The reception of the Mission on arrival at Fas was most cordial, and the usual great show of troops and powder-play was made. A very beautiful house, splendidly furnished, with a small garden attached, was assigned to the Minister and his suite; and the first repast was placed on the table in the dining-room as Sir John entered the house. It consisted of an immense bowl of milk, and a huge dish of dates, which had been sent direct from the Sultan’s palace, with a message to the effect that it was a token of welcome always offered to Moorish princes—and to them only—on their arrival in a Royal city. A curious form of hospitality, evidently a survival from the custom which prevailed among the Arabs in olden time.
This was the first occasion on which ladies had joined any Mission to the Sultan’s Court; Mrs. Drummond Hay accompanied her husband, then Sir John’s secretary, the elder Miss Hay being also of the party. As Christian women had hitherto never entered Fas—except as captives, in the days of the Barbary pirates—the population was both excited and amused by their apparition, as they walked through the bazaars and streets of the town, or rode in the environs with the gentlemen of the party. It was necessary for them always to be accompanied by an escort of native soldiers, to keep off the crowds that thronged in the streets to gaze at the strangers; but no rudeness or unpleasantness of any kind was ever met with. When riding in the pretty country about Fas, this mounted escort—consisting generally of six troopers—found that they could not keep pace with the Europeans, and were replaced by half a dozen Berber horsemen. These small wiry mountaineers, riding active ponies, were prepared to dash along at any pace over the roughest ground.
The Moorish Ministers, some of whom had visited European courts, invited the presence of the ladies at all the banquets and receptions offered to the Mission; admitting them also to the harems, where they were well received by the Fas ladies, wives of the principal Ministers. These ladies differ in some degree from their countrywomen in other towns. Amongst persons of high rank, a certain amount of social intercourse takes place, and men and women meet as in Europe. But these gatherings are conducted in strict secrecy, for fear of rousing scandal. The ladies of Fas, therefore, are more enlightened and pleasant than their sisters elsewhere. Many of them are well educated, according to Moorish lights, and materially assist their husbands or fathers in official or literary work.
The public audience of the Sultan took place, according to custom, three days after the arrival of the Mission. The English ladies were especially invited to be present. The ceremony was the same as that described in Sir John’s letter to his mother in 1861—with the exception that the ladies were placed, in charge of several officers, under an arch near where the ‘Bashador’ stood with his staff. From this point they had a good view of the ceremony; but they were not a little amused at the veiled anxiety shown by their guardians—not that they should see, but rather be seen of, the Sultan. H.S.M., on his part, made a graceful allusion to their presence at the end of his formal speech to Sir John, saying, ‘It has given us great pleasure to observe that you have brought with you some members of your family: this is a fresh proof of your confidence in us and in our people. They are very welcome.’
In speaking thus, the Sultan made the closest approach which Moorish etiquette allowed towards referring to the ladies of the party. In Morocco, the females of a man’s household are never directly mentioned, but are spoken of collectively, as ‘the family,’ or, more commonly, ‘the house’; and, in this form, are most punctiliously inquired after by Moors, when exchanging salutations with their friends or acquaintances. Though, according to Western ideas, this custom appears to imply contempt of the weaker sex, it originates rather from the fact that the Moors reject, as an impertinence, any direct reference to the women whom they so carefully seclude.
Almost immediately after the public audience, Sir John fell ill with dysentery—brought on, the doctor believed, by drinking the water of the Sebu river during the journey, and aggravated by the chill and damp of Fas, which, lying high, and plentifully watered by the river that traverses the city, was cold and not a healthy residence in December. After more than a month’s stay, he was fortunately sufficiently recovered to undertake the return journey.
During his stay in Fas, Sir John had several absolutely private audiences with the Sultan, at which he reiterated all his former arguments and suggestions. He pointed out that countries smaller than Morocco—and with perhaps fewer resources—yet commanded greater revenues, though their peoples were not over-taxed. In such countries the security of property encouraged the natives in industrial enterprises. No dread of confiscation prevented the accumulation of wealth; and the justice and integrity of the administrative and judicial system made the inhabitants happy, prosperous, and contented.
In the Sultan’s dominions it was, as Sir John urged, the want of similar security which impoverished the people and emptied the exchequer. It was the tyranny and venality of officials that drove many of his subjects to redress their own wrongs by robbery, raids, and rebellion, and impelled others to shelter themselves from exactions and mis-government by becoming partners with European traders—who, by treaty stipulations, enjoyed immunity from taxation—and, under their protection, to rob the Sultan’s treasury by evading the payment of exorbitant and irregularly enforced taxes.
RECEPTION BY SULTAN SID MOHAMMED