Tafilet

by Walter Harris

others are crushed into solid masses, which are sewn up in basket-work for transport; while others again, used by the poor natives when travelling, are crushed into the shape and size of turkeys’ eggs, and are easier to carry in this manner. On one occasion, travelling in Morocco, I was given one of those solidified date-balls by a native of Tafilet, who was journeying to Tangier on his way to take ship to Mecca. Its appearance and feel was that of a stone, its weight that of lead! I kept it for some time in my house, and visitors used to take it for a fossil. What became of it I do not know, but I never found any native of North Morocco brave enough to attempt to eat it. Yet by the donor it was considered a great luxury.

Besides the dates, crops of wheat and barley are grown at Tafilet, especially in the land to the west of the Gheris, called Beled el Unja. Millet and maize, however, are more common, and form the principal food of the people. In the gardens cabbages, onions, peas, beans, grapes, pomegranates, apples, pears, gourds, and melons flourish, but are only cultivated by the richer classes, turnips being the favourite vegetable of the poor. Large quantities of lucerne are grown in the shade of the palm-trees, and stored away for winter fodder for the horses and cattle.

The only export of manufactured goods from Tafilet are the prepared skins, famous all over Morocco as jeld el Fileli, and fine haiks, the fleece of the native sheep being very fine.

Gunsmiths and silversmiths, the latter principally Jews, are to be found in numbers, but the weapons are of coarse manufacture; while such trades as the making of sandals, universally worn by the poorer Arabs and Berbers, flourish. All good shoes are brought from Fez, those made in Tafilet, in spite of the fine leather, being very inferior. Bags for kiff, the chopped hemp which the natives smoke, are made in considerable quantities and sent to Morocco. These bags are generally some 6 inches in length by 3 in width. An outside cover or shell, open at one of the narrow ends, allows the bag with its several pockets to be drawn out. The whole is worn round the neck on a string, which, passing through the two upper corners of the outside bag, is made fast to that inside, so that to get at the kiff the outer cover is slid up the two strings.

Antimony and lead are both found in the vicinity of Tafilet, and the former, known as kohl el Fileli, was once famous, but it can be imported into Morocco nowadays from Europe at a cheaper rate than it can be worked and sent from Tafilet. The lead worked is only used for bullets, and is obtained merely in small quantities.

The aromatic gums which reach Fez from Tafilet are not products of the oasis, but are brought thither to the Fez merchants in small quantities from the different tribes, a good deal from the Sudan.

The imports into Tafilet exceed very considerably in value the exports. Most caravans travel from Fez, the road being better and safer than that from Morocco City. Cotton goods, shoes, khent, silk belts and handkerchiefs, iron bars, candles, sugar, and green tea, form the principal imports, a good deal of the whole being sold at Abuaam to other merchants and tribes, who send it farther afield into the Sahara and Sudan. The return caravans take away dates and Sudan produce.

The slave-trade flourishes at Tafilet, the slaves being brought direct to that spot from the Sudan. At the time of my visit they were being freely hawked about the Sultan’s camp. The girls of the Hausa country fetched the best prices, being considered more cheerful and neater than those from farther west. The prices averaged from 30 to 40 dollars for boys, and up to 100 and 120 dollars for young girls.

The great veneration bestowed by the Moors and Arabs upon deceased saints is as noticeable at Tafilet as elsewhere. Although the founder of the present ruling dynasty of Morocco and his son lie buried in the oasis, their tombs are reverenced more by strangers than by the inhabitants, though the name of Mulai Ali Shereef is continually upon their lips. But Mulai Ali Shereef never founded a brotherhood, and this has to some extent detracted from the esteem that would have accrued to his memory, these societies of devotees doing more to keep up the reputation of their founders than any number of stray pilgrims could do. The love of belonging to some particular brotherhood is extremely noticeable amongst the superstitious people of the Sahara, who are far more religious than their brethren in Morocco proper. Some follow the sect of the Taiebiya, or followers of Mulai Taieb of Wazan; some are Aissoua and practise the rites of Sidi ben Aissa of Meknas; some again Hamacha, devotees of Sidi Ali ben Hamduch; some of Mulai Abdul Kader el Jilani of Baghdad. But the most favoured of all in this portion of the Sahara is the sect of the Derkauiya, or followers of Mulai Ali and Mulai el Arbi el Derkaui, whose patrons lie buried, one in the Sahara, the other in the tribe-lands of the Beni Zerual to the north-east of Fez. The Derkauis are distinguished by carrying a long stick, and by wearing round their necks a string of large wooden beads, often of preposterous size. Often, too, a green turban decorates the head, a sign in the East of the accomplishment of the pilgrimage to Mecca or of holy descent from the Prophet, but here meaning neither, being merely a sign of exceeding devotion to the sect. Mulai Suleiman, who reigned as Sultan of Morocco from 1795 to 1822, was a devotee of this sect, which no doubt then became fashionable. The brotherhood possesses zauias, or holy houses, all over the country, where offerings are taken and meetings of the sect held. These zauias are in the hands of chosen Mokadmin, elected for the purpose. One of the little party who accompanied me as far as Dads was a Derkaui, and I took the opportunity of questioning him about the sect. The original idea was “revivalistic”—that is to say, it was the desire of the founder to cause the world to return to the pristine purity of Islam, and to do away with any worship except of the One God. However, so impressionable are the minds of Arabs that, instead of turning them from the reverence of earthly saints, he only added his own name to the long list. So firmly convinced was Sid el Arbi el Derkaui of the unity of God, and that to Him alone must be paid reverence, that he ordered his followers in repeating the Shedda—There is no god but God; Mohammed is the Prophet of God—to only mentally mention the second half of the sentence, so that Mohammed, holy though he was, should not be spoken of in the same breath with the Almighty. A constant repetition of prayers and attendance at the mosque was also enjoined.

With regard to the animal life to be found at Tafilet a few words must be said.