THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS AND THE BERBERS.
Although the Atlas range is said to extend from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Gulf of Syrtis, it is my intention to deal here with only such
a portion of it as is found in Morocco, and of that but briefly,
for in my journey to Tafilet I crossed the range at the same spot
on my going and return, and was therefore unable to gather much of
its nature beyond the portion I absolutely came in contact with. On
two previous occasions, however, I had visited this portion of the
Atlas, and on both followed it from due south of Marakesh to near
the Atlantic—to the point, in fact, where the mountains decrease
in altitude and spread out, forming the watershed between the rivers
Sus on the south and the Tensift on the north.
Although geographers claim for the many ranges that occur between
Morocco and Tripoli the name of Atlas, it must not be thought that a
continuous line of peaks extends from one point to the other; for,
speaking of the Moroccan portion, it ends more or less abruptly
where the plains of Beni Mgil occur, to the western side of the
Wad Muluya, the river which runs into the Mediterranean near the
frontier of Algeria and Morocco. In fact, it is not far to the
east of Fez that the peaks decrease in altitude, falling away to
the long plains which succeed. From this point, however, south and
westward they extend in unbroken line to near the ocean, taking a
general direction of south-west and then west. The entire portion
from Fez, from which the snow-peaks inhabited by the Beni Mgild
and Aït Yussi are visible, to but a little way beyond Demnat,
some fifty odd miles to the due east of Marakesh, is unexplored,
the nature of the succession of Berber tribes inhabiting its
slopes rendering it inaccessible to the traveller. From Demnat to
the Atlantic the tribes are less wild, and live in greater fear
of punishment from the Government in the case of molestation of
Europeans, with the result that not only the explorer but even the
most casual globe-trotter can travel in safety, and enjoy the grand
scenery which presents itself. Yet how few Europeans ever go!
I have already described the appearance of the Atlas Mountains from
the north, and farther on in the narrative of my journey more than
one allusion
[Illustration: _The Atlas Mountains from the South._]
will be found to the barren scene they present from the south. It may
be here added, however, as a general remark on this portion of the
range, that while the northern slopes contain fine wooded valleys,
their lower parts rich in olive and fruit trees, the south stretches
away, a dreary waste of stone and shales, presenting no feature of
beauty beyond its gloomy grandeur. The reason is not far to find,
for the desert wind in summer blows in terrific gusts, drying up
what soil does exist, while little or no rain ever falls. This very
scorching wind it is that renders so fertile the northern valleys and
the plain beyond, in which Marakesh lies, for, following the slope
of the mountains to the altitude of their highest peaks—and the
range must hereabout average nearly 11,000 feet above the sea—the
wind is transformed by the change of temperature into cloud, and
falls in heavy showers. The difference as one ascends the luxuriant
northern slopes, where fine vegetation is found to the altitude of
some 5000 to 7000 feet, to the scene that meets the eye when the
summit is crossed, is a most extraordinary one, and from the Tizi
n’Glawi, the pass over which I crossed, one could obtain the two
views at the same time—north, down the deep valley of the Ghadat,
with its woods and forests; south, over range beyond range of bare
limestone and shale mountains.
The main range at this part forms in reality but one of four parallel
chains. To the north of Marakesh the hills are known as Jibeelet,
and extend from near the Atlantic beyond the eastern end of the
tribe-land of Rahamna, terminating a few miles beyond Kalá. South
of this some twenty miles, and parallel with it, is the principal
range, beyond which, at an average distance of some twenty-five
miles, is Jibel Saghru, or the Anti-Atlas. However, although
the first two mentioned run directly east and west, Jibel Saghru
forms a large district of broken chains of mountains, the valleys
of which lead in every direction, for it empties such streams as
flow in rainy seasons east into the Wad Gheris, west to the Draa,
north to the Dads, and south to the desert. Yet in spite of this
the system takes an easterly and westerly direction, the same being
more apparent after the spot where the Wad Draa divides the range
into two portions. The natives call only the eastern portion Saghru,
not connecting it with the hills to the west of the Draa, which form
eventually the southern side of the Wad Sus. There is yet another
line of hills still farther to the south, Jibel Bani, which rise
near the Draa south of the _zauia_ of Tamgrut and continue to the
west. It has always been a question as to where they terminate;
but I was pointed out at Tafilet, from above the hill at Dar el
baida, the end of a chain of mountains to the south, which sink
gradually to the valley of the now united course of the Wad Gheris
and Wad Ziz. Beyond there appeared to be nothing but desert sand,
and this, I was informed, was the western extremity of Jibel Bani.
