Travels through the Empire of Morocco

John Buffa

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, Travels through the Empire of Morocco, by John BuffaThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online atwww.gutenberg.netTitle: Travels through the Empire of MoroccoAuthor: John BuffaRelease Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11297]Language: English***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS THROUGH THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO***Produced by Distributed Proofreaders Europe, http://dp.rastko.net Project by Carlo Traverso. This file was producedfrom images generously made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr.[Illustration: Map of the Empire of MOROCCO for Dr. BUFFA'S TRAVELS]TRAVELSTHROUGH THEEMPIRE OF MOROCCO.BYJOHN BUFFA, M.D.PHYSICIAN TO THE FORCES.ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP.LONDON:1810.PREFACE.My motives for publishing this volume of Travels, will be best explained by a detail of the circumstances which gave riseto my journey to Morocco. In 1805, I was serving in the capacity of Physician to His Majesty's Forces, at the DepotHospital in the Isle of Wight; whence, by dexterous management of the Army Medical Board[*], I was removed, andplaced upon half-pay, in June of that year. At this period, it occurred to Mr. Turnbull, Chairman of the Committee ofMerchants trading to the Levant, that it would be of ...

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• Publié par: lezug
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 31
• Langue: English

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The Project Gtuneebgre oBko ,avTrs elrothh ug ehtipmEo eroM fo, brocchn By Jofuaf

1810.

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAVELS THROUGH THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO*** Produced by Distributed Proofreaders Europe, http://dp.rastko.net Project by Carlo Traverso. This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr.

Title: Travels through the Empire of Morocco Author: John Buffa Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11297] Language: English

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP. LONDON:

TRAVELS THROUGH THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO. BY JOHN BUFFA, M.D. PHYSICIAN TO THEFORCES.

[Illustration: Map of the Empire of MOROCCO for Dr. BUFFA'S TRAVELS]

I—sreignotsiH st uait — S ry nh—IontinastbatitiraM—lierno—Govrtifr—Fotacisnoi

LETTER I.

PREFACE. My motives for publishing this volume of Travels, will be best explained by a detail of the circumstances which gave rise to my journey to Morocco. In 1805, I was serving in the capacity of Physician to His Majesty's Forces, at the Depot Hospital in the Isle of Wight; whence, by dexterous management of the Army Medical Board[*], I was removed, and placed upon half-pay, in June of that year. At this period, it occurred to Mr. Turnbull, Chairman of the Committee of Merchants trading to the Levant, that it would be of advantage to the public, were the offices of Garrison Surgeon of Gibraltar, and Inspecting Medical Officer of the ships doing quarantine, which were then united in the person of Mr. Pym, separated and made distinct appointments; and he was pleased to think that, from my local knowledge, and other circumstances, I should be a proper person to fill the latter of these offices. This was also the opinion of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, Governor of the garrison. Representations were accordingly made on the subject, to the then Secretary of State for the War and Colonial Department, Lord Castlereagh; and it was so fully understood that the proposition had been assented to on his part, that an order was issued from the Transport Board, to provide a passage for myself and family to Gibraltar. There I waited some months, in the expectation that the commission would be sent after me, but in vain. In the mean time, I received a communication from Mr. Mattra, British Consul General at Tangiers, requesting that I would cross over to Barbary, and attend His Excellency the Governor of Larache, First Minister of the Emperor of Morocco, then labouring under a dangerous illness. It was on my return from this journey, that I found a letter from Mr. Turnbull (See Appendix, No. III. p. 227), stating that my old friends of the Medical Board had been at their usual work of persecution, and by their scandalous misrepresentations to the new Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Mr. Windham, had succeeded in preventing the appointment which His Royal Highness the Governor of Gibraltar had been graciously pleased to design for me. During my residence in Barbary it was my good fortune to gain the approbation and friendship of the Emperor of Morocco, and of the principal Officers of his Court, by which I was enabled to give facilities to the procuring of fresh provisions for our Navy, and render to my country other services, not strictly in the line of my profession. (See the various documents at the end of Appendix.) Having succeeded in restoring the Governor of Larache to health, and performed some other cures, acceptable to the Emperor of Morocco, I considered the objects for which I had crossed over to Barbary accomplished, and returned to Gibraltar, after having received the most flattering marks of distinction, both from the Imperial Court, and from Lord Collingwood, Commander of the British fleet in the Mediterranean. The letter of the Emperor of Morocco to His Majesty (Appendix, No. X. p. 239) is an ample proof of the disposition of that prince in my favour. Finding the principal aim of my voyage to Gibraltar frustrated by the machinations of the Medical Junta, whom I have already stated as ever active in mischief, I determined to return to England. The letter of the Emperor of Morocco to His Majesty, and a general certificate, couched in the strongest terms of approbation, and signed by all the principal merchants of Gibraltar, I thought were documents, which, added to my correspondence with Lord Collingwood, and the officers of his fleet, would not fail to have procured me a favourable reception, and some attention to my claims. But the letter of the Emperor of Morocco, as it still remains unanswered, I cannot but believe has never been presented to His Majesty. Nay, the pressing solicitations, with which I have since been honoured on the part of the Emperor of Morocco, through his principal Minister, to return to that country, I have hitherto been obliged to delay answering, that I might not, on the one hand, insult, by evasive or false replies, a government from which I had experienced such friendship and respect; or, on the other hand, be compelled, by a true statement, to compromise my own. The principal design of publishing this account of my journey to the Barbary States, is to shew the good policy, on the part of this country, of keeping upon terms of strict amity with the government of Morocco. The neglect, which, on this occasion, has been evinced of the Emperor's letter, I cannot but consider, in a public point of view, as extremely reprehensible, independently of the private injury it has occasioned to myself. Whether this neglect arose from the misrepresentations of the Army Medical Board, or from those of any other persons, I will not pretend to determine; but in any case, a most censurable disregard, even of the forms of civility, towards a Prince, who, however we may affect to despise his influence in the great political scale, has it always in his power materially to promote or to impede the interests of this country in the Levant, must attach to some quarter or other. [*] As the members of that body are expected shortly to be dismissed from their situations, I think it right, lest at any future period injustice should be done to innocent individuals, by confounding them with the guilty, here to state that Sir Lucas Pepys, Bart. Mr. Thomas Keate, and Mr. Francis Knight, Apothecaries, at present compose the body illegally calling themselves the Army Medical Board, whose conduct for a great many years has brought disgrace and disaster on that important department. For a detail of their conduct, see "An Analytical View of the Medical Department of the British Army, by Charles Maclean, M.D." 8vo. published by Stockdale, Pall Mall.

