Tétouan

“ Time is to him no "race": he drifts easily down the years; knows no other home than, it may be, Tetuan; nor is conscious that Tetuan sleeps, as it has slept for ages, curled up, underneath the towering hills, white, petrified, like Lot's wife.
Still down more streets, and on towards the Belgravia of the city we walked, leaving steaming little hot-fritter shops, where sfins are fried in oil and eaten with honey, where cream tarts may possibly be made and honeyed cakes, and crisp pastry prepared with attar of roses, and candied musk lemons, and dates mixed with almond paste. ”

“ Behind Tetuan to the north, the mountainous Anjera country, wild, bare hills abut upon the very city wall.
The name Tetuan means in Arabic "The eyes of the springs," and all over the city water gushes out of the limestone rock—the hardest water, I submit, that ever mortal tried to drink. Such a supply is worth a kingdom to an Eastern city. Every tank, fountain, and hummum (Turkish bath) has its never-failing supply, gratis, from the heart of the hills. ”

“ Population about 25,000, of whom a fifth are Jews. It is picturesquely situated on the northern slope of a fertile valley down which flows the W. Martil, with the harbour of Tetuan, Martil, at its mouth. Behind rise rugged masses of rock, the southern wall of the Anjera country, practically closed to Europeans, and across the valley are the hills which form the northern limit of the still more impenetrable Rif. In point of cleanliness Tetuan compares favourably with most Moorish towns. ”

“ The Rif country is full of mines, and is bounded south by one of the lesser chains of the Atlas running parallel with the coast. Forests of cork clothe the mountain-slopes; the Berbers graze their herds and flocks in the deep green valleys, and export quantities of skins.
Tetuan, the Yagath of the Romans, situate at the opening of the Straits of Gibraltar, four or five miles from the sea, upon the declivity of a hill and within two small ranges of mountains, is a fine, large, rich and mercantile city of the province of Hasbat. ”

“ And as the years grew she came to know all places within and around Tetuan, the town of the Moors and the Mellah of the Jews, the Kasbah and the narrow lane leading up to it, the fort on the hill and the river under the town walls, the mountains on either side of the valley, and even some of their rocky gorges. She could find her way among them all without help or guidance, and no control could any one impose upon her to keep her out of the way of harm. While Ali was a little fellow he was her constant companion, always ready for any adventure that her unquiet heart suggested ”

“ We encamped among the bones of the dead; no space could be found free from them; and on the 23d, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa: this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. After an hour's travelling we came to a small river, which still had water standing in some considerable pools, although its banks were perfectly destitute of any kind of shade.
At three quarters after seven in the evening we arrived at Teawa, the principal village and residence of the Shekh of Atbara, between three and four miles from the ruins of Garigana. ”

“ Only by living its own life, can the country and its ways unfold themselves, and become understood and cared for, by the traveller who has time for, and a love of, such things.
As a whole, and seen in January before spring has begun, around Tetuan it is a tired and brownish-looking country: its colour is bleached and dried out of it, and it has the air of a sun-dried, wind-blown land, patched with pieces of brilliant greenery where corn has been sown near water. And yet it possesses the charm of strength and repose which simplicity gives ”

“ Each step is always historic or legendary, as well as beautiful. The next village is Teoloyucan, where one branches off to go to Tepozotlan.
Since leaving the posting-town we could see the belfry of the church looking pink and lovely against especially blue and lovely hills. The foreground was of maguey and maize fields stretching away to the mountains. Hedges of nopal, graceful willows and pepper-trees, and Indian life, mysterious, yet simple, living itself out on road and field. We were held up for quite a while by a dozen burros laden with fresh, shining skins bulging with pulque. ”

“ THE nine tales which follow have a history which is itself not without interest. The materials have been accumulated during a residence of many years at Tetuan, Morocco, varied by excursions to places in the interior where semi-barbarous life may be seen in its pristine crudeness. In Tetuan I had somewhat exceptional opportunities of getting into the heart of native life and thought, and I am under obligations also for contributions received from a venerable story-teller at Tangier, who had been assistant librarian at the Kairouin of Fez, the only university of the Moorish Empire. ”

“ And when Saint Theodore arrived at the city (camp?) of the Barbarians, he said unto them, “Will ye fight, or will ye depart in peace?” And they said unto him, “Who are we to fight? We do not see any men to fight except thyself.” And Theodore said unto them, “I want no one, for I by myself in the might of my God will destroy you all.” And the Barbarians said unto him, “Peradventure thou hast come out to fight a dog? If thou wilt select the least among us, he shall come to thee, and fight thee.” ”

“ Tetuan has more than one open mouth, and when it swallows you the contemplation of a fairyland is immediately exchanged for a desperate reality of populous filth, stentorian uproar, uneven boulders, beggars, bazaars like rabbit hutches, men and children pitted with small-pox till they appear scarcely human, lepers, Jews, pirates from the Riff Mountains, fanatics from the Ape's Hill, water-carriers, veiled, waddling women, dogs like sharp shadows, and monkeys that appear and vanish in sinister doorways with the rapidity and gestures of demons. ”

“ Go where you will in Tetuan, at every turn water bubbles into time-worn and artistically moulded troughs and basins, under quaint arches, tiled in blue and brown and white. In the narrow winding street-ways, between the houses, half dark, still the bubbling of water is heard, and the shining wet trough seen.
As we left the city and walked down the sandy road which leads to the sea, our tents lay a quarter of a mile off, two white spots, pitched on grass just off the road, the mules picketed by them. ”

