The recent relief of Sheshuan in Morocco has left the
Spanish Directory with an anxious problem. No doubt the relief was quite necessary ; Spain could not abandon either her own garrison or her Moorish allies. Moreover, she would have been in a very bad position to bargain with the Rifi so long as the Holy City of Northern Morocco remained in their hands. So far the case for relieving Sheshuan, and even for retaining it at all events for the present, is clear enough. Unfortunately, retention involves precisely those expensive and hazardous military commitments which the Directory in its wisdom wishes to avoid. The road to Sheshuan plunges for thirty miles into the mountains at right angles to the com- munications between T( turn and Arzeila. The fact that the Spaniards have light tanks and some hundreds of aeroplanes and are able to protect their lorries with bullet-proof armour, by no means compounds for the length and riskiness of the road to Sheshuan. The Rifi as fighting men are very much like the Boers. They know every inch of their country and are experts at invisible warfare. The Marquis de Estella, however, evidently means business. He has taken a dramatic step. He has become High Commissioner and Commander-in- Chief in Morocco, though remaining President of the Directory in Spain. We must suppose that the magic of his name justifies his retention of office at home, for he cannot actually rule Spain while he fights in Morocco.
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