photo: Sir Terence Clark

photo: Sir Terence Clark

Sir Terence Clark writes:

Morocco has some amazing weapons still in common use. These muzzle-loading rifles with their silver chased barrels are used in the Fantasia [a traditional exhibition of horsemanship in the Maghreb performed during cultural festivals and to close Berber wedding celebrations], when a group of horsemen charge full tilt at the audience and at the last minute stand up in their stirrups, drop the reins, swing their rifles around in a circle and fire blanks into the ground with a deafening crash before pulling up short in a cloud of dust.