THERE is no portion of the world so little known as Africa in general;
and perhaps of all Africa there is no corner with which Europeans are so
little acquainted as Barbary, which nevertheless is only separated from
the continent of Europe by a narrow strait of four leagues across.
China itself has, for upwards of a century, ceased to be a land of
mystery to the civilised portion of the world; the enterprising children
of Loyola having wandered about it in every direction making converts to
their doctrine and discipline, whilst the Russians possess better maps of
its vast regions than of their own country, and lately, owing to the
persevering labour and searching eye of my friend Hyacinth, Archimandrite
of Saint John Nefsky, are acquainted with the number of its military
force to a man, and also with the names and places of residence of its
civil servants. Yet who possesses a map of Fez and Morocco, or would
venture to form a conjecture as to how many fiery horsemen Abderrahman,
the mulatto emperor, could lead to the field, were his sandy dominions
threatened by the Nazarene? Yet Fez is scarcely two hundred leagues
distant from Madrid, whilst Maraks, the other great city of the Moors,
and which also has given its name to an empire, is scarcely farther
removed from Paris, the capital of civilisation: in a word, we scarcely
know anything of Barbary, the scanty information which we possess being
confined to a few towns on the sea-coast; the zeal of the Jesuit himself
being insufficient to induce him to confront the perils of the interior,
in the hopeless endeavour of making one single proselyte from amongst the
wildest fanatics of the creed of the Prophet Camel-driver.
Are wanderers of the Gypsy race to be found in Barbary? This is a
question which I have frequently asked myself. Several respectable
authors have, I believe, asserted the fact, amongst whom Adelung, who,
speaking of the Gypsies, says: ‘Four hundred years have passed away since
they departed from their native land. During this time, they have spread
themselves through the whole of Western Asia, Europe, and Northern
Africa.’ {86} But it is one thing to make an assertion, and another to
produce the grounds for making it. I believe it would require a far
greater stock of information than has hitherto been possessed by any one
who has written on the subject of the Gypsies, to justify him in
asserting positively that after traversing the west of Europe, they
spread themselves over Northern Africa, though true it is that to those
who take a superficial view of the matter, nothing appears easier and
more natural than to come to such a conclusion.
Tarifa, they will say, the most western part of Spain, is opposite to
Tangier, in Africa, a narrow sea only running between, less wide than
many rivers. Bands, therefore, of these wanderers, of course, on
reaching Tarifa, passed over into Africa, even as thousands crossed the
channel from France to England. They have at all times shown themselves
extravagantly fond of a roving life. What land is better adapted for
such a life than Africa and its wilds? What land, therefore, more likely
to entice them?
All this is very plausible. It was easy enough for the Gitános to pass
over to Tangier and Tetuan from the Spanish towns of Tarifa and
Algeziras. In the last chapter I have stated my belief of the fact, and
that moreover they formed certain connections with the Moors of the
coast, to whom it is likely that they occasionally sold children stolen
in Spain; yet such connection would by no means have opened them a
passage into the interior of Barbary, which is inhabited by wild and
fierce people, in comparison with whom the Moors of the coast, bad as
they always have been, are gentle and civilised.
To penetrate into Africa, the Gitános would have been compelled to pass
through the tribes who speak the Shilha language, and who are the
descendants of the ancient Numidians. These tribes are the most
untamable and warlike of mankind, and at the same time the most
suspicious, and those who entertain the greatest aversion to foreigners.
They are dreaded by the Moors themselves, and have always remained, to a
certain degree, independent of the emperors of Morocco. They are the
most terrible of robbers and murderers, and entertain far more reluctance
to spill water than the blood of their fellow-creatures: the Bedouins,
also, of the Arabian race, are warlike, suspicious, and cruel; and would
not have failed instantly to attack bands of foreign wanderers, wherever
they found them, and in all probability would have exterminated them.
