CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHADAMES.
Celebration of Marriage.--Native Feast of the Slaves.--Study of
the Negro Languages.--Visit to the Ancient Watch-Tower.--Arrival
of an Algerian Spy.--Visit to Sidi Mâbed.--Continued Oppression
of the Ghadamsee People by the Turks.--The Ancient Sheikh
Ali.--Finances of Algeria.--Bastinading a truant
School-Boy.--Ceuta sold by the Mahommedans to the Spaniards for a
Loaf of Bread.--The _Parakleit_ of the New Testament the promised
Prophet Mahomet.--Tricks of the Algerian Dervish-Spy.--Learn to
crack Jokes in Arabic.--The sustaining force of Camels' Milk as
Food.--Depreciation of Women by the Moors.
_10th._--A BEAUTIFUL morning, and cool. I saw with some surprise a very
fine red butterfly, also a small flight of good-sized birds passing over
the gardens.
This morning there was a grand gormandizing of bazeen[48], in celebration
of the nuptials of the two daughters of my taleb. The feast was given by
the fathers of the young men. Nearly the whole of the male population of
the _Ben Wezeet_, besides strangers and the Arab soldiers, went to dig,
and dip, and dive into the huge bowl of bazeen, some three or four
hundred adults, besides boys. The house was small, and parties entering
together were limited to twenty. However, as the object is merely to
compliment the new married people and their parents, after they had
swallowed half a dozen mouthsful, they immediately retired and left the
coast clear for the rest, and thus the ceremony was soon got through.
There was an exception in the case of the soldiers, whose hungry stomachs
found the bazeen so good that they stuck fast to the bowl, and were
obliged to receive the Irish hint of being pulled away by main force
before they would relinquish their tenacious grasp. My taleb, as a matter
of course, called upon me to go to the festa. I found the festive hall to
be a smallish oblong room, the walls of which were garnished with a
number of little looking-glasses, polished brass basons, and various
other small matters, including little baskets made of palm-branches. The
floor was covered with matting and a few showy carpets, and one or two
ottomans were arranged for seats. In the centre of the room was placed an
enormous wooden dish, full of bazeen, or thick boiled pudding, made of
barley-meal, with olive-oil, and sauce of pounded dates poured upon it.
Every person ate with his hands, rolling the pudding into balls, and
dipping the balls into oil and date-sauce. A great piece of carpetting
was laid round the bowl, to be used as a napkin to wipe the hands and
mouth. The wooden dish or bowl might have been three feet in diameter,
and was replenished as fast as emptied with masses of boiled dough, oil,
and date-sauce. There was suspended over it, two or three feet above, a
wicker roof, to prevent the dirt from falling into it when the people
stood up all around and wiped their hands. The visitors squatted down
together, encircling the bowl, in numbers of about eight or ten. An Arab,
who had a lump given him in a corner, like a dog, found fault with it and
returned it, saying, "It is not enough." This, of course, was delicate,
but another lump was given him, for which also he growled
dissatisfaction. This _feeding_ of bazeen was the fullest extent of the
good things of the feast. Some of the more respectable merchants went in
and out without tasting the bazeen, merely paying the compliment to their
friends. I asked an acquaintance how much he thought a feast of this sort
cost. He replied, "About twenty dollars, but it is not the value of the
materials of the feast, but the custom, which is esteemed." Not one of
the Ben Weleed were present, but all the Wezeet deemed it their duty to
attend the feast. The marriage feast is some eight days after the
marriage. Last night there was a little firing of matchlocks. After
marriage, the bridegroom cannot mix with his acquaintances for two or
three weeks. It is a sort of decamping after marriage, as if the parties
had done something of which they were ashamed, like in travelling
honey-moons amongst ourselves. But at certain hours of the day the
bridegroom may be seen gliding about like a spectre in the dark streets,
alone and with noiseless tread. He usually is dressed in gayest colours
of blue and scarlet, with a fine long stave of brass, or a bright iron
spear in his hand. When he is met by any one he instantly vanishes: he
does not utter a syllable, and no person attempts to speak to him.
