The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-19
A DAY IN NORTH AFRICA.
STRANGE ADVENIUR S OF PoNA-
VENTURE JONES IN NOROCCO.

entail Iife-A Talk with a D.stin
t,nguisaed Arabs Barbarism Pre-
ferabIe to Chr stianity?
From tie s. LOUIS Republic
You enter Africa on the hack Of an Arab
The little steamer crosses the fretful Straits
of Gibraltar, dividing the two continents, fl
three hours, and, as there are no piers al
Tangiers, the white-r0bei Arab takes YOU
on his shoulders and wades through the
water TO the beach, As he drops you on the
sand and grabs your real he cheerfully
observes: DOG of a Christian sccursed be
your father. May your grandfather roast.
But his mutterings could be benedictious in
stead Of curses for all you know 10 the con-
trary, uttered as they are in the corrupt
Ara ic tongue.
Bonaventure Jones, who had insisted on
rhy making a caravan journey from Tan
Slers TO Fez for the purpOss Of meeting his
old friend the cadi. Abd-e.-Ka5en intimate
and favorite of the sultan of Morocco
speaks a little Arabic and is sufficiently
familiar with the ways of the county to
yell like an Indian at the natives. and
oelabor them VITA his cane when they cross
his path, as he did most Justify on our way
IRON the beach 10 the inn.
BonaventuUe Jones is an American, a
New EnglGnder, with a hard GradgrInd
nature, barren Of reverence for the antique,
indifferent TO TIE oriental dignity, and with
an utter contempt for modern harbarism.
His friends, the cadi and Sidi-MCluk,
che Moorish historian, regard him
as original, and overlook his
famlllaritles; but they are fearful of
presenting him to the sultan, dreading
lest he fail IN the respect due the illustrious
Defender Of the Faith by desiring to
shake hands with the potentate, remarking
at the time, How are you, Sultaum with
1ocglar inquiry after 1.-THE girls Any un-
hallowed 6lluslon to the sacred harem by a
dog Of an unbeliever' would be met with
instant death, and the two Moorish notables
who had met Bonaventure Jones in Paris
are in constant trepidation lest he make
what he in his rough vernacular calls "a
break During his previous visit to Africa
he was, to these excellent Moors, a source of
constant menace and alarm.
TANGIERs.
While my companion was bustling about
ana in true American fashion insisting that
the entire ear. q be served to him during his
brief stay, l wandered out into the city,
city Of singular interest to the traveller. Its
strange white houses glistening in the mid
day sun looked like so many ghostly monu-
ments, ami the crowds Of Arabs wearing
bers through the narrow, dirty streets,
looked Ike so many Dominican friars
Outside of these splendid men all was filth
AMI squalOr. One could see little sign Of
Moslem civilization which has cast such
luster Of Moorish architecture, painting and
sculpture throughout Spain, for, with the
exception of the few dark mosques with
their graceful and glowing mInarets, the
oaly palaces Of TaugIers are those tinged
N m Ct rfr nd id
by the different Christian legations.
Ianglers Is picturesque truly, but it is the
plcturesqueless of rags. Such wretched-
ness, such degradation, such petty villainy,
such lect rBiu and decay, is beyond ordI-
nary ken. The town is STEPPED in overpow-
eriEg tanaticism. The habitations are dis
ma and dirty, as though made to hide in,
aud never intended for peaceful homes. The
childre-, unkempt and unclean, chant verses
from the Koran when the European ap-
breaches, and the women, turning away
their yelled faces, shake their fists aud cry
out, God cu-se the iniiel.n The canels
seem as NANCY as the street dogs; the half
clad negroes, turbulent and vicious, appear
only kept IN SUGGESTION by stern oppression.
There Is dignity and personal grandeur only
III the c9uQuering Arabs, and only in a
few If them. Wonderful cityl Wonder
full IN its ruin and degradation. Wonderful
In its Icing the home Of the tribes OF the
earth, IS here you look upon sultan and saw
age; upon faces white, black, yellow, and
bronze; upOl anchorites and bandits; upon
a sad, depressed, weary, hopeless people
No hooks, no printing presses, no noble
siatuary or speaking paintings. And yet
tEls IS ancient Iangiers. This is Morocco,
once the fountain head of Q monarchy rul-
Ing half the civilized earth; ajestic in It's
institutions and its learning, glori US in its
arts and sciences, invincible in it's armies
ana its fiests-the seat of the highest known
civilization. What a fall then is horel An
hour upon its degenerate streets is enough.
hasten back to the i'm Victoria
A MUssULMAN CHIEFTAIN.
Sidi-Aoluk, a MussulmRn Of broad views.
veneered by travel and conventional good
taste, less euperslltious than his fellows. but
sun stepped in barbaric prejudices, was at
the S0c-de-Ba to meet u.s. A tall, spen-
did specimen Of the physical man, whose
flowing, half transparent gown aud i'm
maculate turbaa brought out in clear relief
his bronze face, his black beard, his fine,
flashing eyes. He was attended by a quar-
tette OF black slaves and dozen Moorish
soldiers. He greeted Bonaventure Jones
cordially, but with dignity, as became one
who was "a virtual pasha. Jones, on the other
hand, with that calm irTeverence born in a
New Highlander, by the grace of God free
and independent" answered hriskiy:
Hello old man. l thought you would show
up Come in and take drink
The Moor bowed low, smiled rather sadly,
displayed his pearlY teeth, and waving his
hand toward his slaves and his soldiers, in
dictated that he preferred to await outside
tie pleasure OF his guest. The very idea of
that handsome, dignifed muatto, whose
Intelligent face denoted finesse and vivacity,
and at whose side waved the green folds of
the banner Of the prophet, standing before
bar IN his white robes and taking a
drink" was, to me, a moEstrous PROPOSE
ton. But TO Bonaventure Jones It would
have been entirely correct. However, as l
say, Jones Is an extreme utilitarian. with
out the poetic sense, having no idea of the
fitness OF things.
Il think, he said to the Moor little
later, as we journeyed out Of the city on
horses and mules, that Tangiers is the
vilest spot on earth. There is more vice
and vermiu in the town than in all Of Eu-
rope, the smells of burning aloes, of moist
garlic, of putrid meats, is sufficient to breed
pestilence. l think you would be forever
having yellow fever, cholera and such
dreadful things here"
The Moor smiled again as though listen
ing to a petulant child, and, turning,
watched a motley crowd follow ing an ar
rested Chinaman, who, with rope around
his neck, was being rushed to the barracks.
At this scene the eyes of the Sidi- Moluk
Frightened. and he said to Jones while
pointing TO the rabble: 1.-THE Nazarene is
unjust. Tangiers is not unhealthy. The