CHAPTER VI. Metallic, Mineral, and Vegetable Productions. METALS AND MINERALS. G old and Silver Mines are found in several parts o f the Emp ire o f Marocco ; but more particularly about Messa in the province o f Suse. Being once on a visit to the Vicegerent o f this p ro v in ce ,'A lk a id Mohammed ben Delemy, at Shtuka, and desirous to examine the country in the vic in ity of. Messa, together with its mines, I requested an escort from the Vicegerent, to accompany me thither, which he readily;granted. On m y arriva l àt Messa, I proceeded to the southei-q banks o f the river, where I was shewn a gold mine, which, I was in- formed, had beén worked b y the Portuguese, when they were' in possession o f this district, and who, previous to their departure, had thrown stones into the aperture/which the Shelluhs h ad frequently attempted in vain (o remove. The se stones were o f an ; immense size, and it would ha ve required considerable mechanical powers tri effect their removal. I was next conducted through the bed o f the river, when I discovered, on a bluish soil, two separate strata o f blue sand intermixed with s ilve r d u s t; o f this I collected a small quantity, and sent it to England to be analyzed ; but such is the disposition o f the people, that they will not allow the sand to be taken away in un y quantity for the purpose o f extracting the metal ; though Gold and Silver. Mines. tlie y make no use o f it themselves, being unacquainted with the proper method o f refining it. , ¡Near Elala and Shtuka, in the same province, there is a very' rich s ilve r m in e ; but being situated between two clans, the y are.continually fighting about it, and b y this means both parties are deprived o f the benefit it offers. I ha ve purchased lumps o f this silver, which had been refined-by th e natives, and it was more pure than the silver o f Spanish dollars. There is another silve r mine in the plains of-Msegina, near Santa C r u z : this was reported to the Emperor Seedi Mohammed, to be extremely rich, and he accordingly ¡sent some persons conversant in minerals to inspect, and report, upon it . Previous to their departure, however, th e y wCre secretly in formed, that he wished to discourage the working o f this mine, lest the province might be thereby rendered too rich and powerful, and the people be enabled to throw off their allegiance. In consequence o f this, after a formal examination had- been made, it was reported that the mine would not pay for the expense o f w orking it. T he entrance was then broken in, and the Shelluhs, discouraged by this unfavourable report, and riot suspecting the m otive lor destroying the mine, paid no fu r th e r attention to it. ¡ T his mine had probably been worked by the' Portuguese, when th e y were in possession o f Santa Cruz and Agurem. Gold is also found in the A tla s mountains, and in L ow e r 1 Suse, but the mines are not worked.* * I procured several specimens of gold and silver ores from the various mines- in this province, which I sent to Europe to be analyzed ; but the smallness of the* quantity precluded any considerable advantage from the analyzafibn, and I ihSd not an opportunity afterwarcU of repeating the trial .to a larger exten t.- •
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