Chapter II: Introduction

I did not visit Morocco or Spain on any settled plan. I was on my way to Italy by sea, and passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, was so fascinated by the beauty and mysteries of the adjoining lands, that I relinquished my proposed excursion for the explorations which are here recorded.

Barbary, to the attraction of the unknown and the original, which it shares in common with China and Japan, adds that of association with the country which, of all others, has a claim on our affections--_Canaan_. With Barbary also is interwoven the history of various races, great, ancient, and mysterious: the _Canaanite_, the _Hebrew_, the Highland _Celt_, and the _Saracen_. It has become the last refuge of the Philistine. The Jews, in other countries, by adopting the habits of strangers, have lost their type, which is to be seen alone in Barbary, where Judæa, effaced in Asia, doubly survives. Here must we seek the living interpretation of the Scriptures; here may we find insight into early things.

The connexion of the Scotch clans with Barbary depends on no ethnographic affinity, but their passage through, and sojourn in, this land, reveal the history of their wanderings, and explain the peculiarities of their race. Here are to be found to-day the people who made Spain a garden, taught it at once the arts of war and peace; and thence spread that knowledge to the rest of Europe. That stream which then overflowed, has retired to its fountain, where it lies deep, but not changed.

Spain and Morocco present treasures unknown, in those regions which have been subject to repeoplings and fundamental changes. “The life of nations,” says Erchhoff, “manifests itself in their language, which is the faithful representative of their vicissitudes. Where chronology stops, and the thread of tradition is broken, the antique genealogy of words that have survived the ruin of empires comes in to shed light on the very cradle of humanity, and to consecrate the memory of generations long since engulfed in the quicksands of time.” The unchanged tongue here gives additional force to that genealogy--here history is nearly mute. The same monumental character, however, belongs to manners, costume, and tradition. I have not, therefore, hesitated to devote considerable space to these inquiries, as, indeed, they constituted the chief attraction of the excursions, which seemed to be less through new countries than remote ages.

I have to bespeak the reader’s indulgence for inviting him often to accompany me with his attention through homely paths. I have brought him in presence of the most trivial practices. I have not described, as a stranger would, a different manner of life; but endeavoured, as a native, to explain matters from which we might derive benefits in health, comfort, happiness, or taste, from their old experience. Wherever I have drawn comparisons, it has been for our advantage, not for theirs. It has, therefore, been their merits, not ours, that I have placed in evidence.

I have no expectation that my suggestions will modify the lappet of a coat, or the leavening of a loaf; but there is one subject in which I am not without hope of having placed a profitable habit more within the chance of adoption than it has hitherto been--I mean the bath.

Cleanliness, like inebriety or intemperance, may be at once a fashion and a passion. Appearing amongst us under both shapes, it has also assumed that of charity. As soon as it was felt that it was shameful to be dirty, it became a work of charity to wash the filthy, no less than to feed the hungry. These dispositions offer an opportunity of reviving the bath in all its classic grace, and investing it with all its Eastern attractions; but the occasion may be lost--that is, we may rest satisfied with what we have done, and the new wash-houses may pass current as achievements of economy and models of cleanliness. The occasion can be put to profit only by the knowledge of the bath in its bearings on the individual and on society; and I have made the attempt to describe it, so that it shall be understood in its uses, enjoyments, and construction.

We have recently been imitating barbarous times in church architecture. These times offer to our admiration usages as well as forms. Shall we have eyes for a Gothic spire, and none for a Roman bath? Nations may have refinement, and yet be destitute of common sense; they may be possessed of sense, and yet be without refinement. A people without the bath can lay claim to neither.

Morocco calls attention to the past; Spain directs it to the future. We pass from dreams to delusions, from poetry to politics. Belgium has been termed the battle-field of Europe--Spain is its bone of contention. The Italian Peninsula is the field of the rivalries of France and Austria, which England balances and adjusts. In the East, England and France are united by the advance of Russia; in the Spanish Peninsula they are alone in presence of each other: the aim of each is to gain ascendancy, and thence a constant source of irritation.

The political experiment which is at present being made in Spain, consists in applying European terms to a country where there are no European ideas, and European institutions to a state of things wholly unlike Europe. The following fragment of a conversation with a leading statesman conveys that contrast in the fewest words.

