We soon reached the hills, and began to mount by a well-beaten, but rather steep path. The vegetation on the dry stony slopes, mainly covered with brushwood, was already much parched, and we noticed nothing of especial interest till we reached the top of the ridge overlooking the valley of Amsmiz. Here stood two lonely poplars, and an old weather-beaten trunk measuring about five and a half feet in circumference, seemingly of high antiquity. The tree appeared to be in no way different from the Juniperus Oxycedrus of Southern Europe, except that this rarely exceeds the dimensions of a bush five or six feet high.
We now began to obtain a clearer view of the portion of the Atlas chain which it was our present object to explore. The valley before us was evidently different in character from those which we had hitherto seen. Especially throughout its lower part, it is a mere trench, whose sides slope with increasing steepness towards the bed of the stream; while the flanks, throughout a zone of from one to two thousand feet above the water, are but slightly inclined, and afford space for numerous villages and for cultivation. It is much shorter than the valleys in the Ourika and Reraya districts; and, instead of being enclosed at its head by a continuous ridge of great height, we here saw a single lofty snow-streaked peak at the head of the valley, apparently separated from the next eminences on either side by comparatively low passes, over which an easy passage to the Sous valley must be found. The peak which was the obvious aim of our expedition is known to the Moors as Djebel Tezah, or Tezi, and its summit, which had already attracted our notice from Sektana, can scarcely be more than fifteen or sixteen miles, as the bird flies, from the point where the torrent enters the plain near Amsmiz; whereas, in the part of the chain first visited by us, the watershed must be everywhere more than twenty miles from the northern foot of the mountains.
Our track descended slightly from the top of the ridge above Amsmiz, and then continued nearly at a level for a considerable distance, the torrent, which ran at a great depth below us on the right, being usually concealed from view by the convexity of the slope. We soon observed that several villages lying on the upper slopes were mere piles of ruin. Some, as we learned, had been destroyed by hostile tribes, and others had been abandoned by their inhabitants who had migrated elsewhere. Perhaps owing to the scantiness of the present population, timber was more abundant here than usual in the Great Atlas. Besides larger trees at intervals, the slopes along which we rode were to a great extent covered with oak scrub to such an extent as to leave little space for herbaceous plants. The prevailing form of oak in this part of the valley tends to confirm the opinion of those botanists who, with Visiani, consider the common evergreen oak (Quercus Ilex), and the cork oak (Quercus suber), to be forms of the same plant. In general appearance, the oak here quite resembled Q. suber, and in the older trees the tendency to form a corky outer bark was apparent; but the anthers all showed traces of the sharp points which are supposed to distinguish those of the common species.
At a point where a slender rivulet from the dry flanks of the hills on our left enters the valley, we passed close to a small village, with a belt of cultivation surrounding it, and soon after began to descend steeply to the bed of the torrent, no longer so distant from us as it had been in the lower part of the valley. Here we found several fine plants not before seen, and then, somewhat to our surprise, began to ascend, by a narrow and difficult path, the steep rocky slope above the left bank of the torrent. Our object was to pass the night at the uppermost end of the valley, as near as possible to the foot of Djebel Tezah, and the sheik had undertaken to conduct us to the highest village. We were now informed that this stands on the west side, and some 600 or 700 feet above the level of the torrent. This was evidently inconvenient, as our route on the following day must clearly keep to the eastern bank; but there seemed to be no help for it, and, as the rocks on this side were different in appearance, we perceived a fair prospect of adding some novelties to our collections.
About 2 P.M. we reached Iminteli, the poor village which served as our head-quarters for the next two days. The weather being now settled, our observations for altitude above the sea give nearly the same results when compared with Mogador or with Amsmiz, and that adopted was 4,418 feet (1,346·5 m.). The house of a Jew had been cleared out for our reception. It was of rather more solid construction than that in which we lodged at Arround, in the Aït Mesan valley, but similar in plan. It appeared to be tolerably clean, though on closer scrutiny a few bugs were detected, but in far less numbers than we have seen in Sicily and some other places in Europe. In pursuance of the sheik’s order, the Shelluh inhabitants of this place kept carefully aloof from all communication with us; but there were several Jew families who were clearly well disposed towards the Christian strangers. When we sallied forth, soon after our arrival, to examine the vegetation of the rocky slopes above the village, one of these Jews volunteered to accompany us. Conversation either in Hebrew or Shelluh being unfortunately out of the question, our intercourse was necessarily of the most limited character; but we could not fail to be struck with the man’s air of intelligence and friendliness.
