The Berbers of Morocco Author(s): W. B. Harris Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 27 (1898), pp. 61-73 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842849 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 02:39

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MARCH 9TH, 1897. E. W. BRABROOK,Esq., F.S.A., President,in the Chair. The Minutesof the last Meeting were readand signed. The followillocommunication was read by the Author " The Mythologyof Wise Birds,"by Dr. COLLEYMARCH. The PPESIDENT,Sir H. Low, Dr. GARSON,Mr. LEWIS,Mr. ATKINSON,Ptev. Mr. HUTCHINSON,and Mr. B. PUSEY discussed the paper,alncd a vote of thanks was unanimouslypassed.

lThe BERBERS of MOROCCO. By W. B. HARRIS. THE term Moors is so generallyapplied to the inhabitantsof Morocco,that thereare manywho are unawareto-day that the population of that benightedempire consists of two distinct races, so distinct indeed that they boast of originsentirely separateand apart. While the Arab, or Semitic,invasion of Moroccodid not occur until mallycenturies after the Christiana era,the Berbers,a distinctlyHamitic race,had been inhabiting North Africa fromtime immemorial,even if it was not the cradle of their race. Of these Berbers but little is known. True it is that Algeria and Tunis have been opelled up to European ideas and influences,but in spite of this the retiring, characterof the Berbers has tended not a little to keep their race in the background,though the Frencl, oftenenough, have found it no easy task to subdue and pacify these turbulent people. But even beforethe conquest by France of Algeria, the Berber people of that countryhad amalgamatedfar more largelywith the Arabs than has even been the case in Morocco. The explanationof this is easy to find,for in Algeria while both races were governedfor long periods by an extraneouspower -Turkev and Turkish Beys-it was only natural that the tribesof the two races in question,who shared betweeinthem the proprietorshipof the soil, should find a common cause. Nor did the invasionof the countryby French troops tend to widen any breach that might exist between the two races,for here again it was a mutual defence of the counitryand the religionthey both shared against a foreionand, to them,infidel power.

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But in Moroccothere has been no commoncause to unite the Berbersand Arabs,for since the firstconquest of the country by the invading Semites, a deadly hatred has existed, which burns to-day as fiercelyas ever, fanned into rebellion and warfare whenever the dominatingArab power attempts to enforcetribute, or practisessome nefariousact of treachery,in which act the Moorish Governmentis unequalled, upon the more confidingand more manlyBerbers. Everythingin fact has tended throughall these centuriesto widen the breach between them,u-ntil to-day, even when inhabitingcommon soil in the cities,the two races remainentirely separate. So far do theyhold aloofone fromanother that it is almostalways a rule to find the membersof each people favouringcertain parts of the towns,and congregatedtogether in quartersof their own. Thus it is that at Tangier,where the representativesof the Berber race are almost entirelyRiffis of the Mediterranean coast,of whommnore anon, while the town is given overto the Arab or Moorish population,the descendantsof the Hamitic stockhave built themselvesan extensivevillage of thatchhuts on the summitof a near hill,where they reside and own an alle- giance little more than nominal to the Basha, or Governorof Tangier, whose residence stares them in the face. And so throughoutall Morocco,with the exception of the southern capital,Marakesh, where the Berberpopulation is miuchlarger, and where theyseem to have so far amalgamatedas to share the same quartersof the city. But it is not withthe Berbers who have left their wild mountains to congregate in the proximityof the towns that we have to do here,for, although even in this case the type and language have remainedun- changed,they bave to some extent adopted the customs and the habits of the Moors, and accordinglysome of the typical race characterwhich is only to be foundto-day in the remoter portions of the country,where the officialsand rapacity of the Moorish Governmenthave not reached them, and the immiloralityand depravityof the Arab are as yet uniknown. The Berber populationof Moroccomay be divided into four distinctclasses, three of whichalone can lay claim to possess- ing the pure blood of theiroriginal ancestors. Althoughthese four divisionspossess much in common there are yet great differencesto be distinguishedby the observer. That theyown a common origin none can doubt, and to this too tradition clearly points. There is a tale well known amongst the Berbersof Moroccoof whichthe true and hiddenimeaning, is yet to be evolved. Once, so the storyruns, their common ancestor lived in a far away land where stormsof wilndwere of constantoccurrence.

