BY

E D MO ND O D E AMI C I S ,
A UTHOR OF H O L LAN D ,
”
C O N ST A N T I N O P L E ,
"
ET C .

TR A N SL AT E D F R O M T H E T H I RT E E N I I I I T
' ‘
-
A LI A N E D I T I O N BY

MARI A HO RNO R LANSD ALE

I N T W O V O L U M E S

V OL . II

PHI LAD ELPHI A

1 89 7
 LIST O F I LLU STRATIO NS
V O LU ME I I

h e d e i e t e x tend th e i th k t Mess rs K N d
Th e p ub l i s rs s r o r an s o . EE an

A h t e t M R T HA A
M E A D , rc i c s, d M 8 P S
R M . H for th e use
. . ZZ R D an R. . . TA B AC

of i gi l p h t g p h
or na d eg ti ve reprod uced i p hotog ravure b y
o o ra s an n a s, n

W H G. d A W E
. N C
I LB O a n . . LSO o .

PAG E

IN T HE SU L T A N
’
s PA L ACE , F r o n ti sp i ece
A G ATE OF FE z , 14

EN T RAN C E To JE ws ’
QU A R T E R , FE z , 18

AN I N T E R I OR , 26

M I N IS T E R S OF T HE SU LT AN ,

SU LT AN COM I NG OU T OF TH E K A SB A H , 42

A J E WISH Y OU T I I OF M ORO CC O , 52

IN T E R I OR OF A D WE LL I N G , 60

ST R EE T SC E N E , 68

A M OOR ISH B EG G AR ,

A R AB V I LL A G E ,
82

B AB EL G HIS A ,
F E z, 86

OL D B IS K RA ,
98

A FO U N TA I N OF FE z , 1 08

A V I LL AG E I N TH E IN T E R I OR , 116

N E G R O V I LLA G E N E AR TH E Bo R D E R s OF T HE D ESE R T ,
1 20

( vi i )
V III LI ST O F I LLU STR AT I ONS .

P AG E

ARAB WA T E R C ARR IE R , 1 30

R I F F I AN FR O M T HE A T L AS M O U N T A I N S, I 36

PM . A P U B LI C C E L E B RA T I ON , I 4S

OU TSI D E T HE WA LLS 0F PM , 1 54

A N E G RO 0F M ORO CC O , 1 68

P A N ORA M A OF M E QU I N E Z , 1 78

K AB Y L E WO M AN ,
1 88

E L A RA ISH BA B M AN Z A L 200

TA NG IE R F RO M T HE B EAC H ,
21 2
V OL . II .
- 1
 FE Z .

WE have not gone h al f a mi le in the di rection of

the city before we are already surrounded by a throng
of Arabs and Moors assembled from Fez and the sur

roundi n g country , some on foot , some on mules or

donkeys , two r i ding together, like the ancient Nu
m i di an s , and so beside themselves with curiosity to
s ee us that in order to keep the way c lear the soldiers

of the escort are ob li ged to b eat them b ack with the

butt ends of the i r muskets The country is flat , and

- .

the city of Fez , whose battlemented wall s had been

plainly visible from th e camp , now remain s for some
li ttle time entirely hidden then all at once it reap
pears , and we see in front of the gates an immense
white and purple throng, resembling myriads of roses
and lil ies swaying in the wind Aga i n the city van
.

ishes , and again reappears , but this time quite close ,

and b etween us and it are gathered the p eople , the
army and the court Such pomp and splendor, such
.

a scene of fantastic beauty , that I dropped my rein s at

that moment , j ust as now I dr op my pen at the r e col
lection A band of o fficers advances to meet us on a
.

gallop , salutes , and dividing into two squads , j oins

( 3 )
4 F EZ .

the escort Behind them comes a great crowd of

.

cavalry , gorgeously attired , mounted on beautiful

horses , and led by a Moor of lofty stature , wearing a
white turban and a red caftan This is the Grand
.

Master of Ceremonies , Hadj e Mohammed Ben Aissa ,

with the o fficers of his suite He is the bearer of the
.

’
Sul tan s message of welcome to the amb assador, and
falls in , in his turn , with the escort .

We proceed bet ween two lines of i nfantry , who

with difficulty succeed in restraining the crowd .

What soldiers they are Old men , middle aged men

-

and boys of fifteen , twelve and even nine years ; all

a like clad in scarlet with bare legs and ye llow slip
,

pers drawn up without regard to their respective

,

heights , in a single line , with the commanders in front .

They present arms, each one in the manner that

seemeth best in his own eyes , with their rusty gun s
terminating in crooked bayonets One thrusts his
.

foot forward, another stands with legs far apart , an

other rests his chin on his breast , another looks b e
hind him ; some of them have put their j ackets over
their heads to keep Off the sun ; now an d then we
come to a drummer, a trumpeter, five or si x flags, all
close together ; red, yellow, green , orange , held as
crosses, are carried i n processions ; there are no
divisions i nto squads or companies ; it is like two
rows of pasteboard soldi ers stood up by a ch ild .

There are negroes , mulattoes , whites and skin s of an

i n defin able color ; men of huge stature stan di n g along
 F EZ . 5

s ide of children who can barely carry their guns ;

bent old men , with long white beards , resting their
elbows on their neighbors ; wild looking figures , who
-

i n those uniforms resemble trained apes These all.

gaze at us in op en mouthed wonder, and they stretch

-

away before us i n two interminable lines A second .

party of horsemen advances towards us on the left ,

consisting of the old Govern or, G ileli Ben Arm) , and
eighteen under Governors, followed by th e fl ower of
—

Fez aristo c racy , all of them arrayed in white from

head to foot , l ik e a throng of ecclesiastics Severe .

o f aspect with b lack b eards s ilk en ca zcs and gilded

' '

, ,

harness , they salute us , and wheeling round j oin the

escort and the su i te On we go , still between two
.

file s of soldiers , behind whom sways the white be

cloaked crowd , devouring us with eager eyes Al ways .

the same kind of soldiers , youths now for the most

part , wearing the fe z and red j acket , and with bare
legs Some have light -blue trousers , others white or
.

green ; many are in their shirt sleeves ; some rest

-

their guns on the ground , others on their shoulders ;

this on e stands well forward , that on e far back The .

o fficers are attired according to fancy as z u av e s , —

archers , spahis , Greeks , Albanians or Turks with

devices b raided in gold or silver , carrying swords
and ei m eter s, sabres , curved daggers , pistols and
poniards ; they wear high boots or yellow slippers ,

without heels ; some are dressed entire ly in crimson ,

others all in white , others i n green They look like
.
6 F EZ .

the demons at a fancy b al l From time to time the

.

face of a E uropean looks out from among them , r e

garding us with mingled interest and melancholy .

As many as ten flags will be i n on e group The .

trumpets all sound as we go by , and sometimes a

’
woman s fist i s shaken at us threateningly between the
’
soldiers h eads The city walls seem to recede the
.

farther we advance , and the two lines of soldiers to

stretch away before us like interminable hedges of
cri mson roses .

Another group of horsemen , even more gorgeously

attired than the pre c eding ones , now comes to meet
us , headed by the old Minister of War , Sid Abd Alla
- -

ben Hamed , a negro mounted on a white horse , with

-

sk - blue housings With him are the Military

y .

Governor of the district , the command er of the Fez

garrison and a host of staff generals , crowned with
snow-white turbans , and wearing caftans of a hun
dred di ff erent hues We proceed on our way We
. .

have already been defilin g for half an hour between

the ranks of the soldi ers , and someone says there are
'

four miles more of them On on e side the cavalry i s

.

now drawn up , and on the other a stran ge , anomal ous

assemblage Men and boys dressed in a hundred
.

di fferent kinds of uniform , or rather remnants of uni

forms ; half car rying arms and half without ; some
with cloaks , others with rags wound around their
heads , and others again bareheaded ; some half naked ,
-

with features belonging to the desert , to the s ea shore ,

-
 FEZ . 7

to the Atlas Mountains , to the Rif, to the province of

Sus shaved heads and long locks of hair giants and
dwarfs ; wild beast faces , and faces of dead men ;
-

phantoms , puppets , theatrical looking beings ; people

-

gathered together, Heaven only knows where from ,

to swell those terrifying crowds Back of them , on
.

two high banks of earth running parallel with th e

road , throngs of veiled women are assembled , who
shout and gesticulate in sign of wonder , of contempt
and of enjoyment too , as they lift their children high
,

above their heads that they may obtain a better

V iew .

We n ew approach a lofty gateway , crowned with

battlements The music of a band breaks on our
.

ears and i mmediately all the drums and trumpets of

,

the army burst forth , making a most infernal din .

The order for the grand entry is then taken ; all those
dignitaries , generals , courtiers , ministers , o fficers and
slaves crowd about us ; our escort is disbanded , our
servants scattered , and we ourselves , separated from
one another, are swept forward with irresistible i m
e tu s in a torrent of horses and t urbans a confusion
p ,

of color, a phantasmagoria of strange , wild faces ,

amid the din of strident voices , the rush and turmo il
of a battle ; a spectacle so barbarous and so m agn i fi
cent that we are at once charmed and bewildered .

Passing through a large gateway we look around

expecting to find ourselves surrounded by the houses
o f the city , instead of which nothing is to be seen but
8 F EZ .

the wall s , and high battlemented towers ; to the left is

a kubba , with a green dome , shaded by a couple of
palm trees ; all around the kubba , at the foot of the
-

wall s , on the towers , in every direction more peo

—

ple We pass through another gate , and at last enter

.

a street flanked by houses .

I have only the most confused recollection of what

I saw during that ride through the city so daz ed was
,

I by th e sc en e we had j ust passed through , as well as

preoccupied by my efforts to preserve my life , as we
were ridi ng over very rough stones and amid such a
press of horses that it would have been a bad look
.

o ut for him who S ho u ld have made a misstep I onl y

.

remember that we passed through a number of nar

row , empty streets , between rows of very tall houses ,
mounting and descending , choked by dust and deaf
’
ened by the tramp of the horses hoofs ; that after a
’
good half hour s ride we threaded a labyrinth of steep ,
-

narrow little lanes , through which we had to pass in

single fil e ; that we finally dismounted before a small
doorway , between two rows of scarlet soldiers, who
presented arms , and that finally we entered our own
abode What a delicious sensation it was ! The
.

palace assigned to us proved to be a prin c ely resi

dence , built in pure Moorish style , having a small
garden , S haded by rows of lemon and orange -trees .

From this garden the inner court yard was reached

-

by a very low doorway , and a corridor barely wide

e nou gh to adm i t of the passage of one person at a
 F EZ . 9

time Around the court yard were twelve white

.
-

pillars , connected by arches shaped like horse

shoes , supporting , on a level with the second floor, an
arched gallery , furnished with a wooden balustrade .

The pavement of the court yard , of the gallery , and

-

of the rooms was all of magnificent mosaics , the

squares enameled in the most vivid colors th e arches
were arabesqued and painted ; th e balustrades carved
in openwork of the most exqui site delicacy ; the en
tire edifice so harmonious and of so graceful a de
s ign as to be worthy of the architects of the Alh a m

bra There was a fountain i n the middle of the court ,

.

and another with three j ets of water played in an

al cove in on e o f the walls overlaid with mosaic stars

and roses From the centre of every arch hun g a

.

large Moorish lantern One arm of the buildin g ex

.

tended along th e side of the garden , its charming

faca d e divided in to three arabesqued and painted
arches , before which a third fountain played And.

in addition there were all those little court yards and

-

corr i dors and t i ny rooms and i nnumerable recesses of

an eastern house A few iron bedsteads , without
.

S heets or bedding ; some pendulum clocks , a mirror

in th e court yard , two chairs and a small table for
-

the use of the ambassador , and a half a dozen pitchers

and basin s composed the entire furniture of the p al ace
.

I n the principal rooms the walls were hung with

cloth worked in gold , and white mattresses were
spread on the floor ; not a chair, not a table , not a
10 FEZ .

single convenience of any kind Our own furniture

.

would have to be brought from the camp ; but to

atone for this lack there was a freshness everywhere ,
everywhere the splash of water ; shade , perfume , a
something inexpressibly soft and voluptuous i n th e
shapes , the colors , the light , the air, which made one
gay and pensive by turns The entire building was
.

surrounded by a lofty wall , and beyond the wall ex

tended a labyrinth of narrow , deserted streets Hardly
.

had we reached the court yard when the ministers and

-

other great personages began to arrive , and each sat

talking with the ambassador for fifteen minutes ,
caressing his feet all the while .

The Minister of Finance interested me most of all

‘

He was a Moor, about fifty years old , of forbidding

aspect , with a smooth face , dressed entirely in white
and wearing a large turban The longer I looked at
.

him the harder I found it to believe that that man

could have anything I n common with Mi n gh etti and
Sella An interpreter tol d me that he had a very
.

fine mind , and adduced in proof an an ecdote to the

e ffect that hav ing on on e occasion seen on e o f those
mechanical contrivances for performin g arithmetical
calculations , h e had made the identical calculations
i n the same length o f time and with similar results .

One shoul d have seen the air of reverential awe with

which S elam , Ali , Givo and all the other Arab se r
vants regard these personages who , next to the Sul
,

tan himself, embodied i n their estimation the utmost

 F EZ . I1

he i ght of s c ience , power and glory possible to attain

to on this earth .

When the visits were ended we proceeded to take

possession of our p al ace Th e two artists , the doc
.

tor and I had th e rooms overlooking the garden the

others , those on the court Interpreters , cooks , sail
.

ors, servants , soldiers , each on e found his own little

niche , and i n a few hours the aspect of the bu il ding
had completely changed When all had been satis
.

fa ctor il y adjusted we began to think about seeing the

city. U ssi and Biseo sallied forth first , th en the
c ommander and the captain wh il e I determined to
,

wait until the n ext day , in order to s ee everything

with entirely fresh eyes The others went off two by
.

two , surrounded , like malefactors , by troops of foot

S oldiers armed with guns and clubs and it was an,

hour before they returned, an hour which seemed to

me an eternity At last they reappeared , covered
.

with dust and dripping with p erspiration , as though

fresh from a battle fi eld, and showing by their ges
—

tures the excitement they were laboring under, even

before they began to utter such di sj ointed phrases as :
“
Big city , great crowds , enormous mosques , naked
saints , c urses , blows , sights from the other world .
”

The most entertaining experience was that of U ssi .

I t seemed that on on e of the very c rowded thorough

fares n otwithstandin g the v i gil ance of the soldiers , a
,

young girl of about fifteen had flung herself on his

back li k e a fury , and fetching him a vigorous blow
I2 F EZ .

on the back of the neck , had shouted Accursed be

these Christians ; there is n ot a corner left in Morocco
where they do not thrust themselves in Such was
the first welcome extended to Italian art within the
walls of Fez .

Late that night I made a tour through th e palace .

Upon the landings , in front of each bed room , at the

—

foot of the stairs , in the garden , soldi ers were stretched ,

wrapped in their cloaks and sleeping profoundly B e .

fore the small door leading into the court yard the -

faithful Hamed Ben Kasen was snoring away in the

open air lying on a mat with his sword beside h i m
,
.

The light of the lanterns shone dimly upon the mosaics

set in the w all s and pavements , making them look as
though they were studded with precious stones , and
lending to the entire building that air of mysterious
magnificence proper to a royal palace The sky was
.

covered with stars a light breeze stirred among the

orange trees in the garden through the silence of the
-

night coul d b e distinctly heard the ripple of the River

of Pearls , the gurgle of th e fountains , the ticking of
the clocks , and from time to time th e penetrating
voices of the sentinels as they chanted pray ers from
the various external doorways of the palace What .

enchanting hours I passed that night standing with

my face pressed against th e iron bars of my window ,
through which poured a fl ood o f moonl ight , thinking
of the great un k nown city extending all about me ,

of home , o f my friends o f the Sultan s beauties o f

’
, ,
 FE Z . I3

th e other world , of a tho u sand and on e strange o r b e

love d obj ects !
On the following day we went out in parties of
five , each accompanied by an interpreter and escorted
by ten infantry soldiers ; on e of the latter wore but
tons stamped with a likeness of Queen Victoria, many
of these red uniforms being obtained second hand -

from the E nglish soldi ers at Gibraltar Two of the

.

guard marched before , two behind and thre e on either

side of us Th e first carried muskets , and the others
.

clubs and knotted cords, and their countenances were

such that when I think of them even now , I bless the
ship that conveyed m e safely back t o E urope The .

interpreter asked what we wished to s e e . All of

Fez was our reply , and he accordi ngly conducted
”

us , first of all, to the heart of the city Here I m i ght

.

well say , Who wi ll gi ve me a voice a nd p u t wor ds

i n to my mouth ! How can I possibly express the
wonder , amazem ent , pity and melancholy I e x p er i
e n c e d on beholdi n g that spectacle at once s o maj es
,
'
ti e and s o nI ou r n f ul ? The first impression made on
one is of an immense , decrepit old city , slowly decay
ing away Lofty houses , which seem to be built one
.

upon another , falling into ruin , the plaster dropping

off cracked from top to bottom propped up on all
, ,

sides , hav i ng no other apertures but a few slits in the

form s of crosses or loop holes
-
. Long extents of
street , flanked on either side by high walls , as bare
as fortificat i ons ; streets le adi ng first up and then
14 F EZ .

down , choked with rubbish , with stones , with deb r i s

from the tottering buildin gs , turning and twisting
every thirty feet ; on all si des long covered alleys ,
-

dark as subterranean tunnels , through whi ch on e

must feel his way N arr ow lanes closed at on e end ,
.

recesses , caverns , damp , uninviting mazes , cluttered

with bones , dead animals and rotten straw ; all seen
through a sort of twilight darkness that adds i n e x
p r e ssi bl
y to the general melancholy
. I n some places
the ground is so uneven , the dust so thick , the smell
s o abominable , the flies so importunate , that we are

obli ged to pause to recover our breath I n h al f an

.

hour we have wound in and out to such an extent

that co ul d our route be traced on paper it would rival
the most intricate arabesques in the Al hambra .

From time to time we hear the noise of a m illwheel,

the murmur of water, the rattle of a loom , a chant
ing of nasal voices , issuing, we are informed , from a
’
boys school , but there is nothin g to be seen in any
direction We approach the c entre of the metropolis ,
.

and begin to meet more people ; the men step to let

us go by , regarding us with a look of wonder ; the
.

women t u rn their backs , or get out of sight ; the ch il

dren cry out and take to the ir heels ; the boys mut
ter and clinch their fists , furtively keeping on e eye
’
on the soldiers clubs We catch glimpses of foun
.

tains richly ornamented with mosaics , arabesqued

doorways , arched court yards, the scattered remains
-

of a beaut iful Arabian ar chitecture destroyed by time .

 F EZ . 15

E very moment a plunge into a covered passage way —

lands us in darkness ; then comes a short interval of

pale light , then utter darkness again We now enter .

on e of th e principal streets , six or seven feet wide

and crowded with people E very one turns around

.

or presses forward to se e u s .The soldiers shout ,

push and strik e out to right and left in order to clear
th e way , being obliged at length to content them
selves with making a sort of bulwark with their chests
’
on either side of us , holding on by on e another s

hands , so as not to become separated in the throng .

We are conscious of a thousand eyes fastened upon

us ; we are gasping , dripping with perspiration ; on
we go , very slowly though , and stopping every now
and then to let a Moor pass on horseback , or a don
’
key loaded with bleedi ng sheep s heads , or a camel
-

carrying a veiled lady To the right and left are

.

crowded bazaars , court yards of inns filled with mer

-

c h an di s e , doorways of mosques , through which we

catch glimpses of long vistas of white arches and

prostrate forms of worshippers As far as the eye
.

can reach nothing is to be seen alo n g the street but

a mass of hoods , all white , and the owners apparently
walking on tiptoe The air is heavy with the pene
.

tr ati n g odor of aloes , spices , incense , We seem

to be promenading through a huge dr uggists estab ’

li sh m e n t
. We pass groups of boys , their heads
covered with scars and scabs ; deformed old women
without a hair o n their crown s and w i th bare breasts ,
I6 F EZ .

who make way for u S u nwillingly and hurl abuse at

us
; crazy men almost entirely n aked , their heads
,

crowned with flowers and feathers , and branches of

trees i n their hands , laughing , S i nging repeating the
,

same word over and over, and j umping up and down

in front of the soldiers who d r ive them off with blows
,
.

Turning into another street we encounter a saint ex

tr a or di n ar i ly fat , and naked from head to foot , who

drags himself along with difficulty , hol ding one hand

before him and leaning with the other on a stick
wrapped about with a red rag He looks at us
.

askance i n passing, and mutters something I cannot

make out A little further on four soldiers are drag
.

g ing alo ng a torn and bleeding wretch a thief —

caught in the act while a crowd of boy s run after

—

them crying : His hand ! His hand ! Cut off his

“

hand ! ”
I n another street we meet two men carry
ing a litter on which a corpse is lying ; it is dried
like a mummy , and wrapped in a white linen bag
fastened about the neck , waist and knees I keep .

asking m yself wh ere I am , whether I am awake or

asleep , and if the city of Fez and the city of Paris
really are on the same planet We enter a bazaar ;
.

everywhere the same crowd The shops , like those in

.

Tangier , are caves dug out of the walls The money .

changers si t on the ground though , with heaps of coins

lying before them We walk through the stuff bazaar,
.

the crowd pushing against u s on all sides ; the slip

per , earthen ware metal ornament bazaars forming ,
,
 FEZ . 17

all of them together , a labyrinth of tortuo u s streets

covered by a rui nous roof of cane and tree branches - .

Then we visit the vegetable market , crowded with

women , who lift their arms in the air and c urse us ;
and then , turning our backs upon the central part of
the city , we again find ourselves amid steep winding
streets, covered all eys , dark passage ways , mosques
-
,

fountai ns , arched doorways , th e whir of mills , the

noise of nasal voices , women who run to hide them
selv es , s i ckening filth , choking dust , until at le n gth ,
issui ng from on e of th e gates , we start to walk around
the outside of the wall s The city is b u ilt in a great
.

figure eight , Wi ndi ng around two h ill s , on whose sum

mits tower the ruins of a couple of ancient square
fortresses ; beyond the hills rise a circle of moun
tains , and the River of Pearls divides th e city in two,
new F e z lying on the left and old Fez on the r i ght
bank , while a line of ancient battlemented walls and
large towers of dark colored stucco , ruined in many
-

places , encircles the whole .

From the heights a view is obtai ned of the ent i re

c ity , a myriad of white houses crowned by terraces ,
above which rise charming minarets decorated with
mosaics , gigantic pal ms , masses of verdure , little bat
tle m en te d towers and small green domes At the
.

first glance we realiz e the great siz e of the ancient

metropolis , of which the present city is merely the
Skeleton In the neighborhood of the gates , and on
.

the heights for a long distance , the c oun try is strewn

V OL . II .
—
2
 18 FE Z .

w ith tombs and ruins ; kubbas, saints houses , z a ouias,

’

arches of aqueducts , sepul chres , huge foundations ,

fragments of buildings , which look like th e remains
of a place devastated by cannon and devoured by

flames The ground lying between the city and the

.

higher of the two hills which flank it , is all laid out

in gardens , a thick tangled wood O f mul berries , olives ,
palms , fruit trees an d enormous poplars clothed in
-

luxur i ant foliage and overrun with vines , in whose

midst fountains play , rivulets wi nd in and out, and
little canals gleam between lofty banks covered with
grass and flowers The opposite height i s crowned
.

’
with thousands of aloes twice a man s height Along.

the walls lie great deposits of earth , deep ditches and

masses of vegetation , shattered fragments of bas
tions and crumbling towers , a jumble of ruins and
foliage , both awe inspiring and mournful , recalling
-

the most picturesque portions of the walls of Con

stan t i n Opl e
. We pass by the Ghisa Gate , the Iron
Gate , the Gate of the Father of Leather dressers ,
-

the New Gate , the Burn ed Gate , the Gate that Opens ,
’

the Gate of the Lion , the Sidi Bux i da Gate , the Gate
o f the F ather of U ti lity , and enter the new town

through the Butter Niche Gate Here we find large

.

gardens, vast open spaces , wide squares surroun ded

by battlemented walls , beyond which again are other
squares and other wall s , and arched gateway s , and
towers and bridges , and beautiful distant views of
hill and mountain Some of the gates are very lofty ,
.
 FEZ . 19

w i th i ron fram ework , and all are studded with enor

mous nails As we approach the River of Pearls we
.

pass a decomposed horse lying i n the middl e of the

street ; farther on , beneath the walls , a h un dr ed or
more Arab laundry men are j umping up and down on
-

heaps of clothes piled alo n g th e bank We meet

.

patrols of soldi ers , court p ersonages on horseback ,

small processions of camels , groups of country -women
with children on their backs , who cover their faces
a s they pass , and at last we s e e som e smil ing frien dl y
,

counten ances ; these are in the Mell a, the Jews quar

’

ter, where we are accorded a reall y triumphant re

c e ti on
p . The pop ulation presses ou t onto balconies

and through doorways , comes down into the street ,

call s on e another , runs out of all the lanes and by
ways . Long haired men with handk erchiefs tied
—

under their chins like old women , and wrapped i n

their sweeping garments , bow low with polite s m iles ;
th e women , very fair Skinned and plump , dressed in
green and red st uffs embroidered and braided in gold,
wish us buen os di a s, and say a thousand friendl y
things wi th their brilliant black eyes ; some of the
children run up to kiss our hands I n order to escape
.

from this ovation , as well as from the extreme filth ,

we take a cross -street , which brings us out on a field
covered with large tombs bu ilt of masonry in the
form of parallel e pipeds , white as snow , which we are
informed is the Jewish cemetery From thence we
.

’
r e enter the city
-
and after another m i le s tramp
,
2O F EZ .

through dirty , winding stree ts , boiled by the sun , th e

obj ect o f lowering glances and muttered curses from
thousands of eyes and li ps , we at last , with whirling
brains and aching bones, reach the palace of the am
b assa dor .

” “
O Fez ! says an Arabian historian , all the
”
beauty of the world is found in thee ! and h e pro
c e e ds to record how Fez has ever been the seat of all

wisdom and science , of peace and of reli gion ; the

mother and queen of all the cities of the Mogh r eb ;
that her inhabitants are endowed with the most acute
and profound intellects of any of the dwell ers in
Morocco ; that everything in and about her is p ecu
li ar ly blessed of God , even the water of the River
of Pearls, which cures gravel , softens the skin , per
fumes the clothing, destroys insects , renders the pleas
ures of the senses sweeter (if it be drunk fasting ),
and contains precious stones of inestimable value .

And no less poetically do the Arabian writers tell the

story of its founding When , towards the close of the
.

eighth century , the Abb asi de s split into two parties, a

p rince of the vanquished side , E dris ben Abdallah ,
- -

took refuge in M ogh r eb , at a spot not far di stant from

where the city of Fez now stands Here he dwelt
.

alone , passing his time in prayer and meditation , unt i l

in the course of time his illustrious origin and holy
life brought him such renown among the Berbers of
that district that they elected him their chief Little
.

by little , by for c e of arm s and the influence and

 FE Z.
21

authority exerted by a descend ant of Al i and Fath ma,

he succeded in extendin g his dominions over a large
part of the country , convertin g i dolators, Christians
and Jews to Islamism by force At length h e b ecame
.

so powerful that he aroused the j ealousy of Har u n al

Rashi d , the Calif of the E ast , who caused him to be

poisoned by a pretended physician , in the hope that
with him wo ul d die his infant E mpire . But the
people of Barbary accorded E dris a solemn buri al ,
and recogniz ed his posthumous s on , E dris ebn E dris ,
- -

as their rul er The n ew Calif mounted the throne at

.

the age of twelve , consoli dated and extended his

father s dominion , an d may rightfully b e call ed the
’

founder of the E mpire of Morocco , which , unt i l the

close of the tenth century , remained in the hands of
his dynasty I t was this self same E dris who laid
.
-

the first foun d ation s o f Fez on the 3 d of February ,

8 08 , in a vall ey lying between two lofty mountains ,
covere d with luxuriant woods , watered by a thousand
streams, and situated on the right bank of th e River
o f Pearl s Tradi t i on give s various explanations of
the name When digging th e foundations th e work
.

men found a great axe (the Ar abic for which is Fez )

weighing sixty pounds , and the city took its name
from this circumstance ; so says on e legend Another
.

states that E dris worked with the laborers himself on

the foundations , and that in token of grat itude they
presented him with an ax e made of S ilver and gold ,

and that wishing to perpetuate the memory of this

,
22 F EZ .

ac t of ho mage , h e had call ed the city Fez Accord

.

’
ing to still another account , the Calif s secretary asked
his master what nam e h e proposed gi ving the new
“ ”
city . The name , replied E dris, of the first p er
s on whom we Presently they met a man
and asked him his nam e It was Far es , but as th e
.

man stammered , it sounded like Fez and consequently

the city was c all ed that Others, again , say that
.

there was once a large city situated on the bank of

the River of Pearl s named Z e f, which , after existing
eighte en hundred years , was destroyed before Islam
ism shone upon the earth , and that E dris simply r e
versed the letters Z e f and made Fez However all
.

this may be , it i s certain that th e n ew capital grew

rapidl y , and by the beginning of the tenth century
already rivalled Bagdad in splendor , embracing
within its walls the mosques of K ar aoui n and of
E dr i s bot h having been prev i ously in existenc e
—

the on e th e largest and the other th e most highly

venerated mosque i n all Africa, and was termed the
Mecca of th e West . Towards the mid dl e of the
eleventh century Gregory I ! established an E pis
.

copal See there U nder the Al m oh ade an dynasty it

.

had thirty suburbs , eight hundred m osques , ninety

thousand houses , ten thousand shops , eighty si x gates ,
-

vast hospitals , magnificent baths , a large library , e n

riched with many precious Greek and Latin manu
scripts , schools of ph ilosophy , physics , astronomy and
the languages , to which scholars crowded from all over
 FE Z . 23
’

E urop e and the E ast . It was called th e Athens of

Africa, and during one period was th e scene of a
perpetual fair, to which were brought the products of
three contin ents E uropean commerce had its bazaars
.

and inns , and what between Moors , Arabs , Berbers ,

Jews , negroes , Turks , Christians and renegades , there
was a flourishing pop ul ation , numbering five hundred
thousand And now h ow changed it all is ! Almost
.

all the gardens have di sappeared the greater part of

,

the Mosques are in ruins, of that great library noth

ing is left but a few worm eaten volumes th e schools
-

have died out, commerce langui shes , the buildi ngs are
falli ng to pieces and the population is reduced to con
si der abl less than on e fifth of what it once was
- Fez
y .

i s now merely the enorm ous carcass of an abandoned

metropolis , ly i ng in the midst of the great cemetery
o f Morocco .Our greatest desire , after that p r e li m i
nary w al k through Fez , was to visit the two famous
mosques K ar aoui n and Mulai E dris but we were
— —

obliged to cont ent ourselves with what we coul d se e

of them from the street , as Christians are not per

m i tte d to enter them . They have doors decorated

wi th m osaics , arched court yards and long , low naves ,
-

di vi ded by forests of c olumns and bathed in m y s te r i

ou s light . But it must not be supposed that these
m osques are the same to day as at the time of the i r
-

great celebrity , since the famous historian , Ab d er -

Rahman ebn -Kh aldoum , wri ting i n the fifteenth cen

tury of the E l K ar aoui n May God enno ble it m ore
24 F EZ .

”
and more as h e says refers to a number of decora
,
—

tions which , even in his day , no longer existed The .

foundations of this enormous building were laid on the

first Saturday of Ramazan , in the year of our Lord
8 5 9 , at the exp ense of a pious K ai r u an woman At.

first i t was a small mosque , with but four naves , but

was enlarged and embellished by successive Gov
e r n or s E mirs and Sultans U pon
. the summit of the
,

dome , erected by Imam Ahmed ben Abey Bekir,

there gli ttered a golden ball , studded with pearls and
precious stones , containing the sword of E dris ebn -

E dris , the founder of Fez . The walls of the interior

were hung with tali smans to protect them from rats ,
scorpions and serp ents . The Mihrab the niche
—

which i ndi cates the direction of Mecca was so mag

—

n i fi c e n t that th e Imams were obliged to have it white

washed , so that i t S hould not distract the faithful from

their prayers There was an ebony p ul pit , inlaid
.

with ivory and gems ; two hundred and seventy col

u m n s d i vided the in terior i nto sixteen naves , each

having twenty -one arches ; fifteen large entrance

doors were provided for the men , and two sm all ones
for the women ; the interior was lighted by seven
hundred lamps , which , on the twenty seventh night
-

of Ramazan , consumed three and a half qu i ntals of

oil
. All of which particulars the historian Khaldoum
recounts with many express i ons of wonder and de
light , ad di ng that naves , c ourt yards , galleries , ves
-

ti b u le s and thresholds , all measured foot by foot , the

 FE Z . 25

mosque was capable of containing twenty two thou -

sand seven hundred persons , and that , i n order to

pave th e court yard alone , fifty two thousand bricks
- -

were employed .
“
Glory to Al lah , Lord of th e whole
earth , exceedingly merciful and King of the final
”
judgment day .

While waiting for th e Sul tan to fix a date for our

state reception , we made various excursions , in the
”
course of one of which I received an impression ,
which to me , at least , was entirely new We were .

approaching the Burnt Gate B a b el M a r oc on ou r

.
- —
,

way back to the city , when the vice consul suddenly -

gave an exclamation that made m e shudder .

Two heads said he ; and glancin g at th e wall in

front of us I saw, sure enough , two long streaks of
blood , but could not make up my mind to look highe r .

They told me that the heads were suspended by their

hair over the gate , on e apparently that of a youth of
fifteen or so, the other of a man of twenty fi v e or —

thirty , both Moors We learned further that th ey

.

had been placed there duri ng the night , th e statement

being that they b elonged to two rebels from th e dis
tr i ct adjoining Algeri a and had been brought from
thence to Fez , but the dripping blood m ade it seem
far m ore probable that the execution had taken place
in the city , possibly before that very gate How .

ever that m ay be , we learned , i n this connection ,

that it is customary to send th e h eads of rebels from
the prov in ces in revolt to the seat of government .
26 F EZ .

After they have been v i ewed by the Sultan , the i m

perial soldi ers lay hands on the first negro they happen
‘

to m eet and m ake h i m remove the brains , fill i ng the

Skull with t ow and salt . This done , the heads are
suspended over one of the city gates , and after hang
in g for several days , s ay at Fez , are taken down ,
placed in a basket and dispatched by a courier to
Me qui n e z. When they have been duly exhib ited
there they are sent on to Rab At, and so on from on e
place to another until decomposition sets in It .

seems , however, that this course was not followed i n

the case of the two heads of the Bab el Maroc Since ,
- -
.

seeing the next day that they had disappeared, when

we asked an Arab servant what had become of them
“ ”
he replied , with a gesture, Buried, but hastened to
“
add , consolingly , that a great m any more were on
”
their way .

Two days before the state reception we were i n

v i t e d to breakfast by Sid M u sa .This p ersonage is
not entitled Grand Viz i er nor min i ster , nor y et secre
tary ; he is simply call ed S i d M u sa He was born a
.

slave and freed by the Sultan , who may , should he

so choose , seize everything he possesses to morrow ,
-

throw him into prison , or suspend his head from the

battlements of Fez without bein g called to account by
anyone At the s ame time , however, Sid M u sa is the
.

m i n i ster of ministers , the soul of th e government , the

m ind that embraces and controls everything from the
ocean to the Moloui a and from the Medi terranean to
 FEZ . 27

the desert , and , next to the Sultan , is the most famous

personage in the E mpire It can readily be imagined
.

then , with what intense c uri osity we set forth on e

morn i ng , surrounded, as usual , by armed guards , and
accompanied by the Kai d and the interpreters , to r e
pair to his house , situated in New Fez .

We were received at th e door b y a crowd of Arab

and negro servants , and entering a garden , inclosed
between high walls , saw our host awaiting us i n a
sm all doorway at the further end, surrounded by his
o ffi cers , all dressed in white The cel ebrated min i s
.

ter extended both hands to the ambassador with a

quick movement , bowed smilingly to us and led the
way into a small room on the ground fl oor , where we
-

all sat down . What an extraordi nary looking i ndi

-

vidual he was For th e first few minutes we could

not keep our astonished gaze off h i m He was about
.

sixty years O ld , a mulatto , nearly black , of medium

height , with a huge , oblong head ; brilliant eyes which
shot piercing glances in every di rection ; a large ,
hooked nose ; a wide mouth , furnished with two rows of
big , white teeth ; and an enormous chin ; yet , aecom
panying these fierce features a k i ndly sm ile , benign
expression , and a manner and tone of voice that might
be termed courteous However, those who really
.

know the Moors affirm that with no other people is

on e so likely to be deceived by appearance s as
with them It was n ot, though , the soul of this man
.

that I would have l i ked to i nvestigate , b ut his brain

.
28 F EZ .

It is pretty certain that I wo ul d not have found much

theology there , p erhap s none at all beyond a few
pages of the Koran , and then a few periods of the
history of the E mpire , a few vague ideas of the
geography of the chief countries of E urope , a few
principles of astronomy , a few rules of arithmetic .

But to make up for this meagre array what p r o

found insight into the human heart ! W hat quick
ness of p erception ! What subtle tact ! What a
mass o f information concerning affairs hopelessly r e
moved fr om all o ur habits and customs How many
curious secrets of th e royal p al ace And who knows
what strange medl ey o f reminiscences of love and
su ffering , of intrigues , of all manner of wonderful and
horrible things ! And there may well have been con
c eal e d likewise beneath that white turban an estimate

o f E uropean civilization as compared w i th that of

Morocco not s o very different from our own , so that ,

had he expressed what h e re al ly thought , it might
have run thus : E h , gentlemen ! I know it all bet
ter than you do yourselves An admission , how
.

ev er, not likely to escap e from th e imprisoning folds

of that turban The apartment in which we were
.

seated was , for a Moorish house , sumptuously fur

n i sh e d since it contained a sofa a small table , a mir
, ,

ror and several chairs Th e wall s were hung with

.

red and green stuffs , th e ce il ing painted , the floor

made of mosaic ; but it was nothing wonderful for
the residence of a minister as wealthy as Sid M u sa .
 F EZ . 29

After the usual interchan ge of compli ments we were

escort ed to the di ni ng room , situated on th e other
-

side of the garden , Sid M u sa, accordi ng to his cus

tom , not accompanying us This room , like the
.

other, was decorated with red and green hangings ;

in on e corner stood a cupboard, on top of which were
two old bunches of artificial flowers under glass cases ,
and on e of those little lookin g glasses , with painted
-

frames , such as are alway s to be found in our v il lage

inns On the table were about twenty di shes , filled
.

with large white sugar plum s , shap ed like balls and

-

carobs ; the china and other appo i ntments of the

table were beautiful , and it was furnished w ith a great
many bottles of water, but there was not so much as
a drop of wine We took our places , and were served
.

at once Twenty eight courses , not countin g the

.
—

sweetmeats ! Twenty eight huge dishes any on e of

- —

which woul d have sufficed to feed twenty hungry

men of all shapes , of all smells , of all flavors ; enor
—

mous pieces of roast mutton , chicken 5 la pomatum ,

game a la wax , fi sh a la cosmetic , liver a la suet , tarts
dressed with tallow, vegetables swimming in grease ,
eggs conserved in cold cream , s al ad minced , pounded ,
kneaded and pressed into mosaic work ; sweetmeats ,
on e mouthful of which ought to atone for the commis

sion of a bloody crime ; and , to wash down all these

dain ties , big glasses of cold water , into which , how
ever, we squeezed lemons , brought for the purpose in
our pockets Then c ame cup s of very sweet tea
.
,
30 F EZ .

like j ulep and finally a crowd of servants poured i nto

the room and inundated us , the table and the walls
with rose water Such was Sid M u sa s breakfast
- .
’
.

When we arose from table an o fficer came to i n

form the ambassador that our host was then engaged
in saying his prayers , but that so soon as these were
concluded he wo ul d take great pleasure in conferring
with his guests Immediat ely after this a trembling
.

old man made his appearance , supported between a

couple of Moors , who grasped the ambassador s two

’

hands and shook them violently , exclaiming, e x

c i te dly
“
Wel c ome , welcome , welcome to the ambassad or
of th e King of Ital y . Welcome among us ; a great
day for us
This individual was the Grand Sherif Bakal i , one
of the most influential p ersons about the court , as
well as richest landowners in the E mpire He was .

’
the Sultan s confidant , and the own er of a large harem ,
and although i ll for the past two years wi th dyspepsia
was said to possess th e power of di verting his lord,
when the latter felt dull , with his witty sayings and
comical gestures , a faculty wh i ch on e wo uld certainly
n ot have suspected from his fierce countenanc e and

abrupt manner After him appeared Sid M u sa s two

.
’

sons , on e of whose faces I have completely forgotten ,

a s he vanished again imme di ately after the first greet

in gs The other was a very handsome young man ,

.

of twenty -fi v e , privat e secretary to the S ul tan , w i th

 F EZ . 31

a fem in i ne face and large brown eyes of indescribable

sweetness Lively , self possessed and restless , he kept
.
-

continually stroking the ample folds of his orange

colored caftan with both hands throughout the entire
interview When Bakali and th e ambassador had
.

w i thdrawn some of the officers remained, seated on

the ground , wh ile the Sultan s secretary occupied a
’

chair in our honor This prepossessi n g young gen

.

tl e m an at once started a conversation , which was

carried on by m eans of Mohammed D uc al i Fix i ng
.

his eyes upon U s si he inquired , in a low tone , who he

was .

” “
“
That , repl i ed D ucali , is Sign or U ssi , a great
”
m aster of pai nting.

“
D oes h e paint with a mach ine asked the young
man , meaning a photographi c camera .

”
“
No , answered the i nterpreter, he paints by
“

”
hand .

”
He see m ed to murm ur What a pity to himself,
and after think ing about it for a few minutes added
“
that he had inquired because with the machine the
”
work i s so much more exact .

The commander begged D ucali t o inquire the

whereabouts of a certain fountain named Ghal u, after
a thief whom E dris , the founder of the city , had
caused to be hung on a neighboring tree . The
youn g secretary seemed greatly aston i shed at th e
commander s fam il iarity with this historic incident ,
’

and asked how he happened to have heard i t .

32 F EZ .

“
I read the account in Khaldoum s History , r e
’ ”

pli ed the commander .

“
In K h aldoum s History ! exclaimed th e other
’ ”
.

“
You have read Kh aldoum s History ? Then , of
’

course , you understand Arabic And where di d you

.

come across th i s history I“ ”

The commander explained that it was to be found

i n all of our cities , being, i n fact , a very well known -

book in E urop e , and that i t had been translated into

E ngli sh , Fr ench and Germ an .

“ ” “
Really ! exclaimed the ingenuous youth And
.

ou have al l read it , and are familiar with all these

y
things I I woul d never have i magined such a th i ng,
“ ”

and he could n ot recover from his astonishment .

