Is full of quasi-independent Berber tribes, who detest
equally the Arabs and the Moorish government; finally, Tafilett and the
provinces on the eastern side of the Atlas, are too remote to feel the
influence of the central government.
As to military force, the Emperor's standing army does not amount to
more than 20 or 30,000 Nigritian troops, and all cavalry. The irregular
and contingent cavalry and infantry can never be depended upon, even
under such a chief as Abd-el-Kader was. They must always be fed, but
they will not, at any summons, leave the cultivation of their fields, or
their wives and children defenceless.
As to the commerce of the Empire, with fifty ships visiting Mogador and
other maritime cities, the amount, per annum, does not exceed forty
millions of francs, or about a million and a half sterling including
imports and exports. Such is the view of the Empire on the depreciating
side.
Another resident of this country gives the opposite or more favourable
view.
The Sultan is the head of the orthodox religion of the Mussulmen of the
West, and more firmly established on his throne than the Sultan of the
Ottomans. His influence, as a sovereign Shereef, spreads throughout
Western Barbary and Central Africa, wherever there is a Mussulman to be
found.
