Chapter XXXIX: A Last Glance at the Arab

The preface of a book should always be written at the end; this insures it being read. In this particular work the first chapter rather takes the place of the preface, but at the same time there are certain things which rather need explaining.

In the first place, the necessity to compress the matter into a limited number of pages. On practically every subject mentioned, there is material in my mind to write a book, and it is difficult to realize where to stop. It is equally difficult to know where to begin as, to some, the information set out in these pages will not be new, and they may be looking for something deeper. Of these people I ask patience, for if the result of the book is encouraging, another one will follow, and perhaps another, dealing at length with the subjects only touched on now.

This work has been prepared more as something which any traveler can read during his journey to Algiers, and which will allow him to see the country through other eyes than those of the guides, be they books, chauffeurs, or the luxuriously uniformed gentlemen of the Transatlantic Company.

Let it, moreover, be understood that the history, the geography, the remarks on French administration are, more than anything else, a prelude to the rest of the book, “The Arabs.”

The Arabs, whether they be those in the scarlet burnouses of the _caïd_-ship or in the rags of the beggar, are all the same: a people who have destroyed without creating, who have been divided when their unity would have made them great, who have lived on theory.

We have before us the relics of the Carthaginians, of the Numidians, of the stupendous work of the Roman Empire, and then centuries of nothing. War, devastation, intrigue, mark the period covered by the Arab domination.

Even those buildings which we see in Algiers, at Constantine and in the other ancient towns, are the work of Turkish or European architects. And yet, in spite of this apparent futility of existence, in spite of this atmosphere of strife, there is something very noble in the nature of the Arabs, something very engaging, something utterly aloof from all that is European; for in spite of dissension among themselves they are all held under the sway of Islam, that all-powerful principle which separates them entirely from all other persuasions.

Moreover, the longer one lives among the Arabs the more one realizes the insurmountable barrier which separates us from them. It is not a question of race, though this does count; it is a question of religion. One can establish the deepest intimacy in all matters of daily life and then suddenly come face to face with this blank wall.

Some Europeans contend that it is possible really to become as the Arabs—even to mate with them. The few who have tried this last experiment have met with utter disaster. I know a _caïd_ who has been all over Europe, who occasionally wears European clothes, who has had affairs with women of all nationalities, but without ever legally marrying one. He told me that twice he had been on the point of doing so, but that reason had always prevailed.

“How could it be?” he exclaimed. “How could the gulf which separates us from you ever be spanned? How could a European woman admit being shut up, or, if she emancipated herself, being considered by us on the same level as a woman of the Quarter? How could she admit to her children being brought up in the principles of the Koran, with our habits and customs? Why, we don’t even sleep in beds or sit on chairs; we eat with our hands; we have no learning; we never read books. We don’t consider any belief but our own; and, even if such a mating began successfully, how could you expect one of your people to admit the husband taking other wives to live legally under the same roof if he felt so inclined?”

This is so obvious that it seems almost superfluous to speak of it, and yet there are Europeans who will not see the impossibility of such a step; there are some who have actually taken it; I know a few of them. I have never mentioned the subject to them; the look in their eyes has told me more than any words, and has made me shrink from further laying bare the wound.

I was talking to an educated Arab not so long ago about religions, and he expressed the opinion that only Mohammedans would go to heaven. I suggested that the question of after-life was not so much judged by religion as by the actions of men, and I quoted the example of a very worthy Christian we know, respected by all Arabs, and a hopeless, immoral, drinking _marabout_.

“Which of the two will be recompensed, the honest and sober unbeliever, or that scoundrel who calls himself a holy man of yours?”

“I can not say,” he replied, after a moment’s thought; “but probably neither of them will go to paradise.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “You mean to suggest that worthy Mr. X., who has spent the whole of his life doing good, will find himself in company with your drunken _marabout_?”

“I can not say,” repeated the Arab; “but if our friend believes that Jesus is the Son of God, he can not go to heaven. God is above all, and no one is like him.”

“That is all very well,” I said; “but our religion says that if you don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus you will also not go to paradise; that is why I am contending that people can not be judged by their respective faiths, but by their actions.”

