Wednesday, Dec. 2.—Therm. 58°. The Americans do not go up to Morocco. I am still waiting for an answer to my letters, but hope, nevertheless, to start on Friday, should the rain hold off.
Thursday, Dec. 3.—Start to-morrow for the Autsét.[14] I find I am getting into good training. Visited the Portuguese Consul-general. Found there a good party of Europeans, who were dancing in Africa, and playing at cards and drinking punch.
Friday, Dec. 4.—Rose early, hoping to start for the Autsét; but as the rain had continued all night, deferred my departure till to-morrow.
Saturday, Dec. 5.—Started at eight, after the usual quarrelling, which almost came to blows. Mounted Mr. Hay’s fine grey Dukkálah horse. Mr. J. Hay rode on horseback with me. We were accompanied by a soldier, who would have made a fine picture. “Poco negro; cavalo blanco; abito de nada! ningun color.” Ben Káyed and Susa were on the sumpter mules. In this style we wended our way to the Fez gate. We passed various collections of huts, dignified with the title of villages, and bearing names composed of high-sounding words. We fell in with the Sheïkh of Arzilla; he was a fine-looking fellow and very civil, and asked us to a wedding at a neighbouring village, where he promised us a good deal of amusement. Declining his offers of hospitality, we proceeded on our journey through a very fine country, but much neglected, and bearing marks of misery everywhere. We passed by two large stones placed on the brow of a hill; they are said to be the bodies of a man and his wife, who were turned into stones for attempting to shorten the ceremony of marriage. When opposite to Jebel Habíb (beloved mountain), we struck off to the right to see some large ruins. The original buildings were the work of Christians, for the purpose of commanding a pass. Two villages have been formed out of the ruins. We stopped at a well for a few minutes, and, after passing through several Dawárs,[15] we halted for the night at an Arab encampment on the top of a hill, at five P.M. We had traversed a very rich country, intersected with various rivers, which we found it no pleasant thing to ford, and were hardly ever off our horses. As soon as it was known that I was a doctor, I was requested to go to an Arab tent, a quarter of a-mile off, to see a little girl. This was an event of distressing interest, as few Christians have ever been inside the tent of an Arab. There I saw the mother and grandmother of a fine little girl; she was past all human aid. To allay the severity of the convulsions, I gave some doses of calomel and James’s powders, but without the least benefit, as she died at midnight. The failure, however, did not lessen their confidence in my skill. In the morning I had a host of patients; it seemed as if the whole people were sick. A singular instance of Nyctalopia occurred in the case of a fine little boy, who could see most distinctly in the night, but was stone blind during the day. I told the father to bring him to Tangier, and I would see what I could do for him. Having picketed our horses, we got up our tent, and went early to our carpet, which is the travelling bed in the East.
Sunday, Dec. 6.—We felt very cold, though the therm. was 40°. We found the hoar-frost outside the tent. After a ride of two hours over a beautifully undulating country, we arrived at Emsorah,[16] or, as the modern village is called, the Autsét, from whence we had a fine view of the lesser Atlas. At the foot of the rising ground, where we had pitched our tent, was a magnificent plain, and on the side of the hill is situated El Uted, or the peg-rock. The people here were looking very sickly. I had a patient in the Sheïkh, a great fat man, to whom I gave a large dose of wine and cayenne, to produce the effect for which the application was so general. The population amounts to only two hundred, or thereabouts; they never taste flesh, but live entirely on bread and water, vegetables, and miserable kuskusú.[17] Coming round the side of a hill, you perceive several stones forming a circle,[18] of which one, called the Peg, is much higher than the rest; there is, likewise, a second circle, but a third is never to be seen. The whole neighbourhood is full of similar circles of stones, but smaller. Many of the latter have been worked artificially. The entrance to the circle, which is fifteen feet wide, faces the west; on the north and south of the Peg are two other openings at equal distances. At about the distance of two hundred feet, there is a stone placed at an angle of 45°, intended it is said to mark the opening; it is six feet high, and by lying on the back, one can see directly through the circle. From this stone a shelving road leads to a well called ’Aïn tayyeb (good spring). But the chief tradition of the place relates to the gold-treasure said to be concealed here. The poor creatures sleep upon this stone in all weathers, and they were delighted to see the compass going round while we were taking the bearings of the place, for they fancied that the gold turned as the needle did. One old woman patted me on the back, and said, “Now make us rich,—now find the gold.” It would be cruel to undeceive them. I offered money for all the iron and copper they brought me, and I told them they were welcome to all the gold and silver they could find. I purchased two coins: an old piece of the handle of a bucket was brought me, together with a nail; of course they were not worth a farthing. One account attributes the erection of the stones to Pharaoh; by others it is said that there was once a large city there, subsequently buried, and that what remains is only the top. I think it has been a large place, and I would willingly pay for exploring it. The people say, it was the city of a giant race, who were of such a size that the shin-bone of a woman formed a bridge over the stream. The elk horn in Ireland.