PART I

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LIFE IN MOROCCO

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

In uniform style. Demy 8vo, 15s. each.

THE MOORS: an Account of People and Customs. With 132 Illustrations.

CONTENTS:--"The Madding Crowd"--Within the Gates--Where the Moors

Live--How the Moors Dress--Moorish Courtesy and Etiquette--What

the Moors Eat and Drink--Everyday Life--Slavery and

Servitude--Country Life--Trade--Arts and Manufactures--Matters

Medical.

Some Moorish Characteristics--The Mohammedan Year (Feasts

and Fasts)--Places of Worship--Alms, Hospitality, and

Pilgrimage--Education--Saints and Superstitions--Marriage--Funeral

Rites.

The Morocco Berbers--The Jews of Morocco--The Jewish Year.

THE LAND OF THE MOORS: A Comprehensive Description. With a New Map and

83 Illustrations.

CONTENTS:--Physical Features--Natural Resources--Vegetable

Products--Animal Life.

Descriptions and Histories of Tangier, Tetuan, Laraiche,

Salli-Rabat, Dar el Baida, Mazagan, Saffi and Mogador; Azîla,

Fedála, Mehedia, Mansûrîya, Azammûr and Waladîya; Fez, Mequinez

and Marrákesh; Zarhôn, Wazzán and Shesháwan; El Kasar, Sifrû,

Tadla, Damnát, Táza, Dibdû and Oojda; Ceuta, Velez, Alhucemas,

Melilla and the Zaffarines; Sûs, the Draa, Tafilált, Fîgîg, and

Tûát.

Reminiscences of Travel--In the Guise of a Moor--To Marrákesh on a

Bicycle--In Search of Miltsin.

THE MOORISH EMPIRE: A Historical Epitome. With Maps, 118

Illustrations, and a unique Chronological, Geographical, and

Genealogical Chart.

CONTENTS:--Mauretania--The Mohammedan Invasion--Foundation of

Empire--Consolidation of Empire--Extension of Empire--Contraction

of Empire--Stagnation of Empire--Personification of Empire--The

Reigning Shareefs--The Moorish Government--Present Administration.

Europeans in the Moorish Service--The Salli Rovers--Record of

the Christian Slaves--Christian Influences in Morocco--Foreign

Relations--Moorish Diplomatic Usages--Foreign Rights and

Privileges--Commercial Intercourse--The Fate of the Empire.

Works on Morocco reviewed (213 vols. in 11 languages)--The

Place of Morocco in Fiction--Journalism in Morocco--Works

Recommended--Classical Authorities on Morocco.

LONDON: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN, LTD.

* * * * *

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARABIC OF MOROCCO: VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR NOTES,

ETC., IN ROMAN CHARACTERS. Specially prepared for Visitors and

Beginners on a new and eminently practical system.

Crown 8vo, Cloth, Round Corners for Pocket, _6s._

Also, Uniform with this, in English or Spanish, Price _4s._

_IN ARABIC CHARACTERS_

MOROCCO-ARABIC DIALOGUES,

OR

DIÁLOGOS EN ARABE MAROQUÍ.

By C.W. BALDWIN.

* * * * *

LONDON: BERNARD QUARITCH, PICCADILLY.

TANGIER: BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY'S DEPÔT.

[Illustration: _Photograph by Edward Lee, Esq., Saffi._

A MOORISH THOROUGHFARE.]

* * * * *

=LIFE IN MOROCCO=

AND GLIMPSES BEYOND

BY

BUDGETT MEAKIN

AUTHOR OF

"THE MOORS," "THE LAND OF THE MOORS," "THE MOORISH EMPIRE,"

"MODEL FACTORIES AND VILLAGES," ETC.

[Illustration]

WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

CHATTO & WINDUS

1905

PRINTED BY

WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

LONDON AND BECCLES.

=FOREWORD=

Which of us has yet forgotten that first day when we set foot in

Barbary? Those first impressions, as the gorgeous East with all its

countless sounds and colours, forms and odours, burst upon us; mingled

pleasures and disgusts, all new, undreamed-of, or our wildest dreams

enhanced! Those yelling, struggling crowds of boatmen, porters,

donkey-boys; guides, thieves, and busy-bodies; clad in mingled finery

and tatters; European, native, nondescript; a weird, incongruous

medley--such as is always produced when East meets West--how they did

astonish and amuse us! How we laughed (some trembling inwardly) and

then, what letters we wrote home!

One-and-twenty years have passed since that experience entranced the

present writer, and although he has repeated it as far as possible in

practically every other oriental country, each fresh visit to Morocco

brings back somewhat of the glamour of that maiden plunge, and

somewhat of that youthful ardour, as the old associations are renewed.

Nothing he has seen elsewhere excels Morocco in point of life and

colour save Bokhára; and only in certain parts of India or in China is

it rivalled. Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli have lost much of that charm

under Turkish or western rule; Egypt still more markedly so, while

Palestine is of a population altogether mixed and heterogeneous. The

bazaars of Damascus, even, and Constantinople, have given way to

plate-glass, and nothing remains in the nearer East to rival Morocco.

Notwithstanding the disturbed condition of much of the country,

nothing has occurred to interfere with the pleasure certain to be

afforded by a visit to Morocco at any time, and all who can do so

are strongly recommended to include it in an early holiday. The best

months are from September to May, though the heat on the coast

is never too great for an enjoyable trip. The simplest way of

accomplishing this is by one of Messrs. Forwood's regular steamers

from London, calling at most of the Morocco ports and returning by the

Canaries, the tour occupying about a month, though it may be broken

and resumed at any point. Tangier may be reached direct from Liverpool

by the Papayanni Line, or indirectly _viâ_ Gibraltar, subsequent

movements being decided by weather and local sailings. British

consular officials, missionaries, and merchants will be found at the

various ports, who always welcome considerate strangers.

Comparatively few, even of the ever-increasing number of visitors who

year after year bring this only remaining independent Barbary State

within the scope of their pilgrimage, are aware of the interest with

which it teems for the scientist, the explorer, the historian, and

students of human nature in general. One needs to dive beneath the

surface, to live on the spot in touch with the people, to fathom the

real Morocco, and in this it is doubtful whether any foreigners not

connected by ties of creed or marriage ever completely succeed. What

can be done short of this the writer attempted to do, mingling with

the people as one of themselves whenever this was possible. Inspired

by the example of Lane in his description of the "Modern Egyptians,"

he essayed to do as much for the Moors, and during eighteen years he

laboured to that end.

The present volume gathers together from many quarters sketches drawn

under those circumstances, supplemented by a _resumé_ of recent events

and the political outlook, together with three chapters--viii., xi.,

and xiv.--contributed by his wife, whose assistance throughout its

preparation he has once more to acknowledge with pleasure. To many

correspondents in Morocco he is also indebted for much valuable

up-to-date information on current affairs, but as most for various

reasons prefer to remain unmentioned, it would be invidious to name

any. For most of the illustrations, too, he desires to express his

hearty thanks to the gentlemen who have permitted him to reproduce

their photographs.

Much of the material used has already appeared in more fugitive form

in the _Times of Morocco_, the _London Quarterly Review_, the _Forum_,

the _Westminster Review_, _Harper's Magazine_, the _Humanitarian_,

the _Gentleman's Magazine_, the _Independent_ (New York), the

_Modern Church_, the _Jewish Chronicle_, _Good Health_, the _Medical

Missionary_, the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the _Westminster Gazette_, the

_Outlook_, etc., while Chapters ix., xix., and xxv. to xxix. have been

extracted from a still unpublished picture of Moorish country life,

"Sons of Ishmael."

B.M.

HAMPSTEAD,

_November 1905._

CONTENTS

PART I

CHAPTER PAGE

I. RETROSPECTIVE 1

II. THE PRESENT DAY 14

III. BEHIND THE SCENES 36

IV. THE BERBER RACE 47

V. THE WANDERING ARAB 57

VI. CITY LIFE 63

VII. THE WOMEN-FOLK 71

VIII. SOCIAL VISITS 82

IX. A COUNTRY WEDDING 88

X. THE BAIRNS 94

XI. "DINING OUT" 102

XII. DOMESTIC ECONOMY 107

XIII. THE NATIVE "MERCHANT" 113

XIV. SHOPPING 118

XV. A SUNDAY MARKET 125

XVI. PLAY-TIME 133

XVII. THE STORY-TELLER 138

XVIII. SNAKE-CHARMING 151

XIX. IN A MOORISH CAFÉ 159

XX. THE MEDICINE-MAN 166

XXI. THE HUMAN MART 179

XXII. A SLAVE-GIRL'S STORY 185

XXIII. THE PILGRIM CAMP 191

XXIV. RETURNING HOME 201

PART II

XXV. DIPLOMACY IN MOROCCO 205

XXVI. PRISONERS AND CAPTIVES 233

XXVII. THE PROTECTION SYSTEM 242

XXVIII. JUSTICE FOR THE JEW 252

XXIX. CIVIL WAR IN MOROCCO 261

XXX. THE POLITICAL SITUATION 267

XXXI. FRANCE IN MOROCCO 292

PART III

XXXII. ALGERIA VIEWED FROM MOROCCO 307

XXXIII. TUNISIA VIEWED FROM MOROCCO 318

XXXIV. TRIPOLI VIEWED FROM MOROCCO 326

XXXV. FOOT-PRINTS OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN 332

APPENDIX

"MOROCCO NEWS" 381

INDEX 395

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACE PAGE

A MOORISH THOROUGHFARE _Frontispiece_

GATE OF THE SEVEN VIRGINS, SALLI 1

CROSSING A MOROCCO RIVER 26

A BERBER VILLAGE IN THE ATLAS 47

AN ARAB TENT IN MOROCCO 57

ROOFS OF TANGIER FROM THE BRITISH CONSULATE 71

A MOORISH CARAVAN 91

FRUIT-SELLERS 107

A TUNISIAN SHOPKEEPER 118

THE SUNDAY MARKET, TANGIER 128

GROUP AROUND PERFORMERS, MARRÁKESH 141

A MOROCCO FANDAK (CARAVANSARAI) 159

RABHAH, NARRATOR OF THE SLAVE-GIRL'S STORY 185

WAITING FOR THE STEAMER 201

A CITY GATEWAY IN MOROCCO 211

CENTRAL MOROCCO HOMESTEAD 242

JEWESSES OF THE ATLAS 256

A MOORISH KAÏD AND ATTENDANTS 275

TUNISIA UNDER THE FRENCH--AN EXECUTION 299

TENT OF AN ALGERIAN SHEÏKH 313

A TUNISIAN JEWESS IN STREET DRESS 325

OUTSIDE TRIPOLI 330

A SHRINE IN CORDOVA MOSQUE 340

THE MARKET-PLACE, TETUAN 375

NOTE.--_The system of transliterating Arabic adopted by the Author

in his previous works has here been followed only so far as it is

likely to be adopted by others than specialists, all signs being

omitted which are not essential to approximate pronunciation._

=LIFE IN MOROCCO=

PART I

I

RETROSPECTIVE

"The firmament turns, and times are changing."

_Moorish Proverb._

By the western gate of the Mediterranean, where the narrowed sea has

so often tempted invaders, the decrepit Moorish Empire has become

itself a bait for those who once feared it. Yet so far Morocco remains

untouched, save where a fringe of Europeans on the coast purvey the

luxuries from other lands that Moorish tastes demand, and in exchange

take produce that would otherwise be hardly worth the raising. Even

here the foreign influence is purely superficial, failing to affect

the lives of the people; while the towns in which Europeans reside are

so few in number that whatever influence they do possess is limited

in area. Moreover, Morocco has never known foreign dominion, not even

that of the Turks, who have left their impress on the neighbouring

Algeria and Tunisia. None but the Arabs have succeeded in obtaining a

foothold among its Berbers, and they, restricted to the plains, have

long become part of the nation. Thus Morocco, of all the North African

kingdoms, has always maintained its independence, and in spite of

changes all round, continues to live its own picturesque life.

