The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-07-05
BEAUTIFUL MOORISH WOMEN.
LustrOus-Eyed and Shspely Are Thss
Clear-Skinned Maidens of the East.


In the cities. throughout Morocco,
says writer in the Boston TrdUelLer,
found it impossible to get more than q
passing view of a wOman's face, so
jealously are they veiled and guarded,
and especially among the higher class
es, where the women, possessing no
more intelligence than a child, are
taught that all men but their lords and
owners are fends. Occasionally, how
ever, by accident or design. the face
covering would be dropped for an in
slant just as a woman passed me, and
at the same time an arm and shoulder
would be presented to my gaze. The
women of Morocco are of all shades
and cOlOrs, and | must say that some
of the handsOmest women l ever saw,
both in feature and form, were full
blooded negresses. Another surprise
was to notice that many of the Moor
ish beauties would show a snowy,
rounded arm and clear pink and
white skin that the most beautiful wo-
man in Boston would have been glad
to possess, but where they got this skin
and complexion | could never find out,
for the men, perhaps from their con-
stant exposure to the sun, are tanned
and blackened to the color almost of
the negroes. In the country all is diff
ferent, and little attempt is made by
the women TO be stingy with their
charms, unless from some religious
motives, and to this freedom of the
country many poor, simple girl owes
her position as prime favorite in the
harem of some Moorish dignitary who
saw her perfeetions while travelling by
her fathers tent or hut.
The principal figure among the
washers was comely woman of per-
haps 20, with a bright intelligent face,
and form that could not be criticised,
and as she swung her 1.-THE body around
could not but fancy her in pink silk
tights and satin slippers. Jacob select
ed this young person to exercise his
Oriental imagination upon by telling
her tall yarns about my Importance.
and l soon found myself in for more
attention than man of retiring tastes
would know what to do with. 1t was
all right when she felt my boots to see
what they were made of, and by a de-
termined effort of the will l kept quiet
while she took my hat off and ran her
fingers through my hair; for while, of
course, L did not like it at all, at the
same time l was very much afraid
of lacerating the feelings of this tender
daughter of the desert, and submitted;
but when she found l had pockets and
commenced to go through them to see
what they contained, | felt the time had
come for me to tell her there was only
one woman in the world who had
right to go through my pockets for
keeps and so | tried to change the sub
iect Then she pulled one of my gloves
off and put my hand on her arm to
see which was the whitest, and l asked
Jacob if he did not think the mules
were loaded by this time, but he was
so busy sneeZing Arabic at little
brown-skinned maiden that he paid no
attention to me. Then my companion
ran over to Jacob and talked to him
with great animation, pointing the
meanwhile with many gesticula tions,
and Jacob interpreted that she had a
small sister of IA, whose marriage price
was a certain weight of silver equal to
$40, and if could afford so high pric-
ed wife could have her.
/ may here say that the marriage
price is always paid to the parents of
the bride at the wedding and the mon
ey is held in sacred trust for the bride,
as the laws of Morocco on the divorce
question are so free and generous that
all man has to do is to open his door
and put his wife out into the street, in
which case she goes back to her par
ents and lives in dizzy luxury on the
income of s. or $40. The horror and
Indignation with which l heard this
proposition will leave my poor, inno-
cent fellow-man to imagine. but / re-
Trained from reading her lecture on
the enormity of trying to inveigle an
innocent man into bigamy for fear she
would bring down her cousins and her
aunts and should find myself the pos
SCISSOR of a ready-made harem before /
had been a week in the interior; so Z
called Jacob and retreated in hurry,
first giving her three empty glass bot
ties, which seemed to be of tremendous
value in her eyes, and an empty tin can
to little girl who was playing with a
half dozen other little savages as naked
as when they came into the world. By
the way, their play was the one bit OF
nature which makes the whole world
kin, for as | watched them it did not
take long to see that they were making
long rows of mud pies and putting
them into little Moorish oven of their
own manufacture to bake, only instead
of the dear familiar nightmare creator
of New England, they took the shape
of Moorish bread and koos-kOOs, which
last to the Arab is what the holy bean
is to Boston.