[164a] The Spaniards call Cadiz “Una taza de plata,” a silver cup.
[164b] It is, however, a reproach to our travellers that this town, accessible to travellers of all nations in the sixteenth century, is less known than Mecca to-day, and has never been visited by an Englishman this century. Mr. Walter Harris, the well-known traveller in Morocco, made a much more difficult and dangerous journey to Tafilet, and if he essays Tarudant, I wish him the success which in my case was withheld by Allah. The inhabitants are, without doubt, the most fanatical in Morocco; but I am certain that, had I had more time for preparation and an adequate knowledge of Arabic, I could have both reached the place and come safely away. As it was, I had no one to consult with, little time at my disposal, and I knew little Arabic, and that little badly.
[166a] El Faredi, born in Cairo, 1181–1235 (Christian era). His only work which has survived is a collection of poems in praise of Allah, known as, “El Divan-el-Faredi.” Little is known of him but that he was a fakir.
[166b] “Literal” as opposed to the spoken or “vulgar” Arabic.
[166c] “Eastern” carries with it something of holiness, as born near the holy places.
[168a] The Spaniards also say a jet-black horse (zaino) is bad tempered.
[168b] “Remarks on Horsemanship,” by the Emir Abd-el-Kader.
[173] Sorgum is the Sesame of the Arabian Nights. In Spanish it is known as Ajonjoli, a corruption of a word of similar sound in Arabic.
[174a] Taifa means a Band or Company. The word is more used in the East than in Morocco, in the Arabic of to-day.
[174b] Almeria was one of the few cities in Spain founded by the Moors. Its name in Arabic is El Merayeh, the Looking Glass.