Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-05-30
Scenes in Morocco.

On every side, as you travel through
the country. you cannot help noticing
the fertility of the land. Delicious
fruits grow .lmost wild in great abund.
ance-oranges. pomegranates. apricots,
peaches. ounces, almonds, vines and
tg trees. Wide fiel Ia OF grain wave
before your eyes, as surely they would
not we're it not that The soil barely
needs to be turned over ; for, through
all the centuries since this coast was
first cultivated, not one particle of i'm
provement do the indolent people seem
to have made in their clumsy methods.
When native farmer finds he can no
longer sit in the sun and postpone his
blowing, il he is to have any crop ct
all, he catches q donkey and goat, or
COW and mule. or any other crea.
lures (inoluding his wife) that will
pull, and harnesses them to Q pillow
which would be fine curiosity for one
Of our agricultural fairs, since it is
simply some sticks of wood bound to-
gether 80 that the sharply pointed end
of the main or handle piece, is dragged
along q little under the sod. Yet we
must not forget that much nearer home
like lack Of progress is seen /; for in
parts OF Mexico an almost exactly SINH.
lar excuse for pillow has been used for
three hundred years, and may perhaps
be used for three hundred more.
When the caravan reaches town OF
considerable size, a stop is likely to be
made for some days. in order to allow
trading to be carried on. But business
is not permitted to worry the traders
much, and between the =, .tertainments
of the village people and the recrea.
tions OF the camp, the stranger will not
lack for amusement. 1t is to this race,
it is always to be remembered, that we
owe the Arabian Nights tales OF
these stories our translations contain
only selection, and as you sit and sip
your coffee, tea or lemonade in some
little cafe of whitewashed stone, you
hear the old plots and familiar names.
and many new romances of the same
kind, told by men who do nothing else.
The tales form the treasure of very
numerous class Of men and women
throughout the East, who find ivli-
hood in reciting them to crowds never
tired of listening. The public squares
of all the towns abound with such men,
whose recitations, full OF gestures and
suggestive looks, hold circle of silent
listeners spell-bound with the pleasing
pictures their imaginations conjure. 1t
is said that the physicians frequently
recommend the story-tellers to their
patients in order to soothe pain, to
calm agitation, or to produce sleep ;
and, accustomed to talk to sick folk,
they modulate their voices, soften their
tones, and gently cease as sleep steals
over the sufferer.
Quite the opposite Of this quiet and
dreamy amusement, which takes the
place of our theatres, are the shows Of
the snake charmers, who everywhere
collect pennies from admiring groups.
They sit ON the ground and handle the
serpents in every way, allowing them to
coil about their arms, necks and body,
and dart long, forked tongues almost
into their faces, while one of the group
hammers q tambourine as though his
life depended on it. I cannot conceive
how this se-called music has anything
to do with tho wonderful control exer-
ofsed over the snakes by the juggler ;
I should think they would grow cross,
rather than he charmed" by its inces-
SAINT discords. -Ernsst MgersOll, in 81.
Nicholas,