2 nowned throughout Morocco; whose | him to visit, can scarcely find words coffee-pots, with graceful spouts and to express his thanks. Besides their long handles, are of their kind perfect; hospitality, he has received many kindwhose kettles and tripod braziers are nesses from them-favors in themmasterpieces of colored metal-work. selves perhaps unimportant, yet sufficing Here, too, is the master mason and car- to show that under the calm Oriental penter, who, almost without measures reserve there is a kindly and unselfish and instruments, will raise up perfect nature. horse-shoe arches, and design a Moorish Wazan has little of interest beyond its courtyard of symmetry with which no shereefian family and its surroundings. fault can be found. Here, also, are the The town itself, though large, is poor. tolba, or scholars, brimming over with The long street with shops on either quotations from the Koran, and with side shows no sign of wealth or beauty, stomachs that never seem filled. Here, yet for the artist it has its picturesquetoo, is the blind mueddin, who, though ness. At the end of this street is an guided only by sense, is never a minute archway leading to the bazaar, a series too soon or a minute too late in calling of little streets covered from the sun by the hour of prayer from the minaret of trellis-work and light thatch, through the Mosque of Sid el Hadj El Arbi, the | which the sunbeams dance in fitful rays minaret of gorgeous green tiles. Yet, in summer, streaks of light in the deep in spite of this, the illusion of social gloom, and through which in winter the equality, based on a foundation of an rain trickles in dismal cold drops, formappreciation of art, is very transitory, ing great puddles in the roughly paved and soon vanishes. They crowd to the streets. The shops present but little shereef because he is their leader, their of interest, for they are filled almost employer. They bow before him not entirely with European cottons and only on account of his sanctity, but also goods, and but few native manufacto pick up the crumbs that fall from his tures or wares are to be found beyond table — and crumbs by no means to be scarlet cloth gun-cases, rough leatherdespised. Like vultures over the car- work such as bags, and yellow and cass of a dead camel, they fight and red shoes. struggle amongst each other. Every As in all towns, the greater part of the one for himself, and his neighbor for trade is in the bands of the Jews, who the dogs. From a surrounding of these are the "middlemen" for everything. courtiers the character of the greater Despicable as they are all over Morocco, shereefs stand out superlatively finer. in Wazan they show to better advantage Subject to adoration from their earliest than elsewhere, and nowhere in the days, obeyed to the letter by thousands country has the writer met with a supeof people, possessing power which no rior class of Jews. The shereefs have sultan possesses a power of inherited forbidden any such persecution as exsanctity of religious pre-eminence; gov-ists in other towns, and they are allowed erning without a government; quelling to live in any part of the town without disturbances and warfare without a sol-being confined to a mellah or Ghetto ; dier, it cannot be wondered that a while the shereef has also abolished the certain amount of self-confidence and law, extant nearly all over Morocco, pride is innate in them; yet they are and allows the Jews to wear their shoes kind to the heart without being conde- in all parts of the town. The fact that scendingly so; and the writer, who has Wazan does not owe allegiance to the spent months with them, living in their sultan has put them entirely into the houses, spending day after day in their hands of the shereefs, and one and all company, treated by them on terms with are enthusiastic about their kindness to which no native is ever treated, accom- them and the fairness with which they panying them at times on their travels, try cases in dispute between them and and with them visiting places which Moslems. otherwise it would be impossible for Beyond the bazaar, and reached by a narrow street of shops, in which sit men | dence, of moral, or immoral, superiorsewing jelabs, is a courtyard, on to ity, that as far as outward appearances which opens one of the gates of the go one cannot help but admire them. Mosque of Muley Abdullah Shereef. Of these mountaineers Wazan lives An arcade surrounds this open court, in a perpetual state of terror-excludunder which in tiny rooms sit the adouling, of course, the shereefs and their or lawyers, richly dressed in haiks from belongings, who and which are sacred Fez. They it is who draw up all legal-and their constant presence in or documents as to property, etc.; and Moorish law as laid down by the Koran is at their finger-ends. about the place is to the inhabitants the one drawback to the town. Nor is their alarm unjustified, for on the five previWazan is renowned amongst