The southern slope of the Atlas region gradually merges into the Great Desert. Some parts of this range are above what is called the snow line. The summits of some of the peaks are thirteen thousand feet high.
The Barbary States extend from the borders of Egypt on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The Mediterranean Sea is the northern boundary; the Sahara is the southern.
Although the country of Morocco is generally mountainous, yet there are deviations from this characteristic feature of it.
The Atlas Mountains traverse the country in several parallel chains, running from southwest to northeast. Towards the coast country and the desert these chains send out spurs of hills and detached mountain groups.
At the western and eastern extremities of Morocco, and along the borders of the desert, there are many level tracts.
It is in Morocco that the central range of the Atlas Mountains forms a watershed. This watershed separates the rivers which flow into the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea from those which flow south towards the desert.
The rivers flowing south have a longer course and more volume of water than the rivers flowing towards the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The latter rivers are, however, perennial, while those flowing south are apt to become dry in summer. Even after their currents are full, the waters lose themselves in the sands of the Sahara.
The climate of Morocco is temperate between the central range of the Atlas Mountains and the sea. There are no extremes of temperature, owing to the influence of the sea breeze and the shelter which the mountains afford from the scorching winds of the desert. In the southeast districts there are great extremes of heat and cold, and rain is an unknown blessing.
The even climate of the temperate regions is favorable to such productions as wheat, barley, rice, maize, and the sugar cane. Such fruits as the fig, pomegranate, lemon, orange, and date are common here, between the Atlas range and the sea. Cotton, tobacco, and hemp are produced in great quantities, not only for domestic use but for exportation.
Algeria really forms the northern boundary of the great plateau of North Africa. This plateau rises from the sea, at this point, in the form of three terraces. The Atlas Mountains run parallel to the coast line of Algeria.