He Showed
Me A Number Of Barbarous Characters Which He Asserted Were The Roman
Alphabet, And He Produced Another Specimen Equally Unintelligible, Which
He Declared To Be The _Kallam Il Indi_, Or Persian.
His library consisted
of nine volumes in quarto; most of them, I believe, were books of
religion; for the name of Mahomet appeared in red letters in almost every
page of each.
His scholars wrote their lessons upon thin boards; paper
being too expensive for general use. The boys were diligent enough, and
appeared to possess a considerable share of emulation; carrying their
boards slung over their shoulders when about their common employments.
When a boy has committed to memory a few of their prayers, and can read
and write certain parts of the Koran, he is reckoned sufficiently
instructed; and with this slender stock of learning, commences his career
of life. Proud of his acquirements, he surveys with contempt the
unlettered Negro; and embraces every opportunity of displaying his
superiority over such of his countrymen as are not distinguished by the
same accomplishments.
The education of the girls is neglected altogether; mental
accomplishments are but little attended to by the women; nor is the want
of them considered by the men as a defect in the female character. They
are regarded, I believe, as an inferior species of animals, and seem to
be brought up for no other purpose than that of administering to the
sensual pleasures of their imperious masters. Voluptuousness is,
therefore, considered as their chief accomplishment, and slavish
submission as their indispensable duty.
The Moors have singular ideas of feminine perfection. The gracefulness of
figure and motion, and a countenance enlivened by expression, are by no
means essential points in their standard: with them, corpulence and
beauty appear to be terms nearly synonymous. A woman of even moderate
pretensions must be one who cannot walk without a slave under each arm to
support her; and a perfect beauty is a load for a camel. In consequence
of this prevalent taste for unwieldiness of bulk, the Moorish ladies take
great pains to acquire it early in life; and for this purpose many of the
young girls are compelled by their mothers to devour a great quantity of
kouskous, and drink a large bowl of camel's milk every morning. It is of
no importance whether the girl has an appetite or not, the kouskous and
milk must be swallowed: and obedience is frequently enforced by blows. I
have seen a poor girl sit crying, with a bowl at her lips, for more than
an hour; and her mother, with a stick in her hand, watching her all the
while, and using the stick without mercy whenever she observed that her
daughter was not swallowing. This singular practice, instead of producing
indigestion and disease, soon covers the young lady with that degree of
plumpness, which, in the eye of a Moor, is perfection itself.
As the Moors purchase all their clothing from the Negroes, the women are
forced to be very economical in the article of dress.
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