Chapter XV: Introduction (12)

The Arabs call blue the horse of a grayish colour shot like a
starling's back.

Footnote 14:

It is a matter of luxury for the Arabs and especially for those of the
desert to possess balls made in moulds. For the most part they use
rods cut into small pieces.

Footnote 15:

The Arabs of the desert are so fond of their independent wandering
life, that they regard as the most wearisome moment of their existence
the season when they are compelled to come to the Tell to purchase
their supplies of corn.

Footnote 16:

Feminine of _sherif_, signifying a descendant of the Prophet.

Footnote 17:

In their poetic effusions, the Arabs frequently call the sun _aâin
ennour_, "eye of light."

Footnote 18:

Among the Arabs, there are no rejoicings without firing off of guns.

Footnote 19:

When a desert tribe is at peace, the camels are sent away ten or
twelve leagues, to graze, and it may be easily conceived that if a
sudden swoop be made upon them it needs excellent horses and vigourous
horsemen to recover them.

Footnote 20:

Small and restless ears as well as lively and prominent eyes are a
sign, say the Arabs, of a healthy action of the heart, and that the
animal is full of life.

Footnote 21:

The _mahari_ is much more slender in its proportions than the
_djemel_, or common camel. It has the exquisite ears of the gazelle,
the supple neck of the ostrich, the hollow belly of the _slougui_ or
greyhound. Its head is lean and gracefully attached to the neck; its
eyes bright, black, and prominent; its lips long and firm, covering
well the teeth; the hump is small, but the chest where it touches the
earth when the animal couches down, is strong and protuberant; the
dock of its tail is short; its legs, very lean in the upper part, are
furnished with muscles from the ham and the knee down to the hoof, and
the sole of its foot is neither broad nor thick: finally, it has very
few hairs on the neck, and its coat, of a tawny colour, is as fine as
that of the jerboa. See General Daumas' work on the "Great Desert." In
the desert, the _mahari_ is to the _djemel_ what, with us, a race
horse is to a draught horse.

Footnote 22:

_Hôor_, in the plural _harar_. Not unlikely, this word brought by our
ancestors from the crusades is the origin of the word _haras_.

Footnote 23:

The nomadic tribe of the Arbâa encamps in the neighbourhood of
Leghrouât. It is divided into three great sections: el Mamera, el
Hedjadj, and Ouled Salah. (_Sahara Algérien_, p. 45.)

Footnote 24:

All these tribes pitch their tents in the quadrilateral comprised
between Sidi-Khaled, Tougourt, the Beni-Mzab, and Leghrouât.

Footnote 25:

The French league is rather less than 2-1/2 miles English.

Footnote 26:

A very populous tribe who occupy the whole of the Djebel-Sahri and the
greatest part of the basin of the Oued-Djedi.

Footnote 27:

Berouaguïa is six leagues south of Medeah; Souagui, thirty one leagues
from Berouaguïa; Sidi-Bouzid, twenty-five leagues farther on; and
lastly Leghrouât, twenty-four leagues beyond that, or one hundred and
seven leagues south of Algiers.

Footnote 28:

The Tell is the granary of the Sahara: the master of the Tell holds
the people of the Sahara with the grasp of famine. They are so
sensible of this that they frankly avow it in a phrase that has passed
into a proverb: "We cannot be either Mussulmans, Jews, or Christians:
we are forced to be the friends of our belly."

Footnote 29:

A fort built by the Spaniards, and the residence of the general
commanding the province.

Footnote 30:

A sort of woollen shirt frequently worn by the Arabs.

Footnote 31:

The Bactrian variety, which has two humps and is much larger than the
other.

Footnote 32:

A species of partridge, with a "tucked up" body and very short toes.

Footnote 33:

Among the Arabs of Upper Asia, but chiefly in the Nedjed, when a filly
is foaled, it is impossible to form an idea of the rapture that seizes
the family. "Allah has sent us a blessing; our lord Mohammed has
entered into our tent." Neither wives nor children would suffer
themselves to subtract one drop of the milk drawn from the camels, the
goats, and the ewes. The whole of it is reserved for the fortunate
foal, object of the love and most tender solicitude of all inhabitants
of the tent. (_Voyage dans la Haute Asie_, by M. Pétiniaud.)

