CHAPTER XIV._Journal of a tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas

Resources of Marocco — Moorish Government a hopeless failure —

Future prospects of Marocco — Objections to European interference

— Answers to such objections.

Scientific travellers, whose attention was mainly engaged in their

own special pursuits, and whose opportunities for gaining information

were restricted by ignorance of the native languages, have no claim

to speak with authority of the condition and prospects of a country

so extensive as the Marocco Empire. But it would be strange if

we had failed to derive some conclusions from the results of our

personal observation and the information gained on the spot.

Of the material resources of Marocco it is difficult to say too

much. Even under existing conditions, a great portion of the

territory is extremely fertile, and supplies for export a large

amount of agricultural produce. The two natural disadvantages with

which it has to contend are, occasional deficient rainfall and the

ravages of locusts. For the first, the remedy is to be sought in

irrigation. The unfailing streams from the Atlas already serve to a

limited extent; but the area of productive land might by intelligent

management be very largely increased. We have seen an estimate of

the quantity of water discharged by the five principal streams

that fall into the Atlantic north of the Atlas, which fixes the

amount at 9,000 cubic feet per second; and if to these were added

the Moulouya, which falls into the Mediterranean, and the Siss, the

Draha, the Asakka, and the Sous, which drain the southern slopes of

the main chain, we should probably double the 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 Mauritania. 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 darkness,

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 region which they claim to govern,

the Sultans have left to anarchy the mountain region into which

the best part of the population was compelled to retire when driven

from the fertile lower country. Over the provinces wherein they are

able to enforce it, the rule of the Moorish Sultans is little else

than an organised system of extortion, in which unchecked license is

given to the agents of the central authority, on the sole condition

of making this the final depository of whatever wealth the country

can produce. The springs of industry and enterprise are broken; no

man can dream of improving his own condition or that of his family,

unless by elaborate fraud and concealment he can hoard up wealth,

which he dare not employ in any way useful to the community.[1]

When we inquire what prospect there may be of any escape from the

miserable condition to which Marocco is now reduced, no hopeful

answer can be found. The most sanguine believer in the future

of the Mohammedan races can suggest nothing better than the

chance of the appearance of a Sultan, intelligent and energetic,

and powerful enough to revive the traditions of the better days

when rulers took some thought for the welfare of their subjects,

and who might initiate an era of security and progress. But, to

say nothing of the improbability of the appearance of such a man

in a family that by frequent intermixture with the black race has

become more Negro than Moorish, it seems a pure illusion to imagine

that even an extraordinary man seated on the throne of Marocco,

and surrounded by such agents as he would have at hand, could

accomplish salutary reforms, and, more than that, to suppose that

these could have any permanence. It is conceivable that if the Moor

and Arab did not stand in the way, and the Berber stock were restored

to their original inheritance, a great ruler might overcome their

fatal tendency to tribal decomposition, weld them into a nation, and

set them on the path of progress. History affords examples of some

such transformation among vigorous barbarians or semi-savages. But

with an effete race, corrupted by luxury, who have lost the spirit,

but preserved many of the traditions, of a decayed civilisation,

no such miracle is to be worked. Men of great powers, such as one

cannot expect to see on the throne of Marocco, have ere now failed

in the attempt, or the little they have effected has died with them.

No rational believer in progress can cling to the belief that this

is the spontaneous tendency of all branches of the human race,

the ultimate condition to which, with whatever delay, all must

conform. Far from this, all history shows that the task of leading

mankind on the onward road has always been the privilege of a few

races only. The larger part of the earth is even now inhabited by

people either in a stationary or a retrograde condition, and of

the latter state Marocco affords one of the most striking examples.

The one reasonable prospect of improvement in the condition of

Marocco is to be sought in its passing under the control of a

civilised State, strong enough to overcome speedily the inevitable

resistance of the Moorish ruling class, and advanced enough to

consult the welfare of the people it undertakes to govern. If we

ask what European State is by character and circumstances best

fitted for such an undertaking the answer must be—France. Having

already achieved with tolerable success a similar task in the

adjoining region of Northern Africa, the French have every motive

to add to their possessions a territory offering far greater natural

advantages; and it is probable that they would have already effected

the conquest, but for the inevitable jealousy of other European

Powers. The French are not successful colonists; nor have the

economic results of their annexation of Algeria been as brilliant

as might have been expected. But in Marocco colonisation is not to

be sought or desired. Under a government affording security for

industry the Berber would settle in the unoccupied lands of the

lower country, and carry out under intelligent control the works

which would fit them for a large increase of population.

Many readers who hold to the traditional political ideas of the

past will shrink from the conclusion here expressed. Not concerning

themselves with the results of such a change on the future condition

of Marocco, they will urge that such a great territorial extension

of the French possessions in Africa would increase to a formidable

extent the power of our ancient rival throughout the Mediterranean

region; and they will with justice argue that it is not for the

general interest of the civilised world that any single Power should

obtain a preponderating influence over the rest.

Experience seems to supply an answer to these objections. If

extensive foreign possessions be in some respects a source of

strength to a country, they not less certainly are a cause of

weakness in others; and in the case of a Power not holding maritime

supremacy, the possession of valuable dependencies easily assailable

by sea acts as a weighty check on the aggressive tendencies of

the people.

A cordial acquiescence in the extension of French territory westward,

might reasonably obtain in return a diminution of the jealousy

with which our neighbours view the increase of English influence on

the east side of the African continent. A cynic may remark that the

policy here suggested would resemble an agreement between freebooters

for the division of spoil; but, in truth, we believe it to be a

mistake to suppose that there would be any spoil to distribute. It

is more than doubtful whether any future extension of the African

possessions either of France or England would more than pay the

necessary expenses of occupation and administration. The gain to

both countries would be of a different order—the outlet provided

for the healthful play of energies cramped within the limits of

an old society, and the sense, invigorating to the whole nation,

of accomplishing a useful part in the world’s development.

Objections to every attempt on the part of a modern civilised State

to undertake the government of inferior races have been urged on

various grounds by writers of the highest reputation.

The barriers established by differences in mental condition, in

traditions, and inherited ideas, between peoples in a different stage

of development, are easily shown to create formidable difficulties in

the way of mutual understanding and appreciation, which must precede

all useful efforts to carry the less advanced races along the path

of progress. The history of British India where, at least during the

present century, the experiment has been tried on the largest scale,

and with the most genuine regard for the welfare of the governed

populations, supplies many an example of the errors inevitable in so

difficult an enterprise. Measures devised with the best intentions

have sometimes failed altogether in achieving the expected effect,

or, when this has been attained, have created discontent, because

not corresponding with the ideas of the native population.

How much better it would be, say objectors of this class, to let

these backward races work out for themselves the problems of material

and mental development, in conformity with the conditions which

nature and history have imposed, than to attempt, in the face of your

own admitted ignorance, to play the part of Providence towards them.

If the discussion were to turn upon the destiny of a country

wherein the elementary conditions of social order had been secured,

wherein progress of some kind, at however slow a pace, was not an

impossibility, it might be possible to admit the force of these

arguments. But it is forgotten that in point of fact most barbarous

countries have failed to reach this indispensable preliminary

stage. However diverse the conditions and the ideas of the human

race, the primal requisites for social order are everywhere the

same. Security for person and property, the protection of the weak

against the strong, tribunals before which justice can be obtained

without fear or favour—where these do not exist, the Power,

whatever it may be, that confers them on a people is a beneficent

one, and for the sake of these any errors that it may commit in

its government will be condoned by posterity.

These remarks apply with especial force to such a country as Marocco,

where, under the yoke of invaders, the greater part of the population

has been for centuries constantly declining in material and mental

condition.

When all has been said, it must be felt that theoretical

considerations are little likely to prevail against that which

history declares to be the uniform condition of human progress. As

a general rule the most vigorous nations are those in which the

increase of population is most rapid, and extension into new

territories is their inevitable destiny. Statesmen and rulers

may to some extent guide and control, but they are powerless to

prevent the operation of natural laws. The choice, in regard to the

inferior races, seems to be whether they shall fall under the rule

of the stronger, and be gradually modified by the influence of new

ideas and institutions, or whether they shall disappear altogether

and give place to the new comer. Where, as has too often happened,

the latter process is effected by injustice and violence, the evil

to the world arises not so much from the loss of a race unfitted

to bear the strain of competition, as from the moral deterioration

that ensues to the invaders.

Amongst the opponents of the extension of European rule over the

adjacent continents must be reckoned those who base their objections

mainly on economic grounds. If the question of the French occupation

of Marocco should arise in a practical shape, it is little likely

that French statesmen will be withheld by considerations which,

even in England, have not obtained wide acceptance; and it would be

out of place to discuss them here. It is, indeed, impossible to deny

that there is a share of truth in the views of those who hold that

colonies and foreign possessions do not, as a general rule, directly

add to the prosperity of a country. If the aim of any nation were

merely to attain a high level of material well-being, and it could

either restrain its citizens from intercourse with less civilised

people, or be content to forego the duty of protecting them, it

might be possible to avoid entering on the path which inevitably

leads to extension of territory. Fortunately for the human race,

such ideas never have prevailed among those nations which have played

any important part in history. If the instinct of adventure, that has

brought the more advanced races into contact with the barbarian and

the savage, has always been alloyed by association with the baser

passions of some, it has also been ennobled by the higher aims of

others. To lay, in new regions, the foundations of civil society; to

establish, more or less imperfectly, the reign of order and justice,

and to secure the protection of the weak against the strong—these

have been the tasks hitherto achieved by the ruling races of the

world; and as knowledge has increased, as the difficulties of

social progress have become better understood, and a stricter code

of justice in dealing with the inferior races is gradually becoming

established, it is allowable to hope that the inevitable changes may

be accomplished with less of human suffering and with better success.

Rome might have been a happier State if its citizens had confined

their ambition to make it a commercial emporium for the neighbouring

tribes of middle Italy, and, content with self-defence, had refrained

from all distant enterprise; Carthage need not have tempted her

fate, if she had been satisfied with her own corner of Africa;

but then the world would have had no history, and the series of

changes from which modern civilisation has been developed would

have been for ages, it may be for ever, delayed.

Of the entire African continent it may be truly asserted that, with

the exception of the small portions held by England and France, its

condition, for at least thirty centuries, has been either stationary

or positively retrograde. The main cause that has maintained

unbroken the long night of barbarism throughout so vast a region

must be sought in the physical obstacles that prevented the ruling

races of the world from extending their power southwards from the

shores of the Mediterranean. For a time it appeared that the Saracen

conquerors of North Africa were destined to spread the light of a

relatively high civilisation over a great part of the continent. But

that race is effete; it is gradually losing ground; and it remains

for the nations that claim to lead the van in the onward march of

the human race to undertake the work that awaits them.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: The stories and fables given in Appendix G afford

a striking commentary on the working of the existing system of

so-called government in Marocco.]

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

_Observations for determining Altitudes of Stations in Marocco._

BY JOHN BALL.

The instruments provided for the measuring of heights during

our journey in Marocco were, in the first place, two mercurial

barometers belonging to Sir J. Hooker, which were unfortunately

left behind at the last moment by his attendant who had them in

charge. Mr. Ball carried an aneroid barometer, by Secrétan of

Paris, which, during many mountain journeys before and since,

has performed very satisfactorily; and Mr. Maw had a small pocket

aneroid of ordinary construction, not deserving of much confidence.

At Sir J. Hooker’s request, Mr. Carstensen, then British

Vice-consul, and M. Beaumier, French Consul at Mogador, both

recorded observations of the barometer and thermometer twice

daily (at 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. ) during the period of our stay

in and near to the range of the Great Atlas. Mr. Carstensen’s

instrument was a mercurial barometer, apparently a moderately good

instrument; but, inasmuch as it showed itself more sluggish than

M. Beaumier’s instrument, and the amplitude of its variations

was less considerable, its records do not appear to deserve equal

confidence. On rendering the measurements into millimetres, and

correcting both instruments so as to bring the indications to 0°

C. at the sea level, the observations with the mercurial barometer

fall short of those of the other instrument by a mean difference of

5·5 mm., the chief cause of the discrepancy being apparently due

to the scale of the former being unduly low. Comparing corrected

observations for ten days of very settled weather, during which the

utmost range of either instrument did not exceed 2½ millimetres,

we have the mean pressure

By Carstensen’s instrument = 755·30 mm.

„ Beaumier’s „ = 760·80 mm.

The error of the last-mentioned instrument does not probably exceed

1 mm. in excess of the true pressure, and, if the observations

of the mercurial barometer were used, it would be expedient

to apply to them a correction of +4·5 mm. But, in addition

to the circumstances already mentioned, it must be noted that

Mr. Carstensen’s observations extend over but eighteen days; while

M. Beaumier’s record covers twenty-six days, from May 11 to June

5 inclusive. For these reasons it has appeared best to make use

exclusively of the record supplied by M. Beaumier. His instrument

was an aneroid barometer of the construction adopted by its maker

(Leja), called in Paris _baromètre holostérique_. The readings

were recorded daily at 10 A.M. and 4 P.M., and are carried to

intervals of the quarter of a millimetre.

