# Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 2/Chapter 10

Contents
CHAPTER X.
MAROCCO.
HE term Marocco, given by Europeans to the triangular region bounded north-east on the Mediterranean by the Wed Ajerud, south-west on the Atlantic by the Wed Nun, is taken in a far more restricted sense by the natives, for whom Marrakesh, the Marruecos of the Spaniards, is one only of the three states subject to the sultan-sherif. His empire is completed in the north by the kingdom of Fez, in the south-east by the Tafilelt oasis, while vast districts occupied by numerous independent tribes are also comprised within the space usually designated on our maps by the appellation of Marocco. The inhabitants have no common term for the whole of this region, which in many places has no definite frontiers, and which is vaguely designated Maghreb-el-Aksa, "The Extreme West."
But notwithstanding its uncertain nomenclature, Marocco constitutes none the less a distinct geographical unit. A certain physical unity is imported to the whole of the region comprised between Algeria and the Atlantic by the lofty Deren ranges, with their parallel foldings, spurs, and valleys merging in the lowland plains which stretch on the one hand seawards, on the other in the direction of the Sabara. The absence of political cohesion is also compensated by a common faith, while the very rivalries of foreign powers, especially England, France, and Spain, serve to impart to the whole of Marocco a certain solidarity, by isolating it from the rest of the continent. Within its conventional limits, as determined by diplomacy, the region defined south-westwards by a straight line running from the Figuig oasis across the desert to the mouth of the Wed Draa (Draha), may have a superficial area of about 200,000 square miles, with a scant population, which in the absence of all official documents can scarcely be even approximately conjectured. The estimates vary from Klöden's 2,750,000 to Jackson's 15,000,000, the actual number being, perhaps, between eight and nine millions.
Marocco has not yet been thoroughly explored by European travellers. three centuries the published accounts of the country were little more than reproductions of the work written by the Arab renegade, Leo Africanus. Till the ​end of the last century, the only Europeans who penetrated into the interior were a few missionaries sent to redeem captive Christians, some mariners wrecked on the coast, or envoys to the Sultan's court. But in 1789 the country was traversed by Lemprière, who was followed at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the Spaniard, Ali-Bey. Since then many journeys have been made along the routes
between Tangier, Fez, Meknes, and Rhat, and between Mogador and the city of Marocco.
These itineraries indicate with tolerable accuracy the limits separating the Bled-el-Makhzen, or settled region, from the Bled-el-Siba, or independent districts held by tribes who refuse to pay the imposts or accept military service. In the ​Bled-el-Makhzen Europeans travel in perfect safety, without being compelled to disguise their origin. But they could scarcely venture to penetrate openly into the regions occupied by the independent tribes, regions comprising about five-eights of the territory on our maps designated by the name of Marocco. The inhabitants of the Bled-es-Siba have, perhaps, good reason to believe that the
exploration of their domain by Christian travellers would be followed by conquering armies advancing along the routes thrown open by their peaceful forerunners.
Amongst the districts that have hitherto been scarcely visited is the Rif coast, which is nevertheless yearly skirted by thousands of ships plying east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Even on the direct route between Fez and Marocco, many hilly tracts are known only from the reports of the natives. The Atlas, the Anti-Atlas, ​H48 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. and all the land draining to the desert, as far as the Algerian frontier, have hitherto been traversed only by two or three Europeans. Of Caille's expedition little is known beyond its approximate line of march ; Rohlfs merely skirted on the north the main Atlas range, which Lcnz crossed at its southern extremity. But De Foueauld, disguised as a Jew, penetrated much farther inland, surmounting the Atlas at several points, discovering the Bani range, determining over forty astronomic positions and three thousand altitudes. But a detailed account of his explorations, with the maps and other documents embodying the result of his surveys, still awaits publication. The Atlas Highlands. In Marocco the Atlas system attains its greatest elevation. Here the main range runs south-west and north-east, following the axis of north-west Africa from Cape Blanc through Cape Bojador to the headland of Algiers. The whole coast region between the mouths of the SAs and Moluya lies, so to say, beyond the continental mass dominated by uplands already belonging to the intermediate zone now pierced by the Strait of Gibraltar. The range deviates slightly from the normal north-easterly direction, developing a sort of arc, with its convex side turned towards the Sahara. Excluding the subordinate ridges and those continuing the system in Algeria, it has a total length of about 360 miles between Cape Gher north of the Sds and the Jebel Aiashin, forming its extreme north-eastern rami- fication. No collective name is applied to the system by the natives, who restrict the general term Idraren, or " Mountains," or Idraren Deren, to its western section. The word Deren is evidently the same as the Dyris or Dyrin known to Strabo. The Jcbcl Aiashin (Aiashi) appears to be one of the loftiest chains in Marocco. According to Rohlfs and De Foueauld, the only modern explorers who have yet described this part of the Atlas, its summits are distinguished from all the sur- rounding crests by their snowy whiteness. Rohlfs even confirms the statement of the Roman general, Suetonius Paulinus, that they are covered with perpetual snows. But he visited these uplands in the month of May, and the natives questioned by him may have spoken of the snows which remain in the crevasses and ravines impenetrable to the solar rays. But however this be, the Jebel Aiashin, or Magran, as it is also called, probably rises to a height of 11,600 feet, being surpassed in elevation only by a few peaks in the main range. It is composed chiefly of sandstones and schists, and throws off some lateral ridges, constituting parting lines between several river basins.. Westward stretches the Ait-Ahia, continued through the Aian and the rocky spurs which rise above the plains of Fez. To the north-east the Jebel Tamarakuit, a branch of the Aian, follows the normal direction of the Atlas system. One of its depressions is flooded by the lovely alpine lake Sidi Ali Mohammed, in whose clear waters are mirrored the wooded slopes of the surrounding hills. The Tamarakuit 18 continued north-eastwards by a range, which is pierced by the Moluya and ​Sharf rivers, and which terminates in Algeria in the Tlemcen mountains. The Jebel Aïashin itself falls rapidly northwards, terminating abruptly in the stupendous cliffs of the Jebel Terneit, which rises nearly 7,000 feet above the surrounding plains. This imposing rampart, forming the northern extremity of the whole
system, presents a striking contrast to the boundless plateaux, which here appear to have been gradually levelled by the action of the streams and glaciers formerly descending from the Atlas.
South of the Jebel Aïashin the main range, still unvisited by any European ​explorers, seems to maintain a mean altitude of over 11,600 feet. According to
Foucauld, there is not a single pass accessible to caravans for a distance of 90 miles ​TUE ATI*.VS H1(H1I^ND8. 851 to the south of the hills which skirt the northern fuce of the Aiashin on the route from Fez to Tuiilelt. liut further on towards the south-west, occur several braachai jiffording connuunicution between the Um-er-llbia and Drau ImMns. Of thettc the most iini>ortunt ure the three Tizi n'Gluwi pusses between the Jebcl Anienier and the Jebel Tidili, which are practicable throughout the yeur. South-west of this depression rises the imposing mass of the snowy Jebel Sirwu, which is probably the culminatiug point of the Atlas system. Standing somewhat beyond the main axis, it forms u connecting link between the Great and Little Atlas, and separates the two basins of the Sus and Draa. The Mount Miltsin, surveyed in 1829 by Washington, no subsequent traveller has been able to identify by that name, which appears to be unknown to the natives. According to Ball and Hooker, it refers perhaps to a mountain '36 miles south-east of Marrakesh, whose highest peak may be about 13,200 feet. Seen from the capital, the chain of the Atlas presents the aspect of an almost unbroken rampart covered with snow till the early summer. According to Maw, the mean altitude in this section is about 1. 3,000 feet, the highest peaks rising scarcely more than 600 feet above this median line. Thus the Atlas is much inferior in extreme elevation to the Alps, although for a space of at least 100 miles it maintains a mean height greater than that of any of the Alpine ranges. The Tagherut Pass, about the meridian of Marrakesh, leading southwards to the Upper Siis Valley, stands at a height of perhaps 11,600 feet, and is approached by rugged gorges presenting great difficulties to pack animals. But 18 miles further west a large breach presents an easy passage to caravans. From the summit of the pyramidal Jebel Tiza, which attains an altitude of over 11,000 feet, a view is commanded of this narrow defile, above which it towers to a height of 4,000 feet. West of this point the main range, here running perpendicularly to the coast, still maintains an average altitude of 10,000 feet, as far as another deep gorge known as the " Tizi " or " Pass," ia a pre-eminent sense, which is crossed at an elevation of 4,000 feet by the route leading from Marocco to Tarudant in the Sus Valley. This pass, which also takes the name of Bibuw&n and Bib&n, or the " Gates," has been traversed by Lempriere, Jackson and other explorers. Beyond it the maritime Atlas still presents a superb aspect, with peaks exceeding 8,000 feet. As far as is known of its geological constitution, the Atlas consists largely of sandstones, together with old schists, limestones, and marbles, while porphyries seem to prevail in the central parts of the Deren range. Diorites and basalts occur in several places, and the Jebel Tiza, ascended by Ball and Hooker, forms a porphyry dome, which has cropped out through the mica schists. The character of the rocks in the main range is revealed chiefly by the debris scattered along its slopes, and which, according to Maw, are of glacial origin. At elevations of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet, the valleys sloping towards the Atlantic art» filled with lateral, median, and terminal moraines, apparently differing in no respect from those of the Alps. A series of hills composed entirely of glacial debris also occurs at the foot of the mountains, where they occupy a broad zone interrupted at intervals by the luteral valleys. ​862 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. A similar glacial origin is attributed to the undulations on the great plateaux stretching east of the Atlas along the axis of the orographic system in the province of Oran. A portion of this plateau is filled by the shott or sebkha of Tigri, which is strewn with a reddish argillaceous* deposit. This shott does not form a single basin, but is divided into several secondary depressions standing at different levels between the altitudes of 3,700 and 3,800 feet. The greatest contrast is presented by the two slopes of the Avlas. The declivity exposed to the moist clouds of the Atlantic is covered here and there with verdure, and in some places, especially towards its northern extremity, clothed with magnificent forests. But the opposite side, facing the desert, is both much steeper and more arid, presenting the aspect of bare rocky surfaces burnt by the parching winds coming up from the sands. Yet the southern escarpments are almost evervwhere protected from these winds by a lower parallel chain, usually designated by the name of the Little Atlas, or Anti- Atlas. The Little Atlas and Bani Ranges. In its western section, south of the Wed Sus, the Anti-Atlas, seen by Ball and Hooker from the summit of the Jebel Tiza, seemed to have an elevation of about 10,000 feet. But Rohlfs, who crossed it on his journey from Tarudant to Tafilelt, gives it a mean altitude of not more than 5,000 feet, or about half that of the Great Atlas. Towards the east it is known to the natives by the name of the Jebel Shagherun. A broad and apparently perfectly level zone separates the Little Atlas from another ridge running parallel with the main axis of the system. The Bani, as this ridge is called, rises little more than 500 or 600 feet above the surrounding plains, with a thickness of about a mile from base to base. The Bani. which is destitute of lateral chains or spurs, is said to begin near Tamagurt, on the Draa, and to run north of that river almost in a straight line for a distance of nearly 360 miles to the Atlantic. It is pierced at intervals by khenegs, or defiles, usually very narrow, above which five or six streams converge in a single channel, through which the waters of the Little Atlas find their way to the Draa. One of these khenegs is regarded by the Berbers as the cradle of their race, and here they assemble every year to offer sacrifices, followed by feasts and dancing. Throughout its entire course the bare rocky mass of the Bani range consists of a sandstone, charred in appearance, and covered with a bright black incrustation. This sandstone is probably of Devonian origin, like the blackish sandstones of the Central Sahara, and like them it is sometimes polished, sometimes striated or grooved, effects due to the incessant action of the sands. Between the Bani and the Draa Valley occur here and there certain rocky protuberances, to which the natives give the name of " snakes," from their serpentine appearance when seen from a distance. Like the Bani, they are all disposed in the normal direction of the Atlas systjpm, from south-west to north-e^st. ​THE LITTLE ATLAS AND BANI RANGES. 858 East of the Wed Drua stretches a hilly region, which forms a continuation of the South Oran border ranges. Some of the crests uHsume the fantastic forms of crenelluted walls, towers, or pyramids. IJecween Figuig and Tufili'lt, Rohlfu observed one so like the nave of a church flunked with its belfrv that for a moment he believed himself the victim of an optical delusion. West of the Great Atlas the secondary chains are no longer disposed in the direction of the main axis, but branch off irregularly towards the coast. One of these, beginning at the Bibawan Pass, near the western extremity of the Atlas, attains in some of its j^caks heights of t)ver 3,300 feet, and under the name of the Jebel Iludid, or " Fire Mountain," falls down to the coast between Mogador and the mouth of the Wed Tensift. Over the district between Mogador and Maroceo are also scattered isolated tables, like those in Eastern Mauritania, between Ghadamcs and the Mzab, all at the same level, and evidently the remains of an older surface layer broken into detached fragments by atmospheric agencies. But while some rocky formations thus become weathered, others continue to grow, probably under the peculiar action of rain water. The plain of Maroceo is in this way covered with a crust of tufa, which fills up all the irregularities of the surface, varying in thickness from a few inches to three feet, and in many places presenting the appearance of agate. Such is its consistency, that by excavating the earth beneath it, the natives are able to form caves, or matamoras, as the Spaniards call them, in which cereals and other provisions are preserved. On the Maroceo coast fragments of lavas and volcanic ashes are also found enclosed in rocks of recent formation. These debris had their origin perhaps in the craters ol the Canary islands, whence they were wafted by the trade winds across the intervening marine strait. The Jebkl Aian and Beni Hassan Uplands. Of the lateral ridges branching from the Great Atlas on the Atlantic slope, the loftiest and most extensive is the Jebel Aian, which takes its origin towanls the northern extremity of the main range, and which separates the Upper Sebu from the Upper Um-er-Rbia Valley. The Jebel Aian, which is often covered T^ith snow, forms the central nucleus whence ramify the various branches of these almost unknown uplands. None of the heights have yet been measure<l, and the whole region is held by independent Berber tribes, who neither pay tribute nor military service to the empire. North Maroceo is occupied by mountain masses indirectly connected with the Atlas system. On the one hand the Wed Sebu, flowing to the Atlantic, on the other the Moluya, a tributary of the Mediterranean, enclose with their several affluents a quadangular space, in which the ridges are not disposed in the nonual direction of the general orogniphic system. A depression, probably about 1,000 feet high, separates the two regions on the route from Fez to Tlemcen, a great p:irt of the intermediate space being occupied by hills of reddish argiUaceoufl formation. ​All these uplands, in which the older rocks seem to prevail, descend towards the Rif, that is, the "coast," developing a vast semicircle of hills from the Tres Forcas headland to Point Ceuta. The central mass takes the name of Sanejat-Serir, and on the coast the loftiest summits are those of Beni-Hassan, west of Tetuan. The Beni-Hassan, whose culminating point is over 6,600 feet, is continued southwards through the Mezejel, the Jebel-el-Kimas, and the Zarzar, whose conic summit rises above the town of Wezzan. The whole system produces an imposing effect, resembling a number of Rocks of Gibraltar placed side by side on a common
pedestal. The running waters, grassy tracts, wooded and cultivated slopes, render this angle of the continent one of the most delightful regions in Mauritania, forming in this respect a striking contrast with the arid and rugged escarpments of the Rif, which stretches thence eastwards.
