CHAPTER X

DEALINGS WITH MULAI HAFID

After the successful termination of this episode, el Raisuli could have lived in peace and waxed rich and prosperous, without fear of retribution, for it would have been difficult to have haled so peculiar a type of British subject before the tribunal at Tangier; but, by this time, the Sherif had learned much of European politics. He understood that foreign Powers would soon intervene in Morocco, and the blend of religious fervour and ambition in his nature crystallised into a somewhat egotistic form of patriotism.

“All my life I have fought for the freedom of my people,” said the Sherif, “and I had no hairs on my face when I first took up a gun on their behalf. He who has shaped men cannot be content with building houses out of dead bricks and plaster. I went to Azeila and brought my family there, for I had the intention of constructing a great kasbah, but news came to me that Mulai Hafid had proclaimed himself Sultan at Marakesh. His brother, Abdul Aziz, had treated me very badly and he had no consideration for the country under his rule. He spent all his money on toys unfit for a king—he had a machine to take pictures, like yours[35] but made of gold and set with jewels. The palace was full of his playthings, and each one of them was worth the pay of a regiment. He had carriages which he could not drive because there were no roads, and all sorts of foolish things, of which perhaps his lions were the most useful, for he fed them on his prisoners!” The Sherif actually smiled at his joke.

“He was so much in the hands of his Ministers that, even when Bou Hamara was at the walls of Fez, he did not know there was a rebellion. Mohamed Torres was talking to him one day, and he happened to mention the pretender. ‘Who is he?’ said Abdul Aziz. ‘I have not heard of him.’ Allah Mulai Hafid could not be deceived so easily! The Ministers kept everything from the Sultan, and, since one man may rule a country, but not many, it was written that he should fall.

“At that time we all thought Mulai Hafid, his brother, was a good Moslem and sincere, so I wrote to him saying that I would proclaim him as Sultan among the tribes, and he agreed, sending me the act of proclamation and ordering me to pitch my camp at Akbar el Hamara in the centre of the country. El Menebbhe was with me there, and we sent messengers to all the headmen, telling them of the new Sultan, who had now reached Fez. It was necessary that a deputation from each tribe should travel to the capital to make an oath before the Commander of the Faithful, so I gathered together ninety men, representatives of all the Jebala, and, with my cousin, Mulai Sadiq, we proceeded to Fez. Mulai Hafid received us with great honour, and we were lodged in the house of Mohamed Tazi in Abba Zarqui. It was a palace capable of sheltering all the ninety, and the Sultan spent 200 duros[36] a day for our food alone.

“I stayed there four months and three days, for there were many difficulties. I did not want to give up the protection of the English, but Mulai Hafid refused me a post in his Maghsen as long as I was a British subject. There was also the question of the ransom of Maclean, for only a third of it had been paid. The rest was owing in instalments, spread over two or three years.

“I had many meetings with Mulai Hafid, and I found him well educated and worthy of respect. Often I was alone with him in a part of the palace called Bab el Deaf. There was a Qubba lined with coloured glass and very splendidly furnished with carpets and mirrors. Here we sat and talked while slaves kept the door, and I did not know that, from the beginning, Mulai Hafid was in the hands of the French, who supplied him with arms and money. I thought that he was loyal and would save his country which he saw threatened, for he was a man of pleasant speech and the twist in his tongue was not visible. He gave me many presents of silks, guns, carpets and furniture, and a horse that no man had yet been able to mount. Allah, it was killed under me in battle! So there was much talk and much discussion, and it seemed there was no ending to the matter.

“The tribes were anxious for my return, for my country is always desirous of war, and it is only my influence which holds it quiet.” He made a gesture of flattening something with both hands. “At last I agreed to renounce the protection of your Government and also the money which was due to me as the ransom of Maclean. I signed a paper to this effect, and in return the Sultan appointed me Governor of Azeila and of all the tribes in the district—the Wadi Ras and the Beni Mesauer, Beni Ider, Beni Leit and the Anjera, the Garbis, Dedrus, Sumata, Beni Isef, Sahel, the Kholot, who were always rebellious under my enemy the Kaid Ermiki, Ahel Serif and Beni Gorfet.

