46 Elf F MOUNTAINEEES. oh. ii. 



in part of the Atlantic cedar, although that tree is not 

 positively known to grow in Marocco.^ 



In order to cover as much ground as possible during 

 the descent, we here agreed to take different directions, 

 and lost sight of each other for some time. Hooker 

 came upon a small mountain village, or hamlet, where 

 several Bereber or Eiffian families were crowded together 

 in hovels built of mud mixed with stone, and rather 

 better fitted to resist the weather than the sheds we had 

 seen in the plain. Conversation was not practicable, but 

 there was no indication of ill will on the part of these 

 people. The only attempt at intercourse was on the 

 part of one sturdy man who apparently requested a pinch 

 of snuff, but declined the offer of a cigar. The use of 

 tobacco for smoking appears to be unknown in Marocco, 

 while Icief — prepared from the chopped leaves of common 

 hemp — is almost universally employed for that purpose 

 both by Moors and Berebers ; but snuflf is in general 

 request, and is imported in considerable quantities, both 

 by regular traders and by smugglers who profit largely by 

 the heavy duty. 



In descending the mountain we observed large patches 



' la the Herbarium of the late Mr. Webb, now in the Museum at 

 Florence, the plants gathered by him during his short expedition to 

 Marocoo are preserved as a separate collection. Amongst these are 

 some fragments of the Atlantic cedar, which would appear from the 

 accompanying label to have been obtained by him at Tetuan from some 

 native of the EifE Mountains. It is probable that the same tree may 

 be widely spread throughout the unexplored mountain districts of 

 North-eastern Marocco. Gerhard Eohlfs, the only European who is 

 known to have traversed the high mountain region S. of B'ez, describing 

 the fine valleys inhabited by the powerful tribe of the Beni M'ghill, 

 says that the prevailing trees were larches of greater dimensions than 

 he had ever seen elsewhere. He declares that he measured several 

 stems from three to four metres in girth, and that such were not un- 

 common. It is in the highest degree improbable that the larch, which 

 in Europe finds its southern limit in the Pyrenees,- should extend to 

 Marocco ; and, as Mr. Eohlfs has no knowledge of botany, it is most 

 likely that the tree which called forth his admiration is the Atlantic 

 cedar. 



