The L'Anse sentinel., 1907-09-28

force Of fanatical horsemen estimated
at $4,000 at his back. while In the
western provinces still slumber the
never radically suppressed rebellions
of the Rogui and Bou Hamars, the
benevolent Father OF the Asses" who,
with his claim to divine descent and
revelation and his wondrous gift Of
eloquence. exercises remarkable In
fiuence upon the mule drivers and all
the other nomadic folk Of the empire.
Nations Have Hard Task.
Such In outline is the situation by
which France and Spain find them
selves confronted because OF the recog-
milton Of their special interests In the
disturbed country, and the police man.
date which they received at the con-
ference Of the powers at Algeciras. In
the light of recent events 1t would
seem not at all unlikely that their
diplomatic victory at the conference
will entail upon France and Spain the
loss of many thousands of men and
many millions of francs, which neither
can afford to throw away. The talk
of an expedition to Fee, a flying col
umn of 10000 men, in which the boule-
ward sheets indulge, is the sheerest
nonsense, or the widest madness. It
would require 100000 men, all picked
troops, to capture Fee, and 1t would re-
quire many thousands more, and re-
quire them indefinitely, to hold the
holy city and maintain something ap-
preaching law and order in the sur
rounding country.
Portugal was for several hundred
years in possession of nearly all the
Moorish ports on the Atlantic coast
including Casablanca; indeed, the Sec
ond title of the ruler of Portugal to-
day is king of the Algarves." which
refers to the royal pretensions to
Moorish sovereignty, all substantial
basis to which has long since disap-
peared. together with the East Indian
dependencies
Fate Of Portuguese Army.
It was in 1878 that Dom Sebastian,
the chivalrous hero of Portuguese song
and story, equipped an army for the
purpose OF overrunning the whole
country. A duke of Leinster and many
other gentlemanly adventurers Joined
Dom Sebastian's standards and began
the journey to the capital, which so
many conquerors have undertaken but
in which no single one has succeeded,
at least not since the day when the
green banners Of the Prophet Of Islam
were first flung to the breezes from
the battlements of Fee.
Dom Sebastian and his army of 20,-
900 men, together with the uncounted
adventurers who had come together
from all over Christendom to follow
so gallant and so generous a prince,
met their fate in the valley by Alkesar,
which is watered by shallow river
generally identified by historians and
geographers as the Lixus of Pliny.
by the Moorish cavalry, and those who
died here by the sword were the for
tunate members of the army. Accord
ing to some accounts, Dom Sebastian
Fpnd the more notable Of his followers,
wounded or captives, were taken to
Mekinez, where, after they had graced
the triumph of the terrible sultan, Alb
del l-Melet, their conqueror, the greater
number of them were buried alive in
the city walls. In these same walls
are visible to-day many hundred brick
ed up cells in which on this occasion
and at other times Of fanatical fury,
Christians were immured while living
as punishment for refusing to recite
the fatiha and SO become renegades
to their creed.
The Battlefield Of Long Ago.
1t is a dreary scene, this long for
gotten battlefield, but one that the fu-
ture invaders of Morocco may remem-
Der with advantage. l came upon It
on one of my journeys in Morocco,
and made 1t an indelible impression.
1t had been a very hot day, and we
were at first delighted to be wet to the
skin as our horses waded, or rather
swan, the Lixus. Then the cold