This afternoon and evening was also a _native_ feast of the slaves. They
first danced and sung in the market-place. Afterwards they visited the
_tombs_, and prayed to their dead relatives, propitiating their manes,
and "to be restored to them and liberty at their death." The women
carried chafing-dishes in their hands, on which burnt fragrantly the
incense of _bekhour_. The pride of men perpetuate their distinctions
beyond life to the land of the dead, where one would think the ashes of
the human body should be allowed freely to return to the essential
elements of our common mother, Earth. So slaves have their place of
burial, and must not commingle their bones with those of freemen. From
the grave-yard and its sadness, the slaves proceeded to a garden, alotted
to them, where they danced, and sung, and forgot their slavery. Besides
dancing and singing, the slaves occasionally fired off matchlocks, which
they had borrowed from their masters or friends, and of which they are
most immoderately fond. The high military chivalry of Europe, and France,
who calls herself _mère de l'épée_, are well matched by the savage tribes
and slaves of enslaved Africa, who all delight in the slash and cut of
the sword, and the banging noise of the gun. The negresses sat apart, as
usual, occasionally raising their shrill _loo-looings_, which they have
well learnt from their Moorish mistresses. They were very gaily attired,
some with their arms covered with bracelets and armlets, six or seven
pairs of very broad tin or silver hoops being fitted on or encircling one
single arm; so that the arms of some of these sable beauties were an
entire mass of metal. The party mustered about a hundred, and the Tibboo
stranger was here, attracted by the colour of skin and native
associations. Several people went from the city to see the slaves'
festival--I amongst the rest. It would be great injustice if I were not
to add, that the Moorish inhabitants of Ghadames ordinarily treat their
slaves well; they have a good deal of leisure, if not liberty; and their
lot, as compared with the slaves of the cotton and sugar plantations of
Christians, _is liberty itself_,--so differently do religions affect, or
not affect at all, the morality of the people who profess them. To judge
from this obvious case of comparison, which is so notorious through all
The East and North Africa, as contrasted with the Christian States of
America, the religion of the impostor of Mecca should be the religion of
the divine morals of the New Testament, and the religion of The Saviour
be the corrupt morals of the Koran. But if we were to judge of a religion
and its morals from those who profess it, our ideas would soon get into
confusion, and we should fall into the most deplorable errors.
Began to-day to acquire a few words of the Nigritian languages. People
are such geese, that when I learnt half-a-dozen words of what some call
the "_black_" language, they thought me a prodigy. The Housa is the best
and most frequently spoken language here of the Nigritian tongues. A New
Testament, translated into this language, would or could be read by a
third of the tribes of Central Africa. Asking my negro master what _I_
was, he replied, "_Kerdee_," which means _kafer_ ("infidel") in Bornou,
the negro mistaking my individual self for the pronoun _I_, which is
_oomah_. I laughed heartily at the fellow's impudence.
This afternoon, visited the ancient tower, about half a mile distant,
westwards, from the walls of Ghadames. My turjeman, who was _cicerone_,
informed me that the tower was built by the Christians, and was a
watch-tower to give alarm to the city in case of an attack from banditti
or other enemies. There is another like it in the mountains to the
north-west, where are also scattered some old masonry of other buildings.
We mounted the top of the tower, and found a hollowed space at the top,
of this shape--
[Illustration]
twenty feet long, eight broad, and about five deep. It was evidently a
cistern or tank for the troops, for we saw a hole at the broad end, from
which the water ran out. The tower itself was about forty feet in
diameter. How high it had been, we could not now tell; but the cistern is
placed nearly at the top of what remains of the tower. Probably the water
ran down into the lower rooms. From the tops of the ruins there was a
commanding view of the oasis, and the surrounding Desert. On our way we
passed a very deep, dry well, and the wall-remains of several ancient
gardens. The turjeman says the water of Ghadames diminishes, and was
formerly much more abundant.
_11th._--This morning cooler than any yet. My eyes are now nearly
restored from the attack of ophthalmia which I had in Tripoli; they open
always with a little pain in the morning. It is frightful to observe how
many people here have their eyes injured. A poor camel-driver said to me,
"Alas! since I went that road to Ghat, I have been nearly blind. The sand
and rock were too bright for them."
An Algerine Arab arrived with those of Souf, a species of vagrant
marabout, bringing with him all the lax liberal ideas of French
Mussulmans. I thought at first he had been sent as a spy, to see what I
myself was doing at Ghadames. The pious Ghadamseeah were confounded at
his discourses, as he held forth in the streets. He was very clever and
facetious, now and then affecting the saint--now the reformer. When he
was gone, I asked the people what they thought of him. They replied,
"He's spoilt--he's a _French_ Mussulman--he'll soon be an infidel."
