In point of fact, a courier was sent on the following day with a letter for El Graoui. It was desirable to obtain the direct sanction of the authorities for our intention to remain several days in the district we had now reached, and to make it understood that this would be essential for the object of our journey.
A further topic requiring some previous arrangement arose from Maw’s desire to return to England as soon as possible, after effecting the desired ascent to the higher region.
Our camp, which stood at 3,160 feet (963·1 m.) above the sea, was in a pleasant and sheltered position, and the temperature was thoroughly enjoyable. The relative coolness of the nights was not, indeed, so remarkable here as in the plain, for the actual temperature was pretty much the same, while that of the shade of day, which at this season, there usually rises somewhat over 80° Fahr., rarely exceeded 70° in the lower zone of the Great Atlas, however powerful might be the direct rays of the sun for several hours in each day. Towards dawn the air was usually keen, often almost cold; and at the hour which, when possible, was selected for observation—about one hour after sunrise—Fahrenheit’s thermometer, as well in the plain as in the main valleys of the Atlas, usually ranged from 56° to 60°. It will be seen that this country, when made accessible to civilised Europe, will supply the nearest approach yet discovered to the perfection of climate, whether for health or enjoyment.
The morning of May 12 was in every sense a busy one. During our afternoon ride of the day before, one of the baggage mules, while following a narrow track along the bank of a watercourse, had slipped into the stream, and a large parcel of Hooker’s plants had been thoroughly soaked. Several hours of the night, and the early morning, were consumed in repairing the damage, by laying the plants in dry paper, and drying in the sun that which was wet. Then came the important affair on which our hearts were mainly set. The sheik of the Aït Mesan valley had arrived, and it was necessary by a judicious combination of compulsion and conciliation to secure his co-operation in our undertaking. It was true that the orders of his superior, El Graoui, if duly conveyed by our escort, should alone have sufficed for our purpose; but we had already learned that, by a mutual understanding between the treacherous El Hasbi and the local authorities, our progress could at any moment be effectually barred. How were we to detect and expose the falsehood of the stories that were daily trumped up, and were seemingly accepted for truth by our own attendants?
The sheik appeared sufficiently cordial, especially when he was made to understand that, in case we were satisfied, he should receive a handsome present; and it was arranged that our next camp should be fixed at a spot within reach of the snow.
When the time for our departure drew near, a fresh, but not quite unforeseen, cause for delay presented itself, by the appearance in our camp of a crowd of native applicants for medical advice. Before leaving England we had been advised not to neglect the surest means for conciliating the good will of an African population, and had fortunately provided ourselves with a sufficient stock of common medicines. Even an ordinary traveller, with no more knowledge of medicine than the elementary notions possessed by most educated persons, may safely apply simple remedies in many of the cases of sickness that commonly occur among uncivilised people; but in our case there was no occasion for rash experiments, as Hooker’s medical knowledge and skill were more than sufficient for the needs of the patients who flocked in considerable numbers to ask for advice. From this time forward, except in one or two places where the people were withheld by the bigotry of the authorities, this became one of the daily demands upon his time and patience.
To judge from our own observation of the Shelluh people, and the experience of French travellers among the Kabyles, it seems probable that a traveller having some knowledge of the Bereber language, and a little medical skill, who could once make his way among the independent tribes of East Marocco, might safely explore the unknown portions of the Great Atlas. The first condition would be, that he should be able to overcome or evade the obstacles that would be put in his way by the Moorish authorities; and the second, that he should avoid treating any case that was likely to have a fatal termination. The position of an infidel stranger who might be supposed to be accessory to the death of a native of one of these wild tribes would doubtless be very perilous. The only branch of natural history that could be followed by a traveller under such conditions would be botany. In collecting plants he would be supposed to be following his proper avocation; whereas the slightest attention given to stones or minerals would be set down to a search for treasure.
The Shelluh population of the Great Atlas is strikingly different from the Arab stock, but scarcely to be distinguished in appearance from the cognate Bereber races, the Riff mountaineers of North Marocco, and the Kabyles of Algeria. Long faces, of a deep sallow complexion, high cheek-bones, eyes closely set and not so dark as those of the Moors and Arabs, are the prevailing types. The hair is cut short, and the use of the turban seems to be confined to the women. The men, when they use an upper garment, wear a black cloak or large cape of goat’s hair or camel’s hair, into which is inserted on the back an angular patch of red woollen stuff. Their character seems even more different from the Arab type than their aspect. The Arab hates work, takes to it occasionally from necessity, but passes his time so far as he can between talk, story-telling, and song, and dreamy contemplation, in which he is helped by the habitual use of kief, prepared from Indian hemp, the local substitute for tobacco. The Shelluh, on the contrary, is active and hardworking. He has some natural fitness and acquired skill in agriculture. His intelligence is readier for all practical purposes; and, in spite of difficulties of language, which generally involved a double process of interpreting between us and the natives, we found it much easier to obtain information on any matter of interest than from the Arabs. Intense curiosity was always shown by them in our proceedings, and a circle of people from the nearest village, standing hand-in-hand, generally encompassed our camp.
During the morning Maw amused and interested the people by showing a little practice with a small English rifle. The long flint-lock guns and bad gunpowder used in this country form such ineffective weapons that the people cannot conceive the possibility of every shot telling. This accounts for the fact that in the frequent skirmishes that arise between neighbouring tribes so little damage is usually done. Several hundred men may spend the day in firing at each other; a vast quantity of ammunition may be consumed; but the list of casualties on both sides seldom exceeds half a dozen killed and wounded.
At 11 A.M. we left our camping ground, and began to ascend the valley, soon approaching the banks of the stream, which was everywhere easily fordable. In places where it has cut a channel through sandstone rock there was space to ride along the bed, and we here found several rock-plants of some interest. The most conspicuous was the European Catananche cærulea, not before seen by us, but extremely common in the interior valleys of the Great Atlas, growing two or three feet high in the warm zone, and dwindling to a few inches in colder and exposed stations. Of greater interest was Selaginella rupestris, a species of club-moss that makes the round of the world in the tropics, but is very rare outside those limits.