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Upon a certainday a younggirl of the people was passing by the road-side whenia king rode past. A gust of the wind raising her garments,more of her body than was decent was exposed to view. The king laughed,and for very shame the girl and her tribemigrated and came intowhat is now Morocco. This tale, told to the writerby representativesof the various sectionsof the Berberrace, differs little if anythingin detail in the mouthsof any,and seems as well known in the Riff,t,o the extremenorth of Morocco,as it is on the southernside of the Atlas Mountains. Yet in spite of the fact that it is quotedlby Riffiand Susi alike, these divisionsof therace, together with the Berbers of the Central Atlas range, speak languages which, though undoubtedlyrelated, are, except for individual words, unilntelligibleone to alnother,while in outward appearance the type is verydifferent. Mentionof the fourdivisions of the Berbersby lname,and theirgeographical distribution, is necessary beforeany details as to their nmannersand customs and modes of life can be entered upon. Commencingfromn the north of the country we find the long strip of Mediterraneancoast between the French frontierof Algeria anid the mountainsto the south of Tetuan inhabitedby the Riffis,perhaps the wildestand most turbulentof all. Cut off fromthese to the south by Arab tribes,and inihabitingthe northerniand central slopes of the Atlas range,frolmi Fez on the north to AMarakeshin the south, are the purest Berbers of Morocco, the unexploredand little knowntribes of Beni Mgild, Ait Yussi, Ghiata Beni Mtir and others. South of the western slopes of the Atlas, that is to say, south and west of Marakesh, alongi the slopes of the mountainsand the valley of the W\TadSus, are the Stusitribes, withwhich may be counted those of Haha, Mtuga and others. South of these again and extendingalong the northernlimits of the Sahara and the valley of the Wad Draa are the Drauis, or as theyare morecommonly called amongsttheir own people, the Haratin, a niameimplying freemen as against slaves. It is to this divisionof the people that referencewas made above wlhenit was stated that one class could not boast of pure Hamitic origini,for so largely have these Drauis intermixed with the black tribesof the NorthernSiidan that in type,as well as in colour,they show more signs of their negro than their Berber origin, thouightheir language is more closely related to that of the other Berber people than it is to the Genauia of the Sudan. Having now brieflydwelt upon the sections of the Berber race to be found in Morocco, some few words must be said as to theirnomenclature and the termsthey use in describinlg

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themselves. While the name Berber is traced back to an oriainal chieftain" Barbar" by some wlho have studied more or less this interesting,people, they them.selvesgenerally kniowof no such fable as far as the writer'sresearches have been able to discover,though the division of the people in- habiting the central Atlas undoubtedlydo, in speaking, use Berber (plural Berebber)as one of their names,though even here theyprefer the term Shleh (plural Shloh) which in their languagesignifies " nobility." This termis commonto all, even the Pbiffisusinig it of themselves,though less commonlythan any other section of the people. A second, and as it were classical name, "Aimazigh"-also meaning nobility,-is found, thoughit scarcely ever is used colloquially, being referred-to, almost solely when inquiries are being made fromthe people themselvesas to theirorigin. It may seem strange that a race which possesses vastly supeiior characteristicsand qualities, should for these many years have lain uniderthe yoke of Arab supremacy, and especiallyso when in certain parts of Moroccothe population is entirelyBerber. More than oniereason, however, has tended to preventany great rising of the Shloh people. Primarilythey are devout Moslems, and althoughbut rarelyrecognising the temlporalpower of the Moorish Sultans they reverencetheir Shereefiandescent fron the Prophet himnself,and hold his person in a sort of sanctity which,so long as no paymentof tributeis levied, is sufficientto preventa rising. But what more probably influences their general bearing toward the Arabs and the Governmnentis the state of eternal warfare existing amongst themselves. It is a case not onilyof tribe, against tribe and family against family,but oftelneven of iindividualagainst individual. And this proneness on their part to local strifeis taken much advantage of by the Sultan and his advisers,who make a point of stirringup bloodshed by referenceto ancientquarrels, or by promisesfor the future, in any case in which the amalgamationof two or more tribes seems likelyto threateneither the throneor the Arab tribes. In places where the ilnfluenceor arms of the Sultan have enforceda certain amount of nomilnalGoverlnment among(,st the Berbers warfareis of every-dayoccurrence, and it may almost be asserted that every penny of the small taxation collectedfrom them is only forthcomingafter bloodshed. Even in such districtsas the Governmenthas been able to subdue, the representativesof the Suiltanare membersof the tribethey are commissionedto govern,as no stranaercould even attempt to hold jurisdictionover so wild and turbulenta people. The position of the Berber governorof a Berber tribe is by no

