4 AKRIVAL AT TANGIER. oh. i. 



and we at once decided that not a moment's time should 

 be wasted. Back again our heavy goods, in which botani- 

 cal paper was a chief ingredient, were carried to the mole, 

 and after paying the innkeeper a pretty heavy ransom, on 

 account of rooms ordered but not used, and a hastily swal- 

 lowed dinner, we once more found ourselves afloat. So 

 much haste was not necessary, for the steamer did not 

 start till some time after midnight ; but the time was not 

 badly spent, for the steamer was one of those that ply 

 between London and the Canary Islands, touching at the 

 ports on the Atlantic coast of Marocco ; and the skipper, 

 who was an old stager, and had formed his own opinions 

 about the country, had plenty of information, of a more 

 or less authentic, but mainly discouraging, character, 

 which he was most ready to impart. 



The distance from Gibraltar to Tangier is not more 

 than thirty-five miles, and we came to anchor in the 

 open roadstead soon after daylight on April 7. Unlike 

 the ports on the Atlantic coast, the shape of the land 

 here gives some protection from the prevailing westerly 

 seas and winds ; but in other respects this is a bad one. 

 The ruined mole, round which sand has accumulated, 

 forms on one side a dangerous reef, and elsewhere the 

 shore shelves very slowly to a moderate depth. Ships of 

 any burthen are forced to lie out far from shore, and the 

 landing from boats is usually effected on the backs of Jews, 

 inasmuch as no Moslem will degrade himself by perform- 

 ing such a service for a Christian. 



On Good Friday the Jews were all engaged in the 

 ceremonies of the Passover ; but, as the sea was unusually 

 calm, we were able to land on the ruins of the mole, and, 

 after floundering through slippery seaweed, we were not 

 long in reaching the sea gate of the city. 



We had already perceived that, although no longer in 

 Europe, we were yet under the shadow of European man- 

 ners and customs. High above the city walls we espied, 

 as we neared the shore, several conspicuous inscriptions. 



