New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-05
MEDITERRANEAN LANDS.
BOOKS OF TRAVEL BY DIR. FIELD AND
r. II. DAVIS

THE BARBARY COAST. BY Henry NJ Fleld
With Illustrations. PIP tx. 2os' Charies "'''O-
ners Sons. -
These two books In a belong together. Inc
authors were fellow-travelers from Newborn "
Tanger. They together at Gibraltar anu 90
gether they did what few had done befo'e ''ei"
that is. made visit 10 the prisons III l@'N'''
There they separated, Mr. Davis to make the tour
Of the Mediterranean. DIR. Field to visit Algeria ana
runls The one has shown in his book how much
there is for an alert and active literary man 10
write that is about a journey which Is peoo'i-
Ing familiar. The other has descriDe1 cohu''io"S
which forebode "A bitter struggle OF races anu IT,
rgjons in Northern Africa The visit to the Moor
sh prisons furnishes Interesting episode Tor po'h
travellers and a suggestive illustration 10 ther
readers Of the point that no two persons take "rh
heal views IF the same things IL was WI
Davis to whom the idea first occurred lie a"aN-
ened Dr. Fields curiosity, and the two soon "p-
tained the assistance of Colonel Mathews me
United States ConsuGeneral All three visited the
Bashaw together. He the hnest-l"oking Moor
I had seen" writes Mr.. Davis and thhK inc
Moorish gentleman. though 1t seems strange 'hi's
to say II the most perfect type or gentleman DiA'
7 have seen In any country" This praise oil the
Moor Is all the more emphatic for the reason mat
before Mr. Davis succeeded in arrayng the Consul
General on his side he had made efforts OF MS own
TO inspect the prisons. He had heard lha' III '"e
prisons there madmon and halt- starved hhui-
derers and rebels. loaded with chains. dying OF
until they die. For this reason no one IN Morocco
Is sentenced for than ten or twelve years SO
you are told. because he is sure TO ole peloie ''a'
time has expired" But he found that the arsu-
ments and inducements which would nave peeh
efficacious in America useless In Tangier one
might anticipate that two days OF disappointment
would have turned kindness 10 bitterness But as
the tribute Just cited 10 the Moorish gentleman
shows Mr.. Davis bore no malice lie IS hihseii d
man over six feet in height. and 1t awakened MS
admira ton 10 find that the Bashaw lowered ABOVE
him. Then ne was evidently surprised to see now
easily the request which he had deemed hopeiess
was granted There was indeed much tax De-
tween the Bashaw and the Consul-Generai. some
times the dialogue became very ahinateu' pu' '''e
main reason the Moorish side lor hesl'a"on was
apparenty a fear lest some Mosiem iahaucs l."
nrt.on should tear the visitors TO pieces Even the
Consul General dreaded the possibility OF 'her
catching some horrible disease. Such performances
naturally allayed the expectation OF sensational uiS
coveres Mr. Davis found the place paved win uirl
and broken slabs and Uttered with straw III WAS III
utter darkness except at point uirectis 'e''e"''
an opening in the roof The fifty or sixty prisoners
were as much surprised at the intrusion as the
visitors were at being able TO get in. They could
move only their hands and knees, owing 10 tne''
letters They were uncleanly. and the atmosphere
of the prison was foul. but not worse than that OIL
the cell-room in some American police stations.
