Morocco

    Once a year, four or five thousand horsemen converge on Churchill's "Paris of the Sahara," Marakesh, for a "charaga," or tribal gathering.  When their tents are pitched, outside the ancient, pink-tinted walls, they prepare for a "fantassia"--the exciting powder play that accompanies most feast days and celebrations throughout Morocco.
    Around a thousand horsemen at a time gather in the arena, their horses--almost always Barbs--decked out with red Morocco leather saddles and brightly colored wool saddle-cloths.  They line up in contingents, and at a shout, thunder forward at the gallop awaiting the next command that sends them up in their stirrups, to wave and discharge their long "mokkalas" (muskets) in the air, while the horses plunge and the dust rises and the spectators yell with excitement.  The charges are repeated again and again, and apparently help to ascertain the best of the horses and enhance their value greatly.

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