Chapter XIII: Introduction (10)

But whatever be the nature of the sport in which the Arabs indulge, the least timorous are liable to superstitious fears. As it is not always possible to relinquish an enterprise when they have once entered upon it, they endeavour by all means to avoid chances of sinister omen. On the other hand they become emboldened, and take courage if, on setting out, they are greeted by one of those encounters which are reputed fortunate—with a jackal in the morning for instance, or with a wild boar in the evening.

Let thy morning be with a jackal,
And thy evening with a wild boar.

A hare or a fox is of ill omen; as is, also, a single crow, or a white mare. A still worse and more detestable omen is the sight of an old woman. But it is a good chance for whoever sees two crows or a mare of any colour; and, above all, success, glory, and plunder, await the _goum_ that, when starting on an expedition, is met by a beautiful young and noble maiden, who will uncover her bosom and show one of her breasts. It is the custom; and if the damsel were to refuse this blessing to the warriors of her tribe, they would dismount to compel her, were she the daughter of the chief and though he were himself at the head of the _goum_—all the better, indeed, if her birth were so exalted, for the nobler the damsel, the happier the augury. In the west, young girls loosen their girdle. If, in the morning, you hear affectionate and courteous words, you will have a pleasant day; but it will be the reverse if on first awaking you are greeted with an imprecation or an insult. Do not go out to hunt on a Tuesday, a Thursday, or a Friday.

We now come to the sport that is really worthy to sharpen the intelligence and inflame the souls of warriors. The Arab hunter acts upon the aggressive with the lion. In this daring enterprise there is all the more merit, because in Africa the lion is a formidable monster, regarding whom there exist many mysterious and terrible legends, with which an awe-struck superstition surrounds his dread Majesty. With that keenness of insight which characterises them, the Arabs have made a series of observations on the subject of the lion that are worthy of being collected and preserved.

In the daytime the lion rarely seeks to attack man. Very commonly, indeed, if a traveller happens to pass near him, he turns aside his head and affects not to see him. At the same time, if any one, walking close to the bush in which he is couched, be rash enough to cry aloud _ra hena_—"he is there!"—the lion will at once spring upon his denouncer and the disturber of his repose. As night comes on, his humour completely changes. When the sun has set, it is perilous to venture into a wild, woody, and broken country. It is there the lion lies in ambush—it is there he is met on the path-ways, which he intercepts by barring all further advance with his body. The Arabs thus describe some of the nocturnal scenes which are continually happening. If a solitary individual, a courier, traveller, or letter-carrier, chancing to meet a lion, possess a courage of the highest temper, he will walk straight towards the animal, brandishing his sword or gun, but carefully abstaining from using the one or the other. He simply cries out: "Oh, the robber! the highway-man! the son of a mother who never said No! Dost thou think to frighten me? Thou canst not know, then, that I am so-and-so, the son of so-and-so? Get up, and let me proceed on my journey." The lion waits till the man has come close up to him, and then goes off to lie down again a thousand paces farther on. The traveller has to endure a long series of terrific trials. Each time that he quits the path, the lion disappears, but only for an instant. Directly afterwards he again presents himself, and all his movements are accompanied by horrible noises. He breaks off innumerable branches with his tail. He roars, howls, growls, and emits gusts of poisonous breath. He plays with the subject of his fantastic and manifold attacks, and keeps him constantly suspended between fear and hope, like a cat playing with a mouse. If a man involved in such a difficulty does not allow his courage to fail him, if—to use an Arab phrase—he succeeds in firmly holding his soul, the lion will finally leave him, and seek his fortune elsewhere. But if, on the contrary, the latter perceives that he has to deal with a man whose countenance betrays his fear, whose voice trembles, and who dares not articulate a word, he repeats over and over again, in order to terrify him still more, the manœuvre above described. He will approach him, push him out of the way with his shoulder, cross his path every other minute, and amuse himself with him in various ways, until at last he devours his victim already half dead with terror.

There is really nothing incredible in the facts thus stated by the Arabs. The ascendancy of courage over animals is indisputable. The professional robbers who roam abroad at night, armed to the teeth, instead of shunning the lion, cry out to him if they meet with him: "I am not what thou seekest. I am a robber like thyself; pass on, or, if it please thee, let us rob in company." It is said that the lion sometimes follows them, and attempts an assault on the _douar_ towards which they are bending their steps. It is even affirmed that this good understanding between the robbers and the lions frequently displays itself in a striking manner. Robbers have been seen, when taking their meals, to treat the lions as other people treat their dogs, and throw to them at a certain distance the feet and entrails of the animals they themselves are eating.

Women likewise have been known successfully to have recourse to intrepidity in opposing a lion. They have run after him when engaged in carrying off a ewe, and have forced him to let go his prey by giving him a shower of blows with a cudgel, crying aloud all the time: "Ah, robber! son of a robber!" The Arabs say that the lion is seized with shame, and makes off as quickly as possible. This trait shows that in the eyes of the Arabs the lion is a peculiar sort of creature midway between men and beasts, which, by reason of its strength, appears to them to be endowed with a special order of intelligence. The following legend, intended to explain how it is that the lion allows a sheep to escape him more easily than any other prey, is a confirmation of this belief. Enumerating one day the various feats his strength enabled him to accomplish, the lion remarked: "_An sha Allah_—if it be the will of Allah—I can carry off a horse without distressing myself. _An sha Allah_, I can carry off a heifer, without being prevented from running by its weight." But when he came to the ewe, he deemed it so much beneath him that he omitted the pious formula, "if it be the will of Allah;" and, to punish him, Allah condemned him to be never able to do more than drag it along.

