The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-10-24

covery, and 1 cured"
DR.. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets cure
constipation.
was a first-class Spanish funeral in the
town. One cannot even enter school
where the little Moorish boys sit rock
ing back and forth for hours, singing
the Koran in chorus; but as the whole
performance is visible from the door,
the privation is endurable. Religious
enthusiasm among these followers of
the Prophet is something wonderful.
1t is a passion Of devotion. fierce
faith, which Christianity cannot touch
nor atheism affect. Their earthly life
is so filled with sorrow and oppression
that all their hopes are fixed on Para
disc, the land of peace and gratifed de-
sire, which, in their view, the faithful
will surely inherit. Therefore they en-
dure the ills of to-day with utmost pa
tience-a submission to whatever Allah
may send for their temporal chastise-
ment, which has left pathetic marks
upon their countenanceS. Were not
their ignorance so dense, the govern
ment could not carry things with so
high hand. Exorbitant taxes eat up
the substance of the laborer and keep
the artisan forever at his toll Many a
wealthy Moor goes clad in rags to avoid
the assessor with his ruinous lists.
From all parts of Morocco, renegade
Moors flock to the port to escape the
Sultan's exactions for that worthy
considers Tangiers ''unclean," because
so many Christians are allowed in it,
and never visits the place, Most of the
runaway Moors call themselves Eng
fish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, or
even American citizens-though how
they got their naturalization papers is a
dim Oriental mystery. They are con-
stantly appealing to their respective
Shereetian majesty, who has playful
habit of throwing rich men into dun
geons and torturing. them until they de
clare that the wealth they had previous
ly claimed as their own belonged to the
Sultan. 1t is no wonder that the Moors
value foreign citizenship papers SO high
ly, for ruler with absolute power of
life and death is no joke, however you
may view him, except through a tele-
scope. But in this matter, as in every
other, the poor Jews have by far the
worst of it. They are compelled to
wear distinctive garment, long, blue
or black caftan, and to go barefooted
the year around. 1t is not strange that,
almost to a man, they claim to be citi-
zens of some other country, though they
have never set foot outside of Morocco.
You may visit the fortress, if your Con-
sui can get the necessary pass from the
powers that be- and see as many as
fifty wretched men confined in one
noisome room, where daylight never
penetrates- their only crime being re-
fusal, or inability, to meet the Sultan's
demands in the line of taxation.
The Moorish seclusion of women,
though less strict here than at Tetuan
or Fez makes Tangier's few places of
amusement look very queer to Ameri-
can eyes. A Moorish cafe, for example,
is frequented only by males and is as
solemn as church. The familiar rat
Ting of dishes is not heard, nor any
chattering notes.-the only sound to
break the stiffness being the droning of
a band playing on tombolas, guenberis
and other native instruments. The
guests pile their slippers in great heap
by the door chow each recognizes his
own is another Oriental mystery and
sit about, cross legged, gravely smoking
and drinking coffee, addressing never a
word to one another. Sometimes a pro-
fessional story-teller enlivens the occa-
sion with one of his interminable yarns,
always listened to with profound atten-
ton; or the band sings an ever popular
song, whose burden is the conquest of
Spain, past or future, by the all-power
full Moors.
One of our party, who had made an
Arab acquaintance on previous visit
to Tangier, CHANGED to meet his tur-
baned friend at the landing, and wish
ing to see something of native life, &C.
cured an invitation to spend the night
at his home. The Arab lived at the
farther end of the town, and darkness
came upon them while yet in the maze
of streets. The American describes his
experience in these words: ''Now and
then a ghostly figure fitted by. Here
and there was heard the whipping
sound of water from overlooking foun-
tains. Occasionally mufi'ed form,
asleep beneath an archway, was STUN
bled over. Not a.light was seen in the
whole distance; but for the stars in the