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©ESERT
A MOTOR FLIGHT THROUGH
ALGERIA AND TUNISIA
A MOTOR FLIGHT
THROUGH ALGERIA
AND TUNISIA
BY
• * • • • • • > > I
EMMA BURBANK AY^k • '
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR
IBCOND IDITION
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO,
1911
Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1911
Published November, 1911
.•• .•-••
••<•,•••.,• I ;.»!•*• •••
9, 3f. i^all iprhtttns (Hamptm^
(Et;ira0a
TO MY HUSBAND
Ebhiarb £. Ag^r
THE ENTHUSIASTIC TRAVELLER
AND COLLECTOR
5702U5
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I En route to Algiers 1
II The arrival — Sight-seeing in Algiers — The
mosques 10
in Arab cemeteries — The Kasha — The Jardin
d'Essai — The Governor's summer palace
and the Museum 35
rV The Peiion — Admiralty — A visit to the Old
Town — A glimpse of the Archbishop 's pal-
ace and the winter palace of the Governor . 57
V The trip to Cherchel and Tombeau de la Chre-
. tienne 74
VI Hammam R'hira and Miliana to Algiers — By
the Gorge of the Chiffa and Blida .... 89
VII A day in Algiers — Then off to Bou Saada . 100
VIII A trip to Tlemcen by Mascara, and return;
with a view of the ruins of Tipaza on the
way 122
IX To Laghouat and the country of the Mozabites ;
with a visit to the cedar forests at Teniet-
el-Had on the return 141
X A day of leisure ; then off by Tizi-Ouzu to Fort
National and Fort Michelet — To Bougie by
Agaza 170
XI A trip to Djidjelli 193
XII Off to Constantine hy^ S6tif, and the Gorge of
Chabet-el-Akra 199
XIII On the road, and Constantine 202
XIV To Tebessa by Ain-Beida 212
[vii]
CONTENTS
PAGE
XV The Ruins of Timgad 218
XVI Timgad to Batna by Lambessa — Batna to
Biskra 225
XVII A day in Biskra — The Landon Garden — A
visit to Sidi-Okba 233
XVIII Down to Touggourt and return 248
XIX Away from Biskra — A day of disasters in the
Desert 283
XX To Tunis by Bone and La Calle ; with a visit
to Hammam Meskoutine and to the ruins of
Bulla Regia and Dougga 293
XXI The '* White City '' — The souks and mosques ;
with a visit to the Bardo and the Belvedere 325
XXII To Carthage and return by Ariana .... 354
XXIII A trip to Medenine and Matmata in the trog-
lodyte country by Sousse, Sfax, and Djem . 379
XXIV Back to Sousse and Monastir; with a day at
Kairouan and return to Tunis 404
XXV Back to Tunis — Then to Algiers by the Col de
Tirourda and Farewell! 426
Index 437
[viii]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
The arch of Caracalla at Tebessa Frontispiece
A street in Algiers 14
Unloading the car at Alters 14
Minaret of the Mosque de la Pecherie, Algiers ... 15
Pontoons and quay at Algiers 15
The Djama-el-Kebir, or the Great Mosque, Algiers ... 22
Mohammedans performing their ablutions at marble
fountain in the courtyard of the Great Mosque, Al-
giers 22
Tomb of Sidi-bou-Koubrin in the Arab cemetery of Bel-
court at Algiers 23
The summer palace of the Governor of Algiers ... 23
The Arab cemetery, near the Kasha, Algiers .... 38
Women on Friday, in the Arab cemetery, near the
Kasha, Algiers 38
Graves in the upper terrace of the Arab cemetery at
Belcourt 39
Votive offerings found in ruins of Roman temples, IMu-
seum of Algiers 39
Arched entrance way of a tomb at Belcourt, Algiers . . 46
Tomb and fountain in the Arab cemetery at Belcourt . . 46
The ** Leopard Door,'* Algiers 62
View of the Admiralty and Pefion, Algiers 62
Minaret of the Mosque of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, Algiers 63
Entrance to the Tomb of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, Algiers 63
At the Tombeau de la Chretierme 82
[ixl
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Fountain in square at Cherchel, made up of Boman
remains 83
Moving nomads, on the desert 92
Automobile before Tombeau de la Chretienne, Cherchel 92
The car before the old ivy-covered minaret used as a
clock tower, Miliana 93
One of the nondescript stages of Algeria and Tunisia . 93
Avenue of eucalyptus on the road to Bou-Saada . . . 108
The market-place at Bou-Saaba 108
An Arab shepherd and his flock, on the road .... 109
A field of asphodel 109
A *' retired " Ouled-Nail dancing-girl 114
A dancing-girl — Ouled-Nail — at Bou-Saada .... 114
The Arab women at Bou-Medine: having their ** pic-
tures taken '* with the Commander 130
Little girls of Tlemcen, in gala attire on their fete day 130
Ancient Christian cemetery at Tipaza 131
Ruins of the basilica of St. Salsa, at Tipaza .... 131
Entrance to a tomb, Tlemcen, at the mosque of Bou-
Medine 138
Mihrab in mosque of Sidi-bel-Hassan, Tlemcen . . . 138
The minaret of Abou Yakoub^s mosque, at Mansoura . 139
By the walls of Mansoura 139
Bedouin woman and child 144
Leaving the caravansary of Guelt-es-Stel 144
The jolly Arab at the caravansary of Telrempt . . . 148
The mosque at Laghouat 148
The Soeurs Blanches and their pupils in a courtyard of
the school, Ghardaia . 149
Market day in the public square at Ghardaia .... 149
Mozabite well at Ghardaia 158
** Stuck '* in the sand, on the road from Ghardaia . . 158
The Mozabite prayer stone in the public square at
Ghardaia . . ^ 159
[x]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Aissa-ben-Sliman, the kaid of Beni-Isguen, and his
''council'' 159
Cedars of Lebanon at Teniet-el-Had, and the Arab
driver 168
Kabyle woman carrying water jar . . . ^ . . . 186
An old Kabyle woman consents to have her " picture
taken *' 186
A Kabyle village; in the Djurdjura Mountains . . . 187
A Kabyle and his primitive plough 187
On the road to Djidjelli 196
The ** piled up rocks " on road to Djidjelli .... 196
A Kabyle woman fashioning pottery jars at Taourirt-
Amokrane 197
Bargaining for jewellery near a Kabyle village . . . 197
The Pain de Sucre in the gorge of the Chabet-el-Akra . 200
In the gorge of Chabet-el-Akra 200
Storks* nests ; on the road to Constantino 201
A Kabyle hut, Little Kabylia 201
City of Constantine, showing bridge of El Kantara . . 204
A Bedouin tent 214
Ruins of the Great Basilica at Tebessa 214
Portico of the Temple of Minerva at Tebessa .... 215
The entrance gate of the Great Basilica at Tebessa . .215
Some columns at Tiragad 220
Flower boxes in a Roman house at Tim gad 220
The theatre; ruins of Tiragad 222
A street of ancient Timgad and a modem chariot . . 222
Arch of Trajan : ruins of Timgad 223
Entrance to the forum at Timgad 223
The Arab fair at Timgad 226
The praetorium at Lambessa 227
In the Gorge of El Kantara; old Roman bridge,
restored 236
The oasis of El Kantara and river 236
In the garden of Benevent : the parapet-wall overlooking
the Desert, Biskra 237
[xi]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Entrance into the (garden of Count Landon, Biskra . . 237
A nomad mother and her babies on the Desert, road to
Touggourt 252
A nomad family, in the Desert, on the road to Touggourt 252
The kaid of a village near Mraier poses for his photo-
graph 253
The Petrified Cascades at Hammam Meskoutine . . . 298
The ''Arab Marriage'' at Hammam Meskoutine — Petri-
fied Cones 298
Portico of Temple of Jupiter and Minerva at Dougga . 318
Corinthian columns of the Temple to Jupiter at Dougga 318
Libyan-Punic Mausoleum at Dougga 319
Part of the hemicycle around the Temple of Celestis at
Dougga 319
A woman of Tunis, of the lower class 328
Porte de France, looking from the Old Town, Tunis . . 328
The minaret of the Great Mosque at Tunis .... 329
In a courtyard of the palace of Dai-el-Bey, Tunis . . 329
Minaret of Sidi-ben-Ahrous, Tunis 338
Place Bab-Souika, with a view of the mosque of Sidi-
Mahrez, Tunis 338
Bedouin woman, in the ruins of the odeon of Carthage 356
Buins of the aqueduct that carried water to ancient
Carthage 357
Punic tombs at Carthage 357
Relief of a Victory found at Carthage, now in the
Lavigerie Museum, Carthage 370
Abundance: relief found at Carthage, now in the
Lavigerie Museum at Carthage 370
The Cisterns of La Malga, near Carthage 371
Subterranean villa at Bulla Regia: ruins of Roman
times 371
The beautiful priestess of Carthage: cover of Punic
sarcophagus, dating from fourth century, B. C, in
Lavigerie Museum 376
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGB
Two Jewesses in gala attire, seen at Ariana, near Tunis 377
The Colosseum at Djem 384
Interior of the Colosseum at Djem 384
Before the walls of Sfax 385
A street in Gabes, on the road to Medenine .... 390
A family at Medenine 391
View of a street in the troglodyte village of Matameur
near Medenine 391
Market day at Medenine 396
Houses at Medenine 396
Troglodyte village of Matmata: entrance to excavated
dwelling 397
Holes opening into room from the well of a subterranean
dwelling of the troglodyte village of Matmata . . . 397
A woman of Matmata 400
Little children in the well of a subterranean dwelling
at Matmata 400
A straw hat; worn on the Desert in summer .... 401
Ploughing with camels 401
Walls of Kasba, Sousse 410
Koubba of a saint, on the road to Sousse 411
The Grand Mosque of Kairouan 420
The mosque of Sidi-Sahab, or the Mosque of the Barber,
Kairouan 420
On the Desert: bargaining for jewellery 421
Mosque of the Swords at Kairouan 428
^linaret of the Great Mosque at Kairouan 428
Over the Col de Tirourda j just cleared from snow . . 429
[ xiii 1
A Motor Flight Through
Algeria and Tunisia
CHAPTER I
EN ROUTE TO ALGIERS
ONCE, not 80 very long ago, two persons — a man and his
wife — decided to take a motor trip through Algeria
and Tunisia, in Northern Africa. Their decision was de-
termined, in a way, by the influence which a report — made by
some friends who had motored there the year before — had
upon them. These friends were loud in their praises of the
roads, the excellence of the hotels in the large cities, the variety
and charm of the scenery, the fascination of the people, and
the Oriental life, as seen by them in the cities and on the road.
However, these friends had gone little, if any, into the by-
ways, so had no information to give as to the smaller towns
and hamlets.
The Commander of the proposed expedition was a motorist
of some years' experience; and having investigated most of
the known routes of France, Italy, and Sicily, he burned to
strike off with his car into less well-known countries. He
could contribute for the trip, as his share, the above-men-
tioned experiences, a fine sense of the cardinal points,—
north, south, east, and west, — so that he could find his way,
with his motor car, over an almost trackless wilderness — or
wherever it could be made to run, — provided the sun were
not obscured by clouds. Moreover, he had some very good
maps of Algeria and Tunisia, procured at Paris; a fine six-
cylinder car, the pride of his heart; and lastly, but most
[1]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
essential, he had an excellent chauffeur, born to his work, —
not made from a coachman with a month 's lessons in a garage,
but a chauffeur who felt every throb of his engine and loved
his car as one loves a fine horse.
The Commander believed, not unreasonably, that thus pre-
pared he would be able to cope with the probable difficulties
of this, to him, unknown country, about which he had been
able to get but very little information, excepting that which
his friends who had made the trip had given him.
The Other-one could add, as her share, perfect health,
boundless enthusiasm, a modest knowledge of French, and two
kodaks, a number 3 A, and a panoram.
Thus fortified, our travellers stood, on a bright morning in
late February, upon the quay at Marseilles and watched their
car being loaded on to the Charles Roux, which was to take
them across the blue Mediterranean to Algiers.
It was with a thrill of apprehension that the Commander
saw his much-prized car swung up high in the air by the
steam derrick. There it hung, helpless, between sky and
water, this motor which on land had seemed so big and force-
ful, with power, in unskilled hands, to work such awful de-
struction. However, they do the lading and unlading of
cars at Marseilles with great facility, from having much prac-
tice. It was only when the Commander beheld his automobile
carefully and skilfully swung to a snug place on the lower
deck of the Charles Roux, then swathed in heavy canvas and
well secured with strong ropes, that his fear subsided and
he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Soon after, they steamed swiftly and smoothly out of the
busy harbor of Marseilles, with its network of masts, its mul-
titude of stout smokestacks of the great liners, — away from
the smoky city where the Byzantine domes of the new cathe-
dral showed at the left, and, farther on to the right, Notre
Dame de la Garde, the pilgrimage church, dominated all with
its high belfry and its golden statue of the Madonna. Then
past the rocky islands of Pomegue, Ratonneau at the right,
and the cream-white Chateau d'lf, made famous by Dumas
[2]
EN ROUTE TO ALGIERS
in his ** Comte de Monte Cristo.'* At the left the great, bar-
ren, chalky rocks of the chain of St. Cyr, of brilliant white-
ness, thrust themselves down to the coast of Cape Croisette.
The vessel slid past the little lonely Isle of Planier with its
great lighthouse ; the coast line soon faded out of sight, and
they were off on the foam-flecked waves of the blue sea to that
— to our couple — unknown land.
The air was crisp, and a fresh wind was blowing, so the
Other-one ensconced herself, well wrapped up, in a long chair
on deck, and, with the few books on Algiers and Tunis which
she had been able to procure, prepared to cram herself
with as much information about those countries as possible
before arriving at her destined port. For she well knew, from
pre^^ous experience, how difficult it is to read up about the
country through which one is travelling, if one goes in a motor
car. What with the long courses by day and the consequent
fatigue and sleepiness after the arrival at night, one is forced
to retire early.
Exasperated by not being able to find more than one or two
books on Algeria and Tunis, — in English, — before they
started on their trip, the Other-one had exclaimed to the Com-
mander, * * What *s the pleasure in motoring through a coun-
try about which you do not know one thing? And you
have n't time, or you are too tired to read it up at night, when
you are travelling! **
** Well, as for me,*' answered he, ** if I can't read up, and
do not know much about the country through which I am
automobiling, I am content to be going on good roads with a
beautiful panorama of hills, mountains, and sea, unfolding
before me ; with the sight of the curious people on the road ;
the fresh, pure air blowing in my face, and the throbbing of
a fine engine under me."
The Other-one shrugged her shoulders and said no more;
but she knew the Commander always kept his ears open, as
well as his eyes, and that he had a way of extracting informa-
tion, when travelling, from the people he met and from the
observation of all that passed before him, so that its value
[3]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
was much more, aesthetically as well as practically, than any
amount of read-up knowledge.
Now, as she opened her book and turned the pages to read
the history of Algiers, she heard a familiar voice near her
asking, * * And the roads in Algeria, are they as good as I
have been told they are ? * '
She looked up to see the Commander leaning on the rail
and looking eagerly into the face of a tall, sunburnt man with
a bristling white mustache, and a motoring coat and cap, who
stood near him.
* * Roads ! My dear sir, they are the best in the world, supe-
rior even to the national roads in France ! ' ' and the stranger
carefully knocked off the ashes from the end of the big cigar
he was smoking. ** I have motored some months all through
both Algeria and Tunisia, and know about what I state. As
an example of what the French have done, they have con-
nected the sea-coast towns of Bougie and Djidjelli by a road
cut right out of the cliffs, forming, perhaps, the most wonder-
ful corniche in the world. And it should be noted that the
total number of inhabitants of these two towns is less than
forty thousand. There are thousands of miles of roads in
Algeria and Tunis, marked every ten miles with a stone and
at every cross road with a guide post, right out into the
desert. All these roads are magnificently built, straight and
smooth as a billiard table. Not only are the main cities con-
nected by broad highways, wonderfully graded and drained,
with tunnels when necessary, and covered ways through the
mountains, that would do credit to the best railway system
in America, but even the remote mountains are networks of
skilfully surveyed bridle paths connecting the main roads for
mules, donkeys, or camels. I rode over hundreds of miles of
these roads. Probably nine-tenths of them were better laid
than Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, or the Avenue
de rOpera in Paris.''
* * How are the roads constructed ? ' ' asked the Com-
mander, straightening up in his interest.
' ' A road, ' ' answered the stranger, ' ' is filled to a depth of
[4]
EN ROUTE TO ALGIERS
fifteen centimetres with crushed rock and sand wetted
through, and thoroughly rolled. Then a layer of the same,
one centimetre deep, is added and rolled. Then it is covered
with a coating of sand. No tar or other chemical combination
ever enters into the construction of Algerian roads. ' '
* ' What do they cost a mile ? ' ^ answered the practical
Commander.
** They cost, for national roads, about twenty-five to forty
thousand francs a kilometre: a kilometre, you know, is five-
eighths of a mile. For the maintenance of the roads each
native is taxed three days* work every year, or, if he prefers,
he may pay the equivalent in money.** The Motorist yawned
slightly, threw his cigar away, and walked off down the deck,
the Commander following closely. These words floated back
to the Other-one.
** We Americans should take a lesson from Algeria. The
roads of America are a disgrace to the nation. In fact the
majority of them are not roads ; they are merely strips of laud
between two fences, passable only in dry weather.**
The Other-one turned to her books, which she had laid aside
in her interest in the stranger's talk, and began again to pore
ov. r thrin. Tliis is. ])i I, f]\ . what she gleaned from them con-
cerning the country she was about to visit.
The Kabyles, the earliest historical inhabitants, now inhabit
the mountains of Algeria. North Africa was conquered suc-
cessively by the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantine Greeks,
and lastly by the Arabs. These people invaded North Africa
at the beginning of the eighth century and established Islam-
ism all over it. Ferdinand the Catholic, after driving the
Moors from Spain, — who established themselves in North
Africa and carried on a piratical warfare, — sent an expedi-
tion and took some of the cities on the coast. The Moors
called in the aid of two brothers, — Turkish corsairs, — who
vanquished the Spaniards and claimed the city of Algiers for
themselves. The Algerines carried on a fiercer piratical war-
fare than ever, so that all the nations of Europe began to
send expeditions, with varying success, against them. In
[61
A MOTOR FLIGHT
1815 the Algerine Power was cheeked in its lawless career by
the United States, who compelled the Dey to make a treaty
with the Americans. In 1816 a British and Dutch squadron
put an end to Christian slavery by bombarding and destroy-
ing the forts, the fleet, and part of the city of Algiers and
brought the Dey to terms. Eleven years later, an insult
offered to the French Consul caused the French Government
to take possession of the town, the fleet, and the treasury ; and
now a state of tranquillity and peace has been reached under
French rule.
** I should hope so, surely!*' exclaimed the Other-one,
audibly yawning. *' This history is dry bones enough.'*
*' I beg pardon, did you speak? " asked a lady in the deck
chair next to the Other-one. She was plump and rosy and
unmistakably English, as her dress and voice plainly in-
dicated.
** It was nothing," answered the Other-one. '^ I was simply
reflecting to myself on the dulness of historical facts, espe-
cially when one does not know the country about which the
facts are given."
* * You are going to Algiers ? ' ' questioned the lady.
** I could not be going anywhere else, very well, on this
boat. My husband and I expect to take a motor trip through
Algeria, and I know nothing about that country, but am
trying to read up a little about it. ' '
**You will find it most interesting, that is, the city of
Algiers, where I have passed some seven winters; but I am
not much acquainted with the country outside. However,
I fancy I can give you some advice in regard to what you
should see in the city. You will be staying there some
weeks? "
* * Probably not more than three or four days, at the most ;
we expect to do the entire country in a few weeks," replied
our Motorist.
'* Oh, you Americans!" exclaimed the English lady.
** It 's most extraordinary how you do run about in your
motor cars. It must be very tiresome ! "
[6]
EN ROUTE TO ALGIERS
'* Well, that depends on the point of view. But please tell
me where we ought to go first, and what we ought to do in
Algiers, — the most important things, I mean, or those most
interesting."
The lady reflected a few moments before replying. ' * Well,
I fancy some of the most interesting places for you to visit
would be the Arab cemeteries on Friday, the Mohammedan
Sabbath, where you would see many women. They make the
visits to the cemetery a sort of picnic, unveiling there — for
no man is allowed there on Friday. The day after to-morrow
will be Friday. You should make it a point to go to the ceme-
teries then. There is one near the civil prison, up near the
Kasba, the ancient palace of the deys, you know. It is a more
common cepietery, for the poorer women, but the one at Bel-
court, near the Jardin d'Essai, or Botanical Gardens, is the
more aristocratic and is where many of the wealthy Arabs
are buried. You might visit the two in one day, combining
the first with a visit to the Kasba, you know, but you would
have to go early if you wished to see the crowd of women.
I fancy in these places you would get a better idea of the
Arab women and what their lives are. By the way, you
cannot take your husband, you know.*'
The Other-one thought of how many times she had been
shut out of chapels and monasteries during their travels
before, while the Commander was allowed to enter; and of
his provoking joy thereat. Now, the tables would be turned.
She might go into the Arab cemeteries on Friday, but he
could not. It would be her chance to rejoice.
** Let me think a moment!'* said the English woman.
** There is so much to see, though some of your travelled coun-
trymen declare there is nothing of any interest in the city.
I have never exhausted all the places in my seven winters'
sojourn. There are the Kasba, the Mosques of el Djama-el-
Djedid and the Djama-el-Kebir, the Mosque tomb of Sidi-
Abd-er-Rahman — "
* * Please stop ! ' ' cried the Other-one, * * and let me write
down the names of them ; I shall never remember them other-
f7]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
wise. And please spell them ! ' ' Then with pencil and paper
she followed.
*' There is also the Mosque of the Pecherie down by the
sea, on the Place du Gouvernement. It has a beautifully
illuminated Koran. Then you must see the Old Town, with
its crooked streets, descending to the New Town, and its
Oriental life. It is of course very unclean, but most interest-
ing. Then there are in the New Town, the beautiful Moorish
house of the Admiralty; the palaces of the French Com-
mander and of the Archbishop; the Peiion, or island where
the lighthouse is; the cathedral; the exquisite summer palace
of the French Commander at Mustapha Superieur; the fine
museum also at Mustapha; the Jardin d'Essai, — you must
not forget to go there, where you will see the most wonderful
tropical plants. In the city, too, you must see the Oriental
life in the squares, the Place du Gouvernement, and the Place
de la Eepublique. You must go through the fashionable
streets of the Rue Bab Azoun where all the pretty French
shops are, and the Rue Bab-el-Oued with interesting native
shops. These streets run in opposite directions from the
Place du Gouvernement. Then if you go up to the Jardin
Marengo, you will see such lovely palm-trees, and get most
charming views of the sea. ' '
The English woman had spoken eagerly and rapidly. She
now paused for breath.
* * Thank you ! Thank you so much ! ' ' said the Other-one,
seizing the opportunity to break in, ' ' but I think that will
be enough now. I doubt if I shall find time to see them all,
but I certainly will try to get to some of them during the
short time I shall have in Algiers. Thank you again ! ' *
*' Don't mention it! '' said the English lady. The Other-
one rose to join the Commander, whom she saw approaching,
apparently bursting with information which he was longing
to impart to her, judging from his speaking face. On his
travels the Commander could imbibe information with joy,
but he was especially happy in giving it out to others.
Late that afternoon, as our motorists stood looking off over
[8]
EN ROUTE TO ALGIERS
the deep blue of the sea, a bank of luminous gray clouds on
the horizon held the setting sun in its embrace, but a
long, glittering line on the water's edge pointed, like a silver
arrow, to the south, where lay the destined port of our
voyagers.
** I hope it is a good omen,'* said one, ** and that we shall
find there joy and peace and the good roads that make an
automobilist 's heaven! *'
[9]
CHAPTER II
THE ARRIVAL SIGHT-SEEING IN ALGIERS — THE MOSQUES
ABOUT noon of the next day the green hills and misty
outlines of the mountains of * * the promised land ' * rose
out of the water and showed against a pale blue sky flecked
with soft clouds. The steamer moved slowly into the harbor,
past great liners with their big smoke stacks and streaming
multi-colored flags, past freighting vessels whose course was
** run from lands of snow to lands of sun,*' past coal barges
with black imps clinging to them, past smaller craft of various
kinds. The sparkling blue-green water seemed alive with
boats, their reflections broken into shimmering bits. It was
a thrilling sight to see the hazy purple mountains at the
left with peaks beyond tipped with snow that glistened like
silver, above a long point of land curving from the distance
to rise in a series of green hills, dotted with white houses on
one side while, on the other, a white village was apparently
slipping off a point of land into the sea. Near by was a green
hill crowned with a white church having a great Byzantine
dome. From this a fringe of emerald hills extended around
to join those which dropped to the sea on the left; between
these the city of Algiers rose in terraces of white marble houses
to the fringe of hills above, a white minaret of a domed
mosque, down by the quay on one side, a garden of tall palm-
trees giving the Oriental touch, on the other. Under all
the white city, a long series of high arches seemed to hold
it up from sliding down into the sea.
The Other-one turned to the Commander, who stood with
her gazing at the soul-stirring picture, and broke into exclama-
tions of delight. He soon left her to her enthusiasms, while
he went to hunt up Adrian and see what arrangements
[10]
THE ARRIVAL
were to be made to get the car unloaded as soon as possible.
The Other-one was longing to express to some one her pleasure
in the scene and she turned and saw standing near her the
kind English woman, who beamed as she exclaimed in her
soft, throaty tones, ** Most beautiful, is it not! ** The Other-
one was conscious of her own high-pitched American voice
when she replied, * * It is glorious ! * *
The English lady asked, ** Have you ever heard the Arab
saying, * Algiers is like a diamond set in an emerald frame * ?
Very poetical, is it not? Do you notice that church with the
dome, high on the green hill above the white village on the
shore — which is St. Eugene on Pointe Pescade, — and Cape
Caxine running out into the sea? Well, that hill, or series
of hills above, is Bouzarea, and the church is the Notre Dame
d'Afrique. It is especially attended by the sailors of Algiers
for the worship of the Virgin, and it was consecrated by the
late Cardinal Lavigerie. Do you know of his work in
Africa?^'
** I know nothing about Africa,'* sighed the Other-one.
The English woman continued unheeding. ** There is a
very touching ceremony that takes place there at half-after
three every Sunday, don't you know. It is performed by
the officiating priest on a high point of land which overlooks
the sea. It is the blessing of the sea for the souls of sailors
who have perished in storms."
The steamer now was slipping in between the jetties that
ran out on each side to form the harbor.
** What are those great misty mountains rising to the sky,
so gloriously grand in outline and color T Are they the
Atlas?"
** Yes! And you are most fortunate to have it clear enough
to see them. Those snow-capped points rise from the Djurd-
jura or mountains of Great Kabylia, which is where that most
independent tribe of the Kabyles live, don't you know."
** Oh, yes! I did read a little about them last evening —
a most interesting and curious tribe. ' '
The Other-one looked with a thrill at the soft blue moun-
[11]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
tains, silver-topped and mottled with cloud shadows. ' * Oh !
1 wonder what adventures we are to have on these grand
heights! " she said to herself.
The Charles Roiix now came near the pontoon where she
was to discharge her cargo of human beings and merchandise.
The big cables were made fast to it, and guides and porters
began to rush up. Algiers now showed in a white mass of
buildings rising to the sky line. The green hills above them,
seen from the sea before, had disappeared. The English
woman turned to bargain with a porter in scarlet fez, a long
white coat bound at the waist with a scarlet sash, and bare
brown feet thrust into heelless yellow slippers. The bargain
concluded, he loaded himself with her luggage and disap-
peared from view under his burden of bags, umbrellas, shawl
strap, tea basket, and what not.
*' You have been so kind," murmured the Other-one to
her fellow-traveller, *' and have given me so much informa-
tion about Algiers. Thank you a thousand times! "
*' Don't mention it," returned the English woman. ** I
fancy you will enjoy Algiers more from knowing a little
about it beforehand; but really it's very extraordinary how
you Americans do trot about!*' and she hurried off, the
porter trailing laboriously behind with his mountain of
luggage.
The Other-one now set about using her kodak, which, in
the excitement of getting into port, she had almost forgotten.
She had only snapped up a view or two when she heard a
familiar whistle. Rushing to the rail and looking down on
the pier, she saw the Commander looking somewhat disturbed.
* * Hurry up ! " he exclaimed. * * You are the last one to
land. We can't get our car for an hour or so. Let us go
to the hotel and see what rooms they have reserved for us."
She hastened to obey and descended into a most unsavory
crowd, with no claims to Oriental picturesqueness except
that some of the porters had red fezes and gay sashes. Most
of the crowd of passengers had melted away and the shore
hands and gamins remaining looked as though they had
[12]
THE ARRIVAL
selected their soiled garments from a rag-bag. There were
bundles, boxes, great bales of goods, and on the quays one
could see big mountains of barrels and enormous piles of
merchandise covered with canvas and resembling huge ele-
phants, waiting to be shipped.
As the Commander and the Lady picked their way along,
followed by various sodden men and boys who greatly
desired to help with the baggage or to sell them postal cards,
the Other-one thought, * * Oh, I am not going to like it here !
It's not at all Oriental/*
* * Too bad ! * exclaimed the Commander. ' * We can 't get
into that perfect hotel about which the W — s told us, — the
one at Mustapha. It *s full to the roof. Possibly, in two
days, the manager thought, he might give us rooms. He
has had rooms reserved for us at a hotel down in the city —
and I wrote so long ago! '*
They came out now to where there were two or three
battered carriages hitched to weary-looking horses, and the
travellers selected the least unpromising of the vehicles
there. The horses crawled slowly up the rampe built upon
the great arches which had been so conspicuous from the
sea and came up to the wide Boulevard de la Republique,
which is bordered on one side by great, ugly, staring busi-
ness buildings, and on the other, by a low balustrade of
iron, overlooking the harbor and sea. By this lounged, or
leaned over the rail, a crowd seemingly composed of all
nationalities and of varied dress. The dull grays, blacks,
and browns of the Europeans were leavened with the pic-
turesque costumes of the Arabs and Moors, the Jews and
soldiers. It was coming up into another world from the
quays.
** Let us get out,'* said the Other-one, ** and see what they
are all gazing at and look at some of the Oriental dress.**
The driver was only too glad to rein up his aged beasts.
The view was certainly entrancing, with the sparkling blue
sea, the busy habor, the white lighthouse, the inner harbor
with all its small craft at anchor. A great liner was pre-
[13]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
paring to depart, and others were taking on coal from barges
anchored near, on which black imps seemed to be performing
strange rites. Some small vessels with red lateen sails were
flying in and out, and tugs bustled about with important
tootings. Down on the quays they were loading flat boats
with barrels and boxes, and great freight-wagons hitched
to patient-looking horses were discharging their loads or
taking on others. All was fascinating, animated, busy,
and vivacious.
As the Other-one scanned the crowd of idlers, she saw two
groups near her that gave her a thrill, so truly Oriental
were they in dress. At one side, two tall, grave, splendid-
looking men were standing, looking off to the brilliant sea.
They had dark, fateful-looking eyes, skin the color of pale
bronze, faces full of passion and character. They seemed
to hold within their ken all the secrets of the past and of
the future. Their strikingly beautiful costumes filled the
Other-one *s soul with delight. They had on gandouras, a
kind of long gown, of white woollen material striped with
silk. Wide sashes of bright color bound the waist. A long
stripe of woollen gauze covered the red felt fez, hanging
down at the sides to the shoulders and bound round the
head by a rope of camel's hair. This head-covering is
called a hdik. One wore a white burnous of wool, and yet
over this a top burnous of soft blue and of fine woollen cloth.
The other had the dress similar to the first but his fine wool
burnous was of a pale gray. Both wore short white hose and
brilliant yellow slippers.
The other group, though not so well clad as the patriarchal-
looking one, was also soul-satisfying and picturesque; it
consisted of two women and a man. His haik was also bound
around the red fez with a camel's-hair rope, but much frayed.
Over his gown of thin cotton he wore his burnous, which
was coffee-colored from dirt. His long, brown, thin legs
showed below; his feet were thrust into heelless, shabby,
red slippers. He was talking in guttural tones and shaking
his fist at the older of the two women, who were arrayed
[14]
A 8TBEET IN ALGIERS
UNLOADING THE CAR AT ALGIERS
MINARET OF THE MOSQUE DE LA
PECHERIE, ALGIERS
PONTOONS AND QUAY AT ALGIERS
THE ARRIVAL
alike in voluminous white hdiks. Huge baggy trousers envel-
oped their limbs to their ankles. They were veiled to the
eyes, and held their mantles well drawn over their heads;
with all, they looked like huge awkward birds about to flap
their wings and fly off. ** They are certainly Oriental, but
not picturesque,'* thought the Other-one. The ugly-looking
Arab appeared to be in such ill-humor and gesticulated so
violently, she concluded he must be scolding the older and
plainer of the two — probably his wives. The younger and
prettier, judging by her brilliant black eyes and her white
unwrinkled forehead seen across the veil, paid very little
attention to them, but occupied herself in jerking, at inter-
vals, a small boy in a dirty skull-cap and single long gar-
ment of soiled white cotton, who leaped around and pulled
at her baggy trousers, a veritable imp.
The Other-one turned to call the Commander's attention
to these fascinating groups, but she saw him at a little
distance talking eagerly to a short, thick-set man with a
bright and alert face. So she waited, glad to have the time
to watch the interesting people wlio passed her, or who made
some of the groups of loungers looking down on the busy
port like the first group. There were other grave and dig-
nified Arabs in burnouses of creamy tints, or of rich soft
coloring, others in ragged and more or less dirty ones; but
no matter how ragged or how unclean these Orientals were,
they were always satisfyingly picturesque, contrasted with
the Europeans, who were so sodden and decayed-looking
when their clothes were worn and soiled, and their dress
was so grievously ugly when new. It was a constantly
shifting panorama of figures, more or less Oriental, through
which the street cars on the Boulevard clanged with a mod-
em and persistent monotony. Languid, weary, or alert and
enthusiastic tourists and the French residents, with an impor-
tant air of bustling proprietorship, moved by with the pass-
ing throng or lingered with the loungers.
The Commander climbed into the ark, the driver urged on
his sorry horses, and soon they came to the Place du
[15]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Gouvernement, the heart of the French town, a noisy,
bustling, animated square. It is dominated by the Mosque of
the Pecherie, with its large central dome, high square
minaret, and clock. The mosque is as lustrously white as
marble. The Arabs have a mania for whitewash, and cover
all their mosques and houses with it. It must be said, their
towns look at a distance as if built of marble. Here in the
square is the modern, indifferent, bronze equestrian statue of
the Due d 'Orleans. Three sides of the square are surrounded
by buildings and arcades. Here are the principal hotels
of the town. The street cars arrive and depart from here
and add their rumbling and the jingling of their bells to
the cries of the venders of sweetmeats, Kabyle rugs and
jewellery, stuffed alligators, and everything else salable under
the sun. Also the general tumult is pierced by the yells of
the small Arab bootblacks who haunt the place, and the
shrill cries of newspaper-selling gamins; the donkeys add
to the pandemonium their braying, with the guttural howls
of their riders or drivers. All is confusion, animation,
movement, tumult.
The cafes on the south and west sides overflow under the
arcades into the street itself, with white marble or painted
small tables. At them sit all sorts and kinds of humanity,
from the grave and patriarchal chiefs, or sheiks, and the
Arabs of the better class, with their snow-white hdiks and
colored or creamy burnouses, sipping dreamily their Turk-
ish coffee and smoking cigarettes. There is the thin and wiry
Frenchman with his pointed beard, imbibing his absinthe.
The gorgeous officers in blue coats, scarlet breeches, and
much braid, with their fierce mustaches turned sharply
up, quaff beer and ogle the passing female, if she is young
and pretty. A row of trees runs around two sides of the
square, and casts a grateful shade on the sidewalks when in
foliage, while the west side has a row of tall, graceful palms,
under which are stands and booths of gay flowers. The
driver reined in his steeds at a hotel on this side, and the
Commander and the Lady alighted. Red-fezzed porters ran
[16]
THE ARRIVAL
out for their baggage, while the Commander settled with the
driver, who demanded a fee out of proportion to the short
distance he had come. ** Moral,** said the Other-one to her
lord, * ' always make a bargain with your driver before
starting. * *
At luncheon at noon, as the Commander unfolded his
napkin preparatory to attacking the appetizing hors d'oeuvre,
of pink shrimp, scarlet tomatoes, crimson radishes, and
pale brown strips of anchovies, which a melancholy waiter
in a stained dress-suit had placed before them, he said:
*' Did you notice the man who was talking to me, when
we stopped to look down on the harbor? Well, he is an
Englishman who has been here on business for some time.
He is very intelligent, and knows and likes this country
very well. He gave me some valuable information in regard
to motoring and also about other matters. He tells me
that the natural divisions of Algeria are the Tell, the High
Plateaux, and the Sahara Desert. The Tell is the narrow,
cultivated strip of land between the seashore and the moun-
tains. It is hundreds of miles in length and thirty to a
hundred miles in width. There are three great plains
enclosed in the ridges of the Atlas Mountains, — the Plain of
the Chelif River, the Plain called the Mitidja, and the Plain
of the Sahel. The Tell is well watered by important rivers.
The rich agricultural land is intersected by small mountains
and valleys thickly wooded. He says we will find the grand-
est scenery and most interesting people (with fine roads
for motoring) in the mountain district of the (here the
Commander drew out his notebook which he always car-
ried and with some difficulty pronounced the name) Djurd-
jura Mountains, inhabited by the Kabyles between Dellys,
Menerville, and Bougie.
** The High Plateaux run east and west between the Tell
and the Sahara. They are uncultivated plains between
mountain ranges, about three thousand feet above sea level.
Here grow large quantities of alfa or esparto grass, which
is exported for the manufacture of paper. The dwarf palm
[17]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
grows here also, from which is made a sort of vegetable hair
which they export for the filling of mattresses.
** The soil of the Sahara Desert is in some parts a mix-
ture of sand and clay. Toward Morocco are rocky districts
and mountains. The rivers coming from these are util-
ized to produce oases by forming dams and canals for irri-
gation. In other places the desert is a mass of sand, forming
dunes. There are depressions in the Sahara producing
immense sheets of not very deep water, Salter than the sea,
and sometimes below sea level. He says we shall be able
to go down some one hundred and fifty miles on the Desert,
from Biskra, though the road is certainly bad. From Tunis,
however, we may go down some two hundred and fifty miles
on a very good road.
** He says also that wheat is the principal cereal grown by
the colony, but the system of agriculture carried on is gen-
erally poor. They do not clear the land from weeds, little
manure is used, and the ploughing, mostly done with crooked
sticks, is too superficial."
*' How do you remember all this? '' cried the Other-one,
yawning a little.
** The most successful and important branch of agricul-
ture, it seems,'* continued the Commander, *' is vine grow-
ing. Vines seem to thrive everywhere in Algeria, ^ven
on the worst land and the most burning soil. Algeria can
produce an infinite variety of wines, suited to every consti-
tution, and to every caprice of taste.
** This gentleman says that the native population may be
separated into two classes: the Arabs, including the Moors,
and Berbers, including Kabyles. The Arabs of the plains
live in tents or huts and are divided into tribes, changing
from place to place as circumstances may require. The
Moors constitute the bulk of the Arab population in the
towns. They are a very mixed race sprung from the various
nations who have occupied the country.
* ' This man declares he can hardly tell the Arabs from the
Moors. Their number was much swelled by the Moors who
[18]
THE ARRIVAL
were driven away from Spain. The Moors, it seems, are
farther advanced in civilization than the Arabs or the
Kabyles. Many of them are wealthy and fond of luxury
and pleasure, but their moral character stands very low.
* * The Jews are in great numbers in Algeria ; and their
condition has been greatly improved since the decree of
French citizenship conferred upon them by the French
Government in 1871.
** The Kabyles, or Berbers, have undergone no change since
the French occupation. Such as they were a thousand years
ago they are to-day, compact and unaltered in all the pecu-
liarities of their race and individuality.
** The Spanish are numerous in Algeria, especially in
the province of Oran. They are subject to military service
in the French army, and granted the benefit of French
citizenship.
** He says that the negroes are as much Mohammedans in
Algeria as they are Christians in the United States. Relig-
ion means to them a drum and some money to buy rum. Al-
most unconsciously, for sixty years. Sambo in Algiers is held
by authority to be as good as any other man. The Euro-
peans, the Arabs, the Jews, and the negroes all enjoy equal
rights. The Arabs often intermarry with negresses.*'
** I should think,** murmured the Other-one, yawning
again, ** all the negroes in the United States would emigrate
to Algeria. I have heard it said the ladies in Algiers call
the black man Boule-de-Neige, or Snow-Ball."
When they had finished their luncheon the Commander
looked at his watch. ** By George! ** he exclaimed. ** They
must be getting the automobile off by this time! '*
So our Motorists at once hurried off across the brilliant
square, down the long rampe to the quay, and just in time
to see the car swinging high in the air again, while the flat-
boat carrying the derrick moved slowly to the pontoon onto
which the car was lowered, but less skilfully than at Mar-
seilles. The Commander was even more disturbed than
before. At last, however, the car was landed and rested
[19]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
once more on its stout rubber tires. The Other-one fancied
it breathed a sigh of relief; for a motor always seemed to
her a living creature, excitable and passionate, with moods
like some women — deliciously lovable when in a gentle one,
but most detestable and to be dreaded when contrary and
vixenish.
The chauffeur busied himself with getting the car in
order and soon they were rolling up the long rampe Magenta,
and came to the Boulevard Carnot. The motley loungers
were still there hanging over the balustrade and watching
the harbor's busy life; the background of dull European
colors throwing into relief the creams, the grays, and the
reds of the Orientals.
*' I think," said the Other-one, looking at the high arcades
and great business blocks, *' that this town, so far, seems
disappointingly French and has but little Oriental flavor
except for the Arab life that flows in and out of the crowds ;
although the Mosque de la Pecherie over there, on the Place
du Gouvernement, — with its white dome and minaret, — looks
as if it had slipped down from the old Arab town above.
It seems like purest marble, though I know it is nothing but
whitewash. ' '
* * What shall we do now 1 ' ' asked the Commander. * ' Take
a ride through the town and suburbs and see the country
around, from an automobile ? * *
* * I vote for seeing some of the mosques this afternoon,
if we can find a good guide, *' answered the Other-one.
** You know, to-morrow is the Moslem Sabbath, and Chris-
tians cannot get in then; we ought to see them as soon as
possible, for I know you will want to be off in the motor to
pastures new, in a day or so.'*
So at their hotel they found a guide named Mohamed, a
smiling, brown-skinned little fellow, with the whitest of
teeth and a most important air. The Other-one was much
taken with his costume, which was that of the regulation
guide, or dragoman: a finely braided jacket opened over a
gayly striped vest, long baggy trousers, and the scarlet fez,
[20]
THE ARRIVAL
with a great blue tassel swinging at the back of his head.
He demanded ten francs, but finally, as ** a great favor,"
consented to go for six, as it was rather late, and no other
tourists were in view. He spoke no English, and so
addressed himself always to the Other-one, who, with strict
attention, could manage to extract sufficient from his French
to keep them informed a little as to what he showed them.
** Madame must first see the Mosque of the Pecherie. It
is called the Djama-el-Djedid, or the new mosque. Madame
knows that Djama is the Arabic for mosque? **
They left the car at the hotel and walked across the
Place du Gouvernement, the guide pushing through the
crowd and skilfully rescuing his small party from the impor-
tunate venders, growling at them in guttural tones and
cuffing the annoying little bootblack, who tried to shine the
Other-one's shoes. Then turning to her, he would address
her in the softest and most flutelike tones, so that she mar-
velled at his range of voice. They arrived soon at the
dazzlingly white mosque and entered the portal, where a
dried-up, much-wrinkled old Arab, arrayed in a huge white
turban, met them, mumbled something to Mohamed, then
shuffled off.
** He has gone to bring Madame the slippers, and Mon-
sieur also. One cannot enter this holy place in the dusty
shoes of the street.'*
While waiting, the Other-one opened her book and read:
** This mosque was built in 1660 by the Turks.**
** Why called the new mosque? ** she queried.
*' A Christian slave was the architect, a Genoese or Greek.
He built it in the form of a cross, and the Moslems were
so indignant that the Pacha had him impaled.**
The old guardian now came back, bringing some huge
yellow slippers, which he proceeded — kneeling down —
to put on the shoes of the party, who, thus fortified, shuffled
into the mosque past rows of worn and battered slippers
which the worshippers within had left behind them. The
interior was disappointingly bare and simple, and white-
[21]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
washed everywhere. There were no wonderful rugs such
as the Other-one had read were to be found in all mosques.
Here was only plain matting on the floor everywhere, even
around the columns up three or four feet, and a like height
on the walls. A few lamps hung from the ceiling. The
mimbar, or pulpit for the chaplain — called the imam — who
chants sentences from the Koran, is of marble, but of no
especial beauty.
* * My book says there is a wonderful Koran kept here,
which was sent by the Sultan of Constantinople to a Pacha
of Algiers, and it is a marvel of ornamentation and work,'*
said the Other-one, but it cannot be seen except on special
occasions.
As they turned soon to walk down to the entrance, not
seeing much to detain them, they noted the worshippers
scattered here and there at their prayers, kneeling, rising,
prostrating themselves flat on the floor, their eyes fixed, their
lips moving, always with the face toward the point of the
compass where Mecca lies. None of them paid any attention
to our party — no more than if they were shadows. At one
side, on a sort of platform, a man sat rocking back and forth
and repeating some phrases over and over in a high, sing-song
voice.
* * What is he saying ? ' ' asked the Other-one.
* * He is repeating sentences from the Koran. ' '
As they shuffled out again, the Other-one lost one of her
huge yellow slippers, which had been her torment ever since
she had entered the mosque. The old Moslem accompanying
them stooped quickly, and with a guttural exclamation seized
her foot and thrust the slipper rudely on again, eying her
with such a fierce look that she felt a shiver run down her
backbone. She was glad to reach the entrance door, drop
off the dreadful slippers, and go out into the bright sun-
shine and the tumult of the square.
** Now, Madame must go to the Djama-el-Kebir, the Great
Mosque,*' said Mohamed, and he aimed a blow at a dirty
gamin who, blacking-brush in hand, stooped to seize one of
[22]
THE DJAMA EL-KEBIK, OK THE
GREAT MOSQUE, ALGIERS
MOHAMMEDANS PERFORMING THEIR ABLUTIONS AT
MARBLE FOUNTAIN IN THE COURTYARD OF
THE GREAT MOSQUE, ALGIERS
TOMB OF SIDI-BOU-KOUBKIN IN THE
ARAB CEMETERY Op BELCOURT
AT ALGIERS
^ M
THE SUMMER PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR OF ALGIERS
THE ARRIVAL
the Commander's stout shoes. The Rue de la Marine runs
up from the Mosque of the Pecherie to the Grand Mosque.
A few shops intervene and it is a narrow and rather gloomy
street. They arrived at the Djama-el-Kebir after a short
walk, and were impressed with the beauty of the fagade,
which presents a gallery of fourteen arcades with fine horse-
shoe arches, dentated and supported on magnificent white
marble pillars, two feet in diameter. The Great Mosque
seems to dominate all the narrow street. Along under the
arched gallery, were squatting various groups of Moslems
in ragged burnouses and shabby turbans, and of a more or
less poverty-stricken appearance. Some were talking vocif-
erously and gesticulating wildly. Others, with their heads
sunk on their breasts, were buried in thought or dreaming,
perhaps, the true believer's dream of a paradise of houris, to
which he thinks he is going.
The guide hastened them into the entrance, whence they
passed into a court surrounded by a double row of arcades
supported by pillars, in Alharabra fashion. Here, at one
side, is a fine black marble fountain, around which several
Arabs were gathered, their robes tucked up high around their
brown legs. They were evidently enjoying a most satisfac-
tory cleansing before entering for their prayers in the
Mosque; for it is of the faith of the Moslems, taught in
the Koran, that a believer must be clean from the dust of the
street before he enters into the holy place, so every mosque
has, or must have, a fountain near it or within its precincts.
The men washed in the courtyard of the Djama-el-Kebir,
paid no attention to our party, but went on splashing and
sputtering, nor troubled themselves, apparently, when the
Other-one snapped them up with her ever-present kodak.
The guide led their party across the court to a door where
they were again invested with leviathan slippers, which the
Commander considered ** great nonsense!'* They passed
into a large rectangular hall, divided into naves by many
columns united by horseshoe arches. These columns were
also wrapped to a height of five or six feet with matting.
[23]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
There was also matting on the floor; few rugs, if any.
Great lamps and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling,
and there was a tall clock in one corner, for a Moslem must
always have a huge clock in his mosque, though it matters
little whether it keeps time or not. In this mosque were many
more worshippers than in the other, who, with their bur-
nouses laid aside, were bowing, kneeling, rising, lifting the
arms above the head, and mumbling their invocations to
Allah. Others seated on the floor, rocked back and forth,
reciting from the Koran. A humming and buzzing, as if
from many bees, filled the place. One or two black-browed
fellows scowled at the party. The others seemed so wrapped
up in their devotions as to be absolutely oblivious to any-
thing outside.
*' It is certainly very impressive,'' said the Other-one,
*' and a lesson to us Christians, for we are often occupied
in church with anything but our devotions; but I wonder
why we see no women in these mosques! ''
They had now floundered across the hall and stopped in
front of a niche in the wall. *' That is the Mihrab," said
the guide, '* and shows the direction in which Mecca lies."
Mohamed now began in a parrot-like way to deliver the
following account of the Mosque which he had evidently
committed to memory, while the old man who had accom-
panied them pulled at the string of black beads he held and
patiently waited.
** This Mosque is the oldest one in Algiers. It was founded
in the eleventh century, long before the Turkish domination.
It covers an area of two thousand square metres. On the mim-
bar — which you see here — near, is an inscription in Cufic
which says that Taehfin, Sultan of Tlemcen, built the min-
aret. It is ninety feet high. It was badly damaged by the
Christians during the bombardment. The arcades on the
Rue de la Marine were built under the French domination,
and the white marble columns came from the Mosque of
Es-Saida, built in the eighteenth century.'' Mohamed fin-
ished with a flourish of his hand. ** Madame can see that I
[24]
THE ARRIVAL
know much. Madame will do well to secure me for guide all
over Algiers. No other guide in the city can give Madame
so much knowledge, and so cheap, Madame, so cheap. Other
guides, they will — ' '
* * Why do we not see any women in the mosques ? ' ' said
the Other-one.
** The ladies? They can come, but they do not wish it."
As they came out into the arched gallery and into the
street, the Other-one asked, ** How many more mosques are
there to see? **
** Once, Madame, before the French came, there were a
hundred mosques and kouhbas, or tombs of holy men. Now
there are only four or five. There is now the Mosque Tomb
of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman to see, the most beautiful of all;
but there Madame cannot go to-day, for strangers can enter
only on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Monday next, I shall
be most happy to show Madame that most beautiful mosque.
It is near the Kasba, so we may visit that also. Now Madame
can go to see some fine old Moorish palaces, that of the
Archbishop, and that of the French Governor. Madame will
have the greatest pleasure to see them under Mohamed's
guidance.**
But it was decided to leave all sight-seeing now and go
up to the hotel at Mustapha Superieur to see about their
rooms.
Soon they were rolling along the Boulevard de la Repub-
lique with the enraptured guide to point the way. Being on
pay, and riding in an automobile, meant the height of bliss
to him. The azure sea, spreading out from the harbor to
the horizon line, seemed to have gained a more glorious hue
with the late sun. They turned up from the harbor to the
Place de la Republique, past the graceful palms of the Public
Garden.
** That street,** said the guide, pointing to the left, ** is
the Bab-Azoun; with the Bab-el-Oued, — which begins at
the other end of this, at the Place du Gouvernement, and
leads up to the old town, which Madame must surely see
[25]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
with Mohamed, — it is the finest s^eet in Algiers. The
Bab-Azoun has all the beautiful French shops, and the Bab-
el-Oued has the native shops, where Madame may buy,
with Mohamed to show her the best of everything, beautiful
vases in hammered copper and brass, lovely slippers, the
most wonderful jewellery of gold or silver wire, made right
there, — in brooches, chains, rings, and bracelets. Oh, Madame
shall see! "
* ' How strange, ' ' exclaimed the Other-one when they
reached the Rue d'Isly along which the tram runs to Mus-
tapha Superieur, * ' to see all these modern tram cars, with
the burnoused men and the veiled women, who seem to
belong to Bible times, riding in them and sitting side by side
with European men in their ugly modern trousers, starched
white shirts, and villainous derby or soft hats; the women
in dresses of ungraceful make, and big hats smothered in
plumes or artificial flowers. It is certainly * the unchanging
East ' with the much changing West."
The Rue d'Isly is a real French street, which looks as if
it might have wandered out of Paris, with its shops for
the sale of every kind of merchandise, and the funny French
signs, — Au gros dindon, Au chat noir, A la poule Manche,
and so forth. Were it not for the burnoused Arabs, the
grotesque women in their balloon-like trousers, the braying
donkeys, and the water-carriers with their great brass jars
and jingling drinking-cups strapped to their backs — one
might believe himself really in Paris on a side street.
'* I like that style of architecture here," said the Com-
mander ; * * it suits the country better than the ugly modern
French style. When they conquer a country and begin
to erect new buildings, they can't do better than to copy
the style of architecture of the first occupants. White
Moorish buildings in our country, with its changeable climate,
are much out of place; here they are admirable."
* * Nor do I object to the whitewash and white paint in
this tropical country," added the Other-one. ** The build-
ings look as if fashioned out of purest marble. But imagine
[26>]
THE ARRIVAL
these white structures in some of our smoky cities at home.
They would remain white twenty-four hours, no more."
The road now left the region of shops, and they began to
roll up a street that curved round walled gardens, with white
villas buried in green foliage. They could look down over
them and get enchanting views of the sea, off to the dis-
tant Cape Matifou and the far pearly caps of the Kabylia
Mountains. The ships in the harbor were mere flecks in the
shimmering blue. The Commander's eyes brightened, and
he drew in long breaths of the fresh, crisp air.
** How glorious to be riding like this in a fine automobile,
with this delightful scenery and this invigorating air! " he
exclaimed.
The guide continued to call the names of buildings and
places, as the car rolled on. They passed a quaint English-
looking church — the Scotch church. Near it is a most
picturesque little villa in Moorish style, with an artistic
gateway, near which Adrian stopped the car, knowing full
well it was picturesque enough to be snapped up by the
kodak. They had never to tell this chauffeur when to stop
for the views. His temperament was attuned to feel the
beauty of things they might pass; and he understood the
desires of his people without such material things as words.
They continued to mount now between high gray walls
over which burst a mass of feathery green vines. Through
open gates they caught views of enchanting gardens. Masses
of purple-red Bougainvillea clung to the white villas; tall
palms stretched their feathery fronds heavenward; pepper-
trees waved their lace-like foliage, and the golden tassels
of the mimosa showed against the dark green of the pines
and tall cypress-trees. Every place seemed a paradise.
Now the sea was lost to view, shut away by groves of orange-
trees. Then they rounded a corner and again they could look
down across a low stone wall, over green foliage punctuated
with white domes and towers, and the red-tiled roofs of a
village below, to the sea, now a steely blue, for some white
clouds had trailed across the sun and cast their reflections
[27]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
on the water. To the left were the rolling green hills, and
red-roofed modern Algiers sliding down to the harbor,
and on the sea an outward-bound steamer was leaving a long
trail of smoke behind it.
The Commander and the Other-one had alighted from the
car and stood looking off over the soul-thrilling view. At
length the lady said softly : * ' How glorious to be up here,
far above the workaday world down there, with all this
wealth of color in the green of olive-trees, of pines, cypresses,
and ilex, the blue sea down below, and the blue sky above,
with its softly floating clouds! The smoky trail of the
departing liner but accentuates the feeling of peace and of
restfulness one has here. They are * toiling and moiling '
down by the harbor, but here we may dream.'*
They soon went on and passed a great entrance-way to
a big white Moorish palace, surrounded, too, with palm-
trees and gardens and velvety greensward stretching away
on all sides. Soldiers in crimson and blue uniforms made
pictures of themselves against the white facade.
** That is the summer palace of the Governor,*' said
Mohamed. ' * Madame may go in. I shall have much pleasure
in taking her, as the Governor is not here."
**And cannot Monsieur go also? However, he does not
wish to go in this afternoon. Some other day he will see it."
** Then there is the Museum of Antiquities just opposite
here. Madame will have time to visit it before it closes."
When the Other-one told the Commander this, he pricked
up his ears at the words ** Museum of Antiquities," for
these are his soul's delight. He seemed to hesitate for a
moment, then said firmly:
* ' No ! to-morrow will be better ! We '11 stay by the car
the rest of this afternoon, except that we must stop a moment
at the hotel to ask about rooms."
In a few moments they came to a gate opening into a
lovely garden. Two ladies were seated in an open pavilion
which overlooked the road. They wore light dresses and
seemed peacefully happy.
[28]
THE ARRIVAL
** How summery they look/* thought the Other-one.
** Surely we have left winter behind us! "
The chauffeur brought the car round under the high-
arched gate, and they rolled by tall trees, and by beds of
tropical plants, then stopped at the side entrance of a long,
white, Moorish-looking building, with many little balconies
and a square tower or two. A wide, tiled veranda extended
along the front. Here various groups were sitting taking
their afternoon tea, in a most comfortable way. Some of
tlie ladies looked askance, and with apparent indignation,
at our dusty party and at the motor, the gurgling of which
seemed to disturb their peace; so that the Other-one felt
humble and apologetic.
At one end, near where the car stopped, two or three Arabs
in burnouses and brilliantly clean hdiks had spread a web
of gay rugs. Little tables were scattered around, on which
were all sorts of fascinating Oriental trinkets, — bracelets
of silver with blue and green enamel, necklaces and brooches
of silver, too, with pieces of .coral cunningly set in; quaint
boxes of metal and enamel set with pale turquoises and
emeralds, and a thousand and one other things made to
catch the eye of the souvenir-hunting tourist. The venders
advanced to our party, as they alighted from the car, and
addressed themselves, especially, to the Other-one.
** Buy something here, lady; very beautiful things, very
cheap!** they cried in chorus, their bronzed faces lighting
up with the prospect of selling some of their wares, for
the tea-drinking crowd seemed oblivious of their display.
Only one or two tall English-looking girls were poking over,
with a wearied air, some of the charms and bracelets. The
Other-one felt at once a burning desire to invest in some
of the fascinating things spread out so temptingly, but the
Commander cast the eye of a veteran collector upon them.
** Mostly trash,'* he said, ** and modern — stay! Some
of these rugs are pretty good, and here is a necklace or two
of interesting work.*'
One old Arab had caught the word *' modern.** "Fine
[29]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Kabyle jewellery, all old, not new,'* he said. *' All very
old ! ' ' and seeing he had a connoisseur with whom to deal,
he hastened to pull out, from a hidden place, some quaint
and unique bracelets, some plaques with chains and fibulae
with which to attach them, one or two anklets and two neck-
laces, all of silver, of fine and careful workmanship, with
etched designs, and with pieces of coral set in them, and
some blue and green enamel around the coral. The Com-
mander's face lighted up as he examined these treasures,
though he made an effort to conceal from the astute Arab his
delight in them.
** Not bad,*' he said carelessly. ''From what place do
these come ? ' '
' ' From the Kabyles, all — fine, splendid, very cheap ! ' *
* * The Kabyles ? ' ' he asked. * * I do not know much about
them. "Where do they live? ''
* * Oh ! 1 can tell you where they live, though I know little
about them,'* volunteered the Other-one. '* They are the
people who are up there in the mountains to the East, the
snow-capped mountains we saw when coming into the har-
bor. At least, some of the tribes live there, and they are
the people who gave the French so much trouble to conquer. ' '
** Well! it is certain they do fine work in jewellery; and
those rugs? " he turned to the old Arab.
' ' All Kabyle ; fine, splendid, very cheap ! ' ' And the
Arab hastened to pull off a rug from the balustrade. Just
then the polite manager of this paradise among hotels came
up. He was *' most unhappy to think he could give the
Commander no rooms at once. Possibly to-morrow, but
surely the day after there would be a vacancy."
The Other-one turned away, disappointed, and went to
climb into the car. She resolved, however, that when they
should come to dwell in the hotel she would invest in some
of those trinkets, even though they were only ** modern
trash."
The Commander lingered behind, but after a time he
came with a package in his hands, which he carefully
rsoi
THE ARRIVAL
deposited under the seat in the car. ** Some necklaces, a
plaque or two, and a pair of bracelets," he said rather
apologetically.
** Why did you buy those barbaric things? '* exclaimed
the Other-one. * * You know I can 't wear thera ! * '
** For the museum,*' the Commander answered briefly;
and added, as they rolled down the road, ** I must learn
more about those Kabyles. They must be a skilful and
interesting people to weave such rugs and to do such intri-
cate work in silver. I must make a collection of their
jewellery for the museum. Ask the guide where we are to
go now."
Mohamed showed his white teeth in a broad smile, delighted
that his stay in the automobile was to be prolonged.
** I know," he said eagerly. ** Madame may go from here
to the Column Voirol, then to El Biar, from there to
Bouzarea, see Notre Dame d*Afrique, so fine, then down to
St. Eugene, and back to Algiers by the sea. It is most beau-
tiful, and the road is very good.
So they came up by El Biar to the hill of Bouzarea which
is the culminating point above Algiers, and is 1150 feet
above the sea. Unfortunately one cannot go up to the very
highest point, as there is a fort, and one is not allowed to
go within the enclosure without permission.
** Madame must go up to the European cemetery for the
splendid view; it is but a short distance from here," said
Mohamed. They alighted and walked up the hill, passing
several white-domed small buildings, one notably larger than
the other, encircled with hedges of the pale green, distorted-
looking prickly pear, which seemed to surround the tomb
to protect it from unholy intrusion.
** It is the koubba of Sidi Nouman, a holy man," said
Mohamed.
** I have read that a holy man, or saint, is called by the
Moslems a marabout, and his tomb a koubba," added the
Other-one, ** and we shall see many of them on the hill-
sides and on the plains of Algeria and Tunisia."
[31]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
They now reached the cemetery and stopped with a
great thrill. A glorious scene lay before them: far below
lay the sea, with opal tints in the deep blue, with ships
coming and going, mere specks, on its surface ; to the north,
abrupt ravines descending to far Pointe Pescade, and off
in the mist, Sidi Ferruch, where the French landed when
they came as conquering heroes to fair Algiers; then the
heights of the Sahel, which is the name for the waves of green
hills running from the sea on the north to the plain of
the Mitidja on the south. The Sahel is highest and widest
near Algiers, and narrows toward the west. The Sahel
is crowded with villages and spread with fertile fields. Up
here, all could be seen with shades of green, from the trees
deepening under the late afternoon sun to the pale tints
of early grain-fields. Away off in the west, a mound
showed against the western sky.
"It is the tomb of the Christian, '* said Mohamed, " and
Madame will go with me — a long ride — to see if
* * It looks like a load of hay ! ' ' exclaimed the Comman-
der. * * "We must go to see it on our trip west. ' *
**And that beautifully symmetrical mountain that rises
into the sky, and is of such an ethereal blue — what is it? "
'* That is Mount Chenoua, Madame.''
As they looked south and east, they could see the hill of
Mustapha Superieur, its green foliage spotted with its white
villas, and the line of hills descending to far Cape Matifou.
Back of them, the stern outline of the Atlas Mountains, and
farther on to the west the great fissure of the Gorge of the
Chiffa.
'* Madame will go with Mohamed to see that wonderful
gorge? "
* * I 'm not so sure, ' ' thought the Other-one, and she turned
away to look off to those silver points in the now reddening
sky, — the Djurdjura Mountains in Kabylia. Again a thrill
ran over her. Again she exclaimed to herself, ' ' "What ad-
ventures are to come to us in those far, white-tipped
mountains? "
[32]
THE ARRIVAL
After going down again to the car, there was more hill-
climbing, then over a smooth road they came to the heights
crowned with the sailors' church, — Notre Dame d*Afrique,
with its huge central dome and two Roman Byzantine wings.
Here they were entranced with another glorious view of sea
and mountains, done in tones of rose and gold by the
declining sun.
They went for a moment or two into the darkening church,
but found nothing of special merit. There is some showy
stucco-work on the walls, and a solid-silver statue of the
Archangel Michael. On the altar, the Virgin is presented in
a black marble statue. Round the apse is this charitable
motto in French: ** Notre Dame d'Afrique, pray for us and
for the Mussulmans.'*
The guide took his patrons to the point overhanging the
sea, where the ceremony of blessing the souls of the sailors lost
at sea takes place. Then, returning to the car, they went down
the steep road, letting the engine do the work of holding the
car back, and — so it seemed to them — they slid on velvet
runners down into St. Eugene on the sea, the rays of the
setting sun tinting its white houses and villas rose-color.
The Jews, Maltese, Spaniards, and some French live here,
the last-named having the pretty villas and gardens. The car
now rolled on a smooth level road above the sea, past the Fort
des Anglais. The Hopital du Dey loomed up, as they went
through the Faubourg Bab-el-Oued. The sea was dashing in
long lines of foam and throwing up spray against the masses
of rock under the bastions of the lighthouse. The color had
deepened, but the waves caught the red from the descending
sun, here and there, and the foam crests were pink-tinted.
The car rolled up by the Place du Gouvernement, with its
surging crowd and clanging tram-cars, and the chauffeur
brought it to rest beneath the palm-trees and in front of the
hotel
Mohamed bade his people an impressive good-bye and
showed all his dazzling white teeth as the Commander put a
generous fee into his open palm.
[33]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** Madame will see Mohamed early in the morning," he
said, bowing low with his hand on his heart, ** and Madame
will have much satisfaction in going with him to see the ceme-
tery, the Old Town, and the Kasha, with the Archbishop's
Palace and — "
** Stop, stop ! " cried the Other-one; '' that is more than we
can do in one day. ' '
*' Oh, Madame ! All the foreign ladies — except the French
ladies, who are indolent and do not care to see much — see
more than that when they take me for guide. As to the other
guides in Algiers, they do not know much, nor can they go
around quick enough to please American and English ladies.
It is only Mohamed who can satisfy them.*'
"When the Other-one had checked the guide 's egotistical ram-
blings, she went up with the Commander in the most deliberate
of elevators and found their room almost on the top floor, * ' the
last one left," the manager said, and which '' they were very
fortunate to get, for Algiers was so full." The one front
window overlooked the Place du Gouvernement ; and as they
gazed from it down upon the palm and ilex trees, with electric
lights already aglow, a perfect bedlam of sound came up,
shrieks and howls, shrill cries and the babble of voices, the
rumbling of cars, the shrilling of whistles, with the hoarse
growl of some outgoing liner, the beating of drums, the bray-
ing of donkeys, and all the other sounds which a city — espe-
cially an Oriental one — gives forth at night.
' ' We won 't sleep a wink to-night ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-
one, with a weary yawn. * * Oh ! Why could they not have
taken us into that paradise of hotels at Mustapha Superieur 1 ' '
[34]
CHAPTER III
THE next morning, at a reasonably early hour, the car,
with the patient Adrian, rolled under the palm-trees by
the hotel and stopped not far from the flower-kiosk, which
was gay with jars of carnations, primroses, great bunches of
violets, and pink and white azaleas in pots.
The Commander and the Other-one soon appeared, the latter
armed with kodak and a Cook's guide-book. Mohamed ap-
peared at once, also, and he smiled brilliantly as he saw them.
The Commander climbed to his seat of preference by the
chauffeur. There he could watch the road roll up before him,
note any unusual obstacles, and scare off, with the stout whip
he always carried, any unheeding or too confident dog. Many
a poor creature's life had been saved thereby, and many a
heartache of devoted owners.
* * Where first ? ' * asked the Commander, as Adrian cranked
the car.
** First, as it is Friday, to the Arab cemeteries,*' answered
the Other-one, ** but you know, as it is women's day, you can-
not go there."
**What nonsense!" exclaimed the Commander, laughing.
** What am I to do meanwhile? "
** Oh! you can go for a ride, then come back for me when
you please; though, as I want to go to two cemeteries, you
had better not be gone too long." And the Other-one would
have chuckled had she been a man.
** Madame will go first to the Arab cemetery upon the
Kasha, which we will visit after ; and then Madame will wish
to see the cemetery at Belcourt, where the rich Arab
ladies go."
[35]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
The car came down by the villas in their gardens, fairer
than ever in the brilliant morning sunshine. The sea was of
a sparkling azure, and the air sweet and fresh with the fra-
grance of flowers and the odor of the sea. Everything con-
tributed to put the party in the best of spirits. Guided by
the skilled touch of Adrian, the car seemed in sympathy with
all, and glided like a thing of life down the curving road of
the hill, shaded by the graceful pepper-trees and live-oaks
with their dark rich green.
So they soon came to the Place du Gouvernement, more than
ever animated in the morning light, — a veritable kaleidoscope
of color and changing figures. From there they rolled into
the Hue de la Lyre, with its arcades and native shops, fascinat-
ing with gay rugs and cunningly wrought vessels in brass and
copper. The guide pointed out the Cathedral of St. Philippe
at the corner of the Eue du Divan opening into the Place
Malakoff. The cathedral was once a mosque, and has been
built over, and it ranks now as one of the most important
buildings in Algiers. A broad flight of steps leads up to a
fine horseshoe-arched entrance, and the towers on the sides
of it look like two minarets, so that the church has not entirely
lost its mosque-like characteristics. Next to this is the beauti-
ful Moorish winter palace of the Governor, with two graceful
palms before the entrance-way. It was once the palace of
Dar-Hassan Pacha. Just opposite is the Archbishop's palace,
an even more beautiful type of Moorish architecture. Both
palaces are as white as if built of purest marble, so that the
Place Malakoff has a decidedly Oriental look, with Arab men
— their burnouses pulled up over their haiks — sauntering
slowly and dreamily across the square, and Arab women in
their grotesque trousers, and long white mantles held across
their veiled faces, scuttling hastily away, some in one direc-
tion, some in another, as if afraid of being seen.
** Stop! *' cried the Other-one. ** I must have a snapshot
at those clumsy big birds."
It was a work of difficulty, however, and the birds would
wabble off when she had her camera pointed at them. How-
[361
ARAB CEMETERIES
ever, by a skilful turn and a pretence of not seeing them,
being engaged in looking hard at the cathedral, the Other-one
finally succeeded in getting the backs of one group, opposite
a most fascinating shop filled with Oriental brass and copper
articles. The women were apparently gossiping over some
purchases they had made, judging by their guttural talk and
gesticulations, and being so absorbed they were oblivious
of the kodak. Then there was another snap at two women
coming toward the Other-one. The foremost looked like a
servant, for she bore a big basket and was unveiled, and
seemed not to care whether one saw her face or not, which
was so ugly and so black, that the Other-one thought it quite
a sin not to cover it with a veil.
* * What a blessing these veils must be to old and ugly
women!" said the Commander to the Other-one as she
climbed into the car, which now, by the guide's direction,
turned up a narrow street into the broader Rue Marengo,
where was a seething mass of humanity which boiled
around and almost under the wheels. Several half-naked
gamins made jumps to cling on the back of the slowly moving
motor, but a snap at them with the Commander's whip drove
them off, yelping and howling.
** This whip is certainly good for something besides dogs! **
exclaimed the Commander, laughing.
It was a relief to get up into a quieter quarter where they
passed a long white building with a big, central, white dome
flanked by four others. There was a Moorish arched en-
trance, and a long wall with a double row of small columned
arches on it, near the top, and a gateway at one side. The
building was very aggressive in whitewash.
" This is the oldest mosque in Algeria,*' said Mohamed,
*' and in it is the tomb of the Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, a most
holy man. Also here are the tombs of some of the former
Deys and Pachas of Algiers. The great arched door leads to
the school depending upon the mosque — the Medersa-et-
Tsalibia. Madame can go to the mosque and to the tomb,
which is most beautiful, only on Mondays and Tuesdays, from
[37]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
eight o'clock until noon and from two until three. If it
pleases Madame, Mohamed will take her there next Monday. ' *
They went now by the rampe Valee along which were the
old Turkish ramparts. Here is an enchanting view, down
over the yucca and palm trees of the Marengo garden, to the
sea. The car stopped, at a signal from Mohammed, not far
from the big civil prison on the right, and near an avenue of
straggling eucalyptus-trees. Then he assisted the Other-one
to alight.
*' How long a time do you want to enjoy your cemetery?
"Will an hour be enough ? ' ' asked the Commander.
' ' I think it will do ; but you know we have the Kasba to
see, then I must go to the other cemetery as soon as possible
afterwards.**
' ' What a morbid taste you have for burying grounds ! ' '
and with this parting shot, the Commander signalled to
Adrian and the car passed rapidly away down the hill and
disappeared.
The Other-one had descended into a rather unsavory crowd
not far from the civil prison on the right; men with bur-
nouses and lidiksy in all states of filth and rags, their bare
brown legs looking like withered branches of trees; their
shrivelled feet bare or thrust into ancient slippers. Little
bright-eyed, dirty children rushed up to her, holding out
their grimy hands for *' un sou, un sou! '' Some of the
gamins plunged down the hill after the car, while others
crowded, vociferous, around her; but Mohamed rescued her,
dealing vigorous blows here and there. Many of the men
sat squatting on the ground, staring vacantly before them;
others had risen with vague looks of curiosity. Filthy and
sodden as the crowd was, it was picturesque ; an effect which
would have been wanting in every way in a like crowd of
poverty-stricken Europeans with their ugly dress.
Mohamed led his lady skilfully out of the rabble and
down the avenue, then under some ancient plane-trees with
their pallid, spotted trunks. Here and there, under the trees
squatted or leaned on staves, appallingly filthy beggars, in
[38]
Tin; \l;\R CEMETERY, NEAR THE
KASBA. AICIHRS
WOMEN ON FRIDAY, IN THE ARAB CEMETERY, NEAR THE
KASBA, AIX3IERS
GRAVES IN THE UPPER TERRACE OF
THE ARAB CEMETERY AT
BELCOUR,T
VOTIVE OFFERINGS FOUND IN RUINS OF ROMAN
TEMPLES, MUSEUM OF ALGIERS
ARAB CEMETERIES
ancient burnouses, patched with old rags and frayed to the
last degree of wearableness ; their beards were unkempt and
grizzled, and their brown and distorted limbs exposed and
covered with bruises and sores. The Other-one shivered with
disgust and pity as some of them held out shaking hands and
whined their petitions: *^ Meskin, meskin " (poor, poor)
** for the love of Allah, un sou, un sou.*' She thought that
she had never seen in any country such wretched and miser-
able beggars. Her heart ached for them, and she began to
pull from her bag all the change she had, until Mohamed
restrained her.
* * There are many more, Madame will see, and poorer ! ' '
* * Alas ! if poorer than these what must they be ! Is this to
what Mohammedanism brings its believers? *' she said to
herself.
Women, in their white garments, looking like ghosts out of
their tombs for the day, were coming and going dow^n the
avenue. Many were carrying bunches of evergreen and
wispy bunches of flowers. Little bright-eyed children ran
before, or clung to their mothers* trousers, the little girls ar-
rayed, generally, in long garments of pink or blue silk, satin,
or calico, with fanciful handkerchiefs wound over their hair.
They looked like little gay-plumagcd birds. An ancient Arab,
squatted und. r a plane-tree, did a thriving business in
branches of evergreen. Another one had trays of unwhole-
some looking sweetmeats, by which some of the mothers
paused to regale their little pink and blue birds, while others
dragged their clamoring children away from the tempting
trays with harsh exclamations. More of the crowd of women
appeared to be going away than were coming.
** I fear Madame is a little late," said Mohamed, as he
turned to greet some of the women, who, seeing him with the
foreign lady who lield a kodak, pulled the folds of their
mantles still closer over their faces.
The guide led the way across a bridge over a ravine, to
where the avenue ended at the entrance to the cemetery ; there
was no gate proper, but a sign posted on a board in Arabic
[39]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
and French announced the cemetery as '^ reserved for women
on Fridays."
It was a strange scene which met the Other-one's eyes; she
looked down an unkempt hillside where rank grass grew, and
eucalyptus-trees with their untidy trunks and sprawling
branches, and where tall, melancholy cedars cast spots of
shade on hundreds of strange-looking graves with marble or
wooden uprights, rounded or turban-shaped, at the top. They
were white or discolored by the weather, and some of them
leaned at all angles. Some were inclosed in a low box run-
ning across the sides from the uprights, others were on square
or oblong platforms of blue and white tiles. On these plat-
forms, or in the grass near some of the tombs, were small
groups of shrouded ladies. Some had thrown back their white
haiks and dropped their veils, and one caught glimpses of
gay embroidered vests and tunics beneath. Most of these
women were chattering and laughing while placing evergreens
on the tomb, or eating from packages of food spread on the
grass before them. Gayly dressed little girls and small boys
in red skull caps and long, full-seated trousers, pranked,
shrieking and laughing, over the graves. It was everywhere
a scene of gay festivity. Nothing was gloomy in the warm
sunshine but the ancient, melancholy cedars. Here and there
were kiosks, through whose lattice-work white tombstones
showed, having gilded Arabic inscriptions. In these were
seated some ladies, who seemed haughty, as being more ex-
clusive, and also more pensive, as became their higher station.
The Other-one tried to discover some weeping mourners, but,
except a few who seemed old and ugly, from the glimpses
one caught through the open mantle, all appeared hilarious.
The few looked sadly into vacancy.
*' I do not think I should be very unhappy if I lost a hus-
band of whom I owned only a portion, and must weep any
tears I had to shed with two or three other wives. I cer-
tainly would come and make merry, too, over his tomb,"
laughed the Lady to herself.
She was surprised, as she turned around, to find Moham-
[40]
ARAB CEMETERIES
ed standing near her. She thought he had remained near
the entrance way.
** Why ! ** she exclaimed, *' I thought you could not come in
here to-day.*'
" Oh, I am a guide; they do not mind me, and I must
bring my ladies here.'*
** Well! '* said the Other-one, ** I do not quite understand.
It certainly is one of the mysteries of Mohammedan customs
that one man may come here on Friday, and others not. But
tell me — are all these women Arabs? '*
* * No, Madame, they are Kabyles — almost all Kabyles.
They come down from the mountains and live sometimes in
the towns, though they do not like them. They bury their
dead mostly here.'*
The Other-one did not quite believe this, for she had found
that one cannot accept in good faith all the information a
guide gives.
A narrow path led down one side of the cemetery and the
Other-one slowly followed it, the guide behind her, seemingly
in an apologetic mood. She watched the phantom-like groups,
the mysterious, half- veiled women, and thought, **What must
their lives be if this graveyard is the spot where their wildest
revelries are lield ! Poor creatures, * victims of a false and
sensual cult ' ! "
** How many wives can a man have here? " she asked, turn-
ing abruptly to Mohamed, who seemed somewhat staggered
by the question. Recovering himself, he answered, ** He may
have four if he can support them, and if rich he may have
more. If poor, he can take but one, but when she gets old or
cannot work any more, he may divorce her and take a young
woman, who can better do the things to be done in the tent
or house. Madame can see that is well for him."
** And what of the one who is turned into the street ! It is
shocking! " cried the Other-one.
Mohamed looked surprised, but answered humbly, ** Yes,
Madame! "
She was about to burst into a vehement tirade against
[41]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Mohammedanism, but reflecting that her French vocabulary
was far from rich, and that the poor, simple guide was not
responsible for the defects in his religion, she restrained her-
self, though with difficulty.
As they walked on down the path, the view opened up
before and across the green hillside, spotted with its white
tombstones; and the hill across the ravine rose in emerald
freshness with the Byzantine dome of Notre Dame d'Afrique
outlined against the soft blue of the sky. To the right was
the dominating azure of the sea. It was a lovely, peaceful
view. The babble of the women and the children fell softly
on the ear and emphasized the quiet. After pausing a while
to let the serenity of the scene soften her irritated feelings,
the Other-one bethought herself of the Commander, who by
this time would be impatiently awaiting her; so she turned
and walked up the path, to find the car waiting.
*' Now for another cemetery, I suppose,'' said the Com-
mander, in greeting.
* ' Madame, we go now to the Kasba, for it is near, and we
have not to return. Madame can see how valuable Mohamed
is, and how he plans for Madame 's best interests. Here is
the permission, which I have taken at the Etat Major, Rue de
la Marine."
* * X>o you know anything about the Kasba ? ' ' asked the
Other-one of the Commander, as they left the car and walked
on to the entrance.
** It was the ancient citadel."
** Yes, it was ' the old palace of the governors or deys of
Algiers, and was once defended by two hundred guns. In
the old days of Algerian predominance it was a magnificent
palace with all the luxury of that period, ' my books says. ' It
was used for general government offices and for courts of
justice. There was a separate building for the dey's house-
hold and harem. Once there were beautiful gardens here,
and a great wall surrounded it. Now it is used as barracks
for a regiment of artillery. They say the outer walls are two
yards in thickness. It was here that a scene happened that
[42]
ARAB CEMETERIES
caused the fall of Algiers. Do you know that story about the
last Dey ? Well, in April, 1829, the Consul of France at that
time went to pay his respects to the Dey, according to the
custom then, after the fast of Ramadan, which, you know, is
the Mussulman's Lent. The Dey was, that day, in a very bad
humor, and received the compliments of the French Consul
with very ill grace. In the midst of a controversy about some
money affairs, the Consul replied very sharply to Hussein
Dey, whereupon the latter struck him across the face with his
fan. The Consul, much insulted, exclaimed, " This offence is
not to me but to my master ! * * Hussein Dey answered in Ori-
ental heat and pride, ** I care no more for your master than
I do for you." So the French fleet came and stormed and
took Algiers. ' What a blessing to the country ! * *
Our travellers now had reached the entrance to the first
court, where Mohamed delivered them over to a native
soldier. First they saw the great square palace of the dey;
then went into the court, where was a pretty marble fountain.
They passed by an ancient mosque having a second court with
double arcades, supported by beautiful old twisted columns.
The soldier pointed out a pavilion jutting out over the court,
and told, in passable French, that it was the place where the
French consul was struck with the fan. From here they went
up to the throne-room and admired the beautiful painted
Moorish ceiling. '' TTcre was once,'* the soldier said, ** a
chain across the entrance, where the heads of decapitated
Christian captives were exposed for twenty-four hours; then
the chain was lowered, and the Turkish soldiers had the heads
with which to amuse themselves.'*
** Let us go away from here," exclaimed the Other-one,
shivering. ** There are such terrible memories connected
with it; such frightful things must have happened here."
They turned away and went, under the soldier's guidance,
to look down from the battlements over the terraces of the
houses of old Algiers, around and below them. Once a forti-
fication ran down from the Kasha on both sides, forming,
with the sea, a triangle which enclosed the ancient city.
[43]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Then the soldier delivered his people over to Mohamed
again.
*' Madame is content? ** he asked, showing his white teeth.
' * We were too hurried. The view was beautiful. I was
content with that and the minaret, but not with the thought
of the dreadful things that have happened here."
''No, Madame!''
They were soon on their way to Belcourt. The guide
pointed to a gate in a high white wall, and Adrian stopped
the car before it.
' ' Here, Madame, is the cemetery where the rich ladies come
on Fridays, but I cannot go in with Madame, but must wait
outside.'*
'' Do you know it is past lunch time? " exclaimed the Com-
mander. ** Do you not prefer going with me to partake of a
fresh lobster, or a broiled sea fish, followed by a succulent
green salad, to visiting cemeteries? "
The Lady paid no attention to his flippancy, but gathered
up her book and camera and descended from the car, which
at once rolled away. Two or three antique omnibuses — to
which were hitched lanky white horses — waited before the
gate. One, crowded with white bales of women, closely veiled,
was preparing to depart, while the other omnibuses waited for
their clients who were inside the cemetery. The Other-one
passed under the archway of the gate and went up the flight
of stone steps at the right, leading to a pathway which was
lined with beggars, more ragged, more mildewed and rusty,
more stained and bespattered, if possible, than those she had
passed in the cemetery near the Kasba. Some, blind of eyes
and crooked of backs, with distorted limbs, seemed in the last
stages of misery and wretchedness. They whined out their
cries of '* Meskin, meskin,^^ like the others, but the Other-one
had exhausted all her sous, and moreover she was becoming
a little hardened ; so she passed on up the path, which opened
into a large but yet more circumscribed place than the other
cemetery, walled in everywhere and with hills rising up at
the back to Mustapha Superieur. All was as rank in grass,
[44]
ARAB CEMETERIES
as unkempt, as the other. There were more trees, eucalyptus,
cypress, some graceful palms, and plane-trees to fleck with
shadows the gravestones, some of which were of marble carved
finely and cut into the shape of turbans and rounds. Many
of them leaned at all angles, at the ends of their platforms
of blue and white tiles, or their oblong boxes of wood. At
the left was a mosque with a beautiful minaret, decorated
with the fanciful brick diaper-work of Moorish designs. In
the grass or on the platforms sat here, also, groups of women
as hilarious as the others; but these groups were of more
thrilling interest, for they were all unveiled and had thrown
off their enshrouding mantles, except a few who were prepar-
ing to depart.
The Other-one hastily hid her camera, as some of the ladies
looked up, apparently startled when they saw her, and they
reached quickly over as if to don their veils and mantles ; but
as she turned away, they seemed to think better of it and re-
sumed their former attitudes. A lanky boy with sharp eyes,
wearing long baggy trousers and a blue jacket gayly em-
broidered in red, rushed up to the Other-one and cried out in
French, as he pointed to the kodak showing under her jacket,
** It is forbidden here, it is forbidden to photograph.*' There-
upon he attached himself to her, making her life a burden
while she stayed there. He would retire for a moment or so,
then pounce upon her from behind a tree, or a high tomb-
stone, grimacing wildly at her, when she, thinking herself
unobserved, had brought out her kodak and pointed it at an
especially interesting group. When he had withdrawn, as
she thought, she seated herself on a blue-and-white-tiled grave
and prepared to watch for any especial beauties resembling
the houris described in Oriental tales.
When the women saw their boyish guardian making his
sallies upon the enemy, they lost their watchfulness and went
on enjoying themselves without the smothering veil. More
gay butterflies of children pranced and gambolled around over
the graves. One pretty little creature in her frolics came near
the Other-one. She was dressed like a character at a fancy
[45]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
dress fall, in a long pink satin gown, embroidered in silver,
with white satin slippers on her feet, and a spangled red
gauze scarf wound around her graceful little head. She had
beautiful great dark eyes, skin of a rich creamy tint, and soft
rose in her rounded cheeks. She frisked like a young fawn
and seemed the very impersonation of youth and happiness.
Other little children capered around with her, but she sur-
passed them all in her childish grace and beauty and her gay
pranks. In trying to escape the clutch of an ugly little cross-
eyed boy, she fell headlong over a box-like grave and into the
rank grass on the other side. A sulky-looking young woman,
in a heavily embroidered tunic, wearing necklaces, bracelets,
and brooches of emeralds and pearls, got up from the blue-
tiled platform where she was sitting and eating sweetmeats,
seized the little beauty, and shook her until her poor little
teeth rattled, muttering harshly to her the while. The Other-
one turned now to examine some of the women near her. Now
they were, so to speak, in deshabille before her. Again she
wished to discover if there might be any resembling the
fascinating houris promised to the faithful in the Moham-
medan heaven. She was disappointed to find in the gayly
dressed and jewel-bedecked females, with their henna-stained
nails, heavy faces, muddy complexions, and dull eyes, no
trace of beauty. Perhaps there were three or four, in the
twenty or thirty around her, who could be called passable-
looking. One had dark, dreamy eyes, and her face was young
and fresh, but her mouth was wide and coarse, and she showed
discolored teeth when she smiled. Another had a beautiful
creamy complexion and a small mouth, with red, full lips,
but her nose was flat. As to the older women, they were all
ugly in different degrees; but what was more pitiful than
their ugliness was the dull, unintelligent look on their faces ;
even the prettiest ones were heavy.
' ' Go away now ! ' ' cried the lady to the nagging boy, who
— reinforced by three or four others smaller than himself,
and all clad in trousers bagging behind to their heels — made
a sudden jump at her and tried to snatch away her kodak.
[46]
V »>» .♦
v.V^''
ARCHED ENTBANCE WAY OF A TOMB
AT BELCOURT, ALGIERS
TOMB AND FOUNTAIN IN THE ARAB CEMETERY
AT BELCOURT
ARAB CEMETERIES
* * No ! I do not go away, * ' shrieked the boy. * * You are
sitting on my father's grave."
** Very well! I will not sit upon it; I will go away at
once/* and she started up; but her tormentor prepared to
dog her footsteps, when there hove in sight an ancient man
with long grizzled beard and a huge turban. He bore down
upon the boys, who, when they saw him, disappeared as if by
magic. The old man stopped to cuff some small children who
were throwing stones at a grave. He was evidently the guar-
dian of the place, and so old and withered that the women
paid him no more attention than they would have paid to a
buzzing insect.
** So there were fathers here, and sons, and surely some
mothers, sisters, and daughters — by the plain tombstones **
— (the men*s were cut in turban shape, some one had told
the Other-one). Hitherto she had thought of those buried
here as only sensual men who in their lives could have as
many wives as they desired and could divorce any of them at
pleasure, and who had believed in only a sensual heaven.
Instead of feeling any sadness here, the Other-one had had a
sense of indignation and, too, she rejoiced that the women were
making merry. Now she thought, ** Perhaps there are some
who mourn for fathers, for sons, or brothers here! **
As she looked more closely at one or two graves near her,
she observed a cross-piece on the box-like enclosure, at one
end, with a round hole full of water.
** I wonder what those holes are for. They have put no flow-
ers in any of them.'* A slender woman near her had a rather
intelligent face, so the Other-one ventured to ask her in
French. The woman at once replied in that language.
** Those are for the birds, Madame; if they come to drink of
the water at the grave, it counts much for the dead. * *
** Thank you! ** said the Other-one, and seated herself to
read a little from the book she carried, prepared also to take
a snapshot when the chance came.
** The mosque in the cemetery at Belcourt contains the
tomb of a very celebrated saint, Abd-er-Rahman-bou Kobrin,
[47]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
who lived in the Djurdjura Mountains, at the close of the
eighteenth century, and founded a very powerful religious
order, — the Rahmania, — second only to that of the renowned
Sidi-Okba."
The Other-one turned to look at the minaret where the
tomb was enclosed. Near it was a fanciful kiosk, having
horseshoe arches and slender columns. Low walls ran from
this, with a fountain in the centre, with lovely twisted columns
upholding a small dome ; below was the basin of the fountain
against the wall. Through the trunks of the tall cedar-trees
inside the wall, one could see a long Moorish-arched colon-
nade with white pillars ; back of this a green hill rose, throw-
ing the white colonnade into relief, making a charming effect.