There are several modes of hunting the lion. When one makes his appearance in the midst of a tribe, his presence is indicated by a multitude of signs of all kinds. The earth shakes, as it were, with roarings. Then a series of losses and accidents take place. A heifer, or a colt is carried off, or a man is missing. The alarm spreads through all the tents. The women tremble for their property and for their children. Lamentations arise on all sides, and the hunters decree the death of their troublesome neighbour. It is published in the market-places that on such a day and at such an hour, all who are capable of joining in the chace, whether on horseback or on foot, must assemble in arms at an appointed spot. Prior to this, the thicket has been discovered to which the lion retires during the day. Everything being ready, the hunters set out, the men on foot leading the way. When they have arrived within fifty paces of the bush in which they expect to find the enemy, they halt and await him. Closing up, they form three deep, the second rank ready to fill up the gaps in the first if succour be necessary, while the third, firm and compact, and composed of capital marksmen, forms an invincible reserve. Then commences a strange spectacle. The front rank begin to insult the lion, and even send a few balls into his hiding place to make him come out: "Look at him who boasts of being the bravest of all, and yet dares not show himself before men! It is not he—it is not the lion—it is a cowardly thief, and may Allah curse him!" The animal sometimes comes while they are abusing him in this manner, and, looking round serenely on all sides, yawns and stretches himself, and appears perfectly insensible to what is passing around him.

One or two balls now hit him, upon which, magnificent in his audacity, he stalks forth and stands in front of the bush which sheltered him. Not a word is spoken. The lion roars, rolls his glaring eyes, draws back, crouches down, again rises up, and by the movements of his tail and body snaps off all the branches that surround him. The front rank discharge their pieces, whereupon the monster bounds forward, and generally falls dead beneath the fire of the second rank, who step forward and fill up the intervals left in the first. This is the critical moment, for the lion resigns the contest only when a ball has struck him in the head, or in the heart. It is no rare thing to see him continue the fight with ten or a dozen balls through his body. In other words, he is seldom overpowered until he has killed or wounded some of his foot assailants. The horsemen who accompany the expedition have nothing to do, so long as their foe does not quit the broken ground. Their part commences when, as occasionally happens, the men on foot have succeeded in driving out the lion upon a plateau, or into the plain. The combat then assumes a new aspect, full of interest and originality. Each horseman, according to his hardihood and agility, spurs on his horse at full speed, fires at the lion as at an ordinary mark, at a short distance, and, wheeling his horse round the moment he has fired, gallops off to reload his piece before making a second assault. The lion, attacked on all sides and wounded at every moment, faces about in every direction, rushes forward, flees, returns, and falls, but only after a glorious struggle. His defeat, indeed, must inevitably terminate in his death, for against horsemen mounted on Arab horses success is impossible. He makes but three terrific bounds, after which his pace is by no means swift, and an ordinary horse will distance him without trouble. To form a just idea of such a combat, it is absolutely necessary to have witnessed one. Every horseman hurls an imprecation; there is a wild confusion of sounds, the burnouses fly out, the powder thunders, the hunters crowd together or scatter widely apart. The lion roars, the balls whistle, and the whole forms a scene of movement and animation. But notwithstanding all this tumult, accidents are very unusual. The hunters have little to fear, unless a fall from their horse throws them under the paw of their enemy, or—which is more frequent misadventure—they are hit by a friendly but ill-directed ball.

Such is the most picturesque, the most warlike aspect that lion-hunting assumes. Other measures, however, are sometimes adopted, both more sure and more speedily efficacious. The Arabs have observed that on the morrow after he has carried off and devoured sheep or oxen, the lion, suffering from a weak digestion, remains in his lair, fatigued, oppressed with sleep, and incapable of moving. When a place that is usually disquieted with roaring is undisturbed for a whole night, it may be inferred that the formidable inhabitant who dwells therein is plunged in this state of lethargy. Upon this, a man of devoted courage, following the tracks that lead to the covert in which the monster is concealed, will go up to him, take a steady aim, and shoot him dead upon the spot with a ball between the two eyes. Kaddour-ben-Mohammed, of the Oulad-Messelem, a section of the Ounougha, is reputed to have killed several lions in this manner.

Recourse is likewise had to various forms of ambush. The Arabs sometimes excavate a hole in the path the lion usually takes, and cover it with thin woodwork, which the animal breaks by its weight and is caught in the trap. At other times they dig close to a dead body a hole covered by thick boards, between which a small opening is left to allow the barrel of a gun to pass through. In this hole, or _melebda_, the hunter squats down, and when the lion approaches the body, he takes a careful aim and fires. Not unfrequently the lion, if he has not been struck down, throws himself on the _melebda_, shatters the barrier, and devours the hunter behind his demolished rampart. On other occasions, again, a single man will undertake an adventurous and heroic enterprise, recalling the feats of chivalry. Si-Mohammed-Esnoussi, a man of approved veracity, who inhabited the Djebel-Guerzoul, near Tiaret, thus describes his own mode of going to work:

"I used to mount a good horse and proceed to the forest on a bright moonlight night. In those days I was a capital shot, and my ball never fell to the ground. Then I began to cry aloud several times, _Ould el ataïah!_—'Daughter of a mother who yields herself up!'—The lion would come forth, and direct his steps towards the spot whence issued the cry; and at that moment I fired at him. Occasionally the same thicket would contain several lions, who would issue forth all together. If one of these brutes approached me from behind, I would turn my head and fire at him over the back of my saddle, and then go off at full gallop in the fear that I might have missed him. If I was attacked in front, I wheeled my horse round and repeated the manœuvre."

