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 3AIM3UV
 
 O ROCCO.
 
 MOROCCO: 
 
 ITS PEOPLE AND PLACES. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDMONDO DE AMICIS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY C. R O LLI N-T I LTO N 
 
 SjEUt& ©ristnal 3Ulti6trattons. 
 
 Cassell, Pet ter, Gal pin & Co. 
 
 LONDON, PARIS <£• NEW YORK. 
 
 [all rights reserved.] 
 
 1882.
 
 
 Taxgieks 
 
 Had-el-Garria 
 
 Tleta de Reissana 
 
 Alkazar-el-Kibir 
 
 Bex-Auda 
 
 Kaki a-el- Abbassi 
 
 Bexi-Hassan 
 
 Sidi-IIassem 
 
 Zeguta . 
 
 From Zeguta to Sagat 
 
 Fez 
 
 Mechinez 
 On the Sebù 
 Arzilla 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 CHAPTER II. 
 CHAPTER III. 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 CHAPTER V. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 CHATER VII. 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 CHAPTER X. 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 8G03D3 
 
 79 
 
 . 109 
 
 . 122 
 
 135 
 
 147 
 
 . 163 
 
 . 178 
 
 18G 
 
 . 198 
 
 201 
 
 . 342 
 
 358 
 
 372
 
 I 
 
 DI 
 
 m 
 
 8 
 
 2N 
 
 r j^rr-^»^» ^y^rv^ 
 
 <>c5««ociaooe»nooooc»«:« 
 
 HF^W 2 & ; ^^ < ^&^ il ' 
 
 § ,Bc^^yÉ>^V7^^yr^^^ll I 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 BCEN1 OF THE 1KTK OF THE BIRTH OF MAHOMET AT TANGIEKS 
 
 . Frontispiece 
 
 LANDING AT TANGIEE8 ..... 
 
 . 9 
 
 ili'I- OF THE NATIVES OF TANGIER* .... 
 
 . 12 
 
 STREET OF THE SOC-DE-BARRA, TANGIEKS 
 
 . 14 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF TANGIEKS ..... 
 
 . 15 
 
 AN ARAB ASLEEP ...... 
 
 . 17 
 
 A MiiouiSlI SOLDIER ...... 
 
 . 20 
 
 A MOOR OF TANGIEKS ...... 
 
 . 22 
 
 A JEWISH MONEY-CHANGER IN TANGIERS 
 
 . 23 
 
 1 1 -.\ i:sses ....... 
 
 . 27 
 
 A SAINT ....... 
 
 . 29 
 
 MOORISH BHOPKEEPER . . 
 
 . 31 
 
 1BSTIVAI. OF THE CTRCTTMCISION .... 
 
 . 32 
 
 NEI. KM SERVANT .... . 
 
 . 33 
 
 PUNISHING A THIEF ... ... 
 
 . 34 
 
 BERBERS OF THE RTF ..... 
 
 . 35 
 
 WEDDING PROCESSION IN TANGIEKS .... 
 
 . 36 
 
 PRATING I OR RAIN ...... 
 
 . 38 
 
 1 HE CASTLE ....... 
 
 . 40 
 
 THE BEACH, CAPE MALA1IAT ..... 
 
 . 41
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 TEA AT THE HOUSE OF MAHOMET 
 
 ENTRY OF THE AISSAWA INTO TANGIERS 
 
 THE HORSEMEN* AT THE FETE OF MAHOMET . 
 
 FETE OF THE BIRTH OF MAHOMET 
 
 THE BALL FLAYERS ..... 
 
 CHARGE OF THE HORSEMEN AT THE FETE OF MAHOMET 
 NEGRO DANCERS . ... 
 
 DANCE OF THE SOLDIERS . 
 
 A MOORISH HUSBANDMAN .... 
 
 EXCURSION TO CAFE SPARTEL 
 
 THE ANIMALS OF THE CARAVAN 
 
 TENTS OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE ESCORT 
 
 THE COMMANDER OF THE ESCORT 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S INTERVIEW WITH THE MINISTER AND GOVERN 
 
 LOADING THE CAMELS ..... 
 
 ON THE ROAD TO FEZ ..... 
 
 THE ENCAMPMENT ..... 
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE CARAVAN FOR FEZ 
 
 DINING IN THE TENT .... 
 
 STRIKING THE TENTS ..... 
 
 THE CARAVAN ASCENDING THE RED MOUNTAIN 
 SIGNOR HISEO'S SKETCH OF THE BLEEPING ARAB 
 THE CHIEF AND THE AMBASSADOR 
 SEI.AM POINTING OUT A HILL .... 
 
 THE DINNER ...... 
 
 MOHAMMED DUCALI ..... 
 
 8ELAM SLEEPING BEFORE THE TENT OP THE AMBASSADOR 
 M. VINCENT ...... 
 
 "LAB'EL-BARODA" OF THE ESCORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF LARACCE 
 THE CUBA OF SIDI-I.IAMANI .... 
 
 EVOLUTIONS 01 THE SOLDIERS or ALKAZAR . 
 
 AN ARAI! AND HIS HORSE .... 
 
 THE ALKAZAR RAND ..... 
 
 THE ALKAZAR ESCORT ..... 
 
 PAOE 
 
 OR OF TANGIERS 
 
 I t 
 
 79 
 so 
 
 83 
 
 89 
 
 '.)•_> 
 
 94 
 
 90 
 
 98 
 
 UK) 
 
 1C2 
 
 103 
 
 10(1 
 
 111 
 
 11I5 
 
 119 
 
 120 
 
 123 
 
 1*21
 
 
 LIST OF III USTRATIONS 
 
 K \/ AK ..... 
 
 nil', ambassador's tent . 
 
 B IS \ \K AT ALKAZ \K 
 RAMBD ...... 
 
 . 
 \ POSTMAN ...... 
 
 BREAKFAST WITH THE GOVERNOR OP BBN-AUDA 
 
 TIIE GOVERNOR OP BBN-AUDA . 
 
 i hi: SADfT CURSING THE AMBASSADOR 
 
 MEETING <>I' THE AMBASSADOR ANI) HU-HEKK-IÌEN-EL-AHBASSI 
 
 BU-BEKR-BEN-EL-ABBA8SI .... 
 
 VILLAGE "l' CAMBL-SKTN TENTS 
 
 TAKING TEA WITH THE QOYERNOR OF KAUIA-EL-AKI! ASSI 
 
 THE governor's DADGHTEB .... 
 
 LPION ...... 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE SEBO .... 
 
 TUE GOVERNOR AHI) ALLA .... 
 
 DISPERSING THE CROWD .... 
 
 THE HORSE STEALER ..... 
 
 A DUAR IN BENI-HASSAN .... 
 
 TYPE OF NATIVE or BENI-HASSAN 
 
 " LAE-EL-BARODA " IN THE (AMI' or THE ITALIAN LXrEDITIO> 
 
 MANG3UVRBS or TUE CAVALRV .... 
 
 THE TWO liUOTHEUS ..... 
 
 THE ( ÒSI DSSÙ DISH ..... 
 
 A LO' ...... 
 
 THE CAMEL CONYETA? .... 
 
 : VING THE ) i OH THE SULTAN To FEZ . 
 
 THE. ESCORT or A.BU-BEN-GILELI 
 A PAIR or OXEN ..... 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE BASTINADO 
 
 SI HELLAH, THE Mooi; ..... 
 THE GUANI) CHAMBERLAIN, HADJI MOHAMMED BEN-AISSA 
 
 [BBS or THE SULTAN .... 
 
 1'AOK 
 
 126
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 the governor of fez, gilali bex-amu 
 
 entry into fez 
 
 view of fez .... 
 
 arrival at our house at fez 
 
 the inner court of our house at fez 
 
 a street in fez 
 
 conveying a corpse to the cemetery 
 
 shoe shop, fez 
 
 clothes bazaar, fez . 
 
 jew of fez .... 
 
 fragment of a doorway at fez 
 
 colonnade of a mosque at fez 
 
 the sultan .... 
 
 a barber's shop in fez 
 
 A SAINT .... 
 
 OUR FIRST MEETING WITH THE SULTAN 
 
 A STREET IN FEZ 
 
 A POTTERY DEALER, FEZ 
 
 ON THE TERRACES, FEZ 
 
 WOMEN OF THE GRAND VIZIER OF THE HOUSEHOLD 
 
 AN INTERVIEW WITH THE GBAND VIZIER 
 
 THE CLOSED GATE 
 
 JEWISH SYNAGOGUE IN FEZ 
 
 .JEWISH CHILDREN 
 
 P.REAKFAST AT THE WAR MINISTER'S 
 
 THE OFFICERS' BREAKFAST 
 
 SHOPS IN FEZ 
 
 A BVTCHEfi's mio}' IN FEZ 
 
 A WATER-CARRIER 
 
 A STREET IN FEZ 
 
 A DEPUTATION or JEWS 
 
 CLOTH BAZAAB 
 
 BQUARE IN I EZ 
 
 [BONINO CLOTH 
 
 VII 
 PAGE
 
 via 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 MOOUlftll GK1XDSTOX1 .... 
 
 M OHO SLAV! i'l 11/ . 
 
 MOORISH SI UOOl II ISTI K 
 
 CUl'RT-YARD AM' HATH in TH1 l'ALAC'1 
 
 oil i \\i> ORIA Ell .... 
 CARAVAN OF CAMELS 
 
 \ I SHO SLAVE OlHI 
 
 M i.Ku SLAVE . 
 
 -i Ih'cil. 1\ 11/ .... 
 
 via SI « wa:\ inc. 01 i kaiimana 
 
 SLAVE OF THE WAB MINISTER . 
 
 \ SLA> i: "1 THE 81 l.TAN 
 
 1 UK BUE Al) MARKET AT FEZ 
 MOORISH 11 USING LATHE 
 
 WA1T1NI. POH AN AUDIENCE WITH THE SI l.TAN 
 
 IIARBBR's SHOP .... 
 
 [XTERIOB "1 A MOSQUE AT 11/ 
 
 A MERCHANT OF MECHINEZ 
 
 MEI HIM / 
 
 ■ \ll.w \V AT MECHINEZ 
 
 nil: PALACE '>r Tin; GOVERNOR or MECHINEZ 
 
 STREET 8LNGEB AT MECHINEZ . 
 
 IN THE DESERT .... 
 
 i R088LNG THE SElll .... 
 
 SID-BEKR-EL-ABBASS1 AND SUITE 
 
 THE AMBASSADOR'S GROOM 
 
 "N -ITU. BE \ ( OAST .... 
 
 OEPART1 HE PROM AK/II.I.A 
 
 I II. .....
 
 
 Landing at Tangier 
 
 MOROCCO 
 
 CHAPTE R I. 
 
 TANGIEUS. 
 
 ^1^1 HE RE are no 
 
 two countries 
 more entirely 
 
 enemy ; 
 things, 
 
 nifieant 
 
 in the world 
 different from each other than 
 the two which are separated by 
 the Straits of Gibraltar ; and 
 this diversity is peculiarly appa- 
 rent to the traveller who ap- 
 proaches Tangiers from Gibraltar, 
 where he has left the hurried, 
 noisy, splendid life of a European 
 city. At only three hours' jour- 
 ney from thence the very name 
 of our continent seems unknown ; 
 the word " Christian " signifies 
 our civilisation is ignored, or feared, or derided; all 
 
 from the very foundations of social life to its most insig- 
 particulars, are changed, and every indication of the 
 
 B 
 
 <Aii
 
 IO MOKIKVO. 
 
 neighbourhood o£ Europe has disappeared. You are in an 
 unknown country, having no bonds of interest in it, and every- 
 thing to learn. Prom its Bhore the European coast can still be 
 -.•••li, hut the heart feels itself at an immeasurable distance, as if 
 that narrow tract of sea were an ocean, and those blue mountains 
 an illusion. Within three hours a wonderful transformation has 
 taken place around you. 
 
 The emotion, however, which one naturally feels on first 
 setting foot on that immense and mysterious continent, which 
 has moved the imagination since one's childhood, is disturbed by 
 tin' manner of disembarkation. Just as we began to see dis- 
 tinctly from the vessel the first white houses of Tangiers, a 
 Spanish lady behind us cried out, in a voice of alarm, "What 
 canali those people want ? " I looked, and beheld behind the 
 boats that were coming to take off the passengers a crowd of 
 half-naked ragged Arabs, standing up to their hips in the water, 
 and pointing out the ship with eager gestures, like a band of 
 brigands rejoicing over their approaching prey. Not knowing 
 who they were, or what they wanted, I descended with an 
 anxious mind into the boat with the other passengers. When 
 we had come to within twenty paces of the shore all this brick- 
 coloured crew swarmed into our boat and laid hands upon us, 
 vociferating in Spanish and Arabic, and making us understand 
 that the water being too low for us to land from the boats, we 
 were to be transported upon their shoulders ; which information 
 <li->ipated our fears of robbery, and imposed in their stead the 
 dread of vermin. The ladies were borne off in triumph upon 
 stools, and I made my entrance into Africa upon the back of an 
 old mulatto, with my chin resting upon his bare skull, and the 
 tips of my toes in the water. 
 
 The mulatto, upon reaching the shore, unloaded me into the 
 hands of an Arab porter, who, passing through one of the city 
 gates, led me at a run through a deserted alley to an inn not far 
 off, whence I almost immediately issued again with a guide, and 
 proceeded to the more frequented streets.
 
 THE PEOPLE OF TANGIEES. 11 
 
 I was struck at once, and more forcibly than I can express, 
 with the aspect of the population. They all wear a kind of long 
 white cloak of wool or linen, with a lai'ge pointed hood standing 1 
 ujDright on the head, so that the city has the aspect of a vast 
 convent of Dominican friars. Of all this cloaked company some 
 are moving slowly, gravely, and silently about, as if they 
 wished to pass unobserved; others are seated or crouched against 
 the walls, in front of the shops, in corners of the houses, 
 motionless, and with fixed gaze, like the petrified populations 
 of their legends. The walk, the attitude, the look, all are 
 new and strange to me, revealing an order of sentiment and 
 habit quite different from our own, another manner of con- 
 sidering time and life. These people do not seem to be occupied 
 in any way, nor are they thinking of the place they are in, or of 
 what is going on about them. All the faces wear a deep and 
 dreamy expression, as if they were dominated by some fixed 
 idea, or thinking of far-distant times and places, or dreaming 
 with their eyes open. I had hardly entered the crowd when 
 I was aware of a peculiar odour, one quite unknown to me 
 among Europeans; it was not agreeable, and yet I began 
 to inhale it with a vivid curiosity, as if it might explain 
 some things to me. As I went on, the crowd, which at a dis- 
 tance had seemed uniform, presented many varieties. There 
 passed before me faces white, black, yellow, and bronze ; heads 
 ornamented with long tresses of hair, and bare skulls as shining 
 as metallic balls ; men as dry as mummies ; horrible old men ; 
 women with the face and entire person wrapped in formless 
 rags ; children with long braids pendant from the crown of 
 the otherwise bare head ; faces of sultans, savages, necromancers, 
 anchorites, bandits; people oppressed by an immense sadness 
 or a mortal weariness ; none smiling, but moving one behind 
 the other with slow and silent steps, like a procession of spectres 
 in a cemetery. 
 
 I passed through other streets, and saw that the city car- 
 responded in every way to the population. It is a labyrinth of 
 B 2
 
 1-' 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Native» of Tangier s 
 
 crooked lanes, or rather corridors, 
 bordered by little square houses 
 of dazzling' whiteness, without 
 windows, and with little doors 
 through which one person can 
 pass with difficulty; houses which 
 seem made to hide in rather than 
 live in, with a mixed aspect of 
 convent and prison. In many 
 of the streets there is nothing 1 
 to he seen save the white walls 
 and the hlue sky; 
 here and there 
 some small Moor- 
 ish arch, some 
 arahesque win- 
 dow, some strip 
 of red at the 
 hase of a wall, 
 some figure of a 
 hand painted in 
 black beside a 
 door, to keep off 
 evil influences. 
 Almost all the 
 streets are en- 
 cumbered with 
 rotten vegetables, 
 feathers, rags, 
 bones, and in 
 some places dead 
 dogs and cats, 
 infecting the air. 
 For long distances 
 you meet no one
 
 THE STREETS AND SQUARES OF TANGIERS. 13 
 
 but a group of Arab boys in pointed hoods, playing together, or 
 chanting in nasal tones some verses from the Koran ; or a 
 crouching beggar, a Moor riding on a mule, an overloaded ass 
 with bleeding back, driven by a half-naked Arab ; some tailless 
 mangy dog, or cat of fabulous meagreness. Transient odours of 
 garlic, fish, or burning aloes, salute you as you pass ; and so you 
 make the circuit of the city, finding everywhere the same 
 dazzling whiteness, the same air of mystery, sadness, and ennui. 
 Coming out upon the only square that Tangiers can boast, 
 which is cut by one long street that begins at the shore and 
 crosses the whole town, you see a rectangular place, surrounded 
 by shops that would be mean in the poorest of our villages. On 
 one side there is a fountain constantly surrounded by blacks and 
 Arabs drawing water in jars and gourds ; on the other side sit 
 all day long on the ground eight or ten muffled women selling- 
 bread. Around this scpiare are the very modest houses of the 
 different Legations, which rise liks palaces from the midst of 
 the confused multitude of Moorish huts. Here in this spot is 
 concentrated all the life of Tangiers — the life of a large village. 
 The one tobacconist is here, the one apothecary, the one café — a 
 dirty room with a billiard-table — and the one solitary corner 
 where a printed notice may be sometimes seen. Here 
 gather the half-naked street-boys, the rich and idle Moorish 
 gentlemen, Jews talking about their business, Arab porters 
 awaiting the arrival of the steamer, a I Inches of the Legations 
 expecting the dinner-hour, travellers just arrived, interpreters, 
 and impostors of various kinds. The courier arriving from 
 Fez or Morocco with orders from the Sultan is to be met 
 here; and the servant coming from the post, with his hands 
 full of journals l'roin London and Paris ; the beauty of the 
 harem and the wife of the Minister; the Bedouin's camel 
 and the lady's lapdog; the turban and the chimney- 
 pot hat; and the sound of a piano from the windows of 
 a consulate mingles with the lamentable chant from the 
 door of a mosque. It is the point where the last wave
 
 N 
 
 MulNuvo. 
 
 of European civilisation is lost in the great dead sea of African 
 barbarism. 
 
 Prom the square we wenl up the main street, and passing* 
 by two old gates, came out at twilight beyond the walls of 
 
 the town, and 
 found our- 
 selves in an 
 open space on 
 the side of a 
 hill called Soc- 
 de- Barra, or 
 exterior mar- 
 ket, because a 
 market is held 
 there every 
 Sunday and 
 Thursday. Of 
 all the places 
 that I saw in 
 Morocco this 
 is perhaps the 
 one that im- 
 pressed me 
 most deeply 
 with the cha- 
 racter of the 
 country. It is 
 a tract of hare 
 ground, rough 
 and irregular, 
 with the tumbledown tomb of a saint, composed of [four white 
 walls, in the midst. Upon the top there is a cemetery, with a 
 few aloes and Indian figs growing here and there; below are the 
 turreted walls of the town. Near the gate, on the ground, sat a 
 group of Arab women, with heaps of green-stuff before them ; a 
 
 1 '/- Soc-dc-Sarra, Tangiers,
 
 u; Morocco. 
 
 long file of camels crouched about the saint's tomb ; farther on 
 re Borne Mack tents, and a circle of Arabs seated around an old 
 man erect in their midst, who was telling a story; horses and 
 m bere and there : and above, anioni;- the stones and mounds 
 of the cemetery, other Arabs, motionless as statues, their faces 
 turned towards the city, their win ile person in shadow, and the 
 points iA' their hoods standing out against the golden twilight 
 sky. A sad and silent peacefulness seemed to brood over the 
 scene, sudi as cannot l>e described in words, hut ought rather to 
 be distilled into the ear drop by drop, like a solemn secret. 
 
 'Hie guide awoke me from my reverie and re-conducted me 
 t" my inn, where my discomfiture at finding myself among 
 strangers was much mitigated when I discovered that they were 
 all Europeans and Christians, dressed like myself. There were 
 about twenty persons at table, men and women, of different 
 nationalities, presenting a fine picture of that crossing of races 
 and interlacing of interests which go on in that country. Here 
 \\a^ a Frenchman born in Algiers married to an Englishwoman 
 from Gibraltar; there, a Spaniard of Gibraltar married to the 
 sister of the Portuguese Consul; here again, an old Englishman 
 with a daughter born in Tangiers and a niece native of Algiers ; 
 families wandering from one continent to the other, or sprinkled 
 along the coast, speaking five languages, and living partly like 
 Arabs, partly like Europeans. All through dinner a lively con- 
 versation went on, now in French, now in Spanish, studded with 
 Arabic words, upon subjects quite strange to the ordinary talk 
 of Europeans : such as the price of a camel ; the salary of a 
 pasha; whether the Sultan were white or mulatto; if it were 
 true that there had been brought to Fez twenty heads from the 
 revolted province of Garet ; when those religious fanatics who 
 eat a live sheep were likely to come to Tangiers; and other 
 things of the same kind that aroused within my soul the greatest 
 curiosity. Then the talk ran upon European politics, with that 
 odd disconnectedness that is always perceptible in the discussions 
 of people of different nations — those big, empty phrases which
 
 A NIGHT EAMBLE IN TANGIEES. 
 
 17 
 
 they use in talking- of the politics of distant countries, imagining 
 absurd alliances and impossible wars. And then came the in- 
 evitable subject of Gibraltar — the great Gibraltar, the centre of 
 attraction for all the Europeans along the coast, where their sons 
 are sent to study, where they go to buy clothes, to order a piece 
 of furniture, to hear an opera, to breathe a mouthful of the air 
 of Europe. Finally came up the subject of the departure of the 
 Italian embassy for Fez, and I had the pleasure of hearing that 
 the event was of 
 far greater impor- 
 tance than I had 
 supposed ; that it 
 was discussed at 
 Gibraltar, at Alge- 
 siras, Cadiz, and Ma- 
 laga, and that the 
 caravan would be 
 a mile long; that 
 there were several 
 Italian painters with 
 the embassy, and 
 that perhaps there 
 might even be a 
 
 representative of the press — at which intelligence I rose modestly 
 from the table, and walked away with majestic ste] S. 
 
 I wandered about Tangiers at a late hour that night. There 
 was not a single light in street or window, nor did the faintest 
 radiance stream through any loophole; the city seemed unin- 
 habited, the white houses lay under the starlight like tombs, 
 and the tops "I' the minarets and palm-trees stood out cleai 
 against the cloudless sky. The gates of the city were closed, 
 and everything was mute and lifeless. Two or three times my 
 feet entangled themselves in something like a bundle of rags, 
 which proved to be a sleeping Arab. I trod with disgusl upon 
 bones that cracked under my feet, and knew them for the carcase 
 
 .lit Arab Asleep.
 
 1 - MOROCO ». 
 
 of :i dog or cai ; a hooded figure glided like a spectre close to 
 the \v:il 1 ; another gleamed while for one instanl at the bottom 
 of an alley : and al a turning I heard a sudden rushand scamper, 
 as if 1 had unwittingly disturbed some consultation. My own 
 footstep when 1 moved, my own breathing when I stood still, 
 were the only sounds that broke the stillness. It seemed as if 
 all the life in Tangiers were concentrated in myself, and that if 
 I were to give a sudden cry, it would resound from one end of 
 the city to the other like the blast of a trumpet. Meantime 
 the moon rose, and shone upon the white walls with the splendour 
 of an electric light. In a dark allevi met a man with a lantern, 
 who stood aside to let me pass, murmuring some words that I 
 did not understand. Suddenly a loud laugh made my blood run 
 cold for an instant, and two young men in European dress went 
 by in conversation; probably two attaches to the Legations. In 
 a eonicr of the great square, behind the looped-up curtain of a 
 dark little shop, a dim lighl betrayed a heap of whitish rags,. 
 from which issued the faint tinkle of a guitar, and a thin, tremu- 
 lous, lamentable voice that seemed brought by the wind from a 
 greal distance. I went back to my inn, feeling like a man who 
 finds himself transported into some other planet. 
 
 The next morning I went to present myself to our charge 
 d'affaires, Commendatore Stefano Scovasse He could not 
 accuse me of not being punctual. On the 8th of April, at 
 Turin, I had received the invitation, with the announcement 
 that the «aravan would leave Tangiers on the 19th. On 
 the morning of the l^th I was at the Legation. I did not 
 know Signor Scovasso personally, but I knew something about 
 him which inspired me with a great desire to make his ac- 
 quaintance. From one of his friends whom I had seen before 
 leaving Turin, I had heard that he was a man capable of riding 
 from Tangier.- to Timbuctoo without any other companions than 
 a pair of pistols. Another friend had blamed his inveterate 
 habil of risking his life to save the lives of others. When I 
 arrived at the Legation 1 found him standing at the gate in
 
 A HOUSE IN TANGIEES. 1!> 
 
 the midst of a crowd of Arabs, all motionless, in attitudes of 
 profound respect, seemingly awaiting- his orders. Presenting- 
 myself, and being- at once made a guest at head-quarters, 
 learned that our departure was deferred till the Lst of May, 
 because there was an English embassy at Fez, and our horses, 
 camels, mules, and a cavalry escort for the journey were 
 all to be sent from there. A transport-ship of our military 
 marine, the Dora, then anchored at Gibraltar, had already 
 carried to Larrace, on the Atlantic coast, the presents which 
 King Victor Emmanuel had sent to the Emperor of Morocco. 
 The principal scope of our journey for the charge d'affaires 
 was to present credentials to the young Sultan, Muley el 
 Hassen, who had ascended the throne in September, 1873. 
 No Italian embassy had ever been at Fez, and the banner of 
 United Italy had never before been carried into the interior 
 of Morocco. Consequently, the embassy was to be received 
 with extraordinary solemnities. 
 
 My first occupation when I found myself alone was to take 
 observations of the house where I was to be a guest ; and truly 
 it was well worthy of notice. Not that the building itself was 
 at all remarkable. White and bare without, it had a garden in 
 front, and an interior court, with four columns supporting a 
 covered gallery that ran all round the first floor. It was like a 
 gentleman's house at Cadiz or Seville. 13ut the people and their 
 manner of life in this house were all new to me. Housekeeper 
 and cook were Piedmontesej there was a Moorish woman-servant 
 of Tangiers, and a Negress from the Soudan with bare; feet ; there 
 were Arab waiters and grooms dressed in white shirts; con- 
 sular guards in fez, red caftan, and poignard ; and all these 
 people in perpetual motion all day long. At certain hours 
 there was a coming ami going of black porters, interpreters, 
 soldiers of the pasha, and Moors in the service of the Legation. 
 The court was lull of boxes, camp-beds, carpets, hi uterus. 
 Hammers and saws were in full cry, and the strange names of 
 Fatima, Racma, Selam, Mohammed, Abd-er-Khaman Hew from
 
 
 MOEOCl 0. 
 
 mouth to month. And what a hash of languages! A Moor 
 would bring :i message in Arabic fco another Moor, who trans- 
 mitted it in Spanish to the housekeeper, who repeated it in Pied- 
 montese to tin- rook, and so on. There was a constant succession 
 
 
 
 A Moorish Sold'u r. 
 
 of translations, comments, mistakes, doubts, mingled with 
 Italian. Spanish, and Arabic exclamations. In the street, a 
 procession of horses and mules; before the door, a permanent 
 group of curious lookers-on, or poor wretches, Arabs and Jews,
 
 SOME FACTS ABOUT MOROCCO. 21 
 
 patient aspirants for the protection of the Legation. From time 
 to time came a minister or a consul, before whom all the turbans 
 and fezes bowed themselves. Every moment some mysterious 
 messenger, some unknown and strange costume, some remark- 
 able face, appeared. It seemed like a theatrical representation, 
 with the scene laid in the East. 
 
 My next thought was to take possession of some book of my 
 host's that should teach me something of the country I was in, 
 before beginning to study costume. This country, shut in by 
 the Mediterranean, Algeria, the desert of Sahara, and the ocean, 
 crossed by the great chain of the Atlas, bathed by wide rivers, 
 opening into immense plains, with every variety of climate, 
 endowed with inestimable riches in all the three kingdoms of 
 nature, destined by its position to be the great commercial high 
 road between Europe and Central Africa, is now occupied by 
 about 8,000,000 of inhabitants — Berbers, Moors, Arabs, Jews, 
 Negroes, and Europeans — sprinkled over a more vast extent of 
 country than that of France. The Berbers, who form the basis 
 of the indigenous population — a savage, turbulent, and indomit- 
 able race — live on the inaccessible mountains of the Atlas, in 
 almost complete independence of the imperial authority. The 
 Arabs, the conquering race, occupy the plains — a nomadic and 
 pastoral people, not entirely degenerated from their ancient 
 haughty character. The Moors, corrupted and crossed by Arab 
 blood, are in great part descended from the Moors of Spain, 
 and, inhabiting the cities, hold in their hands the wealth, trade, 
 and commerce of the country. The blacks, about 500,000, 
 originally from the Soudan, are generally servants, labourers, 
 and soldiers. The Jews, almost equal in number to the blacks, 
 descend, lor the most part, from those who were exiled from 
 Europe in the Middle Ages, ;uid are oppressed, hated, degraded, 
 and persecuted here more thai) in any other country in the 
 world. They exercise various arts and trades, and in a thousand 
 ways display the ingenuity, pliability, and tenacity of their race, 
 linding in the possession of money torn from their oppressors a
 
 - 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 recompense for all their woes. The Europeans, whom Mussul- 
 man intolerance has, little by little, driven from the interior of 
 the empire towards the coast, number less than 2,000 in all 
 Morocco, the greater part inhabiting Tangiers, and living under 
 the protection <>f the consular flags. This heterogeneous, dis- 
 persed, and irreconcilable population is oppressed rather than 
 protected by a military government that, like a monstrous leech, 
 
 sucks out all 
 the vital juices 
 from the State. 
 The tribes and 
 boroughs, or 
 suburbs, obey 
 their sheikhs ; 
 the cities and 
 provinces the 
 cadi ; the great- 
 er provinces 
 the pasha; and 
 the pasha obeys 
 the Sultan — 
 grand schereef, 
 high priest, su- 
 preme judge, 
 executor of the 
 laws emanating 
 from himself, free to change at his caprice money, taxes, weights 
 and measures; master of the possessions and the lives of his 
 subjects. Under the weight of this government, and within the 
 inflexible circle of the Mussulman religion, unmoved by European 
 influences, and full of a savage fanaticism, everything that in 
 other countries moves and progresses here remains motionless 
 or falls into ruin. 
 
 Commerce is choked by monopolies, by prohibitions upon 
 exporta and imports, and by the capricious mutability of the 
 
 A Moor of Tangiers.
 
 STAGNATION OF COMMERCE. 
 
 23 
 
 laws. Manufactures, restricted by the bonds laid upon com- 
 merce, have remained as they were at the time of the expulsion 
 of the Moors from Spain, with the same primitive tools and 
 methods. Agriculture, loaded heavily with taxes, hampered in 
 exportation of pro- 
 duce, and only ex- ^ 
 ercised from sheer 
 necessity, has 
 fallen so low as 
 no longer to merit 
 the name. Science, 
 suffocated by the 
 Koran, and con- 
 taminated by su- 
 perstition, is re- 
 duced to a few 
 elements in the 
 higher schools, ] 
 such as were ■ 
 taught in the Mid- 
 dle Ages. There 
 are no printing- 
 presses, no books, 
 no journals, no 
 geographical 
 maps; the lan- 
 guage itself, a 
 corruption of the c'*' ° __ 
 Arabic, and repre- a Jewish Money-changer in Tangiers. 
 sented only by an 
 
 imperfect and variable written character, is becoming yearly more 
 debased; in the general decadence the national character is cor- 
 rupted; all the ancient Mussulman civilisation is disappearing. 
 Morocco, the last western bulwark of Islamism, once I he seat of a 
 monarchy that ruled from the Ebro to the Soudan, and from the
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Niger to the Balearic Isles, glorious with flourishing universities, 
 with immense libraries, with men Eamous for their learning, with 
 
 formidable fleets and armies, is Qow nothing but a small and 
 almost unknown state, full of wretchedness and ruin, resisting 
 with its last remaining strength the advance of European 
 civilisation, seated upon its foundations still, hut confronted by 
 the reciprocal jealousies of civilised states. 
 
 As for Tangiers, the ancient Tingis, which gave its name to 
 Tingistanian Mauritania, it passed successively from the hands 
 of the Romans into those of the Vandals, Greeks, Visigoths, 
 Arabs, Portuguese, and English, and is now a city of about 
 15, (MID inhabitants, considered by its sister cities as having been 
 " prostituted to the Christians/' although there are no traces of 
 the churches and monasteries founded by the Portuguese, and 
 the Christian religion boasts there but one small chapel, hidden 
 away among the Legations. 
 
 I made in the streets of Tangiers a few notes, in preparation 
 IV r my journey, and they are given here, because, having been 
 written down under the impression of the moment, they are 
 perhaps more effective than a more elaborate description. 
 
 I am ashamed when I pass a handsome Moor in gala dress. 
 I compare my ugly hat with his large muslin turban, my short 
 jacket with his ample white or rose-coloured caftan — the mean- 
 ness, in short, of my black and grey garments with the white- 
 ness, the amplitude, the graceful dignified simplicity of his — and 
 it seems to me that I look like a black-beetle beside a butterfly. 
 I stand sometimes at my window absorbed in contemplation 
 of a portion of a pair of crimson drawers and a gold-coloured 
 slipper, appearing from behind a column in the square below, 
 and find so much pleasure in it that I cannot cease from gazing. 
 More than anything else 1 admire and envy the caie, that long 
 piece of snow-white wool or silk with transparent stripes which 
 is twisted round the turban, falls down between the shoulders, is 
 passed round the waist, and thrown up over one shoulder, whence 
 it descends to the feet, softly veiling the rich colours of the
 
 MOOKISH COSTUMES. 25 
 
 dress beneath, and at every breath of wind swelling, quivering", 
 floating-, seeming to glow in the sun's rays, and giving to the 
 whole person a vaporous and visionary aspect. 
 
 No one who has not seen it can imagine to what a point the 
 Arab carries the art of lying down. In corners where we should 
 be embarrassed to place a bag of rags or a bundle of straw, he 
 disposes of himself as upon a bed of down. He adapts himself 
 to the protuberances, fills up the cavities, spreads himself upon 
 the wall like a bas-relief, and flattens himself out upon the 
 ground until he looks like a sheet spread out to dry. He will 
 assume the form of a ball, a cube, or a monster without arms, 
 legs, or head ; so that the streets and squares look like battle- 
 fields strewn with corpses and mutilated trunks of men. 
 
 The greater part have nothing on but a simple white mantle ; 
 but what a variety there is among them ! Some wear it open, 
 some closed, some drawn on one side, some folded over the 
 shoulder, some tightly wrapped, some loosely floating, but always 
 with an air ; varied by picturesque folds, falling in easy but 
 severe lines, as if they were posing for an artist. Every one of 
 them might pass for a Roman senator. This very morning our 
 artist discovered a marvellous Marcus Brutus in the midst of a 
 group of Bedouins. But if one is not accustomed to wear it, the 
 face is not sufficient to ennoble the folds of the mantle. Some 
 of us bought them for the journey, and tried them on, and we 
 looked like so many convalescents wrapped in bathing-sheets. 
 
 I have not yet seen among the Arabs a hunchback, or a lame 
 man, or a rickety man, but many without a nose and without an i 
 eye, one or both, and the greater part of these with the empty / 
 orbit — a sight which made me shiver when 1 thought that / 
 possibly the globe had been torn out in virtue of the lex talionisA 
 which is in vigour in the empire. But there is no ridiculous/ 
 ugliness among these strange and terrible figures. The flowing! 
 ample vesture conceals all small defects, as the common gravilyL^ 
 and the dark, bronzed skin conceal the difference of age. In 
 consequence of which one encounters at every step men of an 
 C
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 indefinable age, o£ whom one cannot guess whether they are old 
 or young ; and if you judge fchem old, a lightning smile reveals 
 their youth ; and if you think them young, the hood falls back 
 and betrays the grey locks of age. 
 
 The Jews iA' this country have the same features as those of 
 our own, bui their taller stature, darker complexion, and, above 
 all, their picturesque attire, make them appear quite different. 
 They wear a dress in form very like a dressing-gown, of various 
 colours, generally dark, bound round the waist with a red girdle ; 
 a black cap, wide trousers that come a little below the skirts of 
 the coat, and yellow slippers. It is curious to see what a number 
 of dandies there are among them dressed in fine stuffs, with 
 embroidered shirts, silken sashes, and rings and chains of gold ; 
 but they are handsome, dignified-looking men, always excepting 
 those who have adopted the black frock-coat and chimney-pot 
 hat. There are some pretty faces among the boys, but the sort 
 of dressing-gown in which they are wrapped is not generally 
 becoming at their age. It seems to me that there is no exaggera- 
 tion in the reports of the beauty of the Jewesses of Morocco, 
 which has a character of its own unknown in other countries. 
 It is an opulent and splendid beauty, with large black eyes, 
 broad low forehead, full red lips, and statuesque form — a theatrical 
 beauty, that looks well from a distance, and produces applause 
 rather than sighs in the beholder. The Hebrew women of 
 Tangiers do not wear in public their rich national costume ; they 
 are dressed almost like Europeans, but in such glaring colours — 
 blue, carmine, sulphur yellow, and grass-green — that they look 
 like women wrapped in the flags of all nations. On the Satur- 
 days, when they are in all their glory, the Jewish quarter pre- 
 sents a marked contrast to the aitstere solitude of the other 
 streets. 
 
 The little Arab boys amuse me. Even those small ones who 
 can scarcely walk are robed in the white mantle, and with their 
 high-pointed hoods they look like perambulating extinguishers. 
 The greater part of them have their heads shaven as bare as your
 
 AEAB BOYS. 
 
 27 
 
 hand, except a braided lock about a foot long pendent from the 
 crown, which look? as if it were left on purpose to hang them up 
 
 by on nails, like puppets. Some few have the lock behind one 
 ear or over the temple, with a bit of hair cut in a square or 
 triangular form, the distinctive mark of the hist horn in the 
 family. In general they have pretty, pale little faces, erect 
 c 2
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 slender bodies, and an expression of precocious intelligence. In 
 the more frequented parts of the city they take no notice of 
 Europeans; in the other parts they content themselves with 
 looking- intently at them with an air which says, "I do not like 
 you." Here and there is one who would like to be impertinent; 
 it glitters in his eye and quivers on his lip ; but rarely does he 
 allow it to escape, not so much out of respect for the Nazarene 
 as out of fear of his father, who stands in awe of the Legations. 
 In any case the sight of a small coin will quiet them. But it 
 will not do to pull their braided tails. I iudulged myself once 
 in giving a little pluck at a small image about a foot high, and 
 he turned upon me in a fury, spluttering out some words which 
 my guide told me meant, " May God roast your grandfather, 
 accursed Christian \" 
 
 I have at last seen two saints — that is to say, idiots or 
 lunatics, because throughout all North Africa that man from 
 whom God, in sign of predilection, has withdrawn his reason to 
 keep it a prisoner in heaven, is venerated as a saint. The first 
 one was in the main street, in front of a shop. I saw him from 
 a distance and stayed my steps, for I knew that all things are 
 allowed to saints, and had no desire to be struck on the back of 
 the neck with a stick, like M. Sourdeau, the French consul, or 
 to have the saint spit in my face, as happened to Mr. Drummond 
 Hay. But the interpreter who was with me assured me that 
 there was no danger now, for the saints of Tangiers had learned 
 a lesson since the Legations had made some examples, and in 
 any case the Arabs themselves w r ould serve me as a shield, since 
 they did not wish the saint to get into trouble. So I went on 
 and passed before the scareci*ow, observing him attentively. He 
 was an old man, all face, very fat, with very long white hair, a 
 beard descending on his breast, a paper crown upon his head, a 
 ragged red mantle on his shoulders, and in his hand a small 
 lance with gilded point. lie sat on the gi-ouud with crossed 
 legs, his back against a wall, looking at the passers-by with a 
 discontented expression. I stopped before him : he looked at
 
 A KEAL SAINT. 
 
 29 
 
 me. " Now/' thought I, " he will throw his lance." But the 
 lauee remained quiet, and I was astonished at the tranquil and 
 intelligent look in his eyes, and a cunning smile that 
 seemed to gleam within them. They said, " Ah ! you 
 think I am going to make a fool of myself by attacking 
 you, do you?" He was certainly one of those impostors 
 who, having all their reason, feign madness in order to 
 — -^ enjoy saintly privileges. I threw him some 
 money, which he picked up with an air of 
 affected indifference, and going on my way 
 presently met another. This was a real saint. 
 He was a mulatto, almost entirely naked, 
 -— v /( and less than human in visage, covered with 
 tilth from head to foot, and so thin that he 
 seemed a walking skeleton. 
 He was moving slowly along, 
 carrying with difficulty a great 
 white banner, which the street- 
 boys ran to kiss, and accom- 
 panied by another poor wretch 
 who begged from shop to shop, 
 and two noisy rascals with 
 drum and trumpet. As I 
 passed near him he showed 
 me the white of his eye, and 
 stopped. I thought he seemed 
 to be preparing something in 
 his mouth, and stepped nimbly 
 aside. " You were right," said 
 the interpreter; "because if 
 he had spat on you, the only 
 consolation you would have 
 •«•ot from the Arabs would have been, 'Do not wipe it off, 
 fortunate Christian ! Thou art blessed that the saint has spat in 
 thy face ! Do not put away the sign of (Jod's benevolence \' ' 
 
 A Suini.
 
 SO MOROCCO. 
 
 This evening I have for the firs! time really hoard Arab 
 music. In the perpetual repetition of the same notes, always of 
 a melancholy cast, there is something thai gradually touches the 
 - >ul. It is ;i kiml of monotonous lamentation that finally takes 
 possession of the thoughts, like the murmur of a fountain, the 
 cricket's chirp, and the beat of hammers upon anvils, such as one 
 hears in the evening when passing near a village. I feel com- 
 pelled to meditate upon it, and find out the signification of those 
 eternal words for ever sounding- in my cars. It is a barbaric 
 music, full of simplicity and sweetness, that carries me back to 
 primitive conditions, revives my infantile memories of the Bible, 
 recalls to mind forgotten dreams, fills me with curiosity about 
 countries and peoples unknown, transports me to great distances 
 amid groves of strange trees, with a group of aged priests 
 bending about a golden idol ; or in boundless plains, in solemn 
 solitudes, behind weary caravans of travellers that question with 
 their eyes the burning horizon, and with drooping heads com- 
 mend themselves to God. Nothing about me so fills me with a 
 yearning desire to see my own country and my people as these 
 few notes of a weak voice and tuneless guitar. 
 
 The oddest things in the world are the Moorish shops. They 
 are one and all a sort of alcove about a yard high, with an 
 opening to the street, where the buyer stands as at a window, 
 leaning against the wall. The shopman is within, seated cross- 
 legged, with a portion of his merchandise before him, and the 
 rest on little shelves behind. The effect of these bearded old 
 Moors, motionless as images in their dark holes, is very strange, 
 ft seems themselves, and not their goods, that are on exhibition, 
 like the "living phenomena" of country fairs. Are they alive, 
 < >r made of wood ? and where is the handle to set them in 
 motion ? The air of solitude, weariness, and sadness that hangs 
 about them is indescribable. Every shop seems a tomb, where 
 the occupant, already separated from the living world, silently 
 awaits his death. 
 
 I have seen two children led in triumph after the solemn
 
 TEIUMPHAL PROCESSION. 
 
 31 
 
 ceremony of circumcision. One was about six, and the other 
 five years old. They were both seated upon a white mule, and 
 were dressed in red, green, and yellow garments, embroidered 
 with gold, and covered with ribbons and flowers, from which 
 their little pallid faces looked forth, still wearing an expression 
 of terror and amazement. Before the mule, which was gaily 
 caparisoned 
 
 and hung with " = ^2^^^^s^^^^^^^^^^^>-^ 
 garlands, went 
 three drum- 
 mers, a piper, 
 and a cornet- 
 player,making 
 all the noise 
 they could ; to 
 the right and 
 left walked 
 friends aud 
 parents, one 
 of whom held 
 the little ones 
 firm in the 
 saddle, while 
 others gave 
 them sweet- 
 meats and caresses, and others, again, fired off guns and leaped 
 and shouted. If I had not already known what it meant, I 
 should have thought that the two poor babies were victims being 
 carried to the sacrifice ; and yet the spectacle was not without a 
 certain picturesqueness. 
 
 This evening 1 have been present at a singular metamorphosis 
 of Racma, the minister's black slave. Her companion came to 
 call me, and conducted me on tip-toe to a door, which she sud- 
 denly threw open, exclaiming, "Behold Racma!" I could 
 scarcely believe my eyes, for there stood the negress, whom 1 
 
 Skopkeept
 
 A GLIMPSE OF GRANDEUR. 
 
 33 
 
 had been accustomed to see only in her common working dress, 
 arrayed like the Queen of Timbuctoo, or a princess from some 
 unknown African realm, brought thither on the miraculous 
 carpet of Bisnagar. As I saw her only for a moment, I 
 cannot say exactly how she was dressed. There was a 
 gleam of snowy white, a glow of purple and crimson, and a 
 shine of gold, under 
 a large transparent 
 veil, which, together 
 with her ebony black- 
 ness of visage, com- 
 posed a whole of bar- 
 baric magnificence and 
 the richest harmony of 
 colour. As I drew 
 near, to observe more 
 closely, all the pomp 
 and splendour vanished 
 under the gloomy Mo- 
 hammedan sheet-like 
 mantle, and the queen, 
 transformed into a 
 spectre, glided away, 
 leaving behind her a 
 nauseous odour of black 
 savage which desi r< >ye< 1 
 .all my illusions. 
 
 Hearing a great outcry in the square, I looked out of my 
 window and saw passing by a negro, naked to the waist and 
 seated upon an ass, accompanied by some Arabs armed with 
 sticks, and followed by a troop of yelling boys. At first I 
 thought it some frolic, and took my opera-glass to look ; but 
 I turned away wit li a shudder. The white drawers of the negro 
 were all stained with blood thai dropped from his back, and the 
 Arabs were soldiers who were beating 1 him with sticks, lie had 
 
 Negro Servant.
 
 I 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 stolen ;i hen. " Lucky fellow," suiti my informant ; " it appears 
 they will let him off without cutting off his right hand." 
 
 I have been seven days at Tangiers, and have not yet seen an 
 Arab woman's tace. I seem to be in some monstrous masquerade, 
 where all the women represent ghosts, wrapped in sepulchral 
 Bheetfi or shrouds. They walk with long, slow steps, a little 
 
 Punishing a Thief. 
 
 beni forwards, covering their faces with the end of a sort of 
 linen mantle, under which they have nothing but a long 1 chemise 
 with wide sleeves, bound round the waist by a cord, like a friar's 
 frock. Nothing of them is visible but the eyes, the hand that 
 covers the face, the fingers tinted with henna, and the bare feet, 
 the toes also tinted, in large yellow slippers. The greater part 
 of them display only one eye, which is dark, and a small bit of 
 yellowish-white forehead. Meeting a European in a narrow 
 street, some of them cover the whole face with a rapid, awkward 
 movement, and shrink close to the wall ; others venture a timid
 
 ARAB "WOMEN. 
 
 35 
 
 •glance of curiosity; and now and then one will launch a pro- 
 voking" look, and drop her 
 •eyes smiling. But in general 
 they wear a sad, weary, and 
 •oppressed aspect. The little 
 girls, who are not of an age 
 to be veiled, are pretty, with 
 black eyes, full faces, pale 
 complexions, red lips, and 
 small hands and feet. But 
 .at twenty they are faded, 
 .at thirty old, and at fifty 
 decrepit. 
 
 I know now who are 
 those fair-haired men, 
 with ill-omened vis- 
 ages, who pass me 
 sometimes in the 
 streets, and look at 
 me with such threat- 
 cuing eyes. They are 
 those Rifans, Berbers 
 by race, who have no 
 law beyond their guns, 
 and recognise no au- 
 thority. Audacious 
 pirates, sanguinary 
 bandits, eternal re- 
 bels, who inhabit 
 the mountains of 
 the coast of Tetuan, 
 on the Algerian 
 frontier, whom neither the cannon of European ships nor the 
 .armies of the Sultan have ever been able to dislodge; the 
 population, in short, of that famous Hit', where no foreigner 
 
 B( rbt rs of the Jiif.
 
 A WEDDING PROCESSION. 37 
 
 may clave to set his foot, unless under the protection of the 
 saints and the sheikhs ; about whom all sorts of terrible legend» 
 are rife ; and the neighbouring peoples speak vaguely of their 
 country, as of one far distant and unknown. They are often 
 seen in Tangiers. They are tall and robust men, dressed in dark 
 mantles, bordered with various colours. Some have their faces 
 ornamented with yellow arabesques. All are armed with very 
 long guns, whose red cases they twist about their heads like 
 turbans ; and they go in companies, speaking low, and looking 
 about them from under their brows, like bravoes in search of a 
 victim. In comparison with them, the wildest Arab seems a 
 life-long friend. 
 
 We were at dinner in the evening, when some gunshots were 
 heard from the square. Everybody ran to see, and from the 
 distance a strange spectacle was visible. The street leading to 
 the Soc-de-Barra was lighted up by a number of torches carried 
 above the heads of a crowd that surrounded a large box or trunk,, 
 borne on the back of a horse. This enigmatical procession went 
 slowly onwards, accompanied by melancholy music, and a sort 
 of nasal chant, piercing yells, the barking of dogs, and the 
 discharge of muskets. I speculated for a moment as to whether 
 the box contained a corpse, or a man condemned to death, or a 
 monster, or some animal destined for the sacrifice, and then 
 turned away with a sense of repugnance, when my friends, 
 coming in, gave me the explanation of the enigma. It was a 
 wedding procession, and the bride was in the box, being carried 
 to her husband's house. 
 
 A throng of Arabs, men and women, have just gone by r 
 preceded by si\ old men carrying large bannei's of various 
 colours, and all together singing in high shrill voices a sort of 
 prayer, with woeful faces and supplicating tones. In answer to 
 my question, I am told that they are entreating Allah to send 
 the grace of rain. I followed them to the principal mosque, and 
 not being then aware that Christians are prohibited from entering 
 a mosque, was about to doso, when an old Arab suddenly flew at
 
 B 
 
 M01i<>< CO. 
 
 me, and Baying in breathless accents something equivalent t<> 
 '•What would you do, unhappy wnretch?" pushed me baek 
 against the wall, with the action of one who removes a child 
 from the edge of a precipice. I was obliged to content mvseU" 
 
 Praying far Ruin. 
 
 with looking at the outside only of the sacred edifice, not 
 much grieved, since I had seen the splendid and gigantic 
 mosques of Constantinople, to be excluded from those of Tan- 
 giers, which, with the exception of the minarets, are without 
 any architectural merit. Whilst I stood there, a woman behind 
 the fountain in the court made a gesture at me. I might record
 
 '•CHANGE" IN TANGIERS. 3» 
 
 that she blew me a kiss, but truth compels me to state that she 
 shook her fist at me. 
 
 I have been up b> the Casba, or castle, posted upon a hill 
 that dominates Tangiers. It is a cluster of small buildings, 
 encircled by old walls, where the authorities, with some soldiers, 
 and prisoners are housed. We found no one but two drowsy 
 sentinels seated before the gate, at the end of a deserted square, 
 and some beggars stretched on the ground, scorched by the sun, 
 and devoured by Hies. From hence the eye embraces the whole 
 of Tangiers, which extends from the foot of the hill of the 
 Casba, and runs up the flanks of another hill. The sight is 
 almost dazzled by so much snowy whiteness, relieved only here 
 and there by the green of a fig-tree imprisoned between wall and 
 wall. One can see the terraces of all the houses, the minarets 
 of the mosques, the flags of the Legations, the battlements of 
 the walls, the solitary beach, the deserted bay, the mountains 
 of the coast — a vast, silent, and splendid spectacle, which would 
 relieve the sting; of the heaviest home-sickness. Whilst I stood 
 in contemplation, a voice, coming from above, struck upon my 
 ear, acute and tremulous, and with a strange intonation. It was 
 not until after some minutes' search that I discovered, upon the 
 minaret of the mosque of the Casba, a small black spot, the 
 muezzin, who was calling the faithful to prayer, and throwing 
 out to the four winds of heaven the names of Allah and 
 Mahomet. Then the melancholy silence reigned once more. 
 
 It is a calamity to have to change money in this country. 
 I gave a French franc to a tobacconist, who was to give me back 
 ten sous in change. The ferocious Moor opened a box and began 
 to throw out handfuls of black, shapeless coins, until there was 
 a heap big enough for an ordinary porter, counted it all quickly 
 over, and waited for me to put it in my pocket. " Excuse me/' 
 said I, trying to get back my franc, " I am not strong enough 
 to buy anything in your shop/'' However, we arranged matters 
 by my taking more cigars, and carrying off a pocketful of that 
 horrible money. It appears that it is called Jin, and is made of
 
 LO 
 
 MOKOt '((». 
 
 copper, worth one centime a-piece now, and sinking every day in> 
 value. Morocco is inundated with il, and one need not inquire 
 further when one knows that the Government pays with this 
 
 money, bui receives nothing bui gold and silver. But every 
 
 evil has its good side, 
 they say, and these flu, 
 liane of commerce as 
 they are, have the in- 
 estimable virtue of pre- 
 servino- the people of 
 Morocco from the evil 
 : eye, thanks to the so- 
 called rings of Solomon, 
 a six-pointed star en- 
 graven on one side — an 
 image of the real ring 
 buried in the tomb of the 
 great king, who, with it, 
 commanded the good and 
 evil genii. 
 
 There is but one 
 public promenade, and 
 that is the beach, which 
 extends from the city to 
 Cape Malabat, a beach 
 covered with shells and 
 refuse thrown up by the 
 sea, and having numerous 
 large pieci s of water, 
 difficult to guard against at high tide. Here are the Champs 
 Klvseés and the Cascine of Tangiers. The hour for walking 
 is the evening, towards sunset. At that time there are 
 generally about fifty Europeans, in groups and couples, scat- 
 tered at a hundred paces' distance from each other, so that 
 from the walls of the city individuals are easily recognised. 1 
 
 The Castle.
 
 PUBLIC PROMENADE. 
 
 11 
 
 can see from my stand-point an English lady on horseback, 
 accompanied by a guide ; beyond, two Moors from the country ; 
 then come the Spanish Consul and his wife, and after them a 
 saint ; then a French nurse-maid with two children ; then a 
 number of Arab women wading through a pool, and uncovering 
 their knees — the better to cover their faces ; and further on, at 
 intervals, a tall hat, a white hood, a chignon, and some one who 
 
 The Beach, Cape Malabat. 
 
 must be the Secretary of the Portuguese Legation, wearing the 
 light trousers that came yesterday from Gibraltar — for in this 
 small European colony the smallest events are public property. 
 If it were not disrespectful, 1 should say that they look like a 
 company of condemned criminals out for a regulation walk, or 
 hostages held by the pirates of a savage island, on the look-out 
 for the vessel that is to bring their ransom. 
 
 It is infinitely easier lo find your way in London than among 
 
 this handful of houses that could all be put in one corner of 
 
 Hyde Park. All these lanes, and alleys, and liti le squares, 
 
 where one has scarcely room to pass, arc so exactly like each 
 
 n
 
 4J MOROCCO. 
 
 other, that nothing short of the minutest observation can enable 
 you t.» distinguish one from the other. At present, I lose myself 
 the very instant thai I leave the main street and the principal 
 square. In one of these silent corridors, in full daylight, two 
 Arabs could bind and gag me, and cause me to vanish for ever 
 from the face of the earth, without any one, save themselves, 
 being the wiser. And yet a Christian can wander alone through 
 this labyrinth, among these barbarians, with greater security 
 than in our cities. A few European flags erected over a terrace, 
 like the menacing index finger of a hidden hand, are sufficient 
 to obtain that which a legion of armed men cannot obtain among 
 us. What a difference between London and Tangiers ! But 
 each city has its own advantages. There, there are great palaces 
 and underground railways ; here, you can go into a crowd with 
 your over-coat unbuttoned. 
 
 There is not in all Tangiers either cart or carriage ; you hear 
 no clang of bell, nor cry of intinerant vendor, nor sound of busy 
 occupation ; you see no hasty movement of persons or of things ; 
 even Europeans, not knowing what to do with themselves, stay 
 for hours motionless in the square : everything reposes and 
 invites to repose. I myself, who have been here only a few 
 days, begin to feel the influence of this soft and somnolent 
 existence. Getting as far as the Soc-de-Barra, I am irresistibly 
 impelled homewards ; I read ten pages, and the book falls from 
 my hand ; if once I let my head fall back upon the easy chair, 
 it is all over with me, and the very thought of care or occupation 
 is sufficient to fatigue me. This sky, for ever blue, and this 
 snow-white city form an image of unalterable peace, which, even 
 with its monotony, becomes, little by little, the supreme end of 
 life to all who inhabit this country. 
 
 Among the numerous figures that buzzed about the doors of 
 the Legation, there was a young Moor who had from the first 
 attracted my eye : one of the handsomest men whom I saw in 
 Morocco ; tall and slender, with dark, melancholy eyes, and the 
 sweetest of smiles ; the face of an enamoured Sultan, whom
 
 MAHOMET. 43 
 
 Danas, the malign genius of the " Arabian Nights/' might 
 have placed beside the Princess Badoura, instead of Prince 
 Camaralzaman, sure that she would have made no objection 
 to the change. He was called Mahomet, was eighteen years 
 of age, and the son of a well-to-do Moor of Tangiers, a 
 big and honest Mussulman protected by the Italian Lega- 
 tion, who, having been for some time menaced with death 
 by the hand of an enemy, came every day with a frightened 
 visage to claim the protection of the Minister. This Mahomet 
 spoke a little Spanish, after the Moorish fashion, with all the 
 verbs in the infinitive, and had there made accpiaintance with my 
 companions. He had been married only a few days. His father 
 had given him a child of fifteen for a wife, who was as beautiful 
 as he. But matrimony had not changed his habits ; he remained, 
 as we say, a Moor of the future — that is to say, he drank wine 
 under the rose, smoked cigars, was tired of Tangiers, frequented 
 the society of Europeans, and looked forward to a voyage to 
 Spain. In these days, however, what drew him towards us was 
 the desire of obtaining, through our intervention, permission to 
 join the caravan, to go and see Fez, the great metropolis, his 
 Rome, the dream of his childhood ; and with this end he expended 
 salutations, smiles, and grasps of the hand with a prodigality 
 and grace that would have seduced the entire imperial harem. 
 Like most young Moors of his condition, he killed time in 
 lounging from street to street, and from corner to corner, talking 
 about the Minister's new horses, or the departure of a friend for 
 Gibraltar, or the arrival of a ship, or any topic that came upper- 
 most ; or else he stood like a statue, silent and motionless, in a 
 corner of the market-place, with his thoughts no one knows 
 where. With this handsome idler are bound up my recollections 
 of the first Moorish house in which I put my foot, and the 
 first Arab dinner at which I risked my palate. His father one 
 day invited [me to dinner, thus fulfilling an old wish of mine. 
 Late one evening, guided by an interpreter, and accompanied by 
 four servants of the Legation, I found myself at an arabesque 
 D 2
 
 14 MoKocco 
 
 door, which opened as it' by enchantment at our approach; and 
 crossing a white and emptj chamber, we entered the court of the 
 house. The firs! impression produced was that of a great con- 
 tusion of people, a strange light, and a marvellous pomp of 
 colour. We were received by the master of the house and his 
 sons ami relations, all crowned with large white turbans ; behind 
 them were some hooded servants; beyond, in the dark corners, 
 and peeping through doorways, the curious faces of women and 
 children ; and despite the number of persons, a profound silence. 
 I though! myself in a room until, raising my eyes, I saw the 
 stars, and found that we were in a central court, upon either side 
 of which opened two long and lofty chambers without windows, 
 each having a greai arched doorway closed only by a curtain. 
 The external walls were white as snow, the arches of the doors 
 dentellated, the pavements in mosaic ; here and there a wdndow, 
 and a niche for slippers. The house had been decorated for our 
 coming- : carpets covered the pavement; great chandeliers stood 
 i ti either side of the doors, with red, yellow, and green candles; 
 on the tables were flowers and mirrors. The effect was very 
 -' range. There was something of the air of church decorations, 
 and something of the ball-room and the theatre : artificial, but 
 very pretty and graceful, and the distribution of light and 
 arrangement of colours was very effective. 
 
 Some moments were spent in salutations and vigorous grasps 
 of the hand, and we were then invited to visit the bridal 
 chamber. It was a long, narrow, and lofty room, opening on 
 the court. At the end, on either side, stood the two beds, 
 decorated with a rich, dark red stuff, with coverlets of lace ; 
 thick carpets covered the pavement, and hangings of red and 
 yellow concealed the walls. Between the two beds was sus- 
 pended the wife's wardrobe: bodices, petticoats, drawers, gowns 
 of unknown form, in all the colours of the rainbow, in wool, 
 silk, and velvet, bordered and starred with gold and silver; the 
 t rousseau of a royal doll ; a sight to turn the head of a ballet- 
 dancer, and make a columbine die with envy. From thence we
 
 VISIT TO A MOORISH HOUSE. 
 
 45 
 
 passed into the dining-room. Here also were carpets and 
 hangings, flowers, tall chandeliers standing on the floor, cushions 
 and pillows of all colours spread against the walls, and two 
 gorgeous beds, for this was the nuptial chamber of the parents. 
 The table stood all prepared near one of the beds, contrary to the 
 Arab custom, which is to put the dishes on the floor, and eat 
 with the fingei-s ; and upon it glittered an array of bottles, 
 charged, to remind us, in the midst of a Moorish banquet, that 
 
 Tea at the House of Mahomet. 
 
 Christians existed. Before taking our places at table, we seated 
 ourselves cross-legged on the carpets, around the master's secre- 
 tin-, who prepared tea before us, and made us take, according to 
 custom, three cups a~piece, excessively sweetened, and flavoured 
 with mint ; and between each cup we caressed the shaven head and 
 braided tail of a pretty four-year-old boy, Mahomet's youngest 
 brother, who Burtively counted the fingers on our hands, in order 
 to make sure that we had the same number as a Mussulman, 
 and no more. After tea we took our seats at table, and the 
 master, being entreated, seated himself also; and then the 
 Arab dishes, objects of our intense curiosity, began to circulate. 
 I tasted the first with simple faith. Great heaven! My first
 
 46 MOROCCO. 
 
 impulse was to attack the cook. All the contractions that can 
 be produced upon the lace of a man who is suddenly assailed 
 by an acute colic, or who hears the news of his banker's failure, 
 were, 1 think, visible on mine. I understood in one moment 
 how it was that a people who ate in that way should believe 
 in another God, and take other views of human life than ours. 
 I cannot express what 1 felt otherwise than by likening myself 
 to some unhappy wretch who is forced to satisfy his appetite 
 upon the pomatum pots of his barber. There were flavours of 
 soaps, pomades, wax, dyes, cosmetics — everything- that is least 
 proper to be put in a human mouth. At each dish we exchanged 
 -lances of wonder and dismay. No doubt the original material 
 was good enough — chickens, mutton, game, fish; large dishes 
 of a very fine appearance, but all swimming in most abominable 
 sauces, and so flavoured and perfumed that it would have seemed 
 more natural to attack them with a comb rather than with a 
 fork. However, we were in duty bound to swallow something, 
 and the only eatable thing seemed to be mutton on a spit. Not 
 even the famous cùscùssù, the national Moorish dish, which bore 
 a perfidious resemblance to our Milanese risotto, could we get 
 down without a pang. There was one among us who managed 
 to taste of all : a consolatory fact which shows that there 
 are still great men in Italy. At every mouthful our host 
 humbly interrogated us by a look ; and w r e, opening our eyes 
 very wide, answered in chorus, " Excellent ! exquisite ! " and 
 hastened to swallow a glass of wine to revive our drooping 
 courage. At a certain moment there burst out in the court- 
 yard a gust of strange music that made us all spring to our 
 feet. There were three musicians come, according to Moorish 
 custom, to enliven the banquet : three large-eyed Arabs, dressed 
 in white and red, one with a theorbo, another with a mandolin, 
 and the third with a small drum. All three were seated on the 
 ground in the court-yard, near a niche where their slippers were 
 deposited. Little by little, our libations, the odour of the 
 flowers, and that of aloes burning in carved perfume-burners
 
 MOORISH DINNER. 47 
 
 of Fez, and that strange Arab music, which, by dint of repeti- 
 tion, takes possession of the fancy with its mysterious lament, 
 all overcame us with a sort of taciturn and fantastic dreaminess, 
 under the influence of which we felt our heads crowned with 
 turbans, and visions of sultanas floated before our eyes. 
 
 The dinner over, all rose and spread themselves about the 
 room, the court, or the vestibule, looking into every corner with 
 childlike curiosity. At every dark angle stood an Arab wrapped 
 in his white mantle like a statue. The door of the bridal 
 chamber had been closed by a curtain, and through the inter- 
 stices a great movement of veiled heads could be seen. Lights 
 appeared and disappeared at the upper windows, and low voices 
 and the rustle of garments were heard on all sides. About and 
 above us fermented an invisible life, bearing witness that though 
 within the walls we were without the household ; that beauty, 
 love, the family soul, had taken refuge in the penetralia ; that 
 we were the spectacle, while the house remained a mystery. At 
 a certain moment the Minister's housekeeper came out of a 
 small door, where she had been visiting the bride, and, passing 
 by us, murmured, t( Ah, if you could see her ! What a rose- 
 bud ! What a creature of paradise ! " And the sad lamenting 
 music went on, and the perfumed aloe smoke arose, and our 
 fancies grew more and more active, more so than ever when we 
 issued forth from that air filled with light and perfume, and 
 plunged into a dark and solitary alley, lighted only by one 
 lantern, and surrounded by profoundest silence. 
 
 One evening we received the not unexpected intelligence 
 that the next day the Ainsawa would enter the city. The 
 Aissawa are one of the principal religious confraternities of 
 Morocco, founded, like the others, under the inspiration of God, 
 by a saint called Sidi-Mohammed-ben-Aissa, born at Meki'nez 
 two centuries ago. His life is a long and confused legend of 
 miracles and fabulous events, variously related. The Aissawa 
 propose to themselves to obtain the special protection of heaven, 
 praying continually, exercising certain practices peculiar to
 
 4- MOROCCO. 
 
 themselves, and keeping alive in their hearts a certain re- 
 ligious fever, a divine fur\. which breaks out in extravagant 
 and ferocious manifestations. They have a great mosque at Fez, 
 which is the central house of the order, and from thence they 
 spread themselves every year over the provinces of the empire, 
 gathering together as they go those members of the brotherhood 
 who are in the towns and villages. Their rites, similar to 
 those of the howling and whirling Dervishes of the East, con- 
 sisl in a species of frantic dances, interspersed with leaps, yells, 
 and contortions, in the practice of which they grow ever more 
 furious and ferocious, until, losing the light of reason, they 
 crush wood and iron with their teeth, burn their flesh with 
 glowing coals, wound themselves with knives, swallow mud and 
 stones, brain animals and devour them alive and dripping with 
 blood, and finally fall to the ground insensible. The Aissawa 
 whom I saw at Tangiers did not go to quite such extremities, 
 and probably they seldom do, but they did quite enough to leave 
 an indelible impression on my memory. 
 
 The Belgian Minister invited us to see the spectacle from 
 the terrace of his house, which looked over the principal street of 
 Tangiers, where the Aissawa generally passed on their way to 
 their mosque. They were to pass at ten o'clock in the morning, 
 coming in at the Soc-de-Barra. At nine the street was already 
 full of people, and the tops of the houses crowded with Arab and 
 Jewish women in all the colours of the rainbow, giving to the 
 white terraces the look of great baskets of flowers. At the given 
 hour all eyes were turned towards the gate at the end of the 
 street, and in a few minutes the leaders of the procession ap- 
 peared. The street was so thronged with people that for some 
 time nothing could be seen but a waving mass of hooded heads, 
 amid which shone out a few shaven skulls. Above them 
 floated here and there a banner ; and now and then a cry as of 
 many voices broke forth. The crowd moved forwards slowly. 
 Little by little a certain order and regularity in the movement 
 of all these heads became visible. The first formed a circle;
 
 THE AISSAWA. 
 
 49 
 
 others beyond a double file ; others again beyond another circle ; 
 then the first in their turn broke into a double line, the second 
 
 Entry of the Aiaaawa into Tang 
 
 formed in a circle, and bo on. But I am not very sure of wlmt 
 I say, because in the eager curiosity which possessed me to
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 observe single figures it is possible thai the precise laws of 
 the genera] movemenl escaped me. My first impression as 
 
 they arrived below cur terrace was one or' pity and horror com- 
 bined. There were two lines of men, facing each other, wrapped 
 in mantles and long white shirts, holding- each other by the 
 hands, arms, or shoulders, and, with a rocking swaying motion, 
 stepping in cadence, throwing their heads backwards and for- 
 wards, and keeping up a low eager murmur, broken by groans 
 and sio-hs, and sobs of rage and terror. Only "The Possessed/' 
 by Reubens, " The Dead Alive/' by Goya, and "The Dead Man 
 Magnetised " of Edgar Poe, could give an idea of those figures. 
 There were fact's livid and convulsed, with eyes starting from 
 the sockets, and foaming mouths; faces of the fever-stricken 
 and the epileptic ; some illuminated by an unearthly smile, some 
 showing only the whites of their eyes, others contracted as by 
 atrocious spasms, or pallid and rigid, like corpses. From time 
 to time, making a strange gesture with their outstretched arms, 
 they all burst out together in a shrill and painful cry, as of 
 men in mortal agony; then the dance forwards began again, 
 with its accompaniment of groans and sobs, while hoods and 
 mantles, wide sleeves and long disordered hair, streamed on the 
 wind, and whirled about them with snake-like undulations. 
 Some rushed from one side to the other, staggering like drunken 
 men, or beating themselves against walls and doors ; others, as 
 if rapt in ecstasy, moved along, stiff and rigid, with head 
 thrown back, eyes half closed, and arms swinging ; and some, 
 cpiite exhausted, unable any longer to yell, or to keep on their 
 feet, were held up under the arms by their companions, and 
 dragged aloDg with the crowd. The dance became every 
 moment more frantic, and the noise more deafening, while a 
 nauseous smell came up from all those bodies like the odour of a 
 menagerie of wild beasts. Here and there a convulsed visage 
 turned upwards towards our terrace, and a pair of staring eyes 
 were fixed on mine, constraining me to turn away my face. 
 The spectacle affected me in different ways. Now it seemed
 
 THE PROCESSION. 51 
 
 a great masquerade, and tempted me to laugh ; then it was a 
 procession of madmen, of creatures in the delirium of fever, of 
 drunken wretches, or those condemned to death and striving to 
 deaden their own terror, and my heart swelled with compassion ; 
 and again, the savage grandeur of the picture pleased my 
 artistic sense. But gradually my mind accepted the inner 
 meaning of the rite, and I comprehended what all of us have 
 more or less experienced — the spasms of the human soul under 
 the dread pressure of the Infinite; and unconsciously my 
 thoughts explained the mystery. Yes ; I feel Thee, mysterious 
 and tremendous Power; I struggle in the grasp of the in- 
 visible hand ; the sense of Thee oppresses me, I cannot contain 
 it ; my heart is dismayed, my reason is lost, my garment of 
 clay is rent. And still they went by, a pallid and dishevelled 
 mass, raising voices of pain and supplication, and seeming in 
 their last agony. One old man, an image of distracted Lear, 
 broke from the ranks, and tried to dash his head against a wall, 
 his companions holding him back. A youth fell head foremost 
 to the ground, and remained there insensible. Another, with 
 streaming hair and face hidden in his hands, went by with long 
 steps, his body bent almost to the earth, like one accursed of 
 God. Bedouins were among them, Berbers, blacks, mummies, 
 giants, satyrs, cannibal faces, faces of saints, of birds of prey, of 
 Indian idols, furies, fauns, devils. There were between three 
 and four hundred, and in half-an-hour they had all gone by. 
 The last were two women (for they also belong to the order), 
 looking as if they had been buried alive, and had escaped from 
 their tomb, two animated skeletons dressed in white, with hair 
 streaming over their faces, straining eyes, and mouths white 
 with foam, exhausted, but still moving along with the uncon- 
 scious action of machines ; and between them marched a gigantic 
 old man, like an aged sorcerer. Dressed in a long white shirt, 
 and stretching out two bony arms, he placed his hands now on 
 one head, now on tin.- other, with a gesture of protection, and 
 helped them to rise when they fell. Behind these lince
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 spectres rame a throng of armed Arabs, women, beggars, and 
 children : and all the mass of barbarism and horrid human 
 misery broke into the square, and was dispersed in a few 
 minutes about the city. 
 