the ous nights to that on which the writer is Moors for its manufacture of woollen now penning these words, four men stuffs, materials of which jelabs, the have been shot dead in the streets, and hooded garment of the natives, are for absolutely no reason. Woe betide made. Yet the fact that these woollen the townsman who is rash enough to stuffs are all white, and that none of the leave his house after dark, and falls in Eastern love of colors exists here to a with a band of these hillsmen! Should sufficient extent to render the working he have time to turn round a corner and of such profitable, detracts from the in-run, he may get away scathless; but terest one would otherwise have taken otherwise the probabilities are that a in this Wazan industry. The looms bullet from their unerring aim will drop used for the weaving of these jelabs him to the ground. Happily Wazan is and haiks are almost identical with the not perpetually in this state; the tribeshand-looms of North Ireland. The com- men have fits of quietude. The rumor moner sort of native knives, with leath-that the sultan and his soldiers are on ern sheaths deadly enough weapons in the hands of those who know how to use them, but happily seldom put to a more tragic service than cutting the throat of a sheep or a chicken are also made here to a large extent. the way to pay them a visit is sufficient to still their ardor for a time, yet the moment the rumor proves to be false and most rumors do in Morocco - they burst out again. Nor is Wazan the only place in which they carry on their lawFew, if any, of the cities of Morocco less doings. Amongst themselves they can compare for surroundings with are continually at war. During the Wazan. Gaze from the town which way summer of last year (1890), the tribe one will, one sees nothing but valley of Ghruneh was fighting four other and mountain and mountain and valley; tribes- namely, Beni Issef, Helserif, some wooded with olive-trees, some M'smoda, and Azoua, of which the bare and rocky, some capped in snow. three latter is each larger than Ghruneh. Yet these mountains possess an unat- Yet by maintaining a position entirely tractive side. Their fastnesses are defensive, and never risking an inroad inhabited by wild tribes, whose rob- into the enemies' land, Ghruneh reberies and warfare often render life in mains intact. But a much more seriWazan scarcely bearable. On all sides ous tribal warfare is now taking place. the town is shut in by them, and any The large tribe of Beni Msara are on market-day they can be seen parading the war-path, and their opponent is the the streets in their short, brown em- smaller but more mountainous, and broidered jelabs, armed with gun and therefore less accessible, land of sword, and their scarlet cloth gun-cases M'smoda. But one engagement has up wound round their heads. Splendid to the present taken place, when a band fellows to look upon, certainly, these mountaineers; but no villain ever represented on the stage was half so black in heart as most of them; yet there is in them such a swagger of self-confi of the Beni Msara attempted to force the river Zez, which forms the frontier of the tribe of M'smoda. Though outnumbering their enemy, they were driven back with considerable loss, and A contrast to the days spent basking thus is the hunting and coursing that is the constant sport of the younger shereefs. When they can get away from school, generally to be arranged by tipping the faki or schoolmaster, the horses are saddled. The townspeople, always ready to give themselves a holiday, make this an excuse to leave their shops or their work, and donning their short brown jelabs, and shouldering their guns, flock to the zaouïa. the two tribes are now waiting for guitar and tambourine help one to further instalments of men and guns dream the time away. before re-engaging in battle. Nor are these tribal warfares to be despised. The Beni Msara alone can put some four thousand warriors, each armed with a gun, into the field. To what extent this year's disturbances will grow remains to be seen. Possibly by the intervention of the shereef the tribes may be dissuaded from continuing a warfare which, whatever the result may be, cannot but prove disastrous to all concerned. Possibly the strife will continue, other tribes become embroiled, The shereefs on their gorgeous sadand a general rising take place in north- dles of silk and gold, the sun flashing western Morocco, which only the pres-on the long barrels of the native guns, ence of the sultan and his troops will be the greyhounds leaping and bounding able to quell. and chasing one another, and following in the rear a number of street urchins, and a score of scavengering dogs, all keen to hunt, and than which there are no better to rouse a hare or a jackal – all forms a brilliant picture. But to leave the mountaineers to themselves, and return to Wazan. Below the town, and about a quarter of a mile from its gate, is situated the house and