ense length of
time can overcome their habitual prejudices and constitutional
inclinations.
The male inhabitants of these states are obliged to attend their
places of public worship four times in the course of twenty-four
hours. The first prayer begins about half an hour before sun-rising,
and is so regulated that they may, just as the sun rises, finish eight
adorations. They pray again at noon, at sun-set, and at midnight: they
are very fervent in their devotions, and always turn their faces
towards the east: they fast three times in a year; the first time
thirty days, the next nine, and the last seven: during these fasts
they abstain from beans, garlic, and some other pulse and
vegetables. They call the Almighty, _God of Gods_, and _Lord of
Lords_; and they all believe that the souls of wicked men will be
punished till a certain period, when they will be received to mercy.
In the morning, after prayer, they drink strong tea, which they prefer
to coffee. At eleven o'clock they, go to dinner, which consists of
fruits, sweetmeats, and their favourite _cous-ca-sou_, piled up in a
large wooden bowl. Their chief meal is after their return from
evening prayer. They eat cakes made of fine wheaten flour; and as they
consider it a crime to cut bread or meat of any kind after it is
dressed, these cakes are made so thin that they may be easily broken
with the hands; and their meat, which is generally mutton or fowls, is
so prepared that they can without difficulty separate it from the
bones with their fingers. They sit cross-legged upon cushions, and
devour their food very greedily and without the least
ceremony. Although sobriety is strictly enjoined by the Mahometan law,
yet the Moorish inhabitants of the principal towns in Barbary make
free with most excellent wines and spirits of their own manufacture.
The revenues of the Emperor have of late augmented prodigiously. He
receives a tenth part of all the property of his Mahometan subjects;
and he compels every Jew residing in his dominions to pay a poll-tax
of six crowns annually. The number of Israelites subject to the
Emperor of Morocco exceeds one hundred thousand. They are strictly
guarded, and cruelly oppressed, and are not permitted to quit the
states without a special leave from the Emperor, to obtain which they
are obliged to pay down a large sum of money.
The authority of the Emperor is unlimited, as is that of his
Governors, who possess a power of life and de
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