8 JUNE 1844, Page 16

MR. KAY ' S WESTERN BARBARY.

MR. HAY, a son of the British Consul at Tangier, undertook a tour to the Sheikh of the most famous tribe of Arab horse-dealers in Morocco, with the object of purchasing:a barb for the Queen. The expedition was not immediately successful ; owing, as the chieftain informed Mr. HAY privately, to the insecurity of property ; less care being now taken of the breed, as the Emperor paid them the com- pliment of selecting any remarkable animal, forgetting to pay for it.

• But if her Majesty was disappointed in the barb, it was the means of procuring Mr. Her's book ; which so far as the lieges are con- cerned is a better thing.

The tour of the gentleman in search of a horse was not very extensive ; reaching only from Tangier to Laraiche, or El Arache,* a decayed sea-port town on the Atlantic, lying between Tangier and the once dreaded Sallee. Neither were his personal adventures very considerable ; involving little more than some sporting-scenes, the incidents of the road among as wild a people as exists short of savageness, and the novelty of the characters he encountered. The interest of Mr. HAY'S narrative arises from his lively though rather artificial mode of recounting, and still more from his thorough knowledge of the language and manners of the people, among whom he has been in a measure bred. To a certain extent the tour is a means by which Mr. HAY puts forward his observations upon Moorish character, and exhibits Moorish manners and super- stitions. Scarcely has the party left the town when they are over- taken by a traveller : they salute each other after the old Spanish fashion ; journey together ; and the stranger tells the tale of atele- brated robber, curiously illustrative of Moorish life and rontance. By and by, the Consular party fall in with a band of hunters,4thom they join ; and after their sport, as they sit round the repast, they

• In some older maps it figures as "Ana's."

tell their tales of the chace ; the " son of the English" contri- buting a former adventure, which had made some noise among the Nimrods of Western Barbary. In this manner the whole journey proceeds ; its narrative frequently varied by the introduction of native story-tellers and their stories, or by Mr. HAY'S reminiscences of former adventures, or anecdotes of Moorish life. This, no doubt, gives somewhat of an artificial character to the composition ; and Mr. HAY'S manner, as we have said, is not quite free from that defect : but it dramatizes the character of the people, and the book is animated, varied, readable, and fresh. We are made to apprehend the Moors better. We see more fully some of those traits which SHAKSPERE infused into Othello, and which he most probably derived orally from traders to Morocco or returned cap- tives. The following example at first sight looks like a piece of obdurate revenge ; but it really seems to have been dictated by a barbarian sense of duty. " No, Heaven forefend! I would not kill thy soul."—" Nought I did in hate, but all in honour."

EXECUTION IN MOROCCO.

Another instance of capital punishment was attended with the following sin- gular circumstances. A Moor of the village of Sharf had shot with a pistol in the market at Tangier a fellow-villager, whom he suspected of being too in- timate with his wife. The brother of the murdered man set out immediately for Meknes, where the Sultan was then residing, and claimed the life of the murderer. The Sultan- heard the case ; acknowledged the justice of the de- mand; and summoning the plaintiff into his presence, delivered the following curious decision.

" We grant you our permission to take the life of the murderer of your bro- ther with the same instrument of death with which he was assassinated, and on the same spot, and at the same hour of the day. But," added the Sultan, "why seekest thou also to be a manslayer ? Accept the price of blood, which is law- ful unto true believers, and we will guarantee you its payment from our She- reefian hands, and two hundred mitzakel shall be the sum."

To this the plaintiff replied," Can that sum purchase me a brother ? " " Go thy way," said the Sultan ; " we have heard and understood : a letter will be given you by the Vizier in which our mandate shall be written." Furnished with the sentence of death, the man returned to Tangier, and presented it to the Governor. On the same day of the week and at the same hour, the murderer was brought out of prison, and seated on the very spot where he had taken his fellow-vil- lager's life, while crowds of people attended to witness his death. The pistol was now given to the brother of the murdered man; when, having loaded it, he went up to the criminal, walked slowly in a circle round him, and said, "In the presence of God and man, I call upon you to answer me truly ; didst thou slay my brother?"

To this the criminal replied, "I did."

One of the multitude, now stepping forward, addressed the brother of the murdered man "Accept the price of blood," said he, "and I promise you one hundred ducats in addition, which those here assembled will gladly give."

" Worthless words," said the villager ; and again he walked round his victim. Again he asked him the same question, and again the same reply was given. A. second offer was now made, of two hundred ducats ; and again the villager, walking round the criminal, repeated his question, adding, "Say what thou bea lievest ; I am about to take thy life."

"That God is God, and Mabomed is the prophet of God !" responded the

Hardly were these words out of his mouth, when the pistol was discharged. It had been placed at the small of his back, being the same spot where he had shot the man for whom he was now about to die : but the wretched criminal, although mortally wounded, did not expire for some hours.

