CH. \iii. ENFORCED RETEEAT. 179 



animals rolling down into the torrent — one of them had 

 already slipped, and had a narrow escape — our progress to 

 the head of the valley was out of the question, as the 

 people there were in full revolt, and would not recognise 

 the authority of the Sultan. We were inclined at the 

 moment, and afterwards, to believe that this was a lie 

 trumped up for the occasion ; but the story might pos- 

 sibly be true, and, whether it were so or not, it was clearly 

 impossible for us to proceed against the positive and de- 

 termined opposition of our escort. With feelings of bitter 

 disappointment we dismounted, and ordered that the bag- 

 gage should return to a village near which we had passed 

 an hour before, while we climbed to the top of a project- 

 ing spur of the mountain, commanding a view of the 

 upper valley. For the moment, our interest in the vege- 

 tation yielded to the attractions of the scenery, and our 

 curiosity as to the nature of the great mountain chain 

 that rose steeply before us, seamed with snow that no- 

 where formed wide fields of neve, but lay in hollows and 

 ravines forming long vertical streaks throughout the upper 

 zone of several thousand feet in height. About two miles 

 ahead of us the valley forks, the main branch from SSE. 

 receiving a tributary from the S. or SSW. On a lofty 

 spur between the two streams stood a village, conspicuous 

 from a distance. 



To be turned back at the very moment when the main 

 object of our journey lay before our eyes, and that on pre- 

 texts that we utterly disbelieved, was sufficiently aggra- 

 vating ; and it was not in the most cheerful humour that, 

 about mid-day, we retraced our steps down the valley, and, 

 yielding to the suggestions of our escort, halted at the olive 

 grove beside the village which we had noticed during our 

 ascent. This was the first Shelluh village that we had 

 been able to inspect nearly, and it was of the same type 

 which we afterwards found throughout the mountain region. 

 Unlike the Arabs, the Berebers always use stone for build- 

 ing when it is available. The walls are thick and solid 



N 2 