The first questions that arise in applying observations to the

determination of altitudes relate to the corrections applicable

to each instrument. The corrected readings of Secrétan’s

aneroid at Tangiers, and during the voyage between that place

and Mogador, varied from 760 mm. to 761·5 mm., and may safely be

assumed to be nearly correct; but, on arriving at Mogador, they

fell considerably. Inasmuch, however, as on comparison with the

mercurial barometer at the British Consulate the difference was

inconsiderable, the fall was attributed to the condition of the

weather at that time. It was only on our return to Mogador from

the interior, when a direct comparison between Secrétan’s and

Leja’s instruments disclosed a difference of 7·3 mm. between the

readings, and a further comparison between the recorded observations

of the mercurial barometer and M. Beaumier’s instrument showed

a difference of about 5·5 mm. between the scales of those

instruments, that it became clear that Secrétan’s aneroid had

suffered some change at or about the time of landing at Mogador. A

careful comparison of all the observations leaves no ground for

supposing that this arose from any gradual process; and it seems

almost certain that by one of those accidents to which the best

aneroids are exposed, a casual blow, received about the time of

landing at Mogador, caused the fall of 7 or 8 millimetres which

was then observed. It is quite possible that more complete accuracy

would have been attained by applying a correction of -1 mm. to

M. Beaumier’s observations; but it was thought more convenient

to treat the discrepancy between the instruments as altogether due

to error in Secrétan’s instrument, and to apply to its readings

in South Marocco the correction +7·3 mm. So far as regards the

altitudes determined by comparison with the Mogador observations,

the difference between the method adopted and that above suggested

is quite insensible; but with respect to the altitudes given in

the following table as determined between April 29 and May 10,

wherein the barometric pressure at Mogador is assumed at 760 mm.,

it is clear that, if the error of Secrétan’s instrument has been

overcorrected to the extent of 1 millimetre, the altitudes given

in the table should be increased by some 12 or 13 metres.

The next corrections requiring consideration are those arising from

the temperature of the instrument at the time of observation, and

in reference to this point the best makers of aneroid barometers

are much open to criticism. They assert, and with approximate

accuracy, that in the best instruments compensation for the effect

of temperature on the instrument is provided; but they forget that

in order to compare the indications of the aneroid with those of

the mercurial barometer, or to apply to them any of the formulæ

used for calculating altitudes, it is necessary to know at what

temperature the column of mercury stands, the length of which is

assumed to be shown by the scale of the aneroid. In point of fact,

the scale of the latter instrument, when carefully laid down, is

determined by direct comparison with the mercurial barometer under

varying pressures, and the proper course would be to inscribe on

the case of the aneroid a record of the temperature at which that

comparison was made. From inquiries made of some of the best makers

it seems probable that the best approximate correction is obtained

by assuming the reading of the aneroid to correspond with that of

the mercurial barometer at the temperature of 15° C., and this

has been applied in the annexed table.

The height of M. Beaumier’s instrument above the sea level being

about 10 metres, a small correction of +0·9 mm. has been made

in order to obtain the corrected reading adopted in the following

table for the ‘Mogador barometer.’

As most of our observations at stations in South Marocco were

necessarily made either early in the morning or late in the evening,

while those at Mogador were registered at 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.,

the pressure at the latter place corresponding to the hour of each

of our observations has been found by intercalation. There is of

course an obvious possibility of error here; but, except on a few

occasions, when the changes of pressure were considerable and rapid,

the amount is probably trifling.

It is familiar to all who have given attention to this subject,

that one of the chief causes of error in the results obtained from

barometric observations for altitude arises from the impossibility,

in the present state of knowledge, of obtaining with tolerable

accuracy the temperature of the stratum of air lying between the

lower and the higher stations. This is especially true in climates

such as that of South Marocco, where the sky is commonly clear,

and the air relatively dry. The cooling of the surface at night,

and the heating in the sunshine by day, have an effect on the

layer of air in contact with that surface, and still more on

the traveller’s thermometer, which at the best is imperfectly

protected from radiation, out of all proportion to the actual

cooling or heating effect on the air not in immediate proximity to

the soil. As far as circumstances permitted, it was sought to take

observations about an hour after sunrise and very soon after sunset,

so as to diminish to the utmost this source of error.

It remains true, in the writer’s opinion, that when all these

sources of error in the determination of heights by means of the

barometer have been put together, there remains one surpassing

all the others in amount which altogether escapes our means of

correction. The formulæ employed for the reduction of observations

to numerical results are, and must be, based on the assumption

that a condition of equilibrium between the forces acting on the

instruments at each station has been attained; whereas the utmost

that can be asserted is that there is a continual tendency towards

such equilibrium, requiring a variable time to effect it. But before

equilibrium can be attained new changes occur, and the process of

adjustment recommences. Even as regards stations near enough to be

within sight of each other, repeated observations, however carefully

corrected, give sensibly different numerical results, and when the

stations are widely separated the discrepancies become serious in

amount. The best course for a traveller in a mountain country is to

endeavour to ascertain as nearly as possible the altitude of some

fixed station by taking the mean of several observations compared

with his distant station, and then to determine the altitude of

the higher points reached near to such fixed station by comparison

with an assumed reading of the barometer at the latter as derived

from intercalation.

The altitudes of the stations at Hasni and Iminteli, given in the

following table, derived from several comparisons with the Mogador

readings, are probably nearly correct. That of Arround, as derived

from comparison with Mogador at a time when the oscillations of

pressure were relatively great and rapid, does not deserve much

confidence; and the mean of two comparisons with Hasni has been

preferred, the more readily as this nearly agrees with the result

obtained from a boiling-water observation.

For the reduction of our observations the formula proposed by Count

St. Robert, and first published in the _Philosophical Magazine_

for 1864, has been preferred, and, for convenience, the tables

based on that formula, published by the same author in the Memoirs

of the Academy of Turin for 1867, have been used.

It is true that in the construction of the latter tables a value

has been assumed for the constant expressing the rate of diminution

of density in the atmosphere corresponding to uniform increase of

altitude that is not constantly correct; but it would appear that

the error resulting from this is but trifling. In regard to the

greatest elevation attained by us in the Atlas, the difference in

the measurement obtained by using the tables from that ascertained

by accurate computation from the formula does not exceed 5 metres.

It may here be remarked that the altitudes inserted in some letters

from Sir J. Hooker to the late Sir Roderick Murchison, which were

published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for

1871, and also most of those given by Mr. Maw in a paper presented

to the Geological Society in January, 1872, were roughly calculated

at the time when the party were

TABLE OF ALTITUDES, DEDUCED FROM BAROMETRIC OBSERVATIONS IN MAROCCO.

[D: Date, 1871

OBar: Observed Barometer

CBar: Corrected Barometer

CMBar: Corrected Mogador Barometer

T: Thermometer in Air, Fahr.

Alt.m.: Altitude in Metres

Alt.f.: Altitude in English feet

Ob: Observations]

+-----+----+------------+-----+------+------+--+---------+------+--+

+-----+----+------------+-----+------+------+--+---------+------+--+

|April| 10 |Nahum’s |754·4|752·6 | — |61| 84·8 | 278 |a |

| 11 |P.M.|house, | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 12 | 6 |Do. |756·2|*753·8| — |55| 70·0 | 230 |{ |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | |{ |

| | | | | | | | | |{ |

| „ „ | 7 |Ford, | 762 |*759·6| — |60| 4·78 | 16 |{ |

| |A.M.|Tetuan River| | | | | | |{*|

| | | | | | | | | |{ |

| „ „ | 10 |Upper limit | 730 |*727·6| — |61| 374·0 |1,227 |{ |

| |A.M.|of Chamærops| | | | | | |{ |

| | | | | | | | | |{ |

| „ „ | 3 |Ridge of |685·2|*682·8| — |60| 926·0 |3,038 |{ |

| |P.M.|Beni Hosmar | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 10 |Douar Arifi |748·5|†754·5| — |70| 64·5 | 212 |† |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 30 |9.15|Souk el | 724 |729·6 | — |76| 360·3 |1,182 |a |

| |A.M.|Tleta | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|May 1| 5 |Camp, Aïn | 724 |729·6 | — |54| 345·5 |1,134 |b |

| |A.M.|Oumast | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 1 |Well under | 720 |725·6 | — |77| 410·1 |1,345 |b |

| |P.M.|Hank el | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 2 |Summit of |712·6|718·2 | — |78| 502·4 |1,648 |b |

| |P.M.|Hank el | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 2 |6.30|Camp, | 724 |729·6 | — |57| 347·8 |1,141 |b |

| |A.M.|Sheshaoua | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |1.45|Aïn Beida | 720 |725·6 | — |80| 412·4 |1,353 |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 4 | 2 |Marocco: |712·5|718·1 | — |78| 503·6 |1,652 |b |

| |P.M.|Palace of | | | | | | | |

| | |40 ft. | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 5 | 4 |Do. | 713 |718·6 | — |79| 499·3 |1,638 |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 6 | 7 |Do. |710·5|716·1 | — |73| 523·7 |1,718 |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 7 | 7 |Do. | 710 |715·6 | — |72| 529·0 |1,736 |a |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 8 | 5 |Do. | 712 |717·6 | — |72| 504·0 |1,654 |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. | — | — | — |— | 511·9 |1,679 |c |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 11 |Camp at |694·0|699·6 | — |73| 733·2 |2,406 |a |

| |P.M.|Mesfioua | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 9 | 6 |Do. |693·5|699·1 | — |58| 729 |2,392 |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |Noon|Olive Grove |667·5|673·2 | — |69| 1,077·1 |3,534 |b |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 10 |Camp by |681·0|686·7 | — |59| 874·2 | — |b |

| |P.M.|Ourika | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 11 |Noon|Do. |681·5|687·2 | — |71| 887·0 | — |b |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. | — | — | — |— | 880·6 |2,889 |d |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 10 | 4 |Camp, |669·5|675·2 | — |72| 1,044·4 |3,427 |a |

| |P.M.|Ourika | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 11 | 6 |Summit of |664·0|670·05|759·7 |62|§1,094·3 |3,590}| |

| |P.M.|pass to | | | | | | }| |

| | |Reraya | | | | | | }|§ |

| | | | | | | | | }| |

|„ 12 | 6 |Camp |674·0|679·35|760·4 |56| §963·1 |3,160}| |

| |A.M.|Tassilunt, | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 13 | 7 |Camp Hasni, |652·0|656·5 |761·45|57|§1,263·3 | — |b |

| |A.M.|in Aït | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 14 | 10 |Do | 651 |656·04|760·9 |59|§1,274·0 | — |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 15 | 9 |Do | 647 |653·77|758·8 |56|§1,297·4 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 17 | 10 |Do | 651 |654·83|762·2 |60|§1,292·6 | — |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do | — | — | — |— | 1,281·8 |4,205 |e |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 13 |Noon|Adjersiman, | 622 | 626 |762·1 |59| §1,687 |5,535 |§ |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 2 |Village of | 602 |606·16|762·1 |52| §1,950 | — |b |

| |P.M.|Arround | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 15 | 6 |House, | 597 |605·5 |756·6 |49|§1,947·5 | — |b |

| |P.M.|Arround | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 16 | 6 |Do. | 598 |606·5 |756·6 |46|§1,926·4 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. | — | — | — |— | 1,941·3 |6,370 |f |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 13 | 2 |Arround, by | — | — | — |— | 1,968} | | |

| |P.M.|comparison | | | | | } | | |

| | |with Hasni | | | | | } |6,463 |g |

| | | | | | | | } | | |

|„ 15 | 6 |Do. | — | — | — |— | 1,972} | | |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 16 | 8 |Arround, by | — | — |757·1 |40|§1,976·1 |6,483 |§ |

| |P.M.|boiling- | | | | | | | |

| | |at 202·2 | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Same, | — | — | — |— | 1,970 |6,463 | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 15 | 1 |Highest |632·5|640·3 |757·6 |59| §1,488 |4,882 |§ |

| |P.M.|olives in | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 16 | 9 |Saint’s | 568 | — | — |39|‡2,393·2 |7,852 |‡ |

| |A.M.|tomb below | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |2.30|200 ft. |498·5| — | — |25|‡3,439·4 |11,284|b |

| |P.M.|below | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Estimated | — | — | — |— |‡3,500·4 |11,484|b |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 18 | 8 |Camp, | 646 |684·1 |764·3 |58|§1,378·2}| | |

| |P.M.|Sektana | | | | | }|4,523 |§ |

| | | | | | | | }| | |

|„ 19 | 10 |Do. | 647 |649·3 |764·1 |65|§1,379·1}| | |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 10 |Camp, Amsmiz| 672 |675·3 |762·7 |58|§1,018·8 | — |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 20 | 9 |Do. | 672 |674·9 |763·1 |72|§1,049·0 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 21 | 9 |Do. |672·5|676·55|761·85|70|§1,024·2 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. | — | — | — |— | 1,030·7 |3,382 |f |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 2 |Iminteli, | 647 |651·4 |761·6 |64|§1,345·2 | — |§ |

| |P.M.|Amsmiz | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 22 | 6 |Do. |646·5|651·0 |761·5 |60|§1,344·0 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 23 | 8 |Do. | 646 |651·6 |760·15|65|§1,348·1 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | — |Do. | — | — | — |— | 1,345·8 |4,415 |f |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | — |Do. | — | — | — |— |**1,348·8|4,425 |**|