It is difficult to hazard an opinion as to where the highest peak of
the Moroccan Atlas will be found to exist, for at present but very
few observations of the high altitudes have been taken, though both
Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr Joseph Thomson reached to about 12,000
feet. In the native opinion Jibel Ayashi, in which most of the
large rivers of Morocco rise, surpasses the other peaks in altitude;
but, as far as I know, no European has ever seen it, much less been
there. Some geographers are of the opinion that the highest point
will be found amongst the mountains almost due south of Morocco
City. So equal are the summits in this direction that it will take
many ascents before any definite result can be arrived at, though,
with the exception of the obstruction of the native officials,
no great difficulties ought to arise, as the snow in summer and
early autumn almost altogether disappears, and no glaciers are
found throughout the whole range; nor do the mountain-tops rise in
precipitous peaks, but, as a rule, are flat and undulating.
But little game is to be found in this portion of the Atlas. The
Barbary wild sheep (_muflon_), it is true, exists, but is by no
means easy to obtain, as every native carries a gun, and should
chance give him the opportunity, fires at them whenever he may catch
a glimpse. The Berbers, too, are sportsmen; and the Kaid of Glawa,
and other governors, are in the habit of organising large hunts,
that have done much to kill off this fine beast and drive the
remainder into the most inaccessible parts. The lion is unknown,
and the leopard very rare, though farther to the north, in the
forests of Beni Mgild, both are said to be common, and I have
often seen the skins for sale, and captured lions in the Sultan’s
palace at Fez. Hyenas seem to be found throughout the entire range,
and foxes and jackals abound. Bird-life seems most noticeable for
its absence, and I have never seen, though I have spent several
months at different times in and near the Atlas, either a vulture
or an eagle. Smaller hawks and one or two varieties of kites are
common. Amongst game-birds I have seen only the red-legged Barbary
partridge and the pintail sand-grouse, and the latter only in the
foot-hills. A guinea-fowl is said to exist, and I have seen in the
possession of the Shereefs of Wazan specimens brought from Zimmour,
to the west of Rabat on the Atlantic coast. It is a small variety,
dark in colour, with a blue head and dark crest, and not half
the size of the fine plump bird of which I have shot so many in
Somaliland and around Harrar. A pretty grey-striped rock-squirrel
is common in the mountains, and much prized by the Berbers for his
meat, which is said to possess medicinal properties.
The commoner vegetation of the Atlas, which differs according
to altitude, are pine, _arar_ or calitris, evergreen oak, cork,
white poplar, wild olive, arbutus, laurustinus, lentiscus, palmeto,
oleanders in the riverbeds, and juniper, while at places the gum
cistus is found in large quantities.
The principal rivers of Morocco all rise in the Atlas Mountains, with
the exception of the Wergha, the large tributary of the Sebu, which
has its source in the hills to the south of the Riff country. The
Draa, Sus, the Gheris, and the Ziz are the principal rivers to the
south of the range; while to the north the Tensift, Um er Ribía,
Bu Regreg, and Sebu are all fed by the Atlas snows; and on the west
the Muluya, which empties itself into the Mediterranean.
Brief as these notes on the Atlas are, they will suffice for the
objects of this book. Those who desire to know more of their geology
and botany will find two works upon the subject, the results of
the explorations of Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr Joseph Thomson.
With regard to the inhabitants of the Atlas, they
[Illustration: _Approaching Marakesh from the North._]
are Berbers, and the following notes upon that race in general,
together with the constant mention of their customs and habits which
crop up in the succeeding chapters of my narrative, will, I trust,
not only bring before the reader a tolerably clear picture of these
people, but add possibly to the scanty information that exists as
to this trans-Atlas branch of the Hamitic people.
It would be out of place in a book which professes to be no more
than a narrative of exploration to enter at length into the subject
of the Berber race, and interesting though such would be, the
slight description of the people here appended must suffice. Nor
have I even collected into this chapter all the notes I was able
personally to make upon my travels, but have preferred in many
cases, such as in the descriptions of their dwellings, costumes,
&c., to make mention of these details when I come across them,
rather than drag them out of the context and place them all in one
chapter. This I have thought best to do for more than one reason,
but mainly because remarks _àpropos_ of the Berbers of Dads are
not equally applicable to those of Aït Atta for instance, though
these two tribes are neighbours. So rather than cause confusion
by mentioning peculiarities noticed in only one spot in a chapter
which deals with the race as a whole, I have spread my notes over
the entire journey, and included them at the points at which I
find them jotted down in my original diary—that is to say, at
such portions of my journey as I first noticed them.