Above the low, open walls, the white-turbaned tops of graves
could be seen ; and there were white figures passing along by
the graves and sitting down by them. Curious to see what
else there might be in the enclosure, the lady arose and went
up some steps at the side, leading to the place. At one side
was the koubba of the saint, with a band of Moorish stucco-
work all around the entrance door. Some women were going
and coming from this with their lia'iks well drawn around
them. The colonnade ran from the koubba around three sides
and was ornamented simply with bands of arabesque work
above and between the arches. The ground just before this
was full of tombs with blue and white tiles or marble plat-
forms; these had no headstones, but there was an oblong
cavity in the centre of each flat tomb with grass growing in it.
On nearly every one there were branches of evergreen and
bunches of withered flowers.
Groups of women sat under the arched colonnade, while a
few others wandered among the tombs, and most of them
were shrouded in their hdiJcs, though they left their faces ex-
posed. This place, lifted above the other unkempt ground,
was in bettei- order, and seemed to be the aristocratic part,
set aside from the common herd. The Other-one thought the
ladies here had a more elegant and well-to-do look, though
she could discover no beauty among them. Their faces were
, • [48]
ARAB CEMETERIES
pale and rather refined, and they had a languid air. As she
picked her way over the flat graves, a wretched creature de-
tached itself from a group from w^hom she was evidently beg-
ging. She hobbled with difficulty over to the Other-one and
held out for alms one palsied, shaking hand, while with the
other she clutched to her wrinkled breast a mantle — one mass
of patched rags — which scarcely covered her swollen limbs,
and her bare, distorted feet showed below. Her head, around
which a discolored, filthy rag was bound, shook as if with
ague. A more wretched object it w^as not possible to imagine.
The Other-one dropped her last franc into the trembling hand
and fled across the graves, only to encounter at the other side,
another miserable creature, swollen out of all semblance to a
human being. She was blind and lame, and a small, dark-
eyed, heedless girl, whose gay red gown contrasted vividly
with the miserable rags of the decrepit woman, led her in
jerks around the graves where the other women were.
It was more than the Other-one could bear, and, with
nothing to bestow on the pitiful object, she turned and almost
ran over the low graves to the door of the tomb, and entered
into a long, low room, very stuffy and dim, so that she could
but just see the long high tomb of the saint covered with
draperies, and a great turban cut in the end. Some women
were kneeling there, with their prayer beads in their hands,
and seemed most devout. As there was nothing of special
interest and the air was heavy, the Other-one turned away
and walked out and down the path to the gate, but paused to
look back a moment over the place with its elegant minaret,
the graceful kiosk and arched colonnade, all white, the dark
green, tall cedars, the plane-trees, the gay groups — the sun-
shine and shade flecking all ; but it seemed no longer a peace-
ful place to her, for her heart was pierced with the thoughts
of the wretched creatures she had seen.
She found the car at the gate, the Commander having a
satisfied air, as if he had lunched well. ** I have good news
for you,** he said. ** We can get some rooms in the hotel at
Mustapha Superieur to-night.'*
[49]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
* * Delightful ! ' ' answered the Other-one absently.
** Now to what cemeteries do you wish to go," asked the
Commander, as Adrian started the car. * ' Jewish, Protestant,
Catholic, or what? "
*' I find no pleasure in cemeteries, as you seem to imagine,
but I am in pursuit of knowledge of Mohammedan customs,"
returned the Lady loftily. ' ' I have no desire to see the ceme-
teries of other faiths. Now I want to go to some place where
it is peaceful and quiet, and where there is nothing to make
the heart ache," she said weariedly, turning to Mohamed,
who, half comprehending, said:
** Madame can go now to the Jardin d'Essai, for it is near;
then Madame may have time for a visit to the Museum before
it closes."
So they went down the streets and soon passed in through
the entrance gate to the Jardin d'Essai, or Botanical Garden.
The Jardin d'Essai is not really a garden, nor could one
say it was a park, for it is not very big. Here grow all va-
rieties of palms, some of wonderful height and luxuriance.
The Other-one's desire to know something about everything,
was excited by seeing many trees about which she knew noth-
ing. Then said Mohamed: ** I will go, Madame, to find a
man who works here. He knows everything, and will tell
Madame much."
He soon returned with a short, thin man in spectacles, with
dusty shoes and hands, and introduced him as Monsieur Ver-
deau. Getting out of the car, the Commander and the lady
followed the guidance of this man, and were rejoiced to find
they could understand his very passable English, which, he
said, he had learned while working on some gardens in
England.
He took them first down a beautiful shady avenue of palm-
trees which he said were alternately African and Japanese
palms. In the middle of one avenue was a lovely cascade, and
this avenue ran on down to the sea. M. Verdeau said that
this garden was a sort of home for trees and shrubs of a more
or less tropical character. Here they were trained to endure
[50]
ARAB CEMETERIES
another climate. Nowhere could be found, grouped together,
such a complete and valuable collection of the old and the
new continents. Here were the celebrated Yuccas from Caro-
lina, Brazil, and Texas, also the Stretttza and the Strelitza
Regina, remarkable species of the Cape Banana trees; then
the Ravenela from Madagascar, which is called in its country
the traveller's fountain, having a provision of water at its
roots for the thirsty traveller. The palm-trees, he said, were
cultivated on a large scale and shipped wholesale to almost
every part of Europe, and their sale brought the Compagnie
Generale Algerienne a revenue of four thousand pounds a
year. Tangerine orange-trees were also exported in large
quantities.
The party wandered on, the Commander rejoicing in the
information imparted; and they came to a most magnificent
avenue of India rubber-trees, called here ** pagoda fig-trees,"
because they resemble, in their full growth, the pagodas of
Pegu and Benares. One has a height of fifty-six feet and a
girth of twenty-three feet.
When they reached the alley of bamboos, the Other-one
thought she had never seen anything so graceful as these
bamboos with soft green, lace-like branches bending over the
pathway. Though they had been but a short time in the gar-
den, Monsieur Verdeau seemed to think his duty ended, and
he bade them adieu, as there was something particular de-
manding his attention.
** I am famished,'* cried the Other-one. ** I don't believe
I can go to another place until I have a sandwich or a cup
of tea!"
Upon being interrogated Mohamed smiled delightedly
and mysteriously, then led them down the long avenue of
trees and across the road to an oasis of palms, where they
were surprised to find little tables spread under the delight-
ful shade. Here the Commander and the lady, with sighs of
satisfaction, sat down at one of the tables and regaled them-
selves with cups of fragrant tea and thin slices of bread and
butter d V Anglais, which a deft waiter in white coat, long
[51]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
baggy trousers, and scarlet sash and fez, brought them. The
sea stretched away, beautifully opalescent in the soft after-
noon sun, and they saw the white city afar, and the harbor
with the boats, which cast long reflections in the calm water.
Mohamed reclined, serenely happy, in the grass at some
distance from them, smoking innumerable cigarettes.
' * What is there more to see to-day ? ' * asked the Comman-
der, when they had finished their tea.
* * Oh, there is much. We must rush off now to the Museum,
if we wish to see it before it closes. You know you adore
museums. Then there is the Governor 's summer palace, since
we are to pass it on the way, I believe, to the Museum. To-
morrow we have the winter palace to see, the cathedral, the
Archbishop 's palace, the Old Town, the — ' '
* ' Stop ! Stop ! ' ' cried the Commander. ' ' You have laid
out enough sight-seeing for a week ! * *
" But we ought to see everything in the town.'*
They were soon on the road up the hills, past the Moorish
villas embowered in their trees; and they came to a stop in
front of a flight of steps leading up to a garden where there
were many trees with benches under them, from which one
could get enchanting glimpses of the sea. Here sat some
French and Arab nurses with their charges. There were, in
various parts of the grounds, antique jars of curious shape,
pieces of statuary, evidently all excavated and more or less
mutilated, and a rude prehistoric dolmen amongst the shrub-
bery on a by-path. The Museum is a one-story building in
Moorish style, surrounding a court. On the walls of the vesti-
bule are hung views of the old-time Algiers, with the Kasba
at the point of the triangular walls running to the sea. The
Commander was vividly interested as they passed from the
court into room after room. In the first are mosaics of pave-
ments and walls found in Roman ruins; in others, heads,
torsos, full length statues, sarcophagi, pottery, bronzes, lamps,
vases, and wine jars, all coming from excavations in the dif-
ferent places where the Romans once colonized, — from Cher-
chel, from Timgad and Lambessa and even from Carthage.
[52]
ARAB CEMETERIES
* * I had no idea before that the Romans had left such traces
in Africa. We must surely go to some of the ancient cities
which have been excavated/* said the Commander.
In other rooms objects of Berber art are shown, — rugs,
stuffs, pottery of quaint and effective shape and design, also
some specimens of Hispano-Mauresque work, and some Ara-
bic work in beautiful old tiles, and stucco like that at the
Alhambra. In one of these rooms, the Other-one stopped,
horrified to see in a case the cast of a figure doubled up as if
in mortal agony.
** This must be the cast taken from the mould found of
Geronimo, the Arab Christian martyr,'* she called to the
Commander, who was looking with great interest at some
Turkish arms, ** Come here while I tell you what I read
about him ! He was an Arab child captured by the Spaniards
and brought up in the Catholic faith. He fell into the hands
of his own people and was made a Mohammedan ; but when
he grew older, his heart returned to the Christian belief. He
became a soldier, went to Oran, was captured by the pirates
and brought to Algiers. The Mohammedans were enraged at
his being a renegade, and the Governor commanded him to be
thrown alive into a block of molten concrete, so that the mass
in the block took exactly the mould of his body. This block
was built into the walls of a fort. The last thing Geronimo
said was, ' I am a Christian, and a Christian I will die. * This
happened in the Fall of 1569. For a long time this was sup-
posed to be a legend, until, when the Turkish fort was de-
stroyed, the skeleton was found imbedded in the cement.
This cast was taken by pouring plaster in the hole. The origi-
nal block is in the Cathedral in one of the chapels. But is
not this a gruesome thing? It makes me heartsick. Let us
get out into the fresh air and look at the beautiful, peaceful
sea!*'
They came out and walked to the other side of the build-
ing, where, against the wall, were several curious carved
stones. Among others, two or three upright, in shape like
our gfrave-stones. They interested the Commander very
[53]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
much. '* I do not remember to have seen anything like them
anywhere,*' he said. These stones are about four feet high
and divided into three compartments. The lower has a relief,
rudely cut, of an animal like an ox; in the middle compart-
ment are the busts of a man and a woman, apparently
portraits. The upper compartment has what is probably in-
tended for a deity.
** What can they be! *' exclaimed the Other-one. *' Let me
run in and find the director and ask him. * '
She soon returned accompanied by a tall man wearing
spectacles, who informed them : * * These come from Timgad
and Lambessa, once flourishing Roman towns, and which now
have many Roman remains. They were votive offerings
placed in the temples there, and to whatever god the temple
might be erected. The busts in relief are those of the donor
and his wife, the god above, and the animal sacrificed to him,
below."
When the two came out Mohamed appeared to put in a
plea that they should go at once, as it was getting late, to see
the most beautiful of summer palaces — that of the Governor,
quite near.
* * Let us go at once, * ' said the Other-one.
The beautiful Moorish building stands in the midst of a
luxuriant park, with tropical plants and gay beds of flowers.
Tall banana-trees with ragged amber and green leaves grow
before the entrance door, and high date-palms, and dark
cedars contrast their foliage near. There are colonnades
above and below, and the elegant slender columns uphold the
fancifully decorated Moorish arches.
Our tourists went up the walk. Two or three Spahis in red
and blue embroidered costumes, with the baggy trousers and
snow-white hdiks, stood like gorgeously plumaged birds be-
fore the short flight of broad marble steps leading up to a
tiled terrace, where were a fountain and great jars of tropical
plants on pedestals. These men seemed to be doing nothing
but making pictures of themselves. They looked supercili-
ously at the newcomers, while Mohamed turned hastily back,
[54]
ARAB CEMETERIES
and went to the small lodge near the entrance gate. He soon
returned with a plump little French woman, who led them
into the house and through some rooms with lovely arabesque
stucco on the walls, and into a court, tiled and glassed over,
a gallery with slender columns running around the second
story. The rooms had no rugs and but little furniture, their
decoration giving them their charm. She led them to the
great banquet hall, and out onto the corridor running
around, where they looked down into a court. ** This is all
covered over when the Governor gives his annual ball, and all
is most beautiful and most magnificent with the lights every-
where and the ladies in wonderful gowns, and the officers in
their uniforms, all gold braid and decorations. Then outside,
it is as I think paradise must be, with all the red, blue, and
yellow lights. All the arches too, here, have electric lights
around them, and the palace is as if it were made of fire.
Oh, if Madame could but see it! " and she clasped her hands
and raised here eyes heavenwards, ecstatically.
* * Who comes to these balls ? * * asked the Other-one.
** Many French people with the officers, Madame, and some
foreigners, but the most beautiful to see are the great chiefs
of Algerie, Aghas, and Bach-Aghas (governors), who are all
summoned to this ball. They wear magnificent clothes and
wonderful jewellery and French decorations, and make the
ball more splendid and magnificent. I have a corner where I
can see everything, and no one knows I am there. When all
is over, the beautiful music ended, the lights out, and the
wonderful people gone, the darkness comes, I feel as if I had
had a dream and gone to paradise, which I must think can-
not be more beautiful."
Then the Motorists, weary with sight-seeing, went, with the
happy Mohamed to point the way out, to Birkadem, up
hills, past divine gardens where crocuses and masses of
purple and white iris were in blossom, and the almond-trees
were like pink snow. They caught glimpses of the sea over
the lush green of the trees. It had light like the shimmer of
opals, in the late afternoon sun. They saw the beautiful
[55]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
curve of the Bay of Mustapha, with the filmy purple moun-
tains beyond, the snow of the peaks tinged with the crimson
of the dropping sun ; those peaks that gave the Other-one that
thrill when she first saw them. There is a pretty Moorish
fountain in the square of the town of Birkadem, and a fort
— the military prison — crowning a hill above the town.
They turned back after a glorious ride, and when it was
growing late they went by the ravine of the Femme Sauvage,
a picturesque route with great rocks and trees, gloomy now
with the waning light ; they turned up by the Colonne Voirol,
and so came down to their paradise and descended from the
car, a weary, but contented party.
They found the pretty Marguerite, — Adrian's wife, who
had come to serve, — had arranged all the household goods
they had brought from home, in a charming room, high up
over the garden and overlooking it and the terrace. Wide
windows opened to the glorious view tinged with the last rays
of the setting sun, and a cool breeze brought in the fragrance
of the flowers and the odor of the sea. All the noise of the
toiling city was subdued to a faint murmur. The hoarse
whistle of an outgoing or an incoming steamer; the distant
toot of a motor car ; the light laughter and talk of some young
girls wandering in the garden below, were all the sounds that
came to their ears, and served but to emphasize the quiet of
the place. So they slept well that night, away from the clang,
the tumult of the Place du Gouvernement.
156]
CHAPTER IV
THE PENON — ADMIRALTY — A VISIT TO THE OLD TOWN — A
GLIMPSE OP THE ARCHBISHOP 'S PALACE, AND THE WINTER
PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR
THE next morning, while the Commander was buried in
his maps, the Other-one sat sipping her coffee at a little
table before the wide-opened windows. She regaled her eyes
with the enchanting view over the cypress and palm-trees of
the garden, across the silver blue of the bay, to where faint
snow-peaks showed themselves in the rosy mauve of the morn-
ing fog. After a prolonged study, the Commander looked up.
* * My plan is to get out of here day after to-morrow ; go to
Cherchel by Tipaza; see the strange ruin of the Tomb of
the Christian ; come back by Blida and the wonderful Gorge
of the Chiflfa — about which I have been reading. We can do
this easily in two days. It is only about a hundred and seven-
teen kilometres to Cherchel from here. We can rest a day, if
you wish, after our return, then go to Bou-Saada, which is
the interesting country of the — How do you call them? —
Ouled Nails. It is the place from which the dancing girls
come. I have looked all up on the maps. We shall find the
roads good everywhere, so let us get off, if possible, the day
after to-morrow ! * '
So they picked up their wraps and went down to the ter-
race of the hotel, to await their car. Happy groups were
sunning themselves there ; some stretched out on the comfort-
able wicker chairs; but the new arrivals, judging by their
joyous satisfaction in the spring-like aspect of everything,
and the warm sun gilding all, could not rest, but were wan-
dering in the garden or hanging over the little tables of the
Arabs, spread like webs to catch the unwary flies. The Ori-
ental jewellery, the gay knick-knacks in metal and silver, the
[57]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
rugs of many colors, looked more entrancing than ever in the
morning sun.
They found Mohamed an embodied smile, and handsome
as a prince, in a crimson jacket embroidered in black, with
full trousers of the same color, and patent leather slippers
with the whitest of hose.
They climbed into the car and bowled down the hills by
the boulevards to the sea, and found what seemed the same
crowd as yesterday, lounging over the balustrades and look-
ing always down on the busy harbor. The car turned the Rue
de I'Amiraute, overlooking the inner harbor, which is between
the building of the Direction of the Port and the mole on
which stands the lighthouse of the Penon. This harbor is
dotted with the many fishing-boats and pleasure craft which
are anchored there. Our party alighted near the stone steps
leading down to the quay. The exquisite Moorish house,
the residence of the Rear- Admiral commanding the marine,
is on the right of the wall some distance on. They
passed by this Admiralty, as it is called, then went on
toward the Peilon. There are some old Moorish buildings
around here and some bits of Moorish work spared, as yet,
by the French. In one wall they saw a typical Moorish
fountain with the flat surface decorated with carved marble
reliefs and just a spout for water. Now they turned to
the right and went on down through a gate, then on by
where the French torpedo boats were anchored, and walked
along until they came to an arch in a corner, which the guide
said was the " Tiger or Leopard Gateway," opening into
the Bureau of the Marine. It is seventeenth century work,
carved of white marble with red, green, and blue leopards
on it, and an Arab inscription. It is celebrated for the fact
that while Mohammedan law does not permit the represen-
tation of living beings, they have invented a legend that
a Persian slave did the work, and his captors found it
so beautiful that they allowed it to remain. The Other-
one thought it curious, and rather ugly than beautiful,
although one writer calls it ^' surpassingly lovely.*'
[58 1
THE PENON
Now they went back to look at the beautiful white light-
house rising on the part left of the old Spanish fort.
* * They say, ' ' observed the Other-one, ' ' that this is pre-
cisely the same as it was in the time of that blood-thirsty old
pirate, Khair-ed-Din. I *ve been reading up a little about
this Peiion. When the Moors were driven out of Spain, the
Algerines were frightened into erecting big batteries all along
the coast. It was then the Spaniards seized the small island
in front of Algiers and built this Peiion on it in 1510 ; but in
1529 Khair-ed-Din determined to take it at whatever cost.
The little band of a hundred and fifty men resisted most
gallantly, but alas! when the Penon was at last taken there
were only thirty-five warriors, and they, with the iron Com-
mander, Martin de Vegas, were all put to death. The blood-
thirsty old Khair-ed-Din pulled the Spanish castle down and
joined the fortress to the coast by a jetty. He employed
twenty thousand Christian slaves to build it. On the only
tower left of the fortress the present lighthouse was erected.
Now civilization has transformed the nest of smugglers into
the most hospitable of cities. * *
** And the tower is one hundred and twenty feet above sea
level and has a fixed light that can be seen for fifteen miles,**
added the Commander. ** Let us walk over toward the
lighthouse and view it as near as we can go to it.**
So they went to where the railed walk leads up to the
entrance door with a Spanish coat-of-arms over it. Then
they walked up the long rampe of the Amiraute on Khair-
ed-Din *8 jetty, and passed along the sea wall until they
came opposite the great white tower, and they leaned over
to see the blue sea roll up and break into foam against
the rocks on which the bastion was built. The view was
ravishing.
** Madame,** said Mohamed, now drawing near, ** there
is much to see in the town. Here is nothing but the sea
and the Penon, and Madame has but little time.**
So they let him go in search of the car, and soon were
riding up the Rue de la Marine, passing the Great Mosque
[59]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
with its beautiful arcades and the decrepit beggars squat-
ting under them. They came into the busy Rue Bal-el-Oued,
then went on by the Rue Divan past the cathedral, and came
into the Rue Randon in the native quarter, and here were all
kinds of native specialties. Mohamed besought his people
to descend, — ' ' they would find such wonderful, such beau-
tiful things in the shops here: Arabic, Moorish, Kabyle, —
so cheap, almost given away!'* But the Commander was
deaf to his entreaties and ordered Adrian to move on, which
he did with difficulty, the street was so crowded with all
sorts of humanity. It was fascinating for the Other-one,
this view of a really Oriental street. The shops were mere
holes-in-the-wall. In one, men were hammering a design
in copper and brass vessels of graceful shape; at another a
blear-eyed old man was embroidering blue velvet slippers in
a design in gold, while many in other brilliant colors hung
around. Near, in just a square, box-like shop with a plat-
form jutting out — as in most of the others — for the would-
be purchasers to recline, bargain and sip the coffee, always
offered — were many gay red and yellow slippers, and work-
men finishing some up. The Other-one wished to stop and
look at the earrings, bracelets, and brooches of gold and
silver wire which a dark-skinned old Jew was trying to show
to them, but the Commander said, '' Wait until we reach the
Kabyle country for your jewellery. All this is modern
trash.''
At a little distance farther on, they alighted near a street
ascending by rude stone steps and dark from the overhanging
houses almost meeting above, with only a strip of sky
between. The projecting upper stories of the houses are
held, or seem to be held, by rows of poles placed close together
and said to be of cedarwood. The narrow streets wind and
twist. It is said one must climb five hundred steps to come
out at the top. The wall spaces of the houses are all white-
washed and mostly blank, save for a high window here and
there screened by projecting lattice-work. The other win-
dows are mere holes, and the doors, generally in the darkest
[60]
THE OLD TOWN
corner, are below the level of the street. They are the only
things in the architecture here that show any beauty, and
are sometimes very fine, decorated with bands of lovely
arabesque work. Our party, conducted by the all-knowing
Mohamed, walked slowly up the crooked streets, pausing
often to take breath and to note anything curious about
them. Here were no carts, nor any animal but the
patient donkeys who scrambled up or down the toilsome way,
sometimes laden with full panniers, or with a humped-up
man or woman, shrouded in burnous or mantle, on their
backs. The streets are too narrow and steep to admit any
vehicles. People were going up and down the steps and were
of fascinating interest. Here a Moorish woman, clad in her
huge balloon trousers, closely shrouded in her mantle, look-
ing in the gloom like a ghost, skulked by ; now a grimy beg-
gar, a mass of rags and sores; now a group of grave
patriarchal-looking men, with their fine cloth burnouses and
their snow-white turbans, seeming like prophets come to
preach cleanliness and order. Then, walking stealthily along,
casting suspicious looks around, an old Jew, his grizzled hair
straggling out from under his turban; dirty little boys in
nondescript garments or nearly naked, and pretty little girls
— but unclean and unkempt — weaving in and out of the
groups, here and there.
Often the party passed a cafe Maure, or Arab coffee house,
where white-turbaned and red-fezzed men were sipping coffee
and the air was blue with cigarette smoke. The Commander
paused to look into one. There were mats on the floor; a
blue-tiled place, built up against the wall and pierced with
holes, held the burning charcoal where they made the coffee.
Small pots and many cups hung near. There were gaudy
prints on the walls, some curious Arabic inscriptions, which
the guide said were sentences from the Koran; and there
hung also the pipes for smoking hasheesh. It was horribly
hot in there, and many were taking their tiny cups of coffee
outside, squatting on mats with little tables before them,
or stretched on the bare ground.
[61]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** I have been told," said the Commander, ''that these
cafes are an institution of all the Arab towns. We shall see
them everywhere, always crowded; some, they say, are
very gorgeous, where the rich Arabs go, but the poorer ones,
like this one, are decorated with gaudy chromos. Each cafe
has its special clients. One has all the water carriers; you
saw some of them in the streets below, with brass jars of
water, offering cups of it to the passersby or rattling the
cups to attract attention? Then the Moors go to another;
the fishermen patronize another; and the sailors have their
favorite cafe. Some of the poor Arabs spend their day
here, after work is finished. They have no other home. They
bring an onion or two, a loaf of Arabian bread, and a jug
of water; then for half a sou they get a cup of coffee. At
night they wrap up in their burnouses, or sacks (you have
seen some of the poor workmen wrapped in a common coarse
sack simply sewed up at one end), the poorest kind of a
wrap but as near a burnous as they can afford. These poor
fellows spread themselves out on a mat, or on the ground,
for the night."
* * I see you are picking up information rapidly, ' ' said
the Other-one, *' but I should like to taste the coffee."
Mohamed here came up with two tiny cups of the coffee,
divining her wish. She swallowed a little of it.
' ' It 's awfully sweet and so muddy with coffee grounds
that they get into my throat. I Ve been told, however, that
people learn to like Turkish coffee, — as I suppose this is, —
and won't take any other after dinner, if they can get this."
While they stopped, Mohamed had hastily swallowed two
or three cups of coffee and smoked a cigarette secretly, and
after handing over the twenty-five sous for all, the party
went on up the narrow street, climbing the slippery stone-
paved steps. Coming down were two corpulent women,
masses of jelly-like flesh, each wearing a funny little conical
cap on one side of her head, and a gay silk handkerchief
tied around; but their chins were swathed in muslin, which
gave them the appearance of having the toothache.
[62]
TTIK " LEOPAKP TVIOR ," ALGIERS
VIEW OF Tin: .\i).\iii^\i;rv and 1'k.n<j.\. alhiers
MINAKET OF THE MOSQUE
OF SIDI-ABD-EE-BAHMAN,
ALGIERS
j^^iJU ^g^
ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB OF SIDI-ABD-EE-RAHMAN,
ALGIERS
THE OLD TOWN
"What are those women?'' the Other-one demanded of
Mohamed, who was delighted to be asked any question he
could answer.
** They are Jewesses, Madame, but not now in their finest
dress, Madame. On fete days, the Jewesses wear most beau-
tiful clothes of silks and velvets, if they are rich, all embroid-
ered in gold, with silk and gold sashes and much splendid
jewellery. Madame should see them.''
** Who are those beautiful-looking men, with the scarlet
trousers, embroidered coats, and long boots, over there in the
cafe at the corner ? ' '
** They are the spahis, Madame, the native cavalry."
*' And the men in green turbans, just turning the corner
yonder? "
** They, Madame, have been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and
some are descended from the Prophet."
So there was a constant change in the figures, and new
combinations came into view, as in a kaleidoscope, as they
wended up the narrow streets. At the darkest corners, how-
ever, the flitting women, all in white, were most uncanny-
looking; as sometimes one opened a door in the wall and
slipped through, the watchful Other-one caught a glimpse of
a courtyard and gay-colored tiles and twisted columns, and
realized there might be something of beauty behind those
closely shut doors; for it was like a glimpse into paradise,
compared with the slime and gloom of the narrow streets.
** How I should like to get behind those prison-like doors
and see the fountains, flowers, and trees, the wonderful court-
yards, the marble pillars, and the old tiles which, one writer
says, are in the houses of the rich Moors here ; and which I
am sure is true, from the mere glimpse I had just now. I
suppose as motorists and birds of passage, we have no time
to secure any influence to get us into any wealthy Arab
home," said the Other-one to the Commander, as he walked
on. ** But at any rate we shall see some Moorish palaces,
those of the Governor and the Archbishop."
** Come ^," called back the Commander, as he paused,
[63]
K
A MOTOR FLIGHT
panting, on some steps above her. ' ' We must get to those
palaces to-day/'
Mohamed now led them round a corner into a narrower
and darker street than any through which they had yet
passed. The Other-one paused in amazement to see some of
the doors open, giving view to a small vestibule with stairs
running up at the back. At these doors sat some most sur-
prising-looking women or girls — surprising in comparison
with the veiled phantoms before seen. At the door — near
which the Other-one stopped so suddenly that the Commander
had almost fallen over her, coming up somewhat briskly after
his rest — sat a painted and powdered creature most wonder-
ful to view. Long, heavy, painted eyebrows extended from
her temples over the eyes and met over the nose. Her cheeks
were painted vermilion. Around her head a gaudy blue-and-
red silk handkerchief was bound, with gold bangles hanging
from it over her forehead. She wore a pink satin long tunic,
embroidered in silver tinsel. Her bare ankles were decorated
with silver anklets, and her feet thrust into red velvet slip-
pers worked in gold braid. Her hands were spread out before
her, and the nails henna-tinted. She was decked out to the
queen's taste in rings, bracelets, necklaces, and brooches.
The gaudy creature leered at them with her heavy eyes,
and the Other-one felt a sensation of disgust too deep to
express. The same scene was repeated at other open doors
on the street, varying only in the decoration of the painted
animal, some having more eyebrows, and more vermilion on
their cheeks.
** What is this street, and what are these women? "asked
the Other-one, turning to Mohamed, who had remained dis-
creetly behind, while the Commander had pushed on, with a
face expressive of even more disgust than his Lady's.
** This, Madame, is the street of the bad women."
' * Oh ! but why did you bring us here ? ' '
*' But Madame wished to see everything."
The Other-one plunged on, and near the end of the street
she observed some sodden-looking men, Italian jT Spanish,
[64]
THE OLD TOWN
presumably, from their unpicturesque clothes, skulking up
the street.
** These are sailors, Madame.''
'* I hope you are satisfied with your sight-seeing,*' called
back the Commander. ' * Let us get out of this ! Ask him
if we have to go back down these slippery steps and these
filthy streets, and inhale again all the detestable odors? '*
Mohamed answered that he had told the chauffeur to come
by the Kasba, so they would meet him there and need not
descend.
** Your guide has a little sense after all, in spite of bis
clothes,'* said the Commander.
They continued to go up and passed into a more narrow
and lane-like street, where the houses came so near in the
second story that the dwellers might really shake hands
across the street. The party were in a gloomy half-twilight,
and there all was silent, except that sometimes they went by
a house whence, where a high window opened to the street,
a sound of nasal chanting and beating of drums broke the
silence.
** There, Madame, they have a marriage and are making
music and beating the derbouka, which is an earthen jar,
Madame, with sheepskin drawn over the mouth.*'
More strange figures flitted up the lane, and it seemed to
our couple that they were moving in a kind of Inferno. The
narrow street soon opened into a wider one, and as the houses
were farther apart, it was lighter. Here were more little box-
like shops. Much cooking was going on here. Over charcoal
fires all sorts of queer-looking scraps and bits of fish were
sizzling in hot oil, and an unappetizing odor filled the air.
Here were the sugar merchants with great cones of more or
less white sugar suspended from strings. Here were grocers
with all sorts of uncanny things in boxes and baskets, and
dried lentils, maize, and dried chestnuts, in earthen pans.
Here and there in the street, a barber plied his vocation, and
in full view, scraped unfezzed heads until they looked like
mottled cocoa-nuts. Here the cafes abounded and were always
[65]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
full of patrons. The guide brought them to two streets cor-
nering on the Rue Kleber — the Rue d^Affreville and the Rue
du Galmier. Here at the corner is a small mosque, which,
Mohamed informed them, '* is that of Mohammed-ed-Cherif,
and one of the oldest in Algiers, Madame/'
* * It is here, ' ' said the Other-one, consulting her guide-book,
** that this marabout, or saint, * was buried in 1541, the year
Charles V made his expedition against Algiers,' and * it is
this saint to whom women come to pray when they wish to
be mothers.' That cafe opposite, on the corner, is * where
the painter Fromentin used to come very frequently, and it
was then much more picturesque than now. ' ' '
Mohamed now asked if they would go to see the other
mosque not far off, where were most beautiful tiles on the
minaret, the Djama Sidi- Abdullah.
** Is it the mosque where the book says that the great
Arab teacher Malek used to pray so many hundred years
ago ? ' ' asked the Other-one.
* * Madame, I cannot tell this, but I know everything about
the rest."
** You are not like him, Mohamed, for to a list of forty
questions asked him, one day, he answered, * I do not know ' ;
and the man who wrote about his life thought that only a
man who cared more for the glory of Allah than his own,
would have confessed to so much ignorance."
* ' Madame, it is true. ' '
In reply to the Other-one's question as to whether they
should see the last mosque, the Commander declared he was
tired and did not feel like more sight-seeing until he had had
his luncheon!
When they entered the pretty Moorish-looking dining-
room, with its colored plaques of Arab men and women, life
size, in their characteristic dress, — one of a native woman,
bearing from the well a great jar on her head, another an
Arab with white hdik and flowing burnous on a white Arabian
horse, — they found it almost deserted.
' ' Do you know, ' ' said the Other-one, as they began upon a
[66]
ALGIERS
delicious omelette aux point es d*asperges, served by a deft
waiter, * * I have a plan too ? It is to take a ride this after-
noon out into the country ; then rest to-morrow, which is Sun-
day, and go to church if we wish, to the pretty Moorish-look-
ing English church, with its chalk-white domes, not far from
here; then write our letters and read up as much as we can
for our trips to Cherchel and Bou Saada. Monday we can
finish up our sight-seeing here and go to the interesting
Mosque of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, also the Moorish palaces.'*
Which was accepted with a little demur by the Commander.
It was rather late that afternoon when they started on their
ride into the country-side; for the Commander, when com-
ing from luncheon, had been tangled in the web of jewellery
and rugs spread by the three wily Arabs on the tiled terrace of
the hotel. They had discerned him as one who would have
the best and the most antique, and who knew counterfeit from
real. So they spread before him old Kabyle blankets, with
soft colors dulled by age, in faded reds, melting browns,
yellows with a bloom on them, blues that seemed to have
taken their tints from the sea under overhanging rocks, and
greens from the distant mountain-sides seen through a haze.
Some were in intricate designs, some with stripes of creamy
white. Then they brought out the precious Kabyle jewellery,
not shown to ordinary tourists, — necklaces, rings, anklets,
bracelets, great plaques all in silver cunningly fashioned,
with fine tracings, lovely enamels in blues and greens and set
with turquoise and pieces of rough coral, — for this con-
noisseur, nothing in glaring colors or coarsely wrought jew-
ellery. So he hovered lovingly over them, endeavoring to
conceal his joy, that he might drive sharp bargains — which
he loved almost as much as the antique curios themselves —
with the crafty Arab merchants.
The Other-one modestly contented herself with some of
the tourist-beloved * * modern trash ' * — hat pins with filigree
balls, nickel boxes with Moorish designs, a necklace of small
plaques with enamel in colors, and a few other trifles. When
they at last went up to their room, the Commander bore a
[67]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
large package, and the hall porter followed him bearing three
or four rugs. As the Commander pulled out his purchases
and regarded them with great satisfaction, the Other-one
gasped, — while Marguerite hastened to arrange them on
tables and on the walls.
* ' Are you going to set up shop here, and what are we to
do with all these?''
** They are for the Museum," replied the Commander.
** I am going to have a great collection of Kabyle work for it,
of the best, and to-day I found wonderful things, and bar-
gains too, I can tell you."
On Sunday, our couple passed the day as had been planned ;
and Monday, bright and early, saw them in their car, slid-
ing down the Mustapha hill, under the guidance of Moham-
ed, whose teeth had never seemed so white, nor whose smile so
gay. Alas! this smile was doomed soon to be quenched in
sadness. He was to lose his profitable patron and the delight-
ful motor-rides; for that morning before starting, the Com-
mander had said to the Other-one:
*' You must tell Mohamed, to-night, that we will need
him no more."
** What ! " cried the Lady. '* My handsome bronze Moham-
ed, with his bright smile and picturesque clothes! "
** Yes! " answered the Commander tersely. ** The fact is,
I must have an intelligent man who speaks English. There
are a thousand things I am continually wanting to ask a
guide, and Mohamed is only an animated parrot. He knows
nothing really."
It was decided that they should go first to the Mosque and
Koubba of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, as it was open to strangers
only two hours in the morning. They went up the Rue Ran-
don, then up the hilly Rue Marengo and had glimpses of the
sea over the roofs. The car was stopped at one side of the
great white-domed Medressa or college. Beggars were
crouched down on the sidewalk in front of the great entrance
to the school and along the white wall. Mohamed took them
to a gateway farther on in the wall, at one side. From this
[ 68 ]
ALGIERS
gateway a narrow path descends by rude stone steps to the
blue sea below. Half-way down is a white-domed tomb. Some
women were going down and others coming up, all swathed
in their white garments ; they looked as if they had but just
left their tombs for a walk and a look at the living world.
The guide conducted his party down and through an arched
gateway, into a little burying-ground, with tombs scattered
here and there, with round or turban-shaped head pieces.
Some of the platforms are all of green tile, others of blue and
white. At one side of the entrance is a tomb with a project-
ing tiled roof and small barred windows, with a pattern in
colors around them. A great cypress-tree, back of it, casts
melancholy shadows across the little building. Back of it
one can see the minaret, an elegant square construction of
three or four tiers of slender colonnades running around it,
and bands of brilliant old faience in rich coloring between.
All, with the old cypress, makes a most effective picture. Some
white-robed women were moving softly around the tombs,
dropping a branch of evergreen here and there on them. The
stillness, the beauty of the view looking down over the low
walls to the sea, the graceful minaret, with the dark green of
the cypress, all against the azure sky, and the white, softly-
moving women, made it seem a charmed and peaceful place,
after the clamor and bustle of the dirty and importunate beg-
gars they had left outside. At the far end of the grounds,
near an ancient cypress-tree, a door opened into the Koubba,
or tomb of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, who died in 1471, and was
as celebrated for the holiness of his life as for his scientific
knowledge. He left several theological treatises also. He is
in great repute among the people of Algiers, especially as
he is in a way their patron.
At the entrance Mohamed delivered his people over to
an ancient crone, who brought them frayed and shabby slip-
pers to put on over their profane shoes before entering the
sacred place. It was a small room they came into, with a few
small windows, and, coming out of the brilliant sunshine,
they could at first discern but little. When they became
[69]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
accustomed to the half light, they saw in one corner the
tomb, looking like a wide, huge bed, surrounded by a high,
elaborately carved and painted railing with panels of Meshri-
biyeh work. Over the tomb were thrown rich shawls and
draperies of silk, banners in tatters, and great strings of
prayer beads. A great crystal chandelier hung above it, and
there were other smaller ones hung around the room, and
ostrich eggs, curious Arabian lamps, and many other things,
probably all votive offerings. Standing in the corner w^as an
old clock, which all mosques have, and which are never known
to keep time, seldom even to go. There are beautiful old
glazed tiles on the walls, and the rugs on the floor are more or
less fine.
Three or four women were kneeling around the wooden
enclosure ; some kissed passionately the wooden panels, others
reached through the open-work and tried to touch the dra-
peries or shawls, which must, they believed, once have been
worn by the saint. One old woman replenished the oil in the
little lamps kept burning near the tomb. The ancient crone
kept an eye on our party for a few moments, but seeing that
they were perfectly quiet and respectful, went and knelt by
the railing; but soon she came to them and made signs that
they should go out, which they were only too glad to do, for
the place was stuffy, and the air heavy with unaccustomed
odors and strange scents. Out in the peaceful burying-place
they found a venerable man in a huge turban, and well
wrapped in his white wool burnous. He was regarding,
benevolently, the pranks of two dirty little boys in long gowns
and soiled white skull caps, who were playing some sort of
game with small stones on the ground ; then they turned and,
without the smallest attention to the strangers, began to play
leap-frog, tumbling over one another, shouting and screaming
and disturbing the calm of the place.
** A strange place to have games in! '' exclaimed the Com-
mander, '* but boys are boys the world over."
Our party climbed the steps to the entrance gate, running
the gantlet of several unkempt Arabs who clamored for sous,
[70]
ALGIERS
and regained their car. They ran along the Rampe Valee,
and stopped for a glimpse of the Marengo garden.
Then they went down again, by the Rue Randon and the
Rue de la Lyre, pausing at the corner of the Rue Divan to go
into the cathedral for a few moments, for a glimpse of its
columns from an old mosque, and the inscription in gilded
letters on black marble, from the Koran, over the high altar.
* ' How strange ! * ' exclaimed the Other-one. ' ' Sentences
from the Koran here ! And do you notice that the altar faces
toward the west! "
Entering the chapel at the right, they saw the white marble
tomb of Geronimo, the Arab Christian martyr.
It was but a step or two over to the Governor's winter pal-
ace, a Moorish house of the eighteenth century. It has
beautiful arched Moorish windows. There are two graceful
date-palm-trees in front, and banana-trees, with their great,
ragged, translucent leaves. Enclosed in a railing, there are
two little sentry boxes near the door. An amiable-looking
concierge seemed glad to see them, the prospect of a fee
making him alert and anxious to please. He took them at
once into the courts which are glassed over and have twisted
marble columns upholding the Moorish arches of the galleries.
There are lovely tiles on the walls here, and some fine stucco-
work. The guardian seemed to consider the great crystal
chandelier in the big ball room the chief beauty of the place.
The Archbishop's palace is directly opposite the Governor's,
so our couple had but to follow Mohamed across the street
and he delivered them into the hands of a motherly old French
woman at the entrance. She took them up a flight of stairs
to show them what she might, ** as Monseigneur was at pres-
ent in the palace and they could see only certain rooms."
The respectable old dame moved deliberately and dignifiedly
through the apartments, here and there throwing out a bit
of information, but with apparent reluctance as if she might
compromise His Reverence, the Archbishop. This palace also
is on the plan of most of the old Moorish houses, with a court
opening from the vestibule, with the slender, graceful mar-
[71]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ble columns supporting the gallery above; also having col-
umns and horseshoe arches, all running around the court.
There are the lovely, iridescent tiles around the walls, and
stucco in lace-like patterns, recalling the Alhambra, but
coarser in work and design. In the entrance court were a
great palm in a jar, and some religious pictures under the
colonnade, and busts of cardinals and archbishops, all look-
ing much out of place here.
In spite of all the delicacy of the arabesque work, the
light and airy colonnades, the open courts in marble flagging,
all the place had a bare, though pure, look, after the over-
loaded furnishings of the modern European houses.
The Other-one tried to imagine what this might have been
in the times when the Deys had sway. This lovely setting of
white columns and marble-flagged courts in which must have
been heard the plashing of fountains' silver rain into the
basins, all open to the blue sky above; harem beauties trip-
ping over priceless rugs with their tiny slippered feet, and
gleaming with jewels ; clothed in spangled gauze dresses and
filmy scarfs bound above their melting dark eyes.
* * Madame finds the palace beautiful ? ' *
The Other-one roused herself from her dream of fair
women, half expecting to see one of the beauties in diaphanous
robes, from the soft dulcet tones that fell on her ear. But
there was only a short, fat, precise old woman, in severe cap
and plain gown of gray, who seemed anxious for her tourists
to depart, fearing " Monseigneur might come down at any
moment. ' '
When they reached their hotel, the Other-one turned, with
regret, to give her picturesque guide his dismissal. His bril-
liant smile faded away when she told him they would need
him no more, at the same time placing a fat fee in his ever-
ready palm.
*' We go off, to-morrow, for a trip into the country."
' * But Madame must take me, ' ' he said eagerly. * ' I know
everything, all the roads, all the towns, I speak the language
of all the tribes — Madame will see. There is no guide like
[72]
ALGIERS
me. Madame will be indeed desolate without me. Everybody
who travels here desires to have me.*'
** In that ease you will have no trouble to secure a patron
at once. I am sorry," she said firmly, *' but we cannot take
you." So she turned away leaving Mohamed disconsolate
indeed.
[73]
CHAPTER V
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL AND TOMBEAU DE LA CHRETIENNE
WHEN the Other-one descended the next morning at an
early hour, all ready to begin the trip to Cherchel,
she found the car in shining readiness. Adrian was hovering
around it, giving some last touches, while a sallow little man
in spectacles was putting in the valises and filling up the
big bag, back of the front seat, with the shawls and travel-
ling coats. Jammed down over his head was a much worn,
soft, black felt hat, from under which he peeped at her
humbly.
** Who is that man? '' she asked sotto voce of the Comman-
der, who was giving rapid directions as to the disposal of
the baggage.
** It *s the guide,'* said he, shortly.
**What! That insignificant, ordinary little creature, in
those European clothes! He looks as if he had been buried
some centuries and has not had time to brush off the mould
since excavated. Is he to replace my picturesque Mohamed ? * '
** I know he is not much to look at,'* answered the Com-
mander, stiffly, * ' but he is an excellent guide, and knows all
the roads, the hotel manager says. He will tell you about
everything we see. Moreover, he speaks good English, which
is the essential. He is a Jew, and his name is Moses.'' So
saying the Commander turned quickly away, donned his
warm coat — for the morning was cool — with the guide's
aid, mounted to his throne, unfolding his map for a last
glance at the road, and placed his dog whip where he could
reach it.
The Other-one was soon in her seat, and the guide got into
his, very humbly, in front of her; then they rolled away
down the avenue, leaving the hotel in its pretty garden, and
[74]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
a few early people, who watched them off rather enviously.
The Arabs would have been * * desolated * * to see their munifi-
cent patron escaping from their toils; but they had not yet
come to spin their seductive webs. It was a fine, fresh morn-
ing, and the sun was a little shorn of its beams by some light
clouds floating in the sky. The sea was of a blue tourmaline
tint with reflections of burnished silver, where the sun caught
the edge of the waves. A fog shut out the snow peaks from
view. The air was invigorating, and seemed as though it
had come from the sea with its flavor, over snow-capped
mountains that cooled it ; then across deserts to warm it, and
then over verdant, flowery plains to catch the aroma of the
flowers. Down the car went, smoothly, over the perfect roads,
by orange groves with white villas peeping through, by the
domed English church, to the Boulevard above the harbor,
with its early loungers there ; by the Public Garden, with its
great clusters of palm-trees; by the Place du Gouvernement,
not quite so effervescing in that early hour, still with much
movement, light, and color. The Mosque of the Fishery looked
as if it had been re- white washed in the night past, and early
Arabs lounged by its walls. So our Motorists slipped away
from the fascinating life, past the Peiion with its gruesome
memories, less pitiful in the morning sunlight, the waves
breaking in a fringe of foam against its rocks. Just beyond
the guide pointed out the Arabian house with its lovely
Moorish entrance and its graceful palm swaying in the light
breeze — then they went past the Fort des Anglais.
** Oh! *' exclaimed the Commander, ** is this not glorious! '*
and he drew deep breaths of the fresh, sweet air.
They soon came to, and passed, St. Eugene, with its white
villas surrounded by gardens, and its common, ugly, French
main street. Beyond is the Valley of the Consuls, which the
guide said ** was so named for having been the quarter where
the foreign consuls lived in the time of the Deys.*' Below
were the Jewish and European cemeteries, and back on green
Bouzarea the towering Byzantine dome of Notre Dame
d'Afrique could be seen. They bowled on by the sea, which
175]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
was flinging its white foam on the rocks below. About three
kilometres on they passed the old Turkish fort, built on a great
rock jutting into the sea, and the white lighthouse of Cape
Caxine. The road now was bordered with white villas and
gardens on one side; on the other, great rocks projected into
the sea. Then came a long stretch of vineyards, no green
vine leaves showing as yet, but the land was beautifully
clean and rich-looking and free from weeds. Fifteen kilo-
metres more and they reached Guyotville, a pretty town with
a sandy beach stretching from it to the sea.
Here, the guide said, were many market gardens, the sandy
soil lending itself well to this kind of culture.
On they sped, the road always smooth, the gardens a
delight to the eye. To the Other-one's regret, they began to
drop away from the sea and run on with great, rolling, green
mountains at their left. There were small domains along the
way, where many fig-trees were growing, their knotted,
sprawling branches showing faint green leaves. They ran now
by wide cultivated fields, spreading miles on all sides, enor-
mous vineyards, in the most careful state of cultivation.
" These are the domains of La Trappe,'* said Moses;
*' about two kilometres from Staoueli (the little village we
pass through next, and where in 1830 the Moslem army was
encamped, and a battle was fought which completely routed
the Turks) was the monastery of La Trappe. The French
Government gave the Trappists twenty-five hundred acres
of land, and they came here in 1843, under the care of
their Superior, Father Francis Regis. The first stone of the
abbey was laid on a bed of shells and balls found on the
battlefield.
''It is a large, rectangular building, fifty yards square,
with a garden in the centre. There are inscriptions on the
walls. One says, ' If it is hard to live at La Trappe, how
sweet it is to die there ! ' On the grounds there are large
farms, granaries, wine cellars, and cattle stalls. There are
extensive orchards and vineyards. But the monks are no
longer there. They were expelled by the Government in
[76]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
1904. The wine is now made by the Spaniards, who have
occupied the monastery ever since the monks left/*
The car was now passing large fields of a lovely pale green
of early wheat or barley, the long blades waving in graceful
lines in the morning breeze.
* ' How wonderful this cultivation is ! " remarked the Com-
mander ; * * these great grain fields, these enormous vineyards,
all wrested from the wild lands by the tremendous toil of the
colonists. What faith they must have in their methods ; what
a capacity for labor! These roads, these great cultivated
domains, make me think much better of the French ! ' '
The car now went through the little village of Staoueli.
Sidi Ferruch is about two kilometres off, down by the sea.
Moses now began in his sing-song voice, pointing down to the
plains near the sea about four kilometres away :
" That is Sidi Ferruch where the French disembarked in
1830, and after a brilliant engagement, entered Algiers.**
Now came a long, uncultivated plain, but brilliant with
wild flowers, making a mosaic of lovely color. Farther on,
they saw clumps of the dwarf palm, the Chamcerops humilis.
Some natives were tearing off the leaves, stuffing them into
great panniers borne by patient donkeys, standing near ; and
the car passed many other donkeys, with high heaped palm
leaves. The Commander's curiosity was excited as to what
use was made of these palm leaves.
** A vegetable horsehair is made of them, which is exported
in large quantities, and is used to stuff cushions and cheap
mattresses,** said the all-knowing Moses.
A vehicle now hove in sight, the like of which they had
never seen. The Other-one, ever on the alert, peered out.
** I must have a photograph of that.**
Adrian pulled up the car; the strange object came near
in a cloud of dust and slowed almost to a standstill as it
approached the motor, with which the driver was as much
impressed, evidently, as our party with his stage. There
were three horses abreast and two behind them attached to
this nondescript coach, a double-decker. A long hood
[77]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
extended over the ** upper deck '* and seemed to be packed
solidly with baggage and Arabs, who peered anxiously out
from the flaps. A chaise-like cover was over the seat of the
driver who was a bronzed, hard-looking Frenchman, with a
turban wound around his head.
The part under the * ' deck ' ' seemed to be the place for
first-class passengers, as those who looked out had a cleaner
and more well-to-do air than their fellow-travellers above ; but
it seemed stuffy, and the whole vehicle creaked and rocked
as the driver cracked his whip sharply and moved on with
his cloud of dust. The car ran on; sometimes there were
glimpses of the sea, then there came into view the most sym-
metrically beautiful mountain the Other-one thought she had
ever seen. It was a soft pearly blue.
''What is it?'' she asked. "It is so lovely! It seems
made of the mist of the sea ! ' '
' ' My lady, that is called Chenoua ! ' '
They swept in, always now by the sea, to Zeralda, going
throug:h the main street with its shops and two or three cafes
Maures, where Arabs squatted on the ground or lolled on
benches, drinking the ever-present coffee and smoking
cigarettes.
''What lazy creatures Arabs are," exclaimed the Other-
one. " We see them always, crouched down by the roadside
or lounging at the cafes. I have not as yet seen an Arab at
work. Nor have I yet seen a woman at a cafe. The poor wives
always stay at home, or go to cemeteries, all bundled up in
hdiks and veils, — to get their pleasure, it seems."
The car rolled on. Down by the sea were the sand dunes
and a forest of green feathery pines. They passed a road to
the left, white and smooth, and saw, far to the left, a wide
cut in the Atlas Mountains.
*' That road," said the guide, "leads to Blida and the
Gorge of the Chiffa, so celebrated for its fine scenery and the
monkeys."
" We will certainly return that way," declared the Com-
mander, " and cultivate an acquaintance with those monkeys."
[78]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
Still on, and the symmetrical mountain always grew less
ethereal as they neared it. The way led now up a hill, and
the sea became broadly visible. They crossed, on an iron
bridge, one of those curious African rivers — all rocks, peb-
bles, and sand, but not the tiniest trickle of water — the
Oued Mazafran. The guide began to show signs of nervous-
ness when they had gone some distance on a road he had
motioned Adrian to take.
** I am afraid,** he said humbly, at length, '* we are on
the wrong road. We must turn back!** Which they did,
taking a narrow road to the left.
After some more turns and returns by the bewildered
guide, during which the Commander's patience was nearly
exhausted, they came down into Castiglione, a pretty little
town, almost wholly French in its characteristics. Here are
an abundance of good water and fine agricultural lands. A
beautiful avenue of mulberry-trees leads to the water, though
now they were not in full leaf. All the sand dunes down by
the sea were covered with the lentisque bushes, with their
soft, dark, shiny green leaves, and their prickly thorns. What
gave the Other-one a vivid pleasure was to get a glorious view
of the mountain Chenoua, which she had elected to call her
own. Now it had lost its far-off ethereal look, and from here
seemed an almost friendly mountain.
They had luncheon in a tiny room of the primitive and not
over-clean hotel, which looked into a dusty little garden. A
slatternly girl, directed by Monsieur the proprietor, brought
them, after some waiting, a greasy omelette and some tough
chops garnished with fried potatoes, and finished them off
with withered oranges and dusty figs and dates. But the
bottle of native red wine was excellent and, like all the wines
of Algeria, pure and of good flavor.
After some dispute between the guide and Monsieur the
proprietor as to the correct road to the Tomb of the Christian,
— which it was thought best to visit now and not wait to do
so on the return trip, — the party were off. Everywhere they
passed great vineyards that lay above* the blue sea.
[79]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** I must believe," exclaimed the Other-one, '* that the wine
is always good when the vineyards open to glorious views.
The grapes must ripen more richly, exposed to their benign
influence ! ' '
*' This is the Sahel, the region of hills that lie between the
sea on the north and the plain of the Mitidja on the south.
It is all very fertile land,'^ said the guide.
The soil was a warm brown in color, under the vines. It
would have taken a rich palette to give all the effects of color
— warm browns, peacock blues, soft greens, and the blue-gray
of the distance.
Near the farmhouse, called Beau Sejour, after some words
with a man in a blouse who was smoking his pipe, under a
lace-like pepper-tree, the guide directed Adrian to turn up
a country road to the left. It was a very bad one, soft and
full of humps. The Commander, who had lost some of his
confidence in Moses* knowledge of roads, objected strongly.
' ' I don 't believe we are on the right road, ' ' he said
sharply. *' No carriage, much less automobile, can go up
such a road as this ! There must be some other. ' *
* * I know of no other, ' ' said the guide humbly.
Adrian put the car into second speed and they bumped
over rocks and hillocks to the noise of its grinding. At length
they succeeded in reaching the barren hill clothed in wild
grass and lentisque bushes, where the great mysterious ruin
— to account for which there have been so many theories —
stood, most impressive in its lonely grandeur, a landmark for
the surrounding country for ages. It was much more
enormous than the Commander and the Lady had thought,
viewing it from afar. And this is what they saw:
a great heap of blocks of stone rising in a cone-
like shape two hundred and fifty feet, in form like a
huge drum nearly one hundred and fifty feet in diameter. It
has sixty pilasters, or attached columns, of the Ionic order,
all around at intervals. At the north, east, and west, are
four false doors, the moulding on which is like a cross. This
is probably why the Arabs call it the Tomb of the Christian
[80]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
— in Arabic, Kbour Roumia. If not as beautiful as it must
have been in its pristine glory, it is still very picturesque,
with the wild grasses and bushes growing around the rocks
that lie in disorder at its base, and the graceful vines that
thrust themselves — covered with pale-blue, white, and yel-
low blossoms — out from the interstices of the stones above.
The hill upon which this tomb stands, is six or eight hundred
feet high, and the azure sea shows afar on one side ; on the
other, the great verdant plain of the Mitidja, that plain
whose soil is so rich that of all Algeria it is most colonized;
and there are wonderful farms which show the transforma-
tion the French have made in this country.
** This ruin is wonderful, stupendous! I am glad we came
in spite of the bad road leading up to it! '* said the Comman-
der, as he gazed at the great mound of stones rising to such
proportions above him.
'* I had not thought much about seeing this; what we should
have missed had we not come! I know nothing about it;
what can you tell us, Moses, concerning it T "
" It is the Tomheau de la Chreiicnne, sir, that is all. No
one knows much about it. If you wish to go inside, I will get
the guardian, who lives in that little cabin up there." From
which hut two figures detached themselves and came — one
slowly and feebly, the other on the dead run — toward them.
* * Come over here, away from those persons ; let us sit down
on a rock hidden by those bushes, and while you look at the
great ruin, I will tell you, as well as I can, what I read about
this tomb, last evening, in a book on the Ancient Cities of
North Africa, by Rene Cagnat, and also in another French
work.''
They went off a little distance and sat down on a broken
column, and feasted their eyes alternately on the grand view
and the great picturesque mound of stones.
** How strange it seems,** meditated the Commander, *' to
see how much in ruins this tomb is, covered with wild vines
and bushes growing up to conceal the base ; and to have this
quiet and loneliness here, when once it was a place of such
[81]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
tremendous activity, when it was being built; and do you
know, I have a theory about the building of it ? ' *
** Well," began the Other-one, ** you must know there have
been many suppositions to account for this great mass. It
was once believed to be the tomb of that great beauty whom
the King of the Visigoths seduced, the daughter of Count
Julian, who in order to avenge himself for this, gave up Spain
to the Mussulmans. Others said it was built to guard a great
treasure. Some of the legends about the treasure are inter-
esting. One is, that a peasant who guarded his cattle near
this tomb, having noticed that one of his cows disappeared
every evening, but was found every morning in the midst of
the herd, resolved to watch her. He saw her enter a hole in
this tomb, which closed up at once after her. The next even-
ing, better advised, he caught the tail of the cow as she was
about to enter, and he was dragged in with her. He came out
the next morning by the same means, but carrying such treas-
ure of gold, that he became one of the richest lords of the
country. It is unnecessary to add that he often made an ex-
cursion here. Another legend has it that an Arab of the
Mitidja, that vast plain down there, fell into the hands of the
Christians, and became the slave of an old Spanish savant,
well up in knowledge of sorcery. This old savant gave the
Arab his liberty on condition that he would return to his
country, visit this tomb, turn toward the east, and burn a
magic paper which the sorcerer gave him. The Arab did as
asked, and saw a strange sight: no sooner had the paper
burned up than this tomb opened, and a great crowd of gold
pieces came out of the opening, and flew off in the direction
of Spain, where it is certain they went to join the sorcerer.
** These are nonsensical tales, '* said the Commander.
** Tell me what you have read that gives the real facts about
this tomb — not legends, please."
** For my part I like to read the old legends; they make a
ruin doubly interesting. Well, the antiquarians have de-
cided that it is a royal tomb ; and it is almost certain that it
was that of a Nubian Prince, Juba II, the King of Maureta-
[82]
FOUNTAIN IN SQUAEE AT CHERCHEL, MADE
UP OF EOMAN REMAINS
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
nia, and his family. His history is so interesting in connec-
tion with this tomb. It won^t take but a minute or so to tell
it .you, and we shall find his capital, Cherchel, so much more
interesting when we arrive there. Juba was brought up at
the court of Octavius, who in due time gave him the king-
dom of Mauretania, and he married Selene, daughter of
Cleopatra. In consequence of his education it happened that
the country received more of a wise man and an artist than
an administrator. He wrote a little on all subjects, and he
had also wonderful taste for works of art and magnificent
constructions, and he built some famous temples. This tomb,
in its pristine grandeur, was indeed a fit shrine for so great
a man. I wonder if his wife could have been as beautiful
and fascinating as her mother, Cleopatra! How these ruins
set one's imagination to work ! **
** Well,** said the Commander, **that is all very interest-
ing. But we must now go on if we wish to see a little of
Cherchel, stopping first at the ruins of Tipaza, if you like,
and to reach Ilammam R'hira for the night.**
When they came to the car, the guide was talking to a
slim young Kabyle girl, with the brightest of handkerchiefs
bound around her head. Her blue cotton dress was caught
up on the shoulder with great silver fibula^ and she wore
clanking anklets and bracelets, of silver too, set with coral.
An ancient crone wrapped in a coarse mantle stood nearby.
** This is the daughter of the guardian. He is away. She
will show us the tomb. She speaks nothing but Kabyle,**
said the guide.
Here the Commander caught sight of the jewellery, and
specially riveted his gaze on a bracelet on the girFs right
arm. It was of most cunningly fashioned silver, with bits of
coral and turquoise, set in small plaques, richly etched.
** It is a beauty ! ** he exclaimed. ** Kabyle, of course ! Ask
her what she will take for it and the fibulae.**
The guide drew her to one side, as if, by chance, her Ian-
gauge could be understood. After some talk and rapid ges-
tures by both, he came back and told them this :
[83]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** She says they belong to her mother, and she can't sell
sell them unless her mother is willing. ' '
* * Tell her to ask her, quick — we are in a hurry ! ' '
The girl ran eagerly off, and soon returned with the jewels
in her hands, and offered them for a price far beyond their
value. Undoubtedly Moses was to share in the transaction.
The Commander shook his head and offered a price much
lower. This was flatly refused. Nothing would be accepted
but the first price. The Commander became impatient and
time was flying.
* * Give it to her, Moses ; I must have the things ! ' '
As he had no change, he produced a bill, but no one could
change it, so he turned away disappointedly.
' * Let us see the interior of the tomb, then, and get off. ' '
The girl seemed ready to cry, while the old crone gesticu-
lated wildly, and Moses shrank into himself more than ever.
The party now followed the girl, who led them to the farther
door to the east, where they crawled in by a narrow opening.
Giving some lighted candles to each one, the girl passed on
through a narrow corridor, they following, and came to a
vaulted chamber which had nothing in it. On the walls were
sculptured, rudely, a lion and a lioness. Under this was an-
other corridor leading to a flight of steps, up which they
entered a long gallery running around the wall. Following
it they came to two vaulted chambers, which the guide said
were exactly in the centre of the mound. The first seemed to
have been a vestibule; the second had three niches which
must have been intended for cinerary urns. The guide said
nothing had been found there, and that the long corridor had
once been closed by great blocks of stone, which had been
broken in pieces by searchers after treasure in the ancient
times.
Leaving the great monument looming above them, with its
uncertain history and its legends, they went by the sea, and
passed more great vineyards stretching away to their left.
They came to a long low wall beyond which they could see
the ground for a long distance strewn with ruins.
[84]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
* * It is Tipaza, * * said Moses ; * * but Monsieur will not care
to stop. There is nothing to see that he will care for, if he is
in a hurry. ' *
*' But I am told/' said the Other-one, *' that it is most in-
teresting here, and there is the church of St. Salsa somewhere.
I love her story.*'
However, it was decided that either on the return or at
some future time, a special visit should be paid to the ruins
of Tipaza, and the Other-one hoped it would be with a more
intelligent guide than Moses. So they went on, rounding
Mount Chenoua, leaving the sea, and turning north. They
soon passed some picturesque ruins of a Roman aqueduct
with two stories of arches, between two high hills.
* * This carried the water to Cherchel in Roman times, ' ' said
the guide.
Before long they went by the white domes of some Koubbas
at the left. The guide said they were the tombs of a powerful
Arab family, the Berkani.
Then they came into the streets of Cherchel and regained
the sea. ** What a glorious situation," said the Other-one,
* * with this line of green hills at the back, and the sea bath-
ing the shores. Juba II did well to embellish this as his capi-
tal, and make it a beautiful city of white temples, arches,
palaces, and columns, if we can believe what is written, though
as it looks to-day, with scarcely one stone left upon another,
it is difficult to credit the statements. The guide-book says:
* There are the remains of luxurious Roman baths, covered by
modern buildings, and the old mosque, which is now a hos-
pital, is ornamented with columns found here. There were
also found very fine statues which are now in the museum.' "
** Which we must see at once," said the Commander.
They alighted near the Esplanade, the public square over-
looking the sea, with some fine old lime-trees around it, and
broken columns and architectural bits, here and there. In
the centre is a curious fountain, with the two basins resting
in a capital of a column, and three fine colossal heads, of two
goddesses and one god, at the base, and which must have
[85]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
adorned some temple or palace. Our couple crossed and
entered the small building opposite the square, going at once
into the court. Here is a collection of headless, armless, and
more or less mutilated statues, some of beauty and fine work ;
there are columns, — some of the breccia of Mount Chenoua,
some of black diorite, — beautiful, ornate capitals ; bases, frag-
ments of rich cornices and amphorae leaning against the walls.
In one room which they entered, off the court, were some ad-
mirable bronzes, much corroded, signed with the artist's
name, and the vessels in which they had been found. A pla-
card stated that they had been taken out of the sea. There
was an Egyptian divinity in black basalt of excellent work,
considering the hardness of the material. It had a hiero-
glyphic inscription.
Then the Commander called attention to some lead pipes of
the times of the Romans. * ' You can see, ' ' he said, ' ' how
they made their pipe in those times : they rolled up a sheet of
lead, folded it over the edges, and ran molten lead along the
joinf
There were one or two lengths that had the maker's name
on them.
' ' We could reconstruct the entire city from these frag-
ments, ' ' said the Commander. * * It must have been a wonder,
judging from all these remains ! ' '
Going out, the two found Moses out by the door. He had
been languidly indifferent to their wanderings. He now
asked weariedly if they wished to go and see the mosque,
which, he said, * * had eighty-nine beautiful green granite
columns that had been taken from an ancient temple, ' ' but as
the afternoon was waning, the Commander said they must
go on.
Returning on the same road they soon passed by the Roman
aqueduct again with its ruined arches, even more picturesque
in the afternoon 's long shadows. Then a great farm came in
view, with many low buildings and wide vineyards stretching
away; then the ruins of the aqueduct that took the waters
to Cherchel centuries ago, more picturesque even than the
[86]
THE TRIP TO CHERCHEL
other, with a triple row of arches, and vines and vagrant
weeds flaunting in the breeze, from the crevices where they
had found soil. Not far from here the car passed another
of those nondescript stages, loaded to the brim, and heads —
sticking out in all directions — of Arabs, so happy to ride.
The driver under the capote, however, had three men beside
him who did not appear so calm and contented. They were
English, judging from their wejl-cut clothes, and looked, all
three, scowling and cross, and they cast envious glances at
the contented occupants of the motor-car, but it rolled swiftly
by them, enveloping the coach in a cloud of dust in addition
to what it had already raised itself.
As the car went smoothly on, there were always curious,
or interesting, or annoying, groups on the road or by the side
of it. The motor now came to a large flock of black-faced
sheep, their Arab shepherds urging them on, by howling and
brandishing clubs. A cloud of dust spread on all sides, and
from the shrieks of the Arabs as the car drew nearer, they
appeared to believe that it was about to roll over and crush
their flock. The bleating of the lambs and the baaing of the
sheep, mixed with the yelping barks of the shepherd dogs, and
the howls of the Arabs, made a pandemonium.
* * Slowly ! Slowly ! Adrian ! * * cried the Commander.
Adrian put his car to second speed and they just crawled
through the frightened flock without injuring a single one.
The shepherds, however, showed no gratitude, but hurled
after the car what sounded like terrible invectives.
A long, beautiful avenue of lime-trees led to Zurich where
they turned east to Marengo, which is an important town at
the west end of the great fertile Mitidja Plain.
** There is a great market here, sir, every Wednesday, very
interesting to see, where hundreds of natives come with their
herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats,'* said the guide.
Beyond Marengo they took a road turning sharply to the
south. In the later afternoon the view was lovely, — the long
level barley and wheat fields, with their green intensified by
the low rays of the sun sinking gradually in the West. Afar
[87]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the fields ran to the mountains, rose, purple, and deep blue.
Then some hills came near, closed them in, and shut off the
sun, so they were in twilight for some time. When they came
into the open again, they saw a misty round object afar, loom-
ing up into the rose-blue sky.
' ' See, ' ' cried the Commander, ' ' there is the Tomb of the
Christian! "
Then they began to wind upwards around hill after hill,
some cultivated to their tops, some covered with forests of the
Aleppo pine. The party were all silent, impressed with
the still loveliness of the sky and the evanescent color of the
mountains ; then a great black mountain rose afar and seemed
sternly to refuse to clothe itself in the sunset's lovely colors.
* ' What is the stern mountain called ? ' ' asked the Other-one.
' ' That is Mount Zaccar ; and Miliana, where we go to-
morrow, lies on its slope.'*
The car entered some groves of trees, and then came into a
garden where date-palms, aloe-trees, tangerine orange-trees,
and pines, all blended their odors and made the evening air
sweet indeed. They stopped before the light and airy hotel
of the Baths. Out bustled the porter and some waiters, and
our wayfarers were received with open arms, for motor cars
came not often. Our party had an excellent dinner in a great
bare dining-room. There were few travellers, and the Other-
one thought it really too elaborate for a mere handful of
guests. They spent the night in a big and airy room, and
slept, in the stillness that settled around the hotel, the dream-
less sleep of conscientious and most weary motorists.
[88]
CHAPTER VI
HAHMAM b'hIRA AND MILIANA TO ALGIERS — BY THE GORGE
OP THE CHIPFA AND BLIDA
THE next morning, the Other-one was awakened hy deli-
cious bird notes just outside her window, one long, soft
whistle answered by another, not far off, with a musical trill
and a finish with a warble. So far, she had seen or heard few
birds, so these gave special delight, but they were so shy
she could not find out what they were though she peered out
into the trees.
Going down to her bath that morning, early, the Other-one
found in the basement of the hotel a place very well fitted up.
There are two large swimming-baths, each thirty feet long by
fifteen wide. One has a temperature of ninety-five degrees,
and the other a hundred and ten. There is an early hour for
the men, and later the baths are given over to the women for
the morning.
The Other-one related to the Commander sometime after-
wards her experience of how she had been told by the fat
bath-woman to remain in the first bath, for fifteen minutes,
and to ring the bell when that time ended ; therefore she had
seated herself comfortably in one of the painted iron chairs
in the deliciously agreeable water, reflecting upon the luxu-
riant times the ancient Romans must have had, lolling around
on couches and conversing with their friends, or playing
games in the water, in their great baths the ruins of which to-
day show such former magnificence. At the time specified
she rang for the bath-woman, who said she must go into the
next basin and remain but five minutes. The Lady did as bid-
den ; climbing the short steps between the two baths, she con-
fidently plunged one foot in the water, to follow it with the
other, when she found the water so scalding hot that she
f89 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
scrambled out, screaming so loudly that a very stout woman,
lolling luxuriously in a big arm chair in the water, was scared
nearly into hysterics, being one who was taking the baths for
her nerves, she said.
* ' And think ! ' ' added the Other-one, * * there was no cold
plunge after all this hot water ! They let me dress and go up
at once into the cool air. I fully expected to have pneu-
monia after it, and have not dared tell you before about my
bathing experience. ' '
Accompanied by the agreeable manager, the couple went
for a short walk in the grounds. He had much to say, as was
natural, about the beneficial effects of the waters, and his
account was certainly true, from all the other reports.
** The water,'' said he, ** is of a saline, sulphurous, and
lime composition ; most beneficial in chronic rheumatism, gout,
some forms of paralysis, nervous and cutaneous diseases. For
drinking water, there is a chalybeate spring of great impor-
tance, not far from the hotel and brought to it in pipes. It is
most agreeable to drink, as it has a little carbonic acid in it,
and is very beneficial for dyspepsia, chronic affections of the
liver, and malaria.
* * It is certainly a beautiful and peaceful place here ; one
could never weary of the views of those grand mountain
peaks, ' ' said the Other-one. * * Let us stay here forever, and
let the work-a-day world go on, far from us ! We would only
die of old age here, for no disease could get its clutch upon
us, with such w^ater to scald in, and the chalybeate spring to
drink.''
The manager smiled politely and went on, pointing to the
great pine forest just beyond, above these grounds.
** That forest consists of about eighteen hundred acres,
and there is much sport there for those who like it. Par-
tridges, hares, and rabbits abound there, and some wild boars
and jackals are found."
* ' I hope there are no lions or panthers, which we have read
are in African forests, there."
'* No lions, but panthers and hyenas are shot there."
[90]
HAMMAM R'HIRA AND MILIANA
** Decidedly, we will not come here to live! " exclaimed the
Other-one. *' I prefer to die with some comfortable disease,
to being clawed by a hyena or chewed up by a panther. * *
The manager did not feel called upon to smile at this re-
mark, but went on again : * * Fifteen thousand natives come
here annually to bathe, with a caravan of camels and mules
and donkeys, but the place where they go is some distance
from the hotel,'* added the manager hastily. ** They call
these the * baths of King Solomon. * They believe he has, in
the mountains, many camels loaded with coal, to be burned
for keeping up the high temperature of the water, and they
invoke him, upon burning benzoin before the baths. In a
place entirely separate from the bathing-place they have
sometimes very curious rites, such as the sacrifice of animals
of all kinds, ablutions, and processions, with chanting. If you
could be here at the time, on some Monday, which is the spe-
cial day, usually, for these rites, it would interest you both
very much.*'
This was an ancient and favorite bathing-place of the Ro-
mans. You see many remains of their time, of statues,
columns, and bits of other marbles around the grounds. It
was called here Aquae Calidae, and was most flourishing in
the time of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, A. D. 32.
Thanking the agreeable manager for all his information
the travellers were soon off again.
It was a gloriously fresh morning. The car flew down
the long hill from Hammam R'hira like a bird. At the road
to the right they turned sharply off, and then the way wound
up again by curves. Great mountains thrust their soft blue
peaks into the sky; Mount Zaccar looked majestic in the
morning sunlight. Here and there they passed flocks of sheep
feeding on the hillsides, guarded by small Arab boys or girls,
who called shrilly after the car as they hugged their ragged
garments closer around them in the fresh morning air. Some
of the hills were green with the soft, shining-leaved lentisque
bushes, others were golden with the genesta, others still had
masses of dwarf palm growing on them. The travellers climbed
[91]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
a height and saw for an instant the vivid blue of the sea.
Against the pale sky, off at the right, the misty outlines of
the Great Atlas rose. Then a small domain of cultivated
land, with fruit trees and vines was passed, and they came to
some scattered ruins near a modern town called Margueritte.
The great Zaccar mount rose to the sky before them, and
on its steep flanks they saw Miliana with its red-roofed build-
ings, the great frames over the mines, and the gardens
around, white and pink with the blossoms of fruit trees.
Southwest were the outlines of the Ouarsenis Mountains,
and the great Chelif plain stretching from the soft greens of
the grain fields below them to the misty blue of the distance.
Here Moses felt called upon to deliver a little information,
which he did with some reluctance.
* * This is a wonderful country for fruit, ' ' he said. * ' There
are peach, apple, pear, plum, apricot, and fig trees all through
this region. When the fruit is ripe one can have all he can
eat for a sou.'^
** I can well believe it, with all this wealth of blossoms we
see,'* said the Commander.
Under the vines in many of the vineyards they now passed,
the ground was reddish-purple, with a mass of plants with
small flowers of that hue. The guide could not tell the name
of the flowers, but he knew ''the French made a sort of tisane
of them."
" If I were a guide, and letting myself out for a good price
every day, I would learn, in good English, the name of every
bird, and every tree, bush and flower of the country I had to
take tourists through,'' said the Commander. " I should not
be contented to deal out to my patrons just scraps of unre-
liable information I had learned out of some guide-book, on
any subject but that about which the traveller desires to
learn."
' ' Yes, sir ! " said Moses, humbly.
As the tourists came nearer, great red heaps showed them-
selves on the flanks of the mountains, and black holes with
timber constructions over them. There was a narrow rail-
[92]
MOVlMi NOMADS, ON TIIK DKSKWr
AUTOMoi:
:foke tombeau de la ciihetienxe,
cherchel
THE CAK BEFORE THE OLD IVY-
COVERED MINARET USED AS
A CLOCK TOWER, MILIANA
m^j
I't^HBVfV
^K^^^k^^^^H|*'4k~>M^~<v«flH^«|iM4^to|^p^^** J^ . •^■kS ^- ^ '
ONE OF THE NONDESCRIPT STAGES OF ALGERIA
AND TUNISIA
HAMMAM R'HIRA AND MILIANA
road running up the steep incline, and many tiny dump-cars
at the side of the road. The Commander became much inter-
ested, and, turning to Moses, tried to extract at least a little
from him about the mines.
The guide had some knowledge.
** Those mines, sir, are of hematite, and they get out about
a hundred thousand tons a year.**
They now came to Miliana and entered by the Zaccar gate,
one of the two piercing the old walls around the town, which
were first constructed by the Romans aroimd an ancient city,
and rebuilt by the Berbers and the Turks. The car rolled
down a street with crystal clear water running at the sides
and shaded by great lime-trees. They came to the public
square or the Place de TEglise, where is a great clock con-
structed in an ancient Moorish minaret, that looks like a
tower of living green, so draped in ivy is it. Near by, they
found the Hotel du Commerce, where a pleasant landlord took
them into a room decorated with gay placards, and seated
them at a table with a clean white cloth. At other tables
were some French officers, in their light blue uniforms and
much braid, who were hilarious over their wine. They all
stopped a moment to stare at the Other-one, but finding
nothing in her looks or dress to especially hold their atten-
tion, they again fell to drinking while waiting for their
luncheon.
The Other-one read that ** Miliana was occupied by the
French troops in 1840, but the garrison left there was be-
sieged by Abd-el-Kadir and suffered such privations that, out
of twelve thousand men, only one hundred were effective
when General Changarnier relieved the garrison.
** Sidi Ahmed Ben Yussuf, a poor but virtuous saint, who
was still more remarkable for his epigrammatic and sarcastic
poetry than for the example of his life, said that the Miliana
women of his day * usurped the place of men, and commanded
when it was their duty to obey* — an illustration of the
women's rights question, mooted in this out-of-the-way region
some four hundred years ago.**
[93]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
*' There is a beautiful terrace here in the town where the
view is wonderful, overlooking all the valley of the Chelif . I
should like to go there, ' ' said the lady ; * ' and you will be in-
terested to know that one hundred and twenty thousand
gallons of water in an hour come from our great, stern moun-
tain, Zaccar. It is pure and clear and comes with great force,
so it is utilized in many ways, — to light the town by electric-
ity, to work the corn mills, and the other factories. ' *
^ * Well, * ' said the Commander, getting up from the table,
when the lunch was ended, * * I am glad to know all this. But
are you aware that we are one hundred and twenty-six kilo-
metres from Algiers? What is your opinion about starting
off at once? ''
' ' Let us just go and get the view from the terrace. It is
glorious ! ' '
So they went through the street and looked down over the
terrace, and saw a view of which mere words can give no ade-
quate idea. They leaned over the parapet under the old lime-
trees, and looked over the snowy and pink flush of the blos-
soming fruit trees, across the emerald valley of the Chelif,
with white villages dotted here and there on this green ocean,
to the far distant peaks of the Ouarsenis, — at the southwest
some high ones silvered with snow ; others blue, lower, and as
misty as a dream. Before them the great Atlas range was
blue and green, w^ith a bloom on it like that on a plum. Our
couple stood silent, and as they turned away the Other-one
said reverently, *' And the glory thereof is the Lord's! ''
Down the hills again and rounding a sharp curve, the car
came suddenly upon an old Arab, bundled in his burnous and
huddled up on a donkey, ambling placidly along. If the evil
one had appeared with horns and hoofs, the ancient man
could not have been more frightened. He gave a loud yell
and fell off the donkey, in a heap on the ground. The animal
galloped off down the hill. The Commander has a kind heart.
He stopped the car and sent Adrian flying down the hill after
the donkey, while he himself hastened to pick up the old Arab,
and straighten him out, by the time the chauffeur had se-
[94]
HAMMAM R'HIRA AND MILIANA
cured and brought back the donkey. They settled the fright-
ened old man on its back, while the guide held the donkey, and
appeared to consider it a very foolish thing to waste time on
an old Arab. They bade the old man stay where he was until
Adrian had moved the car on some distance, — very slowly.
They they were off again, with a sigh of relief, still going
down, meeting flocks of sheep, with their shepherds singing
a monotonous chant.
** I declare!** cried the Commander, after we had been
stopped three or four times by the flocks, which always ran
wildly right into the car; ** I don*t believe we can reach the
gorge before dark, and it will be too late to see anything.**
After nine kilometres, at length they rolled through Affre-
ville's animated street of cafes and shops — the former
abounding — and its French-looking, two-storied houses with
small balconies overlooking the street. Out again to green
fields. All along the road there were men sitting by heaps of
stone, breaking them for road mending, though the road
seemed very good. They crossed the Chelif River over a
bridge. It was a mere thread of water in a stony bed ; but
the guide said, ** When the snows melt, the river becomes a
rushing torrent, and it is the longest river in Algeria. * *
They passed a cemetery with great, melancholy cypresses.
The Other-one gave a sigh for the poor, homesick colonists
buried there, those who died in this wild country far from
their beloved France. The roadside was now blue with iris,
where water seeped up in hollows; then came a long field
higher, where many pale, pink flowers, on long stalks and
with lily-like leaves, waved in the wind.
** That is the asphodel,** said the guide quickly, proud to
know the name of the flower. ** The French make from it a
false kind of absinth, which is very harmful to drink.** A
strong and pungent odor was borne on the breeze from these
flowers.
'* The asphodel! Oh, yes! ** said the Other-one, ** I have
read that among the Greeks the asphodel was the peculiar
plant of the dead, and its pale flowers covered the meadows
[95]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
of Hades. It grew in waste places, and was sometimes planted
near tombs in Greece, for the Greeks imagined the manes of
their friends fed on its roots. It is botanically called
Asphodelus racemosus. ' *
Now they came to where the hills rolled off, in green waves,
to the Atlas range. Bowling down a hill, they ran into a
group of Arabs, some walking and some humped up on don-
keys. Loud shrieks rent the air, and the donkeys trotted
off panic-stricken, bouncing their riders, who were more
frightened than they, even, and whose burnouses flew wildly
in the air. Again the motorists had to stop and move slowly
through the excited Arabs.
Soon they came to a mountain stream, trickling down into
a long cement basin. It was a lovely, tranquil spot, the plash-
ing of the water in the long basin, and the breeze in the pines,
being the only noises one could hear. Suddenly an Arab
dropped down noiselessly from somewhere. He took no notice
of the car, contrary to the usual vivid curiosity, but went to
the fountain and placidly washed his face and hands as un-
consciously and unconcernedly as though there were not such
things as motor cars. With a twinkle in his eye, the Com-
mander gave the horn a quick pressure, and as the shrill
notes suddenly rent the silence, the Arab gave a leap into the
air, and started on a lope, down the hill, at last stirred from
his placidity.
The car, having had its drink, appeared refreshed and
grateful, the Other-one thought, for she could never rid her-
self of the idea that it was a sentient being, and had pangs
of hunger and thirst. They passed through a small town,
and, for the first time, they saw great nests of sticks and
straws built on, and near, the chimneys of small houses. On
one nest they saw mother stork sitting patiently, while father
stork eyed his mate with grave contemplation.
*' They bring great good luck when they come to a house,'*
said the guide. * ' No one here will have the nest destroyed or
the storks driven away, no matter how inconvenient it may be
to have the great nests on the roofs.'*
[96]
HAMMAM R'HIRA AND MILIANA
In this town were many Arabs in the street wearing such a
grave, patriarchal air, with their long burnouses, that it
seemed as though one had harked back to Bible times.
Again they went on their way rejoicing and soon saw,
afar, across fields of barley, the white houses of Medea on its
plateau, three thousand feet above the sea. They rolled
through a quaint gateway and down the boulevard bordered
by trees. Adrian pulled the car up at a little place where
a sign, out of all proportion to the shop, indicated that here
one might purchase essence — as the French call gasoline.
While the chauffeur was filling the tank from the bidons,
lugged out languidly by a dirty Arab boy, natives began to-
pack around the car and stare curiously at the Other-one, who
felt as if she were some strange animal in a travelling
menagerie.
The car left the town by another gate and rolled down a
fine broad road. At the left rose the rugged chain of the
Atlas. Near the foot of this incline, a tire burst, and while
Adrian patiently replaced it, the Other-one called to tlie
Commander to come for a walk down the road. They went
slowly down the incline, in a stillness that couM be felt.
They came to a halt on the edge of a rocky cliff, which
dropped down sheer, some hundred feet, to a narrow green
valley, where the poor buildings of a meagre farm could be
seen, with some small vineyards, bordering on a mere thread
of a stream.
** An African farm! How can they ever get out?" ex-
claimed the Other-one. ** I see nothing but steep, rocky cliffs
rising from the farm land. And such tiny fields — how do
they live down there! On rocks and grass, I believe! "
It was late when the party came to the rent made through
the Atlas Mountains by the Oued Chiffa and entered into the
gloom of the great overhanging rocks, the road cut along their
flanks. The Atlas peaks towered in grandeur above all.
** It is too late, my lady,*' said the guide ruefully, ** to see
the monkeys, yet it is well always to look."
So he bestirred himself more than he had ever done on the
[971
A MOTOR FLIGHT
trip, so far, and peered from under his old felt hat, right and
left, at the dark foliage clothing the rocks. They crossed the
foaming river, dashing over the rocks below, and went along
by lace-like cascades that fell from above down the rocks into
the river. They came soon to the Ruisseau des Singes, a
foamy stream, tumbling over some rocks, in seeming haste to
cast itself into the Oued Chiffa.
** Here one always sees the monkeys at the right time,'*
said the guide gloomily, ' * but now, no ! "
Monkeys were evidently his trump cards !
The Other-one felt a relief. Now she might yield herself to
the feelings caused by the sight of the grand and gloomy
gorge, the deep silence broken only by the river rushing over
the rocks below, the plashing of the cascades, and the wind
rustling the branches of the trees.
Suddenly, Adrian, whose head had been turning right and
left, in sympathy with the guide's desire, pulled up the car
and called, ' ' Look ! Look ! ' ' pointing to some trees at the
side of the road, where the rocks fell away. Now it was
lighter, and upon looking up into the branches overhanging
the road, they really saw three or four little gray creatures
leaping from limb to limb of the tree ; but in a moment they
vanished.
* ' There, my lady, ' ' said Moses, contentedly, * ' you see I
have told you the truth."
** But they all assured me, at the hotel, that in this gorge I
would see hundreds of monkeys."
' * But, my lady, it is so late — the animals will not come out
when the night begins to fall. In the daytime it is different ;
you may see hundreds, even thousands, if you will come with
me again."
As they came out of the gorge, after seven miles of road
through it, the air seemed full of golden light, and each peak
in the east was glowing in rosy purple, and gold, too.
At the right, they took the road for Blida rolling over the
now darkening plain, crossed two bridges, and entered under
a long arch of sycamore-trees into Blida. It was so late,
[ 98 ]
HAMMAM R'HIRA AND MILIANA
now, they got very little impression of the town. They
trusted to Moses to tell them all he would about it. In
answer to the Commander's query he said, ** There are here
the finest groves of orange and lemon trees in all Algeria and
it is the home of the tangerine. Millions of oranges are ex-
ported annually to Paris. Also, there are great gardens of
flowers, and these are exported too, for making perfumes.
There are the cavalry barracks and stud here, which take up
about a quarter of the town, and have stabling for three hun-
dred stallions. Many beautiful horses of the best existing
races are to be found there.*'
** You have done well, Moses, and made me decide to come
here some time when we can see everything. If it had not
been for all our delays we could have seen all.'*
When they went out of Blida, all the tints of rose and gold
had faded from the sky. At a late hour they descended into
the comfortable warmth of their hotel, and found that the
pretty Marguerite had guarded well their household gods.
[99]
CHAPTER VII
A DAY IN ALGIERS THEN OFF TO BOU SAADA
THE Commander would have rejoiced if he could have
risen with the lark and speeded off on the road to Bou
Saada the next day. Indeed, he had, with some hesitation,
proposed this plan the night before, upon the return from
Cherchel : but the Other-one at once vetoed it :
' * We must rest, you know, after such an exciting ride as
the one to Cherchel. Also I have a little shopping to do for
some necessary things."
As the Commander spread his Cartes Tarides on the table,
preparatory to studying out the route they were to take to
Bou Saada, and the towns they were to pass through, he said :
' * I Ve been talking, downstairs, to a Mr. Wilson, who has
travelled much in this country and has interested himself in
the native tribes, trying to find out in what respect they dif-
fer from our Indians. He tells me that the Ouled Nails be-
long to the big tribe of the Zoreba, and occupy a very large
district from Bou Saada to the Ziban, or that region that ex-
tends east and west from Biskra. All the dancing girls that
are seen in the big towns and on the road are from the Ouled
Nail tribe. They go out early from their tribe, exercise their
calling, amass a quantity of jewels and some money, then fre-
quently go back to their homes and marry, settling down to a
life of virtue. It often happens that these girls, when off
practising their profession, are assassinated for their jewels.
They are very dark in color, tattoo themselves like savages,
affect the gayest of colors in their dress, and wear quantities
of jewels. They mix their hair with wool and plaster it with
grease, forming great braids, which they loop down over their
faces, framing them, as it were, in ebony. We shall see many
of them in Bou Saada, their own country."
[ 100 ]
OFF TO BOU SAADA
** For my part/* said the Other-one, *' I have not been able
to find very much about the country of Bou Saada. It is an
oasis with a river running through it, which has very pic-
turesque banks. The name means, * the place of happiness. '
By the way, did you tell the guide to come early to-morrow
morning? **
** No! *' replied the Commander. " The fact is, I have de-
cided not to take a guide. These men do not know much,
anyway, only in spots; they have no sense of direction, and
are generally, whether picturesquely clothed or otherwise, a
nuisance. With my intuitive feeling in regard to the cardinal
points, with good maps, and the common sense which you will
surely allow I have; with your little knowledge of French,
and Adrian's proficiency, we may venture to go anywhere in
this country without a guide, excepting in the towns where
we are in a hurry to see as much as possible in a limited
time."
** But what if we should get cast away by some accident to
the motor and find ourselves among some of those savage
tribes of whom we have read, and who speak only their own
tongue? ** objected the Other-one.
* * Nonsense ! * * answered the Commander. * * We should be
as safe there as in our own country! The French have
soldiers stationed everywhere, and there is no tribe so remote
but that it is under surveillance : and there must be some, in
any tribe, who speak French from necessity. Besides, we
carry plenty of tires, and there is that big tank for a reserve
of gasoline; it carries twenty-five gallons.'*
The Other-one looked unconvinced, but made no reply, and
the Commander said, ** It is two hundred and fifty kilometres
from here to Bou Saada. We must reach that place by even-
ing, or camp on the desert.**
So on the day decided upon they were off at an early hour
in the morning, leaving the pretty Marguerite pensively
watching. She shared her mistress's misgivings.
The 8un*s rays were soft, this morning, and the sky mottled
with fleecy clouds. The sea was of a steely blue. Down the car
[101]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
rolled by walls over which the purple-red masses of the Bou-
gainvillea vine climbed in rich luxuriance. Some of the white
villas were almost smothered in it.
*' The magenta, paper-looking bracts of that vine almost Set
my teeth on edge with their color, yet the vine is so tropical
against the dark branches of the cypress trees, and the glis-
tening white of those villas,'* said the Other-one.
They soon got down to the noisy Rue du Lyon, where, even
at that early hour, the cars were jangling along, and Arab
men and women sat contentedly in the open car, — the helle
jardiniere, as they call this car in Algiers. Great truck
wagons got in the way of the automobile and it was obliged
to halt several times. Much cracking of whips and hoarse
shouting, by the French and Maltese drivers, got the poor,
jaded-looking horses to one side, so that the car could pass.
