22 Description o f Tafilelt. rain never fa lls ; the soil is a whitish cla y, impregnated with salt, which when moistened resembles soap. A river, which rises in the A tla s, passes through this vast p lain from the south-west to the north-east; at Tafilelt it is described tb be as wide as the Morbeya at A zamo r in West Barbary, that is, about the w id th o f the Thames at P u tn e y ; the water o f this riv e r receives a brackish taste, b y passing through the saline p la in s : after running a course o f fifteen erhellat,+ or four hundred and fifty-miles, it is absorbed in the desert o f Angad. It has several (l’uksebbat) castles o f terrace wall on it's banks, inhabited by the (Sherreefs) princes o f the reigning family o f Marocco. L a tte r ly wheat and barley have been cultivated near the riv e r and the castles. T h e food o f the inhabitants, who are Arabs,- consists, for the most part (as already observed), in dates ; their principal meal is after sun-set, the heat being so intolerable as not to suffer them to eat any thing substantial while the sun is above the horizon. The re is another river, inferior to the one before mentioned, which rises in the plains north o f Tafilelt, and flowing in a southerly direction, is absorbed in the great desert, o f S aha ra : the water o f this r iv e r is so. v e r y brackish, as to be unfit for culinary purposes; it is o f a- colour similar to chalk and water, but if left to stand in a vessel during the night it becomes clear b y the morning, though it is still too salt to drink. These e x tensive plains abound e v e ry where in water, which is found at the depth o f two cubits,* but so brackish as to be palatable only to those who ha ve been long accustomed to the use o f it. * An ordinary erhella is thirty English miles. t A cubit is twenty-one inches. Trade and Manufactures o f Tafilelt. 23 T h e people have among themselves a strict sense o f h o n o u r ; a robbery has scarcely been known in the memory o f the oldest man, though they use no locks or bars. Commercial transactions being for the most part in the way o f b arter or exchange, they need but little specie : gold dust is the circulating- medium in all transactions o f m agnitude. T h e y liv e in the simple patriarchal manner o f the Arabs, differing from them only in having walled habitations, which are in variably near the river. It is intensely hot here, during a great part o f the year, the (Shume) wind from Sahara blowing tempestuously in July, August, and September, carrying with it particles o f earth and sand, which are v e r y pernicious to the eyes, and produce ophthalmia. A considerable trade is carried on from this place to T im - buctoo, Houssa, and Jinnie, south o f Sahara, and fo Marocco, Fas,.Suse, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Indigo abounds here, but from the indolence o f the cultivators it is o f an inferior quality. T he re are mines o f antimony and lead o r e : the Elkahol F ile lly , * so much used b y the Arabs and African women to gives a softness to the eyes, and to blacken the e ye brows, is the produce o f this country. T h e common dress o f the inhabitants consists o f a loose shirt o f blue cotton, with a shawl or belt round the waist. A n Akkabah, or accumulated caravan, goes annually from hence to Timbuctoo. Woollen hayks -f for garments aré manufactured here o f a curious texture, extremely light and fine, called E l Haik F ile lly . * Elkahol Filelly signifies lead ore of Tafilelt. t 1 he hayk of the Arabs is a plain piece of cloth, of wool, cotton, or silk, and is thrown over their under dress, somewhat similar to the Roman toga.
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