The publication of this correspondence has called forth much angry
comment from England.
The result of the affair has been exactly what the President
predicted--the rousing of unnecessary bad feeling between the two
countries.
* * * * *
We have had a slight disagreement with the Moorish Government.
The country of Morocco is situated on the northwest of Africa, and is
bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the west by the
Atlantic Ocean.
The Straits of Gibraltar lie between Morocco and Spain, and the Pillars
of Hercules, about which you have probably heard, are the promontories
of Europe and Africa which jut out into the Mediterranean Sea at the
Straits, and are but eight miles apart.
The European point is called the Rock of Gibraltar; the African, Abyla,
or Apes' Hill, from the number of apes that have made their home on it.
Morocco is ruled by a Sultan, whose authority is supreme.
The Moors, as the inhabitants of this country are called, are a very
ancient and warlike people, who were at one time a very powerful race.
In the twelfth century they conquered Andalusia, Valencia, and a part of
Aragon in Spain, together with a portion of Portugal. In Spain they
established the Kingdom of Granada, about which so many enchanting poems
and romances have been written.
In the city of Granada they built the famous Alhambra. This magnificent
palace and citadel was built by the Moorish kings of Granada in the
thirteenth century.
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