washing, the lower for refuse. Large portions of the streets are completely covered in and resemble tunnels, the houses being built right across. Fez is a veritable paradise for an artist, and some of the vistas are very beautiful: here glimpse of some old halfruined mosque tower; there a bridge across the street where the houses meet, with quaint windows screened by mushrabiyyeh work, and festooned with giant cobwebs, which look as if they dated from the beginning of time. The attention of the pedestrian is fully taken up in avoiding the numerous horses, donkeys, and mules which pass and repass, leaving but little room on either side; the ory of "Balak," or "look out," is ever on the air, shouted now by a donkeyboy or grimy charcoal-seller, now by some slave running at the stirrup of a wealthy merchant or high official who, mounted on splendid mules, perched on high-peaked saddles of crimson cloth, and clad in flowing garments, present, with their often handsome and venerable features, pictures of true oriental dignity. Every here and there, debouching from the larger streets, are dark and narrow alleys, dim, mysterious, and gloomy, whence issue the the shrouded forms of women who shuffle by with an air of secrecy and intrigue. There must be many such by - lanes, and in fact, whole quarters in Fez where Europeans seldom enter. The writer has a lively remembrance of being once lost in the lower city after sunset, and of wandering for what seemed hours up and down in almost pitch darkness through streets 80 narrow that a horse could just pass, vainly inquiring the way from the few pedestrians encountered, who either paid no heed to his request or merely said they did not know. Frequently the European is greeted by the children with a pert "Bon jour" and a winning smile; for to these youngsters, unlike their parents, Christians have always been a familiar sight; but, on the faces of the old, one can often see that look of dislike and contempt characteristic of other days. The objects of interest in the lower parts of the city are so many that it is impossible to desoribe them here. The Souks, or bazaars, fairly hum with activity, each quarter being devoted to the sale of a particular kind of merchandise: such as the Kattaneen, where the cottons and cloths are sold; the Attareen, or spice market; the Saffareen, or brass market; the Shemain, or dried fruit and candle market. Fez possesses a great number of mosques and shrines; it has been stated that the number is as high as two hundred, but this may be an overestimate. The most noteworthy and largest of these mosques are the Mosque of Mulai Idrees and the Karuëein. As has already been said, the approaches to the former are marked by a wooden bar across the street to prevent the passage of ing beautiful carved woodmules and donkeys. The work,-an old - world nook portion thus railed off is where, at a fountain of clear paved with tiles and kept clean spring water, women and girls and clear of refuse. Entrance fill their graceful jars. What to all mosques in Morocco is might have been a disaster of strictly forbidden to Euro- the first magnitude threatened peans, but one can now pass Fez in the early morning of by the open doors and get 22nd June 1918. It was near a glimpse of part of the in- the end of Ramadan, and the terier, although the actual whole city was sunk in slumber. tomb of the saint is hidden Suddenly the alarm was given, from view. The Karuëein is and it was discovered that the said to be one of the largest Kaiseria, a cotton market mosques in the world, and lying between the two mosques capable of accommodating as of Mulai Idrees and the Karumany as 22,000 worshippers. öein, had taken fire and was It has eighteen doors, and, blazing fiercely. At first passing these, long vistas oan nothing was done, and soon be obtained of innumerable hordes of looters were at work rows of pillars covered half- taking advantage of the 0008way up with matting, and sion; but, after a considerable glimpses of a great tiled and delay, the French authorities sunlit courtyard with beautiful were informed, and the milifountains in coloured mosaics. tary were immediately sent This great mosque has always down with hand - pumps to been the University of Fez, fight the flames, while an where the students or Tolba, armed who live in the Medersas, come for instruction. The procedure is simple, the teacher merely sitting on a chair in seme corner of the building, and giving his comments on some passage in the Koran to his pupils gathered round him. The library attached to this mosque was once famous throughout the world, but little now remains, and, from what can be learned of its contents, no startling disooveries are likely to be made when, as must happen shortly, Europeans gain access to it. The Andalus Mosque, though much smaller, is also very fine, and near it is an exquisite little Medersa contain oordon was drawn round the quarter, and plunderers were apprehended. Thanks to the efforts of the French officers, who, taking off their coats, worked like heroes, the fire was at last mastered, but not before immense stocks of cotton and other goods had been burnt or charred, and many merohants all but ruined, while the sacred shrine of Mulai Idrees only just escaped. Should this venerated mosque have been destroyed, it would have caused an immense sensation throughout Morocco, and a general rising against the Christians would probably have followed. The French have now con dominating all, south-eastwards on the far horizon, the great snow fields of "Jebel Musa Es Salah" and the "Bou Iblan" tower high against the clear blue sky, the highest part of the Middle Atlas, and the stronghold of the Beni Warein structed a carriage-road right round the city, from which, at intervals, most extensive and beautiful views can be obtained. On a clear spring or autumn day it is hard to imagine that anything could be more lovely than the pieture which Fez presents from the heights, a great Berber tribe who, in either to the north or the south of the old town. From these heights Fez is completely dominated by a series of forts, -some of them built by the Sultans as protection against the neighbouring tribes, the remainder ereoted by the French after the revolution of 1912, and equipped with field-guns which could speedily reduce the city to ruins. From the Borj Nord, or biggest fort on the north side, the panorama is very grand. The foreground falls sharply down, covered with cactus and olive, to the darkgreen foliage of the gardens, filled with fruit trees and blazing in the autumn with red and gold. Beyond them the ground again rises to the line of the battlemented walls, grey with age, which, oraoked and erumbling, lean this way and that, apparently always on the verge of collapse. Inside them is the great grey mass of the oity, the flat-roofed houses so jumbled together that they seem piled one upon another as they spill in a great cascade down the steep slope. On the farther side rise wooded heights