Others said, "He's mad." This stranger brings the news that all is peace
in Algeria. One of the people asked him, "Whether it was really true that
the French had got so far into the interior as Constantine?" The Algerine
says also, Abdel-Kader is escaped to The Desert. The Emir had been at war
with the French during the summer. My taleb, speaking of the French,
observed, "Buonaparte had no father." I endeavoured in vain to persuade
him to the contrary; and pressing him to tell me under whose influence he
was begotten, he at last said, "You think I'm a fool, but his father was
one of the Jenoun ("demons")." This is rather a good ancestry, for the
Jenoun are, on the whole, a harmless, pleasant sort of people, a
disposition which the war-loving tyrant Corsican rarely showed.
_12th._--Rose earlier than usual, before sunrise, in order to go to the
marabet[49] of Sidi-Mâbed--سيدي مَع٘بد. My turjeman had
married his wife from this place, and therefore accompanied me. He
said, "I married one of the daughters of the Saint, and his blood
runs in the veins of my children." In all The Desert we find this
aristocracy of the gentle blood of the Saints. Sidi-Mâbed is two
miles and a half from Ghadames due west. It is situate upon the
slope of a small valley, which might formerly have been the bed of a
river. To look at this speck of an oasis, its appearance is not
unlike that of Seenawan. Around, and near the little village, which
may consist of some fifteen very lowly dwellings, is a cluster of
palms, and further on are two or three single ones, scattered over
the sloping valley. At the furthest distance are some patches of
cultivation, the water running gurgling down to them. The gardens
are of the same character as those of Ghadames. The inhabitants
consist of some seventy souls, all the descendants of one man, the
famous saint who has given his name to the village. But according to
the account of his sons, his offspring has not increased very fast,
for it is several hundred years,--even 900 say they--since His
Maraboutship flourished. Some place him as far back as the Flood. It
is said that Nimroud did not place his iron hoof on this sacred
spot. The daughters of the Saint marry away, only the sons remain in
the oasis, and some of these emigrate, which accounts for the
smallness of the Saint's offspring.
The children of this Saint, like many a saint himself, are very ignorant,
and only one of them pretends to read and write, and to-day he was
unfortunately not in the oasis. Those with whom I conversed were simple
rude peasants, but polite in their manners, with countenances speaking a
serenity of soul and happiness of disposition, not common to the
inhabitants of the Saharan regions. They told me their village was
_Zaweea_ ("a sanctuary"), and was recorded in the sacred archives of
Constantinople as one of the most renowned places in the countries of the
Prophet. It is, at any rate, one of the most venerated sanctuaries in the
Sahara, and receives pious offerings from all. Amidst wars and tumults,
and the depredations of banditti without and around, it remains secure
and inviolate and inviolable. This has been its happy destiny through
ages, and the villagers, poor and ignorant as they are, may be proud of
their sacred unpolluted home. We have here a remarkable instance of the
triumph of religious principle over brute force. The people of Ghadames
make continual pilgrimages to the shrine of the Saint. The villagers
brought our party dates, and all the women and children came out to look
at me; the same jealous feelings do not exist amongst these unsuspecting
untutored people as in Ghadames and other Desert cities. A happy thought
occurred to me before I came away in the morning, of bringing them some
wedding-cakes and sweets which had been sent to me: these I brought, with
several loaves of bread. They received them very gratefully, dividing
them among the whole population of seventy people, a morsel for each.
They have no wheaten bread here; they live not on the "fat of the land,"
as the Christian poverty-vowing monks of our own and past times. These
Desert saints are content with a scanty supply of barley-meal, a little
olive-oil, and a few dates. I had been told they did not approve of
holding _Ben-Adam_ as slaves, and was greatly disappointed to hear a
reply from one of them, "If we had money we would have slaves; we have no
slaves, because we have no money." By the way, the poverty of North
Africa and The Sahara is one of the principal causes of the few domestic
slaves now kept, in comparison with former times.
