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Show Women Slaves in Morocco I M By MADAME DR. LEGEY. I j Wa OR many years uo .iIk.vc . IB l hva been Imported Into JUo-' IjB' f" ,,oeco by e;i' Mediterranean. Br! JL plratoa no longer chase unfor- 5i tunato vesools that have ven-tared ven-tared near the Inhospitable const of SBn i Moghrob, but slavery BtHl exists Swji ! everywhere In Morocco. MaraJccch Is yMJl wtill. as It waa at tho tlmo of -which HftHT Voltaire wrote, tho heodquartoro of fl ' this- shameless traffic. In vain Franco EHfl ' forbids slavery In all ' her African Kg9 ' poBsesBlona, but as Ions an numer- RH ouk droves of human cattle are driven HB Into Marakech by caravan from BRM Souss and Tafllct, tho slave trade will Sua' Tho Imported slaver are readily BfHf fold cither openly la tuo market, or HB! sccreUy. The slave market Is sltu- 9B a Led In tho quarter of tho aularlnoB, Bn or drug-gists. Nothing la more pltl- H fill than to gco thin slave market 9BMH where sales aro made in bright-day- pBajl light under tho protection of Allah. BM ' Imagine an enormous open Btjuaro DU surrounded by a largo number of CB boxes. In the center is a covered ffHfl sailer', under which the vendors JQ1 stand in rainy weather, A little bc- BB fore tho opening time of tho niar- KHB kot tho slave tradors bring in their lH human merchandise, leaving the ac- gHI . tual Kale to commissioners, dellals, KH ; Women, children, youths and grown Ofim men aro driven promiscuously into WggL the box-As. In most cases they make nHSI no attempt at resistance. They know HE full well that they have nothing to raHf xay, and. that they will be sold HB -whether they like- it or not. Little BHI by little the square is filled up by MB purchasers. Everybody trios to set (HDff the beat place to obtain a good view fiJHJt of the slaves. At last the dellals ar- DjH The market 1b opened with a sol- Bnjnt omn prayer. Standing near the en- mUt trance gato with their hands open to Hfflf simulate "tho Book," they place IfifW themselves under the protection of Mlm Sldl bel Abbes, the patron of town, BUR and in a loud voice recite the "Fa- USt; (lha," or first sourate of the Koran. Bl , Tt reads: "Praised be Allah, Mas- ffiH lcr of the universe, tho lenient, the HB merciful, tho Ruler on tho day of DBX retribution. It is nice whom wo EBB1 adore, it is Thy liolp wo Implore " IBB : When the Invocation is over, each 9H3i dcllal takes charge of the lot of yflBft slaves intrusted to him. A hasty EHJQf toilet is inadc, constating. In remov- HjBT moving the most filthy rage and ro- jBjflf placing them by nearly clean clothes. EBB This enhances the value of the ware, BOB and the salo begins. BMn? The dellals run all around the flJVnL square in all directions, followed by BMtl. the group of women, children and Bllfl men they have to sell. If any buyer Hra appears to be Interested, tho gang BSjl is stopped and ho is given an oppor- BMj tunity to take his choice. He care 898 fully examines the hair, teeth and Bj limbs of the crcalnros offered for jflj When a bargain is made It is rat- BMj if led before the adoul (notary). The BB price depends on the sex. age and BOB quality of the slave. I havo seen a BB- man of "4 sold for 10 douros has- jBB sani. or about $14 in American HfBf money; wlrfJe a girl of 1 or 12 brings MB 1- to 1 C0 qpuros. The very little NEE' children are worth next to nothing. Bjfl A woman who knows how to cook BJ ma" bring 500 douros. When a wom- EKf, a.n is 'brought to the. market with an BJm Infant at her breast, or just: ablo MB' to walk. It often happens that the IBnJ: buyer wants only the mother: the B8V poor baby is then sold separately. BBii Heartrending scenes take place, for BM the mother, even, if she be tho low- B9K est kind of savage, refuses to sub- BBB mil to tin' brutal separation will- Hw Ingly. but If soon beaten into sub- wUtrm mission by merciless blows. Hi Trislde the limit of two month3 the HB salo may bo declared void, if tho Biff xlavc docs not come up to the atlpu- HB la ted conditions. The "slave is then Bjfj returned to U)c merchant. This gives Bill rise to many lawsuits, and not sel- MwB ilom the cases are carried even to I the pasha, who pronounces final judgment. Theso sales, as I have said, tako place quito openly in the market, according to certain laws. The market mar-ket is practically a stato Institution. Before tho sale the merchant take the slaves before tho khallf or viceroy, who authorizes the tnuis-action. tnuis-action. This rule was made by IIu-lal IIu-lal Hassan, lather of the present sultan. During his reign a largo number of white women were sold, but so many complaints were made that ho decided to authorize only tho sale of negroes and balfbrecds. and tt no sale lu valid, without such au- EB. thorization. BJE Until the time of Mulal Hassan BUHj lil's market was tho source of an IftuonnQU8 revenue to the sultan, who took one-fifth of all slaves as his tihare; and when one sees tho large number of boxes around the nquare he may Judge of the great number of slaves disposed of. To avoid this tax and facilitate the Ealo of while slaves, the Moroccans began to .negotiate direct with tho caravans. Nobody can Imagine what a harem is like, nor form any idea of the enormous number of; women kept prisoners within its walls. I have visited harems containing 500 women and more An ordinary citizen owns a score of slaves. Monogamy exists nowhero, and those too poor to own slaves aro dreaming only of the day when they can possess some. Voluptuousness Vo-luptuousness and love of luxury arc the vices which havo brought about the degeneration and decadence of the Moroccan people. Those vices deprived the rare of ita one-time courage and pride. Tin; sultan shares the vices of hz people. Ills ha rein ie fantastic beyond be-yond all Imagination. Besides the women he has about him at Fez, he has at Murakcch, in the dar-cl-mak-hxen, a reserve. 3000 women. The royal harem at Marakcch is a special institution. Every village, every rrlbe nayu a tribute, of wonvui. to the sultan, who IB a veritable modern Minolaurue. All theso women arc kpt separate, and classified according accord-ing to their blrthplucc, each group in a separate building. Hero are tho wompii from Dur-el-Bnlda, there those from Soulra. there again I hose from Tadla, and so on Kvery group is under tho supervision of a harlfn, a kind of female major-domo, who lies the coutldcnco of tho master and tho full authority to Inflict any punishment pun-ishment she likes. .Every time a en id fears tho anger of the sultan, or merely wishes to please him, the cald offers him a number of women, often his own daughters. On account of Hub the number of unfortunate women Is almost daily increased, and they are kept In a prison from which they, are liberated only by death. The aultan. howovcr. never sells any of his slaves. Ho has tho right to. give them In marriage to his host fnonds. when he grows tired of them himself, and it is customary for him to set 100 nlaves free annually. For many years of late theso customs -have fallen Into disurie. |