It was now apparent that the dread with which these men were evidently impressed did not arise solely from apprehension of an encounter with human enemies. Firmly believing that the heights of the Atlas are inhabited by djinns, or demons, it was obvious to our companions that the storm was caused by their anger at the intrusion of strangers into their sanctuary. We had not before noticed that one of the Shelluhs carried with him a live cock under his arm. In a state of the utmost excitement, he now proceeded to cut the animal’s throat, in order thus to appease the wrath of our supernatural foes, then renewing the appeal to us to forego further provocation.
In emphatic English, and such pantomime as we could command, we explained that we were determined to reach the top, but would then immediately return, and proceeded to face the last portion of the ascent. This lay through a broad couloir, some twenty to thirty feet wide, between steep walls of rock where, on narrow ledges giving scarcely any hold for snow, the last plants were collected. The storm, now almost a hurricane, raged with increasing violence; it was scarcely possible to face it, and our hands and feet gave scarcely any token of sensation. The thermometer, though carried in a pocket, marked 25° Fahr. (or about -4° Cent.) when last observed. Maw pushed on with increasing vigour, and, in the driving snow, was soon lost to sight. Presently, shouts were heard, and he reappeared, saying that he had reached the ridge where the ground fell away on the southern side, that he could see absolutely nothing in any direction, and, owing to the severity of the cold, found it impossible to remain. He estimated the height at rather more than one hundred feet above the point reached by Ball, who in turn was about sixty feet above Hooker. They descended through that short space; and, after very brief deliberation, decided that no more could be done, and that a speedy descent was the only possible course. The appearance of the party was singular, and not one could have been recognised by his nearest friends. Faces of a livid purple tint were enclosed by masses of hair thickly matted with ice, and the beards, frozen in the direction of the wind, projected on one side, giving a strangely distorted expression to each countenance.
After observing the aneroid barometer at the point which we estimated at 200 feet below the summit, and glancing at our watches, which marked about 2.30 P.M., we turned downwards, and set out as fast as our legs would carry us, cutting across the zigzag track now deeply covered with snow. Before long we got shelter from the violence of the wind, and began to feel the tingling of returning circulation in the hands and feet. In places the ground was steep enough to require a little caution in traversing the rocky slopes, partly grown over by tufted bushes, all now veiled in fresh snow; but little delay ensued, and in less than two hours we reached the bottom of the ravine where the track passes close to the Saint’s tomb. The shouts of our Shelluh guides had announced our approach, and we were met by the smiling faces of our Mogador attendants, who had judiciously made themselves as comfortable as circumstances permitted by keeping up a fire in the hut.
In the valley little snow had fallen, and that was half melted, and continued to fall in that intermediate condition between snow and rain that forms slush, a word of odious import except for its associations with the Christmas holidays. We learned that the sheik, Si Hassan, was waiting for us some way lower down in the valley, and without halting we pushed on to meet him. Long waiting in cold and wet does not mend any man’s temper, and the sheik, already much annoyed that his injunctions not to let us go beyond the Saint’s tomb had been ineffectual, was doubtless in a savage humour when we at length appeared, after successfully breaking through all the restraints he had contrived. Yet he managed to put a good face on the matter, offered his congratulations on our safe return, and invited us to partake of some food that was provided in a spot where an overhanging rock gave partial shelter. This did not save the poor fellows who had done their best to keep us within the intended limit from a desperate ‘blowing-up,’ and many threats of future vengeance. Drenched and cold as we were, the invitation to halt was anything but tempting; but in this country the obligations of hospitality are binding on the receiver as well as the giver, and it was necessary to wait some time and eat a few mouthfuls before proceeding on our homeward way to Arround.
As we approached the village, we witnessed a marvellous exhibition of colour that, even in our weather-beaten condition, impressed us with admiration. The steep ridges enclosing the valley were now thickly powdered with snow, but almost concealed from view by the clouds that hung low over our heads. Towards sunset these gradually rose up and melted into mist, and the whole scene was transfused with a delicate sea-green hue that seemed bright by contrast with the sombre tints in which we had been enveloped during the day. It often happens in bad weather that as the distant horizon is lit up towards sunset the rays, travelling under the dense strata of cloud that cover a mountain district, produce at that hour the effect of sudden illumination; but whether the green tint on this occasion was due to a similar colour in the distant horizon, unseen by us, or was complementary to the prevailing red colour of the surrounding rocks, we were unable to decide.
