CH. III. THE FOREST OF MAMOEA. 67 



been told by preceding travellers. Counting Sallee as a 

 suburb of the larger town, the population is estimated at 

 40,000, or more than all the other Atlantic ports put 

 together. The inhabitants are said to suffer from three 

 scourges — prolonged droughts, the invasion of locusts, and, 

 worst of all, the annual visits of the Sultan, whose body- 

 guard of several thousand soldiers has to be fed at their cost. 



To the naturalist a stay of some days at Eabat might 

 be of great interest if he were able to accomplish a visit 

 to the famous forest of Mamora, which fills a large part of 

 the space, some twenty miles in width, between the mouth 

 of the Bouregrag and the larger river Sebou that carries 

 to the sea the drainage of the high mountains near Fez. 

 The scene of most of the wonderful tales that circulate 

 among the people of North Marocco — adventures with 

 lions, robbers, and other wild animals — is laid in the forest 

 of Mamora ; but excepting one solitary plant, brought 

 thence by the Abbe Durand — a very distinct species of 

 Celsia — nothing is known of the fauna and flora of the 

 forests of this part of Marocco. These appear to cover 

 a considerable tract parallel to the Atlantic coast, and 

 probably consist mainly of the cork oak, which in any 

 other country might become a considerable source of profit. 

 Eastward of the forest the country south of the Oued 

 Sebou is a marshy tract, breeding endemic fevers that are 

 said to extend to Sallee and Eabat. 



In the afternoon the swell became more moderate, and 

 a boat came out with passengers, including the family of 

 Mr. Dupuis, the British Vice-Consul at Casa Blanca. It 

 was decided that it woiild not be safe to land cargo, so the 

 captain resolved to start' without further delay and run for 

 Casa Blanca — the Dar el-Beida of the Moors. The sun 

 had set, and night was closing in as we approached the low 

 shore, where a few white houses mark a station which has 

 risen to some little importance owing to the preference 

 shown for it by French merchants, who carry on a con- 

 siderable trade with the interior. 



F 2 



