Identifier: lifeinmoroccogli00meakuoft (find matches)
Title: Life in Morocco and glimpses beyond
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors: Meakin, Budgett
Subjects: Morocco
Publisher: London Chatto & Windus
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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heart burns, but my lips will not give utterance. Moorish Proverb. I. The Need Crouched at the foreigners feet lay what appearedbut a bundle of rags, in reality a suppliant Moor,once a man of wealth and position. Hugging a potof butter brought as an offering, clutching convul-sively at the leg of the chair, his furrowed facebespoke past suffering and present earnestness. God bless thee, Bashador, and all the Chris-tians, and give me grace in thy sight! Oh, indeed, so you like the Christians ? ** Yes, Bashador, I must love the Christians ;they have justice, we have none. I wish they hadrule over the country. Then you are not a good Muslim ! Oh yes, I am, I am a haj (pilgrim to Mekka),and I love my own religion, certainly I do, but noneof our officials follow our religion nowadays : theyhave no religion. They forget God and worshipmoney ; their delight is in plunder and oppression. You appear to have known better days. Whatis your trouble ? * Frouble enough, replies the Moor, with a 242
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THE PROTECTION SYSTEM 243 sigh. I am Hamed Zirari. I was rich once, andpowerful in my tribe, but now I have only thissheep and two goats. I and my wife live alonewith our children in a nudllah (hut), but after all weare happier now when they leave us alone, thanwhen we were rich. I have plenty of land left, itis true, but we dare not for our lives cultivate morethan a small patch around our nuallah, lest weshould be pounced upon again. How did you lose your property ? I will tell you, Bashador, and then you willsee whether I am justified in speaking of ourGovernment as I do. It is a sad story, but I willtell you all.* A few years ago I possessed morethan six hundred cows and bullocks, more thantwelve hundred sheep, a hundred good camels,fifty mules, twenty horses, and twenty-four mares.I had also four wives and many slaves. I hadplenty of guns and abundance of grain in mystores ; in fact, I was rich and powerful among mypeople, by whom I was held in great honour; butalas ! alas ! our

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