T h e c ity o f Marocco was founded in the 42 tth y ea r o f the Hejira* (1052) b y Jusuf Teshfin, o f the family o f Luntuna, a tribe o f Arabs inhabiting the plains east o f Atlas, on the way to T able ltv; and in the time o f his grandson, A ly ben Yu sif, it is said to h a v e contained a million o f inhabitants; la tte rly , however, it has been much depopulated, and owiug to the devastations o f succeeding conquerors, retains little ot its ancient magnificence; the accumulated ruins o f houses and gardens within the town, w hich were once the sites o f habitations, indicate its decay. It is surrounded by extremely thick walls, formed o f a cement o f lime and sandy e a r th ,f put in cases, and beaten together with square rammers. These walls were in many places broken and decayed, so that horses might pass through th em ; but the breaches were repaired previous to the siege and capture of the c i ty b y Muley Y e z z id , in February, 1792. Some o f the houses are built with much elegance and taste, but being all behind high walls, they are not visible from the s tre e t; and these outer walls are o f the rudest construction, for e v e ry indiv id u al he re is anxious to conceal his wealth, and to impress the public and the State with an idea that he is poor and distressed! T h e imperial palace o f Marocco, which faces Mount Atlas, is built o f hew;n stone, ornamented with marble. It is not so magnificent a buildin g as that o f Mequinas; the architecture o f the principal gates is Gothic, embellished with various ornaments in the Arabesque ta s te ; the walls o f some o f the rooms * I t appears from the testimony of the Moors as well as the Berehbers, that M a r o c c o -is a more eocient town than has: we have-not, howeser, any written account-of it previous to the 4 2 4 th year of the Hejira. „ ' + T hV cement is called T ab « by the Moors. Livy tell us that the walls of Saguntum were built with inor'.ar made o f eanih. are o f filligfee-work, and others o f (ezzulia, or) glazed tiles, similar to the Chinese tiles, w hich are fixed in the walls with much art, and have a cool effect. Three gardens are attached to the palace, the first and largest is called linen el Erdoua, the second Jinen el Afia, and the third, which is the smallest, and situated at a private door, Jinen Nile, or the Garden o f the Nile, so named from its containing the fruits and plants o f the Nile, Timbuctoo, and Soudan, with many others, the produce o f Barbary. In the two former o f these gardens, the Emperor allows the foreign merchants to pitch their tents whenever th e y visit him, which is gen era lly every time he goes to Marocco, and in the Jinen Nile they have their audience o f business, that is, the second audience, the first being an interview o f ceremony, and the third, an audience o f leave to depart. T h e two first gardens abound with olives, oranges, grapes o f various kinds, apricots, peaches, pomgranates, water-melons, citrons, limes, & e . ; these, how ev er, are surpassed in richness b y the Jinen Nile, the orange trees of which are small, hu t v e ry fruitful, and the flowers extremely odo rife rou s ; the roses, in particular, are unequalled, and matrasses are made o f their leaves for the men o f rank to recline upon. In these gardens are (Kobba)- pav ilions about forty feet square, with pyramidal roofs eovered with glazed tiles o f various colours, and ligh ted from four lofty and spacious doors, which are opened according to the position o f the su n ; they are painted and g ilt in the Arabesque s ty le , and ornamented with square compartments containing passages from the Koran, in a so n o f hie roglyphic character, or A rab ic shorthand, understood on ly b y the first scholars. A s the lu xu ry and convenience o f tables, chairs, and curtains are unknown in this country, the furniture o f these apartments is v e r y simple,
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