mmamm- THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A . KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID I ^/l^tf^^ OC-^ OUR MISSION TO THE COURT OF MAROCCO Printed by R. &=■ R. Clark FOR DAVID DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH LONDON . . . HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. CAMBRIDGE . . MACMILLAN AND CO. GLASGOW . . , JAMES MACLEHOSE. OUR MISSION TO THE COUET OF MAEOCCO IN 1880 UNDER SIR JOHN DRUMMOND HAY, K.C.ll. MINISTER PLENirOTENTIAKY AND ENVOY EXTUAOIIDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY THE SITLTAN BY PHILIP DURHAM TROTTER, CAPTAIN 93d IIIGHLANDERS ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE HON D. LAWLESS, RIFLE BRIGADE EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUrJLAS MDCCCLXXXI AU righU rearnrd. u Dctiiratrti Ijg ^crmi'sston HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN DRUMMOND HAY, K.C.B. MINISTER PLEXIPOTENTIARY AND ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY TO TUE SHARIFI.VN COURT ly REMEMBRANCE OF MUCH KINDNESS PKEFACE. Some said, " John, print it," Others said, "No;" Some said, " It might do good," Others said, " Not so." Whatever weiglit I miii-ht have been iucliued to attach to the fluctuating expressions of friendly opinion con- tained in the above lines, there is at all events one ground on which I have been nearly tempted to allow the "noes to have it," and that is the length of time which has elapsed since the return of the Mission. The delay has been a matter of great regret to me ; and its cause — viz. the long continuance of a severe fever, contracted either amid the scenes of which I write, or in that valuable but pestilential possession of Her Majesty, the Rock of Gibraltar — must also be my excuse for any imperfection of style or composition which may be found in this volume. The work itself is merely an elaboration of my diary ivilJI 0'< 26 Vlii PREFACE. kept from day to day during my residence in the Sultan's " happy realms ;" and though the interest of the events recorded is not of a sensational or startling character, I think I may safely assert that truth — if nothing else — is to be found in the following pages. I may mention that Leo Africanus, whose work on Marocco I have several times quoted, was a Moor of Granada, who fled to Fez when that city was besieged in 1492. He was patronised by Mulai Ahmed, founder of the present dynasty, and later in his career was cap- tured by Christian corsairs, and taken to Eome. Here he was well received by Pope Leo X., who is said to have induced him to embrace Christianity, and to have baptized him under his own name. His book was trans- lated into Latin and Italian, and was published in Venice in 1563 by Eamusio in his famous work, "Delle Navi- gationi e Viaggi." In this form it found its way to England, and was, in 1600, rendered by Master John Pory into the quaint English of his time. I obtained the outline of my map by enlarging that of the "Carte de I'Empire de Maroc," executed in 1848 for the French War Department. The filling in of the interior on either side of the route we followed is from observations of my own, supplemented by information taken from a map by M. Tissot, lately French Minister 1'i:kface. ix at Tangier, and now Ambassador at Coustautinople, to the extreme accuracy of whose work, as far as I could judge of it, I am able to testify. Upon the latter source, also, I am chiefly dependent for the geography of that part of the country, remote from our route, which I have not visited, but which is doubtless as correct as that which I was able to verify for myself. It is possible that my rendering of Ai'abic spelling into English may be thought pedantic or incorrect ; but allowing for the corrupt form of Arabic spoken in Marocco, I have approached, as nearly as was feasible, to the now author- ised Anglo-Oriental system. For the benefit of those who may be unacquainted with the " spelling of the future," I may mention that & sounds like a in harm. u 00 „ goose. i ee „ seeil. ! i „ smile a u „ but. u u „ full. i i „ Lit. My sincere thanks are due to the Hon. D. Lawless, Rifle Brigade, for placing at my disposal the negatives of photographs he took during our tour. Of the very successful results obtained from them by JMr. Alexander RivLngton, Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, readers of this X PREFACE, book will judge. The peculiar appearance of the arch ^ 3 o opposite page "24^- is due to some photographic eccen- tricity ; but as the details of the building are clearly brought out, and the crookedness of the picture does not lessen its architectural value, I have thought it best to retain it among the illustrations. I am further much indebted to Sir Joseph Hooker, C.B., K.C.S.L, for his kindness in furnishing me with a list of the plants collected for him by Miss Drummond Hay during our wanderings, and which will be found in the Appendix. To others, also, who have tendered their advice or assistance in matters about which I was doubtful, I beg to offer my grateful acknowledgments. P. D. T. Edinburgh, A2ml 1881. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Decision of Government to send an Envoy Extraordinary to the Sultan — Preliminary arrangements — Presents for Sultan — Account of Tangier — Landing there — Dance at Italian Legation — Departure of ^lission — ^Fnrket at Hadd el Gharbia — Ad Mercuri — AVild flowers .... Pasres 1-18 CHAPTER II. Tomb of Sid Ahmed ben Ali — Megalithic remains at Mzorah — " Lab-el-barod " — " Mona " — Extortion by Europeans — " Matamors " — Sharif of "Wazan — Boar - hunt — Canij) servants ..... 19-33 CHAPTER III. Flat country — Ileliographing — Cold nights — Roadside sacrifice — View of El Araish — Saints and lunatics — Reception at Alcazar — Musicians — Town of Alcazar — " Kohl " — Sultan el Mansor — Battles of Alarcos and Alcazar — Compounding a felony 34-43 XI 1 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE IV. Eomans and Portuguese — Fording the Wad el Kiis — " El Ma Bdred" — Chess playing — Land tortoises — Changing escorts — Kaid of Ben Aouda — Quail shooting — Entertainment at Habassi — Poison — Kuskussii — Solitude Qf plains — Thunder-storm — Irregular protection ..... Pages 44-60 CHAPTEE V. Kaid of Habassi — Passage of Wad el Sebii — Arab women — Pigs and evil spirits — Beni Hassan — Curiosity of villagers — Sick and blind — Sentries at night — Illness or accident — Eain — Missing the road — Quitting the plains — Sid Biibakr — Geographical diffi- culties — " Ki!ibbe " — Nomenclature of villages — Famine — Foreign tyranny ..... 61-82 CHAPTEE VI. Leaky tents — Beni Aamer — Hospitality of villagers — Sea of mud — Storm — Camp attacked by robbers — Perils of darkness — Curious rocks — First view of Fez . . . 83-95 CHAPTEE VII. Entry into Fez — Compulsory welcome — Grandees of Fez — Kaid Maclean — Violence of soldiers — Merchants of Fez — Jews — Our garden in Fez — Kaid El Meshwa — Moorish etiquette — Grand Vizier — Streets and shops — Sanctity of mosques 96-109 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTErt VIII. Visit to the Chamberlain — Our liost's sons — French officers at dinner — Reception of Mission by Sultan — Ivilts and eques- trianism — Palace enclosure — Homage of soldiers — Dialoffuc between Sultan and Envoy — Delivery of the Queen's letter — Presentation of Mission . . . Pages 110-122 CHAPTEP IX. Position of Fez — Water supply — Breakfixst at Grand Vizier's — Hidden treasure — Sultan's garden — Laying down telephone — lioyal stud — Dinner at Kaid Iladj Ilamed's — Surgery 123-138 CHAPTER X. Exliibition of heliographs, &c. — Breach of etiquette — Sultan Mulai Hassan — Refusal to be photographed — Phonograph — Ancestry of Sultan — Breakfast at the Kaid el Meshwa's — Moorish architecture — Dinner with Bashaw of Fez — His harem — The Prophet on women .... 139-157 CHAPTER XL Breakfast at the "Eyebrow's" — The late Sfd Musa — Second sight — Death of Grand Vizier — ^Moorish customs — ^Marocco at Chatham — Cursed by a saint — Professional story-teller — Shallow graves — Slave-market — Treatment of slaves . 158-170 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. Silver ornaments — Mosques — Market — Snake-charmers — Jews — Police arrangements — Frequency of murders — Army reform — Good intentions of Sultan — Unpaid officials — Lex talionis — Mock Sultan — Two remarkable events . Pages 171-189 CHAPTER XIII. Visit to the palace — Failure to photograph Sultan — Setting up telephone — Panthers — Beauty of palace — Sultan's entertain ment — Jugglers — Native drama — Dance of the Aissowieh — Saint of Fez — Visit to the " Melha " — Inspection of infantry — Inns of Fez — Treatment of lunatics . . . 190-211 CHAPTER XIV. Farewell audience — The Sultan's thanks — Discourtesy of Vizier — Claiming protection — Designing foreigners — Precautions against them — Artillery practice — Presents from Sultan — News from home — Books in Fez — Political results of Mission 212-225 CHAPTER XV. In camp again — Departure from Fez — Consular agents — Infantry drill — Closing of gates — Source of Wad el Fas — Defences of Marocco — Chances of Invasion . . 226-234 CHAPTER XVI. Heavy rain — Hill of Kaniifa — Telegraph v. heliograph — Ladies of Mequinez — Selection of heliograph station — Bokhdri — Final COXTENTS. XV instruction in heliography — Sultan Mulai Ismael — His cruel- ties and sanctity — Visit to prison . Pages 235-245 CHAPTER XVII. Departure from Mequinez — Volubilis and Zarliun — Mulai Ismael and the devil — Q. Csecilius Domitianus — Description of ruins — Horse-stealers — Hondius his map — Ptolemy — Failure to enter Mulai Edris — Fate of impostor — Arab tents — Dangerous route — Berbers and Jews 246-260 CHAPTER XVIII. Threatened attack by Zemmur — Direction of march changed — Fight with Zemmur — Sport spoiled — Forest of Mamora — View of Rabat — Camp at Sla — Sallce rovers — Ruins of Sheila — Female saints — Tower of Hassan — Auction of rugs 2G 1-270 CHAPTER XIX. Return of Sid Biibakr — His house in Marocco — Precautions when from home — Mehdia — Portuguese defeat — Ras ed Diira — Whited sepulchres — xAjab gul — Chamomile and borage — Cork woods — El Araisli — Well-to-do Jews — Passage of Wad el Kus — Remains of Moorish fleet — Insect life — Azila — IiTegular protection of Jews — Fording tidal rivers — An avenger of blood ..... 271-286 CHAPTER XX. Return to Tangier — Difficult task of English representative — Obstacles to collecting information — Photographs — Ethnology — Berbers and Arabs — B<>kh;lri — Moors — Further results of Mission — Conclusion .... 287-294 XVI CONTENTS. APPENDIX. PAGE Appendix A. General List of Plants collected . . 295 „ B. Translation of Letter from Kaid Ali to Lieut. Haynes . . . .302 ,, 0. Diseases of Marocco . . . 302 „ D. Extracts from Memorandum on Army Eeform 303 „ E. Substance of Eeport on Sultan's 'Askar, or Eegular Infantry . . . 303 „ F. Extracts from Letter of Sir J. Drummond Hay to Author . . . 305 „ G. Specimen of a " Sharifian Letter " . . 305 „ H. Inscription on Stone at Volubilis . . 306 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. Members of Mission 2. Arab Scribe and Hai'm Secsi5 3. Arrival at Hadd el Gharbia 4. SfD Ahmed ben Ali 5. Monolithic Remains at ]Mzokaii 6. Allarbi, Hadj Ali, Hadj Hamed, and Abd-er-Rahman 7. Outer "Wall of Alcazar 8. Camt at HiVBASsi, A " Day of Rest " 9. Group of Arabs outside Habassi . 10. A Midday Halt on the Road to Fez 11. Sid Bi5bakr 1 2. View of Fez, entering from N. W. 1 3. Tomb of Sultan near Fez 14. View of Fez from S.W. 15. Kaid of Freigiaiis and Soldiers in Palace Garden IG. Verandah of Palace, "Eyebrow" in Back- ground 1 7. Ruin near Fez . Frontispiece. Opposite page 5 IC 18 20 32 )> 40 >> 56 M 60 » 72 >> 84 }> 102 >> lit >? 124 134 140 148 XVlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 18. Story-teller AND Audience . . . Opposite page 164= 19. The Sultan's " Substitutes " . 20. Fort near Fez 21. Camp between Fez and Mequinez 22. View of Mequinez, entering from the East 23. Gateway in Mequinez 24. Do. DO. 25. Ruins of Volubilis 26. Do. DO. 27. Tower of Hassan . 28. Ruins of Shella 29. Passage of the Wad el Sebu at Mehdia 30. El Araish 31. KiJbba, near AzIla . 5) 192 5) 220 )> 226 :ast 234 >> 238 )> 242 55 246 5) 250 )) 264 55 268 >- 55 272 5) 276 55 282 ^0 CHAPTER I. Decision of Government to send an Envoy Extraordinary — Preliminary arrangements — Presents for Sultan — Account of Tangier — Landing there — Dance at Italian Legation — Departure of Mission — Market at Hadd el Gharbia — Ad Mercuri — Wild flowers. British Legation, Tangier, 2d April 1880. The British Government having, early in the year, decided to send an Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Marocco, the Mission was appointed to start in the l)eginning of April for Fez, where, at that season, the Sultan, Mulai Hassan, and his Court, were residing. The convenience of the Envoy and of the members of the Mission was not, however, the only thing which had to be taken into account, for the forms of Moorish etiquette on such occasions are stringent, and much correspondence and many couriers had to pass between Tangier and Fez from the time when the subject was first mooted until the final receipt of the Sultan's per- mission for Sir John Hay to present himself, with his suite, at the Sharifian Court. A descriptive list had also to be furnished to His Majesty of the individuals His Excellency proposed ic B PEESENTS FOR SULTAN. bringing with liim, together with the approximate number of camp followers and baggage animals which were to form part of the invading force, all and sundry of whom would, according to the custom in Marocco, be entertained at the expense of the State during the whole period of their absence from Tangier. Preliminaries were at last all arranged, and the ten Government tents required to supplement those belonging to Sir John and those provided by the Sultan, were sent across from Gibraltar on the 31st March, in order that all might start together on the following day, and the camp be pitched at the first halting-place out of Tangier, ready for the Mission to occupy it on Saturday, 3d of April. I had for some time enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of our minister at Tangier, and he, knowing my desire to visit the interior of Marocco, had kindly invited me to accompany him in the approaching Mission to Fez. Sir John, having suggested to the Foreign Ofiice that a telephone and set of heliographic instruments would be a suitable present to the Sultan from our Government, was anxious to know if I could undertake the task of explaining their use at the Court ; and though I had to confess to only a limited knowledge of the former, I was glad that my services should be utilised in regard to the latter instruments. The contingent from Gibraltar who were fortunate enough to be taken in His Excellency's suite, were Surgeon-Major Will, medical ofiicer to the Mission, and ACCOUNT OF TANGIER. 3 Lieutenant Haynes, R.E., sent in charge of the instru- ments ; while the Hon. D. Lawless, R.B., and I accom- panied Sir John in a private capacity. Though we were only four in number, exclusive of my servant, the Gibraltar authorities had the discernment to i-e- cognize our individual merits, and H.M.S. " Express " was accordingly placed at our disposal to take us across the Straits. At 10 a.m. on Friday, the 2d of April, we weighed anchor, and, after a pleasant crossing, brought up otf Tangier about 2 p.m. Having a considerable amount of private baggage, to say nothing of the large boxes containing the scientific instruments destined to electrify Marocco, the convenience of having the gunboat to convey us and our chattels w^as not to be despised. Probably many people have a personal acquaintance with the 1iay and town of Tangier, while most of those who only know it by name are aware of the position it occupies in English history; but for the sake of the few who are not included under either of those heads, I may mention that in the year 1662 the town became an English possession, being, as were also the town and island of Bomljay, part of the dowry of Catharine of Brajranza on her marria<^e with Charles 11. Tanojier had been in possession of the Portuguese for nearly two hundred years, and the national feeling of a certain party in Portugal was much against this part of the transaction, which, for all the benefit derived l)y our own country, might just as well have been left alone. Mter twenty-two years of misfortunes and mismanagement, during which time we got rather the worst of it at the 4 LANDING AT TANGIEE. hands of the Moors, the place was given up, and the magnificent mole — the only useful relic of English occupation — destroyed. Since that date Tangier has been in possession of its rightful owners ; at first it was merely a refuge for pirates, a community who flourished in Marocco till 1817, but subsequently, owing to its being the only port with decent anchorage for vessels, it has become the chief outlet for the produce of the country, and is blessed, or the reverse, by the presence of all the foreign representatives. As soon as the farce, which, under the name of " Conference," is about to be enacted at Madrid comes to a conclusion, the afi'airs of ]\Iarocco will not be long in appearing prominently before the world ; and the foreign powers who sit like vultures, expectant, over the last throes of the victim, will take counsel together as to who is to possess the dainty portion of the carcase represented by the town, of which a brief historical sketch has here been given. Apart from the official dignity of our approach to Tangier in a Government ship, there was a practical advantage, which will be readily admitted by any one who has arrived there in the ill-found and uncomfortable steamers from Gibraltar. The only substitute for the long-vanished mole is a rickety wooden pier running some 150 feet into the sea ; on this it is possible to land at high- water, though even then it is a risky operation with an east wind and sea coming in upon the shore ; at low-water, however, the boats can only get within a certain distance of the beach, and thither a crowd of "naval demonstration. 5 lightly clad and yelling natives run out to meet the passengers. After a free fight has taken place over the person of their trembling burthen, the latter finds him or her self hoisted on to a pair of bare and slippery shoulders, to preserve equilibrium on -which it is neces- sary to cling to the smooth shaven head which appertains to them. Cutaneous diseases being, however, rife in Marocco, it is only the absolute certainty of a ducking which overcomes the squeamishness of the traveller in availing himself of such a scorbutic point cVappui, which he is glad to relinquish, and to jump upon the sandy shore as soon as the trajet is accomplished. Fortunately, none of these trials awaited us, as a large lifeboat belong- ing to the Custom-house came alongside and took both us and our goods ashore; the interpreter of the Legation, Haim Secsii, being ready with a number of mules to carry up the luggage to its different destinations. It is a favourite pastime of certain European Powers, whose deahngs with Marocco will hardly bear a close inspection, but who hope to increase their influence by a display of force, to anchor large vessels of war off the town of Tangier, a nautical manoeuvre ' which will, they fondly imagine, strike terror into the heart of the Moor. At present there are two Italian ironclads in the bay, the aggregate tonnage of which is doubtless ex- pected to add weight to the counsels of Italy in the approaching Conference. Proi)erly speaking, the Italians should have about the smallest voice in these negotia- ' " Naval demonstration " hud not become a household wonl at the time I wrote the above. 6 HELIOGRAPHING. tions ; their trade with Marocco is almost nil, and the number of Moorish subjects legally under their pro- tection does not exceed ten; upon their "list/' how- ever, and off it, there will be found an army of not less than one hundred, all of them ready to prostrate them- selves before the representative of Italy, and to hail his. presence with the adulation and servility so gratifying to the senses of some functionaries. Rooms having been taken in various hotels for the members of the Mission, their baggage was conveyed there on the backs of Moors and other animals. With the scientific instruments and my own personal effects (the latter a by no means contemptible pile, His Excellency's remarks on which I rather dreaded), I came to the Legation, where a room had been kept for me, and where I met another passenger for Fez, Lord Zouche, who had just come out from England to swell the Envoy's train. Before sunset we tried from the roof of the house to communicate with the signal station at Gibraltar by means of the heliograph, but a slight haze rested upon the rock, and there were, unfortunately, no means of replying to us.^ It is expected that after the Sultan has seen the apparatus, and been convinced of its harm- lessness, he will allow one to be put up here, so that a system of signalling may be established with Gibraltar. In the evening some of us went to a ball to which ^ I subsequently lieard that part of the messages, though in a very mutilated form, had been made out by the intelligent signal - master at that place. BALL AT ITALIAN LEdATION. 7 the Italian miuistcr had kindly invited us ; the warriors of the ironclads had also been bidden to meet the Ijeauty and fashion of Tangier, and poured, to the number of about forty, into a small and already overcrowded room. Dancing w^as rather a muscular effort, ]nit what struck us strangers with astonishment was the extraordinary action of one of the sailors, who officiated as master of the ceremonies during a kind of country dance, and who certainly took care that no want of vocal power should be allowed to mar his part in the entertainment. Gliding about among the couples, he shouted his orders to them in a voice he would have used in hailing a man at the main-truck, and which, coming up with consideral)le exertion from the region of his boots, found an exit at the corner of his mouth, whence it issued in a continuous stream, drowning music, conversation, and all other sounds in one mighty roar. What rendered a naturally discordant voice even more disagreeable was the harsh and infamous accent of the French in which his directions were given ; and it must have been a relief to all when the last order was pumped up to the surface, and the shout of "Messieurs, saluez vos dames," pro- claimed that for the time, at all events, the functions of Boanerges might be laid aside. Zouche and I made our escape home as soon as we decently could, but my feeling about that son of Italy is such that I felt bound to note down the al30ve remarks in my diary before turn- ing in, with impressions fresh on my mind, and his tenible voice still ringing in my ears. DEPARTUEE OF MISSION. Camp, Kaa er Remel, Saturday, Sd April 1880. Sleep in my room at the Legation became a matter of difficulty at an unconscionably early hour this morn- ing, owing to the lane in front of the house being filled with camels and mules, each remonstrating after its kind against the loads which were being imposed ; while the equally intelligible yells of the Moors inside the court- yard, where each of them shouted separate orders at the top of his voice, kept up a chorus of sound that was deafening and continuous. All lesser noises, however, were eclipsed about 9 a.m. by His Excellency, who, appearing on the scene like Jupiter Tonans, desired, in choicest Arabic, to know why some order relating to the luncheon-tent had been neglected. My knowledge of other Oriental languages enables me to testify to the great facility they afford for the powerful expression of thought, and the dead silence which followed the fluently delivered utterances of the Envoy, leads me to believe that Arabic is no exception to the rule. Break- fast in the quiet dining-room at the back of the Legation was a relief after the Babel that was going on in front, and a certain interest attached to the last meal we were likely to have for some time under a solid roof, accom- panied by the luxuries of real china and silver forks; electro -plate, and metal cups and saucers lined with white enamel, being the fashion for camp work. Everything at last was got under way, and a ren- dezvous for the scattered members of the Mission havinof been appointed in the market-place outside the town, they assembled there and waited for His Excellency. HADJ KADOU. 9 The military escort, which had arrived from Fez al)out three days before, was drawn up in an open space at the foot of the principal street, and as close as practicable to the door of the Legation. It consisted of fifty men, wild-looking fellows, mounted on stout service- able little horses, under command of their kaid,' and included a standard-bearer, who rode a grey horse and carried in his hand the red banner of IMarocco. I saw several well-known faces in the square — Mr. Benatdr, the Jew dealer, who only expects 100 per cent on his Fez wares, now offering them at a slightly lower figure, as we were en route to that city ourselves ; and Hadj Kador, the popular and, I believe, excellent guide to travellers, offering to " personally conduct " us all, escort and Envoy included, into the interior and back again, then wishing us, in his sepulchral voice, " Good-bye, gentlemens ; hope you enjine (enjoy) yourselves at Fez, gentlemens." One day this same Kador was showing Colonel Macpherson of my regiment and me the 30-ton guns recently bought by the Sultan, and on our remarking, " What on earth is the good of these guns to you ? you can't even mount them 1" he rather aptly replied — "English gentlemens buys Moorish curiosities; our Sultan he buy English curiosities — all fair, all fair." The main street was crowded with people, and the hill on which the market-place stands presented an un- usually animated appearance. Not only were the natives assembled there in large numbers, but all the foreign legations and consulates had put in an ajipearance, ' Chief, or commander, is tlie nearest equivalent we have to Kaid. 10 ' sultan's horses. and with the English visitors from " Bruzeaud's," the " French/' and other hotels, had taken up their position on the road to see the sight, and bid God-speed to the " Bashador " and suite. His Excellency was not long in making his appearance, with the red flag borne a few yards in front of him, and the escort, led by the kaid, about the same distance behind. The members of the Mission, and a few friends who were to ride out to luncheon with us, tailed in as well as the crowding of the mob and the fighting of the horses would permit ; and amid the buzzing of the Moors, and a hearty English cheer from the few throats which were capable of giving one, the cortege moved on "majestueusement ferme," as a French newspaper afterwards described it, " par une litiere," which was carried on poles like a sedan chair between two mules, one in front and one behind, and in which Lady Hay was to accomplish the long and tedious journey to Fez. Among other attentions on his part, the Sultan had sent four horses for Sir John's use, upon which he mounted the Gibraltar contingent. One of these, a large white horse, as we got to a narrow bit of road a little way on, " went for " the horse nearest to him, and being pulled in, reared straight on end, falling backwards, with his rider, Haynes, apparently under him. It was as ugly a fall as could be seen, and no one could get near to help him on account of the fighting propensities of the horses. However, much to our surprise and gratification, both horse and rider picked themselves up, apparently none the worse, though how the latter escaped was one of those CAMP LIFE. 11 things no fellow can understand. I think some of us were a little saddened by the accident, as, being on strange mounts, no one knew whose turn might come next. About five miles along the road we came to the luncheon-tent pitched on a small hill to the right, where, after an excellent repast, we said good-bye to our friends, who had come to see us so far, and after a further march of an hour and a half arrived at this our first camping place. The name Kaa er Remel, or Sandy Bottom, describes the nature of the soil. The camp is pitched on a high plateau, presenting, with its thirty-five tents, an imposing appearance. The fiag of IMarocco is furled on arrival, its place being taken by a large Union Jack planted in front of the Bashador's tent. We were all much gratified, before turning in to-night, to hear that the gun — the signal for us to get up in the morning — is to be fired at seven a.m. to-morrow instead of six ; and long, we hope, may this modification of arrangements remain in force. We crossed the Mharhar at Meshraa^ el Sejra, just before getting into camp, and the distance marched was about twelve miles. Camp, Hadd el Gharhia, Sunday, 4th April 1880. The camp at Kaa cr Kemel was too noisy after six a.m. to allow of any sleep ; horses neighing for their break- fast (absolutely yelling for it, some of them), and floors shouting at the top of their voices, in tones which make one think they arc about to cut one another's throats on the spot, were enough to banish the duU god. > Mesbrao, or meshra't, is a ford. 1 2 OUR STANDARD - BEARER. But apart from all tliis was the disturbing idea that His Excellency would not hesitate to carry out his threat of striking the tent over the head of any member of the Mission who did not show some signs of vitality and move- ment very soon after seven a.m. The " photographer," too, had declared himself ready to do a picture by the instantaneous process of any one whose tent being thus summarily removed might be discovered in his bath, or in any other delicate position in which it would be equally unsuitable to be perpetuated. We breakfasted comfortably at 8.15, mounted, and left camp about nine, in advance of most of the bao-o;ao;e animals. The road for some time passed over level ground and fertile plains, where wheeled vehicles, were there such things in the country, could travel in safety, till, at the end of four miles, we came to the foot of a pretty steep hill, where a halt of a few minutes was called to get the escort together, and to allow of Lady Hay mounting her mule — a more secure method of progression, over rough and broken ground, than the litter. Up the winding, stony path, sometimes two abreast, and sometimes in Indian file, the party slowly advanced, the deep red of the ensign of the standard-bearer hardly showing in contrast with the rich colour of the sandstone track which glowed warmly in the light of the morning sun. A very impassive func- tionary is this same advanced trooper, never varying his pace, and never stopping save at the desire of His Ex- cellency, conveyed through the venerable kaid ; his flag, always about twenty yards ahead, looks like a red phantom, the pursuit of which, for about five hours, has GUARD - HOUSES. 13 been allotted to us all for our daily task. From the top of this hill, which we are told is almost our last before reaching Fez,^ the view was as beautiful as it was exten- sive. Below and behind us was the fertile valley of the Wad el Mharhar, which we crossed yesterday; away to the east towered the mountains which separate the Province of Tangier from the Eif country — that mysterious district, peoj^led by a handsome and warlike race, whose homicidal propensities render it imj^ossible for any strangers, espe- cially Europeans, to set foot therein with any chance of return. On the west were the woods which skirt the Awdra territory, kept sacred to the wild boar and his pursuers, foremost among whom ranks the veteran sports- man under whose auspices we are about to enter the (to us) unknown tracts between here and the sacred city. Beyond Awara, again, was the wide Atlantic, whose waters, though apparently smooth as a mill-pond, were rolling in their weaves of " perpetual surf" upon the sandy shore." At 10.30 we arrived at Nzala el Gharbia, where our luncheon tent had been pitched ; el Gharbfa is the name of the district we are in, and Nzala signifies a " guard " or " guard-house." There are many of these enclosures in the country for the use of people with droves of cattle or caravans of merchandise, who, on payment of a small sum to the custodians, are allowed to camp in ' This piece of information turned out to be as false aa is most of what one derives, except from ocular demonstration, in this country. 2 This same "perpetual surf on the west coast of Africa I found out to be a m}-th, as on our return march by the coast there were several calm days on which the Atlantic comiwrted itself like any other sea. 14 EVILS OF PROTECTION. tliem at night in comparative safety from the attacks of any neighboming robbers. A small detachment of stalwart Arabs, armed with long guns, was drawn up to receive us, but no further demonstration in our honour was made. While strolling round the village later on I heard, proceeding from one of the tents, a low, wailing sound, with occasional hysterical sobs at regular intervals ; and though, of course, I could not satisfy my curiosity at the time, I learned afterwards that there had been a death in the house, and the relatives were holding a kind of wake over the departed. We resumed our march about two o'clock, but our standard-bearer took us a long round, having missed the shortest road in consequence of no deputation having been sent out to show us where the camp was pitched. The Sheikh of the village, on being sent for to explain this apparent neglect, and also to account for some rough usage one of the grooms had received at the hands of a villager, protested his innocence, saying that since nearly all the people of the place were under the protection of one foreign consul or another, it was out of his power either to provide an escort or to execute justice on evil-doers. Though the Sheikh no doubt slightly exaggerated the facts, his statement was in the main true enough, and is only one instance among many of the evils which this system produces, ending, as it must inevitably do, in the total stasjnation of the native administration of law and justice. A large " sok " or fair was being held in the neigh- bourhood, the chief object of interest to strangers being a MOORISH PHLEBOTOMY. 15 professional bleeder, who sat outside his ragged little tent with a semicircle of patients in front of him waiting their turn to be operated upon in the following manner : — A small incision having been made somewhere behind the ear, a cupping-glass, or rather tin, was applied, filled and emptied tliree or four times, and the contents poured into a rapidly filling pool by the doctor's side. The patient then deposited a small coin with the operator, and his place was taken by another. This practice of l^lood-letting is almost universal among the country people, who imagine that the removal of an ounce or two of extra blood before the hot season commences will render them less liable to be aff'ected by the heat of the sun ; as most of them go about not only bare- headed, but with their crowns closely shaven, no doubt some cooling process of this sort is necessary. The little scars caused by the above process, and which many of our servants bear on the back of the neck, had always been a puzzle to me ; for though the Moor's head is generally a mass of cicatrices, there is a certain form and regularity about these others which attracts one's attention, and I am glad to have discovered their cause. This camping ground is beautifully situated — sandy soil, high ground, and a magnificent view from it. There is a spring, too, with excellent water, not very far off, but the hard and fast rule that all our drinking water should be boiled first and filtered afterwards, is always kept in force, however attractive the outward appearance of the element may be. 16 ARAB SCRIBE. Our " photographer," who galloped into camp before us, took a view of the cortege, as it appeared coming to a halt before we dismounted ; but owing to the escort not being properly closed into focus — the whole affair only occupying a few seconds — the effect is not as imposing as it might have been. On the right of the picture are the figures of two curious -looking people, who, like all the other natives, were quite ignorant of what was going on ; the one on the mule, wholly enveloped in his haik, or flowing white robe, with his head-gear twisted into the shape of an old wife's mutch, is Sir John's Arab scribe, a most intelligent and hard- working old gentleman. Every evening after our arrival in camp he may be seen, through the open door of His Excellency's tent, squatted on the ground, absorbed in writing to his master's dictation. He has been this road before, and is, I am sure, full of information which I would gladly extract, could he speak anything but his own barbarous tongue. The other figure of the old man in a skull-cap, seated on a pony, is that of one Ben Shittim, a Moorish Jew, and the headman of the village of Azila, who, with his son, an extraordinary specimen of humanity in European costume, and who could speak Spanish, had ridden over to pay his respects to the Bashador. A line of tents, seven in number, a quarter of a mile off, attracted my attention, and, hearing it was Colonel Gordon-Cumming's party, I walked over there before dinner with Zouche. They are e7i route to Rbat, having halted here for Sunday, an ensample of godliness of AD MERCURI. 