in. To some ears it would no doubt have sounded the strangest
anomaly, that prayer to the Most High God, with which the sale was
prefaced; but a Mussulman hallows every action, right or wrong, with a
petition; besides which slavery is lawful and good in his eyes, is
approved of and permitted by Mohammed in the written book of the
Kor[=a]n; is, in short, a part of the scheme of Nature which it were a
serious mistake not to use and enjoy. So the line of auctioneers formed
up, held out their hands, prayed, invoked a blessing over the
proceedings, mumbling in sonorous tones for a few moments. Then silence.
It was over: the sale began. There is nothing more easy than to be
theatrical and emotional in describing scenes of this sort--one has read
of them scores of times: words such as "degrading" and "harrowing" rise
up in the mind's eye, coupled with violent epithets and stinging clauses.
And yet, finding oneself in the centre of another just such a scene, one
realized how impossible the thing was, to understand, or to feel,
beforehand, and how curiously it played upon the emotions. Walking into
the market with a sobriety, with a cold, critical interest such as a Nero
may have felt towards his victims, one divined early in the proceedings
that the scene tended unduly to intensify emotion. Truly no men think
alike: a vast chasm yawns between the natures of the slave-trader and the
European: that chasm is a universal education. To realize all which
separates a native of Africa from a Frenchman or an Englishman, and the
difficulties which lie in the way of promoting an understanding between
the two, visit such a place as the Slave Market in Marrakesh.

Groups of slaves, more or less gorgeously dressed, some in rags where
nothing better could be afforded, were sitting far back in little
covered-in recesses which lined the square. All round the square stood,
or sat upon their heels, intending purchasers, for the most part
middle-aged elderly men, sleek and fat, in turbans and soft linen, white
beyond reproach. Each auctioneer, the prayer over, advanced to the groups
of slaves, and led out one or perhaps two or three, and paraded them
round and round the square under the eyes of the buyers. At last a bid
was made: the auctioneer walked on, pushing the slaves in front of him,
and calling out the amount of the bid. A higher bid was made: he shouted
out that bid, and still walked on. Then a purchaser signed to him that he
wished to lo