The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-06-30

horses, with their spreading burdens,
pass by.
Camels have to be unloaded on the
"soko," or market-place, outside the
walls. Things too heavy to be car
ried by a single animal mast be trans
ported by men, and it is no unusual
sight to see great stones five and six
feet long slung On poles and borne by
a dozen or more half-naked Arabs.
In these narrow streets the little box
dixie shops, waist high, give the proper
oriental setting to the whole. In them
we see the owner reclining and sedate-
ly reading, seemingly Oblivious to the
stirring scene around him, until he is
"disturbed' by a purchaser for his
goods, all Of which are within arms
reach.
Fee Once a Paradise.
Inland Fee is, of course, different
from Tangier. The golden days Of
Fee began in the Ninth century and
continued till about the Thirteenth. 1t
waS then celebrated as a paradise.
Around the city were splendid gardens
OF rarest fruits. The soil, watered by
a thousand streams, was of eXtraOr-
binary fertility. Its numerous schools
and libraries and it's famous univer-
sity attracted students ever from Eu-
rope. The climate, its fruits and flow
ers, it's fountains and wells, its ver-
Jy,rn and hnn,ttu nattcnI fhn nity IN
enjoy a reputation unique in Islam. Its
glOrieS have departed, but it still
boasts of one of the most sacred
mosques of the Mohammedan world,
that Of Mulai Idress, "the Younger"
the founder of the kingdom.
The sights of Fee are It's teeming
streets, bazars and markets. Weeks
can be spent in this interesting city,
and yet new and strange scenes be
met with at almost any mSment.
Snake-charmers, medicine-men, story
t~ellers, with their gaping crowds, ar.
tisans and tradesmen Of every descrip.
ton. costumes frpm the four quartes<
Of Morocco and beyond interest the
traveller ut every turn. But all Is not
poetry in Fee. Revolving are the hor-
rible diseases to be cen on every
hand.
The residence portion Of the city Is
strikingly unattractive. One can scarce
ly believe that he is being taken to call
on one Of the wealthiest MOOrs Of the
city, when he stops in u narrow street,
L--&yx Q,-0 cN1A xx,sIN naIDra ~, ls-l~
prisOn-like windowless walls. These
walls are the houses themselves. A mas
sive, iron-studded door will be opened,
and in semi-darkness one will be con-
Quoted along a tOrtuOus, dingy pas.
sage, through several doors, TO suddenly
emerge into one of those inner courts
which are the masterpieces Of oriental
architecture, with Its mosaics, tiles,
fountains, colonnades or light Sara.
Genie arches supporting a second gal
lery above, all covered with a profu-
| sion Of colored and gilded arabesques
and p~endentives.
Almost rivaling these inner courts
in popularity, especially with the WON.
en-, the fiat roofs of the houses must
be mentioned. Here during certain
hours the men are e expected to
appear, for they are then sacred to
the women of the families, who resort
to them unveiled to enjoy the cooling
breezes from the Atlas mountains.
The city of Mekinez might be called
! the monument Of Mouley Ismael, the
great contemporary Of Louis XIV, who
even dared sue for the hand OF a
daughter Of the great French king
His mania for building is everywhere
in evidence. For miles along the road
leading to the quarries to the north
great blocks of stone a still be seen
lying, just as they fell from the hands
Of the slaves when they heard that
their tyrant sovereign was dead. But
a melancholy interest Is attached to
these great buildings. for 1t must bt
remembered that hundreds Of Chris
tian slaves toiled and died on these
! gloomy walls.