Of these two cities, on the banks of the Wad-Bouragrag, Salee was,
according to D'Anville, always a place of note as at the present time,
and the farthest Roman city on the coast of the Atlantic, being the
frontier town of the ancient Mauritania Tingitana. Some pretend that all
the civilization which has extended itself beyond this point is either
Moorish, or derived from European colonists. The river Wad-Bouragrag is
somewhat a natural line of demarcation, and the products and animals of
the one side differ materially from those of the other, owing to the
number and less rapid descent of the streams on the side of the north,
and so producing more humidity, whilst the south side, on the contrary,
is of a higher and drier soil.
Fidallah, or Seid Allah, _i. e_., "grace," or "gift of God," is a
maritime village of the province of Temsa, founded by the Sultan
Mohammed in 1773. It is a strong place, and surrounded with walls.
Fidallah is situated on a vast plain, near the river Wad Millah, where
there is a small port, or roadstead, to which the corsairs were wont to
resort when they could not reach Salee, long before the village was
built, called Mersa Fidallah. The place contains a thousand souls,
mostly in a wretched condition. Sidi Mohammed, before he built Mogador,
had the idea of building a city here; the situation is indeed
delightful, surrounded with fertility.
Dar-el-Beida (or Casa-Blanco, "white house,") is a small town, formerly
in possession of the Portuguese, who built it upon the ruins of Anfa or
Anafa, [22] which they destroyed in 1468. They, however, scarcely
finished it when they abandoned it in 1515. Dar-el-Beida is situate on
the borders of the fertile plains of the province of Shawiya, and has a
small port, formed by a river and a spacious bay on the Atlantic. The
Romans are said to have built the ancient Anafa, in whose time it was a
considerable place, but now it scarcely contains above a thousand
inhabitants, and some reduce them to two hundred. Sidi Mohammed
attempted this place, and the present Sultan endeavoured to follow up
these efforts. A little commerce with Europe is carried on here. The bay
will admit of vessels of large burden anchoring in safety, except when
the wind blows strong from the north-west. Casa Blanco is two days
journey from Rabat, and two from Azamor, or Azemmour, which is an
ancient and fine city of the province of Dukaila, built by the Amazigh
Berbers, in whose language it signifies "olives." It is situate upon a
hill, about one hundred feet above the sea, and distant half a mile from
the shore, not far from the mouth of the Wad-Omm-er-Rbia (or Omm-Erbegh)
on its southern bank, and is everywhere surrounded by a most fertile
soil. Azamor contains now about eight or nine hundred inhabitants, but
formerly was much more populated. The Shebbel salmon is the principal
commerce, and a source of immense profit to the town. The river is very
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