296 A BAEEEN COUNTEY. ch. xi. 



this, as well as of the other stream which we saw some- 

 what later at Milhain. In ordinary weather both are 

 probably absorbed into irrigation channels before they 

 traverse the plain ; but it is most likely that their natural 

 course, which they must follow in rainy weather, joins 

 that of the Oued Usbi flowing from Seksaoua, and reaches 

 the Oued Tensift by the way of Sheshaoua. 



An easy ride of two hours took us to Milhain. The 

 outer skirts of the Atlas here liad an unexpectedly bare and 

 sterile aspect. "We had supposed that in the portion of the 

 range approaching the Atlantic coast a more copious rain- 

 fall would produce more luxuriant vegetation. We were 

 now within about 70 miles of the ocean, but, as compared 

 with the valleys south of Marocco, the change had been 

 in the opposite sense. It may well be that owing to the di- 

 minished height of the mountains the cooling of the aerial 

 currents from the W. and SW. is here insufficient to cause 

 much rain, except in winter, or possibly this part of the 

 range is more exposed to hot and dry winds from the desert. 

 It may also be true that the difference in the vegetation 

 is largely due to the mineral structure of the rocks in this 

 district. They chiefly consist of hard brittle semi-crystalline 

 limestone, with softer beds intercalated, and the rainfall 

 must be very rapidly absorbed in crevices and fissures. 

 No trees were to be seen, except olives planted near the 

 villages, and a few white poplars near the banks of the 

 stream beside which we pitched our camp. 



We were fully prepared for the assurance of the village 

 sheik that the condition of the country made it impossible 

 for him to conduct us into the valley which here issues 

 from the Great Atlas, and sends down a stream rather 

 more considerable than that of Imintanout ; and, as it was 

 clearly useless to press the point, we contented ourselves 

 by expressing a wish to take a short walk into a recess of 

 the mountain enclosed between steep rocky declivities 

 that opened within sight of our camp. A jocund young 

 Shelluh was appointed a,s a gui'^e, though none in reality 