garden of Sid el Hadj Abdesalam, the great shereef, and here he resides during the month or two he annually spends in Wazan. The house is small, and from the outside ugly a square, whitewashed building, with windows covered with green jalousies; but the garden, for the most part a veritable wilderness of orange and olive groves, is a delightful spot; and one of the pleasantest episodes of life in Wazan is to take one's carpets and coffee to the garden, and spend the day wandering in the cool shade, shooting a few partridges or a hare perhaps, and returning to some shady nook to smoke a cigarette and drink coffee. One spot in the garden is par excellence the pleasantest: a great water-tank planted on either side with rows of bananas, and overhung at one end by shady trees, while at the other is a summer-house opening on to a façade of Moorish horseshoe arches, a terrace richly tiled, with a fountain playing in a marble basin, and a ceiling of rich painting, geometrical designs in red and green and gold. A grand place to swim in, too, for the tank is large and deep, and the water clear, and inhabited only by shoals of gold and silver fish. Here many an hour is spent in idleness, listening to the musicians, who with Through the narrow lanes between the high hedges of the gardens, under the shade of the olive-trees of the Msala, where on the Eid el Kebir, or great feast, the town adjourns to pray, away to the open country they go. As soon as the gardens are left behind, the beaters spread out in line, and with shouts and cries beat the covert, for the most part doum or stunted palm, growing to the height of about two feet. The greyhounds trot along with the beaters, while the horsemen keep to the upper ridges of the undulating country, so that wherever a hare may break she is in sight. Presently a wild shouting greets the ears, and between the patches of palmetto one catches a glimpse of a hare. The greyhounds are after her, and down the side of the hill gallop the horsemen, a streak of brilliant color. Away they all go, following wherever the hare turns; but the covert is thick, and she evades her pursuers, seeking refuge in some secluded nook, or in the bed or steep banks of a stream. those who hunt or course in England the sport may sound poor. But it is not so. The country is rough and wild, and often many a fall occurs during a day's hunting, and the hares are fleet as To the wind, and although pure-bred En- | seek a quiet and respectable life in glish greyhounds are not unknown in Wazan. They can easily be recognized Wazan, as often as not they escape by their gitaya, or long locks of hair on untouched. Certainly, should luck favor one with a jackal, the sport is finer, and often a stiff twenty minutes ends with a kill in the open. the backs of their heads, and by their features, which in no wise resemble those of the Arabs. As Wazan is a city of refuge for the Nor is this the only sport Wazan can outside world, so are the mosques and boast of, though this year the partridges tombs of the shereefs for the inhabhave been few as a rule. The country itants of Wazan; and men fleeing from abounds with them, and a couple of justice or an enemy have been known sportsmen on foot with good dogs can to spend months, and even a year, in obtain a capital day's shooting. How- the holy precincts without once issuing ever, the Europeans who visit Wazan are few and far between, for unless one is personally known to the shereefs, or bears a letter to them from the great shereef at Tangier, it is almost impossible to visit, and quite impossible to stay there, as there are no facilities for camping, the soko or market being the only spot available, and there one finds the visits of the fanatical townspeople, and perhaps a band of mountaineers, so unpleasant, that one is only too glad to get away. Those, however, known to the shereef are housed in the zaouïa, and the fact that one is his guest prevents any show of ill-feeling on the part of the natives. forth. The great Mosque of Muley Abdullah Shereef, with its courts and arcades, affords shelter for any number of these refugees, and at the present moment no inconsiderable quantity are housed there. Their food is brought to them by their relations or friends, if they have any; and if not they either send or buy, or if moneyless exist on the charity of those who pray in the mosque. No Christian may enter these holy precincts, and as one passes the doors of the mosque one can only catch a glimpse of long rows of columns and arcades. The tombs themselves are within, each in its sanctuary. These holy of holies are said to be most gor doors are richly painted and gilded, the walls and the tombs are hung with goldembroidered velvet, while on every side are ranged the presents brought by the faithful who visit and pray there. Two centuries and a half of offerings are sanctuaries. That Wazan abounds with evil char-geous and beautiful. The ceilings and acters cannot be denied. Being