Picturesque it certainly is, with its flowing costumes and primitive

homes, both of which vary in style from district to district, but all

of which seem as though they must have been unchanged for thousands

of years. Without security for life or property, the mountaineers go

armed, they dwell in fortresses or walled-in villages, and are at

constant war with one another. On the plains, except in the vicinity

of towns, the country people group their huts around the fortress of

their governor, within which they can shelter themselves and their

possessions in time of war. No other permanent erection is to be seen

on the plains, unless it be some wayside shrine which has outlived

the ruin fallen on the settlement to which it once belonged, and is

respected by the conquerors as holy ground. Here and there gaunt

ruins rise, vast crumbling walls of concrete which have once been

fortresses, lending an air of desolation to the scene, but offering no

attraction to historian or antiquary. No one even knows their names,

and they contain no monuments. If ever more solid remains are

encountered, they are invariably set down as the work of the Romans.

[Illustration: _Cavilla, Photo., Tangier._

GATE OF THE SEVEN VIRGINS, SALLI.]

Yet Morocco has a history, an interesting history indeed, one

linked with ours in many curious ways, as is recorded in scores of

little-known volumes. It has a literature amazingly voluminous, but

there were days when the relations with other lands were much closer,

if less cordial, the days of the crusades and the Barbary pirates,

the days of European tribute to the Moors, and the days of Christian

slavery in Morocco. Constantly appearing brochures in many tongues

made Europe of those days acquainted with the horrors of that dreadful

land. All these only served to augment the fear in which its people

were held, and to deter the victimized nations from taking action

which would speedily have put an end to it all, by demonstrating the

inherent weakness of the Moorish Empire.

But for those whose study is only the Moors as they exist to-day, the

story of Morocco stretches back only a thousand years, as until then

its scattered tribes of Berber mountaineers had acknowledged no head,

and knew no common interests; they were not a nation. War was their

pastime; it is so now to a great extent. Every man for himself, every

tribe for itself. Idolatry, of which abundant traces still remain,

had in places been tinged with the name and some of the forms of

Christianity, but to what extent it is now impossible to discover. In

the Roman Church there still exist titular bishops of North Africa,

one, in particular, derives his title from the district of Morocco of

which Fez is now the capital, Mauretania Tingitana.

It was among these tribes that a pioneer mission of Islám penetrated

in the eighth of our centuries. Arabs were then greater strangers in

Barbary than we are now, but they were by no means the first strange

faces seen there. Ph[oe]nicians, Romans and Vandals had preceded them,

but none had stayed, none had succeeded in amalgamating with the

Berbers, among whom those individuals who did remain were absorbed.

These hardy clansmen, exhibiting the characteristics of hill-folk

the world round, still inhabited the uplands and retained their

independence. In this they have indeed succeeded to a great extent

until the present day, but between that time and this they have given

of their life-blood to build up by their side a less pure nation of

the plains, whose language as well as its creed is that of Arabia.

To imagine that Morocco was invaded by a Muslim host who carried

all before them is a great mistake, although a common one. Mulai

Idrees--"My Lord Enoch" in English--a direct descendant of Mohammed,

was among the first of the Arabian missionaries to arrive, with one or

two faithful adherents, exiles fleeing from the Khalîfa of Mekka. So

soon as he had induced one tribe to accept his doctrines, he assisted

them with his advice and prestige in their combats with hereditary

enemies, to whom, however, the novel terms were offered of fraternal

union with the victors, if they would accept the creed of which they

had become the champions. Thus a new element was introduced into the

Berber polity, the element of combination, for the lack of which

they had always been weak before. Each additional ally meant an

augmentation of the strength of the new party out of all proportion to

the losses from occasional defeats.

In course of time the Mohammedan coalition became so strong that it

was in a position to dictate terms and to impose governors upon the

most obstinate of its neighbours. The effect of this was to divide the

allies into two important sections, the older of which founded Fez

in the days of the son of Idrees, accounted the second ameer of that

name, who there lies buried in the most important mosque of the

Empire, the very approaches of which are closed to the Jew and the

Nazarene. The only spot which excels it in sanctity is that at Zarhôn,

a day's journey off, in which the first Idrees lies buried. There the

whole town is forbidden to the foreigner, and an attempt made by the

writer to gain admittance in disguise was frustrated by discovery

at the very gate, though later on he visited the shrine in Fez. The

dynasty thus formed, the Shurfà Idreeseeïn, is represented to-day by

the Shareef of Wazzán.

In southern Morocco, with its capital at Aghmát, on the Atlas slopes,

was formed what later grew to be the kingdom of Marrákesh, the city of

that name being founded in the middle of the eleventh century. Towards

the close of the thirteenth, the kingdoms of Fez and Marrákesh became

united under one ruler, whose successor, after numerous dynastic

changes, is the Sultan of Morocco now.[1]

[1: For a complete outline of Moorish history, see the writer's

"Moorish Empire."]

But from the time that the united Berbers had become a nation, to

prevent them falling out among themselves again it was necessary to

find some one else to fight, to occupy the martial instinct nursed in

fighting one another. So long as there were ancient scores to be wiped

out at home, so long as under cover of a missionary zeal they could

continue intertribal feuds, things went well for the victors; but as

soon as excuses for this grew scarce, it was needful to fare afield.

The pretty story--told, by the way, of other warriors as well--of the

Arab leader charging the Atlantic surf, and weeping that the world

should end there, and his conquests too, may be but fiction, but it

illustrates a fact. Had Europe lain further off, the very causes which

had conspired to raise a central power in Morocco would have sufficed

to split it up again. This, however, was not to be. In full view of

the most northern strip of Morocco, from Ceuta to Cape Spartel, the

north-west corner of Africa, stretches the coast of sunny Spain.

Between El K'sar es-Sagheer, "The Little Castle," and Tarifa Point is

only a distance of nine or ten miles, and in that southern atmosphere

the glinting houses may be seen across the straits.

History has it that internal dissensions at the Court of Spain led to

the Moors being actually invited over; but that inducement was hardly

needed. Here was a country of infidels yet to be conquered; here was

indeed a land of promise. Soon the Berbers swarmed across, and in

spite of reverses, carried all before them. Spain was then almost as

much divided into petty states as their land had been till the Arabs

taught them better, and little by little they made their way in

a country destined to be theirs for five hundred years. Córdova,

Sevílle, Granáda, each in turn became their capital, and rivalled Fez

across the sea.

The successes they achieved attracted from the East adventurers and

merchants, while by wise administration literature and science were

encouraged, till the Berber Empire of Spain and Morocco took a

foremost rank among the nations of the day. Judged from the standpoint

of their time, they seem to us a prodigy; judged from our standpoint,

they were but little in advance of their descendants of the twentieth

century, who, after all, have by no means retrograded, as they are

supposed to have done, though they certainly came to a standstill,

and have suffered all the evils of four centuries of torpor and

stagnation. Civilization wrought on them the effects that it too often

produces, and with refinement came weakness. The sole remaining state

of those which the invaders, finding independent, conquered one by

one, is the little Pyrenean Republic of Andorra, still enjoying

privileges granted to it for its brave defence against the Moors,

which made it the high-water mark of their dominion. As peace once

more split up the Berbers, the subjected Spaniards became strong

by union, till at length the death-knell of Moorish rule in Europe

sounded at the nuptials of the famous Ferdinand and Isabella, linking

Aragon with proud Castile.

Expelled from Spain, the Moor long cherished plans for the recovery of

what had been lost, preparing fleets and armies for the purpose, but

in vain. Though nominally still united, his people lacked that zeal in

a common cause which had carried them across the straits before, and

by degrees the attempts to recover a kingdom dwindled into continued

attacks upon shipping and coast towns. Thus arose that piracy which

was for several centuries the scourge of Christendom. Further east a

distinct race of pirates flourished, including Turks and Greeks and

ruffians from every shore, but they were not Moors, of whom the Salli

rover was the type. Many thousands of Europeans were carried off by

Moorish corsairs into slavery, including not a few from England. Those

who renounced their own religion and nationality, accepting those of

their captors, became all but free, only being prevented from leaving

the country, and often rose to important positions. Those who had the

courage of their convictions suffered much, being treated like

cattle, or worse, but they could be ransomed when their price was

forthcoming--a privilege abandoned by the renegades--so that the

principal object of every European embassy in those days was the

redemption of captives. Now and then escapes would be accomplished,

but such strict watch was kept when foreign merchantmen were in

port, or when foreign ambassadors came and went, that few attempts

succeeded, though many were made.

Sympathies are stirred by pictures of the martyrdom of Englishmen and

Irishmen, Franciscan missionaries to the Moors; and side by side with

them the foreign mercenaries in the native service, Englishmen among

them, who would fight in any cause for pay and plunder, even though

their masters held their countrymen in thrall. And thrall it was, as

that of Israel in Egypt, when our sailors were chained to galley seats

beneath the lash of a Moor, or when they toiled beneath a broiling

sun erecting the grim palace walls of concrete which still stand as

witnesses of those fell days. Bought and sold in the market like

cattle, Europeans were more despised than Negroes, who at least

acknowledged Mohammed as their prophet, and accepted their lot without

attempt to escape.

Dark days were those for the honour of Europe, when the Moors inspired

terror from the Balearics to the Scilly Isles, and when their rovers

swept the seas with such effect that all the powers of Christendom

were fain to pay them tribute. Large sums of money, too, collected

at church doors and by the sale of indulgences, were conveyed by the

hands of intrepid friars, noble men who risked all to relieve those

slaves who had maintained their faith, having scorned to accept a

measure of freedom as the reward of apostasy. Thousands of English

and other European slaves were liberated through the assistance of

friendly letters from Royal hands, as when the proud Queen Bess

addressed Ahmad II., surnamed "the Golden," as "Our Brother after the

Law of Crown and Sceptre," or when Queen Anne exchanged compliments

with the bloodthirsty Ismáïl, who ventured to ask for the hand of a

daughter of Louis XIV.

In the midst of it all, when that wonderful man, with a household

exceeding Solomon's, and several hundred children, had reigned

forty-three of his fifty-five years, the English, in 1684, ceded to

him their possession of Tangier. For twenty-two years the "Castle in

the streights' mouth," as General Monk had described it, had been the

scene of as disastrous an attempt at colonization as we have ever

known: misunderstanding of the circumstances and mismanagement

throughout; oppression, peculation and terror within as well as

without; a constant warfare with incompetent or corrupt officials

within as with besieging Moors without; till at last the place had to

be abandoned in disgust, and the expensive mole and fortifications

were destroyed lest others might seize what we could not hold.

Such events could only lower the prestige of Europeans, if, indeed,

they possessed any, in the eyes of the Moors, and the slaves up

country received worse treatment than before. Even the ambassadors

and consuls of friendly powers were treated with indignities beyond

belief. Some were imprisoned on the flimsiest pretexts, all had to

appear before the monarch in the most abject manner, and many were

constrained to bribe the favourite wives of the ameers to secure their

requests. It is still the custom for the state reception to take place

in an open courtyard, the ambassador standing bareheaded before the

mounted Sultan under his Imperial parasol. As late as 1790 the brutal

Sultan El Yazeed, who emulated Ismáïl the Bloodthirsty, did not

hesitate to declare war on all Christendom except England, agreeing to

terms of peace on the basis of tribute. Cooperation between the Powers

was not then thought of, and one by one they struck their bargains as

they are doing again to-day.

Yet even at the most violent period of Moorish misrule it is a

remarkable fact that Europeans were allowed to settle and trade in the

Empire, in all probability as little molested there as they would

have been had they remained at home, by varying religious tests and

changing governments. It is almost impossible to conceive, without

a perusal of the literature of the period, the incongruity of the

position. Foreign slaves would be employed in gangs outside the

dwellings of free fellow-countrymen with whom they were forbidden to

communicate, while every returning pirate captain added to the number

of the captives, sometimes bringing friends and relatives of those

who lived in freedom as the Sultan's "guests," though he considered

himself "at war" with their Governments. So little did the Moors

understand the position of things abroad, that at one time they made

war upon Gibraltar, while expressing the warmest friendship for

England, who then possessed it. This was done by Mulai Abd Allah V.,

in 1756, because, he said, the Governor had helped his rebel uncle at

Arzîla, so that the English, his so-called friends, did more harm than

his enemies--the Portuguese and Spaniards. "My father and I believe,"

wrote his son, Sidi Mohammed, to Admiral Pawkers, "that the king your

master has no knowledge of the behaviour towards us of the Governor of

Gibraltar, ... so Gibraltar shall be excluded from the peace to which

I am willing to consent between England and us, and with the aid of

the Almighty God, I will know how to avenge myself as I may on the

English of Gibraltar."

