CH. XIV. RESOUKCES OF THE EMPIRE. 349 



above estimate, and find an aggregate amount sufficient to 

 irrigate three millions of acres. These figures must of 

 course be considered as mere guesses ; but there can be no 

 doubt that they indicate a very large reserve of unused 

 natural resources. With an almost unequalled climate, 

 there is scarcely any one of the productions of the warmer 

 temperate and subtropical zones that may not here be 

 obtained. Besides grain, the country now supplies large 

 quantities of olive oil, dates, oranges, and almonds, with 

 a little cotton. The latter may be largely increased ; and 

 there seems to be no reason why coffee, tea, sugar, indigo, 

 and other valuable exotic produce, should not be raised in 

 the southern provinces. 



There can be no doubt of the existence of mineral 

 wealth in the Great Atlas. We have the direct testimony 

 of Leo Africanus to the working of mines of copper and 

 iron in the districts visited by him ; and specimens brought 

 by Shelluh mountaineers show that ores of lead, silver, 

 nickel, and cobalt are likewise to be found. The forests 

 of the Atlas would, if saved from wanton destruction, be a 

 further important source of national wealth. 



Rich in all the material elements of prosperity, this 

 great territory, whose area may be roughly estimated at 

 190,000 square miles, is cursed by a Government which 

 has in the past wrought nothing but ruin and degradation, 

 and whose continued existence forbids the faintest hope of 

 future improvement. 



Nothing seems to be more clear than the decadence of 

 the race who now represent the Arab conquerors of Mau- 

 ritania. In their better days they united to martial vigour 

 and skill some aptitude for progress in arts and learning. 

 Works of public utility were not unknown ; and, at a time 

 when nearly all Europe was plunged in intellectual dark- 

 ness, Fez was one of the chief centres of Arabic culture. 

 The history of the last four centuries in Marocco has been 

 one of continuous and uninterrupted decline. Unable to 

 establish their authority over the larger portion of the 



