Having visited Morocco during the last year, the writer submits the following sketch, chiefly agricultural, of that almost unknown land.

Morocco—in Arabic the "farthest west”’—is a fragment of one of the great African monarchies formed by the Saracens when their power extended from the Pillars of Hercules to the Ganges of India. It still embraces an area and population (222,560 square miles and 8,000,000 inhabitants) equal to New England and the middle States combined. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic, the straits of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean; on the east by Algeria; on the south by the Sahara; and on the west by the Atlantic.

As early as 712 the Saracens, checked westward by the Atlantic, pushed their conquests to the north across the narrow straits of Gibraltar, and occupied the Spanish peninsula. While there consolidating their dynasty, they cultivated, in the highest style, science and polite learning at Cordova, and agriculture in the valleys of Andalusia and the Mediterranean. Climate and soil being favorable, the Moors in their agriculture introduced a vast system of irrigation, which, nobler than the art-remains of Alhambra and Aleazars, has been bequeathed, a splendid legacy, to Spain. The vega or watered plain of Granada and the Zuerta or garden valley of Valencia ave irrigated by the very canals planned and constructed by the Moors. From these plains, which the Moors declared surpassed those of Bagdad and Damascus in fertility and equalled Paradise in beauty, have been gathered, for many ages, two and three crops yearly.

So much has the system of irrigation, brought from Arabia and introduced into Morocco and Spain by the conquerors, influenced Moorish and Spanish agriculture, that a few statements in respect to it seem proper. The whole water systems about Valencia in Spain and Fez in Morocco deserve the closest examination by engineers and agriculturists. The Zuerta of Valencia, for instance, is irrigated by the river Turia, and so completely is it drained that its natural bed at its mouth is almost dry. There are eight canals; of which the Monocada is the great artery, supplying, so to speak, all the smaller veins of the garden plain. The idea of this network of canals is simple enough, but the execution of it is a noble triumph of hydraulic science. In order that all the farmers of the plain may have water in their turn and as much as they wish, careful engineering skill and wise administration are required.   The regulations for the proper distribution of water are excellent, but sometimes among the farmers disputes do arise. These are adjusted by a tribunal composed of seven judges chosen for life, a vacancy being filled by the others from among the yeomanry and irrigators of the plain. These judges hold a court at noon every Thursday in the open air, on benches at the gate of the old Gothic cathedral in Valencia, when all complaints are patiently heard and all difficulties respecting irrigation adjusted. In this high court of common sense—originating in the cast, introduced by the Moors into the west, and continued until this day in Spain and Morocco—no pen, ink, paper, special pleadings or pettifogging lawyers are permitted. The plain farmer-judges understand the subject well, and from their decisions there is no appeal.  Although these courts are less common in Spain than in Morocco, where they form an important part of the judicial system of the country, yet I have attended those at Valencia more frequently, as the proceedings were more intelligible to me and the surroundings more replete with historic interest. In both countries have I been impressed by the quiet, quick, inexpensive, and satisfactory decisions, based upon the statements of the disputants themselves and upon the Moorish common law.

The above remarks apply, for the most part, to the water system around Tetuan and Fez, though it must be acknowledged that the works of their ancestors in Spain, were more extensive and every way superior.

The Moors, after occupying Spain over seven hundred years, and making it during the middle ages the home of agriculture as well as the other arts and sciences, were expelled in 1492, the same year Columbus discovered the New World. Let us follow this remarkable people back to Morocco, and speak of their country as it appears to-day. It is needless to remark that the Moors have sadly degenerated, and that, as a thousand difficulties beset the traveller, the statistics and descriptions of agriculture must necessarily be imperfect.

As the steamer approached Tangier, I could hardly realize that the landscape of green, rounded mountains and quiet, fruitful valleys, dotted here and there with tents, camels, cattle, sheep, gardens, and patches of ripening grain, was the northern confine of dusky Africa, the land of prophecy and mystery.  Instead of a desert country it was one of verdure and beauty, with valleys, hills, and low mountains near the sea; while far away, blue and mellow in the distance, with clear sloping outlines, stood the Lesser Atlas, in bold relief along the margin of the sky.  So quiet and transparent was the atmosphere that the most remote objects were plainly seen, while the lowing of herds and the cries of the muleteer fell faintly on the ear.

