Abstract

Of the geology of Barbary, nothing has heretofore been put on record excepting a few cursory remarks on the Morocco Plain by Dr. Hodgkin, in his account of Sir Moses Montefiore's ‘Mission to Morocco in 1864,’ and a short paper, by Mr. G. B. Stacey, on the subsidence of the coast near Benghazi, published in the 23rd volume of the Quarterly Journal. Barbary, with the exception of the immediate neighbourhood of a few of the ports, has been almost inaccessible to Europeans; and the extreme jealousy of the Moorish Government with reference to the mineral riches of the country has hitherto prevented any geological investigation.

During the spring of the present year I had the advantage of accompanying Dr. Hooker to Morocco and the Great Atlas, permission for our visit having been obtained from the Sultan through representations made to the Moorish Government by Lord Granville through Sir John D. Hay, our Ambassador at Tangier.

The object of the journey was mainly botanical; and as an engagement was given by Dr. Hooker that we should not collect minerals, the opportunities for geological investigation were very limited.

The observations I was able to make on the structure of the great chain, which had not been previously ascended by a European, and of the Plain of Morocco, are embodied in the accompanying section (Pl. III. fig 1). Stopping for about a fortnight at Tangier, we made several excursions in the neighbourhood. The western part of the northern promontory of Morocco, facing the