MOROCCO. 7 
Tetnan. Fallow deer, the roebuck, the antelope, foxes, 
and other animals of Europe, are not very abundant in 
Morocco; lions and tigers are not uncommon in Come 
parts of the empire: of all the fpecies of ferocious animals 
found in this empire, the wild boar is the moll common : 
the Cow has feveral litters in the year, and her young, 
which are numerous, ferve as food for the lion. The 
fame varieties of fifli, that are found in the Mediterranean, 
are taken on the fliores of Weft Barbary. 
The religion of the Moors is Mahometifm, which they 
very rigidly obferve. They follow the left of Abdallah 
Melek, who was one of the four commentators on the 
Koran. Saints and their fanftuaries are very numerous 
among the Moors; and they are devoutly invoked by 
the men for the cure of their dileafes, for the fertility of 
their lands, and for fuccels in their undertakings; and 
by the women for the blefting of children. Some of 
them pretend to have charms againft wizards, forcerers, 
the poifon of ferpents, and other venomous infefts. They 
even eat fcorpions. The number of faints contributes 
very much to the increaleoffuperftition among the Moors, 
of which their defpotic governors are not at a lofs to avail 
theinfelves. The Moors of the country never fail, after 
Iiarveft, to perform a vifit of pilgrimage to the faint, whom 
they highly venerate, carrying their fir-ft fruits as an ex- 
preffion of homage and gratitude. Their priefts, their 
judges, all the learned in the law, every well-informed 
perfon, together with their iharifs or nobles, are held by 
the Moors to be holy; and they extend their veneration 
even to Chriftian priefts. Madmen, idiots, and dotards, 
are fuppofed by thefe people to be pofl'effed by a divine 
fpirit. The fanftuaries of the faints are very numerous, 
and there are fome to which large pofieffions are annexed. 
The propenfity of the Moors to fuperftition, enthrufiafm, 
and fanaticifm, infpires them with a veneration for fuch 
of their number as have made the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
Even a camel, that has been at Mecca, is well fed, main¬ 
tained without work, and allowed to graze freely wliere- 
ever he fhall ftray. 
Their mofques, or places of public worfhip, are ufually 
large iquare buildings, compoled of the fame materials as 
the houfes. The building confifts of broad and lofty 
piazzas, opening into a l'quare court, in a manner in fome 
degree f milar to the Royal Exchange of London. In the 
centre of the court is a large fountain; and a ftnall ftream 
furrounds the piazzas, where the Moors perform the 
ceremony of ablution. The court and piazzas are floored 
with blue-and-white checquered tiling; and the latter 
are covered with matting, upon which the Moors kneel 
while repeating their prayers. In the moft confpicuous 
part of the mofque, fronting the eaft, ftands a kind of 
pulpit, where the talbe, or pried, occafionally preaches. 
The Moors always enter this place of worfhip barefooted, 
leaving their flippers at the door. On the top of the 
mofque is a fquare fteeple with a flag-ftaff, whither at 
dated hours the talbe afcends, hoifts a white flag, and 
calls the people to prayers ; for they have no bells. From 
this high fituation the voice is heard at a confiderable 
diftance; and the talbes have a monotonous mode of 
enunciation, the voice finking at the end of every fhort 
fentence, which in fome meafure refembles the found of 
a bell. The moment the flag is difplayed, every perfon 
forfakes his employment, and goes to prayers. If they 
are near a mofque, they perform their devotions within 
it, otherwife immediately on the fpot where they happen 
to be, and always with their faces towards the eaft, in 
honour of their prophet Mahomet, who it is well known 
was buried at Medina. Their Sabbath is on our Friday, 
and commences from fix o’clock the preceding evening. 
On this day they ule a blue flag inftead of the white one. 
As it has been prophefied that they are to be conquered 
by the Chriftians on the Sabbath-day, the gates of all the 
towns and of the emperor’s palaces are fhut when at 
divine fervice on that day, in order to avoid being lur- 
prifed during that period. 