The people of that district affirm that the number of lions killed by Mohammed-ben-Esnoussi amounted to nearly a hundred. This intrepid hunter was still alive in the year 1253 [A. D. 1836]. When I saw him, he had lost his eyesight. May he participate in the mercy of Allah!

A yet more dangerous sport than hunting the lion himself, is hunting a lion's cubs. There are individuals, however, adventurous enough to undertake even this hazardous enterprise. Every day, about three or four in the afternoon, the lion and lioness quit their lair to make a distant reconnaissance, with the object, no doubt, of procuring food for their litter. They may be seen upon the summit of an eminence, examining the _douars_, and taking note of the smoke that issues from them, and of the position of the flocks. After uttering some horrible roars, an invaluable warning to the surrounding population, they again disappear. It is during this absence that the hunters cautiously make their way to the cubs and carry them off, taking care to gag them closely, for their cries would not fail to bring back the old ones, who would never forgive the outrage. After an exploit of this nature the entire neighbourhood is obliged to be doubly vigilant. For seven or eight days the lions rush about in all directions, roaring fearfully. The lion under such circumstances is a truly terrible monster. At such a time the eye must not encounter the eye.

The flesh of the lion, though sometimes eaten, is not good, but his skin is a valued gift, and presented only to Sultans and illustrious chiefs, and occasionally, to marabouts and _zaouïas_. The Arabs fancy that it is good to sleep upon one, as it drives away the demons, conjures up good fortune, and averts certain diseases. Lion's claws, mounted in silver, are used as ornaments by women; while the skin of his forehead is a talisman worn by some persons on their head to preserve the energy and audacity of their brain. In short, lion-hunting is held in high repute among the Arabs. Every combat with that animal may take the device: _Kill or Die!_ He who kills him, eats him—says the proverb—and he who kills him not is eaten by him. In this spirit they bestow on any one who has killed a lion, this laconic and virile eulogy: _Hadak houa_—"that one is he!" A popular belief illustrates the grandeur of the part played by the lion in the life and imagination of the Arabs. When a lion roars, they pretend that they can readily distinguish the following words: _Ahna ou ben-el mera_—"I and the son of woman." Now, as he twice repeats _ben-el mera_, and only once says _ahna_, they conclude that he recognizes no superior save the son of woman.

THE CAMEL.[89]

It was said by the Prophet: "The good things of this world, to the day of the last judgment, are attached to the forelocks of your horses;

"Sheep are a blessing;

"And the Almighty has created nothing, as an animal, preferable to the camel."

The camel is the ship of the desert. Allah hath said: "You may load your merchandize in barks and on camels." As in the desert there is very little water, and there are long distances to be traversed, the Almighty has endowed them with the faculty of easily enduring thirst. In winter they never drink. The Prophet more than once gave the following advice: "Never utter coarse remarks on the subject of the camel or of the wind: the former is a boon to men, the latter an emanation from the soul of Allah." Camels are the most extraordinary animals in the world, and yet there are none more docile, owing to their being so much with men. So great, indeed, is their docility, that they have been known to follow a rat, that, in the act of gnawing, pulled a rope smeared with butter, by which they were fastened. Such is the will of Allah. These apophthegms suffice to show that the camel is, of all created animals, the most useful in respect of the wants of the Arabs.

The Arabs of the Sahara can tell the age of a camel by its teeth. They say it is long-lived, though they cannot give any very precise information on the subject. They put the case, however, in this manner. If a camel be born on the same day with a child, it has reached old age by the time the latter has distinguished himself in combats, which implies the age of eighteen to twenty-five years. Camels require much care and experience in managing them. Whenever it is possible, the male camels are led to a different pasture from the females. After the 15th of April, they are not sent out to feed until the afternoon, because it has been remarked that the grass is covered with a sort of dew that lays the foundation of fatal diseases. Care is also taken to prevent the camels from eating within the _douar_ what remains in the morning of the small quantity of grass given to the horses overnight. These precautions are necessary during the six weeks or two months in which the dew is observed. Throughout the whole winter, the end of autumn, and the beginning of spring, the camels may be permitted, with advantage, to browse on shrubs with a salt flavour; but in the beginning of April, and at the end of May, they must not be allowed to do so for more than five or six days.

The shearing of the camels takes place in the latter part of April. They are made to lie down, and are operated upon by the shepherds and female slaves, a woman standing behind them to gather the fleece which she thrusts into bags. It is a somewhat slow operation. _El oubeur_, or camel's fleece, is used in making canvas for tents, camel-ropes, sacks called _gherara_, and _djellale_, or horse-cloths. It is mixed almost invariably with common wool.

