It was among these tribes that a pioneer mission of Islám penetrated
in the eighth of our centuries. Arabs were then greater strangers in
Barbary than we are now, but they were by no means the first strange
faces seen there. Ph[oe]nicians, Romans and Vandals had preceded them,
but none had stayed, none had succeeded in amalgamating with the
Berbers, among whom those individuals who did remain were absorbed.
These hardy clansmen, exhibiting the characteristics of hill-folk
the world round, still inhabited the uplands and retained their
independence. In this they have indeed succeeded to a great extent
until the present day, but between that time and this they have given
of their life-blood to build up by their side a less pure nation of
the plains, whose language as well as its creed is that of Arabia.

To imagine that Morocco was invaded by a Muslim host who carried
all before them is a great mistake, although a common one. Mulai
Idrees--"My Lord Enoch" in English--a direct descendant of Mohammed,
was among the first of the Arabian missionaries to arrive, with one or
two faithful adherents, exiles fleeing from the Khalîfa of Mekka. So
soon as he had induced one tribe to accept his doctrines, he assisted
them with his advice and prestige in their combats with hereditary
enemies, to whom, however, the novel terms were offered of fraternal
union with the victors, if they would accept the creed of which they
had become the champions. Thus a new element was introduced into the
Berber polity, the element of combination, for the lack of which
they had always been weak before. Each additional ally meant an
augmentation of the strength of the new party out of all proportion to
the losses from occasional defeats.

In course of time the Mohammedan coalition became so strong that it