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Thirty-five miles south of Mazagan, is the town of El Waladia,
situated in an extensive plain. Here is a very spacious harbour
sufficiently extensive to contain 500 sail of the line: but the entrance
is obstructed by a rock or two, which, it is said, might be blown up; if
this could be effected, it would be one of the finest harbours for
shipping in the world. The coast of El Waladia is lined with rocks, at
the bottom of which, and between them and the ocean, is a table
land, almost even with the surface of the water, abounding with
springs, where every necessary and luxury of life grows in
abundance. The view of this land from the plains above the rocks, is
extremely beautiful and picturesque.
The town of El Waladia is small, and encompassed by a square
wall: it contains but few inhabitants. It may have been built towards
the middle of the 17th century by Muley El Waled, as the name
seems to indicate.
To the south of this, at the extremity of Cape Cantin, are the ruins
of an ancient town, called by the Africans Cantin, probably the Conte
of Leo Africanus.
Twenty-five miles south of El Waladia, we discover the ancient
town of Saffy, situated between two hills, which render it intolerably
hot, and in winter very disagreeable, as the waters from the
neighbouring mountains, occasioned by the rains, discharge
themselves through the main-street into the ocean, deluging the
lower apartments of the houses; and this happens sometimes so
suddenly and unexpectedly, that the inhabitants have not time to
remove their property from the stores.
The walls of Saffy are extremely thick and high; it was probably
built by the Carthaginians; but in the beginning of the 16th century it
was taken by the Portuguese, who voluntarily quitted it in 1641, after
having resisted every effort of the Mooselmin princes, who
endeavoured to take it. The road is safe in summer; but in winter,
when the winds blow from the south or south-west, vessels are
obliged to run to sea, which I have known some do several times in
the course of a month whilst taking in their cargoes.
There are many sanctuaries in the environs of Saffy, on which
account the Jews are obliged to enter the town barefooted, taking off
their sandals, when they approach these consecrated places; and if
riding, they must descend from their mule, and enter the town on
foot. The people of Saffy, although it has been a place of
considerable trade, particularly in corn, are inimical to Europeans,
fanatical, and bigotted, insomuch that till lately, Christians found it an
unpleasant residence. The surrounding country abounds in corn, and
two falls of rain a year are sufficient to bring the crops to maturity.
South of Saffy, we come to a defile close to the road, where only
one person can pass, called (Jerf el Eudee) the Jew’s Cliff, so
named, (as it is reported,) from a Jew, who, in passing, slipped, and
fell down the cavity, which is some hundred feet deep.
Sixteen miles south of Saffy, we reach the river Tensift, which
discharges itself into the ocean, near the ruins of an ancient town,
probably the Asama of Ptolomy. Travellers pass the Tensift on
horseback in summer, but on rafts in the rainy season, which, in
passing, drift down to a square fort surrounded by trees, on the
opposite side of the river, built by Muley Ismael for the
accommodation of travellers.
Proceeding through the plains of Akkeermute, we discover the
ruins of a large town near the foot of Jibbel el Heddid,[47]
depopulated by the plague about 50 years since; and after a journey
of 48 miles from the river, we reach Mogodor, built by the Emperor
Seedy Mohammed ben Abdallah ben Ismael, in 1760, and so named
from a sanctuary in the adjacent sands, called Seedi Mogodol; but
the proper name is Saweera,[48] a name given by the Emperor in
allusion to its beauty, it being the only town altogether of geometrical
construction in the empire.
Mogodor is built on a sandy beach forming a peninsula, the
foundation of which is rocky adjoining to a chain of lofty hills, of
moveable sand impelled by the wind into waves continually changing
their position, resembling the billows of the ocean, and hence aptly
denominated a sea of sand, which sandy sea separates it from the
cultivated country. The town is defended from the encroachment of
the sea by rocks, which extend from the northern to the southern
gate, though at spring tides it is almost surrounded. There are two
towns, or rather a citadel and an outer town; the citadel (Luksebba)
contains the custom-house, treasury, the residence of the Alkaid,
and the houses of the foreign merchants, together with those of
some of the civil officers, &c. The Jews who are not foreign
merchants are obliged to reside in the outer town, which is walled in,
and protected by batteries and cannon, as well as the citadel.
Plate 9.
The wind being high all the summer, with little intermission,
nothing will grow here in sufficient quantity to supply the inhabitants,
all kinds of fruits and vegetables are therefore brought from gardens
from four to twelve miles distant; and the cattle and poultry are also
brought from the other side of the sandy hills, where the country,
although interspersed with (Harushe) stony spots, is yet capable of
producing every necessary of life. The insulated situation of
Mogodor, and the want of fresh water, which is brought from the river
a mile and a half distant, deprive the inhabitants of all resource,
except that of commerce, so that every individual is supported
directly or indirectly by it: in this respect it differs from every other
port on the coast. The island which lies southward of the town is
about two miles in circumference, between which and the main-land
is a passage of water, where the ships anchor; but as there is but ten
or twelve feet at ebb tide, ships of war, or those of great burden, do
not enter the port, but lie at anchor about a mile and a half west of
the (Skalla) Long Battery, which extends along the west side of the
town towards the sea. This battery was constructed by a Genoese,
and is perhaps more remarkable for beauty than strength, and better
calculated for offensive than defensive operations. Proceeding
southward, towards the entrance of the road, we come to a circular
battery, on which are cannon and some mortars, besides a curious
brass gun taken by General Lord Heathfield, during the siege of
Gibraltar: the carriage, which is also of brass, is in the form of a lion,
opens in the middle, and contains the gun within it.[49] Underneath
this Battery is an extensive and copious mitfere, or cistern, into
which the rain falls from the flat roofs or terraces during the wet
season, and is sufficient to supply the garrison a twelvemonth.
Within the harbour, at the landing-place, are two long batteries
mounted with very handsome brass eighteen pounders, which were
presented to the Emperor Seedy Mohammed, by the Dutch
government. The town is defended on the landside by a battery of
considerable force to the eastward, and is fully adequate to keep the
Shelluhs and Arabs at a distance.
Plate 11.
MAROCCO.