The character of the rocks throughout this valley is altogether different from that of the more lofty range which we had previously visited. The red sandstones, there so prevalent, are here absent, and the strata are, without exception, schistose, though seemingly varying much in mineral composition. In some places, and especially on the ridge above Amsmiz, mica is present to an appreciable extent; in others, and notably in the mass of Djebel Tezah, the rock would pass under the old designation of clayslate; while in this part of the valley calcareous schists prevail. Intrusive dykes and bosses of porphyry and other igneous rocks were seen in many places, but not to such an extent as to affect much the general aspect of the surface. The stratification appeared to be very irregular, but in general the beds are inclined at a high angle to the horizon.
We were led by the difference in geological structure to anticipate a considerable change in the flora, as compared with that with which we had already made acquaintance; and this expectation was confirmed by what we had seen during our morning’s ride, and still more by our afternoon herborisation on the rocks and slopes above Iminteli.
We had already perceived that the vegetation of this part of the Atlas is much less varied than that of Aït Mesan; and this impression became stronger with subsequent experience. Something may be due to the fact that we had there more time and opportunity for close examination; but this could only slightly alter the general result. This may be partly due to the more permeable character of the rocks in the Amsmiz valley preventing moisture from resting on the surface; and in part to the fact that, although nearer to the Atlantic, the range here is less lofty, and the precipitation of vapour, in the shape of rain or snow, is less frequent and abundant during the summer months. The subject is more fully discussed in [Appendix E]; but it will be seen by reference to our lists, that only seventy-six species seen by us were confined to the Amsmiz valley, that nearly twice as many were found common to both valleys, while more than three times that number were seen in Aït Mesan, but not in Amsmiz. If a similar comparison be made as to the endemic species which, as far as we know, are peculiar to the flora of the Great Atlas, the proportions are nearly identical. A further peculiarity of the vegetation here, is the greater resemblance which it bears to that of the mountains of Southern Spain than does that of the Aït Mesan valley. Several plants not before seen by us were identical with Spanish species; and of the undescribed forms here collected, at least four have their nearest allies among the endemic plants of the Peninsula. Two or three characteristic species of the Algerian flora were also seen here for the first time; but these will doubtless be found to extend through the intervening region when this has become accessible to scientific travellers.
At two or three spots, during the afternoon, we had noticed fragments of pine cones, which the more excited our curiosity, as up to this we had not seen a true conifer in Marocco, and there was no reason to expect the appearance in this region of any other species than the Atlantic Cedar. When asked on the subject, the sheik declared that they had been dropped by strangers who had come from a great distance. The only explanation for a lie, apparently so objectless, is to be found in the deep-rooted suspicion which the mountain tribes feel as to all strangers, but which in the case of the sheik was intensified by religious bigotry. It was satisfactory to find a few trees about the highest point which we reached—700 or 800 feet above the village—and to ascertain that the cones belonged to the Pinus halepensis. It is remarkable that, when questioned, our Jew guide gave for the tree the name Tæda. There is much doubt as to the species which Pliny knew by the name Pinus Tæda, but it is pretty clear that the Romans applied the name tæda to various species of pine used for torches; and to this day, in the Italian Tyrol, where brands of Pinus Mughus are commonly adopted for that purpose, they go by the name of tea. The preservation of the exact Latin term in this remote region, along with that of the furbiune, already mentioned, appears worthy of note.
Well content with our collections, we returned before sunset, but our good-humour was soon troubled by the recalcitrant sheik, who seemed resolved to frustrate the main object of our expedition. When our interpreter was charged to arrange with him for our departure early next morning, he returned an answer to the effect that we could go with safety no farther than the village of Iminteli; that the great mountain was frequented by the Sous people, and could not safely be approached by us; and this was wound up by a flat refusal to let us proceed any farther. When it was found that he stuck doggedly to this resolution, Hooker judiciously resolved to assume a more resolute tone. ‘Tell him,’ he said to Abraham, ‘that the Sultan has issued his order that we should go to the snow—El Graoui has ordered that we shall go the snow—the Kaïd of Amsmiz has ordered that we shall go to the snow—if he refuses to carry out their orders, we shall return to Amsmiz, and send a courier to the Viceroy and to El Graoui, and we shall see what will be the consequence.’ After some delay, the answer came, that if we went to the mountain, it would be necessary to take an escort of fifty armed men. ‘Tell him,’ was the reply, ‘that he may take as many men as he likes—five men, or fifty men, or none at all—we do not care as to that; but the Sultan’s command must be executed!’ The sheik sullenly gave way, and promised that all should be ready for the next morning. After achieving this victory, we proceeded to dust the floor profusely with insect powder, and to spread our mattresses: our insect enemies either held aloof, or performed their operations so deftly that we were unconscious of their assaults, and slept till the first gleam of dawn showed in the eastern sky.