Little by li ttle the conversat i on became more lively

the o ffi cers j o ined in and we succeeded in learning a
,

number of interesting facts We wer e told, for i n

. .

stance , that the E nglish ambassador had presented

the S ul tan wi th two telegraphic machines , and had
instructed a numb er of persons about the court in the
art of using them They were , indeed, in O peration
.

then, not , of course , in public, since the sight of those

mysteri ous wires would, no doubt , cause a riot, but
in the I nterior of the imperial palace , and it was
hardly necessary to say whether this wonderful di s
cov er
y had astonished everyone or no , although not

altogether to th e extent on e might have expected ,

since from the descriptions they had previously heard
everyone , the Sultan included, had supposed it to be
 F EZ . 33

something still more astounding They believed , that.

is that the thought was not conveyed by means of

,

letters and words , but instantaneously , all at once , so

that it was only necessary to give a single touch and
whatever you wished to say was liter ally transmitted .

They adm itted, however, that the invention was most

ingenious , and that it might be of great u se, especiall y
in our countries , where there were so many people
and so much traffi c that everything must be done in
“
a hurry , which meant , in other words , What wo ul d
“
we do with a telegraphic system ? And to what con
di tion woul d our Government b e reduced if we were
obli ged to reply at once and in a few words to the
demands of foreign representatives , thus being de
r i v e d forever of ou r prime excuse the delay and our
p ,

never failing pretext , the miscarr iage of letters ,

-

thanks to which we are n ow enabled to let a matter

drag on for two months which might eas ily be settled
’
i n a couple o f days Then they told us , or rather
.

gave us to understand , that the Sultan was a man of

mild di sposition and kind heart that he lived simply ,

loved but one woman , eat without a fork , like all his
subj ects , seated on the ground , but with the dishes
placed upon a little gilded table about a foot high ;
that before he became Sultan h e used to practice the
lab el ba r od with his soldiers , being on e of the best
- -

trai ned among them ; that he liked work , and fr e

quently did things himself that his servant s should
have done for him , even to packing his own clothing
V OL . II .
-
3
34 FE Z
.

when going on a journey ; and finally that his people

loved him , but feared him too , knowing full well that
sho ul d a serious revolt break out he wo ul d be the very
first to leap on his horse and dash off, sword in hand ,
to meet the rebels But how agreeably di d they
.

'

talk of all th e se things ! and with what charming

sm iles and gestures ! It was a world of pities that
we could not understand that glowing figurative
language , and were not able to investigate at ou r
leisure that ingenuous ignorance After two hours
.

had elapsed th e ambassador reappeared , accompanied

by Sid M u sa, the Grand Sherif and all the other
o fficials , and there was a tremendous interchange of
handshakings , smiles , bows , sal utations and cere
monies , as though we were all engaged i n executing
a fancy dance ; and finally , after passing between two
long lin es of curious servants , we t ook our leave .

As we passed out we caught a glimpse , at on e of th e

grated windows on the ground fl oor , of about a dozen
-

tousled and b e diademed heads black , white and

- —

mulatto W hich , the instant they saw us look i ng , dis

—

appeared with a great noise of pattering slippers and

trailing S kirts .

From th e day we set out Sultan Mulai Hassan had

been , as may readily be supposed, the chief obj ect of
our curiosity . There were grand rejoicings , there
fore , when the ambassador announ ced on e evening
that ou r formal reception was to take place on the
following day I n all my life I have never smoothed
.
 FEZ . 35

out the creases of my waistcoat nor adjusted the

spr ings of my opera hat with feel i ngs of more pro
foun d satisfaction than on that occas i on This i n
.

tense curiosity arose i n part from what we kn ew of

the history of the dynasty We wanted to look upon
.

the face of on e member of that terrible Sh er i fian

fam ily of the Fil ali to whom histor i ans give the palm
for fanaticism , ferocity and cruelty over every other
dynasty that has held sway in Morocco At the b e
.

ginning of the seventeenth century some inhabitants

of the province of Tafilalt, which borders on the
desert (hence the name of F il ali ), brought back with
them from Mecca a Sherif named Ali , a nat i ve of
Yembo and descendant of Mohammed through Has
san second son of Ali and F a th m a . Soon after his
,

arrival the climate resumed its wonted regul arity ,

which for some time had been interrupted , and dates
flourished i n great abundance the credi t of this bein g
given to Ali , he was elected king , with the ti tle of
M ulai Sherif His descendants gradually enlarged ,
.

by force of arms , the dominions governed by their

ancestors , mastered Morocco and Fez , hunted down
the dynasty of th e Sh er i fi an Sai ds , and reign to this
day over all the territory lying between the Moloui a,
the desert and the sea . Sidi Mohammed, son of
Mulai Sherif, governed with wise clemency , but after
him th e throne of the Sherifs was bathed in blood .

E l Reshid rul ed by intimidation , took upon himself

the o ffice of executioner, and w ith his own hands cut
36 FEZ .

’
o ff women s breasts in order to make them di vulge
’
the hi di ng place of their husband s treasures Mul ai
-
.

Ismael , that voluptuous prince who was the lover of

no less than eight thousand women and father of
t welve hundred ch il dren , founded the famous corps
of the Black Guard , and sent to demand th e hand of
the daughter of the D uchess de la Valliere in mar
r i a e o f Louis ! I V D uring his reign as many as
g .

ten thousand h eads were suspended from the battle

ments of Morocco and Fez Mul ai Ahmed el D e
.

hebi , miser and glutton , stole the j ewels belonging to

’
his father s wives , besotted himself with wine , had
the teeth of the beauties of his harem drawn out, and
cut off the head of a slave who had pressed down the
tobacco i n his pip e too hard Mulai Abdallah , van
.

ui sh e d by the Berbers , vented his rage upon the i n

q
habitants of M equi n e z by cutting their throats , as
,

sisted the executioner to behead the o fficers of his

brave , defeated army , and originated the horrible
pun ishment of sewing a living man into the di sem
boweled body of a bull that they might rot together .

Hi s son , Sidi Mohammed, seems to have been supe

rior to others of his race, since he surrounded him
self wi th renegade Christians , endeavored to establi sh
peace , and introduced closer relations between Mo
rocco and E urope Next came M ul ai Ye z i d, violent ,
.

cruel and fanatical , who , in lieu of paying his soldi ers

wages , gave them p ermission to sack the Jewish
quarters of every city in the E mpire He was fol
.
 FEZ . 37

lowed by Mul a i Hesh i am , who , after reigning only a

few days , w i thdr ew to p ass the remainder of h i s life
in a sanctuary , and Mulai Soli man , who b roke up
piracy , and made a great show of friendship with
E urope , but at the same time artful ly cut off all i n
t e r c our se between Morocco and th e civil i zed world ,

and had the heads of renegade Jews, who had dared

to raise a voice of lamentation over their forced ab
j ur ation , heaped at the foot of his throne Then .

came Abd er -Bhaman , the conqueror of Isly , who

-

caused consp i rators to be bricked alive into the walls

of Fez , and finally Sidi Mohammed the victor of
, ,

Tetuan, who , in order to inst il a proper feeli ng of

aff ection and respect in the hearts of his people , had
the heads of his enemies borne through the towns and
dua r s stuck on the bayonets of his sol di ers. N or do
these comprise the worst of the miseri es which have
afflicted the E mpire under the miserable Fil ali dy
nasty There have been wars with Spain , Portugal ,
.

Holland , E ngland , France and the Al gerian Turks ;

bloody insurrections among the Berbers ; di sastrous
expedi tions into th e Soudan ; revolts of fanatical
tribes ; mut i nies of the Black Guard ; p ersecutions
o f the Christians
; furious wars of succession waged
between father and son , uncle and nephew , brother
and brother From time to time the E mpire has
.

been torn in pieces , and once more reunited ; Sul tans

have been discrown ed five times , and five times rein
stated on the throne ; there have been i nh u man acts
38 F EZ .

of vengeance perp etrated upon one another by prin c es

of the same blood ; female j ealousies, horri ble crim es ,
widespread misery and a rapid return to the barbar
ism of former times , and through it all the triumph
of on e dominant principle the b elief that since civili
—

z ati on can only be e stablished upon th e ruins of every

poli tical and religious institution of the Prophet ,

’
ign orance constitutes the E mpire s surest safeguard
and barbarism is an essential element of its life The .

foregoing is a slight sketch of the historical halo with

which we , in fancy , surrounded the youthful Sultan ,
before whom we were about to appear .

’
By eight o clock in the mornin g the ambassador,
the vice consul , Signor Mor teo, the commander and
-

the captain , arrayed in gorgeous uniforms, were

already assembled in the court yard , surrounded by
-

a throng of soldi ers , the Kai d among them , attired in

gala dress , wh il e the two artists , the doctor and I , all
four clad in dress coats , high hats and white n eckties ,
- -

were actu all y afraid to venture out of our room ,

dreading the e ff ect that ou r S ingular attire , the like

o f which had probably never before been seen in Fez ,
“ ”
would produce upon the bystanders You go first
. .

” “ ”
No , after you. Not at all, it is your place , and
s o for a full quarter of an hour we hung about that

door , each on e trying to push the other ahead , unt il ,

“
at length , the doctor sagely observing , U nion is
”
strength , we m ade a simultaneous rush , keeping
close together , with our heads hanging and hair over
 FE Z
. 39

o ur eyes Our appearance in the court yard cer

.
—

tai n ly did create the liveliest astonishment among the

sol di ers , guards and palace servants , some of whom

were fain to retire behind the p illars in order to
laugh at their ease But outside it was a very di ffer
.

ent matter Havin g mounted our anim al s we started

.

for the Butter Niche Gate , preceded by a troop of

scarlet foot soldiers , foll owed by all the legation
-

soldiers , and fl ank ed by o ffi cers , interpreters , masters

o f ceremony and the cavalry of the Ben Kasen Bu - -

h a m e i escort It was a truly charming spectacle ,

.

that mingling of stiff hats and white turbans , of diplo

matic un iforms and r ed caftans , of dress swords and
barbarous sabres , of yellow kid gloves and black
hands , of gold striped trousers and bare legs but
-

only fancy what figures we four c ut , arrayed in even

i n g dress , mo u nted on mules , perched upon red sa d
dl es elevated like thrones ; dripping with p erspiration ,
and completely covered with dust before we had well
started The streets were full of p eople , who , as soon
.

as we appeared , stopped short and formed into two

lin es ’
. They regarded th e ambassador s plumed hat ,
’ ’
the captain s gold braid , the commander s medals
without evincin g any surprise , but when we four, wh o
were the last , came in sight , there was first a great
rolling of eyes and then an expression of countenance
that was anything but comp limentary Beside us .

rode Mohammed D ucali , and I begged him to trans

late any comments he might overhear for my benefit .
40 FE Z
.

Presently a Moor standi ng in the centre of a little

group made some observation that I co ul d not under
stand but to which the others all seemed to assent
, .

D ucali burst out laughing, and informed me that these

good people mistook us for executioners Some of
.

them , possibly because black is greatly disliked among

the Moors , regarded us with an expression amounting
almost to aversion and di sdain ; others shook their
heads in token of profound pity
“ ” “
Gentlemen , said the doctor at last , it is our
own fault if we cannot compel the respect of these
people We have the means at hand , let us make
.

”
use of them ; and so saying he took off his opera hat
and, just as we passed a group of Moors who were
laughing , shut it to with a snap The astonishment and
.

di smay caused by that mysterious collapse are not to

be expressed Thre e or four of them jumped back
.

wards , casting terrified looks at the diabolical hat .

The two painters and I , encouraged by this bold ex

ample , at once foll owed suit , and thus , by virtue of
o u r hats we succeeded in gaining the city wall s both
,

feared and respected .

Outside th e Butter Niche Gate two thousand in ‘

f an tr y were drawn up in double line , the embassy

passing between They consisted for the most part
.

o f youths who presented arms , each on e accordi n g to

,

his own fancy , and then , as soon as we had gone by ,

put their jackets over their heads to shield themselves
from the sun We crossed the River of Pearls by a
.
 F EZ .
41

sm all bridge , and found ourselves on th e spot a p

pointed for the reception , where we all dismounted .

It was a vast , open space , bounded on three sides by

high battlemented walls and massive towers , and on
th e fourth by the River of Pearls In the furthest
.

corner was the opening of a n arrow street , flanked

by high , white walls , which led to the gardens and
residence of the Sultan , all completely hidden by the
bu ildin gs between Wh en we arrive d the square
.

presented a most impressive sight In the centre a

.

crowd of generals , masters of ceremony , magi strates ,

nobles , o ffi cers , slaves , Ar abs and negr oes , all dressed
i n white , were drawn up in two long lines , one about
thirty feet in advance of the other B ehind them , on
.

the side next the ri ver, were all the S ultan s horses
’

in a row large , beautiful animals , with velvet , gold

—

embroidered housings , and each on e held by an armed

groom , and at one end a little gilded coach , presented
by the Queen of E ngland to the Sultan , and alway s
displayed on state occasions ; at the rear, on either
side , stretched two long files of imperial guards ,
dressed entirely in white ; aroun d the square , sta
ti on e d at th e foot of the walls and along the river

bank , were three thousand infantry soldiers , barely dis

ti n gu i sh abl e in the di stance , looki ng li ke a thread of

vivid red ; and on the other side of the river were gath
ered an enormous white robed throng of spectators
-
.

In the centre of the square were placed the cases con

taining the gifts sent by the K i ng of Italy , consisting of
42 F EZ .

his own portrait , mirrors mosaic pictures , candelabra

,

and arm chairs We proceeded to tak e our places near

- .

the two companies of court o fficials in such a manner

as to form a hollow square , open on the side from which
the Sultan was to appear B ehind u s were the
.

presents , and behind them the embassy soldiers drawn

up in l i ne On on e side stood Mohammed D ucali ,
.

the commander of the escort , Soliman , Afl alo, and the

sailors in u n iform A grim visaged master o f cere
.
-

monies , armed wi th a knotted stick , placed us in two

rows the commander, the captain and th e vice con
— -

sul in front , the doctor , the two artists and I behind .

The ambassador stood some half doz en steps in a d

-

vance , with Signor M or te o, who was to act as inter

preter We seven graduall y , and without intending
.

to do so, drew a few steps closer together, whereupon

the master of cere monies made us move back again ,

even indicating with his stick th e precise spot upon

which each was to stand This partic ul arity annoyed
.

u s , the more so as we fancied we co u ld detect a lurk

ing expression of amusement in his eyes Just at .

t h at moment , however , our attention was attracted by

a murmur of voices , and looking up we saw four or
five windows in the wall above our heads closed by
green blinds , behind which could be seen a confused
movement of heads, and instantly the whole thing
was explained These windows belonged to a terrace
.

’
communicating by a large corridor with the Sultan s
harem , and the master of c eremonies had received
 FE Z . 43

orders from the Sultan himself to make us stand on a

certain spot , his ladies having begged to be allowed to
se e the Christians . What a pity it is that we co ul d not
have had the benefit of their com m ents on our h i gh
hats and swallow-tail coats !
The sun was burning hot , and throughout the vast
inclosure the most profound s il ence reigned, while
every eye was turned i n on e di rection I think that
.

my companions hearts as well as mine must have

’

been beating harder than usual We waited for

.

nearly ten min utes ; then a quick movement ran

through the troops There was a sound of m usic ,
.

the trumpets blared, the court o fficials bent low , the

guards , grooms and soldiers dr opped on on e knee ,
and from every throat there issued a prolonged
“ ”
and deafening shout , God save our lord ! The
S ul tan was advancing towards us on horseback and
surrounded by a throng of courtiers on foot , on e of
whom held an enormous parasol over his head When .

he came to within a few feet of the ambassador he

halted , a part of his suite closed in the hollow square
and the others stood surrounding him The master
.

o f cere m onies , with the staff, now announced in a

“ ”
loud voice , The Italian ambassador , and the am
b ass ador , accompanied by his interpreter , advanced
bare headed towards the Sultan , who said, in Arabic ,
-

“
Welcom e , welcome , welcome , and then inquired i f
”

we had had a pleasant j ourney , and been satisfied

with the escort and the receptions accorded us by the
44 FEZ .

various Governors Of all this , however , we heard

.

nothing, having been completely enthralled from the

very first moment This S ul tan , whom our imagina
.

tions had pictured under the gu i se of a cruel and

savage despot , was the handsomest , most attract i ve
’
young man who ever won an odalisque s heart He .

was t all , active , with large , soft eyes , a fine aqu iline
nose , dark , oval face and short , black beard His .

expression was at once noble and melancholy A .

white ha i k enveloped him from head to foot , the

’

peaked hood being drawn over his turban and his ,

bare feet were thrust into yellow slippers The large

.

and entirely white horse h e rode had green housings ,

and the stir rups were of gold All this whiteness and
.

the long, ful l cloak lent him something of a sacerdotal

air, as well as of roy al dignity and a simple kindly
maj esty that corresponded admirably with the gentle
expres sion of his countenance The parasol , carried
.

in sign of command , which a courtier held tilted a

little back over his head , was large and roun d , lined
with pale lilac, covered with li ght bl ue silk e mb r oi
-

dered in gold and surmounted by a large gold ball ,

and only added to the charm an d dignity of h i s ap
p e ar an c e His graceful bearing , his expression ,
half melancholy , half smiling ; his subdued, even
- -

voice , soun di ng like the mu rmur of a brook in short

his entire appearance and manner had a something
ingenuous and feminine , and yet , at th e same time , a
solemnity that aroused instinctive admiration as well
 FE Z .
45

as pro found respect He did not look to be more

.

than twenty two or three y ears old

— .

“ ” “
I am w e ll pleased , he said , that th e King of
Italy has sent his ambassador to knit still closer the
cords of our ancient friendship The House of Savoy
.

has never made war with Morocco I love the

.

House of Savoy , and have followed with pleasure and

admiration the great events which have transpired
i n It al y under its auspices . I n the days of ancient
Rome It al y was the greatest country i n th e world ;
then it was di vided i nto seven states My forefathers
.

were friends of all those seven states , and I , now that

the entire seven have b een united in one , have con
c e n tr at e d upon that on e the friendship which my a n
”
ce stor s felt for all
.

He pronounced these words slowly , with pauses b e

tween , as though the entire speech had been com
m i tted to memory , and it required some e ffort to r e
call it Among other things the ambassador told him
.

that the Ki ng of Italy had sent him his portrait .

“
It i s a precious gift , replied the Sul tan
” “
I
will have it h ung in my Sleeping room , opposite a
-

mirror upon which my eyes rest as soon as I O pen

the m, and thus every morning , barely aw ak e , I w ill
se e before me the image of the King of Italy and
,

will th in k of him , and h e presently added , I am

” “

much pleased, and I wish you to stay a long time in

Fez , and hop e that you w ill preserve a pleasant mem
”
or
y of i t when you re turn to your b eautiful country
.
46 F EZ .

As he talked he kept his eyes fixed almost all the

’
time on his horse s head ; sometimes he looked as
though he wanted to sm i le , but would promptly frown
i nstead, as though endeavoring to recall a proper ex
pression of imperial dignity to his features It was
.

easy t o see that h e was curious as to what manner of

men were th e se seven standi ng not t en feet away
from his horse Not caring, however, to look directly
.

at us , h e turn ed his eyes very gradually our way ,

and then all at once included us all in a rapid glance ,
in which could be detected an i n defin able look of
chil di sh amusement , which contrast ed charmingly
with the maj esty of his person The crowd of cour
.

tiers , standing on either side of and behin d him

seemed to have been turned to Stone E very ey e
.

was fastened upon that one central figure ; not a

breath could be heard ; nothing was to be seen but
immovable faces and attitudes of profound veneration .

Two Moors kept the flies from his feet with trembling
hands ; another brushed from time to time the hem of
his cloak , as though to purify it from contact w i th
the very air ; a third, with a gesture of religious awe ,
’
strok ed the horse s back ; while he who held the
parasol stood with eyes bent on the ground, immov
able as a statue , almost as though h e were di smayed
by the magnitude of his o ffice All the surroundi ngs
.

bore witness to the enormous power, the immense

distance , that separate this man from everyone else ,
to the absolute submission fanatical devotion and
,
 FE Z . 47

passionate savage love that seems to ask n o more

than to gi ve proof of itself with blood He app eared
.

not so much a monarch as a god .

The ambassador produced his credentials , and then

presented th e commander, the captain and the vice
consul in t urn , each of whom advanced and remained
some mo m ents before the Sultan in an attitude of re
S pect.
’
He observed the commander s decorations
with particular interest .

“ ”
The doctor , said the amb assador , indicating us
“ ”
four , and three sci en ti sts .

My eyes encountered those of the god , and all the

phrases of this description which had already begun
to tak e form in my head be c ame suddenly mixed up
together .

The S ul tan asked , with some S how of curiosity ,

“ ”
which on e was the doctor . He on th e right , r e
plied the interpreter He looked at him attentively ,
.

then said , with a graceful gesture of h i s right hand ,

“
Peace be with you ! Peace be with you ! Peace
”
be with y ou l and tur ned his horse The band
.

struck up , the trumpets sounded , the courtiers bowed

their heads , the guards , soldiers and servants fell on
on e knee , and once more from all th e s e th r e at s arose
“ ”
the resounding cry , God save our lord !
No sooner had the Sultan disappeared than the
two ranks of lofty personages broke up , and Sid
MII sa, his sons and o fficers , the Minister of War, the
’

Minister of Finance , the Grand Sherif Bak al i , the

48 FE Z .

Grand Master of Ceremonies and all the other great

- - -

men of the court advanced towards us , smili ng and

gesticulating in S i gn of congratulation , and Si d M u sa
having i nvited the ambassador to rest in on e of the
’
Sultan s gardens , we all presently remount ed , crossed
the square , filed down that mysterious li ttle street ,
and entered the august domains of his imperial high
’
ness s residence . Narrow streets flanked by lofty
walls , little square court yards , houses in ruins ,
-

houses in process of construction , arched doorways ,

corridors , little gardens , small mosques, a labyrinth
’
to make on e s head swim , and in every direction busy
workmen , throngs of soldi ers , armed sentinels , and
sometimes the face of a female slave peering out from
behind a grated window or through the crack o f a
door And that was all not on e imposing bu ilding
.
—

or anything else except the pleasure grounds to s u g

-

gest the abod e of a monarch We entered a large ,

.

neglected garden , fill ed with S hady walks crossing

each other at right angles , and shut in by high walls
like a convent enclosure After resting here for a lit
.

tle while we returned home , the doctor , t h e two artists

and I causin g great hilarity along the route by re ason
o f o u r dress coats and great terror with o ur opera
-
,

hats .

For the rest of that day no on e could t al k of any

thing but the Sultan We had all fallen in love with
.

him U ssi made a hundred attempts to sketch his

face , throwing away his pencil each time in despair .
 F EZ . 49

One and all pronounced h i m to be the handsomest

and most charming of Mohammedan rulers , and in
order that this verdict might be a trul y national affair
we determined to see what the two sail ors and the
cook might have to say on the subj ect The last , .

from whom all the sights of Tangier and F e z had up

to this moment elicited only a smile of profound c o m

miseration , showed himself liberal minded as regarded -

th e E mperor .

“
A l e em bel 0mm, said he , a i l nen a dii e (he is
” “
’ ’

a handsome man , there are no two ways about it ),

but he ought to travel , go somewhere , where h e could
” “
l earn something This
. somewhere naturall y
meaning Turi n Luig i the ca ul ker , although a Nea
.

politan , was more concise Asked what he had

.

noticed most especially about the E mperor, he looked

“
thoughtful , and presently replied , with a smile , I
noticed that what this country seems to n eed most is a
”
king who wears stockings But Ranni was the most
.

“
comical . What did you thi n k of the S ultan
“ ”
asked th e commander I thought , said he frankly ,
.

and with the utmost seriousness , that he seemed

” “ ” “
afraid. Afraid ! echoed the commander , and of
“
whom Of us D id you n ot notice how pale he
.

got , and h ow his breath nearly gave out I ” “

You
are crazy D o you suppose that , surrounded by his
.

“
guards and his army , h e was afraid of u s Well,
”
it seemed s o to me , answered Ran n i , imperturbably .

The commander regarded him stead il y , and at last

V
\ U I J.
50 F EZ .

clasped both hands to h i s head i n an attitude of com

ple te discouragement .

That evening t wo Moors visited the palace escorted

by Selam ; they had heard wonderful tales of our
opera hats , and had come to see for themselves I .

got mine and O pened it before their eyes , and both

of them peered inside with the utmost curiosity , ex
e c tin g doubtless to find some complicated arrange
p
ment of wheels and hinges Seeing nothing at all ,
.

they probably took this as an additional proof o f the

.

superstition current among Moors of the lower classes ,

namely , that there is something diabolic about every
“
thing belonging to a Christian But there is noth
” “ ”
ing there ! they exclaimed in a breath That ,
“
replied I , by means of Selam , is precisely where the
remarkable part of these supernatural hats lies ; they
”
do what they do without the aid of machinery !
Selam laughed, suspecting the j oke , and then I set
myself to work to explain the hidden mechan i sm , but
it seemed to me that they understood very little about
it As they were leaving they asked if Christians
.

” “
wore those springs on their heads for fun . And
“ ”
you I said to Selam , what do you think o f them ?
“ ”
Why this , replied he , with an air of lofty disdain ,
“
and laying one finger on the much talked of hat
- -
if
I had to live in your country a hundred years per ,

haps little by little I might come to adopt your style

o f dress , the shoes the n ecktie , even those ugly colors
,

you are so fond of ; but that thing ! that horrible ,

 F EZ . 51

black obj ect ! Ah , God is my witness , I had rather

”
di e
. At this point my Fez j ourn al begins and covers
’
the period that elapsed between th e E mperor s recep
tion and ou r departure for M eq u i n e z .

M AY ZOT E .

To -day the chief intendant of the palace privately

handed over th e terrace keys to u s, begging us at the
same time , most earnestly , to do nothing imprudent .

It appears that he had received orders not to decline

to give them to us , but to do so only on being asked ,
because in Fe z , as well as i n all other Moorish cities ,

the terraces belong to the women , and are considered

ahn os t like adjuncts to the harems . Mounting to this
on e , we found it to be very large an d screened by a

wall more than the height of a man , in which were

some windows constructed like loop holes Th e palace ,
-
.

very lofty itself, stands upon an eminence , so that we

commanded a view of thousands of other white ter
races lying below u s, the hills which surround the
city , th e distant mountains , and directly beneath a
little garden , from whose midst an enormous palm
tree rose by almost a third of its height above the
surrounding buildings . Peering through th e win
dows we seemed to have been suddenly transported
,

to another world All the terraces far and near were

.

filled with women , multitudes of them , who , j udging

from their dress , appeared, for the most part , to b e
long to the higher classes ; ladies in short , i f that
,

word can be c orrectly applied to Moor i sh women .

52 FEZ .

Som e were seated on the parapets ; others walked u p

and down ; others , with the agil ity o f squirrels , j umped
from one terrace to another, hid in g , reappearing ,

sprinkling on e another with water , and laughing like

maniacs , while more than one had adopted an attitude
which woul d certainly have been altered could sh e
’
have known that a man s ey e was upon her There .

were old women , young girls , children o f eight and

ten years , all clad in garments of strange device and
vivid colors Most of them wore their hair hang
.

ing down their backs and red or green s ilk h an dke r

,

chiefs tied about their heads lik e bandages Their .

costum e consisted of a sort of wide sleeved caftan of

-

some bril liant hue , confined at the waist by a blue or

vermilion belt , a little velvet jacket open in front ,
trousers , yello w slippers , and large silver rings fast
en ed j ust above the ankle The servants and slaves
.

were dressed in simple tunics Only on e of these

.

“ ”
ladies was close enough for us to distinguish her
features . This was a woman of about thirty , ar
rayed in gala dress , who stood with her head resting
on her hand , gazing down into the garden below from
’
a terrace not more than a stone s thrown from our
own . We looked at her through th e glass Ye gods , .

what painting ! Antimony , black under the eyes ,

red on the cheeks , white on the neck , henn é on the
nai ls , S h e looked like a painter s pallet ; but with it
’

all , and notwithstanding her thirty years , sh e was

pretty ; a ful l face , languid , almond shaped eyes ,-
 F EZ . 53

shaded by long lashes , a little nose slightly turned up

“ ”
at the end , a small mouth , round , as th e Moorish
“ ”
poets would say , as a ring, and the form of a sylph ,
the soft curves set off by the clinging folds of her
attire She seemed to be sad, possibly by reason of
.

the introduction but a few days before of a fourth

wife into the harem a girl of fourteen , whose tri
—

umph was already foreshadowed in the cold embraces

o f her husband . Now and then sh e would regard
her hand , her arm , th e locks of hair falling across her
breast , and sigh Presently the sound of our voices
.

must have reached her, for looking up as though su s

ec ti n g that sh e was being watched sh e spran g with
p ,

the ease of an acrobat upon the parap et , and , j ump

ing lightly on to the terrace below , disappeared In .

order to get a better V iew we sent for a chair , and

tossed up for the privil ege of using it first I won ,
.

and placi ng it close to the wall , I mou n ted and stood

head and shoul ders above the top It was as though
.

a n ew star had appeared in the Fez fi r m am e n t, if I

may be excused so presumptuous a comparison .

Those on the nearer terraces caught sight of m e i m

medi ately and ran away , then promptly reappeared
and passed the word on to their neighbors In a few
.

minutes the news had spread over half the city ,

curious heads appeared i n all directions , and I felt as
though I were in a p illory ; but the beauty of th e scene
kept me firm at my post Hundreds of women and
.

children , dressed in the most brillia nt colors , were

54 F EZ .

standing on the parapets , the little turrets , the out

side stairs , with faces all tur ned towards me ; from
those so close at hand that I could see their aston
i sh e d expression to those so far away that they looked
like mere white , green and verm il ion specks Some .

of the terraces were so crowded as to present the

appearance of fl ower beds , an d through them all
-

there ran a stir and commotion , a coming and going

and a vast amount of gesticulation , as though they
were witnessing some celestial phenomenon Not to .

put the entire city in an uproar I presently set that —

is , got down from the chair and for a fe w moments

—

no on e took my place Then Biseo placed himself

.

in the p il lory , and i n his turn was made the target for
a thousand eyes All at once , however , the occupants
.

of on e of the more distant terraces turned their backs

and fl ew over to th e opposite end, then those on
another terrace di d the same , and s o on on e after
another all down a long row of houses At first we
.

coul d n ot imagine what had happened, but the vice

“
cons ul presently hit upon the solution A great
” “
event , said he ; the commander and th e captain are
”
no doubt passing al ong the streets of Fez And
.

sure enough , before long the red uniforms of the sol

di ers of the escort appeared upon a neighboring hil l
side , and by using the glass we could make ou t the
two officers on horseback in their midst Another
.

excitement on the terraces presently announced the

passage of another party of Italians in th e street b e
 FE Z . 55

’
low , and t en minutes later we saw U ssi s E gyptian
c ufl i a gleaming from an opposite elevation and b e
,

side i t Mor t eo s E nglish hat After this final distrae

’
.

tion the public attention became once m ore riveted

upon us , and we shoul d have remained longer to
e nj oy it to the ful l had not five or si x little imp s of
slaves , thirteen or fourt een years of age , begun to
stare and laugh at us so impudently that for the sake
of Christian decorum we were obliged to deprive the
fair s e x of th e metropolis of any further sight of ou r
wonderful presence .

Yesterday we dined with the Grand Vizier, Taib

Ben Jamani , surnamed Boa sh e r i n , which means , ac
cordi ng to some , winner of the game of ball , and ac
cording to others , father of twenty sons He is .

Grand Vizier though in name only , merely because

,

his father held that post under the last Sultan .

The messenger who brought the invitation was r e

c ei v e d b
ythe ambassador in our presence .
“
The
”
Grand Vizier, Taib Ben Jamani B oash e r i n , said he ,
with great impressiveness , begs th e Itali an ambas
“

”
sador and his suite to d i ne to day at his house
-
.The
ambassador thanked him .

The Grand Vizier, Taib Ben Jamani Boa sh e r i n ,”

continued the man with th e same solemnity , also “

begs the ambassador and his suite to bring knives

and forks , and their own servants to wait upon them
”
at table. Towards nightfall we se t forth on horse
56 FEZ .

back , with the usual armed foll owing I cannot tell

.

what part of the city the house was situated in We .

turned and twisted about , climbed up and d own , and

threaded innumerable wretched little cov ered alley
ways, dark and forbidding i n the extreme , ex er ci s
ing the utmost care to keep ou r mules from slipping ,
and being obliged to bend low , so as not to hit our
heads against the damp walls of those en dl ess gal
le r i e s
. D ismounting at length in a dark lobby , we
entered a vast square court yard paved with mosaics
-

and surro unded by very lofty white p i lasters , above

which was a line of small arches ornamented with
stucco arabesques , painted green ; a very strange
Moorish Babylonish architecture that excited our won
-

der and admiration Seven streams of water fell

.

into seven marble basins i n the middle o f the court ,

sounding like a hard sho wer of rain Al l around
.

were half closed doors and twin windows In the

- .

centre of each of the two shorter sides of the build

ing was a lofty doorway , leadi ng into two apartments .

On the threshold of on e of these doorways stood the

Grand Vizier on foot , waiting to receive us behin d
him were two old Moors , relatives , and on either side
a group of male and female slaves We exchanged
.

the customary greetings , after which the Grand

Vi z ier, seating himself cross legged upon a m attress
-

placed a gainst the wall , proceeded to clasp a large

round pillow to his stomach with both hands, his
habitual and well -known attitude, and di d not stir
 FE Z. 57

again throughout the entire evening . He was a

vigorous looking man of forty or thereabouts , with
regular, though , owing to a certain deceitful expres
sion about the eyes , not attractive features He was
.

dressed in a white turban and caftan , and tal ked very

vivaciously , laughing loudly at every remark made
e ither by himself or any one else , throwing back his
head and keeping his mouth open for some time after
all sound had ceased Several frames hung on the
.

wall , containing inscriptions from the Koran in gold

letters ; in the centre of the room stood a table , such
as on e sees l n v i llage i nns , and some rough chairs ,
and in every direction white mattresses , on one of
which we deposited our hats .

Sidi Ben Jamani started a lively conversat i on with

th e ambassador He asked i f he were m arri ed , and
.

why he was not , say ing that had he been , nothing

woul d have pleased him more than to have had his
wife to di nner as we ll ; that the E nglish ambassador
had brought his daughter with him , and sh e had e n
j oy ed herself very much ; that all the ambassadors
should m ake a point of marrying for the express pur
pose of bringi ng their w i ves to see Fe z and di ne with
him , and similar dis c ourses, interru pted by loud
laughter .

Wh il e the Grand Vizier was talk ing the two ar

ti sts and I , seated on the threshold of the open door,

watched the slaves out o f the corners of our eyes as ,

encouraged no doubt by our air of benignant inter
58 FE Z .

est , they drew gradually nearer and nearer, until, u n

seen by the Grand Vizier, they were almost touching
us There they stood, staring open eyed, and ap
.
-

ar e n tl not averse to being looked at in turn There

p y .

were eight good looking young girls, ranging from

-

fifteen to twenty years of age , some of them mulat

toes , others black , with big eyes , d i lated nostr ils and
prominent b usts , dressed entirely in wh i te , with wide
embroidered belts around their waists , bare arms and
feet , bracelets on their wrists , big silver circlets i n
their ears and heavy rings on their ankles To all .

appearance they would have entertained no scruples

whatever about having their cheeks pinched by a
’
Christian hand U ssi called Bi se o s attention to the
.

beautiful foot of on e of them , who , o b serv i ng the

gesture , fell to examining her own feet with great
curiosity All the others then did the same , compar
.

ing theirs with hers U ssi opened his opera hat and
.

they all j ump ed back , then s miled and drew nearer

again but presently the voice of th e Grand Vizier,
giving orders to have the table laid, sent them all
flying Our soldiers se t the table , and one of the
.

servants of the establishment placed three huge wax

candles of di fferent colors i n the middle The chin a
.

belonged to the Grand Vizier ; no two plates were

the same ; they were large and small , plain White ,
decorated, fine and coarse , all mixed together The .

napkins were also provided by our host , and consisted

of pieces of cotton of various sizes and unhemm ed,
 FE Z
. 59

evidently torn off in a great hurry at the last moment .

It was already night when we took our places The .

Grand Vizier remained on his mattress , hugging his

p il low close with both arms , and laughing and talking
with his two relatives I will not describe th e dinner
.
,

it seems useless to r e awaken distressing memories ;

-

suffice it to say that there were thirty courses , and

that each of the thirty was a misfortune i n i tself,
wi thout counting the minor o ffences o f th e sweet
meats When the fifteenth course was reached , i n
.

despair of b eing able to continue the fight without

the aid of a little wine , the ambassador told M or teo
to find out whether the Grand Vizier would hav e
any obj ection to our sen di ng ou t for a few bottles of
champagne . Mor teo accordingly whispered some
’
thing i n Selam s ear, which Selam repeated in the ear
of the Grand Vizier His E xcellency replied in a
.

low voice and at some length , while we anxiously

scanned his face out of the corners of our eyes His
.

expression , however, did not give us much hope .

Presently Selam arose with a baffled air and mur

mured the answer to M or teo, who thereupon a d
ministered the coup de grace in the following
words :
“
The Grand Vizier says there would be no obj e c
tion whatever, in fact it would give him the greatest
pleasure to consent but there is one draw
back , there are not enough glasses , and per
haps the table as well and in any case the
60 FEZ .

sight and the smell in short

and then the novelty of the thing
”
“
I understand , said the ambassador, we wil l“

”
sa
y no more about i t ,
and thereupon all our faces
t u rned a sickly green .

Dinner over , the ambassador resumed h i s conversa

tion with the Grand Vizier, and we slipp ed out of the
room The night was dark and rainy O ur Kai d
. .

’
and the Grand Vizier s secretary were seated on the
floor of the room on the other side of the court din
i ng by torch light
- . At all the windows around th e
four wall s th e dark profiles of women and children
were sharply defined against the lights within .

Through a half closed door on the ground fl oor we

- -

could s e e, in a brilliantly lighted apartment , the wives

-

and concub i nes of th e Grand Vizier seated or r ecli n

i ng i n a circle , in voluptuous attitudes , crowned like
so many queens , and slightly ve iled by the clouds of

smoke which arose from p erfumery stands burning -

at their feet Slaves and servants went back and

.

forth from the di ning room to the kitchen , crossed

-

the court yard , disappeared within curtained door

-

ways , mounted and descended the stairs There

.

may have been as many as fifty persons moving

about , and n ot a voice or footstep , or the rustle of a
garment , coul d be heard It was a scen e as silent
.

and mysterious as some phantom vision , and we stood

long in the shadow gazing at it , breathless and e n
tran c ed As we were leaving we noticed a large ,
.
 FEZ .

le ather, many -knotted thong leaning against on e of

the p ilasters in the court yard - The i nterpreter
.

asked one of the house servants what it was used for

- .

To whip us w i th , was th e reply

”
.

Mounting our beasts we started for home , es c orted

’
by a crowd of the Grand Vizier s servants , each on e
carrying a large lantern It was pitch dark and
.

raining i n torrents , and no words can express th e

e ff ect of that long cavalcade those lanterns , that
—

crowd of armed and hooded figures , the deafening

tramp , the tumul t of hoarse , savage cries , amid that
labyri nth of narrow streets and covered all eyway
and the profound s ilence of the sleeping city It was .

like a funeral procession wi nding through the recesses

of some immense grotto ; a night attack by soldiers

thread ing the underground passageways of a fortress

in order to give a coup de main All at once the .

procession came to a halt There was a sepulchral

.

silence , broken b y an angry voice an noun cing in

“ ”
Arabic , The street is closed ! followed by the
sound of blows fallin g i n qui ck succession Th e .

soldiers of the escort were trying to be at down with

the butt ends of their muskets on e of the many doors
-

which prevent one at n i ght from circul ating freely

about the streets of Fe z This was continued for
.

some time , to an accompaniment of thunder and

lightning . The rain pattered down ; servants and
soldiers hur ried back and forth , carrying lanterns ,

their long shadows proj ected against the walls The .

62 F EZ .

Kai d , standing erect in his stirrups , threatened the

invisible inhabitants of the surroundi ng houses , and
we gazed with intense delight upon the fine Rem
brandt like scene At last a loud crash announced
- .

that the door had fal l en i n , and we proceeded on our

way Not far from the palace , beneath a tomb like
.
-

a rch s i x infantry soldi ers presented arms each with

, ,

one hand and holding a lighted taper in the other,

and thi s was the closing scene of the grand spectacul ar
“ ’ ”
show , entitled A D inner at th e Grand Vizier s .

N ot quite the closing scene though ; that was reserved

,

for the palace court yard , immediately upon reach

-

ing which we fell upon the Nantes sardines and the

Bordeaux , and U ssi , li fting his glass high overhead ,
exclaimed , solemnly
To Sidi Ben Jamani Boash er i n , Grand Vizier of
Morocco , o u r gracious host ! I , Stefano U ssi , pledge
”
this cup in token of Christian forgiveness .

The S ul tan has granted the ambassador a pri vate

audience The reception room , large , white and bare
.
-

as a prison , is devoid of ornaments other than a great

n u mber of p endul um clocks of all sizes and shapes ,

some of them placed on the floor along the wal ls , the

rest crowded together on a centre table Clocks, be- .

it observed, serve the Moors principally as obj ects of

adornment and entertainment The Sultan was seated
.

cross legged on a platform about three feet high in a

-

small alcove He had on , as at the state reception ,

.

a snow -white cap e with the hood drawn over h i s head ;

 FE Z
. 63

his feet were bare th e yellow slippers standing in

—

one corner and across his breast was stretched a

—

green cord , from which no doubt a dagger hung I n .

this fashion do the E mperors of Morocco receive

foreign ambassadors Their throne , to quote Sultan
.

Abd s r B haman , is the horse , and th eir pavilion the

— —

sky The ambassador having previously made his

.
,

wishes k n own to Sid M u sa, found an unpretendi ng

looking chair placed so as to face the imperial plat
form , upon which , a t a S ign from the Sultan , he took
his seat Sign or Mor te o, who acted as interpreter ,
.

remained standi ng His maj esty , Mulai el Hassan ,

.

conversed for some time without taking his arms from

b eneath his cloak , wi thout a movement of the head
or the sl i ghtest variation of his sweet , deep , monot

on ou s voice He spoke of the needs of his E mpire ,

.

of commerce of trade , of treaties , going into the

,

most minute details systematically and with great

sim plicity of language He asked numerous ques
.

tions , li stening to the answers with marked attention ,

and concluded by saying , in a tone of slight melan
“
ch ol , It is all true but we are obliged t o advance
y ,
”
very slowly Strange and admirable words upon
.

the li p s of a n E mperor o f Morocco Seeing that

.

even during the intervals of s ilence he gave n o Sign

of bringing the interview to a n end, the ambassador
“
at last deemed it proper to arise Stay a little
.

