A MARRIAGE ROMANTIC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 161, 6 January 1912, Page 9 (Supplement)

A MARRIAGE ROMANTIC.

THE LIFE STORY OE THE ENGLISH WIFE OF A MOOR. Thirty-eight years ago a young and attractive English girl, then twenty years old. in spite of the opposition and fears of her family, married a Moorish gentleman of high and sacred rank. A lineal descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, her husband, the Grand Shareef of Wazan, had divorced his Mahommedan wives in order to marry her. From the point of view of her relatives such a union naturally perhaps seemed likely to prove disastrous. But after many years of married life the Shareefa af Wazan. in "My Life Story," writes: "I may say in all sincerity that I have never regretted the step I took, in spite of many sad times in latter years." This book is the record of a remarkable life. "No one can know the Shareefa of Wazan and fail to be impressed by her," writes Mr. R. B. CunninghameGraham in his preface. Her story will certainly be read with interest and sympathy. At the outset her romantic adventure certainly did not seem likely to promise happy results. "She found herself among a people who, when they hate, kill if they can; of women who, when they quarrel, poison each other if they get a chance. ... "A European woman, say in Wazan, or even in her own house in Tangier, crammed full with native women and slaves, what would have been more easy than to murder her, and throw her body down a well! We must remember that she entered into Oriental life having made three determined enemies of the ladie9 her husband had divorced." Still, by degrees she made friends of them all, and of their families, though in a measure her children enjoyed most of the father's love. "Ought we to visit her?" was a question mooted in Tangier after lier marriage, and many held back, but her life, full of vivid and strange experiences, would appear to have been very happy. The Shareef, a kind of temporal Pope in the estimation of the Moors, but a broad-minded man, respected her religion, even upon accompanying her to a British church. The Moorish people, too, respected her, and she could travel with safety among them. In a glimpse of her first home she indicates something of its unusual character. A Shareefs house is a Sanctuary, and to it "rich and poor flock to be assisted in their different troubles. These refugees and suitors would remain for varying periods, from a few hours to some months, according to the time their affairs took to arrange. "A mother or wife might be pleading for a son or husband in prison, another might be seeking redress for cruelty from some member of the family, another might have been unjustly imprisoned by Government officials. "There we saw the litigant, the deserted wife, the sick, all seeking consolation by blessings. Once the suppliants have taken sanctuary, all these matters have to be taken in hand by the head of the house, and enquiries must be made as to the authenticity of the several clients' demands. Letters to the Sultan for intercession seldom failed to ameliorate the condition of the person concerned. "Food and lodging had to be supplied to all who sought sanctuary pending the solution of their grievances." Naturally the young English wife soon desired a residence apart from the Sanctuary, and was abb? to obtain one. . During the repeated journeys she made through the country with her husband she obtained some idea of the veneration in which he was held in virtue of his descent from the Prophet. "The people worked themselves up into a perfect frenzy of delight at his arrival among them, and the hotel proprietor was put quite beside himself by the overwhelming crowds that invaded his premises. "The scenes I witnessed were extraordinary: strong men with tears rolling down their cheeks came for the Shareefs blessing. Some carried mysterious little bundles, at the contents of which I made wondering guesses; some of these contained a little flour, others wheat. "This person would have a handkerchief, that some garment, and what for? To be touched by the Shareef and thereby convey a blessing to the owner, who perhaps was prevented from coming personally. The flour might be to mix in the soup of a sick person, the wheat to be mixed, with seed so that a good crop might be expected at the next sowing. "With something akin to fascination I watched from a window this motley crowd—all was so new, all so different from anything I had ever seen or read of. Soon it was known that the Shareefs wife and little son were also in the hotel, and I had to lock my door, for the people poured in without any ceremony, in spite of the doorkeeper. They were respectful to a degree, but I knew not a word they said Money and other presents were thrust upon us, and there was no chance of refusing or returning the gifts, which were thrown into my lap or anywhere." His offering made, the donor hurried off." To understand the difficulties of her position at first an incident may be quoted. Her husband had a little motherless, daughter, Lalla Heba, by a former wife, living some distance away. The.Shareefa insisted that the delicate child should be brought up under her care. She took charge of her, dressed her in European garments (an innovation which was resented by the household), and began to educate her. The child was bright and learnt quickly and readily. But "the lessons gradually fell through, and the Shareef advised me to discontinue them for a time, at least. I knew he was disappointed. • "Years after I learned from Lalla Heba herself that she suffered from her entourage. They taunted her, saying she was being converted to Christianity; for her adoption of European customs was interpreted by her ignorant attendants as the first step towards changing her religion." Before the arrival of her own eldest son she obtained an insight into Moorish customs on such occasions: "The Moors make no preparations whatever for the little stranger' expected in a household, except the new hangings for the mother's room, so that she may bo resplendent when her friends commence to call upon her. "On the day of birth khol is fully applied to the eyes, and the eyebrows marked with the same cosmetic. After the child has been well wiped the little body is rubbed all over with a mixture of henna and oil, a linen cloth is rolled round, and after that a woollen one, a band across the forehead keeps a handkerchief over the head in place, which in turn passes under the chin. The real idea is to prevent the brain being displaced!" An amusing incident occurred in connection with the changes she made when her own child arrived: "Mother always washed and dressed the child, and a few days after his birth she invited an old retainer, a Moorish woman, whose mother and grandmother had been in the service, of the Wazan family, to be present at baby's bath. "She squatted down, and. seemed to be interested in the undressing process, seemed to perk up when soap and sponge were applied, but when the child was placed in a, bath she rushed suddenly '