 Another tine spectacle that we had at Tangiers was that of 
 
 The Horsemen at the Fete of Mahomet. 
 
 the festival of the birth of Mahomet; and it made the greater 
 impression upon me that I saw it unexpectedly. Returning 
 from a walk on the sea-shore, I heard some shots in the direction 
 of the Soc-de-Barra. I turned my steps in that direction, and 
 at first found it difficult to recognise the place. The Soc-de- 
 Barra was transfigured. From the walls of the city up to the 
 summit of the hill swarmed a crowd of white-robed Arabs, all in 
 tin' highest state of animation. There might have been about 
 three thousand persons, but so scattered and grouped that they
 
 M MOROCCO. 
 
 appeared innumerable. It was a most singular optical illusion. 
 On all tin- heights around, as upon so many balconies, were 
 groups scaled in Oriental fashion, motionless, and turned towards 
 the lower part of the Soc, where the crowd — divided into two 
 portions — left a large space free for the evolutions of a company 
 of cavalry, who, ranged in a line, galloped about, discharging 1 
 their long guns in the air. On the other side an immense circle 
 of Arab men and women were looking on at the games of ball- 
 players, fencers, serpent-charmers, dancers, singers and musi- 
 cians, and soldiers. Upon the top of the hill, under a conical 
 tent open in front, could be discerned the enormous white turban 
 of the Vice-Governor of Tangiers, who presided at the festival, 
 seated on the ground in the midst of a circle of Moors. From 
 above could be seen in the crowd the soldiers of the Legations, 
 dressed in their showy red caftans, a few tall hats, and European 
 parasols, and one or two artists, sketch-book in hand, while 
 Tangiers and the sea formed a background to the whole. The 
 discharge of musketry, the yells of the cavalry, the tinkle of the 
 water-sellers'' bells, the joyful cries of the women, the noise of 
 pipes, horns, and drums, made up a fitting accompaniment to 
 the strange and savage spectacle, bathed in the burning noon- 
 day light. 
 
 My curiosity impelled me to look everywhere at once, but a 
 sudden scream of admiration from a group of women made me 
 turn to the horsemen. There were twelve of them, all of tall 
 stature, with pointed red caps, white mantles, and blue, orange, 
 and red caftans, and among them was a youth, dressed with 
 feminine elegance, the son of the Governor of Rif . They drew 
 up in a line against the wall of the city, with faces towards the 
 open country. The son of the Governor, in the middle, raised 
 his hand, and all started in full career. At first there was a 
 slight hesitation and confusion, but in a moment the twelve 
 horsemen formed but one solid serried line, and skimmed over 
 the ground like a twelve-headed and many-coloured monster 
 devouring the way.
 
 BALL-PLAYERS. 
 
 55 
 
 Nailed to their saddles, with heads erect, and white mantles 
 streaming in the wind of their career, they lifted their gams 
 above their heads, and, pressing- them against their shoulders, 
 discharged them all together, with a yell of triumph, and then 
 vanished in a cloud of smoke and dust. A few moments after 
 they came back slowly and in disorder — the horses covered with 
 foam and blood, their riders bearing themselves proudly — and 
 then they began again. At every new discharge, the Arab 
 women, like ladies at a tourney, saluted them with a peculiar 
 cry, that is a rapid re- 
 petition of the monosyllable 
 Jù (or in English yu) like 
 a sort of joyous trill. 
 
 We went to look at the 
 ball-players. About fifteen 
 Arab boys and men — some 
 of the latter with white 
 beards — some with sabres, 
 some with guns slung across 
 their shoulders, were tossing 
 a leathern ball about as big 
 as an orange. One would 
 take it, let it fall, and send it 
 into the air with a blow of his foot; all the others rushed to 
 catch it before it fell. The one who caught it repeated the 
 action of the first; and so the group of players, always following 
 the ball, were in constant movement from one point to another. 
 The curious part of it was that there was not a word, nor a cry, 
 nor a smile among them. Old men and boys, all were equally 
 serious and intent upon the game, as upon some necessary labour, 
 and only their panting breath and the sound ol* their feet could 
 be heard. 
 
 At a few paces farther on, within anodici- circle of spectators, 
 some negroes were dancing to the sound of a pipe and a small 
 conical drum, beaten with a slick in the shape of a hall'-moon. 
 
 The Ball-Players
 
 YOUNG SAVAGES. 
 
 57 
 
 There were eight of them — big, black, and shining like ebony, 
 with nothing- on them but a long white shirt, bound round the 
 waist by a thick green cord. Seven of them held each other's 
 hand in a ring, while the eighth was in the middle, and all 
 danced together, or rather accompanied the music, without 
 moving from their places, but with a certain indescribable move- 
 ment of the hips, and that satyr-like grin, that expression of 
 stupid beatitude and bestial voluptuousness, which is peculiar to 
 
 
 Negro Dancers. 
 
 the black race. Whilst I stood looking on at this scene, two 
 boys, about ten years of age, among the spectators, gave me a 
 taste of the ferocity of Arab blood. They suddenly — and for 
 some unknown reason — fell upon each other, and, clinging 
 together like a couple of young tigers, bit, clawed, and scratched, 
 with a fury that was horrible to see. Two strong men had as 
 much as they could do to separate them, and they were borne off 
 all bloody and torn, and struggling to attack each other again. 
 
 The fencers made me laugh. They were four, fencing in 
 
 couples, with sticks. The extravagance and a wl. wardness of this 
 
 performance is not to be described. In other cities in Morocco 
 
 I afterwards saw the same tiling, so it is evidently the native 
 
 E
 
 68 MOROCCO. 
 
 tehoòl of fencing. The leaps, contortions, attitudes, and waving 
 of anus, were beyond words, and all done with a self-satisfied air 
 that was enough to make one fall upon them with their own 
 sticks and send them flying. The Arab spectators, however, 
 stood about with open mouths, and frequently glanced at me, 
 as if to enjoy my wonder and admiration, while I, willing to 
 content them, affected to be much delighted. Then some of 
 them drew aside that I might see them better, and I presently 
 found myself surrounded and pressed on all sides by the Arabs, 
 and was able to satisfy in full my desire to study the race in all 
 its more intimate peculiarities. A soldier of the Italian Legation, 
 seeing me in these straits, and thinking me an involuntary 
 prisoner, came to my rescue, rather against my will, with fists 
 and elbows. 
 
 The circle of the story-teller was the most interesting, though 
 the smallest of all. I arrived just at the moment when he had 
 finished the usual inaugural prayer, and was beginning his nar- 
 rative. He was a man of about fifty, almost black, with a jet- 
 black beard and gleaming eyes, wearing, like all of his profession 
 in Morocco, an ample white robe, bound round the waist with a 
 camel's-hair girdle, giving him the majestic air of an antique 
 priest. He spoke in a high voice, and slowly, standing erect 
 within the circle of listeners, while two musicians with drum and 
 hautboy kept up a low accompaniment. I could not understand 
 a word, but his face, voice, and gestures were so expressive that 
 I managed to gather something of the meaning of his story. 
 He seemed to be relating a tale of a journey. Now he imitated 
 the action of a tired horse, and pointed to a distant and immense 
 horizon ; then he seemed to seek about for a drop of water, and 
 his arms and head dropped as if in complete exhaustion. Sud- 
 denly he discovers something at a distance, appears uncertain, 
 believes, and doubts the evidence of his senses — again believes, is 
 re-animated, hastens his flagging steps, arrives, gives thanks to 
 Heaven, and throws himself on the earth with a long breath of 
 satisfaction, smiling with pleasure, in the shade of a delightful
 
 MUSICIANS. 59 
 
 oasis. The audience meanwhile stood without breath or motion, 
 suspended on the lips of the orator, and reflecting- in their faces 
 his every word and gesture. The ingenuousness and freshness 
 of feeling that are hidden under their hard and savage exterior 
 became plainly visible. As the story-teller became more fervent 
 in his narrative, and raised his voice, the two musicians blew and 
 beat with increasing fury, and the listeners drew closer together in 
 the intensity of their interest, until, finally, the whole culminated 
 in one grand burst ; the musicians threw their instruments into 
 the air, and the crowd dispersed, and gave place to another 
 circle. 
 
 There were three performers who had drawn a large audience 
 about them. One played on a sort of bagpipes, another on a 
 tambourine with bells, and the third on an extraordinary 
 instrument compounded of a clarinet and two horns, which 
 gave forth most discordant sounds. All three men were bandy- 
 legged, tall, and with backs bent into a curve. Wrapped in 
 a few rags, they stood side by side close together as if they 
 had been bound one to the other, and, playing an air which 
 they had probably played for fifty years or more, they marched 
 around the square. Their movement was peculiar — something 
 between walking and dancing — and their gestures so extra- 
 ordinary, made as they were with mechanical regularity and 
 all together, that I imagine them to have expressed some idea 
 founded in some characteristic peculiarity of the Arab people. 
 Those three, streaming with heat from every pore, played and 
 marched about for more than an hour in the fashion I have 
 described, with unalterable gravity, while a hundred or so of 
 lookers-on stood, with the sun in their eyes, giving no out- 
 ward sign either of pleasure or of weariness. 
 
 The noisiest circle was that of the soldiers. There were 
 twelve, old and young, some with white caftans, some in 
 shirts only, one with a fez, another in a hood, and all armed 
 with flint muskets as long as lances, into which they put the 
 powder loose, like all their fellows in Morocco, where the 
 E 2
 
 60 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 cartridge is noi in use. An old man directed the manoeuvres. 
 They ranged themselves in two rows of six each, facing one 
 another. At a signal; all changed places with each other, 
 running and putting one knee to the ground. Then one of 
 them struck up, in a shrill falsetto voice, a sort of chant, full 
 of trills and warblings, which lasted a few minutes, and was 
 listened to in perfect , silence. Then suddenly they all bounded 
 to their feet in a circle, and with an immense leap and a 
 
 Dance of the Soldiers. 
 
 shout of joy, fired off their guns muzzle downwards. The 
 rapidity, the fury, and something madly festive and diaboli- 
 cally cheerful in the performance, is not to be described. 
 Among the spectators near me was a little Arab girl about 
 ten years old, not yet veiled, one of the prettiest little faces 
 I saw in Tangiers, of a delicate pale bronze in colour, who, 
 with her large blue eyes full of wonder, gazed at a spectacle 
 much more marvellous to her than that of the soldiers' dance : 
 she saw me take off my gloves, which Arab boys believe to 
 be a sort of second skin that Christians have on their hands, 
 and can remove at pleasure without inconvenience or pain.
 
 SEEPENT CHARMERS. 61 
 
 I hesitated about going to see the serpent charmers, but 
 curiosity overcame repugnance. These so-called magicians 
 belong to the confraternity of the Aissawa, and pretend to 
 have received from their patron Ben Aissa the privilege of 
 enduring uninjured the bite of the most venomous beasts. 
 Many travellers, in fact, most worthy of belief, assert that 
 they have seen these men bitten severely, until the blood 
 flowed, by serpents that a moment before had shown the fatal 
 effect of their venom upon some animal. The Aissawa whom 
 I saw gave a horrible but bloodless spectacle. He was a 
 little fellow, muscular, with a cadaverous and stern counte- 
 nance, the air of a Merovingian king, and dressed in a sort 
 of blue shirt that came down to his heels. When I drew 
 near he was engaged in jumping grotesquely about a goat- 
 skin spread on the ground, upon which was a sack containing 
 the serpents ; and as he jumped he sang, to the accompani- 
 ment of a flute, a melancholy song that was perhaps an 
 invocation to his saint. The song finished, he chattered and 
 gesticulated for some time, trying to get some money thrown 
 to him, and then, kneeling down before the goat-skin, he 
 thrust his arm into the sack and drew out a long greenish 
 snake, extremely lively, and carried it round, handling it very 
 carefully, for the spectators to see. This done, he began to 
 twist it about in all directions, and generally use it as if it 
 had been a rope. He seized it by the neck, he suspended it 
 by the tail, he bound it round his head like a fillet, he hid 
 it in his bosom, he made it pass through the holes in the 
 edge of a tambourine, he threw it on the ground and set his 
 foot upon it, he stuck it under his arm. The horrible beast 
 erected its head, darted out its tongue, twisted itself about 
 with those flexible odious abject movements that seem the 
 expression of perfidious baseness; and all the rage that burned 
 in its body seemed to shoot in sparkles from its small eyes; 
 but I could not see that it ever once attempted to bite the 
 hand that held it. After this, the Aissawa seized the serpent
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 by tln> aeck, and fixed a small l>it of iron in its mouth, so 
 as to keep it open and display the fangs to the spectators; 
 ami then, taking its tail between his teeth, he proceeded to 
 lute it, while the beasi went through violent contortions ; and 
 I left tin- place in horror and disgust. 
 
 At that moment our charge d'affaires appeared in the Soc. 
 The Vice-Governor beheld him from the hill, ran to meet 
 him, and conducted him under the tent, where all the members 
 of the future caravan, myself included, speedily assembled. 
 Then came soldiers and musicians, and an immense semi- 
 circle of Arabs formed itself in front of the tent, the men in 
 front, the gentle sex in groups behind ; and then began a 
 wild concert of songs, dances, yells, and gunshots, which lasted 
 for more than an hour, in the midst of dense clouds of smoke, 
 the sounds of barbaric music, the enthusiastic shouts of the 
 women and children, the paternal satisfaction of the Vice- 
 Go vernor, and our great amusement. Before it was over, the 
 charge d'affaires put some coins into the hand of an Arab 
 soldier, to be given to the director of the spectacle, and the 
 soldier presently returning, delivered the following odd form 
 of thanks, translated into Spanish : — " The Italian Ambassador 
 has done a good action ; may Allah bless every hair of his 
 beard ! " 
 
 The strange festival lasted until sunset. Three water- 
 sellers were sufficient to satisfy the needs of all that crowd, 
 exposed all day to the rays of the sun of Africa. One marengo 
 was perhaps the utmost of the sum that circulated in that 
 concourse of people. Their only pleasures were to see and 
 hear. There was no love-making, no drunkenness, no knife 
 play ; nothing in common with the holidays of civilisation. 
 
 The country about Tangiers is not less curious to see than the 
 city. Around the walls extends a girdle of gardens, belonging 
 for the most part to the Ministers and Consuls, and rather neg- 
 lected, but rich in luxuriant vegetation. There maybe seen long 
 files of aloes, like gigantic lances bound up in sheaves of enor-
 
 GARDENS ROUND TANGIERS. 63 
 
 mous curved dagger blades, for such is the shape of their 
 leaves. The points, with the fibre attached, are used by the 
 Arabs to sew up wounds. There is the Indian fig — in the 
 Moorish tongue, kermus del Inde — very tall, with leaves of extra- 
 ordinary thickness, and growing so thickly as to obstruct the 
 paths ; the common fig, under whose shadow ten tents could be 
 erected; oaks, acacias, oleanders, and shrubs of every sort, 
 that interlace their branches with those of the highest trees, 
 and with the ivy, the vine, the cane, and the thorn, form a 
 tangled mass of verdure under which ditch and footpath are 
 entirely concealed. In some places one has to grope one's 
 way, and pass from one enclosure to another through thick, 
 thorny hedges, over prostrate fences, in the midst of grass 
 and flowers as high as one's waist, and no living creature to 
 be seen. A small white house, and a well, with a wheel by 
 means of which the water is sent flowing through little 
 trenches dug for the purpose, are the only objects which in- 
 dicate the presence of property and labour. Sometimes, if the 
 Captain of the staff, who was a clever guide, had not been 
 with me, I should have lost my way in the midst of that 
 wild vegetation; and we often had to call out, as in a 
 labyrinth, to prevent our losing each other. It was a pleasure 
 to me to swim amid the greenery, opening the way with 
 hands and feet, with the joyous excitement of a savage 
 returned from slavery to his native forest. 
 
 Beyond this girdle of gardens there are no trees, or houses, 
 or hedges, or any indication of boundaries ; there arc only hills, 
 green valleys, and undulating plains with an occasional herd 
 of cattle pasturing and without any visible herdsman, or a 
 horse turned loose. Once only did I see any tilling of the 
 ground. An Arab was driving an ass and a goat, harnessed to 
 a very small plough, of a strange shape, such as might have 
 been in use four thousand years ago, ami which turned up 
 a scarcely visible furrow in the stony, weedy earth. 1 have 
 been assured that it is not unusual to see a donkey and a
 
 
 \M HOCCO. 
 
 woman ploughing in company, and this will give an idea of 
 the slate of agriculture in Morocco. The only attempt at 
 manuring is to burn the straw left after the grain is gathered ; 
 
 and the only care taken noi to exhaust the earth is to leave it 
 every third year to grow grass for pasture, after having grown 
 grain, and buckwheat or maize, in the two preceding years. 
 In spite of this, however, the ground becomes impoverished 
 after a few years, and then the husbandman leaves it, and 
 
 ,i Moorish Husbandman. 
 
 seeks another field, returning, after a time, to the old one ; and 
 so but a very small part of the arable land is under cultivation 
 at one time, whereas if it were even badly cultivated, it would 
 return a hundredfold the seed thrown in it. 
 
 The prettiest excursion we made was that to Cape Spartel, 
 the Ampelusium of the ancients, which forms the north-western 
 extremity of the African continent, a mountain of grey stone, 
 about three hundred metres in height, rising abruptly from the 
 sea, and opening underneath into vast caverns, the larger of 
 which were consecrated to Hercules : Specus Her culi sacer. 
 I pon the summit of this mountain stands the famous lighthouse
 
 CAPE SPAETEL. 
 
 C5 
 
 erected a few years ago, and maintained by contributions from 
 most of the European States. We climbed to the top of the 
 tower, where the great lantern sends its beneficent rays to a 
 -distance of fi ve-and- twenty miles. From thence the eye 
 embraces two seas and two continents. There can be seen the 
 last waters of the Mediterranean and the horizon of the 
 Atlantic — the sea of darkness, Bar-el-Dolma, as the Arabs call 
 
 
 Excursion to Cape Spartel. 
 
 it — beating at the foot of the rock ; the Spanish coast, from 
 Cape Trafalgar to Cape Algesiras ; the African coast, from the 
 Mediterranean to the mountains of Ceuta, the septem fruire* 
 of the Romans; ami far in the distance, faintly outlined, 
 the enormous rock of Gibraltar — eternal sentinel of that port 
 of the old continent, mysterious terminus of the antique 
 world, become the " Favola vita ai naviganti industri." 
 
 In this expedition we encountered but few persons, For 
 the most part Arabs <>u Boot, who passed almost withoul 
 looking at us, and sometimes a Moor <»n horseback, some
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 personage important either Eor his wealth or his office, accom- 
 panied by B troop of armed followers, who looked con- 
 temptuously at us as they passed. The women muffled 
 their faces even more carefully than in the city, some mutter- 
 ing, and others turning their backs abruptly upon us. Here 
 and there an Aral) would stop before us, look fixedly at 
 us, murmur a \\'\v words that sounded as if he were asking 
 a favour, and then go on his way without looking hack. 
 At first we did not understand, but it was explained that 
 they were asking us to pray to God for some favour for 
 them. It seems that there is a superstition much in vogue 
 among the Arabs that the prayers of a Mussulman being- 
 very grateful to God, He generally delays granting what 
 they ask for, in order that He may prolong the pleasure 
 of hearing the prayer; whilst the prayer of an infidel dog, 
 like a Hebrew or a Christian, is so hateful to Him that 
 He grants it at once, ipso facto, in order to be rid of it. 
 The only friendly faces we saw were those of some Jewish 
 boys who were scampering about on donkeys, and who threw 
 us a cheerful " Buenos dies, Cahalleros ! " as they galloped by. 
 
 In spite, however, of the new and varied character of 
 our life at Tangiers, we were all impatience to leave it, in 
 order to get back in the month of June, before the great 
 heats began. The charge (V affaires had sent a messenger to 
 Fez to announce that the embassy was ready ; but ten days 
 at least must pass before he could return. Private notices- 
 informed us that the escort was on its way, others that it 
 had not yet started. Uncertain and contradictory rumours- 
 prevailed, as if the longed-for Fez were distant two thou- 
 sand miles from the coast, instead of about one hundred and 
 forty miles ; and this, from one point of view, was rather 
 agreeable, because our fifteen days' journey thus assumed in 
 our fancy the proportions of a long and adventurous voyage, 
 and Fez seemed mysteriously attractive. The strange things, 
 too, which were related by those who had been there with
 
 A PICTURE OF FEZ. 67 
 
 former embassies, about the city, its people, and the dangers, 
 of the expedition, all combined to excite our expectations. 
 They told how they had been surrounded by thousands of 
 horsemen, who saluted them with a tempest of shots, so near 
 as almost to scorch their skins and blind them, and that 
 they could hear the balls whistle by their ears ; that in all 
 probability some of us Italians would be shot in the head by 
 mistake by some ball directed against the white cross in our 
 flag, which would no doubt seem an insult to Mahomet in 
 Arab eyes. They talked of scorpions, serpents, tarantulas, of 
 clouds of grasshoppers and locusts, of spiders and toads of 
 gigantic size that were found on the road and under the tents. 
 They described in dismal colours the entrance of the embassy 
 into Fez, in the midst of a hostile crowd, through tortuous, 
 dark streets, encumbered with ruins and the carcases of 
 animals ; they prophesied a mountain of troubles for us- 
 during our stay at Fez — mortal languors, furious dysenteries 
 and rheumatisms, musquitoes of monstrous size and ferocity, 
 compared with which those of our country were agreeable 
 companions, and, finally, home-sickness ; apropos of which, 
 they told xis of a young Belgian painter who had gone to 
 Fez with the embassy from Brussels, and who, after a week's 
 stay, was seized with such a desperate melancholy that the 
 Ambassador was obliged to send him back to Tangiers by 
 foi*ced marches, that he might not see him die under his eyes ; 
 and it was true. But all this only increased our impatience 
 to be off, and our delight can be easily imagined when Signor 
 Soloman Affalo, the second dragoman of the Legation, one 
 day presented himself at the door of the dining-room, and 
 announced, in a sonorous voice — "The escort from Fez has 
 arrived/'' 
 
 With it came horses, mules, camels, grooms, tents, (lie route 
 laid down for us by the Sultan, and his permission to start at 
 once. Some days, however, had to be allowed for men and 
 beasts to take a little rest.
 
 €8 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 The animals were sheltered at the Casba. The next day we 
 unit to see them. There were forty-five horses, including those 
 of the escort, about twenty mules for the saddle, and more than 
 fifty for baggage, to which were afterwards added others hired 
 at Tangiers ; the horses small and light, like all Morocco horses, 
 and the mules robust ; the saddles and packs covered with 
 
 The Animals oj t/ic Caravan, 
 
 scarlet cloth ; the stirrups formed of a large plate of iron bent 
 upwards at the two sides, so as to support and enclose the whole 
 foot, and serving also as spurs, as well as defences. The poor 
 beasts were almost all lying down, exhausted more from hunger 
 than from fatigue, a large part of their food having, according 
 to custom, found its way, in the shape of coin, into the pockets 
 of the drivers. Some of the soldiers of the escort w r ere there, 
 who came about us, and made us understand by signs and words 
 that the journey had been a very fatiguing one, with much
 
 OTTE ANIMALS. 
 
 GO 
 
 suffering- from heat and thirst, but that, thanks to Allah, they 
 had arrived safe and sound. They were blacks and mulattoes, 
 wrapped in their white capotes, tall, powerful men, with bold 
 features, sharp white teeth, and flashing- eyes, that made us 
 consider whether it would not be well to have a second escort 
 placed between them and ourselves in case of necessity. Whilst 
 my companions coversed in gestures, I sought among the mules 
 
 Tents of the Soldiers of the Escort. 
 
 one with a mild expression of generosity and gentleness in its 
 eyes, and found it in a white mule with a crupper adorned with 
 arabesques. To this creature I decided to confide my life and 
 fortunes, and from that moment until our return the hope of 
 Italian literature in Morocco was bound to her saddle. 
 
 From the Casba we proceeded to the Soc-de-Barra, where the 
 principal tents bad been placed. It was a great pleasure to us to 
 see these canvas houses where we were to sleep for thirty nights 
 in the midst of unknown solitudes, and see and hear so many 
 strange things : one of us preparing his geogra] bica! maps, 
 another his official report, another his book, a fourth his picture;
 
 70 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 forming altogether a small Italy in pilgrimage across the empire 
 ■of the ScharifEs. The tents were oi* a cylindrical conical form, 
 
 «mie large enough to 
 contain about twenty 
 persons, all very high, 
 and made of double 
 canvas bordered with 
 blue, and ornamented on 
 the top with a large 
 metal ball. Most of 
 them belonged to the 
 Sultan ; and who knows 
 how often the beauties 
 of the seraglio had slept 
 under them on their 
 journeys from Fez to 
 Meck'inez and Morocco ! 
 In one corner of the 
 encampment was a group 
 of foot-soldiers of the 
 escort, and in front of 
 them a personage un- 
 known, who was await- 
 ing the arrival of the 
 Minister. He was a 
 man of about thirty -five, 
 of a dignified appearance, 
 a mulatto, and corpulent, 
 with a great white tur- 
 ban, a blue capote, red 
 drawers, and a sabre in 
 a leathern sheath with 
 
 The Commander of the Escort. 
 
 a hilt of rhinoceros-horn. The Minister, arriving in a few 
 moments, presented this gentleman to us as the Commandant of 
 the escort, a general of the imperial army, by name Hamed Ben
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE TENTS. 71 
 
 Kasen Buhamei, who was to accompany us to and from Fez 
 back to Tangiers, and whose head answered to the Sultan for the 
 safety of ours. He shook hands with us with much grace and ease 
 of manner, and his visage and air reassured me completely with 
 regard to the eyes and teeth of the soldiers whom I had seen at 
 the Casba. He was not handsome, but his countenance expressed 
 mildness and intelligence. He must know how to read, write, 
 and cipher — be, in fact, one of the most cultured generals in the 
 army — since he had been chosen by the Minister of War for this 
 delicate mission. The distribution of tents was now made in his 
 presence. One was assigned to painting ; among the largest, 
 after that of the Ambassador, was the one taken possession of by 
 the commander of the frigate, the Captain of the staff, the Vice- 
 Consul, and myself, which afterwards became the noisiest tent in 
 the encampment. Another very large one was set aside as ;i 
 dining-room ; and then came those of the doctor, the interpreters, 
 cooks, servants, and soldiers of the Legation. The commander 
 of the escort and his soldiers had their tents apart. Other tents 
 were to be added on the day of departure. In short, I foresaw 
 that we should have a beautiful encampment, and already felt 
 within me the beginnings of descriptive frenzy. 
 
 On the following day the charge d'affaires went with the 
 Commandant of the frigate and the Captain to pay a visit to the 
 representative of the imperial Government, Sidi-Bargas, who 
 exercises what may be called the office of Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs in Tangiers. I begged permission to accompany them, 
 being very curious to see a Minister of Foreign Affairs who, if 
 his salary has not been increased within the last twenty years 
 (which is not probable), receives from his Government the sum 
 of seventy-five francs or fifteen dollars a month, which includes 
 the fund for the expenses of representation — a magnificent 
 stipend, nevertheless, compared with that of the Governors, who 
 receive only fifty francs. And it is not to be said that their 
 charge is ;i sinecure, and maybe entrusted to the first comer. 
 The famous Sultan Abd-er-Rahman, Eor instance, win» reigned
 
 78 MOROCCO. 
 
 from 1822 bo L 85 9, could find no man so well adapted for il as one 
 Sidi-Mohammed el Khatib, merchant in coffee and sugar, who 
 continued while he was Minister to traffic regularly between 
 Tangiers and Gibraltar. The instructions which this Minister 
 received Prom his Government, although very simple, are such 
 as bo embarrass the most subtle of European diplomatists. A 
 Frcmh Consul has set them down for us with much precision — 
 viz., to respond to all demands of the Consuls with promises ; to 
 defer to the very latest moment the fulfilment of these promises ; 
 to gain time ; to raise difficulties of every kind against com- 
 plaint ; to act in such a way that the complainants will get 
 tired, and desist; to yield, if threatened, as little as possible; if 
 cannon are introduced, to yield, but not until the latest moment. 
 But it must be acknowledged that after the war with Spain, and 
 especially under the reign of Muley-el-Hassan, things have very 
 much changed. 
 
 We went up to the Casba where the Minister lives ; a 
 line of soldiers kept guard before the door. We crossed a 
 garden and entered a spacious hall, where the Minister and 
 the Governor of Tangiers came to meet us. At the bottom 
 of the hall was a recess or alcove, with a sofa and some 
 chairs ; in one corner a modest bed ; under the bed a coffee- 
 service ; the walls white and bare; the floor covered with 
 matting. We seated ourselves in the alcove. 
 
 The two personages before us formed an admirable con- 
 trast. One, Sidi-Bargas, the Minister, was a handsome old 
 man, with a white beard and a clear complexion, eyes of 
 extraordinary vivacity, and a large smiling mouth, display- 
 ing two rows of ivory-white teeth ; a countenance which 
 revealed the finesse and marvellous flexibility demanded of 
 him by the very nature of his office. His eye-glasses and 
 snuff-box, together with certain ceremonious airs of head and 
 hands, gave him something of the look of a European diploma- 
 tist. Plainly a man accustomed to deal with Christians ; 
 superior, perhaps, to many of the prejudices and superstitions
 
 INTERVIEW WITH SIDI-BARGAS. 
 
 73 
 
 of his people ; a Mussulman of large views ; a Moor varnished 
 with civilisation. The other, the Caid Misfiui, seemed the 
 incarnation of Morocco. He was about fifty years of age, 
 with black beard and bronze complexion, muscular, sombre, and 
 taciturn; a face that looked as if it had never smiled. He 
 held his head down, his eyes fixed on the ground, his brow bent ; 
 his expression was one of strong repugnance. Both men wore 
 large muslin turbans and long ample robes of transparent stuff. 
 
 The Author's Inter-view with the Minister and Governor of Tangiert. 
 
 The charge d'affaires presented to these two personages 
 through the interpreter the Commandant of the frigate and 
 the Captain. They were two officials, and their inlroduction 
 required no comment. But when I was presented, a few 
 words of explanation as to the office which I filled wen- 
 necessary ; and the c/i<ir</r d'affaires expressed himself in rather 
 hyperbolical terms. Sidi-Bargas stood a moment silent, and 
 then said a few words to the interpreter, who translated — 
 
 "His Excellency demands why you have such ability with 
 your hand. Your lordship wears it covered ; your lordship 
 will please remove your glove that the hand may be seen."
 
 71 .MOROCCO. 
 
 The compliment was so new to me that I was at a loss 
 Por a reply, 
 
 "It is not necessary/' observed the charge d'affaires, " be- 
 cause the Faculty resides in liis mind, and not in his hand." 
 
 One would have thought this settled the question; but 
 when a Mom- gets hold of a metaphor, he does not leave it 
 so easily. 
 
 " True/' replied his Excellency, through the interpreter ; 
 " but the hand beino- the instrument is also the symbol of the 
 faculties of the mind." 
 
 The discussion was prolonged for a few minutes. " It is a 
 gift of Allah," finally concluded Sidi-Bargas. 
 
 The conversation continued for some time, and the journey 
 was discussed. There was a long citation of names of 
 Governors, of provinces, of rivers, valleys, mountains, and 
 plains, that we should find upon our route ; names that re- 
 sounded in my ear as so many promises of adventure, and 
 set my fancy to work. What was the Red Mountain? What 
 should we find on the banks of Pearl River? What sort of 
 a man could that Governor be who was called " Son of the 
 Mare ? " Our charge made numerous inquiries as to dis- 
 tances, water, and shade. Sidi-Bargas had it all at the points 
 of his fingers, and in this direction was certainly greatly 
 beyond Visconti Venosta, who could not for his life have 
 given information to a foreign Ambassador as to how many 
 springs of water and how many groups of trees there were 
 between Rome and Naples. Finally, he wished us a pleasant 
 journey, with the following formula : — " May peace be in your 
 path ! " and accompanying the Ambassador to the entrance, 
 shook hands with us all with an air of great cordiality. The 
 Caid Misfiui, always mute, put out the tips of his ringers, 
 without raising his eyes. " My hand — yes/-' I thought, as I 
 gave it, " but not my head ! " 
 
 " Start on Monday ! " called out Sidi-Bargas, as we took 
 leave.
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE CARAVAN. 75 
 
 The Ambassador asked why Monday rather than Sunday. 
 " Because it is a day of good omen," he answered, with gravity ; 
 and with another deep salutation, he left us. 
 
 I learned later that Sidi-Misfmi is accounted a man of 
 great learning among the Moors ; he was tutor to the reigning 
 Sultan, and is, as his face shows, a fanatical Mussulman. 
 Sidi-Bargas enjoys the more amiable reputation of being a 
 very fine chess-player. 
 
 Three days before our departure the street before the 
 Legation was thronged with curious lookers-on. Ten tall 
 camels, which were to carry to Fez, in advance of us, a part 
 of our provision of wine, came one after the other, kneeled 
 down to receive their load, and departed with their guard of 
 soldiers and servants. Within the house all was bustle, and 
 the servants who had come from Fez were added to those 
 already on the spot. Provisions arrived at every hour in the 
 day. It was feared, at one moment, that we should not be 
 able to get off on the appointed day. But on the Sunday 
 evening, ;3rd of May, everything was ready, including the 
 lofty mast of an immense tricoloured flag which was to float 
 in the midst of our encampment ; and in the night the baggage 
 mules were loaded so that they should start early on Monday 
 morning, several hours before us, and arrive in the evening in 
 time to have everything ready for us at the encampment. 
 
 I shall always remember with a pleasant emotion those last 
 moments passed in the court of the Legation just before our 
 departure. We were all there. An old friend of the charge 
 d'affaires had arrived the evening before to join us, Signor 
 Patot, formerly Minister from Spain to Tangiers, and also 
 Signor Morten, a Genoese, and consular agent for Italy to 
 Mazagan. There was the doctor of the caravan, Miguorcz, a 
 native of Algiers ; a rich Moor, Mohammed Ducali, an Italian 
 subject, who accompanied the embassy in the quality of writer; 
 the second dragoman of the Legation, Soloman Affalo; two 
 Italian sailors, one orderly to Commander Cassone, and the 
 p 2
 
 STARTING OFF. 
 
 77 
 
 other belonging to the Bora ; the soldiers of the Legation in 
 holiday dress; cooks, workmen, and servants, all persons un- 
 known to me, whom two months of life in common in the 
 interior of Morocco were to render familiar to me, and whom 
 I prepared myself to study from that moment, one by one, and 
 to make move and speak in a book that I had in my head. 
 
 On the Road to Fez. 
 
 Every one of them had some peculiarity of dress, which gave 
 the whole a singularly picturesque appearance. There were 
 plumed caps, white mantles, gaiters, veils, wallets, and blankets 
 of every colour. There were enough pistols, barometers, 
 quadrants, albums, and field-glasses to have set up a bazaar. 
 We might have been setting off on an expedition to the Cape 
 of Good Hope, and every one of us was quivering with im- 
 patience, curiosity, and pleasant anticipation. To crown all, the 
 weather was exquisite, and a delightful sea breeze was blowing. 
 Mahomet was with Italv.
 
 7S MOROCCO. 
 
 At five ii'dock exactly the Ambassador mounted his horse, 
 and tlic flag's on the terrace of the Legation rose in salute. 
 Preoccupied as 1 was with my white mule, and in all the 
 confusion and uproar of departure, I remember but little of the 
 crowd that encumbered the street, the handsome Jewish women 
 peering Prom their terraces, and an Arab boy, who exclaimed, 
 with a strange accent, as we issued from the gate of the Soc-de- 
 Barra, " Italia!" 
 
 At the Soc we were joined by the representatives Of the 
 other Legations, who were to accompany us, according to 
 custom, a few miles beyond Tangiers ; and we took the road to 
 Fez, a numerous and noisy cavalcade, before which waved the 
 green folds of the banner of the Prophet.
 
 The Encampment 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HAD-EL-GAItBlA. 
 
 Sy^t THRONG of Ministers, Consuls, 
 '^t^JL dragomans, secretaries, clerks, 
 a great international embassy, 
 representing six monarchies and 
 two republics, and composed for 
 the most part of people who had 
 been all over the world. Among 
 others, there was the Spanish 
 Consul, dressed in the graceful 
 costume of the province of Mer- 
 da-, with a poignard in his 
 girdle; the gigantic figure of 
 the United States Consul, once 
 a colonel in a cavalry regiment, towering a whole head above 
 the rest of the troop, and riding a beautiful Aral» horse with 
 Mexican saddle and accoutrements ; the dragoman of the 
 Legation of France, an athletic man, mounted upon an enor- 
 mous white horse, with which he presented, in certain points
 
 A SOMNAMBULIST. 81 
 
 of view, the image of a centaur ; English, Andalusians, and 
 Germans were there, and as every one spoke in his own 
 tongue, mingled with laughter, the humming of songs, and 
 the neighing of beasts, the effect may be imagined. Before 
 us rode the banner-bearer, followed by two soldiers of the 
 Italian Legation; behind came the escort, led by the mulatto 
 General, with his rifle erect, one end resting on the saddle; 
 on either side a crowd of Arabs on foot. All this motley 
 company, gilded by the rays of the setting sun, presented a 
 spectacle so splendidly picturesque that each one of us wore 
 an air of complacency at the thought that we formed part of 
 the picture. 
 
 Little by little, those who had accompanied us from Tan- 
 giers took their leave and turned back ; only America and 
 Spaiu remained with us. The road so far was not bad; my 
 mule seemed the most docile of mules ; what remained for 
 me to desire? But there is no perfect felicity on this earth. 
 The Captain drew near and gave me a most unpleasing piece 
 of news. The Vice-Consul, Paolo Grande, our tent companion, 
 was a somnambulist. The Captain himself had met him the 
 night before on the stairs of the Legation, wrapped in a sheet, 
 with a lamp in one hand and a pistol in the other. The 
 servants, being questioned, confirmed the tale. To sleep with 
 him in the same tent was dangerous. The Captain entreated 
 me, as I was more intimate with the Vice-Consul than he, to 
 induce him to give up his arms for the night. I promised to 
 do my best. " I leave it in your hands,'''' said he, as he 
 turned away, " and I speak in the name of the Commandant 
 also." " Here's a fine business ! " thought I, as I went in 
 search of the Vice-Consul. lie came to meet me. With one 
 cautious question and another I succeeded in discovering thai 
 he carried with him a small arsenal, what with fire-arms and 
 cutting weapons, comprising an ugly Moorish poignard that 
 seemed expressly made for cutting a hole in my own person; 
 After turning it over in my mind, I decided to wait until
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 tlu 1 hour Pot going 1 to bed arrived, and Por tin* rest of the 
 way the teasing thought pursued me. 
 
 We were moving now in a greal curve over an undulating 
 country, green and solitary. The road, if road it could be 
 called, was formed of a large number of parallel paths crossing" 
 each other here and there, winding through stones and bushes, 
 and sunken, like the beds of streams. A few palms and aloes 
 showed their dark outlines upon the golden sky, which, above 
 our heads, began to glitter with stars. No person was to be 
 seen far or near. Once we heard some gunshots: it was a 
 group of Arabs on the top of a hill, salutino' the Ambassador. 
 After three hours' travelling- it was dark night, and we began 
 to wish for the encampment. Hunger in some and fatigue in 
 others made us silent. Nothing was beard but the horses' 
 feet and the panting breath of the servants running beside 
 us. Suddenly there was a shout from the Caid. On a height 
 to the right lights were glittering and we hailed with a 
 unanimous shout our first encampment. 
 
 I cannot express the pleasure I felt in dismounting among- 
 the tents. Had it not been for my dignity as the represen- 
 tative of Italian literature, I think 1 should have indulged 
 in a sort of jig. It was a little city, illuminated, and full 
 of noise and people. Kitchen fires blazed on every side. Ser- 
 vants, soldiers, cooks, sailors, went to and fro, exchanging 
 questions in all the tongues of the Tower of Babel. The 
 tents were arranged in a large circle, with the Italian banner 
 in the midst. Behind the tents were ranged the horses and 
 mules. The escort had its own small encampment apart. 
 Everything was in military order. I recognised at once my 
 own habitation, and ran to take possession. There were four 
 camp-beds, mats and carpets, lanterns, candlesticks, small tables, 
 folding chairs, wash-basins striped with the Italian colours, 
 and a great Indian fan. It was a princely establishment, in 
 which one might willingly spend a year. Our tent was placed 
 between those of the Ambassador and the artists.
 
 OUR FIRST DINNER IN CAMP. 
 
 83 
 
 One hour after our arrival we were seated at dinner in the 
 tent consecrated to Lucullus. I think that was the merriest 
 dinner that ever took place within the confines of Morocco 
 since the foundation of Fez. We were sixteen, comprising the 
 American Consul with his two sons, and the Spanish Consul, 
 with two attaché* from the Legation. The Italian cuisine 
 carried off a solemn victory. It was the first time, I be- 
 
 Dlning in the Tin'. 
 
 lieve, that in that desolate country the fumes of macaroni with 
 gravy and risotto alia, Milanese ever rose to the nostrils of 
 Allah. The fat French cook, come from Tangiers for that night 
 only, was clamorously called before the footlights. Toasts went 
 off one after the other in Italian, in Spanish, in verso, in prose, 
 in music. The Spanish Consul, a handsome Castilian of the 
 antique stamp, large-bearded, broad-shouldered, and deep-hearted, 
 declaimed, with one hand on his dagger-hilt, the dialogue of 
 Don Juan Tenorio with Don Luis Mendia, in Zorilla's famous 
 drama. There were discussions upon the Eastern Question, 
 upon the eyes of Arab women, noon the Carlisl war, upon
 
 S4 MOROCCO. 
 
 the immortality of the soul, and upon the properties of the 
 terrible cobra di capello — the aspic of Cleopatra — which the 
 charlatans of Morocco allow io bite them with impunity. 
 Some one, iu the midst of the clamour of conversation, whis- 
 pered iu my car that he would be grateful to me for life 
 if I would mention, in my future book on Morocco, that he 
 had killed a lion. I seized the occasion to request my fellow- 
 guests to give me each a note as to the particular ferocious 
 beasi which he had conquered. The Spanish Consul, out of 
 gratitude, improvised a verse in honour of my mule, and all 
 singing it to a tune from the "Italiana in Algieri/' we 
 issued forth, and sought our different sleeping-places. 
 
 The encampment was immersed in profound slumber. In 
 front of the tent of the Ambassador, who had retired before 
 us, watched the faithful Selam, first soldier of the Legation. 
 In the distance paced like a shadow, among the tents, the 
 form of the Caid of the escort. The sky was all sparkling 
 with stars. What a blessed night, if I had not had that 
 thorn insei'ted in my pillow ! 
 
 1 had no sooner entered my tent than the Captain repeated 
 his advice, and I determined to attack the subject after we 
 should be in bed. It was unavoidable, but it was very un- 
 pleasant. The Vice-Consul might take it badly, and I should 
 be very sorry. He was so agreeable a companion. Like a 
 true Sicilian, full of fire, he talked of the most insignificant 
 things with the accent and style of an inspired preacher. He 
 made use of the most terrible adjectives — immense, divine, 
 and so on- — on the slightest occasion. His quietest and least 
 expressive gesture was to shake his hands wildly above his 
 head. To see him discuss any question, with his eyes flying 
 out of his head, and his aquiline nose that seemed to defy the 
 world, was to judge him an irascible and imperious man, whereas 
 he was in reality the kindest and gentlest person conceivable. 
 
 " Come, courage ! " whispered the Captain, when we were 
 all in bedr
 
 A PRACTICAL JOKE. 85 
 
 " Signor Grande/'' I began, " are yon in the habit of getting 
 up in the night ?" 
 
 He seemed much astonished at my question. "No," he 
 answered; "and I should be very sorry to think that any one 
 had such a habit." 
 
 "That's queer/' 1 thought. "Then/' said I, "you recog- 
 nise that it is a dangerous habit?" 
 
 He looked at me. " Excuse me/' he said,, after a moment's 
 silence ; " I don't suppose you mean to joke on such a 
 subject." 
 
 " Excuse me" I answered ; " I have not the least in- 
 tention of joking. It is not my custom to jest on serious 
 subjects." 
 
 " Serious indeed ; and it will be for you to guard against 
 the consecmences." 
 
 " Well, this is fine ! Do you imagine that I shall go and 
 sleep in the middle of the camp ? " 
 
 " Of the two, it seems to me that you should go, rather 
 than I." 
 
 " That is an impertinence ! " cried I, sitting up in bed 
 with a jump. 
 
 " Oh, a new idea ! " shouted the Vice-Consul, bouncing up 
 in his turn; "an impertinence, not to risk being murdered!" 
 
 A shout of laughter from the other two broke up the 
 discussion, and before they spoke we understood that we bad 
 been the victims of a joke. They had told hi in that / was 
 in the habit of wandering about in the night wrapped in a 
 sheet, and with a pistol in my hand. 
 
 The night passed without disturbance, and I woke at dawn. 
 The camp was still immersed in slumber; only among 1 1n- 
 tents of the escort a few persons were in motion. The sky 
 in the east was of a brilliant rose-colour. I went out among 
 the tents, ami stood in contemplation before the spectacle that 
 lay in front of me. 
 
 The camp was placed on the side of a hill covered with
 
 86 MOROCCO. 
 
 grass, aloes, the prickly pear, and some flowering shrubs. 
 Near the Ambassador's tenl rose a tall palm-tree, gracefully 
 inclined towards the east. In front of the hill extended an 
 immense plain, undulating and covered with verdure, closed 
 in the distance by a chain of dark-green mountains, behind 
 which appeared other blue heights almost lost in the limpid 
 sky. In all that space there was no house, nor curl of smoke, 
 nor tent, nor cattle, to be seen. It was like an immense 
 garden whore no living thing was admitted. A fresh and 
 perfumed breeze rustled the branches of the palm, and made 
 the only sound that broke the silence. Suddenly, as I turned 
 I beheld ten dilated eyes fixed on mine. Five Arabs were 
 seated upon a mass of rock at a few steps from me — labourei's 
 from the country, come in in the night to see the encamp- 
 ment. They seemed sculptured out of the rock on which 
 they sat. They looked at me without winking, without the 
 least sign of curiosity, or sympathy, or embarrassment, or 
 malevolence ; the whole five motionless and impassive, their 
 faces half hidden in their hoods, like personifications of the 
 solitude and silence of the fields. I put one hand in my 
 pocket, and the ten eyes followed it; I took out a cigar, and 
 the ten eyes fixed themselves upon it; they followed every 
 motion that I made. Little by little I discovered other 
 figures farther off, seated in the grass two by two and three 
 by three, motionless and hooded, and, like the first, with their 
 eyes fixed on me. They seemed to have risen from the earth, 
 dead men with their eyes open, appearances rather than real 
 persons, which would vanish under the first beams of the sun. 
 A long and tremulous cry, coming from that part of the camp 
 where the escort lay, disturbed me from my contemplation 
 of these beings. A Mussulman soldier was announcing to his 
 fellow T s the first of the five canonical hours of prayer which 
 every Mussulman must follow. Some soldiers came out of 
 the tents, spread their mantles on the earth, and knelt down 
 upon them, their faces towards the east. Three times they
 
 THE ITALIAN SAILOR. 87 
 
 rubbed their hands, arms, head, and feet with a handful of 
 earth, and. then began to recite their prayers in a low voice, 
 kneeling', rising to their feet, prostrating themselves face down- 
 wards, lifting their open hands to a level with their ears, and 
 crouching on their heels. Soon the commander of the escort 
 issued from his tent, and was followed by his servants, then 
 the cooks. In a few minutes the greater part of the popu- 
 lation of the camp was afoot. The sun, scarcely above the 
 horizon, was scorching. 
 
 When I went back to my tent, I made the acquaintance 
 of several odd personages to whom I shall have frequently 
 to allude. 
 
 The first to appear was one of the Italian sailors, orderly 
 to the Captain of the frigate, a Sicilian, born at Porto Empe- 
 docle, Ranni by name — a young fellow of twenty-five, very 
 tall, and of herculean build and strength — good-tempered, grave 
 as a magistrate, and endowed with the singular virtue of never 
 being astonished at anything, except, perhaps, the astonish- 
 ment of others. For him, Porto Empedocle, Gibraltar, Africa, 
 China, the moon itself, had he been in it, were all the 
 same. 
 
 "What do you think of this way of living ?" asked the 
 Captain, while Ranni helped him to dress. 
 
 " What am I to say ?" was the response. 
 
 " Why, the journey, the new country, all this confusion — do 
 they make no impression upon you?''' 
 
 He was silent a moment, and then answered ingenuously, 
 " No impression at all." 
 
 " Bui the encampment — that at least is new to you." 
 
 "Oh no, Signor Commandant." 
 
 "When did you ever see one before?" 
 
 u I saw this one lasl evening." 
 
 The Commandant looked at him, repressing his irritation. 
 Then he said, ■' Well, Lasl evening — what impression did it make 
 then ? "
 
 ^ MOEOCCO. 
 
 " AN**-! 1 , * ' answered the sailor with candour, " the same im- 
 pression, you know, that it made this morn ins;'." 
 
 The Commandant hung his head with an air of resignation. 
 
 Soon after there entered another not less curious personage. 
 He was an Arab from Tangiers, who was in the Vice-Consul's 
 
 servici 1 for the time of the journey. His name was Cina; but 
 his master called him Civo, for greater facility of pronunciation. 
 He was a large and tall young fellow, rather given to practical 
 joking, but good-natured and willing — a big, ingenuous boy, 
 who laughed and hid his face when you looked at him. He had 
 no other garment than a long, wide, white shirt, without a 
 girdle, which floated about him when be walked, and gave him 
 a ridiculous resemblance to a cherub. He knew about thirty 
 Spanish words, and with these he managed to make himself 
 understood, when constrained to speak ; but he usually preferred 
 to converse in pantomime. To look at him, you would judge 
 him to be about five-and-twenty ; but it is easy to make a 
 mistake in an Arab's age. I asked him how old he was. He 
 covered his face with one hand, thought a moment, and answered, 
 " Citando ffìcerra Espana — ano y medio." In the time of the 
 war with Spain, which was in 18 GO, he was a year and a half 
 old, consequently he was then seventeen. 
 
 The third personage was the Ambassador's cook, who brought 
 us our coffee — an unadulterated Piedmontese from Turin, who 
 had dropped from the clouds one day into Tangiers, and had not 
 yet recovered his wits. The poor man was never tired of 
 exclaiming, " What a country ! What a country ! " 
 
 I asked him if before leaving Turin they had not told him 
 what sort of a place Morocco was. He answered, yes, they had 
 told him, "Take care; Tangiers is not Turin." And he had 
 thought, "Pazienza ! it will be like Genoa or Alexandria;" and 
 instead he had found himself in the midst of savages. And they 
 had given him two Arab assistants who could not understand a 
 word he said. And then to make a two months' journey through 
 the deserts of Egypt ! He knew he should never get back alive.
 
 BREAKING UP THE CAMP. 
 
 89 
 
 " But at any rate/' I said, " you will have something' to tell 
 when you get back to Turin." 
 
 "Ah ! " he answered, turning away with an air of profound 
 depression, " what can I tell about a country where one cannot 
 find a single leaf of salad ? " 
 
 Breakfast over, the Ambassador gave the order to break up 
 the encampment. During that long operation, in which not less 
 than one hundred persons were concerned, I noticed a singular 
 trait of Arab character — the insatiable passion for command. 
 
 Striking the Tents. 
 
 There was no need of any indication to recognise at once in that 
 crowd of figures the head muleteer, the head porter, the head 
 tent-servant, the chief of the soldiers of the Legation. Each of 
 these was invested with an authority, and ho made it felt and 
 heard, with hand and voice and eye, with or without occasion, 
 and with all the strength of his soul and body. Those who had 
 no authority resorted to all sorts of pretexts for giving orders, 
 and seeming to be something a little above their fellows. The 
 most ragged wretch among them gave himself imperious airs. 
 The simplest operation, such as tying a cord or lifting a, box, 
 provoked an exchange of thundering yells, lightning glances, 
 and gestures worthy of an angry sultan. Even Givo, the modest 
 
 G
 
 90 MOROCCO. 
 
 CivOj domineered over two country Araba who .allowed them- 
 selves to glance al his master's trunks from a distance. 
 
 At ten in tlic morning, under a burning sun, the long 
 caravan began slowly to descend into the plain. The Spanish 
 Consul ami his two companions had been left behind; of foreigners 
 none remained with us now but the American Consul and his 
 two sons. 
 
 From the place where we had passed the night, called in 
 Arabic Ain-Dalia, which signifies fountain of wine, because of 
 the vines that once were there, we were to go that day to Had- 
 el-Garbia, beyond the mountains that shut in the plain. 
 
 For more than an hour we journeyed over a gently undulating 
 plain, among fields of barley and millet, through winding paths 
 forming at their crossings many little islets of grass and flowers. 
 AY e met no one, and no figure was visible in the fields. Only 
 once we encountered a long file of camels led by two Bedouin 
 Arabs, who muttered as they passed the common salutation 
 " Peace be on your way." 
 
 I felt a great pity for the Arab servants who accompanied us 
 on foot, loaded with umbrellas, field-glasses, albums, clocks, and 
 a thousand objects of name and use unknown to them ; con- 
 strained to follow our mules with rapid step, suffocated by dust, 
 scorched by the sun, half fed, half clothed, subject to every one, 
 possessing nothing in the world but a ragged shirt and a pair of 
 slippers ; running afoot from Fez to Tangiers, only to go back 
 again ; and then, perhaps, to follow some other caravan from 
 Fez to Morocco, and so to go on throughout their lives, without 
 other recompense than just not to die of hunger, and to repose 
 their bones under a tent at night ! I thought as I looked at 
 tl urn of Goethe's " Pyramid of Existence." There was among 
 them a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, a mulatto, hand- 
 some and slender, who constantly fixed on us his large dark eyes 
 full of a pensive curiosity, seeming to speak confusedly of many 
 things, and dumbly demanding sympathy. He was a foundling, 
 the fruit of no one knew what strange amours, who, beginning
 
 THE BED MOUNTAIN. 91 
 
 this fatiguing life in the Italian Embassy, would probably never 
 cease until he should fall dying in some ditch. Another, an old 
 man all skin and bones, ran with his head down, his eyes closed, 
 and his hands clenched, with a sort of desperate resignation. 
 Some talked and laughed as they panted on. Suddenly one 
 darted from the ranks, passed before us, and disappeared. Ten 
 minutes afterwards we found him seated under a fig-tree. He 
 had done a half-mile at top speed, in order to gain upon the 
 caravan and enjoy five minutes'' rest and shade. 
 
 Meantime we arrived at the foot of a small mountain, 
 called in Arabic the Red Mountain, because of the colour 
 of its earth ; steep, rocky, and still bristling on its lower part 
 with the remains of a felled wood. This climb had been 
 announced to us at Taugiers as the most difficult part of 
 our road. " Mule,-" said I to my beast, " I desire you to 
 remember my contract with my editor /' and I pushed for- 
 ward in a bold and reckless manner. The path rose winding 
 among great stones that seemed to have been placed there 
 on purpose to bring me to grief by some personal enemy ; at 
 every doubtful movement of my mule I felt a whole chapter 
 of my future book fly away out of my head — twice the poor 
 beast came down on her knees, and launched my soul upon 
 the confines of a better world — but at last we reached the 
 summit, safe and sound, where to my amazement I found 
 myself in presence of the two painters, who had gone on 
 ahead in order to see the caravan climbing up. The spectacle 
 was well worth the fatigue of the rapid ascent. 
 
 The caravan stretched back for more than a mile from 
 the side of the mountain into the plain. First came the 
 principal members of the Embassy, among whom shone con- 
 spicuous the plumed hat of the Ambassador and the white 
 turban of Mohammed Ducali, and on either side came a 
 troop of servants on foot and on horseback, picturesquely 
 scattered among the rocks and shrubs of the ascent. Behind 
 •these, in couples and groups of three or four, wrapped in 
 G 2
 
 92 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 their while and blue mantles, and bendino- above their scarlet 
 saddles, the horsemen of the Moorish escort looked like a 
 Long procession of maskers; and behind them came the end- 
 less tile of mules and horses carrying trunks, furniture, tents, 
 and provisions, Hanked by soldiers and servants, the last of 
 whom appeared like white and red points among the green 
 
 The Caravan ascending the Red Mountain. 
 
 of the fields. This many-coloured and glittering procession 
 animated the solitary valley, and presented the strangest and 
 gayest spectacle that can be imagined. If at that moment I 
 had had the power to strike it motionless, so that I could 
 contemplate it at my leisure, I think I could not have 
 resisted the temptation. As I turned to resume my road, 
 I saw the Atlantic Ocean lying as blue and tranquil as a 
 lake at a few miles distance. There was but one ship in view, 
 sailing near the coast, and towards the strait. The Com-
 
 TEYING TO SKETCH. 93 
 
 mandant, observing her with his glass, discovered her to be 
 Italian. What would we not have given to have been seen 
 and recognised by her ! 
 
 From the Red Mountain we descended into another lovely 
 valley, carpeted with red, white, and lilac flowers. There was 
 not a house, nor tent, nor human being, to be seen. The 
 Ambassador deciding to halt here, we dismounted and sat down 
 under the shade of some trees, while the baggage-train went on. 
 Around us, at the distance of a few steps, the servants 
 were grouped, each holding a horse or mule. The artists drew 
 forth their sketch-books, but it was of no use. Scarcely did 
 one of the vagabonds perceive that he was an object of observa- 
 tion than he hid himself behind a tree, or drew his hood over 
 his face. Three of them, one after the other, got up and 
 went grumbling off, to sit down about fifty paces further on, 
 dragging their quadrupeds with them. They did not even 
 wish the animals to be sketched. In vain the vexed artists 
 prayed, and coaxed, and offered money ; it was all useless waste 
 of breath. They made signs of no with their hands, pointing 
 to the sky and smiling cunningly, as if to say, " We are not 
 such fools as you think us." Not even the mulatto boy, or the 
 Legation soldiers, who were familiar with Europeans, and knew 
 the two artists, would permit their persons to be profaned by 
 .a Christian pencil. The Koran, as we know, prohibits the 
 representation of the human ligure, as well as that of animals, 
 as ;i beginning of and temptation to idolatry. One of the 
 soldiers wus asked, through the interpreter, why he would 
 not consent- to stand and have his portrait taken. " Because/' 
 lie answered, " in the figure which he will make the artist 
 cannot put a soul. What is the purpose of his work then ? 
 God alone can create living beings, and it is a sacrilege to 
 pretend to imitate them.''' The mulatto buy answered, laugh- 
 ing, "Have my portrait taken! Yes, while I am asleep; 
 then it does no! matter, and I am not in fault; hut never, if I 
 know it, shall it be done."
 
 94 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Then Signor Biseo began to draw one who was asleep. 
 All the others, grouped about, stood turning their eyes, now 
 on the painter, now on their sleeping companion. Presently 
 the latter awoke, looked about him, made a gesture of 
 displeasure, and went off grumbling, amid the laughter of 
 his fellows, who seemed to be saying, " You are done for 
 now." 
 
 After an hour more on the road, we saw the white tents 
 
 cnVK 
 
 
 * 
 
 Signor Biseo's Sketch of the Sleeping Arab. 
 
 of the encampment, and a troop of horsemen, sprung from we 
 knew not where, came towards us, yelling and firing off their 
 guns. At about ten paces off they stopped, their chief shook 
 hands with the Ambassador, and his men joined our escort. 
 They proved to be soldiers of a species of landwehr belonging to 
 the place where our camp was pitched, and forming part of the 
 army of Morocco. Some had turbans, some a red handkerchief 
 bound round the head, and all wore the white caftan. 
 
 The encampment was placed this time upon a barren spot ; 
 in the distance on one side there was a chain of blue mountains, 
 on the other verdant hills. At about half a mile from the
 
 3C 
 
 
 :m 
 
 mi : /■ 
 
 I» 
 
 > il.vWlf 

 
 96 MOROCCO. 
 
 touts wore two groups o£ huts built of stubble, ami half hidden 
 among prickly-pear bushes. 
 
 We had hardly seated ourselves in the tent when a soldier 
 came running, and, planting himself before the Ambassador, said, 
 joyfully, "The muna." "Lot them come in," said the Am- 
 bassador, risiilo-. \\ o all rose to our feet. 
 
 A long file of Arabs, accompanied by the chief of the escort, 
 the soldiers of the Legation, and servants, crossed, the encamp- 
 ment, and, ranging thorn solves before our tout, deposited at the 
 feet of the Ambassador a great quantity of coal, eggs, sugar, 
 butter, candles, bread, three dozen of hens, and eight sheep. 
 
 This tribute was the mona or muna. Besides the heavy tax 
 they pay in money, the inhabitants of the country are obliged 
 to furnish all official personages, the soldiers of the Sultan, and 
 all envoys passing by, with a certain quantity of provisions. 
 The Government fixes the quantity, but the local authorities 
 demand whatever they please, without reference to the quantity 
 received, although it may be more than is required, and it is 
 always a small portion of that which has been extorted the 
 month before, or will be extorted in the following month after 
 the presentation. 
 
 An old man, who appeared to be the head of the deputation, 
 addressed, through the interpreter, some obsequious words to 
 the Ambassador. The others, who were all poor peasants 
 clothed in rags, looked at us, our tents^ and their tribute — 
 the fruit of their labour lying at our feet — with an air of 
 mingled astonishment and depression which betrayed a pro- 
 found resignation. 
 
 A division having been quickly made of the things, between 
 the Ambassador's larder and that of the escort, muleteers, and 
 soldiers, Signor Morteo, who had that morning been named 
 Intendant-General of the camp, rewarded the old Arab, who 
 made a sign to his companions, and all silently departed as 
 they had come. 
 
 Then began, what was to take place every day from that
 
 SBLAM. «7 
 
 .time forth, a great squabbling among the servants, muleteers, 
 and soldiers over the sharing of the mima. It was a most 
 amusing scene. Two or three of them went up and down 
 with measured steps, carrying eaeh a sheep in his arms, 
 invoking Allah and the Ambassador; others yelled out their 
 discontent and enforced their reasoning by beating the ground 
 with their fists ; Civo fluttered about in his long white shirt 
 with the profound conviction that he was very terrible; the 
 sheep baa-d, the hens ran here and there, the dogs yelped. 
 Suddenly up rose the Ambassador, and all was still. 
 
 The only one who continued to grumble was Selam. 
 
 Selam was a great personage. In reality there were two 
 •of the Legation soldiers who bore that name, both belonging to 
 the special service of the Ambassador ; but, as when we say 
 Napoleon we mean the first of that name, so when we said Selam 
 we meant one, and one only. 
 
 He was a handsome young fellow, tall and slender, and full 
 of cleverness. He understood everything at a glance, did every- 
 thing with all his might, walked in a series of leaps, spoke with 
 a look, and was in motion from morning until night. Every- 
 body came to him, about the baggage, the tents, the kitchen, 
 the horses, and he had an answer for all. He spoke Spanish 
 badly and knew a few words of Italian, but could have made 
 himself understood in Arabic, so speaking and picturesque was 
 his ] antomime. To indicate a hill, he made the gesture of a 
 fiery colonel pointing out to his men a battery that is to be 
 assaulted. To reprove a servant, he fell upon him as if he were 
 about to annihilate him. lie always reminded me of Salvini in 
 " Othello," or "Oromanes." In whatever attitude lie presented 
 himself, whether pouring water on the Ambassador's spine, or 
 galloping by on his chestnut horse, nailed to his saddle, le' w;is 
 always the same hold, graceful, and elegant figure. The two 
 painters were never tired of looking ai him . Jle wore a scarlet 
 calimi an 1 blue drawers, and was easily distinguished from one 
 ■end of tie camp to another. His name was in every mouth all
 
 98 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 over the encampment. When lie was angry he was a savage ; 
 when he laughed, a child. // Signor Ministro was for ever in 
 his mouth and in his heart, for he placed him after Allah and 
 the Prophet. Ten guns levelled at his breast would not have 
 
 Sclam pointing out a Hill- 
 
 paled his cheek, and an undeserved rebuke from the Ambassador- 
 made him cry. He was about five-and-twenty. 
 
 When he had done grumbling, he came near me and began* 
 opening a box. As he stooped, his fez fell off, and I saw a large 
 blood-mark on his head. In answer to my question, he said that 
 he had been wounded by a loaf of sugar. " I threw it up in the-
 
 MOHAMMED DUCALI. 9i>" 
 
 air," he said, with gravity, " and it came down on my head." 
 I looked amazed, and he explained — "I do it," he said, "to 
 harden my head. The first time I fell down insensible, but now 
 it only draws a little blood. A time will come when it will not 
 break the skin. All the Arabs do it. My father broke bricks 
 as thick as two fingers on his head as easily as I would break a 
 loaf of bread. A true Arab," he concluded, with a haughty air, 
 striking his head a blow with his fist, " should have a head of 
 iron." 
 
 The encampment that evening presented a very different 
 aspect from that of the preceding days* Everybody had fallen 
 into their own habits of passing the time. The artists had 
 erected their easels and were hard at work in front of their tent. 
 The Captain had gone to observe the ground, the Vice-Consul to 
 collect insects ; the ex-Spanish Minister to shoot partridges ; the 
 Ambassador and the Commandant were playing chess in the 
 dining-tent ; the servants were playing leapfrog ; the soldiers of 
 the escort conversed sitting in a circle ; of the rest some walked 
 about, some read, some wrote; one would have thought we had 
 been there a month. If I had had a small printing-press I could 
 have found it in my heart to edit a newspaper. 
 
 The weather was exquisite ; we dined with the tent open r 
 and during dinner the horsemen of Had-el-Garbia shouted, and 
 fired off their guns, while the sun went down in splendour. 
 
 Opposite to me at table sat Mohammed Ducali. For the 
 first time I was able to observe him attentively. He was a true 
 type of the wealthy Moor — supple, elegant, and obsequious ; I 
 say wealthy, because he possessed, it was said, more than thirty 
 houses at Tangiers, although at that time his affairs were sup- 
 posed to be in some confusion. He might, have been about forty 
 years of age, was tall of stature, with regular features, l'air, and 
 bearded; he wore a small turban, twisted in a caie of the fines! 
 of the fabrics of Fez, which l'eli down over a purple embroidered 
 caftan; he smiled to show his teeth, spoke Spanish in a feminine 
 voice, and had the languid air of a young lover. In former
 
 THE CAMP AT NIGHT. 101 
 
 days he had been a merchant ; had been in Italy, in Spain, 
 London, and Paris, and had returned to Morocco with, some ideas 
 of European customs. He drank wine, smoked cigarettes, wore 
 stockings, read romances, and related his gallant adventures. 
 The principal reason for his going to Fez was a debt owed him by 
 the Government, which he hoped to get paid through the good 
 offices of the Ambassador. He had brought with him his own 
 tent, servants, and mules. His glance gave one to understand 
 that he would have brought his wives also had that been possible, 
 but upon my hazarding a question in that direction he modestly 
 dropped his eyes, and made no reply. 
 
 After dinner I satisfied a desire which I had nourished ever 
 since leaving Tangiers, and went out to see the camp at night. 
 I waited until eveiy one had entered his tent, wrapped myself in 
 a white mantle, and went out. The sky was studded with stars ; 
 the lights were all out, except the lantern that was attached to 
 the flag-staff ; a profound silence reigned throughout the camp. 
 Very quietly, and avoiding a stumble over the tent-cords, I 
 moved to the left, and had not made ten steps when an unex- 
 pected sound stopped me short. Some one appeared to be tuning 
 a guitar, in a closed tent that I had never visited, and which 
 stood about thirty paces outside of the circle of the camp. I 
 approached and listened. The guitar accompanied a soft and 
 very sweet voice singing an Arab ditty full of melancholy. 
 Could there be a woman in this mysterious tent ? It was closed 
 on every side, so I lay down on my face and tried to peep under- 
 neath. Almost at the same moment a soft voice beside me said, 
 " Qitien e.s?" (Who is there?) "Aliali protect me !" I thought, 
 "then; is a woman here." I answered, aloud, "An inquisitive 
 person," with the most pathetic voice I could assume at the 
 moment. A laugh responded, and a male voice said in Spanish, 
 "Bravo ! Come in and take a cup of tea!" It was the voice 
 of Mohammed Ducali. He opened a Little door, and I found 
 myself within the tent, which was hung with some rich flowered 
 stuff, ornamented with small arched windows, lighted by a
 
 102 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 ^Moorish lantern, and [perfumed in :i way to do honour to the 
 fairest odalisque of the Sultan's harem. And there, luxuriously 
 Btretched upon a Persian carpet, with his head on a rich cushion, 
 lay a young Arah servant lad, of gentle and pensive aspect, with a 
 
 guitar in his hands. In 
 - • the middle of the tent there 
 
 was a tea-service, and on 
 one side smoked a perfume- 
 burner. I explained to 
 Ducali how I came to be 
 so near his tent, took a 
 cup of tea, listened to an 
 air sung by the Arab 
 musician, and taking my 
 leave, resumed my wan- 
 derings. Avoiding another 
 tent where more of Ducali' s 
 servants were sleeping, I 
 turned towards that of the 
 Ambassador. 
 
 Before the door lay 
 Selam, stretched on his blue 
 mantle, with his sabre by 
 his side. " If I wake him, 
 and he does not recognise 
 me at once," I thought, 
 
 flX ^^^^SteJeiPfe»^ " ^ * s a ^ over ^th me ! 
 