Previously Spain and Portugal had held the principal Moroccan

seaports, the twin towns of Rabat and Salli alone remaining always

Moorish, but these two in their turn set up a sort of independent

republic, nourished from the Berber tribes in the mountains to the

south of them. No Europeans live in Salli yet, for here the old

fanaticism slumbers still. So long as a port remained in foreign hands

it was completely cut off from the surrounding country, and played no

part in Moorish history, save as a base for periodical incursions.

One by one most of them fell again into the hands of their rightful

owners, till they had recovered all their Atlantic sea-board. On the

Mediterranean, Ceuta, which had belonged to Portugal, came under the

rule of Spain when those countries were united, and the Spaniards hold

it still, as they do less important positions further east.

The piracy days of the Moors have long passed, but they only ceased at

the last moment they could do so with grace, before the introduction

of steamships. There was not, at the best of times, much of the noble

or heroic in their raids, which generally took the nature of lying

in wait with well-armed, many-oared vessels, for unarmed, unwieldy

merchantmen which were becalmed, or were outpaced by sail and oar

together.

Early in the nineteenth century Algiers was forced to abandon piracy

before Lord Exmouth's guns, and soon after the Moors were given to

understand that it could no longer be permitted to them either, since

the Moorish "fleets"--if worthy the name--had grown so weak, and those

of the Nazarenes so strong, that the tables were turned. Yet for many

years more the nations of Europe continued the tribute wherewith the

rapacity of the Moors was appeased, and to the United States belongs

the honour of first refusing this disgraceful payment.

The manner in which the rovers of Salli and other ports were permitted

to flourish so long can be explained in no other way than by the

supposition that they were regarded as a sort of necessary nuisance,

just a hornet's-nest by the wayside, which it would be hopeless to

destroy, as they would merely swarm elsewhere. And then we must

remember that the Moors were not the only pirates of those days, and

that Europeans have to answer for the most terrible deeds of the

Mediterranean corsairs. News did not travel then as it does now.

Though students of Morocco history are amazed at the frequent captures

and the thousands of Christian slaves so imported, abroad it was only

here and there that one was heard of at a time.

To-day the plunder of an Italian sailing vessel aground on their

shore, or the fate of too-confident Spanish smugglers running close in

with arms, is heard of the world round. And in the majority of cases

there is at least a question: What were the victims doing there? Not

that this in any way excuses the so-called "piracy," but it must not

be forgotten in considering the question. Almost all these tribes

in the troublous districts carry European arms, instead of the more

picturesque native flint-lock: and as not a single gun is legally

permitted to pass the customs, there must be a considerable inlet

somewhere, for prices are not high.

II

THE PRESENT DAY

"What has passed has gone, and what is to come is distant;

Thou hast only the hour in which thou art."

_Moorish Proverb._

Far from being, as Hood described them, "poor rejected Moors who

raised our childish fears," the people of Morocco consist of fine,

open races, capable of anything, but literally rotting in one of the

finest countries of the world. The Moorish remains in Spain, as well

as the pages of history, testify to the manner in which they once

flourished, but to-day their appearance is that of a nation asleep.

Yet great strides towards reform have been made during the past

century, and each decade sees steps taken more important than the

last. For the present decade is promised complete transformation.

But how little do we know of this people! The very name "Moor" is

a European invention, unknown in Morocco, where no more precise

definition of the inhabitants can be given than that of

"Westerners"--Maghribîn, while the land itself is known as "The

Further West"--El Moghreb el Aksa. The name we give to the country is

but a corruption of that of the southern capital, Marrákesh ("Morocco

City") through the Spanish version, Marueccos.

The genuine Moroccans are the Berbers among whom the Arabs introduced

Islám and its civilization, later bringing Negroes from their raids

across the Atlas to the Sudán and Guinea. The remaining important

section of the people are Jews of two classes--those settled in the

country from prehistoric times, and those driven to it when expelled

from Spain. With the exception of the Arabs and the Blacks, none of

these pull together, and in that case it is only because the latter

are either subservient to the former, or incorporated with them.

First in importance come the earliest known possessors of the land,

the Berbers. These are not confined to Morocco, but still hold the

rocky fastnesses which stretch from the Atlantic, opposite the

Canaries, to the borders of Egypt; from the sands of the Mediterranean

to those of the Sáhara, that vast extent of territory to which we have

given their name, Barbary. Of these but a small proportion really

amalgamated with their Muslim victors, and it is only to this mixed

race which occupies the cities of Morocco that the name "Moor" is

strictly applicable.

On the plains are to be found the Arabs, their tents scattered in

every direction. From the Atlantic to the Atlas, from Tangier to

Mogador, and then away through the fertile province of Sûs, one of

the chief features of Morocco is the series of wide alluvial treeless

plains, often apparently as flat as a table, but here and there cut up

by winding rivers and crossed by low ridges. The fertility of these

districts is remarkable; but owing to the misgovernment of the

country, which renders native property so insecure, only a small

portion is cultivated. The untilled slopes which border the plains

are generally selected by the Arabs for their encampments, circles or

ovals of low goat-hair tents, each covering a large area in proportion

to the number of its inhabitants.

The third section of the people of Morocco--by no means the least

important--has still to be glanced at; these are the ubiquitous,

persecuted and persecuting Jews. Everywhere that money changes hands

and there is business to be done they are to be found. In the towns

and among the thatched huts of the plains, even in the Berber villages

on the slopes of the Atlas, they have their colonies. With the

exception of a few ports wherein European rule in past centuries

has destroyed the boundaries, they are obliged to live in their own

restricted quarters, and in most instances are only permitted to cross

the town barefooted and on foot, never to ride a horse. In the Atlas

they live in separate villages adjoining or close to those belonging

to the Berbers, and sometimes even larger than they. Always clad

in black or dark-coloured cloaks, with hideous black skull-caps or

white-spotted blue kerchiefs on their heads, they are conspicuous

everywhere. They address the Moors with a villainous, cringing look

which makes the sons of Ishmael savage, for they know it is only

feigned. In return they are treated like dogs, and cordial hatred

exists on both sides. So they live, together yet divided; the Jew

despised but indispensable, bullied but thriving. He only wins at

law when richer than his opponent; against a Muslim he can bear no

testimony; there is scant pretence at justice. He dares not lift his

hand to strike a Moor, however ill-treated, but he finds revenge in

sucking his life's blood by usury. Receiving no mercy, he shows none,

and once in his clutches, his prey is fortunate to escape with his

life.

The happy influence of more enlightened European Jews is, however,

making itself felt in the chief towns, through excellent schools

supported from London and Paris, which are turning out a class

of highly respectable citizens. While the Moors fear the tide of

advancing westernization, the town Jews court it, and in them centres

one of the chief prospects of the country's welfare. Into their hands

has already been gathered much of the trade of Morocco, and there can

be little doubt that, by the end of the thirty years' grace afforded

to other merchants than the French, they will have practically

absorbed it all, even the Frenchmen trading through them. They have

at least the intimate knowledge of the people and local conditions to

which so few foreigners ever attain.

When the Moorish Empire comes to be pacifically penetrated and

systematically explored, it will probably be found that little more

is known of it than of China, notwithstanding its proximity, and

its comparatively insignificant size. A map honestly drawn, from

observations only, would astonish most people by its vast

blank spaces.[2] It would be noted that the limit of European

exploration--with the exception of the work of two or three hardy

travellers in disguise--is less than two hundred miles from the coast,

and that this limit is reached at two points only--south of Fez and

Marrákesh respectively,--which form the apices of two well-known

triangular districts, the contiguous bases of which form part of the

Atlantic coast line, under four hundred miles in length. Beyond these

limits all is practically unknown, the language, customs and beliefs

of the people providing abundant ground for speculation, and

permitting theorists free play. So much is this the case, that a few

years ago an enthusiastic "savant" was able to imagine that he had

discovered a hidden race of dwarfs beyond the Atlas, and to obtain

credence for his "find" among the best-informed students of Europe.

[2: An approximation to this is given in the writer's

"Land of the Moors."]

But there is also another point of view from which Morocco is unknown,

that of native thought and feeling, penetrated by extremely few

Europeans, even when they mingle freely with the people, and converse

with them in Arabic. The real Moor is little known by foreigners,

a very small number of whom mix with the better classes. Some, as

officials, meet officials, but get little below the official exterior.

Those who know most seldom speak, their positions or their occupations

preventing the expression of their opinions. Sweeping statements

about Morocco may therefore be received with reserve, and dogmatic

assertions with caution. This Empire is in no worse condition now than

it has been for centuries; indeed, it is much better off than ever

since its palmy days, and there is no occasion whatever to fear its

collapse.

Few facts are more striking in the study of Morocco than the absolute

stagnation of its people, except in so far as they have been to a very

limited extent affected by outside influences. Of what European--or

even oriental--land could descriptions of life and manners written in

the sixteenth century apply as fully in the twentieth as do those

of Morocco by Leo Africanus? Or even to come later, compare the

transitions England has undergone since Höst and Jackson wrote a

hundred years ago, with the changes discoverable in Morocco since that

time. The people of Morocco remain the same, and their more primitive

customs are those of far earlier ages, of the time when their

ancestors lived upon the plain of Palestine and North Arabia, and when

"in the loins of Abraham" the now unfriendly Jew and Arab were yet

one. It is the position of Europeans among them which has changed.

In the time of Höst and Jackson piracy was dying hard, restrained by

tribute from all the Powers of Europe. The foreign merchant was not

only tolerated, but was at times supplied with capital by the Moorish

sultans, to whom he was allowed to go deeply in debt for custom's

dues, and half a century later the British Consul at Mogador was not

permitted to embark to escape a bombardment of the town, because of

his debt to the Sultan. Many of the restrictions complained of to-day

are the outcome of the almost enslaved condition of the merchants of

those times in consequence of such customs. Indeed, the position of

the European in Morocco is still a series of anomalies, and so it is

likely to continue until it passes under foreign rule.

The same old spirit of independence reigns in the Berber breast to-day

as when he conquered Spain, and though he has forgotten his past and

cares naught for his future, he still considers himself a superior

being, and feels that no country can rival his home. In his eyes the

embassies from Europe and America come only to pay the tribute which

is the price of peace with his lord, and when he sees a foreign

minister in all his black and gold stand in the sun bareheaded to

address the mounted Sultan beneath his parasol, he feels more proud

than ever of his greatness, and is more decided to be pleasant to the

stranger, but to keep him out.

Instead of increased relations between Moors and foreigners tending to

friendship, the average foreign settler or tourist is far too bigoted

and narrow-minded to see any good in the native, much less to

acknowledge his superiority on certain points. Wherever the Sultan's

authority is recognized the European is free to travel and live,

though past experience has led officials not to welcome him. At the

same time, he remains entirely under the jurisdiction of his own

authorities, except in cases of murder or grave crime, when he must be

at once handed over to the nearest consul of his country. Not only are

he and his household thus protected, but also his native employees,

and, to a certain extent, his commercial and agricultural agents.

Thus foreigners in Morocco enjoy within the limits of the central

power the security of their own lands, and the justice of their own

laws. They do not even find in Morocco that immunity from justice

which some ignorant writers of fiction have supposed; for unless a

foreigner abandons his own nationality and creed, and buries himself

in the interior under a native name, he cannot escape the writs of

foreign courts. In any case, the Moorish authorities will arrest him

on demand, and hand him over to his consul to be dealt with according

to law. The colony of refugees which has been pictured by imaginative

raconteurs is therefore non-existent. Instead there are growing

colonies of business men, officials, missionaries, and a few retired

residents, quite above the average of such colonies in the Levant, for

instance.