” “
longer, said the S ultan ingenuously I like to
.

”
t alk to y ou . When the ambassador finally depar te d,
64 FE Z .

and bowed for the last time on the threshold of th e

door , the Sultan inclined his head slightly and re
mained as immovable as an idol left alone in his de
s e r t e d temple .

A party of Jewish women came to the p al ace to

present a p etition of some sort to the ambassador ,

and we could with difficulty wi thdraw ou r hands from

th e kisses showered upon them They were the
.

wives , daughters and other female relatives of two

wealthy merchants ; handsome women wi th flashing
black eyes , white skin , cr imson lips and tiny hands .

The two mothers quite old women had not a white

— —

hair on their heads , and their eyes still sparkled with

youthful fire The party was dressed in a m agn ifi
.

cent and picturesque costume , consisting of a red

cloth j acket trimmed with close rows of wide gold
braid , a vest covered wi th gold embroidery , a short ,
straight skirt of green cloth , also str iped with ri ch
braid, and a sash of red or blue s ilk fastened ab out
the waist They looked like Asiatic princesses, and
.

all this magnificence contrasted oddly enough wi th

their servil e and obsequi ous manners It was not
.

until some moments had elapsed that we noticed that

they were barefoot , and carried y ellow slippers under
their arms As they all spoke Spanish I addressed
.

one of the old er women in that tongue , asking her

why she did not wear Shoes and stockings “
Is it
.

possible , said sh e , with an air of great surpri se ,

”
 F EZ .
65

“
that you do not know that Israelites can only wear
shoes i n th e Mell a and are obliged to go barefoot
,
”
whenever they enter the Moorish city l Th e am
‘

b assa dor said something reassurin g and they put on

,

their slippers , but what they stated is an actual fact ;

at least wh il e they are not absolutely required to go
barefoot all the time , they have to take their Slippers
off when they go through certain streets , pass certain

mosques , approach certain kubbas, and so on until it

amounts to the same thing Nor is this the only or
.

the least humiliating annoyance to which they are

subj ected They are forbidden to act as witnesses ,
.

and are obliged to prostrate themselves to the earth

when speaking in cour t ; they are not permitted to
own houses or land outside the limits of their own
quarter ; to ride on horseback through the city ; to
li ft their hands against a Mussulman even in self de -

fence , un less they have been assaulted in their own

houses ; they m ust dress i n dark colors ; carry their
’
dead to the cemetery on a run ; ask the Sultan s p er
mission to marry ; be within the Mell a by sundown ;
pay the Moorish guard that stands watch at th e e n
trance and present the S ultan with rich gifts on each
of the four great feasts of Islam , as we ll as on the

occasion of every birth and marriage in the imperial

fam il y Their condition was even worse before the
.

reign of Sul tan Abd e r Bhaman , who put a stop at

- -

l east to the reckless shedding of their blood But even

.

sho ul d he s o desire the Sultan could accomplish but

V O L II 5
. .
—
66 F EZ .

little towards the ameliorat i on of their condition , s i nce

any attempt in that direction only resul ts in exposing
these unfortunate people to a persecution st il l worse
than the horrible slavery which they now endure , so
violent and fanatical is the hatred felt for them by the
Moors Take , for example , th e case of the E mperor
.

Suleiman , who decreed that they should be allowed

to wear their slippers , w i th the res ult that such num
bers were killed in broad daylight in the streets of
Fez that h e was forced to recall the edict to preserve
them from wholesale massacre And , n otwi th stan d
.

ing all these things , they remain in the country ,

partly because , in their capacity of intermediaries b e
tween the commerce of E urop e and that of Africa
they become rich , and partly because the Govern
ment , recognizing how i mportant their presence is to
the welfare of th e country , opposes an almost insuper
able obstacle to the i r quitting it by prohibiting the
departure of the women Thus they serve , tremble ,
.

crawl in the dust , and willingly exchange the di gnity

of manhood and liberty o f a citizen for those p iles of
g old- pieces secreted i n the wa lls of th eir squalid
houses The Fez Mell a covers about eight miles , is
.

divided i nto sections by the synagogues , and ruled by

Rabbis , who enj oy great authority .

Our unfortunate guests showed us some heavy

chased silver bracelets , j ewelled rings and gold ear
rings , which they had hidden away i n th eir breasts .

“
We asked why they did not wear them . N OS es
 FE z 67

dc los M or os ”
p a n ta mos are —
afraid
wc of th e Moors

—
they answered i n l ow tones and glancing nervously
about as th ey spoke ; they even mistrusted the lega
tion soldiers Among them were several little girls ,
.

dressed with the sam e richness as the women One .

of these stood beside her mother in an attitude of

greater timidity than th e others The ambassador.

“ ”
inquired her age . Twelve years , was the reply .

”
“
She w ill marry before very long, said the ambas
sador .

Oh , no ! exclaimed the mother, she i s too old

”

”
now to get a husband .

We all thought she was j oking No , I am quite

.

ser i ous , said the woman , evidently wondering a little

”

at our i ncredulity “
.D o you s e e that on e over there ? ”

indicating a still s maller child ; she will b e ten years

ol d in si x months , but sh e has been m arried for over
’
a year . The child hung her h ead , and we none of
“ ”
us beli eved the statement What can I say , said
.

the mother , to convince you ? If you w ill not take

“

my word for it , do us the honor to visit our house on

Saturday , when we can receive you in a fitting man
n er
,
and you will see both the husb and and the wit
”
nesses to th e marriage .

“
And how old i s the husband 3 I asked
” “
. Full
”
ten years , Senor .

See i ng that we still locke d incredulous , the other

women all confirmed the statement , assuring u s that
it is very rare for a girl to marry after sh e i s twelve
68 FE Z .

years old, most of them doing so before they are ten ,

many at eight , and some even as youn g as seven ,
the husbands being about the same age Natur ally .

their tender y ears compel them to go on living with

their parents , who continue to treat them l ike ch il
dren feed , dress , scold and whip them without pay
—

ing the slightest regard to their married estate But .

’
they pass all their time in each other s company , and
the wife has to obey her husband It seemed to us
.

that we were listening to the customs of some other

planet , and we stood open mouthed, divided between
-

a strong inclination to laugh and a feeling of com

“ ”
passionate indi gnation . But, said the ambassador,
” “
hesitatingly , do they really live together 3 ‘
Why ,
” “
naturally , said the mother, see i ng that they are
” “ ”
husband and wife . But do you not see, said the
“
ambassador , with a gesture of irritation , how wrong
that is ? That it is a custom contrary to al l the laws
of nature ? That it endangers th e health of both
so ul and body ? That instead of educating childhood
morally and physically , you i n this manner profane ,
poison , s uffocate i t
'

”
Oh , no , n o, Senor Am bassador ! cried the
“
mother, with the most charming vivacity , do not
believe a word of it Nothing like that ever happen s
. .

”
They are j ust ch ildr en , and here sh e came nearer
“
and dropped her voice . They accept everything
quite naturall y , play and laugh together, and when
they are tired j ust put their heads down li ke that an d
 F EZ .
69

fall asleep li k e little angels No harm at all, Senor

.

”
Ambassador .

The ambassador st ill endeavored to make her s e e

that there wa s harm in these cus toms b ut the good
,

woman only kept on repeating , No harm at all , no

”
harm at all , little by li ttle , little by little , and held
firm to her own opin i on .

Wh ile this was going on the small nine year old — -

Wi fe was wafting kisses to Signor P atx ot s hunting

’

dog, who was tied in a corn e r of the court yard - .

Poor creatures , it was pitiful to see them , when the

time came to leave , put their Sli ppers under their
arms again and their j ewelry in their breasts , and
with all their b eauty and rich clothi ng sally forth
barefoot into the stony , filthy streets, looking about
them with an expression of humble supplication , as
though hoping to ward off the insults and rude
j ostling of the passers by
-
.

A breakf ast in the house of the Minister of War !

He received us on our arrival in a narrow court yard , —

inclosed by four lofty walls , and as dark as a well .

On one side was a low door way , scarcely more than

three feet high On the other a large archway gave
.

admittance to a bare room , furnished with a mattress

spread on the floor , and some sheets of paper , su s
pended by a string on one of the walls , the daily cor
respondence , I understand, of His E xcell ency His .

name i s Sid Abd All a ben Hamed He is Si d Mus a s

- - -
.
’

elder brother , and about sixty y ears of age ; black ,

7O FE Z .

small , thin , unsteady on his legs , trembling and r e ,

duc e d, so to speak , i n the girth He is withal not

.

unattractive , both in manner and expression He .

talks very little , often closing his eyes with a courte

o u s smile , and bending his head , half hidden in its -

huge turban After exchanging a few words we were

.

invited to the di ning room The ambassador first ,

-
.

and then each one of us in turn , s te epi n g almost at

right angles , passed through the small doorway and
found ourselves in another court -yard ; spacious , sur
rounded by graceful arches and faced with beautiful
mosaics in great variety The whole palace was a
.

present from the E mperor to Sid Abd Al l a, as he i n

- -

formed u s himself, at the same time bowing his head

and closing his eyes in an attitude of religious venera
tion In one corner of the court yard stood a group
.
-

o f o fficials in white cloaks and turbans

, ; on the op
os i te side a crowd of servants , in whose midst tow
p
ered the lofty form of a very handsome y ou n g man ,
attired in a zouave costume , of turquoise blue , with a
pistol thrust in the belt At all the doors and win
.

’ ’
dows women s and children s heads could be seen , of
all shades and colors , coming and going, while infants ’

cries came from every direction We seated our .

selves around a small table in a little room , cluttered

up with two enormous bedsteads The minister took
.

his place close by and a little behind the ambassador ,

remaining there throughout the repast , and vigor

o u sl
y rubbing a bare black fe e t which rested o n one
,
 FE Z. 71

knee , at such an angle that the august ministerial toe

nails were poised 011 the table a fe w inches from the
commander s plate The legation soldiers waited on
’
.

table , and the turquoise blue giant stood a few feet

-

away , one hand resting on his p i stol Sid Abd-All a .

-

was very friendly with the ambassador .

“
I like you , he directed Sign e r Mor te o to say to
”

him without any preambles

,
.

The ambassador replied that he entertained a simi

lar sentiment towards his host .

”
“
As soon as I saw y ou, continued the minister
”
you won my heart .

The amb assador returned the compliment .

”
“
The heart , resumed Sid -Abd All a, will take -

no refusal when i t commands us to love anyone we

”
must obey , without asking why .

Whereupon the ambassador extended his hand , and

the minister pressed it to his heart .

E ighteen dishes were se t before us I will n ot .

speak of them in detail , b ut I feel sure that when I

come to be j udged these eighteen will weigh in my
favor Moreover, the water had musk i n it , the table
.

cloth was many hued and th e chairs decidedl y r i ckety ;

-

but these tri fl ing drawbacks , far from putting us in a

bad h um or , seemed to have the opposite e ffect , and
we were seldom so gay , so lively and witty as on that
particular morning If Sid Abd All a had b ut heard
.
- -

us ! But that worthy seemed to have ey es and ears

for no on e but the ambassador Mor te o gave u s a
.
72 FE Z.

fright once , when leaning over, he suggested in a

,

low tone that the blue giant , coming from Tunis,

might very likely understand som e Italian ; but on
watching him closely at the next j oke, and seeing
that he betrayed no S ign of having understood, but
remain ed immovable as a statue , we took heart again ,
and went on without paying any further attention to
him How many apt comparisons were improvised
.

for those sauces and ragouts , each on e seeming to us

more humorous than the last , but which , un for t u
n at el
y , will not bear repetition ! At the conclusion
o f the feast we all went into the court yard where
-
,

the minister presented on e of the highest o fficers of

the army to the ambassador This was th e comm an
.

der i n chief of the artill ery , a little , dried up , old

- - -

man , bowed together l ike a letter C , with a big ,

hooked n ose and a pair of di abolical eyes His face
.

looked like that of a bird of prey ; he carried, rather

th an we r e , a huge yellow turban , spherical in shape ,
and was dressed something like a zouave , in li ght
blue , with a white mantle hanging from his shoul ders .

At his side dangled a long sword , and a silver han —

dl ed dagger was thrust in his belt . The ambassador

i nq ui red what grade in the m ilitary hierarchy of
E urop e his rank in th e Mor occ oan a rmy corresponded
to This question seemed to puzzle him , but after
.

“
think ing a moment he repli ed, hesitatingly , Gen
”
eral . Then he seemed to consider again , and finally
said , No , Colonel , but apparently in some confus i on
”
.
 FE Z
. 73

He said he was a native of Al geria, and the suspic i o n

instantly flashed through our minds that he was a
renegade Who can tell through what strange accident
.

he found himself a colonel in the M or occ oan army !

Meanwhile the other o fficers were breakfasting in a
room on the ground fl oor , opening from the court
-

yard , all of them seated on the pavement i n a circle ,

with the dishes in th e middle As I stood watching
.

them I understood perfectly h ow it i s that th e Moors

are able to di spense with knive s and forks It i s i m .

possible to convey any j ust idea of the grace , de x

'

te r i ty and precision with which th ey separat e

chickens , roast mutton , game , fi sh , everything, em
ploying onl y a few rapid movements of the hands ,
with no confusion , each one deftly and accurately de
taching his own portion as though his n ails were
sharpened like razors They plunge their fingers
.

in to the broth , roll up ball s of ku sku ssu, eat salad by

the handful , and never s o much as a drop or a crumb
falls outside their plates , and at the end their caftans
are as immacul ate as when they sat down F rom .

time to time a servant carried aroun d a basin and

towel After go ing through a slight ablution each
.

on e di pped his hand into the fresh dish b efore him .

No one spoke or raised his eyes , or gave any sign of

being consc i ous of our presence Could these possi
.

bly have been o fficers of rank ? Staff offi c er s belong

-

i n g to the higher grades of the army ? Aides de c amp ?

“ ‘
- -

Chiefs of D epartments i n the War O ffice Who

74 FE Z .

can be certain of anything in Morocco , particularly

when it is a question related i n any way to the
army , which of all my steries is the most mysterious .

They say , for instance , that in the eve n t of a re

li gi ou s war, when the Dj ehad law wo ul d b e pro
claimed which calls ou t every man capable of bearing
arms , the E mperor could raise a f or c e of two hun

dred thousand soldiers but if they do not know even

approximately the extent of the population of the
E mpire , upon what calculations do they base their
estimates ? And the stan di ng army , who really
"
kn ows what it numbers 2 And how is anyone to find
;

out anything not only about its strength , but its or

a n i z a ti on , if apart from the heads no on e knows
g
anything to tell , and they , either refuse to sp eak , or
prevaricate , or else cannot make themselves under
a
stood !
Sid Abd All a, m ost courteous of hosts , asked each
- -

o n e to write his name i n his portfolio , and then b ade

us farewell , pressing each hand to his h eart in turn .

As we reached the door we were overtaken by the

t u rquoise blue giant We halted, and b e regarded
- .

us a moment with a cunn i ng smile , then said , in ex

“
c ell e n t Italian , barring the Moorish accent , I hop e
”
ou are quite well , Signori
y .

Our thoughts i nstantly flew to all the j okes we had

made at table , and we were petrified .

“
You deg cried U ssi , but the dog had already
di sappeared .
 FE Z . 75

E very time we take a walk it is like setting ou t on

a small milit ary expedition The Kai d must first b e

.

notified , an escort collected, an interpreter found , the

animal s sent for, and before all is in readiness an hour
has elapsed On this account we spend much of the
.

day indoors The spectacle , however, afforded by

.

the interior of the palace itself largely compensates

us for this forced imprisonment There is a con
.

ti n u ou s procession of red clad soldiers , black servants ,

-

messengers from court , merchants from the city , sick

’
Moors seeking the doctor s aid , Rabbis com e to pay
their respects to the ambassador, Jewish women
carrying bunches of flowers , couriers bringing letters
from Tangier and porters bearing the menu There .

are workmen i n the court -yard engaged upon the

mosaics for Viscount Venosta, masons on the terrace
and crowds of cooks in the kitchen The merchants .

display their stuffs in the garden , and Signor Vincent

his uniforms The doctor o c cupies a hammock swung
.

between two trees , and the artists are at work outs i de

the door of the i r room Servants and soldiers run up
.

and down , and c all one another through the corridors .

The fountains play with a sound like falling rain , and

hundreds of b irds s ing i n the branches of the orange
and lemon trees of the garden Our days are divided
- .

between games of ball and Kh al doum s history I n ’

.

the evening we play chess and s ing, the latter diver

sion being under the direction o f the commander ,
leading t en or of Fez My nights would be passed
.
 76 FEZ.

’
rather more agreeably did not Mohammed D ucali s
black servants , who occupy a room close by , flit back
and forth in a continuous procession lik e so many
phantoms The doctor and I share a r oom and the
.

serv i ces of a poor de v i l of an Arab servant , whose

eccentricities make us almost di e with laughter He
.

informs us that he belongs to a fam ily which , if not

exactly wealthy , is at all events not i n want , and
that his obj ect i n j oining the caravan at Tangier in
the capacity of a servant was to make a p leasur e tr ip .

No sooner had he reached Fez , the goal of his de

sires , than for some o ffence , what I do not know , but
undoubte dl y something very trifling, he was whipp ed .

Since then he has devoted h imself to our service with

the most furious z eal He never understands any
.

thin g , n et even gest ures, and always looks frightened .

When we a sk him fo r the chess b oard h e brings a

-

sp ittoon Yesterday the do c to r sent h i m for a piece

.

of bread an d i n order to b e very qu ic k about it he

,

returned with an end o f crust he had found in the

garden We have the greatest di fficulty in r e a ssur
.

i ng him , as he persists in regarding us with terror,

and trying to conciliate us b y all sorts of unnecessary
services that we do not want , such as changing the
S

water in our pitchers three times before we are ou t

of b ed
. In or der to do something very acceptable he
takes his stand every morning in the middl e of the
r oom , wi th a cup of co ffee in his hand and the first
,

on e of us that stirs he throws himself upon thrusting

,
 FE Z. 77

it under his nose as though he were adm i nistering an

antidote Another int eresting personage is the wash
.

woman , who , with covered face , green ski rts and red
trousers , comes to collect our clothes , condemned ,
alas , to the cuff s and blows of the Moorish process of
washin g It is un necessary to say that they are r e
.

turned unironed I n all Fez there does not exist

.

such a thing as a fl at iron , and we wear ou r garments

-

just a s they issue from the fists of the laundrymen .

“ ”
Perhaps, they said to u s, there are some flat
irons in the Mell a ”
.

E verything can be had if on e can only lay hands

on it . For instance , there is a carriage , though to be
sure that belongs to the E mperor It is even said .

that there is a piano in Fez It was seen t en years

.

a o being brou ht into the city but no one seems to

g g ,

know what became of it It is good fun to send out

.

for something to be bought i n the S hops “

A can.

“ ”
dle i The answer comes back that they have none ,
”
but will make on e right away A yard of ribbon i
.

It w ill be done by te morrow evening

- “
Cigars i
.
” “

The tobacco i s there , and they w ill be ready in an

h our . The vice -consul has been searching for days
for a certain old book in Ar abic When questioned,
.

the Moors all look at each other and say , A book ?

“

Let m e se e ; who has any books in Fez ? If I am

not mistak en s o and so used to have some , but he is
”
dead , and I do not know who his heirs are And .

Ar abi c newspapers of other co u ntries , are any to be

78 FEZ .

“
had Oh , yes , there is one printed in Al geria
that comes to Fez regularly , but then it is addressed
”
to the E mperor . In short , it is di fficult to reali z e
that we are less than two hundred m iles di stant from
Gibraltar , where Lucia di Lammermoor is probably
being given this evening ; or that in eight days I
could be walki n g in front of the Loggia de i Lan zi in
Florence I have a sense of being very far away i n
.

deed , and it is not th e number of m iles , but the differ

e n c e s in p eople and things that put the greatest di s

tance between us and home With what delight do

.

we tear off the wrapper of the Gaee etta Ufi ci a le, and

b reak the seals of our letters those poor little let
—

ters that have escaped the hands of the Carlists ,

passed through the midst of the Sierra Morena brig
ands , climbed the rocky sides of the Red Moun tain ,
swum , clasped i n a Bedoui n s hand, the waters of the
’

KII S, the Seb u , the Mi kk é s, the Blue Fountain river,

’

and brought us their loving messages in the midst of

all these rev ilings and maledictions .

We pass away hours at a time watching the two

artists at wor k U ssi has made a charming sketch
.

of the grand reception , in WII l C Il he has succeeded

‘

’
admirably in catching the Sultan s likeness Biseo , .

eminent as a painter of oriental architecture , is copy

ing the faca de of the summer house in the garden
-
.

One S hould hear the comments of the soldiers as they

look at that picture They sidle up on tiptoe b e
.

h i nd the artist , making sp y -glasses of their fists, s o

 FE Z. 79

as to s ee b etter, and then m ost of them burst out

laughing , as though they had discovered some absurd
blunder The blunder consists in the second arch
.

being smaller in the drawing than the first , and the

third smaller than the second Absolutely ignorant
.

of the first principles of perspective , they think this

is a mistake , and say that the walls are crooked , the

house leans over, the doors are out of position , and
various other pleasantries of the same sort , and go
off cal ling the artist an a s s .U ssi is m or e highly
thought of since they learned that he has been in
Cairo and painted the starting out of the great cara
van for Mecca, an order given him by the Viceroy ,
who paid fifteen thousand crowns for the work ; but
they say that the Viceroy has evidently taken leave
o f his senses to pay fifteen thousand crowns f or a

thing which must have cost not more than a hun

dred francs at m os t, in colors One merchant asked
.

M ort eo if U ssi coul d paint furniture as well But

.

B i s s e s experiences when he goes every morning to

’

New Fez to pain t one of the Mosques are the most

amusing He i s accompanied , of course , by four or
.

five sol di ers , armed with clubs Before the easel

.

has been se t up about three hundred people have

gathered around him , and the soldiers have t o shout
and push like maniacs in order to clear barely enough
space i n front for him to se e the Mos qu e Very
.

s oon however , n either shouts nor pushes being o f

,

any further avail , clubs have to come into play At .

8O FE Z .

every stroke of the brush a blow , but the crowd sub

mits t o being knocked about , and seems only to grow
more unruly N e w and then a saint accosts the artist
.

in a threatening tone and the soldiers are obliged to

drag him back There are , however, sometimes a few
.

Moors of the progressive sort , wh o approach in a

friendly manner, bow , look and go away again , mak
.
!

ing him S igns of approval and encouragement Mos t .

of these liberal minded ones , however , are much more

-

impressed by the easel and camp stool than by the

-

picture itself One day a w i ld looking fe llow, after

.
-

shaking his fi st at Biseo , turned and harangued the

crowd at some length , with th e voice and gestures of
a demon An interpreter explained that he was try
.

ing to incite the people against Biseo by telling them

that tha t dog had been sent thither by the king of his
country to make drawings of all the most beautiful
Mosques i n Fez , so that when the Christian armies
came to attack the city they woul d be able to recog
nize and bombard them first of all Yesterday I was
.

present when a ragged old Moor, with a face like an

amiable devil , all smiles , accosted us with an air of
having something very important to say After .

hesitating a moment , as though selecting his words ,

he exclaimed , excitedly , F r an ce ! Lon dr es ! M a d
“

”
r i d I R oma I As any on e might suppose , we were
completely taken aback , and asked him forthwith if
h e could speak French , or Italian , or Spanish He .

“ ”
m ade a gesture of assent . Then talk , said we .
 FEZ . 81

He scratched his head , sighed , shu ffl ed about on his

“ ’
feet and then exclaimed again , F r a n ce Lon dr es .

R o ma ! M adr id ! ”
at th e same time pointing to the
horizon He meant that he had been to those places,
.

and possibly also that he had once been able to mak e

himself understood in foreign languages , but h e had
evidently forgotten it all We asked him a number
.

of questions , elicitin g nothing , however , beyond those

four names At last he went off , still repeating

.

“
M a dr id, R oma , F r an ce, Londr es, and as long as he
”

was in sight contin uing to make us friendl y signs , ex

pressive of the sorr ow h e felt at being unable to talk
to us.

You can find every kind among these people , ”

“
said Biseo gloomily , even a few who are eccentric
enough to l ook u p on us in a kindl y fashion , but not
”
a dog among them wh o is w il ling to pose And .

sure enough , thus far all e fforts of the two artists i n

that direction have been entirely unsuccessful , even
ou r faithful Selam refusing flatly .

“ ”
Are you afraid of the dev il i U ssi asked him “

on e day .

”
No , he replied , in his seri ous way I am afrai d
“
.

”
o f God .

We have climbed to the tep of Mount Z alag, the

commander, U ssi , and I , under th e guidance of Cap
tain di Boccard , that charmin g young fellow bei n g as
rem arkable for his physical agility as for his active
V OL . II .
—
6
82 F EZ .

mind and keen i ntelligence We were accompanied

.

by an o ffi cer o f the escort , three infantrymen , three

cavalrymen , and three servants After proceeding
.

for an hour and a half in a northeasterly direction ,

we reached the foot of the mountain and hal ted for
luncheon , at the conclusion of which the captain
drove a stake i nto the ground , on the end of which
he stuck an apple with a scudo laid on top of it , and
invited the men tofire at it in turn with his revolver .

The prize being eagerly desired , everyone was

anxious to try , but unfortunately , it being the first
attempt of any of them to handle that particular
kind of weapon , no one hit the mark , and the money
had to be given to the o fficer to di vide up among
them equally We got our amusement in watching
.

the remarkable positions they adopted when about to

fire Some threw their heads back , others leaned
.

forward , others stood on guard as though it were a

fencing match Accustomed as they all were to mak e
-
.

themselves as terrific and threatenin g as possible

when firing off their guns , they could not take in
the idea of the composed , steady attitude the captai n
tried to teach them One of th e soldiers presently
.

asked if we were willing to give something to a

peasant woman from whom h e had obtained a jug of
milk for our use We told him ce r tainly , provided
.

she came for i t herself So in a few minutes we saw

.

her coming towards us , a woman of about thirty ,

dark , wasted covered with rags , unattractive enough
 FE Z . 83

to have aroused repugnance in a Satyr She ap .

pre ached very slowly , keeping h er face carefully hid

den with on e hand until sh e was about five feet
,

away , when , wheeling about , she held out the other

behind her for the money How angry it made the
.

“ ”
commander . You need have no fears , he called
out , I am n ot going to fall in love w ith you , I am
n ot losing my head , I am still able to c ontrol my self .

”
Heavens above , what terrific modesty ! We placed
a coin in her hand , and picking up the m il k -jug she
went off towards her hut , on reaching which we saw
her take a stone and smash the desecrated vessel i n to
atom s. We now began the ascent , on foot and a c
companied by a part of the escort The mountain .

rises to a height of between thre e and four thousand

feet above th e level of the s ea, and is rocky , pre
c i i tou s, and without any sort o f path Before l
p . o n
g
the captain had disappeared among the rocks , but for
the commander, U ssi , and me it was equal to on e of
the twelve tasks of Hercules E ach one of us was
.

provi ded with an Arab on either side to hold us up and

S how us where to plant our feet , notwithstanding which
we st umbled constantly on the loose stones , and kept
recal ling with t error the first two strophes of the
Natale by Al exandre Manzoni I n some places we
.

were obliged to clamber like s o m any cats , grasp i ng

held of tufts of grass and shrubs crawli ng e ver rocks ,
,

scraping our shins , bruising our legs , and hanging on

to our g ui des arm s l ik e shipwrecked m ar in ers c l i ng
’
84 F EZ .

ing to a plank N ew and then a goat or two would

.

appear above us , apparently suspended overhead , s o

sheer was the ascent , while a mere touch would send
the stones rolling down to th e very fe e t of the moun
’
tain By th e help of Providence , after an hour s toil ,
.

we reached the top , pretty well exhausted , but with

no bones broken What an exquisite view repaid us
.

for ou r pains Far down below us , the city lay l ike

a little white figure eight surrounded by black walls ,
,

cemeteri es , gardens, saints houses , and towers an d all

’

framed in a green basin ; to the left the SebI I , a lon g,

’

shining ribbon ; to the right the great plain of Fez ,

striped with the silver River of Pearls and River of
the Blue Fountain ; to the south the blue summits of
the great Atlas chain ; to th e north the peaks of the
m ountains o f Rif to the east the vast undulating plain
where the fortress of Taza stands commanding th e pass
between the Seb I I basin and the basin of the Muluya ;
’

b eneath us great waving fields of wheat and barley ,

edged b y foot paths and traversed by long rows of
-

gigantic aloes Such maj esty of outline , luxuriance

.

of vegetation , and clearness of atmosphere ; such

silence and still ness , that the charm of i t seemed to
steal i nto our very so ul s Who would ever have
.

dreamed that in this terrestrial paradi se an e ff ete ,

enchained people slumbered over a heap of ruin s !
The mountain , which seen from the city appears
to be conical in shape , has instead an elongated s um
mit formed of solid rock The captain climbed to
.
 F EZ . 85

the very highest point , while we , with some regard

for o u r lives , contented ourselves with scattering
about among the rocks a little low er down , and were
o u t of sight of o n e another. I had proceeded but a
few steps into a small gorge when I suddenly foun d
myself face to face with an Arab I stopped and h e
.
,

s te e d apparently much astonished to s e e m e alone

pp .

He was a fi e r c e looking man , about fifty y ears old ,

-

armed with a heavy stick For a moment I thought

.

he might be going to knock me down and steal my

purse , instead of which , to my amazement , he greeted
m e smilingly , and pointing with one hand to my chin ,
stroked his beard with th e other , say ing something
over two or three times that I co ul d not understand ,
but which seemed to be s om e question h e was anxious
to have answered Prompted by curiosity I called
.

the o fficer of th e escort , who knew a little Spanish ,

and begged him to tell me what it was the man wished
to know Who could ever have guessed it ! I n or
.

der to pay me a compliment (and I do not know what

other he co uld have paid) he had asked, ex abr ap to,
why I did not let my beard grow, as in that case i t
would, no doubt , have b een handsomer than his own !
The soldiers of the escort were following us at a di s
tance of about twenty feet , and hearing us call ou t to
one another they for th e first time caught the sound
of our names distinctly , and thought th em v ery funny ;
they laughed and repeated them aloud , with a strong
Moorish accent , twisting them about in the queerest
86 F EZ .

way Am i gi ! and so on , until the o fficer

“ ”

”
suddenly turned on them with a Shut ! (silence ),
“

and they all stopped T h e sun was high and the

.

rock scorching hot ; even the captain , accustomed

though h e was to the heat of Tunis , felt the need of
S hade. So, giving a final look at the summits of
the Atlas , we came down at breakneck speed , and
vaulting into our crimson saddles started back to
wards Fez , where a charming surprise was in store
for us . The E l Ghisa Gate , through which we
“
were to r e enter the city , was closed
-
Well , why.

“
not enter by another said the commander They .

”
are all shut , said the o ffi cer of the escort ; and see
ing us raise our eyebrows he proceeded to explai n
,

the mystery It seems that on all feast day s (this

.

was a Friday ) the gates of all th e cities are closed

’
from noon to on e o clock , that being the hour of
prayer, because , according to Mussul man belief, it
will be on a feast day , and at that very hour, that the
Christian s are to take possession , by a coup de ma i n ,
o f the country So there was nothing for it but to
.

wait till the gates should be opened again Hardl y .

had we entered at last than we were made the r e

c i i e n ts o f a flowery compl i ment An ol d woman
p .

Shook her fist at each on e of u s in turn , muttering cer

“
tain words at the same time What is i t sh e says i
.
”

” “
I asked the o fficer Oh , nothing, said he , j ust a
.

”
bit of foolishness But I insisted on knowing what
.

it was , and on being assured that I woul d not take it

 FE Z
. 87

“ ”
in bad part whatever it might be , Well , said he ,
smiling , it is j ust a saying they have in this coun
try Jews to the pot hook and Christians to the
— -

”
a—
S pit.

The doctor has performed an operation for cata

raet , cer a i n p op ulo, i n th e palace garden A crowd
.

o f relatives , friends , soldiers and servants surrounded

the patient , while others stood in a l ong line all th e

way to the entrance from the street , outside of which
another crowd waited to hear the result The man .

was an old Moor, who had been totall y bli nd for over
three years Just as he was about to take his place
.

he hesitated as though he were afrai d , then , with a

resolute gesture , seated himself ; n or from that moment
di d h e gi ve any further S ign of weakening D uring .

th e operation all the bystanders stood as though they

’
were petrified ; the children clung to their mother s
skirts , who i n their turn held on to on e another by
the arm i n terrified postures , as though they were
witnessing an execution , while not so much as a breath
could be heard We , meanwhile , were quite as anxious
.

“ ”
on o u r side on account of the diplomatic i m p or t
ance of the aff ai r All at once the patient fell on his
.

knees with a n exclamation of j oy He h ad received

.

the first faint impression of light All the people i n

.

the garden hailed the doctor with a shout , which was

echoed by those standing without The soldiers made
.

everyone but the patient leave the palace at once , a n d

88 F EZ .

in the course of a few hours news o f the wonderful

event had flown all over Fez Fortunate doctor !
.

he began that very evening to reap the rewards of

his skill , being sent for to visit the most b eautiful
women in the harem of the Grand Sherif Bakali .

They received him unveiled , i n all the pomp of their

splendid attire , and talked languidly about their
various ailments , regarding him ful l in the face with
flashing eyes .

E very now and then Si gnor Patx ot receives a visit

from some Spanish renegade They say that there are
.

as many as three hundred of these miserable creatures

in the E mpire M os t of them are Spaniards con
.

v i c t e d o f some ordi n ary crime , who have made their

escape from the gall eys on the coast The rest are
.

either French deserters from Al geria, or adventurers

of a lo w class , d r ifted hither from all parts of E urope
.

I n former times they frequently attained to high posi

tions about the court , and i n the army formed sp ecial
military corps , and were very well paid, but n ow
their condi tion is quite diff erent On their arrival
.

they at once abjure Christianity and embrace Islam

i sm , without , however, undergoing circumcision or
any other rite , simply prono uncing the words of a
certain formula After that n o on e cares whether or
.

no they observe th e duties of th eir new reli gion .

Most of them , in fact , never s o much as put foot i n

side a mosque , and do not even k n ow the prayers .
 F EZ . 89

In order to attach them to the country th e S ultan r e

quires them to marry at once , and to anyone who
may so desire he w i ll give on e of his negresses ; the
others may marry free Moorish or Arab women In .

all cases the Sultan defrays the expenses o f the wed

ding All renegades must enroll themselves in the

.

army , but they can at th e same time practice a trade ,

if they have on e Most o f them are in the artill ery ,
.

’
and a few are members of the S ul tan s band the ,

leader of which is a Spaniard The common soldiers

.

receive five cents a day and the o fficers twenty -fi ve

Or thirty , but if anyone happens to be clever in cer
tai n directions he can make as much as two francs .

Just n ow, for in stance , there is a goo d deal of talk

about a certain renegade German , who is gifted with
an especial talent , and b y means of it has won an
enviable position for himself He fled from Al ger i a
.

i n seventy three
- —
no on e knows j ust why went to
—

Tafilalt, on the borders of th e desert , and after stay

ing there two years and learning Arabic he came to
Fez , enrolled , and i n the course of a few days , with
the aid of such tools as he happened to have with
him , manufactured a revolver The event made
.

quite a stir the weapon was passed from one to an

other, until it c ame i nto the hands of the Minister of
War, who spoke to th e E mperor about i t ; the latter
forthwith sent for the man , talked to him en cour ag
i n gly , gave him ten francs and raised his pay to two
francs a day But cases of good fortune such as
.
90 F EZ .

this are rare , and most of these people l ive in such a

state of wretchedness that even though they are
known to have committed grave crimes , they i nspire
o n e with a feeling more of pity than of horror . Yes
’
t er day two renegades of some y ears standi ng, both

married and with children born in Fez , presented

themselves at the palace One was about thirty and
.

the other fifty years o f age , and both were Spaniards

who had fled from Ceuta The younger one di d not
.

speak ; the other said he had been condemned to

penal servitude for having killed a man who was in
the act of beating his son to death He was pale , and
.

spoke e x citedly rubbin g h i s handkerchief all the

,

time between his trembling hands .

“
If they would promise to keep me in the galley
”
only ten years longer I would go back , he said I .
“

am fifty n e w and wo ul d get out at sixty , and st il l have

a few years left to live in my own country B ut it.

is the idea of dying in the uniform of a galley slave -

that scares me I woul d return to th e galley at any

.

cost if I could only be sure of dying in Spain a free

man The life we lead here is not life at all ; it is
.

j ust like being in the mid dl e o f a desert , and it is so

discouraging E veryone looks down on us E ven
. .

our own fam ilies do not really belong to u s Our .

s e ns, instead of loving us , are incited by everyone

around the m to hate us ; and then we can never for
get the religion we were brought up in , the church
where our mothers took us to say our prayers, the ir
 FE Z . 91

te achings , th e happ i est periods of our lives ,

and these memories Oh , yes , I know we are
renegades , gall ey slaves , but after all we are men
-

”
too , and these memories t ear our hearts, and as he
spoke his eyes fil led wi th tears .

The rain which has been com ing down steadily and
without intermission for the past three days has r e
du c e d Fez to such a condi tion that were I to describe
it full y no on e would believe me It i s no longer a
.

city , but an enormous sewer The street s are con

.

d uits , the crossings , lakes ; th e s quares , morasses ;

foot passengers sink half way up their S hins in mire ,
- -

and the houses are splashed with it above the tops

o f the doors ; men , horses , mul es , all seem to be cased

in mud, and the dogs are so thickly coated that not a

hair is visible Very few people are to be seen
.

abroad , most of them ridi ng, and none of them

carrying umbrellas , not wi thstand i ng which no on e
dreams of h ur r i n g to get out of the rain E xcept in
.

the ne i ghborhood of the bazaars the city is a gloomy

waste , most depressing : water everywhere , r unning ,

flow ing, gurgling , gathering up all manner of foul

things , and not a so und , n ot a human voice to break
the monotony of that dreary do wnpour It looks like
.

a place abandoned by all its inhabitant s at the mo

ment of an i nundation After w al king about for
.

some time I came back to the p al ace at last , plunged

in melancholy , and spent several ho urs in my room ,
92 FEZ .

with my face pressed against the window grating -

and my ey es fixed upon the dripping trees i n the

garden , thinking of a ce r tain poor courier who at
that very moment , perhaps , was swimming the swollen
Seb u , at the risk of his life , holding between his teeth
a leather purse , containing a letter from my mother .

Some p eople declare and others deny that a capital

punishment has taken place within the last day or
two i n front of on e of the gates of Fez , but as no
heads have been seen hanging from the walls I prefer
to beli eve that the news is false A description I read
.

o f an execution that took place some years a o at

g
Tangier h as quite cured me of any b arbarous wish I
may once have entertain ed to be present on such an
occasion . The E ngli shman , D rummond Hay , on
issuing one day from on e of the gates of Tangier,
saw a b and of sol di ers dragging two prisoners , bound
around the arms and waist , towards the Jewish
slaughter house One was a mountaineer of the Rif,
- .

a gardener , formerly i n the employ of a E uropean

resident of Tangier ; the other was a good looking
-

young man , tall , and with a pleasing , open c oun te

nance The E nglishman asked the soldier in com
.

mand of the party what crime these two unfortunates

had been guilty of .

” “
“
The Sultan, was the reply , may God prolong
his days , has commanded that their heads be cut off
for carryin g on a contraband trade with the treacher
”
ous Spaniards off the coast of Rif .
 F EZ .
93

“
Th e punishment is very severe , consider ing the
”
nature of the o ff ence , observed the E nglishman ;
“
and why , if it is intended to serve as an example
and warning to others , are th e inhabitants of Tangier
”
(A ll
“
prevented from being present i the city gates
were closed , and D rummond Hay had only gotten
out by paying the gate keeper a fee )
- .

”
D o not argue with the Nazarene , said the man
“ ”
I have my orders , and must obey them .

The beheadi ng was to take place in the Jewish

shambles A low , depraved looking Moor , dressed
.
-

like a butcher , stood awaiting the prisoners , holding

in on e hand a small knife , about si x inches long This .

was the executio n er A stranger in the city , he had

.

o ffered his services , a s the Mohammedan b utch ers of

Tangier, who are usually charged with th i s sort of
business , had all taken refuge I n on e of the mosques .

An altercation n ow arose between the soldiers and

this man as to t h e amoun t the latter was to receive for
beheading th e two poor wretches , who were obliged
to stand by and listen to a dispute as to the price of
their blood The execut i oner insisted that he had
.

been promised twenty fr ancs for one head and that

he must have four mo re for the other The o fficer .

finally yieldi ng an unwilling assent , the butcher pro

c e e de d to lay hold of the first victim who was already
,

h al f dead from t error Throwing him on the ground,

-
.

he knelt on his chest and applied the knife to his

ne ck At this point D rum mond Hay turned away
.
94 F EZ .

his head, but a violent struggle seemed to follow The .

execut i oner cried out , Give me another knife , mine

“

”
will not cut ! the condemned man lying meanwhil e
stretched on the ground , his throat half cut , his breast
-

heaving and all his limbs contracted Another knife

.

was produced , and the head finally severed from the

body .

“
The sol di ers c al led out feebly God preserve the
”
life of our lord and master ! but some of them even
appeared to be s tu p e fi e d with horror It was now
.

the turn of the attractive , good lookin g youn g man to

-
'

come forward , but another dispute arose , the o fficer

going back on his promise and declaring that he was
only going to pay twenty francs for the two heads .

The executioner at last gave in , and the prisoner

asked if his hands might be untied This being done
.
,

he took off his cloak and handed it to the soldier

who had cut the cords, saying, Accept this , we w ill
“

meet again i n a better world ; then tossing his turban

”

to another , who had regarded him pi tyi n gly, h e walked

with a firm step to the spot wh ere the bleeding corpse
of his former companion lay extended After pro .

“
n oun ci n
g the words There is but on e God , Mohammed

”
is his Prophet , in a clear, steady voice , he turned to
the executioner, and taking o ff his belt handed it to
him , say ing, Take this , but for the love of God cut
“

”
my head off quicker than you did that of my brother,
and then laid himself down on the blood stained earth
- .

The executioner placed on e knee on his breast .

 F EZ . 95

“ ”
Stop cried the E nglishman A reprieve ! A
.

horseman was seen approaching at full speed The .

executioner held his knife poised in the air .

’
“
It is only the Governor s son com ing to s e e the
” “
execution , said one of the soldiers Wait until he
.

gets here. And s o it was and a few minutes later

,

the two heads were swinging from the hand of on e

of the men .