 JjJ BE s^WS<> Lgt me be prudent." I ad- 
 
 Mohammed Dulcali. -, , . . -, -, 
 
 vanced on tip-toe, and peeped 
 
 into the tent. It was divided in the middle by a rich curtain : 
 
 on one side was the reception-room, with a table covered with 
 
 a cloth, and writing materials, and a few gilded chairs ; on 
 
 the other side slept the Ambassador and his friend, the ex- 
 
 Minister from Spain. I thought I would leave my card on 
 
 the table, and advanced a step, when a low growl arrested
 
 THE TENT OF MOHAMMED. 
 
 103 
 
 me. It was Diana, the Ambassador's dog. Almost at the 
 same moment the master's voice called out, "Who's that?" 
 
 " An assassin ! " answered I. 
 
 He knew my voice, and called out, " Strike ! " I explained 
 the motive of my visit, at which he laughed, and, giving- me 
 his hand in the darkness, wished me success in my undertaking. 
 Coming out I stumbled over something which proved to be a 
 tortoise, and as I struck a match to examine him, I discovered 
 
 Selam Bleeping before the Tent of the Ambassador. 
 
 a monstrous toad sitting looking at me. For a moment 1 
 thought I would give up my enterprise, but, curiosity over- 
 coming disgust, I went on. 
 
 I reached tbe tent of the intendant. As I bent down to 
 listen, a tall white figure rose between me and the door, and 
 said in sepulchral accents, " He sleeps." I started back as at 
 the apparition of a phantom, but recovered myself immediately. 
 It was an Arab servant of Morteo's, who had been with him 
 for several years, and spoke a little Italian, and who, in spile 
 of my white hood, had recognised me instantly. Like Selam, 
 he had been stretched before the door of his muster's fcent,
 
 L04 MOROCCO. 
 
 with his sabre hy his side. I wished him good night, and 
 went en my way. 
 
 In tlie licxl tent were the doctor and Solomon the drago- 
 man. An acute odour of drugs pervaded the neighbourhood, 
 and there was a light inside. The doctor was seated at his 
 table, reading; the dragoman was asleep. This physician, 
 young, highly cultivated, and of very gentlemanlike manners 
 and appearance, had a very singular peculiarity. Born in Algeria 
 of French parents, he had lived many years in Italy, and had 
 married a Spanish wife. Not only did he speak the languages 
 of the three countries with equal facility, but he partook of 
 the characteristics of the three nations, loved all three coun- 
 tries alike, and was, in short, a sort of Latin three in one, 
 who was equally at home in Rome, in Madrid, and in Paris. 
 He was, besides, gifted with a most delicate and acute sense 
 of the ridiculous ; so that, without speaking, with one furtive 
 glance, or slight movement of the lip, he could throw into 
 relief the ridiculous side of a person or thing in a way to 
 make one burst with laughter. At the sight of me he guessed 
 at once the reason of my presence, offered me a glass of wine, 
 and, raising his arm, whispered, " Success to your expedition ! " 
 "With the aid of Allah!" I rejoined, and left him to his 
 reading. 
 
 Passing before the empty dinner-tent, I turned to the left, 
 came out of the circle of the encampment, walked between 
 two long rows of sleeping horses, and found myself among 
 the tents of the escort. Listening, I could hear the breathing 
 of the soldiers as they slept. Guns, sabres, saddles, shoulder- 
 belts, poignards, were scattered about before the tents, together 
 with the banner of Mahomet. I looked abroad, across the 
 country; not a soul was visible. Only the two groups of 
 cabins appeared like black and formless blots. 
 
 I turned back, passed between the American Consul's tent 
 and that of his servants, both close-shut and silent, crossed a 
 little space of ground where the kitchen had been planted, and,
 
 THE SAILORS. 105 
 
 stepping 1 over a barricade of pots and saucepans, reached the 
 little tent of the cook. With him were the two Arabs who 
 served him as scullions. All was black within ; I put in ray- 
 head and called, " Gioanin ! '" 
 
 The pour fellow, afflicted by the non-success of an omelet, 
 and perhaps worried by the neighbourhood of his two t( savages/* 
 was not asleep. "Is that you?" he asked. "It is I." 
 
 He was silent a moment, and then, turning restlessly on 
 his bed, exclaimed, "Ah, che pais ! " (Ah, what a country!") 
 
 " Courage!" I said; "think that in ten days we shall be 
 before the walls of the great city of Fez." 
 
 He muttered some confused words in which I could only 
 distinguish the name of his native city in Italy ; and, respecting 
 his grief, I silently withdrew. 
 
 In the adjoining tent were the two sailors — Ranni, the 
 Commandant's orderly, and Luigi, from the Dora, a Neapolitan, 
 and such a kind, pleasant, handy young fellow, that in two 
 days he had gained the good-will of all. They had a light, 
 and were busy eat ini;' something. Lending an ear, I could 
 hear some portions of their dialogue, which was very curious. 
 Luigi inquired for whom were intended the crayon sketches 
 which the two artists made in their albums. " Why, for the 
 king, of course," said Ranni. " What, without any colour, 
 like that?" demanded the other. "Oh, no! when they get 
 back to Italy, first they will colour them, and then they will 
 send them." " Who knows how much the king will pay for 
 them?" "Oh, a great deal, of course! Perhaps as much as 
 a scudo (live francs) a leaf. Kings think nothing of money." 
 
 Once more I left the circle of the encampment, and wan- 
 dered for a minute or two among long rows of horses and 
 mules, among which 1 recognised with emotion the white 
 companion of my journey, apparently sunk in profound con- 
 templation ; and I next found myself before the tent of M. 
 Vincent, a Frenchman residing at Tangiers, one of those mys- 
 terious personages who have been all over the world, speak 
 ii
 
 100 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 all tongues, and understand all hades — cook, merchant, hunter, 
 interpreter, reader of ancient inscriptions — and who, having 1 , 
 with his own tent and horse, attached himself to the Italian 
 Embassy in the capacity of high director of the kitchen, was 
 now going to Fez to sell to the Government French uniforms 
 bought in Algeria. 
 
 1 looked in at him through a crack. He was seated on 
 
 a box, in a medi- 
 
 4> 
 
 tative attitude, 
 with a great pipe 
 in his mouth, by 
 the light of a 
 small candle 
 stuck in a bottle. 
 But what a 
 strange figure ! 
 He reminded me 
 of those old al- 
 chemists in the 
 Dutch pictures, 
 musing in their 
 studies, their 
 faces illuminated 
 by the fire of an 
 alembic. Meagre, 
 hent,and bony, be 
 looked as if every 
 episode of his life had been written in the wrinkles of his 
 visage and in the angles of his form. Who knows what he 
 was thinking about ? What memories of adventurous journeys, 
 strange meetings, mad undertakings, and odd personages, were 
 mingling in his head ? Perhaps, after all, he was only thinking 
 of the price of a pair of Turco breeches, or about his scanty pro- 
 vision of tobacco. Just as I was going to speak he blew out bis 
 light with a puff, and vanished into the darkness like a magician. 
 
 JI. Vincent.
 
 STROLLING AMONG THE TENTS. 107 
 
 A few paces further on were the tents of the Commandant 
 of the escort, that of his first officer, and that of the chief of 
 the horsemen of Had-el-Garbia. I was in the act of looking 
 into one of these when a light step came behind me, and a 
 hand of steel closed upon my arm. I turned, and found myself 
 face to face with the mulatto General. He withdrew his 
 hand at once, and with a laugh, said, in a tone of apology, 
 " Salamu alikum ! salirmi alikum! " (" Peace be with you ! ") 
 He had taken me for a thief. We shook hands in token of 
 amity, and I went on. 
 
 In a few moments I saw before me what appeared to be 
 a hooded figure seated on the ground with musket in hand 
 and concluded that this must be a sentinel. About fifty paces 
 further on there was another, and then a third; a chain of 
 them all around the encampment. I learned later that this 
 vigilance was from no fear of violence, but simply to guard 
 the tents from thieves, who abound there, and are extremely 
 clever at their trade, having much practice among the tribes 
 who live in tents. Fortunately the frankness of my move- 
 ments aroused no suspicion, and 1 was allowed to finish my 
 excursion. 
 
 I passed by Malek and Saladin, the envoy's two fiery 
 steeds, stumbled over another tortoise, and stopped before 
 the tent of the footmen. They were lying on a little straw, 
 one upon the top of the other, and sleeping so profoundly 
 that they seemed like a heap of corpses. The boy with the 
 great black eyes lay with half his body outside of the tent, and 
 I narrowly missed stepping on his face. I felt so sorry for him 
 that, wishing to give him a little comfort in the morning when 
 he should wake, I placed a piece of money in his hand that lay 
 open on the grass, palm upwards, as if begging charity from 
 the spirits of the night. 
 
 A murmur of merry voices drew me away to a neighbouring 
 tent, where were the soldiers and servants of the Embassy ; 
 they appeared to be eating and drinking. T perceived the odour 
 h :!
 
 L08 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 of kit', ami recognised the voices of Solum the Second, Abd-el- 
 Khaman, and others j it was an Arab orgie in full swing-. The 
 poor fellows had well earned a little diversion after the fatigues 
 of the day, and 1 passed on without disturbing their merriment 
 by my presence. In a few moments 1 reached the artists' tent, 
 which completed the circle of the encampment, and my noc- 
 turnal excursion was over.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TLETA DE REISSANA. 
 
 |§^|HE next morning we started before sun- 
 rise in a thick wet fog-, which chilled 
 us to the hone and hid us from each other- 
 The horsemen of the escort had their cowls 
 t over their heads, and their guns slung across 
 their shoulders. We were all wrapped in 
 cloaks and mantles ; it seemed like autumn 
 in the Low Countries. In front of me 
 I could discern nothing distinctly save the 
 white turban and blue cloak of the Caid ; 
 all the others were confused shadows lost 
 in the grey mist. We went onward in 
 silence over the rough ground covered 
 with dwarf palms, broom, and wild plums, 
 /W,, and fennel, in groups compact or scattered 
 according to the crossing or forking of 
 'sfciraK \\a%~. " the road. The sun, appearing in the horizon, 
 gilded our left side a moment, and again vanished. The mist 
 presently grew thinner, and we could catch glimpses of the 
 country. It was a succession of green valleys, into which we 
 descended and came up again almost unconsciously, so gradual 
 were the slopes. The banks were covered with the aloe; and 
 the wild olive. The olive, which grows prodigiously here, is 
 left almost everywhere in its wild state, and the inhabitants 
 
 *%*_
 
 - 
 
 110 MOROCCO. 
 
 use the fruit of the argan for Light and Eood. We saw no 
 signs of habitation, neither houses nor tents. We seemed to 
 be travelling through a virgin country. From valley to valley, 
 from solitude to solitude, after about, three hours' journeying 1 
 we finally reached a point where the larger trees and wider 
 paths, and a few scattered cattle here and there, gave token of 
 an inhabited place. One after the other our mounted escort 
 spurred their horses and galloped away over a height, others 
 darted off in another direction, the rest arranged themselves in 
 close order. Presently we found ourselves in front of the 
 opening of a gorge formed by low hills, upon which stood some 
 huts. A few ragged Arabs of both sexes looked curiously at us 
 from behind the hedge. As we rode into the gorge the sun 
 shone out, and, turning an abrupt angle, we found ourselves in 
 front of a wonderful spectacle. 
 
 Three hundred horsemen, dressed in all the colours of the 
 rainbow, and scattered in a sort of grand disorder, came 
 towards us at full speed, with their muskets held aloft, as if 
 they were rushing to the assault. It was the escort from the 
 pro vince of Laracce, preceded by the Governor and his officials, 
 coming to relieve the escort of Had-el-Garbia, which was to 
 leave us on the confines of the province of Tangiers, a point 
 that we had now reached. 
 
 The Governor of Laracce, a dignified old man with a great 
 white beard, stopped the advance of his horsemen with a sign of 
 his hand, saluted the envoy, and then, turning to the troop, who 
 seemed boiling over with impatience, made a vigorous gesture, as 
 if to say, " Break loose ! " Then began one of the most splendid 
 lab-el-bar oda (or powder-plays) that could be desired. C 
 
 They charged in couples, by tens, one by one, in the bottom I 
 of the valley, on the hills, in front and at the sides of the / 
 caravan, forwards and backwards, firing and yelling without / 
 cessation. In a few minutes the valley was as full of the smoke/ 
 and smell of powder as a battle-field. On every side horses 
 pranced, arms glittered, mantles floated, and red, yellow, green,
 
 L12 MOROC< 0. 
 
 blui', and orange caftans mingled with the sbine of Babres ami 
 poignards. One by one they darted by, like winged phantoms, 
 
 olii and young, nini of colossal proportions, strange and terrible 
 figures, erecl in their stirrups, with heads thrown hack, hair 
 streaming in the wind, and muskets held aloft ; and each as he 
 discharged his piece gave a savage cry, which the interpreter 
 translated for us : — " Have a care ! " " Oh, my mother ! " " In 
 the name of Cod !" "I kill thee ! " « Thou art dead I" "I 
 am avenged \" Some dedicated the shot to a special purpose or 
 person : " To my master ! " " To my horse ! " " To my dead ! " 
 "To my sweetheart ! " They fired up and down, and behind, 
 bending and twisting as though they had been tied to the saddle. 
 Here and there one would lose his turban or his mantle, and he 
 would turn in full career and pick it up with the point of his 
 musket. Some threw their guns up in the air and caught them 
 as they fell. Their looks and gestures were like those of men 
 mad with drink, and risking their lives in a sort of joyful fury. 
 Most of tbe horses dripped blood from their bellies, and the feet 
 and stirrups, and extremities of the mantles of the riders, were 
 all bloody. Some faces in that multitude impressed themselves 
 upon my memory from the first. Among others, a young man 
 with a Cyclopean head and an immense pair of shoulders, dressed 
 in a rose-coloured caftan, and who emitted a succession of roars 
 like those of a wounded lion ; a lad of fifteen, handsome, bare- 
 headed, and all in wdiite, who passed three times, crying, "My God ! 
 my God ! " a long, bony old man, with a most ill-omened visage, 
 who Hew by with half-shut eyes and a satanic grin upon bis 
 face, as if he carried the plague behind him ; a black, all eyes 
 and teeth, with a monstrous scar across his forehead, who writhed 
 furiously about in his saddle, as if to free himself from the clutch 
 of some invisible hand. 
 
 In this fashion they accompanied the march of the caravan, 
 ascending and descending the heights, forming groups, dissolving 
 and re-forming, with every combination of colour, till they 
 seemed like the fluttering of a myriad of banners.
 
 THE CUBA OF SIDI-LIA.MAM. 
 
 113 
 
 At a short distance from the end of the gorge the Ambassador 
 stopped, and we all dismounted to enjoy a little repose and 
 refreshment under the shade of a group of olive-trees, but the 
 escort from Laracce continued its exercises before us. The bag- 
 gage train went on towards the spot selected for the camp. 
 
 We had reached the Cuba of Sidi-Liamani. 
 
 In Morocco they give the name of Cuba (or cupola) to a 
 
 The ('uba of Alidi- Zianutni. 
 
 small square chapel, with a low dome, in which a saint lies 
 buried. These Cube, very frequent in the southern part of the 
 empire, placed in general near a spring and a palm-tree, and 
 visible by their snowy whiteness from a great distance, serve as 
 guides to the traveller, are visited by the faithful, and are for 
 the mosl part in charge of a descendanl of the saint, heir to his 
 sanctity, who inhabits a hut eluse by, and lives by the alms of 
 pious pilgrims. The Cuba of Sidi-Liamani was posted upon a 
 little eminence at a few paces distant from us. Some Arabs 
 were seated before the door. Behind them protruded the head
 
 1 1 I MOROCO< ). 
 
 of a decrepit old man — the saint — who looked at us with stupid 
 wonder. 
 
 In a few minutes our kitchen fires were lighted and we were 
 breakfasting ; while an empty sardine box, thrown away by the 
 cook, and picked up by the Arabs, was carried to the Cuba for 
 examination, and made the object of a long" and animated dis- 
 cussion. Meantime, the lab-el-baroda being- over, the horsemen 
 had dismounted, and were scattered all about the valley; some 
 of them were resting-, some pasturing their horses, while others, 
 seated in their saddles, remained to keep watch as sentinels upon 
 the heights. 
 
 As I walked about with the Captain, I then for the iirst time 
 observed the horses of Morocco. They are all small, so much so 
 that, upon my return to Europe, after having become accustomed 
 to them, even middle-sized horses seemed at first enormous to 
 me. They have brilliant eyes, the forehead a little flattened, 
 very wide nostrils, the cheek-bone very prominent, the Avhole 
 head beautiful; the shin-bone and tibia slightly curved, which 
 gives a peculiar elasticity of movement ; the crupper very sloping, 
 tendering them more able to gallop than to trot, indeed, I do 
 not remember ever to have seen a horse trot in Morocco. Seen 
 in repose, or merely walking past, even the finest of them makes 
 no show ; but put to a gallop, they are quite changed, and 
 become superb. Although they have much less food, and are 
 more heavily caparisoned than ours, they bear fatigue much 
 better. Also the manner of riding is different. The stirrups are 
 very short, and the reins very long. The rider sits with his 
 knees almost at a right angle, and the saddle, extremely high 
 before and behind, holds him in a way that makes it almost 
 impossible for him to be thrown. The horsemen wear heelless 
 boots of yellow leather. Most of them have no spurs, but use 
 instead of them the angle of the stirrup ; some wear a small iron 
 point in the shape of a dagger, fastened to the heel by a metal 
 band and chain. Wonderful things are told of the great love of 
 an Arab for his horse, the animal of the Prophet's predilection r 
 
 ..
 
 SKETCHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 115 
 
 He is said to consider him as a sacred being ; that every morning 
 at sunrise he places his hand upon his steed's head, and murmurs, 
 Bismillah! (in the name of God), and then kisses the hand, 
 which has been sanctified by the touch ; and that he is prodigal 
 of cares and cai-esses. It may be all true. But as far as I could 
 see, the Arab's great affection for his horse did not prevent him 
 from lacerating his sides in a quite unnecessary way, or from 
 leaving him in the sun when he could have put him in the shade, 
 or from taking him a long distance to drink, with his legs 
 hobbled, or from exposing him a dozen times a day to the danger 
 of breaking his limbs, out of pure mischief, or finally, from 
 neglecting his trappings in a way that would put him in prison 
 for six months if he belonged to a European cavalry regiment. 
 
 The heat being very great we remained some hours at our 
 resting place, but no one could sleep by reason of the insects. 
 It was the first warning of the great battle that was to be 
 waged, growing hotter every day, until the end of the journey. 
 Hardly had we stretched ourselves upon the ground when 
 we were assaulted, stung, and tormented on every side, as 
 if we had chosen a bed of nettles. Caterpillars, spiders, 
 monstrous ants, hornets and grasshoppers, big, impudent, 
 and determined, swarmed about us. The Commandant, who 
 had taken upon himself to raise our spirits by always exagger- 
 ating the perils of the way, now assured us that these creatures 
 might be considered microscopic compared with the insects 
 that we should encounter at Fez and later in the summer ; 
 and he declared that so little would be left of us upon our 
 return to Italy that our best friends would not know us. The 
 cook listened to these remarks with a forced smile, and became 
 pensive. Close by there was a monstrous spider's web, spread 
 over some bushes like a sheet hung out to dry. The Com- 
 mandant exclaimed that everything in that country was 
 gigantic, formidable, miraculous I and insisted that the spider 
 which had made that web must be as large as a horse. But 
 we could not discover him. The only ones of us who slept
 
 116 MOB< CCO. 
 
 were the Arabs, curled up in the burning sun with a procession 
 of creeping things marching over them. The two artists tried 
 to sketch; surrounded by a cloud of ferocious tlies, which drew 
 from l'ssi a whole rich litany of Florentine oaths. 
 
 The heal becoming less, the escort from Had-cl-Garbia, the 
 American Consul, and the V ice-Governor of Tangiers, took 
 Leave of the Ambassador and turned back, while we pursued 
 our way, accompanied by the three hundred horsemen from 
 La r acce. 
 
 Vast undulating plains, covei'ed here with corn and there 
 with barley, further on with yellow stubble or with grass 
 and flowers ; here a few black tents and the tomb of a saint ; 
 now and then a palm-tree ; from mile to mile three or four 
 horsemen coming to join our escort; an immense solitude, a 
 sky of perfect purity, a burning sun; such are the notes I 
 find in my note-book as to the march of May 5th. 
 
 The encampment was at Tleta de Reissana. We found the 
 tents pitched as usual in a circle, in a deep and shell-shaped 
 gorge so overgrown with tall grass and flowers that they almost 
 impeded our steps. It seemed like a great garden. Beds and 
 boxes in the tents were almost hidden by tall flowers of every 
 form and colour. Close to the tent of the two painters rose 
 two enormous aloes in blossom. 
 
 The Italian Consular Agent from Laracce met us here. He 
 
 was Signor G , an old Genoese merchant, who had lived 
 
 for forty years on the Atlantic coast, jealously preserving the 
 accent of his native town ; and towards evening arrived, from 
 no one knew where, an Arab who wished to consult the doctor 
 of the Embassy. 
 
 He was a poor old man, lame and bent. Signor Miguerez, 
 who spoke Arabic, questioned him about his ailments, and 
 searched in the portable medicine chest for a remedy. Not 
 finding the right one, he sent for Mohammed Ducali, and 
 made him write down a prescription in Arabic, by means of 
 which the sick man was to be treated when he <rot back to his
 
 A MOORISH DOCTOR. 117 
 
 family and friends. It was a medicine tnneli in use among the 
 Arabs. Whilst Ducali wrote, the old man muttered prayers ; 
 and when it was ready, the paper was handed to him. 
 
 Instantly, before there was time to say one word, he 
 crammed it into his mouth with both hands. The doctor called 
 out — "No! no! Spit it out! spit it out!" But it was 
 of no use. The poor old fellow chewed the paper with the 
 avidity of a starving creature, swallowed it, thanked the doctor, 
 and turned to go away. They had all the pains in the world 
 to persuade him that the virtue of the medicine did not 
 reside in the paper, and that another prescription must be 
 written. 
 
 The incident cannot surprise any one who knows what 
 the science of medicine is in Morocco. It is almost exclusively 
 exercised by quacks, necromancers, and " saints/' Some juices 
 of herbs, blood-letting, sarsaparilla for certain diseases, the dry 
 skin of a serpent or chameleon for intermittent fevers, a hot iron 
 for wounds, certain verses from the Koran written upon the 
 medicine bottles, or on bits of paper worn round the sick man's 
 neck ; these are the principal remedies. The study of anatomy 
 being forbidden by their religion, it is easy to imagine to what a 
 pass surgery is reduced. Amputation is held in abhorrence. 
 The few Arabs who are within reach of the aid of European 
 surgeons would prefer to die in atrocious spasms rather than 
 submit to the cut that would save their lives. It follows that 
 though cases of injury to a limb are frequent in Morocco, 
 especially from the explosion of fire-arms, there are very few 
 mutilated persons ; ami those few are for the most part poor 
 wretches whose hands have been cut off by the executioner with 
 a dull knife, and the hemorrhage slopped by the application of 
 boiling pitch. These violent remedies, however, especially (he 
 red-hot iron, sometimes obtain admirable effects; and they 
 apply them themselves brutally, boldly, without any aid. 
 Either by reason of small nervous sensibility, or from their soul- 
 having been hardened in a fatalistic fail h, t, hey resist the most
 
 118 MOROCCO. 
 
 horrible pain with tremendous Eorce of will. They go through 
 tlu> operation of cupping with an earthen pot and enough fire 
 to roast the spine; they open boils with their daggers, driving 
 
 them in at the risk of cutting an artery; and they will apply 
 lire to an open wound on their own arm, blowing away the 
 smoke of the frizzling flesh without a groan. The maladies 
 that are most prevalent are fevers, ophthalmia, scald-head, 
 elephantiasis, and dropsy ; but the most common of all is 
 syphilis, handed down from generation to generation, altered 
 and reproduced in strange and horrid forms, with which whole 
 tribes are infected, and of which a large proportion die ; and the 
 mortality would no doubt be even greater but for their ex- 
 treme sobriety in eating, to which both their poverty and the 
 exigencies of the climate compel them. European physicians 
 there are none, excepting in the cities of the coast; in Fez itself 
 there are none, unless some renegade quack who has fled from 
 Algeria or the Spanish garrisons may be counted such. When 
 the Emperor, or a Minister, or a rich Moor falls ill, he sends for 
 a European doctor from the coast. But this is never done 
 except in cases of extremity, and they hide their infirmities for 
 years, so that when the physician does arrive, it is often only to 
 see his patient die. They have great faith in the skill of 
 European doctors ; the sight of the drugs, the chemical pre- 
 parations, the surgical instruments, give them an immense 
 idea of the power of science ; they promise themselves prodigies, 
 following the first prescriptions with the docility and cheer- 
 fulness of people quite certain of a prompt cure. But if the cure 
 is not immediate, they lose all faith, and go back to their quacks. 
 The evening passed without any event worth noting, be- 
 yond the discovery of a monstrous scorpion of preternatural 
 blackness on the pillow of my bed. I was seized with a 
 momentary terror, and carefully threw the light upon him as I 
 approached with cautious steps ; whereupon I was able to read 
 upon his back the following reassuring inscription : — Ceasar 
 Biseo made it — May bth, 1875.
 
 LAB-EL-BAKODA. 
 
 119 
 
 At dawn in the morning we left for the city of Alkazar. 
 The weather was dark. The gorgeous colours of the soldiers of 
 our escort shone out with marvellous force against the grey sky 
 and the dark green of the country. Hamed Ben Kasen 
 Buhamei planted himself upon a height above the road and 
 looked complacently down upon the brilliant cavalcade as they 
 filed by in close order, silent, grave, with eyes fixed upon the 
 horizon, like the advance guard of an army on the morning of a 
 
 Evolutions of' the Soldiers of Alkazar. 
 
 battle. For some time we rude among olive-trees and hieh 
 bushes; then we entered a vast plain all covered with flowers, 
 violet and yellow, where the escort scattered to go through the 
 lab-el-baroda. It would be impossible to convey an idea of the 
 strange beauty of the spectacle upon that flowery plain, under 
 the threatening sky. 1 can scarcely believe that they had any 
 rule by which they grouped themselves and dissolved again to 
 t'orni new combinat ions, but that morning I fancied it. One 
 would have sworn thai their movements were directed by a 
 ballet-master. In the midst oi' a group of blue mantles there 
 would appear^ as if sent on purpose, one in a white cloak ; and a
 
 
 i ]>-'.VJ 
 
 
 mm Wl 
 
 
 zi (f 
 
 I . - '
 
 A PAINTER UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 121 
 
 company of white caftans surrounded a figure in brilliant rose- 
 colour, looking as if made by the stroke of an artist's brush. 
 Harmonious colours followed, met, and mingled for the space of 
 a moment, and then dissolved to form new harmonies. The 
 three hundred seemed multiplied into an army ; they were 
 everywhere, wheeling and swooping like a flock of birds ; and 
 the two painters were driven to despair by them. 
 
 "Ah, canaglie ! '" exclaimed one, "if I only had you in 
 my clutch at Florence ! "
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ALKAZAR-EL-KIBIIt. 
 
 5$Àjfjj T a certain point the Ambassador 
 ^^_ made a sign to the Caid, and 
 the escort came to a stand, 
 while we, accompanied by a few 
 soldiers, went a short distance 
 beyond to visit the ruins of a 
 bridge. The place was worthy 
 of the silent respect with 
 which we stood and viewed 
 the little that remained of 
 w T hat was once a bridge. Three 
 hundred years ago, on the 
 fourth of August, over those 
 flowery fields, fifty cannon and forty thousand horsemen thundered 
 and charged under the command of one of the greatest captains 
 of Africa, and the youngest, the most adventurous, the most 
 unfortunate of European monarchs. On the shores of that 
 river were put to death — by the implacable scimitars of 
 Arabs, Turks, and Berbers — the flower of the Portuguese 
 nobility, courtiers, bishops, Spanish soldiers, and soldiers of 
 William of Orange, Italian, German, and French adventurers. 
 Six thousand Christians fell that day. We stood upon the 
 field of that terrible battle of Alkazar, which spread con- 
 sternation throughout Europe, and sent a shout of joy from 
 Fez to Constantinople. Over that bridge passed at that time
 
 ALKAZAR. 
 
 123 
 
 the road to Alkazar. Near it was the camp of Muley Moluk, 
 Sultan of Morocco. Muley Moluk came from Alkazar, the 
 King of Portugal from Arzilla. The battle was fought upon 
 that plain, and along the shores of the river. Beyond the ruins 
 of the bridge there was not a stone or a sign to record it. 
 From which side had the cavalry of the Duke of Riveiro made 
 
 xsiii ÉIMfa 
 
 
 The AXkazar Band. 
 
 its first victorious charge ? Where had Muley Ahmed fought, 
 the brother of the Sultan, the future conqueror of the Soudan, 
 a captain suspected of cowardice in the morning, a victorious 
 monarch in the evening ? At what point on the river was 
 drowned Mohammed the Black; the discrowned fratricide, and 
 provoker of the war ? At what angle of the field had King 
 Sebastian received those death-wounds that killed with him the 
 independence of Portugal and the last hopes of Cameons ? 
 i 2
 
 THE ALKAZAE BAND. 125 
 
 And where stood the litter of Sultan Moluk when he expired 
 among his officers, with his finger on his lip ? Whilst these 
 thoughts were passing through our minds, the escort stood 
 afar off, motionless on that famous field, like a handful of 
 Muley Ahmed's cavalry brought to life by the noise of our 
 passage. And yet very likely not one among those soldiers 
 knew that this had been the battle-field of three kings, the 
 glory of their ancestors ; and when we resumed our march, 
 they glanced about with curious eyes, as if seeking among the 
 grass and flowers for the reason of our halt. 
 
 We crossed the Mkhacem and the Uarrur, two small affluents 
 of the Kus, or Lukkos, the Lixos of the ancients, which from 
 the mountains of the Rif, where it is born, throws itself into 
 the Atlantic at Laraece, and continued our way towards 
 Alkazar over a succession of arid hills, meeting only an occa- 
 sional camel with his driver. 
 
 At last, we thought as we rode along, we shall arrive at a 
 city ! It was three days since we had seen a house, and 
 every one felt a wish to get away for a day from the 
 monotony of desert life. Besides, Alkazar was the first 
 of the towns of the interior that we should reach, and our 
 curiosity was very lively. The escort fell into order as we 
 approached the place. We almost unconsciously ranged our- 
 selves in two ranks, with the Ambassador in front Hanked by 
 his two interpreters. The weather had cleared up, and a 
 «heerful impatience animated the whole caravan. 
 
 Suddenly, from the top of a hill, we saw in the plain below, 
 surrounded by gardens, the city of Alkazar, crowned with towers, 
 minarets, and palms, and at the same moment there burst 
 forth the cracking of musketry and the sound of a most in- 
 fernal din of music. 
 
 Itwas 1 he Governor coming l<» meet us with his staffa company 
 of foot-soldiers, and a band of music. In a few minutes we met. 
 
 Ah ! he who has not seen tin; Alkazar band, with its ten 
 pipers, and horn-players, old men of a, hundred years and boys
 
 L26 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 ni' ten, all mounted on donkeys about as large as dogs, 
 ragged and half naked, with their shaven heads, their satyr- 
 like gestures, their mummy faces, has not seen, I think, the 
 
 Entering Allcazar. 
 
 most sadly comic spectacle that can be witnessed under the 
 wide sky. 
 
 Whilst the ay-ed Governor was giving welcome to our
 
 MOORISH JUSTICE. 127 
 
 chief, the soldiers fired their muskets in the air, and the band 
 continued to play. We advanced to within half a mile of the 
 city, to an arid field where the tents were to be pitched. 
 
 The band accompanied us, still playing*. The dinner tent 
 was pitched and made ready, and we entered it while the 
 escort fired their muskets. 
 
 Meanwhile the band, ranged before the tent, continued to 
 blow with increasing* ferocity, but a supplicating gesture from 
 the Ambassador silenced it at last. Then we assisted at a curious 
 scene. 
 
 Almost at the same moment there presented themselves to 
 the Ambassador, one on the right and the other on the left, a 
 black man and an Arab. The black, handsomely dressed in 
 a white turban and a blue caftan, deposited at his feet a jar of 
 milk, a basket of oranges, and a dish of cùscùssù ; the Arab, 
 poorly attired in the usual burnouse, placed before him a sheep. 
 This done, the two darted lightning glances at each other. 
 They were two mortal enemies. The Ambassador, who knew 
 them, and expected them, called the interpreter, sat down, and 
 began to question them. 
 
 They had come to ask for justice. The black was a sort of 
 factor or steward of the old Grand Scheriff Bacali, one of the most 
 powerful personages at the court of Fez, proprietor of much land 
 in the neighbourhood of Alkazar. The Arab was a countryman. 
 Their dispute had been going on for some time. The black, 
 strong in the protection of his master, had several times im- 
 prisoned and fined the Arab, accusing him, and supporting his 
 accusation with many proofs, of having stolen horses, cattle, and 
 goods. The Arab, who insisted that he was innocent, finding 
 no one willing to take ap his defence against, his persecutor, had 
 abandoned his village one fine day, and, going to Tangicrs, had 
 there inquired who amoDg the Foreign Ambassadors was most, 
 just and generous. Being told that it was the Minister from 
 Italy, he had cut, the throat of a sheep before the gate of the 
 Legation, asking in this sacred l'orni, to which no refusal was
 
 Las 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 possible, for protection and justice. The Ambassador had listened 
 
 to his story, had intervened through the agent at Laraece, and 
 had called upon the authorities at Alkazar to see to it; but his 
 own distance, the intrigues of the black, and the weakness of the 
 authorities had all combined to put the poor Arab in a worse 
 condition than at lirst ; and he was indeed again accused, and 
 
 Justice at the Ambassador'' s Tent. 
 
 subjected to new persecutions. Now the presence of the Ambas- 
 sador was to undo the knot. Both individuals were admitted to 
 tell each his own story : the interpreters rapidly translating. 
 
 Nothing more dramatic can be imagined than the contrast 
 between the figures and the language of the two men. 
 
 The Arab, a man of about thirty years of age, of a sickly 
 and suffering aspect, spoke with irresistible fervour, trembling, 
 shivering, invoking God, striking the earth with his fists, cover-
 
 MOORISH JUSTICE. 129 
 
 ing his face with his hands with a gesture of despair, fulminating 
 at his enemy with glances that no words can describe. He 
 declared that the other had suborned witnesses, intimidated the 
 authorities, that he had imprisoned him, the speaker, solely to 
 extort mone}', that he had cast many others into prison in order 
 to possess their wives, that he had sworn his death, that he was 
 the scourge of the country, an accursed of God, an infamous 
 being ; and as he spoke, he showed the marks of the fetters 
 upon his naked limbs, and his voice was choked with anguish. 
 The black, whose every feature confirmed one, at least, of these 
 accusations, listened without looking, answered quietly, smiled 
 slightly with the edge of his lip, impassive and sinister as a 
 statue of Perfidy. 
 
 The discussion had lasted for some time, and seemed yet far 
 from a conclusion, when the Ambassador cut it short by a decision 
 that was received favourably by both parties. He called Selim, 
 who appeared upon the instant with his great black eyes shining 
 and ordered him to mount his horse and gallop to the Arab's 
 village, distant an hour and a half from Alkazar, and there 
 gather from the inhabitants information concerning the persons 
 and the facts. The black thought: — " They are afraid of me; 
 they will either be silent, or speak in my favour." The Arab 
 thought, and he was quite right, that interrogated by a soldier 
 of the Embassy, they would have courage to speak the truth. 
 
 Selim darted oil' like an arrow; the two disputants vanished 
 and were seen no more. We heard afterwards that the village 
 people had all testified in favour of the Arab, and that the black 
 had been condemned, through the intervention of the Ambas- 
 sador, to restore to his victim the money he had extorted from 
 him. 
 
 Meantime the tents had been pitched, 1 he usual poor Wretches 
 had brought the usual minia, and a few of the inhabitants of the 
 city had come into the encampment. 
 
 As soon as it began to grow cooler, we proceeded towards 
 
 Alkazar on foot , preceded, Hanked, and followed by an armed force.
 
 1-" MOROCCO. 
 
 We saw from a distance, in passing, a singular edifice, 
 between the camp and the town, all arches and cupolas, with a 
 court in the midst, like a cemetery. It proved to be one of 
 those can id, now fallen into disuse, which, when Moorish civilisa- 
 tion flourished, contained a library, a school of letters and 
 sciences, a hospital for the poor, an inn for travellers, besides a 
 mosque and a sepulchral chapel ; they belonged, and belong still 
 in general, to the religious orders. 
 
 "We approached the gates of the city. It is surrounded by 
 old battlemented walls ; near the gate by which we entered were 
 some tombs of saints surmounted by green domes. Hearing a 
 great noise over our heads, we looked up, and found it proceeded 
 from some large storks, erect upon the roofs of the houses, which 
 were clattering their bills together, as if to give warning of our 
 coming. We entered a street ; the women rushed into their 
 houses ; the children took to flight. The houses are small, 
 unplastered, without windows, and divided by dark and dirty 
 alleys. The streets look like the beds of torrents. At some of 
 the corners lie entire carcases of donkeys and dogs. We trudge 
 through the dirt, among great stones, and deep holes, stumbling 
 and jumping. The inhabitants begin to gather upon our track, 
 looking at us with amazement. The soldiers make way for us 
 with their fists and the butts of their muskets, with a zeal which 
 the Ambassador hastens to restrain. A throng of people now 
 follow and precede us. When one of us turns suddenly round, 
 all stop, some run away, and others hide themselves. Here and 
 there a woman slams her door in our faces, and a child litters a 
 yell of terror. The women look like bundles of dirty rags ; the 
 children are in general cpuite naked ; boys of ten or twelve have 
 nothing on but a shirt, tied round the waist with a cord. Little 
 by little the people about us grow bolder. They look curiously 
 at our trousers and boots. Some boys venture to touch the 
 skirts of our coats. The general expression of the faces is far 
 from benevolent. A woman, in full flight, throws some words 
 at the Ambassador which the interpreter translates — " God con-
 
 THE STREETS OF ALKAZAR. 131 
 
 found thy race ! " A young- man cries out — " God grant us a 
 good day of victory over these ! M We reach a small square, so 
 steep and stony that we can with difficulty climb it, and pass a 
 line of horrible old women almost completely naked, seated on 
 the ground, with bread and other matters before them which 
 they appear to be selling. In the streets through which we 
 pass there is at every hundred paces a great arched door, which is 
 closed at night. The houses are everywhere naked, cracked, 
 gloomy. We enter a bazaar, roofed with canes and branches of 
 trees that are falling down on every side. The shops are mere 
 niches ; the shopmen wax figures ; the merchandise rubbish 
 offered in joke and hopeless of a purchaser. In every corner are 
 crouched sad, sleepy, stupid-looking figures ; children with scald- 
 heads ; old women with no semblance of humanity. We seem 
 to be wandering in the halls of a hospital. The air is full of 
 aromatic odours. Not a voice is heard. The crowd accompanies 
 us in spectral silence. We come out of the bazaar. We meet 
 Moors on horseback, camels with their burthens, a fury who 
 shakes her fist at the Ambassador, an old saint crowned with a 
 laurel wreath, who laughs in our faces. At a certain point we 
 began to see men dressed in black, with long hair, their heads 
 covered with a blue handkerchief, who looked smilingly at us, 
 and made humble salutations. One of these, a ceremonious old 
 gentleman, presently came forward and invited the Ambassador 
 to visit the Meliti, or Jews' quarter, called by the Arabs by that 
 insulting name, which signifies accursed ground. The Ambas- 
 sador accepting, we passed under a vaulted door or gateway, and 
 engaged in a labyrinth of alleys more hideous, more wretched, 
 and more fetid than those of the Arab city, between houses that 
 seemed mere dens, across small squares like stable-yards, from 
 which could be seen courts like sewers ; and from every side of 
 this dirt-heap emerged beautiful women and girls, smiling and 
 murmuring — Buenos diaa ! — Buenos diasi In some places we 
 were obliged to stop our noses and pick our way on the tips 
 of our toes. The Ambassador was indignant. " How is it
 
 132 MOROCCO, 
 
 possible/' said he to the old Jew, "that you can live in 
 such filth?" 
 
 " It is the custom of the country," he replied. 
 
 "The custom of the country ! It is shameful! Aud you 
 ask the protection of the Legations, talk of civilisation, call the 
 Moors savages ! You, who live worse than they, and have the 
 lace to pride yourselves upon it ! " The Hebrew hung his 
 head and smiled, as if he thought — " What strange ideas ! " 
 
 As we came out of the Mellà the crowd again surrounded 
 us. The Vice-Consul patted a child on the head, and there 
 were signs of astonishment ; a favourable murmur arose ; the 
 soldiers were obliged to drive back the boys who crowded in 
 upon us. We went with quickened pace up a deserted street, 
 leaving the crowd gradually behind us, and coming outside the 
 walls into a road bordered by enormous cactus and tall palm- 
 trees, felt, with a long breath of relief, that we were free of the 
 city and its people. 
 
 Such is the city of Alkazar, commonly called Alkazar-el- 
 Kebir, which signifies the great Palace. Tradition says that 
 it was founded in the twelfth century, by that Abou-Yussuf 
 Yacoub-el-Mansur, of the dynasty of the Almoadi, who con- 
 quered Alonzo IX. of Castile at the battle of Alarcos, and who 
 built the famous tower of the Giraldo, at Seville. It is related 
 that one evening he lost his way while hunting, and that a 
 fisherman sheltered him in his hut. The Caliph in gratitude 
 built for him on the same spot a great palace with some other 
 houses, around which clustered gradually the city. It was 
 once a flourishing and populous place; now it has about five 
 thousand inhabitants, between Moors and Jews, and is very 
 poor, although it draws some advantages from being on the 
 road of the caravans that traverse the empire from north to south. 
 
 Passing near one of the gates we saw an Arab boy of 
 about twelve years old walking stiffly and with difficulty, 
 with his legs wide apart in the most awkward attitude. Other 
 boys were following him. When he came near we saw that he
 
 PATEENAL PUNISHMENT. 
 
 133 
 
 had a great bar or iron about a foot in length fixed between 
 his legs by two rings around his ankles. He was a lean and 
 
 jf-;i^m 
 
 Entering >< B > aar at Alh 
 
 dirty lad, witli an ill-favoured countenance. The Ambassador 
 questioned him through the interpreter
 
 LS4 MOKOCCO. 
 
 "Whti put thai bar upon you ? " 
 
 " My father/' answered the boy, boldly. 
 
 " For what reason ? " 
 
 " Because 1 will not learn to read." 
 
 We did not believe him, but a town Arab who was present 
 -continued what he had said. 
 
 " Have you worn it long ? " 
 
 " Three years/' he answered, smiling bitterly. 
 
 We thought it all a lie. But the Arab again confirmed it, 
 adding that the boy slept with the bar upon him, and that 
 all Alkazar knew him. Then the Ambassador, moved with 
 compassion, made him a little speech, exhorting him to study, 
 to get rid of that shame and torture, and not to dishonour his 
 family ; and when the interpreter had repeated it, he was asked 
 what his answer was. 
 
 " My answer is this," replied the boy, " that I will wear 
 the iron all my life, but that I will never learn to read, and 
 that I will die before I yield." 
 
 The Ambassador looked fixedly at him, but he sustained his 
 glance with unflinching eye. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said the Ambassador, turning to us, " our 
 mission is over." We returned to the camp, and the boy with 
 his iron bar re-entered the city. 
 
 " A few years more," said a soldier, " and there will be 
 -another head over the Alkazar o-ate."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BEX-AUDA. 
 
 ^IpHE next morning", at 
 sunrise, we forded 
 the river Kus, on 
 the right bank of which 
 the city of Alkazar is 
 situated, and again ad- 
 vanced over an undu- 
 lating, flowery, solitary 
 country, whose confines 
 stretched beyond our 
 sight. The escort was 
 scattered in a number of 
 detached groups, looking 
 ike so many little corteges 
 of a Sultan. The artists 
 galloped here and there, 
 sketch-book and pencil 
 in hand, sketching horses 
 and riders. The rest of 
 the members of the Em- 
 bassy talked of the in- 
 vasion of the Goths, of commerce, of scorpions, of philosophy, 
 eagerly listened to by the mounted servants who came behind. 
 
 I in mi il.
 
 L36 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Civo leni particular attention to a philosophic discussion; Hamed 
 
 listened to his master, who was telling about a wild boar hunt, 
 in which he had risked his life. This Hamed was, after Selim, 
 the must notable personage in the whole category of servants, 
 
 soldiers, and 
 grooms. He was 
 an Aral) of al tout 
 thirty years old, 
 very tall, bronzed, 
 muscular, strong 
 as a hull; but he 
 had also a beard- 
 less fa c e, the 
 softest dark eyes 
 a voice, a smile, 
 a grace in all his 
 m ovements, 
 which made the 
 most marked 
 contrast with his 
 powerful person. 
 He wore a white 
 turban, a blue 
 jacket, and 
 Zouave trousers ; 
 spoke Spanish, 
 knew how to do 
 everything, and 
 pleased everybody, so that the vain-glorious Selim was jealous 
 of him. The others also were all more or less handsome 
 young fellows, attentive, and full of obsecpaious solicitude. 
 When one of us looked back, he encountered their big eyes 
 asking whether he needed anything. " What a pity," thought 
 I, " that we should not be attacked by a band of robbers, 
 so that we might see all these nimble fellows put to the proof ! " 
 
 -BaM.aF^.v, 
 
 Civo.
 
 FANATICISM. 
 
 137 
 
 We had ridden about two hours when we began to meet 
 people. The first was a black horseman, who held in his hand 
 one of those little sticks with an inscription in Arabic, called 
 her re:, which the monks give to travellers to preserve them 
 from robbers and illness. Then came some ragged old women, 
 
 . / Postmen 
 
 bearing great bundles of wood upon their shoulders. Oh, 
 power of fanaticism! Bent as they were, tired, breathless, 
 they still found strength to launch a curse at us. One mur- 
 mured, "God curse these infidels!" Another, "God keep us 
 from the evil spirit!" About an hour later we met a courier, 
 a poor lean Arab, bearing letters in a leathern bag slung about 
 J
 
 138 MOROCCO. 
 
 his neck. He stopped to say that he came from Fez, and was 
 going to Tangiers. The Ambassador gave him a letter for 
 Tangiers, and he hastened on his way. 
 
 Such, and no other, is the postal service of Morocco, and 
 nothing can he more wretched than the lives of these couriers. 
 They eat nothing- on their journey but a little bread and a 
 few figsj they stop only at night for a few hours to sleep, 
 with a cord tied to the foot, to which they set fire before 
 going to sleep, and which wakens them within a certain time; 
 they travel whole days without seeing a tree or a drop of 
 water ; they cross forests infested with wild boar, climb moun- 
 tains inaccessible to mules, swim rivers, sometimes walk, 
 sometimes run, sometimes roll down declivities, or climb 
 ascents on feet and hands, under the August sun, under the 
 drenching autumn rains, under the burning desert wind, 
 taking four days from Tangiers to Fez, a week from Tan- 
 giers to Morocco, from one extremity of the empire to the 
 other, alone, barefooted, half-naked ; and when they have 
 reached their journey's end, they go back ! And this they do 
 for a few francs. 
 
 At about half-way from Alkazar to our destination the 
 road began to ascend very gradually until we reached a 
 height from whence we saw another immense plain covered 
 with vast tracts of yellow, red, and white flowers, looking 
 like stretches of snow, striped with gold and crimson. Over 
 this plain there came galloping to meet us some two hun- 
 dred horsemen, with muskets resting on their saddle, led by 
 a figure all in white, which Mohammed Ducali recognised 
 and announced in a loud voice to be the Governor of Ben- 
 Auda. 
 
 We had reached the confines of the province of Seffian, 
 called also Ben-Auda, from the family name of the Governor, 
 which signifies son of a mare — a name which had taken my 
 fancy before leaving Tangiers. 
 
 We descended into the plain, and the two hundred of
 
 THE GOVERNOR OF BEN-AUDA. 139 
 
 Seffian having drawn up in a line with the three hundred 
 of Laracce, the Governor Ben-Auda presented himself to our 
 chief. 
 
 If I live to be a hundred years old I shall never forget 
 that countenance. He was a lean old man, with savage eyes, 
 a forked nose,* a lipless mouth cut in the form of a semi- 
 circle turned downwards. Arrogance, superstition, Venus, kif, 
 idleness, and satiety were written upon his visage. A big 
 turban covered his forehead and ears. A curved dagger hung 
 from his girdle. 
 
 The Ambassador dismissed the commander of the escort 
 from Laracce, who at once withdrew with his horsemen at a 
 gallop ; and we went on with the new escort, and the usual 
 accompaniment of charging and firing. 
 
 Their faces were blacker, their robes more gaudy, their 
 horses finer, their yells more extraordinary, their charges and 
 manoeuvres more wildly impetuous than any we had yet seen. 
 The further we advanced, the more apparent became the local 
 colour of all things. 
 
 In all that multitude, twelve horsemen, dressed with un- 
 usual elegance and mounted on beautiful horses, were con- 
 spicuous, even in the eyes of the Arabs. Five of them were 
 colossal young men, who appeared to be brothers ; all had 
 pale bronzed faces and great black brilliant eyes under enor- 
 mous turbans. These five were the sons, and the other seven 
 nephews, of the Governor of Ben-Auda. 
 
 The firing and charging went on for about an hour, at 
 which time we reached a garden belonging to the Governor, 
 where we dismounted to rest and refresh ourselves. 
 
 It was a grove of orange and lemon trees, planted in 
 parallel rows, and so thickly as to form an intricalo given 
 roof, under which one enjoyed the coolness, shade, and per- 
 fume of paradise. 
 
 The Governor dismounted with u<, and presented his sons; 
 * Naso forcuto, a favourite i upri bsìoh with the author, 
 j 2
 
 140 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 five as handsome, dignified, and amiable faces as are often to 
 be seen. One after the other pressed "in- hands, with a 
 slight bow, casting- down his eyes with an air of boyish shy- 
 ness. 
 
 We were all presently seated in the garden, upon a beau- 
 tiful carpet from Rabat, where we were served with breakfast. 
 'The Governor of Ben-Auda sat upon a mat at twenty paces 
 
 ! . <; ■■' -"a ^~\M *->. '.'i fed : " M ^A* 
 
 
 -é ■ 
 
 
 Breakfast with the Governor of Ben-Aitda. 
 
 from us, and also breakfasted, waited upon by his slaves. 
 Then ensued a curious exchange of courtesies between him 
 and the Ambassador. First, Ben-Auda sent a vase of milk as 
 an offering; the Ambassador returned it with a beefsteak. 
 The milk was followed by butter, the beefsteak by an omelet; 
 the butter by a sweet dish, the omelet by a box of sardines; 
 the whole accompanied by a thousand coldly ceremonious ges- 
 tures — hands clasped upon the breast, and eyes turned up to 
 heaven with a comical expression of gastronomic enthusiasm. 
 The sweet dish, by the way, was a species of tart made of 
 honey, eggs, butter, and sugar, of which the Arabs are ex-
 
 BREAKFAST WITH THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 141 
 
 tremely fond, and about which they have an odd superstition 
 
 — that if while the woman is cooking it a man should happen 
 
 to enter the room, the tart goes wrong, and even if it could 
 
 be eaten it would not be prudent to do so. "And wine?" 
 
 some one asked ; ' ' should we not offer him some wine ? " 
 
 There was some discussion. It was asserted that Governor 
 
 Ben-Auda was in secret devoted to the bottle; but how could 
 
 he drink in the presence of his soldiers? It was decided not 
 
 to send any. To me, 
 
 however, it seemed 
 
 that he cast very soft 
 
 glances at the bottles, 
 
 much softer than those 
 
 with which he favoured 
 
 us. During the whole 
 
 time that he sat there 
 
 on his mat, except when 
 
 he was giving 
 
 thanks for gifts, 
 
 he maintained a 
 
 frowning expres- \ & 
 
 sion of pride and 
 
 anger that made 
 
 me wish to have under my orders our forty companies of 
 
 bersaglieri? that I might parade them under his nose. 
 
 Mohammed Ducali meantime was relating to me a notable 
 episode in the history of Ben-Auda, in which family the 
 government of Sefiian has been for ages. The people of this 
 province arc brave and turbulent; and they are said to have 
 given proof <>F their valour in the late war with Spain, when, 
 at the battle of V ad- lias, in March, I sol, Sidi Absalam Ben- 
 Abd-cl-Krim Ben-Auda, then Governor of the whole province 
 of Garb, was killed. To this Absalam succeeded his eldest son, 
 Sidi Abd-el-Krim. He was a violent and dissipated man, who 
 * Jiematjlieri, Italian riflemen. 
 
 The Governor oj' Ben-Auda.
 
 L42 MOROCCO. 
 
 despoiled his people by taxation, and tormented them with a 
 capricious Ferocity. One day he intimated to one Gileli Ruqui 
 that he desired a large sum of money. The man exensod him- 
 self on the plea of poverty. He was loaded with chains and 
 casi into prison. The family and friends of the prisoner sold 
 all they had and brought the desired sum to Sidi Abd-el-Ivrim. 
 Gileli came out of prison, and, baying assembled all his friends, 
 they took a solemn oath to kill the Governor. His house was 
 situated at about two hours' ride from the garden where we 
 were. The conspirators attacked it in the night in force. They 
 killed the sentinels, broke into the hall, strangled and poignarded 
 Sidi Abd-el-Krim, his wives, children, servants, and slaves; 
 sacked and burned the house, and then threw themselves into 
 the open country, raising- the cry of revolt. The relatives and 
 partisans of Ben-Aùda gathered themselves together and 
 marched against the rebels ; the rebels dispersed them, and 
 rebellion broke out all over the Garb. Then the Sultan sent 
 an army; the revolt, after a furious resistance, was put down, 
 and the heads of the leaders hung from the gates of Fez and 
 Morocco ; the land of the Beiiimalek was divided from the 
 province; the house of Ben-Auda was rebuilt; and Sidi- 
 Mohammed Ben-Auda, brother of the murdered man, and 
 guest of the Italian Embassy, assumed the government of the 
 land of his fathers. It was a passing victory of desperation 
 over tyranny, followed by a harder tyranny than before; in 
 these words may be summed up the history of every pro- 
 vince of the empire, and, perhaps, at that very moment there 
 was a predestined Gileli Ruqui for Sidi-Mohammed Ben-Auda. 
 
 Before sunset we reached our encampment, which was not 
 very far off, on a solitary plain, at the foot of a small 
 eminence on which was a Cuba flanked by a palm-tree. 
 
 The Ambassador had hardly arrived, wdien the minia was 
 brought and deposited as usual before his tent, in the presence 
 of the intendant, the Caid, the soldiers, and servants. Whilst 
 they were busy making the division, I saw, as I raised my
 
 A SAINT. 
 
 143 
 
 eyes towards the Cuba, a man of tall stature and strange 
 aspect coming- down with long- strides towards the en- 
 campment. There was no doubt about it : here was the 
 hermit, the saint, coming to make a 
 disturbance. I said not a word, but 
 waited. He skirted the camp on the 
 outside, so as to appear suddenly 
 before the Ambassador's tent. He 
 
 l^fer ; :V 
 
 
 
 The Saint Cursing lite Ambassador. 
 
 moved on the tips of his toes : a sepulchral figure, covered with 
 black rags, disgusting to behold. All at once he broke into a run, 
 dashed into the midst of us, and, recognising our chief by 
 his dress, rushed upon him with the howl of one possessed.
 
 144 MOROCCO. 
 
 Hut be had sanely time to howl. With lightning rapidity 
 the Calici seized him by the throai and dragged him furiously 
 into the midst of the soldiery, who in a second had him out 
 of the camp, stifling his roars with a mantle. The interpreter 
 translated his invectives as follows: "Let us exterminate all 
 these accursed Christian '\^'^, who go to the Sultan and do 
 what they please, while we are dying with hunger!" 
 
 A little after the presentation of the customary muna there 
 arrived at the camp about fifty Arabs and blacks, bearing in 
 single file great round boxes, with high conical covers of 
 straw, and containing v^'j;*, chickens, tarts, sweets, roast 
 meats, cìiscùssù, salads, etc., enough to satisfy an entire tribe. 
 It was a second muna, spontaneously offered to the Ambas- 
 sador by Sidi-Mohammed Ben-Auda, perhaps to do away with 
 the effect of his threatening visage in the morning. 
 
 That personage himself presently appeared on horseback, 
 accompanied by his five sons and a crowd of servants. The 
 Ambassador received them in his tent, and conversed with them 
 through the interpreters. He asked one of his sons if he had 
 ever heard of Italy. The young man answered that he had 
 heard it mentioned several times. One of them asked whether 
 England or Italy was farthest from Morocco ; how many 
 cannons we had, what was the name of our chief city, and 
 how the king was dressed. As they spoke, they all examined 
 curiously our neckties and our watch-chains. The Ambassador 
 then asked the Governor some questions about the extent and 
 population of his province. Either he knew nothing, or did 
 not choose to tell ; anyhow^, it was not possible to get any 
 information out of him. I remember he said that the exact 
 number of the population could not be known. "But about 
 what number ? " was asked. Not even about the number 
 could be known. Then he questioned us again. " How did 
 we like the city of Alkazar ? What did we think of the 
 country ? The water was good, was it not ? Should we like 
 to stay in Morocco ? Why had we not brought our wives ? "
 
 A TROUBLED NIGHT. U5 
 
 They drank tea with us, and, after many salutations and genu- 
 flexions, remounted their horses and spurred away — or, rather, 
 disappeared; for, as there was not a village or a house within 
 eyeshot, all those who came and went made the effect of 
 people who had risen out of the ground, or vanished into thin 
 air. 
 
 This, like every other day, closed with a splendid sunset, 
 and a noisy, merry dinner. But the night was one of the 
 most disturbed that we had had throughout the journey ; per- 
 haps because it was necessary in the land of Seffian that the 
 Ambassador should be more carefully guarded than in other 
 places, the night sentinels kept each other awake by singing 
 every quarter of an hour a verse from the Koran. One in- 
 toned the words, and all the others responded in chorus, in 
 loud voices, accompanied by the neighing of steeds and the 
 barking of dogs. We had hardly dropped asleep when we 
 were aroused again, and could not succeed in closing an eve. 
 By way of addition, a little alter midnight, in one of the in- 
 tervals of silence, a wild harsh voice arose out in the fields, 
 and never ceased until dawn. Sometimes it approached, then 
 seemed to recede, then approached again very near, taking ;i 
 tone of menace, or lamenting, despairing, and bursting out 
 now and then in piercing cries or yells of laughter that chilled 
 one's bones. It was the saint, wandering about the confines 
 mF the camp, and calling down God's malediction on our heads. 
 In the morning, when we issued forth from our tents, there 
 lie was, erect like a spectre, in front of his solitary Cuba, 
 bathed in the first rose tints of dawn, and pouring out curses 
 in ;i harsh voice, waving his skeleton arms above his head. 
 
 I went in search of the cook, to see what he thought of 
 this awful personage ; but I found him so busy making coffee 
 for an impatient crowd, who were all attacking him at once, 
 that I had not the heart to torment him. Some were talking 
 Arabic, Ranni spoke Sicilian, the Cale/alo Neapolitan, Named 
 Spanish, and AI. Vincenl French.]
 
 14G MOROCCO. 
 
 "Ma, I can't understand a unni you say, gallows-birds that 
 you are ! " screamed the conk in despair* 
 
 '• Mil, this is Babylon ! Lei me breathe! Do you want to 
 -ri'incilie? Oh che pais, mi povr'om! Oh, what a country 
 l'ora poor man to be in! They all talk together, and no one 
 understands the other ! " 
 
 When he had recovered his breath a little, I pointed out the 
 howling saint, and asked him, "Well, what do you think of 
 that piece of impudence ? " 
 
 He raised his eyes to the Cuba, looked steadily at the saint 
 ft >r a few moments, and then, with a gesture of profound con- 
 tempt, answered in Piedmontese accent, " Guardo e passi ! " * 
 and withdrew with dignity into his tent. 
 
 * " i\y>w ragionai» di /">'. //•■' </*<<//■</,< e passai—Dante.
 
 C II A P T El! VI. 
 
 KA.RIA-EL-ABBASSI - 
 
 E struck our camp and moved 
 on in the usual order, amid 
 the cries and musket-shots 
 of the escort, arriving 1 in two hours' 
 time at a small water-course which 
 marked the confines of Seflian. 
 Here we were met by a large com- 
 pany of horsemen, led by the Go- 
 vernor of the province which ex- 
 tends from Sefrian to the large river 
 Sebu. The escort from Ben-Auda turned and disappeared; wc 
 forded the stream, and were instantly surrounded by the 
 new-comers. 
 
 Bu-Bekr-Ben-el-Abbassi, an elegant and graceful personage, 
 pressed warmly the hand of our chief, saluted amicably Ducali, 
 his former school companion, and welcomed the rest with a 
 dignified and graceful gesture. "We rode on, and for some time 
 not one of us could lake our i-yi-s off the new-comer. He was 
 the most interesting of all the Governors we had seen. Of 
 middle height, and slender figure, dark, with soft penetrating 
 eyes, aquiline nose, and a full black beard, through which, 
 
 when he smiled, gleamed two rows <>l" beautiful teeth. He was 
 
 wrapped in a fine snow-white mantle, with the hood drawn over 
 his turban, and mounted on a jet-black horse with sky-blue
 
 PLEASANT FACES. 
 
 14» 
 
 housings. He looked like a generous, beloved, and happy man. 
 Either my fancy misled me, or the aspect of the two hundred 
 horsemen from Karia-el-Abbassi reflected the benignity of the 
 Governor. They appeared to me to have the open and con- 
 
 Bn-Bel i I',, , ■ '-. libassi. 
 
 tented expression of men who had for years enjoyed the 
 miraculous grace of a humane government. 
 
 This appearance, together with the huts, that began to be 
 more frequent in the country, and the serene weather, refreshed 
 by a perfumed breeze, gave me Por a time the delusion thai the
 
 150 
 
 Molaici i.. 
 
 provìnce was an oasis of prosperity and peace in the midst of the 
 miserable empire of the Schereifs. 
 
 We passed through a village, composed of two rows of 
 cainel-skin tents, held together with canes and sticks; every 
 tent having a tiny enclosure surrounded by a cactus hedge. 
 Beyond the tents -cows and horses were feeding; in front, upon 
 our road, were some groups of half-naked children come to look 
 at us ; ragged men and women peeped at us over the hedges. 
 
 Village of Camel-skin 'Tints. 
 
 No one shook his fist at us, no one cursed us. Hardly had we 
 passed the village when they all came out of their huts, and we 
 beheld a crowd of some hundreds of black, hideous, famine- 
 stricken wretches, who might have risen from some grave-yard. 
 Some ran behind us for a while ; others vanished among the 
 irregularities of the ground. 
 
 The configuration of the country through which we were 
 passing gave rise to a wonderful variety of picturesque effects 
 as the escort and caravan proceeded. It was a succession of 
 deep valleys, parallel to each other, formed by great earth waves, 
 and all covered with flowers like a garden. Passino- from one
 
 THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 151 
 
 valley to another we would lose sight of the escort for a 
 moment ; then on the top of the height behind us would appear, 
 first the muzzles of the muskets, then fezes and turbans, then 
 faces, and finally the figures of men and horses, rising apparently 
 out of the earth. Looking back from a height we could see the 
 two hundred scattered along the valley amid the smoke and 
 re-echoing noises of their shots, and far along behind, the ser- 
 vants, soldiers, horses, and mules, appearing for an instant, and 
 then plunging into the depths and lost to sight. Seen in that 
 way the caravan appeared interminable, and presented the 
 grandiose aspect of an expeditionary army or an emigrating 
 people. 
 
 Karia-el-Abbassi was made up of the Governor's house and 
 a group of huts shaded by a few fig and wild olive trees. 
 We accepted the Governor's invitation to rest at his house, 
 and the caravan went on to the spot selected for the cam]). 
 
 Crossino: two or three courts enclosed between bare white 
 walls, we entered a garden, upon which opened the principal 
 gale of the mansion: a little white house, windowless, and 
 silent as a convent. A few mulatto slaves showed us into a 
 small ground-floor room, also white, with no aperture except 
 thr door by which we entered, and another little door in a 
 corner. There were two alcoves, three white mattresses on the 
 mosaic floor, and some embroidered cushions. It was the first 
 time we had been within four walls since our departure from 
 Tangiers \ we stretched ourselves voluptuously in the alcoves, 
 and awaited with curiosity the continuation of the spectacle. 
 
 The Governor came in wrapped in a snowy caie that reached 
 from his turban to his Beet. He threw off his yellow slippers, 
 and sat down barefooted on the mattress between Ducali and 
 the Ambassador, Slaves brought jars of milk and plates of 
 sweetmeats, and Ben-el-Abbassi himself made the tea, and 
 poured it out into beautiful little eups of Chinese porcelain, 
 which his favourite servant — a young mulatto with his face 
 tattooed in arabesques — curried round. The grace and dignity
 
 THE GOVERNOR OF KARIA-EL-ABBASSI. 
 
 153 
 
 of our host in all that he did are not to be described, and 
 seemed amazing in a man who was probably very ignorant, 
 who governed a few thousands of tented Arabs, and never in 
 all his life, perhaps, had seen fifty 
 civilised persons. In the most aris- 
 tocratic salon in Europe not the 
 least fault could have been found 
 in his manners. His dress was 
 fresh, neat, and fragrant as that of 
 an odalisque just come from the 
 bath. As he moved, his caie showed 
 beneath gleams of the splendid and 
 varied colours of his costume, in- 
 spiring in the spectator an ardent 
 wish to tear off the veil and see 
 what was hidden under it. He 
 spoke in quiet tones, and without 
 the slightest appearance of curiosity, 
 as if he had seen us the day before. 
 He had never been out of Morocco, 
 and said that he should like much 
 to see our railways and our great 
 palaces ; and he knew that there 
 were in Italy three cities which were 
 called Genoa, Rome, and Venice. As 
 he conversed, the little door opened 
 behind him, and the head of a 
 pretty little mulatto girl was thrust 
 out, which rolled around two huge 
 astonished and startled eyes, and 
 vanished. She w;is the Governor's 
 
 daughter by a black woman, lie was aware of the apparition, 
 and smiled. There followed a long interval of silence. In 
 the middle of the chamber rose the fumes of burning aloes 
 from the perfume-burners ; before the door stood n group of 
 
 The Governor'* Daughter.
 
 15-i MOROCCO. 
 
 curious slaves ; behind the slaves were palm-trees j and over 
 all smiled the clear blue sky of Africa. It all seemed so 
 unreal thai 1 found myself thinking of my little room in 
 Turin, and of its sometime occupant as of another person. 
 
 On our way to the encampment, which was about half a 
 mile from the Governor's house, upon a high plain covered 
 with dry grass, we for the first time felt the scorching- power 
 of the sun. It was only the 8th of May, and we were not 
 a hundred miles from the Mediterranean coast, and we had 
 yet to cross the great plain of the Sebù ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the heat, our camp was enlivened towards 
 evening by an unusual concourse of people. On one side a 
 long row of Arabs, seated on the ground, watched the man- 
 oeuvres of the cavalry escort; on the other, some were playing 
 ball ; a little farther on, a group of women, huddled in their 
 ooarse caics, observed us with gestures of astonishment, and a 
 throng of children ran about everywhere. The population 
 seemed really less savage than those we had left behind. 
 
 Biseo and I went to look at the ball -players, who im- 
 mediately left off, but, after some consulting glances, resumed 
 their game. There were fifteen or twenty of them — tall fellows, 
 big and athletic, with nothing on but shirts bound round the 
 waist, and a kind of mantle made of coarse and dirty stuff, 
 wound round the body like a caie. Their play was different 
 from that at Tangiers. One struck the ball into the air with 
 his foot ; all the others rushed to catch it as it fell, leaping 
 up into the air as if they were about to fly; and the one who 
 caught it struck it up again in his turn. Often, in the 
 mèlée, one would fall ; and, others falling over him, and 
 others again on them, the whole would roll about together, 
 kicking and screaming, and with small regard for modesty. 
 More than one thus turned uj)side down displayed a curved 
 dagger at his girdle, or a little purse hung from his neck, 
 containing probably some verses from the Koi'an, as a charm 
 against illness. Once the ball fell at my feet, and I seized
 
 UNDERGOING INSPECTION. 155 
 
 it, placed it on my ojjen palm, made some necromantic gestures 
 over it, and launched it into the air. For a few moments not 
 one of the players dared to touch it. They came near it, 
 looked at it, touched it with a foot timidly; and it was not 
 until they saw me laugh and make signs that it was a joke, 
 that they ventured to pick it up and go on with their play. 
 
 Meantime, nearly all the boys who were running about 
 had gathered around us. There might have been fifty of them, 
 and all the clothing they possessed among them would not 
 have brought tenpence at the rag-shop. Some were very hand- 
 some, some had scald heads, most of them were coffee-coloured, 
 and the rest had a greenish-yellow tint, as if they were plastered 
 over with some vegetable substance. A few had tails like the 
 Chinese. At first they stood about ten paces off, looking sus- 
 piciously at us, and exchanging observations in whispers. Then, 
 seeing that we did nothing hostile, they came a little nearer, 
 and began to get upon tiptoe, and bend themselves about in 
 order to see us on every side, as we do in looking at statues. 
 We stood immovable. One of them touched my shoe with 
 the tip of his finger, and snatched it away as if it had burnt 
 him ; another smelled at my sleeve. We were surrounded, and 
 smelt all sorts of exotic odours : we felt as if they were plotting 
 something. " Come/'' said Biseo, " it is time to free ourselves. 
 I have an infallible method ; " and he pulled out sketch-book 
 and pencil, and made as if he were about to copy one of 
 their faces. In a moment they were all gone, like a flight 
 of birds. 
 
 A little later some women approached. " Wonderful ! " said 
 we. "It is to be hoped that they arc not coming to give us 
 a dagger- thrust in the name of Mahomet ! " But they were 
 only poor sick people, who had scarcely strength to walk, or 
 hold up their arms to over their laces. Among them there 
 was a young o-n-j^ whose groans moved our compassion, and 
 who showed only one blue eye, lull of tears. We understood 
 that they were seeking the doctor, and pointed out his tent. 
 K 2
 
 156 MOROCCO. 
 
 One, helping her words with gestures, asked if there would 
 be anything to pay. We said no, and they tottered towards 
 the doctor's quarters. We followed, to assist at the consultation. 
 "What do you Eeel?" asked Signor Miguerez, in Arabic, of 
 the first one. "A great pain here," pointing- to her shoulder. 
 " I must see it," said the physician ; ' ' take off your mantle 
 a moment." The woman did not move. This is the great 
 point ! Not one of them — not even a woman of ninety — will 
 let herself be seen, and all pretend that the doctor can divine 
 what is tin- matter. " Come, will you, or will you not, un- 
 veil yourself? " said Miguerez. No reply. " Well, let me hear 
 the others," and he questioned them, while the first withdrew, 
 sadly enough. The others had no need to unveil, and the 
 doctor distributed pills and potions, and sent them away " with 
 God." Poor creatures ! Not one of them was more than 
 thirty years old, and already youth was over for them, and 
 with its departure had come the fatigue, brutal treatment, and 
 contempt which make an Arab woman's old age horrible : instru- 
 ments for man's pleasure up to twenty, beasts of burthen until 
 death. 
 
