COMMUNICATIONS, 
103 
In Fezzan, as in all the Countries in which the Mahometan 
Faith is eftabliflied, the defcendants of the Prophet are conii-" 
dered as a diftin^l and highly privileged order. Their property 
is facred ; their perfons are inviolable ; and while the colour of 
their turbans, and the revered title of Shereef, announce to the 
people the auguft dignity which they bear, they derive from 
the hereditary nature of their privileges a high degree of per- 
manent influence, and fometimes of dangerous power.'^ 
Among the privileges of their rank may be numbered an 
exemption from certain punifhments, and that fort of general 
indulgence which the prevalent dread of fliedding the blood of 
the Prophet unavoidably creates. 
' To thefe circumflances of diftin£tion it is owing that, like the 
Nobility of other States, they are fometimes fubjeded to, and 
feel a particular apprehenlion of the penalty of dilhonour, efpe- 
cially of that of having duft thrown upon their heads. 
But 
■* In Momcco, as in Fezzan, the Founder of the reigning family was indebted for the 
diadem to the refpe^ and reverence which the title of Shereef bejiozvs. 