No provision is made for feeding prisoners ana
Nov ronst inevitably die of starvation If not cared
for nv friends who hand food to them through the
grated windows This fact appealed particularly 10
the sympathies OF DR.. Field with an eye upon
"Childe Harold" he observed the ominous hearheSS
of the prison to the Bashaw's palace lie saw no
torture such as he had observed in China ana ne
.houybt the compa Mon ship of many In one large
ECON, was better than solitary confinement IN
rel But IL an inhuman thihs 'ha' 'i'e '
cent were made suffer with the guilty 'here oe
ING no degrees Of punishment. An insolvent debtor
har
All the prisoners starved unless they had money o'
<r,onds .This" adds the Doctor. cannot be car
ried beyond "A certain point 1t takes strong ma"
70 stand it long. Many whom we saw were IL, INC
last stages How frequent are the dealhS we na'e
M means of knowing but could not doubt that
-. ,r Tho dead Of night naked bodies were taken
or, ~ that very window by which we crawed H.
and dragged down the hill TO be thrown into d och
Or into the sea" His first impulse was 10 sca''ei
sone money among the prisoners, but ne WAS as
sured that the stronger ones woulu SECURE an
On the following Sunday. however, he again ViS'teu
+ha nrison with bread enough to feed all the IN
mates one hundred and seventeen In numo'''
Leaving Tangier, Mr. Davis maze MS way a. 9oo'
90. nossible to Cairo. getting glimpse Oh SICILY
touching at Brndisi. stopping at Malta gazing al
r,r.,e and other far southern isles of Old Greece.
and landing from the Peninsular ana or,eh'al
steamer al Port Said. which he had understood was
the wickedest place on the planet But ne iou"u
that the only gambling house ana the only cohcei
hall closed at midnight, and was properly o'Ssu'.,
win the romances of travellers who had preceded
him He then makes and spoils an epgram' Ioil
coid - he remarks may have been a SINK OF IN
,ouitv when Mr. Kipng was last there. but wheh
visited II it a coalins station Inc next syn
+ence IT would hate TO be called coaihg s'ation'
# were Port Said. even by me- Is a neediesS sios
on q nhrase that was expressive enough as u STOOD
NIB, no cav in Egypt led him TO crcise the atti-
rude Of the English in that country on the grouhd
that they seemed to be making very eoou '"'is
FOR themselves out of the Nile Valley ana yet ue
roanded the compliments Of the world because 'hey
had acted the part of self-sacrhcing beneiac'ors
In both Tangier and Cairo he saw that much OF 'he
ia ,,rre nicturesaueness had been destroyed Dy
civilization On the contrary. Western influence
was good for the capital OF Greece Inc quiet anu
fresh cleanliness of modern Athens comes 10 you
rsr the roar and dirt of Cairo's narrow lanes and
suaty avenues like the touch OF damask 'aoic-ieh
"a s,,ver after the greasy oil-cloth of Medter-
ranesn coasting steamer" He found 1t dehgh'iui 10
wander about the Acropos without a guiue' put NJ
would rae all the factories in the fraeus' II ne
sad his way and the observatory on the Hlli OF lhe
Nymphs. 49,. ..ou
ca, ub,cb was the only vessel that touched at
various ports along the coats OF Baroary. lhS
.,eamer carried him to Nemours, theh 10 'rah'
Nemours made him vividly conscious OF the ulIe'-
ence between the Moorish rule and that OF inc
FRENCH. Nemours being frontier post and wholly
rrrench and Oran showing curious mixture OF
Orient and Occident. In so far as II was frehch' II
.as "a neat and orderly and brilliant as fariS.
while its Eastern elements were as mirKeo as II
untouched by European fashions. Leaving 'rah
g., rau the traveller found that all day was needed
"a reach Alclers. $50 miles away Thus he was al
,e,sure 10 observe the beginnings OF french settle
n,ents The coonists have carried to their ne"
home the minute and careful agriculture OF .heiF
native land Algers he found to be pfaeucai'S
-o.oa, civ vet with sudden, unexpected glmpses
Irto the Orient as for example in a picture Oh d
u,t,s school with dozen lads sitting on the moor
In two rows with the teacher at desK between
them From Algiers the train carried tne 'raVeiier
through the country OF the kaoy'es' "e la""as
.ssss Anime In the difficulty they gave 10 en-
xnse-s attests the interest taken by the frehch III
b"e~'D' Tho nly iron