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النشر الإلكتروني

MAROCCO.

The Empire of Marocco or Morocco (the ancient Mauretania) is a state occupying the north-west extremity of Africa, and known to its inhabitants only by its Arabic name, Moghreb-el-aksa, the Extreme West. Its boundaries. towards the desert are, like those of the other states of Northern Africa, very indefinite. Large tracts in this quarter are quite uninhabitable, and even in the habitable regions, in which nomadic tribes herd their flocks, the tribute claimed from them by the ruler of Marocco is very irregularly paid, so that the authority of that ruler is almost nominal over nearly two-thirds of the area assigned as his dominion. The whole of that area, including the Oasis of Twat in the southeast (lat. 27° N.), which stands to Marocco in a very loose political relation, is about 313,000 square miles. The maritime region, sometimes called, as in Algeria, the Tell, has an area of about 76,100 square miles (one-sixth less than Great Britain) and contains at least five-sixths of the total population, the density being about 70 to the square mile. The total population (including that of Twat) is estimated at 6,370,000.

PHYSICAL FEATURES. - The most remarkable natural feature of this country is the great chain of mountains extending through it from south-west to north-east. This chain, the High Atlas, commences on the Atlantic coast at Cape Ghir, and appears to attain its greatest elevation in Mount Miltsin (above 12,000 feet), south-south-east of the city of Marocco. About 5° 40′ E. it sends off to the south-south-west another chain which incloses the head-waters of the Sus, and still further to the east we come to a mountain ganglion where, according to Gerhard Rohlfs, the High Atlas changes its direction. Several series of mountains proceed in different directions from this centre, but those proceeding to the east and south do not form regular mountain chains, but rather successions of isolated mountains and rocky heights, while the true continuation of the High Atlas bends round towards the north, and terminates on the Mediterranean in Cape Deir, but before doing so sends off to the west the northern maritime chain now called Er-Rif or the Rif, and formerly the Atlas Minor. The general height of this latter chain is from 2500 feet to 3500 feet. The inner slopes of the High Atlas descend in a series of terraces to the cultivable land in the west, but the outer slopes, towards the desert, are extremely precipitous. The northern slopes of the Rif are steeper than the inner slopes of the High Atlas, but along their base also there extends a strip of fertile land, the only exception being formed by a tract known as the Angad, traversed by the middle course of the Muluya, a tract often barren from deficient rainfall, but covered with vegetation of one kind or another as often as the rain falls in due time and in sufficient abundance. Of the rivers of Marocco those flowing from the north side of the Atlas have the shorter course, but are well supplied with water; those running south extend much farther, but are dry in summer. The Wady Draa on the south side has a course of 700 miles, but the whole of that portion of its bed in which it flows

westwards is periodically quite dry. Lake Ed-Debaia, formed by the floods of the Draa, is reported to be very large; but it disappears annually, and gives place to richly cultivated fields. The coast offers few good harbours; of these Tangier and Mogadore, or Sweira, are the best; the rest are but open roadsteads at the mouths of rivers. The climate west of Atlas is much more temperate than might be expected under such low latitudes. This is due to the circumstance that the lofty summits of the Atlas, covered in some parts with perpetual snow, intercept the hot winds from the deserts of the interior, so that the equable and refreshing sea-breezes prevail throughout the year. Hence the extremes of temperature lie within moderate limits, the thermometer rarely falling below 40° Fahr. in the winter, while it does not rise above 95° in summer. In the region east of the mountains intense cold is felt in winter, while in summer the heat of the plains is insufferable.

