Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/861

MOEOCOO mnecting with the main street. The houses ? the better classes have a second story of >rick. There is no public promenade except- the great square of the Jama el-Fna, where jugglers and mountebanks perform by day, and rhich is the rendezvous at night of the vaga- onds of the city. A market for the sale of lorned cattle is held in it every Friday. There are other markets and several bazaars for par- " 3ular classes of goods. The iron merchants, )lacksmiths, carpenters, and butchers have each leir special street, which is shut at night, and in which no one is allowed to reside. Whole- le dealers have their offices in the caravan- ies. The palace of the sultan, in the Icasbah in the S. part of the city, consists of two grand courts, in the midst of gardens, around which are the royal residence and the chambers of ministers and secretaries. K of the palace MORPHIA 843 and attached to it is the treasury, said to con- tain immense wealth. There are many mosques, some of which are very large, but none of any architectural pretensions. One having a tower 250 ft. high, surmounted by a lantern, is said to have been built by the architect of the Giralda at Seville. There are three pris- ons, one for Jews, one for general criminals, and one for prisoners of state. In the N. part of the city is the Zawia or sanctuary of Sidi ibn Abbas, a charitable institution, where the poor receive alms and an asylum for the night. It is also an inviolable refuge for criminals. Like most of the mosques, it is very rich, the houses and gardens belonging to it being valued at more than $1,000,000. Without the walls are several aqueducts, mostly ruinous, but which still bring water from the mountains into the reservoirs, and supply 20 public baths. The Morocco. inhabitants of Morocco are a mixture of Moors, Algerines, Tunisians, Egyptians, Arabs from the Sahara, negroes, and Jews. The latter, who number about 6,000, have a quarter of their own, called El-Melah. They seldom go into the city proper, and when they do both men and women are obliged to take off their shoes. A large part of the business is in their hands, and they are the gold, silver, copper, and tin smiths of the city. Morocco is an agricultural rather than an industrial centre. The sole manufacture in which it excels is that of leather, particularly of red and yellow moroc- co. All products of the country, excepting the cereals, pay an octroi duty both going in and going out of the gates. There is also a tax of 2 per cent, on all sales, paid by the buyer, and the government has a monopoly of tobacco. Morocco was founded in 1072 by Abubekr ben Omar, of the dynasty of the Almoravides. It was captured and nearly destroyed in 1146 by Abdelmumen, king of the Almohades, who rebuilt and restored it in 1147-'8. Schools and colleges were founded by his successors, and in the 13th century it was a famous seat of learn- ing, and the Moors of Spain, Algeria, and Tunis sent their children to be educated in its uni- versities. At the height of its prosperity it is said to have had a population of more than 500,000. Its decadence began with the expul- sion of the Moors from Spain. MORPHEUS (Gr. popfiiv, to shape), in Gre- cian mythology, the son of Sleep and god of dreams. He is represented in a reclining pos- ture, with a crown of poppies. His name (the fashioner or moulder) was derived from his function of shaping and controlling dreams. MORPHIA. See OPIUM.