:964 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



in our power, b}' proper represen- 

 tations, and a judicious negotiation, 

 to supply, through this channel, a 

 great part of the interior of Africa 

 with our superfluous manufac- 

 tures, while we might receive in re- 

 turn many very valuable and use- 

 ful articles, such as oil of olives, 

 hides, skins, almonds, gums, wax, 

 silver, and gold, in addition to 

 which may be mentioned, oranges 

 and lemons, of which a greater 

 quantity might be procured from 

 two ports in the empire, than is af- 

 forded by both Spain and Portu- 

 gal. The oranges of Tetuan are 

 the finest in the world, and are sold 

 for eight drahims, or about three 

 and sixpence per thousand. It may, 

 perhaps, be objected by some, who 

 have experienced difficulties in 

 treating with the emperor, that he 

 would not, probably, allow fruit 

 to be exported : to this I answer, 

 that it is possible, by proper 

 means, to obtain almost any favour 

 from a sovereign who is uncon- 

 trollable ; it is not gold which 

 rules his conduct, though some in- 

 genious persons have imagined that 

 to be the only means of procuring 

 any thing from him : had this been 

 the case, he would not have grant- 

 ed me the privilege of exporting 

 mules to the West Indies at half 

 tlie duty the French house of 

 Messrs. Demellet and Sabatier of- 

 fered him. In short, nothing is 

 wanting to secure a most extensive 

 and lucrative trade with Marocco, 

 but an established friendship be- 

 tween the two nations, strengthen- 

 ed by a mutual return of good of- 

 fices and attention. Indeed the 

 present emperor, Muley Soliman, 

 may be said to have made overtures 

 of this nature ; but from our im- 

 policy and inattention, added to 

 the ignorance of the proper mode 



of treating with him, these over- 

 tures have been neglected." 



There are other chapters, as 

 those concerning the culture, the 

 mineral, animal and vegetable 

 productions of Marocco, not cer- 

 tainly altogether unconnected -vith i 

 mercantile speculation ; but tiiey I 

 fall more properly under the head 

 of literary and liberal entertain- 

 ment. Of this division of the 

 work we have given some speci- 

 mens in our present volume, under 

 heads of Characters, Natural His- 

 tory, and Miscellaneous Articles. 

 To these, add the following: 



*' The Arabs going nearly in a 

 state of nature, wearing nothing 

 but a cloth or rag to cover their 

 nakedness, immediately strip their 

 unhappy victims, and march them 

 up the country barefooted, like 

 themselves. The feet of Euro- 

 peans, from their not being accus- 

 tomed, like the Arabs, to this 

 mode of travelling, soon begin to 

 swell with the heat of the burning 

 sand over which they pass; the 

 Arab considering only his booty, 

 does not give himself the trouble to 

 inquire into the cause of this, but 

 abstemious and unexhausted him- 

 self, he conceives his unfortunate 

 captive will, by dint of fatigue and 

 travelling, become so too. In 

 thcie marches the Europeans 

 suffer the pains of fatigue and 

 hunger in a most dreadful degree ; 

 for the Arab will go fifty miles a 

 day without tasting food, and at 

 night will content himself with a 

 little barley-meal mixed wish cold 

 water, miserable fare for an En- 

 glish seaman, who(tq use the term 

 that is applied to the richest men 

 among the Arabs) eats meat every 

 da3% 



" They carry the Christian cap- 

 tives about the desert, to the dif- 

 ferent 