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CONTENTS.

Idncumea evaT t—yenirrAe thurJot enr fo

Subterraneous Passage—Socco, or Market—Adjacent Villas—Invited to Larache. LETTER II. Sketch of the History of Morocco—Road from Tangiers—Simplicity of the Peasants—Moors hospitable—Arrive at a Village—The ancient Zelis—Public Accommodations—Much infested with Vermin—Arzilla, a ruinous walled Town— Arrive at Larache. LETTER III. Conducted to the Governor—Medical Hint from his Secretary—Governor recovers—Larache—Its Harbour, Shipping, and Inhabitants. LETTER IV. Excursion to Mamora, and thence lo Salee—Friendly Reception by the Governor of the latter—Rabat—Tower of Hassen—Shella—Mansooria— Alcasser—Quiber—Its Socco, or Market-place. LETTER V. Leave Larache with an Escort—Curious Custom on returning from Mecca—Arrive at Tetuan. LETTER VI. Ill Usage of a Lieutenant of the Swiftsure—Disaffection of the Moorish Governor towards Great Britain. LETTER VII. Sail for Tetuan—Appearance of the Coast—Enter the Boosega River—Curious Towers of Defence—Custom-house—Female Dress—Enter Tetuan over a Road of unlevelled Rock—Disagreeable Streets—Well received by the Governor—Public Markets—Socco—An Auction Market. LETTER VIII. Tetuan—The Jews much oppressed there—particularly the Females—Costume—Singularity of the Streets in the Jewish Town—Ceuta—Would be invaluable to England—Melilla—Summoned to visit the Emperor. LETTER IX. Journey to Larache—Annual Socco of St. Martin—No Christian permitted to witness it—Express Order for that Purpose in the Author's Favour—Specimen of native medical Skill—Reception at Larache—Complain of the Impositions of Governor Ash-Ash—Comparative Tariff—Effect the Renewal of the old Tariff with increasing Advantages. LETTER X. Depart from Larache with a little Army—Moorish military Salute—Numerous Villages—Customary Procession of the Inhabitants—Judicial Arrangements—River Beth resembles the Po—Herds of Camels—Arrive at Mequinez—French Falsehood again put down—Excellent Road from Mequinez—Fertility and Luxuriance of the adjacent Country— Procession to the Sanctuary of Sidy Edris—Multiplicity of Saints—Ceremony demonstrative of the Emperor's Favour— Take possession of my new Residence. LETTER XI. Imperial Review of eighty thousand Cavalry—The Palace—Introduction to the Emperor—Visit the Seraglio—Beauty of the Sultana—Her Indisposition—Her Influence over the Emperor—His Person described. LETTER XII. Succession of the Sovereigns from their Founder to the present Emperor.

