1830.] A Visit to Tangiers. 541 



same compliment returned them at every town through which they 

 passed. Nothing was now wanting but a good reason towards " the 

 most favoured nations" to exempt the Moors from the payment of the 

 tax. As an exemption had been generally made in favour of military 

 men, the Moors " decreed that they might all be called military men," 

 for, said they, " we are all obliged to carry arms to serve our sultan in 

 time of need." The hint was accepted, and the Arabs, who bring pro- 

 visions to the Gibraltar market, are exonerated from the payment of 

 the tax.* 



The blacks are the only slaves that can be bought and sold in Bar- 

 bary ; this traffic is merely carried on for the use of the Mahommedans. 

 Timbuctoo is the chief market, from whence they are generally brought 

 at a very tender age. They are as great strangers in Barbary as Euro- 

 peans themselves, and consent reluctantly to the ceremonies of that faith 

 to which they are compelled to submit. The Moors are generally care- 

 ful to purchase these slaves young, in order that they may not cherish 

 any recollection of their former liberty nor make any attempt to escape. 

 The boys are employed as servants, and often undergo that cruel muti- 

 lation which the Moors refuse to inflict on their horses ; the females 

 generally find a place in the harems of the rich, from whence (being 

 the only privileged class) they are turned abroad to pursue any vocation 

 they think proper. 



The half-castes are of divers hues and features, and often heighten 

 their natural ugliness by tattooing the face and body. These form a great 

 share of the population of Barbary, and retain marks of their origin till 

 the third and fourth generation, when physical distinction becomes greatly 

 confounded ; but as the population is always renewable from the stock 

 from which they spring, the present race of Moors are more likely to 

 degenerate than improve. 



To the religious prejudices of the Moors may be ascribed the marked 

 difference which exists between the African and European world ; pre- 

 judices which alone form the great bane of civilization, and which have 

 separated the Mahommedans for upwards of 1200 years from their fel- 

 low-creatures, even to the preservation of their original costume,t with- 

 out the slightest alteration which intercourse or convenience might sug- 

 gest ; prejudices which set them at variance with every nation of the 

 world. The descendants of Ishmael are to this hour what scripture has 

 prophecied.J In the midst of civilized nations, they are not bound by 

 any reciprocration of benefits or the common ties of amity and good will, 

 but cherish feelings hostile to the rest of mankind, which will endure as 

 long as the religion of Mahomet itself, till another conqueror and legis- 



* This tax is now very properly abolished ; it is a wonder it should have existed so 

 long, or that men in office should have been allowed to devise taxes in order to increase 

 their own salaries. 



f- The dress of the Moors, although it is contended that it is in strict accordance with the 

 law of physics, yet appears a great anomaly. The head is shaved for the sake of coolness, and 

 afterwards covered with a thick woollen cap, twisted round with several rolls of muslin. 

 The dress itself would be considered hot and cumbersome even in England. The clean- 

 liness of the Moors is equally equivocal : although strict in the observance of the five daily 

 ablutions commanded by Mahomet, they seldom keep up a corresponding propriety by a 

 change of linen, and sleep at night in the greater part of the dress worn by day. 



$ " And he will be a wild man ; his hand will be against every man, and every man's 

 hand against him ; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." 



