Journal of a tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas

by Joseph Dalton Hooker; John Ball

The most prominent characteristics of the mountain flora of the Great Atlas were found to be of a negative character. If asked to point out the positive features that most struck us, we should in the first place note the prevalence of Cruciferæ and Caryophylleæ, the former reckoning one-ninth and the latter one-tenth of the whole number of flowering plants. Of conspicuous genera we had especially remarked Chrysanthemum, Galium, and Linaria. Of the first of these we found two new species, one of which, from its remarkable buff-coloured rays and large scarious involucres, has been named Chrysanthemum Catananche.

The state of the weather and the earliness of the season may partially account for the scarcity of animal life in the upper part of the Aït Mesan valley; but, from all we could learn, this appears to be a characteristic feature of the Great Atlas. The lion is said to exist in the lower valleys, and especially in Sous, but we were led to suspect that the animal so called by the natives is the leopard. The lion undoubtedly exists in the low country, but appears to be now rare. Those sent as presents from the Sultan to crowned heads have generally been taken in the valleys east of Fez. The only one of the Carnivora seen by us was a rather large creature, resembling a civet in form, but with no markings on the yellowish brown fur, once seen near our camp at Hasni. Birds were remarkably scarce, and the only conspicuous kind observed near enough to be identified much resembled the red-legged partridge, and was seen at a height of from 9,000 to 10,000 feet in the ascent to the Tagherot Pass. Instead of going in pairs, as that species is used to do, these formed a small covey. A single scorpion, of large size, seemingly of the species common in the low country, was found under a stone by Maw. Of the numerous reptiles that abound about the skirts of the mountain range, few, except lizards, seem to frequent the interior valleys; and the latter are wanting, or at least rare, in the higher region. Insects were also infrequent, and none were found under stones above the level of 9,000 feet.

Our brief stay among the Shelluhs in this valley helped to confirm our previous impression that they form the best element in the population of Marocco. How much of this superiority is due to race, and how much to the conditions of existence in a mountain country, where steady labour is indispensable, may be a question for discussion; but as the same is also apparent among the people long settled in the low country at the foot of the mountains, it may be inferred that the inherited qualities of the mountain tribes are not speedily lost when they are subjected to altered conditions. We are told by Rohlfs that on the northern skirts of the Marocco Sahara the Shelluhs have adopted a predatory life, and are the most dreaded of all the wandering robbers of that region. But when we learn that all the fertile oases of the Sahara have been monopolised by a small class of Arab descent, who rest their claims on religious authority, it is not apparent that there is any alternative for those who do not belong to the privileged class; and, under such an anomalous condition of society, the energy of the superior race will show itself in robbery, where that becomes the only means of obtaining a livelihood. To judge from what we saw of the country, the best thing that could happen for Marocco would be the substitution for the Moorish government of an authority strong enough to keep the Bereber tribes from intestine feuds, and intelligent enough to leave them a large measure of self-government, under a moderate and just fiscal system. Gradual extension of irrigation works would fit for cultivation large tracts now unproductive, and the superfluous population of the mountain valleys would spread into the plains, and develop the latent resources of the country. If it be said that the gradual diffusion of more intelligent ideas of government may gradually draw the Sultans of Marocco into the path of progress, and thus effect without violence as rapid an advance as is compatible with the ideas and character of the native population, the answer seems to be that this supposition is not probable in itself, and is not justified by experience.

For over a thousand years since the date of the Saracen conquest the two races that make up the population have remained perfectly distinct. The gradual extension of the central authority may have done something for the maintenance of external tranquillity, but it has been marked by a general and persistent decline in the prosperity of the country. It suffices to read the description given by Leo Africanus, himself a Moor, of the numerous large and thriving towns visited by him in the early years of the sixteenth century, just at the time when they were brought under the rule of the Moorish Sultans, to measure the vast falling off that has since followed.

The Moorish government is marked by two fatal defects, from which it seems unlikely to free itself. That religious fanaticism should have taken deep root in a country long exposed to the attacks of not less fanatical enemies was quite inevitable; but for two centuries there has been peace with Portugal, and the brief Spanish war in 1861 does not seem to have much altered the state of feeling as to Europeans; yet the hatred to Christians as such seems to be quite as strong among the Moors at this day as at any former period, and while it exists must continue to be a serious barrier to industrial progress. Among the Shelluhs fanaticism has evidently no deep hold on the people. Some of the chiefs may share, or affect to share, in what they doubtless consider the tone of good society among the rulers of the country; but our experience of the people agrees with that of Jackson, who lived for some time near Agadir, and found there a positive desire among the people of all classes that he should establish himself permanently among them.

More serious even than fanaticism, as an obstacle to good government, is the seeming incapacity of the Moor to estimate any but immediate results, or to make any effort of which the good effect will not be very speedily visible. To prove to a Sultan of Marocco that such a public work or other improvement would double his revenue at the end of twenty or thirty years would be sheer waste of breath. It would never occur to a Moor that a benefit so distant, however great, was worth the slightest present exertion. Hence the utter neglect of public works, of mineral wealth, and of the forests which should be an abundant source of national wealth.

We were somewhat surprised to find among the Aït Mesan people, a decided taste for ornament, of which no trace is perceptible among the Arabs of the low country. We noticed that the lintels of the doors at Arround were decorated with rude carving in geometrical patterns, diamonds, circles, and triangles. Saddlecloths had similar chequered patterns in black and white, reminding Hooker of fabrics made by the Lepchas in Sikkim.

We had scarcely started to descend the valley when it began to sleet. As soon as we reached the village below, this turned to rain, which continued with little intermission throughout the day. The halt for luncheon offered little attraction to any of the party, and was curtailed as much as possible. It is a proof of the variety of the vegetation, that although we had already twice passed through the valley, and made considerable collections, we noticed on this occasion two or three plants growing close to the path which none of us had before seen.

A little anxiety was felt as to the ford in the river; and in truth it was a piece of good fortune that the weather had been so cold, and that snow instead of rain had fallen on the mountains. A slight rise of the stream must make the ford impassable. We might have made our way on foot along the E. side of the valley, though this appears pathless below the ford, and discovered some way for passing the stream lower down; but our baggage and precious collections could scarcely have followed that way, and practically we should have been prisoners for several days. As it was, the water at the ford was no higher than usual; the increased supply from the lower slopes was doubtless compensated by the cutting off of the drainage of the upper region, now deeply covered with snow.

Soon after crossing the stream, we were met by Abraham, dressed in his best, who in this valley assumed quite a lofty air. He informed us, with a tone of great elation, that the country people took him for a sherreeff, and, had come out to ask a Jew for his blessing. The path was in places very slippery, and it was impossible to travel fast, and so it happened that the daylight was beginning to fade when we returned to our camp. This displayed a doleful spectacle. After more than twenty-four hours’ rain the piece of flat ground which we had selected was turned into a large pool of slippery mud. Hooker’s tent had been left standing; but the wet had worked its way inside, and there was scarcely a dry spot to be found, while there was no choice but to pitch the smaller tents in the midst of the general sludge. In such a case the best plan is to make a floor of branches and leafy twigs, and the carob trees that grew close at hand were at once requisitioned for the purpose. The Alpine Club tent, though the canvas was wet, when set over this rough flooring, afforded very tolerable shelter and freedom from the all-pervading mud.