IN THE TAIL OF THE PEACOCK.
In the Tail of the Peacock. By Isabel Savory. (Hutchinson and Co. 16s.)—It is necessary to quote by way of explaining this title a Moorish proverb according to which "the earth is a peacock and Morocco is the tail of it." Here, then, we have Morocco up to date. Miss Savory has lost no time in recording her impressions. It is scarcely a year and a half since she and her companion, Miss Bainbridge, to whom we owe the interesting photographs that adorn the volume, landed at Tangier. They spent a considerable time in the country, hiring a house, for instance, outside Tetuan; and now we have this handsome volume of three hundred and fifty pages, with half-a-hundred illustra- tions. Miss Savory did not form a very favourable opinion of the people ; indeed, her domestic experiences in the house afore- said were not altogether happy. She had a man and his wife for servants, and it is still as open question with her
whether the man did not poison, or attempt to poison, the woman. This incident led her to investigate the question of poisoning, with the result that she found it exceedingly frequent. This is but one of the many things which make life insecure. The law is ineffective, and there is no public con- science. One acquaintance of our author frankly avowed that Christianity was distinctly inferior to Islam on account of its narrowness. It hampered its adherents with its strict code, whereas in Islam you can break all the Commandments and secure pardon by confessing that Mahomet is the Prophet of God. It is by such popular notions that the practical working of a religion, that is, conduct, must be judged. Miss Savory tells us what she saw of Moorish life without any attempt at rhetoric, and the tale is a sad one. Even enthusiastic philo-Mahommedans, such as Lady Duff Gordon, have to allow that the condition of women is deplorable, and the testimony of this volume tolls very strongly the same way. As to less serious matters, the book is full of entertainment and interest. The account, too, of the cost of living in Morocco is attractive. The house cost 30s. a month, service (wages and food) perhaps as much more, and the house- hold bills—the accounts are somewhat vague—came to about 60s., a total of, say, X6 monthly (for two people).
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