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MOROCCO

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 859 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOROCCO (See also:

Ea MAG11RIB EL AKSA, " The Farthest See also:West," i.e. of the See also:Mahommedan See also:world), an See also:independent See also:state of See also:North See also:Africa, bounded on the N. by the Mediterranean, on the E. by See also:Algeria, on the S. (indefinitely) by the See also:Sahara, and on the W. by the See also:Atlantic as far See also:south as See also:Wad Dra'a. Its landward limits can only be vaguely defined. The eastern frontier towards Algeria, determined by the treaty of 1844, is a purely conventional See also:line starting from the mouth of a small stream called the Skis and See also:running across See also:country in a See also:general S.S.E. direction. In 1900 this was given a See also:westerly trend to the south of the See also:Atlas by the See also:annexation of the Figig, Igli and That oases by See also:France. The See also:southern boundaries expand and See also:contract according to the See also:power and acivity of the central authorities. Behm and See also:Wagner, who included Figig, That, Kenatsa and other oases, estimated (in 1882) the then See also:area of the sultanate at 305,548 sq. m. The See also:allegiance of many of the tribes within this See also:compass is questionable and intermittent, and the loss of the See also:district from Figig to That, which is not accurately defined, has considerably reduced the area. Morocco is • still the portion of See also:Northern Africa about which See also:European See also:information is most defective, and all maps are still to a considerable extent composed of unscientific material eked out by probabilities and conjecture. The Mediterranean See also:Coast Lands.—The seaward aspect of Morocco only is known in detail. To the Mediterranean it preseirts for about 200 M. the rugged See also:profile of the Rif hills (still unexplored), which generally end in lines of cliff broken at intervals by narrow sweeps of sandy See also:beech, but occasionally open up into beautiful and fertile valleys., About 6 m. west of the Skis lies the mouth of the See also:river Mulwiya.! and to m. farther on, opposite Cabo del Agua (See also:Ras Sidi Bashir), is a See also:group of dry and barren islands, owned by See also:Spain, known as See also:Chaffarinas or Jazair Zafran (See also:Spanish See also:las Chafarinas), which protect the best roadstead on the Rif coast. Between Point Quiviana and See also:Melilla runs a See also:low and sandy See also:shore in front of a See also:great See also:salt See also:marsh, the See also:Mar Chica of the Spaniards.

Melilla (Meliliya) is a fortified See also:

rock convict station or presidio, held by the Spaniards since 1497, forming a See also:peninsula connected by lines of rampart with Fort See also:Rosario on the heights behind. The See also:fine semicircular See also:bay of Alhucemas is the seaward end of one of the most beautiful valleys in the Rif, clothed with verdure and dotted with hamlets., A Spanish presidio occupies one of the larger of the Alhucemas islands (Al-Mazemma), which are identified with the Ad See also:Sex Insulas of the itineraries. Another Spanish presidio crowns the See also:island rock Pefion de Velez; and in the valley off which it lies stood a See also:town known to the Spaniards as Velez de See also:Gomera, to the See also:Arabs as Badis,which continued to be a See also:place of importance in the 16th See also:century. The so-called Bay of See also:Tetuan (Tettawan)—the town is just visible from the See also:sea—is little more than the straight stretch of coast between Cape Mazari on the south and Cape See also:Negro or Negrete on the north; but the prominence of these two headlands gives it an See also:appearance of See also:depth. From Cape Negro northwards to See also:Ceuta the most notable See also:object is the See also:summit of See also:Jebel Musa, which, though situated on the Strait of See also:Gibraltar, towers above the intervening hills. Ceuta (Sibta), the most important of the Spanish settlements in Morocco, occupies a peninsula—the See also:head, Mt Acho, See also:standing about 4 M. out to sea, and the See also:neck being low and narrow. It marks the eastern end of the strait. Westwards, the first point of.See also:interest is again Jebel Musa, the Elephas of See also:Strabo, and the Apes' See also:Hill of See also:English charts. About 20 m. farther along the coast lies the Bay of See also:Tangier (Tanja), one of the finest harbours in Morocco. West from Tangier runs the Jebel Kebir (rising to a little over moo ft.), the seaward extremity of which forms Cape Spartel, the north-west See also:angle of the See also:African See also:continent, known to the ancients as Ampelusia or See also:Cotes Promontorium. The lighthouse, 312 ft. above sea-level, built in 1865 at the cost of the See also:sultan of Morocco, and maintained at the See also:joint expense of See also:England, France, See also:Italy and Spain, is the only one on the western coast. It is provided with a fixed intermittent See also:white See also:light, visible for 36 m.

The Atlantic Coast Line.—The Atlantic coast of Morocco is remarkable for its regularity; it has not a single gulf or noteworthy See also:

estuary; the capes are few and for the most See also:part feebly marked. Southward from Cape Spartel the shore sinks rapidly till it is within a few feet of the sea-level. In the low cliff which it forms about 42 M. from the lighthouse there is a great See also:quarry, which from remote antiquity has yielded the See also:hand-See also:mills used in the Tangier district. A stretch of low marshy ground along the Tahaddart estuary—W. Muharhar and W. el-Kharrub—agrees with ScyIax's Gulf of Cotes (See also:Tissot). Eight m. farther lies Azila, the See also:ancient Colonia Julia See also:Constantia Zilis, with a Moorish and Jewish See also:population of about 1200. For the next 16 m., between Azila and See also:Laraish (Laraiche), the coast has a tolerably bold background of hills, Jebel Sarsar forming an important landmark for the latter town which, with its Phoenician, See also:Roman and See also:medieval remains, is historically one of the most interesting places in Morocco. A line of reddish cliffs about 300 ft. high runs south for about 10 m. from the W. Lekkus, at whose mouth the town is built; then the coast sinks till it reaches the See also:shrine of Mulai Bu Selham on an See also:eminence 220 ft. high. Between Mulai Bu Selham (often wrongly called " Old Mamora") and a similar height crowned by the See also:tomb of Sidi 'Abd See also:Allah Jelali lies the outlet of the See also:Blue See also:Lake (Marja Zarka), to or 12 M. See also:long. Farther south, and separated from the sea by an unbroken line of rounded hills (230–260 ft.), is the much more extensive See also:lagoon of Ras ed-Dura, which in the dry See also:season becomes a See also:series of marshy See also:meres, but in the See also:rainy season fills up and discharges into the Sebu. Eastward it is connected with the Marjat el-Gharb, fed by the W.

Meda. On the south See also:

side of the outlet of the Sebu lies Mehediya (otherwise misnamed New Mamora or Mehduma) founded by 'Abd el-Mumin, and named after the Muwahhadi See also:Mandi. It was held by Spain from 1614 to 1681. Twenty See also:miles farther is the mouth of the Bu Ragrag, with See also:Salli (Sla) on the north side, long famous for its piracies, and still one of the most fanatical places in the See also:empire, and on the south side See also:Rabat, with its conspicuous See also:Hassan See also:tower, and Sheila with its interesting ruins. Onward for too m. to Point Azammur and the mouth of the Um er-Rabi'a river a line of hills skirts the sea; the shore is for the most part low, and, with the exception of capes at Fedala (a small See also:village, originally a See also:port, partly rebuilt by Mulai See also:Ismail, and completed by ,Mahommed XVII., who opened it to Europeans between 176o and 1773) and See also:Dar el-Baida or See also:Casablanca, it runs in a straight line west-south-west. Azammur (See also:Berber for " The See also:Wild See also:Olives," viz. of the See also:Sheikh Bu Shaib)—once the frontier town of the See also:kingdom of See also:Fez—stands on an eminence about 11 m. from the sea on the south side of the See also:Urn er-Rabi'a, here some 15o ft. wide, deep and red, with an obstructing See also:bar. The bay of See also:Mazagan, a few miles to the south, curves westward with a boldness of sweep unusual on this coast. About 8 m. to the south, and less than t m. inland, See also:lie the extensive ruins of Tit, a town which proved a See also:thorn in the side of the Portuguese of Mazagan till they destroyed it. At Cape Blanco (so called from its white cliffs) the coast, which bulged out at Cape Mazagan, again bends south to resume much the same general direction for 55 m. to Cape Cantin. On this stretch the only point of interest is the site of the vanished Walidiya, formerly El-Ghait, with an excellent See also:harbour, formed by an extensive lagoon, which by a little dredging would become the safest See also:shipping station on the whole Morocco seaboard. About 18 m. farther lies See also:Saffi (Asfi), the most picturesque spot on the west coast, with the high walls and quare towers of its Portuguese fortifications shown to See also:advantage by the ruggedness of the site. Sixty miles farther south lies See also:Mogador, beyond which the coast becomes more and more inaccessible and dangerous in See also:winter, being known to navigators as the " See also:Iron Coast." From Cape Sim (Ras Tagriwalt), to m. south of Mogador, the direction is due south to Cape Ghir (Ighir Ufrani), the termination of Jebel See also:Ida u Taman, a See also:spur of the Atlas.

Beyond this headland lies Agadir (Agadir Ighir), the See also:

Santa Cruz See also:Mayor or Santa Cruz de Berberia of the Spaniards, formerly known as the See also:Gate of the See also:Sudan.' It is a little town with white battlements three-quarters of a mile in circumference, on a steep eminence 600 ft. high. In the 16th century it was seized by the Portuguese; but in 1536 it was captured by Mulai Ahmad, one of the founders of the Sa'adi See also:dynasty. Some 6o m. farther south, at the mouth of a river known by the same name, is the roadstead of See also:Massa, with a See also:mosque popularly reputed the See also:scene of See also:Jonah's restoration to terra firma. This port2 was regularly visited by the Genoese traders in the 16th century, who exported skins, See also:gum, See also:wax, See also:gold and See also:indigo. Another 5o m. farther south lies Ifni, a landing-place easily recognizable by the shrine of Sidi Worzek, a few miles to the . English Afiles O [o to 40 So tzo i6o Red/ways ...................... ..•-++ See also:Principal Routs —{ Ancient Sites pia See also:Character of the Interior.—The backbone of the country is the Great Atlas (Daren of the See also:Berbers), for which see ATLAS. The principal See also:rivers take their rise in the Atlas Mountains, and the headwaters of the Mulwiya, the Sebu, the Urn er Rabi'a, the Dra'a and the Ziz all rise between 32° 20' and 32° 30' N., and between 3° 30' and 5° W. The Mulwiya (Mulucha and Malva of See also:Pliny, &c.) is the river which the See also:French have long wished to make the western boundary of Algeria. Its course is largely unexplored See also:save by native French officials. About 340 20' N. General Colvile found it some 200 yds. wide but quite 6° o~ C.