[19] The ’Arákín on the E.S.E. are five large stones, one of which is like a coffin; but I think it is too solid to have ever answered that purpose. On the W.N.W. there are five others, each forming a sort of vestibule to the side entrances mentioned above. At the centre entrance the stones lie flat on the ground. It appears to have been a great place of resort for religious purposes, and the various circles to have been the various spots selected for the performance of religious rites. The circle is 630 feet; the Peg 16½ feet high, and 6½ in circumference; the larger entrance is 15 feet wide; at the distance of 112 feet on the E.S.E. and W.N.W. sides are two other entrances, 5 feet wide, and the semi-diameter of the circle is 74 feet. We walked through the village and made friends of the ladies, by giving them and their children each a small piece of money. In this way we expended three or four more dollars than the place possessed previously. We had the whole village following us, and were obliged to use our whips to keep off the people and dogs. Our own dinner, and the supper of the attendants, the two tents, with the soldier mentioned above and his white horse, our own horses and mules, together with the miserable population in the background, would have made an interesting group for a picture.
Monday, Dec. 7.—Therm. 50°. The rain commenced about nine last night, and got through our tents at half-past eleven, which made us very miserable. Our guard was drenched to the skin. A hawk, a large toad, hundreds of spiders, and thousands of small vermin, took refuge under our tents; and under myself crept a beetle, and a toad under the head of my companion. Finding ourselves so much the worse for the rain, we determined upon returning to Tangier, and to abandon our intended visit to Arzilla, and the wedding. The road we took presented scenery more beautiful than the other. We saw the encampment of the Bedouins, who used to conduct the pilgrims to Mecca: they now go by sea to Egypt. Could I not make these people of service to me? The soldier who came from the dawárét,[20] to collect the money for the feast, has returned. We got off before light, and crossed one river, although we had some doubts of being able to get over; at the second, our horses were nearly swimming. I was much wetted, as my legs were too long. The weather, however, cleared up as we proceeded; and when we reached Tangier, at half-past three, a good dinner and a bottle of sherry, under the hospitable roof of our kind friend, brought us all round again, after an excursion of three days spent very pleasantly.
Wednesday, Dec. 9.—Therm. 54°. Day very fine. Walked with Mr. Hay by the Wád Bú Bárah, called also Jews’-river, along the ruins of the aqueduct, called El Kanṭarah, and by the bridge up to Mount Washington. The road lay through a stiff clay, containing a large quantity of iron, of an ore-like[21] incrustation. The house and garden at Mount Washington must have been at one time very beautiful; but the house is now a sad ruin, and the garden is overrun with weeds. We returned home through the worst road I ever essayed.
Thursday, Dec. 10.—A lovely day. The weather seems to have become settled again. Therm. 51°.
Friday, Dec. 11.—The air cold, but clear. Therm. 47°. The Rífman, whose gun, he said, would kill a Christian, even if he were in heaven, brought a white zulham for six dollars, and a Rífí gun for eight and a-half dollars. Walked out to the Moorish burial-ground to see the women. They have a strange custom here of putting two circular pieces of red leather, dotted with black spots, upon each cheek. It produces, however, not a bad effect. The present is the period for Moorish weddings. A Moorish lady of the highest class never leaves her house for twelve months after her marriage; those of the middling not till six months; and even those of the lowest confine themselves for three months. The Jewess never leaves the sleeping-room for a week, and then only to dine with the family: she keeps the house for three months.
Saturday, Dec. 12.—Therm. 50°. The wind east, and with signs of rain. I am getting tired of stopping. On Monday, it will be four weeks since I sent my letter to the Sulṭán. I do not feel very well myself, but my patient is better. We had a Moorish concert in the evening; it was a sad noise, but very characteristic of the people. At night there was a heavy storm.