NATURAL PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURE, &c.—The flora of Marocco includes the esculent oak (Quercus Ballota) and cork oak; in the higher regions of the Atlas the cedar and Aleppo pine, with many varieties of oxycedrus and juniper yielding fragrant gums; also the date-palm and the dwarf-palm east and south of the Atlas; and the argan (Argania Sideroxylon or Elæodendron Argan), a tree which grows in south-western Marocco between Wady Sus and Wady Tensift (lat. 20° and 32° N.), and nowhere else in the world, and which yields from the kernel of its fruit an oil largely consumed by the inhabitants. Its timber is so close in the grain as to sink in water. The agriculture of Marocco is in the lowest possible condition, and the annual production is calculated barely to supply the wants of the country, though with proper cultivation and under an enlightened government Marocco might be one of the most productive countries in the world. The cereal crops are durrah, wheat, barley, and maize, the first-mentioned constituting the chief support of the population, though beans, the esculent arum, and even canary-seed are much eaten by the poorer classes. The vine grows wild, and is also cultivated near towns both for the sake of the fresh grapes and raisins and for the sake of the wine, in the use of which the people are apt to indulge immoderately; and tobacco, hemp, and cotton are also found both wild and cultivated. Indigo also grows wild, and the other vegetable products include capers, truffles, and archil. The animals, both wild and domesticated, are the same as in Algeria. The extent of the mineral wealth possessed by Marocco is not known with any accuracy. Copper, iron, and lead are present in abundance; antimony, silver, and gold are also found (the gold in the rivers of the south), and among other mineral products are sulphur, saltpetre, salt, and fuller's-earth.

MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.-In general, among the rural population, each family supplies all its own wants. In the towns, however, some manufactures still preserve their old celebrity. Fez makes and exports great quantities of the cloth caps which bear the name of that city. The tanners of Mekinez have a great reputation; and those of Marocco can render the lion's or panther's skin as white as snow and as soft as silk. This is done by means of two plants unknown to European tanners. Of the fine morocco leather Fez

furnishes the red, Tafilelt the green, and the city of Marocco the yellow. The Marocco carpets, so much esteemed in Europe, are made chiefly in the province of Ducalla.

The commerce of Marocco may be classed under the heads of commerce with the East, carried on by means of the caravans to Mecca, which have at once a mercantile and a religious character; with Soudan or Negroland, across the Great Desert; and lastly, the maritime trade with European states. From the East are brought silks, perfumes, spices, cotton, &c., for which are exchanged cochineal, indigo, skins, fine leather, woollen cloths, and ostrich feathers. From the Soudan are obtained ivory, gold-dust, ostrich feathers, asafoetida, gums, Guinea pepper, indigo, and slaves. Of the whole of the commerce with Christian states five-sixths in amount is carried on with Great Britain. Five cities, namely, Fez, Marocco, Mekinez, Rabat, and Tetewan or Tetuan, have mints, and coin gold, silver, and copper.

PEOPLE. The elements of the population of Marocco are the same as those of the North African states generally, namely, pure Berbers (here known as Amazirghi), pure Arabs, mixed Arabs and Berbers (the race generally known as Moors), Jews, and Negroes from Central Africa, as well as mixed offspring of Berbers and Negroes, the last generally sprung from the harems of the great, since the common Arab seldom marries a woman of Negro race, and the Berber would disdain to do so. In physical appearance the pure Berber and pure Arab have a strong resemblance to one another. Both have a somewhat bronzed complexion, a European type of face with little beard or whisker, and both are of slender, sinewy, muscular frame. What chiefly distinguishes them is their language, although each has naturally borrowed a good many words from the other. The language of the Berbers is the same as that of the Tuaregs of Sahara, and is heard even in the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon; but the Berbers of Marocco have no alphabet, which has long been possessed by the Tuaregs. The religion of both Berbers and Arabs is Mohammedan, and the sherifs, or descendants of Mahommed, are here a peculiarly privileged class, almost as much so as at Mecca itself. The high-sherif ("the Marocco pope") has his residence at Wazan. The majority of the villages are composed of tents, and are then called duars, villages of houses being distinguished as chars. The tents are made of camel's hair or the fibre of the dwarf-palm, and in form resemble a gable-roof, which is no doubt the same form as that of those of ancient Numidia, which Sallust likened to inverted ships. The position of women among the Berbers of Marocco is a higher one than among the Arabs, but throughout the country the women go unveiled and are subject to fewer restraints than in many other Mohammedan countries. Monogamy is the rule, polygamy a rare exception. The civilization of Marocco has sunk to a low condition. The education given at the schools in the chief towns, and completed at the University of Fez, does not go beyond the theology of the Koran. The public libraries, once famous, are now dispersed; true science is unknown; and whatever monuments of art are to be found in the kingdom point to the time when literature and art flourished under the Arabian dynasties in Spain. Music is the only art for which the