See also:

Sport W. rahTan ¢¢SSe ad,kns! Aaila ldrakhea (El Araish Mulai Bu Suiham Morja ZarNa C.Gi.,Ughi.5 rani Agadir (Agadir, fgh W.Maxsal Ma.. X15': south of which is the Cape Non 3 of the Portuguese. The better known Cape See also:Nun lies 5 or 6 m. north of the W. Nun, at'the mouth of which is Assaka, a port which the sultan of Morocco opened to See also:foreign See also:trade in 1882, but closed after six months. From Assaka to the mouth of the Dra`a the country continues broken and fertile, but farther south it is flatter and more sandy, so that with the Dra`a the Sahara may be said to begin. ' This must not be confounded with Santa Cruz de Mar Pequena, a See also:post established in 1476 somewhere on this coast by See also:Herrera, See also:lord of the See also:Canary Islands. After obtaining permission to re-occupy the post in 1861, the Spanish See also:government was unable to identify it, though in all See also:probability the See also:original site was the lagoon known as Puerto Cansado, much farther south. But this is now too remote a spot to be See also:worth colonizing, hence the See also:desire to substitute some other. Ifni, on old maps Gueder, was chosen (1878), there being some See also:evidence to show that it was possibly the true Site of the ancient fort. a See Valentin See also:Ferdinand, Beschreibung West Afrikas (Mem. of the Acad. of See also:Munich, 3rd Class, pt. viii.). 3 No, Non, Nor, Naum, Nat), are among the various readings.

• It was another Cape Non to the south of Cape Bojador which seems to have given rise to the See also:

proverb, See also:Quern pasar o cabo de Nao ou tornara ou ndo. See Bol. de la See also:Soc. Geogr. (See also:Madrid, 1880), p. 316. See also:Emery See also:Walker ac. shallow; about 25 M. See also:east of its source, where it is crossed by the route to Ziz, it is already a powerful stream with a deep See also:bed cut in the See also:granite rock, and shortly afterwards it is joined by the W. Sgimmel, a still larger affluent (See also:Rohlfs). Of the lesser streams which flow into the Mediterranean it is enough to mention the W. Martil or See also:Martin (otherwise W. Bu Sfiha, W. Ras, W.

Mejeksa), which falls into the Bay of Tetuan, and is identified with the Tamuda of Pliny and Thaluda of See also:

Ptolemy. On the Atlantic seaboard there are a number of comparatively small streams north of the Sebu, the See also:chief of which is the winding W. Lekkus, with several tributaries. The Sebu (the Subur magnificus et navigabilis of Pliny) may be compared to the See also:Thames in length and width, though not in steadiness and depth of current. At Meshra'at el-Ksiri, about 70 M. from its mouth, it is about to ft. deep in the See also:month of May and more than 46o ft. wide; and, though its See also:banks are 21 ft. high, extensive inundations occur. The See also:tide ascends as far as El-Kantara, 15 M. above Ma'See also:mora, and See also:steam See also:barges with a small See also:draught of See also:water could make their way to the See also:ford just mentioned, and possibly even as far as Fez. Af luents of the Sebu are W. Mikkes and W. Redem (90 m. long). The See also:swift and muddy current of W. Beht usually loses itself in a swamp before it reaches the See also:main stream. The Bu Ragrag, which debouches between Rabat and Salli, is about the same length as the Beht, but of much more importance.

It and the Urn er-RabI'a (See also:

mother of grass), although their mouths are widely separated, drain the northern slopes of the central Atlas. The impetuous Um er-Rabl'a, with a rocky bed and many rapids, is perhaps as large as the Sebu. W. el-Abiael, W. Akhdar and W. Tessaut are the principal affluents. This last is separated by about ro m. only from the valley of the Tansift, the river which flows to the north of the See also:city of See also:Marrakesh; and by the W. Nefis, the Asif el-Mal (Asif is Berber for river), the W. Usbi, and other smaller tributaries, receives the See also:waters of about r8o m. of the Atlas range. The valley between",;the Atlas and the See also:Anti-Atlas is traversed by the W. See also:Sus, whose ever-flowing stream is sufficient to turn the whole district into a See also:garden. The Massa or W. al-Ghas, though its headwaters drain only one or two of the lesser valleys at the south-west end of the Anti-Atlas, is "about 5o yds. from See also:bank to bank at the mouth, with a depth at high water and in the proper channel of something over a See also:fathom." Farther south is the Assaka, known to European geographers as the W. Nun; and finally the W.

Dra'a is reached, which in length exceeds all the rivers of Morocco, but, except in See also:

spring, when the snows are melting in the See also:highlands, remains throughout its See also:lower reaches a dry sandy channel. In the upper valleys however innumerable streams from the south side of the main See also:chain of the Atlas, the W. Dades from the east, and the Asif Marghen, W. el-Molah, or Warzazet from the west, flow through populous and fertile valleys, and uniting to See also:form the Dra`a cut their way southward through a See also:gorge in the Jebel Soghar, which, as the name implies, is a lower range running parallel to the Atlas proper. For the next 130 M. the stream holds S.S.E., drained at every step by the See also:irrigation canals which turn this region into a See also:green See also:oasis, till at last it:, dwindling current bends westward to the sebkha (salt marsh) of Debaya. For a few See also:weeks once a See also:year the thaw-floods fill this shallow but extensive See also:basin and See also:rush onwards to the Atlantic; but in summer it dries up, and, like the bed of the river for some distance below, is covered with flourishing crops. From the south of the Atlas still farther east descend other streams, the W. Ziz (with its tributaries the W. Todgha and W. Gheris), the W. Ghir, the W. Kenatsa, &c., which, after watering the oases of Medghara, See also:Tafilalt (Sajilmasa), Kenatsa, &c., lose themselves in the sands of the Sahara. [See also:Geology.—The Atlas Mountains, which are built up of a series of ridges rising to 12,000 ft. to the east of Morocco, form the backbone of the country.

The central and highest portions consist of slates, crystalline limestones and See also:

schists of Archean, Pre-See also:Cambrian and possibly of Cambrian ages. They are much folded and broken through by numerous intrusions of basalts and diorites. The See also:mass of Jebel Tezah is composed of See also:mica-schists and porphyries which appear to See also:bear closer resemblances to the metamorphic rocks of See also:Egypt than to the Archean crystalline formation of Central Africa. The strata of the central ridges are succeeded by a great thickness of See also:purple marls, red sandstones, conglomerates and calcareous rocks, occurring in faulted, folded and detached areas and recently considered to range from See also:Silurian to Trias. Later palaeozoic rocks of Devonian and Carboniferous ages also form a broad See also:zone extending into the Sahara on the southern and south-eastern flanks. The whole of the Cretaceous See also:system is represented by the shales and See also:lime-stones occurring between the coast and the edge of the See also:plateau above Morocco, but do not enter into the See also:composition of the High Atlas. Moraines, made up largely of unstriated blocks of See also:porphyry, have been reported from the Upper Atlas. At the See also:foot of the mountains, extensive mounds of See also:boulder beds are See also:developed on an immense See also:scale and were considered by Maw to belong to the Glacial See also:Epoch. Between Damnat and the sea, however, the signs of a former glaciation appear to be insignificant. No moraines occur here, and consequently the glacial origin of the boulder beds described by Maw has been disputed. They are probably alluvial cones brought down from the High Atlas and mountainous regions. From Mogador to 6o m. inland, and over the plains around Marrakesh, a tufaceous See also:deposit forming a hard crust, several feet thick, follows every undulation of the ground.

Immense accumulations of tufa are met with in the See also:

limestone areas of the mountains. The chief tectonic structures which trend N. 2o° E. belong to the Alpine and Mediterraneansystems. The Cretaceous and See also:Tertiary rocks are involved in these movements, which, however, were moulded on an earlier folding affecting the palaeozoic rocks of the Atlas region. The sundering of Africa from See also:Europe at the Straits of Gibraltar took place in See also:late Tertiary times; while the See also:elevation of the See also:Barbary coast to a height of 5o to 70 ft. is of See also:Recent date.] See also:Climate.—The climate is See also:good, and produces a See also:hardy See also:race. Shielded by the Atlas from the hot winds of the Sahara, the coast of the Atlantic offers great attractions to those suffering from See also:chest complaints. Tangier is a recognized See also:health resort, and Mogador and Rabat await development as such. See also:Rain falls only between See also:September and See also:April; on the Atlantic coast it is brought by the south-west See also:wind, and on the Mediterranean sometimes also by the east wind, or sharki, otherwise dry and somewhat trying to invalids. The wonderfully temperate climate of Mogador is due in a great measure to trustworthy trade-winds. In Tangier and Mogador the thermometer seldom rises over 8o° F. or sinks below 40°, although inland the extremes are much greater; and while on the plains or in low-lying cities the See also:heat grows intense, See also:snow gleams on the Atlas nearly all the year See also:round. The best months for visiting the interior are September (if rain has fallen), See also:October, See also:November and the See also:early part of See also:December, or May and See also:June. See also:Fauna.—The See also:absence of woodland keeps wild animals in check.

Besides the See also:

lion, which exists in very limited See also:numbers—and, according to See also:local See also:proverbs, with diminished courage—the spotted See also:leopard, See also:panther, hyaena, See also:jackal, See also:lynx, See also:fox, wild See also:boar, See also:porcupine, See also:antelope and gazelle are the most important. The audad or wild See also:sheep is found in the more inaccessible parts of the Atlas. Rabbits swarm in the country to the north of the Bu Ragrag, and since 187o they have crossed this stream. which used to be their southern limit. See also:Hares are generally See also:common. Rats are from See also:time to time a See also:plague to agriculturists, and the See also:jerboa is frequently met with. A See also:kind of ground-See also:squirrel, the sibsib, occurs in the southern provinces. Monkeys of the same See also:species as those of Gibraltar frequent the neighbourhood of Jebel Musa or Apes' Hill. The common wild birds include blackbirds, goldfinches, linnets, greenfinches, See also:robins, wagtails, skylarks and crested larks, swifts, magpies, cuckoos, lapwings, rollers, several shrikes, as well as turtle-doves, nightingales, jays and See also:buff-backed egrets. The See also:house-See also:sparrow is not found; between Marrakesh and Mogador its place is taken by a beautiful See also:bird (Emberiza strio lata), locally called tabib, or " See also:doctor." The birds of See also:prey include eagles, vultures, ospreys, buzzards, falcons, harriers, kestrels, kites, ravens and See also:hawks. Hawking is still indulged in by some of the country See also:governors, and the See also:Moors are very fond of See also:hunting, many keeping greyhounds. The Barbary See also:partridge is the main resource of the sportsman, though he may also bag several other varieties of partridge, bustards, See also:guinea-See also:fowl, plovers, See also:grouse, See also:snipe, See also:quail, See also:curlew, ducks and other water-fowl. Along the coast there is no lack of gulls, gannets, pelicans, flamingoes, herons, whimbrel, See also:oyster-catchers, &c.

