The walled space which surrounds the dwelling of the sovereign appeared to be a nearly regular square, of which the sides measure about half a mile. Besides the residence of the Sultan, rarely inhabited of late years, and the extensive ranges of mean irregular buildings used by his attendants and body-guard, another block of buildings served as the dwelling of his son, the then Viceroy; and a third group, to which we proceeded, was the home of El Graoui, who thus avoided the inconvenience of inhabiting a place subject to the authority of his rival, Ben Daoud. We saw no building of the slightest architectural pretensions, or at all comparable to the house in which we ourselves were lodged. Through narrow tortuous passages, amidst low buildings, scarcely more than ten feet high, and of the meanest appearance, we reached a whitewashed building of two floors, and through a narrow door and passage were ushered up a short flight of steps into a small room, wherein sat a stout man of completely black complexion, whose broad countenance gave the impression of considerable energy with an habitual expression of good-humoured ferocity. The room was decorated with woodwork, cut into elaborate geometrical patterns and painted in bright colours, the only form of decorative art known to the Moors, and lighted by a lanthorn overhead through small bits of coloured glass. We seated ourselves on the carpet-covered cushions ranged on either side, and a few of the ordinary phrases of courtesy, familiar to all readers who have made a tour in the East, were exchanged. Presently, on a signal from the great man, the inevitable green tea was served in English china tea-cups, followed by a slight refection, the air of the room being meanwhile perfumed with the heavy scent of incense burned over charcoal. After this, we, without further preface, commenced conversation as to the object of our journey, taking care to adhere as nearly as possible to the line of discourse previously fixed upon. Having in general terms explained that we wanted to collect the plants of the high mountains, Hooker was careful to add that we did not care about stones or minerals. We had been warned that the belief in the existence of precious metals in the Atlas is traditional in the country; and though no ruler of Marocco is known to have made any effort to search for or work mines, extreme jealousy is felt lest strangers should be attracted by the prospect, and attempt, in consequence, to establish themselves in the country. In point of fact, we were obliged to refrain from any overt attempt to collect even the commonest rocks, and the fragments which we carried away were picked up and pocketed—as by stealth—when removed from the watchful eyes of our followers.