Africa

Practice of Physic - Astrology - Poetry - Entertainment given by the Author to the Moors - Their Astonishment at the Effects of Electricity.

Mequinez.

Excursion to Mamora, and thence to Salee - Friendly Reception by the Governor of the latter - Rabat - Tower of Hassen - Shella - Mansooria - Alcasser - Quiber - Its Socco, or Marketplace.

Larache, 1805.

I

Having begun my book with the statement that Morocco still lacks a guide-book, I should have wished to take a first step toward remedying that deficiency.

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LEAVING TANGIER

To step on board a steamer in a Spanish port, and three hours later to land in a country without a guide-book, is a sensation to rouse the hunger of the repletest sight-seer.

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VOLUBILIS

One day before sunrise we set out from Rabat for the ruins of Roman Volubilis.

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THE FIRST VISION

Many-walled Fez rose up before us out of the plain toward the end of the day.

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THE WAY THERE

There are countless Arab tales of evil Djinns who take the form of sandstorms and hot winds to overwhelm exhausted travellers.

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THE CROWD IN THE STREET

To occidental travellers the most vivid impression produced by a first contact with the Near East is the surprise of being in a country where the human element increases instead of diminishing the delight of the eye.

I

It is not too much to say that General Lyautey has twice saved Morocco from destruction: once in 1912, when the inertia and double-dealing of Abd-el-Hafid abandoned the country to the rebellious tribes who had attacked him in Fez, and the second time in August, 1914, when Germany declared war on France.

[NOTE - In the chapters on Moroccan history and art I have tried to set down a slight and superficial outline of a large and confused subject. In extenuation of this summary attempt I hasten to explain that its chief merit is its lack of originality.