12 
MOROCC O. 
all commercial nations, concluded a treaty of peace with 
this monarch. The French have been accuftomed to 
vend, on the coaft of Morocco, much of the linen of Brit¬ 
tany, and of other places, fome raw filks for the manu- 
fa&ures of Fez, unfpun cotton, Bifcay iron, common 
papers, mercery-goods, fome few filks, cloths, fugar, and 
coffee, and as much fulphur as the emperor requires ;_and 
they have received, in exchange, wool, oils, raw hides, 
gums, and elephants’ teeth. 
The duties, coins, weights, and meafures, in Morocco, 
are almoft as variable as the opinion of the emperor. The 
duties both of exportation and importation have been 
very various, and are entirely arbitrary. The coins, 
which are current over the coaft of Morocco, are thole of 
the emperor, andthofe of Spain. The coins of the empe¬ 
ror are thole of gold, filver, and copper, which have no 
fixed value. The gold ducat, which is very fcarce, and 
which has little circulation, is worth 15 ounces, corref- 
ponding to eight and fourpence Englilh. The filver mo¬ 
ney is the current ducat, the ounce, and the blanquil. 
The current ducat is worth 10 ounces, the ounce 4-blan- 
quils, and the blanquil 24 flus. The flus is the only cur¬ 
rent copper coin. The value of the blanquil' is nearly 
feven farthings Englilh ; fo that the ounce is worth 5s. 6|d. 
The Spanilh piaftre is current in trade ; but, though in ge¬ 
neral its value is fixed, it may vary according to the con¬ 
venience of the emperor, and his interell in rendering 
piaftres fcarce or common. The weights by which they 
buy and fell in Morocco are equivalent to the old weights 
of Paris, the poids de marc, or pound of 16 ounces ; the 
fubdivifions of which are in both places the dime. Mer- 
chandife is generally fold by the quintal of 100 pounds; 
but fome commodities are fold by the great quintal, or 
150 pounds. Corn is meafured along the coaft of Mo¬ 
rocco in different ways. In the fouthern provinces, known 
by the name of the kingdom of Morocco, wheat is fold by 
the garara and the mood. The garara contains 40 mood, 
and the mood weighs from 18 to 20 pounds; fo that the 
garara muft be nearly 8 cwt. The corn-meafures, how¬ 
ever, are liable to variation according to the will of 
the emperor. The meafure by which cloths, linen, and 
woollen, are fold, is called coode, which is the cubit of 
the ancients. The coode contains 19 inches four lines; 
and, as the French ell is 44 inches, 23 coodes are nearly 
equal to an ell. 
The military eftablifnment of the empire of Morocco 
is the refult of a fucceflion of accidental circumftances. 
Some few years ago, 50,000 negroes were kept in pay in 
Morocco ; but, with views of economy, the emperor dif- 
armed and dilbanded them; and now the total amount 
does not exceed more than between 15 and 18,000 men, 
who are kept in conftant pay; and even fome of thole 
are lent into diftant provinces, to protect the tax-ga¬ 
therers. Neverthelefs, moll of the Moors are foldiers; as 
each keeps a horfe, a iabre, and a mulket, and they are 
ready to march at the firft warrant of the monarch. Al¬ 
though the population of this empire bears but a fmall 
proportion to its extent, the emperor might with great 
eafe raife from 2 to 300,000 men, if fuch a force were found 
to be neceffary. The emperor has few infantry, the chief 
force of his army coniifting of cavalry. The Moors are 
good horfemen,and capable of being good foldiers, though 
not actually formed for this purpole. Annies among the 
Moors are ufually drawn up in a crefcent, the ftrength of 
which is in the centre, and here the artillery is placed; 
and their whole art of attack conlifts in afting with the 
detachments of the two extremities, fo as to furround the 
enemy, put him between two fires, and at the fame time- 
expole him to be cannonaded by the artillery. The em¬ 
peror has of late procured more than 60 mortars of va¬ 
rious dimenfions, and above 200 pieces of artillery ; and 
he has exercifed fome perlons in the art of gunnery. The 
mufquets are forged in the empire of Morocco of iron pro¬ 
cured from Bifcay; they are about 6* feet long, and are 
lo much loaded with iron as to fatigue the foldier. Their 
fibres are alfo manufactured in Morocco of Bifcay iron. 
