This, Which Is A Maritime Town, Lies At The Mouth Of The
Above River, And Was, According To Strabo, Pliny, And Others, A
_Phoenician Colony_; It Was Afterwards Successively In The Hands Of
The Romans, Vandals, Arabs, And Occupied By _Aphonso_, King Of
Portugal, Surnamed The _African_.
It was abandoned by the Portuguese
in 1471, when it fell under the power of the kings of Morocco.
I observed several ruins in this town and its vicinity, but could not
stay to inspect them, It is inhabited by Moors and Jews, and is
surrounded by gardens abounding with lemon, orange, and grape
trees. On the evening of the same day we reached this place. I shall
defer the account of my reception here, and the state in which I found
the Governor, till my next.
LETTER III.
Conducted to the Governor - Medical Hint from his Secretary - Governor
recovers - Larache - Its Harbour, Shipping, and Inhabitants.
Larache, February 1806.
On our arrival at this place, we were met, at the gates of the
garrison, by the Governor's public Secretary, who conducted us to a
house belonging to Mr. Matra, and afterwards accompanied me to the
castle to visit my patient. On our way thither I requested the
Secretary to give me his opinion concerning the present state of the
Governor's health; I also asked how he had been accustomed to live,
and how long he had been confined to his bed. "What do you mean," said
he, "by asking such foolish questions? you are not a _tweeb_" (the
name for a physician). I told him that I was. He continued: "That must
be determined by your success or failure; if you succeed, you will for
ever establish your fame in Barbary; you will be esteemed and
respected by all the Moors; but, if you fail, and His Excellency
should die under your hands, I would then advise you to make your
escape as quickly and as privately as possible, and never to attempt
to revisit this country." I confessed the weight of the encouragement
and threats which he held out; and inquiring whether he meant to
insinuate, that if the Governor died I should suffer death? and
whether they always punished their tweebs thus when they dispatched
any of their patients to the other world? he rejoined, "Not exactly;
but consider, you are a Massarene, which makes a great difference." I
then intimated that I would decline having any thing to do with his
master, and would return to Gibraltar. "You do not think of such a
thing!" he exclaimed; "it would be unworthy of your character and
situation. But come; I will give you a few salutary hints, which may
be of service to you; the rest you will discover at the bed-side, and
on feeling the pulse of your patient, I wish you may succeed in
recovering him; but I am afraid he is going, and that no tweeb on
earth can save him."
He then informed me that His Excellency had been attended, for some
days past, by a celebrated tweeb, who stood high in the public
estimation; that he had pronounced the Governor's disease incurable,
and he had, bled him so copiously, and so repeatedly, that "I verily
believe," added the Secretary, "he has not a single drop of blood left
in his veins; I would therefore advise you to administer some good
cordials, and also some nourishment, to restore his lost vigour." By
this time we had reached the castle.
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