Tangier is the principal seaport of northern Morocco. It is situated just outside and west of the straits of Gibraltar, and possesses a tolerable harbor, though no great trade. It is easy of access, as several lines of steamers touch there weekly from the adjacent ports of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The town, resting on the hillside, with lower walls bathed by the sea, is purely Moorish in architecture; the gloom of its narrow, winding streets and prison- looking houses being relieved, however, by gardens, minarets, mosques, and the interior courts of dwellings, filled with plants, flowers, and fountains of limpid water.

Tangier requires, like most Mohammedan towns, distance to lend enchantment to the view, but nature is everywhere attractive. Her wealth of scenery, climate, and soil, and her freshness of verdure and purity of atmosphere, compare favorably with any land.

The sea-coast mountains of Morocco, being rounded and low, are covered, on their northern slopes especially, with verdure to their very tops. The real mountain range of the country, however, the Greater Atlas, starting at Cape Ghir, on the Atlantic, runs nearly east through the middle of Morocco into Algeria. The Lesser Atlas range branches off to the left of the main chain, in the very heart of the empire, and, running to the northeast, strikes the sea near Tangier, and forms a part of the mountains first described. At the point where the two lofty and snow-shining Atlas giants meet, the sun of Africa burns so warmly on their brows as to start the sources of the four great rivers of Morocco.

The country embracing the Lesser Atlas rises gradually towards the great water-shed dividing the fertile lands from the desert, and is finely diversified by hills, table-lands, and valleys, the latter being watered by numerous streams springing from the snowy bosoms of the mountains. It is thus, in this land of the sun, where, during the dry season, the soil would be otherwise parched and barren, that nature furnishes water, which, in the hands of Spaniard and Moor, becomes a magic power, turning the soil into gold. The streams flowing southward are dry in summer, but those running north and westward—among them eight considerable rivers, though none really navigable—are perennial, and spread fertility and beauty to the sea.

There is a wet and dry season in Morocco—the former corresponding to our winter. The thermometer seldom rises above 90°, and rarely falls below 40°.  This range of temperature is preserved by the summer sea-breezes of the Mediterranean and the -Atlas barrier, which cuts off er moderates the hot winds of the desert. Some of the table-lands of the interior are rocky and comparatively barren, but even these abound with vast groves of the date-palm and with flocks of sheep and superior goats, yielding the finest fleeces and food. On many of the mountain slopes are extensive forests, abounding in cork, cedar, ilex, cambba, acacia, walnut, and various trees yielding precious gums.

As in Spain, the olive is the most extensively planted tree, and forms not only a striking feature in the landscape, but one of the chief sources of subsistence to the people. So important is the yield of this time-honored tree as an article of food, of domestic economy, and the arts, that it demands a brief notice.

Olive trees, in Morocco, are usually set out in rows, the young plants being branches cut from the parent stock in the month of January. The end of the cutting is usually split into-four prongs held apart by a small stone, and then planted, banked, manured, and watered for one or two years. As the young tree grows, its exuberance is pruned into a few upright promising branches. It begins to yield lucratively about the tenth season; but, like man, is not fully developed before the thirtieth year.

The tree is in flower during the months of June and July; but all of the above statements are modified by the variety, situation, and latitude of the olive. The full-grown tree yields from two to three bushels of berries. These are picked in autumn or early winter, when they are purple-colored and shining, and a right beautiful and merry sight is the harvest-home.

The trees are generally beaten, contrary to Columella’s advice, by slender poles, to disengage the berries, which are gathered up by men, women, and children, and carried to the oil-mill in baskets on back of mule or donkey.  The berries are seldom sorted, as they should be, but thrown, as they are gathered, on a circular hollowed stone, over which another is made to revolve by mule or other power. The crushed mass is then shovelled on to mats, and taken to a rude lever press, where the juice is expressed. The liquor, as it flows out, is caught into a reservoir below, partly filled with water, and the oil, as it rises to the surface, is skimmed off and poured into large earthen jars. The pulp of the berry is sometimes subjected to boiling water to further disengage the oil; but generally it is used for fuel and for fattening animals. The olive oil of Morocco is certainly not so pure as that of some other countries, but the taste, it seems to me, is not so insipid.