Then a tram car came in its way and caused another stop.
Along here it is ugly, with dirty shops and vile little cafes.
At Maison Carree the car turned south. This is an outlying
town, twelve kilometres from Algiers and much visited by
strangers, to see the large early market on Fridays. It takes
its name from a Turkish fort, now used as a native peniten-
tiary and depot for prisoners waiting to be deported. Be-
yond, the car came on to the great plain of the Mitidja,
watered by the Oued Harrach and its tributary, the Oued
Djemaa. They passed enormous vineyards, stretching to the
foothills of the Atlas, no green leaves showing as yet; but
there was no lack of color, for the barley and wheat fields
were of a pale rich green, silvery waves sweeping across them
when the puffs of wind came, now and then. There were
flocks of sheep and goats, and sometimes meagre cows, feed-
ing by the wayside, guarded by ancient, grizzled shepherds
well wrapped in their ragged burnouses and ha^iks from the
morning freshness. Sometimes small girls cared for the flocks
and gave a bright bit of color to the landscape, with their gay
red gowns and the vivid handkerchiefs bound round their
heads. They stared with open mouths at the passing car, or
gave a jump and screamed with delight. The Other-one half
[102]
OFF TO EOU-SAADA
expected to see Rebecca drawing water at one of the many
wells they passed, and Jacob, wrapped in his mantle, leaning
on a staff and watching her. How lovely was the view of the
plain, stretching its mosaic of green tones to the far misty
blues of the mountain.
As they drew nearer, the foothills began to show streaks of
green on their flanks. In the sky, the small, fleecy clouds had
floated together and had a windy look. The car passed huge
wagons, heaped with wine barrels. On the collars of the
horses were high, pointed frameworks, decorated with small
bells which tinkled musically as the horses walked. Now the
car came to a long avenue of sycamore-trees, not much in leaf
yet; but in the full foliage time what grateful shade they
must afford to the weary men and beasts going under them !
Where the plains were uncultivated, wild flowers of every
hue spread a gay rug; there was the green of the wild
mignonette, the deep purple and pale mauves of the wild
verbena, the glowing orange of the coreopsis, the lemon yel-
low of the chamomile, with scarlet poppies thrusting them-
selves, here and there, into the scheme of color.
At thirty kilometres from Algiers, our party passed
through the little town of Arba near the Oued Djemaa, which
here waters the orange groves and turns the mills. The little
houses here were white, and there were cafes as always,
where the Arabs sat huddled together outside and stared into
vacancy as they took their early cups of coffee. The scent of
the orange groves filled the morning air, and beyond the
town were groves of olive trees with their gray-green foliage.
Along here the road was not so good as it had been, and in
places it was rough. Now the car began the ascent of the
foothills that roll up in waves to the Lesser Atlas Mountains.
Here the air seemed even more fresh and pure than ever, but
now and then came great puffs of wind that smote the party
in their faces, and raised, around and before, great clouds of
dust. They passed fascinating groups; sometimes a cluster
of women huddled together by the roadside, the bright blues
and reds of their costumes effective against the emerald hills,
[103]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
though the car passed so rapidly that sometimes they were a
blur of color. Around and before were the blue-greens of the
cultivated hills; behind was the vast plain stretching off to
the blue of the distance. Still up, and rounding a curve they
came to a hillside covered with wild olive-trees, on the other
side a forest of the dark, glossy green live-oak {Quercus ilex).
Again, the road curved abruptly and the car ran into great
gorges, and along the edge of deep ravines, which opened be-
low. The Commander had by his side his own special horn,
and in such places, and rounding curves, he loved to send
forth its rich sonorous tones and hear the answering echoes.
Now they came round a sharp curve, and the deep sound of
the horn rolled out. Just beyond the curve, the car came
upon a small shepherd boy, in a coarse brown shirt and much
bundled up as to head. His small flock of black goats and
kids were standing on some rocks by the roadside. The little
Arab gave a startled yell and leaped with his flock down the
precipice beyond. The Other-one screamed in alarm. Adrian
slowed the car and they looked back to see the little shepherd
standing safe on a projecting rock, while the goats and kids
clung like flies to the steep sides.
The car began to climb, now, a road that apparently could
end only in the sky. The chauffeur was not using all the
power, however, but soon the radiator began to steam.
At intervals along the road there were pipes, from which
flowed pellucid mountain streams into cement basins. ** How
much we see that the French have done everywhere ! ' ' re-
marked the Commander, as they drew up by one of the
troughs of water, and the chauffeur descended with his rub-
ber bag to fill up the radiator.
' * How good it is to see these watering places for the poor
plodding donkeys, the weary horses, the tired flocks, toiling
up these steep mountain roads, not to say anything of the
animal, man. You may be sure the Arabs would never have
done this work."
Leaning against the rock, at one side, with Jiis ragged, yel-
low-white burnous — which he wore like a royal mantle —
[104]
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
was a native. He looked at the car and inmates with the air
of a potentate who has nothing to fear, and sees nothing that
he has not viewed before.
* ' He has the air of a prince, in spite of his bare brown legs
and feet,** said the Other-one. ** What richness of color in
his bronze skin, and what depths in his dark eyes! He must
be descended from a Berber king; but all these natives look
like royal princes, compared to the common Jews, the ugly
Italians, and the skinny French colonists we see.**
The car had reached the summit of the road, apparently, at
last. Great mountain peaks thrust themselves up, near and
afar; bold spurs ran out from the nearer mountains, deep
chasms opened below. All was wilder and grander than any-
thing yet seen. Patches of vivid green showed here and
there on the flanks of the mountains, interspersed with masses
of lentisque bushes, all which but served to accentuate the
wildness.
As they went on, they saw little hamlets on the spurs,
seemingly on the point of slipping down into the chasms be-
low; afar were other little clusters of houses nearly hidden
under some beetling crag. The grandeur, the wildness, the
silence, the remoteness from human life, awed the travellers.
The wind now began to buffet them more fiercely. On they
went, passing great slopes of shale, and tortured, twisted rock
that ran up the mountain sides. The road, always hard and
good, began to ascend again to heights where only bunch
grass grew in the clefts of rocks or on the level spots where a
handful of soil might be. The stiff spears rustled in the
gusts of wind. Then the car bowled down again to hollows
where the wild oleander, — the laurel of the ancient Romans
— and the iris flourished. Now and then they passed small
huts made of straw, branches, and wild grasses.
** Those must be for the natives who cultivate the slopes of
the mountains, or pasture their flocks on the inclines here,"
said the Commander.
The motor now began to show signs of being in trouble.
The chauffeur leaped out to investigate. No sound but the
[ 105 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
wind sobbing, the rustle of the bushes shaken by it, and the
call of a vulture in the sky. When the engine started again,
its gurgling was welcome and seemed human, so oppressive
had the silence been. They arrived at Sakomody, a meagre
little hamlet, forty-nine kilometres from Algiers. Hills rose
everywhere, thrusting out long spurs, with deep gashes of
ravines between. On the hills to the left were openings into
zinc mines. Some kilometres farther on, or about fifty-eight,
they at last reached the summit of the mountains. The view
was magnificent.
' ' We seem to be a thousand miles away from any human
being ! ' ' cried the Other-one.
The car went on again. Absorbed in the grand views, the
Commander had forgotten his horn. Rounding a sharp curve,
they almost ran down an Arab leading three white horses,
lean to meagreness. Surprised into some life, the poor crea-
tures leaped into the air, tugging wildly at the rope the man
held. The startled mountaineer, with his burnous blown
over his head, pulled in vain to stop his frightened animals,
which were about to gallop off down the road, when the kind
Commander leaped from the car and ran, with Adrian at his
heels, to help the frightened man. Off again, after the
startled creatures had been calmed. At sixty-eight kilometres
they reached Tablat, a tiny town with fortified walls, and a
tower at one corner with loop holes.
*' What terrible times the poor colonists must have had
here, to protect themselves from the assaults of the fierce
mountain tribes,*' said the Commander thoughtfully, as the
car rolled through the town. ** These walls show for defence
and lookout. Now everything seems quiet, but who knows
how long it will last, or what may happen in the future ? ' '
They passed a group of natives; some were squatted on
the ground and they seemed to have only a languid interest
in the car. One or two fine old men were on beautiful white
Arabian horses, with the queer, high-backed, chair-like
saddle. Others were paddling along on discouraged-looking
donkeys, which had the appearance of moth-eaten furs.
[ 106 ]
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
Out of the town and downward, to cross a bridge over the
Oued el-Had, a mere yellow thread in its wide stony bed,
swelled, when the mountain snows melt, to a rushing torrent.
Again the car sped away, and passed a symphony in color on
a steep hillside, of yellow-brown soil, and men in dirty yellow
burnouses, ploughing with dirty yellow oxen.
** What primitive methods!** exclaimed the Commander.
*' A crooked stick, with a longer stick for a handle, just as they
have ploughed since the world began ! This thing can only
scratch the earth, but perhaps it is good enough for this soil.
What would these men think of our steam ploughs! **
Another river was now crossed, the Oued Samma, quite a
wide stream. The great mountains loomed always into the
sky. Now came a group of brown women, with gay red and
yellow kerchiefs bound around their heads.
**What color we see here!*' cried the Other-one, enthu-
siastically. ** If I were an artist, I could never rest until I
had it on canvas; alas! my photographs can give only the
black and white! Look there is the peacock blue of the
sea, the emerald green of the grain fields, the silver white of
the snow peaks afar, the purple and evanescent blue of the
mountains, deep green of the pine forests, the vivid yellows
and reds of the soil, the creamy white and soft browns of the
native dress. Wliat a palette it would need ! What a fasci-
nating land! — and as yet we have not seen the best.**
Up again they mounted to a plateau above the muddy river
flowing sullenly along in its rocky bed. Groups of natives
stalked along the road. They looked fiercely at the car.
Adrian slowed up as they came to a horse with two persons
on its back, and all looked intently at the pair, a pretty
young woman clinging tightly to the back of a handsome
young fellow, his burnous flying in the air with the leaps of
the animal, which was a little frightened at the strange vehi-
cle. The woman had a yellow kerchief wound over her head
above her soft black eyes. Her skin was a mellow bronze. A
wide silver necklace hung down over her dark blue gown, and
bracelets covered her rounded arms. Big fibulae caught the
[107]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
dress at the shoulders, and the brown shapely legs hanging
down had wide anklets on them.
** They must be bride and groom, newly wedded. They
seem so happy and are so attractive, ' ' cried the Other-one.
The Commander's eye caught the gleam of the silver
jewellery. Both he and the Other-one jumped from the car,
she with her camera, he with some silver pieces in his hand.
As she pointed the kodak at the fascinating pair, the young
native gave a wild shout, and urging up the horse, he broke
into a fast gallop, looking back with a laugh, as with flying
draperies all disappeared over the hill. Our discomfited
couple climbed into the car, the Commander sighing.
* * Oh, I wish I could have secured that necklace ! It 's a
beauty ! I shall never find another like it ! ' *
* ' Troubles do not come singly, ' ' however, and the car soon
rolled up to another group. Trailing along in the dust were
two women, one young and very pretty, the other old and
ugly. The Commander saw the glisten of a necklace on the
young woman, and almost before Adrian could turn off the
power, he leaped from the car, stopped the natives with an
imperative gesture, and examined the necklace closely. The
young woman did not seem to mind this tribute to her
jewellery, but tossed her head coquettishly.
** It 's a beauty! '* called back the Commander. *' Of fine
chains of coral, and etched plaques of silver. I must have
it!''
He drew from his pocket five of the large, silver, five-franc
pieces, and pointing to the necklace, held the money up. The
girl smiled, nodded her head, and was about to pull off the
necklace, when suddenly, as if sprung from the earth, a grim-
visaged man, brown as a chestnut, appeared. He seized the
young woman brutally by the arm, muttered some hoarse
phrase to her, and stalked on, dragging her after him, while
the ugly one trailed wearily behind. Again the disconsolate
Commander got into the car, raurmuring : * * Too bad ! too
bad! It is one of the choicest necklaces I have ever seen! '*
A hundred and twenty-five kilometres from Algiers, they
[108]
AVENUE OF EUCALYPTUS,
ON THE ROAD TO BOU-SAADA
j^-li^Mi
THE MARKET-PLACE AT BOU-SAADA
AN AKAB SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK, ON THE ROAD
A FIELD OF ASPHODEL
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
reached Aumale and looked hungrily for the hotel,
which, they had been told, was the *' least undesirable.'*
They found it, with a little garden surrounded by a fence
and containing a few sickly lemon-trees and the inevitable
palm; small tables were spread here, but everything was so
dusty that the party preferred to go into the small salle-d-
manger, which was hung with gaudy posters. Here a poor,
over-worked waiter was trying to serve ten or twelve clamor-
ous soldiers and civilians at once. After waiting half an
hour, during which the Commander chafed with impatience,
they were served with an omelete aux fines herbes, half
cooked, some salad with a suspicion of oil, and the usual
withered oranges and dusty dried dates.
** To think! '' exclaimed the Other-one. ** With their six
and a half million gallons of olive oil a year, they can
spare us only a few drops for our salad ! * *
The Two went out, and when Adrian had rescued the car
from the pack of Arabs surrounding it and opened a passage
through to it, they were off into a dreary and rather barren
country, the edge of the desert ; the road, however, was gen-
erally hard and excellent. The trees became fewer and
fewer, and the sand more and more. After some time they
saw across the gray and yellow plain the green oasis of Bou
Saada, against a pale, windy sky. The car rolled smoothly
over the sandy road, and it was late when they arrived at the
walled town of Bou Saada passed under the gate, and
plunged at once into a howling mob of Ouled Nails — men,
not the dancing girls. Adrian pushed carefully through it
and by a square, with trees, dark against the little light that
remained. The Hotel du Saada was to shelter them for the
night. Weary enough they all were, with the long day of
travel, constantly on the qiii vive to see all the fascinating
things, and with the buffeting of the wind and the meagre
lunch at noon. Yet they would not have exchanged the
charm and interest of the day, for a ride in the finest Pull-
man car, through a settled country, and a lunch at the most
luxurious of hotels.
[109]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Clamorous boys now surrounded the car and endeavored to
drag off the baggage, to carry it into the hotel which was sep-
arated from the street by an iron fence. A tall, black-browed
native, clad in a dirty white jacket and white, baggy trousers,
constituted himself guardian of the strangers, and cuffed and
knocked around the dirty gamins until they fled howling in
derision. He led the couple into the hotel, leaving two dirty
dependents of it to bring in the valises, rugs, and trunks.
The Other-one's heart sank within her as she followed the
black-browed boy into a dirty hall across a small, ill-smelling
court, and into a narrow corridor lighted only with a dingy
hanging lamp that gave out a strong odor of kerosene; then
into a small room, where, fortunately, she could not see,
though she felt, the dirty state* The boy hastily lighted a
tallow candle, and by its feeble flicker she noted the two iron
beds, a rickety chair or two, and a stand with a wash basin,
water jug, and two very small and thin towels. The Com-
mander soon after came in briskly, and looked at the Other-
one, who had sunk despondent into one of the chairs.
''Aren't you going to get ready for dinner?" he asked,
laughing. * ' You look rather doleful. Do put on your best
' bib and tucker. ' Think ! What a glorious day we have had !
Such roads, such grand scenery, such air and color, and those
fascinating people ! ' '
' * Ye — yes ! but it is so dirty here. It 's no use to go to
the table, — I know I can 't eat their filthy food ! ' '
* * Nonsense ! brace up and take the bitter with the sweet !
I thought you were such a good traveller, and always accepted
whatever came. Has n 't that been your boast ? "
' ' Yes, but you well know I can endure any hardship in
travelling but dirt, and there are three kinds, — clean dirt,
nasty dirt, and filthy dirt. I can support the former, but the
last two sear my soul! "
* ' Well ! to which class does this belong ? ' ' asked the
Commander.
'* Did you see the courtyard and hall we went through?"
was all the answer the Lady vouchsafed.
r 110 1
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
By the light of the tallow dip, they made what toilet they
could, washing the sand from their faces and brushing it from
their clothes, and then, somewhat refreshed, they traversed the
long hall and courtyard to the dining-room, indicated by a
frowzy French woman, who had the air of being the proprie-
tress. A room, small for the company in it, hung, as usual,
with gay French posters ; on a shelf some dusty, red, artificial
flowers in cheap vases, with a grimy mirror. There were four
or five tables, at the smallest of which, laid for two, the Com-
mander and his wife sat down. At the two tables nearest
were some French parties who had evidently come down to
Bou Saada for a ** lark,'* and made much talk and chatter
in high-pitched voices. At the other tables sat some soldiers,
drinking wine and staring at the French women, who were
gotten up with much false hair, rouge, and highly colored
gowns. All banged on the tables at intervals for the poor
Arab boy, who was the sole waiter and, in a white coat and
decent red fez, seemed the cleanest thing in the hotel. He
flew around, breathing heavily, but managed to get the more
clamorous ones served, leaving our quiet couple until the last.
They ate, with some appetite, after all, the greasy soup, the
tough mutton, the salad floating in oil, and a nondescript
pudding, consoling themselves for whatever was lacking, with
the wine, which was excellent.
In spite of all drawbacks, some yells of the untiring boys,
and the howls of dogs until midnight, our motorists soon fell
asleep on their iron beds, and slept profoundly, as do those
who pass the entire* day in the open air.
When the Other-one looked out the next moriiiii^% the sun
was shining brilliantly. She felt refreshed and invigorated.
By daylight everything seemed more hopeful as regarded the
dirt. She was ready to sally forth and see the sights in the
hour and a half that the Commander allowed, ** for we must
get back to Algiers to-night. There is no stopping-place on
the way ! * '
The lanky, black-browed youth who had taken care of them
when they arrived, upon being asked to hunt them up a guide
[111]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
for the town, languidly offered his services. As he spoke
French that the Other-one could understand with strict atten-
tion, and as he seemed intelligent enough, they set forth under
his guidance. He wore his red fez rakishly on one side of his
head and had a scarlet wool sash around his white coat. He
sauntered languidly along, carrying the camera with an air
of fatigue. In other countries he would have posed as a dude.
He could, however, strike out with good fists, as they had
noted the night before ; so the Other-one felt that in any diffi-
culty she might rely upon his strength.
** Madame will see the river first. Everybody goes there.
It is beautiful !''
They left the village at one side, and plunged down a path
leading to the small stream flowing along in its sandy and
pebbly bed. The banks rose high on each side, fringed at
the top with palm, fig, live-oak, and pepper trees, while the
steep incline was a mass of bushes and tropical foliage. It
was in effect beautiful, looking down the stream, with the
dark green of the palms, the soft pale color of the early leaves
of the fig, mixed with the pink and white blossoms of the fruit
trees, and through them the mud-plastered houses showing
here and there.
There were interesting objects to see down by the stream.
A fine, bronzed soldier in blue coat, red sash and trousers,
led his white Arabian horse to water in the little stream. Far-
ther on, a gray old man, wrapped in his cream-white burnous,
squatting down on some rocks, regarded the tourists curi-
ously and somewhat savagely, from under his grizzled, over-
hanging eyebrows. It was deliciously quiet here, with only
the gurgling water and the breeze rustling the trees, but
suddenly the tranquillity was invaded. Some gamins had
scented the party afar and they now appeared on the banks
above, howling for sous and about to descend, but deterred
by the gutturals and ferocious scowls of the guide, who
dropped at once the character of the languid dude and as-
sumed that of the fierce and watchful warrior.
They now climbed a rocky path and came out on the road
[ 112 ]
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
leading to the town. Passing a low hut, they saw, sitting on
the flat roof, the picturesque figure of a girl ; a gay red and
yellow bandage around her head, wide braids of hair framing
her face, and many trinkets of jewellery disposed on her per-
son. She watched the party with languid interest, but when
the kodak was pointed at her, she giggled loudly and turned
her back. The guide expostulated with her, and finally when
a coin was handed up to her, she sat still for a moment.
"That is an Ouled Nail dancing-girl,** said the guide.
** There are many dancing-girls here, and I shall take
Madame to one of their houses.**
** Can we buy some of their jewellery? ** asked the Com-
mander eagerly.
The guide was quite sure much could be bought if one paid
well for it.
** They say,** said the Other-one, ** that these Ouled Nails
have many flocks, and that the women weave tissues from the
wool, very skilfully. I can think of them only as dancing-
girls, however. Look! there comes one — a curious figure.'*
There appeared, coming toward them down the narrow
street between the whitewashed, mud-plastered houses on
either side, a woman, walking very slowly, with a haughty
air, as one of much consequence. She was very dark, and her
face was tattooed and daubed with red and yellow; great
false loops of hair fell around her weird face. She wore a
red dress and over it a sort of white mantle drawn up over
her head, and the usual quantity of bracelets, anklets, neck-
laces, and fibula?. Moreover she had great hoops of silver, as
big as the rim of a coffee cup, in her ears. The Other-one
snapped her up quickly. The women stopped still and held
out her hand.
** Madame must give her money for her picture,** said the
guide, **but Madame will see many dancing-girls and still
more beautiful than this one who is now old! **
**We ought to find some jewellery in these houses,** ob-
served the Commander. ** I must find some treasures here
for the museum.**
[113]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
The guide hurried them down a still narrower street, past
men and women in gay colors, squatting down by the open
doors of their houses, through which one could only look in
to a black hole. When they saw our party they all fled into
the houses and slammed the doors. The guide stopped at a
long, low, whitewashed house and led them into a courtyard
with many doors opening out of it into rooms, and a balcony
around the low second-story, this also having many doors
opening into it. A staircase ran up to the balcony near the
door by which they entered, and on the lower steps, lolled a
luxuriant beauty — as Ouled Nail beauties go — painted,
bedecked with jewellery, and wearing a pink and white striped
gauze gown, from under which her brown feet, and her ankles,
with broad silver bands on them, showed. She ogled the
guide, but he passed on unheeding. Some dirty men lounged
near, and one fine specimen, with the blackest of whiskers
and a beautifully embroidered coat, over which was thrown a
pale blue burnous, stared so savagely at the party that the
Other-one felt a cold chill run down her back. In a corner
of the room the guide opened a door, without the ceremony
of knocking and ushered them into a small room with a huge
bed at the farther end, with curtains and coverlet of gay
Oriental embroidery, in gold thread and silks. Showy rugs
decorated the floor, and cheap ornaments hung on the wall,
together with a lot of photographs, some stuck in a big frame.
The greatest ornament in the room, to the guide 's eyes, appar-
ently, — and he had now assumed his languid, dudish air, —
was a not too young Ouled Nail, in a green, gold-spangled
dress, her broad waist bound with a wide golden belt, and a
spangled gauze and silk kerchief around her head, from which
gold bangles tinkled over her forehead. A glittering neck-
lace of gold coins hung around her neck, and the braids
around her face and the silver hoops in her ears were of enor-
mous size. An old, wrinkled crone stood by her, — an ex-
dancing girl, probably, who evidently could not give up her
habit of painting and wearing jewellery. She leered at the
guide, shaking her head with pleasure at seeing him, until
[114]
OFF TO BOU-SAADA
the bangles, on her head and withered neck clinked. There
seemed to be no dismay that the party had been so uncere-
moniously ushered into the room. The younger dancing-girl
advanced to the Other-one, caught hold of her hand and tried
to raise it to her lips; but the lady pulled it sharply away.
Then the Ouled Nail, with a complacent smile, seized the
Commander's hand and imprinted on it a loud kiss.
* * How can you allow that ? ' * cried the Other-one, in
disgust.
** I want to keep the peace,** returned the Commander.
** I see the chance of securing some very fine things here. I
must surely buy some. Tell the guide to have her bring out all
the rest of the jewellery she has — though she has enough
on her now to stock a small shop.*'
After parleying with the guide a few moments, the old hag
produced from a box under the bed, treasures of cunningly
wrought amulets of gold and silver, necklaces of turquoise
and coral with golden links, necklaces of gold coins, bracelets
of gold and silver of fine workmanship, and, with a great show
of pride, a wide golden band like a crown, for the head, with-
much fine etching on it. The beauty stood complacently by
and eyed her gems with the air of a royal princess. The
Commander fell upon the collection with avidity, pushing
aside the crown, which he said was ** not typical,*' and
])uttl!ip^ by some bracelets, anklets, and a fine necklace or two
of silver. Then ensued much bargaining, by means of the
guide, who evidently helped to keep prices up to secure his
commission. At last the Commander remained with three
or four of the desired articles in his possession. Then the
Other-one, who had stood wearily by, stepped forward and
asked for the privilege of a " snapshot at the dancing-girl
with all her jewellery hung on her.*' This was granted with
a condescending air, and a demand for a good price for the
favor. Then the lovely one decorated herself with her golden
crown, some big golden earrings, many bracelets and other
jewellery, and posed against the whitewashed walls of her
house, adjusting her hands, with their henna-stained nails,
[115]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
before her. Some of the men sauntered up while the picture
was being taken, and the other beauty looked disdainfully
from the staircase. However, the Other-one caught her too,
and some of the loungers, while pretending to take a small dog
near. Whereupon a dirty boy snatched up the dog and de-
manded ** some sous."
Then the party left and went down the narrow street, with
its rough stone pavement and the flat-roofed, irregular houses
of plastered cobblestone, with a few holes for windows, and
poles sticking out here and there, — the usual style of the
houses of native villages. They came to the entrance of a
rude mosque, and climbed some rickety stairs from the small
court to the roof, where they looked down on the oasis of
green palms stretching away in feathery grace to the wide
desert of gray sand. Then they came down to follow another
long, narrow street, with its picturesque groups by the doors,
with donkeys having great panniers or bestrode by sturdy
Ouled Nails, pushing the party against the walls. Climbing
up at one side, beyond some houses, they came out on a level
space, bare of dwellings, where was a curious mosque-tomb
with a queer, elongated sort of dome and four small ones of the
same style at the four corners, — all as chalky as whitewash
could make them. Some natives lounged against the wall in
the shade, for it was hot, and the white Koubba, against the
intense blue sky and the palm-trees back, made one feel that
this was the land of heat.
* * Let us now go down through the town, have a look at
some of the native jeweller}^" said the Commander.
They went along the street to the big square, which is
shaded by plane-trees and where is a great stone fountain,
Roman in its design and looking out of place in this square.
Here was a fascinating market, in full swing. The place was
a mass of white burnouses, — natives squatting on the ground
with piles of dried fish, fruit, vegetables, and what not, spread
before them; natives around them shouting, gesticulating,
bargaining, and donkeys standing around, with panniers
empty or full. Once in a while there came out through the
[ 116 ]
RETURN TO ALGIERS
crowd, two or three splendid-looking, dark, full-bearded men»
walking along with stately steps, their fine blue or light-
gray burnouses flung gracefully over their shoulders.
** Who are those men? '* asked the Other-one of the guide.
* * They are the kaids who come in from the villages near. * *
The tumult, the animation, the kaleidoscopic changes were
fascinating, and the lady would have lingered to watch this
phase of Oriental life; but when the Commander found that
the jewellery of Ouled Nail workmanship, at one or two places
in the square, was coarse and badly made, and that the guide
could tell them of no other dealers where it could be bought,
he suggested that it would be well to begin the return journey.
The walls of Bou Saada, and its oases of green palms, were
soon left far behind, and there was nothing but the gray
sand, — broken here with the gray-green scrub grass, —
stretching away to the horizon. Flocks of sheep, here and
there, feeding on the grass, scrambled off and away in a panic
when they saw the strange vehicle. Farther on, a new and
unaccustomed sight greeted the eyes of the Motorists, a long
line of camels coming.
** What funny creatures, and how disdainful of everything
they seem, as they sway along on their great pads of feet I
Could anything be more supercilious than they are? They
think, it appears, that no one but themselves has any rights
in the Desert,** said the Other-one.
Ragged natives, dark-brown in tint, with fiery black eyes,
ran by the side of the camels, or rose and fell, upon their
backs like billows. A great shout of dismay arose when these
men perceived the motor, and only after much howling and
banging with heavy sticks on their flanks, did the contemptu-
ous camels consent, with derisive bubblings, to get off the road
and let the car go by.
Our party moved on now more quickly, and came up to a
couple walking before them. The Commander, ever on the
alert, caught the gleam of silver on the woman, and he was
out on the road before Adrian had time to stop the car fully.
The woman had on an unusual necklace of seven large
1117]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
plaques, with rich pieces of coral in the centre of each plaque.
The Commander held up two silver five franc pieces, at the
same time pointing to the necklace. The native, who owned
the woman, necklace and all, comprehended and shook his
head sullenly. The Commander, in a panic, drew out two
more silver pieces. After some wards between them, by which
it seemed the woman was urging the man to accept the money,
she pulled off the coveted treasure, took the silver and put it
in the man's hand; then they walked on, while the Com-
mander, rejoicing, leaped into the car, with the necklace
clasped tightly in his hand.
So the day went on. They saw sometimes the tents of
brown-and- white striped camel 's-hair cloth, of the nomads,
pitched on the desert sand, with small flocks near, feeding on
the scrub grass; and little green patches of grain — where
there was some moisture — protected from them by heaped-
up branches of the camel thorn bush {Acacia horrida) making
an impassable hedge. These nomads eagerly seize every moist
place in the desert where they may cultivate a little grain.
After the desert grays and yellows came the emerald green
of the cultivated plains and the far blue of the mountains, as
our travellers went on. Not many kilometres from a town,
whose minarets they could see afar, they noted before them a
cloud of dust on the road, and they came up to a nondescript
vehicle, — half stage-coach, half lumber wagon. It was abso-
lutely packed with natives. They seemed like dirty white
moths, sticking on to every part. Wrapped to the eyes in
his burnous, the driver pulled at his bony steeds as if in fear
they might run away, when he saw the motor; but the poor
animals, seemingly glad of a halt, stopped and settled back
on their haunches, with a weary air of relief. A group of
natives trudging on ahead stood still and cast back looks of
alarm.
'* I can tell you what this means,'' said the Commander.
* * They must all be going to a fair in the village ahead, and so
a large number of them hire this wagon, pack it as full as they
can, while the rest walk on until such time as they are all
[118]
RETURN TO ALGIERS
weary, or it is decided it is their turn ; then they change places
with those riding, and so get to the fair very comfortably and
with little cost, undoubtedly. See! ahead, in those clouds of
dust, are sheep, goats, men on donkeys; so there is surely a
fair to-morrow, as it is too late to-day/*
In fact, Adrian had now to put his car into second speed
and move on with great caution as they came nearer the town,
and the crowds of men and animals began to thicken. Clouds
of dust arose; the odors were far from agreeable, and it was
hot.
As the chauffeur pulled up a moment to let the rider of a
particularly obstreperous donkey get out of the way, a tall,
fine fellow, with a clean white hdik bound over his fez, a snow
white long gown with sinewy brown legs showing below it,
and a decent creamy burnous thrown over him, looked eag-
erly, and curiously at the motor.
** Why not take him in and give him a ride to town! '* ex-
claimed the good Commander. ** It will be the event of his
life and he looks so clean.*'
So saying, he beckoned to the native to seat himself on the
step of the car. The sign was understood and the man
scrambled eagerly to the place indicated, with a smile of
delight and childlike confidence.
Adrian now having a clear road for some little distance,
put the car to fourth speed, leaving quickly behind the non-
descript vehicle, the trudging natives, the donkeys, and the
flocks of sheep. As the pace quickened, the guest clung to
the side with grim determination, though his eyes stuck out
and his smile faded away. Again they came to crowds, and
again slowed down. The sheep and goats were scarcely dis-
cernible in the clouds of dust they raised ; and men in every
degree of cleanliness and dirt, even beggars in sodden rags,
were all hastening on as fast as they could to the town ahead.
** Where do they all come from?*' cried the Other-one.
** I 've seen no place where they could abide except in those
wretched nomad tents we passed on the desert below! "
They had now reached the town, and they rolled into it
[119]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
under a gateway. If the Other-one believed she had seen
many people before, the number was as nothing compared to
the multitude she now saw surging through the square. There
was a veritable pandemonium, too, of guttural voices, ba-a-ing
of sheep, braying of donkeys, and lowing of oxen and cows.
The car crawled at a snail's pace through the streets, and
past the plaza, where were the most animated groups. The
native, who had ridden on the car, had now regained confi-
dence, but seemed happy to step off alive, near a group of his
friends, evidently, and who regarded him with great amaze-
ment ; he returned their gaze with looks of proud satisfaction
and the air one has who has just escaped from the jaws of
death. He then turned, seized the hand of the Commander
and imprinted a loud smack upon it, bowed low, and muttered
unintelligible gutturals. Not contented with this, he passed
to the other side and caught the hand of Adrian, to his
immense disgust, and also, in spite of his resistance, kissed
that. Then he turned to the back seat, and prepared to do
likewise to the Other-one, but she buried her hands in the
robe, crying out: '' Please, please! that will do.'' While
Adrian dexterously jerked the car aside and the poor native
fell sprawling back. Then on they went, leaving the hero of
a wonderful adventure surrounded by admiring friends. Off
on the road, outside the town, again and again Adrian
extricated the car from groups of men, from flocks of sheep
and goats, oxen that pranced and kicked, and donkeys that
got, perversely, almost under the wheels of the car.
* ' When shall we reach Algiers, ' ' cried the tired Com-
mander, ** at this snail's pace! "
** Never mind if we don't go home till morning," said the
Other-one ; * * to see people in burnouses, flocks of sheep and
goats, and donkeys galore, on the road, is a fascinatingly new
experience ! ' '
Adrian threw back a glance, as much as to say, ** If you
were steering the car, Madame, you would find it far from
fascinating! "
As they motored on, stately mountains came into view at
[120]
RETURN TO ALGIERS
their left, and in the far distance some peaks with caps of
snow. The summits of the range gleamed in the lessening
light, but the bases were a deep indigo blue ; for the sky had
been gradually getting overcast, and now storm-clouds
dropped low and draped the peaks. The color and changing
tints were superb. Sometimes the sun would burst through a
cloud for an instant and paint the plain a vivid gold, and the
hills near had shaded from violet to deep purple, with
splashes of green showing through. So the car went on past
these kaleidoscopic changes of color, — purple, mauve, deep
indigo, dull green, — ^under the clouds where some rain fell;
vivid greens, yellows, and russet greens on the plain ; and again
as they descended the hills, the blue, steely gray of the ocean,
the rich reds of the ploughed soil, and the now dark grays of
the olive orchards. In the deep chasms there was the gloom of
nightfall. The motor hummed on down the perfect road,
while the travellers feasted their eyes on the riot of color.
Then all at once everything turned to dark blue, then gray,
and then disappeared in a mist of rain.
The party sat silent, well wrapped in their waterproofs,
with the curtains still tip, though dashes of rain came in,
and they went on in the fresh sweet air, in darkness, save
where the broad flashes from the car lamps lay on the road
ahead. At last, Algiers came in sight, a myriad of twinkling
lights in the harbor and on the boulevards, looking as if the
stars had dropped from the sky to the town.
They climbed to Mustapha past the gardens, whence came
scents of the flowers washed by rain, and so to their haven
of a hotel, where luxury had never before seemed so luxurious,
nor cleanliness so clean.
"And what do you think of our trip to Bou Saada? '*
asked the Commander that evening, as he swallowed the last
spoonful of a delicious soup, served for their supper, in their
littlr })arlor.
" It 's been glorious! '* answered the Other-one. *' A riot
of color, splendid scenery, wonderful roads, and a fascinating
people. I Ve forgotten all about the dirty hotel.'*
[ 121 ]
CHAPTER VIII
A TRIP TO TLEMCEN BY MASCARA, AND RETURN ; WITH A VIEW OP
THE RUINS OF TIPAZA ON THE WAY
IT was a day or two after the journey to Bou Saada that
the Commander came up, quite late, after luncheon. His
eyes were sparkling, and he seemed full of suppressed en-
thusiasm. He found the Other-one engaged in some last prep-
arations for their trip to eastern Algeria and Tunisia —
which they had planned to begin the next day.
He exclaimed, ^ ' Our plans are all to be changed ! we do not
start for Tunis to-morrow, but directly west, for Tlemcen."
The Other-one gasped with amazement, ' ' What do you
mean ? and why are you imitating the example of the weather-
cock?''
'^ The wind which has turned me in another direction this
time is this: I have been talking, for an hour, with a most
interesting and intelligent man, an American, a Mr. B — . He
has just made an automobile trip, with his wife and daugh-
ters, to Laghouat and the country of the Mzabs, and he is full
of enthusiasm about all. He says we must on no account
miss going there, and we ought to get off very soon, as later it
will be pretty hot down on the desert. The roads are pass-
able; and on the route we can stop at caravansaries — which
will be a new experience for us — while at Laghouat, and
Ghardaia, where we would pass a night at each place, the
hotels are endurable. It is something over six hundred kilo-
metres to Ghardaia, the end of the journey, and as it is diffi-
cult, if not impossible to get gasoline down in the country
through which we go, Mr. B — says, we must ship it down by
stage, at least a week before we start for Mzab. So this is why
we go to Tlemcen to-morrow, instead of going there as we
planned on our return from Tunis."
ri22i
A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
* * Who are the Mzabs ? and where is the Mzab ? * * asked the
Other-one, recovering somewhat from her amazement.
*' The Mzab is the country of the Mzabs, or Mozabites, the
most original country in the world. Its inhabitants are the
Berbers belonging to a religious sect considered heretic by
the orthodox Mussulmans, and when persecuted by them, the
Mzabs fled off to the desert and there, by force of incredible
labor, dug thousanda of wells, and made oases there, which
are wonderful to see. There is more about these people which
I will tell you later. So, to-morrow, we shall start at an early
hour for Tlemcen. Take what you like there, but for Mzab
we must reduce our baggage to the absolutely necessary
things."
It was a glorious morning, with a fresh breeze, when the
car swung down the hill of Mustapha Superieur, by its white
villas and verdant gardens, to the sea which had all the tints
of blue, when the breeze rippled it, that one sees on a pea-
cock's breast. It was the plan of the Commander, this time,
to run along the coast as far as Tenes, two hundred and eleven
kilometres from Algiers, and then drop away from it down
by Orleansville, to Tlemcen. The car ran through the village
of St. Eugene, with its French and Italian villas, and up and
down by the blue sea before it, and its abrupt cliffs descending
to the water; then on to pass Cap Caxine with its big light-
house. Beyond, on the way, were scattered villas, and vine-
yards ran up the hills at the left and sometimes down to the
border of the sea, with vegetable gardens, green and flourish-
ing between, and more of these came to view when the travel-
lers had passed through the tunnel of the Great Rock. This
time they went again through Staoeli and near Sidi Ferruch
with wide vineyards stretching away as far as the eye could
reach. Sidi Ferruch is on almost an island between its two
bays. The travellers recalled that it was here the French
landed with the army which conquered Algiers. A fort
crowns the heights of the bay at the west.
** My Guide Joanne gives the inscription which is on the
entrance gate to that fort,'* said the Other-one: * Here on the
[123]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
fourteenth of June, 1830, by order of the king, Charles X,
the French Army, under the command of General Bourmont,
came to hoist their flag, giving liberty to the sea, and giving
Algiers to France. ' And a very good thing it was for Algiers
too — to be delivered from the domination of those dreadful
Turks."
*' And a very good thing it was also for France! *' added
the Commander. '* Look at this wonderfully fertile country,
with its enormous vineyards, its hundreds of plantations of
olives and oranges, the great oases of date-trees; and all so
near France. The country is developing wonderfully and
will pay financially in the end, most assuredly."
Still on the car went, and they saw the great mass of the
Tomheau de la Chretienne, looming up against the sky, see-
ing which reminded the Other-one that she had found out the
origin of the name of this extraordinary monument which
they had visited a few days before, when she told the Com-
mander only the legends. ** One day," said she now to him,
" a Christian woman, fleeing from a crowd of cruel pagan
men and women, fled up to this tomb built by some holy man
and took refuge there, but her tormentors came upon her as
she was kneeling in prayer, and would have maltreated her,
but there came a swarm of thousands of flies, mosquitoes, and
wasps, and stung the invaders into flight. Ever afterwards
the Christian woman lived the life of a hermit in this strong-
hold, and finally died here. So from that this monument was
called the Tomheau de la Cliretienne.*'
'■ ' That tale might have a semblance of truth, if we did not
know that the archaeologists have decided it to be the tomb of
the Mauretanian kings — of Juba, possibly," said the Com-
mander dryly.
They now passed Castiglione by-the-sea, with its great ave-
nue of mulberry-trees leading down to it, and wide vineyards
back. Now the limit of the hills of the Sahel had been
reached. The beautiful mountain of Chenoua was growing
more distinct above the gloriously blue Bay of Tipaza.
** You remember we are to stop at Tipaza, and see the
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ruins there, if no more than those of the church of St. Salsa,
whose story I love best of all the stories of youthful saints.
We must find a guide here, for the ground is so strewn with
ruins, it will be hard to find the church.*'
'*We shall be a little late at Cherchel, which is seventy
kilometres from here, but we must certainly stop here, and
we can pick up a guide at the village,*' the Commander re-
turned. Upon inquiry at the small unambitious town on the
bay, however, no guide could be found, so they went on some
distance beyond, to where the land falls away from the sea,
and where the low wall runs along by the road, and the grass
beyond is strewn with ruins as far as the eye can reach, and
heaps of masonry and broken columns show through the trees
above the bay. As the Two were about to climb the wall, a
wrinkled old Arab — who had come up to the car when it
stopped — seeing them, asked in passable French, if they
wished a guide to show them around.
" Certainly we want one," answered the Other-one. **Do
you know where the church of St. Salsa is? " The Arab re-
plied that he had worked with some archa?ologists here and
that he knew all the ruins, ** but," he added, ** you are some
distance from the church of St. Salsa. It is on the hill the
other side of the bay, to the east."
** That wretched Moses ! " exclaimed the Other-one. ** Then
he knew nothing about the ruins. He said they were just
here! " When the car had rounded the bay,. the old man had
the chauffeur stop near a field where some lentils were grow-
ing, and he took the Two up the hill beyond it where all
through the grass wild flowers were growing in profusion.
There were many stone sarcophagi scattered, open, with the
covers lying near, some all broken up. In the cliffs falling
down to the sea on one side, were tombs cut in the rock.
Farther up the travellers climbed with the guide a high cliff
overlooking all the bay and the great symmetrical mountain
of Chenoua, a soft misty violet now rising above it. The bay
was of the most indescribable blue, changing near the shore to
a turquoise color, and farther on, near the line of shore under
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the mountain, it had the rich lustre of tourmaline, and it
beat on the curving shore line, fringing it with an edge of
pearl.
Upon this cliff the guide pointed out the ruins of the ba-
silica of St. Salsa, which was first a small chapel to contain
her remains, and later was built into a big basilica. Here are
three aisles, preceded by a porch; some of the pillars are
standing upright, and there are courses of stone on the sides
still remaining. Inside, the old man showed them an inscrip-
tion which indicated that the body of the saint had been
placed under the altar.
" What a lovely, peaceful place! There is no sound here
but the splash of the waves beating on the shore below ! ' ' said
the Other-one, sitting down on a fragment of a pillar. * * What
a glorious view ! And see how the sweet alyssum grows in such
profusion all around here, and perfumes the air! It must
have been St. Salsa 's flower! This is a most fitting place to
tell you her story now. Salsa was a young Pagan girl, living
at the end of the fourth century, and converted to Christian-
ity at the age of fourteen. There was a temple built outside
of the city on a rocky cliff just above the sea (it may have
been just here), and in this temple was a great dragon of
brass, an idol which the Pagans worshipped. One day Salsa
went to the temple with her parents, who were Pagan. She
was horrified at the impious orgies, and later, she introduced
herself, with great courage, into the temple where the demon
was, and threw first its head, and then its whole body, rolling
down the cliff into the sea. The people, hearing the noise,
ran to the place, and seeing it was Salsa who had committed
the sacrilege, fell upon her and killed her at once, sending
her body down the cliff also into the sea, which received it
gently, and pushed it along on soft seaweed until it rested
where her sepulchre was to be. The remains were afterwards
taken by Christians, and a chapel was built over them, which
later grew into this basilica. It is a pathetic story, is it not,
of the ardent young Christian? Now Tipaza was one of the
cities where they practiced the Christian religion early, with
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the utmost fervor. Here it was in 484 that those Christians,
who would not embrace certain heresies, had their hands cut
off and tongues cut out, and as they continued to speak after-
wards, this miracle had great effect in the Christian world. ' *
The Two walked silently down the hill, through the scat-
tered sarcophagi of the Christian cemetery to the car, the
Other-one first stopping to pick a bunch of sweet alyssum in
memory of poor Saint Salsa.
The old Arab also gathered, from the clefts in the rocks, a
bunch of the spicy absinth, from which the liquor is made,
and this he thought much more valuable.
The travellers came to the ancient Caesarea — now Cher-
chel — a little late, and to be consistent they took their lunch-
eon at the Hotel Juba.
On the road again, and off above the blue sea, to come in
the sunset's glow to the primitive town of Tenes, entering it
by a long avenue of shade trees. It lies on a high plateau
above the sea, and has a flavor of the ancient times when it
was a Phoenician town, and later the Roman Cartennais,
where Augustus established a colony of veterans.
The travellers drew up at a hotel as primitive as the town,
where a prim French landlady made them as comfortable as
she could, and gave them clean little rooms off a small court-
yard, where chickens ran riot, and friendly roosters crowed
the tired Motorists asleep and awakened them early in the
morning.
The sky was heavy with rain clouds, and the sea had lost
its beautiful color and was thrashing angrily on the shore,
when the travellers turned away from old Tenes. They ran
on down to Orleansville through the mountain region called
the Dahra, between the sea and the Chelif Valley. In the
town they crossed the Chelif, the longest river of Algeria,
and which gives its name to the valley, stretching away with
green fields of young barley, and sewn with wild flowers in
the waste places.
Orleansville is a flourishing, if uninteresting modern town,
and is built on the site of an ancient Roman city. When the
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A MOTOR FLIGHT
town was founded, in 1843, the ruins of a big basilica were
discovered where the market place was being laid out. From
an inscription in the mosaic pavement found there, it appears
that this church was constructed under Constantine, and is
one of the most ancient in Africa.
Our travellers pushed on from this city in a heavy rain
and arrived, for the night, at Mascara situated on a moun-
tain of the chain of Beni-Chougran, called by the natives
Chouareb-el-Rih (the lips of the wind), for the fogs of the
winter and the winds of spring do not arrive here until they
have crossed the range. This town is associated with the
memory of Abd-el-Kader the great Moslem chief of the Faith-
ful. It was here he established his seat of government in
1832, and was finally driven away by Marshal Bugeaud in
1841. Before they left in the morning, the travellers went
down to see the Mosque of Ain-Beida, outside the walls, and
now used as a grain store.
*'I have always rather admired Abd-el-Kader,** said the
Commander, as they stood looking at the picturesque mosque
with its white dome and minaret, shaded by tall pepper-trees.
* * You know something of his story ? Abd-el-Kader was a de-
scendant of the Prophet. When the Turkish dominion was
put an end to by the capture of Algiers, all the Arab tribes
fell at once into anarchy. The French could not prevent the
rising insurrection. Then it was that Abd-el-Kader was pro-
claimed Sultan, and he began at once to preach the holy war
against the infidel. There was a series of battles; but after
some victories he lost point after point, the French making
conquests on every side. Finally, — though showing the
greatest bravery, — surrounded on every side by enemies, he
was forced to give himself up. It was in this mosque, as you
know, that he preached the holy war.**
The Motorists regained their car and were soon on the way
to Tlemcen under a blue sky free from all clouds. At noon
they came to Sidi-bel- Abbas, situated in one of the most fertile
regions of Algeria, and the best colonized. They grow much
wheat around here, and there are many vineyards and olive
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groves in the environs. It was early in the afternoon when
the travellers arrived at the point about six kilometres from
Tlemcen where they could see the gorge of the Saf-Saf River
where it falls down in a series of cascades — some a hundred
feet — over thirteen hundred feet. These cascades are called
El Ourit, signifying, in Arabic, the Abyss. From the sky
line the snowy mass of water comes tumbling down by stages,
with a great wall of green bushes, ferns, and vines encircling
it, of the richest luxuriance; the water falling at last in a
spray like powdered diamonds where the sun*s rays strike it.
A small and insistent Arab boy urged the Two, as they
stood looking up to the beautiful sight after descending from
the car, to climb up to the cascade. Nothing loth, they fol-
lowed him up a steep and very damp path that wound about
under the trees and through the dank fronds of the ferns.
It was a sylvan place and one could well imagine wood
nymphs and dryads sporting in the green shade. Led up
and up by the insistent Arab, the Two climbed on and they
came above one cascade to see still above them, another foamy
mass of water plunging down ; but alas ! to dispel all illusions,
there was a common railroad bridge spanning the beautiful
gorge, and which the Arab boy seemed to consider the point
most to be admired. ** Alas! *' sighed the Other-one, ** we
can*t get away from railroads and telegraph poles, even here
where one would think it far enough from the haunts of men
to be the haunts of nymphs and dryads alone.*'
They descended the dizzy path, to continue the journey to
Tlemcen. They had for some time, before arriving at El
Ourit, seen the mountains at the foot of whose jutting red
cliffs Tlemcen lies. Now the walls of the city and its mina-
rets, surrounded with groves of olives and oaks, began to be
visible, and soon they were rolling under the gate of Bou-
Medine into the streets of the ancient town. The car came
to a stop near a small, plain-looking hotel, and the travellers
stepped at once into a court glassed over, with balconies run-
ning around it on the second story, on to which the bedrooms
opened. A steep staircase on one side ran up to them. This
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A MOTOR FLIGHT
hotel was not in any special need of guests, judging by the
nonchalant demeanor of the patron, who came sauntering out
of his small office opposite the entrance, and, with the air of
conferring a great favor, finally allowed a very slatternly
young maid to show the newcomers a room opening off the
balcony above. This proved a surprise, with its rather home-
like air, to which the high wide bed and red curtains con-
tributed. The slatternly maid, assisted by a very dull Arab
boy, after some time succeeded in building a fire in the chim-
ney place, for the travellers found the air quite crisp, Tlem-
cen lying some twenty-five hundred feet up.
As it was a little late to do any sight-seeing, the Other-one
seated herself by the fireplace and began to impart to the
Commander such bits of knowledge as she had been able to
pick up about Tlemcen.
'* It is a strange old town and has had a very interesting
history*' she said, looking thoughtfully into the fire. ** It is
one of the most original cities of North Africa, and the Moor-
ish architecture is seen here at the best. It is the only city
where are found edifices of the Arab-Berbers, and it is said
they will bear comparison with those of Spain. Most of these
buildings date from the end of the thirteenth century, and
some from the fourteenth. The city is situated in a mass of
green, of carob-trees, terebinth-trees, and hundred-year-old
olive-trees. Tlemcen became the Moorish capital of Western
Algeria. It was one of the most civilized towns of the world
about the middle of the sixteenth century. It is now a very
prosperous town, and has a large trade with Europe. What
we have to see are two or three beautiful mosques, one espe-
cially outside the walls, and the museum is in one. ' '
When the Two went down to dinner that evening, in the
long narrow dining-room, they had no reason to complain of
the quality of the dishes placed before them. They were
served, however, by a large, brawny Arab, who, though ar-
rayed in a white jacket and a new fez, had on a pair of ex-
tremely baggy trousers, originally white, but now a deep cof-
fee-color with long usage. These — to the amusement of the
[130]
THE ARAB WOMEN AT BOU-MEDINE
HAVING THEIR " PICTURES
TAKEN »» WITH THE COMMANDER
LITTLE GIRLS OF TLEMCKX, IN GALA ATTIRE ON THEIR
FETE DAY |
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN CEIVIETERY AT TIPAZA
EUINS OF THE BASILICA OF ST. SALSA AT TIPAZA
A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
Other-one, who was generally the one to be much concerned
when cleanliness was in question — so got on the Comman-
der *8 nerves that he exclaimed to the Lady, ** Tell that Arab,
that, if he will put on a clean pair of trousers to-morrow, I
will give him three francs ! ' '
The Two descended to the court the next morning to find
their guide — a patriarchal old Arab in the whitest of haiks —
awaiting them. He took charge of them in a solemnly pater-
nal way. He first went with them down the quaint streets
to the esplanade, which is shaded by tall trees, to show them
the Mechouar, a citadel which was the official residence of the
Sultans of Tlemcen, including the Governors of the Almo-
hades, and the Kings of the Abd-el-Ouadites. It was once of
the greatest splendor and luxury. It had a beautiful gallery,
all paved with marble and onyx. Here was a wonderful tree
erected by one of the Sultans, and on it there were singing
birds of all the species in existence. These were all made of
gold and silver. There was a clock in the palace which ex-
cited the wonder of everybody who saw it. This was built
two hundred years before that of Strasburg. Now there re-
mains not much of the old palace that has not been made over
into barracks for the soldiers. The old walls and high monu-
mental gate the travellers found very imposing. As they
came out of the great courtyard, the Other-one was astonished
and charmed to see a group of little girls who were jumping
around and playing out in the streets and on the sidewalks,
looking like tropical butterflies which had just fluttered down
there. They were arrayed in the most marvellous of cos-
tumes and they looked as if they were prepared to take part
in some grand fairy spectacle. Some were dressed in robes
of striped gauze of gold color; some had red, pink, or
blue satin dresses, all embroidered in gold ; while others had
light yellow satin gowns, with filmy lace overskirts. All were
more or less decked out in necklaces of pearls; armlets, ear-
rings, and anklets of silver or gold; and some of these ap-
peared to have much value, so that the Commander, who cast
an appreciative eye at them, estimated that some of the gay
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A MOTOR FLIGHT
little creatures had on jewellery to the value of three or four
hundred dollars, surely too much to expose to chance of loss in
their gambols. Also, the little heads were adorned with gay
little caps, some of them pointed and embroidered in silver
and gold, with floating veils.
* ' What are they ! ' ' she cried to the old Arab, * ' or is this
the special costume of the little girls of Tlemcen ? ' '
' * No, my lady ! It is not their general dress, but to-day is
a fete day for the little girls, and all Moorish, Arabic, or Jew-
ish girls wear the best they have. ' *
Then he took the travellers down to the Rue d 'Alger, where,
on the corner of the square, is the Grand Mosque or the
Djama el Kebir. It is quite a spacious building and it has a
beautiful minaret, square, with fanciful brick work, and deco-
rated on the four sides with panels of terra cotta work. They
went in through a corridor and shuffled into the mosque with
the yellow slippers with which, as usual in mosques, they were
shod. The beautiful court is built of onyx and there is a
fountain in the centre. Some devotees were praying in the
mosque with the same impassibility to outward impression
that the travellers had observed in the devout in other
mosques. The Two stopped to examine the elaborate ara-
besque work in the archway of the imposing mihrab, then they
shuffled out again, from the twilight of the interior to the
bright sunshine. They crossed the Place d 'Alger to see the
small but beautiful Mosque of Aboul Hassan, which has now
been converted into a museum of the antiquities found in
Tlemcen. Upon entering here the Other-one rejoiced exceed-
ingly that she was not to be invested in huge slippers and to
have to execute difficult feats of gymnastics to keep them on.
Here are columns and capitals of Arab workmanship, beauti-
ful old glazed tiles, rich in iridescent hues, Arabic inscrip-
tions and texts from the Koran in lovely stucco-work. The
interior itself is very highly decorated, and rows of horse-
shoe arcades divide it into three halls. The roofs of these are
in carved cedar, with paintings, and are upheld by six
columns of Algerian onyx. The gem of the whole place how-
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A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
ever, which the guardian there hastened to show them, is the
mihrab, probably the loveliest specimen of Arabic work in
the world. Oriental writers have declared it to be worth a
journey to Tlemcen to view. The mosque was built in 1298
in honor of a learned lawyer, the Abou Hassen Ibn Yaklef el
Tenessi, as the guardian glibly told the travellers.
* * What a name ! would this lawyer have been as eminent
with a simpler one? ** asked the Other-one. The guardian, a
Frenchman, looked puzzled.
As they came out of the mosque, the lady turned to look
up to the minaret with its brickwork and little pillars, when
she discovered a father stork standing on the edge of a big
nest in the top of this, and looking down gravely into the in-
terior of the nest, probably at some small storks. The Place
d 'Alger was filled with a crowd composed of Biblical-looking
natives, gravely walking up and down, and there were ven-
ders of oranges and dates, and water-carriers, bearing along
great jars of water, with drinking cups. Occasionally some
veiled woman drifted across the square, but the gay little
tropical birds of girls were flying in and out the crowd in
their play, showing like brilliant threads against the fabric
of creamy burnouses.
The guide went now to the car where Adrian was waiting,
and the party rode outside the walls of the city to the Mosque
of Sidi-el-Haloui, the confectioner Saint. The guide related
to the Two, as they rode along, the history of this saint. He
was once a Cadi in Spain, having been born at Seville. He
went on a pilgrimage to Sidi Okba, and came back to Tlem-
cen where he settled as a baker of sweetmeats. The kind he
made are called Halouat in Arabic, and the name El Haloui
was given to him on that account. He used to preach to the
children, and a great swarm would crowd round his stall, so
the whole town got to know and worship him.
This mosque was something like the Grand Mosque, and
they found it decorated with the beautiful arabesque work,
and the arches upheld by magnificent onyx columns of which
the capitals are quite remarkable. As they went out, they
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A MOTOR FLIGHT
noticed especially the beautiful portal with mosaics and ara-
besques, and with its overhanging roof in decorated flutings.
The trip to the village of Bou-Medine or El Eubbad led
through groves of hoary olives, in one of which they saw tombs
built like pavilions, but many very old and in a dilapidated
state. The old man told them this grove was the Bois Sacre,
or Sacred Wood. It was a sort of unkempt-looking place and
some of the trees were half decayed and falling down. The
guide said that in this place no one was ever allowed to cut
down any tree. Here at the farther end is the tomb of a
much revered saint, where many women come; and here the
sick who can walk come to cure themselves by bringing a hen
and picking it clean of feathers. The Other-one could not
find out the reason for this singular custom, for the old Arab
either could not or would not tell her; nor did she dare ask
if the hen was picked alive. They saw farther on, near an
ancient dilapidated tomb, an old woman, wrapped in a dis-
colored mantle, and stripping a chicken, which certainly was
not alive, and from which the white feathers were blown
around by the breeze like snowflakes. As the travellers rode
on, passing the old Arab cemetery, where are some ancient
koubbas, the grave and intelligent old guide told them some-
thing of the saint whose mosque they were about to visit.
Sidi Bou-Medine {hou means lord in Arabic) was born at
Seville, in Spain, in the year 520 of the Hegira (A. D. 1126).
He went over into Fez where he studied theology; he then
travelled all over Spain, visited Tlemcen and El Eubbad,
where he expressed a strong wish to be buried when he should
die. He afterwards gave lectures in Bagdad, Bougie, Seville,
and Cordova ; then he came to settle down and lecture at the
court of the Sultan Yakoub el Mansour. When he died he
had a magnificent tomb and mausoleum built for him by the
Black Sultan Abou el Hassen Ali, which was afterwards
enriched and embellished by successive sultans. The wretched
village of El Eubbad lies on a hill, and a rough, rocky lane
leads up to it. Adrian drove the car up as far as it was pos-
sible to go, then the party got out to walk up the uneven and
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A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
rutty road by some half ruined houses. Some of the natives,
rather poverty-stricken creatures, came out to view the
strangers, and, to the delight of the Other-one, more little
butterflies of girls fluttered out, but they were grave and less
playful than those she had seen at Tlemcen. Their dresses
were not so fine in quality, perhaps, but equally gay in color,
and some of them were decorated even more profusely with
necklaces and bracelets and the gay little caps with the gold
and silver embroidery, and two or three had spangled gauze
veils depending from them, which made them seem more like
butterflies than ever, as the veils floated in the breeze when
the little creatures moved around.
The guide took his people up to where was a wooden gate
which has arabesques painted in colors, and it opens on a
gallery paved with small glazed tile, which sparkled when
the sun touched them. On the right is the mosque with its
beautiful minaret decorated richly in tiles. Farther on was
a building which the guide said was the Medersa, a college
which was for higher class students and which was founded
by a sultan in 747 of the Ilegira (A. D. 1349). At the left
of the gallery is the koubba of the venerated saint. They
had here to walk up some steps with the old guide, who de-
livered them to a grave-looking young Arab standing at the
entrance to a beautiful court surrounded with arcades having
marble columns to support them. They stopped a few mo-
ments to look at the exquisite onyx fountain, the margin of
which is deeply worn by a chain, the devotees using it to pull
up water from a well connected with the fountain and which
the grave Arab said was the most salubrious water in the
world. From this court a door goes into the koubba.
Inside the entrance to the koubba stood a tall and splendid-
looking Moslem, with a long silky black beard, and a huge
white turban, and he was clad in the snowiest of raiment.
His air and manner of admitting them seemed as if they were
being allowed, as the greatest privilege in the whole world,
to approach near the tomb of the most holy of saints. The
beauty of the decorations outside here, the solemn stillness
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A MOTOR FLIGHT
around, and more effectually, the reverential manner of this
grand-looking Mohammedan, were sufficient to repress any
flippancy on the part of sight-seers. Moreover, in the sombre
light of the koubba, seeing the great catafalque in carved
wood, covered with the richest gold and silver brocade em-
broidered in inscriptions, the Other-one felt a sensation of
awe and a sadness — as if she were standing by the tomb of
a great and good man whom she had known and revered — >
such as she had not before experienced in her journeyings
and sight-seeing in this strange country, and she noted too,
that the Commander shared her feelings.
When they became a little more accustomed to the obscur-
ity of the koubba they saw that from the dome above were
suspended all sorts of flags, ostrich eggs, candles, lanterns,
and rich brocades; on the walls — of fine arabesque work —
were hung mirrors and crude paintings of the holy cities.
The Commander, always a careful observer, pointed out to
her that the handles, hinges, grates, and window bars of the
koubba were made of bronze, or wrought iron, and were of
most beautiful workmanship.
*' Those show,'* said he, " Spanish-Arabic work.*'
The grand-looking guardian of the tomb pointed out, in
cartouches, here and there in the arabesque work on the walls,
the constant repetition of a phrase in Arabic ** El mulk
Lillah '' (The kingdom is God's).
From here the two went down to the mosque, which they
found much more beautiful in work and decoration than the
koubba. There they entered under a monumental portico,
which had an inscription showing that the Sultan Aboul-
Hassen-Ali, the conqueror of Tlemcen, built it in 1339. They
crossed the court, paved with fine tiles, and, accompanied by
another fine-looking Moslem, who watched them closely
always, they entered the mosque by massive cedar-wood doors
adorned with most admirable bronze work, ** of a pattern so
beautiful and intricate that only Ghiberti's work in Florence
can be named beside them." The prayer chamber is divided
into four naves, decorated with very fine work much like the
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A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
exquisite arabesques in the mihrab in the museum in Tlera-
cen. The dome has the wonderful honey-comb work which
the guardian pointed out as the most important of this kind
of work, in Tlemcen. The mihrab, he said, had been given by
the great Abd-el-Kader to replace a marble one, broken; the
mimhar is wonderfully beautiful. As they went back, they
noted only two or three devotees, one, a holy man with long
white beard, fingering his string of beads, who looked out at
them from under his heavy white eyebrows with an expres-
sion of dislike, and as if he would annihilate the infidels if
he could. They went on to see if it were possible to get into
the Medersa, but though the guide sent some boys for the
guardian's key, he could not succeed in getting it opened.
As they came down the steps, a Jewish-looking man was
standing below holding the hand of a wonderful little crea-
ture, a more gorgeous little butterfly than any the Other-one
had yet seen; for her jewellery was marvellous to behold.
She wore a beautiful pearl necklace of much value around
her neck. The man who held her tightly by the hand was
evidently very proud of the attention she attracted, and al-
lowed the delighted Other-one to take her picture.
The Other-one was delighted, also, upon regaining the car,
for two Arab women, wrapped to the eyes in white mantles,
were curiously looking at it, and with very little demur they
consented to stand with the good Commander and be ** snapped
up,** which was very extraordinary indeed.
The next day the travellers were to visit Mansoura, but the
guide wished them to wait until the afternoon, as the light
would be much better on the ruins.
While at luncheon that day the Other-one told the Com-
mander something of what she had picked up about the
wonderful city of Mansoura. It appears it was built by the
Sultan Abou Yakoub in the thirteenth century when he
besieged Tlemcen. The Sultan was seven years doing this,
and meantime, being a man of great energy, he devoted his
time to building Mansoura. He made a great city of it, with
baths and mosques and all the advantages of Eastern civili-
[137]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
zation. The fortifications enclosed a rectangular space of
three hundred acres. The walls, or ramparts, were five feet
thick and thirty-nine feet high, with towers at intervals of
one hundred and twenty-five feet, and were built of concrete.
However, when Tlemcen yielded to the troops of the Sultan,
the new city was abandoned. When the Ouadites took pos-
session of Tlemcen they allowed Mansoura to fall into ruins.
So the travellers went with their patriarchal old guide that
afternoon to see the ruins of this wonderful city built by that
indefatigable Sultan Yakoub. They rolled out of Tlemcen
under the gate of Fez toward Morocco. Outside this gate is
a great reservoir built by a king of the Ouadites for a favor-
ite wife to sail boats upon. When they had gone about a
kilometre they came to a great, beautiful horseshoe arch
known as the Bab-el-Khamis, which was a gate in the famous
walls the extent and size of which the travellers much won-
dered at. Two kilometres farther out they could better see
the extent of these walls. On a hill at the right of the wall
they saw the great minaret which has remained unmoved to
the present day. They got out at the foot of this hill and
walked up a steep road to the ruined wall around the
tower which stands a hundred and twenty-five feet high
and was built of hewn stone. It is thought to be the finest
monument in all Algeria. They went into it under a most
beautiful Moorish arch and then went through and looked up
on that side to the wonderful minaret, of which the front side
is nearly perfect, but the French engineers have considerably
repaired and strengthened the others. The minaret is di-
vided into three stories panelled with glazed tiles, and carved
onyx pillars. Looking up at the imposing monument, the
Other-one related the legend of the building of the mosque
which she had been told by an English lady at the hotel the
night before. It seems that when the Sultan Yakoub was
considering the building of the mosque, a sort of competition
was held on the plan, and a Jew and an Arab were the win-
ners. At first the sultan was much troubled that he should
have to deal with a Jew architect for the entire mosque.
[138]
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THE MINAEET OF ABOtj YAKOUB'S
MOSQtJE AT MANSOURA
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BY THE WALLS OF MANSOURA
A TRIP TO TLEMCEN
Then a happy idea struck him. He commissioned the Arab
to build the interior of the mosque while the Jew should con-
cern himself with the exterior. So a great struggle took place
between the two with all the art and ingenuity of the two
races brought into the construction of the building. From
this there resulted one of the grandest Arab mosques ever
built. Of course the sultan was highly delighted. Time went
on, but the architects were not paid, as sometimes happens in
modern times. When there was some endeavor to bring this
to pass, the sultan at last rewarded the Moslem architect with
many purses of gold, but he condemned the dog of a Jew for
daring to defile the holy edifice by having anything to do
with it — to be imprisoned in one of the galleries of this very
minaret, and he was told to escape if he could. So he tried,
making himself a pair of wings out of reeds and silks and
cords, and just when the sun was sinking behind the moun-
tains, he launched himself into the air and fell to the bottom,
smashing his skull and dying at once, ** like most of the flying
machine experimenters since his day, and probably before,*'
said the Commander dryly.
The mosque itself is in ruins ; nothing but portions of the
wall are left. It is said to have been a magnificent type of
of mosque of the fourteenth century. In the excavations, the
old guide told the Two that some of the magnificent columns
of onyx in the museum at Tlemcen, as well as in the museum
at Algiers, had been found. The travellers rode back to
Tlemcen that evening by the sunset's glow, which stained the
old ruined gray walls of Sultan Yakoub's city to a rich color.
The next morning they went away from old Tlemcen — •
buried in its groves of big trees and hoary olives — with regret.
The Commander had directed the chauffeur to turn sharp to
the left when they were well out of the gate of Bou-Medine.
** We are going," he said, presently, ** up to Oran for the
night. It is a new route, and I want to see Oran."
** It will be uninteresting enough if a commercial town and
monotonously modern after charming old Tlemcen! " ex-
claimed the Other-one.
[ 139 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
That night they were very comfortable in a clean and quiet
luxurious modern hotel, and the Other-one considered that,
after all, Oran, if modern, was a rather interesting city.
They walked down to the Promenade de Letang, in the late
afternoon. Here it is all planted with palm-trees, pines, fig-
trees, and plane-trees, and there are lovely gardens. From
the balustrade, looking down on the harbor, one gets a su-
perb view, not only of the busy harbor itself, and roadstead,
but across the lower part of the town to the west, where rises
the Santa Cruz — a steep spur of Mount Mourdjadjo — where
is an old Spanish fort, its reddish gray color scarcely leaving
it to be distinguished from the rocks on which it was built;
also, there is a chapel to the Virgin here. The Djebel Kahar,
or the Mountain of the Lions, at the east, with its conical top,
looks something like Vesuvius, and the more so now, as the
setting sun was tinging its rugged cliffs to a fiery red.
" This town, though it is not much of an Oriental city,'*
said the Commander, as they leaned over the balustrade and
looked off to the sea, '' ought to be interesting from its his-
tory. When the Spaniards stormed the town, in the fifteenth
century, they put to death most of the Moslem population
and took off to Spain the rest as captives. They found much
money and booty here, and they then established a penal col-
ony. The Moors drove out the Spaniards; the city fell into
the hands of the Turks ; and lastly, the French took it, and
have kept it ever since. It is said that it used to be, in the
old Spanish penal times, the most jolly and rollicking place
imaginable. ' '
* * The view from here is certainly beautiful enough, and it
is delightful to stop in a well kept modern hotel, no matter
how much one may disapprove of the ugliness of the modern
French town,'* admitted the Other-one.
The next evening the Motorists arrived in Algiers, very
well content with their trip to Tlemcen, and more eager than
before, to begin their journey down to the desert and the
country of the Mzabs.
[140]
CHAPTER IX
TO LAGHOUAT AND THE COUNTRY OP THE MOZABITES: WITH A
VISIT TO THE CEDAR FORESTS AT TENIET-EL-HAD ON THE
RETURN
A MORNING or two after the return from Tlemcen the
Motorists were off early, with little baggage and much
gasoline, and full of eager anticipations of seeing the highly
interesting country of the Mzabs. They took the road through
busy Hussein Dey, the fascinating native life ever flowing
along with them : Arabs in creamy or dirt-colored burnouses,
and Bedouins striding along with the free gait of the country-
man, or riding wee donkeys, or driving flocks of sheep and
goats, the air filled with the cries of the animals and the dust
they raised. Sometimes Bedouin women tramped along in
classic draperies of blue caught with great silver fibulae, with
silver anklets that clanked on their brown limbs as they
walked, a kerchief of yellow bound over their locks, — they
were always a joy to the eye. The Motorists went past great
rolling vineyards stretching to the horizon line, marvellous
in extent; not so beautiful now as they would be later in the
season, when all their brown knotted branches would be
covered with soft green leaves. Nearer to Boufarik the vine-
yards grew even more wonderful. In all their wide extent
there was not a weed to be seen, but all was in the most beau-
tiful order; and this had been done as if by magic, for no
laborers were to be seen in any of these vineyards now.
The car ran through this town, which was overflowing with
Arabs even at this early hour. Evidently it was market day,
for preparations were going on in the great market enclosure.
Then the Motorists went on to the great gash in the Atlas
Mountains, to plunge into the shadows of the Gorge of the
Chiffa, between the mountains rising on each side in wooded
[141]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
greenness. Near the Ruisseau des Singes the Other-one craned
her neck to see, if by chance, any monkeys were out for break-
fast or a bath in the foaming Chiffa. Though no little gray
creatures showed themselves in the trees, a huge fellow
scampered across the road and plunged down the declivity
on the other side of it. Soon the road began to mount by
loops the steep mountain-side, and again the Motorists were
thrilled by the grand views of great peaks rising from green
valleys ; and near Medea, ninety kilometres from Algiers and
in the centre of a famous wine district, vineyards were
planted wherever vines could grow, even on steep mountain-
sides, where they seemingly must slip down, with all the earth
in which they grew, to join the other vineyards in the valleys.
At Medea, three thousand feet up, they stopped for lunch-
eon at a small hotel where a cheerful landlady saw to it that
their meal was the best the house could offer, set out on a
very clean cloth in a very clean, poster-bedecked dining-room.
The road from here went up, then down, to rise again over
the ridge which separates the valley of the Isser River from
that of the Chelif ; through Berrouaghia, a dusty town, of lit-
tle interest to the Motorists, and where the Arab predomi-
nated, and where the French colonist seemed not so conse-
quential, but more preoccupied and anxious. The next town,
Boghari, through which they passed, is also a dusty-looking
town. It is an important commercial centre, however, and
the pastoral tribes of a great region around come here to sell
their produce or to exchange it.
* * The road there to the right, that leads up over the moun-
tains,'* said the Commander, ** goes to Teniet-el-Had, where
are the forests of great Lebanon cedars. I hope we shall be
able to go there when we return.''
The way from here went up the valley of the Chelif, now
a rich green with the luxuriant barley and wheat fields, but
in a dry season it is an absolutely sterile country.
'* Do you notice how curious the hills are on both sides of
us ? " said the Other-one ; ' * they look as if flattened out by
hand and then cut into fantastic patterns. ' '
[142]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
After a while the road ran down on a great desolate plain,
stretching to the horizon line, monotonous and melancholy,
with very little vegetation. The sun was hot, and the way be-
came wearisome, when, not far from them, the motorists saw
the gleam of a lake and feathery palms waving. The sight
was refreshing, and Adrian put the car to a better speed over
the rather rough road. Alas ! the palms and lake faded away.
It was nothing but a mirage.
Beyond, they came into the region of the alfa, or esparto
grass, as the Spaniards call it. The gray-green bunches,
writhing in the winds, stretched away as far as the eye could
reach.
** I have been reading Fromentin*s * Summer on the Sa-
hara.' I picked the book up at the hotel yesterday. It is
delightful. He went over this very route and describes the
aJfa grass, which he detested, — and really it is a very uncom-
fortable-looking grass. However, according to him, it is a
very useful plant to the natives here. They make mats of it,
pots for milk and water, big plaques for food, and even the
horses will eat it ; which seems strange, — it looks so wiry and
like waving snakes.*'
And they went on for miles in the alfa. At Bou-Cedraia
they were preparing great rolls of it for shipment, and camels
and donkeys were being loaded with the rolls or standing pa-
tiently around, awaiting their turns. Emphasizing the deso-
lation, further on were some pistachio-trees which the natives
call hetoum, "When the travellers saw them, with their
straggly branches cropping out here and there, the Other-one
had something from Fromentin to tell the Commander.
** He writes,*' she said, ** that they are a providential tree
in this region, though now they look barren enough ; but in
the heat of summer, on the desert and in places where they
grow, a large tree with wide spreading branches will give the
most delightful shade, like a huge parasol. Some are five or
six feet in diameter. They have -little berries in clusters,
which are slightly acid, and which in the absence of anything
else, quench the thirst."
[143]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Toward sunset, the travellers came to the caravansary of
Guelt-es-Stel where they were to pass the night. It is situated
between low hills, barren of all vegetation but a few thuyas,
— a kind of cypress common in North Africa. It is a sad and
dreary region, but, after all, fascinating in a way, from its
very desolation.
The caravansary is a long, low building, windowless and
doorless, except the great entrance way, with bastions on the
corners, having slits in them for reconnoitring, or through
which to point guns at an attacking enemy. It is the style of
fortified caravansaries, or hordj, as the natives call them,
which are seen everywhere on the desert and remote places
in North Africa, and which served in troublous times with
the tribes, as a place of shelter for the colonists and as a halt-
ing place for those on the road ; which purpose they still serve
for travellers and their animals, in those places where the
railways do not run and there are no hotels.
Two or three Arabs lounged out from the caravansary, with
a robust young Frenchman, who in answer to the Comman-
der's inquiry, said this was the caravansary hotel, and there
were accommodations for travellers. The car rolled under
the great gate into a wide, much littered-up courtyard with
stables at the farther end and the living-rooms near the en-
trance. A rosy, dark-haired, and plump young woman
hurried out of a side door with two or three natives trailing
after her. She greeted the newcomers as if they were the
most welcome guests in the land, and they found, much to
their surprise and gratification, a very comfortable and clean
lodging for the night. They had a very good supper in a
little dining-room, which, in its chromo or two, and gay
posters, showed a pathetic attempt, the Other-one thought, of
the pretty young patronne to get a little of what she con-
sidered beauty into her surroundings, also into the little gar-
den at one side, with its two or three straggling rosebushes
and a few other rather forlorn-looking plants.
The Two slept that night in one of the bastions which had
been fitted up into a clean little bedroom, with two small beds
[144]
BEDOUIN WOMAN AND CHILD
LEAVING THE CARAVANSARY OF GUELT-ES-STEL
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
covered with gay rugs, and little red curtains hung over
the slits in the walls. Before she went to bed that night,
the Other-one wandered out into the courtyard under the
brilliant stars of the African night, to chat with the rosy
patronne; she had told her, with a sigh, of the fate that had
befallen the occupants of the caravansary when there was
trouble with the native tribes some years before. The hordj
had been attacked and every one here had been killed by the
natives. So the Lady felt a trifle nervous when she went to
retire in her bastion, and in the night, above the weird sigh-
ing of the wind through the open slits, she fancied she heard
stealthy footsteps and suppressed guttural voices. * ' But
it is only a trick the wind has,** she thought. Then she fell
sound asleep to awaken in the morning with a tropical sun
streaming in through the openings in the bastion, and the
noise of arriving and departing freight wagons in the
courtyard.
When the travellers went into this, prepared for depart-
ure, they found the Arab and French freighters cooking
their cans of coffee over small charcoal fires, and tearing
up the round loaves of black Arabian bread into chunks,
preparatory to breakfasting. The pretty, rosy patronne and
her robust young husband bade the departing travellers an
almost affectionate farewell, and they rolled away, very well
content with their first night in a caravansary.
** Everything was as clean as wax,'* observed the Other-
one. ** The rosy, healthy-looking young woman is of French
parentage and was born in Algiers, where she has always
lived until she married and came here, a few years ago. She
seems happy and contented enough in this barren, monoton-
ous place, but she undoubtedly loves her husband very much,
— and love,** added the sentimental Other-one, ** makes even
the barren desert a paradise.'*
The road ran down by some vast salt lakes, now nearly
dried up and glistening with their crust of salt. Now the
long desert rolled on, its sandy expanse unrelieved by any
vegetation as far as the eye could reach, the dunes of sand
[145]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
changed incessantly by the winds. Beyond, almost lost in
the blue of the horizon and running to the east and west,
was the line of the Djebel Sahari.
*' There is one place we must not fail to see/* said the
Lady, who had been looking in her ** Cook's Guide,'* while
they were moving on as best they could over the rather dif-
ficult road; '* and that is the Rocker de Sel, or Salt Moun-
tain. We might pass the road that leads to it without
special notice. The mountain lies about two kilometres from
the main road. It is about a mile and a half in circum-
ference, through which rivulets trickle which are impreg-
nated with salt, and the sides of the rock are strewn with
iron pyrites, gypsum, and stones of various colors. Owing
to the action of the atmosphere and the dissolving of the salt
by the underground water, large portions of the mountain
fall in from time to time, leaving fantastic hollows and crev-
ices, in many of which thousands of pigeons find a home.
Fromentin says of the Rocher de Sel, * It is a heap of strange
things in all the possible tints of gray, from deep lilac gray
to the pale and most faded-out tint — heaped up, superim-
posed, and forming a mountain with two heads. All around,
this mountain seems to have had convulsions, it is so
upraised, cleft, and split up in every way. It is not beau-
tiful; it is formidable.' '*
The travellers came, after a time, to the great, gray, fan-
tastic mass at the opening of the passage that the Oued
Melah has cut in the Djebel Sahari, the avant garde of the
Ouled Nail range. The Commander directed the chauffeur to
run over in the country road as near as they could approach
the mountain. They stopped not far from a small cabin
where some soiled-looking men lounged, and a woman bear-
ing a baby came slowly out to the car. In response to the
Lady's inquiry she said she could go with them, and that
it was an easy climb to go up and look into the pits
where the salt, free from dirt, showed white as snow. So
the Two followed her up a zig-zag path on the great, gray,
multicolored mass, where they looked down into deep wells,
[146]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
the sides sparkling with the white salt crystals, and the
depths far below, a white mass, like liquid plaster. As they
stood on the edge of one well where they looked down from a
dizzy height, the woman began to tell them a gruesome story
to the effect that about three years before, a French officer had
come here with his wife and one of his aides. They had
climbed to this very pit and, standing on the edge, ** as
Madame and Monsieur are,'* they lost their balance and
fell in.
** Horrible! " exclaimed the Other-one. ** Were they never
recovered? "
** No, Madame, never! It was impossible! "
** Come away! *' cried the lady, clutching the Commander
by the arm ; * * come at once from this terrible place ! ' *
And they hurried down and off to the car, the woman run-
ning hastily behind them after she had stopped to snatch
up two or three lumps of the crude salt lying in a hollow by
the road, which she thrust into the car, sprinkling the others
with the white crystals. The Other-one sat silent for some-
time as the car went on. Then she said, thoughtfully, ** If
the officer and his wife were young and handsome and loved
one another very much, it was not so bad to be preserved
together in the salt, forever, — always young and beautiful,
never to become gray, wrinkled, rheumatic, and — * *
** Absurd!*' laughed the Commander. ** Even a salt
mountain makes you sentimental!'*
The wind began to rise, now, and the road to run up low
hills. They saw afar the pines and oaks on the northern
flanks of the Ouled Nail Mountains, but the southern were
completely barren, and there were no trees to be seen on the
plain. Near noon the motorists ran into Djelfa, a rude little
town like a man with unkempt beard and hair. Their eyes
were blinded by the dust arising in clouds, both from the
wind sweeping through the long street and the many freight
wagons moving through it. Here at one edge of the town,
was a big Arab fair in full ebullition, hundreds of white-
bumoused natives struggling with hundreds of sheep, goats,
[147]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
and oxen. And the clamors of all rent the air. The car pulled
up at a poor-looking restaurant on the street, and the travel-
lers entered it reluctantly, seeing small promise from the
surroundings of much refreshment. They passed through
three or four rooms which seemed to be in grades; the first
occupied by sodden, unwashed teamsters, the second by
sheiks and other grave-looking Arabs, and the other rooms
by fine looking French officers and one or two tourists. A
wild, hard-worked waiter was endeavoring to wait on every-
body at once, the officers always having the preference; so
our Motorists got what comfort they could out of some half-
raw eggs and some scraps of tough mutton, finishing off with
a handful of dusty dates and some of those husky, throat-
scraping crackers or biscuits that are supplied as a delicious
dessert in hotels in country places.
On they rolled again, shaking the dust of Djelfa from off
their car.
** If we had known we were to take this trip, before going
to Bou Saada," said the Commander, '* we could have gone
there from here, — one hundred and twenty kilometres only,
— though if it rained, we would have found the road difficult
near Bou Saada, as there are some rivers to cross where there
are no bridges.''
** The mountains all around make me feel as if this were
not the true desert. I have imagined the desert nothing but
mounds and wastes of sand.*'
** We are certainly well on the edge of it," returned the
Commander, *' and it is by no means all a flat and sandy
plain. There are mountains as well as sand-dunes."
It was late in the afternoon when the palm oasis and the
white buildings of Laghouat showed up against the vivid
blue sky, and the road went down over a long flat of sand,
across a wooden bridge laid on stringers so that vehicles could
not sink in the sand of the bed of the Oued Mzab, which
is joined here by the Oued Metlili. The way ran into town by
the round hill of the Chapeau de Gendarme, and then
on through an Arab cemetery — through one of these most
[148]
THE JOLLY ARAB AT THE
CARAVANSARY OP TELREMPT
THE MOSQUE AT LAGHOUAT
THE SOEUES BLANCHES AND THEIR PUPILS IN A COURT-
YARD OF THE SCHOOL, GHARDAIA
MARKET DAY IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE AT GHARDAIA
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
of the Arab towns are approached — and the Motorists came
to Laghouat, built on two low hills with military buildings
crowning each, an outpost of civilization on the edge of the
desert. As the car drew up to the high walls, the travellers
saw through a long straight street to a great white mosque
with a minaret rising high from it. All around, inside and
out, are magnificent palm-gardens, and gardens flourish in the
greatest luxuriance here, all seeming the more green and
grateful to the visitors in contrast to the barren wastes of
sand over which they had been travelling all the hot day.
The plan of the Commander was to remain in Laghouat
for rest, and for viewing the town a day, and moreover he
had a letter of introduction to the Bach-agha, or Governor, of
the Lakdaars, a big and influential tribe inhabiting this
region.
* * No matter what you do or where you go, be sure to
accept the Bach-agha *s invitation to luncheon,** said the gen-
tleman who had enthused the Commander to make this trip
to the Mozabite country. ** If you present a letter of intro-
duction to him, he will certainly invite you there, and it will
be an experience such as you have never had before in your
life; but you may be ill after an Arab meal, for you must
partake of every dish. No matter what it is, it is etiquette
not to refuse anything. Your wife can see the harem, also,
and some of the women are very good looking, ray wife, who
saw them, says. It will be much appreciated if you take
presents for them, especially chocolate bon-bons.**
The travellers descended at the rather attractive-looking
hotel in Laghouat, where a gigantic landlady was standing
on the piazza with her small, wiry Italian husband. She
looked like a huge freighter with a small tug-boat puffing
around it. She did not evince any particular joy at seeing
the travellers, but finally condescended to toil up the steep
stairs to show them a room which did not lack for some com-
forts, but could have been a little better swept and gar-
nished. The Commander gave his orders to have his letter
forwarded to the Bach-agha.
[149]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
*' Of course/* said the Other-one, *' he *11 rush right down
here to invite us to luncheon to-morrow/*
What was the disappointment of the Two when word
came back that the Bach-agha had gone to Algiers and would
not return for some days.
*' Just our luck! ** exclaimed the Other-one; ** and I was
so anxious to see a real Arab house and harem, and think of
all those chocolate bon-bons ! ' '
''Never mind!** returned the Commander. ** I dare
say if we were to go to the luncheon we should be laid up
with indigestion for a week ; as to the bon-bons, give them to
the Bedouin women as quickly as possible!*'
The next day the travellers wandered around Laghouat
leisurely, accompanied by a young and ambitious native to
show them the way. There was not much to view in the town,
of especial interest to the eager sight-seer, but there was the
flavor of a strange and unusual life of a town far away from
the great highways of the world. The European town is
built in French style, with a square around which are the
military and civil buildings, low buildings with arcades.
The Two climbed up by the great square mosque to the hill
where is the military hospital, and looked off on the native
town at one side, with its flat-roofed houses and narrow
streets, and off on the other to the picturesque mass of
feathery palms of the oasis, of thirty thousand date trees,
with pomegranate, fig, peach, and apricot trees, and vines;
and beyond all were the gray, rolling, barren wastes.
The Commander asked about the blankets said to be woven
here, and the ambitious boy gladly took them off to the
Soeurs Blanches, who were established here and veritable
angels, teaching the girls and women how to sew and weave,
and caring for the sick. In a clean and snow-white build-
ing, two gentle Sisters clad in the white garments of their
order, received the strangers and took them into the school
where several girls, from the jet-black Soudanese to the
pale olive-colored Arab, were weaving rugs and from behind
the looms looking shyly at the newcomers. There were
[150]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
tiny creatures, too, who were picking away at and carding
bunches of wool. The Commander rather disapproved of the
aniline dyes used for the rugs, but invested in two or three
of them to help out the sweet and patient sisters in their
work.
The next morning the travellers took up their line of march
again, for Ghardaia, — the principal city of the Mozabites, two
hundred kilometres away, — under the torrid rays of the sun
into an even more barren country than the one they had
passed through the day before. The road was across a wide
desert running to the horizon-line with scanty, burned-up
herbage, and occasional terebinth-trees, and farther on, —
greatly to the astonishment of the Commander, — they came
to a level place and at one side a smaller road smoothly swept
of all stones, and a sign up: ** For automobiles! "
* * Well ! * * exclaimed the Commander. * * If this is not
the most surprising thing I have encountered in my life ! A
private automobile road way down on the desert! It must
take labor to keep it free from sand.**
The car ran on this very good road for some distance, then
dropped off again to a sandy and uneven one. Then farther
on, where it was practicable, was another stretch of * * private
automobile road,** and so on, at intervals, greatly rejoicing
the chauffeur as well as the Commander.
The sun was beating down hotly when the travellers came,
at noon, down to one of the depressions of the desert, or
daya, where were growing many large terebinth-trees. Here,
on a low hill is a large caravansary or bordj, that of Tel-
rempt, where one is certain to find refreshment for man and
beast, if not for automobiles; though our travellers needed
not the last, for they had found much provision of gasoline
at Djelfa which the stage had deposited there 'for them,
ordered sent before by the always provident Commander.
The long plain walls of the bordj looked lonely enough, and
no one stood outside the big entrance door to greet the trav-
ellers. However, as the door stood wide open, Adrian drove
the car in at once and stopped it in the largest and most
1151]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
homelike of courtyards, with rooms and stables around it.
A colony of ducks, geese, and chickens, were quacking,
clucking, and picking up crumbs in the bright sunlight
streaming into the court. At a far corner, two calves thrust
their innocent-looking heads out of some pens and lowed,
and there was the air, all around, of a farmyard in New
England. Two or three Arabs lounged on the ground in the
shade of the walls near the kitchen, out of which hurried a
short, plump, and jolly Arab, followed by a tall patriarchal
one. Both welcomed the travellers with beaming smiles and
bestirred themselves. — the plump man to the kitchen, there
to concoct an excellent luncheon, and the other to a small
dining-room at one side, to lay a white cloth and prepare
otherwise for the travellers. The jolly cook proved to be the
brother of the patron of the caravansary, and to have been
once the chef of a French army officer who was an epicure.
The Arab greatly enjoyed the delight and praises of the
Commander for the luncheon, but protested if he had known
they were coming, that the luncheon would have been a mar-
vel in quality and variety. * * Now, ' * and he gave a real
French shrug, ** it was just passable.''
The Other-one happened to mention her desire to eat
cous-coiis, of which she had never tasted, though the national
dish of the country in which she was travelling. To learn
this made the Arab cook indeed a wretchedly unhappy man,
for there was nothing in the world like it, and especially
would the eating of it give force and keep one young. But
an idea struck him. Monsieur would stop on the return trip ;
then, if he, the cook, could know the day and hour, there
would be such a luncheon, and such cous-cous — but French
words failed him and he broke into guttural Arabic.
The Motorists departed from the cheerful caravansary and
the jolly cook of Telrempt with regret. These encounters
with some of the kindly and simple people of the country
were among the true delights of the motor trip.
