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Article A VISIT TO TETUAN FORTY YEARS AGO. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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A Visit To Tetuan Forty Years Ago.
back , his eldest son had succeeded to his dignity and wealth ; but that his son ( Avhom I remember there Avell ) had been arrested by the Emperor ' s command , evidently , poor felloAv , to be " squeezed" ( as they say there ) by that most imperious of sovereigns . After all , sad as it is , such are daily the " ups and clowns " of life , and such in truth is the stern " morale" of all life ' s gayest scenes . After the usual official " palaver , " and sundry gesticulations and assurances through the obsequious interpreter of our " entente cordiale" the Pasha requested us to be
, seated , and refresh ourselves with cakes ancl sherbet . After this , in a little space , the presents Avere produced , Avhich seemed to delight the Pasha immensely , and caused what seemed to us an interminable quantity of pivil speeches to be interchanged . At last , for a time , the " seance " was over , ancl Ave Avere shown into a long cool room to rest ourselves , Avhile the greater authorities proceeded to discuss Avith the Pasha affairs of state . Outside the room was a tempting fountainAvhose great basin of Avater seemed to invite
, us to partake . I never shall forget a scene Avhich folloAved here—indeed I can almost picture it to my fancy UOAV . Heated and blistered with the sun , Ave rushed in a body to the grateful fountain , and bathed our sunburnt faces—having bared our necks ancl opened our shirts —in its refreshing aud cooling streams , standing in a circle round its marble basin . The amusement of the obese Pasha and his grinning attendants was intense , to see " the
infidels " so disporting themselves . We spent the afternoon very enjoyably indeed , drinking sherbet , ancl plucking the grapes from the trellises over our heads , and , in recumbent idleness , making the horseshoe cloisters ring again with our merry laughter . In due time came dinner ; but here Ave Avere sadly disappointed ; for , having looked for a thorough Moorish dinner , in its stead behold " old familiar friends , " roast ducks and roast foAvls , —nay , a piece
of roast beef , etc ., etc ., Avith but one solitary dish of native cookery " pur et simple , " Avhich , in African patois , we called '' koos koos , " something like a mild curry . As accompanying beverages , Ave had aniseed , brandy , and plenty of Moorish wine , thin and sour . HoAvever malgre our disappointments , Ave enjoyed ourselves amazingly , and drank the Pasha ' s good health most manfuEy . The dinner passed off—as most ¦ " state dinners " do ; but , amid our attendants , Ave remarked one tall good-looking JOAV , AA'hose civiljties Ave had experienced the Avhole day long ; but also , Ave all observed at dinner , redoubled his attention most carefully , ancl Avatched our proceedings most attentively . Of him more anon .
Well ; Ave had eaten , ancl drunken , and laughed , and smoked , and bullied the interpreter , and made our " salaams" to ¦ " Hash , Hash , " Avhen , as the shadoAvs of evening Avere falling around us , with endless protestations of everlasting friendship , we Avished our Moorish friends good-bye . Again we mounted our steeds , and mules , and donkeys , and ponies , and hastenedour long train interspersed Avith torch-bearers—to the beach . We did not take quite so long inreturning as we did in comingas you will easil and the ride in the
, , y suppose ; cool ni ght air Avas pleasant and refreshing . When , hoAvever , Ave reached the beach , an uproar perfectly terrific greeted our ears . Moors were shouting , sailors Avere SAvearing , oxen Avere loAving , sheep Avere bleating , and numberless other noises , all of which put together turned the calm and gentle night into a perfect Babel . Ancl all this proceeded , Ave found upon inquiry , from a magnificent present made by the Tetuan Pasha to the Gibraltar Padisha of a couple of oxen , a dozen sheep , foAvls by scores , eggs by thouands ¦
, ancl fruit ancl bread ' ' ad infinitum . " Y . ery pleasant all this , Ave thought , though rather a bore ; hoAvever , there Avas no help for it ; and so , at last , after a great deal of trouble , these noisy strangers Avere , like ourselves , safely embarked . Early the next morning we steamed into the Old Mole again , and not Avithout pleasure found ourselves once more , safe and sound , under the protecting shadow of old Gib . We Avere all much pleased Avith our trip , short as it Avas ; and Ave bad got a faint notion of that strange country , and its stranger children . We had had a pleasant party , aud a " merrye companye " ; and what we had seen , and what Ave had done—many a trivial incident , and many a merry joke—furnished us Avith
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Tetuan Forty Years Ago.
