_Metallic, Mineral, and Vegetable Productions._
METALS AND MINERALS.
_Gold and Silver Mines_ are found in several parts of the Empire
of Marocco; but more particularly about Messa in the province of
Suse. Being once on a visit to the Vicegerent of this province,
Alkaid Mohammed ben Delemy, at Shtuka, and desirous to examine
the country in the vicinity of Messa, together with its mines, I
requested an escort from the Vicegerent, to accompany me thither,
which he readily granted. On my arrival at Messa, I proceeded to the
southern banks of the river, where I was shewn a gold mine, which,
I was informed, had been worked by the Portuguese, when they were in
possession of this district, and who, previous to their departure,
had thrown stones into the aperture, which the Shelluhs had frequently
attempted in vain to remove. These stones were of an immense size,
and it would have required considerable mechanical powers to effect
their removal. I was next conducted through the bed of the river,
when I discovered, on a bluish soil, two separate strata of blue sand
intermixed with silver dust; of this I collected a small quantity,
and sent it to England to be analyzed; but such is the disposition
of the people, that they will not allow the sand to be taken away in
any quantity for the purpose of extracting the metal; though they
make no use of it themselves, being unacquainted with the proper
method of refining it.
Near Elala and Shtuka, in the same province, there is a very
rich silver mine; but being situated between two clans, they are
continually fighting about it, and by this means both parties are
deprived of the benefit it offers. I have purchased lumps of this
silver, which had been refined by the natives, and it was more pure
than the silver of Spanish dollars.
There is another silver mine in the plains of Msegina, near Santa
Cruz: this was reported to the Emperor Seedi Mohammed, to be extremely
rich, and he accordingly sent some persons conversant in minerals to
inspect, and report upon it. Previous to their departure, however,
they were secretly informed, that he wished to discourage the working
of this mine, lest the province might be thereby rendered too rich and
powerful, and the people be enabled to throw off their allegiance. In
consequence of this, after a formal examination had been made, it
was reported that the mine would not pay for the expense of working
it. The entrance was then broken in, and the Shelluhs, discouraged
by this unfavourable report, and not suspecting the motive for
destroying the mine, paid no further attention to it. This mine had
probably been worked by the Portuguese, when they were in possession
of Santa Cruz and Agurem.
Gold is also found in the Atlas mountains, and in Lower Suse, but
the mines are not worked.[113]
Suse also produces iron, copper, and lead ore. In the mountains of
Idaultit, they have iron, which they manufacture themselves into
gun-barrels, and other articles. At Tesellergt the copper mines
are extremely abundant; but they work them only as they want the
metal. In Tafilelt are mines of antimony; it abounds also in lead ore.
_Mineral Salt._—West Barbary, Bled-el-jerrêde, and parts of Sahara,
abound in mineral salt, of a red colour, which is dug from quarries
and mines. In the province of Abda there is a very extensive lake,
which furnishes salt of a superior quality to the mineral; they
are both exceedingly strong, and are not fit to prepare meat with,
having been frequently tried; this, however, may be owing to the
unskilfullness of the Moors in curing meat.
Near the cities of Fas and Mequinas a similar salt is also found;
and a beautifully white and pure kind is procured among the rocks,
which bind many parts of the coast; this is produced by the effulgence
of the meridian sun, exhaling the water from the salt which remains
in the cavities.
Vast quantities of salt are conveyed by the Akkabahs to Soudan, where
none is produced, and on that account is so valuable at Timbuctoo,
that a pound weight is frequently bartered for an ounce of gold dust.
_Salt-petre._—This article, now prohibited from exportation, except
under certain restrictions, and particular grants, is the produce of
Fas, Marocco, and Terodant; that of Terodant or Suse is the best,
purest, and strongest, and in its unrefined state is equal to that
of Marocco when refined.[114]
_Lead Ore (El Kahol)._—There are two kinds of this mineral; that
which is the best and most esteemed sells for double the price of
the common kind, and is the basis of the black substance used by the
African ladies to tinge their eyes, eye-brows, and eye-lashes. The
Atlas mountains abound with this lead ore, particularly the eastern
side of them, towards Fighig and Tafilelt. The best kind, as already
observed, is called El Kahol Filelly (i.e. lead ore of Tafilelt).