When we had been in the village a few minutes, an Arab soldier came
hastily after us. He was sent by the Rais, who was frightened out of his
wits, his Excellency giving out, that I should be attacked by banditti.
His Excellency said, on my return, "_Why, why?_ (apparently displeased,
many people being with him,) whenever you go out, come to me, and I will
give you an armed Arab soldier." He added; "You and I will go and see the
Zaweea on horseback." The fact is, some of the people were jealous of a
Christian going to their sacred village, and considered it a pollution,
and the Rais was obliged to make a show of opposition and displeasure.
The children of the Saint manifested none of these exclusive jealous
feelings, and were happy to see me. In the course of an hour, though my
turjeman and myself came off early and secretly, it was known all over
the city the Christian had gone to the sanctuary, and the more bigoted
were not a little excited. In the village, although everything has the
appearance of the most abject poverty, all is bright and clean. The tomb
of the Saint remains, but is concealed from the world, enveloped in
profound mystery, suitable to the exciting of superstitious feelings. In
the gardens were many pretty butterflies. I noticed a single cotton-tree,
and gathered two or three ripe pods; the tree looked unhealthy and was
very dwarfish. The Sahara is not the place for cotton growing; formerly,
however, cotton was grown at Carthage, the Jereed, and other parts of
North Africa. Sir Thomas Reade has lately tried cotton-growing on the
lands of Carthage, but not succeeded very well. We went to see the
date-trees, and seeing one a mere bush, without a trunk, I said; "How
long has that been so, will it ever bear dates?" A son of the Saint said;
"That tree has been there as long as I can remember. It was always so.
Date-trees are like mankind, some are tall, some are dwarfish, some fat,
some lean, some bear fruit and others are barren. The root descends into
the earth as low as the length of a man. God created this place and gave
us this garden. We and our children shall keep it until the Judgment-day!
From this garden we shall ascend to that of paradise, where we shall have
dates always ripe and ready for eating, for every tree is large and
fruitful there. And no man dare touch these trees without our permission,
not even the Rais or the Bashaw. We pay nothing to any man; all cast
before us their offerings. But we have little because we want little.
Such is the will of God." Here then is the abode of inviolate sanctity!
here sits the protecting genius of Ghadames, like a pelican in the
wilderness! I observed again to-day the burnt volcanic stones scattered
over The Desert. They were of all colours, yellow, black, brown, and red,
like so many brick-bats. These stones scattered for miles around,
together with the hot-spring of the city, and many of the low dull
Saharan hills, like so many heaps of scoriæ and lava, give apparently a
volcanic origin to all these regions, or render such a supposition
probable.
In full Divan it was decided this morning to clear out a little the
hot-spring and its ducts running to the gardens, in order to give the
flow of water more room. Some old people say their fathers cleaned it
out, and the water ran more abundantly; the deeper their fathers dug the
well, the more the water gushed out. Others are opposed to the
innovation, opposed to all change, being the good old Tories of the
Saharan city. All the people are to go in a few days and set to work at
this cleaning, that means their slaves. Went to see this evening a sick
Touarick, out of town in his tent, and gave him some medicine; but shall
be obliged to leave off distributing soon, for the most useful medicines
are nearly all finished.
_13th._--Weather becomes daily cooler. Get tired of writing, and wish to
be off in The Desert. A courier from The Mountains has arrived, bringing
a note from Ahmed Effendi, who says, "The people of Ghadames have no
occasion to send a deputation to Tripoli. They must pay the extraordinary
demand of 3,000 mahboubs at once, without farther dispute or delay."
People are in consternation; they all say they've no more money. My taleb
assures me he was obliged to sell two of his shirts to make up the last
amount of the regular tax. What is to be done for extraordinary demands?
The fortifications of _Emjessem_ are to be immediately rebuilt. The mud
and salt walls are to be destroyed, and new ones of stone and lime are to
replace them. Rais showed me the plan of the fonduk, which was nearly
executed. This looks like perseverance on the part of the Turks, and
shows their determination to keep open the communication between this and
Tripoli. The fonduk, or caravanseria, will be eighty feet long and thirty
wide. It is to be built by the people of Ghadames, who, whilst working,
will be protected by sixty Arab troops. The expense to be also paid by
Ghadames. Rais is going to see the works begin. Besides the new fonduk,
Rais has taken the precaution of stopping up a well, a day's journey
north-east from the city, by rolling into it a huge stone. This is for
the same object, to prevent brigands coming near the city and lying in
wait for small caravans and isolated travellers. Fifty sheep were brought
into Souk to-day; they were immediately sold. People fatten them for the
_Ayd-Kebir_, each family endeavouring to procure one as a religious
obligation.