From other stories in the book, this certain punishment, it would appear, chiefly obtains for murder in towns. Had the first man been wily enough to shoot his victim in the country, no one would have interfered, as involving a blood-feud ; and the next of kin might have watched his opportunity to shoot the murderer with impunity, till some one else killed him in turn. From a slightly marked trait in one tale of a blood-avenger, this custom seems of itself enough to keep a people backward in the most necessary arts, and totally opposed to learning and science, which require leisure and a free mind. A gentleman with a blood-feud on his hands seems to have quite enough to do to look about him, without occu- pying his mind with abstract speculations.

The principle involved in the-following anecdote is not new, but it shows the difficulties to be contended with in Morocco by a gentleman in search of a horse.

THE ARAB AND HIS BARB.

It is not always that the Arab is ready to part with his horse, if a good beast, whatever price may be offered ; though money among the degraded people of Morocco will work miracles. A circumstance which proved this occurred to me about four years ago, when accompanying poor John Davidson some few days' journey into the interior.

As we were proceeding between Mehedeea and Rabat, we were joined by a troop of mounted Arabs, one of whom was riding a mottled grey, the hand- somest barb I ever saw.

Riding up to the man, I entered into conversation with him ; and having put him in good humour by praising his steed, I told him I would make him rick if he would sell me the mottled grey.

" "What is your price ? " said the Arab. I offered a hundred and fifty muscle!, about twenty pounds sterling; a large sum in the interior.

"It is a good price," said the Arab; "but look," said be—and he brought his horse on the other side of me—" look at this side of him ; you must offer more."

"Well, come," I said, "you are a poor man and food of your horse; we won't dispute about the matter; to give me your hand. What say you? two hundred ?" "That is a large price, truly," said the Arab, his eyes glistening; and I thought the horse was mine. But my eagerness, I suppose, had been too ap- parent; so the Arab thought 1 might go still further; and, shaking the bridle, off he went at full speed. The mottled gray curled its tail in the air, and vanished to a speck in no time. I turned to speak to Davidson, and the next moment the Arab was at my side; and, patting the neck of his gray, he said, "Look at him—see—not a hair is turned ! What will you give me now ? "

Davidson prompted me to offer even four hundred ducats rather than let the animal go. Again I began bargaining, and offered three hundred. On this the Arab gave his band, and, thanking me, said—" Christian, I now can boast of the price you have offered ; but it is in vain that you seek to tempt me, for I would not sell my horse for all the gold you or any other man possesses." Having said this, he joined his companions.

Calling the kaid or thief of our escort, I asked him if he knew the rider of the gray ; adding, that I supposed he must be rich, as be had refused so large a sum. The kaid said, "All I know is, that he is a great fool ; for be possesses nothing in the world but that horse, which be bought when a colt, selling his tent, flocks, and even his wife, to buy it."

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

I remember, on one occasion, travelling in this country with a companion who possessed some knowledge of medicine : we had arrived at a dooar, near 'which we were about to pitch our tents, when a crowd of Arabs surrounded us, cursing and swearing at the " rebellers against God." My friend, who spoke a little Arabic, turning round to an elderly person, whose garb bespoke him a priest, said—" Who taught you that we are disbelievers ? Hear soy daily prayer, and judge for yourselves " : he then repeated the Lord's Prayer. All stood amazed and silent, till the priest exclaimed—" May God curse me, if ever I curse again those who hold such belief; nay more, that prayer shall be my prayer till my hour be come. I pray thee, 0 Nazarene, repeat the prayer, that it may be remembered and written among us in letters of gold."

MOORISH ART OF INGENIOUSLY TORMENTING.

The most horrible tortures are resorted to for forcing confession of bidden wealth. The victim is put into a slow oven, or kept standing for weeks in a wooden dress ; splinters are forced between the flesh and nail of the fingers ; two fierce cats are put alive into his wide trowsers, and the breasts of his women are twisted by pinchers. Young children have sometimes been squeezed to death under the arms of a powetful man, before the eyes of their parents. A wealthy merchant at Tangier, whose our/ sacra fames had led him to resist for a long time the cruel tortures that had been employed against him, yielded at length to the following trial : he was placed in the corner of a room wherein a hungry lion was chained in such a manner as to be able to reach him with his claws, unless he held himself in a most constrained and un- natural position.

It may gratify equestrian loyalists to learn that a horse was at last obtained for the Queen. In consequence of our author's visit

to the Sheikh of Ibdowa, a young filly was subsequently sent to Tangier, unexceptionable in her points, but unbroken, and of so violent a temper that Mr. HAY nearly broke his neck in trying to break her in. She was therefore deprived of the high honour in- tended for her. His father the Consul then took up the matter ; and the veteran succeeded, in the course of a mission on which he was sent to the Emperor.