In 1536 the then King of Fez captured Tafilet for the Beni Merins, his own dynasty. In 1620, however, Ali Shereef arrived upon the scene from Yembo, in Arabia, bringing no doubt with him such a store of oriental knowledge and such a holy reputation from his life in Mecca that in a very short time he became a great man at Tafilet, and was appealed to as arbitrator in all questions. On his death his son, Mulai esh Shereef, succeeded to the holy birthright, styling himself King of Tafilet. Both lie buried near Rissani, in the district of Wad Ifli in Tafilet, and their tombs to-day are held in great reverence as founders of the present Fileli dynasty. The third of the line, Mulai Reshid, in 1668 seized the throne of Morocco and became the first Fileli Sultan, Mulai Abdul Aziz, who commenced his reign on the death of his father, Mulai el Hassen, in June last (1894), being the fifteenth ruler of this same dynasty. Affairs in Morocco necessitated the residence of the Sultans being fixed there; but we hear of Mulai Ismail having made a journey to Tafilet, founded the still important _ksar_ of Rissani, and rebuilt Sijilmassa; while in later times the Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdullah visited Tafilet (in 1783-84). Curiously enough, the two Sultans who made this long journey, Sidi Mohammed ben Abdullah and Mulai el Hassen, lie buried in the same tomb at Rabat. In local wars that occurred at the end of the last century Sijilmassa was destroyed, and nothing remains to-day of the great town but acres, almost miles, of shapeless ruins, with a mosque still in tolerably good condition. These ruins extend for some five miles along the east bank of the Wad Ziz. Tafilet may be said to consist of a long strip of irrigated land extending along the parallel beds of the Wad Ziz and the Wad Gheris. Although the northern districts of Ertib (Reteb) and Medaghra are often included under the name of Tafilet, they seem in the eyes of the natives to be in reality separate districts, and as such I shall treat them. Before discussing the actual oasis, some words ought to be written describing the means by which this portion of the desert is rendered capable of cultivation. I have elsewhere briefly described the course of the Wad Gheris; it now remains to briefly trace that of the Wad Ziz.