The hospitals which have been mentioned by early writers as being in Fas, must have fallen greatly into decay, as there are now very few; in these the poor are fed, but no surgeon or physician is attached to them; women attend the infirm and sick till they recover, or death terminate their sufferings. There is a Muristan, or mad-house, where deranged people are confined; they are chained down, and superintended by men who use them very harshly; their apartments are disgustingly filthy.
There are nearly two hundred caravanseras or inns, called Fondaque, in this city; these buildings are three stories high, and contain from fifty to one hundred apartments, in each of which is a water-cock to supply water for ablution and various other purposes. As the mode of travelling is to carry bedding with one, they do not provide beds in these inns, but leave you to make use of what you have got, providing only a mat: and if you want any refreshment you cannot order a meal, but must purchase it at a cook’s shop, or procure it at the butcher’s, and get it dressed yourself, paying so much per day for your apartment, the master of the Fondaque supplying charcoal and Umjummars, or portable earthen fire-pots, &c.
There are a great many corn-mills in Fas; for the inhabitants being mostly poor, and unable to lay up corn sufficient in store, they purchase meal of the millers, who make great profit by it. The rich buy their own corn, and send it to the mills to be ground.
Each trade or occupation has its separate department allotted to it; in one place are seen several shops occupied by notaries or scriveners, two in each shop; in another stationers; in another shoe-makers: here a fruit market, there wax chandlers; another part is allotted to those who fry meat, and make a light kind of bread called Sfinge, fried in oil, and eaten with honey. Animals are not suffered to be slaughtered in the city; this is done at a distance from it, near the river, and the meat is sent from thence to the different shops in the town, but first to the Mutasseb, or officer who superintends the price of provisions, who, after examining it, sets a price upon it on a piece of paper; this the venders show to the people, who buy at the rate affixed.
The inhabitants of Fas are fond of poultry, which they rear in cages to prevent them from running about the house, and dirting the rooms.
The Kasseria is a square place walled round, and divided into twelve wards, two of which are allotted to the shoe-makers, who work for the princes and gentlemen; the others consist of silk-mercers and cloth and linen shops. There are sixty (Dellel) criers, or itinerant auctioneers, who receive from the various shops, pieces of cloth, linen, &c. and going about crying (al ziada) “who bids more,” sell the lot to the highest bidder.
Fas Jedide, or New Fas, which lies contiguous to Old Fas, is a well built town, in which are the looms and other machinery for the different trades. The gardens here abound with all sorts of delicious fruits; and roses and other odoriferous flowers perfume the serene air, so that it is justly called a paradise. Westward, towards the Emperor’s palace, stands a castle, built by one of the princes of the Luntuna family, wherein the Kings of Fas kept their court before the palace was built; but when New Fas was begun by the sovereigns of the Marin dynasty, the castle became the residence of the Governor of the city.
TERODANT.
This is the metropolis of the South, and was formerly that of the kingdom of Suse: the town is spacious, and very ancient. The buildings, generally speaking, are handsome. There is a magnificent palace here, with gardens producing in abundance a variety of the most delicious fruits. The adjacent plains are incredibly fertile. The population of this city has decreased considerably; it is now celebrated for salt-petre of a very superior quality; for the manufacture of leather, and for saddles; also for dyeing. The river Suse passes through the town. Terodant has stood various sieges; and during the last, the inhabitants were reduced to the necessity of eating rats and dogs, and burning their doors for fuel.
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