Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-26

proper to ask his majesty as to the health
Of the multftudinous ladies Of his house,
hold. Nevertheless gossip gets out in zone
way or another, and l am able to give
you some pictures Of Mulafs harem. - Il
By the Mohammedan religion he has the
right to four wives, and no end of concur
bines. His palaces are large and the sultan
himself lives on the first floor, in suite
Of big rooms, at the four corners Of which
his wives have their apartments Each
wife has her own establishment, but all are
subject to the rule of certain slave women
called arifas. negro concubines who were
especially favored by Mulai Hassan, this
Sultan's father.
The sultans real wives must be chosen
from the different branches of the royal
family, so that the sultan is forced to AIRY
his cousins This Is not so bad as is the
case in Siam, where the king marries his
sisters.
The customs Of this country as regards
the monarch are much the same those
of se-eral principalities of the far east.
The King of Siam can call any woman in
the country to serve in his palace, no mat
ter If she be wife, mother or daughter; and
the Emperor of China selects his wives
from the daughters of the Manchu mobiles.
who are sent into the palace to be picked
over. l was present in Picking when the
present emperor married three wives, the
old empress dowager making the selection.
The Sultan of Morocco is frequently pre-
sented with secondary wives concubines
by his tribal chiefs. The girls are often
sent up LOT MS approval, ana especially at
Bairam, and he can select such for his
household establishment as may take his
fancy. In addition to this he has a large
number of coal black negresses who have
been purchased from time to time in the
local slave markets and also other women
imported from the orient.
Inside the Palace.
The sultan has many palaces. He has
quarters in nearly every town in his do
here in Tangier belongs to him. He has
three different capitals; one in southern
Morocco, one in central Morocco and an
other at Fez The latter is the largest, and
everything there is managed on a vast
scale. The palace is surrounded by walls.
1t Is In the Darrell Makhzen, where all the
government officials live. The buildings
contain no end of bed rooms and living
rooms. as well large kitchen and dairy.
They swarm with servants, both male and
female. The kitchens are managed by ne
gro cooks and among the other men serv-
ants are the "men of the BATH men Of
the tea" and "men of the water" There
are also "men Of the bed and men of the
mat" The bath men have to do with the
imperial chamber, the tea men make the
imperial tea using the best of the green
leaves and seeming them with mint The bed
men have charge of the sultans tent when
he camps, and the mat men bring his prayer
rug and spread 1t out for him when his
there are negro men slaves who take charge
of the sultans horses and mules; there are
others who walk behind him when he goes
out for an airing to flick off the flies, and
third get who carry the imperial parasol
to shu. out the rays of the SUM-
Waited Upon by Women.
In the harem itself, or rather in his own
private apartments. the sultan is attended
by women only. His servants are concu-
he
they are organized into classes, and each
slave has her special job. He has girls of
the wash BASIN. girls of the soap" and
girls of the towel" There Is one set of
females who help him at his bath and an.
other whose business 1t is to serve his
meals. His majesty now eats alone al
though, as long as his mother was alive
he took his meals with her. He eats with
his fingers. and doubt not in SO doing con-
siders himself more clearly than you or l.
The Mohammedans have saying that
every one knows whether he has washed his
fingers. but no one can tell who has ,zashed
the knives and forks.
Before eating the sultan laves his hands
in scented warm water, and he repeats
this custom at the close of his meal. His
food is so cooked that it can be easily
broken. and much of his meat is served
in small bits. HIS chief meal is at mid
day. He also takes something on rising,
and a light supper in the evening.
A Hard-worked Young Nan.
As far as I can learn the sultan has
soft snap. He works only in the morn
ing. and devotes the afternoon to his
foreign friends, to playing polo. billiards,
bicycling or in any other amusement
which may suit him, while his evenings
are spent with his numerous family. He
rises early. drinks q cup Of coffee and
then says his prayers. In doing the latter
he faces Mecca, and goes through all the
motions, according to the most rigid
Mohammedan rules. He has q mosque in
his palace grounds and goes to church
every Friday.
At the close of his morning devotions
his majesty goes from his palace to the
great buildings where he holds his court
and where the various ofacials have their
omces. Here he enters Q small room