back , his eldest son had succeeded to his dignity and wealth ; but that his son ( Avhom I remember there Avell ) had been arrested by the Emperor ' s command , evidently , poor felloAv , to be " squeezed" ( as they say there ) by that most imperious of sovereigns . After all , sad as it is , such are daily the " ups and clowns " of life , and such in truth is the stern " morale" of all life ' s gayest scenes . After the usual official " palaver , " and sundry gesticulations and assurances through the obsequious interpreter of our " entente cordiale" the Pasha requested us to be
, seated , and refresh ourselves with cakes ancl sherbet . After this , in a little space , the presents Avere produced , Avhich seemed to delight the Pasha immensely , and caused what seemed to us an interminable quantity of pivil speeches to be interchanged . At last , for a time , the " seance " was over , ancl Ave Avere shown into a long cool room to rest ourselves , Avhile the greater authorities proceeded to discuss Avith the Pasha affairs of state . Outside the room was a tempting fountainAvhose great basin of Avater seemed to invite
, us to partake . I never shall forget a scene Avhich folloAved here—indeed I can almost picture it to my fancy UOAV . Heated and blistered with the sun , Ave rushed in a body to the grateful fountain , and bathed our sunburnt faces—having bared our necks ancl opened our shirts —in its refreshing aud cooling streams , standing in a circle round its marble basin . The amusement of the obese Pasha and his grinning attendants was intense , to see " the
infidels " so disporting themselves . We spent the afternoon very enjoyably indeed , drinking sherbet , ancl plucking the grapes from the trellises over our heads , and , in recumbent idleness , making the horseshoe cloisters ring again with our merry laughter . In due time came dinner ; but here Ave Avere sadly disappointed ; for , having looked for a thorough Moorish dinner , in its stead behold " old familiar friends , " roast ducks and roast foAvls , —nay , a piece
of roast beef , etc ., etc ., Avith but one solitary dish of native cookery " pur et simple , " Avhich , in African patois , we called '' koos koos , " something like a mild curry . As accompanying beverages , Ave had aniseed , brandy , and plenty of Moorish wine , thin and sour . HoAvever malgre our disappointments , Ave enjoyed ourselves amazingly , and drank the Pasha ' s good health most manfuEy . The dinner passed off—as most ¦ " state dinners " do ; but , amid our attendants , Ave remarked one tall good-looking JOAV , AA'hose civiljties Ave had experienced the Avhole day long ; but also , Ave all observed at dinner , redoubled his attention most carefully , ancl Avatched our proceedings most attentively . Of him more anon .
Well ; Ave had eaten , ancl drunken , and laughed , and smoked , and bullied the interpreter , and made our " salaams" to ¦ " Hash , Hash , " Avhen , as the shadoAvs of evening Avere falling around us , with endless protestations of everlasting friendship , we Avished our Moorish friends good-bye . Again we mounted our steeds , and mules , and donkeys , and ponies , and hastenedour long train interspersed Avith torch-bearers—to the beach . We did not take quite so long inreturning as we did in comingas you will easil and the ride in the
, , y suppose ; cool ni ght air Avas pleasant and refreshing . When , hoAvever , Ave reached the beach , an uproar perfectly terrific greeted our ears . Moors were shouting , sailors Avere SAvearing , oxen Avere loAving , sheep Avere bleating , and numberless other noises , all of which put together turned the calm and gentle night into a perfect Babel . Ancl all this proceeded , Ave found upon inquiry , from a magnificent present made by the Tetuan Pasha to the Gibraltar Padisha of a couple of oxen , a dozen sheep , foAvls by scores , eggs by thouands ¦
, ancl fruit ancl bread ' ' ad infinitum . " Y . ery pleasant all this , Ave thought , though rather a bore ; hoAvever , there Avas no help for it ; and so , at last , after a great deal of trouble , these noisy strangers Avere , like ourselves , safely embarked . Early the next morning we steamed into the Old Mole again , and not Avithout pleasure found ourselves once more , safe and sound , under the protecting shadow of old Gib . We Avere all much pleased Avith our trip , short as it Avas ; and Ave bad got a faint notion of that strange country , and its stranger children . We had had a pleasant party , aud a " merrye companye " ; and what we had seen , and what Ave had done—many a trivial incident , and many a merry joke—furnished us Avith