Most towns have their See also:

colony of storks. Several. venomous See also:snakes and two vipers are found, but are not common, and the same may be said of scorpions and tarantulas, but centipedes are more numerous. Human parasites are, however, most to be guarded against. Mosquitos give little trouble save in towns or near water. Invasions of locusts are serious, but intermittent. Lizards, chameleons, tortoises and frogs are See also:familiar See also:objects; it is from Morocco that the small tortoises hawked about the streets of See also:London are usually obtained. Of domestic animals the See also:mule is the great beast of See also:burden, though camels, mares and asses are also employed. The See also:horse is usually a sturdy little See also:animal, but far below the ancient reputation of the Barbary steed. It is seldom used as a draught animal. Roughly broken when See also:young, his mouth is soon spoiled by barbarous bits, and his feet by square shoes. The finest animals are said to be bred in Shiadhma and Abda. In form and See also:size the mules are much See also:superior and usually fetch two or three times the See also:price of the horse.

The horned See also:

cattle are not unlike Alderneys; but being practically untended, and the oxen having to do the ploughing, they furnish a very different quality of See also:milk, yielding it only while the See also:calf looks on; the sheep, for the improvement of which, also, nothing is done, have See also:spiral horns (not infrequently four), rounded foreheads and long, fine See also:wool; the goats, which furnish the famous See also:leather, needing even less care are still more abundant. Domestic fowls are kept in great numbers; they are of the Spanish type, small and prolific. The bonito and See also:mackerel See also:fishery off the coast of Casablanca and Tangier attracts fishers from Spain, See also:Portugal and other parts of Europe. Occasionally a small shoal may be found as far south as Mogador. Soles, turbot, See also:bream, See also:bass, conger See also:eel and See also:mullet are common along the coast, and southern Morocco is visited occasion-ally by shoals of a large See also:fish called the azlimzah (sciaena See also:aquila), rough scaled and resembling a See also:cod, and the tasargelt (Temnodon saltator), the " blue fish " of North See also:America. See also:Crayfish, prawns, oysters and mussels swarm in the rocky places, but the natives have no proper method of catching them, and edible crabs seem unknown. The See also:tunny, See also:pilchard and sardine, and a kind of See also:shad known as the Mogador See also:herring," all prove at times of See also:practical importance. The catching of the shabel, a species of shad, mis-called " Barbary See also:salmon " is a great See also:industry on the principal rivers of the coast, and vast numbers of the fish, which are often from 5 to 15 lb in See also:weight are dried and salted. They ascend from the sea in spring. Barbels and a few other small fish.swarm in the streams, but for the See also:angler there is little real sport. See also:Flora.—From the presence of a large proportion of See also:plants of central and northern Europe (none of the northern plants, however, being of alpine or See also:arctic type) and the absence of southern types characteristic of the sub-tropical zone, See also:Ball concluded that " the Morocco flora is altogether a portion of that great Mediterranean flora which, with local peculiarities, one finds from the See also:Indus to the Atlantic Islands," but that " the See also:mountain flora of Morocco is a southern See also:extension of the European temperate flora, with little or no admixture of extraneous elements, but so long isolated from the neighbouring regions that a considerable number of new specific types have been developed." Of the individual plants none are more remarkable than the ardr and the See also:organ., The former (Callitris quadrivalvis, or Thisja articulate of See also:Shaw) is a See also:cypress-like See also:tree that grows on the Atlas both in Morocco and Algeria. It furnishes gum See also:sandarach; and its beautiful and enduring See also:timber has been Identified with the alerce with which the See also:Cordova See also:cathedral (mosque) was roofed, and with the citrus-See also:wood, arbor vitae, of the ancient See also:Romans.

The See also:

argon, Elaeodendron argan (Argania sideroxylon) is confined to a See also:tract of country extending about 150 m. along the coast, from the river Tansift almost to the river Sus, and about 30 M. in breadth; and it is found nowhere else in the world. The See also:fruit, which ripens between May and See also:August, is an See also:olive-looking See also:nut, greedily eaten by camels, mules, goats, sheep and horned cattle (but not by horses) for the See also:sake of the fleshy pericarp, and crushed by the natives to See also:extract. the oil from the See also:kernel. Though " its strong and fulsome savour " renders it nauseous to the European See also:palate, this oil is largely used in the See also:cookery of southern Morocco. The " prickly See also:pear " and the See also:aloe form part of the features of the landscape from the coast up to the slopes of the mountains, but neither is indigenous. The See also:cork tree has lost ground enormously though it probably forms the See also:staple of the Ma'mora See also:forest, which extends for some 20 M. between the Bu Ragrag and the Sebu. The See also:palmetto is often locally very abundant, but the most common wild tree on the plains is the thorny See also:lotus or See also:mimosa: in the mountainous regions it is reduced to a See also:mere scrub. Lentisks, arbutus, oleanders, junipers and See also:broom are also common, but vast stretches of country are devoid of either trees or shrubs. Citrons, lemons, limes (sweet and sour), apricots, plums, melons, mulberries, walnuts and chest-nuts are common in many parts. Tetuan and Laraish are famous for oranges, See also:Mequinez for quinces, Marrakesh for pomegranates, Fez for See also:figs, Tafilalt and See also:Akka for See also:dates, Sus for almonds, Dukalla for melons, Tagodast, Edanan and Rabat for grapes, and Tarudant for olives. The See also:grape is extensively cultivated, but principally for eating ; the See also:Jews manufacture crude but palatable wines. See also:Sugar, once grown in Sus, to See also:supply the demands of the whole of Morocco, has disappeared as have also See also:cotton and indigo. See also:Indian See also:hemp and See also:tobacco are cultivated under the restrictions of an imperial See also:monopoly—the former (of See also:prime quality) being largely used as See also:hashish, the latter, though never smoked, as See also:snuff.

See also:

Barley is the most usual cereal ; but excellent crops of See also:wheat, See also:maize, See also:millet, See also:rye, beans, peas, chick-peas and canary See also:seed are also obtained. Potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages and See also:beets have been introduced from abroad; otherwise the See also:ordinary vegetables are peas, beans, turnips, onions, See also:garlic, capsicums, cucumbers, marrows and carrots. Sweet herbs are extensively grown for use in cooking and in the preparation of See also:tea. In some of the Atlas valleys there is a See also:wealth of timber, enormous conifers, lo to 12 ft. in girth of See also:stem, oaks, &c., but the greater part of the country has been cleared of forest,"exhibiting only brushwood, and the lesser fruit-trees. Cowan, See also:writing more immediately of the country between Morocco and Mogador, speaks of " drifts of See also:asphodel, white lilies, blue convolvuli, white broom See also:flowers, See also:thyme and See also:lavender, See also:borage, See also:marigold, purple thistles, See also:colossal daisies and poppies "; and Trotter tells how for miles the undulating plateau of Kasar Fara'On was covered with wild flowers, whose varied See also:colours, and the partiality with which each species confined itself to certain ground, gave to the landscape a brilliant and unique appearance. Dark blue, yellow and red—See also:iris, marigold and See also:poppy —occurred in patches an See also:acre in size; farther on whole hills and valleys were of a delicate blue tint from convolvulus and borage. At times the traveller's See also:tent is pitched on a See also:carpet of See also:mignonette--indigenous to the country—at times on a carpet of purple bugloss. In the country of the Beni See also:Hasan squills are so abundant that the See also:fibres of the bulbs are used instead of See also:hair in making tent-See also:cloth; and in the north of Al Kasar al-Kebir the moors are covered for miles with a beautiful white heather. From such gorgeous combinations of See also:colour one can well imagine that the Moors See also:drew the See also:inspiration of their See also:chromatic See also:art; be,, the season of floral splendour is brief, and under the hot See also:sun everything soon sinks into the monotony of See also:straw.' Inhabitants.—No well-founded estimate exists as to the number of inhabitants within the Moorish Empire, and the suggestions ' The See also:botany of Morocco has been explored by Balansa (1867), See also:Hooker, Ball and Maw (1871), See also:Rein and Fritsch (1873), See also:Ibrahim Ammeribt (a Berber See also:collector, 1873, 1876), the See also:Rabbi Mardochee Abi Serur (1872–1873) ; and the results have been systematically arranged in Cosson's Compendium florae atlanticae : ou Flore See also:des etats barbaresques (See also:Paris, 1881, &c.). , vary between five and ten millions. The See also:majority of the inhabitants are See also:pastoral and agricultural in their pursuits; but while large stretches of country are inhabited sparsely or not at all, other parts, especially along the Atlas slopes, are closely dotted with considerable villages whose hardy occupants cultivate every foot of level See also:surface which it is possible to till and irrigate. Three races inhabit Morocco, and the members of two others are continually being introduced.

