The uppermost anxiety of our escort being to get away from any chance of being mixed up in the local troubles, they proposed to push on as far as possible towards the mouth of the valley, and we were all the better pleased to find ourselves as near as possible to the mountains in which we still hoped to effect another excursion. It was not, however, practicable to go far. About two miles above the village a rocky spur projects from the mass of the Atlas towards the plain, and is backed by a mountain mass rising some 2,500 or 3,000 feet above the valley. At the eastern base of this rocky promontory, in a stony field planted with young olive trees, we pitched our tents on very rough ground, where it was not easy to find a level spot to sleep upon, but where we promised ourselves good botanising in the immediate neighbourhood, even if unable to penetrate far into the mountains. Some unusual precautions were taken this evening to guard against a night attack upon our camp, and the Kaïds assumed an air of importance befitting men who felt that the time had at length arrived for a display of their professional skill and prowess; but, as we fully expected, the night passed without the slightest molestation. A few musket shots discharged at a distance were heard, exchanged between the hostile parties, or more probably fired _in terrorem_ to show that the defenders were ready for action. As we heard no more on the subject, it is probable that no further disturbance ensued during our stay in the neighbourhood. On the morning of May 26 our first anxiety was to ascertain what might be our prospect of reaching from this point the head of the valley, and making another ascent of the main range. We had already heard rumours of disturbances among the native tribes in the upper part of the valley, so that our expectations of success did not run high; and when the sheik of the valley was forthcoming we were not much surprised to hear him declare that an excursion in that direction was utterly impracticable. We at once suspected Kaïd el Hasbi of practising his usual machinations to defeat our intentions; but with the difference that on this occasion there was probably some foundation in fact for the tales that were told us of conflicts between the neighbouring tribes, and of possible danger for travellers. With an escort furnished by the orders of the Sultan, and quite numerous enough to inspire respect among the rude mountaineers, there would have been no real risk in proceeding along the valley—or anywhere else in this part of the country—provided we could have reckoned on our men; but in the face of their refusal, there was no use in further pressing the point.