Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco, a narrative of exploration . e celebration of the day is made theoccasion of a great state function, and the gathering ofall the Kaids of Southern Morocco to do homage totheir liege lord the Sultan, and fill his treasures andthe cofiers of his ministers with so-called presentsof blood and tear-stained dollars. The Sultan beingabsent at Mequinez, his place was taken by the Viceroy,Mulai 0thman. The state function was to take place outside thetown, and we resolved to attend it, though we knewthat there would be no small danger of a fanaticaloutbreak at
Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco, a narrative of exploration . e celebration of the day is made theoccasion of a great state function, and the gathering ofall the Kaids of Southern Morocco to do homage totheir liege lord the Sultan, and fill his treasures andthe cofiers of his ministers with so-called presentsof blood and tear-stained dollars. The Sultan beingabsent at Mequinez, his place was taken by the Viceroy,Mulai 0thman. The state function was to take place outside thetown, and we resolved to attend it, though we knewthat there would be no small danger of a fanaticaloutbreak at our intrusion upon the religious cere-monies. 394 MOROCCO. We found the streets presenting an unusually ani-mated aspect, with their thronging thousands all clean-shaved and in refurbished or new dresses. The shopswere shut, and only sweetmeat and cake sellers pliedtheir trade, though everywhere the tinkle of the dis-tinctive bell of the water-seller could be heard, andnow and then he could be seen bending under hislarge goat-skin bag, from which he dispensed the re-. WATER CARRIER, quired refresher. The great mass of the crowd weremounted on donkeys, mules, or horses, the last mostlyridden by soldiers hurrying to collect under the bannerof their respective Kaids. Among others, we were interested in seeing thesoldier who had prevented my finishing the ascent ofthe southern range of the valley of Gindafy. He, on THE AID-EL-KEDIR. 395 his part, on discovering us, drove his huge spurs intohis horses ribs and charged us at full gallop. In thecourse of his wild career through the stampedingcrowd, he screamed out something about Allah, threwhis gun up in the air, caught it again, and turninground in his saddle, fired at an imaginary enemy, andthen, amidst a cloud of dust, pulled up his horse underour noses. Our way to the meeting-ground lay through thepalace square, and our hopes of seeing somethingnoteworthy rose as we saw squadron after squadronof wildly picturesque horsemen gallop
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