The ordinary burden of a camel is two _tellis_ of wheat, or about 250 kilogrammes. If not over-driven, it can go from dawn to sunset, at least if it be allowed, as it journeys along, to elongate its neck and pluck the herbage that grows on either side of its path. In this manner it will cover from ten to twelve leagues in the twenty-four hours, and every fifth day it must be permitted to rest. In the desert, camels are let out to hire, not by the day, but by the journey, going and returning, according to the distance. For instance, from El-Biod, among the Oulad-Sidi-Shikh, to the Beni-Mzab, or about fifty leagues, costs from two to three _douros_, and from the same point to Timimoun six or seven _douros_.

The flesh of the camel is eaten as food. The animal, however, is seldom killed unless it has a broken leg, or is sick. The flesh is sometimes salted, and, after being dried in the sun, is kept as a provision on a journey. The love and veneration felt by the Arabs of the Sahara for their camels are quite intelligible. "How should we not love them?" they exclaim. "Alive, they transport ourselves, our wives, our children, our baggage and provisions, from the land of oppression to that of liberty. The weight they can carry is enormous, and the distance they traverse very considerable. In other words, they further the relations of commerce and render aid in war. Thanks to them, we are able, whenever we please, to shift our encampment, whether in search of new pasturages, or to escape from an enemy. Moreover, we drink their milk, which is also useful in the preparations of food, and neutralises the injurious qualities of the date. Dead, their flesh is everywhere eaten with relish, and their hump is sought after as a savoury dish. Their skin serves as shoe-leather. If soaked, and then sewed to the saddle-tree, it imparts, without the aid of a single nail or peg, a solidity that nothing can affect. Then, their sobriety and endurance of heat and thirst permit them to be kept alike by rich and poor. They are truly a boon from Allah, who hath said:—

Horses for a dispute,
Oxen for poverty.
Camels for the desert.

SHEEP.

No cattle are reared in the Sahara, owing to the scarcity of water, the scantiness of the herbage, the stony nature of the ground, and the frequent removals from one place to another. But, if the desert be unfavourable for the rearing of cattle, it is, assuredly, the veritable country of the sheep. This animal finds there the salt shrubs eaten by the camel, as well as many fragrant and nutritious plants known by the generic name of _el aâsheub_. Water it obtains from the ponds supplied by the rains, or from the basins formed by the side of wells, and kept up with great care. The wells themselves are, for the most part, surrounded with masonry, and sheltered from the drifting sands. Sheep, besides, are patient of thirst. In spring, they are given to drink once in five or six days; in summer, every other day; in autumn, every third day; and in winter every fourth day. During the great heats of summer, they are not allowed to touch the pools of water lying on the surface of the ground,—experience having shown that at that period of the year stagnant water, rendered tepid by the sun's rays, is very unwholesome. If a drought happens to have prevailed during the first two months of spring, and if rain falls plentifully in the third, the herbage grows luxuriantly, and is called _khelfa_, or compensation. As if to make amends for their long abstinence, the sheep eat it greedily, but it is apt to give them a sickness named _el ghoche_, or treason. This disease does not manifest itself until after the summer heats. The head and lower jaw become much swollen, the animal coughs continually, and death usually supervenes. According to the Arabs, a rainy autumn, by causing fresh grass to spring up early, greatly tends to mitigate the pernicious effects of the _ghoche_.

Sheep are very prolific. They generally lamb twice in the year—in the early part of spring and autumn. The large tribes possess from two to three hundred thousand sheep, which are divided into flocks of four hundred, called _ghelem_ or _aâssa_ [a stick]. Wealthy individuals have from fifteen to twenty _ghelem_, and the poorest a half, or even a quarter _ghelem_.

In the Sahara there is a species of sheep that yields a magnificent wool, very soft but not very long. This is the wool employed in the manufacture of articles of luxury. These animals are nearly red in the head, and the ewes give a great deal of milk.

It is said of the finest ewes of this breed:

They see like an owl,
And walk like a tortoise.

Their wool descends to their hoofs and so completely covers their head that, literally, nothing but their eyes is visible. In the Sahara and in the _kuesours_, a _zedja_, or fleece, is worth only one _boudjou_, but the price is greatly enhanced by the time it reaches the Tell, and especially the sea-coast. Some sheep have no horns, and are called _fertass_ [bald]. Others, again, have four, and are known as _el kuerbourb_; while others have horns that are bent back, and are named _el kheroubi_.

The Arabs take no care whatever of their sheep. They have no sheds in which to shelter them from the severity of the weather, nor supplies of forage to save them from starvation. Consequently, in bad seasons they frequently lose one-half of their flocks, and if blamed for this carelessness, or offered advice, they answer quite simply: "To what purpose is all that? They are the property of Allah [_Kher Eurby_]. He does with them as it pleases Him. Our ewes give us two lambs every year. Next year our losses will be repaired."

The following sentiments are ascribed to sheep:—

"I love the close hand, that is, to belong to a miser who would neither sell us, nor slaughter us for the entertainment of his guests.

"I love distant market-places; for when they are near to my master, for one reason or another we are sold, or slaughtered.

"And every day a new house; that is, fresh and more abundant pasturage."

