Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-05

uucu VIII DOitS, ucdu 0QtHaiS, anu neap6 OF
putrid matter-the whole stepped in q dim and
melancholy twilight. In some places the
ground is so broken, the dust so thick, the smell
SO horrible, the flies so numerous, that YOU have
to step to take breath. Here and there you NAV
hear the noise of q MILL q murmur of water
the click Of a weavers loom. a chanting of nasal
voices, which you are told come from school
OF children; but you see nothing and no one
anywhere.
By and by, however. you approach the center
of the city; people become numerous; the men
stop to let you pass. and stare astonished; the
women turn back or hide themselves; the
children scream and run; the large boys gr0wl
and shake their,fsts at q distance mindful Of
the soldiers and their sticks. Now you come to
one of the principal streets about six feet wide,
and full of people who crowd about you. The
soldiers shout and push and strike in vain. and
at last make q sort of bulwark of their bodies
by forming circle around you and ciasping
hands. face outward There are q thousand
eyes upon you; you can scarcely breathe In the
press and heat. and plOd slowly on, stopping
every moment to give passage to a Moor on
horseback. or a yelled lady on a camel, or an
ass with load of bleeding Sleeps heads. To
the right and left are thronged bazaars; inn
court-yards heaped with merchandise; doors OF
mosques through which you catch glimnses
OF arcades in perspective and figures pros
trate in prayer. All along the streets leading
mosqueward there is for the most part moth
ing 10 be seen but silent forms in white hoods,
moving like specters. Now and then in the
heart Of the city you come on fountains richly
ornamented with mosaics. arabesque doors,
arched courts, the few faded vestiges of a once
Sumptuous architecture. The air is impreg-
mated with an acute and mingled Od0r of alOes,
spices and incense. You seem to be walking
i'm an immense drug shop. Presently YOU go into
the bazaar, and find that the shops ras in Tan
giers, are mere dens opened in the WALL you
cross, jostled by the crowd. the cloth bazaar,
that OF slippers, that of earthenware. that of
meta, ornaments, which altogether form a Lady,
rinth Of alleys rooted with canes and branches
of trees. Passing through vegetable market
thronged with women, who lift their arms and
scream curses at you the traveller comes out
again into the center of the city,. There he has
the same experience as before, and finally gets
out at a gate, and takes turn outside the
walls.
From the neighboring heights the eye takes
in the whole city-a myriad of white fiat-roofed
houses, among which rise tall minarets orna-
mented with nlOSacs gigantic palm trees, tufts
OF Verdure, green doines, and castellated towers.
Near the gates and along the hills for a great
distance the country Is covered with monuments
and ruins, tombs, and houses of saints. arches
OF aqueducts, sepulchres. and foundations that
seem like the vestiges of huge suburbs levelled
by cannon and devoured by flames. Between
the wall and the highest of the two hills that
hank the city the intervening space is all one
garden dense and intricate grove of mulberry
trees, olives. palms, fruit trees, and tall pop
lars. clothed with ivy and grape vines; little
streams run through it, fountains gush and
sparkle, and canals intersect it between high
green banks. These banks are crowned with
aioes twice the height of q man. Along the
walls are great assures and deep bitches filed
with vegetation, rude remains of bastiOns and
broken towers grand and severe disorder Of
ruin and greenery
Terrace life, or more properly speaking house
top life, is striking feature of Fee, as it il
indeed al or trOn ioa1 cif Horo
as in other cities in Morocco, they belong pecu-
liarly to the women, and are considered almost
as appendages Of the harem. Mr.. De Amicis
the Italian traveller, went one day up to the roof
OF the palace in which he was temporarily DOM
lciied. and from which men are ordinarily
excluded. He found it very spacious and COM
piefeiy surrounded by parapet higher than q
man, having few lOopholes for windows. Peer
ing through these luopholes, you seemed to see
into another world. On the terraces far and
judged by their Dress were in easy circum-
stances-ladies, indeed, 50 far as the title Is at
all appropriate in Morocco. A few were seated
upon the parapets, some walking about, some
jumping with the agility Of squirrels from one
terrace to the other, hiding, reappearing and
throwing water in each others faces. laugh
ing merrily. There were old women and young,
little girls of eight or ten. all dressed in gar
ments OF the strangest cut and of the most bril-
liant colors. Most ofthem had their hair falling
over Their shoulders, a req or green SILK hand
kerchief tied round the head in a band, a sort of
caftan Of different hues. with wide sleeves
bound round the waist with a blue or crimson
sash, velvet jacket. open at the breast, wide
trousers, yellow slippers, and large silver rings
above the ankle. The slaves and children had
nothing on but chemise: only one of these
ladies was near enough for Mr.. De Amics to see
her features. She was woman Of about thirty,
dressed in gala attire, and standing on a terrace
but cats jump below his own. She was looking
down into garden. leaning her head upon her
hand. "We looked at her, " he says with glass.
Heavens, what picture! Eyes darkened with
anthony. cheeks painted red throat painted
white, nails stained with henna, but handsome
despite her thirty years. with full face and
almond-shaped eyes languid. and yelled by long
black lashes; the nose a little turned up; q
small round mouth. as the Moorish poet says,
like ring; aud q sylph-like figure, whose soft
and curving lines were revealed by the diapha-
nous texture Of her dress" She seemed sad.
Perhaps some fourth bride of fourteen had lately
entered the harem and stolen her husbands
caresses. From time to time, we are told she
glanced at her hand. her arm, tress of hair
that fell over her bosom, and sighed. The sound
of our travellers Voice speaking to a companion
suddenly reused her; she looked up, saw they
were observing her, jumped over the parapet
of the terrace with the agility of an acrobat and
vanished.