April 7. Struck our tents an hour before sunrise and continued our journey to the southward, over a vast plain extending to the east and west farther than the eye could see. About eight a.m. we reached the foot of the hills called Jebíla, where there are many wells and a kubba-topped sanctuary. A few tents were pitched in the neighbourhood. The place is called Suánnia.
After taking a hasty breakfast we ascended the Jebíla (meaning in Arabic, small mountains); they are almost barren. Here and there a shrub of the ‘sidder[13]’ and a sweet-smelling acacia is to be seen. At half-past ten, on descending the Jebíla, we came in sight of the Moorish capital, in which stood most prominent the lofty tower of the mosque called Kutubía. In the foreground lay a forest of palms, and in the background the snow-capped gigantic range of the Atlas. Owing to the intense heat of the day a waving atmosphere veiled in great measure the grandeur of the scenery. The soldiers pointed out to me the mountain which my father had ascended as far as the snow on his first mission to the Sultan, when he visited the high-perched village of Mesfíwa. At noon we entered the palm forest; these palm-trees are valuable property and belong to the Sultan and the townspeople. There are no enclosures, but each proprietor knows the trees that belong to him. The trees had begun to put forth their flower, which consists of a white stalk, with a mass of small flowers in a sheath, looking in the distance like a white leaf.
At half-past twelve we reached the river Tensift, a fine clear stream, over which there is a bridge of twenty-five arches, built, I believe, by a Spaniard some years ago. Here we pitched our tents, as we are not to enter Marákesh until the morning.
April 8. On crossing the river this morning a body of cavalry of the district of Erhamna met us, with their Kaid and twenty banners, in the midst of a fierce powder-play. After another hundred yards we were met by the Bokhári guard with their Kaid and twenty-five banners, who were succeeded by the troops of Mulai Dris, the native soldiers of the city, with twenty-five banners of all colours, white predominating; lastly, by the immediate followers or body-guard of the Sultan with the green Sherifian flag and other banners. Lab-el-barod, which a Frenchman might translate into ‘La belle parade,’ never ceased along the whole road, some three miles, to Marákesh. The dust was insufferable; the troops kept charging, reining in and firing their guns within a few feet of us. The road was narrow, as a wood of palm-trees flanked us on the right and left, and the rush of cavalry was terrific. Every moment you would have supposed they must have trampled down our party before they could check their horses. Several messengers, the immediate attendants of the Sultan and Uzir, came to welcome me on the part of His Majesty, repeating the word ‘Mahababek,’ you are welcome. I cannot tell what may have been the number of cavalry that met us; but as I am told there are a hundred to each banner, there ought to have been from seven to eight thousand men. It is said that the Sultan ordered every horseman in the city of Marákesh and the camp to meet us. By the wayside I observed a number of people begging, with large straw hats on their heads. The straw hat in the neighbourhood of Marákesh is a sign that the wearer is a leper: there are numbers of these poor wretches; a separate town is given them—called Hara—and they are not allowed to enter the city of Marákesh or communicate with the inhabitants except on a Thursday, on which day they say this horrid disease is not catching, as a great Moorish saint pronounced that on that day leprosy should not be contagious.
After riding some half-mile along the town wall of this great capital, we entered the gate called ‘Bab Hamár.’ At the entrance were the tents of the troops (infantry).
CHAPTER IX.
RESIDENCE AT MARÁKESH AND RETURN TO TANGIER. 1846.
April 9. Twenty-five guards were sent by the Sultan last night to be distributed around the garden and walls of the palace, so we are well taken care of. The chief of the guard wanted to lock my door on the outside: I must indeed be very precious to be considered worthy of such care; and, like a strange bird of value, am well fed and closely caged. I hear also that one hundred cavalry patrol the streets near our dwelling every night. To-day we are as state prisoners and must take our rest malgré nous, I am not to see the Sultan or his ministers, I understand, according to the usual form, till I have had at least three days’ rest: this is tiresome, for I should best be pleased by an immediate audience and the prompt conclusion of all I have to say or settle.
The garden that surrounds our house, and in which our horses are picketed, is a wilderness; full of orange, olive, walnut, palm, plum and pear-trees, with vines, pomegranates and rose-trees in full flower. A harvest of beautiful rose blossoms is gathered every morning for making attar of roses. From our terrace on the house top little is to be seen but low ruins with gardens, and here and there a tall mosque, whilst within a few hundred yards of our palace towers the Kutubía with its gilded ball on the top. This ancient mosque is still in good preservation, and is used as a place of worship, so there is no hope of our seeing the interior. The tower does not appear so high as that of Hassan at Rabát, nor indeed so symmetrical or ornamented, nevertheless it is a beautiful remnant of Moorish architecture, and proudly rears its lofty head above the miserable dwellings of the modern Moor.
April 10. The Uzir has sent for my interpreter this morning. I primed David, and told him to mention my wishes to come to business and have an audience without delay.