The most numerous and important are the aboriginal Berbers (q.v.)—known locally also as Amazigh—who inhabit the mountainous districts, and whose See also:

blood to a greater or less extent permeates the whole population. These were the See also:people who thrice conquered Spain—once from the Visigoths, and twice from their less stalwart co-religionists. It has been its See also:constant reinforcement by this Berber See also:element that has maintained the See also:independence of Morocco alone among the countries of North Africa. The plains are for the most part occupied by Arabs (q.v.), introduced in the rlth and 12th centuries, long after the so-called " Arab invasion " of the 7th century, which would have See also:left few traces but for the Moslem missionaries who came after them. A large number of the plainsmen are, however, composite Arabicized Berbers, known to foreigners as " Moors " (q.v.), to which See also:division also the mixed race of the towns belongs. Arabs are never found in the mountains save as religious teachers or authorities, but only a small proportion of them continue nomadic. The third race which may be considered native is the Jewish, consisting of two distinct sections: those settled among the Berbers from time immemorial, speaking their See also:language, and in addition a hideously corrupt Arabic; and those expelled from Europe within comparatively See also:modern times, who have got little farther than the ports, where they speak Spanish with the addition of Arabic. These latter are the most progressive and flourishing of all the inhabitants of Morocco, and in their hands is much of the foreign trade. It is a remarkable fact that several of the so-called Berber tribes are believed to have been of Jewish origin, having embraced See also:Islam on the coming of Mulai Idris. To these white races constant additions of a negro element are being added by the slave-trade with the western Sudan, while inter-marriages between negro and Arab or Berber have produced a proportion of mulattos. The last class consists of the small colonies of Europeans settled at the ports, for the most part engaged in trade. The largest of these colonies, in this See also:case principally Spanish, is found in Tangier.

All such foreigners are under the local See also:

jurisdiction of their own consular courts. They possess more-over the right of claiming the See also:protection of their authorities for natives entrusted with their interests, without which, in the absence of See also:justice, See also:commerce with the interior would be impossible. Language.—The language of Morocco is Berber, of which several dialects are spoken, notably that of the Rif, towards Algeria, and the Shilha of central Morocco and the Sus. Of these very little is known ; but they do not essentially differ from one another or from those of Algeria, notwithstanding considerable See also:variations of See also:pronunciation and a varying proportion of Arabic or other admixtures, there being no written See also:standard to maintain. On the plains and coast of central Morocco, however, Arabic has superseded Berber, as the language of creed and See also:court. Since the 15th century, when See also:Ibn Khaldun found the Arabic of Morocco very corrupt, it has made great strides, and having always been a foreign See also:tongue with the See also:Koran as its See also:model, it has escaped many of the faults into which Eastern Arabic outside See also:Arabia has fallen. This is especially See also:notice-able in the correct Arab value given to the See also:alphabet and in the strictly classical use of many terms, especially among the litterati of Fez. Provinces and Towns.—See also:Political divisions can hardly be said to exist in the Moorish Empire to-See also:day, although it is formed of what were at one time or other the independent kingdoms of Fez and Marrakesh, and the important provinces of Sus, Tafilalt and the Rif, together with the Saharan oases. As administrative See also:units the various subdivisions See also:change according to the relative strength of tribesmen and government. Central Morocco, between the two spurs of the Atlas ending towards Rabat and at Cape Ghir, is, however, naturally parcelled out by its rivers into the districts of Tamsna, Shawiya, Dukalla, Abda, Shiadhma and Idaha, running from north to south along the coast, and Sraghna and Rahamna lying inland from the last three. 854 There are only three great inland cities, each of which in turn serves as See also:metropolis: Fez, Mequinez and Marrakesh. The towns next in importance are the seaports of Tangier, Casablanca (Dar el Baida), Mogador, Mazagan, Saffi, Salli-Rabat, Laraish and Tetuan.

All these places are separately noticed. The ports of Agadir Ighir, Azammur and Azila being closed to trade, are in a decayed See also:

condition. On the Mediterranean shore, along the coast of Er-Rit, the Spaniards have for centuries possessed Ceuta, See also:Person de Velez, Alhucemas and Melilla; in 1848 they appropriated the Chaffarinas Islands. Inland, besides the three cities named, are the sacred towns of Mulai Idris, See also:Zarhon, Sheshawan and Wazzan (the last-named of which alone is open to Europeans), and the See also:minor towns of Al Kasar, Sifru, Taza, Dibdu and Ujda in northern Morocco (once the kingdom of Fez) ; Damnat, El Kla, Sidi Rahal, Zettat and Amzmiz in central Morocco (once the kingdom of Marrakesh); Tarudant, Iligh, Tiznit and Glimin in southern Morocco (once the kingdom of Sus.) The town of Mulai Idris Zarhon lies to the north of Mequinez. See also:James See also:Jackson, who in 1801 managed to pay a hurried visit, is the only European known to have entered its See also:gates. It is a place of apparently 1500 to 2000 inhabitants, compact, and with several large buildings, the principal of which is the shrine of Mulai Idris, the founder of the Moorish Empire, round which the place has grown. Wazzan is the seat of a sharif or See also:noble descended from Mulai Idris, whose See also:family has been greatly reverenced for over two See also:hundred years. It was built by Mulai Abd Allah es-Sharif (d. 1675), and is open to European visitors, which Sheshawan (or Shefshawan), another sacred city of sharifs, founded in 1471, a day's ride into the mountains south of Tetuan, is not. Sifru is picturesquely situated amidst gardens, a See also:short day's ride from Fez. Taza is a considerable trading centre on the route between Fez and the Algerian frontier. The population, in See also:Leo's time 20,000, is now 5000, of whom 800 are Jews.

Dibdu, to the east of Taza, is a small but important Jewish centre. About 120 M. east of Taza, and only to from the frontier, is Ujda (Oudjda of the French), in the midst of an See also:

orange See also:grove. Marrakesh is the only really large city of central Morocco. Damnat is a walled town of magnificent situation in the Atlas, east of Marrakesh, between which and the Um er-Rabi'a are the less important Sidi Rahal and El Kla. Amzmiz lies in the Atlas, south-west of Marrakesh. Tarudant, the See also:capital of Sus, is situated between the Atlas and the river Sus; it is a place of from 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants, already a flourishing town in the 12th century, rebuilt by the Sa'adi Dynasty early in the 16th, and refortified by El Hasan IV. in 1882. Tiznit, which lies to the south, until then but a village, was in 1882 converted into a town by El Hasan IV., and walled. Iligh (1300 ft.) above a stream which joins the Massa, is the chief town of Tazirwalt, the state of Sidi Hisham, an independent principality founded by Sidi Ahmed u Musa; and Glimin or Agelmin, in like manner is the chief town of the Wad Nun district. Tagaost, about 40 M. inland from Ifni, was formerly a large city, and in the 16th century the seat of a Spanish factory trading in See also:archil. Communications.—See also:Regular and fairly frequent steamship services See also:link Morocco with the principal ports of the world, though in some instances transshipment at Gibraltar is necessary. The tourist See also:traffic has grown greatly since the last See also:quarter of the 19th century. Great See also:Britain, Spain, France and See also:Germany have postal agencies, running competing See also:courier mails along the coast and to the capitals, while Great Britain, France and Spain have laid telegraphic cables from Gibraltar, See also:Oran and See also:Tarifa respectively to Tangier; but the extension of wires inland, save for telephones and electric light, was prohibited up to 1909.

A railway about 24 M. long, connecting Casablanca and Ber Reshid, was opened in September 1908. This was the first line built in Morocco. There is also a railway from Melilla to some neighbouring mines. In general travelling in the interior is what it was a thousand years ago. There being practically no made roads and few See also:

bridges, vehicular traffic is out of the question, and even the transport of goods and persons on the backs of animals lacks the facilities provided in some Eastern lands—as See also:Persia, for instance—in regular posting stations and caravanserais, here known as fandaks. Travellers have therefore to carry tents and all conveniences desired. Throughout the central Moroccan plains it is generally perfectly safe to travel unguarded, but in mountainous districts it is customary to be accompanied by a mounted policeman (makhazni) whose See also:duty is as much to prevent travellers attempting exploration as to afford them protection. Resources of the Country.—The natural products of the country remain almost entirely undeveloped. In applications for concessions for See also:mining and other exploitation, the government has seen the possibility of further complications with Europe: so that if, by whole-See also:sale See also:bribery, any See also:grant was obtained a nullifying clause was inserted, or the first occasion seized to raise anew insuperable obstacles. After the See also:conference at See also:Algeciras in 1906, however, the government was obliged to grant various concessions. The breeding of horses or cattle and the rearing of birds for European markets increase in spite of restriction and heavy dues. One of the most promising of recent developments has been the growing supply of chickens, eggs, and fruit to Europe—even to England.

The See also:

fisheries also are capable of great expansion, and are at See also:present almost entirely in the hands of Portuguese and Spaniards. See also:Agriculture.—It is still true, as in the time of See also:Addison, that theMoors " seldom reap more than will bring the year about," and the failure of a single See also:harvest causes inevitable dearth. Only a small part of the available See also:land is cultivated; and the cultivated portion possessed by each tribe is divided into three parts, one only of which is sown each year. With a plough of the most See also:primitive description the Moorish See also:peasant scarcely scratches the surface of the See also:soil; his See also:harrow is a few branches of trees weighted with heavy stones. The See also:corn is cut See also:close to the See also:ear with short serrated See also:sickles, and the straw is left standing. Underground See also:granaries or matmoras are excavated beneath the tufaceous crust which covers much of the lowlands, sometimes capable of holding 2000 quarters; they preserve their contents in good condition for many years. See also:Mineral Wealth.—T See also:hat mineral deposits of great value exist in Morocco there is little doubt. At Jebel Hadid or the Iron Mountain, in Abda, disused mines may still be visited, and in Sus iron has long been worked. In the Beni See also:Madan hills near Tetuan are mines, closed, it is said, by the sultan 'Abd er-Ral See also:man; but whether they furnished See also:copper or See also:lead authorities differ. On the road to Kenatsa, Rohlfs saw lead and See also:antimony worked. Antimony especially seems to be abundant to the south of the Atlas; Rohlfs found it in a very pure state near Tesna, and Dr See also:Allen saw splendid See also:veins of it north of the Dra'a. That gold existed in Sus was long suspected; Gatell proved it.

