The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-02

I
 the slightest degree. Should one oi
 them attempt to strangle you, in broad
 day, in the open street, the chances are
 that the by-standers, instead of rushing
 to your assistance, would turn in a helr
 the miscreant, if you showed fight" To
 resist the attack with blows, to the in- jury of the lunatics, would bring upon
 you the wrath of the populace and prob ably put an abrupt finis to your further
 explorations of any country but the
 undiscovered. t.Dt-
 One days experience are much like
 another in this Land of the Arabian
 Nights. Ours began early to-day, as
 we were awakened at the first glimmer
 of dawn by an unearthly racket outside. i Taught by previous experience that the
 ear-splitting din meant a band of mu-
 sic, we hastily clambered up on the | scanty furniture of our apartment, to
 bring our eyes to the level of the slit 1 in the front wall which answers for a
 windoW-just in time to get an unob-
 structed view of a Moorish wedding
 procession as 1t passed along the mar
 row street. First came the banda
 dozen men, clad in loose white garments tilett lNoClllplGll lll-lllllIS IllSIll SlllIlS, huge turbans on their heads and yellow slippers on their bare feet. No words
 can describe the discord of their incon- gruous instruments of par-torture; | the sharp notable clash of symbols, the Wailing of bag-pipes, the shrieking of
 trumpets, the rattle of oboes the rasp-
 ing of snakeskin- covered violins, ac-
 companied by the harsh, gutteral dron-
 ing of mems voices wishing the couple
 good luck, and the high-pitched loo-loo-
 loo, lee-lee-lee of the wpmen--the whole
 cobination making very deformity of
 sound The females of course, were
 closely covered as to their heads and
 faces; but with the strange inconsist- ency of Oriental women, their dresses
 of meal-sack-t tied in -the-middle con-
 tour left their legs bare to the knees, or whereabouts. A gaiy-caparisoned
 Arabian steed, led in the midst of the
 procession, carried upon his back
 neat, square box, painted scarlet. with azure trimmings. In it was the bride, securely packed, like an automatic doll
 invisible to the world, even on her wedding day, though surrounded by all her kith and kin. Suddenly, from around the corner swept another pro- cession-all mounted men, sitting their horses as is glued to them, careering like mad, helter-skelter, pell-mell, leaning far over from side to side, standing up in their stirrups, flourish ing their long old fashioned guns and firing them in fitful vollies, filling the neighborhood with smoke and the smell of powder. Thoughts of war of Bulgarian bandits and Barbary pirates and other incidents that frequently en- liven the part of the world flashed through our minds. But no, it is only the bridegroom and his friends, come out in the usual way to greet the bride. How the two reckless processions could | meet in that narrow street without l clashing and killing a few pedestrians | was a mystery but apparently there | were no casualties, and the united | band moved on together. They were | not going to Mosque, as might as might reasonably be supposed, for no | ceremony accompanies a mar riage in Morocco. Having bought | bride from her parents (probably some f little girl who ought still to be in the nursery, and whom he has never seem, | the husband -to-be malSes feast to which the friends and relatives of both are invited. On the appointed day, she is taken to his house, securely boxed like any other merchandise; and lie goes forth with his party to meet her pr remain at home to await her arrival, as suits his convenience. In reality, two feasts are spread; etiquette de-
 sl.. .nfA No structly secluded in an apartment by while the men remain in another. At certain point in the sub proceedings the time arrives for the groom to claim his bride, and le announces the fact by q mighty with the .1iilt of his dagger lpon the door of the womens apart nent Then a shrieking and scrambling ,nsues, as each unveiled female has ems to hide her face In the accustomed 'olds. for to be seen by men, even for , moment in a crowd, is disgrace in like that of the scarlet wo- nen. Having taken the door by as- ault, as it were. the men retire to the oom they came from. the yelled women rowd around like company of sheeted ,hosts and the poor little bride, still loosely wrapped like. package of goods, S placed on a chair in the center of the com. The eXpectant groom takes his eat beside her, her mother removes her 'eils and wrappings, one by one-until t last the pair behold each others face or the first time. He does not kiss her, S Yankee lover would, CT say word bout love; that would be very bad orm in Morocco. He merely stares at Ter. with the eye of connosseur in orse- flesh; and if satisfied with the in- pection, he mods approval and leads he way to his harnen, she dutifully blowing at his heels. If not pleased with her looks, he may refuse her then nd there, though to do so gives mortal ffense to her relatives and involves he two families in an undying feud. . When the presumably happy pair ave departed, to light the domes- ic torch on Hymen's altar, the uests go back to their feasting he women behind locked doors and the len in their separate apartment; and astivities are continued two or three avs, or as long as provisions hold out Teanwhile the poor little bride, who as escaped one prison only to enter mother, with probably less gentle ailors than her own father and moth- r, is getting acquainted with her new