Footnote 34:

An umbelliferous plant of the genus thapsia.

Footnote 35:

A kind of semolina made with wheaten flour. It is as universal with
the Arabs as soup with Continental Europeans.

Footnote 36:

During my long career, in my tribes, by my friends, or among my
followers, I have seen upwards of ten thousand colts reared, and I
affirm that all those whose education was not begun at a very early
age and according to the principles enunciated above, have never
turned out other than stubborn, troublesome horses, unfit for war. I
also affirm that when I have made long and rapid marches at the head
of twelve or fifteen hundred horsemen, horses however lean, if early
broken in to fatigue, never fell out of the ranks, while those that
were fat or mounted too late have always fallen to the rear. My
conviction on this head is based on such a long experience that
lately, finding myself at Masseur (Cairo), in the necessity of
purchasing some horses, I refused point blank all that were presented
to me that had been broken in at a comparatively advanced age.

"How has thy horse been reared?" was always my first question.

"My lord," an inhabitant of the city would reply "this gray stone of
the river has been brought up by me like one of my own children,
always well fed, well tended to, and spared as much as possible, for I
did not begin to ride him till he was full four years old. See how fat
he is, how sound in all his limbs."

"Well, keep him, my friend. He is thy pride and that of thy family. It
would be a shame to my gray beard to deprive thee of him."

"And thou!" I would then ask of an Arab whom I recognized as a child
of the desert, so embrowned was he with the sun, "How has thy horse
been reared?"

"My lord," he would answer, "betimes I formed his back to the saddle,
and his mouth to the bridle. With him I have reached a distant, very
distant point. He has passed many a day without food. His ribs are
bare, it is true, but if you encounter any enemies on your path he
will not leave you in peril. I swear it by the day of the last
judgment, when Allah shall be kadi and the angels witnesses."

"Hola, there! tether the dark chestnut before my tent," I would cry to
my servants, "and satisfy this man."

(SIDI-HAMED-BEN-MOHAMMED-EL-MOKRANI, khalif of Medjana,
chief of one of the most illustrious families of all Algeria.)

Footnote 37:

A sort of sabretache attached to the pommel of the saddle, in which
the Arabs carry their ammunition, their papers, and food, etc., etc.
Sometimes the _djebira_ is a marvel of elaborate embroidery.

Footnote 38:

"To-day we went out on horseback with our host Youssouf-ben-Bender,
and directed our course towards the desert. He was accompanied by his
sons and grandsons, all mounted on fine horses, while his servants
proceeded on dromedaries. During this excursion, we met an Arab who
caused me some surprise. Without saddle or bridle, with a slight
halter, the noseband of which was a thin iron chain, and holding in
his hand a wand crooked at one end with which he guided his horse, he
started off at full gallop, pulled up dead halt, was off again like an
arrow, turned sharp round at full speed, and while going at that pace,
made his horse change his feet, off the ground, on the right line. I
could scarcely believe my own eyes and I question if our most
celebrated riding masters or "sportsmen" could do better. What
particularly struck me was the simplicity of the means employed by
this son of Ishmael to obtain what he exacted from his courser. In
Europe, we study the functions and play of the muscles, only to
counteract them. In Arabia also are they studied, but in order to make
use of nature, not to do her violence. Besides, it is not merely one
Arab here and there who rides well; but all without exception are good
horsemen, all love the horse passionately, all understand how to train
him. At the bivouac an inhabitant of the Nedjed always sleeps with his
head resting on the shoulder of his horse, and every horse lies down
at his master's bidding. The latter thus obtains a pillow softer than
the ground, and also renders it difficult for any one to steal his
horse during his sleep." (_Voyage dans la Haute Asie_, by M.
Pétiniaud, General Inspector of the "Haras.")

Footnote 39:

While with us, in France, the stirrup is not supposed to bear more
than the weight of the leg; with the Arabs, on the contrary, the whole
weight of the body, when going at a good pace, is thrown upon the
stirrups.