The gates were n ew opened, and a rabble of b oys

poured out and began stoning the executioner , chas
i n g him three miles ou t from the city , where he
fin ally fell , covered with wounds The following day
.

it was learned that he had been shot by a relative of

on e o f the deceased men , and b uried on the spot

where he fell Apparently the Tangier authorities

.

thought it wiser to take no notice of this incident , as

the murderer returned to the city and was not
molested in any way After being placed on e xh ib i
.

tion for three days the heads were forwarded to the

Sul tan , so that His Imperial Maj esty might se e with
what soli citude his orders had been carried ou t Th e .

soldi ers to whom they were entrusted met a courier

on the road , bringing a pardo n He had been de
.

layed by an unexpected flood in one of the rivers !

I frequently encounter merchants in Fez who have

been to Italy From forty to fifty of them go y early
.
,

and some of these have Moorish agents in o u r princi

pal cities They usual ly visit the north o f It al y ,
.
96 F EZ .

where they purchase raw silk , damask , coral velvet , ,

thread , porcelain , pearls , Venetian glass , Genoese

playing card s, and muslin from Leghorn Properly
-
.

speaking, they bring from their own country little b e

side wool and wax , as commerce in Morocco is much
restricted stuffs arms hides and pottery being
—
, ,

about the only products that attract the attention of

a E uropean The stuffs are manufactured principall y
.

’
in Fez and Morocco , and consist of women s hai ks,
’
men s turbans , scarfs , f ou la r ds, fine silk gauzes , mixed
with gold and sil ver , usually in stripes and cross bars ,
-

either white or of delicate colors beautifull y har

m on i z ed, charming to look at , but on closer examina
tion proving to be full of gum and of very poor
quality for wear The small cap s , on th e contrary ,
.

that take their name from the city of Fez are not
only made of fine cloth , but are extremely durable ;
while the r ugs m an u fa c tur c d at Rab a t , Casa Blanca,
.

Morocco , Sh adm a , and Sou e i r are admirable , both as

regards endurance and the beautiful richness of their
coloring At Tetuan are made most of those em
.

bossed guns , inlaid with precious stones so light and

,

beautiful in shape , while from the cities of M e qui n e z

and Fez , and the province of Sus , com e the lighter
weapons , the daggers being especially noticeable for
their graceful workmanship Hides , the principal
.

source of revenue to the country , are excellently

cured , and the red leather of Fez , yellow of Morocco ,
and green of Ta filalt st ill maintain their ancient repu
 FE Z. 97

tati e n They pride themselves , partic ularly at Fez ,

.

upon their pottery , but one seldom finds th e noble

out lin es of the ancient forms reproduced ; i ts princi
pal attract i on lies in the brilli ant coloring , and a cer
tain barbarous orig i nality of design , more striking
than pleasing There are , too , i n Fez a great many
.

j ewe llers a n d goldsmiths , who make a number of

simple articles not unpleasing in themselves , but very
li mited both in variety and number, as the M al eki te
law denounces the pomp of costly ornaments as b e
ing contrary to the spirit of Mohammedan austerity .

More worthy of n ote th an the j ewelry is the fur n i

ture made in Tetuan : sets of shelves and racks for
clothing, little many cornered tables for holding the
-

tea service , arched, arabesqued, painted a thousand

-

di ff erent colors copper trays engraved with intricate

designs , and ornamented with green , red and blue,

enamelling ; and , above all , those mosaics for floors

and walls made wi th such exquisite taste by the
cleverest of workmen , who cut on e by on e , with
,

strokes of a small hatchet , innumerable stars and

squares with unerring exactitude These people are
undoubte dly endowed with marvellous aptitude , and
their industries woul d receive a wonderful stimulus
and their agriculture , once so flourishing, as well
i f trade could only put a little life i nto them ; but
trade is shackled by prohibitions , restrictions , m on op
elies , excessive tariffs , incessant modi fications and
violations of the treaties and although the various
,

V OL I I
. .
—
7
98 FE Z .

E uropean states have undoubtedly accomplished

something i n the past few years , it does not amount
to much when compared with what might s o easily
be done , thanks to th e marvellous natural riches
and the ge dgr aph i c al position of the country , under
a civilized Government The largest E uropean trade
.

is with E ngland ; n ext come France and Spain , which ,

in exchange for wool , hides , fruit , leeches , gum , wax ,
and many of the products of Central Africa, furnish
cereals , metals , sugar , tea, co ffee , raw S ilk woollen
,

stuffs , and cotton The commerce which is carried

.

on between Fez , Taza , and Ji di er (and this is not

important , though fall ing far short of what it shoul d

be when the close vicinity of Morocco and Al geria is
considered ) includes , beside carpets , stuffs , belts ,
braids , and all the di ff erent articles of Arab and
Moorish wearing apparel , gold and silver bracelets
and rings for the ankles , Fe z j ugs , mosaics , per
fumes , incense , antimony for the eyes , henn é for the
nails , and all the other tints that con tribute to the get
u of the African fair sex More important still as
p .
,

well as more systematic and of longer standi ng, is the

commerce with the interior of Africa E very year a
.

great caravan sets ou t laden with stuffs from Fez

E nglish cloth , Venetian glass , Italian coral , powder,
arms , tobacco , sugar German mirrors , D utch f e a th
,

ers , Tyrolese boxes , E nglish and French hard ware ,

and salt taken fro m the c as e s of Sahara The cara

.

v an is like a moving fair , and all this merchandise is

 FE Z . 99

exchanged for black slaves , gold dust , ostrich plumes

- -
,

white Senegal gum , gold j ewelry from Ni gr i z i a des

tined for the E ast and E urop e , black stu ff s which
Moorish women wear on their heads , bee oar o to ward
o ff poison and sickness fro m the Arabs , and a num

ber of drugs long since abandoned i n E urope , which ,

however , preserve their ancient prestige i n Africa .

And thus it is its position forming, as it does , the

—

principal gateway to Ni gr i z i a that gives Morocco

—

its chief importance in the eyes of E urope Here .

the trade of E urop e and of Central Africa can meet ,

and before long civilization and barbarism will con
tend for possession of the soil .

The ambassador holds frequent interviews with

Sid M u sa, his obj ect being to obtain certain conces
sions from the Government o f the Sherifs tending to
faci litate trade conditions between Italy and Morocco ;
further I am not at liberty to speak These inter .

views last over two hours , but th e conversation bears

for very little of that time on the topics supposed to
be under discussion as th e minister, following a r ul e
,

which seems to be traditional in the policy of the

Mor occ oan Government , wi ll not touch upon the matter
in hand until , having exhausted all manner of ex
tr an eou s subj ects , he is actually forced to “
First
.

i
let us talk a little wh le about something amusing, ”

he will say in a tone almost of supplication The .

weather , health the Fez water, the properties of cer

,
1 00 FE Z.

tain fabrics , a historical anecdote , various prov erbs,

the population of some of the E uropean countries ,
“
anything , in fact , in preference to business . What
”
do y ou think of Fez l he asked one day , and on r e
‘

c e i vi n
g the reply that it was beautiful ,
“
It has st ill
” “ ”
another merit , said he ; cleanliness . Another day
he asked the ambassador to tell him the population of
Morocco But sooner or later he has to come to busi
.

n ess , and then foll ow long strings of words , hesita

tions , reservations , broken phrases , a thousand doubts
put forward regardi ng matters to which in h i s heart
he has already agreed ; refusals under the guise of
consent , and a marvellous capacity for slipping out of
’
the ambassador s grasp j ust as the knot is about to be
tied ; and then the never fail in g expedi ent , wait
- “

t ill to morrow , and when the morro w comes a r e

- ”

capitulation of all that has been said on the preced

ing day , fresh doubts, restrictions, mistakes di scov
ered , regrets at having been misun derstood and at
not having made himself more clear, and much per
spiring on the part of th e unfortunat e i nterpreter
charged with the task of making everything plain .

Then all must wait unt il the ret urn of the couriers
sent to obtain certain information at Tangier and
Ta filalt, information o f the most trifling importance
in itself, but valuable as serving as an excuse for
postponing a decision for ten days longer . And
finally , three great obstacles to everything : the fa
n ati ci sm of the p eople , the obstina cy of the ulemas ,
 FEZ .
1 01

and the necess i ty for proceedi ng with th e utmost

caution , without noise , without attractin g attent i on ,
s o slowly i n fact as to seem to be stand i ng st ill , or ,
, ,

if possible , going backwards .Subj ected to such

ordeals as these , Job himself might we ll lose patience
sometimes ; but the c onferences always end in warm
hand pressures , sweet sm il es, expressions of a sym
-

pathy and affection that are well ni gh i rresistible , and

-

which seem destined to end only with life itself The.

most di fficult matter of all is that of the fat Moor

Shell al , and they say that the success of his whole life
hangs in the balance ; con sequently he haunts the
palace at all hours , enveloped in his ample ha i k, un
easy , thoughtful , sometimes actually with tears i n his
eyes , and keeping his supplicating gaz e constantly
fixed upon th e ambassador , as though h e w ere a con
dem n e d man hoping for pardon Mohammed D ucali ,
.

on the other hand, has th e wind i n his sai ls , and is

all gayety in consequence smokes perfum es himself
; , ,

c hanges his caftan every day , and bestows compli

ments , soft words and sm iles in all di rections Ah ,
.

were he not in ou r party as an Italian c itizen how

quickly woul d th e se sm iles be exchanged for tears
of blood !

We are putting all that was told us at Tangier

concerning the e ffect of the Fez air to the proof in
these days and wh ether it really is the air, or the
,

water or the v illanous oil, or the infamous butter,

,
1 02 FE Z .

o r a llof these things combined , it is an actual fact

that we none of us feel well We are languid, have
.

lost our appetites , su ffer from extreme prostration ,

ou r heads are heavy , and , what is still more serious ,

we have contracted a habit of hurryi ng across the

court without looki ng around us , as though we were
being followed Strange delusion ! And added to
.

all this we are bored , utterly weary a sort of gloom

has settled down upon us that in the course of a few
days has changed the face of everything E veryone
.

is n e w impatient to be off We have reached that

.

inevitable point in all journeys when all at once curi

o si t
y is satisfied and everything becomes colorless.

Memories of home crowd close one upon the other , and

all those longings that are s o easily kept in check at
first n e w rise up tumul tuously , while in whatever dirce
tion we may turn , th e eye sees nothing but the road
leading home We are tired of mosques , of turbans ,
.

of black faces tired of having a thousand eyes al ways

following us ; tired of this great white masquerad e ,

which we have been watch ing for two months What .

would we not give to catch sight of an E uropean

lady passing by , even at a distance ! To hear the
ringing of a bell ! To see on some wall the play b ill -

of a puppet show ! Oh , cherished memories !

-

I have discovered that on eof th e soldiers of the

palace guard has lost his right ear, and they tell me
-

that it was cut off legally , and I II the presence of wit

 FE Z
. 1 03

nesses , by another soldier whom he had deprived of

the corresponding c ar some time before Such is the
.

law of retaliation as it is interpreted i n Morocco .

Not only may any of the relatives of a murdered ‘

man kill the murderer on the same day of the week ,

at the same hour , on the spot where the crime was
committed and with the same weapon , but whoever
,

loses on e of his members by violence can inflict a

sim il ar injury upon h i m wh o did the deed I n this
.

connection I was told by an attach é of the French

legation at Mogador of a very curious incident that
occurred at that place some years ago, on e of the
persons concerned being personally known to him .

An E nglish merchant of Mogador was returning to

the city on the evening of a market day , and ar
r 1 v e d at the gate j ust when a crowd of peasants were

pouring through , leading their asses and camels .

”
Al though he shouted B a l ah B a t a h I (Make room !
“

Make room ! ) until he was tired , an old Moorish

wom an was thrown down by his horse , striking her
face against a ston e As ill luck would have it she
.
-

knocked out the last two remaining teeth in her

underjaw For a moment S he seemed dazed, but
.

recovered herself quickly and rose to her feet in a

furious rage Bursting into a torrent of abuse and
.

curses , sh e followed the E nglishman to his house , and

then went off in search of the Kai d to demand, in
accordance with the l a w of retaliation that the Naza
,
’
rene s two corresponding teeth should be knocked out .
1 04 FE Z
.

The Kai d endeavored to pacify her and advised for

i v e n e s s but finding that h e coul d do nothing h e
g ,

finally dismissed her, promising to see that justice

wa s done , hopi n g that little by little she would cal m
down and abandon her proj ect But at the end of
.

three days back sh e came , angrier than ever, to de

mand her rights , and insisting that a formal sentence
shoul d be pronounced then and there upon the Chris
“ ” “ ”
tian . Remember said sh e , you have promised
,
.

“ ” “
E h ! cried the Kai d, you must take me for a
Christian too , if you suppose that I am the slave of my
word For three months did that old woman con
ti n u e to present herself daily at the entrance to the

Citadel , crying ou t threatening , and making such a

,

noise generally that the Kai d at last , to get rid of her ,

was forced to give in Sending for the merchant , h e
.

’
s e t the matter before him the old woman s grievance
, ,

her rights under the law, and the duty required of

h i m by his promise , ending by beggin g him to put a
stop to the aff air by consenting to have two of his
teeth drawn , any two , it made no di fference which so
long as, in accordance with th e law , they were i n
eis e rs But the merchant decli ned not only as r e
.
,

garded his incisors , but his ey e teeth and his molars

-

as well , and there was nothing for the K aI d to do but

''

send the old woman of and tell the guards not to

“
allow her to set foot in the Kasbah again Very
.

well , said sh e ; S ince there are only degenerate

” ‘

Mussulmans left here and Mussulman women , the

,
 FE Z
.
1 05

mothers of th e Sherifs , can no longer get j ustice done

them against dogs of i n fidels , I shall go to th e Sul
tan , and we will soon s e e if the Prince of the Faith
”
ful abjures th e law of the Prophet as well . True to
h e r word sh e se t forth on her j ourney , entirely alone ,
with an amulet in her breast , a staff in her hand, and
a knapsack strapped across her shoulders , and s uc
c e e de d in w al king the entire hundred leagues which

divide Mogador from the sacred city of the E mpire .

On reach i ng Fez sh e demanded an intervie w with the

Sultan , and proceeded to state her case , demanding,
in accordance with her rights as laid down in the
Koran , an application of the law of retaliation The.

Sultan exhorted her to s h ow forgiveness , but she per

sisted He then explained to her th e grave di ffi c ul
.

ties that stood in th e way of satisfy ing her demands ,

how the E nglish consul would never give his consent ,
and the Government would consequentl y find itself
involved in a serious lawsuit ; how impossible it was
for so trifling a cause to j eopardize th e peace of the
entire E mpire and disturb the good understan di ng
which then ex i sted between th e Government of the
Sherifs and powerful E ngland The old Moor r e
.

mained inexorable She was now offered , on condition

.

that sh e would abandon th e matter , a sum of money

large enough to support her in comfort for the rest of
her life She refused
. . What do I want w ith your
“ ”
money i said sh e . I am old an d accustomed to
poverty What I want i s two of that Christian s
.
’
1 06 FE Z
.

teeth I want them , I have a right to them , and I

.

demand them in the name of the Koran ; and the

S ultan , Prince of the Faithful , head of Islamism ,

father of his people , cannot refuse to render j ustice

”
to a Mussulman woman This obstinacy placed the
.

Sultan in a very awkward position The law was .

precise , and her rights under it incontestable , while

the popular excitement had been wrought to such a
pitch by her inflammatory speeches that it wo uld be
dangerous to refuse her demands The S ultan i t .
—

was Abd er Rh am an wrote to the E nglish cons ul ,

- - —

asking him as a favor to try to persuade his fe llow

countryman to allow two of his teeth to be knocked out,
to which the merchant replied that he would never
agree Then the Sultan wrote again , promisin g to
.

concede any mercantile privilege that he might wish

in return for his consent ; and this time , having been
approached through his pocket , the merchant gave in .

The old woman left Fez blessi ng the n ame of the

pious Abd e r Rh am an and returned to Mogador,
- -

where , in the presence of herself and a large gather

’
i n g of witnesses , two of the Nazarene s teeth were
knocked ou t When sh e saw them fall to the ground
.

sh e gave a howl o f triumph and seized them with

savage j oy The merchant , however , thanks to the

.

special privileges he enj oyed, made a large fortun e in

less than two years and returned to E ngland , tooth
less but happy .

The more closely I study the Moors the more I

 FE Z
. 1 07

incline to believe that th e judgment passed upon them

by other travell ers is not so far wrong as I at first
supposed They a gree in pronouncing them to be
.

vipers and wolves , false , cowardly ; servile in their

deal ings with the strong, and overbearing with the
weak ; devour ed by avari ce , egotistical , and a prey
to the basest passions kno wn to the human heart .

How , indeed , can it be otherwise ? Th e nature of

the Government and the state of society forbid the
exercise of a single manly ambition They trade and
.

beg, but know nothing of real work of the kind that

brings fatigue to the body and p eace to the mind .

They are debarred from every sort of intellectual e n

j oy m en t, paying no attention even to the education
of th eir own children . They have absolutely no
noble aims , and give themselves up , in consequence ,

with their whole souls and throughout their entire

lives to money making, spending what time remains
-

in a drowsy , deb ilitating idleness , and a gross i n dul

gence of the passions m os t brutalizing in its e ffects .

This effeminate life naturally tends to render them

vain , fond of gossip , small , and malicious They
.

slander on e another in the most spiteful manner ; lie

habitually and with incredible e ff rontery ; affect to
have the most religiou s and charitable dispositions in
the world , being all the time p erfectly ready to sac
r i fi ce a friend for a scudo ; despise knowledge and
believe in all manner of v ulgar superstitions ; bathe
daily and permit fil th to accumulate i n heaps in the
1 08 F EZ .

cor n e r s oftheir houses ; and , added to all this , hav e

the arrogance of th e E vil on e , ve i led , when occasion
demands , beneath a humble , dignified manner that
gives an impression of great kindli ness It was this .

manner that misled me at first , but I am now quite

sure that the very least among them is ful ly per
su a de d i n the bottom of his heart that he is worth all

of us put together The nomad Arabs preserve at least

.

the austere simplicity of their ancient customs, and

the w ild Berbers are endowed with a warlike spirit ,
courage , and the love of freedom ; but the others only
add to barbarism corruption and pride , and form the
most influential portion of the population of th e E m
pire From their ranks are recruited the merchants ,
.

ulemas , th olb as, Kai ds , and Pashas They own the

.

richest p alaces , the largest harems , the most beauti

ful women , the hidden treasures , and can b e recog
n i z e d at once by their obesity light complexions ,
,

crafty ey es , large turbans , di gnified bearing, lassi

tude , perfumery , and conceit .

Shellal , the Moor, i nvited us to drink tea at h i s

house We entered by a narrow passage way into a
.
-

dark but very beautiful little court yard ; beautiful ,

-

indeed , but as dirty as the di rtiest house in the Al

cazar Ghetto E xcept the mosaics on the walls and
.

pavement everything was black , encrusted , greasy ,

disgusting There were two dark little rooms on the
.

ground fl oor , a gallery ran around the second story,

- -
 FE Z .
1 09

and above the wall s rose the parapet of the terrace .

The fat Moor placed u s in front of his bedroom door,

gave us tea and sweetmeats , b urned aloes , sprinkled
us with rose water and presented to us two charming
-

little so n s, who approached white with terror and ,

trembled like leaves beneath our caresses On t he .

opposite side of the court was a young black girl ,

about fifteen years old , wearing only a tun i c , open on
o n e side in such a manner as to di splay the leg b a r e

from the hip to the foot and fastened about the waist
,

s o that the entire outline of the body could be dis

ti n c tly traced—
verily , the most graceful , elegant ,
seductive figure of a woman , I affirm it on the —

authority of Signor U ssi , that we have seen in Mo

—

rocco up to the moment in which I write She was .

a slave , and st ood leaning against a pilaster, her

arms folded across her bosom , regar di ng us with an
air of the most supreme indi ff erence Soon after an .

other negress cam e out of a small doorway She was .

a woman of about thirty , tall , somewhat severe of

aspect , robust , and as straight as the trun k of an aloe
tree Apparently the n ew comer was a favorite of
.
-

the master of the house , for she approached him

fam il iarly , whispered some words i n his ear , p ul led a
bit o f straw out of his moustache , and placed her hand
on his mouth with a gesture half careless half caress
- -
,

ing, at which the Moor sm iled Raising our eyes , we

.

perceived that the gallery of the second fl oor and the -

parapet of the t errace were li ned with fe male heads ,

110 FE Z .

which promptly disappeared as we looked It seemed .

impossible that all these women could belong to the

house No doubt the arriv al of the Christians had
.

been announced to all th e neighbors who had forth

,

with climbed up or j umped down from their respective

terrace s to that of the house of Shellal While we
.

were looking three passed close by us , like so many

S pectres , their faces entirely covered, and disapp eared
through a small doorway They were three friends
.

who , having been unable to reach this terrace from the i r

own , had been forced to resi gn themselves to comi ng
in by the door we presently saw their heads appear
ing above the railing of the gallery .The whole
house , in short , was turned into a theatre we being ,

the entertainment . The spectators all ve iled

—

laughed , chattered in un dertones , p eeped and jumped

back so suddenly that they seemed to be running
away I n answer to every movement on our part
.

there came a murmur from above ; every time one

of us raised his head there was a tremendous commo

tion in the dress circle It was plain that they were

.

enj oying themselve s collecting material for a month s ’

conversation , and could not con tain the i r delight at

finding themselves so unexpectedly confronted by a
spectacle as stran ge as it was rare And we , nothing
.

if not amiable , allo wed them to enj oy the S how for

nearly an hour, in S ilence though , and very much
bored , that being the e ffect produced after a little
wh ile by all Moorish houses , no matter how courteous
 F EZ .
1 11

may be the hospit al ity tendered within them The .

reason is that , after having d uly admired the beautiful

mosaics , the beautiful Slaves and the beautiful chil
dren , on e turns instinctively to look for her who
should be the incarnation of domestic life , the charm ,
the badge of honor of the house , setting her seal upon
the hospitality , giving its tone to the conversation and
breathing into the soul the vital spark of the lares ,
for her in short , who S hould be the pearl of th is
,

shell , and seeing only women on whom the master

bestows caresses but not his heart , and sons of un
known mothers , and the whole house centered in one
single in dividual , the hospit ality seems but a cold
formality , and the host , losing all the attractive
qualities of a friend who seeks to do y ou honor, ap
pears only i n the light of a sensual and o di ous egoist .

There can be no doubt that if these people do not

actually hate us they at least do not like us , nor are
they without their reasons , both good and bad .

Among the descendants of the Spanish Moors , many

of whom still have in their possession the keys o f

Andal usian cities and the title deeds of ho uses and

-

e states in Seville and Granada, the hatred for the

Spaniards , by whom their ancestors were despoiled ,
overpowered and banished , is particul arly bitter The .

others hate all Christians i n a general way , this feel

ing being instilled into them from earliest childhood ,
in both school and mosque , with a view to rendering
them averse to all i ntercourse w ith c i v ili z ed peoples
112 FE Z .

intercourse which , by diminishing superstition and

ignorance , threatens to lay bare the foundations , both
religious and polit i cal , of the E mpire There is,
.

moreover, another cause , the vague consciousness ,

that li es deep in their souls that the countries of
E urop e represent a spreading , increasing , threatening
force which sooner or later is bound to crush them .

They can hear France murmuring on their eastern

borders , se e the Spanish fort ifications from the sh or e
of the Mediterranean Tangier has been already
.

captured by an advance guard of Christians ; the

cities o f the west , mounted guard over by E uropean
merchants , are drawn l ik e a chain of scouts along the
whole of the Atlantic coast ; ambassadors overrun
the entire country seemingly only to bring the Sul
tan gifts , b ut really , think they , to spy and examine
and smell out , and corrupt and prepare the way .

They are , in short , in constant expectation of an i n

v asi on , and believe that it is to be accompanied by

all the horrors that revenge and hatred can invent ,

persuaded as they are that Christians entertain to

wards Mussulmans precisely the same sentiments that
they entertain towards us How is it possible for
.

th I s aversion to give place to more kindly feelings ,

seeing us , as they do , squeezed into our immodest gar

ments , which outline the entire figure , clad in sinister
colors , laden down with memorandum books , fi eld
-

glasses , all manner o f mysterious instruments , thrust

ing ourselves in everywhere , making notes , m easur
 F EZ .
113

want ing to know everyth i ng ? We who laugh

'

i n g,
all the time and never pray , restless , chatter ing,
drinking, smoking , filled with pretens i on and niggard
li n e ss, possessing but on e wife apie c e and not a sin
gle servant of our own nat i onality And s o they
.

naturally form gloomy ideas of E urop e , th i nk ing of

it as an i mmense gathering of turbulent people , where
life is feverish , made up of restless ambitions , un
bridled vice , tumults , j ourn eys , reckless enterprises ,
noise , bustle , the confusion of B ab el a cond it i on
—

most d i sp l e as in g to God .

Great exc i te m ent in the p alac e to day owi ng to

-

the first and only enterprise of a romanti c nature at

tempted by any of the Christians in th e p ersonal ser
vice of the embassy This worthy youth , who it
.

seems had begun to weary somewhat of th e d iplomatic

austerity of the li fe he had been leading for the past
forty days , having caught sight , no one knows how ,
of a lovely Moor pacing back and forth in her garden ,
fancied (we all have our weaknesses ) that she would
be un able to resist the fascinations of his handsome
person , and wi thout g i v ing a thought to the risk he
was running contrived by m eans of a hole in the
,

wall to make his way into the forb idden enclosure .

Wh ether on coming u p w i th the nymph h e would

have made a declaration of love or wo uld have
omitted all su c h preliminaries , and whether the
ny mph on her part would have lent a favorable ear
V OL I I
. .
—
8
1 14 FE Z .

wo ul d have fl e d, screamin g, no on e can possibly

'

or

tell , since everything in this country is u ncertain ;

but what we do know is that there suddenly app eared
from behind a bush four Moors armed with daggers ,
two of whom seized him on on e side and two on the
other , and th e unfortunate lover would either have
never left the garden at all , or wo uld have done so
with several eyelets in his person , had not the Kai d ,
Hamed Ben Kasen Buh am ei , unexpectedly presented
- -

himself, and restraining the four Cerberuses with a

gesture of command , given the trespasser a chance
to carry his skin back to the palace intact News .

of the occurrence spread , and there was a great to

do . The cul prit was severely reprimanded in the
presence of all , and the commander, who has a l i vely
wit , added a short address, which produced a pr o
found impression I t was to the e ffect that other
.

people s wives , especi al ly when they happen to belong

’

to Mussulmans , are to be left severely alone ; that

when one becomes a member of a E uropean embassy
in Morocco he must no longer consider himself a
man ; that in Mohammedan countries these affairs
with women develop very eas il y i nto international
difficul ties , and it wo ul d be a pretty responsibility for
a worthy young fellow like himself, simply from hav
ing failed to resist an inclination o f the heart , to i n
volve his country in a war, the consequences of which
no on e could possibly predict By this time the un
.

happy youth , wh o already saw the Italian fleet , with

 F EZ .
ll5

a hundred thousand sol di ers on board, weighing

anchor off the coast of Morocco solely on hi s account ,
had become s o cast down at the di re nature of his
o ffence that it appeared to b e unne c essary to i n fl ict
further punishment upon h i m .

I wo ul d very much like to know just what idea

these people have of their own m ilitary strength and
of the i r p ersonal bravery as compared with the
strength and bravery of E uropeans I am afraid to
.

question them di rectly on this subj ect , because they

are extremely suspicious , and would probably think
that I was either ironical or boastful I have , how
.

ever, m anaged by dint of careful handling to find out

something without betraying my obj ect Of our .

superior military strength I sho uld say they were

perfectly conscious . Whatever doubts they may
have entertained on that head thirty years age, when
as yet they had never had any really serious quarrel
th E urope , were se t at rest at once and forever by

the French and Spanish wars , and especially by the

famous b attles of Isly and T etuan : B ut as far as
courage goes I th i nk that they consider themselves
far superior to E uropeans The v ic tories of the lat
.

ter they attribute to their ordnance , di scipline , and

tr icks (strategy and tactics they call tricks ), and not
to courage , and v i ctories achieved by these means
are not , it would seem , in their estimation , bravely
won The c o m mon people add to these advantages
.
116 FEZ .

compacts with evil sp i r its , w i thout whose aid neither

g uns n or tricks coul d ava il to put to confusion the
armies of the Mussulmans It is quite certa in th at
.

the quality of courage i s not to be denied either to

the Arabs or the Berbers who between them make
—

up most of the fight i ng for ce of Morocco and by this

—

I do not me an merely that un i versal courageousness

which i n E ur op e is allowed by all to be the common
property of every army ; for even t ak ing into ac
count the nature of the country and th e secret aid
gi ven by E ngland , th e Moorish army , disordered ,
badl y directed, badl y armed, b adly provisioned , could
never have held ou t as it di d for nearly a year, with
a tenac ity little expected i n E urope , agai nst the
Spanish forces , di scip lined, armed and supplied with
every m odern o ffens i ve devi c e , had it not made up
by great personal bravery for the military power that
it l acked One may deny that the term courage can
.

properly b e applied to the fanaticism that causes a

man to hurl himself against ten others in search of a
death that shall op en to him the gates of Paradise ;
the s avage fury th at causes a soldier to dash out his
brains against a stone r ather than allow himsel f to be
taken ali ve ; the unre asoning frenzy of the woun ded
man who tears off the bandages and opens h i s wounds
that he m ay escape imprisonment by death ; the
brut e persistence that causes men to get themselves
killed w ith no obj ect at all ; but we must adm it that
i n all of these i nst an c es there i s the element of c o ur
 FE Z . 117

age , and it is i n di sputable that these p eople gave

many and tremendous lessons to Spain After two .

months of warfare the Spanish army had taken b ut

two prisoners, on e an Arab of the province of Oran ,
and the other a lunatic who had approached too near
to their outposts ; while in the sangu inary battle of
Castillej os but five of the Moorish force , and all five
wounded, fell into the hands of the vi ctors The i r .

tradit i onal man oeuvres are to adv an c e in a body

against the enemy , spread out rap i dly , approach to
within range , discharge their muskets and retire pre
ci p i tat ely to reload . In large engagements they dis
pose themselves i n the shap e of a half moon , the in
-

fan tr y and art ill ery in the centre and the cavalry on
the two wings , their aim be i ng to place the enemy
between two fires The c ommander i n chief gives a
.
- -

general order , but each captain of a di vision advances

or retires as h e thinks the occasion demands , and the

arm y easil y slips out of the hands of i ts chief They .

are indefatigable horsemen , ex c ellent marksmen , tena

cions when behind a defence , b ut eas ily di scom fi t e d
in the open field They can crawl like snakes , climb
.

l ike squirrels , run like wild goats ; th ey fall quickly

from a bold attack i nto a hasty flight , and from a
state of courageous exaltation , which resembles i n
sanity , to one of indescribable panic There are still
.

some Moors in Morocco who were driven crazy by

fright at the battle of Isly , and it is well known that
at the first cannon ade of Marshal Bugeaud S ultan
118 F EZ .

“
Abd -Rh am an cried :
er - My horse ! My h or se and
leaping into the saddl e fled madly away , leaving on
the field his musicians , his fortune tell ers , his hunt
-

ing dogs , the sacred standard , his parasol , and h i s tea,

-

which the French soldi ers foun d still b o iling .

I meet many negroes in the streets of Fez that

so

sometimes I almost think I am in on e of the to wns of

the Soudan , and begin to have a vague impression
that the Sahara desert must lie between me and
E urope As a matter of fact most of them do come
.

from th e Soudan , hardly fewer than three thousand

yearly , many of whom , it is said, die in a short time
of homesickness They are usually carried off at the
.

age of eight or ten Before exposing them for sale

.

the merchants fatten them up wi th ball s of Ku sku ssu,

try to cure them of their homesickness with music,
and teach them a few words of Arabic , all of which
tends to enhance their value This is usually thirty
.

francs for a boy , sixty for a girl , about four hundred

for a young unmarried woman of seventeen or eigh
teen , handsome and able t o tal k , and fifty or sixty
for an old man The E mperor takes five per cent of
. .

all the material i mported, and has the right of first

choice ; the remainder are sold in th e mark ets of
Mogador, Fez , and Morocco , and afterwards auctioned
off in all the other cities , where th e purchasers , tra

dition says , are so modestly considerate as not to r e

quire them to strip themselves in public They
.
 FE Z . 1 19

make no di fficul ty about embrac ing Mohammedanism ,

clinging , however, to many of their singular sup er
s ti ti on s and th e wild festivities of their own country ,

consisting for the most part of grotesque dances , last

ing sometimes for three consecutive day s an d nights ,
accompan ied by di aboli cal music , from which they
only desist from time to time in order to swallow , with
the greed of animals , all sorts of nasty preparations .

For the most part they are employed in private

houses , where they are treated with kindness , large
numbers of them receiving th eir freedom in reward
for the i r services , and all are e ligible to the very
highest o ffices in the state But whatever their posi
.

tion they are n e w feverishly active , now sluggishly

idle , as wanton as apes , as cunning as foxes , as sav
age as tigers , but contented withal , and generally
loyal and grateful towards their masters , which it
appears is not the case where either the bondage is
more severe , as in Cuba, or where the slave enj oys an
excessive amount of freedom , as in E urope The .

Moorish and Arab women avoid them , and it is very

rare for a negro to marry any but a woman of his
own color ; but among the men , on the contrary , e s
e c i all among the Moors negresses are not only
p y ,

eagerly sought after for concubin es , but are as readily

married as white women ; hence the enormous num
ber of mulattoes of every shade that on e sees i n Mo !

rocco Strange vicissitudes ! The poor negro boy

.

who at t en years is sold on the borders of Sahara for

1 20 F EZ .

a bag of sugar or a piece of stuff, may , if he ha ve

'

good luck , thirty years later, as Minister of Morocco ,

discuss the details of a commercial treaty w ith the
E n glish ambassador ; and more likely still the black
girl baby , born in a di rty cabin and exchanged in the
shade of an oasis for a gourd of brandy , may find her
self, h ardly yet grown , covered with j ewels and
anointed with perfumes , clasped in the embrace of a
Sultan
For the past few days , as I wander about the
streets of Fez , a certain image keeps rising up before
me with obstinate persistence It is that of a great
.

American city , where people are gathered together

from all parts of the world ; on e of those cities wh i ch
may almost be said to represent the type upon which
all n ew cities are gradually b eing formed , and whose
’
life it may be is but a sample of what in a century s
tim e all life in cities will be ; a city whose image
cannot come up b efore a E uropean beside that of
Fez without calling forth a pitying smil e , so great is
the distance that separates them along th e li nes of
human progress And yet the longer I dwell in
.

thought upon that other one the more do certain de

pressing doub ts arise I behold those great streets ,
.

straight , i nterminable , in which , as far as the eye can

reach , ri se the gigantic poles of the telegraph w i res .

“
It is the closing hour of stores and factories ; torrents
o f workmen women and children go b y on foot , i n
—

omnibuses and tram cars almost all proceedi ng in

-
,
 FEZ .
1 21

on e direction towards the outlying districts and all

— —

wearing the same m ournful , anxious , weary expres

sion D ense clouds of smoke issu ing from i n n u m er
.

able factory chimneys pour down into the streets ,

throwing their black shadows athwart the splendid
plate glass windows of the shops , the gil ded letters of
-

the si gns , which cover th e b u ildi ngs to the very roof ,

an d the hurrying crowd who , with bowed heads ,

measured tread and swing ing arms , fl ee from the spot

where throughout the day they to il i n the sweat of
their brows From time to time the sun tears asunder
.

that gloomy ve il , which i ndustry has drawn across

the c apital of labor ; but these unexpected, fugi tive
gleams of light instead of enlivening the scene , serve
,

only to accentuate its mou r nfulness Al l the faces

.

wear the same express i on ; every one I s I n haste to

”
get home , s o that he may e c onom i ze to the utmost
“

the few hours of rest that remain after having crowded

to their very full est capacity the long h our s of to il .

E ach on e seems to suspe c t i n his neighb or a possible

rival All wear the stamp of isolation The moral
. .

atmosphere b reathed by these people is that of rivalry ,

not charity Many families live in hotels , a life which
.

condemns the women to idl eness and solitude D ur .

ing the day the husband is away attendi ng to his

business, only comin g home at the di nner hour to -

swallow some food w ith the rapidi ty of a man dy ing

of hunger, and then return to his gall ey B oys are
.

sent to school at the age of five or si x , go ing back

1 22 FE Z .

and forth alone and spending the rest of their time as

they choose in the enj oyment of absolute liberty Of .

paternal authority there is almost none , and the b oy s

receive no training apart from that of the school,
mature rapidly , and prepare themselves almost fro m
infancy for th e life of strenuous to il , struggle , hard
ship , exc i tement , and adventure that awaits them .

The existence of the man is one long camp a ign, an

uninterrupted succession of battles , marches, and
counterm arch es . The tenderness and privacy of
the domestic hearth play but a very small part i n this
“
warlike and feverish career Is b e happy ? To
.

j udge by his looks , weary , sad, uneasy , frequently

pal e and unhealthy , it seems very doubtful This .

excess of work without reli ef exhausts his powers ,

interferes with all in tellectual enj oyment , and prevents
him from c ul tivating his mind And the wife suffers
.

even more from this habit o f life than her husb and,
whom sh e sees b ut once d uring the day for half an
hour at most , and again at night , when , worn ou t w ith
fatigue , he comes home merely to Sleep She i s un
.

able to lighten his burden , or to share his griefs ,

worries , or labors , because sh e is ignorant of their
nature , want of time m aking any degre e o f real inti
”
macy between them impossible . This city is Chicago ,
and the description was written by Baron Hubner, a
great admi r er of America Now the doubt that as
.

sails me i s th i s : I do not kno w which place , F e z or

Chicago , fills m e w ith the most compassion B ut on e
.
 FE Z. 1 23

th ing I do know, that , were I a Moor of Fez and a

Christian should lead me through on e of the great
cities of civ ilizat i on and then ask if I were not c a vi
ous, I wo ul d burst ou t laughing i n his face.

This morn i ng Selam recounted to me in his own

fashion the famous story of the brigand Arusi It is.

on e of those innumerable tales which are passed about

from mouth to mouth , from the seaboard to the desert ;

founded, however, upon an actual occurrence of s o
recent a date that some of the wi tnesses to it are
still l i v in g Soon after the close of the war with
.

Fran c e the Sultan Abd er Rahman sent a force to

- -

punish the inhab itants of the Rif for having s e t fire

to a French vessel Among the var i ous Sheiks who
.

were notified by the commander of the army to de

nounce all the cul prits known to them was one named
Sid Mohammed Abd cl D ij eb ar , already well advanced
- - - -

in years , who , being j ealous of a certain brave and

handsome young man named Arusi, gave him up ,
though quite innocent , to the authorities , hoping that
he might be taken under c ustody to Fez ; this in
fact was done , but he only remained in prison for
one year On regaining his l iberty h e went to Tan
.

gier, where he stayed for some time then he di sap

e ar e d, and for a while nothing more was heard of
p
him Not long after , however , there began to be a
.

great deal of talk in the Prov ince of Gharb about a

certain band of robbers and assassins which infested
1 24 FE Z .

the country ly ing between Rab At and E l Araish .

Caravans were attacked, mer c h ants robbed , Kai ds

roughly han dl ed, the Sultan s soldi ers stabbed ; in
’

short no one dared any longer to travel through that

region of country , wh ile such as managed to escape
alive from th e hands of the assassins returned to the
cities absolutely dazed with terror Matters had gone
.

on thus for a long time without anyone ever having

succeeded in discovering the identity of the leader,
when a certain merchant , who revived after h avi n gb e en
set upon on e m oonlight night , brought back word to
Tang i er that he had recognized among the robbers
young Arusi , and the news spread like wildfire through
o u t Gharb . The leader of the band undoubtedly was
Arusi Many others now recognized him , he was seen
.

in the dua r s and villages by day and night , dressed

as a sol di er, a Kai d , a Jew, a Christian , a woman , an
ulema He k ill ed, robbed and di sappeared ; chased
.
,

on all sides , but never caught ; al ways unexpected ,

always in some fresh guise , capr i cious , fierce , un ti r

ing , and never go ing very far away from the citadel
of E l Mamora, a circumstance that puz zled everyone .

The reason , however , was not very far to seek , for

the Kai d of the citadel of E l Mamora happened to be
at that time Sid Mohammed Abd cl D ij eb ar , he who
- - — -

had delivered Arus i into the hands of th e Sultan s ’

general It so fell out that Sid Mohammed Abd el

.
- - -

D ij eb ar had bestowed his daughter , a young girl of

marvellous beauty named Rahm an a, in marriage upon
 F EZ . 1 25

the s on o fth e Pasha of Sla, who was named Sid Al i .

Th e marri a ge feast was celebrated with great pomp

and magnificence in the presence of all th e wealthiest
young men of the province , who came on horseback ,
a rmed and dressed i n their richest garments , to th e

citadel of E l Mamora Sid Ali was to escort his bride

.

to his father s house in Sla The cortege i ssued forth

’
.

from the citadel by night , the road leading through a

narrow defile lyin g between a chain of wooded h ill s
on the on e hand and a sweep of upland downs on the

other An escort of thirty horsemen led the way ;

.

behind these came R ahm an a mounted upon a mul e ,

between her husband and brother ; after Rah m an a
came the Kai d , her father, and a crowd of relatives
and friends They entered the gorge , the night was
.

’
clear, th e groom h eld Rah m an a s hand clasp ed in his ,
the old Kai d stroked his beard , everyone was full of
mirth and gayety Suddenly a t errible voice was
.

heard breaking the silence of th e night Arusi .

”
greets thee , oh Sheik Sid Mohammed Abd el D ij eb ar !
- - - -

and at the same instant thirty gun s flashed from the

summit of a neighboring hill , and th i rty reports were
heard Horses , soldiers , relatives , friends dropped
.

dead, or swayed woun ded in th eir saddles , or flew in

di sorder , and b efore the Kai d or Sid Al i , who had
neither of them rece i ved any inj ury , co ul d recover
from their astonishment a m an , a fury , a demon
Arusi , in short had flung him self from the hill top ,
— -

seized R ah m an a, placed her on his own saddle , and

1 26 FEZ .

galloped off at full speed towards the forest of Ma

mora The Kai d and Sid Al i, both resolute men , in
.

stead of abandoning themselves to useless despair,

made a solemn oath that they would not shave the i r
heads unt il they had been fearfully revenged They .

asked for and obtained soldiers from th e Sultan , and

set out in pursuit of Arusi , who , with his band, had
taken refuge in the mighty forest of Mamora It .

was an exhausting form of warfare, c omposed en

ti r ely of surprises , ambuscades , night attacks , fe i nts ,

and fierce ski rmishes, and was prolonged for over a

year , during which time the band was driven li ttle
by little to the centre of the forest The robbers
.

were at length completely surrounded, and the circle

was growing smaller and smaller Many of Ar u si s
.
’

followers had already died of starvation , many had

fl ed, and many been k illed i n battle . The Kai d and
Ali, n ew that their end was nearly achieved , grew
more and more fierce ; they di d not close the i r eyes
night or day , and b reathed only revenge But of .

