Journal of a tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas

by Joseph Dalton Hooker; John Ball

The house or palace of Ben Dreis, which we were to inhabit, originally belonged to a powerful minister, whose property, after the custom of the country, had been confiscated by the sovereign. In 1864 it was occupied by Sir Moses Montefiore; and a correct sketch of it is given in Dr. Hodgkin’s narrative of that gentleman’s mission of benevolence to Marocco.

We were told that a short time would be required to prepare the house for our reception, and it turned out that the first requisite step was to knock down the wall that stood where the entrance had formerly been. A house in which Jews or Christians had lived was regarded as unclean and unfit for the dwelling of a true believer, and accordingly after the departure of Sir M. Montefiore, the entrance had been walled up, and the house had so remained ever since. When the way had been cleared, an escort of soldiers, despatched by the Viceroy, accompanied us to our new dwelling, which stands inside its walled garden very near to the Bab Roub—the gate by which we yesterday entered the city. We were agreeably surprised when we approached by far the finest house which we anywhere saw in this country, a massive square building, entered by a Moorish arch. As usual, the ground-floor rooms, with the central court, roofed in, contrary to the usual practice, were fit only for servants, or for stabling animals and storing goods, and the best apartments were on the upper floor. These were, of course, destined for us. But the first glance showed that in a country where animal, and especially insect, life is so active, the rooms in their present state would be no pleasant habitations. This, however, was foreseen and provided for, and, before many minutes were over, a crowd of men, including our own attendants, were hard at work carrying up large vessels of water from the irrigation stream in the adjoining garden, and armed with rough brooms, with which to complete the work of cleaning the premises. Water was turned on in such abundance as to stand ankle deep in most of the rooms, and pour in a copious stream down the staircases and other openings. When all was done the blazing sun soon dried all up, and during our stay we suffered no inconvenience, and scarcely saw any insects, except a few harmless beetles. When the rooms had been thus cleansed and dried, we proceeded to instal ourselves in our new quarters. There was a large central room, open to the sky in the middle, with roofed bays or recesses around, and several adjoining, which served as bedrooms. The terrace roof, overlooking the trees of our garden and the city wall, commanded a magnificent view of the Great Atlas range, and in the early morning, and towards sunset, afforded an unfailing attraction.

During this and the following days much time was consumed in long discussions respecting our future plans and arrangements. During the remainder of his stay in Marocco Mr. Hunot was kind enough to devote most of his time to us, and in his visits he was generally accompanied by Si Mohammed Hassanowe and Si Boubikir, who sat gravely by, rarely taking any part in the conversation. One of the subjects requiring mature consideration related to the manner in which the objects of our journey might best be made intelligible and satisfactory to the Moorish authorities. The matter had already been under discussion at Mogador and during our journey, but its importance was now much more obvious when it was clear that our farther progress would depend on the view that El Graoui might take of our character and intentions. We were well aware that anything so simple as the statement that the object was to gratify our curiosity as to the vegetation of the Great Atlas, would at once be set aside as a false pretext, intended to cover some sinister design. That one man should be crazy enough to make a long journey for such a purpose might have been thought within the range of possibility; but to suppose that three should all at once be smitten with the same form of insanity was plainly too ridiculous. To endeavour to explain that Hooker, as Director of a great national establishment such as Kew Gardens, should be anxious to enrich it by the introduction of new, rare, or useful plants, was not likely to be more successful. The existence of any public institution having a claim to attention apart from the personal will or caprice of the sovereign could not be made intelligible to the native mind. It was clear that if we did not present ourselves as persons in some way carrying out the direct orders of the Queen of England, we should have no claim to respect, and should be regarded as adventurers prompted by some motive we did not care to avow.

Of course, we felt a natural reluctance to use the Queen’s name in an unauthorised way; but, without entering into subtle discussion as to the extent to which the acts of ministers are to be regarded as those of the sovereign, the fact that the Foreign Secretary had, through the Queen’s representative, applied for the Sultan’s permission for Hooker’s journey, undoubtedly justified him in assuming a position different from that of an ordinary traveller. It is true that the knowledge and personal interest which Her Majesty has always shown in matters relating to Art have never been publicly displayed in reference to natural history; but it would certainly not be straining the truth to let it be understood that such a unique institution as the Royal Gardens at Kew is regarded by her with sympathy and favour. The most natural way of conveying this to the Moorish mind seemed to be to say that the Sultana of England had great gardens, in which were plants from all the countries in the world, excepting the Great Atlas, and that she had sent Hooker and his assistants to collect and send home whatever new plants they could find there. To this suggestion, a serious objection was made. It would appear unworthy of a great ruler, we were told, to trouble herself about anything so frivolous as a garden: ‘Her thoughts must be engaged in the government of her vast dominions, and above all in the management of her armies and fleets, and not on mere matters of amusement.’ ‘But,’ as it was urged, ‘there is one use of plants that every one can understand. Cannot you say that you are seeking for herbs useful to cure diseases, and are charged to bring these home to the Queen of England?’ Of course it was true that if by any chance such new plants as we might find possessed medicinal qualities, they would thereby acquire additional interest, and, therefore, in our numerous subsequent communications with the authorities, Hooker stated that his commission was to collect and bring home the plants of the country, and especially those useful in medicine. It is pretty certain, however, that the imagination of our interpreter enlarged upon this text, to what extent we could not of course say. How much that we afterwards heard was serious, and how much more play of fancy, it is hard to guess; but there is no doubt that the current belief among our own followers was that the Sultana of England had heard that there was somewhere in Marocco a plant that would make her live for ever, and that she had sent her own hakim to find it for her. When, in the course of our journey, it was seen that our botanical pursuits entailed rather severe labour, the commentary was: ‘The Sultana of England is a severe woman, and she has threatened to give them stick (the bastinado) if they do not find the herb she wants!’

