The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-15
MOROCCO IN THIS CENTURY
IMPORTATION UP TO DATE CON-
 CERNING OF

& Morocco's Only Sen Port on Six Hun
 drcd Miles of Atlantic Coast.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journa
 and Courier).
 City of Morocco, Oct. 5, 1901 x The native name of this vast empire N Mugh- rib el-Aksa, meaning "The EX' 5# treme East st"-indicates it's geographica # position. Occupying the northwest cor x rer of the African continent, it has full & ly six hundred miles of Atlantic coast 7 and about half that distance bordering # the Mediterranean. Correctly speaking $% Morocco is three kingdoms in one, with three distinct capitals, which are visited # in turn by the Sultan and his army. X Having had glimpse of Fez, the most important of the trio of royal cit v ies, we decided to see something of this x Gouthernmost capital. To reach the FH City of Morocco you may patronize the 4 comparatively new coast railways; or choose the older, slower and cheaper N transit of the ocean-by coasting vessel through the Strait of Gibraltar around Cape Spartel and down the Atlantic to & Mogador, the only port of Morocco s ocean side; and thence the best way Eyou can, two hundred and fifty miles
 
 The new railroad, by the way, tra- # #verses the northern edge of Africa more X than two thousand miles, bending out @ Bptirs and feeders from various points " Into the desert of Sahara The latest
 pro1ect which will undoubtedly be car z ried through in the near future, is to |5 cross the great desert by north and south rail line, from Tangiers on the ' Mediterranean away down into myste- 7 fiOus Timbuktu. Soon as that feat is
 Accomplished arteslan wells, irregat- g$idg canals, and other engineering de-
 vices will inevitably follow-all of E course constructed by foreigners; when, ssPresto Sahara will vanish from the < face of the earth, and if the desert does SSlr0t actually "blossom as the rose" 1t < Will at least become as habitable as our own Arizona. Already the Sultan of # Morocco that high and mighty poten- E tate who has absolute control over the x lives and destinies of eight million sub
 jects-has given in to Twentieth Gen. Hattry progress, not only to the extent of X owning bicycle, (presented to him by the enterprising manufacturers) but of l ordering his hitherto dramatically seat z ed ports to be opened to the coast trade s of the country; just a little crack in the door, as it were, sufficient only to
 let feluccas slip in, bringing fowls grains, vegetables and other food sup
 plies from port to port. Until lately z that has never been permitted, however Ngreat the need. Frequently wheat corn, barley, etc, have been so scarce in the ISneighborhood of Tangier that men and
 beasts died for want of them; while at s fhe same time, farther down the coast
 notably toward Safh where the land is
 surprisingly fertile-grain has been so
 Over-abundant that it was left to rot in the fields, not bringing enough profit { to pay for reaping Yet not a bushel of lit was permitted to be transported to
 any other port by sea-the only practic- EablA route.
 < Asrg@4uor-known sr to the Moors as Enerah, "Little Picture and to the 13Arabs of Sweera '"The BeautifuP'-is
 ky all odds the best built town in Mor- i
 oGco, owing, no doubt to it's later ori 8 s8in It is as an Infant in arms among | a3hk hoary African cities, having been | built only about two centuries ago, | while most of them, you know, can | trace their beginnings back into the misty past two thousand years or more Mogador was founded by the | Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdulah 1 Sb2n sIsurad in honor of Sidi Mogdol, one | SDf the most venerated Saints in the sMohammedan catagony, who died in athis neig ighborhood. His tomb is two or three miles south of Mogodor, half way 'to the village of Diabal; and standing 'diose to the ocean, it's tall white min aret forms striking landmark, visible ' far out on the stormy Atlantic. So, i Whatever Sidi Mogdal may have left undone in life, he has certainly per- formed excellent service to humanity after death, by lifting a colossal finger to warn mariners away from this rock bound coast
 Never was town more oddly situated than Mogador, on lofty projecting ridge of rock, which became an island 1n certain frequent states of winds and waves A sea wall protects the high way to Saffi, which otherwise would be Generally under water; and the shall low little bay, forever like a tempest fYi a tea pot, is said to be sheltered by a nearby island, which serves also as the quarantine station of western Morocco. The only protection afforded by the is- land, however, is in the line of guns, to keep invaders at respectful distance, the so-called harbor being extremely dangerous when too prevalent south west winds are blowing. At the best, it Is accessible only to smallest craft, ves- sels of ordinary size being compelled to anchor far outside, exposed to the full fury of sirocco gales. Hence the port |s not much frequented, and would never be visited by foreign ships were it not for the fine ostrich feathers, ivory, lion and leopard skins gold dust, almonds, wax wool and a lew other African specialties to be had here in trade. On three sides of Mogador stretches a waste of barren 3and, with the long swells of the At antic beating it's rocky foundations in .ront-and only a few poor gardens ,lose under it's fortified walls to supply ! population of fifteen to twenty thou and Seen from afar, the snow-whte own on its lofty promontory loks rath- IT mposing-impression which is not diminished by the sight of several Itrong batteries on the island, big ort on the land side and half dozen overs in the machicolated walls. En- erfng through one of the narrow gates, vou find that the compact little city is emarkably we'll built and astonishingly I,