THE MOO ns. 
Ill 
outside of the town, for they never bury their dead in the mosques, 
or within the bounds of an inhabited place'. The bier is accompanied 
by numbers of people, two abreast, who walk very fast, calling upon 
God and Mahomet, and singing hymns adapted to the occasion. The 
grave is made very wide at the bottom, and narrow at the top, and 
the body is deposited without any other ceremony than singing and 
praying, in the same manner as on their way to the grave. They have 
no tombs in this country, but long and plain stones: and it is fre- 
quently customary for the female friends of the departed to weep over 
their graves for several days after the funeral. 
Recreations, 
The Moors have in general but few amusements ; the sedentary 
life they lead in cities is little varied, except by the care they take of 
their gardens, which are rather kept for profit than for pleasure. 
Most of these are planted with orange and lemon trees, and cedars 
in rows, in such great quantities that the appearance is rather that of 
a forest than a garden. The Moors sometimes, though rarely, have 
music in these retreats ; but a state of slavery ill agrees with the love 
of pleasure. The people of Fez, alone, either from a difference of 
education, or because their organs and sensibilities are more delicate, 
make music a part of their amusements. 
There are not in Morocco, as in Turkey, public coffee-houses, 
where people meet to inquire the news of the day ; to obtain this, the 
Moors go to the barbers’ shops, which in all countries seems to be 
a rendezvous of newsmongers. These shops are surrounded by 
benches, on which the customer, the inquisitive, the idle, seat them- 
selves ; and when there are no places vacant, they crouch themselves 
on the ground like monkeys. Showmen and dancers come often into 
the towns ; round whom the people assemble, and partake of the 
amusement for a trifle. There are also a kind of wandering histo- 
rians. The vulgar, who cannot read, and who every where are eager 
to hear, are the most assiduous in attending these narrators, but 
want of more extensive information prevents the tale-teller from re- 
maining above a week in a place. 
A common diversion in the towns where there are soldiers, as well 
as in the country, is what the Moors call the game of gunpowder, a 
kind of military exercise, that is the more pleasing to the people, as, 
by the nature of their government, they all are, or are liable to become, 
soldiers, therefore all have arms and horses. By explosions of pow- 
der, too, they manifest their festivity on their holidays. Their game 
of gunpowder consists in two bodies of horse, each at a distance 
from one another, galloping in successive parties of four and 
four, and discharging their pieces charged with powder. Their chief 
art is in galloping up to the opposite detachment, firing their mus- 
kets, facing about, charging, and returning to the attack ; all wdiich 
manoeuvres are also performed by their opponents. The Moors take 
great pleasure in this amusement, which is only an imitation of their 
military evolutions. 
The common topics for conversation among the Moors are the 
occurrences of the place, their religion, their women, but, above all. 
