TANGIER--- Gateway to Morocco

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 11, 23 September 1932, Page 3

TANGIER----

Gateway to Morocco

A talk broadcast from 3YA

by

Mr.

L. R. R.

Denny

M.A., F.R.Hist.S.

THe Orient has many so-called gateways--Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, Cairo, Tangier-but of them all Tangier is nearest to the Occiden§- It is surprising to find so close to Europe a country so thoroughly Eastern as Morbcco, and Tangier is by far the most attractive gateway to it. _Its situation you will know. Almost

at the extreme north-western tip of Africa, | on a small bay which gives on to the broad Atlantic, it is so near Spain that by a short ride of six miles or so up to Cape Spartel, one sees the hills of Spain plainly in view. Gibraltar the lion-headed is less than 40 miles away, but \ interesting, as is Gibraltar it cannot offer a hundredth part of that to . which Tangier invites us. Come with me as we drop anchor i in the early morning, and disembark on to a launch with its inevitable complement of bead and shaw] peddlers. As in Colombo liners are unable to take us up to the wharves, ' so here a launch is necessary to carry us across the last few hun-

dred yards of shallow water to that landing pier whereon bright splashes of colour in men’s garments, the babel of strange tongues, the furious fighting over luggage, the eternal wrangling over tips give an immediate and raucous intro-

duction to a typically Eastern scene, Let us pause to appreciate the layout of the pic-

turesque town, and think for a minute of its history. See how it nestles in the hollow of its low hills, and rises like an amphitheatre, with a blue crescent of crystal-clear sea in front, and’a vast azure dome of sky above. The flat-topped houses of the native quarters gleam intensely white; what is it that is strange about them? Probably the absence of chimneys. One’s. mind flashes back to similar pictures: Heliopolis, after traversing 80 miles. of desegy Suez, Colombo. Here and there the colouréd' tiles of minarets gleam like jewels in the sunshine, while occasional dark cypresses and palm trees add sombre touches to a brilliant scene. We disembark, proceed a short way on foot, and come suddenly upon our means of transport-donkeys.

We pretend to search out a knowledgeable beast; but it’s really all one. We are mounted and proceed. We are in a new world, a new humanity. To pass from the bustle of London into a Moroccity is to plunge blindly into the midst of a ‘civilisation which apparently has not changed perceptibly since the days of Moses. Tangier itself, by reason of its history, is . rathera place apart. In its historical associations Tangier is one of the oldest places in Morocco. Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans established trading centres there, much as they did-in -Mar-

seilles, and called the place Tingis. It became a imost beautiful city. Owing, however, to its unique position in those narrow. straits that have in the past tempted so many invaders, it has frequently been™ the scene of many terrible conflicts between Arabs and Berbers, and also between Europeans and ‘Moors. Walls and forts’ still remain witness to these. For as, the most interesting period in

the history of Tangier begins 1n the fitteenth century when, after many previous futile ; attempts, the Portuguese at last, in 1471, possession of the city. During the years 1580 to 1643, it passed into Spanish hands; then it again became Portuguese, and in 1661 it was presented to our own King Charles II, as part of the marriage dowry of Catherine of Braganza. The English made of it a typical garrison town. High hopes were entertained that it would be valuable not merely for trade and the suppression of piracy, but might see the beginning of an extensive

North African colony. When, however, Samuel Pepys, the diarist, as Treasurer of Tangier, visited it in 1681 all such hopes had been relinquished. General mismanagement of inadequate funds ruined it, and after two centuries of alien occupation, the Moors again ruled over it.

To-day it is thoroughly cosmopolitan, having been constituted a special international zone apart from the French protectorate over Morocco, and outside the Spanish zone. Spanish, French, Italians, and British folk are settled here, and for this reason it has lost caste among the Moors who regard it more as an infidel-ridden show-town. AVING disposed of this necessary fragment of his« tory let us look around us in the native quarters. Our donkeys amble along the commercial centre of the city, called the Little Louk, which is a steep and cobbled roadway, winding up from the harbour, through squalid native quarters to the modern and very beautiful European settlement upon Mount Washington beyond the walls. Life in the streets is fascinating. Here are scribes aud notaries in robes and turbans, squatting cross-legged on carpeted stalls awaiting the custom of their fellows. Here are tall, straight, big-boned, broad-shouldered Moors moving with a lithe grace and dignity. They wear long white gowns with the familiar enveloping "pburnouses" which add considerably to their height; some of them no doubt are merchants, Jews in dingy gaberdines jostle sturdy men from the Riff mountains, | dressed in rough brown: clothes; grinning negresses, decked out with jewels. contend. quite. hopelessly with . seductive shrouded Moorish (Continued on page 9.)

