and raw fnails, were then almost the whole of their aliment. M. de Briffon's mafter, however, had promised to fend him to Mogador, and to furnish him with the means of procuring his liberty; but he foon put an end to his diffimulation, and this unfortunate man loft every hope. He no longer met in the fields his miferable companions; and he regretted above all the lofs of the captain. One evening he found him ftretched out on the fand, and in fuch a condition, that he scarcely knew him but by the colour of his body. In his mouth he held one of his hands, which his extreme weakness prevented him from devouring. Hun ger had fo much changed his figure, that his appearance was horrid and difgufting. A few days after, the fecond captain, exhaufted by want, fell down under a tree, where he remained exposed to the attacks of a monftrous ferpent. Some hungry crows frightened the venomous reptile by their cries, and, perching upon the dying man, began to tear him to pieces; while four favage monfters, ftill more cruel than the furious fnake, beheld this fcene, and fuffered the unhappy wretch to make vain efforts without deigning to lend him the least affiftance. M. de Briffon endeavoured to fave him if poffible, but he was prevented by the Arabs, who ill ufed and infulted him. Not knowing which way to bend his steps, he haftened from this scene of horror. Almost all the prifoners funk under their misfortunes in fucceffion, and no one was left to comfort him under his fufferings; he became frantic through excess of thirst, and even the Arabs themfelves died from the fame caufe. They preferved with the greatest care, the water which they found in the ftomachs of their camels, and boiled their flesh in it. At length his master's brother-in-law purchafed him for five camels, and this

man having occafion to go to the court of the emperor of Morocco upon bufinefs, he carried M. de Briffon along with him. The French Conful at that time was luckily in great favour with the emperor, on account of fome prefents which he had made him; for this reason the emperor fet all the prifoners at liberty, and amongst the reft M. de Briffon.' .

The author thus defcribes the refidence of the French conful at Morocco, which had formerly been that of the Spanish ambaffador.

'It is the best house which the emperor has to difpofe of. It is a long cave, hollowed out of the ground, with two ranges of pillars fupporting the roof. You defcend into it by a floping path, and you have no other air to breathe there but what comes through fome small apertures, made in the roof. The emperor keeps here his tents and implements of war. Nothing elfe is to be feen but bare walls, cobwebs, bats, and rats. This edifice is fituated in one of the finest gardens of his majesty, adorned with olive trees, quinces, pomegranates, and apple trees. The four high walls that furround it would almoft make those who walk there imagine that they were prisoners of ftate. When the emperor affigns this houfe for the accommodation of ambassadors, or the reprefentatives of foreign powers, he does not beftow with it a fingle article of furniture. He contents himfelf with distributing to them a certain quantity of beef, mutton, poultry, bread, and water.

The emperor's own palace confifts of fix vaft courts furrounded with walls. The outward appearance of the feraglio refembles a granary. The mofque is built in the fame tafte. I do not know if the infide be elegant, but the external figure prefents nothing agreeable.

The

The city is feparated from the palace by maffes of dirt. The garbage and bones of the animals they kill, collected into an heap, serve as it were for the walls of the capital. Thefe pyramids of filth are to be found in the very heart of the town. They nfe higher than the houses, and almost deprive them of the light of day. The fun, ftriking on thefe mountains of ordure, promotes the process of putrefaction. The houfes of the people are ill-built, and refemble the ftyes in which we keep our fwine. They never know the benefit of fresh air; the streets are narrow, and partly covered with ftraw.'

Having given a fhort sketch of M. de Briffon's adventures, we fhall extract a few particulars respecting the country which he traversed. He gives the following account of the city of Gouadnum.