Rock-salt occurs in the mountains north of Fez, in the valley of the W. Martil, and probably in Jebel Zarhon. In several places, as in the route from Saffi to Morocco, are brine lakes, from which the salt is collected and exported as far as Central Africa. Manufactures.— The manufactures are few, and the most famousleather—is now either exported undressed to See also:

Marseilles or See also:Philadelphia, or is counterfeited by machinery in London or Paris. With the exception of slippers and shawls supplied to Moors established in the See also:Levant, manufactured exports consist principally of carpets, rugs, trays, arms and " curios " for decorative purposes. , For See also:home use the Moors do much See also:spinning, See also:weaving, and See also:dyeing, chiefly of wool; but although it is possible to See also:dress superbly in native-made articles, every year See also:sees an increasing importation of See also:Manchester and See also:Yorkshire goods, rivalled by the cheaper products of See also:Barcelona and See also:Austria—in the last case with great success. Commerce.—The See also:external trade of Morocco is mainly with Great Britain, France, Germany and Spain. The proportion of trade taken by Britain, formerly fully 50 % of the whole, had decreased in 1905 to 32 %, in which year France's See also:share was 39 %, that of Germany nearly 12% and that of Spain 5%. See also:Statistics as to its value are difficult to obtain, and not altogether trustworthy; the See also:British See also:consul at Tangier, writing in 1906, declared : " No information is to be obtained from the Moorish See also:custom-houses and no statistics whatever are published by the Moorish government." From such See also:sources as were available the exports in 1873 (a year of phenomenally good crops) were valued at about £i,5oo,000 and the imports at £934,ogo. Twenty years later (1903) the exports were valued at £1,6o1,000 and the imports at £2,656,000. A British consular return gave the value of the trade in 1906 as: Exports £1,756,109, imports £2,976,900. According to French See also:official returns the value of trade See also:fell in 1907 to £3,200,000, but had risen in 1908 to £4,400,000.

Phoenix-squares

This includes the trade through the eight open Moroccan ports (Tangier, Tetuan, Laraish, Rabat, Casablanca, Mazagan, Saffi and Mogador), the trade through Melilla, and that by the land frontier with Algeria. The trade with Algeria is valued at from £300,000 to 5oo,000 a year. Statistics as to the considerable trade done by caravans See also:

crossing the Sahara are entirely lacking. The chief articles of exports are skins and hides, sheep, oxen and goats, wool, barley, eggs, beeswax, almonds and slippers. Maize, peas and chick-peas are also considerable exports in years of good crops. Cotton goods form the chief articles of import (exceeding £800,000 in value in 1906), sugar, tea, See also:flour and semolina coming next. Other imports include cloth, candles, iron and hardware, wines and See also:spirits. Wheat and oxen are imported overland from Algeria. See also:Finance.—The only part of the See also:revenue which can be estimated with any degree of accuracy are the customs, which during the early years of the 2oth century yielded about £5oo,000 per annum. Under the provisions of the See also:act of Algeciras the Morocco State Bank was established in 1907. It is a limited liability See also:company and subject to the See also:law of France. The capital of the bank is £800,000 and the head See also:office is at Tangier.

The See also:

directors represent the various See also:groups subscribing the capital, French financiers contributing a share twice as large as that of any other group in return for the relinquishment of the right of France to take up all new loans at the See also:rate of the lowest See also:tender. The bank holds a concession from the state for See also:forty years, and acts as its treasurer and See also:financial See also:agent. It alone has the power of issuing notes. A Moorish high See also:commissioner and four censors (representing the Bank of England, the Bank of France, the Bank of Spain and the See also:German Imperial Bank) See also:watch over the working of the bank. In all legal disputes in which the bank is concerned the Federal Court at See also:Lausanne is the final authority. There is a Moorish coinage based on that of the Latin See also:Union; Spanish See also:money is also legal tender. Moorish weights and See also:measures vary from town to town, but in the foreign trade the decimal system has almost entirely superseded the native See also:chaos. See also:Credit is allowed by European houses at their peril, and in some lines profits are cut ruinously fine or done away with altogether by dishonest practices, many arising out of the long credit in See also:vogue. Government.—The Moorish government is a limited See also:autocracy, the theoretically See also:absolute power of the sultan being greatly circumscribed by the religious influences which in a measure support him, and by the official See also:proletariat with which he is surrounded. The central government is known as the maghzen or makhzan (an Arabic word primarily meaning storehouse), a See also:term also applied to the whole administrative See also:body and collectively to the privileged tribes from whose ranks the state officials are recruited. At the head of the See also:administration are wazirs or ministers of state, who possess no power independent of the sultan's will. The wazirs in general accompany the court, but the See also:minister for foreign affairs is stationed at Tangier.

Local administration is directed by the governors of provinces and towns, who are nominated by the See also:

wazir ed dakhaldni (minister of the interior). The subordinate town officials are appointed by the See also:governor, and sheiks See also:direct the affairs of the villages. All appointments are practically without pay, office holders being expected to obtain remuneration from " presents," i.e. bribes and See also:extortion. Attached to the government service are a number of tribes (called maghzen tribes), who furnish the sultan's body-guard, See also:garrison certain towns, and perform other duties in return for exemption from See also:taxation. There was no regular See also:assessment for taxation, but such organized spoliation as might be required for public or private ends. That part of the empire where the sultan's authority is supreme is known as blad el-maghzen (government country); those regions where the sultan's authority is See also:precarious are called blad es-siba (the unsubmissive country). All the See also:powers are represented in Tangier by See also:diplomatic and consular officials, whose independent jurisdiction over their respective See also:fellow-subjects leads to the frequent confusion of justice. The evidence of non-Mahommedans is not accepted in Moorish courts, where venality reigns, and unprotected Jews suffer constant injustice, besides daily indignities, for which they repay themselves by superior astuteness. See also:Army.—A See also:half-organized army—service in which is partly hereditary, partly forced—is periodically employed in See also:collecting taxes at See also:sword-point, and in " eating up " the provinces; with it the custom is (or was) for the sultan to go forth to See also:war each summer, spending the winter in one of his capitals. The only approach to a regular army consists of certain hereditary troops furnished by the maghzen tribes, the See also:Bokhara (See also:black), the Udaia (See also:mulatto), the Ashragah and Ashrardah (white), and the Gaish, who form a body of See also:police, Makhhaznia (mixed), all of whom are horsemen. The See also:infantry (Askaria) are mostly rough levies; only a small portion being well trained under European See also:officers. No accurate estimate can be formed of the See also:total available forces, and the arms are of every See also:pattern.

There is no See also:

navy, but the government possesses several small steamers, one or two mounting guns. See also:Religion.—The religion of Morocco is Islam, the Moors being among the strictest followers of See also:Mahomet. The divisions of the East are unknown, and their tenets include the principal teachings of both Shias and Sunnis, but, as employing the Maleki See also:ritual, they must be classed with the latter. Recognizing their own sultan as See also:Amir el Mu'minin (" See also:Commander of the Faithful ") and See also:Khalifa of See also:God on See also:earth, they acknowledge no other claimant to that position, and have few dealings with the See also:Turks, whom they consider corrupt. They have not yet given way extensively to strong drink. See also:Missions.—The See also:Franciscans for six and a half centuries did brave See also:work in the country, since the founder of their See also:order offered himself for that task in 1214, and many of them, including several British and Irish missionaries, suffered martyrdom; but they have long abandoned attempts to convert the Moors. The London Jewish Society was established in Mogador in 1875, and since 1883 various See also:Protestant agencies support a considerable number of missionaries, men and See also:women, including doctors anti nurses. See also:Education.—The level of education could hardly be lower, although most See also:males have an opportunity of learning to recite or read the Koran, if not to write. Only traders trouble about See also:arithmetic. Youths who desire to pursue their studies attend colleges in Fez or elsewhere to acquire some knowledge of Mahommedan See also:theology, See also:logic, composition and See also:jurisprudence. Literature and Travel.—Journalism is entirely foreign, and was introduced in 1883, at the same time as the See also:printing-See also:press, Spanish, French and English See also:newspapers being established in See also:quick See also:succession. The sultan el Hasan III. set up a lithographic See also:establishment in Fez, from which a valuable series of Arabic theological, legal and See also:historical See also:works have been issued, but most noteworthy of all is the publication in See also:Cairo in 1895 of an Arabic See also:history of Morocco, in four volumes, by855 a native of Salli, Ahmad See also:bin Khalid en-Nasiri.

A most practical step was taken by the French, on the conclusion of the agreement with Great Britain in 1904, in the establishment of a state-subventioned See also:

Mission scientifique au Maroc, which, in addition to establishing at Tangier the only public library in the empire, engaged a number of able students in See also:research work, the results of which are embodied in the periodical publications Archives marocaines (6 vols., 1904–1906) and L'Afrique francaise. Other forward steps have been taken in the See also:production of several important volumes on the country and in serious attempts to explore the Atlas. The vicomte de Foucauld attained the first place by his intrepid journeys as a See also:Jew through the forbidden regions and by his workman-like See also:geographical records; See also:Joseph See also:Thomson did good work in the Great Atlas, though within a limited area; the vicomte de la Martiniere excavated some of the Roman remains; Mr See also:Walter B. See also:Harris made a bold See also:journey to Tafilalt; and the See also:marquis de Segonzac and See also:Louis Gentil added to the knowledge of the Atlas by interesting expeditions.' A hydrographic mission under A. H. Dye also did valuable work (1905–1909). An equally important service was rendered by the compilation by See also:Sir R. See also:Lambert See also:Playfair and Dr See also:Robert See also:Brown of an invaluable Bibliography of Morocco to the end of 1891 (1893), containing over two thousand entries. History.—The prehistoric antiquities of Morocco are of considerable interest. In the See also:cave at Cape Spartel Tissot found regularly shaped arrow-heads, and in the north of the country he met with dolmens, barrows and cromlechs, just as in Algeria or See also:Tunisia. The dolmens usually form a trapezium, and the body seems to have been buried with the knees See also:drawn up to the See also:chin. At M`zorah, a See also:quaint little village of widely-scattered houses built of rough blocks of yellow soft See also:sandstone, about 8 or so m. south-east from Azila, stands a group of megalithic monuments of some interest.

They have been visited and described by many travellers, but See also:

Watson's See also:account is the most detailed. Round the See also:base of a See also:mound (i5 ft. high) of yellow sandstone lies a circle of sixty-seven large stones, one of which (at the west side) is. more than 20 ft. high. In the vicinity are several other groups, some of still larger blocks. Roman roads (see AFRICA, ROMAN) seem to have run from Tangier southwards to the neighbourhood of Mequinez (Miknasa), and from Azila to the south of Rabat; and Roman sites are in several instances marked by considerable remains of See also:masonry. At Kaar Fara'on (See also:Pharaoh's See also:Castle), on the western slope of J. Zarhon, are the ruins of Volubilis. The See also:enceinte, constructed of large stones and flanked by round towers, is 12,000 ft. in extent. Four gates are still recognizable, and a triumphal See also:arch erected in A.D. 216 in See also:honour of See also:Caracalla and Julia Domna. The stones of this site have been used for Mequinez Miknas. Banasa (Colonia Aelia, originally See also:Valentia) is identified with the ruins of Sidi All Bu Jenun, and Thamusida with those of Sidi See also:Ali b. Hamed.

