162 Concubines. W ith regard to the (Kadeem*) concubines, they are genera lly black women, purchased orig ina lly at Timbuctoo ; they reside in the house with the wives, performing the menial offices o f the domestic establishment. T he children o f these concubines, when not the master’s offspring, are born slaves, and inherited b y him, who either keeps them for the purpose o f marrying them to some black slave of his own, o r sells them in the public market ; this latter mode o f disposing o f them, however, is seldom practised, except in cases o f necessity ; for although the law gives great latitude to masters having slaves, y e t the children are generally brought up under the mother’s care, and become members o f the fam ily ; b y serving at an early age in domestic occupations, they earn their livin g b y their work ; for in a country where the necessaries o f life are prohibited from exportation,-f the expense o f maintenance is inconsiderable : so that a large and numerous family is a blessing, and the more numerous the greater the blessing. L iv in g on simple food, for the most part o f the farinaceous kind, their appetites are easily satisfied : their wants arè few, and their resources many. This system o f prohibiting the exportation o f provisions does not, however, as might be supposed, reduce their v a lu e ; for it has been observed, in the reign o f Seedy Mohammed ben Abd A lla h , when the prohibition was enforced only when a scarcity was anticipated' that during the prohibition the price o f corn rose; the A rab farmers, preferring a market and sale to E uro peans for dollars, to the tardiness o f sale for domestic consumption, kept their corn in their Matamores till an exportation was again permitted, and then brought it to market. Neither is ' * 'The k'guttural, for when not guttural, the word signifies old or worn out. •f The supply of the garrison of Gibraltar, with bullocks, &c. excepted. Treatment o f {he Women. 163 there p o lic y in the prohibition, (except the Mohammedan principle o f policy be admitted, that o f promoting the poverty o f the people or community), for by it the agriculturists not having a sufficient market for the whole produce o f his land, he cultivates but a third or a fourth part, leaving the remaining part fallow; and even this fourth part is found to produce quite as much as is necessary for the domestic consumption. The same argument applies to the other articles o f produce, v iz . sweet almonds, dates, raisins, figs, olive oil, &c. A ccordingly, sinfce their prohibition, the immense p lantations ol these articles in all the provinces, particularly in Suse, where the y abound, have been neglected, and are grad ually decreasrng, the produce being more than the domestic demand, insomuch, that the price is insufficient to pay the labour o f gathering ; for among this abstemious and parsimonious people, it would be difficult to find the in dividual who would giv e two shillings for the same quantity o f provision of one kind, that he could procure o f another kind for one shilling. T h e women are not so much confined as has been generally imagined; they frequently vis it their' relations and friends,* and ha ve various ways of facilitating intrigues ;■ thus, if a lady's (rahayat) sandals be seen at the door o f an apartment, the husband himself dare not enter; he retires into another room, and directs the female slav e to inform him when her (Lela) lad y is disengaged, which is known b y the sandals being taken away. On the other hand * Women of rank, who reside in the towns, seldom walk abroad, it being considered a degradation to the wife of a gentleman to be seen walking in the street; wh^n, howeyer, they are going to pay a visit, they have a servant, or slave, to accompany them.
27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above