from the room, down the stairs with the agility of a girl of fifteen, and without any ceremony into my husband's bedroom. "Though he was fast asleep, she shook him vigorously, saying, 'Oh, Sidi, Sidi, do come at once; the Christians are killing your son!' '•'A few minutes later the Sharcef entered my room, breathless almost, and sat, or rather fell, into aii easy chair; he looked at me, then at my mother, who, like myself, knew nothing of the old woman's visit to him. "Mother was dressing the baby by this time, and handed the child to him to be kissed. He began to smile, then to laugh, and finally he fairly shook from head to foot from the exertion, the tears rolling down his face." For her son's name-day fete she had to obtain the services of the "professional inviter"—so many hundreds of guests expecting to attend: "After exchange of compliments on both sides, the professional inviter delivers her invitation something in his style: 'Lady So-and-so, wife of Sidi So-and-so, requests the pleasure of your company, dressed in your best, on such and such a day, being the occasion, with God's blessing, of a fete.' The cause is then stated. ' "The invited guest replies that if it' is written she will attend, or send a representative, at the same time invoking benedictions on the family who have thought of her and. her family. "It took four days to summon the guests to my son's name-day fete. Exclusiveness does not exist in Moslem society, and your washerwoman may receive an invitation and accept the same. The people are wonderfully generous in lending clothes and jewels to their poorer sisters. I know rich women who take a pride in dressing up really poor girls to enible them to have an outing at some function or other. Abuse of confidence in the loan of jewels and garments seldom occurs." The Moorish meals at first were somewhat of a trial to the young Englishwoman. "A Moorish luncheon or dinner is a real trial to one's digestive organs, and if four or five families are visited in the course of a day it becomes an ordeal. Ten to fifteen courses are the number prepared. You must touch a dish when placed on the table, even if you don't partake of it. "It offends the host to see the dish untouched, so I learned the trick: take a piece of bread and dip into the gravy, breaking the symmetry of the food, and then request the dish to be removed. It is quickly replaced by another. "From our table the courses go to other guests. No one but the Sharecf's family eat' at this table, and the host becomes one of the waiters for the time being,, in conjunction with his brothers or relations, as the case may be.. Then the host's family partake of the dishes, and they go from one set to another until the remains are distributed to those assembled at the street door, when a regular scramble takes place to get a mouthful, if only, of bread. The food is considered as blessed from the fact of the Shareef's having eaten in the house." During her journeys into the interior she visited her husband's former wives. The first she saw was "a tall, masculinelooking woman of some sixty summers, with*a kindly smile and manner. She took my face between her hands, looked at me, kissed me on both cheeks, and begged me to look upon her as my mother." She saw her again on the following day, when "the tall, gaunt and dignified Shareefa . . . saluted me as she had done the day before, and also added some vigorous pats on the back, and taking me by the hand led me into a long, narrow, but very lofty room, around which, seated on divans, was the-1 greater portion of the female notabilities of Wazan, ladies of all ages, colors and complexions. "I went the round of the room to salute the dignitaries, and took a seat near my hostess. Silence was broken by nearly all the individuals congratulating the Shareefa on my arrival. Then it was- my turn to reply to enquiries if I were rested after my journey. How fared my lord and my child? That God would grant long life and good health to us all. To each individual who addressed me I had to reply, 'Thank God and you,' which became rather monotonous in such a large assembly." She never appears to have been molested in the wilder parts of the country. She went through the Riff country with her husband for the purpose of "blessing the crops"—not an unadventurous journey: "There being no law recognised throughout the Riff but the will of a head of a tribe, courts of justice are consequently unknown. Their place is supplied by the observance of a species of vendetta or blood feud. "Thus, should one man kill another, even by accident, some relation, usually the next of kin, is bound to murder the one who occasioned the death; but this man's relatives are in their turn bound to exact vengeance, and so a feud is perpetuated for generations. "I asked a little boy once if he would like to be a soldier. 'Perhaps,' he replied, 'after my mother has bought me a gun with which to kill my uncle, as he killed my father last year.' The age of this child could not have been more than seven years." Towards the close of her husband's life she had many troubles. He changed towards her, though apparently unwillingly. He became morbid and fanciful. Once it was announced to her that she was divorced. "I often wonder if certain secret and deleterious' remedies had been applied to him without his knowledge, or whether he was addicted to the use of any unknown to me. Unfortunately, here in Morocco men run great risks at times, and are often fatally injured in mind by pernicious drugs and herbs. "It is always the mental balance that becomes affected; in fact, the whole nervous system, more or less, becomes 'gradually involved in decay. From being a high and liberal-minded man, the soul of honor, gifted, in fact, with all the attributes necessary to a just and honorable career, he began to decline while yet in the prime of life." An attempt to poison her was once made. "I received warning too late from a great friend of my husband's, a Moor; his words were, 'Don't accept an egg or walnut from your husband's house during his absence.' Whatever poison I took was in a cup of coffee when I went to administer some medicine to a sick servant." In spite of his changed attitude, Mme. de Wazan nursed her husband unremittingly during his apparently unaccountable illnesses, and went to him when he was dying. "I called him by his pet name of years ago, 'Macduff, Macduff, I have come.' His hands seemed to seek something. I placed mine in his, which closed with a convulsive clasp, and he opened his eyes and murmured, 'Jitzi el aini?' ('Have you come, darling?') These were the last words he spoke; the end came, and Muley Mohammed's secretary released my hand from the dead man's clasp." At the end of his life she could say that while "I do not advise anyone to follow in my footsteps, at the same time I have not a single regret."