Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-04-09
surtouts of dark bIue-cloth, and en-

hammedan prejudice against the az
pearance of women in public. Ma
ny of them are quite-fne looking
and their black eyes have some ex
preston and intelligence.
Every one is prepared to find tn,
streets of a Moorish town dirty, bad
lv graded and paved, but the filtl
will be found beyond expectation
and description. The Mohamme
dams generally refuse to admit any
connection between dirt and dis
ease, and the fact that Tangier con
tinues populous is a strong point il
support of their views.
The houses make no external pre-
tentions to beauty, and, as the
windows are few and closed in iron
bars, and the doors of all Moorish
houses well gtarded, it is hard for q
foot passenger to pronounce any
definite opinion on the interior.
The houses are generally built
around court yards, which contain
fountains and gardens, in some of
the better houses. The entrance hall
is narrow and paved with mosaic or
tiles. The wealthy Jew merchants
occupy the most comfortable resi-
dences, and some are building new
houses. The mosques are rather
striking in appearance, with their
lofty minarets faced with tiles of
bright colors, arranged in neat pat
tern, and made light and graceful
by the open work in the upper sto-
ries. The stout door are wide open,
but the view of the interior is shut
off by wooden screen, and foreign
ers are pot allowed to enter. What
could be seen of the interior seemed
handsome, and there were many ell
egant pillars and a fine mosaic pave
ment. Just inside the, threshold is
a pool of water, in which the faith
full wash their feet on entering. 1t
was pleasant to see the satisfied air
with which the solemn Moors plac-
ed their slippers inside the thresh-
hold, stepped into them, and march
ed off, feeling that their religious
duties were done. and off their
minds.
The shops of the Jews are mostly
devoted to the sale of the cheapest
kinds of European goods. There
are one or two bazars for the sale of
Moorish curiosities, but these can be
bought in Gibraltar.
The narrow streets are lively
enough with certain kinds of traffic.
Water-carriers with jingling bells,
and unsavory looking goat skins
full of water are the most noisy
Fruits and vegetables are peddled
about the streets, and various bur-
dens carried on donkey's backs
crowd foot passengers to the wall.
Blacksmith and baker shops are
common, and the glimpses you catch
of the ovens in the latter do not in
crease your relish for the hard, sour
bread, produced here.
Near the gate leading to the mar
ket row of money-changers sit on
the pavement with half a bushel of
cash in each of the baskets before
them. AS it takes eight of these
copper coins to make a cent the
change for half dollar would al
most be load for donkey. Just
outside of the town-wall is an irreg-
ular open space where a market is
held. The noisy throng of Moors,
Jews, and negroes press around the
scraps of merchandise spread on the
ground and make their bargains with
a shrill eagerness which makes each
business transaction seem like a riot.
Grain, fruit, and vegetables are the
principal staples, though some stands
sell coarse Moorish pottery or cheap
European trinkets. Loaded dom
keys twist their way through crowds,
and the warning cries for their ri
ders and drivers increase the confu-
sion.
Avisit to Tangier would be incom-
plete without a ride on the tough
little Barb horses of the country
A stout and jovial Moore named No
hamet Samarti, is engaged to act as
our guide, and we ride up to the
hills back of the town. We get
splendid view of the town and bay,
and the long desolate stretch of
Moorish coast. Away to the north
we see the line of the Spanish coast,
and can even make out the figure of
the crouching lion formed by the
Rock of Gibraltar. Winding
through the pleasant gardens, bright
with flowers and orange groves full
of ripe fruit, and threading narrow
lawns lined with formidable hedges
of cactus and aloe, or with prickly
pear and Spanish bayonet, we reach
the wall again, and follow it down
to the beach.
The hard, smooth beach, with the
heavy sea rooling in and the fresh
sea-breeze blowing, made horses and
riders equally ready for a gallop.
Away they go; and the galIop turns
out to be a run which the horsea
insist on keeping up for a couple of
miles. The beach is scattered with
groups of country people returning
from market with loaded donkeys,
which they-leaYe-,to take care of
themselves.
Mohamet jogs away on the mule,
and is soon almost out of sight. We
founder through mud and quicksand
at the mouth of a little river, and
turn aside and run into a ruined
fort. Mohamet comes up and takes
US back among the hills to show us
the site of old Tangier. We see the
traces of a Roman dock yard, and
cross Roman bridge in perfect re-
pair, though the roads leading to it
are only lanes of mud now.
The soil, which some Moors are
with dust-plows made of
the branch of a tree, and drawn by
OK teams, seem fertile and easily
worked, though rather strong
Flocks of sheep, closely watched by
wild-looking shepherds, are grazing
on the hills. Riding over the hills
and back to the beach, the horses
take another run, and we scamper
IL A.. 4o,,,, ,,,oatinor most Of fbo