CH. III. KABAT AND SALLEE. fi5 



not more abundant, however, than in many valleys of 

 Switzerland and North Italy; and we carried away from 

 Tangier the impression that even on the Mediterranean 

 shores there are few spots that combine such advantages 

 of climate, natural beauty, and material comfort. 



We found the Verite, though boasting a French name, 

 to be a nearly new Clyde-built steamer, owned by a Mar- 

 seilles Company and commanded by Captain Abeille of 

 that port, far better fitted up than most of those that ply 

 along this coast. The passengers were few, and, as these 

 disembarked at the intermediate ports, we at last became 

 the sole occupants of the state cabin. On a fine evening, 

 with the gentle heaving of the broad Atlantic billows to 

 tune all to harmony, we passed the headland of Cape 

 Spartel, and received the first rays of the great lanthorn 

 as they shot out seaward when lighted for the night. 



At seven o'clock next morning the engines were 

 stopped, and going on deck we found ourselves lying some 

 way off the shore, opposite the mouth of the river Oued 

 Bouregrag, that divides Sallee from Eabat. The latter, 

 as seen from a distance, is a place of somewhat imposing 

 appearance. The chief mosque has a great square tower, 

 rivalling those of Seville and Marocco ; and a pile of 

 modern masonry, on a scale unknown elsewhere in modern 

 days in this country, marks the large barrack where the 

 Sultan's body-guard is lodged when he pays his annual 

 visit to the coast. Carpets are made here, and also a 

 peculiar sort of unglazed pottery, coarse in texture, but 

 admirable in form, and singular in ornamentation.' Over 

 against Eabat, on the north side of the river, is Sallee, 

 once a famous place, the last outpost of Roman civilisa- 

 tion, and afterwards the home of pirates who were dreaded 

 tliroughout the Mediterranean and along the coasts of 

 France and England. Looking at the bare coast, and the 

 paltry groups of mud boxes that make up a Moorish town, 



' Some fine specimens have been exhibited at the South Kensington 

 Museum, by our companion, Mr. Maw. 



F 