studded with old tombs, and saint-houses with their domed and fluted roofs; beyond them are other heights dark with olives; and still further rise blue and distant hills; while, -a dependent since the beginning of history, still to this day preserve their uplands unexplored and untrodden by the feet of the unbeliever. The writer has spent hours with a powerful telescope scanning the snows and the lower slopes, which are thickly covered with magnificent cedar forest. On a clear day, and even at forty miles, enough can be seen to show how lovely this mountain country must be, and already the French have projects for the building of hotels as sanatoriums, and eentres for winter sports, when the country has been finally conquered and rendered safe for travellers. The view of Fez from the south is almost equally beautiful and picturesque, but the horizon is more limited, being bounded to the north by the great grey mass of Jebel Zalagh, which rises steeply to a height of 2000 feet above the city. It is a constant source of pleasure to view this panerama at sunset-when the old walls and mosque towers glow pink in the level rays, and the lower parts of the city are lost in violet shadows; while flights of snow-white egrets wing their way up from the valley of the Sebu to their roostingplaces in the gardens; and over all rise the distant heights of Atlas, the snows flushed Winter-i.e., December to the rosy in the setting sun. An- beginning of March-is often other delight is to sit on some delightful out of doors but bright moonlight night in early bitterly cold inside the houses, summer on one of the flat roofs which are not constructed for in the upper part of Fez, and warmth; in fact, contrary to gaze out over the sleeping conditions elsewhere, one puts eity pure white in the moon- on an overcoat indoors and beams, silent and mysterious, takes it off to go out. In wet while overhead the stars gleam weather the country becomes and twinkle in the clear African almost impassable owing to the sky. mud, and the steep streets of the sity so slippery that progression is difficult. March and April are the flowery months, when the whole country is covered with bloom, and the hills round Fez are carpeted with iris, pimpernel, purple convolvuli, musk balsam, vetehes, pink immortelles, wild mignonette, larkspur, thyme, ex-eye daisies, hyacinths, poppies, and many others too numerous to mention: so thick that every step crushes them under foota wild riot of bloom and colour, but short-lived, for by the middle of May everything has once more withered before the fiery breath of summer. Gardens in Fez do well if properly looked after, and almost anything can be grown with eare, since water, the great essential, is always at command. The Moors oultivate a species of small rose from which they make rose - water, and when this flowers great donkey-leads of blooms are sold in the streets, perfuming the air with their sweetness. Most fruits can also be grown, and every garden has its orange, lemon, pomegranate, plum, fig, peach, and apricot trees, but the three last-named are small and lack the flavour of the home variety. Despite all its attractions, the elimate of Fez is very trying to the majority of Europeans. There are days in spring and autumn when the temperature is ideal; but the summer months-i.e., June to September-are burning hot. The two prevailing winds are the east and west. When the east wind or Siroooo blows, the air is like the breath from a furnace, and seems to scorch the very marrow in one's bones, while existence becomes wellnigh intolerable and nature languishes; the surface of the earth is all parched and yellow, and the ground so dry that it is hard to believe that it could ever recover or become green once more. Not only is this east wind hot, but it brings with it all manner of noiseme insects, and has the effect of stringing up the nerves to an extraordinary pitoh. The west wind, on the contrary, always brings relief and cooler weather, and seems to sweep away the flies. October and November are perhaps the best months of the whole year; the days are clear and sunny and just cold enough to be pleasant, while the autumn tints and young green grass are a delight to the eye. Grapes are grown in the surrounding country, from which excellent raisins are made, but no wine, although the Meknez district produces a very fair variety. As regards the government of the city, the original system of local functionaries is adhered to as far as possible. The Basha, or governor, still dispenses summary justice with the aid of his Khalifa or assistant, and the Kadis, or native judges, settle points of law; but all are under very strict control, and a record of every case has to be kept and submitted to the French officials concerned. There are rather a bewildering number of Bureaux dealing with Municipal and Regional affairs, and a Juge de Paix who hears cases against Europeans; although all serious cases, both native and European, are tried by the Supreme Court at Rabat, which is now the centre of the administration and the residence of the ResidentGeneral. It would be idle to pretend that this new order of things is altogether popular with the natives, but this is hardly to be wondered at when one considers how fanatical and independent they are as a race. Feast-days in Fez are always interesting. On these occasions guns are discharged in the streets, and musicians on mule-back promenade the main thoroughfares, blowing a kind of pipe with a high shrill note, and followed by crowds of men and boys, who often proceed thus to the shrine of Mulai Idrees with a bullock or sheep which they sacrifice at the door of the mosque. During the great feast of the Aid el Kebeer thousands of sheep are brought in from the country and slaughtered in the houses. On certain occasions the popu. lation goes out en masse to some saint-house outside the city, and the scene is most interesting and picturesque. The ground is covered with the white-robed throng, and all sorts of entertainments are in full swing: here a storyteller, there an unfortunate monkey on a chain being baited by small boys, again a snake charmer or a bevy of dancers. Often during the feasts the flat roofs of the city are orowded towards evening with women in bright-coloured dresses, and the result, when seen from some coign of vantage, is very pleasing and effective. There are two sects in Morocco, the Hamadcha and the Aissous, whose followers give themselves over to the most barbarous and degrading practices. The Hamadcha perform a kind of dance, leaping into the air and, as they alight, bringing down on their heads with considerable force a sort of battleaxe which outs deeply into their scalps, and they soon become covered with their own blood, and present a most disgusting spectacle until they fall faint and exhausted to make room for others. The Aissous, or followers of Sidi Aissa, repair every year to the tomb of their patron saint at Meknez. At this time they work themselves up into a |