Olives for pickling are usually gathered before they are quite ripe and while the skin is yet green, though not always. The berries are repeatedly steeped in water with some alkali added to hasten the change in taste, for naturally they are bitter and nauseous, and when this is accomplished, they are put into brine of simply salt and water, or of one composed of salt, thyme, garlic, and bay- laurel. The most common olives, well pickled, constitute an important part of the food of the poor and of the army ration. Indeed, both the oil and the pickled olive berry are very nutritious. They form an essential portion of the people’s food, and no one who has come to use and like them will willingly exchange either for their substitutes in other lands.

Olive oil is also used extensively in the arts and as a medicine. The Moors use the poorer oil for lamps and in the manufacture of ordinary soap; while from the better kind they make, like the French and Spanish, the finest castile.

In this connexion I should speak of the date-palm, the pomegranate, the fig, and the almond trees of Morocco. The first is regarded by the Moors as the special gift of Providence to their table-lands, where vast groves welcome the traveler and caravan, affording food, fuel, and shelter to man and beast. The date-palm yields per year about one hundred pounds of dates. Camels are exceedingly fond of the refuse dates and the crushed date stones, while the leaves are used for many purposes, especially. in making baskets, bags, ropes, &c.

The pomegranate tree yields a rare and excellent fruit, in shape and size somewhat like our quince. The farmers suspend the fruit by the stem from the ceilings of their houses, when the rind becomes hard and preserves for months the rich juices of the fruit. The Moors introduced the pomegranate into Spain, where it became the symbol, as it now is the memento, of their golden age in Granada. As I once stood upon the ruddy towers of the Alhambra and looked down on the lovely Vega, where the pomegranate was then in bloom, I could not help observing that this fruit flourishes, and probably will survive the last vestiges of the Moor in Spain.

From the fruit of the fig and the nut of the almond trees the Moors compound a food which is not only condensed in bulk, self-preservative, and wonderfully nutritious, but as simple and healthful as it is cheap and delicious.

Land in Morocco is not enclosed as with us, the boundaries being marked by the channels of irrigation, by planted trees, by water-sheds, and by stones set up.  Fields of grain and other crops are guarded by those in charge from the encroachments of stray animals, while flocks and herds feeding in the open country are watched by their attendants.

The real tenure of the land I cannot state with precision.  I have been told, however, that it is the same as in most Mohammedan countries—owned by the proprietor, though at the disposal, if demanded, of the Sultan or Emperor of Morocco.  This much I do know, that real estate, goods, cattle, and other property, can be transferred by a simple deed of sale drawn up and attested by two notaries public.

The superintendent of the cultivated land and of stock receives one-fith of the yield, while ordinary farm laborers are paid from fifteen to twenty cents per day each. The government levies two per cent. tax on the yield of all cultivated lands, and the amount is estimated and collected before the crops are harvested.

Most of the farm implements of Morocco are rude, and resemble those of Arabia. As a general thing, the soil is not really ploughed, but merely scratched by-a wooden plough; though in the valleys, where exact culture is demanded, an instrument, half spade and half hoe, is much used. Cattle are yoked by the horns, and very much used in farming—donkeys, mules, and camels, being the usual beasts of burden.

The soil of Morocco, wherever cultivated, especially by irrigation and manures, is exceedingly fertile, the valleys and plains yielding rice, wheat, peas, beans, barley, maize, durra (a kind of millet, and the chief food of the poor,) vegetable oils, figs, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, raisins, olives, pomegranates, dates, almonds, and various other nuts, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, indigo, sesamum, many precious gums, honey, wax, hemp, saffron, madder roots, many varieties of bird seed, marjoram, cumin seed, henna, fennel, linseed, &c.

As a general thing, bees are not raised, except around Tetuan and Fez, though large quantities of honey and wax are gathered from the forests.

Owing to the nomadic habits of some of the population and to the peculiar civilization of others, to the impossibility of irrigating the more elevated lands and to the wrong policy followed until lately, of non-exportation of products to Christian countries, large tracts of territory are uncultivated, or used as pasture lands.

For many years a great demand has existed for grain and beef, especially in Italy, France, and England, and for wool in the United States; but no special inducements are held out by the government to increase the surplus products of the soil, while the producers are too often at the mercy of government officials, as in Palestine; Egypt, and Turkey.