17 which we have not been guilty ; His Excellency, how- ever, put his veto on the use of the gun to-day, though he stood his ground under fire from the photographer, and would not have objected to the heliographcrs taking shots at each other from opposite hills, had those officers possessed sufficient energy to unpack their in- struments for a little practice. Science, however, like cleanliness, is a nearer approach to godliness than is quail shooting. We all visited the site of the ancient Roman town of Ad Mercuri — at least what we were encouraged to beheve was such — but which would have been more interesting had the outlines not been wholly concealed by a heavy crop of barley. I am sorry, however, that we had no time to prosecute our researches, for I believe that on the eastern and western extremities of the plateau on which we stood, the enceinte of the town and a wall in good preservation are clearly marked ; whereas the huts and gardens of the Dshar ^ Jedid entirely hid the line of the ramparts in this direction. The beauti- fully clear spring above mentioned, which is partly sur- mounted by a massive stone arch, said to be the work of the Portuguese, was another object of interest we visited. Our archaeological studies were, however, interrupted by signs of approaching night (we have no twilight to speak of in these latitudes), warning us that dinner- time was near. This same hour of dinner bids fair to be a not unimportant part of the day's programme, for the ' D?liar, a village built of stone, as opix)seJ to the Duar, or Arab encampment. 18 MIGNONETTE. Israelitish chef, Judico, is a master hand at field- cookery, so that his endeavours, and our appetites toge- ther, form a pleasing and successful combination. His Holiness, the Sharif of Wazan, High Priest of Marocco and all Northern Africa, who, with his attendants, has come out here to join in a boar-hunt we hope to have on Wednesday, is camped close by. Wild flowers seem to be more abundant the farther we get into the interior, my tent being carpeted to-night with a luxuriant crop of wild mignonette, which, I suppose, is the ordinary "Keseda odorata," though the scent is not so strong as the garden species at home. This plant is indigenous to Marocco, and was taken long ago from here to France, where it was christened "Mignonette," and in 1742 made its first appearance in England. The weather is still charming, but the sun is, of course, daily gaining power, and our complexions are beginning to suffer proportionately. A nightly application of glycerine, which I have already begun, will, I hope, mitigate my sufferings, though, as former experience teaches me, it is not a becoming cosmetic, but induces, in time, a complexion like that of the Bengali Babu. Beasts and creeping things, too, are on the increase ; and, as I write, I hear enormous beetles, attracted by the light in my tent, hurling themselves with suicidal force against the walls. The distance we marched to-day was about ten miles. CHAPTER 11. Tomb of Sid Alimcd ben Ali — Megalithic remains at Mzorali — " Lab ol barutl " — " Mona " — Extort ion by Europeans — " Matamora " — Sharif of Wazan — Boar-hunt — Camp servants. Camp, Sid el Yemdni, Qth April 1880. The morning clouds at Hadd el Gharbia, though low and threatening, luckily did not develop into rain, liut served rather to intensify the rays of the sun, which for the first time " nipped " one uncomfortably. The camp was in motion at 8.30, and after traversing a beautiful plain, many miles in extent, rich in pasture and barley crops, we crossed the River Aisha, and ascending a slight incline halted near the tomb of a saint, Sid Ahmed ben Ali. The tomb, in passing which the standard-bearer rever- ently lowered his flag, is said to be tended with great care, and to be highly finished inside ; it is in a thick grove of olive trees, but into those sacred precincts of the holy man's last resting place, we were, of course, not allowed to penetrate. The luncheon-tent ha we had gone off in au easterly direction in pursuit of a bustard ; our wrong direction had been noticed, our hesitation remarked, and our character as pioneers It was a relief to quit the region of the plains this morning, and to enter, after an hour's ride, a narrow o;orr 76 NOMENCLATURE OF VILLAGES. possibly a cisliar, i.e. a group of huts or rough stone buildings ; the former denote tlie presence of the wander- ing Arabs, the latter that of the Berbers, or original inhabitants of the country. The names, however, which catch one's eye in the map appertain to the Sid houses or tombs of Saints, small white cupola-like buildings, called by the natives " kiibba." There are many of these kiibbe dotted about the country, and they give their name to any village near them. Information of any sort is hard to be obtained in this land of lies and subterfuges, but as regards dates, their ignorance is bond Jide, most of their calculations being made relative to the date of the famine, or of the last war with Spain or Portugal. If you ask a man his age, his answer is probably, " I was such and such an age when the Spaniards took Tetuan from us," and so on. Hence it is difficult to know when any of the kubbe were built, especially as for neither love nor money could one get inside to look for dates or inscriptions. The buildings seem made of stone or plaster, and are square, with a small dome at the top, the whole coated thickly with whitewash. Close round them are a few trees, the only ones of any size in the country, and the place is looked after and kept in repair by some descendants of the deceased occupant, who receive contributions for the purpose from every right-minded traveller. If in want of more funds, they stroll the country with a banner and one or two instruments (I was nearly inserting the adjective musical), with which they soon raise sufficient for their own and their deceased relative's requirements. SUNSET AT ZEGC.OTA. 77 Besides the i)laiis I mentioned for naminc: villan-es. tliere is another which struck me as ingenious, viz. that of calling them after the day of the week on which the market nearest to them is held, a practice which prevails, I think, in Syria and parts of Egj^pt; e.g. the place where we encamped some days ago near the Sebu was called Jum'a el Hawiifi, the former word signifying Friday, the latter the name of the district; so with Hadd el Gharbia, one of our first camps, — Hadd signifies Sunday, or the "first day," and El Gharbia the province. As the market day never changes — at Alcazar, e.g., it has been held on a Monday since the time of Leo Africanus, the Moorish historian of the fifteenth century — this method has more of permanence in it than any other. These markets are largely attended ; besides live stock of various kinds, grain and butcher meat, stufi*s of native manufacture, &c., are sold in great quantities. The evening was stormy, and just before the sun went down below the hill on the side of which our camp is pitched, the colouring and eff'ect were fine beyond description. A strange lurid light lit up the valley below us, and the surrounding hills, while overhead masses of dark clouds drove quickly past before the strong south-west wind. The two villages I mentioned shone out exactly like patches of red fire against the dark hill- side, and the half of a rainbow which spanned the plain was changed into the same colour, and reflected l)ack the glory of the setting sun. The scene was very impressive, and now that the sun had disai)peared behind the hill, the strong reflected light, striking 78 RECENT FAMINE. upwards from between the drifting clouds, made tlie distant ranges appear quite close for a moment ; then, as the sun sank lower, they again grew dim and far away, the loftier tops shining out to the last against the darkening background, and finally disappearing alto- gether, as the gloom of the approaching night, which follows so close wpon the daylight, came down upon the landscape. The heat of the day had been excessive, and it hardly needed the sound of distant thunder to warn us of the deluge that was coming. About dinner-time it began with one or two brilliant flashes, which lighted up our dining-tent unpleasantly, completely eclipsing the three or four candles and tent lantern, and showing ofi" our complexions — sun-burned as we are — in a ghastly hue. Trenches had been dug round the upper side of our tents, which are on a considerable slope, so our chances of being washed away during the night are lessened ; while it is pleasant again to feel, if any reliance can be placed on what these people say, that a whole district will commend us in their orisons to-night to the holy keeping of the Prophet for our goodwill towards them in bring- ing down the rain. Traces of the late severe famine seem more apparent on this side the Sebii river than farther north. Disease, too, the sure consequence of famine, has made great ravages, not only among the poorer class, but to a great extent among the richer people, who never can have known what hunger is. In a small district we passed through two days ago, the kaid, in apologising for the smallness of the retinue brought to meet us, said it was FOREIGN TYRANNY. 79 not ouly because ca number were away fighting, but that (luring the last eighteen months no fewer than sixty of his followers had died of a sort of low typhus whieh had been devastating the country. Even now the very poor class have nothing to eat, and no money to buy food. " Give us meat !" some of them cried this evening. " In God's name, we have nothing to eat but grass!" and they look as if they spoke only the bare truth. To-day, as Hadj Hamed was distributing the carcases of two sheep, by order of His Excellency, to a lot of poor wretches at the last camp, they snatched the meat from him, and, tearing it up, began to eat it raw. Just be- yond, too, where our horses were picketed, the body of a man was found dead, apparently of starvation, and was buried by our grooms. His body was noticed in the early morning ; so the poor man had probably wandered round the camp till, unable to go any farther, he had lain down and died within a stone's throw of the tent in which we were dining. It is horrible to think how little one can do to alleviate suffering of this sort, while at the same time it is gratifying to hear from educated natives that they are still mindful of the large amount of help that came from England during the famine, and also are aware from whence it came. Making allowance for the flattery and compliments which they naturally pay to a Mission like ours, there is no doubt that the Enolish are held in much hiorher esteem here than are o o any of the Continental powers. Next to ourselves the French have most intercourse with Marocco ; but though they have succeeded in making themselves dreaded, tlicy 80 A EUROPEAN ROBBER. have neither sought for nor obtained the goodwill of the people. In this province, Sherarda, an act of tyranny and extortion has lately been committed by a foreign official, which is, I hope, without parallel in these latter days of dijDlomacy and civilisation. The story is unique, and havino: made notes of it as I heard it related throuo;h the medium of an interpreter, I think it worth a place in my diary. It seems that the official in question, some months ago, was sent from his embassy with a message or letter to the Sultan. AVhen at a convenient distance from his chief he gave himself out as an ambassador, and de- manded to be treated as such. Passing through this place his number of servants and animals was six and fourteen respectively. The usual 7nona for this num- ber was brought, but he returned it, and demanded corn for two hundred animals, also two sheep, six loaves of sugar, 6 lbs. candles, chickens, eggs, tea, &c. Eventually he accepted half the amount of corn, but all the rest was insisted upon. He sold the sheep, the chickens, and part of the barley to a Moor of the place, the rest he carried away ; the load being too much for his animals, his people seized a mule from its owner and placed on it two boxes and a mattress belonging to their master. The mule, however, bolted, leaving the load upon the ground ; and the muleteer, in a fright at being left alone with the foreigner's chattels, got the kaid of the village, who, in the presence of a British subject and two acluls,^ opened one of the boxes, and after taking ^ Public notary. EUROPEAN rRESTKJE. 81 an inventory of its contents, which consisted solely of cooking utensils, put it and the other box, which was locked, on a camel, with the mattress, and sent them all into Fez. Mr. , however, refused to receive them, stating that the box which had been opened contained jewellery and orders to the amount of several thousand dollars, and sent in a formal complaint about the rob- bery. Four soldiers were then sent to demand the rob- bers. The poor kaid, who knew that no robbery had been committed, yet dreading his lord the Sultan, sent up eight innocent men to Fez. These were put in prison and floLTojed, without success, to make them confess — one man for certain, and it was rumoured two, dying under the lash. Still the soi-disant legate pressed his demands, and hints of active interference on the part of his Government helped to influence the Sultan's advisers. A body of twenty-five 'askdr were accordingly sent to the village to say that the money must be paid. The kaid then sent for the headmen and sheikhs of villages, and said, — " My friends, it has pleased God to heavily afflict our province, and by the mouth of a lying Christian to in- cense the ear of our lord the Sultan against us ; but we must bow to fate. What is to l)e done ?" It was then agreed to ask for a fortnight's respite, during which time they sold their crops and raised, first one half, and then the remainder of the required sum. With the latter instal- ment the kaid, accompanied by the British subject, went to Fez, told the Vizier the facts, and that he had a man with him to substantiate them. It was all of no avail ; the money was paid, and the foreigner returned homo 82 EUROPEAN PRESTIGE. mucli pleased with the private results, at all events, of his mission. In detailing this disreputable story I make no in- sinuations aofaiust the Government which has thus been disgraced, and which is doubtless as honest and upright as our own ; but the rogue in question was a bold and subtle one, and though other Governments were probably informed by their representatives of the above facts, his own immediate superior is presumably still unaware of them. At the same time, if their prestige in this country suffers, ours derives but little benefit thereby, for as the Moors think that the devil has tarred all Christians with the same brush (they credit Sir John, perhaps, with a lighter coat), we are thought capable of acting similarly, should occasion offer. The incident, at all events, serves to prove how great is the necessity for a foreign Government to employ as its representative among a people like these a man whose own moral instincts render him incapable of employing as his subordinate any one who could be guilty of such glaring malpractices. With specimens, too, such as these to damn his endeavours, the attempts of any well- intentioned foreign representative to gain by example and moderation the goodwill and favourable opinion of this unfortunate race are rendered almost futile. CHAPTER YI. Leaky Tents — Beni Aamer — Hospitality of villagers — Sea of nuul — Storm — Camp attacked by robbers — Perils of darkness — Curious rocks — First view of Fez. Camp near Fez, Friday, lQ>th April 1880. Rain fell very heavily on Wednesday night at Zeggota, but the trench round my tent did its work well, and no water flowed in under the walls, notwithstanding the slope upon which they were pitched. These double- roofed tents, several of which we brought over from Gibraltar, are, although issued by Government, really perfect in their way, and the rain, the effect of which we at first rather dreaded, has now quite a soothing sound as it patters down at night close to one's face. With the Sultan's tents, of which we have several, the case is diff'erent ; their large size and dark hand- some linings arc a great protection against the sun, but they leak hopelessly, and the big single-pole one occupied by Lady and Miss Hay is no exception to the rule. This serious inconvenience is, however, only one of the many great discomforts I)orne uncom- plainingly l)y the two fair members (»f tlic Mission — 84 BENI AAMER. discomforts which would have driven most English ladies back to Tangier before they had got two marches out of it. Close to our camp at Zeggota was a beautiful spring of cold water, which came bubbling up bright and pure out of the hill-side. The medico and I walked there after breakfast, as he wanted to fill some bottles with it for the purpose of mixing drugs and potions for the relief of suffering Marocco. Our road lay in a south- easterly direction, and a ride of an hour and a half brought us to the foot of a gorge on the right-hand side of the road, nearly at the head of which, and about two miles from where we halted for luncheon, was perched the village of Beni Aamer before mentioned. Directly opposite it, and on the same level, was another village, a sort of counterpart of Beni Aamer, but which had not been visible from Zeggota, being situated a little below the crest of the intervening hill. The whole ravine was filled with the most luxuriant olive groves, a welcome sight for people who had not seen a tree, with the exception of those round the Saint houses, since leaving the neighbourhood of Tangier. A little below our halting place, and at the point where a stream crosses the road, stood a solitary palm tree, which, from its rarity, has found a place as a landmark in Tissot's map. While luncheon was getting ready some of us started, with two soldiers as escort. Miss Hay as in- terpreter, and Sid Bubakr as cicerone, to visit the village of Beni Aamer. It was a really pretty road up to it through the olive grove, with gardens here ^'PS. ry-^" 1- ':■".*? 1-H "-t- ^w' SIO-BUBAKR. 1 "eating up" villagers. 85 and there on either side, and a small vineyard, the p^apes of which find their way to the markets of Fez. The peoi)le of these two villages, who come of an aboriginal (or brebber)^ stock which has intermarried with Arabs, ai'e — so the Sid told us — a prosperous and well-to-do set, making a considerable revenue out of the oil they extract from the olives ; but since the Governor of Fez, under whose jurisdiction they come, found out that they were raising their heads above their neighbours, he has caused a heavy sum of money to be levied upon them, or, as they expressed it them- selves, ''came and ate them up." The immediate approach to the village lay over a slippeiy ledge of rocks, upon which several of the horses nearly, and one (Herbert White's) quite came to grief; so we had to dismount and lead them. On arrival at the gate we found assembled a good many people, who had been watching our ascent ; and Sid Bubakr, on asking if we might ride in, was told that the headman had been sent for, and that we must wait for him. The view from the plateau on which the village stands was magnificent ; below and around us lay the olive groves, while ranges of sloping hills extended, line upon line, as far as the eye could reaeli, the back- ground of all in the far distance being the snow-cai)})ed tops of the Atlas moimtains. After waiting a few min- utes the sheikhs of the village came out ; tall, stalwart- looking sons of the mountain they were, fair as Euro- peans, and very little trace of the Ami) about them. " Bro1)l>cr," or indigenous ; a tenn analogous to " Bt-rber." 86 SHEIKHS OF BENI AAMER. The Sid having explained who we were, and also who he was, the Sheikhs made us w^elcome to the village, and following in their wake we rode in single file under the massive archway. The street, if such it could be called, in which we found ourselves, led from this gate to another entrance farther up the hill at the top of the village. The houses on either side were mostly in ruins, though the mosque which we passed (but did not even look into, not feeling at the time very sure of our position) seemed in good repair, as were also one or two smaller buildings. The place, however, was in such an in- describable state of filth that we had difficulty in picking our way, and little time, moreover, to look about us. The centre of the road was too deep in mud and other abominations even to ride through, so we followed our guides along a sort of path on the extreme edge ; this, however, was not particularly good going, and having just avoided a small but suspicious-looking hole at the foot of the wall, I heard a spluttering and noise behind me, and saw one of our pdrty standing in the mud pulling at his horse's head, which was the only part of the animal visible above ground. He soon managed to struggle out again, having changed his white coat for a dirty brown one ; the hole into which he had slipped being an eccentricity of Moorish architecture, or some sunken vault of a ruined house. Arrived outside the other end of the town, we held a sort of council of war, our chief object being to get home without partaking of the hospitality which was now being pressed upon us. We even took the Sid into our confidence, but he de- COUNCIL OF WAR. 87 cided against us, so we saw there was no escape. AVe could not, in any case, return outside the town, as we wished, there being a lion in the path in the shape of a Saint house, past which our unhallowed persons couhl not be allowed to go. We therefore returned througli the gateway, and bearing away to the right, passed along a rather cleaner part, with one or two shops on either side. Arrived at a gloomy archway in a covered passage, we dismounted one by one, and, entering, found ourselves in an almost totally dark court, the odours in which were not of sanctity ; our guides then took us by the hand and led us to a corner where there was a hole in the wall, through which having crept with difficulty, we came to the foot of a very steep and dismal narrow stair, up which in Indian file we were invited to climb. It was, in tnitli, a strange entrance to a gentleman's house, and augured badly for the style of visitors our host was in the habit of receiv- ing, or rather of protecting himself against. Was it an ambuscade for us unfortunate infidels, and did the hearts of some of us beat loud as the thought of the Jew burned in the market-place of Fez a few months back occurred to us, besides many another tale of Mussulman fanaticism and cruelty ? But no, the cheery voice of the Sheikh at the head of the stair reassured us, and certain silvery tones sounding just over our heads stimulated our curiosity. As soon as we reached the upper story we were led through a kind of patio to an inner chamber opening on to it, and through a door on the left, leading to the top of the house, we saw disap- 88 HOSPITALITY OF BENI AAMER. pearing hastily the houris whose voices we had heard from below. The room we found ourselves in was provided with cushions placed on the encaustic tiles of the floor ; and as soon as we were seated our host besprinkled us plentifully with rose water, then, after burning some incense in a silver dish, brought it round to each of us. The Sid had assured us we would get off with tea, but until its arrival we were much afraid that something more solid was in course of preparation. Accompanying it, however, was a large basket of bread with a pile of fresh butter, weighing at a guess about six pounds. The Moors have a peculiar, albeit simple, method of serving out such delicacies ; breaking off about a quarter of one of the flat scones or rounds of bread, they plunge their right hand into the mass of butter and clap a piece about twice the size of a hen's egg on to the bread, which is then given to you to get through as best you may ; if you are at all slow or backward in doing so, another edition of the same proportions is forced upon you, and so on ad nauseam. It was jDast twelve o'clock when we arrived at our third cup of tea and second hunch of bread and butter, and, lusting as we were after the flesh pots of the camp — we had intended returning there to luncheon — it was hard to feel our- selves becoming momentarily, though involuntarily, less and less able to contemplate that meal. Just as our forbearance (to say nothing of our stomachs) was tried to the uttermost, and as we were rising to depart, a dish of steaming hot meat was brought in ; but against this we stoutly took our stand, protesting with our hands u]Don ladies' curiosity. 89 our hearts, or a little below that organ, tliat the limit to our power of cousumi)tioii had l)eeu reached. The a.stutc Sid Biibakr bearing us out in this assertion, the dish was taken outside to our two soldiers, whom we saw doing ample justice to it, and fully appreciating our want of appetite. We now stated our wish to return to the halting-ground, urging the anxiety the Bashador would be feeling on our account, and other cogent reasons. A new difficulty arose, however, out of which even Sid Bubakr could not help us ; it seemed that there were two kings of Brentford, and that, having honoured the house of one of them, the other would be humbled to the dust if we did not visit him too. Seeing there was no help for it, we acquiesced with what cheerfulness we might, and, passing out, were rewarded with another glimpse of some of the ladies of the establishment, whose curiosity to see us overcoming their shyness, they pressed forward to the head of the stair, their faces — one a very pretty one — peering over each other's shoulders to take a parting glance. The lane outside was densely crowded by the villagers, who were much excited at the news of a party of Christians being in their Sheikh's house ; but we managed to get on foot to the next stopping -place, which was pretty close. Here much the same ordeal was gone through, except that the bread, freshly baked for us and steaming hot, formed a slippeiy foundation for the inevitable lump of butter crammed on to it, thereby increasing the difficulty «»f graceful manipulation not a little. The room in which we were seated for this second tea-party wius in the 90 THE MOOR AT HOME. centre of tlie house on the ground floor, a rather gloomy apartment, round the sides of which were placed gigantic clay jars ; they were used, as far as I could make out, for keeping olive oil or corn, though from their size and shape the suggestion of one of the party that they con- tained the bodies of our host's deceased wives seemed not improbable. "We were allowed to decamp from here as soon as we had got outside the regulation third cup of tea; and the amount of bread and butter we had disposed of having effectually put luncheon out of the question, we rode quietly and resignedly back to the halting -place, where our lengthened absence had created some uneasiness. This visit of ours to Beni Aamer was really very interesting, bringing us, as it did, into contact with the Moor where he shows to the greatest advantage, viz. in his own house. The more one sees of these people, the more one appreciates their charm of manner and the entire absence of anything approaching to awkwardness or mauvaise honte. Our hosts here, for instance, were as perfect gentlemen in their way as one could meet with anywhere ; and certainly, had they exhibited either vulgar astonishment or any like sign of ill-breeding, one could readily have excused them. With the exception of ourselves no Christian had ever entered the village before, and the populace showed their astonishment by pouring into the streets and covering the tops of the houses that lined our route. The Sheikh of the village, however, presided over his tea-tray with as much com- posure as if he had been entertaining half-a-dozen Arabs DISCIPLINE OF HA REM. 01 instead of the five Cliristiim men, and, what must liave been much more trying, the one Christian hidy of our party. In the streets, too, though the most unmixed surprise, — and, in the case of a few women and chiklren, terror, — was manifested at our appearance, there was no rudeness or jostling ; those who disapproved of our presence merely keeping in the background, scowling at us, and muttering curses as we passed. The men are, in most instances, much better mannered than the women, and Miss Hay experienced rather rough treat- ment at the hands of the ladies in the first house we went to. They had invited her on to the roof to see the view, and after nearly tearing her clothes to pieces to see what they were made of, one young lady of twelve or fourteen called out, " Let us throw the Nazarene down from the roof, and see what will become of her!" which suggestion, however, was fortunately not carried out. At the other house, on the contrary, a pretty attention was showTi her by the head of our host's harem, who came into the room to receive her, and led her to the upper end of it, where there was a door opening into another room. She then seated herself behind the door, and remained during the sdance, saying, " I thought you would feel strange among so many men alone, so I came to meet you, and will not leave you aU the time." The full value of this can only be appreciated by those who know the stringent regula- tions by which the discipline of the harem is conducted, and from which this was, of course, a decided de])arture. By the time we started, the fact of our presence had 92 ILL -CHOSEN CAMP. been noised abroad, and tlie crowds round our horses and along the roofs had much increased ; the Sheikh and his friends accompanied us to the gate, and Sid Bubakr thus expressed to them our thanks : — " I am asked to convey to you the thanks of the Christians for your hospitality ; they rode up here merely to see your village, but you have shown them the hospitality of the Arab, and they will always bear the memory of your kindness written upon their foreheads." I was a little surprised at Sid Bubakr making use of the word " Arab," as our entertainers were evidently of Berber, or aboriginal, extraction ; however, as the term " hospitable as an Arab " is proverbial here, I hope they took it for a compliment. We got into camp at Mikkes that afternoon at four, an escort of seventy regular cavalry, the first besides our permanent escort that we have seen, being stationed some miles out on the road to meet us. They are a fine body of men, and their movements, and manner of performing the lab el barod, are very difierent from those of their provincial brethren.. The ground on which the tents were pitched was as muddy and ill- chosen as it could possibly be. It is at the bottom of the chain of hills through which we have been marching, and is composed of a glutinous sort of clay. This substance, after taking a few steps in it, attached itself in such quantities to our boots, that one's gait resembled that of a cripple whose lower extremities are paralysed, or of a fly just emerged from the treacle - pot. The ladies were carried into the dining-room tent CAMP ATTACK HI). 93 on chairs, and Sir John waded proudly in with goloshes on ; but, except for the purpose of proving the excellence of these expedients, I can conceive no other reason for the choice of this ground, especially as the adhesive nature of the soil had been proved on a former occasion. I shall not soon forget the night we spent there. First of all we experienced the most violent storm of wind and rain we have had during the march, aning- ground, the walls and minarets of the Sacred City came into view, shining out clearly, aljout five miles off, in the strong light of the afternoon sun. The camp to-night is pitched close to the Wad el Fas, a tributary of the Sebu, and is about as well- chosen a site for malaria as yesterday's was for dis- comfort and wet clay. What with the rain, which has been harassing us of late, and the stupidity of Hadj Hamed (or whoever is responsible) in pitching the camps in such ill-favoured spots, I think most of us are pleased to be nearly at our journey's end for the present. Our native servants and camp-followers seem to more than share our feelings in this respect, and as soon as they came in sight of the hills round Fez called loudly on the patron saint of the city — " Mulai Edris, bring us soon to Fas ! ]\lulai Ecbis, help us with forage for our mules ! ]\Iulai Edris, we are near home again ! " with other and similar ejaculations. CHAPTER VII. Entry into Fez — Compulsory welcome — Grandees of Fez — Kaid Maclean — Violence of soldiers — Merchants of Fez — Jews — Our garden in Fez — Kaid El Mesliwa — Moorish etiquette — Grand Vizier — Streets and shops. Fez, Saturday, 17 th Aj^ril 1880. The excitement of the Moors on getting to their journey's end was great last night in camp, and rather communicated itself to us more matter-of-fact Nazarenes. Many were the questions His Excellency had to answer relative to the Sacred City. Some of us wanted to know if there was any hair-cutter in the town — a tradesman of whose professional aid most of us stand in need — forgetting that the razor, and not the scissors, is the only instrument employed by coiffeurs of the faithful. Altogether, our ignorance of what we were to find was great ; but this only added to the interest with which we looked forward to enlightenment. Our camp was not more than five miles from the gates, but wonderfully few people came out to look at it ; etiquette prevents the ofiicials showing their curiosity, and the people, we heard, had been forbidden to come. This morning, the only person of note to make his PREPAKATORY ARRANGEMENTS. 1)7 appearance was Ski Bi'ibakr ; lie had loft us the day before yesterday to precede us into Fez, and hear what were the latest arrangements for our reception, which he rode out this morning to communicate. Fortunately the day was bright and sunny, and the clean white sidhams^ which most of the servants had donned for the occasion, shone to advantage. They had all done something in the way of brushing themselves up. Boomgheis in virgin white looked the personifica- tion of innocence and chastity, — a character to which he is perhaps barely entitled, while green silk handker- chiefs adorned the smooth shaven and scarred heads of Abd-er-Eahman and " Dr. Hooker." - We had rather expected that His Excellency would request us to appear in uniform on the occasion, as one quite felt it to be a day on which either that or a frock coat and tall hat — had we such things in our kit — should be produced ; but on reflection one recognised the fact that no costume could appear more striking and thoroughly outlandish to the eye of the Fasi ^ than that of everyday life ! During breakfast Sid Biibakr, sitting at Sir John's feet, conversed eagerly with him about, as we were told, the excitement in the city regarding our entry, the temper of the populace, and the orders the Sultan had given. It seemed that a certain class, instigated probably by the Grand Vizier, who is a fanatic of the worst type, viz. an ignorant one, had determined to take ' Long tunic-shaped garment. ' See page 33. ' People of Fez — or Fuss, as they pronounce it. H 98 ENTRY INTO FEZ. no notice of us, but to treat us with the contempt to which our creed entitled us. To obviate this, how- ever, the Sultan this morning gave orders that all shops were to be closed and business suspended during the forenoon, and the outpouring of the inhabitants caused by this measure was a sight which none of us will readily forget. We got on our horses about 8.30, all curiously eager to see what was to be seen, and equally ignorant of the extraordinary nature of the spectacle that awaited us. For the first three miles there were only a few isolated groups of people come out to see us ; but when within two miles of the gate the crowd had greatly increased, and it became necessary for the escort to close in a little for our protection, and for us to form ourselves into two ranks to enable them to encircle us more completely. I think from here to the gate the whole thing rather suggested scenes in a circus of impossibly gigantic di- mensions, than anything else, but so constantly changing and varpng as almost to bafile description, unless one had noted down all as it occurred. The first military party to meet us was a small body of horsemen, so gaudily and brilliantly attired, that in the far distance, as they came galloping ventre a terre towards us through the lanes of people, they looked like a handful of precious stones thrown by a powerful and unseen hand, and glittering in the sun ; with one funny ex- ception, they were almost the only piece of colouring in the whole scene. Next we were met by the Grovernor of Fez, with a party of more soberly clad riders, attended GRANDEES OF FEZ. 99 by a strong guard. This official — an old and striking- looking man — greeted His Excellency with much emotion, but as he is the individual who has been scjueezing our friends of Beni Aamer, we looked upon him with no loving eye, and would much like to give a quiet hint to the Sultan regarding his malpractices. When within a mile and a half of the entrance, our following was augmented by several of the notal)les of the place, among the most conspicuous of whom was the Kaid el Meshwa, or Lord High Chamberlain of the Court. He is a man of great presence, al)out 6 feet 2 inches in height, and broad in proportion ; and being mounted on a large white horse of about 1 6 hands, with a huge saddle covered with green silk, formed a striking figure in the procession. His complexion is almost black, as he belongs to the Bokhdris ^ or hereditary bondsmen of the Sultan, but his voice and features are l)y no means unpleasing. He is one of the many instances in this country of " promotion by merit." Born a slave, his father having filled the office of " washerwoman " to the royal household, he is now a rich man, and one of the highest Court officials. Each of these grandees, as he came up, shook hands cordially with His Excellency, and then ranged their horses alongside his ; while their guards, mingling with our escort, helped to keep off the mob. At this point the line of troops commenced ; at least bodies of them were formed up at intervals on our right hand, while on the left were drawni up, about four deep, a motley line ' See page 239. 