Beyond, they came into a more desolate, a more dreary,
and a more barren country than any in which they had ever
[152]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
travelled. Yesterday's trip even, as they looked back to it,
seemed a garden of delight in comparison to this savage,
insistently ill-favored land, with — as the road wound on —
great scarred, distorted, calcined rocks, under a torrid sun,
and heaped and piled in monstrous masses on each side or
scattered everywhere on the barren land, where no trace of
even the poorest desert shrub showed. Still there was a
fascination in all the savage dreariness around, and it was
pathetic to see to what terrible desolation nature could con-
demn the country she loved not.
Then came a chehka — a network of ravines cut out by the
rains — of mortal sadness, and the road was strangled in a
narrow way, and there was only the view of the yellow rocks
rising above. Oppressed with the gloomy sadness of the
route, the Other-one roused herself to ask the Commander
if he could tell her more about the Mozabites and their
country.
** I have already told you,'* he said in response, ** some-
thing about them, — which information the gentlemen I met
in Algiers gave me, — that they are considered heretics by
the orthodox Mohammedans. This religious sect dominated
Western Africa in the tenth century, and lived in the region
around Tiaret, not far from Oran. They were driven away
from there and went to Ouargla, which is far down on the
desert below Biskra. From here they were also chased away.
Then they came way out here in the heart of this barren
and sterile region, and they have created, by force of hard
laboi^ and the most ingenious industry, actual oases. They
have dug thousands of wells, for there is no surface water
here, nor any other, only in case of rare rainfalls, when the
water is retained and distributed by barrages. It seems the
Mozabites are great traders, and emigrate temporarily, but
soon return to their native land. There is a proverb which
declares that it takes five Arabs to get the best of an Algerian
Jew, and five Jews to master a Mozabite. There are about
thirty or forty thousand of them in this country, he says,
and a mortal hatred exists between them and the other Mus-
[153]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
sulmans, but generally they have been on good terms with
the French, and the Mozabites pay them an annual tribute/'
Here the Commander looked at his note-book. '' There are
several towns and oases — Ghardaia, which is the capital,
Beni-Isguen, El Ateuf, Metlili, Berrian, and Guerrara.*'
The road now came down to the Oued Soudane and then
ran through a rocky valley, with scarred cliffs on either side.
At the end of this there arose to the astonished view of the
travellers, a great forest of the greenest palms they had ever
seen (contrasting with the barren region they had traversed)
and which they thought, for a moment, to be a mirage; but
it proved to be the oasis of the first village of the Mzabs,
Berrian, and they soon saw the town itself, rising in a sort
of pyramid on a hill and crowned with a curious, very ugly
minaret, square and inclining, and tapering toward the top.
Before reaching the village they heard the grinding and
saw one of the curious Mozabite wells. A large framework,
with several crossbars, was raised above it; a long rope over
a pulley running from this, and two mules hitched to it at
one end ; at the other, a great bucket of cow-skin which, when
the mules walked up to the well, dropped into the water far
below, and when they walked away to the end of the path,
the bag, by an ingenious contrivance, emptied itself into a
ditch running away toward the garden or oasis to be watered.
When the car came under the walls of Berrian, Adrian
stopped it at a small caravansary outside them, to fill up with
water, for the engine had heated up running over the long,
rocky, sandy road that afternoon. The travellers ran away
from the green oasis of Berrian and plunged anew into an
even more wild and rocky region than before, and still more
great calcined rocks, and more desolate and dreary wastes.
It was after dark when they came to the top of a hill
where a great fort loomed up, and down below they could
see the lights of Ghardaia gleaming, especially one bright
light which flashed to and fro as if someone were swinging
it wildly as a signal. They ran down the long hill across
the sand of the Mzab River, and went up a not too brilliantly
[154]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
lighted street, stopping before a white hotel, with double bal-
conies to which vines clung. On the lower one some soldiers
were having a very good time, indeed, playing cards and
drinking wine at little tables. A cheerful landlord stood to
greet the motorists, with the support of several curious Moza-
bites. It was he who had swung the lantern to let the travel-
lers know they were expected, as the Commander had tele-
graphed, and he delivered them into the hands of a very
friendly and sociable young woman, who took them up to
rooms which were surprisingly clean. The floors were cov-
ered with bright Mozabite rugs, and the only door opened
into the balcony whence one could see brilliant stars
scintillating in the dark blue sky. When they had washed
the sand from their eyes, the sociable young woman took
them into a nice, home-like little room where, talking volubly
all the time, she served them (between times attending to
some haughty and exclusive officers in a private room) with
a very good supper indeed.
In the morning the travellers rose with the pleasant con-
sciousne^ that some novel experiences were in store for them.
Asking for a guide around the town, a tall lank Arab pre-
sented himself and took charge of them in the most busi-
ness-like way. They came out of the shady balconies of the
hotel into a very hot sun and dazzlingly white streets and
houses. There stretched away, however, before the hotel —
fenced from the road — a very green garden, to the hill on
which the fort showed, the reveille from which they had
heard in the early morning with the grinding music of the
wells. One of the wells watered the green garden. The
guide, who was another Mohamed to add to their list, — and
who was not a Mozabite, but an Arab, he hastened to tell
them, — said it was market day, and they would go first to
the square where the market was held, and where they
must get permission of the sheik to visit the mosque, which
is at the top of the hill rising above the river Mzab.
Like all the other Mozabite towns, Ghardaia is in the shape
of a pyramid. The houses are built one upon another in
1 155 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
stages; the terraces are upheld by arcades which open out.
It is like a bee-hive. It comprises three distinct quarters,
isolated, one from another, by walls. The culminating point
has the mosque with the curious square, tapering minaret,
characteristic of Mozabite towns.
They went up a narrow white street filled with a mass
of human beings and donkeys, through which the lean guide
pushed his way, paying little heed — as others, walking or
riding mules, did also — to venders of green vegetables squat-
ting by the side of the street, and nearly trampling over
them. This street opened into a great square surrounded by
arcades. Of all the sights and crowds that the travellers had
yet seen, this they now saw was the most astonishing for
numbers. The large white square was filled with a tumul-
tuous, seething jumble of natives, camels, sheep, and goats,
all ebullient and bubbling with excitement; the air was full
of guttural speech, cries, bleating of sheep, snarling of camels
— all lighted with the hot rays of a brilliant sun, with the
most intensely blue sky above. Even the arcades were full
of buyers and sellers. Camels were coming in laden with
overflowing panniers, from Biskra, the guide said. Others
were lying down, waiting and being laden to depart, and it
seemed as if the people in front of them must be crushed
by the great clumsy animals, as they padded in or out. The
crowd paid not the slightest attention to the newcomers, but
went on with their buying, trading, and selling. It w^as a
marvel that the venders — squatting on the ground with mats
before them piled high with carrots, lentils, dried peppers,
wheat, barley, and a hundred other commodities — were not
overturned in the seething crowd, and their commodities scat-
tered far and wide. The travellers struggled through the
swarms of men and animals to where a curious great stone
platform, about six feet high, and ten or twelve feet square,
— occupied a space at one side of the market-place; and
this, Mohamed said, was the prayer stone, the like of which
the Mozabites had everywhere in the towns. Indeed, three
men were there now, and others were going up a short lad-
[ 156 ]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
der leading to it. The three men were going through all
the genuflections of a Moslem prayer, undisturbed by,
and apparently oblivious of, the crowd around them.
From here the Commander saw a heap of old blankets
through an opening in the arcade, so he hastened to examine
them, while the Other-one went with the guide to where a
short stout man — the sheik — sat under a cool arcade envel-
oped in a creamy burnous and wearing a white hdik on his
head. He was hesitating about giving the permission, evi-
dently not being in fa\x)r of allowing Christians to enter the
mosque; but finally the guide secured the permit, and they
struggled over to where the Commander was pricing the blank-
ets by his usual methods of holding up silver pieces. They
all pushed through the crowds again, and climbed the shady,
narrow lanes under the arcades, past windowless walls and
mere dens of shops, coming out, after a steep climb, to the
space whereon the mosque was built, a rude structure with
its ugly minaret. A pasty young man, after scanning the
permit, let them into a small court where were crude ill-
shapen columns of rubble stone, plastered over and white-
washed, upholding the rude arcades around. Here hung
water-bottles of different shapes, which the guide said
belonged to the devotees who used them for pouring water
over their hands and feet before their prayers.
** Here, of course, there is no fountain, as in mosques gen-
erally," observed the Commander. ** Water is a precious
thing here."
The presiding genius in the court was an ancient and much
wrinkled Mozabite in a big discolored turban, squatting down
in a corner, who concerned himself not at all with the new-
comers, but went placidly on shaving the head of a small
boy down between his knees — the face of the boy showing
that he, at least, was having a bad quarter of an hour. The
pasty man took them into dark corridors, — for this mosque
was entirely unlike any they had before seen — and they
wound in and out in a bewildering way, then went down into
a cellar-like place, where was a great cauldron in one dark
[157]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
comer. Here, the Mozabite said, the water was warmed in
winter. Also here were some oblong basins of stone over
which water was poured on the hands and feet before
prayers, and a little alcove or two, with dingy curtains, where
a modest Mozabite could retire to sprinkle his entire body,
if he so wished. This was a very purgatory of a dark place,
grimy with centuries of dirt, and the Other-one was glad
to get up and out of it. Then they climbed up the square,
ugly minaret, and came out on a platform where the view
restored her equilibrium. They looked down over the ter-
races and arcades to the white houses of the Arab and Euro-
pean town ; over the wonderful oasis of sixty thousand palm-
trees and the gardens, in their green luxuriance, beyond the
walls; but beyond lay the terrible rocks, ravines, and barren
desert places from which the industrious, indefatigable Moza-
bites had wrested their country and dug wells and planted
palms, and made gardens to blossom like the rose.
The pasty Mozabite had left to their lean guide the task
of taking the travellers up the rude stone steps to the top of
the minaret, a hard climb. In, response to some questions
of the Other-one, regarding the rites of the Mozabites and
the difference between them and the orthodox Moslems, the
guide told them it was nothing but a matter of different posi-
tions in prayer, and he endeavored to illustrate by going
through what he said were ** different positions."
*' Don't rely too much on what he tells you,'' said the
Commander, dryly. ** You have had experiences with guides
before, and enough to know what their information, which
they give out on every subject, is worth."
When the travellers had again reached terra firma, the
Arab asked them if they would not like to see the gardens
of the Peres Blancs who have established themselves here at
Ghardaia, and teach the native boys and men, and care for
the sick. Down in the lower quarters is the long white estab-
lishment of the Fathers. A pale, earnest-looking young monk,
Father David, met them under the white arcade of the build-
ing and showed them over the garden, one of the most flour-
[158]
MOZABITE WELL AT cilARDAIA
* STUCK " IN THE SAND. ().\ '11 IK J^oAD I'l.'oM (IIIAKDAIA
THE MOZABITE PEAYER STONE IN THE PUBLIC SQUAEE
AT GHARDAIA
''Al6SA-BE^"SLi^fAN,^ THE KAID OF BENI-ISGUEN,
AND HIS '^COUNCIL"
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
ishing and delightful in the town, and nourished from a
big well. The mules pulling the bucket of cowskin looked fat
and lazy.
Father David, they found, was a scholar and much inter-
ested in the Mozabites. ** Though I don't believe," said the
Commander aside to the Other-one, * * that he, or the other
Fathers, have ever converted one, with all their efforts. But
the example the White Fathers set in cleanliness, in unselfish
labor for their fellow-man, ought to have some good effect,
certainly. * *
Father David showed them into his little library off the
court, where were a few shelves crowded with severe-looking
volumes, in Arabic as well as in French. He told them that
the Mozabites were essentially a desert tribe and were con-
verted to this faith by an Abadite sheik. The security which
they would enjoy from the persecutions of the other Moslems
drove them to this region of the Oued-Mzab — from which
they are called Mzabs, or Mozabites.
One of their villages was thus founded, Father David said :
A sheik went out, accompanied by his disciples, and selecting
a hill, built at the summit a mosque, which was at the same
time a store-house, a place to keep their arms, and a fortress.
Then houses were built around the mosque, the whole pro-
tected by high walls. As the populace increased, a second
ring of houses was built around the fort. Ghardaia is a
perfect example of this.
Thanking Father David for his information, the Two left
the pale student-monk and went away to the house of another
devoted band toiling for the good of humanity in this strange
and dreary country, the White Sisters, who care also for the
siek, and teach the girls and women to weave cloth and gay
blankets. The Mother Superieure, a sweet-faced gracious
Sister, received the travellers, and showed the establishment
— the pharmacy, where were bottles of medicine, and the
long room where the little black and brown girls were card-
ing wool or weaving. They looked so picturesque, the Other-
one persuaded them to go out in the courtyard and be
[159]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
"snapped up/' near a picturesque old Mozabite well, with
the sweet Sisters.
The gentle Abbess, seeing the interest the lady had in the
girls, said that if the lady wished, she herself and another
Sister would go with her to see one or two Mozabite houses.
The Mzabs disliked strangers and would not allow them in
their houses, generally, but from these places of which they
spoke, the ScBurs Blanches had taught the women at their
school, and so the Sisters were always welcome. " Of course
Monsieur could not go * ' ; so the guide remained to conduct
the Other-one back, and the Commander was left to find his
way to the hotel alone — which, considering his sense of
direction, was an easy task. The gentle Abbess and another
sweet-faced Sister went, like white angels, with the Other-
one down the narrow, dirty streets, through lanes reeking
with filth, by the shut away houses, the guide following at a
respectful distance.
As they walked, the Sisters told gruesome tales of the
neglect of Mozabite women by their husbands — how, when
unable to work, or for other reasons, the men cast their
wives heartlessly into the streets and left them to care for
themselves, as best they could ; how terrible the sanitary con-
ditions were, so much so that some of her little band had
suffered horribly from the effects when they had gone into
the homes to aid the sick; and so on, until the Other-one,
heart-sick, begged them to desist.
The Sisters stopped at a door in a blank wall and tapped
softly; then entered into a little den of a place with shelves
crowded with a dusty motley array of everything, from
slippers, cloth, and spangled veils, to dried red peppers and
pottery jugs, white metal anklets, necklaces, and bracelets.
** This is a shop for the ladies exclusively, '* said the Sis-
ter Superieure. A heavy, sad-eyed woman, dressed like the
Bedouin women and bearing a pale baby, came out from
behind a little high bench, whereupon were some gay striped
clothes which another woman, old and ugly and evidently a
shopper, was pulling over and examining. The mistress of
[160]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
the place saluted with evident joy the Sisters; and then
followed a rapid conversation in a tongue which sounded
very unmusical to the ear of the Other-one.
** This woman has a very sad life," said the Abbess. ** Her
husband is extremely brutal to her, though at present she is
the only wife. She has had three or four children, but they
have all died, and this one seems to be fading away, too, and
she is miserably unhappy about the child. But what can be
done in this terribly unsanitary place, from which one can
not take her, nor her baby! She is going to show us the
other room where they live. She will offer you some dates;
do not refuse them — it would hurt her feelings.'*
The woman took them into another dark little den, lighted
only by a high window. This was dirtier, more cluttered
up than the other, if possible, and filled with a most bizarre
collection of things. Where they could have been picked up
was a problem; though it might be, the Other-one thought,
that the Mozabite husband had wandered afar, as these Moza-
bites are said to wander, and he must have brought all the
old cast-away things he found in junk shops or by-places.
There were two straw mats, very dirty, which served for
sleeping upon on the floor, and it was difficult to step any-
where in the room without treading on something, so many
things were strewn around. The woman, without dropping
the pale mite, which moaned now and then, hunted and at
length found some dusty dates in a broken basket and offered
them to her guests. Of these the Sisters partook, with an
air of trying to find them very good; and the Other-one
accepted some and tried also but could not swallow one, for
various reasons.
The Sisters went away from here and down to another
door in a long windowless wall. One of their girls lived here,
they said, whom they had taught many things. She had
recently married an old man, who had had several wives, a
poor man who could keep only one at a time! It was a
tiny menage, the loom occupying half the small court. A
young, bright-eyed creature came to greet the Sisters with
[161]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
a beaming face. She brought out some straw mats to spread
for them to sit upon, but for the Other-one, as one not
accustomed to squatting down On the floor, she dragged out
a gayly covered chest, — her trousseau chest, probably; then
she jabbered to the Sisters, and showed with pride the strip
of fine cloth she was weaving on the loom. The method of
fabricating this she had learned of the Soeurs Blanches —
and more than that, evidently, for her little home was very
clean. The tiny bedroom into which she showed them, filled
up mostly with a bed, was spotless also.
*' How much these good Sisters have brought into the
lives of these poor girls ! ' ' thought the Other-one. ' ' Their
sacrifices and work have not been in vain.'' But she took
leave of the simple young creature with a sigh. She then
thanked the Sisters and said good-bye. They seemed reluc-
tant to have her leave them. She had brought a breath of
the outside world, — of which they knew so little, — into their
monotonous lives.
Late in the afternoon the Motorists started with the guide
— overjoyed to take his first motor ride — to the sacred city
of Beni-Isguen, about three kilometres from Ghardaia. Going
out of the gate of the latter city, they noticed close at hand,
another city rising in a pyramid above the river Mzab. The
guide told them it was Melika, once the sacred city, but
that they could not visit it in an automobile, for there were
no roads which could be used for that. As they approached
Beni-Isguen, they saw a high wall running up the hill upon
which the city was built, like the others they had seen, in a
pyramid, and the wall seemed as if it were holding the build-
ings from falling down the hill. This town was equally
white and also surmounted with an ancient square tower.
Arrived at the gate, some boys and a man or two came out to
the car, but evinced no special curiosity. A tall, fine-look-
ing man with a jet-black beard, brushing aside the guide
Mohamed as a person of no importance whatever, addressed
them in excellent French, telling them it was not allowed to
enter the gates in a motor car; that he himself would take
[162]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
them into the village for a short time, but the rules of the
town were strict — no stranger could live there, nor could
one even pass the night there.
** As if we wished to do such a thing! '* exclaimed the
Other-one laughing. ** What in the world would ever induce
us to live here ? * '
They walked through narrow streets — but far cleaner than
those of Ghardaia — to the big market square, where the
black-whiskered man said they must go to find the kaid,
whose permission they must have in order to visit the mosque.
Here was a surprising crowd, for it seemed to have been
market day here also, but this crowd, instead of crowding,
pushing, clamoring, were all tranquilly seated around the
square and near the big pump in the centre, evidently repos-
ing after the wear and tear of the day; and they produced
the most curious effect, all these hundreds of men — in white
burnouses, hdiks, and turbans, — squatting down, with their
grave upturned dark faces under their white head-coverings.
All looked toward the strangers, and the Other-one felt as
if she and the Commander were players on a stage and about
to begin their act, and the populace were ready to clap or
hiss, as they play should or should not please them.
** I declare — I forgot!** said the Commander. ** It is
here at Beni-Isguen we are to be sure to see the sheik, who
is a character. His name is Aissa-ben-Sliman.**
Their conductor caught the name. **0h yes! That is
the kaid. He is over there. He will give you the permission.**
They walked carefully among the crouching Mozabites
over to the arcade, where, seated under a canopy, was a
reverend old man who might have been Abraham or some
other Biblical patriarch. His snow-white beard descended
from his equally white hdik, upon his breast, and he was
wrapped in a creamy burnous of finest wool. He had a
benevolent face, and there was a merry twinkle in his eye,
so that the Other-one felt he could appreciate a joke and
also make one himself. Three or four men were seated near
him; one, a grave old man, white-bearded also, was poring
[163]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
over a roll inscribed with Arabic characters. He paid no
attention whatever to the strangers. The others were sharp,
crafty-looking men, who scowled at them, but Aissa-ben-Sli-
man himself looked kindly at the travellers, though he hes-
itated when the conductor consulted him as to permission to
enter the mosque. He finally gave it, with a gracious air,
and sent his major-domo — a slim youth who was hovering
near, wrapped in a dark striped burnous — for the key, which
the sheik handed them with a benevolent smile.
* * He is an old beauty ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-one. * * "Why
did you not think of him before ! He might have invited us
to lunch! But at any rate I must have his photograph! *'
This request also made him deliberate, but finally, he gave
his permission graciously, and the gratified Other-one pointed
her camera at him with the eyes of all the Mozabites in the
market place fixed on her. Suddenly Aissa-ben-Sliman called
a halt.
* * What is the matter ! * ' cried the disappointed Lady.
** He wishes his picture with his French decorations,'*
said their conductor. Again the major-domo fled away, and
returned with them — and decorated, with his hands dis-
posed stiffly before him, the kaid was ** snapped up ** by the
happy Lady, who felt certain he would be " no end of fun, ' '
could they have had time to cultivate his acquaintance, and
who left him with regret that this was denied her.
With the Commander and their conductor, she climbed the
narrow steep streets to the high terrace, where was an ancient
tower. It was not the mosque after all, though why the man
did not take them there, the Other-one could not understand.
However, they walked, with some difficulty, up the dark,
uneven stone steps of this, and came out upon a square plat-
form. Below them the village of Beni-Isguen could be seen,
with its white walls holding it in; beyond, plantations of
many feathery palms and green gardens. On the other side
was the pyramid village of Melika, and beyond that, on a
rock overhanging the river, Bou-Noura, a poor village but
with flourishing gardens and palms. Directly under the
[164]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
tower lay a curious cemetery with a big white prayer-stone,
not far off from it. The mounds of the cemetery were covered
with rude pottery jars and jugs of various sizes, disposed
in a line on top of each grave. The guide told them, in
answer to their question, that these were the graves of very
poor people, and the jugs were placed there to indicate the
name of the dead buried below, as they could not afford
inscriptions.
** How curious! " exclaimed the Other-one. ** How can
they possibly know from those 1 ' *
** They are placed in a certain order and according to the
size, so the relatives easily tell the name from that.**
The travellers soon went down, and away from this curious
town, and the next morning they were rolling away from
the country of the Mzabs, leaving white Ghardaia lying in
its green oasis and gardens, with a very hot sun pouring its
rays down upon the Mozabites, Arabs, Jews, and Europeans
inhabiting it.
The Motorists went into the Gehenna of barren wastes and
scarred and calcined rocks. The sand had blown in on the
road, and Adrian, in trying to run through a side track that
seemed practicable, went down into the sand, and there the
car stopped still! It certainly looked dubious, for a time,
the heavy tires sinking lower and lower, with all the power
of the engine put on to pull it out.
At this moment, there came in sight over a mound of
sand, two men riding great camels, who urged on the huge
swaying creatures to where they saw the car, when they
were loudly hailed by the Commander. The nomads quickly
comprehended from the situation what the need was, and
came to the rescue. What with their efforts and the Com-
mander's, in pushing at the wheels, and those of the skil-
ful chauffeur at the engine, the car was soon extricated from
its difficulty, and the Motorists proceeded on their way, leav-
ing the two nomads happy possessors of several franc pieces.
It was afternoon when the travellers came to the most
welcome sight of the caravansary of Telrempt. There were
ri651
A MOTOR FLIGHT
some of the inmates watching for them at the great gate,
and they were received with demonstrations of joy, the beam-
ing cook almost embracing the Commander. In a short time
the luncheon was ready, and such a luncheon, of which the
crowning effort was the big dish of cous-cous, served in a
large deep plate with a pitcher of rich tomato sauce to
pour over it! The hungry Motorists praised and ate until
they could eat no more, while the fat cook and his tall brother
stood by with pleased smiles, but were ' ' desolated ' ' to think
so much was left uneaten after all.
Cous-cous, the Other-one had learned, is the national dish
for Arabs and natives, — the Kabyle in his mountain fast-
nesses, or the nomad on the plains. Its preparation is rather
elaborate and is one of the special accomplishments of native
women. Wheat grains are pounded on a stone, or in a mor-
tar, then rolled by hand, keeping the granulated morsels
separate, and these are picked out as they grow large enough.
Then, dried in the sun, they will keep a long time. This
cous-cous, a sort of semolina like small pills, is placed in a
perforated pottery dish and cooked from the steam arising
from another vessel below it, which contains water, meat,
vegetables and aromatic plants, which are served with it.
Often it is cooked without meat, but with an extra allowance
of red pepper and tomatoes. The natives drink milk with
this, rarely fresh, but generally curdled. That night saw
the travellers sojourning at Laghouat, the next day enduring
a luncheon at Djelfa — and arriving at night at Guelt-es-
Stel and where they were gladly welcomed by the robust
young Frenchman and his rosy wife as if they were valued
friends returned from a long and dangerous journey. On
from here the car ran smoothly to Boghari, where the Com-
mander decided to turn off to make a visit to the cedar forests
at Teniet-el-Had. They went up to Bogari, which was once
a Roman military post. The road now ran along the flanks
of hills. Mountains, rising with their slopes black with
forests, dominate the Valley of the Chelif. To the northwest
the Ouarsenis Mountains rise in all their grandeur. It was
[ 166 ]
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
late when the motorists entered the poorly lighted town of
Teniet-el-Had situated in the most important and most fre-
quented pass, or coly of the Ouarsenis. There was little of
the town visible in the obscurity, and the hotel where the car
stopped looked most unpromising. When the weary travel-
lers went into the small vestibule, there was no one at all
to greet them, but they heard shouts and singing issuing from
a side room, from which a wild-eyed and desperately hurried
waiter plunged, when the Commander called aloud in his
impatience. A stout landlady, breathing heavily, made her
appearance in a few moments, but declared that she had not
a room in the house, not even for the President of France
if he should come that night.
** But we can't sleep in the street, surely! '* exclaimed the
Other-one.
The stout patrone reflected, then she relented, and would
find them rooms outside. They had an indifferent dinner,
served by the wild-eyed waiter, who left the hungry travel-
lers though he was about to place a dish on the table —
whenever there were shouts for him in the room where the
officers were making merry.
In the morning the town presented a more cheerful aspect,
and there was an odor of pines in the rather crisp air, for
the town lies up over three thousand feet, and the springs
are cold. The long street, shaded with pines and plane-
trees, was full of Arabs, and a market, as usual, was in prog-
ress. The Commander was much disgruntled when the waiter
at the hotel assured him it was impossible to go up to the
cedars in an automobile. The road was very bad, he said.
So there was nothing to do but accept the rickety wagonette
which that astute individual secured for him, with a pair
of lean horses hitched to it, but the Other-one was contented
with the serious and cleanly Arab, who wore a burnous of
snowy whiteness, and who was to drive and act as their guide.
The horses crawled slowly up the hill, over the rough, rocky
road, mountains rising all around.
* * There are no cedar-trees, as yet, that I see — only cork-
[167]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
trees and live-oaks/' said the Other-one. " I hope we are
not going to be disappointed. They ought to show up soon,
as it is only fourteen kilometres to the Ronde Pointe where
they say the Lebanon cedars are the biggest."
* * After we get around these hills, ' ' returned the Com-
mander, * * we shall run into the forest ; but what a snail 's
pace! We shall never get anywhere with these tired-out
horses. However, we won't have any cause to complain of
the cedar-trees ; they will not be of the largest size, probably,
but it is rather astonishing that cedars of Lebanon flourish
here. They are a slow-growing tree, and some specimens have
reached two hundred and ten years. The wood seems never
to decay, and so valuable for carpentry and cabinet work.
The trees grow straight up, and when at a certain height
spread out horizontally like a great umbrella." As the car
came around the flank of the mountain the cedars began to
appear, but they were young trees. Beyond, on a rocky
crag overhanging the valley, there came into view, some three
kilometres from the town, a great tree with a wide-spreading
top, which the guide said was called the Parapluie, and ver-
itably it was a great green umbrella, looking as if some
Japanese had spread it and left it there. From here the
travellers had a magnificent view down over the valley, to
the Zaccar with white Miliana showing on its flanks.
The road was now more level, and the lean horses began
to trot on a little, the trees increased in number and size,
and after a while the travellers entered into a great shady
forest, that made them think of the solemn interiors of
grand cathedrals.
• *' Can it be we are in Africa? " exclaimed the Other-one,
* * with this green shade and these great trees ! We seem
to be in another clime. With me, Africa has always stood
for limitless deserts, camels, and oases of palm-trees. Cedars
of Lebanon do not belong to it ! "
The Arab, who had been gravely silent most of the way,
only answering their questions in the briefest way, now
became a little more communicative as he saw the delight of
[168]
CEDARS OF LEBANON AT TENIET-EL-HAD,
AND THE ARAB DRIVER
COUNTRY OF THE MOZABITES
the travellers in the forest. In very good French, he told
them that they would come to many finer specimens of
cedars, also that the Government was beginning to take care
of this forest; that it was being cleared of dying and dead
trees, and many young ones were being set out and were
flourishing. Also, he said, the people were forbidden to pas-
ture their flocks in the forest, which he, ho^wever, thought
* * very tyrannical and very foolish, for what harm could a
few sheep or goats, even cows, do to a great forest ? * '
** I Ve heard the Arabs don't care for trees,** said the
Other-one, to the Commander, ** and that some here purposely
let their animals into plantations of young fruit-trees to
destroy them.**
When the travellers had gone some fourteen kilometres on
a road over which the Commander said they might certainly
have driven in their car, even if it was a little uneven and
stony, they came to the Ronde Pointe des Cedres.
Here is a little chalet where one may picnic if he likes.
Here the grave Arab showed them some of the most wonder-
ful trees they had yet seen, forest giants with great green
crowns. On a path not far off they climbed a little to see
the ** Sultane,'* a hundred and ten feet high and eight feet
through ; and the ** Messad,** even more imposing. Then they
retraced their way through the green forest, feeling that their
trip, even if fatiguing from the slow motion and the rough
road, was well worth all the effort, and they arrived late at
Teniet-el-Had, weary but contented.
The next morning they were off again over hills, down
across the valley of the Chelif, through Affreville, with its
fertile lands around it, and Affroun, and across the wide
luxuriant Mitidja, with its great vineyards. The lights were
twinkling in Blida when they ran through its fragrant orange
groves and gardens, then to busy Hussein Dey and so down
to the sea. At last they rolled up to their luxurious hotel
at Mustapha, where they descended, satisfied that their trip
to the Mozabite country was one of the most interesting they
had ever taken.
[169]
CHAPTER X
A DAY OF LEISURE; THEN OFF BY TIZI-OUZU TO FORT NATIONAL
AND FORT MICHELET ; TO BOUGIE BY AZAGA
THE next day after the trip to the Mozabite country,
the Commander sat scanning his maps, preparing to
conquer other unknown countries.
* ' At last, ' ' he said to the Other-one ' ' we are to go to
Fort National, — which is in the heart of the Kabyle country,
a hundred and thirty-four kilometres from here, — by Mener-
ville and Tizi-Ouzu — ' '
' ' What a name ! ' ' interrupted the Lady, * ' it sounds like
a sneeze! '*
* * Then I would like very much to take from Fort National, ' '
continued the Commander, " the long route over the Col
de Tirouda to Bougie. The scenery is magnificent and I
am told the road is excellent, but that we cannot do this
season of the year. The pass is full of snow now, and will
not be open probably for a month, so we will go directly to
Fort National, run over to Fort Michelet and return that
night — only forty-seven kilometres, to see the scenery, then
go on East the next day to Constantine, where we will plan
our trip to the Sahara — and we must be off early tomorrow
morning! '*
** Very well! " returned the Other-one, '' I shall be ready;
in the meantime we will take the day here leisurely, and do
up some of the things we have neglected, such as visiting
certain bric-a-brac shops where there are treasures of jew-
ellery, rugs, blankets, and those things which are dear to
your soul! '*
So the Two went down in the afternoon to the town and
spent the time in blissfully hanging over certain of the above
mentioned treasures. It was quite late when they at last
[ 170 ]
A DAY OF LEISURE
tore themselves away, and the Other-one proposed they should
go into a hotel on the Place du Gouvernement for their din-
ner; so they went into a pretentious one, and seated
themselves at a small table in the rather gaudy dining-room.
The consequential head waiter came slowly up with an indif-
ferent air to take their order — for our couple were rather
plain-looking people and would * ' probably not be lavish with
pour-boiresy** he decided. But suddenly he became alert, as
a party of four — one, an officer in a blue coat with much gold
braid and a mustache turned fiercely up — came in and
seated themselves at the next table. The head waiter hastily
called an under-waiter, giving him the Commander's order;
then he turned deferentially to the newcomers, with an air
of welcome. The Commander unfolded his napkin and was
about to make a remark to his companion, when these words
caught his ear, spoken by the oldest of the party, a man of
distinguished appearance to wliich a heavy gray mustache
contributed not a little.
** The Kabyles are a most wonderful and interesting
people.'*
** You have seen them?'* asked a third member of the
company, a slight, bronzed man with spectacles.
* ' Yes ; during my residence in Algeria, I have been brought
more or less in contact with them and have taken every oppor-
tunity to learn all possible about them. I have always had
a taste for studying the manners and customs of the prim-
itive peoples of whatever country I lived in for the time
being."
** I expect to travel for some time in the mountains of
Kabylia," said the man in spectacles, ** and I wish you would
tell me a little about the Kabyle tribes. '*
The Commander murmured, sotto voce, to the Other-one,
** We also want to know a little about them.*'
The man with the gray mustache poured out, deliberately,
a glass of wine from the carafe, which looked as if it con-
tained molten rubies, swallowed the wine slowly, then began ;
while the Commander and the Lady listened intently, eager
[171]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
to pick up every crumb of information about the people of
the country in which they had elected to motor.
** The Kabyles, or Berbers (Barbarians, as the Romans
called them ) , are the result of a fusion between the aborigines
and the people who succeeded them in the domination of
Algeria; also with the Vandals. When the great Arab in-
vasion came, the Kabyles retired to their mountain fastnesses,
and though nominally embracing Islamism, continued to main-
tain their independence. It seems, however, in Roman times
they must have more or less submitted to that people as in
their most remote valleys and fastnesses there are traces of
the presence of that great nation.
** The Kabyles are spread out over three provinces of
Algeria. Those of the Atlas Mountains, and in the neighbor-
Jiood of Blida (as the Beni Moussa, the Mouzaia) who are
subjected to the French and used in the olden time, in con-
sequence of their vicinity to Algiers, to consent occasionally
to pay tribute to the Turks. Two of the most important
branches of the Kabyle race inhabit the province of Algiers ;
to the West they occupy all the space between the Chelif
and the sea; to the East, what is called ' La Grande Kaby-
lie ' which forms a triangle, the summit of which is at Setif,
and the base on the seashore from Dellys to Collo. The first
of these has been the scene of fierce struggles between them
and the French.
** The Kabyles are in no way aggressive and never fight,
save when their territory is invaded; they in no way inter-
fere with the aggrandizement of French influence around
them.
** All I have said applies to the Kabyles properly so-called.
In the south of the province of Constantine, and on the con-
fines of the desert, is a tribe of these very people, who are
nomads and shepherds. There is again another Kabyle
tribe, the Biskris, living, as the name implies, at Biskra and
other parts of the desert. These Biskris may occasionally
be met in the larger towns, where they act as porters, water-
carriers and fortune tellers, which is one of the characteris-
[ 172 ]
A DAY OF LEISURE
tic trades of the race. Many of the Kabyle women fortune-
tellers are met in the streets of Algiers, where they excite the
curiosity of all foreigners ; but their home is the sandy desert
and their heart is thoroughly Kabyle.
** These people are laborious, good agriculturists, and very
clever in manufactures, especially of linen and woollen mate-
rials. They live a sedentary life, have flourishing villages and
roofed and whitewashed houses. When they have no work
at home, they go down to the towns to earn money; their
thirst for gold is equal to that of the Arabs.**
The speaker paused to apply himself to a tempting dish
just brought, and the French officer began to talk :
** It is certain that we French do not feel very kindly to-
ward the Kabyles. They were the most difficult of the people
whom we had to conquer, and in the insurrection of 1871,
they treated our people who were living in Kabylia in the
most treacherous and inhuman manner. But one cannot but
admire their savage independence, intrenched as they are in
their mountain fastnesses. They are superior to the Arabs of
to-day.**
** It is true,** asserted the man with the gray mustache,
** that they give complete freedom to their wives, who are, in
this instance, happier than their Arab sisters. The Kabyle
women do not hide their faces; they are allowed to attend
to their duties outside of their houses without veils, but
apart from this particular liberty, they are considered by
their husbands as much beasts of burden as the Arab women.
The Kabyles are very jealous of their wives, however, and,
it is said, with good reason. The costume of the women is
almost uniform for all the wearers. It consists of two foutas
of dark blue cotton material, striped with red and yellow, fas-
tened on the shoulders with two large brooches and strapped
around the loins with a leather belt. A black silk, or cotton,
foulard is used as a head-dress ; this foulard is sometimes red
and yellow, but more generally black and red. A great quan-
tity of jewellery is worn, consisting of bangles, bracelets,
anklets, necklaces, brooches, and hoop ear-rings. The women
ri73 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
go barefooted, and are tattooed, chiefly with a cross between
the eyes and chin.
** The men's costume consists of a gown, or gandoura, of
white or striped material, a leather belt, and one or two bur-
nouses like the Arabs. The turban is also the same as worn by
the Arabs, — white muslin with a few yards of camel's hair
twisted around."
*' Very interesting," said the traveller. '* I must make a
visit as soon as possible to these Kabyles. ' '
' ' Yes, indeed ! ' ' exclaimed the French officer. ' ' There is
a Kabyle proverb which says, * Who has not seen Kabylia has
not seen Algeria.' You may find it difficult. They are a
very independent people and detest strangers. However, take
a good Kabyle guide with you when you attempt to enter
their towns, and you may find it less difficult. ' '
The conversation turned to other topics, and the Com-
mander and the Other-one soon rose to go, well pleased with
the information they had thus acquired about the interesting
people whose country they were about to invade.
On the next morning when the Motorists departed for Fort
National, the sun's beams were softened by a light fog, and
long, flaky clouds drifted across the sky. The sea had streaks
of blue near the horizon. The car was well stocked with
everything of which the provident Commander could think.
There were four extra tires, two reservoirs of essence, and
enough wraps to content an Eskimo. '* For we may get very
cold weather in the mountains," said the Commander.
He directed Adrian to follow the road to busy Maison
Carree, then they turned sharply to the right, up a hill. In
the far distance the Atlas peaks were white with snow and
their clefts deeply blue. A faint veil of mist softened their
outlines.
Long fields of artichokes stretched away on each side of
the road. They came to a long avenue of lime or sycamore-
trees, their brown last year 's balls swinging in the light breeze.
Just beyond, they passed one of the queer stage coaches,
packed, as usual, to overflowing, with Arabs who regarded
[174]
A DAY OF LEISURE
the car with looks of consternation. The car flashed by them,
leaving them glaring through a cloud of dust, and passed on
through a village of pink and white houses; the square at
the end of the long straight street was planted with stiff
palm-trees. Beyond there were groves of eucalyptus with
their straggly branches
''They tell me," said the Commander, **that wherever
there is a malarial place they plant eucalyptus-trees. They
certainly flourish well, judging by these luxuriant specimens.'*
The air, always fresh and sweet, had a faint spicy odor
from them. Long fields of vines were passed, then came uncul-
tivated lands where the leaves of the bushes and plants
sparkled like jewels with the morning dew. For a long dis-
tance now, the road had great piles of stones on each side,
and natives, superintended by a dusty Frenchman with a
long, tumed-up mustache, were breaking them to mend the
roads.
Now came a wide field where masses of pale, pinky blooms
of the asphodel cast upon the morning breeze their pungent
odor. Upon a hill to the left, the genesta (Genesta ferox),
or furze, made the gray rocks gay with its golden blossoms;
then other fields where yellow dandelions starred the short
grass. They caused one of the party to think of the wayside
meadows in New England springs, and warmed her heart.
Then the car entered a grove of great cork-trees {Qucrcus
suber) ; their trunks, stripped of their bark half-way up, had
a melancholy air, and seemed, too, ashamed as if they were
half dressed.
The Commander here turned to the Lady. ** It is said the
cork-trees are the most valuable forest trees in this country.
It seems they strip the tree of its bark every eight or ten
years after it has had fifteen years of growth. The first strip
of bark they take off is thin and hard and is used principally
to make lamp black. After the second and third cuttings,
the cork is of the best quality. With each harvest a tree
usually gives a hundred to a hundred and fifty pounds of
cork,*'
[175]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Out of the cork forest they came to a little town with a
long straight street of low houses, lined with plane-trees on
both sides. From there they flashed by barley and wheat
fields of softest green. Always on the road were the trudging
natives, flocks of sheep and goats with their accompanying
shepherds and dust, patient donkeys with great panniers full
to overflowing, under which the little beasts could hardly be
seen, and sometimes they were bestridden by sturdy, lazy-
looking Arabs, their brown feet almost trailing in the dust.
Now came a queer cart, drawn by a tiny moth-eaten-looking
donkey. Three white dogs lay at ease in it, while a white-
turbaned, old man pummelled the poor donkey with a club.
A field stretched beyond, white with daisies, as if covered with
snow. The road now ascended steeper hills. There were sud-
den brief glimpses of the sea between the openings in them.
It had a sapphire blue tint and the palest of pink clouds
floated just above the horizon. On a sharp point jutting out,
the white koubba of a holy man gave a note of rest. Beyond,
where a hill sloped down, men were ploughing with the
crooked stick of ancient times.
At fifty-four kilometres the car came into the town of
Menerville, on the flanks of the Col des Beni-Aicha, — the neck
of a mountain, — the only route going from the Mitidja to
Kabylia. It is not an interesting town, but has fine groves of
eucalyptus-trees, and is noted for the big native market held
here. It was market day when our travellers arrived, and
they had the chance to see all in full swing. Just outside of
the town there was a great place enclosed by wooden palings,
and within and without was a jumbled mass of beings, natives
of all kinds, Kabyles, Arabs, nomads, a surging multitude of
burnouses, haiks, and turbans. There were small tents within
and without; all kinds of curious carts, wagons, vans, and a
stage coach or two. There were flocks of sheep and goats,
herds of cattle, donkeys here and there, with a cloud of dust
over all, and the war of voices, the bleating of sheep, braying
of donkeys, and all the other indescribable sounds of an Arab
fair.
[176]
OFF TO FORT NATIONAL
Beyond Menerville, the road turned to the left. *' That
road to the right/* said the Commander, ** leads to Constan-
tine by the Grorge of the Isser, passing through Palestro, where,
I have read, was a frightful tragedy; nearly all the French
colonists of the place, with the Swiss and Italian workmen,
were massacred by the Kabyles in the insurrection of 1871.
The gorge is said to be magnificent for scenery. ' *
They were now passing great plantations, African farms,
where the boundaries and the fields were separated by thick
hedges of the Barbary fig {Opuntia ficus India) or the prickly
pear, with its great fleshy pear-shaped leaves, bristling with
sharp little thorns. The natives use it for marking the limits
of their fields and to protect what grows within from their
animals, which can never penetrate this hedge. Also the
pear-shaped leaves are cooked and eaten, as well as the small,
reddish fruit. It seems to be easily propagated. Our party
noticed some natives sticking small cuttings of the leaves in
shallow holes on the boundaries of fields. It seems wonderful
that it can grow from the morsels of leaves they were planting.
The car rolled on by the Moulin du Roulage, a primitive
cabaret for the refreshment of man and beast, from which
they followed the road to the left. They saw afar the moun-
tains in serrated ranks, then they dropped back, leaving the
wide valley, where the Isser River flowed between. Before
they came to the river, the Other-one was enchanted with the
wide garden she saw in front of a white farmhouse. It made
her think of home, with its masses of scarlet geraniums, big
bed of fragrant heliotrope, its clump of calla lilies growing
in the basin of a little fountain.
Beyond the river, the hills closed up to the road. Then they
passed a place, where great heaps of the shredded fibre of
the dwarf-palm were being prepared by natives for shipping.
Not far from here an odor of rancid oil filled the air, where
was an olive oil mill. Outside lay great heaps of the crushed
olive debris. Now the road went on up hills, where was cul-
tivation on their flanks, the pale rich green contrasting, here
and there, with a hill ablaze with the gold of the genesta.
[177]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Beyond were deep ravines, across which engineering had built
railroad bridges. Then came a steep hillside where a Kabyle
farmer was turning up the rich brown soil with his ancient
plough. The road dipped down again and showed a crescent
of rich blue sea.
Presently the car passed over the Sebaou River — not a long
one, and now a dry one but it has great volume of water at
times, owing to the abundant rains that fall in the region
where it flows. At length Tizi-Ouzu was reached, after the
climbing capacity of the car had been tested by steep inclines.
The somewhat weary and hungry party descended at the
Hotel Lagarde, with its dusty garden, where a lemon-tree or
two, a date-palm, and some languid-looking bushes in flower
were protected from the invading Arab gamin by an iron
fence. Here the travellers had been told they would find much
cleanliness and comfort. The Other-one had now become
resigned to whatever fate had to offer in the matter of dirt,
nevertheless she could but regard the little untidy dining-
room, blazing with the usual gaudy French posters, with dis-
may. She was surprised and comforted, however, when the
shuffling gargon brought in a really delicious luncheon.
There being nothing to detain the party in the dusty, unin-
teresting town after their hunger was appeased, they pushed
their way through the crowd of natives, as usual packed
around the car, and soon Tizi-Ouzu was but a memory. They
wound around and up hills the color of deep green jade, and
as they doubled a curve again, they saw mountains rising
afar. The road ran on not far from Kabyle villages, built
on spurs of the mountains, or, wherever a level space opened,
there were seen these red-roofed, chimneyless and windowless
houses looking like sproutings of red-capped mushrooms.
Near the houses were small fields of young grain, a soft
green; patches of fruit trees, now with pale pink and
white bloom; and many gnarled fig-trees thrust out their
twisted branches ; a few pepper-trees and the stumps of ash-
trees showed green and gray. All the little mountain farms
were surrounded and protected by prickly-pear hedges.
[178]
OFF TO FORT NATIONAL
Suddenly they saw at a curve in the road the great peaks of
the Djurdjuras, their snow caps glistening in the sunlight,
they realized they were entering Great Kabylia. Afar, great
spurs of the mountains stretched out; tremendous chasms
rent them, as if opening to swallow the tiny villages on the
edges. Below them the party could see the road, a white
serpentine way, ever hard and most excellent; so it
seemed here a very heaven for motorists. The Other-
one noted the pale, mauve Roman hyacinth growing in
clefts of the rock by the roads. Their faint sweet odor
was in the air, the fine, racy, mountain air which gave one
new life. They passed or met many flashing-eyed, fierce
Kabyles striding along with a proud, free gait.
Again, the road mounted up and the car seemed to be as
high as the eagles fly. Far off they saw the red roofs of Tizi-
Ouzu losing themselves in the distance. A narrow green val-
ley spread to where the great mountains rose to their halo
of snow. High up, over all, a great bird winged his way in
the deep blue of the sky. Down and round a curve and a
group of Kabyle children, wrapped in multicolored rags,
jumped from the wayside suddenly, gesticulating, and shriek-
ing **Un sou! tin soul **
** Little wretches! ** cried the Commander. ** Even up here
in these mountain solitudes they have learned to beg. * * Still
on, and the great chain of the Djurdjuras, cut out in great
gashes, gleamed like quicksilver with their snow-crowns.
Beyond and beyond are folds of the mountains, some black
with timbered forests. The souls of the travellers were
oppressed with all the grandeur of the view. No words passed
between them now, for they felt how imperfectly words could
express their sensations.
At length, on a high point, a white spot — Fort National —
showed against the blue sky. Nearer, they saw the wall
with its seventeen bastions.
*' The citadel certainly looks grim enough as we get
nearer,** said the Commander, ** and must be strong enough
for defence, in case of trouble with these independent, undis-
[179]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ciplined Kabyles, but a few guns planted around on those
hills would soon blow it to pieces. The soldiers here, — who
are all Zouaves, I am told, — have, if they have nothing else,
one of the grandest views in the world. Here it is 3,153 feet
above the sea.*'
The road now ran on a sort of terrace, and on it they came
to the '' unique little village,^' enclosed in its walls about
twelve feet high and flanked with seventeen bastions. There
are two entrances, the one called the Djurdjura Gate, and
the other the Gate of Algiers, by which the Motorists entered
and went along the only street which was bordered with rag-
ged-looking sycamore-trees, with their white-spotted trunks.
There was a crowd of natives surging through the town, and
contrary to the custom in the towns through which the
travellers had heretofore passed, these Kabyles, digni-
fied and solemn, evinced little interest in the motor.
Adrian stopped his car before the plain-looking Hotel
des Touristes. Out of this hurried at once, a plump
young French woman, followed more slowly by a thin man in
carpet slippers. In reply to the demand for rooms the young
woman was desolated to an extreme.
'* Alas! Bashir, the so well known courier, had engaged all
their rooms for a very rich American monsieur and his
family.'*
** Ask her to crowd up the rich monsieur and give us a
room or so. She can't expect us to sleep in the street, and
this seems the only hotel in view,*' exclaimed the Commander
impatiently.
** Impossible! " returned the woman. ** Bashir will not be
disappointed. If so, he comes no more. He must have all
the rooms. There is another hotel but so poor, so small, not
like this elegant auherge! '*
The Other-one saw here in her eyes the desire to secure
these people, who must be also important, judging from their
fine large car, and Adrian, such a beau gargon. The man in
carpet slippers drew near, and there ensued a rapid dialogue,
beyond the powers of the Other-one to understand, punc-
[180]
FORT NATIONAL
tuated with many shrugs and gestures. Then the woman
turned to them and said, with the air of a diplomat who has
settled a most delicate and difficult matter :
* * Monsieur and Madame can go at once to Fort Michelet
and see the view, most magnificent. When they return, in
two hours, they will find rooms so large and comfortable, such
as they have not yet had in Algeria."
Then she turned off, dragging the man with her and leav-
ing our travellers no choice but to take her advice, which they
proceeded to do, going out the gate opposite that by which
they had entered, and following a road pointed out to them,
which led off to the right. This road ran for a time on the
south flank of a spur of the mountain, then on the west flank.
All along there was a superb view of the great chain of the
Djurdjuras, the tops silvery white, the clefts deep blue in the
late afternoon sun. They saw more Kabyle villages crowded
on the lesser chain, on the edge of precipices and apparently
ready to slide off into the abyss. All around them was green
with cultivation. They seemed like the eyries of eagles, and
the apparently flourishing life, judging by the numberless
villages, made a strong contrast with these great, desolate,
snow-capped peaks rising to heaven.
** I wonder why we see so many ash-trees which seem to
have been pruned so much, and which grow along the edge
of their farms,** said the Commander. ** Probably for shade
in the summer.*'
** No! My book says that the sprouts of the ash-tree are
used by the Kabyles to feed their flocks when the heat of the
summer dries up everything else that is green. They care-
fully cut off the leaves and twigs for that purpose. * *
The car sped on, the scenery seeming more and more grand ;
the great peaks rising to pierce the blue sky, like giant sen-
tinels posted along the way.
Arriving at Fort Michelet they found it an insignificant
settlement of small houses of the military and those who serve
them. From here the travellers could see better the culmi-
nating peak of the Djurdjuras, Llella Khadija, named for the
[181]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
wife of the prophet. It is a great pyramid, silvered with
snow nine months of the year. There is a shrine near the
top, they were told, and a pilgrimage to it is considered by
a Mohammedan as scarcely less meritorious than one to
Mecca. ' '
They now turned back toward Fort National, where they
were received with open arms by the astute French woman,
who led them into the hotel, then up a dirty staircase, and
ushered them, with flourishes, into the rooms ' ' so large, so
comfortable.'' They proved to be but one, with two iron
beds, however, covered with red blankets, which possibly gave
the * ' fine air ' ' mentioned. The rickety washstand, with
small supply of water and towels, as well as the absence of
any method of heating, gave small promise of comfort, espec-
ially as the mountain air was quite sharp.
However, the Other-one lighted the antiquated kerosene
lamp and warmed her chilled fingers, then went to look from
the window on the Kabyles, wrapped in creamy burnouses and
strutting with stately gait up and down the street, turning
it, for the strauger, who was never weary of watching them,
into a unique and fascinating place.
The pretty Marguerite came up after dinner that night,
full of the praises of Bashir, ^' the courier for the rich Mon-
sieur American, ' ' whose two cars arrived late with great noise
and bustle.
* * Bashir is a so great courier, Madame ! He knows all. He
says Monsieur must surely go to one of the Kabyle villages.
There is one about three and a half kilometres, on the road to
Fort Michelet, but one must go on donkeys or mules there
and Monsieur should take a guide. These Kabyles love not
to have strangers go to their houses."
So it was decided that this particular village, which is
called by the unpronounceable name of Taourirt Amokrane,
should be visited, and an old Kabyle guide was sent for. The
next morning he appeared leading a pair of bony mules, just
as the travellers came out of the hotel. The Two decided not
to mount the animals for the present.
[182]
A KABYLE VILLAGE
The view became more and more glorious ; the great gorges
and chasms, blue in the morning light; the great peaks,
dominated by Llella Khadija with her snowy head, rose
grandly to the skies. On the ridges, crests, and flanks, more
and more Kabyle villages came into view, and their patches
of cultivation, with their fig and ash trees gave green touches
to the soft blue and deep purples of the mountains. The trav-
ellers often met groups of Kabyles coming up, fine, splendid
fellows, some of them, but always with dirty or ragged bur-
nouses wrapped well around them, for the morning air was
cold.
Then the travellers saw a large village afar, on a distant
crest, and the Kabyle pointed it out as a village of the Benni
Yenni.
** Oh, I know about them,*' said the Other-one; ** the guide
at the hotel spoke of this tribe. We ought to visit one of their
villages but it takes a day to go and come, on mules. He said
these are very interesting people to see, very industrious, and
they make jewellery, arms, and knives, and weave cloths.
Their jewellery is very curious and is ornamented with filigree
work and enamel.**
A village showed on a sharp crest at a little distance below,
and their path soon curved and dipped down to it. The wide
path ended in a narrow zig-zag one, very stony and rough,
leading down into the village with the tiled-roof houses set
in the most irregular fashion. A crowd of dirty Kabyle
boys fell upon them as they descended the path, and accom-
panied them everywhere, like annoying, buzzing flies. They
found some old men on the square on to which the path
opened. These were bundled up in burnouses and scowled
fiercely at the strangers. But alas ! all the women outside the
houses they passed disappeared as by magic. The door of
each house, as they came to it, was slammed, and they heard
the sound of wooden bolts drawn. In vain the guide pounded
on each door and shouted some phrases in Kabyle, but no
door opened.
Farther on they came to a very rough path dropping down
[183]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
by some houses. The guide pointed down there saying, in his
very imperfect French, '' There you will see the pottery.'^
The potteries consisted of one small house, windowless like
all the rest of the huts, and before which an ancient crone
was moulding a dark clay jar by hand, turning and turning,
smoothing and smoothing it. She also would have run if the
guide had not forcibly detained her, and made her continue
her work. Then she was induced to take the Two into a small
den where were some great jars ranged along the wall, in
which the guide said were grain, lentils, and dried figs. There
were several holes opening near them in the wall ; these were,
he told them, where the animals — which are kept in a yard
off the one room of each Kabyle hut — could be fed.
** Quite convenient,'* said the Commander, "the dwellers
here need not turn out early to dress and feed their stock.'*
In this place the old crone had two or three coarse jugs, of no
particular shape, and which, as she was watching, apparently
for a chance to escape, she was not anxious to sell, even if
the Two had been anxious to buy.
Going on farther, across a square, they came to a rude
building, with some logs laid across the side, for seats, the
guide said. This was the djemaa, or council house, which
every Kabyle village has, where the people assemble for
deliberation and decisions about those matters which concern
the tribe. On the crest of the hill was a rude mosque, which
seemed to have no attraction but the grand view from the
minaret. The guide now turned up another narrow rocky
muddy lane, where the door of one small hut was open. A
pretty young woman stood outside, holding a lively brown
baby across her hips. She was a picture, with her blue cot-
ton dress caught at the shoulders with great silver pins, big
silver hoops in her ears, and a red cloth twisted around her
head. The lively baby had only a dirty cloth wrapped around
his loins. The guide began a quick conversation with her,
but she shook her head. Hereupon a wrinkled crone, withered
out of all resemblance to a woman, hobbled out of her hut, and
with her he seemed to have more success. She nodded her
[184]
A KABYLE VILLAGE
head, which was bound in folds of dirty cloth, then beckoned
the party to enter the house.
** Apparently she is the only hospitable one in the village,"
exclaimed the Other-one. ** I suppose she is proud of her
house, and wants strangers to see it, for a present of money.*'
The Commander was critically examining the jewellery of
the young woman, as near her as she would allow him to come.
** It *s not worth any bargaining,*' he said. ** It is thin
and badly made.**
The ancient one appeared to get impatient and shook her
withered old head vigorously.
** We shall go in,** said the old Kabyle guide, " but Mon-
sieur must give her something.**
** Certainly,** said the Commander. "When did I ever
go anywhere in this country, or even venture to look at a
person or a thing without giving something? '*
They were obliged to stoop to get in through the rude
wooden door, and entered into a dark and gruesome room.
There being no windows, the place had the gloom of twilight,
especially as some men and boys now appeared and crowded
around the door, so shutting out what little light might have
come in at that opening. When our travellers became accus-
tomed to the obscurity, they saw they were in a low room,
divided into compartments by a low parapet wall, and hav-
ing a hard earthen floor. Ranged along the wall were some
huge, high pottery jars, evidently containing dried fruit,
grain, lentils, and other articles of food. There were also
some low benches of stone with mats on them. At one end
of the room was a hole where were a few embers, and two
or three black pottery jars near it showed that it was
the family cooking-place. There are never chimneys
to these Kabyle houses, so a little hole in the roof was
the only place for the smoke to escape. Seeing the Other-one
looking curiously at the hole, a little boy from the family
group who stood staring at the invaders ran up to her, and
pointing to it, exclaimed, *' Cous-cous! " She at once under-
stood that here this universal dish was cooked.
[185]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
In this small room the smoke and the odors from the filthy-
people and from the cattle just outside, were intolerable. The
Commander gave one disgusted glance into the interior and
then turned hastily away. Not even a glimpse of the jew-
ellery, the chains, bracelets, and anklets on the two or three
women in the cabin could attract him sufficiently to martyrize
himself.
The Other-one now remained for a mauvais ten minutes,
and discovered the bedroom of the family from some filthy
rags in the straw at one corner of the room. The old crone
stood well to the fore, showing her toothless gums in an in-
gratiating smile, and holding out her hand at intervals. It
is said a Kabyle man takes but one wife, and when she is
old and incapacitated for labor she has the care of her grand-
children. This one had a crowd of children around her, and
must have been a grandmother for several centuries. Soon
the crowd at the door began to invade the room; the odors
became stifling, and the Lady, unable to endure it any longer
and hearing an imperative command from her lord, hastily
thrust some coins in the outstretched palm of the antedeluvian
woman and, with the aid of the guide, pushed herself through
the crowd into the open, where she found the Commander
awaiting her with some impatience.
The decrepit crone came out, bearing a pottery dish with
some curdled milk in it, which she offered to the Lady, then
tried to seize her hand, evidently to press her own withered
lips upon it in her joy at the present of silver pieces ; but the
Other-one escaped, calling to the guide :
** Tell her I cannot drink milk. It poisons me, but if she
will let me have a picture of her beautiful self to show my
American friends, I shall be so happy ! ' '
So the old woman posed herself against the walls of her
cabin, and here the reader can see a picture of her.
Never had mountain air seemed so fresh, so pure, so full
of invigorating balm as when they had gotten away from the
Kabyle village and begun to climb the hills on the mules'
backs. The hill dropped away on one side of the little settle-
[186]
A KABYLE VILLAGE; IN THE DJURDJUEA MOUNTAINS
A KABYLE AND HIS PKIMITIVE PLOUGH
A DAY OF LEISURE
ment to profound depths and across the valley the mountains
arose in all their glory.
Against the sky line there appeared a curious sight. A
long row of Mohammedans with their backs to the road, their
faces toward Mecca, were saying their prayers, all rising,
bowing, kneeling at the same time, as if pulled by an invisible
cord. Their outline against the sky was comical in the extreme.
All the way was full of interest. Kabyle farmers were at
work on the hillsides with their primitive ploughs. The men
were all in their dirty white burnouses, but wherever there
were women or little girls there were splashes of vivid color
in their dresses, of vivid yellow or red and in the gay ker-
chiefs on their heads. Village after village opened up on the
distant spurs or on the hills rising from the terraces where
the road wound. Now a tiny brown girl, swathed in a blue
gown, ran up to the car, which stopped for a moment, to offer
a necklace of green beads. The child smiled with joy as the
lady threw out to her a franc piece in exchange for the neck-
lace. There was always something to keep the party on the
qui vive, something to satisfy their sense of color. Now a
Kabyle woman climbed the hill from the little river over
which they rolled. She was a picture in her blue draperies,
a scarlet kerchief bound round her head, a brown water jar
of a graceful shape held upon her head by her shapely arms.
She walked erect and stately, with a grace all the Kabyle
women seem to have naturally. Some one writes of these
women : ** They have the beauty of a highbred animal, or the
sculptured bronze ideal replica of a race. They are types of
a species and are delightful to look upon, alike in face and
figure."
The car bowled down to the valley of the Sebaou, now a
mere thread of a river, which they crossed. All the valley was
a golden green with the young barley and wheat of the Kabyle
farmer. Queer, wise-looking storks stood here and there on
their long legs, motionless, or searching for their breakfast,
looking like guardians of the valley.
At thirty-six kilometres from the Fort, they passed through
[ 187 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the small town of Azaga on the borders of the beautiful forest
of Bou-Hini. They had seen the forests on the mountain,
sombre spots, like the shadow a cloud casts when it swallows
up the sun. The road ran through these forests of fine trees
of the cork-oak. Here are found, also, grand specimens of
the chestnut-oak with leaves like those of the chestnut-tree,
and the light bark of the trunks. There is not a single spec-
imen of it found in European forests.
Somewhat to the Other-one *s disappointment, no wild ani-
mals ever showed themselves on the journey, though here are
wild boars in plenty.
Over the Col de Tagma and at Col de Tigdint the culmi-
nating point, the great mountains showed themselves once
more, and there was a glimpse of the far blue sea. Farther
on another Kabyle village dropped down the high hill at
the side of the road. Here was a sight that thrilled the Com-
mander and made him leap from the car almost before Adrian
could stop it. There was a Kabyle woman looking like a pic-
ture in a gay red dress, and a yellow cloth bound over her
head, above her dark eyes. She was standing ankle-deep in a
brook which gurgled down the roadside. She was doing her
washing, stamping with her feet on some rags on the stones
over which the water splashed. Her brown feet were covered
with foam, probably from the soap root she had used and
flakes of it floated down the stream. While she could not be
considered in any sense a beauty, she was an adorable creature
to the Commander; for, hanging down over her blue draper-
ies, — which were caught at the shoulder with enormous
plaques of silver, — she wore a glorious necklace the like of
which he had not before beheld : chains of silver studded with
enamelled medallions and with longer pendants set with a
green stone and pieces of coral in bands of etched silver, —
a veritable gem, the work of an artist.
Tremblingly the Commander drew out five silver five-franc
pieces, and showed them to her, pointing to the necklace. She
at once understood. She raised three fingers. He added those
to the ones he already held. The woman took them and
[188]
AWAY TO BOUGIE
slowly drew off the necklace. He seized it and fairly galloped
for the car and climbed into it. The Kabyle woman gave a
terrific howl and leaped out of the water, scattering the foam
flakes all around. She rushed up to the car as Adrian was
about to turn the crank, and reaching up for her treasure, re-
luctantly handed up the five-franc pieces. The expression of
despair on the Commander's face was heart-rending. He
threw the necklace at her, and Adrian was about to move on,
when the woman reached up to grab the silver and proffered,
at the same time, the necklace. She was torn with conflicting
desires. She wanted the money, and she wished to keep her
necklace.
The Commander clasped the coveted jewellery; an expres-
sion of perfect joy overspread his face and the wheels of the
car began to turn. Again the woman rent the air with her
shrieks and leaped for the necklace, throwing the silver into
the car.
** She *8 an idiot! '* cried the irate Commander. ** Go on,
Adrian.'*
" Stop! stop! ** exclaimed the Other-one. ** Do let me get
a picture of a woman of so much indecision of character. ' *
The woman then returned to her washing, with her neck-
lace, and calmed down, while some little Kabyles, attracted by
the cries, ran up, and the lady ** snapped ** them all.
Down and up, then down again, and they came to the fer-
tile valley of the Soumman and passed through a region of
great vineyards. Before El Kseur they passed Tombeau de la
Neige and its sad monument to the French soldiers lost in a
fearful snow storm. After a smooth run of some kilometres,
they saw before them the symmetrical Djebel Gouraya rising
out of the blue sea, at the foot of which, and running up in
terraces, is Bougie with its houses of white and pale yellow,
and its green palms. They came to the long straight street
leading into the town, which has a row of great bushy palms
with short but huge scaly trunks, that look like inverted flower
pots. They passed by the harbor and the ancient, ruined,
picturesque, Saracenic gate of the old mediaeval wall, rounded
[189 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the hill which projects into the sea and has the old Turkish
fort on it, and came to a stop before a modest hotel where the
manager received them with open arms. The Other-one
clasped her hands with content when they were ushered into
a simple little room of satisfying cleanness. She at once dis-
covered that the windows had a balcony looking across the
sea to the mountains.
The Commander's somewhat weary air kindled into enthu-
siasm as he looked out from this balcony across the deep blue
Bay of Bougie, full of the dropping sun 's reflections, to where
the precipitous, rugged Babor Mountains rose. The sky had
light and floating clouds, which cast deep shadows on the
mountain flanks, and on these were tints of softest purples,
grays, and shimmering, evanescent greens. The clefts were
all blue-black. These all rose to the dazzling snow at the top,
with silvered peaks beyond and beyond. The late afternoon
sun, dropping down, had begun to tinge them with rose and
gold into a great glory, and the water caught all the colors
and reflected them back with a softened radiance.
When they had silently gazed for a while, the Com-
mander slipped away. Later, he returned full of plans and
information.
*' I have interviewed the manager,'* he said. *' He is a
German, but speaks good English and seems to be intelligent
and well informed. He is most enthusiastic over this town
and glories in its situation and the magnificent views, though
these are pretty much all it has, I think from what he says,
for the ordinary tourist, at least. There are no special things
to visit here, except possibly some of the ancient forts. He
considers it an ideal place, however, for people who leave
home to avoid the cold weather. Built on the slope of Mount
Gouraya, it is well protected from north and east winds, but
it has a moist climate and it is owing to this that the vegeta-
tion flourishes so well. Though warm in summer, the climate
is extremely agreeable in w^inter and spring. You see how
mild it is now here. There are excursions up the mountain
with the fort at the top, twenty-two hundred feet above the
[190]
AWAY TO BOUGIE
sea. There are many Roman remains for the archaeologist to
study. There is a glorious ride to Cape Carbon, a mass of
red rock jutting into the sea. One great rock forms a natural
arch and the sea flows through it. It is a natural protection
for fishermen in distress. Then there are, of course, Kabyle
villages to visit, if one has a taste for that sort of thing, after
once seen. This is the Kabylia of the Babors, as distinct from
Kabylia of the Djurdjuras. A great excursion is to —
(pronounce it if you can). Here it is, written in my notebook
— Djidjelli. A magnificent road has been built to that place,
on the cliffs overhanging the sea, and travellers say that it
rivals the Corniche Road. There are caves to visit on the
way, with stalactites white as snow. So I have planned for a
day's excursion to this unpronounceable place to-morrow, and
we must get off early in the morning. ' *
** Now do sit down,'* said the Lady, '* and I will tell you as
briefly as I can, the little I have gleaned about this fascinat-
ing town. It was an important place in the time of the Carth-
aginians, and naturally came into the hands of the Romans
when Carthage fell. The Berbers occupied the city in the
eleventh century, and raised it to a great pitch of splendor
and wealth. I suppose it always was a place greatly to be
desired on account of its situation. Khair-ed-Din, of course,
tried his hand at occupying it, but was unsuccessful. The
Turks came in, in the sixteenth century, and there was war
and piracy for three hundred years. When Algiers was oc-
cupied by the French, the Mzaia Kabyles held Bougie and the
French General Trezel drove them out.
** Do you know," said the Lady as she followed the Com-
mander out for their promenade in the town, ** that this town
gave the word bougie — French for candle? They were first
made and exported from here."
The pair walked up the Rue Trezel, the main street.
There are many little shops on both sides of the way,
some of them rather fanciful, others dark and grimy. There
were many Kabyles, Arabs, a sprinkling of French, with Ital-
ian and Maltese sailors. The whole town had the air of those
[191]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ancient towns which seem bewildered when they are restored
and have put on modern ways. The street goes up to a wide
square which overlooks the town, the ancient ruined gate, the
harbor, and the stern mountains across the gulf. There is a
balustrade at the end, where the rocky cliff drops precipitously
down to the lower town. The square seems to be the main
promenade, and some natives were lounging there in their
picturesque dress, giving it the real look of the East. The
Commander and his companion went to lean over the parapet
wall and look across to the blue bay, dark now, but yet full of
crimson reflections, with the rugged battlemented mountains
of Babor and Tababor rising into the evening sky.
** I know," said the Other-one, *'that all this region is
called little Kabylia or the Kabylia of the Babors. The peo-
ple belong to the Berber race but do not have all the character-
istics of the other Kabyles of the Djurdjuras. The population
is not so dense here on account of the thick forests which cover
the flanks of the hills and mountains. Also the people are
much poorer and less industrious. ' '
[192]
CHAPTER XI
A TRIP TO DJIDJELLI
AT the sunset hour the Other-one had thought the moun-
tains and the bay, resplendent with the tints of the sink-
ing sun, could never be so beautiful at any other time. How-
ever, in the early morning, when the tourists left Bougie
nestling in its green setting under Mount Gouraya with the
white fort on its crest; with the picturesque ruins of the old
Turkish fort on the overhanging rock above the harbor, and
the old Saracenic Gate, with its festoons of vines and its
swaying grasses, — it seemed nothing could exceed the loveli-
ness of this morning view. The great serrated range, its
base swathed in a filmy veil of fog ; glistening peaks piercing
the pale sky beyond ; the green-blue bay with lights on it like
burnished silver — made an incomparable picture, never to
be forgotten.
The road, always smooth and hard, led past enormous vine-
yards stretching to the mountain bases, and then approached
the sea. Farther on, looking back, the voyagers saw a long
line of beach fringed with the foam of the waves. The sea
here had pearly tints. Out of the distant mist a fishing-boat
spread its lateen sail to catch the morning breeze. Now the
road ran through a tunnel under a great, piled-up mass of
rocks. The sea hurled itself against them, bathing their bases
in foam and casting up a fine spray. ^lore vineyards as the
road fell away from the sea, and flock after flock of sheep and
goats were guarded by their Kabyle shepherds, picturesque in
creamy burnouses. Groups trudged along the road, with
sometimes a woman or two, with trailing children. Up then,
to the great rocky Cape of Aokas to be greeted, when past it,
by another glorious view. Back of them they could see Bougie
disappearing in the misty west. Now the hills folded them-
[193]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
selves back and a green plain rolled to the sea. Then the car
flashed through a primitive town, leaving the few loungers
outside the little cabins, staring open-mouthed. Down in
moist places, clumps of iris raised their pale blue blossoms,
and masses of oleander gave promise of abundant bloom in
their season. The hills beyond were golden with the blossom-
ing broom. A forest now succeeded, shutting them away
from far-reaching vistas. Beyond it a road turned off to the
left, which led up again to the sea ; now more piled up rocks,
and the travellers looked down from precipitous heights to
the blue-green water.
**It is a wonderful route!'* exclaimed the Commander;
** magnificent scenery and a hard, perfect road.*'
There were more tunnels through which to pass. Always
the rocks below were edged with foam, though the sea was
calm. In some masses of rock, the color was an ochre yellow,
in others, gray. These are called the Grandes Falaises;
through these the tunnel opened to a broader road and a
balustrade of iron guarded it from the precipitous descent
to the sea. Here the Commander and the Lady stepped out
of the car to lean over the balustrade, and try to catch
the last glimpse of Bougie. The fog had now lifted
and the sky had lost its flaky clouds, and was a
deep blue. Down dropped a sea-gull from the dizzy
height of the rocks above the road. He dipped his wings in
the azure sea, and flew across the water, a creature of the
foam and rocks. The road now descended to contrasting
slopes, green with early grain, then climbed again to where
cultivation ceased, wild grasses waved in the breeze, and
lentisque bushes thrust their thorny masses out from rocks.
Again to the sea, which had long stretches of calm water and
many little bays, indigo blue, indenting the coast.
At fifty-four kilometres they came to Mansourah, a tiny
town of colonists. It must have been the site of a flourishing
Roman town, for near the road and up the hill, can be seen
interesting Roman ruins ; broken columns, segments of frieze,
fragments of capitals and conglomerate masses of brick work
[194]
A TRIP TO DJIDJELLI
and small stones. Under a great mass of rock farther on, a
door opened in this wall at the right. Near it stood an Arab
in burnous and scarlet fez.
** Where can that door lead? " asked the Commander.
The man replied that it was a beautiful grotto which had
been discovered in blasting the rock for the road, and it could
be seen under his guidance for a franc a person. It is called,
he told them further, '' Rhar-Adim," or ** The Marvellous
Grotto.'*
The Motorists plunged down some stone steps dripping with
moisture ; then the Arab ignited some magnesium wire, and a
wonderful scene opened before their astonished eyes. It
seemed as if they had been introduced into a hall of the
gnomes or fairies, decorated for a great fete. Wonderful
stalactites white as snow glistened in the flaming lights as if
covered with diamond dust; they resembled bunches of fruit,
clusters of flowers, and other more fantastic objects. Stalag-
mites rose from the floor of the cave, some like organ pipes,
others like weird statues. Indeed the imaginative could fit
them to any object.
** It is one of the most beautiful caves I ever saw,*' the
Commander exclaimed in admiration. ** The unique beauty
is its freshness ; none of the stalactites have been blackened by
the smoke of torches, as in many other caves. The only one
approaching it we have seen in our travels is the one at
Luray, in Virginia. The Mammoth Cave, you know, is won-
derful in extent, but has no stalactites or stalagmites like
these. And what ages to form these! Water, with lime in
solution, percolating drop by drop, through crevices and
cracks into the cave, or the rain water seeping through the
lime rock of the roof.**
They climbed up the slippery steps and resumed their seats
in the motor with a dazed feeling.
At seventy-six kilometres they passed Cape Cavallo with its
little red island anchored in front, the road hanging sus-
pended on the great rock overhanging the sea. Down again
they rolled to pass into a forest of the sturdy African pine, —
[195]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the Abies or Pinsape, — and the air had their balsamic odor
added to the freshness of the sea breeze.
It was all too soon, such had been the glories of the route,
when they swung into Djidjelli, happy and hungry. It is a
small town with the usual long street of little white and pink
houses with balconies overlooking it. It is built on the shore
of the bay a little east of the old town, which was destroyed
by a tremendous earthquake shock in 1856. Once there was
an important Roman colony here. In 1664 some French
troops were stationed here in order to keep the pirates and
the Kabyles in check. A large force of Turkish troops ar-
rived from Algiers, and dissensions arising between the
French and Maltese commanders, the troops became demor-
alized and the French troops suffered a terrible defeat.
At the little hotel the Lady had literally to be pulled by
main force through the Kabyles and Arabs who at once
packed around it. At the door, a plump and pleasant-faced
young French landlady received them with open arms, and
led them, as select guests, to a small room off the main dining-
room, which was full of a loud-talking, gesticulating, smoking
crowd.
The landlady was burning to talk, and hovered near, while
a bright-looking Arab boy, in w^hite coat and red fez, laid the
table deftly for two, and seemed to have mi;ch pride in his
skill. The landlady was solicitous that all should be as
Monsieur and Madame desired, but after the very good ome-
lette had been served, she could wait no longer; and, full of
her subject, began to relate that a few days ago a most dread-
ful event had taken place. A miserable Arab had killed a
Frenchman living in the town. The Arabs and Kabyles were
wicked, vicious wretches. No one was safe from their hands.
It had been decided to make a notable example of this one.
He was having a trial to-day. That was why the town was
so full of people, Kabyle and Arab chiefs too, as well as oth-
ers. Who knew what might happen ! Some terrible quarrels
and, perhaps, bloodshed, alas ! However, it was a most excel-
lent thing for the hotel. It was full to-day, and all were so
[ 196 ]
A KABYLE WOMAN FASHIONING
POTTERY JAES, AT
TAOURIRT-AMOKEANE
BARGAINING FOR JEWELLERY NEAR A KABYLE VILLAGE
A TRIP TO DJIDJELLI
happy over the most delicious, most unexcelled dejeuner.'*
Then she bustled away to impart this to some other
newcomers.
" I don't wonder the natives sometimes resent the brutal
treatment they get from some of the ignorant colonists and
the bragging soldiers/* said the Commander.
When the repast ** so delicious '* was over and a fee given
the bright-eyed Arab boy which made his eyes still brighter,
the Commander (as there was nothing of special interest
in the town and the crowds were too dense anyway for a walk )
gave the order to march. They pushed themselves with diffi-
culty out to their motor and were about to start, when the
landlady, with an important air, came bustling out to ask " if
Monsieur would be so very obliging as to allow a young
lawyer, very comme il faut, to ride back in the automobile to
Bougie. Imperative duty called him, and otherwise he could
not get back until so, so late.*'
The kind-hearted Commander was ready to oblige, even to
giving up his cherished front seat to the slender Frenchman
with pointed beard (and shoes as well) and thin waxed mus-
tache turned sharply up. The little man beamed with con-
tentment as he climbed quickly to the honorable front seat,
bowing politely to Monsieur and Madame. When they came
to Cape Cavallo, with its little red island before it, the sea was
sparkling as if millions of diamonds were spread upon it, for
every facet of the waves reflected the rays of the sun, which
had just come out from the embrace of a dark cloud. As they
were passing the forest the stranger turned to the Commander
and the Lady.
** It is only two weeks ago that a large panther was shot
and brought down from the mountain near here.'*
" Then there are real panthers here! " said the Other-one.
** To think! In passing through that forest, one might have
leaped on the car and dragged us off, and we would have had
a sure enough adventure! But tell me, please, Monsieur,
about the adventure at Djidjelli, and if the Arab had some
excuse for what he did.**
[ 197 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
The lawyer looked mystified. '* I do not know to what
Madame refers, ' ' he said politely.
* * Why, of course, to the killing of the Frenchman by an
Arab. You came for the trial, surely? "
* * Nothing of this sort has happened this season to my knowl-
edge, Madame.**
'* But the crowds there? '*
** It is market day, Madame, and hundreds of natives come
to it."
* * But the landlady of the hotel told me all about the mur-
der ! "Why should she tell me such a falsehood ! * '
The Frenchman smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
The car rolled on and they passed a grotto which the sea
had broken open in a time of great tempest. Here, huge
stalactites of an ochre color hung down. *' It is called the
* Tomb of the Lion, ' ' * said the lawyer.
The light was changing, for the clouds which had been
gathering for some time were reaching great gray plumes
across the sky ; and down the coast towards Bougie there was
a line of a thicker fringe of foam, from the breakers beating
on the shore. The mountains became ethereal and dream-like,
and the small bays and inlets were dark sapphire blue. In
the west, the sky had a lemon yellow tint, and Cape Carbon
stood up black against it. It began to rain before the great
rock of Cape Aokas loomed up, and everything seemed to
dissolve in mist.
Before they reached Bougie, the night was falling, but the
rain had ceased, and Mount Gouraya came out of the mist with
the twinkling lights of the town; and it looked like a great
black animal at rest upon the water, the gleam from the light-
house on the point being its enormous eye. The water of the
bay held the tints of the western sky long, as if reluctant to
give them up, but the night had come when the car rolled past
the old Saracenic Gate and stopped before the cheerfully
lighted hotel. Almost before they stopped, the lawyer leaped
to the ground, and bowing his thanks with his hand on his
heart, disappeared in the darkness.
[198]
CHAPTER XII
OFF TO CONSTANTINE BY SETIP, AND THE GORGE OF
CHABET-EL-AKRA
GOING from Bougie, the road is the same as that to Djid-
jelli for fifty-six kilometres. At Souk-et-Tnin, it turns
off to the right. The next morning, at a fairly early hour, our
Motorists took this road, giving a regretful glance toward the
route for Djidjelli. It wound through a wooded valley sur-
rounded by magnificent mountains. There were, all along,
small farms. As they rolled by, small native children ran out
from the wayside, threw bunches of wild violets into the car
and shouted for sous.
The road ascended from the valley, and great serrated rocks
thrust themselves suddenly forward. Here was the entrance
to the Chabet-el-Akra, or the Gorge of Death, the gloomy defile
between mountains five thousand to six thousand feet high.
The car entered the narrow opening, where the rocks seemed
to rise to the sky until only a strip of it could be seen. Just
at this entrance is an inscription: Travaux Executes
1863-70. The road kept to the left, but farther on crossed
by a bridge over the foamy river which boils and plunges on
the gray rocks, as it forces its way along. As the car pene-
trated more and more into the gloomy pass, our Motorists
became silent, oppressed by the solemn grandeur of the sur-
roundings. They reached a huge, shelving rock. The road
wound under it, wet with the water dripping down. Sud-
denly Adrian slowed his car ; around the rock came a train of
camels with great panniers hung to them filled to the brim.
They passed the motor disdainfully swaying their awkward
heads from side to side. After them came a troop of dark-
skinned men, with fierce eyes, their white hdiks bound to their
heads with ropes of camel's hair. Trailing after them was a
[199]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
withered old woman, a ragged cloth pulled around her. As
the Commander saw her, he gave an exclamation and slid
from the car. * ' What is it ? ' ' called the Other-one. * * Surely
she has no bracelet or rare necklace.''
* ' No, but she is wearing a fine old silver plaque hanging
down on her skinny chest. I will buy it if I can. ' '
*' Poor old wretch! Please, do leave her her one piece of
jewellery! *'
Then under the dripping rock in the gloomy gorge ensued
a short and silent bargaining. The old woman succumbed to
the sight of the two silver pieces, drew off the solitary plaque,
secreted the money, and hurried off after the snarling camels.
* * Look on the right for monkeys ! ' ' cried the Other-one,
after consulting her book. * ' This says they are seen here ;
also eagles and wild pigeons fly up and down.'*
However, no monkeys were seen amongst the thick foliage
of the mountains, just across the river, though a pigeon or two
dipped down from the crevices in the rocks, like flecks of mist.
Now the mountains came so close together that it seemed the
road must be crushed between th^em; then they opened out,
and a great mountain rose in front as if to bar the road. It
was shaped like a sugar loaf. Indeed the French call it Pain
de Sucre. Farther on there is another inscription, recalling
the first soldiers who passed through the Chabet-el-Akra. It
was a relief to come out of the gloom into the sunlight, as the
space widened and the rocks at the entrance of the gorge soon
disappeared. The road passed a little hamlet and the sign,
Takitount, recalled it as the name of an excellent bottled
water which the travellers had had at some of the hotels.
Now came another train of camels with full bags of striped
camel's hair hanging from their sides, their wild-looking rid-
ers swaying with the long strides of the discontented-looking
animals. Adrian with some difficulty extricated his car from
the entangling mass, and the Kabyle drivers added to the con-
fusion, with their shouts and poundings of the bewildered
animals. A cold wind sprung up, and the sky became leaden
in tone. Drops of rain pattered on the roof of the car.
[200]
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STOKKS' NESTS; ON THE EOAD TO
CONSTANTINE
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A KABYLE HUT. LITTLE KABYLIA
OFF TO CONSTANTINE
Around, all was gray desolation. The car rolled down the
curving road to the small settlement of Fermantou. Just be-
yond, over a river of the same name, two roads fork, and
both lead to Setif. The one at the right is longer but the
descents are not so steep. At the other, which crosses the
ridge of Belair, relying on his good chauffeur and car,
the Commander took the steeper road and found it not so bad
as painted, and five kilometres beyond they sighted the walla
of Setif, where they were to lunch. Here is a big garrison.
When they passed the great, bare buildings, some native sol-
diers were manoeuvring in an extensive parade ground at
the right. Passing in under the Bougie Gate, the travellers
found in the streets a crowd of Arabs and Kabyles, an undu-
lating mass of hdiks and burnouses. Trees are planted along
the streets, and there are many little shops and small balco-
nied houses. As they stopped at the hotel, a crowd of ragged
gamins settled around like a cloud of flies, and tried to pull
off the baggage until some well-directed blows from the Com-
mander's whip sent them flying off. As the Other-one arose
to gather up her small belongings, she heard a sonorous b'ell-
like voice uttering some Arabic phrases, high above the tumult
of the street. It fell on her ears like restful music. Looking
up, she saw the car was not far from a mosque, and it was the
muezzin she heard, calling from the minaret the faithful to
noon prayer.
The town has not much interest for tourists. - The mosque
is very plain, though old. The town is built on the site of the
Roman town of Sitifis. Some Roman remains have been
gathered into a small .museum on the Orleans Promenade.
The country around is very fertile and the vast plains to the
east produce cattle and cereals in abundance.
At once, after the rather meagre repast, our travellers set
out for Constantine, a distance of one hundred and thirty-
eight kilometres, by the way of Saint Arnaud and Kroubs.
201]
CHAPTER XIII
ON THE ROAD, AND CONSTANTINE
THE road, for some kilometres, lay on a high and barren
plateau, with the mountains far to the right. As the car
rolled on over the rather uninteresting way, suddenly there
came floating down from the sky a succession of delicious
liquid trills, which continued for a time, but fainter and
fainter, high up in the heavens. Then, before the sound had
ceased, another rain of liquid music dropped down to earth.
* * Oh, listen ! ' * cried the Other-one. * * How exquisite ! It
is the larks that are singing like the angels in heaven, the sky
lark!'*
As they went on, one bird after another, sometimes a chorus
of them, rising from the plains to the sky, sang as if their
little hearts were bursting with love and happiness.
To the plains succeeded long meadows where were many
storks; some were flying off, their long legs folded under
them ; others were grubbing in the short grass for their break-
fasts, and some wise-looking old fellows stood meditating on
one leg; when they heard the car they spread their great
wings and were off. At one small village there was a little
church near the street, with a belfry terminated by an iron
cross. It was a strange sight to see a huge nest on the top of
this cross, and on the nest a mother stork, while father stork
stood on the edge of the nest contemplating her with calm
satisfaction.
The car came to a small stream, and two curlews flew up
with their peculiar melancholy cry. A crowd of small birds
also flew up like swirling leaves, after them. The sky was
now becoming covered with lead-colored clouds, and a cold
wind began to blow. The hills at the left turned black under
the shadows. The Arabs and Kabyles trudging along the
[202]
ON THE ROAD
road bound their burnouses tighter around them. Our party
now came in view of the Rummel, the river which rolls under
the rocks on which Constantine lies. Late in the afternoon
they entered the bright, fascinating, and celebrated fortress
city, and rolled directly through into the Place Nemours into
which opens the animated Rue National, filled with a surging,
motley crowd, — Moors, Arabs, Kabyles, Jews male and female,
and all that fascinating native throng found in Algerian cities,
mixed with the unpicturesque colonists, the Europeans, and
the tourists. This Place is the centre of Constantine life.
On the Rue National are most of the hotels ; and the car drew
up before one which the Commander had selected as the least
undesirable. The room into which they were ushered had
some pretensions to comfort and even luxury, and looked
out upon the Place de la Br^che, or Nemours. The Other-
one went at once to hang over the small balcony in-
closing the windows and to look at the tumultuous life that
was flowing through the square. The rays of the lowering
sun lighted it up with a warm color. The most conspicuous
element there were the innumerable red-capped gamins who in-
fested the place with blacking-boxes strung to their shoulders,
and who ran shrieking after each person that was shod,
whether in shoes or slippers, falling upon him with the ra-
pacity of hungry animals. On the corner opposite was a fas-
cinating cafe, where burnoused Arabs sat drinking their tiny
cups of coffee, and smoking or gazing dreamily off into va-
cancy. Many, presumably sheiks, had rich robes decorated
with embroidery in gold and colors, and made delightful
pictures. There wound through the throng, some Jews and
Jewesses: the former recognizable by their hook noses, their
blue stockings, and blue turbans ; the latter, generally moun-
tains of flesh, wearing queer little conical caps of black satin
or velvet, perched on one side of their raven locks. Some of
the young Jewesses were beautiful and slender, with creamy
skins and dark velvety eyes.
Our travellers were regaled that evening with a more deli-
cious dinner than they had expected, in a too brilliantly
[203]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
lighted dining-room, and they sat contentedly discussing it
while they listened to the talk of two men at the table near
them. The elder was telling the much younger man with him,
something about the famous city in which they were.
*' It is surely a fascinating town,'* the young man had
said, ** which I have always wanted to see, though I know
little about it. As you have been here so many times, and
as you are always delving into the history of countries and
places, you must know much of interest about Constantine.
Anything you can tell me will be listened to gratefully."
The elder man had paused for some time before replying,
holding his glass of good red wine up against the light, where
it gleamed as if holding molten rubies. Most of the tables
around were full of tourists and business men of the town,
who were talking and laughing hilariously, but the voice of
the man at the next table came clear and distinct, though low,
through the babel of voices around.
'^ I am happy to hear that, and Constantine has for me,
too, a greater charm than any other Oriental city I have seen
in Algeria, except, perhaps, Cherchel ; and that has not such
a wonderful and fascinating site as has this city. It is the
traditions of a life that once flowed on in these antique towns
that give such a vivid interest to them. No matter how mod-
ern their buildings and the manner of life, the flavor of the
past tinctures them. Juba II and his lovely wife still live in
Cherchel, for me ; and the shades of Massenissa and of Sopho-
nisba still hover around this rock-girded city. Constantine is
the ancient Cirta, built on this isolated rock, which rises per-
pendicularly nearly a thousand feet from the bed of the River
Hummel, which bounds it on the north and east. It is con-
nected with the mainland on the west side, only by an isth-
mus, as you perhaps know. The deep ravine through which
the Rummel flows is spanned on the northeast by four natural
arches of rock, one of which serves as a foundation for the
bridge of El Kantara. To the northwest the precipices are
the highest. To the northeast and southeast, the heights of
Mansoura and Sidi Mecid command the city. The Hummel
[204]
■c ' • •
> • o » • c >«
ON THE ROAD
flows below this great rocky mass, cutting its bed deeper and
deeper every year. Nature seems to have shaped the rock
with a view to defence and picturesque effect. It seems now
an impregnable fortress, and I doubt whether even now, with
the modern methods of warfare, it could be easily taken. It is
true it has been besieged and conquered eighty times, but its
garrison has always been starved out ; it has not been battered
down or blown up. As to the early history of Constantine,
you may not recall your college work in ancient history. I
will refresh your memory a little and this city will seem more
interesting still by its light. Ancient Numidia in the height
of the Carthaginian power was divided into two provinces.
