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the company gnawing a dry biscuit and some onions, a hint by which I did not fail to profit the next day. As soon as we arrived at the resting place for the night, some of the drivers and slaves dug a hole in the sands to serve for a fireplace, whilst others went in search of wood and three stones, intended for a grate to support the cauldron, in which they prepared our food. Notwithstanding the rudeness of our apparatus, we ate a hearty meal, which, with a few hours sleep, greatly refreshed us.

Nothing material occurred till we reached the city of Mequinez, where the opportunity of resting our cattle and laying in a fresh stock of provisions was not neglected. The serenity of the air induces the emperor to pass much of his time here. The Jews, as at Morocco, are restrained to a particular part of the city, appropriated to their use, where they are under the protection of an alcaide, or magistrate, to defend them from the insults of the people, who otherwise would ill-treat and plunder them, and they would not dare to resent the injury, as it is death for a Jew to curse or lift up his hand against a Moor.

The streets are very narrow, and scarcely any windows to be seen, unless little holes, to peep through, deserve that name; yet the houses are good, and built upon a plan very similar to that I described at Morocco. The palace is guarded by several hundreds of black eunuchs, who are neatly dressed, and wear knives and scimetars, covered with wrought silver.— Very near the city stands a Negro town, that covers

as much ground as Mequinez, but the houses are neither so high nor so well built. The inhabitants are all black, or of a dark tawny colour: they furnish recruits for the soldiers who guard the emperor's

court.

On renewing our journey, we set forward, in a north-easterly direction, and, having entered the kingdom of Fez, proceeded towards the capital, bearing the same name. I observed the country, in many places, is populous and fertile, producing citrons, lemons, oranges, dates, almonds, olives, figs, raisins, sugar, honey, flax, cotton, and corn in abundance, with plenty of feed for camels, oxen, sheep, and horses, which are esteemed to excel those of all Barbary.

Finding Fez a place of considerable magnitude, containing many objects worth a stranger's notice, I determined to remain there till the departure of the carravan to Mecca; with which I could travel with more security than with my own servants only. The neighbouring country is pleasant and fertile, but, in many parts, abandoned to the liberality of nature, owing to the oppression of the government, which leaves no man sure of his own property: in consequence, the people seclude themselves from observatiou, and cultivate no more land than is necessary for their support.

The situation of the city is truly singular: it lies in the bottom of a valley, surrounded by little hills; the declivities are divided into gardens, planted with all trees, orange shrubs and other fruit trees; a river

meanders along the descent, and turns a number of mills, which disperse the refreshing stream in abundance to all the gardens, and to almost every house. We entered the city by a road that traverses these gardens in a serpentine direction, and were delighted with the prospect of the rich amphitheatre they pre

sent.

The houses are built of brick or stone, and are adorned, on the outside, with fine mosaic work, or tiles, like those of Holland. The roofs are flat, and in summer the owners frequently pass the night upon them. The apartments mostly inclose a court, containing a fountain, and have a communication with each other, by means of piazzas and galleries. The pillars that support them are of marble, or of brick covered with glazed tiles, with arches between. The timberwork is carved and painted with gay colours, and most of the rooms have marble cisterns of water. Some of the great men build towers over their houses, several stories high, from whence they have a fine prospect all over the city.

The mosques, of different sizes, are numerous, and and some of them extremely magnificent. The principal one is of a prodigious size, and has a very high tower, from the top of which the people are summoned to prayers. Except on the south side, it is surrounded by long colounades of pillars, and lighted at night with nine hundred lamps. Along the walls are seven pulpits, from which the doctors of the law instruct the people. The business of the priest is

only to read prayers, and distribute alms to the poor, for which there are large revenues provided. They hold Friday as a sabbath, when labour is suspended; but, after their devotions are performed in the mosques, they freely indulge in diversions of various kinds. Besides two colleges, of which I shall speak more particularly, there are several hospitals, and at least a hundred public baths, many of which are handsome edifices.

Fez was built, in the end of the eighth century, by Edris, a descendant of Mahomet and of Ali, and is therefore regarded by the Moors as a sacred city. It also became a seat of learning: no expence has been spared in adorning their colleges. One of them has a hundred rooms, besides a magnificent hall. In this there is a great marble vase, full of water, adorned with marble pillars, of various colours, finely polished. The capitals are gilt, and the roof shines with gold, azure, and purple, and the walls are inscribed with Arabic verses, in gold characters; but learning has greatly declined since this grand college was built, though the schools of Fez still maintain a degree of reputation, that attracts scholars from distant parts.

On the height, above the old town, in a plain of great natural fertility, stands New Fez, finely situated, and enjoying excellent air; some Moorish families reside there, but the greater number of the inhabitants are Jews.

I have found more civilization amongst the Moors here than at Morocco, yet much ignorance and into

lerance prevail. They are fond of astrology; of course, the slaves of superstition and credulity. But they are not destitute of ingenuity, as appears by their manufactures of silk, gauzes, embroidery, and staining leather. From what I have seen of them, they deserve but little confidence, having a very imperfect notion of that uprightness of character, so highly valued in Europe.

On the morning fixed for leaving Fez, our company was collected together a little before sunrise, by the monotonous sound of a kettle-drum, with orders from our sheik*, for marching. In our first day's journey we skirted the foot of that long ridge of eminences, so well known to the ancients under the name of Mount Atlas. I was surprised to find it inferior in height to the Alps. It consists of a num. ber of hills, from four to six hundred yards high, sometimes broken by rocky precipices that out-top the rest, and covered with groves of fruit and forest trees, with mud-walled cottages of the Kabyles intervening.

The second day we entered the kingdom of Algiers, which is now governed by an absolute monarch, called a Dey, who pays no other tribute to the Porte, than a certain number of boys, or youths, accompanied by rich presents, sent annually. This country was anciently Numidia, and reduced to a Roman province by Julius Cæsar; and, after submitting to

* Sheik signifies a commander.