Method of cooling a tent—Abd-el-Kader’s munificence—Tribute paid
in kind—A good dinner—Coffee—Supplies from Morocco—Letter from
General Létang—Arab foray—Prisoners—The beautiful black slave girl.
On the 23rd of August, at five in the morning, we again left Kaala,
and marched northward; after a march of seven hours, we encamped on
the very edge of the plain of Mostaganem, near the river Scheliff.
Our camp stood in a grove of ilexes and gum trees on the top of a
mountain, commanding the plain; just such a spot as was selected by
knights of old to build their castles on, for the better convenience
of robbing travellers, oppressing their serfs, and defending
themselves against their neighbours.
Abd-el-Kader’s tent was pitched near a fresh and abundant spring, and
the weather being oppressively hot, Zaka, the Sultan’s cup-bearer,
ordered the slaves to dig two little channels to convey the water
to the tent, where it was received into trenches immediately under
the hangings, which were raised just enough to admit a current of
air cooled by the water which surrounded the tent, and gave it the
appearance of an island.
I am too poor a hand at my pen, to attempt a description of the
beautiful and fertile plain which lay at our feet covered with crops
of various kinds, fruit trees, herds, flocks and tents. In spite of my
position I could not help sharing the general satisfaction inspired by
this delightful scene which promised such plentiful supplies to the
troops. Abd-el-Kader, in a fit of generosity and good humour, sent me
twelve pieces of eight moussounés each, (almost four shillings,) which
I was to share with Meurice. This munificent and public manifestation
of goodwill raised my spirits, and filled me with the hope of a speedy
deliverance, which was strengthened by the knowledge that the Arabs,
whom General Bugeaud had carried as prisoners to Marseilles, were as
impatient as myself to be restored to freedom and to their country.
In the morning a supply of melons, peaches, figs, and grapes arrived
at the camp, and we feasted on what fell to our share; the grapes were
better than the very best in France. I spent a few hours in wandering
about and admiring the beauty of the scenery, and then stretched
myself in the shade and indulged in a reverie, out of which I was
awakened at about four in the afternoon by the arrival of all the
surrounding tribes, who came to bring their subsidies. Each tribe was
preceded by its Kait, on horseback and armed only with a stick, then
came all the tribe—men, women, and children, two and two, bearing
on their heads dishes filled with kuskussu; the richest Arabs walked
apart from the line carrying whole sheep, spitted and roasted on a
stake. When they had reached Abd-el-Kader’s tent, the chief of each
tribe stepped forward and informed him that they had brought the
tribute, the Arabs set their dishes on the ground before the tent
and thrust the points of the spits on which the sheep were impaled
into the ground. These dishes of kuskussu crowned, some with honey,
some with hard eggs, some with raisins, others with boiled fowls or
quarters of mutton, wore a most varied and tempting appearance. The
Arabs then rushed into the tent to present their respects to the
Sultan, while several of them took advantage of the confusion to
steal the viands spread upon the earth, and it was only by the most
vigorous application of their sticks that the Kaits could succeed in
maintaining tolerable order. Abd-el-Kader then cast a glance upon the
dishes disposed before his tent, and Ben Faka distributed them among
the troops.
When the Sultan had finished his repast, Ben Faka, who always serves
it, brought the remains to our tent. A piece of leather was spread
in the centre of the carpet, and a dish of kuskussu which had been
begun by the Sultan was placed upon it. Ben Faka and several marabouts
squatted in a circle round the leathern tablecloth, and began to
devour the kuskussu and a sheep which we had for supper, without any
bread, tearing the mutton with their fingers, and throwing the bones
and scraps back into the dish, as the Sultan had done before them.
When they had eaten their fill, the dish passed into third hands,
and formed the supper of Abd-el-Kader’s slaves, who gnawed the bones
and scraps of meat like so many dogs. During this last stage of the
repast Ben Faka called Meurice and me and threw us a piece of meat,
which we ate in the Arab fashion with our fingers and without bread:
he also bestowed upon us a handful or so of kuskussu. The water was
brought in goat skins, and all the guests drank out of the same bowl
which was never washed. I need not add that the prisoners were always
served last. In spite of all this we thought our dinner excellent, and
in order worthily to conclude a repast in which we had eaten meat, I
asked Ben Faka’s leave to have coffee brought to us.
“Coffee for a Christian hound!” said he; “and who is to pay for it?”
“Did not the Sultan give me six pieces (two shillings), this morning?”
replied I; “and shall I not whenever I am exchanged proclaim his
munificence to my fellow-countrymen?”
