Shortly after this announcement, a procession was formed. A double line of the irregular soldiers in their picturesque and flowing dress of all the colours of the rainbow, led the way. They were followed by Sir John, the chief Usher riding on his left, and two officers of the Askar, or regulars, walking on either side of his horse. Then came the gentlemen of the Mission, all in uniform. The gates of the palace precincts had been closed to prevent the mob crowding in, and were only opened to admit the cortège. In the great court, or square, were drawn up between three and four thousand Askar, who presented arms when the ‘Bashador’ appeared.
The scene as usual was brilliant in its barbaric pomp of led horses handsomely caparisoned, gaily dressed attendants, many-hued soldiery, and solemn, white-robed officials. But in curious contrast to the gaiety of his surroundings, stood prominent an old ‘deruish[46],’ with whom no one interfered. He was dirty, ragged and decrepit, perhaps deranged, for he gazed around with a strange wild air. During the Sultan’s ceremonious interview with Sir John the ‘deruish’ stood, with uplifted hands, loudly blessing the ‘Prince of believers.’
Next day some of the idlers of the party visited the town. Accompanied by an escort of fourteen men and an officer, they made their way to the ‘Mellah’ or Jewish quarter, a horribly dirty place. The Hebrews of Marákesh are an ugly and apparently degraded race. To add to their unsightly appearance, the men wear blue kerchiefs with white spots, tied over their heads and under their chins. Two long oily curls hang on either side of their faces. Their greasy cloaks, blue or black, are similar to those worn by the natives of Sus, and have a curious lozenge-shaped pattern in red and yellow woven across the back. Tradition relates that these cloaks were first woven by Spanish captives in the sixteenth century, who worked the Spanish colours on the back of the cloaks destined for their own use. The Jewish women, with the exception of a very few young girls, were no better looking than the men. But their out-door dress is graceful and pleasing, as they envelop themselves in a large veil of soft white cotton of native manufacture, bordered with a broad band of silk—also white—which is arranged to fall in front. Three centuries ago this veil, with white or coloured silk borders, was worn by the Moslem women of Marákesh, who now wrap themselves, when they go abroad, in the more clumsy and less becoming heavy woollen ‘haik.’
The large escort which, when the party started, had been looked on as an absurd precaution, proved to be really necessary. Though the people showed no incivility, the pressure of the dense crowds that thronged after the strangers would have rendered progress without an escort well nigh impossible.
A few days later the whole party dined at the house of the Hajib—Sid Musa. They rode thither through the deserted streets in bright moonlight, which enabled them to avoid the holes and pitfalls abounding in this decaying town. Well-dressed dependants waited at Sid Musa’s door to take their horses, and, following a man with a lantern, they soon found themselves in a small but beautiful court, with a fountain playing in a marble basin in the centre. Near this stood five tea-kettles on little charcoal stoves, and as many diminutive tables, each bearing a tray covered with a silk kerchief—suggestive of tea. Sid Musa and a Sheríf called the Bakáli, a favourite of the Sultan, welcomed them, and led the way into a room furnished with two gorgeous beds, chairs, sofas, and divans covered with brocade and satin. Handsome mirrors, draped with embroidered silken scarves, hung round the walls, which were covered with velvet arras embroidered in gold. These hangings, which cover the lower portion of the walls of every respectable Moorish dwelling, and vary in richness of material according to the wealth of the owner, appear to be a remnant of their ancient life as nomad Arabs. The hanging resembles the side of the tent still in use among the Moors. The design is invariably a succession of horse-shoe arches in different coloured materials and more or less richly embroidered. In mosques and holy places, and in them alone, mats, often very fine, are used for the same purpose.
After the guests had been introduced to their hosts and the usual compliments had passed, in the course of conversation Sir John expressed to Sid Musa his desire to visit the Atlas Mountains. With the view of preventing the objections which are often raised by the Moorish Government when Europeans wish to penetrate into the more remote regions of Morocco, he observed that he was born and bred a highlander and that he longed to be once more among mountains. Sid Musa and the Bakáli, being both mountaineers, quite concurred in this sentiment and promised to aid in promoting an expedition.
Dinner was long delayed, and Sid Musa became restless till the Sheríf informed him that the guest’s servants had been consulted regarding the feast, and that they had advised the Moorish chef (a coal-black slave) to reverse the usual order of a native meal; as it had been intended that the sweet dishes should be served first and the viands afterwards.
At last the signal was given and the party entered another room, where a table had been laid in European style.
The menu was as follows:—
Roast pigeons, stuffed chickens, stewed lamb, turkey with almonds, and highly flavoured siksu[47]; olives in oil; oranges cut in sections and spiced, served as a vegetable; salad of olives and mint; eggs poached with olives and oil; chicken fricassée, with a rich egg sauce; chickens with red butter—a piquante sauce; stewed mutton with fried eggs; chickens stewed with almonds and sweetened.