My Friend Finding Himself Thus Perfectly Secure, Appeared In High
Spirits, And Proceeded To The Palace To Prostrate Himself Before His
Sovereign.
He was received with every mark of the highest approbation
and favour.
At his return to the camp, he came to me with a smiling
countenance, and related the flattering reception he had met with. He
then informed me, that the Emperor had given orders, that a convenient
house should be immediately provided for me, and that an officer of
the household was coming to conduct me to my new habitation. This
officer arrived while we were talking, and I followed him to my place
of residence, which I found exceedingly neat and commodious. This I
continue to occupy, and am furnished abundantly with all the
delicacies which the city of Fez affords.
I have exceeded the bounds of moderation in this letter already, and
must therefore postpone my introduction till my next.
LETTER XI.
_Imperial Review of eighty thousand Cavalry - The Palace - Introduction
to the Emperor - Visit the Seraglio - Beauty of the Sultana - Her
Indisposition - Her Influence over the Emperor - His Person described._
Fez, - - 1806.
Late in the evening of the day of my arrival, I was visited at my
house by an officer, who informed me that his royal master would
review his troops the following morning, and that, if I chose to be
present, I must repair to the palace precisely at four o'clock.
I was there exactly at the time, and in a few minutes the Emperor
appeared, mounted on a beautiful white horse, attended by an officer
of state, holding over him a large damask umbrella, most elegantly
embroidered, and followed by all his great officers, body-guards, and
a numerous band of music. He was greeted with huzzas in the Moorish
style by the populace, and received at all the gates and avenues of
the town with a general discharge of artillery and small arms, the
people falling upon their knees in the dust as he passed. The streets
were covered with mats, and the road, as far as the plain where the
troops were drawn out, was strewed with all kinds of flowers.
The army was formed into a regular street of three deep on each side,
each corps distinguished by a standard; it extended to a great length,
through the immense plain of Fez, and presented a grand military
spectacle. There were not less than eighty thousand cavalry. This
review was finished in six hours, and His Imperial Majesty was so much
pleased with the steady, orderly, and soldierlike appearance of his
troops, that he commanded a horse to be given to each of the officers,
and an additional suit of clothes and six ducats more than is
customary to the men. No other exercise was performed on this
occasion, than charging, firing off their pieces, and priming and
loading at full gallop, by alternate divisions. Thus an incessant
fire was kept up during the day.
The ground being perfectly level and good, no accident occurred. The
dress of the Moorish army differs very little from that of the
people. The officers are distinguished by their turbans, from the
privates, who wear red caps. They are considered most excellent
horsemen, and appeared to be supplied with very fine young horses, and
well appointed. I can say but little of the infantry and artillery of
His Imperial Majesty, not having had an opportunity of seeing them
assemble in any sort of exercise. The cavalry are unquestionably most
capital marksmen, and very capable of annoying and harassing and
checking the progress of an invading army. The men are stout, strong,
and robust, accustomed to a continual state of warfare, and, from
their simple and moderate manner of living, fully adequate to sustain
the fatigues and privations of the most arduous campaign.
In the Moorish army there is a prodigious number of blacks, who are
reckoned very loyal, and perfectly devoted to the Emperor. This
accounts for so many black governors being at the head of the most
important districts and provinces of Barbary,
I returned very late from the review, and had scarcely dined when a
messenger came to request my early attendance the following morning,
to be presented to His Imperial Majesty. I repaired betimes to the
palace, which is an immense pile of buildings, enclosed by a strong
wall and a large deep ditch. It has four great gates, plated, both on
the outside and in, with sheets of iron. I entered the front gate, and
by a covered way reached a spacious court, surrounded by a piazza,
under which several field-pieces and small mortars were placed. Here I
was met by Sidy Ameth, a black officer, who acts as master of the
ceremonies, and lord in waiting. He received me with great politeness,
and conducted me, through another gate and covered way, to a second
square more spacious than the first. In the centre was a most
beautiful white marble basin, into which played a fountain of water
clear as crystal. Over it was a kind of rotunda, supported by columns
of elegant black marble. This superb square is paved with small pieces
of marble, intermixed with pebbles of various colours, in the mosaic
style. It is formed by four wings of the building. The front wing,
exclusive of its magnificent entrance, contains several apartments and
waiting-rooms, occupied by the great officers of state; the right, the
library, and the treasury of the Emperor; the left, a superb mosque,
and a school-room for the use of the Emperor's children, where they
are taught to read and write, and study the Alcoran; and finally, the
back, the great hall of audience, in which His Imperial Majesty was
seated cross-legged upon a kind of couch, under a crimson velvet
canopy, most beautifully decorated with figured work in gold.
I was introduced by Sidy Ameth; and after making my obsequious
reverence, I stood at a great distance, waiting the Imperial commands,
when His Majesty was graciously pleased to order me, by signs, to draw
near, and then, by means of an interpreter, he informed me, that, in
consequence of the good I had done his subjects during my residence at
Larache, he had long been anxious to see and consult me.
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