For many years past, though the actual business done has shown a

fairly steady increase, the commercial outlook in Morocco has gone

from bad to worse. Yet more of its products are now exported, and

there are more European articles in demand, than were thought of

twenty years ago. This anomalous and almost paradoxical condition is

due to the increase of competition and the increasing weakness of the

Government. Men who had hope a few years ago, now struggle on because

they have staked too much to be able to leave for more promising

fields. This has been especially the case since the late Sultan's

death. The disturbances which followed that event impoverished many

tribes, and left behind a sense of uncertainty and dread. No European

Bourse is more readily or lastingly affected by local political

troubles than the general trade of a land like Morocco, in which men

live so much from hand to mouth.

It is a noteworthy feature of Moorish diplomatic history that to the

Moors' love of foreign trade we owe almost every step that has led to

our present relations with the Empire. Even while their rovers were

the terror of our merchantmen, as has been pointed out, foreign

traders were permitted to reside in their ports, the facilities

granted to them forming the basis of all subsequent negotiations. Now

that concession after concession has been wrung from their unwilling

Government, and in spite of freedom of residence, travel, and trade in

the most important parts of the Empire, it is disheartening to see the

foreign merchant in a worse condition than ever.

The previous generation, fewer in number, enjoying far less

privileges, and subjected to restrictions and indignities that would

not be suffered to-day, were able to make their fortunes and retire,

while their successors find it hard to hold their own. The "hundred

tonners" who, in the palmy days of Mogador, were wont to boast that

they shipped no smaller quantities at once, are a dream of the past.

The ostrich feathers and elephants' tusks no longer find their way out

by that port, and little gold now passes in or out. Merchant princes

will never be seen here again; commercial travellers from Germany are

found in the interior, and quality, as well as price, has been reduced

to its lowest ebb.

A crowd of petty trading agents has arisen with no capital to speak

of, yet claiming and abusing credit, of which a most ruinous system

prevails, and that in a land in which the collection of debts is

proverbially difficult, and oftentimes impossible. The native Jews,

who were interpreters and brokers years ago, have now learned the

business and entered the lists. These new competitors content

themselves with infinitesimal profits, or none at all in cases where

the desideratum is cash to lend out at so many hundreds per cent. per

annum. Indeed, it is no uncommon practice for goods bought on long

credit to be sold below cost price for this purpose. Against such

methods who can compete?

Yet this is a rich, undeveloped land--not exactly an El Dorado, though

certainly as full of promise as any so styled has proved to be when

reached--favoured physically and geographically, but politically

stagnant, cursed with an effete administration, fettered by a decrepit

creed. In view of this situation, it is no wonder that from time to

time specious schemes appear and disappear with clockwork regularity.

Now it is in England, now in France, that a gambling public is found

to hazard the cost of proving the impossibility of opening the country

with a rush, and the worthlessness of so-called concessions and

monopolies granted by sheïkhs in the south, who, however they may

chafe under existing rule which forbids them ports of their own,

possess none of the powers required to treat with foreigners.

As normal trade has waned in Morocco, busy minds have not been slow in

devising illicit, or at least unusual, methods of making money,

even, one regrets to say, of making false money. Among the drawbacks

suffered by the commerce which pines under the shade of the shareefian

umbrella, one--and that far from the least--is the unsatisfactory

coinage, which till a few years ago was almost entirely foreign. To

have to depend in so important a matter on any mint abroad is bad

enough, but for that mint to be Spanish means much. Centuries ago

the Moors coined more, but with the exception of a horrible token of

infinitesimal value called "floos," the products of their extinct

mints are only to be found in the hands of collectors, in buried

hoards, or among the jewellery displayed at home by Mooresses and

Jewesses, whose fortunes, so invested, may not be seized for debt.

Some of the older issues are thin and square, with well-preserved

inscriptions, and of these a fine collection--mostly gold--may be seen

at the British Museum; but the majority, closely resembling those of

India and Persia, are rudely stamped and unmilled, not even round,

but thick, and of fairly good metal. The "floos" referred to (_sing._

"fils") are of three sizes, coarsely struck in zinc rendered hard and

yellow by the addition of a little copper. The smallest, now rarely

met with, runs about 19,500 to £1 when this is worth 32-1/2 Spanish

pesetas; the other two, still the only small change of the country,

are respectively double and quadruple its value. The next coin in

general circulation is worth 2_d._, so the inconvenience is great.

A few years ago, however, Europeans resident in Tangier resolutely

introduced among themselves the Spanish ten and five céntimo pieces,

corresponding to our 1_d._ and 1/2_d._, which are now in free local

use, but are not accepted up-country.

What passes as Moorish money to-day has been coined in France for many

years, more recently also in Germany; the former is especially neat,

but the latter lacks style. The denominations coincide with those of

Spain, whose fluctuations in value they closely follow at a respectful

distance. This autumn the "Hasáni" coin--that of Mulai el Hasan, the

late Sultan--has fallen to fifty per cent. discount on Spanish. With

the usual perversity also, the common standard "peseta," in which

small bargains are struck on the coast, was omitted, the nearest coin,

the quarter-dollar, being nominally worth ptas. 1.25. It was only

after a decade, too, that the Government put in circulation the

dollars struck in France, which had hitherto been laid up in the

treasury as a reserve. And side by side with the German issue came

abundant counterfeit coins, against which Government warnings were

published, to the serious disadvantage of the legal issue. Even the

Spanish copper has its rival, and a Frenchman was once detected trying

to bring in a nominal four hundred dollars' worth of an imitation,

which he promptly threw overboard when the port guards raised

objections to its quality.

The increasing need of silver currency inland, owing to its free use

in the manufacture of trinkets, necessitates a constant importation,

and till recently all sorts of coins, discarded elsewhere, were in

circulation. This was the case especially with French, Swiss, Belgian,

Italian, Greek, Roumanian, and other pieces of the value of twenty

céntimos, known here by the Turkish name "gursh," which were accepted

freely in Central Morocco, but not in the north. Twenty years ago

Spanish Carolus, Isabella and Philippine shillings and kindred coins

were in use all over the country, and when they were withdrawn from

circulation in Spain they were freely shipped here, till the country

was flooded with them. When the merchants and customs at last refused

them, their astute importers took them back at a discount, putting

them into circulation later at what they could, only to repeat the

transaction. In Morocco everything a man can be induced to take is

legal tender, and for bribes and religious offerings all things pass,

this practice being an easier matter than at first sight appears; so

in the course of a few years one saw a whole series of coins in vogue,

one after the other, the main transactions taking place on the coast

with country Moors, than whom, though none more suspicious, none are

more easily gulled.

A much more serious obstacle to inland trade is the periodically

disturbed state of the country, not so much the local struggles and

uprisings which serve to free superfluous energy, as the regular

administrative expeditions of the Moorish Court, or of considerable

bodies of troops. These used to take place in some direction every

year, "the time when kings go forth to war" being early summer, just

when agricultural operations are in full swing, and every man is

needed on his fields. In one district the ranks of the workers are

depleted by a form of conscription or "harka," and in another these

unfortunates are employed preventing others doing what they should

be doing at home. Thus all suffer, and those who are not themselves

engaged in the campaign are forced to contribute cash, if only to find

substitutes to take their places in the ranks.

The movement of the Moorish Court means the transportation of a

numerous host at tremendous expense, which has eventually to be

recouped in the shape of regular contributions, arrears of taxes and

fines, collected _en route_, so the pace is abnormally slow. Not

only is there an absolute absence of roads, and, with one or two

exceptions, of bridges, but the Sultan himself, with all his army,

cannot take the direct route between his most important inland cities

without fighting his way. The configuration of the empire explains its

previous sub-division into the kingdoms of Fez, Marrákesh, Tafilált

and Sûs, and the Reef, for between the plains of each run mountain

ranges which have never known absolute "foreign" rulers.

[Illustration: CROSSING A MOROCCO RIVER. _Molinari, Photo., Tangier._]

To European engineers the passes through these closed districts would

offer no great obstacles in the construction of roads such as thread

the Himalayas, but the Moors do not wish for the roads; for, while

what the Government fears to promote thereby is combination, the

actual occupants of the mountains, the native Berbers, desire not to

see the Arab tax-gatherers, only tolerating their presence as long as

they cannot help it, and then rising against them.

Often a tribe will be left for several years to enjoy independence,

while the slip-shod army of the Sultan is engaged elsewhere. When

its turn comes it holds out for terms, since it has no hope of

successfully confronting such an overwhelming force as is sooner

or later brought against it. The usual custom is to send small

detachments of soldiers to the support of the over-grasping

functionaries, and when they have been worsted, to send down an

army to "eat up" the province, burning villages, deporting cattle,

ill-treating the women, and often carrying home children as slaves.

The men of the district probably flee and leave their homes to be

ransacked. They content themselves with hiding behind crags which seem

to the plainsmen inaccessible, whence they can in safety harass the

troops on the march. After more or less protracted skirmishing, the

country having been devastated by the troops, who care only for the

booty, women will be sent into the camp to make terms, or one of the

shareefs or religious nobles who accompany the army is sent out to

treat with the rebels. The terms are usually hard--so much arrears

of tribute in cash and kind, so much as a fine for expenses, so many

hostages. Then hostages and prisoners are driven to the capital in

chains, and pickled heads are exposed on the gateways, imperial

letters being read in the chief mosques throughout the country,

telling of a glorious victory, and calling for rejoicings. To any

other people the short spell of freedom would have been too dearly

bought for the experiment to be repeated, but as soon as they begin to

chafe again beneath the lawless rule of Moorish officials, the Berbers

rebel once more. It has been going on thus for hundreds of years, and

will continue till put an end to by France.

In Morocco each official preys upon the one below him, and on all

others within his reach, till the poor oppressed and helpless villager

lives in terror of them all, not daring to display signs of prosperity

for fear of tempting plunder. Merit is no key to positions of trust

and authority, and few have such sufficient salary attached to render

them attractive to honest men. The holders are expected in most cases

to make a living out of the pickings, and are allowed an unquestioned

run of office till they are presumed to have amassed enough to make it

worth while treating them as they have treated others, when they are

called to account and relentlessly "squeezed." The only means of

staving off the fatal day is by frequent presents to those above them,

wrung from those below. A large proportion of Moorish officials end

their days in disgrace, if not in dungeons, and some meet their end

by being invited to corrosive sublimate tea, a favourite beverage in

Morocco--for others. Yet there is always a demand for office, and

large prices are paid for posts affording opportunities for plunder.

The Moorish financial system is of a piece with this method. When the

budget is made out, each tribe or district is assessed at the utmost

it is believed capable of yielding, and the candidate for its

governorship who undertakes to get most out of it probably has the

task allotted to him. His first duty is to repeat on a small scale

the operation of the Government, informing himself minutely as to the

resources under his jurisdiction, and assessing the sub-divisions

so as to bring in enough for himself, and to provide against

contingencies, in addition to the sum for which he is responsible. The

local sheïkhs or head-men similarly apportion their demands among the

individuals entrusted to their tender mercy. A fool is said to have

once presented the Sultan with a bowl of skimmed and watered milk, and

on being remonstrated with, to have declared that His Majesty received

no more from any one, as his wazeers and governors ate half the

revenue cream each, and the sheïkhs drank half the revenue milk. The

fool was right.

The richer a man is, the less proportion he will have to pay, for he

can make it so agreeable--or disagreeable--for those entrusted with a

little brief authority. It is the struggling poor who have to pay

or go to prison, even if to pay they have to sell their means of

subsistence. Three courses lie before this final victim--to obtain

the protection of some influential name, native or foreign, to buy a

"friend at court," or to enter Nazarene service. But native friends

are uncertain and hard to find, and, above all, they may be alienated

by a higher bid from a rival or from a rapacious official. Such

affairs are of common occurrence, and harrowing tales might be told of

homes broken up in this way, of tortures inflicted, and of lives

spent in dungeons because display has been indulged in, or because an

independent position has been assumed under cover of a protection that

has failed. But what can one expect with such a standard of honour?

Foreigners, on the other hand, seldom betray their

_protégés_--although, to their shame be it mentioned, some in high

places have done so,--wherefore their protection is in greater demand;

besides which it is more effectual, as coming from outside, while no

Moor, however well placed, is absolutely secure in his own position.

Thus it is that the down-trodden natives desire and are willing to pay

for protection in proportion to their means; and it is this power

of dispensing protection which, though often abused, does more than

anything else to raise the prestige of the foreigner, and in turn to

protect him.

