The country between Fas and Mequinas, and from thence to Salée, is of the same description as the foregoing; a rich champaign, abounding prodigiously in corn, and inhabited altogether by Arabs, with the exception, however, of the Zimur’h Shelluh, another Kabyle of Berebbers. In short, the whole northern[27] division of this empire is an uninterrupted corn field; a rich black, and sometimes red soil, without stones or clay, with scarcely any wood upon it (the forests before mentioned, and the olive plantations and gardens about the cities of Fas and Mequinas excepted), but incalculably productive. The inhabitants do not use dung, but reap the corn high from the ground, and burn the stubble, the ashes of which serve as manure. During this period of the year, viz. August, enormous clouds of smoke are seen mounting the declivities of hills and mountains, penetrating without resistance the woods, and leaving nothing behind but black ashes and cinders: these fires heat the atmosphere considerably, as they continue burning during two months. In sowing, the husbandmen throw the grain on the ground, and afterwards plough it in. Oats they make no use of: beans, peas, caravances, and Indian corn, are cultivated occasionally in lands adjacent to rivers: the fruits are similar to those before described, and are in great abundance, oranges being sold at a ducket or a dollar a thousand, at Tetuan, Salée, and some other places; grapes, melons, and figs of various kinds, and other fruits, are proportionally abundant. Cotton of a superior quality is grown in the environs of Salée and Rabat, also hemp. The tobacco called Mequinasi, so much esteemed for making snuff, is the produce of the province of Benihassen, as well as the country adjacent to the city of Mequinas.
PROVINCES OF TEMSENA, SHAWIA, DUQUELLA, ABDA, SHEDMA; AND THE DISTRICT OF MAROCCO.
These are most productive in corn; the crop of one year would be sufficient for the consumption of the whole empire, provided all the ground capable of producing wheat and barley were to be sown. These fine provinces abound in horses and horned cattle; their flocks are numerous, and the horses of Abda are of the most select breed in the country. The cavalry of Temsena is the best appointed of the empire, excepting the black troops of the Emperor, called Abeed Seedy Bukarrie.
Two falls of rain in Abda are sufficient to bring to maturity a good crop of wheat; nor does the soil require more. The water-melons of Duquella are of a prodigious size, and indeed everything thrives in this prolific province: horses, horned cattle, the flocks, nay even the dogs and cats, all appear in good condition. The inhabitants are, for the most part, a laborious and trading people, and great speculators: they grow tobacco for the markets of Soudan and Timbuctoo. Nearly midway between Saffee and Marocco is a large salt lake, from which many camels are daily loaded with salt for the interior.
The province of Shedma produces wheat and barley; its fruits are not so rich as those of the north, or of Suse; it abounds however in cattle. Of goats it furnishes annually an incalculable number, the skins of which form a principal article of exportation from the port of Mogodor; and such is the animosity and opposition often among the merchants there, that they have sometimes given as much for the skin, as the animal itself was sold for. Honey, wax, and tobacco are produced in this province, the two former in great abundance; also gum arabic, called by the Arabs Alk Tolh, but of an inferior quality to that of the Marocco district.
PROVINCE OF HAHA.
Haha is a country of great extent, interspersed with mountains and valleys, hills and dales, and inhabited by twelve Kabyles of Shelluhs. This is the first province, from the shores of the Mediterranean, in which villages and walled habitations are met with, scattered through the country; the before mentioned provinces (with the exception of the sea-port towns and the cities of Fas, Mequinas, Marocco, and Muley Idris Zerone) being altogether inhabited by Arabs living in tents. The houses of Haha are built of stone, each having a tower, and are erected on elevated situations, forming a pleasing view to the traveller. Here we find forests of the argan tree, which produces olives, from the kernel of which the Shelluhs express an oil,[28] much superior to butter for frying fish; it is also employed economically for lamps, a pint of it burning nearly as long as double the quantity of olive or sallad oil. Wax, gum-sandrac and arabic, almonds, bitter and sweet, and oil of olives, are the productions of this picturesque province, besides grapes, water-melons, citrons, pomgranates, oranges, lemons, limes, pears, apricots, and other fruits. Barley is more abundant than wheat. The Shelluhs of Haha are physiognomically distinguishable (by a person who has resided any time among them) from the Arabs of the plains, from the Moors of the towns, and from the Berebbers of North Atlas, and even from the Shelluhs of Suse, though in their language, manners, and mode of living they resemble the latter. The mountains of Haha produce the famous wood called Arar, which is proof against rot or the worm. Some beams of this wood taken down from the roof of my dwelling-house at Agadeer, which had been up fifty years, were found perfectly sound, and free from decay.
PROVINCE OF SUSE.
We now come to Suse, the most extensive, and, excepting grain, the richest province of the empire. The olive, the almond, the date, the orange, the grape, and all the other fruits produced in the northern provinces abound here, particularly about the city of Terodant (the capital of Suse, formerly a kingdom), Ras-el-Wed, and in the mountains of Edautenan.[29] The grapes of Edautenan are exquisitely rich. Indigo grows wild in all the low lands, and is of a vivid blue; but the natives do not perfectly understand the preparation of it for the purpose of dying.
Suse contains many warlike tribes, among which are Howara, Woled Abbusebah, and Ait Bamaran; these are Arabs;— Shtuka, Elala, Edaultit, Ait Atter, Kitiwa, Msegina, and Idautenan, who are Shelluhs.