The hills skirting the strait over against Gibraltar, although lacking the elevation, majestic appearance, and rich vegetation of the Beni-Hassan highlands, acquire great importance from their position along this great maritime highway. ​THE JEBEL AIAN AND BENI HASSAN UPLANDS. 065 Tho border chain of the Jobel lladz temiinutcs northwards in the Jebel BelUunoHh, the Sierra do Bullones of the Si>iiniur<lM, which in identified as the Septem Fratres (" St»ven lirothcrs ") of the ancients. Towanln the cant this majw develops the narrow peninsula which is connected by a fortifie<l iNthniUN with the isolated bluff of Ceuta; on the other hand it projccti* northwards to form tho Jebel Mu(;a heafUand, which is the southern of the two " PilUrs of Hercules." This southern pillar, the Abyla of the ancients, is scarcely less ini|)osin^ than tho Rock of Gibraltar, and is even of greater height (2,8o0 feet). Hut a nearer view shows that it is a shapeless mass, a chaos of rocks, offering a retreat to wolves, wild boars, and monkeys. The temi " Elephant Mountain," applied to it by Strabo, is justified by the apiwarance it presents when seen from a distance. At the same time, the forests which flourished in this region of the continent eighteen hundred years ago, were, according to Pliny, still frequented by elephants. West of the Mons Abyla other crests follow along the narrowest part of tho strait. But beyond Cape Ciris the coast begins to trend southwards through a series of curves separated one from the other by the detached headlands of the Jebel HaCiz. Beyond the cliffs of Tangier the coast-line again abruptly turns south- wards. Above the cape forming the north-western angle of the continent, the headland of Spartel, or Ishbertil, the Tarf-esh-Shakr of the natives, rises to a height of 1,040 feet. Cape Spartel is the ancient promontory of Ampolousion, or " Vine Point," and this district still yields the best grapes in Marocco. The neighbouring town of El-Araish has for its coat-of-arms bunches of grapes, which a man is lifting with an effort. One of the caverns in Cape Spartel excavated by. the surf was formerly dedicated to Hercules, and near it stood the tomb of Anta;us. Thus was symbolised the struggle between the blind forces of nature and the triumphant genius of man at this " land's end," where vessels sailing westwanls ent^rtxl on the trackless ocean. For a distance of over 360 miles, between Cape Spartel and Mogador, the Atlantic seaboard almost everywhere presents a low surf-beaten beach, which is carefully avoided by mariners. The shallow waters extend seawards for over 30 miles, where the plummet first reaches depths of G60 feet. Along the coast the highest headland is that of Cape Cantin, whose alternating layers of grey and red marls, limestones, and ferruginous clays, tcnninate here in vertical cliffs, elsewhere in irregular step formations. Signs of upheaval have been observed at various I>oints, and an old beach containing deposits of shells runs along the coast at a mean height of 65 feet above the present sea-level. But acconling to some authorities, the opposite phenomenon of subsidence has been noticed, at knwt at Mogador. Rivers of Marocco. Enjoying a more copious rainfall than the rest of Mauritania, Marocco is able to send seawards a larger number of rivers, some of which, although reduced by evaporation and irrigation works in their lower course, retain a larger volume than ​any in Algeria. According to Ball and Hooker, the mean discharge of all the
streams flowing from the Atlas to the Atlantic is about 7,875 cubic feet. Yet none ​of the wadies are of any use for navigation, the only craft plying on them being ferryboats of a very primitive type.
On the Mediterranean slope the chief river is the Moluya (Muluya), which has its source amid the snows of the Aïashin mountains, and is further down swollen by the Wed Za and other tributaries from the east. The Moluya (M'luya) is the Molochat, Malua, or Malva of the ancients, who regarded it as the natural frontier between the two Mauritanias (Mauritania Tingitana and Cæsariensis). During the Berber and Arab epochs, down to the year 1830, it ulso formed the boundary between Algeria and Marocco; but the political frontier having been shifted eastwards
by the treaties of Tafna and Tangier, both banks of the river are now included in Marocco territory. Its mouth is sheltered on the north-west by the Zaffarine islets, so called from the Beni-Jafer Berber tribe, which at some distance from the coast form a sort of semicircular breakwater, behind which vessels ride in safety during the prevalence of the fierce north-east gales.
Further west the Rif seaboard presents nothing but small coast streams, such as the Wed-esh-Sherat, which reaches the sea near Tangier. On the Atlantic slope the first important stream south of Cape Spartel is the Wed-el-Khus, which has its rise in the western escarpments of the Beni-Hassan highlands, and reaches the sea some 36 miles south of the Strait. From this point the monotonous ​coastline continues to run in a south-westerly direction to the mouth of the Scbu, the Sebur of the Phœnicians, the largest river in Marocco, and next to the Nile the most copious in North Africa. Having a width of from 400 to 1,000 feet, and a
mean depth of 10 feet throughout its lower course, the Sebu might be made available for navigation, at least for a great part of the year. But at present all passenger and goods traffic between the coast and the interior in this, part of Marocco is carried on by land. The riverain tribes are far too restless to allow a ​BIVEBS OF MAROCCX). 869 regular trade route to be established along the cournc of the river, which neverthe- less waters one of the most pnxluctive regions in Marocco. The main stream torms the natural highway of communication between the Atlantic seaboard and the Moluya, draining to the Mt'diterrancan, and in the fertile plains watered by the Sebu is situated Fez, the first city in the empire. Travellers following the coast route from Tangier to Mogador cross the Sebu by a ferryboat of primitive structure, which does not relieve them from the necessity of wading through the mud. The tides ascend a long way up the lower course of the Sebu. About 18 miles south-west of the Sebu, the Bu-Uegrag reaches the Atlantic through a rocky channel excavated in the slightly elevatedlateau. This river rises, not in the Great Atlas, like the Moluya, Sebu, and Draa, but in the advanced hills skirting the Fez territory on the south ; and although scarcely more than 120 miles long, it takes the foremost position in the political geography of the country; for it forms the frontier line between the two kingdoms of Fez and Marocco, and near it stood the outpost of Ad Mercuries, which marked the utmost limit of the Roman province of Mauritania Tingitana. The Ura-er-Rbia, or " Mother of Pastures," so named from the rich grazing- grounds skirting its banks, is said by Renu and Hooker to be the most copious stream in Marocco. During the dry season it is fordable at many points ; but in the rainy season travellers are detained for weeks on its bank, waiting the subsi- dence of the floods to cross over. For a space of about 120 miles, between the mouth of the Um-er-Rbia and the Tensift, no other watercourse reaches the sea. Not is the "Wed Tensift itself one of the great rivers of Marocco, although the city of Marocco lies in its basin. Hero the rainfall is far less abundant than in the northern provinces, and in summer the mouth of the Tensift is completely closed by the sands at low water. The Wed Sfts, the Subus of the ancients, which takes its rise between the Atlas and Anti-Atlas, is also an intermittent stream, flooded in winter, and throughout its lower course almost completely dry in sunmier. "When crossed by Lenz in March, below Tarudant, some 60 miles above its mouth, it was p mere rivulet 10 or 12 feet wide and less than 2 feet deep. The "Wed Assaka, which skirts the southern foot of the Atlas, is also mostly drj-, explorers often finding nothing but sand in its bed. Even the "Wed Draa, by far the longest river in Marocco, is much inferior in volume to the Moluya, Sebu, and Um-er-Rbia, and seldom reaches the Atlantic. Its chief headstreams rise in the snowy cirques of the Great Atla.s, and for a distance of about 180 miles, from the Idraren Deren to the A Yashin range, all the streams on the southern slope of the main range flow towards the Draa, which escapes southwards through a series of gorges in the Jebel Shagherun. For a space of 600 miles below the gorges its volume constantly diminishes, absorbed partly by the arable lands along its banks, partly by evajioration and infiltration in the sands. After emerging from the upj)er gorges, it flows at first southwards, skirted on both banks by a strip of palm groves, varying in breadth from 500 yards to nearly 2 miles. But after skirting the easteni extremity of the Bani range and ​»G0 NORTH-WEST AFEIOA. the parallel " snake " ridges, the Draa, exhausted by the irrigation canals branch- ing right and left through the plantations, is no longer able to maintain a regular course. It spreads out in the vast Dcbaya depression, which is alternately a lake, a swamp, and a watery plain, on which crops of cereals are raised. Below this depression it trends towards the south-west, h(?re flowing between high banks, and receiving a number of intermittent torrents from the An ti- Atlas. But when these tributaries run dry, no surface water is left in its lower course, although, according to local tradition and historic records, it formerly reached the sea through a broad and permanent estuary. At that time crocodiles and hippo- potami frequented its waters, and elephants roamed in herds over the riverain forests. The stream, which under the names of Wed Zis and Wed Guers, flows due south from the northern extremity of the Great Atlas, after watering the Tafilclt oases, 150 miles from its source, runs dry in the sands of the desert. No traveller has yet ascertained whether its bed is continued southwards across the great dunes trending west towards the Draa, or east to the Messawara basin, or continuing an independent course in the direction of the Niger. The Wed Guir hydrographic system, which begins in the last cirques of the Great Atlas immediately cast of the Wed Zis, is better known in its upper course, thanks to the numerous expeditions made in this direction by the French forces, and to the reports of pilgrims and traders. After receiving the streams flowing from Figuig and from the Ish district on the Oran frontier, the Guir flows under various names in the direction of the Twat oasis. But beyond this point it is unknown whether it joins the Draa, loses itself in a land-locked basin, or effects a junction with the Niger towards the western extremity of its great bend towards the north. Climaie of Marocco. Marocco is entirely comprised within the zone of the trade winds ; but the normal play of the atmospheric currents is modified by the Atlas highlands, by the position of the country at the entrance of the Mediterranean, and the neighbour- hood of the Sahara. In summer the land and sea breezes alternate daily alono- the coast, while the prevailing winds come from the south. In winter, that is, from October to February, north-west winds are very frequent, bearin'>- with them a considerable amount of moisture, which is precipitated in abundant showers on the slopes of the Atlas. But throughout the southern regions the trade winds are predominant. As these blow parallel with the axis of the main ranges, the aerial current follows, so to say, a channel already created by the Atlantic slope of Mauritania. For about two hundred and seventy days in the year the polar winds from the north and north-east prevail at Mogador ; while for nearly two months, usually in winter, the opposite currents from the west and south-west descend from the higher to the lower atmospheric regions.
