An account of the empire of Marocco, and the districts of Suse and Tafilelt; compiled from miscellaneous observations made during a long residence in, and various journies through, these countries. To which is added an account of shipwrecks on the western coast of Africa, and an interesting account of Timbuctoo, the great emporium of Central Africa

by James Grey Jackson

[86]I met with a very intelligent Shelluh in Shtuka, whilst I was staying at the castle of the Khalif Mohammed ben Delemy, who had been thirty years travelling through various countries of the interior; he had frequently seen the Aoudad, the Horreh, the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, the elephant, the hyæna, and various other animals, but he declared he had never seen an animal resembling a horse or mare, having one horn, nor had he ever heard, in the different Kaffer countries (as he called them) he had visited, that such an animal existed.

[87]These heirie riders will travel three days without food; or a few pipes of tobacco, or a handful of dates, will furnish their meal; so that a regiment of Arabs would subsist on less than would be sufficient to maintain a company of English soldiers.

[88]On the journey, a man who had been travelling with the caravan asked me for bread. “How long have you been without it?” said I. Two days was the reply. “And how long without water?” “I drank water last night.” This was at sun-set, after we had been marching all day in the heat of the sun. See Brown’s Travels in Africa, &c. Vol. II. p. 288.

[89]Incredible stories are told of them, as that they will hold out for twenty-four hours together, travelling constantly at the rate of ten miles an hour. See Brown’s Travels in Africa, &c. Vol. II. p. 259.

[90]Marocco is about one hundred miles from Mogodor.

[91]On this subject M. de Florial aptly observes, that “le plus part des hommes mesurant leur foi par leur connoissance acquise, croyent à fort peu de choses.”

[92]This term literally signifies Wind-sucker; the animal is so called from his hanging out his tongue at one side of his mouth, when in speed, and as it were sucking in the air.

[93]The straw being trodden out by cattle to separate it from the corn, is similar to chopped straw, and is the only substitute for hay.

[94]It is to the fashion of the saddle, stirrups, and bridle, that the Arabs are considerably indebted for their agility in horsemanship, and for their dexterous management of the horse.

[95]A food of extraordinary and incredible nourishment, and a sovereign remedy for consumption.