CH. XI. EETURN OF OUE ENVOY. 293 



eggs, wheaten cakes, butter, and milk, which were speedily- 

 despatched ; and we added to our collections a curious 

 biennial variety of Rumex vesicarius, having the mem- 

 branous wings enclosing the fruit of a bright rose red. 



By 4 P.M. we had got back to our camp, and the re- 

 mainder of the day was devoted to the care of our 

 collections. Before nightfall Kaid el Hadj returned from 

 his mission to Mtouga, bringing confirmation of the 

 reports as to the outbreak of hostilities between the people 

 of Mtouga and their neighbours of Haha, with an addition 

 to our escort in the shape of six ragged-looking soldiers 

 sent by the Grovernor of Mtouga. 



On the morning of May 28 our numbers were further 

 increased by the return of the two soldiers who had left us 

 at Sektana for the purpose of escorting Maw to Mog- 

 ador. They were welcome, for they brought letters from 

 England, together with a good account of our travelling 

 companion. He had reached Mogador early on the fifth 

 day from Sektana, and happened to arrive a few hom:s be- 

 fore the departure of a small British steamer bound from 

 the Canary Islands to London. 



Before departing, we gave a last look at the neigh- 

 bourhood of our camp, and reluctantly abstained from 

 attempting a close examination of the ancient castle, or 

 fort, which stood at the opposite side of the stream com- 

 manding the entrance to the main valley. We were well 

 aware that any curiosity shown in that direction would 

 have been set down to designs on buried treasure, and 

 would have aggravated the suspicion with which all our 

 proceedings were viewed by the native authorities. 



We did not start until 10 a.m., and with an unusually 

 long cavalcade followed a faintly marked track that winds 

 round the northern base of the mountain which we had 

 ascended on the preceding day, gradually attaining to a 

 height of several hundred feet above the plain. Before 

 long we crossed the borders of Imintanout, a district in- 

 cluding several villages under a sheik who is dependent on 



