136 
here a direction from S. S. W. to N. N. E. and I wa& 
told that it falls at about a day's distance from Rabat into 
several large lakes, and that it does not join the river 
Sebou, as Mr. Chenier has marked in his map. This 
river has a swift course, and contains much water. At a 
quarter before two a terrible storm obliged us to fix our 
camp. 
The country which we had been crossing, consisted 
at first of the vast plain which we saw yesterday, and 
which ended to the south in mountains which we kept 
moving by. Besides those mountains we saw a chain 
of small ones to the north, and at a great distance. 
The plain to the west seemed to lose itself into the 
horizon; at noon we reached its western limits, and I 
found that this vast plain was nothing else than a large 
flat; raised above the continent to the west, which from 
these limits was discovered as if one had been placed 
on an immense balcony . We * descended between 
mountains, whose tops were beneath the level of the 
flat, and I observed also, that the mountains to our left 
spread greatly towards the south. After the passage 
of the river the road passes through valleys. 
The ground of the plain was at first clay, and af- 
terwards a chalky sand mixt with a little clay. The 
vegetation was very backward on the plain, but the 
lower part was more advanced; however all the plants 
were of a small size, and chiefly briars. 
Ever since I left Fez I had not seen one single tree, 
except in some gardens near the hermitage of Sidi Cas- 
sem; the ground is not fit for them. There are no 
birds but those which flew by in great bands on their 
migrations. 
We passed many poor douars, excepting one which 
was extensive; it was composed of several circles of 
m 
