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MOROCCO. 



Morocco. 



Coasts and 

 Ukei. 



Climate. 



Soil. 



Aoads. 



Mineral 

 produc- 

 tions. 



Vegetable 

 produc- 

 tions. 



Cruz, where its mouth is almost shut by a bar of sand, 

 but which is supposed to have been once navigable as 

 far as the town of Terodant ; the Messa and Akassa, 

 both of them partly navigable. 



The western coast of Morocco is covered with -nu- 

 merous rocks, level with the surface of the water ; and 

 occasionally an extensive beach in the intermediate 

 spaces, where the water is shallow, and the surf runs 

 high. 



There are several fresh-water lakes, particularly on 

 the coast near the Mamora, one of which is 20 miles in 

 length. These lakes abound with water-fowl and eels. 

 The eels are taken and salted for sale ; and, as the wa- 

 ter is not deep, they are killed by a lance, while the 

 fisherman sails along the surface in a slender skiff, made 

 of the fan-palm and of rushes. 



The climate of Morocco is healthy and bracing. 

 From March to September the atmosphere is almost 

 entirely free from clouds ; and, even in the rainy sea- 

 son from September to March, there is scarcely a day 

 altogether without sunshine. In the province of Sue 

 the climate is peculiarly delightful, but extremely hot 

 in the months of June, July, and August, particularly 

 when the Shume or hot wind blows from the desert. 

 In the more inland districts of Draha and Tafilelt, this 

 wind occasions intense heat in the months of July, 

 August, and September. 



The whole division north of the Morbeya is a fine 

 champaign country, with a rich black and sometimes 

 red soil, without stone or clay, with few trees, but re- 

 markably productive in grain. The central provinces 

 are equally fertile, and more abundant in pasturage. 

 The province of Haha, which is of great extent, is more 

 mountainous ; and that of Suse, still more extensive, is 

 more particularly productive of the finest fruits. The 

 more inland districts of Draha and Tafilelt are particu- 

 larly fruitful in dates. 



No roads are made ill the country, and there are 

 very few bridges. Except at the sea-ports, where 

 boats are used, there is no way of passing the rivers, 

 which are too deep to be forded, except by swimming, 

 or on rafts. Hence, in the wet season, when the rivers 

 are much swelled, travellers are frequently detained 

 several days upon their banks. 



Gold and silver mines are found in various parts of 

 Morocco, particularly about Messa, in the province of 

 Suse, and in the plains of Msegina, near Santa Cruz, 

 which had formerly been worked by the Portuguese, 

 but are now neglected. Gold is found also in the Atlas 

 mountains, mixed with antimony and lead-ore; and 

 iron, copper, and lead-ore in Suse. At Tesellerst, near 

 the southern frontier, the copper mines are very abun- 

 dant ; and in Tafilelt, the mines of antimony are of the 

 finest quality. Immense quantities of sulphur are dug 

 from the foot of the Atlas mountains opposite to Tero- 

 dant. The salt-petre found at the same place is the 

 purest and strongest ; but it is also procured at Fez 

 and Morocco. Mineral salt of a red colour is dug from 

 quarries in various parts of the country ; and in the 

 province of Abda, there is an extensive lake, which 

 furnishes a kind of salt superior to the mineral ; but the 

 purest of all is found among the rocks on many parts 

 of the coast, where the summer sun has exhaled the 

 salt-water in the cavities. 



The principal vegetable productions of Morocco are 

 the palm or date tree, of 30 different kinds, which is 

 found in perfection in the southern parts of Suse, and 

 particularly in Tafilelt ; oaks, and a few other valuable 

 trees, in the northern districts; cork trees, some of 



2 



which are as large as full-grown oaks; olive-trees, Morocte. 

 which are of great size and beauty, in the southern dis- " V ' 

 tricts, where the plantations are very extensive and 

 productive. Various trees which yield the different 

 kinds of gum, viz. Arabic, sandrac, ammoniac, Sene- 

 gal, and euphorbium ; wild juniper, which abounds in 

 the Atlas mountains, and from which by burning a 

 kind of pitch is extracted ; various shrubs used in the 

 preparation of leather; fig-trees, which abound in every 

 part of the empire, and produce the finest fruit ; the 

 Indian fig, or prickly pear, which grows to the height 

 of twenty feet in the driest situations, and affords a pe- 

 culiarly cooling fruit ; almond trees in great abundance, 

 particularly in Suse; apples, pears, apricots, plums, 

 pomegranates, lemons, limes, citrons, and the most de- 

 licious oranges in the world, in the more northern pro- 

 vinces ; grapes, melons, strawberries, and water-melons 

 (particularly in the province of Duquella) of a prodi- 

 gious size; sugar-cane, which grows spontaneously in 

 Suse, and stick liquorice in the greatest abundance in 

 that province ; mallows and truffles ; cotton of a supe- 

 rior quality ; hemp, chiefly cultivated for the sake of 

 its seeds and flowers, which are smoked for the pur- 

 pose of intoxication ; tobacco, of which the best is that 

 of Mequinez ; honey, wax, &c. The principal kinds 

 of grain cultivated in the country are wheat and bar- 

 ley, peas, beans, caravances, and Indian corn ; and 

 these crops are generally so abundant, that the produce 

 of one province, if fully raised, would suffice for the 

 consumption of the whole empire. 



The most remarkable of the animal creation in the , 

 Empire of Morocco are the horses, which are renowned Amma1 *- 

 for fleetness and action, particularly those of Abda, 

 which have a stronger sinew than those of Europe, and 

 with a little management are extremely tractable ; the 

 Keirie, or camel of the desert, which can perform in 

 one day an ordinary three days, or seven days, or even 

 a nine-days' journey, and one of which is worth 200 

 camels ; the horse of the desert, which lives chiefly on 

 camels' milk, and is principally used in hunting the 

 ostrich ; mules and asses, camels and horned cattle in 

 all quarters ; sheep of various qualities, but those of 

 the southern provinces are remarkable for the fine fla- 

 vour of their mutton, owing to the aromatic herbs on 

 which they feed, and those of Tedla are distinguished 

 by the fineness of their wool, which is soft as silk ; 

 goats, which are very prolific, particularly in Tafilelt, 

 where they have young twice in the year, and some of 

 them six kids in nine months. The principal wild 

 beasts are lions, panthers, rhinoceroses, wild boars, 

 hyaenas, jackals, foxes, apes, antelopes, hares, squirrels, 

 cameleons. The birds are ostriches, pelicans, eagles, 

 flamingoes, storks, herons, bustards, wild geese, wild 

 ducks, plovers, pigeons, wood pigeons, turtle-doves, 

 ring-doves, partridges, nightingales, starlings, black- 

 birds, larks, cuckoos, owls, &c. The reptiles are li- 

 zards and serpents of various kinds, of which the most 

 remarkable are the Boah, from 20 to 80 feet in length, 

 and the Buskah and Effah, which are full of deadly 

 venom. The insects most worthy of notice, are the 

 locust, the ammoniac fly, and large loud-toned crickets. 

 Whales have been sometimes seen on the coast of Mo- 

 rocco; mullet, brim, anchovies, sardines, herrings, 

 mackarel, rock-cod, skaite, plaice, soles, turbot, turtle, 

 and most of the fish found in the Mediterranean, are 

 taken on the western shores of the empire, besides a 

 fish peculiar to the coast, called izgal, which, when 

 dried in ovens, forms a considerable article in commerce 

 with the interior districts of Africa. The principal 



