MONEY-CHANGERS. 
203 
louses* a small loaf and a few grapes upon which I dined ; 
then returning to the fandae I passed the night there with 
the asses and mules. 
On the 13th, 1 went with a negro of Mequinaz to visit 
the upper part of the town ; this good-natured man took 
pleasure in shewing me its curiosities. We inspected several 
mosques : one in particular attracted my attention as the 
finest ; it is called by the Moors Mouladrib. 
Wishing to proceed as soon as possible, I risked chang- 
ing two English crowns, in order to hire a mule to carry me 
to Rabat, where I hoped to find a French Consul. I applied 
first to a Moorish merchant, who bore the character of being 
very devout ; he weighed my pieces and offered much less 
than their value ; I was refusing to part with them on such 
terms when a Jew blacksmith passed us, and the Moor pro- 
posed to him to purchase them. Notwithstanding the bad 
character of his race, he proved less usurious than the Mu- 
sulman. After weighing the crowns in scales which he al- 
ways carried about him, he offered me a price much above 
that of the zealous follower of Mahomet ; I therefore treated 
with him : but having at the moment no money at hand, to 
avoid detaining me he requested the Moor to pay me the price 
agreed upon. The latter hastened to comply, but gave me 
coin which would not pass without a diminution of one fourth 
of its value. Such is the charity of these avaricious hypo- 
crites, who abuse with impunity the ignorance and simplicity 
of an unfortunate stranger. 
The Moors all questioned me incessantly upon my tra- 
vels ; they pitied- my sufferings, but not one of them invited 
me to eat; they gave me no other consolation than the assur- 
ance that God would not abandon me, but that it would 
please him to restore me to my country and my friends. 
On the J 4th, fearing that a longer residence in Fez 
* Felous is a generic word signifying coined money. At Fez this 
name is also given to a copper coin resembling the gu of Egypt. 