100 MUSICIANS. composed of many thousand Fasi, all armed with the long gun of the country, — a plentiful stock, apparently, from which to draw recruits for the regular army. The latter force took up the line on our left as soon as we arrived at the end of the armed populace. They were under command of Kaid Maclean, lately an officer in the English army, but who has been in the service of the Sultan for about two years in the capacity of Instructor of Infantry, and to whose untiring exertions His Majesty is indebted for whatever efficiency is to be found in the dismounted branch of the forces in Marocco. Each regiment got the command to " present arms " as we passed, and executed it somewhat independently, accord- ing to their interpretation of the order. Bands of musicians at stated intervals played salutes, and groups of trumpeters sounded a flourish as we went by ; while outside this lane of soldiers was a surging, seething mass of people, old and young, clothed and unclothed, mounted and on foot, pressing on and tumbling over one another in their anxiety to lose nothing of the sight, their eyes being constantly fixed on the strange- looking people whom their sovereign was so anxious to honour. Among these were grand-looking old men on mules, grave and reverend signors on large ambling horses, and occasionally on a donkey were seated two and even three half-clad and grotesque-looking creatures. Sometimes, when this moving crowd pressed too hard on the line of soldiers, some half-dozen of the cavalry in rear of us would break through the line, upsetting the soldiers, and charging promiscuously among the people. MERCHANTS* REPRESENTATIVES. 101 knock them ofif their feet, or their donkeys, as the case might be. The populace, though evidently holding them in much awe, seemed to take this species of practical rebuke very good-humouredly, and picking themselves up again, pushed forward as vigorously as ever. A line of about twelve wonderfully-clad people, wath banners, posted inside the living street along which we rode, attracted our attention, and these, we were told, repre- sented the chief merchants' houses in Fez. A funnier and more bizarre-looking gi'oup could not be imagined ; the first was a tall black-looking savage, who held his flag up and scowled at us, as though this mark of atten- tion was sorely against his principles ; the next to him, an aged-looking little dwarf, with a sandy beard, a complexion almost white, and a look of infinite cunning in his small red eyes as he squinted upwards at us ; beside him, a fat, unwholesome, and nondescript sort of youth, with a flabby face about the same yellow hue as his banner, and so on, — no two of them alike, Init each one calculated to haunt you in your dreams, were it not for the constantly changing supply of singular or revolt- ing spectacles, each of which served to obliterate the last from one's mind. The merchants are, of course, the class most interested in keeping up a connection with Europe, and they owe much to His Excellency's influ- ence with the Sultan on their behalf. Long ago, on a former occasion of Sir John's entry into this town, some of them who were under a special obligation to him engaged several thousand women to go out and meet the procession ; they took up their position on some 102 JEWS. rising ground, and as the cavalcade passed gave utter- ance to their peculiar shrill cry (something like a Swiss jodel), a sound they always make when wishing to express their satisfaction at or admiration of any- thing. The effect produced, as I have heard it, from only a few people, is curious enough, but coming from such a multitude of throats was very beautiful and striking. Shaw, who writes in 1732, describes the sound I allude to, spelling it phonetically, " Loo, loo, loo," and says it is a corruption of the Hebrew " Hallelujah." ' No ladies, however, came out en masse to-day to meet us, but as we got closer to the city walls the moving panorama on either side became wedged among the dense crowd who had collected just outside the gates, and amongst whom were many veiled figures struggling for places where they could get a good sight of us. Groups of Jews, too, were to be seen — strange and weird- looking peoj)le ; most of them in their small black caps and dark flowing robes. A few were mounted, and all had their slippers on, in neither of which luxuries may they indulge till outside the walls of any of the sacred cities. A long-sufi'ering race truly are they, content to sufi'er these and all other indignities, provided only they can make a usurious profit out of their oppressors. But contemptible and despised as they so often are, they are not without great title to our respect when one con- siders how through good and evil report they stick together, always ready to help their weaker brethren, ^ ShaVs " Travels in Barbary." 1738. MOORISH ARTILLERY. 103 even at the sacrifice of — what they value more than their blood — money. This characteristic they have, to their honour, always possessed, and to the last they will be found " united by the close moral affinity of habits and feelinofs, treasurino: in their hearts the same reliance on their national privileges, the same trust in the pro- mises of their God, the same conscientious attachment to the institutions of their fathers." ^ The ground rises on either side of the road just before one enters the town, and this position was occupied by civilians of apparently a better class than the yelling crowd who had hitherto surrounded us. These people all wore prodigious white turbans, which, with spotless robes of the same colour, formed a curious contrast to their dark faces, directed towards and slowly following the movements of the strangers. Some half- dozen brass guns were drawn up near here ; the officer in charge, a handsome man in a gorgeous dress, with a big white turban, rode up alongside of me, and rather startled me by asking in excellent French if I spoke that language. On my replpng in the affinnative, he introduced himself as Monsieur Erckmanu, captain in the French Artillery, and commandant of that branch of the Sultan's army. Funnily enough he cannot speak a word of English, and as Kaid Maclean does not under- stand French, they talk to each other in Arabic, in which language they both seem proficient. Leaving on our right tlic high walls of the royal palace with its green towers and minarets, from one of * Milman's " History of the Jewp." London, 1830. 104 CKUELTY OF SOLDIERS. which His Majesty, with his favourite wives, was said to be watching us, we passed under a gateway into the city, and a ride of less than an hour brought us through the most extraordinary labyrinths to the head of a steep and narrow lane, down which our horses slid till they deposited us at the gate of our present quarters. Mac- adam and his art of road-making are unknown in Fez, and there are not two consecutive yards in any part of our passage through the streets to-day where an English horse would not be in danger of breaking its knees and its rider's head. The quarter of the town through which we first passed was open and partly ruinous ; after- wards we got into a network of bazaars, but owing to the royal mandate closing the shops and hunting the people out to welcome us, there was no crowd of any sort. Fortunate it was that they were kept out, for nothing short of a charge of cavalry could have cleared the approach to this place. A good many, of course, squeezed in with us at the city gate, mostly Moors, for the Jews were delayed by having to dismount from their mules, or to take off their slippers. One eager youth who had omitted the latter precaution was de- tected soon after, and levelled to the ground by a blow from the butt end of a gun. With the singular vitality, however, possessed by these people, he picked himself up, and with his shoes in his hand, I saw him presently running along parallel with us again, a large scar on his head bearing witness to the ungentle treatment he had received. Dismounting at the gateway here, a guard of soldiers OUR GARDEN IN FEZ. 105 in red coats and knickerbockers, but no stockings, received us with a salute, and passing them, we found ourselves in a pretty orange grove about one hundred and fifty yards long by fifty across, with raised paths travers- ing it and several ducts of water running through in all directions ; about the centre a walk paved with mosaics crosses it, at each end of which is a sort of house or kiosk. A few steps lead up to the level of the one on the west side, and in front of it there is a tank of water of considerable depth, -with fountains playing in it. The house opposite consists of an entrance hall or public room about twenty feet square, lofty and lighted by a skylight ; ofi* it are three oblong-shaped rooms, all of which have glass windows to them — an unusual luxury in IMarocco ; the walls are covered half-way to the ceiling with pretty velvet hangings ; one or two tables and chairs, specially made for us, and bedsteads, being the only articles of furniture. At the south end of the grove the space between the trees is a little more open, and there we have had our tents pitched, so as to keep the house on the east side entu-ely for dining and sitting- rooms. The bedsteads, &c., with which the side-rooms were provided have consequently been ousted, and owing to the magic presence of an Englishwoman, the place has already assumed an air of luxur}- and comfort about one quarter European and three-quarters Oriental. In the other house, in front of which the fountains play. Lady and Miss Hay have taken up their abode ; wliile on the platform over the gateway, in solitary grandeur, is pitched the tent of the Bashador. The ground is 106 VISITS OF CEREMONY. very damp, but, with the aid of many donkey loads of fine sand and a number of planks, we have managed to lay down pretty good flooring to our tents ; from the door of mine I have a capital view of the town below and hills in the distance. Another garden, also made over to us, is just below this, and here our horses and mules are picketed ; behind us rises a high wall shutting out all view of our neighbours ; in fact, unless one looks towards the east over the roofs and white terraces visible in that quarter, one would not know there was a town within ten miles, so thick is the foliage of the grove, and so distant sounds the hum of the city. Among the notables who called to pay visits of cere- mony to Sir John to-day were the kaid of the Meshwa, or chamberlain, and the Sultan's private secretary, an amiable-looking old man with a pleasant, and, what is uncommon here, a friendly expression of face. Both these visitors remained long in earnest conversation with His Excellency, the chief subject under discussion being the rather awkward announcement by the Grand Vizier (of which Sir John had got notice privately some time before), that it was quite incompatible with his position as Prime Minister, and his rank as maternal uncle of the Sultan, to call upon or even return the visit of any one. Under these circumstances the Envoy dis- tinctly declined to pay the visit of ceremony which was due to the Vizier, without a guarantee of its being returned, with which rather hard nut to crack, his auditors, who were inclined to agree with him, took their leave. Among the governing class of Moors THE GRAND VIZIER. 107 etiquette and prerogatives are of vital import ; and as this fanatical Minister is most unwilling in all his correspondence, and now apparently in his personal dciUings, to extend to Sir John the courtesies which the latter considers are due to the representative of Her Majesty, grave complications might have ensued. All negotiations with the Sultan are usually conducted through the Vizier ; the political objects of the Mission might therefore have been frustrated, and our journey, which a French paper describes as " lointaine et peril- leuse," have been taken in vain. Great cordiality existed between His Excellency and Sid Miisa, the talented predecessor of the present Vizier ; and Sii" John was naturally much disgusted at the turn affairs had now taken. Fortunately, however, at 6 p.m., a message came from the " maternal uncle " eruaranteeino: a return of the Envoy's visit, upon which that able diplomatist, desirous of striking while the ii-on was hot, at once donned his official garb and proceeded to the house of the Minister, from which he returned, tired but triumphant, at 9 p.m. As soon as we had got our tents pitched and had luncheon, some of us went for a walk in the town, accompanied by the interpreters, and escorted by six or eight soldiers. As long as we were in the narrow lanes with walls and windowless houses ever so high on each side, we did not come across many people to stare at us ; but once in the regular thoroughfares, where the bazaars are situated, the astonishment and interest taken in us were unbounded. People left their work, customers their bargaining, to turn round and look at 108 STROLL IN THE TOWN. US, most of them following in our wake, while, along the streets parallel to the one we happened to be in, we saw scores of people hurrying to take up a good place at any corner we were likely to pass. Most of the streets in which there are shops are roofed over, when the houses do not meet at the top, with wicker-work or hurdles stretched across as a protection from the sun. They are roughly paved with slippery stones, and are not ankle deep in mud, as are the lanes by which we approached them. Although one rather loses caste by being seen on foot, it is more convenient than riding, owing to the crowds of people and narrowness of the streets ; also, in the places where the best shops are to be found one is obliged to walk, wooden bars being placed across the entrance of the street to prevent the ingress of mules and horses. The busy and commercial quarter is a maze of these narrow thoroughfares, from which the shops, or rather stalls, are retired a little way, and raised about three feet from the ground, forming a kind of alcove in the wall. The merchant sits cross-legged in this recess with his wares in front of and round about him, perfectly indifferent, as becomes a true believer, as to whether you deal or not ; above his head, in the centre of his den, hangs a cord by which he lazily pulls himself up to stretch across for any article out of his reach which the customer may want to see. Each time, however, that we stoj)ped to look at anything, the crowd pressed so uncomfortably upon us that it was all the soldiers could do to keep them off, and their activity in clearing the SANCTITY OF MOSQUES. 109 road increased to such a degree that, being uncertain how much knocking about the popuhice woukl stand, we cut short our visit, and must dehiy our purchases to some future date, when the sight of the Christians will have lost a little of its novelty. The quarter where we are is divided into gardens like our owti, each containing one house, and surrounded for the sake of privacy by high walls. These enclosures are intersected by lanes from which all view is excluded on either hand, and so narrow that two horsemen can with dilHculty pass one another. The sanctity of the harem and of the mosc[ue is much more carefully guarded here than in Mussulman countries farther east ; and there is one street, at all events, in this city, where neither Christian nor Jew may enter, lest the taint of their presence should reach the mosque situated at the fiu-ther end. It contains the shrine of the son of Mulai Edris, the patron saint and founder of Fez, whose name is on the lips of every beggar in the street, and without invoking whom no bargain is made or business con- eluded. "We seem to have been wandering in the wilds for months instead of weeks, and dinner to-night under a solid roof, seated on chairs with backs to them, and at a table "on an even keel," seemed to us a luxury carrj^ing us back to a long-forgotten era of civilisation. CHAPTER VIIL Visit to the Chamberlain — Our Host's sons — French officers at dinner — Reception of Mission by Sultan — Kilts and equestrianism — Palace enclosure — Homage of soldiers — Dialogue between Sultan and Envoy — Delivery of the Queen's letter — Presentation of Mission. Sunday, 1 8 tli April 1880. Our round of dissipations in Fez commenced this morning by a breakfast at the house of the Kaid el Meshwa, the portly Chamberlain whose figure im- pressed us all in yesterday's procession. Fortified by an early cup of coffee, we proceeded to his house in state, the military members of the Mission in uniform, and the others in diplomatic garb. The distance was said to be a quarter of a mile, and we were recom- mended to walk, but turning, fortunately, a deaf ear to the evil counsels of, I regret to say. His Excellency, we mounted our horses and rode for a mile through as dirty roads as can well be conceived, their narrow- ness necessitating our riding in single file most of the way, with mounted guards in front, and soldiers on foot bringing up the rear. Arrived at our destination, we dismounted under an archway, and traversing a dark and winding passage, came to a doorway where KAlD EL MESnWA. Ill we were met and welcomed by our host. He led us into a spacious patio, prettily decorated after the Moorish style, having a fountain in the centre, and three comfortably-sized rooms opening into the court ; these rooms were carpeted with, handsome rugs from Kabdt, stupidly covered in part l)y pieces of Brussels carpet. In each room were one or two French bedsteads, which, with the usual cushions round the walls, were the only articles of furniture. The in- evitable three cups of green tea, without which pre- fix no business or pleasure can ])e undertaken, were served to us in one room, after which we were led across the patio to another, where a table, groaning with sweetmeats of all sorts, was laid out, a course of cold fish being first handed round as a kind of foundation. The kaid has a pleasant grave face, albeit a black one, and talked continually T\'ith His Excellency all the time we were jeopardising our constitutions with, his light refection, which we were warned was not to count in our favour, but was only to serve as a preliminary to something more solid on another occasion. The square patio was all open at the top, and round the edge of it, peeping over the parapet, were a lot of white veiled faces (at which we occasionally stole furtive glances), looking eagerly on at the unusual scene below. A jolly little boy about three years old trotted in and out of the room, and I utilised him occasionally by mak- ing him eat some unctuous confection which was put on my plate, and which I was wholly unable to tackle. 112 A DANGEROUS RIVAL. Another son of our host's, a man about twenty -four years old, sat outside ; his looks were not prepossessing, but it seems he has been suffering for over a month from a bullet wound in the leg, just above the ankle, which has almost crippled him. The manner of his receiving it is typical of Moorish customs, and of the ready and frank way they have of expressing the feel- ing of the moment. It seems that the youth is a good hand at lab el barod ; and a friend of his who was engaged with him at this pastime, annoyed at the superior dexterity he evinced, loaded his own gun with ball and fired, intending, so he said, " only to kill the horse," instead of which the ball entered his rival's leg, and is apparently there still. The doctor to-day, at the kaid's request, made a superficial examination of the wound, and is to search with a probe for the foreign body on another occasion. The kaid was interested in our various uniforms, and the differences between them were explained to him by Sir John. As the Highland dress is unsuited for equestrianism, I had indulged myself to-day in mounted officer's attire, long boots, &c., but had been obliged to promise to appear in full dress in the presence of Majesty to-morrow, the Sultan having intimated his intention of receiving the Mission at 9 A.M. His Excellency, in describing the dress to the Kaid el Meshwa at breakfast, alluded with delicacy to the nature of the inconvenience which would be experienced by the wearer in the saddle, upon which the Chamberlain promptly suggested the use of a pair KAID MACLEAX. 113 of large Moorish continuations into which kilt and all could be tucked, and the cuticle of the rider he therehy secured from injury ; he also offered for my use a small room in the palace to-morrow, in which I might disen- cumber myself of the extra garment before His Majesty's arrival on the scene. This ingenious proposal so com- mended itself to Sir John that he at once accepted on my behalf, and this evening a huge pair of white linen di-awers from the wardi'obe of Sid Biiljakr have made their appearance in my tent. Returning from the Chamberlain's house, some of us paid a visit to Kaid JVIaclean, who did the honours of his establishment, and took us to the roof of his house, from whence there is a capital view of the town. He has got a lai'ge and very good garden, in which, among other edibles, he grows potatoes. This vegetable is unknown here, but although he has given them to several Moors to try, they, curiously enough, have not accepted his offer of seed for themselves. After luncheon he went with us for a ride outside the town. While galloping along, the horse of one of our escort, of whom we had six, put his foot into a hole, and coming down gave his rider a heavy fall upon the stony ground ; the man picked himself u\\ bleeding profusely from the head, and said he was " La bds " — Anglic^, all right, — but he had to be taken home, and to-night we hear he is ver}' ill. The two French officers dined with us. M. Erckmann is a nephew of the authdr of " Le Consent," &c. ; he does not seem to care about the Moors, nor does I 114 KILTS AND EQUESTRIANISM. he very mucli rely upon tlieir professions of friendship for us. They have been here about two years, their services having been forced upon the Sultan by the French Government, whose jealousy was roused by Kaid Maclean's appointment to command His Majesty's infantry. M. Erckmann is well educated and rather amusing ; the other, we found upon enquiry, holds the rank of sous officier. He said little, devoting himself chiefly to the pleasures of the table, and laughing hoarsely at the jokes of his superior. Monday, 19th April 1880. I think it will be long before the spectacle we saw to-day is forgotten by any of us, gorgeous as it was in its barbaric magnificence, and imj^ortant in the political bearing it had upon the relations between Marocco and England. The Sultan had signified his intention of re- ceiving His Excellency and suite at 9 a.m. So, shortly after 8 o'clock, we left our quarters, and rode towards the palace of His Sharifian Majesty. Disdaining the pantaloons which the Kaid el Meshwa had, through Sid Bubakr, so kindly provided me vdih, and turning a deaf ear to the vulgar suggestions of side- saddles and riding habits, made by members of the Mission, I mounted my gray, and, as we went at a foot's pace all the way, exj)erienced at all events a minimum of inconvenience. We rode out at the gate of the town by which we entered on Saturday, and were taken through another doorway, a little distance on, into a large rectangidar enclosure, with high walls on every A^-- ^'•^•'■V •"^Hsrffc* *fc f -^. r' w4^ X. .!*ii^<'^ TOMO OF SULTAN. NEAR FEZ I PALACE ENCLOSURE. 115 side, the gate being immediately closed Ixliind us to prevent the ingress of the mob who followed. At the farther corner from where we came in is the entrance to the palace, and opposite this, at about 400 yards' dis- tance, we dismounted, and, being marshalled in two ranks, with Sir John in front, aw^aited the arrival of His Majesty. A slight discussion at this moment arose as to whether the four militaiy members of the Mission should remove their hats or not in the Eoyal Presence. Fortunately, as the African sun was beating do\sTi on us in all its gloiy, it was settled we were to remain covered, and, at the moment the Envoy advanced to make his obeisance, and again, of course, when we were separately presented, to salute in the ordinary fashion. AVe heard afterwards that the Sultan enquired why the hats of those in diplomatic uniforms were removed and ours kept on, but that he was quite satisfied at hearing (from Kaid Maclean) that officers on duty never un- covered their heads. Between us and the gateway by wliicli the Sultan was to ap})roach was a broad lane, formed by trooi)s ; and though in some of the regiments there was not much uniformity of dress and colour, the various tints seemed all to blend into one harmonious whole, which w^as quite indescribable, but upon which the eye never grew wearied of gazing. Half- way u}) the lino of soldiers, on our left hand, stood a row of musicians, about thirty in number, each dressed in a long ro])e of unifomi colour, but no two alike, every conceivable tint being represented, from the brightest orange to the 116 HOMAGE OF SOLDIERS. darkest blue, tlie entire line shining like a rainbow in the bright morning sun. Opposite this painted group were assembled, clad in folds of snow-white muslin, about a hundred Court officials, who, in virtue of office or position, had a right to take part in the ceremonial. The infantry were under Kaid Maclean, and near the gate were posted the artillery, commanded by our guest of last night. Of mounted men, or even officers, there were none, for on State occasions like this all must appear on foot before a Sultan of Marocco, " whose throne is his saddle, whose pavilion is the sky," Other bodies of troops were drawn up in different parts of the enclosure ; and round the whole, shutting out the scene from the gaze of the crowd, rose the high white walls, the glaring sameness of which formed a striking contrast to the gaudily-painted assembly they enclosed. Punctuality is the politeness of princes, and in this respect, at all events, the Moorish monarch can vie with more civilised sovereigns ; for before five minutes had elapsed a murmur of expectation and a flourish of trumpets announced His Majesty's approach. Mounted on a pure white horse of gigantic size, and preceded by two spearmen, with the High Chamberlain a little in advance of them, Mulai Hassan rode slowly in. Four led horses, magnificently caparisoned, pranced along, two on either side of him ; and above his head was borne a large flat umbrella of some red material on a pole twelve feet high ; while the rear was brought up by a small number of his black, or Bokhari, bodyguard, in front of whom marched the headsman or executioner, ArPROACII OF SULTAN. 117 whose office, however, is almost a sinecure in INIarocco. An air of solemnity and grandeur pervaded them all, from the imposing figure of the Sultan, towering above every one, to the tall attendants who, one on either side, slowly and with great regularity shot forth long white cloths towards His Majesty's head to keep away the flies. The view of this singular procession, slowly advancing towards us, was most impressive ; and though there might be in it all a spice of the theatrical element, any disagreeable effect of this was removed by the vastness of the scale on which it was conducted. As they came abreast of the musicians, who were making the })lace re-echo with their trombones to the strains of the ]\loorish National Anthem, the white-robed assembly opposite to them bowed reverently to the ground, the troops — most of them falling on their knees ! — presented arms, and from every throat there rose simultaneously the shout of " Our Lord and iMaster, Our Lord and Master." At about six paces from the Envoy, His Majesty stopped, and the Kaid el Mesliwa, or Cliam- l)erlain, advancing to Sir John, led him up to the Sultan, and in stentorian tones proclaimed his titles to the crowd. His Excellency then, bowing low, awaited, hat in hand, the pleasure of the Sultan, who addresscil him as follows : — " We are pleased to see you again at our (V)urt, for you have always been an elect friend and couns<'ll(>r. We are glad to learn you have been promotecl to the rank of Envoy. We ('iiteit;iin liiuli feelings of friend- ship towards the (^)iieen and the British Nation, for we 118 DELIVERY OF THE QUEEN's LETTER. have never ceased to receive proofs of their friendship and regard. You are most welcome, as also are all the persons that accomj^any you." Here His Majesty paused, while the Chamberlain thundered out to the assemblage the last sentence of his master's speech. The Envoy then replied, — " I thank Your Majesty for the gratifying expression of your friendship towards my gracious Sovereign and the British nation, and I feel highly honoured by the sentiments Your Majesty has been pleased to express with regard to myself." His Excellency now handed the Queen's letter to the Sultan, and continued, — " I have the honour to deliver the royal letter which Her Majesty the Queen has addressed to Your Sharifian Majesty. Her Majesty desires your welfare and prosperity, and that of your subjects. I shall regard myself as most fortunate if I continue to en- joy Your Majesty's confidence, and should be enabled through Your Majesty's support and goodwill to draw closer the ties of friendship by the promotion of the mutual interests of the nations of England and Ma- rocco. I thank Your Majesty for the honourable re- ception granted me the day of my entry into this city, and for your munificent hospitality. It aff'ords me much pleasure to inform Your Majesty that the Governors and other ofiicers in the provinces through which I passed, received me with hospitahty and marks of honour and goodwill." PRESENTATION OF MISSION. Hi) To which the Sultan replied, — " You deserve every mark of honour and goodwill from us and our officers : present me the members of your Mission." The Sultan spoke at first in a low and ^ery tremu- lous voice, and w^as so nervous I was afraid Ik; would break down. He soon recovered himself, however, and the dignity of his manner was enhanced by the silence and reverential awe of the thousands of soldiers and courtiers w^ho hung upon his words and actions. The conversation, too, was distm-bed occasionally l)y the restlessness of His Majesty's charger, which equine eccen- tricities will — so it is whispered — bring dire vengeance on the ^Lister of the Horse ; but this opinion, I hope, is a calumny, as there is a lurking expression of kindness in the Sultan's grave and handsome face ; and the way in which he manceuvred his steed, to bring under the shade of the huge red umbrella His Excellency's wholly unpro- tected head, earned at once our admiration and the crratitude of that statesman. Sii- John now beckoned to each of us iu turn to come and be presented, briefly mentioning to His Majesty what were our professions and designations. The Sultan, at the conclusion of each presentation, said a few w^ords of welcome, which were translated to us by His Excellency, and shouted out pro bono imhlico at the top of the Chamljerlain's voice. His Majesty asked several questions relating to my uniform, and was inter- ested in hearing from the Envoy that it is a dress worn by the Jcbclis, or mountaineers, who live to the north 120 ANTIQUITY OF CEHEMONIAL. of England — a tribe which never retreats in battle, and from which the Queen gets her best soldiers. " I also, your Majesty," somewhat pertinently added His Excel- lency, " am a native of those parts." The ceremony being now concluded, the Sultan retired under a salute from his artillery, the noise of which caused the great white horse to caper about, much to the discomfiture of the umbrella-bearer and other attendants. This ancient custom, above described, for the ruler of Marocco, himself mounted on horseback, to receive foreign ambassadors on foot, has given considerable ofi'ence to some of the representatives of our Continental neighbours, who have remonstrated, fortunately without success, on the smallness of the figure they have had to cut on these occasions. It may be that, with the march of civilisation, this usage will cease, and that Sultans, in common with their peers, will admit ambassadors into the more sacred precincts of the palace, in which case those who have witnessed the rude splendour of these out-of-door rece]3tions may consider themselves fortu- nate. What is more probable is that, unless the reforms so urgently needed, and which the Sultan himself is anxious to inaugurate, be not speedily undertaken, the state of Marocco will go from bad to worse, until, having bid farewell to even the residue of its ancient grandeur, European powers will no longer deem it necessary to send officers of rank and distinction to represent them at the Moorish Court. There seemed to be no hitch whatever in the conduct and arrangements of to-day's ceremonial, though it can TWEEDLEDl'M BLESSES THE SULTAN. 121 seldom have fulleu to the lot of the present Sultan to receive a visitor of sueh importance as the English Envoy- Extraordinary; neither can the Chamberlain, whose voice is still ringing in my ears, have often to perform his duties on such a scale and in so august a presence. One incident that rather tried our gravity occurred just before the conclusion of the scene, and was this : On our left during the ceremony stood the old Arab scril)e and the two interpreters, and His ^lajesty's attention having been drawn to the fact of their presence, he condescendingly muttered a few w^ords, wliich were repeated by the Chamberlain — " The servants, too, are welcomed by our Lord." This they acknowledged by bowdng to the ground, and then retired to their original places in rear, except old Ilaim, whom we irreverently call Tweedledum. This worthy Israelite, overcome by the novelty of the situation and the Sultan's condescension, stood rooted to the ground, and in a voice that emulated the Chamber- lain's poured forth a loud and incessant stream of bless- ings on His ^fajesty's head. As his lungs are powerful, and there seemed no s}Tiiptoms of cessation, he was gently removed by the attendants, still calling ujjon the God of Abraham to maintain the line of ]\Iulai Hii^ssan on the throne of their fathers. As soon as the Sultan and his attendants had passed through the gateway into the palace, tlic Vizier and other officials came up to welcome Sir John, and to enquire into the nature of the presents contained in the two large boxes bound up in white cloth which li.ul bmi brought along with us on the backs of mules. As it w.