Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/463

 LARASH— TAZA. 177 merchumli»e. Invalids also resort in considerable numbera to Tangier, which, u • health-resort, has few rivals, even on the Mediterranean seaboard. Larahh — Taza. On the Atlantic coast, some 24 miles south of Cape Spartel, formerly stood the Roman city of Zilin, which afterwards became the Atih {Ar-Zdla, Ar-Zila) of the Arabs, now a mere collection of hovels, intcrsjK'rsed with some Portuj^uese structurefl. About 10 miles further south stuiulH El- Arainh, or Zr^/rfl*/<, the first trading- place on this coast. Larush, present capital of the province of Gharb, dates at least from the ninth century, although it long remained an obscure village, rising to commercial prosperity only under the Portuguese and Spanish administration. Its re-conquest by Sultan Mului Ismail in 1769 is one of the great events in the annals of Marocco. The garrison, 3,200 strong, was partly exterminated, jNirtly reduced to slavery for a jjeriod of two years, and one hundred and eighty gtms fell into the hands of the ^Mussulmans. Since that time Larash has successfully resisted the several naval demonstrations of the French in 1785, the Austrians in 1829, and the Spaniards in 1860. The entrance to the port of Larash, which lies on the south side of the estuary of the Wed-el-Khus (Lukkos), is obstructed by a bar inaccessible to vessels of over a hundred and fifty or two hundred tons. Nevertheless it is much frequented by Portuguese fishing-smacks, and by ships, especially from Marseilles, which here take in cargoes of wool, beans, and other local produce, chiefly in exchange for sugar. The Libyan, Phoenician, and Roman city, to which Larash has succeeded, has not entirely disappeared. On a headland overgrown with brushwood, and com- manding two bends of the river about 2^ miles east of the present town, are visible the remains of Phoenician walls constructed of huge blocks like those of Arad, and extended by Roman ramparts of smaller dimensions. These are the Lix, or Lixus lines, now known to the Arabs by the name of ChemmiHh. In the alluvial deposits of an inlet at the foot of the hill may still be detecte<l the traces of a port birge enough to accommodate a few vessels. But none of the marshy peninsulas enclosed by the Lukkos can possibly have been the " garden of the Hesperides " mentioned by the ancient writers. Tissot seeks for their site in an islet now connected with the mainland through a winding in the bed of the river. During the last two thousand years the whole form of the estuarj' seems to have been completely modified. Some menhirs and other megaliths visible farther east on the route from Tangier to Ksar-el-Kebir date probably from a still more remote epoch. The famous town of Kanr-el-Kehir, or the "Grejit Castle," standi? like its outport, Larash, on the banks of the Lukkos, in a marshy district oUen under water. The town is surrounded by vineyards, olive and orange groves, and the neighbouring hills afford pasturage for numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. Kasr-el- Kebir, which notwithstanding its name is not enclosed by ramparts, is built of brick, and stands for the most part on ancient foundations. Here Tissot has found the only Greek inscriptions hitherto discoveretl in Marocco. The battle known in history as that of Alkazar-Kebir, which in 1578 put an end to the Portuguese 66— Ar