A little later came a message from the Governor, excusing himself for not coming in person to see us. He owned to having lost many of his men during the day’s encounter, and said he was too anxious and disturbed to be able to entertain us. An ample mona was at the same time sent, and this helped to restore comparative cheerfulness among our followers.
As was natural under the circumstances we were anxious for information, but Abraham was not able to learn any reliable particulars as to the proceedings of the day. He professed, however, to be well acquainted with the method of warfare carried on between these turbulent tribes. The fighting consists in irregular skirmishes by men who keep as far as possible under cover, in which large quantities of powder are consumed with comparatively insignificant results. But, whatever be the result, it is a point of honour with each party to bring back prisoners. It is not often that these are made among the fighting men. Harmless peasants are seized—if of the enemy’s tribe so much the better; but, if these are not to be had, those of their own tribe are made the victims. We were assured that the same thing happens with the Sultan’s troops on the rather frequent occasions when they are despatched against some refractory mountain tribe. The mountaineers commonly make good their retreat to some spot not easily reached by horsemen; but, in order to be able to announce a victory, the detachment seizes any hapless people that come in their way on their return to the capital. When we inquired as to the destiny of the captives it was horrible to be told that some of them would certainly be butchered during the night.
It is strange, although similar anomalies are found in all ages and countries, to learn that, along with an utter absence of rudimentary feelings of humanity, these people show indications of the sentiment of chivalry. However strangely understood, the point of honour has a recognised place in their ethical system. The feud between Haha and Mtouga had been smouldering for many weeks, and hostilities were to have commenced soon after our arrival in the country. But the brother of the Kaïd of Haha was about that time seized with small-pox, and it was thought proper to await his recovery before commencing the war.
The night was overclouded, dark, and almost cold, and we were on foot at an early hour on the morning of May 30. The kasbah, standing on an elevated plateau, 3,085 feet (940·3 metres) above the sea-level, does not, owing to the undulating character of the surface, command any extensive view. Close beside it, a stream from the Atlas has excavated a broad trench, similar in structure to Aïn Tarsil, but very different in aspect. A streamlet here meanders along the flat bottom between walls of rock some 40 feet in height, and the more constant supply of moisture suffices to cover the floor of the miniature valley with a carpet of vegetation, and to support a fringe of tall water plants along the banks. We might probably have added several species to our lists if we could have devoted a day to botanising along the course of the stream; but in the existing state of the country that could not be thought of, and we contented ourselves with a morning stroll over the ground surrounding the kasbah, and along the neighbouring banks of the stream. As we wandered separately, Hooker was assailed with extraordinary vehemence by a negro woman. Not a word could, of course, be understood; but the objurgations of a virago are to some extent intelligible in every language. It was not possible to guess what induced this outpouring of threats and abuse, but it seemed probable that a botanist might unconsciously have done something to clash with the superstitious feelings of the natives. It is clear that the religion of Mohammed reaches but skin deep with the Bereber population, while traditional observances, derived from far more ancient religious systems, are still deeply rooted among them.
Much to the relief of our escort, whose first anxiety was to get away from the troubled district, we started about 10 A.M. The Kaïd sent another message, again excusing himself from a personal interview. We afterwards learned that he had made a present of four dollars to each of our escort, of course with the object of procuring some degree of support and countenance at head-quarters.
Our course during the day lay between NW. and NNW., keeping for a short distance along the course of the stream. At two or three points we saw traces of rock dwellings, not nearly so well preserved as those of Aïn Tarsil. Before long the walls of rock subsided on each side of the stream, which bent in a westerly direction, while our track ascended gently amid undulating downs, till we reached a point commanding a wide unbroken view of the northern horizon. To the eye the country before us seemed almost a dead level, but there is a decided general slope from south to north, as we more fully ascertained in the evening, when we found that we had descended fully 1,500 feet during the day’s ride. The outline of the Iron Mountain (Djebel Hadid) was now clearly traceable in the distance, the highest part bearing about due NW. As we advanced there was a manifest improvement in the fertility of the soil, and for a space of five or six miles we rode amidst cultivated fields, apparently the most productive that we had seen in South Marocco. The same conditions necessarily affected the wild plants of the country, and made it difficult to secure specimens of manageable dimensions of several interesting species. A great Daucus (D. maximus of Desfontaines), probably a luxuriant form, or sub-species, of the common carrot, grew to a height of four or five feet, and the flowering umbels were often more than a foot in diameter. More ornamental was a splendid Centaurea, three or four feet high, with very large heads of deep orange flowers, often tinged with purple, which we took to be altogether new. Subsequent examination made it doubtful whether it should be separated from a very variable North African species, C. incana of Desfontaines, though much larger in all its parts, and differing in the colour of the flowers.
We halted for luncheon near a village called Hazarar Assa, standing, as we were assured, at the frontier, between the provinces of Mtouga and Shedma. In Beaudouin’s map those provinces are separated by an intervening strip of territory, apparently belonging to the Ouled Bou Sba tribe. As political divisions in this country are subject to frequent alteration, the map may have been correct at the time it was made.
Maize was grown near the village, although no means for irrigation were apparent. As the growth of this plant is in general absolutely dependent on a frequent supply of water to the soil, we could only infer that we had come within the limits of the coast climate, and that as a general rule rain cannot there be very unfrequent during the months of April, May, and June.
During the halt the villagers reported that fighting was still going on in the neighbourhood, and a few gunshots were heard in the distance; but, as our course led us away from the scene of action, the result, if any, was never known to us.
In the afternoon our track bore more westward than before, keeping about due NW. in general direction. We soon left the fertile ground behind us, and for many miles rode over slightly undulating stony downs, where the prevailing slope is always to the N. or NW. The vegetation in these barren tracts is mostly of the social kind, two or three species, or sometimes one only, prevailing over a wide area, and then being suddenly supplanted by others. Artemisia Herba-alba, and Retama monosperma, are in this part of the country the dominant species. The monotony of the way was pleasantly broken by crossing a little valley traversed by a mere rivulet, which, however, sufficed to support a more varied and cheerful vegetation. From the rising ground beyond it, we gained a view to the south, and saw at a distance of eight or ten miles a massive pile of building crowning a low, thickly-planted hill, with a large enclosed space occupying part of the slope. The kasbah belonged to the Kaïd of Haha, and was on a scale proportioned to the importance of the Governor of one of the largest and richest provinces of the empire. We found additional reason for regretting the ill-timed local war, which prevented us from paying him a visit. Although guilty of frequent acts of atrocious cruelty, he was said to receive strangers with the utmost courtesy and hospitality.