Book Description

Excerpt from Putnam's Monthly and the Critic, Vol. 1: A Magazine of Literature, Art and Life; October, 1906-March, 1907 We had heard many reports about this neighbor, and had occasionally met him riding in state, admirably mounted and with a numerous fol lowing, and I had often thought, I confess, how interesting it would be to make the acquaintance of this modern descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, when one day the great man's native secretary, attended by an interpreter, presented himself to say that his mas ter, with my permission, would call upon me. Of course I said how happy I should be to be thus honored. At the hour arranged, Moulai Hadj abd-es-selam arrived on horseback, escorted by numerous followers, and we went through the ceremony of taking tea with all the formality which such encounters with Oriental notabilities generally entail. The Che reef was apparently about forty-eight years of age, of portly presence, and much darker than many of the Tan gier Moors, none of his ancestors hav ing participated in the conquest of Spain, when many of the Arabs had intermarried with Goths or Spaniards. Very dignified in bearing, and with an amiable and kindly countenance, he would have produced a singularly favorable impression, had it not been for a certain timidity and restraint. This he never wholly lost except when following the chase; then, lance in hand and hard upon the heels of the wild boar, this admirable horseman could forget for the moment that he was a saint, and be every inch a man. In such circumstances he became a bright and engaging companion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.