An account of the empire of Marocco, and the districts of Suse and Tafilelt; compiled from miscellaneous observations made during a long residence in, and various journies through, these countries. To which is added an account of shipwrecks on the western coast of Africa, and an interesting account of Timbuctoo, the great emporium of Central AfricaJackson, James Grey
History
An account of the empire of Marocco, and the districts of Suse and Tafilelt; compiled from miscellaneous observations made during a long residence in, and various journies through, these countries. To which is added an account of shipwrecks on the western coast of Africa, and an interesting account of Timbuctoo, the great emporium of Central Africa
Jackson, James Grey
Morocco
To the various colours of horses they attach various properties;
they assert, that a dark-coloured or black horse is in his fullest
vigour towards dark, or night; that the powers of a chesnut horse
come with the rising sun, and he is not so fleet in the evening; to a
white horse they attribute vigilance; and of a gray they signify the
soundness of their feet, by an Arabian adage,[71] which indicates
that if a cavalcade be passing through a stony country, the gray
horses will break the stones with their feet; this opinion appears
founded on experience, for in the Atlas mountains, in some parts
of Suse, and in all harsh stony districts, we find a much greater
proportion of gray horses than of any other colour; their feet are
so hardy, that I have known them to travel two days journey through
the stony defiles of Atlas without shoes, over roads full of loose
broken stones, and basaltic rocks.
Besides horses, mules and asses abound every where in Barbary,
also camels, and horned cattle. In the Atlas, and in the forests
near Mequinas, there are lions, panthers, wild hogs, hyænas, apes,
jackals, foxes, hares, serpents, lizards, camelions, &c.
The birds are, ostriches, pelicans, eagles, flamingoes, storks,
herons, bustards, wild geese, wood pigeons, pigeons, turtle-doves,
ring-doves, partridges, red ducks, wild ducks, plovers, tibibs,[72]
larks, nightingales, black birds, starlings, and various others.
The same varieties of fish that are found in the Mediterranean are
taken on the shores of West Barbary; mullet, red and gray, brim,
anchovies, sardines, herrings, mackarel, rock cod, skaite, soles,
plaice, turbot, turtles, besides fish peculiar to the coast, called
by the Shelluhs, Azalimzi, Tasargalt, and Irgal, which are very
abundant, particularly in the bay of Agadeer, and on the coast of
Wedinoon; they are prepared in the ovens of Aguram, a town at the
foot of the mountain whereon Agadeer stands, for the purpose of
being conveyed to the interior, to Bled el-jerrêde, and Sahara;
these fish form a considerable article of commerce, and are much
esteemed in Bled-el-jerrêde.
As there is no country in the world so little explored as Africa,
nor any that produces such a variety of animals, a few observations
on some of the most remarkable may not be uninteresting.
QUADRUPEDS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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