 The dinner was made gay by a visit from Ben-el-Abbassi, 
 and the night was disturbed by a frightful invasion of insects. 
 Already during the heat of the day I had foreseen the coming 
 terrors in the unusual buzzing and swarming which was apparent 
 among the grass. The ants were making long black lines, 
 beetles were in bunches, and grasshoppers as thick as flies ; and 
 with them a great number of other insects unseen until now, 
 which did not inspire me with confidence. Captain de Boccard, 
 the professor of entomology, named them for me. There, 
 among others, was the Cicindela campestris, a living trap, which 
 closes the opening of its den with its own large head, and drops 
 down into the depths the incautious insects that pass over it ; 
 there was the Pheropsophus Africanus, which darts at its pur- 
 suing enemy a puff of corrosive vapour from its tail ; the Meloe 
 majalis, dragging along its enormous dropsical belly swollen
 
 PLAGUE OF INSECTS. 
 
 157 
 
 with grass and eggs ; the Carabus rugosus, the Pimelia scabrosa, 
 the Cetonia opaca, the Cossijplius Hoffmann se gM, animated leaf, 
 of which Victor Hugo gives a fanciful description enough to 
 chill one's blood. And a great number of big lizards, enormous 
 spiders, centipedes six inches long, crickets as big as my thumb, 
 and green bugs as big as pennies, that came and went as if they 
 were preparing by common accord some warlike exj^edition. As 
 if these were not enough, I had scarcely seated myself at table 
 and stretched out my hand to take my glass, when there 
 appeared over the edge of it the head of a monstrous locust, 
 
 
 . / Scorpion. 
 
 which, instead of flying away at my threatening gesture, con- 
 tinued to look at me with the utmost impudence. And finally, 
 by way of climax, Hamed appeared with the face of one who 
 has escaped a great danger, and laid before us, stuck in a 
 cleft stick, nothing less than a tarantula, a Li/cosa tarcntula, 
 the terrible spider, that " cuando pica a un hombre, when it 
 stings a man," said he, "Aliali help him! The unfortunate 
 one begins to laugh mid cry, and sing and dance, and nothing 
 but good music, ver)- good music! the music of the Sultan's 
 band, can savi' him. ,J The reader can imagine with what 
 courage I wont l<» my bed. Nevertheless, my linee companions 
 and I hail been in bed lui- some little lime, the lights were out, 
 and silence prevailed, when suddenly the Commandant sprang
 
 158 MOROCCO. 
 
 into a sitting position, and cried out: — "1 am populated!" 
 (Io mi sento popolato/) Then we too began to feel something. 
 Por a time there were furtive touches, timid punctures, ticklings 
 and slight provocations of explorers and advanced sentinels that 
 were not worthy of notice. But soon the big patrols began 
 to arrive, and a vigorous offensive resistance became necessary. 
 The struffffle was ferocious. The more we fought the hotter 
 grew the attack. They came from the head, from the foot, 
 aud dropped from the curtains of the bed. They seemed to be 
 carrying on the assault under the direction of some great insect 
 of genius. It was evidently a religious war. Briefly, we 
 could resist no longer. " Lights ! " roared the Vice-Consul. 
 We all jumped out of bed, lighted our candles and prepared 
 for strategy. The common soldiers were slaughtered on the 
 spot ; the leaders, the big bugs, first classified by the Captain, 
 and sentenced by the Commandant, were roasted by the Vice- 
 Consul, and I composed a funeral eulogium in prose and verse 
 which will be published after my death. In a few minutes 
 the ground was strewn with wings and claws, legs and heads ; 
 the survivors dispersed, and we, weary of carnage, reciprocally 
 named each other knights of various orders, and retired once 
 more to bed. 
 
 The following morning at sunrise Governor Ben-el-Abbassi 
 presented himself to escort us to the confines of his province. 
 We descended from the high table-land on which our tents were 
 pitched, and saw spread before our eyes the immense horizon of 
 the plain of the Sebù. 
 
 This river, one of the largest in the Magreb, descends from 
 the western flank of the mountain chain that stretches from 
 the upper Atlas towards the Straits of Gibraltar, and in a 
 course of about two hundred and forty kilometres, swelled 
 by many affluents, goes in a vast curve to throw itself into 
 the Atlantic Ocean, near Mehedia, where the accumulation of 
 sand, common to the mouths of all the rivers of Morocco on 
 that side, prevents the entrance of vessels, and produces great
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE SEBU. 15£ 
 
 inundations at certain seasons. The valley of the Sebù, which 
 embraces at its commencement all the space lying' between the 
 two cities of Laracce and Sale, and touches at its upper 
 extremity the high basin of the Muluia (the great river which 
 marks the eastern boundary of Morocco), opens to Europeans, 
 by the shore and by Teza, the way to the city of Fez ; com- 
 prising, besides Fez, the large city of Mechinez, the third 
 capital ; which gathers to itself, it may be said, all the political 
 life of the Empire, and is the principal seat of the wealth and 
 power of the Schereifs. The Sebù, it may be noted, marks in 
 the north the confines which the Sultan never oversteps, except 
 in case of war, the three cities, Fez, Morocco, and Mechinez, 
 lying south of the river. In these three cities he sojourns 
 alternately. There is also the double city of Salé-Rabatt, 
 through which he passes in going from Fez to Morocco. He 
 takes this road in order not to have to cross the mountains 
 that shut in the valley of the Sebu to the south, their slopes 
 being inhabited by the Zairi, a mixed Berber race, who have the 
 reputation of being, with the Beni-mitir, the most turbulent and 
 indomitable of the tribes of those mountains. 
 
 The Sebu reminded me of the Tiber in the Roman Campagna. 
 At the point where we struck it it is about a hundred yards in 
 width, of a muddy colour, turbulent and rapid, shut in between 
 two high arid banks, which are almost vertical, and at whose 
 feet extend two zones of miry ground. 
 
 Two antediluvian barks, rowed by eight or ten Arab?, 
 approached the shore. These boats alone, if there were nothing 
 else, would suffice to show what Morocco is. For hundreds of 
 years Sultans, Pashas, caravans, and embassies have crossed the 
 river on such hulks as these, with their feet in mud and water, 
 sometimes in danger of drowning; and when the hulks — as often 
 happens — are full of holes, caravan and embassy, Suit an and 
 Pasha, wait on the shore while the boatmen stop the holes with 
 mud or something else, sometimes lor several hours in rain or 
 scorching sun ; and for hundreds of years horses, mules, and
 
 CROSSING THE SEBÙ. 161 
 
 camels, for want of a piece of plank a couple of yards long-, run 
 the risk of breaking their legs, and do break them, in jumping 
 from the shore into the boats ; and no one has ever conceived the 
 idea of constructing a bridge of boats, and no one has ever 
 thought of bringing down a piece of plank two yards long ; and 
 if any one reproves them for these things, they look at him with 
 an air of stupefaction as if he had suggested a prodigy. 
 
 In many places they cross the rivers upon rafts made of 
 cane, and their armies cross on floating bridges made of skins 
 blown up with air and covered with earth and branches. 
 
 We dismounted, and Avent down a steep pathway to the river, 
 when we Italians crossed in the first boat, and then looked on 
 from the opposite shore at the jiassage of the caravan. What a 
 picture it was ! In the middle of the river came a great boat 
 filled with the Moors and camels of a caravan of merchandise, 
 and a little beyond another bringing the horses and men of the 
 escort from Fez, from the midst of which floated the banner of 
 the Prophet, and shone the black visage and snowy turban of the 
 Caid. On the opposite shore, in the midst of a great confusion 
 of horses, mules, servants, and baggage, which encumbered the 
 bank for a long distance, appeared the white and gracious figure 
 of the Governor Ben-el-Abbassi, seated upon a rising ground, 
 his officers grouped behind him, and his fine black horse with its 
 sky-blue trappings standing near. Upon the top of the bank, 
 which rose like the wall of a fortress, and upon which sat a long 
 row of country Arabs with dangling legs, were ranged the two 
 hundred horsemen of the Governor, who, seen thus against the 
 blue background of the sky, looked like giants. Some black 
 servants, as naked as they wen" born, were plunging and re- 
 plunging into the river, screaming and shouting. A few Arabs, 
 according to Moorish custom, washed their rags, bobbing up 
 and down over them like so many puppets j and sonic crossed 
 the river swimming. Above our heads passed flights of storks ; 
 far away on the shore rose the smoke from a group of Bedouin 
 tents; the boatmen chanted in chorus a prayer to the Prophet
 
 1C2 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 for the good result of the enterprise ; the water sent up golden 
 sparkles in the sun, and Selam, standing at a little distance in 
 his famous caftan, made in the midst of this barbaric and festive 
 picture the most harmonious red point that could be imagined by 
 a painter. 
 
 The passage occupied several hours, and as each party reached 
 the shore, it resumed its march with the caravan. 
 
 When the last horse had crossed, Governor Ben-el-Abbassi 
 mounted and joined his soldiers in the heights opposite. The 
 Ambassador and his suite all raised their hands in salute. The 
 escort of Karia-el-Abbassi answered with a storm of musket- 
 shots, and vanished ; but for a moment or two the fine white- 
 figure of the Governor was visible amid the smoke, with his arm 
 stretched towards us in token of amity and farewell. 
 
 Accompanied only by our Fez escort, we now entered upon 
 the sadly famous territory of the Beni-Hassan.
 
 chapter vrr. 
 
 BENI-HASSAS". 
 
 <^^|0R more than an hour we 
 ?|p^ travelled through fields of 
 barley, from which showed 
 here and there a black tent, the 
 head of a camel, or a cloud of 
 smoke. In the paths we tra- 
 versed, scorpions, lizards, and 
 snakes were numerous. Our 
 saddles were so heated by the 
 sun that we could scarcely hold 
 our hands upon them. The light 
 blinded our eyes, the dust choked 
 us, and everything around was 
 still as death. The plain which 
 stretched before us like an ocean 
 seemed awful to me, as if the 
 caravan were doomed to go on 
 for ever. But at the same time 
 my curiosity to see the proud 
 Beni-IIassan, of whom 1 had heard so much, kept up my drooping 
 spirits. "What kind of people are they?" I asked of the
 
 L64 
 
 MOlJCHVt». 
 
 interpreter. ff Thieves and murderers/' answered he; "faces 
 from the other world ; the worst crew in Morocco." And I 
 
 scanned the horizon with anxiety. 
 
 The faces from another world were not long in coming. We 
 
 saw in advance a great 
 clond of dust, and in a few 
 minutes were surrounded by 
 a throng of three hundred 
 mounted savages, in green, 
 yellow, Avhite, violet, and 
 scarlet, ragged, dishevelled, 
 and panting, as if they had 
 just come out of a fray. 
 In the midst of the thick 
 dust they raised we could 
 discern their Governor, a 
 long-haired, black-bearded 
 giant, who, followed by 
 two hoary "Vice-Governors, 
 all armed with muskets, 
 approached the Ambassador, 
 pressed his hand, and then 
 disappeared. Immediately 
 the usual charging, firing, 
 and yelling began. They 
 seemed frantic. They fired 
 between the legs of our 
 mules, over our heads, and 
 close to our shoulders. 
 Seen from a distance they 
 must have looked like a band of assassins assailing us. There 
 were formidable old men, with long white beards, all skin and 
 bone, but looking as if they might live for centuries ; and 
 young men with long locks of black hair flying like manes. 
 Many had their chests, arms, and legs bare, turbans in tatters, 
 
 The Gevernw Abd-^Llla.
 
 OLE XEW ESCOET. 165 
 
 and red rags twisted round the head ; caics torn, saddles broken, 
 bridles made of cord, old sabres and poignards of strange forms. 
 And such faces ! " It is absurd," said the Commandant, " to 
 suppose that these people will be capable of the self-sacrifice of 
 not killing 1 us." Every one of those faces told a story of blood. 
 They looked at us as they passed, out of the corner of their 
 eyes, as if to hide the expression of their glance. One hundred 
 came on the right, one hundred on the left, one hundred behind 
 us, stretched out in open order. This guard on the flank was 
 new to \;s ; but we were not long in perceiving its necessity. 
 As we advanced, the tents became more frequent in the open 
 country, so that we finally passed through real villages sur- 
 rounded by cactus and aloe hedges. From all these tents came 
 Arabs running, dressed in a single garment or shirt, in groups, 
 on foot, on horseback, on the cruppers of donkeys — two, and 
 sometimes three on the same animal ; women with children hung 
 to their shoulders, old men supported by boys, all breathless, 
 wild to see us, and perhaps not to see us only. Gradually a 
 veritable people had gathered about us. Then the soldiers of the 
 escort began to disperse them. They darted among them at a 
 gallop, here and there and everywhere, yelling, striking, over- 
 turning beast and rider, and raising a tempest of cries and curses. 
 But the scattered groups formed again, and continued to accom- 
 pany us at a run. Through the smoke and powder, broken by 
 the lightning of the shots, we saw over those vast fields, in the 
 distance, tents, horses, camels, droves of cattle, groups of aloes, 
 columns of smoke, crowds of people turned towards us motionless, 
 in an attitude of amazement. We had at last reached an 
 inhabited land ! It did exist, then, and was noi a fable, this 
 blessed population <»t' .Morocco! After an hour's rapid riding 
 we were again in the solitude of the country, with no one save 
 our escori, and soon fame to our camp, which was pitched upon 
 the bank of the Sebù, a thick chain of sentinels, on fool and 
 armed with muskets, being extended all around the encampment. 
 The country then was really dangerous! II" 1 had been able to
 
 Ititi 
 
 MOKOCCO. 
 
 doubt it, I should have been more than persuaded by what I 
 afterwards heard. 
 
 The Beni-Hassan are the most turbulent, the most au- 
 daciouSj the most quarrelsome, and the most thievish tribe 
 in all the valley of the Sebù. Their last performance was 
 a sanguinary revolt which broke out in the summer of 1873 
 
 Dispersing the Croud. 
 
 (when the reigning Sultan came to the throne), which began 
 with the sack of the Governor's house, and the carrying off 
 of his women. Theft is their principal profession. They 
 gather together in bands, armed and mounted, and make 
 raids beyond the Sebù, or in other neighbouring lands, stealing 
 all that they can drag or carry off, and killing, by way of 
 precaution, all persons whom they encounter. They have 
 their chiefs, their statutes, discipline, and rights recognised,
 
 A RACE OF THIEVES. 167 
 
 in a certain sense, even by the Government, which some- 
 times makes use of them to get back stolen property. They 
 rob in the way of forced imposts. The people who are de- 
 spoiled by them, instead of losing their time in seeking* their 
 property, protect what is left to them by paying a certain 
 stipulated sum to the chief of the robbers. As for the boys 
 especially, it is admitted as a most natural thing that they 
 should all steal. If they get a ball in the back, or a skull 
 fractured by a stone, so much the worse for them ; no one 
 will be robbed if he can help it, and there is no rose without 
 its thorn. Their fathers say ingeniously — a boy of eight years 
 old makes little, one of twelve much more, one of sixteen 
 a great deal. Every thief has his own peculiar branch of the 
 profession : there is the corn thief, the cattle thief, the horse 
 thief, the merchandise thief, the thief of the duar (or Arab 
 encampment), the street thief. In the streets they assault 
 particularly the Jews, who are forbidden to carry arms. But 
 the commonest kind of larceny is that at the expense of 
 the duar. In this they are incomparable artists, not only 
 among the Beni-Hassan, but all over Morocco. In stealing 
 on horseback the great art consists in the lightning-like 
 rapidity with which they act ; they pass, seize, and disappear 
 before any one can recognise them. They rob also on foot, 
 and in a masterly manner. They creep into the duar naked, 
 because dogs will not bark at a naked man ; they soap them- 
 selves all over, so as to be able to slip out of the hands of 
 any one who might seize them, and carry a brandi in their 
 arms, so that horses, taking them for bushes, may not be 
 frightened. Horses are the most coveted prey. They seize 
 them round the neck, stretch their legs under the belly, and 
 away like an arrow. Their audacity is incredible. There is 
 no encampment <<\ a caravan, be il timi of a Pasha or Am- 
 bassador; where they will noi penetrate in spite of the 
 strictest watch. They glide iqion the ground like snakes, 
 covered with grass, with straw, with leaves, dressed in sheep-
 
 L68 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 skin, disguised as beggars, as madmen, as saint?, as soldiers. 
 They will risk their lives Por a chicken, and go ten miles for 
 a dollar. They will even steal a hag of money from under 
 the head of a sleeping man. And that very night, in spite 
 of the chain of sentinels, they stole a sheep that was tied to 
 
 Tin Horse Stealer. 
 
 the cook's bed, who, when he discovered his loss in the 
 morning-, stood half'-an-hour motionless, with folded arms, 
 before the door of his tent, his eyes fixed upon the horizon, 
 exclaiming", ever and anon : " Ah ! holy Madonna ! what a 
 country ! — what a country ! — what a country ! " 
 
 I have spoken of the duar : Morocco cannot be under- 
 stood without a description of them, and with what I saw,
 
 THE DUAR. 16!) 
 
 and what Signor Morteo, who has lived twenty years among 
 them, told me, I can venture to describe them. 
 
 The duar is in general made up of ten, fifteen, or twenty 
 families, who are related to each other, and each family has 
 a tent. The tents are disposed in two parallel rows, distant 
 from each other about thirty paces, forming thus a sort of 
 square open at both ends. The tents are almost all of equal 
 size, and consist of one great piece of black or chocolate- 
 brown stuff, woven of the fibre of the dwarf palm, and of 
 camels' and goats' hair, which is sustained by two poles or 
 thick canes upholding a cross-piece of wood. Their shape is 
 still that of the habitations of Jngurtha's Numidians, which 
 Sallust compares to a boat with its keel in the air. In the 
 winter and autumn the cloth is stretched to the ground and 
 securely fastened by cords and pegs, so that wind and water 
 cannot enter. In summer, a large aperture is left all round 
 for the circulation of air, protected by a little hedge of reeds, 
 canes, and dried brambles. By these means the tents are 
 cooler in summer, and better closed against the rain and wind 
 than even the Moorish houses in the cities, which have neither 
 doors nor windows. The greatest height of a tent is two metres 
 and a half, the greatest length ten metres; those that exceed 
 these measurements belong to some opulent sheik, and are 
 rare. A reed partition divides the tent into two parts, in 
 one of which the father and mother sleep, while the other is 
 occupied by the children and the rest of the family. 
 
 One or two straw mats; a gaily painted and arabesqued 
 wooden chest for clothes; a little round mirror from Trieste 
 or Venice ; a high tripod made of cane, which is covered 
 with a caie, under which they wash themselves ; two large 
 stones for grinding grain; a weaver's Iodio, sudi as was in 
 use in Abraham's time; a rusty tin lamp, a lew cart hen jars, 
 a goat-skin or two, ;i plate or two, a, distaff, a saddle, a 
 musket, a poignard, comprise the Burniture of such a, tent. 
 In a corner there is generally a hen with her brood of 
 L
 
 LIFE IN A DUAR. 17 
 
 chickens ; in front of the tent door, an oven composed of 
 ■two bricks ; on one side a little kitchen garden, beyond two 
 or three round pits lined with stones and cement, in which 
 they keep their corn. 
 
 In almost all the great duars there is a tent appropriated 
 to the schoolmaster, who receives from the community live 
 francs a month and his food. All the little boys are sent to 
 him to recite a hundred thousand times the same verses from 
 the Koran, and to write them, when they know them by heart, 
 upon a wooden tablet. The greater part of them leave school 
 before they know how to read, to go and work for their 
 parents, forgetting in a short time the little they have learned. 
 The few who have the will and power to study, continue until 
 twenty years of age, after which they go to some city to 
 complete their studies, and become taleb, which signifies notary 
 or scrivener, and is equivalent to being a priest, because among 
 the Mahometans the civil and religious law is identical. Life 
 in the duar is of the utmost simplicity. Everybody rises at 
 dawn ; they say their prayers, feed the cows, make the butter, 
 and drink the buttermilk that remains. For drinking vessels 
 they make use of shells and palelle which they buy from the 
 people of the coast. Then the men go to labour in the fields 
 and do not return until evening. The women fetch wood 
 and water, grind the corn, weave the coarse stuffs of their own 
 and their husbands' dress, twist cords for the tents out of the 
 fibre of the dwarf palm, send food to their husbands, and 
 prepare the cùscèssù for the evening meal. The cùscìissà is n 
 mixture of beans, squash, onions, and other green stuff ; some- 
 times it is sweetened, peppered, and flavoured with the juice 
 of meat; on feast days it is eaten with meat. When the men 
 come home there is su]>]>rr, and in general bed at sundown. 
 Sometimes after supper an old man will lell a stQry in the 
 midst of ;i circle of listeners. During the night the duar re- 
 mains' immersed in silence and darkness; here and there a 
 family will keep a small lamp burning before the tent, to serve 
 L 2
 
 17 J MOltOCCO. 
 
 as :i guide to wandering travellers. The dress of the men and 
 
 women consists of a cotton shirt, a mantle, and a coarse caie. 
 The mantles and caics arc only washed two or three times a 
 year, on the occasion of solemn festivals, and in consequence 
 they are generally of the same colour as the wearer's skin, and 
 
 Type of Native of Beni-Hassan. 
 
 often blacker. The cleanliness of the body is better cared 
 for, since without the ablutions prescribed by the Koran, 
 no one can pray. The women for the most part wash all over 
 every morning-, hiding* themselves under the tripod covered 
 by a caie. But working as they do, and sleeping as they 
 sleep, they are always dirty, more or less, even although, for 
 a wonder, they make use of soap. In their leisure hours many 
 play at cards, and when not playing, one great amusement of the
 
 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 173 
 
 men is to lie on the ground and play with their children ; 
 for whom, however, they care less when they get older. Many 
 of these children of the duar arrive at the age of ten or fourteen 
 years without ever having seen a house, and it is curious to 
 hear an account of their behaviour when taken into the service 
 of Moors or Europeans in the cities ; how they feel the walls, 
 stamp on the floors, and with what intense emotion they look 
 out of a window, or run down a staircase. The principal 
 event in these wandering villages is a marriage. The parents 
 and friends of the bride, with a great noise of tiring of muskets 
 and shouting, bring her seated on a camel to the husband's 
 duar. She is wrapped in a white or blue mantle, perfumed, 
 with her nails tinted with henna and her eyebrows blackened 
 with burnt cork, and is generally fattened for the occasion by 
 the use of a herb called ebba, much in vogue among young 
 girls. The husband's duar meantime has invited the neigh- 
 bouring duars to the festival, and from a hundred to two 
 hundred men, mounted and armed, respond to the invitation. 
 The bride dismounts from her camel before the door of her 
 husband's tent, and, seated on a seat decorated with flowers and 
 fringes, looks on at the festival; whilst the men go through 
 the powder play, the women and girls, disposed in a circle 
 before her, dance to the music of a fife and drum, around a 
 cloth spread upon the ground, into which every guest in 
 passing throws a coin for the newly married pair, and a sort 
 of crier announces the amount of the offering in a loud voice, 
 with good wishes for the donor. Towards evening, the dancing 
 and firing over, every one sits down on the ground, and 
 great dishes of CU8CÙ88Ù, roast chickens, sheep on the spit, 
 tea, sweetmeats, and fruits are carried round; the sapper being 
 prolonged up to midnight. The next day, the bride, dressed 
 in white, with a red scarf bound over her mouth and :i hood 
 upon her head, goes, accompanied by her friends and relations, 
 to the neighbouring duars to collect more money. This done, 
 the husband goes back to his labour, the wile to hers, and
 
 1 7 I MOROCCO. 
 
 love takes to Bight. When any one dies, the dances are 
 repeated. The relations nearest to the defunct record his 
 virtues ; the test, crowded about him, dance with gestures and 
 attitudes of grief, cover themselves with dust, tear their hair, 
 and scratch their faces. After which they wash the corpse, 
 wrap it in a piece of new cloth, carry it on a bier to the 
 cemetery, and bury it, lying on the right side, with its face 
 turned to the east. These are their customs and usages, as one 
 may say, patent to all the world ; but who knows their more 
 private doings? Who can follow the clue by which life in 
 a iliiar is ordered ? Who can say how first love speaks, how 
 slander is disseminated, in what strange forms, by what strange 
 accidents, adultery, jealousy, envy are produced ; what virtues 
 shine, what sacrifices are consummated, what abominable and 
 perverted passions are rife under the shadow of those tents? 
 Who can trace the origin of their monstrous superstitions ? 
 Wiio can clear up the odd mingling of Pagan and Christian 
 traditions in their religious rites : the sign of the cross made 
 on the skin, the vague belief in satyrs where forked elm-trees 
 are found, the image carried in triumph at the budding of 
 the grain, the name of Mary invoked for the help of women 
 in childbirth, the circular dances resembling those of the 
 worshippers of the sun ? One thing only is certain and 
 manifest : their poverty. They live on the scant produce of 
 ill-cultivated ground, borne down by heavy and often changing 
 taxes, collected by the sheik or head of the duar, elected by 
 themselves, but directly under the orders of the governor of the 
 province. They pay the governor, in money or produce, the 
 tenth part of the harvest, and one franc a head for cattle. 
 One hundred francs a year is paid for every tract of land 
 corresponding to the labour of a yoke of oxen. The Sultan, 
 at the principal festivals of the year, exacts a " present " 
 equivalent to five francs per tent. They pay money or furnish 
 provisions at the order of the governors whenever the Sultan, 
 or a Pasha, or an ambassador, or a body of soldiers passes by.
 
 EXTORTIONS OF THE GOVERNOR. 175 
 
 Besides this, any one who has money is exposed to the 
 extortions of the governor, veiled or excused by no pretext 
 whatever, but practised with insolence and violence. To be 
 esteemed rich is a misfortune. Whoever has a small sum laid 
 by, buries it, spends in secret, feigns poverty and hunger. 
 No one accepts a blackened coin in payment, even when he 
 knows it to be good, because it may look as if it had been buried 
 in the ground, and cause the suspicion of hidden treasure. 
 When a rich man dies, the heirs, in order to avoid ruin, 
 offer a present to the governor. Presents are offered to secure 
 justice, to prevent persecution, to avoid being reduced to die 
 of hunger. And when at last hunger has them by the throat 
 and despair blinds them, they strike their tents, seize their 
 muskets, and raise the signal of rovolt. What happens then? 
 The Sultan unchains three thousand mounted fiends and sows 
 death throughout the rebellious district. His soldiers cut off 
 heads, lift cattle, carry off women, burn grain fields, reduce 
 the land to a desert and strew it with ashes slaked in blood, and 
 then return to announce the extinction of the rebellion. If the 
 rebellion extends, and the armies and arts of the Government 
 are vain, what advantage do the rebels gain beyond a few short 
 days of warlike liberty, bought by thousands of lives ? They 
 can elect another Sultan, and provoke a dynastic war between 
 province and province, behind which lurks a worse despotism 
 than before ; and so it goes on from century to century. 
 
 On the morning of the tenth the caravan resumed its 
 march, escorted by the three hundred of Beni-Hassan and 
 their chief, Abd-AUah — servant of (Jori. 
 
 All that morning we travelled over a plain covered with 
 fields of barley, wheat, and buck-wheat, interspersed with largo 
 tracts of wild fennel and flowers^ and dotted with groups of 
 trees and black tents, which last, resembled in the distance 
 those heaps of charcoal that are seen on the Tuscan maremma,i 
 We met more cattle, horses, camels, and Arabs than on the 
 preceding day. Far away in front extended a mountain chain
 
 THE TOMBS OF TWO SAINTS. 177 
 
 of a most delicate grey tint, and in the middle distance glim- 
 mered two white cube — the first illuminated by the sun, the 
 second hardly visible. They were the tombs of the saints 
 Sidi-Ghedar and Sidi-Hassem, between which lie the confines 
 of the land of Beni-Hassan. Our camp was to be pitched 
 near the last. 
 
 Some time, however, before arriving at that point, Governor 
 Sidi-Abd-Allah, who, from the moment of our departure, had 
 seemed anxious and thoughtful, drew near to the Ambassador, 
 and signified his wish to speak. Mohammed Ducali came up 
 quickly. " The Ambassador from Italy will pardon me, M said 
 the haughty chief, " if I venture to ask permission to turn 
 back with my men." 
 
 The Ambassador demanded why. 
 
 "Because," answered Sidi-Abd-Allah, contracting his black 
 brows, "my own house is not secure." 
 
 Is that all? thought we. Only two miles away too ! What 
 an agreeable existence must be that of a Governor of Beni- 
 Hassan ! 
 
 The Ambassador consented ; the chief took his hand and 
 pressed it to his breast with an energetic expression of gratitude. 
 This done, he turned his horse, and in a few minutes the many- 
 coloured, ragged, and terrible crew was nothing but a cloud of 
 -dust upon the horizon.
 
 CHAPTER Vili, 
 
 SIDI-HASSEM. 
 
 f|HE province we were about to enter 
 was a kind of colony, divided into 
 farms among a large number of 
 soldiers' families, in each of which military 
 service is obligatory for all the sons; thus 
 every boy is born a soldier, serves, as he 
 can, from his very infancy, and receives 
 a fixed pay before he is able to handle a 
 musket. These military families are also 
 exempt from taxes, and their property is 
 inalienable as long as male descendants 
 exist. They thus constitute a regular 
 militia, disciplined and faithful, by means of which the Govern- 
 ment can devour — according to the popular expression — any 
 rebellious province, without fear that the tool will fly off the 
 handle. They may be called a militia of collectors of revenue, 
 paving the Government more than they cost ; for in Morocco 
 the army is a servant of the finances, and the principal tool 
 of the administrative machine is the sword. 
 
 We had scarcely passed the boundaries of Beni-Hassen when 
 we saw in the distance a troop of horsemen galloping towards 
 us, preceded by a green banner. Contrary to custom, they 
 were spread out in two long lines, one behind the other, with 
 their officers in front.
 
 MANCEUVEES OF THE CAVALE Y. 17£ 
 
 At about twenty paces off they stopped abruptly. Their 
 Commandant — a big- old man with a white beard, a benevolent 
 aspect, and a lofty turban — came forward and took the Ambas- 
 sador's hand, saying, " You are welcome ! you are welcome ! ;> 
 And then to us, " Welcome ! welcome ! welcome ! " 
 
 We resumed our march. The new horsemen were very 
 different from the Beni-Hassen. They had clean garments 
 and shining 1 arms ; almost all wore yellow boots embroidered 
 with red; their sabres had handles of rhinoceros hide, their 
 mantles were blue, their caftans white, with green girdles. 
 Many of them were old — those petrified old men for whom 
 eternity seems to have begun. Some were very young — two 
 in particular not more than ten years old, handsome and full 
 of life, looking at us with a smiling air, as though they were 
 thinking, u Come, you are not such scarecrows as we had ex- 
 pected to see." There was one black old man of such tall 
 stature that if he had taken his feet out of the stirrups they 
 would have touched the ground. One of the officers wore 
 stockings. 
 
 In about half-an-hour we met another company with a red 
 banner, commanded by an old Caid, who joined themselves to 
 the first ; and from time to time other groups of four, eight, 
 fifteen horsemen, each with its banner, who came to swell our 
 escort. When all had arrived, the usual firing and charging 
 went on. 
 
 It was evident that they were regular soldiers ; they man- 
 oeuvred with more regularity and order than any we had seen. 
 They had a new play. One would dart forward at full speed, 
 another behind him, ventre a (erre. Suddenly, the first would 
 rise in his stirrups, turn and fire right into the chest of the 
 pursuer, who at the same instant discharged his musket into 
 the first one's side ; so that, had they been firing with ball, 
 both would have fallen dead at the same moment. The horse 
 of one who was (lying in full career fell, and threw his rider 
 to such a distance that we thought, In: musi, be killed; but
 
 SIDI-HASSEM. 
 
 181 
 
 in a moment he was up and in the saddle, and rushing about 
 with more fury than ever. Each one had his cry. "Take 
 care ! — take care ! Bear witness all ! It is I ! Here comes 
 death! Place for the barber!" (he was the soldiers' barber). 
 And one shouted, to the manifest amusement of his com- 
 panions, " Alla mia depinta ! " The interpreters explained that 
 he meant, " To my lady, who is as beautiful as a picture " — 
 odd enough for one of a people who have portraiture in horror, 
 
 The Two Brothen 
 
 and who cannot even have a clear idea of it. The two 
 little lads fired and shouted together, " Place for the brothers ! " 
 pointing their muskets downwards, and bending to the 
 saddle-bow. 
 
 In this manner we arrived near the cuba of Sidi- 1 Tasselli, 
 where our camp was to be pitched. 
 
 Poor Hamed Ben-Kasen Buhammei ! Until now I have 
 but glanced at him; but, remembering how 1 saw him thai 
 morning — he, General of the armies of the Schereef — helping 
 to plant the supports of the Ambassador's tent, I feel the need
 
 182 MOKOCCO. 
 
 pf expressing my admiration and gratitude towards him, What 
 :i good Bellow of a General ! From the moment of our de- 
 parture lie had uot bastinadoed soldier or servant; had never 
 shown ill-temper ; always the first tp rise, and the last to go 
 to bed; never had allowed to transpire, even to the most prying 
 eye, that his stipend of forty franes a month might seem a 
 trifle scanty; had not a particle of self-conceit; helped us to 
 mount, saw that our saddles were secure, gave a passing blow 
 with his stick to our restive mules; was always ready for 
 everything and everybody ; rested, crouched like an humble 
 mule-driver, near our tents; smiled when we smiled; offered 
 us cìiscùssù ; sprang to his feet at a sign from the Ambassador, 
 like a puppet on wires; prayed, like a good Mussulman, five 
 times a day; counted the eggs of the muna, presided at the 
 killing of sheep, looked over the artists' sketch-books without 
 blenching ; was, in short, the man of all others whom his 
 Imperial Majesty should have chosen for that mission among 
 all the crew of barefooted Generals. Hamed Ben-Kasen often 
 related with pride that his father had been a General in the 
 war with Spain, and sometimes spoke of his sons, who were 
 with their mother at Mechinez, his native city. "It is three 
 months," he would say, with a sigh, " since I have seen 
 them." 
 
 That day, after having witnessed the presentation of the 
 in ana, when there was a monstrous dish of cuscùssù that took 
 five men to carry it, we took refuge, as usual, in our tents, to 
 endure, also as usual, the forty degrees centigrade which lasted 
 from noon until four o'clock, during which time the camp was 
 immersed in profound silence. At four life woke again. The 
 artists took their brushes, the doctor received the sick, one went 
 to bathe, another to fire at a mark, another to hunt, another to 
 walk, another to visit a friend in his tent, to see the escort 
 charge, to visit the cook in his struggle with Africa, to go to 
 the nearest (hear, and thus every one at dinner-time had some- 
 thing to tell, and conversation burst forth like a firework.
 
 EXERCISES OF THE ESCORT. 
 
 183 
 
 At sunset I went with the Commandant to see the escort at 
 their usual exercises, in a vast field near the camp. There we 
 found about a hundred Arabs sitting in a row along the edge of 
 a ditch looking on. As soon as they discovered us they rose and 
 •came in groups to follow us. We pretended not to see them. 
 For a few minutes not one of them spoke ; then one said some- 
 thing that set the others laughing. Then another, and a third 
 spoke, and everybody 
 laughed as before. They 
 were evidently laughing 
 at us, and we were 
 not long in discovering 
 that their laughter cor- 
 responded with our move- 
 ments and the inflections 
 of our voices. It was the 
 most natural thing in the 
 world ; to them we were 
 ridiculous. We were cu- 
 rious to know what they 
 were saying, and as one 
 of the interpreters was 
 passing, made a secret 
 sign for him to come and 
 translate, which he did. 
 
 Presently one made 
 an observation which was received with a burst of laughter. 
 " He says," said Morteo, " that he does not know what the 
 skirls of your coats arc for, unless to hide your tails." Again, 
 "He says that the parting up the back of your head is the 
 road where certain insects make the lab-el-baroda." A third 
 speech, and a third shout of laughter. " lie says that these 
 
 Christians are strange creatures ; that in their ambition to seem 
 
 tall they put vases on their heads and two props under their 
 heels. " 
 
 The Càscùssti Dish. 
 
 '■
 
 1st MOEOCCO. 
 
 At this point a dog from 1 1 it» camp came and lay down at 
 
 our feet. There was a remark and a loud yell of laughter. 
 
 •This is rather too much!" said Morten; "lie says that a 
 
 dog has come to lie down with the other dogs. I will teach 
 
 them " As he spoke, he turned abruptly to the Arabs and 
 
 said something in a tone of menace. It was like a Hash of 
 lightning. In one instant they had all vanished. 
 
 Poor fellows, let us be just ! they were not so far wrong after 
 all ! Ten times a day, while they skirmished about us on their 
 superb horses, we remarked to each other : " Yes, we are eivilised, 
 we are the representatives of a great nation, we have more 
 science in our heads, we ten men, than exists in the whole 
 empire of the Schereefs ; but planted on our mules, dressed in 
 these clothes, with these hats, in these colours, among them, 
 Goodness knows, we are hideous ! " And it was true. The last 
 among those ragged figures on horseback was more noble, more 
 dignified, handsomer, more worthy of a lady's glanee, than all 
 the dandies of Europe in a bunch. 
 
 At table that evening there was another curious little scene. 
 The two oldest of the Caids of the escort came in and sat down, 
 one on each side of the Ambassador. He asked them whether 
 they had ever heard of Italy. Both together, eagerly making the 
 sign of " no " with the hand, replied, in the tone of those who 
 wish to dissipate a suspicion, " Never ! never ! " The Ambas- 
 sador, with the patience of a master, gave them some geo- 
 graphical and political information respecting our mysterious 
 country. They listened with wide-open eyes and gaping mouths, 
 like children. 
 
 "And how many people live in your country ?" one asked. 
 
 " Twenty-five millions/' answered the Ambassador. 
 
 They gave a sign of astonishment. " And Morocco," asked 
 the other, " how many millions has it? " 
 
 " Four/' replied the Ambassador, feeling his ground. 
 
 " Only four ! " they exclaimed ingenuously, looking at each 
 other. Evidently these two brave Generals knew no more about
 
 THE LAST NIGHT AT SIDI-HASSEM. 185 
 
 Morocco than they did about Italy ; and perhaps as little about 
 their own province in Morocco. 
 
 Signor Morteo showed them a photograph of his wife, 
 saying, " Allow me to present my wife/' 
 
 They looked and looked at it with much complacency, and 
 then asked in one voice, " And the others ? ** Either they did 
 not know, or had forgotten, that we unhappy Christians are 
 limited to one. 
 
 That night there was no possibility of sleep. The hens 
 clucked, the dogs barked, the sheep bleated, the horses neighed, 
 the sentinels sang, the water-sellers tinkled their bells, the 
 soldiers quarrelled over the mima, the servants tumbled over the 
 tent cords; the camp was like a market-place. But we had 
 only four more days to travel, and — a magic word of consolation 
 —Fez !
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 
 ZEGUTA. 
 
 <^r^^E started for Zeguta 
 
 ^<§t/$iS a ^ an ear ^y hour 
 in the morning', 
 cheered by the thought 
 that that day we should 
 see the mountains of Fez. 
 A light autumnal breeze 
 was blowing, and a slight 
 ì mist veiled the prospect. 
 A throng of Arabs, 
 muffled in their mantles, 
 looked on as we left the 
 camp; the soldiers of the escort kept together in a compact 
 body ; the children of the duar watched us with sleepy eyes over 
 the hedges and from the tents. But soon the sun shone out, 
 the horsemen scattered, the air resounded with shots and yells, 
 everything became full of colour, light, and animation, and 
 immediately, as happens in that country, to the chill of 
 autumn succeeded the ardent heat of summer. 
 
 Among my notes of that morning I find one which says, 
 laconically, " Locusts.'''' I remember to have noticed a distant 
 field which appeared to be moving, and perceived that the 
 
 A Locust.
 
 A TEEEIBLE INVASION. 187 
 
 apper.ance was produced by a vast number of green grasshoppers 
 which were advancing- towards us in great jumps. Selim, who 
 was riding at my side, gave me an admirably picturesque de- 
 scription of the invasion of these formidable insects, and I 
 remember it word for word ; but I cannot render the effect of 
 his gesture, voice, and look, which were more expressive than his 
 words. " It is a terrible thing, sir ! They come from there 
 (pointing towards the south). A black cloud. You can hear 
 the noise from afar off. They advance, and advance, and they 
 have their Sultan, the Sultan Jeraad, Avho guides them. They 
 cover roads and fields, houses, duars, and woods. The cloud 
 grows and grows, and comes and comes and comes, and eats and 
 eats and eats, passes rivers, passes walls, passes fires ; destroys 
 grass, flowers, leaves, fruit, grain, bark of trees, and goes and 
 goes. Nothing stays it, neither the tribe with fire, nor the 
 Sultan with all his army, nor all the people of Morocco gathered 
 together. Heaps of locusts dead ; forward the living locusts ! 
 Ten die, a hundred are born ! A hundred die, a thousand are 
 born ! Roads covered ; gardens covered ; sea shore covered ; idi 
 green, all in motion, alive, dead, smell, plague, famine, the 
 curse of heaven!" So indeed it is. The horrid smell that 
 emanates from myriads of dead locusts sometimes produces con- 
 tagious fevers, and, to cite one example, the terrible pestilence 
 that depopulated in 1799 the cities and country of Barbary broke 
 out after one of their invasions. When the advance guard of 
 their devastating army appears, the Arabs go to meet it in squads 
 of four or five hundred with sticks and fire; but they succeed 
 only in turning it a little from its road, and it often happens that 
 one tribe turning it aside towards the territory of another, war 
 against the locusts is suddenly turned into civil war. The only 
 force that can liberate the country from this scourge is a favour- 
 able wind which drives them into the sea, where they are 
 drowned, and an.' thrown afterwards in heaps upon the coast; 
 and the only comfort the inhabitants can take when the favour- 
 able wind is wanting, is to eat their enemies, which they do, 
 11 Z
 
 THE FIRST VEHICLE IN TANGIERS. 189 
 
 before they have deposited their eggs, boiled, and seasoned with 
 salt, pepper, and vinegar. They have the flavour of shrimps, 
 and as many as four hundred can be eaten in a day. 
 
 At about two miles from the camp we rejoined a part of the 
 caravan that was carrying to Fez the presents from Victor 
 Emanuel.* There were camels in pairs, one behind the other, 
 with two long poles suspended from the crupper, on which the 
 cases were carried. Some Arabs on foot, and mounted soldiers, 
 accompanied them. At the head of the caravan was a cart 
 drawn by two bullocks ; the first cart we saw in Morocco ! It 
 was made at Laracce on purpose, after the pattern, I believe, of 
 the first vehicle that ever appeared upon the earth — a heavy 
 deformed body, upon two wheels all of one piece, without spokes ; 
 the strangest and most ridiculous affair that can be imagined. 
 But to the natives, the most of whom had never seen a cart, it 
 was a wonder. They came from all sides to see it, pointed it 
 out to one another, followed and preceded it, and talked aboiit 
 it with excited gestures. Meantime our mules, unused to such 
 an object, gave signs of surprise, and planting themselves on 
 their four legs refused to pass it. Selim himself regarded it 
 with complacency, as if he said to himself, " It was made in our 
 country.'" And he was excusable, since in all Morocco there 
 exist about as many carts as pianofortes, which latter, if I may 
 believe the assertion of the French Consul, are about a dozen ; 
 and also it seems that there is in that country a national anti- 
 patby against every kind of vehicle. The authorities of Tangiers, 
 for example, prohibited Prince Frederic of Hesse Darmstadt, 
 who was in that city in 1839, from going out in a carnage. 
 The Prince wrote to the Sultan, offering to pave the principal 
 street at his own expense, if he would permit what the authorities 
 denied him. " I permit it," answered the Sultan, " and wil- 
 lingly ; but on one condition — that the carriage shall be without 
 wheels; because, being protector of the faithful, I cannot expose 
 my subjects to be crushed by a Christian." And the Prince, in 
 * The then King of Italy. Died in L878.
 
 A CARRIAGE WITHOUT WHEELS. 
 
 191 
 
 order to make the thing ridiculous, availed himself of the per- 
 mission with the conditions, 
 and there are still at Tan- 
 giers persons who remem- 
 ber having seen him going 
 about the city in a carriage 
 without wheels, suspended 
 between two mules. 
 
 We arrived at last at 
 those blessed hills which we 
 had been looking forward 
 to for three days with im- 
 patient longing. After a 
 long climb we entered a 
 narrow gorge, called in 
 Arabic Ben-Tinea, where ;\} 
 we were obliged to pass 
 one by one, and came out 
 upon a beautiful flowery 
 valley, quite solitary, where 
 the escort scattered gaily, 
 filling the air with songs 
 and cries of joy. 
 
 At the bottom of the 
 valley we met another escort 
 from the territory of the 
 military colonies, which took 
 the place of the former one. 
 
 They were abont one 
 hundred horsemen, some 
 very <>M and some very 
 young, black, and hairy; 
 some were mounted on stu- 
 pendous horses, caparisoned with great pomp. TheCaid, Abu-Ben- 
 Gileli, was a robust old man, of severe aspect and reserved manners. 
 
 -% 3 <-' 5 
 (),,< of the "Escort of . ibu B< » Gil
 
 199 
 
 MOKOCVO. 
 
 At a certain moment the Ambassador and the Captain, 
 accompanied by Elamed Ben-Kasen and a few soldiers, loft 
 the caravan to ascend a mountain called Sei fat, a lew miles 
 distant ; the rest of ns continued on the regular route. 
 
 A short time after their departure there came towards us 
 an Arab boy of sixteen or eighteen years of age, and almost 
 naked, driving two unwilling oxen before him with a whip. 
 
 The Caid. Abu-Ben-Gilelij stopped his horse, and called 
 
 A Pair of Oxen. 
 
 him. We learned afterwards that this boy was to attach his 
 oxen to the cart that we had seen, and was several hours 
 behind his time. 
 
 The poor lad, all trembling', presented himself before the 
 Caid. The latter asked some questions, to which the boy re- 
 plied, stammering 1 , and pale as a corpse. 
 
 Then the Caid turned towards the soldiers and said, coldly, 
 " Fifty bastonate.*' 
 
 Three robust men sprang from their horses. The poor 
 young fellow, without a word, without even lifting his eyes to 
 the face of his judge, threw himself face downwards on the
 
 THE BASTINADO. 193 
 
 ground, according to the custom, with arms and legs stretched 
 out. 
 
 It all happened in a moment. The stick was yet in the 
 air, when the Commandant and others had sprung forward, 
 and declared that the brutal punishment could not he per- 
 mitted. The Caid bowed his head. The lad rose from the 
 
 Punishment of the Bastinado. 
 
 ground, pale and convulsed, looking with an expression of 
 astonishment and terror from his preservers to the Caid. 
 " Go/' said the interpreter ; " you are free ! " 
 " Oh ! " he cried, with an indescribable accent, and vanished. 
 We resumed our march. I have seen a man killed, but never 
 have I experienced so profound a feeling of horror as that 
 which assailed me at the sight of that half-naked boy stretched 
 on the ground to receive his fifty blows with a stick. And 
 after the horror, my blond rushed to my faee with indig-
 
 \'.n MOROCCO. 
 
 nation againsl the Caid, the Sultan, Morocco, and barbarism. 
 But it is true thai second thoughts are best. After a moment, 
 1 thought — And we, how many years is it since ue abolished 
 
 the stick? How many since it was in use in Austria, in Prussia, 
 and in others of the European States ? This reflection calmed 
 my anger, and left me only a sentiment of bitterness. If any 
 one wants to know in what fashion the bastinado is carried on in 
 .Morocco, it is enough to say that sometimes, the operation over, 
 the victim is carried to the cemetery. 
 
 From thence to Zeguta the caravan passed from hill to hill, 
 from valley to valley, through fields of grain and barley, and 
 verdant plains surrounded by aloes, cactus, wild olive, dwarf 
 oaks, arbutus, myrtle, and other flowering shrubs. We saw no 
 living soni nor any tents. The country was solitary, silent, and 
 all overgrown, like an enchanted garden. Coming to a rising 
 ground, we saw the blue summits of the mountains of Fez sud- 
 denly appearing, as if they bad thrust up their heads to 
 look at us ; and at the hottest time in the day we reached 
 Zeguta. 
 
 It proved to b? one of the most beautiful of the places we 
 had yet seen. The tents were pitched on the slope of a hill in a 
 large rocky cavity, in the form of an amphitheatre, around the 
 sides of which the accidents of the ground and the passage of 
 men and animals had formed something resembling rows of seats 
 or steps, which at that time were swarming with Arabs seated in 
 a semicircle, as if looking on at a spectacle. In front a broad 
 valley of a shell-like form opened with all its lovely variety of 
 colour, according to the cultivation, in squares of green, yellow, 
 red, violet, and white, like a great chessboard made of silk and 
 velvet. With the glass could be seen, on the more distant hills, 
 here a string of tents, there a white cvba among aloe plants; 
 beyond, a camel, a crouching Arab, cattle, a group of women — a 
 life so still and scattered that it threw into relief the profound 
 peacefulness of the scene better than complete solitude could 
 have done. And over all this beauty was spread a white and
 
 AN EXPERIMENT WITH KIF. 195 
 
 burning sky that dazzled the eyes and obliged one to stand with 
 drooping- head. 
 
 But I remember the encampment at Zeguta less for its 
 beauty than for an experiment we made there with the famous 
 *if.' 
 
 Kif, for those who do not know it, is the leaf of a kind of 
 hemp, called hashish, known all over the East for its intoxicating 
 ■quality. It is much in use in Morocco, and it may be said that 
 all those Moors and Arabs who are met in the streets of the 
 cities dragging themselves about, and looking" with a dull 
 stupefied expression, like men who have just had a blow on 
 the head, are victims of this deleterious drug. The greater 
 part of them smoke it, mixed with a little tobacco, in small 
 clay pipes ; others eat it in the form of a sweatmeat called 
 madjun, made of butter, honey, nutmeg, and cloves. The 
 effects of it are most curious. Doctor Miguerez, who had tried it, 
 often told me about it, saying, among other things, that he 
 had been seized with a fit of irresistible laughter, and that he 
 imagined himself to be lifted from the ground, so that passing 
 under a lofty archway, he had stooped his head for fear of 
 striking it. Stimulated by curiosity, I had more than once 
 asked him to give me a dose of madjun — a little, not enough 
 to make me lose my wits, but enough to let me experience at 
 least one or two of the wonders that he related. The good 
 doctor at first excused himself, declaring that it was better to 
 try it at Fez ; but he yielded at last to my entreaties, and 
 the experiment was made at Zeguta, where, much against his will, 
 he finally presented me with the wished-for morsel on a small 
 plate. We were al table, and il* I am not mistaken the two 
 artists shared it with me, but I do not remember how it af- 
 fected them. It was :i soft paste of a violet Colour, and smelt. 
 
 like pomatum. Por about half an hour, from the soup to the 
 fruit, I felt nothing, and chaffed the doctor for liis timidity, l'ut, 
 he only said, "Wait a bit!" and smiled. Presently I was 
 conscious of a feeling of great hilarity, and knew that J was
 
 196 MOROCCO. 
 
 talking very quickly. Then I Laughed at everything that others 
 said, or thai 1 said myself; every word seemed to me the purest 
 wit ami humour : I laughed a1 the servants, at my companions, 
 
 at the figures on the plates, at the forms of the bottles, at 
 the colour of the cheese I was eating. Suddenly I was aware 
 that my wits were wandering, and I tried to fix my thoughts 
 upon something serious. I thought of the boy who was to 
 have been bastinadoed in the morning. Poor boy ! I was moved 
 with compassion. I should have liked to take him to Italy, 
 educate him, give him a career. I loved him like a son. And 
 the Caid, too, Abu-Ben-Gileli, poor old man ! I loved the Caid 
 like a father. And the soldiers of the escort ! — all good fellows, 
 ready to defend me, to risk their lives for me. I loved them like 
 brothers. I loved the Algerians also, and why not? I thought; 
 are they not of the same race? — and what a race! We are all 
 brothers, we ought to love each other ; and I threw my arms 
 round the neck of the doctor, who was laughing. From this 
 delight I suddenly fell into a deep and vague melancholy. I re- 
 membered the persons whom I had offended, the pain I had 
 inflicted on those who loved me, and was oppressed by poignant 
 remorse and regret ; I seemed to hear voices in my ears speaking- 
 in tones of loving reproach ; I repented, I asked pardon, I fur- 
 tively wiped away big tears that were in my eyes. Then there 
 rose in my mind a crowd of strange and contrasted images 
 that vanished as quickly as they came ; forgotten friends of my 
 childhood, words of a dialect unused for twenty years, faces of 
 women, my old regiment, "William the Silent, Paris, my pub- 
 lisher Barbera, a beaver hat that I had when I was a boy, the 
 Acropolis at Athens, the bill of an innkeeper at Seville, and a 
 thousand other absurdities. I remember confusedly the amused 
 looks of my companions at table. From time to time I closed 
 my eyes, and opened them again, unconscious of the passage of 
 time, and ignorant whether I had slept or not. My thoughts 
 sparkled and went out like fireflies, intricate and inextricable. 
 At one moment I saw Ussi, with his face lengthened like a re-
 
 THE END OF THE EXPERIMENT. 
 
 197 
 
 flection in a convex mirror ; the Vice-Consul, with his visage a 
 foot in breadth ; all the others attenuated, swollen, contorted, 
 like fantastic caricatures, making the most impossible grimaces ; 
 and I laughed, and wagged my head, and dreamed, and thought 
 that they were all crazy, that Ave were in another world, that 
 what I saw was not true, that I was ill, that I could not under- 
 stand what had happened, that I did not know where I was. 
 Then all was darkness and silence. When I came to myself I 
 was in my tent, stretched on the bed, and the doctor, standing 
 beside me with a candle in his hand, was saying, with a smile, 
 " It is over; but let it be the last, as it was the first time."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FKOM ZEGUTA TO SAGAT. 
 
 IIILST I was runnimr 
 
 here and there in 
 search of my mule — 
 which, I do not know how 
 or why, was at last found 
 among' the bag-gage — the 
 members of the Embassy 
 departed. I still had time 
 to come up with them, but 
 tuffizSMsZ^ w-Sl^iilllls^JSrT^-- in leaving- the camp and 
 
 going down a rocky path 
 6 my mule stumbled, the 
 
 saddle slipped, and literature, as represented in my person, 
 was precipitated to the ground. It took half-an-hour to set 
 matters straight again ; and meantime, adieu to the Em- 
 bassy ! I had to make the journey alone, followed afar 
 off by a limping servitor, who could hardly arrive in 
 time, in case of an assault, to see me breathe my last 
 breath. May the will of Allah be done ! The country 
 is deserted, and the sky cloudy. From time to time I can 
 see, on the summit of distant heights, a gay cavalcade, among-
 
 LEFT BEHIND. 193 
 
 which I recognise the Ambassador's white horse and Selim's 
 red caftan, and then I do not feel so much alone; but the 
 cavalcade vanishes, and solitude once more oppresses my heart. 
 In an hour's time I rejoin the rear-guard of twelve horsemen, 
 led by old Abu-Ben- Glieli, the Caid, who gives me a terrible 
 glance that I feel all down my spine. I smile with humility 
 and pass on. Coming out of the lovely valley on which our 
 encampment looked, I enter another spacious valley, flanked 
 by steep hills clothed with aloe and olive, forming two great 
 green walls to the right and left of a broad straight road, 
 closed at the end by a curtain of blue mountains. I meet a 
 few Arabs, who stop and look amazed at seeing me without 
 an escort. Will they attack me, or no? One goes to a tree, 
 and, hastily tearing off a branch, runs towards me with it. 
 It has come ! I stop my mule and grasp my pistol. He 
 laughs, and hands me the branch, explaining that it is to 
 beat my lazy mule with. At that moment two soldiers of the 
 escort come galloping to meet me : my hour is not yet come. 
 The two soldiers place themselves one on either side, and drive 
 forward my quadruped with blows from the butts of their 
 muskets, saying, " Embasceador ! Embasceador ! " The Ambas- 
 sador has sent them back to see what has become of me. 
 They deserve a reward. I stop and offer them a small bottle 
 of wine, which I take from my pocket. They say neither 
 yes nor no, but look smiling at each other, and then sign to 
 me that they have never drunk wine. " Try it," I say, with 
 a gesture. One takes the bottle, pours a few drops in the 
 palm of his hand, licks it up, ani remains thoughtful for a 
 moment. The other docs the same. Then they laugh, look 
 at each other, and make signs that it is good. " Drink, then." 
 One empties half the bottle at a gulp; the other finishes it. 
 Then they each place ;i hand on their stomach, and turn lip 
 their eyes to heaven. We resume our road. We meet Arabs 
 — men, women, and children — who all look at me with sur- 
 prise. One of them says something which is answered by the
 
 •JOO MOROCCO. 
 
 soldiers with an omphalic negative. He said, "Here is a 
 Christian who has been robbing the Ambassador." 
 
 We saw some white villages on the top of the rising ground 
 that bordered the valley. Cuhc, palms, fruit-trees, flowering 
 oleanders, and rose-gardens were visible. The country was 
 brilliantly green, and began to show here and there traces of 
 division into farms. At last we entered a narrow, rocky gorge, 
 and, issuing thence, found ourselves at the camp. We are 
 upon the banks of the Miches — an affluent of the Sebii — near 
 a little bridge built of masonry, and in a semicircle of rocky 
 hills. The grey sky, like a leaden roof, sends down a pale 
 <lull light. The thermometer marks forty degrees Centigrade : 
 we are constrained to remain seven hours motionless in our 
 tents. The air is heavy and burning. No sound is heard 
 but the grasshopper's chirp and Ducalè's guitar. A profound 
 ennui broods over the entire encampment. But towards evening 
 there is a change. A light shower refreshes the air; a shaft 
 of rays, darting like a stream of electric light through the 
 opening of the gorge, gilds one half the camp; couriers arrive 
 from Tangiers and Fez, and Arabs from the villages. Two- 
 thirds of the caravan are in the river, and the dinner is en- 
 livened by the apparition of a new personage, come from the 
 great city of the Schereefs : the Moor Schellah, another of 
 the proteges of the Legation, who has a suit pending with 
 the Sultan's Government — the most voluminous turban, the 
 most rotund visage, the most comfortable and unctuous of fat 
 Moors that we have seen between this and Tangiers. The 
 next morning at dawn we resumed our march without other 
 escort than the forty soldiers commanded by Hamed Ben- 
 Kasen. A revolt had broken out in the confines of Algiers, 
 and all the cavalry in Fez had been sent against the rebels. 
 "We shall see many heads hanging over the gates of Fez/' 
 said Ducale. After two hours' journey among the broom-clad 
 hills, we came out \ipon the vast table-land of Fez, encircled 
 by mountains and hills, golden with grain, sprinkled with large
 
 NEARING FEZ. 
 
 201 
 
 duar, watered by the river of the Azure Fountain, which 
 empties into the Miches, and by the Pearl river, affluent of 
 the Sebù, which divides into two parts the sacred city of the 
 empire. Flocks of cranes, wild geese, doves, pheasants, and 
 heron flew over it ; 
 and the luxuriant vege- 
 tation, full of smiling 
 peace and light, made 
 it like one vast garden. 
 We encamped on the 
 bank of the Azure 
 Fountain river. The 
 day flew by with 
 lightning speed, what 
 with hunting, visiting 
 the duar, Jews coming* 
 from Fez to relate the 
 great preparations that 
 were being made, and 
 messengers from the 
 Court bringing the 
 Sultan's salutations. 
 Arabs came, fording 
 the river in families — 
 first the camel, then 
 the men, then the 
 women with their chil- 
 dren on their backs, 
 then the boys and 
 girls, then the dogs 
 Swimming. Caravans passed ; crowds of curious lookers-OH 
 
 appeared. The sunset was exquisite, and the night more 
 
 Luminous than our eyes bad ever beheld. In the i ning 
 
 at daybreak we were again on the march. We re-entered 
 the hilly region, turned to descend into the plain, and 
 
 U\ 
 
 Schellah, the Moor.
 
 902 MOROCCO. 
 
 threaded a winding road between two banks that hid the 
 horizon. 
 
 A sonorous voice cried out, " Behold Fez ! " Everybody 
 stopped. Straight before us, at a few miles distance, at the 
 foot of the mountains, lay a forest of towers, minarets, and 
 palms, veiled by a light mist. A joyful shout of " Here we 
 are ! " broke from every lip — in Italian, in Spanish, in French, 
 Arabic, Genoese, Sicilian, and Neapolitan ; and to the first 
 brief silence of astonishment succeeded a buzz of conversation. 
 "We encamped for the last time at the foot of Mount Tagat 
 on the shore of the Pearl river, at about one hour and a half 
 from Fez. 
 
 Here throughout the day there was a coming and going 
 and a bustle that made it seem like the general head-quarters 
 of an army in time of war. Messengers from the Sultan, 
 from the Prime Minister, from the Grand Chamberlain, from 
 the governor, officers, majordomos, merchants, relatives of the 
 Moors of the caravan, all well-dressed people, neat, ceremo- 
 nious, surrounded by the air of a court and a metropolis, 
 speaking with grave voices and dignified gesture, and telling 
 of the formidable army, the immense crowd, the delicious palace 
 that awaited us. Our entrance into Fez was fixed for eight 
 o'clock the next morning. At daydawn we were all afoot. 
 There was great use of razors, brushes, combs, and curry- 
 combs, and an excitement of spirits that made up for all the 
 tedium of the journey. The Ambassador put on his gilded 
 cap, Hamed I3en-Kasen his dress sabre, Selim his red caftan, 
 Civo a green handkerchief on his head (a sign of high 
 solemnity) ; the servants came out in white mantles ; the 
 soldiers' arms shone in the sun ; the Italians put on the 
 best they had in their trunks. We were about a hundred 
 in all, and it may be affirmed that Italy never had an 
 embassy more oddly composed, more gorgeous in colour, 
 more joyously impatient, or more eagerly expected than this 
 one. The weather is splendid, the horses prance, robes float
 
 PREPARING TO ENTER FEZ. 
 
 203 
 
 out in the morning breeze, every face is animated, every 
 eye is fixed upon the Ambassador, who counts the minutes 
 on his watch. It is eight o'clock — a sign — every one is 
 in the saddle — and we advance with hearts beating high in 
 expectation. 
 
 n Z
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IE/. 
 
 ^T"~T'7^r. had not advanced half a mile towards 
 
 'w/MK * ne c ^ v w ^ cn we were surrounded by 
 a throng of Moors and Arabs, come 
 from Fez and from the country round, on 
 foot and on horseback, on mules aud on 
 donkeys, two and two, like the ancient 
 Numidians, so eager to see us that the 
 soldiers of our escort are obliged to make 
 use of the butt-end of their muskets to keep 
 them from pressing" upon us. The ground 
 being low, the city, whose castellated walls 
 we had seen from the camp, remains for some time hidden. 
 Then all at once it reappears, and between us and the walls 
 we can see an immense white and crimson mass, like a myriad 
 of lilies and roses trembling in the breeze. The city vanishes 
 again, and again appears, but much nearer this time ; and 
 between us and it, the people, the army, the court, and a 
 pomp and splendour and oddity that are beyond my powers 
 of description. 
 
 A company of officers on horseback come galloping to meet 
 us, and, dividing in the middle, pass to the rear and join them- 
 selves in our escort. Behind them comes a troop of horsemen, 
 splendidly attired and mounted on superb horses, preceded by a 
 Moor of tall stature, with a white turban and a rose-coloured 
 caftan. He is the Grand Chamberlain, Hadji Mohammed Ben- 
 Aissa, accompanied by his suite, who, having welcomed the 
 Ambassador in the Sultan's name, joins the escort.
 
 ENTRY INTO FEZ. 
 
 205 
 
 We advance between two rows of infantry soldiers, who with 
 difficulty keep back the crowd. "What soldiers they are ! There 
 are old men and mature men, and boys of fifteen, twelve, and 
 even nine years of 
 age, dressed in scarlet, 
 with bare legs and 
 yellow slippers, ranged 
 along in single hie 
 without regard to 
 height, with their 
 captains in front. 
 Each one presents in 
 his own fashion his 
 rusty musket and his 
 crooked bayonet. 
 Some stand with one 
 foot foremost, some 
 with legs apart, some 
 with their heads on 
 their shoulders, some 
 with their chins on 
 their breasts. Some 
 have put their red 
 jackets on their heads 
 to shelter them from 
 the sun. Here and 
 there is a tambourine, 
 a trumpet, live or six 
 banners, one beside the 
 other — red, yellow, 
 green, orang< — carried :is crosses are carried in ;i procession. 
 There seems to be no division into squadrons or companies. 
 They look like paper soldiers stuck up in a row by boys. There 
 
 are blacks, mulattoes, whites, and laces of an indefinable colour; 
 men of gigantic stature beside boys who are scarcely old enough 
 
 '/'/// Grand Chamberlain, Hadji Mohammed Ben-Awa.
 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 to hi -Id a gun ; beni old men with long white hoards, leaning 
 on their neighbours ; savage Paces, making the effect, in that 
 uniform, of dressed-up monkeys. They all look at us with 
 open eyes and mouth, and their line stretches farther than we 
 
 ran see. 
 
 A second troop of horsemen advances, on the left. It is the 
 old Governor, Gilali Ben- Amu, followed by eighteen ehiefs of 
 interior degree and by the flower of the aristocracy of Fez, all 
 
 WMMmà 
 
 Soldiers of the Sultan. 
 
 dressed in white from head to foot, like a company of priests — 
 austere visages, black beards, silken caics, gilded housings. 
 Saluting us, they circle round, and join our cortege. 
 
 We go forward, still between two lines of soldiers, behind 
 whom presses a white and hooded crowd who devour us with 
 their eyes. Thev are always the same soldiers, for the most 
 part boys, wearing- the fez, with red jackets and bare legs. 
 They have blue, white, or green drawers. Some are in their 
 shirt sleeves ; some hold their muskets on their shoulder, some 
 rest them on the ground ; some press forward, some hang 1 back.
 
 THE OFFICERS' COSTUME. 
 
 207 
 
 Tlie officers are dressed according- to their fancy — zouaves, turcos, 
 Greeks, Albanians, Turks — with arabesque embroidery of gold 
 
 
 ML 
 
 iM 
 
 - fcPSS* 
 
 The Goverm r oj Fez, Gitali !'■> n I 
 
 and silver, with scimitars, swords, curved poignardsj horse 
 pistols. Some wear the bonis o£ a groom, and some yellow 
 boots without heels ; some are nil in crimson, some all in white;
 
 208 MOROCCO. 
 
 Borne in green, and looking like masquerade devils. Here and 
 there anioni;' them may l>e seen a European face, looking at us 
 sadly and with sympathy. As many as ten banners are ranged 
 in a row together. The trumpets sound as we pass. A 
 woman's arm protrudes itself between the soldiers' heads, 
 and threatens us with clenched fist. The walls of the city 
 seem to recede before us, and the two lines of soldiers to extend 
 interminably. 
 
 Another troop of cavaliers, more splendid than the first, 
 comes to meet us. It is the aged Minister of War, Sid-Abd-AUa 
 Ben-IIamed, black, mounted on a white horse with sky-blue 
 trappings; and with him are the military governors of pro- 
 vinces, the commandant of the garrison, and a numerous staff 
 of officers crowned with snowy turbans, and wearing caftans of 
 every known colour. 
 
 It is now more than half-an-hour that we have been pro- 
 ceeding between the two lines of soldiers, and some one has 
 counted more than four thousand. On one side is drawn out 
 the cavalry ; on the other a nameless and heterogeneous mass of 
 men and boys, dressed in divers uniforms, or rather fragments 
 of uniforms, some with arms and some without, cloaked and 
 uncloaked, with uncovered heads, or heads bound with a shape- 
 less rag, shirtless for the most part ; faces from the desert, from 
 the coast, from the mountains; shaven heads, and heads orna- 
 mented with long braids ; giants and dwarfs — people gathered 
 from Heaven knows where, to make a show and inspire terror. 
 And behind them, on the rising ground that borders the way, an 
 innumerable throng of veiled women, screaming and gesticu- 
 lating, in wonder, anger, or pleasure, and holding up their 
 children to see us. 
 
 AY e approach the walls at a point where there is a venerable 
 gate crowned with battlements. A band bursts into music, and 
 at the same moment all the drums and trumpets rend the air 
 with a mighty crash. Then our ranks are broken up, and there 
 is a general rush and confusion of magistrates, courtiers,
 

 
 510 
 
 M<< IMi ('(». 
 
 minisi ers, generals, 
 officials and slaves ; 
 our escort is scattered, 
 our servants dispersed, 
 and we ourselves di- 
 vided from each other. 
 There is a torrent of 
 turbans and horses 
 rolling and twisting 
 about us with irresis- 
 tible impetus; a con- 
 fusion of colours, a 
 phantasmagoria of 
 faces, a noise of harsh 
 voices, a grandeur and 
 savagery that at once 
 delight and bewilder. 
 Passing in at the gate, 
 we expect to see the 
 houses of the city, 
 but are still between 
 castellated walls and 
 towers ; to the left is 
 a tomb, or cuba, with 
 a green dome shaded 
 by two palms ; people 
 about the cuba, upon 
 the walls, everywhere. 
 We pass another gate, 
 and find ourselves at 
 last in a street with 
 houses on each side. 
 
 My memory here 
 becomes confused, for 
 I had as much as I
 
 OUE HOUSE AT FEZ. 
 
 211 
 
 could do to save my neck, g'oiug* as we were over great stones, 
 in the midst of a crowd of plunging 1 horses : it would have been 
 
 Arrival al oar Homi at Fez 
 
 all up with any one who had fallen. We passed, I remember, 
 through some deserted Btreets bordered 1>\ tall houses, suffocated
 
 8 1 -J. MOROCCO. 
 
 1>\ dost, and deafened by the noise of the horses' hoofs; and in 
 about half-an-hour, after threading a labyrinth of steep and 
 narrow alleys where we were obliged to go in single file, we 
 reached a little door, where some scarlet soldiers presented 
 arms, and we entered our own house. It was a delicious sensa- 
 tion. 
 
