MOROCCO. 363 



at the base of th^ higher phiin, which in turn presents an abrupt 

 elevation of 100 meters. Possibl}^ the edge of the higlier phiin was 

 once the shore of the ocean. The coast phiin bears nearly every- 

 where the marks of a true plateau, and when one gets a bird's-eye 

 view it appears to be level as a table. Here and there occur hills and 

 undulations in the ground. Their infrequency is to be attributed to 

 denudation and to the chalk crust so charactenstic of expanses of 

 land in Morocco and so fraught with danger, to be explained as 

 essentially a climatic phenomenon. The primitive mountain crops 

 out only in Shawia, where it forms isolated cliffs. 



Apart from the large rivers rising in the interior, running water 

 is utterly lacking in the coast plain. Most of the smaller streams 

 and brooks that descend from the upper level soon dry out. l)ut their 

 A^alleys form an easy a'^cent to the higher table-land. The only 

 strips of land intersected by running water an* the precipitous coast 

 land to a distance of 10 to '20 kilometers from the ocean and a narrow 

 girdle on each side of the Um-er-Rbia. 



As a consequence, sjirings are very I'are in the lower plain, and 

 they probably occur only in Shawai, wliere they are occasioned by 

 the impervious folds of the primitive mountains now degraded, and in 

 the belt along the Um-er-Kbia. For the most part in the countries 

 immediately along the ocean the inhabitants are dependent upon 

 artificial means of obtaining water, exce[)t where the great rivers 

 from the Atlas provide good though usually muddy drinking water. 

 The first expedient adopted by the natives was the construction of 

 artificial ponds for collecting rain wator, suggested by the natural 

 pools formed on the chalk crust or in shallow basins. Such are 

 to be found in great numl)er throughout the district, notably in 

 Dukkala, where there are many hundred, circular in shape, sur- 

 rounded with low walls, and not seldom with a mound in the center. 

 Some persons maintain that they are of volcanic origin, but they are 

 undoubtedly products of human labor. I saw some that had just 

 been made. Then, the people constructed cisterns on the edge of the 

 chalk crust, which prevented the water from penetrating into the 

 ground. Where these means failed to secure water for the eight or 

 nine months of the dry season, wells are bored, but it is a very difficult 

 task, as they must be dug to a great depth — T su})i)ose as far as the 

 impervious primitive mountain folds. Moreover, for the most i)art, 

 stone for the construction of walls is lacking. I measured wells GO 

 meters deep. The water in them is warm and very often so saline 

 that at first even animals did not \vant to drink it, and tea pre- 

 pared with it is unpalatable. And yet sometimes a well of this 

 kind is the only source for obtaining Avater in an entire district. In 

 such cases they are always placed within the kasba (citadel) of the 

 kadi, as a means of keeping the populati(m in subjection. A draft 