-is 122 SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS. not a convenient moment for the delivery of a lecture on the principle of the telej)hone or heliograph, His Excel- lency replied that it would be necessary to open and see the instruments before explaining their use, and this, of course, must not be done till the Sultan's pleasure respecting them was known. In the meantime he exacted a promise from His Majesty's "Eyebrow," or head of the household, that the boxes should be put in a safe j)lace, and not opened or tamj^ered with in any way. CHAPTER IX. Position of Fez — Water supjily — Breakfiist at Grand Vizier's — Hidden treasure — Sultan's garden — Laying down telephone — Royal stud — Dinner at Kaid Iladj Hanied's — Surgery. Some of the views one gets of the town from the neiirh- bouring heights are very pretty, and quite unlike any style of landscape I have seen before. The plain at tlie extremity of which the city is built extends for many miles in a south-west direction, and is almost a dead level, with an average width of some six miles. It is watered by the Wad el Fas (River of Fez), which falls into the Sebii about four miles below the town. Fez itself, though placed completely in a hollow, is certainly a very beautiful town when viewed from a short distance off; and apart from its fine surroundings, the plentiful mixture of bright green foliage, which peeps out from the otherwise glaring white of the houses, forms a vivid and agreeable contrast. The ground it stands on is by no means level, while close to it and all round, except towards the south-west, the land is undulating and rises to a considerable height, with many admirable and far more healthy sites on which to have built a town. The attraction of having more building material close at hand. 124 WATEK SUPPLY. and also an unlimited water supply, are tlie cause of the choice, this element, though in a very undrinkable state, being obtainable in almost every street. The river, which flows through part of the town, is led ofi" in ducts in every direction, all private houses of any pretension having it let in to supply the fountains, &c., of which there is one in every patio. The stream is a good deal used for working corn-mills, some of which, by the noise one hears, seem to be grinding all night ; the old circular stone, with a hole in the middle, is still in vogue, and broken and disused specimens are to be seen lying all about the town. The water is of a dull slate colour, with a considerable deposit on being left to stand for a short time, and is not without a large proportion of visible animal life. Rich people have theirs brought in from a distance, but for the poorer classes the ordinary supply must be a ready means of laying the foundation of disease, and is none the more palatable from the fact that into it flows, at the head of the stream, the Sultan's private aqueduct, in which the 300 or 400 fair denizens of the palace have previously performed their ablutions. The Moors of the present day seem to think Fez as near an approach to Paradise as can be found on earth ; this opinion, too, has been shared to a certain extent by early English travellers, one of whom, in the sixteenth century, gives us the following fantastic description of the features of the town to which I have more prosaically alluded: — "Nature and art have played the wantons, and have brought forth this city, the fruit of their NATIVE REMEDIES, 125 cLilliance. ... So cloth the earth seem to dauce in little Hillocks and prctie vallics, diversifying the Soyle." Of the river and its subdivisions, too, he says, "He is divided into two armes, embracing this lovely nymphe ; and he finds meanes of secret intelligence with his h)ve which, still enjoying, he wooeth, and ever wooing cnjoyeth 1 " ^ The canals I have mentioned as permeating the town, while cooling the air in summer, must make the place damp and unhealthy, and with the narrow sunless streets and infinity of smells account for the pale, unwhole- some looks of the Fasi. Sad, insouciant, and wrapped in melancholy and rags, as most of them are, they form a sorry contrast to the bold, cheery inhabitants of the provinces. The soldiers and black population, includ- ing slaves, are the only exceptions ; but the former pass a great portion of the year out in camp, and the latter are bound to present a uniformly shining appearance, at all events as regards their outer man. It is difficult to explain why disease is not more rife here than it is, as there is every facility Ijoth for propa- jratinn: and encjenderinfj it, while of medical aid there is next to none. Almost the only remedy used by native physicians is bleeding, or rather cupping, which is con- sidered a panacea ; while for wounds or fractures small slips of paper, with verses of the Koran written on them, are bound over the part affected. Of surgery and anatomy they are quite ignorant, and, in fact, such science is forbidden by the Koran ; while the idea of > Purchaa's " Pilgrims." London, 1600. 126 THE GRAND VIZIER. medicine is distasteful, especially to the rich, who are always suspicious of poisoning ; so the few drugs known are seldom administered. Wednesdaij, 21st April 1880. It is whispered that though some of the high Court officials are w^illing enough to entertain us, either from motives of hospitality or for the purpose of affording a treat to their womenkind, yet some are most reluctant to show us any civility. Among the former are the Kaid el Meshwa (or the Mouchoir, as we have christened him — a by no means inappropriate name, considering his father was a "washerwoman") and the cheery little Hajeb, or " Eyebrow," while the others comprise the Governor of Fez and the Grand Vizier. The latter functionary, how- ever, acting from pressure put upon him by the Sultan, in"sdted us to his house to breakfast, and there we repaired shortly after nine o'clock. The house is prettily situated on sloping ground at the outskirts of the town, and the entrance at which the Vizier's secretary received us is at the bottom of a beautiful garden, laid out in terraces up towards the house. Walking up through here we passed our host's harem, or rather their abode, on our left hand, and mounting some steps came to an open court paved with mosaics, on the other side of which was the entrance, where the minister himself was standing to welcome us. " Marhaba bilv ! marhaba bik ! " ^ is a phrase one soon masters in this country ; ^ " Welcome to you." JIIDDKN TREASUJIK. 127 and our host, addressing it to each of us, led us into the house. I do not know whetlicr the owner or his mansion chiims the first description, but leaving the better- looking to the hast, I will begin with the Prime Minister, Sid Muhammed ben IMoktsar. He is tlie iii(livitlu;il who refused at first to call on His Excellency, and has only been in office a short time. Connected by miui-iage with the Sultan, he gives himself considerable airs, and is said to combine in a rare degree the properties of fool and fanatic. He is a short and very stout man of between thirty-five and forty, witli a j)erpetual forced smile on his face, and, sittinor cross-le2:o:cd on a sofa, with his mouth always wide open, beside Sir John, reminded one irresistibly of a large toad. However, commencing from very little, he is now second man in the Empire, and in the few months he has been in ofiice has amassed enough money to spend, at all events, £10,000 or £15,000 on his beautiful house. As his actual salary is nil, or almost nominal, this shows the extent to which he has squeezed the unfortunate people whose afiairs he manages. The system is the same throughout, — none of the oflicials are paid ; and some of them, such as the Governor of Fez, are expected to make payments to the Sultan of several thousand pounds per annum. Besides what he has laid out on his house, the Grand Vizier has a quantity of ready money, and he told Kaid Maclean — of whom he jjrofesses to be veiy fond, and whom he calls " his son" — how he had disposed of it. " It is all in gold doul^loons," he said, " and I have got it locked in a chest, and Ijuried in one of my gardens at 128 USURY FORBIDDEN. Mequinez ; the slaves have ^ gone away ' (Anglice, are dead or in prison for life) who buried it, and no one but myself knows the place." " AVell, now," said M., " I am your ' son,' so you may as well tell me where it is, and give me the key." " Ah ! " said the Vizier, with a leer of infinite cunning, " I went for a long ride lately alone, took the key with me, and threw it into the Sebu." It seems very strange that men in a position like his, and to a certain extent educated, should do such things ; but as investments are unknown, and it is illegal for a Moor to set up a bank, it is not so much to be wondered at. The amount of treasure so deposited in gardens, walls, &c., is said to be incredible ; a will is very rarely made, as there is no security for its being carried out, and a man buries all he has for safety's sake, intending, probably, on his death-bed to acquaint his friends with its where- abouts ; but either he dies a violent death, or else, hoping always that an illness may not be his last, he hesitates to unburthen his mind in case he may recover and then be murdered for his money. Thus the secret dies with him, and he departs elsewhere to account, among other irregularities, for the talent he has so successfully wrapped up. On another occasion this intelligent statesman, feel- ing unwell, sent for Kaid Maclean, who hurried down to him, and finding his liver was affected, went home for a box of blue pills. Returning with them himself to the Vizier, he gave him a couple. The patient, taking them in one hand, drew M. towards him with the other, and, forcing the pills into his mouth, obliged him to swallow GRAND VIZIBRS HOUSE. 129 them. '' Now," ho said, with an air of triumph, " I will take two myself iu a little time ; " this he accord- ingly did, and derived consideral^lc benefit. On being expostulated with afterwards on his unworthy suspicion, he tried to excuse himself, saying, "Well, you see, I thought some of the servants might have tampered with the box and poisoned the medicine." " In which case, don't you see, you would have poisoned me ? " suggested his benefactor. " Ah, God is great ! " was the reply, and the matter dropped. This worthy's house is very perfect in its way, and a good specimen of modern Moorish architecture. The entrance hall and all the rooms are paved with fine mosaics, the patio and some of the terraces in the same style, but of coarser material. Two or three large sofas fill up the front of the hall, while the back part, which is raised a little, is covered w^itli cushions and rugs. From this open off two rooms (in one of which we had breakijist), both in the same style, with arched ceilings of richly coloured wood and stucco. Up the stall's, which are very steep and narrow, as in all Moorish houses, are a variety of rooms of all sizes — bath-rooms, bed-rooms, and little bijou sort of apartments, highly ornamented, like the courts of the Alhambra, but the gold-work fresh and bright, and the colours of every imaginable hue. As the house stands considerably above the level of the towm, and there are no neigh- bours to overlook it, it is provided with numerous windows — an unusual innovation among these jtrivncy- loving people. Some had glass in them, others none, K 130 BREAKFAST AT THE VIZIER's. and from them all there was a magnificent view of the town, with its dark background of lofty hills ; while from the garden below there came the perfume of roses and orange blossoms, which seem here to be in perpetual bloom. The Vizier had prepared a table for us, with chairs, knives and forks ; the latter implements were unpacked in our presence from a large plate - chest specially procured from Paris for this and similar occasions hereafter, and their use was explained by our servants to the slaves of our host, who had never seen anything of the sort before. On these occasions we are always requested to luring with us our own Moorish attendants, who are accustomed to our outlandish manner of feed- ing, and can minister to our wants more readily than the slaves of the Faithful. In this instance we had the worthy Boomgheis and Selam Hajut, Sir John's butler, to wait on us — a duty which commends itself to them, as, after we finish, the debris du festin, and more should they require it, fall to their share. The table was covered with a snow-white cloth, on which were china dishes containing every imaginable and unimaginable kind of sweetmeat and confectionery, more like the preparations for a marriage-feast than an ordinary breakfast. We surveyed these edibles not without some anxiety ; it was to be our first experience of a real Moorish " feed," and as we had accidentally heard that the comestibles had been prepared and on the table for the last three weeks, for the inspection BEGINNING OF THE END. 131 of the minister's friends, we were a little uneasy as to the effeet that they might have upon us after so long keei)ing. The number and variety of hot dishes which came in presently was astonishing, and our o-^ti servants seem to have been put up to insisting on our trying them all. Nothing, however, was very nasty, though everything was unlike anything we had ever seen before, and some of the sauces were oleaginous to the last degree. The last of the solid courses was a huge dish of kuskusstt,^ which, however, we hailed with delight, as its arrival usually betokens the beginning of the end. In the matter of freedom of action, we unbelievers scored considerably off His Excellency, who was given a place of honour in the hall, and fed at a small table with our host, Sid Biibaki', and the Sultan's treasurer, which latter gentleman I had remarked taking notes in pencil of the Bashador's conversation while breakfiist was preparing. His companions, of course, disdained the use of knives and forks, and argued with Sir John in favour of their plan of eating with their fingers. To keep him in countenance, how- ever, they were seated on chairs and sofas, which they managed to do pretty comfortably, though usually with one leg furtively tucked up on the seat beneath them. Their natural cross-legged position is by no means un- graceful, though in the case of the fat Vizier it brought his great toe, which he caressed continually as he sat toad-like on the sofa, into closer proximity with his food than was pleasing to a European eye. ' See pnge 64. 132 sic bubakr's travels. The number of dishes of kuskussii we saw put before the servants outside and returning empty, to say no- thing of the substantial fragments from our table, was simply incredible ; but eating, like all other enjo}Tnents in this country, is carried to excess, and the Prophet never showed a greater knowledge of his followers than when he laid an embargo on alcohol. The feast over and a visit paid to the stables, where there was nothing much worth seeing, Haynes and I rode to the palace to see about fixing the telephone, &c., with Sid Biibakr as guide and Mr. Nahum as interpreter. We kept outside the town till we arrived near the palace at the large enclosure where the recep- tion of last Monday had taken place. On the way there I had some conversation with Sid Biibakr through the medium of the interpreter, and found that his travels in Europe had extended only to Gibraltar and Algegiraz ; he had seen the bull fights at the latter place, and thought them "bad and cruel." I asked about the slave-market here, which I am anxious to see. It seems they are not sold at the public " S6k" or market, which is held on Mondays and Thursdays, but at a difi'erent place altogether, any evening in the week, as occasion demands. When we arrived at the entrance into the palace grounds the guards there made us dismount, and after some delay the Chief of the Household, Sid Hamed ben Mdsa, came out and took us into an inner courtyard. Here he thought would be a good place for laying down the telephone ; but as we were not of the same opinion, and wanted to have it in the garden next LAYING DOWN TELEPHONE. 133 the palace, he said he would go, and " if the Sultan were awake," ask leave for us to go in. After keeping us wait- ing a very long time, — which we heard he did through being annoyed at our determination to invade the sacred precincts, — he returned with the Sultan's permission, and the boxes containing the telephone and helio- graphs carried on the backs of slaves. The inner gate was then opened, and, going across a courtyard and through another enormous door, we found ourselves in His Majesty's garden. To our right and left was a broad walk paved in mosaic ; a high arched colonnade on the left extended along this walk for about forty yards, and the continuation of this building was the palace, raised a few steps above the walk, and having a more private and cared-for-looking garden in front of it. The grove or garden we were in was so thick with orange-trees and shmbs, that one could get no view of the })alace, though we were not many yards off. The roof only — a green tiled stmcture like those on the mosc^ues — was visible, the building itself, as far as I could judge, not being very large, though the interior, where no Christian has ever set foot, is said to be of exquisite workmanship. The orange -grove was intersected by straight grass walks at right angles to each other, and from the end to half-way along one of these we decided to lay down the telephone. The kaid of the Frigeiahs (chief of the tent- pitchers) having been summoned, we were told we " only had to command and our slaves would obey ;" so we in- structed him to pitch a tent at one end of the walk, and another half-way down, so as to keep the ends of the 134 sultan's horses. telephone under cover, which order was speedily exe- cuted. It took a long time putting the instrument up, and w^hen completed neither of the bells would work, and the voice sounded dim and indistinct. As I knew nothing about it, and my colleague confessed himself at fault, we decided to leave it for to-day, and to-morrow to bring to bear on it the scientific attainments of the "photographer." A little before we left, the attendants implored us not to delay, as the " ladies were coming- out." Feeling sure the ladies could not wash to hurry us, we completed our work, but were unfortunately not favoured with a glimpse of any of them. The following morning I returned to the palace with Lawless. A\Tiile he was busy with the telephone I oc- cupied myself in cutting out a circular piece of thin black paper with which to cover the glass of the heliograph for use at short distances, when the extreme brilliancy of the flash renders it impossible to read the signals. I found my plan answer very well, the disk I left in the centre of the glass being about the size of a crown-piece. We took a look at His Majesty's horses while we were there, about thirty of them all picketed in one of the grass w^alks. They looked a pretty strong and serviceable lot, but we were told on enquiiy the " best were kept else- where." As I did not recognise the one the Sultan rode on Monday, this may be true. Most of them seem to have a touch of the dray in their composition, which I fancy is accounted for by George III. having sent a present of some stallions of that breed to the then Emperor of Marocco. SONG OF THE SLAVES. 135 Some slaves arc at work all day in l^iiilding a high wall round the palace garden. The material is mud and gravel, which they beat down between parallel boards into a mass called " tajna," which soon hardens into a substance like concrete. They sing a wild monotonous aii* the while, swinging theii* rammers or mallets in time to the music, and at the last word of the couplet bring them all down together. There is consequently a good deal more sing- ing than hammering, but unless allowed their own way I am told they cannot work at all. I turned the flash of the heliograph full among them, which made them lie down and yell with terror ; so, being afraid they might roll off the top of the wall in their fright, I did not repeat the experiment. In the afternoon Kaid Maclean rode with some of us to the house of Kaid Hadj Hamed, to whom we had long promised a visit. He commands a regiment here, and is much more intelligent and civilised than his peers. On a late occasion he accompanied Kaid Maclean to Gibraltar, and dined at our mess, where, with the exception of being unable to speak, he com- ported himself like anybody else, using his knife and fork vdth much ease and dexterity. These implements, however, do not seem to have sufticiently commended themselves to him to induce him to adopt their use in his own house, and the ample dinner he provided for us had to be discussed with our fingers. Hadj Hamed received us at the door of his house, and took us through a passage to the patio in the centre, where a number of his friends were assembled. In a kind of 136 DINNER AT KAlD HAMED'S. chambered recess oft' it, cushions were spread for us, and behind us were a lot of mattresses piled uj) and covered with very handsome stuff's of native manufacture. The entertainment began, as usual, with tea, after which the large circular table, like a sieve, appeared, and was placed in our midst as we squatted on the floor. Some very good soup made its appearance first, — in fact, all the courses were edible, and some really good ; the soujd we discussed in small basins with much ease ; but roast mutton, which followed, without the aid of knives and forks, was more difficult. Chickens were easily managed, as with two people pulling at a leg or wing in opposite directions the question settled itself. Our host, how- ever, when he saw us in difficulties, would neatly tear off a few shreds of meat from the joint, and present them to us. The repast, though unenlivened by the cup that cheers, was rather a festive one ; a band played and sang without ceasing in the patio, and our host's endeavours to make himself agreeable were quite suc- cessful. Dinner over, a brass kettle and basin were brought in, and the very necessary ablutions took place ; after which a number of silver bottles of rose water appeared, the contents of which were liberally apj^lied by Hadj Hamed over our heads, down our backs, and everyT\diere about us. Lastly, the incense -burner was brought, vdth which, after incensing us all round, he smoked all our hats in turn, and Maclean's turban. So ended Hadj Hamed's feast, during the whole of which a gallery of veiled ladies looked dow^i upon us, one or two, presumably the best-looking, occasionally discover- OUR RESPECT FOR THE IIAREM. 137 iiig their charms. Our host has only hitely been married — on Saturday last — and a continual round of feasting has been going on ever since ; but the occasion of our honouring him has, so he says, been the ** con- summation of his marriage." Our servants had great feastings while we were at dinner, and much regret was expressed by our host that the English servants were not of the number ; he begged, in fact, to be allowed to send for them. Considering, however, the close propinquity of Hadj Hamed's numerous harem, and the possibility of its not being regarded by the two valets de chamhre in the same sacred light with which we have brought ourselves to view these establishments, we thought it better not to lead into such temptation those for whose morals we should be held responsible. AVe took a short ride round on our way home, but the amount of kuskussii our grooms had consumed made it a matter of expediency to send them straight home to digest. The number of sick and maimed brought to our Esculapius for treatment seems to increase daily. Doubt- less many more would like to come, and probably the preference is given to the one who can aftbrd the highest tip to the soldier on duty at the gate. The medico's tent, though well adapted for consulting patients, is pitched a little too near the Kiosk where we feed to admit of much practical surgery being carried on in secret, and to-day, immediately after breakftist, the moans of a poor miserable-looking creature, who was being operated on for tumour in the neck, attracted my attention. The doctor's Moorish servant, " Malio." wa.«i 138 GARDEN SURGERY. holding the lad's head, the operating theatre being the garden walk, and the doctor was wiping his instrument on a geranium leaf! Notwithstanding this necessarily rough-and-ready system, the amount of relief afforded to the applicants is great. The doctor did not, naturally, anticipate the numbers who would come for help, so the instruments he has with him are merely those for field surgery, while the supply of medicine at his disposal is wholly unequal to the demand ; the latter, moreover, has to be economised in case of dysentery, cholera, or other epidemic attacking the Mission. Eye diseases are the commonest form of ailment which are brought for treatment, and would afford rare practice for an oculist. Walking in the town, the number of people with only one eye that one sees is incredible ; even in little children it seems as common as with adults, the only people with usually the full complement being the women. Of this style of affliction, smallpox, ophthalmia, &c., are the chief causes.^ ^ See Appendix C. CHAPTER X. Exhibition of Heliograi)hs, &c. — Breach of etiquette — SuUan Mulai Ha.-y a simple air its exhibitor favoured us with. A slave, too, who was in attendance outside was called, and ordered to " sing into it ;" but whether from fear of the instru- ment, or awe in the presence of Majesty, his voice was so faint that hardly any sound came back. Photography was next brought on the tapis, and a picture lately taken of Sid Biibakr was shown to the Sultan, who recognised it at once. He positively de- clined, however, to allow himself to be taken; but as he wished to see the process, the camera was taken out on the terrace, and the assistant took up a position in front of it to illustrate the eftect. The royal head being put under the black velvet cloth, of course saw W. standing upside cIowti, so was withdrawn at once to see if such w^ere really the case. He seemed, however, to be only partially convinced by seeing the ol)ject standing in his natural position, and I think the apparition in the camera so startled him as to render abortive any further endeavours to get him to stand fire. Consider- ing, however, that the process of portraiture is forbidden by the laws of the religion of which he is supreme head, one cannot really blame him for not violating them in his own person, though, according to the Koran, it seems to be the artist who will suffer, and not the subject ; for the dictum of the Prophet is that " any 144 THE KORAN ON PORTRAITS. one making a picture will be asked at the day of judgment to endow his creation with life and soul, and if unable, shall endure the punishment of Hell." A plate was presently got ready, and Sir John having inveigled the Eyebrow and Sid Biibakr to stand up beside him, they were photographed in a row, with some of us in the background. His Majesty being much tickled at the Chief of his Household being thus practised upon. After they were polished off, the camera was turned accidentally to where Sir John was engaged in conversation with His Majesty ; but the latter seeing how instantaneously the others had been taken, became alarmed for himself, and com- municated his fears to the Envoy. His Excellency, though the chief promoter of the plot, so heartily vented his righteous indignation on the artists for the liberty they were taking, that His Majesty's suspicions were allayed, the photographers disclaiming at the same time the sinister intentions attributed to them. The Sultan, then, having graciously thanked us through Sir John for all our trouble, and having been promised copies of the photographs taken in his " happy dominions," ^ withdrew ; and shortly after- wards we also took our departure. The present Sultan only came to the throne seven years ago, having succeeded his father, SIdi Muhammed, in 1873. Their family have sat on the throne for about 240 years, and are of the race of Sharifs, or direct descendants of the Prophet (hence their title of " Shari- ^ The Empire of Marocco is so described iu all official documents, &c. SULTANS ANCESTRY. 145 fian " Majesty, which sometimes puzzles strangers), and this religious title and connection establishes tlicir authority over some of their sul)jects much more firmly than any temporal sovereignty could do. I\hilai Hassan looks about tliirty-five years of age, and tliough very tall and powerfully built, has a curious shulHing way of walking, as if he was rather gone about the knees. He seems to shrink from publicity, and has only once been seen outside the palace by any of the Mission since our arrival. Having, however, some four hundred ladies in his establishment, his domestic duties probably confine him a good deal to the house, and, anyhow, one can scarcely be surprised at his not choos- ing the streets of his capital to ride about in. In his dress he eschews all show and colour, the only exception to this being a light blue silk cord, from which a leather bag or a dagger is suspended ; of jewellery he has none, except a jDlain diamond ring set in silver — gold and other finery being forbidden by the Koran, the laws of which he has the credit of observing very strictly. The Envoy has already had several audiences of His Majesty, who always lends a ready ear to his counsels, as indeed have his father and grandfather before him. The latter monarch, Mulai Abd-er-Rahman, ruled Marocco for forty years, dying in 18G0, when lie was succeeded by Sidi ^luhammed. In Mulai Abd-er-Rahman's time a foreign envoy had to stand during the entire time of even a private interv'iew \\'ith the Sultan ; now he is accommodated with a chair, but he never enters beyond the threshold of the palace, and upon no occasion has 146 RENDEZVOUS OF SULTAN's MINISTERS. the Sultan ever condescended to shake hands with a foreign ambassador. As we left the palace to-day I noticed in the enclosure where our horses were waiting for us a number of people sitting down on carpets ranged along the foot of the wall, with canvas stretched over them as a protection from the sun. I had paid no attention to them as I passed an hour before on my return from signalling, but seeing the Grand Vizier and Kaid Maclean among the number, I asked the latter, w^ho joined us, who they all were. It seems this is the rendezvous for all ministers and members of the Court ; in fact, every department of the State is here represented, and in this primitive council chamber is transacted the business of the empire. They meet every morning at six, and remain at their work or waiting the Sultan's orders till half -past ten, when they are allowed to go. To-day, on our account, they had been kept till after twelve, which explained the black looks with which they favoured us ; and I hear that seeing me ride up unattended, and being admitted without delay into the j)alace — an operation which takes them many hours and even days — had made me a special object of aversion. Sunday, 25th April 1880. We rode in a do-^iipour of rain to breakftist with the Kaid el Meshwa, to w^hose house we had paid a preliminary visit some days ago. If it were not for the ghastly cups of green tea on INSTANTANEOUS CURES. 117 an empty stomach, wliicli form a prelude to ;ill tlicse entertainments, they would be more endurable and less deleterious ; but with such a preliminary shock to one's nerves, it is trying to sit down to some fifteen courses of curiously compounded dishes, with the cold gray eye of the host, to say nothing of His Excellency's, watching whether you do surticient justice to the viands, and injustice to your interior. Another great drawback is being unable to say an)i:hing, except through an interpreter, who is rarely brought with us ; consequently, the only conversation that takes place is between Sir John and our hosts ; the latter always enquire minutely into the capabilities and ante- cedents of each member of tlie Mission — information which His Excellency is always ready to afford, and which he apparently accompanies l)y personal anecdotes of a piquant character, judging from the smiles he elicits from the en(|uirer. The kaid's unfortunate son witli the wounded leg was limping about the patio while we were at breakfast, and looking very unhappy. As he has steadily refused to allow the doctor to examine the wound, of course nothing could be done except to pretend to believe his foolish excuses. "Why do you not let the English doctor examine your leg ? " asked His Excellency. "Well, ciiiiously enough, as soon as tli(' tnhll) sjioki' to me al)out probing it, the leg began to get l>etter, and next morning the bullet fell out." "Ah," n-plicd Sir John, "you are like the man witli the toothaclie, who, just as the doctor was going to pull out the tooth, 148 A HEBREW LOTHARIO. said all the pain was gone." "Yes," replied the youth innocently, " I am just like that man." Besides patients who came to our camp for advice, the doctor has a considerable practice in the town, and may often be seen going out on his errands of mercy attended by Tweedledee as interpreter and general assistant. The latter has a keen eye for the fair sex, and is as much disappointed as any of us in the strict- ness of the regulations, which prevent one seeing any- thing of a woman's face, beyond two large and generally very beautiful eyes. The other day he came to me, his simple and expres- sive countenance radiant with joy ; " The doctor, thir, go to thee the thtomach of a merchant's wife, who is ill ; perhapth I thee more of her than the eye." In the evening I said, " Well Mr. Nahum, and how about the merchant's wife ? " " Ah, thir, thee what bruth's these Moors are ; I go in with the doctor, then they put me behind the curtain, and make me tranthlate with my back ! and I thee nothing." It had been arranged that some of us were to start in a day or two for Mequinez, joining His Excellency and the remainder of the party, who were to leave a few days later, at Rabat. Now, however, the Sultan has decreed that we must be entertained by his Hdjeb^ and by the governor of Fez, before leaving ; so our start is delayed. In the meantime it has occurred to the heads of departments, including Sid Biibakr, that Mequinez being a very little off the road to Rabat, we had better, * " Eyebrow," or Chief of the Household. FATHER OF FIG-TREES. 149 for the sake of comfort and safety, as the neigliboiirliood is one of extremely evil repute, all start together on Tuesday week — a plan of which we all approve. Ridiuo: this afternoon in the neio-lil)ourhood of the town, we came upon a most enormous fig-tree, a speci- men which would certainly "whip creation" in that department, and must be, as the Moors call it, " the father of fig-trees." We also discovered a less inviting object in the shape of a huge mound outside one of the gates redolent with putrid bodies — camels, dogs, horses, donkeys — all thrown out there promiscuously, and left to rot. The stench was appalling, and we galloped })ast with our handkerchiefs to our noses, much to the aston- ishment of our escort, who seemed to notice nothing disaf]:reeable in this golo-otha. AVe came back by the north side of the town, past an old cpiariy, from which most of the building material must have come ; now it is disused, and laid out in little gardens. The ohl wall of the town seems a fine i)iece of work, and if it is four or five hundred years old, as they attii-m, has lasted well. There must be about five miles of it in circumferenj'e, and the old INIoorish arch which api)ears in all the numerous gateways is prctt\- and uni(|ue. Where repairs have been executed in any of these, the arch is replaced l)y a modern and ordinary one ; but I notice the reproduction of the old form in most of their modem architecture, and even the wickets of the big doors of rooms, and the pattern of the velvet dados, perpetuate the ancient horse-shoe shape. 