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AUTHOR OF "A MISSION TO CENTRAL AFRICA,"
"TRAVELS IN THE DESERT OF SAHARA," &C.
[Illustration]
Having made a limited tour in the Empire of Morocco a few years since, Iam enabled to appreciate the information imparted to us by the lamentedRichardson, and am desirous of adding a few observations of my own uponthe present state of affairs in that part of the African Continent.
The following work of the indefatigable traveller demands, at thepresent moment, a more than ordinary share of public attention, inconsequence of the momentous events now passing in the Straits ofGibraltar, where the presence of powerful armaments entails on theGovernor of our great rock-fortress, a duty of some delicacy, situatedas he now is in close proximity to three belligerent powers, all of whomare at peace with Great Britain. But distinguished alike for commonsense and professional ability, Sir William Codrington, it is to behoped, will steer clear of the follies committed by Sir Robert Wilson in1844, and will command respect for the British name, without provokingbitter feelings between ourselves, and our French and Spanishneighbours.
It is scarcely possible that either France or Spain can contemplate theconquest of the entire Empire of Morocco, as the result of the presentimpending crisis, the superficial extent of the territory being 219,420square miles, and the population nearly 8,000,000, [1] of which a largeproportion live in a state of perpetual warfare, occupying inaccessiblemountain fastnesses, from whence they only descend to the plains for thesake of plunder. The inhabitants may be classified as follows: 4,000,000Moors and Arabs; 2,000,000 Berbers; 500,000 Jews, and the remainder areof the Negro race. The regular Army consists of less than thirtythousand men, but every Arab is an expert irregular horseman, and theBerbers make good foot-soldiers.
These indeed are, in ordinary times, rarely to be depended on by theEmperor, but so powerful an incentive is religious fanaticism that, werehe to raise the standard of the Holy War, a large Army would quicklyrally around him, deficient perhaps in discipline, yet living byplunder, and marching without the encumbrance of baggage, it would provea formidable opponent.
Let us, however, suppose, that the present action of France and Spainshould result in the subversion of the atrocious system of Governmentpractised in Morocco: a guarantee from the conquerors that our existingcommercial privileges should be respected, would alone be required toensure the protection of our interests, and what an extended field wouldthe facilities for penetrating into the interior open to us! We mustalso remember that Napoleon III. in heart, is a free-trader; and, shouldDestiny ever appoint him the arbiter of Morocco, the protectionistpressure of a certain deluded class in France would be impotent againsthis policy in Western Barbary, a country perhaps more hostile to theEuropean than China. Sailors and others, who have had the misfortune tobe cast on the inhospitable shore of Northern Africa, have been sent farinland into slavery to drag out a miserable existence; and, at thismome