Atlantic seaboard is d^ncnilly distinguiMluHl bv un almost complcto abaence of extreme variations. Few iM>iiitH on the surface of the globe enjoy a more uniform temperature than Mogador, where the OHcillutions reconlt-d during a wries of nine years scarcely exceetled 6^ or 7° F. This remarkable equability explains the rarity of diseases of the chest. Consumption is almost unknown in this part of the continent, whose climate is also found to be highly beneficial to Kun>iHan invalids. In the interior, where the marine breezes are but slightly felt, the variations of temperature increase in proportion to the distance from the seaboard, while on the south coast the climate is influenced by the proximity of the Sahara with its intense heats during the day and active radiation at night. Altogether, ^larocco is disjwseil in three climatic zones by the relief and aspect of the land. In the north the Moluya basin, the Rif, and peninsula of Tangier, belong to the Mediter- ranean Tell, presenting nearly the same phenomena as the corres|>onding parts of Algeria ; in the centre and south, the main Atlas range separates two distinct regions, one exj^sed to the Atlantic, the other to the 8j»hara atmospheric influences. The rainfall is on the whole far more abundant than in Eastern Mauritania, and the Atlas highlands are often visited by heavy snowstonns. Everywhere along the seaboard the atmosphere is saturated with moisture ; but showers are rare on the southern slopes tunied towards the Sahara. The coastlands are also frequently visited by those showers of red dust, which are now known to consist mainly of silicious aniinalculae wafted by the trade winds from the South American Ilacos across the Atlantic. Flora. To the varied climate of Marocco corresponds a no less diversificnl flora, which, however, belongs mainly to the Mediterranean zone. Of the 248 local genera, all, with a solitary exception, are found in one or another of the regions border- ing the great inland sea. Fully a third of the species occur even in the British Isles and Central Europe. On the other hand, very few species are common also to the African floras south of the great desert. Thus in the jiroducts of its soil, no less than in its physical constitution. Western Mauritania maintains its European character. Physical geography was consequently in complete harmony with the political divisions when Mauritania Tingitana was by Diocletian attached to the Iberian peninsula. The vegetation of Marocco most resembles that of Sjmin, although the analogy is not so complete as was at one time supposed by botanists. Of G.*U species collected in the Atlas highlands, as many as 181 are not found in Spain, and the divergence increases as we ascend towards the higher regions of the Atlas. The contrast with the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores is almost complete. Most of the plants common to the islands and mainland are such as are elsew^hero also found diffusetl throughout vast regions with the most varied climates. Of the 1,G27 flowering plants hitherto enumerated in Marocco, not more than fifteen 65— ▲» ​362 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. belong also to the archipelagoes. Thus the botanical evidence alone suffices to show that, notwithstanding their proximity to the mainland, the Canaries are of independent origin. Eather more than ten of its vegetable species are altogether peculiar to Marocco, and are mostly confined to the Atlas uplands. In this central region the few indigenous species have become specialised by the process of gradually adapting themselves to the environment. Towards the summits of the Atlas have also taken refuge the European species, which appear in isolated groups on the crests of the Ethiopian ranges. Such is a variety of the pine, which emits a pleasant odour, and which is employed in the manufacture of costly cabinet pieces. On the other hand, many of the Sahara species have penetrated far northwards, being found not only on the southern slopes of the Anti- Atlas, but also in the Sus basin and along the seaboard as far as the Wed Tensif t. Such are the gummiferous acacias and several large euphorbite, also yielding valuable gums. The date-palm, which may be included in the number of tropical species that have migrated northwards, grows in the Tangier district on the Mediterranean coast, but bears no fruit, and even at Mogador the crop is of inferior quality. But the dates of the Draa basin are said by the natives to be unrivalled in flavour even by those of the Jerid oasis itself. The dwarf -palm, so common in Algeria, is somewhat rare in Marocco, being found in thickets only in the province of Haha, round about Mogador. One of the most remarkable of the indigenous species is the argania sideroxylon, a tree which has often been compared to the olive, and which is found only in the southern districts beyond the Wed Tensif t. It grows in the most arid soil, and needs no irrigation. All domestic animals except the horse and ass eat its berries eagerly, while from the kernel the natives extract a peculiar oil, disagreeable to the European palate. Its wood is extremely hard, and but for its excessively slow growth the argania, of which mention is first made by Leo Africanus, might be successfully cultivated in Algeria. Another indigenous plant, found nowhere else, and described by Jackson and Leard, yields the gum " ammoniac " of commerce — a resin with a pungent odour, used in Egypt and Arabia for the purpose of fumigation. Fauna. The Marocco fauna differs little from that of Algeria, at least so far as it has hitherto been studied. Large carnivora, such as the lion and pai^ther, appear to be confined mainly to the Rif highlands, towards the Algerian frontier. The bear, extinct in Algeria, has not yet disappeared ; rabbits swarm in the Tangier peninsula, diminishing gradually southwards to the Bu-Regrag, beyond which they are not found. Monkeys are rare, being restricted to the northern regions and to the single species which survives also on the Rock of Gibraltar. Wild boars, justly dreaded by the peasantry, infest all the thickets. The better classes have the curious practice of keeping them in their stables, in order to conjure the evil bpirits, and induce them to pass from their horses into the " impure animal." In ​INHABITANTS OP MAKOOOO— THE BERBERS. MS the southern steppes ou the verge of the desert, the ostrich still abounds, and here also several varieties of the gazelle are hunted, less for their flesh than for the so-called bezoard, a i)eculiar concretion often found in their stomachs and valued u a powerful amulet. The dead cetaceans stranded on the coast are also opened by the fishermen in search of fragments of grey amber. The upland valleys of the Atlas range, with its almost European climate, are well suited for breeding all our domestic animals, as well as for the cultivation of all the plants peculiar to the temperate zone. The waters abound in turtles, and the river estuaries are frequented especially by the sabal, a species of salmon, highly prized for its delicate flavour. The oceanic fauna differs in other respects little from that of the "West Indian seas, the nautilus, flying-fish, and much-dreaded hammer-headed shark being found on both sides of the Atlantic. The exploration of the abysses off the Morocco coast, sounded to a depth of 2,800 fathoms, has revealed to the naturalists of the Talisman a multitude of new fpecics of fishes, crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and sponges. Inhabitants of MARoat) — The Berkeks. As in the rest of Mauritania, the population of Marocco still remains funda- mentally Berber, this element having, since the time of the rhocnicians, always maintained the preponderance. The successive conquering races, even the Arabs, who have remained masters on the plains and in the large towns, have succeeded only in driving the natives to the upland valleys, without acquiring a numerical superiority in the country. At present the proportion of Berbers is estimated at about two-thirds of the whole population, and especially in the highland districts, remote from the town and seaboard, they form the almost exclusive element At the same time this general expression, Berber, applied collectively to all the inhabitants not of distinctly Semitic or Negro descent, by no means implies a community of origin. On the contrary, many different races have probably con- tributed to the formation of the aborigines, and Iberian tribes are even sui)|K)8ed at one time to have occupied the slopes of the Atlas. As in other parts of Barbary, especially Tripolitana and East Algeria, megaliths have been found in various parts of Marocco, in every respect similar to the dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs, and suchlike remains in Britain and Brit tuny. The finest monolith hitherto discovered is that of Mzora, standing on the eastern edge of a plateau, whence a view is commanded of the Tetuan highlands. Tiiis menhir, which is over 20 feet high, is known as the Uted, or " tent-pole." The Iniazighen, or Berbers of Marocco, who comprise several tribes or con- federations bearing the same name as those of Algeria (Shawia, Beraber, Zenaga or Saheja, Guezzula, &c.), are divided into four perfectly distinct groups, occupy- ing separate territories and characterised by different tribal customs. Those of the north, who hold the Rif highlanls, the peninsula of Tangier, and most of the hilly district bounded southwards by the course of the 8cbu, take the generic name of ​Akbaïl or Kebaïl, that is "Kabyles," like the Jurjura highlanders. The frontier town of their domain on the maritime slope of the Atlas is Sefru, a short distance south of Fez. North of this place the term Akbaïl is applied to all natives of Berber race, while south of it all call themselves Shleuh, Shluh, or Shellaha. This latter appellation comprises under various forms all the settled Imazighen of white race who inhabit the upland Atlas valleys. But in South Marocco, on both slopes of the mourtains, and in the Suharian oases, the peasantry, who resemble the
Algerian Ruaghas in the dark colour of their complexion, are also classed amongst the Imazighen, and are collectively known by the name of Haratin.
On the southern slope of the Atlas every village presents a mixture of Shellaha and Haratin, in which the proportion of the latter element increases gradually from north to south — that is, from the upper Moluya to the lower Draa. Owing to their lighter complexion, the Shellaha regard themselves as superior to the Haratin, and in marriage contracts account is usually taken of this difference, the price of a ​fair being higher than that of a dark bride. Nevertheless tho Hartaniat women are often distinguished by their beauty, most of them having lovely and expressive eyes, and in their youth bright features combined with an extremely graceful carriage.
In the oases a Hartani is seldom elected chief of the tribe, this honour being usually reserved for the white Imazighen. Like the Algerian Shawia and Kabyles, many of the Marocco Imazighen are distinguished by light hair and blue
eyes. But in the central and southern regions this fair type appears to be extremely rare, except in some of the southern hilly districts. It seems to be most frequently met in the Rif, that is, the northern coastlands that have been most frequently occupied by invaders or immigrants from the Iberian peninsula. Hence M. Faidherbe is inclined to regard them as the more or less mixed descendants of the race which raised the great monolithic monuments in North Africa.
The Tamazight (Shluh or Shellaha) language is spoken by the great majority ​866 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. of tLe Marocco Berbers. It is even much better preserved in the extreme weot than in other parts of Mauritania, and old manuscripts of the Koran transcribed in Berber characters are said still to exist in the Rif highlands. In nearly all the northern tribes the women and even the children understand and even speak Arabic. But in the hills and oases of the Saharian slope certain communities living in secluded districts remote from the great trade routes speak Tamazight alone, employing interpreters, chiefly Jews, in their intercourse with the Arabs. On the other hand, the Beni-Hassen of the Tetuan uplands, and some other tribes of undoubted Berber origin, have, completely forgotten their mother- tongue, and now speak Arabic exclusively. Amongst all these Imazighen, scattered over a vast territory, varying in com- plexion from fair to dark, and speaking different languages, a great diversity of types, habits, and customs also naturally prevails. In some tribes the women have preserved the practice of tattooing ; in others they cover the face with a black veil at the sight of strangers, or else turn their back on the wayfarer ; but, as a rule, they walk abroad unveiled and with a bold carriage. The practice of stuffing young girls with paste-balls, to give them the corpulence so much admired in Marocco, is common to most of the urban communities, and even to many nomad peoples. The dress varies with every tribe, and at a distance the clan to which strangers belong is easily recognised by their costume and arms. Usually men and women wear only a single haik woven of wool or cotton^ and attached to the shoulders with clasps or knots. Nearly all the natives have bow legs : a feature due to the way children are carried pickaback by their mothers, wrapped in a fold of the haik. Except the nomads that roam the plains at the foot of the Anti-Atlas and Bani ranges, and the semi-nomads in the north and south, whose movable straw dwellings resemble beehives, nearly all the Imazighen live in stone houses variously grouped in the different villages. On the southern slope of the Atlas they are disposed in the form of ksurs, or strongholds, like the fortified villages of the border ranges in South Orania. Elsewhere each family dwells apart, the houses of the community being scattered irregularly over the hillside, like those of the Pyrenean Basques. With the exception of a few tribes near the large towns, the bulk of the Berber population may be said to have remained practically independent, although every phase of transition occurs, from complete submission to absolute autonomy. Some of the Imazighen pay the imposts voluntarily, but most of them do so only under pressure, often even escaping to their allies, and leaving nothing but empty houses in the hands of the taxgatherers. The oppression of the Sultan's government is foimd on the whole more intolerable than tribal warfare and the savage freedom enjoyed by the independent communities. Nevertheless, some of the more powerful tribes consent to receive a kaid, that is, a sort of envoy from the Sultan, who is respected if upright, but usually merely tolerated as a stranger. The dej)endence of some clans is of a purely spiritual character, while the autonomous tribes often ​TUE INHABITANTS OF MAROCOO— THE BERBERS. 867 play the pnrt of ullicfl, entering into treaties with the Emperor on the footing of )M)liticul equality. I^astly muH- of the groupH, such aa the liiata, who hold the hilU on the route between Fez and Tlenicen, maintain no n>lation8 of any «ort with the Government. " They have neither god nor sultan," as it is said, " but only ]K»wdor." They accept no command from sheikh or chief, but act " every man for himself with his gun." Like the Jurjura Kubylcs, the Marocco Berbers regulate all their affairs in the an/a/iz, that is, the jema&, or public assembly. The tribes are merely so many large funiilies, which break readily into fragments, and unite uguin in fresh grou|>8 according to their temporary interests or caprice. Even traditional codes of law are rare amongst the communes, which, as a rule, yield obedience to nothing except the decisions of the assembly when unanimously accepted by the heads of families. Such is the prevailing system of government amongst the tribes occupying the maritime slope of the Atlas. On the opposite side the {xipulutions are more compactly grouped, in order the better to resist the attacks of the Suharian nomads. Here the villages are formally confederated into nations, which by means of delegates act in concert for the common defence. Other tribes, less careless of their autonomy, accept the position of vassals, recognising the supre- macy of a chief, or of some more powerful tribe. Some elect a temporary chief, usually for a year, and as a rule the authority of the sheikhs is always precarious. If wealthy and of good birth, they hold their ground, but even then seldom succeed in neutralising the influence of the assembly, which meets and issuer a sovereign decree on all weighty occasions. The Jews generally serve to maintain commercial relations between the tribes in this universal state of disorganisation. But despised and hated as they are, they might run the risk of being killed at the entrance of every village, were they not protected by the collective will of the commune, or by the pledged word of some influential person. Yet there are tribes which will never admit a Jew, and he has consequently to pass through their territory in disguise, at the imminent peril of his life. The luezrag, or passport, corresponding to the amya in Kabylia, can always be had for a consideration ; but the payment once made, the protector becomes responsible for the life and welfare of his guest. In some cases the mezrag of a rich merchant or of a whole trilx) may be i)urchased for a lifetime ; it then takes the name of dehiltn, or " sacrifice," because it was formerly the custom of the suppliant to immolate a sheep on the threshold of the man whose patronage he sought. By means of these agencies trade might be freely carried on from one end of Marocco to the other, but for certain marauding tribes which recognise no safe- conduct. The hills in the very neighbourhood of Fez are occupied by the Guerwan Berbers, who grant no mezrag, but allow travellers to pass through their territorj- on payment of a heavy sum exacttnl by arnunl force. The Din-Bcllals of the southern sloix) of the Atlas undertake to escort caravans; but if their offer is declined they lie in auibush to plunder the passing convoys. If the travellers are ​poor or members of a weak tribe, they are merely stripped and sent on their way naked but uninjured; if, on the contrary, they belong to any powerful tribe whose vengeance might be feared, they are killed right out to prevent the news of the attack from spreading, the duty of vendetta being sacred amongst the Marocco Berbers.
The Imazighen are no better instructed in the dogmas and practices of the faith they profess than are their Algerian kindred. The coast Arabs have even
preserved some of the observances of the hated Rumi. The women bear the sign of the cross tattooed on their person, and in difficult labour invoke the aid of the Virgin Mary. A few Latin words survive in the language, and the Roman calendar is still in use concurrently with the Arab. The marabuts who recite verses from the Koran are mostly of Arab descent; but their influence varies with the tribes, being jealously watched in some places, in others venerated as saints and implicitly obeyed. Some of their convents are regarded as sanctuaries, in ​THE ARABS— THE JEWS AND NEGROES. 860 which culprits find u safe refuge. Muiiy tribcH rcfuHo to recognise the ohiigation of inuking the pilgrimage to Mecca, although there are others, more zealuuM, who send yearly a numlwr of devotees to visit the tomb of the Prophet. With the religious pilgrims are also associated a constantly increasing number of emigrants, who seek employment as labourers or harvesters in Algeria and Tunis. The Arabs. The Arabs of the rural districts and the Moors of the towns, in whom the Berber, Arab, and Euroj^ean elements are diversely intermingled, are descended either from the conquering tribes from Arabia or from the MfX)rs expelled from Spain. Those living in the midst of the Shluhs and of the Haratins in the southern districts, take the general name of Arabs, as if they represented the jace in a pre-eminent sense. Amongst these marauding tribes of the southern oases are found the finest women in Marocco, remarkable alike for their perfectly regular features and fair complexion. Altogether, those who may be classed as Arabs number over a million. In the towns they are in a decided majorit}', and all now lead settled lives, except the nomads of the southern districts on the verge of the desert. Hence the contrast existing in Algeria between the Berber peasant and the Arab nomad prevails in Marocco to a very slight extent. The Arabs of Marocco are noted for their sociable disposition. In almost every village, and even in the camping-grounds, they assemble in the building or the tent used as a mosque, bringing each his contribution and feasting in common. The large number of " saints " is also a remarkable feature of the Marocco Semites. Whole tribes consist of Shorfa, or descendants of the Prophet, and in Marocco have originated nearly all the religious orders of Mauritania, notably the Aissawa and Derkawa confraternities. Next to Arabia, Marocco is regarded by true Mohammedans as the most illustrious of all lands. The reminiscences of its former power and culture impart to its inhabitants a special degree of prestige in the eyes of all the inhabitants of the oases between Alauritania and Kgj-pt. AMiile the eastern Mussulmans pray for the Caliph of Stambul, those of the west invoke the benedictions of Allah on the head of the Sultan of Marocco. The Jews and Negroes. Next to the Berbers and Arabs, the most numerous ethnical group are the Jews, descended for the most part from those expelled frt>m Spain. They call themselves Guerush Castilla, or " Exiles from Castille," and at solemn official weddings the Rabbins still use fornmlas concluding with the words : " All according to the usage of Castille." Those settled in the seaports north of the Wed Tensift still usually speak Sjmnish, while those of Fez and Meknes have adopted Arabic. According to mont authorities, the Marocco Jews number over one hundred thousand, although Kohlfs is of opinion that this figure is more ​870 NOKTH-WEST Ai'KlCA. than three times too high. The handsomest women in Marocco are said to be the Jewesses of Meknes, and the tenn Meknasia is now applied to all women remarkable for their personal charms. The Negro element is also represented in every part of western Mauritania, where, according to Rohlfs, there are as many as fifty thousand Sudanese blacks of pure stock between Tarudant and Tangier. Many half-castes are also found in the families of the upper classes in the large towns, and the reigning family itself is partly of Negro blood. But in the rural districts interminglings of this sort are less frequent, and never occur amongst the Berbers on the northern slope of the Atlas. The Ilaussas, Bambaras, Fulahs, and other Negro populations in Marocco are constantly recruited by the organised slave trade carried on through the caravan traffic with Sudan. Here they are usually purchased with blocks of salt, whence the term gemt-el-melha, that is, " bought for salt," often applied contemptuously to slaves and freedmen. In the Marocco bazaars the slaves are generally sold by auction, like any other " live stock," the vendor guaranteeing them free of " vicious habits," and the buyer causing them to be examined by the " veterinary surgeon," The price varies from sixteen or eighteen shillings to twenty pounds, according to age, sex, strength, or health. The European element is represented by a few thousand strangers settled in the seaports, and a few hundred French and Spanish renegades in Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh, and other inland towns. Topography. A portion of north-east Marocco is comprised in the hydrographic system of Algeria, the town and district of Ujcla being situated in the basin of the Tafna river. Ujda, which lies at the foot of the Khudriat-el-Khadra hill, in the plain of Angad, is a mere aggregate of small houses surrounded by olive groves, doing some trade across the border. Thanks to its proximity to the Algerian frontier, it ranks as an imperial garrison town, depending directly on the Sultan's Government. About six miles to the west, on the banks of the Islay, a headstream of the Tafna, was fought the famous battle of Islay, August 14, 1844, which placed the Jklarocco Government at the mercy of France, and which was followed by the treaty of Tangier, leaving to the Sultan nearly the whole of the debated territory east of the Moluya. The eastern affluents of the Moluya are partly occupied by the warlike and independent Beni-Mgill Berber tribe, whose chief village is Bidat/nl, which lies over 3,000 feet above the sea on one of the torrents forming the Upper Moluya. Lower down in the same valley is the less powerful Berber confederation of the Aitu-Fella, who in return for their recognition of the Sultan's authority are privileged to levy a sort of black-mail on travellers passing through their territory. Their ksar, or chief village, is Ksabi-esh-Shorfa, inhabited, as its name indicates, ​by descendants of the Prophet, and situated on a plain where converge the upper branches of the Moluya. Kseabi (Eksebi) marks tho linguistic parting-line between Arabic and Berber, the latter being spoken exclusively on one side, in the direction of the Atlas, the former prevailing on the other, in the direction of the plains,
Debdu — Kaspah-el-Aiun.