150 A NIGHT RIDE. To-night we were invited to dine with the Bashcaw, or Governor of Fez. It is he who has been grinding down and squeezing our unfortunate friends at Beni Aamer, besides having been guilty of countless other acts of despotic cruelty and injustice. To some of these the Sultan's eyes have apparently been opened, and a further tenure of two months of office is all the old villain is to have. What else may be in store for him, and whether ruin and imprisonment await him, it would be hard to say. Ah-eady the Sultan has made him pay large extra sums into the Treasury out of what he has extorted from the people ; but he is fortunately un- aware of the satisfaction we feel in his approaching downfall. Were he cognisant of it, something stronger than tea might have been provided for our benefit to-night ! We were late in starting — about a quarter to eight ; the night was dark and rainy, and our ride to the house took nearly an hour. Preceded by a guard of soldiers on foot and horseback, all carrying torches or lanterns, we rode for a long time through an intricate maze of streets, up and down hill, our horses sliding about in all directions. It was a curious and weird procession through the dark and deserted town, the silence of which was only broken by the yells of the Moors in attendance, and the curses, not loud but deep, of the Christians, as our heads came into too close proximity with the top of some dark subterranean pass- age, under which we had scarcely room to ride. At last we arrived at the gate of the Bashaw's garden, which is situated some way out of the town, and must THE BASHAW OF FKZ. 151 be large and well worth seeing, judging from what we could make of it by the light of the lamps which hung in clusters on the orange-trees. A stream ran through the grounds, working a huge Persian wheel which creaked and groaned ominously, as if jn-otesting against this nocturnal incursion of Nazarenes. Two lines of soldiers and picturesquely dressed slaves, of whom he has about 800, were drawn up at the doorway at which we alighted, and after being led through a long pass- age, we were received by our host at the foot of a stair- case, and taken up to a large room, along one side of which was an-anged [i row of chairs for us. The Governor having placed the Envoy on his right hand, pointed to the chair on his left, saying, " I su]»pose another of the principal guests will sit here ;" luit was a little discomposed at Sir John placing Miss Hay — who had been persuaded to accompany us — in it, and explaining that it was " the custom in Euro})e to give ladies a place of honour." The Bashaw is an old man of nearly eighty, I should say, and, full of years and wickedness, is of course aware of the penalty which usually attaches to men in Government employ who have amassed large sums of money from the people, and which renders it a matter of wonder how any one can ]»e got to take office under such a regime. His appearance is by no means against him, and there was something benevolent and venerable in his face, which bore the sad expression of one who is not only near his death, Itut knows he must give an account of his stewardship l)oth before and after that event. Poor old man ! I shall 152 NATIVE AIRS. never see him again, but quite pitied him, notwith- standing his iniquities, when I thought how soon this lordly pleasure-house he had raised would become the property of another and more favoured retainer of the Sultan. The centre of the room was occupied by a large table covered with sweetmeats, which within half an hour was twice cleared and laid again, owing probably to some mistake in the programme. Eound two sides of the room there ran a broad and lofty passage supported on massive square pillars as high as the ceiling, and along this passage was seated a band of musicians, who kept up the most intolerable clangour ; the worst pro- perty of their airs being a sort of barbarous harmony, which runs in one's head for a lonsf time afterwards. A number of Moors, too, guests of the Governor, were seated cross-legged against the wall, having been bidden to assist at the strange scene which was being enacted by order of their sovereign. In an adjoining room, which opened into and almost formed part of the one we were in, there were seated about thirty more natives, all in faultless costume and evidently belonging to the elite of Fez. While the music, vocal and instrumental, was making the place re-echo with its barbaric strains, I noticed that all these gentlemen, in the intervals of tea-drinking and conversation, were occupied in telling their beads — a custom which I have remarked jDrevails only among believers of the upper class. His Excel- lency meanwhile discoursed pleasantly with our host on the subject of railways and telegraphs, to which remarks HANDSOME SLAVES. 153 the Bashaw courteously listened, while in secret he was doubtless laughing at the improbaljle falsehoods with whieh he imagined he was beinfj entertained. At the end of the room by which we came in there was a continual bustle and passing to and fro of slaves ; occasionally one would bring a folded note to the Governor, or Sid Biibakr, who, it is unnecessary to say, was of the party, would cross the room and say a few words to him in a low, mysterious tone. Standing against the pillar directly opposite the Bashaw were two ver}'' handsome slaves, whose anxiety to anticipate any sign, and nervousness when speaking or listening to their master, were painful to witness, as indicating the style of discipline the old tyrant keeps up in his estab- lishment. They always approached him with the lowest reverence, and the one to whom he adcbessed himself would kneel or stoop down in front of him, throwing back the corner of his flowing cloak over his shoulder, which manoeuvre is considered a sign of the most abject submission. After being deafened for nearly an liour l)y the din of the musicians, we were relieved fi'om the ap{)rehcnsion of having to eat our dinner with such a numerous gallery looking on, by our host leading the way upstairs to a most elaborately decorated room, the vaulted ceiling and arched doorways of which were the prettiest workmanship of the kind I have yet seen. The servants of the legation were there with our own knives and forks, and it was a sore trial to our gravity to watch our host, who sat at the head of his table between His Excellency and me, tiying to make use of 154 THE bashaw's dinner. these unknown implements. He looked just like an old baboon unsuccessfully imitating tlie manners of a human being, as he raised a piece of meat between the point of the knife and fork — using both of them at once to shovel the morsel into his mouth. Apprehensive of an accident, Sir John entreated him to use his fingers, saying, " After all, Bashaw, our manner of feeding our- selves is a modern invention, and there can be no shame in using the means God gave us ;" then, suiting the action to the words. His Excellency so vigorously applied these same means in dissecting a piece of fowl in front of him, that the Bashaw took courage by his example, and discontinued his hazardous experiments. At this dinner, Sir John having previously asked permission of our host, Sid Bubakr was invited to sit at the foot of the table, and the Governor address- ing him, said, " It is a great pleasure to me to obey my sovereign's commands by asking the representative of a great and friendly power to dinner at my house ; but all that I can do for him does not show half the regard my master has for the ambassador." To this speech Sir John replied, " I have heard with pleasure the kind sentiments of His Majesty expressed by the Bashaw, and am glad to think they express the feelings the Moorish Government entertains towards the British, of which I am the humble representative." I fancied that as our host, who is a man of some culture and experience, endeavoured to make himself agreeable, and as dish after dish of reaUy very edible viands made their appearance, we must have all felt THE WRITING ON THE WALL. 155 a certain iuwiird pity for the doomed nican whose down- fall we had lately heard was very near. Ilis courteous manners and his high position made us for the time forget his misdeeds ; and as our hearts warmed over his good cheer, we could not help thinking in how short a time all these evidences of wealth and luxury would be gone, and how the poor Bashaw, who did not see as clearly as we did the writing on the wall, would go forth unfriended and alone, to spend the few years left him more miserably i)erhaps than even some of those who had been the victims of his cruelty and oj)prcssion. There were six glazed doors in the room we dined in, with curtains drawn down over them on the farther side, Noticinf]^ a sli£i;ht movement at the foot of one of them, I obseiwed a young lady lying at full length behind it, with her face against the ghiss, rapt in wonder at the stran^je sight she saw. I cau■ See page 249. II BI-WEEKLY MARKET. 173 should be hurled on his uubclieving head, harder even than the curses of the moribund -looking wretches that lie around the door. Leo Africanus calls this mosque " Caruuen," and de- scribes it "of so incredible a bignesse that the circuit thereof is a good mile and a halfe about. . . . The turret from which they cry amayne to asseml)le people is exceeding hie, the breadth whereof is supported with twentie, the length with thirtie, pillars." ^ I heard Mulai Edris invoked this morning in a curi- ous way at the bi-weekly sok, to which I rode at 7 a.m., with Mr. Ndhum as interpreter. It was just beginning, and the kaid of the market, an active old man in a blue uniform, came up and said that if we wanted to buy any- thing — horses, mules, &c. — he would be glad to help us. After that he got on his mule, and calling together all the men (about twenty) who had mules for sale, he arranged them in a line with an open space in front of them, round which a large crowd of people formed a circle ; then, half standing, half kneeling on the broad pack-saddle on his mule's back, with his slippers off, and amid the profound silence of the people, he recited a prayer to Mulai Edris ; then followed one for the Sultan, another for the people and the mules, and in fact for every one except the abandoned infidel and his Jewish companion who stood respectfully looking on. At cer- tain pauses he made, his hearers bowed their heads, and, touching their hearts and foreheads with their hands, muttered some responses, the only words I could make ' " Historic of Africa," by Leo a More. London, 1600, 174 SNAKE - CHARMERS. out being "Sultan" and "Mulai Edris." The old kaid seemed really eloquent in his exhortation, and his hearers were profoundly attentive. At the end of it the mules with their riders started off at racing speed to the end of the open space in front of them, then began to trot round in a circle, the owners vociferating forth the price and excellent qualities of the animals ; and then — the "pro- ceedings having been duly opened with prayer " — com- menced vigorously the chicanery and swindling which are their normal avocation. The market was on a smaller scale than I expected, there being very few horses, and not many cattle or sheep ; both the latter stock, however, w^ere of a better quality than one usually sees in this country. Passing back again into the town, we came upon a circle of people, with some snake-charmers in their midst. One of the performers, seeing me looking on, came up with a large snake in his hand, and opening its mouth with a stick, showed me its fangs, about a quarter of an inch long. I mentioned at breakfast having seen these people, so His Excellency, by way of a treat, sent for them here, much to the delight of the servants. The performance is not a pretty one to witness. The snakes, four or five in number — one of them theBoomraiah (Father of Beauty), about six feet long and beautifully marked — are kept in two cylinder -shaped baskets, into which the charmer put his hand and pulled out the Boomraiah. He then put it on the ground, and after chasing it about till it was in a rage he allowed it to bite his bare arm, which it did with much apparent enjoyment, and to the HORraBLE EXHIBITION. 175 effusion of blood. He then took out a shorter and very- thick one, of a deadly order, called the " Eftah," which, after twisting about in every direction, he put inside his clothes next his breast ; he then seized hold of the Boom- raiah again about a foot from the neck, and as it twirled its head wildly round, he put out his tongue, on to which it promptly fastened itself, driving in its two long fangs, and making the blood How freely. All the time this was going on an incessant accompaniment on two native drums was kept up ; but whether to strike terror into the snakes, or embolden the principal performers, I do not know. Lawless tried to take a picture of the scene, but, owing to the ceaseless movement of the man who was manipulating the snake, it was rather a failure ; the best part being the rapt faces of the servants and other by- standers, who came out well. Sir John tells me that some years ago, when he fii'st saw this or a similar troop, he believed that the poison must have been extracted from the snake's fangs, and wanted to let the reptile bite his hand. The snake-charmer, however, \vho always affirms that the poison is not removed, recommended him to try the effect on some animal first; so a fowl was sent for, and the snake made to bite it. It soon got into a comatose state, and died within the hour, and on being cut open the flesh was found to be black and discoloured. It is needless to say the impulsive diplomatist retracted his proposed experimentum in (suo) covpore vili Another pai-t of the man's exhibition to-day was swallowino- u lono- snake to within a foot of its head. The unengulphed portion of it presently began to wriggle about violently 176 DEPUTATION OF JEWS. as the gastric juices of the performer's stomach operated on its latter end, and with its teeth it inflicted deep wounds on the man's face. A funny incident occurred in connection with these men, which shows how lightly the liberty of the subject is regarded in Fez. It seems that when His Excellency sent for them, the messenger found them all in jail, having been sent there, it appeared, for the crime of " holding up to the Christian kaid a venomous snake, which, if it had bitten him and he had died, would have involved the Government in great trouble." I was sorry at the swift judgment which had overtaken the poor people on my account ; but as we gave them a liberal present, and His Excellency arranged they should not be re-committed to jail on the former indictment, they went away quite happy. There are said to be over ten thousand Jews in Fez, all of whom are obliged to live in the Melha, or Jews' quarter — the Ghetto, in fact, of Fez. They are particularly odious to the Moor, being held in greater contempt even than Christians; and the interest taken in them by foreign societies tends to make them insolent and independent, increasing thereby the Mussulman aversion to them. A few days ago a deputation of Israelites, with a grave and reverend rabbi at their head, waited upon His Excellency to thank him for past favours (he is one of the committee for their protection), and to beg for more. Among other things was a request that he would interest himself in their behalf to get permission from the Sultan for them to wear their shoes in the town. " We are old, Bashador," DEPUTATION OF JEWS. 177 they said, " aiul our limbs are weak ; our women, too, are delicately nurtured, and this law presses heavily upon us." Though I can quite sympathise with the poor Hebrew in his non-appreciation of having to walk over such streets as these barefooted, yet I was glad they were dissuaded from pressing their request, the granting of which would exasperate the populace, and might lead to consequences too terrible to contemplate. This argu- ment has already been put forward by Plis JNIajesty, when pressed on a former occasion to remove the disa- bilities of the Jews, together with the pertinent one that the admission of their ancestors into Marocco as refugees was made conditional on the observance of this practice ; so, if the contract is broken on one side, it might with equal justice be annulled on the other. I do not know what other suggestions they made, as the conversation was all in Arabic ; but their excited gestures, and their bending forward across each other's backs to get as near as possible, and not lose a word of the Envoy's advice to them, looked as if they put great faith in His Excellency's power of pleading their cause with the Sultan. This chosen people are at present the subject of much discussion, as at the Madrid Conference one of the chief topics under consideration is that of their pro- tection by foreign powers. No doubt some change in the treatment they now meet with is desirable, but that their account of the hardships and injustice under which they labour is exaggerated, is also beyond dispute. The story of the slaying and burning of a Jew here, a few months ago, though an act of undoubted barbarism and N 178 THE "MELHA." ferocity, was miicli garbled and made capital of by the societies for their protection ; and it would be well for such associations to inculcate, among their j^^'O^e^e's, principles of chastity towards women, it having been an attempt on the part of an inebriated Jew to outrage a Moorish woman which excited the feelings of the mob on this occasion. Melh', or Melha, signifies " salt," and the place is so called from the old custom of giving the heads of criminals, when executed, to the Jews, who were compelled to salt them before they were distributed over the gates of cities as a warning to others. Very queer specimens of humanity are those one sees in this same Melha. Hebrews of every type are there ; some sitting cross-legged, working away at silver ornaments, or making tlie long guns used by the Moors ; others cutting out clothes, either for themselves or their oppressors, as it is immaterial to the Jew for whom he labours, provided the pa3nQient is punctual and sufiicient. In their own quarter they may do as they like (except ride on horses, these animals being considered too noble for such a base use) ; but once the gateway is passed leading into the town itself, they must dismount from their mules, and walk barefoot in all weathers. Some of the women and children are pretty, but good looks among the men are very rare, while some are most forbidding in expression. Their clothes, in shape, resemble those of the Moors, but the law restricts them to wearing only black, which, with their shaggy beards and long hair — generally dark, but sometimes of a carrot ty red — gives the bad-looking ones a wild and evil expression, much CONDITION OF JEWS. 179 resembling the portraits by some of the old masters, of their ancestors who assisted at the crucifixion. Three cases of murder of Jews have occurred during the last few years, for which the compensation money has not been settled, and of which the perpetrators remain undiscovered; but our own annals of crime, especially in the sister isle, will hardly allow of our casting the first stone at the Moors. In many respects the Jews in Marocco are better off than the Mahommodans, especially in this matter of enquiry into acts of violence against them ; for whereas one Moor may kill another, and very little be said, if a Jew is the victim, there are a dozen advocates to take up his cause. They are exempt, too, from military service, which in a country like this is no small l)oon ; and though their evidence is not accepted before any tribunal, neither is that of a Christian. They seem to excel the Moors in ornamental work of most sorts — guns, swords, &c. — and in what we should call cabinetmaking ; but in masonry, gardening, and out-door work, I do not see them often employed. The great object of most of them is to become the protected subjects of some European power, and it is a pretty widely known fact that considerable sums of money change hands to facili- tate such arran wments. One of the snake-charmers of yesterday came here this morning to thank His Excellency for his good offices, and to say that their money, which had been taken from them at the prison, had been nturned, while the soldier who had lodged them there had been detained 180 POLICE ARRANGEMENTS. and flogged. Alas for liis excess of zeal ! but it pro- bably served bim rigbt, and it was refreshing to see the thankfulness of the other, whose conduct, though the appearance of the outward man was against him, recalled to our minds the grateful leper in the parable. There is not such a thing as a " policeman " in Fez, which seems curious in a town of 50,000 not very peace- loving inhabitants. A writer^ in the sixteenth century tells us that in his time four sergeants and officers were appointed to patrol the town from midnight till 2 a.m. '' These," he says, " have no stipend, but are freely per- mitted to sell wine """ '"'' '"' " and to deal in other even more questionable commodities — a mode of in- creasing: the emoluments of the British officer which has hitherto escaped the attention of their well-wishers. To a certain extent, the plan now-a-days of preserving order is by setting every man's hand against his neigh- bour's, as any one, soldier or otherwise — though it is ^ar excellence the former's business — can lodge a person in jail whom he detects in any crime, receiving for his trouble a fee which is paid by the offender. At night the facility for crime is lessened, and its locality deter- mined, by the device of closing'the gates of every quarter a little after sunset. The districts being numerous but small, and the gates pretty strong, detection of evil-doers is rendered easy, as escape, with the gates shut, is a matter of difficulty. At the same time, the total dark- ness of the town, and the proximity of the river, which ^ Puxclias's "Pilgrims," vol. ii. Loudon, 1600. FREQUENCY OF MURDERS. 181 can l)e seen foaming below the streets tlirougli many a cavity, makes the commission of crimes of violence much too simple. Punishment for such offences seems very slight, and payment of a certain sum of money, or, 1 am told, the i)roviding of a substitute to take their place in j)ri.son, procures the release of almost any criminal. During the last few weeks, I hear, undetected murders have been frequent, and thekiidi^ is rather on his mettle to find out the perpetrators. The gardener of a place close to this saw, a few days ago, something floating down the stream which runs between the two gardens, and on picking it out, found it was a woman's arm. Tlic man took it to the kildi, who, determined to find out the murderer, showed considerable judgment in the steps he took. Noticimr the arm was a o;ood deal tattooed, he sent for the women who do this work, and handing them the limb, asked if any of them could recognise it. This one of them shortly did, saying it must have belonged to so and so, wife of a merchant in the town. This indi- vidual being summoned, the judge said to him, " I wi.sh to see your wife; let her be brought before mc." " That is impossi])le," said the husband. ''Why?" "liecause she went three days ago on a visit to her mother." This wa.s too much for the kddi, who ordered the man to be put in jail. It turned out, however, that his story was true, and that the woman having an intrigue on hand witli another man, gave the above excuse for leaving home. The lover has been arrested, and it appears that he mur- dered the woman, either from jealousy or to possess him- ' Chief jiulye in a town or district. 182 ARMY REFORM. self of her jewels. So the husband, who learned in the same day of his wife's dishonour and her death, has been released, while the lover is detained during His Majesty's pleasure, the length of which term depends a good deal on the amount of money which can be squeezed out of the offender. Saturday, 1st May 1880. I have lately, at the request of the commander of the Sultan's infantry, adopted the role of Cardwell of the army of Fez, and, assisted by Kaid Maclean, have been busy for some days in drawing up a scheme of army reform, one of the conclusions I have come to on the subject being that, if the interior economy of the State is at all on a par with that of the army, the condition of the empire must be rotten indeed. But in speaking in this way, I refer only to the organisation of the regu- lar infantry, for this is the only branch of the service which has come under my special notice. Of the irregular cavalry, under whose protection we travelled in the provinces, and who are a species of militia or landwehr, I have a higher opinion, as I believe them to be a force specially adapted for the protection of a country like Marocco. We were all to have followed Sir John to the palace this morning, and had attired ourselves for the presence of Majesty accordingly; but His Excellency's audience was so lengthy that it was settled to-morrow would do better for us. The dignity and patience with which the Sultan ADVANTAGES OF J^GRICULTURE. 183 listens to jill the uupleasant truths it is the Envoy's duty to lay before him, inspire one with a certain respect, and, at all events, a profound sympathy with him ; and although, like a true Oriental, he always has a ready answer of the most soothing character for all disagreeable suggestions, I believe he has the interest of his country at heart, and is a sound centre in the midst of rotten surroundings. Considering also the terrible cruelty and tyranny exercised by many of his ancestors, his own comparatively milder rule cannot but be regarded as creditable ; for, in the case of a semi-civilised autocrat, with the absolute control in his hand of tlie lives of his subjects, and with boundless other facilities for doing evil, the non-exercise of such power becomes a virtue. Viewing his character in this light, one docs not grudge the tu'csome work of instilling heliographic principles into the Moorish brain, or even flinch from the more delicate task of disclosing to His Majesty the utter inethcacy and swindling of his army administration. IDs Excellency seems to have been trying to-day to impress upon the Sultan the advantages of agriculture, to which, he explained, France chiefly owes her great wealth. Against some mining speculations which had been recommended by foreigners, and in starting which he has already been done out of a large sum of money, the Envoy warned His Majesty: — "Mines are risky tilings, and I would not recommend Your ]\rajosty to put much trust in what speculators tell you ; but agri- culture should constitute the riches of a country like this." " It shall be looked to at once," replied his 184 THE sultan's army. hearer ; " I will order corn to be given to the people in time for next sowing, and they shall pay me a tithe of the crops." Great part of the Sultan's treasure consists in granaries stored with corn, and during the famine of 1778 the Emperor SIdi Muhammed (ancestor of the late Sultan of that name) "generously opened his store of corn and distributed it among his subjects," every person possessing stores being obliged to follow his example. ^ " The state of Your Majesty's army is very unsatis- factory — a few disciplined troops, the rest a mere rabble." " Yes, I believe they are not very efficient, and are, I am told, great robbers." His Excellency, who sometimes puts forth parables as being more acceptable to a Moor than the plain truth, continued : — " If Your Majesty had a dog, and never fed him, would you be surprised at his stealing meat ? Your trooj)s only require to be w^ell fed and clothed, and they will cease to disgrace you ; the three hundred men you sent to Gibraltar were two years there, and no complaint was made against them, for they were properly disciplined and paid." By way of seeing if the scheme of army reform was likely to be well received, His Excellency said, "The kaids of the English army who are "^dth me have made a great many comments on your troops, and one of them has embodied his ideas on paper ; would it please Your Majesty to see it before I leave Fez ? " To which His Majesty graciously assented.^ ^ Lempri^re's " Tour to Morocco in 1789." ^ See Appendix D. OPINION REGARDING THE MISSION. 185 Speaking of the pleasure wc felt at having been so well received, Sir John remarked, " The officers of my Mission are highly pleased "with your reception of them, and at the favourable eye with which Your Majesty has looked upon them." *' I am very glad of it," said the Sultan, " and am surprised at officers so young being masters of so many scientific attainments." In incul- cating these practical and moral precepts His Excellency often introduces the remark, " If anything I say is displeasing to Your Majesty, I trust you will at once stop me ; " but the Sultan always bears with him to the bitter end, concurring sadly but silently in what he hears. Some characteristic remarks of two of the ministers were repeated to me the other day. " What do you think of the English Bashador?" said one. "If a doctor," replied his friend, " comes to look at a bad boil on your leg, and smoothing it over puts a plaister on to ease it for a little, is he as good a surgeon as the man who * burns it out from the root ' ? " Though the faculty might deride such heroic treatment, it must be remembered that here phlel)otomy or cautery is considered as a remcde a tons Ics maux,ixm\ at any rate, the metaphor shows that some of the ministers endorse their sovereign's high oj^inion of His Excellency. It is curious that with lots of thinking and rcjisoning men among them, the chief officers of the State should be allowed to cheat and swindle as they do, obstructing all reform, but seeing far enough ahead to line their pockets while they may. The mistaken sys- tem of never paying the officials, Ijut, on the contrary, obliging them to make large payments to the Sultan for 186 PUNISHMENT OF CRIME. the favour of continuing in office, does more to hinder the progress of good government, and to maintain oppression and injustice, than almost anything else. Shortly before the death of Sidi Muhammed, father of the present Emperor, there seemed every chance of this abuse being rectified ; for when each new Governor of a province was appointed, he received a fixed salary, and two public notaries (adiils) were attached to his suite to render an account to the Sultan of all fines and punish- ments inflicted. On Sidi Muhammed's death, however, in 1873, things fell back into the old groove, the advisers of the present Sultan assuring him that unpaid servants were a clear gain to the country over paid ones. Now- a-days, therefore, if any crime, such as murder, is com- mitted, the accused is put into jail, and if willing or able to pay, is only detained there till the amount of blood - money is determined upon ; this, if he pays it, procures his release, a short absence from the district being at the same time recommended. Of course he has to take his chance of the murder being avenged by some kinsman of the victim, the lex talionis being sanctioned by the Prophet, who stipulates there is not to be '' too much cruelty " perpetrated in its execution. A liberal amount of blood-money, however, generally obviates such danger. The ofi'ender is also fined at the option of the Governor, into whose pocket the amount mulcted goes, as also does a considerable portion of the indemnity paid to the rela- tives. The same plan is resorted to in the case of other crimes, the rich man coming well out of his troubles, especially in the case of lawsuits about property, where, THE students' SULTAN. 187 as there is no appeal Init to tlie Sultan, the decision of the Governor is almost invariably in favour of the man who pays. Rode out a few miles towards Mequinez with AVhite to meet the Gordon Gumming party/ who were marching in from that dii-ection ; found them all — it was raining hard — sitting in a row, with their backs to the weather, dis- cussing some luncheon, and reading their home letters, which had just arrived. We brouglit them the news that the house of one Ben Aouda had been prepared for them through Sid Bubakr's influence with the town authorities ; and the intelligence was welcome, as their tents and everything else were Avet through. Leaving them to follow, we rode back to the town, and were just in time to see the performance of a curious annual ceremony. It seems that once every year the " students " (a party whose composition no one can exactly define) elect one of their number for a Sultan, under whose rule they all go out into camp on the first of May for a fortnight's feasting and debauchery, and we met the procession en route to their encampment. It consisted of the mock Sultan and his train, and is such a counterpart of the originid, as we witnessed it in the pageant of the lOtli ult., that we thought at first it was His real Majesty out for an airing. The party were escorted by a four-deep square of infimtry, under Hadj Ilamed, in the centre of which they moved slowly along. Occasionally they halted to allow some parties of hillmen, who j)recedcd the troo}), to perform a sort of war dance peculiar' to ' See page 1 6 188 DANCE OF HTLLMEN". tliemselves. Six or eiglit of tliem, armed with tlieir long guns, advance and retire towards each other like the first figure of a quadrille, stooping down each time they cross, as if taking aim at their vis a vis ; presently they begin to circle round and round, singing a wild monotonous air ; and when the leader arrives at a certain high falsetto note, they all leap in the air, and before their feet touch the ground again discharge their guns, muzzle down- wards, into the earth. The first time I saw this dance was at Tangier, during the festivals on the anniversary of the birth and circumcision of Muhammed, when I was much struck by the graceful motions and well-disciplined movements of the wild-looking performers. We were joined presently by some others of our party with a few mounted soldiers, who assisted in keeping ofi" the crowd ; and Kaid Hamed sending some men to help, we managed to keep a space clear for the Gordon Cummings, who appeared at this moment, and who halted till the crowd had passed on with their newly-elected Sultan. This dignitary's appointment is put up to auction, and this year was bought for one hundred dollars. The presents he gets, and some tribute which he receives from his royal confrere, soon reimburse him, and he is allowed to rob a little on his own account ; the present one, too, being a merchant, is probably accorded some monopoly or contract by the Sultan. To-niojht was remarkable for two events which can never have happened before; one was the fact of His Excellency's having completed forty years in Her Majesty's service ; the other, that no fewer than eighteen TWO REMARKABLE EVENTS. 189 Christians were collected in Fez, and sat down to dinner together. The first came to pass in the fulness of time and in the natural course of events ; the second by- Colonel Gordon Cumming's party being unfortunately- disappointed in getting into Ben Aouda's house, from which he positively- declines to move ; and consequently, as the rain was falling in torrents, being detained to dinner here. Sid Bubakr, being put on his mettle by the falling through of his arrangements, rode down to the city gate, and having collected the animals, bag- gage, &c., had the camp pitched in the only avail- able space inside the town ; having accomplished which he returned here to guide the travellers through the darkness and the rain to their uninviting resting-place. CHAPTER XIII. Visit to the palace — Failure to photograph Sultan — Set up telephone — Panthers — Beauty of palace — Sultan's entertainment — Jugglers — Native drama — Dance of the Aisso'W'ieh — A saint of Fez — Visit to the " ]\Ielha" — Inspection of infantry — Inns of Fez — Pharaoh hardens his heart. Monday, M Maij 1880. YestePvDAy's rain having caused our visit to tlie palace to be postponed, we were hunted out of our beds at an early hour this morning by His Excellency ; risked an attack of indis^estion over our breakfasts, still under the same influence, and, after waiting some time admiring each others go-to-meeting clothes, finally received a command that His Majesty would receive us at ten o'clock. It having been whispered by Sid Biibakr that, if it could be done quietly, the Sultan would allow him- self to be photographed, His Excellency was in high spiiits ; and already, I believe, in his mind's eye the portrait was on its road to Windsor. But the mood of a Moorish autocrat is variable as the wind, and I doubt if the artist is yet fledged who will hand down to posterity a likeness of His Sharifian Majesty. We rode up to the palace through lanes which last night's rain has converted into alternate torrents and seas of mud, splashing our WILL THE SULTAN BE PnOTOORAriTED ? 101 pretty clothes aiid making us generally uncomfortable. The ]\rinisters and Court were just leaving their small tents of office in the palace enclosure, and the fat Vizier, puffing and flushed with the exertion of hurriedly climb- ing on his mule, rather scored off Sir John, who had dis- mounted, it being de rigueur here for a person of inferior rank always to dismount before addressing his superior. They had none of them heard we were coming — a great slight to the Grand Vizier, who, together with his col- leagues, looked as black as thunder. We waited some time at the gate of the inner court, which want of atten- tion drew down some Moorish blessings on the head of the officer in charge of it from the Envoy's varied vocabu- lary ; and after getting through, and into the garden, we were kept standing in the walk for upwards of an hour. We tried in vain to excite His Excellency's indignation again, and presently the "Eyebrow" arrived with some excuse about the Sultan not knowine: we were cominir, as the soldier who brought the message made a mistake about the hour, &c., and consequently His IMajcsty was still at breakfast. At the real reason of the delay we of course never arrived ; but as at that moment another messenger came, summoning Sir John and the " photo- grapher " to the royal presence, our spirits rose at this apparent fulfilment of our wish to obtain the desired likeness. Tn the meantime, the rest of us were left to the tender mercies of the " Gentleman of the Eyebrow," Sid Muhammed Gavass, and Sid Dris ben Abd el Wahad, the " idle apprentice" of the Moorish engineers.^ ' See page 163. 