About sunset we reached our house at Arround. The open verandah on this chilly evening, with the thermometer little over 40° Fahr., was not the most comfortable place for the evening toilet, nor for working in after supper. Under ordinary circumstances, two at least of the party would infallibly have been laid up with heavy colds or worse; but the last three weeks of open-air life in this fine climate had put us all into excellent condition. A moderate supper was despatched with general satisfaction, and no one suffered further inconvenience from the roughness of the day or the coldness of the night.
As might have been expected from the unsettled state of the weather, the observations taken to determine the altitude of Arround had not been quite satisfactory. The heights deduced from comparison with Mogador, where the weather was also unsettled, were discordant to the extent of about 80 feet. A comparison of observations taken here and at Hasni, on the 13th and 15th inst., with a few hours’ interval, gave a much nearer agreement; and the mean of these, being 6,463 feet (1,970 m.), is that which we have adopted. A boiling-water observation at 8 P.M. in the evening, with the temperature of the air at 40° Fahr., gave a result higher by 20 feet; but it helps to show that the probable error is not large.
The answers to our inquiries as to the Pass reached during the day were, as we had reason to believe, designedly vague and indefinite. It appears to be known as Tagherot, and to serve for communication with Tifinout, which is the name of a mountain district with one or more large villages, whose drainage is carried to the Sous. The main valley of the Sous must, however, lie to the south of Tifinout, and extend much farther east. Our corrected results make the point at which our last observation was taken, 4,821 feet above Arround, giving for the Tagherot Pass 5,021 feet above Arround, or 11,484 feet (3,500·4 m.) above the sea.
In [Appendix A] the reasons which showed the necessity for a considerable correction to the original observations made since our arrival at Mogador are fully explained. The difference in the resulting heights throughout our journey is not of much moment as regards the lower stations; but it increases rapidly with increasing altitude, and in the case of the Tagherot Pass amounts to about 500 feet. As this correction was disclosed only after careful examination and comparison of all the observations, the first result, which was derived from the rough reduction made at the time, communicated in a letter from Hooker to the late Sir Roderick Murchison,[2] and which appeared in other published notices of our journey, is probably erroneous to the extent above mentioned.
Assuming our final results to be pretty nearly correct, and having been unable to hear of any other easy or frequented pass in this part of the range, we seem to be justified in concluding that this section of the Great Atlas chain, as compared with any of the mountain systems of Europe, maintains a remarkably high mean level. The height of the projecting summits in the adjoining portions of the chain was variously estimated by us at 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the Tagherot Pass. Taking the lower of these estimates, and assuming the other depressions to be no higher than Tagherot, we should have for the mean height of the main ridge at least 12,200 feet. Judging from all the distant views we were able to obtain, the portion of the Atlas chain near the head of the Aït Mesan valley is very similar in character to that extending eastward to the sources of the Oued Tessout, and does not reach a higher elevation. If this opinion be well founded, we have in this part of the Great Atlas a range, fully 80 miles in length, which in its mean elevation surpasses any other of equal length in Europe, or in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The chain of the Pennine Alps, from the Col de Bonhomme to the Simplon, alone approaches the same limit, as, excluding those limiting passes, the mean elevation of the dividing ridge for a distance of over 90 miles is about 11,800 English feet. That of the Mont Blanc range, from the Cime des Fours to the Pointe d’Orny, probably equals the mean height of the Great Atlas, being about 12,300 feet, but this is only about 25 miles in length. Excluding the mountains of Central Asia, and the Andes of Bolivia and Peru, neither of which can be spoken of as mountain chains in the ordinary sense, the only considerable range surpassing the Atlas in height is the higher part of the Caucasus, between the peaks of Elbruz and Kasbek, whose mean height, for a distance exceeding 110 miles, must reach, if it does not surpass, the limit of 13,000 feet.