Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/487

 Tazenakht, traversed by the rivor of like name, and Tissent, an almost unbroken forest watered by numerous springs, The Tissent River is perennial, but to brackish that the natives suppose it flows from the sea. Although calling themselves Shellahas, the inhabitants are nearly all Haratins, who wear a blue kesh-kaba (smock) like the Sudanese Negroes. They are famed for their religious zeal, their great ambition being to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The pastoral and agricultural Berbers of the neighbouring hills belong to the great Zenaga (Sanhoja) family, whoso name they bear. Proud of their origin, they keep aloof from contact with aliens, and all speak Tamazight exclusively. De Foucauld describes them as a tall thin people, athletic but ill-favoured, with a deep bronze complexion. They are feared as warriors, although less so than the Dui-Belial Arabs of the plain, present suzerains and protectors of the Tissent oasis. These Arabs, formerly without rivals between the Atlas and the Niger, have been so reduced by intestine strife, that in 1881, at the time of De Foucauld's visit, the tribe could muster no more than eighteen hundred armed men. For the purity of their Arab speech, handsome features, graceful carriage, and courteous manners, they are distinguished above all other nomads of South Marocco.

West of Tissent follows the Tatta oasis, which has been almost ruined by the Dui-Bellals, who when called in as allies remained as oppressors. Tatta is the largest oasis between the Draa and the Atlantic, but is divided into several distinct groups surrounded by the desert. Like Akka, which lies farther west near the sources of the Nun, it has ceased to be one of the centres of trade between Mogador and Timbuktu. The Jewish jewellers of Akka were fomerly noted for their artistic skill; but arts and commerce have alike perished, and the people now depend exclusively on the produce of their palm groves. Here was born the Rabbi Mardochai, one of the few travellers that have described their visit to Timbuktu.

At present the chief market in the Wed Draa region is Mriminia (Rahunimia), lying south of the Beni range on the Wed Zeguid, a perennial stream abounding in fish. The influential zawya of Sidi Abd- Allah, with the shrines of his ancestors, forms the centre of the village, round which are grouped the huts of the free Haratins and slaves. The annual fair of Mriminia, which lasts three days, is frequented by traders from every part of the Draa and Sûs basins, and from Tafilelt. It is second in importance only to that of Sidi llammed-ben-Musa in the Tazzerult district. Between the two lies the market of Suk-el-Muluk. in the territory of the Ait-Yussa tribe.

East of the long Wed Draa oasis, the chief Berber peoples are the warlike Ait-Sedrats and Ait-Attas, nomads on the steppe, settled agriculturists in the riverain tracts along the Todra, Zis, and other streams, which after meeting in the Tahlelt country are lost in the desert. Among the oases of this region are Todra (Todgha) a narrow strip of cultivated land extending north and south in the depression between the Great Atlas and the southern range, and the far less extensive Ferkla