200 AFRICA 



of Spain. Had it been preserved in its original state, 

 it would have been that of an open woodland and 

 shrub] and of hard-leaved evergreens where the grass 

 is dry and wiry, finding a parallel in the valleys of 

 California and Central Chile. Successive girdles of 

 vegetation depend on altitude. The lowest zone consists 

 of the coastal and western plains of the Tell valley. 



Fig. 76. Gorge in Mountains of Algeria. 



This is covered with forests of Aleppo pines, cork oaks, 

 and white or deciduous oaks, of palm groves, and olive 

 clumps, varying with the soil. The undergrowth consists 

 of numerous evergreen shrubs such as tree-heath, dwarf- 

 oak, cistus, lentiscus, rosemary, &c, and still more numer- 

 ous undershrubs such as thyme and lavender. The 

 forests have now been almost entirely cleared away 

 for agricultural purposes. In the fields are to be seen 



