It is, above all, in the magnificent forest of Teniet-el-Haad that the Cedar attains the most considerable
dimensions." (C o s s o n , op. cit., p. 67.)
I n speaking of the vegetation of Djebel Tongour, M. Cosson s a y s :—
" Towards the extremity of this plateau a band of rocks extends to the west, reaching almost to the peak (about 1800 metres in height), which
offers us the Linaria reflexa, var. lanigera and several species characteristic of this new region of vegetation, among others the Coloneastcr fontanessir,
and nummutaria, which form some scattered clumps, and the Draba Hispanica, which carpets with its broad branches the ruggedness of
the rocks; and near that some plants of Craltegus fmmogyna, var. /Ursula. After having turned the extremity of these rocks, and passed the last
ravine which separates us from the base of the peak, we arrive at the limit of the forest of Cedars, at about 2030 metres in altitude, and still
about 50 metres below the summit of the peak. On the slopes of the ridges which separate the principal faces, the Cedars, better sheltered
from the violence of the winds, can attain an altitude still nearer the summit of the peak. It is probable that the summit and the abrupt crests are
disfurnished with wood only through the rocky nature of the soil, the absence of vegetable mould, and the violence of the winds. On Djebel
Tongour, as on other mountains covered with forests of Cedar, the tree, even towards the summit of the mountain, retains almost the same proportions
as at its inferior limit of altitude. It is not so in the Alps, where the arborescent species diminish successively in size, and, at the extreme
limit, are only represented by dwarfed shrubs." {Cosson, op. cit., p. 244.)
T h e inferior limit of the Cedar is determined, as we have already said, by the level of the valley itself
(about 1620 metres in altitude). On no part of the northern face was there found either the trees or
shrubs which constitute the woody vegetation of the lower part of the eastern face. The Cedar only shews
itself at the base of the rocks which crown the summits, or in the upper part of the ravines of these strong
centre-forts of the chain of the Djebel Bordjein.
" When we reach the fissure of the neck we see, losing themselves in the horizon, immense forests of Cedars covering all the slopes of the
numerous mountains, which appear to lie in the direction of Setif. The presence or the abundance of the Cedar on the different faces, as well as
the forms which it may present, have appeared to us to result from a concourse of circumstances, and to be submissive to laws of which the exposl
will find its place better in the general considerations on the mountain region. We shall confine ourselves here to direct attention to the faft that
the superficies occupied by the Cedar is much more extensive 011 the slopes facing the north than on the opposite slopes, where it generally only
shews itself below the more elevated tops and in the upper parts of the deepest ravines.
"The forests of Djebel Tongour are estimated approximately at 1200 acres of Cedars, and 1500 of Evergreen Oak and other species.
The vast forests which cover the numerous mountains of Bellesma, offer an extent of about 1800 acres of Evergreen Oaks, and 3000 acres
of Cedars, which upon the northern faces reach the tops, and in the ravines prolong themselves to a distance of about six leagues. In one of
these forests, a Cedar has been cut down nearly 45 metres in height, and of which the trunk, measured at one metre above the ground, gave
6.25 metres in circumference. The forest of Teniet-el-Haad, in the province of Algiers, which we have now visited, commonly presents Cedars of
that circumference, and a considerable number of still more remarkable proportions. At about 5 leagues from Lambese, at Squaq, a forest of
Cedars covers more than 3000 hectares." (Cosson, op. cit., p. 254.)
" To the south, the mountain of Ichemoul shews the upper part of its slopes, covered with trees of a pyramidal form, which our guides
assure us to be Cedars. (Cosson, op. cit., vol. v. p. 31.)
" In the neighbourhood of the encampment of Ain Turck (Djebel Cheliah), and on the margin of the streams, stretch bare and woodless
pastures, circumscribed by the wood of the lower part of the mountain, and by the forest of Cedars which occupies the slope above. At
about 2150 metres of altitude, we arrive at the upper limit of the forest of Cedars, which terminates abruptly, as at Djebel Tongour, by
Cedars as largely developed as those of the lower part. A narrow valley separates us from the base of the peak : the two slopes of that valley
are equally covered with Cedars." {Cosson, op. cit., vol. v. p. 37.)
"The south slope of Djebel Cheliah is too abrupt and too disfurnished with vegetable mould to be regularly wooded. Thus the Cedars in
general only occupy the ravines, and only reach a height much below that which they reach on the north slope. The greater number of them
present characters of antiquity, and their summits have been broken by the wind or the fall of rocks. Several south slopes of elevated
mountains which surround Djebel Cheliah, or which are its dependants, are, on the contrary, covered with Cedars almost to the summit. But
these trees of which the tops generally are spread out like a parasol, do not present such a free development as those of the slopes turned
towards the north." (Cosson, op. cit., vol. v. p. 38.)
