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negotiations, and which caused some delay to my release.

days one of your sons or brothers or nephews will be executed-one each morning; and more their bodies will be burnt and the ashes scattered to the wind. You will see the smoke from here "-for Tangier was visible from where we were. Now, the Moors believe in a corporeal resurrection, and the burning of a body means the depriving of the soul of resurrection. It was a splendid bluff, and I felt the greatest delight in using it. I was there alone, seated in the centre of a great circle of the tribesmen, who swore and cursed and threatened,-but to no avail.

a matter of no importance in the Christian religion what became of one's body, and pointed out the consequent loss of fifty-six good Moslem souls, deprived of going to heaven. I was successful. The tribesmen returned to their original demand.

It had been agreed that twelve prisoners from the tribesmen, confined in various Moorish Government prisons, were to be released in exchange for myself; but after a very numerously attended meeting, at which a number of fresh mountaineers arrived, a demand was made for the release of over fifty. The British Legation was notified of this, and very rightly objected to this sudden and very large addition. Sir Arthur Nicolson wrote me to this effect. Before, however, making known the contents of his letter, I obtained I even explained that it was the names of all the fifty tribesmen whose release was demanded, and sent the list to Tangier, pretending that it was to be submitted to the authorities, in order that in the case of its acceptance orders for the release of the men might be given. Once this letter was well on its way, In all my dealings with the I made known to the tribes- Moors I have found this, that men that on no account would the intelligent European, promore than the original twelve vided he has a complete and prisoners be released. At first absolute knowledge of the lanthey tried persuasion, and guage, holds a very distinct then threats; but I felt sure advantage over the Moor. He of my position. "You pro- has, in fact, two advantages— pose," I said, "to kill me. hereditary training of thought, Possibly you will do so, but and education. The Moor is you have kindly given me a generally, by his environment list of all your relations who and isolation, a slow thinker, are in the Moorish prisons and in the many difficult sitsome fifty-six in all, I think. uations in which I at times This list is now in Tangier. found myself, I always had conYou will have the satisfaction fidence in my own mental of killing me; but remember superiority over the average this-on fifty-six consecutive native. I have been able to

turn threats into ridicule, or to raise a laugh, or to persuade by the mere superiority of the power of thinking and of giving utterance to one's thoughts. The Moor is very susceptible to sarcasm and ridicule, and often I have turned what looked like becoming a stormy incident into the pleasantest of channels. Knowing the mentality of the Moor and his language so well, I have trusted solely to this superiority,-except for sporting arms, and those only on shooting trips, I have, almost without exception, carried no arms, which are often more a source of danger than of security.

The only time that I left my quarters for more than a few minutes together was on one occasion, a few days after my arrival, when I was taken down to a gully below the village to be shown the corpse of a Moorish cavalry soldier who had been killed during the engagement. In revenge for the beheading of the Zinat man who had been killed, the tribesmen had mutilated the soldier's body. It was a ghastly sight. The summer heat had already caused the corpse to discolour and swell. An apple had been stuck in the man's mouth, and both his eyes had been gouged out. The naked body was shockingly mutilated, and the finger-tips had been cut off, to be worn, the tribesmen told me, as charms by their women. The hands were pegged to the ground by sticks driven through the palms, about a yard in

length, bearing little flags. A wreath of wild flowers was twined round the miserable man's head, and the village dogs had already gnawed away a portion of the flesh of one of the legs. I was jokingly informed that that was probably what I should look like during the course of the next few days.

I had used every opportunity to bring the friendly tribe of Anjera over to my side, and on the night of the ninth day my friends rose nobly to the occasion. They surrounded Raisuli's house and village with perhaps a thousand men, all armed and prepared, and demanded that I should be handed over to them, threatening that, if this were not immediately carried out, they would shoot or arrest Raisuli. It was a little coup d'état, and it was successful. In the middle of the night I was hustled out of the small room which I shared with a dozen guards, placed on the back of a mule, and carried off into the Anjera mountains by my friends of that tribe. For six hours we proceeded through mountain passes and thick brushwood, arriving soon after sunrise at the village of Sheikh Duas, one of the most influential of the Anjera tribesmen. It was a journey; I will never forget it-the darkness of the moonless night, the rough mountain tracks, the silence of the hundreds of armed men who accompanied me, and the intense relief that,

even if my captivity was long protracted, I was amongst men who would, at any rate, protect my life. I was tired and weak. Nine days of constant strain, in great heat, on a diet of inferior dry bread and water, with the necessity the whole time of pretending rather to enjoy the situation than otherwise, had worn me out. But from the friendly tribe of Anjera I received nothing but kindness every word, every act of theirs was cheering and thoughtful; and though life among them was rough enough in its way, I owe them a debt of gratitude that it will be difficult ever to repay. I remained twelve days at Sheikh Duas's village in the Anjera mountains, and throughout that period I never suffered an indignity or an insult from him or his people. A little room in his house was put at my disposal, and infinite pains were taken to render it clean and habitable. The best of such food as was procurable was given me milk and creamcheese, and a rough porridge of sour milk and millet. His followers for Duas is not above being a cattle-robber on a large scale-helped me to pass my time pleasantly enough, and with them I explored the neighbouring mountains, and sat in the shade of the fruit trees of their little gardens listening to their local musicians or watching the ungraceful movements of their dancing girls. I made friends there whose friendship I shall always

value.