Arusi and Rah m an a nothing co ul d be learned Some .

sai d they had di ed of want , others de clared that they

had es c aped , wh ile others b elieved th at the bandi t
had killed b oth the bride and h imself Sid Al i and
.

the Kai d began to despair ; the further they ad vanced

the th i cker grew the trees , the higher and more tan
gled the underb rush , v ines , j un ipers , and b ramble
bushes , so that the horses and dogs were no longer
able to O pen a path At length one day , as they
.
 FE Z. 1 27

were walk i ng in the forest silent and discouraged , an

Arab was seen running towards the m ; he had come
from a long di stance , and declared that h e had seen
Arusi hidi ng among some rushes on the bank of a
river at the edge of the forest The Kai d assembled
.

his men in hot haste , divided them into two com

an i e s , and dispatched them on e to the right and the
p
other to the left in the di rection of the river After
.

a long chase the Kai d was the first to see a phantom

like shape , a m an of lofty stature and terrible aspect ,
wh o rose up out of the rushes in the di stance Ar us i
—
.

E veryone flew to the spot , reached it , wheeled about

groped , searched, smelled, but there was no Arusi .

“
They were on the river bank - . He has crossed to
”
the other side , shouted th e Kai d E veryone threw
.

himself into the water and made for the opposite

shore Here the ground showed traces of footsteps ;
.

they followed them , but all of a sudden they came to

“ ”
an end . He has jumped into the river again , cried
”
the Kai d , and is going to land farther down . The
horsemen thereupon started off to gallop alo n g the
’
bank ; but j ust at that moment the Kai d s attention
was attracted by his three dogs , who had stopped and
were sniffing about close t o a group of rushes Sid .

Al i reached the spot first , and found hard by th e

rushes a deep trench , i n the bottom of which were a
number of small holes Jumping into the trench he
.

introduced the barrel of his gun into on e of the holes ,

and , meeting with some resistance fi r e d at the same
,
—
1 28 F EZ .

time calling the Kai d E veryone came runn ing up ;

.

they searched here and there , and at last discovered

a small , round O pening in th e bank j ust above the
water level Arus i had evidently entered his sub ter
-
.

r an e an retreat through this opening

“
.Dig ! shri eked
”

the Kai d The soldiers hastened to procure spades

.

and pickaxes from the neighboring duar s, returned ,

and set to work , and before long , breaking through
the earthen roof, discovered a c ave At the
end of the c ave stood Arusi , immovable and pale as
death , his arms hangi ng m otionless at his sides They .

seized him unresisting , and dragged h i m forth ; his

left eye was gone ; then binding him they conveyed
him to on e of the tents , where he was lai d on the
ground, and, as a sort of foretaste of revenge , Sid
Ali cut his toes off, one by on e, with h i s dagger ,
throwing them in his face as he did so This done ,.

he and th e Kai d withdrew to another tent to consult

as to what form of torture they should subj ect him to
before beheadi ng him , leaving h i m meanwhile in the
custody of si x soldiers The di scussion lasted a long
.

time , as there was a rivalry bet ween them as to which

shoul d propose the most horrible torments Night .

finally came on , and nothing had yet been suggested

that seemed to them bad enough , so postponing the
decision till the morning they parted An hour later
.

th e Kai d and Ali were lying each in his own tent .

The night was very dark , not a breath of wind was

st i rring, not a leaf rustled , nothing could be heard
 FE Z
. 1 29

b ut the murmur of the river and the regular breath

ing of the sleepers Suddenly a terrible voice broke
.

“
through th e stillness .Arusi greets thee , oh Sheik
Sid Mohammed Abd cl D ij eb ar
- - - — The old Kai d
leaped to his feet in dismay , and heard the rapid beat
’
o f a horse s hoofs dying away i n the distance He
.

called the soldiers , who came running to the spot .

My horse ! My horse he cried, and everyone b e

gan searching for i t , the most superb anim al in the
Gharb ; but it had di sappeared They ran i nto Sid
.

’
Ali s tent , only to find him extended on the ground
li feless , with a dagger dri ven through his left eye .

The Kai d burst into lamentations , and the soldi ers

st arted off i n pursuit of the fugitive For on e moment
.

they had a vision of him , lik e a S hade i n the di stance ,

then lost him again ; once more they saw him , flying
like l i ghtning , and after that he di sappeared fin al ly
from v i ew They continued the chase nevertheless
.

during th e whole night , unt il reaching at last a place

where th e for e st became very thick they concluded
to wait unt il it sho uld grow lighter before pushin g on .

Hardly was the su n well up , however, when the

’
Kai d s horse was seen coming toward them , covered
with blood and neighing mournfully Confident n ew .

that Arusi was in the thicket , they unleashed th e

dogs and advanced , with their weapons held in r eadi
ness After a short walk they arrived at a ruined
.

hut , half hidden among the trees

- The dogs ran
.

to it and ste p p e d, and the soldiers , creeping up b e

V O L II
. .
1 30 FEZ .

hind them on tiptoe , reached the door, levelled their

gun s , and let them fall to the ground wi th a cry of
—

amazement E xtended on the middl e of the floor lay

.

the dead body of Aru s i , and beside i t knelt a beaut i

ful girl , magn i fi c ently dr essed, with dishevelled hair,
who was occupied in bi ndi ng up the bleedi ng feet ,
sobbing, laughing, and m urmuring impass i oned words
of mingled love and despair in a ch ildish vo i ce . It
was Rah m an a They took h er back to her father s
.
’

house , where sh e remained for three days without

uttering a word, and then disappeared, being found
later among the ruins of the hous e i n the wood di g
ging up the ground with her hands and call ing for
Arusi . Nor woul d sh e consent to leave the spot
“ ” “
again . God, as the Arabs would say , had r e
cal led her reason to Himself, and sh e had b ecome a
saint ”
. Whether sh e is st ill alive or n ot no on e
kn ows Certain i t i s that sh e was l i v ing twenty
.

years ago , and that sh e was seen in her hermitage

by Signor Narcisco Cotte , attach é to the French con
sulate at Tangier , wh o tells the story himself .

There is n ew not a corner of Fez that we have

left un explored, and yet at the same time we feel
as though we might have arrived yesterday , so un
ending is the variety which this i mposing scene
presents of wall and gate , of tower and ruin ; s o
‘

strongly does everything remind us of our own isola

tion , so impossible do we find it to accustom ourselves
 FE Z . 1 31

to b eing the obj ects of universal curi osity Th i s .

curiosity has , in fact , not subsided in the least , al

though by now every i nhab i tant of Fez must have
seen us over and over again It is the distrust, and
.

it woul d almost seem a little of the d i slike as well ,

that has di sapp eared the children come up close to
us and feel our clothes to see what they are made of ;
the women , i t i s true regard us wi th a surly expres
,

sion , but they no lon ger turn their backs outri ght
when they se e us coming in the distance ; curses are
becoming quite rare ; the soldi ers do not have to use
their clubs as formerly , and th e blow aimed at U ssi
was the first, and I hop e the last , that I will have to
report on my return to It al y Al though when we
.

w alk about the c i ty we are always preceded and fol

lowed by just as large crowds as at first , I feel c on fi
dent that we coul d go out alone without runn i ng the
smallest risk of being k ill ed Al ready the public ,
.

accordi ng to the embassy soldiers, has , in pursuance

of the Moorish custom , dubbed us with nicknames .

“ ”
The doctor is the man with the eye glasses ; the -

vi c e consul , the man with the hooked nose

- “
the
“
captain , the man wi th the black boots U ssi i s the
“
man with th e white han dk erchief the commander,
the man with the short legs Biseo i s the red
“ “

headed man Mor te o, th e velvet man , because of

“ ”

“
his velvet suit ; an d I am the man with th e broken
”
shoe , because a pai n in on e of my feet obliged me
to c ut a long sli t in on e shoe They d i s c uss our
.
1 32 FE Z .

aff airs , it seems , a great deal , and think us all very

ugly , without making any exception , not even in
favor of the cook , who , by the way , received this
iece o f information w i th a derisive laugh at the
p ,

same time clapping his hand over his waistcoat

pocket , where he carries a letter from his sweetheart .

It strikes m e that they also either th i nk us ri di culous

or pretend they do because on the street every time
,

on e of us st umbles or knocks his head against the

,

b ranch of a tree , or loses his hat , they all laugh with

a certain ostentation Notwithstan di ng all this and
.

the variety of the sights , this pop ul ation , all of one

color, with no apparent distinction of rank , the ah
sence of all noise except the ev erlasting patter of
slippers and flapping of cloaks , the veil ed women ,
th e blin d , silent houses , the life so full of mystery ,
ends by pall ing on us dreadfully The inhabitants
.

are ah ve, th e city dead At sunset we must be i n

.

doors , nor are we p ermitted to go out again E very

.

form of business step s at nightfall , every sign of li fe

or movement . Fez then becomes nothing but a vast
necropolis , where if a human voice by any chance be
heard , it is either the shout of a lunatic or the cry of
some one being attacked ; while should one insist
upon going out for a ramble at all costs , he must be
accompanied by a patrol with loaded guns and a troop
of carp enters to break down the gates whi ch bar the

road at every three hundr ed feet By day the city

.

can furnish no other news beyond the a c count of a

 F EZ . 1 33

woman found dead in the street with a dagger driven

into her heart , the departure of some sm all caravan ,
the arr ival of a governor or sub governor of a prov
-

ince , who is to be thrown into pr i son , the floggin g

o f some m iscre ant a fe te in honor of one of the
,

saints , when we can hear the firin g from the palace ,

—

and other matters of the same sort , all told us by

Mohammed D ucal i or Shellal , our two walking da ily
chronicles These b its of news, and what goes on
.

before my eyes every day , comb i ne , w ith the strange

li fe I am leadi ng, to give me the most remarkable
dreams at night , visions of decapitated heads , deserts ,
harems , prisons , Fez , Timbuctu , Turin , so that I
awake in the morning wi th my head in a whirl , and not
sur e at first what world I am in How many beautiful ,
.

grotesque , horrible , absurd, and strange figures will

remain for all time i mprinted upon my memory
My brain is full of them , and sometimes when I am
alon e I pass them i n review, on e at a time , li ke the
slides i n a magic lantern , with an i nexpressible sense
-

of enjoyment . First comes Sid Buk er, a mysterious

-

personage who , three times a day , enveloped i n a

great gray cloak , with lowered head and h al f closed-

eyes, as p al e as death , as furtive as a ghost , gli des

into the palace , and after holding a private confer
ence with the ambassador, disappears unseen by any
on e l ike some spectral apparition
,
Then Sid
. M -u sa ’
s
favorite servant , a very handsome young mulatto ,
endowed with a childlike grace and princely elegance
“
1 34 F EZ .

of mi en ; fresh , sm il i ng, he r un s and leap s up and

down the stai rway and greets us wi th a sort of
coquetry , bowin g low with on e hand extended as
though wafting u s a kiss Then on e of the soldi ers
.

of the guard , a native Berber, born i n the Atl as

moun tai ns ; his is a sangui nary countenance that on e
cannot behold wi thout a shudder E very time we
.

meet he fixes upon me a cold, steady , treacherous

stare , as though he were then c onsidering the e xp e
di en cy of shooting me ; and the more I try to avoid
him th e oftener do I encounter h im , until it almost
seems as though he must guess the repulsion with
which he inspir es m e and take a satanic pleasure in
exciting it Then comes a decrepit old woman , whom
.

I saw on e day in a mosque door, naked from head to

foot , except for a rag wound about her loin s , her he ad
shaved as clean as the pal m of my hand, and her
body wasted to such a degree that the sight called
forth an exclamation of horror from me , and I could
feel the b lood rush to my head The next on e is the
.

figure of a Moorish woman who was entering her

house on e day as we passed b y ; j ust before clos i ng
the door sh e hastily threw back her ha i h, gi vi ng us
an opportun i ty to observe her charming graceful form ,
then , with a coquettish glance, banged to the door .

And next it is a very old shopkeeper, with a face

h al f comical , hal f sinister, so bent that as he sits in
- -

the rear of his dark li ttle niche his chi n al most rests
on his feet ; he keeps o n ly one eye O pen , and that
 FE Z . 1 35

barely s o, until some passer-by happening to peer in

his shop , it suddenl y O pens to an extraordi nary ex
tent , and gleams w ith an expression of mocking
amusement , most di scon c erting to the intruder And .

then a pretty little ten year old Moor i sh girl , with

- -

her hair hanging down her back , dressed in a white

tunic fastened about the waist with a green sash ,
who , as sh e was in the act on e day of climbing down
from one t errace to anoth er, c aught her draper i es on
th e proj ecting end of a brick and dangled there ,
ve ali ng more than one secret to the ai r of heaven .

Conscious of b eing seen from th e embassy palace ,

and qu ite unable to get e ither up or down , sh e began
screaming like a man i ac, whereupon all the women
came running out on the neighbor ing terraces shriek
ing with laughter Then there i s the gi gantic crazy
.

m ul atto , who , possessed by a fixed idea that the Sul

tan s sol di ers are after him to cut off on e of his hands ,
’

fl ies through on e street after another li ke a shade

pursued , waving his right arm excitedly as though it
were already mut il ated , and gi v ing vent to piercing
cries that reso und from on e quarter of the city to the
other There are many , many more, b ut the on e
.

who arrests my attention the l ongest of all i s a negro ,

fifty years old, on e of the palace servants , not much
over three feet high , and pretty nearly as broad, a
cheerful , contented soul , always sm ilin g, w i th his
whole mouth twisted around to his ri ght ear His i s
.

the most absolutely grotesque , ab sur d, ridiculous

1 36 FE Z.

figure that ever was seen un der heaven I n vai n

.

do I bite my lips , tell myself that it is i gnoble to

laugh at the sight of human deformity , try to shame
myself i n a thousand ways , th e l augh w ill come in
spite of all my e fforts to suppress it It seems as
.

though there must be some underlyin g , mysterious

design of Providence in that strange shap e , though ,
Heaven forgive m e , the only thing I can think of is
that I would li ke to buy him for a p i pe .

As the day of our depart ure begins to approach

merchants assemble in crowds in the palace , and
everyon e is buying furiously . Rooms , halls , and
court yards are turned into gay bazaars in all di r e c
-

tions are long rows of vases , embroidered sli ppers ,

dishes , cushions , rugs , and ha i ks . E verything in
Fez , mos t profusely gilded , most covered w i th ara
b e s qu e s, most highly thought of, is displayed tempt
i n gly before us d uring these last few days It is i n
.

t e r e sti n g to s e e th e manner of conducting business

among these people ; n ot a word is uttered, not a

smile seen , a s i mple movement of the head to s i gnify
yes or no , and at the conclusion , whether they have
sold anything or not , they move off looking just as
much like automatons as when they came Among .

’
the rest it is a fine sight to s ee the artists room
’
turned into a broker s shop , full of saddl es, stirrups ,
guns , caftans , torn scarves , earthenware , barbarous
looking ear rings , old b elts made for women , come
-
 1 37

Heaven only kn ows fr om whence , and whi ch may

many a time have felt the pressure of the imperi al
embrace , while i t may be that next y ear they w ill
gleam out of some i mposing picture exhibited at
Naples or Ph iladelphia But there is one line of
.

articles which is entir ely absent , and that is any

kind of obj ect of antiquity or relic of th e var i ous
p eoples who from time to time have conqu ered or colo
n i z e d Morocco
. It is indeed a well kn own fact that
-

such articles are frequently dug out of the ground

or picked up among the ruins , but there is no way of
getting possession of them ; everyth ing that is found
belongs to the authorities , and hence whoever hap
pens to di scover anyth i ng, promptly hides i t , wh il e
the authori ties themselves are so utterly ignorant of
their re al v al ue , that they destroy or sell as useless
stuff what little does come into their possession ; thus
a few years since , when a horse and som e statuettes
of bronze were found in a well near an ancient aque
duct , they were broken in pieces and sold for old
copper to a Jew dealer .

I have had a li vely di scussion to-day with a mer

chant of Fez , my obj e c t being to find out, if poss i
ble th e views held by Moors on the subj ect o f E u ro
,

pean civ ili zation , makin g no e ffort , except what was

necessary to spur h i m on , to refute his arguments He
.

is a handsome Moor, about forty years old, with a good,

somewhat severe type of face , who has had occas i on
1 38 FEZ .

to visit , in the way of business , almost all the pri n

c i a l cities o f Western E urop e , and has al so sp ent a
p
good deal of time in Tangier , where he picked up a
little Spanish I had already had some conversation
.

with him on the precedi ng d ay touching a sm all p i ece

of stu ff woven ou t of s ilk and gold thread , whose
b eauty he valued at ten mar enghi ; but to day , all ud
-

ing to his travels , I succeeded in draw ing him out to

such an extent that his companions sat by in amaze
m ent , listening w i thout being able to understand a
word I asked him , first , what i mpression the great
.

capitals of E urope had m ade on h i m, without , how

ever, expecting any great express i on of astonishment ,
because I know, as everyone else does , that of the
four or five hundred Moors who visit E urope i n the
c ourse of every year, the greater part return to the i r
own country more stupidly fanat i cal , when they are

not more depraved and vicious , than b efore ; and if

they are astounded at the grandeur of ou r streets and
the extent of o u r in d ustries , n ot one seems to have his
spirit moved within him , his i magi nation fired , or to
fe el himself spurre d on to d o , and endeavor, and imi
tate ; not one i s c onvinced of the tot al inferiori ty of
his own country ; or , at all events, if he is he is not
going to run the risk of expressing such unpopular
sentiments, and st ill less attempt to di ffuse them , for
fear of bringing upon himself the charge of being a
renegade Mussulman , an enemy of his country .

”
What do you think, I asked, of our l arge
 FEZ . 1 39

c it i es ?
”
He regarded me fi x edl y , and answered
col dl y :
“
Wide streets , fin e shops , handsome p alac es , gr eat
”
factories and all clean .

And wi th that he see m ed to have said all he co ul d

i n our favor .

“
D i d you see nothing else that see m ed to yo u
”
either admirab le or beautiful ? I asked He looked .

at me as though he would i nqui re on his side what

else I could possib ly suppose he wo ul d find to admi re .

“
Possibly , I ventured, a m an of your i ntell i gence ,
”

who has been to so m any countries , all so wonderfull y

d iff erent and s uperior to his own , might allude to
them w ith a little wonder, or at least th e animation
of a boy from the duar who has seen f or the first

t i me a pasha s palac e What is there i n all the

’
.

worl d that will surpr i se you then ? What sort of

people are y ou ? Who c an possibly understand you ? ”

“ ” “
P er don e, Usted, he answered, coldly , I can only
say that I do n ot understand you When I have
.

enumerated all the things i n whi ch I think you are

superior to us , wh at m ore do y ou w i sh me to say ?
You want to know wh at I thin k ? Well , I think
your streets are w i der than ours , that your shops are
handsomer , that you have factor i es , that we have not ,
and that your palaces are very fine It seems to .

me that there is nothing more left to say There i s .

still another thing that I coul d mention , but which

you know quite as well as I, s i n c e y ou ha v e books
1 40 F EZ .

and read I made an impat i ent gest ur e . No “

”
do not be impatient , Ca ba ller o, he continued , tran
“
qui lly. You admit that the first duty of man , the
first thing that commands respect , and that consti
tu te s the most important indication of the superi ority

of on e country over another is honesty is i t n ot ?

, ,

Well , in the matter of honesty I do not consider that

your people are one whit better than ours , that is one
”
thing .

“ ”
Softly , said I ; y ou must first explain what you
”
m ean by that word honesty .

“
I mean commercial honesty , Ca baller o The.

Moors , for i nstance , sometim es cheat the E uropeans

in trade , but the E uropeans cheat the Moors mu c h
”
oftener .

“ ”
Such instances must be very rare , said I , for
somethin g to say .

“
Cases r ar os I he ex claime d, growing warm
”
It .

”
h appens every day ! (And here I only wish it were
possible to give any i dea of his broken , childish , ex
cited way of t alk ing )
.
“
E xamples ! E xamples ! I
at Marseilles ! I am in Marseilles , I buy cotton , I
select the warp ; this quality , I say , this number , this
stamp , s o much , send I pay , I leave , arrive in Mo
.

rocco , receive the cotton , open it , look at i t the —

same n umber , the same stamp , the warp three times

smaller ! Good for nothing ! Thousands of francs
lost ! I fl y to the consul no use Otr o, an
.

other A mer c hant of Fez orders light blue cloth

.
-
 FEZ . 1 41

from E urope So many pieces , such a width , s o

.

many lengths , it is agreed upon and paid for He .

gets the cloth , opens i t , measures it ; th e te p pieces

a r e all right , the next shorter , the last are half a

metre short ! They will not do for cloaks th e mer

—

chant is ruined Otr o, otr o A merchant of Morocco

. .

orders a thousand metres of gold braid from E urope ,

to be used on uniforms, and forwards the money .

The braid arrives , cut i n pieces , sewed together,

rolled up brass ! Yotr os, gotr os, yotr os ! ”

So saying, he raised his face to the sky , and then

turning quickly towards m e repeated , You more
“

honest
I again remarked that these must be very e x c e p
ti on al cases , to which he made n o reply .

You more religious ? he presently continued

”
.

“ ”
No ! and then , after a moment , One need only
”
enter your mosques once .

“
Just tell me , said he , encouraged by my s ilence ,
”

“
do fewer ma tamien tos (murders ) take place in your
”
country than here ?
I was somewhat at a le ss what answer to make .

What would h e hav e said had I confessed that in

Italy alone three thousand murders are comm itted
every year, and there are nine ty thousand prisoners,
count in g those awaiting trial and those already con
v i c te d .

“
I th i nk not , h e said, reading the truth in my
”

fac e .
1 42 FEZ .

No t feeling myself very sure on this ground I

changed the subj ect , and introduced the usual attack
on polygamy He bounded as thoug h I had struck
.

him .

”
“
Al ways that ! he cried , gett i ng re d to the tips of
“
h i s ears Always that ! as though you had b ut on e
.

wife apiece You expect us to believe that ! Only

.

on e may belong to you , but whose are all those others ?

Paris ! London ! The cafés , the streets, the theatres ,

all full of them , and ou undert ake to reprove the
y
Moors and so saying, he ran his fingers, trembling
w ith excitement , along his rosary , looking around
from time to time with a sli ght smile , i ntended to
show me that his i n di gnation was not kindled against
me p ersonally but against E urope i n general See
,
.

ing that this was a matter he too k too seriously I

again shifted my ground, and asked him if he di d not
recognize how much m ore convenient our way of
li ving was than the i rs , and here he was very amus
ing, his answers being evidently all prepared .

“ ” “
True , said he , ironically True ! Sun ?
.

p arasol Rain
. ? umbrella D ust ? gloves
. Wa lk ? .

st i ck See ? eye gl asses

. Ride ? carriage
— . Sit .

down ? spri ngs E at ? i mplements A scratch ? the

. .

doctor D eath ? a statue How many things y ou

. .

”
must have ! What Men F or D i es ! What children !
.

I n short , he was unwilling to admit anyth i ng in

o ur favor ; he even laughed at our architecture .

“ ”
N o , no , h e said, when I spoke of the c on ven i
 FE Z
. 143

“
en c es of our houses
. There are three hundred p eo
ple in on e dwelling, all on top of on e another, and i t
is noth i ng but climb , cli mb , cli mb ; and there i s not
”
enough air or light , and no garden .

Then I spoke of our laws , of governm ent , of li berty ,

and oth er matters of a sim i lar nature , and since he
was a man of some penetration I di d seem to succeed ,
if not i n making him actually re al i z e the enorm ous
’

difference th at e x i sts in these particul ars between his

country and E urop e , at least i n making some faint
glimmer of light reach his brain Seeing that he
.

wo ul d be unable to hold his own here h e suddenly

changed the subj ect , and look i ng me over from head
to foot said , smil ingly , M a l vestidos (badly dressed )
“ ”
.

I repli ed that dress was a matter of trifling import

ance , and asked if h e did not recogniz e as another
proof of our superiority the fact that , i nstead of
spending s o much of our time idly seated cross legged
-

on a mattress , we o c cupied ourselves in a thousand

different ways , both useful and amusing He r e .

turned a more profound answer than I had at all ex

ec te d, saying that i t di d not stri ke him as a good
p
sign , this everlast ing necessity for occupation in order
to pass away the time Was life then a penance i n
.

itself, that we were unable to spend on e hour with

ou t doing something , without som e sort of distraction ?

Were we afraid of ourselves ? Was there some in

ward torment ?
“ ” “
But just look , said I , at the spectacle your
1 44 FEZ .

streets present ; what solitude , what s ilence , what

misery . Were you ever i n Paris ? Just c ompare
the Parisian streets wi th those of Fez.
”
And now he
was really subli me He j ump ed to his feet laughing ,
.

and then more with gestures than i n words drew a

mocking picture of th e appearance of our streets .

“
Go , come , run ; wagons here , carriages there ;
deafening noise ; drunken men staggering along ;
gentlemen buttoning up their coats for fear of pick
pockets ; policemen at every step , look i ng around as
though th ey expected a thief at every step as well ;
children and old people running the risk every mo
ment of being knocked down by the carriages of the
rich ; bold looking women , and even young girls who
-

look men full in the face , and behave i n all sorts of

unbecoming ways and everyone with a cigar in his
mouth ; and on all sides people going in and out of
shops to gorge an d drink liquor, to have their hair
brushed , to look at themselves , to be gloved ; and the
dan dies , loungi ng in front of the ca fes, who whisper
things in the ears of other p eople s w i ves as they go
’

by ; and what a ridiculous way of bowing and w al k

ing on the points of the feet , swaying and hopping ;
and great heavens , what womanish curiosity and
here he waxed indignant , telling how on e day in a
small town in Italy , having gone out dressed in the
Moorish fashion , he was immediately surrounded by
a great crowd of p ersons , who ran behind and before
him , laughing and calling out, and would hardly let
 F EZ . 145

him w alk along , so that he was at last obliged to r e

“
turn to his hotel and change his clothes And i s
.

n ot that the way you do in your country ? You ask

me ? I say to that that i t i s perfectly natur al that i t
shoul d b e done here , where they n ever s ee any Chris
tians , b ut in your country , where our m anner of dress
is perf e ctly well k nown from th e pictures , sendi ng
artists here as y ou do wi th machines and c olors to
take our portraits , among you who know everything,
does it n ot seem to y ou that such th i ngs ought not to
happen ? ”
And h aving thus reli eved his feelings he
smiled co urteously at me , as m uch as to say Al l of
“

which need n ot prevent us two from b e ing good

”
friends.

The conversat i on turned next upon E uropean i n

du str i e s, railr oads , the telegraph , and other great
works of public ut ility Of these he all owed me to
.

tal k without interrupting me once , even occas i onall y

noddi ng assent When I had concluded , however,
.

he only gave a sigh , and sai d :

“
But after all , of what use are these things , sin c e
we must all di e ? ”

“ ” “
Well then , I said at length , y ou would not ex
”
change your con di tion for ours ?
He remained thoughtful for a little wh ile , and then
answered :
“
No , as y ou live no longer than we , and are no
h ealthier, nor better, nor more religious , nor more
contented So let us alone i n peace Why should you
. .

V OL . II .
— 10
1 46 FE Z.

wish everyone to live as you do, and to be happy in

your fashion ? Let every on e remain in the con
di tion i n which Allah has placed him It is for some
.

good reason that Allah has c aused a s ea to roll be

tween Afr ic a and E urope ; let us then respect his
”
decrees .

”
“
And do y ou believe I asked, that you will
,
“

always rema in j ust so ? That we w ill not m ake

” “
you change l i ttle by little ? ”
I do not know, he
replied ; y ou are the stronger, and you w ill do
“

as y ou choose E verything that is going to happen

.

is alre ady written , but whatever may occur, Allah

”
w il l n ever abandon the faithful And with these
.

words he took my right hand, pressed it to his heart ,

and moved off with stately tread .

This morning at sunrise I went to see the Sul tan

review the garrison , which he does three times a
week , in the square where the embassy was received .

As I went out of the Butter N iche Gate I saw a sam

ple of the art illery man oeuvres A crowd of soldi ers ,
.

old and middle aged men and boys , all dressed in

-

scarlet , were running al ong behind a sm al l gun

drawn b y a m ule It was on e of the twelve fi eld
.

pieces presented by the Spanish Government to Sul

tan Sid Mohammed after the war of 1 8 6 0 E very
- .

n e w and then th e mul e woul d slip , or t u rn asi de , or

stop outright , and then the entire chil di sh rabble

woul d begin shouting and belaboring, j ump ing abou t
 FE Z .
1 47

and l aughing as though they were escort ing a car

nival car I n the c ourse of twenty feet they had
.

stopped half a dozen times ; every m oment some fresh

accident woul d occur Now they dr opped the b ucket ,
.

n ew th e rammer now some other o bj ect , everyt hi ng

,

being hung on the gun carri age Th e m ule z i g

- .

z agged on accordi ng to his fancy , or rather i n the

di rection in which h e was imp ell ed b y the gun as i t

came rolling down the small decli v ities after him .

E veryone i ssued orders , wh i ch no on e obeyed . The

big ones cuff ed the smaller , and they in turn the li t
tle ones , who cuffed ea c h other, and the gun mean
wh il e was nearly in the same spot as at first It was .

a scene to have gi ven General Lam a r m or a brain

fev er . On the left b ank of the R i ver of Pearls
about two thousand in fantry soldi ers were assembled,
some of them stretched full length on the ground,
some standin g about in groups I n the square , b e
.

tween the river and the walls , a deta chment of art il

lery were firin g at a mark They had four guns,
.

and i n their midst stood a tall , white figur e the Sul

—

tan hi s outline barely v i s ible fro m where I stood

—
.

He s eemed to addr ess some words to the sold i ers from

time to time , as though he were giving them adv i ce .

On the O pposite side of the square , near the b ri dge ,

there was a group of Moors , Arabs , and negroes , both
men and women , city and country p eople , gentle folks -

and peasants , all standi ng close together , and wait

i n g, I was told , u nt il the S ul tan should c all the m up
1 48 FEZ .

one after another , when each would have some favor

to ask or act of j ustice to demand, the Sultan holdi ng
these audi ences three times a week for the benefit of
all who w i sh to speak with him Some of those un
.

fortunates may have come from far away towns or

-

di stricts to complain of the tyranny of a Governor

or to implore pardon for relatives languishing i n
pr i son There were ragged women and feeble old
.

men , and all their faces were weary and sad ; i n each
on e could be plainly read longi ng i mpat i en c e com
,

b in e d with a dread of bein g at last brought face to

face wi th the Prince of the Fai thful , the supre m e
judge who in a few moments , an d wi th a few words,
would decide their f ate perhaps for the rest of thei r
lives As far as I co ul d see they had nothing in the i r
.

hands or at their feet , so I th ink that the present

S ultan must have aboli shed the custom whi ch on c e
existed of always accompanying a demand w ith a
gift of some sort , whi ch was never refused, even if i t
were only a pai r of c h i ckens or a basket of eggs .

I walked about a l i ttle among the soldiers ; the youths

were div i ded up i nto groups of thirty or forty , and
were amusing themselves by chasing or j umping over
on e another, placin g their hands for the latter e x er

cise on each other s sho ulders In some parties , h ow

’
.

ever, the fun cons i sted i n a sort of pantom ime , which

,

as soon as the meaning became clear to me, made m e

shudder It represented c uttin g off hands and heads ,
.

an d various other forms of punishment , wh ic h no

 FEZ . 149

doub t they had frequently seen administered them

selves One boy wo ul d act the part of the Kai d ,
.

another that of the executioner, and a third woul d

represent the v i ctim, this last, when his hand had
been cut off, for instance , pretending to pl unge the
stump in pitch , wh ile another , picking up the severed
hand, would make as though h e were tossing it to the
dogs, and thereupon all the spectators wo ul d laugh .

The vicious look of these soldi ers is not to be de

scrib ed .There were all shades and colors , from
ebony black to orange , and not on e of them , even
-

among the youngest , retained the smallest trace of

the ingenuousness of youth , there being a something
hard, bold, sneering or cynical about them all that
aroused one s compassion rather than indi gnat i on
’
.

It does not , however, require any very great discern

ment to perceive how impossible it is for them to be
otherw i se The men m eanwh ile , for the most part ,
.

lay stretched on the ground dozing ; others danced

l ike negroes in the middl e of a circle of spectators ,
going through all manner of buffooneries and gri m
aces ; others were fencing with their swords in the
same way I had seen this exercise conducted in Tan
gier, skippin g about like tight rope dancers The
- .

o ffi cers , m any of whom were renegades eas ily recog

n i z e d by their features pipes and a certain nameless
, ,

c are about their dress , walked somewhat apart , and

avoided my ey e when I h appened to meet any of
them Beyond the bridge , in a sequestered spot ,
.
1 50 F EZ .

there were about twenty men wrapped i n wh ite

cloaks, who lay stretched beside on e another on the
ground, all as i mmovable as statues D i awi n g near , I
.

saw that their arms and legs were bound with heavy
chains . They were crimin al s convicted of m in or
o ffences , carried about by the tro ops i n order to ex
pose them thus i n the p illory On my approach they
.

all turned the i r heads and regarded me wi th an ex

pression that made me glad to turn my back Leav .

ing the neighborhood of the soldiers , I went to rest

beneath the shade of a palm tree which grew on a
-

small hillock overlook ing the entire plain I had .

been there but a few moments when I observed an

o fficer detach himself from a group and come slowly
towards me , looking about and humming to hi mself
as though not wishing t o attract attention He was .

a short , thick set man , dressed in a sort of z ouave

-

costume , surmounted b y a fez , carried no arms , and

looked to be about forty As I got a closer view of
.

his face I was conscious of a feeling of repuls i on .

I had never seen in the deck of any crimin al court

a more treacherous countenance , and would have
taken my oath that he had at least a dozen murders
on his conscien c e , w i th indignities to the bodies
thrown in He stopped when he was about two feet
.

away , and fixing a pair of expressionless eyes upon

me , said coldly “
B en j our , M onsi eur ”
I asked if
.

he were French , and he replied that he was , having

c ome from Al geria seven years previously , and n ow
 FE Z
. 1 51

held th e rank of captain in the Mor occoan army As .

I was unable to congrat ul ate him I sa i d noth i ng .

C cst comme ca , he cont i nued li ghtly

” “
“ ’
I left
Al geria because I did not care to be seen there any
longer J eta i s oblige de c ivr e da ns a n ccr cle tr op
’ ’
’
.

e tr oi t (Perhaps h e meant a halter ) The E urop ean

’

. .

manner of life di d not suit my temperament ; I felt

”
that I needed a change of country .

”
“
And you are satisfied here ? I asked .

More than satisfied , said he i n an aff ected tone

”
.

The country is beautiful , M ulai cl Hassan the best

of Sultans , the p eople are kin dl y , I am a captain ,
have a little shop , conduct a small industry I hunt , .

fish , go off on tri ps to the mo untains , and enj oy the

m ost absolute liberty .I would not return to E urope ,
” “
look you , for all the gold i n the world . You do
not even care to revisit your own land ? Have y ou
entirely forgotten even France ? ” “
What i s France
to me ? As far as I am concerned France no longer
exists ; my country i s Morocco ; and he shrugged his
”

shoulders Thi s cynicism revolted me ; indeed I could

.

could hardly b elieve that it was altogether genuine ,

and felt c u rious to probe i t a little fur ther .

”
“
S i nce leaving Al geria, I asked, have you heard
“

“
nothing of what has gone on in E urope P as a n
”
mot, he repli ed . No one here knows ab out any
thing, and for my part I am p erfe ctly satisfied not to
” “
know anything . Then y ou have not heard that
there has been a great war between France and Prus
1 52 F EZ .

si a He started .
Qui a va i ncu he demanded,
with a certain amo unt of vivacity , and fastening his
“ ”
eyes upon me . Prussia, said I He made a gest
.

ure of aston i shment .I then briefly recounted to

him the reverses France had met wi th , the invasion ,
capture of Paris , and loss of the two prov in ces He.

stood li stening with lowered head and frown ing brow .

Then recovering himself, said roughly : C est ega l ’ ’

”
—
j e n ai p lus de p a tr ie ga n o me r egar de p as, and
—

dropped his head again ; then seeing that I was

watching him , he said suddenly , in an altered voice ,
“
A di eu, M onsieur , ”
and walked qui ckly away .

”
E verything is not quite dead in him yet , thought
I, and extracted some comfort out of the fact .

Meanwh ile th e art ill ery had ceased firing, the S ultan
had taken his seat in a white pav ilion at the foot of
on e of the towers , an d the soldiers began de fili n g b e

fore him on e by one , without their arms , and about

.

twenty feet apart As no o ffi cer stood either beside

.

the Sultan nor facing the pavilion to call out the

names , as is done with us in order to prove the ex
i sten c e of all the men who figure on the roll (it i s
even said that there are no rolls in the Mor occoan
army ), I could not se e precisely what end was served
by this review other than the entertainment of the
E mperor , and for a moment I felt incli ned to laugh ,
but only for on e moment , for in the next I reali zed
how much there was that was primitive and
politic in this custom of that young African monarch ,
 FEZ . 1 53

High Priest and absolute Prince , simple minded and

-

k indly , who thre e times a week sat there for three

hours under his tent watchin g his soldi ers defil e b e
fore him on e by one and listenin g to the prayers and
complaints of his unhappy people , and I was filled
instead with a very profound feeling of respect .

“ ”
That was the last time I saw him . Farewell , I
said , as I moved away , w ith a sensation of real lik
”
i ng, Farewell , handsome , noble Prince !
“
And as
his graceful white figure faded from my eyes
I knew that it was b e i n g engraven fore ver upon my
heart.

June ninth Last day of the Italian emb assy s

.
’

v i sit to Fez The ambassador s demands have all

.
’

’ ’
been acceded to , D ucali s and Sh ellal s aff airs satis
fa ctor ily a r ranged , the farewell v i sits made , Sid
M u sa s last di nner endured , the customary gifts been
’

received from the Sul tan These last consist of a

.

handsome black horse , with an enormous green velvet

-

saddle , trimmed with gold braid , for the ambassador ;

gilded and chased swords for t h e o fficial m embers of
the embassy , and a mule for the second dragom an .

The tents and packi ng boxes were started off this

-

morning ; the rooms are di smantled, the mules are

ready , the escort awaits us at the Butter N iche
Gate ; my companions are walking up and down in
the court yard waiting for the hour of departure ,
-

wh ile I, seated for the last time upon my imperial

1 54 F EZ .

couch , with my note book on my knee , j ot down my

-

final impressions of Fez . And what are they ?

What is the impression that the sight of this city ,
this p eople , this state of society , has ended by making
on m y mind ? Har dl y have I succeeded in p en etr at
ing through the first layer of wonder and gratifi ed
curiosity than I find a mixture of conflicting sensa
tions that land me in uncertainty There i s a senti
.

ment of pity , calle d forth by the degeneracy , the de

cadence , the suf fering of this nation of warriors and
horsemen , which once made so lum i nous a mark on
the history of science and art, and now is not so much
as aware of its own departed glory ; a sentiment of
admiration for what still remains to it of strength and
beauty , of dignity , manliness , and grace , as seen in
the mode of dress , customs , ceremonies , all , in S hort ,
that is left of its ancient simplicity , in the sad, silent
li fe of to day ; a sentiment of uneasiness at the sight
-

of such barbarism at so short a distance from c iv iliza

tion , smee i n this same civilization the power to rise
to higher levels seems to be so di sproportionate to the
power to expand, if in all these centuries of c on
s tan tl
y increasing strength it has never yet succeeded
i n advancing two hun dred miles I n this direction ; a
sentiment of i ndignation at the thought that civ ili zed
state s oppose to the great obj ect of the c i vi l i zation of
this part of Af rica the i r li ttle pri vate , mercant il e i n
te r e sts , and by thus belittling i n the eyes of these
people through the display of their petty r i vah i es,
,
'
 F EZ . 1 55

b oth their own author i ty and the order of th i ngs they

w i sh to i ntroduce , render the common obj ect even
slower and more difficult of accompli shment , and
finally a sentiment of keen pleasure , at the thought
that here i n this country as well I have formed i n my
mind still another li ttle world, p eopled al i ve , filled
with n ew characters who will live in my thoughts for
the rest of my life , ready to start into b e i ng at my
word , wi th whom I can asso ci ate at w ill , and r e live
-

my li fe in Africa But this agreeable thou ght gave

.

rise to a melancholy one as well , that i nevitable r e

fl ec ti on that throws its shadow across every peaceful
hour, the drop of bitterness in every cup of pleasure
the same thought that the Moorish merchant
had expressed when h e spoke of the v anity of all the
e fforts made by civ il i z ed peoples to study , search out,
di scover and this delightful j ourney seemed like
—

nothing but the rapid enacting of a beautiful scen e i n

an hour s play , the play of life th e p enc il dropped
’ —

from my fingers, and I sat plunged in melancholy

thoughts . Ah , Selam s voice c all ing me ! It is
’

time to start then ! Time to return to the life of the

tent , the warlike s al utes , the wide , open plains , the
broad li ght , the cheerful , heal thy ex i stence of the
camp Farewell Fez ! Farewell di scomfort ! My
.

little African world grows rose colored on c e more

-
.
 M E QU I N E Z .

AFT E R twenty -four days of city life the caravan

m ade the same lively i mpression upon me as when I
s aw it for the first time . Not that th ere was any
thing new ; all was unchanged save that the Moor,
Shellal, n ew rode beside Mohammed D uc al i His .

affairs had, it is true , been amicably adj usted, but he

deemed it w i ser to proceed to Tangier under th e ambas
sador s w ing rather than remain in Fez under that of
’

his own Government I n addition to this , an acute

.

observer might hav e read in our faces , if he were a

pessimist , a certain expression of regret , or if an op
timist of satisfaction , the result of a profound c on vi c
,

tion , shared by all , that we were leaving behind us in

the illustri ous capital of the E mpire not on e broken
hearted bell e, not a single o ff ended husband , no di s
tracted famil y circles, not so much as the hem of a
feminine hai k profaned at our hands ; and then , too,
'

on every face there shone a look o f intense delight at

being fairly off on the return trip , on as much of

them , that i s to say , as was visible beneath th e um
brellas , veils and handkerchiefs with which nearly all
were endeavoring to protect their heads from the
( 1 59 )
1 60 M E QU I N EZ .

burning sun and choking dust Ah me ! there lay .

the real diff erence The May su n had changed to

.

that of June , the thermometer registered

(Fahrenheit ) when we started , and ahead of us lay
two hundred miles of African soil This reflection .

embittered not a little the satisfaction we woul d other

wise have felt at getting away from Fez without
having any c ause for remorse To reach Tangi er we
'

were to proceed first to M e qu i n e z , go from thence to

E l Araish , foll ow the Atlantic coast as far as Azil a,
and then turn inland to Ain D aliya, where we had
camped on the first night of the j ourney Me qu i n e z .

is about fifty k ilometres from Fez , and i t took us

three days to get there The country along the route
.

presented no new features worthy o f note , being j ust

l ike that through which we had travell ed on our way
to the capital ; the same fields of wheat and barley ,
in many of which , however , the reapers were now at
work the same black duar s, the same vast stretches
of open country
,
c overed with lentisks and dwarf
palms ; the same wi de views of undulating ground,
rocky h il ls, the dried beds of small torrents , solitary
palm trees , white kubbas , an utter peace , and an i n
-

finite melancholy Owing, however , to the vicinity

.

of the two large cities we met more people than we

had even don e on the j ourney from Tangier to Fez .