The claims most frequently made against Moors by foreign countries are

for debt, claims which afford the greatest scope for controversy

and the widest loophole for abuse. Although, unfortunately, for the

greater part usurious, a fair proportion are for goods delivered, but

to evade the laws even loan receipts are made out as for goods to be

delivered, a form in which discrimination is extremely difficult. The

condition of the country, in which every man is liable to be arrested,

thrashed, imprisoned, if not tortured, to extort from him his wealth,

is such as furnishes the usurer with crowding clients; and the

condition of things among the Indian cultivators, bad as it is, since

they can at least turn to a fair-handed Government, is not to be

compared to that of the down-trodden Moorish farmer.

The assumption by the Government of responsibility for the debts of

its subjects, or at all events its undertaking to see that they pay,

is part of the patriarchal system in force, by which the family is

made responsible for individuals, the tribe for families, and so on.

No other system would bring offenders to justice without police; but

it transforms each man into his brother's keeper. This, however, does

not apply only to debts the collection of which is urged upon the

Government, for whom it is sufficient to produce the debtor and let

him prove absolute poverty for him to be released, with the claim

cancelled. This in theory: but in practice, to appease these claims,

however just, innocent men are often thrown into prison, and untold

horrors are suffered, in spite of all the efforts of foreign ministers

to counteract the injustice.

A mere recital of tales which have come under my own observation would

but harrow my readers' feelings to no purpose, and many would appear

incredible. With the harpies of the Government at their heels, men

borrow wildly for a month or two at cent. per cent., and as the

Moorish law prohibits interest, a document is sworn to before notaries

by which the borrower declares that he has that day taken in hard cash

the full amount to be repaid, the value of certain crops or produce of

which he undertakes delivery upon a certain date. Very seldom,

indeed, does it happen that by that date the money can be repaid, and

generally the only terms offered for an extension of time for another

three or six months are the addition of another fifty or one hundred

per cent. to the debt, always fully secured on property, or by the

bonds of property holders. Were not this thing of everyday occurrence

in Morocco, and had I not examined scores of such papers, the way in

which the ignorant Moors fall into such traps would seem incredible.

It is usual to blame the Jews for it all, and though the business lies

mostly in their hands, it must not be overlooked that many foreigners

engage in it, and, though indirectly, some Moors also.

But besides such claims, there is a large proportion of just business

debts which need to be enforced. It does not matter how fair a claim

may be, or how legitimate, it is very rarely that trouble is not

experienced in pressing it. The Moorish Courts are so venal, so

degraded, that it is more often the unscrupulous usurer who wins his

case and applies the screw, than the honest trader. Here lies the

rub. Another class of claims is for damage done, loss suffered, or

compensation for imaginary wrongs. All these together mount up, and a

newly appointed minister or consul-general is aghast at the list which

awaits him. He probably contents himself at first with asking for the

appointment of a commission to examine and report on the legality of

all these claims, and for the immediate settlement of those approved.

But he asks and is promised in vain, till at last he obtains the moral

support of war-ships, in view of which the Moorish Government most

likely pays much more than it would have got off with at first, and

then proceeds to victimize the debtors.

It is with expressed threats of bombardment that the ships come, but

experience has taught the Moorish Government that it is well not to

let things go that length, and they now invariably settle amicably. To

our western notions it may seem strange that whatever questions have

to be attended to should not be put out of hand without requiring

such a demonstration; but while there is sleep there is hope for an

Oriental, and the rulers of Morocco would hardly be Moors if they

resisted the temptation to procrastinate, for who knows what may

happen while they delay? And then there is always the chance of

driving a bargain, so dear to the Moorish heart, for the wazeer knows

full well that although the Nazarene may be prepared to bombard, as

he has done from time to time, he is no more desirous than the Sultan

that such an extreme measure should be necessary.

So, even when things come to the pinch, and the exasperated

representative of Christendom talks hotly of withdrawing, hauling down

his flag and giving hostile orders, there is time at least to make an

offer, or to promise everything in words. And when all is over, claims

paid, ships gone, compliments and presents passed, nothing really

serious has happened, just the everyday scene on the market applied to

the nation, while the Moorish Government has once more given proof of

worldly wisdom, and endorsed the proverb that discretion is the better

part of valour.

An illustration of the high-handed way in which things are done

in Morocco has but recently been afforded by the action of France

regarding an alleged Algerian subject arrested by the Moorish

authorities for conspiracy. The man, Boo Zîan Miliáni by name, was the

son of one of those Algerians who, when their country was conquered by

the French, preferred exile to submission, and migrated to Morocco,

where they became naturalized. He was charged with supporting the

so-called "pretender" in the Reef province, where he was arrested with

two others early in August last. His particular offence appears to

have been the reading of the "Rogi's" proclamations to the public, and

inciting them to rebel against the Sultan. But when brought a

prisoner to Tangier, and thence despatched to Fez, he claimed French

citizenship, and the Minister of France, then at Court, demanded his

release.

This being refused, a peremptory note followed, with a threat to break

off diplomatic negotiations if the demand were not forthwith complied

with. The usual _communiqués_ were made to the Press, whereby a chorus

was produced setting forth the insult to France, the imminence of war,

and the general gravity of the situation. Many alarming head-lines

were provided for the evening papers, and extra copies were doubtless

sold. In Morocco, however, not only the English and Spanish papers,

but also the French one, admitted that the action of France was wrong,

though the ultimate issue was never in doubt, and the man's release

was a foregone conclusion. Elsewhere the rights of the matter would

have been sifted, and submitted at least to the law-courts, if not to

arbitration.

While the infliction of this indignity was stirring up northern

Morocco, the south was greatly exercised by the presence on the

coast of a French vessel, _L'Aigle_, officers from which proceeded

ostentatiously to survey the fortifications of Mogador and its island,

and then effected a landing on the latter by night. Naturally the

coastguards fired at them, fortunately without causing damage, but

had any been killed, Europe would have rung with the "outrage." From

Mogador the vessel proceeded after a stay of a month to Agadir, the

first port of Sûs, closed to Europeans.

Here its landing-party was met on the beach by some hundreds of armed

men, whose commander resolutely forbade them to land, so they had to

retire. Had they not done so, who would answer for the consequences?

As it was, the natives, eager to attack the "invaders," were with

difficulty kept in hand, and one false step would undoubtedly have

led to serious bloodshed. Of course this was a dreadful rebuff for

"pacific penetration," but the matter was kept quiet as a little

premature, since in Europe the coast is not quite clear enough yet for

retributory measures. The effect, however, on the Moors, among whom

the affair grew more grave each time it was recited, was out of all

proportion to the real importance of the incident, which otherwise

might have passed unnoticed.

III

BEHIND THE SCENES

"He knows of every vice an ounce."

_Moorish Proverb._

Though most eastern lands may be described as slip-shod, with

reference both to the feet of their inhabitants and to the way in

which things are done, there can be no country in the world more aptly

described by that epithet than Morocco. One of the first things which

strikes the visitor to this country is the universality of the slipper

as foot-gear, at least, so far as the Moors are concerned. In the

majority of cases the men wear the heels of their slippers folded down

under the feet, only putting them up when necessity compels them to

run, which they take care shall not be too often, as they much prefer

a sort of ambling gait, best compared to that of their mules, or to

that of an English tramp.

Nothing delights them better as a means of agreeably spending an

hour or two, than squatting on their heels in the streets or on some

door-stoop, gazing at the passers-by, exchanging compliments with

their acquaintances. Native "swells" consequently promenade with a

piece of felt under their arms on which to sit when they wish, in

addition to its doing duty as a carpet for prayer. The most public

places, and usually the cool of the afternoon, are preferred for this

pastime.

The ladies of their Jewish neighbours also like to sit at their doors

in groups at the same hour, or in the doorways of main thoroughfares

on moonlight evenings, while the gentlemen, who prefer to do their

gossiping afoot, roam up and down. But this is somewhat apart from the

point of the lazy tendencies of the Moors. With them--since they have

no trains to catch, and disdain punctuality--all hurry is undignified,

and one could as easily imagine an elegantly dressed Moorish scribe

literally flying as running, even on the most urgent errand. "Why

run," they ask, "when you might just as well walk? Why walk, when

standing would do? Why stand, when sitting is so much less fatiguing?

Why sit, when lying down gives so much more rest? And why, lying down,

keep your eyes open?"

In truth, this is a country in which things are left pretty much to

look after themselves. Nothing is done that can be left undone, and

everything is postponed until "to-morrow." Slipper-slapper go the

people, and slipper-slapper goes their policy. If you can get through

a duty by only half doing it, by all means do so, is the generally

accepted rule of life. In anything you have done for you by a Moor,

you are almost sure to discover that he has "scamped" some part;

perhaps the most important. This, of course, means doing a good

deal yourself, if you like things done well, a maxim holding good

everywhere, indeed, but especially here.

The Moorish Government's way of doing things--or rather, of not doing

them if it can find an excuse--is eminently slip-shod. The only point

in which they show themselves astute is in seeing that their Rubicon

has a safe bridge by which they may retreat, if that suits their plans

after crossing it. To deceive the enemy they hide this as best

they can, for the most part successfully, causing the greatest

consternation in the opposite camp, which, at the moment when it

thinks it has driven them into a corner, sees their ranks gradually

thinning from behind, dribbling away by an outlet hitherto invisible.

Thus, in accepting a Moor's promise, one must always consider the

conditions or rider annexed.

This can be well illustrated by the reluctant permission to transport

grain from one Moorish port to another, granted from time to time,

but so hampered by restrictions as to be only available to a few, the

Moorish Government itself deriving the greatest advantage from it.

Then, too, there is the property clause in the Convention of Madrid,

which has been described as the sop by means of which the Powers were

induced to accept other less favourable stipulations. Instead of being

the step in advance which it appeared to be, it was, in reality, a

backward step, the conditions attached making matters worse than

before.

In this way only do the Moors shine as politicians, unless

prevarication and procrastination be included, Machiavellian arts in

which they easily excel. Otherwise they are content to jog along in

the same slip-shod manner as their fathers did centuries ago, as soon

as prosperity had removed the incentive to exert the energy they once

possessed. The same carelessness marks their conduct in everything,

and the same unsatisfactory results inevitably follow.

But to get at the root of the matter it is necessary to go a step

further. The absolute lack of morals among the people is the real

cause of the trouble. Morocco is so deeply sunk in the degradation of

vice, and so given up to lust, that it is impossible to lay bare its

deplorable condition. In most countries, with a fair proportion of

the pure and virtuous, some attempt is made to gloss over and conceal

one's failings; but in this country the only vice which public opinion

seriously condemns is drunkenness, and it is only before foreigners

that any sense of shame or desire for secrecy about others is

observable. The Moors have not yet attained to that state of

hypocritical sanctimoniousness in which modern society in civilized

lands delights to parade itself.

The taste for strong drink, though still indulged comparatively in

secret, is steadily increasing, the practice spreading from force

of example among the Moors themselves, as a result of the strenuous

efforts of foreigners to inculcate this vice. European consular

reports not infrequently note with congratulation the growing imports

of wines and liqueurs into Morocco, nominally for the sole use of

foreigners, although manifestly far in excess of their requirements.

As yet, it is chiefly among the higher and lower classes that the

victims are found, the former indulging in the privacy of their own

homes, and the latter at the low drinking-dens kept by the scum of

foreign settlers in the open ports. Among the country people of

the plains and lower hills there are hardly any who would touch

intoxicating liquor, though among the mountaineers the use of alcohol

has ever been more common.

Tobacco smoking is very general on the coast, owing to contact with

Europeans, but still comparatively rare in the interior, although the

native preparations of hemp (keef), and also to some extent opium,

have a large army of devotees, more or less victims. The latter,

however, being an expensive import, is less known in the interior.

Snuff-taking is fairly general among men and women, chiefly the

elderly. What they take is very strong, being a composition of

tobacco, walnut shells, and charcoal ash. The writer once saw a young

Englishman, who thought he could stand a good pinch of snuff, fairly

"knocked over" by a quarter as much as the owner of the nut from which

it came took with the utmost complacency.