At Shammish, up the river from Laraish, the city of Lixus (Trinx of Strabo) has splendid specimens of Punic and Roman stonework, and the similar remains on the headland of Mulai Bu Selham probably belong to the Mudelacha of See also:

Polybius. Of early Moorish See also:architecture good examples are comparatively few and badly preserved. Besides those in Fas, Miknas, and Marrakesh, it is sufficient to mention the See also:mausoleum of the Beni-Marin (13th to 16th centuries) at Shelia, which, with the adjoining mosque, is roofless and ruined, but possesses a number of funeral See also:inscriptions. The earliest records touching on Morocco are those of See also:Hanno's Periplus, which mentions that Carthaginian colonies were planted along the coast. The See also:savage and inhospitable tribes with whom they came in contact included cave-dwellers; but megalithic remains point to a yet earlier race. It is not till the last century B.C. that Moroccan Berbers are found supplying troops to See also:Pompey or See also:Sertorius, and later, under See also:Augustus, becoming themselves incorporated in the Roman See also:province of See also:Mauretania (q.v., and also AFRICA, ROMAN). But the Roman province reached only to the Bu Ragrag, on which See also:Sala, now Salli, was its outpost; Volubilis, near Mequinez, being its principal, if not its only, inland city. In the fifth century A.D. the country became subject to the See also:Vandals and, about 6r8, to the Goths. Gentil, in La Geographie, No. 3 (1908), describes the Siroua region, which, N.N.W. of Tikirt, connects the Anti Atlas and the High Atlas. The Siroua See also:volcano compares with the finest volcanoes of Europe. The coming of the Arabs under 'Ogba ('Okba) in 682 was of far greater moment, though it was not till twenty years later that his successor, Musa ibn Nosair, undertook a The Arab successful expedition as far as Tafilalt and the Dra'a.

Invasion, 68-710. The force of ten thousand Arabs and Egyptians with whom Tarig(Tarik) ibn Zaid held the Tangier district in 7ro was trebled by the enrolment of the Berbers, who enabled him next year to invade Spain, burning his boats behind him (see See also:

CALIPHATE, § C. See also:Abbasids). But the Moroccan Berbers chafed beneath the Arab See also:rule, and in 739 successfully revolted, setting up their first independent ruler, Maisara. Their kinsmen in Spain followed suit with equal success, and though subdued for a time, they retained their independence in certain parts till the 1 rth century, when, as masters of See also:Granada, they subjugated their implacable foes, the Arabs; and finally, under the Murabti and Muwahhadi dynasties, conquered all Mahommedan Spain. The recorded history of the Moorish Empire commences with the See also:settlement near the Roman ruins of Volubilis in A.D. 788 of Early Idris the See also:elder (Idris b. Abdallah),one of the fugitive Dynasties. descendants of Mahomet during the struggles be- tween See also:rival claimants of the caliphate. Islam had then been established in these parts for eighty years, but Idris and his son, Idris II., the builder of Fez, extended its See also:influence, uniting the Berbers into a kingdom. Their line controlled a limited portion of northern Morocco for nearly two centuries, in part supplanted by the Miknasa in 922, until displaced by the Maghrawa in 988. These two dynasties were exterminated in io6r by Yusef I. (bin Tashfin), founder of the Murabti dynasty of Berbers (See also:Almoravides), who added the See also:remainder of Morocco, most of Spain and Portugal, and See also:Tlemcen.

Their principal existing See also:

monument is the city of Marrakesh. In 1149 the Murabti power was overthrown by another religious See also:leader, 'Abd el Mumin at the head of the Muwahhadi—i.e. " Unitarian " —See also:horde (See also:Almohades), under whom the Moorish Empire reached its See also:zenith at the close of the 12th century. It then included, in addition to the Murabti See also:realm, what now are Algeria, Tunisia and See also:Tripoli, extending to the frontier of Egypt, which they were prevented from occupying by the rise of See also:Saladin. Before the See also:middle of the 13th century they had been driven out of Spain, and had lost all but what is now known as Morocco, whence, between 1217 and 1269, they were ousted by the Beni Marin (Marinides). To them we owe the Giralda, Hasan and Kutubiya towers of See also:Seville, Rabat and Marrakesh respectively, the Torre de Oro at Seville, Gibraltar Castle, and the towns of Rabat and Al liasar. It was under their rule that See also:Francis of See also:Assisi despatched to Morocco the first See also:Christian missionaries of modern times. (See ALMORAVIDES and ALMOHADES.) The new dynasty differed from the two which had preceded it in being frankly part of a Berber tribe, the See also:Zenata, who carved out a kingdom for themselves. Having assisted Beni Marin the Murabtis and Muwabbadis respectively at the 12134524. battles of El Arcos (1195) and Las Navas (1212), the defection of their amir on that occasion offered an opportunity for Abd-el-See also:Hal, the son of their general, to See also:attempt the overthrow of the reigning house. At first the Beni Marin professed allegiance to See also:Tunis, where the Hafsis, a See also:branch of the Muwabbadis, had thrown off the Moorish yoke and secured acknowledgement in northern Morocco and parts of Spain. But they were soon in a position to proclaim See also:complete independence, and by the time that See also:Abu Bakr, the third son of Abd-el-HaVlF. to succeed him, died, in 1258, they held sway over all that is now known as Morocco, and 1269 saw the See also:death of the last Muwahhadi See also:prince. On the death of Abu Bakr there succeeded Yakub II., one of the few amirs of Morocco who have left a name for just administration and for philanthropic undertakings.

Although of strict religious habits, he displayed no bigotry, studying See also:

philosophy, and entering into friendly intercourse with Europeans, whom he encouraged to trade with Salli. In 1261, 1275 and 1277-1279, he undertook successful expeditions to Spain, and again in 1284, this time, in See also:alliance with See also:Alphonso of See also:Leon, against hisrebel son Sancho. But Alphonsodying during the struggle, Yakub found himself See also:master of his country, and Sancho had to acknowledge his See also:suzerainty. All Mahommedans within his realm were freed from all taxes, and all the Arabic See also:manuscripts of the country—thirteen loads—were despatched to the See also:college Yakub had built in Fez. But Yakub did not live to reap the benefits of his See also:conquest, which were enjoyed by his son, Yusef IV. (1286), who was courted by his See also:father's old foes, entering into amicable relations with Tunis, Egypt, Arabia and the neighbouring European states. With the contemporaneous Beni Zeiyan dynasty of Tlemcen, sworn foes of his house, however, he was still at war when stabbed (1307) in the new town of Tlemcen, which he had built while conducting a See also:siege of the old town. A second siege was begun in 1335, and Tlemcen fell in 1337 to the See also:fourth ruler of the dynasty, Ali V., Abu 1 Hasan, better known as " The Black Sultan." Unsuccessful in his invasion of Spain and Tunisia, Ali had eventually to abdicate in 1351 in favour of hie See also:rebel son, the famous " Abu Ainan," Faris I., who during a short reign recovered Algeria and Tunisia. The Beni Marin were soon driven back, till a few years later Tlemcen alone remained to them, and this they held only till 1359 (see TLEMCEN). Thereafter their empire became habitually divided between rival claimants, and the Portuguese began to obtain footholds on the coast, Ceuta being lost to them in r415, Al Kasar in 1458, and Azila and Tangier in 1471. On the failure of the Beni Marin the amirate was seized by Sa'id III., " El Wattas," head of another branch, founder of the short-lived Wattasi dynasty. His reign is memor- waitasI able as that in which the " See also:Catholic Princes " Dynasty, expelled his co-religionists from Spain, the last 1471-1548. amir of Granada and many others taking See also:refuge in Morocco, where in 1492 they built for themselves Tetuan.

His son, Mahomet VIII., surnamed " the Portuguese," because so long a prisoner of that people, had to suffer the loss to Portugal of practically all his Atlantic ports but Salli-Rabat, and of Person de Velez to Spain, which had a few years previously captured Melilla. Although two more reigns carried the dynasty down to 1550, it has barely left its See also:

mark upon the country. From the beginning of the new century a rising power had been making itself See also:felt in the south, over which the Wattasis never held sway. The family of sharifs or " nobles "—that is, descendants of Mahomet—popularly known as the Sa'adi or Hasani (Hosaini), settled in the Dra'a district, but originally came from Sa'adi Yanboa, near See also:Medina. Their opportune religious Dynasts, leadership rallied the disjointed members of the 15244668-empire for a jehdd against the Portuguese, but ultimately, on the death of Mahomet VIII., when in See also:possession of the kingdom of Marrakesh, the sharifs defeated his successor and arranged a formal division of the country at the Um er-Rabi'a. At the head of the See also:movement were then the two sons of the sharif who had started it, Ahmed III. and Mahomet IX., between whom rivalry See also:broke out, resulting in the success of the latter, who by 1550 found himself the master of the whole empire on carrying off the last Wattasi amir Mahomet and espousing his daughter. On the assassination of Mahomet IX. in 1557, the succession passed by a previous agreement to his See also:brother's son, 'Abd-Allah IV., who secured himself against the possible rivalry of his See also:brothers by putting ten of the twelve to death. One of the survivors, however, Abd-el-Malek I., deposed Abd-Allah's son, Mahomet XI., whose See also:appeal to See also:Sebastian of Portugal for assistance, brought about the celebrated " See also:battle of the three See also:kings," in which they all perished in 1578 near Al Kasar. This opened the way to the most famous of his line, Ahmed IV., Ed-Dhahebi, or " the See also:Golden," who proclaimed himself See also:caliph, the last (nominal) Abbasid holder of that office having been superseded by the Turks on their conquest of Egypt in 1517.. He entered into friendly relations with See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth and other European potentates, and the oases of That, &c., were added to his dominions, which embraced also See also:Timbuktu, whence came gold and tobacco. Ahmed fell a victim of the plague in 1603, and the of Fez. Before tracing the history of the Filali dynasty, which still holds its own, it will be convenient to refer briefly to the relations which subsisted then (17th century) and for many years afterwards, apart from See also:wars with Spain and Portugal, between the Moors and Europeans.

