Chapter I: Front Matter

LIFE IN MOROCCO

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

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

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

CONTENTS:--"The Madding Crowd"--Within the Gates--Where the Moors
Live--How the Moors Dress--Moorish Courtesy and Etiquette--What
the Moors Eat and Drink--Everyday Life--Slavery and
Servitude--Country Life--Trade--Arts and Manufactures--Matters
Medical.

Some Moorish Characteristics--The Mohammedan Year (Feasts
and Fasts)--Places of Worship--Alms, Hospitality, and
Pilgrimage--Education--Saints and Superstitions--Marriage--Funeral
Rites.

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

THE LAND OF THE MOORS: A Comprehensive Description. With a New Map and 83 Illustrations.

CONTENTS:--Physical Features--Natural Resources--Vegetable
Products--Animal Life.

Descriptions and Histories of Tangier, Tetuan, Laraiche,
Salli-Rabat, Dar el Baida, Mazagan, Saffi and Mogador; Azîla,
Fedála, Mehedia, Mansûrîya, Azammûr and Waladîya; Fez, Mequinez
and Marrákesh; Zarhôn, Wazzán and Shesháwan; El Kasar, Sifrû,
Tadla, Damnát, Táza, Dibdû and Oojda; Ceuta, Velez, Alhucemas,
Melilla and the Zaffarines; Sûs, the Draa, Tafilált, Fîgîg, and
Tûát.

Reminiscences of Travel--In the Guise of a Moor--To Marrákesh on a
Bicycle--In Search of Miltsin.

THE MOORISH EMPIRE: A Historical Epitome. With Maps, 118 Illustrations, and a unique Chronological, Geographical, and Genealogical Chart.

CONTENTS:--Mauretania--The Mohammedan Invasion--Foundation of
Empire--Consolidation of Empire--Extension of Empire--Contraction
of Empire--Stagnation of Empire--Personification of Empire--The
Reigning Shareefs--The Moorish Government--Present Administration.

Europeans in the Moorish Service--The Salli Rovers--Record of
the Christian Slaves--Christian Influences in Morocco--Foreign
Relations--Moorish Diplomatic Usages--Foreign Rights and
Privileges--Commercial Intercourse--The Fate of the Empire.

Works on Morocco reviewed (213 vols. in 11 languages)--The
Place of Morocco in Fiction--Journalism in Morocco--Works
Recommended--Classical Authorities on Morocco.

LONDON: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN, LTD.

* * * * *

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARABIC OF MOROCCO: VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR NOTES, ETC., IN ROMAN CHARACTERS. Specially prepared for Visitors and Beginners on a new and eminently practical system.

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

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

_IN ARABIC CHARACTERS_

MOROCCO-ARABIC DIALOGUES,

OR

DIÁLOGOS EN ARABE MAROQUÍ.

By C.W. BALDWIN.

* * * * *

LONDON: BERNARD QUARITCH, PICCADILLY.

TANGIER: BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY'S DEPÔT.

A MOORISH THOROUGHFARE.]

* * * * *

=LIFE IN MOROCCO=

AND GLIMPSES BEYOND

BY

BUDGETT MEAKIN

AUTHOR OF

"THE MOORS," "THE LAND OF THE MOORS," "THE MOORISH EMPIRE,"
"MODEL FACTORIES AND VILLAGES," ETC.

WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS
1905

PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.

=FOREWORD=

Which of us has yet forgotten that first day when we set foot in Barbary? Those first impressions, as the gorgeous East with all its countless sounds and colours, forms and odours, burst upon us; mingled pleasures and disgusts, all new, undreamed-of, or our wildest dreams enhanced! Those yelling, struggling crowds of boatmen, porters, donkey-boys; guides, thieves, and busy-bodies; clad in mingled finery and tatters; European, native, nondescript; a weird, incongruous medley--such as is always produced when East meets West--how they did astonish and amuse us! How we laughed (some trembling inwardly) and then, what letters we wrote home!

One-and-twenty years have passed since that experience entranced the present writer, and although he has repeated it as far as possible in practically every other oriental country, each fresh visit to Morocco brings back somewhat of the glamour of that maiden plunge, and somewhat of that youthful ardour, as the old associations are renewed. Nothing he has seen elsewhere excels Morocco in point of life and colour save Bokhára; and only in certain parts of India or in China is it rivalled. Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli have lost much of that charm under Turkish or western rule; Egypt still more markedly so, while Palestine is of a population altogether mixed and heterogeneous. The bazaars of Damascus, even, and Constantinople, have given way to plate-glass, and nothing remains in the nearer East to rival Morocco.

Notwithstanding the disturbed condition of much of the country, nothing has occurred to interfere with the pleasure certain to be afforded by a visit to Morocco at any time, and all who can do so are strongly recommended to include it in an early holiday. The best months are from September to May, though the heat on the coast is never too great for an enjoyable trip. The simplest way of accomplishing this is by one of Messrs. Forwood's regular steamers from London, calling at most of the Morocco ports and returning by the Canaries, the tour occupying about a month, though it may be broken and resumed at any point. Tangier may be reached direct from Liverpool by the Papayanni Line, or indirectly _viâ_ Gibraltar, subsequent movements being decided by weather and local sailings. British consular officials, missionaries, and merchants will be found at the various ports, who always welcome considerate strangers.

Comparatively few, even of the ever-increasing number of visitors who year after year bring this only remaining independent Barbary State within the scope of their pilgrimage, are aware of the interest with which it teems for the scientist, the explorer, the historian, and students of human nature in general. One needs to dive beneath the surface, to live on the spot in touch with the people, to fathom the real Morocco, and in this it is doubtful whether any foreigners not connected by ties of creed or marriage ever completely succeed. What can be done short of this the writer attempted to do, mingling with the people as one of themselves whenever this was possible. Inspired by the example of Lane in his description of the "Modern Egyptians," he essayed to do as much for the Moors, and during eighteen years he laboured to that end.

The present volume gathers together from many quarters sketches drawn under those circumstances, supplemented by a _resumé_ of recent events and the political outlook, together with three chapters--viii., xi., and xiv.--contributed by his wife, whose assistance throughout its preparation he has once more to acknowledge with pleasure. To many correspondents in Morocco he is also indebted for much valuable up-to-date information on current affairs, but as most for various reasons prefer to remain unmentioned, it would be invidious to name any. For most of the illustrations, too, he desires to express his hearty thanks to the gentlemen who have permitted him to reproduce their photographs.

Much of the material used has already appeared in more fugitive form in the _Times of Morocco_, the _London Quarterly Review_, the _Forum_, the _Westminster Review_, _Harper's Magazine_, the _Humanitarian_, the _Gentleman's Magazine_, the _Independent_ (New York), the _Modern Church_, the _Jewish Chronicle_, _Good Health_, the _Medical Missionary_, the _Pall Mall Gazette_, the _Westminster Gazette_, the _Outlook_, etc., while Chapters ix., xix., and xxv. to xxix. have been extracted from a still unpublished picture of Moorish country life, "Sons of Ishmael."

B.M.

HAMPSTEAD,
_November 1905._

CONTENTS