CHAPTER THE E L E V EN TH
OPEN PORTS— 7
A S F I (SAFFI)®
ËAFFI is one of the most picturesque and interesting
sea-port towns of Morocco, a reputed relic of the
Carthaginian times. It has been surmised that its original
name was Sophia, ^nd Tissot had no doubt that it was
the Mysocaras of Ptolemy.3 It is the only situation
town in the province of 'Abda, about 96 miles
or three days distant from Marrakesh, which lies to the
E.S.E. : its exact position is 32° 181 N. and 90 12' W.
The town is built on the side of a hill, at the mouth of a
fertile valley which descends to the sea. It is surrounded
by a lofty and substantial wall with three gates, outside
which there are a number of strongly built “ whited
sepulchres,” the walls of which, resplendent with fresh
lime-wash, gleam amid the green. Antecedent to its
seizure and possession by the Portuguese, the town was
of great extent, covering a space considerably larger than
it now occupies, t but the foreigners, exposed to the
continual assaults of the Moors, were unable to defend
* In the preparation of this description of Saffi I am much indebted
for the kind assistance of Mr. W. H. C. Andrews, long a resident here.
-j* Others have derived the name from the Berber word Asîf, a river, 3
but this is improbable.
£ De Sousa, in his Africa Portnguesa, 1681, says that Saffi once contained
3500 houses.
1 C f . I d r e e s i , p. 86. 2 p . 1 1 5 .
3 B e b r u g g e r , Expi. Scientifique de VAlgérie, v o l ix ., p . 172 .