Commentary on the Sultan
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{286}
Thursday 17 December 1829
to (1) slack our pace which had hitherto been that of a free walk - we now took up what might be described as a more respectful slowness of gait until we arrived at the centre of the square near to what is or has been I presume a tank or fountain. There, an officer in attendance caused us to halt & Seedy Muhammad now placed himself again in our front with a line of about a dozen soldiers of his party, who as it were screened us from the view of the great gate of the Garden of the Nile, thro' which the Sultan was about to pass to us from his dwelling in the palace at, I believe, the further end of it.
| Commentary on the Sultan |
His
Imperial Majesty came forth on horseback in a dress so plain that he might
at little distance have been mistaken for any of his own more respectable
Kaids; except that the number & silence of the attendants surrounding
him & the great crimson umbrella ( the only article of the kind which
had yet seen in the country) ( which we had noticed to be held, but not
expanded, in waiting for him near the gate & within the square at our
past entrance) which was immediately raised above the Royal head, announced
the first personage of the Empire. On entering the court the Sultan turned
to his soldiers on either side saying Allah elawenkoom, literally
, "God help you"! {288} to which they replied by a loud yet respectful
exclamation God bless the life of our Master accompanied by a low
bow from all and at the same touching their right knee(2)
| "Audiences with the Sultan" |
| Note on 249: Allah ebarak
fee hamar Seedy God bless (in) the life (of our) Master. This salutation
is seldom addressed (as I understand) to anyone but the Sultan, the soldiers
& others generally addressing officers of all ranks by merely nam
a seedy! which may be translated, as Isaac
Pinto says :"At your service, O master!"
Yet Ali Bey writes T.1 p.262 that in his return from Mogador to Morocco, he used the parasol "usage reservé au Sultan à ses fils et à ses frères, & defendu à tout autre personne." and that on his route the soldiers as he passed the several dooars paid him "le salut pour la révérence & par le cri Simultané d'Allah iebark amor Sidina" &c &c |
We Christians, with Abensur,
who now stood on my left (holding in his hand the splendid watch I brought
from the King his Majesty wrapped (as my letter of Credentials in a silk
kerchief) pulled off our hats & while the salutes of the soldiers voices
echoed from before us around us and from far behind . . the distant
lines extended, the Sultan rode slowly forward, & then at a slight
movement of his hand the men in our immediate front opened right &
left. His majesty then saying [something which I did not hear but intuited
we should come forward] then we moved on a few paces, & halted, when
I made at the same time as Seedy Mohamed a low bow the monarch asked Seedy
Mohamed "Is that the Consul?" to which Seedy Mohamed having
answered by pointing me out, His Majesty asked also for the interpreter
who being indicated (standing on my left) the Sultan then said "Tell him;
"we are disposed to maintain the solemnly agreed & friendly alliance
of our predecessors & yet further to add of our own efforts to the
bonds of amity between us & them (the King & nation of Great Britain)
with the help of God."(3)
| No notice, as suggested by my instructions, could be taken of the Royal present as it would proove offensive to Moorish ideas. |
God Bless the life of the Sultan.(4)
The King of Great Britain
entertains sentiments alike to those expressed by your Imperial Majesty
& on acc[oun]t of the friendly relations which have so long subsisted
between the two powers, I am commanded by my sovereign to take the occasion
of presenting my letters of credence to Your majesty for reiterating the
same sentiments on the part of my Royal Master."
I beg leave to add that
I conceive myself most highly fortunate in having been chosen as my Sovereign's
Agent near your Majesty,(5) and I shall not fail
to report to my Government the flattering reception with which I have been
favoured by your Impl Majy which will doubtless be
gratifying to the King my gracious master.(6)
Which having been interpreted by Abensur
{290} the Sultan replied - "Tell him - the friendship we feel for his Nation
increases day by day; & this is the expression of our inmost sentiments"
- To which having again bowed, I rejoined, as accurately as I can recollect,
to the following effect: "Your Imperial Majesty does honor to my King,
Country and I.
| {293} Memorandum
It appears to me that Isaac Abensur pumped me as much as he could with excuses also about his desire the better to prepare a translation of my proposed address to ye Sultan, in order (as called upon I dare say by the Moors) to prepare the Sultan & his advisers & thus pursue in order that course of espionage, for which doubtless he is well paid. This office of Interpreter must answer to him better than we would suppose from the scant amount of his allowance as Interpreter to the British Consulate - and this was the distinctly expressed opinion of Mohamed Omimon the late and discerning Pasha of Tangier. |
After which having delivered the King's Letter
of my Credentials to Seedy Mohammed, he delivered it to the Minister Ben
Dris, who stood on the Sultan's right hand, when the Monarch, making
a very slight inclination of his head with a (7).
. . . turned round and rode quietly out of the square; & so soon as
he passed the Gate of the enclosure we covered our head again. A few minutes
afterward we were informed it was the Sultan's pleasure that we might be
conducted into the Garden of the Nile, which we entered immediately by
the Gate thro' which His Majesty had first passed & found it an extensive
garden in fair trim for Barbary of I presume at a rough guess ten acres
extent the palace being built on I think 3 sides of it. I understand that
it was called the Garden of the Nile from
the main rills [??] with which it is cratered & not so far as I can
ascertain from its containing (as Jackson
writes
p 59) the fruits & plants of the Nile, Timbuctoo & Soudan &c.
{292} of which we saw nothing.
At the extremity of the garden near as we
were told the Harem we saw many carpenters at work both Jews and Moors
- & among the timber collected for their operations was a considerable
quantity of deals apparently from the Baltic. Near a large square basin
of water at this end of the garden and in front of the ladies side of the
palace stands a smaller reservoir in the mid: of which is a vast vase of
I presume Italian marble shallow but about I think at least 5 feet in diameter
through & over the sides of which the water plays into a small marble
channel that feeds the square reservoir. Out of this Garden passing the
Sultan's sofa in a small apartment within an apparently retired nook &
where we saw a heap of books & papers near the royal cushions we were
shown into a court where we found our horses & remounting rode, under
the guidance of two officers appointed for the purpose, through several
of the Royal Gardens all in a state of greater or less dilapidation, &
in the last we visited, where we were shewn up to an elevated seat, having
a charming view of the city & environs which we were told the Sultan
came often here to enjoy. Here were mats evidently ready for his use covering
the floor. This {294) building forms part of the circuit wall around a
little palace that was erected by one of the late predecessors of His Majesty
as we were told & within the central building, now tumbling fast into
dust, we admired much Moorish tracery in fine palister [sic], done with
moulds & executed with a nicety that wd do credit to any
workman in Europe. These ornaments are properly Arabesque,
a term sometimes applied very incorrectly.
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1. This page is the first narrative page in ms volume of the journal (ms eng hist e 349), and begins in mid-sentence. It is immediately preceded the first page (numbered as 285) of a list of presents taken to Marrakesh and details of how they were packed in boxes. It is followed by the second page of this list (page 286) , after which the narrative resumes
2. This passage from "at" to "knee" in pencil.
3. Passage from "being indicated" to "with the help of God." is continued on 249.
4 . Not on 289 "This is an expression of etiquette & may not with propriety be omitted."
5. Note on 291 N.B. The words "my sovereign's agent near your Majesty" were turned by Abensur in Arabic as of necessity (he said afterwards) according to the style of the language into: - "the happy medium of intercourse between the two great powers"
6. Note on 289: Abensur added here as he thought proper in consequence of the peculiar terms of the Sultan's speech (which at the moment I did not apprehend from A's interpretation so well as I have learnt it since) "and which daily increase with your Majesty & his subjects" &c.