“But your religion is wrong,” he said finally.

I was on the point of continuing the argument, but the look in his eyes made me desist. This belief, to him, was conclusive evidence.

And that is Islam, that is the Arab; his faith is absolute, and his opinion of other religions is quite simple—they don’t exist.

“Why,” they say, “we believe in Moses and Aaron and Jacob and Elijah and Jesus; they are all great prophets who preceded ours; what more do you want?”

A wall—a blank wall which no one can pierce without becoming a Mohammedan. _Et encore_. . . .

The more one lives with these people the more apparent this becomes, and if in this book the impressions given differ from those which have struck others, perhaps it is because only one side of the character has been seen, the character _allowed to be seen_ by the Roumi.

I know the Arabs well, I know them intimately, but I have not the remotest idea what they think of me, and I never shall have.

There may be future developments of this book, with possible reversal of certain opinions, but as far as the working of the Arab brain is concerned, I know that I have penetrated as far as I ever shall. Let the reader, therefore, close this volume realizing the task which has been before the author—who, after spending over five years constantly studying these people, has arrived at this somewhat negative conclusion.

THE END

INDEX

Abd-el-Kader (Djelali), 113, 122

Abd-el-Kader (Emir), 31, 32, 123-27, 267, 273

Abd-el-Krim, 127

Abhadites, 196

Ablutions, 75, 102, 286

_Adel_, 53

Administration, 37, 40, 48

_Agha_, 36, 49, 51, 53

Aid el Kebir, 109, 113

Aid Serrir, 109

Ain-el-Ibel, 184

Ain Mahdi, 60, 125, 262, 267, 269

Aissa, 103

Akbou, 243

Alfa, 20, 156, 182, 191

Algiers, 14, 15, 17, 21, 27, 29-37, 52, 113, 158

Allen, Sir Thomas, 28

Amine, 240

Amboise, 126

Anglo-Saxon Automobile Company, 175

Antony, 23

Arba, 176

Aschana, 109, 113

Atlas (Mountains), 19, 35, 36, 176, 286

Aumale, 126, 177, 273

Aurès (Mountains), 32, 35, 39, 180, 198, 221

Azazga, 237

Bugeaud, Marshall, 31, 125

Baghar and Baghari, 177, 256, 259

Barbarossa, 27, 235

Barbary Ape, 20, 236

_Bash Adel_, 53

_Bash Agha_, 36, 48-57, 186, 217, 218, 256-61, 269

Bagdad, 122

_Bassour_, 141, 142, 185

Batna, 166, 220

Beni Sgen, 197, 201, 203

Belisarius, 24

Berard, 166

Berriane, 194, 197, 201

Berbers, 22, 26, 32, 35-39, 72, 102, 196, 198, 222, 239, 242

Bible, 117

Bir Rabalou, 176

Biskra, 15, 25, 35, 36, 65, 70, 213

Blida, 168

Borgeaud, Lucien, 168

Bône, 156

Bolskevik, 64

Bordeaux, 19, 153

Bou Noura, 197, 201, 204

Bourbaki, 256

Bouzigza Pass, 237

Bouira, 236

Bougie, 27, 156, 236

Bourmont, General, 29, 31

Bou Saada, 60, 65, 178, 179

Boutin, Colonel, 29, 30

Burdeau, 260

Bureau Arabe, 44-53

Burgundy, 19, 153

Bustard, 133, 135

Byzantine, 24, 35

Cæsar, 23, 166

Cæsarea, 166, 167

_Caid_, 36, 41, 49, 50, 53, 70, 142, 202, 218, 263, 270

