On An Isle Near, And Joined To The Mainland By A Draw-Bridge, Is The
Spanish _Praesidio_, Or Convict-Settlement Called Also Melilla,
Containing A Population Of 2,244 According To The Spanish, But Rabbi And
Graeberg Do Not Give It More Than A Thousand.
At a short distance,
towards the east, is an exceedingly spacious bay, of twenty-two miles in
circumference, where, they say, a thousand ships of war could be
anchored in perfect safety, and where the ancient galleys of Venice
carried on a lucrative trade with Fez.
Within the bay, three miles
inland, are the ruins of the ancient city of Eazaza, once a celebrated
place.
Alhucemos, is another small island and _praesidio_ of the Spaniards,
containing five or six hundred inhabitants; it commands the bay of the
same name, and is situate at the mouth of the river Wad Nechor, where
there is also the Islet of Ed-Housh. Near the bay, is the ancient
capital, Mezemma, now in ruins; it had, however, some commercial
importance in the times of Louis XIV., and carried on trade with France.
Penon de Velez is the third _praesidio_-island, a convict settlement of
the Spaniards on this coast, and a very strong position, situate
opposite the mouths of the river Gomera, which disembogues in the
Mediterranean. The garrison contains some nine hundred inhabitants. So
far as natural resources are concerned, Penon de Velez is a mere rock,
and a part of the year is obliged to be supplied with fresh water from
the mainland. Immediately opposite to the continent is the city of
Gomera (or Badis), the ancient Parientina, or perhaps the Acra of
Ptolemy, afterwards called Belis, and by the Spaniards, Velez de la
Gomera. The name Gomera, according to J.A. Conde, is derived from the
celebrated Arab tribe of the Gomeres, who flourished in Africa and Spain
until the last Moorish kings of Granada. Count Graberg pretends Gomera
now contains three thousand inhabitants! whilst other writers, and of
later date, represent this ancient city, which has flourished and played
an important part through many ages, as entirely abandoned, and the
abode of serpents and hyaenas. Gellis is a small port, six miles east of
Velez de Gomera.
Tegaza is a small town and port, at two miles or less from the sea near
Pescadores Point, inhabited mostly by fishermen, and containing a
thousand souls.
The provinces of Rif and Garet, containing these maritime towns are rich
and highly cultivated, but inhabited by a warlike and semi-barbarous
race of Berbers, over whom the Emperor exercises an extremely precarious
authority. Among these tribes, Abd-el-Kader sought refuge and support
when he was obliged to retire from Algeria, and, where he defied all the
power of the Imperial government for several months. Had the Emir
chosen, he could have remained in Rif till this time; but he determined
to try his strength with the Sultan in a pitch battle, which should
decide his fate.
The savage Rifians assemble for barter and trade on market-days, which
are occasions of fierce and incessant quarrels among themselves, when it
is not unusual for two or three persons to be left dead on the spot.
Should any unfortunate vessel strike on these coasts, the crew find
themselves in the hands of inhuman wreckers.
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