WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
Polygamy and the concubinate flourish among the well-to-do Moors. The wealthy provide themselves with a number of concubines, who are mostly purchased slaves. Sir Richard Burton was offered a slave-girl of twelve for the sum of £4.
The ancient splendour of this race has departed. According to Mr. John Foster Fraser, in "The Land of Veiled Women," "the rejuvenation of such a race seems an impossibility." The Moors are inert and improgressive; the rich are luxurious and sensual, and pass most of their time in lounging and smoking. Only among the hill-folks and the peasants are men active and industrious.
The harem of the Sultan is filled with women of various nationalities. Mr. Foster Fraser says that from time to time the royal seraglio "needs thinning," so a bunch of ladies are sent off to Tafilet, in the Atlas Mountains, to adorn the harems of descendants of Moorish kings. Usually, the Moor marries one wife, and keeps as many mistresses as he can afford. "They are cheaper than wives, and can more easily be got rid of. The women are in prisons; though, on the whole, not ill-treated, according to Oriental ideas." ("The Land of Veiled Women.")
European girls are preferred for the harems of the rich men of Fez. "Ill-treatment is exceptional,"
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