“ And on this day also died Theodore, the son of David, King of Ethiopia. This saint was brought up from his earliest years with wisdom and admonition, and he learned all the Books of the Church, and then he practised horsemanship and shooting with the bow until he was a strong and full-grown man. From his youth up he was bound with the love of God and he used to give away all his possessions to the poor and the beggars; and he used to visit the churches. He fought the spiritual fight with fasting and prayer, he married only one wife, and he neither oppressed nor defrauded any man. ”

“ The tales themselves have been for centuries floating [Pg 4] through the legendary lore which plays so large a part in the intellectual cloudland of the gorgeous East; my part has been to put them into English dress, with scrupulous adherence to their substance and, as far as may be, to their native costume.
Tetuan is a typical Oriental town, beautiful from a distance, disappointing at a closer inspection, but not devoid of that classic atmosphere which invests ancient cities in the East with a spiritual something unfelt in modern centres of culture. ”

“ Centuries ago, in the shelter of this valley, lived Tutokanula and his tribe—a good hunter, he, a thoughtful saver of crops and game for winter, a wise chief, trusted and loved by his people. While hunting, one day, the tutelary spirit of the valley—the lovely Tisayac—revealed herself to him, and from that moment he knew no peace, nor did he care for the well-being of his people ”

“ As far as we have yet gone along the coast from Cape Turnagain to this place, the people have acknowledged only one chief, Teratu. If his dominion is really so large, he may have princes or governors under him capable of drawing together a vast number of people, for he himself is always said to live far inland.
3rd. The continent appeared this morning barren and rocky, but many islands were in sight, chiefly with such towns upon them as we saw yesterday. Two canoes put off from one, but could not overtake us. ”

“ The tribe which we this day saw are a part of the great Sioux nation, and are known by the name of the Teton Okandandas: they are about two hundred men in number, and their chief residence is on both sides of the Missouri, between the Chayenne and Teton Rivers. In their persons they are rather ugly and ill-made, their legs and arms being too small, their cheek-bones high, and their eyes projecting. The females, with the same character of form, are more handsome ”

“ A horn is in the middle of its forehead, and its body resembles that of a buffalo.’ [115] Its backbone is like a cross-cut saw, being flat and notched like a saw or cog wheel. When one sees it he gets bewildered, and his eyes close at once. He is crazy for a day, and then he dies. The Teton think that this matter is still in the river, and they call it the Miniwatu or water monster. They think that it causes the ice on the river to break up in the spring of the year.” [116]
The Teton say that the bones of the Uŋkćeġila are now found in the bluffs of Nebraska and Dakota. ”

“ Proceeding for a time along a level track over a mountain the name of which is Telettin Nugelid, and at an average elevation of about 5000 feet, we descended once more and forded the Tetula, or Asif Adrar n’Iri, near the pretty village of Agurgar, the name of which—walnuts—is due to the existence of [80] a fine clump of these trees. Here the district of Aït Robaa, which extends along the west bank of the Tetula as far as this point, was left behind, and we entered the small and bleak tribe-land of Aït Akherait. ”

“ This is in contrast to his position in the laws of Priests' Gifts -'Terumah', chapter 1, where he states that the holiness of the land only covers the area conquered by those returning from the Babylonian exile. It seems that he distinguishes between the earth and the environs (lit. 'air') of the Land of Israel. Terumah is related to planted crops, but ordination is related to the environs of the land, and it retains it's holiness for this purpose. ”

“ The district of Tettaha is not so luxuriant and fruitful as the country about Matavai. As I saw nothing of consequence to detain me I made a present to Teppahoo and, after inviting him to visit me on board the ship, which he promised to do, I took leave. Tinah had remained all this time in the boat. I observed that no respect was shown to him at this place, nor was he able to procure a coconut or a breadfruit otherwise than by purchasing it. The heifer being here is a proof of this district not having been friendly to the people of Matavai and Oparre. ”

“ The term teotl was given to the head of a tribe, who constituted the living image of the tribal ancestor. When he died he himself became one of the tribal ancestors and all dead lords were termed teotle.
The foregoing data enlighten us as to the practical value of a sternly enforced system of division and differentiation for the control of the population, and of clay images of persons for statistical purposes. We have seen that, during many centuries, the energy of the rulers was directed towards making groups of people as distinct and different from each other as possible. ”

“ He was forced to plunder, or go to the reservation for Government beef. Thence came much whisky and much loafing. The new young man had not the training of his father. So, in a little, the Teton nation was subdued and brought to reservations, and herded in an overall-plug-hat-blanket-wearing multitude, even now but half-tamed, and fiercely instinct with hereditary ferocity and resourcefulness. Other Indians go to Carlisle, learn to plough, and become at least partially civilized. The Sioux, fierce, hawk-eyed, wide-nostrilled, sits in solitary dignity before his lodge, brooding. ”

“ And this word shall be carried to the Onondagas by Teganouan. He will go to the council with the scalp in his hand telling them that the white children of Onontio are their brothers. Teganouan sees the Big Buffalo stand with his strong hand at the door. He knows that the Big Buffalo could call his warriors to seize Teganouan, and bind him, and bid him stand before the white men’s muskets. 399 But Teganouan is not a child. He sees with the eye of the old warrior who has fought a battle for every sun in the year, who has known the white man as well as the redman. ”

“ My artist friends as a rule agree with me in these matters, and that is another reason why your unsympathetic attitude surprises and grieves me. I know your home-life has been such as would prejudice you against the redman, but your training in Paris should have changed all that. You consider the Tetongs 'good material'—if you come to know them as I do you will find they are folks, just like anybody else, with the same rights to the earth that we have. Of course, they are crude and unlovely—and sometimes they are cruel; but they have an astonishing power over those who come to know them well. ”