B A R B A R Y. 



271 



Amuse- 

 ments, 



Music, 



Barbary. some, they indulge in the most opprobrious language, 



/ ' and perhaps collar each other in their rage, but very 



seldom come I blows ; though it sometimes happens, 

 that a dispute is finally terminated by assassination. 



The natives of Barbary are indolent to a very 

 astonishing degree, unless when accidentally roused 

 to some sudden fit of exertion ; and hence their amuse- 

 ments are always in extremes, either of the most seden- 

 tary, or of the most violent description. They may 

 often be seen in considerable numbers sitting on their 

 hams, leaning against a wall, in complete apathy and 

 silence, smoking their pipes, stroakiug their beards ; 

 or repeating their prayers with a rosary in their hands, 

 or conversing together with the utmost vehemence. 

 They are so extremely averse from standing or walk- 

 ing, that, if two or three should chance to meet, they 

 instantly squat themselves down on the first clean 

 spot which they can find, though the interview may 

 not be intended to last above a few minutes. They 

 spend great part of their time in the barbers' shops, 

 which are the chief places of concourse, and the great 

 sources of all intelligence ; or in the coffee-houses, 

 drinking tea and coffee, or playing at a kind of chess, in 

 which they are very expert ; but all games of hazard 

 are strictly prohibited by their law, and they seldom 

 play for money in any case. Tribes of wandering his- 

 torians, or romancers, often amuse the vulgar by their 

 wonderful relations ; and dancers and jugglers by 

 their tricks and agility. The young men, and espe- 

 cially the soldiery, often make merry with their con- 

 cubines, with wine and music, in the taverns, or in 

 the fields. The natives of this country are, in gene- 

 ral, greatly delighted with music ; and their quick 

 tunes are very beautiful and simple ; but their slow 

 airs have a tiresome, melancholy sameness. Their 

 principal instruments are the hautboy, the mandoline, 

 (a Spanish instrument), a violin with two strings, the 

 drum, the common pipe and tabor. Their more ac- 

 tive diversions are, leap-frog, jumping, wrestling, and 

 particularly foot-ball ; in which last exercise, they do 

 not attempt to send the ball to a goal, but amuse 

 themselves by kicking it up in the air, without any 

 definite object. Another favourite amusement, or 

 rather military exercise, in which they continue for 

 several hours at a time, is what they call the game of 

 gun-powder ; which consists in one party of horse- 

 men riding full gallop against another, or merely to- 

 wards a wall, suddenly stopping short, dischaiging 

 their muskets, and retiring to resume the onset. 

 Those are considered a3 the most expert in this 

 amusement, who advance nearest the wall, and who 

 stop short most instantaneously. This is their mode 

 of engaging in battle, and also of complimenting a 

 stranger. They load their pieces with loose powder; 

 ride up violently to the persons, whom they mean to 

 salute ; and then suddenly checking their horses, dis- 

 charge their muskets full in the face of the ho- 

 noured individual. 

 Horseman- The care and management of their horse is their 

 k'P- greatest pleasure and accomplishment ; and it must 



be admitted that they excel in horsemanship. Their 

 mode of training and riding, however, is very cruel 

 and pernicious to these noble animals. They break 

 them in when very young, by making them perform 

 long and fatiguing journies, over a mountainous and 



rocky surface. They then teach them to rear up, Barbary. 

 to stand fire, to go at full speed, and to stop short, 

 as has been described. Their - iorses, of consequence, 

 have no other pace than a walk or gallop ; and, by 

 being broken in so early, and treated so barbarously, 

 they are very soon rendered unfit for service. Theii' 

 bridles have only one rein of very great length, which 

 seives also the purpose of a whip ; and the bit is so 

 constructed, that, by a very slight pressure on the 

 horse's tongue and lower jaw, it fills his mouth with 

 blood ; and, if not used with the utmost caution,- 

 would be so powerful in its check, as to throw him, 

 completely on his back. Their saddles are in some 

 degree similar to the Spanish ; but the pummel is 

 still higher peaked, rising in a perpendicular direc- 

 tion, while the back part is elevated in such a man- 

 ner, as to support the rider, as high as the loins. 

 They are covered with red woollen cloth, or even 

 with red sattin ; and are fastened upon the horse by 

 one girth round the body, and another across his 

 shoulders. The stirrups are hung very short ; form- 

 ed so as to cover the foot, like a slipper; and placed 

 far back, so as to give the rider a firmer seat by in- 

 ducing him to grasp the horse's sides with his knees. 

 The spur is a spike, about six inches in length, hung 

 loosely at the heel of the stirrup, a very barbarous 

 looking weapon, which appears to a stranger ready 

 to rip up the sides of the animal, but which a skil- 

 ful rider keeps always between four or eight inches 

 from the horse's belly, and seldom uses it so as to do 

 him any injury. 



Among the amusements of the Moors maybe men- Hunting, 

 tioned the sports of the field, such as hawking, which 

 is much practised in the kingdom of Tunis, where there 

 is a great variety of falcons ; and fowling, in which the 

 sportsman makes no use of dogs, but conceals himself 

 under an oblong frame of canvass, painted like a leo- 

 pard, in which are two or three holes, that he may per- 

 ceive what passes, and may push out his musket when 

 he is sufficiently near to the birds. They often take 

 partridges by tunnelling, or inclosing them in a net 

 by means of a decoy bird in a cage ; and sometimes 

 by springing the coveys repeatedly, till the birds be- 

 come fatigued, when they take them with dogs, or 

 knock them down with sticks. A whole district is 

 often assembled to hunt the lion and leopard. The 

 company encompass a space of three or four miles in 

 circumference, gradually contracting their circle as 

 they proceed; the footmen with dogs and spears 

 advancing in the front, while the horsemen are a little 

 behind, ready to charge upon the first sally of the 

 wild beast. Sometimes they form traps for these 

 animals by digging holes in the ground, formed like 

 an inverted cone, and slightly covered with earth. At 

 other times, the Shelluhs and Berebbers take their 

 statioQ, near the resort of these destructive animals, 

 sometimes on the top of a tree, and sometimes in 

 small round towers built for the purpose, with a hole 

 or two in the wall for the musket ; and will patiently 

 remain in these places for whole day3, living on bar- 

 ley meal and water. Their manner of hunting the 

 hyaena is also very singular, and deserves to be parti- 

 cularly mentioned. Ten or twelve persons repair to 

 the cave, which the animal is understood to fre- 

 quent, and in which he. always remains through the 



