THE TREATY OF PEACE
Raisuli sat staring at the carpet when he had finished the story of the
ill-fated Alkali. I was afraid of meeting his eyes, so I occupied myself
with killing two or three bugs which had ventured from their comfortable
quarters inside the mattress. “It is better to spare the life of a flea
than to give a dirhem to a beggar,” quoted the Sherif suddenly. “I am
tired of killing.”
There was another pause. “When I heard the true history of my friend’s
death, I broke off relations with the Spaniards. For six days I saw no
one, not even my own family. I had thoughts of proclaiming a Jehad (Holy
War) and thus revenging the blood of my servant, but I was oppressed by
the future. It is strange that the face of Allah is so persistently
turned against his people.” The last sentence was muttered and almost
inaudible.
“Jordana[70] was appointed High Commissioner. Villalba[71] took the
place of Silvestre, but there was no further war. Since my enemy had
left the country, the armies on the West were harmless, and there was
traffic between their camps and ours. I waited for Jordana to move
first; I made no sign that I knew of his arrival, and, when he sent to
me Zugasti, Barera and Cerdeira, I received them gravely and asked what
had been done to avenge Sidi Ali, though already I knew of the steps
taken. They apologised many times for that betrayal, but they insisted
that it was no more to be attributed to Spain than the most foolish
attempts of Dris er Riffi with his bombs.
“I asked if er Riffi still lived, and they were embarrassed. ‘It is
certain that he suggested the crime,’ said one, ‘but there is no
evidence against him.’ ‘Cannot all your scribes and your men learned in
law invent some?’ I asked, for I wanted to disturb them. Certainly I
would have defended the life of Sidi Ali with my own, but, since he was
dead, he had put a new weapon in my hand. The Spaniards argued most
eloquently in favour of peace, and I believed that, with the departure
of Silvestre, I might realise the aims which he had frustrated.
“I took Zugasti aside and I said to him, ‘Do you remember the day we
said the Fatha together at Azeila? Much blood lies between us now, and
the country has suffered greatly, and you have not achieved the good
that you promised. The land is divided into many parties, and where the
tribesmen once kept the money which he received for his produce he now
hoards bullets that he may add to his troubles.’ Zugasti said, ‘The
fault is with you, for you have not always worked loyally with us,’ and
I answered, ‘Do you nourish the snake which has crept into your house?’
He said, ‘There have been many mistakes between us, but there is a new
policy now. With your help, there may still be peace in the country,’
and he repeated to me that the desire of Spain was to cooperate with the
Arabs for the development of the country and the improvement of the
people.
“At last I said to him, ‘I will not ever again say the Fatha with a
Christian, but swear to me in your own way that the new policy is good.’
He said, ‘I am your friend, and so is Jordana. All that is promised will
be fulfilled.’ I answered, ‘Return then in a few weeks, when I have
consulted the tribes,’ for I knew my greatest difficulty would be, not
with Spain, but with my own people.
“When I spoke of peace to the Kaids, they said, ‘You are selling us to
the Christians.’ I replied, ‘If it were not for me, the Christians would
be in these mountains,’ but they were stubborn. This was in early
summer,[72] before the great heat, and I sent messengers to every
village in the mountains to make known my intentions to the tribesmen.
Sometimes these messengers were ill-treated, but more often men listened
in silence, for they remembered they had chosen me as Sultan.
“When Zugasti came to see me again I had gathered a great army of those
who were loyal to me, and I was strong enough to enforce my orders. Also
I had sent much grain to the hill villages, and the women blessed the
name of the Sherif. So peace was signed in the autumn (September, 1915,
the Peace of Khotot), and, by it, I regained all that had been taken
from me. My properties were restored, and it was agreed that those of my
houses which had been damaged should be rebuilt. The mountains were
closed, and no one might enter my zone without my permission, but, with
my help, the Spaniards were to occupy all the lowlands.
“For this purpose they supplied me with eight hundred rifles and much
ammunition, charging themselves with the pay of one of my forces, which
numbered a thousand. It was arranged that I should be Governor of all
the tribes who submitted to the Maghsen, and that a large sum of money
should be paid me, so that I could at once relieve the hunger of the
Jebala. This treaty was not without its difficulties, for, when it was
announced by criers among the villages that there was friendship between
Raisuli and the Spaniards, the people were divided. Some said, ‘The
Sherif is clever and strong, for he has forced the foreigners to make
peace, and now he is the only ruler in the land,’ but others protested,
‘He has betrayed us. He has taken money from the Christians.’
“I saw that the best policy was to impress them with my power, so I kept
a great force always with me, and I fed a thousand men daily in my camp.
