Chapter IX

ASCENT OF THE OUED ABDI — MINES OF TAGHIT — ARRIVAL AT OUED TAGA.

_April_ 29.—To-day we commenced our ascent of the Oued Abdi on the right bank of the stream.[72] The scenery was very grand; above the road towered the bleak and arid mountains over which we had passed the day before; on the left bank, behind the first chain of hills, is the elevated range of Djebel Lazarak, of which the two most prominent peaks are named Ti-Keshwain. At about a mile and a quarter from Menäa are the remains of an old Berber town called Es-Sook, or _the market_, built after the Roman period, and said at one time to have had great commercial dealings with Tunis, whence its name. A short distance beyond, the valley becomes constricted to a very narrow pass, guarded by an old tower occupying a commanding position, with quite the aspect of a castle on the Rhine. This is the boundary of the Oulad Abdi in this direction; immediately beyond it the valley widens out again, and the ground becomes more fertile and better cultivated. It would be impossible for the most civilised nation to turn their land to better account than this rude and secluded people. They rarely leave their own villages, and hardly ever the district in which they were born. I met a sheikh at one village who had occupied his present office for twenty-five years, and in all that time he had only been five times to Batna and never anywhere else. All along the route and generally throughout the Aures we observed small piles of stone, often only two or three in number, placed from distance to distance on the hill sides or on the level ground; these mark the places which the owner wishes to reserve as pasturage for his own use, and his rights so designated are scrupulously respected. The road passes several villages on either bank of the river, all picturesquely situated high up on the bank, built of stone like El-Arbäa and generally with a quaint and very conspicuous minaret. The bed of the river is broad, although, owing to so much water being consumed in irrigation, it generally contains but little during the summer season; in winter it is a wide and impetuous torrent.

We stopped for breakfast at Nowader Ahmama, about 7½ miles from Menäa. The Kaid’s son had sent on the French cook to make preparations, and he had himself accompanied us, so we had only to take the good things provided for us and be thankful.

Instead of continuing to ascend the river we made a détour, so as to visit the mercury mines of Taghit, for which an English company was then in treaty. We struck off the course of the river in a south-easterly direction, through scenery closely resembling what is seen at the Portes-de-fer, on the route between Algiers and Constantine. The rocks, through which the Oued Taghit forces its way, are of sandstone alternating with argillaceous schist; the strata are contorted in a remarkable manner and sometimes upheaved to a vertical position. In many places the softer strata have been worn away by the action of water, leaving the harder rocks standing upright in the voids thus caused; this gives to the hills a most extraordinary appearance, which cannot better be described than by comparing them to the side-scenes of a theatre. After passing through about two miles of this wild scenery, the valley opens out, cultivation again commences, and soon the small village of Taghit is reached.

The mines are situated quite close to the village and have long been known to the natives, who used to work them for the sake of the lead, throwing the more valuable cinnabar on one side as useless. This ore is said to be exceedingly rich, more so than that of Mexico or of El-Maden in Spain. I saw specimens, which contained 30 per cent. of pure mercury, and the average is said to be 6 per cent., which would make the value of the ore about 50_l._ a ton. The galena also is rich, but whether it could be worked to advantage in such a remote district is doubtful, at least until the means of communication are improved.

At Taghit is the tomb of Sidi bel-Khair, the great Saint of the Oulad Abdi; the height of the village is 4,350 feet above the sea. Here, again, we got an excellent repast, prepared by our friend’s cook, with abundance of Bordeaux and Champagne, and we were joined by the superintendent of the mine, an engineer from the school of St. Etienne, who most obligingly showed us all over his works.

_April_ 30.—From the mines the Oued Abdi had to be regained, and the shortest though not the easiest way was over a pass in a steep mountain called Tizi-Zijan, about 5,780 feet above the sea, from which an admirable idea is obtained of the successive chains of mountains forming the Aures range. The descent to Theniet el-Abid on the left bank of the river was so steep, that we could hardly keep our saddles on the mules’ backs; they were perpetually slipping over their heads, and we found that the simplest and most expeditious plan was to walk.