_Sulphur._—Before this mineral was imported from the Mediterranean,
it was dug from the foot of Atlas, opposite to Terodant, where there
are immense quantities.[115]
FRUITS, PLANTS, &c.
_Figs_, called by the Western Arabs, Kermuse; there are many kinds
of this fruit, some of which are purple, others green; they are
esteemed wholesome, and abound in every part of the empire. At
Terodant, Marocco, Fas, and Tetuan, they are uncommonly fine, and of
an exquisite flavour; those of Mogodor, however, are very inferior,
as are most of the fruits that grow in the environs of that arid
and sandy country. The Jews extract (mahaya) an ardent spirit from
figs, which they drink immoderately whilst hot from the alembic;
but when they have patience to keep it a year or two, it becomes a
mild spirit, losing its heating and pernicious quality.
_Indian Fig_, or _Prickly Pear (Cactus Opuntia)_, called
_Takanareele_, by the Shelluhs, and _Kermuse d’Ensarrah_, by
the Arabs and Moors. The tree which produces this fruit grows from
ten to twenty feet in height; its leaves, from the sides of which
the fruit springs, are thick and succulent, and impregnated with a
transparent mucilaginous juice, which, from its peculiarly cooling and
anti-inflammatory qualities, was much used with gum ammoniac, during
the plague, for cataplasms and fumigations. The Indian fig is very
different from other figs; when ripe, it is of an oval form, and of a
colour inclining to orange or yellow; it has a thick succulent rind,
so covered with fine sharp prickles, as to render leather gloves,
or some other substitute necessary, when peeling it. This fruit is
of an extraordinary refrigerating quality, and is, on that account,
eaten in the early part of the morning by the people of Haha and Suse,
where it abounds. In hot weather it is a grateful restorative to the
relaxed state of the bowels. The tree grows in stony arid situations,
and frequently affords refreshment to the traveller, when he least
expects to find so cooling a fruit.
_Almonds._—The quantities of this fruit produced in the province of
Suse are incalculable, and have, latterly, been much increased. The
bitter kind is exported to Europe; but the sweet, being an article of
food, has been, by the present Emperor, prohibited from exportation,
which has recently diminished considerably the cultivation of this
nutritious fruit.
_Gum Sandrac Tree._—Thuya, Arar, or Sandrac-tree, is probably the
Arbor vitæ of Theophrastus: it is similar in leaf to the juniper,
and, besides producing the gum sandrac, the wood is invaluable, being
somewhat like cedar, having a similar smell, and being impenetrable
to the worm; it is, however, a harder wood, and would be a great
acquisition in ship-building; and _there are_ means of procuring
it. The roofs of houses, and cielings of rooms, are made of this
unperishable wood.
_El Rassul._—A small plant little known, but used by the tanners
in the preparation of leather.
_Tizra_, or _Seuhayha._—A shrub about three feet high, used also
in the preparation of leather; it grows near the Jibbel Heddid in
the plains[116] of Akkermute, in the province of Shedma. (See the
map of West Barbary).
_Hashisha_, and _Kief._—The plant called Hashisha is the African
hemp plant; it grows in all the gardens; and is reared in the
plains at Marocco, for the manufacture of twine: but in most parts
of the country it is cultivated for the extraordinary and pleasing
voluptuous vacuity of mind which it produces in those who smoke it:
unlike the intoxication from wine, a fascinating stupor pervades
the mind, and the dreams are agreeable. The kief, which is the
flower and seeds of the plant, is the strongest, and a pipe of it
half the size of a common English tobacco-pipe, is sufficient to
intoxicate. The infatuation of those who use it is such, that they
cannot exist without it. The kief is often pounded, and mixed with
(_El Majune_), an invigorating confection, which is sold at an
enormous price; a piece of this as big as a walnut will for a time
entirely deprive a man of all reason and intellect; they prefer
it to opium, from the voluptuous sensations which it never fails
to produce. Wine or brandy, they say, does not stand in competition
with it. The Hashisha, or leaves of the plant, are dried and cut like
tobacco, with which they are smoked, in very small pipes; but when
the person wishes to indulge in the sensual stupor it occasions, he
smokes the Hashisha pure, and in less than half an hour it operates;
the person under its influence is said to experience pleasing images:
he fancies himself in company with beautiful women; he dreams that he
is an emperor, or a bashaw, and that the world is at his nod. There
are other plants which possess a similar exhilirating quality,
among which is a species of the Palma Christi, the nuts of which,
mixed with any kind of food, affect a person for three hours, and
then pass off. These they often use when they wish to discover the
mind of a person, or what occupies his thoughts.