These words softened the hard heart of Ben Faka, and he ordered his
coffee-maker to bring us some coffee. He then began to boast to us of
the power and the wealth of his master and of his own influence with
him, and exhibited, with the greatest pride, a snuff-box with a little
mirror in the lid,—a treasure which excited indescribable envy and
admiration among all the Arabs who were present. We soon perceived
that the drift of his conversation was to induce us to solicit his
protection and to offer him presents, and poor Meurice, who was always
on the watch for an opportunity of conciliating his tormentors,
immediately promised to send him a gold snuff-box from Algiers as soon
as he was set free. The delight of this Arab minister of finance, and
his promises of kindness to the dog of a Christian, may easily be
conceived.
The slave of Ben Faka’s coffee-maker interrupted our conversation by
bringing the coffee in two little earthenware cups on a tin tray: the
cups have no handles, but are fixed in small brass saucers; the coffee
seemed to me delicious—it was served with the grounds; and the two
cups sweetened with brown sugar, and a couple of pipes to smoke, cost
a penny.
Even now I cannot think of that day without emotion: it was so unlike
all the rest of my captivity; we suffered neither ill usage, cold,
nor hunger; the weather was beautiful, we had plenty of fruits, and
Abd-el-Kader and Ben Faka were even kind to us: in short, to us it was
a day of positive enjoyment.
It has been asserted that Abd-el-Kader received no supplies from
Morocco; this statement is contradicted by facts which I myself
witnessed. On the 7th of August, 1836, a convoy arrived at the
Sultan’s camp, from Morocco, bringing flints, scull-caps, slippers,
trowsers, and cloaks enough for six hundred men. On the 15th of
August there came fifteen camels loaded with powder and ball, also
from Morocco. On the 25th of August Abd-el-Kader received from
Morocco a store of biscuits and saltpetre. Every time that these
supplies arrived at the camp the Arabs testified the greatest joy and
exultation, and received the chief of the convoy with the same honours
that they pay to Abd-el-Kader.
On the 28th of August two Arab spies came to the camp, one of them
bringing a number of gun-flints which he had bought at Oran, and the
other some despatches entrusted to him by the French authorities at
Tlemsen for the Commandant at Oran, and to which he was to take back
an answer.
Abd-el-Kader unsealed them, and having sent for Meurice, ordered him
to read them. Meurice obeyed, and the Sultan resealed and sent them on
to their address.
A few days after, the same Arab filling the double office of courier
to the French and spy to Abd-el-Kader, returned to the camp with the
answer from General Létang the Commandant of Oran, to the Commandant
of Tlemsen. Abd-el-Kader sent for me, and after very carefully
unsealing General Létang’s letters, he ordered me to read them aloud.
In them the General informed the Commandant of Tlemsen, that he had
returned from his expedition against the Beni Amers, having achieved
it without striking a single blow, and that he had plundered the
silos[5] of the Arabs.
The officers of the brig Loiret, added General Létang, were foolish
enough to go out shooting at Arzew, and Lieutenant De France fell into
the hands of the Arabs.
I took very good care not to read the first part of the letter, but
only what related to myself.
“Is that all?” said the Sultan; “surely thou hast deceived me?”
“Read it yourself,” said I, “and you will see.”
I was certain he could not read French, although he speaks it pretty
well. I was then dismissed, and on returning to the tent I informed
Meurice of what had just happened; and it was fortunate for me that I
did so, for scarce had I finished my story when a marabout came in and
summoned him to appear before the Sultan, and had he read what I had
passed over, no doubt the chaous would soon have disabled me from ever
telling that Abd-el-Kader opens the despatches of our generals.
* * * * *
On the 29th of August the camp was again broken up, and after a march
of six hours we halted on the banks of the Ouet Mina, a narrow but
very rapid stream which rises to the east of Tekedemta and falls into
the Schellif at about six leagues from the coast. The Schellif, which
is the principal river of the country, rises among the mountains to
the south of Milianah, runs from east to west, and falls into the sea
near Cape Ivi, between the Cape of Ténez and the Gulf of Arzew.
Ben Faka placed the camp on a hill adjoining the chain of mountains
which overlooks the western part of the plain of Milianah. The site
was as beautiful as the one we had just left: not far from our tent
was a lofty cascade, the waters of which fell into the plain below,
where they soon disappeared. If they were received in a basin and
thence carried in small channels over the plain, the parched earth
would soon be changed into green meadows which would afford far better
food for the cows and horses of the Arabs than the weeds and briars
which they are now forced to eat; and the harvests of wheat and barley
would be very abundant; for though the Arab plough only scratches the
very surface of the earth, I have seen one grain of wheat produce six
or eight stalks. This province generally has very few trees, but the
mountains which surround it are covered with ilexes and gum trees.
