MOROCCO.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 October 1907, Page 7

MOROCCO.

THE FIGHT FOR THE THRONE. MULAI HAFID. MARCHING ON MOGADOR. . BY TELEGRAPH —I*KESS ASSOCIATION— COrYIUGHT. Morocco, October 15. Mulai Hafkl, the Sultan's half-brother, who has been proclaimed Sultan in- the South, is. sending a strong expedition-to compel tho Governor of Mogador to proclaim him Sultan. Tho Governor, who remains faithful to Abdul Aziz, tho Sultan of Morocco, intends to resist. "I saw him for the first' time when I rode out one ai'tcrnoon from Red Marrakesh to visit the shrine of Sitli bol Abbas, tho city's patron saint. Across the Blad al llanira (red plain), stretching its endless length from east lo west, a small company of Moorish horsemen cantered towards tho river, and .foremost among them was a well-set-up man, who rode a fiery barb with perfect management, feeling' his horse's mouth after the fashion of tlioso who ride with an iron spike for.bit. and a single rein. . Although the barb was saddled with countless cloths, and the rider'B ample , skirts made 1 for a picture that would have moved some Europeans to mirth, there was ,uo mistaking tho born horseman. 110 returned my salute with great courtesy.i as he cantered .past,: followed by his taleb (secretary) and three soldiers for escort." Thus does S. L. Bensusan, in. the "Express," introduce to his readers Mulai If a fid, the' Sultan's half-brother, who, at thirty years of age, finds himself fighting for the throne of Morocco, with Abdul Aziz, who is two or three years younger. S..L. Bensusani continues:r----"A grave, resolute .face had '-jjeeh' reVeale'dfor :a moment under the hood of the white hailc; the eyes were large, tho "nose .slightly aquiline, and tho beard short and well trimmed. There was a suggestion about the head that the late Saltan Mulai el Hasan had chosen this son's mother from among 'the duskier beauties of his harem, but as a lad Mulai • Hafid must havo shown promise, for in Morocco a Sultan has been known to be the , father of a hundred sons—indeed, Mulai Ismail's children numbered six; hundred or more; and very few reach high places. 1 learned much about Mulai Hafid' during my stay in Marrakesh, and. what I was told sounded creditable. A foe to European extravagance, he had endeavoured'lis far as in limi lay hold his half-brother,' Mulai ;Abd-' C 1 listening to the pandars who beset him, those precious 'commercial agents' who were always conspiring to sell him costly tilings for which'he had no use, tho men to whom the bankruptcy of the' State inay be traced. At the, same time, he was no'fanatic, lie took a mild interest in photography, and lie had so much faith in European doctors that when one of his favourite wives was ill he sent for a European doctor and gave him access to the harem, in order to perform tho operation that saved tho woman's life. He took an interest in the welfare of. the troops, and saw that .they received their .'-wage's; v Ho protected the Jewish community that' lives in Mcllali (literally 'salted place'). I'or sonic years Mulai Hafid.has remained; lojal to his half-brother under' circumstances l, of very great difficulty. He has been approached again and again by envoys of the great southern tribes, and urged to • raise the. standard of revolt on the ground that the Sul-' tan was selling ■ Morocco to Europe. To a friend of mino who .asked him only a few months ago if he would respond to the invitation, ho replied in diplomatic fashion. "'I have, a tolerable house,' 'he-said,.'and my household (i.e., wives and concubines), is -ti large one. Fifty or sixty spleudid.ihoi'ses' stand.: in my stables. What more'can 1 a .'man waiit' Why should I add to' the ttoubles of my. brother and master?' In the beginning'of Juno tho . situation reached ite climacteric Representatives of several of the-.-largest and most powerful tribes in tho south came to tlto Dar Maglizen ■ and said, btuntlv, that Mulai Hafid must elect to lead'or to follow." And eventually, after much, hesitation, Mulai' decided to'lead. ; . if ' !• -