These
Pits Are Granaries, In Which Wheat, Barley, And Other Species Of
Grain Intended For Sale Are Stored.
On one side are two or three
rude huts, or rather sheds, beneath which keep watch the guardians
of the corn.
It is very dangerous to pass over this hill at night,
after the town gates are closed, as at that time numerous large and
ferocious dogs are let loose, who would to a certainty pull down,
and perhaps destroy, any stranger who should draw nigh. Half way
up the hill are seen four white walls, inclosing a spot about ten
feet square, where rest the bones of Sidi Mokhfidh, a saint of
celebrity, who died some fifteen years ago. Here terminates the
soc; the remainder of the hill is called El Kawar, or the place of
graves, being the common burying ground of Tangier; the resting
places of the dead are severally distinguished by a few stones
arranged so as to form an oblong circle. Near Mokhfidh sleeps Sidi
Gali; but the principal saint of Tangier lies interred on the top
of the hill, in the centre of a small plain. A beautiful chapel or
mosque, with vaulted roof, is erected there in his honour, which is
in general adorned with banners of various dyes. The name of this
saint is Mohammed el Hadge, and his memory is held in the utmost
veneration in Tangier and its vicinity. His death occurred at the
commencement of the present century.
These details I either gathered at the time or on subsequent
occasions. On the north side of the soc, close by the town, is a
wall with a gate. "Come," said the old Mahasni, giving a flourish
with his hand; "Come, and I will show you the garden of a Nazarene
consul." I followed him through the gate, and found myself in a
spacious garden laid out in the European taste, and planted with
lemon and pear trees, and various kinds of aromatic shrubs. It
was, however, evident that the owner chiefly prided himself on his
flowers, of which there were numerous beds. There was a handsome
summerhouse, and art seemed to have exhausted itself in making the
place complete.
One thing was wanting, and its absence was strangely remarkable in
a garden at this time of the year; scarcely a leaf was to be seen.
The direst of all the plagues which devastated Egypt was now busy
in this part of Africa - the locust was at work, and in no place
more fiercely than in the particular spot where I was now standing.
All around looked blasted. The trees were brown and bald as in
winter. Nothing green save the fruits, especially the grapes, huge
clusters of which were depending from the "parras"; for the locust
touches not the fruit whilst a single leaf remains to be devoured.
As we passed along the walks these horrible insects flew against us
in every direction, and perished by hundreds beneath our feet.
"See the ayanas," said the old Mahasni, "and hear them eating.
Powerful is the ayana, more powerful than the sultan or the consul.
Should the sultan send all his Mahasniah against the ayana, should
he send me with them, the ayana would say, 'Ha!
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