Sheep are the fortune of the child of the desert. He says of them: "Their wool serves to make our tents, our carpets, our garments, our horse-cloths, our sacks, our nose-bags, our camel's-packs, our ropes, our cushions. And what remains in excess of our own necessities we sell in the _kuesours_ or in the Tell, when we go there, after harvest, to buy grain. Their flesh we eat, or give it to be eaten by the guests of Allah. Dried in the sun, it will keep, and be of use to us in our journeys. Their milk is very serviceable to our families, whether as drink or food. We make of it _leben_ or _sheneen_ [sour milk], and what is over we give to our horses. We also get butter from it, which enters into the preparation of our food, or which we exchange in the _kuesours_ for dates. Of their skin we make cushions, and buckets to draw water from the well. With it we ornament the _aâtatouches_[90] of our women, or we dress it for shoe-leather. We have no need to plough, or sow, or reap, or thresh out the corn, or to fatigue ourselves like vile slaves, or like the wretched inhabitants of the Tell. No; we are independent, we pray, we trade, we hunt, we travel, and if we have occasion to procure that which others can only obtain by sweat and toil, we sell our sheep, and forthwith provide ourselves with arms, horses, women, jewels, clothes, or whatever else affords us gratification, or embellishes our existence. The owner of sheep has no need to labour, nor is he ever in want of anything. So Allah has willed it!"

LIFE IN THE DESERT.

In studying life in the desert, I have been greatly struck by its analogy to that of the Middle Ages, and by the resemblance which exists between the horseman of the Sahara and the knight of our legends, romances, and chronicles. This analogy will appear yet more real, this resemblance yet more striking, on a close observation of the accessory characteristics which I now propose to sketch with a rapid hand.

By the Arab of the Sahara, I do not mean a dweller in the _kuesours_. The latter is rallied by the wandering tribes as much as the inhabitants of the Tell, and receives at their hands all sorts of derisive epithets. Grown fat through his habits of indoor and commercial life, he is called "the father of the belly," the grocer, the pepper-dealer. This rearer of fowls—the Arab of the tent possesses no fowls—this shopkeeper resembles the simple citizen of all countries and of all times. He is, at bottom, the villain, the churl of the Middle Ages. He is the Moorish citizen of Algiers—he has the same placid, apathetic, crafty physiognomy.

It is of the master of the tent that I propose to speak: of him who is never more than fifteen to twenty days without changing his abode; of the genuine Nomad, of him who never enters "the tiresome Tell" but once a year, and then only to purchase grain. My horseman, my hunter, my warrior is the man with a hardy iron-nerved constitution, a complexion embrowned by the sun, limbs well proportioned, in stature rather tall than short, but making light of the advantage of height, "of that lion's skin on a cow's back," unless adroitness, activity, health, vigour and, above all, courage be combined with it. But if he values courage, he also pities rather than despises, and never insults those who "want liver." It is not their fault, he good-humouredly remarks, but the will of Allah. His abstinence cannot be exceeded, but, accommodating himself to circumstances, he never neglects an opportunity of making a good and hearty meal. His ordinary diet is simple and without much variety; but, for all that, when the necessity arises, he understands how to entertain his guests in a becoming manner. When the _ouadâa_, or peculiar festival of a tribe, or _douar_, comes round, at which his friends will be present, he would not offer them the slight implied by his absence, and though it may be at a distance of thirty or forty leagues, he will not fail to go there and fill himself with food. Besides, they know well that he is quite ready to return their hospitality, and that they have not to do with one of those stingy town traders who never offer more than a space of four square feet to sit down in, a pipe of tobacco, and a cup of coffee either without any sugar at all, or sugared only after many preliminary phrases, carefully enunciated in recommendation of coffee without sugar.

Among the Arabs, everything concurs to give power to the development of the natural man. Nervous, hardy, sober, though occasionally displaying a vigorous appetite, their eyesight is keen and piercing. They boast that they can distinguish a man from a woman when two to three leagues distant, and a flock of camels from a flock of sheep at double that distance. Nor is this mere bragging. The extent and clearness of their vision arise, as in the case of our sailors, from the incessant habit of looking far ahead over an immense and objectless space. And, accustomed as they are to scenes and objects always the same and which encircle them within narrow limits, it would be strange if they did not recognize them under almost any circumstances. Nevertheless, diseases of the eye are very common. The refraction of the sun's rays, the dust and perspiration cause numerous misadventures, such as ophthalmia and leucoma, and blind and one-eyed men are numerous in many parts of the desert—for instance, among the Beni-Mzab, at El Ghrassoul, Ouargla, and Gourara.

The dweller in the desert, in infancy and youth, has beautiful white, even teeth; but the use of dates as his habitual and almost exclusive diet spoils them as he advances in years. When a tooth is entirely decayed, he is compelled to have recourse to the armourer or farrier, who is privileged to torture his patient, to break his jaw with his pincers, and tear away the gums together with the tooth that was troubling him.

The genuine chief, the real great lord, rarely leaves the saddle, and very seldom goes on foot, though he wears both boots and shoes. The common Arab, however, is an indefatigable walker, and in the course of a day will get over an incredible distance. His ordinary pace is what the French call the _pas gymnastique_ [which is quicker than the English "double"], and what he himself calls a dog-trot. On flat ground, he generally takes off his shoes, if he happens to have any, partly that he may walk faster and more comfortably, and partly that he may not wear them out. Consequently, his foot is like that of antique statues, broad and flat, and with the toes wide apart. He is never troubled with corns, and more than once Christians, who have insinuated themselves into caravans, have been detected by this infallible sign and expelled. The sole of the foot acquires such hardness, that neither sand nor stones affect it, and a thorn sometimes penetrates to the depth of several lines without being felt. In the desert, properly so called, however, the sand during the great heat of summer is so burning hot that it is impossible to walk upon it with naked feet. Even the horses are obliged to be shod, or their feet would become painful and diseased. The dread of being bitten by the _lefâ_, a viper whose venom is fatal, also compels the Arabs themselves to wear buskins rising above the ankle.