Carthaginians, 22, 23, 102, 118, 196, 198

Casino, 214

Castiglians, 166

Cereals, 153

_Cercles Militares_, 44

Cervantes, 27, 162

Chambas, 143, 150, 201, 249

Charles X, 31

Charles Quint, 27, 30, 161, 236

Chellala, 60, 150, 273, 282, 285

Chenoua, 168

Cheops, 167

Cherchell, 166-68

_Chorba_, 78, 79

Christ, 28

Christianity, 24, 167

Cirta, 23, 232

Cleopatra, 23, 166

Coal, 155, 156

_Cof Bouadda_, 241

_Cof Oufella_, 241

Col de Fdoules, 234

Col de Texenna, 235

Col de Tigdint, 237

Col de Tirourda, 244

Colomb Bechar, 156

_Commission Municipale_, 41

_Conseil Supérieur_, 43

_Communes Mixtes_, 41, 43

_Conseil du Gouvernment_, 42

Constantine, 23, 36, 39, 125, 147, 153, 167, 231, 232

Cordova, 26

Cork, 21, 155, 235

Crésolles, Comtesse de, 227

_Danse du Ventre_, 92, 97

Dates, 156, 189, 211

Day of Judgment, 117

Décret Crémieux, 37

_Delegations Financières_, 43

Dellys, 168, 236

_Derbouca_, 94

Deval, Consul, 29

Divorce, 83

Djebel Amour, 137, 216, 262, 267, 275

Djebel Nefersa, 196

Djelfa, 177, 183

Djemila, 234

_Djemma_, 240

Djerba, 196, 235

Djidjelli, 226, 231, 234-36

Djujura, 237

Dress, Arab, 75-76, 91

Droit Musulman, 53

Duquèsne, 28

Education, 128-32

El Ateuf, 197, 201, 204

Elaghouat, 188

El Golea, 36

El Hamel, 60, 180

El Kantara, 219

Estrés, d’, 28

Eton, 274

Exmouth, Lord, 28

Fabius Maximus, 23

Fantasia, 217-18

Fathima, 26

Fatimedes, 26

Fez, 15, 26

Fishing, 139, 269

Flute, 95

_Fondouks_, 250

Food, Arab, 78, 79

Fort de l’Eau, 164

Fort National, 244

Foxes, 138

Franco-Prussian War, 32

Garden of Allah, 215

Gazelles, 133, 135

Genesric, 24

Geranium, 154

Ghardaïa, 97, 150, 200-03, 280, 291

Gibraltar, 25

Goethe, 68

Goums, 217

Governor-General, 40, 42, 49

Granada, 26

Grand Erg, 216

Guerrera, 197, 201, 209, 210

_Hadj_, 106

Hamilcar, 23

Hammam Meskoutine, 156

Hamman Rhira, 156

Hannibal, 23

Hanno, 23

Hares, 133

Hasdrubal, 23

Hauts Plateaux, 20, 33, 152, 156, 182

Hawks, 133, 134

Heaven, 117

Hell, 104, 117, 118

Hichens, Robert, 213

Hilals, 26

Hoggar, 35, 39, 208

Horses, 138, 152

Hot Springs, 156

Hussein Dey, 29, 30

Hyenas, 138

Ibadites, 106

_Imam_, 55, 59, 104, 110, 180, 257

India, 132

International Harvester Company, 153

Interprètes Judiciares, 52

Irrigation, 21, 191, 197

Islam, 55, 119, 127, 298

Itinerary of Journey, 173

Jackals, 138

Jardin Landon, 215

Jesus, 71, 103, 298

Jews, 37, 39, 61, 131, 192, 200

Juba, 23, 166

Jugurtha, 23

Kaaba, 106

Kabyle, 18, 32, 35, 80, 130, 155, 168, 198, 238, 245

_Kadi_, 53, 54, 81, 83, 109, 126, 261, 273

Kasba, 162

Keef, 290

Khaliphat, 49

Kharedjites, 106, 196

_Khodja_, 53

Koceila, 25, 216

Kolea, 168

Koran, 52, 58, 59, 66, 68, 69, 79, 89, 97, 107, 116-20, 128, 129

Kouba, 122

Kourdane, 262, 264, 265

_Kous-kous_, 78, 79, 129, 277

Laghouat, 32, 34, 113, 147, 187-193

Lalla Aurelie, 60, 262

Lalla Zineb, 60, 262

Lambèse, 220, 221

