69 
waving leaves of a palm tree, or the dark foliage of a fig tree. 
Underneath is the bay of lovely blue, only to be matched by the 
hue of the sky overhead, and surrounded by the yellow belt 
of shining sand that borders the shore. Gibraltar is plainly 
visible, even to the houses clustering about the base of the rock.” 
«The most interesting object in Tangier is the great Mosque, 
but unfortunately no Christian is allowed to enter it. Nothing 
can bring home more forcibly to the English visitor the startling 
anomaly of the existence of a barbarous despotism, within a few 
hours of English territory, than a visit to the oriental prison in 
Tangier. The authorities are not bound to supply food to the 
prisoners, who depend for existence on the charity of friends, 
the sympathy of European residents and casual visitors. 
Beneath the picturesque, lovely outward appearance of Tangier, 
there is a mass of cruelty and suffering indescribable. Everything 
remains in the same state of primitive barbarism as it was 
centuries ago. Life seems to have stood still, it has grown older 
but not wiser or better. As in all Mohammedan countries the 
status of women in Morocco is low and degraded, and with their 
women in a state of slavery, it is no wonder the Moors are not 
more advanced than they were centuries ago. The houses of the 
poor are small, windowless, and prison-like. In the residental 
part, the Moorish dwellings are designed for the seclusion of the 
women, and wherever there is a small window it is closely barred. 
Many of the finest private residences are approached by filthy, 
dark, serpentine passages. At the top of the main street is the 
Soko, or Market Place ; and on a market day, there is no scene 
more picturesque in the whole of Morocco.” 
«Morocco is a country of great natnral resources, but there are 
no roads, and few bridges, most of them in bad condition, so 
that during the wet season trade is almost suspended. When 
we consider that Tangier, with its population of thirty thousand, 
has no light in its streets after nightfall, and no sanitary system, 
no water supply, except three old wells, and no regular postal 
system with any inland town, it cannot be wondered that no 
progress is made. No accurate idea can be gained of the popu- 
lation of Morocco, which is variously estimated at from two to 
fifteen millions. The largest city is Fez, with a population of 
150,000. Morocco, like Turkey, suffers from the jealousy of 
European Powers. One nation is played off against the other. 
There are traits too, in the Moorish character, which prove 
a great barrier to progress—his self-love, self-satisfaction, and 
religious pride. A passage in the ‘ Koran’ reads: ‘God does not 
change the condition of a people till their minds are changed,’ 
which exactly applies to the Moors. Their supreme contempt 