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wer to a Letter o M rocooc ,nia sn  oodthf 8te Juh oL fC drilloowgn a, bBuffrticy pattnew irrD .b  yEme thf ofr roperiD raluo noitce hcD .rB  itno w s ih  Negotian of the a hct lldna ihw edrin, ofaufar c I fnhspioLdrih sing  giv806,ly 1oitanimreT yppahe thf  oontimaor rimdt laR ehthgion HLo.  Crdliolgnowdo ,ott eh oGvernment of Moro eht deruuS dias  weslipp authoitahgrynC   .IV .e oNetteI.—Lom Ar fr ong ar vou tinch cilttaMsuoibup  VIII.—An ers. No.  leLttreO ffciai  terswann  io,ccfO s'affuB .rD or toetteal Lfici ra,ttSweia naCtp wate Sin Hof, rtrf retteatpaC mo in. N rita I.—Lo. V  ynanurtae B t drGet benweha tCot ytra ni braB,yra e by the French P tidea  thttaT mi corp gnivah retf ar,wens atod tericesad afw B fu Dr.hich es; w ppliof ,uS rroM occoennmoft  Gheeroves ,ott  peSharoty's Shiis Majes rfmoei rC uot ehf Mort oo torocc oN .affu etteL—.V bntser urCoa y  us G l nerelaa  taTngiers, to Dr. B orf oJ mR nh,ssosq EAc. ngtion C d thttley senalle cxneecffre eiD Br. r D teaf, erst if gnivah s'affu ial Majeis Impersr tiMints'y siFsq , Eby.  .  JssRo  noiH foreP ssim  to rousdesiery tlv  gefl noahevhsittwno, chhi w,yrtnuoc a tisivions it  revolutht eamynatdnni g ghlinete  tnd en henogra ,e sahednu ocqnti ssr ,euoraracd ch of tersmmi llitni desreareg ris sasd deabirmsa mlso tnu a degree of bar raept deem oxen  rapaelll. ed ap It per ot elbanu nee .ly Tangiers, Januayr1 t2,h1 08.6  I ioatofn Tr.—slanN .af X .o .rD fuB avour ofod, in floilgnow otL ro C d ino  tedrrfeRe. gniK eht ot occorf Moor omperhe Emot  rrfteeta L  retter sviecf depiCo oestwf Leo .sX .Ia dnX II—.  the Petition. Noih sah ab otrehth icwho ffBu. Dr foMtnb ,ot orccthe rom rnmeGove uotrw re ohttaC  to effee unabletnesoitaR eherpeRo.  tss onsMrf  vi eepsn dxe gnace bndenespoCorrir evag hcihw ;tc on lryvea o  tseong carried on b yocsnattn oCruei weet Men Rr.s os dna .rDffuBL ,a  of mandEmpethe foM or roc ,roco Io. . N rs teet—LX.ettirw rmoC yb n

TRAVELS, &c.

LETTER I. Inducement for the Journey—Arrive at Tangiers—Its History— Situation—Inhabitants—Military—Governor—Fortifications— Subterraneous Passage—Socco, or Market—Adjacent Villas—Invited to Larache.

evahdam ohs  dluthd  Iatatgrieifelttre.tco  f ahe subjee them ttseretnI fo diove darpeapt noo  d b  eiwlloy ufl ,myseter flat, I  sere tnte.ims  Atida noit otp ehI have collectedht eaptrcilura s o  tveti n ow e t thtamrofnialer noi  ear thet trliesnaigfoT rfmore s oypleme av h Ime gniniatbo ni de the andnth,s mo eitidtareemi tnedndn  o . W re lae fo tiht  ehtsrif lt of mythe resuitno seho sbreavfus htiw tneicifmeceduinm ro fntt eh rputnyrc uoould, sheet  I m calp ni ,e dnet gni ttoveraful hert apynh mif or miGbraltar to this ccmoota ne df irof afer e ofd thecarbme ylidaer  Is,eaide esthh ssdew ti ec I . pmer  ignoranprofounds fo hcuts a etaedinn  ie avmarerse,rcould h counots  d c a nietna t  mesrituneaintaisah ti hnec rof urope, with whicc noituguo sotE atth n aioatson ot tpmi isso elb oC eht fo  eettimmcher Mofra ttsan ho nmoJ ublluTnrq. C, Esman hair affu .oN . .VI txE—ctraf  oLea ertt idgnt  oht eeLavnt, &c. to Dr. B aw ratlarbiG Ex.—actro. . NII Ietterf rfo tL a  d for his ordere saFimyl mna dih