The Moors have,- three folemn devotional periods in 
the courf'e of the year. The firft, which is named Adi 
de Cabicr, is held in commemoration of the birth of Ma¬ 
homet. It continues feven days; during which period, 
every perfon who can afford the expenfe kills a fheep as 
a facrifice, and divides it among his friends. Thefecond 
is the Ramadan. This is held at the feafon when Ma¬ 
homet difappeared in his flight from Mecca to Medina 
Every man is obliged at that period to faft (that is, to 
abftain from animal food from funrife to funfet each day) 
for thirty days; at the expiration of which time a feaft: 
takes place, and continues a week. The third is named 
l.lajhore, and is a day fet apart by Mahomet for every per- 
fon to compute the value of his property, in order for 
the payment of zakat, that is, one-tenth of his income, 
to the poor, and other pious ufes. Although this feaft 
only lafts a Angle day, yet it is celebrated with far greater 
magnificence than either of the others. 
The Moors of the empire of Morocco, as well as thof® 
to the northern limits of Africa, fpeak Arabic; but this 
language is corrupted in proportion as we retire farther 
from Afia, where it firft took birth; the intermixture 
which has happened among the African nations, and the 
frequent tranfmigrations of the Moors, during a fucceffiou 
of ages, have occafioned them to lofe the purity of the 
Arabic language; its pronunciation has been vitiated, 
the ufe of many words loft, and other foreign words have 
been introduced without thereby rendering it more copi¬ 
ous ; the pronunciation of the Africans, however, is 
fofter to the ear and lefs guttural than that of the Egyp¬ 
tians. The language, when written, is in elfeft much 
the fame at Morocco as at Cairo, except that there are 
letters and expreflions among the Moors which differ from 
thofe of the Oriental Arabs, who, however, underftand 
the Moors in converfation, notwithftanding their vitiated- 
manner of pronouncing. They mutually read each other’s 
writings with fome difficulty. 
As to the ftate of knowledge among the Moors, much 
cannot be faid in commendation of it. Deriving their 
language and religion from the Arabs, they feem not in 
any degree to have participated of their knowledge. The 
Moors of this empire, though the Moors of Spain blended 
with thofe of Morocco may be found among their pro¬ 
genitors, have preferved no traces of the genius of their 
anceltors. The Moors have no conception of the fpecu- 
lative fciences: thofe among them who can read, and 
their number is very fmall, leldom read any thing but 
their books of religion. Education confifts merely in 
learning to read and write; and, as the revenues of the 
learned are derived from thofe talents, the priefts and 
talbes among them are the foie depofitories of this fcanty 
knowledge. The Moors, like the Arabs, adopt the 
praftice of rhyming and finging the hiftory of any extra¬ 
ordinary event. The Moors of Spain paid particular at¬ 
tention to the ftudy of phyfic and aftronomy, and they 
have left valuable monuments of their Ikill and attain¬ 
ments ; but the modern Moors are much degenerated i 
they have no inclination to the ftudy of fcience, and 
they are fhamefully ignorant both of difeafes and their 
remedies. Their moft common phyficians are their talbes, 
their fakirs, and their faints, in whom they repofe a fu- 
perftitious confidence. Aftronomy is almoft unknown 
to the Moors : although they lead a kind of wandering- 
life, with the canopy of the heavens always open to them 
view, they have little acquaintance with the celeftial 
bodies ; and they are totally unable to calculate eclipfes,. 
which they always interpret to portend evil. However, 
magic, the companion of aftrology, has here its followers 5. 
and it is particularly ltudied by the talbes in the l'outh- 
ern parts, who fuccefsfully ufe it in impofing upon Moor- 
iffi credulity with itrange dreams, and ambiguous fore¬ 
bodings and predictions. 
Perlonal cleanlinefs has been confidered as one of thofe 
circumltances which ferve to mark and determine the 
civilization of a people. It was in vain that Mahomet 
a enjoined 
