Fez. wood, painted. 
wee 
: 
in the city, w the 
F E Z. 
with various colours; and the beams. of 
the roofs are also whimsically and gaily painted in the 
pent mae Every house is supplied with water 
from. the river, which enters the town by covered 
channels ; and the principal dwellings have private 
baths and cisterns. A bath is attached to every mosque, 
for religious ablutions, and there are public baths in 
-various parts of the town to which the people resort, 
-the men at one hour, and the women at another. 
very sumptuous 
marble neni the Atlas mountains, and unknown 
in the countries of E A few professors and stu- 
dents are maintained in the mosques, and the rith Moors 
send their children thither for their education; but 
their studies are chiefly confined to the explanation of 
a AAR 8 purity of 
the Arabic spoken in the city. The mosque, called 
i most ancient and magnificent 
i 
i 
Africa ; but has not been found to correspond with the 
glowing description by Leo Africanus. There are a 
very few of those hospitals mentioned by early wri- 
ters, where there is i no icians in attendance, 
-but- where the are su} with food, and the 
dkeheaddipndediog simian. wre 6 these is a mad- 
house, where the lunatics are chained down in apart- 
ments, which are disgustingly filthy, and treated in a 
very harsh manner. ; The caravanseras or inns, are 
“very Mumerons, amounting nearly to 200. They are 
ae oman ERT HNP PHM to 100 apart- 
ments, each of which is provided with a mat anda 
swater.cock,. The traveller pays so much a day for his 
room, but bri his auth baiting, amd s and 
_ dresses his own isi Each trade and article of 
t ; and there is 
a square divided into twelve wards, which 
are hiefly with silk cloth and linen shops, pro- 
vided with sixty criers:or itinerant auctioneers, who 
with the different pieces in their hands, cry- 
og, «t who bideamore?*-and sell the lot to the highest 
i '» The inhabitants. of Fez rear a great deal of 
poultry, which they: keep in cages to prevent them 
runing. the house, » No animals are permitted to 
_be slaughtered:in the city; but are killed at a distance 
Spriedithacintry andsafie: tna. tin teen bin Sed 
the officer, who superintends the price of provisions, 1s 
inthetown. There aremany corn mills 
sort buy the flour in small 
ies, and where the richer inhabitants send their 
able for their-bigotted spirit. «If a Christian,” says 
Jackson; “ were thereto exclaim, Allah k’beer, < God is 
” he would be invited immediately to add to it, ‘and 
Michammed ie. his ’ which, if he were inadver- 
cireumcised according- 
ly.”. - They. were in former times still more infamous, 
on account of their licentious manners; and debauch- 
_erywas even encouraged by the government as a source 
ue > but at the state of morals is not 
-worse than in the ' cities of the empire. — 
When the Mahometans of Andalusia, Granada, and 
Cordova, during the revolutions in Spai over to 
Fez,they in the Spanish ‘dressing and 
and goat skins, red and yellow, then cal- 
1 
3l11 
Jed Cordovan, now Motocco leather. At Fez, also,was 
first established the manufacture of milled woollen caps 
worn by the Moors, and brought to.so great ection 
at Tunis, They are named Fez by the Turks, which 
confirms the account of their having originated in that 
city. Besides gauzes, silks, and other stuffs fabricated 
at this-city; it is celebrated for an elegant manufacture, 
namely, sashes of silk and gold... In addition to its own 
manufactures, Fez is the common magazine of Bar- 
bary, to which are brought all kinds of commodities 
from the sea-ports of Morocco and the Mediterranean, 
. from the eastern countries by the caravans of pilgrims, 
and from the centre of Africa by the caravans of mer- 
chants. Its chief exports are almonds, gums, raisins, 
dates, carraway, anise and worm seeds, citrons, * 
oil of olives, tallow, hides, tanned leather, particularly 
Morocco leather, ostrich feathers, lead ore, elephant’s 
teeth. _To Timbuctoo, the merchants of Fez send va- 
rious articles of European, Indian, and Barbary pro- 
duce, especially linens; muslins, fine cloths, raw silk, 
beads, brass’ nails, coffee, tea, and sugar, shawls, and 
sashes of silk and gold, haiks (pieces of cloth used by 
the Africans as outer garments) of silk, cotton, and 
wool ; turbans, spices, tobacco, and salt... In return, 
they receive gums, gold rings, elephant’s teeth, amber- 
gris, ostrich feathers, and slaves. The caravans, which 
carry on this trade from Fez to Timbuctoo across the 
desert, generally travel seven hours a-day at the rate of 
33 miles an hour, and complete the journey between 
the two cities in 129 days, 54 only of which are em- 
ployed in actual travelling. 
On account of the number of Mahometan saints said to 
have been buried in Fez, it is considered by the Moors as 
a sacred asylum, and an object of devotion. Hence all 
Jewsand Christiansare prohibited from entering its gates ; 
and an order from the emperor is necessary before they 
can gain admission. This, however, seems to apply only 
to Old Fez, for the new town is principally occupied by 
Jews, who, notwithstanding the contempt with whi 
they are treated, carryon a regular trade with the inhabi- 
tants of the city. In the various revolutions to which 
the country of West has been subject, the citi- 
zens of Fez were always ready to change their master, 
and generally yielded at the first approach of a victo- 
rious leader. They pretend even to plead, that this is 
-a privilege which they enjoy from the founder of their 
city; but it is consid as proceeding rather from 
their own cowardice, or from situation of the place, 
which “is incapable of defence. » Old Fez ‘is several 
leagues in cireumference, but a great part of the in- 
closed space is occupied by gardens, | It is about 120 
miles from the sea-coast, and 36 from the city of Me- 
-quinez, to which there is an excellent road along a 
communication between these two cities is 
-pleasant ew | watered by numerous rivulets and ca- 
nals. .The i 
and 
very expeditious, by means of mules, which 
may be ready saddled at all hours: of the day, and 
which lish the: journey at an easy pace in six 
hours; so as ently to return the same day. 
In theyear 1799, a dreadful plague, which spread 
over all the empire of Morocco, crigioated in this city, 
which some ascribed to infected merchandise from. 
-Eastyanhd others to the pestilential smell of the dead lo- 
custs which infested West Barbary during the seven 
ing years. In the cities of Old and New Fez, 
it carried off 1200 or 1500 persons daily ; and durin 
its continuance, 65,000 of the inhabitants perish 
This deadly calamity produced. a wonderful alteration 
in the circumstances of the survivors, and reduced all 
Fez, 
