The Distance From The Seat Of Government, And The Oppressive Manner In
Which The Caliphs Ruled, Excited Universal Commotion In This Part, And
Considerably Diminished Their Authority.
Their generals, far from
suppressing, openly encouraged these tumults, and severally aspired to
the sovereignty.
In the midst of these intestine broils, _Edris_, a
descendant of Mahomet, fled into Mauritania, to avoid the persecutions
of the Caliph _Abdallah_, who, to ensure the succession to his own
family, had caused the kinsmen of _Edris_ to be put to death. _Edris_
first settled in a mountain, between Fez and Mequinez, called
_Zaaron_, where he soon gained the confidence of the Moors. He
preached the doctrine of Mahomet, and, by degrees, succeeded in
establishing it throughout the country. These people, fond of
novelty, and extremely susceptible of fanaticism, readily embraced a
faith so well suited to their manners and inclinations. They elected
him their chief, and invested him with supreme power; which he
employed in reducing the Arab generals. From that time, the
characters of the Moors and Arabs gradually blended, so that in
after-ages, among the generality of them, scarcely any distinction can
be traced.
As it is foreign to my present purpose to carry you farther into the
ancient history of this country, I shall proceed to give you tho
particulars of my journey to this town. I left Tangiers, escorted by a
guard, consisting of a serjeant and six horsemen, accompanied by an
interpreter, and my few servants. We rode for several hours,
alternately through gardens and woods:
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