The 20th of May was a day of rest for the men and animals of our
party; but of rather hard work for the two botanists, who were for
eight or nine hours busily engaged in putting their collections into
order, and transferring the specimens from damp to dry paper. The
system of ventilating gratings which we adopted, works admirably
in a dry climate, and especially when it is possible to expose the
parcels to sunshine; and in such conditions most plants may be dried
without a single change of paper. The case is different when, owing
to rain, or the dampness of the climate, the paper cannot be well
dried, and the plants have to be laid in in a more or less moist
condition. Artificial heat may sometimes be applied; but this is
rarely available for travellers in such a country as Marocco.
It was necessary to interrupt the work during the forenoon, in order
to pay a visit to the Governor. This was no matter of mere ceremony,
as it was essential to obtain his consent and assistance towards
carrying out the design—on which we had fixed our hearts—of
penetrating to the head of the Amsmiz valley, and climbing some
one of the higher adjoining peaks. We knew, indeed, that in this
part of the range, the Great Atlas does not attain so high a level
as it does farther east; but as the summits must reach a height of
fully 11,000 feet, they could not fail to exhibit the characteristic
vegetation of the higher zone, and at the same time, unless we were
again pursued by bad weather, command a wide view over the unknown
country, on the south side of the chain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account