The British Expedition to Morocco.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 330, 2 January 1889, Page 3

The British Expedition to Morocco.

Unless Mr Joseph Thomson be called meanwhile to another siclo of Africa, he and his companion, Mr Criehbon-Browne, may be expected home in Dccombeifwibh their programme carried out. They will have traversed the whole Empire of Morocco i n its length and breadth. The tour is scarcely oi the soib to be icconimendcd for a vacation ramble. Tiavcllerss, especially Europeans and Chiisbians, are unwolcomo guests in Moiocco. A tourist like 5'5 ' to feel that his advent is hailed as a delightful and profitable occurrence. He imrsb expect tho leverse ot that among tho j Moors. Arabs in tho towns and Berbers in the valleys and highlands equally object to ( his. visit. In Morocvo and Fez he is sure to be pelted and scowled at, if he escape, through caution and an escort, woise treatment. Fanaticism in part, and in part i want of habituation to tho presence of strangeis, render the population inhospitable and truculent. "When the tiavellcr has nob much to complain of from the inhabitants ho carries about with him a constant human worry and torment in the shape of his nathe servant?. In a country destitute of roads tor wheeled traffic, when: market 0 are few and iar between, and at any rate ill provided u ith European neces•stuie^, a retinue i« indispensable for the cauiage of stores. Followers have to be engaged, and that is not impossible. They have to be kept in order and at peace, which is next door to ic. Throughout Atiica the difficulty of pie-orviujj discipline in a travelling camp is enormous, as tho tragedy in tlie south proves. A hired Moor is at least as uniuly as a Manyema, nnd «enerally more inetHcient. All Mr Joseph Thomson's CNpeneuee and dexterity must have been lequited 10 make his. half do/en men docile and cneitietic. When he lctuins it will be interesting to ioain how he managed to beguile them up peaks 12,000 or 13,000 feet high In itself the region in which the two Knglishmen ha\o been wandering would nob be easily tiaverscd, wcie its natives pleasanter in their manners. Mr Thomson and Mr Ciichton-Urowne have by proferenee lesorted to districts lugged, bleak, and savage. Wild and as in try locks arc charming in Switzerland, where they aro I appendages ot comfortable inns stocked with all a touiist can lequhe, inclusive of excellent guides. The mountaineeiing stianger in the Atlas has to pick out a i onto tor himself, with a little help from local knowledge. Jie must, be satisfied with a meal oft walnuts, and not be excessively surprised by the attentions of a scorpion. ]Sot merely aie strength, courage and sagacity indispensable to surmount the thou sand and one difliculties ot an undertaking like this of Mr Thomson's and Mr Crichton isrownc's, but an ample cuiplus of \haeiby and buoyaucj of temper, to lender the whole positively agreeable, as they evidently ha\e found it. Any inconveniences they have suffered, occasional starvation, a sting fiom a venomous icptile, the hostile demeanour of local authorities, the danger oi being confounded with them by rebels, domestic stiifes, jealousies, and insubordination in their town company, they have treated us all in the clan's work, and rather as adding the zest of \ariety than as reason tor turning back or losing heait. They ha\e had, as they intimated, a delightful and a \ery successful expedition. They Ikv\o collected many important geographical, botanical and gelonioal facts. Mi- Thomson doubtle-^ will be able to \\ rite a \i\id and instiucthc book on his return. The only draw back is that the icsult is tantalising to moie oidinary persons. When Mi Thomson de-ciibes marvellous customs and -ceiuv in the heai t of Atrica, hi- country men aie pleased but are not emiou 1 -. They know that explorations thousands oi miles away aie toi piofes'-ional travellers, and not ior them. It is. a diflerent matter altogether when the theme is a country opposite Glbialrar. and topographically as accessible as the Hart/; or Sal/kammcrgut. Xobody in these days thinks anything of \isiting the cataracts of the 'Nile ; and the Atlas mountains aie much nearer. Moiocco is a land, as Mr Thomson and his friend aie showing, full of infinite attiacti\ene-3& f oi holiday tourists, it its population would bub see things in their proper light. It is deliciously fiuitiul. ,So exuberant are the riches of the soil that, as was lately explained in our columns, the farmers oio atraid of manuring their held-, lesb they should tempt an inroad of weeds. There is scenery for eveiy taste, from plains like gaidens to lavine^ and heights which the Alp" and Itocky Mountains could «caicely beat. For yachtsmen the coast mic;hb bo a paradise. The climate is perfectly healthy, where the air is not corrupted by filth. The natives arc picturesque and well worth studying, if they did nob repay examination with a blow from a dagger. It would be seen that Fez, Mecjuine/, and Moiocco abound in curious aichitcctuial details, if ifc were possible to inspect them with common safety, and if the atmosphere were not poisoned by want ot cleanliness. From e\ery point of \iew there is nob a countiy with which, both for pleasure and for purposes of business, it would be more advantageous for Englishmen to cultivate familiar acquaintance than Moiocco. So long as the energies of its Government are devoted to incessant .struggles with its vassal 5 , and they are taught to look on foreigners as despicable b'asphemers, it id nob very probable that a laigc number of tourists uill imitate Mr Thomson and Mr Crichton- Browne, and spend their holiday there. But the information uhey are gathering may stimulate capital to increase its eftorts to open wider a market which ouirhb to be particularly lucrative. Commerce, when it has thoiougly gia&ped the idea that there is an opportunity for it, is not $to be put off by the coyness even of His Sherrefian Majesty and his quarrelsome subjects. The effect of Mr Joseph Thomson's researches ought certainly to be to provo to British merchants and manufacturers that an opportunity is awaiting them in Morocco.— ' Times. September 2f).