_Snobar._—This is a plant much used by the tanners in the
preparation of leather: it grows on Mount Atlas and about Tetuan.
_Lotus._—The Lotus, or water lily, grows in the rivers and streams
of El Garb; it is called by the Arabs Nufar. The lotus, or nymphæa
lotus, has often been mistaken for a very different plant, called by
the ancients _Lotus_, or _Rhamnus Lotus_, and which served formerly
for food to a certain people in Africa, thence named Lotophagi; this
plant, which is a shrub similar in appearance to the wild jujube,
or buckthorn, is called by the Arabs _Seedra_, and grows about the
Atlas mountains east of Marocco and Terodant. It has been described
by Mr. Mungo Park in his Travels in Africa.
_Mallows._—This herb is much used by the Arabian doctors; and the
fruit is eaten by the Arabs as antifebrile: the generical name is
Kubbaiza.[117] The garden Jew’s mallow, called _Melokia_, is also
much esteemed as a strong incentive to venery.
_Coloquintida_, called by the Arabs El Hendal, is found along the
coast, on the sandy shore above the high water mark from Agadeer to
Wedinoon, an extent of about two hundred miles: it had never been
imported into this country till last year, by myself, when it sold at
3_s._ 8_d._ per lb. Throughout this fertile country roses, and various
beautiful flowers which are carefully reared in hot houses with us,
grow spontaneously in the plains: of these I have seen in Temsena, and
about Rabat, and in Suse, lupins, jonquils, wall-flowers and hyacinths
of various colours and exquisite fragrance (of the latter there is
a beautiful kind, being a Spanish brown, inclining to scarlet.) The
roses about Marocco grow in the streams and ditches. At Tafilelt
they have a powerful fragrance: it is from the leaves of the Worde
Fillelly, or Tafilelt rose, that the celebrated _Attar_ of roses
(commonly called _Otto_ of roses) is extracted: the word _Attar_
is an Arabic word signifying a distillation or filtration.[118]
_Surnag._—This vegetable grows on the declivities of the Atlas
mountains. The Moors drink a decoction of it for the purpose of
inciting them to venereal pleasure.
_Truffles._—This root, called by the Arabs Terfez, is somewhat
similar to the potatoe, and about the size of a lemon; it grows in
sandy places, near the surface of the earth, where it is discovered
by the light soil appearing swelled and cracked. It is not planted,
but grows spontaneously; some are black, others white, but the
former are the best; both, however, have a black rind, which does
not peel off like that of a potatoe, but is cut or pared like that
of an apple. The Arabs, Moors, Shelluhs, and Jews, equally prize
the truffle; it is therefore in great demand, and used in all made
dishes, and is a very delicate, nutritious, and wholesome food:
they are also highly stimulating, on which account they are more
esteemed among this amorous people than for their delicate taste;
they are particularly palatable with wine, and often introduced in
the dessert. They are very good boiled in water or in steam. In Suse,
Abda, and Bled-el-jerrêde, they are found in great abundance. The
season for them is March, when the storms of thunder prevail. After
a storm, the people repair to the sandy plains, dig them up, and
bring them to the towns, where, being in great demand, they sell at
a costly price.
GUMS, OILS, &c.
_Euphorbium._—_Furbiune_ is the Arabic name of this gum, which is
produced by a very curious succulent plant, growing on the Atlas
mountains, and called by the Shelluhs and Arabs, _Dergmuse_;[119]
in its general form, it resembles a large goblet (see the Plate),
and is somewhat like a wild thistle. From the main body of the
plant proceed several solid leafless branches, about three inches
in circumference, and one in diameter, from the top of which shoot
out similar ones, each bearing on its summit a vivid crimson flower;
these branches are scolloped, and have on their outer sides small
knots, from which grow five extremely sharp pointed thorns, about
one-third of an inch in length.[120] The stalk is at first soft and
succulent, but becomes hard in a few years, when the plant assumes
the above mentioned form, and may then be considered at its maturity;
if cut in this state with a sword, it emits a large quantity of
corrosive, lacteous juice, which, if squeezed between the fingers,
will excoriate; when old, the plant withers, and this juice becomes
dry, and turns to powder. The inhabitants of those parts of the lower
regions of Atlas make incisions in the branches of the plants with a
knife, whence the juice issues, which, after being heated by the sun,
becomes a substance of a whitish yellow colour, and in the month
of September drops off, and forms the gum Euphorbium. The plants
produce abundantly once only in four years, but this fourth year’s
produce is more than all Europe can consume; it being a very powerful
cathartic. The people who collect the gum, are obliged to tie a cloth
over their mouth and nostrils, to prevent the small dusty particles
from annoying them, as they produce incessant sneezing.
