coastguards fired at them, fortunately without causing damage, but
had any been killed, Europe would have rung with the "outrage." From
Mogador the vessel proceeded after a stay of a month to Agadir, the
first port of Sûs, closed to Europeans.

Here its landing-party was met on the beach by some hundreds of armed
men, whose commander resolutely forbade them to land, so they had to
retire. Had they not done so, who would answer for the consequences?
As it was, the natives, eager to attack the "invaders," were with
difficulty kept in hand, and one false step would undoubtedly have
led to serious bloodshed. Of course this was a dreadful rebuff for
"pacific penetration," but the matter was kept quiet as a little
premature, since in Europe the coast is not quite clear enough yet for
retributory measures. The effect, however, on the Moors, among whom
the affair grew more grave each time it was recited, was out of all
proportion to the real importance of the incident, which otherwise
might have passed unnoticed.




III

BEHIND THE SCENES

"He knows of every vice an ounce."

_Moorish Proverb._