HAED WORK FOE THE HOESES, 



CH. vni. 



peaks. On our own (the eastern) flank, the enclosing 

 wall receded somewhat, and above a high and rather steep 

 convex acclivity stood a village whose people had brought 

 the whole slope into cultivation. The torrent ran through 

 a cleft on the right of this knoll, and our course lay 

 directly up it, amidst fields and meadows, gay with spring 

 flowers, all enclosed within stiff hedges of thorny bushes, 

 among which our common gooseberry was abundant. As 

 if because the natives would spare no space that could 

 be turned to profit, we soon found that on the steeper 

 portion of the ascent the only way was up the bed of 

 a brawling stream that had for irrigation's sake been 

 diverted from the upper course of the torrent. The track 

 lay over big blocks of porphyry, with deep holes between, 

 over which the water leaped and tumbled, between strag- 

 gling branches of spiny bushes, that left many a mark on 

 the faces and clothing of the passing horsemen. Up to 

 this we had little experience of what the horses and mules 

 of Maroceo can do in the way of getting over rough ground, 

 and it was not without surprise that we saw how success- 

 fully they managed to scramble up the slippery channel 

 over blocks worn smooth by the constant passage of men 

 and animals. In the midst of the scramble we all dis- 

 mounted, for we here saw for the first time the blue daisy 

 of the Atlas, growing in the shade under the bushes, or 

 nestling in the hollows between the rocks. 



Having reached the top of the knoll at about noon, we 

 found a sort of shelf of nearly level ground, covered in 

 great part by a large village of rude but solid stone 

 houses. Here a halt was called, and we were informed 

 that a mona was provided to supply the mid-day meal for 

 the party. Burning with impatience, as we were, this was 

 anything but a welcome announcement. The dark ridges 

 rising thousands of feet above the head of the valley were 

 still distant, and no snow was to be seen, save in rifts and 

 hollows of the rocks, high up and difficult of access ; but to 

 refuse the proffered hospitality of the mountain chieftain 