This city, fays he, is a place of refuge for the most defperate rebels of all the different tribes. It is divided into parts, the Upper and the Lower; and almost all the houses are built after the fame manner. Four large walls inclose an immenfe fpace of ground, and they receive no light but from the door and the upper part, which is left open. The walls are very high, and there is only one door in all the circumference; it is guarded by large dogs. Each individual has also a dog for his own fafety. Without this precaution, though fhut up within thefe walls, he would run the hazard of being robbed by fome of his neighbours, more enterprising or more dexterous than himself. I could not reconcile this diftruft with the trade carried on in this city, which is pretty confiderable. I faw two markets in it, which certainly were not inferior, in any thing, to the largest fairs in the provinces of France. Though fpecie of different kinds circulates here, I am inclined to think that their

trade is principally carried on by barter. Fine wool may be found here in great abundance; and, above all, woollen ftuffs, half white and half crimson, which are used by the inhabitants for their dresses. The merch ants, who purchase them in order to fell them in the interior parts of the country, give camels in exchange. Their ordinary profit is four hundred per cent. and on these articles they gain much less than on wheat, barley, dates, horses, sheep, goats, oxen, fhe-affes, tobacco, gunpowder; combs, fmall mirrors, and other toys, which are not carried to a great distance. They are confumed in cer tain fmall towns of the country, in each of which a market is held on fixed days. What is very furprising is, that the Jews are the only people who carry on this trade. They are, however, expofed to the most humiliating infults. An Arab fpatches the bread from the hand of an Ifraelite, enters his house, makes him give him a handful of tobacco, often beats him, and always behaves to him with infolence; and yet the poor Jew muft fuffer with patience. It is true that he indemnifies himself after his own manner; that is to fay, by the addrefs with which he difposes of his merchandise to advantage, and by the cunning by which he over-reaches an Arab. The latter, in general, are exceedingly stupid.

Refpecting the emperor of Morocco, his power, and the conduct of the confuls, M. de Briffon fays

May I be permitted to oblerve how extraordinary it is, that a prince, fo little to be dreaded as the empe ror of Morroco, fhould oblige the different powers of Europe to fend ambaffadors to him, and that he fhould even dictate laws to them. There is not a single fovereign who dares to fend a representative to his court without making him at the fame time confiderable prefents, and what envoy would prefent himself

without

without having his hands full? How happens it that the confuls have not, by common confent, reprefented to their respective fovereigns, that the emperor of Morocco becomes every day more and more powerful by the fupplies which they themselves furnifh him? Twenty years ago this prince was abfolutely deftitute of refources. He had neither materials, nor any place for cafting cannons; and he was equally in wast of wood for building fhips, of ropes, of nails, and even of workmen. It is France, and other European powers, that affist him, elfe the emperor of Morocco would be of little confideration. His fuperb batteries of brafs cannons, twenty-four, thirty - fix, and forty-eight pounders, were furnished by Holland, Spain, England, and France. England has done more than other nations, by felling him those beautiful cannons which were taken on the floating batteries. Mogador, that part of it which is next to Morocco, is built in an advantageous fituation. Its batteries are well difpofed, and there are cannon at each embrafure; but they are there only in a manner for fhew, as they have no carriages, and are fupported only by brick-work. There are Bo workmen in the country capable of mounting them on carriages, nor is there wood proper for making them. Did a few veffels only wait for the failing of thofe fmall frigates, which are almost all unfit for fea, except only two, nothing would be safier than to prevent them from returning, and to block up the ports of Mogador, Rabat, and Salee. What would become of his commerce, and, above all, his marine, did the Chriftian princes ceafe to affift him, contrary to the interests of humanity? Would England and Spain unite only for a moment, Tangiers, his moft beautiful port, would foon be fo far ruined, that it could not afford fhelter to his fubjects, who, deftitute of