In 1857 the Sultan of Morocco abolished all monopolies or prohibition on agricultural produce, and, in fact, on all articles of export except leeches, cork bark, tobacco, and other herbs used for smoking in pipes; but so little does Christian commerce stimulate the Moor, that he prefers, for the most part, traffic with the south and east by the caravans of the desert, and a pastoral to an agricultural life. The old Moorish agricultural skill certainly remains, but the sparseness of population, the religious and nomadic habits of the people, the configuration of the country, and the abundance and cheapness of food, do not greatly call it into action.  For the present population, Morocco is, doubtless, one of the best and cheapest supplied countries in the world, abounding in fish, flesh, fowl, vegetables, grain; and all the fruits of southern Europe, but little or nothing of its wealth is exported.

The same Moorish taste and skill, however, which beautified the valleys of Andalusia and made the Alhambra appear like a vision of the Arabian Nights, are seen to-day in the gardens near Tangier, Fez, and Tetuan. As one walks along avenues bordered by running streams, and beneath arbors festooned with jessamines and creeping vines, whose pendant flowers with orange blossoms perfume the air, and sees, hanging i all directions, in the midst of the richest foliage, the golden lemon and orange, the luscious fig and pomegranate, and hears around him the hum of the bees, the gentle murmur of falling waters, and the more distant melody of birds, the whole seems like the Arabian poet’s dream. Morocco has many such spots of beauty, where the most exquisite taste is displayed in rural embellishment. It is only when one gets from the narrow, filthy streets of the town info the gardens, and patios, or courtyards of the haughty Moor, that he begins to appreciate how much he loves the beautiful in nature, as well as her pathless deserts, her table plains, and her mountain solitudes.

In speaking of agriculture, or rather the want of it, in Morocco, it is necessary to refer to the different races occupying the country, their location, habits, pursuits, and civilization. The Moors proper compose the principal inhabitants of the towns. They hold the offices of state, civil and military, and are mainly the descendants of the Spanish Moors, speaking the Arabic somewhat modified by the noble Castilian speech. Being the ruling class, and otherwise occupied, their old love of agriculture has much abated, greatly to the detriment of their character and country.

The more ancient population of Morocco is generally divided into two great classes—the Erufins, hunters and herdsmen, who dwell in the mountains of the north, and the Schelliths, who dwell on the lower slopes of the mountains and in the valleys south of the capital, practicing a comparatively rude agriculture, but excelling as artisans. These two great classes are not strict Mohammedans, as they eat the flesh of the wild boar and drink wine of their own making.

The Erufins, while rearing cattle, sheep, and goats, hunt lions, tigers, panthers, and the other noble game of the Atlas, whose skins, tanned and prepared for the market, always command a good price. Among these people are seen goats which rival those of Thibet and Cashmere. In the light of facts, it is time that the prejudice against this animal, perhaps caused by the Scripture contrast, the sheep with the goat, was removed. In the unhealthy regions of Morocco, on the western coast, and for enfeebled constitutions especially, the milk of the goat is deemed far more healthy and nutritious than that of the cow.  It is used very extensively in Morocco and at Gibraltar for domestic purposes and for making curd and cheese, as in most eastern hilly countries. The cost of keeping a few goats is nothing as compared to that of keeping a cow, while each will yield a quart of milk per day throughout a large part of the year.  While the flesh of the kid is excellent as food, its skin makes the finest morocco leather, gloves, and garments. From its fleeces are woven in Morocco, as in Thibet and Cashmere, the finest scarfs and shawls, while the hair of the full- grown goat (the fleece weighing from four to eight pounds) makes strong, handsome cloths, of a lustre superior to those from the Wwool of the sheep or alpaca, receiving and retaining, also, the most brilliant coloring. The demand at the present time for woollen fabrics of the finest texture should turn the attention of our farmers, especially in the hilly and mountainous portions of our country, to the rearing of fine breeds of goats, since some of the costliest fabrics of commerce, which are as lasting as they are beautiful, are woven from the hair of this animal.

The second class of ancient inhabitants excels in the usefal arts. Though turning their attention considerably to agriculture, yet the greater portions are devoted to mechanical pursuits.

The manufactures of Morocco are chiefly native linens, coarse silks, morocco leather, barracans, slippers, shawls, scarfs, the caps of-Fez, beautifully mounted long-barrelled guns, Turkey carpets, mats, hides, soaps, oils, flour, and the tanned fleeces of animals.

