building, which gives an air o f solemnity to the place, impressing with awe the minds o f the passengers, who halt and repeat art ejaculatory prayer. T h e town and walls o f Rabat having been b u ilt b y Spanish slaves, taken b y the Sultan El Monsor, in his wars with Spain, are not v e ry strong; and it has even been reported that the Christians expressly b u ilt the houses weak, that the roofs might fa ll on the Mooi's, which,-it is also said, a ctu ally happened, and the Emperor, in retaliation, ordered the same Spaniards to be decapitated at the iron gate.* T h is Sultan repaired the Roman w e ll at Shelia, and built a spacious mosque at Rabat, the roof o f which was supported by 360 columns o f ma rble ; toward the east were aparments for those who had employment in the mosque. Many o f the rough marble columns are still remaining, broken and scattered about; there are also the remains o f a large (mitfere) subterranean cistern, which was attached to the mosque, the toWer o f which is ealled (Sma Hassen,) the tower o f Beni Hassen, so named from the province in which it stands. I have frequently visited this curious tower, and once went to the top o f it with a v e ry ingenious Frenchman, the Comte de Fourban; * it is built o f hewn stone, and is 180 feet in h e ig h t : the view from it is pleasing and extensive. It has a gradual ascent to the top, made o f a mixture o f lime and sand, which time has so hardened* that when the Emperor Seedy Mohammed ordered the building to be destroyed (he having been informed that it was a place o f * One of the entrances of the town. ^ The Count was nephew to the Duke de Crillon, and had been confined in France during the reign of Robespierre, but had ¿ffected his escape; the rigour ef his chnfinetiien’t, however, 'brought on a disorder which carried him off. assignation to gratify illic it passions), the workmen, after hammering at it for several days, were able only to destroy a few cubits o f the terraced floor ; the Emperor afterwards came to Rabat, and having been informed o f the slow progress o f the workmen, he hitpself visited the tower, and was so struck with the durability o f the work, that he ordered them to desist, and caused the entrance to be closed up, which, however, has since been opened. A man on horseback may ride u p to the top o f this building. A t eve ry two or three circles p f the terrace are apartments, built o f solid stone. It is reported that this tower, the grand tower at Marocco, and the tower pf S e ville in Spain, were built after the same plan, and b y the same architect, in the 12th century. - A t a small distance to the north o f it, are to be seen the ruins o f an ancient wall, on whicjr were formerly erected a battery and a castle. T h e country, in the neighbourhood, is, planted with vines, olives, figs, pomgranates, almonds, pranges, and cotton o f an excellent q u a lity ; at Rabat there is a manufactory o f cotton cloth, which is made more for d u rab ility than sale. The re are docks for ship-building at Salée, as well as at Rab a t; at the la tjfr place, when I was last there, the hulls o f two sloops o f w ar were nearly finished; I went aboard o f them, and was astonished to learn that they had been built b y a man who must ha ve had a natural genius for ship-building, as he built them by the eye, without the use o f rules and compasses, a circumstance which appeared to me v e r y extraordinary and in c red ib le ; but I was repeatedly informed b y many o f the inhabitants o f Rabat, Moprs, Jews, and Christians, that it was a known fact, and might be ascertained b y going to see, the daily progress made in the . building o f them.
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