Stevenson (DD 645) - Naval Cruise Book

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6d Cd Leaving behind the sunrise, daybreak, the swarm of locusts that came with it, we were greeted by the early visit of the rowboats filled with dark- complexioned Frenchmen and even darker-colored Moroccans, dressed in either modern clothes or rags and wearing rectangular red turbans, who had come out from shore to sell their curios. There were masts of warships rising silently out of the oil soaked water, and the ghost of the former proud and pow- erful battleship, lean Bart, the transport Porthos, lying dead and forgotten on its side. With' the aid of the pilot boats which guided us to our berth, and the ex- pansive breakwater that made a haven of Casablanca harbor we emerged from the dock area onto the Boulevard leading to the city's heart at noon of a fine North African day. It happened to be our first visit to a foreign port so we decided to get a glimpse of its most interesting features and by the best means. Hiring a carriage, driven by a native in a battered straw hat and clothed in a bed sheet as his only possesions, drawn by two horses, a white one which the driver later revealed as coming from American stock, spirited and speedy, and a brown one of Arabian breeding, claimed to be old and unresponsive, we started out, passing first a spot where several hundred beggars collected, all squatting in the gutters or on the Boulevard itself, not even moving for the irregular traffic which moved dangerously close to them. The boulevard was frequented, for the most part, by peddlers and hawk- ers, selling leather billfolds, cigarette pouches and rings embossed with Casa- blanca, l944 . There was one little fellow bouncing up and down the length of the drive, doing somersaults and handsprings, accelerating his motions if urged on with candy, food or money. The locusts were falling heavier at noon and the-natives were filling glass jars with them in preparation for their evening meal. The warehouses and salvage depots gave way to shops and cafes as we continued along the boulevard and neared the heart of the city. lt was a huge square we entered, designated by a high clocked tower, and the center of. activity, where representatives of all the allied forces of the world rubbed shoulders, where continental Europe merged with the civilization of'North Africa. Off, in one far corner of the square, was located the Medina, the native quarter restricted as off limits to military personnel, bounded by a high wall which served to conceal its mystery, crime and disease and kept it from flooding and overwhelming the cleaner world outside. It was a slow, lackadaisical crowd that milled about the open air cafes, a 'custom that obviously followed French settlement in North,Africa, the shops, department stores and the Vox theatre, which covered most of the acreage of