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | — |Iminteli | — | — | — |— |††1,346·5|4,418 |††|

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 22 | 9 |Halt at | 629 | — | — |64| §§1,708 |5,604 |§§|

| |A.M.|base of | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |2.30|Summit of |512·5|518·0 |760·85|60|§3,359·7 |11,023|§ |

| |P.M.|Djebel Tezah| | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. do. do. | — | — | — |— |§§3,340·5|10,961|§§|

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. do. do. | — | — | — |— | 3,350·1 |10,972|h |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 4 |Upper limit | 565 | — | — |59| §§2,490 |8,170 |§§|

| |P.M.|of Quercus | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 24 |5.30|Kasbah at |666·5|672·3 |759·9 |61|§1,063·5 |3,489 |§ |

| |A.M.|Amsmiz | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 25 | 8 |Kasbah at | 694 |699·5 |760·1 |65| §721·3 |2,367 |b |

| |A.M.|Mzouda | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 2 |Halt near | 688 |692·7 |760·1 |70| §814·3 |2,671 |b |

| |P.M.|Kasbah, | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 26 | 8 |Camp |682·5|686·9 |761·4 |64| §879·5 | — |b |

| |A.M.|Seksaoua | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 27 | 6 |Do. do. | 683 |687·2 |761·6 |60| §868·5 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. do. | — | — | — |— | 874 |2,867 |d |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 29 | 6 |Camp below | 670 | 674 |760·8 |58|§1,035·3 |3,397 |§ |

| |A.M.|Milhaïn | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |5.30|Watershed |656·0|661·15|760·7 |52|§1,190·2 |3,905 |b |

| |P.M.|between Aïn | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 30 | 7 |Camp by |677·0|681·4 |761·4 |58| §940·3 |3,085 |b |

| |A.M.|Kasbah, | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 8 |Camp, Mskala|716·0|719·8 |761·9 |60| §466·3 | — |b |

| |P.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|„ 31 | 8 |Do. do. |715·5|718·5 |762·7 |65| §486·3 | — |b |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | |Do. do. | — | — | — |— | 476·3 |1,562 |d |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ | 5 |Room 6 m. | 720 |722·8 |762·9 |68| §437·4 | — |§ |

| |P.M.|above Court | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

|June | 8 |Do. do. do. |720·5|722·0 |764·35|67| §446·1 | — |b |

| 1 |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |— |Do. do. do. | — | — | — |— | 441·8 |1,449 |d |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ „ |— |Court of | — | — | — |— | 436 |1,430 |b |

| | | | | | | | | | |

| „ 2 | 6 |Camp, Aïn |744·5|746·4 |763·7 |58| §154·8} | | |

| |A.M.|el Hadjar | | | | | } | | |

| | | | | | | | } | 504 |§ |

| „ 3 |5.30|Do. do. |744·0|746·6 |763·0 |56| §152·1} | | |

| |A.M.| | | | | | | | |

+-----+----+------------+-----+------+------+--+---------+------+--+

[Observations column:

a: Assumed pressure at sea level 760 mm.

b: Do.

c: Mean of five observations.

d: Mean of two observations.

e: Mean of four observations.

f: Mean of three observations.

g: Differences by St. Robert’s method 686·2 m. and 690·2 m.

respectively.

h: Altitude adopted.

*: As the river near its mouth can be only about 3 m. above the

sea, a correction of -0·6 mm. is inferred for April 12.

†: See note as to corrections of Secrétan’s instrument after

arrival at Mogador. Assumed special correction for

April 29 +·05 mm.

§: Comparison with Mogador observations reduced to sea level.

‡: By comparison with Arround.

**: Altitude by comparison with Amsmiz on May 21.

††: Altitude adopted. Mean of four results.

§§: Comparison with Iminteli.]

travelling in Marocco, and before the necessity for a considerable

correction to the readings of Secrétan’s aneroid had become

apparent. The difference arising from this and other corrections

applicable to the highest points reached by us is considerable, and

requires a deduction of about 500 feet from the estimated height of

the Tagherot pass, and about the same from the calculated altitude

of Djebel Tezah. The corresponding error in the calculated altitudes

for the low country stations, e.g. those between Mogador and Marocco,

averages about 200 feet.

J. B.

* * * * *

APPENDIX B.

_Itineraries of Routes from the City of Marocco through the Great

Atlas._

The information respecting the routes here given was supplied by a

Jew named Salomon ben Daoud, an inhabitant of the city of Marocco

engaged in trading operations with the natives of the portions of the

Great Atlas wherein the authority of the Sultan is recognised. In the

absence of more accurate reports, it appears desirable to publish

this slight contribution to the topography of a country altogether

unknown to Europeans, excepting so far as we were able to visit a

few of the places enumerated. To assist those who may hereafter seek

to follow any of these routes, the names of places inserted in the

French map of Marocco by Captain Beaudouin, or in the map annexed

to this volume, are distinguished by an asterisk. The distances

are reckoned by hours, one of which may be counted as equivalent

to four miles in the plain, and to a somewhat lesser distance in

the mountain. A day’s journey usually varies from eight to ten

hours. The spelling of the names is made to agree with that adopted

throughout this work, the vowels having the same sounds as in most

European languages, and not those peculiar to our country.

ROUTE 1.

_Marocco to Demenet, and Excursion from Demenet to places in the

neighbourhood._

Marocco to Ain el Berda 3 hours.

„ *Sidi Rahal 5 „

„ *Oued Tessout (ford the river) 4 „

„ *Tidli (a mountain) 2 „

„ Draha 1 hour.

„ *Demenet 3 hours.

18 „

This road is undulating, with hills and valleys, or hollows.

From Demenet cross over the river Emhasser, and proceeding for one

hour on the mountain you will reach a place called Iminifri, on a

high mountain, which contains an opening or pass only just large

enough for one person to creep through on his hands and knees, the

length of the pass being about 100 yards; and when through it you

will find open ground on the top of the high mountain. There will

be seen remains (ruins) of old Christian buildings, in which live

many birds. From the upper part of this mountain overhanging parts

(or cliffs) branch out downwards against the mountain, towards the

River Tor, of 500 yards long; but these overhanging parts do not

reach the water of the river.

[The places here spoken of apparently lie N.W. of Demenet—the

El Acchabi of the French map. The river Tor is probably the Oued

Lakdeur of the same map.]

ROUTE 2.

_Demenet to the Sources of the Oued Tessout._

Demenet to Aït Cid Hassan (between mountains) 4 hours.

„ *Aït Emdoual 1 hour.

In Aït Emdoual is a river one day’s journey long. There are

inhabitants along the river. From this to Aït Affan one day’s

journey over barren desert ground uninhabited.

From *Aït Affan to Ansai (contains some inhabitants) ? hours.

„ „ Aït Kassi 2 „

„ „ Tel Khedit 2 „

Tel Khedit is a mountain, and contains the source of the river

Tessout; and on this mountain the snow remains both in summer

and winter.

[This route agrees in many respects with the indications of the

French map. The name Aït Chihatchen, there laid down south of

Demenet, is probably the Aït Cid Hassan of the itinerary. It

appears, however, that the importance of the mountain chain on

the north side of the upper valley of the Tessout must be much

exaggerated by the hill-shading on the map. The main chain of the

Atlas is undoubtedly that on the southern side of that valley. The

head of the valley is, on the French map, united to the province of

N’tifa. _A priori_ probability and the wording of the itinerary

suggest that it all belongs to Demenet.]

ROUTE 3.

_Marocco to N’tifa._

Marocco to Zourt ben Sessy 2 hours.

„ Ras el Aïn 2 „

[Here is a mountain called Bou Surkar, or stony.]

„ *Tamlelt 3 hours.

„ *N’tifa 1 day.

[None of these places seem to be laid down on the French map, unless

Tendalet be the same place as Tamlelt. N’tifa is properly the name

of the province. The particular place so named by our informant,

is probably the residence of the Kaïd, or Governor. It seems likely

that this is very near the place marked Bezzou on the French map.]

ROUTE 4.

_Demenet to N’tifa._

Demenet to Aït Mazan (valleys and hills) 3 hours.

„ *N’tifa 3 „

---

6 „

On this road is found the Gum Euphorbium plant, or tree, and the

trees producing the brown gum arabic. From N’tifa forward is

the country of the tribe Aït Attab where there is little or no

government among the people.

ROUTE 5.

_Tour in the Mountains East and South-east of Marocco._

Marocco to Zourt ben Sessy 2 hours.

„ Ras el Aïn 8 „

„ *Tagana 2 „

„ Aït Zehad (on the mountain in Mesfioua) 4 „

„ Iminterrat 2 „

[Here are found some ruins of Christian buildings of old times.]

Marocco to Tasselt 2 hours.

„ Tel Eizrat 2 „

„ Tighidoun Idioum 4 „

„ Aït Izzel (high mountain) 4 „

„ Assefrag (Lasfaour) 6 „

„ Imin Gagar 6 „

„ Imin Zadin 2 „

„ Tasghinout (Tasseremout?) 3 „

„ Aït Absalem 3 „

„ Tidiren 2 „

„ Ohamma ? „

„ Aïn Hehia 2 „

„ Gries (Gers?) 3 „

„ Ohida 3 „

„ Tigardoun 2 „

„ Tigola (Tougla?) 2 „

„ Tabia (Aït Tieb?) 2 „

„ Tamzart 4 „

These being the mountains of the Mesfioua country.

ROUTE 6.

_Tour in the Mountains South of Marocco._

Marocco to Amreen (plain, orchards) 4 hours.

„ Resmat 2 „

„ *Ourika ? „

There is the river Ourika passing between mountains. Crossing,

and going up to the left, the first village is Achliz. The chief,

or sheik, who governs Ourika lives here, he being under the orders

of his superior, Ibrahim el Graoui, who lives in Marocco. From Achliz

you go to Azrou Miloul, and from this to Tourit. Here are salt wells

or springs. From Tourit you go to Agadir which is on the top of the

mountain, from this to Timluzen, and from this to the Zaouia. The

before last stages from Ourika are all half an hour’s distance one

from the other. From Tourit to Sissag on high mountains. [Apparently

Sissag is the name of the Zaouia.] These are the villages on the left

side of the river until Sissag. The villages on the right hand side

of the river are as follows:—The first is Alzli; from this you go

to Tafzhia, and from this to Anrar, and from this to Amsin; from this

to Assgher, and from this to Arzballo; from this to Egremon, and from

this to Ashni, and from this to Esurgraf; this mountain is covered

with snow. These are the Ourika mountains near to Marocco town,

besides the higher mountains which are above these we have mentioned.

[All the places here mentioned are in the Ourika valley. The left

and right sides are those on the left and right of the stream to

a person ascending the valley, contrary to the usage in European

countries where those terms are supposed to refer to one following

the course of the stream.]

ROUTE 7.

_Description of the Roads of Ghighaya._

Marocco to Tahanout 6 hours.

„ Tasslamat ½ hour.

„ *Souk el Ad (of Moulai Ibrahim) 2 hours.

From this to El Anraz; here is a village called Amareen, three hours

distant—it leads to Immaregen; and from this one hour’s journey

will bring the traveller to a place called Agadir Tagadurt el Bour,

and from this last is the commencement of the road or highway to

the province of Sous.

[There can be no doubt that the district here rendered Ghighaya

from the Hebrew, is the same as we wrote down as Reraya, the _r_

in the latter name having a guttural sound without an equivalent

in any European language known to us. The Souk el Ad, or Sunday

Market, is of course somewhere near to the Sanctuary of Moülai

Ibrahim. Although we fail to identify any of the villages named

above, it seems probable that the place spoken of as Agadir Tagadurt

el Bour, is the same as Arround, where we passed two nights.]

ROUTE 8.

_Description of the Road between Ghighaya and Ourika._

Marocco to Tahanout. 6 hours.

„ Tedroura 1 hour.

„ Ourika 1½ „

This being a road to a mountain containing snow, in the country of

Ghighaya. From Tranghert, six hours’ journey to a mountain called

Ousertik, within the jurisdiction of the Governor, Kaïd Ibrahim

el Graoui.

[The writer here gives an alternative route from Marocco to Ourika,

slightly longer than the direct way given in Route 6, and then

refers, obviously not from personal knowledge, to a mountain path

connecting Ourika with one or other of the two valleys included in

the district of Reraya or Ghighaya. Tranghert is probably a village

in the western branch of the Ourika valley.]

SALOMON BEN DAOUD.

* * * * *

APPENDIX C.

_Notes on the Geography of South Marocco._

By JOHN BALL.

Some remarks upon the geography of South Marocco seem to be

called for from a writer who has ventured to put forth a new map,

largely differing from those hitherto published; but the subject

is encompassed with so much difficulty, and the amount of accurate

information available is so limited, that a prudent writer must be

content to regard most of his own conclusions as merely provisional,

and liable to be modified or set aside by the results of further

exploration, whenever this shall become practicable. In the

mean time, some good may be effected by clearing the ground of

some received errors that are absolutely disproved by facts now

ascertained.