Now the Gitános, such as they arrived in Barbary, could not have defended
themselves against such enemies, had they even arrived in large
divisions, instead of bands of twenties and thirties, as is their custom
to travel. They are not by nature nor by habit a warlike race, and would
have quailed before the Africans, who, unlike most other people, engage
in wars from what appears to be an innate love of the cruel and bloody
scenes attendant on war.
It may be said, that if the Gitános were able to make their way from the
north of India, from Multan, for example, the province which the learned
consider to be the original dwelling-place of the race, to such an
immense distance as the western part of Spain, passing necessarily
through many wild lands and tribes, why might they not have penetrated
into the heart of Barbary, and wherefore may not their descendants be
still there, following the same kind of life as the European Gypsies,
that is, wandering about from place to place, and maintaining themselves
by deceit and robbery?
But those who are acquainted but slightly with the condition of Barbary
are aware that it would be less difficult and dangerous for a company of
foreigners to proceed from Spain to Multan, than from the nearest seaport
in Barbary to Fez, an insignificant distance. True it is, that, from
their intercourse with the Moors of Spain, the Gypsies might have become
acquainted with the Arabic language, and might even have adopted the
Moorish dress, ere entering Barbary; and, moreover, might have professed
belief in the religion of Mahomet; still they would have been known as
foreigners, and, on that account, would have been assuredly attacked by
the people of the interior, had they gone amongst them, who, according to
the usual practice, would either have massacred them or made them slaves;
and as slaves, they would have been separated. The mulatto hue of their
countenances would probably have insured them the latter fate, as all
blacks and mulattos in the dominions of the Moor are properly slaves, and
can be bought and sold, unless by some means or other they become free,
in which event their colour is no obstacle to their elevation to the
highest employments and dignities, to their becoming pashas of cities and
provinces, or even to their ascending the throne. Several emperors of
Morocco have been mulattos.
Above I have pointed out all the difficulties and dangers which must have
attended the path of the Gitános, had they passed from Spain into
Barbary, and attempted to spread themselves over that region, as over
Europe and many parts of Asia. To these observations I have been led by
the assertion that they accomplished this, and no proof of the fact
having, as I am aware, ever been adduced; for who amongst those who have
made such a statement has seen or conversed with the Egyptians of
Barbary, or had sufficient intercourse with them to justify him in the
assertion that they are one and the same people as those of Europe, from
whom they differ about as much as the various tribes which inhabit
various European countries differ from each other? At the same time, I
wish it to be distinctly understood that I am far from denying the
existence of Gypsies in various parts of the interior of Barbary.
Indeed, I almost believe the fact, though the information which I possess
is by no means of a description which would justify me in speaking with
full certainty; I having myself never come in contact with any sect or
caste of people amongst the Moors, who not only tallied in their pursuits
with the Rommany, but who likewise spoke amongst themselves a dialect of
the language of Roma; nor am I aware that any individual worthy of credit
has ever presumed to say that he has been more fortunate in these
respects.
Nevertheless, I repeat that I am inclined to believe that Gypsies
virtually exist in Barbary, and my reasons I shall presently adduce; but
I will here observe, that if these strange outcasts did indeed contrive
to penetrate into the heart of that savage and inhospitable region, they
could only have succeeded after having become well acquainted with the
Moorish language, and when, after a considerable sojourn on the coast,
they had raised for themselves a name, and were regarded with
superstitious fear; in a word, if they walked this land of peril
untouched and unscathed, it was not that they were considered as harmless
and inoffensive people, which, indeed, would not have protected them, and
which assuredly they were not; it was not that they were mistaken for
wandering Moors and Bedouins, from whom they differed in feature and
complexion, but because, wherever they went, they were dreaded as the
possessors of supernatural powers, and as mighty sorcerers.
There is in Barbary more than one sect of wanderers, which, to the
cursory observer, might easily appear, and perhaps have appeared, in the
right of legitimate Gypsies. For example, there are the Beni Aros. The
proper home of these people is in certain high mountains in the
neighbourhood of Tetuan, but they are to be found roving about the whole
kingdom of Fez. Perhaps it would be impossible to find, in the whole of
Northern Africa, a more detestable caste. They are beggars by
profession, but are exceedingly addicted to robbery and murder; they are
notorious drunkards, and are infamous, even in Barbary, for their
unnatural lusts. They are, for the most part, well made and of comely
features. I have occasionally spoken with them; they are Moors, and
speak no language but the Arabic.
