Among the feathered tribe most common here, are, very large eagles, hawks, partridges, quails, wild pigeons, and wild fowl of every kind, turtle-doves, and a variety of small birds; among which the capsa sparrow is remarkable for the elegance of its plumage and the sweetness of its notes, in which it excels every other bird: this beautiful little creature cannot live out of its native country. I had almost forgotten to mention the storks and cranes, which are seen here in great numbers, and so extremely tame, from being perfectly unmolested, that they build their nests and rear their young in the very centre of the towns and villages, and on the tops of the towers of their mosques. Of the reptile kind, venomous spiders, scorpions, vipers, and enormously large serpents, are common in Barbary.
The greatest natural curiosities of this country are the salt-pits (which in some places are immensely large), and several hot springs, possessing such a great degree of heat, that an egg being put in for a short time will become quite hard. The face of the country itself is a natural curiosity; the vallies, which are several leagues in extent, and the mountains, which reach as far as the deserts of Suz, Tafilet, and Gessula, interspersed with forests or corn-fields, and rich meadows, are remarkably curious.
The artificial curiosities are very numerous, and claim the attention of all who may visit this country. They ought properly to be divided into two classes; in the first of which may be placed the subterraneous cavern and passage near Tangiers; the ruins of the amphitheatres, triumphal arches, temples, &c. erected by the Carthaginians, Romans, and Arabs, at Fez and the several other towns of Barbary. The country is besides all over scattered with the remains of ditches and ramparts, evidently designed for the defence of camps, forts, and castles, no other vestiges of which, however, can be found. Besides these, I have observed a number of round towers, which appear to have belonged, some to houses of religion, and others to the palaces or residences of former rulers in this country.
In the second class, we may place the efforts of the architectural and mechanical genius of the present inhabitants, exemplified in the wonderful aqueducts at Morocco, which commence in Mount Atlas (by the natives called Gibbel-el-Hadith), and convey water in the greatest abundance to all the houses of the city and its environs. Nor is the wheel at Fez, which I mentioned in a former letter, less worthy of remark; and several mausoleums in their burial-places have been constructed in a very costly style, the stucco of the walls being remarkably smooth and beautiful, and as hard as marble; but these tombs are exceptions to the general rule; for, as I have before observed, the greater part are but rude buildings. There are many other curiosities, which to describe minutely would fill a volume.
LETTER XX.
Practice of Physic—Astrology—Poetry—Entertainment given by the Author to the Moors—Their Astonishment at the Effects of Electricity.
Mequinez.
I shall now speak of their principal or rather only studies, which are, physic, astrology, and poetry. First then of physic, to give you an accurate idea of the extent of their knowledge in which, it will be sufficient to describe their practice of it; and I am sure you, my dear D——, and every other friend to humanity, will agree with me, that it would have been better for their countrymen if they had never attempted it at all, as unassisted nature would do more, for those afflicted with disease, than such bunglers.
The general practice adopted by the Moorish physicians, or Tweebs, is, bleeding ad deliquium in all fevers; administering excessive doses of drastic medicines, plenty of emulsions, and a watery diet. They order vinegar in cases of quinsies and ardent fevers, and garlic in those of a putrid, malignant, and pestilential kind. They prescribe alum in cases of hemorrhage and dysentery; hot spices and long abstinences in chronic diseases; recent ox-gall to kill worms and cure dropsies; castor and myrrh in all hysteric affections; asses milk in slow fevers and consumptions; oranges, honey, eggs, mint, and myrrh, in cases of typhus; poppy-juice in convulsive disorders and fluxes of the bowels; pitch or tar water and pennyroyal in common fevers; rose-leaves in cases of diabetes; and sulphur in all cutaneous disorders. This is the whole of the Moorish materia medica. In simple diseases, where little medical ability is necessary, and the good habit of body of these people in general contributes to their success, they may effect a cure; but in desperate cases, where nothing but the skill of the physician can relieve oppressed nature, it is not astonishing that they should fail. These men are in some measure astrologers: most probably, being gifted with a greater degree of cunning than their neighbours, they have discovered the weak side of their countrymen, together with their own insufficiency, to cover which they pretend to a knowledge of the stars, which has the greatest weight with the superstitious Moors; consequently, when a patient, either by their improper treatment, or the violence of his disease, evinces symptoms of approaching dissolution, the doctor, with infinite gravity, points out to the surrounding relations the star which, he positively asserts, appears to summon the dying man to the bosom of his Prophet. By this means he avoids reproach, since he has made it so evident, that the poor man's time was come, and that nothing could ward off the shafts of destiny. This apparently wonderful faculty of prognostication, added to their exemplary mode of living, and liberal donations to the poor and afflicted, operating upon the minds of the blind and fanatic Moors, induces them to consider their physicians next to their saints, and to worship them with nearly as much reverence.
The Tweebs have each from two to six disciples, whom they instruct and initiate in their secrets of the healing art. In their regular visits to any town, they parade the streets with great pomp and gravity, followed by a train of miserable objects, who pretend to have been recently recovered from a long and dangerous illness by the extraordinary skill of the doctor; while, in fact, their cadaverous countenances and emaciated bodies seem to contradict their assertions, and bear ample testimony that they are hurrying fast to that country, "from whose bourne no traveller returns." Under the pretence of charity, these poor wretches are supported by this Moorish AEsculapius, while his views in so doing are entirely selfish; that by their means he may better impose on the credulous, and obtain considerable sums of money. When any one of them (by chance) effects what he considers a great cure, it is communicated in a circular letter to all the doctors in Barbary.