There were two great Berber tribes, the Massaesyli, to the
east, whose boundaries were the frontier of Carthage to the
Ampsaga River, dividing the provinces. The tribe to the west,
the Massylians, were ruled over by the remarkable Berber
king, Massenissa. His rival was Syphax, who married the
beautiful Sophonisba — with whom Massenissa was in love —
the daughter of the Carthaginian Hasdrubal. Naturally
Syphax espoused the cause of the Carthaginians, while Mas-
senissa, hating him, allied himself to the Romans. He was a
true Berber, a most interesting character, a most intrepid
horseman, enduring long rides in the desert without food or
drink. He would never confess himself conquered. Syphax
was in every way better prepared, and was almost always vic-
torious in any encounter, but Massenissa always returned to
the charge, though defeated. By his persistence he at last
conquered Syphax, entered this city — the ancient Cirta —
and took possession of everything, including Sophonisba, with
whom, when she came at his entrance in the gates to throw
herself at his feet, weeping, begging him not to let her fall
into the hands of the Romans, and beautiful in her grief, he
was more than ever in love. The Romans demanded her of
him. He, not daring to refuse, sent her a dose of poison, which
she swallowed, saying that her death would have been more
honorable had she not married Massenissa on the day of her
funeral. He was rewarded for his obedience, made king, and
[205]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
allowed to wear a toga embroidered in palms. For fifty years
he remained a vigorous man and harassed the Carthaginians.
The name of Cirta was changed to Constantine in the
fourth century, out of compliment to the Roman Emperor
of that name. Having been destroyed in an insurrection, it
was rebuilt chiefly through the exertions of Constantine.
Later, it fell into the hands of the various Arabian dynasties,
and became a centre of religious and literary life.
** The Turks lost and conquered it several times. Only one
of the beys did anything to preserve his name, Salah Bey,
who reigned wisely for twenty years. You will see his mosque
(for he built most of the Mohammedan buildings here) on the
Place Negrier. It is the finest in the city.
'* Now, under the wise administration of the French, Con-
stantine has entered into a career of prosperity and peace.
Its site is conducive to this. A vast grain-growing country
surrounds it, so that hundreds of Kabyles come up with their
flocks, each summer, to help in the harvest. To get the finest
view of this enticing city, cross the bridge and go up on the
plateau of Mansoura. There you will have an unsurpassed
view, and you will want to sit there and dream about Massen-
issa and Sophonisba."
The Commander and the Lady followed eagerly the words
of the strangers, and when they left the Two rose also to go,
considering that they had been most fortunate to learn all
this about the curious city in which they were, and the mor-
row's sight-seeing would have a more vivid interest for them.
At a reasonably early hour the next morning, the Com-
mander and the Lady issued forth from the hotel, under the
delighted charge of a bright-looking guide whom the hotel
had recommended as being under its direction and therefore
*' most reliable." The youth proudly announced himself to be
a ** real Kabyle,'' and his dark skin and flashing black eyes
testified to this. He was also progressive, for he had dis-
carded the burnous and was arrayed in a European costume
and a frayed tie and collar, put on with the unskilled hand
of one unused to such a custom, but evidently he was most
[206]
ON THE ROAD
proud of his costume. It was a brilliant sunny morning and
rather warm, although Constantine can be chilly enough some-
times. The streets, as the night before, were full of a crowd
of tourists and natives, with many kaids of surrounding vil-
lages in their most picturesque costumes, and fat Jewesses
wandering heavily along, their funny little conical caps
coquettishly poised on one side of their heads.
The guide took his patrons down the Rue National to the
Place Negrier, which is planted around with great trees.
Here on one side is the ancient mosque of Salah Bey, which
our party entered by a large, arched door, and went up some
black and white marble steps to a court all paved with marble
and having a gallery running around it. Across this came a
venerable man in a huge turban and led them to the interior.
An exclamation escaped all to find it so beautiful. Most of
the mosques they had hitherto entered had been painfully
plain and ugly. Columns of white marble divide this mosque
into naves. Overhead there is a timbered ceiling of alternate
red and green planks, painted in devices. This might be con-
sidered by some rather ugly ; but the mimhar, or pulpit, is ex-
quisitely ornamented in Italian work with colored marbles
and agates, and over this the guide waxed very eloquent. The
devout Moslems kneeling around, going through their devo-
tions, paid little attention to the travellers.
The guide now hurried them off to see the * * wonderful
palace of the Bey el Hadj Ahmed, the most beautiful ever
built." From the Place N6grier they went down the Rue
Caraman to the Place du Palais. Here they found the palace,
a huge pile of masonry, far from elegant, and pierced with
modern doors and windows. At the entrance door the guard-
ian, an intelligent-looking Arab in zouave costume, took
charge of them, but haughtily forbade the guide to enter.
The Commander and the Lady were astonished to find, with
such an unpromising exterior, so much beauty within.
** I have read,** said the Other-one, *' that El Hadj Ahmed,
the last bey and the one who built this, was a dreadful old
wretch. He demolished all the houses that stood in the way
[207]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
of building this palace, without the least scruple, and de-
spoiled all the principal mansions of Constantine of their
choicest works j old, encaustic tiles, marble columns, and
carved woodwork; so that this place, which, under ordinary
circumstances, would have been the work of generations, rose
as if by enchantment, in the short space of six years."
There are three buildings of two stories, containing many
small rooms opening into beautiful courts, surrounded by
galleries whose horseshoe arches are supported by exquisite
marble columns. In the court are orange-trees and palms and
beds of flowers around the central fountain. From the gal-
leries one looks down upon a lovely mosaic of color. Here are
porphyry and fine old tiles and sculptured balustrades. The
marble pillars throughout are of different styles, showing the
different sources from which they came. Some are slender
and elegant, others heavy and massive, with every variety of
form, — round, square, octagonal, and twisted. Between the
Bey's pavilions are two lovely gardens, that entranced the
Other-one so much that she fain would have lingered; but
the guardian hurried them from place to place and would
give no time to see anything more slowly. The effect of the
perspective of light and color was wonderful. In one court
he stopped to point out, on a side wall, a curious and very ugly
fresco. It looked like the work of a child who had stolen an
artist's palette and daubed at his own sweet will. There are
grotesque views of cities, forts, and ships.
' ' How comical ! What does it represent ? ' ' asked the
Other-one.
*' Sieges of the holy cities, Madame."
** The Bey El Hadj Ahmed had a Christian slave, a French-
man, and as the bey wished some fine paintings in his harem,
he ordered his slave to paint them on the walls for him. The
man said he knew not how to paint, but the bey declared all
Frenchmen were artists, so the slave was forced to obey. He
painted this and was terribly frightened for fear his master
would not like it, but the bey thought it very fine, and the
Frenchman was most happy."
[ 208 ]
ON THE ROAD
** The bey certainly was a frightful person,'' said the
Other-one, as they were going out. ''If any one of his sub-
jects offended him he would nail his hands and feet to a tree
and leave him to die. He would have the mouths sewed up
and the hands cut off, of those who spoke their opinion of
him; and he threw his wives, when he was tired of them,
down the sheer rock on one side of this city, to be dashed to
pieces."
** He was a terrible old brute, certainly! " returned the
Commander, as he placed a fee in the guardian 's hand ; ' * but
he knew how to build a wonderful palace."
* * What is done with this palace now ? ' ' asked the Other-
one.
** It now serves, Madame, for different military purposes
and offices."
When the door closed on them, the Motorists felt as if they
had been in the times of the Arabian Nights.
* * Would my people like to go up to the kasba 1 There is a
wonderful view and there are the barracks for three thou-
sand soldiers and a fme big military hospital. Also there can
be seen great Roman cisterns and a place where the Romans
stored their coin. It is not so far nor so very steep," asked
the guide anxiously.
'* No, I think not," answered the Commander; *' this after-
noon we must go down to the Rummel. I know," he said to
the Other-one, **that this kasba has always been the strong-
hold of the possessors of Constantino and that it is on the
highest point of the town, so of course interesting. But even
if we can get up there with a car, we can't do that and the
trip down under the rocks to-day."
** Will Monsieur go to the museum? " asked the guide.
** Certainly," answered the Other-one. ''Monsieur never
misses going to a museum."
They found the small museum on the Esplanade Valee,
with its English-looking garden and statue of the Marshal
Valee ; it contained among other antiques of the Roman times,
a beautiful bronze statue of a winged Victory.
[209]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Then the Motorists, a little weary, betook themselves to
the car with their jubilant Kabyle, rode through the fasci-
nating town, and went across the bridge and around to one
side, where they saw the city perched on its precipitous,
scarred rocks, a wonderful sight.
** Down that rock,** said the guide, ** the Bey El Hadj
Ahmed used to throw his wives when he was displeased with
them. Once, one caught on the bushes, half way down, and
when, with great difficulty, they had taken her off, and she
hoped to live, the bey ordered her to be thrown down again. * '
That afternoon found our enthusiastic pair on the Chemin
des Tourists, a narrow road cut in the face of the rock, lead-
ing down into the ravine. Afterwards on thinking it over,
the Other-one felt as though she had been the victim of a
sort of nightmare. They went down staircases, in some
places, and across slender bridges that seemed to be hung by
a frail support to the rock; if these should give way, which
seemed more than probable, one would fall down, down to the
Rummel boiling far below. Great rocks hung over the path
which was cut into their side, seeming about to fall and crush
one. The gloom grew deeper as they went down. At one
point they could see, far above, the white and blue houses of
the native quarter, which seemed about to tumble down from
their heights. There were two great arches of rock, the re-
mains of ancient bridges, and a bas-relief of some elephants
and of a woman on one of the arches. Wild pigeons, some
storks, even an eagle flew out from the crevices in the rocks,
adding to the uncanny effect of the place. At one point odors
came up which certainly were not from **Araby the Blest."
*' Often they throw the refuse down here," said the guide,
** and sometimes in summer it is not well to come."
When, after much exertion, they reached the bed of the
river, the Other-one felt that they were never to get out of
this chasm. The great rocks seemed about to come together
and smother them, and she fancied the discordant shrieks of
the birds were from the spirits of the murdered wives of the
bey. Indeed, she also fancied she could see his wicked face
[210]
ON THE ROAD
grinning upon them from one of the jutting rocks. When at
length, after even greater exertion, the party had climbed up
and out, the Lady experienced a feeling of profound relief,
and thought air had never seemed sweeter or sky more blue.
** It was certainly a good bit of engineering to build that
path,** said the Commander, as they paused to rest on a
green slope; and he wiped his brow and breathed heavily
after the upward climb.
Their Kabyle would fain have taken them to see the Great
Mosque, to the synagogue of the Jews, to the cathedral.
* * No ! * * said the Commander. * * This is enough for to-
day." So the guide contented himself with the fat fee given
him.
** A good sensible man, intelligent enough not to pretend to
know too much. These Kabyles seem to be able to learn any-
thing but cleanliness! ** said the Commander, as the man re-
luctantly left them and went down the street.
[211]
CHAPTER XIV
TO TEBESSA BY AIN BEIDA
ON the road the next morning, going south, our Motorists
looked back and saw Constantine afar on its isolated
rock, a veritable queen for situation and interest. The way
lay along a barren, high plateau. They crossed the Oued
Ben-Merzog and soon thereafter the Oued Kleb, threads of
streams in their pebbly beds; then they passed Sila, thirty-
five kilometres from Constantine. This town is the depart-
ing place for those learned^ and enthusiastic archaeologists
who seek on the rocky plateau, at the southwest, the most
ancient megalithic monuments resembling the dolmens of
Europe.
At Ain Beida, one hundred twenty-one kilometres, they
lunched, meagrely, at the primitive hotel, on tough mutton
and some wisps of green salad. As usual, they found the red
wine very good. Beyond this town, they entered wide and
sandy plains where the camel's thorn bushes and scrub grass
were the only vegetation in sight, besides the esparto grass.
What gave the greatest interest to the scene were the nomad
tents, in groups or singly, on the plains far from the road.
They were of a kind of which our travellers had seen but few
before. They were of red and white, and red and black,
striped camel's-hair, and they gave most picturesque spots of
color on the gray and green plains.
'* Let us get out and visit some of these nomads, ''said the
Other-one. So the tourists alighted and walked a distance over
the sand and bunch grass, and came to a little settlement of
tents stretched low on the ground and surrounded by a hedge
of the dried camel 's-thorn. Some scrawny sheep and goats
were feeding on the scrub near by. The nomads came out from
under their tents and advanced to meet the strangers. Some
[212]
TO TEBESSA
men and boys were wrapped in rags of burnouses and the
two or three women had blue cloth draperies caught on the
shoulder with the ever present silver fibula. One young and
rather good-looking woman had her head bound with a scarlet
kerchief and held a bronze infant who was almost nude,
against her firm breast. The Commander advanced and be-
gan to look critically at the necklace and bracelets the woman
wore, of very simple design, when a most hideous and
wrinkled old crone rushed out from one of the tents and gave
vent to a succession of howls that would have put Strauss on
his mettle if he had tried to render the sounds in one of his
descriptive symphonies. The men then came up and began
to look fiercely at the lone lorn travellers.
** What is the matter with the old lady! *' exclaimed the
Commander. ** I am not going to take any jewellery by
force. Besides, this isn't worth taking. Come! Let us
leave these inhospitable nomads.'* Saying which, he put a
piece of silver in the woman's hand, and he and the Lady
moved rapidly off, followed by some of the men and boys.
The Other-one climbed breathlessly into the car, while the
men watched them fiercely.
** "We came near having an adventure!" she exclaimed,
' ' the nearest yet ! But I don 't believe anything out of the
ordinary is going to happen to us." She added with a sigh,
* ' My letters home have to be so tame. ' '
After eighty-eight kilometres, the party reached the an-
cient Theveste, or Tebessa, and rolled into the strange little
town by the Constantine Gate. Adrian stopped the car in
front of an uninviting-looking hotel with the euphonious
name of Athanasio. The Other-one felt at once, when they
were shown up to the forlorn little room by the Greek
landlord, that she must brace herself for discomfort and dirt,
and show a brave front to the Commander. They set forth
immediately with a meagre and hungry-looking Greek, to
show the town. It was a very important place even in the
third century B. C. The Third Augustan Legion had its
permanent settlement here. It stood at the junction of nine
[213]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
roads, and was the Roman rampart against the Berbers. It be-
came a Roman colony under Trajan, and was the richest city
in Africa next to Carthage, to which it was united by a road
by the Numidians, and was rebuilt in 535 by the exertions of
Solomon, who was a general of Justinian, and the city con-
tinued to exist under the shelter of its Byzantine walls. The
French took possession of it in 1851.
They now approached the city walls, and the Greek pointed
out the fine arch through which the street entered. ** It was
the triumphal arch of Caracalla,'* he said. They walked
through it and were amazed to see its beauty and its good
preservation. ** This triumphal arch dates from the time of
Septimus Severus," announced the guide in a monotonous
voice. * * It is what is called in architecture, quadrif rons, hav-
ing four faces of equal dimensions, each face an arch. It is
built entirely of stone. The central ceiling, as you see, is
elaborately decorated. ' *
He asked them to note particularly two medallions which
ornamented the key of the arch to the west, on one of which
they could just make out a divinity, *' probably,'' the guide
said, ' * the protector of Theveste. ' ' On the other, he said, the
figure was Minerva. On three sides, he pointed out the dedi-
cation to Septimus Severus, to Caracalla, and to Julia Donna,
his mother. * * With the exception of the one at Rome and
the great arch at Tripoli, this is the only four-sided arch
known," said the Greek. '* This is the gate to Solomon's
Citadel, as it is called."
They looked down to the east and saw those great Byzan-
tine walls, restored by Solomon, and were filled with wonder
at their size, preservation, and extent.
They followed the guide to the beautiful Temple of Min-
erva, with its six Corinthian columns in front. The sides
have four pilasters, and above them are panels with sculptured
heads of oxen ornamented with wreaths, also eagles holding
in their claws two serpents. It is now used as a museum for
the fragments of antiquities found here, which are not of
great beauty or importance.
[214]
A BEDOUIN TENT
i:i INS OF THE GREAT BASILICA AT TEBESSA
o
TO TEBESSA
" Now,'* said the guide, *' we must see the best of all, the
great basilica ; it is a third of a mile outside the gates. * *
On the way, the Greek informed them that this basilica
and the ruins of the monastery are called the most interest-
ing Christian monuments of North Africa. They date from
the fourth century but were modified later. They have been
cleaned of debris and now one can get a good idea of their
ancient grandeur.
They descended from the car at a short distance from a
monumental gate under which they went into a long paved
avenue. If the travellers were astonished at the extent of the
walls, they marvelled more at the mass of ruins which spread
out in all directions and which testified to the ancient grand-
eur and beauty of the basilica and its monastery.
** Once there was a wall all around this,'* said the guide,
*' and there were a cathedral, the Bishop 's residence, cells for
the clergy, a forum, and very large stables. Between these
and the basilica there was a covered way for the clergy to
use in bad weather. I have been with the service of the
Beaux Arts, and I learned much about all, when they exca-
vated and cleaned this."
* * We are indeed fortunate to have secured so learned a
guide." said the Commander. When told this, the Greek
bowed low and his melancholy countenance assumed some-
thing of a look of gratification, and he hastened to give them
more from his store of knowledge.
** The gentleman and lady do not know, possibly, that an
ancient basilica was a court of justice, and as the Christians
found it suited to their manner of worship, they adopted the
style for their early churches."
There is a flight of steps going into the basilica, up which
the party went, into a large court, which is surrounded by
arcades, each side supported by four columns with pedestals
between them, probably for statues. The centre is open to
the sky, and there is a great elevated central basin or foun-
tain. At the right a passage conducts to the baptistery, with
a circular basin. Beyond the court they entered into what
[2151
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the guide said was probably the main building, with a nave,
with apsidal end, and two aisles which had a gallery, the
whole being areaded. The walls had been built of a fine
white limestone. The columns are of gray granite, white mar-
ble, and blue cipolin. Many of them are broken, but the
bases are still in the same place. The Commander paced off
the extent of the basilica and found it was one hundred and
forty-two feet in length and sixty-eight feet in width.
The Greek said there had been three periods of work in the
basilica, that of the Pagan Emperors, which was the most per-
fect, with Corinthian capitals and polished marble columns;
that of the Christian period, exemplified in the fluted col-
umns; lastly, a time of absolute decadence, with rough pro-
ductions in stone. The apse had a beautiful tessellated
pavement of fine design, still in good preservation from having
been covered with a layer of earth to protect it. The guide
said that splendid mosaics had been found, also sculptured
capitals and cornices, tablets and mosaics from the walls, and
many tombs and inscriptions. Behind the basilica there was
a row of cells probably intended for the monks and other re-
ligious persons. The whole, the guide said, had been sur-
rounded by a strong wall, flanked at intervals by towers, and
it was like a vast fortified convent.
The party now descended the steps of the basilica and
walked down to the vast quadrilateral court with terraces
to the south and west, which, probably, the guide said, had
served for promenades. The south end has the remains of a
portico with columns. It is divided into four square basins
separated by balustrades. The guide then took them to the
south end of the ruins, at the left of the great entrance gate.
Here is a long sort of canal, below which are about eighty
depressions, or troughs. He informed them that these were
considered to have been the stables.
** The whole must have been on a tremendous scale!'*
exclaimed the Commander. ** See the immense blocks of
stone which were so carefully adjusted without mortar. Do
the archaeologists know much of the history of this basilica ? * '
[216 1
TO TEBESSA
'* No/' replied the Greek. *' The gentlemen here who had
charge of the excavations said nothing could be discovered
concerning the history, and the purposes for which the earlier
buildings were used must always be a matter of uncertainty.*'
Returning to the Athanasio the travellers endured with
what patience they could, the poor food, the hard beds, and
other not-to-be-mentioned discomforts of the Greek hotel.
They were only too happy to have seen the ruins of a previous,
wonderful civilization, and to have experienced sensations
new to them.
[217]
CHAPTER XV
THE RUINS OP TIMGAD
EAELY the next morning, the motorists departed under
a cold gray sky which turned the distant mountains an
indigo blue, and Tebessa with its gardens and groves of olive-
trees, was soon left behind.
" They tell me this plateau on which Tebessa is situated
is a grain country,*' said the Commander, *' and entirely
dependent on the abundant rains for its harvest ; it certainly
looks as if we were to get some of the rain to-day."
The car went across the plateau retracing the fairly
good road of yesterday. There seemed, this morning, to be
more tents of the nomads scattered over the plains and
lighting up the sombre grays and dull green with their gay
stripes of red and white. The party stopped at Ain Beida
for luncheon and then pushed on for Khenchella, fifty-four
kilometres from Tebessa. Here their road lay over the foot-
hills of the Khenchella Mountains, black with great cedar
forests. At thirty-seven miles from Batna the signboard
pointed the way to the right for Timgad and they soon saw
in the distance a vast array of ruins like a second Pompeii,
on an elevation. The Batna Mountains arose in the west, a
magnificent panorama, darkly blue under the leaden sky.
The car stopped presently at a plain little house, a sort of way-
side inn. ^
To her surprise, the Lady found the room shown her by a
weary Arab waiter to be not only clean, but very homelike
and cheerful. She at once set out with the Commander, and
as they walked slowly up the road leading to the ancient
town, she asked him to observe the Aures Mountains far in
the southeast.
*' I have read,'' she said, " that it is the most important
[218]
THE RUINS OF TIMGAD
range in Northern Africa, raising a valuable barrier between
the Tell and the invaders from the Sahara. The people of
the Aures are called the Chawia, and are a branch of the great
Berber race that has occupied Africa from Egypt to the At-
lantic from prehistoric times. They say the women are very
beautiful.**
They had arrived now at the little museum on the outskirts
of the ancient town. Here all sorts of sculptured fragments
were fastened on the wall or placed against it, with broken
columns, capitals, and the usual debris of an excavated, an-
cient city scattered around. Near was a rather elegant foun-
tain, an antique, with a marble cupid on the upright. Beyond
the museum one could see a great forest of columns and in
the distance, green hills rising to misty purple mountains.
As our people stopped to look at some of the mutilated heads
and torsos on the wall, a small dark man with spectacles
came out of the museum and welcomed them smilingly. He
introduced himself as the director in charge of the excava-
tions here, and seeing they were strangers, wished to be of
service to them.
** If you would kindly give us some one to show us the
ruins intelligently, and who has some knowledge of the his-
tory, we shall be most grateful,** said the Other-one.
The polite Frenchman regretted sincerely that for that
afternoon he was occupied with some work that could not be
left, otherwise he would have been most charmed to go the
rounds with them himself ; but he added that his sub-director,
an intelligent Italian, could go with them and would do all in
his power to help them to an understanding of these wonder-
ful ruins, the most wonderful in the world, in fact, surpassing
even Pompeii.
This town of ruins, now Timgad, was once the ancient
Thamugadi, a superb city in its time, the centre of civiliza-
tion in the heart of a barbarous country. Being prosperous,
it had many rich men who adorned it with temples, statues,
monuments, forum, and baths. After the couple had
looked at some of the fragments of ancient marbles, notably
[219]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
one or two of Venus holding a shell before her testifying to
her fabled origin, and one or two similar statues, unlike any
they could remember ever having seen before, they turned to
walk up to the ruins, accompanied by a short, bronzed Ital-
ian, whose French, if fluent, left something to be desired as
to pronunciation. As our travellers came up to the mass of
the ruins of the ancient town, they were more than ever
amazed at their extent. There were not only forests of col-
umns, but arches, paved streets, temples, and great capitals,
as well, all richly carved, which lay on the ground or the
pavement.
On the right were ruins of baths and houses much like those
of Pompeii; farther on, an edifice which must have been
luxuriously fitted up and bearing an inscription which gave
the information that this was a library. Going on, up the
street called by the Romans Cardo Maximus, and which sep-
arated the city into two unequal parts, they came to the
street cutting the Cardo at right angles, the Decumanus
Maximus. From here they went up twelve steps into the
forum, which is preceded by a monumental gate, and sur-
rounded by porticos. The guide told them that in ancient
times there had been many statues, both equestrian and stand-
ing, in the open space, and he pointed out the names of
various emperors, governors of provinces, and other impor-
tant personages who belonged to the ancient Thamugadi, on
the pedestals which remained. On some of the tiles in the
pavement of the forum he showed tracing for games. On one
he read this, etched by an idle hand, a short and much-to-the-
point creed for the enjoyment of life: *'To hunt, to bathe, to
play, to laugh, — this is life."
The front of the forum was occupied by shops. On the
east was a basilica, where the court of justice was held. Near
by was a market, according to inscriptions on some pedestals,
built by the generosity of a certain Marcus Plotius Faustus
and his wife, Cornelia Valentina Tucciana, whose names,
that they might not be forgotten, had been inscribed where-
ever it was possible to engrave them. At the end of the mar-
[220]
SOMK CX)LUMNS AT TIMGAD
FLOWER BOXES IN A ROMAN HOUSE AT TIMGAD
THE RUINS OF TIMGAD
ket the party came to the ruins of some small baths with the
hall for repose, and basins for hot and cold water.
*' These were private baths/* the Italian informed them.
** It was here they found the Venus holding the shell in front
of her, which you saw at the museum. It must have been
elaborately decorated, judging from the mosaics discovered
and other statues of nymphs.*' Coming out from the market
they went up the paved street of the Decumanus. There are
deeply worn ruts in the pavement here. ** These show,*'
said the Commander, ** that there must have been much more
traffic on this street than the others.**
The columns, the pillars, and their bases, cast long shadows
across the paved street in the late afternoon sun, as they
had done for centuries, and the chain of the Aures grew
mistily rose and mauve, before the party came to the beau-
tiful Arch of Trajan. This is of a warm yellow sandstone
with fluted marble columns. Through the openings of the
three arches the pale gold and rose of the western sky,
with the soft green hills, could be seen. Both sides of the
arch are similar, and the capitals, bases, and columns are of
white marble. It has a majestic air with its fine proportions.
It seemed to our travellers the key note of the whole city.
Passing under it they turned to look back, and saw that a
white marble statue stood in one of the niches. This, though
mutilated, gave them a better idea of v. hat the arch must
have been in all its glory with statues in all its niches.
** This city,** said the Italian in response to the Other-one *s
questions as to the history of the town, ** was built in the
reign of Trajan in the year 100. It was situated at the inter-
section of six Roman roads. It must have been a superb city
considering the size, extent, and beauty of its ruined baths,
temples, statues, forums, and monuments. It became Christian
in the sixth century. In the seventh century it was sacked
and burned by the Berbers. It is very strange that this city
was not known in modern times until recently, so fully did it
pass out of memory. Even the French knew nothing about
[221]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
it. In 1888 the French Government began to excavate these
most interesting ruins, the finest in Africa. ' '
*' Is it all completed?" asked the Commander, who had
been extremely impressed by all he had seen.
** No, almost two-thirds of the city are as yet [1910]
uncovered. The excavations are going on slowly, however."
** Have any fine or important statues been discovered, or
works of art? " asked the Other-one.
* * No, only the very beautiful mosaics in the baths. Some
we may see farther on. This town was more of a business
town of stone and marble, and the colonists of North Africa
did not revel in fine statues and bronzes, as did the people of
Pompeii. If there had been many of these, they would have
been burned for lime and also destroyed in the many sieges
and battles."
Next they went to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the
highest point of the town. Two very tall columns of
this have been replaced, but most of the temple has been
destroyed. From these and from the walls, in some places
six feet thick, with stones three and four feet in length, they
got some idea of the great extent of the temple, and there is
a debris of beautiful marbles all around.
''Now, as it is getting late," said the Italian, *' I must
show the signor and the signora the most important of what
remains; though there is much, very much, more of great
interest. "We will return by another street to see the theatre. ' *
Passing a house not far from the Forum, that must have
belonged to a wealthy citizen, their guide asked them to note
the atrium, with columns, and a central fountain with semi-
circular flower boxes near it, of exquisite design. As they
came to the theatre, an Arab ran up and said something to
the Italian, at the same time handing him a key. He turned
to them and said:
*' The director is anxious that you should see the latest
discovery in the excavation, to which we will go at once after
looking at the theatre, which you see is built against the hill,
thus saving much work in masonry and giving great solidity.
[ 222 ]
THE THEATRE; RUINS OF TIMGAD
A STREET OF ANCIENT TIMGAD AND A MODERN CHARIOT
ARCH OF TRAJAN: RUINS OF TIMGAD
ENTRANCE TO THE FORUM AT TIMGAD
THE RUINS OF TIMGAD
Of the facade there is only this debris with columns, some
of which, you see, have been set up, to give one a little idea
of what the theatre was; also, here are some of the stone
steps against the wall. About four thousand people could be
seated here/'
Walking by a side path up the hill, the guide showed them
the wonderful view over the ruins, and their extent. ** It
looks, as some one said of Pompeii, as if a giant had taken a
great knife and sliced off all the tops of the houses and other
buildings, * * said the Other-one ; * * but how the flush of the
sinking sun is tinging the columns pink, and the beautiful
arch too ! The city seems as though it might once more burst
into vivid life.'*
To the south the Italian indicated some ruins which he
said were those of a famous Byzantine fort built under Jus-
tinian, the walls of which, in some places, are in good pre-
servation. " In the insurrection of 1871 the people of Tebessa
and neighboring villages defended themselves there from the
Arabs of Mokasani. Two miles to the southwest, in that spur
of the Aures Mountains, is a magnificent ravine called the
Gorge of the Seven Sleepers. In the hills on either side are
hundreds of circular tombs, the date of which is unknown.
*' The baptistery we are going to see,'* said he, as they
walked outside the city, over the heap of debris, where
some natives were digging and carrying off dirt in baskets,
* * belonged to a vast early church with three naves and many
chapels. The baptistery is a recent discovery, and has been
covered over with a roof to protect it from injury and the
weather."
The guide unlocked the door of the small building and
showed them a large, six-sided basin for baptism, with two
steps leading down to it. It was growing late, and the light
from some small windows did not aid much, but they were
able to see something of the fine mosaics in a geometric pat-
tern, in soft, beautiful colors, well preserved. Round the
basin is a floor of mosaics in a conventional pattern of
leaves.
[223 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
'* This, probably, had a roof supported by columns,** said
the guide, ** and belonged to the church whose scanty ruins
you see all around here.
* * It grieves me that I cannot have time to show the signor
and the signora more of the wonderful ruins of the city, but
now I must say addio. There is an important duty that calls
for my attention. If you wish to wander around by your-
selves, you will find many things to please you.'* Saying
which, he bowed and walked away, the Commander and the
lady calling after him to express their gratitude.
** I ought to have given him something, I suppose,'* said
the former.
' * Oh, no ! He seems like a scholar, and would feel insulted
if we offered him a fee.**
The Commander looked doubtful, and they retraced their
steps back to the high part of the ruined town and climbed
to the highest part of the theatre.
** Come, let us sit down here on one of these seats and try
to imagine the city, once again pulsating with the ancient
tumultuous life,** said the Other-one. '' How silent it all
is, and has been for centuries, with the wind blowing through
its ruined streets, and the sun, day after day, gilding the
broken columns and the great arch! What a sensation of
melancholy it gives one to think that once these streets were
full of human life and resounding with human voices ! ' '
The sun dropped lower and lower, then disappeared, ting-
ing the west with crimson. The distant mountains of Batna
swam, too, in a crimson mist. The city also was flushed with
the divine color on its hundreds of columns and on its great
dominating arch. Then the color went out, and the night
began to settle over all. The pair went slowly down to the
little hotel, with a sensation of having visited a city of the
dead. The last they saw was the great peak of the Chelia,
the highest point of the Aures, black against the dark blue
sky.
224
CHAPTER XVI
TIMGAD TO BATNA BY LAMBESSA — BATNA TO BISE^RA
THE Other-one was awakened the next morning from a
deep slumber, by loud outcries, the babble of many-
tongues, the lowing of oxen, the bleating of sheep, intermin-
gled with the discordant braying of donkeys. She rushed at
once to the little window, half expecting to find the ancient
city awakened from its long sleep, its ruins restored, and the
streets thrilling with life. A strange sight met her eyes:
across the way, where all had been barren and desolate the
night before, a city of white tents had sprung up with mush-
room quickness. A fence of wooden palings separated it
from the road. Inside and out were Arabs, Kabyles, goats,
sheep, cows, and oxen. At the gate two or three natives,
swathed to the head in burnouses, were shouting, howling,
gesticulating, and admitting to the enclosure other howling
and shouting Arabs, — drivers of various flocks of sheep and
goats. Herds of cattle, also, were mixing in, prodded by
frantic natives, who were pushing, struggling, and jostling,
while a cloud of dust hung over all.
* * Come quickly ! * ' the Other-one called to the sleepy Com-
mander. ** Here is a native fair, the like of which you have
never seen! *' The morning sun was lighting all. The only
serene things to be seen were the far, soft blue hills and moun-
tains, and the stately columns of the ancient city ; and these
but emphasized the tumult, the clangor, and the uproar of
the native fair.
When our people went down to the car, Adrian, who was
standing near it, said, *' It is so funny to see the Arabs going
into the fair. They fight so at the gate. They do not like
to give up any money, even for the entrance fee. They are
[225]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
like cats; they scratch and squabble with the gatekeeper,
each one of them.''
Soon the car was speeding in the direction of Lambessa.
On the road they were constantly hindered by trudging
natives, flocks of sheep and goats, and the usual accompani-
ments of these Arab fairs. Always the wide plains spread
away to the serene mountains, giving a sense of freedom and
peace to our travellers. At twenty-six kilometres, they saw
a body of cavalry exercising their horses in a vast field, and
the car came soon to a great, square, castle-like building, the
barracks and prison of the soldiers; and then the ruins of
the ancient city were seen below, spread over the plains, but
only a few standing columns.
' ' There seems to be no one here to show us around, ' '
exclaimed the Commander.
* ' All the better, ' ^ replied the Other-one, * ' we shall have
the fun of studying it all out and reading of it by ourselves.
I am rather surfeited with guides. They won't any of
them, give one a moment to think, but keep pouring in-
formation into one, until one has only a hazy idea of
everything. ' '
*'That is rather droll from you, who are trying to learn
everything about everything you see! " returned the Com-
mander laughingly.
* * Well ! with my book I can take or leave what I want.
Here is all about Lambessa ' ' ; and, as they walked down over
the dewy grass, she imparted the following to her companion.
** This town was built by the Romans in A. D. 125, for
the headquarters of a legion, charged with the defence of
North Africa. Recent excavations show the form and size
of the Roman camp. A large population soon occupied the
city, which spread over some miles and Lambaesa (the ancient
name) became rich and prosperous. The town was sur-
rounded by ramparts and entered by four gates, two of which
can still be seen."
Our people now came up to a large building, at the cross-
ing of the streets, that divided the city at right angles.
[ 226 ]
•»*>
TIMGAD TO BATNA
*' This is certainly a grand as well as an elegant building.
This must be the Praetorium, which is spoken of here as the
principal ruin. Look at the massive columns in front; the
interior seems just like a vast hall. It reads * that this might
have served for reunions for the officers of the camp.' "
The pair walked in among the debris, trying to identify,
as well as they could, the different ruins. They came to what
must have been the Forum with some columns standing, hav-
ing probably been replaced, and also what they decided to
have been the temple, dedicated to Jupiter, Minerva, and
Juno, with columns also. The ruins were a vast conglomera-
tion, and it was not easy to make out exactly what they were
without a learned archaeologist at one's elbow. The town
seemed to have no special plan. Our travellers returned to
gaze at the great and imposing Praetorium. The Commander,
pacing it off, found it to be ninety-two feet by seventy-two
and he decided it to be forty-six feet high. They walked
down one paved street with many columns lying around, and
at one side some curious barrel-shaped stones attracted their
attention. There were one or two triangular in shape, and
there were some rudely sculptured inscriptions on the end.
They looked like queer gravestones. '* I am certain, how-
ever," said the Commander, ** that they were used as votive
offerings, and were placed in the temples of the gods. We
have never seen anything before like them.*'
As they walked up to the car the Other-one opened her
book, saying ** This is an interesting bit: * About three kilo-
metres to the north of here, there is a mausoleum, a square
surmounted by a pyramid. It held the remains of a pre-
fect of the third legion. Flavins Maximus by name. It
was standing still in 1849, but threatened to tumble
down. A Colonel Carbucca had the idea to restore it.
He confided the task to one of his aides-de-camp, who, assisted
by eight men, tore the monument down to the foundations,
and numbered the stones in order to replace them immedi-
ately. About four feet under the soil they found a sheath
of lead in which were a terra cotta lamp and a vase of glass
[227]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
holding some ashes. It was all that remained of poor Flavins
Maximns. These were returned to the same place. Then
an entire battalion filed before the restored tomb and with
a musketry fire saluted him whom the soldiers had a right to
regard as an ancestor — he, like themselves, had given his
life to the service of his country.
The Two went to find the car, which for a wonder, had
not even one native near it. They stopped a few moments
at the little museum the garden of which held most of the
objects found among the ruins, — mutilated statues, broken
columns, funeral monuments, and the other interesting things
that would fill an archaeologist's heart with joy. Inside, there
were some beautiful mosaics from the baths. They had seen
afar, on a hill, a fine arch; the little old guardian at the
museum told them it was the arch of Septimus Severus.
Then they were off for Batna, meeting stragglers on the road
for the fair at Timgad, some driving tired sheep and goats,
others riding weary-looking donkeys. How far had they
come, and when would they arrive ?
The car rolled through Batna, a rather pretty town, with
wide streets, bordered with trees, but interesting only as
point of departure for some glorious trips.
The Other-one was in a talkative mood and she exclaimed
to the Commander, as they bowled on over the good road :
* ' Now we are really off for Biskra ! It is the one town I
have heard more about than any other in Africa. They say
the Arabs call it the Queen of the Desert. It is extolled for
its climate, its beauty, its Oriental life, and there is the won-
derful garden described so deliciously by the author of * The
Garden of Allah.' I long more for Biskra than any other
city we have planned to see. Now look at the Aures! those
lovely mountains of rose and gold at sunset, with a thousand
changing tints by day ; we are to live with them for days to
come! The highest peaks of Tunisia or Algeria rise from
them."
The car went on through a country of cultivated fields;
then came sandy wastes — a foretaste of the Desert. By
[ 228 ]
TIMGAD TO BATNA
noon, they saw on one side, great, scarred, rocky peaks,
and masses of grim and rugged rocks piled up, red and
ochreous, shutting off the sky. As they came nearer, they
perceived a great gash in them beyond which the sky was
visible.
* * It is El Kantara, the gateway to the Desert ! * * cried the
Other-one, and she felt the thrill that one experiences upon
approaching a place, or seeing anything, about which one has
read and imagined much.
While they sat in the Oriental-looking little dining-room
of the inn at the entrance of the gorge, eating the omnipres-
ent omelette — always good, wherever the Frenchman dwells,
— the Other-one, according to her usual custom, began to tell
all she had learned about the Gorge of El Kantara.
The Great Gorge, through which our Motorists were to go,
the Arabs call the Foum-es-Sahara, or, the Mouth of the
Sahara. This gateway to the mysterious Desert, is no more
than a hundred and twenty yards wide, between two great
walls of rock four hundred feet high, and it is only three
hundred and fifty-two yards long. The contrast between the
rocky plateaux and the oases is most striking. Reclus says:
** The Orient shows itself suddenly through a golden gate-
way. It is a firm belief among the Arabs, which is partly
justified by the reality, that the rocks of El Kantara arrest,
on their summits, all the clouds of the Tell: the rain comes
there to vanish. On one side is the region of winter ; on the
other, the hot, pulsating summer. Above is the Tell ; below,
the Sahara. On one side, the mountain is black and the color
of the rain; on the other, rose and the color of serene
weather ! ' *
There was a Roman fortress here once, and there are frag-
ments of it scattered everywhere around. It was called then,
Calceus Herculis, for the Romans pretended to believe that
the gorge had been opened by a blow from the foot of
Hercules. * '
Fortified, mentally and physically, the Motorists betook
themselves to their car and were soon rolling over the road
[229]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
through the gorge. On one side, the river of El Kantara
boiled over the rocks, then plunged under the Roman bridge
with its ruined arch. As the car went on through the gorge,
the great, yellow, scarred rocks rose in pinnacles to the sky and
seemed about to close together and crush the motor and all
in it.
The Other-one looked back for a moment where, under the
leaden sky, the pink flush of the fruit trees and the green
of the pepper-trees seemed to have grown duller. Suddenly
she felt a warm, suave air bathe her face, and before her
she had a view of hundreds of waving palms against a pale,
soft sky. They had indeed left behind the cold wind and the
gray sky. Before them was the great oasis of ninety thousand
palms. Beyond, and bej^ond, stretched away the yellow and
gray and the dull green of the great Desert, barren and
mysterious.
The car passed down through some native villages, on the
banks of the River Kantara; Khrekar on the left bank, and
Kbour-el- Abbas on the right, with flourishing gardens, and
square towers here and there, where the watchers guard the
fruit when ripe. The houses of sun-dried brick were win-
dowless, with long poles sticking out from the tops. Mats
were spread before some of the open doors, and natives
stretched out on them regarded the car with languid inter-
est. When the motor had passed beyond the villages, the
road grew even more rough, and sand dunes rose, rolling off
to the mountains of Djebel Selloum. Then a wide plain
stretched away with the green patches of wheat and barley
planted by the nomads, whose low tents were seen here and
there. Now they passed a caravan of laden camels, some
having families of babies, and pots and jars, mixed together
in the big panniers. Looking back, the travellers saw
the mountains fold on fold, and the Other-one thought
they seemed like long rows of Arabs, kneeling, wrap-
ped in their burnouses, and praying with their faces turned
to the north ; or, nuns on bended knees, devoutly imploring
mercy for their sins or those of others.
[ 230 ]
TIMGAD TO BATNA
Though the air was warm and soft, there were gray clouds
that floated across the sun at times, casting long blue shadows
on the plain and making the ravines of the mountains deeper
in color. Some kilometres from Biskra, the travellers crossed
over the Col de Sfa, and looked down across the desert, which,
it seemed to them, was beginning to cast its spell over them,
though they were only on its border. The rolling hills of
sand, the little green patches of grain, the rugged masses of
rock cropping out, the silence, the mystery of it all, began to
enfold them. The wonderful oasis of Biskra, with a hundred
and fifty thousand palms, showed against the white clouds
and the blue sky. The car approached the town and entered
the main street with its low houses, its shops full of articles
beloved by tourists ; then ran past the square, which has some
rather melancholy-looking palms and feathery pepper-trees,
and went around the circle containing Falguiere*s statue of
the soldier-priest, Cardinal Lavigerie, grasping the crozier in
his hand like a sword, and looking off to the Desert as if to
call all his believers to carry on the work he had begun in
Africa. The car stopped before the white, Moorish-looking,
arcaded hotel where venders were squatting on the tiled
floor of the veranda, their wares making a fascinating mass
of color. Some had gay Oriental embroideries, scarfs, jack-
ets, and robes in brilliant reds, yellows, and blues. Others
sat before small tables with piles of pipes with amber mouth-
pieces and decorated with bright-colored tassels. A white-
headed, huge-turbaned old fellow, with subtle eyes, had a
heap of carved-wood canes before him, and a low table, piled
with nickel and silver boxes, decorated with coral and tur-
quoise; and around these, chains, bracelets, necklaces, and
rings were strewn or disposed so as to catch the eye of the
tourist and beguile him to empty his pocketbook.
All these enticing Oriental things, with the brilliant blue
sky overhead ; the white buildings, with a dome or two show-
ing beyond; the golden sunshine; the palms raising their
feathery fronds along the road ; the warm air ; the natives in
their white burnouses crowding around the car; the indolent
[231]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
*
tourists lounging on the balconies above; the general air of
languor ; the feeling that nothing need be done to-day — that
the morrow would suffice — all this gave our Motorists the
impression that at last they were in the land of dolce far
niente, and that all the winds and cold really had been left
behind the rocks of El Kantara.
The genial landlord came out to give them a cordial greet-
ing. He led them through a long hall and corridors hung
with gay Indian draperies and filled with palms in great jars,
and bamboo easy-chairs, in which people in light summer
apparel sat absorbing tea at fanciful little tables. From their
gay and cheerful chamber the travellers stepped out on a
wide balcony and were at once enveloped in sunshine and
heat. From here they could look down on the streets where
the fascinating Oriental life was flowing along. They saw
white minarets and domes. One great dome, the Other-one
took for that of a great mosque, but it is only that of the
Casino where the winter dwellers in this sun-washed land
find entertainment to beguile the hours when they hang
heavily.
* * What shall we do now ? Go out to view the town ? ' * asked
the Commander.
His companion made answer, * ' No ! let us just sit the rest
of the afternoon away, and do nothing but feel, in this hot
sunshine and languid air, that we are in a summer land! ''
[232]
CHAPTER XVII
A DAY IN BISKRA — THE LANDON GARDEN — A VISIT T^
SIDI-OKBA.
THE question is/* said the Commander the next morn-
ing, as they came down prepared to sally forth, ** shall
we bore ourselves with a guide, or follow our own sweet will
in viewing this town? '*
** With what there is to see, I do not think we need a
guide. There is the market, then the garden of Count Lan-
don, the negro village, and the general saunter through all
Biskra. They say that here, however, one ought to take one
guide to keep off the others,** answered the Other-one, as
she skilfully piloted the Commander past the fascinating piles
of Oriental fabrics and the table where necklaces and brace-
lets called to him. He had a somewhat bewildered and unde-
cided air as they came out into the brilliant sunshine and
walked away from the hotel. They repelled four or five press-
ing guides who rushed after them, offering to show them all
Biskra for ** very sheep price," five francs, with pour-hoire
at discretion. Well rid of these, our couple felt a sense of
freedom, and wandered on down the street, past the statue
of the warlike Cardinal.
** He was a wonderful man, with the courage of his convic-
tions,*' said the Commander. ** He was the French prelate
who did so much for Africa and the Arabs. He was a war-
rior priest. He instigated the crusade against the slave
trade. During an epidemic, he did much humane work among
the Arabs. Once, he went in full archbishop's robes, up
into the mountain strongholds of the unruly Kabyles, and
explained that Islamism had been forced upon them by their
ancestors, and he called upon them to return to their ancient
taith. He instituted the order of the White Fathers, who
[ 233 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
wear the white Arab burnous as their habit. He died sad-
dened by his unfruitful efforts to obtain encouragement for
extending the work of the Church and the French rule in
Africa. He was buried under the altar of the church built
on the hill at Carthage. We shall see it when we go there,
also the monastery of the White Fathers. ' '
* ' It gives me a heartache now, to look at the statue ; he
does not seem, however, like a man who could ever have
failed.''
Then they walked down the street to the end of the Avenue
MacMahon, by the little shops, and down by the public gar-
den with its dusty palms and weary-looking plants. People
were coming and going on the sunny streets, the Arabs seek-
ing the shady side when they could. There were negroes,
black as jet and ugly as sin, their color rendered more intense
in contrast with the single long, white garment they wore;
bronzed Arabs, in their white burnouses, loitering along and
making the air blue around them with cigarette smoke;
tourists (men and women) Americans, English, French, and
Germans, — all nationalities, — carrying their own stamp.
The German men were distinguished by rotundity of figure
and alpaca dusters more or less wrinkled ; the German women,
by their dress devoid of style and ill fitting, but practical to
the last degree. The English were hurrying in and out of
the little shops, hunting for bargains, the Americans seemed
weary and bored; while the French, male and female, had
the air of not understanding anything they saw, and of not
earing whether they did or not.
Our couple turned down a street leading to the market,
leaving the shops, which for once seemed to have no attraction
for the Commander. He glanced, in passing, once or twice
at the windows, and muttered, ** Trash! nothing but modern
trash! " Now they heard the sound of drums, a beating of
tom-toms, and a whining, nasal sort of chanting. Looking
down the street, they saw some strange figures coming toward
them. There was a big, black-as-ebony negro, with bulging
yellow eyes and blubber lips. He was dressed in skins, dec-
[234]
A DAY IN BISKRA
orated with bits of mirror, long chains of animals* teeth,
shells, and what not. He was shouting, leaping, rolling around
on his heels, a most grotesque sight. An equally black negro,
clad in a scarlet coat (open over his coal-black breast) and
white breeches, carried the tom-tom, upon which he beat con-
tinuously. Some women, arrayed in red and yellow dresses,
their heads bound in scarfs of the same colors, were sing-
ing the nasal chants our couple had heard. Some small
natives trailed after them, and two or three Arabs. The
black man in the red coat, seeing our pair regarding him,
came up to them holding out his hand. A friendly bronzed
European stopped near the Commander and, turning to him,
said, * * Rather interesting, though very primitive music !
These blacks you see in Biskra, perhaps you do not know,
were once sold for slaves. They came down from the Sudan.
They are the happiest people in all Algeria, with their tom-
toms and their tambourines. They are seen at every Arab
fete, and they will do anything to gain a little money for
drink. We see these dancers and tom-tom beaters also fre-
quently in the streets; they add greatly to the picturesque
efiPect of the town. You are going to the market! Then I
will walk along with you."
So talking, they reached the market, leaving the dancing,
grinning blacks behind, but the discordant music of the sing-
ing and the beating of the tom-tom pursued them. They
passed a Moorish cafe with rugs spread out before the door.
On these, Arabs lounged, some gazing off into vacancy, others
playing dominoes, all drinking little cups of coffee. The
market is held in a wide space around a sort of pavilion in
the centre, with a peaked roof supported by pillars. The
noise here was incessant, but the beating of the tom-tom pulsed
through the babble of voices, the nasal calls, and the strident
braying of donkeys. Here were all sorts of people, — men
and boys, — venders seated on the ground with their goods
spread before them, buyers standing or squatting down to
examine their purchases, bargaining, gesticulating, shouting.
There were piles of everything one could think of spread out
[235]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
before the sellers, oranges and lemons with their golden color,
heaps of vegetables, dried corn in little piles on cloths, great
clumps of dusty dates, and trays of the pale brown, flat
loaves of Arab bread. There were on one side stalls of all
sorts of fanciful things gay in color — baskets, barbaric har-
nesses, saddle-bags embroidered and adorned with gay tassels,
knives in sheaths of red leather, long strings of beads; and
a man was dangling stuffed lizards and giving vent to rough
outcries, probably as to their merits and uses. The whole
place was sibilant, quivering in color and heat, a most fas-
cinating place to the travellers from the cold North, the color
especially delighting their eyes, and the different types of
humanity, from the jet-black negro to the pale, cream-tinted
Arab dude, exciting their curiosity.
** Who are the very dark-skinned men with dark bur-
nouses and turbans, and veils over their faces? '* asked the
Commander.
** They are the Touaregs," answered the stranger. *' They
live far down on the Desert below Touggourt, and command
all the caravan routes. They are a fierce race, and have
given the French much trouble. Those men in long shape-
less coats, which are called gandouras, with fringe and
camePs-hair tassels hanging from the belt, and with their
haiks loosely bound so as to cover the lower part of their
faces, are Mozabites. There is a colony of them spread over
the Desert. They, too, are a warlike people, and were the
last to submit to the French. They come from a hundred and
sixty miles beyond Laghouat.'*
* ' We have been to their country, * ' said the Commander.
" Ah! then you know they are an industrious people, and
travel everywhere. They are often shopkeepers in large
towns, as well as butchers, coal-dealers, and bankers.
The others are a mixture of Arabs and Kabyles, who are
called Biskrans. They come from the oases all along the
Desert. You cannot tell them very well from the Arabs,
though they are darker, owing to an intermixture with the
[ 236 ]
'HI
IN THE GORGE OF EL KANTARA,
OLD ROMAN HRTDGK, RESTORED
THE OASIS OF EL KANTARA, AND RIVER
IN THE GARDEN OF BENEVENT: THE
PARAPET-WALL OVERLOOKING
THE DESERT, BISKRA
ENTRANCE INTO THE GARDEN OF COUNT LANDON, BISKRA
A DAY IN BISKRA
negroes. The women are most picturesque in their dress,
as you see. There are two coming down the street.'*
The Commander and the Lady turned to look. They saw
two women in gay red dresses, great loops of braided hair
and wool framing their brown faces, scarlet and yellow
foulards bound around their heads. Their black arms were
bare and covered with bracelets; necklaces hung down over
t)ieir breasts and clinked as they walked. One had a white
burnous caught over her chest, and she carried a little chip-
munk of a baby wrapped in a white wool burnous. The
Commander made a step forward as he caught sight of the
jewellery, but the two women turned away so swiftly, when
they saw him looking at them, that he had no chance to bar-
gain for their jewellery.
** The Biskrans,'* continued the stranger, ** are the porters
and water-carriers. Telling fortunes is one of their special
trades.'*
After lingering some time to watch the fascinating, kalei-
doscopic changes in the busy market, where were mixed all the
shades of white, cream, coffee-color, the dirt of the burnouses,
the browns of the gandouras, the pinks, grays, and reds of
the dress of the splendid-looking kaids whom the stranger
pointed out, our couple reluctantly turned away after thank-
ing the gentleman who had volunteered to help them to
understand what they saw. Asking the way to the celebrated
garden, they walked on down the white road passing groups
that made them feel they were really in an Oriental land bor-
dering upon the Desert. Laden camels came swaying down the
road with great bags, full or empty, attached to their sad-
dles; donkeys trundled along; now came a flock of black
goats tossing their heads in derision of their Arab drivers;
dark-skinned men strode along with a proud bearing, though
their gandouras, or burnouses, were in rags and their bare
feet and legs white with dust; then the women like gay-
plumaged birds, with their bits of bronzed babies slung to
their backs, and ragged, half bare, brown children, loping
[237]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
after them. Over all, the brilliant blue sky, the golden sun-
shine, the waving palms along the road.
The travellers walked down the Avenue Lallemand and
turned off to the left, as directed, to the village negre. Here
were narrow lanes, dusty and pebbly; the doors of the mud
houses stood open, while black men lounged in the shade of
them; naked, jetty-black babies rolled in the dust, and little
girls, in red and yellow cotton gowns, ran out to call for
sous. Our people hastened to get out of the squalid and
malodorous village. On the white road again, they looked
ahead and saw a long white wall with loop-holes in it, and
a fringe of palm-trees. Little rills of water ran down one
side of the road; some distance on the other was the dried
bed of the Biskra River; and beyond, the plain palpitating
with heat, spread to the rose-tinted and ethereal Aures
Mountains. A train of camels coming down the road with
their native drivers, gave to all the Oriental flavor, and the
travellers felt that at last they were in the Africa of their
imaginings.
At length, they came to a great white gate opening on to
the street, and entered the entrancing gardens which the
French nobleman has planted with every variety of tropical
and European trees, and who, with great kindness, allows the
public who are well behaved to wander therein at will. To
come in out of the hot sunshine and saunter up and down
through long alleys in deep shade under the great palms was
bliss to the Commander and the Lady. The only sound they
heard was the rippling of the water flowing along near the
paths and the contented twitter of birds hidden in the foliage.
"When they had gone up and down the alleys, some in deep
shadow, others flecked with sunlight, which dropped down
through the openings in the tufts of foliage and dappled the
paths; and when they had looked at the white buildings,
especially at the little smoking-pavilion, smothered in masses
of Bougainvillea blossoms, they came out into the blazing sun-
shine again and went down to the parapet wall that extends
along the garden, above the road. There are seats at inter-
[238]
A DAY IN BISKRA
vals in this wall, and the couple sat down there for a while
to look off to the desert, shimmering in the sun, toward the
exquisite mountains with their pearly tints. *' Here," said
the Other-one, '* I can only think of poor Domini in the Gar-
den of Allah. She haunts this beautiful garden, and I can
see it with her eyes; she seems a real and living presence
here. There is a shade of melancholy over all the place where
she loved and suffered." It was with reluctance the Two left
this enchanted place and went back to the hotel.
That afternoon, under the guidance of a bony Arab with
bulging eyes, our Motorists rolled off over a rough road to
Sidi-Okba, leaving the palms of old Biskra to the right and
crossing the almost dry bed of the River Biskra. Beyond this
they had a foretaste of the real Desert in the sandy plain
with scrub grass growing in patches, stretching far to the
Aures which had spots of dark green at the base of their
spurs. The oasis of Sidi-Okba, at first a blue line on the hor-
i !i. resolved itself into masses of feathery palms, of which
it 16 baid there are sixty thousand. The guide, who put him-
self in evidence at every possible chance, began to tell them
in a high sing-song tone, ** Many pilgrims come here to see
the mosque and tomb of the great Arab conqueror. It is
the oldest Mohammedan building in Africa. Sidi-ben-Nafir
went forth with some African tribesmen and conquered all
Africa from Egypt to Tangiers, in 682. He did in so short
a time what others had taken a long time to do. When he
had conquered all these countries, he spurred his horse into
the Atlantic and said that only such a barrier could prevent
him from forcing every nation beyond it who knew not God,
to worship Him or die."
** Ask the guide if we shall be likely to meet Sidi-Okba
at the mosque? " said the Commander.
** Oh, no ! Monsieur, he is dead. He died in 682," responded
the bony Arab solemnly.
The car now passed through the little village with its low
one-storied houses of sun-dried bricks. Men were lounging
at the open doors, women grinding their corn on flat stones,
[239]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
and little half-naked children were rolling in the dust. The
coming of the car produced a commotion, and all ran pell-
mell after it, the children howling for sous. The guide, Ach-
med, leaped from the car and cuffed some of them right and
left with harsh exclamations, then ran back to the car with
the well-pleased air of an untrained puppy who has barked
off some intruders.
* * Monsieur will notice that Achmed is one of the best
guides of Biskra. He allows no one to annoy his patrons.
Monsieur will do well to take him for guide everywhere.*'
At the entrance to the mosque the party alighted. The
guide leaped forward to lead his patrons through the en-
trance to the mosque. An intelligent-looking man waiting
there — in the whitest of haiks and burnouses, contrasting
greatly with the dirt around the court — came forward and
took the party from Achmed 's charge, who seemed loath to lose
them out of his sight; but the guardian frowned at him and
motioned him back as he made a plunge forward after them.
The man led them across the court of the mosque, which is
very roughly made and is supported on rude short columns.
The shrine is at the northwest corner, in a sort of chantry
screened off from the mosque. It is a tomb of the usual mara-
bout kind, and is hung with tattered silk ; some ostrich eggs,
and a tawdry gilt mirror frame, are among its decorations.
The guardian then took them down through the mosque to see
a wonderful door. There were many worshippers' kneeling
on the matting spread here and there, bowing, rising, and
mumbling their prayers. They were of a poorer and more
wretched-looking type than our people had yet seen in the
mosques.
" There are thousands of pilgrims who come here yearly,"
said the guardian. * ' It is a sacred place. The mihrah points
exactly toward Mecca, for the exact site was revealed in a
dream to Sidi-Okba. Here is a pillar on which is written
in Cufic characters, the oldest in the world, * This is the
tomb of Okba, son of Nafe. May God have mercy upon
him.'''
[240]
A DAY IN BISKRA
On the east side of the mosque the man showed them a
curious wooden door, of fine carving, with color. Then he
took them up some rude steps to see the view from the mina-
ret over the oasis with its palms, and the rude houses nestling
under their shade. ** This minaret,*' said the guardian,
*' will tremble if the holy Sidi-Okba is invoked in a certain
form of words, which only our most holy men know.*'
At the entrance door the bony guide took the travellers
again in charge, leaping at them like a hungry animal.
** Now we will go to the market; Monsieur may find some-
thing he will buy.*' They left the car* at the door of the
mosque and walked down the crooked, dirty streets, with a
string of small and very unclean children swarming around
them, in spite of Achmed 's howls and leapings around to
ccare them off. One rather pretty little girl draped with a
filthy blue cloth, carried dangling at the end of a string a
wretched little pigeon which after ineffectual struggles to
escape had apparently abandoned itself to its fate and hung
limp with closed eyes.
** The little wretch 1 " cried the Other-one, ** tell her to give
me the poor pigeon! "
Achmed seized it without ceremony and handed it to the
Lady. Thereupon, the girl broke into a series of unearthly
howls.
*' Do stop her! ** exclaimed the Commander, ** she will
call the entire village down upon us! Give her this silver
and let us get away from here.**
** She doesn't deserve a sou, but a sound shaking! " said
the Lady, as she smoothed the plumage of the wretched bird,
and then sheltered it in her sleeve until she should reach a
place where she might let it fly away in safety. The child
stopped her shrieks, and a look of joy spread over her face,
as she clutched at the silver which Achmed gave her grudg-
ingly, and undoubtedly would have put in his own pocket
had not the Commander kept a stern eye upon him.
" These people are cruel to animals from childhood up.
See the wretched donkeys, the moth-eaten-looking, emaciated
[241]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
camels, the meagre cattle and sheep ! ' ^ said the Commander.
*' The goat seems to be the only beast that holds up a brave
front and supports his miseries with fortitude, and here he
has not even the luxury of tin cans for a steady diet."
They now reached the open square of the market-place,
limited in space and with some wretched little shops at one
side of it. Everything seemed in a state of decay. The
crowd of gesticulating, howling natives were clad in bur-
nouses, coffee-colored from dirt and usage. Even the donkeys
here had a more discouraged air than any the travellers had
before seen. The piles of vegetables, corn, and withered
dates seemed to have been excavated from some tomb. The
guide with much plunging around, beguiled the Commander
into one of the box-like dens of shops; but the battered and
grimy articles placed before him — the dried lizards, the
coarse jewellery of white metal, the pieces of coral and shells
on dirty strings — found no purchaser in him, to the evi-
dent sorrow of Achmed. He then reluctantly led them back
to the car, passing a corner of the market where a solitary
palm-tree spread its feathery green fronds, the only thing of
loveliness to be seen anywhere. Near it a most supercilious
camel lay down, his awkward legs doubled up. It was a com-
fort to see one poor animal at ease and without the ever-
present, overladen panniers. A woman, stolid and wretched
looking, stood near to watch the camel; she turned, though
languidly, to look at the strangers, shielding her heavy eyes
from the brilliant sunshine with her hand.
It was a relief to get away from this poor village. The car
soon left the palm oasis, which became gray and then faded
into a soft blue line on the horizon. It was late in the after-
noon, and the Aures Mountains had the coloring of opals,
and the most exquisite blue, hazy shadows in the clefts and
gorges ; but the oases at the foot of the spurs were darker than
before. As the car drew near the town, Achmed bestirred
himself and suggested what the travellers might do in the
way of sight-seeing under his enlightened guidance: ''My
gentleman and lady will like much to see the Ouled Nail
[242]
A DAY IN BISKRA
the road is not very good; have everything ready at the
hour."
* ' Very good, my gentlemans ! Everything will be ready
at the time * ' ; then Cherif bowed himself out, leaving the
impression that he was the most honest, the best informed,
the most brief in statement, and the cleanest of the guides
they had, as yet, encountered, if not very beautiful.
The Other-one was about to break into speech against this
rather arbitrary and suddenly decided plan, but the Com-
mander skilfully, as one having much experience, inveigled
her down to luncheon before she had time to give him a
piece of her mind. She, with equal skill, steered him past
the venders on the veranda, when they left that afternoon
to take a trip to the villages of Old Biskra, over a rough and
stony road. These are quaint hamlets surrounded by plan-
tations of fine date-palms, enclosed in high mud walls, the
tops of which are stuck full of dried palm branches, making
a guard for the gardens within. There are narrow white
lanes on which the palm-trees cast delightful shade, and rills
of clear water running by the side of the road. So the ride
through the quaint villages, — the natives of which are so
different from those of Sidi-Okba, — was most restful.
At the sunset, coming back, they stopped at Landon Gar-
den — Benevent — to go and sit on the parapet wall and
watch the opal tints deepen on the Aures Mountains and the
oases at the foot of their spurs grow blacker. Then the moun-
tains lost their rich color and turned deep blue ; on the Desert
stretching toward them little camp fires glowed, and they
saw also the faint little lights of the little villages.
A crescent moon hung high in the dark sky, and a liquidly
brilliant star showed near it. Then our pair went home con-
tent with the rest and peace of the day.
[247]
CHAPTER XVIII
DOWN TO TOUGGOURT AND RETURN
A CROWD of natives in their burnouses surrounded the
car as it waited before the long veranda of the hotel, the
next morning at the early hour ordered by the Commander.
There were a kaid or two in pale mauve and soft green over-
burnouses, to add dignity to the departure. A few early tour-
ists yawned on the balcony above, wondering, evidently, how
any one could be so crazy, in this dolce far niente spot, as to
rise and be off so early. Cherif and Adrian were attending
to the last preparations, under the watchful care of the alert
and happy Commander. The car looked unusual, as it car-
ried on the top of the canopy, two huge rolls of matting
and a stout shovel. There was a full complement of tires on
top, while the reservoirs were full of essence; but the toilette
necessities and apparel were reduced to the minimum in one
small satchel, though there was ample provision of shawls
and rugs on the seats for the cool night air one might find
on the Desert; and there was a plethoric basket of lunch,
which a hard-breathing Arab brought at the last moment.
The Commander had said, sententiously, * ' We can live
without everything, on this trip, but absolute necessities! ''
So the pretty Marguerite was to be left behind, and the Other-
one had reduced her baggage to the extent of one extra blouse,
and the most indispensable of the toilette articles. She won-
dered, however, when she saw the overladen lunch-basket, if
they could not have done with less to eat, and have carried
more clean linen.
When Cherif had arranged all the packages with bustling
importance, and had aided the Other-one to climb to her
place, while the pretty Marguerite with a tear-stained face,
handed up the precious kodaks, he leaped joyously to his
[248]
TO TOUGGOURT
post, and the Commander, snugly ensconced in his royal seat,
gave the order to move on. Then they were off, scattering
the natives right and left from before the car.
The road led in the direction of the villages of Old Biskra,
leaving the garden of Benevent to the left, its palms green
against the pink morning sky, its white parapet wall seeming
to shut away its magic beauty from the workaday world.
** When I am on the sun-baked Desert,*' thought the lady,
** how I shall long for those palm-shaded alleys and the
musical gurgle of the rills that flow down by the sun-flecked
avenues! '*
Near the terminus of the jingling little tram, Cherif pointed
out the ruins of an ancient Turkish fort, from whence, it be-
ing on a hill, was a fine view over the oasis and the Desert,
he said. They had passed, on the left, the Hospital Lavigerie
which is managed by the White Sisters for the care of the
natives. The road continued on through the villages of Old
Biskra with their palm-lined alleys, then crossed the Oued
Djedi. The Aures Mountains showed up across the plain,
beautifully soft, with tints of blue, mauve, and pink, looking
as if seen through folds of gauze. The oases below their spurs
were dark like deep shadows. The sky arched overhead, with
not a cloud floating across it. Cherif regarded it with the
eye of a veteran traveller.
** We shall have a fine day, my lady, but I fear very hot.**
* * So much the better ! ' * returned the Lady. * * I want to be
baked, once, on a desert. Whatever the Desert has for me,
whether suffering or joy, I long to experience it ; for I do not
consider I saw the real Desert going to the country of Mzab. * *
The road, full of ruts, wound now across the plain, with
dust bunches of scrub-grass and low masses of dull green
terebinth bushes, dotting the gray sand. At a distance the
car passed some low tents of the Bedouins, then their camels
feeding near on the scrub, their natural food on the Desert.
" I wonder what we are to feel on this Desert,** said the
Other-one to the Commander, as the car halted for a moment.
** My imagination has been much affected by what I have read.
[249 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Some travellers say that it is full of mystery, of subtle tints of
color ; that it gives one the feeling inspired by the thought of
eternity. Others say it is a great, desolate, sandy plain, with
no limits, — gray and monotonous, dreary and sad beyond
belief. But I suppose it appears to the person who sees it for
the first time, whatever his own temperament colors it. ' '
When they had gone some distance, ridges of rock began to
crop up in the sketchy road, and deep ruts caused the car to
creak and groan like a creature in pain. Far across the plain
were more tents, several huddled together, the camels feeding
near looking like queer, strange turkeys. * * Those tents, ' '
said Cherif, the all-knowing, ** belong to the tribe, Arab
Cheraga. Before the French came, it was the ruling tribe
around here.''
Now the road ran down by low, rocky hills; still nothing
grew but the scrub-grass and the plain was below the level
of the sea. At the left, they saw a long glistening white sur-
face, like a lake of salt crystals.
* ' Is it water, really, or a mirage ? ' ' asked the Other-one.
*' It is a chott, part of the great Chott Melrir. Monsieur
and Madame do not know, perhaps, that there are many in
the Desert between Biskra and Touggourt. They are depres-
sions in it, filled with water Salter than the sea and below its
level, generally. These often dry up and leave this shiny
look; sometimes they are soft and move, then they are dan-
gerous to cross. Once, long ago, a caravan was lost in one."
The Other-one looked at the glistening chott with a shiver.
It was one more of the mysteries of the Desert ! The Aures
chain had been visible since the party had begun their day's
journey, — above the eastern horizon, like a chain of opals
strung along it, deepening in color as the sun rose higher,
seeming a link to the world of life and vivid color, as con-
trasted with this wide plain of gray and yellow sand, dotted
with the dusty green of the scrub-grass and the terebinth
bushes. Now the mountains grew dimmer as the car went on,
became only a line of color, then faded into the mist of dis-
tance and the Other-one felt more alone on the boundless
[250]
TO TOUGGOURT
waste. The car droned on over the road, which grew from
bad to worse, one of the cylinders working irregularly, trying
the patience of Adrian to the utmost. The sun blazed down,
and the heat was oppressive, but the air had a delicious qual-
ity in it that the Other-one could not analyze, something that
lifted her spirits and invigorated her, though it was full of
heat rays. Everything on the wide plain showed up for
more than its size. Now in the distance a train of camels
was visible, seeming larger than any seen before; they came
slowly on, with full panniers swaying up and down as they
walked, some of the animals being almost covered from sight
with huge bundles. Some wild-looking men were lurching
around on their backs, while others ran before, visibly much
excited when they saw the car, which Adrian had stopped to
investigate some trouble. The camels padded by, swaying off
as much as possible to one side, but they all turned their
heads and looked with haughty scorn at the motor.
** They are really ' ships of the Desert,* ** said the Other-
one, * * but why always so haughty and scornful ? They have
to bear burdens and labor I Have they come down from some
high estate in the ancient times when they were royal beasts?
Tell us something about them, Cherif.**
Cher if was only too pleased to tell all he knew of camels.
** These are not really camels, Madame, they are what you
call in English, dromedaries; — the camel has two humps; but
they are all called camels, by foreigners. It is not so strong
an animal as is thought, and it can*t endure much cold; but
it is of much use on the Desert, as it can go four or five days
without water, and feeds on the scrub-grass found everywhere
on it, and can carry three or four hundred pounds. There is
the camel called the mehari. He is the race-horse of the
plain. He can go a hundred kilometres a day, and can do
longer without food and water. The French Government has
troops mounted on the mehari for the policing of the Great
Desert.''
* * How old do the camels live to be ? ' ' asked the Comman-
der, drawing near in his interest.
[ 251 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** They live about twenty years, but are put to work when
they are but four years old/'
When Adrian had finished his investigations and the Other-
one turned to climb into the car, she noted, running in and
out of the wiry grass, some small lizards nearly the color of
the sand, the only live, wild things she had so far seen — not
a bird had taken wing across the sky that day. She thought,
** I am sure the Desert is full of life, but perhaps one ought
to dwell here to see and detect animal life which must needs
be the color of the sand and scrub/' Farther on a cloud of
locusts flew up from some terebinth bushes. Cherif turned
to say, * * Those are very good to eat, Madame. ' '
** To eat! " exclaimed the Lady, horrified.
" Yes, Madame, they are caught in nets, boiled in salted
water, and dried, and are most delicious! I have some for
my luncheon, will Madame taste one? *'
The Lady shuddered. "No! many thanks. Now I know
what John ate in the wilderness,'' she said to the Commander.
** Wliy not buy a sack of them to take home and introduce
them next winter at your dinner-parties, as an Oriental deli-
cacy, to take the place of the omnipresent salted almonds? "
asked he.
Now the Desert stretched away, away — would they ever
reach any spot of rest, where were the green oases, with cool
springs ?
' * How long does it take to go from Biskra to Touggourt on
camels 1 ' ' asked the Other-one of the guide.
** It takes six days, Madame, if the camels are strong."
* * And we can go in two in this car ! Is it not going to rob
the Desert for us of all its mystery, its wonder, its fascina-
tion?" She turned to the Commander. "An automobile
makes the world so small, so trivial ! ' '
* * It makes it greater and grander ; we cover large spaces ;
it opens new wonders and mysteries for us which we could
never have seen without it," said he.
Now the scrub was growing sparser, and the sand yellower
and invading everywhere; dunes of it rose near, and there
[252]
A \<>\l AD MoTillOK AM) IIKU BABllOSO.N TWK DKSKirr
ROAD TO TOUGGOURT
A NOMAD FAMILY, iN THE DEaEKT:
ON THE ROAD TO TOUGGOURT
THE KAID OF A VILLAGE NEAE MKAIER POSES FOE
HIS PHOTOGEAPH
TO TOUGGOURT
were drifts of it spreading out like waves of the sea. The car
began to move slower and slower, as the wheels sank in the
yellow sand. * * Now, * * cried Cherif , with sparkling eyes,
* ' we must spread down the matting before the wheels ! ' '
** Not with this car, I think," said Adrian stoutly, ** her
power will pull her through almost any sand. * *
The guide looked dubious. The sand grew deeper, and the
car groaned and the wheels slipped. Adrian cut out the
muffler, put the motor at its mettle, and in few moments
the worst was over and the sand drifted away into the rocky
soil again.
Now an object became visible in the distance, which re-
solved itself into several as the car drew near. It was a well
in the Desert, with a long sort of trough in front of it and a
picturesque and interesting group around it, consisting of a
tall and angular old Bedouin and his probable family, who
had all come apparently from some distant tent to get their
day's supply of water. There were four or five women, more
or less ugly, and three or four children, with nondescript gar-
ments wrapped around them; the little boys with skullcaps
drawn tightly over their ears. The women had red and blue
cloths bound around them, and much jewellery of bracelets,
necklaces, and armlets. They had the usual great loops of
wool and hair framing their dark faces, and all the color in
their dress seemed accentuated in the gray and dun-colored
Desert, giving the only brightness besides that of the blue of
the sky. The Commander bestirred himself at once to glance
with discerning eye at the bedecked females, to see if there
were possible treasures for which to bargain. The Other-one
pointed her kodak at the group, all of whom had seemed in
no wise alarmed. Now they all set up a cry, and the children
fled behind their mothers, who had covered their own faces
with their draperies.
** Give them some silver and persuade them to keep still,
Cherif! " said the Lady. The coin had a magical effect; they
all stood like statues, but some with their hands to their
mouths, as if they feared they might scream in spite of them-
[253]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
selves. As the guide was about to hand the silver, manlike,
to the prettiest of the women, the gaunt man stepped sud-
denly to the front and seized it, dropping it down in the folds
of his ragged, dirty burnous, a proceeding which the women
accepted without protest.
'* Come! *' called the Commander, *' there *s nothing here
worth a bargaining. When are we going to get any luncheon,
Cherifr'
The guide pointed ahead to a low dark line on the horizon.
** My gentlemans, there is the oasis where we shall eat."
They now came to a pool of crystal water, with a palm-tree
or two growing near it. * * 01;i ! do get out, Cherif , and get
me a drink of that delicious water, I am dying of thirst! "
cried the Other-one.
* ' You cannot drink it, my lady, it is the salt water of the
Desert," Cherif replied.
The car lurched on through ruts. Ahead were mounds of
sand that glistened with bits of mica, as if diamond dust had
been sprinkled over them. It was now past noon; the sun
poured down its heat; they were weary with the motion of
the car over the ever rougher road ; hungry and parched with
thirst. The Desert seemed a never-ending plain, where was
no rest for man or beast.
** What if we were on camels! " exclaimed the Commander.
** My imagination cannot compass it," said the Lady.
Now the oasis grew more distinct, and the palms reached
their cool, feathery fronds up into the pale sky. At length
the car pulled up before a long low building of plastered
walls and a red tile roof. *' It is the station for the stage,"
said Cherif. On one side were great groves of palms, and
there was the sound of trickling water. There were black
and white sheep feeding on green grass the other side of the
low fence of dried palm branches at the left, and a sense of
coolness and rest filled the weary party of travellers with
content. Cherif made haste to descend, and pulling out the
plethoric basket, carried it at once under the shade of the
palms, drawing from it, with an air of a kindly magician, and
[254]
TO TOUGGOURT
placing on a white table-cloth spread on the grass under some
palms, bountiful supplies of slices of pink ham, a plump
capon, many boiled eggs, heads of succulent salad, round
crusty rolls, with a jar of fresh butter, and heaps of juicy
oranges and sugary dates and figs.
** Come, my gentlemans and lady! it is all ready ''; and he
beamed upon them as he pulled the cork of a bottle of the
fine red wine of Algiers, supplementing it with another bot-
tle of St. Galmier water. Then he retired to a distance to
munch his loaf of Arabian bread and his delicious locusts
with a look of the most supreme content.
The pair ate their luncheon with a dreamy satisfaction in
the unusual experience. The sheep, at first, seemed to resent
the intrusion of unknown people into their Eden, but settled
back to their feeding, giving a pastoral touch to the scene
that was most pleasing. AVhen all was done and Cherif had
gathered up the remains of the feast for to-morrow *s journey,
the Lady went out a moment, to look off on the Desert from
the oasis, before they should again set sail on this great ocean
of sand. As she looked down from the low house, she ex-
claimed to see hundreds of camels all huddled together, their
heads down, their backs free from panniers and bundles. She
had never dreamed there could be so many camels in the
world. ** It is a watering-place for the camels,*' said Cherif,
coming up. ** The caravans across the Desert always stop
here to water.'*
Refreshed, and with their enthusiasm renewed, our travel-
lers climbed into the car, which was all ready. Never did the
Commander have to complain of his faithful chauffeur. His
lamp was always trimmed and ready for the lighting.
Not much farther on they came to another stretch of sand,
where the poor car halted and trembled, and Cherif was
ready to spring out and unroll the matting. The sand dunes
rose like great petrified ocean waves. Again they cleared all
and came upon the rocky, rutty road. It almost seemed that
Cherif was sad when he met the chauffeur's triumphant gaze,
but the Commander rejoiced exceedingly. Now another chott
[255]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
spread its glistening surface before them and the road wound
through it, to the Other-one's terror; so the afternoon wore
on. The silence, but for the whining and creaking of the
motor, would have been almost intolerable. Natives came and
passed, riding on feeble little donkeys, or lurching on camel?
that seemed as tall as trees. Now the car slowly passed a
group that called for the Other-one 's camera : a dark-skinned
old nomad, with tufts of gray whiskers, glowered at them
from his swathing of dirty white burnous. Two pretty young
women hovered near him, and not far off a camel browsed on
the scrub,' having on his back a great open basket, in which
were two tiny brown children, who looked at the car with
great scared eyes. The man seemed savage enough when the
kodak was pointed at them, but the silver coin waved before
him reduced him to quiet.
Late in the afternoon, a long dark line showed against the
horizon, and later, many palm-trees became visible.
** Is it a mirage? '' asked the weary Lady.
* * No ! we shall see none to-day ; to-morrow perhaps, ' ' said
Cherif.
' ' We must ! To cross the Desert and have no mirage
would not be to see the Desert about which we have read ! ' '
** That is the oasis of Mraier, where there are one hundred
and twenty-five thousand date-palms watered by many arte-
sian wells. There is a caravansary where we stop for the
night, and Madame can be very comfortable," answered the
guide. Madame looked doubtful.
** Tell us all you can now, before we arrive, about the date-
palm and its culture," said the Commander.
** I cannot tell my gentlemans so very much. It is better
he waits until we get to Mraier ; a monsieur will be there for
the night, I have learned, who can tell everything my gentle-
mans wished to know about date-palms. He is one of the
managers of the great Company of the Oued Eir, and he now
visits the plantations around."
The palms were black against the sky, which was stained
like a pomegranate with the afterglow of the sunset, when
[ 256 ]
TO TOUGGOURT
the car came up before the great gate set in the high plastered
walls around the caravansary of Mraier. Several natives,
wrapped in their burnouses were seated leaning against the
walls. They arose quickly and followed the car as it rolled
into the courtyard, around which ran the low building with
windows and doors opening into the various rooms, on two
sides, the other taken up with the stables for the stage and
horses.
It was a sore and weary pair that alighted from the car,
and the Lady cast looks of apprehension around the primitive
and bare looking place. The stolid Belgian landlord came
quietly to welcome them, and showed them to their room. It
was like a cell of a monk, bare and whitewashed, with a brick
floor and two iron beds, a wash-stand and chair for furniture,
but there was a big jug of water, and the towels were plenty
though coarse. ** Thank heaven! it *s clean enough,^* ex-
claimed the Other-one, ** and that is all I ask.**
It was not long before they were called to dinner, and they
crossed the small courtyard to the little dining-room in the
corner, where was a table spread with a coarse white cloth
and laid for six. At it, already seated, were a thin, dark, in-
telligent-looking man and a plump little woman of the bour-
geoisie type, presumably his wife. She regarded the Lady
curiously, taking in at a glance her simple, dark travelling
dress, and then looked down complacently over her own light-
blue embroidered gown, just new, probably from Algiers, and
the heavy gold watch chain draped across the waist. The
man, with the surface politeness of the French, arose and
bowed deeply to the newcomers. Then a sad-faced woman
brought in a thick soup and afterwards some rather tough
boiled mutton with potatoes and some small leaves of lettuce,
served with much oil for dressing. The Frenchman with a
pleased surprise regarded the salad, rather a scarce thing
here, undoubtedly, and at once, with what is often a French
disregard for the essentials of politeness, helped himself to,
at least, three-quarters of it.
* * Why did n *t he take it all ? Pity to leave so little alone ! ' '
[ 257 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
exclaimed the Commander. '* But never mind, he has bowed
most politely to us, and what more can one expect from such
a Frenchman? Now begin to ply him with questions about
the date culture. He must be the manager of whom Cherif
spoke, and looks very intelligent.''
So the Lady, prompted by the Commander, drew forth from
him in instalments, and translated as well as she was able,
the following:
It was some years ago, that a company of French gentle-
men, much interested in the development of the country, con-
ceived the idea of installing a series of artesian wells to
increase, by improved irrigation, the production of some of the
oases already in cultivation, and form new plantations for
systematic cultivation. On the oases the water is distributed
in little canals, often only a few inches in depth and width,
which wind through the gardens and around the roots of the
palms, so as to have that condition under which alone,
the Arab proverb says, can the date flourish — * ' its feet
in the water and its head in the fires of heaven. ' * The artesian
wells sunk by the French engineers naturally require little
attention when once the flow of water is established ; but with
the Arab wells it is quite another affair; with a mouth at
least a yard square, and the sides shored up in a primitive
fashion, they become frequently choked with sand and debris ;
then the Arab owning such a well sends for divers. *' These
are the Rouaras, whose villages Monsieur will pass to-mor-
row." They form a class apart, almost a religious sect, and
they have prayers and special charms before descending into
a well. This company of French gentlemen is called the
Company of the Oued Rir. The region is the country of the
finest and best dates consumed in Europe. They are called
degla. There are six hundred and fifty thousand date-palms
and many artesian wells in this date country of Oued Rir,
which is a basin where the valleys of the two Saharan rivers,
the Oued Igarghur and the Oued Mya, meet at a very low
level; and to this circumstance is due the quantity of water
for artesian wells which assures abundant irrigation.
[258]
TO TOUGGOURT
Also he told them that this date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera)
can be cultivated only in or near the Sahara Desert. It will
not ripen north of the thirty-third parallel of latitude. With-
out it no one could live here. The Arabs adore this tree.
It grows in the desert soil and contents itself with water so
saline that it would destroy ordinary vegetation, and casts
a grateful shade in summer, when all else is burnt up. It
gives a fruit of value to the world, and which can be ex-
changed for other things of which the Arab may have need.
The male tree bears no fruit. It has merely a bunch of
flowers inclosed in a spathe until maturity. The bunches of
flowers of the female cannot develop into fruit until
fecundated by the male. To assure this the Arabs ascend the
tree in the month of April and insert in the spathe of the
female flower, a portion of the pollen of the male flower. The
fruit begins to swell and forms long clusters weighing from
twenty to forty pounds, each tree producing about two hun-
dred pounds in a season. To multiply the date-palm, the
Arabs do not sow seed, as they then could not be sure of the
sex of the trees, but they plant the suckers from the base
of the female tree (whence the name Phoenix), These
become productive in about eight years, but do not come to
full fruition under twenty or twenty-five. The trees will
live two hundred years, but are not worth preserving after a
century. The wood, though inferior in quality, is valuable
here because there is no other kind. The roots are used for
fencing and roofing, and the leaves are made into mats,
baskets, sacks, and cord. The trees flower in March and
April; the fruit ripens about October.
It seemed there was nothing more to learn concerning the
date-palm, and our party were about to arise and bid the
intelligent manager good-night, when a rattling and a jing-
ling invaded the quiet room. The learned Frenchman had
ceased talking in his low. even voice, and was taking long
draughts of the red wine, a bottle or two of which was on
the table. Hoarse voices called out, and our party rushed
to the door to see what had happened. It was the nonde-
[259]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
script stage which had arrived; from this, dusty and weary
travellers were alighting, while Arabs hastened to unhitch
the tired horses.
That night, the Other-one awoke from her first sound sleep
in her little cell of a room, to silence unlike anything she had
ever experienced. It seemed as if the Great Desert, stretch-
ing away to its illimitable bounds, breathed upon all things
within it, hushing them to silence. ''It is like that of infin-
ite space,'' she thought.
At three o'clock she was again awakened by the crashing
and jingling and creaking of the stage, and the hoarse calls
of the driver, as all rolled out of the courtyard and away.
*' Oh, pity the poor wretches that have to be bounced and
bumped over that road this morning! Give me, forever, an
automobile," mumbled the sleepy Commander.
The next morning they were served with some strong hot
coffee, but without milk, to the Other-one's regret, at an hour
which seemed late compared with that at which the rattling
stage had departed, and they were soon on the road, with a
clear pale sky above them and the sand rolling away in bil-
lows, gray and yellow, before them. The oasis of Mraier be-
came a dark line on the horizon, then faded from view. When
an hour or more had passed, the outline of another oasis was
visible but with sparse palm-trees. A village soon showed it-
self, with long low walls and houses of sun-dried brick, much
like the fashion of the pueblos of New Mexico. A few of the
natives, the boys half clad, ran out to view the strange object,
while the Other-one snapped the town with her kodak.
' ' This is a village of the Rouaras — El Amri ' ' — said
Cherif. "After luncheon we shall stop at one village that
my lady may see how they live. They are the people who
work much on the date plantations, and they mix so much
with negroes that they are nearly black themselves. They are
a hard-working people and can weave cloth and fine rugs. ' '
The road grew steadily worse. Now some great hills of
sand rose on both sides, which Cherif said were called El
Biban or the gates to Touggourt. Beyond, the sand spread
r 260 1
TO TOUGGOURT
out everywhere, and the tufts of grass were sparse. It had
been an hour and the silence, but for the creaking car, was op-
pressive to the Other-one. No one in the party" seemed to
wish to speak but Cherif, who gave out such bits of informa-
tion as he felt needful for his ' ' gentlemans * * and lady. It
seemed to her that they had been travelling for days, and
that days must go on before they could compass this un-
fathomable Desert. Nothing had been in sight for a long
time, when they perceived, moving in the distance,
a small company of men on horseback and on camels, led by
a gallant figure on a beautiful Arabian horse. ** It is the
Commandant of the Department,** said Cherif, ** who is go-
ing on a tour of inspection with his men.** The officer wore a
soft felt hat bound round with a white ha'ik, which fell upon
his shoulders in snowy folds. A pair of keen blue eyes looked
out from his strong bronzed face. He sat easily and erect in
the saddle, bowing with most courtly grace as the party came
up to the car. The camels the men rode seemed of a most
superior and well-cared-for kind, as different from the poor,
moth-eaten-looking beasts the travellers had before encoun-
tered on the desert, as a well groomed horse is from a sorry,
neglected donkey. It was all a vision of delight, and, as they
passed from sight, the Desert seemed brighter for the
encounter.
Now another pull through deep sand, conquered by the
strong and powerful car, to the growing wonder of Cherif.
** But to-morrow you will see, the matting, it must be used.**
But the car now began to grow sulky, and the engine heated
up to such an extent that the chauffeur said they must fill up
the radiator with water. Fortunately, Cherif knew of a small
well not far off, so he ran with the bucket to bring consola-
tion to the thirsty motor. As the Lady waited, having stepped
out of the car, she saw for the first time, a bird winging his
way across the sky, low down ; and then, close by, she saw also,
pushing hardily up through the sand, some round thick stems
covered with small lavender and white flowers — succulent
looking stems that guarded juices within to withstand the
[261]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
desert heat and bring their offspring to maturity. They were
the only flowering things she had seen and they seemed to
nod at her with stanch and friendly eyes.
' * What are they ? ' ' she asked Cherif , but he, though wise
in lore of travels on the Desert, knew neither flower nor bird,
in French or English.
They were off again, moving slowly, bouncing over the
rocky ridges, crawling through the sand. They came up
with, and passed, a spruce wagonette, in which were the
French manager with his buxom wife squeezed in by his side,
her hat gay with red roses and a long plume. They were
bouncing over the rough road, but seemed content. '' They
must have left early this morning. I hope he is going where
he can have plenty of salad ! ' ' exclaimed the Commander.
Now the long walls of a village came in sight, with a few
palms showing above them. A crowd of boys and girls all
nearly as black as the ace of spades, with great water jars on
their backs, rushed out from the gates and came running to-
ward the car. Some women, gay in red and yellow, lingered
behind.
" It is a village of the Rouaras, also," said Cherif. ** Will
my lady and gentlemans descend to look at it? "
** We might go through for a few moments, but we have to
reach Touggourt early, you know, to see anything of it. ' '
So Cherif led his people up through the gates and into the
town through the narrow lanes. But it was a deserted town,
and the low, mud-plastered houses all looked new. The only
inhabitants were, seemingly, the few children and women
who had rushed out to the car and still remained by it.
** This is a strange place!" exclaimed the Commander.
** Is everybody dead? "
Cherif himself was puzzled. He questioned a small boy
who trailed after the party. ** He says that this is a new
village which has been built lately by the Commandant of the
Bureau des Affaires Indigenes, and the people of a village
near, where the fever broke out, are to move here. A few
women and children are here now for a guard."
[ 262 ]
TO TOUGGOURT
It was a little after noon, when the car stopped under the
grateful shade of some palm-trees in one of the greatest and
most luxuriant oases the travellers had yet seen. The road
stretched on white but flecked with shade from the fine trees
bordering it on either side.
Cherif came to the front and spread the lunch for his peo-
ple under some splendid palms, while, as if sprung from the
earth, there appeared, but keeping at a respectful distance,
some men and small boys clad in long white garments, and
some with white burnouses. They had gentle black faces,
** They are some of the people who work in the date planta-
tions," Cherif said.
When the lunch was ended, the Other-one offered the re-
mains of the feast to these people, who came respectfully
near, eagerly took it and ate, with much apparent satisfac-
tion, the white rolls and picked at the chicken bones. One
jet-black, gaunt fellow, who seemed much pleased and inter-
ested in everything, came to offer a boiled egg which had
fallen to the ground, to the Commander, and to gaze at
the Lady's kodak with so much curiosity that she was moved
to ask his name.
** It is Abd-el-Kader and he lives near by in a gourhV*
** Then he is named after the great Abd-el-Kader, who gave
the French so much trouble and who preached the holy war.
I hope his namesake has not his fierce characteristics! ** said
the Other-one.