 The house was a princely mansion in the purest Moorish 
 style, with a small garden shaded hy parallel rows of orange and 
 lemon trees. From the garden you entered the interior court 
 hy a low door, and thence into a corridor large enough only for 
 <me person to pass. Around the court were twelve white 
 pilasters, joined by as many arches of a horseshoe form, which 
 supported an arched gallery furnished with a wooden balustrade. 
 The pavement of the court, gallery, and chambers w r as one 
 splendid mosaic of little squares of enamel of brilliant colours ; 
 the arches were painted in arabesque ; the balustrade carved in 
 delicate open work ; the whole building designed with a grace and 
 harmony worthy of the architects of the Alhambra. In the 
 middle of the court there was a fountain ; and another one, with 
 three jets of water, was in a carved and ornamented niche in the 
 wall. A large Moorish lantern depended from every arch. 
 One wing of the edifice extended along one side of the garden, 
 and had a graceful facade of three arches, painted in arabesque, 
 in front of which a third fountain sparkled. There were other 
 little courts, and corridors, and chambers, and the innumerable 
 recesses of an Oriental house. Some iron bedsteads, without sheets 
 or coverlets, a few clocks, one mirror in the court, two chairs and 
 a table for the Ambassador, and half-a-dozen basins and jugs, 
 completed the furniture of the house. In the principal rooms 
 the walls were hung with gold embroidered carpets, and some 
 white mattresses lay on the floors, and, except in the Am- 
 bassador's room, there was neither chair, nor table, nor wardrobe. 
 We had to send to the camp for some furniture. But, by way of 
 compensation, there was everywhere coolness, shade, the gurgle 
 of water, fragrance, and something deliciously soft and volup-
 
 ' ' - "V... i H'l '| ,! fe^ WU **^""M-'' 'fftj 
 
 i v--' " 
 
 '. •;■■" - ".%fcfc<--' -~~-~.jO'-l-'- 
 
 THE INNKk COUET OP OUB BOUSE AT IT./.
 
 214 MOROCCO. 
 
 tuona in the lines of ili»' building, in the air, in the light. The 
 whole edifice was encircled by a lofty wall, and surrounded by a 
 labyrinth of deserted alleys. 
 
 We had scareely arrived in the court-yard when there began a 
 coming and going- of Ministers and other high personages, each 
 one of whom had a few minutes' j conversation with the Ambas- 
 sador. The Minister of Finance was the one who attracted my 
 attention most. He was a Moor of about fifty years of age, of 
 a severe aspect, beardless, and dressed all in white, with an 
 immense turban. An interpreter told me that he was very 
 clever, and addviced as proof of the same that he one day had 
 brought to him one of those little arithmetical machines, and 
 both he and the machine had done the same sum in the same 
 time, and with the same results. It was worth while to see the 
 expression of sacred respect with which Selim, AH, Civo, and the 
 rest regarded those personages, who, after the Sultan, repre- 
 sented in their eyes the highest grade of science, power, and 
 glory which could be attained on this earth. 
 
 These visits over, we took possession of our abode. The two 
 painters, the doctor, and myself occupied the rooms looking on 
 the garden ; the rest, those opening on the court. Interpreters, 
 cooks, sailors, servants, soldiers, all found their place, and in a 
 few hours the aspect of the house was changed. 
 
 The first to go out and visit the city were Ussi and Biseo, 
 the two artists ; and then the Commandant and the Captain. 
 I preferred to wait until the following morning. They went 
 out in couples, each encircled, like malefactors, by an infantry 
 guard, armed with muskets and sticks. After an hour they 
 returned, covered with dust, and all dripping from the heat; 
 and their first words were, " Great city — great crowd — immense 
 mosques — naked saints — curses — sticks — wonderful things ! " 
 But Ussi had had the most interesting adventure. In one of 
 the most frequented streets, in spite of the soldiers, a girl 
 of fifteen or thereabouts had sprung upon his shoulders like 
 a fury, and had inflicted a vigorous pommeling, crying out,
 
 THEOUGH THE STREETS OF FEZ. 215 
 
 " Accursed Christians ! There is not a corner in Morocco where 
 they do not push themselves ! " Such was the first welcome 
 given to Italian art within the walls of Fez. 
 
 Late in the night I made a tour through the house. On all 
 the landing-places of the stairs, before the chamber doors, in the 
 garden, were soldiers lying wrapped in their mantles, and sound 
 asleep. Before the little door of the court-yard, the faithful 
 Hamed Ben-Kasen, with his sabre by his side, snored in the 
 open air. The dim light of the lanterns, touching the mosaic 
 pavements here and there, made them look as if set with pearls, 
 and gave an air of mysterious splendour to the place. The sky 
 was thickly set with stars, and a light breeze moved the branches 
 of the orange-trees in the garden. The murmur of the Pearl 
 river could be distinctly heard ; the gurgle of the fountains, 
 the ticking of the clocks, and now and then the shrill voices of 
 the sentinels answering one another at the outer doors of the 
 palace with their chanted prayer. 
 
 In the morning we went out, four or five of us together, 
 accompanied by an interpreter, and escorted by ten foot-soldiers, 
 one of whom wore buttons with the effigy of Queen Victoria — 
 for many of these red coats arc bought at Gibraltar from soldiers 
 of the English army. Two of these placed themselves in front, 
 two behind, and three on each side of us — the first armed with 
 muskets, the others with sticks and knotted cords. They were 
 such a rascally-looking set that when I think of them I bless 
 the slii]) that brought me back to Europe. 
 
 The interpreter asked what we wished to see. " All Fez," 
 was the answer. 
 
 We directed our steps first towards the centre of the city. 
 Here I ought to exclaim, "Cài mi. darà la voce e le parole !" * 
 How shall 1 express the wonder, the pity, the sadness that over- 
 came me at that grand and dismal spectacle? The first impres- 
 sion is that of an immense city fallen into decrepitude and slowly 
 
 decaying. Tall houses, which seemed formed of houses piled 
 * "Oli, l'ora voice •uni words!''
 
 210 MOROCCO. 
 
 one upon the other, all Palling to pieces, cracked from roof to 
 base, propped up on every side, with no opening save some loop- 
 hole in the shape of a cross ; long stretches of street, Hanked by 
 two high bare walls like the walls of a fortress; streets running 
 up hill and down, encumbered with stones and the ruins of 
 fallen buildings, twisting and turning at every thirty paces; 
 every now and then a long covered passage, dark as a cellar, 
 where you have to feel your way ; blind alleys, recesses, dens 
 full of bones, dead animals, and heaps of putrid matter : the 
 whole steeped in a dim and melancholy twilight. In some 
 places the ground is so broken, the dust so thick, the smell so 
 horrible, the ilies are so numerous, that we have to stop to take 
 breath. In half-an-hour we have made so many turns that if 
 our road could be drawn it would form an arabesque as intricate 
 as any in the Alhambra. Here and there we hear the noise of a 
 mill, a murmur of water, the click of a weaver's loom, a chanting 
 of nasal voices, which we are told come from a school of children ; 
 but we see nothing and no one anywhere. We approach the 
 centre of the city ; people become more numerous ; the men 
 stop to let us pass, and stare astonished ; the women turn back, 
 or hide themselves ; the children scream and run ; the larger 
 boys growd and shake their fists at a distance, mindful of the 
 soldiers and their sticks. We see fountains richly ornamented 
 with mosaics, arabesque doors, arched courts, some few remains 
 of Arab architecture in decay. Every moment w r e find ourselves 
 in darkness, entering one of the many covered passages. We 
 come to one of the principal streets, about six feet wide, and full 
 of people, who crowd about us. The soldiers shout, and push, 
 and strike in vain, and at last make a sort of bulwark of their 
 bodies by forming a circle around us and clasping hands, face 
 outwards. There are a thousand eyes upon us ; we can scarcely 
 breathe in the press and heat, and move slowly on, stopping* 
 every moment to give passage to a Moor on horseback, or a 
 veiled lady on a camel, or an ass with a load of bleeding sheep's 
 heads. To the right and left are crowded bazaars ; inn court-
 
 THROUGH THE STREETS OF FEZ. 
 
 217 
 
 yards encumbered with merchandise ; doors of mosques, through 
 which we catch glimpses of arcades in perspective, and figures 
 
 A strut in Fez. 
 
 prostrate in prayer. All along the street there is nothing to be 
 seen but silent forms in white hoods, moving like spectres. The 
 o
 
 •J IS 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 air is impregnated with an acute and mingled odour of aloes, 
 spies, incense, and kit'; we seem to he walking in an immense 
 drug-shop. Groups of hoys go by with scarred and scabby 
 heads ; horrible old women, perfectly bald and with naked breasts, 
 making their way by dint of furious imprecations against us; 
 
 mWlr- ::'■:]. 
 
 Conveying a Corpse to the Cemetery. 
 
 naked, or almost naked, madmen, crowned w 7 ith flowers and 
 feathers, bearing a branch in their hands, laughing and singing 
 and cutting capers before the soldiers, Avho drive them away 
 with blows. Turning into another street, we meet a saint, an 
 enormously fat old fellow, as naked as he was born, leaning upon 
 a lance bound with strips of red cloth. He squints at us, and
 
 o 2
 
 220 MOROCCO. 
 
 mutters 8011101111110' as we pass. Further on come four soldiers, 
 dragging along some poor unfortunate, all bleeding and torn, 
 who has been taken in the act of thieving 1 ; and after them come 
 B troop of boys, calling out, " Cut off his hand ! cut off his 
 hand ! " Next come two men carrying an uncovered bier, upon 
 which is stretched a corpse, dry as a mummy, wrapped in a 
 white linen sack tied round the neck, waist, and knees. I ask 
 myself where I am, and whether I am awake or asleep, and whether 
 Fez and Paris are in the same planet ! We go into the bazaar. 
 The crowd is everywhere. The shops, as in Tangiers, are mere 
 dens opened in the wall. The money-changers are seated on the 
 ground, with heaps of black coin before them. We cross, jostled 
 by the crowd, the cloth-bazaar, that of slippers, that of earthen- 
 ware, that of metal ornaments, which all together form a 
 labyrinth of alleys roofed with canes and branches of trees. 
 Passing through a vegetable market, thronged with women who 
 lift their arms and scream curses at us, we come out into the 
 centre of the city. There it is the same experience as before, 
 and we finally get out at a gate, and take a turn outside the 
 walls. 
 
 The city extends in the form of a monstrous figure of eight 
 between two hills, upon which still tower the ruins of two 
 ancient fortifications. Beyond the hills there is a chain of 
 mountains. The Pearl river divides the town in two — modern 
 Fez on the left bank, ancient Fez on the right — and a girdle of 
 old castellated walls and towers, dark and falling into ruin, binds 
 the whole together. From the heights the eye takes in the 
 whole city — a myriad of white, flat-roofed houses, among which 
 rise tall minarets ornamented with mosaics, gigantic palm-trees, 
 tufts of verdure, green domes, and castellated towers. The 
 grandeur of the ancient city can be divined from what is left, 
 though it is but a skeleton. Near the gates, and upon the hills, 
 for a long distance the country is covered with monuments and 
 ruins, tombs and houses of saints, arches of aqueducts, sepulchres, 
 zanie, and foundations that seem like the remains of a city
 
 CLOTHES lìA/AAIt, IT.Z.
 
 •1-22 MOROCCO. 
 
 destroyed by cannon and devoured by flames. Between the wall 
 and the highest of the two hills that flank the city it is all one 
 garden, a thick and intricate grove of mulherry-trees, olives, 
 palms, fruit-trees, and tall poplars, clothed with ivy and grape- 
 vines ; little streams run through it, fountains gush and sparkle, 
 and canals intersect it between high green banks. The opposite 
 bank is crowned with aloes twice the height of a man. Along 
 the walls are great fissures and deep ditches, rilled with vegeta- 
 tion ; rnde remains of bastions and broken towers — a grand 
 and severe disorder of ruin and greenery, recalling the more 
 picturesque parts of the walls of Constantinople. We passed by 
 the Gate of Ghisa, the Iron Gate, the Gate of the Padre delle 
 Cuoia, the New Gate, the Burned Gate, the Gate that Opens, 
 the Gate of Lions, the Gate of Sidi Busida, the Gate of the 
 Father of Utility, and re-entered new Fez by the Gate of the 
 Niche of Butter. Here are large gardens, vast open spaces, 
 large squares, surrounded by battlemented walls, beyond which 
 can be seen other squares and other walls, arched gateways and 
 towers, and beautiful prospects of hills and mountains. Some 
 of the doors are very lofty, and are covered with iron plates 
 studded with large nails. Approaching the Pearl river, we 
 come upon the decaying carcass of a horse, lying in the middle 
 of the street. Along the wall about a hundred Arabs are 
 washing and jumping upon the linen piled upon the shore. We 
 meet patrols of soldiers, personages of the court on horseback, 
 small caravans of camels, groups of women from the country 
 with their children tied on their backs, who cover their faces at 
 our approach ; and at last we see some faces that smile upon us. 
 We enter the Mel là, the Hebrew quarter — truly a triumphal 
 entrance. They run to their windows and terraces, down into 
 the street, calling to one another. The men, with long hair 
 covered by a handkerchief tied under the chin like women, bow 
 with ceremonious smiles. The women, comely and plump, 
 dressed in red and green garments embroidered and braided with 
 gold, wish us buenas dias, and say a thousand charming things
 
 THE HEBEEW QUARTER. 
 
 :23 
 
 with their brilliant dark eyes. Some of the children come and 
 
 kiss our hands. To escape from this ovation, and from the filth 
 
 of the streets, we take a cross street, 
 
 and, passing through the Jewish 
 
 cemetery, get back at last to 
 
 palace of the Embassy, tired out 
 
 with bewildered minds. 
 
 " O Fez ! " says an Arabi 
 historian, "all the beauty of 
 earth is concentrated in thee ! " 
 He adds that Fez has always 
 been the seat of wisdom, science, 
 peace, and religion ; the mother 
 and the queen of all the cities 
 of the Magreb; that its in- 
 habitants have a finer and 
 deeper intelligence than that 
 of the other inhabitants of 
 Morocco; that all that is in 
 it and around it is blessed of 
 God, even to the waters of the 
 Pearl river, which cure the 
 stone, soften the skin, per- 
 fume the clothes, destroy 
 insects, render sweeter (if 
 drunk fasting) the pleasures 
 of the senses, and contain _r^ 
 precious stories of inestimable ~^" 
 value. Not less poetically ~" 
 is related by the Arabian ~" 
 writers the story of the y> Karens'" 
 foundation of Fez. When 
 
 the Abassidi, towards the end of the eighth century, were 
 divided into two factions, one of the princes of the vanquished 
 faction — Edris-ebn-Abdallah — took refuge in the Magreb, a
 
 224 MOROCCO. 
 
 short distance Prom the place where Fez now stands; and here 
 he lived in solitude, in prayer, and meditation, until, by reason 
 of his illustrious origin, as well as because of his holy life, 
 having acquired great fame among" the Berbers of that region, 
 they elected him their chief. Gradually, by his arms, and 
 by his high authority as a descendant of Ali and Fatima, he 
 extended his sovereignty over a large extent of country, con- 
 verting by force to Islamism idolaters. Christians, and Hebrews; 
 and reached such a height of power that the Caliph of the 
 East — Haroun-el- Rescind — jealous of his fame, caused him to 
 be poisoned by a pretended physician, in order to destroy with 
 him his growing empire. But the Berbers gave solemn sepul- 
 ture to Edris, and recognised as Caliph his posthumous son, 
 Edris-ebn-Edris, who ascended the throne at twelve years of 
 ge, consolidated and extended his father's work, and may be 
 ?aid to have been the true founder of the empire of Morocco, 
 which remained until the end of the tenth century in the 
 hands of his dynasty. It was this same Edris who laid the 
 foundations of Fez, on the 3rd of February of the year 808, 
 " in a valley placed between two high hills covered with rich 
 groves, and irrigated by a thousand streams, on the right bank 
 of the River of Pearls. 
 
 Tradition explains in several ways the origin of the name. 
 In digging for the foundations, they found in the earth a 
 great hatchet (called in Arabic Fez), which weighed sixty 
 pounds, and this gave its name to the city. 
 
 Edris himself, says another legend, worked at the founda- 
 tions among his labourers, who, in gratitude, offered him a 
 hatchet made of gold and silver; and he chose to perpetuate, 
 in the name of the city, the memory of their homage. According 
 to another account, the secretary of Edris had asked one day 
 of his lord what name he meant to give the city. " The 
 name/' answered the prince, " of the first person we shall 
 meet." A man passed by, who, being questioned, said his 
 name was Fares ; but he stammered, and pronounced it Fez.
 
 THE DECAY OF FEZ. 225 
 
 Another account says that there was an ancient city called 
 Zef, on the Pearl river, which existed eighteen hundred years, 
 and was destroyed before Islam shone upon the world; and 
 Edris imposed upon his metropolis the name of the old city 
 reversed. However it may be, the new city grew rapidly, and 
 already, at the beginning of the tenth century, rivalled Bagdad 
 in splendour; held within its walls the mosque of El-Caruin 
 and that of Edris, still existent, one the largest and the other 
 the most venerated in Africa ; and was called the Mecca of 
 the West. Towards the middle of the eleventh century, 
 Gregory IX. established there a bishopric. Under the dynasty 
 of the Almoadi it had thirty suburbs, eight hundred mosques, 
 ninety thousand houses, ten thousand shops, eighty-six gates, 
 vast hospitals, magnificent baths, a great and rich library of 
 precious manuscripts in Greek and Latin; also schools of 
 philosophy, of physics, of astronomy, and languages, to which 
 came all the learned and lettered men of Europe and the 
 Levant. It was called the Athens of Africa, and was at one 
 time the seat of a perpetual fair, into which flowed the pro- 
 ducts of three continents ; and European commerce had there 
 its bazaar and its inns; and there — between Moors, Arabs, 
 Berbers, Jews, Negroes, Turks, Christians, and renegades — 
 live hundred thousand people lived and prospered. And now, 
 what a change ! Almost all traces of gardens have vanished ; 
 the greater part of the mosques are in ruins ; of the great library, 
 only a few worm-eaten volumes remain ; the schools are dead ; 
 commerce languishes ; its edifices are falling into ruin ; and 
 the population is reduced to less than a fifth of the former 
 number. Fez is no more than an enormous carcass of a metro- 
 polis abandoned in the midst of the vast cemetery called 
 Morocco. 
 
 Our greatest desire, after our first walk about Fez, was to 
 visit the two famous mosques of El-Caruin and Muley-Edris \ 
 but as Christians are not permitted to put a foot in them, we 
 were obliged to content ourselves with what we could see from
 
 226 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 "MS . 
 
 the street : the 
 mosaic doors, the 
 arched courts, the 
 long low aisles, di- 
 vided by a forest of 
 columns, and lighted 
 by a dim, mysterious 
 light. It must not 
 be imagined, ho we ver, 
 that those mosques 
 are now what they 
 were in the time of 
 their fame; since, al- 
 ready in the fifteenth 
 century, the cele- 
 
 Fragment of a Doorway at Fez. brated historian Abd- 
 
 er-Rhaman-ebn-Kaldun, describing that of El-Caruin (may 
 God exalt it more and more, as he says), speaks of various 
 
 ,i;il!il.i|.|i' ! 

 
 THE MOSQUE OF EL-CARUIN. 227 
 
 ornaments that were no longer in existence in his time. The 
 first foundations of this enormous mosque were laid on the 
 first Saturday of Ramadan, in the year 859 of Jesus Christ, at 
 the expense of a pious woman of Kairuan. It was at the 
 beginning a small mosque of four naves ; but, little by little, 
 Governors, Emirs, and Sultans embellished and enlarged it. 
 Upon the point of the minaret, built by the Imaum Ahmed ben 
 Aby-Beker, glittered a golden ball studded with pearls and 
 precious stones, on which was represented the sword of Edris- 
 ebn-Edris, the founder of Fez. On the interior walls were 
 suspended talismans which protected the mosque against rats, 
 scorpions, and serpents. The Mirab, or niche turned towards 
 Mecca, was so splendid that the Imaum had it painted white, 
 that it might no longer distract the faithful from their prayers. 
 There was a pulpit of ebony, inlaid with ivory and gems. 
 There were two hundred and seventy columns, forming sixteen 
 naves of twenty-one arches in each, fifteen great doors of en- 
 trance for the men, and two small ones for the women, and 
 seventeen hundred hanging lamps, which, in the season of 
 Ramadan, consumed three quintals and a half of oil. All which 
 particulars the historian Kaldun relates with exclamations of 
 wonder and delight, adding that the mosque could contain 
 twenty-two thousand and seven hundred persons, and that the 
 court alone had in its pavement fifty-two thousand bricks. 
 " Glory to Allah, Lord of the world, immensely merciful, and 
 king of the day of the last judgment ! " 
 
 Expecting that the Sultan would fix a day for the solenni 
 reception of the Embassy, we took several turns about the city, 
 in one of which I had an entirely new sensation. We were 
 approaching the Burnt Gate, Bab-el-Maroc , to re-enter the city, 
 when the Vice-Consul made an exclamation — " Two heads ! " 
 Lifting my eyes far enough along the wall to see two long 
 streams of blood, my courage Tailed me to see more; but I 
 was told that the two heads were suspended by the hair over the 
 gate. One appeared to be that of a boy of not more than
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 fifteen, and the other a man of twenty-five or thirty; both 
 M >rs. W c learned afterwards that they were heads of rebels 
 from the confines of Algeria, which had been brought to Fez 
 the day before j but the fresh blood made it probable that they 
 had been cut off in the city, perhaps before that very gate. 
 However that may be, we were informed on this same occasion 
 that beads of rebels are always brought and presented to the 
 Sultan ; after which the imperial soldiers catch the first Jew 
 whom they happen to encounter, and make him take out the 
 brain, fill the skull with tow and salt, and hang it over one of 
 the city gates. It is removed from one gate to another, and 
 from one town to another, until it is destroyed. It does not 
 appear, however, that this was done with the two heads of Beb- 
 el-Maroc, for a day or two after, asking an Arab servant what 
 had become of them, he answered, with a gesture, " Buried/' 
 and then hastened to add, by way of consolation, " But there 
 are plenty more coming/'' 
 
 Two days before the solemn_ reception, we were invited to 
 breakfast by Sid-Moussa. 
 
 Sid-Moussa has no title : he is simply called Sid-Moussa. He 
 was born a slave, and emancipated by the Sultan, who can 
 to-morrow despoil him of all his property, cast him into prison, 
 or hang his head over the gate of Fez, without being called to 
 account for it. But he is the minister of ministers, the soul of 
 the Government, the mind which embraces and moves all things 
 all over the empire, and, after the Sultan, the most famous man 
 in Morocco. Our curiosity may be imagined, therefore, on the 
 morning when, surrounded as usual by an armed guard, accom- 
 panied by the Caid and interpreters, and followed by a tail of 
 people, we went to his house in new Fez. 
 
 We were received at the door by a crowd of Arabs and 
 blacks, and entered a garden enclosed by high walls, at the end 
 of which, under a little portico, stood Sid-Moussa, dressed all in 
 white, and surrounded by his officials. 
 
 The famous minister gave both hands with much heartiness
 
 SID-MOU33A. 229 
 
 to the Ambassador, bowed smilingly to us, and preceded us into 
 a small room on the ground-floor, where we sat down. 
 
 What a strange figure ! A man of about sixty, a dark 
 mulatto, of middle height, with an immense oblong head, two 
 fiery eyes of a most astute expression, a great fiat nose, a 
 monstrous mouth, two rows of big teeth, and an immeasurable 
 chin ; yet in spite of these hideous features, an affable smile, an 
 expression of benignity, and voice and manners of the utmost 
 courtesy. But there are no people more deceptive in their 
 aspect than the Moors. Not into the soul, but into the brain of 
 that man would I have liked to peep ! Certainly I should have 
 found no great erudition. Perhaps no more than a few pages 
 of the Koran, some periods of the imperial history, some vague 
 geographical notions of the first States of Europe, some idea of 
 astronomy, some rules of arithmetic. But instead, what pro- 
 found knowledge of the human heart, what quickness of per- 
 ception, what subtlety of craft, what intricate plottings and 
 contrivings far from our own habits of mind, what curious 
 secrets of government, and who knows what strange medley of 
 memories of loves, and sufferings, and intrigues, and vicissitudes! 
 The chamber, for a Moorish room, was sumptuously furnished, 
 for it contained a small sofa, a table, a mirror, and a few chairs. 
 The walls were hung with red and green carpets, the ceiling 
 painted, the pavement in mosaic. Nothing extraordinary, how- 
 ever, for the house of a rich personage like Sid-Moussa. 
 
 After an exchange of the usual compliments, we were con- 
 ducted into the dining-room, which was on the other side of the 
 garden. 
 
 Sid-Moussa, according to custom, did not come with us. 
 The dining-room was hung, like the other, with red and green 
 carpets. In one corner was an armoire, with its fcwo old 
 bunches of artificial flowers under glass shades; and near itone 
 of those little mirrors with a frame painted with flowers I hat 
 are found in every village inn. On the table there were about 
 twenty dishes containing big white sugar-plums in the form of
 
 230 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 balls and carobs j the silver and china very elegant ; numerous 
 bottles of water, and not a drop of wine. We seated ourselves, 
 
 Colonnade of a Mosque at Fez. 
 
 and were served at once. Twenty-eight dishes, without count- 
 ing the sweets ! Twenty-eight enormous dishes, every one of
 
 THE SULTAN'S PEIVATE SECRETARY. 231 
 
 which would have been enough for twenty people, of all forms, 
 odours, and flavours; monstrous pieces of mutton on the spit, 
 chickens (with pomatum), game (with cold cream), fish (with 
 cosmetics), livers, puddings, vegetables, eggs, salads, all with 
 the same dreadful combinations suggestive of the barber's shop ; 
 sweetmeats, every mouthful of which was enough to purge a 
 man of any crime he had ever committed ; and with all this, 
 large glasses of water, into which we scpjeezed lemons that we 
 had brought in our pockets ; then a cup of tea sweetened to 
 syrup ; and finally an irruption of servants, who deluged the 
 table, the walls, and ourselves with rose-water. Such was the 
 breakfast of Sid-Moussa. 
 
 When we rose from table, there entered an official to 
 announce to the Ambassador that Sid-Moussa was at prayers, 
 and that as soon as he had finished he would have great pleasure 
 in conferring with him. Immediately after there came in a 
 tottering old man, supported between two Moors, who seized the 
 Ambassador's hands and pressed them with great energy, 
 exclaiming, with emotion, " Welcome ! welcome ! Welcome to 
 the Ambassador of the King of Italy ! Welcome among us ! 
 It is a great day for us ! " 
 
 He was the grand Schereef Bacali, one of the most power- 
 ful personages of the court, and one of the richest proprietors 
 of the empire, confidant of the Sultan, possessor of many 
 wives, and a two years' invalid from dyspepsia. We were told 
 that he relieved the ennui of his lord with witty words and 
 comic action — a thing which would certainly never have been 
 guessed from his ferocious face and impetuous gesture. After 
 him appeared the two sons of Sid-Moussa, one of win mi made 
 his obeisance and vanished immediately; the oilier was an 
 extremely handsome young man of twenty-live, private secre- 
 tary to the Sultan : with the face of a woman, and two large 
 brown eyes of indescribable softness ; gay, graceful, and 
 nervous, continually pulling with bis hand at the folds of his 
 ample orange-coloured caftan.
 
 332 MOROCCO. 
 
 Barali and the Ambassador having gone out, we remained, 
 with suini' officials seated on the floor, and the Sultan's secre- 
 tary on a chair, in honour of us. 
 
 He immediately began a conversation through Mohammed 
 Ducale. Fixing his eves on Ussi, he asked who he was. 
 
 "It is Signor Ussi/' answered Ducale; "a distinguished 
 painter." 
 
 " Does he paint with the machine? " asked the young man. 
 Ilo meant the photographic instrument. 
 
 "No, Signore/' replied the interpreter ; "he paints with 
 his hand." 
 
 He seemed to say to himself, " What a pity ! " and re- 
 mained a moment thoughtful. Then he said, " I asked, hecause, 
 with the machine, the work is more precise." 
 
 The Commandant begged Ducale to ask him whereabouts 
 in Fez was the fountain called Ghalù, after a robber whom 
 Edris, the founder of the city, had caused to be nailed to a tree 
 near by. The young secretary was excessively astonished that 
 the Commandant should know this particular story, and asked 
 how he came to know it. 
 
 " I read it in Kaldun's history/' answered the Commandant. 
 
 " In Kaldun's history ! " exclaimed the other. " Have you 
 read Kaldun ? Then you understand Arabic ? And where did 
 you find Kaldun's history ? " 
 
 The Commandant replied that the book was to be found 
 in all our cities, that it was perfectly well known in Europe, 
 and that it had been translated into English, French, and 
 German. 
 
 " Really ! " exclaimed the ingenuous young fellow. " You 
 have all read it ! and you know all these things ! I never 
 should have imagined it ! " 
 
 Gradually the conversation became general, the officials also 
 joining in it, and we heard, some singular things. The 
 English Ambassador had presented to the Sultan two telegraphic 
 machines, and had taught some of the court people how to use
 
 THE SULTAN'S TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS. 
 
 233 
 
 them; and they were used, not publicly, because the sight of 
 those mysterious wires in the city would cause disturbance, 
 
 Tht A titan. 
 
 but in the interior of the palace ; and words could uol express 
 the .astomshment they excited. Not, however, to the point
 
 234 MOROCCO. 
 
 thai we might suppose, because, Erom what they had first heard, 
 they all, Including the Sultan, had conceived a much more 
 wonderful idea of it ; l'or they believed that the transmission 
 of the thoughl was not effected by means of letters and words, 
 but at once, instantaneously, so that a touch was sufficient to 
 express and transmit any speech. They recognised, however, 
 that the instrument was ingenious, and might be very useful 
 in our countries, where there were many people and much 
 traffic, and where everything had to be done in a hurry. 
 All of which signified in plain words, What should we do 
 with a telegraph ? And to what would the policy of our 
 Government be reduced if to the demands of the representa- 
 tives of European States we were obliged to reply at once 
 and in few words ? and renounce the great excuse of delays, 
 and the eternal pretext of lost letters, thanks to which we can 
 protract for two months questions that could be answered in 
 two days ? We learned also, or rather we were given to under- 
 stand, that the Sultan is a man of a mild disposition and a 
 kind heart, who lives austerely, who loves one woman only, 
 who eats without a fork, like all his subjects, and seated on 
 the floor, but with the dishes placed upon a little gilded table 
 about a foot high ; that before coming to the throne he 
 drilled with the soldiers, and was one of the most active 
 among them ; that he likes to work, and often does himself 
 what ought to be done by his servants, even to packing his 
 own things when he goes away ; and that the people love 
 him, but also fear him, because they know that, should a great 
 revolt break out, he would be the first to spring on horseback 
 and draw his sabre against the rebels. 
 
 But with what grace they told us all these things ! with 
 what smiles and elegant gestures ! What a pity not to be 
 able to understand their language, all colour and imagery, 
 and read and search at will in the ingenious ignorance of 
 their minds ! 
 
 In about two hours' time the Ambassador came back with
 
 CURIOSITY TO SEE THE SULTAN. 235 
 
 Sid-Moussa, the grand Schereef, and the officials; and there 
 was such an interchange of hand-pressings, and smiles, and 
 bows, and salutations that we seemed to be engaged in some 
 dance of ceremony ; and finally we departed, between two 
 long rows of astonished servants. As we went out, we saw 
 at a large grated window on the ground floor about ten faces 
 of women — black, white, and mulatto — all be-jewelled and 
 be-diademed ; who, beholding us, instantly vanished with a 
 great noise of flapping slippers and trailing skirts. 
 
 From the first day of our journey, the Sultan, Muley-el- 
 Hassan, was, as may be imagined, the principal object of our 
 curiosity. It was then a festival for us all when, at last, 
 the Ambassador announced the reception for the following 
 morning. I never in my life unfolded my dress-coat, or 
 touched the spring of my gibus, with more profound com- 
 placency than on this occasion. 
 
 This great curiosity was produced, in part, by the history 
 of his dynasty. There was the wish to look in the face of 
 one of that terrible family of the Schereefs Fileli, to whom 
 histoiy assigns pre-eminence in fanaticism, ferocity, and crime, 
 over all the dynasties that have ever reigned in Morocco. At 
 the beginning of the seventeenth century, some inhabitants of 
 Tafilet, a province of the empire on the confines of the desert, 
 the Schereefs of which take the name of Fileli, brought from 
 Mecca into their country a Schereef, named Ali, a native of 
 Jambo, and a descendant of Mahomet, by Ilassen, the second 
 son of Ali and Fatima. The climate of the province of Tafilet, 
 a little after his arrival, resumed a mildness that it had for 
 some time lost. Dates grew in great abundance. The merit 
 was attributed to Ali. Ali was elected king, under the name 
 of Muley- Schereef. His descendants gradually, by their arms, 
 extended the kingdom of their ancestor. They took possession 
 of Morocco and Fez, drove out the dynasty of the Saadini 
 Schereefs, and have reigned up to our day over the whole 
 country comprised between the Muluia, the desert, ;md the 
 
 P a
 
 386 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 sea. Sidi-Mohammedj sou of Muley-Schereef, reigned with 
 wise clemency ; bui after him the throne was steeped in blood. 
 El Rescind governed by terror, usurped the office of execu- 
 tioner, and lacerated with his own hands the breasts of women, 
 in order to foi'ce them to reveal the hiding-places of their 
 husbands' treasure. Muley-Ismail, the luxurious prince, the 
 
 IHUIli . i 
 
 'ill 
 
 A Barber's Shop in Fez. 
 
 lover of eight thousand women, and father of twelve hundred 
 sons, the founder of the famous corps of black guards, the 
 gallant Sultan who asked in marriage of Louis XIV. the 
 daughter of the Duchess de la Vallière, and stuck ten thousand 
 heads over the battlements of Morocco and Fez. Muley Ah- 
 med el Dehebi, avaricious and a debauchee, stole the jewels of 
 his father's women, stupefied himself with wine, pulled out the 
 teeth of his own wives, and cut off the head of a slave who 
 had pressed the tobacco too much down into his pipe. Muley- 
 Abdallah, vanquished by the Berbers, cut the throats of the
 
 THE MOKOCCO DYNASTY. 237 
 
 inhabitants of Mechinez to satisfy his rage, aided the execu- 
 tioner in decapitating the officers of his brave but vanquished 
 army, and invented the horrible torture of cooking a man alive 
 inside a disembowelled bull, that the two might putrify to- 
 gether. The best of the race appears to have been Sidi- 
 Mohammed, his son, who surrounded himself with renegade 
 Christians, tried to live at peace, and brought Morocco nearer 
 to Europe. Then came Muley-Yezid, a cruel and violent 
 fanatic, who, in order to pay his soldiers, gave them leave to 
 sack and pillage the Hebrew quarters in all the cities of the 
 empire ; Muley-Hescham, who, after a reign of a few days, 
 went into sanctuary to die; Muley-Soliman, who destroyed 
 piracy, and made a show of friendship to Europe, but, with 
 artful cunning, separated Morocco from all civilised States, and 
 caused to be brought to the foot of his throne the heads of 
 all renegade Jews from whom had escaped a word of regret 
 for their forced abjuration ; Abd-er-Raman, the conqueror of 
 Isly, who built up conspirators alive into the walls of Fez; 
 and, finally, Sidi-Mohammed, the victor of Tetuan, who, in 
 order to inculcate respect and devotion in his people, sent the 
 heads of his enemies to the duars and cities, stuck upon his 
 soldiers' muskets. Nor are these the worst calamities that 
 afflicted the empire under the fatal dynasty of the Fileli. 
 There are wars with Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, France, 
 and the Turks of Algiers ; ferocious insurrections of Berbers, 
 disastrous expeditions into the Sudan, revolts of fanatical tribes, 
 mutinies of the black guard, persecutions of the Christians; 
 furious wars of succession between father and son, uncle and 
 nephew, brother and brother; the empire by turns dismembered 
 and rejoined; Sultans live times discrowned and live times re- 
 instated; unnatural vengeance <>i" princes of the same blood, 
 jealousies and horrid crimes, and monstrous suffering, and pre- 
 cipitate decline into antique barbarism; and at all times one 
 principle is triumphant: that, not being able to admii Euro- 
 pean civilisation unless upon the ruins of the entire political
 
 238 MOROCCO. 
 
 and religious edifice of the Prophet, ignorance is the best bul- 
 wark of the empire, and barbarism an element necessary to 
 its life. 
 
 With these recollections surrounding him, the Sultan be- 
 larne an object of special interest, and we were impatient to 
 appear before him. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the morning 1 , the Ambassador, the Vice- 
 Consul, Signor Morteo, the Commandant, and the Captain, 
 dressed in their best uniforms, were assembled in the court- 
 yard, with a throng of soldiers, among whom the Caid appeared 
 in great pomp. We — that is to say, the two artists, the 
 doctor, and myself, all four in dress-coats, gibus hats, and white 
 cravats — dared not issue from our rooms, in the fear that our 
 strange costume, perhaps never before seen in Fez, might draw 
 upon us the laughter of the public. " You go first/'' — " No, 
 you/' — ' l No, you," — thus for a quarter of an hour, one trying 
 to push the other out at the door. Finally, after a sage 
 observation from the doctor that union made strength, we all 
 came out together in a group, with our heads down and hats 
 pulled over our eyes. Our appearance in the court -yard pro- 
 duced amazement among the soldiers and servants of the 
 palace, some of whom hid themselves behind the pillars to 
 laugh at their ease. But it was another thing in the city. 
 We mounted our horses, and proceeded towards the gate of 
 the Nicchia del Burro, with a company of the red division 
 of infantry leading the way, followed by all the soldiers of 
 the Legation, and flanked by officials, interpreters, masters of 
 ceremony, and horsemen of the escort of Ben-Kasen-Buham- 
 mei. It was a fine spectacle, that mingling of tall hats and 
 white turbans, diplomatic uniforms and red caftans, gold- 
 mounted swords and barbaric sabres, yellow gloves and black 
 liands, gilded pantaloons and bare legs; and the figure that 
 we four made, in evening dress, mounted on mules, upon 
 scarlet saddles as high as thrones, covered with dust and per- 
 spiration, may be left to the imagination. The streets were
 
 SUMMONED TO THE ROYAL PRESENCE. 
 
 23» 
 
 full of people. At our appearance, they all stopped and formed 
 into two lines. They looked at the plumed hat of the Am- 
 bassador, the gold cord of the Captain, the medals of the 
 
 ./ Saint. 
 
 Commandant, and gave no sign <>f wonder; but when we foui 
 passed by, win» were the last, there was an opening of eyes 
 and an exhilaration of countenance thai was truly trying. 
 Mohammed-Ducalè nule near us, and we begged him to trans- 
 late for us some of the observations which he caught in passing.
 
 240 MOROCCO. 
 
 A Moor, standing with a number o£ others, said something to 
 which the rest seemed to assent. Ducale laughed, and told \;s 
 that they took us for executioners. Some — perhaps because 
 black is odious to tlu' .Moors — looked at us almost with anger 
 and disdain; others shook their heads with a look of com- 
 miseration. 
 
 " Signori/' said the doctor, " if we do not make ourselves 
 respected it is our own fault. "We have arms — let us use 
 them. I will set the example." 
 
 Thus speaking, he took off his gibus hat, shut down the 
 spring, and, passing before a group of smiling Moors, suddenly 
 sprung it at them. The wonder and agitation of them at the 
 sight cannot be expressed. Three or four sprang backwards, 
 and threw a glance of profound suspicion upon the diabolical 
 hat. The artists and I, encouraged by the example, imitated 
 him ; and thus, by dint of our gibus, we arrived, respected and 
 feared, at the city walls. 
 
 Outside the gate of the Nicchia del Burro were ranged 
 two rows of infantry soldiers — in great part boys — who pre- 
 sented arms in their usual fashion, one after the other, and, 
 when we had passed, put their uniforms over their heads to 
 shelter them from the sun. We crossed the Pearl river by 
 a small bridge, and found ourselves in the place destined for 
 the reception, where w r e all dismounted. 
 
 It w r as a vast square, closed on three sides by high battle- 
 mented walls with large towers. On the fourth side ran the 
 River of Pearls. In the corner furthest from us opened a 
 narrow road bordered by white walls, which led to the gardens 
 and houses of the Sultan, completely concealed by bastions. 
 
 The square, when we arrived, presented an admirable couj)- 
 d'ceil. In the middle a throng of generals, masters of cere- 
 monies, magistrates, nobles, officials, and slaves, Arab and 
 black, all dressed in white, were divided into two great ranks, 
 opposite each other, and distant about thirty paces. Behind 
 one of these ranks, towards the river, were disposed in files
 
 THE SULTAN'S PRESENTS. 241 
 
 all the Sultan's horses — large and beautiful creatures, with 
 trappings of velvet embroidered with gold, each one held by 
 an armed groom. At the end of the files of horses stood a 
 small gilded carriage, which the Queen of England had given 
 to the Sultan, who always displays it at every reception. Be- 
 hind the horses, and behind the other rank of court per- 
 sonages, were drawn up in interminable lines the imperial 
 guard, dressed in white. 
 
 All around the square, at the foot of the wall and along 
 the river bank, three thousand foot soldiers looked like four 
 long lines of flaming red ; and on the other bank of the 
 river was an immense crowd of people all in white. In the 
 middle of the place were arranged the cases containing the 
 presents from the King of Italy — a portrait of the king 
 himself, mirrors, pictures in mosaic, candelabra, and arm- 
 chairs. 
 
 We placed ourselves near to the two ranks of personages, 
 so as to form with them a square open towards that part of 
 the place where the Sultan was to come. Behind us were 
 the cases; behind the cases, all the soldiers of the Embassy. 
 On one side, Mohammed Ducale, the Commandant of the 
 escort, Solomon Affalo, and the sailors in uniform. 
 
 A master of ceremonies, with a very crabbed expression 
 of countenance, and armed with a knotty stick, placed us in 
 two rows — in front, the Commandant, the Captain, and the 
 Vice-Consul ; behind, the doctor, the two painters, and myself. 
 The Ambassador stood live or six paces in advance of us, with 
 Signor Morteo, who was to interpret. 
 
 At one mommi we seven advanced a few paces uncon- 
 sciously. The master of ceremonies before mentioned made us 
 all go back, and pointed out with his stick the exact place 
 •where we were to remain. This proceeding made a great 
 
 impression on us, the more thai we fancied we saw tlic 
 oleum of an astute smile in his eye. At the same moment 
 a great buzz and murmur arose Prom above. We looked up,
 
 MEETING THE SULTAN. 243 
 
 and saw, at a certain height beyond the bastions, four or five 
 windows, closed, with green curtains, behind which a quantity 
 of heads seemed to be in movement. They were women's 
 heads — the buzz came from them. The windows belonged to 
 a kind of balcony, which communicated by a long corridor 
 with the Sultan's harem; and the master of ceremonies had 
 made us stand in that position by express oi - der of the Sultan 
 himself, who had promised his ladies that they should see the 
 Christians. What a pity that we were not near enough to hear 
 their observations upon our high hats and our swallow-tailed coats! 
 
 The sun was burning hot; a profound silence reigned in 
 the vast square; every eye was turned towards the same point. 
 We waited for about ten minutes. Suddenly a shiver seemed 
 to run through the soldiers ; there was a burst of music, the 
 trumpets sounded ; the court personages bowed profoundly; 
 the guards, grooms, and soldiers put one knee to the ground; 
 and from every mouth came one prolonged and thundering 
 shout — " God protect the Sultan ! " 
 
 Tie was on horseback, followed by a throng of courtiers 
 on foot, one of wdiom held over his head an immense parasol. 
 At a few paces from the Ambassador he stopped his horse, a 
 portion of his suite closed the square, the rest grouped them- 
 selves about him. 
 
 The master of ceremonies with the knotty stick shouted in 
 a loud voice — "The Ambassador from Italy!" 
 
 The Ambassador, accompanied by his interpreter, advanced 
 with uncovered head. The Sultan said in Arabic, "Welcome! 
 welcome ! welcome ! " Then he asked if he had had a good 
 journey, and if he were content with the service ol* the escort, 
 and with the reception of the governors. Imi of all this we 
 heard nothing. We were fascinated. The Sultan, whom our 
 imagination had represented to us under the aspect of a cruel 
 and savage despot, was the handsomest ami most charming 
 
 young fellow that had ever excited the fancy of an Oflalisque, 
 He is tall ami slender, with large soft eyes, a line aquiline
 
 844 MOROCCO. 
 
 nose, and his dark visage is of a perfect oval, encircled by a 
 short, black heard: a noble face, full of sadness and gentle- 
 ness. A mantle of snowy whiteness fell from his head to 
 his feet; his turban was covered by a tall hood; his feet 
 were bare, except for yellow slippers; his horse was large 
 and white, with trappings of green and gold, and golden 
 stirrups. All this whiteness and amplitude of his garments 
 gave him a priestly air, which, with a certain majestic grace 
 and affability, corresponded admirably with the expression of 
 his face. The parasol (sign of command) which a courtier 
 held a little inclined behind him — a great round parasol, three 
 metres in height, lined with blue silk embroidered with gold, 
 and covered on the outside with amaranth, topped by a great 
 golden ball — added to the dignity of his appearance. His 
 graceful action, his smiling and pensive expression, his low 
 voice, sweet and monotonous as the murmur of a stream — his 
 whole person and manners had something of ingenuous and 
 feminine, and at the same time solemn, that inspired irresis- 
 tible sympathy and profound respect. He looked about thirty- 
 two or thirty-three years of age. 
 
 "I am rejoiced," he said, "that the King of Italy has 
 sent an ambassador to draw more tightly the bands of our 
 ancient friendship. The House of Savoy has never made war 
 on Morocco. I love the House of Savoy, and have followed 
 with pleasure and admiration the events which have succeeded 
 each other under its auspices in Italy. In the time of ancient 
 Home, Italy was the most powerful country in the world. 
 Then it was divided into seven states. My ancestors were 
 friendly to all the seven states. And I, now that all are 
 reunited into one, have concentrated upon it all the friendship 
 that my ancestors had for the seven." 
 
 He spoke these words slowly, with pauses, as if he had 
 studied them first, and was trying to remember them. 
 
 Among other things, the Ambassador told him that the King 
 of Italy had sent him his portrait.
 
 THE SULTAN. 245 
 
 " It is a precious gift" he replied, " and I will have it 
 placed in the room where I sleep, opposite a mirror, so that 
 it shall be the first object on which my eyes fall when I 
 wake ; and so every morning I shall see the image of the 
 King of Italy reflected, and will think of him." A little 
 while afterwards he added, " I am content, and I hope that 
 you will stay long in Fez, and that it will be a pleasant 
 memory when you shall have returned to your beautiful 
 country ." 
 
 While he spoke he kept his eyes fixed almost constantly 
 upon his horse's head. At times he seemed about to smile, 
 but immediately bent his brows and resumed the gravity 
 proper to the imperial countenance. He was curious, it was 
 evident, to see what sort of beings were these seven ranged 
 at ten paces from his horse ; but not wishing to look directly 
 at us, he turned his eyes little by little, and then with one 
 rapid glance took in the whole seven together, and at that 
 moment there was in his eye a certain indefinable expression 
 of childish amusement that made a pleasant contrast with the 
 majesty of his person. The numerous suite that were gathered 
 behind and about him appeared to be petrified. All eyes 
 were fixed upon him; not a breath could be heard, and 
 nothing was seen but immoveable faces and attitudes of pro- 
 found veneration. Two Moors with trembling hands drove 
 away the Hies from his feet ; another from time to time passed 
 his hand over the skirt of his white mantle, as if to purifj it 
 from contact with the air; a fourth, wit li an action of sacred 
 respect, caressed the crupper of the horse; the one who held the 
 parasol stood with downcasl eyes, motionless as a statue, 
 almost as if he were confused and bewildered hv the solemnity 
 of his office. All things about him expressed his enormous 
 power, the immense distance that separated him Erom every- 
 body, a measureless submission, a fanatic devotion, a savage, 
 passionate affection that seemed to offer its blood for proof. 
 lie seemed noi a monarch, but a god.
 
 246 MOROCCO. 
 
 The Ambassador presented his credentials, and then iut.ro- 
 daced the Commandant, the Captain, and the Vice-Consul, 
 who advanced one after t lie other, and stood for a moment 
 bowing low. The Sultan looked with particular attention at 
 the Commandant's decorations. 
 
 "The physician "' — then said the Ambassador, pointing' us 
 out — " and three fscifuzati" (men of science). 
 
 My eyes encountered the eyes of the god, and all the 
 periods, already conceived, of this description, confounded them- 
 selves in my mind. 
 
 The Sultan asked with curiosity which was the physician. 
 " He to the right, " answered the interpreter. 
 
 He looked attentively at the doctor. Then, accompanying 
 his words with a graceful wave of his right hand, he said, 
 " Peace be with you ! Peace be with you ! Peace be with you ! " 
 and turned his horse. 
 
 The band burst out, the trumpets sounded, the courtiers 
 bent to the ground, guards, soldiers, and servants knelt on 
 one knee, and once more the loud and prolonged shout arose — 
 " God protect our Sultan ! " 
 
 The Sultan gone, the two ranks of high personages met and 
 mingled, and there came towards us Sid-Moussa, with his sons, 
 his officers, the Minister of War, the Minister of Finance, the 
 Grand Schereef Bacali, the Grand-Master of Ceremonies, all 
 the great ones of the court, smiling, talking, and waving 
 their hands in sign of festivity. A little later, Sid-Moussa 
 having invited the Ambassador to rest in a garden of the 
 Sultan's, we mounted, crossed the square to the mysterious 
 little road, and entered the august precincts of the imperial 
 residence. 
 
 Alleys bordered by high walls, small squares, courts, ruined 
 houses and houses in course of construction, arched doors, 
 corridors, little gardens, little mosques, a labyrinth to make 
 one lose one's way, and everywhere busy workmen, lines of 
 servants, armed sentinels, and some faces of slave women
 
 THE IMPEEIAL EESIDENCE. 
 
 247 
 
 behind the grated windows or at the openings in the doors : 
 this was all. Not a single handsome edifice, nor anything, 
 beyond the guard, to indicate 
 the residence of the sovereign. 
 We entered a vast uncultivated 
 garden, with shaded walks 
 crossing each other at right 
 angles, and shut in by high 
 walls like the garden of a con- 
 vent, and from thence, after 
 a short rest, returned home, 
 spreading by the way — the 
 doctor, the painters, and myself 
 — hilarity with our swallow- 
 tails and terror with our gibus. 
 
 All that day we talked of 
 nothing but the Sultan. We 
 were all in love with him. 
 Ussi tried a hundred times 
 to sketch his face, and threw 
 away his pencil in despair. 
 We proclaimed him the 
 handsomest and the most 
 amiable of Mohammedan 
 monarci is; and in order 
 that the proclamation 
 might be truly a national 
 one, we soughl the suf- 
 rages of the cook and 
 the t wo sailors. 
 
 The cook, from whom 
 
 _ * 
 
 A Street in Ft . 
 
 all the spectacles seeD between Tangiers and Fez had never 
 drawn anything bui a smile of commiseration, showed himself 
 generous to the Sultan : — 
 
 "He is a fine man — there is no doubt aboul ibaf — a band-
 
 848 MOROCCO. 
 
 BOme man ; but lie ought to (ravel, where he can get some 
 instruction." 
 
 This naturally meant Turin. Luigi, the sailor, though a 
 Neapolitan, was mure laconic Being asked what he had 
 remarked in the Sultan, he thought a moment, and answered, 
 smilingly, " 1 remarked that in this country even the kings do 
 nut wear stockings/' 
 
 The most comi. -al of all was Ranni. " How did the Sultan 
 strike you ? '' asked the Commandant. 
 
 "It struck me/ J he answered, frankly and with perfect 
 gravity, " that he was afraid." 
 
 " Afraid ! " exclaimed the Ci .mman.lant. " Of whom ? " 
 
 " Of us. Did you not see how pale he grew, and he spoke 
 as if he had lost his breath ?" 
 
 " You are crazy ! Do you think that he, in the midst of 
 his army, and surrounded by his guard, could be afraid of us ? " 
 
 " It seemed so to me/' said Ranni, iniperturbably. 
 
 The Commandant looked fixedly at him, and then took his 
 head in both hands, like a profoundly discouraged man. 
 
 That same evening there came to the palace, conducted by 
 Selim, two Moors, who having heard marvels of our gibus 
 desired to see them. I went and got mine and opened it under 
 their noses. Both of them looked into it with great curiosity, 
 and appeared much astonished. They probably expected to 
 find some complicated mechanism of wheels and springs, and 
 seeing nothing were confirmed in the belief that exists among 
 the Moorish vulgar that in all Christian objects there is some- 
 thing diabolical. 
 
 " Why, there is nothing \" they exclaimed, with one voice. 
 
 " But it is precisely in that," I answered, through Selim, 
 " that the wonder of these supernatural hats appears ; that they 
 do what they do without any wheels or springs \" 
 
 Selim laughed, suspecting the trick, and I then tried to 
 explain the mechanism of the thing to them ; but they seemed 
 to understand but little.
 
 THE GIBUS. 24» 
 
 They asked also, as they took leave, whether Christians put 
 such things in their hats " for amusement." 
 
 " And you/' I said to Selim, " what is your opinion of these 
 contrivances ? M 
 
 " My opinion is," he answered, with haughty contempt, 
 placing his finger on the offending hat, "that if I had to 
 live a hundred years in your country, perhaps, little by little, 
 I might adopt your manner of dressing — your shoes, your 
 cravats, and even the hideous colours that please you; but 
 that horrible black thing — ah ! God is my witness, that I would 
 rather die ! " 
 
 At this point I begin my journal at Fez, which embraces 
 all the time that transpired between our reception by the Sultan, 
 
 and our departure for Mechinez : — 
 
 May 20th. 
 To-day the chief custodian of the palace gave me secretly 
 the key of the terrace, warmly recommending us to observe 
 prudence. It appears that he had received orders not to refuse 
 the keys, but to give them only if urgently asked for ; and this 
 because the terraces at Fez, as in other cities of Morocco, belong 
 to the women, and are considered almost as appendages of the 
 harem. We went up to the terrace, which is very spacious, and 
 completel}'' surrounded by a wall higher than a man, having 
 a few loopholes for windows. The palace being very high, and 
 built on a height, hundreds of white terraces could be seen from 
 thence, as well as the hills which surround the city, and the 
 distant mountains; and below another small garden, from the 
 midst of which rose a palm-tree so tall as to overtop the building 
 by almost one-third of its own stature. Looking through those 
 loophole windows, we seemed to see into another world. Upon 
 the terraces Tar and uear were many women, the greater part 
 of them, judging by their dress, in easy circumstances — ladies, 
 
 if that title Can be given to Moorish women. A few were scaled 
 
 upon the parapets, some walking about, some jumping with the 
 agility of squirrels from one terrace to the other, hiding, re- 
 ft
 
 ■2:>o 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 appearing, and throwing water in each other's faces, laughing 
 merrily. There were old women and young, little girls of eight 
 or ten. all dressed in the strangest garments, and of the most 
 
 A Pottery Denier, Fez. 
 
 brilliant colours. Most of them had their hair falling over their 
 shoulders, a red or green silk handkerchief tied round the head 
 in a band, a sort of caftan of different colours, with wide sleeves, 
 bound round the waist with a blue or crimson sash ; a velvet 
 jacket open at the breast; wide trowsers, yellow slippers, and
 
 A PEIVATE VIEW. 251 
 
 large silver rings above the ankle. The slaves and children had 
 nothing on but a chemise. One only of these ladies was near 
 enough for us to see her features. She was a woman of about 
 thirty, dressed in gala dress, and standing on a terrace a cat's 
 jump below our own. She was looking down into a garden, 
 leaning her head upon her hand. We looked at her with a glass. 
 Heavens, what a picture ! Eyes darkened with antimony, cheeks 
 painted red, throat painted white, nails stained with henna : she 
 was a perfect painter's palette ; but handsome, despite her thirty 
 years, with a full face, and almond-shaped eyes, languid, and 
 veiled by long black lashes; the nose a little turned up ; a small 
 round mouth, as the Moorish poet says, like a ring ; and a 
 sylph-like figure, whose soft and curling lines were shown by 
 the thin texture of her dress. She seemed sad. Perhaps some 
 youthful bride of fourteen had lately entered the harem and stolen 
 her husband's caresses. From time to time she glanced at her 
 hand, her arm, a tress of hair that fell over her bosom, and sighed. 
 The sound of our voices suddenly roused her; she looked up, 
 saw that we were observing her, jumped over the parapet of the 
 terrace with the dexterity of an acrobat, and vanished. To see 
 better, we sent for a chair, and drew lots which should mount 
 it first. The lot falling to me, I placed the chair against the 
 wall, and succeeded in raising my head and shoulders above it. 
 It was like the apparition of a new star in the sky of Fez, if I 
 may be excused the audacity of the simile. I was seen al once 
 from the nearer houses, the occupants of which at once took to 
 flight, then turned to look, and announced the event to those on 
 the more distant terraces. In a few minutes the news bad 
 spread from terrace to terrace over half the city ; curious eyes 
 appeared everywhere, and I found myself in a sort of pillory. 
 But the beauty of the spectacle held me to my post. There 
 were hundreds of women and children, on the parapets, on tin- 
 little towers, on the outer staircases, all turned towards me, 
 all in flaming colours, I'roni those nearer ones whose Features 
 I could discern, to those more distant, who were mere white, 
 
 q 2
 
 •252 MOROCCO. 
 
 green, or vermilion points to my eye; some of the terraces were 
 so full thai they seemed like baskets of flowers; and everywhere 
 
 there was a lui//, and hurry, and gesticulation, as if they were 
 all looking en at some celestial phenomenon. Noi to put the 
 
 entire city in commotion, I set, or rather descended from my 
 chair, and Eòr a moment no one went up. Then Biseo rose, 
 and hi' also was the mark for thousands of eyes, when, suddenly, 
 upon a distant terrace, all the women turned the other way, 
 and ran to look in the opposite direction, and, in a moment, 
 those on the other houses did the same. AY e could not at Hist 
 imagine what had happened, until the Vice-Consul made a happy 
 guess. " A great event/' he said, " the Commandant and the 
 Captain are passing through the streets of Fez-/' and in fact, 
 after a little time, we saw the red uniforms of the escort appear 
 upon the heights that overlook the city, and with the glass 
 could recognise the Commandant and Captain on horseback. 
 Another sudden turn about of the women on some of the 
 terraces gave notice of the passage of another Italian party ; 
 and in about ten minutes we beheld upon the opposite hills the 
 white Egyptian head-dress of Ussi, and Morteo's English hat. 
 After this the universal attention was once more turned to us, 
 and we stayed a moment to enjoy it ; but upon a neighbouring 
 terrace there appeared five or six brats of slave-girls, of about 
 thirteen or fourteen years of age, who looked at us and giggled 
 in such an insolent manner that we were constrained, in 
 Christian decorum, to deprive the metropolitan fair sex of our 
 shining presence. 
 
 Yesterday we dined with the Grand Vizier, Taib Ben- 
 Jamani, surnamed Boascherin, which signifies, according to 
 some, victor at the game of ball, and according to others, 
 father of twenty children ; — Grand Vizier, however, by courtesy 
 only, his father having filled that office under the late Sultan. 
 The messenger bearing the invitation was received by the 
 Ambassador in our presence. 
 
 " The Grand Vizier, Taib Ben- Jamani Boascherin/' said he,
 
 254 MOROCCO. 
 
 with much gravity, "prays the Ambassador of Italy and his 
 suite to dine to-day a1 his house." 
 
 The Ambassador expressed his thanks. 
 
 " The Grand Vizier, Tail) Ben-Jamani Boascherin," he con- 
 tinned, with the same gravity, "prays the Ambassador and his 
 suite to bring with them their knives and forks, and also their 
 servants to wait on them at table." 
 
 We went towards evening in dress-coats and white cravats, 
 mounted, and with an armed guard as before. I do not remem- 
 ber in what part of the city the house was situated, so many 
 Avere the turns and twists we made, the ups and downs, through 
 covered ways gloomy and sinister, holding up the mules from 
 slipjnng, and stooping our heads not to strike them against the 
 low damp vaults of those interminable galleries. We dismounted 
 in a dark passage, and entered a square court, paved in mosaic, 
 and surrounded by tall white pilasters, which upheld little arches 
 painted green and ornamented with arabesques in stucco — a 
 strange Moorish-Babylonian sort of architecture, both pleasing 
 and peculiar. In the middle of the court seven jets of water 
 shot up from as many vases of white marble, making a noise as 
 of a heavy rain. All around were little half-closed doors and 
 double windows. At the two shorter sides two great doors stood 
 open, giving access to two halls. On the threshold of one of 
 these doors was the Grand Vizier, standing; behind him two 
 old Moors, relations of his ; to the right and left, two wings of 
 male and female slaves. 
 
 After the usual salutations, the Grand Vizier seated himself 
 upon a divan which ran along the Avail, crossed his legs, hugged 
 to his stomach with both his hands a large round cushion — his 
 habitual and peculiar attitude — and never moved again for the 
 rest of the evening. 
 
 He was a man of about forty-five years of age, A-igorous, and 
 Avith regular features, but with a certain false light shining in 
 his eyes. He wore a white turban and caftan. He spoke Avith 
 much vivacity, and laughed loud and long at his own words and
 
 THE GEAXD VIZIER'S SLAVES. 255 
 
 those of others, throwing back his head while he did so, and 
 keeping his mouth open long after he had done laughing. 
 
 On the walls hung some small pictures with inscriptions 
 from the Koran in gold letters ; in the middle of the room there 
 was a common wooden table and some rustic chairs ; all about 
 lay white matresses, on which we threw our hats. 
 
 Sidi Ben-Jamani began a vivacious conversation with the 
 Ambassador, asking if he were married, and why he did not 
 marry. He said that if he had been married he might have 
 brought his wife to dinner ; that the English Ambassador had 
 brought his daughter, and that she had been much diverted by 
 what she saw there ; that all the ambassadors ought to marry, 
 expressly to conduct their wives to Fez, and dine with him ; 
 together with other talk of the same kind, all of it interspersed 
 with loud laughter. 
 
 "Whilst the Grand Vizier was talking, the two painters and 
 I, seated in the doorway, Avere looking out of the corners of our 
 eyes at the slave women, who, little by little, and encouraged by 
 our aii* of benign curiosity, had drawn near, unseen by the 
 Grand Vizier, so that they could almost touch us ; and there 
 they stood, looking and being looked at, with a certain com- 
 placency. There were eight cf them, fine girls of from fifteen 
 to twenty years of age, some mulatto, some black, with large 
 eyes and dilated nostrils; all dressed in while, with very 
 broad embroidered girdles, arms and feet bare, bracelets on their 
 wrists, great silver rings in their ears, thick silver anklets. It 
 seemed as if they would not scruple very much to have their 
 cheeks pinched by a Christian hand. Issi pointed out to Biseo 
 the beautiful loot <.t' one of them j she noticed it, and began to 
 examine her own fool with much curiosity. All the others did 
 the same, comparing their own feel with hers. Ussi " fired off " 
 his gibus hat ; t hey drew back, then smiled, a n< I came near again. 
 
 The Grand Vizier's voire, ordering the table I" be prepared, sent 
 them flying. 
 
 The table was laid by our own soldiers. A servant of the
 
 'J5G 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 house placed upon it, in the middle, three thick waxen torches of 
 different colour.-. The china-ware belonged to the Grand Vizier, 
 and there wen- noi two plates alike; bui they were big and 
 little, white and coloured, fine ami common, plenty and to spare. 
 The napkins also belonged to the house, and consisted of sundry 
 
 of the Grand /' 
 
 of tfo Household. 
 
 square pieces of cotton cloth, of different sizes, unhemmed, and 
 evidently just cut off in a hurry for the occasion. 
 
 It was night when Ave sat down. The Grand Vizier sat on 
 his mattress, hugging his cushion, and talking and laughing 
 with his two relatives. 
 
 I will not describe the dinner. I do not wish to recall 
 painful memories. Enough to say that there were thirty dishes, 
 or rather thirty unpleasant things, without counting the smaller 
 annoyances of the sweets.
 
 DIXKER WITH THE GRAND VIZIER. 257 
 
 At the fifteenth dish, it becoming impossible to continue the 
 struggle without the aid of wine, the Ambassador begged Morteo 
 to ask the Grand Vizier if it would he displeasing- to him to 
 have some champagne sent for. 
 
 Morteo whispered to Selim, and Selim repeated the request 
 in the ear of his Excellency. His Excellency made a long reply 
 in a low voice, and we anxiously watched his face out of the 
 corners of our eyes. But we found small hope there. 
 
 Selim rose with a mortified air, and repeated the answer into 
 the ear of the intendant, who gave us the coup <7<" grace in the 
 following words : — 
 
 "The Grand Vizier says that there would be no difficulty, 
 that he would consent willingly, hut that it w r ould be an impro- 
 priety, and the glasses would be soiled, and perhaps the table ; 
 and that in any case the sight, the odour, and then the novelty 
 of the thing "- 
 
 "I understand,''' answered the Ambassador; a we will sal- 
 ilo more about it." 
 
 Our complexions all assumed a slight shade of green. 
 
 The dinner over, the Ambassador remained in conversation 
 with the Grand Vizier, and the rest of us issued forth into the 
 rain and darkness of the court. In the room at the other end of 
 it, lighted by a torch, and seated <>n the ground, our ('aid, his 
 officers, and the Secretaries of our host were dining. At all the 
 little windows in the walls, lighted from within, women's and 
 children's heads could he seen, their dark outlines showing 
 against the light. A half-open door showed a splendidly illumi- 
 nated hall, where seated, lounging in a circle, and gorgeously 
 arrayed, were the wives and concubines of the Grand Vizici-; 
 dimly seen through the smoke <>f burning perfumes that rose 
 from tripods at their feet. Slave women and servants came 
 
 and went continually; there must have been at least lift)' 
 persons moving about, but there was no sound of voice, or step, 
 or rustle of garment. It was like a phantasmagoria, ai which 
 we gazed fora long t ime, silent , and bidden in I he darkness.
 
 "THE EOAD IS CLOSED!" 259 
 
 As we were going- away we saw, attached to a pillar in the court, 
 a thick leathern thong with knots in it. The interpreter asked 
 one of the men what it was for. "To beat us with/' he answered. 
 
 We mounted and turned our faces homewards, accompanied 
 by a troop of the Grand Vizier's servants carrying' lanterns. It 
 was very dark and raining heavily. The strange effect of that 
 long cavalcade cannot be imagined, with the lanterns, the crowd 
 of armed and hooded figures, the deafening noise of the horses' 
 feet, the sound of savage exclamations, in that labyrinth of 
 narrow streets and covered passages, in the midst of the silence 
 of the sleeping city. It seemed like a funeral procession winding 
 along under ground, or a party of soldiers advancing through 
 subterranean Avays to surprise a fortress. Suddenly the pro- 
 cession halted, there was a sepulchral silence, broken by a voice 
 saying angrily in Arabic, " The road is closed ! " A moment 
 after there was a great noise of blows. The soldiers of the 
 escort were trying to beat down with the butts of their muskets 
 one of the thousand gates that during the night prevent circula- 
 tion through the streets of Fez. The work took some time ; it 
 thundered and lightened, and the rain poured in torrents ; the 
 soldiers and servants ran about with lanterns, throwing their 
 long shadows on the walls ; the Caid, standing in his stirrups, 
 threatened the invisible inhabitants of the surrounding houses ; 
 and we enjoyed the fine Rembrandt picture with infinite delight. 
 Finally the «lour came down witli a great noise, and we passed 
 
 on. A little before we reached our house, under an arched 
 passage, six foot soldiers presented arms with one hand, the 
 other holding a lighted taper; and this was the last scene of the 
 fantastic drama, entitled, A Dinner with the Grand Vizier, 
 lint, no; the lasl scene of all was when we, hardly in OUT mvn 
 
 court-yard, precipitated ourselves upon sardines of Nantes, and 
 bottles of Bordeaux, and Ussi, lifting his glass above our heads, 
 exclaimed in solemn accents, "To Sidi Ben-Jamani, Grand 
 Vizici- of Morocco, our most gracious host, I, Stefano Ussi, with 
 Christian forgiveness, consecrate this cupi "
 
 260 
 
 MOROC< "■ 
 
 The Sultan lias received the Ambassador in private audience. 
 The reception-hall Is as big, as bare, and as white as a prison. 
 
 The Closed GaU 
 
 There are no other ornaments but a great number of clocks 
 of all forms and dimensions, of which some are on the floor, 
 ranged along the walls, and some are huddled together on the 
 table in the middle of the room. Clocks, it may be remembered,
 
 AN INTERVIEW WITH THE SULTAN. 261 
 
 are very great objects of admiration and amusement among 
 the Moors. The Sultan was seated cross-legged, in a little 
 alcove, upon a wooden platform about a yard high. He wore, 
 as at his publie reception, a white mantle, with a hood over 
 his head; his feet were hare, his }'ellow slippers in a corner, 
 and a green cord crossed his breast, to which a poignard was 
 probably suspended. In this way the Emperors of Morocco 
 have always received ambassadors. Their throne, as Sultan 
 Abd-er-Rhaman said, is the horse, and their pavilion the sky. 
 The Ambassador, having first made known his wish to Sid- 
 Moussa, found before the imperial platform a modest chair, upon 
 which, at a sign from the Sultan, he seated himself; Signor 
 Morteo, the interpreter, remained standing. His Majesty, 
 Muley-el-Hassan, spoke for a long time, without ever raising 
 his hands from beneath his mantle, without making a movement 
 with his head, without altering by a single accent the habitual 
 monotony of his soft deep voice. Ile spoke of the needs of his 
 empire, of commerce, of industry, of treaties; goino- into 
 minute particulars, with much order and method, and greal 
 simplicity of language. He asked many questions, listening 
 to the answers with great al tent ion, and concluded by saying, 
 with a slight expression of sadness, "It is true; but we are 
 constrained to proceed slowly" — strange and admirable words 
 on the lips of an Emperor of Morocco. Seeing that he gave no 
 sign, even in the intervals of silence, to break oil* the interview, 
 the Ambassador thought it his duty to rise. " Stay ye1 a while," 
 said the Sultan, with a certain expression of ingenuousness; 
 "it gives me pleasure to converse will) \ou." When the 
 
 Ambassador tools leave, bowing for the lasl time on the threshold 
 of the door, he slightly beni his head, and remained motionless, 
 like an idol in his deserted temple. 
 
 A company of Hebrew women have been hen' presenting 
 I know noi whiii petition to the Ambassador. No one could 
 shelter his hands Erom the shower "I' their kisses. They were 
 the wives, daughters, and relations of two rich merchants:
 
 262 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 beautiful women, with brilliant black eyes, fair skins, scarlet 
 lips, and very small hands. The two mothers, already old, 
 had not a single white hair, and the tire of youth still burned 
 in their eyes. Their dress was splendid and picturesque — a 
 
 J vish Synagogue in Fez. 
 
 handkerchief of gorgeous colours bound about the forehead : 
 a jacket of red cloth, trimmed with heavy gold braid; a sort 
 of waistcoat all of gold embroidery; a short, narrow petticoat 
 of green cloth, also bordered with gold ; and a sash of red 
 or blue silk around the waist. They looked like so many Asiatic- 
 princesses, and their splendour of attire contrasted oddly with
 
 THE JEWS IN FEZ. 263 
 
 their servile and obsequious manners. They all spoke Spanish. 
 It was not until after some minutes that we observed that 
 they had bare feet, and carried their yellow slippers under their 
 arms. 
 
 1 ' Why do you not wear your shoes ?" I asked of one of the 
 old women. 
 
 "What!" she said, in astonishment. "Do you not know 
 that we Israelites must not wear shoes except in the Mellà, 
 and that when we enter a Moorish city we must go bare- 
 foot?" 
 