The most common disease of the foot is the _cheggag_, or chaps, which are healed by having grease rubbed in, and by being afterwards cauterised with a hot iron. Sometimes these chaps are so long and deep that they are obliged to be sewed up. The thread used for the purpose is made of camel's sinews dried in the sun, and split into parts as fine as silk; spun camel's hair is, likewise, employed. All the inhabitants of the desert make use of this thread to mend their saddles, and bridles, and wooden platters. Every one carries about with him a housewife, a knife, and a needle.

Not a few turn their powers of pedestrianism to a good account, and make it their profession. Hence come the runners and messengers, who gird themselves tightly with a belt. These who are called _rekass_ undertake affairs of great urgency. They will do in four days what the ordinary runners take ten to accomplish. They scarcely ever stop, but if they find it necessary to rest they count sixty inhalations of the breath and start again immediately. A _rekass_ who receives four francs for going sixty leagues thinks himself well paid. This modest reward, however, is the more highly appreciated because it is paid in actual money. Specie is rare, and is the smallest portion of an Arab's fortune. The restricted circulation, and the facility of providing for the principal necessities of life without buying or selling, by simply having occasional recourse to barter are far from lowering the value of coined money.

In the desert a special messenger travels night and day, and sleeps only two hours in the twenty-four. When he lies down he fastens to his foot a piece of cord of a certain length, to which he sets fire; and, just as it is nearly burned out, the heat awakens him. In 1846, an Arab, named El-Thouamy, a native of Leghrouât, was sent by the Kalifa Sid-Hamed-ben-Salem to Berryân, a town situated in the country of the Beni-Mzab. Starting at five in the morning from Kuesyr-el-Heyrân, he reached his destination about seven in the evening of the same day. In fourteen hours he had covered 168 kilomètres, travelling at the rate of twelve kilomètres an hour. This same Thouamy set out one day from Negoussa to go to Berryân, a distance of 180 kilomètres, charged with an important message, and accomplished the journey in sixteen hours. During both of these courses this man eat only a few dates and drank about two _litres_ of water.

In 1850, El-Ghiry, of the tribe of the Mokhalif, was hunting the ostrich, and, while wholly absorbed in chasing a _delim_, his horse broke down just as his last drop of water was exhausted. All trace of his companions was lost. For thrice twenty-four hours he wandered about at random, in the desert, without food or water. During the day he slept under a _bethoum_, and walked all night. His family had given him up entirely, when at length they saw him approaching. At first they could hardly recognize him, so utterly exhausted was he, so blackened by the sun, and reduced to such a skeleton. He afterwards related that he believed he owed his life to his dreams, in which he beheld his mother tending him, and giving him something to eat and drink. These visions, he said, had comforted and sustained him in his sore distress.

Let us now pass on from these examples of vigour and abstinence, which might be multiplied to infinity, and give a tolerably correct estimate of the goods and chattels of a Saharene nomad. This inventory will afford a far better idea of life in the desert than can be obtained from a long description. I take a man of influential family, and assume that his household is constituted after the following fashion. Himself, four wives, four sons, the wives of two of his sons, each of whom has a child, four negroes, four negresses, two white men servants, two white women servants: in all, twenty-five souls. He may also, of course, have daughters, but they are sure to be married, and are no further trouble to him. Such a household as this will possess:

A spacious tent in thoroughly good condition, to make which will require sixteen pieces of woollen cloth, forty cubits long by two in width, each worth from 7 to 8 _douros_, making a total of about 112 _douros_.

Two Arab beds, or rather carpets of shaggy wool, thirty cubits in length by five broad; dyed with madder, 20 _douros_ each; if dyed with kermes, 25 _douros_ 50

A carpet, twelve cubits long by four wide, hung up as a curtain to separate the men's apartment from that of the women. It is dyed with kermes and costs 16

Six cushions, to contain wearing apparel and used as pillows: the price of each is 2 _douros_ 12

Six cushions of tanned antelope's skin, also used to contain dresses and spun wool, and to lean against in the tent 6

Six pieces of woollen stuff, made into a sort of palanquin carried on camels' backs, and in which the women travel 12

Five red _haïks_ to cover the palanquins 50

Twenty woollen sacks for the carriage of corn 40

Six _hamal_, or loads of wheat 48

Twelve loads of barley 60

Ten woollen sacks in which are kept jewels, wearing apparel, cotton-stuffs, gunpowder, _filali_,[91] money, etc., at 2 _douros_ each 20

Fifteen goat-skin bags to hold water 25

Twelve sheep- or goat-skin bags to contain butter, valued each at 4 _douros_ 48

Four sheep- or goat-skin bags to hold honey, which is an expensive article, as it comes from the Tell; at 8 _douros_ each 32

Eight _hamal_ of dates. These _hamal_ are sacks lined with wool 64

Six _tarahh_, each _tarahh_ comprising six skins of morocco leather; in all, thirty six skins, at one _douro_ a piece 36

Gunpowder 30

Lead 5

Flints 4 _douros_.

