276 Capt. Lynes n)i the Ormthology [This, 



scramble l)y ledges down to tlio Idnnt-coned talus at the 

 bottom. 



A few cedars rooted in the upper ledges protrude their 

 weather-beaten tops; nearl}- all the interior except the 

 vertical is thickly clothed with shrub vegetation, species 

 varying noticeably according to sunny- and shady-side of 

 the pit. 



Tn the cliffs (on the 29th of June) were breeding-colonies 

 of Black Ibis (Comatihis eremita). Choughs, Kestrels, and 

 Starlings ; Alpine Swifts were swirling round the rim, and 

 it seemed almost uncanny to hear a Blackbird singing at the 

 bottom of the fearsome pit. 



Beyond Timoudit^ the Plateau extends many miles to 

 south-westward and westward, in which direction cedars are 

 visible on the hori/.on, while to the south-eastward the 

 " Route ■' soon ascends to cross the main chain of Middle- 

 Atlas peaks. Except for a few. rather poor, patches of 

 woodland on one of the northern slopes of these peaks the 

 general aspect of the Chain, as viewed from Timoudit (my 

 furthest south), appeared stony and bleak. 



Speaking generally, the faciei of all life in the Middle- 

 Atlas is essentially a " cool temperate'' one. One interesting 

 feature is the long or slender bills of some of the bird-forms 

 as Skylark, Shorelark, Robin, Nuthatch, Missel-Thrush, 

 etc. ; another, apparently, is the rarity of migratory bird- 

 passage through the longitude of Azrou. 



Climate. — Up to midsummer except for two rainy days in 

 the first week of June, the climate was perfect ; dry, azure 

 skies, hot snn, cool or cold at night. For eight days at the 

 Solstice (19-26 June) occurred what I was told is an annual 

 phenomenon : each day began hot and cloudless as hitherto ; 

 then, about midday, the light northerly breeze dropped and 

 gave place to a southerly one, clouds formed from south to 

 west, and about 2 p.m., preceded by a fall of temperature 

 (which the winged insects invariably accepted as a warning 

 to take cover), there commenced a violent storm of lightning, 

 thunder, and rain or hail, lasting from three to seven hours. 

 Then peace returned, but the succeeding nights, especially 



