第236章

We now passed over the see to the opposite side, where stand the huts of the guardians.Here a species of lane presents itself, which descends to the sea-shore; it is deep and precipitous, and resembles a gully or ravine.The banks on either side are covered with the tree which bears the prickly fig, called in Moorish, KERMOUS DEL INDE.There is something wild and grotesque in the appearance of this tree or plant, for I know not which to call it.Its stem, though frequently of the thickness of a man's body, has no head, but divides itself, at a short distance from the ground, into many crooked branches, which shoot in all directions, and bear green and uncouth leaves, about half an inch in thickness, and which, if they resemble anything, present the appearance of the fore fins of a seal, and consist of multitudinous fibres.The fruit, which somewhat resembles a pear, has a rough tegument covered with minute prickles, which instantly enter the hand which touches them, however slightly, and are very difficult to extract.I never remember to have seen vegetation in ranker luxuriance than that which these fig-trees exhibited, nor upon the whole a more singular spot."Follow me," said the Mahasni, "and I will show you something which you will like to see." So he turned to the left, leading the way by a narrow path up the steep bank, till we reached the summit of a hillock, separated by a deep ditch from the wall of Tangier.The ground was thickly covered with the trees already described, which spread their strange arms along the surface, and whose thick leaves crushed beneath our feet as we walked along.Amongst them Iobserved a large number of stone slabs lying horizontally; they were rudely scrawled over with odd characters, which I stooped down to inspect."Are you Talib enough to read those signs?"exclaimed the old Moor."They are letters of the accursed Jews; this is their mearrah, as they call it, and here they inter their dead.Fools, they trust in Muza, when they might believe in Mohammed, and therefore their dead shall burn everlastingly in Jehinnim.See, my sultan, how fat is the soil of this mearrah of the Jews; see what kermous grow here.When I was a boy I often came to the mearrah of the Jews to eat kermous in the season of their ripeness.The Moslem boys of Tangier love the kermous of the mearrah of the Jews; but the Jews will not gather them.They say that the waters of the springs which nourish the roots of these trees, pass among the bodies of their dead, and for that reason it is an abomination to taste of these fruits.Be this true, or be it not, one thing is certain, in whatever manner nourished, good are the kermous which grow in the mearrah of the Jews."We returned to the lane by the same path by which we had come: as we were descending it he said, "Know, my sultan, that the name of the place where we now are, and which you say you like much, is Dar Sinah (THE HOUSE OF THE TRADES).You will ask me why it bears that name, as you see neither house nor man, neither Moslem, Nazarene, nor Jew, only our two selves; Iwill tell you, my sultan, for who can tell you better than myself? Learn, I pray you, that Tangier was not always what it is now, nor did it occupy always the place which it does now.

It stood yonder (pointing to the east) on those hills above the shore, and ruins of houses are still to be seen there, and the spot is called Old Tangier.So in the old time, as I have heard say, this Dar Sinah was a street, whether without or within the wall matters not, and there resided men of all trades; smiths of gold and silver, and iron, and tin, and artificers of all kinds: you had only to go to the Dar Sinah if you wished for anything wrought, and there instantly you would find a master of the particular craft.My sultan tells me he likes the look of Dar Sinah at the present day; truly I know not why, especially as the kermous are not yet in their ripeness nor fit to eat.If he likes Dar Sinah now, how would my sultan have liked it in the olden time, when it was filled with gold and silver, and iron and tin, and was noisy with the hammers, and the masters and the cunning men? We are now arrived at the Chali del Bahar (seashore).Take care, my sultan, we tread upon bones."We had emerged from the Dar Sinah, and the seashore was before us; on a sudden we found ourselves amongst a multitude of bones of all kinds of animals, and seemingly of all dates;some being blanched with time and exposure to sun and wind, whilst to others the flesh still partly clung; whole carcases were here, horses, asses, and even the uncouth remains of a camel.Gaunt dogs were busy here, growling, tearing, and gnawing; amongst whom, unintimidated, stalked the carrion vulture, fiercely battening and even disputing with the brutes the garbage; whilst the crow hovered overhead and croaked wistfully, or occasionally perched upon some upturned rib bone.