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meainsali enviable one,for between the constant demandsfor cash on the part of his superiorgovernment and the difficulty alnd danger incurredin procuringthe same fronma dissatisfied and rebelliouspeople, his life is in daily dalngerfrom one source or the other,and while assassinationby his own tribe's- people is bad enough,the horrorsand torturesof the dung,eons of a Moorishprison are even worse. The spirit and bravery, however,of thesegovernors is not seldomshown, and it is only a fewyears ago that a " kaid," Ait Yussi, when besiegedby hiis own subjectsand findingall escape hopeless,blew himselfaiid Iiis familyand castle to pieces by ignitingthe magazine,having previouslyopenied the doors so as to fill the place with his eneiny; while it is a well-knownfact that the kaid of Glawa, one of the most importantif not the mostimportant Berber subjects of the Sultan, is often the firstto climb the scaling ladder when besiegingsome rebellious castle in his own juris- diction. But even in theirwarfare each divisionof the Berber race presents characteristicsof its own. In the Rift, for instance, where bloodshedand blood feuds are of every-day occurrence,but few pitched battles take place, the avenger preferrin,gto dog his enemy'ssteps, till, from behind some bush or stone,he is able to pull the triggerupon him. To such an extent liave their blood feuds increased in the Riffthat the people of the tribes of that countryassert that no one's life is safe,for the veryfact of relationshipor tribal fellowshipwith anotherrenders a manliable to lose his lifeat any moment. This is no doubt the reason why so many Riffisto-day inhabit Tangier,for here at least the laws of blood feud of revengecan be laid aside, though it is no uncommonoccurrence that a would-be avenger will trtudgethe long mountainjourney on the chance of a shot at his quondam enemy. Only a compara- tively few months since certain members of a Riffi tribe journeyed to Tangier and took their revenge upon another familyin the public market-place,where for some minutesa regular fusiladetook place and several lives were lost. That the Riffis,in commonwith the other menmbersof the Berber people, are possessed of great courage there is no doubt, for the inannerin which they foughtand practicallyrouted the Spaniards in the vicinityof Melilla in 1894 clearly demon* strated the fact. The facilitieswith which they have beer. enabled to procure arms from smugglers from Spain and Gibraltarhas renderedthem more dangerous than ever, and there is scarcelya male memberof any of their large tribes who is not possessed of a Remingtonrifle and a considerable amount of aminunition. Even in quasi-civilizedTangier the Riffitribesmen carry European rifles,though it must be con- VOL. XXVII. F