Abd-el-Kader laid a double tax upon the surrounding tribes to punish
them for having given a favourable reception to Ibrahim, Bey of
Mostaganem. Every day the horsemen brought to the camp great booty in
horses, sheep, and oxen; and in Abd-el-Kader’s tent the whole day
was passed in counting the money which had been seized: this does not
imply that the sums were immense, but that the Arabs count over their
money ten or fifteen times. The Chief Secretary, whom by virtue of his
office I am bound to consider as the most enlightened man in the camp,
used frequently to come into our tent, and crouching behind a bale of
goods, entirely hidden under his haick, count and recount his money
for hours together.
In spite of the most stringent measures and of the zeal displayed by
the Kaits in collecting the tribute, it was hard to make the Arabs
pay it, and Abd-el-Kader sent a party of horsemen to their tents, who
returned in the evening laden with every kind of booty, and driving
before them herds of horses, cattle, sheep, women, children, and
negroes.
At the news of the arrival of these prisoners a number of Arabs came
to the camp, in order to see whether they might not be able to buy a
few negroes, or a woman or so, a bargain. If, after casting a rapid
glance over the slaves who were crouching on the ground, the buyer saw
one whose appearance struck his fancy, he made him rise and examined
all his limbs, as we examine a horse or a bull, made him open his
mouth, and, if it was a woman, pressed her breasts to see whether
there was milk in them. The unfortunate wretches bore it all with
the most perfect indifference, and when the bargain was struck, they
followed their new masters with an air of utter insensibility.
Among the prisoners for sale who were in our tent, was a beautiful
black girl of about fourteen; she had large soft black eyes, lips like
coral, and teeth like the pearls set in the handle of a yataghan;
her legs were like those of a race horse, and her feet and hands
smaller than those of a Spanish woman; her shape was perfect, and the
slenderness of her waist contrasted beautifully with the fulness of
her hips; for the poor girl, contrary to the custom of the women of
this country, had confined her white haick round her middle with a red
worsted cord. Her beauty and the fineness and cleanliness of her dress
clearly showed that she had been the property of wealthy people. The
poor girl laid herself on the ground beside me, weeping and lamenting,
and refused the food that was offered to her.
Seeing her so beautiful and so unhappy, I tried to comfort her; but
she said, “I was so happy in the tent from which they robbed me, and
now I shall be made to sleep outside with the horses: I shall have no
kuskussu to eat, and I shall wear a torn and dirty haick;” and she
wept again.
Before long, a chief of the Garrabas came into the tent: he had
brought the head of a French soldier whom he had surprised that
morning in a field near Mostaganem, so that he was welcome in the
camp. He was rich and wanted to buy slaves. At the sight of the young
negress his eyes brightened with pleasure, and he ordered her to rise.
The slave obeyed, she was subjected to the most minute examination
and found faultless. The Garraba turned to Ben Faka, and said, “Fifty
boutjous?”
“I must have eighty boutjous (_10l._) for her,” said Ben Faka.
“She is not worth them.”
“Did’st thou ever see so beautiful a negress?—Open thy mouth.”
The slave obeyed.
“Look, what teeth! there is not one missing!—Walk.”
The slave walked.
“What hips! what a firm and graceful step! She is a virgin too.—Open
thy haick and thy shift.”
The slave did as she was commanded.
“Press her breasts; she has no more milk than a new-born lamb. Don’t
weep slave, or the chaous shall dry thy tears with his stick.”
The girl wiped her eyes.
“Eighty boutjous.”
“Sixty. She is not strong; she will not be able to carry the dung out
of the stable.”
“In two years she will carry the dung of all the horses belonging to
thy tent. Eighty boutjous.”
“Seventy.”
“Her hands are delicate; she has never worked. Eighty boutjous. Yea or
nay? the Sultan waits for me.”
The Garraba paid them and bade his slave follow him; the poor girl
left the tent fixing on me her eyes bathed in tears. I saw the Garraba
stop at the Sultan’s tent to receive the price of the Frenchman’s
head, and in a few minutes they left the camp, and I lost sight of the
poor black girl.
[5] The Arab subterraneous granaries and barns, which are
carefully covered with lime, and excavated with so much art as
to exclude all moisture, and preserve the contents for years;
the only access to them is through a funnel-shaped hole at the
top, barely large enough to admit a man.