These people are especially skilled. as tanners. They understand the art of dressing the skins of lions, tigers, gazelles, antelopes, and the kids of goats, (with or without the hair,) and of rendering them as white as snow and as soft as silk by means of barks and plants indigenous to the Atlas mountains. In the city of Morocco there is one tanning and leather-dyeing establishment employing over one thousand hands. What are the especial barks, dyes, &c., used, or what are the processes followed, I am unable to state, as I was not permitted to visit the tanneries, and had no other means of information. The leather of the capital is yellow, that of. the Tafelet green, and of Fez red. Silks and embroidered goods are also manufactured in these cities, while the artisans of TFez are celebrated as goldsmiths and cutters of precious stones.

The Jews, who came as exiles from Spain, are the principal jewellers, traders, and bankers of Morocco. The limited commerce of the country with Christian nations is chiefly in their hands, so far as the fixed population is concerned, though English and French merchants command the market. The Jews dwell mostly at Tangier, Tetuan, and Fez; and while the females rival their sisters of the olden time in beauty, modesty, and grace, the men are considered by no means a useful or productive element of the population.

The negroes, like the Jews of the country, are exotics. They have generally been imported as slaves, but are kindly treated, and often obtain their Liberty. They form an important part of the military force of the country, and have somewhat mixed or intermarried with the Moor. The negro is evidently a favorite, for he occupies many posts of honor in the harem and state; and last winter, when I was at Madrid, the Moorish ambassador was there ratifying a treaty between Spain and Morocco, and a large majority of his suite was composed of the sable sons of Central Africa.

The Arab element of the population, as in the east, is widely scattered over Morocco, and composes the greater portion of the rural population. They adhere for the most part to a wandering, pastoral life, which is fatal to exact agriculture. They are a hardy, shrewd, active people, comparatively ungoverned, being compelled by the authorities to pay but a small property tax, and to contribute rations to military forces passing by or encamping near them.

The homes of this pastoral people are their shining tents, and their possessions, their flocks and herds.  From these they principally derive their food, raiment, and wealth. As in the time of the Patriarchs, and in Central Asia today, this portion of the inhabitants shifts its tents from time to time, in order to give the land rest, to obtain fresh pasturage, and to enjoy fairer seasons and a better market. Their hospitality is simple and sincere; and their tent life, with tabernacle, mosque, their schools a.ns Koran, their reverence for their elders and the dogmas of the Prophet, and their free life and society with nature and animals, all strike the house and town-bred Christian man as strange, patriarchal, and charming.

The general color of the inhabitants referred to, except, of course, the negro, is a light yellow, though long intercourse with the women of Soodan has introduced several darker shades. They dress for the most part in light woollen and cotton goods, with turban dnd flowing garments.

When our American cotton goods were first introduced into Morocco, there was a great demand for them among all classes as an article of clothing; but the English imitated them so well, at a lower price, that the real American cottons were driven from the market.

It is estimated that there are in Morocco, at the present time, 500,000 horses; 6,000,000 horned cattle; 45,000,000 sheep, besides a vast number of camels, mules, asses, and goats.

The horses of several breeds are small, but finely shaped and very fleet, many being of pure Arabian stock. The latter are characterized by a fine muscular development, with a lean, long head, a broad forehead, a prominent and brilliant eye, an open nostril, and a flowing mane and tail. The skin of the head is thin, through which may be distinctly traced the leading veins.  The horse is not much used in Morocco as a beast of burden, for the Moor, like the Arab, makes him his companion, and the favorite thorough-bred animal is a picture of grace, power, and beauty.

Grapes and barley are his usual food; but on the southern side of the Greater Atlas, and in the desert march, as in Arabia, a little barley, a few dates, and a draught of camel’s milk, constitute his daily food. Considerable care has been taken by the Moors to preserve their breeds of blooded horses, and the yearly caravans to Arabia greatly facilitate this. Until recently it was very difficult to export from Morocco the best breeds of horses, asses, or cattle; but at present it is not so, though there is a heavy export duty on each.

During the Moorish occupation of Spain the above-named animals were largely introduced into the Peninsula, and from Andalusia exported to the pampas of South America. On these vast plains of Buenos Ayres I have seen immense droves of horses and herds of cattle, (propagated from Moorish breeds,) and the animals in both hemispheres are much alike.

The cattle of Morocco, like the horses, are small; but they work well, and afford excellent beef, hides, and tallow. The Moors might make the raising of this stock very valuable, as all the yield of the animal is in great demand in Europe. The garrison at Gibraltar is supplied with beef from Morocco, while hides, tallow, hams, bones, &c., are important articles of exportation.