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fessed that tlheyare an orderlybody of men,anid in spite of occasional bloodshed,telnd much to keep the peace. They act as guards over houses and property,and woe betide the robberat whom is levelled a Riffi firearmi.A picturesque group a collectionof thieseRiffis make, in theirdark "Jelaba," or hooded garments,and with their long scalp lock wounid rounidtheir heads or tucked into the yards of yellow woollen thread wlhichthey wear in place of turban or tarbooslh. As ( rule of short or mliediumstature, they vary very much in colour and complexion,for while manlyare red-haired,red- baardedand bltue-eyed,the majorityare fairskinned but with d;urkhair anld eyes. Their language,which they preserveand speak amongstthemselves habitually, is incomprehenisiblein ogeueralto the remainderof the Berber people, though in iuidividu'alwords, and even in a fewexpressions, similar, if not t1iesamiie. No writingin their tongue exists,though Riffia, as it is called, is when necessary writtenin Arabic characters, forthroughout their countrythe religiouisclass are taughtto read the Koran-though maniydo not undlerstanda word of what the Arabic miieans-andthus a knowledge of Arabic clharactersis gailned. Althoughjealously guardingtheir country fromiiEuiropean influence, and the IRiffhas never yet been explored-they seek, on emnigratilngto Tangier, work witl Europeans and becomemost trustyand truistworthyservants, faitlhfuland affectionateand ready to protecttheir masters by wordor act. As a rule they take to gardening,thoucgl malny become indoor servants,for which their quiet and pleasanit manners,good looks and honestcharacters fit them. While strictMoslems theydo not seem to be fanatical,and are altogetherin theirnatures much less passionate than their Arab neighbours. Their morality,too, is vastly stuperiorto that of the Moorishtownspeople, and theyseem to appreciateto somweextent the pleasuresof home-life. The womenido not as a ruilecover their faces, except whenin the town,or anywhere whlerethe glance of Moorisheyes is likely to fall upon them In theirown countrythe veil is practicallyunknown. The wildest specimens of these Riffitribespeople who are esverto be seen in Tangierare undoubtedlythe tradersin wood, who in summiiersail along the coast in their clumsyboats witl ralisedprow alnd helm,and bringithe pine wood with whiclh theiroountry abounds for sale. There can be little doubt btit that these very boats anid very men are the same that are responsiblefor the constantlyrecurring acts of piracyoff the Itiffcoast, for which the Sultan of Moroccois for ever paying inidemniities.Even large sailingrcraft are attacked,the crews bolund-hanJ and foot,anid the vessel literallystripped of every-

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:39:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions W. B. HARRIs.-The b'erbersof Morocco. 67 thing except sufficientsail to carrythe ship away, after the departureof the pirates. These Riffisof the Mediterranean are the sole survivorsof the much-dreadedBarbary Corsairs of the olden days,whose pillagingis said to have been carried as faras the northerncoast of Spain and the westernend of the English Channel. With regardto peculiarcharacteristics amongst the Riffis,the Moslemreligion has obliteratedmost, for in accepting it they have accomm-odatedthemselves to the legal anidreligious rites incorporatedin Islam. Thereforein such events as m-larriage ceremonies,etc., one may search in vain for some remnant of pre-Islamism. Their music has, however,survived in the Riff, where the double pipe of reed,and two ox horns,is still to be found,thouiah nowhere else existingin Morocco. The form of their native-muadeguns is peculiar to themselves,thoug,h this must be, of course,a comparativelylate distinction. In clothina they wear the exact counterpartof the Moorish mountaineers,with the exception of the embroideredwoollen shirt in place of the cotton garmentnow in vogue,but even this is fast disappearingas Euiropean goods are gradually findinga market in their country. The onilyabsolutely dis- tinctivefeature, then, about tbe iRiffiis the " gitaya,"'or scalp lock,which is leftto growthick and long,and is eitlherplaited ancl wound round the head or twisted into the " kheit," or tuirbanof yellow thread. Beyond this,a peculiar look,to be recogniisedonly by those who are accustoml-edto distingruish tlhemll,it is almostimpossible to detecta Riffifrom an ordinary mountaineerof Morocco,for although the latter speak entirely Arabic to-day, there seems little doubt that they share a commonBerber ancestor with the Riffis. Althoughthese wild tribesof the Riffcoast are the Berbers who most commonlycome underthe noticeof Europeanis,froin their proximityto Tangier and the numberwho lhave settled there,they are by no means the mostinteresting of the Berber people,and to find the present representativesof the purest stock,wlere extraneousilnfluences lhave borlne but little or no effect,one must seek the wild alnd allmiostinaccessible country to the south of Fez, or the sniowyheights of the Atlas Mountains and the couintrylying beyond. Whilst the Berbersof the rliffalnd the Atlas are dwellers in fixedabodes built ofstone or nativecolncrete, those of the forests of AYtYussi and Belli Mg"ildare largelya niomadpoptulation anid reside ill telnts,wlhile on the lnortlhernextremity of the Sahara, both sedelntaryanid lnomadic Berbers are foundl. Wlihen the haulntsof the wanideringc tribes are visited by explorers,for so far all attemptto penetrateinto their countrylhns failed it F 2