_14th._--Went early this morning to _Ben Weleed_ to find my aged friend,
Sheikh Ali. He has the largest species of dates, and invited me to go to
his garden to see the palms.
Sheikh Ali is a man of ancient days, and ancient honour and resources,
and fallen into a very low estate. He has not only outlived his age and
reputation, but outlived his wealth and riches and has become "poor
indeed." A long flowing white beard now covers his receding breast, and
the wrinkles of ninety years furrow his pale brow and sunken cheeks.
Nevertheless, dignity, though ruined, is stamped on his countenance, and
an almost youthful activity and hale health keep up the great burden of
his years. On arriving at the old man's garden, he told me to follow him,
and coming to a very fine lofty palm, with over-hanging wide-spreading
boughs, he sat down under its ample shade, and bade me sit by his side.
"Christian," he said, "I have sat under the shade of this palm all the
days of my life, and shall recline here till God summons me hence."
"How old are the longest-lived palms?" I returned.
"More than the ages of three old men's lives," observed the Sheikh.
An old slave, as ancient-looking as his master, now brought a basket of
dates, they were every one of them larger than our largest walnuts. I am
vexed I have forgotten the name of this splendid variety of the date.
"Eat," said Sheikh Ali, and reclined back in silence for at least half an
hour. Now and then he opened his eyes to look on the autumnal beams of
the rising sun, then breathed a sigh and a prayer, but did not address me
a word. His ancient slave sat at a distance with his eyes fixed on his
beloved master, watching the movement of his lips, as he breathed his
morning prayer. At length, seeing the old man's lips cease to move, I
said gently:--
"Sheikh Ali, they say you have broken down very much, but I am glad to
see you confide your sorrows in the bosom of God."
_Sheikh Ali._--(Awakening up suddenly, and looking at me anxiously) "Ah,
Christian, have they told you so? The detractors, the wretches!"
"I trust I have not offended you."
_Sheikh Ali._--"No, stranger, no. But I hate them. I hate the world. I
curse the world."
"The unfortunate and disappointed are always bitter upon the world. But
you, Sheikh Ali, I know are above spite and malignity: you would not
stoop even to hate the miserable follies of the world."
_Sheikh Ali._--"Christian, thou talkest well, and in my way. I tell thee
I hate no one, I have lived and I shall soon be done with the world. May
those who come after me fare better."
"What is this hatred of the Ben Weleed and the Ben Wezeet?"
_Sheikh Ali._--(Smiling faintly.) "Christian, thou wilt know everything.
My father told me when I came out of the belly of my mother, that I was a
_Ben Wezeelee_, and I have remained so to this day. But why or wherefore,
I know not? Dost thou not see that people do this and that, and know not
why they do it? Well, Christian, we do not hate the Ben Wezeet; but we
will not associate with them, because we are proud, and because our
fathers did not associate with them. It is pride, not hatred, which
divides this our nation into two."
"Why so proud? It says in the Koran the Devil would not admire Adam for
pride[50], and God cursed him for his pride."
_Sheikh Ali._--"Ah, Christian, how knowest thou the Koran? Canst thou
read the Great and Mighty Koran?"
"In England we read the Koran in order to obtain a correct knowledge of
classic Arabic. Others read it to understand the religion of Moslems."
_Sheikh Ali._--"Right, right. The Christians are a wise people. Oh, these
religions!"
I thought I heard a regret of scepticism, or a kindly view of heretics
and infidels, in the latter exclamation, "_Oh, these religions!_" So I
observed to the Sheikh, "A pity it is we are not all of one religion, as
we are all the children of one Creator."
_Sheikh Ali._--"By G----! Christian, thou art right. I have always prayed
God to lead me in the right way, and to have mercy upon others. But do
you know, Christian, I think there were amongst those prophets of ancient
times many impostors. What do you think?"
"I am sure of it. It is also the opinion of all our wise men in England."
