River Suse discharges itself into the ocean. This fine river rises at Ras-el-Wed, at the foot of Atlas, about thirty miles from the city of Terodant. The (fulahs) cultivators of land, and the gardeners of Suse have drained off this river so much in its passage through the plains of Howara and Exima, that it is fordable at its mouth at low water in the summer, so that camels and other animals are enabled to cross it with burthens on their backs: at its mouth is a bar of sand which at low water almost separates it from the ocean. The banks of this river are inundated in winter, but in summer are variegated with Indian corn, wheat, barley, pasture lands, beautiful gardens, and productive orchards. Either this river, or that of Messa, must have been the Una of Ptolomy, which is placed in lat. 28° 30′ N. We may presume that the Suse was anciently navigable as far as Terodant, as there are still in the walls of the castle of that city immense large iron rings, such as we see in maritime towns in Europe, for the purpose of mooring ships.
Draha.—The river of this name flows from the north-east of Atlas to the south, and passing through the province of Draha, it disappears in the absorbing sands of Sahara. A great part of the country through which it passes being a saline earth, its waters have a brackish taste, like most of the rivers proceeding from Atlas, which take their course eastward. It is small in summer, but impetuous and impassable in winter, or at least during Liali. It is not improbable that this river formerly continued its course westward, discharging itself into the ocean at Wednoon, and called by the ancients Darodus; but it often happens in Africa, particularly on the confines of any desert country, that the course of rivers is not only changed by the moveable hills of dry sand, but sometimes absorbed altogether, as is now the case with the Draha, after its entrance into the Desert.
River of Messa, called Wed Messa, flows from Atlas; it is, as before observed, a separate stream from the river Suse, and is drained off by the (fulah) cultivators or farmers during its passage. It was navigated by the Portugueze before they abandoned this place for the New World. Leo Africanus has committed another error (which has been copied by modern writers,[23] in calling the river of Messa the river Suse,[24] which I ascertained to be quite a different stream when I was at Messa, and thirty miles distant from the former, though they both flow from E. to W. A bar of sand separates this river entirely at low water from the ocean, but at flood tide it is not fordable. Between the mouth of the river Messa and that of Suse, is a road-stead called Tomée; the country is inhabited by the Woled Abbusebah Arabs, who informed me, when I went there, during the interregnum, with the (Khalif) Vice-regent Mohammed ben Delemy, by order of the (Sherreef) Prince, that British and other vessels often took in water there: it is called by the Arabs (Sebah biure) the place of seven wells, of which wells three only remain, and these we found to contain excellent water. After inspecting the place, and the nature of the road-stead, we returned to the Vice-regent’s castle in Shtuka. Concerning this remarkable sea-port it would be inexpedient at present to disclose more.
River Akassa.—This river is navigable to Noon, above which it becomes a small stream, fordable in various places; it has been called by some Wed Noon, i.e. the river of Noon, but the proper name is Wed Akassa; the word Wedinoon is applied to the adjacent territory.
The Mountains of West and South Barbary are the Atlas and its various branches, which receive different names, according to the provinces in which they are situated. The greater Atlas, or main chain of these mountains, extends from (Jibbel d’Zatute) Ape’s Hill to Shtuka and Ait Bamaran, in Lower Suse, passing about thirty miles eastward of the city of Marocco, where they are immensely high, and covered with snow throughout the year. On a clear day, this part of the Atlas appears at Mogodor, a distance of about a hundred and forty miles, in the form of a saddle; and is visible at sea, several leagues off the coast. These mountains are extremely fertile in many places, and produce excellent fruits; having the advantage of various climates, according to the ascent towards the snow, which, contrasted with the verdure beneath, has a singular and picturesque effect.
Plate 2.
| Drawn by J. G. Jackson. | Engraved J. C. Stadler. |
A Distant View of the Atlas Mountains East of the City of Marocco as they appear from Mogodor on a clear morning before the rising Sun taken from the Terras of the British Vice Consuls House.
| 1 | Mosque of Seedy Usif. | 3 | Genoese Consuls Tower. |
| 2 | Atlas Mountains, distant 140 Miles. | 4 | Sand Hills. |