I had a great tent made, as large as a house, and I put sentinels round
it, and would see no one but my family and a few of the great Sheikhs
who had always been my allies. When the Kaids came to see me, they were
entertained lavishly, but kept waiting for several days, and then,
perhaps, they only spoke with my secretary. I had musicians in the camp,
who played the reveille at dawn and the buglers sounded every call to
prayer. Afterwards, in Ramadan, I asked the Spaniards for a battery, and
guns were fired daily for the beginning and the end of the fast. In
those days I lived like a Sultan, and the people were much impressed
and, from all sides, men came to join me. I imprisoned Tazi, the Sheikh
of Jebel Habib, who had tried to serve both parties during the war, and
the people said, ‘The Sherif has certainly conquered, for the foreigners
cannot even protect those who served them.’
“There were still many who were against me, but, while I was with my
mehalla, they could do nothing. When I went back to Tazrut, travelling
with only a few men, they thought that their opportunity had come. A
force from Beni Hassan, Beni Aros, Beni Leit, Beni Sif, Sumata and Beni
Mesauer gathered quickly among the mountains and hastened to Tazrut.
They killed all my people whom they met on the way, and they carried
pickaxes to destroy my house, intending to leave no two stones together.
News of their coming was brought to me, and my servants wished to take
refuge in the mountains, but I said to them, ‘How many times have you
asked me to fly, and has any evil yet happened to me? Put your faith in
Allah, who is strong.’ Then I posted my riflemen in the best places,
from where they could command the approach of the enemy, and, when
movement was seen among the hills, I ordered them to fire. There were
less than a hundred men with me, but even the women took up rifles and
boys carried guns which were bigger than themselves. The fight was not
long, for Allah strengthened us. Before night the enemy retired, but
they left many dead behind them. In this way the victory was given to a
hundred men over nearly a thousand, but that is my ‘baraka.’”
Other accounts of this curious encounter differed very little from the
version of Raisuli. Again and again, disaffected tribesmen would decide
to attack him, but their courage always failed at the last moment.
Firmly believing that he was under divine protection and that his life
was miraculously preserved, their rebellions were invariably half-
hearted and, when they saw him at the head of defence or attack, they
fled, after exchanging a few shots.
“My cousin, Wuld Sid Lahsen, who led the force against me, had been
proclaimed by his followers as Sultan in my place. He had been chief of
my harka at Ben Karrish, but had deserted me when I made peace with
Spain. As soon as the rebels had scattered before our bullets, I sent a
summons to Jebel Bu Hashim, where I always keep a small force as an
outpost. They came in to Tazrut by night, and I mounted them on my
fastest horses and led them myself against Tagzat, the residence of my
cousin. We came down upon them like a thunderbolt from the hills, and
were through their defences before they knew what had happened. The
first ranks carried rifles with which they shot any who opposed them,
but the others bore blazing torches and, as they galloped through the
village, they tossed them onto the the thatched roofs, and fire leaped
up behind us. Our pace carried up on into the darkness, and we looked
back upon a sheet of flame, against which every man was a mark. We sat
down comfortably, not even trying to hide ourselves, and shot everyone
who came out of the village. Lahsen escaped only because of the
swiftness of the horse upon which he fled, leaning far down from the
saddle, so that it appeared to have no rider.
“When the dawn came there were no men in Tagzat, but women crouched
weeping beside the still smoking ruins. I sent to find the family of my
cousin, but they had hidden themselves under a pile of half-burned
timber, so that it was some time before my men discovered them. When
they were brought to me, the daughter flung herself on her knees and
kissed the hem of my mantle, praying that I would have mercy on her
mother. ‘You do not ask for yourself?’ I said, but she answered, ‘My
life is under your feet, Sidi, but my mother is old and weak.’ I took
them to Tazrut, and perhaps I wished that there was no feud between our
houses, for the girl was pretty when she knelt to me, and her eyes were
like those dark flowers beside the well. I gave them in charge of my
family and said, ‘Give them of your clothing and your ornaments,’ for
part of their garments had been burned and there was hardly enough left
to cover them. My daughter came to me later and said, ‘The girl is like
a sister already, but we cannot calm her fears!’ and I said to her,
‘Tell your guest that her father is safe as long as she remains in my
house,’ for already I had decided what I would do. Not long after, when
peace had been arranged with my cousin, the girl was given to me as a
wife, and so the dark flowers bloomed in my garden! . . .