Caravan s of camels , large dr ov e s of cattle ; dealers

conducting troops of beautiful horses to the Fe z mar
ket ; saints preaching in the wilderness ; couriers on
 M E QU I N E Z . 1 61

foot and mounted ; peasants armed with scythes ,

going to reap in the fields and occas i onally a wealthy
Moori sh family travelling up to Fe z , w i th all i ts s er
vants and household goods One of these famil ies ,
.

that of a wealthy M e q u i n e z merchant , whom D ucali

knew, formed in itself a long caravan F irst came .

two servants armed with muskets , and behind them

the h ead of the family , a han dsome , severe -looking
m an , with a b lack beard and white turban , riding a
richly caparisoned mule He held the reins and a
.

ch ild of two or three years , who was on th e saddle in

front of him , with on e hand, while with th e other he
clasped the two hands of a woman , completely ve iled
—
poss ibly the favorit e wife who rode b eh ind him
—

all huddled up into a b all and holding on to h i m

tightly beneath th e armp i ts , as though try ing to suff o
cate him (perhaps sh e was terrified at the sight of
u s) ; other women , their faces hidden as well , rode

after the master, mounted on m ul es ; armed relatives ,

b oys , servants , negresses with infants i n their arms ;
Arab servants on foot , carrying guns over their
sho ulders ; m ules and donkeys laden with mattresses ,
p illows , cushions, b edclothing, dishes , parcels ; and
finally more foot servants c arrying cages containing
-

little dogs and parrots As we went by the women

.

held their hai ks more closely b efore their faces ; the

merchant did not s o much as look at us ; the relatives
glanced uneasily in our direction , and two children
b egan crying .

V O L II 1 1
. .
—
1 62 M E QU I NEZ
.

On th e third day our attention was distracted fr om

such sights as these by a most unfortunate occurrence .

Poor D r M i gu e r e z was sei zed at ou r second halt ing

.

place by a severe attack of sciatica, and was obliged

to m ake the rest of the j ourney to M e qu i n e z on a sort
of improvised litter , manufactured out of a hamm ock
and a couple of tent poles , and swung from the backs
-
'

of t wo mules This misfortune threw a gloom over

.

everyone The caravan separating into two divi s

.

ions ; i t was a truly depressing S pectacle to see , as

we frequently did, that litter come Slowly i n to view
and then as slowly descend from some height in our
rear, surrounded by mounted soldiers , muleteers , se r
vants , and friends , all of them as grave and silent as
though it were a funeral cortege From time to time
.

they would halt and all bend anxiously over the i n

valid, then motion to us, watching from a di stance ,
that our poor friend was worse It was , as I say , a
.

mournful sight , and yet it added a feature both

charming and picturesque to the caravan , making us
look like the escort of some wounded Sultan The .

first day we pitched our camp in the plain of Fez , the

second on the right bank of the ri ver Mdum a , about
a five hour s j ourney from Me qui n e z , and i t wa s
’

here that a very pleasant little incident took place .

Towards evening we all walked along the river bank -

to a spot about half a mile fro m the camp , and near

a large duar , all the inhabitants of which came to
meet us There was a bridge at this point , built of
.
 M E QU I N E Z
. 1 63

m asonry , having a S ingle arch , in the Arab style , old ,

but except in a few places where it had crumbled a
l i ttle , perfectly firm and sol i d ; alongside of it wer e
the remai ns of another bridge , part of which were
bu ilt i nto the steep rocky banks and part ly ing heaped
up in the r iver bed On the left bank , about fifty
- .

feet from the bridge , lay the ruins of a great wall ,

the traces o f some foundations , some heaps of stones,
and some blocks of cut stone , apparently once form
ing part of a buildi ng of considerable s i ze The s ur.

round i ng co untry was ent i rely bare These were .

the remains , i t was said, of an Arab city called

Mdum a, built upon the ruins of another city ante
datin g the Mussul man invasion We accordingly set
.

to work to s ee if we could possibly di scover any i n

di cati on s of Roman con struction , but either there
were none , or we fail ed to i dentify them , to th e man i
fest delight of the Arabs , who no doubt thought we
were search ing , by the aid of our diaboli cal books , for
some treasure hidden there by th e R umli (Romans ),
from whom , accordi ng to them , all Chr i stians are
di rectly descended Captain di Boccard , however,
.

as he was recrossing the bridge to return to the camp ,

noticed i n the river below , on top of a huge rock
almost pyramidal in shape , some small square stones,
upon which certain characters seemed to be engraved,
and the circumstance of the i r position , as though they
had b een placed there to be seen from the bridge
above , strengthened this i dea The captain an ;
.
164 M E QU I NE Z .

n o un c e his intention of go ing to examine them , and

d
everyone thereupon t r i ed to dissuade him The
.

river banks were steep , the bed was filled w ith great
-

masses of sharp rocks lying at some di stance from on e

another, the current was extremely rap i d, and the
rock upon whose summit the stones lay not only very
high , but very difficult if not impossib le of access .

But Captain di Boccard i s on e of those people who ,

when once his mind i s s et upon a ri sky undertak i ng ,
considers the matter as settled ; e i ther he gets k illed
or he succeeds .We had not yet fin i shed en um er at
ing our reasons against his going when he had begun
clim bing down to the r i ver, al m ost as he was, even to
his ridi ng boot s and spurs A hun dred or so Arabs
- .

stood watching, some on each b ank of the river, and

th e rest hanging over the side of the bridge No .

sooner had they t aken i n where it was that the cap

tai n proposed clim bing to than the undertakin g—

seem ing to them quite desperate they al l began to

—

laugh , and when he reached the ri ver and paused,

look in g all about him for the best way to proceed ,
they thought that he was afrai d, and ra i sed a deris i ve
shout .

“
None of u s, sai d on e of the m i n a loud tone ,
”

“
has ever b een able to get up there ; let us see i f a
”
N azarene i s more likely to suc c eed .

It is quite c erta in that none of the rest of us Ital i ans

wo ul d have done s o, but i t so happened that the man
who was making the attempt was the most act i ve
 ME QU I N EZ . 1 65

m emb er of the emb assy The laughter of the Arabs

.

gav e h im h i s final i mpetus He gave a leap , di sap

.

ea r ed among th e b ushes, reap p eared standi ng on a

p
rock , disappeared again , an d so went on fro m stone
to stone, j umping like a cat, sl i din g , cli mbing, runn i ng
constant risks of falling in to the ri ver or b reak ing his
neck , and finall y reached the b ase of the rock , when ,
wi thout so much as wa i t in g to take b reath , laying
hold of every little irre gularity and indentation on its
surface , he proceeded to climb to the very summit ,
where h e stood a moment erect as a statue We .

heaved a mighty sigh of reli ef, the Arabs were trans

fixed w ith aston i shment , th e honor of Italy was safe .

The c aptain , like a haughty conqueror, did not de ign

to bestow so much as a glance upon his v an q ui shed
fe e s, and o nl y paus ing long eno u gh to satisfy himself
that the supposed historical stones were merely some
fr agm e nts of cement , which had becom e d etached
from the parapet of the bri dge , des c ended by another
way , and with a fe w leaps was once more on the b ank,
where h e was rece i ved with tri umphant honors .

The j ourney from Mdum a to Mequi n ez was a ser i es

of such extraordi nary optical delusions an d di si llu

sions that had it not been for the terr ible heat we
should have foun d i t very entertaining About two
.

hours, or very little m ore , after leav i ng the camp , we

s aw far away in th e centre of the great b are plain
, ,

the vague glitter of th e wh i te minarets of Me quin e z ,

and congratulated ourselves on being so nearly there .
1 66 M E QU I NE Z .

But what appeared to be a level plain was i n re ali ty

an endless succession of parallel vall eys separat ed
by great billows of earth , r i sing to equal heights , so
that i t looked like an even surface thus as we
trave lled on the city constantly vanished and reap
e ar e d, as though i t were playing hide and seek with
- —
p
us . Then the valleys were so uneven and rocky that
they coul d only be traversed by winding and difficult
paths , so that the distance was certainly double what
we had at fir st supposed it to be , the city seeming to
retire as we advanced I n every valley we took
.

heart again, only to be plun ged in fresh despair on

the next hill top , and then shrill weary voices would
-

be heard, and lamentable sighs, and angry determina

tions never again to undertake a journey in Africa ,

whatever the obj ect or condi tions At length though ,

.

by the help of Providence , on issui ng from among a

group of w ild olives we saw before us the unexpected
sight of the long -wished for city close at hand All
-
.

the lamentations at once gave way to exclamations

of wonder M e qui n e z , extended over a long hill ,
.

framed in gardens, surrounded by three li nes of great

’

battlemented walls , cro wned with minarets and palm

trees , as gay and i mposing as a suburb of Constanti
n e ple , lay spread ou t before us , her thousand white
terraces outlined against the b lue sky Ne t a single
.

cloud of smoke issued from that mul titude of houses ,

not a living so ul was to be seen either on the ter
races or outside the wall s, not the fai ntest so und
 M E QU I N EZ . 1 67

broke th e stillness ; it was like an abandoned city or

some scene on th e stage .

The mess tent was pitched at on c e in the centre of

-

a barren field, and about two hundr ed feet from on e

of the fifteen gates of the to wn , and before many

minutes had elapsed we were all seated at table for

th e purpose of satisfying what th e writers of elegant
prose wo ul d call i l n a tur a le ta len to di cibo e di be
”
va nda . Hardly had we taken our places when a
party of horsemen , magnificently att i red, and pre
ceded b y a troop of soldiers on foot , i ssued from the
gate and advan c ed towards the camp It was th e.

Governor of Me qui n e z , accompanied by his relat i ve s

and o fficers Dismo u nting from their steeds whose
.
—

trappings were of every color of the rainbow at —

about twenty feet from th e tent , they rushed towards

“
us , cryin g in chorus , Welcome ! Welcome ! Wel
come The Governor was a young man with a
sweet express i on , black eyes , and a very black beard .

The others were all tall , bearded men , bet ween forty
and fifty y ears of age , dressed i n wh i te , and as spruce
and perfumed as though they were j ust o ut of a band
box They shook everyone by the hand, all circling
.

about the table as though they were go ing through a

quadri lle figure and sm ili ng with great aff abili ty ;
,

then they placed themselves in a group beh i nd the

Governor One of them though , observing a piece
.

of bread lying on the ground , picked i t up and placed

i t on the table , at the same time saying something

1 68 M E QU I N EZ .

which no doubt signified E xcuse me , b ut th e Koran

“

forbids the waste of b read , I am but performing m y

’
duty as a good Mussul man . The Governor n ew
o ff ered to everyone the hospit ality of his house ,
which was generally accepted , only the two painters
and I remained in th e camp , waiting unt il the heat
shoul d abate sufficiently for us to visit th e town .

Selam kept us company , enlargi ng meanwhile upon

the wonders of Me q ui n e z.

“
In M e qu i n e z there are the most beautiful women
in Morocco , and the most b eautiful gardens i n Africa,
”
and i ts royal palace is th e most beautiful in th e world.

That was h ow h e began , and as a matter of fact that

is the rep utation of M e qui n e z throughout the E mpire ;
there , woman i s synonymous with beauty , and man
with j ealousy . The imperial palace was b uilt by
M ulai Ismael , where , in 1 7 03, he kept four thousand
women and eight hundred and sixty seven ch il dren ;
-

it wa s two miles around, and was ornamented with

marble columns , some of them brought hither fro m
the ruins of F ar aun , not far fro m Me qui n e z , and the
rest from Leghorn and Marseilles There was a great
.

a lcaz ar where the most costly fabrics of E urope were

exposed for s al e , a vast market connected wi th the

c ity by a street on which stood a hundred fountains ,
a park filled with enormous olives , seven great
m osques , a formidable garrison of art illery m en , who
kept the Berbers of the neighboring mountai ns in
check, an im per i al treasury conta ining five hun d red
 M E QU I N EZ .
1 69

mil lion francs , and a pop ul ation o f fifty thousand in

habitants , who were considered th e most courteous
and hospitable people of the E mpire .

Selam gave us , i n a low voice and with mysterious

gestures , an exact description of th e spot where the
treasure i s st ill kept No on e knows what i t amounts
.

to , but o f course it must have diminished consider

ably at the time of the last wars , i f i ndeed enough
remains to entitle i t to the name of treasure .

“
“
Within th e Sultan s palace , said he , there i s
’ ”

another palace , bu ilt entirely of stone , lighted o nl y

from above , and surrounded by three wall s E nter .

ing by an i ron door, y ou presently come to another

i ron door, and then t o still a third ; after these three
doors comes a low, dark passage way , through which
-

you have to carry li ghts ; th e pavement i s of b lack

marble , th e walls are b lack , th e roof i s b lack , and the
air smell s li k e that of a tomb At the end of the
.

passage way is a large room , and i n the m i ddle of the

-

room an op enin g that lets down into a deep sub ter

r a n ea n apartment here four time s a year thre e hun
;
dred negroes are employed i n shovelli ng i n with
spades th e gold and s ilver coins sent thither b y the
Sultan , who overlooks them himself The negroes .

who work in this roo m are confined for li fe i n th e

palace , whil e those employed i n th e sub terranean
apartment never come out of i t alive Th e ten
.

earthenware vases which stand around the room con

tain the heads of ten negroes who once made an at
1 70 M E QU I NEZ .

tempt to steal ; Mulai Suleiman had their heads cut

off j ust as soon as all the money was safely stowed

away , and not one m a n has ever come ali ve ou t of

”
that palace except the Sultan , our lord .

He recoun ted these atrocities without evincin g any

S ign of i ndi gnation ; it was more as though h e took a
certain pride i n them, and was speaking of super
human matters about which a man had no right to
pass j udgment or to regard with any feeli ng other
than one of mysterious reverence .

“
There was once a certain King of M e q u in e z , ”

continued he , with the same immovable gravity ,

standi ng erect before our tent , with on e hand resting
on th e hilt of his sword, who wi shed t o make a road
“

from M e qui n e z to Morocco , flanked by great w al ls so

that even th e blind could go from one city to the other
without being gui ded N ow this K i ng, who was both
.

cruel and obstinate , own ed a ring by the power of

which he could assume power over all the demons ;
h e accordi ngly summoned them and made them work
on his road There were thousands and thousands
.

of them , and they could all li ft stones that a hundred

men were unable to move as far as the length of your
finger All the demons who refused to work were
.

bui lt i nto the wall alive , b y the K i ng s orders, and

’

y ou can s e e their bones for yourself ( It.is true t h at

bones are t o be found there , b ut they are the bones
of Christian slaves , and m ay b e seen in the walls of
Sallee and Rab at as well ) Both walls of the road
.
 M E QU I N EZ
. 1 71

’
had been built as far as a day s j ourney , and every
on e was rej oicing to think how soon th e work wo uld

be fin i shed ; b ut the K ing di spleased Allah , so that

he was not w ill i ng that that road shoul d ever b e com
p l eted One. day ,
as he was rid i ng along on his horse ,
‘
a poor country woman stopp ed him and said, Where
-

do y ou expect this road to lead to , oh rash K ing ? ’

‘ ’
To the infernal regions, answered the King,
angrily Then go there your self, c ried the old
.
’

woman, and at these words the King dropped from

his horse dead, the wall s crumb led to pieces , the
demons scattered the stones over all the neighboring
c ountry , and the road remains unfinished to this
”
day .

“
And do you really beli eve all this, Selam I
i nquired .

“ ”
Why , certainly , he ans wered, surprised at my
i mplied doubt .

“
And do you believe in demons
Why, of course I believe i n them Are we to
.

suppose that there is any reason why p eople should

not beli eve i n them
But have y ou ever seen any ?
No, never, and that i s w h y I do n o t think there
are any left i n the world now ; and when I hear any
‘
on e sa ,
y Be careful how y ou go by such a place after

’
n ightfall there are demons there I go right t o that
, ,

place , and am th e first to go by it , because I know

those demons are j ust men , and with a good horse
1 72 M E QU I N EZ .

under m e, and a good gun in my hands, I am not

”
afraid of anyone .

“
And h ow does it happen , in your O pinion , that
there are none n ew if there once were demons in the
world
” “
Oh , well, said he , beginning to move off, it is
just b ecause the world is diff erent i n many ways from
what i t used to be I might ask you , for i nstance ,
.

why it is that the men are not so tal l n ew as formerly ,

nor th e day s so l on g, a n d why the animals have
"

“
stopped talking ”
. And he walk ed off, shaking h i s
head with an air of compassion .

As the ambassador di ned in the city on that day

Selam and the others did nothing but gallop back and
forth b etween the gate and the camp , to the great
amuseme n t of the two art i sts and myself, who were
m ore stru ck on that occasion than ever b y th e absurd
contrast between the i r di gnified and i mposing appear
ance an d th e lowliness of their o ffice Here , for ex
.

ample , comes the servant Hamed bestriding a great

black charger, who, i ssui ng forth fro m the battle
me n te d gate of Me qui n e z on a gallop, dashes across
the open space at full sp eed His high turb an , struck
.

’
by th e sun s rays, shines like snow, his great light
blue clo ak fl utters i n the breez e li ke a reg al mantle ,
his dagger gleams , his graceful m anly form breathes
the dign ity of a prince combined with the hardi ness
of a warrior . How many vague , romantic dreams
are aroused by the sight of that picturesque Mus sul
 M E QU I NE Z. 1 73

man caval ier flying like a phantom beneath the walls

of a medi aeval city ! Whither is he b ound ? To
’
abduct th e most beautiful of the Pasha of F ar aun s
daughters To challenge the v al i ant Kai d of Wazan ,
who is betrothed to his sweetheart ? To c onfide his
troubles to the b reast of the secular saint , who has
been praying for eighty years on the summit of Mount
Z ar h lm , i n the sacred e a ui a of Mula i E dris ? No ,
’

none of these He i s merely on h i s way to the camp

.

’
to procure some fried potatoes for the ambassador s
dinner .

Towards sunset the artists and I set ou t for the

town , mounted on mules and accompanied by four of
the foot soldi ers b elongin g to the Governor of Me
-

u i n e z , who had first exchanged t h eir muskets for

q
st icks and knotted cords Before start i ng, however,
.

we made an agreement w ith them , through the i nter

preter Hamed , that when we should all three clap our
hands at th e same time , it would mean that they were
to conduct us back to the camp by the shortest road,
and as qui ckly as possible .

After passing through two outer gates a steep —

h ill leadin g from on e to the other we found our

—

selves i n the heart of the town Our fi r st i mpres

.

sion was on e of pleased surprise We had expected

.

to find Me qui n e z more dreary , if anyth ing, than Fez ,

instead of which i t turned out to be a cheerful place ,
with plenty of foliage ; i ts many streets , w in d i ng to
b e sure, b ut wide and flanked by low houses an d
1 74 M E QU I NE Z .

garden walls , above which co uld be seen the s u mm i ts

o f the b eautiful hills surrounding the city in every
;
di rection glimpses could be caught of here a minaret ,
there a palm tree or a battlemented wall ; at every
-

step we came to a fountai n or an arabesqued door

way , oaks and leafy fi g trees grew in the middle of
-

the streets and squares , and there was an all p e r vad

-

ing airiness and lightness , a breath of sweet country

smells , and a certain charming peaceful ness befitting
a royal city whi ch , though decayed it m ay be , i s not
altogether dead After many turnings an d twistings
.

we came out upon the vast open square on which the

great palace of the Governor stands , gorgeous with ex
u i si te enameled m osaics of a hundred di ff erent colors
q .

Just at that moment the rays of the setting sun fell

full upon i t , caus i ng i t to gl itter li ke on e of those
pal aces , studded with pearls , that figur e in legends of
the E ast . The soldi ers were going through the
“ ”
powder play , and about fifty servants and guards
were seated on the groun d before the entrance ; the
rest of th e square was deserted The glo wi ng facade
.
,

the horsemen , th e towers , the solitude , the sunset , all

combined t o for m a picture so typically Moorish , to
.

breathe a spirit so entirely of the past, to suggest in

on e b rief glance s o much history , poetry , and r e

mance , that for a few moments we all three stood trans

fixed with admiration From thence the soldiers
.

took u s to s e e a large outer gate of noble des i gn , and

covered from the b ase of the walls to the top with
 M E QU I NE Z . 1 75

delicate , many colored mosaics which gleamed like

-
,

so many rubies sapphires , and emeralds , se t in a tri

,

u m h al arch of ivory The two painters made rapid

p .

sketches of i t in their note books , and we retraced

-

ou r way to the town U p to n e w the people whom

.

we had met i n the streets had exhibited no feeling

other than curiosity ; it had even seemed as though
they regarded us with a more favorable ey e than th e
inhabitants of Fez But now all at O nce , and with
.

o u t a S hadow of reason , their humor changed .First

some O ld women cast sidelong glances at us ; then two
or three b oys began throwing stones between ou r
’
m ul es legs then on e troop of r aga m uffin s ran before
and another behind us , kicking up a di abolical racket .

The soldiers of course did not hesitate to respond to

these amenities i n kind Two kept i n front and two
.

behind us , and soon it was a pitched b attle between

them and the rabble ; they struck those close at hand ,
threw stones at those farther off, and even chased the
bolder spirits some distance B ut it was wasted
.

energy Not daring to answer back with stones , the

.

crowd began pelting us with brui sed oranges , lemon

peel , and dried manure , and the rain soon became so
thick that we thought it prudent to advise the soldiers
to desist from all further o ffensive warfare in order
not to p rovoke anything more serious ; but these , by
this time thoroughly exasp erated, either did not hear
us or pretended not to , and continued to fight with
ever in c re a sing fury U nable to wreak their ven
.
1 76 ME QU I N EZ .

ge an c e on the boys , they took it out on the men .

E very paunch caught protrudi ng from a doorway got

a crack of the whip by way of warning ; every poor
dev i l who failed to flatten himself against th e wall to
let us pass , a push that sent h im flying ten feet back
wards ; every old womanwho cast a surly look at us ,
a fist shaken i n her face and a rude voice in her ear .

Indignant at these brutalities we signed energetically

to them to desist , b ut the rascal s , thinking that we
were reproaching them for lack of z eal , only p r o
cee de d to lay about them more roughly than ever .

To crown all, two youths of ten or twelve suddenly

appeared from I do not know where possibly they
—

were relatives of the soldiers armed with sticks , and

—

joining the escort as volunteers at once began to deal

out such v i gorous and impartial b lows on men , women ,
donkeys , m ules , far and near alike , that even the
soldiers were obliged to counsel moderation . At
every stroke they wo ul d both turn and look at us , as
though suggesting that i t should be especially remem
bered i n the fee , and as we had unfortunately gotten
into a state of uncontrollable laughter they naturally
took our mirth as a sign of encouragement , and banged
“
away like creatures possessed . What will happen
“
n ow we said to on e another . An uprising ? A
”
riot ? Already the m al treated ones were begin n ing
to mutter ominously ; on e or two had struck back at
the boys It was high time for us to get ou t of the
.

c ity as q uickly as possible Biseo , however, st ill

.
 M EQU I NEZ. 1 77

hesitated ; but j ust then , as we were crossing a square

filled with people , a stone struck my mul e square on
the head , while a carrot took U s si in the back of the
neck This decided us , and we at once clapped our
.

hands , that being the sign al agreed upon for beating

a retreat ; but even this innocent action c aused fresh
tumult The soldiers , to S how that they had under
.

stood, clapped theirs i n return , and thereupon all the

people i n the square , i ntendi ng probably to mock us ,
began clapping the i rs as well , and all the while the
showers of lemon peel, curses, and b lows kept up
-

bravely , and c ontin ued unt il we were close to the

gates ; even when we were well outside and going
towards t h e camp choruses of pleasantries were st ill
“
hurled at us from the tops of the walls Cursed be
.

” “ “
your fathers ! May your race die out May
All ah roast your great grandmothers -
Such was
the reception accorded us i n the city of M e qui n e z ;
and certainly if, as is said , it i s the most hospitable
city in the E mpire , we were lucky to be there and no
wh ere else On the following morning a litter was
.

’
brought to the camp for the doctor s use It had .

been constructed in twenty -four hours b y the m ost

clever artisans of Me qui n e z , who would no doubt have
consumed more than twenty four days on th e j ob had
-

not the Governor put the matter to them accompanied

by certain hints that i t would hardly have been pru
dent to disregard It was a heavy , cumbersome aff air,
.

looking more like a cage for the transportation of

V O L II 1 2
. .
—
1 78 M EQU I NEZ
.

w ild beasts than a litter for a sick man , and yet a

good deal better than anything we had hoped for .

As the men gave the finishing touches under our di

rection , they were so proud of their work and so con
fi de n t of our admiration that they fairly trembled
with emotion , flashin g quick glances at us every time
we open ed ou r lips When M or te o finally put the
.

money in their hands they thank ed him with dignity ,

and walk ed off smil i ng triumphantly , as who should
“
sa
y, Haughty ignorant ones ,
we have shown you
what manner of men we are
Towards sunset we left M e quin e z , and for two
hours travelled across the most beautiful country ever
dreamed of by an enraptured landscape painter I .

can behold it still , and st ill I seem to feel the divine

beauty of those green hills sprinkled with rose trees ,
-

myrtles , oleanders , and flowering aloes ; the gorgeous

beauty of the city of M e qu i n e z , gilded by the sun , as
it graduall y withdr ew from our gaze , m inaret by
minaret , palm by palm , terrace by terrace , and the
smaller it became the higher it seemed to lie , as
though it were climbing up the hill side ; and the per
fume laden breeze that ruffled the surface of the
-

water , i n which were reflected all the varying colors

of th e escort , and the dreamy i n fin i tu de o f that rose

tinted sky I can se e it , feel it all still , and yet I

.

cannot describe it , but sit helplessly gnawing my

finger .
 O N TH E S E B U .

IT was noon of the fifth day since l eaving Fez ,

when , after a five hours ride a c ross a succession of
’

b arren valleys , we once more p assed through the

B eb cl Tinca gorge , and again beheld, st r et ch i ng away
- -

b efore us , t h e vast plain of the Sei , fl ooded with

white, glari n g, blazing sunlight, the mere m emory of
which sends the blood rushing to my head E very .

on e except th e amb assador and the captain , both of

whom seemed to share the supposed nature of the

salamander, covered his head l ike a b rother of the
Miseri c ordi a, carefully enveloped himself i n a cloak
or cape and w i thout uttering a word , h i s chin r est
,

i ng on his b reast and w i th eyes half closed, descended

-

in to that terrible plain , trusting only to the mercy of

Heaven At a certain po in t the voice of the com
.

“
mander was heard breaking the silence One horse
”
de ad, said he ; and sur e enough , one of the baggage
“
horses had dr opped N o on e m ade any reply
. . You
”
know , adde d the commander w i th some irr itation ,
“ ”
the horses always die fi r st . This Spee c h as well
was received i n utter s il enc e Half an hour later a
.

fai nt voic e was heard ask ing U s si to whom he had

1 81
1 82 ON TH E S EBU .

left his p i cture of Bianca Capello D ur in g the entire

.

ri d e not another word was spoken E ven the sol

.

di ers of the escort di d not talk, wh ile the Kai d Hamed

Ben Kasen actually had p erspiration rollin g down his
face , notwithstandi ng th e huge turban that shaded
him Poor general ! That very morning he had
.

rendered me assistance in a way that I shall remem

ber for the rest of my li fe ; seeing that I kept falli ng
b eh i nd, he came alongside of me and fell to whacking
my m ule with such vic i ous zeal that in a few m oments
I p r anced gayly b y all my companions and tore off
at a g allop , b oundi ng in my saddle like an i ndi a rub
-

ber figure , and arri ved in camp full five minutes

ahead of any of the others , with my i nsides i n com
motion an d my heart ful l of gratitude . N o one
stirred out of his tent that day until dinner time , and
-

the me al i tself was as s ilent as though we already felt

’
the depressi ng e ffect of the morrow s heat A single
.

inciden t that occurred towards the end succeeded in

caus ing a li ttl e stir in the camp We had reached
.

the fruit, when we heard a mo urnful cry proceedi ng

from the direction of the escort camp , accompanied
by a noise which gradually grew louder and sounded
l ike some on e being flogged . Thinki ng that it was
o n ly some sport of the soldiers or servants we paid
no attent ion, b ut all at once the cries grew shr ill , and
we c ould di stin ctly hear a voice utterin g i n tones of
suppli cat ion the name of th e foun der of Fez , M ul ai
“

“
E dri s Mul ai E dr is Leaving the table , we all
 ON TH E S E B U . 1 83

hastened to the spot from whence the sounds came ,

and there w e witnessed a painful s i ght Two s oldi ers
.

of th e escort held an Arab servant suspended between

them , one grasping h i m by the shoulders and the other
by the feet, a third was flogging him severely with a
whip , a fourth held the lantern , and th e oth ers stood
in a circle looki ng on Hard by stood the Kai d , with
.

arms folded across his breast The ambassador at once

.

ordered the prisoner to be released, and as he hur

ri ed away , still sobbing, asked the Kai d what had
” “
happened . N oth i n g, nothing , he said, merely a
”
tri fling occurrence , and then explai ned that he had
been obliged to punish the man for throw i ng b alls of
ku sku ssu at his companions a rather serious m i sde
—

m eanor, and for a Mussul man sacr ilegious as well ,

as every ki nd of food th e earth prod uc es shoul d be
looked upon as the direct gift of God, and respected
accordingly As h e spoke the Kai d, who at heart
.

was the k i ndest of men , coul d not conceal , try as h e

might to appear indifferent , the re al pain it had caused
him t o have to i n fl i ct such a punishment and h i s pity
for th e victim , a fact that restored him to his place in
my heart Dur i ng the night we were aroused by a
.

hot east wind that drove us from our beds i n search

of a mouthful of a i r fit to breathe At daybreak we
.

resumed our j ourney i n a close atmosphere that gave

promise of a still warm er day than the on e before .

The heavens were covered with clouds , tinged with

red i n on e d i rect i on by the rising s un , which b roke
1 84 ON TH E S E BU .

through at some po i nts i n dazzling rays ; on the op

os i te side it was black and streaked with ob li que
p
li nes of rain ; and from th i s threaten ing Sky there
came a strange unearthly light , as though i t shone
first through a roof of yell o w glass , throwing over
that vast stub ble covered plai n an angry sulphurous
-

glare that al most hurt our eyes In the d i stance we

.

could s e e the wind rais ing great clou d s of dust and

whirling it around in furious gusts The country was
.

deserted , the air heavy and oppressive , the horizon

hidden behind a lead colored ve il of vapor Without
—
.

ever having seen Sahara I fancied that at times it must

present just such an appearance , and was about to
express this thought aloud when U ssi , who has been
to E gypt , suddenly stopped short and exclaimed i n a
”
vo i ce of wo n der , Why , there i s the desert !
“

After a four hour s ride we rea ched the banks of

’

the Seb li , where tw enty Beni Hassan cavaliers awaited

’

us , commanded by a handsome boy of t welve , son of

the Governor Sid Abd-All a The party advanced to
-
.

meet us with the usu al shouts and firing of m uskets ,

and the camp was p itched with all spee d cl ose to the
river 011 a pie c e of b ar e ground broke n b y deep fi s
sures As soon as luncheon was ove r everyone with
.

drew to his tent to get through as best h e might what

proved to be the hottest day of the trip I shall .

endeavor to gi ve some faint idea of our suff erings, so

let my kindly readers prepare their hearts for senti
ments of the profoundest pity , wh ile I , w ip ing the
 O N TH E S E B U . I 85

perspiration from my brow , begin : At ten o clock i n’

th e morning , when my two companions and I retired

to our tent , the thermometer marked 1 07 : (Fah
o
7:

)
r e n h ei t i n the shade. For about an hour an ani
mated conversation was kept up At the end of that
.

time , finding a certain d ifficulty in roun di ng off our

periods , we confined ourselves to simple statements
of facts then concluding that it was too fatig ui ng to
;
put verb , subj ect , and attribute together, we stepp e d
talking entirely and tried to go to sleep , b ut it was a
useless attempt The heat of the beds , the fl ies ,
.

thirst, suffocation , all combined to keep us from clos

ing our eyes After fuming and tossing for some
.

time we resigned ourselves to staying awake , and

tried to find some way of occupying ourselves , b ut
there was none ; cigars , pipes , b ooks , maps , every
thing fe ll from our hands I attempted to wr i te , but
.

at the third line the whole page was damp with the
perspiration that was running off my forehead like
water from a wet sponge I could feel little ri vulets
.

all over me , which i ntersected and emptied into one

another, forming rivers and cascades , and then ran
down my arms and hands unt il they almost washed
the ink off the end of my p en I n a fe w minutes
.

handkerchiefs, towels , veils , everything we co ul d lay

our hands on were drenched as though they had b een
di pped i n a pail of water We tri ed to drin k out o f
.

the cask , but the water was boiling , so we emptied i t

out ; hardly had it touched the ground when all trace
1 86 O N TH E S E B U .

of it vanished At noon th e the r mometer was

.

The tent was an oven , every obj ect we touched seemed

to burn u s I laid my hand on my head and felt as
.

though I had placed i t on a stove The beds scorched

.

our backs s o that we coul d not li e on them ; once I

tried putting my hand on th e ground outside the tent ;
it was red hot E veryone had ceased talking, but
- .

from time to time some feeble voice wo ul d be heard

“ ”
to ej aculate , This is death , or No on e c an stand
” “ ”
this much longer , or We w i ll all go mad U s si .

appeared for an instant at the door of our tent with

his eyes starting out of his head, and murmuring i n a
“ ”
choked voice I am dying vanished Diana, poor
,
.

li ttle creature , lay extended beside the commander s ’

bed panting in such a manner that we feared that

every moment would be her last Without th e tents.

not a voice coul d be heard , no one was to be seen ,

everything was as motionless as though the camp had
b een abandoned The horses neighed i n the most
.

’
lamentable manner, the doctor s litter, which had been
placed near ou r tent , creaked and groaned as though
it were spli tting apart Once Sela m s voice was
.
’

“
heard as he ran by calli ng out , Se ha muer to un
”
(A dog i s dead )
” “
p er r o I That makes on e came
.

back i n faint tones from the commander, facetious

’
to the last At on e o clock the thermometer had
.

reached 1 1 5 115 , and after that even the vo i ce of

0

lamentation was hushed The commander , th e vice

.

C onsul , and I lay prone upon the gro u nd l ike s o many

 ON TH E S E BU . 1 87

dead bodies ; throughout the entire camp the captain

and the ambassador were probably the only two
Christians who still gave signs of life I do not r e
.

collect how long I remained in that condi tion , I was

plunged in a sort of stupor , and lay in a kind of wak
ing dream Al l manner of confused images surged
.

through my brai n v i sions of cool spots and frozen

—

obj ects I was di ving off some high cliff into a lake ;
.

holdi ng my neck under the mouth of a pump ; build

ing a house of solid ice ; devouring in the space o f
ten min utes all the I ces I n N aples ; and the more I
in fancy paddled in cool, watery depths and swal lowed
frozen things the more conscious I became of dying
of heat , thirst , madness , exhaustion At length the
.

captai n was heard announcing, in funereal tones ,

That was the last utterance I remember
to have h eard .

Towards even in g the little son of the Governor

of the Ben i Hassan s whom we had seen in the morn

ing came to call upon the ambassador i n place o f his

father, who was ill He entered th e camp on horse
.

back , accompanied by an o fficer and two soldiers .

The latter lifted him to the ground in their arms, and

’
h e advanced towards the am bassador s tent with
measured tread , wearing his long light blue cap e as-

though i t had been a coat of mail, his left hand rest

ing upon the hilt of a sword longer than he wa s him
self, and th e right extended in greeting In the .

morning when we had seen him on his horse he had

1 88 ON TH E S E BU .

appeared to be a good looking youth enough , and i n

-

deed he had a pair of handsome , thoughtful eyes , set

in a pale oval face ; b ut on foot we p erceived that he
was twisted and deformed, a fact that may have a c
counted for his fixed melancholy Throughout the .

entire visit not a single sm ile illumined his face , nor

di d his expression become more cheerful . He r e
garded us searchingly , on e after another, and repli ed
’
to the ambassador s questions i n low, brief tones .

Once only did a faint ray of pleasure gleam i n his

eyes , when the ambassador spoke of having noted
with admiration his bold, graceful horsemanship in
the morning, but even that was only a passing ray .

Notwithstanding the fact that we all sat around look

ing at him , and that this was probably his first ap
e ar an c e before a E uropean ambassador in an o ffi cial
p
capacity , he did not betray th e slightest shadow of
emb arrassment , si pped his tea S lowly , eat a few
sweetmeats , talk ed aside to his offi cer, adjusted his
little turban two or three times , examined our shoes
attent i vely , let it appear that he was gro wi ng tired ,
’
'

and then took his leave , pressing the ambassador s

hand to his breast , and turning towards his horse with
the sam e bearing of a di gnified S ul tan that he had
worn when he approached ; helped i nto the saddle by
’ “
his sol di ers aid, he said once more , Peace be with
”
y ou , and departed at a gallop ,
foll owed by his little
b e cloaked staff
-
.

That same evening some sick people came in search

 ON TH E S E BU . 1 89

of the doctor, wh o, accompan ied b y th e dragoman ,

Salomon , and a small band of soldiers, had started not
long before by the Al cazar road for Tangier Among .

others there was a wr etched looking youth , half

-

naked and emaciated , whose dull eye s seemed hardl y

to s e e u s, and apparently worn out w ith fatigue .

“
What do you want ? asked Mor te o
”
.

”
“
I want t o see th e Chri stian do c tor, he repli ed in
a t r emb lin g voice.

On hearing that h e was too l ate h e stood for a mo

ment as though stup efie d, and then cried out in a tone
of ab so l ut e desperation :
“
But can I not s ee h i m at all ? I have come eight
m iles to get myself cured by the Chri st i an doctor !
”
I m ust see the Christian doctor ! and thereupon he
burst into most heart rending sobs Mor teo put some
-
.

money in his hand , which he accepted with i n di ffer

ence , and then pointing out the road taken by the
doctor told him that if he walked quickly he might
st ill be able to overt ak e him The yo uth hes itated
.

a few m oments, gazing wi th tearful eyes in the dirc e

t i on in dicated, and then Slowly set forth .

That even in g the sun went down beyond an i m

m ense pavili on of golden and fl am e colored clouds , and
-

shoot i n g its l ast b lood-colored rays athwart the plain

dropped b elow the unbrok en l ine of the h orizon l ike
an enorm ous fiery b all p lun ging i nto the bowels of
the earth The n i ght was c old !
.

B y sunr i se of the following day we had alre ady

'
1 90 ON TH E S E BU .

reached the same spot on the left bank of the S eb u

where we had crossed on our way from Tangi er, and
no sooner had we arrived than the char m i ng G ov
e r n or Sid Bekr-cl Hab a s si
-
appeared on the oppo
site bank , accompanied by his o fficers an d men , wear
ing th e same white cloak , and m ounte d upon the '

same black charger, with sky-blue trapp ings, as when

we first met him But this time th e passage of the
.

river presented an unlo cked for di ffi c ulty Of the

-
.

two boats i n which we should have crossed, on e h ad

gone completely to pieces , and the other was broken
in several plac es and half under water, wh ile the li ttle
dua r , formerly i nhab i ted b y th e boat m en and the ir
families , was deserted The ri ver coul d n ot b e forded
.

without great r isk , and the nearest a vail able b oats

’
were at least a day s j ourney distant from that spot .

Wh at was to be done ! How could we get across !

A sol di er swam the river and carri ed word of the
situation to th e Governor , who on h i s part d i spat ched
another soldier to b r ing us the explanat i on The .

boatmen , i t seemed, had b een dul y not i fied on the

preceding day to hold the m selves i n re ad iness to trans
port the embassy ac ross on the following morni ng, that
being the t i me when we were expected, but find ing
that ow ing to their own negli gen c e the b oats were r e
duc e d to such a condi tion as to be q ui te useless , and
bein g themselves either unable or unw i lli ng to m end
them , they had qui etly decamped i n the night to
Heaven knows where, taking the i r famili es and stock
 ON THE S EB U
. 1 91

wi th ’
them , in order to escape the Governor s wrath .

There was then nothing for it but to patch up the

least i nj ured of the two boats as b est we might , and
that was what was done The soldiers ran hither and
.

thither collecting m e n from the neighborin g duar s,

and presently the work was begun under the lordly
supervision of Luigi , the caul ker who on that , for
,

h im , memorable occasion , gloriously sustai ned the

honor of the Italian n avy It was amusing to watch
.

the Arabs and Moors at work Ten of them , all gesti c

.

ul ati n
g and S houting in chorus ,
at the end of half an
hour had not accomplish ed as much as Lu ig i and
Ranni in five minutes passed in m ilitary silence .

They all issued orders , all criticised , all waxed angry ,

all assumed airs of command , motioning to and di rect
ing on e another imperiously , li ke s o many admiral s ,
at the very least , and n ot on e of them made the hole
any smaller The Governor and the Kai d meanwhile
.

shouted to one another across the water ; the horse

men of both escorts gall oped up and down the banks
examining the horizon in search of th e fugitives ; th e
beasts of burden stood on the S hore i n a long li ne ,
half up to their necks i n water ; the workmen chanted
the praises of the Prophet and on the opposite shore
a great sky blue tent arose , beneath which Sid Bekr
-

el Hab assi s servants hastened to prepare for o ur de

-
’

lec tati on a delicious repast , composed of figs , sweet

m eats , and tea, which we got a foretaste of through
ou r glasses , humming meanwhil e snatches from a
1 92 ON TH E S EBU .

ser i o comic opera, composed dur ing the d ull hours at

-

”
Fez , and called The Itali ans i n Morocco
“
.

B y the help of the Prophet th e b oat was pat ched

up i n a couple of hours Ranni took each one of us
.

on his sho ul ders i n turn and deposited us in the bow,

and we reached th e O pposite shore , up to our ankles,
i t i s true , i n water, b ut without having to swim for i t ,
an i nestimable piece of good fortune , which we were
very far from counting up on at first .

