penetrates pacifically to all its hidden places, the forest will wake to a
new life. Strange birds of bright plumage, called in Europe _gens
d'armes_, will displace the storks upon the battlements of its ancient
towns, the _commis voyageur_ will appear where wild boar and hyæna now
travel in comparative peace, the wild cat (_felis Throgmortonensis_) will
arise from all mineralised districts. Arab and Berber will disappear
slowly from the Moroccan forest as the lions have done before them, and in
the place of their _douars_ and _ksor_ there shall be a multitude of small
towns laid out with mathematical precision, reached by rail, afflicted
with modern improvements, and partly filled with Frenchmen who strive to
drown in the café their sorrow at being so far away from home. The real
Morocco is so lacking in all the conveniences that would commend it to
wealthy travellers that the writer feels some apology is due for the
appearance of his short story of an almost unknown country in so fine a
setting. Surely a simple tale of Sunset Land was never seen in such
splendid guise before, and will not be seen again until, with past
redeemed and forgotten, future assured, and civilisation modernised,
Morocco ceases to be what it is to-day.

S.L. BENSUSAN.

_July 1904._




Contents

CHAPTER I page
By Cape Spartel 3