A MOORISH ABDUCTION CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6966, 15 March 1884, Page 10 (Supplement)

A MOORISH ABDUCTION CASE.

The following incident of Moorish:life, which.: occurred a short time ago (says , an English , paper), thoroughly illustrates the state of insecurity to which the natives;are subject, aud which appears to be the normal condition . of their existence in that country; Two. gentlemen, one an American, the. other an English officer, were riding along the beach, and, when about two miles from, the towD, perceived a group of fishermen whoiappeared to have some altercation with .a truculentlooking Moor armed with the usual long fire- ° lock. On seeiug tho horsemen approach, some four or five men, accompanied by. a pretty-looking Moorish girl of about seventeen years of age, separated from the crowd;, and called out that tho armed Moor/had been: trying to carry off the girl by farce;, threatening at the same time to kill her if she resisted. While this explantion was/going on; : the man of whom the complaint was made had taken to his heels, and being a good, runner, had gained a considerable distauce when tho two gentlemen rode after -him. Finding himself pursued, he made for a river, which he waded across up to his middle ; his: pursuers plunged in afterwards, and on being hard pressed the Moor again waded the river. Three times this manoeuvre, was executed, but at last the two. gentlemen came up with the fugitive, whom they/cap? tured aud disarmed. They tlieu gave the fellow in charge to the fishermen, .who had now arrived on the spot, having, followed the. chase on foot, and sent him, accompanied by by the Moorish girl, to the fprt, where the Khalifa administers justice. The girl.Rachma Halfsoutz by name, states that about ,one month ago she was enticed by two. women to take a watk with them on the beach. When a short distance from the town two armed. Moors suddenly made their appearance, and carried her off by force to the village of .El Meuaar. Here the men were joined by a third, and she was detained by them; contiuually subjected to brutal outrages; After about a fortnight she was taken:to the village of Imgogha, and from that . .to Beni Hassan, near Tetuan, where her captors met a party of mountaineers, and now the. girl discovered from a conversation which she overheard that an arrangement was being, made to sell her as a slave to these, men.; the bargain, however, not being completed, at ■ once, she was taken to a village noar Terre Ranquille, on the coast, and not far/from Tangier. After some more days!:.deteution, she had reason to believe that a definite agree- : ment had been made to sell her to tho mountaineers above-mentioned, who were probably Riffians, aud knowing that once in.a remote mountain village in the Riff country she must renounce all hope of escape, she determined on making a desperate effort to regain.her liberty. With tbis view, durine the . temporary absence of two of tho Moors, tho captive contrived to elude the: vigilance, of the third, and secured his poniard, which she concealed about her person, intending to defend herself if driven to extremity;. She then slipped quietly out of the village, and, once clear, ran as last as she could in the direction of Tangier. After her. doparture seme time elapsed before the man in whose charge the girl bad been left discovered .that she bad made her escape ; bun then, having armed himself with a loaded gun, he. started, in hot pursuit, overtaking his victim, on the beach, where she had encountered some fisherman, who were drawing in. their nets, and from whom she implored protection. The armed Moor, however, seized her by the arm, and attempted to drag her away, threatening at the same time to murder, her. if she resisted, and to shoot ..anyone who dared to protect her. While tlie dispute,was going on the two gentlemen on horseback, were seen approaching, .and the fellow feeling the consequeuces of their interference, made pff, as befere mentipned. He has-been; impriapned. after having been well flogged, and the Khalifa has given orders for: the: arrest of the other two men, as well as tho women who induced the girl Rachma to.-walk with them on the evening of her abduction. Judging from her account she appears to have received the most brutal treatment while a prisoner, as she was constantly required to go through the native Moorish dances ;. but not always being able to perform , these to the satisfaction of her persecutors,, they used, she affirms, to switch her severely,, and certainly the condition of the girl's, legs: bear testimony of having undergone very harsh treatment.