Landon, Count, 215

Laperouse, 164, 165

Larbas, 143, 188, 249, 260, 280, 285

Lavigerie, Cardinal, 32, 131

League of Nations, 64

Lebon, Gustave, 65

Locusts, 247

Louis XIV, 28

Louis Phillipe, 31, 126

Lycées, 131

Mai-ea-Din, 123

Maison Carré, 164

Makante, 109

Malta, 29

Mandolins, 96

_Marabout_, 57-63, 97, 104, 113, 141, 181, 188, 262, 268

Marengo, 168

Marriage, 81

Martel, Charles, 26

Mascara, 125, 154

Masseurs, 75, 286

Massinissa, 232

Matifou, 164

Mecca, 60, 123, 164

_Mechoui_, 78, 277, 279

Medea, 153, 259

Medersa, 52, 131

Mediterranean, 27, 28, 29, 158, 161, 164, 167, 236

Mehari, 212

_Mektoub_, 62, 115, 116-21, 151, 258, 283

Melika, 195, 197, 201, 203

Metlili, 201

Michelet, 236, 244

Micipsa, 232

Mila, 234

Miliana, 153, 259

Mirage, 195

Missionaries, 107

Mitidja, 19, 125, 154, 155, 176

Moghreb, 146

Mohammed, 25, 36, 64, 101, 117

Moses, 298

Mosque, 84, 106, 161, 187, 202

Moufflon, 133, 137

Mouloud, 109

_Muezzin_, 55, 104

_Mufti_, 54, 61, 105, 109

Mustapha, 14, 158, 161

Mustapha Kemal, 93

Mzab, 35, 36, 195, 197-99, 205, 209, 245

Mzi, 216

Napoleon I, 29

Napoleon, Louis, 126

Negroes, 98

Nomads, 38, 69, 72, 84, 130, 140, 185, 188

Numidia, 23, 99, 123, 146, 166

Octavius, 166

Oil, 156

Olive, 155

Oman, 196

Oranges, 154

Oranie, 17, 19, 32, 36, 39, 43, 153, 156, 197

Ouargla, 36, 197, 208

Ouarsenis, 35

Ouled Naïl, 90, 97, 143, 179, 182, 183

Palais Bourbon, 43

Palestro, 168, 236

Panthers, 133, 138

Paradise, 103, 104, 113

Partridge, 133

Pau, 126

Pères Blancs, 32, 131, 203

Phallic, 196

Phosphates, 156

Phylloxera, 153

Pigeons, 133

Phœnicians, 22, 35, 146, 157, 165, 237

Pilgrimage, 106

_Pistachiers_, 194

Polygamy, 82, 88, 241

Pompeii, 222

Prayer, 102, 103, 104, 105

_Préfets_, 41, 42

Public Library, 161

Purgatory, 118

Quail, 133

_Quartier, Reservé_, 61, 87-93, 112

Race el Ame, 109

_Raïta_, 95, 98, 112, 180, 192, 217, 250

Ramadan, 109-12

_Rebat_, 57

Regnard, 27

Religion, 101, 109

Rhummel, 232

Riff, 199

Roman Empire, 19, 23, 24, 25, 118, 152, 157, 166, 225

Roumis, 130, 298

Rusgunium, 165

Sahara, 17, 18, 20, 21, 33, 36, 44, 47, 85, 123, 163, 186, 187, 260

Sahel, 30

Saints, 119, 122

Sakamody, 176

Scipio, 23, 196

_Secrétaire-Général_, 42, 44

_Seguia_, 191, 216

Senegalese, 99

Sersou, 18, 20, 31, 147, 156, 182, 245, 249, 260, 286

Sétif, 183, 221, 226

Seville, 26

Shakespeare, 68

Sheep, 146, 148, 192

_Sheik_, 50, 51

Sheridan, Mrs. Clare, 71

Shiahs, 106

Sidi Aissa, 177

Sidi Ferruch, 30, 123

Sidi Maklouf, 185

Sidi Obka, 25, 216

Sierra Leone, 23

Sirocco, 154, 255

_Smala_, 50, 125

Sofrites, 106

_Spahi_, 45

Spaniards, 27

Spells, 119, 121

Sport, 133

Spragg, Sir Edward, 28

Staoueli, 30, 153, 168

Stoddard, Lothrop, 65

Sudanese, 99

Sunnites, 106

Superstitions, 116, 243

Syphax, 167, 232

Taberkroutz, 235

Tadgemont, 268

Taguine, 31, 126, 270, 271

_Talebs_, 55, 120, 128, 129