From the early part of the' 13th century there are records of Christian mercenaries and others in the Moorish service, while intermittent trading expeditions had already brought the principal European ports of the Mediterranean into See also:

touch with Morocco. The settlement of European traders in Moorish ports does not appear to have commenced till later; but it soon became an important See also:factor, for the Moors have always appreciated the advantages of foreign commerce, and thus the way was opened up for diplomatic intercourse and treaty privileges. Even while their rovers were scouring the seas and making slaves of the foreigners captured, foreign merchants were encouraged to trade among them under guarantees and safe-conducts. Thus originated all the rights enjoyed by foreigners in Morocco to-day, as subsequently confirmed by See also:treaties. France was the first to appoint a consul to Morocco, in 1597, Great Britain only doing so a century later. For centuries the treatment of foreign envoys in Morocco was most humiliating, the presents they brought being regarded in the light of See also:tribute. It was not till the year 1900 that the custom was abolished of mounted sultans under umbrellas receiving ambassadors on foot and bareheaded. While, from the European point of view, the pirates of the Barbary coast were a bloodthirsty set of robbers, in no way The Sallee to be distinguished from the sweepings of Western Rovers. See also:civilization who scoured the seas farther east, from the standpoint of the Moors they were the pious religious warriors for the faith, who had volunteered to punish the See also:Nazarenes for rejecting Mahomet, and it is difficult to realize the honour in which their memory is held save by comparison with that of the Crusaders, in which the positions were exactly reversed. The Moorish rovers approached as nearly to an organized navy as anything the country ever possessed, and at times they were fitted out by the state, to whom their prizes therefore belonged. They made descents on the opposite coasts, even as far as See also:Devon and See also:Cornwall, carrying off the population of whole hamlets. Salli, Ma'mora (Mehediya), Laraish, Tangier, Ceuta, Tetuan, and Badis were their principal See also:rendezvous in Morocco, and their vessels, an assortment of almost every known build and rig of the day, varied greatly in numbers and size. It is probable, however, that contemporary writers greatly over-estimated their importance.

They appear to have flourished chiefly throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and to have attained the zenith of their power during the latter part of the 17th century. A great impetus was given to their raids by the See also:

expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1610, and their operations were facilitated later by the recovery of most of the Moorish ports from foreign hands. The varying influence of the different European states could be gauged at first by the prices they were compelled to pay to See also:ransom their See also:captive subjects, and later by the See also:annual tribute which they were willing to present to protect their vessels. Some countries continued the paymentwell into the r9th century, although the See also:slavery of Christians in Morocco had been abolished by treaty in 1814. During the time that piracy flourished hundreds of thousands of foreigners suffered captivity, See also:torture and death in Morocco rather than abjure their faith, the one condition on which a measure of freedom within Morocco was offered to them. The horrors of that time were keenly felt in Christendom, and collections were constantly made at See also:church doors for the ransom of Moorish captives. Frequent expeditions for that purpose were undertaken by members of religious brotherhoods, not a few of whom themselves became martyrs. The See also:lot of the European slave was infinitely worse than that of the negro who indifferently embraced Islam, and was at once admitted to equality in all points save freedom. They were principally employed on public works or in galleys under the task-master's lash, both men and women being subjected to every indignity. The See also:record of the Filali dyrpty may now be considered. The first of this line proclaimed in EFez was Mahomet See also:Mail XIV., but the first of European fame was his brother, Dynasty, Rashid II., " The Great Tafilatta," as he was styled (1649-.) by the English, who then occupied Tangier, sultan from 1664 to 1672. With him opened a terrible epoch of bloodshed and See also:cruelty, only once revived since—during the short reign of El Yazid (1790-1792)—the horrors of which for both natives and Europeans, are often indescribable.

It reached its See also:

climax under his brother Isma'il. A man of wonderful vitality, his reign lasted 55 years (1672-1727), during which his fierce grasp never relaxed. Many hundreds of sons and countless daughters were See also:born to him in a See also:harem rivalling that of See also:Solomon, for which he even asked a daughter of Louis XIV. Having, as he supposed, driven the English from Tangier, he laid unsuccessful siege to Ceuta for 26 years, but otherwise his military measures were confined to subduing See also:internal enemies, in which he was supported by his faithful black troops, the Bokharis, and also by a foreign See also:legion of renegades. For 3o years after Isma'il's death one son after another was set up by the Bokharis, seven succeeding—some of them more than once—till one, Abd-Allah V., who partook of his father's bloodthirsty nature, ended his See also:sixth turn of power in 1757. Then, at last, this dynasty provided a beneficent See also:sovereign in the person of his son, Mahomet XVI., during whose reign of 33 years the land prospered. By him Mogador was built and Mazagan, the last hold of the Portuguese, recovered. He was followed by the wretch Yazid, his son by an English or Irish woman, whose reign was fortunately cut short while contending with four rival brothers, two of whom in turn succeeded him, the second, Sulaiman II., proving as See also:wise a ruler as his father. Under his reign (1795-1822) piracy was abolished, but the policy, maintained till the end of the century, of having as little as possible to do with foreigners was initiated. By Sulaiman's direction the imperial See also:umbrella passed to his See also:nephew, Abd-er-Rahman II., on whom he could rely to maintain his policy. Although disposed to promote foreign trade, he made a futile attempt in 1828 to revive piracy, which the Austrians frustrated by See also:reprisals next year. Following this was the war of 183o with France over the See also:partition of Algeria, as a result of which the Moors renounced all claim to Tlemcen and entered into agreements the infraction of which led to a second war between the two in 1844, during which Tangier and Mogador were bombarded.

A See also:

bombardment of Salli in 1851 secured for the French the settlement of various claims, and when Abd-er-Rahman died, in 1859, the Spaniards were threatening Tetuan. War being declared, the Spaniards marched on the town, which they captured after two months, and held till See also:peace was signed six months later on their own terms. The vanquished sultan, Mahomet XVII., reigned till his death in 1873, when his son, El Hasan III., succeeded, having the usual fight to secure the supremacy. In comparison with his predecessors El Hasan was mild and See also:gentle, too much so to maintain continual succession was disputed by three of his sons. In 16o8 one of them, Zidan, became supreme and reigned twenty years. To subdue rebellions Zidan twice obtained the assistance of English troops from See also:Charles I., and, like his father, employed large numbers of European artificers in the various palaces he built or completed. The two sons who succeeded him had both become drunkards from intercourse with these foreigners, but a third, Mahomet XIII., called from See also:prison to reign in 1636, proved himself a wise and beneficent ruler. But his friendship for Europeans displeased the more fanatical among his subjects, and after a futile attempt on the part of a central Moroccan " See also:saint " of great reputation to oust him, and the " Christians " on the coast as well, another family of sharifs was invited from Tafilalt to undertake the task, and by 1649 they were masters European Relations with Morocco. Christian Slaves. peace among the more turbulent of his subjects. From early in the century Sus had practically maintained independence, but in 1882 was reduced to submission, as also were subsequently the other great Berber centres, one by one, till the land had See also:rest. Fighting between the RIflans and Spaniards in 1894 having involved the. sultan in the See also:payment of some £65o,000 See also:indemnity, he was on his way to recover this from the culprits when he died in See also:camp and was interred at Rabat.

El-Hasan's death was kept See also:

secret till the See also:coffin reached its destination, so that a peaceful See also:proclamation was secured for `Abd-el-'Aziz IV., his son by a Circassian slave who The Reign possessed great influence over him. His trusted °fz` el- •As7aIV. See also:chamberlain, Si Ahmed See also:ben Musa> became Wazir See also:regent, and put down all opposition, ruling with a See also:firm, wise hand till 1900, when he died just as his See also:ward attained his majority. Drastic changes thereon took place, and a new set of ministers came into power. The young sultan now showed himself desirous of acquiring and practising foreign arts and of introducing foreign reforms. Under his mother's See also:advice he sought especially the, friendship and advice of Great Britain, on whose disinterested friendship he believed he could rely. But lack of training and experience frustrated his praiseworthy efforts, and he became the prey of schemers and speculators, who pandered to his worst traits and squandered his treasure. This turn of affairs aroused the fanaticism of his people, and in 1902 the Berber tribes of the Algerian frontier See also:rose in See also:rebellion under Jelali Zarhoni, nicknamed " Bu Hamara," who claimed to be fighting on behalf of the sultan's brother Mahomet, already imprisoned in Mequinez for revolt.' Unable to subdue the rebellion, which did not, however, affect the rest of the empire, `Abd-el-'Aziz borrowed money from France to reorganize his army, but failed to effect his purpose. Mean-while a local sharif, Mulai Ahmed er-Raisuli, made himself master of the district round Tangier, holding even foreigners to ransom, and creating a false impression abroad as to the general.state of the empire. The end appeared near when by a See also:declaration, signed in London on the 8th of April 1904, Great Britain, in return for concessions in Egypt, agreed not to interfere with French See also:action in Morocco. In this declaration, one of the series of arrangements marking the establishment of the entente cordiale, France declared that she had no intention of changing the political status of Morocco. She designed, however, a system of " pacific penetration," and administrative, economic, financial and military reforms—reforms which the Moorish court did not desire. By a See also:separate See also:convention with Spain in October 1904 the interests of that country were safeguarded, and it seemed that the Anglo-French agreement had the approval of all the powers.