The feeling of the Moorish Government about smoking has long been so

strong that in every treaty with Europe is inserted a clause reserving

the right of prohibiting the importation of all narcotics, or articles

used in their manufacture or consumption. Till a few years ago the

right to deal in these was granted yearly as a monopoly; but in 1887

the late Sultan, Mulai el Hasan, and his aoláma, or councillors,

decided to abolish the business altogether, so, purchasing the

existing stocks at a valuation, they had the whole burned. But first

the foreign officials and then private foreigners demanded the right

to import whatever they needed "for their own consumption," and the

abuse of this courtesy has enabled several tobacco factories to spring

up in the country. The position with regard to the liquor traffic is

almost the same. If the Moors were free to legislate as they wished,

they would at once prohibit the importation of intoxicants.

Of late years, however, a great change has come over the Moors of the

ports, more especially so in Tangier, where the number of taverns and

_cafés_ has increased most rapidly. During many years' residence there

the cases of drunkenness met with could be counted on the fingers, and

were then confined to guides or servants of foreigners; on the last

visit paid to the country more were observed in a month than then in

years. In those days to be seen with a cigarette was almost a crime,

and those who indulged in a whiff at home took care to deodorize their

mouths with powdered coffee; now Moors sit with Europeans, smoking and

drinking, unabashed, at tables in the streets, but not those of the

better sort. Thus Morocco is becoming civilized!

However ashamed a Moor may be of drunkenness, no one thinks of making

a pretence of being chaste or moral. On the contrary, no worse is

thought of a man who is wholly given up to the pleasures of the flesh

than of one who is addicted to the most innocent amusements. If a

Moor is remonstrated with, he declares he is not half so bad as the

"Nazarenes" he has come across, who, in addition to practising most of

his vices, indulge in drunkenness. It is not surprising, therefore,

that the diseases which come as a penalty for these vices are

fearfully prevalent in Morocco. Everywhere one comes across the

ravages of such plagues, and is sickened at the sight of their

victims. Without going further into details, it will suffice to

mention that one out of every five patients (mostly males) who attend

at the dispensary of the North Africa Mission at Tangier are direct,

or indirect, sufferers from these complaints.

The Moors believe in "sowing wild oats" when young, till their energy

is extinguished, leaving them incapable of accomplishing anything.

Then they think the pardon of God worth invoking, if only in the vain

hope of having their youth renewed as the eagle's. Yet if this could

happen, they would be quite ready to commence a fresh series of

follies more outrageous than before. This is a sad picture, but

nevertheless true, and, far from being exaggerated, does not even hint

at much that exists in Morocco to-day.

The words of the Korán about such matters are never considered, though

nominally the sole guide for life. The fact that God is "the Pitying,

the Pitiful, King of the Day of Judgement," is considered sufficient

warrant for the devotees of Islám to lightly indulge in breaches of

laws which they hold to be His, confident that if they only perform

enough "vain repetitions," fast at the appointed times, and give alms,

visiting Mekka, if possible, or if not, making pilgrimages to shrines

of lesser note nearer home, God, in His infinite mercy, will overlook

all.

An anonymous writer has aptly remarked--"Every good Mohammedan has

a perpetual free pass over that line, which not only secures to him

personally a safe transportation to Paradise, but provides for him

upon his arrival there so luxuriously that he can leave all the

cumbersome baggage of his earthly harem behind him, and begin his

celestial house-keeping with an entirely new outfit."

Here lies the whole secret of Morocco's backward state. Her people,

having outstepped even the ample limits of licentiousness laid down in

the Korán, and having long ceased to be even true Mohammedans, by

the time they arrive at manhood have no energy left to promote her

welfare, and sink into an indolent, procrastinating race, capable of

little in the way of progress till a radical change takes place in

their morals.

Nothing betrays their moral condition more clearly than their

unrestrained conversation, a reeking vapour arising from a mass of

corruption. The foul ejaculations of an angry Moor are unreproducible,

only serving to show extreme familiarity with vice of every sort. The

tales to which they delight to listen, the monotonous chants rehearsed

by hired musicians at public feasts or private entertainments, and the

voluptuous dances they delight to have performed before them as they

lie sipping forbidden liquors, are all of one class, recounting and

suggesting evil deeds to hearers or observers.

The constant use made of the name of God, mostly in stock phrases

uttered without a thought as to their real meaning, is counterbalanced

in some measure by cursing of a most elaborate kind, and the frequent

mention of the "Father of Lies," called by them "The Liar" _par

excellence_. The term "elaborate" is the only one wherewith to

describe a curse so carefully worded that, if executed, it would

leave no hope of Paradise either for the unfortunate addressee or his

ancestors for several generations. On the slightest provocation,

or without that excuse, the Moor can roll forth the most intricate

genealogical objurgations, or rap out an oath. In ordinary cases of

displeasure he is satisfied with showering expletives on the parents

and grand-parents of the object of his wrath, with derogatory

allusions to the morals of those worthies' "better halves." "May God

have mercy on thy relatives, O my Lord," is a common way of addressing

a stranger respectfully, and the contrary expression is used to

produce a reverse effect.

I am often asked, "What would a Moor think of this?" Probably some

great invention will be referred to, or some manifest improvement in

our eyes over Moorish methods or manufactures. If it was something

he could see, unless above the average, he would look at it as a cow

looks at a new gate, without intelligence, realizing only the change,

not the cause or effect. By this time the Moors are becoming familiar,

at least by exaggerated descriptions, with most of the foreigner's

freaks, and are beginning to refuse to believe that the Devil assists

us, as they used to, taking it for granted that we should be more

ingenious, and they more wise! The few who think are apt to pity the

rush of our lives, and write us down, from what they have themselves

observed in Europe as in Morocco, as grossly immoral beside even their

acknowledged failings. The faults of our civilization they quickly

detect, the advantages are mostly beyond their comprehension.

Some years ago a friend of mine showed two Moors some of the sights

of London. When they saw St. Paul's they told of the glories of the

Karûeeïn mosque at Fez; with the towers of Westminster before them

they sang the praises of the Kûtûbîya at Marrákesh. Whatever they saw

had its match in Morocco. But at last, as a huge dray-horse passed

along the highway with its heavy load, one grasped the other's arm

convulsively, exclaiming, "M'bark Allah! Aoûd hadhá!"--"Blessed be

God! That's a horse!" Here at least was something that did appeal to

the heart of the Arab. For once he saw a creature he could understand,

the like of which was never bred in Barbary, and his wonder knew no

bounds.

An equally good story is told of an Englishman who endeavoured to

convince a Moor at home of the size of these horses. With his stick he

drew on the ground one of their full-sized shoes. "But we have horses

beyond the mountains with shoes _this_ size," was the ready reply, as

the native drew another twice as big. Annoyed at not being able to

convince him, the Englishman sent home for a specimen shoe. When he

showed it to the Moor, the only remark he elicited was that a native

smith could make one twice the size. Exasperated now, and not to be

outdone, the Englishman sent home for a cart-horse skull. "Now you've

beaten me!" at last acknowledged the Moor. "You Christians can make

anything, but _we can't make bones!_"

Bigoted and fanatical as the Moors may show themselves at times,

they are generally willing enough to be friends with those who show

themselves friendly. And notwithstanding the way in which the strong

oppress the weak, as a nation they are by no means treacherous or

cruel; on the contrary, the average Moor is genial and hospitable,

does not forget a kindness, and is a man whom one can respect. Yet it

is strange how soon a little power, and the need for satisfying the

demands of his superiors, will corrupt the mildest of them; and the

worst are to be found among families which have inherited office. The

best officials are those chosen from among retired merchants whose

palms no longer itch, and who, by intercourse with Europeans, have had

their ideas of life broadened.

The greatest obstacle to progress in Morocco is the blind prejudice

of ignorance. It is hard for the Moors to realize that their presumed

hereditary foes can wish them well, and it is suspicion, rather than

hostility, which induces them to crawl within their shell and ask to

be left alone. Too often subsequent events have shown what good ground

they have had for suspicion. It is a pleasure for me to be able to

state that during all the years that I have lived among them, often in

the closest intercourse, I have never received the least insult, but

have been well repaid in my own coin. What more could be wished?

[Illustration: _Photograph by Dr. Rudduck._

A BERBER VILLAGE IN THE ATLAS]

IV

THE BERBER RACE

"Every lion in his own forest roars."

_Moorish Proverb._

Few who glibly use the word "Barbarian" pause to consider whether the

present meaning attached to the name is justified or not, or whether

the people of Barbary are indeed the uncivilized, uncouth, incapable

lot their name would seem to imply to-day. In fact, the popular

ignorance regarding the nearest point of Africa is even greater than

of the actually less known central portions, where the white man

penetrates with every risk. To declare that the inhabitants of the

four Barbary States--Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripoli--are not

"Blackamoors" at all, but white like ourselves, is to astonish most

folk at the outset.

Of course in lands where the enslavement of neighbouring negro races

has been an institution for a thousand years or more, there is a

goodly proportion of mulattoes; and among those whose lives have been

spent for generations in field work there are many whose skins are

bronzed and darkened, but they are white by nature, nevertheless, and

town life soon restores the original hue. The student class of Fez,

drawn from all sections of the population of Morocco, actually makes

a boast of the pale and pasty complexions attained by life amid the

shaded cloisters and covered streets of the intellectual capital. Then

again those who are sunburned and bronzed are more of the Arab stock

than of the Berber.

These Berbers, the original Barbarians, known to the Romans and Greeks

as such before the Arab was heard of outside Arabia, are at once the

greatest and the most interesting nation, or rather race, of the whole

of Africa. Had such a coalition as "the United States of North Africa"

been possible, Europe would long ago have learned to fear and respect

the title "Barbarian" too much to put it to its present use. But the

weak point of the Berber race has been its lack of homogeneity; it

has ever been split up into independent states and tribes, constantly

indulging in internecine warfare. This is a principle which has its

origin in the relations of the units whereof they are composed, of

whom it may be said as of the sons of Ishmael, that every man's hand

is against his neighbour. The vendetta, a result of the _lex talionis_

of "eye for eye and tooth for tooth," flourishes still. No youth is

supposed to have attained full manhood until he has slain his man, and

excuses are seldom lacking. The greatest insult that can be offered to

an enemy is to tell him that his father died in bed--even greater than

the imputation of evil character to his maternal relatives.

Some years ago I had in my service a lad of about thirteen, one

of several Reefians whom I had about me for the practice of their

language. Two or three years later, on returning to Morocco, I met him

one day on the market.

"I am so glad to see you," he said; "I want you to help me buy some

guns."

"What for?"

"Well, my father's dead; may God have mercy on him!"

"How did he die?"

"God knows."

"But what has that to do with the gun?"

"You see, we must kill my three uncles, I and my two brothers, and we

want three guns."

"What! Did they kill your father?"

"God knows."

"May He deliver you from such a deed. Come round to the house for some

food."

"But I've got married since you saw me, and expect an heir, yet they

chaff me and call me a boy because I have never yet killed a man."

I asked an old servant who had been to England, and seemed "almost

a Christian," to try and dissuade him, but only to meet with an

appreciative, "Well done! I always thought there was something in that

lad."

So I tried a second, but with worse results, for he patted the boy

on the back with an assurance that he could not dissuade him from so

sacred a duty; and at last I had to do what I could myself. I extorted

a promise that he would try and arrange to take blood-money, but as he

left the door his eye fell on a broken walking-stick.

"Oh, do give me that! It's no use to you, and it _would_ make such a

nice prop for my gun, as I am a very bad shot, and we mean to wait

outside for them in the dark."

The sequel I have never heard.

Up in those mountains every one lives in fortified dwellings--big men

in citadels, others in wall-girt villages, all from time to time

at war with one another, or with the dwellers in some neighbouring

valley. Fighting is their element; as soon as "the powder speaks"

there are plenty to answer, for every one carries his gun, and it is

wonderful how soon upon these barren hills an armed crowd can muster.

Their life is a hard fight with Nature; all they ask is to be left

alone to fight it out among themselves. Even on the plains among the

Arabs and the mixed tribes described as Moors, things are not much

better, for there, too, vendettas and cattle lifting keep them at

loggerheads, and there is nothing the clansmen like so well as a raid

on the Governor's kasbah or castle. These kasbahs are great walled

strongholds dotted about the country; in times of peace surrounded by

groups of huts and tents, whose inhabitants take refuge inside when

their neighbours appear. The high walls and towers are built of mud

concrete, often red like the Alhambra, the surface of which stands the

weather ill, but which, when kept in repair, lasts for centuries.

