; they liv e almost entirely cm (Assoua) barley meal made into gruel, and (Zimela) barley roasted or granulated, w hich they mix with cold water, when travelling. T h e y occasionally indulge in (cuscasoe) a n utritive farinaceous food, m ade o f granulated flour, and afterwards boiled b y steam, and mixed w ith butter, mutton, fowls, and vegetables, Many families among these people are reported to be descended from the Portuguese, who formerly possessed the ports on the co a s t; but who, after the discovery o f America, grad ually w ith drew thither. East o f Marocco, near Dimenet, on the Atlas mountains, there is still remaining a church, having inscriptions in Latin o ve r the entrance, supposed to have been built b y the Portuguese, which, being superstitiously reported to be haunted, has escaped destruction. T h e language o f the Shelluhs is called Amazirk . * Some persons have affirmed that the Berebber and Shelluh languages are one and the same. I had considerable difficulty in procuring incontestable proofs to the contrary; a specimen.of the difference will be seen by the vocabulary in the chapter on languages. T h e Shelluhs are a crafty p eop le; th e y are, perhaps, better disposed towards Christians than the Moors or the Arabs. T h e term K ab yle applies to all cultivators o f land, and to those who rear the cattle and flocks. Sometimes we discover, in traversing this country, an encampment o f Bedouin Arabs, who, in the ir migrations to far distant countries, pitch their tents wherever they find the country productive and unoccupied ; here they sojourn till their flocks have consumed all the pasture, when they strike their tents and proceed on their long journey. These people liv e , for the most part, on camel smilk; the y are an indolent race, and neither cultivate the eat th, nor do any kind o f work, attacking and plundering caravans whenever th e y can do it with impunity. It is these Bedouins, or Sahata- wans, who sometimes plunder the Akkabahs and caravans whilst traversing the Great Desert o f Africa . T h e Arabs o f W o led Abbusebah I place a string o ve r the crown o f the head, brin ging it down behind the ears, and shave the front hair, to pre-- v en t, as is pretended, their enemies from catching hold o f them. T h e same custom predominates among the independant Shelluhs ofldau tenan , inhabitants o f A tlas near Cape de Geer. See the Map o f Marocco,. lat. N. 30? 30'. T h e Moors, as well as the other natives o f this country, are generally o f a middle stature : they have not so much n erve as the Europeans, and are, for the most part, thick and clumsy about the legs.and ancles, insomuch that a well-formed leg is seldom seen among them ; this m a y proceed from their cons tan tly sitting cross-legged, with their legs under them, like the tailors o f E urope, or perhaps from their wearing no covering to their legs, which are thus exposed to all weathers. Deformed. * Lat. N. SS-. See-Map of the tract across the Desert.
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