T h e same denudation which we have to deplore in the case of the mountains of Lebanon, is threatening
those of Algeria, although probably more slowly and by feebler instruments than worked the havoc in
them. M. Cosson says on this head :—
" May we be permitted here to express our fears for the preservation of these magnificent forests of the Auris. The numerous debris of
the Cedars which marked the former limit of the forests, indicate that this limit has been already notably lowered through the depredations of
the Arabs, who often, in the vicinity of their pastures or encampments, put fire to the foot of the forest trees. It is much to be desired that
severe regulations should put a stop to these disorders in countries where the preservation of the arborescent vegetation is one of the indispensable
conditions of the richness of the country ; for the denudation of the soil and the falling of rocks would come to sterilise the valleys, and, in the
end, bring deep trouble in the distribution of the waters, by converting the streams of water from a source of fertility into devastating torrent.',.
To protect the forests in a more complete manner, the mutilation of trees should also be forbidden, to which the Arabs are only too prone , and
the extraction of the resin, with the barking (to which the P. Halepcnsis is especially exposed), should be placed under proper regulations. The
objeét cannot be attained, nevertheless, in the elevated mountains with rapid slopes, except by the absolute interdiction of the right of pasturage
on the summits; for, by the destruction of young plants, and the oldness of the forest, which is the consequence, the (locks contribute much
to lower the level of altitude reached by the arborescent vegetation. The rapidity of the growth of trees in hot climates will soon, besides, come
to recompense the process of administration, as the forests of the neighbourhood of Batna, which have been submitted to forester control, and are
in the way of repairing their losses, strikingly prove. In the report of our journey in the province of Ban, we have already callcd attention to the
important results obtained in the environs of Saida by the surveillance of military authority, for the amelioration of the woods which covcr the
northern reverse of the chasm which separates the Zell from the high plateaux. This example demonstrates that the military authority can, by
an efficacious repression, obtain from the natives, without addition of expense, and without the organisation of a numerous staff, the strict observation
of the measures necessary to prevent the diswooding of the country." (Cosson, op. cit., vol. v. p. 39.)
History.—The first notice which we have of this form of the C e d a r is by Guiseppe Manetti, in his
" C a t a l o g u s Plantarum Cassarei Regii Horti prope Modiciam ad annum 1842." Modicia or Monza is
situated only a few miles from Milan ; and the Imperial Gardens of whose contents Manetti published this
Catalogue, may be called the Botanical Gardens of Milan. Endlicher, in 1847, quoted Manetti's description,
and recognised the African Cedar as a species, although that botanist's characters were not very
sufficient. Decaisne adopted the species in 1853, in the paper above referred to; and since then it has
been generally admitted. Nurserymen now give out the species under the names of Ccdrns Atlanlica,
C. A f r i c a n a , and C. argentea ; but, according to our judgment, there is no more warrant for their doing
this than there would be for them making two or more species of the varieties of the Cedar from Mount
Lebanon itself.
M. Carrière says it was introduced about 1842, a statement doubtless resting on Manetti's publications,
his catalogue having been published in 1842 ; but, as it is not noticed in the catalogue itself, but in
the supplement, which was published in 1844, it ought rather to be referred to that year, or 1843. It was
probably a year or two afterwards before it was generally introduced into Britain, that is to say, introduced
knowingly and intentionally, as a distinct species. But that seeds may have been previously
o-athered in Algeria, and brought to Britain without suspicion that they were anything but the Cedrus
Libani, seems very probable. There are in
various places in England old trees which
possess the character assigned to the Algerian
form, and which, accordingly, are supposed
to be specimens of, and have received the
name of, Cedrus Atlantica. At Kew, the
largest specimens labelled Cedrus Atlantica
seem of an older date than Manetti's paper ;
and whether they are so or not, at least we
are informed that the only warrant for the
name assigned to them is their appearance
and the character of their foliage, nothing
being known of their origin. '1 hey have not
yet borne fruit.
T h e r e is a tree at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire,
which is 65 feet high, and upwards
of 40 years of age, which was at one time
thought to belong to this species ; but which, we understand, on more advice, is now rather considered an
exceptional specimen of the common C. Libani. There is another, upwards of a hundred years old, at
Easton Park (a seat of the Duke of Hamilton's), in Suffolk, which was also thought by some to be entitled
to the designation of C. Atlantica. It is peculiar in appearance, surpassing all the rest of the Cedars in
beauty and effect, and has the habit and foliage of that Cedar. Mr Irving, the gardener there, tells us, on
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