500 



MOROCCO. 



by the Sultan's dismissing the English envoy 

 without ceremony. The Comte d'Aubigny visited 

 Fez on a like mission from the French Govern- 

 ment a few months later, and succeeded in nego- 

 tiating a commercial convention, but he obtained 

 no important concession either in the way of 

 commercial privileges or the rectification of the 

 Algerian frontier. The French have been build- 

 ing a railroad in the Figuig district, and have 

 planned to extend it to Tuat, which they expect 

 to possess, claiming that it is not a part of 

 Morocco. Failing to obtain an adjustment of 

 the boundary, they surveyed it alone and set up 

 boundary stones. They also built a line of forts 

 to enable them to hold the country against the 

 Kabyles, who now claim to be subjects of Mo- 

 rocco although prior to the French occupation 

 they denied such allegiance. In 1893 Sir West 

 Ridgeway was sent as a special envoy of the 

 British Government to repair the blunder of Sir 

 Charles Euan-Smith, and renew the good rela- 

 tions established by Sir John Drummond Hay. 

 Before proceeding to Morocco he visited Paris 

 and Madrid in the hope of securing an accord 

 between the three powers chiefly interested in 

 Morocco in respect to the demands that should 

 be presented to the Sultan concerning greater 

 facilities for commerce and investment, better 

 security for foreigners and foreign enterprises, 

 and more latitude to establish consular agencies. 

 The British mission was also instructed to urge 

 the repression of the slave markets that are 

 openly held in the interior. Another subject of 

 complaint was the persecution of the Moorish 

 Jews, of whom there are 250,000, and who, when 

 they have money or valuables to be extorted, are 

 often cruelly maltreated by the officials. The 

 Spanish Government, claiming a reversionary 

 right to political supremacy in Morocco, preferred 

 to maintain perfect liberty'of action. The French 

 Government would not commit itself to any new 

 proposals, being inclined to sympathize with 

 Spain's pretensions. When Sir West Ridgeway 

 arrived at Tangier on a British man-of-war, the 

 Spanish and French governments sent war ves- 

 sels to the coast of Morocco as a protest against 

 any exclusive action on the part of England. 

 The special envoy found no way to reopen nego- 

 tiations or to restore British prestige. 



Siege of Melilla. Ceuta and Melilla, Span- 

 ish posts on the north coast of Morocco, have 

 often been the object of hostile demonstrations 

 on the part of the neighboring Moorish popula- 

 tion. Melilla, situated at the foot of the Riff 

 mountains, is a fortified station used as a con- 

 vict settlement for military delinquents. The 

 Riffian Kabyles are an unruly and fanatical tribe 

 over whom the Sultan can exercise no effectual 

 control. They are addicted to piracy, and have 

 often fired on the Spanish sentinels. The Span- 

 ish claim all the territory up to the base of the 

 mountains, about 6 miles inland, and in the sum- 

 mer of 1893 began to build a fort at Sidi Guari- 

 ach, directly inland from the town of Melilla, at 

 the limit of Spanish territory and close to some 

 settlements of the Kabyles. * The hostile dispo- 

 sition lately shown by the Moors impelled them 

 to strengthen their fortifications and place re- 

 strictions on trade. On Oct. 2 a force of Moors 

 estimated at (5,000 attacked the new fort and 

 drove the Spaniards back with a loss of 3 officers 



and 18 men killed and 35 wounded. The Moors 

 attempted to scale the walls of the inner line of 

 fortifications and carry them by storm, but were 

 met by bayonet and cavalry charges whenever 

 they advanced in close order. The Moors risked 

 their lives bravely, knowing that they must take 

 the citadel by assault, as the garrison was sup- 

 plied with food and water sufficient to last till 

 fresh supplies could be brought. They were 

 armed with Remington rifles and fought with 

 fanatical fury, pursuing the whites up to the 

 walls of the citadel despite the deadly fire direct- 

 ed at them from the fort. Gen. Margallo, the 

 commandant, led the sortie that covered the re- 

 treat of the men from Fort Guariach. The ar- 

 tillery did good execution. The fire was some- 

 time's directed at buildings within range on 

 Moorish territory, especially at a mosque, which 

 was almost demolished. 



On the following day a truce was arranged to 

 enable both sides to bury their dead. The Moor- 

 ish Government expressed its readiness to make 

 reparation, and warned the Riffian tribes against 

 interfering with the Spaniards, whose right to 

 build forts was acknowledged. Re-enforcements 

 were sent to Melilla, where the garrison, usually 

 600 or 700, had dwindled to little more than 400. 

 Guns and ammunition were dispatched from Mal- 

 aga and Sevilla and a gunboat was ordered to 

 Melilla. The British, French, German, and Ital- 

 ian representatives in Madrid were informed by 

 the foreign minister that Spain, while endeavor- 

 ing to maintain the status quo in Morocco, in- 

 tended to push forward the work on the forts 

 and would chastise every attempt of Moorish ag- 

 gressors to drive her from the coast. The Moor- 

 ish tribesmen, incensed at the bombardment of 

 the mosque, gathered in thousands round Me- 

 lilla. In Spain the Government deliberated over 

 the question of undertaking a military expedi- 

 tion in the face of its financial difficulties and of 

 the danger of political complications, especially 

 with Great Britain, which seemed disposed to 

 seize Tangier, and perhaps Ceuta, in case Spain 

 should disturb the status quo. The whole Span- 

 ish army was eager to fight the Moors, and a 

 dozen regiments volunteered to go to Melilla 

 without extra pay. The Minister of Finance re- 

 ported that 90,000,000 pesetas were available for 

 military operations. The Minister of War, Gen. 

 Lopez Dominguez, decided on a defensive policy. 

 Troops and supplies were forwarded slowly after 

 the garrison was sufficiently strengthened to hold 

 the position. No further fighting took place till 

 Oct. 21, when a reconnoitering party of Spanish 

 soldiers was fired upon and driven back, and in 

 retaliation the forts and the gunboat " Conde de 

 Venadito " shelled the Moors, who had dug lines 

 of trenches, some of them on Spanish territory. 

 On the Spanish side rifle-pits and breastworks 

 connected the line of forts surrounding the town. 

 There were half a dozen of these forts, circular 

 brick structures, which were impregnable againsl 

 the Moors because they had no cannon. The 

 Moors abandoned their intrenchments and took 

 refuge in the hills during the bombardment, but 

 returned immediately afterward. On Oct. 27, 

 while Gen. Margallo and Gen. Ortega were di- 

 recting the construction of intrenchments at the 

 advanced Spanish lines, close to the Riff trenches, 

 they were suddenly attacked by several thousand 