But this poor native seemed the most simple and gentle of
beings, so much so that the Lady felt her sympathy quite go
out to him. ** Let us give him a little ride! *' she exclaimed.
When Abd-el-Kader was made by Cherif to understand his
good fortune, he smiled with delight, though he seemed to
have some misgivings when once seated on the side of the car.
This moved slowly off, leaving the other natives a prey to the
most melancholy apprehensions, evidently. When the Com-
mander thought that he had taken Abd-el-Kader far enough,
he stopped to let him leap down, which he did with evident
relief, but, to show his lively gratitude for his ride, would
[263]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
have pressed kisses on the hands of the Commander and the
Lady, had not previous osculatory experiences taught them to
ward off tactfully such manifestations. " Poor son of the
Desert ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-one. * ' It is the event of his
life, this ride in a motor car. He will relate it to his children
and grandchildren as something marvellous.*'
As the road went on, they came at last to Cherif 's greatest
bugbear, a place where the heavy wheels of the car sunk
down in the soft sand. ** Now,'* he cried joyfully, " we
must unroll the matting ' ' ; and he leaped out to climb up
and pull it from the roof of the canopy. Adrian put on all
the power ; the car seemed to stop.
** Will Monsieur and Madame please get out, it will lighten
the car,'* he said.
So the two descended ankle deep in the sand and struggled
through it as best they could. Another pull, and, behold!
the car moved slowly, very slowly, and then came up tri-
umphantly on the harder road.
* * It 's magnificent ! ' ' declared Cherif wonderingly.
On the car went now, all rejoicing, as the guide said the
worst was over. Then appeared a cloud on the horizon, which
grew denser as they approached, and it proved to be a multi-
tude of camels, unburdened, seemingly an army of the Desert
coming on, perhaps to wreck this audacious car which dared
to invade their sacred precincts. However, they came on and
padded by on their great feet, all swaying off far to the right
as they came nearer. Trailing after the drivers of this great
great herd of camels, came several women in dark blue
dresses caught up on their breasts with huge silver pins.
Their heads were bound in red and yellow cloths. They
stopped to stare stupidly at the unusual appearance of the
car and made a picturesque sight as they ranged themselves
in a row. The Other-one at once jumped out and pointed the
kodak at them, but they stared on, apparently unalarmed,
like half-tamed, wild animals.
The scrub now became more abundant, and some stout little
plants with racemes of blue and lavender flowers pushed
[264]
TO TOUGGOURT
hardily up through the sand. It was not later than four
o'clock, when the outline of the great oasis of one hundred
and seventy thousand palms appeared, a great mass, above
the horizon.
** There is Touggourt! *' exclaimed Cherif.
** Are we really so near! It has not seemed long to-day, *'
said the Commander.
The road improved now, and the car moved on more
rapidly, while the palm-trees, the white domes and minarets
of Touggourt rose as if by magic out of the Desert, and soon
our travellers were rolling down by walls stuck full of palm
branches, by low white buildings, and crowds of Arabs, all
white too, except their legs and faces; and Adrian stopped,
at a gesture from Cherif, before a long, white, arcaded build-
ing with a sign of the * * Hotel de 1 'Oasis * ' upon it.
At once a crowd of natives packed solidly around the
motor. There was a hoarse cry, and a stout, red-faced man
in shirt sleeves pushed and struggled his way through them,
and cried out :
** Welcome! Monsieur, welcome to Touggourt! but alas!
alas ! I am covered with remorse ! I have been obliged to give
up all my fine rooms to some German and English who tele-
graphed before Monsieur: alas! but all is now arranged;
Madame and Monsieur will have so fine rooms, so clean, so
desirable, in the annex, with such dinners here, all, at the
hotel. *'
** In the annex!" exclaimed the Commander wrath fully,
when he was told this. ** I suppose that will prove to be some
Arab hut. Let us go to another hotel, at once, Cherif.'*
** But, my gentlemans, this is all the hotel there is here, we
can go to no other. ' '
** Very well, .then, we will stop at this one," returned ** the
gentlemans," resigning himself to the inevitable, with that
quickness characteristic of him.
So they went in the direction pointed out by Cherif, ac-
companied by all the natives, so that the car seemed to move
by no power of its own, but to be propelled by them to the
[265]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
stopping place. The annex proved to be a smaller edition of
the hotel, whitewashed and arcaded. Many of the natives
wished to assist in removing the baggage from the car, but
Cherif pushed them all aside in favor of a black boy with a
scarlet fez, who ran out and seized everything with a beam-
ing face, then led the way up a flight of stairs to a sort of hut
built on the flat roof of the long veranda. Here the travel-
lers found a clean little room, with the usual iron beds. Some
gay rugs and three or four vases of dusty artificial flowers
gave this a rather festive look, while from the open door and
the one casement window, they could see white domes
and minarets, green palm-trees, vivid blue sky, and the sun-
shine flooding all with a radiance unknown in the cold north-
ern clime from which the Motorists had come.
After they had removed the sand and dust from their
clothes and faces, the Commander proposed that they should
go out, as it was not yet late, and see as much of the town as
possible.
They found the city situated upon a low hill, which they
had not realized upon approaching it. The place was billow-
ing with white, cream, and coffee-colored burnouses every-
where, which, with the long white building, in fanciful Moor-
ish style, of the Bureau des Affaires Indigenes, the massive
square towers of the kasba, — all showing against a back-
ground of hundreds of palm-trees with their green fronds —
made a most fascinating picture. Cherif told his people
there was to be a fair the next day, to which crowds came,
some from the wild tribes also, down on the Desert. He took
them to the market-place, which is a great square some dis-
tance from the Hotel de I'Oasis. Here were seething masses
of natives making preparation for the great event of the
morrow. The men of the wild tribes were arriving on camels,
also laden with merchandise — the Touaregs, the Eouaras,
and others of the primitive Berbers, with their characteristic
dress ; sheep and goats were being driven in, with accompany-
ing braying donkeys, bestrode by natives. Many of the
families were making preparations for the night, spreading
[266]
TO TOUGGOURT
down rugs, or building little charcoal fires to cook the even-
ing meal. Some were already supping, squatting down in the
sand around a smoking pot of, presumably, cous-cous, in
which the men, women, and children dipped pieces of the
Arab bread or their fingers, indiscriminately. Others were
arranging piles of their merchandise — dried corn, beans,
vegetables, piles of dates, heaps of oranges, henna for the
Arab woman *s toilette, and the thousand and one other things
sold in an Oriental fair. The place was full of movement,
bustle, excitement, and there was the babble of voices, the
noise of the animals. The odor of the cooking arose and a
filmy haze of smoke hung over all. The people, intent on
what they were doing, paid little attention to the strangers
in their midst, even the small children did not run to cry for
sous, as is the habit in less unspoiled places. Here, under a
palm-tree, sat a turbaned old man, who was a story-teller,
Cherif said. A little group was gathered around him, listen-
ing with evident delight, to what he related in a high sing-
song tone, rocking himself back and forth. In many places,
men had spread their rugs for prayer and were going through
their devotions as unconcerned with the tumult and crowd
around them as they would have been in their mosques or
alone in some wilderness.
** What a strong religion it must be to absorb its believers
so, here in the midst of noise and confusion, * * said the Other-
one, ** and it is a religion certainly suited to their indolent,
sensual natures and half-smothered ferocious instincts.'*
Cherif now asked if they would not wish to see something
of the native town, so they left the fascinating kaleidoscopic
movements of the crowd in the great square and went up the
street, by the long, white, arcaded buildings and, turning in
under one of the arcades, came to a long partly covered
gallery under which was a gloom somewhat like twilight. It
was probably so built to protect those who walked there from
the intense rays of the sun in the great heat of summer. The
houses were mostly built, like all those in the Oued Rir, of
sun-dried-mud bricks, though those of the richer natives were
[267]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
of rubble, plastered over. There were numerous partition walls
under the galleries, and many bays where long seats were
attached. On these lounged natives, smoking, and many
small children played around them. There were shops, mere
holes in the walls, but many of these had the shutters up ; their
owners probably off with the crowds in the square of the fair.
Women, some wrapped in white mantles, others with their
faces bare, and clinking jewellery, scuttled by, as if trying to
escape all notice. There was no brightness of color anywhere
except in the gowns of the children. The weary travellers
trailed along after the guide, and finally came to the Grand
Mosque, which has no elegance of style. Even the minaret is
but a roughly built tower.
* ' Will my lady and gentlemans climb to the top ? There
are very few steps and the view is superb, '^ said Cherif.
After some demur from the Commander, they followed an
ancient guardian up the narrow flight of stairs and were
rewarded by a glorious view over the green oasis of one hun-
dred and seventy thousand palms, to the great Desert, spread-
ing its masses of sand away to the south. The sun was now
dropping low in the west, all the white buildings were flushed
with pink, and the reflections in the rills of water showed
distinctly.
* * Oh ! let us hasten and walk down below the village to the
sand of the real Desert, beyond those palms. We can see a
sunset on the Desert ; it will be glorious. ' '
* * Are you not satisfied with all we have done to-day ? As
for me, I am so weary I can scarcely walk to the hotel. All
the rolling and bumping of the car on the awful road; the
constant looking from side to side to view everything we
passed — has reduced me to the most apathetic state. Noth-
ing seems to me now so desirable, after my dinner, as my bed.
The most beautiful sunset in the world would have no charms
for me now ! ' '
** Very well! *' answered the Other-one. ** This is where
my perfect health comes to my aid; I will go down with
Cherif, if you have no objection.*'
[ 268 ]
TO TOUGGOURT
The Commander took his weary way to the seclusion of the
annex, while the Lady walked rapidly away with Cherif,
down across the square and away from the larger square
where the preparations for to-morrow's fair were going on.
They passed the fine Moorish building of the Bureau des
Affaires Indigenes, with its row of graceful pepper-trees in
front ; past the fountain, near which were some small natives
sprawling in the sand, greedily eating their supper. As the
Lady drew near, she glanced to see what this might consist of
and discovered that all they each had was a great handful of
the dried locusts, which they were eating with the greatest
gusto, while a great heap of legs and wings lay on the ground
before each boy. The road straggled away down to where
the sand-dunes arose, and, after some walking, one could see,
stretching to the horizon line, an ocean of yellow sand. The
houses and the palm-trees were left behind ; only a stray tree
or two could be seen here and there, as if they had wandered
away from the great plantations and were lost ir the billows
of sand. The noise from the village came faintly on the air.
The low tents of the nomads cropped up here and there, like
strange plants growing in the sand ; a straight line of smoke
arose from them in the motionless hot air. Camels and
donkeys were feeding near them, while long trains of other
camels were swaying in from the distance. There were
groups of the nomads seated on the sand, gathered around
their evening meal. The Lady walked on silently over the
sand with Cherif. She had said to him: *' Take me down
where it is still, that I may see the sun set where it is tranquil
and there is nothing to disturb me.**
So on they went for some time, then rounded a mound of
sand which shut away all behind them, and she saw the sand
before her surging away to the sky line. The sun was now
hastening down the west, and soon, a great ball of fire, it
reached the horizon line, where it seemed to pause, as if re-
luctant to bid the earth good-night, then dropped slowly,
slowly, and was gone, leaving the sky stained a pale rose.
Everything seemed to have come to an end for a few mo-
[269]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ments. Then, suddenly, the sky flamed up from its rose tints
to a deep and vivid pomegranate color, which mounted up
and up to melt into a soft green, then to orange, paling to
amber, and at last fading away into the blue of the zenith.
Long waves of rose crept around to the north and south and
stained the sky in the east. A cluster of palms stood up,
black, against the vivid color, and some pools of water, to the
left of them, looked like lakes of melted rubies, and gave back
reflections of the trees. The Other-one drew in her breath
sharply. The glor;- of it all, the color, the sight of undulat-
ing stretches of that mysterious, illimitable Desert, with its
strange life, its unconquered wastes, all gave a sensation that
one has but few times in life, a sense of the mystery that
underlies everything in nature, and there are no words
that can describe this feeling.
Cherif was the most sympathetic of guides. He stood still
as if carved from stone, until, at a sign from his lady, he
turned and went up again with her, across the square with
the fountain to the hotel. The color had not yet entirely
faded out of the sky, and it was light enough to see the groups
in front of it. Approaching near, the Other-one was sur-
prised to see the Commander in animated conversation with
a tall, bronzed man of pleasing appearance. The Command-
er 's face was bright ; his cheerful laugh rang out on the even-
ing air, and there w^as an alertness in his manner, a briskness,
that was as far from the fatigue he had shown before as one
could well imagine. Could this brilliant and animated man
be the one that the Lady had left but half an hpur ago, pale
and drooping with weariness? She cast at him a look of re-
proach, that he should have left her to see that glorious
Desert scene alone! He had the grace to look somewhat
foolish when he saw her, but hastened to say:
*' I am glad you have come. I wish to present you to this
gentleman from London, Mr. Stevens. He is a great travel-
ler, though not by automobile — and I have greatly enjoyed
this conversation with him.'*
The Lady acknowledged the polite bow of the Englishman,
[ 270 ]
TO TOUGGOURT
meet the motor. As he drew near, they saw it was Abd-el-
Kader, a smile of joy irradiating his face. When the party
had alighted and Cherif was undoing the luncheon, the
native drew near the Lady, and putting his hand in the breast
of his white, half-long garment, pulled out half a dozen fresh
eggs and a bottle of milk and hesitatingly offered them to her.
* * The dear savage ! * * she exclaimed. * * He is the gentlest
and most grateful of creatures! We gave him food and a
ride yesterday, and he has been in wait to return the kind-
ness to-day. Now we shall have milk for our coffee to-morrow
morning at Mraier, thanks to Abd-el-Kader. * *
When the repast was at an end and the remains were
gathered up and given to the natives, they sat down with
manifestations of delight and fell at once upon the feast, —
all but Abd-el-Kader, who stood apart and eyed mournfully
Adrian's preparations for departure.
** Do give the poor soul another ride; he is heartbroken
to have us go! *' begged the Lady.
* * No ! * * said the Commander. * * We are in haste ; the car
has been taxed to the utmost to-day, and I do not want to
add his weight, even for a short ride ; besides, it would make
him more discontented.*'
The last they saw of Abd-el-Kader, he was gazing after
them sadly; then the green oasis grew dimmer and dimmer,
and at last it disappeared in the distance, and again a wide
expanse of sand spread before them.
It was some time before sundown that afternoon when the
car rolled under the gate in the walls of the caravansary at
Mraier. There was visible excitement everywhere. A crowd
of Arabs hovered around the entrance, and in the courtyard
also, many natives were standing around or squatting on the
ground, so that Adrian was obliged to move the car care-
fully to the place where it was to stand for the night. The
travellers were somewhat surprised to see, seated at a table
on the opposite side, the gallant figure of the Commandant
whom they had encountered on the desert the day before.
Near him was seated a man, evidently a kaid, from his fine
[273]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
dress and distinguished bearing. There were writing ma-
terials on the table and another native in a blue embroidered
Arab suit and voluminous haik flowing over his shoulders
stood respectfully near, evidently acting in the capacity of an
interpreter. Some of the Arabs standing near were arrayed
in fine burnouses and snowy hdiks and were evidently also
important persons. Many more common-looking natives,
their burnouses of dirty coffee-colored rags wrapped closely
around them, were crouched around on the ground.
After the Lady had refreshed herself with a short rest in
her cool little cell of a bedroom, she took her kodak and went
out into the courtyard. The Commander had already gone
out to hover anxiously over his beloved automobile and to
ask a hundred questions of Adrian, in order to be assured
that no injury had happened to it in its rough work over the
poor road. The Other-one looked for a chance to snap up the
fascinating coterie of natives there. Having slyly, and with
some difficulty, accomplished this, unseen, she wandered out
through the open gate, hoping, though it was getting late, for
further opportunities. She walked on for some distance, but
found nothing but a stretch of sand, some palm-trees and the
distant native villages, too far away to give good results,
even with an old man in the foreground driving a diminutive
donkey with pigskins full of water hanging on either side of
it. Disappointed, she turned to retrace her steps, when she
saw, coming toward her, a most splendid-looking kaid, one
she had especially noticed in the courtyard for his fine pale
blue burnous, his snowy haik and hose, his beautiful patent-
leather pumps, and his soft, silky, black beard. As he drew
near, he fixed his fine eyes upon her and smiled in the most
engaging manner. The Other-one felt her heart throb with
fear. There was no one around but the old Arab, who seemed
to be both blind and deaf. What could this magnificent kaid
want of her ? She had no beauty to grace his harem, and her
hair was gray. A cry rose to her lips and she turned, with
trembling limbs, to run for the caravansary gate, when she
[274] „
TO TOUGGOURT
heard a shout, and behold, the omnipresent Cherif was gal-
loping toward her. Never was a \nAng more welcome!
*' Let us go at once back to the inn ! ' ' she exclaimed.
* * Oh ! ray lady, here is the kaid of one of the tribes near
[and here Cherif gave an unwritable name]. He saw my
lady taking photographs, and he wishes her to take his, and
also his camel which is off there. The kaid willi be so, so
happy.*'
Never was fear changed so quickly to joy. Hastily the
Other-one prepared her kodak, charmed to have so pictur-
esque a subject. The kaid then posed like a statue, his bur-
nous falling in graceful folds around him and his hands
placed stiffly in front of him, in imitation of what he must
have seen in snino provincinl French photograph. When the
Lady had taki n liim tlie kaid clapped his hands. Two natives
appeared quickly from behind a clump of palms, and drove
up the great mehari, or camel, beautifully caparisoned. After
the beast had been made to lie down, which he did with much
bubbling and spiteful protestation, the kaid mounted to his
seat, making a majestic-looking figure, and the Lady, with the
utmost joy, pointed the camera at him. Then there was a
polite exchange of compliments and thanks; her card given
and the kaid's name written down by Cherif.
(And here it may be related, in parenthesis, that when the
Lady went to Paris some months later, she caused to be made
an enlarged photograph of the kaid and his camel, and sent
it to the landlord at Mraier, requesting him to hunt up the
kaid and present it with her compliments. Some time after-
ward, when she had almost forgotten the circumstance, there
came a letter from the landlord, saying that the kaid had
that day come to the caravansary and had been presented
with the photograph, with which he was delighted; so much
80, that he wished to send the gracious lady a case of the far-
famed Sahara dates, provided she would forward her ad-
dress ** plainly written.'* It is needless to add that this was
done, and the dates which came merited well their fame. )
[275
A MOTOR FLIGHT
While the Other-one was preparing for dinner as well as
she was able in their little cell, before a diminutive mirror,
she related to the Commander her adventure.
The Commander laughed heartily. '* You are alto-
gether too romantic to travel well ! " he exclaimed. ' ' You
are always letting your imagination run away with you and
making mountains out of molehills. If you would not read
so many novels, and would come to view things in a plain,
common-sense manner, you would be much happier.'*
** I get a lot of fun out of my imaginings, at any rate.''
** I can't see where the fun comes in — being frightened
half to death on your travels whenever something a little out
of the ordinary occurs," said the Commander, dryly.
' ' You are not a woman, ' ' returned the Other-one, * ' and
you do not understand! "
When they went into the little dining-room that evening,
they found the Commandant of the Department seated at the
head of the table with two gentlepien and a lady near him,
who had arrived by the stage from Biskra. Here was the
genial Mr. Stevens, also, who had gotten in, he informed them,
just a few minutes before. He greeted them like an old
friend, saying, ' ' And a beastly ride it was over a most ex-
traordinarily bad road, and I had to rise at an uncommonly
early hour; then being thrown about all day in that coach,
you know, was very annoying." The good-hearted Comman-
der hastened to say, ' ' You must certainly go back in our
automobile with us to Biskra. You will find it an improve-
ment on the stage, and you may sleep until seven in the morn-
ing." The Englishman protested; such an extraordinarily
kind offer, he could not accept, but finally he succumbed to
the insistence of the Commander.
The two men fell into a mutually interesting conversation,
while the Other-one turned her attention to the handsome
bronzed soldier at the head of the table. The people seated
near him were evidently newcomers in Algeria, and were in-
telligently questioning him as to the state of affairs in this
country. The officer was answering them with apparent
[276]
TO TOUGGOURT
pleasure. The sad and weary look had gone out of his face
and his eyes sparkled with animation. This is, in substance,
what he told them, in answer to the various questions put to
him.
** It is true that the road from Biskra to Touggourt is very
bad. It is no made road in fact, just a camel trail used by
the stage ; elsewhere, all through Algeria you will find excel-
lent military roads. In this country, as in Tunisia, our army
has paved the way to civilization by making roads across the
plains and over the mountains. We plant trees, dig wells,
and are soon followed by telegraph lines and post-offices, then
by schools. From 1834 to 1870, Algeria was entirely under
military rule. After a time a civil governor was appointed
to administer the affairs of the colony, though only in settled
districts. The Sahara, here, is yet under military rule. Al-
geria is divided into three departments or provinces ; Algiers,
Oran, and Constantine, administered by a Prefect, but always
under the authority of the Governor-General, who is also as-
sisted by a Ck)uncil of Government, composed of the principal
civil and military authorities. Algeria sends three senators
and six deputies to the National Assembly. The mediation
between the native chiefs and the Government authori-
ties is carried on by what was once called the Bureaux
Arahes; now, the Service des Affaires Indigenes. It is com-
posed of officers who have been long trained in Algeria, and
who come between the Commandants and the native chiefs.
It judges, collects taxes, collects revenue, and watches all the
politics of the districts; trains the Arab, advises the Com-
mandant, and crushes the first sign of an outbreak. When
our army marches, a Bureau Arabe goes with it. We should
be proud of this splendidly organized system and of the wise
policy of France toward her colonies, which has been the
most successful policy, even more than that of any other na-
tion toward their colonies.
** Our country has realized the value of cooperation in-
stead of coercion, therefore the kaids and sheiks, who have
always exacted obedience from their tribes and are the recog-
[277]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
nized heads of them, — the sub-religious heads, — were made
the mediators between the Commandants and the tribes and
became practically prefects, councillors, and judges. These
kaids of Algeria, and Tunisia also, to whom our country gave
so much complimentary power, contributed in cash, in 1890,
the sum of sixteen million francs which they had collected
from their tribes, and which may originally have been paid to
the kaid; here a quintal of wheat, there a half-dozen sheep,
or a few hundred kilos of dates. These kaids and sheiks are
paid less, as a matter of course, than our countrymen would
be, if used as emissaries of the civil control. They even have
much greater authority, backed by our country, with their
own people. It is probable they put something in their own
pockets in the transaction; but what will you? " said the
officer with a most expressive shrug. ** These are sometimes
quite wonderful men, speaking and writing French perfectly ;
often having many decorations, even the Grand Cross of the
Legion of Honour. ,
'* Our military force in Algeria constitutes the Nineteenth
Corps d'armee of France; in time of war it can be divided
in two and serve in Europe. It consists of four regiments of
zouaves or chasseurs d'Afriqiie, three regiments of Tirailleurs
Indigenes (sharpshooters), six battalions of chasseurs
a pied; three battalions of the light infantry of
Africa; and one foreign legion; in all fifty-three battal-
ions of infantry, three regiments of spahis (native cavalry),
and sixteen batteries. These forces, in all, amount to about
sixty thousand men. Frenchmen born in the country are
obliged to serve only one year instead of the longer period
at home. Of this force the strictly local and native forces
are the Tirailleurs Indigenes and the spahis.
*' There are also our native men on the Desert, excellent
scouts, called Goums. Each kaid of a tribe is obliged to
furnish a certain number of able-bodied men when our Gov-
ernment needs them, so they furnish these Goums who are
fighters of the open country. They are versed in many things
in warfare of which the soldier of the garrison knows noth-
[278]
TO TOUGGOURT
ing. They are a sort of savage soldiery, but they are very
useful to us. Our regular soldiers have to get acclimated,
when fighting in a new country, but the Goum of the South
Sahara can go to work at once effectively. These natives
are volunteers and serve without salary, only getting muni-
tions of war and food from the Government. They furnish
even their own horses and guns. The Goum would rather
fight than do anything else. To furnish these is a duty, there-
fore, which the kaids owe to our Government for the protec-
tion it affords each individual tribe.'*
The officer paused for a while and a sad look came into his
eyes. Then he resumed:
** Now there is a demand that the civil government should
be extended. But I feel that the service of our army should
never be overlooked. Its results are shown in the great
works carried out everywhere by it. After the conquest it
pacified the country and gave the best administration it could
under the circumstances. Even now, civil government is
practical only in those districts entirely pacified or where
there is a large European element.
* * What has our grand country not done for the natives of
Algeria ! She has freed them from the bondage of their cruel
taskmasters, the Turks : she has given them regular labor in
vineyards, date plantations, orange groves, railways, ship-
yards, and a thousand other things in commercial lines. She
has given them police, sanitation, and a certain civilization,
as far as their religion will allow them to accept it. She has
given them courts of law where all their grievances can be
remedied without bribes to corrupt sheiks. She has caused
their property to be secured to them by the efforts of our
Service des Affaires Indigenes, and, with all else, the dis-
putes between rival tribes are settled. All this has cost
France hundreds of millions of francs. Let us drink to our
wonderful country — la belle France! *' and the officer raised
his glass of wine high in the air, then quaffed it to the bot-
tom. The others followed suit.
The Other-one had listened with the greatest interest, and
[279 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
now felt like saying ' ' Hurrah ! ' * She had been conscious of
the other men only by the hum of their low-toned conversa-
tion. She was now aware that they were getting very sleepy,
for they were yawning heavily, so she arose and bade all
good-night. The Frenchman arose also, bowing politely. She
followed the Commander out of the room, regretting she must
lose any of the gallant soldier's interesting talk.
About three o 'clock the next morning, she heard the stage
rumbling away, and the Commander murmured sleepily,
' ' Thank heaven ! poor Mr. Stevens is not being rattled off
in that torture wagon ! "
Wlien they came out of the little dining-room the next
morning, ready for departure, the Other-one remarked that
the coffee was really excellent with the good milk given them
by the gentle Abd-el-Kader.
* * Well, ' ' exclaimed the Commander, as he climbed into the
car, * * that makes the fifth kind of milk I have had in my
life."
'* Fifth kind of milk," echoed the Other-one. ** What do
you mean ? ' '
* ' Well ! " he returned, * ' I began with mother 's milk, then
I had cow's milk, and later goat's milk. Once in New Mex-
ico, I drank sheep's milk; but I never had camel's milk until
this morning. ' '
* * Camel 's milk ! ' ' cried the lady in disgust. * ' Was that
what Abd-el-Kader gave us? Why did you not tell me? I
could not have touched a drop ! '
The party now set sail again upon the vast Desert, and
soon the outlines of the caravansary were blurred in the dis-
tance, and then the palms of Mra'ier faded away. The Other-
one felt as though they had cast off from a friendly island
and now they were afloat on a wide sea. Once, some strange
objects appeared moving off in the distance before them. No
One could make out what they might be, they were of such
curious shape and appearance; and, as the car drew nearer,
they looked like grotesque marine monsters. They proved to
be a train of camels laden with great drain-pipes hanging on
[ 280 ]
TO TOUGGOURT
each side of them, probably destined for some date plantation.
Now they saw the crystals shimmering on the borders of the
Chott Merouan, a prolongation of the great one of Melrir.
Mr. Stevens had been reading up on the Desert, and this
is, briefly, what he told : * ' The Chott Melrir occupies a depres-
sion in the Sahara lower than the sea, and the water in the
gypseous soil is Salter than it. The water has no great depth ;
in spring and summer it is covered with crystals owing to
evaporation, so that the eye can scarcely distinguish where the
water ends and the crystals begin, as you see there. People
generally believe that the Sahara is entirely a great plain of
moving sand with flourishing oases here and there, when, in
fact, there is more clay and rock than sand. There are two
very distinct regions in the Sahara, the Upper and the Lower.
The Upper Sahara is a vast depression of sand and clay
stretching east to Tunis; the Lower, a rocky plateau extend-
ing west almost to Morocco. We pass through great depres-
sions which the sirocco has filled with yellow sand which we
see stretching away for miles. The road passes through this,
then comes up again to the clay and rock.'*
At noon, the party stopped at a small oasis, and Cherif
brought forth, triumphantly, an unexpectedly good luncheon,
for which hi* must liave foraged both in Touggourt and
Mraier; and he much enjoyed the appreciation of his party.
Then he retired to a respectful distance to feed upon Arab
bread and the dried locusts, of which he seemed to have a
plentiful supply.
Early in the day the car passed the creaking stage, whose
weary passengers stared enviously at the Motorists, as they
sped by. The faint outlines of the Aures Mountains became
visible, a rosy mist on the horizon, then they grew more dis-
tinct in beautiful tints of pale mauve, soft rose, and heavenly
blue in the clefts, a haze over all like a thin veil, which made
their coloring marvellously beautiful. And the car bounded
and creaked over the bad road, but Mr. Stevens seemed to
consider it a cradle of ease and luxury.
Just before sunset they rolled under the palms of the
[281]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
streets of Biskra and came to a stop at the entrance-way of
the long white hotel where a crowd of Biskrans sprung, as if
by magic, from the ground, to crowd around the motor. The
Desert trip was over and the Other-one was sorry — and so
was Cherif.
[282]
CHAPTER XIX
AWAY FROM BISKRA: A DAY OP DISASTERS IN THE DESERT
THE next day, after the return from the Desert, our
Motorists spent in wandering through Biskra and in
seeing again those places which had most interested and fas-
cinated them.
In the hot afternoon they went again to saunter through
the avenues of the Landon garden, under the delicious shade
of the palms, and to refresh themselves with the sound of
the running water and the warble of the birds hidden in the
foliage of the trees. They sat down on the parapet wall
again and looked across the Desert shimmering in the warm
sun, to the green oases and to the far Aures, the opaline tints
on their flanks and summits, and the divine, ethereal blue in
their clefts.
The Commander unfolded his plan for the next few days.
They would go the following day to El Kantara, a matter of
something over two hours, for luncheon, and on to Timgad
for the night, arriving early enough to see the ruins once
more. They would branch off at Khenchella and go by an
interesting route and good road to Hammam Meskoutine,
where are wonderful petrified springs, then to Bone on the
sea ; thence by La Calle, — also on the sea, to Tunis.
** It will be a glorious trip,** he said.
There is a flat roof on the long white Moorish hotel at Bis-
kra, where its guests who are wise go up to see the sunset.
Of course our travellers went there to watch the glory of the
sky after the sun had dropped in the west, a great ball of
fire. Then came the afterglow, when the sky changed from
amber and gold to the color of the pomegranate, while, up
in the zenith this color melted to soft, deep blue; then the
splendor faded suddenly away, leavihg the sky a deep, dark
[283]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
blue, and the brilliant stars came out almost undimmed by
the splendor of the moon rising in the east. The evening
breeze swayed the palms, and the houses showed white
beneath them where the moonlight sifted through. The
sounds from the town came up softened; the wail of plain-
tive music, the rhythmic beat of the derhoukas, the murmur
of voices, punctuated with the braying of donkeys, the snarl
of the camels in their fondouks, and the barking of the dogs
in the village negre. Away to the south beyond the palms,
our travellers knew, stretched the boundless Desert, which
they had only penetrated far enough to long to go farther
into its mysterious, silent spaces.
Off the next morning, from Biskra, whose palms the Other-
one saw fading away with regret; yet she was stirred with
the thought of scenes to come even more Oriental than those
she left behind. Usually very provident with a store of
mineral water and biscuits for possible delays on the route,
the Commander, this time, had trusted to arriving at El
Kantara in good time for luncheon at the clean little hotel
there; so he carried not even a bottle of water. *^ We need
nothing on this trip, ' ' he said to the Other-one ; * * with Adrian
and this car we may plan to arrive anywhere at a certain
hour and we never fail to get there on time.^*
The car went smoothly across the sandy plains after leav-
ing Biskra* Going up the Col de Sfa a train of camels was
passed, moving slowly along; a company of nomads were
evidently on the march seeking new places for their tents.
The camels were laden with tents and poles ; some with great
panniers full of all sort of nondescript things; babies and
women perched on them, swaying with the motion of the
beasts, and looking as if they might tumble off at any moment.
Wild-eyed, swarthy men drove the camels along; wretched-
looking donkeys, also laden, and gaunt yellow dogs trailed
behind. It was a characteristic scene, one which the travel-
lers often saw on the road. All this strange nomad life,
always intensely fascinating, was what made the journey
through this country so interesting, in spite of the lack many
[284]
AWAY FROM BISKRA
times of comfortable and cleanly inns, and having to endure
other minor discomforts.
Approaching the strange vehicle, the camels became fright-
ened and began to snarl and back away, shaking the bur-
dens on their backs in an alarming manner and setting the
women and babies to screaming. The wild-looking men ran,
brandishing their sticks and uttering harsh cries, while the
donkeys brayed and the dogs howled. It was pandemonium
for a few moments, but Adrian got his car out of the tumult
quickly and the nomads were soon left far behind. The
motor hummed on across the Desert; hills of rock and sand
arose at the left ; the great mountains gradually closed around
in the distance ahead ; and the plain of golden sand stretched
away to the right, dotted with patches of pale green — the
small barley fields of the nomads, the black spots which were
their tents looking like strange vegetable growths.
The road now led up a low hill of rock and sand, and then
came down again to the plain ; but the car was moving slowly,
and when it was down on the level again, it suddenly gave a
lurch forward; there was a grinding noise, then the motor
stopped, and no effort of Adrian *s could move it an inch.
He sprang out and began to investigate, taking off the hood
and testing the magneto, examining the spark plugs and look-
ing to everything that an experienced chauffeur examines
when his car is refractory; so little a cause will prevent it
from working and reduce it to helplessness. ** I am afraid,
sir, that something vital is the matter; she has not done her
best this morning. I have felt it ever since we started,*'
said the chauffeur, anxiously. ** I think it may be in the gear
box; I shall have to take everything to pieces to find the
trouble. '*
** Get to work, then, quick! '* ordered the Commander de-
cisively, jumping out in his turn.
So the car was emptied of everything, and the Lady seated
herself on a bundle and felt, she said ** like Marius before
the ruins of Carthage/' The chauffeur was soon up to his
elbows in grease, while the good-hearted Commander hov-
[285]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ered anxiously around, helping whenever it was possible,
getting himself more greasy and soiled, even, than the chauf-
feur. When the two had worked in anxious silence for what
seemed to the lady an interminable time, Adrian cleared the
gear box of all the grease, then he looked at the Commander
gravely.
* ' It is a most unusual thing, sir ; one of the wheels has
slipped from its place in the gear box.*'
**What shall we do?*' cried the Commander, in despair,
* * way off here on the Desert ! We can get no teams to pull
us back to Biskra ! ' '
' ' I can fix it myself, ' * said the resourceful chauffeur, * ' but
it is a long job. It will take all day."
** And we have nothing to eat or drink, and no way to get
anything! Nothing in sight but those nomad tents, far off
there on the plain."
Adrian did not stop to listen to what the Commander was
saying, but began at once his labor of repairing the damage.
Meantime the Other-one had resigned herself to her fate and
was trying to extract what interest and amusement she could
out of the surroundings. She looked afar across the plain,
broken here and there by low sandy hills. She could see
the black spots of the nomad tents, the strips of pale green
of their little plots of barley, the intense blue of the sky, the
golden and gray sand of the hills, the gray, too, of the low-
growing furze, the blue-green of the scrub, and there were
subtle half-tones that would have fascinated an artist. It
was all so still, since the car had stopped; no sound but the
low voices, now and then, of the Commander and the patient
chauffeur. The sun shone down with a tropical intensity.
An hour or two had gone by, when the camels and nomads
they had passed in the morning came in sight and straggled
slowly by, far at one side. The moving nomads were probably
entirely satisfied with their mode of conveyance when they
saw the car, still, with all its baggage strewn around it.
It was not long, now, before Bedouins from the distant
tents began to come up in small groups, eying, with looks of
[286]
AWAY FROM BISKRA
wonder, the broken-down car and the strange beings around
it. The dark-skinned men, wrapped in rags of burnouses,
jabbered in their harsh gutturals. The women wore equally
filthy rags, drawn up over their shoulders, but they had some
wisps of blue or red cloth bound over their heads, and wore
crude necklaces of silver pieces around their necks and rudely
fashioned anklets jingling around their bare brown ankles.
Some of them bore little wizened babies, almost nude ; while
older children, wrapped, too, in rags, hovered around their
mothers or made sudden sallies toward the car and fled with
shrieks of fear when the Commander blew the horn. Among
these little brown nomads was one really chubby child, the
only one among them all who had the slightest claim to even
good looks. Her little round brown eyes looked out good-
naturedly from the swathing of rags around her head. The
Other-one had been gazing off on the Desert and sometimes
toward the distant filmy mountains at the north, revelling in
all the unusual coloring, so soft and ethereal, of the Desert's
palette. She now turned her attention to study these strange
beings, so far outside her world in everything that was her
life. She felt drawn at once to the funny, chubby, little mite ;
she longed to seize her, wash her, comb her hair, and dress her
in decent clothes. The little creature was at once responsive to
the evident interest she excited in the lady. She drew shyly
near, smiled up in a most engaging way, and, from a little,
much discolored sheepskin bag she held in her hand, she drew
out a half-dozen boiled lentils and proffered them to the lady,
as one in her station of life would have proffered her a bunch
of glorious roses. The round eyes of the little nomad lighted up
with the joy of a new and agreeable experience, and she drew
still nearer, but the Other-one, for obvious reasons, was not
disposed to admit the little creature to too close an intimacy,
fascinating as was her chubby personality. The Lady rose
from her seat, attracting the attention of all the brown,
bedraggled women, and they came quickly nearer, but the
men were wholly absorbed in gazing at the car. She looked
at all the crowd of unsavory women around her. What mis-
[287]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
erable, pitiful, meagre, half-fed, ragged creatures they were,
— the poorest, by their looks, of all God's creatures! The
women and children were now pressing unpleasantly close;
she gave a loud cry and gesticulated wildly toward the car,
and then they turned and ran toward it and evidently for-
got her existence in a few moments.
She slipped hastily away and climbed over a sandy mound
covered scantily with scrub, at a little distance off from the
road. Once over, she was well hidden from the crowd, and
she was much surprised to see, at some rods farther on, three
or four tents spread out on the sand. Now was her oppor-
tunity to look into these, as she had often wished for a chance.
She could not be seen by the people round the motor and
there was no one evidently in, or near, the tents. She walked
up to the first tent, stretched out on short poles, a ragged
brown, black, and white striped camel's-hair cloth, which
tent cloth the nomad women themselves weave in the open
air, on rude looms. The tent wa^ so low that only a very
short person could stand upright in it. The flaps were pushed
far back, and she could see the whole interior; some dried
bunch grass was strewed around and there was an assortment
of most filthy rags at the back, evidently the beds of the fam-
ily. In front, some pots and pans of pottery discolored by
the smoke, a cracked jar of lentils, some dusty dates in a
small basket, and a mill, like that of all primitive people,
consisting of two round stones, the upper with a hole to hold
the stick by which it could be turned on the under stone
which is hollowed out; and thus they grind their grain. A
flat basket of barley lay near, containing a few cupfuls.
There were some other rudely fashioned dishes, one or two
being pierced with holes and black with dirt and grease.
They were probably for cooking the cous-cous, the universal
dish of the rich and the poor in this country.
The interior of the tent was so uninviting, that the Other-
one concluded not to enter, but walked on to survey a smaller
tent close by. She had scarcely come near it, when a gaunt
yellow and white dog sprang from it, barking fiercely, evi-
[ 288 ]
AWAY FROM BISKRA
dently; the guardian of the tents around. The Lady turned
in great alarm to fly up the hill, but she saw the women and
children running down it. They had discovered her where-
abouts and were coming to do the honors of their homes, for
here was probably where they had their abiding-place for
the time. They came up and surrounded her, chattering vol-
ubly in their harsh jargon. They had her now, and it seemed
they intended to make the most of the opportunity. They
drew still closer, picked at her watch, her rings, pulled up
the skirt of her dress, and one old wrinkled crone with blear
eyes tried to pull it off. Another knelt to scratch at her shoes,
while a weazened younger woman attempted to jerk off her
hat, and succeeded in tearing off the veil attached to it.
Taking advantage of a scrabble for the possession of the veil,
the Lady rushed away from her tormentors and ran over the
hill to the car, where she arrived panting, the whole crew
clamoring after. ** Her ruling passion strong in death,** she
turned to snap some of them with her kodak.
** Where have you been? '' asked the perspiring and greasy
Commander, looking up from his work. ** You should not
go off alone like that ; but have you found anything for us to
eat, or any water! We are hungry as wolves, and parched
with thirst.*'
** If you could see the tents where I have been, you would
not ask that. As to water, the nomads must have it some-
where, but if they should bring it in their dirty pots or pig-
skins, you would not dare to drink it, you have such a holy
horror of microbes."
So the long day wore on. All the plain stretching away
was shimmering in heat. The sky was pitiless in its vivid
blue. Not a cloud came to veil the hot rays of the sun. The.
nomads came and went; they seemed to have an unfailing
interest in all the proceedings. The Other-one could not see
that theJ poor little half-clad children had had anything to
eat but a few cold boiled lentils, of which the little chubby
one seemed to have the most. She was the gourmand of the
party, which accounted for her chubbiness, probably.
[289]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
At length, when the afternoon was waning, Adrian
announced that the car was in order. The weary travellers
were soon on their way, and the great gash of El Kantara was
before them, with the tortured, twisted, ochreous rocks ris-
ing high on each side, while the Oued Kantara boiled under
the Roman bridge. The sky was now gray, the rocks and the
mountains gray too, and the wind was blowing the dust of
the road into whirlpools. They seemed to have left the land
of sunshine and suave breezes behind them.
Hungry and thirsty, the Motorists descended at the little
hotel, where they hoped for a clean and comfortable luncheon,
from their experience when going south. The Other-one
rushed into the cool little dining-room, which had a festive
air, with many little tables set with clean white cloths,
delighting her soul with the thoughts of a delicious supper.
When she ordered — to be brought at once — a delectable
meal, the patronne, who was giving some orders to the wor-
ried-looking waiter, seemed quite offended. It was quite
impossible, she declared ; the dinner was now being prepared
and would be ready in an hour and a half; Madame must
wait until then. The Commander was wroth indeed, but this
only complicated matters. However, after some pressure
being brought to bear on the patronne, and a good fee
slipped in the hands of the meek waiter, he produced some
scraps of cold ham, a loaf or two of dried bread, some withered
oranges, and a handful of dusty dates. With these the hun-
gry party were fain to content themselves, but looked eagerly
forward to a hot supper at Batna, a distance of only seventy
kilometres.
When the Commander went out, he found the weary Adrian
pumping up a tire, which had suddenly gone flat, while they
were at supper. * * Another delay, ' ' grumbled the Com-
mander. '* This is most unfortunate. Shall we ever get to
Batna? And I fully expected to be in Timgad for the
night! "
As they rolled away from the inhospitable inn, a fine driz-
zling rain began, which puffs of wind drove into the car,
[ 290 ]
AWAY FROM BISKRA
wetting them all in spite of the sheltering curtains having
been lowered, — adding another misery to those already
endured. The night had now dropped down, and the motor
hummed on, the road showing white under the blaze of the
lamps, with the black shadows of trees or rocks thrown across
it now and then. The party had been silent for a long time ;
there was no sound but that of the throbbing engine, when
suddenly a loud report startled everybody. * * It 's a tire
burst,** exclaimed the chauffeur phlegmatically, and got out
in the pouring rain, working patiently to replace the tire —
an hour's work. On again for four or five kilometres more,
then crack! another tire went.
** It *8 the last one we have left, — the one I must put on,**
said Adrian wearily. The Commander was too tired to
exclaim.
A dire fate was certainly pursuing them. It was over an
hour's slow work. When they were moving on again, the
lights in front of the car were burning dimly; the shadows
grew blacker across the road; deep ravines seemed to open
before; great black gulfs stretched on each side of the way.
Then the lamps went out ; all was plunged into pitchy dark-
ness, and the rain and wind increased.
* * We must stay here all night ! * * exclaimed the Com-
mander, but Adrian got silently out and worked at the genera-
tor by the light of the small oil-lamps, which had only seemed
for ornament heretofore, in front of the car. At length, how-
ever, he found his efforts useless, and they were forced to
proceed very slowly and carefully by the feeble light the
small lamps gave intermittently, for the wind blew them out
several times.
It was past midnight when the weary party came into
Batna and descended at the small hotel on the main street,
which had been recommended to them. Tired, famished,
parched with thirst, wet through from the falling rain, they
waited at the entrance, while a cross porter opened the big
door.
** What do you want this time of night?** he growled.
[291]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** Supper quickly, and rooms/' cried Adrian.
** At this hour of midnight! It is not possible! '' and he
was about to slam the door in their faces.
Then the Commander rose in his might. He pushed the
door sharply open, pointed upstairs and said sternly, '* Go
and tell the manager to come down at once ! ' '
The dazed porter comprehended and fled up the stair-
case, and after what seemed an age, he came back and said
sulkily, ** There are but two beds left in the house. These
you can have ; but supper, no ! ' '
As the Other-one crawled, with aching bones, into her hard
bed, supperless and unutterably weary, she murmured,
** Automobiling, even in sunny Africa, is not all joy!''
[292]
CHAPTER XX
TO TUNIS BY BONE AND LA CALLE; WITH A VISIT TO HAM MAM
MESKOUTINE AND TO THE RUINS OP BULLA REGIA AND DOUGGA.
THE next morning, all were refreshed by a night *s sleep,
and the Commander unfolded his plans for the next few
days* campaign to the Other-one, while they were taking their
coffee.
** I had thought of going more directly to Tunis from here,
by Souk-Ahres; for it is said the road is pretty good and
the mountain scenery grand ; but now, I have decided to visit
the petrified springs of Hamraam Meskoutine first, and to go
by Bone and La Calle to Tunis,** said he.
So they were off after luncheon that day, going to Tiragad
only for the night, a matter of thirty-seven kilometres only.
They wished for a last look at the interesting ruins of the
ancient Thamugadi and they went to see them by the light of
the setting sun. Great banks of gilded clouds were piled up
in the western sky. The Two sat down on the highest part of
the ruined theatre. Again they looked over the forests of
columns and the great Arch of Trajan, golden in the late after-
noon sun and seeming more majestic than ever. At the south-
east the highest peak of the Aurls — Chelia — was a deep
blue from the cloud shadows ; while a high peak of the Batna
Mountains shot up like a misty arrow against a vivid amber
sky which showed through a wide rift in the clouds at the
west.
The Other-one looked at the Aures Mountains with a regret-
ful sigh.
** Biskra and the Desert lie far down beyond them,'* she
said.
There was a clear blue sky, except for a few trailing clouds
across the mountains, when they left Timgad at the foot of
[293]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the Aures. The air was crystal clear from dust, and the
larks were rising everywhere on the plains with liquid
trills. It was a day to be glad that one was alive and bowl-
ing over fine roads in a smoothly running car. The Aures,
at the right, were streaked with snow and seemed a stern,
imposing range, so much sterner seen on their northern
slopes than when viewed from Biskra, afar, with their south-
ern slopes bathed in soft and melting tints. The Other-one
would not, at first, believe them to be the same range, but
the Commander, with his maps and his unfailing sense of
direction, convinced her much against her will. Afar, on
the wide plains crossed by the road, the nomad's patches of
barley showed, a pale green, here in this northern clime, as
compared with the rich tints of their cultivation in the
Desert. The picturesque, red-striped tents of the Heracta
— the tribe peopling this part — dotted th^ plain, and their
flocks and herds, tended by their shepherds, gave a peace-
ful and pastoral air to all the scene. Now came a train of
camels, turning their high heads contemptuously from side
to side.
*' Now I know why the camel is so haughty and disdain-
ful ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-one. ' ' He owns the Desert ; it
is all his. He can live on its sandy wastes without water;
its scrub gives him delicious food; he can compass all its
distances without fatigue and he is the color of its sands;
he know^ all its secrets, past and to come; away from it,
he dies. Why should he not be arrogant and disdainful
when he compares himself with other animals, human as
well!*'
Now a man, swathed to the eyes in his white burnous and
haik, a scarlet blanket thrown across the mule he rode,
came down the hill toward the car, then turned quickly to
the side of the road. A woman trailed after him, with dra-
peries of the most vivid magenta color caught at her shoul-
ders with enormous silver pins; great hoops of silver in her
ears, and the usual clanking anklets, and wide braids drop-
ping below her yellow headband — startling in her bril-
[294]
TO TUNIS
liance of coloring, like a gorgeously plumaged bird. She
carried a browu baby on her back, who looked like a bronze
idol. ** Picturesque though the man is, he is a lazy wretch
to allow the woman to trail along with that heavy baby!
Why doesn't he get off and walk? " exclaimed the Other-
one indignantly.
*'Man is a privileged being here,** returned the Com-
mander, * * but see how lavish he has been in presents of
jewellery to her; I wish I could buy those fibulae.**
But the people were quickly gone from view, and the
car hummed on. Long ranges of velvety brown hills shut
off the view of the Aures for a while. The road now ran
across numerous small streams which come from the moun-
tains and abundantly water this valley. Near noon the
car passed through the little, dismal, newly laid-out town
they had passed before, where the colonists, few in number,
were at work and Arabs lounged, as usual, in the little cafe.
Again down to a vast plain, fairly alive with natives, flocks,
herds of cattle and camels, while the red tents dotted the
green like great poppies. The road then ran up to hills
covered with thuyas or junipers and dark lentisque bushes.
The travellers went rapidly through the wind-swept town
of Khenchella, with Arabs everywhere in the streets and
many fondouks for the camels, whose snarls could be heard
from within them.
The Aures had become misty outlines in the distance when
the car rolled into Ain Beida, and the party descended to
lunch at the dirty little hotel, whence a frowsy-headed
waiter rushed out and welcomed them with great effusion.
There was a beautiful garden across from the inn, with
graceful pepper-trees and beds of great blue iris upon
which the Other-one kept her gaze while eating, not daring
to look, after the first glance across the little cafiy into the
shed-like kitchen beyond, where a gnome, in a soiled white
cap, was cooking over a rusty stove. She feared lest her
appetite for the India-rubber steak and the cast-iron chicken
would flee.
[295]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
** How cold it is here! *' she exclaimed, shivering, ** after
the delicious warmth and sun at Biskra; and this place is
insupportable, too, after that green oasis of a hotel there,
so clean and comfortable."
* * No wonder you are cold ! Do you know how high Ain
Beida is?" asked the Commander. ** We were a little
higher at Timgad, which is 3,546 feet, and have come down
here to 3,200 feet. Biskra is only 390 feet about sea level.
We are on the high plateaux now."
Leaving Ain Beida, they crossed a plain with a great
mountain lying along the west like an enormous camel rest-
ing, its long neck on the earth. The clouds were now mount-
ing from the east and trailing sometimes across the sun,
giving glorious effects of light and shade on the green
plain. The road was always good, until it came near to
a mining town lying off to one side, on the hill ; from which
a track ran into the dusty, busy town of Montcalm.
Here were many tents of nomads on the border of the
place; and loaded teams, camels, and donkeys coming in.
Around the market-place were long bales of alfa, or esparto
grass, ready for shipping; and all was busy activity every-
where. From here to Oued Zenati the road was so bad,
so full of ruts and stones, that the Commander's patience
was sorely tried. They ran out of the town and turned to
the right, up through a beautiful avenue of spring-green
ash-trees.
Trees had been so scanty the last few days of their trav-
els over the plains, that it was a pleasant surprise to find
so luxuriant a growth here and at Bordj-Sabbath, farther
on, where were groves of pines and another long avenue of
ash-trees. They saw the old fort, a hordj, or fortified car-
avansary, that gives the town its name. The valley nar-
rowed from here on and the scenery grew wilder. The hills
were covered with lentisque bushes and the wild olive
flourished. Great rocks thrust themselves out in ledges —
masses of gray which, with the black of the forests on
the mountain flanks, gave the country a melancholy air.
[ 296 ]
TO TUNIS
Patches of squill, with its shiny large leaves, its great,
brown bulbs often denuded of soil, grew in open spaces;
and the now familiar asphodel raised its pale, pinky blos-
soms on waste places. Often there would be a blaze of
the golden genesta lighting up the rocky spaces as with rays
of sunlight. Then the craggy hills opened into a green and
luxuriant valley, in smiling contrast to the rugged defiles
before. A few kilometres farther on, passing the road to
Guelma at the right, the travellers went up an ascent and
came out upon a region where they saw jets of steam rising
in the air in many places; and many round and conical
masses of corrugated rock showed at the right on a plateau.
Soon the car rolled up an avenue of ash-trees and came to
a square having a beautiful garden with rows of luxuriant
pepper-trees and tropical palms, with lemon-trees and orange-
trees, their pale yellow and deep golden- fruit, showing
amongst the dark green foliage. In one corner an enor-
mous terebinth-tree spread its giant branches and gave shel-
ter to many little coffee tables spread under its shade. Masses
of blue English iris were in bloom in the garden, and there
were fascinating Roman antiquities scattered around — pil-
lars, capitals, monuments, and several mutilated statues.
Around the square were white cottages of one and two stories,
and they looked most clean and inviting.
When the travellers had been shown their cheerful and
spotless room, with its gay chintz coverings and a veranda
looking on the garden, the lady sighed with content: ** An-
other oasis of a hotel! Let us abide here a blissful month
and in the charms of Hammara Meskoutine forget forever
the hotels of Tebessa and Ain Beida! *'
The Commander, unheeding this proposition, suggested, as
it was yet early, that they should go out to see the petrified
cascades and whatever else there might be of interest.
They set out to view the springs under the guidance of a
young Arab who had witnessed their arrival and came at
once to offer his services with great joy. The boy led them
down through a grove of ancient olive-trees at the back of
[297]
f\~^
A MOTOR FLIGHT
their cottage to a terrace where the air was clouded with ris-
ing steam. A most astonishing sight met their eyes. On a
plateau, railed off from the ancient grove, they saw many
caldron-like holes full of a bubbling, boiling, blue water,
the overflow falling in wide cascades which, upon the point
of rushing over, seemed to have been staid by some magic
power and petrified to a mass of stilled rapids, in every color
imaginable. The Commander dipped his hand in the small
conduits of stone that ran from the boiling pools toward
the bathing-houses, and found them most uncomfortably hot.
With the steam, the heat, and the odors, it was a most
uncanny spot. The boy appeared anxious that his patrons
should go farther on, so following him down a narrow, slip-
pery path at one side, they came to the bottom of the hill,
where they could look up the mass, rising over sixty feet,
of frozen cascades — the Grand Cascades, as they are called.
Here is every tint of rust color in them, from a pallid tone
to a deep, dark red. In some places there is a mass of
dazzling white like coagulated cream; then there are shades
of gray, some warm and some dull blue, with faint streaks
of green through them. It is all very beautiful, yet with a
weird, unearthly beauty.
* * It ^s marvellous and stupendous ! ' ' exclaimed the Com-
mander. " These effects are produced by the bubbling water
being strongly impregnated with lime, which is deposited
when the water cools, falling down the rocks. There must
be much sulphur in it too, judging from the odor in the air
and some of the colors of the petrifactions. *'
^' Now for the practical part from the guide-book,'' said
the Other-one, ' ' as this Arab can tell us nothing. ' '
** These waters, by the experiments of the military authorities for
the last sixty years, have proved very efficacious in cases of rheumatism,
affections of the joints, sprains, neuralgia, partial paralysis, fevers,
chronic bronchitis, and even in localized tuberculosis. There are twenty
sources from which the springs of Hammam Meskoutine rise. All of
these are hot, but vary in temperature according to their position and
the overflow of water. The greater the quantity, the higher the temper-
ature. The spring at the foot of the bridge on the Guelma road is full
of iron, but not so hot ; when cooled, it is used for drinking. . . .
[298]
5,
i
» ' ml
THE PETRIFIED CASCADES AT HAM MAM MKSKOUTINE
THE " AKAB MAHKIAGE "AT HAM.>iA.>l MKSKuUTlNE
—PETRIFIED CONES
TO TUNIS
The temperature of this Grand Cascade is about 205 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is a higher temperature than any of the mineral waters in Europe,
and only equalled by the Geysers in Iceland, New Zealand, and the
Philippine Islands. It seems that these waters were known and em-
ployed at a very remote antiquity, but the oldest monuments yet dis-
covered date from the Punic period. Of the Boman occupation there
are ample traces."
It was a sylvan spot where they were. A little crystal
stream flowed along at the foot of the brilliant cascades with
their gamut of color. Old olive-trees with gnarled trunks
cast a shade around. The grass on the slopes of the hills
nearby was powdered with daisies, and the wild marigolds
made spots like sunlight. The air was fresh and suave; the
faint odor of sulphur it held, not disagreeable. Some little
gray birds flew twittering down to the rocky border of the
stream. Suddenly some gurgling, clucking notes were heard,
seeming to come from a tree by the stream. The Other-one
peered into the branches, trying to locate the birds, but they
were too shy, and hid themselves in the foliage. ** It sounds
like our cuckoo which we hear in deep woods sometimes on
hot days.** The notes were repeated and grew into a chorus.
** Oh, I wish I could find out what they are and what they
look like! ** exclaimed the Lady.
Meantime the Commander had gone down the slope from
the path to test the warmth of the little stream. ** It is
deliciously hot! ** he called out. ** Come down here and see
your birds.**
She hastened down and saw, on the rocks along the bank
and popping their black heads out of the water, a number of
little frogs, the smallest she had ever seen ; so small that she
could not believe that they had produced the sonorous gur-
gling she had just heard, until she saw them hopping joy-
ously from stone to stone and emitting their astonishing
sounds.
The Arab boy had been growing restive; he uttered the
words '* Arab marriage ** several times, and pointed up the
hill.
** Oh, yes, I know what he means, and as we walk along
[299]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
I will tell you the legend which the Arabs firmly believe to
be true, and because of which they call these springs, Ilam-
mam Meskoutine, or the * accursed baths/ " said the Lady.
They followed the boy up a path to the left, which led by
a large basin or reservoir filled with water running from the
boiling springs, and into which they plunged their hands but
withdrew them more quickly.
** The legend is this: Once upon a time, near here, there
lived a very wealthy sheik named Ali. He had a sister, beau-
tiful as the dawn, whom he loved to distraction. In order
that no other man might possess her, he resolved to marry
her himself, in spite of the protestations of his father and
friends, many of whom he caused to have their heads struck
off in front of his tent. Extensive preparations were made
for the wedding, and a big feast was prepared. When the
celebration of the marriage drew near the end, there came a
thick blackness over all the land, and a terrific earthquake
made the earth tremble and open. Flames and demons came
out of the fissures; loud thunder rolled, and a great tempest
raged. At that moment, the whole company turned to stone
— the wicked sheik, his bride Ourida, the Cadi who married
them and who can be easily identified by his turban, the
father and mother who had protested, and all the friends ; the
camel laden with the bridal gifts, and even the cous-cous left
over from the feast. Allah, in his anger, had turned all to
stone, because they would not obey the laws of his Prophet:
so the smoke ever rises from the great fires below, a warning
to all evildoers of the punishment that awaits such ones. Now,
if you do not believe all this story, why, thei'e is the proof, '*
said the Lady, pointing to some great cones out on the ter-
race above the cascades where the guide had just led them.
Indeed all could be identified in the great cones, fourteen to
twenty feet high, many of them: the Cadi, with his turban,
the married pair in a close embrace, the bride in her long
flowing mantle. There were the father and mother, and the
smaller cones were the wedding guests, all decorated with
wreaths of flowers and grasses.
[ 300 ]
TO TUNIS
** It does not require much imagination to fancy all alive
and the wedding festivities going on. There is the steam
arising from the cous-cous, and I can even hear the music/*
said the Lady, as the plaintive minor tones of an Arab pipe
made itself heard, with the beating of tom-toms, from down
the road.
** These cones, scattered everywhere here, are certainly very
curious,*' said the Commander, and then he added, — his
active mind always seeking a solution for every problem pre-
sented — * * these must be formed by the water rising above
the rock, depositing a circle of lime, then a second and a
third, and so on, until the water has not sufficient force to
reach the top, which closes over, and the spring seeks another
vent; and so it goes on. See! on some of those where earth
and dust have collected, there are shrubs and vines whose
seeds have been dropped by the birds, or blown in by the
wind.**
** They look like enormous flower-pots,** said the Other-one.
'* Let us walk on across the terrace beyond and look down
where the River Chedaker has cut its way through, in which
the water of the springs flows. I read that over the hills, about
two kilometres from here, there is a subterranean lake which
is worth visiting, for those who have plenty of time (conse-
quently, those who are not motorists). It is a hundred and
fifty feet long and ninety-nine feet wide. It came to view
after a great storm some twenty years ago, when the earth
fell in with a terrific rumbling, showing an entrance to a
cavern. It is dark as night there even at midday, and the
Arabs take one in with torches, and around it in a boat. It
must be rather a lugubrious boat-ride, however.**
The clouds had been gathering darkly above Djebel-Debar,
making its timbered slopes black under their shadows, and
the whole place around seemed more weird as the rain began to
descend, scattering some picnic parties who had been finishing
the remnants of their noon repast with much apparent gusto.
Our friends fled — the young Arab after them, fearful of
losing his fee — to their deliciously clean rooms in the white
[301]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
cottage, where their travelling household gods were installed
for the night. After retiring they heard in the stillness,
through their open windows, the clarion notes of the joyous
frogs in their warm baths, seemingly undismayed by the fall-
ing rain.
When the Motorists left Hammam Meskoutine on the road
for Bone the next morning, the rain had ceased, but the clouds
were piled in great cottony masses above the dark mountains.
The sky seen through great rents was of that rich, translucent
blue that no sky but that of Africa ever shows. The plains
were clothed with a rich rug of flowers, refreshed by the rain.
At Guelma, nineteen kilometres from the Springs, once the
ancient and flourishing town of Calama (one of its claims
to interest being that Possidius, the biographer of St. Augus-
tine, was born there), the Commander directed the chauffeur
to stop the car near the pretty public garden, and the trav-
ellers descended to take a walk through its flowery precincts
and to cast a glance at some of the Roman remains there, dis-
covered at Guelma, and also some brought from the neigh-
boring towns of Announa- and Khamessa, ancient Roman
cities where excavations had been going on. These antique
statues — noseless, armless, and legless, mere torsos, some of
them were odd to see — a statue of Fortune; a statue of a
Roman in a toga; heads of Yenus and of Septimus Severus
on a lintel supported by two antique columns; a colossal
statue of Jupiter in a sort of chapel; a statue of Diana in
the midst of the luxuriant flower-beds, which contrasted with
the dignified, stern, and severe lines of the antiques and their
deep creamy coloring; but more startling was the contrast
between them and a modern French Venus on a high pedes-
tal occupying a prominent place in the garden, with the
smirking face of the model and with voluptuous and heavy
outlines in the most garish white marble. The ancient statues
seemed to look reproachfully and sadly at it, as if asking
themselves the question, *' Is this what modern Art has
come to? '*
The Commander decided to take the longer road to Bone
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TO TUNIS
(which, just beyond the town, turns to the left, and is the
Phillippeville route) in order that he might pass the Lake
Fetzara. They crossed the Seybouse, which ** is, of all the
Algerian rivers, the one which has the most constant flow,
and which, as it approaches the sea, has most the appearance
of a real river, its basin very well watered by the abundant
rains which fall in that region.** The travellers thought it
here rather a sullen, muddy-looking stream. The road went
up over hills and through olive groves, northwest to Auri-
beau, then northeast beyond some great vineyards, and came
out on a vast plain stretching away to the Lake Fetzara in
the distance, beyond which were misty outlines of mountains.
On this plain were countless herds of cattle and flocks of sheep
feeding, guarded by shepherds whose huts, of reeds and thatch,
were scattered in clusters here and there. The race of cattle
in this section is celebrated as the best in Algeria or Tunisia.
Small of size but enduring fatigue and easy to fatten, they
take their name from the town of Guelma.
The wide and marshy extent of plain was a mosaic of
masses of flowers, among which predominated the golden yel-
low and orange of marigolds, with the wild fennel {Ferula
communis) lifting its great balls — yellow also. Clouds of
the least-white-crane flew back and forth from the distant
lake, which showed a gleam like dull silver, in the distance.
* * It must be a frightfully unhealthy country, with all this
marshy expanse ; yet how pastoral and peaceful it all looks ! * *
said the Lady.
The road beyond lay through long groves of eucalyptus
trees, some of them enormous in size. There must have once
been a village, for there were the tumbled down remains of
modern houses and a melancholy-looking bakery which was
also going to ruin.
** The inhabitants must have all died of malaria,** observed
the Commander ; for no one was to be seen but three or four
of the ubiquitous Arabs lounging in a ruined doorway. The
car, after passing the luxuriant groves, neared the lake where
the least-white-crane were circling like snow-flurries; there
[303]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
were flocks of ducks resting on the water, and a cloud of
busy, bronze-blue swallows with salmon-tinted breasts,
dipped back and forth from the water-side.
It was yet early in the afternoon (for Bone is only
one hundred and eight kilometres from Guelma by the long
route) when they drew near to the white city, lying on
the pine-clad terraces of the foothills of the mountain
Edough, and when they were still nearer, a big white church
with spires stood out on the right, on a green hill.
'* That must be the basilica erected to the memory of St.
Augustine," said the Other-one, *' and that is what makes
Bone, the ancient Hippone, and its surroundings, so interest-
ing ; for it is all so connected with the history of that wonder-
ful man. But from what I read the town itself is a modern
French city with a fine avenue of trees — the Cours- Jerome
Bertagna. It has an uninteresting old Arab town with a plain
mosque. The market, however, is a very lively one in the
morning. We have only to concern ourselves with the ruins
of Hippone, which are just outside of the modern city, and
with memories of St. Augustine. You know he was bishop
here for forty years, from 390 A. D. Here, too, he wrote those
' Confessions,* and * The City of God,' which are so
celebrated. ' *
** Yes, I know, and that he died here in 430 during the
siege of the city by the Vandals. ' *
While they were talking, the motor had entered the suburbs
of Bone and, a short distance from the walls, they passed a
large gate opening into a garden and small property; over
the gate was inscribed * ' Kuins of Hippone. ' * They rang at the
gate and the custodian hastened to let them in. He led
the way through a path bordered with luxuriant bushes of
pink roses to the back, where the debris of excavation could
be seen. Some feet below, the original level was covered with
mosaics, broken columns, and low arches of stone ; the remains
of elegant public or private baths in Roman houses. Some
of the mosaics are very fine, one with Venus and the Nereids ;
and a personification of the Year, surrounded by musicians
[304]
TO TUNIS
and theatrical masques, all very well preserved, with colors
fresh and vivid. Here, in this place owned by a Mr. Dufour,
at one side is a Phoenician wall constructed of huge blocks of
stone, ashlar-cut, far below the soil of the Roman house.
There were also some more pillars and debris of what was
considered to have been an early Christian basilica. Over the
walls, beyond this little estate, can be seen, also the debris
of excavations; and near a hill crowned with olives, are
Roman reservoirs which have been restored and now supply
Bone with water.
All was very unsatisfactory, however, regarding any def-
inite knowledge that the travellers could get about the
antique city.
A very picturesque view of the new Cathedral could be
seen through an opening in the trees at the back of the gar-
den, a white building crowning the green slope of a hill. But
the choicest things of the excavations, according to the cus-
todian, were the Punic tombs at the front of the Roman house,
or baths. Through the soil cut away could be seen some
rows of the tombs, each composed of three slabs of tufa, form-
ing a triangular hole, through which could be seen some
discolored skulls protruding in rather a disturbing way.
* * I wish we might see the monument erected to St. Augus-
tine in 1840. Is it far from heret " the Lady asked the cus-
todian.
** No, madame. Do not cross the Roman bridge, as you
must to go to town, but keep on to a road that turns up the
hill; there you will find it, not far from the great basilica.**
So they decided, as there was yet a little time before sun-
set, to go up to the monument. The custodian, grateful for
the Commander 's generous fee, bowed them out of the gate,
leaving in the Other-one *s hand a bunch of the beautiful pink
roses. They went up, as directed, and found, under some
ancient olive-trees, a small and simple statuette on a pedestal
surrounded by an iron fence. The steps of marble leading
up to it were cut with many names, those of pious pilgrims,
probably, who wished to leave some record of their pilgrimage.
[305]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
" I believe there are an arm and some other bones of the
saint interred here," said the Other-one. '' St. Augustine
was first buried in the Basilica of Hippone, but later his
remains were taken to Cagliari and kept there for two hun-
dred years ; then they were removed to Pavia, where they are
now, in the Cathedral, but the right arm of St. Augustine
was taken and brought here. This spot was chosen for erec-
ing this monument, they say, because it was believed to have
been the site of the monastery where St. Augustine wrote
his * Confessions' and his ' City of God.' They always
celebrate here a religious service on the anniversary of his
death.''
It was certainly an impressive place, with the old olives,
the extended view and the reminder of the great Father of
the Church. The Two went farther up to the big new basilica
above, with its capital and high spires. They stepped inside
a moment, but it all looked new and garish in spite of the
fine rose-colored granite columns which the custodian said
were brought from Corsica, and the high altar of various
African marbles. Outside, they lingered for the glorious
view, down over the ruins of ancient Hippone, — away beyond
to the blue sea, to white, modern Bone rising in terraces on
a low green hill running down to it, and in the background,
dark Mount Edough rising into the west against the mass of
rose-tinted clouds which hung above the setting sun.
It was late when they rode into the gates of the bright, gay
city of Bone, with its throngs of people walking up and down
the long main avenue of luxuriant ficus trees, and the lights
twinkling everywhere. It being Sunday evening, the French
people were all out in gala attire. Some Arabs in their red
fezes and ha'iks, with their burnouses thrown around them,
threaded in and out of the throng, with it, but never of it.
The dusty and tired voyagers drew up at a hotel on the
avenue to which the genial landlord welcomed them as if
they were long-lost patrons, and he gave them the best he
had; and, as compared with much that went before, it was
very good indeed. They did not linger long in Bone in the
[ 306 ]
TO TUNIS
morning; a glance at the rather uninteresting mosque, a
quick trip through the busy market thronged with Arabs,
and they climbed into their car.
The Commander directed the chauffeur to run down by
the harbor, so they had a view of the shipping ; then the road
ran along from the sea and crossed the Seybouse River by
an iron bridge. The sky was somewhat overcast, and the
great mountain of Edough looked sombre, with its dark for-
ests. But the wayside was embroidered with the vivid blue
of the borage, and the fields of wheat were aflame with scar-
let poppies. The road went on by the marshy Lac des
Oiseaux, and clouds of water-birds were rising from or set-
tling down upon it; the tall reeds on its edges were waving
in the breeze. Beyond this the travellers passed a number of
native huts of thatch and reeds ; flocks and herds were feed-
ing near, guarded by little half-clad shepherds. Some chil-
dren ran out, clad in vivid red, and looking like great
poppies blown from the wheat fields by the wind. Then came
Lake Oubeira, also with colonies of busy water-birds, and
extending to wooded hills beyond.
Farther on, the road ran up into a cork-tree forest where,
under the shade of the trees the asphodel with its pale pinky
blooms flourished, flinging to the breeze its balsamic odor.
Beyond the forest the hills were brown with lentisque bushes,
and the slopes in places were golden with the genesta. Then
the Motorists came down through hedges of prickly pears,
which guarded little estates where were many fig-trees, their
distorted branches now hidden by great green leaves; and
there were almond-trees laden with green nuts, and many
apricot-trees. The stained yellow houses showed through the
foliage, and there were many small vineyards. There came
then a dazzling view of the sea, and the rocks beyond the har-
bor of La Calle were white with the foam of breakers rolling
in. The car ran down to the square above the harbor. Here
were some discouraged-looking, wind-buffeted palm-trees and
a melancholy, yellow cathedral with very high spires. The
town seemed to consist of this and some low, yellow houses,
[307]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
and the French custom-house, where the Commander was to
get his passavant for entering Tunis.
As the Motorists looked around, it seemed that they had
entered another country. La Calle is essentially an Italian
town. Here the Arab element is conspicuously absent; only
a few men in burnouses lounge along the streets, but looking
so superior, with their intent, brown faces and their pictur-
esque costumes, to the sodden-looking sailors and fishermen
who loiter on the corners and by the saloons, or hang over
the balustrade above the little harbor. But for these, the
town had a deserted air, as if everybody were asleep or had
moved away. It seemed strange after the bustling towns and
villages, seething with an abundance of life, through which
the travellers had motored heretofore. Adrian stopped his
car in front of the custom-house and went in to see about
getting the passavant. He returned at once, saying that the
head-officer was about going to his second breakfast and
would not do anything until after that.
' ' How stupid ! * ' exclaimed the Commander. ' ' It is only
a little after eleven! We don't want our lunch at this hour.
Go and tell him we are in a hurry.''
^*It's no use, sir! He won't do a thing until after he
eats. He is very cross about it."
** Let 's take a walk, then, down by the rocks and look at
the sea dashing on them; then get our luncheon," said the
Lady. '' By that time the famished officer will have gorged
himself into good nature."
So they crossed the square and stopped to lean over the
stone coping and looked down into the little harbor. It is shut
in between a high hill running down to the water (which
cragged mass of rock has an old fort on it) and the mass of
pale yellow houses built upon what was probably once a mass
of rock, and has a narrow quay running along above the har-
bor. The short opening between showed the breakers roll-
ing in and dashing against the rocks at the foot of the hill,
but the water inside was calm. Below were some fishing boats
drawn up ; some had piles of brown nets on them, which some
[308]
TO TUNIS
sailors were pulling out to dry, while other ancient mariners
smoked vigorously over some nets they were mending.
** Do you know,'* said the Commander, ** that once this
was one of the most important places for the fishing of coral,
which was then very abundant around here? Now I believe
there is scarcely a boat engaged in it.**
When it was decided that the time for luncheon had come
they walked up to the plain little hotel on one of the streets
beyond the square. The Lady gave one look into the dark
and dirty dining-room and at the table shown them by the
door, with a soiled table-cloth and a superannuated oil and
vinegar cruet that must have been a relic of the coral fishery
times. She said to the Commander, ** If you please, I think
I can lunch sumptuously on the biscuits and chocolate which
you have been so wise as to provide always, since our day
over the Col de Sfa.**
The Commander smiled sarcastically, muttered something
about fastidious travellers, but gave the desired permission;
80 the Lady ate her modest luncheon in the motor car, about
which some dirty and ragged little Italians, with a sprink-
ling of small Arabs, gathered as closely as they dared and
watched each mouthful; while an important Arab boy in a
long, dirty, white, shirt-like garment and a red fez stuck
well back on his head, marched before the car, flecking at the
small gamins with the Commander's whip which had been
given to him with instructions to ward off attacks on the car,
during the time the chauffeur ate his luncheon. When it
was considered that time enough had been given the official,
Adrian sought him and found him in an amiable frame of
mind, so that he condescended to set about making out the
papers. He consumed, however, so much time, that the Com-
mander sent Adrian in several times to hurry him up. These
invasions produced no effect, and he kept on the even tenor
of his way.
But even a custom-house officer will get through some time.
At last all was ready, and they went gladly away up the
hills, leaving sleepy La Calle by the blue sea fringed with
[309]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the foam of the waves breaking over the jagged rocks. The
road wound up by long curves and entered a great forest of
cork-trees, with many fine chestnut-oaks. Sometimes, when
the road dipped down, there were hollows wet from the
mountains springs; here grew colonies of yellow iris and
masses of great ferns. At length the boundary line was
reached, marked by a stone set up on the right of the road
with a round heap of rocks near, — the boundary line between
Algeria and Tunisia. Five kilometres farther on, the Tunisian
custom-house came in sight — a small square Turkish-looking
building, having turrets with slits for observation on the four
corners. One or two officials with red fezes were lounging
near the door, but became quickly alert as the car approached.
While the chauffeur went in to attend to the papers the
Commander unfolded his map, studying it attentively a few
moments, then said to the Lady :
* * Instead of going from here down to Tabarca by the
shorter route, we will go by Ain-Draham and Souk-el- Arba,
near which place are the ruins of Bulla Regia, where they
have been lately excavating. We can stop overnight at Beja,
and from there it is but a short distance to Dougga (Tebour-
souk). There are the most important Roman ruins in Tuni-
sia. We can thus get to Tunis easily that night, and also see
two important places without making especial excursions from
there afterwards.**
** From our guide-book," said the Other-one, *' I find we
now are onHhe borders of Kroumiri, so called from a tribe
inhabiting this region. * It is one of the most attractive dis-
tricts of this country, covered with beautiful forests. It
extends from Tabarca, on the coast, about fifty kilometres
in a southerly direction. Little was known about the Krou-
mirs until the French occupation, except that they led an
independent life, resisting all attempts at subjection, and
plundering with equal impartiality the districts on both sides
of them. The subjection of this people was one of the excuses
for the French occupation of Tunisia ; and now this once inac-
cessible region is covered with good roads, is perfectly safe
[ 310 1
TO TUNIS
for travellers, and the women as well as the men are occupied
with the cultivation of the soil. ' ' '
Adrian now came out with a pleased smile, * ' It is all over,
sir; it has taken only a few minutes.'*
* * Good I * * exclaimed the Commander, ' * now we are really
off.''
He returned the polite salutation of the officer who came
out to stare at the motor, and the car was soon moving rapidly
up the hill through the forest of great cork-oaks, magnificent
chestnut-oaks and zeens {Qucrcus Mirheckii)^ with some ash-
trees, which were now in their full, graceful foliage. Look-
ing back through openings in the forest as the road curved
up the pass, they could see, far below, the green smiling
valleys, the sheen of Lake Obeira near La Calle, and the
intense blue of the sea. Reaching the Col des Ruines, the
forest shut away again, and they went still up, to the cul-
minating point at Ain-Draham, a military post, one thousand
feet above sea-level. To the southeast of it they saw a great
peak rising into the sky, the Djebel Bir. Just beyond, a
glorious, extended view spread out before the travellers*
enchanted eyes, for the forest opens wide here; far below,
green plains with boundaries of hills rising to folds upon
folds of mountains, dark now with the overcast sky and
with thick forests. Then the road wound down, to mount
again steeply to a deep forest where is a little hotel for the
summer, called Camp de la Sante or Les Chhies, surrounded
with some of the largest and finest zeen oaks they had seen ;
with vistas here and there through the woods down upon
the green valley and wooded mountains beyond.
Then the car slid down to this green valley, and the trav-
ellers saw fields upon fields of barley and wheat stretching
afar, like a rich green ocean ruffled by the breeze into silvery
waves. Some five kilometres before arriving at Souk-el- Arba,
whence they were to turn northeast to Beja for the night,
there was a small guide-board, showing three kilometres for
Bulla Regia. '* It seems to be nothing but a country road,**
said the Commander. ** Luckily it has not rained, or with
[311]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
this soil and no foundation, we could not get through it ; the
car would sink in the mud.'*
A great craggy mountain, gray and stern, seemed to be
guarding the entrance to the ruined city at which the travel-
lers soon arrived. They saw, standing up in the midst of
luxuriant vegetation, a conglomeration of ruins — arches and
columns scattered far and wide. As the car stopped, an
elderly Arab came toward them slowly and, pointing to
himself, uttered the word ** guide'* several times, but the
Other-one could not make him understand when she asked
what there was to see especially and how long it would take
to see it.
*' His French is the most sketchy," she exclaimed, ** but
I suppose he can lead us around, for want of any one else;
for there is no one except the nomads around those tents off
there. The guide-book says little about this place, except that
Bulla Regia existed before the Roman conquest, and was
once the residence of Numidian kings, and became very pros-
perous under the Empire. It was situated on the Roman road
from Carthage to Theveste (Tebessa). These ruins are
spread over this plain dominated by that stern mountain
which is called Djebel Rebia. Those immense piles of ruins
we see at the right are thought to be baths ; the ruins of cis-
terns the natives utilize as dwelling houses. There are some
fine Roman houses excavated, also a temple to Apollo, but
mere vestiges. Many statues have been found here, and are
in the Alaoui Museum at Tunis."
**We will identify what we can," said the Commander.
*"' This Arab is able, at least, to show us the Roman houses."
So the Two followed the native, who seemed anxious to have
them go on. It was a strange and lonely scene under the gray
sky ; a wide barley field extended to the east, the ruins crop-
ping up from it and from other small fields, through which
scarlet poppies tossed on their slender stems, golden mari-
golds blazed around the edges of the piles of antique masonry,
and the stern gray and black mountain at the west guarded
all. The breeze, swaying the barley, seemed to be trying to
[312]
TO TUNIS
whisper the story of this ancient ruined city, once flourish-
ing, now mere nameless heaps of masonry. A rough path led
through the fields, over which the Commander and the Lady
stumbled after the native. They came to a rude fountain
where water was trickling into a long basin. Here they
paused to see a Bedouin woman who had just come up and
was standing like a picture against the fountain. She had
dull yellow draperies, caught on the shoulder with great
silver pins, and a scarlet cloth was wound around her head.
She carried a big brown jar, of graceful shape, slung at her
back. What most drew the Commander's attention was the
wonderful and unusual earrings she wore, silver crescents
with several long chains attached to them, with curious en-
graved ornaments at the end of each chain; she had also a
wide plaque of silver hanging from silver chains around her
neck, silver bracelets galore, and great anklets. He gave a
gasp and stepped forward eagerly. ** Ask her if she will sell
them!'*
The guide was made, at last, to comprehend what was the
Commander's desire. He endeavored to make the fascinat-
ing Bedouine understand, but apparently without success.
The Commander impatiently stepped forward again, drew
three five-franc pieces from his pocket and held them up.
** Gestures and money are sufficient; she understands me/'
he said, placing the money in her hand and pointing to the
earrings.
The woman put her hand up as if to pull them off, but it
was merely to arrange them. She took the silver and drop-
ping it in the folds of her drapery, turned placidly to fill her
jar from the fountain. The Lady laughed. ** She thinks you
have made her a present to her charms. She is not going to
part with those earrings, and here is the usual man who owns
her."
A brown Bedouin, in the dirtiest of burnouses, here popped
up from somewhere, scowled at the woman, seized her rudely
by the arm nearly overthrowing the jar, and was about to
drag her off, money and all, when the guide seemed to hlave a
[313]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
spasm of understanding. He rushed to rescue the money for
his patrons. The result was that the disappointed Comman-
der regained his silver, without the earrings, and the Two
struggled on after the now impassive Arab. They saw some
great arches on a mound of earth, and climbing up, looked
down from what seemed to be the upper story of a Roman
house into an atrium surrounded by broken columns — the
mosaics still in good preservation — and beyond, some small
chambers with mosaics intact. It must have been a very fine
house, judging by the dimensions and the large arches above.
Some distance beyond this were the few ruins of the temple
of Apollo, as marked on a small board near, and mere frag-
ments they were. Two more Roman houses had been un-
covered, and excavations were actually being carried on at
one place, where an Italian foreman was directing some na-
tives who were digging and carrying out baskets of earth.
The man informed the inquirers that the Tunisian Society of
Archaeologists was engaged in the excavations of Bulla
Regia, but that the work was going on slowly. The Two had
stopped to look at a mosaic that was being uncovered.
* * I should think so, ' ' said the Commander, ' * from the lit-
tle we see. But what a big extent the ruins spread over ! It
must have been a wealthy city judging from these fine re-
mains of houses, with their mosaic courts and columns, pil-
lars and arches."
'' What can make a city come to utter destruction like
this ! ' * exclaimed the Other-one.
'' Generally, here in North Africa, the Vandals, the earth-
quakes, and being used finally by the Arabs as quarries are
the causes of the destruction of Roman towns," answered the
Commander. ** These ruins are so buried under the soil
that the city must certainly have been destroyed by an
earthquake. ' *
The Arab now was restive ; he held in store his climax. He
led them down a long path at some distance from the tem-
ple. They went first to what appeared to have been the up-
per story of another Roman house having an atrium, with
[314]
TO TUNIS
some columns standing, a triclinium or dining-room, and sev-
eral sleeping-rooms around the peristyle, all with mosaic
floors in geometrical designs, but rather coarse in workman-
ship. From here the outlook was glorious over the wide
plain. The guide led them down a staircase, very well pre-
served; opened a wooden door with a key he carried, and
ushered them into a fine atrium with pillars and columns,
with the impluvium in the centre and really beautiful mosaics
under the corridors around, in the dining-room, and in the
small chambers. The only light, however, came from the
open court, but the whole appearance indicated that it must
have been once, in that far-away time, a home of elegance
and luxury. The Arab now became animated, seeing the evi-
dent pleasure and interest of his patrons. Pointing above,
he repeated the words ** There, winter,'* several times; then
embracing the rooms around them with a gesture, he said,
** Here, summer.'*
** Oh, I know what he means! *' exclaimed the Other-one.
** The rich Roman who owned this mansion lived above in the
sunshine in winter, and when the summer heat came, moved
below into this cool, dark, subterranean palace. This sum-
mer place seems much more elegant, and the mosaics are
much finer, than in the winter one, unlike ours ; but the sum-
mer was much longer than winter, which accounts for it.
How I wish we could call back, for just one hour, by the
aid of a magician like those in the children's story-books,
this Roman family to see what the members were like, how
they lived, arid what they thought. They must have been re-
fined and cultured, from the elegance of all here. I fancy I
can detect it, too, by a certain subtle odor, like that which
comes from a rose long ago withered, when one opens the
drawer where it has lain."
*' How could they have been a happy family? " said the
Commander. ** Think, with no automobiles, and obliged to
take days to go to Tebessa or Carthage in a springless chariot
drawn probably by oxen ! But come, it is growing late. We
have yet fifty-two kilometres to make for our night camp."
[ 315 ] '
A MOTOR FLIGHT
So they went thoughtfully out from the dead city. Passing
near some Bedouin tents on a slope they saw columns of thin
smoke rising from them. Evidently the cous-cous was being
prepared for the evening meal. Some children clad in vivid
yellow ran down the slope, and three or four really pretty
women stood near the tents, regarding the travellers curiously,
while two or three gaunt dogs barked furiously, tugging at
their ropes in a vain endeavor to get at the travellers.
The Motorists were soon speeding over the luxuriant green
plain. They crossed the Medjerda, here a muddy, slow-
rolling stream. It is the Bagrada of the ancients, and is the
most important river in Tunisia.
It was at Medijez-el-Bab, some kilometres farther on, that
the road crossed the river again, by an old Roman bridge of
many arches, reconstructed, however, in the eighteenth cen-
tury with the ancient materials.
*' "We shall turn south here to-morrow to go to Dougga;
but there is no place to stop, so we run up to Beja to-night,
where there is a hotel, said to be at least decent, '* said the
Commander.
It was dark before they saw Beja from afar, a mass of
white houses rising up to a gray old kasba, and shut in by its
old, ruined, Byzantine walls, on a green slope above the tree-
less plains. * ' It looks interesting and picturesque, ' ' said the
Other-one, opening her book. ' ' It seems it was an important
town before the Eoman conquest; was anciently called Vaga
and had then an important market. The Byzantine walls
have been much rebuilt. It belongs to an important agricul-
tural region which is the most favored in Tunisia. There is a
calcareous earth in the country about, and an abundance of
water; in consequence, European colonization here has rap-
idly increased.''
The car entered the gate and rolled up the street of the
whole town, followed by a crowd of ragged Arab boys shout-
ing and making springs at the back of the car, only to be
driven back, howling, by the Commander's whip. As the
[316]
TO TUNIS
party descended at the very simple hotel, each boy sprang
forward, and those who carried blacking-boxes, made a wild
rush to black the shoes of the travellers. Entering the court-
yard, the first glance at the untidy surroundings and at the
fat landlady who came forward, was not reassuring; she had
a figure like a bolster, and was clad in ancient, rusty black;
her head was tied up in an old woollen shawl, which must
have once belonged to an early inhabitant of Beja. The
hungry and weary motorists were agreeably surprised, how-
ever, to be ushered into clean bedrooms with tiled floors, and
they found the dinner served them in the little dining-room
by an exceedingly depressed waiter in a dress-suit as rusty
as the landlady's gown, most succulent and savory.
When the Commander looked out in the morning, he saw
the streets were wet with the rain which had fallen in the
night, and that the clouds were threatening to dissolve again.
** I am afraid this rain is going to prevent our trip to
Dougga. There are only paths, I believe, around the ruins,
and they will be very muddy and slippery.**
When they left Beja a fine rain was falling ; but by the time
they came in sight of the Roman bridge at Medijez-el-Bab the
rain had ceased and the clouds were opening to let a little
sunlight through ; so the Commander gave the order to turn
south for Dougga. The road ran at finst along the left bank
of the Medjerda, then crossed it and went through a country
barren or covered with bushes. The tops of mountains pierced
through the clouds at the northwest. At seventy kilometres
it traversed a grove of olive-trees to pass through the little
village of Testour, whose inhabitants are descendants of the
Moors who emigrated from Spain. It is a village of low,
whitewashed houses, outside of which lounged many of the
** descendants,** apparently taking life easy. Farther on,
the route lay by great heaps of ruins which showed a once
flourishing Roman town. ** It is Ain Tounga,'* read the
Other-one, "once Thignica, an important city in ancient
times. When constructing this road, they found five hun-
dred votive stiles from a sanctuary of Saturn, and adorned
[317]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
with curious bas-reliefs, now in the museum at Tunis. They
are probably like those we saw in the museum at Timgad.
That curious construction with the square towers was most
likely the Byzantine fortress spoken about in the book. ' *
There was no time to descend and wander over the ruins,
interesting as they appeared. When the guide-post for Kef
came in sight, where the road forked, the Commander ordered
the chauffeur to turn to the right, and soon they were
going through magnificent groves of olive-trees. The road
ran by long curves up the hill upon which was Teboursouk
with its white houses and curious citadel or kasba at the end
of the village with its picturesque minarets. Here the travel-
lers took luncheon at a simple but clean inn ; and while they
were waiting for the slow waiter, the Other-one read from
her guide-book (Guide Joanne) about Dougga.
** It was a Roman town, of which the name is preserved almost in-
tact — Thugga. ... It seems in the first half of the second century
B. C, the king, Massenissa, carried off to Carthage a bilingual Punic and
Libyan inscription (found in 1904 at Dougga and to-day in the museum
at Tunis). . . . Most of the Eoman monuments of Dougga were
built at the end of the second century A. D., or the beginning of the
third, when, without doubt the city began to develop rapidly. Its ruins,
which count among the most important in Eoman Africa, occupy a hill
of which the flanks at the north are perpendicular, and lower on the
southern side. Very profitable excavations have been made these last
few years. The ruins most important to see are those of the Theatre,
the Temple of the Capitol and the Punic-Lybic Mausoleum."
When the travellers went out, it looked as if the rain were
not far off, and the Commander shook his head doubtfully.
* ' However, here we are and we must go on, rain or not. It is
but six kilometres from here."
The road proved to be an excellent macadam and wound
along the flanks of a mountain. The valley of the River
Khalled stretched to the mountains beyond, a soft dull green,
flecked with light and shade ; the mountains a deep blue-gray
but misty. The mountain they were rounding rose in jagged
and notched gray rock ; before them lay more serrated heights.
