iaSl.] A Glance at Tetuan. 33 



whose miserable half-clad inhabitants are the terror of the town. The 

 guards who accompanied us over the country refused to enter the 

 mountains, saying, " The Rifians had, on the previous evening, forded 

 the river at dusk, and had carried off' some Moorish women from a douar, 

 and would most likely think we were come in search of them." 



The view southward of Tetuan reaches along a ridge of the lower 

 Atlas mountains. At sight of this mighty chain, the heart throbs to trace 

 the links whose delightful dyes vie with the bright hues of heaven. The 

 broad expanse over which the eye runs is intersected with vineyard- 

 valleys embosomed between the hills ; in the distance, the mountains 

 shoot their blue heads into the skies, and close the extent of horizon. 



To the lover of field sports, this part of Barbary is a most delightful 

 country ; for it is impossible to stir a step without starting game of some 

 species. The Moors have no idea of shooting birds flying, and generally 

 take partridges by hunting them down till they are exhausted. There is 

 no obstacle to sporting here all the year round, save the respect naturally 

 paid by sportsmen to the breeding season ; but the great quantity of eggs 

 eaten and exported annually, shew that the Moors have no consideration of 

 this sort. The wild boar, which Mussulmans are not allowed to eat, are 

 here most numerous. 



Higher up the coast, towards Oran, the wild antelope and gazelle 

 become plentiful ; the latter are not easily domesticated ; they never live 

 long when taken from their native woodlands; the beautiful eye and 

 symmetrical form, the jet-black tongue and spicy smell of this delicate 

 little animal, has induced many to endeavour to transplant it, but with- 

 out effect. Except in a state of nature, it is not choice of its food, and 

 generally dies of indiscriminate feeding. 



During our stay here, the whole coast was a scene of extraordinary 

 activity. A Genoese vessel was waiting outside the bar at the mouth of 

 the river, to take a freight of pilgrims to Alexandria. Detained by 

 adverse winds, the Moors had encamped themselves on the sea-beach. 

 The general equipage which serves them throughout their long pilgri- 

 mage (which, with the visit to Medina and Jerusalem, lasts a year), is 

 seldom more than the carpets on which they sleep. Those who cannot 

 afford a marquee, sling one of these carpets across a pole, like a gipsy's 

 tent. A leathern scrip and a small bundle contains the remainder of their 

 necessaries. 



They are generally under the command of a scherif, who regulates the 

 march of the party when they land. Their method of cooking meat is 

 such as to dispense with the use of many utensils. An oblong square 

 hole is dug in the ground, in which a wood fire is lighted ; a stick is then 

 cut of sufficient length to reach across the cavity, upon which the meat 

 is stuck as on a spit, one end of which is twirled by the hand until the 

 joint is well roasted. 



The force of the Mahommedan religion is perhaps in no instance so 

 clearly seen, as in the number of votaries it leads to the shrine of the 

 prophet at Mecca. From the peasant to the prince, all are filled with the 

 same hope, the same wish of performing that pilgrimage which is to 

 smooth their path to the grave, to absolve them from their sins in this 

 world, and to be the means of their salvation in the next. The name of 

 hadjee is to them a title of nobility, or reverence, which all are anxious to 

 acquire, and to attain which they will employ the savings of whole years 

 of toil. 



A great number of stragglers always join the troop of hadjees on their 



M.M. New. Series. Vol.. XL No. 61. F 