“When I returned to my mehalla, I found that there were many
difficulties between the Spaniards and my people, but Jordana acted
loyally towards me, and, when some Sheikhs of Beni Ider went to Tetuan,
asking to be protected against me, he sent them to my camp with a
letter, and I made peace with them. Affairs in the West were less easy,
for it had been arranged that I should not interfere with the zone
occupied by the Spaniards and that they should not enter the territory
which I ruled. Consequently there was intrigue along our borders, and
thieves who wished to escape the justice of Spain sought refuge in my
country, while those who feared my vengeance fled to the plains for
security. It was said that I harboured deserters from the irregulars in
the service of Villalba, but it was not true, for, if such men found
shelter in my country, it was under the roofs of their friends, and
their hiding-places were unknown to me. The police were always ready to
make trouble, and at last I forbade them again to cross my borders or to
have any dealings with my people.
“Still there were incidents which annoyed Jordana, for most of the
tribesmen thought ‘The Sherif is more powerful than the Spaniards. He
rules them and they do as he directs.’ It happened that in Jebel Habib
an officer with a few soldiers rode from his frontier post to the Suq el
Madi, but the Arabs murmured as he passed and drew away from his horse,
turning their backs. The women were more violent in their actions, for
they cried out that they wanted no Christians, and threw stones and mud
at the foreigners. Before the officer could either explain or retire,
there appeared some of the band of el Mudden, who would have hustled the
Spaniards away, shouting that, without a pass signed by Raisuli, no
stranger could enter the town. Many words were exchanged, so many,
fortunately, that the bullets cooled in the barrels, for when a Moor
employs his tongue he has no use for his trigger finger. Nobody was
killed, though the tribesmen fired a few shots after the retiring
Spaniards in order to show their good-will.
“I wrote at once to the Kaid of the village, but the Arab does not
understand two masters and, because Jebel Habib was always hoping to
profit from the foreigners and there were many who worked secretly to
undermine my influence, there was often trouble on that border.
Nevertheless, there was a great sowing that year, and men grew fat in
anticipation of the harvest. I had agreed with Jordana to help Spain to
occupy the road between Tangier and Tetuan, but I did not wish them to
hold it too strongly, lest, in case of another war, I should be unable
to communicate with the coast. I kept my promise and, by my aid, many
places were occupied without firing a shot. Amersam, El Barch, Sid
Tellia, Melusa, Ain Guenen all became Spanish posts. At the repeated
request of Jordana, I agreed to effect a junction between the armies of
East and West, but I stipulated that Ain Yerida should be held by my
troops in the name of Spain, for Fondak is the key to the whole country,
and the wise Arab does not give the key of his house to any but a
Moslem.
“The Spanish army was encamped at Rogaia, so between them and Tetuan lay
the rebels of Wadi Ras, who would not come to terms with an infidel, and
whose Sheikh proclaimed that he would rather lose his life than join
Raisuli under a Christian flag. The men of Wadi Ras were strong, so it
was arranged to attack them on two sides. I pitched my camp in Beni
Mesauer, and there, among the great rocks, I had eight thousand men of
my regular mehallas, with a small force of cavalry and some irregular
levies drawn from tribes recently submitted. The Spaniards were to
advance along the road to the Fondak and occupy the heights of the
Amersam which overlooked the wadi. I sent them guides who knew the
country, and suggested that they should move in several small columns,
in order that there should be no suspicion of a great attack. It would
be rumoured only that some small place was to be occupied. I posted
spies by the way who were to give me warning of the Spanish advance and,
when I saw the smoke curling up from the appointed hill-top, I came down
from Beni Mesauer with the whole of my army.
“I had expected to hear shots as Villalba occupied Amersam, but this was
achieved in the early morning with no sound to arouse Wadi Ras. I pushed
my cavalry to the top of a hill on the other side of the valley and,
from there, I could see the Spaniards fortifying the position of their
guns, but when the rebels woke, it was to find the sun glinting on steel
behind them and in front. There was instant alarm in the wadi—shouting
and waving of flags. Men rode swiftly towards the West, where the land
opens into a plain. Here the millet was so high that it covered their
saddles and, when they dismounted, they disappeared altogether amongst
it. The brother of Haj el Arbi gathered a few hundred of the fighting
men and, ignorant of the hidden guns, charged the bayonets of Spain.
They rode in a long line, each man a few yards from his neighbour,
crying on the name of the Prophet and shouting their war-cry. Long
before they saw the enemy they had emptied their rifles and the warrior
who led them made his horse dance, and waved his gun above his head as
if it had been a game. The Spaniards waited till they were quite near,
and then the guns spoke and the army toiling behind me through the
ridges of Beni Mesauer must have heard their voice. The long rank broke,
hung for a moment, then dispersed, each man seeking cover from the sons
of the cannon.[73]
The river was very low, and its overhanging banks provided shelter, so
that, when the Spanish cavalry charged, expecting to ride through a
beaten enemy, they found every crevice held a rifle. With several
wounded they were forced to retire.
