NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE news from Morocco becomes daily more sensa- tional, confusing, and ill-omened. At the beginning of . the week it was announced that the Sultan's brother, Mulai Hafid, had been proclaimed Sultan at Morocco City,—an event of immense importance, for it brings the number of claimants to the throne up to three: the actual Sultan, the Old Pretender, and the Sultan's brother. Next comes the news that instead of Raisuli setting free Sir Harry Maclean, be still keeps him prisoner, while the brigand chief's army has inflicted a severe defeat on the Sultan's troops. Finally we learn on Friday that Ma el Ainin, the famous sorcerer of the Sahara, who has gained so great an influence over the Sultan, has arrived in the vicinity of Mogador with a large number of followers. The Times correspondent at Tangier, who sends this item, goes on to describe the situation in words which are worth quoting :—" The Morocco stage is already overcrowded with actors, but so bewildering has become the play that the present phase can only be described as a melodramatic nightmare performed by comedians. To attempt to grasp the plot is beyond the powers even of students of Moroccan affairs. When the Algeciras overture ceased and the grave musicians laid down their instruments and the curtain rose upon the unknown play, not one of the audience ever expected quite the sort of realistic melodrama which is now being enacted. They knew that the actors had never rehearsed their parts and had doubts as to their capacity, but they did not look for such misplaced energy on the part of the scene- shifters, who never wait until an incident is concluded to present a new scene, incongruously inappropriate and hope- lessly confusing."
