260 THE SOUS VALLEY. ch. x. 



there pythons twenty or even thirty feet long lie in wait 

 for the traveller, mines of the precious metals abound in 

 Sous, and in Sous the soil is so fertile that all the pro- 

 ducts of nature are obtained without labour. But of the 

 physical features of the country we could learn nothing. 

 Whether it were enclosed on the southern side by a second 

 lofty range, or Anti- Atlas, parallel to that we already knew, 

 or merely by secondary branches diverging from the main 

 chain, and from how far eastward the sources of the Sous 

 might flow, were all matters quite unknown to us. One 

 European, indeed, had traversed some part of the valley, 

 and should have been able to throw some little light on 

 these obscure points ; but unfortunately the few lines in 

 which Gerhard Eohlfs recounts his adventurous journey to 

 Tarudant, and thence eastward to the northern skirts of 

 the Sahara, give scarcely any information. He speaks of 

 high mountains lying south of the Sous valley, but says 

 nothing to show what relation these bear to the main 

 chain. It appears from his account, that no considerable 

 ascent is necessary in order to pass from the southern 

 branch of the Sous to the streams that flow southward 

 towards the Great Desert ; but whether the Great Atlas 

 and the Anti-Atlas are throughout their length separated 

 by a broad trough, in the same way as Lebanon and Anti- 

 Lebanon, or Anti-Atlas be a diverging range over which 

 Eohlfs made his way by a deep pass or depression, it is 

 impossible to infer from his narrative 



By the time we reached the lower skirts of a long snow 

 slope that stretched upwards towards the summit of the 

 mountain, the sun, which had now ascended nearly to the 

 zenith, beat down upon us with intense rays, that drove 

 two of the party to seek some temporary shelter. The 

 Shelluh guide probably considered that he had done his 

 day's work ; and, finding a narrow rim of shadow under 

 an overhanging rock, lay down, witli his head screened 

 from the blazing heat. Ball, who was suffering from a 

 violent head-ache, also found a spot that gave partial 



