nd is taken notice of by Pliny under the name of
_Volubilis_. According to that author, and others, this city ranked
amongst the principal inland towns of Mauritania, and was a Roman
colony. It is a place of considerable trade; the inhabitants are
mostly freed men, engaged in commerce, and reputed to be very opulent
and industrious; they have purchased a charter, by which they ensure a
kind of independence, and are totally unmolested in their traffic; in
short, there are great privileges attached to this town, which are not
to be met with in any other part of Barbary. The lower town is almost
entirely surrounded by hills, which are highly cultivated, and abound
with vineyards, and gardens producing most exquisite fruits.

Upper Fez is situated on one of the highest of the hills which almost
encircle the lower town, and contains the imperial palace and
seraglio, several old palaces occupied by the sons of the Emperor, and
the habitations of the principal officers in the household. Contiguous
to these, is the inclosed town belonging solely to the Jews, who are
about thirty thousand in number, having one hundred and fifty
synagogues. On that part of the wall of the Jewish town which
overlooks Lower Fez, are placed several heavy pieces of ordnance,
which, in case of an insurrection in the latter, would very soon
demolish it: as the lower town is by much the most populous and
extensive, this precaution may not be unnecessary. The Jewish town is
commanded by an Alcaid, who cannot however shield its unfortunate
inhabitants from oppression and insults. These people are obliged to
walk barefooted through the Moorish streets; and they suffer the
greatest outrages without a murmur, nay, some of them have been
actually murdered in the act of selling their goods to the Moors. No
Christian is allowed to appear publicly in the streets of Fez, without
a special permission from the Emperor, and a military escort.

These towns are supplied with water in a most singular manner from a
river, called _Rasalema_, which takes its source in a valley near the
road to Mequinez. It issues from a rock, about eight or ten feet above
the ground, in a stream, that, from the form of the valley through
which it runs, appears a continued waterfall. It is conveyed into the
Emperor's garden by means of a large wheel, about twenty-five feet in
diameter, round which, at regular distances, are small buckets, which,
as the wheel goes round, are alternatel