From the Bâb el-Assa, the lower Kasba gate (Pl. C, 1), a steep footpath, which soon offers a striking *View of the white houses of Tangier and of the beach, descends to the town.
Excursions. We may walk or ride to the S.E., past the Sea Baths (p. [99]), along the beach, which forms an excellent riding-course at low tide, to the (¾–1 hr.) Roman Bridge across the brook Galeres (Wâd el-Mogoga), and thence a little inland over the sand-hills (100 ft.) to the Ruins of Tingis (Arabic Tanja el-Bâlia), where the Roman seaward gateway is still well preserved. The road then makes a long bend to the N. to the Torre Blanquilla (243 ft.), an old Moorish battery on Cape Malabata (p. [6]), 2½–3½ hrs. from Tangier.—Another pleasant ride may be taken from the shore to the S.W., inland, through orange-groves to (1¼ hr.) the village of Es-Suani, where we strike the Fez Road (p. [102]), by which we may return to the Outer Market.
The *Excursion to Cape Spartel, 7½ M. to the W. of Tangier, takes nearly a day (horses, etc., see p. [99]; bargain advisable; provisions should be taken). From the Villa Sicsu (see above) we descend the Monte road to the Bubana Valley, watered by the little Wâd el-Ihûd (‘Jews’ River’), ¾ hr. to the W. of Tangier. From the bridge we may go straight on, and mount direct to the top of the Jebel Kebîr (1070 ft.), which is overgrown with low underwood, or (more attractive) we may follow the Monte road to Monte Washington, a colony of charming villas immediately overlooking the sea, and then, ¾ hr. farther on, rejoin the direct route. On both routes we enjoy a splendid view of the sea and the Spanish coast with Cape Trafalgar (p. [58]). The main road at length descends to the W. margin of Cape Spartel (Arabic Râs Ishberdil), the ancient Promontorium Ampelusia, the north-westmost point of Africa. The lighthouse (312 ft.), built and maintained by the European great powers, at present the only one on the coast of Morocco (others are projected at Melilla, Casablanca, Mazagan, Saffi, and Mogador), is visible at sea from a distance of about 30 M. Near it are a signal-station and a meteorological station belonging to the nautical observatory of Hamburg.
From the cape we may ride along the coast to the (2½ M.) Hercules Grotto, where excellent grindstones and millstones have been quarried from time immemorial, or, in returning to Tangier, we may diverge from the Bubana Valley to visit the Olive Groves, between the Jews’ River and the Fez road (see below).
13. From Tangier to Tetuán (Ceuta).
The journey to Tetuán, about 37 M., may be performed (on horseback or by mule) in one day, but travellers wishing to break their journey may spend a night at a fondak (see below) where, considering the rough accommodation, it is best to camp outside (tents and camping-utensils should be taken from Tangier). An escort is advisable. Or we may go to Tetuán by a steamer of the Bland Line (usually on Sat. even., in 3 hrs.; $4), and return thence to Tangier or Gibraltar by the Navigation Mixte (p. [123]; every second Tues.; agent at Tetuán, Salvador Hassan). From Tangier to Ceuta direct there is a weekly steamer (on Thurs.) of the Vapores Correos de Africa. For the excursion to Ceuta a passport visé by the Spanish consul at Tangier or Tetuán is required. A local boat crosses daily from Ceuta to Algeciras (p. [56]) in 2 hrs.
From the Outer Market we follow the Fez road (Pl. C, 3–5; Camino de Fez) to the S., passing at some distance from the stone huts of the Berber villages (Duâr) in the fertile hill-country of the province of El-Fahs. Nearing the village of Aïn-Dalia, we pass below it, ride to the S.E. in view of the steep peak of Jebel Zinat, crowned with the ruined house of Raisuli, and ascend in the fertile valley of the Wâd Marhar (Tahaddart). Here, on the right, beyond the hills inhabited by the Berber tribe of the Beni Msaur, we can sometimes descry in clear weather the distant Jebel Mulaï Abd es-Slam (5742 ft.), the most sacred mountain in N. Morocco.
The track then ascends through remains of cork-tree forest in the beautiful hill-region of the Wâd Râs. At the top of the pass (1476 ft.), the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, stands the fondak of Aïn el-Jedida, the largest caravanserai in N. Morocco (comp. above). The roof-terrace commands a fine view of the hills around.
The track, which soon affords a beautiful *View of Tetuán, now descends the stony slope to the E. into the valley of the River Martín, a stream rising on the Jebel Mulaï Abd es-Slam.
Tetuán (197 ft.; Hot. Dersa, pens. 10 p.; Hot. Calpe, R. 3, pens. 10 p., plain but good; Hot. Victoria, pens. 6–8 p.; Brit. vice-cons., W. S. Bewicke), Arabic Titawân, Berber Tettawên, an interesting town, containing among its 30,450 inhab. 6000 Jews, 400 Spaniards, and about 500 immigrants from Algeria, lies 7 M. from the Mediterranean and above the left bank of the River Martín, not far from the ancient Roman Thamuda. The garden-like environs are fertile and well watered. With its numerous minarets, its domed tombs of saints, its town-walls garnished with many towers, and its loftily placed citadel (Kasba) overshadowed on the N. by the red sandstone rocks of the Jebel Dersa, it presents a most charming picture of an Oriental town entirely free from European disfigurement. The narrow, winding streets recall the ancient part of Cordova, and the colonnaded courts of the externally plain Moorish houses resemble the patios of Seville (p. [61]). In the more regularly built Mellah (Jewish quarter) one is often struck with the beauty of the Jewish girls and the women’s gold-embroidered festive attire. Some parts of the town still show traces of the Spanish siege of 1859–60, which gained for the victorious Marshal O’Donnell the title of ‘Duke of Tetuán’.