“By this time the signal fires blazed on every hill. The women seized
great bundles of straw, and, indifferent to the bullets, carried them to
the nearest eminence and set fire to them. One girl was shot as she
reached her goal, but she had just strength enough to light her burden,
and was scorched by the flames as she fell beside it. Her body was
scarcely recognisable, but she had been promised marriage to one of my
men, so I heard of the deed. You see, our women, also, are brave!
“I saw the plight of the enemy, so I gathered a few hundred riders, with
the great Kaids who were with me, and some of my own slaves who ran,
holding our stirrups. We came down the mountain at a gallop, the red
flag flying before us and the green standard of Islam in the rear. I
stood up in my stirrups and shouted, and my mantle flew out like a sail.
Rank upon rank took up the cry—‘God is great,’—and each rider drove home
his spurs. Like ships in full sail, the Kaids swept down the hill, and
the music of the drums and cymbals went with us. Each man had a
different cry, but the ‘Saleh en Nebbi’[74] pealed highest. No one could
have withstood us that day, for all the great of Jebel Alan were with
me, and the flag was the flag of our ancestors who had fought for it,
died for it, but never lowered it. Allah, it was good!”
Raisuli had been almost chanting the last words, but, with a long sigh,
his voice dropped to its usual level. “We rode straight across Wadi Ras
and, after our passage, there was no man left on the banks. El Arbi was
wounded, for he held his fire till we were almost upon him, and he only
saved himself by creeping between the cane, where he lay hid till the
night. Still from the millet-fields and the lower ridges came a galling
fire, so I turned my horse in the bed of the stream and answered it,
with a few of my men. My slaves stood round me, holding my rifles and
field-glasses, the stool with which I mounted, a gourd of water, for
always I had a great thirst, and my prayer-carpet, which was of silk and
came from Egypt.
“My horse was impatient, and his movements interfered with my aim, so I
dismounted and stood, firing first a Spanish rifle and then a German, as
Ghabah and Mubarak loaded for me. It was better than hunting, but a
slave said to me, ‘Sidi, the men among the millet are watching you. In
the name of Allah, take shelter.’ I replied, ‘You are right. I did not
see them,’ and I turned round and altered the sights of my rifle, so
that I might fire at them more easily. Then the slave touched my sleeve
and said, ‘Sidi, it is the hour of prayer,’ and I knew that he said it
in order to lead me away from the battle, so I answered, ‘Spread my
carpet here.’
“They were afraid, but, putting my rifle in front of me for a kibla,[75]
I turned towards the East and began the prescribed Raqua-at. One man was
killed beside me, and his blood stained shoes, which I had placed at the
edge of the carpet. I did not move nor interrupt prayers, for I wished
to give them a lesson, but, hardly had I finished the last words, when
Cerdeira ran towards me, crying, ‘You must take cover. Your life is too
valuable to risk!’ And I answered, ‘What is going to happen today was
written before you or I were born, and we cannot escape. Also I have
noticed that, when men aim at me, it is my friends who die. The man on
my right and the man on my left may fall, but I remain unhurt.’ I fired
several more shots at the enemy, but there were few in the whole of Wadi
Ras. Then I called to a slave to bring my horse. My foot was in the
stirrup when I turned to say something to Cerdeira, who stood beside me,
and, at that moment, he was shot. ‘I told you the one on my left would
fall,’ I reminded him, but, Hamdulillah, it was not a great wound.
“I pitched my camp opposite the heights occupied by the Spaniards, and
the drums summoned the Kaids to pray with me. This was performed in the
space outside my tent, and I acted as Imam for the rest. Then all the
heads were collected that we might know how many had been slain, but the
Spaniards protested against this custom and requested me urgently to
bury them. The same thing happened whenever I fought with my Allies, and
much time was wasted on burial.”
The point of view was so amusing that I could not help asking if it
would not have been simpler to have ordered his men to refrain from
cutting off the heads at all. “My people would not have understood,”
said Raisuli, “for it is a custom. I have told you often that we are
savages, but it is not very long since you were worse than we. I have
read your history, and I know how long men took to die under your
tortures. Your executioners were well paid for the inventiveness of
their cruelty, and you did not spare women and children.[76] Now you
have forgotten the crimes you committed a hundred years ago, and you
call us barbarians. In another century or two, perhaps we shall say the
same of you.”