I was treated as one of the tribe. I wore their dress, shaved my head, and conformed to all their customs; but above and beyond all, my anxiety was at an end-I knew that I was out of grave danger.

Meanwhile the British Minister, ably assisted by the Shereef of Wazzan, was carrying on the negotiations. Although I was now amongst amongst friends, these negotiations were delicate and difficult, for the Anjera tribe had given their word to the other tribes concerned not to release me until their prisoners were set free, and these other tribes were constantly desirous of changing their conditions, and, owing to the distances which separated them, this necessarily meant delay. The very fact that I was now some twenty-seven miles a day's journey-from Tangier protracted the negotiations. Several times I seemed on the point of release, but some small hitch, unimportant, it is true, would arise and a delay occur.

Except for this the time passed pleasantly, the scenery was delightful, and although it was the middle of summer the air was cool at this altitude. Little streams of water ran in every direction, and I was able to bathe and be clean once more. To all intents and purposes I was free to go where I pleased, and though always accompanied by guards, so thoughtful and kind were they that one forgot that they were there to prevent my escape, and we all became the best of

friends. Meanwhile the Shereef of Wazzan spared himself no trouble. No sun was too hot for him to travel, no journey too tiring for him to undertake. He attended the tribal meetings, and made known to the headman the British Minister's intentions with regard to the tribal prisoners, orders for whose release had meanwhile been received from the Sultan. His Majesty's readiness to comply with Sir Arthur Nicolson's request was deserving of all praise, for it must be remembered that the action of the rebels throughout was intended to humiliate the Sultan and his Government. What rendered the situation during my captivity, especially during the first part of it, doubly insecure was the fact that the tribes were in active communication with the pretender to the Moorish throne-the leader of the rebellion in the Riff-and it was proposed over and over again to send me to him as a useful hostage; and, had it not been for the friendship which existed between me and the Anjera tribe, a friendship of long standing, I have no doubt this proposal would have been carried out.

On Saturday, 4th July, a large tribal meeting was held near Sheikh Duas's village, and during the usual wrangling which occurred on these occasions the Shereef of Wazzan arrived, having travelled the twenty-seven miles from Tangier that day, in spite of the heat of the July sun. His

opportune presence settled my fate, and the negotiations were brought to a conclusion, not without considerable opposition. The following day a large contingent of tribesmen, the Shereef, and I, set out for Tangier, spending the night some twelve miles from that place. Even here a last attempt was made an attempt that nearly led to bloodshed-to prevent my release, but happily unsuccessfully. The next morning we moved down towards my own house, which stands alone, some two and a half miles from the town. In a ruined fort a quarter of a mile from my villa a halt was made, and messengers were despatched to town with letters to the British Minister to release the tribal prisoners, who for the last week or so had been comfortably housed in the basement of the British Consulate, having been brought up from Laraiche in specially chartered steamers. Within an hour we saw the sixteen prisoners arriving, and very shortly afterwards they were being welcomed by their friends. Lord Cranley, Mr Wyldbore-Smith, Mr Kirby Green, and Mr Carleton accompanied the prisoners on behalf of the British Legation, but no formal exchange took place. The moment the prisoners arrived I was free to depart, though the many adieux that I had to make with my mountain friends took some little time. We parted on the best of terms, and wild

and savage as the two hundred tribesmen looked, I could not but feel how great a debt of gratitude I owed them for having released me from the dangers and discomforts of my first days of captivity.

For a year after this adventure Raisuli remained tolerably quiet, but the following spring he carried out a coup even more daring. He surrounded the villa of Mr Perdicaris at night, and carried off both the proprietor and his son-in-law. The American Government sent a fleet to Tangier, and the whole world watched the ensuing negotiations. Mr Perdicaris and Mr Varley were restored to liberty, but at what a price! Raisuli demanded and obtained from the Sultan the following terms: That he should be appointed the Governor of all the districts in the neighbourhood of Tangier ; that the existing Governor his former friend, who had betrayed him should be deposed; a ransom of $70,000, the imprisonment of all his enemies, and the release from prison of all his friends-and other concessions of less importance. The Sultan surrendered, and the terms were carried out. Raisuli found himself all-powerful-a hero in the eyes of the Moors, a menace in those of Europe.

His first acts were good. He put down the effervescence which Bou Hamara's rebellion had caused in the neighbourhood, and he opened the roads to caravan traffic, and since

he was made Governor not a single caravan had been robbed within the limits of his jurisdiction. He brought about, in fact, a period of greater security than had existed during the previous year or two; but a security that depended upon Raisuli was naturally a doubtful one.

As his influence increased he became a despot. He squeezed the people under him and extorted money from even the very poorest of the poor. The Makhzen lived in terror of him, and let him know it, with the result that he ignored their orders and commands, and even the treaties with Europe. He threatened and blackmailed even the Makhzen themselves, who openly acknowledged their incapacity to deal with him, and he became at the same time the protector and the scourge of Tangier and the surrounding districts. He enforced his authority up to the very gates of the town, and his armed followers even entered and dragged out of prison men who were not in his jurisdiction. representative administered justice (!) in the market-place, and beat people to death within a few yards of the French and German Legations. In 1906 Raisuli had reached the zenith of his power. At Zinat it was sufficient to tell a man that he was a prisoner, and he would never attempt to escape. There was no need to lock him up

His

he knew that his master's arm was long enough to reach him wherever he fled to-and

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