Life in Morocco and Glimpses Beyond Part 21

"All right, all right, that will do. I will see about it; come to me again to-morrow."

"May G.o.d bless thee, O Merchant, and fill thee with prosperity, and may He prolong thy days in peace!"

As Tajir Vecchio went on with his writing, Abd Allah made off with a hopeful heart to spend the next twenty-four anxious hours in the fandak, while his offerings were carried away to the private house by a servant.

Next morning saw him there again, when much the same scene was repeated. This time, however, they got to business.

"How can I befriend you?" asked the European, after yesterday's conversation had been practically repeated.

"Thou canst very greatly befriend me by making me thy agent in An Haloo. I will work for thee, and bring thee of the produce of my land as others do, if I may only enjoy thy protection. May G.o.d have mercy on thee, O Merchant. I take refuge with thee."

"I can't be always appointing agents and protecting people for nothing. What can you give me?"

"Whatever is just, O Merchant, but the Lord knows that I am not rich, though He has bestowed sufficient on me to live, praise be to Him."

"Well, I should want two hundred dollars down, and something when the certificate is renewed next year, besides which you would of course report yourself each quarter, and not come empty-handed. Animals and corn I can do best with, but I don't want any of your poultry."

"G.o.d bless thee, Merchant, and make thee prosperous, but two hundred dollars is a heavy sum for me, and this last harvest has not been so plentiful as the one before, as thou knowest. Grant me this protection for one hundred and fifty dollars, and I can manage it, but do not make it an impossibility."

"I can't go any lower: there are scores of Moors who would give me that price. Do as you like. Good morning."

"Thou knowest, O Merchant, I could not give more than I have offered,"

replied Abd Allah as he rose and left the place.

But as no one else could be found in the town to protect him on better terms, he had at last to return, and in exchange for the sum demanded received a paper inscribed on one side in Arabic, and on the other in English, as follows:--

"VICE-CONSULATE FOR GREAT BRITAIN, "MAZAGAN, _Oct. 5, 1838_.

"_This is to certify that Abd Allah bin Boo Shab es-Salih, resident at An Haloo in the province of Rahamna, has been duly appointed agent of Edward Vecchio, a British subject, residing in Mazagan: all authorities will respect him according to existing treaties, not molesting him without proper notice to this Vice-Consulate._[22]

"_Gratis_ Seal. [Signed] "JOHN SMITH.

"_H.B.M.'s Vice-Consul, Mazagan._"

[22: A genuine "patent of protection," as prescribed by treaty, supposed to be granted only to wholesale traders, whereas every beggar can obtain "certificates of partners.h.i.+p." The native in question has then only to appear before the notaries and state that he has in his possession so much grain, or so many oxen or cattle, belonging to a certain European, who takes them as his remuneration for presenting the notarial doc.u.ment at his Legation, and obtaining the desired certificate. Moreover, he receives half the produce of the property thus made over to him. This is popularly known as "farming in Morocco."]

XXVIII

JUSTICE FOR THE JEW

"Sleep on anger, and thou wilt not rise repentant."

_Moorish Proverb._

The kad sat in his seat of office, or one might rather say reclined, for Moorish officials have a habit of lying in two ways at once when they are supposed to be doing justice. Strictly speaking, his position was a sort of halfway one, his back being raised by a pile of cus.h.i.+ons, with his right leg drawn up before him, as he leant on his left elbow. His judgement seat was a veritable wool-sack, or rather mattress, placed across the left end of a long narrow room, some eight feet by twenty, with a big door in the centre of one side. The only other apertures in the whitewashed but dirty walls were a number of ventilating loop-holes, splayed on the inside, ten feet out of the twelve above the floor. This was of worn octagonal tiles, in parts covered with a yellow rush mat in an advanced state of consumption.

Notwithstanding the fact that the ceiling was of some dark colour, hard to be defined at its present age, the audience-chamber was amply lighted from the lofty horse-shoe archway of the entrance, for suns.h.i.+ne is reflection in Morocco to a degree unknown in northern climes.

On the wall above the head of the kad hung a couple of huge and antiquated horse-pistols, while on a small round table at his feet, some six inches high, lay a collection of cartridges and gunsmith's tools. Behind him, on a rack, were half a dozen long flint-lock muskets, and on the wall by his feet a number of Moorish daggers and swords. In his hand the governor fondled a European revolver, poking out and replacing the charges occasionally, just to show that it was loaded.

His personal attire, though rich in quality, ill became his gawky figure, and there was that about his badly folded turban which bespoke the parvenu. Like the muzzle of some wolf, his pock-marked visage glowered on a couple of prostrated litigants before him, as they fiercely strove to prove each other wrong. Near his feet was squatted his private secretary, and at the door stood policemen awaiting instructions to imprison one or both of the contending parties. The dispute was over the straying of some cattle, a paltry claim for damages. The plaintiff having presented the kad with a loaf of sugar and a pound of candles, was in a fair way to win his case, when a suggestive sign on the part of the defendant, comprehended by the judge as a promise of a greater bribe, somewhat upset his calculations, for he was summarily fined a couple of dollars, and ordered to pay another half dollar costs for having allowed the gate of his garden to stand open, thereby inviting his neighbour's cattle to enter. Without a word he was carried off to gaol pending payment, while the defendant settled with the judge and left the court.