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Moors are said to manifest a decided taste, but they have not as yet arrived at any proficiency in it. The Jews of Marocco, numbering in all perhaps 200,000, are a despised and oppressed race, and are confined to certain quarters (milhas) in all the towns, as they were in most parts of Europe in the middle ages, and till recently in other parts of Northern Africa. Some of them are descended

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from those who in former times were driven out of Spain, and by them Spanish is still spoken, by the others only Arabic, or sometimes the language of the Berbers.

GOVERNMENT. The sovereign or Sultan of Marocco, styled by Europeans emperor, bears the title of Emir el Mumenin, or Lord of the True Believers. He is ordinarily called by his subjects simply Seid-na-our Lord. He is absolute in the strictest sense; the lives and properties of his subjects are at his disposal; from him alone proceed the laws, which he makes and unmakes at his pleasure. The imperial revenues are derived from arbitrary imposts on property, from duties on imports and exports, from monopolies, and from fines or confiscations. The

military force maintained by the sultan does not ordinarily exceed 20,000, of whom half are blacks. Spain has for centuries possessed in Marocco four strongly fortified places, the so-called Presidios, namely, Ceuta, Peñon de Velez, Alhucemas, and Melila.

CHIEF TOWNS.-The capital of Marocco is Fez, a town with a population estimated at 150,000, and occupying a very picturesque situation between two hills crowned with the remains of old fortifications. Seen from either of these eminences the whole town, divided by a stream into an old and a new town, is spread out before the eyes of the spectator, presenting to view numberless flatroofed white houses, surmounted here and there by green cupolas, slender minarets, and battlemented towers, intermixed with gigantic palms and other lofty trees. Seen from within the prospect is not so attractive, for in respect of dirt and disorder Fez is the rival of Tunis. Mekinez (45,000-50,000), the summer residence of the sultan, situated about forty miles west of Fez, lies in the midst of olive plantations, has broad streets plentifully enriched with foliage, and altogether presenting an agreeable contrast to the interior of the larger city. Marocco (about 50,000), in the south-west of the region north of the Atlas, is also an occasional residence of the sultan, but has declined more than any other city in the empire from a position of former grandeur. Whole quarters once covered with houses and other buildings are now occupied by enormous gardens. The seaport town and fortress of Tangier (20,000), on the north coast opposite Gibraltar, was in the possession of the English for a short time in the seventeenth century, but was abandoned as expensive and useless.

WESTERN AFRICA AND SOUDAN.

SENEGAMBIA AND UPPER GUINEA. Under these names may be included the whole of the maritime region extending from the Senegal in the north to the Ogowe in the south. Senegambia, which takes its name from its two chief rivers, the Senegal and the Gambia, extends from the former river to the Pongo (about 9° N.), and Upper Guinea may be held to embrace all the remainder of this region. As stated in the general account of Africa, the whole of this region lying north of the Gulf of Guinea (including Senegambia) consists of a strip of flat country backed by mountains. The breadth of this flat strip varies from about thirty to seventy miles, and the first break in the level consists of ranges of hills from the tops of which can be descried the rugged and densely wooded table mountains of the interior. The shore itself is almost uniformly low and flat, the principal exception to this character being formed by the rocky peninsula of Sierra Leone, which owes its name (meaning "lion's ridge”) to the constant roaring of the surf which beats against its sides. Where the coast turns southwards the mountains (the lofty Cameroon Mountains and those to the west of the Fan country) advance nearer to the shore, though here also at

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