Ten _mektaa_, or pieces of cotton-stuffs 20

Two _meradjen_, or vases of copper lined with tin, with handles, to drink out of 2

Two _tassa_, or vases, also for drinking purposes 2

Two _guessaa_, or large wooden bowls for making or eating kouskoussou 4

Six _bakia_, or drinking vessels of wood 2

A copper pot for cooking the food 2

Three _metreud_, or wooden platters for strangers to eat from 3

Two _fass_, or mattocks, for preparing the site of the tent, fixing it, etc., and for clearing wood 2

A _kadouma_, or small hatchet for shaping wood 1

Ten _meudjesa_, a kind of sickle for sheep-shearing 1

Two _rekiza_, or uprights of the tent 2

A _âeushut-el-zemel_, or tent with carpets, cushions, etc., for travelling, or for receiving strangers 30

Total 741 _douros_.

The wearing apparel of five men will consist of:

Eleven white burnouses, three for the father, and two for each of his sons: a burnous costs 4 _douros_ 44 _douros_.

Five _haïks_, at 4 _douros_ each 20

Five _habaya_, or woollen shirts 10

Five _mahazema_, or belts of morocco leather embroidered in silk 10

Five pair of _belghra_, or morocco shoes 2

Five _shashia_, or morocco _fessy_ 2

Five _kate_, or complete suits, for grand occasions, consisting of an _oughrlila_ or outer garment, a _cedria_ or waistcoat, a _seroual_ or pair of trousers; a _haïk_ of silk, a silken cord replacing the camel's rope; and a cloth burnous: each suit at 60 _douros_ will make 300

Total 388 _douros_.

The wearing apparel of six women will consist of:

Six women's _haïks_, dyed with kermes 60 _douros_.

Six pair of morocco leather boots, embroidered 6

Six woollen girdles 12

Six white _haïks_ worn over the head 6

Six _benica_, or silken hoods 6 _douros_.

Six _aâsaba_, or thread cord by which the women fasten the _haouly_, or white _haïk_, over their heads 2

Six pair of _kholkhale_, or silver anklets, 20 _douros_ the pair 120

Six pair of _souar_, or bracelets, 7 _douros_ the pair 42

Twelve _bezima_, or silver buckles, used by women to fasten the _haïk_, 6 _douros_ the pair 36

Six _bezimat el gueursi_, or throat buckles, used to fasten the _haouly_ under the chin after it has encircled the head 12

Twelve _ounaiss_, or silver ear-rings set in coral. Every woman wears two pair 24

Six _mekhranga_, or necklaces of coral and pieces of money 48

Six necklaces of cloves interspersed with coral 5

Six _zenzela_, or silver chains with a small circular plate in the middle, called "the scorpion:" the chain stretches from ear to ear 18

Six _kuerrabar_, or silver boxes which the women hang from their necks, and in which they put musk and benjamin 18

Eighteen _khatem_, or silver rings 6

Six _melyaca_, or bracelets of djamous horn 6

Women in the desert do not wear any ornaments of gold; the whole of their jewelry is in silver.

Total 815 _douros_.

The arms for seven men are:

Five guns for the masters, procured from Algiers, and mounted in silver 100 _douros_.

Two guns for the servants 20

Five sabres, two of them mounted in silver 40

Five pistols, two of them mounted in silver 35

Four pistols for the negroes 1

Four sabres for the negroes 12

Total 219 _douros_.

Harness and horsemen's equipment consist of:

One saddle for the master 100 _douros_.

Four ordinary saddles 160

Two common saddles for the servants 20

One master's _djebira_ of tiger-skin 17

Four ordinary _djebira_ 28

One pair of master's _temag_, or boots of morocco leather 12

Four pair of ordinary _temag_ 24 _douros_.

One pair of master's spurs, mounted in silver and ornamented with coral 6

Four pair of ordinary _shabirs_, or spurs 4

Five _medol_, or straw hats adorned with ostrich feathers 5

Total 376 _douros_.

Horses, cattle, negroes, etc., consist of:

A stallion for the chief of the tent 100 _douros_.

Four blood mares for his sons 320

Two servants' mares 60

Six asses 18

Two _slougui_, or greyhounds [not purchasable] »

Four negroes 240

Four negresses 200

Twenty _ghelem_ each _ghelem_ a flock of 400 sheep 8,000

Four _ibeul_, or droves of 100 camels each: of these 400 animals, 130 are she-camels which command a higher price than the males, but I value them all round at 30 _douros_ a head 12,000

Ten he- or she-goats, the only use of which is to make the sheep keep moving on a march 50

Two tame gazelles, a young antelope, and an ostrich [these are never for sale] »

Total 20,988
_douros_.

The chief of a tent of this importance ought besides to possess, in depôt, in three or four _kuesours_, or small towns:

Twelve hundred _zedja_, or fleeces, worth each half a _boudjou_ 200 _douros_.

Thirty white burnouses, at 3 _douros_ each 90

Thirty _haïks_ at 2 _douros_ 60

Forty _habaya_, or woollen shirts at 2 _douros_ 80

Forty loads of dates at 7 _douros_ 280

Thirty camel loads of wheat 240

Thirty loads of barley 150

Four _khrabya_, or enormous earthen vessels filled with butter

Total 1,100 _douros_.