In connection with the Sherif’s remarks, it may be apposite to quote a
remarkable document now in the possession of the Capitania General del
Deposito Maritimo of Cadiz. It is dated Ceuta, March 11th, 1799, and is
a list of the charges to which the executioner is entitled.
“Plaza de Ceuta.
“To hang one 150 reals.
“To cut a hand 75 reals.
“To dismember and cut one in quarters 375 reals.
“To cut the head 75 reals.
“To hang up the head, the members and the four quarters, 210 reals.
“To fry the hand 75 reals.
“To hang the head in public 30 reals.
“To flay a man with whips 32 reals.
“To any other form of justice 22 reals.
“In addition to this, the price of acid, coal and a stove. The
executioner of this place is a government employé. He shall receive
daily from the King 8 pennies and a bread; two reals from the city; and
four from the military, every day; as well as a flail and a pair of
tongs, with the obligation of keeping the scaffold clean and tidy.
ANTONIO MONDRAGAN,
Colonel of Infantry.”
“There had been peace between us for many months before I saw Jordana,”
said Raisuli. “I could not visit him, for I have never recognised the
Kaliphate of Mulai el Mehdi, but he is a good man, and I would not
insult him by going to Tetuan and passing his door without entering.
Therefore I never go to the city, though my ancestors are buried there.
Jordana would not come to visit me, for he thought it was not consistent
with his dignity.
“At last a meeting-place was arranged between his country and mine, and
tents were sent out from Laucien to the hill of Guad Agraz. The
conference was to be at midday, which is certainly a bad hour for
talking, for a man, having just prayed, is thinking of food. We say,
‘Lunch and rest. Dine and walk.’ I started with my mehalla before there
was any light to discover the colour of our jellabas and, at every
village on the way, a party waited by the roadside, with their mantles
muffled across their faces. The Kaid came forward to kiss my shoulder
and ride beside me. His men ranged themselves behind him. When each wadi
and each hill had contributed its party of armed men, we were a great
host, and the dust of our hoofs was like a cloud around us and behind.
The standards of Islam and the Sultanate were borne in front of us, and
each Kaid had his own flag. Beside me rode el Arbi, great in years and
in beard, and each man knew his place, so there was no disorder in the
ranks, as ever new bayonets joined us, with the sun glinting on them
like snow in the mountains. The pipes played on either side and the
drums were beaten loudly, so that the horses became excited and, when we
saw in front of us, but a long way off, the tents of Jordana, they could
no longer be restrained. Three hundred riders gave rein to their
stallions, and, for a moment, the dust blinded us. High above it swirled
the green flag and the red. Then fire pierced the cloud and, with
shouting and songs, shooting over their heads, the tribesmen raced for
the tents.
“I wonder if it was the first ‘Jerid’ the General had seen. To do it
well, a man must be able to stop his horse at full gallop in the length
of a gun. Riding now ahead (in orange waistcoat and dark-brown mantle,
with the rolled turban of the Jebala), I watched them in full charge,
and then, scarce five men’s lengths from the Spaniards, saw them pull up
in a swirl of dust. The lines were unbroken. Each horse fell back on to
its haunches, with its rider bent flat over the pommel. Cerdeira and
others came out to meet me, and I dismounted in front of the great tent
which had been spread with carpet and mattresses, as is our custom, but
there were also chairs, and, Ullah, I looked anxiously to find one big
enough. Jordana came forward to meet me and would have shaken my hand,
but I saluted him as I should have done the Sultan, yet even after that,
he insisted on taking my hand.
“We sat down and looked at each other, for both wondered what would be
written between us. He was a good man but perhaps not a great one, and
he was always my friend. He loved Spain and for her sake he kept peace
with me even when he believed I was wrong. He had a strong will and
would not let others dictate to him. Like Silvestre, he was impatient,
but he restrained all emotion, and only his eyes told his feelings. Had
Jordana come to Azeila at the beginning, there would have been no war
and no distrust, but, however much we two wished to walk together, there
were many difficulties on either side.
“A few years ago the Arab and the Spaniard would have met, both (‘aqil’)
wise and desirous of using their wisdom for Morocco. Now it was a
conference between a Christian and a Moslem, and between them was the
memory of treachery and death. Yet I liked Jordana and I respected him
as I have done few Christians. Like Zugasti, he did not even see money
when it lay before him, and, though he was not young, he had that hope
which is in the heart of a boy when he stalks his first partridge and
shoots it tremulously before it rises. Men say that I killed Jordana. He
tried to change that which is unchangeable. It was not I who killed him,
but the country and the burning of his own heart.”