Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/446

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364
NORTH-WEST AFRICA.

Akbaïl or Kebaïl, that is "Kabyles," like the Jurjura highlanders. The frontier town of their domain on the maritime slope of the Atlas is Sefru, a short distance south of Fez. North of this place the term Akbaïl is applied to all natives of Berber race, while south of it all call themselves Shleuh, Shluh, or Shellaha. This latter appellation comprises under various forms all the settled Imazighen of white race who inhabit the upland Atlas valleys. But in South Marocco, on both slopes of the mourtains, and in the Suharian oases, the peasantry, who resemble the

Fig. 164. — A Tangier Arab.

Algerian Ruaghas in the dark colour of their complexion, are also classed amongst the Imazighen, and are collectively known by the name of Haratin.

On the southern slope of the Atlas every village presents a mixture of Shellaha and Haratin, in which the proportion of the latter element increases gradually from north to south — that is, from the upper Moluya to the lower Draa. Owing to their lighter complexion, the Shellaha regard themselves as superior to the Haratin, and in marriage contracts account is usually taken of this difference, the price of a