The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1882-01-12
A Visit to Morocco.

Visitors to Morocco find the country
fresh. Theirs ssare the rain and the
sunshine, and the wayso of an old Wis
dom by our world forgot" Nowhere
can q man be more conscious 1of the
mere joy of living; nowhere besmore inn
pressed with the vanity and tedium OF
much that European civilization con-
siders indispensable, to the interests of
life. From the hour you set foot in the
country the present moment seems so
full of delight that there is but the
smallest desire to project life into antici-
patton. Time ceases to exist, or at least
to be OF any account. a It must be ad-
mitted. however, that the disposition Of
everybody in this lazy lotos eating land
to act ON this is at times little trouble.
some. You have srranged to make an
excursion to town in the Interior you
have fixed the day for startingN after
having found that it must not be Tues
day, for ..Tletsa feletsa'' Con the third
day all fails nor on Fri,iay, for that
is their Sabbath-you have been promis-
ed guides and mules by such time; but
do not expect them there, they, will not
come. You 60 to the man with whom
you have made { sarrangements;a he is
probably doing nothing and, he has.
probably nothing to- say in answer to
your complaint but s.Please. Allah, to-
morrow Yet if you manage to set
out on the third day, or before the week
has run out. you will have been treated
fairly well. They mean no neglect or
disrespect: it is only their ..Old- World''
way. Hence their proverb, 'sOnce' over
the threshold the Journeys haif sdone.n'
For travelling there are. of course. neith-'
or carriages nor roads: the roads so
called are only eollocations Of mule and
camel tracks. :. Fill within two or three
years ago there was not single wheeled
vehicle in Morocco; but now there, is
known to be two-the one is yellow
antediluvlan gig, which the Sultan has
figured some time ago in ? State pro
cesssion, to the establishment and de-
light Of the spectators; the other is a
wheelbarroW which q gentleman recent
ly took to Mogador. and Of which, the
stalwart Moor to whom it was ;consign-
ed so little surmised the use, that when
he had filled it with mortar. according
to instructions he promptly shouldered
it and strobe off,. Travelling on mule
back, however, in the large, well padded
saddles. of the country, = with stirrups
like slippers, is nc great hardship 10
either man or woman, and the wav, is
constantly bcguiled by some fresh illus.
tration. of Moorish life and manners; q
company of noisy country folk going to
or coming from market; atroop Of horse
men dashing past, with flowing white
jelabs; the ghostly-looking, silent caval-
cade of an Arab sheik of the pfains, and
his harenl, swathed from viewIan but,
perhaps, one lustrous eye. the astonish-
ed rustic girl. who hides her face but
not her legs: or the toilsome, alnaost
naked peasant dawdling along behind
his aboriginal plow. A goat and . adon-
key may often be seen seen. ,yaoksd together,
and woman has been seen in the place
of goat; but whatever the team, the
plowing is always the same-a mere
scoring of the soil. and yet it brings forth
in abundance.-PaH Nall Gazette. 81.