WINDHUS. 
281 
word was sufficient, yet he would sign it for their 
satisfaction. 
The emperor, Muley Ismael, was eighty-seven 
years old, and bore traces of the infirmities natu- 
ral to so advanced an age. He had lost all his 
teeth, breathed with difficulty, and had a severe 
cough. His beard was thin and very white ; his 
eyes much sunk. He was still, however, very ac- 
tive, and his eyes had not lost all their fire. He 
had reigned fifty- three years, having, in I672, 
succeeded to his brother, Muley Arschid, of whom 
he was not the rightful heir ; but being governor 
of Mequinez, and having thus a considerable force 
under his command, he dethroned and put to 
death Muley Hamet, his nephew. The cruelty 
of this extraordinary barbarian soon began to ma- 
nifest itself. It produced at first some salutary 
effects ; the laws w^re vigorously enforced ; the 
roads were cleared of banditti, by whom they had 
been infested ; travelling was rendered secure, 
and the kingdom preserved, during his long reign, 
in a state of tranquillity. His executions, how- 
ever, were not confined to those who had given 
just cause of offence ; he retained always the 
habit of putting to instant death all who became 
the objects of his capricious resentment. The 
instruments of his violence were a body of eight 
hundred negro guards, who formed his chief con- 
fidants, and were carefully trained to their func- 
