The
same writer goes on to say that many independent chiefs of Yemen
carried _madallas_ as a mark of their independence.
In Morocco, according to a passage quoted by a writer in the
_Penny Magazine_ from the Travels of Ali Bey, the emperor alone
and his family are allowed to use it. "The retinue of the Sultan was
composed of a troop of from fifteen to twenty men on horseback. About
a hundred steps behind them came the Sultan, who was mounted on a
mule with an officer bearing his Umbrella, who rode by his side also
on a mule. The Umbrella is a distinguishing sign of the sovereign of
Morocco. Nobody but himself, his sons, or his brothers dare to make
use of it." In Turkey the Umbrella is common. A vestige of the
reverence once attached to it remains in the custom of compelling
everybody who passes the palace where the Sultan is residing to lower
his Umbrella as a mark of respect. And--at all events some years
back, before the Crimean war had introduced so many Europeans to
Constantinople--any one neglecting to pay the required reverence,
stood in considerable danger of a lively reminder from the sentry on
duty.
Before concluding this chapter, it may not be out of place to make a
few remarks as to the origin of the word Umbrella, as we have done
regarding the thing itself. The English name is borrowed from the
Italian _Ombrella_. The Latin term _Umbella_ is applied by
botanists to those blossoms which are clustered at the extremities of
several spokes, radiating from the common stem like the metallic
props of the Umbrella.
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