The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-02

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 pany, his long pipe .and the antics o1 ! dancing girls, story tellers or jugglers 1 Owing to the narrow streets, the 1 height of the houses and the habit of stretching trellses, covered with vines 1 across from side to side, the sun never touches the ground in Fez, except in a few isolated spaces. The consequence i is that it's naturally skinned citi- zens, being rarely exposed to the full light of day, have complexions which remind you of partially decomposed po- tato sprouts in a dark cellar. For miles you walk under the dense shade of these arbors, all canopied with dust and cobwebs. The so-called streets run in straight lines, the entire length
 of the town, and are paved with round
 stones, the size of cocoanuts, worn per-
 fectly smooth by the trod of genera
 tions of slippered feet. As these lanes
 are never swept and every house.
 holder throws his slops and refuse out
 of doors, ane must pick his way with
 exceeding care. The Wad el Jubai
 into two parts, the new and the old.
 The latter, called by the Arabs Fas el-
 bali, lies on the right side of the
 stream; Fas el djedid, the newer por-
 tion, on the left By the way, as you
 value your life, drink no water while
 in this hily city! The "River of Pearls"
 is fordable in every part, the resort of
 every four-footed and two-legged beast
 in the place; it receives all the drain
 age of the city, and is the general
 source of the drinking water supply.
 The population of Fez is to-day prob
 ably not far from fifty thousand,
 though it is difficult to say with cer-
 tainty, as no census has ever been talk
 en. CentuJes ago it is said to have
 had more than half million citizens,
 hundred thousand houses and seven
 hundred mosques The shops are mere
 cells, elevated about four feet above
 the ground and so arranged that the
 merchant, sitting all day long with his
 legs curled under him, can reach any
 thing in his stock without getting up.
 As may be imagined, he does not carry
 a heavy line of goods; fine carpents,
 silken fabrics, woolen cloth, girdles,
 sashes slippers Moorish leather work,
 swords and daggers wrought gold and
 jeweled ornaments are sold All are made by skilled workmen in cellars be-
 meath the tiny shops, and brought up on demand. There are great many of these shops, besides multitude of bazaars and at least two hundred car avanserai or Arab hotels, wherein accommodation for man and beast" Is decidedly in favor of the latter.
 There are still upwards of two hun
 Ir4I Sx,T Tyo- painted minaret; and when the way to Mecca happens to be obstructed the western Arabs find that a pilgrimage to this Holy City" answers just as well. Every morning at daybreak you are awakened from your beauty sleep by the muzzin cry. Pitched in clear, high key the muslin confession of faith resounds like a silver bell. La ilaha il Allah; wa Moflammed er-ra- sool Allah" It is the call to prayer Echoed from minaret to minaret, every Moor in the city hears it and instantly spreads his felt cloth on the ground for the performance of his prisons. Standing Meccawards and lowing to the earth, he goes through the Set forms of his religion, no doubt as de- vote in spirit as any Christian who ever called upon the God of his imagi- nation. It is said that Mohammedan soldiers die with smile upon their they are going straight to the paradise of their dreams, where | are hourii galore and an eternity of | cheroots, coffee and sweet meats The | largest mosque now standing in Fez Is i Ell Caroobsen-an immense affair con- l taining three hundred onyx pillars, a dozen gates, two splendid fountains in It's marble paved court, and a glass Jus spoil of some Christian church. It has also something unique in mosques, viz. ] covered place where women may in the public prayers-a privilege not accorded to the sex in any other Mohammedan place of worship. But this vast sanctuary is comparative y deserted the favorite being the [ mailer mosque built by Sultan Muley 1dris, the founder of Fez, now vene- ated as saint, whose remains were buried within it. The latter has the lnest and loftiest minaret in all the and is held so sacred that any riminal may find complete protection within it. No matter how atroclous
 lis crimes, if he can once set foot with n the portals of this mosque he is safe rom punishment, being under Allah's are, and not even the Sultan may
 rag him out. It is not so easy, how ver to gain the refuge, because the Holy House" is barred by chains tretched across the streets leading 0 1t and guarded by soldiers, to keep way Jews and "dogs of unbelievers" enerally. The door of the mosque is rched in colored plaster, and the door
 self is very elegant, in pink and gold arving, the design including the Mos am creed. Entering you come first lto a carpeted ante- chamber, with 'hite- washed walls surrounded on all ides by mattresses, like an ordinary Ioorish sitting Beyond this Is mother similar apartment; and then he tomb, in the third room. In the liddle of it stands the venerated sep lchre, shaped like great chest, about 1ur feet high, canopied with richest old embroidered cloth. Around the ,wer edge are eighteen golden cen nrOI,,1G O a fOI1rtapn 5