Then there is the sect of Sidi Hamed au Muza, a very roving people,
companies of whom are generally to be found in all the principal towns of
Barbary. The men are expert vaulters and tumblers, and perform wonderful
feats of address with swords and daggers, to the sound of wild music,
which the women, seated on the ground, produce from uncouth instruments;
by these means they obtain a livelihood. Their dress is picturesque,
scarlet vest and white drawers. In many respects they not a little
resemble the Gypsies; but they are not an evil people, and are looked
upon with much respect by the Moors, who call them Santons. Their patron
saint is Hamed au Muza, and from him they derive their name. Their
country is on the confines of the Sahara, or great desert, and their
language is the Shilhah, or a dialect thereof. They speak but little
Arabic. When I saw them for the first time, I believed them to be of the
Gypsy caste, but was soon undeceived. A more wandering race does not
exist than the children of Sidi Hamed au Muza. They have even visited
France, and exhibited their dexterity and agility at Paris and
Marseilles.
I will now say a few words concerning another sect which exists in
Barbary, and will here premise, that if those who compose it are not
Gypsies, such people are not to be found in North Africa, and the
assertion, hitherto believed, that they abound there, is devoid of
foundation. I allude to certain men and women, generally termed by the
Moors ‘Those of the Dar-bushi-fal,’ which word is equivalent to
prophesying or fortune-telling. They are great wanderers, but have also
their fixed dwellings or villages, and such a place is called ‘Char
Seharra,’ or witch-hamlet. Their manner of life, in every respect,
resembles that of the Gypsies of other countries; they are wanderers
during the greatest part of the year, and subsist principally by
pilfering and fortune-telling. They deal much in mules and donkeys, and
it is believed, in Barbary, that they can change the colour of any animal
by means of sorcery, and so disguise him as to sell him to his very
proprietor, without fear of his being recognised. This latter trait is
quite characteristic of the Gypsy race, by whom the same thing is
practised in most parts of the world. But the Moors assert, that the
children of the Dar-bushi-fal can not only change the colour of a horse
or a mule, but likewise of a human being, in one night, transforming a
white into a black, after which they sell him for a slave; on which
account the superstitious Moors regard them with the utmost dread, and in
general prefer passing the night in the open fields to sleeping in their
hamlets. They are said to possess a particular language, which is
neither Shilhah nor Arabic, and which none but themselves understand;
from all which circumstances I am led to believe, that the children of
the Dar-bushi-fal are legitimate Gypsies, descendants of those who passed
over to Barbary from Spain. Nevertheless, as it has never been my
fortune to meet or to converse with any of this caste, though they are
tolerably numerous in Barbary, I am far from asserting that they are of
Gypsy race. More enterprising individuals than myself may, perhaps,
establish the fact. Any particular language or jargon which they speak
amongst themselves will be the best criterion. The word which they
employ for ‘water’ would decide the point; for the Dar-bushi-fal are not
Gypsies, if, in their peculiar speech, they designate that blessed
element and article most necessary to human existence by aught else than
the Sanscrit term ‘Pani,’ a word brought by the race from sunny Ind, and
esteemed so holy that they have never even presumed to modify it.
The following is an account of the Dar-bushi-fal, given me by a Jew of
Fez, who had travelled much in Barbary, and which I insert almost
literally as I heard it from his mouth. Various other individuals,
Moors, have spoken of them in much the same manner.
‘In one of my journeys I passed the night in a place called Mulai-Jacub
Munsur.