[Illustration:_Plate 6._
_(Dergmuse) Gum Euphorbium Plant._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
The branches of the plant are brought to Mogodor, for the use of
the tanners, by the boats which go from thence to Agadeer (where it
abounds), and to it probably the Marocco leather owes its reputed
pre-eminence. It is also in great request among the women, as a
_depilatory_. Though the plant abounds at Agadeer, yet, either from
the nature of the soil, or the climate not being sufficiently hot,
it is stunted, and never comes to perfection. During the three years
I resided there, I never saw any gum attached to it. It flourishes
in stony mountainous situations, interspersed with rocks, whose
interstices are filled with a black loam of decomposed vegetable
earth.
_Ammoniacum_, called _Feshook_ in Arabick, is produced from a plant
similar to the European fennel, but much larger. In most of the plains
of the interior, and particularly about El Araiche, and M’sharrah
Rummellah, it grows ten feet high. The Gum Ammoniac is procured by
incisions in the branches, which, when pricked, emit a lacteous,
glutinous juice, which being hardened by the heat of the sun, falls
on the ground, and mixes with the red earth below: hence the reason
that Gum Ammoniac of Barbary does not suit the London market. It
might, however, with a little trouble, be procured perfectly pure,
by spreading mats under the shrubs to receive the gum as it falls. The
gum in the above mentioned state, is used in all parts of the country
for cataplasms and fumigations. The sandy light soil which produces
the Gum Ammoniac, abounds in the north of Marocco. It is remarkable,
that neither bird nor beast is seen where this plant grows, the
vulture only excepted.[121] It is, however, attacked by a beetle,[122]
having a long horn proceeding from its nose, with which it perforates
the plant, and makes the incisions whence the gum oozes out.
[Illustration:_Plate 7._
_(Fashook) Gum Ammoniac Plant._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
[Illustration:_Plate 8._
_(Dibben Fashook,) Gum Ammoniac Fly._
_Drawn by J. G. Jackson._
_Engraved J. C. Stadler._
_London Published June 4. 1811. by G. & W. Nicholl Pall Mall._]
_Gum Arabic._—The gum called Marocco or Barbary gum, is produced
from a high thorny tree called Attaleh, having leaves similar to
the Arar, or Gum Sandrac tree, and the juniper. The best kind of
Barbary gum is procured from the trees of Marocco, Ras-el-wed,
in the province of Suse and Bled-hummer, 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 Sandrac gum,
nor does it reach the size of the Aurwar 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.
_Oil of Olives._—The province of Suse produces great abundance of
this oil.[123] The people of Ras-el-wed make two sorts, _Tabaluht_,
and _Zit-el-aud_;[124] the former is made from the olives when green,
and nearly ripe, with which they frequently grind limes, or wild
thyme. This oil is very rich, and white, and not inferior to the
best Lucca or Florence oil, and might, with due attention, be made a
considerable article of commerce to this country. The _Zit-el-aud_,
is made from the olives when quite ripe, and alter they have laid on
the ground some time; in this state they yield the greatest quantity
of oil, but it has a strong, and often a rancid taste, which is not,
however, disliked by the natives. It is used in Europe in the woollen
and soap manufactories.
_Oil Arganic_ is also in abundance in Suse: it is much used for
frying fish,[125] and burning in lamps.
