Edith Wharton

In Morocco Edith Wharton

Having begun my book with the statement that Morocco still lacks a guide-book, I should havewished to take a first step toward remedying that deficiency. But the conditions in which I travelled, though full of unexpected and picturesque opportunities, were not suited to leisurely study of the places visited. The time was limited by the approach of therainy season, which puts an end to motoring over the treacherous trails of the Spanish zone. In1918, owing to the watchfulness of German submarines in the Straits and along the northwest coastof Africa, the trip by sea from Marseilles to Casablanca, ordinarily so easy, was not to be madewithout much discomfort and loss of time. Once on board the steamer, passengers were often keptin port (without leave to land) for six or eight days; therefore for any one bound by a time-limit, asmost war-workers were, it was necessary to travel across country, and to be back at Tangier beforethe November rains. This left me only one month in which to visit Morocco from the Mediterranean to the High Atlas, and from the Atlantic to Fez, and even had there been a Djinn's carpet to carry me, the multiplicityof impressions received would have made precise observation difficult. The next best thing to a Djinn's carpet, a military motor, was at my disposal every morning; but warconditions imposed restrictions, and the wish to use the minimum of petrol often stood in the wayof the second visit which alone makes it possible to carry away a definite and detailed impression. These drawbacks were more than offset by the advantage of making my quick trip at a momentunique in the history of the country; the brief moment of transition between its virtually completesubjection to European authority, and the fast approaching hour when it is thrown open to all thebanalities and promiscuities of modern travel. Morocco is too curious, too beautiful, too rich in landscape and architecture, and above all too muchof a novelty, not to attract one of the main streams of spring travel as soon as Mediterraneanpassenger traffic is resumed. Now that the war is over, only a few months' work on roads andrailways divide it from the great torrent of "tourism"; and once that deluge is let loose, no eye willever again see Moulay Idriss and Fez and Marrakech as I saw the