cii. IX. SACRIFICE OF A SHEEP. 229 



The continuous fall of the barometer for three days before 

 the rain set in had prepared us for a persistent fit of bad 

 weather ; so we were less disappointed than we should 

 otherwise have been, and acquiesced as a matter of course 

 in the preparations for our departure. 



The natives still flocked to the entrance of our house, 

 seeking medical advice from the Christian hakim. When 

 these had been disposed of, and all seemed ready for our 

 departure, an unexpected incident occurred. Eight or ten 

 women, dragging with them a sheep, entered the house in 

 a tumultuous way, crowding up the stairs and into the 

 verandah, addressed vehement entreaties to Hooker, and 

 suddenly cut the sheep's throat in his presence. Then 

 followed more passionate entreaties, a document was thrust 

 into his hand, and we were left at a loss to guess the mean- 

 ing of the strange scene. At length, through Ambak's 

 increasing skill as interpreter, the matter was made suffi- 

 ciently clear. A number of men of the village, the 

 husbands or fathers of our suppliants, had been carried 

 otF as prisoners to Marocco, for non-payment of taxes, and 

 were there confined in the horrible subterranean dungeons 

 that serve as prisons. The object of these poor women 

 was to obtain from El Graoui an order for their release, 

 through the intercession of Hooker. A promise to do 

 what was possible on their behalf was readily given ; but, 

 although a courteous answer was afterwards sent through 

 the consul at Mogador, it may be feared that little atten- 

 tion was paid by the powerful Grovernor of this region to 

 the representations of Christian strangers. 



The state of the prisons in Marocco is one of many 

 scandals that disgrace the administration of this country, 

 though an apologist might suggest that in this respect 

 Marocco is only a century or two behind the most civilised 

 States of Europe, and not thirty years behind the late 

 kingdom of Naples. When in the city of Marocco, we were 

 told that about 4,000 prisoners, of whom the large majority 

 were unlucky peasants, unable or unwilling to pay taxes, 



