Feb. 20, 1879] 



NATURE 



3^7 



bined to hinder the publication of this journal until now, j that are gradually contracted to the thickness of whip 



but the delay will, we feel sure, not in the least detract 

 from either the novelty or value of its contents. 



The coast-line of the territory of Marocco extends 

 from the frontier line of Algeria on the Mediterranean, 

 along through the Straits of Gibraltar to the Atlantic 

 Ocean, nearly opposite to the Canary Islands. In- 

 land it would seem to have no absolutely well-defined 

 boundary-line except towards Algeria, but it is supposed 

 to stretch far into the Great Desert on the southern side 

 of the Great Atlas range. Of this great region, possibly 

 as large in extent as Spain, and the chief ports of which 

 are within a few days' steaming of Southampton, almost 

 nothing, if we except the 'mere coast-line, is known ; and 

 a journey across the dark continent itself seems easier of 

 accomplishment than one to the town of Tarudant, in the 

 southern valley of the Great Atlas. 



The distance from Gibraltar to Tangiers is scarcely 

 thirty-five miles. The five peaks of the Beni Hassan are 

 seen from the Rock, yet we have no records of their having 

 been investigated, and when the authors earnestly desired 

 Sir John Drummond Hay, the British Minister Plenipo- 



Argan Trees. 



tentiary in Marocco, to assist them in exploring their re- 

 cesses, he was reluctantly obliged to pronounce against 

 the feasibility of any such excursion, and even when they 

 started for a short excursion to Cape Spartel it was con- 

 sidered prudent to give them an escort of two soldiers. 



\Vith this excursion the botanical interest of this journal 

 begins. Plants of many sorts were seen and collected. 

 Where a little slender stream ran through some damp 

 meadows they were charmed by the delicate tint of a pale 

 blue daisy that enamelled the green turf. It was merely 

 a variety of the little annual daisy {Bellis annua) so 

 common in many parts of Southern Europe ; but the blue 

 tint does not seem to have been noticed elsewhere. The 

 botanical district to which this northern corner of Ma- 

 rocco belongs has been called that of the cistus and 

 heath. One very interesting plant to be often seen living 

 in the Botanical Gardens of Kew and Dublin is thus 

 described : — 



"The most singular of these is the Drosophyllum 

 lusitanicum, a plant of the sun-dew tribe, whose branched 

 stem bears several large yellow flowers. The numerous 

 slender strap-shaped root-leaves, nearly a foot in length. 



cord, are beset with pellucid ruby-tipped glands, and 

 present a peculiarity that appears to be unique in the 

 vegetable kingdom. Any one who has remarked the 

 growth of ferns must have seen that in the young state 

 the leaves are rolled or curled inwards, so that in the 

 process of unfolding the face or upper side of the leaf, 

 which was at first concealed, is gradually opened and 

 turned to the light. A similar process occurs in many- 

 other plants ; but in Drosophyllum alone, so far as we 

 know, the young leaf is rolled or curled the reverse way, 

 so that the upper side of the leaf is that turned outwards. 

 It appears to g^ow in many parts of Southern Portugal ; 

 reappears on the north side of the Straits of Gibraltar 

 near Tarifa and Algeciras, and on the southern side 

 about Cape Spartel and on the hills above Tetuan, where 

 it commands a view of the opening of the Mediterranean, 

 but extends no farther eastward." 



Tetuan was visited from Tangiers. The season (April 

 10) was scarcely far enough advanced for the flowering of 

 many of the sea-side plants, " but there was more than 

 enough to rejoice the heart of a botanist, especially one 

 escaping from the ghastly spring season of the 

 north, where, when the days g^ow longer, they 

 become only the more drear)-, and where the 

 bitter east winds parch and blast the young 

 leaves and blossoms that are tempted to unfold 

 themselves to their own destroying by the 

 mildness of the winter weather." At Tetuan, 

 Beni Hosmar was ascended. It was about 

 3,000 feet high, and had not been ascended 

 by any European since Barker Webb's time. 

 The season was still too little advanced, and 

 the botanist who will follow the travellers' 

 footsteps about the beginning of June is pro- 

 mised a much richer harvest. Ceuta, about 

 thirty miles from Tetuan, was next visited, 

 and in order to catch the steamer to Mo- 

 gador, our authors had to cross over to Gib- 

 raltar, from whence they again departed on 

 April 20, in the Verite, landing for a brief 

 moment at Casa Blanca. They were in the 

 port of Mogador on the 26th. 



Arrangements were soon made, through the 

 goodness of the late Consul Carstensen, for 

 the excursion to the Great Atlas. Mules were 

 bought, the question of costume was decided^ 

 the interpreter of the Consulate, Abraham by- 

 name, was lent for the trip. The necessary 

 escort consisted of four soldiers under the 

 command of a captain. The necessary dinner 

 at the Governor's was eaten, and about 

 7 A.M. on the morning of April 29 the cavalcade took 

 its departure from Mogador for Marocco. Instead of 

 following the direct road, a detour nearly at right angles 

 was made, to enable the botanists to gain a fuller acquaint- 

 ance with the great Argan Forest Their coarse was first 

 through a sandy soil, but as it rose and receded a little 

 from the coast, the tertiary calcareous rock that underlies 

 the sand cropped out here and there, and the first Argan 

 trees appeared. 



" As we advanced, the trees grew larger and nearer 

 together, and as we approached our intended halt, at a 

 place called Douar Arifi, they formed a continuous 

 forest. 



" The Argan tree is in many respects the most remark- 

 able plant of South Marocco ; and it attracts the more 

 attention as it is the only tree that commonly attains a 

 large size, and forms a conspicuous feature of the land- 

 scape in the low country near the coast. In structure and 

 properties it is nearly allied to the tropical genus Sider^ 

 oxylon (Iron-wood) ; but there is enough of general re- 

 semblance, both in its mode of growth and its economic 

 uses, to the familiar olive tree of the Mediterranean 



