In many places the mountains are uninhabited, and form immense chasms, as if they had been rent asunder by some convulsion of nature; this is the case throughout the ridge that intersects the plains which separate Marocco from Terodant. In this part is a narrow pass, called Bebawan, having a chain of mountains on one side, ascending almost perpendicularly; and on the other side, a precipice as steep as Dover Cliff, but more than ten times the heighth. When the army which I accompanied to Marocco crossed this defile, they were obliged to pass rank and file, the cavalry dismounted: two mules missed their step, and were precipitated into the abyss: the path was not more than fifteen inches wide, cut out of a rock of marble, in some parts extremely smooth and slippery, in others rugged. In the branches of the Atlas east of Marocco, are mines of copper; and those which pass through the province of Suse produce, besides copper, iron, lead, silver, sulphur, and salt-petre: there are also mines of gold, mixed with antimony and lead ore. The inhabitants of the upper region of Atlas, together with their herds (which would otherwise perish in the snow), live four months of the year in excavations in the mountains; viz. from November to February, inclusive. The climate of Marocco is healthy and invigorating; from March to September the atmosphere is scarcely ever charged with clouds; and even in the rainy season, viz. from September till March, there is seldom a day wherein the sun is not seen at some interval. The heat is cooled by sea-breezes during the former period; in the interior, however, the heat is intense. The rainy season, which begins about October, ends in March; but if it continue longer, it is generally accompanied with contagious fevers. The trade winds (which begin to blow about March, and continue till September or October) are sometimes so violent, as to effect the nerves and limbs of the natives who inhabit the coast. The inhabitants are robust; and some live to a great age. The Shelluhs, or inhabitants of the mountains of Atlas, south of Marocco, are, however, a meagre people, which proceeds, in a great measure, from their abstemious diet, seldom indulging in animal food, and living for the most part on barley gruel, bread, and honey: the Arabs, the Moors, and the Berebbers, on the contrary, live in a hospitable manner, and eat more nutritious food, though they prefer the farinaceous kind. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 20: This river is vulgarly called Wed Marakosh, or the river of Marocco, because it passes through the district of that name; but the proper name is Wed Tensift, or the river Tensift; and this is the name given it by Leo Africanus (Book IX.), the only author who has hitherto spelt the word correctly; he has however committed a considerable error in affirming that it discharges itself into the ocean at Saffy.]