The Burton Holmes lectures; . )rotection is indeeda special blessing, since itgives him the right to ride on horseback or muleback throughthese streets, where other Jews must walk. It permits himto pass the doorways of the mosques without stopping toremove his shoes, while other Jews must bare their feet eachtime they near the sacred gates. It must be remembered that the current calendar in Fezis not that of A. D. 1901 ; but it is for the year 1319, afterthe Hegira of Mohannned, and the Moors are just 582 \-earsbehind the times I These Mohammedans of b^ez not only do not j)ermit theJew to pass
The Burton Holmes lectures; . )rotection is indeeda special blessing, since itgives him the right to ride on horseback or muleback throughthese streets, where other Jews must walk. It permits himto pass the doorways of the mosques without stopping toremove his shoes, while other Jews must bare their feet eachtime they near the sacred gates. It must be remembered that the current calendar in Fezis not that of A. D. 1901 ; but it is for the year 1319, afterthe Hegira of Mohannned, and the Moors are just 582 \-earsbehind the times I These Mohammedans of b^ez not only do not j)ermit theJew to pass the mosque with shoes upon his feet, but they donot permit an\ intidel to enter their sacred places ; they donot permit Jew or Christian to pause to look in at the doors,and there is one mosque, the Shrine of Mulai Idrees, thefounder of Fez, so holy that no unbeliever is permitted evento ap))roach it. Across the streets leading thither barriers are])laced ; the Moors stoop and pass under them ; the Christian. FEZ 165 and the Jew, on pain ofdeath, must ^o no across other streetsbars are placed to mark thepoint beyond which men arenot allowed to pass at cer-tain hours. One portion of the coolcellar-like bazaar is sacredto the women, who, tem-porarily embarrassed, bring-hither objects that they wishto sell. Apparentl}^ they arenot eager to attract pur-chasers, for they hide what-ever they may have beneaththeir haiks ; but now andthen a man approaches, andan embroidered vest, a pieceof silk, a jewel or a ring isreluctantly brought forth andpassed across the barrier in nkaring a pnKiAi. <.f thk karieein exchange for silver coins; then one white, shrouded figurerises and fades away amid the ghostly throng. To us, new-comers to this land of mystery, it is as disconcerting to facea crowd of these women, as for the soldier to stand unmovedbefore masked batteries. We are conscious that two scoreof bright, black eyes are leveled at us, but we cannot readthe message they p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectvoyages, bookyear1901