_Sheikh Ali._--"Christian, I hate Marabouts. In the long years of my life
I have seen all their tricks, lies, and impositions. I am sorry for the
poor people, on whom they practise their impostures, and also for the
women. I have one daughter; I never permitted her to consult a marabout.
I told her what the wretches were. Have you marabouts in England?"
"Yes, of all descriptions. We have also many who get the women to confess
the secrets of families, and create an odious war in the bosom of
society."
_Sheikh Ali._--"Ah, ah (chuckling), all the world's alike. God curse
those marabouts. Do you give them money?"
"Money! In our country, nothing is done without money."
_Sheikh Ali._--(Becoming fresh excited.) "What! are the English like us?
is a man esteemed for his money?"
"You have heard of London?"
_Sheikh Ali._--"_Londra?_"
"Yes, that's it. Well, in Londra, nor virtue, nor honour, nor wisdom, is
worth anything without money."
_Sheikh Ali._--"The Devil take the world, it's all alike. So here, so
there. When I was rich, everybody bowed down to me; now that I am poor,
they pass me by without saying _bis-slamah_ (saluting). Why did God make
money? How wretched is the world." So this philosopher of The Desert
continued. Returning, I bade the ancient Sheikh an affectionate adieu.
In the streets, people appeared to be fasting, as in the most rigid
Ramadan. I never saw such gloomy, emaciated faces. Really people look as
if they were all going to give up the ghost. What is to become of these
poor devils of dervishes! Government is grinding them down to the dust!
Returned home heart-sick at the sight. I am growing daily more impatient
of remaining so long in Ghadames. Impatience comes on like attacks of
fever. Have determined again to pursue the Kanou route.
The forty slaves brought by the Touaricks and the Tibboo have been all
sold to the Souafah. The Tibboo sold his for twenty dollars per head. The
ten dollars per head tax on them put the Rais in possession of a little
ready money, and his Excellency paid me back the hundred Tunisian
piastres. The Arabs of Souf always bring money here, and, besides
dollars, a quantity of five-franc pieces, since the French have occupied
Algeria. The millions spent or wasted by the French in Algeria are
variously disposed of:--
1st.--The Arabs get a _fifth_, who bury their money, or send it into the
neighbouring deserts of Tunis and Morocco.
2nd. The Maltese ship off a _ninth_ of the money to Malta. The Spaniards
and other foreigners also get a share.
3rd. A great quantity, a fifth, perhaps, is embezzled by the _employés_
of the civil administration, and their creatures, the contractors.
4th. A tenth is spent on the public works.
5th. The rest is paid to the military. A _fraction_ only is spent on the
culture of the soil, and for the purposes of emigration, or the real
colonization of the country.
_15th._--This morning is really cold, and the coldest morning we have had
yet. Rais assures me I shall with difficulty be able to bear the cold, so
intense is it in Ghadames during the winter, or January and February.
Greatly agitated about my journey in the past night, and could not sleep.
There will soon be an end of this uncertainty. I pray God to give me
patience and wisdom. Observe people are beginning to feel the effects of
the cold, and cover up their mouths like the Italians and Spaniards. But
all are living up to the starvation-point.
At noon was held a full Divan, to decide upon the "extraordinary demand."
The chiefs of the people said:--"We have no money, and cannot pay." The
Rais replied:--"Such discourse will not do; you have money, and must
pay." Then the Divan broke up without farther palavering. The alleged
object of the money to be raised, is for the expenses of the troops who
went in pursuit of the Arabs of the son of Abd-el-Geleel in the past
summer.
The old bandit calls and says:--"Your friend, the _long_ man, has
finished to-day all his tobacco." The long man is the Giant Touarick. I
took no notice of this polite hint to furnish a new supply. I might
furnish with tobacco all the Touaricks who came here, if I were to
attend to these Irish hints. The old bandit, who is cramped up like a
wizened apple, is said by people still to carry on his nefarious trade.
The proof of this they give to be, his always _going alone_ when he
travels. The old villain then catches what he can. Myself, I hardly
believe he continues his brigandage. He appears wholly worn out. I gave
his little son 20 paras to buy camel's flesh. The old freebooter grinned
a ghastly smile. Walking in _Ben Weleed_ quarters, I heard a great to-do,
and went to see what it was, when I saw the old chief, Haj Ben Mousa
Ettanee, standing over his young truant son, whilst with a thick stick
the servant of the schoolmaster was belabouring the feet of the child.
