tan were outnumbered by the horde of politicians, diplomats,
adventurers, and schemers who surrounded him, the latter at least
freely bribing wazeers to obtain their ends. In spite of an
unquestionable desire to do what was best for his country, and to act
upon the good among the proffered advice, wild extravagance resulted
both in action and expenditure.

Thus Mulai Abd el Aziz became the laughing-stock of Europe, and the
butt of his people's scorn. His heart was with the foreigners--with
dancing women and photographers,--he had been seen in trousers, even
on a bicycle! What might he not do next? A man so implicated with
unbelievers could hardly be a faithful Muslim, said the discontented.
No more efficacious text could have been found to rouse fanaticism
and create dissatisfaction throughout his dominions. Black looks
accompanied the mention of his name, and it was whispered that the
Leader of the Faithful was selling himself and his Empire, if not to
the Devil, at least to the Nazarenes, which was just as bad. Any other
country would have been ripe for rebellion, as Europe supposed that
Morocco was, but scattered and conflicting interests defeated all
attempts to induce a general rising.

One of the wisest measures of the new reign was the attempt to
reorganize finances in accordance with English advice, by the
systematic levy of taxes hitherto imposed in the arbitrary fashion
described in Chapter II. This was hailed with delight, and had it
been maintained by a strong Government, would have worked wonders
in restoring prosperity. But foreign _proteges_ refused to pay, and
objections of all sorts were raised, till at last the "terteeb," as it
was called, became impossible of collection without recourse to arms.
Fearing this, the money in hand to pay the tax was expended on guns
and cartridges, which the increasing demand led foreigners to smuggle
in by the thousand.

It is estimated that some millions of fire-arms--a large proportion of
them repeating rifles with a large supply of ammunition--are now in
the hands of the people, while the Government has never been worse
supplied than at present. Ship-load after ship-load has been landed on
the coast in defiance of all authority, and large consignments have
been introduced over the Algerian frontier, the state of which has
in consequence become more than ever unsettled. In short, the benign
intentions of Mulai Abd el Aziz have been interpreted as weakness, and
once