After leaving the kasbah we rode through a narrow belt of tilled land, and soon reached the verge of a tract of open country remaining in a state of nature, with but few and scattered traces of population or cultivation. In some parts the soil was stony, and the presence of Arthrocnemum and other Salsolaceous bushes indicated the presence of soluble salts, but in others the absence of cultivation was probably due only to the want of irrigation. There can be little doubt that by a more skilful distribution of the drainage from the northern slopes of the Great Atlas, the area of land producing human food might be largely increased.
Our course lay between WSW. and SW., and we observed as we advanced that in that direction the outer ranges of hills did not rise so nearly parallel to the axis of the main chain as they do in the districts lying between Tasseremout and Amsmiz. A very considerable mass, extending northward as a promontory from the main range, became gradually more conspicuous as we advanced towards it, while a minor mass lying much nearer to us was seen on our left. About noon we approached the latter range in which the stratification appeared very irregular with a prevailing southward dip, and the strike NE. to SW. At its western extremity this range showed a line of steep cliffs, reminding us of those near Tasseremout, with the difference that the strata were here crumpled or contorted in a remarkably uniform manner, the same curvature of the folds being repeated nine or ten times. The compressing force must here have operated nearly in the direction of the axis of the main chain, and in a distance of some two miles the beds whose exposed edges we viewed must have originally covered a space of nearly twice that length.
As often happens when the air is nearly saturated with moisture, the horizon was to-day remarkably clear, and we made out the position of the city of Marocco, more than 40 miles distant, and bearing nearly due NE. About due north, and not quite so distant, rose the hills near Sheshaoua, and about midway between them a remarkable conical hill seen from near Misra ben Kara.
Before 2 P.M. we approached a large kasbah at a place called Douerani. When we afterwards learned that this belonged to the same chief who hospitably received M. Balansa, and assisted him in exploring the neighbourhood until orders from Marocco cut his stay short, we had some doubt whether this was not the place described by him as Keira. An examination of his map and the account of his expedition leads us, however, to the conclusion that Keira must be the name of another habitation belonging to the same chief, lying a few miles farther north, and that the mountain called Djebel Aït Ougurt, ascended by M. Balansa, must be some eminence in the range near at hand which we had just before been scrutinising. We now perceived that there is a considerable valley or depression lying between this outer range and the main mass of the Atlas, which is, indeed, indicated in M. Balansa’s sketch map.
Before long we received a courteous message inviting us to stop at the kasbah; but as it seemed clear that Seksaoua promised more easy access to the higher mountains, we had no hesitation in adhering to the plan already fixed, and declining the proffered hospitality. It was not without regret that we adhered to our resolution, when the chief came out with a numerous suite to visit us at our halting-place close to the kasbah. The friendly air of the worthy old man, which evidently made a deep impression on M. Balansa, was not without effect upon us. Failing to induce us to stop on our way, he sent an ample mona, including, besides tea and sugar, a parcel of candles of French manufacture, the more acceptable as our supply threatened to run short before we could reach Mogador.
Our halting-place was in a pleasant spot overlooking the broad bed of the Oued Usbi, which appears to unite the torrent from a considerable valley south of Seksaoua with several minor streams from the Atlas, and to be the main affluent of the river of Sheshaoua. The weather had improved, and the thermometer stood at about 70° F. in the shade, our height above the sea being 2,671 feet (814·3 m.). Spiny Compositæ belonging to the genera Scolymus, Echinops, Cnicus, and Onopordum, were the most conspicuous plants; but, as no species not already gathered were seen here, we dispensed ourselves from collecting and drying these troublesome inmates of the herbarium.
It was near 4 P.M. when we started for Seksaoua, and, after crossing the Oued Usbi, held on in a SW. direction nearly parallel to its course. In little more than an hour we came to a large village, which was the scene of unexpected commotion. As our cavalcade was seen to approach, some natives ran on to announce the fact to the villagers, and by the time we reached the first houses the whole population turned out, and a scene ensued of which no description can give an idea. The men who lined the way on either side shouted with emulous vehemence and fury guttural sentences, illustrated by frantic gesticulations, while the women and children kept up a deafening accompaniment of shrieking, wailing, and howling, and the whole formed a scene worthy of Pandemonium. It seemed sufficiently clear that no hostile intentions against us were expressed, but amidst the horrible din and confusion it was some minutes before we were able to learn from Abraham the meaning of this wild excitement. It appeared that, as constantly happens among the mountain people, there was a feud between this and a neighbouring tribe; the village had been attacked, or at least approached by the enemy, and one of the villagers had been shot.
It was evident from the first that our brave escort felt extremely uneasy; but when it became clear that the object of the people was to invoke the protection of the soldiers of the Sultan against further molestation, our two Kaïds for once thoroughly agreed on a policy of strict neutrality, and in desiring to get as soon as possible out of harm’s way. As for us, it may be feared that we failed to maintain the gravity which, to the Oriental mind, befits persons of distinction. Just when the confusion was at its worst, and before we well understood what it portended, we happened to look up to where on the top of the nearest house two or three storks, each poised on one leg, were looking down on the frantic crowd. There was something irresistibly ludicrous in the contrast between the air of solemnity that characterises these birds and the insane excitement of the human crowd below that set us off in a peal of laughter, which we found it hard to tune down to decent seriousness.
The uppermost anxiety of our escort being to get away from any chance of being mixed up in the local troubles, they proposed to push on as far as possible towards the mouth of the valley, and we were all the better pleased to find ourselves as near as possible to the mountains in which we still hoped to effect another excursion. It was not, however, practicable to go far. About two miles above the village a rocky spur projects from the mass of the Atlas towards the plain, and is backed by a mountain mass rising some 2,500 or 3,000 feet above the valley. At the eastern base of this rocky promontory, in a stony field planted with young olive trees, we pitched our tents on very rough ground, where it was not easy to find a level spot to sleep upon, but where we promised ourselves good botanising in the immediate neighbourhood, even if unable to penetrate far into the mountains.
Some unusual precautions were taken this evening to guard against a night attack upon our camp, and the Kaïds assumed an air of importance befitting men who felt that the time had at length arrived for a display of their professional skill and prowess; but, as we fully expected, the night passed without the slightest molestation. A few musket shots discharged at a distance were heard, exchanged between the hostile parties, or more probably fired in terrorem to show that the defenders were ready for action. As we heard no more on the subject, it is probable that no further disturbance ensued during our stay in the neighbourhood.