 Reassured by the Ambassador, they all put on their slippers. 
 Such is the fact. They are not absolutely obliged to go always 
 with bare feet ; but as they must take off their shoes in passing- 
 through certain streets, before certain mosques, near certain cube, 
 it becomes the same thing in the end. And this is not the 
 only vexation to which they are subjected, nor the most 
 humiliating one. They cannot bear witness before a judge, 
 and must prostrate themselves on the ground before any 
 tribunal ; they cannot possess lands or houses outside of their 
 own quarter ; they must not raise their hand against a Mussul- 
 man, even in self-defence, except in the case of being assaulted 
 under their own roof; they can only wear dark colours;* they 
 must carry their dead to the cemetery at a run ; they must 
 ask the Sultan's leave to marry; they must be within their 
 own quarter at sunset; they must pay the Moorish guard who 
 stands sentinel at the gates of the Molla; and they must, presenl 
 rich gifts to the Sultan on the four great festivals <>f Islamism, 
 and on every occasion o£ birth or matrimony in the imperia] 
 family. Their condition was still worse before tin; time of 
 Sultan Abd-er-Rhaman, who at least prevented their blood from 
 being shed. Even if they would, the Sultans could not much 
 ameliorate their condition, without exposing this (infortunate 
 people to an even worse Bate than the horrible slavery fchej H"\\ 
 endure, so fanatical and ferocious is the hatred of the Moors 
 * Apparently the women are exempt Erom thia law. — Trans.
 
 264 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 against them. Tims Sultan Soliman, having decreed that they 
 might wear their shoes, so many of them were killed in open 
 day in the streets of Fez that they themselves petitioned the 
 rev. nation of the decree. Nevertheless, they remain in the 
 country, and being willing to ran the risks, they serve as 
 intermediaries between the commerce of Europe and that of 
 
 Àfrica; and the Govern- 
 ment, aware of their 
 importance to the pros- 
 perity of the State, op- 
 poses an almost insur- 
 mountable barrier to 
 emigration, prohibiting 
 the departure of any 
 Jewish woman from Mo- 
 
 iffflB^ii' rocco. They serve, they 
 1l$lf¥ tremble, and grovel in 
 
 — ^ 
 
 Jewish Children. 
 
 to* 
 
 the dust ; but they 
 would not give, to ac- 
 quire the dignity of men 
 and the liberty of citi- 
 zens, the heaps of gold 
 which they keep hidden in 
 their gloomy habitations. 
 There are about eight 
 thousand of them living in Fez, divided into Synagogues, 
 and directed by Rabbis who enjoy high authority. 
 
 These poor women showed us a number of large bracelets 
 of chased silver, some rings set with jewels, and some gold 
 ear-rings, which they kept hidden in their bosoms. We asked 
 why they concealed them. 
 
 " Nos espantamos de los Moros?' " We are afraid of the 
 Moors," they said, in a low voice, looking timidly about them. 
 They were suspicious, too, of the soldiers of the Legation. 
 
 Among them there were several children, dressed with the
 
 MARRIAGE AMONG THE JEWS OF FEZ. 265 
 
 same splendour as the women. One of them stood close to 
 her mother, seeming' more timid than the rest. The Ambassador 
 asked how old she was. " Twelve years old/' the mother 
 said. 
 
 " She will soon be married/' remarked the Ambassador. 
 
 " Che ! " exclaimed the mother ; " she is too old to marry/' 
 
 We all thought she was joking. But she repeated, almost 
 astonished at our incredulity, " I speak the truth ; look here 
 at this one " — and she pointed to a smaller child. " She will be 
 ten years old in six months, and she has already been married 
 one year." 
 
 The child held down her head. We were still incredulous. 
 
 " What can I say ? " continued the woman. " If you will 
 not believe my word, do me the honour to come to my house 
 on Saturday, so that we may receive you worthily, and you will 
 see the husband and the witnesses of the marriage.'" 
 
 " And how old is the husband ?" I asked. 
 
 " Ten years old, Signore." 
 
 Seeing that we still doubted, the other women all asserted 
 the same, adding that it is quite rare for a girl to marry after 
 twelve years of age ; that the greater part of them are married 
 at ten, many at eight, and some even at seven, to boys of about 
 their own age; and that, naturally, while they arc so young, 
 they live with their parents, who continue to treat them like 
 children, feed, clothe, and correct them, without the least regard 
 to their marital dignity ; but they arc always together, and the 
 wife is submissive to the husband. 
 
 To us all this seemed news from another world than ours, 
 and we listened with open mouths, divided between a desire 
 to laugh, pity, and anger. 
 
 A breakfast at, Hie house of the Minister of War. 
 
 We were reeeived in a nan oW COUrt, enclosed by four high 
 
 walls, and as dark as a well. 16 side there was a, door 
 
 about three feet in height, on the other a -iv.it doorway withoul 
 doors, and a bare room, with a mattress on t lie lloor, and some 
 R
 
 866 MOROCCO. 
 
 sheets of paper Btrung on a strìngi and hanging on one of 
 the w:iUs : the daily correspondence; I imagine of his Ex- 
 cellency. 
 
 He is called Sid-Abd-Alla Ben I lamed, is the elder brother 
 of Sid-Moussa, is about sixty years old, black, small, lean, 
 infirm on his legs, trembling and decrepit. He speaks little, 
 shuts his eyes often, and smiles courteously, bowing his head, 
 which is almost concealed in an immense turban. Nevertheless, 
 his appearance and manners are agreeable. 
 
 After the exchange of a few words, we were invited into the 
 dining-hall. The Ambassador first, and then all the others 
 one by one, stooping almost to a right angle, passed the little 
 low door, and came out into another court, spacious, surrounded 
 by an elegant arcade, and covered with splendid and various 
 ornaments in mosaic. It is a palace Avhich was presented to 
 Sid-Abd-Alla by the Sultan. He himself gives us this informa- 
 tion, bowing his head and closing his eyes with an air of 
 religious veneration. 
 
 In one corner of the court there was a group of officials in 
 white turbans and robes ; on the other side a troop of servants, 
 among whom towered a very handsome young giant, dressed 
 all in blue, with a long pistol at his belt. At all the little 
 doors and windows in the four walls, heads of women and 
 children of various shades of complexion appeared and dis- 
 appeared, and on every side was heard the voice of infancy. 
 
 We sat down around a small table, in a little room en- 
 cumbered by two enormous beds. The Minister placed himself 
 next to, but a little behind, the Ambassador, and sat there all 
 the time of the breakfast, vigorously rubbing his bare black 
 foot, which he had planted on his knee, so that the ministerial 
 toes appeared just above the edge of the table, at a few r inches 
 from the Commandant's plate. The soldiers of the Legation 
 waited at table. Close to it stood the young blue giant, with 
 his hand on his pistol. 
 
 Sid-Abd-Alla was very polite to the Ambassador.
 
 BREAKFAST WITH THE WAR MINISTER. 
 
 267 
 
 " I like you very much," he said, without preamble, through 
 the interpreter. 
 
 Breakfast at the War Min 
 
 The Ambassador replied thai he experienced the same senti 
 uient towards him. 
 
 E :i
 
 •268 MOROCCO. 
 
 " I had scarcely seen you/' continued the Minister, "when 
 my heart was all yours." 
 
 The Ambassador returned the compliment. 
 
 "The heart/ 1 concluded Sid-Abd-Alla, "cannot be resisted; 
 and when it commands you to love a person, even without 
 knowing the reason, yen must obey." 
 
 The Ambassador gave him his hand, which he pressed to his 
 breast. 
 
 Eighteen dishes were served. I speak not of them. Enough 
 to say that I hope that my partaking- of them will some day be 
 counted in my favour. By way of variety the water was 
 flavoured with musk, the table-cloth of many colours, and. the 
 chairs tottering- on their legs. But these little calamities, 
 instead of putting us into an ill-humour, only excited our 
 comic vein, so that seldom were w T e so full of mischievous frolic 
 as on that occasion. If Sid-Abd-Alla could only have heard 
 us ! But Sid-Abd-Alla was entirely absorbed in the Am- 
 bassador. Signor Morteo alarmed us for an instant, by 
 whispering to us that the blue giant, who was from Tunis, 
 might possibly understand a few words of Italian. But observ- 
 ing him attentively when certain jokes were made, and seeing 
 him always impassible as a statue, we were re-assured, and 
 went on without minding him. How many apt and unexpected 
 similes did we find, and with what clamorously comic effect, 
 but unfortunately not to be repeated, for those ragouts and 
 sauces ! 
 
 The breakfast over, we all went out into the court, where 
 the Minister presented to the Ambassador one of the highest 
 officers of the army. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 artillery; a little old man, dry, and bent like the letter C, with 
 an enormous hooked nose and two round eyes ; the face of a 
 bird of prey; overwhelmed, rather than covered, by an im- 
 measurable yellow turban of a spherical form, and dressed in a 
 sort of Zouave dress, all blue, with a white mantle on his 
 shoulders. He wore at his side a long sabre, and had a silver
 
 THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARTILLERY. 
 
 2GS> 
 
 poignard in his belt. The Ambassador inquired to what rank in 
 a European army his own corresponded. He seemed embarrassed 
 by the question. He hesitated a moment, and then answered, 
 stammering, " General ; " then he thought again, and said, 
 
 iSllPf ■- 
 
 Tin Officers' Breakfast. 
 
 "No; Colonel," and was confused. He said he was a oative 
 of Algeria. I had :i suspicion that he was a renegade. Who 
 knows by whal Btrange vicissitudes he has come to be Colonel 
 in Morocco ? 
 
 The other officers, meantime, were breakfasting in a room 
 opening on the court, all Bitting in a circle on the floor, witb the 
 dishes in the midst. Seeing them eat, I understood how it was
 
 270 MOROCCO. 
 
 that the Moors could do without knives and forks. The neatness 
 and dexterity, the precision with which they pulled chickens, 
 mutton, game, and fish to pieces cannot be described. With a 
 few rapid movements of the hands, without the least discom- 
 posure, each one took his exact portion. They seemed to have 
 nails as sharp as razors. They dipped their ringers in the sauces, 
 inaile balls of the cùscùssà, ate salad by the handful, and not a 
 morsel or crumb fell from the dish ; and when they rose, we saw 
 that their caftans were immaculate. Every now and then a 
 servant carried round a basin and a towel ; they gave themselves 
 a wash, and then all together plunged their paws into the next 
 dish. No one spoke, no one raised his eyes, no one seemed to 
 notice that we were looking on. 
 
 What officers they were, whether of the staff, or adjutants, 
 or chiefs of division, or what, it is impossible to know in 
 Morocco. The army is the most mysterious of all their myste- 
 ries. They say, for example, that in ease of a Holy war, Avhen 
 the D jehad law shall be proclaimed, which calls every man under 
 arms who is capable of bearing them, the Sultan can raise two 
 hundred thousand soldiers; but if they do not know even 
 approximately the number of the population of the empire, on 
 what do they base their calculations ? And the standing army, 
 who knows how large it is ? And how can anything be known, not 
 only of the numbers, but of the regulations, if, except the chiefs, 
 no one knows anything, and these latter either will not answer, 
 or do not tell the truth, and cannot make themselves understood ? 
 
 Sid- Abd- Alia, the most courteous of hosts, made us write all 
 our names in his pocket-book, and took leave of us, pressing our 
 hands one by one to his heart. 
 
 At the door we were joined by the blue giant, who, looking 
 at us with a cunning grin, said, in good Italian, though with a 
 Moorish accent, " Signori, stiano bene !" 
 
 Our jesting talk at table flashed on our minds, and we were 
 all struck dumb. Finally, "Ah, dog!" cried Ussi. But the 
 dog had already vanished.
 
 OUR ATTENDANTS. 271 
 
 Our every movement out of doors is a military expedition ; 
 we must warn the Caid, get together the escort, send for the 
 interpreters, order horses and mules, and an hour at least is 
 spent in preparation. Consequently we stay a great part of the 
 day within. But the spectacle there largely rewards us for our 
 imprisonment. There is a continual procession of red soldiers, 
 black servants, messengers from the Court, city traders, sick 
 Moors in search of the doctor, Jewish rabbins coming to do 
 homage to the Ambassador, other Jews with bunches of flowers, 
 couriers with letters from Tangiers, porters bringing the muna. 
 In the court are some workers in mosaic, working for Visconti 
 Venosta ; on the terrace, masons ; in the kitchens, a coming and 
 going of cooks ; in the gardens are merchants spreading out 
 their stuffs, and Signor Vincent his "uniforms ; the doctor is 
 swinging in a hammock slung between two trees; the artists 
 are painting before the door of their chamber ; soldiers and 
 servants are jumping and shouting in the neighbouring alleys ; 
 all the fountains spout and trickle with a noise of heavy rain, 
 and hundreds of birds are warbling among the orange and lemon 
 trees. The day passes between ball playing and Kaldun's 
 history ; the evening with chess, and singing directed by the Com- 
 mandant, first tenor of Fez. My nights would be better passed 
 if it were not for the continual flitting to and fro, like so many 
 phantoms, of Mohammed Ducale' s black servants, who are in a 
 little room adjoining mine. The doctor also sleeps in my room, 
 and between us we have a poor wretch of an Arab servant, who 
 makes us die with laughter. They say that he belongs to a 
 family who, if not rich, are in easy circumstances, and thai he 
 joined the caravan as a servant at Tangiers, in order to make a 
 pleasure trip. He had hardly reached Fez, the half of his 
 pleasure trip, when For Borne trifling fault he caught a beating. 
 
 After that he did his service with furious zeal. lie understands 
 
 nothing, not even gestures; and always looks likeone frightened 
 
 to death; if we ask for the ehess-hoard, he brings 8 BpittOOU \ 
 
 and yesterday, when the doctor wanted bread, he brought him a
 
 878 MOROCCO. 
 
 crust that be had picked up in the garden. We may try our 
 
 best to reassure him ; he is afraid of us, tries to mollify us with 
 all sorts of strange unnecessary services, such as changing the 
 water in our basins three times before we rise in the morning. 
 Moreover, in order to do a pleasing thing 1 , he waits every 
 morning- erect in the middle of the room with a cup of coffee in 
 his hand for the doctor or me to awake, and the first one that 
 gives signs of life he precipitates himself upon, and thrusts the 
 cup under his nose with the fury of one who is administering an 
 antidote. Another delightful personage is the washerwoman — a 
 big woman with a veiled face, a green petticoat, and red trousers, 
 who comes to get our linen, destined, alas ! to be trampled by 
 Moors. It is superfluous to say that they iron nothing ; in all 
 Fez there does not exist a smoothing iron, and we put on our 
 linen exactly as it comes from under the hoofs of the washer- 
 men. " Perhaps," said some one, " there might be an iron in 
 the Mellà ? " There might be, but the difficulty is to find it. 
 There is a carriage, but it belongs to the Sultan. It is said that 
 there is also a piano-forte ; it was seen to come into the city 
 some years ago, but it is not known who possesses it. It is 
 amusing also to send to buy something in the shops. " A 
 candle?" — "There are none," is the answer; "but we will 
 make some presently." " A yard of ribbon ? " — " It will be 
 ready by to-morrow evening." " Cigars?" — ""We have the 
 tobacco, and will have them ready in an hour." The Vice- 
 Consul spent several days looking for an old Arabic book, and 
 all the Moors he questioned looked at each other and said, "A 
 book ? Who has books in Fez ? There were some once ; if we 
 are not mistaken, so and so had them ; but he is dead, and we 
 do not know who are his heirs." " And Arabic journals, or 
 other journals, could we have them ? " — " One single journal, 
 printed in Arabic in Algiers, arrives regularly at Fez, but it is 
 addressed to the Sultan." 
 
 Yet, I have an idea that we are less than two hundred miles 
 from Gibraltar, where probably this evening they are giving Lucia
 
 ART CRITICS. 273 
 
 di Lammermoor, and that in eight clays we could reach the Loggia 
 dei Lanzi at Florence. But in spite of this conviction I feel a 
 sentiment of immense remoteness. It is not miles but things 
 and people that divide us most from onr country. With what 
 pleasure we tear off the bands of our journals, and break open 
 our letters ! Poor letters, that fly from the hands of the Carlists 
 in Spain, pass through the midst of the brigands of the Sierra- 
 Morena, overpass the peaks of the red mountain, swim, clasped 
 in the hands of a Bedouin, the waters of the Kus, the Sebu, the 
 Mechez, and the river of the Azure Fountain, and bring- us a 
 loving word in this land of reproaches and maledictions. 
 
 We pass many hours in watching the painters work. Ussi 
 has made a fine sketch of the great reception, in which the figure 
 of the Sultan is wonderfully well done; Biseo, an excellent 
 painter of Oriental architecture, is copying the lacinie of the 
 small house in the garden. It is worth while, for diversion, to 
 hear the soldiers and shopkeepers of Fez who come to see that 
 picture. They come on tiptoe behind the painter, and look over 
 his shoulder making a telescope with their hand, and then they 
 all begin to laugh, as if they had discovered something very odd. 
 The great oddity is that in the drawing the second arch of the 
 facade is smaller than the first, and the third smaller than the 
 second. Devoid as they are of any idea of perspective, they 
 believe that this inequality is an error, and they >;i\ licit the 
 walls are crooked, that the house totters, thai the door is out of 
 place, and they are much astonished, and go away savin-- tin- 
 artist is a donkey. I ssi is more esteemed, since it is known 
 that he has been at Cairo, and that he has painted the departure 
 of the caravan i'<<v Mecca by the order of the Viceroy, who paid 
 lain fifteen thousand scudi. They say, however, that the \ iceroy 
 
 was mad to pay such a sum for a work on which the arh>t hail 
 expended perhaps about a hundred francs for colours. A mer- 
 chant asked Morteo if Ussi could paint tornitore also. Hut the 
 best story is abool Biseo, who goes every morning in New Fez 
 to paint a mosqoe. He goes, of coorse, escorted by five or six
 
 274 
 
 Morocco. 
 
 soldiers armed with sticks. Before he lias sot up his easel; he is 
 surrounded by about three hundred people, and the soldiers are 
 obliged to yell furiously and make play with their sticks to keep 
 enough space <>]>en Eor him to sec the mosque. At every stroke 
 
 Shops in Fez. 
 
 of the brush, a blow with a stick ; but they let themselves be 
 beaten, and do worse. Every little while a saint appears with 
 threatening gestures, and the soldiers keep him off. There are 
 also some progressive Moors, who come up with friendly aspect, 
 look, approve, and retire with signs of encouragement. The
 
 ARAB PREJUDICE. 27Ó 
 
 greater part of these progressists, however, admire a great deal 
 more the structure of the easel and the portable seat than they 
 do the picture. One day a savage-looking Moor shook his list 
 at the painter, and then, turning to the crowd, made a long 
 speech with excited voice and gestures. An interpreter explained 
 that he was exciting the people against Biseo, saying that that 
 dog had been sent by the king of his country to copy the finest 
 mosques in Fez, so that when the Christian army came to 
 bombard the place, they could recognise and attack them first. 
 Yesterday (I was present), a ragged old Moor, a good-natured 
 old rascal, accosted him, appearing to have a great deal to say, 
 aud bringing out his words with much difficulty, he exclaimed 
 with emotion, " France ! London! Madrid! Rome!''' We 
 were much astonished, as may be supposed, and asked him if he 
 knew how to speak French, Italian, or Spanish. He made signs 
 that he could. " Speak, then/' I said. He scratched his fore- 
 head, sighed, stamped his foot, and again exclaimed, " France ! 
 London! Madrid! Rome!" and pointed towards the horizon. 
 He Avanted to tell us that he had seen those countries, and 
 perhaps that once he knew how to make himself understood in 
 our tongues; but he had forgotten them all. We put other 
 questions to him, but could draw nothing from him but those 
 four names. And he went away repeating, " Madrid ! Rome ! 
 France! London \" as long as we could see him, and saluting 
 us affectionately with his hand. 
 
 "We find all sorts of people \\vn-," said Biseo, provoked j 
 "even originals who wish us well and like us, 1ml not a single 
 dog that will let me paint him/' 
 
 It is true that up to this moment the utmost efforts of the 
 artists in that direction had faded. Kven OUT faithful Selam 
 refused. 
 
 " Are you afraid of the devil ? " demanded I — i. 
 
 "No/' he answered, with solemnity ; f * I am afraid oi 
 God." 
 
 We have been up on the top of Mount Zalag the Com-
 
 B76 MOROCCO. 
 
 mandantj Issi, and I — guided by Captain de Boccard, a charm- 
 ing young EelloWj equally admirable Bor the activity of his body, 
 the strength of his soul, and the acumen of his intelligence. 
 We were accompanied by an officer of the escort, three foot 
 soldiers, three cavalry soldiers, and three servants. At the 
 Eoo1 of the mountain, which is about an hour and a half from 
 the north-cast of the city, we stopped to breakfast; after 
 which the Captain stuck an apple on a stick, put a scudo on the 
 apple, and made the soldiers and servants fire at it with his 
 revolver. The prize was tempting- — they all tired with much 
 care; hut as it was the first time they had ever had a revolver 
 in their hands, everybody missed, and the scudo was given 
 to the officer to be divided between them. It was laughable to 
 see the attitudes they took when taking aim. One threw 
 his head back, one bent forward, one put his chin quite over 
 the trigger, and one stood on guard as if fencing with a sabre. 
 Accustomed as they were to terrible attitudes, not one knew 
 how to adapt himself to the quiet, easy position which the 
 Captain tried to teach them. A soldier came to ask if we 
 would give something to a country-woman who had brought us 
 some milk. We said, Yes, on condition that the woman came 
 herself to get it. She came. She was a black, deformed 
 creature, about thirty years of age, covered with rags, and in 
 every way repulsive. She came towards us slowly, covering her 
 face with one hand ; and when about five paces from us, turned 
 her back, and extended the other hand. The Commandant was 
 disgusted. " 13e easy" he called out ; " I am not in love. 
 I shall not lose my head ; I can still control myself. Good 
 gracious, what frightful modesty ! " 
 
 We put some money in her hand, she picked up her milk 
 jug, ran off towards her hut, and at the door smashed the pro- 
 faned vessel against a stone. 
 
 "We began the ascent on foot, accompanied by a part of 
 the escort. The mountain is about one thousand feet above 
 the level of the sea — steep, rocky, and without paths. In a
 
 ASCENDING MOUNT ZALAG. 
 
 277 
 
 few minutes the Captain disappeared among the rocks ; but for 
 the Commandant, Ussi, and I, it was one of the twelve labours 
 of Hercules. We had each an Aral) at our side, who told 
 
 ./ Butcher'» sh< 
 
 Fi . 
 
 us where to place our feet; and :it some points we were obliged 
 to climb like cats, clinging to hushes and grass, slipping on 
 the rocks, stumbling, and seizing the arms of our guide ac 
 drowning men seize a saving plank. Here and there we see 
 a goat, seemingly suspended above our heads, bo steep is the
 
 274 MOROCCO. 
 
 osceni ; and the stones, scarcely touched, roll to the very 
 bottom of the mountain. With God's help, in an hour's 
 time \re are on the top of the mountain, exhausted, but with 
 whole bones. What a lovely view! At the bottom, the 
 «•itv, a little white spot in the form of an eight, surrounded 
 by black walls, cemeteries, gardens, cube, towers, and all the 
 verdant shell that holds them ; on the left, a long shining 
 line, the Sebù ; to the right, the great plain of Fez, streaked 
 with silver by the Pearl river and the River of the Azure 
 Fountain; to the south, the blue peaks of the great Atlas 
 chain; to the north, the mountains of the Rif; to the east, 
 the vast undulating plain where is the fortress of Teza, which 
 closes the pass between the basin of the Sebù and that of the 
 Mulaia; below us, great waves of ground yellow with grain 
 and barley, marked by innumerable paths, and long files of 
 gigantic aloes ; a grandeur of lines, a magnificence of verdure, 
 a limpidity of sky, a silence and peace that steeped the soul in 
 paradise. Who would guess that in that terrestrial paradise 
 dwelt and dozed a decrepit \ people, chained on a heap of ruins. 
 The mountain that, seen from the city, appeared a cone, has an 
 elongated form, and is rocky on the top. The Captain mounted 
 to the highest point ; we three, more careful of our lives, 
 scattered ourselves about among the rocks below, and went out 
 of sight of each other. I had made but a few steps, when at 
 the entrance of a little gorge I met an Arab. I stopped; he 
 stopped also, and looked much amazed at my appearance and 
 my being alone. He was a man of about fifty, of a truculent 
 aspect, and armed Avith a big stick. For a moment I suspected 
 that he might attack me and take my purse ; but to my great 
 astonishment, instead of assailing me, he saluted me, smiled, 
 and taking bold of his own beard with one hand, pointed to 
 mine with the other, and said something, repeating it two or 
 three times. It sounded like a epiestion, to which he desired an 
 answer. Moved by curiosity, I called for the officer of the 
 guard, who knew a little Spanish, and begged him to tell me
 
 A COMPLIMENT. 
 
 279 
 
 what the man wanted. Who would ever have guessed it ? 
 He wanted to pay me a compliment, and had asked me ex 
 abrupto why I did not let my beard grow, when it would be 
 more beautiful than his 
 own ! 
 
 The soldiers of the 
 escort were following us 
 all three at about twenty 
 paces distance, and as we 
 frequently called to each 
 other in a loud voice, 
 and it was the first time 
 that they had heard our 
 names, they found them 
 strange, laughing and re- 
 peating them with their 
 Moorish accent, in the 
 oddest way: " Isi ! 
 Amigi ! " At a certain 
 point the officer said, ab- 
 ruptly, "Scat!" (Silence!) 
 and they all were silent. 
 The sun was high, the 
 rocks were scorching ; 
 even the Captain, ac- 
 customed to the heats of 
 Tunis, felt the need of 
 shade; we gave a last ^ 
 look at the peaks of fiù -~ 
 
 Atlas, scrambled down 'd!^> 
 
 the mountain, and hastily ^ "'"'"' Carrier. 
 
 getting into our crimson saddles, look the way baci» to lv/., 
 
 where we had an agreeable surprise. The gate of ESI Ghisa, 
 
 where we were to enter the city, was closed ! " Let us go 
 
 in by another/' said the Commandant. " They are all closed/'
 
 280 MOROCCO. 
 
 answered the officer of the guard ; and, seeing us open our 
 eyes, he explained the mystery, saying that on all festivals 
 (this was Friday), from twelve o'clock to one, which is the hour 
 of prayer, all the city gates arc closed, because it is a Mussul- 
 man belief that exactly al that hour, hut no one knows in what 
 year, the Christians will take possession of their country by a 
 coup de main. 
 
 We had then to wait lor the opening of the gates; and 
 when at last we got in, we were received with a flowery 
 compliment. An old woman shook her fist at us, and muttered 
 something which the officer refused to translate; but we in- 
 sisting, he finally consented, with a smile, and an assurance 
 that she was an old fool, and her words could do us no harm. 
 What she said was this : " The Jews to the hook (to be boiled), 
 the Christians to the spit ! " 
 
 The doctor has performed the operation for cataract, coram 
 populo, in the garden of the palace. There was a crowd of 
 relations and. friends, soldiers and servants, part disposed in a 
 circle around the patient, part ranged in a long file from the 
 spot where the operation was being done to the gate of the 
 street, where another crowd stood waiting. The patient was 
 an old Moor who had been quite blind for three years. At the 
 moment of taking his seat, he stopped as if frightened ; then 
 sat down with a resolute air, and gave no further sign of 
 weakness. Whilst the doctor operated, the people stood as if 
 petrified. The children clung to their mothers' gowns, and the 
 latter embraced each other in attitudes of terror, as if they were 
 looking on at an execution. Not a breath could be heard. 
 We also, on account of the " diplomatic " importance of the 
 operation, were in great anxiety. All at once the patient gave 
 a cry of joy, and threw himself on his knees. He had seen the 
 first ray of light. All the j)eople in the garden saluted the 
 doctor with a yell, to which another yell responded from those 
 in the street. The soldiers immediately made everybody, 
 •except the patient, go out from the precincts of the palace, and
 
 SPANISH RENEGADES. 281 
 
 in a short time, the news of the marvellous operation was all 
 over Fez. Fortunate doctor ! He had his reward that very 
 evening, when he was called upon to visit the harem of the 
 Grand Schereef Bacali, where the loveliest ladies showed them- 
 selves to him with uncovered faces, and in all the pomp of 
 their splendid attire, and talked languidly of their pains and 
 
 aches 
 
 From time to time some renegade Spaniards come to see 
 Senor Patxot. There are said to be about three hundred of 
 these unfortunate men in the empire. Most of them are 
 Spaniards, condemned for some common crimes, fugitives from 
 the galleys of the coast; others, partly French deserters, are 
 fugitives from Algeria; and the restare rascals from all parts 
 of Europe. In other times they rose to high positions in the 
 Court and army, formed special military corps, and received 
 large pay; but now their condition is much changed. When 
 they arrive, they abjure the Christian religion, and embrace 
 Islamism, without circumcision or other ceremony, merely pro- 
 nouncing a formula. No one cares whether they fulfil their 
 religious duties or not ; the greater part of them never enter a 
 mosque, and know no form of prayer. In order to bind them 
 to the country, the Sultan exacts that they shall marry. He 
 gives to whoever wants her one of his black women ; the others 
 can marry an Arab free woman or a Moor, and the Sultan pays 
 the expenses of the wedding. They must all be enrolled in the 
 army ; but they can, at the same time, exercise a trade. They 
 generally enter the artillery, and some belong to the bands of 
 music, the head of which is a Spaniard. The soldiers receive 
 live sous a day, and the officers twenty-five 1" fchirtyj it' any 
 one has a special talent, he can make as much as two francs a 
 day. Lately, for instance, they were talking of a German 
 renegade, endowed with a certain talmt for mechanics, \\li" 
 
 had made for biniseli' an enviable position. This man, for s 
 
 reason unknown, bad fled from Algeria in '78, and bad gone t" 
 
 Tafilet, on the confines of the desert ; there he stayed two years, 
 S
 
 L'S'J MOROCCO. 
 
 learned Arabic, and came to Fez, entered the army, and in a 
 few days, with some tools thai he had, constructed a revolver. 
 The event made a noise; the revolver passed from hand to hand, 
 and reached the Minister of War ; the .Minister told the Sultan, 
 who sent for the soldier, encouraged him, gave him ten francs, 
 and raised hi> daily pay to forty sous. But such good fortune 
 is rare. Almost all of them live wretched lives, and their state 
 of mind is such, that although they are known to be stained 
 with serious crimes, they inspire pity rather than horror. Yester- 
 day two presented themselves, renegades since two years, with 
 wives, and children born at Fez. One was thirty, the other 
 fifty years old, both Spaniards, fugitives from Ceuta. The 
 younger one did not speak. The elder said that he had been con- 
 demned to hard labour for life for having killed a man who was 
 beating his son to death. He was pale, and spoke in a broken 
 voice, tearing his handkerchief with trembling hands. 
 
 " If they would promise to keep me only ten years in the 
 galleys," he said, " I would go back. I am fifty ; I should 
 come out at sixty, and might still live a few years in my own 
 country. But it is the thought of dying with the brand of 
 the galleys upon me that frightens me. I would go back at 
 any rate, if I were sure of dying a free man in Spain. This is 
 not living, this existence that we have here. It is like being 
 in a desert. It is frightful. Every one despises us. Our own 
 family is not our own, because our children are taught to hate 
 us. And then, we never forget the religion in which we were 
 born, the church where our mothers used to take us to pray, 
 the counsels they gave us ; and those memories — we are rene- 
 gades, we are galley-slaves, it is true, but still we are men — 
 those memories tear our hearts \" and he wept as he spoke. 
 
 The rain which has been pouring down for three days has 
 reduced Fez to an indescribable and incredible condition. It 
 is no longer a city ; it is a sewer. The streets are gutters ; 
 the crossings, lakes ; the squares, seas ; the people on foot sink 
 into the mud up to their knees ; the houses are plastered with
 
 A WET DAT. 
 
 283 
 
 it above the doors; men, horses, and mules look as if they 
 had been rolling in mud; and as for the dogs, they were at 
 the outset plas- 
 tered in such a 
 way that they 
 have not a hair 
 visible. Few 
 people are to be 
 seen, and those 
 mostly on horse- 
 back ; not an um- 
 brella, or even a 
 person hastening 
 to escape the rain. 
 Outside the quar- 
 ters of the bazaars 
 all is depressingly 
 dark and deser- 
 ted. Water is 
 running and rush- 
 ing everywhere, 
 carrying with it 
 every sort of pu- 
 tridity, and no 
 voice or other 
 human sound 
 breaks the mono- 
 tony of its deaf- 
 ening noise. It 
 looks like ;i city 
 abandoned by its 
 inhabitants after 
 an inundation. 
 
 After an hour's turn, I came home in a mo I melancholy^ I. 
 
 and passed the time with my race pressed againsl the window 
 s 2 
 
 ./ an 
 
 i .
 
 284 MOROCCO. 
 
 bars, watching the dripping trees, and thinking of the poor 
 courier, who perhaps at that very moment was swimming a 
 flooded river at the risk of his life, carrying in his teeth the bag 
 that contained my letters from home. 
 
 It is saidj and denied, that there has been within a few days 
 a capital execution before one of the gates of Fez. No head 
 has appeared upon the walls, however, and I prefer to think the 
 news is false. The description, which I once read, of an execu- 
 tion done at Tangiers, some years ago, deprived me of the 
 barbarous curiosity that I formerly had to be present at one 
 of these spectacles. 
 
 An Englishman, Mr. Drummond Hay, coming out one 
 morning at one of the gates of Tangiers, saw a company of 
 soldiers dragging along two prisoners with their arms bound 
 to their sides. One was a mountaineer from the Rif, formerly 
 gardener to a European resident at Tangiers ; the other, a hand- 
 some young fellow, tall, and with an open and attractive 
 countenance. 
 
 The Englishman asked the officer in command what crime 
 these two unfortunate men had committed. 
 
 " The Sultan/' was the answer — " may God prolong his 
 days ! — has ordered their heads to be cut off because they have 
 been engaged in contraband trade, on the coast of the Rif, with 
 infidel Spaniards." 
 
 " It is a very severe punishment for such a fault," observed 
 the Englishman ; " and if it is to serve as a warning and 
 example to the inhabitants of Tangiers, why are they not 
 allowed to be present at it ? " 
 
 (The gates of the city had been closed, and Mr. Drummond 
 Hay had caused one to be opened for him by giving some money 
 to the guard.) 
 
 " Do not argue with me, Nazarene ! " responded the officer ; 
 *' I have received an order and must obey." 
 
 The decapitation was to take place in the Hebrew slaughter- 
 house. A Moor of vulgar and hideous aspect, dressed like a
 
 A MOORISH EXECUTION. 285 
 
 butcher, was there awaiting the condemned. He had in his 
 hand a small knife, about six inches long. He was a stranger 
 in the city, and had offered himself as executioner, because the 
 Mohammedan butchers of Tangiers, who usually fill that office, 
 had all taken refuge in a mosque. 
 
 An altercation now broke out between the soldiers and 
 the executioner about the reward promised for the decapitation 
 of the two poor creatures, who stood by and listened to the 
 dispute over the blood-money. The executioner insisted, de- 
 claring that he had been promised twenty francs a head, and 
 must have forty for the two. The officer at last agreed, but 
 with a very ill grace. Then the butcher seized one of the 
 condemned men, already half dead with terror, threw him on 
 the ground, kneeled on his chest, and put the knife to his throat. 
 The Englishman turned away his face. He heard the sounds 
 of a violent struggle. The executioner cried out, " Give me 
 another knife ; mine does not cut ! " Another knife was brought, 
 and the head separated from the body. 
 
 The soldiers cried, in a faint voice, " God prolong the life 
 of our lord and master \" But many of them were stupefied 
 with terror. 
 
 Then came the other victim: the handsome and amiable- 
 looking young man. Again they wrangled over his blood. 
 The officer, denying his promise, declared he would give but 
 twenty francs for both heads. The butcher was forced to 
 yield. The condemned asked that his hands might he unbound. 
 Being loosed, ho took his cloak and gave it fco the soldier who 
 had unbound him, saying, "Accept this; we shall meet in 
 a better world ! " He threw his turban to another, who had 
 been looking at him with compassion, and stepping to the 
 place when- lay the bloody corpse of his companion, he said, 
 in a clear, finn voice, "There is no God hut God, and 
 
 Mahomet is His prophet \" Then taking oil' his bell he 
 gave it to the executioner, Baying, "Take it ; hut for the 
 love of God cut my head off more quickly than you did my
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 brother's." He Btretehed himself on the earth, in the blood, 
 and the executioner kneeled upon his chest. 
 
 "A reprieve! Stop!" cried the Englishman. A horseman 
 came galloping towards them. The executioner held his knife 
 suspended. 
 
 "It is only the Governor's son/' said a soldier. "He is 
 coming i" see ili»' execution. Wait for him/' 
 
 So it was, indeed. A few minutes after two bleeding 
 heads were held up by the soldiers. Then the gates of the 
 city were opened, and there came forth a crowd of boys, who 
 pursued the executioner with stones for three miles, when he 
 fell fainting to the ground, covered with wounds. The next day 
 it was known that he had been shot by a relation of one of 
 the victims, and buried where he fell. The authorities of 
 Tangiers apparently did not trouble themselves about the matter, 
 since the assassin came back into the city and remained un- 
 molested. 
 
 After having been exposed three days, the heads were sent 
 to the Sultan, in order that his Imperial Majesty might re- 
 cognise the promptitude with which his orders had been fulfilled. 
 The soldiers who were carrying them met on their way a courier, 
 bearing a pardon, who had been detained by the sudden flooding 
 of a river. 
 
 I frequently find merchants of Fez who have been in Italy. 
 Forty or fifty of them go there every year, and many have 
 Moorish or Arab agents in their cities. They go particularly 
 to Upper Italy, where they buy raw silks, damasks, corals, 
 velvets, thread, porcelain, pearls, Venice glass, Genoa playing- 
 cards, and Leghorn muslin. In exchange they carry nothing 
 but wax and wool, for trade in Morocco is much restricted ; 
 and it may be said that stuffs, arms, hides, and earthenware 
 or pottery, are their only productions which attract a European's 
 attention. The stuffs are made chiefly in Fez and Morocco. 
 There are caics for women, lordly turbans, sashes, foulards 
 of silk delicately woven with gold and silver, generally in
 
 MOORISH PRODUCTS. 
 
 287 
 
 stripes of soft and harmonious colours, very pretty at first sight, 
 but unequal when examined, full of gum, and not wearing well. 
 The red caps, on the contrary, which take the name from Fez, 
 are very fine and durable, and the carpets made at Rabat, 
 Casa Bianca, Morocco, Sciadma, and Sciania are admirable 
 for solidity and richness of colour. From Tetuan come in great 
 
 \^e%\ 
 
 . / Deputation <>/' J< iva. 
 
 part the damascened muskets, inlaid will) ivory and silver, 
 curved, and set with precious stones, of light anil elegant form; 
 and Mechinez ami Fez, and the province of Sus make the 
 swords and daggers which are sometimes of -urli admirable 
 workmanship. 
 
 Hides, the principal Bouree of gain for the country, arc 
 well prepared in various provinces, and the Bearle! leather of 
 Fez, the yellow of Morocco, and the green of Tanlet, are still 
 worthy of their ancient reputation. In le/ they boast parti- 
 cularly of their enamelled pottery, hut it i- rare to find the
 
 283 MOROCCO. 
 
 noble purity of Bonn of the antique vase; and their chief 
 merit is a brilliancy of colour, and a certain barbaric originality 
 of design which attract the eye, but do not satisfy it. There 
 are also in Fez a great number of jewellers and goldsmiths, 
 who make some simple things in veiy good taste, but few, 
 and of little variety, because the Amalechite rite proscribes 
 the display of precious ornaments as contrary to Mahometan 
 austerity. More notable than the jewellery is the furniture 
 which comes from Tetuan : book-shelves, clothes-pegs, and little 
 polygonal tea-tables, arched, arabesqued, and painted in many 
 colours; copper vessels also, chased in complicated designs and 
 ornamented with green, red, and blue enamel; and, above all, 
 the mosaics of the pavements and walls, composed in exquisite 
 taste by clever workmen, who form the designs with marvellous 
 precision. 
 
 There is no doubt that these people are endowed with 
 admirable faculties, and that their industries would increase 
 immensely, as also their agriculture, which was once so 
 flourishing, if commerce could make them live; but commerce 
 is hampered with a thousand prohibitions, restrictions, mono- 
 polies, excessive tariffs, continual modifications, and the non- 
 observance of treaties ; and, although the European governments 
 have obtained many privileges of late years, these are but 
 small in comparison with what might be brought about, thanks 
 to the wealth and geographical position of the country, under 
 a civil government. The principal trade is that with England, 
 after which come France and Spain, who give cereals, metals, 
 sugar, tea, coffee, raw silk, woollen and cotton cloths, and 
 take wool, hides, fruit, leeches, gum, wax, and a great part 
 of the products of Central Africa. The trade which is carried 
 on by Fez, Taza, and Udjda (and it is not of small importance, 
 though less than that which the neighbourhood of the two 
 countries should produce), comprehends, besides carpets, the 
 cloths, belts, thick cords, and all the parts of the Arab and 
 Moorish dress, bracelets and anklets of silver and gold, vases
 
 MOORISH IMPORTS. 
 
 239 
 
 from Fez, mosaics, perfumes, incense, antimony for the eyes, 
 henna for the nails, and all the other cosmetics used by the 
 fair sex of Africa. Of more importance, more ancient, and 
 
 more regular, is the commerce with the interior of Africa, for 
 which place every year greal caravans go forth, carrying stuffs 
 from Fez, English cloths, Venetian glass, [taliau corals, powder, 
 arms, tobacco, sugar, small mirrors Prom Germany, Feathers 
 from Holland, little boxes from the Tyrolj hardware from
 
 890 MOROCCO. 
 
 England and France, and salt, which they get on their way 
 in the Sahara ; and their journey is like a travelling fair, where 
 their own merchandise is exchanged for black slaves, gold 
 dust, ostrich feathers, white gum from Senegal, gold ornaments 
 from Nigritia, which are afterwards sent to Europe and the 
 East; black stuffs which are worn on the heads of Moorish 
 women; bezoar, which preserves the Arabs from poison and 
 illness ; and many drugs which have been abandoned in Europe, 
 bnt preserve their ancient value in Africa. Here is, for Europe, 
 the chief importance of Morocco : it is the principal gate of 
 Nigritia j where, being open, the commerce of Europe and that 
 of Central Africa will meet. Meanwhile, civilisation and 
 barbarism contend upon the threshold. 
 
 The Ambassador has frequent conferences with Sid Moussa. 
 His principal intent is to obtain from the Government of the 
 Schereefs certain concessions in trade by which Italy shall be 
 the gainer : more I may not say. These conferences last more 
 than two hours ; but the conversation turns but briefly upon the 
 real question in discussion, because the Minister, following a 
 custom which seems traditional in the policy of the Government 
 of Morocco, never comes to the point until he has wandered over 
 a hundred extraneous subjects, and when he is dragged to it by 
 force. " Let us talk a little about something entertaining/'' he 
 says, in almost a beseeching tone. The weather, health, the 
 water of Fez, the properties of certain tissues, some historical 
 anecdotes, some proverbs, what may be the population of certain 
 states of Europe : all these are more agreeable subjects than the 
 one which is the purpose of the interview. " What do you say 
 of Fez ? " he asked one day ; and being answered that it was 
 beautiful, he added, " And it has another merit ; it is clean ! " 
 Another day he wished to know what was the population of 
 Morocco. But at last the business must come ; and then there are 
 long phrases, hesitations, reticences, silences, a putting forth of 
 doubts when consent is already decided upon, a pretended denial 
 of condescension, a slipping through the fingers, a constant
 
 892 MOROCCO. 
 
 dropping <>f the subject just as the knot is about to be tightened, 
 and then the eternal expedient lf to-morrow/' 
 
 The next day, recapitulation of things said the day before, 
 new doubts, restrictions, recognition of equivocations, regrets for 
 not having understood, and for not having been understood, and 
 exhaustion of the interpreter charged with the duty of making 
 things clear. And then it is necessary to wait for the return of 
 the couriers from Tangiers and Tablet, who have been sent to 
 obtain information — information of little consequence, but which 
 serves to put of£ the solution of the question for ten days longer. 
 And, in hue, three great obstacles to everything : the fanaticism 
 of the people, the obstinacy of the Ulemas and the necessity of 
 proceeding cautiously, not exciting attention, with a slowness 
 that looks like immobility. Under these conditions, Job himself 
 might be expected to cry out ; but then come the warm pressures 
 of the hand, the sweet smiles, the demonstrations of an irre- 
 sistible sympathy, and an affection that will only end in death. 
 The most difficult affair is that of the big Moor Schellal, and 
 they say that the fate of his whole life depends upon it ; conse- 
 quently he is for ever at the palace, wrapped in his ample caie, 
 anxious, thoughtful, sometimes with tears in his eyes, and he 
 keeps them fixed upon the Ambassador with a supplicating look, 
 like that of one condemned to death and begging for reprieve. 
 Mohammed Ducale, on the contrary, whose sails are swelled by 
 favouring gales, is gay and sprightly, perfumes himself, smokes, 
 changes his caftan every day, and strews on all sides his soft 
 words, and jests, and smiles. Ah ! if it were not for Italian 
 influence, how soon those smiles would be changed into tears of 
 blood ! 
 
 We are experiencing in these days the truth of what was 
 told us at Tangiers with regard to the effects of the air of Fez. 
 Are these effects produced by the air or by the water ? or by the 
 rascally oil ? or by the infamous butter ? or by all these things 
 together ? However it may be, it is a fact that we are all ill. 
 Languor, loss of appetite, prostration of strength, and heaviness
 
 ILLNESS. 293 
 
 of head. And with all these ill-feelings there is a weariness, an 
 irritability, a sort of horror, that in a few days have changed the 
 face of the whole house. Every one longs for departure. We 
 have reached that point, inevitable in all long journeys, at which 
 curiosity is dulled, everything seems faded, memories of home 
 rise up in crowds; all the longings, kept down at first, are alive 
 and in tumult; and our own country is ever before our eyes. 
 We have had enough of turbans, and black faces, and mosques ; 
 we are tired of being stared at by a thousand eyes ; bored by 
 this immense masquerade in white at which we have been 
 looking for two months. What would we not give to see pass 
 by, even at a distance, a European lady ! to hear the sound of 
 a bell ! to see on a wall a printed play-bill ! Oh, sweetest 
 memories ! 
 
 I have discovered among the soldiers of the guard one who 
 has lost his right ear, and am told that it was legally cut off, in 
 presence of witnesses, by another soldier whose ear the first <>ne 
 had mutilated some time before. Such is the lex talionis as it 
 exists in Morocco. Not only has any relation of a person killed 
 the right to kill the assassin on the same day of the week, at the 
 same hour and place where the victim fell, using the same 
 weapon, and striking in the same part of the body, but whoever 
 has been deprived of a limb has the right to deprive his assailant 
 of the same limb. A fact of this nature, accompanied by vi i \ 
 singular circumstances, happened some years ago al Mogador, 
 and was related to me by a member of the French Consulate, 
 who knew one of the victims. An English merchant of Mogador 
 was returning to the city on the evening of a market-day, ai the 
 moment when the gate by which he was entering was encum- 
 bered with a crowd of country people driving camels and asses. 
 Although the Englishman called oui as loud as be could, "//.//- 
 itkf hal-ak!" (Make way I) an old woman was struck by his 
 horse and knocked down, fallino- with her face upon a stone. 
 Ill-fortune would have it that in the lall she broke the two last 
 of her front teeth. She was stunned for an instant, and then
 
 29 l 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 rose convulse 1 with rage, and l>rokc out into insults and ferocious 
 maledictions, following the Englishman to his own door. She 
 then went before the Caid, and demanded, thai in virtue of the 
 law of tàlion, he should order the English merchant's two front 
 teeth to be broken. The Caid tried to pacify her, and advised 
 her to pardon the injury; bui she would listen to nothing, and 
 
 fe.. ;-';;:,ijfi 
 
 Lulling Cloth. 
 
 he sent her away with a promise that she should have justice, 
 hoping that when her anger should be exhausted she would 
 herself desist from her pursuit. But, three days having passed, 
 the old woman came back more furious than ever, demanded 
 justice, and insisted that a formal sentence should be pronounced 
 against the Christian. 
 
 " Remember/' said she to the Caid, " thou didst promise 
 me!"
 
 THE " LEX TALIONIS " IN MOEOCCO. 295 
 
 "Che!" responded the Caid. "Dost thou take me for a 
 Christian, that I should be the slave of my word ? " 
 
 Every day for a month the old woman, athirst for vengeance, 
 presented herself at the door of the citadel, and yelled, and 
 cursed, and made such a noise, that the Caid, to be rid of her, 
 was obliged to consent. He sent for the merchant, explained 
 the case, the right which the law gave the woman, the duty 
 imposed upon himself, and begged him to put an end to the 
 matter by allowing two of his teeth to be removed, any two, 
 although in strict justice they should be two incisors. The 
 Englishman refused absolutely to part with incisors, or eve- 
 teeth, or molars ; and the Caid was constrained to send the old 
 woman packing, ordering the guard not to let her put her foot 
 in the Casba again. 
 
 " Very well," said she ; " since there are none but degenerate 
 Mussulmans here, since justice is refused to a Mussulman woman, 
 mother of schereefs, against an infidel dog, I will go to the 
 Sultan, and we shall see whether the prince of the faithful will 
 deny the law of the Prophet." 
 
 True to her determination, she started on her journey alone, 
 with an amulet in her bosom, a stick in her band, and a bag 
 around her neck, and made on foot the hundred Leagues which 
 separate Mogador from the sacred city of the empire. Arrived 
 at Fez, she sought and obtained audience of the Sultan, laid her 
 case before him, and demanded the righi accorded by the Koran, 
 the application of the law of retaliation. The Sultan exhorted 
 her to forgive; she insisted. All the serious difficulties which 
 opposed themselves to the satisfaction of her petition were laid 
 before her; she remained inexorable. A sum of money was 
 
 offered he i', with which she could live in Comfort lor the rest ni' 
 
 her days ; she refused it. 
 
 "What do I want with your money?" said she; u \ am 
 old, and accustomed to live in poverty ; what I want is the two 
 
 teeth of the Christian; I want them, I demand them in the 
 
 name of the Koran ; and \\\<- Sultan, prince "I' the faithful, head
 
 296 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 of Jslamism, father of his subjects, cannot refuse justice to a 
 trae believer." 
 
 Her obstinacy put the Sultan in a most embarrassing- position ; 
 the law was formal, and her right incontestable; and the ferment 
 of the populace, stirred up by the woman's fanatical declamations, 
 
 Moorish Cfrindstoiie. 
 
 rendered refusal perilous. The Sultan, who was Abd-er-Rhaman, 
 wrote to the English Consul, asking as a favour that he would 
 induce his countryman to allow two of his teeth to be broken. 
 The merchant answered the Consul that he would never consent. 
 Then the Sultan wrote again, saying that if he would consent, he 
 would grant him as a recompense any commercial privilege that 
 he chose to ask. This time, touched in his purse, the merchant
 
 THE MOOEISH CHAEACTER. 297 
 
 yielded. The old woman left Fez, blessing the name of the pious 
 Abd-er-Rhaman, and went hack to Mogador, where, in the 
 presence of many people, the two teeth of the Nazarene were 
 broken. When she saw them fall to the ground she gave a yell 
 of triumph, and picked them up with a fierce joy. The mer- 
 chant, thanks to the privileges that had been accorded him, 
 made in the two following years so handsome a fortune that he 
 went back to England toothless, but happy. 
 
 The more I study these people, the more I am inclined to 
 believe that the judgment unanimously passed upon them by 
 travellers is not far from the truth, and that they are a race of 
 vipers and foxes — false, pusillanimous, cringing to the powerful, 
 insolent to the weak, gnawed by avarice, devoured by egotism, 
 and burning with the basest passions of which the human heart 
 is capable. How could they be otherwise ? The nature of the 
 government and the state of society permit them no manly 
 ambition. They traffic and bargain, but they have no know- 
 ledge of the labour that begets fatigue of body and serenity of 
 mind ; they are completely ignorant of any pleasure that is 
 derived from the exercise of the intelligence ; they take no 
 care for the education of their sons ; they have no high aims 
 in life : therefore they give themselves up, with all their souls 
 and for their whole lives, to the amassing of money ; and the 
 time that is left to them from this pursuit they divide between 
 a sleepy indolence that enervates, and sensual pleasures that 
 brutalise them. In this life of effeminacy they naturally 
 become vain, small, malignant, tattling creatures ; lacerating 
 each other's reputation with spiteful rage ; lying by habit with 
 an incredible impudence ; affecting charitable and pious senti- 
 ments, and sacrificing a friend fora scudo; despising knowledge, 
 and accepting the most puerile superstitions ; bathing every 
 day, and keeping masses of filth in the recesses of their houses ; 
 and adding lo all this a satanic pride, concealed, when con- 
 venient, under a manner both dignified and humble, which 
 seems the index of an honourable mind. They deceived me in 
 
 T
 
 298 MOROCCO. 
 
 this way at first ; but now I am persuaded that the very least 
 o\' them believes, in the bottom of his heart, that he is infinitely 
 superior to us all. The nomadic Arab preserves at least the 
 austero simplicity of his antique customs, and the Berber, savage 
 a> he is, has a warlike spirit, courage, and love of independence. 
 Only these Moors have within them a combination of barbarism, 
 depravity, and pride, and are the most powerful of the popula- 
 tions of the empire. From them come the merchants, the 
 ulemas, the tholbas, the caids, the pashas; they possess the 
 rich palaces, the great harems, beautiful women, and hidden 
 treasures. They arc recognisable by their fat, their fair com- 
 plexions, their cunning eyes, their big turbans, their majestic 
 walk, their arrogance, and their perfumes. 
 
 We have been to take tea at the house of the Moor Schellal. 
 We entered by a narrow corridor into a small, dark court, but 
 beautiful — beautiful and filthy as the filthiest house in the 
 ghetto of Alkazar. Except the mosaics of the pavement and 
 pilasters, everything was black, encrusted, sticky with dirt. 
 There were two little dark rooms on the ground-floor ; round 
 the first floor ran a light gallery, and on the top was the 
 parapet of the terrace. The big Moor made us sit down before 
 the door of his sleeping-room, gave us tea and sw r eetmeats, 
 burned aloes, sprinkled us with rose-watei", and presented his 
 children to us — two pretty boys, who came to us white with 
 terror, trembling like leaves under our caresses. On the 
 opposite side of the court there was a black slave-girl of about 
 fifteen, having on only a sort of chemise, which was open at the 
 side as far up as the hip, and confined round the waist with a 
 girdle, the slenderest, the most elegant, the most beautiful 
 female creature (I attest it on the head of Ussi) that I had seen 
 in all Morocco. She was leaning against a pilaster with her 
 arms crossed on her bosom, looking at us with an air of supreme 
 indifference. Presently there came out of a small door another 
 black woman, of about thirty years of age, tall in stature, of an 
 austere countenance and robust figure, straight as a palm-tree ;
 
 TEA WITH SCHELLAL. 
 
 299 
 
 who, as it seemed, must have been a favourite with her master, 
 for she advanced familiarly, whispered some words in his ear, 
 pulled out a small bit of straw that was stuck in his beard, and 
 pressed her hand upon his lips with an action at once listless 
 
 
 n 
 
 <&V< 
 
 Negro Slave of Fez. 
 
 and caressing that made the Moor smile. Looking up, we saw 
 the gallery on the first floor and the parapet of the terrace 
 fringed with women's heads, which instantly disappeared. It 
 was impossible for them all to belong to that house. The 
 visit of the Christians had no doubt been announced in the 
 neighbourhood, and friends from other terraces had come over 
 t 2
 
 300 MOROCCO. 
 
 to Schellal's terrace, «Jusl as we were gazing upwards, three 
 ghost-like forms passed by us, their heads entirely concealed, 
 and vanished through the small dour. They were three friends, 
 who, not being able to come by the terraces, had been forced 
 to resign themselves to enter by the door ; and a moment after 
 their heads appeared above the railing of the gallery. The 
 house, in short, had been converted into a theatre, and we were 
 the spectacle. The veiled spectators prattled, and with much 
 low laughter, popped up their heads, and withdrew them again 
 as if they had flown away. Each one of our movements pro- 
 duced a slight murmur; every time one of us raised his head 
 there was a great tumult in the first row of boxes. It was 
 evident that they were much entertained, that they were gather- 
 ing material for a month's conversation, and that they could 
 scarcely contain themselves for delight at finding themselves 
 so unexpectedly in the enjoyment of so strange and rare a 
 spectacle ! And we complacently obliged them for about an 
 hour — silent, however, and much bored, an effect produced, after 
 a time, by every Moorish house, however courteous its hospi- 
 tality. 
 
 And then, after you have admired the beautiful mosaics, the 
 handsome slaves, and pretty children, you look about instinc- 
 tively for the person who is the incarnation of domestic life, 
 who represents the courtesy aud honourability of the house, 
 who puts the seal on its hospitality, who gives its tone to the 
 conversation, who represents to your mind the altar of the 
 Lares, — you seek, in short, the pearl for this shell ; and seeing 
 no one but women who have their master's embraces without 
 his affection, and children of unknown mothers, and the whole 
 house personified in one being only, its hospitality becomes a 
 mere empty ceremony ; and in your host, instead of the 
 sympathetic features of an honoured friend, you see only the 
 aspect of a sensual and odious egotist. 
 
 There is no doubt that these people, if they do not hate 
 us absolutely, at least cannot endure us, and they are not
 
 MOORISH HATRED OP CHRISTIANS. 301 
 
 without some good reasons. Being among the descendants 
 of the Moors of Spain, many of them still preserve the keys 
 of cities in Andalusia, and titles to the possession of lands 
 and houses in Seville and Granada, and their aversion to 
 Spaniards is peculiarly acrid, their fathers having been despoiled 
 and driven out by them. All the others nourish a general 
 hatred to all Christians, not only because this hatred is instilled 
 into them in their schools and mosques from their earliest 
 infancy, with the purpose of rendering any commerce with 
 civilised races odious to them, commerce which, scattering 
 ignorance and superstition, would undermine the foundations of 
 the empire ; but because they all have in the bottom of their 
 souls a vague suspicion of an expansive, growing, threatening 
 force in the States of Europe, by which, sooner or later, they 
 will be crushed. They hear the rising murmur of the French 
 upon their eastern frontier ; they see the Spaniards fortified on 
 their Mediterranean coast ; Tangiers is occupied by an ad- 
 vanced guard of Christians ; the cities of the west are guarded 
 by a line of European merchants, stretching along the Atlantic 
 coast like a chain of sentinels; ambassadors come into the 
 country from different directions, apparently to bring gifts to 
 the Sultan, but in reality, as they believe, to look, and 
 scrutinise, and pry, and corrupt, and prepare the ground ; they 
 hear, in short, a perpetual threat of invasion, and imagine this 
 invasion accompanied by all the horrors of hatred and revenge, 
 persuaded, as they are, that Christians nourish against Moors 
 the same sentiments which the latter feel towards us. How 
 can they change this aversion into sympathy when they see us, 
 in our tight, immodest costume; dressed in gloomy colours ; 
 loaded with notebooks, telescopes, mysterious instruments which 
 we direct at everything, noting all things, measuring all things, 
 wishing to know nil things ; we, who are always laughing, and 
 never pray; we, who are restless, chattering, drinking, smoking, 
 full of pretensions and meanness, with only one wife, and never 
 a slave in the whole country! And they form a dark idea of
 
 302 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Europe, ;is of an immense congeries of turbulent people, where 
 there reigns a feverish life, full of ardent ambitions, unbridled 
 vices, audacious enterprises, and tumult, a dizzy whirl, a con- 
 fusion as of Babel, displeasing to God and man. 
 
 To-day great confusion in the palace, because of the first 
 and unique attempt at amorous conquest made by a Christian 
 
 h Schoolmaster. 
 
 among the lower personages of the Embassy. This excellent 
 young man, upon whom, as it would seem, the diplomatic 
 austerity of our lives for the last forty days had begun to 
 weigh rather heavily, having seen, I know not whence, a 
 lovely Moor walking in a garden, thought (we all have our 
 weaknesses) that she would never be able to resist the attractions 
 of his fine person ; and without a thought of the danger, 
 insinuated himself through some hole in the wall into the 
 forbidden precincts. If, when arrived in the presence of his
 
 A LECTUEE. 303 
 
 nymph, he made a declaration of love, or whether he attempted 
 to suppress any preamble, whether the nymph lent a favourable 
 ear, or fled shrieking from the spot, no one knows ; for in this 
 country all is mystery. It is known, however, that there 
 suddenly issued from behind the bushes four Moors armed 
 with daggers, two of whom sprang- upon them on one side, 
 and two on the other ; and that the unfortunate young man 
 would either never have issued from the garden, or would 
 have done so with some holes in his person, if the Caid 
 Hamed-Ben-Kasen Buhammei had not suddenly appeared upon 
 the scene, and with an imperious gesture arrested the four 
 assailants, and given the fugitive time to get back to the 
 palace with a whole skin. The news of the event flew about : 
 there was great excitement, and the culprit received a solemn 
 admonition in the presence of us all, while the Commandant, 
 always witty, added on his own account a little sermon which 
 produced a profound impression. " The wives of others/' said 
 he, "and more especially the wives of Mussulmans, must be 
 let alone; and when one is with a European Embassy in 
 Morocco, one must make up one's mind not to be a man. 
 For, in Mahommetan countries, these woman questions speedily 
 become political questions. It would, indeed, be a fine re- 
 sponsibility, that of an honest young fellow, who, not having 
 been able to resist an inconsiderate impulse, should drag his 
 country into a war, the consequences of which could not 
 be foreseen/' At this solemn discourse, the poor young man, 
 who already saw the Italian fleet with a hundred thousand 
 fighting men sailing towards Morocco because of him, showed 
 himself so overwhelmed with the sense of his guilt that no 
 further castigation was considered necessary. 
 
 I should much like to know what conception these people 
 have of their own military power, and their own valour in 
 war, with respect to the power and bravery of Europeans. 
 But I dare not question them directly on the subject, because 
 they arc very ready to take offence, and I fear that my
 
 BRAVERY OF ARAB TROOPS. 305 
 
 questions might be mistaken for irony or brag. I have 
 succeeded, however, touching lightly and with caution, in 
 picking up something. As to the superiority of our military 
 power they have no doubts; for, if any doubt remained in 
 their minds thirty years since, when they had not yet met 
 with any severe reverses from European armies, the wars 
 with France and Spain, and principally the two famous battles 
 of Isly and Tetuan, would have dissipated them for ever. 
 But with regard to bravery, it seems to me that they still 
 think themselves much superior to Europeans, whose victories 
 they attribute to their artillery, to discipline, and to what 
 with them takes the place of strategy and tactics, namely, 
 craft; but not at all to their valour. It appears that they 
 do not consider victories gained by these means as real 
 victories, nobly obtained. The common people also add to 
 these the alliance with evil spirits, without which neither 
 artillery nor craft would avail to conquer the Mussulman 
 armies. Certain it is that to the pure-blooded Arabs and to 
 the Berbers, who are the warlike majority in Morocco, bravery 
 cannot be denied, or even the recognition of it restricted to 
 that common and indeterminate courage which in Europe is 
 considered, with chivalric reciprocity, the property of all 
 armies. For even taking into account the nature of the 
 ground and the secret aid of England, the army of Morocco, 
 scattered, badly commanded, badly armed, badly provisioned, 
 could not have confronted, as it did, for nearly a year, with a 
 tenacity unexpected in Europe, the Spanish troops, highly 
 disciplined, and furnished with all the newest offensive weapons, 
 unless they had possessed great bravery in compensation for 
 the military power that they lacked. We may deny the name 
 of true courage to that fanaticism which sends one man against 
 ten, seeking a death that shall open l'or him the gates of 
 Paradise; or to the savage i'my which induces a soldier to 
 dash his own brains out against a cock rather than lall into 
 the enemy's hands; or to (he wild rage of a wounded man,
 
 306 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 who tears the bandages from his wounds and frees himself 
 at once From life and a prison ; or to the contempt of pain, 
 the blind audacity, the brutal obstinacy, that seek death 
 
 Camel and Driver. 
 
 without any purpose to serve ; but we must admit at least 
 that these are elements of courage, and it is incontestable that 
 this people gave many such tremendous examples to Spain. 
 After two months of warfare the Spanish army had taken but 
 two prisoners, an Arab from the province of Oran, and a lunatic 
 who had presented himself at the outposts ; and at the san-
 
 ARAB METHOD OF FIGHTING. 
 
 307 
 
 guinary battle of Castillejos five men only, and those five 
 wounded, fell into the hands of the victors. Their traditional 
 tactics are to advance en masse against the enemy, to extend 
 
 Caravan of Camels. 
 
 themselves rapidly, rush in, fire, and retreat precipitately to 
 reload. In great battles they dispose themselves in half-moon 
 shape, artillery and infantry in the centre, and cavalry at the 
 wings, which seeks to envelop the enemy and catch him 
 between two fires. The supreme head gives a general order, 
 but every inferior chief returns to the assault or retreats when
 
 308 MOROCCO. 
 
 he thinks tit, and the army easily escapes from the control 
 of tlic head. Indefatigable horsemen, dexterous marksmen, 
 unflinching at a defence, easily thrown into confusion in open 
 ground, they glide like serpents, climb like squirrels, run like 
 goats, pass rapidly from a bold assault to a precipitous flight, 
 and give an exaltation of courage that seems like furious 
 madness to a confusion and disorder without name. There 
 are still in Morocco men who went mad with terror at the 
 battle of Isly ; and it is known that when Marshal Bngeaud 
 began his cannonade, Sultan Abd-er-Rhaman cried out, " My 
 horse ! my horse ! " and leaping into the saddle fled pre- 
 cipitately, leaving in the camp his musicians, his necro- 
 mancers, his hunting dogs, the sacred standard, the parasol, 
 and his tea, which the French soldiers found still boiling 
 hot. 
 
 I meet so many negroes in the streets of Fez that I 
 sometimes seem to find myself in the city of the Sudan, 
 and feel vaguely between me and Europe the immensity of 
 the desert of Sahara. From the Sudan, in fact, the greater 
 part of them come — a little less than three thousand in a 
 year, many of whom are said to die in a short time from 
 home-sickness. They are generally brought at the age of 
 eight or ten years. The merchants, before exposing them for 
 sale, fatten them with balls of cùscìissv, try to cure them 
 of their home-sickness with music, and teach them a few 
 Arabic words ; which last augments their price, which is 
 generally thirty francs for a boy, sixty for a girl, about four 
 hundred for a young woman of seventeen or eighteen who is 
 handsome, and knows how to speak, and has not yet had a 
 child, and fifty or sixty for an old man. The Emperor takes 
 five per cent, on the imported material, and has a right to 
 the first choice. The others are sold in the markets of Fez, 
 Mogador, and Morocco, and separately, at auction, in the 
 other cities. They all, without difficulty, embrace the Mo- 
 hammedan religion, preserving, however, many of their own
 
 NEGROES IN FEZ. 
 
 309 
 
 strange superstitions, and the queer festivals of their native 
 country, consisting of grotesque balls, which last three days 
 and three nights consecutively, accompanied by diabolical 
 
 
 Negro Slave Girl. 
 
 music. They serve generally in the houses, are treated with 
 kindness, are for the most part freed in reward for their 
 service, and the way is open for them to the highest oilices 
 of state. Here, as elsewhere, it is said that they are now
 
 310 MOKOCCO. 
 
 feverishly industrious, now torpidly lazy, sensual as monkeys, 
 astute as foxes, ferocious as timers; but content with their 
 condition; and in general faithful and grateful to their 
 masters; which, it would seem, is not the case where slavery 
 is harder, as at Cuba, and where the liberty that they enjoy 
 is excessive, as in Europe. The Arab and Moorish women 
 refuse to accept them, and it is rare that a negro marries 
 another than one of his own colour; but the men, especially 
 the Moors, not only seek them eagerly as concubines, but 
 marry them as frequently as white women; from which cause 
 comes the great number of mulattoes of all shades who are 
 seen in the streets of Morocco. What strange chances ! The 
 poor negro of ten years old, sold in the confines of the 
 Sahara for a sack of sugar and a piece of cloth, may — and 
 the case can be cited — discuss thirty years afterwards, as 
 Minister of Morocco, a treaty of commerce with the English 
 Ambassador ; and still more possibly, the black girl baby, 
 born in a filthy den, and exchanged in the shade of an oasis 
 for a skin of brandy, may come to be covered with gems, 
 and fragrant with perfumes, and clasped in the arms of the 
 Sultan. 
 
 For some days, walking about Fez, there presents itself to 
 my mind with obstinate persistence, the image of a great 
 American city, to which people from all parts of the world 
 hasten, one of those cities which represent almost the type 
 of that to which all new cities are slowly conforming them- 
 selves, and whose life is, perhaps, an example of that which, 
 in another century, will be the life of all ; a city whose 
 image cannot present itself to any European side by side 
 with that of Fez, without exciting a smile of pity, so enormous 
 is the difference which separates them in the road of human 
 progress; and yet the more I fix my thoughts upon that 
 city, the more I feel conscious of a doubt that saddens me. 
 I see those broad, straight, endless streets, with their long 
 perspectives of gigantic telegraph poles. ft It is the hour for
 
 FEZ AND CHICAGO. 
 
 311 
 
 closing- the workshops and warehouses. Torrents of workmen, 
 workwomen, and children pass on foot, in omnibuses, in tram- 
 way cars, almost all following- the same 
 direction, towards a distant quarter of 
 the town ; and all have the same 
 anxious, melancholy aspect, and seem 
 worn out with fatig-ue. Dense clouds 
 of coal-smoke pour from the innu- 
 merable chimneys of the factories, 
 descend into the streets, throw 
 their black shadows over the 
 splendid shop- windows, and the 
 gilded lettering of the signs that 
 cover the houses up to the roofs, 
 and the crowd that, with bent 
 heads and rapid step, swinging 
 their arms, fly silently from the 
 places where all day long they 
 have laboured. From time to 
 time the sun parts the dismal 
 veil which industry has spread 
 over the capital of labour ; but 
 these sudden and fugitive beams, 
 instead of making it more cheer- 
 ful, only illuminate the sadness 
 of the scene. All the faces have 
 the same expression. Everybody 
 is in haste to reach home in order 
 to * economise' his few hours of 
 repose, after having drawn the 
 largest possible advantage from 
 the long hours of work. Every 
 one seems to suspect a rival in his neighbour. Every one bears 
 the stamp of isolation. The mora] atmosphere in which these 
 people live is not charity, it is rivalry. A great number of families 
 
 Negro si, in
 
 312 MOROCCO. 
 
 live in the hotels, a life which condemns the wife to solitude and 
 idleness. All day long the husband attends to his business 
 ou1 of the house, coming in only at the horn- for dinner, 
 which he swallows with 1 he avidity of a famished man. 
 Then he returns to his galley. Boys, at the age of five or 
 six years, are sent to sehool, they go and come alone, and 
 pass the rest of their time as they please, in the enjoyment 
 of perfect liherty. The paternal authority is almost nil. 
 The sons receive no other education than that of the common 
 school, arrive quickly at maturity, and from infancy are pre- 
 pared for the fatigues and struggles of the over-excited, 
 strained, and adventurous life which is before them. The 
 existence of the man is merely one long- and single campaign, 
 an uninterrupted succession of combats, marches and counter- 
 marches. The sweetness, the intimacy of the domestic hearth, 
 have but a small part in his feverish and militant life. Is 
 he happy ? Judging by his sad, wearied, anxious coun- 
 tenance, often delicate and unhealthy, it is to be doubted. 
 The excess of continued work breaks down bis strength, for- 
 bids him the pleasures of the intellect, and prevents him 
 from communing with his own soul. And the woman suffers 
 even more. She sees ber husband but once a day, for half- 
 an-hour at most, and in the evening, when he returns tired 
 out, and goes to bed; and she cannot lighten the burden 
 -which he carries, nor participate in his labours, cares, and 
 pains, because she does not know them ; for there is no 
 time for an interchange of thought and feeling between the 
 •couple." 
 