The sheep of Morocco are of several native varieties—some larger than any in the United States. The traveller sees almost everywhere that peculiar breed, imported by the Moors into Spain, which has the broad tail loaded with fat, and which often weighs, when the animal is in good condition, from thirty to fifty pounds. The wool is fine and generally very white, and of lengthy staple. It is true the Morocco wools imported into the United States are rather inferior. This is owing to the fact that the best wools are exported by caravans, or are consumed at home.

Of the other domestic animals, fowls, ducks, turkeys, and geese are most numerous; while pigeons, partridges, rabbits, deer, antelopes, wild boars, and indeed game of all kinds, are everywhere plentiful. Shepherd and other dogs arc also common, as in most Mohammedan countries; but swine, except in the mountains, are seldom seen or used, owing to the religious scruples of the mass of the people.

Without dwelling further on these domestic animals, which, for the most part, are common to Morocco and the United States, I would remark that no one travelling in the land of the Moor can fail to be impressed with the value of three other animals, well known there, but, as yet, not justly appreciated here, to wit: the goat, the mule, and the camel. Of the first I have already spoken; let me briefly notice the other two.

It is well known to those who have studied the subject, that the finest breed of jacks comes from Morocco, and that the cross between them and the Moorish stock of horses produces a very superior mule. In Morocco the mule is one of the most common and useful animals used by man. There, as might be the case here, he is noted for the economy of his keep, his docility of temper, his endurance and steadiness to labor, his exemption from disease, and his remarkable longevity; while, from his lighter frame and more cautious movement, he is less subject to casualties than the horse. Prejudice, ignorance, bad breeding, and cruel usage, have prevented mules from becoming favorite animals in America. It is far different in other countries, especially in South America, in Spain, and Morocco. There they are used not only for the saddle and as beasts of burden in crossing mountain passes, but are harnessed to the diligence and to the carriage of fashion and of state. Many of them are most beautiful, docile animals, so different from the bad-blooded, much-abused, and neglected mule of our country. When Ferdinand and Isabella, of glorious and happy memory, conducted their campaigns against the Moor, and the Moor against the Spaniard, their transportation was effected by mules. It is a question worthy of serious consideration whether or not much of the transportation demanded in our present war might not be more economically and efficiently performed by pack-mules than by wagons. In mountainous regions, or where the roads are bad and forage scarce, there is no question about if. A pack-mule will easily carry 300 pounds, and one muleteer can oversee seventeen mules, giving 5,100 pounds transportation; whereas the same number of pounds will require certainly three wagons, three teamsters, and eighteen mules.

To the farmer, at any rate, there is no doubt as to the superiority of the mule to the horse. The mule farmer,” says Skinner, “may calculate with tolerable certainty upon the continuation of his capital for at least thirty years: whereas the horse farmer, at the expiration of ten or fifteen years, must look to his crops, to his acres, or a bank, for the renewal of his.”

The writer of this sketch has seen the camel in Siberia, Central Asia, India, Arabia, Turkey, and on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and therefore can speak with some knowledge of this animal. It is a great mistake to suppose that the camel is fitted only for hot climates, though doubtless his true home is Central Asia. The camel is stronger and larger in southern Siberia and Tartary than in Morocco, but not so fleet an animal. The dromedary is considered but a cross between the northern and southern breeds.

Of all the brute creation the camel presents the greatest marks of design and of adaptation to certain regions of the globe, and to peculiar phases of civilization. Often while riding upon or, when tents were pitched, walking among these animals as they were gathering their evening meal, or resting beneath their burdens, have I observed their habits and,points of attraction. Patient, submissive, and enduring, they lead lives of toil and privation, and awaken in thoughtful minds, by association, the incidents and history of ancient times.

