Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-11-16
mo. ~
What a Merchant Saw of Europe.
TANGIER, Morocco.
March 16 1871.

e1tAeh 'no Reutie rap Vi soho
on our chamber door which aroused us
from heavy slumber at the peep OF dawn
this morning, but the inharmonious bray
ing of bevy of donkeys and the yelling
A7raAi of the dusky riders who sit on
the hind launches of the little beasts and
seem content SO long as locomotion is per-
ceptible, be it ever SO snail-like; but those
were not the only sounds which greeted
our ears, for singing birds poured sweet
melody upon the morning air. Not in
the distant woodland nor on some neigh
boring house-top. but flying to the court
of our own house, they have come direct
ly to our door looking for that worm al
ways due to the early bird. We rub our
eyes, stretch our limbs, realize where we
are, and make haste for breakfast OF
warm rolls and coffee. After this we Sc
cure guide who speaks English fairly.
Mahomet, they call him, and true dis
ciple he ia. Mules, with understandable
saw-buck saddles clumsily padded, stand
at the front door, and merry time we
have of it mounting for ride. We are
joined by Col. Matthews, mounted on q
black charger, with Mexican saddle and
trappings, his little boy Joe on choice
male, and the Colonel's interpreter, Scott
IA rare good fellow) Our cavalcade moves
down the twisted, sharp-cornered
streets and we must needs keep 9
vigilant eye upon maley's meander-
Jugs. for be is very prone to subject
our limbs to soraping on the house cor
uers. We struggle out the gate of the
walled city, and are now on the sandy
beach and off for what will be long re-
membered az the twenty-five mile ride
o that you could have seen US pranoinp
away. William had the choice mule
and by an occasional lively kick was en-
abled to keep the lead. Willie and I
with the utmost exertion bringing up the
rear. Oar feet nearly to the sands, coat
tails flying and legs dangling as disturbed
pendelums. Sticks in hand, right ARM
engaged in chastising the indifferent anf
almost unfeeling mules. | laughed until
my sides ached at the righteousness of the
| figures we cnt. Onward, fording stream
and finally batting at a Roman bridge
built by Constantine. the first Christian
Emperor Of Rome. The wonderful pres
ervation of these age crusted walls attest
the constructive power of the builders
The beautiful flowers peeping their fresh
petals from the green grass, remind us Of
the many. many times they have bloomed
and withered since world conquerinG
Rome was dominant here. playing the
drama of world copquering strife. Else
where they have left enduring traces up
on the manners aud habits of the van
quished races, but here none save stone
walls and grassy mounded grvps. Col
| Matthews suggests that as race the in.
road of time, with it's ch4ngefulnee.
seems to have effected as little with tbs
Moors as any class of the worlds people
The dress, the manners and customs Of
these strangely devout people are print.
tive and changeless ss when Mahomet
gave the Koran, placing himself on par.
ity with Jesus, and establishing a faith
which swept ss prairie wild-fire among
his people of Asia and northern Africa,
now estimated to number 100 $500
Zaa1ous adherents as compared with
6,0000 900 of Jews and 95,834000 profess
ing Protestant Christians. A pair of hall
naked Jewish fisherman are up to their
knees in sand on the beach, and az We
pass them I am reminded of that other
pair on the shore of Galilee, who were
told, Follow nae and I will make you
fishers of men," We are now come to 8
Roman fort, which, in extensiveness and
mqssiveness of ruin. is qnite in keeping
with the Seven Killed City. We climt
a spur of the Atlas Mountains and muley
cliugs with footing sure as a chamois
Now to the summit we overlook the Bay
of Tangier, the city and the blue tinted
waters of the gently heaving Mediterran
can. 10TH to turn our ,ck upon nature.
lsp of beauty below us, we prauce ovel
the plain aud approach Sharf Village
We get only the granting of an almost in
termiuable howl of wolff like dogs, and
the half childlike prhttle of the naked
little copper colored picaninnies. The
huts are thatched with reeds and straw
and have gabled roofs almost meeting the
ground. No windows, an unobstructed
doorway with not so much as curious
maiden to be seen anywhere. Many the
high parched stork we see, and generally
standing on one leg. This bird ia held
sacred by the Moors and one among
the surest calls for vengeance from on
high would be deliberate violence toward
the ungsinly stork. Men are at work
blowing by the aid of oxen on the hill
sides and in the valleys but they give u
not so much as a passing glance. You
should see their wooden shared primitive
plow. a few slabs fastened by wooden
pegs to forked pole, pointed at the end,
and the turf lifted here end there leaving
some trace of the ground traversed. On
we go passing black slaves and the worse
than slave women who are gathering huge
bundles of fagots, which they carry bent
almost double under the weight of the
burden. The Colonel assures US that
they gather these fagots and carry them
from ten to fifteen miles, to sell at price
equivalent to about eleven cents of Amer
lean currency. The tillers of the soil are
better requited for their labor, for such is
the nature of this loamy ground, they
have but to scrape it with the primitive
pillow l have described, to SOW the seed
and stide the hour of ripened abundant
crop of excellent wheat. The air ia nsw
laden with the richest perfumes of tropi-
cal vegetation, which they tell US is burnt
to a crisp by the fiery sun of August. We
pass orange gardens whose trees are bur
dened with the golden fruit, and unculti-
waited clusters of olives, aloes, citrons,