Little need here be said of the slight contribution to the

knowledge of South Marocco that can be gleaned from the writers of

antiquity. The earliest document bearing on the subject was doubtless

the record of the voyage of Hanno, set up in the temple of Saturn

at Carthage. This is known to us only by the version, rendered

by an unknown hand into Greek, which, with all the accumulated

errors of the translator and the subsequent transcribers, has

reached us under the title of the _Periplus of Hanno_. From this

record the particulars to be gleaned regarding this part of Africa

are scanty and of an uncertain character. Commentators have,

with much probability, identified the Solois promontory of Hanno

(Λιβυκὸν ἀκρωτήριον λάσιον δένδρεσι) with Cape Cantin. But what are

we to make of the next statement that, having passed the cape, they

sailed for half a day east, or south-east (πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνισχοντα),

before reaching the great marshy lake, ‘where elephants and other wild

beasts abounded’? True it is that south of Cape Cantin there are

two slight indentations, mere coves, where the land for a short

distance trends to the south-east; but the general direction

for a mariner along this part of the coast is SSW., as far as

Mogador. Agreeing with the commentators that the ‘great marshy

lake’ was probably near the mouth of the Oued Tensift, we are

led to believe that Hanno disembarked settlers at no less than five

stations on the coast of what is now the province of Haha. If we may

rely on the correctness of the Greek text we must infer that these

were settlements established by the Carthaginians before the date of

Hanno’s expedition.[1] The next place reached by Hanno was ‘the

great river Lixus, flowing from Libya, about which dwelt a nomadic

people,’ who are called in the text Lixitæ (Λιξίται). It is

further stated that the river is said to flow from great mountains

in the neighbourhood, around which dwell the Troglodytes, referred

to in our text, p. 301. The only assertion that can be confidently

made about the Lixus of Hanno is, that it was quite a different

stream from that afterwards known to the Romans by the same name,

the latter being the modern Oued el Kous, falling into the sea

at El Araisch, and which Pliny makes fifty-seven Roman miles from

Tangier. The learned commentator, C. Müller, identifies the Lixus

of the Periplus with the Draha; but, unless we assume that great

physical changes have occurred during the interval, this supposition

is scarcely compatible with the existence of a numerous population

near the mouth of the river. It may possibly have been the river

Akassa (the native name of the river of Oued Noun); but it appears

far more probable that it was the Sous, the only one of these rivers

which is believed constantly to discharge a large volume of water

into the sea. It may be, indeed, that there is an etymological

connection between the names Sous and Lixus, as there undoubtedly

is between some names still current and those used by the Romans.

After Hanno, the next voyager along this coast of whom we known

anything was Polybius. The original record of his voyage has,

unfortunately, not come down to posterity, but a few particulars have

been preserved by Pliny.[2] We learn incidentally that the Romans

called Cape Cantin promontorium Solis, a name evidently suggested by

the earlier name Solois of the Carthaginians, afterwards rendered

in Greek by Ptolemy ἡλίου ἄκρον. Whether Polybius succeeded in

reaching the Senegal, or some other river within the tropics, may

be uncertain; but he undoubtedly visited many places on the Atlantic

coast of Marocco. We hear for the first time of the rivers _Subur_

(modern Sebou), and _Salat_ (the Bouregrag, which falls into the

sea at Sallee). He touched at the port of _Rutulis_, said to have

been eight Roman miles beyond the mouth of the river Anatis, which

was 205 Roman miles from Lixus (El Araisch). The river is doubtless

the modern Oum-er-bia, and the port was the same which the Portuguese

named Mazagan. The next port touched by Polybius was named _Risadir_,

which has been with much probability identified with Agadir.[3]

As for the rivers named by Polybius on the coast south-west of the

Atlas, their identification with any known to modern geographers

is purely conjectural.

Of Roman writers Pliny is the only one from whom any positive

information as to the geography of this part of Africa is to be

gained; but even this is very limited.[4] He complains that the

reports as to the region beyond the narrow limits within which

Roman power was established in his day were most fallacious, and

censures the Roman authorities for indolently giving circulation

to mendacious stories, instead of investigating the truth for

themselves. In his day Sala (modern Sallee) was the most southern

of the Roman settlements in Marocco. He describes it as ‘a

town standing on a river of the same name, on the confines of the

desert (_solitudinibus vicinum_), which was infested by herds of

elephants, and still more by the tribe of the Autololes, through

whose territory lay the way to the great mountain of Africa, the

many-fabled Atlas.’ It appears elsewhere that Pliny had access to

the manuscripts left by Juba, which, unfortunately, have not come

down to posterity. That accomplished prince appears to have held

control over the whole territory of Marocco as far as the base of

the Atlas. It is to these lost pages of Juba that we probably owe the

only fragment of moderately correct information as to South Marocco

which is to be found in Pliny’s work.[5] The river Asana, whose

mouth is said to be 150 Roman miles beyond Sala, is doubtless the

Anatis of Polybius, and the Oum-er-bia of the Moors. The next river,

which he calls Fut, is the Tensift. The distance assigned for the

interval between the mouth of the Fut and the Atlas is excessive;

but not largely so if Agadir be intended, that being the first

place on the coast from which the high summits of the Atlas are

habitually visible. The statement as to the existence of remains

of vineyards and palm-groves about the ruins of ancient dwellings

seems to lend probability to the belief that the Carthaginian

settlements on this coast may have had a prolonged existence. The

fall of the parent State would have had but an indirect influence

on their destiny. Verbal resemblances are so often misleading that

little weight can be attached to them; but it is natural to compare

the word Dyris, said by Pliny to be the native name for the Atlas,

with that now used by the natives—_Idrarn_—this being the plural

form of _Adrar_, which means generically a mountain, both in the

Shelluh and in several other Bereber dialects.

Besides what Pliny may have learned from King Juba as to the

geography of the coast of South Marocco, he had access to

contemporary testimony as to some part of the interior of the

country. Suetonius Paulinus (the same who at a later date played

a conspicuous part in Britain) being appointed governor of the

provinces of N.W. Africa, then recently incorporated in the Roman

Empire, resolved to penetrate southward beyond the Great Atlas,

whether with a view to intimidate the native tribes, or for the mere

satisfaction of carrying the Roman eagles into a new region. He

appears to have left a written account of his expedition, which,

like so much else of ancient geographical literature, has been

lost. The particulars preserved by Pliny are unfortunately so vague

as to be almost valueless.

In ten days from his starting point, wherever that may have been,

we are told that he reached the highest point of his march. He

reported the mountain to be covered with dense forests of trees of

an unknown kind, and declares the summit of the range to be deeply

covered with snow, even in summer.[6] From the summit of the Atlas

Suetonius descended, and marched on through deserts of black sand,

out of which rose here and there rocks that had the aspect of being

burnt, to a river called Ger. Although it was the winter season the

heat of these regions was found intolerable. The neighbouring forests

abounded in elephants and other wild beasts, and with serpents of

every kind, and were inhabited by a people called Canarians.

The controversies to which this passage has given rise are not

likely to be definitively decided. The balance of opinion leans

to the belief that Suetonius ascended the valley of the Moulouya,

and traversed the Atlas by the pass now called Tizin Tinrout,

leading to Tafilelt. This was the pass traversed by Gerhard Rohlfs

in 1864, and to his narrative alone we can refer for information

respecting it and the country extending southward towards the Great

Desert. The existence in that part of W. Africa, on the south side of

the Great Atlas, so far from the influence of the Atlantic climate,

of vast forests capable of maintaining elephants and sheltering a

native population, would apparently be irreconcilable with existing

physical conditions, and is not readily admissible in the Roman

period. Whatever vigorous vegetation exists in the region traversed

by Rohlfs adjoins the banks of the stream; and, though sand may

encroach here and there, and sun-burnt rocks are seen there, as

elsewhere on the south side of the Atlas, the description is not

what would occur to any one following the course of the stream. It

seems, further, highly improbable that a prudent general, such as

Suetonius Paulinus, would have undertaken to lead an aggressive

military force along the tortuous valley of the Moulouya, some 250

miles in length, enclosed for the most part between lofty mountains;

and it is also to be noted that at the period of his expedition

the Romans held no station in the valley of the Moulouya, if indeed

they ever penetrated far into it.

The few particulars quoted above lead to the conclusion that the

Roman general in his southward march beyond the Atlas did not follow

the course of a stream, but was compelled to cross a tract of desert

before reaching the river of which he speaks, which, therefore,

probably flowed from E. to W. On the whole, it seems to me that the

brief record is more easily reconciled with the supposition that

Suetonius Paulinus made Sala (Sallee), the farthest Roman station

in Western Africa, his base of operations; that he marched thence

across the open country towards SSW., and gained the summit of

the Atlas range at the pass between Imintanout and Tarudant.[7]

Between the course of the Sous and that of the Akassa, or river

of Oued Noun, there are extensive tracts of sandy desert, where,

even in winter, his troops may easily have suffered from heat and

thirst; and the river (called Ger) may have been the main branch,

or one of the tributaries of the Akassa flowing from the range of

Anti-Atlas. The former existence of great forests, frequented by

elephants, on the flanks of that range, is far more probable than

on the parched southern slopes of the interior, where, as Rohlfs

tells us, the rocks and hills are now absolutely bare of tree

and shrub vegetation. Finally, it is more natural to look for the

ancient Canarians in the country near the Atlantic coast than in

the interior.

The solitary argument of any weight in favour of the Moulouya

and Tafilelt route seems to be derived from the fact that in

descending southward from the pass at the head of the Moulouya

valley the traveller follows the course of a stream which now bears

the name Gers, or Ghir. But it must be remarked that this name

exists elsewhere in Marocco, there being at least three streams so

denominated, and further that it is nowadays borne by the river

of Tafilelt only during a short part of its course. Rohlfs, who

is here our only authority, tells us that the stream first met

in descending from the pass of Tizin Tinrout is called Siss.[8]

After following this for seven or eight hours, it is joined by

another stream which he called _Ued Gers_. The united stream bears

the latter name for a distance of some six hours’ ride, and then

resumes the name of Siss, which it bears throughout its subsequent

course till it is lost in the sands of the Sahara.

The long period that intervened between the decline of Roman power

and the establishment of Mohammedan rule in Marocco, is a blank to

the historian and the geographer. It can scarcely be doubted that

Roman authority and Roman institutions spread themselves throughout

a great part of the open country between the Atlas and the Atlantic,

although there is but little direct evidence to that effect.

Little reliance can be placed on the statement of Leo Africanus

that the people of Barbary were converted to Christianity 250 years

before the birth of Mohammed, or about A.D. 320, for, in a country

so split up into independent tribes, the new faith must have made

way irregularly and at various periods; while it is most probable

that it never struck root among the mountain tribes of the Great

Atlas. But the positive assertion of the same writer, that when

the Arabs arrived in Marocco they found the Christians masters of

the country, probably holds good of all except the mountain tracts.

Whether any reliable information as to South Marocco is to be

gleaned from the writings of the eminent Arabian geographers who

lived between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, I am unable to

say; but it seems sufficiently certain that the period of European

exploration leading to practical results commenced in the fourteenth

century. The Genoese, the Catalans, and the Venetians appear to

have despatched several expeditions along the coast, most of them

intended to reach the gold-producing regions of tropical Africa. The

Portuguese, who were destined to outstrip all their rivals in

maritime exploration, were the first to establish themselves on

the western coast of Marocco; and, at one time or other, they held

most, if not all, the Atlantic seaports. Much information doubtless

lies concealed among the mediæval records of Italy, Spain, and,

especially, of Portugal; but up to the present time nothing has

been published to show that any European was able, from personal

knowledge, to give an account of the interior of Marocco, before

Marmol, who, having been taken prisoner by the Moors, passed several

years at Fez and elsewhere in North Marocco, about the middle of the

sixteenth century. The earliest known document showing a moderately

correct knowledge of the coast is a map (number 5 in the series),

contained in the celebrated _Portulano_ of the Laurentian Library

in Florence, bearing the date 1351.[9] In this map, which, from

internal evidence, must be of Genoese origin, the general outline

of the Marocco coast is correct, and the positions of the few

places laid down unmistakable. The now abandoned town of Fedala

(Fidalah), Mefegam (Mazagan), and Mogodor here appear for the first

time. Of early Portuguese maps there must be many not now known to

geographers, and it was certainly from Portuguese authorities that

Gerard Mercator partly derived the materials used in both editions of

his Atlas. In the _Atlas Minor_, published by Hondins in 1608, a map

of South Marocco is given in page 567, wherein for the first time an

attempt is made to represent the positions of cities and mountains,

and the courses of rivers in the interior of the country. The

outline of the coast is here less correct than that given in the

much more ancient Medicean map; but there is far more of detail,

especially as to places which were evidently well known to the

Portuguese. Thus, as mentioned in the text, we here for the first

time find the island of Mogador with the name _‘I. Domegador.’_

The places laid down in the interior appear for the most part to

be taken (but with numerous errors) from the work of Leo Africanus;

but the chartographer has spoiled his map by making the river Sous

flow from SE. to NW., instead of from NNE. to SSW. Mountains are

scattered pretty uniformly over the map; but what is made to appear

as the loftiest mass, and is marked _‘Atlas M.,’_ with a town

named Tagovast at its foot, stands S. of Tarudant about the western

extremity of the range of Anti-Atlas. The accompanying letterpress,

page 566, is to a great extent derived from Leo Africanus, but with

additions from other sources. It is curious to read that Tarudant,

now a place which no Christian stranger dare approach, was then

resorted to by French and English merchants.

