Route Page
Geographical and Historical Sketch. Practical Hints 93
12. Tangier 98
13. From Tangier to Tetuán (Ceuta) 102
14. From Tangier to Mogador by Sea 104
_Morocco_, a region 270,000 sq. M. in area, extends from the Straits of
Gibraltar on the N. to the Sahara on the S., and is bounded by the
Atlantic Ocean on the W. and by the French colony of Algiers on the E.
It is called by the Arabs _El-Gharb_ or _Maghreb el-Aksâ_ (‘the extreme
West-land’), being the westmost part of the ancient Barbary (Arabic
_Jezirat el-Maghreb_, ‘island of the West’), the long coast-land of N.
Africa between the Libyan desert and the ocean. The backbone of this
region, whose population is estimated at from six to eight millions, is
formed by the _Morocco Atlas_, the highest mountains in N. Africa, a
folded rock-formation, mostly of early origin. The range consists of
three main chains: the barren _Great Atlas_, an enormous wall of rock
culminating in the _Tamyurt_ and _Likumpt_ (about 14,800 ft.); then the
_Lesser Atlas_ to the N., rising in the territory of the Beni Waraïn
tribe to over 13,000 ft., and separated from the Great Atlas by the _Wâd
el-Abid_ and the _Mulûya_; and lastly the _Anti-Atlas_ and _Jebel Sarro_
or _Saghro_, parallel with the Great Atlas, and about 6500 ft. in
height. A low range of hills, called the _Jebel Bani_, between the
Anti-Atlas and the river _Draa_, forms the boundary between Morocco and
the Sahara. On the N.W. side of these mountains, between them and the
ocean, lies an extensive intermediate tableland called the _Tell_,
steppe-like in character, with a girdle of oases, whence protrude the
_Jebilet_, the _Jebel el-Hadid_, the _Jebel Akhdar_ or _Lakhdar_, and
several smaller isolated heights, which are evidently relics of an
ancient range of mountains. The seaboard itself consists of the plain
between the rivers _Tensift_ and Sebu (rendered extremely fertile by its
mantle of black soil, _Tuaress_ or _Tîrs_), and of the marshy flats on
the lower course of the _Sebu_ (ancient _Subur_), the most copious
stream in Barbary. These occupy a district once penetrated by the sea,
and geologically resembling the basin of the Guadalquivir (p. 49). The
entire Mediterranean coast, on the other hand, from the Straits of
Gibraltar to the Mulûya valley (p. 124), is bordered by the _Rîf Mts._
(p. 104), a range culminating in the _Jebel Mulaï Abd es-Slam_ (p. 102;
5742 ft.) and the _Jebel Tiziren_ (ca. 8200 ft.), these being folded
mountains of recent formation, clothed with extensive forests of Atlas
cedar (p. 210) and arar (Callitris quadrivalvis L.). The Rîf Mts. and
the Atlas are sharply separated by a deep depression watered by the Sebu
and its tributary the _Innaûen_ on the W., and by the _Msûn_, an
affluent of the Mulûya, on the E., a valley which once formed the most
important route between Morocco and Algeria. Both of these
mountain-ranges are said to contain great mineral wealth (iron, copper,
zinc, silver, gold, etc.), but as yet it has only been tapped to a small
extent by the natives, chiefly in the _Sûs_, the region between the
Great and the Anti-Atlas, and near _Ujda_ (p. 197).
The Great and the Lesser Atlas, whose chief peaks are covered with
perpetual snow, afford also an abundant supply of water, which is
utilized for irrigation, though as yet very inadequately, by means of
open cuttings (_sakhiâ_) or underground conduits (_foggâra_ or
_khattâra_). The rainfall in Morocco diminishes as we proceed southwards
from the Straits of Gibraltar; at Tangier it is 32 in.; at Mogador, 16
in.; while in the interior (as at Marakesh, 11 in.), and particularly on
the S. margin of the Great Atlas, it becomes very insignificant. In the
interior the climate may be described as continental (as at Marakesh,
where the mean temperature of January is 51½° Fahr., and that of July
84½°), while that of the S. part of the ocean seaboard, thanks to the
prevalent N.W. winds and the N. to S. ocean currents, vies with that of
Madeira in mildness and equableness. Thus at Rabât the mean of January
is 55°, that of August 75°; at Mogador 61° and 72°, respectively. The
variations are greater near the Straits (as at Tangier, 50° and 75°) and
particularly on the Rîf seaboard.
