[2]The usage of preceding English writers is hereafter followed by writing the name, Shelluh; but to our ears the native pronunciation is more accurately given by the spelling Shleuh or Shloo.
[3]See [Appendix H.]
[4]Those who are interested in the subject should consult a pamphlet entitled ‘Mogador et son Climat,’ par V. Seux, Marseille, 1870, and a paper in the Bulletin of the French Geographical Society for 1875, by Dr. Ollive, now residing at that place, styled ‘Climat de Mogador et de son influence sur la Phthisie.’ There are some errors in the tables included in the latter paper, and especially in that headed ‘Tableau comparatif des Températures moyennes de diverses stations hivernales.’
CHAPTER V.
Departure from Mogador — Argan forest — Hilly country of Haha — Fertile province of Shedma — Hospitality of the Governor — Turkish visitor — Offering of provisions — Kasbah of the Governor — Ride to Aïn Oumast — First view of the Great Atlas — Pseudo-Sahara — Tomb of a Saint — Nzelas — Ascend the ‘Camel’s Back’ — Oasis of Sheshaoua — Coolness of the night temperature — Rarity of ancient buildings — Halt at Aïn Beida — Tents and luggage gone astray — Night at Misra ben Kara — Cross the Oued Nfys — Plain of Marocco — Range of the Great Atlas — Halt under Tamarisk tree.
The morning of Saturday, April 29, was fixed for our departure from Mogador, and about 7 A.M. all were ready to start.
Mr. and Mrs. Carstensen, with a rather numerous party of the European residents at Mogador, had arranged to escort us for a distance of some seven miles; and it was agreed that, instead of following the direct road to the city of Marocco, which runs about ENE. from Mogador, we should make a detour nearly at right angles to that direction, or about SSE., so as to gain a fuller acquaintance with the Argan forest.
Our course lay in the same direction that we had chosen in our first short excursion from the town. Between the belt of sandy shore that is daily washed by the tide, and the sand dunes that rose in undulations on our left, we rode past the mouth of the Oued Kseb, and then began to ascend over sandy dunes, whereon the prevailing plant is Genista monosperma, the R’tam of the Arabs, whose slender silvery branches wave in the slightest breeze. Several of the peculiar plants of this coast occurred at intervals, such as Cheiranthus semperflorens, Statice mucronata, a curious and somewhat ornamental species, and two or three kinds of Erodium. As the track rises and recedes a little from the coast, the tertiary calcareous rock that underlies the sandhills crops out here and there, and the first Argan trees begin to show themselves. As we advanced, the trees grew larger and nearer together, and as we approached our intended halt, at a place called Douar Arifi, they formed a continuous forest.
The Argan tree is in many respects the most remarkable plant of South Marocco; and it attracts the more attention as it is the only tree that commonly attains a large size, and forms a conspicuous feature of the landscape in the low country near the coast. In structure and properties it is nearly allied to the tropical genus Sideroxylon (Iron-wood); but there is enough of general resemblance, both in its mode of growth and its economic uses, to the familiar olive tree of the Mediterranean region to make it the local representative of that plant. Its home is the sub-littoral zone of South-western Marocco, where it is common between the rivers Tensift and Sous. A few scattered trees only are said to be found north of the Tensift; but it seems to be not infrequent in the hilly district between the Sous and the river of Oued Noun, making the total length of its area about 200 miles. Extending from near the coast for a distance of thirty or forty miles inland, it is absolutely unknown elsewhere in the world. The trunk always divides at a height of eight or ten feet from the ground, and sends out numerous spreading, nearly horizontal branches. The growth is apparently very slow, and the trees that attain a girth of twelve to fifteen feet are probably of great antiquity. The minor branches and young shoots are beset with stiff thick spines, and the leaves are like those of the olive in shape, but of a fuller green, somewhat paler on the under side. Unlike the olive, the wood is of extreme hardness, and seemingly indestructible by insects, as we saw no example of a hollow trunk. The fruit, much like a large olive in appearance, but varying much in size and shape, is greedily devoured by goats, sheep, camels, and cows, but refused by horses and mules; its hard kernel furnishes the oil which replaces that of the olive in the cookery of South Marocco, and is so unpleasant to the unaccustomed palate of Europeans. The annexed cut, showing an average Argan, about twenty-five feet in height, and covering a space of sixty or seventy feet in diameter, with another, where goats are seen feeding on the fruit, exhibits a