The name of the remarkable man, who stands almost alone as a

geographical authority for the interior of Marocco, has already

been mentioned; but it is impossible to dismiss him so lightly. Leo

Africanus, to give him the name by which he is known to posterity,

was a Moor of Grenada, born in the latter part of the fifteenth

century, who, with his kinsfolk, fled to Fez at or about the

time of the siege of Granada in 1492. In those days Fez was the

head-quarters of Arabic culture; Leo was an earnest and successful

student, and, as a man of learning and intelligence, was taken into

favour by Mouley Ahmet, the founder of the dynasty still reigning in

Marocco. Either in company with the new ruler, or with his protection

and authority, he travelled through almost every part of the empire,

as well as nearly all the rest of Northern Africa, and evidently made

copious notes. He wrote, in Arabic, various works on history and

grammar which have not been preserved, and, in the same language,

the original version of his description of Africa. It would appear

that he carried this with him, in manuscript, when, in 1517, he was

made captive by Christian corsairs, who took him to Rome. Leo X.,

hearing that a learned Moor had been brought a captive to Rome,

sent for him, and treated him with kindness and liberality. A

suggestion that he should undergo the rite of baptism seems to

have encountered no obstinate prejudices, for he soon complied,

receiving at the font the Pope’s own names, Giovanni Leone, and

perhaps becoming as earnest a Christian as the Pontiff himself. He

afterwards lived many years in Rome, acquired the Italian tongue,

and translated his work on Africa into that idiom. This remained

for some time unpublished, until it fell into the hands of Ramusio,

who included it in his famous work ‘Delle Navigationi et Viaggi,’

of which the first edition, in three folio volumes, was printed in

Venice in 1550. It is not easy to account for the numerous variations

between the original text and the versions which appeared in various

languages during the century following the original publication;

but in the absence of satisfactory explanation it seems safest to

accept the text of Ramusio as alone authentic.

Like most modern readers, the members of our party, when they

resolved to visit Marocco, knew nothing of the work of Leo

Africanus beyond the fact that he is occasionally referred to

by writers on North Africa. The time for preparation was far too

short for extensive reading, and we took with us only the works

of Jackson and Gerhard Rohlfs. It has, however, since that time

been a matter of frequent regret that we had not the opportunity,

while travelling in the country, of referring to the only writer

who had actually seen the greater part of it with his own eyes, and

as to whose general truthfulness there is no room for suspicion. It

is impossible here to enter into the many interesting details that

abound throughout the text; but it is worth while to point out the

more important changes that are disclosed between the condition of

South Marocco as it was more than three and a half centuries ago,

and that of the present day.

So far as regards the manners, ideas, habits, and mode of living

of the inhabitants, the changes are quite insignificant, save

in so far as these are affected by a general decline in material

prosperity. The central authority was at that period much weaker,

and the separate tribes led a more independent existence. Amongst

the Bereber people of the mountains, and even in many of the larger

towns, such government as existed was ordinarily of the democratic

type. Thus we read that in Tarudant four chiefs were elected to

manage the affairs of the city, holding office for only six months

at a time.

If it were possible to doubt the results of the establishment of a

system of grinding despotism, administered by officials who enjoy

practical impunity so long as they satisfy the pecuniary demands of

their master, the pages of Leo Africanus bring ample evidence. It is,

indeed, true that a slight improvement has ensued as regards internal

tranquillity. There is now rather less of habitual turbulence;

the mutual encounters between neighbouring tribes may be somewhat

less frequent; and brigandage, which appears to have been not

uncommon in the open country, is now comparatively rare. It may

be doubted whether this advantage, such as it is, is not as much

due to diminished population as to the successful administration

of the Moorish Sultans.

On the other hand, there is overwhelming evidence of a general

and progressive decline in prosperity. Throughout the southern

provinces, and especially in Haha and Sous, Leo Africanus found

numerous flourishing towns, most of them visited and described by

him. In each one of these he found people living in comparative ease,

inhabiting good houses with gardens, and possessing, according to the

standard of the age, some literary education. From the towns, and

even from the inner valleys of the Atlas, students flocked to Fez,

then the head-quarters of Arabic knowledge and civilisation. All

the principal places were then local centres of production, the

artificers being principally Jews.

It is notable that excepting the city of Marocco, then full of a

numerous and active population, none of the towns mentioned owed

their foundation to the conquering race. Leo, not likely to detract

from the achievements of his own people, expressly attributes the

origin of most of them to the ‘antichi Africani,’ by which

designation he commonly speaks of the primitive Bereber stock;

and, as regards the smaller towns lying in the low country north

of the Atlas, he frequently speaks of the population being harassed

by the Arabs, then, as at this day, leading a semi-nomad existence

in the plains.

If we confront his description with the present state of the country

we find comparative ruin and desolation. In all the southern

provinces we now find but two inland cities of any importance,

Marocco and Tarudant, and these dwindled to a mere tithe of their

ancient wealth and population. Where the traveller in the sixteenth

century found thriving towns at intervals of ten or twelve miles,

there are now miserable villages whose wretched inhabitants maintain

a bare existence, and are often unable to pay the imposts which

leave no surplus behind. It does not appear that in the great

province of Haha there is now a single place that can be called a

town except the ruined seaport of Agadir, destined by nature to be

the chief port of South Marocco, but closed to trade by the caprice

of a Sultan. Throughout the interior we saw or heard of but two

places that could by courtesy be called towns, Amsmiz and Moulai

Ibrahim. Although no statistics are available, it seems a moderate

estimate if we reckon that the present population of South Marocco

cannot exceed one-third of what it was when Leo wrote.

Along with the decay of wealth and population, we naturally find

that of everything that could raise the people in the scale of

existence. In Leo’s day iron and copper mines were worked in

many places in the Atlas, and various handicrafts exercised, of

which there is now no trace. Education, such as it was, was widely

spread; and in some parts of the Atlas where it was absent, the

traveller noted the fact as a proof of the low condition of the

population. He notes as a curious incident that when he visited

the mountain district of Semele, where the people were ignorant of

reading and writing, they forced him to remain nine days, hearing

and deciding all pending cases of litigation; in doing which, as

he records, he had to act both as judge and notary, there being no

one competent to write down the decisions of the court.

Several incidental statements in the work of Leo Africanus suggest an

inquiry of considerable interest. There is nothing in the published

annals of the Portuguese wars with the Moors to suggest a belief that

the former at any time established their authority in the interior

of South Marocco, or even undertook any inland expeditions. From

Leo’s narrative it appears, however, that, at the beginning of the

sixteenth century, they had, at least occasionally, penetrated much

farther into the interior than has commonly been supposed, and that

the authority of the Portuguese king was in some places paramount. At

Tumeglast, a place in the plain of Marocco, probably not far from

the present village of Frouga, Leo lodged in the house with a Moor,

named Sidi Yehie, who had come in the name of the king of Portugal

to levy tribute, the same Moor having been made by the king chief

(capitano) of the district of Azasi. Elsewhere he relates that the

king of Marocco sent an expeditionary force against an independent

chief in the district of Hanimmei, forty miles east of the city of

Marocco (apparently in the present province of Demnet), and which

force was accompanied by 300 Portuguese cavalry. The expedition was

unsuccessful, the Sultan’s troops were defeated, and, according

to the narrative, not one of the Christian horsemen returned from

the disaster. It seems highly improbable that the Portuguese should

have taken part in such an affair if their troops had not at the

time been stationed somewhere in the interior.

After Leo Africanus but little of a definite kind is to be learned

from subsequent writers as to the geography of South Marocco. In

1791 the reigning Sultan applied to General O’Hara, then Governor

of Gibraltar, for the assistance of an English physician to treat

his favourite son, Mouley Absalom, who was at the time governing

the province of Sous. Mr. Lempriere, an army-surgeon, undertook

the office, and travelled by the west coast to Agadir, and thence

to Tarudant. After successfully treating his patient, he was partly

induced, and partly forced, to travel to the city of Marocco, whence,

after considerable delay and difficulty, he succeeded in returning

to Gibraltar. Mr. Lempriere probably travelled across the Atlas by

the road from Tarudant to Imintanout, but his narrative supplies

little information to the geographer. He speaks of the distance

from Tarudant to the northern foot of the Atlas as an easy journey

of three days, and describes the track as leading beneath and along

tremendous precipices.

Frequent reference is made in the text to Jackson’s ‘Account

of the Empire of Marocco,’ of which the first edition appeared

in 1809, and the third in 1814. This is undoubtedly the fullest and

most correct modern work on Southern Marocco. Jackson spent sixteen

years in the country, chiefly at Mogador and Agadir; he acquired

the familiar use of the Moorish Arabic, and seems to have obtained

merited influence among the natives. Either because he had but little

taste for exploration, or because he found the difficulties too

serious, Jackson has added little to our knowledge of the geography

of the country. His map, though it contains some corrections, is on

the whole inferior to that of Chénier, published a century earlier.

A definite contribution to the slight existing amount of positive

knowledge was made by the late Admiral Washington, then a lieutenant

in the navy, who accompanied the late Sir J. Drummond Hay on his

mission to the city of Marocco in the winter of 1829-1830. His

paper, published in the first volume of the ‘Journal of the Royal

Geographical Society,’ is frequently referred to in our text;

and in the accompanying map the positions of several points in the

interior of the country were accurately laid down from astronomical

observation.

A most important step towards extending our knowledge of the entire

empire of Marocco was made in 1848, when the French War Department

published the map compiled by Captain Beaudouin. Whatever errors it

may contain—and these were unavoidably numerous—this must be

regarded as a monument of intelligence and industry. Recognising

the fact that the greater part of the territory is likely long to

remain inaccessible to Europeans, the author applied himself to

obtaining information from natives who were personally acquainted

with various portions of the country. Hundreds of such informants,

as we were assured, were separately examined by Captain Beaudouin;

the information supplied by each was laid down on a skeleton map;

and by the careful comparison of the separate materials the general

map was compiled.

Without noticing minor errors, which are, of course, inevitable

in such a work, the most serious objection to be made to this map

is that the orography is exhibited in a fashion _primâ facie_

improbable, and which has been to a great extent negatived by

subsequent evidence. The main range of the Southern Atlas is

represented as a nearly straight wall, over 400 miles in length,

with few and short diverging ridges, and, parallel to this on the

south side, another equally straight and narrow ridge is made to

stretch for nearly 300 miles. From near the eastern extremity of the

main range two other straight ridges are shown, diverging abruptly

at an acute angle, and enclosing a trench-like valley that extends

north-west for fully 120 miles. If this were even approximately

correct, we should be led to conclude that the structure of the Great

Atlas is quite unlike that of any other known mountain region. The

tendency of mountain ranges to follow a uniform general direction

is always modified by the numerous secondary causes that have helped

to fashion the earth’s surface.

The first recent traveller who succeeded in penetrating some

considerable portions of the Marocco territory was M. Gerhard

Rohlfs. Assuming the garb and professing the faith of a Mussulman,

he traversed many districts where no Christian dare present himself;

but the care necessary to prevent his real character from becoming

known imposed severe restrictions on M. Rohlfs. Produced under

conditions where it was impossible to be seen taking notes or using

any scientific instrument, it is not surprising that the narrative

of his adventurous journey is extremely meagre; but even for the

little that he is told about a region so little known the reader

is thankful. The chief geographical results of these journeys

were embodied in the map annexed to G. Rohlfs’ first work[10]

by the eminent geographer, M. Petermann. The scale of that map

is small and admits of little detail; but, so far as regards the

mountain country, I am disposed to think that the direct evidence,

supplemented in some points by native report, requires us to depart

more widely from the orographic features of Beaudouin’s map than

M. Petermann has thought it fit to do.

In the map accompanying this volume I have ventured, in addition

to the changes for which I had direct authority, to introduce a few

others, avowedly conjectural, which must await further exploration

before they can be either adopted or condemned. It is difficult

to believe that in an age when the barriers that have closed the

other least known regions of the earth are successively removed,

Marocco, so close to Europe and so attractive, can alone resist

the progress of modern exploration.[11]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: The phrase used is κατῳκίσαμεν πόλεις πρὸς τῇ

θαλάττῃ καλουμένας Καριχόν τε Γύττην καὶ Ἄκραν καὶ Μέλιτταν

καὶ Ἄραμβυν. When the author speaks of Thymiaterium, founded

by Hanno in this expedition, he says, ἐκτίσαμεν πρώτην πόλιν.]

[Footnote 2: See Pliny, V. 1, § 8. His account is vague and

confused, and the distances not to be reconciled with those given

by him elsewhere.]

[Footnote 3: Not content with the indication afforded by the

identity of the two terminal syllables in each name, C. Müller

conjectures that the ancient name of the promontory near Agadir

was Râs adir, Râs being the common Arabic designation for a

headland. He apparently supposes that the natives spoke Arabic in

the time of Polybius. Even now none of the headlands on this coast

have the designation Râs.]

