Tafilet; the narrative of a journey of exploration in the Atlas mountains and the oases of the north-west Sahara . dedman, and never refused to listen to their one mourned his death more sincerely than thepeace-abiding members of that tribe, whose wrongshe was ever ready to redress, though only naturallyhe put opposition in the way of those who, takingadvantage of European protection or his own leni-ency, practised nefarious usury with his subjects. The population of Marakesh to-day does not prob-ably number more than some 40,000 souls, thoughit is said that within a hundred years
Tafilet; the narrative of a journey of exploration in the Atlas mountains and the oases of the north-west Sahara . dedman, and never refused to listen to their one mourned his death more sincerely than thepeace-abiding members of that tribe, whose wrongshe was ever ready to redress, though only naturallyhe put opposition in the way of those who, takingadvantage of European protection or his own leni-ency, practised nefarious usury with his subjects. The population of Marakesh to-day does not prob-ably number more than some 40,000 souls, thoughit is said that within a hundred years of its foundingby Yusuf in 1062 it contained some 700,000inhabitants. There is no doubt, though this figureis probably an exaggeration, that it was at one timea city of great importance and learning, for evenEurope sent its sons to be educated at the greatcolleges that existed there at that time. I have written but little as to Marakesh. It is 48 MARAKESH. a city that lias so often been described by othertravellers, that it has been my purpose here merelyto sketch its peculiarities and to give a general. A Street Scene in Marakesh. impression of the place. Briefly, it presents a mazeof yellow streets, leading, here, between the crumb-ling walls of tottering houses; there, through narrowdimly lit bazaars with their tiny boxlike shops; and GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 49 here, again, amongst the high white walls of theresidences of the richer class. Then out into greatopen dusty spaces, surrounded by half-ruined mosqueswith tiled minarets, or gardens above the walls ofwhich appear the tops of palms, olive, and orangetrees, and the straight stems of glowing jjerhaps one turns a corner and comes face toface with a drinking - fountain of exquisite tileworkand carved wood, to stumble, as one gazes at it, intoa manure-heap or a hole in the road, broken in theroof of some aqueduct. And beyond the w^onderfulrange of white snow-peaks, rising some 12,000 feetabove the lev
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1895