192 DISCOUESE ON HELIOGRAPH Y. I improved the occasion by unpacking the heliograph (which they had brought along with the telephone, and which they think forms an integral part of it), and giving the latter youth, who had not yet seen the instrument, a lesson in its adjustment. Having discoursed on the subject in well -selected phrases for some time, I was disappointed at his asking with apparent interest, " And does it work well at night V and again, after some further explanation, " How much wire do you have to use V However, I must say, as soon as I got him to give his attention to the matter, and to leave off lusting after the fleshpots of Chatham and London, which we were the innocent means of recalling to his memory, he mastered the rudiments very quickly. In about half an hour His Excellency and the artists returned rather crestfallen, though at first they declared they had been taken to the Harem, and photographed His Majesty and all his wives. It turned out, however, that the Sultan, changeable as a school-girl, refused, as soon as he saw the camera again, to be taken, and even insisted on Sir John's promising that no such attempt should be made. He sent, however, for three female slaves — one an enor- mously stout black lady, the other two of a more grace- ful build, brown complexion, and rather pretty ; these victims he allowed to be sacrificed on the altar of art, retiring a little for fear of being included in the group, and laughing quietly at the scene. Rode home past the " Eyebrow's " house, where they told us that if we " waited for a little we might be shown some of the rooms of the palace." Disappointed, how- PANTHER AND EUNUCHS. IDIJ ever, with the result of our luorniDg's visit, we stoutly dcflined to alight again, wore the Sultan and his entire harem on view. After luncheon, however, I rode back to Ben Milsa's house, and spent a couple of hours in putting up the telephone between it and an apartment in the palace. The Eyebrow's end of the wire we set up in a sort of lumber-room, full of every sort of toy, presents, &c. discarded by His Majesty — French china, some of it very pretty, clocks of every kind, boxes full of clothes, feathers, mirrors, artificial flowers, enough to furnish half a dozen fancy bazaars ; and among this collection probably ere long both batteries and tlie connecting wire of the tele- phone, together with the heliogra})liic instruments, will find a home. The other end we took along the wall, under an archway and through a long passage, into the Sultan's private garden, then up a flight of steps to a broad and beautifully paved terrace, on which a wing of the upper story of the palace looks out. The room in which we fixed the end for His IMajesty's use was a per- fect gem in its way ; no furniture but two arm-chairs and a bed, underneath which a young but full-grown panther was rolling about, who came and sniff'ed un- pleasantly at the calves of the Christian intruders. The work in the ceiling of the recess in which the bed was placed was really exquisite, and round the walls were inscriptions and verses from the Koran, executed in gold and colours of the richest and l)rightest kind. Half a dozen horrid-lookinjj: black eunuchs were there to watch tliat wo did not stray farther than necessary for our 194 sultan's entertainment. work ; and though I looked carefully round and into the garden, which was stretched out below us, for any other signs of life, I could see nothing but a lot of gaudily- dressed black boys, whose chief amusement seemed to be rolling over and fighting with the panthers (there are two of them), whose bites and scratches they returned with interest. We got the telephone arranged satis- factorily at last, and left the Eyebrow yelling into his end of it, much to the delight of two of the eunuchs, who were screaming in high falsetto into the other end. How long it may bear this severe test, which Mr. Bell can never have contemplated when constructing it, time alone can determine. Wednesday, 5th May 1880. Our last public entertainment here took place to-day, with accompaniments which will engrave it for long on our memories. Our host on this occasion was no less a person than His Sharifian Majesty, who, though he did not appear in person, provided a most ample assortment of food for both body and mind. The summer palace where the picnic took place is about two miles to the south-west of the town, and is enclosed in an extensive grove of orange -trees, among which some tents had been pitched for the party. Before luncheon we were taken to have a look at the building, in which there is not much to see. It consists of a very large courtyard, open at the top, and paved with marble, into which a number of good-sized suites of rooms open. The chief interest which attaches to the place is a melan- RAID OF THE FREICfAHS. 11)5 choly one, it having been built by C'liristian slavos, of whom most were English, during the reign of JMulai Ismael, in the beginning of last century. We were rather surprised that some great ofHcer of State, such as one of the chamberlains or the Sultan's secretary, was not present to represent their master ; and to a suspicious mind it looked not unlike intentional neglect on the part of some one. His Excellency at once repudiated this idea, and pointing to a Moor who hap- pened to be shouting rather louder than the others, explained that he was " an official of high position called the Kaid of the Freigiahs, and had the arrangement of everything." Now, seeing that this same "kaid" is merely the chief tent-pitcher, of whose services in this capacity I availed myself a few days ago in the palace garden, I am not wholly convinced by His Excellency's ready repartee. We had brought with us not only our own servants with knives and forks, but also a goodly supply of the Huid prohibited by the Prophet, which substitute for the dirty water one usually gets at j\Ioorish feasts helped to wash down pleasantly the sumptuous meal provided by His ^Majesty's chif. Sid Biibakr and the two Chatham officers being cither too shy to feed with us, or l)eing unwilling so to commit themselves in jiublic, went to another tent, where countless dishes of all kinds were brought to them and a select few of the palace people by the Sultan's slaves, who had lighted fires in the wood to keep the viands hot. As there was not room in their 196 JUGGLERS AND CONTORTIONIST. tent for half the dishes provided, Sid Biibakr had them arranged in rows outside, and then distributed to the various lots of servants, soldiers, slaves, &c. — a most popular arrangement, which went straight to the hearts and stomachs of all present. After we had finished our luncheon, and Colonel Gordon Cumming's party, who joined us later, had had theirs, some jugglers came and performed. Their tricks were good, but what they ex- celled in were feats of strength, one man supporting seven others on his shoulders, and many other things of the sort, all on the wet, muddy ground. It was a curious scene ; on one side were the party of Christians in the shelter of the tent, of which a side had been left open, while opposite stood the bystanders, whose interests were divided between us and the performers; behind these were about fifty or sixty people who had filed quietly into the grove just before the performances commenced, and of whose identity we were shortly made aware. In the background were the horses, picketed, and several tents which had been pitched to shelter the officers of our numerous guard from the rain, which was falling heavily. The jugglers and athletes having withdrawn, a contor- tionist, who must be quite at the head of his profession, appeared, and imitated an ape to perfection, the way he changed his face — naturally not an unpleasant one — being horrible and yet ludicrous to a degree. The ape having retired, a comical -looking man, with a sort of fool's cap on his head, made a stump oration, imitating various characters, his jokes making the people roar with laughter, in which His Excellency and the khalifa, MORESCAN DRAMA. 197 who are both perfect Arabic scholars, joined ; but whether from the jokes being purely on local topics, or from some other cause, they did not think fit to translate them for our benefit into English. The speech con- cluded, the jester, assisted by a small black boy and a fair, efteminate-looking youth, proceeded to enact in dumb show certain scenes and tableaux taken from native domestic life and manners ; but as these began to assume features which would hardly have failed to come under the censure of the Lord Chamberlain at home, Sid Bdbakr with infinite good taste stopped the music (without which nothing can be got through), and the performers went their way, wondering, doubtless, at the want of curiosity we evinced in not waiting for the development of their highly seasoned drama. Now came the last of the varied entertainments provided for us by our royal host, and it was certainly as unexpected by those who were best acquainted with Moorish cus- toms as it was horrifying to all, and especially to thos«^ who had never witnessed it before. It seems that some days ago, when this picnic at the summer palace was first mooted, and Sir John was asked what style of amusement we should like best, he begged that the ** Aissowieh " might be sent to amuse us. Now by that term is usually meant the snake-charmers, who belong to the great sect of Aissowa, and it was, of course, only the snake-charmers to whom His Excellency referred. His sufjgostion was, however, interpreted otherv\-ise, and the Sultan imagined that our unaccountable taste made us anxious to see the performance of tlie ghastly and horrible rites of the real Aissowirii. 198 ORIGIN OF AISSOWIEH. The founder of this sect was a poor Arab, Muhammed ben Aissa, who lived in Mequinez about three hundred years ago, in the most abject poverty. As a reward for his unwavering faith in the mercy of God, and in the good offices of the Prophet, a miraculous supply of food was sent him, with which he was enabled to supply all the poor of the town, and was thenceforth regarded as a saint, multitudes coming to him and imploring to be received as disciples. With these followers he travelled through the empire, barefoot, and " without scrip or purse," trusting implicitly to the Prophet to provide the necessaries of life. When they were hungry their leader gave them poisonous plants to eat, which not only proved innocuous, but satisfied the cravings of their aj^petite. Very soon they attained the power of receiv- ing without hurt the bites of poisonous snakes ; wdiile burnings of the most terrible description, wounds, and contusions, were impotent against them. Tradition asserts that Ben Aissa, as a reward for his virtues and faith, was? caught up into heaven, like the Prophet Elijah, in a chariot and horses of fire — a team which his previous training would enable him to handle with ease. The sect is at this day very numerous, and twice a year — at the feast of Bairdm, and at the end of Eamadan — they assemble from all the sacred towns, and commence a kind of triumphal march through the country. The provinces through which they pass are — or at all events used to be — thought specially favoured by Providence, the inhabitants vying with one another to minister to their wants, and according to them " the best of the PRELIMINARY RITE. 199 cheer and tlif seat hy tlie fuv," — once "the imdenied ii«rht of the barefooted Friar." The name " Aissa " (Jesus) is that by which our Lord is always mentioned in the Koran, so Aissowa becomes the equivalent of Jesuit, or follower of Jesus, and, in fact, the fundamental principles of the two orders are identical — faith and obedience.^ The preliminary rite of these people consi.sts in working themselves into a state of religious frenzy, in which, when reason has entirely lost her sway, they think to propitiate the Deity by cutting themselves with knives and stones, and sometimes giving themselves up to the commission of the most brutal crimes and horrible excesses. When in this condition, which by the law of the land renders them more or less irresponsible for their actions, neither man, woman, nor beast is safe who happens to cross their path, and God help the unfor- tunate Christian or Jew who may fall into their clutches ! Among them, however, are certain high priests or elders, who, like the leaders of religious revivals elsewhere, exercise a sort of magnetic influence over their flock, even when they are at their worst. Considerable opposition was made to His Excel- lency's supposed request by the town authorities, who declined to be responsible for the safety of the Christian spectators when brought into close contact with the fanatical Aissowieh. The fiat of the Sultan had, how- ever, gone forth; so nothing could be done but to choose ' " Ifli Aissa6ua ; rciiiiniscL'nzc d'Algeriii." Di Giacinti) Fossiiti-Rtviifri. Roma, 1880. 200 EFFECT OF DANCING. from among the known followers of the sect the least extravagant and dangerous members. These then were the crowd of people who, having hitherto kept in the background, were now brought forward by their Emkaddemin or high priests — three old men of great height and commanding appearance, with dark flowing- robes and long white beards. At first they were formed up in double rows, facing each other, with the Emkaddemin between them, and began their dance to a monotonous tune kept up on drums and horns. Gradually they kept working towards our tent, stamp- ing their feet to the time of the drums, and throwing their heads backwards and forwards with a corre- sponding and rapidly increasing motion. It is an acknowledged fact that since the days when David danced before the ark, dancing has been regarded as a religious exercise by many fanatical sects, who affirm that, by subjecting their bodies for some time to such action, a state of mental derangement is attained which renders them callous to all pain, and wholly irre- sponsible for their actions. Such apparently was the eff"ect on the Aissowieh, who were now reduced to about twenty, those to whom the spirit had not communicated this state of religious ecstasy having had the good taste to withdraw from their more favoured brethren. Those who remained presented a horrid appearance ; their clothes hung loosely on them ; in most cases their turbans had fallen ofi", exposing sometimes a bare and shiny skull, sometimes long dishevelled hair, which, by the constant motion of their heads, now hung in clusters GHASTLY SCENE. 201 clown their backs, now in niutted locks concealing tlieir faces. Occasionally three or four would break away from the ring and indulge in a pas seul outside it, or else run full tilt with their heads against a tree, and beat the stem with their hands till the blood flowed freely down. The eyes of all of them had now become fixed and glassy, their tongues lolled out of their mouths, and their faces assumed a livid hue, while from the entire circle rose the ceaseless cry of " Allah, Allah, Allah," as the ^^Tetched maniacs invoked their God, of whoso character they must take a strange view if they thinlc He enjoys the ghastly scene ! The chief method observal)le in their madness was that they seldom did each other any injury, though occasionally one or two at a time would fall on their faces and com- mence tearing up the grass, which, with handfuls of mud, they would force down their throats, and digest with apparent satisfaction. On these occasions, if two of them came in contact, one would seize the leg or head of the other, and commence gnawing it in an abstracted manner, inflicting horrible wounds, to which operation his fellow enthusiast would make no objection. The Emkaddemin would now interfere, and by kneeling on their heads and other gentle measures, quiet them; then, by some mysterious exorcism, they would recall the men to reason, keeping their eye on them till they sheepishly left the spot and got away behind the spec- tators. By this means all but four of the Aissowieh were disposed of; those that were left, however, seemed beyond even the influence of their priests, wlio would 202 BEYOND CONTROL. occasionally make an attempt to subdue them ; but failing to do so, contented themselves with closely watching, and when necessary, placing themselves between us and the wretched men, who now looked more like beasts than human beings. In fact, through some freak of their disordered brains, these men had assumed the rdle of wild animals, and were prowling about on all fours, uttering unearthly cries, like hungry beasts in quest of prey. It was not a pleasant moment when one of them neared the tent, peering among us with brutish eyes, and I could not help thinking a live Christian among those four would have had a sorry chance. Nor would such an accident be wholly unpleas- ing to the spectators. The Emkaddemin, however, had a peculiar method of satisfying the appetites of their remaining disciples, and when they suddenly paused in front of us, adopted the following plan. Among our servants were several followers of the sect, who, forbidden to join in the saturnalia, had been looking with sym- pathetic eyes at their co-religionists. One young boy, however, of about twelve, also an Aissowa, who has lately been taken into the service of the khalifa, not being able to resist the fascination of the scene, joined in it, and having given himself wholly over to the Evil One, was now lying in a state of exhaustion on the ground, his stomach full of mud and grass, and his nice new clothes, provided by an indulgent master, reduced to rags. Towards young Hassan, for so is the youth yclept, one of the priests now moved, and taking him up by the waist, threw him as a bait to allure away the RAGE OF AISSOWIEH. 203 fanatics from ii.^. The device succeedetl better than we luul hoped for, and with a horrid roar they tlirew them- selves upon the boy. He remained where he had l)ccn thrown without moving or uttering a sound, and while the horrid crew were howling and struwh authorities. The last regiments I came to were, like Falstaffs army, "exceeding beggarly;" old men alongside young boys, both equally unfit for service, diseased, semi-blind. 210 REPOKT ON ARMY OF FEZ. halt, all mixed up togetlier. I was glad when, after about two hours' work, the job was completed, and there remained nothing but to thank the Commander-in-Chief and his staff for their enforced courtesy, in doing which I took a leaf out of his own book, " Your army, Amm,^ as regards material, is first-rate, and, if well clothed, equipped, and drilled, would be second to none in Europe," — provided, I mentally add, you send three- fourths of them to the right about ! To some of the kaids, who were really smart, soldier-like fellows, and were anxious for one's real opinion, I explained that on an average one hundred serviceable men might be jDicked out of each regiment, and the whole made into two or even three respectable corps. As this plan would entail the reduction of many colonels and supernumeraries to a lower grade, they did not see the arrangement in the same light. Among the several English innovations I recommended was the free application of pipe-clay and blacking, as used in our army, but, from personal experi- ence, I drew the line at red-tape. As the Sultan's secretary was waiting for my report, I returned here to draw it up and hand it over to the interpreter, assisted by Sid Muhammed Gavass. The shortness of time at my disposal prevented my touching on several points to which I Avould otherwise have alluded, and it is to be hoped the crudeness of the document will gain polish at the hands of its manipulators in their translation of the original into Arabic.^ The diseased appearance ^ His title at Court signifying " Superintendent." See Appendix E. I TREATMENT OF LUNATICS. 211 of SO many of the soltliers led me to ask if there was any hospital for tlicni in Fez, but I could not make out that there was, and, in fact, I do not think .^ucli an institution exists even for the civil i)opulation. Lunatics, too, are allowed to roam about, and are kindly treated by the people, unless they develop very violent symptoms, when they are confined in the common jails, chained to the ground by a ring round their waist. In the fifteenth century things seem to have been better managed, there having been several hospitals then in Fez. Leo Afri- canus, in describing one of them, tells us there was a ward in it *' for franticke and distracted persons, whose Governoure, when he bringeth them any sustenance, halli a whip of purpose to chastise those that ofier to bite, strike, or play any mad part." There was also at that period a " Hospitall for diseased strangers, which have their dyet, but no phisicke allowed them." The same writer mentions the inns of Fez as badly conducted estab- lishments, which he cannot conscientiously recommend, for " none resort to them but most lewd and wicked people, to the end they may more boldly commit vilanie." At present there are no inns here in our sense of the word, though resting- houses (fondaks) exist, where travellers, provided with food and all other necessaries, can procure shelter. For the last three days we have been ready to leave, and actually packed up many of our things ready for a start, but on each evening an order has come from the Sultan, as from Pharaoh of old, dtlayinLT us on some pretext or other. CHAPTER XIV. Farewell audience — The Sultan's thanks — Discourtesy of Vizier — Claim- ing protection — Designing foreigners — Precautions against them — Artillery practice — Presents from Sultan — News from home — Books in Fez — Political results of Mission. Sunday, 9th May 1880. For tlie fourth and last time Fez was to-day enlivened by tlie spectacle of His Excellency, attended by three British officers in full uniform, riding to the palace, and for the fourth and last time I entered a solemn protest against the combination of kilts and equestrianism. The Envoy had been summoned to a farewell audi- ence, and the " photographer," Haynes, and I, attended to receive His Majesty's thanks for our labours in his behalf. Sir John left us in an anteroom off the corridor leading to the palace, and after half an hour's waiting we were summoned by the Eyebrow, who took us through the private garden to a walk, at the end of which was an entrance to the palace, and just inside the door were seated the Sultan and His Ex- cellency. Here the Hdjeb^ left us, but the Envoy beckoning us forward, we advanced, hat in hand, to " Eyebrow." THANKS OF SULTAX. 213 the royal tlireshokl, and made our l)ow. His Majesty then addressed us as follows, Sir John interpreting after each sentence : — " I have sent for you to thank you for the trouble you have taken in explain- ing and setting up the instruments your Government has presented to me. I am also glad to see you here (designating me) to thank you for the reports made upon my 'Askar^ by you. I hope you have all enjoyed your- selves, and been comfort al>le here." To these very gra- cious words we replied that " it has been a great plea- sure to us to have been of any service to Your Majesty, and we are most sensible of the kindness and hospitality you liave shown us in Fez, and for which we beg to thank you." *' The English arc my best friends," said the Sultan, " and I am always glad to see their officers at my Court. I have caused a mark of my favour to be sent you, which you will receive before leaving my capital." We then withdrew and awaited His Ex- cellency's return in the room to which we had first been shown, Haynes and I playing a game of chess in tlie meanwhile with some elaborately cut ivory men and a board we found there. It is a favourite game in ]\Iarocco ; the king and queen they call Sultan and Sultana respect- ively, the castle, ** Rook," but I forget the other pieces. As soon as His Excellency joined us we left tlic palace. The Deputy -Chamberlain liad brought us there and conducted us home again, riding in front each way. Mr is tlie tall, fat youtli who covets my dirk so mufli, and is always giving me hints that he wants it in a present. ' CJeneml term for PoUliers, particularly infantry. 214 SULTAN AND VIZIER. After we had left the presence of Majesty, Sir John said, in answer to some enquiries by the Sultan as to the composition of the British army, " The officers who have just gone away are all gentlemen, and sons of people of position in England." " Then what makes them serve in the 'Askar if they can afford to live out of it ? " was the somewhat pertinent query of His Majesty. " Well," said His Excellency, "the English 'Askar is different from Your Majesty's, and men with means of their own enter it for the sake of occupation." " Yes," remarked the Sultan, '' that certainly seems a different state of things from ours." His Excellency and the Grand Vizier have had an- other difference, the latter refusing to address the Envoy in despatches as " Sir John," &c. &c., but only terming him " Caballero," or " Chevalier," both of which titles His Excellency declines, affirming that if Her Majesty describes him in her letter to the Sultan as Sir John, that is enough for anybody. " Tell the Vizier," he said to the all-arranojino; Sid Bubakr, "I have a brother called 'Tom' who calls me 'John;' in future I shall simply address the Vizier as 'Muhammed,' and he may call me 'John!'" Such apparent trivialities may seem absurd to a European mind, but here there is much more in them than meets the eye. In this case I fancy the ignorance of the Vizier connects the term " Sir " with " Sid," a title he is loath to confer on a Christian. It seems this liberal statesman has remonstrated with the Sultan about having given the English Envoy five audiences, as he will "thereby establish a precedent;" l)ut SPEAKIXG IN PARABLES. 215 the Sultan replied that he would " do as he liked." " But it is unusual for a minister to transact business direct witli Sidna/ and not through me." "Sir John comes to exphiin matters in wliicli I take an interest, besides busi- ness, and I shouhl act in the same way with other Bash- adoi-s if they spoke Arabic like the English Envoy." This kicking against the pricks is a healthy sign in His Sliarifian IMajesty, but it is to be feared the leading strings will be resumed on the departure of the ]\Iission. In a former audience, when hinting to llis Majesty how much better it would be to have a soldier at the head of the army, His Excellency spoke as usual in parables, and said — "Suppose Your Majesty bouglita frigate and wanted some one to sail it, would you employ the Aniin of the market as captain 1 " " Certainly not," said the Sultan ; " I should employ some sailor." " Well, Your Majesty, it is much the same in the case of the army, and your present Commander-in-Cliief, though an able administrator, knows nothing of the interior discipline." This simile sank into the royal mind ; for in a letter from the Eyebrow, telling Sir John that my sug- gestions were to be adopted forthwith, he wrote, — "His Majesty is about to appoint Sid Muhammed Gavass as khalifa to the Commander-in-Chief, being persuaded of the evils resulting from a system which employs a market official to sail a frigate." I descril)ed in an early part of my diary (p. 36) one of the methods of claiming the protection of a superior. To-day I was witness of another plan often adopted by ' " Our Lord." 216 • CLAIMING PROTECTION. an injured or oppressed person. I was riding with Ka'id Maclean to the Court he has to attend daily at 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. ; and as we were jogging along at a foot's pace, a Jewish woman ran forward, and tearing off her cloak, threw it on the ground in front of Maclean's horse. Having thus established her right to be heard by " throwing all her griefs in front of " the kaid, she explained how some of the soldiers had burnt down her house because she refused to supply them with cakes ^ without payment, and she could get no redress. My companion told her at what hour he would be at the Grand Vizier's in the morning, and gave instructions to his orderly to see that she was allowed access at that time. As, however, she looked very poor, it is j)robable that the minister, who is as expectant of a reward in this world as he is certain of one in the next, will turn a deaf ear to her complaint. A similar thing happened the other day to AVhite, who, while taking a ride outside the town, passed a man with a rope round his neck being led along by two others. Breaking away from them, the unfortunate man threw himself on the ground, and caught hold of the horse's leg; but his captors, in pulling him off, made the animal plunge and jump about so much that White, not knowing what to do, took advantage of the confusion and rode off. At the same time, according to the un- written law of the land, the men had no right to touch their victim after he had claimed protection, and the Sultan himself is bound to enquire into the case of any ^ The Jewesses are great manufacturers of cakes and pastry. A SPURIOUS HIGHLANDER. 217 ouc who calls upon liiiii by name, in public, for that purpose. As His Majesty does not often ride far from home, his transit from the palace to the mosque on Fridays is almost the only chance of thus waylaying him, in connection with w^iich custom a curious story was told us on our arrival here. It appears that some time prior to the entry of the Mission into Fez, a person having the appearance of a Portuguese renegado, but de- scribing himself as a Christian and a "British officer,"^ arrived in the toAvn. He was desirous of obtaining an audience of His Majesty, but having no letters of recom- mendation, was of course unable to do so, nor would the Vizier, or any official to whom he addressed himself, grant him even an interview. Adopting, therefore, Moorish tactics, he met the Sultan returning from the mosque, and with loud cries of " ]\Iulai Hassan, Mulai Hassan," prostrated himself upon the ground before the Emperor. His ^lajesty, though startled, was about to make en- quiries, but his attendants, who had been warned of the man's design, affirming that the abject creature at his horse's feet was merely a lunatic (which class of unfor- tunates are treated here with kindness and even respect), the procession proceeded on its way. The oddest part of the story is that our informants declared he was dressed in a similar costume to that in which I appeared at Court, and, a j^ropos of the resemblance in dress, they wanted to know if any other of the " tribe " could have passed this way? I disclaimed all connection with my It is not an uncommon device of designing foreigners, who wish to approach the person of the Sultan, to describe themselves as above, as His Majesty's predilection fur the English is well known. 218 CHRISTIANITY AND DRINK. brother "Jebeli,"^ wlio, when a lunacy commission is established in Marocco, will some day be found chained by the waist to a wall of one of the prisons, or stum^^ing the country in the capacity of saint. It is probable that this spurious Highlander was neither a Christian nor an Englishman, and it is satis- factory to learn that the conduct of the very few Chris- tians who do find their way to Fez and the other sacred cities, is happily better than the usual behaviour of the advance guard of their brethren in barbarous countries. The Moors, however, who are suspicious to the last degree of the visits of foreigners to the interior, take stringent measures for their own protection. Thus the introduction of foreign drink, too often associated in their minds with the tenets of Christianity, is strictly forbidden under a heavy penalty in Fez, and even the wines and spirits made by the Jews in their own quarter cannot be taken into any part of the Mussulman city. The Amln of the army is very sore at the holes which have been picked in his military system, and has refused me permission to see a parade which was held to-day for the purpose of drafting off boys and men unfit for service. Emanating, too, from the same source, or rather from his brother the Grand Vizier, is the following letter I received from the French artillery officer in an- swer to one I wrote him, asking if I could come and see his gun-practice to-morrow, and which I quote as show- ino- how caser are the authorities to prevent one seeinor farther into the nakedness of the land : — " Mon cher 1 " Mountaineer ; " see p. 1 1 9. CLIMATIC INFLUENCES. 211) Monsieur, on nc ticiit pus a ce (|ue vous vcniez ti la seance demain parce que vous avez pris conge, ct vous etes con- sidere comme etant en route. Commc le Sultan assiste au tir votre presence serait en quclquc sortc irreguliere. Demain, 'insluillah,'^ je viendrai vous serrer la main en sortant du tir." In the morning he had written to say, " II n'y aura aucune ditiiculte il ce que vous puissiez voir cctte seance," &c. ; but an interview at the " Court " altered the matter entirely. I do not despair, however, of being able, from some rising-ground near the palace, to see with a pair of field glasses as much of the " seance " as I require. Our hours in Fez seem to be numbered at last, lunl unless Pharaoh hardens his heart again, and sends another order to stop us, we turn our backs upon the "sacred city" to-morrow. We have, however, been so often stopped on the eve of departure, that I shall not be surprised if we find ourselves this day week no fiirther advanced on our road home ; and as the sedative effects of the climate begin to operate, one feels more or less indifferent on that as on other subjects. In fact, sitting lazily at the doorway of my tent, with the setting sun shining warm and red upon the white minarets and lovely landscape beyond, it occurs to me in a misty way that there might be worse places to live in than Fez, and that the monotonous existence of the Moor is not without its charm. The air, too, this evening, is heavy with the scent of orange blossoms and roses, while the hum of the distant town, mingling with the splash of the fountains ' (Joil willing. 220 MARKS OF HONOUE. in the garden, sounds drowsily in tlie ear, not tending to rouse one to action, or to throw off the lethargy inspired by the surroundings. '" -"- -Si- •S -St My quiescent state of feeling was roughly disturbed by my servant, who having apj^arently had some private message from His Majesty that he intends letting us go, insisted on packing u]3 the chair in which I was musing, as also the few remaining ohjets de luxe et de vertu upon which he had not already laid violent hands. Before dinner I took a farewell stroll in the mer- chants' quarter, with the obliging Mr. Nahum as cicerone, and made a few final purchases of some of the coarse blue pottery for which the place is famous, and also some very pretty silk material for dresses. I happened to take off my dog-skin glove while examining the texture of some of the stuffs, and was startled by a young child, who was sitting at the merchant's feet, setting up a yell of fear, and getting as far away from me as possible. Her father, for such he was, presently reassured her, gently explain- ing it was the duty of a Nazarene to remove the outer skin of his hand (for so she deemed my glove to be) when touching any article belonging to a true believer. The " marks of honour " which the Sultan mentioned in the audience of this morning were just passing through the guard as I returned to the Legation. Sir John and the khalifa each received a present of a horse, the gift to the former being supplemented by a most mag- nificently worked Moorish saddle. Messrs. Secsii and Nahum, the indefatigable interpreters, were each pre- NEWS FROM HOME. 221 sentcd with a mule, as also was tlic old Arab scribe. Each member of the Mission received a " sword of hon- our," the scabbards, &e., of some being worked in ^old, others in silver ; mine was elaborately embellished with the precious metal, the hilt being made of ivory ; and in connection with this mark of His INIajesty's regard I received a letter of thanks^ for my labours in his behalf. Sid Biibakr, who presided at the distribution of Sidna's largesse, held a paper in his hand in which we were each named or described in some way, and on each sword was a ticket corresponding. This concluding ceremony having taken place, there is every reason to believe we shall be allowed to depart to-morrow, unless His Majesty intends detaining us as hostages for the good faith of the representative of England in the Madrid Conference. We have not been without news from home during our stay in Fez, though the swollen state of the rivers has made the journeys of the special couriers from Tan- gier a dangerous undertaking. The last batch of papers we received contained an account of the extraordinary Liberal victories in England. That these topics were vehemently discussed by us it is unnecessary to state, though His Excellency, as a public servant, of course held aloof from polemics, and indeed severely censured the suggestion of a member of the Mission, that an exchange of Prime Ministers between England and jMarocco would, under the new regime, be decidedly beneficial to the former country. It is certain, however, that the lawless condition of this land is not yet sufficiently developed to ' See Ai)i>ciiilix F 222 HIS majesty's mail. admit of the idea that murder and assassination would be the best means of bringing the distressed state of the empire within the " range of practical politics ;" nor, up to the present time, does " our Lord the Sultan " allow of the open advocacy of such questionable mediums. Besides special couriers, there are weekly runners be- tween this and Tangier, who are paid so much — or rather so little — for each journey. To these men are entrusted most of the Government despatches to the Moorish Minister at Tangier, but, as far as I can learn, most of the merchants, and the few other private individuals who can write, send their letters for the coast with the caravans which are perpetually marching through the country. There is no postal system whatever in Marocco, and though the adoption of such a simple means of revenue was recommended to the Sultan on a former occasion, I do not think the measure has been again urged on him by His Excellency. The assurances which His Majesty has given to the Envoy of his intention to introduce certain reforms advocated by him, make one hope that some of the political ends of the Mission may be attained. This seems the more hopeful, too, from the Sultan's partiality for the English, whose disinterested interference in his afiairs, compared with the action of some of the other foreign representatives, must commend itself to the Sharifian mind. The natives, however, look upon things in general from such an entirely different point of view to ours, that it is often hard to explain to them our motives of action, and the explanations are none the more satisfactory to either party from the fact that the one ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS. 223 docs not believe a word the other is saying ! " Will you tell me privately what brings your countrymen here to Marocco?" an old INfoor asked me confidentially, "INItrely to see the country and study the habits of the people," I replied, A shrug of utter disbelief was his only com- ment, and hence it is not to be wondered at that their suspicions are aroused, and every obstacle placed in the way of admitting strangers to the interior. Besides this distrust of foreigners, another great difficulty presents itself in the way of picking up information, and that is, our very limited knowledge of the language. I had hoped that Spanish, at all events, would serve me with educated Moors, but except at the seaport towns it is of no use. On one subject in particular I tried vainly to inform myself — viz. as to the existence of any ancient ]\ISS. in the city, but it seems probable that any which may have existed have been lost or destroyed. Among other literary treasures, the MS. of the lost books of Livy is said to be here ; but an encpiiry, backed by the offer of a large sum of money, instituted some years ago by Sir John, failed to throw any light on the matter. I am told that in each of the large mosques there used to be a collection of books, but these having been converted into a sort of circulating library, have gone astray, the people who borrowed them being in too high a position for the men in charge of the mosques to insist on their being returned. Dr. Rohlfs, however, whose means of informa- tion were much more reliable than mine, writing in ISiU,' says there were at least 5000 MS. volumes in the mosque * Ruhlfs' " Adventures iu Murocco." 