Events in Morocco have moved with dramatic swiftness. Last Saturday
the Shereefian troops attacked Raisuli's strong- hold at Zinat, some two thousand men being put in the field. At the critical moment they ran short of shells and cartridges, and, being badly led, they were easily held in check by Raisuli's men. At sunset the leisurely Oriental battle was concluded, the Sultan's War Minister having accomplished nothing save the expenditure of a quantity of powder and shot. On Sunday an able Algerian officer, whose advice had been rejected on the previous day because he was a French citizen, was sent to the front, and Raisuli's house was destroyed by shells. The village, however, proved to he empty, and Raisuli and his men had fled to the mountains, where for the present he remains uncaptured and apparently unpursued. It remains to be seen whether the whole affair is not one of connivance, for, as we suggested last week, it is possible that the last thing the Sultan wants is to have such an embarrassing prisoner. For the present the brigand's power is broken, the Sultan's authority restored, and it is proved to the world that when the Powers care to act in agreement they can make things move in Morocco. If they enforce the organisation of the police with the same vigour with which they have demanded the suppression of Raisnli, that distracted country may be put in the way of pacific reform.