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:39:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 68 W. 1. IARRIS.-Ihe Berbersof Miorocco. will certainlybe there that the nmosttypical and iinterestiln-0 characteristicswill be foundl;for by theirpractice of retirilng into the high mountainsalnd dense forestson the approaclhof danger, these warlike and ulntamedpeople have never been conquered,anid have tlhereforeadopted less thaln anly other portionof theirpeople the Arab habits and customs,though in thiscase also theirreligilon must have done muclhto makethenm forgetand disregardtheir old traditions. But the fact that theyhave nevercome into contactwitlh outside influences, with the exceptioniof such Arab ideas as have penetratedilnto their country,mnust have tended much toward their retainingtheir primitivecustoms, andl it is in that directionthat the explorer interestedin the historyand folkloreof their race must turnl his steps. So little interestis paid to such subjects by the Arabs,and so littledoes one come into contactwith these tribe,s in Morocco, that the greatest difficultyis experienced in collectingany notes upoll them. Many inquiries on the part of the presentwriter succeeded in obtainingan account of only one ceremonywhich is not in commonpractice amongstthe Arabs of Morocco. Wheniafter a wedding feast the time has arrivedthat the brideshould proceedto the tent of the bride- groom,the en-tirecompany retires. The youththereupon mounts his brideand hinmselfupon a mareand gallops amongstthe tents of the village, the girl screaming out the while and striking each tentthree timies with a stick,as if to call attentionto the factthat she is being abductedby force. No one of the writer's ilnforinantscould give any idea of the originof the ceremoniy, beyondstating that " formerly" brideswvere abducted. A like iustomexists to-dayin the neiglhbourhoodof Tangier. When the womencongregate in the fieldsto weed the green barleyor reap the crops,a strawfigure, dressed like a wonman,is takeln with them. This figuireis stood up in the field amongst the corn. Suddenly mell appear from a neighbouringvillage nmountedon horses and mares. alnd galloping into the field the figureis liftedon to a horseand stoleni,amidst the screamis and cries of the women. A fresh body of lhorsemiienlthen appear upon the scene and the straw lady is rescued,andcl handed from onieto anotherand foug,htfor, uiitil, generally in a verydishevelled conditioni, it is returnedto the women agtaini. No regular day is arranlgedfor this pretenidedabductioll, the time dependingupon the state of the crops,btut the day anlcd hour are made public previous to the event. Each village formerlypractised this mimic strugglefor the possessionof the imitation lady, but lnow-a-daysit has dropped largelyout of practiceand is but seldoomseen. The writer'spersonial experiences amuongst the Berbers hias

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lain almost enltirelyin the southern portion of Morocco, amongstand beyondthe Atlas Mountains. Althoughthis districtjoins that inhabited by the Susis and the Haratin of the Wad Draa, the population belongs to the, second division of the Berbers enumeratedabove, viz., those holding the central portion of the Atlas chain, and the countryto the southand east, and thus moreclosely allied to these tent and forestBerbers botlhin language and character than eitherto the Susis or Drauis. In appearance they differ considerably,for while the wilder section show distinctlythe high cheekbones, copper complexions and narroweyes of their Hamitic extraction,the generalityof the Atlas and tranis-Atlas Berbersshow characteristicsas much Semitic as Hamitic,and iio doubt, though proud of their origin and retainingtheir languageas well as theirhatred of the Arab, they are tainted withMoorish blood. In costumethey differ entirely from the ]Berbersof NorthMorocco, for here the short brown" jelab " or sleeved cloak joined in frontand boastiinga hood is replaced ljy long flowingrobes. The "haik "-the toga-likegarment both in shape and mnannerof wearing-or the long " slhani" is wornover a cottonshirt or " chamira" whichreaches the ankles, anid which is very seldom indeed girded at the waist, the Shloh of this part havinga great but inexplicable objection to wearinga belt or sasli. Ini the higher Atlas the " slham" is replaced by the " khenif,"a curiouscloak of black sheep's wool, much decoratedand betasseled,and bearingin the centreof the back a large oval patch in dull red and small designs in coloured threads or silk. This distinctivegarment, which is only foundin a certain part of the Atlas, is said to crop up axgainamongst the Berbersof a mountainousrange in Tripoli. It is in this part of Morocco too that the great " ksor,"or castles,which the Berbersaffect, are found. The originof this style of architectureis a matterof conjecture,but it so far resemblesthe forinof earlyPhbenician buildings as to po.nt to that origin. Nor is it an improbableone, for it is more thani likely that the early Phcenician colonists in Africa,and the Carthaginians, built themselves defensible fortresses, the miiannerand fashion of whiclhbas been lianded down from generationto generationand is still adoptedto-day. Nothingcan strikethe explorerwlio succeeds in penietratinr inito these reoions inore than the firstview of these strange buildings,which even to our European ideas are of great size. As a rule, there are many such "ksor " clustered together, forminga strongholdof whatevertribe may inhabitthe district. They resemble one another in the forlmof structurevery grgelv,what differencethere is to be remarkedbeinia more in

