Submitted by scott on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 12:10

An interesting chapter of Twains impressions of Moorish customs. This was originally published as Letter Number Four in the Daily Alta California on September 1, 1867. An image of this column is provided on this page. McKeithan (1958) remarks that "Twain tried to improve the diction" of the original letter for the text here in chapter 9 of the book. Here we have a discussion of various means of exacting punishment employed by the Moors. We are also treated to a discussion of the role of cats in Tangier, the Moors hold them sacred, the Spanish eat them, and the French make rugs out of them.

Tangier, Africa, July 1, 1867: Letter 4 Daily Alta September 1, 1867
Reading Date
August 2, 2011
SL Venue
Fate Gardens

Twain Chapter Comments

Additional Audacity processing and changes to slideshow. I've been trying to use the Ken Burns effect but to no avail. I would like to pan across the image of the Tangier street scene but it never seems to work out correctly, so here it is just another still.

Tangier could not have been so utterly alien as Twain remarks as it appears he and his party stayed at the Royal Victoria Hotel, Tangier, Morocco. Google Books has record of an entry in Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals: (1855-1873), page 368. The entry is a bill for Breakfast, Ale, Whisky, Brandy, Dinner, Jackasses, Guides and Specimens.