224 POLITICAL RESULTS. of El Karubin, so what the truth may be in this case, as in many others, it is hard to say. The subject is, curiously enough, one on which they dislike being questioned, and as the very few books for sale in the town are only of a religious character, the owners would not part with them to a Christian for either love or money. Even a belt which one of the Mission wanted to buy at a shop was withheld on account of its having a verse of the Koran worked on it. The art of printing is, of course, unknown, and, with few exceptions, no one can read or write. Owing to the dilatory manner in which the business of the State is conducted here, the formal ratification of the reforms I alluded to has not been obtained from the Sultan ; but it appears he will guarantee that, though for the present the restrictions upon corn will remain in force, those on the export of other grain, seed, &c., shall be removed. Considering that even the portion of the country through which we have passed could, if properly cultivated, supply corn to a great part of Europe, the policy of the Sultan's advisers in keeping up prohibitory export duties seems wholly unaccount- able. Negotiations are, however, to be entered into at Tangier for the improvement of trade, for which purpose a port on the coast, south of Mogador, is to be opened. Another point on which the Sultan is anxious to meet the wishes of our Government is in reorard to the settle- ment of claims by British subjects, to which end " Shari- fian letters " ^ have already been issued by His IVIajesty. ' For specimen of a Shaiifian letter, see Appendix G. PERSECUTION OF JEWS. 225 In view of tlic near approach of the Madrid Conference, the Sultan is evidently anxious to take the bull by the horns in the matter of improving the condition of his Jewish subjects, and, moved also by the representations of His Excellency, has decreed that whenever cases arise in which Jews are denied justice at the hands of local governors, an appeal may be made by the plaintiffs direct to His Majesty. This to be done through his minister at Tangier, Sid Muhammed Bargash, a states- man of known probity of character, whose opinion, unlike that uf most officials in Marocco, is not to be influenced by bribes. The whole of the question, however, of Jewish persecution will come before tliis assembly of European delegates ; but if each of these will cast his eye back upon the annals of his own country as they touch upon the treatment of the Jews for the past one hundred or even fifty years, it is difficult to say which of them will come into court with clean hands ; and [ am inclined to endorse the opinion of a French writer in 1859, who says — " Le ^laroc a ete moins dur pour les Juifs c[ue bien des nations Chrctiennes ; il a donne asile h ces infortuues que proscrivirent en divers temps ritalie, I'Espagnc, le Portugal, la France meme." He miglit have included England, though at a much more remote period, with equal justice in the same category. CHAPTER XV. In Camp again — Departure from Fez — Consular agents — Infantry drill — Closing of gates — Source of Wad el Fas — Defences of Marocco — Chances of invasion. Camp, Nedja, Monday, 10th May 1880. Here we are once more on the marcli, all of us feeling as if our life at the Moorish capital had been a dream, and that only the usual twenty-four hours had elapsed since last the tents were pitched. The camp is on pre- cisely the old plan, and this, combined with the familiar but unearthly shrieks of the Moors, and other well- known sounds, seems to bridge over the time betw^een our former wanderings and the present. On my right, at the end of the front line, is the Doctor's tent, from which issues, as usual, his melodious cry of " Maho," by which he essays to attract the attention of his servant, a native of Siis. On the left, next me, is Zouche, calling in a minor key for George ; and farther off the Bashador, having run up the gamut of servants' names, arrives at that of Boomgheis, which is at once echoed by all the other ruffians who have lain j9erc7i<5 the while, and which is a sort of trump card played by us all when in BRITISH AGENTS IN MAROCCO. 227 difKculties, and unal)lc to get the man we want. Sid Biibakr alone is absent ; Init he is only a town acquaint- ance, so his spasmodic cry (like a peacock's in pain) of "Njuim, Si'di,"* with which he always, in our garden at Fez, responded to His Excellency's very frecpient summons, is not associated with camp life. We expect, however, to see him again, as he is to overtake us in a day or two with some papers of importance, which the Vizier explained "Sidna" had not had time to sign." It is to be hoped they will follow all right, but with His Excellency's departure the good resolves of His Majesty grow weak ; and as the personal influence of the English minister's presence is withdrawn the old state of things is apt to return, and tyranny and injustice to resume the even tenour of their way. A good many years ago, Sir John proposed that a British resident should always live at Fez, and himself volunteered to be the first, but the proposal fell flat with the representatives of the other powers, and the then Sultan, Mulai Abd-er-Rahman, was most unwilling to be responsible for his safety. In our treaty with him, however, in 1856, it was stipulated that the English might have agents in any town, while the other powers w^ere limited to ^)or^v — a distinction which was by no means appreciated by our Continental neigh- bours. Rohlfs states this arrangement was made by treaty in 1861, but I think his date in this instance is inaccurate. A propos of this treaty, M. Duval, writing three years later, urges the appointment of Consuls in * An equivalent to the " Anon, anon, sir," of the Drawer Franci.o,' in Shakespeare's Henry IV. 2 "Our Lord." 228 INFANTRY DRILL. the interior — a measure wliich, he affirms, was adopted by his country in bygone days, when " Le roi de France, Henri III., avait, sur I'invitation meme du cherif regnant en 1577, nomme un Consul et institue une agence consulaire a Fez."^ The present Sultan might not be averse from following the precedent of his ancestors, but without the hearty co-operation of the Grand Vizier and others, it could not be adopted ; and as the present holder of that office cordially detests all Christians, he is not likely to counsel such a proceeding. From this minister downwards, the whole governing staff of the country is an Augean stable of corruption and iniquity, which nothing but the increase of trade and consequent march of civilisation is likely to sweep away. As we did not leave Fez till noon, I got up at six o'clock, and rode to a parade of some 1500 of the troops outside the town. There were two complete regiments with six companies of thirty files each ; the remainder were all boys and recruits at " company drill," the favourite movement of their instructors being to wheel them round and round in a single rank of about 150 stronof. Last but not least was an enormous band of about 100, marching round and playing tunes which were calculated to strike terror into the heart of any ordinary foe. All commands were in English, even to the num- bering and some of the " cautions," as, " Dress back on the left," " Steady," and so on. Kaid Ali (not the old gentleman of that name who commands our escort), with whom I had tea the other day at the barrack, was in 1 "Revue des deux Mondes, 1859." EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS. 220 command of the better drilled of the two regiments, and seemed thoroughly at home and to enjoy his work, deploying, forming squares, &c., with much success. The drill was carried on at the top of the rising-ground overlooking the palace square, so, if I had been a little earlier, I should have seen the artillery practice they are so anxious to keep dark. As it was, I made out with my glasses the commanding figure of the Sultan, sitting in the bathing-machine -like vehicle which attracted our attention before in the outer court of the palace, and in which he was now receiving: his ministers. He looks on at the practice on ]\Iondays and Thursdays, sometimes laying the guns himself. A wooden post is the mark they fire at, the projectile being stopped l)y the wall of the enclosure about 500 yards or less from the guns. The Sultan is much taken up at present with entrenching tools — a subject I had touched on in my report — and has ordered Kaid Maclean to have a " battery built at once," with some double-headed picks, which have made their appearance lately out of a neglected store. I had a talk with Sid Dris ben Abd-el-Wdhad, who was very anxious to accompany us to Mequiuez, but who at that hour had been unable to get the Sultan's leave ; he turned up, however, in camp here at seven, having ridden out with Sir John, who did not leave Fez till five, havinjr been closeted with Sid liitbakr and some other notables all day. I rode back from the parade through the Gordon Cummings' camp to say good-bye. They, too, left to-day for Tangier ; 5;o Fez is riil of all her obnoxious visitors at once. 1 tlien passed on through 230 CLOSING THE GATES. the market, where, the Amin^ having finished his prayer, the jugglers, hill -tribe dancers, and the ape -like individual who makes faces, were all hard at work ; and on the outside of all was the comical-looking man, whose histrionic treat was so heartlessly cut short the other day at the Summer Palace, amid an enthusiastic audience, who did not scruple to hear him to the end. The streets were crammed with our tents and baggage, and the garden of the Legation, where we have spent three such pleasant weeks, was swept and garnished ; while among the walks wandered the old gardener who is in charge, eyeing sadly some of his best orange-trees, from which the accursed Nazarenes had cut sticks as a memento of their visit. With the exception of His Excellency and the khalifa, we had all cleared out of the place by twelve o'clock ; not with flourish of trumpet and beat of drum as we entered, but sneaking quietly away with a very limited escort, the greater part having remained as a guard to the Envoy. The populace, who had been coerced into welcoming the coming, did not trouble themselves to speed the parting guest, and, except at the gates of the town, where a few of the more religious had assembled to bestow on us a parting curse, the streets presented their usual appearance. A propos of the gates, I have always forgotten to come and see the ceremony of closing them, which takes place every Friday during the hours of prayer from ten to twelve, in consequence of an ancient Mussulman prophecy, that all kingdoms ^ See page 173. SOURCE OF THE WAD EL FAS. 231 lost once by Christians to the Turks and Saracens will be restored to the former on that day, and between the above hours. The custom is also observed in Mequinez and Marocco. About eight miles from Fez on the left or south side of the track, and two miles off it, Ave noticed a large fort-like building, and hearing that the source of the AVad el Fas was there, I rode over to it with Miss Hay and Zouche. The fort, which in former times must have been a build- iiiGf of o-reat strenfrth, was built on risinjj ground, below which, in a rocky amphitheatre, was a pool of water not very deep, but clear as crystal, with a gravel and sandy bottom. Into the reservoir the spring gushed, in two streams or jets, out of the side of the rock below the building. To me it looked as if the whole mound and one side of the basin were artificial, though dating from some very ancient period. Lower down, in the middle of the river, which, on leaving the pool, assumes its normal width, was some solid mason -work like the ruins of an old bridge. We rode up the hill to the house or fort, which is a large, square, high-walled enclosure, covering all the level part of the mound ; but whether it was roofed in or not we were unable to see, as the inhabitants of a few huts at the back would not even let us go near the gate. They were a most ill-looking lot, and at first I thought we had got among a small colony of lunatics, as they kept making queer faces and odd signs of silence if we attempted a closer inspection. The soldier who was with us gave us no assistance, but tried to make us come away, saying it was "liarami' for us to be there ;" so there was ' Unlawful. 232 CAMP GUARD. nothing for it but to get back to tlie track and come on here. I questioned him through the interpreter after- wards, but it appeared he had "forgotten the circum- stance," and also "did not know anything about the place." I have never seen any mention made of this singular spring or the adjacent fortress by other travel- lers, but I cannot help thinking that a competent observer might here discover some trace of Roman or other occupation of the country, and that the place deserves the attention of the archaeologist, for whom, indeed, this land of Marocco is one vast field. Our camp is on the bank of the AVad el Nedja, a small stream which we crossed by a stone bridge — an accommodation one rarely meets with here. The village opposite us on the right bank merely consists of a guard- house, this being a bad neighbourhood, and subject to visits from the Beni Mtu% the same tribe who attacked our camp at Mikkes just before we reached Fez. I watched the guards for the camp being told ofi", about a hundred of them, armed with guns and posted a few yards apart. They chant in unison every few minutes to keep themselves awake, and the mounted patrol who visits them always has some excellent joke at which they laugh loudly, probably for the same purpose. His Excellency and escort came galloping into camp just at dinner-time, having ridden out fast in a downpour of rain. In his suite were Sid Muhammed Gavass and the " son of the slave of the one God." Both of them are putting up in old Kaid All's tent. I am glad to have seen the parade of troops this morning outside Fez, as on other DEFENCES OF MAROCCO. 233 occasions of my trying to do so the Commander-in-Chief, who always attends, has either stopped the parade or marched the men oft' as soon as I came on the ground. Owing to his detention to-day at the " Court," I saw all I wanted, and was much struck with the bearing of the men and their knowledge of drill, which fully equalled that of our native regiments in India. What kind of show they would make, if properly armed, against a European foe, it is hard to say, and during the present reign there has been no opportunity of judging ; but the constant guerilla warfare which the levying of tribute from disaftected tribes entails should keep them in prac- tice. The isolated position of Marocco, which prevents its serving as a highway to other lands, makes it com- paratively valueless as a possession for any power un- connected with this part of Africa ; and protected as it is on two sides by a rocky and surf -bound coast, in which are no harbours worthy of the name, it is not from that quarter the Moors need look for an attack. On the east, however, they have awkward neighbours in the conquerors of Algeria ; and the tendency of the French to transgress their frontier line, as fixed by the treaty of 1845, makes the approach of an enemy in that direction possible. Frenchmen I have met do not scruple to talk openly of the advantages of an occupation of Marocco, and, having settled on tlie expulsion of the present dynasty, are only in doubt as to whether the country should be " divided among the Powers, or annexed to Algeria." It is probable that certain of the Powers might dissent from tlie latter alternative, or indeed from 234 RESOURCES OF MAROCCO. either, and should matters come to an issue, and a European army ever find itself face to face with France, with Marocco as a battlefield, the assistance they would derive from the native cavalry and infantry in this land of soldiers would be no mean factor in the contest. It would be difiicult to calculate what number of allies could thus be raised, as there are no available means of information, though a French writer boldly asserts that '^le Maroc pourrait lever ijIus de 500,000 soldats ou cavaliers, tant bien que mal equipes." Though this is a high figure, representing, as it does, about one- twelfth of the population, it is possibly not above the mark, when one considers the fact that almost every adult in Marocco possesses a gun and a knife, with a fair knowledge of the use — or abuse — of both. CHAPTER XVI. Hea\'y rain — Hill of Kanufa — Telegraph versus lieliograiili — Ladies of Mequinez — Selection of heliograph station — Bokhuris — Final in- struction in heliography — Sultan Mulai I.->uuiel — His cruelties and sanctity — Visit to prison. Mequinez, Tuesday, 11th May 1880. The march in here from our camp at Nedja was a long one, about twenty-two miles, and the heavy squalls of rain which beat in our faces continually made it most unpleasant. Such weather at this time of the year is perfectly unknown here, and is, as I noticed before, at- tributed by the natives entirely to the presence of the English Bashador. Besides the drawback of the weather, the conduct of the " son of the slave of the one God," who insisted on riding with us, was far from satis- factory. Some of us had pushed on ahead of the main body to arrange about where the luncheon-tent should be pitched, and, instead of conforming to our steady trot, Sfd Dris would lag behind, and then tear past us in lab-el-barod fashion, loudly calling on his God the while. It was in vain we represented to him that at each manoeuvre he bespattered us with mud, and 236 HILL OF KANUFA. begged of liim to regulate his pace by ours ; it was of no avail, his only answer being that Christians and Mussulmans had different ways of riding, and that Marocco '' was a very savage country." The plain of Fez seems to end, about twenty miles from that town, in a high ridge of ground, on the west side of which is a deep ravine crossed by a partially ruined bridge. The hills here closed in a little, widening out again as we crossed a second gully and came to another and higher table-land, which forms the plateau on which Mecjuinez is situated. On the edge of this the luncheon-tent was pitched, and Sid Dris and Gavass partook of that meal with us, enduring with composure His Excellency's pressing offers of wine, bacon, and other unclean edibles. We rode forward in the same order as before, and came upon a large body of cavalry, under the Bashaw of Me- quinez, waiting for Sir John at the head of a deep and rugged glen, the descent into, and ascent from which, was very bad going for the horses. To this official we sent as a herald the "son of the slave" — who was too glad of the excuse for a gallop — to inform him that His Excellency was coming on later, and to ask for a guide to the house we were to occupy. The range of hills to the north of the road was of a considerable height, and one called the Jebel el Kaniifa would, I at once perceived, make a good intermediate heliograph station, supposing it obscured the view of Mequinez from Fez, which, however, I found from observations on arrival here, would not be the case. I suggested to Sid Dris that a telegraph wire would answer His Majesty's purpose better, and would APPROACH TO MEQUINEZ. 237 be available for night work, lor wliich he still has a hazy- idea the heliograph would come in handy; but he says it would require guards every few hundred yards, as the people of the villages would never stand the sight of such a mysterious-looking apparatus, which, being set up by Christians, they might fear would accomplish the down- fall of the sacred cities it connected. There is a vast olive grove, walled in like a park, through which we passed before arriving at the gate of the city. At the entrance of this enclosure was a ruined fort, to the top of which I climbed, at considerable risk, to see if I could make out the hill near Fez which we had su^fjested as the site for the heliograph at that end. The approach to Mcquinez from this side is very pretty. Near the entrance is an extensive and well- kept park, in the garden of which stands a large house, the property of some relative of the Sultan, and a steep paved road leads up from the valley in which these grounds are situated to the gate by wliich we entered. There were a good many people collected on our route, and the crowd round this house was so gi'eat we had regularly to fight our way through it ; though, of course, the excitement of the people was nothing like that on our arrival at Fez, as we have sunk from our high estate to that of private individuals. This house, which the Sultan has had put at our disposal, is a handsome building, all the four rooms 0})ening on the patio in the centre being lofty, and beautifully clean. In one of these Zouche and I had our beds, &c., placed, our chief and his family oc- cupying the others ; while in a house next door are located 238 LADIES OF MEQUINEZ. the remainder of the party. The roofs of the surround- ing houses were crowded in the afternoon with ladies, mostly unveiled, who, I am sure, would, if allowed, accord us a hearty welcome, notwithstanding our objec- tionable nationality and religious tenets. All the people here seem more cheerful and healthy than the Fasi, possibly owing to the streets being wider and more airy, and the odours less varied and potent than those of Fez. The best shops are all in covered squares, which one has to visit on foot ; but shopping presents the usual diffi- culties, caused by the curiosity of the populace. The children, too, seem positively in dread of us, rushing off after one look of terror, yelling " Nasrani ! Nasrani ! " as if the devil was after them, which they not improbably think may be the case. It is a tiresome j^ractice, as the rest of the people are thereby unnecessarily warned of our approach. There is a remarkably fine gateway in the wall of the town near the Melha, and of this a good view was taken by Lawless. A smaller arch leading into the Jews' quarter is interesting from its being the place where heads of rebels and murderers, and hands and feet of minor offenders, are nailed up as a warning to evil- doers. As there are no fresh warnings hoisted at pre- sent, I conclude the people of this district have been on their good behaviour of late. The cold at dinner in the evening seemed intense, though I do not know what the temperature really was. My suggestion that the verandah round the top of the highest mosque should be utilised as a heliograph station being indignantly rejected, I started after break- t^iu^ -^r"> -aPiW^I^ QATEWtV IN MCQUINCZ (SEt PAOE i3») ORIGIN OF BOKHIrIS. 239 fast with Sid Dris, Gavass, and one or two soldiers, to a place they told me was half a mile off, but which turned out to be about four. " Why did you say it was half a mile when you knew it was about ten times as much V I asked. " You have a long march in the afternoon to make, and we did not think you would come if you knew how far it was," was the candid reply. The place they wanted me to see was, except for its distance from the town, well chosen, being at the angle of a high battlemented wall which encloses a kind of settlement of the families of the Bokhari, or hereditary slaves of the Sultan. I was told these men are the descendants of a number of captives brought by a former Sultan, five hundred years ago, from the Soudan ; but I am more inclined to agree with Dr. Lempriere, who, writing in 1793, says that the Emperor Mulai IsmaeP introduced large numbers of negroes from Guinea and Soudan as colonists, and formed out of them a bodyguard for himself; these, I take it, were the ancestors of the present Bokhiiris. We got up with considerable diffi- culty to the top of the wall, and at the corner I mentioned was a large flat space, which will do ex- cellently for my purpose. Not one of the men with me (two of them natives of Mequinez) could, or would, point out which was the Jebel Zalag, or hill above Fez. As, however, I had determined this point to my own satis- faction, I explained for the last time to my two intelli- gent pupils how they were to align their instrument on the Jebel Zalaf]^ at some fixed hour when tlieir colleay Windlius in 1721, but copied by 248 TOMBSTONE OF Q. C^CILIUS DOMITIANUS. Leared and Tissot a few years ago, and which is incon- testably proved to be the epitaph of Csecilius Domitianus, deeurion of Volubilis. There is a big longitudinal crack or rather gap in it, which made it hard to decipher many of the words. Distinct remains of houses and walls are to be seen all over the rising ground on which the town must have stood, and on a level plateau at the top are the ruins of two buildings, one of them especially of a considerable size. Of the smaller of the two there remains a fine triumphal arch, and contiguous to it a massive square keep or outwork, with immensely thick walls. In one of its faces there is a small doorway so singularly out of keeping with the rest of the building as to suggest the work of a later age ; but the fact of the stones being neatly cut to fit the bend of the arch is against that theory, as such work would have been beyond the skill of the Goths and Arabs who succeeded the Libyans here. A little to the east of this is the larger building, of which the two arches, standing east and west, are in good preservation, though the centre stone which supports one of them is considerably displaced. It measured about forty yards by thirty, the superstructure over the arches and a part of the south waU which remains intact being about 40 feet high. The blocks of stone used in the building are well cut, massive, and rectangular, and, lying about, are fragments of round pillars over eight feet in length. The stones used in the south wall are so fashioned as, when placed one above the other, to give the appearance of a split column applied to and sup- porting the wall. In 1721 this ruin is described as AXOTIIEPt INSCRIPTION. 249 "good jmrt of the front of a largo square Imilding 140 feet long aiid about GO liigli," ^ of wliicli part of the four corners was still standing. It is interesting to notice what have been the ravages of time since then, for none of the corners are standing, and the walls are cer- tainly not, if they ever were, sixty feet high. It probably received a severe shake in 1755 from the earthquake which affected Mequinez so severely. The inhabitants of Mulai Edris, or Zarhilu, the adjacent town, are all descendants of the Prophet; and in the afternoon two of them obtained access to the camp on pretence of bringing a young fawn as a present to Miss Hay. At 9 p.m. there was a great uproar among the swarms of guards supplied by the town, and it ap- peared these two men had been caught trying to steal our horses. They were securely bound, and handed over to old Kaid AH, who commands the escort. After this the chief men of the town pitched a tent close to us, from whence they sallied out periodically to visit the sentries. Taking a stroll before turning in at night, I passed by it and was loudly challenged, " Skon hada" (Who is this?), while guns were ominously handled till they made out who I was. On revisiting the ruins this morning I was shown another and smaller tombstone, almost hidden in the coarse vegetation which' covers all the hill. I copied its inscription- on a bit of pajjer as accurately as I could, much to the amusement of the men who had Wimllui.^'s "Journey to Moquinoz." Louduii, 17:25. ' See Appendix II. 250 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT HISTOEIANS. pointed it out, and who seemed quite pleased at the interest shown in the ruins, of which they are very- proud. The concluding words, Filio piissimo j^os,, were as clear as if cut yesterday — an effect attribut- able, probably, to the climate, which is, however, not so indulgent in regard to Moorish workmanship. Several writers have treated of the qtiestio vexata, whether these ruins are those of Volubilis or no, and to their arguments, which are most of them more worthy of notice than mine, there is little to add. Ancient his- torians speak of it as a flourishing town, and if one could trust to the distances given by the writer of the " Antonini Itinerarium," there is no question but that Volubilis and modern Fez are identical. He says Volubilis is " Mill. pass, xvi." from Aquae Dacicse, which is rather under the distance of Fez from the hot sulphur springs of Ain Si Yiisuf, or, as Tissot calls them, Ain el Kibrit, and which are certainly synonymous with the above. Leo Africanus — a great authority on all affairs Morescan — gives little or no assistance in solving the problem, and concludes his arguments by the incontest- able theory that " by the Latine letters which are graven on the walls I am rather of opinion that the Eomans built this towne." He also mentions a town in this neighbourhood called Gualili, in which was the tomb of the saint Idris, and that some distance from it were the ruins of " Cassar Pharaon." The name of Gualili seems now unknown, but in " Hondius his map of Fez" (1600) I find a town " Gualila" just about in the position of the modern Zarhiin, or Mulai Edris. To ^'3 '.J KASR kaka'i'n or volubilis. 251 the east of this town is phxcecl Pharaonis Palatium, which is clearly wrong, as the ruins are and always must have been to the west of it. The name of Kasr Fara'un tells us nothing, as there are fifty other ruins in Egypt and elsewhere to which the natives have given this appellation ; and it is improbable that the Pharaohs are responsible for anything so far west as this. Con- siderinor what must have been the scale of the orio^inal buildings, and the almost superhuman labour involved in their construction, it is strange that the classical writers at the commencement of the Christian era, who treat of these parts, should not have given us more certain information about this most conspicuous and, except Sheila, most westerly monument of the great Koman Empire. Ptolemy, from whose writings savants have extracted many geographical facts about Marocco, tells us that Volubilis was on the Subur, four miles from Tocolosida, and on the road from thence to Tangier. Now, though there are some Koman remains three or four miles south of Kasr Fara'un, which might do duty for Tocolosida, the Subur (Sebii) docs not pass within fifteen or twenty miles of either place; so his testimony, generally so useful, fails us in this instance. Speaking under correction, I am of opinion that the large tombstone in memory of a citizen of the place ought to go far towards proving its position ; while the imposing aspect of the grand old ruins — nobler in their decay than the newest palace in this land of mud and concrete — combined with the admirably chosen site, show that an important town KASll I AKa'i'n (HI VOLUBILIS. 251 the east of this town is phxced Pliaraonis Pahitium, which is clearly ^\Tong, as the ruins are and always must have been to the west of it. The name of Kasr Fara'iin tells us nothing, as there are fifty other ruins in Egypt and elsewhere to which the natives have given this appellation ; and it is improbaljle that the Pharaohs are responsible for anything so far west as this. Con- sidering what must have been the scale of the original buildings, and the almost superhuman labour involved in their construction, it is strange that the classical writers at the commencement of the Christian era, who treat of these parts, should not have given us more certain information about this most conspicuous and, except Sheila, most westerly monument of the great Roman Empire. Ptolemy, from whose writings savants have extracted many geographical facts about ]\[arocco, tells us that Volubilis was on the Subur, four miles from Tocolosida, and on the road from thence to Tangier. Now, though there are some Roman remains three or four miles south of Kasr Fara'iin, which might do duty for Tocolosida, the Subur (Sebii) does not pass within fifteen or twenty miles of either place; so his testimony, generally so useful, fails us in this instance. Speaking under correction, I am of opinion that the large tombstone in memory of a citizen of the place ought to go far towards proving its position ; while the imposing aspect of the grand old ruins — nobler in their decay than the newest palace in this land of mud and concrete — comlnncd with the admii'ably chosen site, show that an important town 252 FAILURE TO ENTER MULAI EDRIS. must once have stood here ; the weight of evidence seems, therefore, in favour of its having been Volubilis. Whilst "meditating amidst decay," and wondering if it would be possible to get nearer to the sacred town of Mulai Edris — about two miles off — into which no Christian has ever penetrated, a benign -looking old gentleman rode up on his mule, and to him I explained in rather faltering Arabic my wishes. He seemed to make no objection, so I went on, accompanied by Haynes, and followed by our mounted soldier, who had expressed his unmistakable horror at our intentions. Looking round presently we saw our smiling old friend had disappeared, and only the soldier, muttering and sulky, remained. A little way on we came on two men who were loading their guns and took no notice of us: but when within about three-cjuarters of a mile from the gate we were met by five or six men, all armed, who barred the road and insisted on our turning back. From the soldier we got no assistance, and the excitement and clamour of the others prevented our getting in a word edgeways, which was of less importance, as it would certainly not have been understood. We therefore turned our backs on the holy city, after I had taken a good look at it through my glasses, and Haynes had made a hurried sketch. The town, which is on a slope, is small, but compact, containing, I should say, from 1500 to 2000 inhabitants. A massive-lookinor buildinof is on the south side, and the centre seems laid out in gardens ; to the north, and extending outside the wall, is an edifice with a large mosque attached, possibly CLAIMANT TO THRONE. 