Mr. A. Layton was the chief partner in a house of considerable capital and respectability; the other partners were Frenchmen, who having had official notice given them, that as the King of France had broken off all connection with Marocco, the French merchants should quit the country, or seek some other protection; accordingly, the affairs of this House being extended in the country, various impediments rose against their quitting their establishment suddenly; they proposed therefore to take Mr. A. Layton as a partner under the firm of A. Layton and Co. making it by this stratagem an English house. One afternoon the three partners, A. Layton, Secard, and Barré, together with a clerk, went out on horseback with some greyhounds belonging to the former; and in returning towards Mogodor, one of the dogs attacked a calf belonging to a neighbouring village; a Shelluh, who was the owner of the calf, shot the dog; on this a fray ensued, and the village was soon in an uproar; in the scuffle some Shelluh women were seen to throw stones, and Mr. Barré was considerably bruised: Layton also received and gave several blows. The party returned to Mogodor, when Layton immediately made a complaint to the Governor, who promised him justice should be done, and accordingly sent for the parties, who on their part insisted on justice being done to them, alleging, that a woman had had two of her teeth knocked out by Layton, and called out in the name of God and the Prophet for justice from the Emperor himself: this appeal obliged the Governor to write to the Emperor, and the parties were ordered up to Marocco: witnesses having been brought against Layton, who declared that he had knocked the woman’s teeth out with the thick end of his whip, the Emperor was compelled to order two of his teeth to be pulled out as a satisfaction to the lady for the loss of her’s: his Majesty, however, did not appear disposed to put the sentence into execution, but the people, who had assembled in immense numbers on this extraordinary occasion, exclaimed loudly for retaliation;[189] when the tooth drawer approached, Layton requested that he might have two of his back teeth taken out, in lieu of two of his front teeth, which request the Emperor granted. His Majesty was pleased with the courage with which Layton suffered the operation, and apologized to him the next day, and it was intimated, that he would not have allowed the sentence of the law to have been executed, had it not been necessary to allay the fury of the people; he then desired him to ask any favour, and he would grant it; Layton accordingly requested permission to load a cargo of wheat, which was granted, and, I believe, free of duty; he afterwards conferred on him similar favours, and wished so much to have him appointed British Consul, that he offered to request his Majesty to appoint him, but this Layton declined; the Emperor, however, often repeated to him this wish, alleging the advantages of negotiating with a person who could converse with him in his own language, and promising, in case of his accepting the appointment, to grant every favour that England should ask of him. Whether Layton felt himself not sufficiently supported by his country, after this personal outrage, or what other reason he had to refuse the repeated overtures of Seedy Mohammed, is not for me here to declare. Some general remonstrance was made by all the European Consuls collectively respecting this affair, and the Emperor, it appeared, would have made proper apology to the British Consul had it been demanded with energy and resolution; the influence of Great Britain suffered by not supporting her subject, and ever since this transaction, encroachments have been making on the privileges of Europeans, insomuch, that it is now a remark at the Court of Marocco, that, “If the European nations will not protect their own subjects, how can they expect that we should protect them? The Consuls at Tangier are of no use but to determine disputes of captures amongst the belligerent powers of Europe, which we do not understand, nor wish to interfere in, and if they refuse to adjust these matters they may all leave the country, they are of no further service to us.”[190]
FOOTNOTES:
[181]A caravan journey is 24 miles.
[182]The word kumise signifies the 5th day of the week.
[183]The (Delels) auctioneers, who sell the horses, have a mode of shewing them off to great advantage, so that if a person be not experienced in the purchase of them he will very often be imposed upon; to prevent which, the best judges, even the Arabs, give a small fee to the Delel, by way of purchasing his fidelity; and when this mode is adopted, he may be depended on as far as his judgment extends. When the horse has been rode up and down the market several times in different paces, he is sold to the highest bidder, who is immediately apprised of his purchase: he then repairs to the Cadi, or chief judge, and procures from the court of law a (Akad el beah) declaration of sale, which is signed by two (Ukils) attorneys, and confirmed by the Cadi at the bottom or left corner of the paper; the declaration expresses the purchase to be, for better or for worse, by the Arabic term Eladem fie el Kunshah, which, if literally rendered into English, means the bones in the sack or skin. The same custom is observed in the sale and purchase of mules, and other animals.
[184]Seven cubits make four yards English measure.
[185]1¾ cubit = 1 yard. To bring cubits into yards, multiply by 4, divide by 7.
[186]Viz. Tetuan and Rabat or Sallée.
[187]In a conversation with the Minister at Marocco for European affairs, his Excellency asked me if, in the event of his master’s writing to his Majesty, the latter would be able to get the letter interpreted; I answered in the affirmative, and a very polite and friendly letter was afterwards written, which requested an answer; but it remained here in the Secretary of State’s office, without any attention being paid to its contents, a mark of disrespect which gave great offence to the Emperor.
It appears to me extraordinary, that a language which is spoken over a much greater extent of country than any other on earth—a language combining all the powers and energy of the Greek and Latin, should be so little understood, that an Arabic letter written by the present Emperor of Marocco, to the King of Great Britain, actually lay in the Secretary of State’s office some months without being translated. The circumstance coming to the knowledge of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Right Hon. Spencer Percival), that gentleman expressed a wish to a friend of mine, to have a translation, and the letter was transmitted to me for that purpose. Doctor Buffé, who delivered it, assured me, it had been sent to one, if not both Universities, and to the post-office, but that, either from a difference in the punctuation of the characters, or in the language itself, no one could be found capable of rendering it into English. This statement, however unaccountable it may appear to many, was afterwards farther confirmed, by passports and other papers in African Arabic being sent to me for translations, the want of which had detained vessels in our ports, and caused merchants in London to suffer from a loss of markets.