“_Mourzuk, November 4_, 1822.
“It is now beginning to get very cold here, the mornings are nearly as
chilly as with you, so that we find it necessary to have recourse to
warm clothing. The people are really very obliging, but they are great
beggars. They are always asking for one thing or another, and very
frequently I feel it necessary to reject their suit. They are lively,
and the lower orders are fond of dancing and music. The dances are not
like those in our country, and the musical instruments and tunes are
as rude and wild as is the country to which they belong. How would you
like to be locked up always in the house and never allowed to go out,
as are many of the women here? The lower orders, indeed, are exempted,
and they are more happy than those who can boast of their rank. This
place is much more tolerant than many other Mahometan states; and we
have lived here as safely as we could have done in _Auld Reekie_.”