Morocco by C. E. Rentfro

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Apr 12, 1906

Morocco

By C. E. Rentfro

C. E. RENTFRO

THE following interesting items were given me by an English gentleman, who spent many years in Morocco, part of the time as consul for England. Mr. Grace has collected manuscript for a book, some of which he loaned me, that I might arrange something for our people.

Morocco is a country yet to be entered by the third angel’s message; in fact, only the Scotch Church has opened work there. It lies between Algiers and the ocean, and just across the strait and sea from Spain and Portugal. It is probably six hundred miles in length, and nearly four hundred in width, and is crossed from northeast to southwest by the Atlas Mountains, on the highest peaks of which is found snow the year round.

The capital is a city of the same name, where resides the sultan. The inhabitants are called Moors, who are descendants of those who flourished in Spain and Portugal some years ago. The country is divided into provinces, over which presides a sheik, or governor. There are no broad highways, only paths for one animal to pass at a time. The transportation is by means of camels, mules, and donkeys.

From the history of one city may be gathered a general idea of the whole. The town of Mazagan on the northwest coast of Morocco was built by the Portuguese, and from their history of this settlement we learn that the site was discovered by them in the year 1502.

They began to build forts and walls in 1509, by order of Don Manuel, then king of Portugal. They constructed four towers, and also a fortress. These structures still exist, being of a hard stone resembling granite, with battlements of solid masonry, presenting a formidable appearance. The foundation is rock. Engineers of the present day wonder by what means the enormous blocks of stone were raised to so great a height in those days. The walls, varying from eight to nine feet in thickness, are of solid masonry, and still in a fair state of preservation.

From the sea, on the northwest side of the wall, the Portuguese made a moat across the land to the southeast reef, thereby surrounding the town with water.

The width of the moat was about twenty-five feet, with a depth of about fourteen, admitting small vessels for trading purposes, at high tide.

A large reservoir was constructed inside the town, for storing rain-water, capable of holding four thousand tons of water. The roof is supported by seventy-five arches of most excellent and artistic design, with a fortification built over it. When we (Mr. Grace and others) were exploring this tank in 1857, it contained ten or twelve feet of water and mud. Since that time it has not been much thought of, and was used by the neighboring residents for sewage.

The building of the town and fortress was completed in 1541, by an architect sent from Lisbon, and was garrisoned under command of Luiz de Azambuja, with two hundred infantry and thirty-one cavalrymen. They constructed three subterranean passages, founded a hospital, built four churches, and a monastery, or place of inquisition. The latter was still existing in 1897, in the occupation of the Moors, revealing many traces of horrible deeds of violence of past ages. The town contained twenty-eight streets and fourteen lanes or alleys, also spacious stores for grain, ammunition, stabling, etc.

The history states that in 1573, by order of King Don John III, a new tower was built, under the direction and governorship of one Luis de Loureiro, who rejoiced in the title of Captain Major. He occupied this post for seven years, during which time he besieged and took possession of the town of Azamoon, which lies about twelve miles northeast of Mazagan, with a force of one hundred and twenty foot and twenty-five cavalry.

In 1542 this town of Azamoon was surrounded and retaken by the sultan’s army, and garrisoned by his troops. Minor warfare continued between the Moors of this city, assisted by the neighboring tribes, and the Portuguese, until 1546, when the sultan of Morocco sent a force of four thousand men, infantry, cavalry, and camels, to combine with the people and garrison of Azamoon, to besiege and capture the town and fortification of Mazagan. The brave Loureiro proved to be a match for them, with only one hundred and eighty men, and his cavalry defeated and pursued the army for some distance into the interior.

A treaty of peace was made for three years, signed by the sultan’s vizier and the Portuguese governor. But the Moors declared it nullified the following day, March 5, 1546. Notwithstanding protracted raids, and skirmishes, between the natives and the Portuguese, the latter held their own for two hundred and twenty-eight years, with a boundary of about two miles of land from the town walls. The ancient land-marks of stone still indicate an irregular line of border.

The population increased to four thousand souls, including the garrison, who had by that time mounted one hundred guns on the batteries. Their possessions and trade would have increased, and proved worthy of their colonizing efforts, had not a royal decree been issued by Philip, king of Portugal, in 1769, ordering the surrender of the town and fortress to Mulai Mohamed ben Abdallah, the sultan of Morocco.

This unexpected enactment becoming known in Portugal, a revolution appeared inevitable in that country, the people having looked upon the Mazagan colony as a possession in the empire of Morocco, and of vital importance to their national interests. But this was avoided by promises made by the king that he would find them possessions of equal value in South America.

The port of Mazagan was closed for many years, but eventually opened to foreign trade, becoming a town of some importance, both for imports and for exports, it being nearer to the city of Morocco than other cities on the coast, and the roads being more easy for traffic. The adjacent provinces are very fertile, favored with fine climate and rich soil, yielding large crops of maize, beans, chickpeas, cummin seed, and other grains. In other parts are found great almond forests, as well as the English walnut, and olives are plentiful, from which the olive-oil is produced.

Fruit growing attracts but little attention, owing to neglect and laziness on the part of the natives, who seldom prune the trees or fertilize the land. Figs, pomegranates, dates, grapes, and oranges are abundant, while pears, apples, plums, apricots, and other fruits are very inferior in quality.

The tribes inhabiting the interior of this district are still of a fanatical and discontented disposition, seldom missing opportunities to purloin property, steal cattle, and interrupt trade of the merchants and traders. Disturbances especially take place after the death of a sultan, or through a local governor’s exacting new taxes too heavy for them to bear.

A large encampment of many hundreds of huts is permitted outside the walls of Mazagan. These are made of the branches of trees, corded together, then thatched with wheat straw, or leaves of the stunted palm. They are inhabited by Moors of the lower classes, beggars, and Gipsies of the interior, or Ishmaelites. The lanes between these habitations are left in a most unsanitary condition. Dead animals are thrown about, to be eaten by dogs, or to decay and be dried up by the heat of the sun. No government overseer is appointed to look after or prevent such outrage by the residents. It appears marvelous how these people escape epidemics of the worst type.

The people have many superstitious ideas in cases of sickness, death, and burial, as well as in the birth of a child. Leprosy seems to be common in some parts. For intoxicating drinks they have makhia and hashish. The first is distilled from the water in which honeycomb has been boiled, before the bees’ wax is pressed out of it. It is flavored with annis, cummin, or herbs. The second is made from the stem and seed of a nauseous plant, powdered and mixed

with opium or tobacco. This is taken greedily by many of the Moors, causing sleep and stupidity, which often lasts for several days.

About the only way missionaries can work is to enter the country as physicians; for regular missionaries are hated by the people, who are mostly Mohammedans. It is to be hoped that an open door may be found for the entrance of the closing message to this people in the last generation of the world’s history. Who as a doctor is ready to enter the country of the Moors? Who as a worker for souls is ready to give his life for this people?

Lisbon, Portugal.