[Footnote 2: The usage of preceding English writers is hereafter followed by writing the name, Shelluh; but to our ears the native pronunciation is more accurately given by the spelling Shleuh or Shloo.] [Footnote 3: See Appendix H.] [Footnote 4: Those who are interested in the subject should consult a pamphlet entitled ‘_Mogador et son Climat_,’ par V. Seux, Marseille, 1870, and a paper in the Bulletin of the French Geographical Society for 1875, by Dr. Ollive, now residing at that place, styled ‘_Climat de Mogador et de son influence sur la Phthisie_.’ There are some errors in the tables included in the latter paper, and especially in that headed ‘_Tableau comparatif des Températures moyennes de diverses stations hivernales_.’] CHAPTER V. Departure from Mogador — Argan forest — Hilly country of Haha — Fertile province of Shedma — Hospitality of the Governor — Turkish visitor — Offering of provisions — Kasbah of the Governor — Ride to Aïn Oumast — First view of the Great Atlas — Pseudo-Sahara — Tomb of a Saint — Nzelas — Ascend the ‘Camel’s Back’ — Oasis of Sheshaoua — Coolness of the night temperature — Rarity of ancient buildings — Halt at Aïn Beida — Tents and luggage gone astray — Night at Misra ben Kara — Cross the Oued Nfys — Plain of Marocco — Range of the Great Atlas — Halt under Tamarisk tree. The morning of Saturday, April 29, was fixed for our departure from Mogador, and about 7 A.M. all were ready to start. Mr. and Mrs. Carstensen, with a rather numerous party of the European residents at Mogador, had arranged to escort us for a distance of some seven miles; and it was agreed that, instead of following the direct road to the city of Marocco, which runs about ENE. from Mogador, we should make a detour nearly at right angles to that direction, or about SSE., so as to gain a fuller acquaintance with the Argan forest. Our course lay in the same direction that we had chosen in our first short excursion from the town. Between the belt of sandy shore that is daily washed by the tide, and the sand dunes that rose in undulations on our left, we rode past the mouth of the Oued Kseb, and then began to ascend over sandy dunes, whereon the prevailing plant is _Genista monosperma_, the R’tam of the Arabs, whose slender silvery branches wave in the slightest breeze. Several of the peculiar plants of this coast occurred at intervals, such as _Cheiranthus semperflorens_, _Statice mucronata_, a curious and somewhat ornamental species, and two or three kinds of _Erodium_. As the track rises and recedes a little from the coast, the tertiary calcareous rock that underlies the sandhills crops out here and there, and the first Argan trees begin to show themselves. As we advanced, the trees grew larger and nearer together, and as we approached our intended halt, at a place called Douar Arifi, they formed a continuous forest.