 The city is Chicago, and the writer who describes it is 
 the Baron de Hubner, a great admirer of America. Now my 
 doubt is this : I do not know which of the two cities, Fez 
 or Chicago, to compassionate most. I feel, however, that if 
 I were a Moor of Fez, and a Christian should take me into 
 one of these great civilised cities and ask me if I did not 
 envy him, I should laugh in his face.
 
 A STOEY OF A BANDIT. 313 
 
 This morning Selim told me, in his own fashion, the 
 famous history of the bandit Arusi — one of the many tales 
 that go about from mouth to mouth from the sea to the 
 desert; founded, however, on a real and recent fact, many 
 witnesses to which are still living. 
 
 A short time after the war with France, Sultan Abd-er- 
 Rhaman sent an army to punish the inhabitants of the Rif, 
 who had burned a French vessel. Among the various Sheiks 
 who were ordered to denounce the culprits was one named 
 Sid-Mohammed Abd-el-Djebar, already advanced in years, 
 who, being jealous of a certain Arusi, a bold and handsome 
 youth, placed him, though innocent, in the hands of the 
 General, who sent him to ba incarcerated at Fez. But he 
 only remained about a year in prison. After his release he 
 went to Tangiers, remained there some time, and then sud- 
 denly disappeared, and for a while no one knew what had 
 become of him. But shortly after his disappearance, there 
 were rumours all over the province of Garb of a band of 
 robbers and assassins which infested the country between 
 Rabat and Laracce. Caravans were attacked, merchants 
 robbed, Caids maltreated, the Sultan's soldiers poignarded ; 
 no one dared any more to cross that part of the country, 
 and the few who had escaped alive from the hands of the 
 bandits came back to the towns stupefied with terror. 
 
 Things remained in this state for a good while, and no 
 one had been able to discover who was the chief of the band, 
 when a merchant from the Rif, attacked one night by 
 moonlight, recognised among the robbers the young Arusi, 
 and brought the news to Tangiers, whence it spread rapidly 
 about the province. Arusi was the chief. Many others 
 recognised him. He appeared in Hie thtars and villages, 
 by day as well as by night, dressed as a soldier, as a Caid, 
 as a Jew, as a Christian, as \i woman,, as an ulema } killing, 
 robbing, vanishing, pursued from every quarter, but never 
 taken, always unexpected in his approach, always under a 
 u
 
 A STORY OF A BANDIT. 315 
 
 new disguise, capricious, fierce, and indefatigable; and he 
 never went very far away from the neighbourhood of the 
 citadel El Mamora — a fact which no one could understand. 
 The reason was this : the Caid of the citadel El Marnora 
 was no other than the old Sheik Sid-Mohammed Abd-el- 
 Djebar, who had placed Arusi in the hands of the Sultan's 
 General. 
 
 At that very time Sid-Mohammed had just given his 
 daughter in marriage, a girl of marvellous beauty, named Rah- 
 mana, to the son of the Pasha of Sale, who was called Sid- Ali. 
 The nuptial feasts were celebrated with great pomp, in the 
 presence of all the rich young men of the province, who 
 came on horseback, armed, and dressed in their best, to the 
 citadel El Mamoro; and Sid-Ali was to conduct his bride 
 to Sale, to his father's house. The cortege issued from the 
 citadel at night. It had to pass through a narrow defile 
 formed by two chains of wooded hills and downs. First 
 went an escort of thirty horsemen; behind these, llahmana, 
 on a mule, between her husband and her brother ; behind 
 her, her father, the Caid, and a crowd of relations and friends. 
 
 They entered the defile. The night was serene, the bride- 
 groom held llahmana by the hand, the old Caid smoothed 
 his beard ; all were cheerful and unsuspecting. 
 
 Suddenly there burst upon the stillness of the night, 
 a formidable voice, which cried — 
 
 "Arusi salutes thee, O Sheik Sid-Mohammed Abd-el- 
 Djebar ! " 
 
 At the same moment, from the top of the hill, thirty 
 muskels flashed, and thirty shots rang out. Horses, soldiers, 
 friends and relations, fell wounded or dead, or took to flight; 
 and before the Caid and Sid-Ali, who were untouched, could 
 recover from their bewilderment, a man, a fury, a demon, 
 Arusi himself, had seized Efcahmana, placed her before him 
 
 on his horse, and lied with the speed of the wind towards 
 the forest of Mamora. 
 u 2
 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 The Caid and Sid-Ali, both resolute men, instead of 
 giving way to a vain despair, took a solemn oath never to 
 shave their heads until they had been fearfully avenged. 
 They demanded and obtained soldiers from the Sultan, and 
 began to give chase to Arusi, who had taken refuge with 
 
 A/msi carrying off Rakmana. 
 
 his hand, in the great forest of Mamora. It was a most 
 fatiguing warfare, carried on by coups de main, ambuscades, 
 nocturnal assaults, feints, and ferocious combats, and went 
 on for more than a year, driving, little by little, the band 
 of marauders into the centre of the forest. The circle grew 
 closer and closer. Many of Arusi's men were already dead 
 with hunger, many had fled, many had been killed fighting. 
 The Caid and Sid-Ali, as their vengeance seemed to draw
 
 A STORY OF A BANDIT. 317 
 
 near, became more ferocious in its pursuit ; they rested neither 
 night nor day, they breathed only for revenge. But of Arusi 
 and Rahmana they could learn nothing. Some said they were 
 dead, some that they had fled, some that the bandit had first 
 killed the woman and then himself. The Caid and Sid-Ali 
 began to despair, because the further they advanced into the 
 forest, and the thicker the trees, higher and more intricate became 
 the bushes, the vines, the brambles, and the junipers ; so that 
 the horses and dogs could no longer force a passage through 
 them. At last one day, when the two were Aval king in the 
 forest almost discouraged, an Arab came towards them and 
 said that he had seen Arusi hidden in the reeds, on the river- 
 bank at the extremity of the wood. The Caid hastily called 
 his men together, and dividing them into two companies, 
 sent one to the right and the other to the left, towards 
 the river. After some time, the Caid was the first to see 
 rising from the midst of the reeds a phantom, a man of 
 tall stature and terrible aspect — Arusi. Everybody rushed 
 towards that point; they searched in vain, Arusi was not 
 there. " He has crossed the river!'''' shouted the Caid. They 
 threw themselves into the stream, and gained the opposite 
 bank. There they found some footprints, and followed them, 
 but after a little they failed. Suddenly the horsemen broke 
 into a gallop along the river brink. At the same moment 
 the attention of the Caid was drawn to three of his dogs, 
 who had stopped, searching, near a clump of reeds. Sid- 
 Ali was the first to rim to the spot, and he found near the 
 reeds a large ditch, at the bottom of which were some holes. 
 Jumping into the ditch, he introduced his musket into one 
 of the holes, felt it pushed back, and fired ; then calling the 
 ('aid and the soldiers, they searched here and there, ami 
 found a small round aperture in the steep bank just above 
 the water. Arusi must have entered by thai opening. 
 "Dig!" shouted the Caid. The soldiers ran for picks and 
 
 shovels to a neighbouring village, and digging, presently
 
 31 S MOROCCO. 
 
 came upon a sort of arch in the earth, and under it a 
 cave. 
 
 At tlic bottom of the cave was Arusi, erect, motionless, 
 pale as death. They seized him : lie made no resistance. 
 They dragged him out : he had lost his left eye. He was 
 bound, carried to a tent, laid on the ground, and as a first 
 taste <>!' vengeance, Sid-Alì cut off one by one all the toes of 
 his feet and threw them in his face. This done, six soldiers 
 were set to guard him, and Sid-Ali and the Caid withdrew 
 to another tent, there to arrange what tortures they should 
 inflict before cutting off his head. The discussion was pro- 
 longed ; for each one tried to propose some more painful 
 torture, and nothing seemed horrible enough ; the evening 
 came, and nothing was decided. The decision was put off 
 until the next morning, and they separated. 
 
 An hour afterwards the Caid and Ali were asleep, each 
 in his tent ; the night was very dark, there was not a breath 
 of wind, not a leaf moving : nothing was heard but the 
 murmur of the river, and the breathing of the sleeping 
 men. Suddenly a formidable voice broke the silence of the 
 night : — 
 
 " Arusi salutes thee, O Sheik Sid-Mohammed Abd-el- 
 Djebar ! " 
 
 The old Caid sprang to his feet, and heard the rapid beat 
 of a horse's feet departing. He called his soldiers, who came 
 in haste, and shouted, " My horse ! my horse ! " They sought 
 his horse, the most superb animal in the whole Garb : it was 
 gone. They ran to the tent of S idi- Ali : he was stretched to 
 the ground, dead, with a poignard stuck in his left eye. The 
 Caid burst into tears ; the soldiers went off on the track of 
 the fugitive. They saw him for an instant, like a shadow; 
 then lost him ; again saw him ; but he sped like the lightning, 
 and vanished not to be seen again. Nevertheless, they con- 
 tinued to follow all the night, until they reached a thick 
 wood, where they halted to await the dawn. When daylight
 
 OUR LIFE IN" FEZ. 319 
 
 appeared, they saw far off the Caid's horse approaching, tired 
 out and all bloody, filling the air with lamentable neigkings. 
 Thinking that Arusi must be in the wood, they loosed the 
 dogs and advanced sword in hand. In a few minutes they 
 discovered a dilapidated house half hidden among the trees. 
 The dogs stopped there. The soldiers came to the door, and, 
 levelling their muskets, let them fall with a cry of amaze- 
 ment. Within the four ruined walls lay the corpse of Arusi, 
 and beside it a lovely woman, splendidly dressed, with her 
 hair loose on her shoulders, was binding up his bleeding feet, 
 sobbing, laughing, and murmuring words of despair and love. 
 It was Rahmana. They took her to her father's house, where 
 she remained three days without speaking one word, and then 
 disappeared. She was found some time afterwards in the 
 ruined house in the wood, scratching up the earth with her 
 hands, and calling on Arusi. And there she stayed. " God/' 
 said the Arabs, " had called her reason back to Himself, and 
 she was a saint." Whether she is still living or not, no one 
 knows. She was certainly living twenty years ago, and was 
 seen in her hermitage by M. Narcisse Cotte, attached to the 
 Consulate of France at Tangiers, who told her story. 
 
 There is not now a corner of Fez that is unknown to us, 
 and yet it seems as if we had only arrived yesterday, so varied 
 is the aspect of the place, so much does every object revive 
 in us the sense of our solitude, so little do we become habi- 
 tuated to the curiosity that we create. And this curiosity is 
 in no wise lessened, although by this time we have been seen 
 over and over again by every native of Fez. Timidity, on the 
 other hand, is lessened, and antipathy, perhaps, a little ; the 
 children come nearer, and (ouch our garments, to feel what, 
 they are made of; the women look at us with forbidding 
 glances, but they no longer turn back when they sec us 
 coming; curses are more rare, the soldiers do not use their 
 sticks so much, :t 1 1< 1 the blows that I ssi received were, it is 
 to be hoped, the first and last blows with a fist that I shall
 
 320 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 have to repori in Italy. And although, in our walks through 
 the city, we are followed and preceded by a crowd, I think 
 we could now go out alone without danger of death. Already 
 
 Slave of the War Minister. 
 
 the people, according to the soldiers' testimony, have given 
 each of us a name, according to Moorish custom. The doctor 
 is "the man with the spectacles;" the Vice-Consul is "the 
 man with the flat nose ; " the Captain is " the man with the
 
 FEZ AT NIGHT. 321 
 
 black boots ; " Ussi is " the man with the white handkerchief ; " 
 the Commandant, " the man with the short legs ; " Biseo, " the 
 man with the red hair;" Morfeo, "the velvet man," because 
 he is dressed in velvet ; and myself, " the man with the broken 
 shoe," because a pain in my foot obliged me to make a cut 
 in my boot. They comment much upon our doings, it ap- 
 pears, and say that we are all ugly, not one excepted, not 
 even the cook, who received this intelligence with a laugh of 
 scorn, and clapped his hand on a pocket in his vest, where 
 he had a letter from his sweetheart. And it seems to me 
 that they find us, or pretend to find us, ridiculous, because, in 
 the streets, they laugh with a certain ostentation every time 
 that one of us slips, or hits his head against a branch of a 
 tree, or loses his hat. Nevertheless, and despite the variety 
 of the landscape, this population all of one colour, and without 
 apparent distinction of rank, this silence broken only by an 
 eternal rustle of slippers and mantles, these veiled women, 
 these blind, mute houses, this mysterious life, all end by 
 producing a dreadful tedium. We must be within doors at 
 sunset, and may not go out again. With the daylight ceases 
 all trade, every movement, every sign of life : Fez is no more 
 than a vast necropolis, where, if perchance a human voice is 
 heard, it is the howl of a madman, or the shriek of one who 
 is being murdered ; and he who insists upon going about at 
 any cost, must be accompanied by a patrol with loaded muskets, 
 and a company of carpenters who, at every three hundred 
 paces, must knock down a gate that stops the way. In the 
 davi ime the city supplies no news beyond some woman found 
 in the street with a dagger in her heart, or the departure of 
 a caravan, or the arrival of a governor or vice-governor of 
 s ime province who has been thrown into prison, the bastinado 
 administered to some dignitary, a Eestivai va honour of some 
 saint, or other things of the same character, broughl to us in 
 general by Mohammed Ducale or Schellal, who are our two 
 perambulating journals. And these events, with what I daily
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 see, and the singular life 1 lead, give me at night such 
 Btrangely intricate dreams of severed heads, and deserts, of 
 harems, prisons, Fez, Timbuctoo, and Turin, that when I wake 
 iii the morning, it takes me some minutes to find out what 
 world 1 am in. 
 
 How many beautiful, grotesque, horrible, absurd, and strange 
 Qgures will live in my memory for ever ! My head is full 
 of them, and when I am alone I make them pass before me 
 one by one, like the figures in a magic lantern, with inex- 
 pressible pleasure. There is Sid-Buker, the mysterious being 
 who comes three times every day, wrapped in a great mantle, 
 with head down, half-closed eyes, pale as death, stealthy as 
 a spectre, to confer secretly with the Ambassador, and vanishes 
 like a figure in a phantasmagoria, without any one observing 
 him. There is the favourite servant of Sid-Moussa, a hand- 
 some young mulatto, graceful as a girl, elegant as a prince, 
 fresh and smiling, who goes leaping up and down the stairs, 
 and salutes you with a sort of coquetry, bowing profoundly 
 and extending his hand as if he were throwing kisses. There 
 is a soldier of the guard, a Berber, born in the Atlas Moun- 
 tains, a countenance that one cannot see without a shudder, 
 and who fixes upon me a cold, perfidious, immoveable glance, 
 as if he meant to kill me; and the more I try to avoid him 
 the more I meet him, and he seems to divine the dread with 
 which he inspires me, and to take a satanic pleasure in it. 
 There is a decrepit old woman whom I saw in the door of a 
 mosque, naked as she was born, except for a formless rag 
 about her hips, with her head as bald as the palm of my 
 hand, and a body so deformed that I made an exclamation of 
 horror, and was disturbed for some time by the sight of her. 
 There is the mischievous Moorish woman, who, entering her 
 house as we were passing by, threw off in furious haste the 
 caie that covered her, and, giving us a glimpse of her hand- 
 some, straight, and well-made figure, and a sparkling glance, 
 shut the door. There is the very old shopkeeper, with a face
 
 FACES AT FEZ. 323 
 
 at once ridiculous and frightful : so bent over that, when he 
 stands in the back of his dark niche, he seems almost to 
 touch his toes with his chin. He keeps only one eye open, 
 and that is hardly visible ; and every time I pass his shop, 
 and look in at him, that eye opens large and round, and shines 
 with a sort of mocking smile that gives me a kind of anxious 
 feeling. There is the beautiful little Moorish girl of ten 
 years old, with her hair loose about her shoulders, dressed in 
 a chemise bound round the waist with a green scarf, who, in 
 attempting to jump from one terrace to another lower one, 
 got caught by her chemise upon the corner of a brick, and 
 was held dangling ; and she, knowing that she was seen from 
 the palace of the Embassy, and unable to get up or down, 
 raised the most despairing shrieks, and all the women in the 
 house came, shaking with laughter, to her assistance. There 
 is the gigantic mulatto, a madman, who, pursued by the fixed 
 idea that the Sultan's soldiers are seeking him to cut his hand 
 off, flies through the streets like some wild thing held in 
 chase, convulsively shaking his right arm as if it were already 
 mutilated, and giving the most frightful yells, which can be 
 heard from one end of the city to the other. There are many, 
 many more; but the one who rises oftenest before my memory 
 is a negro, of about fifty years of age, a servant of the 
 palace, u little more than a yard high, and a little less than 
 a yard wide — a contented spirit, who is always smiling and 
 twisting his mouth towards his right ear: the most grotesque, 
 the most absurdly ridiculous figure that ever appeared under 
 the vault of heaven; and it is of no use for me to bite my 
 fingers, and It'll myself that it is ignoble to laugh at human 
 deformity, and shame myself in many ways: the laugh breaks 
 out in spit.- of me — there must be in it some mysterious in- 
 tention of Providence — it must break out. And — I really 
 cannot help it — the idea presents itself, whal a capital pipe- 
 bowl he would make ! 
 
 As the day of departure draws near, the merchants come in
 
 834 
 
 MMKiKVO. 
 
 crowds to tlic palace, and buying goes <>n with fury. The 
 rooms, the court, ami the gallery have taken the aspect of a 
 bazaar. Everywhere long rows of vases, embroidered slippers, 
 cushions, carpets, caics. Everything in Fez that is most gilded, 
 
 A Siate of the Sultan. 
 
 most arabesqued, most dear iu price, is passed before our eyes. 
 And it is worth while to see how they sell, these people, without 
 a word, without a flitting smile, only making the sign of yes or 
 no with the head, and going away, having sold or not having 
 sold, with the same automaton faces that they brought. 
 Above all, the painters' room is fine, converted into a great
 
 BUYING AND SELLING. 325 
 
 bric-à-brac shop, full of saddles, stirrups, guns, caftans, ragged 
 scarfs, pottery, barbaric ornaments, old girdles of women, come 
 from Heaven knows where, that have perhaps felt the pressure 
 of the Sultan's arms, and next year will appear in some grand 
 picture at Naples or New York. One kind of thing only is 
 wanting, namely antique objects, records of the various peoples 
 who have conquered and colonised Morocco ; and although it is 
 known that such are often found underground and among the 
 ruins, it is not possible to get them, because every object so 
 found has to be carried to the authorities, and whoever finds one 
 hides it ; and the authorities, ignorant of their value, destroy cr 
 sell as useless material the little that finds its way to them. 
 In this way, a few years ago, a bronze horse and some small 
 bronze statues, which were found in a well near the remains of 
 an aqueduct, were broken up and sold for old copper to a Jew 
 dealer in second-hand goods. 
 
 To-day I had a warm discussion with a merchant of Fez, 
 with the intention of finding out what opinion the Moors held 
 of European civilisation ; and for that reason I did not trouble 
 myself to refute his arguments, except when it was necessary 
 to give him line. He is a handsome man of forty, of an 
 honest and severe countenance, who has visited, in his com- 
 merce, the principal cities of Western Europe, and who lived 
 a good while at Tangiers, where he learned some Spanish. I 
 had exchanged a few words with him some days ago, à propos 
 of a small piece of stuff woven of silk and gold, which he pre- 
 tended to be worth ten marenghi. J3ut to-day, attacking him 
 upon the subject of his travels, a conversation ensued which his 
 companions Listened to with astonishment, although they could 
 not understand it. I asked him then what impression the 
 great cities of Europe bad made upon him; not expecting, 
 however, to hear any great expression of admiration, because 
 I knew, as everybody knows, that of the four or five hundred 
 
 merchants of .Morocco who go every year lo Europe the 
 greater part return to their own country more stupidly
 
 326 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 fanatical than at first, when they do noi return more rascally 
 and vicious; and thai if they were all amazed at the splendour 
 of our cities, and at the marvels of our industries, not one 
 of them would be touched in the soul, moved in the mind, 
 spurred on to imitate, to attempt; not one persuaded of the 
 complex inferiority of his own country ; and certainly not 
 
 The Bread Market at Fez. 
 
 one, even if he experienced such sentiments, who would be 
 ready to express them, and still less to diffuse them, through 
 the fear of calling down upon himself the accusation of being 
 a renegade Mussulman and an enemy to his country. 
 
 " What have you to say," I asked, " of our great cities ? " 
 He looked fixedly at me, and answered coldly, " Large 
 streets, fine shops, handsome palaces, fine offices — and all 
 clean." 
 
 With this he appeared to think that he had said all that 
 could be said in our honour.
 
 A MOOR'S OPINION OF EUROPE. 327 
 
 "Did you see nothing else that was handsome and good ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 He looked at me as if to inquire what I supposed he was 
 likely to have found. 
 
 " Is it possible " (I insisted) " that a reasonable man like 
 yourself, who has seen countries so wonderfully different and 
 superior to his own, does not speak of them at least with 
 astonishment, at least with the vivacity with which a boy 
 from a duar would speak of a Pasha's palace ? What does 
 astonish you then in the world ? What kind of people are 
 you ? Who can comprehend you ? " 
 
 " Perdane Usted" he answered, coldly ; " in my turn I 
 do not understand you. When I have told you everything 
 in which I think you superior to its, what do you wish more ? 
 Do you wish me to say what I do not think? I tell you 
 that your streets are wider than ours, your shops finer, your 
 palaces richer; it seems to me that I have said all. I will 
 say one thing more : that you know more than we do, because 
 you have books and read." 
 
 I made a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " Do not be impatient, caballero," he went on quietly ; 
 "you will acknowledge that the first duty of a man, the 
 first thing which renders him estimable, and that in which 
 it is of the utmost importance that a country should be 
 superior to other countries, is honesty ; will you not ? Very 
 well, in the matter of honesty I do not at all believe that 
 you are superior to us. And that is one thing/-' 
 
 " Gently. Explain first what you mean by honesty." 
 
 "Honesty in trade, caballero. The Moors, for example, in 
 trade sometimes deceive the Europeans, but you Europeans 
 deceive us Moors much more often." 
 
 "The cases are rare," I answered, for the sake of saying 
 something. 
 
 "Cases rare!" he exclaimed, warmly. "Cases of every- 
 day occurrence" (and here 1 would like to report exactly liis
 
 828 MOROCCO. 
 
 broken, concise, and childish language). "Proof! Proof! I 
 at Marseilles. I am at Marseilles. I buy cotton. I choose 
 the thread, thick like this. I say: this number, this stamp, 
 this quantity, send. I pay, I depart, arrive at Morocco ^ 
 receive cotton, open, look, same number, same stamp — thread 
 three times smaller! good for nothing! loss, thousands of 
 francs ! I run to Consulate — nothing, Otro, another. Mer- 
 chant of Fez orders blue cloth in Europe, so many pieces, so 
 wide, so long, agreed, paid. Receives cloth, opens, measures : 
 first pieces right ; under, shorter ; last, half a yard shorter ! 
 not good for cloaks, merchant ruined. Otro, otro. Merchant 
 of Morocco orders in Europe thousand yards gold galloon for 
 officers, and sends money. Galloon comes, cut, sewed, worn — 
 copper ! Y otros, y otros, y otros ! " With this he lifted his 
 face to the sky, and then turning abruptly to me : " More 
 honest you ? " 
 
 I repeated that these could only be exceptional cases. He 
 made no reply. 
 
 ' ' More religious you ? " he asked then, shortly. " No ! " 
 and after a moment : " Xo ! Enough to so once into one of 
 your mosques/'' 
 
 "You say/' he went on, encouraged by my silence, "in 
 your country there are fewer matamientos (murders) ? " Here 
 I should have been embarrassed to answer. What w r ould he 
 have said if I had confessed that in Italy alone there are 
 committed three thousand homicides a year, and that there 
 are ninety thousand prisoners on trial and condemned ? 
 
 " I do not believe it/ J he said, reading my answer in 
 my eyes. Xot feeling myself secure upon this ground, I 
 attacked him with the usual arguments against polygamy. 
 
 He jumped as if I had burnt him. 
 
 " Always that ! " he cried, turning red to his very ears. 
 " Always that ! as if you had one woman only ! and you 
 want to make us believe it! One wife is really yours, but 
 there are those of los otros, and those who are de todos y de
 
 A MOOR'S OPINION OF EUROPE. 
 
 329 
 
 nadie, of everybody and nobody. Paris ! London ! Cafes full, 
 streets full, theatres full. Verguenza! and you reproach the 
 Moors ! " 
 
 So saying", he pulled the beads of his rosary through his 
 trembling fingers, and turned from time to time with a faint 
 
 Moorish Turning Lathe. 
 
 smile to make me understand that his anger was not against 
 me, but against Europe. 
 
 Seeing that he took this question rather too much to 
 heart, I changed the subject, and asked him if he did not 
 recognise greater convenience in our manner of living. Here 
 he was very comic. He had his arguments all ready. 
 
 "It is true/' he answered, with an ironical accent ; "it- 
 
 is true. Sun? Parasol, Rain? Umbrella. Dust? Gloves.
 
 330 MOROCCO. 
 
 To walk? A stick. To look? An eye-glass. To take the 
 air? A carriage. To sit down? elastic cushions. To eat? 
 Music. A scratch? The doctor. Death? A statue. Eh! 
 how many things you have need of! "What men, por Bios ! 
 What children!" 
 
 In short, he would not leave me anything. He even 
 laughed at our architecture. 
 
 " Che ! che ! " said he, when I talked of the comfort of 
 our houses. " There are three hundred of you living in 
 one house, all a-top of one another, and then you go up, 
 and up, and up — and there is no air, and no light, and no 
 garden/'' 
 
 Then I spoke of laws, of government, of liberty, and 
 the like; and as he was a man of intelligence, I think I 
 succeeded, if not in making him understand all the differences 
 in these respects between his country and ours, at least, in 
 introducing some gleams of light into his mind. Seeing 
 that he could not meet me on this ground, he suddenly changed 
 the subject, and looking at me from head to foot, said, smiling, 
 ''Mai vestidos" (Badly dressed) . 
 
 I replied that dress was of small importance, and asked 
 him if he did not recognise our superiority in this, that 
 instead of sitting for hours idly, with our legs crossed on a 
 mattress, we employed our time in many useful and amusing 
 ways. 
 
 He gave me a more subtle answer than I had expected. 
 He said that it did not appear to him a good sign to have 
 need of so many ways of passing the time. Life alone, 
 then, was for us a punishment, that we could not rest an 
 hour doing nothing, without amusement, without wearing 
 ourselves out in the search for entertainment? Were we 
 afraid of ourselves ? Had we something in us which tormented 
 us ? 
 
 " But see," I said, u what a dull spectacle your city pre- 
 sents, what solitude, what silence, what misery. You have
 
 A MOOR'S DESCRIPTION OF EUROPE. 331 
 
 been in Paris. Compare the streets of Paris with the streets 
 of Fez." 
 
 Here he was sublime. He sprang to his feet laughing, 
 and more in gesture than in words gave a jesting description 
 of the spectacle which is presented by our city streets. 
 ' ' Come, go, run ; carts here, wheelbarrows there ; a deafening 
 noise, drunken men staggering along, gentlemen buttoning 
 up their coats to save their purses ; at every step a guard, 
 who looks as if at every step he saw a thief ; old people and 
 children who are in constant danger of being crushed by the 
 carriages of the rich ; impudent women, and even girls, horror ! 
 who give provoking glances, and even nudge the young men 
 with their elbows ; everybody with a cigar in his mouth ; on 
 every side people going into shops, to eat, to drink, to have 
 their hair dressed, to look in mirrors, to put on gloves ; and 
 dandies planted before the doors of the cafes to whisper in 
 the ears of other people's wives who are passing; and that 
 ridiculous manner of saluting, and walking on the toes, and 
 swinging, and jumping about ; and then, good heavens, what 
 womanish curiosity ! " And touching this point, he grew 
 warm, and told how one day, in an Italian city, having gone 
 out in his Moorish dress, in a moment there had gathered a 
 crowd, who ran before and behind him, shouting and laughing, 
 and would scarcely let him walk, so that he had to go back 
 to his hotel and change his dress. " And that is the way 
 they act in your country ! " he went on. " That they do so 
 here is not surprising, for they never see a Christian ; but in 
 your country, where they know how we are dressed, because 
 they have pictures of us, and send their painters here with 
 machines to take our portraits: among you who know so 
 much, do you think that such things ought to happen ? " 
 
 After which he smiled courteously, as it' to say, "All 
 this is no reason why we should not be friends." 
 
 Then the conversation turned upon European manufactures, 
 railways, telegraphs, and great works of public utility; and 
 v 2
 
 882 MOROCCO. 
 
 of these he allowed me to talk without interruption, assenting' 
 from time to time with n nod. 
 
 When 1 had finished, however, he sighed, and said, "After 
 all, what are all these things worth if we must all die?" 
 
 " Finally/' I concluded, " you would not change your 
 condition for ours?" 
 
 He stood a moment thoughtful, and replied, " No, because 
 you are no longer lived than we are, nor are you more healthy, 
 nor better, nor more religious, nor more contented. Leave 
 us, then, in peace. Do not insist that everybody should live 
 as you do, and be happy according to your ideas. Let us 
 all stay in the circle where Allah has placed us. For some 
 good purpose Allah stretched the sea between Europe and 
 Africa. Let us respect His decree." 
 
 " And do you believe," I demanded, " that you will always 
 remain as you are ? that little by little we shall not make you 
 change ? " 
 
 u I do not know," he answered. " You have the strength, 
 you will do what you please. All that is to happen is already 
 written. But whatever happens Allah will not abandon His 
 faithful people." 
 
 With this he took my hand, pressed it to his heart, and 
 went majestically away. 
 
 This morning at sunrise I went to see the review which 
 the Sultan holds three times a week in the square where he 
 received the Embassy. 
 
 As I went out at the gate of the Nicchia del Burro, I 
 had a first taste of the manoeuvres of the artillery. A troop 
 of soldiers, old, middle-aged, and boys, all dressed in red, 
 were running behind a small cannon drawn by one mule. It 
 was one of the twelve guns presented by] the Spanish Govern- 
 ment to Sultan Sid-Mohammed after the war of 1860. Every 
 now and then the mule slipped, or turned aside, or stopped, 
 and the whole band began to yell and to strike at her, dancing 
 and giggling, as if it was a carnival car they were conducting.
 
 MOORISH ARTILLERY 
 
 333 
 
 In a distance of about a hundred paces they stopped ten times. 
 Now the little bucket fell off, now the rammer, now something 
 
 Waiting for an Attdieiue with the Sultan. 
 
 else; for everything was hung on the carriage. The mule 
 ziz-zagged along at her own caprice, or rather wherever the 
 cannon pushed her in coming down over the inequalities of the 
 ground; everybody gave orders which .... one obeyed ; the big 
 ones cuffed the small ones, the small ones cuffed the smaller
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 • 'lies, and they all cuffed each other; and the cannon remained 
 pretty much in the same piace In was a scene to have thrown 
 Genera] Lamarmora into a tertian Bever. 
 
 On the lcl'l bank of the river there were about two thousand 
 foot soldiers, some lying on the ground, some standing* about 
 in groups. In the square enclosed between the walls and the 
 river the artillery ; four gams were firing at a mark. Behind 
 the guns stood some soldiers, and a tall figure in white — the 
 Sultan. From the place where I stood, however, I could 
 scarcely distinguish his outline. He seemed from time to time 
 to speak to the artillerymen, as if he were directing them. On 
 the opposite side of the square, near the bridge, there was a 
 crowd of Moors, Arabs, and blacks, men and women, people 
 from the city and country- people, gentlemen and peasants, all 
 assembled together, and waiting, I was told, to be called one 
 by one before the Sultan, from whom they wished favour or 
 justice ; for the Sultan gives audience three times a week to 
 whosoever wishes to speak with him. Some of these poor 
 people had, perhaps, come from distant places to complain of 
 the exactions of the Governor, or to beg* for pardon for their 
 relatives in prison. There were ragged women and tottering 
 old men ; all the faces were weary and sad, and upon them 
 could be read both impatient desire and dread to appear before 
 the Prince of true Believers, the supreme judge, who in a few 
 minutes, with few words, would perhaps decide the fate of 
 their whole lives. I could not see that they had anything 
 at their feet or in their hands, and for this reason I believe 
 that the reigning Sultan has discontinued the custom, which 
 formerly existed, of accompanying every petition with a present, 
 which was never refused, however small, and consisted some- 
 times of a pair of fowls or a dozen of eggs. I walked about 
 among the soldiers. The boys were divided into companies 
 of thirty or forty each, and were amusing themselves by running 
 after one another and playing a sort of leap-frog. In some 
 of these groups, however, the diversion consisted in a sort of
 
 THE BOYS' AMUSEMENTS. 335 
 
 pantomime, which, when I understood its meaning, made me 
 shudder. They were representing the amputation of the hands, 
 decapitation, and other kinds of punishment, which they had 
 doubtless often witnessed. One boy represented the caid, 
 another the victim, and a third the executioner; the victim, 
 when his hand was cut off, made believe to plunge the stump 
 into a vessel of pitch ; another pretended to pick up the hand 
 and throw it to the dogs ; and the spectators all laughed. 
 
 The gallows-bird faces of the greater part of these youthful 
 soldiers are not to be described. They were all shades of colour, 
 from ebony black to orange yellow; and not one of them, 
 even among the youngest, had preserved the ingenuous expres- 
 sion of childhood. All had something hard, impudent, cynical, 
 in their eyes, that inspired pity rather than anger. No great 
 perspicacity is necessary to understand that they could not be 
 otherwise. Of the men, the greater part of them were dozing, 
 stretched out on the ground; others were dancing negro 
 dances in the midst of a circle of spectators, and making all 
 sorts of jokes and grimaces; others, again, fencing with 
 sabres, in the same way as at Tangiers, sjDringing about with 
 the action of rope-dancers. The officers, among them many 
 renegades, who were to be recognised by their faces, their 
 pipes, and a certain something of superior care in their dress, 
 walked about apart, and when I met them, turned their eyes 
 away. Beyond the bridge, in a place apart, about twenty 
 men, muffled in white mantles, were lying on the ground, one 
 beside the other, motionless as statues. I drew near, and 
 saw that they all wore heavy chains on wrist and ankle. 
 They were persons condemned for common offences, who were 
 dragged about by the army, and thus pilloried in the sight of 
 all. As I approached they all turned, and fixed upon me a 
 look that made me retreat at once. 
 
 I left the soldiers, and went to rest myself under the shade 
 of a palm tree, on a rising ground, whence I could command the 
 whole plain. I had been there but a tew minutes, when I saw
 
 33G 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 :in officer detach himself from a group, and come slowly towards 
 me, looking- carelessly about him, and humming a tune, as if to 
 avoid notice. He was a short, stout man of about forty, 
 wearing a sort of Zouave dross, with a fez, and without arms. 
 
 When I saw him near, I had a sensation of disgust. Never 
 have I seen outside of the assize court a more perfidious coun- 
 tenance. I would 
 have sworn to his 
 having at least 
 teu murders on 
 his conscience, 
 accompanied by 
 assaults on the 
 person. 
 
 He stopped 
 at a couple of 
 paces from me, 
 fixed two glassy 
 eyes upon me, 
 and said, coldly, 
 " Bon jour, mon- 
 sieur." 
 
 I asked him if 
 he were a French- 
 man. " Yes/ 3 he 
 replied. " I am from Algiers. I have been here seven years. 
 I am a captain in the army of Morocco/'' 
 
 Not being able to compliment him on his position, I kept 
 silence. 
 
 " C'est cornine ga" he continued, speaking quickly. " I 
 came away from Algiers because I could not bear the sight of 
 it any more. J'étais oblige de vivre dans un cercle trop étroit" 
 (he meant, perhaps, the halter) . " European life did not suit 
 my tastes. I felt the need of change." 
 
 "And are you more contented now ? " I inquired. 
 
 Barber's Shop.
 
 AX OFFICER IN THE MOORISH ARMY. 337 
 
 " Most content/' he answered, with affectation. " The 
 country is lovely, Muley-el- Hassan is the best of sultans, the 
 people are kind, I am a captain, I have a little shop, I exercise a 
 small trade, I hunt, I fish, I make excursions into the mountains, 
 I enjoy complete liberty. I would not go back to Europe, you 
 see, for all the gold in the world.'" 
 
 " Do 3 r ou not wish to see your own country again ? Have 
 you forgotten even France ? " 
 
 " What is France to me !" he replied. " For me France has 
 no existence. Morocco is my country." And he shrugged his 
 shoulders. 
 
 His cynicism revolted me ; I could scarcely believe it. 1 had 
 the curiosity to probe him a little more deeply. 
 
 " Since you left Algeria," 1 asked, " have you had no news 
 of events in Europe ? " 
 
 "Pas a n mot," he answered. "Here nobody knows any- 
 thing, and I am very glad not to know anything." 
 
 " You do not know then that there has been a great war 
 between France and Prussia ? " 
 
 He started. " Qui a vaincu ?" he asked, quickly, llxing his 
 eyes upon me. 
 
 "Prussia," I replied. 
 
 He made a gesture of surprise. I told him in a few words 
 of the disasters that had befallen France, the invasion, the taking 
 of Paris, the loss of the two provinces. He listened with his 
 head bent down and his eyebrows knit; then he roused 
 himself and said, with a kind of effort, " C'est égal — I have no 
 country, it is no affair of mine/' and bent his head again. 1 
 observed him steadily, and he saw it. "Adieu, monsieur," 
 he said, abruptly, in an altered voice, and walked quickly 
 away. 
 
 "All is not dead within him yet !" I thought, and was 
 glad. 
 
 Meantime the artillery had ceased its fire, the Sultan had 
 retired under a white pavilion al the fool of a tower, and the
 
 THE EEVIEW. 339 
 
 soldiers began to defile before him, unarmed, and one by one, at 
 about twenty paces one from the other. As there was not 
 beside the Sultan or in front of the pavilion any officer to read 
 the names, as with us, in order to certify the existence of every 
 soldier on the rolls (and I am told there are no rolls in the army 
 of Morocco), I could not understand the purpose of the review, 
 unless it was for the Sultan's amusement; and I was tempted to 
 laugh. But, upon second thoughts, the primitive and poetic 
 idea in the sight of that African monarch, high-priest, and 
 absolute prince, young, gentle, and in all simplicity standing 
 three hours alone in the shadow of his tent, and three times in 
 every week seeing his soldiers pass before him one by one, and 
 listening to the prayers and lamentations of his unhappy subjects, 
 inspired me instead with a feeling of respect. And since it was 
 the last time that I should see him, I felt a sudden rush of 
 sympathy towards him as I turned away. " Farewell/' I 
 thought, "handsome and noble prince ! " and as his gracious 
 white figure disappeared for ever from my eyes, I felt a sensation 
 in my breast as if, in that moment, it had been stamped upon 
 my heart. 
 
 The ninth of June : the last day of the sojourn of the Italian 
 Embassy at Fez. All the Ambassador's demands have been 
 conceded, the affairs of Ducale and Schellal arranged, visits of 
 leave-takiug made, the last dinner of Sid-Moussa submitted to, 
 the usual presents from the Sultan received : a fine black horse, 
 with an enormous green velvet saddle embroidered with gold for 
 the Ambassador ; gilded and damaskened sabres to the officials 
 of the Embassy ; a mule to the second dragoman. The tents 
 and boxes were sent forward this morning, the rooms are empty, 
 the mules are read}', the escort awaits us at the gate of Nicehia 
 del Burro, my companions are walking up and down the court, 
 expecting the signal for departure, and 1, seated for the last time 
 upon the edge of my imperial bed, note down in a book upon my 
 knee my last impressions of Fez. What are they? What is 
 left at last at the bottom of my soul by the spectacle of this
 
 840 MOROCCO. 
 
 people, this city, this state of things? If my thought penetrates 
 at all under the pleasing impressions of wonder and gratified 
 
 curiosity, I find a mingling of diverse sentiments which leave 
 my mind uncertain. There is a Peeling of pity for the decay, the 
 debasement, the agony of a warlike and knightly race, who left 
 so luminous a track in the history of science and art, and now 
 have not even the consciousness of their past glory. There is 
 admiration for what remains in them of the strong and beautiful, 
 for the virile and gracious majesty of their aspect, dress, de- 
 meanour, and ceremonies; for everything that their sad and 
 silent life retains of its antique dignity and simplicity. There is 
 displeasure at the sight of so much barbarism at so short a 
 distance from civilisation, and that this civilisation should have 
 so disproportionate a force in rising and expanding, that in so 
 many centuries, and always growing on its own ground, it has 
 been unable to cross two hundred miles of sea. There is anger 
 at the thought that, to the great interest of the barbarism of this 
 part of Africa, the civilised states prefer their own small local 
 and mercantile interests ; and diminishing thus in the minds of 
 this people, by the spectacle of their mean jealousies, their own 
 authority, and that of the civilisation which they desire to spread, 
 render the undertaking always more difficult and slow. Finally, 
 there is a sentiment of vivid pleasure, when I think that in this 
 country another little world has been formed in my brain, popidous, 
 animated, full of new personages who will live for ever there, 
 whom I can evoke at will, and can converse with them, and live 
 again in Africa. But with this glad feeling comes another which 
 is sad, the inevitable sentiment that throws a shadow over all 
 our serene hours aud drops a drop of bitterness into all our 
 pleasures — that which the Moorish merchant expressed when he 
 demonstrated the vanity of the great efforts of civilised people 
 to study, to seek, to discover ; and then this beautiful journey 
 seems to me only the rapid passage of a fine scene in the spectacle 
 of an hour, which is life ; and my pencil drops from my hand, 
 and a dark discouragement takes possession of me. Ah ! the
 
 LAST IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 3 ti 
 
 voice of Selam calls me ? We must go, then. To return to the 
 tent, to the warlike manoeuvres, the wide plains, the great light, 
 the joyous and wholesome life of the encampment. Farewell, 
 Fez ! Farewell, sadness ! My little African world is again 
 illuminated with rose colour.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MBCHINEZ. 
 
 M&FTER twenty-four days of city life the 
 i± caravan impressed me as a new spectacle. 
 And yet nothing- was changed except that 
 beside Mohammed Ducale rode the Moor, 
 Schellal, who, although his business had been 
 amicably settled, thought it more prudent to 
 return to Tangiers under the wing of the Am- 
 bassador than to remain in Fez under that of his 
 Government. An acute observer might also 
 have observed upon our faces, if he were a 
 pessimist, a certain annoyance; if an optimist, 
 a calm serenity, which was derived from a pro- 
 found consciousness in all that we had left 
 behind in the imperial capital no pining beauty, no offended 
 husband, no distracted family. On all our faces also shone the 
 thought of return — that is, on as much as could be seen of 
 them under the umbrellas, veils, handkerchiefs, with which 
 most of us had concealed our heads for shelter against the 
 ardent sun and suffocating dust. Alas ! here was the great
 
 ON THE EOAD TO MECHTNEZ. 343 
 
 change. The sun of May was changed into the sun of June, 
 the thermometer marked forty-two degrees (centigrade) at the 
 moment of departure, and before us lay two hundred miles of 
 African soil. 
 
 To return to Tangiers we had to go to Mechinez, from 
 thence to Laracce, then along the shore of the sea to Arzilla, 
 and from Arzilla to Ain-Dalia, where we had first encamped. 
 
 "We took three days to go to Mechinez, distant from Fez 
 about fifty kilometres. 
 
 The country did not present any marked differences to that 
 which we had traversed in going to Fez : always the same fields 
 of grain and barley, in some of which they were beginning to 
 reap ; the same black duars, the same vast spaces covered with 
 dwarf palms and lentiscus, those grand undulations of the land, 
 rocky hills, dry beds of torrents, solitary palms, white tombs of 
 saints, splendidly peaceful and infinitely sad. But because of 
 the neighbourhood of the two great cities, we met more people 
 than on the way between Tangiers and Fez : caravans of camels, 
 droves of cattle ; merchants bringing troops of beautiful horses 
 to the markets of Fez ; saints preaching in the desert ; couriers 
 on foot and on horseback ; groups of Arabs armed with reaping 
 hooks ; and some rich Moorish families going to Fez with their 
 servants and chattels. One of these — the family of a wealthy 
 merchant known to Ducale — formed a long caravan. First 
 came two servants armed with muskets ; and behind them the 
 head of the family, a handsome man of a stern countenance, 
 with a black beard and a white turban, riding a richly 
 caparisoned mule ; with one hand he held the reins, and sus- 
 tained a child of two or three years old, seated before him in the 
 saddle; will) the other lie clasped the hand of a woman com- 
 pletely veiled — perhaps his favourite wife — who rode behind 
 him astride of the mule's crupper, ami who held him round the 
 waist as if she meant to suffocate him, perhaps in fear of us. 
 Other women, all with veiled faces, came riding on other mules 
 behind the master; armed relations, boys, black servants;
 
 344 MOROCCO 
 
 women with babies in their arms; Arab servants with muskets 
 on their shoulders; mules and asses laden with mattresses, 
 pillows, coverings, plates, and other matters; and finally, 
 more servants on foot, bearing cages full of canary-birds and 
 parrots. 
 
 The women, as they passed us, wrapped their veils more 
 closely about them, the merchant did not look at us, the 
 relations gave us a timid glance, and two of the children began 
 to cry. 
 
 From these spectacles we were diverted on the third day 
 by a sad event. Poor Doctor Miguerez, attacked at our second 
 resting-place by the atrocious pain of sciatica, had to be trans- 
 ported to Mechinez in a litter, hastily made of a hammock and 
 two curtain-poles, and suspended between two mules; and this 
 depressed us all. The caravan was divided into two parts. I 
 cannot express how painful it became to see, as we often did, 
 that litter appear behind us on the top of a hill and slowly 
 descend into the valley, surrounded by soldiers on horseback, 
 muleteers, servants and friends, all grave and silent as a funeral 
 cortege, now and then stopping to bend over the sick man, and 
 then going on, signing to us from afar that our poor friend was 
 growing worse. It was a painful spectacle, but a fine one also, 
 ffivine to the caravan the air of the afflicted escort of a wounded 
 Sultan. 
 
 On the first day we encamped still in the plain of Fez ; on 
 the second, on the right bank of the Mduma river, at about five 
 hours from Mechinez. Here we had a very pleasant adventure. 
 Towards evening we all went down to the bank of the river, 
 about half a mile from the camp, near a large dnar, from which 
 all the inhabitants came out to meet us. There was a bridge 
 there of masonry : one single arch, of Arab construction, and 
 old, but still entire and solid; and beside it the remains of 
 another bridge, partly embedded in the high rocky bank, and 
 partly fallen into the bed of the river. On the opposite shore, 
 at about fifty paces from the bridge, there was a dilapidated
 
 THE RUINS OF MDUMA. 
 
 345 
 
 wall, some traces of foundations, and a few big hewn stones 
 that seemed to have once belonged to an important building. 
 
 A Merchant of Sfeci 
 
 The country all about was deserted. The ruins, we were told, 
 were those of an Arabian city, called Mdama, baili apoa fcbe 
 remains of another city anterior to the Mussulman invasion. 
 We set lo work to search among the stones for any traces of 
 w
 
 346 MOROCCO. 
 
 Roman construction j bui we Pound or recognised none, to the 
 manifest satisfaction of the Arabs, who doubtless believed that 
 we were seeking, on the faith <>!' some of our diabolical books, 
 some hidden treasures of the Rumli (Romans), from whom, 
 according to them, all Christians are direet descendants. 
 
 Captain de Boceard, however, re-crossing the bridge to re- 
 turn to the camp, saw down in the river, on the top of an 
 enormous fragment of almost pyramidal form, some small square 
 stones, which looked to him as if they had characters engraved 
 upon them; and the fact that they were there, as if placed 
 there on purpose to be seen from the bridge, made the sup- 
 position of value. The Captain manifested his intention of 
 going to see what they were. Everybody advised him not to. 
 The river banks were very steep, the bottom encumbered with 
 pointed rocks, scattered at some distance from each other, the 
 current strong and rapid, the fragment of ruin on which the 
 stones lay was very high, and either impossible or very dan- 
 gerous of access. But Captain de Boceard is one of those 
 persons who are impossible to move when once their purpose 
 is fixed : they will do it, or die. We had not yet done dis- 
 suading him when he was already down the bank, just as he 
 was, with his horseman's boots and spurs. A hundred Arabs 
 were looking on, some fringed along the river banks, some 
 leaning over the parapet of the bridge. As soon as they un- 
 derstood what the Captain was going to do, the enterprise 
 appeared to them so desperate that they began to laugh. 
 AY hen they saw him stop on the edge of the water and look 
 about as if seeking a passage, they imagined that his courage 
 had failed, and all burst out into insolently sonorous laughter. 
 " Not one of us," one cried, in a loud voice, " has ever suc- 
 ceeded in climbing up there : we shall see whether a Nazarene 
 can do it/' 
 
 And certainly no other of us Italians could have done it. 
 But he who attempted it was, as it happened, the most active 
 personage in the Embassy. The laughter of the Arabs gave
 
 THE CAPTAIN 1 S SCRAMBLE. 
 
 317 
 
 him the final impulse. He gave a spring, disappeared into 
 the midst of the bushes, reappeared upon a rock, vanished 
 again, and so from rock to rock, springing like a cat, clinging 
 and climbing, and slipping, over and over again risking a fall 
 into the river, or the breaking of his bones, came to the foot 
 of the piece of ruin, and without taking breath, clinging to 
 every root and every projection, he reached the top, and stood 
 
 rr tj:';) v?,-; » 
 
 iJL» 
 
 
 ti&mmm 
 
 
 Mechinez. 
 
 erect upon it like a statue. We all drew a long breath, the 
 Arabs were amazed, and Italian honour was safe. The Cap- 
 tain, like a noble victor, deigned not even a glance at his 
 crestfallen adversaries ; and, as soon as he had satisfied him- 
 self that the supposed engraved stones were nothing but frag- 
 ments of mortar that had fallen from the bridge, came down 
 by the other side, and with a few jumps gained the shore, 
 where he was received with the honours of a triumph. 
 
 The transit from Mduma to Mechinez was a succession of 
 optical illusions of so singular a character, that, if it had not 
 been for the suffocating heat, we should have been immensely 
 w 2
 
 348 MOROCCO. 
 
 amused by thorn. At about two hours from the encampment, 
 we saw, vaguely gleaming afar off in a vast naked plain, the 
 white minarets of Mechinez, and rejoiced that we were so near 
 our journey's end. But what had seemed to us a plain was 
 in reality an interminable succession of parallel valleys, separated 
 by large waves of land all of equal height, which presented 
 the aspect of one continued surface; so that, as we went for- 
 ward, the city was perpetually hidden and again revealed, as 
 if it were peeping at us; and, besides that, the valleys being 
 broken, rocky, and traversed only by winding and difficult 
 paths, our road yet to be accomplished was at least double in 
 distance to what it appeared to be; and it seemed as if the 
 city withdrew as we advanced ; at every valley our hearts 
 opened to hope, and at every hill we despaired again, and 
 voices weak and high were heard, and lamentable sighs, and 
 angry propositions to renounce any future voyage to Africa, 
 for whatever purpose or under whatever conditions ; when 
 suddenly, as we came out of a grove of wild olives, the city 
 rose before us, and all our lamentations were lost in exclamations 
 of wonder. 
 
 Mechinez, spread upon a long hill, surrounded by gardens, 
 bound by three ranges of battlemented walls, crowned with 
 minarets and palms, gay and majestic, like a suburb of Con- 
 stantinople, presented herself to our eyes, with her thousand 
 terraces drawn white against the azure of the sky. Not a 
 cloud of smoke issued from all that multitude of houses ; 
 there was not a living soul to be seen, either on the terraces 
 or before the walls ; nor was there a sound to be heard : it 
 seemed a deserted city, or a scene in a theatre. 
 
 The dinner tent was pitched in a bare field, at two hun- 
 dred paces from one of the fifteen gates of the city, and 
 in a few minutes we sat down to satisfy, as some elegant 
 prose writer remarks, " our natural talent for food and 
 drink/' 
 
 A\ e were scarcely seated when there issued from the city
 
 GATEWAY AT IVLECUINEZ.
 
 350 MOROCCO. 
 
 gate; and advanced towards the encampment, a company of 
 horsemen, superbly dressed, and preceded by foot soldiers. 
 
 It was the Governor of Mechinez, with his relatives and 
 officials. At about twenty paces off they dismounted from 
 their horses, which were covered with trappings in all the 
 colours of the rainbow,, and rushed towards us, shouting all 
 tog-ether in one voice, "Welcome! welcome! welcome!" 
 
 The Governor was a young man of a mild countenance, 
 with black eyes and blacker beard; all the others — men of 
 forty or fifty — were tall, bearded, dressed in white, and as 
 neat and perfumed as if they had come out of a box. They 
 all pressed our hands, passing round the table with a tripping 
 step, and smiling graciously, and then took their places be- 
 hind the Governor. One of them, seeing a bit of bread on 
 the ground, picked it up and put it on the table, saying 
 something which probably meant, " Excuse me ; the Koran 
 forbids the wasting of bread : I am doing my duty as a good 
 Mussulman." The Governor offered us the hospitality of his 
 house, which was accepted. Only the two artists and I re- 
 mained in the camp, and waited until it should be cool before 
 going into the city. 
 
 Selam kept us company, and related to us the wonders of 
 Mechinez. 
 
 " At Mechinez are the most beautiful women in Morocco, 
 the finest gardens in Africa, and the most beautiful imperial 
 palace in the world." Thus he began ; and, in fact, Mechinez 
 does enjoy such fame in the empire. To be a native of 
 Mechinez is, for a woman, to be beautiful, and for a man, 
 to be jealous. The Imperial Palace, founded by Muley-Ismael, 
 who, in 1703, had in it four thousand women and eight hun- 
 dred and sixty-seven children, had an extent of two miles of 
 circuit, and was ornamented with marble columns, brought 
 partly from the ruins of the city of Pharaoh, near Mechinez, 
 and partly from Leghorn and Marseilles. There was a great 
 hall, or alkazar, where the most precious European tissues
 
 SELAM'S STORY. 351 
 
 were sold; a vast market, joined to the city by a road orna- 
 mented with a hundred fountains ; a park of immense olive- 
 trees ; seven large mosques ; a formidable garrison with artillery, 
 that held the Berbers of the mountains in check ; an imperial 
 treasure of five hundred millions of francs ; and a population 
 of fifty thousand inhabitants, who were considered as the most 
 cultured and the most hospitable in the empire. 
 
 Selam described in a low voice and with mysterious gestures 
 the place where the treasure was kept, the amount of which 
 no one knows ; but it must have been much decreased in the 
 last wars, if even it is still worthy of the name of treasure. 
 " Within the palace," he said, " there is another palace all of 
 stone, which receives the light from above, and is surrounded 
 by three ranges of walls. It is entered by an iron door, and 
 within there is another, and yet another iron door. After 
 these three doors there is a dark, low passage, where lights 
 are necessary, and the pavement, walls, and roof are all of 
 black marble, and the air smells like that of a sepulchre. At 
 the end of the corridor there is a great hall, and in the middle 
 of it an opening which leads to a deep subterranean place, where 
 three hundred negroes, four times a year, shovel in the gold 
 and silver money which the Sultan sends. The Sultan looks on 
 while this is done. The negroes are shut up for life in the 
 palace, and never come out until they are carried out dead. 
 And around the great hall there are ten earthen jars which 
 contain the heads of ten slaves who once tried to steal. Muley 
 Soliman cut off all their heads as soon as the money was in its 
 place. And no man ever came out of that palace alive except 
 our Lord I he Sultan." 
 
 lb- related these horrors without the least sign of dis- 
 approval, even with an admiring accent, as il' they were 
 superhuman and fatal events, which n man must not judge, 
 nor led any oilier sentiment concerning them save «me of 
 mysterious respect. 
 
 "There' \v;is onci; a king of Molline/./' he resumed, with
 
 852 MOROCCO. 
 
 unalterable gravity, standing civet before our tent, with his 
 hand on the hilt of his sabre, " who wished to make a road 
 Prom Mechinez to Morocco, bordered by two high walls, so 
 that even the blind could go from one place to the other 
 without a guide. And this perverse and cruel king had a ring 
 by whose power he could call all the demons to his service. 
 And he called them, and made them work at the road. There 
 were thousands and thousands of them, and eveiy one of them 
 carried stones that a hundred men could not have moved an 
 inch, and those who would not work the king had built up 
 alive in the wall, and their bones can still be seen." (They 
 can still be seen, indeed, but they are the bones of Christian 
 slaves, which are also found in the walls of Sale and Rabat.) 
 
 " And the wall was built for the length of a day's journey, 
 and everybody rejoiced, thinking that it would soon be finished. 
 1 ut that king was displeasing to Allah, and Allah did not 
 choose that the wall should be finished. One day, when he was 
 riding along, a poor country-woman stopped him, and said, 
 'Where, O audacious king, is this road to end?' ' In hell/ 
 answered the king, in a rage. ' Go down there, then ! ' cried 
 the woman. At these words the king fell from his horse dead, 
 the walls crumbled away, the demons scattered the stones 
 over the country, and the road remains to this day unfinished 
 for ever." 
 
 " And do you believe that all this is true, Selani ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " Certainly," he answered, astonished at my doubt. 
 " Do you believe in demons ? " 
 
 " Of course I believe in them ! I should like to see the 
 time when we would not believe in them ! " 
 " But have you ever seen one ? " 
 
 " Never ! And for that reason I believe that there are 
 no more of them on earth, and when I hear any one say, 
 ' Take care how you pass at night through such or such a 
 place, because there are demons there,'' I go at once, and go
 
 OTJR SERVANT, HAMED. 353 
 
 in first myself, because I know that the demons are men, 
 and with a good horse between my knees, and a good musket 
 in my hand, I am afraid of nobody." 
 
 "And why, in your opinion, are there no more demons 
 now, if there were some once ? " 
 
 " Why, because the world was not always the same as it 
 is now. I might as well ask you why men were once taller, 
 and the days longer than they are now, and why beasts could 
 talk." And he went off, shaking his head with a compassionate 
 air. 
 
 On that day, as the Ambassador was dining in the city, 
 Selam and the others did nothing but gallop between the 
 town and the tents, to the great amusement of the artists 
 and myself, because the contrast between the majesty of their 
 aspect and the humility of their office had never struck us 
 before. There, for instance, was Hamed, mounted on a super!» 
 black horse, coming out at a gallop from the battlemented 
 gate of Mechinez, and darting off at full speed across the 
 country. His tall turban gleamed in the sun with the 
 whiteness of snow; his large blue mantle floated on the 
 wind like a royal garment; his poignard glittered; the whole 
 of his martial and gracious figure presented the dignity of a 
 prince and the boldness of a warrior. What romantic fancies 
 are excited in the mind by the vision of that handsome 
 Mussulman cavalier flying like a phantom under the walls 
 of a mediaeval city ! Whither goes he ? To carry off the 
 loveliest daughter of the Pasha of Faraone? to defy the 
 valorous Caid of Uazzan, betrothed to the lady of his love ? 
 to pour out his griefs into the bosom of the aged saint who 
 has prayed for eighty years on the top of Mount Zerhun, in 
 the sacred zania of Muley-Edris? 
 
 Nothing of the sort; he is coming back to camp to get a 
 plate of fried potatoes for the Ambassador. 
 
 Towards sunset the two painters and myself, mounted on 
 mules, and escorted by four foot-soldiers of the Governor of
 
 A SURVEY OF MECHINEZ. 355 
 
 Mechinez, set out for the city, our guard having put away 
 their muskets, and being armed only with sticks and knotted 
 cords. Before starting, however, we arranged with them, 
 through interpreter Hamed, that whenever we should all clap 
 our hands thrice, in whatever quarter of the city we might 
 be, they were to conduct us at once back to the encampment. 
 
 Passing two outside gates, divided by a steep ascent, we 
 found ourselves in the centre of the city. The first impression 
 was one of agreeable surprise. Mechinez, which we had 
 fancied as more melancholy than Fez, was, on the contrary, 
 a gay city, full of verdure, traversed by many winding streets, 
 but broad, and bordered by low houses and garden walls that 
 allowed the tops of the beautiful hills around to be seen. On 
 every side there rose above the houses a minaret, a palm, a 
 battlemented wall ; at eveiy step a fountain or an arabesqued 
 door appeared ; there were oaks and leafy fig-trees in the 
 streets and squares, and everywhere air, and light, and the 
 odour of the fields, and a certain gentle peacefulness, as of a 
 princely city, fallen, but not dead. After many turns, we 
 came out in a vast square, opposite the monumental palace 
 of the Governor, resplendent with many-coloured mosaics of 
 great beauty; and, at that moment, the level rays of the 
 setting sun striking full upon it, it glittered like the pearl- 
 encrusted palaces of the Oriental legends. A few soldiers 
 were going through the powder-play (guioco della polvere), 
 about fifty servants and guards were sitting on the ground 
 before the door; the piazza was deserted. It was a fine 
 spectacle. That illuminated facade, those horsemen, the lowers, 
 the solitude, and the sunset formed altogether a picture so 
 completely .Moorish, breathed so vivid an air of other times, 
 presented in one Erame so many stories, so much poetry, so 
 many dreams, thai we stood rapi before it. Prom fchence the 
 soldiers led us to sn- a great exterior gate of noble design, 
 covered from top to bottom with delicate and many-coloured 
 mosaics, which glowed in the sun like jewels sei in ivory;
 
 858 MOROCCO. 
 
 and the painters sketched it in all haste before we returned 
 to the city. I Ut il now, the people we met by the way had 
 shown themselves only curious, and it seemed to us that 
 they even regarded us with more benevolent eyes than the 
 population of Fez. But suddenly, without a shadow of reason, 
 their humour changed. Some old women began to show us 
 
 Street Singer at MecMnez. 
 
 the whites of their eyes, then some boys threw stones at our 
 mules' legs, and then a troop of ragamuffins began to run 
 beside us and behind us, making a most infernal noise. The 
 soldiers, meantime, were in no humour for compliments. Two 
 placed themselves in front and two behind us, and they began 
 a real combat with the rabble, striking the nearest with their 
 sticks, throwing stones at those far away, and chasing the 
 most insolent. But it was all labour thrown away. Not 
 daring to retort with stones, the rabble began to throw
 
 A STREET ROW. 357 
 
 rotten oranges, bits of lemon-peel, dry sticks, and the shower 
 became so heavy, that it seemed to us more prudent to advise 
 the soldiers to desist from further provocation. But the soldiers 
 were provoked, and either did not or would not hear us, and 
 continued the battle with increasing fury. Indignant at 
 their brutality, we warned them with imperative gestures to 
 desist. But the wretches thought we were reproving them 
 for too much mildness, and went on worse than ever. By 
 way of addition, two boys of ten and twelve years old now 
 joined us — possibly relations of the soldiers — and armed with 
 sticks; they too began to distribute the most desperate blows 
 to men, women, asses, mules, near and far, until even the 
 soldiers themselves counselled moderation. And at every blow 
 they turned and looked at us, as if to ask us to take note 
 of their zeal in our defence ; and as we were in fits of laughter, 
 they were encouraged and went on worse than ever. Now 
 what will happen ? we said to each other. A scandal ! A 
 revolution ! Already the beaten ones grumbled, and some 
 raised their hands against the boys ; we must get out of the 
 city as soon as may be. But Biseo still hesitated, when a 
 stone struck my mule on the head, and a carrot alighted on 
 the back of Ussi's neck. Then we decided to clap our hands 
 as agreed upon. But even this innocent signal provoked a 
 tumult. The soldiers, to show that they understood, responded 
 by clapping their own hands ; the people in the square, thinking 
 that they were being made game of, clapped theirs, and the 
 oranges and lemons continued to rain upon us, together with 
 curses loud and deep; and when at last we reached the gate, 
 and rode down towards the camp, they still yelled after us 
 from the walls, "Accursed be thy father! May thy race be 
 exterminated ! May God roast thy great-grandfather ! " 
 
 Thus did Mediine/. receive us, and fortunate for us if was 
 that she is the "most hospitable city in the empire." 
 
 On the following morning there was brought to the camp 
 a litter for the doctor, made in twenty-four hours by the
 
 358 MOROCCO. 
 
 besl carpenters in Mechinez, who would certainly have taken 
 twenty-four days in its construction if the Governor had not 
 used certain arguments to which there was great risk in being 
 deal'. It was a heavy and badly made machine, which looked 
 more like a cage for the transportation of wild beasts than 
 a litter for a sick man ; much better made, however, than 
 anything we could contrive; and the workmen who completed 
 it under our eyes were so proud of it, and so sure of our 
 admiration, that they trembled with emotion at their work, 
 and at every word from us sent flashes from their eyes. 
 When Morteo put the money in their hands they thanked 
 him gravely, and went away with a triumphant smile, which 
 meant — " Ignorant proud ones, we have let you see what we 
 can do ! " 
 
 Towards evening we left Mechinez, and travelled for two 
 hours over the loveliest country that was ever seen in his dreams 
 by an enamoured painter. I see, I feel still the divine grace of 
 those verdant hills, sprinkled with rose-trees, myrtles, oleanders, 
 flowering aloes ; the splendour of that city gilded by the sun, 
 hiding from our sight minaret by minaret, palm-tree by palm- 
 tree, terrace by terrace, and the air impregnated with inebriating 
 perfume, and the waters reflecting the thousand colours of the 
 escort, and the infinite melancholy of that rosy sky. I still see 
 and feel all this, and know not how to describe it.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ON THE SEBO. 
 
 £T?*T was noon of the fifth day after our departure 
 from Fez, when, after a five hours'' ride 
 through a succession of deserted valleys, we 
 passed once more through the gorge of Beb-el- 
 Tinca, and saw again before us the vast plain 
 of the Sebù, inundated by a white, ardent, 
 implacable light, of which the memory alone 
 makes my face glow. All, except the Ambassador 
 and the Captain, who participated in the fabled 
 virtue of the salamander, that lives in fire 
 without being burned, covei-ed their heads like 
 brethren of the Misericordia, wrapped themselves 
 in their mantles and cloaks, and without a word, 
 with heads down, and eyes half closed, descended into the terrible 
 plain, confiding in the clemency of God. Once the voice of the 
 Commamlant was heard announcing that a horse was dead already. 
 One of the baggage-horses had fallen dead. No one made any 
 comment. " Horses " — added the Commandant, spitefully — "al- 
 ways die Ji r-s I '." These words also were received in mortal silence. 
 In about half-an-hour another faint voice was heard, asking 
 Issi to whom lie had bequeathed his picture of Bianca Cappello. 
 Throughout the journey these were the only words heard. The 
 heat oppressed all. Even the soldiers were silent. The Caid, 
 Hamed Hen- Kascii, in spite of 1 he great turban that shaded his 
 visage, was dripping with sweat. Poor general! Thai, very
 
 360 MOROCCO. 
 
 morning he had Bhown me an attention that I shall remember 
 all my life. Noticing that I lagged behind, he came up, and 
 banged my mule with such heartfelt zeal, that in a few moments 
 1 was cairied at a gallop in front of all the others, bouncing in 
 my saddle like an india-rubber automaton, and reached the camp 
 rive minutes in advance of them all, with my inside upside down, 
 and my heart full of gratitude. 
 
 That day no one came out of his tent until the dinner hour, 
 and the dinner was silent, as if all were still oppressed by the 
 heat of the day. One event alone aroused some excitement in 
 the camp. We were at dessert, when we heard a sound of 
 lamentation proceeding from the escort's quarters, and at the 
 same time the noise of regular blows, as of some one being 
 whipped. Thinking it to be some joke of the servants and 
 soldiers, we took, at first, no notice of it. But suddenly the 
 cries became excruciating, and we heard distinctly, in an accent 
 of supplicating invocation, the name of the founder of Fez — 
 " Muley-Edris ! Muley-Edris ! Muley-Edris ! " 
 
 We all rose at once from the table, and, running to the 
 quarter whence the noise proceeded, arrived in time to see a sad 
 spectacle. Tw t o soldiers held suspended between them, one by 
 the shoulders, the other by the feet, an Arab servant; a third 
 was furiously flogging him with a whip ; a fourth held up a 
 lantern ; the rest stood round in a circle, and the Caid looked on 
 with folded arms. 
 
 The Ambassador ordered the instant release of the victim, 
 who went off sobbing and crying, and asked the Caid what this 
 meant. " Oh, nothing, nothing/'' he answered ; " only a little 
 correction." He then added that the man was punished because 
 he had persisted in throwing little balls of cmcùssù at his com- 
 panions, a grave offence, in a Mussulman a sacrilege, because he 
 is commanded to respect every kind of aliment produced by the 
 earth as a gift of God. As he spoke, the poor Caid, a kind man 
 at heart, did not succeed in concealing, however he might wish 
 to do so, the pain and pity that he felt at being forced to inflict
 
 ON THE BANKS OF THE SEBÙ. 361 
 
 the castigation ; and this sufficed to restore him to his place in 
 my heart. 
 
 In the night we were awakened by a burning hot wind from 
 the east, which drove us panting from our tents, in search of air 
 that we could breathe ; and at dawn we resumed our journey 
 under a sky that announced a hotter day than the preceding one. 
 The heavens were covered with clouds, on one side all on fire 
 with the rising sun, and broken here and there by dazzling 
 beams of light ; on the opposite side all was black, striped by 
 oblique streaks of rain. From this troubled sky there fell a 
 strange light, which seemed to have passed through a yellow 
 veil, and tinted the stubble fields with an angry sulphurous 
 colour that offended the eye. Far off the wind raised and 
 whirled about with furious rapidity immense clouds of dust. 
 The country was solitary, the air heavy, the horizon hidden by a 
 veil of leaden-coloured vapour. Without ever having seen the 
 Sahara, I imagined that it might sometimes present that same 
 aspect, and was about to say so, when Ussi, who has been in 
 Egypt, stopping suddenly, exclaimed in wonder, " This is the 
 desert ! " 
 
 After four hours' journey we arrived upon the bank 
 of the Sebù, where we were met by twenty horsemen of 
 the Beni-Hassen, led by a handsome boy of twelve, the 
 son of the Governor, Sid-Abdallah. They came to meet 
 us at a gallop, with the usual shouts and discharges of 
 musketry. 
 