Never was a more complete bastinadoing. The urchin cried to his father
for mercy. It was perfectly in character with the old man, and the
austere manners of his family. I do not wonder that all the people read
and write in Ghadames, when such severity is practised by the very
aristocrats of the city. Whilst standing by, another Moor went up to the
old man, and said, "Stop, stop, here's the Christian looking on." They
stopped, but it appeared a mere pretence for leaving off, for already
they had unmercifully belaboured the truant.
No mutton to be had to-day, and was obliged to buy camel's flesh for
dinner: found it pretty good. My turjeman and taleb both joined me.
After dinner, the taleb began in his usual controversial spirit. He
insisted, that "Any person who should make himself well acquainted
with the Koran must become a Mussulman." "If the French teach their
children to read the Koran, in order to learn the Arabic," said he,
"they must conquer the Russians and the English." Not "εν τουτω
νιχα[51]," but in or with _This Book_, say the Mussulmans, the
world must be conquered. The Russians and the French, having
recently made conquests in Mohammedan countries near them, (for the
wars in Circassia are heard of here,) impress these people with
fear, and fear is their ruling principle of government. Asking my
taleb why the Mussulmans who had possession of _This Book_ did not
conquer the world, he answered sharply, "The Mussulmans conquered
the world once with the Koran, but now they have lost their faith,
and are weak, and such is the will of God." The taleb then related a
curious story about Ceuta. A certain marabout, who had seen the _Elouh
Elmahfouth_ (الوح المحفوظ,) or "Book of Fate," which
was let down to him to look at and read in, from heaven, went into the
city, and offered Ceuta for sale at the low price of "_a loaf of
bread_." The people said:--"Oh, the man is mad, let him go." But he
continued the more to cry out, "Who will give me a loaf of bread for
Ceuta?" At last he met a Christian, a Spaniard, who gave the
Marabout a loaf of bread, and took possession of the city. This
seems really an excuse for the loss of that strong fortress. But it
is added:--"The Marabout having seen and read the future destiny of
Ceuta in the _Book of Fate_, was determined to hasten the crisis,
and placed it at once in the hands of the Christians." My taleb
assures me that Mahomet was foretold and promised in our gospels,
under the name of _Parakleit_, (_i. e._ ὁ Παράκλητος,), "The
Comforter." He cited also the Koran, but would not write the
passage; I had no Koran with me. But this is an advantage, for if I
had had a Koran in my possession, I should only have excited the
prejudices of the people against me, and should not have been able
to have kept it from them. A traveller might take a translation
advantageously, one without Arabic notes, or _Arabic_ words
explained, which would soon excite their curiosity to know what it
was. Speaking of the "_Ben Welleed_" and "_Wezeet_," my turjeman
said:--"These are the French and the English; we are always at war
with one another."
It is the opinion of people here, that the French and English are always
at war, and they are continually on the _qui-vive_ for a war breaking out
between France and England, for they think then the English will drive
out the French from Algeria, unmindful of what miseries such a war would
entail upon themselves, crushed as they would be between the two great
hostile Powers.
The Algerine dervish is playing off some fine tricks. This afternoon he
got together a dozen low fellows of the Ben Weleed, and went to say the
_fatah_ before the Governor. This saying _fatah_ was chiefly forming a
circle with his troop, himself in the middle, and then at the top of his
voice singing out, whilst his troop cried out, "_hhahh_," jumping up, and
bending forward their heads and bodies towards him. This they continued
for an hour or more, until they sank upon the floor with exhaustion.
Afterwards they played off some other genteel tricks. His Excellency the
Rais is as great a dervish as any mad fellow here, and though suffering
greatly from headache and bad eyes, he endured this tomfoolery for nearly
a couple of hours. My taleb, a shrewd man, said to me, "Don't you see, I
told you this Algerian was an impostor?" I believe really he is a French
spy on the movements of the Turks, and perhaps myself. The Tibboo calls.
He is preparing to depart, and presses me to go with him. Speaking to a
Touarick, he said, "See the money of the Christians (taking hold of my
black buttons)." Many people have half a mind to believe my black buttons
are money. The Tibboo says, there are no watches in Soudan. People are
content to measure time by the sun's rising and setting. Some merchants,
lately come from Tunis, have heard of the projected aërial machine. They
have no difficulty in believing that Christians travel in the air. They
think the Devil, being very clever, teaches Christians all these things.
