A MERCHANT OF FEZ.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 180, 3 September 1909, Page 4

A MERCHANT OF FEZ.

The merchants of Fez are to be found all over Xlorocco. Their representatives arc engaged in coinmcri* .n all the cities from Sus to the Mediterranean, and they have even several offices in Manchester for the purchase of calico. In due course Ali Xlahomoud launches out into business on a large scale. He prospers exceedingly, and presently purchases a black female slave to assist his wife in her duties. This is necessary for another reason. Ali Xfahmoud takes a house in the Medina quarter of Fez overlooking pleasant olive groves' to the South of the city. In course of time he buys two more slaves and is fairly set up as a householder.

When his first daughter is born there is great 'rejoicing, for the birth of a daug.ini' .is first born is regarded by tin, . ■ r.i a» a happy omen. Tne baby is i.;,i.. ..lately stained all over its little l.n'y with henna and then smeared libera, ly with butter and wrapped in woollen clothes. On the seventh day these are removed and the child is washed for the first time. When the girl has reached her first year her head is shaved, leaving a little tuft by which Mohammed could catch her up to heaven if he were so disposed. In her seventh year her hair has grown-aguin. She. is then veiled and her proud father sets about looking for a husband for her. It is still the custom to betroth children from infancy. e Ali Alahinoud prospers, and, save for a few domestic troubles, his life runs smoothly. Perhaps' he ha# lost two of his female slave.-, or rather one has been beaten by his jealous wife and run to sanctuary. From the mosques she claims to be resold, and he has to obey the law for slaves, 'l'iie other regains her freedom by bearing a child. The ncgress slaves enjoy a much better time than their Aloorish mistress. They are not bound by iron laws and customs. They may go unveiled in the streets and if ill treated thev have their remedy.

In the evening Ali will sit and smoke in the liasoiii of his family. On Thursdays and Saturdays he visits his friends. They pass the time in simple games of cards or in listening to the weird efforts of itinerant musicians. Sometimes, with'a few others, he will wejul his way to the walls of the city. Here the party will sit watching the sunset and regretting the davs when Christian slaves were as plentiful as sheep in Morocco. Our merchant gets stout as he approaches middle age. One day his world tumbles about him. Such is the uncertainty of fate in Morocco.

He was serving in his s'liop when the customer suddenlv raises his voice and cried out that he was getting false weight. The accusation was terrible and Ali vehemently protested his innocence. It was an arranged charge by an enemy of the merchant, who philosophically bowed his head with the saying, ''Kismet! Mine enemy has found tne and the serpent requires milk." The arbitrators are called, and. having.been bribed previously, thev find Mnliinnud guilty and sentence him to the usual punishment meted out to givers of false weights. He is dragged to the southern wall of the city, to a place where a gibbet is erected. J(v the irony, of fate it is within sight of his own house. A rope is made fast to his right wrist and he is hoisted up until his toes call just touch the ground. Here he is left, till sunset. The idlers jeer at him and the gamins of the quarter pelt him wita stones and refuse. At sundown his friends carry him home—a poor, bruised, and senseless bodv. Broken and disgraced, thus ended his career as a respectable merchant, Ali Mnhnioud ol Fasi. Kismet!