State of the Arts in BARBARY.-Curious Cement and Glue.-Languages of Northern Africa.--Anecdote.-Moorish Music.-Different Instruments.— Singing.-Islamism.-Ridiculous Customs.-Strict Observance of Fasts.Sanctuary afforded by Mosques, &c.-Holy City.-Paradise of Musselmen. -Pilgrimage to MECCA.-Order of the March, and Allusion to the Ceremonies performed there.—Marabouts.—Anecdote.—Vaili, or Saints, their Hypocrisy illustrated.-Facility of being canonized in BARBARY.-The Mufti.Their Office and Powers.-Mode of deciding legal Questions and administering the Laws.-The Imans.-The Muezzins, and Hours of Prayer.-The Koran.Short Analysis of its Contents.--Anecdote of Dorat, the French Poet.-Commentators on the Koran, &c.

THE Moors have no idea of sculpture or design, both being prohibited by their religious precepts, which entirely exclude the use of images, or other representations of living objects. If a picture is shewn to them, its excellence is no recommendation: they are dazzled by the variety of tint in a painting, but have no conception of it as an imitative art. In architecture, they are more deeply versed, and build with considerable solidity, while the ornamental part is scarcely considered. The principal cement used at Algiers is called tabby; and consists of two portions of wood ashes, three of lime, and one of sand: while mixing up, there is a quantity of oil added, and the whole is beaten with shovels for three successive days, until it has acquired the necessary consistence: exposed to the air, it becomes as hard as marble, and equally impenetrable to all the effects of the atmosphere. Who knows, but this curious mortar may have been originally brought into Mauritania by the Romans, and that the

people of Barbary have thus preserved the important secret; which has given such amazing stability to all the ancient remains of this country and Italy? The question is by no means uninteresting, and will probably occupy the attention of future travellers. The Moorish artisans also prepare a species of glue, from new cheese, out of which care is taken to extract all the milk to this is added, some of the finest quick lime, which renders it perfectly inaccessible to the effects of humidity. It is strange, that possessing such large quantities of excellent saltpetre, they should be so very backward in the manufacture of gunpowder, particularly the finer sort.

If we except the mere mechanical arts, there is nothing to excite much praise in Moorish industry; all their ingenuity being applied to those trades, most useful in supplying the common necessaries of life. Speaking of my unfortunate companion, Terreni, the minister of the marine once observed to Mr. Mc Donnel and myself: "he is a great acquisition to us: we know him to be a famous artist, and shall lose no time in setting him about painting our ships!"

Alluding to the language of Barbary, it is truly singular, that the Punic should be so totally lost, as to have left no trace behind, except what we occasionally see on the Numidian coins. As to the Berbera, it has no connection whatever with the Arabic; which may be called the mother tongue of all the guttural languages of the East. That which is called shavia or shillah, by the Kabiles, possesses a character of originality, which has often been compared to that of the Hebrew. There is also said to be a most striking similarity between the Berbera and Chinese.

The language used by the indigenous inhabitants of northern Africa, is extremely barren, and little more than the jargon of half civilized people being very deficient in abstract terminations, conjunctive particles, and various terms of the substantive kind; all of which they are obliged to take from the Arabic. Languages are like articles of commerce: to enrich those who deal in them, they must be reciprocally exchanged. Towards Mount Atlas, there is another

LANGUAGE.

265 tongue spoken, which is said to have considerable affinity to that of Nigratia: and many of the Moors told me, it was both expressive and sonorous. The Bedouins pretend to an exclusively elegant mode of speaking and pronouncing the Arabic; but that has also experienced a good deal of corruption, which generally increases, in proportion to the distance an Arab is removed from the seat of its original promulgation. Some have, however, asserted, that it is much better spoken in Barbary than Egypt. In speaking Arabic amongst the Moors, the higher orders with difficulty understand each other; while Turkish is adopted in the divan and council of state. The public functionaries, merchants, and Jews on the coast, communicate in a Lingua Franca, indiscriminately composed of Spanish, Italian, and corrupt Arabic. Although all the verbs of this gibberish are used in the infinitive, and it has no prepositions, both strangers and natives are very well able to make it intelligible to each other.

