They deal
much in mules and donkeys, and it is believed, in Barbary, that
they can change the colour of any animal by means of sorcery, and
so disguise him as to sell him to his very proprietor, without fear
of his being recognised. This latter trait is quite characteristic
of the Gypsy race, by whom the same thing is practised in most
parts of the world. But the Moors assert, that the children of the
Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the colour of a horse or a mule,
but likewise of a human being, in one night, transforming a white
into a black, after which they sell him for a slave; on which
account the superstitious Moors regard them with the utmost dread,
and in general prefer passing the night in the open fields to
sleeping in their hamlets. They are said to possess a particular
language, which is neither Shilhah nor Arabic, and which none but
themselves understand; from all which circumstances I am led to
believe, that the children of the Dar-bushi-fal are legitimate
Gypsies, descendants of those who passed over to Barbary from
Spain. Nevertheless, as it has never been my fortune to meet or to
converse with any of this caste, though they are tolerably numerous
in Barbary, I am far from asserting that they are of Gypsy race.
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