Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-03-09

/ patterns. Near IL there was famous
| Moorish college, and while walked
| through the mosque itself could hear
| the boys singing out their Koran as
| theS swayed back and forth. going over
| and over the Arabic sentences writ
ten OH their wooden states ! found
| many turbaned woTshIpers at prayers
| Inside. and the redvfaced Keeper grew
| quite angry whom asked If ] might
take their photographs
Csn my way back to town | stopped
mt an Arab cafe and drank coffee with
half dozen derlS-faced Berbers who
had just left the mosque They were
bearded and turbaned. They had taxi
EN- OFT their slippers ms they sat down
70 drink, and / observed that theit
bare feet We're clean and the toe nails
almost as we'll cared for as though q
manicure. or rather u pedicure, had
worked upon them. The men looked
strangely al me from under their tur-
bans and evidently thought me as
much a curiosity MS I considered them.
Nevertheless, they We're friendly and
we drank our coffee together. The cof
Tee vas brought in smoking II was
as black as ink. finely powdered and
very sweet. The price was one cent
CUP.
] next drove to the ruins of Man
soura, on The other side OF Tiemcen.
That city was built when Tlemcen was
great and when It had a population of
$4,000 souls, Tlemcen was then not
ed as "a city OF light and genius. Its
Kings were lovers of art, science and
literature. They had their own armies
OF disciplined soldiers, and they had q
police force, Judges and courts They
coined their own money, and had
schools and colleges. This was several
hundred years before America was dis
covered.
II was just about that same time
that Mansoursa sprang UP almost In a
night ON The plains. An Arab general.
Abou Yakoub, had besieged Tlemcen
and had encamped with his army
about three miles from the city. The
siege lasted seven years, and Mansoura
was constructed during the intervals
of lighting Nv Yakoub For many
years II was n rival OF Tlemcen Its
walls and forts inclosed space Of
something ike three hundred acres,
and 1t had magnificent mosque. with
a minaret or tower 125 feet high. This
tower was decorated with green por-
celain tiles, and II WAS wonder of
beautiful workmanship, The ruins of
il still stand. the most OF the tower be-
ing intact. but the mosque has long
since crunbled TO dust,
The great walls Of Mansoura are
SSH 10 be seen in some places as solid
as when first built, and In others hrok
el down and crumhled. The whole
space covered by the city is now rich
vineyard, the vines growing close up
to the walls and hugging the foot of
the great tower. a crowd of Berbers
We're picking the large white grapes
into baskets as I drove through the
ruins and tried 10 people them with
the great army and the gay throne of
s 90 years ago. 1t was impossible amid
such surroundings TO rebuild, even in
the immense edifices. the
ma eniiiceut palaces. the great houses
and the gardens traversed by stream
lets as described by the historians; but
the scenes recalled TO me some OF the
verses of Amar khayyam. the great
Persian poet, about the evanescence of |
all things earthly. Yakoub's soldiers |
finally conquered ITEM cen, but he HIM
self was assassinated Just before its |
surrender After that the city of Man |
soura began to decline, and It's great /
ness was soon swallowed by Tlemcen. \