252 VIEW OF THE AMSMJZ VALLEY. ch. x. 



and an old weather-beaten trunk measuring about five 

 and a half feet in circumference, seemingly of high an- 

 tiquity. The tree appeared to be in no way different from 

 the Junvperus Oxycedrus of Southern Europe, except 

 that this rarely exceeds the dimensions of a bush five or 

 six feet high. 



We now began to obtain a clearer view of the portion 

 of the Atlas chain which it was our present object to ex- 

 plore. The valley before us was evidently different in 

 character from those which we had hitherto seen. Especially 

 throughout its lower part, it is a mere trench, whose sides 

 slope with increasing steepness towards the bed of the 

 stream ; while the flanks, throughout a zone of from one 

 to two thousand feet above the water, are but slightly in- 

 clined, and afford space for numerous villages and for 

 cultivation. It is much shorter than the valleys in the 

 Ourika and Eeraya districts ; and, instead of being en- 

 closed at its head by a continuous ridge of great height, 

 we here saw a single lofty snow-streaked peak at the head 

 of the valley, apparently separated from the next emi- 

 nences on either side by comparatively low passes, over 

 which an easy passage to the Sous valley must be found. 

 The peak which was the obvious aim of our expedition is 

 known to the Moors as Djebel Tezah, or Tezi, and its 

 summit, which had already attracted our notice from 

 Sektana, can scarcely be more than fifteen or sixteen miles, 

 as the bird flies, from the point where the torrent enters 

 the plain near Amsmiz ; whereas, in the part of the chain 

 first visited by us, the watershed must be everywhere more 

 than twenty miles from the northern foot of the mountains. 



Our track descended slightly from the top of the ridge 

 above Amsmiz, and then continued nearly at a level for a 

 considerable distance, the torrent, which ran at a great 

 depth below us on the right, being usually concealed from 

 view by the convexity of the slope. We soon observed 

 that several villages Ij'ing on the upper slopes were mere 

 piles of ruin. Some, as we learned, had been destroyed 



