Walter Matthew Gallichan

“ The Moors are inert and imp regressive; the rich are luxurious and sensual, and pass most of their time in lounging and smoking. Only among the hill-folks and the peasants are men active and industrious.
The harem of the Sultan is filled with women of various nationalities. Mr. Foster Fraser says that from time to time the royal seraglio " needs thinning," so a bunch of ladies are sent off to Tafilet, in the Atlas Mountains, to adorn the harems of descendants of Moorish kings. Usually, the Moor marries one wife, and keeps as many mistresses as he can afford. ”

“ The Moors of the cities are more inclined to polygamic unions than those of the country regions. But many rich Moors refrain from plural marriage, and maintain one wife and several concubines. Discarded wives are often compelled to live as courtesans. ”

“ The aesthetic standard of beauty in women is plump- ness, both in Morocco and Tunis. It is every Moorish and Tunisian woman's ambition to be fat. The stouter a woman is, the more she is desired as a wife; and to attain the necessary embonpoint, girls are fattened from infancy by their mothers. They are almost forcibly fed. In Tunis the women are often extremely ungainly through this induced adiposity.* Unlike the roving Arabs, who admire lithe and slightly-built women, the Moors and the Tunisians are attracted by unwieldy forms. ”