Of these two cities, on the banks of the Wad-Bouragrag, Salee was, according to D'Anville, always a place of note as at the present time, and the farthest Roman city on the coast of the Atlantic, being the frontier town of the ancient Mauritania Tingitana. Some pretend that all the civilization which has extended itself beyond this point is either Moorish, or derived from European colonists. The river Wad-Bouragrag is somewhat a natural line of demarcation, and the products and animals of the one side differ materially from those of the other, owing to the number and less rapid descent of the streams on the side of the north, and so producing more humidity, whilst the south side, on the contrary, is of a higher and drier soil.
Fidallah, or Seid Allah, i. e., "grace," or "gift of God," is a maritime village of the province of Temsa, founded by the Sultan Mohammed in 1773. It is a strong place, and surrounded with walls. Fidallah is situated on a vast plain, near the river Wad Millah, where there is a small port, or roadstead, to which the corsairs were wont to resort when they could not reach Salee, long before the village was built, called Mersa Fidallah. The place contains a thousand souls, mostly in a wretched condition. Sidi Mohammed, before he built Mogador, had the idea of building a city here; the situation is indeed delightful, surrounded with fertility.
Dar-el-Beida (or Casa-Blanco, "white house,") is a small town, formerly in possession of the Portuguese, who built it upon the ruins of Anfa or Anafa, [22] which they destroyed in 1468. They, however, scarcely finished it when they abandoned it in 1515. Dar-el-Beida is situate on the borders of the fertile plains of the province of Shawiya, and has a small port, formed by a river and a spacious bay on the Atlantic. The Romans are said to have built the ancient Anafa, in whose time it was a considerable place, but now it scarcely contains above a thousand inhabitants, and some reduce them to two hundred. Sidi Mohammed attempted this place, and the present Sultan endeavoured to follow up these efforts. A little commerce with Europe is carried on here. The bay will admit of vessels of large burden anchoring in safety, except when the wind blows strong from the north-west. Casa Blanco is two days journey from Rabat, and two from Azamor, or Azemmour, which is an ancient and fine city of the province of Dukaila, built by the Amazigh Berbers, in whose language it signifies "olives." It is situate upon a hill, about one hundred feet above the sea, and distant half a mile from the shore, not far from the mouth of the Wad-Omm-er-Rbia (or Omm-Erbegh) on its southern bank, and is everywhere surrounded by a most fertile soil. Azamor contains now about eight or nine hundred inhabitants, but formerly was much more populated. The Shebbel salmon is the principal commerce, and a source of immense profit to the town. The river is very deep and rapid, so that the passage with boats is both difficult and dangerous. It is frequently of a red colour, and charged with slime like the Nile at the period of its inundations. The tide is felt five or six leagues up the river, according to Chénier. Formerly, vessels of every size entered the river, but now its mouth has a most difficult bar of sand, preventing large vessels going up, like nearly all the Maroquine ports situate on the mouths, or within the rivers.
Azamor was taken by the Portuguese under the command of the Duke of Braganza in 1513 who strengthened it by fortifications, the walls of which are still standing; but it was abandoned a century afterwards, the Indies having opened a more lucrative field of enterprise than these barren though honourable conquests on the Maroquine coast. This place is half a day's journey, or about fourteen miles from Mazagran, i. e. the above Amayeeghs, an extremely ancient and strong castle, erected on a peninsula at the bottom of a spacious and excellent bay. It was rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1506, who gave it the name of Castillo Real. The site has been a centre of population from the remotest period, chiefly Berbers, whose name it still bears. The Arabs, however, call it El-Bureeja, i.e., "the citadel." The Portuguese abandoned it in 1769; Mazagran was the last stronghold which they possessed in Morocco. The town is well constructed, and has a wall twelve feet thick, strengthened with bastions. There is a small port, or dock, on the north side of the town, capable of admitting small vessels, and the roadstead is good, where large vessels can anchor about two miles off the shore. Its traffic is principally with Rabat, but there is also some export trade to foreign parts. Its population is two or three hundred. [23] After proceeding two days south-west, you arrive at Saffee, or properly Asafee, called by the natives Asfee, and anciently Soffia or Saffia, is a city of great antiquity, belonging to the province of Abda, and was built by the Carthaginians near Cape Pantin. Its site lies between two hills, in a valley which is exposed to frequent inundations. The roadstead of Saffee is good and safe during summer, and its shipping once enabled it to be the centre of European commerce on the Atlantic coast. The population amounts to about one thousand, including a number of miserable Jews. The walls of Saffee are massy and high. The Portuguese captured this city in 1508, voluntarily abandoning it in 1641. The country around is not much cultivated, and presents melancholy deserts; but there is still a quantity of corn grown. About forty miles distant, S.E., is a large salt lake. Saffee is one and a half day's journey from Mogador.
Equidistant between Mazagran and Saffee is the small town of El-Waladia, situate on an extensive plain. Persons report that near this spot is a spacious harbour, or lagune, sufficiently capacious to contain four or five hundred sail of the line; but, unfortunately, the entrance is obstructed by some rocks, which, however, it is added, might easily be blown up. The lagune is also exposed to winds direct for the ocean. The town, enclosed within a square wall, and containing very few inhabitants, is supposed to have been built in the middle of the seventeenth century by the Sultan Waleed. after whom it was named.
This brings us to Mogador, which, with Aghadir, have already been described.
CHAPTER V.
Description of the Imperial Cities or Capitals of the Empire.— El-Kesar.—Mequinez.—Fez.—Morocco.—The province of Tafilett, the birth-place of the present dynasty of the Shereefs.
The royal or capitals of the interior now demand our attention, which are El-Kesar, Mequinez, Fez, and Morocco.
El-Kesar, or Al-Kesar, [24] styled also El-Kesue-Kesar, is so named and distinguished because it owes its enlargement to the famous Sultan of Fez, Almansor, who improved and beautified it about the year 1180, and designed this city as a magazine and rendezvous of troops for the great preparations he was making at the time for the conquest of Granada. El-Kesar is in the province of the Gharb, and situate on the southern bank of the Luccos; here is a deep and rapid stream, flowing W. 1/4 N.W. The town is nearly as large as Tetuan, but the streets are dirty and narrow, and many of the houses in a ruinous condition, This fortified place was once adorned by some fifteen mosques, but only two or three are now fit for service. The population does not exceed four or five thousand souls, and some think this number over-estimated.