I estimate at 600 _douros_ the amount of what he may have lent or sold, to the people of the _kuesours_ with whom he has business transactions 600 _douros_.

In his tent he has 600

Buried in a hose belonging to him in one of the _kuesours_[92] 1,000

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Total 2,200 _douros_.

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He has likewise a house in a kuesour in the charge of a _khremass_, containing his most valuable property 60 _douros_.

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RECAPITULATION.

Tent and furniture, etc 741 _douros_.

Wearing apparel of both sexes 815

Arms 219

Harness and Accoutrements 376

Horses, cattle, etc. 20,988

Deposits 1,100

Loans, etc. 2,200

House 60

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Total 26,499
_douros_.[93]

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An Arab who possesses such a fortune does no work. He attends the meetings and assemblies of the _djemâa_, hunts, rides about, looks at his flocks, and prays. His only occupations are political, warlike, and religious. A poor Arab equally disdains manual labour. He is not forced to it, for there is no other kind of cultivation than that of date-trees, which is left to the inhabitants of the _kuesours_. Negroes are numerous and cost very little, and, with the assistance of a few white servants, suffice for the services which the free men refuse to perform for themselves. Some of the latter, however, mend their sacks and harness, but they form the exception. There are likewise farriers, but these, in fact, are artists—the privileges that are accorded to them, of which I have already had occasion to speak, constituting them a sort of special corporation. The armourers are, in truth, mere workmen who repair, but cannot manufacture, arms. The Arabs of the desert are for the most part worse armed than those of the Tell, though their chiefs yield to none in pomp and luxury. This is easily accounted for. As they obtain their arms from Tunis by way of Tougourt, or from Morocco through the Gourara country, the great distance to be traversed prevents them from getting their arms repaired as soon as they need repairs, and the unskilfulness of those who undertake this business will not permit them to do their work very efficiently. Many of the Saharenes are still armed with lances, which they seldom use except when pursuing runaways. Their spears consist of a shaft of wood six feet long, with a flat double-edged head of iron, and are usually carried in a bandolier.

The Arab of the Sahara is very proud of his mode of life, which is not only exempt from the monotonous toil to which the inhabitant of the Tell is subject, but is full of action and excitement, of variety and incident. If beards grow white at an early age in the desert, it is not only because of heat, fatigue, journeys, and combats, but much more from care, anxiety, and grief. He alone does not turn gray who "has a large heart, is resigned, and can say: It is the will of Allah!" This pride in their country and in their peculiar mode of existence amounts to positive contempt for the Tell and its inhabitants. What the dweller in the desert chiefly plumes himself upon is his independence; for in his country the lands are wide and there is no Sultan. The chief of the tribe administers and renders justice, a task of no great difficulty where every delinquency has been provided for and its appropriate penalty fixed beforehand. Whoever steals a sheep, pays a fine of ten boudjous. Whoever enters a tent to see his neighbour's wife, forfeits ten ewes. Whoever takes life, must lose his own; or, if he makes his escape, all that belongs to him is confiscated, save only his tent, which is given up to his wife and children. The fines are set apart by the _djemâa_ for defraying the expenses of travellers and marabouts, and of presents to strangers. Thefts within the tribe are severely punished. If committed on another tribe, they are looked over, and, if a hostile tribe be the sufferers, are even encouraged.

The women attend to the cooking, and weave various kinds of carpets, sacks, stuff for tents, horse-cloths, camel-packs, and nose-bags, while the negresses fetch wood and water. Burnouses, _haïks_, and _kabaya_ are made in the _kuesours_. If rich, an Arab is always generous; and rich or poor, he is sure to be hospitable and charitable. He seldom lends his horse, but would regard it as an insult if the animal were sent back to him. For every present he receives he makes a return of greater value. Some men are quoted as never having refused anything. It is a common saying: "He who applies to a noble never comes back empty-handed." It is needless to speak of alms. Every one knows that next to a holy war, and on the same line with going on a pilgrimage, alms-giving is the act of all others the most pleasing to Allah. If an Arab is sitting down to a meal, and a mendicant, who happens to be passing, exclaims: _Mtâ rebi ia el moumenin_—"of what belongs to Allah, O Believer!"— he shares his repast with him if there be enough for two, or else abandons it to him entirely.

A stranger presenting himself before a _douar_, stands some little way off, and pronounces these words: _Dif rebi_—"a guest sent by Allah." The effect is magical. Whatever may be his condition of life, they throw themselves on him, tear him from one another, and hold his stirrup while he alights. The servants lead away his horse, about whom, if he be a man of good breeding, he will not give himself any further trouble. He himself is almost dragged into a tent, and whatever is ready to hand is set before him, until a banquet can be prepared. Nor is less attention shown to a traveller on foot. The master of the tent keeps his guest company throughout the whole of the day, and only leaves him to make way for sleep. No indiscreet questions are ever asked, such as: Whence comest thou? Who art thou? Whither goest thou? There is no instance of any evil having ever befallen a stranger thus received as a guest, even though he were a mortal enemy. At his departure, the master of the tent will say to him: "Follow thy good fortune;" and after the guest has fairly taken his departure, his entertainer is no longer answerable for anything. In retiring from the hospitable repast, if the stranger pass before a _douar_ and be seen, he is obliged again to accept the invitations that are pressed upon him.