MOROCCO. 367 



nean. As a result, since permanent residence is otFered by the nature 

 of^the country, small border cities, like Demnat, Sidi Rehal, Anismis, 

 and others have i>ro\Yn up at the mouths of the Atlas valleys. 



The capital. Marrakesh. Avhich gives its name to the country, is the 

 chief cit}^ of the Tensift region. Although not situated directly on 

 the Tensift, it has another advantage of being an oasis city in the 

 open, high plateau. It developed in the first place as a result of its 

 abundant water supply; in the second, through its position so favora- 

 ble to trade. As in Milan, similarly situated at the base of the Alps, 

 the Alpine routes converge like the spokes of a wheel, so the routes 

 through the Atlas mountains and those to the Sus, and the region of • 

 the AYed Draa merge together at the city of INIorocco, only to diverge 

 again toward the coast toAvns Mogador, Saffi, INIazagan, Casa Blanca, 

 and Rabat. INIarrakesli, therefore, is the natural caintal of all southern 

 Morocco. 



Fez plays the same rule for northern Mt)r()cc<) and is (he chief city 

 of the Sebu region. Though only about ^^00 m. above sea level, it also 

 lies on the upper plain. The highlands here, neaivr lo the mountain 

 and lying between the /Vtlas and the Rif mountains, are partially 

 cut up l)v hilly teri'itory. Fez, as well as Maci'akesh. owes its devel- 

 opment to abundance of water, through which the v'\iy is adorned 

 with a border of luxuriant gardens, and to the fact of its being a cen- 

 ter of trade routes, whose direction is determined by natural condi- 

 tions. It is the medium of trade between the mountains and the oases 

 beyond, especially Tafilah^t on the one side, the estuary of the Sebu, 

 and the sea on the other. Indeed, thanks to the above-mentioned 

 basin lying between the Atlas and the Rif mountains, it is the focus of 

 trade of the entire Maghrel)-el-Aksa with the other Atlas countries. 

 It is proposed to build a railroad, over 100 kilometers long, to connect 

 Fez with some point on tlie Mediterranean coast. From a strategic 

 point of view it is the key at least to northern JMoi-occo. 



The entire Vorland falls into two divisions, according to the 

 character of the soil, according to natural geogra[)hical routes, and, 

 as a consequence of the latter, according to political conditions. The 

 inhabitants of the two divisions regard them as entirely different 

 realms, united only, as it were, in the person of ihe Sultan. The 

 northern division. North ^Morocco, El Gharb, is predominatingly 

 mountain and hill country, is well watered, and is almost everywhere 

 capable of cultivation. South Morocco, El Hans, is for the most part 

 high plateau, and lacks water, so that it can not be cultivated. By 

 some Sus, the South, is i-egarded as a third division of equal rank 

 with the other two. The border country between the sultanates of 

 Fez and Marrakesh is one of the regions of which least is known, 

 becau£3 the Berber tribes inhabiting it, Avho speak chiefly Tamazirt 

 even at this dav, and include the Zemnuir, Zair, Zaian, Beni Mgild. 