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size than in style. A square lblockof "tabia"-the native formof concrete-forms the centre of the building,at each corner of which rise towers,tapering fromn the ground upwards and endingin highlydecorated ancl castellated sumimits. But few or no windowsappear fromthe outside,though here and there are loopholes,used morefor the defenceof the place than for the purpose of admittinglight. The lower storey roomusare usually absolutelydevoid of any aperturesave the door,which as oftenas not is closed,while the upper storey is liglhtedby holes in the roofwhich also answer the purpose of chimlneys. Any intermediatestorey that there may be is blessed with a few small lnarrowwindows. The necessity of this inlcon- venience with regard to the supply of light and air is clear enough when some study has been made of the people, and their circumstancestaken into accounit,for glass is unknown and the cold of winter intense,though more probably their architectsare influerncedmore by their desire to reniderthe building easily defensible and as nearly inmpregnableas possible,than by any ideas of comfortor convenienice. It is in this portioniof Morocco,to the south of the Atlas Mountailns,that tribal warfareis most rife,and it is seldom indeed that figlhtiingis not occurringin some part or other of the barren inhospitablevalleys of the southernslopes of the range. During a visit paid a month or two since by the present writerto the Kaid of Glawa's stronigholdon the southernside of the Glawi pass, he was able to collect manynotes regarding the fightingpropensities and miiannerof wagingwar existingin theseregions. Space does not admitof anlydetailed description of the malnnerof attack and defenceof the "ksor," but, as a rule, failing starvationor a breach, the place is carried by nmeallsof scaling ladders thrownup against the walls. What was moreinteresting than the descriptionisof the actual fighting was the mannerof the divisionof the spoil,for here the Berber charactercan be traced,the laws and customs regardingloot and suchlike being no doubt of great alntiquity. First, witl regard to the prisonerstaken by either side. In a country whereblood feuds are forever being waged a life is wortha life, and a life spared means death as a rule to the spareror one of his family. Thus it is that all mialesare put to the sword, or as a maatterof fact stabbed to deatlhwith the curved dagger of the country. The womelnare allowed to go free,thouglh wonmenin child are as a rule sacrificed,for fear that aniother mialemiay be given to the elnemy;otherwise nio womiienare touched. If, however, any girl or young wolmianis foiuld pleasing by her captorhe can claim her,though lhe is obligedto

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marryher, and she becomeshis legal wife,and any childrenshe may bear hiim,his legal offspring.Very differentthis to the mole revoltingideas of the Arabs,whose brutalityto womien prisoners is extreme. For the rest, all goods and chattels, cattle even,become the propertyof the firstto lay his hands upon them,though the loot is as oftenas not shared amiongst the victors. Thereis anotherfeature in their warfare,however, that must be described,and which tends to lessen the idea of wilful crueltythat exists amongst these Berbers, and shows that,though all male prisonersare puitto death,they do not take lifeneedlessly, and that it is only of a necessitytllat these rigid laws are put in action. Thereare inhabitingthese districtscoin- siderable numbersof Jews, who eke out an existence by the work of artificersand petty traders. As a rule they inhabit villages of theirown, but it oftenhappens that theyare founld within the walls of some " Ksor " afterits fall. In this case their lives are invariablyspared, and they are handed back to theirco-religionists for a ransom,while, except in veryrare cases indeed,the Jewishwomen are untouched,and allowed to return to theirfellow people, and givenan escortthat they may do so in safety. The Berbers,one and all, express the loatlhingthey feel forthe butcheryof theirwarfare, but feud and quarrel inl sparselypopulated districtsrender such,they think, lnecessary, for the advantage in numbersof even one man tells in their fights. A word mustbe said as to the mnannerin whiclhthe Jews of tllese regions enjoy immunityfrom robbery and pillage,for iio practical governmentexists. In theircase, an ancientsystemii knownas " debeha.,"or " sacrifice,"is in vogue. In plain wor(ds, the ancestorsof Jewish familieshave, by mieansof " a sacri- fice,"fallen unider the actual protectionof certainBerber families who guarantee them fromill-treatment or robberyin return for a certainiannual payment. Any injury to the Jew is looked upon as a personal matter,and the protectingBerber takes up the quarrel as if it were his own. The system is excellent,and the Jews residein greatersecurity in these wild regionsthan is the case where lawless Arabs rob and ill-treat theinin otherparts of Morocco. There is yet another featurefound throughoutthe Berber race in Morocco, of which mentionmust be made, and this is the " zitat" or " mzareg." Both words,though not originally meaning the same,have come to be identical in use, as teimiiis for" safe-conduct." Thus, a strangercan, provided a member of the tribe is with him as " zitat,"pass in absolute security throuighthat tribe. "Mzareg," by translation" a spear,"is a term that has descended fromantiquity, and owes its origrin