Footnote 40:

France was indebted to the hatred of Abd-el-Kader cherished by
Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl for the unfailing loyalty of the illustrious chief
of the powerful tribe of the Douairs. He had been for upwards of
thirty years the Aga of the Turks. Thus, when the son of Mahi-Eddin,
at the age of twenty-five, was proclaimed Sultan by the tribe of the
province of Oran, the aged warrior refused to yield obedience to him,
saying that "never with his white beard would he go to kiss the hand
of a mere boy." The consequences of this enmity forced him to take
refuge in the _mechouar_ of Tlemcen, where for two years he held out
against the _hadars_, or citizens, all of whom were devoted to the
cause of him who had assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful.
Only when reduced to the last extremity did he demand and obtain
succour from Marshal Clauzel, whose column relieved him in 1836. From
that period, notwithstanding his great age, he took part at the head
of the "goums" of the Douairs and the Zmelas, in all the actions
fought in the province of Oran. France recompensed this energetic
attachment by a Marshal's baton and the cross of a Commander of the
Legion of Honour. Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl was killed by the Flittas, on
the 19th May 1843, in his eightieth year, while skirmishing in the
rear, protecting the rich booty taken from the Hashem-Gharabas, at the
capture of the Smala.

Footnote 41:

Tents pitched in a circle, a subdivision of the tribe.

Footnote 42:

A river in Algeria.

Footnote 43:

The plural form of _Ksar_, a hamlet, village, or town of the desert.

Footnote 44:

The _Stipa barbata_ of Desfontaines. This plant grows abundantly in
the Sahara. The inhabitants of that unproductive region wander far and
wide to gather the seeds of this grass, and often collect a large
quantity. The seed is ground down and used for the same purposes as
wheaten flour.

Footnote 45:

This plant is very common throughout Algeria, and is much used for
feeding horses. In our expeditions our chargers have often had nothing
else to eat. It is the _Lygeum Spartum_. The culms of this grass do
not rise above ten or twelve centimètres in height. It is the _Stipa
tenacissima_ used in the East for making basket work, etc., and in
some parts of Algeria the natives weave it into mats.

Footnote 46:

The Arabs understand by the hot season from April to September
inclusive, and by the cold season from October to March inclusive.

Footnote 47:

A very important tribe situated to the North-West of Oran.

Footnote 48:

Gold coins, worth from ten to twelve francs each.

Footnote 49:

An Indian prince who flourished before the birth of the Prophet, and
whose riches were proverbial.

Footnote 50:

Poison that is fatal within the hour.

Footnote 51:

_Kohol_, sulphide of antimony, used to stain the eyelids. When a
married woman has stained her eyes with _Kohol_, adorned herself with
_henna_, and chewed a stick of _souak_, which sweetens the breath,
whitens the teeth, and reddens the lips, she becomes more pleasant in
the eyes of Allah, and more beloved of her husband.

Footnote 52:

This mile is only a kilomètre.

Footnote 53:

A star in the constellation of Orion.

Footnote 54:

A parasang is equal to about 5,000 mètres. Sixteen parasangs are
equal, in round numbers, to fifty English miles.

Footnote 55:

_Sabok_, rapid, outstripping.

Footnote 56:

_Aâtika_, the noble lady.

Footnote 57:

_Hader_, inhabitant of cities.

Footnote 58:

_Bedoui_, inhabitant of the wild parts of the Sahara.

Footnote 59:

In the Sahara this name is given to hillocks the outline of which
resembles that of a ship.

Footnote 60:

_Rahil_, migration, a nomadic movement.

Footnote 61:

_Haouadjej_, red camel-litters.

Footnote 62:

_Taka_, windows: the bull's-eyes of litters.

Footnote 63:

Veils waving over the horses croups.

Footnote 64:

_Houache_, a species of bison, or wild ox.

Footnote 65:

_Ghezal_, the gazelle.

Footnote 66:

_Delim_, the male ostrich.

Footnote 67:

The odour of musk remains where the _ghezal_ has passed.

Footnote 68:

_Mahari_, a riding camel.

Footnote 69:

_Maha_, a species of white wild doe.

Footnote 70:

A thick silver pin used by women to fasten their _haïk_, a long piece
of woollen, stuff with which they robe themselves. In the desert this
pin is called _khelala_.