“Then, when all these matters were arranged, Mulai Hafid sent a message to me, saying, ‘I would speak with you alone.’ I thought it was finished between us, and my men were making preparations for departure. When they saw the slave whispering in my ear, they said, ‘Allah knows if we shall leave this place before we die,’ but I went swiftly to the palace. It was the hour of noon, when no man receives a guest, but I was led straight to the private apartments of the Sultan and the doors were closed behind me. Mulai Hafid was sitting on a sofa, with his feet crossed under him, and he beckoned me to sit beside him, by which I saw the matter was one of friendship.

“He was troubled, and I thought I saw his thoughts for the first time. He spoke to me then about the Europeans and his fear that they would take the country. ‘I feel myself weak before them, and I need your friendship,’ he said; and I swore to him that I would render him any service at any time, but he was not satisfied. His mind was undecided like that of his brother, and he spoke of the future, when all would be taken from him. ‘My officials are like a flock of starlings fattening on the land,’ he said, ‘but if the Europeans come they will be like vultures, and it will be our bodies, not our lands, they will eat.’

“Then he got up and, making sure that we were alone, he brought the Koran from its case and unwrapped it before me. ‘Swear to me an oath’; he said, and laid the book between us. I answered, ‘An oath is not necessary, for my word is well known in the country. Many have broken faith with me, but my word is my manhood and my weapon. It is inviolable.’ Still he urged me, ‘In the name of Allah, swear to me that, till the day of your death, you will be with me for the defence of this country against the Christians.’ ‘Swear it with me,’ I said, and we kissed the Book and vowed never to cease from protecting the Moslem land and the Moslem peoples.

“That oath I have kept, and lost all things by doing it, except my honour, but Mulai Hafid was already leaning towards the French, and, in the end, he gave way to them altogether. So he broke faith with Islam, but not with me, for we swore that neither would deceive the other and that, whatever the one asked, the other would do. This oath was always kept, and, for the sake of it, at the bidding of Mulai Hafid, I released my greatest enemy when he was my prisoner; but that was later.

“So I left Fez in peace, and the Sultan provided me with a mehalla, furnishing it with arms and equipment and providing the pay of the men, but the act appointing me Governor was not yet in my hands. Mulai Hafid said to me, ‘I require 300,000 douros from the tribes, for my treasury is empty.’ So I went back to Akbar el Hamara and told the mountaineers what was required of them. Many of them refused to pay this tribute, and there was war. Beni Ider and Beni Gorfet in Gebel Habib were strongest against me, for the Sheikh of the latter was a great warrior and a descendant of Khad Reilan, who fought the English in Tangier. Mulai Hafid had given me artillery and ammunition so, in spite of the courage of the tribesmen, I conquered them and made them pay the money the Sultan demanded, and 300 douros extra for each day they had fought against me.

“This was not among the hardest of my campaigns, but, at one time, the three tribes of Anjera, Wadi Ras and Beni Mesauer rose against me, and they came unexpectedly around the mountain where I was camped. There were 5,000 men below me—” “Allah knows it,” interrupted the Kaid, lying on a mattress behind his master, who was enthroned in the mighty chair; “but it was like sparrows attacking the eagle which flies far above them.” “With me, were el Menebbhe and perhaps 300 others,” said Raisuli. “It was the dawn when we began to fight, and we lay hidden behind the boulders and fired till our rifles grew so hot that we had to put them into buckets of oil. Mubarak and Ghabah knelt one on each side of me, loading, till our fingers stiffened on the triggers. But the men of Beni Mesauer, Beni Aros and Anjera could not climb the mountain against the rain of our bullets. All day we fought and, at last, when the sun was low, I stood up on the rocks and picked out men like the hunter shoots hares, but none could touch me. In all my battles I have never been wounded. Then the tribesmen said: ‘It is enough! We have finished,’ but I shouted to them, ‘By Allah, it is not! You have visited me, and your greetings are buried in the flesh of my men. Be sure that I will return your visit!’

“It was then night, but the next day, before the barrels of our rifles had cooled, I led a force against the Anjera and burned their lands. They had thought, ‘He must be tired after the fight, so we shall have some days to rest,’ and, when they saw my army, they said, ‘We are lost, for Allah has strengthened him against us.’ The next day I went against Wadi Ras with another troop and defeated them, forcing them to pay tribute, so much for me, and so much for the family of each of my men who had been killed. Then I would have proceeded against Beni Mesauer, but they sent messengers to me, suing for peace. I was sitting under the trees at the edge of my camp when they came, and a red carpet was spread beside me, for I was about to pray. Then I said, ‘Let them take off their shoes before entering my camp, for this ground is my house and worthy of their respect!’ They came and stood before me, with their eyes downcast, as women in the presence of their master, and I granted their requests because Beni Mesauer is of my kin through my mother, and besides, it is not permitted that an Arab refuse a petition.

“By these means I collected the money that the Sultan had demanded, so much from each tribe, and it was Mulai Sadiq who had charge of it to send it to Fez. Mulai Hafid was glad when he received it, for there were many who continued to eat his substance, and he sent to me his first Minister. ‘I bring you greater wealth than you have collected for my master,’ he said, and gave me the letter proclaiming me Governor of Azeila and the tribes of which I told you. The Kaid, Ermiki, one of my worst enemies, for he was chief of the Kholot tribe, was then Pasha of Azeila. Ullah, he had paid 120,000 douros to the Sultan for this post, and I do not know how much more to the Ministers, that his petition might be favourably received. He had not yet made this sum out of the province he oppressed, so that which had been rivalry between us became, on his side, hatred.

“I stayed three months at Al Kasr, after which I left my cousin, Mulai Sadiq, there as Kaid and went to Azeila. Sidi Badr ed Din was also with me at Al Kasr. Do you remember?” “Ullah, do I not, since it was there you gave me such a beating!” Old Mulai Sadiq chuckled. “Tell the story, oh, full moon!” he urged.

“It was not my fault, but the fault of another,” began the secretary, showing very white teeth in an unlined face. “It was a question of some letters which the Sherif had received from the Maghsen. They were private and very important. No one must see them, yet the Sherif had put them down somewhere, and it was now midnight.” “It was your duty to look after these things,” interposed Raisuli. “True, Sidi, but, after all, it was someone else who had moved them. When they could not be found, the Sherif was so angry that he beat me with his fists and afterwards with his slippers. Ullah, my master can be energetic! I ran down the stairs into the street, and he rushed after me and threw stones at me, calling me a dog! He came so swiftly that you would have thought it was a gazelle which was behind me.” The idea of the huge bulk of the Sherif ever having the slightest resemblance to a gazelle was amusing, and Mulai Sadiq shrieked with laughter.

[Illustration: Mulai Sadiq in his home at Tetuan]

[Illustration: Nephew of El Raisuli, Mulai Ali er Raisuli, Governor of Beni Aras, and Mohammed el Khalid er Raisuli, eldest son of Raisuli]

“Would you believe it?” he said. “It was thus I found them running through the streets of Al Kasr, at one in the morning, and the Sherif had not even waited for his slippers. I said to them, ‘Are you mad? Have the jinns got hold of you and taken possession of your senses? What will the people think, that a Sherif should behave thus?” Raisuli’s smile grew broader. “He abused us like a father,” he said; “but he forgot that he himself was shouting louder than we were. It is good for a man to be angry sometimes.” “Allah grant that it is not I who am in the way when next you are angry, Sidi,” said Badr ed Din piously. But it is quite obvious that all Raisuli’s household regard him with little less than adoration, and would not care what he did to them.