Gunpowder is likewife made in this empire. 
The revenues of the emperor of Morocco cannot be 
eafily eftimated, as they entirely depend on his will. In 
the pi;efent exhaufted ftate of the empire, the various taxes 
united are Icarcely fufficient for its own liipport; and the 
treafury of the emperor, which was formerly very confi- 
derable, was reduced in 1782 to about two millions of 
ducats, or about five hundred thouland pounds fterling. 
Such is the ftate of an empire which nature has enriched 
with her gifts, and which, after having been laid defolate 
by the conflicting paffions of man, is at prefent Icarcely 
lufficient to luppiy his wants. 
Various and contradictory ftatements have been made by 
travellers ot the population of this country. Mr. Jackfon 
has collected from the belt fources of information to which 
he could have accefs a variety of particulars, from which 
we deduce the following general refults. The total po¬ 
pulation of the principal towns, which he enumerates, is 
ftated at 895,600 : that of the provinces and ftates, alfo 
Ipecified, is given at 10,341,000 ; and the total is as fol¬ 
lows: the tribes of the Brebes of North Atlas alltogether 
amount to 3,000,000; the diftridt of Tafilet contains 
650,000; the provinces of the Morocco empire, weft of 
Atlas, include 10,341,000; and the inland cities, towns, 
and ports, contain 895,600 ; fo that the total population 
of the whole empire, including Tafilet, amounts to 
14,886,600 perlons. We very much fear that thele cal¬ 
culations are not to be depended upon, and that the num¬ 
bers are greatly exaggerated. Yet the accounts of other 
writers are to be depended on as little ; and the following 
companion of population, as given by three travellers, 
is exhibited as a curious l'pecimen of ftatiftical accuracy : 
Dr. Buft’a 
Jacklon 
Jardine 
Morocco. 
650,000 
Fez. 
Mequinez. 
Of all the Towns. 
GO 
OO 
O 
O 
O 
0 
I 10,000 
895,600 
270,000 
20,000 
30,000 
i 5,000 
120,000 
MOROCCO, a city of the kingdom of Morocco, in 
Barbary, lying about iao miles to the north of Tarudant, 
90 to the eaft of Mogadore, and 350 to the fouth of Tan¬ 
gier. It is fituated in a beautiful valley, formed by a chain 
of mountains on the northern fide, and thole of Atlas, 
from which it is diftant about 20 miles, on the fouth and 
eaft. The country which immediately furrounds it is a 
fertile plain, beautifully diverfified with clumps of palm- 
trees and fhrubs, and watered by fmall and numerous 
ftreams which delcend from Mount Atlas. The emperor's 
out-gardens, which are fituated at the diftance of about 
five miles to the fouth of the city, and are large planta¬ 
tions of olives walled in, add conliderably to the beauty 
of the feene. 
Morocco, though one of the capitals of the empire (for 
there are three, Morocco, Mequinez, and Fez), has no¬ 
thing to recommend it hut its great extent and the royal 
palace. It is enclofed by remarkably-ftrong walls built of 
tabby, a mixture of ftone and mortar, which becomes as hard 
as a rock, the circumference of which is about eight miles. 
On thefe walls there are no guns mounted ; but they are 
flanked with fquare towers, and furrounded by a wide and 
deep ditch. The city has a number of entrances, confid¬ 
ing of large double porches of tabby in the Gothic ftyle, 
the gates of which are regularly ftiut every night at cer¬ 
tain hours. The mofques, which are the only public 
buildings except the palace worth noticing at Morocco, 
are more numerous than magnificent; one of them is or¬ 
namented with a very high and fquare tower, built of cut 
ftone, which is vilible at a confiderable diftance from the 
city. The ftreets are very narrow, dirty, and irregular, 
and many of the houfes are uninhabited and falling to 
ruin. Thole which are decent and relpedtable in their 
appearance are built of tabby, and enclofed in gardens. 
That of the effendi, or prime minifter, (according to 
Mr. Lempriere,) was among the bell in Morocco. This 
houfe, which confided of two dories, had elegant apart¬ 
ments 
