eep of the
province of Tedla, and is finer than the Spanish Merino. They might
manufacture shawls of goats' hair, equal to those of Kashmere, from
the goats of the eastern declivity of the Atlas, whose hair is like
silk: these goats are called (_el maize Felelley_,) i.e. Tafilelt
goats.[159] There can be no doubt, if our intercourse with Marocco
217 had not been impeded by a general ignorance of the language of that
country, that we might long since have received from the
manufacturers of Fas, shawls of Tafilelt goat-hair, equal to the
finest of the Kashmere manufacture. There is a very extensive
manufactory of red woollen caps at Fas, the contexture of which is
well deserving investigation. There is also a manufactory of gun
locks and barrels; the former appear to have reached the acme of
the art, the latter are not so good as those which they procure
from Europe: so that a Spanish or an English barrel, and a Fas
lock, is considered a complete gun. Such articles of manufacture as
require a complication of machinery and power to produce they
import from Europe, except only when the market is bare, and then
necessity compels them to attempt their construction. The (_hayk
Filelly_,) i.e. Tafilelt hayk, is a fine elegant woollen cloth,
thin as a muslin. The Emperor Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah patronised
this manufacture of his native country, and never wore any other.
The art of manufacturing leather is carried to great perfection at
Mequinas: shoes of the thinnest leather are there made impervious
to water. The manufactures at Marocco and Terodant are similar to
those of Fas, with the exception of that of gold-thread, and the
cutting and polishing of precious stones. The preparation of
leather at Marocco surpasses any thing known in Europe: lion and
tiger skins they prepare white as snow, and soft as silk. There are
218 two plants that grow in the Atlas mountains, the leaves of which
they use in the manufacture of leather; they are called _tizra_,
and _tasaya_. Whether these render the leather impervious, I am not
competent to say; every inquiry that I have made at Marocco
respecting this beautiful manufacture, has been unsatisfactory. I
have always found the manufacturers very guarded, and extremely
jealous; but I have often thought that two or three of our le