Morocco is inhabited chiefly by _Berbers_, the white Hamitic indigenous
race of N. Africa; of these the _Amâziges_ live in the N.W., the
_Berâbs_ in the Atlas, and the _Shilluh_ or _Shluh_ on the ocean coast.
Some of them retain their ancient languages (_Tamâzirt_, or _Shelha_,
and _Berbri_), which are akin to early Egyptian, but many, especially
the dwellers in the low country, have spoken Arabic since the middle
ages. Pure _Arab Tribes_, mostly survivors of the Beni Hilal and Beni
Soleïm immigrants (p. 323), are chiefly met with in the Sebu plain and
in the S.W. steppe-region. Many of the dwellers in the towns are _Moors_
(Andalûsi) of Spanish origin, while numerous _Jews_ are settled, usually
in a walled ghetto (_Mellah_), under the direct protection of the
sultan. _Negroes_, too, most of whom were originally slaves, imported
from the Sudan by way of the Tafilet, abound in the southern districts
of Morocco. The S.W. provinces of Sûs, Wâd Draa, and Wâd Nûn, which are
interesting on account of their primæval African flora (p. 30), are
mostly inhabited by the despised _Harrâtin_ (sing. _Hartâni_), the
hybrid offspring of negroes and Berbers, or, according to others,
descendants of the indigenous population of N. Africa.
Owing to the inaccessibility of its mountains and the natives’
passionate love of independence, coupled with their hatred of
foreigners, Morocco has ever been one of the least explored regions. The
settlements of the Phœnicians and Carthaginians were limited to a few
places on the coast, such as _Rusaddir_ (Melilla?) and _Ceuta_, and
also, beyond the pillars of Hercules (p. 54), _Tingis_ (?), _Zilis_
(Arzila), _Lixus_ (p. 105), and _Sala_ (Salee). The Romans also seem to
have shunned the Rîf region, and scarcely ever to have penetrated into
the interior beyond Meknes (Mequinez) in the _Zerhun Mts._ From the time
of Emp. Claudius (42 A. D.) Morocco, with Tingis as its capital, formed
the _Provincia Mauretania Tingitana_ (comp. p. 124); and after the reign
of Diocletian it became part of the Spanish _Provincia Ulterior_. In the
early Christian period also the coast of Morocco, whose inhabitants had
joined the _Donatists_ (p. 172), shared the fortunes of Spain, belonging
successively to the Vandals (p. 322), the Eastern Romans, and (after
620) the Visigoths, until in 682 it fell into the hands of the Arabs
under _Sidi Okba_ (p. 322), and then after long struggles was united
with the caliphate of Damascus (p. 485). Although the Berber tribes of
Morocco were thenceforth among the most zealous champions of Islam, and
in 711, at the instance of _Mûsa_, the governor, had undertaken their
victorious expedition against Spain under _Târik_ (p. 54), yet they
afterwards took part in the Kharijite movement against the Arabs (comp.
p. 323). In 788 _Idris I._ (d. 793), an Arab refugee and a descendant of
the Prophet (‘sherif’), founded the oldest Moroccan dynasty, that of the
_Idrisides_, and under _Idris II._ (793–828) Fez became their new
capital in 807 instead of Volubilis in the Zerhun Mts. After the fall of
the Idrisides the country was divided among Berber princes, and its
independence was threatened by Omaiyades (p. 69) and Fatimites (p. 323)
alternately. At length in 1055 it succumbed to the attacks of the
_Almoravides_ (Morabitîn, comp. p. 368), a Berber sect from the W.