Into the midst of this scene came another policeman, gripping by the arm a poor Jewish seamstress named Mesaodah, who had had the temerity to use insulting language to her captor when that functionary was upbraiding her for not having completed some garment when ordered, though he insisted on paying only half-price, declaring that it was for the governor. The Jewess had hardly spoken when she lay sprawling on the ground from a blow which she dare not, under any provocation, return, but her temper had so far gained the mastery over her, that as she rose she cursed her tormentor roundly. That was enough; without more ado the man had laid his powerful arm upon her, and was dragging her to his master's presence, knowing how welcome any such case would be, even though it was not one out of which he might hope to make money.

Reckless of the governor's well-known character, Mesaodah at once opened her mouth to complain against Mahmood, pitching her voice in the terrible key of her kind.

"My Lord, may G.o.d bless thee and lengthen...."

A fierce shake from her captor interrupted the sentence, but did not keep her quiet, for immediately she continued, in pleading tones, as best she could, struggling the while to keep her mouth free from the wretch's hand.

"Protect me, I pray thee, from this cruel man; he has struck me: yes, my Lord."

"Strike her again if she doesn't stop that noise," cried the kad, and as the man raised his hand to threaten her she saw there was no hope, and her legs giving way beneath her, she sank to the ground in tears.

"For G.o.d's sake, yes, my Lord, have mercy on thine handmaid." It was pitiful to hear the altered tones, and it needed the heart of a brute to reply as did the governor, unmoved, by harshly asking what she had been up to.

"She's a thief, my Lord, a liar, like all her people; G.o.d burn their religion; I gave her a waistcoat to make a week ago, and I purposed it for a present to thee, my Lord, but she has made away with the stuff, and when I went for it she abused me, and, by thy leave, thee also, my Lord; here she is to be punished."

"It's a lie, my Lord; the stuff is in my hut, and the waistcoat's half done, but I knew I should never get paid for it, so had to get some other work done to keep my children from starving, for I am a widow.

Have mercy on me!"

"G.o.d curse the liar! I have spoken the truth," broke in the policeman.

"Fetch a basket for her!" ordered the kad, and in another moment a second attendant was a.s.sisting Mahmood to force the struggling woman to sit in a large and pliable basket of palmetto, the handles of which were quickly lashed across her stomach. She was then thrown shrieking on her back, her bare legs lifted high, and tied to a short piece of pole just in front of the ankles; one man seized each end of this, a third awaiting the governor's orders to strike the soles. In his hand he had a short-handled lash made of twisted thongs from Tafilalt, well soaked in water. The efforts of the victim to attack the men on either side becoming violent, a delay was caused by having to tie her hands together, her loud shrieks rending the air the while.

"Give her a hundred," said the kad, beginning to count as the blows descended, giving fresh edge to the piercing yells, interspersed with piteous cries for mercy, and ribbing the skin in long red lines, which were soon lost in one raw ma.s.s of bleeding flesh. As the arm of one wearied, another took his place, and a bucket of cold water was thrown over the victim's legs. At first her face had been ashy pale, it was now livid from the blood descending to it, as her legs grew white all but the soles, which were already turning purple under the cruel lash.

Then merciful unconsciousness stepped in, and silence supervened.

"That will do," said the governor, having counted eighty-nine. "Take her away; she'll know better next time!" and he proceeded with the cases before him, fining this one, imprisoning that, and bastinadoing a third, with as little concern as an English registrar would sign an order to pay a guinea fine. Indeed, why should he do otherwise. This was his regular morning's work. It was a month before Mesaodah could touch the ground with her feet, and more than three before she could totter along with two sticks. Her children were kept alive by her neighbours till she could sit up and "st.i.tch, st.i.tch, st.i.tch," but there was no one to hear her bitter complaint, and no one to dry her tears.

One day his faithful henchman dragged before the kad a Jewish broker, whose crime of having bid against that functionary on the market, when purchasing supplies for his master, had to be expiated by a fine of twenty dollars, or a hundred lashes. The misguided wretch chose the latter, loving his coins too well; but after the first half-dozen had descended on his naked soles, he cried for mercy and agreed to pay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photograph by Dr. Rudduck._

JEWESSES OF THE ATLAS.]

Another day it was a more wealthy member of the community who was summoned on a serious charge. The kad produced a letter addressed to the prisoner, which he said had been intercepted, couched in the woefully corrupted Arabic of the Moorish Jews, but in the cursive Hebrew character.

"Canst read, O Moses?" asked the kad, in a surly tone.

"Certainly, yes, my Lord, may G.o.d protect thee, when the writing is in the sacred script."

"Read that aloud, then," handing him the missive.

Moses commenced by rapidly glancing his eye down the page, and as he did so his face grew pale, his hand shook, and he muttered something in the Hebrew tongue as the kad sharply ordered him to proceed.