Here we rested during the mid-day heat, and as usual found that our friend the cook had started some hours before us, and had prepared one of those marvellous breakfasts for which he had become so celebrated; he was most solicitous for our comfort, and never served a meal without begging us to ask for anything more that we might require, as his master never would pardon him if we had any want ungratified in his territory.

We passed several other villages after leaving this place, one of which was Bou Gharara, which had lately been destroyed by an inundation, but which was then being rebuilt in a very superior style a little further from the river, and passing this came to El-Bali, where we encamped for the night. Our day’s journey was only 12½ miles, and occupied four hours.

El-Bali is on the left bank of the river, directly opposite to Djebel Mahmel, the ancient Mampsurus, the second highest peak in Algeria, only 23 feet lower than Djebel Chellia. The village itself is nearly 5,000 feet above the sea. We strolled about before dinner, purchasing native ornaments and admiring the beauty of the women and children. One dear little child, daughter of the Sheikh, quite attached herself to our party, and accompanied us to the tents; she took with the utmost solemnity, and in the most dignified manner, all the sweets and little presents we gave her; but nothing would induce her to taste anything; she would hardly even speak to us, but she devoured us with her eyes, and cried when she had to go away.

The women of the Aures, as I have said, never veil or conceal their faces; their dress is very similar to that of the Arab of the south; the colours chosen generally two shades of blue or other subdued tints. They disfigure themselves very much by wearing enormous circular rings on the upper edge of their ears, which seem as if they would tear that organ off the head; indeed, some such effect is not unfrequently produced, and to guard against it they support their ears by strings tied to the upper part of the head-dress. They also wear numerous and massive bracelets and anklets of elegant design, similar to those used by the Kabyles, and their garments seem to be held together by large brooches, or pins with immense heads, of the pattern which we style ‘the Maid of Norway’ pin. I am sorry to say that these unsophisticated mountain maidens knew perfectly well how to sell us, as massive silver, ornaments which we subsequently discovered to be made of lead, with a very thin coating of the more precious metal.

The young lads of the village are as sturdy little fellows as one could meet anywhere, with clean and muscular limbs, of bold and independent carriage, and with none of that shrinking timidity, which makes the children of an Arab village retreat behind the shelter of their dogs at the approach of a _Roumi_.

The inevitable _dhiffa_ was, of course, awaiting us here; we had always to get through two daily; there was a strong family resemblance between them all, the staple dishes being the same, a sheep roasted whole, and piles of _couscousou_, washed down by beakers of milk; but the little additions, _petits plats_, and European delicacies such as wine, &c., depended on the amount of civilisation of our host for the time being. The roasted sheep is a dish worthy of introduction into the most civilised society; the animal is skinned and cleaned within a few moments of his death; a stake six feet long is passed through his body, entering at the mouth, and a large fire having been prepared beforehand and allowed to subside into a state of hot embers without flame, the animal is laid across it, supported on two posts, constantly turned round, and basted with butter till sufficiently cooked; it is then served up by the stake being stuck upright in the earth, or supported transversely on big stones; and then it is consumed with the aid only of Nature’s knives and forks. It requires some little education to know exactly where to search for the best morsels, but our hosts were always courteous enough to tear these off and present them to us.

_Couscousou_ well prepared is by no means a dish to be despised; the raw material is simply the semolina of hard wheat, the grains of which are large, carefully sifted from the flour, and prepared in a peculiar manner by the ladies of the household, who roll it about and turn it over with their hands in large wooden dishes. When this has to be cooked it is placed in a small earthen dish pierced with holes, on the top of another in which a soup of meat and vegetables is prepared. The steam causes the grain to swell and soften, without rendering it sodden. When the _couscousou_ is sufficiently cooked it is placed in a large flat dish, the soup highly seasoned with red pepper, and thus called _mergäa_, is poured over it, the meat or fowls and vegetables, if any are procurable, are placed on the top, perhaps with a morsel of butter; and thus prepared, in the tent of an Arab of rank and means, it is as palatable a dish as a hungry traveller need ever desire to have set before him. Sometimes, instead of the meat and soup, sugar or honey, raisins and milk are substituted. The only thing I can suggest as better than either of them is both in succession.

