We soon reached the hills, and began to mount by a well-beaten, but rather steep path. The vegetation on the dry stony slopes, mainly covered with brushwood, was already much parched, and we noticed nothing of especial interest till we reached the top of the ridge overlooking the valley of Amsmiz. Here stood two lonely poplars, and an old weather-beaten trunk measuring about five and a half feet in circumference, seemingly of high antiquity. The tree appeared to be in no way different from the _Juniperus Oxycedrus_ of Southern Europe, except that this rarely exceeds the dimensions of a bush five or six feet high. We now began to obtain a clearer view of the portion of the Atlas chain which it was our present object to explore. The valley before us was evidently different in character from those which we had hitherto seen. Especially throughout its lower part, it is a mere trench, whose sides slope with increasing steepness towards the bed of the stream; while the flanks, throughout a zone of from one to two thousand feet above the water, are but slightly inclined, and afford space for numerous villages and for cultivation. It is much shorter than the valleys in the Ourika and Reraya districts; and, instead of being enclosed at its head by a continuous ridge of great height, we here saw a single lofty snow-streaked peak at the head of the valley, apparently separated from the next eminences on either side by comparatively low passes, over which an easy passage to the Sous valley must be found. The peak which was the obvious aim of our expedition is known to the Moors as Djebel Tezah, or Tezi, and its summit, which had already attracted our notice from Sektana, can scarcely be more than fifteen or sixteen miles, as the bird flies, from the point where the torrent enters the plain near Amsmiz; whereas, in the part of the chain first visited by us, the watershed must be everywhere more than twenty miles from the northern foot of the mountains.