The passing of the Shereefian empire . Morocco is temperate and pleasant. The earlyspring is, however, the best season for the journey,as the tropical rains which are likely to overwhelmyou in the late autumn and early winter haveceased. The rivers are serious obstacles duringthe rainy season, as there are no bridges andno ferries, except close to the coast, and conse-quently if the fords are impracticable you are likelyto be hung up on the banks of a river for a veryconsiderable time. The rivers are wide andshallow, but are liable to rise and fall six to eightfeet in twenty-four hours. Your b
The passing of the Shereefian empire . Morocco is temperate and pleasant. The earlyspring is, however, the best season for the journey,as the tropical rains which are likely to overwhelmyou in the late autumn and early winter haveceased. The rivers are serious obstacles duringthe rainy season, as there are no bridges andno ferries, except close to the coast, and conse-quently if the fords are impracticable you are likelyto be hung up on the banks of a river for a veryconsiderable time. The rivers are wide andshallow, but are liable to rise and fall six to eightfeet in twenty-four hours. Your baggage mustbe carried on mules or horses. There are noregular roads in Morocco, and the tracks are oftenvery difficult to trace and vary constantly, becausethe tribes have the curious custom of ploughingright over them and sowing their grain in the summer when the corn is ripe the oldroute has sometimes entirely disappeared, and itis necessary to strike a new trail. As there areno roads, carts are unknown in the sultans state coach. 343 The only wheeled vehicles which ever foundtheir way to Fez were brought there by the lateSultan Abdul Aziz, who succeeded in addingconsiderably to his unpopularity by the innova-tion. He introduced bicycles into his harem,motor-cars into the palace-grounds, and an enter-prising American presented him with a small statecoach for use on ceremonial occasions. This coachhas now been incorporated into the regal andreligious life of ^:he Sultans of Morocco, and evenHafid sometimes uses it, though he generallyprefers to ride a horse and have the coachdriven after him. In spite of the variety of itscolouring, the brightness of its panels, and itsmasses of cut glass, the state coach excites derision,for it possesses none of the noble proportions ofthat of the Lord Mayor, or of those one sees inLondon on State occasions. On account of theexceeding narrowness of the streets, it has beenconstructed on a very small scale, and instead
Size: 1002px × 2494px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidpassingofshe, bookyear1910