Nor can mention at any length be made even of the race as a whole,
for though the country through which I passed was almost entirely
inhabited by this strange people, their territory is vastly more
extensive, and they may be said to inhabit districts along the
entire northern portion of Africa, from Egypt to the Atlantic
Ocean. Therefore it will be seen how impossible a task it would be
to enter at any length into the peculiarities of a race which at
different points presents such vastly different characteristics,
both in the physical aspect of the country they inhabit and in
their manners and customs. For this reason it is the safest course
to mention only what can refer to that portion of the Berber tribes
amongst which I found myself, with but a few general remarks that
apply equally to the entire race.
As to the derivation of the name considerable doubt exists,
nor was I able to trace any tradition amongst the people as to
its origin. Barth asserts that it sprang from the name of their
traditional ancestor Ber, but it seems more probable, at least a
safer surmise, to connect it with the Greek and Roman term Barbari,
for, I believe, without exception the name is not applied by the
Berbers to themselves, though in this respect the Arabs use it. The
general name by which they call themselves in Morocco is “Shloh,”
a word meaning “noble,” and thus the same as the more classical
term “Amazigh,” which, though well known all through tribes
inhabiting the districts south of the Atlas, I heard only once
or twice used. Amazigh is certainly the older name of the two,
and was known to both the Greeks and the Romans, and seems to-day,
though rarely used in Southern Morocco, to be the classical title
of the race.
Although to-day found all through North Africa, from beyond Tripoli
to the Atlantic Ocean, the Berbers seem to be entirely cut off from
one another, and to have no great intertribal feeling of patriotism,
or to be connected by any ties. Yet there can be no doubt that,
divided as the tribes are, they have a common origin, being the
Hamitic and original inhabitants of North Africa.
Yet even in so small a space of country as that through which I
travelled one finds the Berber tribes not only split up into minute
clans and factions, but so strangely differing from one another that
they might almost be the descendants of different races. Nothing more
unlike could be imagined than four typical Berbers, for instance, of
four portions of Morocco—the Riff, and the natives of Aït Yussi,
Dads, and the Sus—and yet there can be no doubt that they are of
the same family, and the language, though split up into dialects,
is practically the same. Yet in appearance the type is absolutely
different in these above-mentioned portions of Morocco, and no
feature in common, even to the dressing or shaving of the head,
or costume, is to be found amongst them, though one and all are
proud of their aboriginal origin.
But one tradition did I hear amongst the Berbers as to their
antiquity, and this tradition seems to be general amongst their
tribes, for we came across it on several occasions on our journey. It
is difficult to perceive how it could have sprung up, as it seems
to hint at an entirely different origin to that which history,
and even other traditions of their own, has set down to them. It
runs as follows. A certain maiden of the original Berber people, at
the time when the race lived in a far-away country swept by strong
east winds, once, in passing a strange king, had the misfortune
to expose more of her person than was decent, owing to her attire
having been raised by the gale. On the king laughing at the girl’s
misfortune, the tribe in very shame departed by night, and wandered
to the country that they now inhabit. So the story runs, and I
leave it to those more versed than myself in sifting traditions and
folk-lore to find the signification and value of the tale, which,
it may again be said, is not only common throughout the Berbers of
the trans-Atlas Sahara, but is known and repeated amongst the Riffis,
and between these two districts hundreds of miles of country exist,
while no communication takes place one with the other.
No doubt the fact that the Berbers have been many times conquered
has done not a little to account for their difference of type,
for the Phœnicians, Romans, Vandals, and Arabs have each in turn
invaded their country. But from whatever reason it may be, the fact
remains that a more divided and subdivided race could not be found,
and marriage, or even cordiality, between the tribes is unknown;
while they exist, in Morocco at least, in a state of perpetual
warfare with any one they can get to fight with them. Not only
are their hostilities levelled against the Arabs, for whom their
hatred is most deep, but whose religion they have adopted with
extraordinary fervour, but also against every other tribe, and
failing these, village against village, and even household against
household. Mention will be found more than once in the ensuing
pages of cases of this, in which it was the custom for neighbours
to fire at one another from their windows and roofs whenever the
opportunity presented itself. Yet in spite of this the stranger
passes in safety through them, for with him they bear no quarrel.