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to thlefact that in formertimes a menmberof the tribewould give his spear, nmarkedno doubt by some tribal emblem and recognizableby the remainderof the tribe,to a stranger,and this article was sufficientas a guarantee that his life and propertywere safe. Any mishapthat m-ialgtbefall him would be avengedby the ownerof the spear. The same custom holds g0oodto-day, though spears have long since disappeared. As a general rule a memberof the tribe accompaniesthe stranger, though sometimesa turban or lhandkerchiefare given,which are wornin some prominentposition by the holder,so as to be apparent to all. The last districtof which the inhabitants possess unadulteratedBerber blood is the Sus, or wide valley ,andsurrounding mountains that lie to the south of the western portionof the Atlas range. The populationis here a sedentary one, the houses resemblinogas a rule the "ksor" described above,with the exceptionthat little or no decorationis to be found,and the hiah towers are generally absent. The Sus valleypossesses a large town,Tarudant, the populationof which is alnmostentirely Berber, though the officialsrepresentirln the Moorish Governmentare usually Arabs. The Susis are renownedas gunmakers,workers in silver, and as gardeners. They are as a rule shortmen of copper-colouredcomplexion, high cheek bones,and narrowdarl eyes,and in this theyshow their Hamitic extraction far mnorelargely than the Berbers last described. They have the reputation of being skilled astronoiners,astrologers and doctors,and also of possessing charms for discoveringhidden treasure. Their knowledgeof astronoinyis certainlyvery limited, but as to the othersciences and arts to which they lay claim-astrolog,y and treasure finding--thewriter's ignorance of the subjects does not allow of any fairjudgment of theirskill on his part. With regardto the Haratin,or fourthdivision of the Berbers of Morocco,oilly a fewwords need be said, forso taintedare they by black blood that they have almost more in commonwitl the negrothan with theirHamitic ancestors. They inhabitthe northernstrip of the Sahara desert,their principal " ksor" being situated upon the Wad Draa. Their language,Shelha, largely mixed with the Genaula of the Sudan, is kSnownas DraulYa. Many of these people emigrateinto Morocco and Algeria on accountlargely of the scarcityof cultivatedand food-producing land in their own counltry. They becomneas a rule water carriersand gardeners,though they are willingto engagein any labour not needing great skill. They are honiest,thrifty ana shy, pleasant and good-lnatuiredbut as a rule stupid. They seldom,if ever, become servants,with the exceptioniof gal- deners,and altlhoughsedentary in their ownicountry are fonid

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.40 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:39:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions W. B. HARRIS.-The Berblersof Morocco. 73 of wanderingfronm place to place, workinga monthor two in each, and finallyreturning to theirhomes with sufficientmeanls to purchase a small portion of land which will allow of the productionof enough food to hold life together. Such briefly are the Berbers of Morocco,a divisionof the Hanlitio people well worthyof studyand discovery,who have held thenmselves aloof fromArab and European alike, and whose wild country has been visitedso seldointhat the explorerswho have reached any portionof it can be countedon the fingersof one's hands.

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