[AKOCCO 91 



rheumatism, partly in faint hopes of connecting the Atlantic 

 Flora [i.e. that surviving in the Canaries and Madeira] 

 with the African, and (perhaps most of all) to taste the 

 delights of savagery again. Lord Granville l has applied to 

 the Sultan for permission and escort for self and Maw to 

 visit the highest points S. of the city of Marocco — but this 

 permit is not yet arrived, and probably will not be granted. 

 We take P. and 0. to Gibraltar, thence cross to Tangier and 

 botanize there as far as we can go with safety under the aegis 

 of Sir J. D. Hay [the Minister]. Our future movements 

 will depend on circumstances ; if there is a chance of the 

 Greater Atlas we shall take the steamer to Mogador, and 

 thence head Eastwards. We shall not be gone many weeks, 

 and as the success of the whole project is dubious, I do not 

 care to have much talked about it. I expect Alpine Maroccan 

 Botany to be the most novel and interesting of any W. of 

 Central Asia in the Old World. Of course we take tents, 

 saddles, and such like, soups, tea, old watches, musical 

 boxes, &c, no end of paper for drying plants, and so forth. 



I am busy clearing off arrears and prospective work, 

 and have not read your book yet 2 — very much because every 

 one asks me and worries me about it, and it is safest to say I 

 have not, even looked into it. I shall take it with me. 



The fortnight's botanising in the north was over beaten 

 ground, but served to determine the relations between the 

 floras on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar, and to em- 

 phasise the antiquity of the severance between them. 



Hooker and Ball rode as far as Ceuta, and crossed to Alge- 

 ciras, meaning to take the daily boat on to Gibraltar, and so 

 cross again to Tangier. But they were held up, all the steamers 

 having been taken off the line owing to a great bull fight at 

 Cadiz. However, he writes to Professor Oliver on April 12 : 



The day at Algeciras was very instructive, as enabling us 

 to compare Spain and the opposite coast at the same season ; 

 the general character of the vegetation was the same, but 

 the civilisation of this, the least civilised country in Europe, 



1 Lord Granville (1815-91), the second earl, was at this time (1870-4) 

 Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 

 * The Descent of Man. 