A few words must be said as to the manner in which native travellers
proceed in safety through districts in which bloodshed and murder
are of everyday occurrence. The system under which immunity from
murder and robbery is accorded to the stranger is known by two
names, _mzareg_ or _zitat_. _Mzareg_ originally means a spear,
and the term was thus applied from the fact that in old days a
spear was given by one of the tribe to the traveller, which, being
recognised as the property of one of their number, accorded him
safety in his journey. However, spears have long ago disappeared from
these districts, though the name _mzareg_ still remains. Nowadays
the common custom is for a member of the tribe, in consideration
of a small fee, to conduct the traveller in person, both being
sacred from attack while passing through the land over which the
tribe in question holds jurisdiction. As soon as the limits are
reached, a new _mzareg_ or _zitat_ has to be obtained. Sometimes,
especially in the case of the Jews living and trading in the Sahara,
some mark or token is given, such as a turban or handkerchief,
which is considered sufficient; but in cases of caravans and
total strangers a man invariably is employed, who answers the
double purpose of guide and protector. From Dads to Tafilet I was
accompanied on my journey by a _zitat_, without whom I could never
have reached my destination, as amongst the many Berber tribes we
passed through his presence afforded me immunity from inquisition
and annoyance. Here again I was fortunate, for I was not obliged
to change my _zitat_, the fact being that members of the tribe
of Dads can travel in safety amongst nearly all the other Berber
tribes, by a reciprocal arrangement by which the caravans of the
others are allowed to pass through their district without fear of
plunder. Dads has gained this unique privilege from its situation,
blocking as it does the entire road from east and west.
With regard to the Jews living amongst the Berbers a similar
practice exists to the _mzareg_, only in their case it is known as
_debeha_, or sacrifice. This name has been applied from the fact
that the system first arose from Jews seeking the protection of
the Berbers by sacrificing an ox or a sheep to them: nowadays the
native Jews no longer need to perform this, the patronage of the
Berbers being hereditary, the vassalage descending in both families
from father to son. Any injury suffered by the Jew is revenged by
the protecting Berber as though it had been committed to a member
of his own family. In this manner the Israelites are able to live
in tolerable security from murder and theft; in fact, they are
the only people who do, as the Berber is never happy unless he has
some one to kill, or is running a risk of being shot himself from
behind some stone. As may be expected, the Berbers do not allow
their influence to be used for nothing; but so poor are the Jews,
and also the entire country in which this state of things exists,
that it is little or nothing that the “lord” can screw out of
his vassal.
In the same way the tribe of Aït Atta, one of the most powerful of
the Berber tribes of the Sahara, recently added a large district to
the south of Mesgita, on the Wad Draa, to their already extensive
territory. However, the inhabitants—Haratin—could not be enrolled
as are the Jews, as they are Moslems; and though exactly the same
principle is carried on, the term implied is _neïba_—agents
or representatives. They, as in the other case, are protected by
their conquerors from attack from elsewhere, in return for which
they pay an annual tribute.
With regard to the language of the Berbers. Generally speaking,
it is known in Southern Morocco as Shelha, but as a matter of fact
it consists of many different dialects. Although along most of
the road we travelled over the dialect was much the same, I was
told that in the heights of the Atlas, as again in the districts
of the Draa, it was very different, and that it was no easy matter
for natives of each place to render themselves comprehended by each
other. The Berber language as spoken in Morocco may be divided into
four distinct dialects, which are again much subdivided: (i.) Shelha
proper, as spoken generally throughout the Atlas, from the tribes
of Ghiata, Aït Yussi, and Beni Mgild, to the south-east of Fez, as
far along the Atlas as about due south of Marakesh; (ii.) Riffía,
spoken by the Riffis inhabiting the mountains of the north coast,
from the south-west of Tetuan to the French frontier of the province
of Oran; (iii.) Susía, spoken from along the Atlas and the Sus
valley to the south, from where Shelha proper terminates, about
due south of Marakesh, to the Atlantic coast; and (iv.) Drauía,
the common tongue all along the valley of the Wad Draa from Mesgita,
where the junction of the Dads and Idermi form that river to where
it flows into the Atlantic. So various are these dialects that,
although my Riffi servant could catch the gist of the remarks
of the Shloh amongst whom we travelled, and was with difficulty
understood in return, he found it impossible to comprehend the
Haratin of the Draa, who speak Drauía, though the Shloh of Dads
and the intermediate _oases_ can do so.