The Reefian Berbers are among the finest men in Morocco--warlike and

fierce, it is true, from long habit and training; but they have many

excellent qualities, in addition to stalwart frames. "If you don't

want to be robbed," say they, "don't come our way. We only care to see

men who can fight, with whom we may try our luck." They will come and

work for Europeans, forming friendships among them, and if it were

not for the suspicion of those who have not done so, who always fear

political agents and spies, they would often be willing to take

Europeans through their land. I have more than once been invited to

go as a Moor. But the ideas they get of Europeans in Tangier do not

predispose to friendship, and they will not allow them to enter their

territories if they can help it. Only those who are in subjection to

the Sultan permit them to do so freely.

The men are a hardy, sturdy race, wiry and lithe, inured to toil and

cold, fonder far of the gun and sword than of the ploughshare, and

steady riders of an equally wiry race of mountain ponies. Their

dwellings are of stone and mud, often of two floors, flat-topped, with

rugged, projecting eaves, the roofs being made of poles covered with

the same material as the walls, stamped and smoothed. These houses are

seldom whitewashed, and present a ruinous appearance. Their ovens are

domes about three feet or less in height outside; they are heated by

a fire inside, then emptied, and the bread put in. Similar ovens are

employed in camp to bake for the Court.

Instead of that forced seclusion and concealment of the features to

which the followers of Islám elsewhere doom their women, in these

mountain homes they enjoy almost as perfect liberty as their sisters

in Europe. I have been greatly struck with their intelligence and

generally superior appearance to such Arab women as I have by chance

been able to see. Once, when supping with the son of a powerful

governor from above Fez, his mother, wife, and wife's sister sat

composedly to eat with us, which could never have occurred in the

dwelling of a Moor. No attempt at covering their faces was made,

though male attendants were present at times, but the little daughter

shrieked at the sight of a Nazarene. The grandmother, a fine,

buxom dame, could read and write--which would be an astonishing

accomplishment for a Moorish woman--and she could converse better than

many men who would in this country pass for educated.

The Berber dress has either borrowed from or lent much to the Moor,

but a few articles stamp it wherever worn. One of these is a large

black cloak of goat's-hair, impervious to rain, made of one piece,

with no arm-holes. At the point of the cowl hangs a black tassel,

and right across the back, about the level of the knees, runs an

assagai-shaped patch, often with a centre of red. It has been opined

that this remarkable feature represents the All-seeing Eye, so often

used as a charm, but from the scanty information I could gather from

the people themselves, I believe that they have lost sight of the

original idea, though some have told me that variations in the

pattern mark clan distinctions. I have ridden--when in the guise of a

native--for days together in one of these cloaks, during pelting rain

which never penetrated it. In more remote districts, seldom visited by

Europeans, the garments are ruder far, entirely of undyed wool, and

unsewn, mere blankets with slits cut in the centre for the head. This

is, however, in every respect, a great difference between the various

districts. The turban is little used by these people, skull-caps

being preferred, while their red cloth gun-cases are commonly twisted

turban-wise as head-gear, though often a camel's-hair cord is deemed

sufficient protection for the head.

Every successive ruler of North Africa has had to do with the problem

of subduing the Berbers and has failed. In the wars between Rome and

Carthage it was among her sturdy Berber soldiers that the southern

rival of the great queen city of the world found actual sinews enough

to hold the Roman legions so long at bay, and often to overcome her

vaunted cohorts and carry the war across into Europe. Where else did

Rome find so near a match, and what wars cost her more than did those

of Africa? Carthage indeed has fallen, and from her once famed Byrsa

the writer has been able to count on his fingers the local remains of

her greatness, yet the people who made her what she was remain--the

Berbers of Tunisia. The Ph[oe]nician settlers, though bringing with

them wealth and learning and arts, could never have done alone what

they did without the hardy fighting men supplied by the hills around.

When Rome herself had fallen, and the fames of Carthage and Utica were

forgotten, there came across North Africa a very different race from

those who had preceded them, the desert Arabs, introducing the creed

of Islám. In the course of a century or two, North Africa became

Mohammedan, pagan and Christian institutions being swept away before

that onward wave. It is not probable that at any time Christianity

had any real hold upon the Berbers themselves, and Islám itself sits

lightly on their easy consciences.

The Arabs had for the moment solved the Berber problem. They were the

amalgam which, by coalescing with the scattered factions of their

race, had bound them up together and had formed for once a nation of

them. Thus it was that the Muslim armies obtained force to carry all

before them, and thus was provided the new blood and the active

temper to which alone are due the conquest of Spain, and subsequent

achievements there. The popular description of the Mohammedan rulers

of Spain as "Saracens"--Easterners--is as erroneous as the supposition

that they were Arabs. The people who conquered Spain were Berbers,

although their leaders often adopted Arabic names with an Arab

religion and Arab culture. The Arabic language, although official, was

by no means general, nor is it otherwise to-day. The men who fought

and the men who ruled were Berbers out and out, though the latter were

often the sons of Arab fathers or mothers, and the great religious

chiefs were purely Arab on the father's side at least, the majority

claiming descent from Mohammed himself, and as such forming a class

apart of shareefs or nobles.

Though nominal Mohammedans, and in Morocco acknowledging the religious

supremacy of the reigning shareefian family, the Moorish Berbers still

retain a semi-independence. The mountains of the Atlas chain have

always been their home and refuge, where the plainsmen find it

difficult and dangerous to follow them. The history of the conquest

of Algeria and Tunisia by the French has shown that they are no mean

opponents even to modern weapons and modern warfare. The Kabyles,[3]

as they are erroneously styled in those countries, have still to be

kept in check by the fear of arms, and their prowess no one disputes.

These are the people the French propose to subdue by "pacific

penetration." The awe with which these mountaineers have inspired the

plainsmen and townsfolk is remarkable; as good an illustration of it

as I know was the effect produced on a Moor by my explanation that a

Highland friend to whom I had introduced him was not an Englishman,

but what I might call a "British Berber." The man was absolutely

awe-struck.

[3: _I.e._ "Provincials," so misnamed from Kabîlah (_pl._

Kabáïl), a province.]

Separated from the Arab as well as from the European by a totally

distinct, unwritten language, with numerous dialects, these people

still exist as a mine of raw material, full of possibilities. In

habits and style of life they may be considered uncivilized even in

contrast to the mingled dwellers on the lowlands; but they are far

from being savages. Their stalwart frames and sturdy independence fit

them for anything, although the latter quality keeps them aloof, and

has so far prevented intercourse with the outside world.

Many have their own pet theories as to the origin of the Berbers and

their language, not a few believing them to have once been altogether

Christians, while others, following native authors, attribute to them

Canaanitish ancestors, and ethnologists dispute as to the branch of

Noah's family in which to class them. It is more than probable that

they are one with the ancient Egyptians, who, at least, were no

barbarians, if Berbers. But all are agreed that some of the finest

stocks of southern and western Europe are of kindred origin, if not

identical with them, and even if this be uncertain, enough has been

said to show that they have played no unimportant part in European

history, though it has ever been their lot to play behind the

scenes--scene-shifters rather than actors.

[Illustration: _Photograph by Dr. Rudduck._

AN ARAB TENT IN MOROCCO.]

V

THE WANDERING ARAB

"I am loving, not lustful."

_Moorish Proverb._

Some strange fascination attaches itself to the simple nomad life of

the Arab, in whatever country he be found, and here, in the far west

of his peregrinations, he is encountered living almost in the same

style as on the other side of Suez; his only roof a cloth, his country

the wide world. Sometimes the tents are arranged as many as thirty

or more in a circle, and at other times they are grouped hap-hazard,

intermingled with round huts of thatch, and oblong ones of sun-dried

bricks, thatched also; but in the latter cases the occupants are

unlikely to be pure Arabs, for that race seldom so nearly approaches

to settling anywhere. When the tents are arranged in a circle, the

animals are generally picketed in the centre, but more often some are

to be found sharing the homes of their owners.

The tent itself is of an oval shape, with a wooden ridge on two poles

across the middle third of the centre, from front to back, with a

couple of strong bands of the same material as the tent fixed on

either side, whence cords lead to pegs in the ground, passing over two

low stakes leaning outwards. A rude camel's hair canvas is stretched

over this frame, being kept up at the edges by more leaning stakes,

and fastened by cords to pegs all round. The door space is left on

the side which faces the centre of the encampment, and the walls or

"curtains" are formed of high thistles lashed together in sheaves.

Surrounding the tent is a yard, a simple bog in winter, the boundary

of which is a ring formed by bundles of prickly branches, which

compose a really formidable barrier, being too much for a jump, and

too tenacious to one another and to visitors for penetration. The

break left for an entrance is stopped at night by another bundle which

makes the circle complete.

The interior of the tent is often more or less divided by the pole

supporting the roof, and by a pile of household goods, such as they

are. Sometimes a rude loom is fastened to the poles, and at it a woman

sits working on the floor. The framework--made of canes--is kept in

place by rigging to pegs in the ground. The woman's hand is her only

shuttle, and she threads the wool through with her fingers, a span at

a time, afterwards knocking it down tightly into place with a heavy

wrought-iron comb about two inches wide, with a dozen prongs. She

seems but half-dressed, and makes no effort to conceal either face or

breast, as a filthy child lies feeding in her lap. Her seat is a piece

of matting, but the principal covering for the floor of trodden mud is

a layer of palmetto leaves. Round the "walls" are several hens with

chicks nestling under their wings, and on one side a donkey is

tethered, while a calf sports at large.

The furniture of this humble dwelling consists of two or three large,

upright, mud-plastered, split-cane baskets, containing corn, partially

sunk in the ground, and a few dirty bags. On one side is the mill, a

couple of stones about eighteen inches across, the upper one convex,

with a handle at one side. Three stones above a small hole in the

ground serve as a cooking-range, while the fuel is abundant in the

form of sun-dried thistles and other weeds, or palmetto leaves and

sticks. Fire is obtained by borrowing from one another, but should it

happen that no one in the encampment had any, the laborious operation

of lighting dry straw from the flash in the pan of a flint-lock would

have to be performed. To light the rude lamp--merely a bit of cotton

protruding from anything with olive-oil in it--it is necessary to blow

some smoking straw or weed till it bursts into a flame.

Little else except the omnipresent dirt is to be found in the average

Arab tent. A tin or two for cooking operations, a large earthen

water-jar, and a pan or two to match, in which the butter-milk is

kept, a sieve for the flour, and a few rough baskets, usually complete

the list, and all are remarkable only for the prevailing grime. Making

a virtue of necessity, the Arab prefers sour milk to fresh, for with

this almost total lack of cleanliness, no milk would long keep sweet.

Their food is of the simplest, chiefly the flour of wheat, barley, or

Indian millet prepared in various ways, for the most part made up into

flat, heavy cakes of bread, or as kesk'soo. Milk, from which butter is

made direct by tossing it in a goat-skin turned inside out, eggs and

fowls form the chief animal food, butcher's meat being but seldom

indulged in. Vegetables do not enter into their diet, as they have no

gardens, and beyond possessing flocks and herds, those Arabs met with

in Barbary are wretchedly poor and miserably squalid. The patriarchal

display of Arabia is here unknown.

Of children and dogs there is no lack. Both abound, and wallow in the

mud together. Often the latter seem to have the better time of it. Two

families by one father will sometimes share one tent between them, but

generally each "household" is distinct, though all sleep together

in the one apartment of their abode. As one approaches a dûár, or

encampment, an early warning is given by the hungry dogs, and soon the

half-clad children rush out to see who comes, followed leisurely by

their elders. Hospitality has ever been an Arab trait, and these poor

creatures, in their humble way, sustain the best traditions of their

race. A native visitor of their own class is entertained and fed by

the first he comes across, while the foreign traveller or native of

means with his own tent is accommodated on the rubbish in the midst

of the encampment, and can purchase all he wishes--all that they

have--for a trifle, though sometimes they turn disagreeable and "pile

it on." A present of milk and eggs, perhaps fowls, may be brought, for

which, however, a _quid pro quo_ is expected.