[Footnote 4: I am indebted for information as to several passages

in Pliny’s writings to my friend, Mr. E. Bunbury, who will

doubtless throw further light on the subject in an important work,

‘An Historical View of Ancient Geography’ which he is preparing

for publication.]

[Footnote 5: ‘Indigenæ tamen tradunt in ora ab Sala CL

m. p. flumen Asanam, marino haustu sed portu spectabile: mox

amnem quem vocant Fut: ab eo ad Dyrin (hoc enim Atlanti nomen esse

eorum lingua convenit) CC m. p., interveniente flumine cui nomen

est Vior. Ibi fama exstare circa vestigia habitati quondam soli

vinearum palmetorumque reliquias.’]

[Footnote 6: This must have been from native report, as the

expedition was made in winter. If he had said that the snow never

quite disappears, and sometimes falls heavily, even in summer,

his statement would have been accurate enough.]

[Footnote 7: Mentioned in the text at p. 294.]

[Footnote 8: This is evidently the river Ziz of Leo Africanus;

and in his time, as at the present day, travellers going from Fez

to Segelmese (modern Tafilelt) followed the course of the Ziz, or

Siss. He also speaks of a river Ghir, which may possibly have been

the affluent of the Siss mentioned by Rohlfs; but the particulars

given are vague and scanty. It is interesting to remark that in

Leo’s day the valley of the Siss was inhabited by a hardy and

energetic Bereber tribe named Zanaga, probably the same as the

Azanegues whom Cà da Mosto found about Oued Noun. They have since

migrated across the Sahara, and still calling themselves Zanega,

and speaking a Bereber dialect, are dangerous neighbours to the

negro tribes of the Senegal.]

[Footnote 9: A portion of this map, containing the coast of Africa

from the Straits of Gibraltar to the latitude of the Canary Islands,

was published (in facsimile) by Count Baldelli Boni of Florence

in his edition of Marco Polo, and is reproduced in Mr. Major’s

valuable work, ‘The Life of Prince Henry the Navigator.’ London,

1868.]

[Footnote 10: Afrikanische Reisen, von Gerhard Rohlfs. Bremen, 1867.]

[Footnote 11: The scope of these remarks being limited to the

geography of South Marocco, I have not noticed several recent

publications, not devoid of interest and value, but in which no

important contribution is made to our geographical knowledge. We

have referred in the text to papers by MM. Beaumier, Balansa,

and Lambert, in the Bulletin of the French Geographical Society. A

more considerable work, entitled ‘Morocco and the Moors,’ by

Arthur Leared, M.D., appeared in 1874. It contains much information

carefully collected by the author, along with a lively account of

his own experiences, but circumstances prevented him from entering

on new ground.]

* * * * *

APPENDIX D.

ON SOME OF THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF MAROCCO.

BY JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER.

_Gum Ammoniacum._

Our endeavours to obtain accurate information regarding the Marocco

gum ammoniac plant were ceaseless and fruitless. Jackson, who

gives a rude figure of a portion of a leaf and a scanty description

(‘Account of the Empire of Marocco,’ 136, t. 7), says that it is

the produce of a plant like Fennel, but larger, and called Fashook in

Arabic, and that it grows in the plains of the interior provinces,

abounding in the north of the city of Marocco, in a sandy light

soil. Jackson further states that neither bird nor beast is seen

where this plant grows, the vulture only excepted, and that it is

attacked by a beetle having a long horn proceeding from its nose,

with which it perforates the plant, and makes the incisions whence

the gum oozes out. Under his description of the vulture, he states

that, with the exception of the ostrich, this is the largest bird

in Marocco; that it is common in all places where the gum ammoniac

grows, as in the plains east of El Araiche,[1] where he has seen

at least twenty of these birds in the air at once, darting down on

the insects with astonishing rapidity (p. 118). Jackson’s figure

(t. 8) of the so-called beetle apparently represents a dipterous

insect resembling a Bombylius, with a very long straight proboscis.

Lindley (‘Flora Medica,’ 46) doubtfully refers Jackson’s

Fashook to the eastern _Ferula orientalis_ L.; and Flückiger

and Hanbury (‘Pharmacographie,’ 289) say that, according to

Lindley, the _Ferula tingitana_ yields a milky gum resin, having

some resemblance to Ammoniacum, which is an object of traffic with

Egypt and Arabia, where it is employed like the ancient drug in

fumigations. The authors go on to say that there can be but little

doubt that the Maroccan Ammoniacum is identical with that of the

ancients, and that it may well have been imported by way of Cyrene

from regions lying farther westward.

Pliny and Dioscorides say that the Ammoniacum is the juice of a

Narthex growing about Cyrene and Libya, and that it is produced in

the neighbourhood of the temple of Ammon.

Dr. Leared (‘Morocco and the Moors,’ 356) was informed that the

Fashook grows at a place two days’ journey from Mogador, on the

road to the city of Marocco,[2] but states that the exudation from

the roots of specimens which he obtained differed from the African

Ammoniacum. We, on the other hand, were persistently assured that

it grew nowhere along that route, nor nearer to it than El Araiche,

north of Marocco city. And this is confirmed by information obtained

by Mr. R. Drummond Hay to the effect that it is found near Marocco,

and chiefly around Tedla. The Moors who gave us this information at

once recognised the figure by Jackson, and called the plant Kilch

(Kelth according to Leared). The roots presented to Kew by the

kindness of Dr. Leared did not make any indications of growth.

The Maroccan Ammoniacum plant must not be confounded with the Persian

_Dorema Ammoniacum_, or ‘Ushak,’ which is also bled by insects.

The Fashook gum is used by the Moors and by some Orientals as a

depilatory, and in skin diseases; it is exported to the East from

Mazagan, _viâ_ Gibraltar and Alexandria.

_Euphorbium, Furbiune or Dergmuse._

_Euphorbia resinifera_.—Berg. und Schmidt, Officinelle

Gerwächse, v. iv. (1863) xxxiv. d.; Flückiger and Hanbury,

Pharmacographia, 502; Cosson, in Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. xxi. 163;

Ball, in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi. 661; Euphorbium, Jackson’s

‘Account of the Empire of Marocco,’ 134, t. 6 (left-hand

figure only).

We have little to add to the description of the Euphorbium tree given

by Jackson, and that in the ‘Pharmacographia’ cited above. As

stated in the body of this work it is confined to the interior of

the empire, and the only living specimens we met with were from

a garden in Mesfiouia (see p. 163). Jackson confounded two plants

under this name; one, the true species, growing in the Atlas, with

3-4-angled branches, the other a sea-coast plant, with 9-10-angled

branches, which is carried to Marocco for tanning purposes, and

of which he says, that during the three years of his residence at

Agadir he never saw any gum upon it.

The true plant is figured and described by Jackson as an erect tree,

with a stout short woody trunk, and very numerous upcurved long

sparingly divided branches, the whole resembling a candelabrum. The

angles of the branches are armed with short spines, and the flowers

are produced from the tips of the young shoots. The thorns adhere

to everything that touches them, and he supposes them to have been

intended by nature ‘to prevent cattle from eating this caustic

plant, which they always avoid on account of its prickles.’ The

juice flows from incisions made with a knife, and hardens and drops

off in September. The plants, he says, produce abundantly once only

in four years, and the fourth year’s produce is more than all

Europe can consume. The people who collect the gum are obliged to tie

a cloth over their mouths and nostrils, to prevent the small dusty

particles from annoying them, as they produce incessant sneezing.

The history of the Euphorbium as given in the ‘Pharmacographia’

is, that it was known to both Dioscorides and Pliny as a native of

the Atlas, and was named in honour of Euphorbus, physician to the

learned King Juba II. of Mauritania, himself the author of treatises

on Opium and Euphorbium.

The prevalence of cactoid _Euphorbiæ_ in Marocco, of which there

are three species in the southern districts, is a similar instance

to that of the Argan, of tropical forms advancing far north in the

extreme west of the old world; and as the Argan has its nearest ally

in Madeira, so have the Maroccan Euphorbiums close congeners in

the Canary Islands. All these belong to the section _Diacanthium_

of Boissier, of which the other species are Abyssinian, Arabian,

Indian, and South African.

Gum Euphorbium was extensively used by early practitioners as an

emetic and purgative, and was exported in large quantities; now,

however, the trade in it is rapidly declining, and we were informed

that it is chiefly used in veterinary practice, and as an ingredient

in a paint for the preservation of ships’ bottoms.

_Euphorbia resinifera_ is in cultivation at Kew, where specimens may

be seen both in the Succulent-plant House and Economic-plant House.

_The Arar, Thuja or Gum Sandrac Tree._

_Callitris quadrivalvis_.—Ventenat, Nov. Gen. Decad. 10; Richard,

Conif. 46, t. 8, f. 1; Endlich, Synops. Conif. 41; Parlatore, in

DC. Prod. xvi. pars 2, 452; Ball, in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi.,

670.

_Thuja articulata_.—Shaw’s ‘Travels in Barbary,’ 462, with

a plate; Vahl, Symb. ii. 96, t. 48; Desf. Flor. Atlant. ii. 353,

t. 252.

_Frenela Fontanesii_.—Mirbel, in Mem. Mus. xiii. 74.

This tree is a native of the mountains of North Africa, from

the Atlantic to Eastern Algeria; but we are not aware whether

its eastern limit has ever been accurately determined. It has no

congener, its nearest ally being a South African genus of Cypresses

(_Widdringtonia_), of which several species are recorded from the

Cape Colony, Natal, and Madagascar, and which differ in having

alternate leaves and many ovules to each scale.

The great interest attached to this plant arises from the beauty and

durability of the wood, which, there is every reason to believe,

was known to the ancients from the earliest times, under the

name of Thuja. It is thus hypothetically, but probably correctly,

identified with the θυῖον[3] of the Odyssey (ii. 6), with the θυῖον

and θυία of Theophrastus (‘Hist. Pl.’ v. 5), and the thyine wood of

the Revelations (xviii. 12). It is undoubtedly the Citrus wood of

the Romans, and the Alerce of the Spaniards; the latter name being

derived from the Moors of Marocco, for it is not a native of Spain.

The first botanical notice of the Callitris is in Shaw’s

‘Travels in Barbary,’ where it is figured and briefly described

as _Thuja articulata_ (462); and for its identification with the

Alerce we are indebted to the late Mr. Drummond Hay when Consul

of Tangier, who, further, sent a plank of the wood to the Royal

Horticultural Society.[4] At about the same time, the attention of

a most intelligent traveller, the late Capt. S. E. Cook (afterwards

Widdrington), was attracted by the wood of the cathedral of Cordova

(formerly a mosque built by the Moors in the ninth century) called

Alerce, which differed from any Spanish wood, or any other wood

now used in Spain. Coupling this name with the communication made

by Mr. Drummond Hay to the Horticultural Society, Capt. Cook was

enabled to identify the Cordova wood with the Callitris, which,

as he assumes, was brought from Marocco, to roof a mosque intended

to be second in sanctity only to that of Mecca.

Except in a garden at Tangier, we saw no specimen of the Callitris

approaching a large size, or capable of yielding the beams which we

were shown in the ceilings and roofs of buildings in that town and

elsewhere, and which are considered to be indestructible. On the

contrary, most of the native specimens we saw in Southern Marocco

resembled small Cypresses, with very sparse foliage and branches,

and were apparently shoots from the stumps of trees that had been

cut or burnt down, though possibly their impoverished habit may

have been due to the sterility of the soil. The largest were in the

Ourika valley, and were about thirty feet high (see p. 177). In

many cases the stem swelled out at the very base into a roundish

mass half buried in soil, which is said to attain even four feet

in diameter, though we saw none approaching that size.

It is the basal portion, whether the result of mutilation or natural

growth, that affords the wood so prized by ancients and moderns,

and which forms a most valuable article of export from Algiers to

Paris, where small articles of furniture, &c., are made of it and

sold at very high prices.

Under the name of Citrus wood, it is alluded to, according

to Daubeny, by Martial and Lucan, and by Horace (‘Carm.’

lib. iv. Od. 1), who suggests its employment as the most precious

commodity that could be selected for a temple in which a marble

statue of Venus should be placed:—

Albanos, prope te, lacus

Ponet marmoream sub trabe citrea;

Also Petronius Arbiter, descanting upon the luxury of the Romans,

seems to represent it as worth more than its weight in gold, when

he says—

Ecce Afris eruta terris

Ponitur, ac maculis imitatur vilius aurum

Citrea mensa.

For a detailed description of what was known of this tree to the

ancients, and of its value, we must refer to the description in Pliny

(‘Nat. Hist.’ book xiii. chaps. 29, 30). This author describes

it as the thyion and thyia of Homer and the Greeks, and adds that

its wood was used with the unguents burnt for their pleasant odour

by Circe; as also that Theophrastus awarded a high rank to it, the

timber being used for roofing temples and being indestructible; as

also that it is produced in the lower part of Cyrenaica, and that

the finest kind grows in the vicinity of the temple of Jupiter Ammon.

Pliny himself gives Mount Atlas as the native country of the wood;

in the vicinity of which, he says, is Mauritania, a country in which

abounds a tree which has given rise to the mania for fine tables,

an extravagance with which women reproach the men when they complain

of their vast outlay upon pearls. He attributes the knots from which

the tables are made to a disease or excrescence of the roots, of

which the most esteemed are entirely concealed under ground, these

being much more rare than those which are produced above ground,

and that are to be found on the branches also.

