JDH writes to his wife, Frances Hooker, to inform her that he is in a camp at the 'axis' of a high ridge in the Atlas Mountains. The party travelled from Morocco to the place where [John] Washington made an attempted ascent, as described in the JOURNAL OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. The 'Caid' or chief of that part of the mountains hates Christians & tried to persuade them not to go further, however they climbed to 5000 feet & could see enough to establish that it was not a god route to the peaks that Washington had been trying to reach. They then went further West. Their progress that way was hampered by the mules being unable to continue for more than a few hours in the rugged terrain & they were unable to reach the snowline there. Instead they travelled to the province of Reraia on the headwaters of the Oued El Fist [elsewhere spelt Enfisk, possibly referring to Tensift River], & then further south to their current position at 3-4000 feet above sea level in the district of Sheik El Graoui. El Graoui has taken them to the lowest snow bed, at 8000 feet. They will next make camp at the highest village, 7000 feet, & use it as a base for botanising higher. They will then try an ascent of the great peaks to the West en route to Mogadore [Essaouira]. The mountains are inhabited by a race called the Shelloos [Shilhah], to whom JDH is administering medical treatment. JDH saw the first sign of ancient ice action in a moraine at 6000 feet but there were no other indications of glaciation in the surroundings. He describes the landscape. He characterises the vegetation as 'mainly Spanish' & notes the presence of: Cisti, Lentisk, Arbutus, Phillyrea, Roses, Honey-suckle, Willow, Ash, Oak, Laurustinus Juniper, Callitris, Walnut, Olive, Chamerops & Elder. Also many species of unspecified herbaceous plants including new ones. Above 6000 feet: wild Gooseberry, harsh grass, many herbaceous Compositae, 2 or 3 Saxifrages, Cruciferae & Leguminosae. They have seen remarkably few ferns.
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in that quarter on the grounds that the distance was very great & the axis[?] out of his jurisdiction. We ascended to about 5000 however & saw quite enough to prove that the distance of the peaks was certainly 2 days off & the country very rugged & steep -- assuredly Washington would never have reached the Peaks he tried for from that quarter, under several days, if then.
Thence we marched to the West & tried up a larg considerable river but found the Caid very uncivil indeed, also that the mules would not be taken up more than the 3 or 4 hours march we took them, that the snows were a good 2 days off & the intervening ridges very rugged -- Thence we came to this part -- province of Reraia on the headwaters of oued el fist [Oued Enfisk or Tensift?] -- & after two marches southward, camped here, whence I write, some 3-4000 feet above the sea -- the district belongs to El Graui [Graoui] & we found the mountain Sheik most civil. He took us yesterday to
Camp Atlas
S[outh]. of Morocco
May 14 /[18]71
Dearest F*1
This must be a short letter as I have been so hard worked with long marches, the immense deal of Botany & the innumerable Etceteras of a large camp, that I have had no time to write up my Journal after leaving Morocco city.
Here we are at last up high; very near the axis of the chain or rather of the loftiest ridge seen from Morocco (for no one knows what height the chain attains 150 miles E[ast?] of this. We first went S[outh] E[ast]. from Morocco to the place whence Washington*2 made his winter attempt (See Journal of Geograph[ical] Soc[iety] vol 1*3:--it is in the dining room.) The Caid or chief of that part of the mountain was not over civil he hates xtians [Christians] & though polite & respectable, put off our making the attempt
in that quarter on the grounds that the distance was very great & the axis[?] out of his jurisdiction. We ascended to about 5000 however & saw quite enough to prove that the distance of the peaks was certainly 2 days off & the country very rugged & steep -- assuredly Washington would never have reached the Peaks he tried for from that quarter, under several days, if then.
Thence we marched to the West & tried up a larg considerable river but found the Caid very uncivil indeed, also that the mules would not be taken up more than the 3 or 4 hours march we took them, that the snows were a good 2 days off & the intervening ridges very rugged -- Thence we came to this part -- province of Reraia on the headwaters of oued el fist [Oued Enfisk or Tensift?] -- & after two marches southward, camped here, whence I write, some 3-4000 feet above the sea -- the district belongs to El Graui [Graoui] & we found the mountain Sheik most civil. He took us yesterday to
the lower limit of the lowest snow bed (8000ft) (in gullies) in the main axis -- a 6 hours hard walk from here & we have now arranged to take a part of the camp up to the highest village (about 6--7000 feet[)] & botanise thence upwards as high as we can get for 2 or 3 days -- then return here & try the great group of peaks W[est] of this -- en route to Mogadore [Essaouira]
These upper valleys are very steep & picturesque, & are really thickly inhabited by a fine race of people called Shelloos [Shilhah?] (pronounced Shlós) who I am doctoring right & left with great success but it takes up a deal of time, I am sorry to say. The first positive indication of old ancient Ice-action was a stupendous moraine at about 6000 feet, a perfectly unmistakeable one, but curiously enough no traces above or below it, no rocks moutonneé no striation or grooved surfaces, no perched blocks except on the moraine. The height of the peaks of the axis are very uniform for a considerable distance & very steep on the face for some distance down. There are no glaciers & no perpetual
snow properly so called but snow lies all the year in steep gulleys[sic] of the N[orth] face & stretches downward for probably 5000 feet from the summit.
The vegetation is mainly Spanish. The flanks of the M[oun]t[ain]s are covered with Cisti with & Lentisk, with here & there Arbutus, Oak (Ballota) Laurustinus & Phylyrea [Phillyrea] -- There are also plenty of Roses, Honey-suckle, Willow -- Poplar [word crossed through, illeg.] Ash (Ornus), Juniper 2, Callitris, Walnut & Olive both*5 most abundant also Chamerops, Elder most of these at to 6500 or 7000. Of herbaceous plants there are a vast number of species, many very beautiful & quite new. At & above 6000 we found the wild Gooseberry & above this steep rocky hills ridges with harsh grass & low rounded spiny bushes of curious Coniferous Alyssoid plants -- with many herbaceous Compositae 2 or 3 Saxifrages Cruciferae & Leguminosae. The general character is of a very dry vegetation & we have not found more than 5 Ferns altogether. Even in valleys clothed with the rankest vegetation.
Love to all at home & Torquay. I have no letters since your first with Harriett[']s *4.
Ever your most Affect[ionate] |JosDHooker [signature]
1. Frances Harriet Hooker née Henslow (1825--1874). Joseph Hooker's first wife, they married in 1851 and had seven children. Frances was the daughter of naturalist John Stevens Henslow (1796--1861). She assisted Joseph Hooker significantly with his published work and translated from French A General System of Botany, descriptive and analytical by Emmanuel Le Maout and Joseph Decaisne (1873). She died suddenly, perhaps of an undiagnosed heart condition, aged 49.
2. John Washington (1800--1863). Naval officer and hydrographer. While on leave from the navy in c.1828-29 he travelled in Morocco with Edward William Auriol Drummond-Hay, and determined several positions by astronomical observations. From 1836 to 1841 he was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, of which he was one of the original members.
3. 'Geographical Notice of the Empire of Morocco' by Lieutenant Washington RN in The Journal of the Royal Society of London vol 1, 1831 p123.
4. Harriet Anne Thiselton-Dyer née Hooker (1854--1945). Oldest child of Joseph Hooker and his first wife Frances Hooker née Henslow. Harriet became a Botanical illustrator and wife of William Turner Thiselton--Dyer. Her husband was Assistant Director of RBG Kew (1875--1885) and later Director (1885--1905), succeeding her father.
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