It was impossible to decide on our future route until after an interview with El Graoui; but whatever that might be, it was certain that we should require a number of animals to convey ourselves and our baggage; and we yielded to the general opinion of the country in preferring mules for this purpose. Camels are unfit for the rough mountain paths; and the mule is decidedly superior to the horse in endurance of prolonged fatigue, inferior food, and vicissitudes of climate. In a journey of some length it is decidedly economical to purchase horses and mules rather than hire them; and we resolved to supply a part of our wants in that way, Mr. Hunot being good enough to undertake to choose eight mules, for which on the following day we paid 8l. each.

The current coin in South Marocco we found to be French five-franc pieces (called by Europeans, dollars) for all except small transactions. These are carried on by Moorish silver pieces, worth respectively something less than four pence and two pence, and little coins of an alloy of copper and zinc, called flous, of which about fifteen go to an English penny. It was necessary to provide our interpreter, Abraham, with bags of these coins to defray the trifling expenses of our journey. It being understood that the provision of food for our followers and the animals of our train would be undertaken by the local authorities, wherever we should go, the only serious expenses we had to provide for were the purchase or hire of mules, and such gratuities as we might think proper to distribute amongst our escort and our servants on our return to Mogador. For presents to governors, sheiks, and others whom it might be desirable to conciliate or reward, we had brought with us a supply which turned out to be more than sufficient for the purpose.

To pass a quiet evening in our own house, free from any immediate cause for trouble, and with the prospect of a good night’s rest, such as we had not known since we left Mogador, was an enjoyment keenly felt; and though our quarters were absolutely devoid of furniture of any kind, the mere sense of quiet and freedom from intrusion made them seem to us perfectly luxurious. The position of our dwelling was indeed admirably chosen. Completely separated from the inhabited quarters of the city, with their noises and their stenches, by large gardens and high walls, the only building within our view was the great tower of the Koutoubia. Some idea of the effect as seen through one of our windows is given in the accompanying woodcut. It is very similar in design and dimensions to the Giralda at Seville and the great tower at Rabat, and like these is said to have been built by Christian captives. Including the lanthorn at the top, the height is about 270 feet. It is a singular proof of the deficiency of the Moors in constructive faculty, that the only stone structures in this, the ancient capital of the country, once the abode of wealth and barbaric luxury, should be this tower, and the great arch forming the entrance to the Sultan’s palace, of which the carved stones were transported piece by piece from Spain.

The morning of May 5 presented the unusual appearance of heavy clouds covering the sky and concealing from view the range of the Great Atlas. This did not last long. The sun soon reasserted his dominion over the plain, though the clouds still hung round the higher peaks. The direct heat of the sun was already great at this season, but the air was always relatively cool. In the shade of our rooms the thermometer marked about 80° Fahr. during the warmer hours of the day, and fell to about 70° at night.

It was a matter of some interest to us to study the spontaneous vegetation of the gardens of Marocco. We could without difficulty have obtained permission to visit the very extensive gardens that occupy the larger part of the enclosed space surrounding the palace of the Sultan; but we decided that we should be able to work more effectually, and without risk of exciting the suspicions of the natives, by confining ourselves to the rather large space surrounding our own dwelling. To the English reader it may be well to remark that, in Marocco, as in most Eastern countries, a garden means something very different from what we understand by it at home. So far as any idea of enjoyment is connected with it the paramount object is shade and coolness. Trees, and running water, without which in this climate few trees will grow, are therefore the essential requisites. Beyond this the Moor, if he be rich and luxurious, may plant a few sweet-scented flowers, of which the rose, violet, jessamine, and Acacia Farnesiana are most prized; but beyond this, no mere pleasure of the eye is ever dreamt of, and here, as elsewhere, there seems to be among the natives a complete want of the sense of beauty.