Whilst the Europeans remain in the hands of the Arabs and Jews, they are employed in various domestic services, such as bringing water, possibly the distance of nine or ten miles, to the habitation, and in collecting fire-wood. In performing these offices, their feet, being bare, and treading on the heated sand, become blistered and inflamed, the sandy particles penetrate into these blisters when broken, and irritate in such a manner as sometimes to cause mortification, and death. The young lads, of which there are generally two or three in every ship’s crew, are generally seduced by the Arabs to become Mohammedans; in this case, the Sheick or chief of the duar adopts him, and initiates him in the Koran, by sending him to the (Mdursa) seminary, where he learns to read the sacred volume, and is instructed in the pronunciation of the Arabic language; he is named after the Sheick who adopts him, after which an Arabian woman is offered to him as a wife; he marries, has a family, and becomes one of the clan, thus abandoning for ever the religion of his father, his native country, and his connexions.
The state of domestic comfort enjoyed by Christians established in West Barbary or Marocco is far from being impeded by those degrading distinctions practised in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries, where they are not allowed to ride on horses (the prophet’s beast), to wear green (the prophet’s colour,) &c. &c.; here they may do either: they may even enter towns on horseback, a privilege, however, which was not granted till of late years: Mons. Chenier, the French consul, first broke through this degrading custom, for being opposed by the gate-keepers at Saffy, he drew his sword, and forced his entrance, adding, that no one should stop the representative of the King of France: and when I went to Agadeer, by order of the Sultan Muley Yezzid, to establish a commercial intercourse with Holland, on my arrival at the gate, the Bashaw’s son objected to my entering on horseback, alleging, that it was near a sanctuary, and that Christians had never been allowed to enter the gate on horseback; I immediately turned my horse, ordered the baggage to be put on board the ship from which I had just landed, and declared, that I would not reside in any town, where I was not on an equal footing with a Mooselmin: but the old Bashaw, El Hayanie, a man of ninety years of age, sent two of his sons to request me to return: “Old customs,” said he, (when I afterwards met him at the gate,) “are abolished; we wish to see this place flourish with commerce, as in its former establishment; enter and go out on horseback when ever you please;” accordingly, ever since this circumstance, Christians have been allowed to enter the town on horseback: they may ride about the country in safety, and amuse themselves in the sports of the field; they are not obliged to stop at the approach of a Bashaw or his family, or to alight till the great man has passed;[193] it is expected that he salute him in his own country fashion, by taking off his hat, which, however, is considered by Mooselmin (unaccustomed to Christians) much in the same light that we should a man taking off his wig; for they go uncovered in presence of the Emperor, or wear a red cap, which is a substitute for a wig, their heads being shaved.
Of the vessels wrecked from time to time on the coast of the Desert, or Sahara, many are probably never heard of; but if any of the crew survive their hardships, they are induced, seeing no prospect of emancipation, to become Mahommedans, and nothing is afterwards known or heard of them; the vessel is supposed by its owners to have foundered at sea, and all passes into oblivion. Of vessels whose loss has been learnt by any chance (such as that of the sailors falling into the hands of Wedinoon Jews, or Moors), there may have been from the year 1790, to the year 1806, thirty of different nations, part of whose crews have afterwards found their way to Marocco, and given some account of their catastrophe; these may be thus divided,
| English | 17 |
| French | 5 |
| American | 5 |
| Dutch, Danish, Swedish, &c. | 3 |
Of the English vessels the crews probably amounted to 200 men and boys, who may be thus accounted for:
| Young men and boys either drowned, killed, or induced to embrace the Mohammedan religion | 40 |
| Old men and others killed by the Arabs in the first scuffle, when making opposition, or defending themselves! also drowned in getting ashore | 40 |
| Dispersed in various parts of the Desert, after a lapse of time, in consequence of the Consul making no offers sufficiently advantageous to induce the Arabs to bring them to Mogodor (which should always be done as soon as possible after the wreck, and a price given superior to that of a native slave) | 40 |
| 120 | |
| Redeemed after a tedious existence among the Arabs of from one to five years, or more, originating from various causes, such as a want of application being made through the proper channel, want of remitting money for their purchase, or want of a competent agent settled on the coast. | 80 |
If any nation of Europe ought to enquire into the mode of remedying this evil, it is certainly Great Britain, whose influence at the Court of Marocco, by adopting a judicious system, might be made very considerable and advantageous to the country; a small sum would be sufficient at Mogodor (if the expense of an express agent for this particular purpose were disapproved), if deposited in the hands of the Vice-Consul, or any merchant of respectability, where it might remain ready to be employed in the purchase of these unfortunate people, and by allowing a sum rather above the price of a black slave, the Arabs would immediately bring them to Mogodor, knowing they could depend on an adequate price; by this means they might be procured for half what they now cost; and it would be an infinitely better plan than that of soliciting the Emperor to procure them through the Bashaw of Suse; for, besides the delay, and consequent protracted sufferings of the captives, the favour is undoubtedly considered by the Emperor as incalculably more than the cost and charges of their purchase.[194]
It is generally a month or two before the news of a shipwreck reaches Mogodor, at which time, if a fund were there deposited, in the hands of a competent agent, a hundred and fifty dollars would be sufficient to purchase each man; yet, often from the scarcity of specie, or the various commercial demands which the merchants have for their money, they have it not in their power (however philanthropically disposed) to redeem these poor men: and if they do, it is at their own risk, and they must necessarily wait to know if the government chooses to reimburse their expenses.
FOOTNOTES:
[191]I will here mention a stratagem by which a sailor, a few years since, saved a ship on this coast, as it may be of use to some future navigator:—The vessel was stranded, and one of the crew being a Spaniard, who had been used to fish there from the Canaries, advised the Captain to let go an anchor, as if the vessel were riding and in safety: some Arabs coming on board, the captain told them to bring their gums and other produce, for that they were come to trade with them, and were going away again in a few days; as it happened to be low water, the vessel on the return of the tide floated, they then weighed anchor, and set sail, leaving the Arabs astonished at their unexpected departure.