_Spaniard._--I am sorry that you see Spain in such a distracted condition.

_Author._--I am rejoiced to find her in one so flourishing.

_Sp._--I wish it were so. Surely you are not in earnest?

_A._--I wish my country were in the same condition as yours.

_Sp._--But your country is rich, powerful, united. We are poor, weak, and distracted.

_A._--I am thinking of the contrast between your people and ours.

_Sp._--In what does that contrast consist?

_A._--In a larger share of comforts, and fewer political evils.

_Sp._--As to the former, I think you are right. I do not think that the people of France have so much of the enjoyments of life as ours; but as for our being freer from political evils than England, I cannot agree with you.

_A._--If you will permit me to take them separately, I think we shall find no difficulty in agreeing.

_Sp._--Certainly.

_A._--The chief source of our animosities springs from differences in religion.

_Sp._--We are not troubled with these in Spain.

_A._--The next is difference of race.

_Sp._--We are free from this too.

_A._--Have you two great organized interests, commercial and agricultural?

_Sp._--From these too we are free.

_A._--Have you two powerful opinions, monarchical and republican, as those which divide France?

_Sp._--We have not.

_A._--Have you been brought to within an hour of revolution and bankruptcy by an “ideal standard?”

_Sp._--Spain has no financial difficulties of an abstract kind.

_A._--Do you suffer from the despotic power of a sovereign?

_Sp._--No.

_A._--Have you to fear the turbulence of a mob?

_Sp._--No; the people of Spain are docile, _when left alone_.

_A._--Are there oppressive privileges belonging to the aristocracy?

_Sp._--No.

_A._--Is the power of the Church excessive, and misapplied, or its wealth inordinate?

_Sp._--No, we have none of these evils in Spain.

_A._--Have you pauperism?

_Sp._--No;--nevertheless we are distracted.

_A._--It is, therefore, my turn now to ask, why?

_Sp._--I should like to hear your reasons.

_A._--They are contained in the fact, that it is I who ask these questions, and you who reply.

_Sp._--Our distractions would not subside, if I thought as well of Spain as you do.

_A._--My meaning is, that the imitation of Europe is the source of the troubles of Spain.

Since this conversation occurred, Spain has justified these conclusions, by remaining unmoved amidst the storm of opinion which has swept over Europe.

LONDON, _October, 1849_.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

BOOK I.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR 1

CHAPTER II.

THE CURRENTS OF THE STRAITS 21

CHAPTER III.

GIBRALTAR OF THE MOORS 32

CHAPTER IV.

EXCURSION ROUND THE STRAITS 51

CHAPTER V.

ALGECIRAS--TARIFA 60

CHAPTER VI.

CEUTA 85

CHAPTER VII.

CEUTA--BOMBARDMENT OF TANGIER 114

CHAPTER VIII.

CADIZ 126

CHAPTER IX.

EXCURSION ROUND THE STRAITS 145

CHAPTER X.

EXCURSION IN THE STRAITS--CADIZ POLITENESS 172

CHAPTER XI.

CARTEIA--TYRE AND HER WARES--GLASS 188

CHAPTER XII.

THE STONE OF HERCULES 204

BOOK II.

THE COUNTRY OF THE ROVERS.

CHAPTER I.

OFF SALEE 254

CHAPTER II.

RABAT 277

CHAPTER III.

THE JEWS AND JEWRY IN RABAT 299

CHAPTER IV.

THE BAÏRAM 317

CHAPTER V.

THE SULTAN: HIS COMMERCIAL SYSTEM 332

CHAPTER VI.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN RABAT 339

CHAPTER VII.

CONNEXION BETWEEN MAURITANIA AND AMERICA 353

CHAPTER VIII.

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE MOORS 364

BOOK III.

THE ARAB TENT.

CHAPTER I.

HUNTING EXPEDITION TO SHAVOYA 377

CHAPTER II.

KUSCOUSSOO 398

CHAPTER III.

THE HAÏK 416

CHAPTER IV.

A BOAR-HUNT 440

THE

PILLARS OF HERCULES.