Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-07-16
A Slave Mart in Morocco.

Morocco Correspondence London Standard. Since my last letter 1 have had sn opportunity of seeing the slave-market
 here. By the MAhometan law no man IS permitted to have more than fUuI
 wives, but there is no limit but that oi the purse to the number of female slaves who may be added to his es-
 tablishment. The Sultan's ladies are numbered by hundreds, II they do not indeed reach the four figures. and in
 proportion to his position and wealth the well-to-do Moor m like manner mas large or small harem establishment
 The Sultan has the privilege Of con- ferring the honor of entering his harem upon whom be will, and any girls in the provinces who are more than ordinarily
 pretty are sent up to tue Court for his inspection or sent to him Rs a cOmplI- mentsry present. Men in high positions
 as the VIzier, are also often presented with ladies, and being frequently very wealthy, complete their establishment by private contract, paying, perhaps, zoo for glrl they may admire. The ordinary well-to-do Moor. of whom there are & large number of the merchant
 class, have to content themselves by buying in the open market, and con- sequently the slave market IS a highly patronized institution. The court in which this is usually held on three days Tn every week, opens out of the labyrinth Of small, narrow st. eets which forms the bazaar or general market of the city, 8 place in which the higher class of MooI
 would not on other occasions delgn to be seen. As the afternoon wears on, however, they may be seen Ambling down on their gayly csparisOned mules, with a slave walking behind them, to the entrance of the court, where they dis mount and recline in picturesque groups round the inclosure. About the same time arrive by twos and threes those who are to be sold, being placed by the salesmen in some small recesses or stallt opening on to ,he court. Oh the Occs. sIon of which mention has been made there were about fifty or sixty persons for sale, of both sexes and all ages, most of them black as jet, and from thelr features evidently natives of the Soudan, some of whom were to be soId only iD lots, with two or three children. These were the drudges for house and field work, the price of whom Is always mod crate. and strictly commensurate to the amount of work they are likely to be able to perform. But be- side these were two female figures who evidently excited no small amount Of interest in tue gray-besrded old Moors who formed no small proportion of the purchasers. One of them was & closely vailed Moorish gIrl, whose features were revealed only to inquirIng customers, but who from passing glance did not appear to be remarkable for her beauty; the other WAS a really pretty girl from the province O. Sus, whose rose-colored caftan and green silk head-dress con. trasted pleasantly with her olive con- pleIion and long, black ls.hes. They were all neatly and tidily dressed, bear. ing no sign of ill-treatment or scant nourishment, and were treated with all consideration by both salesmen and pur- chasers, though the examination made by the latter of the teeth, arms, etc. of those they bid for was very repulsive to those unsccustome,i to such sights.