Some weeks before its conclusion its terms had been communicated to Germany, and four days after its See also:

signature See also:Count Billow had stated in the Reichstag that there was no ground to apprehend that German interests (" essentially economic ") in Morocco would be disregarded. During the remaining months of 1904, however, and in the opening months of 1905, the See also:international situation was changed. Germany had viewed with concern the increased influence of France in Europe, but remained quiescent until after the reverses to the See also:Russian arms in See also:Manchuria, when it was judged in See also:Berlin that the time had arrived for Germany to become the arbiter of European policy; and the means to demonstrate her position were found in the Moroccan question. After having turned a See also:deaf ear to the demands of the See also:Pan-Germanic party for the " vindication " of German rights in Morocco, after in fact nearly a year of acquiescence in the pre-dominant position of France in that country2 the German ' Mulai Mahomet, eldest son of El Hasan and a generally popular prince, was released from prison by 'Abd-el-'Aziz early in 1908 and placed in command of his army. On the defeat of 'Aziz by Mulai Hafid, Mahomet contemplated seizing the See also:throne. He was, however, imprisoned by Hafid in the See also:palace at Fez, where he was reported to have died, in mysterious circumstances, in June 19o9. ' Shown inter alia by the landing of 500 Algerian troops at Tangier (a step taken to secure the See also:release of See also:Ion Perdicaris and his stepson, captives of Raisuli), and of a detachment at Rabat.government now complained of being ignored in the Anglo-French arrangement and proceeded to extend its patronage to 'Abd-el-'Aziz. On the 31st of See also:March 1905 the German See also:emperor landed at Tangier and had conferences with the sultan's representatives. The emperor was reported to have declared that he had come to enforce the See also:sovereignty of the sultan, the integrity of Morocco, and the equality of commercial and economic interests. The effect of this intervention was soon apparent. The sultan rejected the See also:scheme of reforms proposed by France, and at the See also:suggestion of Germany issued The invitations to the powers to meet his representatives Algeciras Conference. and advise him concerning the reforms needed.

The French foreign minister, M. Delcass6, held that there was no need for a conference, but Prince Billow used menacing language and after a See also:

period of much stress M. See also:Delcasse resigned (June, , 1905), the French government thereupon agreeing to the holding of a conference. So far the German policy had triumphed; the conference met at Algeciras on the 16th of See also:January 1906 and engaged in the delicate task of reconciling French claims for predominance with the German demand of equality for all. The British delegates gave firm support to their French colleagues, while Austria proved " a brilliant second " to Germany. With great difficulty a scheme of reforms was elaborated, Germany having previously acknowledged the privileged position of France along the Moroccan-Algerian frontier. The general act embodying the resolutions of the conference was signed on the 7th of April; it was accepted by the sultan on the 18th of June, and the ratifications of the act by the other powers were deposited at the Spanish Foreign Office on the 31st of December 1906. The act provided for a Moorish police force from 2000 to 2500 strong, distributed among the eight open ports of Morocco, to be commanded by Moorish kaids, assisted by French and Spanish instructors and officers, with a Swiss inspector-general—the arrangement to continue for five years. The act provided also for the institution of a state bank (see supra § Finance). Other provisions dealt with (a) the acquisition of land round the ports by foreigners, and the consequent payment by them of the regulated or tertib taxes; (b) the more efficient See also:control of the customs administration, first by an annual assessment of the See also:average values of all imports as a basis for the See also:tariff during the following year, and, secondly, by a strict supervision of the administration itself; and (c) the authority of the state over the public services and public works, tenders for which were to be adjudicated impartially without reference to the See also:nationality of the See also:bidder. Throughout 1906 the country was in a disturbed condition, and while a Franco-Spanish demonstration off Tangier succeeded in obtaining the removal of Raisuli from the governor-See also:ship of the town, various outrages occurred (includ- France See also:ing the See also:murder of a Frenchman in the suburbs of uiaaoccupies . Tangier) for which no See also:satisfaction could be obtained.

At length the murder of Dr. Emile Mauchamp at Marrakesh on the 19th of March 1907 determined the French to take prompt action, and Ujda was occupied (March 29) by Algerian troops, the French government determining to hold the town until satisfaction had been given to their demands. This satisfaction 'Abd-el-'Aziz promised in May, and some progress was made towards carrying out the Algeciras See also:

programme, the state bank being organized in See also:July 1907. Meantime the weakness of the sultan's rule was illustrated in many quarters: near Tangier by the continued activity of Raisuli, that chieftain securing in June another European captive—Sir Harry Maclean,' who after over seven months' detention had to be ransomed by the British government for £20,000. Kaid Sir Harry Maclean (b. 3848) after serving in the British army became instructor to the Moorish army, which he accompanied in several expeditions. He was also See also:colonel of the sultan's body-guard. For services rendered to the British government he was made a C.M.G. in 1898 and a K.C.M.G. in 1901. On the occasion of his See also:capture he had gone, as he thought, to receive the submission of Raisuli, and had with him one or two attendants only. The sum paid for his ransom was subsequently refunded—as to £15,000 by Raisuli himself andrthe remainder by Mulai Hafid. At Casablanca at this time works were in progress, with the See also:sanction of the sultan, for improving the harbour. The works were beyond the ramparts, close to the Moslem -See also:cemetery; and the neighbouring tribesmen (the Shawia) were excited by reports that the cemetery had been desecrated.

On the 3oth of July they attacked the European labourers and killed nine of them (three French, three Spaniards, and three Italians), afterwards entering the town and raiding the Jewish quarter. Refugees fled by See also:

boat to Tangier with See also:news of the See also:massacre. The French government decided to occupy Casablanca, and a strong See also:naval and military force was sent thither. Before the arrival of the troops the commander of the cruiser " See also:Galilee " landed a party (Aug. 5) to guard the French consulate. The passage of the detachment was opposed, whereupon the " Galilee," aided by the " Du Chayla " bombarded the town. Casablanca was at the same time entered by the tribesmen, who began a general tasabtanca pillage. On the 7th the French troops arrived and were landed, and further fighting took place. Before order was restored nearly every inhabitant had been killed or wounded or had fled;' the dead alone numbered thousands. The European colony was, however, saved. Though masters of the town, the French found the Shawia tribes still full of fight, and, first under General Drude and afterwards (See also:Jan. 1908) under General Amade, the French proceeded to the reduction of the Shawia country.

At one time the expeditionary force numbered 15,000 men.r By June 19o8 the district was quiet and there-after the strength of the force was gradually reduced? The action of France at Casablanca aroused the fanaticism of the tribes of Tafilalt and those dwelling near the Algerian border. In November 1907 the Beni Snassen crossed the frontier and were not reduced to submission until after hard fighting. Another outbreak occurred in April 1908, when a French See also:

column in the Guir district, west of Figig was surprised, and had difficulty in beating back the enemy. In that and a subsequent engagement, which resulted in the dispersal of the foe in May, the French casualties were over 200. French and Moorish commissioners were then appointed to preserve order along the frontier. While thus engaged on the eastern frontier and on the Atlantic coast of Morocco France had given financial and moral support to 'Abd-el-'Aziz, whose position was threatened Fall ot_ by his brother Mulai Hafid. On the 16th of August 'Azize` 1907, within a fortnight of the bombardment of Casablanca, the See also:ulema of Marrakesh had declared 'Abd-el-'Aziz deposed and Hafid sultan; and from September onwards the tribes round Casablanca opposing the French were supported by troops sent from Marrakesh. Aziz having been furnished with money by the state bank, he was enabled to reach the seaport of Rabat at the head of his army in September 1907. There he was visited by the French minister and appeared willing to grant all the demands of France in return for help against his brother. A See also:loan was forthcoming but no military assistance save that some of 'Abd-el-'Aziz's troops were taken by a French warship to Mazagan. While desultory fighting between the supporters of the rival brothers was proceeding Hafid was proclaimed sultan at Fez on the 4th of January 1908; Hafid now sought support from France, Germany, and other powers, and moving from Marrakesh passed the French 1 A Spanish force of 600 men was also sent to Casablanca.

Throughout the crisis Spain, with some misgiving, co-operated in the actions of France. 2In September 1908 the German consul at Casablanca gave safe-conduct to six deserters from the Foreign Legion, of whom three were Germans. On the way to embark for See also:

Hamburg, and while under guard from the German consulate, all six deserters were forcibly arrested by a French See also:patrol. The See also:matter created great excitement both in Germany and France, chiefly from the demand of the German government that France should See also:express regret for the action of its agents before the facts were fully established. A way of See also:escape was found in the See also:formula " the two governments, regretting the events which occurred at Casablanca, . . . refer the matter to See also:arbitration . . . and agree to express regret . . . according to the See also:judgment of the court." The case then went to The See also:Hague Court of Arbitration, which gave its decision in May 1909, substantially in favour of France. In July the French government pardoned the deserters.lines in the Shawia country, entered Mequinez in May and Fez in June 1908. At length 'Abd-el-'Aziz made an effort to reassert his authority and with a force numbering 4000 he left Rabat in July for Marrakesh. He reached the neighbourhood of that city on the and of August, having received the See also:adhesion of numerous tribes, including the Shawia. On the 19th he started for the final march on Marrakesh.

He appears to have been betrayed, for hardly had his force started when it was assailed on all sides, whereupon the tribesmen deserted in a body and the " regulars " ran away. The day was irretrievably lost and 'Abd-el-'Aziz sought safety in See also:

flight. On the 22nd he arrived at Settat in the Shawia country, and within the French lines, with only a handful of followers. For a short time he talked of continuing the struggle, but ended by accepting a See also:pension from his brother Hafid and was assigned a See also:residence in Tangier. That town, the last in Morocco to acknowledge Hafid, did so on the 23rd of August; the change of sultans being accomplished without any disturbance of public order. Germany was anxious for the immediate recognition of Hafid and caused some perturbation in France by a circular to the powers to that effect dated the 2nd of September; Mu/aI HatYd the French and Spanish governments replied by sultan. proposals for guarantees that Hafid would respect the Act of Algeciras. This course received general assent and Hafid having' given the guarantees demanded he was formally recognized as sultan at the beginning of 1909. His relations with Europe were made easier by the conclusion, in See also:February 1909, of a Franco-German agreement designed to avoid all cause of misunderstanding between those powers in Morocco. Germany put on record that her interests in the sultanate were " only economic," and France agreeing to " safeguard economic equality " Germany undertook not to impede the political interests of France in the country. The weakness of the central government was exemplified by the inability of Mulai Hafid to control the Rif tribesmen, who in July 1909 killed a number of European labourers in the neighbourhood of the Spanish fortress of Melilla (q.v.). Spain sent an army of 50,000 men to vindicate its authority.

After a severe See also:

campaign the See also:Riffians were reduced to submission (Nov. 1909). Though powerless in the Rif, Mulai Hafid's army succeeded in defeating Bu Hamara's force and in capturing (Aug. 1909) that pretender, otherwise known as el Roghi.' Bu Hamara and many of his followers were taken to Fez. The tortures inflicted upon them evoked strong protests from the European powers. In 1910 Mulai Hafid obtained a loan, chiefly from France, of £4,000,000; the greater part of the loan went to liquidate claims by Europeans against the maghzen.

End of Article: MOROCCO

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