 The camp was pitched in all haste near the river, in a baie 
 piece of ground, full of deep gullies ; and having breakfasted 
 quickly, we withdrew to our tents. 
 
 This was the hottest day of Hit' journey. 
 
 J will try to give a distant idea of our torments. Let the 
 gentle reader prepare his or her heart to Bee] profound com- 
 passion. 1 wipe my dripping brows, and begin. 
 
 Al ten o'clock in the morning, when my two companions and 
 I withdrew to our tent, the thermometer marked forty-two 
 x
 
 :;.'■: 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 degrees centigrade in t lie shade (about 100° Fahrenheit). For 
 about an hour the conversation continued animated. After that 
 we began to find a certain difficulty in terminating- our periods, 
 and were reduced to simple propositions. Then, as it caused too 
 much fatigue to put subject, verb, and attribute together, we 
 stopped talking, and tried to sleep. It was useless. The hot 
 beds, the Hies, thirst, and restlessness, would not let us close an 
 
 In the Deicrt, 
 
 eye. After much fretting and fuming, we resigned ourselves to 
 stay awake, and tried to cheat the weary time in some occupa- 
 tion. But it could not be done. Cigars, pipes, books, maps, 
 all dropped from our nerveless hands. I tried to write : at the 
 third line the page was bathed in the perspiration that streamed 
 from my forehead like water from a squeezed sponge. I felt 
 my whole body traversed by innumerable springs, which inter- 
 sected, followed, joined each other, forming confluents and 
 streams, running down my arms and hands, and watering the 
 ink in the point of my pen. In a few minutes, handkerchiefs,
 
 A HOT DAY. 363 
 
 towels, veils, everything that could serve the purpose, were as 
 wet as if they had been dipped in a bucket. We had a barrel 
 full of water : we tried to drink, it was boiling. We poured it 
 out : it had hardly touched the earth when no trace of it could 
 be seen. At noon the thermometer marked forty-four and a 
 half degrees. The tent was an oven. Everything we touched 
 scorched us. I put my hand on my head, and it felt like a 
 •stove. The beds heated us so that we could not lie down. I 
 tried to put my foot outside the tent, and the ground was 
 scorching. No one spoke any more. Only now and then was 
 heard a languid exclamation : " It is death." " I cannot bear 
 this/' " I shall go mad/'' Ussi put his head out of the tent 
 for an instant, his eyes starting out of his head, murmured in a 
 suffocated voice, u I shall die," and disappeared. Diana, the 
 poor dog, lying down near the Commandant's bed, panted as if 
 she were at her last gasp. Outside of the tent no human voice 
 was heard, no human being was visible, the camp seemed deserted. 
 The horses neighed in a lamentable manner. The doctor's litter, 
 standing near our tent, cracked as if it were splitting in pieces. 
 Suddenly we heard the voice of Selam running by, and calling 
 out, " One of the dogs is dead." 
 
 "One!" answered the faint voice of the Commandant, 
 facetious to the last. 
 
 At one o'clock the thermometer marked forty-six and a half 
 degrees. Then even complaints ceased. The Commandant, the 
 Vice-Consul and I lay stretched on the ground motionless, like 
 dead bodies. In the whole camp the Ambassador and the 
 Captain were perhaps the only Christians who still gave signs of 
 life. I do not remember how long this condition lasted. I was 
 steeped in a sort of stupor, dreaming with my eyes open, and a 
 thousand confused images of cool spots and frozen objects chased 
 •each other through my brain : I was springing from ;i rock into 
 .1 lake, I was putting the bacls of my neck against the spout of a 
 pump, 1 was building a house of ice, I was devouring all the 
 iees in Naples, and the more 1 sprinkled myself with water and 
 x 2
 
 364 MOEOCCO. 
 
 drank cool drinks, the hotter, the thirstier, the wilder I 
 became. At last the Captain exclaimed in a sepulchral voice : 
 " Forty-seven ! " It was the last voice I remember to have 
 heard. 
 
 Towards evening the son of the Governor of the Beni-Hassen, 
 the boy whom we had seen in the morning, came to visit the 
 Governor in the name of his father, who was ill. He entered 
 the camp on horseback, accompanied by an officer and two 
 soldiers, who took him in their arms when he dismounted, and 
 advanced with solemn step towards the Ambassador, trailing his 
 long blue mantle like a robe, with his left hand upon the hilt 
 of a sabre longer than himself, and his right extended in 
 salutation. 
 
 In the morning, seen on horseback, he had seemed a hand- 
 some boy ; and he had indeed beautiful pensive eyes, and a small 
 pallid oval face ; but on foot we saw that he was ricketty and 
 deformed. From this no doubt came his melancholy looks. In 
 all the time he remained with us, no smile moved his lip, his 
 face never brightened for a moment. He looked at us all with 
 a profound attention, and answered the Ambassador's questions 
 with short sentences, spoken in low tones. Once only a gleam 
 of pleasure came into his eyes ; it was when the Ambassador 
 told him that he bad admired, in the morning, his bold and 
 graceful riding ; but it w r as only a gleam. 
 
 Although all our eyes were upon him, and this was probably 
 the first time that he had appeared in an official capacity before 
 a European embassy, he showed no shadow of embarrassment. 
 He slowly drunk bis tea, ate some sweatmeats, whispered in the 
 ear of bis officer, settled two or three times his little turban on 
 his bead, looked attentively at our boots, and showed that he 
 was a little bored ; then, in taking leave, he pressed the Am- 
 bassador's hand to his breast, and returned to his horse 
 with the same royal gravity with which he had approached 
 the tent. 
 
 * About 114i c Fahrenheit.
 
 THE DOCTOR IN REQUEST. 365 
 
 Lifted into the saddle by his attendants, he said once more, 
 " Peace be with you ! " and galloped off, followed by his small 
 and hooded staff. 
 
 That same evening several sick people came to consult the 
 doctor, who, with the dragoman Solomon and a company of 
 soldiers, had started a little earlier for Tangiers, by the way of 
 Alkazar. Among the rest came a poor half -naked boy, lean, 
 and with his eyes in such a state that he could see with diffi- 
 culty, while he seemed exhausted with fatigue. " What do you 
 want ? " asked Morfeo. " I seek the Christian physician," he 
 answered in a trembling voice. When he heard that he was 
 gone, he stood a moment as if stunned, and then cried out in 
 despair : " Am I to lose my sight then ! I have come eight 
 miles to be cured by the Christian physician ! I must see 
 him ! " and he broke out into sobs and tears. Morfeo put some 
 money into his hand, which he received with indifference, and 
 pointing out the way which the doctor had taken, told him that 
 if he walked quickly he might perhaps overtake him. The boy 
 stood a moment uncertain, looking with eyes full of tears, and 
 then slowly limped away. 
 
 The sun went down that evening under an immense pavilion 
 of gold and flame colour, and striking across the plains his last 
 blood-coloured beams, set behind the straight line of the horizon 
 like a monstrous glowing disk that was sinking into the bowels 
 of the earth. 
 
 And the night was almost cold ! 
 
 In the morning, at sunrise, we were on the left bank of the 
 Sebu, at the same point where we had crossed coming from 
 Tangiers; and we had hardly reached it before we saw appear 
 upon the opposite bank, with his officers and soldiers, the 
 Governor Sid-Bekr-el- Abbassi, with the same while vesture, and 
 the same black borse caparisoned in sky blue, with which he had 
 the first time appeared. 
 
 But the passage of the river presented this time ;in unfore- 
 seen difficulty.
 
 30G 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 Of the two boats on which we were to cross, one was in 
 pieces ; tlu> other broken in more than one place, and half sunk 
 in the mud of the shore. The little duar inhabited by the 
 boatmen's families was deserted ; the river was dangerous to 
 ford, and no other boat to be had except at a distance of a day's 
 journey. How were we to cross, and what was to be done ? A 
 soldier swam across and carried the notice to the Governor, who 
 
 Crossing the Sebtl. 
 
 sent another soldier by the same road to explain. The boatmen 
 had been notified the night before to hold themselves in readi- 
 ness for the passage of the Ambassador and his suite, who would 
 arrive in the morning ; but finding the boats in an unserviceable 
 condition, and not being capable, or not choosing to endure the 
 fatigue of mending them, they had fled during the night, heaven 
 knows where, with their families and animals, to avoid punish- 
 ment by the Governor. There was nothing to be done but to 
 try and mend the least broken of the two boats, and this we 
 did. The soldiers went off to get men from the neighbouring 
 duars, and the work was begun under the direction of Luigi, one 
 of the two sailors, who on that, to him memorable, occasion
 
 MENDING THE BOAT. 367 
 
 gloriously sustained the honour of the Italian marine. It was 
 good to see how the Arabs and Moors laboured. Ten of them 
 together, yelling- and flying- about, did not do in half an hour 
 the work that Luigi and Ranni, in military silence, did in five 
 minutes. Everybody gave orders, everybody criticised, every- 
 body got angry, everybody cut the air with imperious gestures, 
 until they all seemed like so many admirals, and not one of 
 them accomplished anything. Meantime the Governor and the 
 Caid conversed in loud voices across the river; the soldiers 
 careered about at a gallop seeking the fugitives along the banks ; 
 the sumpter beasts forded the river in a long file with water up 
 to their necks ; the workmen chanted the praises of the Prophet, 
 and on the opposite shore arose a great blue tent under which 
 the slaves of Sid-Bekr-el-Abbassi were busy in preparing an 
 exquisite collation of figs, sweetmeats, and tea, which we 
 watched through our glasses, humming the while a chorus from 
 a semi-serious opera, composed during our sojourn at Fez, and 
 called "GV Italiani nel Marocco." 
 
 With the aid of the Prophet, the boat was ready within two 
 hours ; Ranni took us on his shoulders, and deposited us one 
 by one on the prow, and we reached the other side, with our feet 
 up to the ankles in water, that came in on every side, but with- 
 out having been forced to swim for it ; a good fortune, of which 
 we were not sure at our departure. 
 
 The Governor, Sid-Bekr-el-Abbassi, who had heard of the 
 praises which the Ambassador had bestowed upon him to the 
 Sultan, was more amiable and fascinating to us than ever. 
 After a little rest, we went on to Karia-el-Abbassi, which we 
 reached about noon, and were received and passed the hot hours 
 in the same white chamber in which thirty-five days before we 
 had seen the pretty little daughter of our host peep at us from 
 behind the paternal turban. 
 
 Here Sid-Bekr-el-Abbassi presented to the Ambassador, 
 among other people, a Moor of about lifty years of age, of a 
 noble aspect and agreeable manners, whom none of us, 1 think,
 
 868 MOROCCO. 
 
 have since forgotten, because of the strange things we were told 
 about his family. lie was the brother of one Sid-Bomedi, 
 formerly Governor of the province of Ducalla, who languished 
 
 for eight years in the dung-eons of Fez. A tyrant and a 
 prodigal, after having bled his people, he contracted ruinous 
 loans with European merchants, accumulated debt upon debt, 
 brought the wrath of God within and without his house, was 
 arrested and taken to Fez by order of the Sultan, who, believing 
 him to be the possessor of hidden treasures, had his house pulled 
 down and search made among the ruins and under the founda- 
 tions, and banished from the province, under pain of death, all 
 his family, in the fear that they, knowing the hiding-place, 
 would get possession of the money. But, nothing being found 
 — perhaps because there was nothing — and the Sultan still per- 
 sisting in his belief in a treasure which the prisoner knew and 
 refused to reveal, the latter had never more beheld the light of 
 the sun, and was, perhaps, condemned to die in prison. And 
 the case of Sid-Bomedi is not rare among the Governors of 
 Morocco, who, being all more or less enriched at the expense of 
 their people, furnish the government that wishes to get posses- 
 sion of their wealth the advantage of doing so under colour of 
 punishing a guilty man. 
 
 The Governor, or the Pasha upon whom the Governor has 
 set his eye, is called in a friendly manner to Fez, or to Morocco, 
 or perhaps arrested suddenly in the night by a company of the 
 imperial soldiers, who take him by forced marches to the capital, 
 tied on the crupper of a mule, with his head hanging down and 
 his face turned to the sun. As soon as he arrives he is loaded 
 with chains and thrown into a dungeon. If he reveals the 
 hiding-place of his wealth, he is sent back with honour to his 
 province, where in a little while, by worse exactions than before, 
 he can make up again that which has been taken from him. If 
 he will not reveal it, he is left to rot in his prison, and bastina- 
 doed every day until the blood comes, until, reduced to extremity, 
 he decides to speak rather than perish in chains. If he reveals
 
 UNJUST PASHAS. 
 
 369 
 
 only in part, he is bastinadoed just the same, until he has made 
 a clean breast of it. Some of the more astute ones, foreseeing 
 the catastrophe in time, turn it aside by going in person to the 
 Court with a Ions: caravan of camels and mules laden with 
 
 Sid-Bekr-el-A.bbanni and Suite. 
 
 precious gifts; bui in order to make these gifts they are 
 obliged to spend a large part of their wealth; and it follows 
 that their safety is scarcely less fatal to the provinces governed 
 by them than if they were to return Brom their prison despoiled 
 •of all their treasure. Some also die in prison, and under the 
 stick- make n<> revelations, in order to leave all they have to bheir 
 families, who know where it is concealed; and others die be-
 
 370 MOROCCO. 
 
 cause they have nothing io reveal. But these arc rare, because 
 in Morocco it is the custom to hide money, and it is known that 
 the Moors arc masters in the art. They talk of treasures built 
 up under the sill of the house door, in the pilasters of the court, 
 in the stairs, in the windows; of houses demolished stone by 
 stone to the foundations, without the discovery of a treasure 
 that was really there; of slaves killed and secretly buried, after 
 having helped their masters to conceal it ; and the vulgar mix 
 with these horrible and painful truths their pretty legends of 
 spirits and prodigies. 
 
 The Governor el-Abbassi accompanied us towards evening 
 as far as the camp, which was about two hours distant from 
 his house, in a field full of flowers and tortoises, between the 
 river Dà, which divides itself just there into an infinity of 
 canals, and a beautiful hill crowned by the green cupola of a 
 saint's tomb. At a gunshot from our tents was a large duar, 
 surrounded with aloes and the Indian fig. All the inhabitants 
 rushed out at sight of us. Then we saw how much the 
 Governor was beloved by his people. Old men, young men, 
 youths and children, all ran to him to have his hands placed 
 upon their heads, and then went away content, turning back 
 to look at him with an expression of affection and gratitude» 
 The presence, however, of the beloved Governor did not serve 
 to protect us from the usual bitter glances and the usual re- 
 proaches. The women, half hidden behind the hedges, with one 
 hand pushed forward a child to go and be blessed by the Governor, 
 and with the other sent his brother to tell us that we were 
 dogs. We saw babies about two feet high, quite naked, and 
 hardly able to stand, come tottering towards us, and, showing 
 a fist about as large as a nut, cry, " Accursed be thy father ! 3> 
 and because they were afraid to come alone, they made groups 
 of seven or eight, so compact that they might all have been 
 earned on a tray ; and advancing with a threatening air to 
 within ten paces of us, stammered out their small insolence. 
 How they amused us ! One group among others advanced
 
 BISEO'S RUSE. 
 
 371 
 
 against Biseo to wish that some relation or other of his might 
 be roasted. Biseo raised his pencil ; the two first falling back 
 upon the others, they in their turn upon those behind, half 
 the army presently lay with their legs in the air. Even the 
 Governor burst out laughing".
 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AltZlLLA. 
 
 ' A FTER the spectacle of great cities 
 in decadence, a moribund people 
 and a lovely but melancholy land- 
 scape ; after such sleep, such old 
 age, and such ruin, here is the work 
 of the eternal hand, and here is im- 
 mortal youth; here is the air that revives the blood, the 
 beauty that refreshes the heart, the immensity in which the 
 soul exjDands ! Here is the ocean ! With what a thrill of 
 delight we salute it ! The unexpected apparition of a friend 
 or a brother could not have been dearer to our hearts than 
 the sight of that distant shining curve that gleamed before 
 us like an immense sickle, mowing down Islamism, slavery, 
 barbarism, and bearing our thoughts direct and free to Italy. 
 u Bahr-el-Kibir ! " exclaimed some soldiers. (The great 
 sea.) Others said, " Bahr-ed-Dholma ! " (The sea of dark- 
 ness.) All involuntarily hastened their steps ; conversation, 
 which had begun to languish, was re-animated; the servants 
 set up sacred songs ; the whole caravan, in a few minutes, 
 assumed an air of cheer and festivity. 
 
 On the evening of June 19th we encamped at three hours' 
 distance from Laracce, and the following morning entered the 
 city, received at the gate by the son of the Governor; by 
 twenty soldiers, without muskets or breeches, drawn up along 
 the road; by almost a hundred ragged boys, and by a band
 
 ON THE COAST. 373 
 
 composed of a tambourine and a trumpet, who came after- 
 wards to ask for money — giving* us an excruciating concert 
 in the court of the Italian Consular-Agent. 
 
 Upon that coast, sprinkled with dead cities — such as Sale, 
 Azamor, Safi, Santa Cruz — Laracce still preserves a little 
 commercial life, which is sufficient to cause her to be con- 
 sidered as one of the principal ports of Morocco. Founded 
 by a Berber tribe in the fifteenth century, fortified at the end 
 of the same century by Muley-ben-Nassar, abandoned to Spain 
 in 1610, retaken by Muley Ismael in 1689, still flourishing* at 
 the beginning of this century, with a population of about four 
 thousand, between Moors and Hebrews, it rises upon the 
 incline of a hill to the left of the mouth of the Kus, the 
 Lixus of the ancients, which forms for it an ample and 
 secure port, closed, however, by a sand-bank against the 
 entrance of large vessels. In the port lie rotting the carcasses 
 of two small gun-boats, the last miserable remnant of the fleet 
 that once carried the victorious army into Spain and alarmed 
 European commerce. Behind the hill there is a large grove 
 of gigantic trees. The town has nothing notable in it except 
 a market-place, surrounded by a portico sustained by small 
 stone columns; but seen from the port, all white upon the 
 dark green background of its hills, surrounded by a circle of 
 high battlemented walls of a dark calcareous tint, reflected 
 in the azure waters of the river, under that limpid sky, it 
 presents a dignified aspect, and despite the vividness of its 
 colours, almost a melancholy one, as if one felt compassion 
 at the sight of the picturesque city sileni and alone upon that 
 barbarous coast, by that deserted port, in the face of that 
 immense sea. 
 
 The camp was pitched thai evening <>n the right bank of 
 the Kus, and raised early the following morning. We were 
 to go to Arzilla, four hours distant from Laracce. The baggage 
 was sent on in the morning; the Embassy lefl towards evening. 
 I left with the baggage convoy, in order to see the caravan
 
 374 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 under a new aspect ; and I was glad I did, for it was a journey 
 lull of adventure. 
 
 The laden mules, accompanied by muleteers and servants, 
 went in groups, at a great distance one from the other. I 
 
 The Ambassador's Groom. 
 
 went on alone, and rode for nearly an hour over the hills, 
 where I saw only one mule, driven by an Arab servant, and 
 carrying two sacks of straw, of which one supported the head 
 and the other the feet of a groom of the Ambassador's, who 
 had been seized, by a violent fever, and who groaned, enough 
 to move the very stones with pity. The poor fellow lay thus 
 across the mule, with his head hanging down, his body bent, 
 the sun in his eyes, and in this way had he come all the way 
 from Karia-el-Abbassi, and was to go to Tangiers ! And in
 
 THE COOK'S TROUBLE. 375 
 
 this way are all the sick transported in Morocco who have no 
 money to hire a litter and two mules, and fortunate is he who 
 can have a bag of straw ! 
 
 On the shore I was joined by the cook, Ranni, and Luigi, 
 who did not leave me again until we reached Arzilla. 
 
 We trotted for an hour over the sands, turning out here 
 and there from the direct road to avoid a marsh. 
 
 At this time the cook, who for the first time in all the 
 journey was able to speak freely, opened his heart to me. 
 
 Poor fellow ! all the adventures we had had, all the great 
 things we had seen, had not freed him from a painful thought 
 which had destroyed his peace from the first week of his 
 sojourn at Tangiers. And this thought was an unsuccessful 
 jelly made by him one day when we were dining with the 
 French Minister — a jelly which had given the first blow to 
 his reputation in the mind of the Ambassador, and whose 
 ill-success was due, not to him, but to the bad Marsala wine. 
 Fez, the Court, Mechinez, the Sebu, the ocean, he had seen 
 and still saw them all through this medium of jelly. Or 
 rather, he had seen and saw nothing, because, although his 
 body was in Morocco, his spirit was in Turin. I asked him 
 to tell me his impressions, and they were these, as nearly as 
 I can set tnem down. He could not comprehend who the 
 beast could have been who had stamped that country. He 
 related his fatigues, his quarrels with his two Arab scullions, 
 the difficulties of preparing food in the desert, and his immense 
 desire to see Turin again ; but he always fell back upon that 
 deplorable jelly at the French Minister's. "1 do not know- 
 how to cook? Do me the favour when you are at Turin," 
 he said, touching my arm to withdraw me from my contem- 
 plation of the ocean, "go and ask Count so-and-so, Countess 
 such a one, &c, whom I served Por years and years! (Jo to 
 General Ricotti, Minister of War, who has been five years 
 Minister, and can do just what he pleases; go and ask him 
 whether or no I can make a jelly! Do goj give me that
 
 376 MOROCCO. 
 
 satisfaction; it will nof take a moment when you are back 
 in our country!" And he insisted so, that in order to con- 
 templali 1 the ocean in peace, I was obliged to promise. 
 
 Meanwhile we came up at every hundred paces or so with 
 two or three laden mules, soldiers on horseback, and servants 
 on foot ; fragments of the caravan that stretched along an 
 hour's journey before us. Among- the soldiers there were some 
 from Laracce, ragged fellows, with a handkerchief bound round 
 their heads, and a rusty musket in their hands; and among 
 the servants, boys of twelve or fcurteen years old, whom I 
 had not seen before, and who had escaped, I was told, from 
 Mechinez and Karia-el- Abbassi, and joined the caravan, with 
 nothing on them but a shirt, to seek their fortune at Tangiers, 
 living meantime on the charity of the soldiers. 
 
 In some of these groups there would be one telling a 
 story ; others singing ; and all seemed cheerful. 
 
 We stopped half-way to breakfast in the shadow of a 
 rock. And here I saw a scene that revealed to me the nature 
 of the people better than a volume of psychological disserta- 
 tion. 
 
 Near us there was a soldier seated on the sand, beyond 
 him another, further on a servant, and about fifty paces from 
 this last another servant, seated near a spring, with a jug 
 between his knees. Wishing to drink, I called to the first 
 soldier, " Elma, ! " (Water) , and pointed to the spring. The 
 soldier answered with a courteous gesture of acquiescence, and 
 imperiously ordered the second soldier to go and get some 
 water. The latter made a gesture of obedience, and with 
 threats and reproaches, asked the nearest servant why he had 
 not brought the water. The servant in question sprang to his 
 feet, made three hasty steps towards the one seated near the 
 spring, and called to him to bring water instantly. The last, 
 observing that I was not paying attention, did not move. 
 Five minutes passed, and the water did not come. I turned 
 to the first soldier, and the same scene was enacted over
 
 A SPECTRE. 377 
 
 again. Finally, if I wanted water, I had to shout to the man 
 who had the jug, who, after a few moments for reflection, 
 decided to get it, and brought it with about the speed of a 
 tortoise. 
 
 We resumed our journey. A fresh breeze blew, and a 
 cloud covered the sun, so that the ride was delicious; but as 
 the tide continued to rise, and restricted us more and more 
 to the sandy path, upon which we proceeded in single file, we 
 soon found ourselves imprisoned between the sea and the rocky 
 heights which rose almost perpendicularly above our heads, 
 and obliged to go on among the stones, where the waves were 
 already breaking. Several times the mule came to a stand in 
 terror, and I found myself surrounded by water and wrapped 
 in a cloud of spray. But our hour, as the cook said, was 
 not yet come ; and after about a mile, we reached a hill up 
 which we climbed in haste, looking back " a rimirar lo passo." 
 
 With us there was an old soldier of Laracce, a little 
 touched in the head, who laughed constantly, but who knew 
 the road. He made us skirt the hill, and led us through a 
 thick grove of dwarf oaks, cork-trees, broom, and shrubs of 
 various kinds; by a hundred twists and turns; through 
 thorns, and mud, and water, and darkness ; in recesses where 
 no human creature appeared ever to have penetrated ; and 
 always laughing, brought us, tired and torn, to the shore 
 again, where we found a strip of sand uninvaded by the waters. 
 
 Here, the caravan not having yet arrived, the beach was 
 deserted, and we rode for some time seeing nothing but sea 
 and sky, and the foot of the steep little hills, which forming 
 so many little harbours, hid the horizon behind us. We were 
 going on in silence, one behind the other, over the soft, 
 carpet -like sand, every one of us occupied with his thoughts 
 miles away from Morocco, when suddenly there sprang from 
 behind a rock a spectre, a horrible old man, half naked, with 
 a crown of yellow flowers on his head — a saint — who began 
 to inveigh against us, howling like a madman, and making 
 
 Y
 
 3TS 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 with both hands the gesture of scratching our faces and tearing 
 our beards. We stopped to look at him. He became more 
 ferocious. Ranni, without further ceremony, advanced to give 
 him the stick; but I stopped him and threw some money to 
 the saint. The rascal stopped, picked up the coin, looked at 
 it all over, put it in his bosom, and began to yell worse than 
 before. " Ah ! this time," said Ranni, (t he shall have a good 
 beating," and raised his stick. But the soldier, becoming 
 
 On the Sea Coen t. 
 
 serious in a moment, stopped him, and saying a few words 
 to the saint in accents of profound respect, induced him to 
 be silent. The horrible old wretch gave us one fulminating 
 glance, and hid himself once more among the rocks, where, 
 it appears, he lives, feeding on roots, with the sole purpose 
 of cursing the Nazarene ships that pass on the horizon. 
 
 We climbed the hills again, and rode for a long time 
 through winding paths among rocks and bushes. At some 
 points, where the path ran along the edge of the steep 
 precipice, we could see far down the sea beating upon the 
 rocks, and a long stretch of beach, with the caravan straggling 
 along, and the immense horizon of the blue ocean dotted with 
 distant sails. The mountains where our road lay formed with
 
 AEZILLA IN SIGHT. 379 
 
 their checkered tops a vast undulating plain, where there was no 
 trace of cultivation, nor tomb, nor cabin, nor human creature, 
 and no sound but the distant murmur of the sea. a What a 
 country ! " exclaimed the cook, looking about him with an 
 anxious glance. " I hope we may not meet with any un- 
 pleasant adventure." As for me, I asked myself whether there 
 was no danger of lions. Going up and going down, losing 
 sight of each other, and meeting again among the bushes, 
 we travelled for two hours through these mountain solitudes, 
 and began to fear that we had missed the way, when from a 
 height we suddenly discovered the towers of Arzilla, and the 
 whole coast as far as Cape Spartel, whose blue outline was 
 drawn sharply against the limpid clearness of the sky. 
 
 It was a delight for all the little caravan, but of brief dura- 
 tion. 
 
 As we descended towards the sea w r e saw far off a group of 
 horses and men lying down, who, as soon as they discovered us, 
 sprang to their feet, and to their saddles, and came towards us, 
 spreading themselves out in the form of a half moon, as if they 
 intended to prevent our advance towards the town. 
 
 " Here we are at last/' thought I ; " this time we shall not 
 escape ; it is a band," and I made a sign for the rest to halt. 
 
 " Let the Moor be sent forward ! " called out the cook. The 
 Moorish soldier ran on in advance. 
 
 " Give them a shot ! " screamed the trembling cook. 
 
 " One moment," said I ; " before we kill them, let us see 
 whether they mean to kill us." 
 
 I looked attentively at them ; they advanced at a trot ; 
 there were ten of them, some in dark colours, some in white; I 
 could see no muskets; at their head was an old man with a 
 white beard ; I felt reassured. 
 
 ** Let us form a square ! " cried the cook. 
 
 "There is no need," I said. The old man with the white 
 beard had uncovered his bead, and came towards us cap in 
 hand. 
 
 y 2
 
 3S0 MOROCCO. 
 
 lie was an Israelite. At ten paces off lie stopped with his 
 followers, who were composed of four other Israelites and five 
 Aral) servants, and made signs that he wished to speak with me. 
 
 "liable Ustcd," I replied ("Speak!"). 
 
 " I am so and so," he said in Spanish, with a sweet voice, 
 and bending in an attitude of respect, " Consular agent for Italy 
 and all the other European states in the city of Arzilla. Have I 
 the honour to be in the presence of his Excellency the Italian 
 Ambassador, returning from Fez, on his way to Tangiers ? " 
 
 I was amazed. Then I assumed a grave and courteous air, 
 and glanced round at my followers who were beaming with 
 delight ; and after having tasted for an instant the honour of an 
 official reception, I undeceived the old Hebrew, with a sigh, and 
 told him who I was. He seemed for a moment displeased, but 
 did not change his manner. He offered me his house to rest in, 
 and when I declined his hospitality, he would at any rate accom- 
 pany me to the spot destined for the encampment. 
 
 We all went on together, skirting the city, towards the sea- 
 shore. Ah ! if Ussi and Biseo could only have seen me ! How 
 j)icturesque I must have been, sitting on a mule, with a white 
 scarf round my head, followed by my staff, composed of a cook 
 in his shirt sleeves, two sailors armed with sticks, and a ragged 
 Moor ! O Italian art, what hast thou not lost ! 
 
 Arzilla, the Zilia of the Carthagenians, the Julia Traducta of 
 the Romans, passed from the hands of the latter into those of the 
 Goths, was sacked by the English towards the middle of the 
 tenth century, remained for thirty years a heap of stones, was 
 rebuilt by Abd-er-Rhaman-ben-Ali, Calijm of Cordova, taken by 
 the Portuguese, and retaken by Morocco, and is now nothing 
 but a little town of about one thousand inhabitants between 
 Moors and Hebrews, surrounded on the sea and land sides by 
 high battlemented walls, which are falling into ruin ; white and 
 quiet as a cloister, and imprinted, like all the small Mahometan 
 towns, with that smiling melancholy which recalls the last look 
 on the face of the dying who are glad to die.
 
 THE END OF THE JOURNEY. 
 
 3S1 
 
 In the evening-, at sunset, the Ambassador arrived, and came 
 to the encampment across the city ; and I have still before my 
 eyes the spectacle of that beautiful cavalcade, full of colour and 
 life, issuing out of a battlemented gate, advancing in picturesque 
 
 disorder along the shore, and throwing 
 across the sands in the rosy sunset 
 light its long black shadows; and 
 here, in fact, it may be said that our 
 journey came to an end, since the 
 following morning we en- 
 camped at Ain-Dalia, and 
 
 Departure Jrom Arzilla. 
 
 two days afterwards we re-entered Tangiers, where the caravan 
 broke up in that same little market-place where it had fori) in 1 
 two months before. 
 
 The Commandant, the Captain, the two painters, and I lefl 
 together for Gibraltar. The Ambassador, the Vice-Consul, all 
 the people of the Legation accompanied us to the shore, and the 
 Barewells were very affectionate. All were moved, even the good 
 General Ilamed-ben-Kasen, who, pressing my hand against his 
 mighty chest, repeated three times the only European word he 
 knew — "A Lion!" — with ;i voice that came from his heart. 
 
 We had scarcely put our loot upon the deck of the ship when,
 
 38S 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 oh ! how distant in space and timo seemed all that phantas- 
 mal >ria of pashas, and negroes, and tents, and mosques, and 
 battlemented towers. It was not a country, it was an entire 
 world that in a moment vanished from our eyes, and a world 
 that we should never see again. A little of Africa accompanied 
 us on board, however, in the two Selims, Ali, Hamed, Abd-er- 
 llhaman, Civo, Morteo's servants, and other kind young fellows 
 whom Mussulman superstition had not prevented from wishing 
 well to the Xazarenes and serving them with fidelity. And they 
 also took leave of us with warm demonstrations of affection 
 and regret, Civo more than the others, who, causing his long 
 white shirt to float for the last time before my eyes, threw 
 his arms about my neck, and planted two kisses in my 
 ear. And when the steamer moved they saluted us still 
 from a boat, waving their red fezes, and shouting as long 
 as we could see them, "Allah be with you ! Come back 
 to Morocco ! Farewell, Nazarenes ! Farewell, Italians ! A 
 Bios ! A Dios !" 
 
 Furewell.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ahd-Alla, chief of the Ben-Hassen 
 tribe, 164, 175, 177. 
 
 Abdallah, The Sultan, 236, 237. 
 
 Abd-er-Rhaman, The Sultan, 237 ; and 
 the merchant's teeth, 295 — 297 ; 
 and the French cannonade, 308. 
 
 Abou-Yussuf Yacoub-el-Mansar, Tra- 
 dition of, 132. 
 
 Abù-Ben-Gileli and the bastinado, 192, 
 193. 
 
 Adventure, A love, 302, 303. 
 
 Africa, The Athens of, 225 ; Moorish 
 commerce with the interior of, 289. 
 
 Algiers, A revolt in, 200. 
 
 Agriculture, State of, in Morocco, 23 ; 
 Moorish, 63, 64. 
 
 Ahmed-el-Dehebi, The Sultan, 236. 
 
 Ain-Dalia, 90. 
 
 Air of Fez, Effects of, on Europeans, 
 292, 293. 
 
 Aissawa, The religious confraternity 
 called, 47, 48 ; procession of, 48 — 
 52. 
 
 Alkazar, Battle of, 123, 125 ; the musi- 
 cal band of, 125, 127. 
 
 Alkazar-el-Kibir, First appearance of 
 the city of, 125; entrance into, 
 130 ; streets of, 130—132 ; origin of, 
 132; Jewish quarter of , L31, 132. 
 
 Allab, Entreating, for rain in TangierB, 
 37. 
 
 Ambassador, The, visit to the ten! of, 
 102, 103; cursed by a saint, 143, 
 144 ; visited by the Governor Ben- 
 Auda and his sons, 144, 146; and 
 Bchereef Bacali, 281 ; interview 
 with the Sultan, 243—246; pri- 
 
 vate interview with the Sultan, 
 260, 261 ; receives a deputation 
 of Jewesses, 261 — 265 ; and the 
 Moorish war minister, 266 — 269 ; 
 conferences with Sid-Moussa, 290, 
 292 ; Sultan's present to, 339 ; and 
 the son of Sid-Abdallah, 364, 365 ; 
 the groom of, 374 ; arrival at, and 
 departure from, Arzilla, 381. 
 
 Ampelusian, The Ancient, 67. 
 
 Amusements, The Embassy's indoor, 
 271. 
 
 Antiquarian research of the Captain, 
 346, 347. 
 
 Arab, The art of lying down possessed 
 by the, 25 ; boys of Tangiers, 26, 
 28 ; saints, 28, 29 ; music, 30 ; girl 
 and the Christian, 60 ; serpent 
 charmers, 61, 62 ; morning prayer 
 of the, 86, 87 ; the passion of com- 
 mand in the, 80, 81 ; salutation of 
 the, 90 ; method of hardening the 
 head, 98, 99 ; supposed love for his 
 horse by the, 114, 115; patient 
 and the prescription, 116, 117 ; in- 
 difference to pain of the, 117, 118 ; 
 as a suppliant, 128, 129: servant, 
 271, 272 ; troops, bravery of, 305— 
 308. 
 
 Arabian dinner, An, 45 — 47. 
 
 Arabic journals, Scarcity of, in Fez, 
 272. 
 
 Arabs of Morocco, Character of the, 
 21 ; personal appearance, 26, 26. 
 
 Architecture, A Moor's opinion "t 
 European, 330. 
 
 Army, The Moorish, 270.
 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Art critics, Bfoorish, 273, -71. 
 Artillery, Commander-in-chief of the 
 
 Bfoorish, 268, 269; manoeuvres of, 
 
 350. 
 
 Arusi, Story of the bandit, 313—319. 
 Arzilla, Consular agent of, 3S0. 
 
 , History and present condition 
 
 of, 380. 
 Audience, Moors waiting for an, 334. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bab-el-Maroc, two heads hanging from 
 the gate, 227, 228. 
 
 Bacali, Schereef, and the Ambassador, 
 231. 
 
 Bahr-el-Kibir, 372. 
 
 Ball, Arab method of playing, 55 ; 
 players of Karia-el- Abbassi, 154, 
 ir,:,. 
 
 Band, The Alcazar musical, 125, 127. 
 
 Bandit, Story of a famous Moorish, 
 313—319. 
 
 Banquet, A Moorish, 46, 47. 
 
 Bar-el-Dolma, The Moorish, 65, 372. 
 
 Bastinado, The, 192—194. 
 
 Bazaar, An Alkazar, 31. 
 
 Bazaars of Fez, 220. 
 
 Beauty, A Moorish, 251. 
 
 Belgian, A home-sick, 67. 
 
 Ben-Auda, Meaning of, 138 ; the Mima 
 of, 144 ; the Governor of, 139 ; sons 
 and nephews of, 139, 140 ; break- 
 fast with, 140, 141 ; visit to the 
 Ambassador, 144, 145. 
 
 Ben-Tinea, The gorge of, 191. 
 
 Beni-Hassan, Travelling through the 
 territory of, 163, 177 ; escort from, 
 164, 165; the tribe of, 166, 168; 
 visit from the son of the Governor 
 of, 354, 355. 
 
 Berber soldier, A, 322. 
 
 Berbers of Morocco, The, 21 ; character 
 of, 35, 37. 
 
 Biseo the artist and his critics, 274, 
 275 ; ruse of, 371. 
 
 Boascherin, Meaning of, 252. 
 
 Boatmen, Flight of, 366. 
 
 Boats, Moorish, 159; mended by 
 
 Luigi, 366, 367. 
 Books in Fez, No, 272. 
 Boys, Dress of Jewish, 26 ; Arab, 26, 
 
 28 ; a fight between two, 57. 
 Bravery, Moorish ideas of European, 
 
 303, 305; of Arab troops, 305— 
 
 308. 
 Breakfast, A singular, 141, 141 ; with 
 
 Sid-Moussa, 228—231. 
 Bridal chamber, A Moorish, 44, 45. 
 Bridge, Buins of an historic, 123; a 
 
 Moorish, 344. 
 Bu-Bekr-Ben-el-Abbassi, 147, 149, 
 
 367 ; daughter of, 153 ; and his 
 
 people, 370. 
 Burnt gate, Two heads hanging from 
 
 the, 227, 228. 
 Buving and selling in Fez, 323 — 325. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caie, The Moorish, 24, 25. 
 
 Caid and the merchant's teeth, The, 
 
 293—297 ; Misfiui, 73, 75. 
 Camp, A walk through the, at night, 
 
 101—108; scene at a, 154. 
 Cannonade, The French, and the Sultan, 
 
 308. 
 Cape Spartel, An excursion to, 64 — 66 ; 
 
 view from, 65. 
 Caravan, Departure of, from Tangiers, 
 
 78 ; of a merchant of Mechinez, 
 
 343, 344 ; novel character of, 376. 
 Carriage, The first in Tangiers, 189, 
 
 191. 
 Cart, A Moorish, 189. 
 Casba, The castle of, Tangiers, 39 ; 
 
 view from, 39. 
 Castillejos, The battle of, mentioned, 
 
 307. 
 Cataract, Performing an operation for, 
 
 280; the reward, 281. 
 Ceremonies, A Moorish master of, 241. 
 Chamber, A Moorish bridal, 44, 45. 
 Character, The Moorish, 297, 298.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 385 
 
 Charge (T Affaires, The Italian, at Tan- 
 
 giers, IS, 19 ; servants of, 19. 
 Chicago and Fez, 310—312. 
 Christian, Meaning of, to the Moors, 
 
 9 ; an Arab girl and the, 60. 
 Cicindela campestri.?, The, 15. 
 Circumcision, The Festival of, 30, 31. 
 Cities, European, A Moor's opinion of, 
 
 326—332. 
 City of Fez, Visit to, 214 ; melancholy 
 
 appearance of, 215, 216. 
 City of Fez, The ancient, 220—222 ; 
 
 origin of the founding of, 223 — 
 
 225 ; history of, 225. 
 City of Mduma, Ruins of, 345. 
 City of Mechinez, 348 ; wonders of, 
 
 350, 351 ; description of, 355. 
 City of Tangiers, Character of, 11 — 
 
 13 ; stroll through at night, 17, 18. 
 Ciua, the Arab, 88 ; farewell of, 382, 
 
 383. 
 Civilisation, A Moor's opinion of Euro- 
 pean, 325—332. 
 , Character of, in Morocco, 
 
 22, 24. 
 Civo, the Arab, 88 ; the farewell of, 
 
 382, 383. 
 Coast, Journey along the, 375 — 380. 
 Commerce, State of, in Morocco, 22 ; 
 
 Moorish, 288; with Europe, 288; 
 
 with the interior of Africa, 289. 
 Compliments, Paying, 378, 379. 
 ( 'onsul, Tin' Spanish, 83. 
 Consular Agent of Arzilla, 379, 380. 
 Cook, A Fiedmontesc, 88, 89, 145, 14 6 
 
 a night visit to, 105 ; opinion of the 
 
 Sultan, 217,248; trouble of, 375, 
 
 376; and the travellers, 379. 
 Cookery, Moorish, 46, 47. 
 I «rpse, Carrying a, 220. 
 Cossyphtu Hoffmannseffhi, The, 157. 
 Costarne, The Moor's gala, 24, 25. 
 Court, Central, of a Moorish house, 44. 
 Courtiers, The Sultan's, 2l<;. 
 Critics, Moorish art, 273, 275. 
 Crowd, Dispersing a Moorish, 166. 
 ( nil.. <>f Sidi-Li imnni, The, 1 13. 
 
 Curse, An old woman's passing, 280. 
 Curses, Moorish, 357, 370 ; a saint's, 
 
 377, 378. 
 Ctcscàssù, The, 171. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dà, The river, 370. 
 
 Dance, A Moorish religious, 48 — 52 ; 
 
 the soldiers', 60. 
 Daughter of Bu-Bekr-Ben-el-Abbassi, 
 
 The, 153. 
 Day, A terrible hot, 361—364. 
 De Boccard, Captain, 276 ; antiquarian 
 
 adventure of, 346, 347. 
 De Hubner, Baron, on life in Chicago, 
 
 310—312. 
 Demons, The king and his, 351, 352. 
 Desert, Travelling in the, 359 — 361. 
 Dinner, An Arabian, 46, 47- 
 Doctors, European, in Morocco, 118. 
 Dre?s, Effects of European, on the 
 
 Moors, 238—240. 
 Duar, A Moorish, 169, 171 ; life in a, 
 
 171 ; dress of the inhabitants, 172 ; 
 
 amusements in, 172, 173; children 
 
 of, 173; marriage ceremony, 173; 
 
 funeral ceremony in, 174 ; poverty 
 
 in, 174; extortion, 174, 175; revolt 
 
 of a, 175. 
 Dwarf, A negro, 323. 
 
 E. 
 
 Edris-ebn-Abdallah, Story of the life 
 of, 223, 224. 
 
 Edris-ebn-Edris, founder of Fez, 224, 
 225. 
 
 El-Cariun, History of the Mosque, 
 226, 227. 
 
 El-Rcschid, Sultan, 236. 
 
 Embassy, Italian, to Fez discussed, 
 18; character and purpose of, L9 ; 
 company of, 8Q, 82 ; indoor amuse- 
 ments of , 271 ; Sultan's presi ntsto, 
 239. 
 
 Encampment, An, 82—90; breaking
 
 386 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 up an, SP : occupation in, 90; 
 
 a night stroll through, 101— 108 ; 
 
 at Zeguta, 194, 195 : at Mount 
 
 Zagafe212; at lieta de Rossana, 
 
 116; at the Mduma rivcr, 344 ; at 
 
 Machines, 348. 
 Escort, Animals of the, G8 ; soldiers of, 
 
 69 ; commandant of, TO. 
 Europe and Asia, Difference between, 
 
 9 ; Moorish commerce with, 288 ; a 
 
 Moor's opinion of, 325 — 332. 
 European doctors in Morocco, 118. 
 Europeans in Morocco, 22 : Moorish 
 
 women's curiosity about, 299, 300. 
 Execution, A Moorish, 284—286. 
 Executioner, A Moorish, 285 ; fate of, 
 
 286. 
 Extortion in a Duar, 174, 175. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faces, Variety of, seen at Fez, 322, 
 323. 
 
 Families, Military, obligations and 
 privileges of, 178. 
 
 Fencers, Moorish, 57, 59. 
 
 Fez, The Italian Embassy to, dis- 
 cussed, 18: a picture of, 66, 67; 
 the escort for, 67 — 70 ; journey 
 to discussed, 74 ; preparations 
 for the journey to, 75 ; on the 
 road to, 81, 82 ; scenery on the 
 road to, 109, 110, 116, 119, 121 ; 
 carrying presents to, 189 ; table- 
 land of, 200, 201; first sight of, 
 
 202 ; preparations to enter, 202, 
 
 203 ; entry into, 204 ; entering the 
 gate of, 210 ; the Ambassador's 
 house at, 212 ; visit to city of, 214 
 — 220 ; formation of the city of, 
 220, 222; gates of, 222; the his- 
 torian's eulogy on, 223 ; origin of 
 the foundation of, 223, 225 ; mean- 
 ing of the word, 224 ; history of, 
 225 ; decay of, 225 ; imperial resi- 
 dence at, 246 ; imperial terrace at, 
 249, 252 ; condition of the Jews 
 
 in, 263, 265; shopping in, 272; 
 effects of rain in, 282, 283 ; mer- 
 chants of, 286 ; effects of the air 
 of, 292, 293 ; negroes in, 308—310 ; 
 and Chicago, 310—312; life in, 
 319—322 ; faces seen at, 322, 323 ; 
 buying and selling in, 324, 325, 
 332 ; a review at, 335 ; last impres- 
 sions of, 339, 340 ; farewell to, 
 341 ; route from, to Tangiers, 343. 
 
 Fight, A street, 356, 357. 
 
 Fileli, History of the dynasty of, 235 
 —238. 
 
 Finance, The Moorish Minister of, 214. 
 
 Fingers, The art of feeding with the, 
 269, 270. 
 
 Flu, a coin of Morocco, The, 39, 40. 
 
 French cannonade and the Sultan, The, 
 308. 
 
 French officer, A Moorish, 336, 337. 
 
 Funeral, Ceremony of a, in a Duar, 174. 
 
 G. 
 
 Garb, Revolt in the province of, 14 2. 
 
 Gardens of Tangiers, 62, 63. 
 
 Gate, Confusion in entering, 208, 210 ; 
 
 of Mechinez, a, 335. 
 Gates of Fez, 222 ; closing of, 279 ; 
 
 reason for closing the, 280. 
 Geography, A Lesson in, to Moors, 
 
 184. 
 German renegade, A fortunate, 281, 
 
 282. 
 Ghalu Fountain, Origin of the name 
 
 of, 232. 
 Giant, A young Moorish, 268—270. 
 Gibraltar mentioned, 9, 17- 
 Gibus hat, The magic, 240, 248, 249. 
 Gilali Ben-Amu and his chiefs, 206. 
 Gileli Ruqui, Revenge of, 142. 
 Girl, an Arab, and the Christian, 60 ; 
 
 a beautiful slave, 298 ; accident to 
 
 a Moorish, 323. 
 Gloves, The Arab girl and the, 60. 
 Governors, Treatment of, by the Sul- 
 tan, 368, 370.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 387 
 
 Groom, The Ambassador's sick, 374. 
 Guard, Appearance of the, at Fez, 
 
 215. 
 Guitar, Music from the, 101, 102. 
 
 H. 
 
 Had-el-Garbia, Encampment at, 94, 
 
 96 ; horsemen of, 99. 
 Hadji Mohammed Ben-Aissa, Grand 
 
 Chamberlain, 204. 
 Hall, Reception, of the Imperial 
 
 Palace, 260, 2G1. 
 Hamed Ben-Kasen Buhamei, the 
 
 Moorish general, 70, 71, 181, 182, 
 
 359, 360 ; night reconnoitre with, 
 107 ; punishment of a servant, 
 
 360, 361 ; farewell of, 381, 382. 
 Hamed, the Arab, Appearance and 
 
 dress of, 136. 
 
 Harem, The doctor's visit to a, 281. 
 
 Hashish, 195—197. 
 
 Hatchet, Tradition of a, at Fez, 
 224. 
 
 Hay, Mr. Drummond, account of a 
 Moorish execution, 281 — 286. 
 
 Head, A novel way of hardening the, 
 98, 99. 
 
 Hebrew quarter in Alkazar, 131, 132 ; 
 in Fez, 222, 223. 
 
 Hebrew women, Deputation of, 261 — 
 263. 
 
 Herrez, Virtues of the, 137. 
 
 Hesse-Darmstadt, Prince of, and his 
 carriage, 189, 191. 
 
 Hides, Moorish trade in, 287. 
 
 Historian's eulogy on Fez, 23. 
 
 Honesty, A Moor's opinion of Euro- 
 pean, 327, 328. 
 
 Horse thieves, 167. 
 
 Horsemen, Moorish, 114, 115; evolu- 
 tions of, 64, 55. 
 
 Horses, Moorish, OS, 69, 111, 115. 
 
 Bospitality, Character of Moorish, 
 300. 
 
 House, The Ambassador's, at Fez, 212, 
 214; a night walk through, 216, 
 
 House, visit to a Moorish, 43—47. 
 Houses in Tangiers, 12 ; in Alkazar, 
 
 130. 
 Humour, Indulging in a spirit of, 
 
 268. 
 Husbandry, Moorish, 63, 64. 
 
 Illusions, A series of optical, 347, 
 
 348. 
 Imperial palace of Mechinez, The, 350, 
 
 351. 
 Inn, Company at a Tangiers, 16. 
 Insects, Tormented by, 115; the Mo- 
 rocco, 156, 170; a night attack 
 
 from, 157, 158. 
 Italian Charge (V Affaires at Tangiers, 
 
 18, 19; company of, 21. 
 Italian Embassy to Fez discussed, 17 ; 
 
 character and purpose of, 19. 
 Italian sailor, An, 87, 88 ; conversation 
 
 with a Neapolitan, 105 ; estimate 
 
 of the Sultan, 248. 
 
 Jelly, The badly-made, 375, 376. 
 
 Jew boys, Dress of, 20. 
 
 Jewellers, Moorish, 288. 
 
 Jewels, Jewesses and their, 264. 
 
 Jewesses, Beauty of the Moorish, 26 ; 
 a deputation of, 261 — 263; early 
 marriages of, 265. 
 
 Jews, Character of Moorish, 21, 22 ; 
 personal appearance and dress, 26 ; 
 quarter in Alkazar, 131, 132; 
 quarter in Fez, 222, 223 : humi- 
 liating condition of, in Fez, 263, 
 264. 
 
 Joke, a practical, 81 — 85. 
 
 Journals, Arabic, Scarcity of, in Fez 
 272. 
 
 Journey, Dangers of, to Fez, 67; a 
 warm, 359—361. 
 
 Julia Traduota, thi Roman, 380. 
 
 Justice, Moorish, 127 — 129.
 
 :- 
 
 1XDKX. 
 
 K. 
 
 Karia Abbassi, the Governor of, 117. 
 
 1 c.i : Governor's residence in, l">l ; 
 
 politeness of the Governor of, 161, 
 
 152; ball players of, 154, 155; 
 
 boys of, 1 55 : sojourn at, 367. 
 K minis del Inde, The Moorish, 63. 
 Kit', An Experiment with, 195 ; effects 
 
 of, 195—197. 
 King and the demons, The, 352. 
 Koran and portrait-taking, 93 ; and 
 
 wasting hread, 350. 
 Kos, The river. 125, 373. 
 
 Lab-el-Baroda of the Laraeee escort, 
 The, 110, 111, 119. 
 
 Landwehr, Soldiers of a, 94. 
 
 Laraeee, Appearance of the escort 
 from, 110; Governor of , 110; the 
 Lab-el-Baroda of, 110, 111, 119; 
 the Italian consul agent of, 116; 
 arrival at, 373 ; history and de- 
 scription of, 373. 
 
 Lecture on Mussulmans' wives, 303. 
 
 Legation, The Italian, at Tangiers, 18 
 — 21 ; company at, 75, 76. 
 
 Letters in Fez, Receiving, 273. 
 
 Lex Talionis, The, 26, 293 ; a curious 
 instance of, 293—297. 
 
 Licos of the ancients, 125, 373. 
 
 Lighthouse of Cape Spartel, 65. 
 
 Litter, The doctor's, 344 ; the Mechi- 
 nez, 357, 358. 
 
 Locust, Visit from a, 157. 
 
 Locusts, Ravages by an invasion of, 
 187, 189. 
 
 Love adventure, A, 302, 303. 
 
 Luigi, the Neapolitan sailor, 105; con- 
 versation with Ranni, 105 ; estimate 
 of the Sultan, 248 ; mends the 
 Moorish boat, 366, 367. 
 
 Lukkos, The river, 125. 
 
 Li/cos Tarentula, The, 157. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mahomet, Festival of the birth of, 52 
 —62. 
 
 The young Moor, 43. 
 
 Maladies, Prevalent Moorish, 118. 
 
 Maledictions, Passing, 103, 131, 137. 
 
 Bfansion, A Moorish, 212. 
 
 Mantle, The Arab's white, 25. 
 
 Marriage age among the Jews, The, 
 265 ; ceremony in a Duar, 173. 
 
 Mduma city, Ruins of, 345, 346. 
 
 Mduma river, Encampment at, 344. 
 
 Mecca of the West, The, 225. 
 
 Mechinez, Scenery and people on the 
 road to, 343, 344 ; caravan of a mer- 
 chant of, 343, 344 ; arrival at, 348 ; 
 Governor of, 350; wonders of, 350, 
 351 ; treasure of, 351 ; the king of, 
 and the demons, 352 ; description 
 of, 355; a gate of, 355, 356; a 
 street row in, 356, 357 ; scenery on 
 the road from, 358. 
 
 Medicine, Moorish knowledge of, 117. 
 
 Meilà, Meaning of, 131 ; of Fez, 222, 
 223. 
 
 Meloe Majalis, The, 156, 157. 
 
 Merchant and the Lex Talionis, The, 
 293— 297; a Fez, 325; caravan of 
 a, 343, 344. 
 
 Merchants, The Fez, 286, 287. 
 
 Miches, The river, 200. 
 
 Miguerez, Dr., Visit to the tent of, 
 104 ; performs an operation, 280 ; 
 reward, 281 ; attacked by sciatica, 
 344 ; new litter for, 357, 358. 
 
 Military families, 178; escort from, 
 191 ; tactics, 307. 
 
 Milk, paying for, 276. 
 
 Minister, A Sultan's instructions to a, 
 72. 
 
 Ministers, A visit from Moorish, 214. 
 
 Mogado, An instance of Lex Talionis at, 
 293—297. 
 
 Mohammed Ducale, Appearance and 
 dress of, 99, 101 ; Arab servant to, 
 102 ; smiling fortunes of, 292.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 Moor, The gala dress of a, 24, 25 ; 
 visit to the house of a, 44 — 47 ; the 
 travelled, 275 ; a noble-looking, 
 367, 368. 
 
 Moorish shopmen and shops, 30 ; wife's 
 wardrobe, 41 ; horsemen, 54, 154; 
 ball-players, 55 ; fencers, 57, 58 ; 
 story-teller, 58, 59 ; musicians, 59 ; 
 soldiers' dance, 59, 60 ; serpent 
 charmer, 61, 62; husbandry, 63, 
 61; Bar-el-Dolma, 65; horses, 68, 
 114; mules, 68, 71 ; General, 107; 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs, 71, 
 72, 75 ; knowledge of medicine, 
 117; maladies, 118; justice, 127— 
 129 ; zania, 130 ; postal service, 137, 
 138 ; revolt, 141, 142; women and 
 the doctor, 155, 156 ; insects, 156, 
 157; boats, 159, 160,366; Duar, 
 169, 171; schoolmaster,171 ; militia, 
 178; remarks on Christians, 183 
 
 184 ; cart, 189 ; mansion, 212 ; girl 
 and the artist, 214, 215; beauty, a, 
 251 ; washerwoman, 272; art critics, 
 273—275 ; execution, 284—286 ; 
 executioner, 284, 285 ; products, 
 286—288; commerce, 286—288; 
 character, 297, 298 ; women's cu- 
 riosity about Christians, 299, 300 ; 
 hatred of Christians, 300—302 ; 
 military tactics, 307, 308 ; slavery, 
 308—310; nicknames, 320, 321; 
 review, 332, 335 ; officers, 335 ; 
 prisoners, 335 : French officer, 336, 
 337 ; curses, 357, 370 ; servants, 
 376, 377. 
 
 Moors of Morocco, Character of, 21, 
 297, 298 ; personal appearance, 24, 
 25 ; a 1' BBOn in geography to, 184, 
 
 1 85 ; effects of European dress on, 
 
 240; hatred of Christiana by 
 the, 300, 302. 
 
 "I i ( . ■ ographical position of, 21 ; 
 
 number and variety <>f inhabitant . 
 21, 22 ; commerce, agriculture, &c, 
 of, 22, 23; government of, 22; 
 decadence of, 23, 21 ; origin of the 
 
 Empire of, 223, 224 ; minister of 
 ministers in, 228, 229 ; character 
 of slavery in, 308, 310 ; arrests in, 
 368 ; farewell to, 381—383. 
 
 Morteo and the half-blind boy, 365. 
 
 Mosque, Painting a, under difficulties, 
 273, 275. 
 
 Mosques of Tangiers, 37, 38 ; of El- 
 Carun and Muley-Edris, 225—227. 
 
 Mount Tagat, The encampment at, 
 202. 
 
 Zalag, Ascent of, 275, 279 ; 
 
 view from, 278. 
 
 Mountains, the Red, Ascent of, 91 ; 
 view of the caravan from, 91, 92. 
 
 Character of, along the 
 
 coast, 378, 379. 
 
 Muezzin, The, 39. 
 
 Mulatto, Landing on the back of a, 
 10 ; saint, a, 29 ; a handsome, 322 ; 
 a mad, 323. 
 
 Muley-Abdallah, The Sultan, 236, 237. 
 
 Muley-Ahmed el Dehebi, The .Sultan, 
 236. 
 
 Muley-Edris, The Mosque of, 225, 226. 
 
 Muley-el-Hassen, The Sultan, men- 
 tioned, 19 ; power of, 22. 
 
 Muley-Hescham, The Sultan, 237. 
 
 Muley-Ismail, The Sultan, 236, 350. 
 
 Muley-Moluk, at the battle of Alkazar. 
 123, L24. 
 
 Muley-Soliinan, Sultan, and his trea- 
 sure, 351. 
 
 Muley-Yezid, The Sultan, 237. 
 
 Mttna, The, 96, 142, 144 ; Bharing the, 
 96, 97. 
 
 Music, Character of Arabian, 30. 
 
 Musicians, Arabian, 46. 
 
 N. 
 
 Negro, A dwarf, 823. 
 
 Negroes, Dancing, 61; importation 
 and price of, 308, 3 1 o ; strange 
 I'm i ones of, •'ilo ; and the imperial 
 1 1 1 saure, 351. 
 
 Nicknames, Moorish, 320, 321.
 
 31)0 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Night, A disturbed, 11 ; city of Fez 
 
 at, 821. 
 Nigritia, Morocco the gate to, 290. 
 
 0. 
 i Icean, Joy al Bight of, 372. 
 Officer, A Moorish French, 336, 337. 
 Officers, Moorish, 335. 
 Omen, A day of good, 7"). 
 Operation, Performing an, 280 ; the 
 doctor's reward, 281. 
 
 Pain, The Arab's indifference to, 117. 
 
 Palace at Mechinez, 350, 3.51. 
 
 Paolo Grande, The somnambulist, 81 
 
 —85. 
 Parasol, The imperial, 2-14. 
 Pearl river, The, 220, 223. 
 Phcropsophus Africanus, The, 156. 
 Physician and women patients, A, 15G. 
 Ploughing, Moorish, G3. 
 Port of Laracce, 373. 
 Tostai service, The Moorish, 149. 
 Postman, A Moorish, 137, 138. 
 Pottery, Moorish, 287, 28S. 
 Powder-play, Moorish, 110, 112. 
 Prayer, The Arab's morning, 86, 87 
 Prayers, Mussulman and Christian, 66. 
 Prejudice, Arab, 275. 
 Prescription, Swallowing a, 116, 117. 
 Presents, Carrying, to Fez, 189. 
 Prisoners, Moorish, 335. 
 Products, Moorish, 286—288. 
 Promenade of Tangiers, 40, 41. 
 Punishment, A paternal, 132, 134 ; an 
 
 instrument of, 259. t 
 
 R. 
 
 Racma, Metamorphosis of , 31, 33. 
 
 Rahmana and the bandit, 313—319. 
 
 Pain, Entreating Aliali for, 37 ; effects 
 of, in Fez, 282, 283. 
 
 Ranni, The sailor, 87, 88 ; conversa- 
 tion with Luigi, 1 05 ; opinion of the 
 Sultan, 248 ; and the saint, 377, 378. 
 
 Rebols, Punishment of, 227, 228. 
 
 Red Mountains, Ascent of, 91 ; view 
 of the caravan from, 91, 92. 
 
 Religion, A Moor's opinion of the Eu- 
 ropean's, 328. 
 
 Religious dance, A Moorish, 48—52. 
 
 Renegades, Condition of, 281, 282. 
 
 Rosidence, Imperial, at Fez, 247. 
 
 Review, A Moorish, 332, 335. 
 
 Revolt, A Moorish, 142 ; of a Duar, 
 175; in Algiers, 200. 
 
 Rif, Inhabitants of, 35, 37 ; story of 
 the bandit of, 313—319. 
 
 Riffans, Character of the, 35, 37. 
 
 Road, A closed, 259 ; in Morocco, 87 ; 
 the king and the walled, 351, 352. 
 
 Romance and reality, 353. 
 
 Row, A street, 356, 357. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sagat, Travelling alone on the road to, 
 
 198, 200. 
 Sailor, An Italian, 87, 88, 105, 248. 
 Saint curses the Ambassador, A, 143 — 
 
 145; curses of a, 377, 378. 
 Saints, An encounter with, 28, 29. 
 Salutation, An Arab, 90. 
 Sardine-box, Curiosity about, 114. 
 Scene, A Morning, 85, 86. 
 Scenery on the road to Fez, 109, 110 
 
 119, 150, 151 ; and people on the 
 
 road to Mechinez, 343, 344, 347, 
 
 348 ; road from Mechinez, 358. 
 Schellah, The Moor, 200, 292, 298, 
 
 300 ; return from Fez, 342. 
 Schereef Bacali and the Ambassador 
 
 231 : the doctor's visit to the 
 
 harem of, 281. 
 Schereefs Fileli, 235—238. 
 Schoolmaster, A Moorish, 171. 
 Sciatica, The doctor's attack of, 344. 
 Science, Condition of Moorish, 23. 
 Scorpion, An artificial, 118. 
 Scovasso, Stefano, Commendatore, 18, 
 
 19; and the heat, 363. 
 Scrutiny, A silent, 86.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 291 
 
 Scudo, Firing at a, 276. 
 
 Sea beach at Tangiers, 40, 41. 
 
 Sebastian, King, at the battle of Alka- 
 
 zar, 123. 
 Sebu, Tbe river, 159, 161, 162, 367; 
 
 valley of, 159 ; travelling on the 
 
 plain of, 359—361. 
 Secretary, The Sultan's, 231 ; and the 
 
 artist, 232 ; and Kaldun's history, 
 
 232. 
 Seffian, The escort from, 138, 139. 
 Selim, 84 ; personal appearance of, 97, 
 
 98 ; asleep, 102 ; and the gibus hat, 
 
 249 ; refuses to be sketched, 275 ; 
 
 relates the story of a famous bandit, 
 
 313—319 ; and the wonders of Me- 
 
 chinez, 350, 351 ; and the demons, 
 
 352, 353. 
 Sellers and buyers in Fez, 323 — 325. 
 Sentinels, Night, 107. 
 Serpent charmer, A, 61, 62. 
 Servant, A zealous Arab, 271, 272; 
 
 punishing a, 360. 
 Servants, The Italian Legation, 19, 20 ; 
 
 life of Arab, 90, 91 ; refused to be 
 
 sketched, 93 ; Moorish, 376, 377. 
 Shoes, Jews not allowed to wear, 263. 
 Shopkeeper, An old, 323. 
 Shopping in Fez, 272. 
 Shops and Shopmen, Moorish, 30. 
 Sid-Abd-Alla Bon Ilamcd, 203, 206; 
 
 breakfast with, 265—270. 
 Sid-Abd-Alla, Son of, 361 ; visit 
 
 from, 364. 
 Sid-Bekr-el-Abbassi, 365, 367 ; and his 
 
 p ople, 370. 
 Sid-Bomedi, Tyranny and death of, 68. 
 Bid Buker, 322. 
 Bid-Mohammed, Sultan, 237. 
 Sid-Moussa, 228, 229 ; breakfast with, 
 
 228, 231 ; sons of, 231 ; conferences 
 
 with, 290, 292. 
 Sidi-Ali<l-el-Krirn, Tyranny and death 
 
 of, 141, 142. 
 Sidi-Bargas, Minister for Foreign Af- 
 fairs, 71 ; interview with, 72 — 76. 
 Sidi-IIasscm, Chief of, 179; escort 
 
 from, 179 ; manoeuvres of the 
 escort from, 179, 181. 
 
 Sidi-Liamani, The Cuba of, 113, 114. 
 
 Sidi-Mohammed-Ben-Aissa, 47. 
 
 Sidi-Mohammed-el-Khatib, Instruc- 
 tions to, 72. 
 
 Sketching under difficulties, 93, 94, 
 273, 275. 
 
 Slave, A beautiful, 298 ; women at 
 Fez, 255. 
 
 Slaves, and the imperial treasure, 351. 
 
 Slavery, Moorish, 308, 310. 
 
 Soc-de-Barra, Description of the, 14 
 16 ; grand festival held in, 52, 62. 
 
 Soldier and servants, 376, 377. 
 
 Soldiers of the escort, 69 ; the Sul- 
 tan's, 205 — 208 ; amusements of, 
 334, 335. 
 
 Solomon, Virtue of the ring of, 40. 
 
 Somnambulist, A, 81 — 85. 
 
 Spaniards, The Moors' hatred of, 301. 
 
 Spanish Consul, The, 83 ; story of a 
 renegade, 282 ; army and the 
 Moors, 305. 
 
 Spartel, Cape, An excursion to, 64 ; 
 view from, 65. 
 
 Spectacle, A strange religious, 48 — 52. 
 
 Spider, The web of a, 115. 
 
 Square in Tangiers, 13, 14 ; the audi- 
 ence in Fez, 256. 
 
 Story-teller, A Moorish, 58, 59. 
 
 Streets of Tangiers, 11, 41, 42; of 
 Alkazar, 131, 132 ; of Fez, 215—220. 
 
 Sultan of Morocco, power of, 22 ; and 
 the telegraph, 232, 233; character 
 of, 234; persona] appearance of, 
 243, 244 ; conversation with the 
 Ambassador, 244 — 246 ; residence 
 of, 246, 247, private interview with, 
 260, 261; a review before, 332— 
 339 ; presents from, 339. 
 
 Sultans, A group of, 236—238; and 
 their Governors, 868, -'170. 
 
 Surgery, Stati- of,ÌD Morocco, 117. 
 
 Tableland of Fez, 200, 201.
 
 _ 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 S, Moorish military, 307, 308. 
 Tagat, Biount, Kneampment at, '202. 
 Taili- B< •ìi-.Iainani, Interview with, 
 
 255 j appearance of, 254, 255; 
 
 dinner with) 255; 257; return 
 from. 259 ; drinking to, 259. 
 
 Tangiers, Landing at, 10; city of, 11, 
 L2, 13, 14; Soc-de-Barra, 14; an 
 inn in, 16, 17; at night, 17, 18; 
 Italian Legation at, 19 — 21 ; his- 
 t<>ry of, 24; dress of the Jewesses 
 : - : Arab hoys of, 26— 28 ; two 
 saints of, 28, 29 ; punishing a thief 
 at, 33, 34 ; Arab women at, 34, 35 ; 
 wedding procession in, 37 ; en- 
 treating Allah for rain in, 37; view 
 of, from the castle, 39 ; changing 
 money in, 39, 40 ; promenade of, 
 40, 41 ; streets of, 41, 42 ; the pro- 
 cession of Aissawa in, 48 — 52 ; 
 festival of the birth of Mahomet, 
 55 — 62 ; gardens of, 62, 63 ; coun- 
 try round, 63, 64 ; the Moorish 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs in, 71 — 
 74 ; the Italian Legation at, 75, 77 ; 
 departure from, 79 ; first carriage 
 in, 189, 191 ; an execution at, 284 — 
 286 ; route from Fez to, 343, 344 ; 
 return to, 381. 
 
 Tarantula, A, 157. 
 
 Tea, Arabian, 45. 
 
 Telegraph in Morocco, 232, 234. 
 
 Tent, Dinner in a, 83, 84 ; of Moham- 
 med Ducale, 101, 102 ; the Ambas- 
 sador's, 102; the Arab footman's, 
 103, 107. 
 
 Tents, Moorish, 70 ; a village of camel- 
 skin, 150. 
 
 Terraces of Fez, 249—252. 
 
 Thief, A Fez, 220 ; punishment of, at 
 Tangiers, 33, 34. 
 
 Thieves, A race of, 166, 168. 
 
 Tingis, The ancient, 24. 
 
 Tleta de Eeissana, The encampment 
 at, 116. 
 
 Toad, Disconcerted by a, 103. 
 
 Trade in Morocco, 288—290. 
 
 Treasure, The, of Mechinez, 351. 
 1 leisures, The Moorish method of 
 hiding, 370. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ussi, the artist, Adventure of, in Fez. 
 214, 215 ; and the heat, 363. 
 
 Village of Camel-skin tents, 150. 
 
 Vincent, Mr., 106. 
 
 Vizier, Grand, 254, 255 ; interview 
 with, 255 ; dinner with, 255, 257 : 
 return from, 259 ; drinking to, 259. 
 
 W. 
 
 War Minister, Breakfast with the 
 Moorish, 265—270. 
 
 Wardrobe, A Moorish wife's, 47. 
 
 Washerwoman, A Moorish, 272. 
 
 Water, Calling for a drink of, 376, 
 377. 
 
 Wedding procession, A, 37. 
 
 Wine, The first taste of, 199 ; a re- 
 quest for, 257. 
 
 Woman and her master, A slave, 298, 
 299 ; a deformed, 323 ; a mis- 
 chievous, 322. 
 
 Women, Arab, at Tangiers, 34, 35 ; 
 Moorish and the doctor, 155, 156 ; 
 the sad lot of old Arab, 156 ; slaves 
 at Fez, 255 ; of the Grand Vizier's 
 household, 257. 
 
 Zairi tribe, The, 159. 
 
 Zalag, Mount, Ascent of, 275 — 27S. 
 
 Zania, A Moorish, 130. 
 
 Zeguta, Starting for, 186 ; scenery on 
 
 the road to, 191, 194 ; encampment 
 
 at, 194, 195. 
 Zilla, The Carthaginian's, 380.
 
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