y, we branched off to the right,
crossed a stream, and began the ascent. No one could ride at this point.
R. tried a tow by means of the donkey's tail, and met with a
remonstrating kick. Certainly, if this could be called "one of the
Sultan's highways," it was an odd specimen. We scrambled up the east side
of the range of hills, sometimes by a succession of rocky staircases,
sometimes sliding (backwards chiefly) on loose shale: how the donkey
contrived to look after its four feet must remain a problem, but the
Morocco ass is brought up from birth upon stony ground, with naive and
simple notions upon the subject of paths.

It was a long time before our heads showed up above the top of Jack's
Beanstalk (so to speak), and we met with a gale, at which the donkey's
hair stood on end, and which occupied all our attention for a minute. We
had seen Tetuan disappear far below us behind the elbow of a hill; the
topmost point of the Gib. Rock had loomed into sight; Ceuta looked as if
one might have thrown a stone upon it; and the Riff Mountains were next
door, clear and blue. We had passed some red fritillaries and the
bee-orchid, a little wild mauve crocus, and some magnificent clumps of
white heath, which smelt of almonds and honey; had seen several pairs of
stone-chats with their white collars; had sat down for many "breathers";
and at last were at the top, in a wind which flattened every
palmetto-bush plumb against the hillside. It was a breezy spot for riding
(and here one _could_ ride, for the grey donkey was on _terra firma_ once
more); therefore we cut short a survey of the country below us, hurried
off the crest-line, and followed the path which led straight away into
the heart of the Anjera country. It was a good track when once the top
had been reached, exactly the right width for one individual, and used by
thirty or forty every market day--three times a week. At the time when
the cave-men lived in England, _single file_ was a standing principle in
Morocco, and the practice still holds good.

The path was beaten hard, by bare feet, in the rich dark red soil, and
had taken a shiny polish; the wind was held off us by boulders and small
hillocks; we got along at a steady pace. On each side mountains and only
mountains were to be seen, peak beyond peak, slope after slope, covered
with short wind-tossed scrub and sharp, hard rock, except at any great
height or in the prevailing wind; there ledge after ledge lay peeled by
t