when
they are well off and to profit by it. Every man of them has a gun, and
bloodshed and plunder are life itself to him. Treat him well, he bides
his time, grows rich with the rest of his tribe; together they descend
upon their neighbours, avenge an old wrong, loot to their hearts'
content, perhaps attack the Sultan himself. But disarm one and all such
men, and in the far future a peaceable agricultural folk may reign in
their stead. It would be a work of time, but it has been effected before
in the annals of history.

The second condition, which would go far towards the working of the new
system of taxation, is the appointment of new governors. The salary which
the governors are to receive, is a comparatively small one, compared with
the vast sums which they have been in the habit of accumulating, by means
of extortion and by defrauding the Government. It is hardly fair to
expect a man to cut down his expenses, give up half his wives, sell his
slaves, and fall in the estimation of those under him. The thing must
assuredly lead to dispute, born of peculation, and fighting must be the
inevitable result. But if, on the other hand, new men are appointed, who
from the first suit their expenditure to their means, a more peaceful
working basis will be established.

The old Oriental policy of the "balance of jealousies" will doubtless
play its useful part: that is to say, each governor will watch his
next-door neighbour like a cat watching a mouse; and if he detect any
underhand dealings, or evasions, or infringements of the new law, he will
report at once to the Sultan, and thereby gain _kudos_, perhaps a
substantial reward, for himself. In this way the Government may receive
support at the hands of the men whom it is keeping in order.

CHAPTER XII

THE THURSDAY MARKET--WE MIGHT HAVE GONE TO GLAOUIA--LEAVE MARRAKESH AND
SET OUT ON OUR LAST MARCH FOR THE COAST--FLOWERS IN MOROCCO--ON THE WRONG
TRAIL--ARAB TENTS--GOOD-BYE TO EL MOGHREB.

CHAPTER XII

The best that we find in our travels is an honest friend. He is a
fortunate voyager who finds many. We travel, indeed, to find
them. They are the end and the reward of life. They keep us
worthy of ourselves; and when we are alone, we are only nearer to
the absent.

THE great Thursday Market is one of those things in Marrakesh which, once
seen, is stamped deeper than a hundred other memories upon the mind. It
is held in a sun-baked o