Governor S i d B ekr-el Hab assi had heard of how

—

the am b assador had sounded h i s praises to the Sultan ,

and was consequently even more kind and engaging
than on th e former occasion After resting a li ttle
.

while we continued our j ourney in th e direction of

Kariya el-Hab assi , wh i ch we reached at about twelve
-

’
o clock , and passed the hot hours of the aftern oon in
the same small, white apartment where just thirty
fi ve days prev i ously we had seen our host s pretty
’

little daughter peeping ou t at us fro m b ehind the

paternal turban On this o cc asion Sid Bekr el Ha
.
- -

bassi presented to the ambassador among other per

s on a e s a Moor of about fifty of stately b earin g and
g ,

pleasing address , who I do not suppose on e of us has

ever forgotten , not so much on his own account as
because of the strange things we were told of his
fam ily He was a brother of on e Sid Bom edi , former
.
-

Governor of the Prov in c e of D ucalla, who for eight

years had languished in a Fez pri son Tyrannic al.

an d re c klessly extravagant he had bled his people to

,
 ON THE S E B U . 1 93

th e ut most , obtained ruinous loans from E uropean

brokers , contracted debt on debt , and raised the devil
generally among his family and fr i ends , and was
’
finally arrested and carried off to F e z by th e Sultan s
orders , who , believ ing him to have treasure sto wed
away somewhere , had caused his house to be pulled
down , th e ru ins searched , the foundations dug up , and
his entire fam ily forbidden the province under pain
o f death for fear that some o f them might know
,

where the money was hidden and secretly remove it .

But as nothing was found possibly b ecause there

—

was nothing to fin d the Sultan persisted in his b e

—

l i ef that treasure was hidden somewhere and that the

p ri sone r coul d tell if h e would Th e latter had n ot
.

yet b een allowed to se e th e light of day , and was

probably doomed to die in confinement The case of
.

Sid Bom edi is b y no m eans an uncommon on e among

-

the Governors of Morocco , who , some m ore and some

less, all enrich themselves at the expense of the ir
people , and furnish a never failing excuse to the
-

Government , ever on th e lookout to get possession of

their property , to do so under the pretence of pun ish
i ng a culprit . The Governor or Pasha upon who m
the Sultan has fixed his ey e is summoned to Fez or
Morocco in a friendly manner, or else is suddenly ar
rested i n the dead of night by a band of i m perial
soldiers , and conducted to the cap ital by forced
march es , tied to a mule , on his back , with his head
han ging down and his face exposed to the sun On .

V O L II 1 3
. .
—
1 94 ON TH E S E BU .

his arr i val he is loaded with chains and thrown into a

dun geon If he tells where his money is hidden he
.

is released and sent b ack in honor to his province ,

where i n a short time , and by means of st i ll more op
pressive measures , he i s able to reimburse h i mself ;
but if he refuse to reveal the secret h e is left to Ian
guish in his li ving sepulchre , and is flogged every
day i n addition , till the blood flows Again , if he
.

o n ly tells where part of his fortune i s secreted h e i s

beaten all the same unt il the whole truth i s known .

Somet imes a Governor, more acute than the others ,

s c ents the threatened catastrophe beforehand, and
averts it by going volunt ar ily to court , accompanied
by a l ong caravan of m ul es and camels, laden w i th
costly gifts ; but as it takes m ost of his fortune to pro
vide these o fferings the resul ts are no less di sastrous for
the people of his pro v ince than they are for those whose
Governor returns from prison , having been forc ibly
stripp ed of his possessions It somet i mes happens
.

that the prisoner di es under the rod or from c on fin e

ment , without having revealed the secret , and then
w hen a favorable opportunity arrives some member
of his family gets possession of the treasure ; and
others again di e without revealing anything, simply
because they have no treasure ; but such cases are
rare , it being a general custom in Morocco for every
on e to hide what money he can , and the Moors are

known to be marvellously clever at the art of con

cealm en t. Stories are told of treasures buried b e
 ON TH E S E B U . 1 95

neath th e door steps of houses, under the pilasters of

-

the court yards , the stairs , the wi ndows ; of dwell ings

-

being pulled down to the very fo undation , stone by

stone , without the treasure being di scovered , which ,
however, was there all the time ; of slave s who were
killed and secretly buried after having helped their
masters to hide their money ; and the common people
mix up these horrible and m elancholy tales of things
which have actually occurred wi th their charm ing
'

legends of m i racles and spirits .

Governor el Hab assi returned wi th us towards

-

evening to the camp , wh i ch had been pitched in a

meadow filled w i th flowers and tortoises , about two
’
hours ride from his house , and midway between the
r i ver Meda, which a little further on splits up into a
number of small streams , and a charming hi ll , sur
’
mounted by a sai nt s tomb with a green dome About .

a gun shot from our t ents was a large dua r , sur

rou nded by aloes and Indian fi g trees As we passed
-
.

by the entire population streamed out, and we had an

O pportunity to s e e for ourselves the a ffection in which
the Governor is held by his p eople I n fi r m old men
.

and women , tr 00ps of ch i ldren , middl e aged persons ,

-

youths , on e and all came r unning up for him to lay

his hand on the i r heads, and then went b ack quite
sat i sfied, turn i ng around to gaz e at him with an ex
pression of love and gratitude The presence of the
.

adored Governor di d not , h owe ve r , ser v e to avert from

us any of the customary black looks and imprecations
1 96 ON TH E SE BU .

Women half hidden behind a hedge would push

-

forward one child with their right hands for th e Gov

’
cru or s blessing, and another with the left to tell us
that we were dogs Little creatures about two feet
.

high , barely able to stand , would come toddling to

wards u s, entirely naked , and S haking the i r tiny fists ,
about the siz e of a walnut , at u s, woul d cry ou t,
“
May your father b e accursed As they were
afraid to face us al on e, they would assemble in parties
of seven or eight , all crowding close together in
a group that co ul d have been stood on a good sized —

tray , and advanc ing with a threatening air to within

ab out ten feet of our mul es , where they would stammer
out their small impertinences How we laughed ! One
.

party approached Biseo to express the hop e that some

of his relatives I have forgotten just which might
— —

be roasted Biseo took out his pencil, and the two

.

front on e s, j um ping suddenly backwards in their

fright , upset the rest , and half the regim ent were
bowled heels ove r head E ven the Governor burst
.

ou t laugh in g.
 A

A Z I LA .

AFTE R the continuous sight of great decaying c i ties ,

a declining pop ulation , and a country beautiful , i t is
true , but mournful in the extreme , after slumber , old
ag e , ruin , to be suddenly confronted by ceaseless

a ctivity , immortal youth ,ai r that rejuvenates the

blood , beauty that rej oices the heart , a boun dless
immensity in which the soul expands the ocean !
—

With what tremors of delight did we greet it ! The

unexpected appearance of a friend or brother would
n ot have aroused greater enthusiasm than did the

sight of that di stant , shimmering ar e, which seemed

to sweep away like some huge scythe , Islamism ,
slavery , i gnorance , and bear our thoughts direct and
un impeded back to Italy . B ahr cl K ibi r I
- - ”
(the
great sea) ex claimed some of the soldi ers , wh il e others
m urmured , B a hr -cd D holma ! (The sea of shadows )
“ —
.

E very on e involuntarily quickened his pace ; conver

sat i on which had languished revived again ; the ser
vants began chanting sacred songs ; i n the course of
a few moments the entire caravan had taken on an
air of gayety and rejoicing .

On the evening of the 1 9th of June we encamped

1 99
200 A Z I LA .

b ut a three hours ride fro m E l Ar ai sh , and on the fol

’

low i ng morning entered the city The Governor s .

’

son received us at the gate attended by twenty u n

,

armed and b are foot soldiers , standing in line in the

-

stre et , a hundred or so ragged boy s, and a b and con

sisting of a drum mer and a trumpeter , who shortly
a fterwards came to earn a gratuity by treat i ng us to

an ear spli tting concert in the court -yard of th e

-

Italian c onsular agency .

On a coast strewn w i th such decay ed cit i es as

Sallee , Az am oor , Safior , and Santa Cruz , E l Arai sh ,
by virtue of such small commercial activ i ty as sh e is
still able to boast of, is reckoned as on e of the prin
c i al ports o f Morocco Founded in the fifteenth cen
p .

tury by a Berber tribe , fortified towar d s th e end of

the same century by Mulai ben Nassar, su rrendered
- -

to Spain in 1 6 1 0, retaken by Mulai Ismael in 1 689,

still a flourish i ng place i n the beginning of this cen
tury , and inhabited to day by about four thousand
-

persons , both Moors and Jews included, such b r i efl y ‘

is the outlin e of her history The town stands on

.

the side of a h ill to the left of the mouth of the river

K u s the Li x u s of the Romans which forms a capa
—

cions and safe harbor, rendered useless, however, for

large ships by th e sand bar that lies nearly across the
-

entrance In this harb or rot the hulks of two small

.

gunboats, the last , forlorn remains of that fl eet that

once bore conquering armies to the shores of Spain ,
and c arried di sm ay int o the ranks of E uropean c om
 AZI LA . 201

m erce On th e right bank of th e river may still b e

.

seen some of the ruins of the ancient city of Li x u s,

and beyond the hill stands a large forest of mighty
trees There is noth i ng especially noteworthy within
.

the city except the market place , surrounded by an

-

arcade supported on small stone p illars , but the V iew

o f it from the harbor , all white against th e deep

green of the hill side , inclosed in a circle of high ,

-

dark battlemented walls , reflected in the blue waters

of the river and beneath that limpid sky , was alto
,

gether charming, albeit in spite of the brilliant color

ing melancholy as well one coul d not help pitying
— —

the picturesque little to wn , left there lonely and s ilent

on that wild coast , with its deserted harbor , and fac

ing that b oun dl ess ocean .

Camp was pitched that night on the right bank of

the K u s , and broken at an early hour the next morn
ing. We were t o go to Azila, distant about four
’
hours ride from E l Araish , and the baggage convoy
was accordingly dispatched i n the morning , wh ile the
embassy waited until towards evening Wishing to
.

s e e the caravan from a fresh point o f view I went

,

with the baggage , and was very glad afterwards that

I had done so, as the trip proved to be quite an ad
venturous on e Th e pack mules travelled in small
.
-

parties , accompanied by the muleteers and servants ,

and some distance apart I set ou t alone , and for
.

nearly an hour r ede over the hill s without seeing any

on e but a solitary m u le led by an Arab servant and
,
202 A Z I LA .

laden with a pair of straw panniers, one of which sup

ported the head and the other the feet of a groom of
the ambassador, who had been se i zed wi th a violent
attack of fever, and whose groans were enough to
move the very stones to pity The poor creat ure
.

’
was laid across the m ul e s back , with his head hang
i ng down , his body c u rved, and the su n in his eyes ,

and in that way h e had travelled from Kariya el -

Hab a ssi , and wo ul d have to finish the j ourney to

Tangier Indeed , it is the common manner of trans
.

po r ting sick people throughout Morocco , unless they

happ en to be rich enough to hire a litter and a pair
of m ules and he who has a pannier for his head may
c oun t himself fortunate.

From the h ill s I descended to the shore , where I

foun d the cook , R anni, and Lui gi, who j oined and
kept with me the rest of the way to Azila For the
.

space of an hour we trotted over the sand, making

occasional detours to avoid the inroads of the tide .

D uring this ride the cook , who for the first time
throughout the entire trip had an opportunity to talk
freely to me , opened his heart Poor man ! All the
.

incidents of the j ourney , all the wonderful things he

had seen , had not succeeded in ridding his mind of a
c ertain haunting memory that had never left him
s i n c e the first week of h i s soj ourn in Tangier It was
.

the recoll ection of a particular j elly that had turned

out badly on the occasion of a dinner given to the
French minister a elly that had struck the first blow
—
 A ZI LA . 203

at h i s reputat i on , hitherto so fir mly established in the

ambassadorial mind, and wh i ch , after all , had failed
through no fault of h i s, but simply because the mar
sa la was bad . F e z , the court , M e qui n e z , the Seb u,
the ocean , h e had seen them all , and beheld every
on e of them across that disk of solidified syrup ; or

rather h e had seen and was see ing nothing at all , b e

cause although his bo dily presence was i n Morocco ,
his spirit was i n Piaz za Castell o I asked h i m his
.

i mpressions of the j ourney , but they did not amount

“
to much He co ul d not understand what sort of
.

animal it co ul d b e that would fashion such a place .

”

He told me about all his tr i als and di fficulties , his en

counters with the Arab scul li ons, his e fforts to prepare
things fit to eat in the middle of these wi lds , of his i n
tense longing to get back to Turin ; b ut h e al ways
came back to that heart ren di ng j elly of the French
-

“
minister I do not know how to cook , perhaps ?
W ill you do me the favor when you are next in
”
Turin , an d he touched me on the arm to draw my
attention away from the contemplation of the ocean ,
“
W il l you j ust do me the favor t o put that question
to Count Se and Se , Coun tess Such an on e, etc whom
- - - -
.

I have served for years and years ? Go to General

Ricotti , the Minister of War , he who has been minister
for five years and can get anything h e likes ; go to
him , and j ust put that question squarely , D o I or do I
not know h ow to m ake j ell y ? Just go to him , give
me that satisfact i on ; spend a few m o m ents with him
204 A ZI LA

when we get back and he was s o urgent that in

order to look at the ocean in p ea c e I was obliged to
promise that I would .

Meanwhile every hundred feet or so we wo ul d ever

take two or three pack mules , a few mounted soldiers ,
-

and some servants on foot ; little fragments of the

caravan which for an hour or more we conti n ued to
pass Among the sol di ers were a few from E l Araish ,
.

tattered indi viduals , with handkerchiefs knotted about

their heads , and rusty guns clasped i n their hands ;
wh ile among the servants I observed , for the first
‘

time , some boys of twelve or fifteen years , runaways ,

they told me , from M equ i n e z and Kariya cl Hab assi ,
- -

who had j oined the caravan , with nothing on their

backs b ut a tunic , to go to Tangi er, the city of civ ili
z a ti on
,
and seek the i r fortunes , living meanwhile on
the charity of the soldiers Some of these groups
.

would have a story teller in their number, others were

-

amusing themselves by Singing, and they all appeared

to be happy About half way we halted for luncheon
.
-

in the shadow of a rock , and I witnessed a little scene

that told me more of the character of the p eople than
a whole book of philosophical reflections wo ul d have
done A sol di er was seated on the beach , and beyond
.

him another ; further on was a servant , and fifty feet

beyond him , on the slep e of a l i ttle h ill and close to a
sprin g , sat another servant , wi th a jug between his
knees W i sh ing a drink of water I called to the
.

nearest soldier, E h na (water ), and pointed to the

“
 A Z I LA
. 205

spring The man assented w ith a polite gesture , and

.

“ ”
ordered his neighbor imperiously to get some water .

The second one made a movement as though he would

obey at once , and then tur ning in a threaten ing man
ner towards the first servant began to scold him for
not having already r un to p erform his duty This
.

one thereupon jumped up , and even took a few steps

towards the spring , but thinking better of it merely
told the man with the j ug to fetch it at once , while
he , thin king that I was not paying much attention ,
did not stir Five minutes passed, and st il l no water
. .

I again applied to the first soldier, and again th e whole

scene was enacted ; finally I saw that if I was to get
any water I would have to gi ve the order directly to
the man with the j ug I did so, and he , after taking
.

some moments to consider th e matter , at last con

cluded to draw it , and brought it to me at a snail s ’

pace We now resum ed ou r j ourney , a fresh breeze

.

was blowing and the su n had gone under a cloud

, .

The ride was enchanting, but as the tide rose higher

and higher our narrow strip of sandy beach became
more and more contracted, so that we were obliged
to ride single file , and soon foun d ourselves imprisoned
between the water and th e cl iffs, which rose almost
perpendi cul arly above our heads , and ob liged us to
pick out a path among the stones and reefs against
which the waves were breaki ng . Sometimes my
mule would stop short in affright and I would find
myself entirely surrounded by water, enveloped i n a
206 AZI LA
.

cloud of foam , deafened by th e roar , blinded by the

spray w i th my head i n a whirl , and the headings of
,

obituary notices composed by my friends dancing

through my brain But our hour, as the cook would
.

say , had not yet sounded , and after a mile of this sort
of thing we reached the foot of a cli ff which seemed
to be more accessible , and up which we accordingly
scrambled in hot haste , only pausing to look back at
our perilous pathway We were accompanied by an
.

old soldier of E l Araish , on horse b ack , who was a

little touched i n h i s head and laughed all the time , but

who , Heaven be praised, knew the road This man.

led us around the cliff and then through a thick jungle

o f dwarf oaks , hawthorns , b i rches , cork trees , brooms
-
,

and shrubs of every kind ; by a thousand winding

-

paths , amid rocks and brambles, in m ud water, and,

mire , through places that seemed never before to have

been trodden by the foot of man , and , st ill laughing ,
brought us out at last , after a long and very weari
some detou r all scratched and p ull ed to pieces , on the
shore , where we still found a narrow strip of dry sand
left Here , the caravan n ot being yet in sight , the
.

coast was deserted, and we rode on for some time ,

seeing nothing but sky and sea and the bases of the
steep h ill s , wh i ch run in successive chains to the
shore , and thus c ut o ff the view before and behind .

We were proceeding i n single file and in p erfect

silence over a beach as hard and smooth as a floor,
th e thoughts of every one of us, I venture to say ,
 AZI LA . 207

many hundreds of m il es away from Moro c co , when

quite suddenly a horrible looking obj ect j umped out
-

from behind a neighboring rock , a frightful Old man ,

hal f naked , with a wreath of yellow fl owers on his
-

head , a saint , who began inveighing against us , howl

ing like a madman , and going through the motions ,
w ith both hands , of tearing our faces , and pull i ng out
our beards \V e stopped to watch him , whereat he
.

became more violent . Rann i , without more ado ,

started towards him with a stick , but I stepp e d him ,
and threw th e man a p i ece of money The rascal
.

became silent at on c e , picked up the coin , examined

it careful ly on both S ides , hid it away , and i m m edi
ately began abusing us more furiously than ever .

“ ” “
Ah , said Ranni , this tim e a knock or two will
do him good B ut the soldi er suddenl y became seri
”
.

ous , and holding him back , addressed a few words to

the saint i n a low voice and an accent of the deep est
reverence The wretched old creat u re thereupon
.

ceased, and with a last furious look at us di sapp eared

once more among the rocks , where we were told h e
had lived for two years subsist ing ent i rely on roots
and h erbs , and with th e sole obj ect of cursing such
o f the Nazarene vessels as he co ul d descry on the

horizon.

We now reascended the hi lls and rode for a long

time over winding path s amid lentisks , brooms, and
,

boulders someti m es the path winding along the edge

,

of a perpendicular cli ff, we would see far below u s the

208 AZ I LA .

se a breaking over the reefs , and a long stretch of sand

enlivened as far as the eye could reach by detachments
of the caravan , and beyond the boundless surface of
the ocean stretching away , blue and dotted over with
the white sa ils of distant vessels The flattened sum
.

mits of the hills across which we were riding formed

a vast undulating plain , covered with high shrubs ,
and with not a vestige of cul tivation in sight , not a
hubba even , nor a hut , nor a human creature , and
with no sound to be heard but the ceaseless murmur
o f the sea .

“
What a country said the cook , gazing uneasily
“
about him . I only h e pe that nothing will happen
”
to us , and he asked m e more than once if I did not
think there was any risk of our encountering a stray
li e n or s o
.

Ascending and descending, losing and finding one

another again , and all the while shut in by the thick
underbrush , we j ourneyed for nearly two hours among
those desolate hills , and had begun to fear that we
had lost ou r way when from the top o f an eminence
,

we suddenly saw before us the towers of Azila and

the entire line of coast as far a s the mountain 011 Cape
Sp ar tel, whose blue cont o ur stood out clear and dis
tinct against the limpid background of the sky There
.

was great rej oicing among my little caravan but i t ,

was unfortunately short lived Making o u r way dow n

- .

to the beach , we descried some little distance ahead of

us a group of horses and some men lying about under
 A ZI LA . 209

the trees Immediately on seeing us they leaped to

.

their feet , mounted , and advanced to meet us i n a

single li n e , formed in the shape of a half moon , as-

though with the idea of cutting off all chance of escape

i n the direction of the town .

“ ” “
We are in for it n e w, tho u ght I This time
.

there is no help for i t , it i s a robber band without

”
doubt , and I motioned to the others to halt .

“ ”
Send the Moor on ahead ! cried the cook , and
the Moorish soldier went to the front .

“ ”
Let fly at them ! howled the cook , beside him
self with fright .

“ ”
One moment , said I .
“
Suppose before we b e
gin kill i ng them we ascertain if they have really any
”
desire to kill u s , and I observed them more closely
as they advanced on a trot , t en of them , some dressed
in dark colors , some in white , and certainly failed to
se e that any of them carried guns At the head rode
.

an old man with a white beard ; altogether I felt r e

assured.

“ ”
Let u s form in a square , cried the cook , but I
told him there was no n eed By this time the white
.

bearded leader had uncovered , and was coming to

wards me cap in hand He was a Jew ! Ten feet
.

away h e stopped with his suite , composed of four

other Jews and five Arab servants, and m otioned that
he wished to spe ak to me .

“
Ha ble Us tco, I replied
”
.

“ ”
I am s o and s o, of such and such a place , he
V O L II 1 4
. .
—
21 0 A Z I LA .

said i n a very sweet voice i n Spanish , and bowing

“
with an air of deepest respect . I am consul ar agent
of Italy and all the other E uropean co u ntr i es in the

town o f Azil a I have the ho n or to be in the pres

.

ence o f His E xcell ency , the Ambassador of Italy , r e

tu r ning from Fez , wh o left E l Araish this morning
”
and is on his way to Tangier ?
Then I understood, but hastil y ass u ming an air
of lofty dignity I sent a slow glance over my escort ,

fairly trembli ng with pride and delight , and having

thus for a fe w brief seconds inhaled the incense of an
o fficial reception , I reluctantly undeceived the old
gentleman , and told him who I was He seemed a
.

good deal disappointed at first , but did n ot al low it to

al ter his demeanor, o ff ering me his house to rest in
,

and on my declining ins i sting at all events on aecom

pany i ng m e to the spot which had been chosen for the
camp .

We accordingly proceeded all together, making a

circuit around the city i n order to reach the shore on
the other side If only U ssi and Biseo could have
.

beheld m e then How picturesque a representative

of Italy I must have been , mounted on mul eback ,
with a white scarf wrapped about my head , and fol
lowed by my staff, consisting o f a cook in h i s shirt
sleeves , two sa ilors armed with sticks , and a crazy
Moor ! Oh , Italian art , what hast th e n lost !
Azila Z ilia of the Carthaginians, J ulia Tr aducta
,

of the Romans ; taken from these last by the Goths ;

 A Z I LA . 21 1

sacked by the E nglish towards the middle of the tenth

century consisting for thirty years of nothing but a
heap o f stones then rebuilt by Abd e r -Bhaman ben
-

Ali Cali ph o f Cordova ; captured by the Portuguese ,

,

a n d retaken by the Moors is n ow nothing but a poor

,

little town of not much over a thousand inhabitants ,

counting both Moors and Jews ; surrounded on the

side next the s e a , as well as that towards the land , by
high battlemented walls , falling i nto ruins white and
silent as a cloister, and l ik e all other small Moham
medan to wns stamped with that air of gentle melan
ch e ly that reminds one of the smile of a dy i ng man ,
who takes pleasure in the fact that his life is ebbing
away .

Towards sunset that evening th e ambassador ar

rived i n camp , having passed through the town and ,

I can se e before me now t he charming picture formed

by that brilliant cavalcade , s o full of life and color ,
which , issuing from on e o f the great battlemented
gateways , advanced in pict uresque disorder along th e
shore of th e ocean , throwing across the s and, tinted
rose color by the setting s un , its long black shadows
-
.

An d I can still fe el the pang that went through me as

“
I said to myself, Wh at a pity , what a pity that
that charmi ng picture must fade away , combi n ing as
it does so much of Africa, and s o much of Italy , so
many j oyful prognostications , so many happy m emo
ries . And j ust at this point , indeed , the trip may be
said to have ended , as we camped the following m orn
21 2 A ZI LA .

ing at Ain D aliya and two days later r e entered

,
-

Tangier where the caravan dispersed in the self

,

same market square from which t wo months before

-

it had se t forth .

The commander, the captain , the two artists , and I

left for G ibraltar together ; and the ambassador , the
vice consul, and all the legation people went down to
-

the shore to S ee us off The adi eux were very warm ;

.

every one seemed to be more or less moved , even the

good General Hamed ben Kasen , who , straining my
hand against his broad breast , repeated three times
the only E uropean words he knew A D i es in —

accents that came straight from h i s heart Hardly .

’
had we se t foot on the vessel s deck when all that
phantasmagoria of pashas , negroes , tents , mosques ,

and battlemented towers seemed to recede to an i m

measurable distance of time and space It was not .

as though a country merely , but an entire world ,

faded at that moment from our gaze a world , more —

over, that there was but small l ikelihood of our ever

.

beholding again A little fragment of Africa aecom

.

an i e d us to the very ship in the persons o f the two

p
Sela m s, Ali , Hamed , Abd e r R h am an , Ci v e , Mor teo s
’
- -

servants , and all the rest of those worthy young fel

lows whose Mussul man prejudices had not sufficed to
prevent their becoming attached to the Nazarene s
and serving them devotedly These , too , n e w bade
.

us farewell with every token of lively aff ection and

sincere regret , Civ e more than any of them , who ,
 A Z I LA . 21 3

flourishing his white tunic before m y eyes for the last

time , seized me around the neck like a friend of my
ch il dhood and imprinted two kisses on my ear .

E ven when the steamer had gotten under way they

all still stood i n their boat waving their red fezzes in
the air, and calling out , as long as we could hear
them :
“ ” “
Allah be with you on your j ourney ! Come
” “ ”
back to Morocco ! Farewell to the Nazarenes !
Farewell to the Italians Farewell ! Farewell
 I ND E ! .

Ab b as i des, the ii . 20 . Anecdote re l atin g to l a w of r eta l ia

Abbondio Do n tion i i 1 03 1 06
,

200, 235 .
,
—

Anti q u ity obj ects o f i i 1 37

.
, , ,

Abd A ll ah son of G ov S id i i 1 84 Arab bearin g 23—24

, , , .

-
. .

Abd c r R ahm an see Su l tan boys appearance of 27

. , . , ,
- -

A bd c r R h am a n ben A l i i i 21 1 c l oa ks 21
, . , , .

- — .

Abou ben G i l e l i K ai d 235 236 237

.

costum e 24
.
, ,
- -
.

cou rage i i 1 16
, , , , , ,

24 8
Ab l utions re q uired h K oran 210 facu l ty for re pose 23
.
, , .

Abu Yussu f Ya i b e Mansar foun foot se rvants 1 05

.
, ,
- -

der of Al cazar 1 58 manne r of h ardenin g s k u l l 1 1 4

.
, ,

m usic 1 4 30 51
.

Adventure romantic of mem be r of

, .
,

em bassy i i 1 1 3 musicians 65
, , , , ,

A f i c a Fe z the Athens of i i 23 n ature 62

.
, , ,

res idence o f E uro pean M iniste r

.

obj ection to portraits 1 08

.
, , , , ,

to 1 6 passion for comm and 1 03

,

trade w ith interior of i i 98

.

race ch aracteristics 64
, . ,

of nati ves d i ffi cu l t to te ll the story te ll ers 64

, , .
, .

A -

gg treatm ent of ho rses 1 36

, , .
,

w omen 34 35 , .

A gricu l tu re sta te of 20
A R D a l i a 1 04 i i 21 2
.

Arabic 20
. , ,
, ,

I - '

A ssa Si i M o h am m ed b em 52 6 8 A i s toc r a c of Fe z i i 5
. .
, , , ,

i - r
A i ss wi e h arriva l at T an g ier 54 A rri va l a t ez i i 3
, , . . . , .

Arms of th e v ice consu l 93

. .
,

Mosq ue 53
, , ,
-

Army di ffi cu l ty i n obta ining l n for

. , .

r e l i g ou s order of the 52
, ,

I .

rites 53 mation concerning i t 74

, ,

sna k e ch arm ers of order of 6 8

, .

size of the ii 74
. ,
,

the M o r occoa n 1 1 0
. . .

Al a r cos b a ttl e of 1 58
, ,

A l c azar band 1 50 usefu l i n co ll ecting tax es 21 9

, , . , .

A xt reception accorded I ta l ian i t

. , .

b attl e of 1 48
, ,

bazaar 1 56
, , , ,

i2
fi rst si g h t of 1 50
. .
,
A r ti l l e r y comm a n der -i h ch i e f of th e ,
-

Je w s q uarte r 1 5 7
.

ii
, ,
’
72
traditions as to foundin g of 1 58
. .

m an euvres of t he i i 1 46
.
,

o
Artists th e t w o 1 6
.

visit to th e city of 155

, , ,

Al ge i a commerce w it h Morocco n p ts to s k etch th e natives

. .
, , ,

igg
at
II g
, , ,
B
revo l t i n p ro vince adj oining Arusi story of th e brigand i i 1 23
,

, , , ,

1 30 .

Al i and Fa th m a i i 21 AS C l eo tra s 95 ’

A tE
.

ens 0 Africa Fe th e 11 23
.

Hassan second son of i i 35

, , , ,

z
Al i S herif e l ected K ing ii 35 p i c t re of e x p u l sion of D u k e of
, , . . . , . .

A l m e h adean dynasty Fez u nder 1 2p

, , , , . ,

the i i 22 At l antic the 1 07 ii 1 99

,

Atl a s Mountains 1 8
.

A l m oh d e s dynast
.
, , , , ,

15 8
o
A l oes ho w uti l ize by Arabs 71 A ud i e n ce w ith the Su l ta n p riv ate
. , .

A l onzo I ! of C asti l e 1 58
. , ,

i i 62
, ,

Ambassador the I ta l ian 1 4 1 51 Au stria w h i pp in g w hen abo l ished

. . . .

i n 238
,

A m e ri c m city description of an i i
, , , ,

l 2a Aza m oo r i i 200
.
, , ,

C onsu l 91 1 04 1 38 Azi l a 1 4 8 ; i i 210

.
, ,

capture d by the P ortu guese I I

.
,

Amp cl u si um ancient name of C ape

.
, , , , H

. , ,

Sp a t e l 7 3 r 21 1
Amputation h o rr or of 1 40 C a th a inian nam e fo r 11 21 0
. .
,

r , , .

fi rst Si g t of i i 208
.

Anatom y study forbidden 1 40

.
,

.
, , . , ,

215
21 6 I ND E! .

Azi l a rebui l t by Abd e r B h aman - - Biseo Roman artist a 1 6

ben A l i ii 211 Black G ua rd the i i 36
, , , , .

reta k en by the Moo rs 21 1

.

Black Moo rs disli ke for i i 4 0

, , , , , .

sac k ed by the E n gli sh i i 21 1 Bleeding method of s t o p ping 14 1

. , .
, , ,

ta k en by the G oths i i 210

. .

Blindness prevalence of 25
, , , ,

Blue Fou ntain River the 25 1

, , . . , .

Bab el Maroc ii 25 B oash er i n the G n d Vizie r ii 56

, ,
- - ra
i n v itation to dine w ith i i 5 5
.

Ba h r cd D h ol m a the Sea of Shad

.
, , , , ,
- -

o w s i i 1 99 palace of i i 56
.
, , ,

Bah r e l K ebi r th e g reat sea i i 1 99 Boats M or o ccoan 1 93

, , . , , .

- -

Ba k a l i the G rand S herif i i 30

.

Boccard Signor Giulio d i 1 6

, , , . , ,

Ba ll l aying 6 ] 1 85
. .

as a guide i i 81
, , , , ,

Ban the A l cazar 1 5 0 a n entomologist 1 89

, .
, .
,

Barbary p ee l e of ac k no wl edge ente rpri se of i i 1 64

. .
, ,

E dris e b II E p l ii 21 Books absence of 20

.
, , , .

- - ‘
I S,
Bargas S idi Minister of F oreign Af scarcity i n F ez i i 77
. .
, , ,

Boy s a p p earance of Arab 27

.

fai rs 80
, , , .

. .

visit to 82
,

coming from rite of c i c u m ci s

, ,

r
Bath i n g amon g Arab peasants 21 0
.

ion 32
,

Battl e of Al a co 1 58
.
,

pig tai ls of Arab 28

, .

-
r s,
C asti ll ej os i i 1 17 runa w ay i i 204
. .
,

I s l y i i 1 1 5 1 17
. . .

Bravery of Moorish arm y i i 1 1 6

, , ,

B e t d K ora n forbids w aste of ii

.

T etuan ii 1 1 7
.
, , , , ,

r
T h e T h ree K in gs 1 47
.
, , , , ,

. 1 fig
V a d Rasen 1 70 Break fast with Sid M u sa ii 29
,
-

Bazaar of A l cazar 1 56
.
.

Brida l procession 37
.
, ,

. .

Bazaars of Fez ii 1 6 Bride a Moorish

, ,

Be ac h of Tan g ier 4 1
.

fi fte e n year old of Mohamm ed

, , ,
- —

Bearing of Arabs as compared w ith

, .
, ,

E uro peans 23 B i a n d Arusi story of th e i i 123

1g
r
Beatin g a boy 237
.
, , , ,

o
‘

negro th ief 34 Brussels home sick artist from 7 6 -

so l dier i i 1 83 B u Bekr ben e l B abassi Gov 1 79

. .
, ,
- - - -
.

Beauty of Je we ses 26 Bugeaud Marshal i i 1 1 7

. . , .
,

s
a s l ave ii 1 09
.

B uh a e i H a m c d Ben K ase n 7 9 ; i i
. .
, , ,

lg
rr
Be k i r I mam Ahmed ben Abey
.
, , , , ,
0

erects a dome ii 24 kind heart of i i 1 83

,

Be k r e l B abassi S d G ov ii 1 90 Buker S i d i i 1 33
, , .
, .

- - I -

Bu tte r N iche G a te i i 1 8
.

Ben Aouda garden o t G o v 1 6 8

.
, , , , , .
'

- -

G overnor 1 66
.

Burnt Gate ii 1 8 23
.
, , , , ,

i ncident i n fam i l y h i story of Buttons stam ped w i t h head of Q ueen

. .
, , , .

G ov 1 70 Victoria i i 1 3
sons and neph e w s of G ov 1 67
. .
.
, , ,

Ga i k descri p tion of th e 22
.
,
visit from 1 73
.
'

Ben e LHab assi G ov 1 95 Calif E d ris e b n E d s ii

, .
, .
,
- -
rl
Haru n a 1 R l i d i i 21
.

Beni Hassan boundary of the d is

, .,
, ,

- as i
Ca l ip h of Cordova the i i 211
.

t i c t of 215
, , ,

r
Ca m oens the p oet 1 49
.

d istrict of 1 96
.
, , , ,

G overnor of 200 Ca m p-life re t urn to i i 1 55

. .
, , ,

Ca p s the F ez i i 96
.

horsemen the i i 1 81
, . , , ,

Be i Has sans character of the 1 99 Captai n l tu n a to C assone 1 6 1 37

. .
, , , , , ,

1i g
Ii -
. r
customs 203
, , , ,
1 1,
revo l t of the 202 G i l i o d i Boccard 1 6 1 89 ; i i 8 1
.
,

from the son of G ov of i i 1u

.
. , , , ,

fi
C ape Malabat 4 1
.
,

Beni Ma l e k district of 1 71
.
,

- S p a te l 73 ; i i 208 r
worn i n Morocco 5
.

Be ni M tir tribe of 1 93
.
, , , ,
-

B e n T inca G orge 23
.

i i 1 81 Ca rab us r ug sus 1 90
, .
, ,
5
. o
Caravan for i nterior of Africa i i 93
.

Berber a native ii 1 34
, , ,

once m ore th e i i 1 59
.

coura e i i 1 1 6
.
, , , , ,

C ards favori t e a m usem ent of A rab

.

Berbe rs t e 1 8
.
, , , , ,

van q u i s h Mu l ai Abdall ah i f 36
.

peasants 210
, , ,

Biseo painter of arch itecture ii 78 Carriage presented by th e Queen of

.
, , ,

E ngland i i 4 1
.

paints a mos q ue i i 79
. , ,

. .
, , , ,
 I NDE ! . 21 7

C arriages absence of 43 Corpses carried th rough the streets

no t allowed i n Tangier 234 ii 16
, . . ,

Ca rthaginians Z i lia of the i i 21 0

. .

Cowmh us H fl ma n s w
, ,
‘

gi 1 90 o
C assone Com mander F ortunato 1 6 Cos t um e Arab 24
. .
, , , ,

1 37 ; i i 1 1 4 of Fez Je wesses i i 64
, , , ,

C a t i le A lonzo I ! of 1 58 C ostumes of soldiers i i 5

. .
, , , ,

s
C astillejos bat t le of i i 1 17
. .

Cotte Signor N c xsco i i 1 30

. . .
, ,

ar
Cat ac t operation for i i 87 C ountry about Tangier 7 1
, . .
, , , , ,

ar .

character of the between

.

Cau lke r from the D r 86

, , , ,

o a,
L uigi the 1 21 1 22 : i i 49 M d um a and M e q u i n e z i i 1 65
. ,

Cavalry e xercise at fete of Moham C ourage A rab ii 1 1 6

, . .
, , , ,

med 60 Berber i i 1 1 6
, , , .

Cavalry Fez i i 6
.

M or oc c a n s estimate of th eir
, . , ,
'
o
Cemetery Jewish of F ez i i 1 9
. , , .

Ce remonies G rand Master of ii 4 quality of M or ccoan i i 1 16

, , , .

o
Couriers p ostal 1 6
. .
, , , , ,

(A d m i n Op ac
5
1 90 a,
Chapel Ch risti n i n Tangier 21 Cries of th e soldiers 1 32 221
. , , .

a
Character na t ional 20
.

Crime e va l e nce of as com pared

.
, , , ,

r
of nat i es sh own by an incident wi t h u Op e i i 1 41
, . , ,
,
v r
i i 26 1
.

Crim i nals carried about ii 1 50

, , ,

( h arg o d affai res I talian Cro p s succession of 73

.
,
.
, ,
‘ '

15 1
Sidi Bargas a great Cul tivation neglected about Tan
, , . , , .

Ch e ss l
g ay e r, -

é gier 72
,

Ch ris tian rel igion i n Tangier 21 of land i n Morocco 73

.
,

Ch ristians feel i ng towards ii 1 1 2 Curing of h ides i i 96

. .
, ,

C urses of ch ild ren i i 1 96

.

h atred o f i i 1 1 1
.
, , , , ,

to occupy the cou ntry by a co up the people of M eq u i n e i i 17 7

. .
, , , ,

z,
do ma i n ii 86
.
,

C h urches f ounded by th e Portu Daggers i i 96

.
, ,

at A rab peasan t f un era l s

, , .

g uese 21 Da n c i
fig
.

Ci ci nd ela ca mp est s 1
, ,
’

rz
Circum cision rite of 32 negro 6 2
,

. .

sold iers ii 1 49
. ,

C i va t h e v ice consul s servant 1 01

,
’
- -

C i v ili zation E uro pean h ow e Day i n Fez the last i i 153

, , , , .

r
Deform i t y ab sence of am ong the
.

garded by Moors ii 1 37
, , , , .

A rabs 25
.

Moorish 1 54
, , , ,

Deformed m u l atto at Tangier 35

.
,

Mussulm an 20
.
,

sl o w ness of its advance i i 15 4 servant i n F ez i i 1 35

, .
, .

Cl eo atra s as p 95 Degeneracy of t h e p eo p le i i 1 5 4
, . , , .
,
’

Arab fash ion of wearing the Dem ons belief in i i 1 7 1

. .
, , ,

01 1
31
.

D i ases m ost com mon i n Morocco

, , , ,

Cob ra r ap ello 95 Is
C o l ony appearance of th e E urope an Dinner at h ote l i n Tangier 1 0
, .

descri p tion of a Moorish 49

, , , .

C ommander i n ch ie f of the A rti l fi rst i n camp 95

.
,
- -

lery ii 72
,

i n vi ta t i on from the Grand Vizier

.
,

C om mande r Ham ed Ben K asen E u

.
, ,

11 f o.

h am ei 79 222 236 250 ; ii 212 w ith the Grand Vizier ii 59

,

C ommerce i i 98 Di p lomacy M o roccoa n i i 1 00

, .
, , , , , , .

bet w een Africa and Morocco i i Dirt i n S h e l a l s house i i 1 08

. .
, , , . .
‘

Dis t rict of Beni Hassan 1 96

, , , , .

98
of Morocco restrictions of i i 96 K a a e l H a b a s i 1 80
. , .

. r s
state of in Morocco 20 Djehad aw the ii 74
.
, , ,

Doc t or M i g u e e 86 1 20
.

Consul the A merican 91 1 04 1 38

, .
, , .

r z,
fal l s i ll ii 1 6 2
.

costum e of th e Spanish 9 1
.
, , , , ,

. .

h is %i fli c ul ti e in treating women
.

th e Spanish 95
, ,

s
C onsular agent at Azila i i 210
.
,

18
E l A raish 139 pe rforms o p eration i i 87
.
, ,

p rescription sw a l lowed 1 39
. .

Mazagan 16
, , ,

C ook h is m o rti ficati on over some visits a h arem ii 88

. .
, ,

Docto rs scarcity of E u ro p ean 1 41

.

j ell y i i 202
, , .

Dome erected by I mam Be kir i i 24

.

nocturnal v isit to th e 1 21
, , . , ,

Dor the 1 5 1 6
.

opinion of the Sultan ii 49

. .
, ,

. a,
the amb assado r s 1 02 Dragom an legation 86
.
, , , ,
’
. .
, , ,
2l 8 I NDE ! .

Dragoman of F rench l egation 91 E p iscopa l F established by Greg ee

Dress E uropean com pared with ory l x i i 22
.
,

Moo rish 22 E scort arriva l of th e from F ez 77

, . .
, ,

. .

Se l am s opinion o f ii 50 Beni Hassa n 200

, , , ,
‘
-
.

gala of a Moor 22 K ari ya e l H a b assi 1 80

, .
, ,

of a negro servant 33
.
, , .
,
Se fli a n 1 6 7 .

of Arab boys 27 Sid i Hassem 220

.
, ,

of peasants 209 E urope distrust of ii 1 1 2

. .
, ,

of women 34
.

be i ng compared w ith Arabs

, .
, , ,

of Je w esses 27 ; i i 64 gg
, .
,

of Je w is h men and boys 26 doctors scarcity of 1 41 sum

, , .

of w omen i n F ez i i 5 2
.

m oued too late 1 42

, . ,

E uropeans 1 9
.

Drum mond Hay 29 ii 92

.
, , ,

D u gs old fash ioned used in Africa i n Sul t an s arm y ii 6

.
, , , .

’
r
1 gé E i l eye averted by Soloman s sea l
, , , .

'

v
1
D ua r s 203
, ,

i l
E xcursion th rough the cam p by
.

described 207
,

l i fe of the 209
.

nigh t 1 1 6
,

E i ee u ti on description of an i i 92
.