as it is a city of refuge, it is only natural that it is largely resorted to by men whose crimes have made it expedient for them to leave their homes. Amongst these especially may be mentioned the Riaffi or Riffis, Berbers inhabiting the north-contained within these east coasts of Morocco, speaking Riffi, a dialect of Shleh, of whom there are a great number in Wazan. Most, in fact, nearly without exception, have committed what we should call murder, but what in reality is nothing more than the vendetta, as rife now in this country as it ever was in Corsica. Most have killed their man, and so avenged the blood of the slain; and knowing that in turn the relations of him they have killed will lie in wait for them, have thought The business part of the sanctuaries it best to seek other quarters, and with is without doubt the huge boxes with light hearts and clear consciences that honor has not been left unsatisfied, and that they have added to the list of their enemies one more corpse, have come to Amongst them are candlesticks of silver and gold, boxes of illuminated manuscripts, more than a hundred clocks of all ages and fashions, a quantity of old china, and many other quaint things. Doubtless amongst this huge collection are articles of gold and silver, clocks, china, etc., which, on account of their ages and the great care that has always been taken of them, are almost priceless. grated tops into which the faithful drop their money. The sums thus collected are divided monthly into four parts, onefourth being laid aside for the keeping up of the tombs, and three-fourths to the shereefian family. is called a good goes birdy" country. I am shut in on all sides by wide stretches of woodland, in which you may wander on for hours through the green grassroads, and easily lose your way, groves of thick undergrowth, and avenues of beech and other trees that have weath For the lover of quiet and repose, for the idler and the dreamer, Wazan has its charm; for those who love to hunt and to shoot and to watch the wild warfare of the mountaineers, Wazan has its charm; for those who take an inter-ered the storms of a hundred winters. est in the strange people who flock there, and are ready to live amongst strange people, it equally has its charm. To one who, as 'the writer does, can lay claim to all three, it is most charming. WALTER B. HARRIS. From The Nineteenth Century. THE PROTECTIVE COLOR IN ANIMALS. Besides these, come many acres of wild No-man's land, where things have had their own way from time immemorial, with rich meadows and clear streams, hill, valley, and plain. I have been out and about in all weathers, winter and summer, at all hours of the day and not a few of the night, and, being but a poor vicar in the wilderness, have had to make my way on foot. This has given me many chances of observing for myself the varied round of ceaseless life among trees, plants, and the living creatures with which such a district abounds. one single district — Ega― in which he To make my By the protective color in animals is meant that tone and tint which they inherit by nature and always wear, or are able to assume by degrees, or sud- Compared with Mr. Bates's marveldenly at times of emergency, for pur-lous stage, this of course sinks into poses of safety against the attack of insignificance, though still not unworthy enemies, or of disguise when preying of notice. He tells us, for example, of upon other creatures. Every reader of Mr. Bates's delightful record of his wanderings and research on the Amazons will readily understand the heading of this short paper, and recall with pleasure many striking examples of this strange peculiarity. He writes as a man of wide research and accurate scientific knowledge, titles to which I can make no claim. But, after reading the marvellous story of his eight years' patient toil in the forests, swamps, and jungle of the great river, the question occurred to me whether, if the whole of that vast region was crowded with such curious wonders in the insect world, some traces of like and kindred marvels might not be found here at home, among the fields and woods of England. The same laws which rule the world of nature there must, one would think, hold good here, similar causes being at work, and like results bound to follow. The more I thought of this, the more convinced was I that the reasoning was sound and the inference a fair one. He tells us of a monstrous spider, Mygale avicularia, with a body two inches long and legs when expanded reaching to seven, who kills small birds, and hangs them up in a larder of thick web for future use. This robber carries on his murderous trade with cunning dexterity for which the poor finches are no match. His huge brownish body being thickly covered with coarse grey hairs, and exactly matching in color the trunk of the tree in some rough crevice of which he lurks unseen, he is ready to Now, it so happens that I live in what pounce out at a moment's notice upon |