[188]The Emperor being on horseback in the place of audience one day at Marocco, he perceived a man at a distance dressed in an European dress of scarlet and gold; he enquired if he was an Ambassador, and sent some of the people in waiting to know his business; he was found to be a Jew, which being reported to the Sultan, he was highly displeased, and ordered him to be stripped, and Jewish clothes put on; this was instantly performed, and orders were issued to every port in his dominions, that Jews should be allowed to appear only in their own dress, in order that they might not, in future, be mistaken for ambassadors, alleging, that nothing was more proper and agreeable to reason, than that a Mooselmin should dress in his costume, a Christian in his, and a Jew also in his, that it might be known, and not concealed, which was which!
[189]The laws of Mohammed, like those of Moses, adhere strictly to retaliation— “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”
[190]This observation was made a few years since by the prince Muley Teib, at that time Khaliff at Tangier, to shew the contempt in which he held the representatives of the European powers!
AN
ACCOUNT OF WRECKS,
AND THE
CAPTIVITY OF BRITISH SAILORS,
ON THE
WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA.
CHAPTER XII.
Shipwrecks on the Western Coast of Africa about Wedinoon and Sahara — State of the British and other Captives whilst in possession of the Saharawans, or roving Arabs of the Desert — Suggestion of the Author for the Alleviation of their Sufferings — Mode of their Redemption.
That part of the western coast of Africa, which lies between the latitudes of 20 and 32 degrees north, has been differently laid down in various charts, but, perhaps, never yet accurately. The Spaniards, who fish on this coast eastward of the Canary Islands, assure us that soundings are to be found quite across to the Continent; and there is a tradition among the Arabs, that in very remote ages those islands formed part of the African continent. In support of this tradition, it may be observed, that the aborigines of Lancerotta, one of the Canary islands situated about thirty-five leagues from this coast, resemble in manners, in physiognomy, in person, and in language the Shelluhs, inhabitants of South Atlas, and retain many of their customs.