When the guests have finished their repast, the dishes are passed on to the higher retainers, and so on to the various ranks and classes till nothing remains.

On the morning of May 1, we left El-Bali for the Oued Taga; we had to cross the river at the village, above which the valley opens out to a wide stretch of corn-land. The difference between the state of the crops in different parts of the Aures is very remarkable; it is no unusual thing to see the harvest taking place at the lowest part of the Oued Abdi, the corn green at Menäa, less and less advanced as one ascends, and ploughing going on at some of the highest places. When we were at Menäa the corn was in the ear, and here it had barely germinated.

Gigantic thuyas (_Callitris quadrivalvis_) and junipers (_Juniperus macrocarpa_) are met with here. We saw some whose trunks were more than 3 feet in diameter.

The last village we met with was Oulad Azooz, on the right bank, near some rather extensive foundations of Roman buildings.

All along our course we had frequently passed through some villages and in front of others; and although we could not remain long enough to alight from our mules, the Sheikhs never failed to come out arrayed in their official scarlet bernouses to welcome us, and bid us God-speed. I cannot call to mind a sulky look, or an unamiable action during all the time we travelled in these mountains.

Shortly after passing the last village, we saw the principal source of the Oued Abdi in a defile which turns the east flank of Djebel Mahmel. The bottom of the pass has an altitude of 5,837 feet above the sea. Its name is Theniet er-Ressas, or _pass of lead_, from its extreme cold in winter, which is supposed to kill as surely as lead. It is quite impassable during several months in the year, but when we visited it there were only a few patches of snow visible on Mahmel, which rises above it.

After crossing this and several other valleys, which radiate from the extremity of Mahmel, we came to the luxuriant and well-watered plain of Laradam, 5,188 feet above the sea. It contains about 3,500 acres of land capable of irrigation, and is surrounded on all sides by sterile hills covered with huge blocks of stone. The road winds up one of these, and from a pass at its summit, called Theniet Ain-esh-Shair (_pass of the spring of barley_), we had our first view of Djebel Chellia, now as bare of snow as Mahmel. The valley of Taga is seen on the left stretching far away towards Timegad. On the top of the mountain we noticed two gigantic frusta of Roman columns, 4½ feet in diameter and nearly as much in height. They were probably cut on the spot and intended to be transported elsewhere.

In the valley below is a handsome stone house belonging to the Kaid of the Aures, who had been vicariously our host since we arrived at Menäa. It is fitted up with every comfort—much more, I believe, out of consideration for his friends than for his own use. We not only found him at Taga, but General Dastugue and his staff also, and Si Bou-Dhiaf, the Kaid of Timegad, into whose territories we were about to enter. We spent a delightful day here in company with those good friends, narrating our experiences in the Aures, and planning excursions to the desert with the General next autumn, which alas! could never be realised.

Taga is 3,800 feet above the sea, and has always a pleasant climate, even in summer; it is only an easy morning’s ride from Batna, and it is quite practicable in fine weather to do the journey by carriage in four hours. We observed here a fine stone coffin, used as a drinking trough, and numerous foundations attesting the extent of Roman occupation in this direction. At Chouchat er-Ramel, to the south-west and close to the Bordj, are a considerable number of megalithic tombs similar to those of Foum Kosentina, which will presently be described.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 72: It is supposed that the Oulad Abdi are descendants of Iabdas, the opponent of Solomon, and that on this account they were originally named _Children of Iabdas_.]