Many of the African terminations are not altogether devoid of force and harmony; as, for example: aksum, meat; skum, wheat; chamu, wine; fiuff, a fowl; jubiutt, a little girl; kalm, coffee; karamoe, honour; mara, a woman; valeal, a young boy; arghez, a man; thamurt, land; and asarum, bread. I could have easily recollected a much greater number of words, but doubted whether it was likely to be of any use. The Guardian Basha, and Rais Hamida, frequently told me, I ought to make a point of learning the Arabic; but if I had, to what purpose could it lead? The celebrated English statesman, Lord Godolphin, one day asked Mr. Rowe, if he knew the Spanish: the poet replied, "that he understood it tolerably well; but that he could, in two or three months, become perfect master of it." "You should do so," said the minister. On this, Rowe, thinking that he was intended for some important post or mission, in which a knowledge of the above language was necessary, immediately retired into the country; and, returning to London after three months of the closest application, waited on his expected patron to inform him, that, according to the latter's recommendation, he had

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studied Spanish, until it had become as familiar to him as his mothertongue. "How I envy your happiness!" said the statesman: "it is now in your power to read Don Quixote in the original!" I wonder what comfort I could have derived from a knowledge of the Arabic, except that of reading the Alcoran, and its three thousand, three hundred and eighty commentators.*

The Arab legislator has, together with all games of chance, and dancing, also proscribed music and singing: the imaum, or commentators, have launched forth the most fulminating threats against all those who listen with pleasure to the "harmony of sweet sounds.” But these barbarous injunctions have not succeeded in preventing most of the faithful from being extremely fond of music; particularly the instrumental kind. The rich and great generally keep instruments; and many of them, in travelling through the country, are accompanied by musicians, who play a variety of airs at different intervals, while the Moors, seated on some verdant rising ground, seem absorbed in voluptuous ecstacy.

Music is, however, absolutely prohibited in the mosques: regarded as a profanation by the imans, it is only tolerated by the force of custom, and impossibility of even the most savage nations being deprived of its consoling and electrifying effect. A celebrated popular preacher, having once introduced a few airs, selected from the most esteemed operas, into his church service, being reproved by his friends, for thus adapting profane sounds to so holy a purpose, answered, surely you do not wish the devil to monopolize all the fine tunes?"

While indifferent to vocal music, the Moor, who plays tolerably well on any instrument, will gain more money, than ten of their literati. There are, also, many amateur performers, but these always practice at home; thinking it a degradation to appear in public as

*Pope used to say, that if he had any daughters, they should never be taught a foreign language; one being enough for, and even rather too much for a woman!-Ed.

musicians; which, as they say, should be confined to those who get their livelihood by it.

Their principal instruments are, the arabebbah, of the violincello species, with one string; the vebeb, or Moorish violin, having two strings; and which is played on with a bow, like the violincello; the gasaph, a species of octave flute; and the taun, which is the timpanum of the ancients. I also saw a few badly strung violins, like those of Europe, on which the Moors played, in the manner of our double bass, or violincello. They always play from memory, having no idea of notes; yet they are not without some method, and beat time extremely well with their hands.

Nearly all their songs are of the heroic kind: their historical ones have a sort of preamble; each stanza commencing with a little air on the arabebbah; after which, the recitative goes on, accompanied by the gasaph; and, although this description of music is very monotonous, I did not, on the whole, find it disagreeable. It often reminded me of the national airs of the Welch, and rude highlanders of Scotland. They prefer simple, easy, and tender strains, to the fantastical, roundabout, wandering, and hieroglyphical style of the modern bravura: even the Moors well know that such complicated rhapsodies are not those best calculated to

Soothe the savage breast,

Soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak!

A famous violin player having executed a concerto, during which, he produced some appoggiaturi and shakes, that astonished many of his hearers, Dr. Johnson, who was present, remained with the utmost tranquillity and apparent attention till it was over; and not joining in the general plaudits, the professor tapped him on the shoulder, saying, “I assure you, doctor, I have executed some very difficult things in this concerto." "Would, that they had been impossible!" replied the sage.

The religion of Barbary is Mahometanism, blended with various