After the return of the Mission to Tangier, Sir John writes:—
We all returned hearty and happy; A. the colour of mahogany, and I of a saucepan. Our companions were charming. There was not a murmur or a difference of opinion, except perhaps on politics.
Sultan was perfectly charming in my private interviews, and His Sherifian Majesty enjoyed my jokes, for, you know, as the bubbles rise in my empty head, I let them escape.
The Ministers were most attentive, and all the officers at the Court vied one with another in their attempts to pay us honour and to be hospitable. The Uzir is an ignorant fanatic. We parted good friends; but I think I left him in a shaky position vis-à-vis his master. I observed to His Sherifian Majesty casually, ‘In other countries I have found that Ministers are often wiser and better informed than their Sovereigns. In Morocco I find Your Majesty far superior to your Uzir.’
The Sultan has agreed that a revision of the Commercial Treaty of 1856 is to be entered on when his Minister for Foreign Affairs returns, and steps are then to be taken to improve commerce. Prohibition placed on the exportation of grain removed. A port in the Wadnun district is to be opened to trade. Steps are to be taken to reform the system of government, and at the Sultan’s request I gave him a list of the Governors who are notorious for their tyranny and extortions, impressing on His Sherifian Majesty that he should endeavour to modify the evils of the existing system by a judicious choice; but that the most careful selection would not avail to secure competent and upright Governors so long as the uncertainty of their tenure tempted them to secure it by corrupt influence for which extortion must find the means: that this reform requires attention for the maintenance of order, administration of justice, and the collection of the revenue.
I obtained also a royal order to Bargash, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to attend to all appeals of Jews who cannot obtain justice from Governors in the interior. Then I obtained a settlement of some fifteen claims of British subjects.
A mole is to be built at Tangier, and an order obtained for building, or rather repairing, the mole at Mogador, which, in consequence of the state of Moorish finances, had not been executed.
Works are also to be undertaken for the better supply of water for Tangier when the state of finances permits.
The Sultan is well-disposed, clever, and intelligent; but my work is only a quarter done, for the difficulty with all Eastern Governments is to obtain the execution of royal edicts that have been received.
I tried to induce Sultan not to give me a horse, &c.; but His Majesty was irate, and said that if he did not give me a public mark of his goodwill, his subjects would be displeased and a wrong inference would be drawn. So I had to accept the ‘white elephant’ and trappings, sword and gun; all very beautiful. The three latter gifts I have told Lord G. I accept on official grounds, and therefore wish to present them to the Kensington Museum through the Foreign Office.