The way was lonely. There was little if any life; the usual
swarms of natives with their gay coloring and their flocks
[318]
- o
TO TUNIS
and herds, and the swaying camels — all were absent; only
now and then on a point of rock a little shepherd, his dis-
colored rags fluttering around him, tending a few meagre
goats, stared down at the car and only served to accentuate
the loneliness. The car was approaching the ancient city,
and on a high plateau they saw some columns, gray against
the darkened sky.
* * It is the Temple of Saturn, the first ruins we see, but we
have time to go to only the most important ones."
The road ended on a terrace which fell away steeply.
Running above the hill there were ranks of stone seats and
steps, and a row of great columns below, and heaps of stones,
capitals, fragments of cornices, and broken columns lying all
around.
** It is the theatre,** said the Other-one, ** and how grand
in spite of its ruin, and what a glorious site ! Oh, if we only
had an intelligent guide to show us about! **
A few natives were lounging about the ruins, and two or
three unkempt boys came toward the car, eyeing all dully, but
showing no inclination to offer their services as guides. The
sky was now growing blacker, and some drops of rain spat-
tered the stones around.
The rain held off a while, and the Two climbed the stone
steps to the top and sat down to look off on the wonderful
view far below, — in sombre colors, grays, purples, and dark
greens, — and the wonderful ruins before them. ** Like that
at Timgad, this gives one an idea how these ancient theatres
were constructed,** said the Commander. *' See, there are
twenty-five rows of seats rising up with the stone steps at in-
tervals. There is not a stone missing. Round this upper
part it shows there was a portico, and here, of course, the
common people crowded. The first seats and the best, of
course, were reserved for the important people and graded
according to rank. The orchestra seems to have been paved
with slabs of marble, and there must have been statues all
around.*'
*' The common people,'* said the Other-one, getting up to
[319]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
look over from the upper part, ^' certainly had the best view
of the country around, if they could not see or hear ail go-
ing on upon the stage. But I wish we could call back for an
hour one of their representations: The actors in their robes
and masks, the chorus, the seats all crowded, animation and
noise everywhere! It seems from my book there were statues
of emperors and benefactors of the city here, and the
pedestals are still to be seen. The front wall of the stage
is still well preserved ; it has all its elegant ornamentation —
its plinth or projecting band at the bottom, the mouldings
of the cornice, the rectangular and alternate round niches.
It only lacks the altar which must have been once in the
centre. The floor of the stage was of mosaic. There are no
grooves or holes for the play of the curtain. Probably they
used screens (siparia), which were folded back at the end
of each act. The openings of the traps where appeared
the shadows and the phantoms are perfectly visible. The
guide-book also tells us that * before the theatre was a colon-
nade where the spectators were wont to promenade between
the acts. Now one looks down upon the plain of Oued Khalled,
the forests of olives, the fields of wheat and barley, and plains
for pasturage; then it was covered with villas, farms, and
small boroughs. There is an inscription on the cornice to the
effect that one Publius Marcius Quadratus ' ' had the honor to
construct for his country a theatre, with a basilica, prome-
nades, a portico, stage, curtain, and ornaments of all kinds.
On the day of his inauguration, he gave a representation of
gymnastic plays, made a distribution, and offered a repast to
all the people; and there was place for three thousand to
three thousand five hundred people. ' ' ' How real it makes all
seem here, to read about this! It clothes these skeletons of
columns, seats, porticos, and stage with flesh and blood.*'
** Publius must have been an astute politician,'' said the
Commander, rising from his hard seat . * * Let us now go to
see the temples."
They left the theatre of Publius and, under the guidance
of a small native who was made to understand their wishes,
[320]
TO TUNIS
they set out down the muddy, sticky road where in some
places, the ancient pavement protruded through the pools.
They struggled in the rain down by the wretched houses,
windowless and rude. Rounding a corner, the Two saw a
beautiful ruined temple, with seven fine Corinthian columns,
four supporting the pediment ; a grand and most impressive
temple even in its ruined condition. It was the capitol,
dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. The Two went up
the long flight of steps and under the columns, hoping to find
some part of the roof preserved under which they might take
shelter from the rain. There was no roof left, however. At
the back are three niches which must have held statues to the
deities.
' * Do you see those side walls, how curiously they are
built f *' asked the Commander, as they sat down under the
centre arch, where had been, without doubt, a statue of Jupi-
ter. ** There are uprights of stone at intervals of about four
feet, filled in between with a mass of broken stone. I do not
remember to have seen in any ruin work like this. The res-
torations probably resemble the ancient work. There are
ruins upon ruins all around, showing up here and there
through this wretched Arab town. What more are we to
seer'
** There is the remarkable Punic-Lybic Monument,'* said
the Lady, ** but it must be some distance from here, down in
that olive-grove far below ; I doubt if we can go down there
to-day. Then there is the Temple of Celestis (Juno of the
Romans, and Tamit of the Carthaginians), the ruins of which
are fine, we must see that. Also there are big cisterns, arches,
and many fragments scattered in the field." The small
Arab seemed to understand the words ** Temple of Celestis **
and started off rapidly. Following, the travellers came into
a grove of great olive-trees, hoary with age and dripping
with rain. The path through them was slippery with mud
and water. They stumbled along it and came to an open
space and saw the columns and steps of the once beautiful
temple, with the half -circle of walls on three sides of it and a
[321]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
paved court extending in front. '' The portico with Cor-
inthian columns must have been a reminder of the crescent
moon, the symbol of the goddess. The cella which was built
in the Greek-Eoman style, occupied the centre, surrounded
by fine columns. In all the niches around must have been
statues." So much the Other-one learned from a glance at
her book.
This ruined temple impressed the travellers as much as
any they had yet seen ; not so much for what it showed now
as for what it must have been once, with its stile, the great
paved space before it, or the court, and the hemicycle extend-
ing around, with the niches for statues. There is an air of
elegance even now in all its ruin. The old trees, not far from
the temple, gave all a most picturesque look. Even now, in
the falling rain, the Two were loth to leave. There was a
melancholy pleasure in trying to restore, in imagination, the
temple — beautiful even now in its ruined state — to its pris-
tine glory.
But the Two went away in the falling rain to where they
had left the car. They arrived, a sorry spectacle to the eyes
of the faithful chauffeur who could not understand '* such
foolishness. ' '
** I cannot endure to go away and leave that Punic Monu-
ment unseen," said the Lady. *' Let us go down to it. I
know it is not far from here."
The Two could see down the muddy lane that led, at the
left of the theatre, to the top of what appeared to be a mina-
ret showing above the olive-trees. When the Other-one uttered
the words *' Libyan-Punic," the boy pointed to this and
started down the road, looking back for them to follow. They
walked down the narrow, sloppy street, passing a heap of
ruins which were being unearthed, some men being at work
even now in the mud.
The lane ended at a grove of olive-trees on a slope down
which a narrow path led to the monument, through the wet
dank grass amid which many fragments of ruins protruded.
The mausoleum was certainly a surprise to the travellers,
[ 322 ]
TO TUNIS
rising above the olive-trees about fifty-eight feet in height, a
square base surmounted by a pyramid, all constructed of
blocks of light-colored limestone.
** It is certainly very impressive in its strength and sim-
plicity, as well as very picturesque. It is not, however, as
imposing as the Tomb of the Christian we saw near Cherchel.
It has been reconstructed, and must be nearly what it was
when first built, except that some of the figures are mutilated
and parts gone,** said the Commander.
The guide-book says: ** This Libyan-Punic Mausoleum, which appears
to date from the second century B. C, had on its eastern side, an in-
scription in the Punic language, as also in the Libyan. In 1842 an Eng-
lish Consul at Tunis wished to carry off the stone with this inscription
for the British Museum, where it now is. He left the work to ignorant
Arabs, who demolished, in part, the monument to obtain the stone. The
Service dee Antiquitis worked to restore this mausoleum, of which the
absent parts had rolled down to the foot of those left standing. The
monument is now exactly as it was — except the bilingual stone — before
the mutilation of 1842.''
This is the description of the monument:
'* On a sub-base composed of several tiers of stone there is a square
base ornamented with Ionic pilasters at the corners and with false win-
dows; on the west side, the window formed an opening through which
one could penetrate into the interior of the mausoleum. The second
stage is the same as the first; it rests on other tiers and is a square
mass decorated on the sides with eight fluted, engaged Ionic columns;
at the angles are free columns. Above the entablature, in Phoenician
style, which surmounts these columns, is another sub-base of three tiers,
cut out at the corners and having horsemen in each. This supports a
third stage, ornamented with quadrigas in baa-relief, much -mutilated
now. This is capped by a pyramid, ornamented at the angles by winged
Victories and surmounted by a lion. . . . This royal tomb is inter-
esting in its details of construction and by the attempts at ornamenta-
tion by the builder, inspired by Greek art. . . . Monsieur Saladin,
who made a thorough study of this tomb, remarks that there are found
here Greek and Egyptian elements, and what seems moreover to have
been the real Carthaginian art. From the Egyptians they borrowed the
form of the cornice and the capital as well as the pyramidal form;
from the Greeks they took the details of their highest order and the
figures and the reliefs which decorate it.*'
Leaving the impressive monument the Two toiled up the
muddy lane and arrived again on the terrace where the car
waited; were wrung out and brushed anew by the patient
[323]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Adrian and the pretty Marguerite, who could not conceal their
astonishment at this new evidence of the folly of their employ-
ers in trudging through mud and rain and a filthy village to
view some scattered stones and broken columns, when at Tunis
they could see, undoubtedly, fine big hotels and great deco-
rated bank-buildings, all new and shining. The car rolled
down the loops of the road, leaving the little drenched and
muddy native irradiated with joy over the handful of sous
the good-hearted Commander had dropped in his grimy little
paw.
It was after dark that evening when they saw the lights of
Tunis through the mist of rain, and came near to the jing-
ling tram-cars outside of the great walls. A white gate with
three portals loomed up. ** We cannot enter the gates, but
must pass around the walls to the European quarter in which
is our hotel," said the Commander.
They went on by the high walls until there was a blaze
of light ahead, and the walls disappeared as if by magic.
The motor soon stopped in front of a big, gaudy hotel, and
porters in livery ran out to take in the baggage. The Lady
felt a shock of surprise and disappointment — was this
Oriental Tunis? In her muddy garments and drenched hat
and veil she entered the brilliantly lighted hall, where ladies
in gay evening toilettes and their cavaliers — arrayed also in
evening dress — were going into the dining-room.
[324]
CHAPTER XXI
THE ** WHITE city'* — THE SOUKS AND MOSQUES; WITH A
VISIT TO THE BARDO AND THE BELVEDERE
EVEN automobilists must stop sometimes in their headlong
career and gather up the odds and ends that have be-
come loosened in a flight over hills and plains ; so our Motor-
ists were obliged to take a day for these with some resting,
so as to be able the next day to enter into the fascinations of
this famed Oriental City of Tunis. These, they knew, must
lie not far off, behind those walls they had passed the night
before ; though, from the outlook from the front of the great
garish hotel where they lodged — on a street of real French
shops — there was no evidence that they were in an Oriental
city. Even the garden under their windows, with its one
palm and gay, flowering bushes, could have been seen any-
where on the Riviera. To be sure there was an Oriental sort
of building across the street, with very much exaggerated
Moorish arches, and glistening white with much cheap and
gaudy decoration in color, the portico hung with rugs and
littered with cheap, inlaid furniture. It looked like a spider's
web with the head spider, in a red fez but European clothes,
out in front looking for unwary tourist flies. This gave the
effect of a theatrical scene badly painted and poorly set.
Late in the afternoon the Two sallied forth to have a pre-
liminary glimpse of the French town before they should be-
gin their real sight-seeing in the Oriental part of the city.
** I suppose,'* said the Other-one, ** we must have a guide
to-morrow to show us through the maze of streets of the
native quarters. How I wish we could have Bashir, who,
from all accounts, is the ideal guide. But of course he is off
with some * so rich American or English family.' "
They strolled on out to the Avenue Jules Ferry, passing
r3251
A MOTOR FLIGHT
on their way a very flamboyant casino. This avenue is a wide
and splendid one, bordered with a double row of the ever-
green ficus trees, an avenue of which even Paris might be
proud. It opens into the Place de la Residence, where are
flourishing palm-trees, before it becomes the Avenue de
France. On the south side is the plain mansion of the French
Resident General, and opposite the rather ugly Cathedral
with no especial style of architecture. Fine shops and cafes
line both sides of the avenues, the latter predominating. It
was a gay and animated scene that the Two came into, being
the hour when the French population turns out in full force.
Moreover, it was Thursday afternoon, when the band plays
there, so the avenues were thronged with pedestrians and the
cafes were doing a rushing business.
The rich, warm sun flickered through the foliage of the
trees and made spots of light on the sidewalks where walked
beautifully dressed women and men in correct summer cos-
tume and fierce mustaches. The Eastern element, winding in
and out, set off the gayer colors with white ha'iks, cream, or
gray, and the pale tones of burnouses, while the French offi-
cers were resplendent in their scarlets and blues and gold
braid. Everybody was talking, everybody was laughing, it
seemed, and everybody else drinking coffee, beer, or absinth
at the cafes, whose little tables overflowed out into the street.
Seated at a few of them were Spahis in their red boleros with
black embroidery and blue pantaloons, with their white Jmiks
bound with the camel 's hair rope ; Tirailleurs in pale blue with
yellow embroidery and white spats ; Chasseurs d^Afrique in
blue jackets, tight red pants, and high boots. Arab dandies
in pale delicate greens, mauves, and grays, a carnation or a
rosebud stuck behind the ear, lolled indolently at other tables.
Grave and Biblical-looking patriarchs in voluminous bur-
nouses and Jidiks, hobnobbed over tiny cups of coffee, but the
black coats and light trousers of the Europeans predominated.
In the streets there were the coarser threads of the ragged
beggars and the Berber porters in rough brown sacks.
Our Two wandered on up the avenue with a feeling of
[ 326 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
leisurely enjoyment, though it was not what they had come
to see in Tunis; but at the end where the street-cars jangle
in a bunch together, starting here to circulate the Old Town
and return, they saw an ancient gate before them — the Porte
de France, the Old Sea Gate of the Oriental city, which the
Tunisians called Bab-el-Bahar, because it opened on to the
road going to the sea. It is, in form, a great bay with a
stilted arch. It still keeps its old folding-doors, though these
now always stand open. * * It is our magic gate ! ' * exclaimed
the Other-one. * * Let us step within, and we shall be in the
real, old, Oriental city ! * '
They pushed through the crowd of Arabs, Moors, Berbers,
and Soudanese porters, Jews, and veiled women, going in or
pouring out in a ceaseless stream under the great gate to
foam up against the horse-cars; this being the only avenue
from the old town to the starting-place of the trams. Out of
the open space beyond — and also filled with a crowd, with
carts and donkeys and even a camel or two, mixed up in an
apparently inextricable tangle — two streets, the Rue d^Eglise
and the Rue du Kasba, narrow and tortuous, lead up to
Orient land. It had come to the point now when the Other-
one could see a burnous or a white hdik without staring at
the man wearing it as something strange or unusual. She
had even become used to the sight of veiled ladies in her weeks
of motoring through Algeria, but veiled women like those
coming down the narrow streets were different from any she
had yet seen. They were jet-black negresses, apparently, but
as they drew near, she saw that they were white, but with a
black veil tied tightly over their faces, only leaving a slit
where the eyes came. They wore the usual white hdik cover-
ing the head and draped around the body. They shuffled
hurriedly along, their feet thrust half into heelless slippers,
and seeming anxious to avoid any notice. Then there came
in sight another unusual figure, a woman who appeared even
more anxious to conceal herself than the others. Her hatk
was of soft, cream-white, striped silk, and fell in scanty folds
around her. She had fine slippers of patent leather, but the
[327]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
most peculiar thing about her was the wide, long scarf she
wore, of black silk but with a rich border, and ends in yellow
designs. This scarf was passed over her head and held with
both hands out so far in front of her that her face was com-
pletely concealed, and she could not possibly see anything be-
yond the ground in front of her. The Other-one wondered
who or what she might be, but though there were many other
veiled women, this was the only one w^ho appeared in the
throng with this curious scarf -veil; and now the Other-one
felt she had really entered the gate of the Orient and she
must keep her eyes open for curious sights. As it was late,
the Two soon went back after watching for a time the strange
and fascinating medley of humanity, leaving until another
day the penetrating into the inner mysteries of the Medina,
the primitive agglomeration of the Oriental city to which the
streets from the Porte de France lead.
When the Commander came up to their room after dinner
that evening, he found the Other-one poring over guide-
books.
' ' I have some good news for you, ' ' he said. * ' You will
not need to be tied to your ' Cook ' and 'Joanne ' during
your sight-seeing to-morrow. I have seen the ideal guide,
Bashir. He is waiting here for a rich American family, but
as they may not arrive for three or four days, he will be glad
to give his time to us until they come. He looks handsome
enough in clothes that will satisfy even your aesthetic taste,
and withal he seems to be a fine fellow. I could wish he
spoke English a little better, but with my excellent English,
and your poor French, I have no doubt we shall get along.''
* ' Delightful ! ' ' exclaimed the Lady, ignoring the last. * ' I
hope ' the rich American family ' may be content to browse
in other pastures for a time. But even if we are to have
Bashir, there are things about which he may not be able to
tell us, so I am going to ask you to seat yourself in that com-
fortable armchair and let me read you something about Tunis,
for I know you have been gossiping with other travellers
instead of reading up this city."
[ 328 ]
A WOMAN UK TIMS, oK TIIK
LOWER CLASS
PORTE DE FRANCE,
LOOKING FROM THE OLD TOWN, TUNIS
THE MINARET OF THE GREAT
MOSQUE AT TUNIS
mmBE
IN A COURTYARD OF THE PALACE OF DAI-EL-BEY, TUNIS
THE "WHITE CITY "
" Tunis was founded before either Utica or Carthage, and
still keeps its ancient name Tounis or Thinis. It was eclipsed
by its neighbor, Carthage, but when Rome was overthrown it
became the capital of the country. Conquered by Khair-ed-
Din in 1533, it was attacked two years later by Charles V,
when twenty thousand Christian slaves escaped from the kasba
and opened the city gates to him. It then came under the
Spanish protectorate, but only for a few years, for the Turks
attacked it in 1574, and retained possession until it was con-
quered by the French in 1881.
* * Under the governing beys piracy and slavery were carried
on to such an extent that France and other countries decided
to interfere, and, in 1855, the fleet of the Bey of Tunis was
destroyed by Admiral Blake. Piracy was arrested, and pub-
lic works were carried out. In 1881 it was decided that
France should enter Tunis. Troops crossed the frontier; a
French expedition was sent to the Khroumirs, said to be an
uncivilized, troublesome, and independent tribe. It was a
short and easy task. Tabarca, Bizerte, and other towns were
occupied, and the French general advanced on Tunis. The
French Government was obliged to send a large army to sub-
due the various tribes and to occupy the various cities from
one end of the Regency to the other. To-day every import-
ant point in Tunisia is garrisoned by French troops.
** The French Protectorate in Tunis has been very success-
ful. The bey nominally makes all the laws ; but he does this
on the advice of a Resident and six French administrators.
Even if the bey has but little power his presence on the
throne is a guarantee to the Mussulman population that
their prejudices are being respected.
** Tunis was formerly surrounded by a wall and ramparts;
some of these have been destroyed to make room for fine
streets and boulevards. It is divided into two quarters, the
old and the new, the French having decided wisely to keep
the native quarter intact instead of destroying it to make
new boulevards, while the French quarter, its boulevards,
theatres, banks, shops, and hotels, grew up outside the walls.
[329]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
The native quarter, however, has been lighted, the streets
named, and sanitary conditions introduced, so the old town is
extremely clean for an Oriental city. It lies in the older and
higher part of the city, in which, below the kasba and the
Dar-el-Bey (Bey's Palace), are situated the labyrinths of
souks or bazaars, each street tenanted by persons of the same
occupation, such as jewellers, perfumers, saddlers, woollen
dealers, silk merchants, shoemakers, embroiderers, etc. Here
are a motley crowd of nationalities and races, — Tunisians,
Algerians, Moroccans, negroes. Bedouins, Moors, and Jews.
Even before the Turkish domination, the Mussulman con-
sidered Tunis La Blanche, a city without equal, more beauti-
ful and powerful than all other Eastern cities.
** The French and other Europeans inhabit the new quar-
ter. The city and suburbs form four districts known as
Medina, the real, native part, where are the souks and the
Palace of the Bey ; the Faubourg of Bab-Souika to the north ;
the Faubourg of Bab-el-D jazira to the south ; and the Marine
or European quarter. There are eight gates leading into the
native town. The tram-cars go from the Porte de France
around the streets which separate the faubourgs, but do not
enter Medina.
* * The city of Tunis stands on an isthmus dividing two salt
lakes; that to the northeast communicates with the sea at
Goletta by means of a canal that was constructed in ancient
times. This lake is called El Bahira, or the Little Sea, by the
natives. The other lake is the Sebka-es-Sedjoumi. Goletta
is no longer the seaport of Tunis, which now connects di-
rectly with the sea by a large canal cut through El Bahira,
by which large ships can go directly to the city. ' *
** Well,'' said the Commander, ** with all this and with
Bashir to guide us, we shall be able to go everywhere but into
the mosque.
*' You know that a Christian cannot enter a mosque in
Tunisia, except in Kairouan, * the sacred city, ' as it is called ;
for the French commanded that all mosques in Kairouan
should be open to Christians."
[ 330 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
When the Other-one went down to the entrance-hall the
next morning, the Commander presented Bashir to her. She
was delighted to find that he was an ideally picturesque
guide, in his dark red jacket heavily embroidered in black,
full plaited trousers of the same color, a beautiful sash of
softest dull tints of blue and pink girdled around his waist,
a red fez with a great tassel set far back on his head, and a
burnous of the tint of a brown autumn leaf thrown grace-
fully over his shoulders. He was indeed a joy to the Lady's
eyes. More than all else were the bright, dark eyes, the face
of a pale bronze color and alive with intelligence, his bearing
of calm certainty that he could please his patrons, and a
certain quick sympathy with, and an understanding of, the
different natures he was to take under his charge.
*' We will go first to the souks/' he said. ** It is best there
in the morning, and all the foreigners who come here wish
to see them at once. "
They took one of the open victorias standing at the hotel
entrance and rode up the avenue, alighting at the Porte de
France. They went in under the old gate, through the pul-
sating life of the little square beyond, and turned up the
narrow Rue de TEglise, pushing their way along by little
shops of glittering, cheap jewellery, — poor Sicilian shops of
common hats and coats, with a more attractive shop or so of
copper jars and pots and pans, and a vegetable shop tucked
in between. They were crushed to the wall, sometimes, by
an old Berber or Nubian porter in a coarse, sack-like garment,
his only one, with a burden on his back big enough for three
men to lift, and held on by a rope passed around it and his
forehead. One jet-black Soudanese had a pile of at least a
dozen chairs, which the Lady carefully counted as she
crushed herself, while waiting, into one of the cheap jewellery
shops where the presiding Jew welcomed her, shouting to her
to come and buy of his * * beautiful rings, watches, and brace-
lets, so sheep/'
** These porters carry out all the things sold in the souks/*
said Bashir, ** and are very strong.*'
[331]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
' * And there is a woman like the one I saw yesterday, with
the scarf -veil ; what is she, and why do the most of the women
wear those disfiguring black veils? " asked the Other-one.
** That is the wife of a rich tradesman. These women are
rarely seen down here. You notice she has her Soudanese
servant with her. The others with the black veils are the
poorer Tunisians.''
They now passed under a black, ominous-looking arch, above
which, Bashir told them, was the bey's prison, and half way
up they saw doors opening in dark holes. Here the party
came out to the rue Zitouna, and Bashir showed them the
Grand Mosque of Tunis, — El Zitouna, or Mosque of the
Olive-tree, founded in 698. A fine flight of steps leads up to
a great door under a long arcade supported by columns. It
has a very imposing outside. *' In it," Bashir told them,
*' are seven open courts, and here many Tunisian youths are
being educated."
They went directly from here in to the Souk-el- Attarin, or
the bazaar of the perfumers, and thus began to thread the
tangle of these famed bazaars and wandered through them in
a maze of color. There is a sort of twilight over all, as these
sotiks are all roofed over, some with wooden roofs, others
with stone arches and roofs of cement. In these are openings
through which the light sifts down on the fascinating medley
of color and Oriental shop-life. The light also comes from
where the different souks open out into others, and there are
big gates to close between each at night or in case of fire. The
Souk-el- Attarin is the aristocratic quarter, as Bashir told them,
and most of the perfume-sellers here are very rich and said
to be descendants of Corsair chiefs. Certainly they seemed to
the Lady to have no desire to sell, for they lolled indolently in
their little cupboards (unlike the clamorous Jew merchants)
with the little shelves behind them full of cut-glass gilded
bottles and those fascinating long flacons which travelled
friends often bring to the stay-at-homes, with a drop of the
rose left from the evaporation, giving to the recipient a fasci-
nating dream of far Oriental lands.
[ 332 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
Above the heads of the perfume-sellers, hang long, slender
or wide-branched candles decorated in all the colors of the
rainbow, looking like strange fruits, which are taken, as
Bashir said, to the tombs of the marabouts, or used to deco-
rate wedding feasts; some have the shape of the hand of
Fatima which one sees so often painted over Eastern doors.
There are counters which shut in the dealers, and little seats
outside where one may sit while testing and buying the per-
fumes. The Moor, or Arab, in his big turban, really looks
* * like a stuffed bird in a cage, ' ' as some one has said ; but,
indolent as he looks and acts, he is a subtle bird.
At a particularly attractive **cage," the Other-one felt she
must indulge in some of the famed odors of ** Araby the
blest.'* This one, Bashir informed them, was the most select
and she would find its perfumes the best in the world. The
grave and patriarchal Moor, arrayed in a pale green bur-
nous edged with fine embroidery in pale yellow, his turban of
yellow silk bound in artistic folds around his head, brought
out many fascinating slender bottles with essences of jessa-
mine, rose, sandal-wood, verbena, bergamot, and the perfume
of the Bey, and rubbed on her gloveless hand a little glass
pencil from each. The place was as redolent of rich odors
as a flower garden in June, and the Lady was so bewildered
with the combination of odors that she could not decide which
pleased her the most.
** Better take rose,** said the Commander, ** if you need
any, for you have enough odors on your hand now, to last
six months.*'
While the tiny flask of rose was being dripped from a long
glass tube, carefully corked and swathed in cotton, Bashir
casually remarked that a client of his, some time before, had
bought two thousand francs* worth of the finest perfumes
here at this most reliable place.
** Indeed!*' exclaimed the Other-one. ** Did she intend
opening a perfume shop ? * *
** Oh, no! she is a very rich American, and she wished to
have some of all the odors sold in the East.**
[ 333 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
But when the tiny flask was handed out with a small quan-
tity of rose and the sum of twenty francs demanded, the
Other-one decided that, perhaps, after all, the * ' so rich Ameri-
can lady ' ' did not get very much for her two thousand francs.
There were not many people here — a few Arab dandies in
their light-colored burnouses sauntering along, and some
grave old fellows sitting by the shops.
* * They do not seem to sell much here, ' ' observed the Com-
mander. * ' I presume it is only the tourists who buy. * *
*' Oh, no,** said Bashir, ** all the Tunisians, indeed all
Arabs and Moors, are fond of perfumes. They not only use
it to perfume themselves, but they put it in coffee and in
their cigarettes. Jessamine is the scent preferred.*'
The Lady was reluctant to leave this delightful souk, so full
of the flower-garden odors. Her nostrils had been so often
greeted with others far different in most of the Arab streets
she had wandered through, heretofore, but Bashir said they
must hurry on as there were many shops or souks, to see.
Then they passed in the souk of the tailors, or Souk-el-Trouk,
a large and very animated place and a most attractive one,
with larger dens separated by columns from Carthage, picked
out in red and green and with larger openings in the wooden
roof, letting in more light but not so stable looking as the
vaulted stone roofing of the perfumers' souk. Here were the
stalls for making the beautiful burnouses in all those entranc-
ing colors they had seen. In each of the shops men were work-
ing, mostly Jews, squatting on the floor, cutting out and
stitching and embroidering on all sorts of gay and soft
fabrics. They were making garidouras in melting browns
with masses of cream embroidery worked on them, or of crim-
son with pale green embroidery, or blues with pale yellow.
There were gay jackets of red, yellow, blue, or pale green, so
all the place was like the gay fields of wild flowers the travel-
lers had motored through, or the changes a kaleidoscope takes,
the sun slanting down and lighting up the colors to indescrib-
able richness. There were crowds of Arabs and Moors here,
with a sprinkling of Europeans and eager or languid tourists.
[334]
THE "WHITE CITY"
A curious thing was to see men going around, pushing them-
selves in and out of the crowd, with piles of gandouras, bur-
nouses, and jackets on their heads, shouting the price or
trjdng to auction them off. Here the Commander would fain
have lingered, but Bashir gently but firmly led them on.
When the Lady tried to separate from the confused jumble
of color, light, animated crowds, and all the other fascinating
Oriental effects of the morning, that which had most inter-
ested her and her companion, she found that those which most
delighted them were : first, the Souk of Chechias (fezes). Here
the Mussulmans' red caps were hung all over the stalls
along the sides of the way, looking like great beds of poppies,
and the big forms for pressing them like abnormal sugar-
loaves. In one place they were seen in process of preparation.
It was almost inconceivable that the huge caps of coarse, white
knitted wool should turn into the natty, jaunty, red fezes that
all Mussulmans wear. Bashir showed them where small boys
were carding the shapeless wool caps with the horny, spiny
seed-vessels of a kind of thistle (teazel) cultivated for the
purpose, until each becomes a big mass of soft wool. Bashir
said they were then sent to Zaghouan where is plenty of
water, and put to soak for some time, and then dyed and
pressed and turned out into the proper-looking fezes. Some
of them cost as much as fifty or seventy-five francs, he said,
but they last a lifetime.
Next was the Souk-el-Blagdjia or souk of the bahouches
(slippers), where the Other-one thought there were enough
yellow slippers hung up in the various small dens to furnish
every native man, woman, and child, in Tunis. Coarsely
made, though, and down at the heels, they were ugly enough.
This place was not so attractive, though the great sheets of
yellow leather hung up with the aforesaid yellow slippers and
some of gay blue and red, embroidered in gold, gave an artis-
tic value to it as to color.
Then the Souk-el- Sekadjine, or the saddlers*, was most in-
teresting and delightfully satisfactory in color. Here were
gorgeous high-backed crimson saddles and mountings in
[335]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
brass; all kinds of fascinating leather bags, porte-monnaies,
card-cases, leather belts, rug-straps, in red, yellow, bronze,
green, pale mauve, with gold and silver embroideries, some
gay with tassels, and mostly of goatskin; and the Other-one
felt life would not be worth living should she leave Tunis
without some of these most fascinating articles. The Com-
mander drew her on, however, saying : * * "Wait, and we will
come later for our shopping and make a real business of it.
We must not load the car down with too much modern
trash, but I hope we may find some fine antiques here." It
was strange to see a curious sort of painted sarcophagus in
this gay souk, right in the middle of the street, so that the
busy tide of life flowed around it in two channels or beat
against it.
** What is it," asked the Lady, " that it should be right
in the road? "
* ' It is the tomb of a very holy marabout, who wished that
after he died he might be buried here, so that people might
always have his tomb in sight and make their offerings with-
out trouble, as they always do on Friday," answered Bashir.
There was one place to which he took them that gave a note
of sadness to these gay and fanciful souks, and recalled the
fierce and wicked life led in Tunisia before the French came.
It is near the soick of the tailors, and is a triangular court
with arches running around it supported on ancient columns.
It was the old Slave Market. Farther on is another ancient
slave place, a sort of fondouk, filthy now with heaps of rub-
bish, but in a way picturesque with its ancient columns and
arcades. Here two rows of cells run around; the one above
was for the men, the lower one for the women. Bashir showed
them one column with an open stone-work capital; through
one of the holes of this a chain was passed and attached to the
slave stationed for sale there. It was a harrowing, as well
as filthy place, and the Two were glad to escape from it.
As the party passed a low arched door looking like the en-
trance to a mosque, Bashir suddenly stopped and exclaimed,
'* You must have a cup of coffee in the Cafe of the Mosque! "
[336]
THE "WHITE CITY"
Then he took them under the ancient door through a long
corridor with high stone benches on each side, having niches
below — for the slippers, Bashir said, of those who wished to
recline there. This opened into a most curious place with a
high dome over the centre. At one side was a large pavilion
supported by red and green columns looking like barber poles,
the floor of which was much above the level of the surround-
ing room. On this floor several very hilarious Arabs were
reclining, small cups of coffee at their sides from which they
were imbibing from time to time. Some were engaged in a
game of dominos, others in games of cards. They paid very
little attention to the intruders except to fling some welcom-
ing words to Bashir, whom everybody seemed to know. The
most curious sight in the place was the tombs of three mara-
bouts, high, plain boxes, with turbans on them, on a platform
at the side of the cafe.
*' This was built as a marabout's tomb,*' said Bashir, ** but
they turned it into a cafe."
Around the room were poor pictures of Moslem cities,
which are always seen in important mosques and koubbas. At
the back of the cafe was the place where the coffee was made
on hot ashes heaped upon a sort of tiled platform for the
purpose. Round this were hung many tiny cups, with recep-
tacles for coffee and sugar, near. At Bashir 's command, a
young Arab in a long gown, somewhat soiled, took three
tiny, copper, long-handled pots, put in some powdered coffee,
with a spoon or two of sugar, and, blowing the hot ashes to a
red glow, he set the pots thereon and left them until they
bubbled over, then poured the coffee into three tiny cups.
The Two found it steaming hot, but muddy and over sweet,
though the flavor was undeniably delicious. When they had
scalded their mouths with a few swallows, they returned their
cups and Bashir led them out, saying that this was the place
to get the best coffee in Tunis.
The souk of the stuffs was less gay in color — though one
might have expected to flnd it even brighter — for the stuffs
were mostly folded up on the little shelves in the dens, and
[337]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the mercliants here seemed as indolent as those in the souJc of
perfumes. The Other-one found it fascinating, however, for
there were some things she coveted, — the long pieces of gayly
colored silks, the exquisite sashes that the dandy Arabs and
the guides tie around their waists, and the beautiful spangled
gauzes ; but the Commander gently urged her on.
When they had wandered long in the fascinating souks, the
guide took them out by the Rue Sidi-ben-Ahrous, to show
them the beautiful minaret of the mosque of that name, octag-
onal in shape and crowned with a charming pavilion at the top
and with a roof of glistening green tiles. Then they went up
until they came to the Hue Sidi-ben-Ziad, with another exqui-
site mosque and minaret, Sidi-ben-Ziad, also octagonal with a
pavilion at the top ; beyond this they came out to the Dar-el-
Bey, or Palace of the Bey, which is a plain-looking building
outside. This palace, Bashir said, was the official residence
of the bey. Here foreign ministers are received and state
banquets held. Bashir conducted his people past the beylical
guards at the door, along tiled corridors to a beautiful court-
yard with the Moorish arches in black and white stripes of
marble, and marble columns upholding the colonnade run-
ning around. Here are fine arabesques, lace-like work in
panels and under the arches of the barred windows opening
from the long room. There are beautiful tiles below these, and
the court is all paved with marble. Once there must have
been a fountain here. Up narrow flights of stairs again, with
tile on all the walls, to see some of the beylical apartments.
The throne-room, or grand salon, where the bey receives
his ministers and foreign officers, was, from Bashir 's point of
view, a superb apartment, with its gold-colored brocade hang-
ings, its gilded chairs covered with the same, and a carpet of
roses more gay than one ever saw in nature, though in a some-
what faded condition. He carefully lifted the outer cover of
the big chair in red velvet and huge framework of gilt wood,
and stood back to see the effect. The Other-one looked around
the room with its gaudy French hangings, furniture, and
carpet, comparing it in her mind with the exquisite ajourS
I 338 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
work and tiles of some of the other rooms she had seen, and
— was silent.
Bashir took them to the little windows which open on to the
souks below and showed them little iron trap doors that can
be lifted so one can easily look down on the street.
** Here the bey can sit, if he wishes, and not be seen, but
can see, himself, all below.'*
From here they went through long corridors, all tiled also,
up some narrow stairs to the roof of the palace, from which
they looked down on the white city lying below them and ex-
tending on all sides and down to the yellow waters of the lake
and the blue gulf beyond. Just in front is the minaret of the
Grand Mosque with its beautiful, interlaced brickwork, and
the upper story with its graceful arches upheld by slender
pillars just under the lantern at the top. They could even see
down into its great court with colonnaded arches. Then, at
the left, a wonderful octagonal minaret of the Djama
Djedid, a complication of Moorish, Arabic, and Italian con-
struction, of l>eautiful coloring. Other minarets shot up,
slender pillars here and there, which, with the round white
domes of countless mosques and of marabouts' tombs, gave
the city its characteristic Oriental look, enhanced with green
of gardens and trees and the glistening of iridescent green
roofs on minarets and tombs.
*' No wonder they called it * The White City.' It looks as
if built of pure marble," said the Lady.
** They called it also * L'Odorante,' and the * Burnous of
the Prophet.' The kasba is the hood of the burnous which
unfolds toward the Port and La Goletta, ' ' added Bashir.
There is a line of soft green, punctuated with white dots
of villas, and rising to a hill to the side of which are white
masses of houses: " That is Carthage and the white village
on the hill, Sidi-bou-Said."
The Lady felt a thrill as she looked over to that soft, blue-
green line, across the yellow lake, to the place where stood
one of the mighty cities of antiquity, the theatre of events
tremendous to the ancient world. Bashir went on to say :
[339]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
'* That big blue mountain off to the right with two peaks
is Bou-Kornein, which means ' Father with the Two Heads.'
The white city at its foot is Hammam Lif , where there is a fine
bathing beach, and where many Tunisians go in summer for
sea and mineral baths. The mountain back of Djebel-bou-
Kornein, is the Djebel Ressas, or the ' Mountain of Lead/
where are lead mines now in full operation. The jagged
mountain in the far distance is the Zaghouan, whence the
waters were brought to Carthage by the aqueduct, a part of
which is still standing; and to-day it furnishes the water for
Tunis."
He ceased, and all were silent for a time. It was indeed a
view to thrill any one, no matter how often seen — the beauty
of blue sky with ethereal, summery clouds drifting across it ;
the soft, melting blue of the ' Father with Two Heads, ' which
had overlooked all those tragic events that swept Carthage off
the face of the earth.
Bashir, for a time, left his people to think and dream —
that excellent guide being sensitive to the moods of his pa-
trons. Then he went softly down the stairs with them and
out to where the carriage waited. They rode up the street to
the kasba, which is now almost all rebuilt and converted into
barracks for soldiers. They saw the beautiful minaret of its
ancient mosque, the oldest in Tunis. It is considered the
finest in the city, and dates back to the thirteenth century.
The mosque was once inside the kasba but it has been walled
off since the soldiers were placed in barracks there. There
are some fine new buildings up in this quarter, in Moorish
style, but they looked startlingly new and huge to the tourists.
* * I do not feel like seeing any more palaces or even mu-
seums this afternoon,'' said the Other-one. '' My Bohemian
instincts are to the fore. Let us go wandering over this
Oriental city, even into the souks again. Besides my soul
longs to shop and bargain in some of those curious and fasci-
nating dens."
**And afterwards," said the Commander, ** what do you
say to an automobile ride into the country? "
[340]
MINARET OF SIDI-BENAHROUS, TUNIS
PLACE BAIixtllKA, WITH VIEW OF THE MOSQUE OF
SIDI-MAHREZ, TUNIS
THE "WHITE CITY"
The desires of both seemed reasonable to Bashir, and he
proposed that they should take the carriage round to the
Place Bab-Souika to save too much walking, dismiss it there
and after seeing that Place, go and visit an interesting
mosque, — the much frequented Arab Place Halfaouine, then
go to any shops or souks where they wished to make purchases.
When they came into the Bab-Souika they found there the
most typical and varied Arab life they had yet seen. If it
had not been for the fussy and obtrusive trams, with their
jingling and rattling, the Two would have believed themselves
leagues away from European civilization. On one side of
this Place are tiny Arab shops, some having the most fasci-
nating pottery — jars, vases, water-jugs, and what not —
scattered around outside and in the little dens and hung
everywhere it is possible to hang a handled pot or jar. There
are the iron-workers shops, but ugly and uninteresting; then
in the middle of the Place are many booths — all in a jumble
— some heaped high with rich golden oranges; some with
heaps of dried red peppers, so much used in cous-cous, and
yellow carrots with their feathery green tops, as well as other
vegetables less satisfactory as to color ; at one end are booths
with piles of the flat Arabian loaves. Here seethed and
foamed a mass of humanity composed of all the elements of
the crowds they had seen, — the Arab dandies, the black- veiled
women, the Berber porters with their sacks wrapped round
their skinny black figures, — and the usual sprinkling of
Arabs, Moors, Sicilians, and Jews. As the party crossed over
to look at the pottery shops, the Other-one saw two huge levia-
thans waddling along not far from them, wearing full trous-
ers of white and a sort of breakfast jacket of satin, coming
just below the waist, exaggerating their stoutness ; a handker-
chief of flimsy, fringed silk was pulled over a high, horned
cap worn on one side of the head, above their fat, puffy
cheeks.
** What are they? '* she cried. *' Jewesses? ''
"Yes! '* answered Bashir, smiling at her look of disgust.
** And if you want to see them in all their best clothes you
[341]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
must visit Ariana on Saturday afternoon, for they go to
promenade on that day, their Sabbath."
** Are they all as ridiculously stout as these specimens? "
asked the Commander.
* * No ! some of the young girls are slender, and some are
handsome, but in the married women it is considered their
greatest beauty. That they may mind their homes and stay
there, they are encouraged to eat all sorts of things to make
them fat.**
This pottery here is mostly of a pale yellow, sun-baked;
some jars have geometrical designs on them; some are deco-
rated with queer sorts of figures like those seen on prehistoric
jars in museums; on some there are splashes of green. The
shapes of most are very bizarre, especially those which have
a sort of perforated shells around them. These are water
bottles and are intended to keep the water cool. The Other-
one longed to invest in some of the quaint jars, but the Com-
mander suggested to her that what might cost her a franc or
two here, with freight, boxing, and duties would cost several
dollars in the end ; besides, being so frail, they would probably
land at home, no matter how well packed, a mass of broken
pottery, as he reminded her had happened two or three times
before.
From the square there is the best view of the peculiar
Mosque of Sidi Mahrez which has a large white dome with
several smaller ones around it, and is said to have been built
by a French architect, a captive of one of the corsairs. Sidi
Mahrez was a great saint, and his tomb is in great repute —
even the Jews worshipped him here, he having given them
many of their privileges.
From this square the party crossed over into the Place
Halfaouine, which is a larger square overshadowed by the
Great Mosque and minaret. This minaret the Commander
thought looked more like a factory chimney than the usual
elegant minaret of fanciful designs. Here also are a fountain
of Moorish style, and cafes galore, the especial one affected by
[342]
THE "WHITE CITY"
rich Arabs being under the shadow of the Great Mosque.
There were a few aristocratic Arab loiterers here now clad in
their delicate-colored burnouses, having a rose or carnation
stuck behind the right ear, and wearing fine patent-leather
slippers. Also a sprinkling of the patriarchal element, recall-
ing Abraham, Isaac, and jMoses. The best time to come here
is at five o'clock or after, when the cafes are filled to over-
flowing ; it being the favorite place of the rich Tunisian Arabs
and Moors.
** How gay the male bird is here among the Arabs! *' said
the Commander.
** Yes! " returned the Other-one. ** It is the poor drab of
a woman who is the bird of dull plumage, at least in the
streets."
After this, they went down some streets to the richer Arab
quarter, where many of the houses are very old and some of
the streets are vaulted over. How cool it was there, in spite
of the hot sunshine outside! There were no windows in the
lower walls of these houses, but some beautiful doors with
Moorish arches and inscriptions around them in a band of
color, some of them studded with nails, in fine designs.
Bashir said that this decoration of nails came down from the
times of Charles V. When some of the wealthy Moors com-
plained that the soldiers invaded the sanctity of their homes,
the Emperor ordered them to put nails in their doors, and
any soldier caught entering these would be punished severely.
In the stories above are grills of richly carved wood or me-
shirhiyah work, most of them painted green, or rather, the
iron bars outside.
** I suppose it is difficult to see the inside of any of these
houses,** said the Commander. ** I presume some of them are
very beautiful.**
•* It is very difficult,** answered Bashir in a non-committal
way.
** But at least,** added the Other-one, ** we have an idea of
them, from the palaces we have seen. There are the courts
[343]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
with pillars and fountains, the fine arabesque work and glo-
rious tiles. But of course, there are precious rugs and inlaid
furniture in all the rooms of houses lived in/*
When they had wandered through all the places that
Bashir deemed it best they should see, they went down to the
souks again and into various shops — some of them up mys-
terious staircases, and had an hour or so of most delightful
shopping and bargaining, at which the Commander was an
adept. These were the finer shops of great merchants, for
Bashir would not let them go near the cheaper places where
touts shouted to them " Come in, come in, see so sheap tings,
so beautiful tings! '* It is true that the Other-one longed
sometimes, when passing some glittering spider's web, with
the instincts of a real woman, to go in and get a great many
of those fascinating articles for very little money; besides,
there were so many friends at home to whom she must take
gifts from these strange lands. But Bashir 's eye was upon
her; his protecting presence surrpunded her; she felt she
must not disgrace herself in the eyes of that dignified guide,
whose patrons were among the wealthy and luxurious. So
she humbly followed him, but like Lot's wife, she cast longing
looks behind.
There were beautiful things in these shops of the better
sort hung with rugs, resplendent with painted and gilded
Moorish arches, and strewn with all kinds of fanciful, mother-
of-pearl inlaid furniture. There were piles of rainbow silks,
spangled veils, wonderful embroideries, cases of glorious old
jewellery, iridescent jars, vases, and plaques, and a thousand
other things dear to the heart of collectors. When the most
polite attendants — generally in European dress, but always
with the scarlet fez — saw that the Commander was a con-
noisseur and skilful in bargaining, they brought out their
choicest old rugs, their finest embroideries, their most antique
jewellery — nothing of the modern trash for this keen judge.
With a quick eye he picked out among the treasures some
things without which he felt he could not leave Tunis. It is
true there were a rug or two, very old, in which he indulged,
[344]
THE "WHITE CITY"
but his principal treasures were some old Bedouin fibulae of
fine chased silver; some wonderful old earrings, big as hoops,
all hung with little bells; a chased silver necklace set with
mountain garnets; some bracelets of Moorish work in gold
and rough emeralds ; and Moorish earrings, a wonder of fine
gold filigree and set with many colored stones. All these
were, of course, for the beloved museum — except the rugs.
The Other-one contented herself with a bag of heavy gold
embroidery; a glittering scarf or two; and some pieces of
the beautiful striped Tunisian silk for which this city is
famous. The Commander added to her store a quaint old
necklace of turquoises set in gilded silver. Then ensued such
bargaining as made Bashir open his eyes. His patrons usu-
ally were not given to this sort of thing.
** There is not much time left before sundown,** said the
Commander, regretfully, * * so our ride will have to be a
short one. Where sliall we go, Bashir, but out into the real
country? "
** We will go to the Belvedere," answered that resource-
ful man. ** The views are beautiful, and the park is fine."
It is through the Avenue de Paris that one generally rides
out of Tunis to the Belvedere — the famous modern park on a
hillside — through an uninteresting, dusty, French faubourg;
after two kilometres the entrance to the park is reached. It
was a relief to the Two — after their day of kaleidoscopic
color-effects and ceaseless din and turmoil of Oriental life
in the city — to come into the silence and greenness of the
Belvedere. On this day few Tunisians are to be seen; Sun-
day is the great day for excursions out of the city. Adrian
drove the car slowly up the smooth roads that zigzag around
the hill. The party were silent, enjoying the sight of the
masses of blossoming bushes, the grace of the pepper-trees,
the vivid yellow of the genesta and mimosa tassels, the snow
of great bushes of marguerites bordering some of the beds.
When they had come to a pavilion near the summit of the
hill toward the south, they got out and went up to an open
space around which benches were ranged. From here the
[345]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
view extended in all directions; but now, instead of an
ivory and marble-white Tunis which they had seen by morn-
ing light, they gazed toward the south, over billowing masses
of green, at a pink flushed city, for the sun was dropping
down the west. Behind Tunis, Bou-Kornein and Eessas were
rosy purple, and the misty Zaghouan showed his notched out-
lines against a pale rose sky. Lake Bahira, to the east of
the city, had such gleams in its muddy yellow as a dull brass
jar has, when it is filled with pink blossoms that droop
over and cast reflections on it. The line of shore at the east,
where once was ancient Carthage, spread thrillingly soft up
to Sidi-bou-Said^s village, now also tinted with rose; Bashir
pointed out the heights of Cape Bon beyond it. At the north
the hills of olive-trees were dark, and at the west were now
seen the indistinct lines of the arches of the old aqueduct.
Who could look upon this glorious view, especially toward
old Carthage, and not feel a quickening of his soul!
Bashir then took his people to see the beautiful pavilion
which had been taken from an old Arabian house going to
ruins at Manouba, and brought, piece by piece, and set up
here in a beautiful spot surrounded with bushes of flowering
marguerites, whose snowy blooms were not whiter than the
panels of the beautiful lace-like arabesque stucco-work on
the ceilings and walls of this pavilion, where fanciful fairy
columns uphold the stilted arches and white cupolas.
The next day being Friday, and the Mussulman's Sabbath,
Bashir was a little late in coming for his people, so they
decided it would be better to wait until after lunch for going
to the Bardo, as the museum closes at half -past eleven. When
at length they started, Bashir took them round the walls by
the old double gate of Bab-el-Khadra, which is like a fortress
with its square towers and places for sentinels and its bat-
tlemented top. Then at the gate of Bab Saadoun, — which
has two little impertinent lookout towers at the top, and
triple arches through which the trams jingle to circle around
the Medina quarter, they turned west for the Bardo under
the shadow of one of the high arches of an aqueduct in good
[ 346 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
preservation. This was said to be an ancient Roman one, but
reconstructed by the Spaniards during their occupation.
When the French came to Tunis, the Bardo was a vast
collection of palaces and different edifices, built by the suc-
cessive beys. When one died in a palace, it was considered
unlucky for his successor to live in it, so it was allowed to
fall into decay. This conglomeration of buildings covered
a number of acres and was surrounded by a wall with bastions
and towers. As most of these constructions were in a ruinous
state and threatening to fall, many were demolished, and
those retained were restored. At the south a public garden
has been laid out ; at the side toward the north, are the bar-
racks for the beylical soldiers ; a mosque and a ruined Moor-
ish bath are at the bottom of the garden. At the west of these
are the Bey's Palace of State and an ancient harem, recon-
structed into the museum called Alaoui, the most important
museum of antiquities in North Africa.
The car entered the grounds and drew up before the door
of the museum. The Two stopped to admire the masses of
flowers blooming in the beds, gay in the brilliant sunshine,
before they walked into the corridors and halls of the museum
and went wandering away into past ages. In the rooms
opening off the vaulted vestibules of the ground floor there
are many ex-votive offerings, with the compartments and fig-
ures in relief of the god Saturn and the animal sacrificed
in the compartment at the bottom, — similar to what the party
had seen in the museum at Algiers, but of much ruder work-
manship and coming from various Punic-Roman sanctuaries
(so the placards stated) consecrated to Baal, the Roman
Saturn, and to Tamit, the goddess Ceres, many having been
brought from Carthage. Here are sarcophagi, Pagan and
Christian, generally of rather poor work. What interested the
Commander and the Lady very much were some curious
squares in red unglazed clay hung on the walls of one of
the corridors and unlike anything they had ever seen before.
These had rude reliefs of subjects from the Old Testament —
Adam and Eve, the Sacrifice of Isaac, Daniel in the Lions'
[347]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Den, and so forth — as well as various animals. These were
used to decorate the walls of various Christian basilicas of
the fifth and sixth centuries. They were from North Africa,
some coming from Carthage, and some from Bulla Regia.
Here was a colossal Apollo with the cithara ; a grave Escu-
lapius with his snake; one the triad of Phoenician divin-
ities, Echmoun, the god of Medicine; and Ceres, the Punic
goddess Tamit, another of the triad. In the centre of the
hall was a beautiful Minerva, headless, but with lovely lines
in drapery and pose. * * This was probably the choicest treas-
ure in one of those Roman houses we saw at BuUia Regia.
"What lovely eyes may have looked at the statue! What aes-
thetic Roman youths paused before it admiring its grace ! ' '
said the sentimental Other-one.
Going up the staircase one comes into a great hall which
was once the ancient court of the palace. It is surrounded
by a portico which has a gallery above it. The mosaic in the
centre of the court is one of the most beautiful ever taken
from an ancient city in North Africa, and represents Bac-
chus giving the present of the vine to Attica, king of Ithaca,
with charming Cupids carrying baskets of grapes or filling
them from the vines. This wonderful and enormous mosaic
came from Oudna, a ruined city which is on the road to Zag-
houan, the great, misty, jagged mountain seen from the
heights of Tunis. In the patio are groups and fragments of
marble and statues coming from the Odeon of Carthage, which
were thrown into the cisterns of the edifice when they wished
to destroy them, and were so broken up that it was neces-
sary to cement them together piece by piece to give the idea
of the ancient statues.
Then the Two went into the hall of the fetes^ which has a
curious, if not beautiful, ceiling in wood carved, gilded, and
painted in striking colors. Here are fine mosaics brought
from Sousse, Tabarca, and other towns of antiquity. There
are cases of Roman lamps in all shapes and styles. In
another hall there are mosaics from the amphitheatre of
Djem, where our Motorists were planning to go soon. The
[348]
THE "WHITE CITY"
whole place bristled with mosaics of more or less fanciful
designs, and more or less fine in finish. The gem of the
whole place was the beautiful apartments in the harem at the
end of the big court, a flight of fine steps going up to them.
The travellers exclaimed when they came into the hall, at
the beauty and purity of the decorations. First came a hall
in the form of a Greek cross, with the most exquisite panels
of arabesque stucco-work, as if lace, in delicate filmy pat-
terns, were hung there, of the most marvellous fineness, —
the nouch hadida work — a lost art to-day. Some of the gems
of the ancient cities are here. The Other-one was enamoured
of the beautiful statuette of Demeter or Ceres. It came
from Carthage and is in a glass case at the side of the hall.
It is of tinted marble, with traces of gilding and exquisitely
lovely in pose and figure. There is an interesting mosaic
portrait of Virgil, seated between Clio, the Muse of History,
and Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy. Virgil holds a roll
of papyrus open on his knees with one of the first verses of
the ^neid. It is a work of the first century A. D., and came
from Sousse, the ancient Hadramentum.
From this they went down into the apartments of one of
the wives of the Bey Mohammed, in which is now installed the
Arabian department. When he wished to separate from her he
had this constructed for her. It is a little gem of an apartment
with its tiles and ajoiire ceiling and halls, and is fitted with
all sorts of Arabian, pearl-inlaid furniture, jars, rugs, pot-
tery, tiles, lamps. Though overloaded, it gives one a very
good idea of what an Arabian house is like. The pretty little
court with the fountain and plants and the sun streaming
down, was cheerful and bright to a degree. The long T-shaped
room beyond the court is an alcove with a great bed of sculp-
tured, gilded wood ; hanging near it a glass in an ornate gold
frame; a great inlaid coffer stands near by it, and rugs are
spread all over the floor. There is no light but what comes
from the wide door opening into the court, and a very little
from the characteristic small, high windows filled with rounds
of colored glass. In the recess opposite the door are long
[349]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
divans with many fanciful cushions and little inlaid mother-
of-pearl tables near, having tiny cups and perforated per-
fume burners on them. In the little room opening off at one
side are more cases of necklaces, fibulae, bracelets, belt-buc-
kles, earrings, and finger rings, coming from Tunis, Moknine
(where jewellery in Byzantine style is still made to-day),
Gabes, and Algeria. Here the Commander was delighted to
find that there was not an anklet, a fibula, or a necklace, as
fine as those he himself had picked up during his motoring.
Quitting the Alaoui Museum, the Two followed Bashir to
the Palace of the Bey, his official summer palace, and where
he holds his criminal court and orders executions. The stair-
case leading up to it is of white marble with the famous lions
in Italian work. The lions look extremely breezy and con-
tented with themselves. Bashir followed his party up these
steps but was waved aside by an important official in a red
fez, and he reluctantly abandoned them at the door leading
to the big white court surrounded by a colonnade. The bey-
lical guard rushed them up a staircase, from one room to
another, his mind apparently intent on the fee he expected
to receive. The first room entered was a high, long hall
covered with the usual gay French carpet, and with a plat-
form at the end on which was another huge gilded armchair.
Around the walls hung very indifferent portraits of former
beys and of the present one — a very stout person with a coat
much decorated in gold braid and many orders. Also there
were portraits of some European sovereigns, including Queen
Victoria, all looking very stiff and uncomfortable. On the
gilt and ormolu tables along the walls were innumerable
clocks of every style and size, presents to the beys.
The Hall of the Glasses, Salon des Glaces, was more sat-
isfactory than the big halls as to the ceiling, which is of a
Moorish design, with gilded circles enclosing pieces of mir-
ror; but the walls are covered with slabs of Italian marble,
looking, as one author puts it, ** like slices of brawn.*'
* * We ought to have Bashir with us to tell us something
[350]
THE "WHITE CITY"
about these rooms, for this guard has no idea but to get us
through here as quickly as possible,'* said the Other-one;
** but I know that here, in 1881, the treaty recognizing the
French Protectorate was signed, and that the bey gives big
receptions here during the important Mohammedan fetes.*'
The guard joyously left the Two at the entrance of another
white, colonnaded court, and, having secured his fee, con-
signed them to the care of red-fezed official number two,
who showed them one or two more rooms and the big Hall
of Justice, part of it railed off and with benches around the
outer division. Here is the place where, from the big red
chair, the beys used to render their decisions on a man con-
demned to death, whether he should be executed at once or
reprieved, by the sign of the bey 's thumbs, up or down. The
criminal was taken at once through the low doors which the
guardian pointed out at the end of the hall opposite
the throne-chair, and despatched without ceremony. Now, he
said, all executions took place at La Marsa, which is where
the bey's palace is, and where he lives most of the time.
Then the official took them down into the beautiful White
CJourt and bowed them out, but looked as if he thought the
one franc fee too little for so important a man as himself.
** How astonishing it is that the modern beys have so degen-
erated in taste, when they have such beautiful architectural
inheritances. They seem to run now to decorations in the
worst French or Italian taste, to red velvet chairs, cabbage-
rose carpets, and multitudinous gilt clocks,*' said the Com-
mander, as they walked down past the white marble lion
steps and -climbed into the car. ** Now," he exclaimed,
with a sigh of relief and a brightening of his countenance,
which had been rather sombre looking the past hour, ** we
are through with sight-seeing! Where shall we go, Bashir?
As far away from the city as possible in the time left ! ' '
** It is only sixteen kilometres to La Goletta, where is the
ancient canal cut through from the lake to the sea and
the old port of Tunis. The roads are good, though a part
[351]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
of the way is on the road to Carthage to which I shall hope
to go with you to-morrow, returning by the way of Ariana to
see the Jewesses, Saturday, promenading there."
" To La Goletta, by all means ! ' ' answered the Commander.
As they approached this village, not far from the Lake of
Tunis, they could see a great vessel going slowly through the
canal with the yellow waters of the lake this side and beyond.
* ' The color of the Lake of Tunis is owing to the sediment
brought down and deposited there in rainy seasons by the
River Medjerda," said the Commander.
There is a pretty island in the lake, with an old building
on it, the Chikli.
" Some say," said Bashir, in reply to the Lady's question
in regard to it, '' that it is an old Turkish fort; others that
it is the ruins of a castle built by Charles V."
*' I wonder if we shall see any cloud of flamingos * burst-
ing into rose-pink ' as they rise, of which all writers of Tunis
speak," said the Other-one, straining her eyes over the lake;
but no such enchanting sight greeted them. The afternoon
was not the time to see them, Bashir said, but there were the
picturesque sails of the fishermen's boats, and at the turn of
the road to La Goletta they saw the long line of pale blue-
green of Carthage rising to Sidi-bou-Said.
They found Goletta a picturesque, Venetian-looking town,
with its ancient canal on which floated one or two cargo
boats. It is rather ** down at the heel" now, like Venice. It
is built on the spit of sand between the Lake of Tunis and
the sea and across the canal, and was the ancient seaport
of Tunis, but has lost its importance now that the new canal
has been cut through the lake to that city. The Arabs call the
town Foum-el-Oued, or mouth of the canal, and Haik-el-
Oued, or throat of the canal. The French name is La Gou-
lette. Long tongues of land stretch up to Carthage, right
and left of the canal. There are two quarters, Old and New
Goletta. On the right side of the canal are the town and
an old palace and harem of the bey and an ancient arsenal.
The left bank has the ancient kasba and an old Spanish-
[ 352 ]
THE "WHITE CITY"
Turkish fortress now turned into barracks for French
soldiers. In the sixteenth century La Goletta was the scene
of important events. It was taken by Charles V and thou-
sands of Christian slaves were liberated. Then the Spaniards
fortified it strongly as a base of supplies during their dom-
ination. It was strongly reinforced in 1573 by John of Aus-
tria, but was reconquered by the Turks the next year, under
Sinan Pacha, after a terrible struggle and a memorable siege.
It is of much interest to the Roman Catholics from the fact
that St. Vincent de Paul was a prisoner here in the seventeenth
century.
La Goletta is the port of shipment for the iron ore of Cen-
tral Tunisia; the fishing fleet numbers a hundred boats,
some of which work in the lake and some in the gulf. In
the warm weather it is a bathing-place much visited by the
Jews of Tunis.
On the return the travellers saw that the large vessel they
had seen coming down was nearing Tunis.
** That was a great scheme,** observed the Commander,
** to put Tunis in direct communication with the sea by means
of a canal through the shallow lake. I believe it was the
late bey who first thought of it, and he gave a concession for
it. Plans and bids were asked for later, and given by a
company, and accepted by the French Government. The port
was begun in 1892 and completed in 1897. The canal is
seven miles long, ninety-three feet wide, and twenty-one feet
deep. It is practicable for ships of large tonnage. In the
centre the canal was widened enough to permit of vessels
passing one another.'*
When the Other-one parted with Bashir that night, she
said: ** To-morrow is for Carthage, and I hope we are
to have our nice guide to show us everything to see there, and
that the American family will be in no hurry to arrive here I '*
** They are sure not to come for a day or so yet,** replied
Bashir, * * so I am ready to go anywhere with you. You wish
to see all, but some I have care not. They wish to ride to some
place, take a cup of tea or coffee, and return at once ! '*
[ 353 ]
CHAPTER XXII
TO CARTHAGE AND RETURN BY ARIANA
THE night before the trip to Carthage the Commander
came up early after dinner. * ' Come, ' ' he said, ' ' read
me something, or tell me, about ancient Carthage. We both
know a little about its history, and Hannibal has always been
one of your favorite heroes, but I confess — and I am sure
you also do — to being rather hazy about most of the events
that took place there." He stretched himself comfortably
in an armchair near the table where were his beloved maps,
and the Other-one began with much content:
** We must be prepared to be greatly disappointed, if we
expect to find many ruins of ancient Carthage left. What we
shall see will be more Roman remains than Punic. Carthage,
as you know, is the most famous historical city in Africa.
It is generally said to have been founded about 850 B. C. by
a Phcenician colony. The fabled history is that Queen Dido,
fleeing from her brother Pygmalion, who had assassinated her
husband, came with the Tyrians to this place and founded
the city of Cart-hadshat, which the Romans made Carthago
afterwards. Dido is said to have purchased from the early
inhabitants as much land as a bull's hide would cover, but
she cunningly had the hide cut into narrow strips and sur-
rounded the land she wished to have ; so this hill, thus encom-
passed, was called the Byrsa, from the word meaning a hide.
Around the Byrsa houses and suburbs sprang up later in
all directions and all along the sea shore, beyond where Sidi-
bou-Said is now. Carthage, being near the mouth of the
important river called to-day the Medjerda, in proximity to
Sicily and nearly on the arm of the sea which unites the
Western Mediterranean with the Eastern, was splendidly sit-
[354]
TO CARTHAGE
uated on the shores of the large, well-protected Bay of Tunis,
and it became exceedingly prosperous.
* * The riches of Carthage were immense. Her traders trav-
elled all over the Mediterranean, trafficed with the Soudan,
visited Great Britain and the Atlantic coast of Africa. The
power and prosperity of this city remained undisturbed for
more than seven hundred years. Then began the struggle
between Rome and Carthage, called the Punic wars, for the
possession of Sicily, Spain, and Africa, and they lasted for
one hundred years.
** The First Punie War was a strife between Rome and
Carthage for Sicily and went on for twenty years. This
ended in the loss of that island to Carthage, and also her
prowess on the sea, 242 B. C.
** In the Second Punic War, this city was deprived of her
fleet and her colonial possessions. In this war, the famous
Hannibal was concerned, being recalled from Italy where he
had been engaged in fighting the Romans, with varying suc-
cess, for sixteen years. He returned to Africa, 203 B. C,
landed at Hadramentum (Sousse), was joined by Massenissa,
and took command of 50,000 men and eighty elephants at
Zanna where Scipio, the Roman, gave them battle. Notwith-
standing his great generalship and prestige, Hannibal was en-
tirely routed and compelled to abandon Carthage to his rival.
Peace was concluded and this city became the subject of
Rome ; thus ended the Second Punic War. Hannibal then de-
voted himself to the regeneration and resurrection of his
country, but the Roman senate demanded again and again his
surrender and he finally swallowed poison and died, 183
B. C. Rome and Carthage remained at peace some fifty
years, then at the instigation of Cato, the Elder, hostilities
were begun once more. Carthage fell again, all her public
buildings and fortifications were destroyed. Even after this
it remained a city of commercial importance. Caesar, after
having destroyed the party of Pompey in Africa, gave some
attention to Carthage, and Augustus also did the same.
Thanks to its geographical position, it quickly responded and
[355]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
became again a city of luxury and pleasure as well as of
study. Christianity was introduced here at the end of the
second century. The Roman emperors wishing to exterminate
it, bitterly persecuted Africa, especially Carthage. Many
noble ladies, like Felicitas and Perpetua, were given up to the
wild beasts in the amphitheatre there.
** In the fourth century St. Augustine became prominent
here, first as a teacher, then as a priest.
** Carthage was taken by the Vandals in 439, and became
the capital of Genseric and his successors. Belisarius occu-
pied it in the name of Justinian, emperor of Constantinople.
The Byzantines kept it more than sixty years. At the end of
the seventh century, it was captured by the Arabs and ruined
by them forever; so of all the glory and splendor that once
was Carthage's, there is nothing left. It is now but an enor-
mous field of ruins, which has served for a quarry for Tunis
and for the Italians. It is said that the cathedral at Pisa was
mostly constructed of materials brought from Carthage. In
1270, during the crusade against Tunis, St. Louis camped
there and died of the plague. A chapel commemorative of
this saint was built on the Byrsa, which then became the hill
of St. Louis; in recent times several religious edifices were
built here also, at the instigation of Cardinal Lavigerie, who
wanted to take possession of Carthage in the name of Chris-
tian France. In these last years, some villas and restaurants
have been constructed there.
** Before the French occupation the antiquities and ruins
all over Tunisia were abandoned to their fate by the authori-
ties, and no steps were ever taken to put a stop to the vandal-
ism of amateur collectors or of dealers in antiquities ; but for
several years the newly created Service, or Direction of Antiq-
uities, assisted by the energetic explorer and archaeologist,
the Rev. Pere Delattre, have been busily engaged in search
for antiquities at Carthage."
** It seems," said the Lady, laying down her book, ** that
they have discovered parts of a wall one hundred and fifty
feet long and eighteen feet high. It was made of amphorae,
[ 356 ]
BEDOUIN WOMAN, IN THE RUINS OF THE OI'KuN
OF CARTHAGE
KUINS OF THE AQUEDUCT THAT CAREIED WATER
TO ANCIENT CARTHAGE
PUNIC TOMBS AT CARTHAGE
TO CARTHAGE
or wine jars, in layers. Many Punic and Roman cemeteries,
Roman cisterns, Roman roads, Roman houses, and a sub-
terranean chapel have been uncovered, as well as the ruins
of a great church, which is called now Damous-el-Karita.
You will be much interested in the museum of which the
books speak. It is called the Lavigerie Museum after the
Cardinal, and here are collected all the objects found in
the Punic and Roman as well as the Christian tombs. It is in
the Grande Seminaire which was inaugurated in 1881 by
Cardinal Lavigerie, as a college for the White Fathers, whom
he intended to be missionaries in North Africa. They wear
a white burnous and a red fez. On the Byrsa is the Cathe-
dral of St. Louis, which the Cardinal built also. He is buried
here and a great monument has been erected to him.'*
It was under a brilliantly blue sky and a golden sun send-
ing its rays do^vn on La Ville Blanche, that our Motorists set
forth on their pilgrimage to the place where once was the
Punic city. The road over which they went was the one
they had taken to La Goletta. They turned north before
coming to that village and beheld, afar, the green height
which was once Byrsa, crowned now with the white Church
of St. Louis, with its high spires, and the white buildings of
the College of* the White Fathers showing behind it. The
car wound up this hill and came out on the terrace before
the gate and walls which enclose the grounds of the college.
Here, on the edge of the terrace, is the primitive hotel where
Bashir said they were to lunch after visiting the ruins; and
later they were to go to see the museum. That excellent man
had all planned, and although like many guides, he was
masterful, he had withal what most guides have not, an
instinctive sympathy and understanding of the needs and
limitations of his patrons. While he went in to give orders
about the luncheon the Two wandered to the edge of the
terrace, where the land drops away and a little railing is
built as a guard.
It was a beautiful and historic scene upon which they
looked, but one which in no way gave them the feeling that
[357]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
once a splendid and powerful city had covered the plain below
and the hills beyond ; nor did it give any hint of the agony,
the bloodshed, and all the other horrors of the wars which
had once raged there. It was a smiling and green landscape,
dotted with white villas here and there and bordered with
the glorious turquoise blue of the gulf — as beautiful and
pastoral a scene as could be well imagined. No ruins were
anywhere visible, but when Bashir joined them he pointed
out, far below on the right, two small, almost circular bodies
of water, that glistened in the sun like mirrors. These, he
said, were once the harbors of Carthage: a commercial har-
bor, and the military one. The ancient harbors were filled
up very early in the seventh century, but some years ago
these two lakes had been excavated to represent them on a
small scale.
** I was reading about these harbors of ancient Carthage,''
said the Commander, " and I believe the southern one must
have been the commercial port. It communicated with the
sea by a channel. Then there was one seventy yards wide and
sixty long, connected with the military harbor, which was
circular and surrounded by large quays. Along these quays,
there were many places divided oif for sheltering the ships.
All around there were colonnades of Ionic marble. The
palace of the admiral was on an island in the centre of the
harbor. These diminutive lakes give us no idea at all of what
these harbors were once. They indicate only the shape and
position. ' '
* ' Alas, alas ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-one, * ' to think there
is scarcely a vestige left of that once magnificent city. There
is nothing of the ruins even to be seen from here ! Is there
really anything to visit, in spite of the excavations, except
what is in the museum, Bashir ? ' '
* ' Wait ! ' ' returned the guide. ' ' You will find much you
will be glad to see. But I have people — not like you — who
come here with me, who look about and say it is not worth
their while to walk around here. They just glance into the
museum, get their luncheon, of which they complain very
[ 358 ]
TO CARTHAGE
much, then want to go right back to Tunis, and they say there
is absolutely nothing to see in Carthage. But you, you two,
are different."
The Two were much flattered, and felt themselves equal
to any amount of visiting of ruins to come up to Bashir^s
idea of them and to merit his approval !
They first went to the amphitheatre. This was about a
kilometre from the hill of St. Louis, and they got out of
the car to walk down a steep path into the elliptical confines
of this historic spot, full of fragments of capitals and col-
umns and great blocks of stone; for although almost as big
as the Colosseum at Rome, it is in a worse state of preserva-
tion; however, the form and size are shown, and the subter-
ranean vaults where the wild beasts were kept. Ancient
writers say it was once the most beautiful building in the
world. A little chapel has been built at the far end, and a
cross raised in memory of the martyrs who perished here
during the persecutions of the Christians.
** On the spot where the column stands with the cross,"
said Bashir, as they walked down the length of the ellipse,
** is where St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas were exposed to
wild beasts."
** Sit down here, and I will tell you their story as briefly
as I can from what I read last night. It makes one's heart
ache, for here on the spot it seems more real," said the Other-
one to the Commander, as they reached the place in the
arena. ** And please, Bashir, go gather me a bouquet of the
flowers and grasses that are waving from the courses of
the stone above."
The Commander sat down on a block of stone, and the
Lady, walking to and fro, told something of what she had
read from Allan Butler's pathetic account:
** Saint Perpetua was a beautiful young mother, leaving an infant,
when she suffered martyrdom here. Her father was a pagan, but he
adored her, and when she was imprisoned on account of her belief and the
ordered persecutions, he was in an agony of rage and grief. He begged
her to recant everything, for his sake, for that of the child; but she
would not, though she suffered for the babe and for her father. She had
[359]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
a vision while in prison, that she was to be a martyr; at this she re-
joiced that she was considered worthy to suffer as her Lord had suffered.
Her father came again to the prison, threw himself at her feet and
wept the bitterest tears, and begged again that she would have pity on
him and on her child. She entreated him not to grieve, saying, * Noth-
ing will happen but what pleases God; for we are not at our own dis-
posal! ' She had with her, in prison, a fellow-martyr, Felieitas, who
was expecting soon to be delivered of a child, but who was so concerned
that this might not be born before the day set for the great shows in this
amphitheatre, where many Christians were to suffer death on that occa-
sion. It was a decree that women in this condition were not allowed to
be executed until after the child was born, and Felieitas longed for the
crown of martyrdom. The child was born, however, a short time before!
and when Felieitas cried out in the pain of childbirth, some soldiers
near, asked her if she could not bear this pain, what would she do when
exposed to the wild beasts? She made this reply, *It is I that suffer
now what I suffer; but then there will be Another with me that will
suffer for me, because I shall suffer for Him! *
'* When the day arrived, they both, with other Christians, went away
from the prison with great joy. "When they came to this amphitheatre,
the guards wished to put on the Christians, about to suffer, the gar-
ments used by the priests and priestesses which were once worn when
human sacrifices were offered to the god of War, Baal — Moloch — a relic
of Phoenician days; the men in scarlet robes, the women to wear
yellow like the priestesses of Ceres. The martyrs refused to do this,
saying they had come hither of their own accord, and they had been
promised they should not be forced to do anything contrary to their
own religion; so this was granted them. Perpetua and Felieitas were
exposed to a wild cow, which had been kept fasting purposely to en-
rage it the more. This beast attacked Perpetua first and tossed her up,
wounding her and tearing her clothes. She got up and arranged them
as well as she could for decency's sake, then she went to help Felieitas
who was hurt very badly by a toss from the cow. The spectators had
some compassion on them and cried out that this was enough, so the
martyrs were taken out near the gate to be despatched, as were those
not killed by the wild beasts. Perpetua was full of divine joy, and
seemed not to know that she had been thrown by the wild cow. Certainly
it is wonderful to read what those early Christians endured for their
faith, and with such rejoicing. All the martyrs then who had escaped
the beasts were brought together to be butchered this day. The people
around were not satisfied with the blood already spilt, so they called for
all to be brought into the middle of this arena, and they were despatched
here. Saint Perpetua was unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of
a timid and unskilled gladiator, who wounded her several times, so she
was a long time dying, but kept her happy face to the last. ' '
** Is it not all terribly pathetic, and does it not seem real,
right here on the spot? But here comes Bashir with his
[360]
TO CARTHAGE
hands full of golden marigolds and red poppies — they are
the blood of the martyrs, preserved in these poppies, and the
gold of their faith in the marigolds."
They went next to see the great cisterns at the village of
La Malga. As they descended from the car four or five
ragged and half-naked Bedouin children climbed the bank,
followed by a wrinkled old woman who came up with dif-
ficulty. All held out their hands, whining for sous. They
came from the cisterns, which the Bedouins use for houses
or places of shelter. These cisterns are very curious; there
are twenty-four in a row, but utterly ruined as far as use
for water is concerned, and the tops are overgrown with
weeds and grasses. They were at least 420 feet long and 85
feet wide, as the Commander estimated. There were once
cupolas in the top, and pipes between for distributing the
water. It is thought that in Punic times they were built
and used for collecting rain water, but when the Romans
came they reconstructed them and built the aqueduct to
Zaghouan for bringing water to Carthage. The ruins of it
can be seen from the hill.
As they went on their way toward Damous-el-Karita, the
great basilica excavated not long ago, and which is not vis-
ited by all who come to Carthage, as the road is bad, Bashir
pointed out a, white cross erected on a hill where St. Cyprian
— who suffered martyrdom in the amphitheatre — is sup-
posed to have been buried.
They stopped first near the place where was once a theatre
constructed by the Romans, but there is little if anything
left. Bashir said that many statues had been found here,
among others, a colossal statue of Apollo. One can, from
here, look down on the terrace where was the odeon, where
the Pythian games were held. This also was built by the
Romans. The Two found these ruins more interesting, and
went down a path near the amphitheatre, where were the rows
of seats, a few in place at the lower ranks, several columns,
some of colored marble, and many other fragments.
** It must have been wonderfully beautiful and much dec-
[361]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
orated, '^ said the Commander. '' Look at the numberless
capitals at the foot of the stage, and parts of statues every-
where. There must have been found many good statues as
well as statuettes here.^'
*' Yes," returned Bashir, *' I believe some were found,
but many had been destroyed. They had here, on two succes-
sive years, some companies who came down from Paris and
gave on this stage plays that illustrated Carthaginian and
Koman times. There were crowds of people here to witness
them, and once Clara Louise Kellogg, the prima donna, sang
here, at the request of a friend w^ho told her that having
sung in all the great theatres of the world she must now sing
in this Roman one."
The Other-one had seated herself on one of the restored
seats, and, according to her custom, went back into the past,
trying to call up in her imagination scenes such as might
have taken place here in centuries gone by. She was a little
startled and recalled to herself, to see a figure in classic drap-
eries come from behind some columns at the back of the
stage, advance to the front of it, and looking at the almost
empty auditorium, open its lips as if to declaim. '' Look,
look! " cried the Lady. " There is an actor from the past.
It is a woman, now I see ; she will recite to us, if we but lis-
ten, all about the past, about all that took place here." The
figure dropped lightly down by one of the capitals lying there,
and advanced toward the Lady, holding out her hand. It
was a young Bedouin w^oman, with bright dark eyes and skin
of a dark rich bronze. Her blue draperies were caught up
classically on her shoulders, with great fibulae, and a scarlet
cloth was around her head. There were silver hoops in her
ears, and, peering from over her shoulder, a little brown baby
regarded the party with no look of alarm in his beady
eyes, which seemed to snap with joy as the Commander
dropped some coppers into the mother's hand.
' ' What a strange contrast, these pulsating young lives, thf
radiant sky above, the color in the flowers blooming every
362
TO CARTHAGE
where, and this dignified, silent place, with the bones of
the past protruding every;where! " said the Lady as they
walked away.
They; stopped a few moments to look at some Punic tombs,
near here, recently excavated. '* They found here,'* said
Bashir, ** many Punic lamps, figures, coins, tear-bottles, and
pottery which they think all belong to the last years of Punic
Carthage.''
They took the car again and went on until they reached a
field of grain in which gay poppies were running riot, and
on the edges of the road and grain fields were masses of
marigolds which seemed to have borrowed their color from
the sun itself. A path led up through the green, waving
grain which they followed and ascended a hill overlooking the
blue gulf, with Bou-Kornein showing his two misty heads on
the right. Here they found the remains of some Roman
villas, columns, mosaics, and the open court, with the place
for a fountain in the middle.
** There were statues and mosaics here, finer than those
in place," said Bashir, ** but all have been taken to the
museum."
** What a superb view these old Roman inmates of this
house had! There is no view I have ever seen more peace-
fully beautiful! ** exclaimed the Other-one.
Near one of the Roman houses a small Christian basilica
has been uncovered. It had fine aisles, an oratory, and a
baptismal font lined with marble. There are some beautiful
mosaic floors here, but nothing at all is known of the church.
** The Abbe Delattre, of the White Fathers, has super-
intended most of the excavations,'* said Bashir, as they
went along. ** This is the story of how the Great Basilica
was discovered. One day the Father was on his way to visit
a sick friend at Sidi-bou-Said. When he arrived in the dis-
trict of Damous-el-Karita, outside the ramparts, he noticed
some fragments of inscriptions lying around. He then
engaged some Arab boys to bring in a large number of these
363]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
and found they were Christian inscriptions. He at once
raised money and began to excavate and found a large
Christian basilica and some fourteen thousand inscriptions. ' '
When our party arrived at the basilica, they found an
immense surface covered with ruins in every direction. It
seemed impossible to identify anything. However, with what
Bashir could tell them, and with some aid from what they
had read, they cleared up a little of the puzzle of these ruins,
of which one writer says, ** One can imagine the cathedral
at Cordova or the Grand Mosque at Kairouan making such
a ruin after their beaten-down fragments had been toned
with African suns and storms of sand for fifteen sleeping
centuries. ' ^
This basilica was in the middle of a vast Christian ceme-
tery. They found it was divided into three distinct parts —
to the left, the semi-circular atrium ; in the middle, the basilica
itself; and to the right, a second basilica with a baptistery.
The basilica was 220 feet long and 140 feet wide. It was
divided into nine naves, 200 feet long, separated from each
other by columns of green African marble, with capitals
and bases of white marble; some of these capitals have
been found. The central nave was 43 feet wide. The smaller
basilica was said to have been used principally for adminis-
tering the sacrament of baptism; in the centre is the font,
with steps leading down — the interior lined with green
marble.
Innumerable persons were buried both inside and out of
this great church. Its entire pavement was a mass of epi-
taphs, and some skeletons were found in the tombs. Two
hundred bas-reliefs were taken from here to the museum.
When the Two had studied out the atrium, the naves of
the basilica, and the baptismal font, they went to look below
the surface on one side, where rows of tombs are exposed
from recent excavations, the earth being piled around outside.
** It is strange,'* exclaimed the Commander, ** that in spite
of all the excavation and the inscriptions found, there is
364]
TO CARTHAGE
practically little or nothing known of this church. But what
does Damous-el-Karita mean, Bashir? ''
** It is not known certainly, but one of the Fathers told
me it might be a change from the words domus caritatis, or
house of charity. Somewhat north of here, near Dar-bou-
Kris, Father Delattre discovered some few remains of another
basilica, amid a very large Christian cemetery. They found
an inscription there in honor of Saint Perpetua, so they
think she and her companions were buried there. Now we
go from here to the restored cisterns down near the sea ; they
are thought to be the most important monuments of Carthage,
but they are not as large as those of La Malga. They call
these we are to see, from an old Turkish fort down there,
Bordj Djedid.'*
When they reached the cisterns they were taken in charge
by the foreman or guardian there. He proved to be an
extremely intelligent man, and, in answer to questions put
by the intensely interested Commander, gave them much
information while he led them through one of the compart-
ments. They descended some steps and walked along a stone
or cement platform, looking down into the still black water
on each side, lighted only by openings here and there in the
roof.. It was a gruesome place, and one could imagine how
easy it would be to commit suicide here.
** These cisterns are divided into eighteen compartments
and stand in a single line. They are 448 feet long and 121
feet wide. They will contain about one million cubic feet
of water. Before being restored, they were carefully cleaned
of all rubbish and the vaults and walls were covered with
cement. They now hold the water necessary for the towns
of Carthage, La Goletta, and other near-by towns,'* said the
guardian. ** At the time of the Romans there were enor-
mous baths near here. These reservoirs contained the water
necessary for use in them, but the opinion is that they really
date from Punic times. These are the type of all those found
in Northern Africa. Early Carthage had very little natural
[365]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
water and they had to dig forty or fifty feet below the sur-
face of the land for it, so they constructed wells and cisterns
to hold rain water for public as well as private use. They
had to build such enormous ones as these, because a smaller
quantity of water would soon dry up or be drawn off.
'* The Romans, when they needed a greater supply of
water for fountains and baths, found it in the wonderful
springs of Zaghouan, which were even more abundant then
than now. So they built the great aqueduct at a time when
there was a serious drought threatening the country. This
great work delivered some six million gallons of water a day
by means of underground canals and thousands of overhead
arches, some of which you can see to-day. The Vandals
destroyed this aqueduct ; then the Byzantines restored it ; but
at last the Spaniards demolished it almost entirely. The cis-
terns at La Malga were connected with these, and thus they
had, at each end of the city, immense reservoirs of water.
** About 1859, the then reigning bey decided to restore the
aqueduct to give to Tunis, as well as Carthage and the
suburbs, pure water. A big sum was set aside for this and
the work was begun under a French engineer. Monsieur
Colin. He followed the Roman route, used iron pipes instead
of arches, and the old masonry channels whenever prac-
ticable. He finished it in three years, using 134,400 feet of
pipe, forty bridges, seventy-nine culverts, and a hundred
underground channels. The chateau d 'eau (reservoir) is
at Tunis — you may have seen it — and a branch aqueduct
comes here. It cost, in all, many millions of francs. ' '
As they walked up the white road to the car, brushing the
waving grain as they passed along the edge of the fields, the
Other-one exclaimed at the brilliant color everywhere.
' ' Who could call this a dead city ! Look at the luxuriant
blossoms of the scarlet poppies and the golden glow of the
marigolds everywhere, the deep blue of the sky, the peacock
blue of the sea, and the rose mauve of the distant mountains !
All seem richer and livelier since we came out of those black
cisterns. It could never have been so beautiful in Cartha-
[ 366 ]
TO CARTHAGE
ginian or Roman times, for though they had the sea and
mountains, there was then no place for this glorious bloom."
Arriving at the Punic cemetery, called that of Douimes or
Dermeche, they found great, deep holes and long galleries
dug into the earth, which are thought to date from the sixth
or seventh century before the Christian era. The tombs con-
tained in these are very curious, each being constructed of
three great slabs of stone without cement or mortar; above
each a large slab of stone is inclined upon the other two, so as
to form a triangle and it is thought they were so arranged
to protect the body from the dust of the earth, or from the
wet or damp. Sometimes the excavators found the body had
been placed directly on the earth; sometimes shut up in a
sort of coffin of cedar wood. When the tombs were opened
many skeletons were found but upon any attempt to move
them they fell into ashes. Some few remained intact, how-
ever, and these may be seen in glass cases in the museum.
Father Delattre also found here many other objects — very
few weapons of war, for the ancient Carthaginians were not
fighting men, but jewellery: necklaces, bracelets, rings, mir-
rors, statuettes, curious lamps, and other things.
** These tombs are the most interesting things we have yet
seen,'* said the Commander. ** They take us back to the
times of Phoenician Carthage. By the way, do you remember
the tombs like these which we saw at Hippone? "
Bashir, now considering that his patrons, though enthusi-
astic sight-seers, might require a little refreshment after the
long morning, considerately allowed them to go to luncheon
at the little hotel on the terrace, where, if the menu offered
them was not all that could be desired in point of flavor and
cleanness, the view from the window near which their little
table was placed would have compensated for no matter what
other lack.
After this, they went out to the gate in the high wall sur-
rounding the garden of the White Fathers. Here, amid the
bloom of rose-bushes, fleurs-de-lis, wallflowers, and many
others, with graceful pepper-trees, palms, cypress and acacia
[ 367 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
trees casting soft shadows over them, are crowded a mass of
the ruins of ancient Carthage, — statues more or less muti-
lated, columns, capitals, bits of friezes, piles of the round
stones used in ancient catapults, torsos, amphorae, sarcophagi,
and a thousand other antique fragments, while the walls are
plastered inside with hundreds of Christian and Roman
inscriptions. The lush bloom of the plants takes all the mel-
ancholy out of these mutilated fragments, and for the
archaeologist as well as for the layman, it is a most fascinat-
ing place, where one would fain linger before going into the
dark rooms of the museum.
The Other-one would not allow herself this indulgence,
however, well knowing what infinitely more fascinating things
lay beyond in the College Museum, and how little time there
was to see all she wished. So they hurried by the graceful,
headless statue with its flying draperies so well chiselled,
said to be the goddess Celeste; and by the series of eight
great arches thought by some archaeologists to have belonged
to the palace of a Roman proconsul. But at the insistence
of the Other-one the Commander went with her up the steps
of the chapel on a high mound in the centre of the garden,
dedicated to Saint Louis, who camped here at Carthage dur-
ing the crusade against Tunis, and died here of the plague.
An indifferent statue to the saint surmounts the little altar,
but the party did no more than glance inside of the bare little
place, though they lingered, as they stepped out, for the
glorious view from the top of the steps, and this is what they
saw: —
At the right, far below, lay the little ponds of the cothon,
or double port of ancient Carthage, gleaming like burnished
silver in the sun. Down in front, across the sweep of green
fields dotted with white villas and the ancient palace of Mus-
tapha-ben-Ismail on the shore, the eye took in the shimmer-
ing glory of the blue gulf. At the north, Cape Carthage
jutted out, and the ivory white village of Sidi-bou-Said
clung to its emerald hill. At the left, the soft, rolling heights
of the Hill of Juno and the terrace of the odeon. At the
[368]
TO CARTHAGE
right, again, the mysterious, and seemingly all-knowing (of
the Past), misty, double head of Bou-Korein, behind which
the Djebel Ressas peered up, and away beyond, blurred in the
blue distance, the jagged points of great Zaghouan, which so
long ago gave, and still gives, of its abundant crystal waters
to Carthage. Still farther to the right, the yellow lake, La
Goletta, the long line of the canal, and at the far extrem-
ity, white Tunis.
* * And this hill was the Byrsa of Queen Dido — for I like
to think this was her city," said the Other-one. *' Here
was the citadel of ancient Carthage and here stood the won-
derful Temple of the god Echmoun; and when the Romans
came they built other beautiful temples and paved the hill
with marble. In those last dreadful days of the Punic wars
the Romans fought their way up here, step by step, from
the harbor, through streets with high houses jutting over
on each side, the roofs of which were packed with the des-
perate Carthaginians who at last rushed to the temple in
the greatest agony, all but Hasdrubal who went off secretly to
Scipio, threw himself at his feet and offered to deliver up
all left of Carthage. When Scipio made this known to those
in the temple, Hasdrubal's wife, agonized at his terrible dis-
honor, declared that she did not blame Scipio, as he acted
but by the rights of war; but she screamed the most scorch-
ing revilings at her husband, and then threw herself with
her children into the flames below. It is not strange that
when Scipio saw all this and the burning of the once proud
and magnificent city, he wept. Now look around on this
peaceful, sunny land and sea view; who could possibly
imagine that such a scene could have ever taken place here ? ' *
At the back of the platform of the chapel, they noticed a
number of small Punic marble ossuaries containing charred
bones, which Bashir told them had been found in the Punic
cemeteries near the queer tombs, and which some of the exca-
vators thought were the ashes of the children burned there,
whose relatives had been allowed to gather these ashes up
and place them in the cemeteries in the ossuaries.