The principal merits of the tables were to have veins arranged in

waving lines, or forming spirals like whirlpools. The former they

called ‘tiger’ and the latter ‘panther’ tables; whilst

others, which are highly esteemed, have markings resembling the

eyes on a peacock’s tail. In others, again, called ‘apiatæ,’

the wood appears as if covered with dense masses of grain. The most

esteemed colour was that of wine mixed with honey.

In respect of their size, Pliny gives a little over 4 ft. as

the average maximum, though one that belonged to Ptolemæus,

King of Mauritania, was 4½ ft. in diameter and ¼ of a foot in

thickness. It was formed of two semi-diameters so skilfully united

that the joining was concealed. Another, made of a single piece,

was named after Nonius, a freedman of Tiberius Cæsar, and was 4

ft. less ¾ in. in diameter, and 5¼ inches in thickness. And with

regard to the price, Cicero paid a million sesterces (9,000_l_.) for

one; two belonging to King Juba were sold by auction, one for one

million two hundred thousand sesterces, and the other for somewhat

less. Some of Pliny’s statements are probably fabulous; as that

the barbarians bury the wood when green, first giving it a coating

of wax, and that the workmen, when it comes into their hands, put

it for seven days beneath a heap of corn, and then take it out for

as many more, after which it is surprising to find how much it has

lost in weight. More apocryphal still is his statement that it is

dried by the action of sea-water, and thereby acquires a hardness

and density that render it proof against corruption; also that, as

if created for the behoof of wine, it receives no injury from it.[5]

In Marocco, where no ornament or article of luxury is known,

it need hardly be said that the Alerce wood is employed only for

building purposes and fire-wood; though the resin called Sandarach,

which was once a reputed medicine, is collected by the Moors and

exported from Mogador to Europe, where it is used as a varnish.

_Gum Arabic._

_Acacia gummifera_.—Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 1056; DC. Prod. ii. 455;

Hayne, Arzneigew. x. t. 8; Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxx. 509;

Ball, in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi. 442.

_Mimosa gummifera_.—Brouss. in Poir. Dict. Suppl. i. 164.

_Acacia coronillæfolia_.—Desf. Cat. Hort. Par. ed. ii. 207.

_Mimosa coronillæfolia_.—Pers. Encheirid. n. 44.

_Sassa gummifera_.—Gmel Syst. ex DC. 1. c.

Of this plant very little indeed is known, and we were unfortunately

unable to find either flower or fruit of the only Acacia which we

met with on our visit to Marocco, and which we were assured was

the Gum Arabic plant (Alk Tlah) of that country. It is interesting

as representing the northern limit of distribution of the immense

genus Acacia in Africa. Our specimens, such as they are, coincide

perfectly with the description of _Acacia gummifera_ in Willdenow,

and with the excellent figure in Hayne, which was taken from

specimens collected by Broussonet near Mogador. We found the plant

abundantly in the lower region of Southern and Western Marocco,

occurring as a thorny bush, along with _Rhus pentaphylla_ and other

shrubs. That it was the plant producing the Marocco Gum Arabic the

natives consistently testified, though this could not be inferred

from the description in Jackson’s ‘Account of the Empire of

Marocco’ p. 136, who says of the gum that it ‘is produced from a

high thorny tree called Attalet, having leaves similar to the Arar,

or gum Sandarac tree, and the Juniper.’ Jackson goes on to say:—

‘The best kind of Barbary gum is procured from the trees

of Marocco, Ras-el-wed, in the province of Abda; the secondary

qualities are the produce of Shedma, Duquella, and other provinces;

the tree grows abundantly in the Atlas mountains, and is found also

in Bled-el-jerrêde. The gum, when new, emits a faint smell, and,

when stowed in the warehouse, it is heard to crack spontaneously

for several weeks; and this cracking is the surest criterion of new

gum, as it never does so when old; there is, however, scarcely any

difference in the quality. The Attaleh is not so large a tree as the

Arar, which produces the Sandarac gum, nor does it reach the size

of the Auwar tree, which produces the gum Senegal. It has a low

crooked stem, and its branches, from the narrowness of its leaves

(long and scanty), have a harsh, withered, and unhealthy appearance

at the time it yields the most gum—that is, during the hot and

parching months of July and August; but although not an ornamental

tree, it is a most useful plant, and will always be considered

valuable. Its wood is hard, and takes a good polish; its seeds,

which are enclosed in a pericarpium, resemble those of the Lupin,

yield a reddish dye, and are used by the tanners in the preparation

of leather. These seeds attract goats, who are very fond of eating

them. The more sickly the tree appears, the more gum it yields; and

the hotter the weather, the more prolific it is. A wet winter and

a cool or mild summer are unfavourable to the production of gum.’

As observed in the body of this work, the gum does not seem to be

collected in the western portion of its range in South Marocco, but

in Demnet, whence it is brought to Mogador; and it may very well be

that it is only in the hotter and drier regions of the interior that

the gum is produced in sufficient quantities to be worth collecting.

It is remarkable that no notice whatever of _Acacia gummifera_ occurs

in Flückiger and Hanbury’s invaluable ‘Pharmacographia’

(1874), where the Marocco gum is supposed to be the produce of

_Acacia arabica_ Willd., a plant which extends from Nubia to

Natal, and eastward to Central India, but which is not known as a

native of Marocco. In another passage of the above work (p. 211),

the ‘Marocco, Mogador, or brown Barbary gum,’ is described

as consisting ‘of tears of moderate size, often vermiform, and

of a rather uniform light dusky brown tint. The tears, which are

internally glassy, become cracked on the surface and brittle if

kept in a warm room; they are perfectly soluble in water.’

It is possible that the _Acacia arabica_, which is found in Senegal,

may extend to the Sous Valley, and be the source of some of the

Marocco gum; and that more than one species producing gum are

confounded together by the Moors; this is the natural inference from

Jackson’s account, itself anything but explicit. On the other hand,

I am informed in a letter lately received from Mr. R. Drummond Hay,

H.B.M. Consul at Mogador, who has kindly had inquiries made for

me, that the _Acacia arabica_ (Alk Awarwhal) is not found in Sous,

no tree of the kind existing either north or south of the Atlas,

but that its gum is brought from Soodan by Arabs, and is of inferior

quality to that of the _Acacia gummifera_. Mr. Hay further informs

me that the _Acacia gummifera_ grows chiefly in the provinces of

Blad Hamar, Rahamma, and Sous.

As stated above, the specimens which we collected of _Acacia

gummifera_ precisely accord with the published description and

drawing; but we have others under this name from Mr. Cosson’s

collector, Ibrahim, gathered near Mogador and at Ouanyna, which

differ in having very short spines, ⅙ to ¼ in. long, whilst

those of our plant are from ⅔ to ¾ in. long and much stouter.

Very small plants of _Acacia gummifera_ are living at Kew, raised

from seeds obligingly presented by Mr. Cosson. They grow exceedingly

slowly, and several have been lost by damping off. They are not in

a state fit for exhibition.

_The Argan Tree._

_Argania Sideroxylon_.—Roem. and Sch. Syst. Veg. iv. 502;

Alph. DC. Prod. viii. 187; Hook. in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. (1854)

97, t. iii. iv.; De Noé, in Rev. Hort. 1853, 125; Ball, in

Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi. 563.

_Sideroxylon spinosum_.—Linn. Hort. Cliff. 69 (excl. syn. et loc.);

Correa, in Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. viii. 393.

_Rhamnus siculus_.—Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, iii. 227, excl. syn.,

non Bocc.

_R. pentaphyllus_.—Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. Gmel. 398,

fid. Dryandr. excl. syn. Bocc.

_Elæodendron Argan_.—Retz Obs. Bot. vi. 26;

Willd. Sp. Pl. i. 1148, excl. syn. Jacq. and Bocc.; Schousboe,

Iagttag. over væxtrig. in Marocc. 89.

_Argan_.—Dryandr. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ii. 225.

This tree is rightly regarded as the most interesting vegetable

production of Marocco, being confined to that empire and to a very

circumscribed area in it, belonging to an almost exclusively tropical

natural family, yielding a most important article of diet to the

inhabitants, and a wood that for hardness and durability rivals any

hitherto described. The earliest account of the Argan tree known to

us is a brief one by the celebrated African traveller Leo Africanus,

who visited Marocco in 1510. Speaking of some of the customs of the

Moors, Leo Africanus says: ‘Unto their Argans (for so they call

a kind of olive which they have) they put nuts; out of which two

simples they express a very bitter oil, using it for a sauce to some

of their meats, and pouring it into their lamps’ (‘Purchas,’

ii. 772). And in another passage he describes the oil correctly,

as ‘of a fulsome and strong savour.’ The further history of

the Argan tree is given in a very full and careful account by the

late Sir W. Hooker, in the ‘London Journal of Botany’ for 1854

(vol. vi. p. 97, Tab. iii. iv.), which, as the work is of limited

circulation, we here introduce.

‘Through the kindness and by the exertions of the Earl of

Clarendon, Chief Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Royal Gardens

of Kew have been put in possession of living plants and fresh seeds

of a tree or shrub very little known in Europe, little known even

to botanists, but highly esteemed by the Moors, in those parts of

Marocco where it is a native, for its useful qualities, viz. the

“Argan.” Its economical properties are best explained by the

copy of a letter which his Lordship did me the favour to communicate

along with the plants and seeds, from Henry Grace, Esq., British

Acting Vice-Consul at Mogador, addressed to J. H. Drummond Hay,

Esq., Her Britannic Majesty’s Agent and Consul-General at Tangier;

both of which gentlemen spared no pains in procuring the information

and seeds and living specimens; an example we should be glad to

see followed by our consuls in other countries abounding in new

and useful plants.

‘“Mogador, November 7, 1853.

‘“Sir,—The Argan tree grows more or less throughout the states

of Western Barbary, but principally in the province of Haha, and

south of this town. The soil in which it is found is light, sandy,

and very strong; it is usually seen upon the hills, which are barren

of all else, and where irrigation is impossible.

‘“I should imagine, from the appearance of some of the

trees, that they are from one to two hundred years old; and a

remarkably large one in this neighbourhood is probably at least

three hundred. This individual measures 26 ft. round the trunk;

at the height of three feet it branches off; the branches (one

of which measures 11 ft. in circumference near the trunk) rest

upon the ground, extending about 15 ft. from the trunk, and again

ascend. The highest branch of this tree is not more than 16 ft. to

18 ft. from the ground, while the outer branches spread so as to

give a circumference of 220 ft.: this is the largest I am aware of.

‘“The mode of propagation, in this vicinity, is mostly by

seed. When sowing this, a little manure is placed with it, and it is

well watered until it shoots; from which period it requires nothing

further. In from three to five years after sowing it bears fruit,

which ripens between May and August (according to the situation of

the tree). The roots extend a great distance underground, and shoots

make their appearance at intervals, which are allowed to remain,

thus doing away with the necessity of transplanting or sowing. When

the fruit ripens, herds of goats, sheep, and cows are driven thither;

a man beats the tree with a long pole, and the fruits fall and are

devoured voraciously by the cattle. In the evening they are led home,

and, when comfortably settled in their yards, they commence chewing

the cud and throw out the nuts, which are collected each morning

as soon as the animals have departed upon their daily excursion. I

have heard it remarked that the nut passes through the stomach; but

this is only a casualty, and not a general rule. Large quantities

of the fruit are likewise collected by women and children: they are

well dried, and the hull is taken off, and stored for the camels

and mules travelling in the winter, being considered very nutritious.

‘“The process of extracting the oil is very simple. The nuts

are cracked by the women and children (and not a few fingers

suffer at the same time, owing to the want of proper tools, for

the nuts are very hard, and a stone is the only implement used);

the kernels are then parched in a common earthen vessel, ground

in handmills of this country, and put into a pan; a little cold

water is sprinkled upon them, and they are well worked up by the

hand (much the same as kneading dough) until the oil separates,

when the refuse is well pressed in the hand, which completes the

process. The oil is left to stand, and the sediment removed. The

cake (in which a great deal of oil remains, owing to the want of

a proper press) is generally given to the milch cows or goats.

‘“I never heard of any part being used as manure, but I have

no doubt it would form an excellent one.

‘“Some of these Argans grow in clusters, others are in single

trees.

‘“I have, &c.,

(Signed)‘“ HENRY GRACE.