The small town of Debdu lies, not on the Moluya, but on an eastern affluent on the route leading to the upland plateaux. Immediately above the town rises a
vertical bluff crowned with a minaret and a dismantled fortress. Beyond it the ground still rises through a series of escarped terraces to the plateau of Gada, which is clothed with one of the finest forests in Marocco. Debdu, which consists of about four hundred earthen houses, is the only place in the empire where the Jews are in a majority. All are engaged in trade, their commercial relation extending eastwards to Tlemcen in Algeria, westwards to Fez through the Taza route, and down the Lower Moluya valley to the Spanish coast-town of Melilla. In the neighbouring hills is bred a race of mules famous throughout Western Mauritania.
West of Debdu the Moluya flows through a series of mountain gorges down to ​372 NOETH-WEST AFRICA- the extensive plain of Tafrata, which, when clothed with verdure in spring, is visited by the Huara Arabs. Here the Moluya receives its chief affluent, the Wed Za, which is a perennial stream fed by the Wed Sharf and other torrents from the upland plateaux south of the Tell. The riverain population have their chief market, not in the valley, but farther east on the Angad plain, on an eminence crowned with the kubba of Sidi-Melluk. Around this famous shrine are grouped the houses of Arab and Jewish merchants trading with Ujda and Tlemcen. The village is usually known by the name of Kashah-el-Aiun, or " Castle of the Springs," from the numerous wells that have been sunk at the foot of the hill. The semi-independent Berber tribes of the district are kept in awe by a detachment of about a hundred and fifty regular troops stationed at this frontier outpost. Of these tribes the most powerful is that of the Beni-Iznaten (the Beni- Snassen of the neighbouring French Algerians), who comprise several clans originally from the district of Nemours. These irreconcilable foes of the Christians occupy the isolated mass of hills between the Angad desert and the lower course of the Moluya. Jaferin Islands — Melilla. No important town has been founded on the low-lying plain through which the Moluyu flows seawards, and here the nearest military position is that of the Jaferin (Zaffarine, Zafrin, Shaffarinas) Islands, the Tres Insulae of the ancient geographers. The only importance attaching to these barren rocks is due to the shelter they afford the shipping at anchor in the roadstead, and to their strategic position over against the Moluya Valley, and not far from the Algerian frontier. During the first years of the conquest the French had intended to occupy the archipelago ; but when they had finally decided on taking this step in 1849, they were anticipated by a few hours by the Spaniards. The group is now strongly fortified, forming a military outpost of the stronghold of Melilla, some 30 miles farther west. Melilla, the Mlila of the natives, occupies the site of the Phasnician city of Mussadir, whose name is perpetuated by the neighbouring headland of Ras-ed-Deir (Raseddir), the Cape Tres Forcas of the Spaniards. The town stands on a terrace at the foot of a steep cliff crowned by the Spanish fortress of Rosario, which has been raised on the foundations of other citadels that have here succeeded each other for a period of three thousand years. Some shelter is afforded to the shipping by an inlet penetrating to the south-west of the fortress, possibly the work of the Phoenicians, who constructed similar havens at Carthage and Utica. Melilla, whose fortifications were half destroyed by an earthquake in 1848, has been in the possession of the Spaniards since the year 1496, and is now connected by a regular line of steamers with the mother country. Some 30 miles off the coast stands the barren islet of Alboran, which is also a Spanish stronghold. On the semi-circular Rif coast, between Ras-ed-Deir and Tetuan, stand two other military stations, Alhucemas and Pehon de Velez, which have been held by Spain
are still held by independent Berber tribes. In one of the upland valleys stands the town of Sheshawen, surrounded by vineyards, and in the neighbourhood is the mother-house of the religious order of the Derkawas.
Tetuan — Ceuta.
On the Mediterranean seaboard the chief city of the empire is Tetuan, the Titawan of the Moors, and the Tettawen of the Berbers, that is, the "Place of Springs." The name is fully justified by the numerous and copious streamlets ​flowing from the surrounding amphitheatre of hills, and watering the neighbouring gardens and orange groves. The town, which stands on a terrace some 200 feet high, is commanded by a citadel, and encircled by a lofty rampart flanked with towers, within which a second enclosure contains the Melluh, or Jewish quarter. The bar, which is accessible only to light craft, is also defended by a fortified custom-house. Nearly all the wealth of the place is in the hands of the Jews, who constitute about a fourth of the whole population, and who here enjoy a certain degree of autonomy. Hence Tetuan is regarded as one of the centres of the Israelites, who own all the bazaars, and carry on an extensive trade with the
surrounding regions, through Ceuta, Tangier, and Gibraltar. The exports are chiefly oranges and mahaya, a kind of brandy distilled from grapes. The local industries, largely in the hands of immigrants from Algeria, comprise earthenware and the other wares required to meet the usual wants of Mussulman populations. Peopled to a large extent by Mudejares — that is, by Moors expelled from Granada and Castille — it has often had to resist the attacks of the Spaniards, by whom it was plundered in the fifteenth century. A hundred years later, its corsairs held the surrounding waters, carrying off thousands of captives from Andalusia, while trading peacefully with the English, Dutch, and Venetians. In 1564 the port was ​TANOIEB. 876 destroyed by Philip II., und after a deeiwve victor}' in the neighbourhood, Tetuan was again seized by the Spaniards in iHo'J, but after long negotiations finally restored to the Sultan. The neighbouring town of Ceuta, however, has been held by S|)ain for the last three hundred years, although on one occasion, towards the end of the seventeenth and lx>ginning of the following century, besieged or blockaded by the natives for a space of no less than six-and-twenty years. Although a " free i>ort," Ceuta is no longer a great centre of trade, as in Mussulman times ; the Christian stronghold, defended by a triple line of ramparts, and bristling with guns and chrraux defriw^ is carefully avoided by traders from the interior. Hence, from the commercial aspect, the greatest contrast exists between this " African Gibraltiir," and that on the Spanish mainland, both of which otherwise resemble each other in their geological structure, their peninsular form, and their strategical position on either side of the intervening strait. A fort commands the town, but is itself commanded by the heights of the interior, some of which are occupied by Spanish defensive works. Hence, apart from the opposition of English diplomacy, it will never be possible, except at a vast expenditure, to transform Ceuta into a really formidable rival of Gibraltar. Tangier. On the African side of the strait, between Ceuta and Tang'ur, there are no towns, Kasr-es-Serir being now a mere mass of shapeless ruins. All the trade of the surrounding districts has been diverted to the half-European city of Tangier, which is already within the influence of the Atlantic tides, here rising to a height of over eight feet. Tangier, the Tanja of the natives, is the ancient Tinge, that is, the " Lagoon," which is fabled to have sprung from the ground with Antaous. Founded, according to tradition, before the dawn of history. Tinge became, under the Romans, capital of Mauritania Tingitana, answering to the present northern division of Marocco. But at that time it does not appear to have covered a larger surface than at present. The so-called " Old Tangier," whose ruins are seen to the south-east, was a mediaeval Arab town unconnected with the Roman Tinge. Its jwsition, on a semicircular bay at the entrance of the strait, and offering some shelter from the western gales, must at all times have secured for this place a certain degree of commercial importance. The Venetians were here long received as guests, while the Portuguese, wishing to enter as conquerors, were several times repulsed. They at last seized it in 1471, and for two hundred years it remained in Eurojx^an hands, the Spaniards succeeding to the Portuguese, and the English to the Spaniards. Under the British rule no expense was spared in strengthening the fortifications and improving the harbour works. But the incessant attacks of the Moors, the lack of supplies, the difficulty of provisioning the place, at last exhausted the patience of the English, who, in 1084, evacuated Tangier, blowing up the piers in order to destroy the port. Twenty years afterwards they seized Gibraltar, which not only enjoyed the same military advantages, but also presented an insular position more easily defensible. ​Thus abandoned as a military station, Tangier soon began to attract traders from every quarter, and has now become a chief centre of the exchanges with the European seaports. The foreign envoys to the Sultan's court generally reside here, as does also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order the more easily to maintain relations with the European powers. Tangier has thus become a sort of capital, as it is fast becoming a European town, with its new houses, landing-stage, workshops, journals, batteries, neighbouring lighthouse, and suburban villas.
merchumli»e. Invalids also resort in considerable numbera to Tangier, which, u • health-resort, has few rivals, even on the Mediterranean seaboard. Larahh — Taza. On the Atlantic coast, some 24 miles south of Cape Spartel, formerly stood the Roman city of Zilin, which afterwards became the Atih {Ar-Zdla, Ar-Zila) of the Arabs, now a mere collection of hovels, intcrsjK'rsed with some Portuj^uese structurefl. About 10 miles further south stuiulH El- Arainh, or Zr^/rfl*/<, the first trading- place on this coast. Larush, present capital of the province of Gharb, dates at least from the ninth century, although it long remained an obscure village, rising to commercial prosperity only under the Portuguese and Spanish administration. Its re-conquest by Sultan Mului Ismail in 1769 is one of the great events in the annals of Marocco. The garrison, 3,200 strong, was partly exterminated, jNirtly reduced to slavery for a jjeriod of two years, and one hundred and eighty gtms fell into the hands of the ^Mussulmans. Since that time Larash has successfully resisted the several naval demonstrations of the French in 1785, the Austrians in 1829, and the Spaniards in 1860. The entrance to the port of Larash, which lies on the south side of the estuary of the Wed-el-Khus (Lukkos), is obstructed by a bar inaccessible to vessels of over a hundred and fifty or two hundred tons. Nevertheless it is much frequented by Portuguese fishing-smacks, and by ships, especially from Marseilles, which here take in cargoes of wool, beans, and other local produce, chiefly in exchange for sugar. The Libyan, Phoenician, and Roman city, to which Larash has succeeded, has not entirely disappeared. On a headland overgrown with brushwood, and com- manding two bends of the river about 2^ miles east of the present town, are visible the remains of Phoenician walls constructed of huge blocks like those of Arad, and extended by Roman ramparts of smaller dimensions. These are the Lix, or Lixus lines, now known to the Arabs by the name of ChemmiHh. In the alluvial deposits of an inlet at the foot of the hill may still be detecte<l the traces of a port birge enough to accommodate a few vessels. But none of the marshy peninsulas enclosed by the Lukkos can possibly have been the " garden of the Hesperides " mentioned by the ancient writers. Tissot seeks for their site in an islet now connected with the mainland through a winding in the bed of the river. During the last two thousand years the whole form of the estuarj' seems to have been completely modified. Some menhirs and other megaliths visible farther east on the route from Tangier to Ksar-el-Kebir date probably from a still more remote epoch. The famous town of Kanr-el-Kehir, or the "Grejit Castle," standi? like its outport, Larash, on the banks of the Lukkos, in a marshy district oUen under water. The town is surrounded by vineyards, olive and orange groves, and the neighbouring hills afford pasturage for numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. Kasr-el- Kebir, which notwithstanding its name is not enclosed by ramparts, is built of brick, and stands for the most part on ancient foundations. Here Tissot has found the only Greek inscriptions hitherto discoveretl in Marocco. The battle known in history as that of Alkazar-Kebir, which in 1578 put an end to the Portuguese 66— Ar ​power in Marocco, appears to have been fought, not at the place bearing its name, but 6 miles to the south-east of Larash, on the banks of the Wed-el-Makhzen, a tributary of the Lukkos.
South of Larash the monotonous seaboard follows an unbroken line for 90 miles to the mouth of the Sebu. In the upper part of this river basin lies the central market town of Taza, at an altitude of 2,750 feet, and near the depression between the Rif highlands and the Atlas system. Thus commanding the line of communication between the Sebu and Moluya basins — that is, between West Marocco and Algeria — Taza occupies the most important strategical position in the empire. It belongs officially to the Sultan, although the garrison troops here maintained by
Fez.
Fez, the capital most frequently visited by the Sultan, and the largest city in the empire, occupies an advantageous geographical position about the centre of the depression separating the Rif from the Atlas highlands. It also lies on the natural route which skirts the western foot of the Atlas range, so that its basin is intersected by the two great historic highways of Western Mauritania. The district enjoys the further advantages of a fertile and well-watered soil and pleasant scenery, diversified with rich open plains and densely wooded heights. The city, encircled by an amphitheatre of hills, occupies a terrace of conglomerate about 650 feet high, divided into secondary sections by numerous ravines. The Wed-el-Fez, rising in a rocky cirque a little to the south-west, and fed by innumerable springs, six miles
below the town effects a junction with the Sebu, which is here spanned by one of the few stone bridges found in Marocco. Seen from the bluffs crowned with ruins which encircle it on the south, north, and west, Fez presents a charming prospect, "emerging like a white island ubove the dark green sea of its vast gardens." Above the irregular surface of the terraces rise the gilded summits of its minarets, the lofty walls of the citadel, and the glittering roof of the great mosque.