There’s Tangier, Fez, and. Ispahan, Bangkok and Singapore; There’s Trebizond and Teheran, There’s Rio and Lahore. Around the name of each there clings Enchantment’s golden veil; The magic of strange lands and things, The glamour of the trail.

fi . Tangier-Gateway to Morocco S entieneieiitenidel (Continued from Page 3.) women. It’s curious; one sees little more than the eyes, and yet they contrive to look well. Streets and Water-Sellers; Most of the streets are abominably and unbelievably narrow. Motor traffic of course does not worry one; there seems hardly to be a wheelvehicle in the whole native city; but there are innumerable donkeys, and we, moving along now on foot, are glad to press close to the wall to let a wellJaden but halterless beast go by. Here comes an unusual sight: a man with two goatskin bags slung across his shoulders; he rings a little bell, and you notice his small brass cups. He is a water-seller. A whole skinful would eost only a few pence, but the outfit looks about as attractive as a cupful of pure typhoid bacteria. This prompts the{ pbservation that the shortage of water is a serious drawback to almost every Moroccan city. Even the streets are watered in this primitive way, the goatskin bags being filled with: seawater and a full load being probably eight to ten gallons. ;

Moorish Houses. HB houses, externally at least, are not prepossessing. They are made of plaster; have no glass windows, but do possess instead intriguing and mysterious lattices which shield the harem from the gaze of the public. Many of hem have finely made doors, of oak or cedar wood, with the hand. of Fatima, the prophet’s daughter, upon them for a door-knocker. They are locked by enormous keys, which the. owners carry about with them in the streets, as if proud of the symbol of ownership. Within houses of wealthy Moors, one sees elegance and rich adornment. The walls and floors are beautifully tiled .in blue, green, and brown mosaics. A feature of palace and wealthy house alike is the central courtyard, wherein, if water supply allows, there is a bubbling fountain. Hach of the four walls of this courtyard is pierced by an arched doorway, across which a curtain is drawn. A narrow staircase leads to the first floor landing, supported by colonnades. In these the members of the household usually live, the lower ones being for the use of slaves. Thyexquisite tracery of rich mosaics and" arabesques wrought in wood, in tiles, in silk, upon the rich brocaded c= =

ats cushions on divans in long, cool, narrow rooms, give one furiously to think of the culture 6f Moor and Arab, and how much in art and science we owe thereto. It is interesting to note in passing that these intriguing geometrical de

signs are so fully developed probably because the law of the Koran admits of ho representation of any living object. Market Place. NAPOLEON is eredited with saying, that "The market place is the louvre of the people’; and certainly life in the quaint shops and open market places is fascinating. One notices the bread-sellers in particular, On account of the scarcity of fuel in Moroceo very little bread is baked in the homes of the people. Actually they do what was done in medigevai England-they make their flour into dough for bread at home, and send it, frequently per medium of the baker’s boy, to the nearest bakery to be cooked. The loaves are rather flat, are about the size of a tea-plate, and about two inches thick. The baker takes ten per cent. of the dough as his pay, and a small extra slab of dough is always put in for him. It is the loaves so made that one sees the women peddling in the not over-clean space allotted them in that queer market, A curious custom attaches to this bread-selling. The women are all discarded wives; for in Morocco monotony is a sufficient ground for divorcee, though the wife may demand such goods as she brought with her on her marriage. Beyond this she neither expects nor receives any recompense, The shops, too, are unusual. They are a series of little cubicles with a counter open to the street. There is no doorway, and it is most amusing to see merchants entering. After re moving their slippers, they scramble up over the counter, aided by a rope hanging from the ceiling for this purpose. ~ I must pass by the snake-charmer, who sets down his basket and com: mences to play; merely remarking that

cner eran cae this performance is much less thrilling than a never-to-be-forgotten snake act performed by a dancing girl in the Moulin Rouge. I can afford you just a glimpse of a Moorish school I visited: forty pairs of shoes neatly ranged by the door; forty little figures squatting on the floor, and as many piping voices chanting lustily in the bad old style. . We ean merely drop for a moment into a eafe chantant, have a cup of the blackest, most syrupy, but really most palatable coffee, and observe half-a-dozen musicians grappling with some weird and primitive instruments, including a gimbri, a single-string erude violin. Crafis, CAN do no more than mention the eraft-work in leather and brass which really is extremely good and adds much zest to one’s purchases, especially when one has seen the craftsmen.at work. I saw the famous Moorish rugs and carpets being made. The ornamentation throughout is simple and barbaric. I think their architecture is probably their finest artistic effort. European Homes. Y last picture will be of Tangier, : from the European section on the slopes of Mount Washington. It is a region of great beauty: wooded gardens wherein villas are enclosed in a setting of pines, cypresses, eucalyptus trees, and great masses of bougainvilleia. Here by moonlight one gazes out upon a twinkling bay, and between it and you houses are bathed in a soft lemon light; lights from arched shutters and latticed windows take on the colours of Aladdin’s Cave; slippered feet hush by; the wail of weird melodies from a Moorish cafe blends imperceptibly with the thunder of waves on the open coast beyond the bay. . The sunset ery of the "muezzin" calling to evening prayer comes back to one as one’s eye rests on a minaret climbing high to a jewelled sky above. "Loh Allah il Allah, Mohamet resoul Allah." "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet."