He was proceeding in this manner when I was startled by the sound of a musket.
“That is the retreat,” said Pascual Fava. “It is fired every night in the soc at half-past eight, and it is the signal for suspending all business, and shutting up. I am now going to close the doors, and whosoever knocks, I shall not admit them till I know their voice. Since the murder of the poor Genoese last year, we have all been particularly cautious.”
Thus had passed Friday, the sacred day of the Moslems, and the first which I had spent in Tangier. I observed that the Moors followed their occupations as if the day had nothing particular in it. Between twelve and one, the hour of prayer in the mosque, the gates of the town were closed, and no one permitted either to enter or go out. There is a tradition, current amongst them, that on this day, and at this hour, their eternal enemies, the Nazarenes, will arrive to take possession of their country; on which account they hold themselves prepared against a surprisal.
the end.
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh & London
Footnotes
[8] “Om Frands Gonzales, og Rodrik Cid.
End siunges i Sierra Murene!”
Krönike Riim. By Severin Grundtvig. Copenhagen, 1829.
[90] Doing business, doing business—he has much business to do.
[93a] The Gypsy word for Antonio.