Fez is divided into two distinct towns, each with its single or double enclosure flanked by towers and buttresses. To the west lies Fez-el-Bali, or "Old Fez," still comprising the greater part of the urban population; to the east Fez-el-Jedid, or "New Fez," standing on the highest terrace, and towards the north connected with the old town by the redoubts of the kasbah. Immediately east of the palace in Fez-el-Jedid the river ramifies into two branches, one flowing through the imperial ​gardens, the other falling through a series of cascades down to the lower town, where it again ramifies into a thousand rivulets. Unfortunately most of these channels are little better than open sewers, which, uniting below the town, flow in a fetid stream to the Sebu. Hence these damp quarters are constantly a prey to
epidemics, the pallid complexion of the inhabitants sufficiently attesting the foul atmosphere in which they live. The Mellah, or Jewish quarter, situated near the citadel in the new town, is outwardly little better than the Moorish districts; but ​MEQUINEZ— VOIJJBILI& 881 the houses are cleaner inside. The Jews here, as elsewhere, monopolise niort of the trade, but are obliged to conceal their wealth in order to ewaix' from the exactions of their rulers. Fez, or the " Ilutchet," has been so named, soys Ibu-Hatuta, from a stone hatchet discoveretl in a fissure of the soil, when the city was founded in the year 793. This was probably a stone weajxin dating from pre-historic times, when the people were troglodytes, as they partly still are. In the midst of the surrounding gardens numerous caves are found, in which the natives take refuge like wild beastn in their dens. According to local tradition and the statements of mcditcval writers, Fez had at one time a |x)pulation of four hundred thousand souls, dwelling in ninety thousand houses. Of its 785 mosques not more than IJJO now remain, and some of these are abandoned. Two are regarded as specially sacred, almost as holy as the sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina. These are the mosques of Mulai I)ri« and Karawin, the latter possessing a famous library and a zawya frequented by numerous students from Marocco and Algeria, who here study theology, juris- prudence, and astronomy, in accordance with the principles handed down fi-om the time of the Almovarides, or " marabuts." Since that epoch Fez has been in a state of decadence, notwithstanding the numerous immigrants exjx'lled fnjm iS|>ain. These " Andalusian Moors " were formerly powerful enough to constitute an independent faction which commanded half the city. As a trading place Fez has always held a foremost position, its commercial relations bt>ing chiefly with Tangier, Marrakesh, Rbat, and Tlemcen. The local industries, grouped in several guilds, jealous preservers of their traditions and privileges, display a certain originality in weaving and embroidery, in leather- dressing, and the manufacture of earthenware, of enamelled vases, and damascened arms. Its sumptuous garments — yellow for the Mussulmans, black for the Jews, red for the women — find a ready sale throughout the empire. To its other industries has recently been added that of brandy, distilled from dates, figs, and other fruits. The surrounding district, which contains rich deposits of salt, besides iron ores and sulphur springs, is doubly holy, thanks to the efficacy of its healing waters and the shrines of " saints " crowning the neighbouring heights. South of Fez the affluents of the Upper Sebu water the gardens of several small towns and hamlets, amongst which is the delightful town of Sr/ru, on the frontier of the territory of the Ait-Yussi Berber tribe. While Fez betrays every sign of decadence, Sefru, lying in one of the richest districts of Mauritania, presents the aspect of the greatest prosperity. Its wooded hills yield excellent timber, and its fertile plains supply vast quantities of olives, lemons, cherries, grapes for the local consumption and for export. Excellent wines are here produced at a very low price. MeQUINEZ — VOLUBILIS. Meknen or Mikimm, the Mequinez of the Spaniards, has often been called the " Versailles of Marocco." Lying 86 miles west of Fez, it is still comprisetl within the Sebu basin, its district being watered by affluents of the "NVed Rdem, which join the main stream in its lower course. It covers a considerable space enclosed ​by well-preserved ramparts, and like other towns of the empire contains a fortified kasbah, and a mellah, or Jewish quarter, surrounded by separate walls. These fortifications were built by Christian captives, who when worn out by fatigue were despatched and built into the masonry. The broad streets of Mequinez are
interspersed with gardens, "the finest in the world," which supply Fez with fruits and vegetables. The grand gateway of the imperial castle, with its marble pillars, horse-shoe arches, enamelled tiles, and ornamental inscriptions. is a noble specimen of Moorish architecture, although now much dilapidated. The mosque of Mulai ​WEZZAN. $m Ismail, the " Saint-Denis " of Marocco, is also in a half-ruined itate. Within the park, over a mile in circumference, arc compriiied piUces and fpuceful lttft«|ff «  stud of over a thousand high-bred mule>«, beaidea a labyrinth of undergroand galleries till recently used as granaries. The Emperor was comiM>llcd to throw open these stores during the terrible famine of IH7H, when the greater part of the com was found to be mouldy. According to popular rumour, the palace of Meknes also contains the imperial treasure, guarded in secret crj-pts by three hundrvd Negro slaves destined never to see the light of day. The Meknes district is the agricultural centre of the empire, and on the state c»f its crops depends the whole annual trade of the country. Towards the north, between the Rdem and Sebu Valleys, rise the Zarhun hills, where is situated the town of like name, formerly one of the chief intellectual centres of Mauritania. The inhabitants of Ziirhun, all of Arab stock, are extremely fanatical, and frequently entertain the emissaries of the Sen(isiya brotherhood. Here is the original home of the Aissawa, who yearly resort in large numbers to their zawya in Meknes, to w^hich they are bound to make a solemn pilgrim^ige everj' seventh year. The kubba of Mulni-Edris, north of Meknes, is the most venerated spot in the empire. Hitherto no European traveller has ventured to enter the holy place, which occupies a savage gorge in the Zarhun hills near the zawya. During great feasts men and women, seized with fits of frenz}% hack themselves with knives and hatchets, while others fall with their teeth on any passing animal, such as dogn, sheep, or goats. £v«q human beings are said on such occasions to have been devoured alive. On a slight e.ninence over a mile north-west of Mulai-Edris stand the ruins of Kntr Fa rail n, first visited and described by Windus in 1721. The name of Wahli, borne by the neighbouring village, and the inscriptions found on the spot, identify this place with the VoliibiHt of the Romans. Long used as a quarry by the builders of Meknes, Volubilis has preserved of its past greatness two monuments only, a triumphal arch and the gates of a basilica. The marbles of this city are even said to have found their way across the Atlas to the distant oasis of Tafilelu TocoUmdtiy another Roman station, stood in the neighbourhood of Volubilis. "Wezzax. Wczzan, the holy city on the northern slope of the Sebu basin, about midway between this river and Ksar-el-Kebir, was founded towards the close of the ninth centurj' by Mulai Tayeb, a direct descendani of ihe Prophet It is .^till exclusively peopled by Shorfa, who are held in great veneration throughout the Mussulman world, but who in the city itself are the very humble servants of the great lord, the Sherif in a superlative sense, more holy than the Sultan himself. By origin a " saint," his vast wealth has made him almost a god, who, through the members of the Taibiya order, levies contributions in money and kind in almost every vilUge m Marocco. In return he distributes these alms ^ith a free hand, keeping open stores for all comers, and often entertaining hundreds and even thousands of ​pilgrims, who come to kiss the hem of his garment. The Sultan is not fully recognised until he has received the homage of the saint of Wezzan, who is also a "refuge of sinners," and whose native place is a general sanctuary for culprits. The authorities themselves would not dare to seize a suppliant at the tomb of Mulai Tayeb, even were he pursued by the personal wrath of the Emperor. The mosque attached to this shrine contains, amongst other treasures, a collection of nearly a thousand Arabic manuscripts. Recent events have somewhat impaired the religious influence of the Sherif. who is reproached for keeping a bodyguard of
Spanish renegades, his friendship for Europeans, his marriage with a Christian lady, his palace in the Italian style, and his costume modelled on that of the detested Rumi. In 1876 his application for the favour of being made a French citizen was refused.
Although the Sebu is the most populous and richest basin in the empire, the mouth of the river is occupied by no large seaport, the ancient Mamora being replaced by Mehdiya, a mere village standing on a cliff 500 feet above the right bank of the estuary. Leo Africanus was present when in 1515 the Mohammedan army surprised and put to the sword the six or seven thousand Portuguese ​8LA-RUAT. 888 at that time occupying Mehdiya. A huiidrcnl yearn later the Spaniard* were more fortunate, but in 1081 they wore cum|H>lle<l in their turn to evacuate the fortreit. Since then no niilitury works guard the mouth of the river, which is almost com- pletely choked with sands. Sla — Rbat. All the trade of the country has betm diverted to the twin towns of Sla {SaiCt S(tle/i) and Mat (liafHtf), nituuted at the mouth of the Hu-Uegnig, some 18 miles to the south-west. Sla, which stands on the right bunk, preserves some traces of Portuguese architecture, but is not an old place, although bearing the name of the rha'uician city of Sa/a, which stood on the opposite bunk, and which was replaced by the Roman colony of Chella. The inhabitants are mostly Andalusian Moors, who have kept alive the traditional hatred of their Christian persecutors Till recently, no non-'Mussulmun traveller was permitted to pass the night in Sla, and even during the day Christians and Jews avoided the place. Hence the trtde and industries of the district have gravitated to Rbut, on the left bank, which has almost become a Eurojx'un seaport. Above the other buildings rises a graceful minaret, whose fonn, height, and style of ornamentation recall the famous Giralda of Seville. According to Arab tradition, both of these towers, as well as the Kutubia of Marocco, were constructed at the same eixx:h by Christian slaves, under the direction of the same architect. The Rbut women, heirs of the old purple- dyers who had made the name of Chella famous throughout the Roman world, still weave woollen carpets and rugs of durable texture, but the colours of which soon fade. Owing to its dangerous bur, exiwsed to the Atlantic surf, Rbat does little trade with Europe, regard being hud to the imi)ortunce of the twin towns and of the river basin, of which they are the natural outjwrts. Vessels are often obliged to ride at anchor in the open roadstead, unable to land their goods or jNissengers, or else pass on to Cusabluncu. Rlwit bus often been bt^ieged l)v the indeix^ndent Berber tribea of the surrounding district, and to them must doubtless also be attributed the destruction of the aqueduct by which it was formerly supplied with water. The kasbah, which is strongly fortified, mounts over a hundred and sixty guns, directed both seawards and against these marauders. In it is preservetl the " holy key " of the city of Cordova, which during the last war with S]Niin was publicly exposed for several days. Recently, the neighbouring Beni-IIasscm (Beni-IIassan) tribe has been com- pelled to recognise the Sultan's authority, and to allow it« territory to be divided into sixteen sections, whose respective chiefs are resjwnsible for public order. But further east the Zemmur and Zuian Berbers are absolutely inde|iendent, allying themselves with the Sultan on a footing of equality. Jointly with a few tribes of less importance, they occupy the whole sjMice from the coast to the Atlas, and frt>ra Meknes southwards to the Um-er-Rbia basin. This regi<m, which is at least 10,000 square miles in extent, is clostxl to all subjects of the central Government unpro- vided with safe-conducts. The Zeinmurs, occupying an extremely fertile district, are partly engaged in agriculture. But the Zaians, who are the most powerful ​nation on the maritime slope of the Atlas, are exclusively stock-breeders, possessing
Casablanca — Demnata.
Between the mouths of the Sebu and Um-er-Rbia, the chief settlement is Daret-Beida, better known under its Spanish form, Casablanca, or the "White House."
Founded in the sixteenth century by the Portuguese on the site of the mediæval town of Anfa, Casablanca owes its prosperity mainly to its roadstead, which, though badly sheltered, is deep enough to receive vessels of large tonnage. Its chief exports are maize, wool. and haricot beans, besides slippers, forwarded in thousands ​888 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. through Gibraltar to Alexandria. Notwithstanding its unhealthy climate, a small European colony, chiefly French, is settled at Casablanca, which, owing to the total absence of vegetation, presents an extremely dreary aspect. In the upper Um-er-E,bia basin, the chief centre of population is Bu-el-Jad a village of about two thousand inhabitants, ruled over by a sid, or religious sovereign, whose power is recognised by all the surrounding tribes — such as the Tadlas on the south and east, the Ait-Seri on the west, and the Shawia on the north-west. The " saint " and his kindred, nearly all of mixed blood, live on the " voluntary contributions " of the faithful. No traveller can visit the country except under the protection of Ben Daud, " Son of David," lord spiritual of Bu- el-Jad. At the end of the eighth century the whole of this region, now a hotbed of Moslem fanaticism, is said by Edrisi to have been peopled by Christians and Jews, and rumour speaks of the ruins of a church still bearing a Latin inscription. The Tadla territory, occupied by nine nomad tribes, with a collective force of about twenty thousand horse, possesses a sort of common capital in the kasbah of Et- Tadla, which stands on the Um-er-Rbia, at the foot of one of the best-constructed fortresses in Marocco. The river, here nearly 135 feet wide, is spanned by a ten- arched bridge : " the largest in the world," say the natives. The produce of the neighbouring salt-mines is exported far and wide. The fortress of Beni-Mellal, or Bel Knsh, lying in the Beni-Mellal territory to the south-cast, leads to the more important town of Demnata, which is situated in a fertile and highly productive district on one of the southern affluents of the Um- cr-Rbia. Formerly a flourishing trading place, Demnata has suffered much from its fatal proximity to Mtirrakesh, from which it is distant not more than 60 miles. The (exorbitant dues levied by the Imperial Government on all merchandise entering the town have compelled caravans to seek other markets. A third of the inhabitants are Jews, who live intermingled with the Mohammedans, but who were recently subjected to much oppressive treatment, calling for the intervention of European diplomacy. AZEMMUR — MaZAGAX. After collecting all the waters descending from the Atlas, the Um-er-Rbia flows north-westwards, between the territory of the Shawia Berbers on the north and the Dukkalas, mainly Arabs, on the south. The ancient town oiAzemmur (Azamor), that is, " the Olives," which stands on the left bank of the estuary, is often described as a ruin, probably because seldom visited by Europeans. Nevertheless, its fisheries and industries are sufficiently productive to support an export trade at least with the inland districts. The dangerous bar at the river mouth prevents all access to shipping, which is obliged to cast anchor 4 miles to the south-west, at the port of Miizagan, by the natives indifferently called El-Jcdida, " the New," or El-Bnja, " the Fort." Although smaller than Azemmur, Mazagan has more importance for Europeans, and especially the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who draw their supplies of cereals, haricots, and other provisions through this out- port of the fertile Dukkala plains. On the cliff above Aaemmur stand the still ​imposing ruins of the buildings erected here by the Portuguese, who held this place for over two centuries and a half, down to the year 1770.
El-Ghaïb — Safi.
South-east of Mazagan two breaks in the coastline, between this town and Cape Cantin, give access to the Wulidiya lagoon, the ancient port of El-Ghaïb. According to Tissot, it would be easy to restore this harbour and make it the best on the coast. As in the time of Scylax, Cape Cantin, the Solis Mons of the ancients, is one of the
most venerated spots in the whole of Africa. Here are several zawyas and a whole population of theologians.
