from the region of the Straits of Gibraltar. 367 



surplus water of the marsh cuts its way in a deep and 

 ahnost impassable torrent. There is good anchorage 

 (but only in westerly winds) about half-a-mile from the 

 shore, and we made many trips to this spot in the 

 * Grappler ' for the purpose of shooting wild-fowl. This 

 great marsh, covered with dense beds of reeds, bulrushes, 

 and other aquatic plants, and with tangled thickets of 

 tamarisk here and there, is a perfect paradise for water- 

 birds. The open waters of the lagoon are in winter 

 blackened with multitudes of the commoner kinds of 

 ducks, and with two species of coots {Fulica atra, L., 

 and F. cristata, L.) : in autumn the starlings congregate 

 here in flocks of hundreds of thousands, the sound of 

 their wings, heard at a distance of a mile or more, being 

 like that of the surf on a beach ; while among the less 

 common birds the elegant marbled duck {Anas angusti- 

 rostris, Men.), the purple heron (Ardea purpurea, L.), 

 the glossy ibis {Plegadis falcincllus, L.), and the bril- 

 liantly coloured purple gallinule {Pm-phyrio cceruleus, 

 Vand.) find a secure breeding-place among the tangled 

 reed-beds. Once or twice, too, I have here seen the 

 majestic white heron, Ardea alba, L., a very rare bird in 

 these parts. As our visits were naturally mostly made 

 in the winter, I did not meet with many Lepidoptera 

 here, but the Coleoptera were always most abundant, 

 and included many of the finest and most interesting 

 forms which I met with in the whole region. 



There is a somewhat similar marsh to the southward 

 of the Cape Negro promontory, extending on both sides 

 of the Kus Kiver nearly up to the town of Tetuan, six 

 miles distant from the sea ; but this marsh, being more 

 saline in character, is on the whole much less productive 

 in insects than Esmir. To the south and east of Tetuan, 

 the " Kiff Coast," of piratical renown, remains practically 

 a terra incognita, the fierce and fanatical character of 

 the inhabitants rendering it very dangerous for a 

 Christian to venture among them. A few miles inland 

 the fine range of the Beni Hassan or " Lesser Atlas," 

 whose highest summit, a sacred mountain of the 

 Mohammedans, is partly covered with forest and con- 

 siderably exceeds 7000 ft. in elevation, will no doubt 

 afford many fine insects when explored, but I believe 

 that up to the present time no European has ever set 

 foot upon it. 