D u ca l i M oh a mm ed 86 1 15 1 1 7 ; i i
, , .

g5
, ,
l bl
, , , , ,

h is tent 1 1 7
.

Ducalla story of Governor of pro v F anaticism Mus su l m an 20

, .

i nce of i i 1 92 of old women 164

, , ,

Dynasty F ez u nder the Al m oh a Para u n ruins of i i 1 68

. .
, , ,

dean ii 22 Al i and ii 21 35
, , , ,

F th m
a a,
F east days closing of gates on ii 86
.

Fi l a l i ii 35
, .
, , , ,

F encing in Morocco 6 3 i i 1 49
. .
,

m iseri es of th e Fi l al i ii 35 37
, , , ,
—

of E d ris ii 21 Ferocity of Arab nature 62

, , . , , .

F e rtil izer used i n Morocco 72

.

of the Sh er i fi an Sa ids ii 35
, .
, ’
,

F es tivities negro i i 1 19
.
, , . ,

F ete characteristics of a M u ul
.
, , ,

ss
Moorish m anner of i i 73 man 70
,

E a ti n
E d ris n Abdal lah i i 20 Fez c un t of former travelle rs
. .
, , ,
-
ac o s
E d ris d yn asty of i i 21
, . ,
, ,

zs
E dris em d i ii 21 rabian h istorian on ii 20
, . , .

-
r s, A
arriva l at ii 3
.

hangs a th ief i i 31
, . . ,

m osque of i i 22
.

baza ars i i 1 6
.
, , , ,

sa cred zam a of ii 1 73
. .

b night ii 1 32
, , , ,
’

sword of i i 24
.

e ects of the air of ii 1 01

, , . , ,

E ducation of Genera l s i n Sultan s E ngl ish em bassy at 1 5

.
, , . , ,
'
.

arm y 80 fi rst i m ess i on of i i 1 1

,

r s
of peasant boys 208
, . .
, ,

fi rst sig t of 25 1
E l Ara i sh i i 200 fi rst w al k i n i i 1 3
. .
, ,

escort 1 31 founding of i i 20
.
, , , ,

founding of by E dris i i 21
.

Governor of 1 31
, .
, ,

I talian consular agent 1 39

.

gardens surrounding ii 1 8
. , ,
, ,

soldie rs of i i 204
, ,
gates of ii 1 8
, .

El ma wate r ii 204 i m p ressions of ii 1 54

, , . , , .

E l Resh id rei of i i 35 Jewish cemetery i i 1 9

.
, , , .
, ,

E mbass y E ng i sh at F ez 1 5 Je w s treatment of i i 64
, . .
, . , ,

I tal i a n 1 2
.

Mell a ii 1 9
, , , . , , ,

I tal ian l eaves Tangier 87

, .

m oun tains 238

.
, ,

Emp i re of Morocco founded i i 21 ne w ii 1 7

, . .
, ,

E m peror th e see Sul tan M ula i el

.

old i i 1 7
, , . , , .

Hassan
.

plan of i i 1 7
, , , , ,

E ncam p ment description of our p p a a ti on s for our reception

. , .
,

§5 1
r r
fi rst 94
, ,

, .

secret aid to Morocco ii ruins of i i 1 8

.

1 1d
E n g l an ,

r u i n s o f fortresses overlook ing

, , . , .

i
trade with i i 98
,

ii 1 7
E nglish ambas ador daughter of in shops i i 1 6
.
, , ,
s

F ez ii 57 terraces of i i 51
.
, , ,

Azila sacked by the ii 21 1 i i t i o n s abou t n ame of i i 21

.
, , , ,

t
gé
r
se cond h and u niforms i i 1 3
, , . , ,
-
.
, ,
 I N DE ! . 21 9

F e z , un d er the Al m oh ad e an dynas t y Go v ii 5
G l l e l i , Be n Am t) ,
ii 22 r Tower
.
, ,

Gi ald a , 1
58
v iew of i i 1 7 Gi s ad v en t ure of l itt l e Moorish 1i 1i
. . .

visi to rs from 250 25 2 g

.
, , , ,

walls ii 1 7 G l oves as ton ish ment caused by 6 7

, .
,

Piram ide della essi sten za

, , . ,

women s d ress i i 5 2
,
,9
G ce h e
‘

F i e l l pi eces presented by Spain ii ig

, , .
, ,

s
llé
-

e Beb el or Ben Tinca 235 ii

, ,

G -

F igh t ing f or ce of ii 1 1 6 o g g , , , ,

F i s I ndian 7 1 Goths Azila taken by the ii 21 0

.
, ,

Fi g
.

ali dynasty m isery u nder the ii Governor Abd Allah 214

, , . , , ,

Ben Aouda 1 66
, , ,

35 37 -

Sh e i fi a n fam i l y of th e ii 35
.

B u Bekr ben e l B abassi 1 79 1 95 :

. ,

r - - - - 0
F inance M iniste r of i i 10
.

ii 1 90 1 95
, , , ,

Fl ag of U nited I ta l y 1 5 94
.

E 1 Araish son of th e li li 200

, , , . , ,

F lat i rons unk nown ii 77

.

Gliel i Ben Am u ii 5
, , . . , ,
-

F leet rem ains of th e M o roccoan i i

.

of Beni Hassan 200 ii 1 84

, , .
, ,

of Beni Hassan son of i i 184

, , , , ,

,
Flou M o roc co a n coin 41
, , ,

1 87
F lowers wild 1 38
.

of K ariya el Hab assi 1 83

, .
,
- -

F ood M ussulman respect for i i 1 83

.

of Me q u i n e i i 1 6 7
.
, . ,

z,
F ounding of E m pire of Morocco i i
.

of Province of Ducalla story of

, , , . ,

th e ii 1 92
, , ,

21
F ez ii 21
. .

of Tan ier visit to th e 82

, ,

F ortress of Taza ii 84 Sid Ah A ll a ii 1 84

, . , .
,
- -

F ortresses ruins of at F ez ii 1 7 Governors forced to give up thei r

. , , .
, ,

F rance trade with i i 98 treasures ii 1 94

, , . , .

F rede rick of H es e Darmstadt not

. .

Gran ad a title deeds of estates i n 1ii1

, , . . ,
u

s - -

allowed to d ri ve 234
, , , ,
111
F rench renegade a ii 1 50 152 G rand Sh eri f Baka l i the i i 30
. .
,
—

F renc h War t he i i 1 15 Grassh o p pe rs Se la m s acco unt of

. . .
, , , , ,
'

F urniture m ade i n Tetuan i i 97

. . ,

the 232
, ,

G regory I ! esta b l ishes E p iscopal

. .
, , ,

Games of youth s i i 1 48 See ii 22

G u e d da K ubba of Sid i 21 5
.

Garb r vol t i n province of 1 71

, . ,
, ,

e r, .

Gunb ats h ul ks of two ii 200

. ,

Garden of Gov Ben Aouda 1 68

, ,

o . .

the Sultan s i i 48 Guns m ade i n Tetuan ii 96

. . , ,
,
'

Garde n s surrounding F ez ii 1 8
, , . , , .

H add el Gharbia 91
.

Tangier 71
, ,
- -

Garet p rovince of 1 1
.

cavalry 21 4
.
, ,

Gate Burnt i i 1 8 25 H adj e Moham med Ben Aissa G rand

, .
, ,

Butter N iche i i 1 8 40 1 46 Maste r of Ceremonies ii 4

, , , , , ,
-

E l G hisa ii 1 8 86 H amed Arab servant of Signor

, , . , .
, , ,

I ron i i 1 8
, .
, , ,

P a tx ot 1 63
N ew i i 1 8 h is a ea a n ce ii
n 1 72
. .
, , ,

r
Be n asen B u ha m e i K a i d 79
.

of M eq u i n ez ii 1 74
.
, , ,

of the F ather of Leather Dress 222 236 250 ; ii 21 2

.
, , , , ,
-

H arun a1 Rash id ii 2
.

e rs i i 1 8
, ,

U til ity ii 1 8
.
, , , ,

H ashi sh 239
L ion i i 1 8 Hassan second son of Al i and
, , . ,
.

that o p ens i i 1 8 F a t h m a i i 35
. , . ,

Hassem Kubb of Sidi 215

.

Sidi B u x i d a i i 1 8
, . . , ,

. a
ats opera put to a novel u se i i 40
.
,

Gates closed at noon on feast days

, ,

ii 86 objects of cu riosi t y i i 50
, , .
, , ,

of F ez ii 1 8 H ay D rum m ond 29 ; i i 92
, . , , .

Gauzes ii 96 Heads on the Gates of Fez 250

, , . , , , .

Gene rals of Su l tan s arm y education sus p ended from the w alls i i 25
, , .
, .
'

of 80
,
H eat 1 15 5 ; ii 1 84 , .
,

Hercu l es caverns ded icated to 73

. .
,

German a renegade i i 39
, ,

Gh l u fountai n the i i 31 th e t welve l abors of i i 83

, , . , .
, ,

a
Gh isa Gate E l i i 1 8 86 Her r ea ta lismans cal l ed 1 64
, , , . , , .

Gibraltar 3
.

Hides ii 96
. ,
, , , ,

its attraction for E uropeans 1 1 H istorian K h ald ou m the ii 23

. .
, , ,

the Rock of 74 H istory K h al dou m s ii 32

. , .
, , ,
’
, .
, , , .
220 INDE ! .

H onesty Moorish estim ate of E uro Je w s quarter T ier 27 an

p ea i i 1 40
,

quarter sack o the ii 3

, , , .

n, 6

Horse Arab s treatment of h is 1 36 treatment of i F ez i i 6

.
, , , ,
’
, . n 5 .

Journey to M e q u i n e ii 1 6 0
, , , ,

l l o rse s , M or oc coa n , 1 35 . z, .

of the escort 77 Tra d ucta of the Romans i i

,

Ja
the Su l tan s ii 41 gg
. .
, , ,
'

Hos p i t al ity e ff ect of Moorish ii 1 1 1 J ugu rth a 207

.
, ,

Hote l i n Tangier 1 0
. .
, , , ,

K ai d H amed ben K asen 79

.

Ho t e st day descript i on of the ii

,

1fi
— -

250 ; ii 212
, , , ,

f
H ubner Baron descri p tion of an
.

h elps me ii 1 82
,

A merican city by ii 1 20 kind heart of i i 1 83

, .
, , ,

, . . .

A bou ben G i l el i
, ,

237 248
I gno mce regarded as a safeg uard K ar a oui n Mosque of i i 22 23
, .
,

n g g described ii 24
, .
, , ,

I m p ressions of F ez i i 1 54
.

K ariya e l B abassi 1 80; i i 1 92

, , .

— -

I m p risonment of Governors ii 1 93
.

v isit to th e Gov of 1 82
.
, , ,
.

I ncident of j ourney to M eq u i n e i i K asbah at Tangier 39 8 1

. . .
, , ,

z,
m osque of the 40
.
, , ,

1 62
show ing character of th e peop l e
.

v iew from the 40

.
,

i i 204 K h al d o u m the historian i i 23 24

.
,

I ndian fi gs 71
.

K h a ld ou m s h istory ii 32
, , , , .
,
’

I ndolence i n Morocco 44
.

K h e ti b Sid i Moham med el 81

.
, , ,

I nfan t ry M o occoa n i i 40
. .
, , ,
K i n 8 1 25 1 6 6
‘

r
I nsects 1 37 1 89 an ex p eriment w ith 239 243
. .
, , , , , ,
-

I nstructions issued to a mi nister i n

.
,

K i r s scene of battle of the th ree

, , .

Morocco 81 lig
, ,

I nunda t ions 192 K oran forbids representation of

.
,

I n vasion d re a d of ii 1 1 2 h uman fo rm 1 09
.
, ,

I sly Abd e Rh am an the conqueror forbids w aste of bread i i 1 68

, . .
, , ,
-
r-
of ii 37 on ablutions 210
.
, , , ,

battle of i i 1 1 5 1 1 7 v erses fro m the used as medi

, , . .
,

I tal ian charge d a fi a i res 1 4 cine

, , .
, ,
’ '

embassy to F ez 1 2 i n fl uence on science 20

.
, ,
. .

leg a tion at Tangier 1 5 K rim Sid i Abd e ]

, ,

p r d u c ts taken to Morocco i i
, , ,

K ubba 1 34 1 7 2
gs
.

K u bbas of Sidi G ue dd ar and Sid i

, , ,
-

v ice consu l at Tangier 1 6 Hassem 21 5

I tal y fl ag of U nited 1 5 94 K ri s the river 1 4 9 1 63 ; ii 200
. , .
,

p resents from the K ing of 1 5

.

i i 11 8
.
, , . , , , ,

K us k u ssu 50 1 51
233 ; ii 4 1
.

soldier fl ogged for th rowing

, , , , , ,

wh i pping w hen abo l ished i n balls of i i 1 83

.
,

.
, , , ,
238 .

La b-d B a r é d , I 31 1 43 .

Jelly that failed the i i 202 203 of Sidi Hassem escort 221
,
—
. .

Jewel ry ii 97 practised by the Sul tan ii 33

, , , , ,

L amam e ra General i i 1 47
. .
, ,

Jewesses their beauty 26

, ,

La 111 b sacri fi ced to secu re p rotection

. .

thei r d ress 27 i i 64
, , , , ,

visit from some i i 6 4

. ,
, ,

1 52
Jews 1 9 ; ii 1 9 Landing m anner of at Tangier 4
. .
, ,

L andwe h r 1 1 0
.

boys of Tangier 75
. .
, , , ,

cemetery at Fez i i 1 9 Language 20

, . , .

de p utation of fro m Azila i i 209 L anguages m i xture of 1 7

. .
, , ,

L as es in fl i cted as a punishment
.

early marri ages ii 67

, , . , ,

23h
. ,

m ade to go barefoot ii 64
, ,

appearance of the men 25 La und ry men Arab ii 1 9

, .
,

. .

d ress of men and boys 26 La w D ebad i i 74

, , , ,

n ot a l l owed to carry arms 203

.

Ma ekite i i 97
, .
, , ,

protected b y E mperor Abd e r

.

of retaliation 25 ii 1 03 1 06
, . , ,
- -

Rahm an 1 6 5 L egation I t al ian at Tangier 1 5

.
, ,

1,

p ote t te d by E mperor Su l eiman L egations foreign at Tan ier 8

, . . , , .

r
accompanying the em assy 87
.
,

ii 6é
, ,

Leghorn col u m ns from i i 168

.

quarter Al cazar 1 57
, ,

quarter F ez i i 19
.
,

Li a m a n i kubba of Sidi 1 34
, , . . ,

.
, , , .
, ,
 INDE ! 21

L ight H ouse on Cape Sp a r te l 7 3 M i g ue r e z i cu l ties w ith w omen d ffi

L itte r made i n M eq ui n z i i 1 77
, . ,

e a ti n ts 1 88 e
Li x u s ( L u xus ) ancient name of fa i ill ii 1 6 2
. .
, , ,

. s
river Kri I 49 i i 200
.

performs Operation for cataract

, ,

s, .

Li x us ruins of ci ty of i i i i 87
, ,

L ouis ! I V asked for h and of da ugh prescri p tion s w al l owed 1 39

.
. , , ,

ter of Duchess de la V a l l i e 1 i 36 visits a h arem i i 88

.
, .

er
Luigi the caulker 86 1 21 M ih rab ii 24
.
, , , ,

h is opi nion of the Sulta n i i 49

.

M inarets i n T a n g ier 39
, .
, , ,

w ants to know abou t the arti ts M i n gh et ti I talian statesman ii 10

. .
, , ,

s
Mi n i ster of F inan ce i i 1 0
.

sketch es 1 22
, , ,

of F oreign A ff ai rs salary of a 80
.

Luk k os river 1 4 9
.
, , ,

Ly c a ta r antul a 1 90 of War ii 6
. , .
, , ,

os
of War Sid Abd A l l a be n Ha
. . , .
, ,
- - - -

Macaroni a u joux 95 med ii 6 69

,

M a c h a sa n r i ver 1 48 1 4 9 Sid M u sa descri p tion of i i 27

. , .
, , ,

s
M !j u a pre p aration of kifl 240 M i n i ste rs l i f e of E uropean in A frica
. .
, , , , , ,
‘

ar n,
Malaba t ca p e 4 1
, .
, ,

. 16
Malek Sultan 1 49 M i k ké s river 249 25 1
, , .

M a l e ki te law the i i 97 Mil itary streng t h of Morocco and

, . , .
, , ,

M a n oeu vr es of M oro c c oa n army i i E urope ii 1 1 5

, , , .

M i sfi u i K a id 82
.
, , , ,

1 1z
N ata l e by Alexander reputation for learning 85
.
, ,

Man n e “ ”

gg Modes t y of Arab women i i 83

.
, , , .

Ma p s absence of 20
.

M o g h e b the 1 92 ; ii 20
, ,

. r
Market square of Tangier 9 i i 212
.

Mohammed Ducali 86
, , , , ,

Market vegetable of Fez 1 1 1 7 descri tion o f 1 1 5

.
, , ,

M arria g e earl y among Jews i i 6 7 h is a ai rs p rospe r ii 1 01

.
, , , , , .

. .

Marseilles colum ns from i i 1 6 8 h is tent 1 17

, , , , , .

Ma r y name of invoked by Arab feast of th e bi rth of 5 8

. .
, , , .

p easants 212 Sidi s on of M ulai Sheri f i i 35

.
, , ,

M aster of ceremonies th e i i 42
.

Sultan Sid i i 1 4 6
.
, , , , ,
.

the Black 1 48
,

Mauritania Tingitana 21
, .
, ,

Mazagan 205 the young M oor 4 4

, , , .

consular agent 1 6 M ol ou i a ii 26 35
. .
, ,

M d u m a river i i 1 62
, , , , .

Mon a 1 10 1 5 4 1 72 223
ruins of ci t y of i i 1 6 3
. .

a voluntary 1 73
, .
, , , , ,

Mecca of t he West the ii 22

.
, .

M onasteries founded by th e Portu

, ,

Meda river i i 1 95
, , ,

gu e se 21
Medica l science i n Morocco 1 40
. .

M oney M o o ccoan 41
.
, , ,

, . r
Mehdia 1 92 its inconveniences 40
, .
,

Mell a of Alcazar 1 57 Money c hangers of F ez i i 1 6

. .
, ,
-

F ez ii 1 9 6 6 Mons t rosity at F ez a 35
, . , .
,

Moor gala dress of a rich 22

.
, , , , ,

M ele e maj a li s 1 89 . . .

Mohammed the 44
.
,

M e q u i n e z , 1 93
Shelal the 250
.

character of country near ii 1 65

.
,

a ff ai rs of ii 1 01
,

curses i i 177
.
, ,

dis t ance from Fez i i 1 60

. .

tea at h ouse of ii 1 08
, , , .

ex p eriences i n ii 1 75 u nder pro t ection of I ta lian l ega

, , . .
, ,

fi rst impressions of ii 1 73 tion 44

, ,

Moors 1 8 ; ii 1 07
.
, ,

fi rst view of ii 1 66
,

. .

d esc e n d a n ts of the Spanish ii

,

gate ii 1 74
, , ,

Governor s Pa l ace i i 1 74
.
, , , ,
'
l ll
inciden t of jou n e y to ii 1 6 2
.
, ,

d e 1 ter ous m anner of eating ii

7§
r , .

last view 0f ii 1 78
, , ,
x
.

story of th e bad k ing of ii 1 70 retake Azila ii 21 1

,

the S p anish 1 8
.

visit from Gove nor i i 1 67

, .
, , ,
r .

wonde rs of ii 1 6 8
.

wa 6 f pass ing the time 45

, , ,

Merchant talk wi th a ii 1 37 M oor i s civilization 1 54

, , .
,

travel ling to F ez a i i 16 1
.
, ,

dinner descri tion of a 49

, .
,

Merchants E uropean i i 1 1 2 hos p itali ty e ect of ii 1 1 1

, , , . . .
,

of Fez i i 95
.
, .

house description of a 46
, , , , ,

M igu e re z Doctor 86 shops 31

, , , , .

desc ri ption of 1 20
.

shopkeepers 31
.
, , ,

. .
, ,
222 I ND E ! .

Moorish tea 49 M usi c A ra b 1 4 30 50 51

Morbo c lti c 25 1 40
.

M usicians Arab 65
, , . .
, , ,
e o,
Morocco agricul ture 20
, .

Muss ulman civilization 20

, . .

commerce 20
, , .
, , .

. f an a tac i sm 20
f encing 63 ; i i 1 49
.

religion 20
, .

former condi t ion o f 21

, , .

respect for food ii 1 83

, .

f ounding of E m p ire of ii 21
.
,

Mutilation rare 1 40
.
, ,

m i litary government 0 1 1 9
.

Mu un eh M o occoa n coin 70
, , , .
,

z r
natural advantages 1 8
. .
, , ,

po p ulation 1 8 N ata l e by Alex Manzone ii 83

, .

presen t s ta t e of 21
. .

N egro dancing 62
, , .
, ,

festivi t ies i i 1 1 9
.

science i n 20
, . .

situa t ion 1 8
, .

servant in gal a dress 33

, .
,

taxation 20
.

slaves ii 1 1 8
, .
,

trade 20 N egroes 1 9
.
, , ,

w h ip p ing as conducted i n 238 N e w s i tems of ii 1 33

. .
, ,

M o o cc n m oney 4 1 N ews p apers ii 77

, . , , . .

r oa
s a ddles 77 N icknames ii 1 31
.
, , ,

M o r te o Signor 86 N igh t F ez by i i 1 32
. .
, , ,

account o f 205
.

tour of the cam p by 1 16

. , , ,

Mosaics i i 97
.

tou r of th e p a lace by ii 1 2
.
, ,

Mos ue Ai ssowi eh 53 Ni g ri z i a ii 99
.
, , , ,

asbah 40
. .

N umidians 207 ; ii 3
, , , ,

Mo ques Ch ristians excl uded from N u p tua l cham b e r v isit to a 48

, . . .
,

s .

38 ; ii 23
, , , ,

of K a a u i n and E dris ii 22 23 Ocean fi rst v ie w of the ii 1 99

, .

r o -
.

of Tangier 39 O dor of the people 6 64

, , , , ,

M ount Tgh a t 252

. .

O tfi ce rs i n the arm y ii 7 3
, , ,
’

O live the w ild 1 30

.

Za h u n ii 1 73
, .
, ,

r
Z al e g a scen t of ii 83 O pera h ats excite curiosi ty i i 50
.
, , , , .

pu t to novel use ii 40
.

Z l a g sha e of ii 84
.
, , , , , ,

a
O p eration for cata ract i i 8 7
.

M ountain Re 8 4
.
, , , , ,

M ountains Atlas 1 8
.

Orderly Comm Cassone s 86

, , , ,
’

F ez 238 descrip t ion of 1 00

. .
, , , .
,

Mud i n Fez ii 91 Op inio n of Sul t an i i 4 9

. . , .

M uezzin of K asbah Mosque 40 sets L uigi straigh t about art 1 22

. .
, , , ,

M ules of the escort 77

.
, ,

Paintin g of F ez w omen ii 52
.

M ulu ya river 1 93
,

Mula i Abdallah i nvents p unish Palace i m p er i al at M e q u i n i i 1 68

.
, , .
, , ,

ez,
ment i i 36 of Governor a t M eq u i n ii 1 74
.
, , , ,

ez,
of Grand Vizier B sh er i n ii 56
.

reign of ii 36
, .
, ,

. oa .

Ah med e l Dehebi reign of of Sid M u sa ii 28

, , , ,

our Fez ii 8
.

ben N assa n ii 200

, , , ,

E dris sacred z uta of ii 1 73 our F ez by nigh t i i 1 2

. .
, , ,

a
ou r F ez spec ta cle a ff orded by
. .
,

e l Hassan see Sul tan

, , , , ,

Hamed s cavalry 1 49 ii 75
.
, , ,
’
. .

H es h i a m reign of i i 37 Pameli a sca br osa 1 90

, ,

I smael i i 200
.

Pa tx ot Signor 86
.
, , , ,

I smael builds Meq ui ne pa l ace Signor Arab se rvant of 1 63

.
, , . , ,

z
Pearls river of 25 1 25 2 i i 1 7
,

i i 1 68
, ,

I sm ael reign of i i 36 river of properties ofwat er ii 20

.
, , , . .
,

I smael w omen and ch ildren of

.
,

Perspective i gnorance of principles

.
, , , , ,

of ii 79
,

ii 1 68
, ,

Pet i tions to the Su l tan presenting

.

Malek Sultan 1 48:

. , ,
,

, ,

i i 147
,
Sherif i i 35
, ,

P h emp sop h u s Afr i can u s 189

. .

Soliman cruelty to Jews ii 37

, , ,

Pianos in Morocco 234

,

Soliman sto ps piracy ii 37

.
, , ,

sai d to be one i n F ez ii 77
. , .

Soliman reign of i i 37
, , ,

.
,
Pig tails of A rab boys 28
,

Ye i d reign of ii 36
, , ,

-
z .

Piramide della esistenza Goethe 1 05

. ,

M d sa Sid brother of ii 69
, , ,

.
,

Plain of the Seb u 1 85 ii 1 81

,

described ii 27
, , , ,

. .

Plough an A rab 72
. ,

f avorite se rvant ii 1 33
.
,

Ploughs w omen h i tched to 72

.
. , ,

i nte rv iews with i i 99

, ,

. .
,

Polygam y i i 1 42
, ,

sons of i i 30
,

.
, , . , ,
 I N DE ! 2 3

Popu l ation of F ez u nder Al m oh a Renegade a F rench i i 150 .

a Germ n ii 89
, , ,

dean dynasty i i 23 a
Renegades ii 88
.
, ,

of Morocco 1 8
.
, ,

of Tang i er a ppearance d ress i n the arm ii 1 49

.
, . , ,

Residence in ez o u i i 8
, .

odor type s 5 6
, ,
— r,
of M i n i te o f War i i 70
.
, ,

Portu 1 K ing o f 1 48
.
, ,

s r .

th e im pe rial i i 48
.
,

Se astian o f 148
, ,

Portu guese ca p ture of Azila by th e Retaliation l a w o f 25 i i 1 03 1 06

.
, . , ,
- .

Revenue h ides th e pri ncipal source

, , , , ,

i i 21 1 .

chu rches and monasteries found of i i 96

.
,

Revie w of tr00p s by Su l tan i i 1 46

. . .

ed by the
Po rtrait of K ing of I tal y ii 4 5 Re v olt i n province a djoini ng Al
.
, , ,

geria 250
.

Portraits Arab feeling about 1 08

, ,

i n province of Garb I 71
. .
, ,

Postal se rvice 1 6 5
,

Revolts among the tribes 214

,

Pottery ii 97
.
,

Pove rty of the p easants 213

.

R e vt l ve r made by German renegade

. , . ,

n gg
,

Powder play 131 1 4 3

, .

play Sul t an p rac t ises th e i i 33 Riches natura l of the country i i 98

, , , ,

P r aye r s superst i t i on l l l regard to

. .
, ,

Rif 37
, , , , ,
‘

mountai ns 1 49
, , , .
'
z4
Presenting arms manner of i i 4 punish ment of i nh abitants of
. .
,

the i i 1 23
.

Presen ts custom of m aking 21 4

, , ,

of Victor E manuel to Sultan 1 5

.

son of Governor o f th e 60
, , , , .

.
,

233 ; ii 4 1 Ri fs of the Be rber race 36

,

Printing p resses absence of 20

. .

Riding i n Morocco manner of 1 35

.
,

Prisoners taken by S p ai n i i 1 1 7 Risotto al M i l a nese 95

.
, .
, , ,

a .

Procession bridal 37 an i mita tion of 5 0

. ,
, ,

Promenade of Tangier the publ ic 4 1 Rite of c i rcum cision 32

, , . , .

Prussia w h ipping w hen abolished Rites of th e A i ssowre h 53

, .
, ,

, .

in 238 Riveiro Du ke de 1 4 8
, ,

River Bl ue F ountain 251

.

Pudding superstition concerning a

, . , .

certain 1 69 M d um a i i 1 62
, , ,

Punishment Arab form of 237

. .
, , ,

M i kk és 24 9 25 1
of a boy 159 237
.

Muluya 1 93
, .
, , ,

of a negro t hief 34
.

of Pearls 252; i i 1 7
, , , .

e a l s properties of w ate r i i
.

of a sold ie r ii 1 83
, . .
,

0f
2g
r
Purchases i n F ez ii 1 36
, . .
, , ,

Seb u 1 93 202
.
, ,

Qti r e l settl ed by the ambassador

.

Wa u 1 49
, ,

gl
r , rr r

Rock of Gibraltar 74
.
,

l
Rom ans Jul a Tr d uct of th e ii ii 210
.
,

i , a a
transform ation of 33
, .

Romantic ad venture of member of

, ,

R ac m a ,
Rain A ra bs imploring Allah for embassy ii 1 13
, .

grace of 38 Ru M o occ oa n ii 96
, , , .

r
i n F ez ii 91 Ru n s ancient on road to M e q u i n e
, . , , .

z,
Ranni th e commander s orderl y 86
.
,

i i 1 63
, , ,
’

of F ez i i 1 8
,

the commander s orderl y de

, , .

scri p tion of 1 00
.

lt Arab name for Romans ii 1 63

, .
,
’

a .

th e comm ander s orderl y Opin

, .
, , ,
’

ion of the Sultan ii 49 Saddles M oroccoan 77 1 35

,

th e commander s orderly tal ks

.

Sa fi o r i i 200
.
, , , , ,
’

of art w ith L uigi 1 22

.
,

Saids dynasty of the Sh e r i fi an ii 35

, ,

Read boy punished for n o t l ea r n i ng

, .

Saint a naked ii 1 6
, , ,

to 1 59
,

on the road to Tan ier ii 207

.
, , ,

h eads suspended from gates visit to the cam p 0 a 1 72

.
, , , .

R eb t l
’

11 a
s
secu l ar a ii 173
.
, ,

s
Reception at F ez preparations for S p its on M r Drummond Hay 29
, , , , .

ou r 25 1
, .

st r i kes M Sourdeau 28
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,

sta te i i 4 1
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Saints 28
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,

R ed Mountain the 84 106 108

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, ,

of Tangier 29 30
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Religion th e C h ristian how r ep r e

, . .
, ,

Salaries of ofii ci al s 80
, ,

sented in F ez 21
, .

Sallee ii 200
, ,
. .

Sall ust 207

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th e M u ssu l m a n 20
Remed i es i n vogue 1 41 Sand deposit at ri v er m onth s 1 92
.
, , .

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224 IND E ! .

Santa C ruz i i 200 Sid i Abde l K ri m syste m of govern -

aying a Mussulman ii 87
,

i ng th e d istrict o f 21 9
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, ,

Doctor M i gue ez attacked

.

Mohammed reign of ii 36
, , , , .

e l a ti ca r
with ii 1 62 Mohammed th e v ictor of Tet
, , , , .

Science condition of 20 u a n ii 3 7
, , ,

School ing of Arab p easant boys

.

Sla Rabat twin cities of 1 93

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, ,
-

Sco va o C omm S t efano 1 4 1 6 1 5 1 Slave a beautiful i i 1 09

, , , .

ss
Seamen I ta lian atta ched to the
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,

Sl aves negro i i 1 18
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, , ,

embassy 86 Snake charme rs 6 8

, , , , . .

Sebasti a n of Portugal 1 48 sok di B a rra 9 : i i 21 2

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, ,

Seb u p lai n of th e 1 85 ; ii 181

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d i Barra a festi val i n the 58

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, ,

Seb u r i ve r 1 92 193 202

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,

Soldiers costumes i i 5
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’

river an a ffl uent of the 249 25 1 exercises of t he a t a fete 67

. .
, , , , ,

. .

m anner of crossing the of E l Araish i i 204

, , , , ,

ri e
i 9f
r

of the escort v illanous l ook of

, , , . .

river d i ffi culty i n getting over

, ,

the ii 1 90 of the Su l tan ii 4

,

vicious look of young i i 1 49

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river o n the bank of the 1 95

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, , , ,

Soloman his p ower over dem ons 41

, , . , .

i i 1 84
,

Soloman s seal 4 1
,

river Sultans never cross i n

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times of eace 1 93 Se mnam b ul l sm of vice consul 92

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, ,
-

Secretary the ul tan s p rivate ii 30

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Soudan 1 9
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‘
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Secular saint on Mt Zar h un i i 1 73 Sourdeau M h is encounte r Wi th a

, , , ,

saint 28
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Sefii n escort 16 7
, , , ,
a .

province of 1 66 Spain trade with i i 98

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, ,

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,

Sefli a n s ch aracter of th e 1 70 war with 81 1 70; ii 1 15

, .
, ,

Selam description of 1 1 2 Spanis h war prisoners taken I n the

.
, , , , , 0

on E uro can d re ss i i 50 i i 1 17
, .
, ,

. .

consul 95
.

on rass op p e s 232
,

r
u ltan s treasu ry ii 1 69
. . .
,

on
’
consul costume of the 91
on w onders of M eq u i n e ii 1 6 8 h atred of the i i 1 1 1
.
, , , , ,

z,
tells th e story of Arusi ii 1 23
, .
, , .

M descendants of th e i i
pfi
rs ,
tells the story of the bad K ing of
, , .
, ,

M e q u i n e ii 1 70 z, renegades i i 88
Sel am s reason for not posing i i 81 S p a rtel C a e 7 3 ; ii 208
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, , , .
’

p
Sella I talian statesman i i 10
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S q uare o f l angier the publ ic 8

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'

St rru ps 77
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Sep tem f r atr es the 74

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,
i

Se rvant our Arab i i 76 S toc ki n s an o ffi cer w ears

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Story-te ler A rab 64

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Servants Arab f oot 1 05 124

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Strait of G i bral t ar 3
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Se vi l l a t i tl e deeds of estates i n i i
, , , , .

a
, , .

il
,

Streets barricaded at night ii 6 1

Giralda to w er 1 58
,

St f s manufactu red i n Morocco ii

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,

Shelal th e M oor 250 n

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, ,

the Moor a ff airs of i i 101 Suleiman E mperor protects th e

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,

Jews ii 6 3
.

t h e i m r dirt in the house of ii

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1 og Sul p h ur s p rings 1 68
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the Moor te a w i t h ii 1 08 Sul tan Abd e Rh a m a n 8 1 ii 37

, .

- r-

Sherif A li elected ki ng i i 35
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panic stricken ii 1 1 8
, ,
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Sh e r i fi an fam ily o f the F i l a l i ii 35

, , , .

protects th e Jews ii 65
, , .

Sh ooting at a m ark i i 82 quoted ii 6 3

, , , , .

Sho p keepe r a ii 1 34
, . .
, , ,

Yussu f Yakub e l Mansar

bg
A - -

Sh opkee p ers Moorish 31 é

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,

Shopping i n F ez ii 77 E l Resh id i i 35
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Sh e s F ez ii 1 6
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, ,

M ulai Abdallah i i 36
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, .

Mu lai Ahmed e l Dehebi i i 36

, , , , .

oo r i h 31 s .

Tangier 8 Mu l ai e 1 Hassan 1 5 8 1
, , , .

Sick peo p le com e to see the doctor

.

M ulai e1 Hassan ascends th e

, , , .

1 88 ii 1 88 th rone 202
,

people manner of transporting

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, , Mulai e1 Hassan ch aracter ii

ii 202
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Sid Abd All a ben H amed Minister M ulai e1 Hassan described ii

.
,

- - - -

of War ii 6 69
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. 44
Sidi Hassem escort of 220
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M ula i cl Hassan garden of i i

Abde l K rim 1 70 1 7 1
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 I N DE ! . 225

Su l tan M u l ai el Hassan grants pri Tangie r mosques 38

v ate audience ii 62 characteristics of
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p o p l l a ti on ,
M 1 1 i e 1 Hassan last vie w of ii g
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s
{53 publ ic prom enade o f 4 1
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safety of a E uropean in 43
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,

Mulai el H assan on needs of h is

E m p ire i i 63
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setting ou t from 87
,

Mula i e 1 Hassa n ou r reception sho p s 8

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silence of 43
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by ii 43
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square 8
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Mulai e l Hassan presents of ii

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streets 7 8
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—

Mulai e 1 H assan receives peti vegetation outside of 7 1

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w alks near 71
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,

tions i i 1 47
,

M u l ai e 1 H assan revie ws tr00ps

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Tarantula 1 90
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Taxation 20
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i i 1 46
M ulai cl H assan sends us h is
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,

of peasants 213
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Taza 1 93
,

greeting 25 1
fort ress ii 84
.

Mulai e l Hassan speech of i i 45

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Tgh a t Mou nt 25 2
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M ulai He h i a m ii 37
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s
Mulai I sm ael i i 36
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Tea drin king among Moors 49

. ,
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-

Mulai I sm a el b u ilds palace at Telegraph h o w Moors regard the

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, , . ,

M e q ui n ez ii 168 i i 33
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M ula i I smae l women and ch il Telegraph ic apparatus presented by

. .
, , ,

d ren of ii 168 E nglish Ambas sador ii 32

,

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,

Mulai Malek 1 48 1 49 Tents for th e embassy 78

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assigned 80
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,
Mulai Sheri f i i 35
,

Terrace vie w from ou r i i 5 1

. .

M ulai Soliman ii 37
, , ,

Terraces the property of w omen ii

, , . , , .

Mulai Ye i d i i 36
,

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power of the 1 9
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51
Sid i Moham med i i 35 Tetuan bat t l e of ii 1 15
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,

Sidi Mohammed the victor of furnitu re m ade in ii 97

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Tetuan ii 37 uns made in ii 96

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Su leima n protects the Je w s i i id i Moham med the v ictor of

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i i 37
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66
Su l tans never cross the Seb d in times Thief d a gged th r ough the streets
. .
,

r '

of p eace 1 93 i i 16
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Su p ersti t ion abou t a pudding 1 69

.

tre atment of a n e o
, .
,

r
about p rayers 74
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,

T h i e vi g among the en i Hassans

,

2g
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Su mr s t i ti o n s among Arab peasants

, ,

3
e2 i n Morocco 204
, .

Su rgery i n Morocco 1 40
.

Tinca Beb el (or Ben ) Gorge 235

. ,
-

S w ord of E d ris ebn E dris i i 24

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i i 181
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, , .

Tingis ancient nam e of Tangier 21

,

Ta fi l a l t ii 35 89 T i ngi t ana Mauritania 21

, , .

Ta l b name for lawyer 208 T l ata de Raisana 1 29 1 38

.
, , , , , .

e
l l i m a n s ca l led h er ez 1 6 4
.
,

Tower o f G iralda 1 58
, , .
,
' ‘
a s r
Tangie r ancient name of 21
, .

Trade i n Morocco 20; ii 97

, .

w ith E n land i i 98
.

b y nigh t 1 2
, , , , .

d l ffi c l t to fi n d one s w ay about w ith l ta i i 99

.
, , , .

é
’

1n h with Spa i n i i 98
, .

Tr ad i i on s about nam e of F ez i i
.

feast of the birth day of Moh am

, , ,

m ed 58 gl , ,

g ardens about 71 Transforma t ion of B aema 33

, .

h istory of 21
.

Treasure buried 21 3 i i 1 93
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, ,

h o w re arded i n Morocco 21 th e im pe ria l ii 1 68

. .
, , , ,

T eas u r
r
ands of the Ch r i stians
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i n the Tribe 0 B en t i r 1 93
, , ,

ii 1 1 2 of the Za i r i s 1 93
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, ,

I talian legation i n 1 5
.

Trousseau description of a 4 8
, .
,

K asbah 39 8 1
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l anding at 4 U mbre ll as not used i i 91

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legations in 8 U niforms so l diers i i 6

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’

l i fe of 8 9 second hand i i 1 3
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U nited S tates Consul the 9 1 1 04

.

market s q uare of 9 i i 21 2
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minarets i n 39
.
, , , , , ,

M inister of F oreign a ff airs 80 U ssi Fl orentine artist 1 6

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,

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V OL 11 . .
— 15
226 I ND E ! .

U ss i , pa ints picture for th e v iceroy Wa r ru r ri v er 1 49

i i 79 ,

Washing clothes M oroc coa n meth od

, , .

pai nts p icture of gran d recep of 1 95 i i 77

, ,

tion i i 78 Wash w oman ou r ii 77

, . .

struck by a young girl i i 1 1 Wazan K aid of ii 1 73

, , .
, , ,

Wed d i ngs among Arab peasants

, , , , , .

Vad Rason battl e of 1 70

, ,
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g10
Whi p used for th e sla v es i i 6 1
.

Vall iere daughter of d uchess asked

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,

Wh i p ping a b oy 237
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i n m arri age ii 36
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Vegetation about Tangier 7 1 a sol d ie r i i 183

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, , ,

Vehicles po pular disl ike t o

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a thie f 34
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View from C ape S p a rtel 73 as conducted i n Morocco 238

, , .

when abolished i n E uro e 238

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from K asbah 40
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Wil liam of O range at batt p

.

from Mount Zalag ii 84 e of A I

, .
,

of F ez ii 1 7
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cazar 1 48
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Vice C onsul Paolo Grande 96 W ine 169

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a som nambu l ist 92

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, ,
attempts to get some i f 59
,

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,
h is arm s 93 soldiers ta ste 249
, ,

h is servant 1 01 Wom en Arab a p ea an ce 34

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,

. r , .

V i e r o y orders a picture from U ss i consult the oc tor 1 88

, , ,

g 7g
.

cover their faces 34

, ,

1
Victor Em anue l h is p resents to the descri p tion of 35
, .

Su l tan 15 233 ; ii 4 1 m odesty of i i 83

.
, ,

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Hugo 1 90 as seen from ou r te r race

, , , , .

f
Victoria buttons stam p ed w ith a
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ofn e s r
, ,

likeness of Q ueen i i 13 of Fez enjoy seeing us f 1 1 0

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i
of Fez m a nn e o f painting them
. , .

ca r r i age presented by Queen i i

, . ,

r
se l ves i i 52
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4l .

Vi ncent Signor 1 22
, ,

V i n os ta m os ics for Viscount ii 75 Yembo i i 35

, ,

a
Vizier Taib Ben Jam ani B oas h er i n
, , , , . .

the G rand ii 55 57 Za i i s tribe of t he 1 93

,

. r .

Za l a g ascent of Mount i i 83
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shape of M oun t i i 8 4
.

Wag ons i n Morocco 234

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Walks near Tangier 7 1 ta 238

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Zegot-
Walls of F ez i i 1 7
.

an ex riment m ade at 239

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, ,

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War the mi nister of ii 6 69

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Za o ui as 1
Za h un Mount ii 173
.

the Spanish 81 1 70 ii 1 15
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r
Zef tr a d i t ional site of city of i i 22
.

Warfa re M or oc coa n method of i i

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, , , , ,

Zilia Carthaginian name for Azi l a

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1 17
opinion of E uropean meth od of
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, i i , 210 .

ii 1 15
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