I was able only to learn of one feast celebrated amongst the
Berbers which had not been adopted from the Arab calendar, so
completely have they embraced the religion of the latter. This
feast appears to be a kind of harvest-home, and is known as the
_Ayur Nûgûrûmûn_, the meaning of which not even the Berbers seem
to know. Curiously enough, it is held in the Shahr el Fukra, which
points out that it is annual only according to Arab ideas—that is
to say, counted by lunar months—whereas one would have expected,
if it were a survival of great antiquity, that it would have been
at a fixed period in the solar year. The programme of the feast
is simple. Guns are fired during the day, and great dishes of food
are brought into the streets and there partaken of, the poor being
asked to join. One other custom only differing from the Arabs was
I able to hear of—namely, that the bride remains three days in
her husband’s house before the marriage is consummated.
That some civilisation had reached the Berbers long before the Arab
invasion is certain, but, as far as we know, the Romans never crossed
the Atlas. Yet, curiously enough, all foreigners are known to-day
amongst them as _Rumin_ (sing. _Rumi_), though this may be owing not
a little to the fact that it was not until the Arab invasion that
the Berbers were driven to the remote districts they now inhabit, but
were spread all over the country; for it was principally through the
prowess of these men, whose desire for booty the Arabs stirred up,
that Spain was invaded and conquered. Therefore it must be certain
that the Berbers of Morocco knew the Romans as well as the Romans
knew them, and that they carried away with them into the Atlas and
the districts beyond the traditions of the forefathers who had been
in actual contact with the Roman colonists. Yet there is no doubt
that remains of even pre-Roman date exist in the Atlas and the
Sahara, and I think it is risking but little to suppose that they
were erected by Phœnician colonists. That the Phœnicians were
strong in Morocco at one time is shown by the ruins of the great
colony of Lixus, on the river Kûs, near El Araish, and I can see no
reason why they should not have pushed much farther afield. And to
them, I think, may be put down the workings of former mines in the
Atlas and Anti-Atlas, and the building of the stone remains which
are found in more than one spot—and invariably without mortar—in
those ranges. One may go even further, and ask the question, whence
the Berbers obtained their existing architecture; for the great
_ksor_, with their many towers, have no resemblance to any Arab
architecture that I have ever seen, either in Arabia or Africa,
while they do most strangely resemble the elevations given in such
works as those of Messieurs Perrot and Chipiez of Phœnician castles.
The change on passing from Arab Morocco into Berber trans-Atlas
Morocco is in no way more marked than in the architecture. One leaves
behind one the mud huts and tents to enter an immense district,
every habitable portion of which is thick with great castles, often
over 50 feet in height, and with richly decorated towers, unlike
anything else I have seen elsewhere in the world, either with my own
eyes or in the works of other travellers; and I see no reason why
one should not at least surmise that the style of building in vogue
to-day amongst the Berbers of trans-Atlas Morocco is not a remnant of
their conquest by the Phœnicians. Another instance, slight though
it may be, may help to form a link in the chain, that at Dads I saw
children modelling in clay little figures of men on horseback, the
very image of the Phœnician figures, which no Arab or Moor either
could or would do. Excellently modelled they were too. I asked a
native, and he laughingly replied, “We all did that when we were
small.” Yet in all my travels in Morocco, and in the inquiries I
subsequently made, I have never seen or heard of modelling of human
figures or animals amongst the Moors. An idea of the artistic talent
of the Arab youth, in comparison to that of these young Berbers,
can be gathered from the drawings they have learned to make in
Tangier on the walls of the houses, &c.; and this only from seeing
artists at work. However, they confine themselves to ships, which
are just recognisable and nothing more, whereas my Dads friends’
models of men and their steeds were excellent in every feature,
even the bits and reins and stirrups being represented. In short,
it is my belief that when the regions I passed through come to be
diligently explored and excavated, remains will be found of a large
former civilisation which will be proved to have been Phœnician. In
the case of the one ruin I was able to take any notes about at all,
it corresponds almost exactly, so far as the general idea, to some
of the plans of buildings given in books upon Phœnicia and its
colonies; but unfortunately, travelling in disguise as I was, it
was impossible for me to take measurements, or anything, in fact,
more than the most scanty notes of this curious ruin.
As to the general character of the Berbers, their manner of living
and their looks, I have retained my remarks upon these subjects in
the places in which they were originally jotted down, for reasons
already given in this chapter, that there is such great divergence
of appearance and costume in the different parts of the question. It
is for that reason that I have given at this spot only such notes
as can be safely applied to the tribes in general amongst which I
travelled during my journey.