Safi, the Asfi of the natives, lying south of Cupe Cantin, although the nearest port to Marrakesh, is less frequented than Mogador, the surf being more dangerous at this point than elsewhere along the coast. Thanks to its Portuguese fortifications and citadel, with its pinnacles rising above the houses grouped on the slopes of an eminence, Saffi is the most picturesque place on the Atlantic seaboard. Its gardens are marvellously fertile, and the "House of the Seven Brethren," outside the town, is a holy place venerated by Moslem and Jew alike, and frequented by multitudes of invalids of all religions. Another place of pilgrimage is Lalla ​390 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. Gobttsta, "Our Lafly of the Olive," a gigantic tree with enormous branches, unrivalled in the whole of Western Mauritania. ^ Marocco. Marocco, or rather MarraJctsh, the Tcmrakcsh of the Berbers, second capital of the empire, is the only city in the valley of the Tensift, which reaches the coast J between Saffi and Mogador. Seen from without, it presents a superb aspect, reminding pilgrims of the Syrian Damascus. Approaching it from the north or north-east by the banks of the Tensift, which flows within a few miles of the city, the traveller passes through a vast plantation of several hundred thousand palms, inter- spersed here and there with the olive and other fruit-trees. Seen from the Mogador direction, where the route traverses a bare and stony plain, a still more imposing effect is produced by its massive walls flanked with towers, the lofty minaret of its great mosque, and the long indented line of the Atlas, hazy below, blue and streaked with snow towards the summit, bounding the eastern horizon. Standing at an elevation of 1,660 feet some 30 miles from the spurs of the Atlas, Marrakesh is abundantly supplied with water, every house possessing a separate well, every garden irrigated with a purling stream. Its equable climate also, tempered by the neighbouring mountains, is one of the most delightful in the world, reflected, so to say, in the vegetation, where plants of the temperate are intermingled with those of the tropical regions. Marrakesh-el-IIamra, or " the Red," was founded in the second half of the eleventh century, some 24 miles north of the ancient city of Aghmat (Ar/nai), whose inhabitants migrated to the new settlement. The capital grew rapidly, and in the following century it was already one of the " queens " of Mauritania. Although now dethroned and outstripped in population, trade, and industries by its northern rival, Fez, it is still regarded as an imperial capital, visited yearly by the Sultan. The approach of his Majesty is grimly heralded by the despatch of a number of human heads, destined to decorate the front of the palace, as a warning to unruly spirits meditating revolt. About the year 1860 the Rahmennas, one of the powerful Berber tribes in the outskirts, having broken into open rebellion, had to be forcibly dislodged before an entrance could be effected. The Berber element is numerously represented even within the walls, and on market days Tamazight is more generally spoken in the bazaars than Arabic. The Negroes are also numerous, relatively far more so than in the northern capital. As in most other towns of Marocco, the Jews, though now protected by the Israelitish Alliance, are still confined to a mellah, or separate quarter, enclosed by ramparts, which they cannot cross except barefooted and with downcast eyes. Notwithstanding its imposing external aspect, Marrakesh presents inside the appearance of a decayed city. The ramparts, about 7 miles in circuit, not including the walls of the imperial park south of the city, are interrupted by wide breaches ; the thoroughfares leading to the seven gates are in many places lined move with ruins than with houses; more than half of the area comprised within the enclosures ​is occupied with waste spaces and gardens often lying fallow. The streets,
sufficiently wide near the gates, merge towards the centre in a labyrinth of narrow lanes encumbered with filth. Most of the houses have a mean appearance, and of ​the monuments, mostly in ruins, one alone can be called fine. This is the mosque of Kutubia, or rather of the Kutsubia, that is, of "the Calligraphers," so named from the writers whose booths adjoin the sacred edifice. The lofty tower dominating the mosque, apparently raised by the architect of the Sevillian Giralda and of the Hassan tower at Rbat, is the finest and highest of the three. Two of the city gates,
one leading to the palace, the other to a mosque, are said to have been transported block by block from Spain.
The local industries have greatly fallen off. Whole streets, formerly inhabited by carriers, are now deserted, and the famous "Marocco" wares formerly prepared by the Moors exiled from Cordova are no longer produced in Marrakesh. The best leatherwork is now made in Fez, although the southern capital still does a large trade in skins with the southern districts of the Atlas. The Marrakesh ​MOOADOB. 898 C'arj)et« are carefully woven, yet loss esteenierl than those «if Rbat. At preMent the chief occujwtion of the inhahitants is pirdeninH:. (Jue of the orchards comprisod within the enclosures of the in){K>rial (grounds is said to yield a yearly crop of fruit«  valued at £20,000. The zone of ji^rdens stretches for miles in the direction of the hills, and the hamlets occupied by horticulturists are ktou|xx1 in lar^ number* round the ramparts. One of these towards the north-west is exclusively inhabited by a community of lepers, who enjoy self-government, forming a little common- wealth, with its bazaar, prison, Jewish quarter, and mosque d(>dicatcd to a {mtron snint. Towards the south are still visible a few vestiges of the ancient Aghmat, which was formerly capital of the Lamtunas, better known by the name of Mrabotin, that is, the Almoravides, or '* marabuts." An upland valley to the cast of Marrakesh is held by the powerful confederation of the Tiffas, of Zenaga «tock. MuGADOR. At present the chief port of Marrakesh is Siceira, "the Beautiful," better known to Europeans by the name of Mogador, from a shrine erected to a " Saint " Mogdul or Mogdul, over a mile to the south of the town. At this point a harbour formerly existed, as shown by a Spanish map dated 1608. But the present town, which ranks as a seaport next in importance to Tangier and Casablanca, was built a little over a century ago, between the years 1760 and 1773, mainly by French prisoners captured at the time of the disastrous expedition of Larash in 1705. Laid out on a regular plan, Mogador presents a somewhat monotonous asiKHJt, with its uniform blocks of houses, perfect cubes in form, and painted a dull grey colour. It stands at the extremity of a sandy spit stretching southwards, and seiwrutwl by a channel from a fortified island, which defends the shallow and ex|)osed roadstead. The guns spiked at the time of the French bombardment in 1H44 have not yet boon replaced, and the projectiles laimchcd by the French fleet still lie strewn at the foot of the ramparts. The commercial importance of Mogador is due to the fact that it is the outport not only of Marrakesh, but of all the southern Atlas districts, its chief exjwrts to Europe being such local produce as cereals, oils, fruits, hides, gums, wools, and alfu grass. Like that of Saffi, the coastline has here been modified either by erosion or by a subsidence of the soil. In the middle of the present century cattle could easily pass at low water from the Mogador jKniinsula to the neighbouring island, from which it is now separated by a navigable channel. The chief Arab, or at least Arabised, tribes in the Mogador district belong to tho powerful Shiadma confederation, which, while refusing to jM;y tribute, allows free passage to caravans, and recognises the suzerainty of the Sultan. Its villages and convents are scattered over a large tract south of the Wed Tensift between the Jebel-el-IIadid and the advanced spurs of the Atlas. South of Mogador, in the direction of tho headland terminating the main Atlas range, no more towns or even scattered hamlets are now to be seen. Here all the natives live in groups of four or five families in strong stone fortolices, generally of 67 -AF ​square form, flanked at two angles with high towers, and enclosed by a ditch. The ground floor is occupied by the cattle, while the upper story, approached by a ladder which may be removed in time of danger, is disposed in as many chambers as there are families in the stronghold. Such are the means devised for their mutual protection by the local Haha Berbers, who are settled agriculturists exposed to the raids of the nomad Saharian Arabs, They, however, in their turn occasionally full on passing caravans, so that traders never venture to enter their territory unarmed or in small bodies. The various idan, or clans, constituting
the Haha confederacy, have been estimated by Alvarez Perez at two hundred and eighty thousand souls.
The well-watered and highly productive Sûs valley abounds in large villages surrounded by palm, olive, and orange groves. The district is entirely occupied by an industrious peasantry free from the razzias of marauding nomads. Formerly the well-defined basin of the Sûs constituted an autonomous state, whose inhabitants were noted in mediæval times for their industry, learning, and enterprising spirit.
At present they are known in the Mussulman world chiefly as strolling dancers, jugglers, and snake-charmers, who emigrate in large numbers to every part of Mauritania, and even at times find their way to Europe. They constitute a sort of guild, placed under the patronage of a "Saint" Mohammed-ben-Musa, whose name is always invoked before beginning their performances. From the Sûs country ​PARUDANT— AOADTR-SAKIKT-EL-HAMRA. 805 accordinp^ to certain local MuHsulmaii prophecies, in one day to go forth the Muhdi, who is de.stiiKHl to renew the fuce of the eurth, uinl who " shull (111 flu* world with as much rightcou8nc8« as it is now fillod with wickedness." Tarudant. Officially the "Wed Sfts belongs to the empire, ond the Sultan's envoys are here received with honour. Nevertheless most of the tribes are still inde|)endent, and the only effect of the suzerain's intervention, who dividen in onler one day to rule, is to increase their internal feuds and foment a perj)etual state of intestine warfare. The natives are for the most part Berbers of somewhat mixed origin, although the Awaras, one of the largest confederations, call themselves Arabs. They comprise seven tribes occupying the southern slope of the Atlas in the immediate vicinity of the Bibawan pass. Like the Huhus of the opposite declivity, they dwell in strong- holds erected on isolated bluffs and headlands, whence a view is commanded of the approaching enemy, or of peaceful caravans inviting attack. The Shtuga con- federation, which holds the whole region between the Atlantic and Tarudant, consists exclusively of Berber tribes. Tarudant, capital of the Sds basin, lies a little to the north of the river, in a vast plain which rises gradually towards the hills occupied by the Awaras, and towards the southern escarpments of the Atlas. According to Hohlfs, Tarudant covers a larger area than Fez ; but far more gardens and olive groves than groups of habitations are comprised within its irregular enclosures flanked by earthen towers at intervals of 200 or 300 feet. Towards the centre, however, vegetation gives place to a real town, with narrow winding streets comnianded on the north-east by a strongly built citadel. Its chief industries are leather-dressing, weaving, dyeing, and especially copjxjrware for the markets of Kuka, Kano, and Timbuktu in the Sudan. This industry was originally created by the copper mines of the neigh- bouring Atlas hills to the north ; but at present nearly all the crude metal is imported from England. The sugar plantations, which in the time of Leo Airicanus constituted the chief wealth of Tarudant, have long ceased to exist. Agadir — Sakiet-el-Hamra. The natural outport of the Siis basin is Agadir, standing a little to the north of the estuary which forms the best harbour on the Marocco seaboard. The inlet is sheltered from the east and north winds on the north-west by CaiK) Gher (Jcbel Ait-Wakal), the extreme headland of the Atlas range. At the head of the bay another cape, formetl by a i)rojecting lateral ridge, encloses the harbour proper, completely protecting it from the open surf. A group of huts at the foot of this ridge is supplied with water by a copious spring, and the port is commanded by an agadir, or "rampart," whence Agadir-ne-Irir, or "Capo Rampart," the full designation of this seaport. Held by the Portuguese since the beginning of the sixteenth century, and by ​them re-named Santa-Cruz, Agadir rose to considerable commercial prosperity. Even under native rule it continued for a time to flourish as the outport of the produce brought by caravans from the Niger regions. But its distance from the centre of the empire tempting its inhabitants to strike for their independence, Agadir was destroyed by Sultan Mohammed and replaced by Mogador, lying farther north. As a military outpost, Agadir marked till recently the real limit of the imperial administration on the Atlantic seaboard. But the foundation of a Spanish settlement in the neighbourhood has induced the Sultan to consolidate his power on this southern frontier by building the new town of Tiznit on a cliff some 12 miles farther inland. The village of Aglu (Agula), 18 miles south from the
mouth of the Wed-el-Ghâs, is destined to become the outport of Tiznit. In the twelfth century the power of the Almohades reached still farther south, and Abdel-Mumen is said to Lave had the distance carefully measured between the two extremities of his empire, from Barka to the Wed Nun.