_Pitch._—The pitch of the Arabs, called _Kitran_, is obtained from
the wild juniper, which abounds in the Atlas mountains, as well as
in many parts of the champaign country: the manner of obtaining it is
thus: they dig a large and deep round hole, in the side of which, near
the bottom, they excavate another in the form of a cauldron, which
they plaister round; they then fill up the communicating aperture
with stones or bricks, leaving a small channel of communication;
the large hole is then filled with the boughs of the wild juniper,
which they call _Toga_, broken into small pieces, after which the
mouth of the furnace is closed up, and fire set to the wood; the
sap, which forms the pitch, then oozes out of the burning boughs,
and runs into the communicating hole; when the whole is cooled,
it is taken out, and put into skins or bladders.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 113: I procured several specimens of gold and silver ores
from the various mines in this province, which I sent to Europe
to be analyzed; but the smallness of the quantity precluded any
considerable advantage from the analyzation, and I had not an
opportunity afterwards of repeating the trial to a larger extent.]
[Footnote 114: It is probably owing to the deficiency of knowledge
in African languages among Europeans (which not only impedes, but
often renders abortive, our negociations with the Emperor) that
we have been hitherto prevented from obtaining very considerable
supplies as well of this as of many other useful articles, such as
naval stores and provisions, from West Barbary.]
[Footnote 115: The Arabs of Woled Abussebah manufacture gun-powder
of a quality far superior to that of Europe; for if it be immersed
in water during a night, and then taken out, it is perfectly dry
and fit for use; but they keep the process a secret. That which
is made by the Moors is, in general, of a very inferior quality,
having neither strength nor quickness.]
[Footnote 116: Harushe is a name applied in Africa to all plains or
places covered with basaltic stones, bearing marks of some ancient
convulsion of nature. These places are interspersed over the Desert,
or Sahara, and in other parts of Africa.]
[Footnote 117: Sonini, in his travels in Egypt, called it hobezé;
there is, however, no _h_ in the word, but a guttural _k_ (خ)
an error originating in a partial, and but an oral, knowledge of
the Arabic language; or possibly he had seen the word written by
a professed Arabian scholar, who frequently omits the punctuation,
which he can make out by the tenour of the discourse; in this case
the word would have been written with the letter _h_ (ح).]
[Footnote 118: In passing these plains, where such a variety of
beautiful flowers grow spontaneously, it has often occurred to
me that this country was once in a considerably higher degree of
cultivation than it is at present.]
[Footnote 119: Probably the Euphorbium officinalis of Linnæus.]
[Footnote 120: These adhere to every thing which touches them,
and seem to have been intended by nature, to prevent cattle from
eating this caustic plant, which they always avoid on account of
its prickles.]
[Footnote 121: See page 118.]
[Footnote 122: See the plate, where it is represented of the natural
size.]
[Footnote 123: The plantations of olive-trees in this province
are very numerous: there is an extensive one in the neighbourhood
of Messa, the trees of which are of great size and beauty, and are
planted in a very whimsical and peculiar manner. When I visited Messa,
I enquired the cause of their being so arranged, and learnt from
the viceroy’s aide-de-camp, who attended me, that one of the kings
of the dynasty of Saddia, being on his journey to Soudan, encamped
here, with his army; that the pegs with which the cavalry picketed
their horses, were cut from the olive-trees in the neighbourhood,
and that these pegs being left in the ground on account of some
sudden cause of departure of the army, the olive-trees in question
sprung up from them. I confess, while I acknowledged the ingenuity
of the idea, (for the disposition of the trees exactly resembled the
arrangement of cavalry in an encampment), I treated it as fabulous;
some time afterwards, however, the following circumstance occurred,
which induced me to think the story was not only plausible, but very
credible. Having occasion to send for some plants for a garden which
I had at Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, the gardener brought, amongst other
things, a few bits of wood without any root or leaf, about eighteen
inches long, and three in circumference, which he with a large stone
knocked into the ground. Seeing the fellow thus employed, I asked
him what he meant by trifling in that way? “I am not trifling,”
said he, “but planting your pomegranate trees.” I began to take
them out of the ground; but some persons who were near assuring me
that it was the mode in which they were always planted, and that they
would (with the blessing of God) take root, and shoot forth leaves
the next year, I was at length prevailed on to leave a few in the
ground, merely for experiment, and they certainly did take root,
and were in a fair way of becoming good trees when I left Santa Cruz!]
[Footnote 124: _Zit_ is the Arabic for oil; _Zitune_ for olives.]
[Footnote 125: 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. DOCTOR BARRATA.]