or performed their operations so deftly that we were unconscious of their assaults, and slept till the first gleam of dawn showed in the eastern sky. [Illustration:_J. D. H. delt._ DJEBEL TEZAH FROM IMINTELI] When we sallied forth at 5 A.M., on the morning of May 22, the air was cool, but a light mist hung between us and the mountains, the usual precursor of a hot day. When our preparations for starting were complete, the sheik was not to be seen; but presently a message came to say that he had gone on ahead, and would await our arrival on the banks of the torrent below the village. It seemed as if it involved an unnecessary détour to return by the path which we had ascended the day before, instead of aiming at a point higher up the valley; but a native who was left to act as guide, insisted on keeping to the steep rocky path with which we were already acquainted. At the appointed place, by the bank of the torrent, we found the sheik, with four or five ragged fellows, of whom but two were armed with long guns. Anticipating any remark as to this sorry substitute for the promised escort of fifty armed men, the sheik announced that more men would join the party farther on. As we firmly disbelieved the stories of danger from the terrible men of Sous, who are the bugbears of the population on the northern side of the mountains, we never cared to call attention to the fact that the promised reinforcements did not make their appearance. In the upper part of the valley, the trench which the torrent has cut for itself is less deeply excavated than through its lower course, and leaves space for a path, and a few straggling olive and walnut trees; and in some spots for small patches of cultivation. For about six miles we kept to the torrent bank, our horses sometimes preferring its stony bed, till we reached the junction of the two streams that feed the Amsmiz torrent. Between them rises the peak of Djebel Tezah, and here the ascent of the mountain begins. As the slope was still very gentle, we rode on a short distance farther, after hurriedly collecting some interesting plants, but soon came to a halt at a clump of fine walnut trees, standing by our observations at 5,604 feet (1,708 m.) above the sea. We had seen no village by the way, but only a few men engaged in fashioning gunstocks from walnut wood. It appeared, nevertheless, that there was a small village near at hand, and this place would be the proper starting point for travellers intending to make the ascent. There would be no difficulty in conveying small tents hither from Amsmiz.