MOROCCO." 



BV THE0T5ALD FiSCHER. 



To the man of general culture the word "■ Morocco '' calls up a 

 vague notion of a country in the northwest corner of Africa, and even 

 among the better informed a clear idea does not prevail that nn(kM- the 

 name " Morocco " is comi^rehended a group of countries and districts 

 quite loosely tied together only by religious l)onds, and that only a 

 few of these constitute a sort of political uiuon, the boundarit^s of 

 which are ever changing, and which owes its existence to the domi- 

 nant natural feature of the country, the Atlas range. The govern- 

 ment and the people, j^erhaps for different reasons, have been alike 

 at all times in maintaining the most distant attitude toward Euro- 

 jieans. 



It has l)een only within the last twenty years that we have suc- 

 ceeded in throwing light upon even the main features of this extreme 

 portion of the Dark Continent. Political aims have played a large 

 part in bringing about this result, and it is therefore not surprising 

 that French investigators, who are almost witliout excerption olheers 

 in active service or pensioned, have accomplished most. The work 

 of the Vicomte de Foucauld and, it seems, that of the Marcjuis de 

 Segonzac — for his book has not yet appeared — belong to the highest 

 achievements in the field of research on African soiL Much that is 

 valuable, notably chartographic material, collected by French officers, 

 especially of the mission militaire, on their travel^ through the coun- 

 try is probably lying un.used in the maps of the French ministry of 

 war. Other names worthy of mention are those of the Englishmen, 

 Hooker, Maw, Ball, Harris, and of the Cermans, Von Fritsch and 

 Rein. I myself have devoted special attention to Morocco for many 

 years, and in 1888, 1891), and 1001, T traveled through the country for 

 purposes of investigation. 



No presentation at all satisfactory from a scientihc standpoint is 

 in existence. The best map is that of R. de Flotte Roquevaire, on a 



a Translated, by permission, from Geographisolie Zeitschrift, Leipzig, T<'el)- 

 ruary 12, 1903. Translation revised by author. 



355 



