Tafilet: The Narrative of a Journey of Exploration in the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the North-west Sahara

Walter Harris

Jan. 1895 · W. Blackwood and Sons

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First published in 1895, this book recounts the author's 1893 expedition to the Tafilet oasis in Morocco, one of the largest oases in the world. Previously largely inaccessible (before the invention of the motor car it was at least 10 days' journey south of Fez across the Atlas mountains and the Sahara), Harris took advantage of the Sultan of Morocco Mulai el Hassen's decision to pay a visit to the oasis during the autumn of that year. Throughout the book the author describes in great detail the places he visited and the people he met along the way. There are detailed descriptions of Marrakesh and the villages of the Atlas Mountains, as well as ruminations on the differences between the Arabs and the Berber tribes, and the situation of the Jews. Crossing the desert, Harris reached the Sultan's camp at the edge of the oasis, and there follows a detailed description of the activities of the Sultan and his retinue, their dealings with the troublesome tribes of the area, and accounts of the history, geography and people of Tafilet. The book concludes with the author's return journey to the north, and an account of the events following the Sultan's own return from the oasis and his subsequent death. Painting as it does a vivid picture of the state of Morocco at the very end of the 19th century, Walter B. Harris's Tafilet is sure to be of great interest to all those fascinated by the history of this unique and diverse North African country.