The _Touatee_ calls, and says, "You must write something." "What?" I
answer. "Oh," he replies, "My wife has a head full of fantazia (or
nonsense); this you must write." It appears the Touatee has got a
scolding wife. Told the Rais about this funny incident, who said, "Tell
the _Touatee_ to go home and pretend he's going to take another wife, and
then she'll soon leave off pouting."
_16th_ and _17th._--Continues cold. People say I improve in Arabic. I
ought, for I have enough of it. What is odd, I begin to joke with the
people. It will be seen I have represented the Saharan people as mostly
gloomy, and suffering from the oppression of their Government. Still
there are times when they can force a smile, or crack a joke. They carry
the joke so far that they have sometimes joked me about my fasting in
Ramadan, a very sacred subject for a Mussulman. Every time I go into the
streets, I meet with one or other with whom I try to get up a joke, for
it grieves me to see the people suffer so much from bad government. After
we come to satire, and with the help of the word _batel_,
"good-for-nothing," we manage to hit off somebody. An Arab Sheikh came to
us, one day, when we were joking. I said, "Oh! here's the lion-heart, who
ran away from Emjessem for fear of the _Shânbah-Bātel_." The Arab,
astounded, "Ya rajel (Oh man), I had nothing to eat!" "Nor have we here,"
replied a merchant, "you better go and hunt with the greyhounds of the
Touaricks. The Rais has taken away all our victuals." The poor Arab went
his way very queer and crestfallen.
Speaking to a Moor of The Sahara, I said, "The Sahara is always healthy:
look at these Touaricks, they are the children of The Desert." He
replied, "The Sahara is the sea _on land_, and, like sea, is always more
healthy than cultivated spots of the earth. These Touaricks are chiefly
strong and powerful from drinking camels' milk[52]. They drink it for
months together, often for four or five months, not eating or drinking
anything else. After they have drank it some time, they have no
evacuations for four or five days, and these are as white as my bornouse.
It is the camels' milk which makes the Touaricks like lions. A boy shoots
up to manhood in few years; and there's nothing in the world so
nourishing as camel's milk." Caillié mentions that the chief of the
Braknas lived for several months on nothing but milk; but it was cow's
milk. Many of the Saharan tribes are supported for six months out of
twelve on milk.
The Moors seem to have a secret dislike for women, as well as a most
obstinate desire to tyrannize over them. There is a lurking desire of
this sort in the men-sex of all countries. Are we not the Lords of
Creation? I actually get afraid of avowing to them that the supreme ruler
of England is _a woman_, they are so confoundedly annoyed at the
circumstance. The first questions of their surprise are, "How? Why?" &c.
My taleb is very fond of supporting the doctrine of a woman having only a
_fifth_ of her father's property. I annoy him by telling him it's a bad
law, and that the daughter should have an equal share with the son. Lady
Morgan is sadly wanted here; she would find ample additional materials
for a second edition of "Woman and her Master."
FOOTNOTES:
[48] _Bazeen_, بزين, called also _Aseedah_, عصيدة.
[49] Some have endeavoured to distinguish in English the mausoleum
in which a dead saint is laid by the term Mara_bet_, though in
Arabic both the dead and living saint, and the cupola house in
which the dead saint is laid, are all called Mara_bout_. When a
village or town, is built round the mausoleum of a saint, it is
also called after the saint, as in the instance now related.
[50] "We (God) created you, and afterwards formed you (mankind);
and then said unto the angels, _Worship_ Adam; and they worshipped
him, except Eblis (The Devil), who was not one of those who
worshipped. God said unto him, What hindered thee from worshipping
Adam, since I had commanded thee? He answered, I am more excellent
than he: thou hast created me of fire, and has created him of
clay. God said, Get thee down therefore from Paradise; for it is
not fit that thou behave thyself _proudly_ therein: get thee
hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible."--_Surat_ vii.
_Intitled Al-Araf._
[51] The words in the _Cross_, which Constantine is reported to
have seen in the heavens.
[52] When the milk is fresh it is called by the Arabs حليب, when
sour, لبن.