The heat of the sun was much felt as we rode over the open plain, and it was suggested that we should do well to halt awhile, and await the return of the soldier who was to report to us the state of affairs in the city. The only spot on the way affording the slightest shelter is under the reclining trunk of a fine tree of Tamarix articulata, which had apparently been blown down, though still adhering to the ground by its roots, and throwing out vigorous shoots and branches. The remaining portion of the trunk was 24 feet long, and at 8 feet from the roots the girth was 7 feet 7 inches (2·32 m.) We saw no other specimen of this tree, characteristic of the semi-tropical region of Northern Africa; but our opportunities for exploring the country surrounding the city were very limited, and it seems probable that it is here indigenous, though the extreme scarcity of fuel may have led to its partial extermination. The slender twigs into which the branches are divided gave no protection from the sun; but, by throwing a carpet overhead, we extemporised a serviceable roof, whose shade was most welcome. Though bare to the eye, this part of the plain produced many small herbaceous plants, such as Notoceras canariensis, our native Coronopus Ruellii, Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum, and Schismus calycinus. The Mesembryanthemum is as common here as it is in the East; but the last-named grass, so characteristic of the skirts of the desert in Egypt and Arabia, seems to be rare in South Marocco.
Throughout our morning’s ride, as well as on the journey between Sheshaoua and Misra ben Kara, we noticed the apparently unaccountable way in which certain social species prevail over a considerable tract, and then suddenly give place to others, without any apparent reference to the composition of the soil. Where Chenopodiaceæ, such as Suæda and Caroxylon prevail, it is reasonable to conjecture the presence of nitre, gypsum, or other salts in the superficial layer; but such plants as Artemisia Herba alba, Genista monosperma, and a local form of Helianthemum virgatum will sometimes take almost exclusive possession of the surface, though this in some places is mainly composed of siliceous sand, in others of disintegrated calcareous tufa, and in others of decomposed volcanic rock, nowhere seen by us in situ, but derived from scattered blocks of various sizes. In the plain near the city siliceous sand predominates, and, as a consequence, the vegetation is more meagre than elsewhere.
We hereabouts first saw the only works of public utility which we encountered during our journey. What first struck the eye were long lines of irregular earthen mounds traversing the plain in a north and south direction, and we soon ascertained that these were watercourses rudely arched over. The streams from the mountains south of the city are distributed through irrigation canals over a large part of the plain, and thus render it fit for cultivation. Early experience must have taught the people that by protecting these canals from evaporation, they could be made available to a much greater extent; and it is probable that the construction of these covered waterways, some of which were in a ruinous condition, goes back to a remote period. In point of fact, the whole drainage of three considerable valleys, whose torrents we afterwards crossed, appears to be intercepted by this irrigation process, and absorbed by the vegetation of the plain. It is probable that by the skilful extension of the same system wide tracts, now barren, might be made productive.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]For fuller particulars as to the Argan tree and its economic uses, see [Appendix D.]
[2]It may be hoped that the plant will now become well known to botanists, as our friend M. Cosson has obtained a good supply of seed, which he has liberally distributed among many of the chief botanic gardens of Europe. See [Appendix D.]
[3]This was apparently the Pistacia atlantica. The true Pistachio tree (P. vera of Linnæus), so extensively cultivated in the warmer parts of the Mediterranean region, was not seen by us in Marocco.
[4]The spelling here adopted is that used by M. Beaumier in his sketch-map of the route from Mogador to Marocco, but it is extremely difficult to fix the sounds expressing many of the native names. Sometimes this sounded to our ears as Oued enfisk, sometimes as Oued enfist; the latter, it will be remarked, is merely a slight anagram of the name Oued Tensift, belonging to the main river flowing westward on the north side of the city of Marocco.