At present the imperial authority ceases altogether a little south of the Sûs, although indicated on the maps as extending to Sakiet-el-Hamra, south of Cape Jubi. An uninhabited tract even forms a sort of borderland to the south of the territory recognising the Sultan's jurisdiction. This is the upper valley of the Wed-el-Ghâs (Raz, Welghâs), one of the best watered and most fertile in the whole of Mauritania, but condemned to desolation by frontier warfare and diplomacy. The petty states south of the Ghâs are all peopled by Berbers and Negroes, who serve as intermediaries of commercial intercourse between Marocco ​ILEOH—OOUULIN. 8»7 uiul Sudan. Most of them cull thciiiflclvcs Guezzulu, or Jelula, a term HiAlogoiM to the Gucshtula of Kubyliu, uud jwasibly identical with the Numidian Qotala) of ancient writers. Of all these petty maritime states the most important, although not the brgoKt, is that commonly known as "the kingdom of Sidi Ilesham," from a recently rcigning^sheikh, in whose family the supreme power is still centred. In virtue of its genealogical relations it even claims a right to the imperial crown. The pro|)or name of the district is Tazzerult, which is also that of -a stream flowing from the slopes of the Little Atlas. The natives cultivate barley and wheat, and also work some local mines ; but their chief pursuit is the breeding of canaels, j>artly exixirted, partly employed by them in the caravan trade across the Sahara. Every three years a large mugar, or fair, is held near the zawya of Sidi-Uamod-ben-Musa, ancestor of the reigning prince, and on these occasions as many as four or five thousand camels are collected on the spot. The present sheikh has removed the former interdict excluding the Jews from this market, and in order to attract trade to his territory he even holds himself personally responsible for the public security, indemnifying traders plundered on the route through the unsettled districts of the Awaras and other marauders. Tlegh — Ogulmin. Ueghy capital of Tazzerult, standing, according to Lenz, at an elevation of 1,530 feet, is largely inhabited by Sudanese ^Negroes. Tlie army of the sheikh, who is himself a black, is composed entirely of slaves from every part of Sudan, including even some Fulahs. As in Nigritia, blue garments are the prevailing colour, and, like the Tuarcgs, the men go partly veiled, while the women walk abroad uncovered. Towards the source of the Wed Tazzerult an isolated volcanic cone is crowned by the impregnable stronghold of Agaiiir, marking the southern limit of " tht^ king- dom of Sidi Ilcshara," here conterminous with the territory of the Mejud Herbers. The waters descending from the southern slope of the Anti-Atlas flow to the Wed Nun, whose basin is divided into several i)etty states, the chief of which near the coast usually takes the name of the river itself. The natives have for centuries been dreaded by the fishermen from the Canaries and other mariners, all vessels running aground on these inhospitable shores being reganled as legitimate prize, and the crews mostly enslaved. Ogulmin, capital of the state, and usually known as Wed-Nun, stands at an elevation of probably over 3,000 feet, too high for dates to ripen. Beyond the oasis encircling the town nothing is visible except an amphitheatre of bare arid hills, said by the natives to abound in silver and copper ores. Ogulmin is one of the chief trading stations between Mogador and Timbuktu ; but it is above all a great dejKit for slaves from Sudan. To Mogador, besides slaves, it sends ostrich feathers, a little gold dust, horses and mules of good stock, and sheep. It belongs to the Ait Hassan tribe, with whom the local Jews are said to live on a footing ​898 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. of perfect equality. They are probably Berbers converted to Judaism before the arrival of the Arabs; hence, having had no hand in the death of the "Lord Jesus," they are exempt from the load of reprobation weighing on the other Israelites. Tizzi — Santa Cruz — Ifni. Some 24 miles farther east lies the town of Tizzi or Fum-el-Hosmn, which belongs to the Maribda Arab community. It stands, according to Lenz, at an alti- tude of 1,600 feet, in an admirable jx)sition at the mouth of a rocky gorge commanded by pyramidal mountains. An oasis of palms follows the course of a stream, whose waters sometimes reach the Wed Nun. On a hill to the north are some ruins attri- buted by the natives, apparently with good reason, to the Romans. In the district occur other remains, such as continuous ramparts like the wall of China, high towers with sculptured pinnacles, tombs and inscribed rocks like those found in large numbers throughout Mauritania from Tripolitana to Marocco. These carvings comprise inscriptions in the Tefinegh (Berber) character, besides figures of animals, including the elephant, rhinoceros, horse, and giraffe. The human figure nowhere occurs, although arms, garments, and other works of man are represented on these mysterious petroglyphs. In the region comprised between the Weds Ilegh and Nuu, Spain apparently intends to establish the centre of administration for the new territory acquired by the treaty concluded with Marocco in 1860. In virtue of a special clause, the Spanish Government reserves the right to re-occupy the port of Santa Cruz de Mar Peqiieha {Mar Mcnor or Mar Cliica), which it held for twenty years, from 1507 to 1527. But the very site of this former conquest can no longer be determined with certaint}', and it is doubtful whether any vestiges remain of the Agadir or Otcader razed to the ground by the natives. Nevertheless, fearing to be involved in fresh complications through the incursions of hostile tribes, the Sultan's Government reluctantly ceded a strip of land in a territory over which it exercised no jurisdic- tion, offering instead either a large indemnity, or the Bay of Agnas, on the Mediter- ranean coast, over against the Zaffariue Islands, or even an extension of the Ceuta district. But Spain was obdurate, and a special expedition commissioned to discover the lost jwrt of Santa Cruz has reported in favour of the Ifui inlet, 18 miles north- east of the Wed Nun estuary, near which were found 'some ruins of Spanish or Portuguese construction. The harbour of Ifni, the choice of which was ratified by the Sultan in 1883, has the great advantage of proximity to the Ogulmin market, and of easy access to the rich plains of the Wed-el-Ghas and Wed Siis ; and if selected with a view to further conquest, it has also the advantage above all other places in dispute of lying most to the north, that is, nearest to the Marocco frontier. Ifni, however, answers in no respect to the description of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequena contained in the documents of the sixteenth century. GaUano thinks he has found the true position of the old Spanish port at Boca Grande, on the mouth of the Wed Shibika and about midway between Puerto Cansado and the "V^ed Draa
The Draa Basin.
This estuary exactly faces the island of Lanzagote in the Canary Archipelago, while the Wed itself has its source at least 330 miles east of Marrakesh in the Atlas highlands. The inhabitants of its basin, estimated by Rohlfs at two hundred
and fifty thousands souls, are almost exclusively of Berber stock and speech, and here is found the Beraber or Braber tribe which has preserved the very name of the race. A few hamlets, however, are exclusively inhabited by Shorfa Arabs, ​40 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. members of the Prophet's family, while some of the Beni-Mohammed (Beni-Mahmid) nation are scattered over the district. The Negroes also form small colonies in every oasis, and tljeir blood is^ mixed with that of the other inhabitants. The Jews are represented in all the villages as artisans, although Jewish traders are comparatively less numerous on the southern than on the opposite slope of the Atlas. All the oases in the Draa basin are independent, or at most yield a nominal submission to the authority of the Sultan. In many respects the natives of this region appear to be more civilised than those of the western provinces. Their dwellings especially are more elegant, adorned with terraces and turrets, provided with balustrades and decorated with mouldinffs. All the Upper Draa Valley, from the Tagherut pass to and beyond the confluence of the Dades river, is occupied by the Glawa people. Their chief place is Tikirt, on the northern verge of an arid stony plain stretching southwards in the direction of the Anti- Atlas. Before entering the gorge piercing this range, the Draa is joined by the Dades, whose banks are cultivated and lined with houses wherever sufficient space is afforded between the torrent and its rocky walls. Here every hamlet is guarded by a square tower 30 or 40 feet high, from which the inhabitants keep up a constant fire whenever war breaks out between two conterminous clans. These feuds are generally due to disputes about the irrigation canals; otherwise the people are peaceful enough, the various villages appointing their delegates to a common jemaa or assembly, which takes measures against the hostile Ait-Attas. The natives of Dades claim to have long possessed a special remedy against ophthal- mia, and their eye-doctors yearly visit every part of Mauritania in the exercise of their art. Beyond the Anti- Atlas gorges both banks of the Draa are lined by an almost continuous village, to the point where the river enters the desert and trends to the south-west. The population, chiefly Haratins, or black Berbers, have converted the whole region for 120 miles, from the Mezquita to the Ktawa district, into a vast garden. Their palms yield the best dates in Western Mauritania, and in such quantities that at the time of Rohlf 's visit a load of 375 lbs. was sold for two francs. Besides dates, the country yields some cereals, cabbages, onions, turnips, carrots, tomatos, melons, and in the south liquorice-root. In the Wed Draa the chief town is Tamagrat, on the right bank of the stream over against the extremity of the Bani range. It is regarded as a sort of capital, thanks to its important market, and to the religious influence of its zawya, dedicated to Sidi Hamed- ben-Nasser. But a more populous place is Betti-Sbih, chief town of the rich Ktawa district and of the Beni-Mohammed nation. The village of Zait in the Harib territory, is the starting-point of caravans for the Sudan. TissENT — Tatta West of the Upper Draa the quadrilateral space bounded north by the Anti-Atlas, south by the dry bed of the Lower Draa, is occupied by a few oases, such as J ​Tazenakht, traversed by the rivor of like name, and Tissent, an almost unbroken forest watered by numerous springs, The Tissent River is perennial, but to brackish that the natives suppose it flows from the sea. Although calling themselves Shellahas, the inhabitants are nearly all Haratins, who wear a blue kesh-kaba (smock) like the Sudanese Negroes. They are famed for their religious zeal, their great ambition being to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
The pastoral and agricultural Berbers of the neighbouring hills belong to the great Zenaga (Sanhoja) family, whoso name they bear. Proud of their origin, they keep aloof from contact with aliens, and all speak Tamazight exclusively. De Foucauld describes them as a tall thin people, athletic but ill-favoured, with a deep bronze complexion. They are feared as warriors, although less so than the Dui-Belial Arabs of the plain, present suzerains and protectors of the Tissent oasis. These Arabs, formerly without rivals between the Atlas and the Niger, have been so reduced by intestine strife, that in 1881, at the time of De Foucauld's visit, the tribe could muster no more than eighteen hundred armed men. For the purity of their Arab speech, handsome features, graceful carriage, and courteous manners, they are distinguished above all other nomads of South Marocco.
West of Tissent follows the Tatta oasis, which has been almost ruined by the Dui-Bellals, who when called in as allies remained as oppressors. Tatta is the largest oasis between the Draa and the Atlantic, but is divided into several distinct groups surrounded by the desert. Like Akka, which lies farther west near the sources of the Nun, it has ceased to be one of the centres of trade between Mogador and Timbuktu. The Jewish jewellers of Akka were fomerly noted for their artistic skill; but arts and commerce have alike perished, and the people now depend exclusively on the produce of their palm groves. Here was born the Rabbi Mardochai, one of the few travellers that have described their visit to Timbuktu.
Mriminia—Ferkia.
At present the chief market in the Wed Draa region is Mriminia (Rahunimia), lying south of the Beni range on the Wed Zeguid, a perennial stream abounding in fish. The influential zawya of Sidi Abd- Allah, with the shrines of his ancestors, forms the centre of the village, round which are grouped the huts of the free Haratins and slaves. The annual fair of Mriminia, which lasts three days, is frequented by traders from every part of the Draa and Sûs basins, and from Tafilelt. It is second in importance only to that of Sidi llammed-ben-Musa in the Tazzerult district. Between the two lies the market of Suk-el-Muluk. in the territory of the Ait-Yussa tribe.
East of the long Wed Draa oasis, the chief Berber peoples are the warlike Ait-Sedrats and Ait-Attas, nomads on the steppe, settled agriculturists in the riverain tracts along the Todra, Zis, and other streams, which after meeting in the Tahlelt country are lost in the desert. Among the oases of this region are Todra (Todgha) a narrow strip of cultivated land extending north and south in the depression between the Great Atlas and the southern range, and the far less extensive Ferkla ​402 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. lower down on the same river. Some of the Ferkla palm groves belong to the powerful Ait-Mebrad tribe, who gained a sanguinary victory over the Ait-Attas in 1883. * The Zis Basin. Far more populous than the Todra Valley is that of the Zis, which flows south- wards from the Tizi'ut-er-Riut pass in the Great Atlas, along the historic caravan route between Fez and Timbuktu. The upper valley of the Zis (Guers), inhabited by the Ait-Sdig Berbers, has been described as " another Italy " in the variety of its products and equable climate. The banks of the stream form a continuous garden, dotted over with villages whose houses are built of baked earth mixed with straw and pebbles. Farther down the palm groves form an uninterrupted planta- tion extending from oasis to oasis as far as the desert. Mdnghra, the first of the groves belonging to the region comprised under the generic name of Tafilelt, is one of the richest and most densely peopled on the Sahara slope, comprising about forty villages, some of which are of considerable extent. The largest is Kashah-el-Kedlma, or " the Old Fort," which has a population of fifteen hundred souls. The dates, like the grapes, olives, peaches, and other fruits of Mdaghra, are all of exquisite flavour, and this oasis might be an earthly Eden but for the rivalries of its Arab, Berber, and Jewish inha- bitants. Many are reduced to great want, and over two-thirds are said to suffer from various forms of ophthalmia. Tafilei-t Oasis. South of Mdaghra, most of the natives belong to the powerful Ait-Atta con- federation, which extends westwards to the Wed Draa. According to the local tradition, about one hundred years ago the Ait-Attas expelled the Shorfa Arabs from this part of Tafilelt, which takes the name of Ertih or Reteh. Their women, who go unveiled, are distinguished from most others in Marocco by the practice of tattooing different parts of the body. Ez-Zerigat, capital of Ertib, is probably the largest town in the whole of Tafilelt, mustering, according to Rohlfs, over twelve hundred armed men. At Dnera, a little lower down, the Zis runs out in the sands in summer, reappearing, however, in the Tissimi oasis. Farther on the stream again disappears, leaving the inhabitants of South Tafilelt without surface water till the returning spring. Then the Zis, swollen by the melting snows of the Atlas, overflows its banks, converting the oasis into a lake. The Daya-el-Daura sebkha, which receives all the waters from the eastern Atlas, is also transformed to a temporary lake during the floods. The oasis which is specially known by the name of Tafilelt or Tafilala, is the centre of the largest population in the whole of the Sahara, estimated by Rohlfs at not less than one hundred thousand souls, grouped in more than a hundred and fifty ksars or villages. . The district, covering an area of probably 400 square miles, is almost completely enclosed by an amphitheatre of hills, being op«n only in the north through the Zis Valley, and in the south-east towards the desert. ​EU- UIBSANI— AMBiL 408 IJcsitlcs (lutes, some wbeut, barley, mid clover are jptjwn, whenever the winter fl(Kxl8 have bct'ii sufficiently copiouH. Till recently the (Mipulation wa« alnHMt exclusively Arab, but at present it in niixc<l, the Ait-Attn IkTbt'n having aeijeed a large nuinlnT of the vil- Fig. 184.— Wbd Zts Avo Tajtojelt Oj luges. In Tatilclt, as vh*(i~ where in Marocco and in Algeria, the conquering Arabs are thus bt>ing every- where crowded out by the ^ aboriginal Berber race. Er-Ri.ssani — Amra. Tafilelt has two capitals scarcely separated by a stone's throw — Er-Rmaui, residence of the governor, in the north-east, and in the south-west Abuam or £u-Aam, where the traders chiefly resort. The latter, the largest and wealthiest place in the whole oasis, is the chief market for the Sahara between Twat and the "Wed Draa. Here all the industries are grouped in separate quarters — in one place clothiers, in an- other dealers in oil, butter, and soap ; elsewhere ar- mourers, carixjnters, sad- dlers, and the leather- workers who were for centuries the glory of Ta- filelt. Its famous jild el- fil41i, or skins tanned with an indigenous plant, doubt- less an acacia, are still forwarded to Fez and Tlemcen. From Sudan are imported ostrich feathers, some gold dust and slaves. Most Eurojiean wares are introduced chiefly from Algeria, although tea still continues to be purchased from Knglish dealers. As in Marocco, the circulating medium is almost exclusively five-franc pieces. The governor is always a brother or near relation of the Sultan ; but his 5'*0' We«t of Greeny. cH
Vflla«««. ISMSm. ​404 NORTH- WEST AFEICA. authority is powerless agaiust tbe will of the communal assemblies. He cannot even prevent the inhabitants of his own ksar from waging war against their neighbours. Tafilelt, the original home of his family, is the Berber form of Filal, a district in Arabia, whence are supposed to have come the ancestors of Mulai Ali- Sherif, founder of the Marocco dynasty. His tomb is still shown, 2^ miles south- east of Abuam. West of the present capital stretches an extensive plain, strewn with the ruins of Arum, at least 5 miles in circumference, in the centre of which stand a minaret and the arches of a mosque covered with exquisite arabesques as fresh as if sculp- tured yesterday. Amra, or Medinet-el-Aamera, " the populous city," is almost certainly the famous Sejelmassa {Sijiimassa) mentioned by mediaeval writers, which geographers long sought for beyond the oasis, until it was shown by Walckenaer and D'Avczac that the names Tafilelt and Sejelmassa are identical. It was founded over a hundred years after the Hejira, and although frequently ruined by sieges and wars, it continued to serve as the governor's residence down to the close of the seventeenth century, when the present fort Er-Rissani was erected. Till the year 1815, the mosque was a centre of Koranic studies, where live hundred students were supported at the expense of the state ; and ever since the middle of the century the public prayer for the emperor of Marocco was still read every Friday. The fluvial basin east of the Zis, although more extensive, contains a less volume of water. Nevertheless the traveller passing north of the great hamada can always depend on finding a spring or stream, pastures and habitations, at every station. The Sultan's forces never penetrate into this region, although his spiritual suzerainty is recognised by the natives. The country, however, has been several times traversed by French detachments in pursuit of Algerian rebels. In 1870, Wimpffen's column reconnoitred a part of the Upper Guir basin close to the Tafilelt oasis, and 150 miles from the Oran frontier. The chief tribes inhabiting this borderland of the desert are the Berabers, the Beni-Guils, Dui-Menias, and Ulad-Jerirs. The Beni-Guil Berbers are chiefly centred on the upland pastures about the headstreanis of the Weds Guir, Kenatsa, and Zusfana, while the Dui- Menia and Ulad-Jerir Arabs, kinsmen of the Algerian Hamians, lie nearer to the desert. All are often collectively known by the general name of Zegdu, or " Confederates." The Guir Basin. The farthest sources of the Guir, that is, " River," rise on the plateaux near the headstreams of the Moluya, flowing thence in deep gorges through the southern escarpments of the hills skirting the Sahara. Ain-Shair, the chief oasis in this upland region, grows a few dates ; but, as indicated by its name, its chief source of wealth is cereals, exported to all the lower oases. In the Dui-Menia territory beyond the mountain gorges, the bed of the Guir is so wide that it takes the name of Bahariat, or " Little Sea." Here it ramifies into innumerable rivulets flowing
gradually from the banks of the Wed Guir westwards, and falling suddenly towards the Tafilelt oases. On the verge of the desert between Tafilelt and the Algerian frontier stand the two religious cities of Es-Saheli, on the upper Guir, and Kenatsa, near the source of the Wed Kenatsa. The former is governed by a "chief of chiefs" of the Nassiria order, who has a right toa share in all the offerings made to the members of the other confraternitics. Kenatsa also has a zawya of the Sidi ​Bu-Zian order, dating from the eleventh century, much revered by the surrounding nomads. On the route to the Boanam oasis west of Kenatsa, the Beni-Sithe Kabyles work some lead and antimony mines in a neighbouring hill.
