Mid-day had passed before we started from Sektana, the morning hours having been employed in collecting and laying in paper a tolerably large mass of specimens. Our course lay over the plateau, whose undulations gradually subsided towards the Oued Nfys. At a distance of some seven miles from our camp we reached the brow of a range of low broken cliffs of white limestone, facing westward towards the broad valley of that stream. They are at a considerable distance from the present bed, but were doubtless formed by erosion at a distant period when the level was much higher than it now is. Among other plants, a variety of the wild caper (described as _Capparis ægyptia_ by Lamarck) was here common, and was afterwards often seen in similar stations as we travelled westward. The flowers-buds are eaten raw by the natives, who call them _Pan_. Below us, on the fertile tract extending for three or four miles from the foot of the cliffs towards the Oued Nfys, stood the village of Gurgouri, overlooked by two _kasbahs_ belonging to the Governor of the district which we had now entered, also called Gurgouri. The older fortress-like building, standing on a projecting rock, was apparently uninhabited, and the Kaïd dwelt in a less imposing structure close to the village. Our present design was to approach the high summits of the Atlas that we had viewed in the morning through one of the lateral valleys of the Oued Nfys, whence, as it appeared, the ascent might be effected without serious difficulty. The leaders of our escort had ridden on before to announce our arrival, and, after a short halt, we approached the village through a belt of gardens and olive groves. No Governor appeared to meet us, but only a messenger with some lame excuse for his non-appearance. It would seem that our dissatisfaction at this want of attention was speedily reported, and that the Kaïd’s second thoughts were different from his first, for he presently appeared just at the entrance to his _kasbah_. He was a tall, handsome man, courteous, but no way cordial in his greeting. He invited us to stop at this place, offering at the same time a suitable _mona_. It was necessary, however, to bring the question as to our further progress to a speedy decision; and when the proposal to ascend the neighbouring mountains was met by a positive refusal, and an intimation that such an expedition might be effected from Amsmiz, the adjoining district to the W. of the Oued Nfys, Hooker at once decided to continue our journey, and to refuse the proffered entertainment.