Luxuries they have not. Whatever they need to do in the way of

shopping, is done at the nearest market once a week, and nothing but

the produce already mentioned is to be obtained from them. In the

evenings they stuff themselves to repletion, if they can afford it,

with a wholesome dish of prepared barley or wheat meal, sometimes

crowned with beans; then, after a gossip round the crackling fire, or,

on state occasions, three cups of syrupy green tea apiece, they roll

themselves in their long blankets and sleep on the ground.

The first blush of dawn sees them stirring, and soon all is life and

excitement. The men go off to their various labours, as do many of the

stronger women, while the remainder attend to their scanty household

duties, later on basking in the sun. But the moment the stranger

arrives the scene changes, and the incessant din of dogs, hags and

babies commences, to which the visitor is doomed till late at

night, with the addition then of neighs and brays and occasional

cock-crowing.

It never seemed to me that these poor folk enjoyed life, but rather

that they took things sadly. How could it be otherwise? No security

of life and property tempts them to make a show of wealth; on the

contrary, they bury what little they may save, if any, and lead lives

of misery for fear of tempting the authorities. Their work is hard;

their comforts are few. The wild wind howls through their humble

dwellings, and the rain splashes in at the door. In sickness, for lack

of medical skill, they lie and perish. In health their only pleasures

are animal. Their women, once they are past the prime of life, which

means soon after thirty with this desert race, go unveiled, and work

often harder than the men, carrying burdens, binding sheaves, or even

perhaps helping a donkey to haul a plough. Female features are never

so jealously guarded here as in the towns.

Yet they are a jolly, good-tempered, simple folk. Often have I spent a

merry evening round the fire with them, squatted on a bit of matting,

telling of the wonders of "That Country," the name which alternates in

their vocabulary with "Nazarene Land," as descriptive of all the world

but Morocco and such portions of North Africa or Arabia as they may

have heard of. Many an honest laugh have we enjoyed over their wordy

tales, or perchance some witty sally; but in my heart I have pitied

these down-trodden people in their ignorance and want. Home they do

not know. When the pasture in Shechem is short, they remove to Dothan;

next month they may be somewhere else. But they are always ready to

share their scanty portion with the wayfarer, wherever they are.

When the time comes for changing quarters these wanderers find the

move but little trouble. Their few belongings are soon collected and

packed, and the tent itself made ready for transportation. Their

animals are got together, and ere long the cavalcade is on the road.

Often one poor beast will carry a fair proportion of the family--the

mother and a child or two, for instance--in addition to a load of

household goods, and bundles of fowls slung by their feet. At the side

men and boys drive the flocks and herds, while as often as not the

elder women-folk take a full share in the porterage of their property.

To meet such a caravan is to feel one's self transported to Bible

times, and to fancy Jacob going home from Padan Aram.

VI

CITY LIFE

"Seek the neighbour before the house,

And the companion before the road."

_Moorish Proverb._

Few countries afford a better insight into typical Mohammedan life, or

boast a more primitive civilization, than Morocco, preserved as it

has been so long from western contamination. The patriarchal system,

rendered more or less familiar to us by our Bibles, still exists in

the homes of its people, especially those of the country-side; but

Moorish city life is no less interesting or instructive. If an

Englishman's house is his castle, the Mohammedan's house is a

prison--not for himself, but for his women. Here is the radical

difference between their life and ours. No one who has not mixed

intimately with the people as one of themselves, lodging in their

houses and holding constant intercourse with them, can form an

adequate idea of the lack of home feeling, even in the happiest

families.

The moment you enter a town, however, the main facts are brought

vividly before you on every hand. You pass along a narrow

thoroughfare--maybe six, maybe sixteen feet in width--bounded by

almost blank walls, in some towns whitewashed, in others bare mud, in

which are no windows, lest their inmates might see or be seen. Even

above the roofs of the majority of two-storied houses (for very many

in the East consist but of ground floor), the wall is continued to

form a parapet round the terrace. If you meet a woman in the street,

she is enveloped from head to ankle in close disguise, with only a

peep-hole for one or both eyes, unless too ugly and withered for such

precautions to be needful.

You arrive at the door of your friend's abode, a huge massive barrier

painted brown or green--if not left entirely uncoloured--and studded

all over with nails. A very prison entrance it appears, for the only

other breaks in the wall above are slits for ventilation, all placed

so high in the room as to be out of reach. In the warmer parts of

the country you would see latticed boxes protruding from the

walls--meshrabîyahs or drinking-places--shelves on which porous

earthen jars may be placed to catch the slightest breeze, that the

God-sent beverage to which Mohammedans are wisely restricted may be at

all times cool. You are terrified, if a stranger, by the resonance of

this great door, as you let the huge iron ring which serves as knocker

fall on the miniature anvil beneath it. Presently your scattered

thoughts are recalled by a chirping voice from within--

"Who's that?"

You recognize the tones as those of a tiny negress slave, mayhap a

dozen years of age, and as you give your name you hear a patter of

bare feet on the tiles within, but if you are a male, you are left

standing out in the street. In a few moments the latch of the inner

door is sedately lifted, and with measured tread you hear the slippers

of your friend advancing.

"Is that So-and-so?" he asks, pausing on the other side of the door.

"It is, my Lord."

"Welcome, then."

The heavy bolt is drawn, and the door swings on its hinges during a

volley and counter-volley of inquiries, congratulations, and thanks to

God, accompanied by the most graceful bows, the mutual touching and

kissing of finger-tips, and the placing of hands on hearts. As these

exercises slacken, your host advances to the inner door, and possibly

disappears through it, closing it carefully behind him. You hear his

stentorian voice commanding, "_Amel trek!_"--"Make way!"--and this is

followed by a scuffle of feet which tells you he is being obeyed. Not

a female form will be in sight by the time your host returns to lead

you in by the hand with a thousand welcomes, entreating you to make

yourself at home.

The passage is constructed with a double turn, so that you could not

look, if you would, from the roadway into the courtyard which you now

enter. If one of the better-class houses, the floor will be paved with

marble or glazed mosaics, and in the centre will stand a bubbling

fountain. Round the sides is a colonnade supporting the first-floor

landing, reached by a narrow stairway in the corner. Above is the

deep-blue sky, obscured, perhaps, by the grateful shade of fig or

orange boughs, or a vine on a trellis, under which the people live.

The walls, if not tiled, are whitewashed, and often beautifully

decorated in plaster mauresques. In the centre of three of the four

sides are huge horseshoe-arched doorways, two of which will probably

be closed by cotton curtains. These suffice to ensure the strictest

privacy within, as no one would dream of approaching within a couple

of yards of a room with the curtain down, till leave had been asked

and obtained.

You are led into the remaining room, the guest-chamber, and the

curtain over the entrance is lowered. You may not now venture to rise

from your seat on the mattress facing the door till the women whom you

hear emerging from their retreats have been admonished to withdraw

again. The long, narrow apartment, some eight feet by twenty, in

which you find yourself has a double bed at each end, for it is

sleeping-room and sitting-room combined, as in Barbary no distinction

is known between the two. However long you may remain, you see no

female face but that of the cheery slave-girl, who kisses your hand so

demurely as she enters with refreshments.

Thus the husband receives his friends--perforce all males unless he be

"on the spree,"--in apartments from which all women-folk are banished.

Likewise the ladies of the establishment hold their festive gatherings

apart. Most Moors, however, are too strict to allow much visiting

among their women, especially if they be wealthy and have a good

complexion, when they are very closely confined, except when allowed

to visit the bath at certain hours set apart for the fair sex, or on

Fridays to lay myrtle branches on the tombs of saints and departed

relatives. Most of the ladies' calls are roof-to-roof visitations, and

very nimble they are in getting over the low partition walls, even

dragging a ladder up and down with them if there are high ones to

be crossed. The reason is that the roofs, or rather terraces, are

especially reserved for women-folk, and men are not even allowed to go

up except to do repairs, when the neighbouring houses are duly warned;

it is illegal to have a window overlooking another's roof. David's

temptation doubtless arose from his exercise of a Royal exemption from

this all-prevailing custom.

But for their exceedingly substantial build, the Moorish women in the

streets might pass for ghosts, for with the exception of their red

Morocco slippers, their costume is white--wool-white. A long and heavy

blanket of coarse homespun effectually conceals all features but

the eyes, which are touched up with antimony on the lids, and are

sufficiently expressive. Sometimes a wide-brimmed straw hat is

jauntily clapped on; but here ends the plate of Moorish out-door

fashions. In-doors all is colour, light and glitter.

In matters of colour and flowing robes the men are not far behind, and

they make up abroad for what they lack at home. No garment is more

artistic, and no drapery more graceful, than that in which the wealthy

Moor takes his daily airing, either on foot or on mule back. Beneath

a gauze-like woollen toga--relic of ancient art--glimpses of luscious

hue are caught--crimson and purple; deep greens and "afternoon sun

colour" (the native name for a rich orange); salmons, and pale, clear

blues. A dark-blue cloak, when it is cold, negligently but gracefully

thrown across the shoulders, or a blue-green prayer-carpet folded

beneath the arm, helps to set off the whole.

_Chez lui_ our friend of the flowing garments is a king, with slaves

to wait upon him, wives to obey him, and servants to fear his wrath.

But his everyday reception-room is the lobby of his stables, where he

sits behind the door in rather shabby garments attending to business

matters, unless he is a merchant or shopkeeper, when his store serves

as office instead.

If all that the Teuton considers essential to home-life is really a

_sine quâ non_, then Orientals have no home-life. That is our way

of looking upon it, judging in the most natural way, by our own

standards. The Eastern, from his point of view, forms an equally poor

idea of the customs which familiarity has rendered most dear to us.

It is as difficult for us to set aside prejudice and to consider his

systems impartially, as for him to do so with regard to our peculiar

style. There are but two criteria by which the various forms of

civilization so far developed by man may be fairly judged. The first

is the suitability of any given form to the surroundings and exterior

conditions of life of the nation adopting it, and the second is the

moral or social effect on the community at large.

Under the first head the unbiassed student of mankind will approve in

the main of most systems adopted by peoples who have attained that

artificiality which we call civilization. An exchange among Westerners

of their time-honoured habits for those of the East would not be less

beneficial or more incongruous than a corresponding exchange on the

part of orientals. Those who are ignorant of life towards the sunrise

commonly suppose that they can confer no greater benefit upon the

natives of these climes than chairs, top-hats, and so on. Hardly could

they be more mistaken. The Easterner despises the man who cannot eat

his dinner without a fork or other implement, and who cannot tuck his

legs beneath him, infinitely more than ill-informed Westerners despise

petticoated men and shrouded women. Under the second head, however,

a very different issue is reached, and one which involves not only

social, but religious life, and consequently the creed on which this

last is based. It is in this that Moorish civilization fails.

* * * * *

But list! what is that weird, low sound which strikes upon our ear and

interrupts our musings? It is the call to prayer. For the fifth time

to-day that cry is sounding--a warning to the faithful that the hour

for evening devotions has come. See! yonder Moor has heard it too, and

is already spreading his felt on the ground for the performance of his

nightly orisons. Standing Mekka-wards, and bowing to the ground, he

goes through the set forms used throughout the Mohammedan world. The

majority satisfy their consciences by working off the whole five sets

at once. But that cry! I hear it still; as one voice fails another

carries on the strain in ever varying cadence, each repeating it to

the four quarters of the heavens.

It was yet early in the morning when the first call of the day burst

on the stilly air; the sun had not then risen o'er the hill tops, nor

had his first, soft rays dispelled the shadows of the night. Only the

rustling of the wind was heard as it died among the tree tops--that

wind which was a gale last night. The hurried tread of the night guard

going on his last--perhaps his only--round before returning home, had

awakened me from dreaming slumbers, and I was about to doze away into

that sweetest of sleeps, the morning nap, when the distant cry broke

forth. Pitched in a high, clear key, the Muslim confession of faith

was heard; "Lá iláha il' Al-lah; wa Mohammed er-rasool Al-l-a-h!"

Could ever bell send thrill like that? I wot not.