Sahara, who under _Abu Bekr’s_ lead converted the inhabitants of the
interior as far as the Sudan to Islam. Under _Yûsuf ibn Têshufîn_ they
took possession of Agâdir in 1081 (p. 188) and of Ceuta in 1084, and in
1086 took the lead in the struggle against the unbelievers in the
Iberian peninsula. Morocco became still more powerful under the
_Almohades_, a Berber sect formed in 1181 in the district now called
Oran (p. 169), especially under the gifted caliph _Abd el-Mûmen_
(1130–63), who, after the battle of Tlemcen (p. 188), extended his sway
over the Moorish states of Spain, and in 1160 as far as Barca (p. 414).
After the overthrow of the Almohades in 1212 there arose in Barbary the
three new kingdoms of the _Merinides_ at Fez, the _Abdelwadites_ (p.
188) at Tlemcen, and the _Hafsides_ (p. 323) in Tunis, whose strength
was exhausted by sanguinary internecine struggles which lasted for
centuries.
The attacks of the _Portuguese_, who took Ceuta in 1415, occupied Arzila
and Tangier in 1471, and after 1500 even threatened Marakesh from their
base on the ocean seaboard, coupled with the advance of the Spaniards,
who after the fall of Granada (p. 75) had conquered Melilla, called
forth the new counter-movement of the _Saadites_ of the Draa. To this
new dynasty, after the conquest of Marakesh in 1520 and of Fez in 1550,
tho feeble dynasty of the Merinides succumbed in 1554. Morocco was
afterwards torn by sanguinary family feuds, yet owing to the destruction
of the Portuguese army in the ‘battle of the three kings’ at Alcázar
(Ksar el-Kebîr), and the influx of well-educated Moors expelled from
Spain, the kingdom was greatly strengthened and obtained a new lease of
life. It prospered once more, after 1649, under the sixth dynasty, that
of the _Filali_, a family from the Tafilet (see below), and notably
under the cruel _Mulaï Ismail_ (1672–1727), one of the most powerful
princes of his age, who even fought against the Turks in Oran (comp. p.
206) and led a campaign against Timbuktu.
After the defeat of the Portuguese the pirates of Larash (p. 104) and
Salee (p. 106), vying with the Rîf pirates and the ‘Barbaresques’ (p.
221), had seriously hampered European trade for two centuries or more,
but by the occupation of Algeria by the French and the expedition of the
Spaniards against Tetuán in 1859–60 the seaboard of Morocco was at
length opened up to European influence and to commercial enterprise. In
1906 the Algeciras Conference (p. 56) prevented the French from
advancing towards Fez and obtaining a passage from the Oran and Sahara
railway through the Tafilet or Tafilelt, the richest group of oases in
S. Morocco, to the ocean seaboard. In 1907, however, the unrest at
Casablanca (p. 107), and also on the Algerian frontier, led to the
French occupation of that important seaport along with the adjacent
Shâuya, of Ujda (p. 197), and of Berguent and Bu Denib in S.E. Morocco.
After the deposition of _Mulaï Abdul-Aziz_ (1894–1907), who was
favourable to the French influence, _Mulaï Hafid_ was proclaimed sultan
in 1908.
The Morocco of to-day, whose institutions, manners, and customs are
still quite mediæval, consists of the so-called _Blad el-Makhzen_
(‘government land’), the dominion of the sultan, and the far larger
_Blad es-Siba_ (‘outer land’), occupied by independent tribes. These
tribes recognize the sultan, or the grand sherif of Wazzân, a descendant
of the Idrisides, as their spiritual chief only, but usually deny the
sultan a right of way through their territory between the capital towns
of Fez and Marakesh.
The foreign trade of Morocco is confined to the eight ‘open’ ports of
Tangier, Larash, Rabât, Casablanca, Mazagan, Saffi, Mogador, and Tetuán,
to the capitals of Fez and Marakesh, and has lately extended to Ujda and
the Spanish Melilla (p. 124). In 1909 its total volume amounted to
132,612,000 fr. of which were ascribed to Great Britain 52,339,000 fr.,
to France 51,255,000 fr., to Germany 13,582,000 fr., to Spain 6,456,000
fr., and to the United States 1,111,000 fr. From France Morocco imports
sugar, flour, and silk, from England cotton goods, tea, rice, and
candles, from Germany iron wares, cloth, and sugar, and from Italy flour
and wax-matches. The exports (to Marseilles, Gibraltar, Spain, England,
Hamburg, etc., and also to Algeria and America) consist of goats’ and
sheep’s hides, fruit (almonds, oranges, etc.), eggs, cattle,
chick-pease, wheat, barley, and maize. The Morocco-leather slippers
(_belra_, yellow for men and red for women) go to Egypt, Algeria, and
Senegal. Besides the breeding of cattle, that of horses and mules also
is important. Sardines and other fish abound off the ocean coasts.
