years: Mons. Chenier, the French consul, first broke through this degrading custom, for being opposed b y the gate-keepers at Saffy, he drew his sword,' and forced his entrance, adding, that no one should stop the representative o f the King of F rance: and when I went to Agadeer, b y order o f the Sultan Muley Y e z z id , to establish a commercial intercourse with Holland, on my a rrival at the gate, the Bashaw’s son objected to m y entering on horseback, alleging, that it was near a sanctuary, and that Christians had never been allowed to enter the gate on horseback; I immediately turned my horse, ordered the baggage to be put on board the ship from which I had just landed, and declared, that I would not reside in any town, where I was not on an equal footing with a Mooselmin : but the old Bashaw, E l Hayanie, a man o f ninety years o f age, sent two o f his sons to request me to return : “ Old customs,” said he, (when I afterwards met h im at the gate,} “ are abolished; we wish to see this place flourish with commerce, as in its former establishment; enterand go ou t on horseback w hen eve ryou please;” a ccordingly, e ve r since this circumstance, Christians have been allowed to enter the town on horseback: they may ride about ¡the country in safety, and amuse themselves in the sports o f the f ie ld ; they are not obliged to stop at the approach o f a Bashaw or his family, or to alight t ill the great man has passed ;* it is expected that he salute him in his own country fashion, by taking o ff his hat, which, however, is considered by Mooselmin (unaccustomed to Christians) much in the same light that we should a man taking off his wig; for they go uncovered in pre- * This latter, is expected by a prince of the first dignity ; but I have often passed princes on horseback without being required to alig h t: on such occasions 1 uncovered, and bowed in the European manner. sence o f the Emperor, or wear a red cap, which is a substitute for a wig, their heads being shaved. O f the vessels wrecked from time to time on the coast o f the Desert, or Sahara, many are probably never heard o f; but i f any o f the crew suryive their hardships, th e y are induced, seeing no prospect o f emancipation, to become Mahommedans, and nothing is afterwards known or heard o f them ; the vessel is supposed b y its owners to ha ve foundered at sea, and a ll passes into oblivion. O f vessels whose loss has been learnt b y any chance (such as that o f the sailors falling into the hands o f Wedinoon Jews, or Moors), there may ha ve been from the year 1790, to the year 1806, thirty o f d ifferent nations, part o f whose crews have afterwards found their way to Marocco, and giv en some account o f their.catastrophe; these may be thus divided, English - - - ‘ " 17 French - “ - - - 5 American - - ■ “ - ® . Dutch, Danish, Swedish, &c. - 3 O f the English vessels the crews probably amounted to 200 men and boys, who may be thus accounted for: Young men and boys either drowned, killed, or induced to embrace the Mohammedan religion - - ■ 40 Old men and others killed b y the Arabs in the first scuffle, when making opposition, or defending themselves 1 also drowned in getting ashore - - - - - 40 Dispersed in various parts o f the Desert, after a lapse o f time, in consequence o f the Consul making no offers sufficiently advantageous to induce the Arabs to b ring them
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