_‘“To J. H. Drummond Hay, Esq., &c. &c.”’_

‘Except a brief notice of the exportation into Europe of Argan

oil by the Danish Councillor of State, Georges Höst, who travelled

in the kingdoms of Marocco and Fez during the years 1766-1768, the

only published account of the uses of the Argan is given in a very

little known Danish work, published by P. K. A. Schousboe, entitled

“Iagttagelser over Væxtriget i Marokko. Forste Stycke. Kiobnhavn,

1800, 4, 7 Tab.,” of which a German edition appeared in 1801,

in 8vo, by J. A. Markussen. It gives an account of some Marocco

plants; and, after an introductory sketch of the physical geography

of Marocco, it contains descriptions of the plants of the country

in Latin and German, with occasional observations in German. The

account of the Argan under Retz’s name of _Elæodendron Argan_

is long: first comes a technical description, followed by a history

of its synonymy, and then the following notes (kindly translated

for us by Mr. Bentham):—

‘“It is surprising that this tree should hitherto have been so

little known; as it is found in a country near Europe, and visited

by many travellers, who speak in their diaries and descriptions

of oil of Argan and of Argan trees, these last as constituting

a considerable proportion of the forests of the country. It is,

however, not to be met with in the northern provinces, but only

towards the south. All those persons, from whom I have sought more

accurate information on the subject, are unanimous in stating that it

only grows between the rivers Tansif and Sus—that is, between the

29° and 32° N. lat.—and there constitutes forests of considerable

extent. It flowers in the middle of June, and the fruit remains on

the tree the greater part of the year. The young fruit sets in the

end of July or beginning of August, and grows slowly till the rainy

season commences, towards the end of September. It now enlarges

rapidly and attains its full size during that season, so as that

by the middle or end of March it is ripe enough to be gathered

for economical uses. Both the fruit and the wood are serviceable,

but especially the former; for from the kernel an oil is extracted

which is much employed for domestic purposes by the Moors, and is

an important production of the country, as it saves much olive oil,

which can thus be thrown into commerce, and made to bring money into

the country. It is calculated that in the whole Argan region one

thousand hundredweight of oil is annually consumed, thus setting

free an equal quantity of olive oil for exportation to Europe. Our

countryman, Höst, in his ‘Efterretninger om Marokos,’ p. 285,

says that the Argan oil is exported to Europe, where it is used in

manufactures. Such may have been the case in former times when it

might be cheaper; but now there would be no advantage in doing so,

as it costs almost as much as olive oil. At present, no Argan oil

whatever is exported.

‘“As the practice in preparing this oil is somewhat different

from that of common olive oil, it may be useful to enter into some

details on the subject. I have myself been present during the whole

operation, and consequently speak from experience.

‘“In the end of March the countryman goes into the wood,

where the fruits are shaken down from the trees and stripped of

their husks on the spot. The green fleshy pericarp, which is good

for nothing else, is greedily eaten by ruminating animals, such

as camels, goats, sheep, and cows, but especially by the first

two. Therefore, when the Arab goes into the woods to collect Argan

nuts, he gladly takes with him his herds of the above animals,

that they may eat their fill of the green husks whilst he and

his family are collecting and shelling the nuts. The horse, the

ass, and the mule, on the contrary, do not like this food. When a

sufficient quantity of nuts are collected they are brought home,

the hard wooden shell is cracked between stones, and the inner white

kernels are carefully extracted. These are roasted or burnt like

coffee on earthen, stone, or iron plates; in order that they may not

be too much done, they are constantly stirred with a stick. When

properly roasted they should be all over of a brown colour, but

not charred on the outside. The smoke, which is disengaged during

the process, has a very agreeable odour. As soon as the kernels

have cooled, they are ground in a handmill into a thick meal, not

unlike that of pounded almonds, only that it is of a brown colour,

and the meal is put into a vessel in which the oil is separated,

which is done by sprinkling the mass now and then with hot water,

and keeping it constantly stirred and kneaded with the hand. This

process is carried on until the mass becomes so hard that it can no

longer be kneaded: the harder and firmer are the residuary coarse

parts, the more completely is the oil extracted. At the last,

cold water is sprinkled upon it, in order, as they say, to expel

the last particles of the oil. During the operation the oil runs

out at the sides, and is from time to time poured into a clean

vessel. The main point to be attended to in order to extract the

greatest quantity and the best quality of oil, is that it should

be well kneaded, and that the proper proportion of hot water for

the extraction of the oil should be used; it is always safer to be

sparing of it than to be too profuse. The residuary mass, often as

hard as a stone, is of a black-brown colour, and has a disagreeable

bitter flavour. The oil itself, when it has settled, is clear, of

a light brown colour, and has a rancid smell and flavour. When it

is used without other preparations in cooking, it has a stimulating

and pungent taste which is long felt on the gums. The vapour which

arises when anything is fried in it, affects the lungs and occasions

coughing. The common people use it generally without preparation;

but in better houses it is the custom, in order to take off that

pungency, to mix it previously with water, or to put a bit of bread

into it and let it simmer before the fire.

‘“The wood, which is hard, tough, fine-grained, and of a yellow

colour, is used in house carpentry, and for other purposes.”’

‘We have been at some pains to distribute the seeds of this plant,

with which we have been liberally supplied, to various parts of the

East Indies, and to such of our Colonies as appeared suited to the

growth of this tree, in respect of climate, &c. It is impossible

for seeds to be in better condition; and though the surrounding

hard portion of the nut is as thick and solid as that of hickory,

those which we ourselves sowed sprouted in less than a month from

the time they were put in the ground. The young trees bore the rough

treatment of the voyage in midwinter remarkably well; and it is easy

to see that this is a plant of ready culture in favourable climates.

‘The value of the husks of the fruit as food for cattle, and the

uses of the wood, are mentioned in the above extracts. The nature

of the oil seems only to have been considered in relation to olive

oil. But vegetable oils are now so much in demand, especially by

Messrs. Price & Co., for their great candle-works at Vauxhall, as

well as at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, that I was anxious to know

the opinion of Mr. G. F. Wilson, the scientific director of those

vast establishments, on the nature of Argan oil. Some seeds were

consequently communicated to that gentleman, and he lost no time

in experimenting upon them, and assuring me that “they contain a

large percentage of a very fine oil. We have tried it in several

ways, in each case with a favourable result. Some is now being

exposed to a severe test, to show how the air acts upon it: I have,

however, little fear but that it will answer. Our city friends are

inquiring for us the best means of getting a ton or two of the nuts

for experiments on a large scale. The only unfavourable point I

see is the small weight of kernel to that of hard shell:—

6 Nuts gave—kernel 30 grains

„ „ hard shell 350 grains

„ „ outer husk 193 grains.

The hard shell probably should be sent home with the seed when

the kernels are required to yield a sweet oil; for unless prepared

with great care, hardly to be expected in a wild country, the oil

would not be nearly so sweet if sent home expressed, instead of in

its kernel and shell. Perhaps if the kernel is pounded and rammed

tightly into casks, we might obtain sweet oil without great waste

in freight.”

‘In a botanical point of view this plant is scarcely of less

interest than in an economical. It has had the hard fate, often

the consequence of being with difficulty procured, to be much

misunderstood, and, except by Schousboe, to be imperfectly described;

and references are given in works to plants as being identical which

have no relationship with it; or to descriptions which, if the same,

exhibit little or no resemblance.

‘The first botanist who appears to have noticed this plant

is Linnæus, who, in the _Hortus Cliffortianus_, in 1737,

described it, from dried specimens, under the name of _Sideroxylon

spinosum_. “From Clifford’s Herbarium,” observes Mr. Dryander,

“now in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks, the Argan was taken up

by Linné in his _Hortus Cliffortianus_; though most of the synonyms

are wrong, and consequently the _locus natalis_ (_utraque India_)

which is deduced from them. The specimen in Linné’s Herbarium,

under the name of _Sideroxylon spinosum_, is without flowers, and it

is impossible to tell you with any certainty what it is. Clifford’s

Herbarium is therefore the only authority by which this species can

be ascertained.” Linnæus’s _Rhamnus siculus_, in the Appendix

to the third volume of the twelfth edition of the _Systema Naturæ_,

is, we are assured by Mr. Dryander, “the Argan, or Olive-tree of

Marocco (see Höst’s ‘Efterretninger om Marokos,’ p. 284),

as appears from the specimen in Linné’s Herbarium, which has a

ticket affixed, with the name of Argan of Marocco, and which I have

also compared with specimens in Sir Joseph Banks’s Herbarium from

Marocco.” The description, too, of Linnæus is very correct. He

errs only in considering the plant to be the same as the _Rhamnus

Siculus pentaphyllos_ of Boccone (_Rhus pentaphyllum_, Desf.), which

has _folia quinata_, which latter he introduces into the specific

character, but not into the description; and he erroneously followed

Boccone in giving Sicily as the native country in addition to Africa,

and in adopting the specific name _Siculus_.

‘In the _Species Plantarum_ of Linnæus, Malabar alone is mentioned

as the native country of the _Sideroxylon spinosum_. Nevertheless,

with the exception of Willdenow, who rejects it altogether as

“planta valde dubia, forte nullibi obvia,” most of the older

authors adopt this name for the Argan of Marocco. Under it,

it appears in the first edition of _Hortus Kewensis_, with the

reference to _Species Plantarum_ of Linnæus, and to Commelyn,

_Hortus Amstelod_. tab. 83, where, however, nothing is said of its

native country, further than may be surmised by the name adopted

from Breynius’s “Lycio similis frutex Indicus spinosus, Buxi

folio” (which, as already observed, Willdenow considered to be

his _Flacourtia sepiaria_, from India), and of which the flowers

and fruit were unknown to the author. If this were the Argan,

it was in cultivation in Holland as early as 1697. At a period not

much later, viz. in 1711, according to the _Hortus Kewensis_, it was

introduced into England: “Cult. 1711, by the Duchess of Beaufort,

Br. Mus. H.S. 141, fol. 39.” It is indicated as a stove-plant.

‘Sir James Smith, article _Sideroxylon spinosum_ in Rees’s

“Cyclopædia” (1819), throws no new light upon the subject;

he omits the reference to Commelyn. Retz, in “Obs. Bot.”

vol. vi. p. 26, refers the plant to _Elæodendron_, in which he is

followed by Willdenow, and by Schousboe, which latter author has

given by far the fullest and best account of the plant botanically

and economically.

‘M. Corréa de Serra, “Annales du Museum d’Histoire

Naturelle,” 1809, tom. viii. p. 393, tab. v. f. l., has published

a very good analysis of the fruit, with very brief characters

and no observations. At length Mr. Brown, “Botanicorum facile

princeps,” in his invaluable Prodromus, under his Observations

on Sapoteæ, says, “_Sideroxylon spinosum_, L., fructu valde

diversum proprium hujus ordinis genus efficit;” and, acting upon

his suggestion, Rœmer and Schultes, “Systema Vegetabilium,”

vol. iv. pp. xlvi. and 502, have formed of this plant a new genus,

_Argania_, in which they have been followed by Endlicher and Alphonse

De Candolle. In this latter work a very full generic character is

given, which need not here be repeated.’

‘It is singular that no further allusion to this tree should

appear in Jackson’s “Account of the Empire of Marocco” than the

following: “Oil Arganic is also in abundance in Suse; it is much

used for frying fish and burning-lamps. When used for frying fish,

a quart of it should be boiled with a large onion cut in quarters;

and when it boils, a piece of the inside of a loaf, about the size

of an orange, should be put in; after which it should be taken

off the fire and let stand to cool, and when quite cold should be

strained through a sieve; without this precaution it is supposed

to possess qualities which promote leprosy.”—Dr. Barretta.’

The limited distribution of the Argan is one of its most noticeable

features, for as a genus it is not far removed from _Sideroxylon_,

a very widely spread tropical and subtropical genus of both

hemispheres, and which reaches its northern limit in Madeira

(in the same latitude as that attained by the Argan), where one

species, _S. Mermulana_, Lowe, is found on the rocky heights of

the interior. The order is not found in the Canary Islands, but

reappears in the Cape de Verdes in a species of _Sapota_, and

is well represented in the humid regions of Western Africa. It

would thus appear that _Argania_ and the Madeiran _Sideroxylon_

are two outlying representatives of a very tropical order; and,

considering the proximity of the areas they inhabit, and their

position in the extreme west of the Old World, they are, in a

Botanico-Geographical point of view, plants of a very high interest,

as evidences of a relationship between the Floras of these areas,

which must originally have been established under very different

conditions from those which now prevail.

The Argan was, as stated above, introduced into England in 1811,

and was long established on a south wall, but ultimately was killed

in an unusually severe winter. Numerous plants were raised, from seed

sent by Sir John Hay, by Mr. Grace, and from those brought by myself,

and the plant may be seen in the Economic-plant House at Kew. It is

of very slow growth, which has disappointed colonists and others,

to whom the fruits have been largely distributed from Kew.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Not El Araisch, SSW. of Tangier on the Atlantic coast,

but some place in the interior, and N. of the city of Marocco.]

[Footnote 2: This is no doubt _Elæoselinum humile_ (Ball), which

we found near or at the above defined locality. Ball formed a very

decided opinion that Jackson’s plant, whether the true Ammoniacum

or not, was a species of _Elæoselinum_.]

[Footnote 3: It is mentioned under this name by Homer in his

description of the Island of Calypso. See Daubeny _On the Trees

and Shrubs of the Ancients_, p. 42.]

[Footnote 4: See Cook’s _Sketches in Spain_, vol. i. p. 5 (1831);

and Loudon’s _Gardener’s Magazine_, Ser. ii. vol. iii. p. 522.]

[Footnote 5: See Bostock’s translation of Pliny, vol. iii. p. 194,

&c.]

* * * * *

APPENDIX E.

_On the Canarian Flora as compared with the Maroccan._

By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER.