dmitted: their conception as to this land of the hereafter, largely
consisting of gardens and shade, adds a bridge, by which means alone
access to Paradise is gained. The bridge (_Al Sirat_) is finer than a
hair and sharper than a sword: the wicked invariably turn giddy and fall
off into the pit of Hell, while the righteous negotiate it in safety.

A rich man, when he is buried, is provided with a vault. The body is laid
on its right side, its sightless eyes turned to Mecca. During the first
night, Mohammedans hold that the soul remains in the body for the purpose
of being interrogated by two angels before it can be admitted into
Paradise. They appear, and the body is roused to a sitting posture and to
temporary life. It replies to the dread examination. If this ends
unsatisfactorily, the angels torture and beat the body, until the
sepulchre closes in upon it. But if they approve the soul's replies, they
bid the man sleep on in peace in the protection of God.

Travellers complain of a want of "pageant" in Morocco. Ostentatious
funerals and processions of all sorts, public demonstrations over
trifles, the worship of gilt and glitter, and the emotional spirit called
_loyalty_, of the present day, do not exist in El Moghreb. There is a
spirit of simplicity about its shows; they do not breathe of money: old
as their customs are, there is vigour in them and a certain amount of
use, for the people have not outgrown them, do not make of them so many
lay figures on which to display signs of their own great wealth.

The Day of the Great Feast up at Court with the Sultan, that is _the
pageant_ in all Morocco. We missed it.

Connected with the bashas and kaids, who are the only great men in the
country or in the cities, there is little or no respect or formality.
Only on Sundays a sort of "flash in the pan" reminds the Moor that he has
a little despot in his midst, who is more or less lord of his life; and
the drums are heard all over the city, the soldiers turn out, for the
basha goes to pray at _El Aoli_ (noon) in his own particular mosque
opposite his house.

On Friday, the Sabbath, the biggest _sok_ (market) in all the week, a
little black flag was flown from the mosque-tops early in the morning to
remind Tetuan of the holy day. The basha was inside the cool mosque,
praying, at the hottest time of the day; outside a few people collected,
though the same event happened every Friday. No Moor is ever busy, ever
hurries, but c