The Figuig Oasis.
In the upper Wed Guir basin the most populous oasis is that of Figuig, about 30 miles from the conventional line accepted as the frontier between Algeria and
Marocco. The fifteen thousand inhabitants of Figuig, nearly all members of the Amur tribe, bear a great reputation for prowess throughout the Sahara, due, to the belief that in the conflicts with the French they must have remained victorious, seeing that the oasis has not yet been seized by France. ​SOCIAL CONDITION OF MAROCCO. 407 Figuig, which stands at a moan elevation of over 2.400 feet, in encircled by hills rising irregulurly on the plateau from (M)0 to I ,.'J00 feet above the palm grovn on the plain. A river, or rather a watercourse, with a few pools here and there, winds north of the oasis, sweeping round west and south to its junction with the Zusfana, one of the main branches of the Guir. At Figuig it is known as the Wed- el-IIalluf, but this name changes from gorge to gorge, and from confluence to confluence. Figuig, which still produces excellent dates, stands on the natural limit between the region of the plateaux and the Sahara, where alfa grass begins to be replaced by drin, the characteristic plant of the desert. The largest village within the common enclosure of the oases lies at the south-west angle, and bears the name of Zenaga, recalling the ancient confederation of the Zenagas or Sanhejas, whom members are scattered over North Africa from Tunis to Senegal. So precious is water in this oasis that a kharruba, that is, the right to a third of a spring twice a month for an hour each time, costs £24 in Zenaga. The natives are distinguished by their handsome features and dignified bearing. Amongst them, as amongst so many other Berber communities, light hair and blue eyes are by no means rare. Beyond the enclosure they hold two other village*, Tarla and Beni-Unif, lying to the south, while numerous groups of tents are scattered over the slopes of the hills. All the jalui, or outer oases, belong to the Zenagas, who, being unable to cultivate all their plantations, allow them to n>main unproductive every third year. The whole group of oases, containing alx)ut two hundred thousand palms, constitutes a little commonwealth, whose affairs arc administered by a general assembly of all the villages, which usually meets four times a year. Every village has its mosque and school, frcquente<l by students from far and wide. Lying close to the Algerian frontier, and serving as a refuge for rebels and deserters, Figuig has naturally a political importance out of all pro- portion with it« size and population. The natives emigrate in large numbers. They are said to be excellent builders and skilful miners, and their women occupy themselves with dyeing, weaving, and embroidering cotton and woollen textiles. A few Jews reside in the oases, but they are forbidden, " under pain of death," either to lend money or acquire land or houses. Figuig lies near one of the future highways of the Sahara. But here the vital point is lyli, at the junction of the Guir and Zusfana, whose united waters form the Wed Saura. The oasis at the confluence forms an indisjx>nsiible caravan station, where converge the main routes from Algeria, Marocco, and Twat. Igli is inhabited by members of the Dui-Meni and Ulad Sidi Sheikh tribes. Between it and Figuig the largest jmlm groves of the Zusfana Valley contain alxjut onehundre<l thousand dates belonging to the rich Beni-Gumi tribe, vassals of the Dui-Menias. Social Condition of MARocn>. It is impossible, says Hooker, to speak too highly of the natural resources of Marocco. It enjoys all the advantages of a mild climate, abundant water, fertile ​408 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. soil, varied products, and happy commercial position between two seas at the angle of a continent. Although under the same latitude as Algeria, it far exceeds that region in its general physical prerogatives. With the exception of a few tropical species, Marocco might cultivate all plants useful to man, while its mountains are as rich as those of Spain in mineral deposits. Yet how little does this favoured land count in the general balance of nations ! But in few other countries are the inhabitants more enslaved by a Government with boundless arbitrary power. Fortunately most of ihe inland Berber tribes have been able to maintain their independence, while in the seaports the Sultan's officials are held in check by the European consuls. Thus is explained the fact that the Government, although at times aided by drought, locusts, and cholera, has hitherto failed to transform the country to a desert. Nevertheless it would be unfair to repeat with many writers that this " Afri(;an China " is barred from all progress. The reports of travellers show that during the last half -century great changes have taken place. Europeans traverse without risk the whole of the settled parts ; they easily find teachers of Arabic, and the former fanatical hatred of strangers has in many districts given place to more friendly sentiments. If it is still dangerous to travel among the Berber tribes, this is due not to their jealousy of the foreigner, but to their mistrust of all visitors, regarded by them as spies. Marocco is being gradually brought within the sphere of European influences. Every seaport has its little colony of traders, and in Fez there are no less than five hundred Spaniards, for the most part, however, renegades or deserters. Politically protected by the mutual rivalry of the Western Powers, Marocco is being gradually conquered by international trade. There is not a Berber village in the Atlas or the southern regions bordering on the Sahara in which the tea introduced by the English from China has not found a market. Agriculture — Industries — ^Trade. Agriculture, oldest of industries and the slowest to change, has been but little modified in its traditional methods. The exportation of wheat and barley being forbidden, the cultivation of these cereals so well suited especially to the province of Gharb, makes little progress, while the area under maize, pulse, and other grains whose export is permitted, continually increases. But no vegetable species has recently been acclimatised ; nor has any effort been made to introduce European animals, or improve the native breeds by crossings. The export of horned cattle is limited to a few thousands to each of the West European states, while that of sheep and horses is still rigorously interdicted. The native industries, specially protected by the Government, have been better preserved than in any other Mohammedan country. The carpets, textiles, Marocco ware, arms, glazed faience, are still produced according to the traditional processes, and some of these products, such as the white haiks with silken warp ahd fine
The two nations that have developed the most extensive commercial relations
with Marocco are England and France, the former absorbing about half of the whole foreign trade of the country. But to the share of France should also be added the brisk contraband traffic that has sprung up between Tlemcen and the borderlands. In virtue of the Madrid Convention, signed in 1680, the right of all foreigners to hold property is fully recognised. But the purchase of land can only be made with the preliminary consent of the Government, a consent which is never granted.
Except in the towns where foreigners are settled, the changes effected in the habits and ideas of the people are not sufficiently pronounced to reveal themselves in the local institutions. The schools of the interior still continue to teach little ​beyond the chanting of verses from the Koran, although the standard of public instruction is gradually rising, thanks to the increasing relations with strangers, temporary emigration, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and the example set by the Jewish schools established in some of the large towns since 1862. In 1884 these were Fig. 188. — Frontiers of Algeria and Marocco. attended altogether by eleven hundred and fifty students, receiving their education in French, which has become the cultured language of Jewish and European society. No papers however are yet published anywhere, nor are works any longer composed in Arabic.
Polygamy is as rare as in Algeria, except amongst the grandees, who are obliged by their position to keep a large harem. The Emperor has hundreds of wives, and every Friday a new bride is said to enter his household. The old forms of slavery still exist; and although the traffic in white captives was formally abolished in 1777, the stream of Negro slaves still continues to flow from the Sudan across the Sahara to the very gates of the European consulates in Tangier. Their public sale is officially interdicted, but of late years the trade has more than doubled, and the mutilation of children is still practised by all the dignitaries of the empire.
Government — Administration.
The sovereign, a member of the Tafilelt Shorfa family, whence the title of "his Sherif Majesty," is absolute master, as far as permitted by the Koranic law. Even of this law he is the interpreter, being at once temporal ruler and spiritual guide of his subjects. His imperial will is thus the only law. He may condescend to take counsel and act through agents; but he has no ministers, in the strict sense of the word. Nevertheless he need but turn his gaze towards Tangier to ​understand how greatly his power is henceforth limited by the mere presence of the
foreign consuls. The Portuguese order of "the Tower and Sword" still reminds ​412 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. the natives that the conquest of Fez and its towers continues to be the goal of their northern neighbours. The empire is even already invaded by Spain, which possesses strongholds on the seaboard and has secured a finn footing at the Mediterranean entrance of the Strait. On the Algerian side the frontier is well defined, at least along its northern section, nor -does France hold any enclare within the Marocco borders. But this conventional line, coinciding with no natural, strategic, or ethnical limits, has already been repeatedly violated by French detachments in pursuit of hostile tribes, such as the Amurs, Beni-Iznatens, or Sidi-Sheikhs, England also has in her turn played the part of a protecting power, often subsidising the imperial Government, and in 1860 even preventing the victorious Spanish army from advancing against Tangier. The very treaties of commerce have been dictated, so to say, clause by clause, and the Cape Spartel lighthouse, at the threshold of the empire, has been built by the foreigner and is maintained by the European consuls. The Sultan is well aware that he has no longer the strength to withstand the will of Europe, and that the best security for the permanence of his rule lies in the mutual rivalries of the Great Powers. The consular jurisdiction is at times extended to the Mohammedans themselves. Natives in litigation with a European must plead before the protecting consul, and abide by his decision. On the other hand, foreigners under like circum- stances appeal to the cadi ; but if dissatisfied with his judgment, they may bring their suit before the emperor, that is, indirectly before their respective ambassadors. But the local administration of justice is a much more summary affair. The sentences, or rather judicial acts of vengeance, are incredibly barbarous and cruel. If the penalty of death is rarely inflicted, the victims only suffer all the more, being reserved for a slow physical agony. In the State prisons they are often confined with the neck passed through an iron collar obliging them to maintain a standing position day and night. Many of these prisons are foul dens where they are forgotten and left to perish of hunger. Thieves have sometimes their hands closed for ever, the nails penetrating the live flesh through slits made with a knife, and a fresh skin gradually spreading until the hand grows to a stump. More ordinary punishments are the bastinado and fines, always imposed by the cadi, from whom there is no appeal. The supreme judge of the empire is the Cadi of Fez, generally a member of the imperial family appointed by the Sultan. , He selects the district cadis, who in their turn nominate those of the various tribes or communes, without reference to their superiors. Army. The army is recruited somewhat at haphazard. In principle, each tribe forming the makhzen or military section of the population is bound to supply one man for every hearth. But in practice the kaids called on to furnish troops seize all within their reach, sending them in chains to the ranks, where they remain for life unless redeemed by a substitute. The forces thus raised form a total of 25,000 men, of whom 7,000 are infantry ; but in time of war the Sultan coulS raise probably 40,000 infantry and an equal number of horse. The so-called guish, or ​FINANCE— ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. 418 nucleus of the army, comprines a xHy of about 0,000, ut once grnclurmea, noldicn, and Government officiuU. ITie most formuluble of tht'He ure the Ahi<l Sidi-Iiokhuri, "Skves of the liokhura Lord," so-culled becuuse ut the time of their formation in 1679, they wert» pluctnl under the invocution of u liokhuriot "saint." Thin corp«, exclusively Negroes, constituted till recently a sort of Pnetorian Guard, a menace to the sultans themselves ; und, although now dispersed throughout the provinces^ they still hold nearly all the high military posts. They are largely employed at tax-gatherers, hence are everywhere the terror of the natives. The guides, when asked by travellers in abandoned districts the cause of the desolation, reply laconic- ally, "The locusts or the mukhzeni." liudly clothed, badly i>quip|)ed, badly commanded, and without discipline, the native troops are, nevertheless, excellent soldiers, brave under fire, sober, jwitient, industrious and intelligent. A battalion drilled at Gibraltar at the cost of the liritish Government, is reserved to {Nirude on State occasions, and Impress the foreign envoys with a feeling of respect for the notive army. Finance — Administrative Divisions. Marocco is one of the few countries which have no public debt, or which have at least a revenue amply sufficient for all requirements. But strictly speaking there is no budget, what is known by this name being simply the emperor's private purse. Ilis income is derived not only from his domains and the " presents" of all sorts offered to their sovereign or protector by the towns, tribes, and communes, but also from the regular taxes levied on the land and live stock, the judicial fines, the custom-house duties, the profits of the tobacco and other monopolies. The expenditure, almost wholly absorbt^ by the anny and the court, scarcely amounts to half the receipts, so that a large annual sum nMnains to the credit of the treasury. After the Spanish war, Marocco undertook to pay an indemnity of £4,000,000 for the ransom of Tetuan. To meet this charge, half of the customs, averaging about £280,000, were assigned to Spain, whose agents are arme<l with the right of inspecting the imperial custom-houses. A fourth of the same dues is secured to the English bankers, who served to negotiate the treaty of peace with Spain ; lastly the remaining fourth goes absolutely to the Sultan. The only national coin minted in IMarocco is a small copixT piece valued at about a third of a farthing. But the ordinary medium of exchange is the douro, that is, the five-franc piece. For administrative puqwses the empire is dividwl into amahtU, or district* governed by amils, or kauk. The vassal tribes also nceive a representative of the Sultan, either as master or envoy, according to the degree of submission to which they are reduced. In 1880, at the time of Lenz's visit, Marocco was divided into forty-four amulats, of which thirty-three were in Fez and Marrukesh, und nine in the Wed S(is and Tafilelt regions. According to Erckmann, the more or less inde- pendent tribes are administered by three hundred and thirty kaids.