But little game is to be found in this portion of the Atlas. The Barbary wild sheep (_muflon_), it is true, exists, but is by no means easy to obtain, as every native carries a gun, and should chance give him the opportunity, fires at them whenever he may catch a glimpse. The Berbers, too, are sportsmen; and the Kaid of Glawa, and other governors, are in the habit of organising large hunts, that have done much to kill off this fine beast and drive the remainder into the most inaccessible parts. The lion is unknown, and the leopard very rare, though farther to the north, in the forests of Beni Mgild, both are said to be common, and I have often seen the skins for sale, and captured lions in the Sultan’s palace at Fez. Hyenas seem to be found throughout the entire range, and foxes and jackals abound. Bird-life seems most noticeable for its absence, and I have never seen, though I have spent several months at different times in and near the Atlas, either a vulture or an eagle. Smaller hawks and one or two varieties of kites are common. Amongst game-birds I have seen only the red-legged Barbary partridge and the pintail sand-grouse, and the latter only in the foot-hills. A guinea-fowl is said to exist, and I have seen in the possession of the Shereefs of Wazan specimens brought from Zimmour, to the west of Rabat on the Atlantic coast. It is a small variety, dark in colour, with a blue head and dark crest, and not half the size of the fine plump bird of which I have shot so many in Somaliland and around Harrar. A pretty grey-striped rock-squirrel is common in the mountains, and much prized by the Berbers for his meat, which is said to possess medicinal properties. The commoner vegetation of the Atlas, which differs according to altitude, are pine, _arar_ or calitris, evergreen oak, cork, white poplar, wild olive, arbutus, laurustinus, lentiscus, palmeto, oleanders in the riverbeds, and juniper, while at places the gum cistus is found in large quantities. The principal rivers of Morocco all rise in the Atlas Mountains, with the exception of the Wergha, the large tributary of the Sebu, which has its source in the hills to the south of the Riff country. The Draa, Sus, the Gheris, and the Ziz are the principal rivers to the south of the range; while to the north the Tensift, Um er Ribía, Bu Regreg, and Sebu are all fed by the Atlas snows; and on the west the Muluya, which empties itself into the Mediterranean. Brief as these notes on the Atlas are, they will suffice for the objects of this book. Those who desire to know more of their geology and botany will find two works upon the subject, the results of the explorations of Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr Joseph Thomson. With regard to the inhabitants of the Atlas, they [Illustration: _Approaching Marakesh from the North._]