The reason for this tolerant conduct of the Emperor towards him is, that when Muley Abd Errahman was in difficulties and obliged to fly for his life, in the convulsions previous to his reign, Haj Mousa sent the young prince a mule and thirty ducats; with this, the prince was enabled to escape, and he saved his life to be afterwards proclaimed Meer-el-Moumeneen.  On receiving the mule and money, he exclaimed in a transport of gratitude to the Governor of Mazagran, “I will never forget you!” It is unfortunate the good faith of the Emperor’s word has been so deplorably abused by this tyrant, for it is considered certain, that though temporarily removed from Mazagran, he will return, or be made governor of another city.

A Sous Jew called upon me one day, who is well acquainted with the Shelouh or, Berber of the South.  On asking if he would make a translation of the book of Genesis from Hebrew into Shelouh, he replied: 

“No, I cannot.  In the first place, the Emperor would cut off my head for doing such a thing; and, again, it would be a sin to convert the Holy Hebrew character into such a language of Infidels.”

We continued our discussion on a more practical subject.

Traveller (to the Jew)—­“I am told that among you, Jews of Morocco, it is a merit to rob us Christians and the Moors.  Your young children are even praised by their mothers if they commit a theft without being found out:  [27] is this right?”

The Jew.—­“You are all Goyeem [28] (Gentiles), but it is not true that we rob you, Christians.  If we rob Mussulmen, it’s because they rob us first.”

The case really is, the Jews are literally being robbed every day by the Moors one way or the other, and, if the people do not rob them, the constituted authorities continue to make exactions under every pretence.  I am inclined, nevertheless, to think, without prejudice, that it is a received maxim with all native Barbary Jews, “to rob unbelievers, Moors and Christians, when you can do so safely.”  This was the opinion which a very respectable European Jew, resident in Tunis, entertained of his brethren.  At the same time, Ihere are numerous exceptions.

Many of the lower classes of Moors likewise, think there is little or no harm in robbing Jews and Blacks, that is, all who are Infidels and Christians.

I may mention, in connection with the above, the system of False-Weights, which is an enormous scandal to this great commercial city.  It appears that almost every tradesman, and every imperial merchant have two sets of weights, one to buy and another to sell with.  A merchant once had the impudence to cry out to his clerk when weighing, “Oh, you are wrong, these are my selling weights; bring me my buying weights.  Am I not buying?”