to other merchants than the French, they will have practically
absorbed it all, even the Frenchmen trading through them. They have
at least the intimate knowledge of the people and local conditions to
which so few foreigners ever attain.

When the Moorish Empire comes to be pacifically penetrated and
systematically explored, it will probably be found that little more
is known of it than of China, notwithstanding its proximity, and
its comparatively insignificant size. A map honestly drawn, from
observations only, would astonish most people by its vast
blank spaces.[2] It would be noted that the limit of European
exploration--with the exception of the work of two or three hardy
travellers in disguise--is less than two hundred miles from the coast,
and that this limit is reached at two points only--south of Fez and
Marrákesh respectively,--which form the apices of two well-known
triangular districts, the contiguous bases of which form part of the
Atlantic coast line, under four hundred miles in length. Beyond these
limits all is practically unknown, the language, customs and beliefs
of the people providing abundant ground for speculation, and
permitting theorists free play. So much is this the case, that a few
years ago an enthusiastic "savant" was able to imagine that he had
discovered a hidden race of dwarfs beyond the Atlas, and to obtain
credence for his "find" among the best-informed students of Europe.

[2: An approximation to this is given in the writer's
"Land of the Moors."]

But there is also another point of view from which Morocco is unknown,
that of native thought and feeling, penetrated by extremely few
Europeans, even when they mingle freely with the people, and converse