



Produced by Michael Ciesielski, the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
and the booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net








[Illustration: Isabel Savory]



IN THE TAIL OF
THE PEACOCK

By ISABEL SAVORY.

Author of "_A Sportswoman in India_"


WITH 48 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
AND A PHOTOGRAVURE PORTRAIT

"The Earth is a peacock: Morocco is the tail of it"

_Moorish Proverb_

London: HUTCHINSON & CO.
Paternoster Row 1903


PRINTED BY
HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY




_PREFACE_


_THIS book contains no thrilling adventures, chronicles, no days devoted
to sport. It will probably interest only those minds which are content
with "the C Major of this life," and which find in other than scenes of
peril and excitement their hearts' desire._

_Such as care to wander through its pages must have learnt to enjoy
idleness, nor find weeks spent beneath the sun and stars too long--that
is to say, the fascination of a wandering, irresponsible life should be
known to them: waste and solitary places must not appal, nor trifling
incident weary, while human natures remotely removed from their own,
alternately delight and repel. Those who understand not these things,
will find but a dull chronicle within the following pages._

_If to live is to know more, and to know more only to love more, the
least eventful day may possess a minimum of value, and even quiet
monotones and grey vistas be found and lost in a glamour born of
themselves._

_In this loud and insistent world the silent places are often overlooked,
and yet they are never empty._

_ISABEL SAVORY._

WESTFIELD OLD HALL,
EAST DEREHAM.
_February, 1903._




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I
                                                                PAGE
TANGIER--COUNTRY PEOPLE--THE PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA--MOORISH
PRISONS--WE RIDE TO CAPE SPARTEL--DECIDE TO LEAVE
TANGIER AND PUSH INLAND                                             1


CHAPTER II

CAMP OUTFIT--A NIGHT AT A CARAVANSERAI--TETUAN--THE
BRITISH VICE-CONSUL--MOORISH SHOPS--WE VISIT A MOORISH
HOUSE AND FAMILY                                                   27


CHAPTER III

DIFFICULTIES OF "LODGINGS" IN MOROCCO--A SPANISH FONDA--A
MOORISH TEA PARTY--POISON IN THE CUP--SLAVES IN
MOROCCO--EL DOOLLAH--MOORISH CEMETERY--RIDE TO SEMSAR--SHOPPING
IN TETUAN--PROVISIONS IN THE CITY                                  63


CHAPTER IV

THE FAST OF RAMADHAN--MOHAMMED--HIS LIFE AND INFLUENCE--THE
FLOOD AT SAFFI--A WALK OUTSIDE TETUAN--THE
FRENCH CONSUL'S GARDEN-HOUSE--JEWS IN MOROCCO--EUROPEAN
PROTECTION                                                         97


CHAPTER V

PLANS FOR CHRISTMAS AT GIBRALTAR--A ROUGH NIGHT--THE
STEAMER WHICH WOULD NOT WAIT--AN IGNOMINIOUS RETURN
TO TETUAN--A RASCALLY JEW--THE ABORIGINES AND THE
PRESENT OCCUPANTS OF MOROCCO--THE SULTAN, COURT,
GOVERNMENT, AND MOORISH ARMY                                      121


CHAPTER VI

WE LOOK OVER A MOORISH COURTYARD HOUSE WITH A VIEW TO
TAKING IT--WE RENT JINAN DOLERO IN SPITE OF OPPOSITION--AN
ENGLISHMAN MURDERED--OUR GARDEN-HOUSE--THE
IDIOSYNCRASIES OF MOORISH SERVANTS--A NATIVE GUARD--THE
RIFF COUNTRY                                                      153


CHAPTER VII

COUNTRY PEOPLE FORDING THE RIVER--WE CALL ON CI HAMED
GHRALMIA--AN EXPEDITION ACROSS THE RIVER IN SEARCH OF
THE BLUE POOL--MOORISH BELIEF IN GINNS--THE BASHA--POWDER
PLAY--TETUAN PRISON                                               181


CHAPTER VIII

MISSIONARIES AT TETUAN--POISONING IN MOROCCO--FATIMA'S
RECEPTION--DIVORCE--AN EXPEDITION INTO THE ANJERAS--AN
EMERALD OASIS                                                     217


CHAPTER IX

WE LEAVE TETUAN--A WET NIGHT UNDER THE STARS--S`LAM DESERTS
US--WE SAIL FOR MOGADOR--THE PALM-TREE HOUSE--SUS
AND WADNOON COUNTRIES--THE SAHARA--THE ATLAS
MOUNTAINS                                                         249


CHAPTER X

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE--BUYING MULES--A BAD ROAD--FIRST
CAMP