64 MOOEISH POTTERY. ch. hi. 



This ware, which combines elegance and variety of form 

 with vigorous geometrical designs and rough execution, is 

 now well known to the devotees of the prevailing fancy for 

 ceramics, who pay in London or Paris many times over 

 the original price. Through the kindness of the British 

 Consul, Mr. White, we obtained some small specimens of 

 a very scarce variety of unglazed pottery, of which the 

 decoration consists merely in dots of black and red, form- 

 ing various patterns. These were said to be the handy- 

 work of two potters of Fez, who both died during the last 

 cholera epidemic. 



During our seven days' absence from Tangier, the vege- 

 tation had advanced very rapidly, and many plants had 

 come into flower during the interval; so that we found 

 abundant occupation, even in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the town. If we had wanted further evidence as 

 to the character of the climate, it was afforded by the fact 

 of our finding the British royal fern (Osmundd regalis), 

 on bare sandstone rocks, close to the sea. In our pro- 

 verbially damp climate it requires boggy or marshy soil to 

 grow freely ; but then, in spite of proverbs, we have fits 

 of dry weather during the spring, and every now and then 

 prolonged summer droughts, that forbid delicate ferns to 

 flourish in exposed situations. 



Early on the morning of the 20th we were awakened 

 by the news that the long expected French steamer, VeriU, 

 of Marseilles, had arrived, and would depart in the after- 

 noon on her voyage to the Atlantic ports of Marocco and 

 the Canary Islands. We were fully prepared to depart ; 

 the expected autograph letter of the Sultan had been 

 delivered to Sir J. D. Hay, and by him to Hooker ; our 

 heavy baggage had already been forwarded to Mogador, 

 and we lost no time in completing our preparations, and 

 bidding farewell to those whose kindness and hospitality 

 had made our stay at Tangier so agreeable. In quitting 

 Martin's Hotel, the solitary inconvenience that we could 

 call to mind was the swarms of flies that invade the rooms. 



