Evening star., 1932-02-21
Continued From Third Page.)


most striking is to avoid at all costs
what the German Kopps student would
call Fixing" You must not under any
circumstances fix" Mauretanian
blue Man" 1t is quite essential to
remember that to these most fanatical
of all Mussulmen, your glance Is
serious defilement Should they find
you looking at their faces, should you
seem to stare at them that Is quite
fatal. Immediately the muzzles Of their
rifles rise, focused menacingly upon the
offender-to teach manners, at least, to
the unclean one who has ventured to
poke his nose outside his prison.
At their feet you may look. Out OF
sheer contempt that Is allowed. Your
head bowed. therefore. you may stink
outside the ramparts of the fort, for a
downcast eye fixed upon the filthy blue
feet belonging to these lords OF the
desert, will not attract a bullet. But
even then it is onl, bastard Moor"
the dregs Of Mauretania, who ever
comes near the fort.
Unsafe for White Men.
In 1850 the first and last European
30 cross Mauretania died (from wounds
and exposure) at Mogador. 1t Is the
only territory Of any dimensions in the
world where it Is definitely impossible
for the white man to 60. No paleface
can walk in and walk out again, with
out paying a crushing ransom, becom-
ing slave, or being killed.
The cause Of all this, however, is not
the feebleness of European arms. 1t Is
a result merely Of the competitive Sus-
ceptibility of European nationalism.
The Rio de Orc would be cleared up in
six months or less by the French, with
out any trouble whatever. But the Rio
de Orc is Spanish If the French in
vaded Mauretania the nomadS they were
driving before them would pass ever the
imaginary frontier line of this Spanish
desert colony. international complica-
tions" would Immediately ensue.
Some years ago the Spanish gov
eminent was on the point Of ceding
the Rio de Orc to France. Then sud-
denly the French Aeropostal Service
was established From Toulouse to
Dakar this service Is bound to pass
over the Occidental Sahara. The
SpaniardS, Just on the point of part
ing with the Rio de Oro for a song,
lacked up their price, and stood out
for sum that seemed exorbitant to
the French negotiators. They broke
off the negotiations and there the
matter has remained ever since.
So vast territory, nearly the whole
Ol Illc oCllOSllldl odIldid w
south, from Tiznit to Podor-west to
east, from Cap Judy to the Sauora)
Is an impenetrable blank. 1t Is a no
mans land.
What Mauretania means for the
"man in the street" is simply coun-
try where any European entering is
Immediately caught, slaughtered or
ransomed It is a sensational frontier
for Morocco to have as its southern
extremity. The deserters from the
Foreign Legion always escape into
Mauretania There they are immedi-
ately caught, and the nomads-that is
recognized thing-get so francs for
a Legionary. 1t is not much, but is
worth having, so they bring him in.
Sometimes they do not have the time
to spare. and then it is said they kill
him. None of these people who are
not ransomed is ever seen again; some
may be held as slaVes-and these are
usually good, strong German peasants.
CAS- q rule the Arab or Berber values
the colored captive much higher than
the European as slave. In the mar
ket Cerventes would fetch far less than
Uncle Tom)
Escaped Legionary Sold As Slave.
There is a good story, told by the
airmen of the Rio de Orc, Of one
particular Legionary caught by the
Mauretanian nomads, and who subse-
ouently, as slave. had an unusual
destiny This fine fellow deserted and
hurried over into the Rio de Orc. I'M
mediately he was sighted and caught
by nomads. They went through his
pockets and there they found photo
graph Before the war this strapping
German had been a private in the
Prussian Guards. In the photograph
he wore magnificent helmet with an
eagle atop it, and since he was stand
ing we'll in the foreground, he dwarfed
all the other persons in the picture.
Clearly, he was the most important per-
son there Clearly, he was no ordinary
man. This was q most important
capture!
His captors had consultation. They
came to the conclusion that they had
captured no less person than the
Emperor of Germany. This having been
agreed. they secreted the photograph
in q safe place, gave the ex-Legionary
q severe beating, and put him down
a well for the night They pulled him
out the next day, gave him another
beating and put him down again, with
a piece Of bread and date or two.
This they repeated for two weeks.
Germany, they were afraid he might
escape. In consequence, they thought
1t best to break him In at once. Their
reasoning was that he would be SO re-
1ieved at being no longer fogged and
put down the well that he would, when
comparing it with what he had suf-
fered, be quite reconciled with his lot
They began travelling, and wherever
they went they showed other nomads
(such as they regarded as safe and not
likely to steal or take him by force)
their valuable booty. They exhibited
their captive and the photograph to-
gether. 1t was universally agreed that
he was indeed the German Emperor,
and they were very much envied for
the possession Of such an unusual Euro
pean. So they would still occasionally
put him down a dry well. when one
was handy. to be on the safe side. :,
At last, after some weeks, they parted
with him for a very substantial sum.
The nomads who bought him started
restlessly off, and again for some weeks
he tramped the steppes at the heels of
his wild masters. Then they reached
an oasis. and he was sold once more
this time for still more money. When
he changed hands, he was always sold
with his photograph. So he went on
changing hands, as more people got to
hear of him and fresh tempting offers
came in. His price scared and scared,
until at last tribe nearly bankrupted
itself buying him, and he became its
most valuable possession-a sort Of
Koh-i-Noor, worth all their camels and
horses rolled into one. Then they sent
him down, under heavy escort, to the
coast at Cap JUDY. to realize on him.
The idea was to enter into negotiations
for his sale to the German government
or to get in touch with a millionaire
collector likely to wish to acquire
German Emperor.
When they showed his photograph to
the Europeans, however. they were re-
ceived with shouts of laughter, and they
nearly shot one or two of them in their
Indignation. They could get no offers
and at last came down thousand or