253 containing the tomb, which is said to be very beautiful, and ornamented with marble columns from Volululis. Above us, on our left hand, was an olive grove reaching to the city walls, and below us, to our right, were gardens and orange groves along the banks of the stream. On either side and at the back of the town rose the dark hills of the Zarhiin range, shutting out the country beyond. If I am not mistaken in my geography, there must be a short cut from here across the hills to the more hospitable and less bigoted town of Beni Aamer, which we visited a month ago. A curious story connected with the shrine of jMulai Edris was tokl me to-day. It seems that some years ago a claimant to the throne of Marocco, who gave himself out as a Saint and the Elected of God, caused a considerable stir in the north-west portion of the em- pire, several large tribes having become his adherents. Marching south he came to Ben Aouda — a place we camped at on our road to Fez — and, in an engagement with some troops the Sultan had sent against him, slew the father of the present kaid. Going on to Habassi, the father of our friend there temporised with him, giving him a horse and showing him other attentions. He was now at the head uf a considerable force, and came here to pay his vows at the shrine, as is cus- tomary, before being proclaimed as Sultan. He had hitherto got the best of the troops sent to oj^pose him, and having risked his person on every occasion, and never having received a scratch, his followers fully believed in his sanctitv. The two Sharlfs here in 254 WILD FLOWERS. charge of the tomb, when they heard who was coming, debated together, saying, — "If he is a holy man, as he declares, and the Elect of God, our knives while he is praying at the shrine will have no effect on him ; other- wise he is an impostor, and an enemy to our Lord and grand Sharif." Consequently, when he came to prostrate himself in their presence at the tomb, one of them, plunging his knife into him, literally disembowelled him ; so he died, and the Sultan, thus rid of a very troublesome foe, handsomely rewarded the holy man who had wrought him this deliverance. Cainj:^, Sidi Adah, F^idmj, lAth May 1880. Though there would have been no possibility of effecting an entry into Mulai Edris, we were all sorry to have had so short a time in the neighbourhood, for we resumed our march towards Eabat after the usual night's halt. The high and gently undulating plateau above Volubilis is about on a level with the town of Mequinez thirteen miles to the south-west, and for miles round was literally carpeted with wild flowers, whose varied colours, and the partiality with which each species confined itself to certain ground, gave to the landscape a brilliant and most unique appearance. Dark blue, yellow, and red were represented by iris, marigold, and poppy, all of the brightest hues, which covered the country in artificial-looking patches of about an acre in size ; while farther on, the delicate blue tint of whole hills and valleys clothed with convolvulus and borage made a pleasant object for the eye to rest upon. ARAB Dl'AR. 255 Riding a little distance li-om the track I came on an Arab dilar, which had just been shifted from its original position, about thirty yards off It was circular in form, with a strong prickly hedge built up round it, the chiefs tent being by itself in the centre of the ring. I have noticed that in neighbourhoods infested by robbers, as is the case here, they always adopt this plan for the sake of protection, while in peaceful districts the tents are dotted about anyhow. They had not quite com- pleted their move — an operation which takes place at certain periods to get rid of the parasites which at last become too active for even these thick-skinned Bedouin to endure. The tents arc always of an oval shape, in keeping to which pattern they are very conservative, for Shaw, writing in 1732, alludes to their oblong form, like a ship's bottom turned upside down. This simile, however, the talented writer has borrowed from an earlier author than himself.^ From the dilar I mentioned a man came running out, and showed me his arm, which had ap- parently sustained a compound fracture, the bone pro- truding beyond the skin, and which was roughly bound up in a sort of wicker splint. I explained by signs that I could do nothing, but told him, in what I flatter myself was comprehensible Arabic, that he would find a doctor in the Bashador's camp at Kariya el Abd-er-rahman Shliah, where we remained that night. He followed me some distance, but I am sorry to say never turned up in camp, and is probably cursing me now for not curing ^ " iEdifuiji Numidanim . . . incurvis lateril)ns tccta quasi luivium carina cssciit." Salluatii " Iklluui Juyurtb," pani. 21. 256 HOSPITALITY OF VILLAGERS. him, all Cliristians — so they think — being skilled in medicine and surgery. From the end of the high table- land, along which our road for the first ten miles took us, there was a magnificent view of our old friend the Plain of the Sebu, which lay stretched out before us in a northerly and westerly direction, and which we met, after descending the hill-side, at a point about three miles from the gorge by which we quitted it on our way to Fez a month ago. Here we were to have found our luncheon-tent, but the " boy Hamldo " in charge had been led astray ; and had it not been for Kaid Ali pro- viding us with rugs to sit on, Moorish tea, and some excellent mutton, which we were not ashamed to eat with our fingers, we should have fared badly. The olive grove we halted in was cool and shady, and a supply of oranges and milk brought by some villagers formed an excellent dessert, making us forget our loss, and take a less keen pleasure than we otherwise should have done in the kaid's assurance of vengeance to be wreaked on the soldier who led Hamido wrono-. A river, the Wad el Edem, flowed past this olive grove, and we followed its course the remainder of that, and part of the following day. At night there were very few guards round the camp, and a beggar, or saint, roamed among the tents all night, calling on the Deity by every attribute applied to Him, and they are many, in the Arabic language. I walked round the village before dinner. Its inhabitants seemed friendly, especially the gentler sex, a number of whom ran out in great excitement to look at us. One was exceed- DANCERUUS KOUTE. 257 ingly pretty, but more modest tlitui luu" elders — ;iiid ii<,diers. From Zarliun (Volul)ilis) to Rabilt there is ji sliort eiit throui^li the country inhabited l)y tlic Zemmi'ir tribe — a hiwless set, who are at present, as indeed they usually are, in a state of rebellion against the Sultan. By this route, which would have taken about three days, we had been anxious to come ; but the authorities at Fez, being afraid of what might happen, declined to sanction it. Consequently, our first march out of Volubilis was due north, and in the opposite direction to Rabat ; but after leaving Shliah, we turned west- ward, fording, in the course of a wearisome twenty- three-mile march, the Wad el Rdem and the Wad el lieht, either of which would, I should say, be impass- able in the rainy season. The plain through which we passed was wholly waste ; no crop of any sort but thistles, of which there was an abundant supply. At the borders of Sherarda and Beni Hassan we were met by a kaid of the latter province, his son, and six attendants, who rode with us to the banks of the Wad el Ik'ht, where his district ended. He was a dark, rather ill-looking man, of few words ; his son, a lively youth of sixteen, was well mounted, and had a handsome saddle and koumia,^ of which he seemed very proud. One of his men, with whom, through the interpreter, I got into conversation, asked how I liked Moorish saddles, and remarked on the stvemjth of my bit — an ordinary pelham. His horse's mouth was, as usual, lull ^f l>lood from the • Native dagger. S 258 BERBERS AND JEWS, severity of the one he was using, and with which I hope he will himself be ridden hereafter. We had luncheon under the biggest palm-tree I have yet seen, which sheltered us all. It was on the banks of the Wad el Beht, which we forded afterwards. The river there was swift and muddy, with high banks. The soldiers told us it '' disappears into a hole " some way farther on, and this turned out to be so far true, that the river never does reach the sea, but loses itself in a big swamp, through the outskirts of which we passed with difficulty later on. If it only persevered a little longer, it might discharge itself into the Sebii, which runs near the marsh in question. During the great drought of 1878 the Wad el Beht dried up altogether — a thing which had never happened before ; the cattle died, and the people, after much suffering, fled to the hills, where they were well received and kindly entreated by the Jebelis. In fact, these wild men of the mountains seem to possess some remnant of ancient chivalry, and though much given to robbery and murder, seldom if ever violate a safe-conduct given to any one who pene- trates into their fastnesses. I am told, too, that even the unfortunate Jews, weary of persecution by the Moors, find an asylum here, and this is confirmed by the state- ment of a French writer, who says that among the moun- tains are to be found " certaines tribus Juives intime- ment melees aux Berberes, dont elles portent le costume, partageant toutes leurs habitudes, guerrieres meme.' I think, however, his concluding clause must be accepted with caution, as, from what I have seen, the Israelites BENI HASSAN. L'ol> of Mcirocco arc not imbued witli tliat warlike spirit which once animated their ancestors. A few miles on this side of the Beht we were met by an escort of fifty Beni Hassan, and at our camp here (Si'di Adab) by seventy more. Their get-up is not so gaudy as that of their countrymen who escorted us through the eastern part of the province en route to Fez ; but their powder-play was as reckless, and their appear- ance wilder and more unkempt. As they closed in behind us, and the parties of seven or eight who trotted ahead came thundering back with loud yells, discharg- ing their guns almost into our faces, I could not help thinking I should fight shy of their society if I ever travelled back this way ** on private affairs " without the sheltering standard of Marocco, and the odour of sanc- tity which even here attaches to the person of an Envoy. Since getting once more into the plains, the beauty of the flora is less conspicuous, all the Beni Hassan country being covered with squills, whose onion -like root the people pound up w4th water, using the fibre for raakinf rusty caimon-balls — about nine to sixteen ])ounds — j)r()bal)ly relics of I'ortuguese and Spanish inva.sions in llie six- teenth and seventeenth centuries. At Sfd Muliammcd lirii (1 Klicir, where we (•;iin|M-(l 3'cst<'rd;i\-, wr g<»| iiilo 274 WHITED SEPULCHRES. the district of Habassi once more, and an escort under the shy youth, whose acquaintance we made en route to Fez, arrived to protect us. Our road now lies parallel to the sea, and about a mile and a half from it. Between us and the shore is a low range of hills, and on our right hand a large marsh, which occasionally develops into a succession of lakes, known by the general name of Ras ed Diira, and in winter forming one big sheet of water. This appears to have been laid down by Pliny as the original mouth of the Sebu, but the configuration of the land is in- compatible with such a hypothesis, and his arguments, though adopted by some geographers, are successfully refuted by Tissot.^ The Saint houses — or kubbe — are thickly dotted over this country ; occasionally they are built of red brick, but are usually the regulation " whited sepulchre." One of each pattern was near where we halted for luncheon to-day ; the white one had three domes in good repair, and is erected to the memory of one Sid Hamed ben Mansor. I always try to make out the names of these buildings, as they would be one's chief landmark and guide if revisiting the country, but oftener than not I hear diflferent names for the same place, and Tweedledee, who is ahvays willing to cater for information, cannot find out whether the red brick kiibba is " Sid Muhammed ben el Kheir" or "Sid Abd-er-Rahman ben Dris." The labours of a geographer here must certainly resemble those of Sisyphus. 1 "Mauretanie Tingitaue," 1877. AN ARAB BELLE. 275 "While strolling near the luncheon tent I found Lady and Miss Hay talking to a pretty little Arab girl about twelve years old. We brought her to the tent, but her dread of the soldiers was intense, and she clung to Miss Hay for protection, looking round every moment as if she would escape. Her awe of the Bashador was great, and she knelt down before him very reverently, but soon gained confidence, and was delighted with his w\atch, and still more with a whistle which he gave her. She was evidently the belle of the little camp where she lived, and was covered with pretty jewellery. I rather coveted a necklace and brooch she wore, which she said I might have if her mother would allow it. That lady appeared presently with some milk and other offerings, and Hadj Abdullah, a servant of Sir John's, having valued the article, I paid the mother for it, and it was handed to me by little Rahmah, who carried off a silk handkerchief of Miss Hay's, a knife of mine, and several other souvenirs of her visit. The weather is much improved, and to-night is still and warm. No habitation of any kind is within miles of us, except two or three Arab tents, near which the young kaid of Habassi has pitched his. The lake of the Ras ed Dura, calm and beautiful, lies stretched out before us, and from its shores comes the roaring of myriads of frogs, whose conversation becomes more boisterous as night advances. A Saint house on the borders of the lake bears the ponderous title of Ddr Sid Abd-el-Kader ben bit Kail), — at least so Mr. Niihum informs me ; Init I believe lu' invented the name to check further enquiry. 276 CHAMOMILE AND BORAGE. The lake is full of eels, "which the Moors catch in traps very like what are used in England for that purpose. They have canoes (ma'dia), or rather rafts, made of rushes, upon which they punt themselves about to diiferent parts of the lake ; the prow sticks straight out of the water like that of an ancient trireme, and helps to counteract the weight of the occupant, who uses his long pole standing on the stern. About a mile from this lake is a smaller one. El Zerga. They are said by some geo- graphers to communicate, but from the lie of the land I should say this was impossible, even during heavy floods. The smaller and more northerly of the two seems to have a narrow channel through into the sea ; at least this was my impression, but there was not time to ride round and make a close inspection. This channel, if existing, must interrupt the coast line, which would otherwise be the best route, though Eohlfs, who travelled that way in 1861, mentions no such obstacle. It is curious how partial the distribution of flowers and shrubs has again become in these plains ; for two days they were white with chamomile flowers, which, with wild oats ten feet high, entirely obliterated the path ; at other times, the whole country round is covered with borage, giving one the impression that the earth was reflecting the deep blue colour of the sky. If these two plants could be utilised, the prosperity of Marocco would be ensured ; but as the cattle will not eat chamomile, and the Koran forbids the use of claret cup or other mediums for the consumption of borage. His Majesty's treasury is no way enriched by either. EL ARAISU. 277 Camj), d AraLsh, Satunlay, 22d May 1880. Yesterda}' wc crossed a river, tlic Wild el Dnider, at a ford called Meshnia el Hdder, where there was also a bad marsh to be encountered, and close to our camp at Soueir, last night, another stream, the Wad el Soueu*. We have been travelling since we left Rabat as if the avenger of blood were behind, — no time to take notes, photographs, or collect one's ideas in any way, — and the stiite at which the unfortunate mules and ponies with sore backs have arrived is horrible. We have now come into the country of cork woods once more, and halted to-day for some hours in one near here, arriving outside this town at 4 p.m. AVe are camped on the side of a hill, from which, if the rain comes on again, we shall be inevitably washed into the Atlantic, over which we liav^e a glorious view. The shore below is strewn with huge boulders rounded off by the action of the waves, and looking like projectiles on a battlefield of giants. The market-place in the town is worth seeing, being surrounded by an arcade prettily supported on red sandstone pillars, the work, probably, of Christian, not of Moorish hands ; for, like most other Morescan ports, this one has had a chequered career, and served many masters in its time. It was for long a Spanish possession, and still savours more of an Anda- lusian than a ISIoorish town, but was recovered from tliem by the famous — and infamous — ]\[ulai Ismacl in IGSf). Ill 17().> tlie French fleet advanced too far up tin- 278 MATERNAL INTERCESSION. Wad el Kiis, on which the town is situated, when " they were surrounded by superior numbers, and fell victims to their own impetuosity." At the mouth of this river — the Lixus of the Romans — is said to have been the site of the island which contained the beautiful gardens of the Hesperides ; but there is no trace now of any such place, except a small sandbank visible at low tide, and the configuration of the coast must have greatly changed since those times. The Jews, of whom the place is full, are all in their Saturday's best, and, luxuriating in the twofold comfort of wearing shoes and riding mules, present a great contrast to their barefooted and black-robed compatriots in Fez and Mequinez. One or two Moors who have taken advantage of our escort to travel this way for the first time, are much astonished at this license, and young Hassan, the khalifa's new valet, has already assaulted two Israelitish boys, to the effusion of blood, for presuming to appear in coloured garments and slippers near our camp. Camp, Azila, 2ith May 1880. We were ferried across the Wad el Kiis at 9 a.m. yesterday, a large concourse of the people of El Araish assembling to witness the operation. While waiting on the bank, a woman burst through the crowd, and rushing up to Lady Hay, implored her intercession for her son, who was in prison. One of the soldiers seizing hold of her, said, " Are you mad to speak to the Senora V " Yes," replied the poor woman, still kneeling beside the litter. FORT AND RIVER. 279 " I am mad because my son is chained in the prison, and I cannot see him." His Excellency enquired into the ease, and the Italian Vice-Consul, who had himself been robbed by the youth in question, promised to ask the authorities to deal gently with him. There was a strong flood-tide running up as we and old Kaid Ali, who always prays without ceasing on these occasions — and probably not without reason — crossed in a bif; flat-bottomed boat, from the bow of which waved the red flag of ]\Iarocco. The kaid of the harbour — a fine -looking old fellow, dressed completely in red — superintended the crossing, and had provided rugs to sit on, and an awning, now become very necessary to keep the sun ofl*. From the north side we had a good view of the town and its strong fort, which is built on the ex- tremity of the rock at the river's mouth. In addition to this are several stone batteries and other defences, all of which, however, would be useless against an attack by ironclads, which, in good weather, could bring up out- side the bar and knock the place to pieces. From the fact, however, of the town standing high, and not being commanded by hills within range, a better defence might be made on the land side. We saw the last rem- nants of the fleet of Marocco, which was destroyed by the Austrians in 1829, in the form of some ribs of sunken ships sticking out from among the sand on the river bank, — a ghastly relic of a more prosperous and enter- ])rising period. The country immediately to the north of El Araish was so flat that the Wad el Kus almost forms a figure of 8 as it winds away to the east. Leaving 280 CAMP AT SEBT. it behind us, our path took us across a succession of low sandy hills, among which the heat of the sun was exces- sive, and made us look with longing eyes at the snow- capped mountains far away towards the Rif country. Some of the party went off in search of the site of the ancient Phoenician colony of Lixus ; but whether from the great heat overcoming them, or from some other cause, I have my doubts if they ever found the ruins lq question ; at all events, the addition they brought back to our store of archgeological information was infinitesimal. Before getting to Sebt, our road lay through a wood of small cork trees, half-way up the stems of which there was a thick undergrowth of yellow cistus. This lasted some miles, after which we descended through a dense grove of lentisk into the valley below ; it was difficult work making our way along, and some miles from camp we came on one of my mules which had tumbled down, with Norton waiting beside it for assistance to get it up. This was rendered by the standard-bearer and some soldiers ; but some of the other baggage did not arrive till seven o'clock, and the mona having been sent by mis- take to Sid el Yemd,ni, some miles off, there was no food for the horses, though fortunately, except bread, we had enough for ourselves. Our camp at Sebt was a really lovely spot — a small plain shut in by hills covered with lentisk and other shrubs, and the whole of the level ground, on which our tents had been pitched, thickly carpeted with a deep purple bugloss (EcJiium angusti- folium), the wonderful richness of the colouring being varied and intensified by the red glow of the sun, which AZILA. 281 was just setting bcliind the hills as wc arrived. Wo Ikivc got rather to dread that orl) in these latter days of our wanderings, not so much on account of our complexions, wliicli, indeed, are a thing of tlie past, l)ut from the fact that the intense heat after the rain has called into exist- ence all manner of insect life, and creeping things innu- merable. This morning when I awoke there was a \\u, DC. North of Fez. Capsella bursa pastoris, Moench. Dar ben Oder. Biscutella apula, L. North of Fez — Oued el Mikkes. Baphanus raphanistrum, L. 20 miles south of Tangier. Capparis spinosa, L. North of Fez. *Astrocarpus sesamoides, DC. Khanat (or Klian el) Haba-ssi. Reseda alba, L. var. ad R. propinquam vergens. Dar ben Oder. R. media, Lag. 1 30 miles south i»f Tangii-r. R. luteola, L. ? South of Azila. Cistus Monspeliensis, L. South of Azila. Heliantlumum Libanotis, Willd. 20 miles south of Tangier. H. guttatum. Mill. var. South of Azila. Note. — Species not hitherto pablishcil as Maroccan inarkc . „ ^ (. Azila. Smilax aspera, L. Azila. Phalaris paradoxa, L. Dar ben Oder. Airopsis rainuta, Desv. 10 miles south of Tangier. Poa aurea, LI 10 miles south of Tangier. Cynosurus aureus, 10 miles south of Tangier. Festuca myurus, L. var. sciuroides. Oued el Mikkes. F. myunis, L. var. 1 North of Fez. Bromus mollis, L. var. leiostachys ? Dar ben Oder. This list contains 108 species, besides 18 uncertain or indeter- minable. ' (S'>) J. Ball. 302 APPENDIX. APPENDIX B. TRANSLATION OF LETTER FROM KAID ALI TO LIEUT. HAYNES. To our well-beloved, the excellent Chief, the distinguished Officer of the Eoyal Engineers. After wishing you a complete salaam. There has reached us your letter, and with it a set of chess men, a present from you. May God bless you for it, and increase your welfare. But we are in want of a good board which will be worthy of those beautiful chess men. When you arrive at London, send it to us. May God bless you for it, and cause to continue your munificence. Given 16 June 1297. Ali Ben el Roshdi. May God be with you. APPENDIX C. DISEASES OF MAROCCO. Fevers, smallpox, eye diseases of every kind seem to be the chief complaints, always excepting syphilis, which has a deeper hold on the people of this country than, I should think, on those of almost any other ; but were the land sufficiently civilised for such action, a Contagious Diseases Act of some kind might still be the salvation of the people. The misguided opponents of such a measure at home could hardly in Christian charity refuse their countenance to it here, in face of the suffering and misery which absence of legislative restrictions has brought upon this country. The Moors have little or no shame in the matter, and ignore entirely the iniquity of propagating their species under such conditions. They, however, entirely exonerate themselves and their country from all responsibility or blame, declaring the disease was brought into Marocco by the Jews who were driven out of Spain by Ferdinand of Castile. Leo Africanus, however, after asserting that it was unknown in Africa before, explains that, on the return of these Jews, "coeperunt miseri quidam ac sceleratissimi CEthiopes cum illorum mulieribus habere commercium, ac sic tandem velut per APPENDIX. 303 manus pestis hrcc i)er totam se sparsit regionem ; ita ut vix sit fainilia, quse ab hoc malo romansit libera. Id autcm sibi firmis- sim6 atque indubitate porsuaserunt, ex Ilispaniil ad illos trans- migrasse, quamobrem et illi murl)o ab Hispania, mahim llispani- ciim (no nomine destitueretur) indiderunt."^ Considering that such was the case in his day — -tOO years ago — it is wonderful that, with nothing worthy the name of treatment to arrest its progress (the best remedy, according to Leo, is cluinge of air to Numidia or the Nigritarum regie I), the disease has not created more havoc even than it has. APPENDIX D. EXTRACTS FROM MEMORANDA ON ARMY REFORM. 4. . . . No official connected with army to enter into contracts for supplies, &c. 5. Draws up and recommends a system of schooling ami training boys and soldiers, enabling latter after three years to return to their trades, provided efficient substitutes from school of boys be forthcoming. 7. Office of Commander-in-Chief, while held by a civilian, to be considered separate from Kaid Maclean's. 8. Points out the disadvantage of employing French infantry officers at Rabat, recommending at all events Engli-sh words of command being adopted all througli infantry. APPENDIX E. SUB.STANCE OF REPORT ON SULTAN's 'a.SKAR OR REGULAR INFANTRY. 1. . . . The number of regiments inspected was fom-teen. The total number of men, I should say, was 2000, besides 200 boys unfit to bear arras, and about 300 officers and supernumeraries. 2. The rifles — .some of very ancient dates fitted with Hint and steel — are, in their present condition, all unserviceable, except the * " Johannis Leonis Africani Africa} dcscriptio, ix. lili. absoluta. Liigduni Batavorum, apud Elzevir. ' A° 1C32." 304 APPENDIX. Martini Henry, wliich seem in excellent order, but of whicli there were only sixty on parade. It is possible some of the American and other rifles of comparatively modern date might be put in repair by a competent armourer. 3. . . . The clothing was of no particular pattern, and of inferior quality ; the new clothing appears to be made of stuff which would stand very little wear and tear. 4. . . . Only the English belts are serviceable. 5. The Moorish leather ammunition pouch seems good, but re- quires polish to preserve it from the weather. The foreign pouches, other than English, are unserviceable. 6. The Moorish leather bag would make a good haversack. 7. It was noticed that many men had no shoes, belts, bayonets, or frogs and scabbards for bayonets, and that the axe — the only tool carried by pioneers — was unserviceable. RECOMMENDED. a. Regiments to be numbered consecutively, and the numbers to be worked on their uniforms and colours. h. Men to be forbidden to employ substitutes unless properly drilled and equipped. c. That an annual course of musketry be established as soon as rifles capable of being fired are issued ; it might be commenced with the sixty Martini-Henry rifles. d. That a skilled armourer be attached to each regiment, also three pioneers, provided with axe, spade, and other tools. e. Non-commissioned ofiicers to have some distinctive dress, and remain permanently with their regiments. /. No regiment to have more than one class of firearm, and colours not to be carried on the rifle. g. For muzzle -loading rifles the native powder-flask, bullet, and cap-bag to be used. The breech -loading ammunition pouches are useless for this. h. That out of the 2000 men inspected, two regiments be formed of, say, 700 each, with officers, non-commissioned officers, drummers, and pioneers complete. The remainder, unfit for service, to be dis- banded, and boys to be trained for soldiers. APrEXDTX. 305 i. That a blanket be issued to eacli soldier when on active service, and that pipeclay for belts and slings, and blacking for pouches, be taken into use. X.B. — The Turkish infantry are armed with the Peabody-Martini, and get their ammunition from America ; they carry a blanket on active service, and 120 rounds ammunition. They make their own boots out of raw hide, and carry on pack animals plenty of shovels, picks, and ammunition. Their cavalry are armed with Winchester repeating rifles. From what I observed .... I am still of opinion that the system lately advocated by me, and communicated through Your Excellency to His Majesty, might be successfully carried out. APPENDIX F. EXTRACTS FROM LETTER OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN DRUMMOND HAY TO THE AUTHOR. Fez, dth May 1880. , . . . I have been rec^uested by the Sultan to convey to you His Majesty's thanks for the able reports you have prepared at His Majesty's desire regarding the body of 'Askdr you inspected. The Sultan has given orders that the regulations you have presented should be adopted. . . . His Majesty requests me to say that he trusts you will preserve the sword of honour which has been presented to you as a mark of His Majesty's sense of the service you have rendered on this occasion, and of your visit to his Court APPENDIX G. SPECIMEN OF A " SHARfFLAN LETfER " FROM THE SULTAN TO GOVERNOR OF MAZAOAN, DECEMBER 1879. Praise to the one God ! Complaints have been addressed to the Sharifian Court, exalted of God, by the Jews of Mazagan, that thou dost ill-treat them, imprison, flog, and impose penalties on them in an unjust manner. X 306 APPENDIX. Governors who act thus do not follow the precepts of our religion. Dost thou not know that on the day of the resurrection the un- just will have to answer before God for the acts of injustice they may have committed 1 This is the word of God accepted by all creeds. The Prophet — may God make our prayers acceptable through him — said, "Whosoever acts unjustly towards the Jew will be called to account on the day of resurrection." The Jews are our tributary subjects. We, therefore, order thee to cease from further persecution of the Jews, and to act with leniency and kindness towards them. May God assist thee in doing so. APPENDIX H. INSCRIPTION ON STONE AT VOLUBILIS. MEABIO LI ILCI H ROGAT OAN XVI I UABIUS CRIST US .... PATER FiLIO PIISSIMO POS. Copied on the spot, 13th May 1880. First line rather doubtful; dotted letters doubtful. INDEX. Addison, 30. Ad Mercuri, 17. Ain el Kibrit, 250. Aiu Si Yusiif, 250. Aissowieh, the, 197. Alarcos, battle of, 41. Alcazar, 39, 267. Algeria, 233. Allarbi, 32, 42. Alonzo of Castile, 41. Amin, 210, 215, 218, 230. Aqute Dacica>, 250. Arab Scribe, 16, 121. 221, 285 Army of Marocco, 100, 182, 184, 20b 209, 229. App. D, E. Artillery, 9, 103, 120, 218, 229. •Askar, 69, 213, 214. App. L, F. Assistant, the, 142, 143.__ Atlantic, the, 13, 265, 2//. Autololes, 266. Awi'ira, 13. Azila, 16, 21, 41, 281. B Babu, the Bengali, 18. Bairam, feast of, 198. Ball, Mr. J., App. A. Bastinado, 35, 244. Be.lawa, 203. S.n'Aouda,'49, 187, 189, 253. Beni Aanier, 75, 99, 253, 290. Chessen, 260. Ha.ssan, 59, 66, 71, 257, 262, 2J-. Mtir, 93, 232, 290. Ben Shittim, 16, 281. Berl^r, or Brebber, 76, 85, 92, 258, 289, 290, 292. Bleetling, 15, 125. Boar-hunt, 18, 30. Boke of the Gouemoure, j». l^th^i.99.116.208,239.291,292. Books in Fez, 223. Boomgheis, 31,97, 130, 226,262. Braganza, Catherine of, 3. Brooke, Sir A., 20. Bustard, 263. C Chamberlain, 99, 110, 116. Caiarlesl., H.M., 266. !S.";'S218%56, 268,273,277, ' ChrisVian slaves, 170, 195,240, 241, 266. Cold, 35. 50, 238. Colville, Captain, 31. Commander-in-Chief, 142, 206, 218, 233. App. D. , r 1-- 001 Conference at Madrid, 4, 5, 1//, 4-^ 225, 283. D Dance at Italian Legation, 7. of Aissowieh, 200. of Hillmcn, 188, 230. Dancing before the Ark, 188. D4r Sid Abd-el-Kader ben bu Kail., 2/^. £:'l7?n%5, 255, 263. Duval, 227. E Edrisi, 41. Eel.s, 275. El Araish, 36, 45,2/7. El Bekri, 41, 270. El Hamaya, 35. El K.iniin, 172, 224. El Mii lJarehant, Mr. Laurence, 203. Oppiiluni Novum, 45. Otis tanla, 263. V Panther, 193. Pa.ssage of Wad el Kiis, 45, 279. of Wad el Sebii, 63, 273. Philolog)-, 290. Phonograph, 141. Photographs, 20, 60, 143, 289. Pirates, 4, 266. Plains, 36, 57, 71, 256. Pliny, 266. Poison, 53, 126, 129. Polybius, 226. Portuguese, 3, 17, 41, 44, 273, 281. Pory, Master John, 33. Powder-play, 21, 22, 68, 259. Prehistoric remains, 20, 21. Presents, 2, 121, 220. Prime Minister, 106, 127, 221. Prison, 31, 242. Prophet, the, 20, 32, 37, 56, 132, 143, 156, 186. App. G. Protection, evils of, 14, 59, 178, 282. methods of claiming, 36, 59, 215, 216. Ptolemy, 61, 251. Purchas's Pilgrims, 125. Q Queen, H.M. the, 62, 118, 120. Queen's, H.M. the, letter to the Sultan, 118. Q. Csecilius Domitianus, 248. R Rabat, 257, 265, 267. Rahniah, 275. Ramadan, feast of, 198. Ras ed Dura, 274, 275. Renegades, 21, 217, 267. Reception at Court, 114. Rif, the, 13, 280. River ; »>€ "Wad." Rohlfs, Dr. Gerhard, 21, 223, 227, 276, 289. S Sacrifice, 36, 59. Saints, 37, 164, 204, 218, 244, 269. Sala, 266. Sala Colonia, 268, 272. Sallust, 255. Scori)ion.s, 32. Scylax, 272. Sebt, 280. Second sight, 159. Selam ILajiit, 33, 130. Sharif, 18, 28. Sharifian, 144, 224. App. G. Shaw's " Travels in Barb.-ir)-," 102, 255. Sheila, 251, 208. Sherarda, 71, 80, 257. 310 INDEX. Si'd Abd-er-Rahman ben Dris, 274. Ahmed ben Ali, 19. Biibakr, 73, 84, 97, 132, 141, 144, 189, 195, 197, 214, 221, 227, 271. Dris ben Abd-el-Waliad, 163, 191, 232, 235, 239, 293. el Yemani, 19, 26, 280. Hamed ben Miisa, 132, 141, 158, 193. Hamed ben Mansor, 274. Muhammed Bargash, 225. Muliammedben el Klieir, 273, 274. Muhammed ben Moktsar, 127. Muhammed Gavass, 163, 191, 210, 232 239. Miisa,'54, 107, 159. Sidi Adab, 254. Sidna, 215, 221, 227. Skeerresh, 164. " Sketches in SjDain and Morocco," 20. Sla, 265. Slaves, 135, 151, 153, 161, 167. Slave-market, 132, 166. Snake-charmer, 174, 179. Sok, 14, 132, 166, 173. Kotama, 41. Soudan, 167, 208, 239. Soueir, 277. Standard-bearer, 9, 12, 19, 280. Stewart, Commodore, 170. Strabo, 291. Student-Sultan, 187, 206. Sultan Abd-el-Moumen, 272. Mulai Abd-er-Rahman, 145, 277. Mulai Hassan, 1, 49, 116, 141, 145, 160, 183, 192, 213, 229. App. F. Mulai Ismael, 170, 195, 239, 240, 277. Miilai Zidan, 266. Sidi Muhammed, 144, 145,184,186. Yacub el Mansor, 40, 41,^ 267, 268, 269. Summer palace, 194, 230. Surgery, 125, 137. T Talib, 285. Tangier, 3, 188, 287. Tapia, 135. Telephone, 2, 122. 133, 139, 192. Tents, 2, 83. Thunderstorm, 58. Tissot, Mons. C, 41, 45, 66, 75, 247, 248. Tocolosida, 251. Tortoise, 47. Tossing, 241. Tower of Hassan, 265, 269. Troglodytes, 73. Tweedledee, 39, 60, 132, 148, 166, 169, 208, 286. Tweedledum, 39, 121. Tyranny of foreigners, 25, 60, 79. Udaiah, 263, 273. Usury, 128. U Volubilis, 246-252. App. H. W Wad el Aisha, 19, 285. el Beht, 257, 258. el Biiraghrag, 265. el Drader, 277. el Fas, 95, 123. el Kharriib, 285. el Khiiman or Fara'iin, 247. el Kus, 44, 45, 278. el Machassau, 35, 41. el Mharhar, 11, 13. el Nedja, 232. el Rdem, 256, 257. el Sebii, 61, 62, 164, 251, 263, 273. el Soueir, 277. Waterloo, 62, 208. Wazan, 21, 287. White, Mr. Herbert, 50, 142, 187, 216, 247. Wild boar, 13, 30. Wild flowers, 18, 254, 259. Will, Surgeon Major, 2, 55, 84, 137, 141, 148, 226, 286. Windhus's "Journey to Mequinez," 41, 72, 170, 205, 240, 247, 249. Zarhiin, 172, 246, 249. Zeggota, 83. Zemmiir, 257, 261, 267, 290. Znia, 281. Zouche, Lord, 6, 16, 141, 164, 205, 226, 231, 237, 285. Printed by R. & R. Clark, EdinJnmjh. ERRATA. Page 36, Hue 19, for " eight " read " twelve." 37, .• 1. /'>'■ " ten " read " fifteen." 50, „ 12, /»• "Sebu" refffZ "Meda." 133, „ 20, /(>/• "Fngeiahs"rertrf "Freigiahs." ERRATA. Page 36, line 19, for " eight " read " twelve." ., 37, „ 1, for " ten " rtad " fifteen." „ 50, „ 12, for " Sebii " read " Meda." „ 133, „ 26, /y/- " Frigeiahs " rcfjrf " Freigi'alis. " BOOKS ON SPORT, TRAVEL, & NATURAL HISTORY. I. Captain St. John's Wild Shores of Japan and China. 8vo, 12s. " One of the most charming books of travel that has been published for some time." — Scotsman. II. Mr. Williamson's Gun and Camera on the Kooky Mountains. In fol., 42s. " A book that should be a favourite in every shooting-lodge from tlie Lews to Braemar. " — Saturday Review. III. Mr. Bishop's Canoe Voyage from Quebec to the Gulf OF Mexico. 8vo, 12s. 6d. " Most instructive and amusing. The maps of the eastern coasts are for their size the most perfect in detail which we have ever met with." — Land and Water. IV. Mr. Ober's Camps in the Caribbees. In 8vo, 12s. "Varied his experiences, hairbreadth his escapes, wonderful his gleanings iu the way of securing rare birds." — Literary World. V. 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