Most travellers are satisfied with a visit to Tangier, an excursion to
Tetuán, and the interesting coasting voyage (best in April-Sept.) to
Rabât or Mogador. Europeans rarely travel in the interior, except
perhaps in Blad el-Makhzen, while in N. Morocco they should avoid the
rainy winter season. As roads, bridges, and inns are lacking, a costly
equipment for such expeditions is required, including tents,
camp-beds, cooking utensils, provisions, drinking-water, candles,
medicines, insect-powder, etc. A guide or mule-driver, a cook, an
interpreter, and a soldier as an escort (mekhazni) also are usually
engaged. Lastly a mule (incl. attendant and fodder, 4–5 pesetas per
day) is preferable to a horse (5 p. or upwards), being more
sure-footed and enduring. Before starting, the traveller should apply
for information and assistance to a consul or other experienced
resident, and obtain from them introductions to the local authorities
(caid, pasha, or amel) or to so-called protégés (semsar, mokhâlat).
Persons of distinction have a right to a formal reception by the
authorities and to the mûna (free provisions, like the ancient
‘purveyance’), for which, as also for hospitality, a return is made
either in kind (as firearms, telescopes, watches, trinkets) or in
money. In the country it is advisable to put up at the village
caravanserais (nzalas), where a night-watchman is provided (fee) and
where offerings by the peasants (milk, oranges, etc.; small fee)
should not be declined. At towns early arrival is essential, as all
the gates are closed at sunset. As to dealings with Mohammedans, comp.
p. xxv. Travellers are specially warned against photographing or even
entering their mosques, saints’ tombs, or burial-grounds.
In the seaport-towns Spanish silver (p. 52) and English or French gold
are current, but in the interior Spanish and Morocco money only
(silver coins of 5, 2½, 1¼, ½, and ¼ p.). In the interior letters of
credit addressed to Jewish or other firms are convenient.
BOOKS. _R. L. Playfair_ and _R. Brown_, Bibliography of Morocco
(London, 1892); _Budgett Meakin_, The Moorish Empire (London, 1899),
The Land of the Moors (London, 1901), The Moors (London, 1902), and
Life in Morocco and Glimpses Beyond (London, 1905); _J. Thomson_,
Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco (London, 1889); _W. B.
Harris_, Tafilet (London, 1895); _A. S. Forrest_ and _S. L. Bensusan_,
Morocco (London, 1904, illus.); _D. Mackenzie_, The Khalifate of the
West (London, 1910; illus.; 10 _s._ 6 _d._); _E. Ashmead-Bartlett_,
The Passing of the Shereefian Empire (Edinburgh, 1910; illus.; 15
_s._); _H. J. B. Ward_, Mysterious Morocco and how to appreciate it
(London, 1910; 2 _s._ 6 _d._); _A. Brives_, Voyages au Maroc, 1901–7
(Algiers, 1909; illus.) and Aperçu géologique et agricole sur le Maroc
occidental; _Ch. de Foucauld_, Reconnaissance au Maroc, 1883–4 (Paris,
1888); _Marq. de Segonzac_, Voyages au Maroc (Paris, 1903; 27 fr.);
_Eug. Aubin_, Le Maroc d’Aujourd’hui (Paris, 1904; 5 fr.; also Engl,
trans., ‘Morocco of To-day’, London, 1906); _H. Lorin_, L’Afrique du
Nord (Paris, 1908).
The best MAP of Morocco (1:500,000) is that published by the Service
Géographique de l’Armée (Paris; 1 fr. each sheet).