There are seven natural callosities on the body of the camel, upon which it kneels, rises, or rests, inasmuch as the ordinary skin would crack and be bruised upon rough ground, rocks, or the hot sands of the desert. While its teeth are nipper-shaped, in order to grasp and cut the toughest grapes, plants, and shrubs, its stomach is so constructed that it can digest the coarsest vegetable tissues. Its spongy feet (silent as those of the cat) are suited alike to sand, rock, and uneven surfaces: its nostrils can be closed to the drifting sand and simoon of the desert, while its false stomach and fat hump can carry an extra supply of water and self-sustaining nourishment, when sorely pressed with thirst and hunger. In proportion as the land is hedged, fenced, and guarded, and the spontaneous products of the soil are superseded by these of culture, the camel disappears.  He seems to thrive most on the coarse herbage and shrubbery of the wilderness, and on all those plants which are flavored by saline, pungent, and aromatic juices. Indeed, in case of necessity, the camel will refuse scarcely any green thing. He will feed upon the leaves, twigs, and bark of deciduous trees, and the coarsest grapes, thistles, reeds, rushes, weeds, and straw. In short, he will flourish on a diet which no other domestic animal would begin to touch. Even on the longest journeys he i seldom, if ever, fed, but left to gather his meagre food while marching, or after the halt of the day.

The value of a good camel in Morocco is from thirty to sixty dollars. At the end of the third year he is in full strength, which continues unabated for at least twenty years. The milk of the female, like that of the goat, is very healthful and nutritious. The ordinary yield in the desert per day is about one quart per camel; but in parts of Morocco where a more succulent diet is found it is from two to three quarts. The fleeces of some breeds of camels, weighing ten pounds each, are extremely valuable, and from which are woven the finest fabrics. The camels of Morocco carry from four to six hundred pounds each, averaging thirty miles per day for weeks in succession, and cross without accident mountain passes and the paths of the desert. In the Crimea, where the camel is used as a draught animal, a pair will draw a load of four thousand pounds, on a fair road, sixty miles per day, without eating, drinking, or resting.

Vast caravans, chiefly of camels, start annually from Fez for Arabia, and twice a year for Central Africa, taking with them each trip, to the one or other country, wools, woollen goods, hides, skins, grain, wax, fine leather, ostrich feathers, indigo, cochineal, cattle, sheep, &c., to the value of two million dollars. Such are some of the qualities and services of these “ships of the desert,” which, like those of the sea, silently bear eastward and westward the precions merchandise of the Orient.

A few years ago, as an experiment, our government introduced some seventy camels into our southwestern country, at the cost of about thirty thousand dollars. In Texas and on our American desert they have been subjected, during government surveys, to the severest tests, being heavily laden, making long marches, and depending on the scanty forage and water found by the way. The result, thus far, has been highly satisfactory, though the experiment has been too limited in the number and breeds of the animals and in the time necessary for testing the matter thoroughly. Those who are familiar with the physical conditions of our territory west of the Mississippi, and of the countries where the camel flourishes, are perfectly agreed as to the great prospective benefit to be conferred on our nation by introducing the animal on a large scale into America. The following are some of the arguments in favor of such an undertaking, by those best acquainted with the camel: the economy of his original cost as compared with the mule or horse, when once introduced and fairly domesticated, since if costs nothing to breed the animal, while the young requires but little care and training, and is serviceable in his third year; the simplicity and cheapness of his saddle and other gear; the exemption from the trouble and expense of providing for his sustenance, driving, sheltering, or shoeing him; his great docility; his general freedom from disease; his longevity; the magnitude of his burdens; the celerity of his movements; his extraordinary fearlessness; the care with which he carries his burden and rider; the economical value of his flesh, and the applicability to many military purposes of his hair and skin; his great powers of abstinence from both food and drink; and his freedom from stampedes and other nocturnal alarms and losses.

The intelligent reader will naturally conclude that Morocco, being such a highly favored country, and situated on the highway of commerce and so near the great markets of Europe, would share in the trade and prosperity of nations; but such is not the case. A few remarks on this topic will conclude my imperfect sketch of Morocco.

The principal ports of Morocco are Tangier, Mogadore, Laroche, and Tetuan, all except the latter being situated on the Atlantic. Nearly all the articles mentioned in this paper as cultivated and manufactured in Morocco are exported in French and English bottoms, the Moors themselves not engaging in commerce by sea. The trade with the United States is mostly indirect, via Marseilles and Gibraltar, though in 1857 the Sultan instituted a liberal tariff in favor of our country. For the monopoly of the trade in leeches and cork bark, however, he is still paid over one hundred thousand dollars per annum.  On most other articles there are no very high export duties; but no effort is made to develop the resources of the country and meet the liberal demands of foreign merchants. During the last year about one thousand vessels, of all classes, entered the various ports of Morocco, but the exports and imports, respectively, did not exceed four million dollars.