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