_Tam-tam_, 62, 94, 96, 112, 180, 192, 217, 250

Tarik, 25

Tell, 17, 20, 35, 143, 152, 177, 256

Teniet el Haad, 19, 259

_Territoires du Sud_, 17, 43

_Tiaret_, 197

Tidjanis, 267

Tigzirt, 168, 236

Tiles, 161

Timgad, 220, 221, 222, 244

Tilrempt, 194

Tipaza, 165-68, 259

Tizi, 236, 237, 244

Tlemçen, 26

Tobacco, 155

Tolga, 181

_Tombeau de la Chrétienne_, 166

Touaregs, 35, 198

Touggourt, 208, 212, 216

Toulon, 126

Tournin, 32

Transatlantique Cie., 172, 173, 178, 186, 215, 220, 244, 246, 252

Trappists, 30, 168

Tunis, 15, 26, 28

Tunisia, 22, 23, 40, 155

Turks, 27, 28, 30, 37, 161

Urdu, 132

Vandals, 24, 28, 35, 222

Vines, 19, 153

Violins, 96

Voltaire, 68

Voronoff, 62

White Fathers, 32, 131, 203

White Sisters, 80, 131, 203

Widows, 84

Wild Boar, 133, 135

Wine Drinking, 104

Witchcraft, 119

Women, Arab, 80, 241

Women, European, 69

Woodcock, 133

Yakouren, 237

Yusuf, General, 273

Zanzibar, 39, 196

Zaouia, 59, 60, 85, 181, 267

Zeraia, 226, 234

Zibans, 212, 217

_Zouaoua_, 240

_Zouaves_, 240

[List of illustrations]

The Author Frontispiece
PAGE
[Map] 14
Algiers as It Was before the French Conquest in 1830 20
The Old Port of Algiers as it is To-day 20
An Arab Beggar 36
Scene of Arab Life 36
An Arab Barber 54
Roasting the Lamb Whole 54
Children Bathing in a Southern Oasis 54
A “Propriétaire” 76
Numidian Type: Musician of a Marabout 76
A Moorish Villa 76
An Arab Type 90
Arab Women Veiled 90
Girl of the Quarter 90
Women in the Cemetery, Algiers 106
A Beggar Woman 106
An Arab Tam-Tam Player 106
[Calendar] 110
Arab Band and Dancer about to Perform in a Southern Town 124
Pilgrimage to One of the Shrines of Abd-el-kader 124
Arabs with Flutist Waiting to See the Caravans Going North 124
A Water Carrier in Laghouat 142
Algerian Cavalryman 142
Head Shepherd, the Author, the Kaïd Madam and the Calipha 142
Caravan Moving North 142
A Street in the Kasbah, Algiers 160
Mosque of Sidi Abd-er-Rahmane 160
Café Outside Grande Mosque, Algiers 160
Sand Storm Getting up on the Sahara 190
Waterfall of Boiling Water, Hammon, Meskoutine 190
Arab Falconer Setting Out to Hunt 190
The Market-Place of Beni-Sgen 204
Channel for Watering the Garden of an Oasis 204
Street in Bou Saada 204
The Bridge of the Third Legion at El Kantara 222
An Arab of Tadjmout 222
The Departure of a Caravan in the Far South 242
Market Looking toward Trajan’s Arch, Timgad 242
Praetorium. Lambèse 242
Storks Nesting on the Roofs at Constantine 262
Bonfarik, Religious Print Seller 262
Vegetable Market 262
The Oasis of Guerrera, from the Maison Arabe 288
Roman Sarcophagus at Tipaza 288
Pictures Done by Roman Children on Damp Bricks Drying in
the Sun 288

Transcriber's note:

pg 45 Changed: upleasant to: unpleasant pg 74 Changed: horce-racing to: horse-racing pg 282 Changed: innner to: inner Spelling and formatting inconsistencies have been left unchanged Added a list of illustrations at the end of the document