Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/425

 Bled-el-Makhzen Europeans travel in perfect safety, without being compelled to disguise their origin. But they could scarcely venture to penetrate openly into the regions occupied by the independent tribes, regions comprising about five-eights of the territory on our maps designated by the name of Marocco. The inhabitants of the Bled-es-Siba have, perhaps, good reason to believe that the

exploration of their domain by Christian travellers would be followed by conquering armies advancing along the routes thrown open by their peaceful forerunners.

Amongst the districts that have hitherto been scarcely visited is the Rif coast, which is nevertheless yearly skirted by thousands of ships plying east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Even on the direct route between Fez and Marocco, many hilly tracts are known only from the reports of the natives. The Atlas, the Anti-Atlas,