Footnote 71:

A small piece of polished wood, with which women smear on their
eyelids the _kohol_, or antimony, they value so highly.

Footnote 72:

A kind of seat, more or less ornamented according to the means of each
individual, which is placed on camel's backs for the use of women who
are going on a journey. _Temag_ are red morocco boots.

Footnote 73:

Many Arabs in battle load their pieces with seven balls or deer-shot;
but their fire-arms are generally in such bad condition that this
practice becomes the source of innumerable accidents. The number of
persons maimed by guns bursting in their hands is very considerable.

Footnote 74:

"Dash on at full speed." The metaphor is taken from the act of
swimming.

Footnote 75:

A salt soil that yields nothing but salt.

Footnote 76:

_Layahh_, he who amuses, or distracts the attention.

Footnote 77:

In some of the desert tribes a robber taken in the act is covered from
head to foot with _alfa_ (mat-weed), to which they set fire, and the
poor wretch rushes away, amid general hooting, to die a little way
off.

Footnote 78:

The Beni-Mezab form, in the midst of the populations of the desert, a
small nation by themselves, distinguished by the severity of their
manners, a peculiar dialect, honesty that has passed into a proverb,
and certain differences in their religious ceremonies.

Footnote 79:

The Arab pride is here revealed in its full force. The produce of our
horses, our camels, and our sheep, say they, exempts us from the
necessity of working, and yet we can procure without difficulty all
that these miserable Christians manufacture with so much labour.

Footnote 80:

A large tribe of Berber origin who hold the gates of the Sahara and
the Soudan, and levy upon caravans a tax for entering, a tax for
leaving, and a tax for passing through, their territory. They deal,
also, in slaves.

Footnote 81:

A negro kingdom to the southward, in which certain small tribes still
make use of poisoned arrows.

Footnote 82:

The Arabs give the name of _Djouad_ to the military nobility who
derive their origin from the Mehal, the conquerors from the East, and
followers of the companions of the Prophet. The common people suffer
much from the injustice and oppression of the Djouad, who strive to
efface the memory of their ill-treatment, and maintain their
influence, by generously according hospitality and protection to all
who claim them. In other words, they combine in the highest degree the
two salient traits of the national character, avidity of gain, and
love of pomp and ostentation.

Footnote 83:

Sister is here used in the sense of lover or mistress.

Footnote 84:

Blood money. In the Sahara the _dya_ is reckoned at three hundred
sheep, or fifty three-year old camels.

Footnote 85:

A small square chapel surmounted by a dome, in which a marabout has
usually been interred. Solitary travellers find in them a resting
place.

Footnote 86:

In order to make the purification complete, it is necessary to cut
through the œsophagus, the tracheal artery, and the two jugular veins.

Footnote 87:

A kind of leather dressed at Tafilalet.

Footnote 88:

Probably the Guinea-fowl.

Footnote 89:

I am aware that this is not the denomination bestowed by science upon
this animal, which is actually the dromadary. However, I have adhered
to the appellation of "Camel," because it is the only one used in
Algeria. Besides, the Arabic word _djemel_ applies to the camel as
well as to the dromadary.

Footnote 90:

A sort of arm-chair placed upon the backs of camels.

Footnote 91:

Goat-skins, generally dyed red, and prepared at Tafilalet in Morocco:
it is what we call morocco leather.

Footnote 92:

Money is never buried in the desert as it is in the Tell, lest the
floods of winter should betray the hiding-places.

Footnote 93:

About £5,721. The _douro_ worth about 4 shillings and 6 pence.

Footnote 94:

Religious establishments, generally comprising a mosque and a school,
and the tombs of their founders.

Footnote 95:

Singular of _djouad_.

Footnote 96:

A well at Mecca, the water of which is carried away by pilgrims. It is
said to be supplied from Paradise.

Footnote 97:

The angel of death. As soon as a man yields his last breath, Azrael is
sent by Allah to strike the balance between the deceased's good and
bad actions.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Punctuation and some spelling has been normalized.

Variations in hyphenation and accentuation were maintained.

Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Horses of the Sahara, by Eugene Daumas