‘Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, or witch-hamlet, where dwell
those of the Dar-bushi-fal. These are very evil people, and powerful
enchanters; for it is well known that if any traveller stop to sleep in
their Char, they will with their sorceries, if he be a white man, turn
him as black as a coal, and will afterwards sell him as a negro. Horses
and mules they serve in the same manner, for if they are black, they will
turn them red, or any other colour which best may please them; and
although the owners demand justice of the authorities, the sorcerers
always come off best. They have a language which they use among
themselves, very different from all other languages, so much so that it
is impossible to understand them. They are very swarthy, quite as much
so as mulattos, and their faces are exceedingly lean. As for their legs,
they are like reeds; and when they run, the devil himself cannot overtake
them. They tell Dar-bushi-fal with flour; they fill a plate, and then
they are able to tell you anything you ask them. They likewise tell it
with a shoe; they put it in their mouth, and then they will recall to
your memory every action of your life. They likewise tell Dar-bushi-fal
with oil; and indeed are, in every respect, most powerful sorcerers.
‘Two women, once on a time, came to Fez, bringing with them an
exceedingly white donkey, which they placed in the middle of the square
called Faz el Bali; they then killed it, and cut it into upwards of
thirty pieces. Upon the ground there was much of the donkey’s filth and
dung; some of this they took in their hands, when it straight assumed the
appearance of fresh dates. There were some people who were greedy enough
to put these dates into their mouths, and then they found that it was
dung. These women deceived me amongst the rest with a date; when I put
it into my mouth, lo and behold it was the donkey’s dung. After they had
collected much money from the spectators, one of them took a needle, and
ran it into the tail of the donkey, crying “Arrhe li dar” (Get home),
whereupon the donkey instantly rose up, and set off running, kicking
every now and then most furiously; and it was remarked, that not one
single trace of blood remained upon the ground, just as if they had done
nothing to it. Both these women were of the very same Char Seharra which
I have already mentioned. They likewise took paper, and cut it into the
shape of a peseta, and a dollar, and a half-dollar, until they had made
many pesetas and dollars, and then they put them into an earthen pan over
a fire, and when they took them out, they appeared just fresh from the
stamp, and with such money these people buy all they want.
‘There was a friend of my grandfather, who came frequently to our house,
who was in the habit of making this money. One day he took me with him
to buy white silk; and when they had shown him some, he took the silk in
his hand, and pressed it to his mouth, and then I saw that the silk,
which was before white, had become green, even as grass. The master of
the shop said, “Pay me for my silk.” “Of what colour was your silk?” he
demanded. “White,” said the man; whereupon, turning round, he cried,
“Good people, behold, the white silk is green”; and so he got a pound of
silk for nothing; and he also was of the Char Seharra.
‘They are very evil people indeed, and the emperor himself is afraid of
them. The poor wretch who falls into their hands has cause to rue; they
always go badly dressed, and exhibit every appearance of misery, though
they are far from being miserable. Such is the life they lead.’
There is, of course, some exaggeration in the above account of the
Dar-bushi-fal; yet there is little reason to doubt that there is a
foundation of truth in all the facts stated. The belief that they are
enabled, by sorcery, to change a white into a black man had its origin in
the great skill which they possess in altering the appearance of a horse
or a mule, and giving it another colour. Their changing white into green
silk is a very simple trick, and is accomplished by dexterously
substituting one thing for another. Had the man of the Dar-bushi-fal
been searched, the white silk would have been found upon him. The
Gypsies, wherever they are found, are fond of this species of fraud. In
Germany, for example, they go to the wine-shop with two pitchers exactly
similar, one in their hand empty, and the other beneath their cloaks
filled with water; when the empty pitcher is filled with wine they
pretend to be dissatisfied with the quality, or to have no money, but
contrive to substitute the pitcher of water in its stead, which the
wine-seller generally snatches up in anger, and pours the contents back,
as he thinks, into the butt—but it is not wine but water which he pours.
With respect to the donkey, which _appeared_ to be cut in pieces, but
which afterwards, being pricked in the tail, got up and ran home, I have
little to say, but that I have myself seen almost as strange things
without believing in sorcery.
As for the dates of dung, and the paper money, they are mere feats of
legerdemain.
I repeat, that if legitimate Gypsies really exist in Barbary, they are
the men and women of the Dar-bushi-fal.