fhips, would foon be obliged to give over their piracies. If the confuls of different nations have never made thefe obfervations, and if they have never pointed out the means of curbing the infolence of the emperor of Morocco, it is because they are at the head of the commerce which these different powers carry on in that part of the world. The conful bought up almost all the corn of the country, and fhips were fent off with it according to his confignments. The French conful is the only one who does not engage in commerce. I can pofitively affert, that these representatives, instead of furnishing their courts with the means of diminishing the power of the emperor, never ceafe to add to his itrength, and to incite him to make new pretenfions. How much we aflift thefe pirates to hurt the advantageous trade which we might carry on! Their fituation renders them very dangerous; but if we leave tirem only their fituation, it would be impoffible for them to profit much by it. Let impartial people pay a visit to that country, let them fpeak with the fame fincerity as I do, and they will no doubt be convinced that the emperor of Morocco, of all the princes in the world, would be the leaft able to do mifchief, did the fovereigns of Europe cease to furnish him with fuccours."

The manner in which the Arabs of the Defart milk their flocks.

They begin by the fhe-camels, giving them a great many blows with their feet, until they make them rife. As foon as they are on their legs, they take off from their udder a kind of covering made of ropes worked together, which is intended to prevent the young camel from fucking. The young one then runs up to its mother, and, by its careffes, prepares her to yield her milk in greater abundance. The master and the keeper of the flock watch the

moment when the lips of the young camel are covered with a white foam: they then separate it from its mother; and each refting his head on different fides, against the animal's belly, they prefs the udder, from which they fometimes draw five pints of milk, when the rains have rendered the earth fruitful. The keeper of the flock, after taking a few draughts every time he milks, pours the rest into a vessel destined for that purpofe, and placed close by the fide of his mistress; for he is allowed no other nourishment than the milk which he draws from the laft of the camels. When all the milk is thus collected, the mistress puts afide her part, which is never the leaft; then ferves her husband and his children; and lays up the reft in a goat's fkin, which the leaves expofed to the fun before the milk be made into butter. Three or four hours after, the young girls bring from the fields the sheep and the goats. The mother, who is always prefent at the last milking, mixes the milk procured by it with that of the camels; and when the fun has fufficiently warmed it, they feparate the cream from it, in order to make butter. What remains ferves as drink for the rest of the day. When the butter is made, they put it into small skins, where it acquires a ftrong fmell, which, according to the taste of thefe barbarians, adds to its value. The women use it for greafing their hair; without this they would think fomething deficient in their drefs.'

We fhall add two more extracts, zefpecting the conftitution of the Arabs, and their agriculture.

Thefe Arabs are fubject to few difeafes. I have feen many old people, of both fexes, who were opprefed with no kind of infirmity. Sore Eyes, and cholics, are the moft ufual diforders among them. Children, above all, are exposed to these, tho'

in other refpects strong and robust. In the morning it is difficult for them to open their eye-lids. With regard to the cholic, I think it is occafioned by the verdigrife which is mixed with every thing they eat or drink. The reafon of its not occafioning more sudden disasters, is, perhaps, the large quantities of milk which they use. The kettles in which they cook their victuals are not tinned: they never wash them, on account of the scarcity of water. fo that they remain covered with cruft of verdigrife, which they do not fcrape away even when they fcour them with fand.. During my stay among them, I was defirous of taking that charge, and of rubbing until I fhould clear the verdigrife entirely away; but they abfolutely forbade me, telling me that I should wear their kettle.

It fometimes happens that the fields of thefe barbarians are covered with plentiful crops; but, instead of waiting till the grain attains to maturity, they cut it down, and dry it over hot cinders, without reflecting that, by pursuing this method, they deprive themselves of that abundance which is neceffary for the fupport of their families, and of ftraw to feed their cattle, which, for the most part, are reduced to the neceffity of browzing on dry branches of trees; and that they themselves are often obliged to eat the faddles and girths from the backs of their camels. I could not fee without regret the little care which these barbarians take in preparing the earth; they leave the feed between heaps of ftones, and among bushes, the parched roots of which absorb all the moisture of the ground, on which the waters leave a kind of mud very proper for affifting early vegetation. The perfon who is employed to till the ground repairs to those spots which the rain has principally moift

ened,