[369]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
*' I have read about the horrible human sacrifices to Moloch.
They dropped children and youths into the awful, red-hot
arms of the brazen image from which they rolled down into
a flaming furnace. It makes me shiver to look at those small,
discolored, marble boxes. One cannot forgive the early
Carthaginians for that horrible custom," said the Other-one.
They now went through the flowering garden to the colon-
nade of the College. Here are, among other things, two won-
derful reliefs of a colossal Victory and Abundance, found in
Carthage. The strong, beautiful Victory bears a shield and
armor aloft with the left hand, while her drapery falls in
graceful folds around her. The lovely Abundance, or Char-
ity, has a cornucopia filled to overflowing with fruits, a great
bunch of grapes dropping down from it. The Two stopped
to admire these and then went into the vestibule of the
Seminaire, where a Father, in the white robes and red fez
of his order, met them, and, seeing they were strangers and
full of enthusiasm, took them at once under his charge.
* * You will wish to go first into the Punic room, which is
of the greatest interest," said the pere, leading the way.
** Here are the objects found in the Punic tombs excavated
on the north side of this hill of Saint Louis, those near
Damous-el-Karita, and at Douimes. The oldest yet found are
about the seventh century B. C, and the latest the second
century B. C. They all show an influence really Oriental
in origin, derived without doubt from Egypt, but gradually
penetrated by Hellenic elements coming principally from
Sicily, where the Carthaginians came much into contact with
the Greeks. The most remarkable things are the sarcophagi
taken out of Punic tombs in the cemetery near Damous-el-
Karita, and the most beautiful of these I will show you at
once."
He crossed the room, passing cabinets and long cases full
of objects, and stopped near the end of the room with a face
alight with enthusiasm, pointing to the upright cover of a
sarcophagus, carved on which the lovely face of a young
woman looked out at them from the far past, a face neither
[370]
'.%^''. ^ir >
a
THE CISTERNS AT LA MALGA — NEAE CARTHAGE
SUBTERRANEAN VILLA AT BULLA REGIA: RUINS OF
ROMAN TIMES
TO CARTHAGE
Greek nor yet Egyptian in its outlines, but of an entirely dif-
ferent type; softer, gentler, finer, and of a grave sweetness;
the type, perhaps, of those unknown Punic women. She held
a dove in her right hand, the emblem of a priestess, and a
sacrificial vase in the left. She was clothed in a long, folded
tunic ; and two great wings, with the small feathers indicated
by red marks, and the large plumes by gold lines on a blue
ground, were folded down across her knees to her feet. On
her head she had a sort of Egyptian head-dress, the front a
hawk's head with painted eyes.
* * It is divine ! * ' exclaimed the Other-one. * * It must show
all that was of the loveliest in the women of those Punic
times, of whom this priestess was the fairest flower.**
** Here is the priest, her husband,'* said the pere, ** for
so we think they were, as they were found together — priest
and priestess of Tamit."
It was a noble, manly figure with a most benevolent expres-
sion, but not such a type of manly beauty, as the priestess
of womanly. He wore a long tunic and shoes, his beard
curled and his head bound with a fillet. He bore a sacrificial
box in his right hand like the priestess. At the foot of each
stood the sarcophagus of each, in which were found only a
few bones.
** May I have a photograph of it? It will take but a few
moments; I cannot go away without carrying a view of the
lovely Priestess of Tamit."
'* It is not allowed," said the Father, '* but for you, per-
haps, who have so great interest, one pose."
So the Other-one set herself hastily to place her kodak,
but the result, to her sorrow, was far from satisfactory, partly
owing to the sombre light in the room, and partly, perhaps,
to the evident dissatisfaction of the Pcre Blanc. After show-
ing this chef-d^oeuvre he seemed to feel the rest was not of
so much importance, so he led them on rather rapidly, point-
ing out objects in the long cases and in the cabinets on the
walls, as they passed.
" The Carthaginian always had interred with him the
[371]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
things he loved most, and his sorrowing friends placed with
him those things which were thought needful to him after
death or in the future world; so here you see jewels, neck-
laces, bracelets, rings, fibulae — entirely Egyptian in design
and style. Then here are mirrors and curious lamps, the
like of which the Arabs use to-day. See those amulets in
vitrified paste and Egyptian in style. Here are their razors,
shaped just like a hatchet, with different divinities engraved
on them, as well as animals. The handle is in the shape of
a flamingo. It is curious, but there were found spectacles
— for there were two crystal disks flat on one side and con-
cave on the other; and what could they have been used for
but spectacles? **
'*Well!*' exclaimed the Commander, *' if the Carthagin-
ians shaved and used spectacles, they may have had tele-
phones and automobiles, at least in embryo.*'
The Father smiled when this was repeated to him. ** We
have not discovered anything like those as yet, but who knows
what will be found in further excavations? We are begin-
ning to believe that in Punic and Roman times they had
nearly everything in use at the present day. You will see
in the Roman room a terra-cotta figure playing an organ,
showing the instrument in a well advanced stage, with pipes
of different lengths, a sounding board, and reservoirs for air
and water on each side. Here are some masques with fright-
ful, grinning faces. It is not known for what purpose they
served — perhaps, to place in tombs to frighten those who
wished to violate them. Here are others which are pleasant
and smiling. It may be these were intended to represent the
dead as his double, as was the Egyptian custom.'*
Then he showed them curious terra-cotta lamps like a
saucer pinched in on two sides, and quaint figurines, some
like those of Tanagra. One little Cupid with wings, lying fiat
in a sort of boat, his arm trailing over the side, attracted the
Other-one very much — a fascinating creature with curly
hair painted red, and traces of color in his body and the
drapery across him. Then there were the cases of shimmer-
[ 372 ]
TO CARTHAGE
ing glass — vases, jars, tear-bottles — in the colors of the
rainbow, beautiful to see. There was an infinity of things
that the Two would fain have lingered over, and about which
they would have questioned the White Father, but he hur-
ried them relentlessly on. At the farther end of the corridor
they came to the Roman and Christian room, in which were
fragments of sculpture, a most interesting head of Ceres, one
of Augustus, one of Octavia his sister, and one of Hercules;
also a statue of Esculapius. A fine terra-cotta relief, besides
the one of the organ, was that of a Roman matron having
her toilet performed by her slave while she was reading, and
another, spinning with a distaff. There were many lamps
such as are always found in excavating Roman houses and
tombs ; some, of the first period, very fine, and the reliefs on
them sometimes very spirited. Those of the second period
were not so well done, and the subjects from mythology were
rather coarse. Then there were all kinds of Roman vessels,
from cinerary urns to amphorae.
The Christian section was full of pathetic significance,
with its reliefs from scenes in the Bible and with the Cross,
the Lamb, and the Lion, as well as the bas-reliefs from the
great basilica, one representing the Angel of the Lord
announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds, and the
other the Adoration of the Magi. The Two saw in all these
symbols of the struggle of that early Church, which suffered
and endured martyrdom for Christ's sake. There were also
hundreds of other Christian relics — crosses, rings with
sacred words or anagrams on them, and hundreds of epitaphs,
the names always followed by the words Fidelis in Pace.
The Pere Blanc had lingered longer over these Christian
relics, showing them with reverent care and tenderness, but
at last he said:
* * I am sorry to leave you now, but my duties call me away.
I thank you for the interest you have shown, especially in
these relics of our beloved Church.*'
The Commander and the Lady in turn acknowledged to
him their sincere gratitude, and he scurried rapidly off, his
[373 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
white burnous blowing back in his haste. The Two turned
also away from this fascinating place and went out into the
living fragrance and bloom of the garden, under the blue sky
and warm sun, away from the shadowy land of the dead
past, where they had been wandering for an hour or so.
They stopped a few moments to adjust themselves to this
modern world again, then went on to the gate, where they
found for sale some genuine antiquities — an overflow from
the museum. Here the Commander invested in two or three
of the queer Punic lamps, an iridescent tear-bottle of Roman
times, some engraved finger rings from Christian tombs, and
two or three pair of barbaric earrings. Then the Other-one
said they must see the big Cathedral of Saint Louis and the
Tomb of the Cardinal.
Artists and antiquarians do not easily forgive Cardinal
Lavigerie for having invaded the sacred precincts of the his-
toric hill of the Byrsa and erected there the rather garish
and conspicuous white buildings of the Church and the Sem-
inary of the White Fathers, though one cannot but admire
the force and strong religious fervor of the Cardinal in his
attempts to establish the Christian faith again in Africa, nor
will any one deny him the tribute of pity that he did not
succeed to the extent that his ardent soul desired. He died
at Algiers in November, 1892. His body was brought here
and placed in the tomb which he himself had selected. His
church, in the Byzantine-Mauresque style, holds his body and
monument as sacred possessions. This monument represents
him, life size, in a half recumbent position, with two negroes
below, one carrying a palm branch and the other in chains.
On the side opposite, a negress kneels, holding a child in
her arms. Still below these are two of the White Fathers, in
the costume of their order, kneeling.
** It is certainly an impressive monument,'' said the Com-
mander, ' ' but I like better the position of the figure in bronze
that we saw at Biskra; it is full of force and action, repre-
senting his ardent nature. Here he appears inactive, which
does not seem to suit our idea of him.'*
[374]
TO CARTHAGE
Then they went to see the splendid reliquary of gilded
bronze, which is most sacred and interesting to good Catholics
who come to this church. It represents the Sainte Chapelle
in Paris and contains some portions of the remains of Saint
Louis brought from the Church of Monreale at Palermo.
Our party were not now in touch with modern gilding,
decorations, and bronze monumeijts, having been wandering
through the wonderful remains of a civilization spread over
three thousand years, so they lingered but a few moments
in this very modern church, and were soon seated in their
motor and on the way to the little white village of Sidi-bou
Said.
** I am rejoiced to have a little time to get back to modern
scenes, ' ' said the Other-one, * ' before we come to Ariana,
where you say, Bashir, that this being Saturday and their
Sabbath, the fat Jewesses are promenading, decked out in
their best. It would be appalling, indeed, to jump directly
there from Punic times, and see those gaudy and mountainous
creatures, after wandering in the past ages with that
exquisitely refined and lovely Priestess of Tamit! **
They came to the foot of the hill on which Sidi-bou-Said
lies, and the car went up the steep, winding road to a place
where they descended and walked up the hill, still more steep.
It is a quaint, little village, distinctly Arab, with blanched,
windowless houses, flat, terraced roofs and fine, arched door-
ways. Little latticed balconies projected on some houses, it
is true, but all had an air of silent mystery. There were
few if any cafes and scarcely any shops. It appeared like
a magic city, only conjured for the time by the guide, to van-
ish soon after.
**Why is this town so clean, so silent, so solitary? Is
everybody dead or only asleep here ? * * asked the Other-one
as they toiled, panting, up the steep, roughly paved street,
toward the little tower of the lighthouse, showing its marble
whiteness against a vividly blue sky.
** It is quiet now, for the summer people have not yet
arrived. It is a place where very rich Arabs have their sum-
[375]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
mer homes, and now there are only the caretakers here,
though there is one fine cafe open to which they go summer
evenings for their coffee and there is a beautiful view of the
sea. I shall have pleasure to give you some coffee later.*'
After visiting the little mosque with its black and white
arches, in or near which the Mussulmans claim that the
body of St. Louis lies — for they believe firmly that Saint
Louis embraced the Mohammedan faith before he died — and
the lighthouse tower whose golden rays flash at night far
across the gulf to the sea, Bashir took them into the Arab
cafe, lovely with tiles and meshrahyah woodwork, long divans
and little inlaid tables, where as yet only a few rich Arabs
were lazily lounging. He had a little table put for them out
on the terrace which overhangs the gulf splashing its foam
on the rocks far below. An Arab in a red fez and a long
white garment bound at his waist with a broad red sash
brought them tiny cups of fragrant, sweet, Turkish coffee.
Here they let themselves rest a while, silently, after their day
of strenuous sight-seeing, looking down upon the blue gulf
and off to the rich green foliage at one side, through which
the tops of white Arab villas showed and the vineyards of the
Archbishop of Tunis. Not far off is his great white villa to
which he comes in summer, ' ' to repose himself, ' ' Bashir said.
The party descended to the car, which swung down to La
Marsa, where they saw the beylical guards, outside the en-
trance gate, dressed like the French Zouaves and the Chas-
seurs d'Afrique. Here are more summer villas, more or less
tasteful, and the big white villa of the French Resident Gen-
eral. Passing through groves of olive-trees, the car reached
the poor, uninteresting village of Ariana. Here are, however,
gardens of roses behind high walls, which are cultivated for
the attar of rose so much prized by the Orientals.
The party went to view such lovely Jewesses as might be
visible, and truly it was a most wonderful and stirring sight
to see them, both young girls and married women, arrayed in
the most ungraceful and ugly garments ever worn by the fe-
male sex, the former often slender and beautiful, the latter,
[376]
m
^A -^'^^- irtwlim
THK BEAUTIFUL PRIESTESS OF CAKTllA(iK
COVER OF PUNIC SARCOPHAGUS, DATING
FROM FOURTH CENTURY, B. C.
IN LAVir.KTUE MUSEUM
TO CARTHAGE
mountains of flesh. Some were sitting at tables, eating and
drinking grossly. Others, really the most conspicuous, were
promenading up and down the street before the cafe. Most
of the costumes consisted of the immensely full balloon trous-
ers, such as the Algerian women wear, either of satin or fine
white cloth. Their fat feet were half thrust into velvet,
silk, or satin slippers or clogs of red, blue, or pink, em-
broidered in gold, far beyond which their stout heels extended,
so that they shuffled along like awkward ducks. To complete
this costume they wore very short, full jackets of pink, blue,
yellow, green, red, or white satin, often heavily embroidered
in gold and trimmed with gold lace. These jackets, like
breakfast jackets, coming just below the waist line, exagger-
ated the masses of flesh. Many had gleaming necklaces of
gold and jewels, bracelets, rings, earrings, wonderful to be-
hold. On the head most wore coquettish little silk handker-
chiefs, spangled or fringed with silk or gold, and the hair
hung in a braid below at the back. They used to wear the
horned cap, ornamented richly with gold, and a white veil
hanging down over it, but now this is only on some of the
older women. Also they wore very tight satin trousers em-
broidered heavily in gold, but these too one sees very little
now, though it is possible they may wear them in their own
homes.
** Certainly,*' said the Other-one, ** the Queen of Sheba
was never arrayed in all the glory of these Jewesses. I must
kodak some of them ! ' '
** They do not like it at all, Madame,** said Bashir, ** at
least they pretend not to like it, though they like much to
have people stare at their clothes ; but I will see what can be
done.** But, although Bashir did his best, the groups that
came along turned their backs shortly and walked off when
they saw the Other-one point her camera at them. By pre-
tending to look at other things, however, the Lady was at
last successful and bore away one or two exposed films as
souvenirs.
Some of the Jews, especially the younger men, looked very
[377]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
well, but were very tame birds compared to the gorgeous
plumaged ones with whom they were promenading. The
older men had black suits, full trousers, and blue stockings,
with huge black tassels depending from their fezes. The
younger men were hardly to be distinguished from the Arabs
in their dress, some having richly embroidered jackets under
their light burnouses. They seemed proud of their females
and gratified by the attention they excited in strangers.
The party got into the car and fled over the smooth road to
Tunis, satisfied and happy with this as with many another
day's experience in this interesting country.
[378]
CHAPTER XXIII
A TRIP TO MEDENINE AND MATMATA IN THE TROGLODYTE
COUNTRY, BY SOUSSE, SFAX, AND DJEM
THE Other-one was awakened at an early hour the next
morning by loud noises in the corridor outside her cham-
ber, — much running around, loud talking, and slamming of
doors. The waiter on being questioned when he brought up
the morning coffee, said that * ' a so rich * * American family
had arrived in the harbor in their private yacht at a very
early hour that morning and had sent their maids and valets
to select and settle their rooms for them at the hotel.
** Which means,'* exclaimed the Other-one, '* that we are to
lose our picturesque and intelligent Bashir, and we shall have
to conduct ourselves! **
The Commander looked up from the map of Tunisia which
he was intently studying.
* * I think we have now been long enough in the country to
* paddle our own canoe * anywhere. Now, as soon as you can
get ready, we will start on our trip, for the Desert and
the Troglodyte country, the most interesting we have as
yet seen, and on which trip you must take the least possible
baggage."
So the Motorists were soon on the road, their baggage re-
duced to the smallest dimensions, bound for the country of
the mysterious Troglodytes.
The sky was a dull gray, with rifts opening here and there
to let patches of deep blue show through them. The air
seemed devoid of life and not the slightest breeze stirred the
foliage of the trees. The car soon left Tunis behind and went
along the road not far from the sea, now a dull blue with
glistening silver light where the sun 's rays shone on it from the
rifts in the clouds. There was a glimpse of white Sidi-bou
[379]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Sa'id and the dull green hill and plain of Carthage, then vine-
yards, widespreading, shut the sea away. Suddenly there
came a puff of wind which died away with a long sigh ; then
again and again the puffs came, and sand began to rattle
against the back of the car, while the atmosphere ahead and
all around was filled with it. The landscape lost its usual
brilliant coloring, the greens of the fields of barley were
turned to dull silver with the wind sweeping across them, and
the olive-trees were silvery too. The most vivid colorings to
be seen were the patches of blue borage, and the wild buglos
and alkanet growing in dense masses by the roadside or in
the fields. The rugged peaks of Zaghouan were blurred. On
the plain were the Bedouin tents enfolded by their hedges of
camel-thorn bushes, the flocks and herds huddled together to
resist better the sweep of the wind, the camels lying down,
their long heads resting on the ground. Scarcely any of the
nomads were to be seen outside their tents, although in one
field two or three men, braving the wind, were ploughing with
great unwieldy camels ; a curious sight to see, with the ploughs
of crooked sticks dating back to Abraham's time. Farther
on there was a blaze of genesta in a waste place, but the aspho-
del looked pallid and forlorn, its long stalks of flowers wav-
ing in the wind, and its pungent odor flung far and wide.
Still on, the sand beating against the car. At one side
there loomed up, on a mound in a green barley field, a huge
round mass of stones and masonry about thirty-six feet high,
a ruined Roman mausoleum without the top, much like the
one of Caecilius Metellus at Rome. Nothing is known about it,
except that it encloses a vaulted chamber, and the Arabs call
it Kasr-Menara, or the castle of the lighthouse. Beyond, at
the right, were many fragments of Roman ruins and the
arches of an ancient bridge over a dry stream, showing that
here must have once flourished a great city.
About a hundred kiloraetres from Tunis the road ran
through groves of olives, and great vineyards stretched away
to the horizon line. The car passed yards and shops where
great rolls of the alfa grass were being prepared for export ;
[ 380 ]
A TRIP TO MEDENINB
then entered Enfidaville, a very modern-looking town, with
its railroad station, post-office, French villas, and houses with
French windows and balconies — consequently very uninter-
esting to one of the party, at least. But Enfidaville is the cen-
tre of administration for the French-African Society, whose
property here covers some three hundred thousand acres and
was once the subject of a great dispute between the French
and the Tunisians, which is considered to be one of the causes
leading up to the French Protectorate in Tunisia. This very
rich property had been granted by the bey to one of the prime
ministers of Tunis as a reward for having obtained the right
of succession to the bey lie by members of the bey's family.
When the minister wished to leave Tunis, not being able to
dispose of the property to any of his own countrymen, he sold
it to the French Company, the Societe-Franco-Africaine. The
Tunisians then tried to make this sale void by using the Arab
right of preemption. As the result of a law suit this big es-
tate — a small kingdom in itself — remained in the hands of
the Societe-FrancO'Africaine. It is rich in olive plantations,
and there is much grain. There is a fine mineral spring here,
rising in a mountain near, called the Ain-Garcia, the water of
which is used all over Tunis and is exported to Europe. It
has a very large and profitable business.
There was a lull in the wind as they approached Sousse, near
which the car rolled through a long Mussulman cemetery with
a white, box-like enclosure for each grave and the upright
headpieces, also white. Under the walls of Sousa (Sousse in
French) the Other-one said:
' ' You remember this was the ancient Hadramentum, which
served Hannibal as a base for his operations against Scipio;
and as he is one of my heroes, this makes Sousa most interest-
ing to me; but were it not for the great white tomb of the
marabout and the line of crenellated walls, I should think
this the most modern of French towns.**
They were now passing through the European quarter with
its shops and balconied houses. Adrian stopped the car before
a little, friendly-looking hotel not far from the sea. There
[381]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
issued forth from this, on a run, a most jolly-looking Arab
wearing a brown gandoura embroidered in heavy white wool.
His red Chechia was pushed back on his head, the long tassel
swinging with the hurry of his movements. He welcomed the
travellers as if they were old friends and at once announced
himself as the guide of the hotel. The pleasant landlady,
with two smiling, pretty daughters, met them at the door,
also in a most friendly way, and ushered them up into a clean
little bedroom hung with dainty chintz, where they might re-
fresh themselves after the long, windy ride. They felt that
here was another oasis in the desert of African hotels — an
opinion that the delicious luncheon, served in a bright and
cheerful dining-room, confirmed.
* * Decidedly, ' ' said the Commander, * ' we must return here
for a day or two of rest and to make some excursions out of
here. There are some things to see in this town, but we are
to leave sight-seeing here until our return.'*
They left this haven of rest and peace with regret. The
walls of Sousse soon were lost to view as the road ran down
over a wide plain and then through vast groves of olive-trees.
' ' How many plantations of olives we see here ! There are
old trees which look as if they had been here in the time of
the Romans,*' said the Commander as they were passing a
grove of hoary trees. " It is said that then they used olive
oil much more extensively than now, and too, in all the coun-
tries subdued by Rome, as this Northern Africa. It had
almost the highest rank among vegetable products."
The road now ran away from the sea and there were fewer
and fewer plantations of olives, and at length, the travellers
saw before them the Colosseum of Djem, a huge, oblong mass
crowning a plateau. This mass grew more and more distinct,
and they were astonished as they drew near, in spite of what
had been told them, to see this enormous colosseum, away out
here on this wide, barren plain, where not a habitation was
visible.
' ' How wonderful, * * exclaimed the Commander, * ' to see
this huge building which held sixty thousand people out here
[ 382 ]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
on this uncultivated plain! There must have been a great
city to maintain it, and yet there seems never to have been
any visible means of support for the inhabitants of such an
important town ; nor can there have been any water here. * '
'* What I have found out about it," returned the Other-
one, ** is that it was named Thysdrus and was of little im-
portance in the time of Caesar, but it developed later, and in
the third century of our era was one of the richest cities of
North Africa ; this city, as well as Sousse, owed its prosperity
to the culture of the olive in the surrounding country. They
say this amphitheatre was used as a fortress at the end of the
seventh century by Kahenna, the famous Berber queen, in
her struggles against the invading Arab hordes."
The car drew up under the shadow of the colosseum and
the travellers got out to walk around it and study its details.
There is a wretched Arab village at one side, whose inhab-
itants have used the colosseum as a quarry, building their
houses with the stones from it in lieu of sun-dried bricks ; but
there are some fine door frames and lintels with a column
here and there. Some ragged children ran out from the vil-
lage, and a lank Arab pressed his services on the travellers
saying he was the guardian of the building. They were un-
able to shake him off and he followed them around, proffer-
ing, unasked, such feeble information as he had picked up
about the colosseum. They entered first the arena, which has
been pretty well excavated and cleaned out. There are three
series of arcades flanked with half columns Composite or Cor-
inthian. Above there was a crowning wall, with pilasters, but
this, with the rows of seats and the steps, have all disappeared.
The colosseum runs from east to west, and has the long
ellipse of such buildings. The greater axis is 489 feet, and
the smaller 407. Its circumference is twelve hundred feet.
The arena is 213 feet long and 173 wide. The walls are six
feet thick, which leaves galleries sixty feet wide. There were
once four stories. On the side toward the village the galleries
are in the best preservation. When there were exhibitions of
gladiators here, or Christian martyrs were exposed to wild
[383]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
beasts, sixty thousand people could be accommodated to look
down on them. The Colosseum at Rome held only ten thou-
sand more and this is really much more imposing than that. ' '
** It is interesting here to recall the heroic efforts of La
Kahenna, the Berber queen. I think more about her here
than about the blood-thirsty, Pagan, Roman colonists," said
the Other-one. * * When she had defeated Hassan ibn Naaman
and driven him to Tripoli, "he returned with reinforcements.
She entrenched herself strongly here and maintained a long
siege. Kahenna 's fortress was so well supplied that her
soldiers mockingly threw down fresh fish to the besiegers when
the latter were suffering for food. The Arabs say she made
great subterranean passages to the sea near Sallecta. Three
horsemen could ride abreast in them but the passages have
never, as yet, been discovered. For years the Arabs called
this place Kasr-el-Kahenna, or the palace of the sorceress.' '
Then the Two went to get an outside view of this noble
Colosseum, so imposing even in its ruined state, and to see the
curious and wretched Arab village. The little street on
the side where the galleries of the great amphitheatre were in
the least ruined condition was lined with small booths, domi-
nated by an ancient mosque, and natives were thronging
around the booths engaged in selling or buying the few com-
modities they possessed. They paid little heed to the stran-
gers, but went on with their trading. At one house, with a
fine doorway of carved stone — a fragment taken from the
ruins undoubtedly — there was gathered a group of musicians
who were making weird and plaintive sounds with their rude
instruments. A small girl was beating the derhouka, a
wrinkled old fellow was blowing on a pipe and another was
singing a minor strain of two or three tones. Rude as it was,
the plaintive music touched the heart with a dull pain. It
seemed a lament for that far past, when, judging by this
noble monument of stone towering above the miserable vil-
lage — there must have been that beauty in art, that peace
and happiness for which man, in this modern life, is ever
striving but never attains.
[384]
THE COLOSSEUM AT D.TEM
INTERIOR OF THE COLOSSEUM AT DJEM
BEFORE THE WALLS OF SFAX
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
After the clamors of the small girl with the dcrhouka had
been satisfied, the Two went out to the car, followed by a
group of curious natives. Near the car stood a number of large
camels, unusually peaceful in appearance, their humps and
most of their backs covered with a great basket-like mat of
dried grass, — the first evidence of any care for these wretched
animals which the travellers had seen in this country. Across
the plain again, and through more acres of olive-trees, the car
drew near Sfax, the scent of its gardens filling the now al-
most quiet air. The road ran by many of these gardens, their
fruit trees visible through openings in the high banks or mud
walls which were crowned with the prickly pear which makes
an impenetrable fence. These gardens of Sfax yield many
roses and other flowers cultivated for the essence which is
distilled for perfume. In places near the town, the Com-
mander observed many large, oblong, high, white platforms,
plastered over, with a depression in the centre, where there
was a large opening. They were Arab cisterns for rain water.
The road now became more animated, with laden donkeys,
a camel or two and many natives trudging along in the dust
which was rising in clouds from flocks of sheep and goats.
Soon the walls and towers of Sfax, one hundred and twenty-
nine kilometres from Sousse, became visible. The car ran
near the blue sea ; the harbor was full of shipping and fishing-
boats drawn up beside the long stone quay. The European
quarter lies outside the mediaeval-looking walls which enclose
the old Arab city. The car drew up before a rather preten-
tious hotel, the landlady of which, reinforced by a waiter or
two, greeted the travellers in a most ladylike and amiable
manner. The accommodations she offered them, however,
were not of the same engaging quality, and they hastened to
leave the little, dark, dirty rooms assigned them as soon as
they had shaken the sand from their clothes. They went for
a walk down by the picturesque shipping at the quays which
thp Commander wished to see, leaving the old town to be
visitod in the morning.
*' The little I have learned about this town," said the
[385]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Other-one, as they walked down the street to the harbor, ' * is
this : — Sf ax is the ancient Taparura, a city of Phoenician ori-
gin. Until the eighth century, Arab historians say, it was a
flourishing and important city with monumental buildings,
manufactories, rich people, beautiful gardens, and produc-
tive fisheries. In recent times it was the only place on the
coast which offered any resistance to French occupation. A
French squadron of nine ironclads and four gunboats soon
silenced the guns of the kasba, and then the town submitted.
Since then (1881), trade and commerce have made rapid ad-
vancement in Sfax. The modern name comes from the
Arabic word which means cucumber — fakous, — on account
of the quantities of this vegetable which grow in this
neighborhood. ' '
As they came down to the quay, which was swarming with
a picturesque population, they stopped to look at the boats,
when a man standing near addressed them in their own
tongue, expressing himself well, but with a slight accent.
** You are strangers here? You find this an interesting
harbor? I may be able to tell you something about the fish-
eries here which you may like to know. Here you see fishing
and sponge boats of all sorts and this town is certainly an
important place for the industry. The configuration of the
coast is very flat. The tide covers and uncovers widely for
over two kilometres, and this is favorable for the establish-
ment of fisheries fixed by wicker fencing. Besides these,
there are certain special fisheries in the region — that of
polyps, for instance — which are mostly exported to Greece;
and that of sponges, which bring here many Greek and Ital-
ian fishermen. The fishing for sponges occupies here alone
six hundred Sicilian vessels, fifty Greek boats, and six hun-
dred and fifty native boats, in the season from January first
to the first of October. They collect the sponges with the tri-
dent, or with a dragging net and by divers.
** Besides the fisheries, there is the great olive industry. In
ancient times the olive-tree made the riches of the country,
and it has taken on much development in the last century.
[386]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
The native population here has proved to have exceptional
qualities. P. Bourde says : * It seems as if the spirit of the
antique planters had been perpetuated in this most intelli-
gent and industrious people. Without any teaching from
outside, with only their own observations, they have arrived
at such a degree of perfection in the olive culture that Euro-
pean agricultural science has nothing to add to their meth-
ods.*
** You will find the old city very interesting. Get a young
native who speaks French to show you about, which he will
do for a very small fee. He is better than the self-important
guides from the hotels. There is a fine mosque with a high
minaret, but you can 't go into it. The streets are narrow and
very dirty but you will find them very picturesque, though
noisy, and the souks are very animated.
** The long brown coat the natives wear mostly, with the
heavy, cream-colored embroidery, is called the gandoura. The
green turbans are worn by descendants of the Prophet, or by
those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca. You will see
the native dandies in picturesque clothes, the gandoura of
pale greens, blues, or dull reds, with beautiful embroidery
on them, in contrasting colors.'*
Thanking this most communicative and agreeable man, the
Two walked on down the long quay. The sky was now of a
pomegranate color and the slender masts of the fishing-boats
were etched against it. Some boats with yellow-brown lateen
sails set, were dropping out of the harbor. Late as it was,
many fishermen were cleaning their boats or getting their
nets in order for the morrow — old, bronzed Sicilians with
gold hoops in their ears, swarthy Greeks, and natives in
ragged, rough gandouras, all jabbering so that the tower of
Babel would not have been a circumstance to it. Farther up
the quay, a freight boat was unloading some queer-looking,
huge bundles and packages. The Two wandered on until the
color faded out of the sky and the old sailors ceased from
their labors. Then they left the fascinating place to seek
their uninteresting room at the pretentious hotel.
[ 387 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
In the morning the sun was shining down with great bril-
liance and heat, and the sky was a vivid blue. The white
houses of the town were dazzling under it. The one-eyed
guide at the hotel was so insistent that the travellers could do
no more than take him, and he turned out less obnoxious and
more intelligent than they had expected.
They went up through the gate of the Diwan in the great
crenellated walls, and entered into another life as distinct
from the European as can well be imagined — streets filled
with a population most picturesque and an animation as vivid
as any the travellers had yet seen. There was much frying
and cooking going on at that early hour — enough, it seemed
to the Other-one, for the provision of the entire city of Sfax.
In little dens, fat and pasty-looking natives skilfully manipu-
lated great pans of boiling oil, and dropped therein various
tidbits which sizzled and smelled rather good, though myste-
rious and uninviting as to appearance. The Other-one was
minded to try a certain sort of pancake which certainly
looked rather appetizing. A skinny boy with a red skull-cap
and a dirty white gandoura, at an order from the guide took
some thin dough out of a great jar and beat it, with an egg,
in a small cup until it was light and foamy ; then he handed
it to the fat cook presiding there, who dropped it into a large
pan of boiling oil over a charcoal fire. The dough bubbled
and sputtered and then rose to a light and brown puffy pan-
cake, which the cook ladled out onto a dirty plate, and which,
after aU, the Other-one decided she did not want — to the
surprise and pleasure of the guide, who, having handed over
the sou for it, could not let it be lost and burned his mouth
with it in a hasty attempt to swallow it without being seen.
Then he hurried the two up the narrow street by the Great
Mosque, its facade ornamented with a series of small arches.
Here are the souks under long covered galleries, with the
little dens in which are exposed all the varied articles that
go to make up the Eastern bazaar, each trade by itself. Some
booths were gay with high-backed, embroidered saddles and
other leather articles red, blue, and yellow; and here, in
[388]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
one or two booths, hung those enormous hats of straw, some
nearly three feet across, decorated with leather cut in various
designs, and great bunches of tassels around the brim. Down
on the Desert the travellers had seen one or two of these.
There was an animated crowd surging through these souks
and the dandies in their gandouras of delicate colors em-
broidered in contrasting tones, with a rose or a carnation
stuck behind the ear, walked, or rather, lounged indolently
along. The Other-one thought these flowers a luxury of the
well-to-do until she noticed that even the dirty black Soudan-
ese in their ragged gandouras, and the gamins, too, nearly all,
wore the flower behind the ear ; and generally it was the car-
nation. It was certainly most agreeable to come in out of the
hot sun under the cool shade of these covered souks, but when
the guide saw that his patrons did not care for purchasing,
he hurried them away and through a gate which, he said,
was the Bab Djebli. They came out upon the market-place
outside the wall. Just under the agreeable shade of these
high walls was a motley assemblage of dealers and workers in
metal, blacksmiths, dyers, and others, with all the implements
of their labor or calling spread out before them. Here the
vender of palm wine — a sweet, rather sickly diiiik made
from the palm sap — drove a thriving trade. Here was the
greatest animation. Some natives were gathering together
some sheep and goats, evidently for a sale, and there was
much guttural gabbling and violent gesture. Beyond another
gate was a fondouk for camels and two or three of the un-
wieldy creatures were coming out of the great open entrance.
Beyond this one could see the green of many gardens, with
white villas showing through the trees.
The guide proposed, with much eagerness, that they should
visit a beautiful garden owned by a very rich man — a friend
of his, he said, where they would be welcomed with pleasure
and where essences from many flowers were distilled.
** No! ** said the Commander, ** we must go, but if you
want the perfume of these flowers, there it is.'* They were
passing a little den which had on its shelves an array of those
[389]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
fascinating little gilt bottles of the Orient and just then an
old Arab was handing to the grave, turbaned, presiding genius
there, a great basket of rose petals.
** Here, certainly, one can get the real attar of rose,*' said
the Other-one, and she asked the guide to buy her a small bot-
tle of it. Certainly it was much cheaper than in the souk of
the perfumer at Tunis. But the Commander fretted with im-
patience at the slow movements of the grave Oriental as he
dropped the precious essence in one of the tiny gilt bottles
in a most provokingly slow way from a thick glass dropper.
Soon the crenellated walls of Sfax were left far behind,
and the car was rolling down on the veritable Desert, where
there were many camels to be seen — great creatures feeding,
for a wonder, at their ease. There were caravans on the
road, and the car brought fear to moving nomad families.
There were many wayside wells where picturesque groups
were reposing, or drawing water by means of a scraggy don-
key or mule hitched to a long rope going over a high frame-
work of wood ; at the other end of the rope was a great bag
of cowskin which dropped far below with a splash, as the
donkey or mule approached the well, and came up brimming
with water as he walked away. At one place was a woman
tugging at the rope with her blue draperies flying, while two
or three men lounged near. Once or twice the Commander
stopped the car and leaped quickly out, as he caught the
gleam of a necklace or a bracelet of unusual pattern. Then
ensued that method of bargaining in which he was an adept,
and as usual, too, it was the man who took the silver pieces
the Commander handed out.
Now, afar, the travellers saw the line of the great chotts
or salt lakes, of which they had previously caught a glimpse
on the road to Touggourt. They are below the level of the
sea, and extend nearly four hundred kilometres. Once or
t\vice the Motorists really saw a mirage. In the distance
across the shimmering heat of the sand, a long line of glisten-
ing water appeared, and groves of palms giving promise of
delightful shade ; then they faded away as the car moved on.
[390]
^m\ >'
A STREET IX (iAi'.iis. ox 'nil-; u'oAi) lo \i I ;i > I :x I XK
A FAMILY AT MEDENINE
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VIEW OF A STEEET IN THE TROGLODYTE VILLAGE OF
MATAMEUR, NEAR MEDENINE
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
Sometimes a dazzling blue line showed at the left. This was
the sea, and it came oftener into view as they drew near the
beautiful oasis of Gabes, where the road wound along by gar-
dens and great palms which threw most grateful shade over
the travellers and flecked the ground with beautiful patterns
of light and shade. Then the road came out of the green
shade and crossed the cool little river of Gabes, flowing over
its rocky bed. A herd of great camels were swaying up from
its banks ; kneeling on the border, nomad women were wash-
ing, picturesquely clad in blues and reds. The streets of
Gabes, and also its houses, were dazzlingly white, and its
primitive inns gave small promise of refreshment. The
travellers selected the one, of two or three, that seemed
the least unlikely, but regretted their choice when they saw
the coarse, fat landlord, who, like an overfed spider, stood
at the door to wave them into a dirty dining-room where some
officers at a long table were making merry over several bottles
of wine.
There was nothing to detain the travellers here, so the car
fled away to Medenine. The road paralleled a country track
on the right just out of Galxs. wliich, the Commander said,
was the way to the country of the Alatmatas, the most inter-
esting of all troglodytes. " I am hoping we may find the
road passable for the car when we come back, though it will
not be so should it rain — and it does rain here sometimes, ' *
he said. Misty mountains now showed up at the left, and the
country became rolling. Soon, on a hill at the right, not far
from Medenine, a curious village could be seen, like rows of
beehives.
'* That,** said the Commander, always well up in roads and
towns from much studying of his Cartes Tarides, * * is the vil-
lage of Matameur, a smaller edition of Medenine.**
At length, some eighty kilometres from Sfax, there came
into sight the curious houses of the native village of Medenine,
built in long rows with barrel-shaped roofs and blank, win-
dowless, doorless walls toward the street, all close together
like beehives. The rude white minaret of a mosque showed
[391]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
at the right, and there were a few palm-trees here and there.
The Commander directed the chauffeur to run down to the
European quarter to get settled for the night. Here are the
most primitive hotel, the barracks for the cavalry and infan-
try, the Bureau des Af aires Indigenes, and nothing more.
The Other-one braced herself to meet the problems of poor
food and dirty rooms, but was most agreeably surprised to
find a clean and sunny little Italian padrona, who met the
tired travellers with a smile and led them up to simple but
very clean rooms.
As it was yet early, they hastened away to view the town,
taking with them as a guide the clean and intelligent-looking
native boy, man-of-all-work at the hotel, whose face shone
with joy at the prospect of a fee. He led them about half a
kilometre from the barracks into one of the most curious vil-
lages it had ever been their good fortune to see. Its vaulted
houses were made of small stones, plastered over with mud
and built in long rows together, some running round a square
and others up narrow lanes. Outside, as stated before, they
presented a blank wall to the street, but toward the squares
there were rude doors for each of the stories which numbered
four or five in some houses. Projecting stones outside formed
a sort of rude stair by which the owner could climb to the
upper stories.
*' But where are all the people? " asked the Commander.
'' It looks like a deserted village! '*
By dint of much questioning the Other-one learned from
the boy something like this: — That these people (semi-troglo-
dytes) belong to the Berber tribe of the Tuasin, and there are
something like five thousand people in the ksar, or settlement.
They have many camels and sheep. They go out at the sea-
son for planting grain and cultivate their patches on the
Desert. They live in tents and return only after the harvest.
They leave their houses in care of about two hundred guar-
dians. When the harvest is over they return, bringing
with them their barley, maize, beans, sorghum, and millet,
which they store in the upper stories of their houses.
[392]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
In some of the squares the travellers observed little shacks,
built of brush, near some of the houses. The boy told them
the guardians did their cooking in them. It was certainly a
very strange sight — this almost deserted village with its
curious, vaulted houses, veritable caves made by the inhab-
itants. It seemed to the Other-one that the guide was a youth-
ful magician who had evoked from the Berber past a weird
village, but had forgotten to people it.
The few natives they met resembled the Arabs, though
much darker of complexion, owing, probably, to their semi-
nomadic life on the hot Desert ; and they wore much the same
dress — a dirty or yellow-white burnous and the Moslem's
red fez, bound generally with dirty rags. Each man carried
a long, queer piece of wood with nails in it, which was used
as a key, and he always locked up his house when he went out,
the boy told them.
Under a brilliant sun the next morning, they rode up for a
last look at the troglodyte village, which the lady half ex-
pected to find had vanished in the night. It was, however,
more real under the bright morning sun, and the wide
market-place was a scene of great animation. It was sur-
rounded by the usual low buildings with arcades which are
seen in all Arab villages. There were groups of Arabs and
Jews around and under the arcades, and all through the mid-
dle of the market-place as well. Great heaps of yellow car-
rots had many purchasers; piles of dried red peppers were
not so popular, but there were many buyers gesticulating
near the heaps of barley and other grain. There were stews
sizzling over small charcoal fires, and these were much
patronized.
The Commander crossed the market-place to the small dens
in which were heaped up rolls of native blankets of gay colors,
some old from long use on camels and in tents. He quickly
picked out three or four, stained and with holes in them but
rich in color — dull browns, soft blues and reds of the native
dyes — and he drove a bargain with the astute Jewish traders,
who praised up each hole as adding much to the value of the
[ 393 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
blankets. He then glanced at the white-metal necklaces, fibu-
lae, and bracelets that a vender held up to him — * * Just mod-
ern trash,'* he said.
Taking a simple, kindly-looking native who had followed
them everywhere and piling him with the rugs, to his evident
delight, they went down a narrow lane overhung by the cu-
rious beehive houses. Near one corner a camel was standing,
with one foot hobbled, and he looked at the intruders with a
disdainful air. Farther on, a group of jet-black Soudanese,
men, women, and children, — the women with their wool
braided up in tight little corkscrews, the children nearly
naked and looking as if carved out of coal. They smiled and
jabbered at the strangers in the most friendly way. They
were some of the caretakers, evidently. Coming down to one
of the squares, surrounded by the beehive houses, the Two
found it lively enough this morning, and crowds of the na-
tives were sitting on the ground or standing in groups, while
flocks of sheep and black goats filled the air with their
bleating and cries. The natives paid little attention to the
strangers, however, but went on with their trading.
** Where do all these people come from? " exclaimed the
Lady. ** I thought most of the inhabitants were off in the
Desert attending to their grain fields. This is indeed a trans-
formation scene ! ' '
But away from the two market-places the village was as de-
serted and melancholy as on the night before. In one square
was a palm-tree — the only one visible anywhere, which seemed
to guard a rude fountain, also the only place for water visible
in the village. They came into a street of long, low white-
washed houses, windowless, but with wide open doors leading
into a large courtyard. Peering in, the Lady saw a number
of doors opening into small dens. Each den seemed to be the
apartment of a separate family, and each family to have
poured into the court where it pursued its domestic labors
without regard to any other. There were only women and
children in the court, and the women were variously em-
ployed in cooking over small charcoal brasiers, washing in
[394]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
large pottery pans, examining the children's heads, raising
much dust in sweeping out the small dens, and all in the
midst of noise, jabbering, scolding, and animation which filled
the courtyard and made it a veritable pandemonium. Two or
three women and children came running out when they saw
the Lady. They were of a different type from those seen in
the village before — fairer and taller. The women had on
curious skull-caps of bright color and decorated heavily in
gold. The native whom the travellers had employed to carry
their purchases, now produced the word ** Jews/' at the same
time pointing into the courtyard.
** So this enterprising race are even down here, which
seems such a far-away place,'* said the Commander. ** They
are the traders in the big market-places, undoubtedly, and
the ones with whom I bargained for my rug. ' *
When the Other-one had snapped a Jewess with her curi-
ous cap, the Commander said they really must be off. The
native delivered up his roll of blankets to Adrian and stood
aside looking sadly at the car. To the Commander's utter
astonishment he refused the two-franc piece offered him, and
it was only with much effort that he could be made to take it.
** Let us take the poor devil along with us for a ride! **
said the kind Commander. '* We can drop him at Mata-
meur." The native leaped joyfully to the seat on the foot-
board when he was made to understand the Commander's
wish, and seemed not to have the least fear as Adrian put the
car at a good speed, but a look of serene content replaced the
sad expression his face had hitherto worn.
On the way, when at the foot of a hill, they met some
groups of natives and there stepped out of one a very pretty
young woman in blue draperies and scarlet head-covering.
Across her hips she carried a brown baby. The Commander
stopped short upon seeing her, and exclaimed, for she wore,
not only a necklace of an unusual pattern, but very curious
and long earrings that dangled upon her shoulders as she
cooed and shook her head at the brown baby. With his usual
directness the Commander came at once to the point by seiz-
[395]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
ing hold of the necklace, pointing to the earrings and holding
up several silver pieces.
The pretty creature was about to take off her treasures,
when there stepped out of the group, a black-browed, ugly-
looking man who entered into a loud discussion with her,
though he appeared in no way to be related to her. She
shook her dangling earrings rather saucily at him, but finally
concluded not to part so easily with her jewels. At last a
sufficient number of silver pieces seemed to satisfy even the
man, and the Commander walked away with his coveted
jewellery. Upon looking back he saw the interfering native
trying to snatch away the money from the woman who was
resisting him with all her might, while the brown baby was
screaming with fright. The Commander made a dash back
and raised the whip, which, without thinking, he had brought
from the car.
' ' You scoundrel ! ' ' he exclaimed. * * Leave that woman
alone and get out of here ! ' '
The man, looking very ugly, slunk away, while their
friendly native smiled with apparent satisfaction. But this
smile turned to melancholy when they reached the car and
he saw that the time had come to part forever from his new-
found friends.
And so they were off again ' ' to pastures new. ' * They
passed more interesting nomad life and more curious equip-
ments. Once they came up to a huge bunch of brush ap-
parently moving along the road at its own volition. As they
passed it, they saw it was a cart piled high with branches and
hitched to a moth-eaten camel, who was raising his scornful
head in protestation, apparently, at such an indignity, while
a merry native clad only in a thin cotton garment with a
brown gandoura, sat on the camel, kicking the poor beast into
subjection. They passed many wells with fascinating groups
around them; then a long caravan of camels piled high with
merchandise; again a moving nomad family, — three or four
camels heaped with pots, kettles, and rugs, women, children,
and dogs following.
[3961
MARKET DAY AT MEDENINE
« ,1 .#)
HOUSES AT MEDENINE
TROGLODYTE VILLAGE OF MATMATA:
ENTRANCE TO EXCAVATED DWELLING
jJoLES' 6P:fiNIN^(i tl^^O ROOMS FROM THE WELL OF A
SUBTERRANEAN DWELLING OF THE TROGLO-
DYTE VILLAGE OF MATMATA
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
As they again approached Gabes the Commander ordered
Adrian to pull up near a group of palm-trees and then looked
back with a twinkle in his eye, as he ordered the pretty
Marguerite to take out a basket concealed under the bag-
gage. Turning to the Other-one he exclaimed, *' Here is our
luncheon. I knew you did not enjoy that inn nor find the
company of the fat landlord to your taste, when we landed
at Gabes yesterday, on our downward trip.'*
Out of the package came slices of cold meat, boiled eggs, a
roll of dark bread, and a bottle of the wine of the country,
with some dried figs and Italian cheese, which made a very
good meal indeed, eaten under the shadow of the palms with
the Desert stretching away in shades of gray and yellow and
sage green; and here, too, were peace and cleanliness, which
was best of all.
They ran into Gabes to give the motor a meal of gasoline,
then out again to go off on the country road toward the misty
blue mountains of Matmata and to a more mysterious country
of troglodytes than they had yet seen.
** Do you know much about this village or these people we
are going to see? ** asked the Other-one, as they bumped along
over the rutty and sandy road. * * I certainly have read noth-
ing about them. I presume the town is much like that of
Medenine.'*
** No,*' answered the Commander, **I have heard only that
the people are the true troglodytes and live in caves or holes
in the high crags of the mountains. So the village cannot be
like Medenine.'*
As they went on, the road ascended more and more, and
the country became more barren. Great ridges of rock thrust
themselves out from the hillside, and all vestiges of green dis-
appeared. Nothing could be wilder or more desolate, unless,
indeed, the country of the Mozabites. As they drew nearer
to the mountains, however, there came in sight, now and
then, a fig-tree or two or three olives or palms. Nearer, the
travellers saw these grew on small terraces, edged all around
with clay and rocks, forming dykes, so as to hold any rainfall.
[397 1
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Sometimes there was a small bed of lentils and some maize.
At forty-five kilometres from Gabes the road came out on a
sort of terrace with an amphitheatre of hills around it, and a
valley below full of low mounds. Palm-trees grew here and
there, and great clumps of prickly pear stood at the foot of
many of the mounds. There was a small rude mosque with a
clumsy minaret below the terrace at some distance, and there
were a few curious-looking constructions that seemed like
entrances to cellars. The only other building in sight was
a small rough stone house, the office of the Bureau des Affaires
Indigenes, or what seemed to be that, and a Frenchman in
working clothes looked out from there at the unusual sight,
of a motor.
* * We must learn where Matmata is, though we have come
far enough to find it at this point; but there is no village
here, and no high cliffs with caves in them. Ask the man,
Adrian, how much farther it is; if too far we must turn
back. We have to reach Sfax to-night, without fail.'*
The Frenchman informed them that this was Matmata.
* ' Matmata ! * * cried the Other-one. ' * But where are the
caves? There is nothing here but mounds! ''
The Frenchman, who was rather sulky, said : * * If you
want to see the houses you must get permission of the Kaid
of the village, and he speaks only Arabic.**
* * Well ! * * cried the Other-one, * ' this is a pretty state of
affairs ! Here we have come over a long rough road to see a
wonderful village, and we find nothing but a few mounds and
an ugly mosque ; besides, our Arabic is rusty ! * *
The Commander w^as much vexed. *' There is nothing to
do but retrace our steps to Gabes and get on to Sfax for the
night. How could I have been so deceived about this? '*
* ' Let us walk down to the mosque, at any rate, and look
around a little,** said the Other-one.
They left the car and strolled down the hill. Passing one
of the mounds the Commander was minded to climb up to
see what there might be on top. He had hardly reached this
when he shouted to the Other-one who had remained below.
[398]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
*' Come quickly! Here they are — the real troglodytes! "
The Other-one made haste to climb up and found the Com-
mander looking down into a deep well fifty to seventy feet
wide and something like thirty feet deep, excavated into the
heart of the hill, with two stories of high arched holes cut
into the sides of the wall. At the bottom, sitting down on the
ground in front of one of the holes, was a rather pretty
woman, with necklaces, bracelets, and anklets on her brown
neck, arms, and ankles, and her blue gown caught up with
huge fibulae. She seemed in no way surprised at the people
peering down on her, but beckoned them to come down, in a
most friendly way.
** How does she expect us to get down!'* exclaimed the
Other-one. * * We can *t climb down — we are not nimble
enough, — and if we fall headlong, the result may be as disas-
trous to her as to us. If she wants us to come to afternoon
tea, she must provide a long and safe ladder.*'
* * There must be a way ! ' ' said the Commander eagerly.
** Do you see that jewellery? I have an idea! I am going to
investigate, ' ' and he plunged down the outside of the mound.
The Other-one descended more slowly and found the Com-
mander standing with a delighted countenance before one of
those curiously built up rocky arches they had seen.
** Here it is!" he exclaimed, ** follow me." And they
entered a long gallery cut in the earth and came out at the
bottom of the well into the open court.
The woman received them in so dignified a way that the
Commander decided to wait before trying to bargain for her
necklace. She seemed anxious about something, and muttered
some words in a queer language. They did not know what
she could possibly want, but her face lighted up as a native
came into the court and she addressed herself to him. Fortu-
nately he had a few words of French and the Other-one made
out to understand that they must go to the Kaid and get
permission to visit his house as well as others. The woman
now seemed relieved, but she refused, with great dignity, the
two- franc pieces the Commander tried to place in her hand;
[ 399 ] •
A MOTOR FLIGHT
so he was glad to think he had not asked her to sell her
jewellery.
Arriving at the entrance to the Raid's house, a venerable
native wrapped in a fine white woollen burnous and a snowy
turban greeted them in a most courtly way, after the guide
had explained what was needed. With a royal air he led the
way himself to his dwelling first through a long dark tunnel
at one side of which, part way in, a white-faced donkey thrust
his head out in a most startling manner from his stable,
which was excavated in the earth. The old Kaid shouted for
something, probably for lights, but no one came, and the
party went on into the court, which was bright with the light
from above. Here were men, women, and many children, and
the women were unveiled — nor did they make any attempt
to veil their faces when they saw the Commander. There
were several arched holes in the wall around, some shut up
with rude wooden doors. The Kaid stopped at the largest of
these, near which an exceedingly pretty young girl was stand-
ing, much decorated with silver jewellery.
** She must be his latest acquisition in wives," exclaimed
the Other-one.
The Kaid entered the vaulted hole followed by the pretty
girl and our travellers, who were astonished to find them-
selves in a large room, amazing, certainly; not only in its
cleanliness, but in its decorations ; for at one end of it, high
on the wall, were hung many curious plates of glazed and un-
glazed pottery with crude decorations in color; also, strange
to say, a gaudy poster and a French clock, probably gifts to
the Kaid, who had thus adorned his apartment with them.
There was also another strange thing in the room near the en-
trance — a high, rude sort of bed, an unusual piece of furni-
ture in the native huts, and only to be seen in the houses of
rich Arabs or Moors. This was like a high platform, with four
curious pieces of whitewashed wood supporting it, in lieu of
legs. Over it were thrown many gay blankets of native
weave.
Ranged round the room were several great jars of unglazed
[ 400 ]
A WOMAN OF MATMATA
^
n 4 L
>^"**r:i-^
mil
ti-^iT^
nJ
/ ^V )T"' *^-
PW
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iV
■K!^<* I
1— n
^^■r:^
.* • ' ■■*■
LITTLK CIIILDHKN IN THE WKLL OF A SUHTERliANEAN
DWELLING AT MATMATA
A STRAW HAT; WORN ON THE DESERT
IN SUMMER
PLOUGHING WITH CAMELS
A TRIP TO MEDENIXE
pottery, probably to hold grain and lentils. A long line hung
at one end of the room, over which hung the family wardrobe
consisting of burnouses in various colors and some long white
garments. On another side of the room was a most curious
construction of terra cotta and rusty iron, like a great crude
castle. The Two concluded it must be a lamp, for there were
some dry shreds of wick adhering to the side of one compart-
ment of it. No light or air came in anywhere that the travel-
lers could see, except from the open door, and they were glad
to get out into the fresh air of the court. They looked into
another hole, which evidently was the kitchen, for here in the
middle of the small room were the remains of a fire under
some blackened stones, and there were also blackened pots and
pans scattered around.
The Other-one pointed to a perforated dish and said ^^cous-
coiis.^^ The Kaid smiled, much pleased, and nodded his head
several times. There were more holes, but the Kaid did not
offer to show them. A group of children, of all ages, and all
degrees of nudity, stood near the middle of the court, staring
curiously at the straiTgers. The Other-one was most happy
to be allowed to "snap'* them. Then the old Kaid, evi-
dently considering that he had done all expected of him,
waved them, in a lordly manner, out of his palace.
'* Shall I give him a fee? '* asked the Commander.
* ' Not on your life ! He would be terribly insulted. It is
better to give a good fee to the guide, and the Kaid will
probably wring it out of him without injury to his own feel-
ings — but we must not know it.'*
As the time was growing short and they had to make Sfax
for the night, the Commander thought there was no need to
\ isit any more mounds. ** They are all on the same plan,
and of course the Kaid's house is the finest of all. The rest
won't have beds, surely."
The native seemed anxious for them to move on, and he
piloted them into another long gallery, whence they came out
into another well or courtyard, where various domestic oper-
tions were going on; — a man was having his head shaved,
[401]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
two or three old women were preparing cous-cous, some cook-
ing it over charcoal fires, others rolling the grain on a flat
stone. At an open door stood a prettier young woman, if
possible, than the one at the Kaid's. She conferred with the
guide a moment, then proudly let them into her room, she
being evidently a bride. This room was even more surpris-
ing than the other — larger, higher, and, if possible, cleaner.
Many plaques hung high at the end of the room, and great
grain jars were standing round also. The bed was even more
gorgeous than the Kaid's, and its curious legs were cut in
scallops and gilded as well as whitewashed. The blankets
were finer and gayer and, moreover, from a rope above hung
a white curtain.
' ' It is most surprising ! ' ' exclaimed the Other-one. * * And
what an engaging and unembarrassed young creature this girl
is ! One would think she had visitors from abroad every day,
yet I doubt much if people come here. It is such an
out-of-the-way place and seems to be so little known. ' '
From here the native took them to see a school of boys in
a cave, or well, a curious sight indeed — many bright-eyed
little fellows squatting around on the ground who could be
heard repeating verses from the Koran as the travellers
entered, but who suddenly stopped as they saw the strangers.
The imam — a wild-eyed man in an exceedingly dirty bur-
nous and having a discolored rag around his green turban, —
welcomed them as if they were true Moslems. He rose and
made haste to take out of a hole in the wall a tattered Koran,
which he showed them with eagerness; but although it was
written in fine Arabic characters on parchment, the Com-
mander could not discover that it had any special value as
far as workmanship was concerned. ' ' But it must have some
history, though we cannot find out what it is," he admitted.
** What a place for a school — down in a well! Little light
and less air! **
After having bestowed some francs upon the imam, a gift
he received with much satisfaction, the travellers hastened
away up the steep path to the place where the car awaited
[ 402 ]
A TRIP TO MEDENINE
them. They turned to look back. The village had faded
away as if by magic. There were only yellow mounds with
dark depressions just visible in the centre.
** Well, of all the curious villages I ever saw, and of all the
friendly people, these certainly have the palm! " exclaimed
the Other-one, as they went away.
"There are other villages of troglodytes not far away,*'
remarked the Commander, * * real cave dwellers in mountain
cliffs, but inaccessible to us with an automobile. All these
people are descendants of that ancient people, the Berbers,
and they are as good agriculturists as architects — for we see
by all these terraces prepared with immense labor how much
they have gotten out of this barren soil to which the Arab
invaders have driven them.**
As they rolled down from the mountains over the rough
road, they saw some small brilliant birds of blue, green, and
soft brown plumage, fly across the valley. They were like
fragments of the rainbow, drifting through the air, and they
lighted up the barren places.
** I know what they are,** said the Other-one. **I saw some
the other day — they tell me they are called after those gay
French soldiers, the Chasseurs d^Afrique.^*
It was late that night when the weary Motorists arrived in
Sfax, and as the Other-one went into her dark, untidy little
chamber, she sighed, ** I wish the landlady of this hotel would
go to visit for a day or so with the troglodyte Matmatas and
take some lessons of them in cleanliness ! * *
[403]
CHAPTER XXIV
BACK TO SOUSSE BY MEHDIA AND MONASTIR; WITH A DAY AT
KAIROUAN AND RETURN TO TUNIS
THE early morning saw the Motorists on the road again
and taking a new route back to Sousse in order to pass
by, or through Mehdia, the ancient Zella, for which city
Hannibal embarked after his flight from Carthage. It is a
hundred and six kilometres from Sousse. There is also a road
turning off from this for Monastir, which the Commander
wished to see. The way lay near the sea and through hun-
dreds of olive orchards of countless trees, stretching away to
the horizon line — trees from the tiny sapling to the hoary
old ones, growths of centuries. The travellers could not con-
tain their amazement as the car rolled past these never-ending
orchards.
They now ran down by the sea, and there were some kilo-
metres of bad road across a flat country made worse by the
rain of the night before. The atmosphere, however, was of
the most crystal clearness, washed of all dust; and the sky
was of that vivid, translucent blue which no country but
Africa can show of such depth and richness ; the sea, too, was
dazzling in its wonderful color.
As the car drew near to the ancient town of Mehdia the
travellers could see the crenellated walls and the white houses
running out on a long promontory. Entering they went up
the street and stopped before a huge, fortress-like structure
with square towers that took one back to mediaeval times.
Everything else around was dazzlingly white, except this gray,
old, double-towered gateway, which stood up as if to bar the
way into the old town. A curious crowd, composed mostly of
natives, at once surrounded the car, and it was with difficulty
that Adrian got it away without injuring any of them, for
[404]
BACK TO SOUSSE
they stuck like burrs and could scarcely be driven away from
the unusual sight.
As it was high noon the Commander proposed lunch before
going out to see what little the town had to offer. With much
exertion and many inquiries a small inn was found with the
inviting name Hotel des Palmes, situated in a small garden
where three or four dusty palm-trees kept watch over it. A
fat Spanish woman and an overworked maid were endeavor-
ing to pacify the clamors of five or six roistering soldiers in
the small and not too clean dining-room. The military, of
course, had to be satisfied first; so, to beguile the time, the
Other-one related to the rather impatient Commander, what
she had picked up about Mehdia.
** It seems this was once a very important Phoenician town,
and also, in Roman times, even more important commercially,
but when Caesar gained his victory over Pompey and Juba at
Thapsus — ruins of which are not far from here — this city
was deserted. It was rebuilt by El Mahdi, from whom it
derived its name. It was fortified in the tenth century, and
was for some time the seaport of Kairouan. It is the Africa
of the historians of the Middle Ages. The Normans occupied
it in the twelfth century; then the Arabs reconquered it in
the eighteenth century. The Spaniards took it after a long
siege and destroyed the fortifications and everything else
they could.
'* It is certainly a strange and curious town, with a flavor
of mediaevalism in spite of its dazzling whiteness. I suppose
it is that hoary old construction, half gateway, half fortress,
we saw coming in, which dominates everything else in the
town. It was once the chateau-fortress for defence on the
land side; now, I believe, it serves for a prison. This town
has a remarkable situation, which explains its historic role.
It is almost a rocky island, very long and wide, running out
into the sea.''
The fat Spanish landlady now labored in, breathing heav-
ily, bearing a platter containing a broiled sea-fish reposing
on a bed of stewed red-peppers, which vshe placed before the
[ 405 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Commander. He and the Lady fell to, and forgot for a while
the history of the ancient town.
The repast ended, they secured the services of a lank youth
who was lounging outside the inn — and whose French was
serviceable if not elegant — to conduct them down through
the old fortress gates and into the Arab town. A rough path
led out on the eastern promontory to the sea, where, the youth
said, were Roman ruins. They walked along under the walls
of the picturesque old Spanish fortress which looked white
and sleepy this hot afternoon. There is a marabout's tomb
near it and a dilapidated Arab cemetery tumbling down the
hill to the sea. Along the shore are rugged masses of old
Roman constructions. There was once here a small cothon,
or harbor, and there are traces of a canal opening from it to
the sea. The guide said that some distance down on the
shore there was a Punic cemetery.
* * Are there any sarcophagi in it ? ' * asked the Commander.
** No," answered the guide, '* nothing but the holes — the
sea must have washed everything away.*'
* * Very well, ' ' returned the Commander to the Other-one,
** as you enjoy visiting cemeteries, you may go, while I re-
pose in the shade under the walls of the old fortress. * '
So the Other-one, goaded on by her conscience, walked on
in the hot sun, following the youth down a rough path,
past another ancient, gone-to-seed, Arab cemetery. Near
one of the less dilapidated graves an elderly Moslem sat
rocking back and forth, repeating in a sing-song tone
some phrases which the guide said were from the Koran.
The Punic cemetery proved to be composed of oblong cavities
cut in the rocks, close together, and by hundreds, on the sea-
shore. The Other-one wondered how any bodies could ever
have remained in them, as the sea broke over them constantly,
and the cavities were full of water. Hot and weary, she toiled
back up the rugged path to where the Commander sat, serene
and cool, in the shade of the fortress walls, enjoying the glo-
rious view of the shining sea.
The car soon left the ancient Zella, and they were on the
[ 406 ]
BACK TO SOUSSE
road again, passing more groves of olives and fields of waving
barley lighted up by the vivid glow of masses of crimson pop-
pies. At some kilometres beyond Mehdia, they passed the
small Arab village of Bekalta, about five kilometres from
which, on the shore, are the ruins of the ancient Thapsus —
now Ras Dimas — where Caesar had battle with the king,
Juba, and the generals of Pompey. There is nothing but a
bad country road leading to it, so the Motorists decided not
to try to see these ruins, but went on, passing the Sebka
of Moknine and going past the town of this name. Here are
Jewish workers in silver and gold who fashion, even today,
jewellery which preserves the old Byzantine style. When the
car came near Monastir, they saw its white houses shining
in the afternoon sun, the kasba with its towers, dominating
all. It was the ancient Ruspina, and owes its present name
to a great monastery once built there, which the Arabs turned
into a sort of fortress. The Commander directed the chauf-
feur to take the road to the right, under the walls which run
down to the sea shore. From above, a most picturesque view
is obtained of their high, crenellated tops, with the kasba,
the high, white round tower (the Nador) and the bastions
running out nearly to the sea. From here also can be seen,
at a little distance from the shore, three small islands, on
one of which there are ancient cisterns, cut in the rock, and
also many artificial grottos. On another are large buildings
for preserving the tunny-fish, many of which are taken near
here and provide a large industry for the town.
Returning to the picturesque old gate, the Two descended
and went in under its portals to wander a while up and down
the quaint Rue Sadi-Carnot, through which an interesting
Oriental crowd was flowing, composed of all the fascinating
elements one finds in these Tunisian villages. There are some
exquisite minarets here — square, with the fanciful Arabic
brickwork adorning them, and it is distinctly an Arabic town.
It was late when the travellers arrived at the clean little
hotel at Sousse. The jolly Mohamed was on the lookout and
greeted them as if they were very dear friends returned from
[407]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
a long and dangerous journey. He whispered to the Lady that
it was most sad she could not have been present at a very
grand Arab wedding which had taken place a few days before,
but there was still the wedding reception, when the bride
would receive any who wished to come, — *' not Monsieur,
certainly not ! ' '
But ' * Madame ' ' was too weary that night for wedding
receptions, even an Oriental one, and went to her charming
little room in quite the nicest little hotel in all North Africa,
rejoicing in its cleanliness and comfort.
Mohamed was ready at the door the next morning when
the Two came down to sally forth for an inspection of
modern Sousse and what remained of the ancient Hadra-
mentum. Again he whispered to the Lady concerning the
wedding reception.
*' My wife will be overjoyed to conduct Madame there this
afternoon, but Monsieur — it is a great pity — cannot enter
where the ladies are."
As the Other-one had not, as yet, seen an Arab function,
she decided she would accept the invitation and the thought
that the Commander was debarred from this gave zest to her
decision; for she remembered the times when she had been
shut out from visits to certain monasteries, and the lively
satisfaction he had evinced as he went away with a guide,
leaving her behind!
Sousse is interesting for its association with the history
of the Carthaginian hero, Hannibal, being the place which
he made the base of his supplies during the Second Punic
War, but there are few remains of the ancient city.
' ' What are we to see ? ' ' asked the Commander. * * What
are the most important things? "
The guide answered that they must see the museum, the
kasba, and the soiiks.
*' To the museum, first, by all means,'' said the Com-
mander. * ' As to the souks, we have seen them in other towns,
and I imagine they are pretty much the same in all these
Tunisian places ; but we can take a stroll through them. ' '
r 408 1
BACK TO SOUSSE
As they walked on down the street the Other-one said,
'' Concerning Sousse, I have gathered from my ' Joanne *
that it was an important town when Carthage was in full
glory ; and when that city fell, it was spared by the Romans.
During the Empire it attained a high degree of prosperity
and was a city of great luxury, with public and private
monuments and baths. These were decorated with the most
beautiful mosaics, some of which are in this museum, but
many have been taken to the Alaoui Museum at Tunis. Nearly
everything else has disappeared but a few stones. The French
occupied it without resistance in 1881. What will interest
you much is that the new part has great facilities for shipping
and exporting. Now, as in the time of the Romans, vast
quantities of olives are grown, and the country around is
rich in fruits, such as apricots, oranges, and almonds. The
animal industry is now a great source of wealth and pros-
perity. There are, if I remember rightly, about sixteen thou-
sand cattle, nineteen thousand camels, twenty thousand goats,
one hundred and twenty thousand sheep, and many horses,
mules, and donkeys raised in the environs.**
The Two had now arrived at the museum, where a serious
French guardian took charge of them and showed that he
was much in touch with the work of the Service des Antiq-
uites. In one long room are arranged around the walls and
in cases, fragments of sculpture, some busts in good preserva-
tion, wine-jars, tear-bottles, lamps of every known Roman
tjrpe, iridescent glass, and all the other interesting things
that are generally found in excavating an ancient Roman
town.
The gems of the little museum, however, are the mo-
saics on the walls and in the centre of the room on a raised
platform. One represents Neptune with his trident, driv-
ing his sea-horse. It is very spirited, and the color is fine.
There is another showing a gladiator in a chariot, with a
dancing-girl in flying draperies going before, touching the
tambourine. This mosaic has a beautiful border of leaves
and birds, extremely interesting, well drawn, and of good
[409]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
color. Another shows a lake full of all kinds of fish, and
men in small boats spearing them.
The travellers did not care to linger long in this place, and
the guide was only too happy to go off with them to the souks.
He took them through a large breach that had been made in
the walls into the narrow, crooked, and dirty streets of the
native town, and they found themselves near the Great
Mosque, which dates from the ninth century and has columns
reaching up to the ceiling without any arches. Close by is
the souk of stuffs in which were all those fascinating Oriental
cloths, spangled gauzes, embroideries, and silks of soft color-
ings. The Commander skilfully piloted the Other-one through
this tangle which called to her and where she fain would
have lingered. There was an animated crowd surging through
the souks, past which, however, the jolly Mohamed got
them at length, though he would have stopped to let them pur-
chase of some of his friends who called softly to him.
When out of the tangles of gay color, they found the car
where Adrian had been directed to meet them. Then they
rode up to the kasba, which is high on a hill above the
Oriental town, and is an angular, grim, but imposingly pic-
turesque, irregular pile of buildings with the great crenel-
lated walls running down the hill from it. The entrance is
under the great gate, which is double and has pictures
painted on it. The soldier who greeted them took them at
once to what he seemed to consider the only part worthy their
notice, the Salle d'Honneur of the Fourth Tirailleurs. Here
are some of the antique objects found in the excavations, and
an especially curious large mosaic on the wall which evidently
represents some favorite horses that have won in chariot races.
Each one has his name inscribed in mosaic near him. Other
smaller mosaics are interesting. In one a panther, used for
fishing, is springing out of a weir, showing one of the sports
of the Romans.
This room, high up in the kasba, has a superb view from
the windows. One looks down over the marble-white city of
Sousse — with its flat roofs fringed with green of palm and
[410]
BACK TO SOUSSE
pepper trees, — to the dazzling blue of the sea. From this
eagle's nest the guide led the party to see the curious gate,
the Gate of the Bey. It has the stilted arch below another
round double one, and is constructed with the courses of
black and white marble so esteemed by Oriental architects.
Under the upper one, in a triangle, is the star-and-crescent.
As the party came out of the great gate, the guide said,
" Now Monsieur and Madame will wish to see the Christian
catacombs not far outside the walls.**
But as Monsieur did not wish, the Lady went off with the
guide in a dilapidated landau to view the catacombs, leav-
ing Monsieur to return to the hotel. The coachman stopped
at a gateway opening into a small garden, where a benevolent-
looking old woman in a white cap was grubbing in the beds
in which grew a few artichokes and some lettuce. A thin old
Frenchman issued from the tiny house and looked as if he
might have been one of the inmates of the catacombs for a
century or two, and had just returned to life, though he was
the only suggestion of the catacombs that the Other-one could
see around the place.
He took her to a small shed in one comer of the garden
and unlocked a door leading into it. The lady stepped inside,
gave a glance into the dark hole down which some rude steps
led, and almost repented of her design. Then, gathering up
her courage, she stumbled down, the guardian preceding
her with a very dirty and ill-smelling lantern. At first, the
Lady could see nothing — in spite of the lantern — but black
darkness ; but soon her vision became accustomed to this, and
she could distinguish oblong cavities cut in the rock and earth
on each side, several superimposed on the lower ones. Gen-
erally there were empty, or had at most only a skull or a few
other bones in them. Once in a while the guardian stopped
to point out a cavity with a skull, as one having some special
interest. Here were the skull and bones of a mother, with
the tiny skull of an infant on the bones of the mother's arm .
— which made the sympathetic Other-one sigh at the pathos
of it. Another cavity had a large skull and extremely long
[411]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
bones, those of a man who must have towered above his fellow
creatures when alive. In another gallery were fragments of
the marble and tiles which had been used to close up the
cavities after the body had been placed there. Most of these
had been destroyed in opening the cavities, the old man said,
but on those left were carved some inscription with the name
of the dead. Some of these dated back to the second and
third centuries, and a few even to the first. On some of the
broken slabs, and on those intact, he pointed out the figure
of the Good Shepherd, and a dove, or a fish, etched on them.
Also he showed the Lady the remains of the plaster envelopes
— some intact — with which the bodies had been covered. In
some corners there were big bowls in which the plaster for
the dead bodies had been mixed, and hardened lumps of the
mixture were adhering to the sides. When they had gone on
through two or three galleries, and the Excavated One was
continuing the exploration, the Other-one could endure the
darkness, the stuffiness, the pathos of it all, no longer, and
called to him ' * Stop ! I have had enough ! ' '
'* But, Madame, there are many more tombs to see, and
long galleries."
* ' No, no ! I will go no farther ! Let us get out into the
air and sunshine ! ' *
When they came up out of the gruesome place, never had
the sunlight seemed so precious, nor the air so good to breathe.
After luncheon the jolly guide appeared promptly. " Now
Madame will come with me to my house and my little wife
will have much pleasure in taking Madame to the wedding
reception.''
As the Other-one started out with the guide the Commander
took up his hat to accompany her.
Mohamed looked aghast. ' ' Alas ! Monsieur is not allowed ;
the gentlemen, they cannot go into the presence of the ladies. * '
* ' Nonsense ! ' ' exclaimed the Commander, * * I am not going
to hurt them ! ' '
But the Other-one came to the rescue, reducing him to sub-
jection; then, taking the pretty Marguerite, she went away
[4121
BACK TO SOUSSE
with the relieved guide. He took them through narrow,
silent streets, past whitewashed, blank walls, until they came
to a small door, upon which he knocked, afterwards pushing
the door open and ushering them into a tiny, almost bare
room. The little wife came forward shyly to greet the
strangers. She was a pathetic, sallow-looking little creature,
a great contrast to her plump, jolly husband. One might
have taken her for a New England woman had it not been
for her dress — a scarf-like drapery of blue striped gauze,
wound around her like a short skirt, wooden clogs into which
her little brown feet were thrust, and a gay little handker-
chief bound around her hair. The heart of the Other-one
went out to her, she seemed so gentle, so sweet, so sad.
** I do hope the jolly Mohamed has no other wife! '* she
thought, as she took the soft little hand in hers. The wife
brightened up gratefully and responded to the greetings in
very good French, and she said, turning an adoring look at
him, that her husband had taught her.
She hastened to do the honors of her tiny rooms. She took
them into the little, dark bedroom — of which she seemed
very proud — lighted only from the door and a small window
high up, opening into the court. A big bed with curtains and
gay rugs on it nearly filled the space; there were a few
trinkets on the walls of the room, and a tiny divan piled
with cushions. The little court had other rooms opening off
it, and two or three old women were engaged there, washing,
and cooking cous-cous in perforated jars over pots on char-
coal fires. Mohamed said they were relatives who lived
there, a family in each room. A rude staircase led up to
the flat roof where the women took the air, poor things! It
was all the recreation they usually got.
As the Other-one was taking in these details, a knock was
heard at the door, and Mohamed hastened to open it, when
there stood the Commander pleasantly smiling, much con-
tented with himself for having followed the party unobserved !
The little wife hastily dragged a brown hdik off the wall and
enveloped herself in it, while the ancient crones in the court
[413]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
fled shrieking to their rooms. The Other-one shrieked also
and flew to the door exclaiming: ** You wicked man! You
must not play practical jokes on these simple people. You
can't come in here, you well know ! '' Then she shut the door
in his face with a laugh.
When the commotion had subsided, Mohamed proposed
that his wife should now conduct the Lady to the bride's
house. Smothering herself still more closely in the brown
wrap, the little wife stole out of the door, looking around
cautiously, the others following closely, while Mohamed
remained discreetly behind. The little wife went up and down
two or three narrow streets and stopped before a door in a
high wall, into which a crowd of women, closely wrapped in
brown haiks, were pushing. She worked her way through,
pulling the Lady after her into a vestibule, whence one could
look into a rather good-sized court which had doors open-
ing from it into small rooms around. Seated all around
the room, on very low divans, were a number of young
women and girls arrayed in short jackets of red, blue, white,
and pink satin, some much decorated with gold embroidery
and spangles. They wore short skirts of silk or lace and
on their feet were satin slippers of various colors. They
were adorned with bangles, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets,
while each had on a sort of skullcap, also embroidered in gold,
many with dangling gold pendants. They were all painted
red and powdered white, with their eyebrows stained in black
lines to meet over the nose. Their hands were spread con-
spicuously before them and the nails stained with henna up
to the first joint of the finger. The wife pointed out the bride,
who wore a white skull-cap heavily embroidered in gold, and
many more jewels than the others. She looked about fifteen
and was a rather pretty but heavy and sleepy-looking girl.
Squatting down in the middle of the court were three or four
old women who were the musicians, no man being allowed to
perform m the presence of women among the Arabs, unless
he is blind ! One crone was beating the derbouka, two others
[414]
BACK TO SOUSSE
played on pipes, while another howled a monotonous wail
which rose into a shriek sometimes.
** And they think this is music! '* thought the Other-one.
** Well, they may howl for the poor bride. Sometime when
she is old and withered, perhaps before, she will be cast into
the street to look out for herself.'*
** All these gay clothes must cost this husband and the
others much,'* she exclaimed, turning to the little wife, " and
you say he is poor; and who is that old woman hovering in
the background, who seems to be so anxious? Is it the
mother-in-law? "
** It does cost much, but less when they are rented; and
that old woman is the Jewess who rents them all their beau-
tiful clothes and jewellery. ' *
** Oh ! I thought the caps and jackets looked much like those
I saw on the fat Jewesses at Ariana. ' *
The Other-one, — tired of being pushed and pulled around
in the small vestibule by the coming and departing women,
while nothing was being done, there was no prospect of
refreshments, and the music was becoming unbearable, sig-
nalled to the little wife that they must go, much to her dis-
appointment, for was it not a glorious and wonderful
spectacle ?
' Outside, near by, they found Mohamed waiting for them.
The Lady dropped a present into the hands of the little wife,
for whom she felt a sudden tenderness and friendship, and
who brightened up in response to this. What is that mys-
terious thing in the human heart which, in spite of wide dif-
ferences in station and modes of life, finds something that
responds to it in some other human heart suddenly brought
near, and which gives a pang to both at parting?
** She is your only wife, Mohamed! Do be kind to her
— she is so gentle and tender. Never take another wife!
Cherish her until you both shall die! " said the Other-one,
hoping to ease a little pain in her heart by this appeal. But
the jolly Mohamed looked uncomprehending, said ** Cer-
I 415 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
tainly not," and began to exploit his talents as a guide to
accompany them on the morrow to Kairouan, where he had
heard them say they were going.
When the Other-one told the Commander, that night, of her
rather unsatisfactory visit to the bride, he chuckled.
*' I do not think I am ever going to see a real harem,"
she said plaintively. " If I do happen to see one, it is only
a poor cheap one. It is because we are motorists and never
stay long enough anywhere to see anything of the real cus-
toms of the country. It takes time and influence to get into
a rich Arab's house and see his harem. Bashir told me if
we would remain long enough in Tunis he could get me a
chance to see the harem of a rich official.'*
' ' Nonsense ! ' ' returned the Commander. * * What is the
sight of an ugly, painted harem to compare to what we enjoy
on the road going along in our automobile! "
The next morning the travellers set out on a pilgrimage to
Kairouan, '* the Holy City." It was one of those crystal-
clear mornings, of which they had had many in North Africa,
and the air was of a delicious quality, impregnated with the
odor from the sea mixed with that of countless wild flowers,
so that it seemed very good to be alive. The road was filled
with the usual picturesque group of natives, camels, sheep,
and goats. In the grain fields the poppies were a wonder to
see, so huge were they, and of such brilliant color. There
were great tufts of them in mounds which looked like great
crimson cushions.
It is but fifty kilometres from Sousse to Kairouan and the
Motorists found the way all too short when they came to a
wide, barren plain and saw across it the white domes and
minarets of the city, cut like a cameo against the vivid blue
sky. As usual on the road, the Other-one had rambled on
about the various bits of knowledge she had picked up con-
cerning ' ' the holy city, ' ' much of which the Commander had
gathered himself, but as it pleased her to go over it, he lis-
tened silently and patiently.
She began when they were not far on their journey ; —
[416]
BACK TO SOUSSE
** Kairouan is really what might be called a rather modern
city; that is, it has had no Roman progenitor. It stands
where was once a forest full of terrible wild beasts and huge
poisonous serpents, until the warrior-saint, Sidi-Okba, arose,
whose mosque-tomb we saw at the little village named for
him, near Biskra — and how long ago it seems since wc were
there! Coming here with all his soldiers, he stuck his lance
into the ground, saying: * This is your Kairouan,' or rest-
ing-place ; 80 the city got its name. Then he chose fifteen of
his most religious warriors and ordered all to engage in
prayer. Standing in front he called out in a loud voice, * Ser-
pents and savage beasts, we are the companions of the
Prophet. Retire, for we intend to dwell here ! * When they
heard his voice, all the savage creatures fled with their young,
and the forests where they had dwelt vanished forever. It
is said by good Mussulmans that this is why the city has
been in a desert ever since.
/* Mohammed taught that there were three gardens of para-
dise, four holy cities, and four oratories. The three gardens
include Mecca and Jerusalem, while Kairouan is one of the
best known oratories or gates of heaven. If a Mohammedan M
makes seven visits to Kairouan, it is equal to one to Mecca.**' '
The car approached the crenellated walls of the city, and
the travellers went to stop at a little hotel in the European
quarter; they made arrangements for luncheon, not hoping
for much, for some one had said to them: ** No macter to
which of the two hotels you go, you will wish you had gone
to the other ! * * The delighted landlord issued forth from
this one and made every effort to give them of his best, and
as he was a retired cook himself, he really did very well
indeed, serving them an excellent luncheon when they came
for it later; for as it was yet early, the Commander gave
orders to begin sight-seeing at once. A guide appeared as
if by magic — an elegant and slim young fellow, looking like
a student from a university, and was quite distinguished in
a long white silk burnous with fine black lines through it;
he wore the most irreproachable patent-leather pumps and
[417]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
white stockings, while the blue silk tassel depending from his
red Chechia was of generous proportions. He proposed rid-
ing around in the car to do their sight-seeing, saying they
would have no difficulty in getting it through the streets.
So they set out, going up through the picturesque gate, the
Bab Djelladin, with the soft green of sycamore-trees showing
through it, into the principal street of Kairouan, the Rue
Saussier, which runs straight through the town to the Porte
de Tunis.
*' The walls of the city," said the guide, '' are twenty feet
high. They have many towers and bastions, as you must have
noticed. They are pierced by four gates. The city has
twenty-three mosques, and ninety marabouts' tombs, or Zaou-
ias. It is the only city in Tunis where Christians ijiay enter
the mosques, but it is necessary to have a permit to do so.
This the landlord has provided, and I have it here. But per-
haps you will wish to go to some of the houses where they
weave the rugs for which Kairouan is famous? ''
* * No ! " answered the Commander, eying the guide rather
suspiciously, '^ we will leave that until later.''
** As you please," returned the elegant guide, looking dis-
appointed.
They passed a small street. Here their guide stopped to
point out the Zaouia of Sidi-Abid-el-Gueriane. This has a fine
entrance, and the travellers went in for a few moments to see
the beautiful Moorish ceiling in the vestibule, and the fine
court beyond surrounded by a double gallery. The tomb of
the saint has a beautiful ceiling also, in the shape of a square
cupola, with wonderful decorations in stucco-work.
Passing on, they came to the sacred well of El Barota, which
looks like a marabout's tomb. It is the only well in Kairo-
uan. It was discovered first, the guide said solemnly, by a
greyhound scratching the soil. '* It connects directly with
the sacred well at Mecca," he added. *' Once a pilgrim at
that well in Mecca dropped his drinking cup into it and the
cup disappeared. A long time afterwards, when he returned
here, he found it in this well."
[418 1
BACK TO SOUSSE
The car rolled slowly down the long, straight street with its
picturesque, irregular groups of mosques, minarets, and
booths. The street was full of life and movement, and every-
thing was dazzlingly white this hot, sunny day ; so it was a
relief when the guide had the car stopped and led them under
a horseshoe-arched gate, decorated in black and white, and
into the cool shade of the covered souks, out of the glare of the
street. The souks are lighted only by the square openings in
the roof, so there was a soft gloom. Here a crowd was moving
along: slender Arab dandies, with refined pale olive faces,
and wearing burnouses of the most delicate coloring, rubbed
shoulders with the blackest of Soudanese in ragged sacking;
grave and reverend white-turbaned patriarchs seemingly from
the times of the Bible, jostled against beggars in the filthiest
of rags.
The most interesting souk to the travellers was that of the
rug-sellers; for Kairouan is celebrated for its carpets and
rugs, and the booths all along on both sides were heaped high
with them, some most beautiful old ones with soft, silken, lus-
trous nap, and dull, rich tones. The Commander could not
resist Ihem; he paused to bargain through the subtle guide,
who could not, probably, get his customary commissions with
this veteran bargainer. At one booth the Commander was
compelled to pay the price asked for a beautiful old rug for
which, contrary to his usual custom, he let his admiration
show. Offering two-thirds of the price named, he strolled off
carelessly with the guide, but the dealer did not call after
him, ** Take it, take it, Monsieur! '' So he returned later,
somewhat crestfallen, and paid the original price asked, to the
Other-one's amusement and the guide's evident satisfaction.
They were informed that there was no regular manufactory
for rugs, but that the weaving was generally done at home by
the women and children, the loom usually being set up in a
room off the court of the house ; and that the designs and man-
ner of weaving had been handed down in families.
Leaving the sotiks, they walked up a narrow street to see
the ancient ^losque of Djama Tleta Biban, or the Mosque
[419]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
of the Three Portals. The facade of this is very curious.
Above the three doors there are three courses of cream-
colored stone engraved with Cufic characters. The capitals
of the pillars upholding the arches over the doors are
Byzantine.
The guide now directed the chauffeur to go outside the walls
to see the most beautiful mosque in Kairouan and the inter-
esting Aglabite cisterns. These are two immense reservoirs,
open to the sky, were built by the Aglabites, and have been
restored; they are now used to hold the overflow of water
from Cherchera in time of floods. As these were not espe-
cially interesting to the travellers, the guide then took
them (now with the air of having something wonder-
ful to show them) to the Mosque of the Barber (Djama
Sidi-Sahab). Here lies Abou-Zemaa-el-Beloui. He is said
to have been one of the barbers of the prophet; and
buried with him are three hairs from the beard of Moham-
med, which the barber always carried with him: one under
his tongue, one under his arm, and one next his heart. They
entered the mosque by a beautiful vestibule lined with fine
tiles and the most exquisite arabesque work on the walls like
filmy lace suspended there, such is the fineness of the pattern.
This gives entrance to a court with arches supported by mar-
ble columns, and beyond is still another rich vestibule and
another splendid court with beautiful arcades, glazed tiles,
and decorations in stucco-work marvellously lovely. The Two
stood astonished at the beauty of the interior of this mosque,
for most of those they had hitherto seen in Algeria were
very simple and plain. They lingered a little to study the
exquisitely fanciful designs of the work interweaving phrases
from the Koran or inscriptions — in spite of the sour look
of the ancient Moslem who had taken them in charge upon
entering, and who now, as they approached the sacred tomb,
scowled ferociously, calling to a feeble old man, who came
hobbling to meet the Two, and carrying some yellow slippers
of extraordinary dimensions. They shuffled after the Fierce
[420]
illi
u.
I il I I
ill I
THE GRAM) AI08(^UE AT KAIh'oUAX
Tin; MOSQUE OF SIDI-SAHAB, OR THE MOSQUE
OF THE BARBER, KAIROUAN
BACK TO SOUSSE
One into the obscurity of the tomb chamber, nearly full of
devotees praying before the revered sepulchre of the Barber.
As soon as the Two could see clearly they discovered a huge
catafalque covered with draperies, one of black velvet em-
broidered in silver in Arabic inscriptions, and another of
a beautiful heavy brocade. The walls, they saw, were also
rich in tiles and exquisite stucco-work.
At the great door, they saw the car and Adrian, who
appeared to be in a state of great excitement. Two long,
lean, brown men were coming in, one bearing a fat bag in
his hand, and the other a big tambourine. As soon as the
man with the bag saw the strangers, he dropped to the
ground, opened his bag, and took therefrom an ugly snake,
which, as soon as placed on the ground, raised itself and
spread its hood in a threatening and unpleasant manner.
** They must be the snake-charmers,*' said the Other-one.
After the grizzled old man had beaten the tambourine
loudly and fiercely, the other man began to knock the snake
around and to throw it up in the air, whereat it hissed and
extended its hood alarmingly. Then the man pressed it to
his face, muttering strange words like incantations. It was
time, then, to get a little money; so the tambourine was
passed, after which the snake-charmer was about to repeat
his buffetings of the ugly reptile, but the Commander con-
sidered they had had enough for the money and gave the
order to move on.
The next mosque in order, being near and in the suburb
of the Zlass, was the Mosque of the Swords, or Amar-Abbada.
It is very effective with its six white domes, fluted — a rare
thing to find here in domes. The interior is very bare and
disappointingly plain after the beautiful work in the Barber's
Mosque. This marabout was a blacksmith and * * to impress
people with his importance,*' he forged the huge swords and
pipes now lying around the tomb chamber, which some be-
lieved he was strong enough to use. He was reputed even to
have had power and strength sufficient to bring the mammoth
bronze anchors now in the courtyard, on his shoulders, from
[421]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the Porto Farina. When they returned to the Bab Djelladin,
the guide informed them that near this is the Zaouia of the
Aissaouas who have public exercises every Friday, and this
being that day, the travellers, if they would remain, could go
in the evening and see the wonderful exercises of this sect.
* * No, indeed ! ' ' said the Other-one to the Commander.
** They are horrible — that is, the exercises they go through,
you know. Have you heard the legend about a marabout
named Aissa (which is Jesus, in our tongue) ? He was wan-
dering once in a desert and suffered for want of food, so
that he came near dying of starvation; but, such was his
faith, that he had miraculous power given him to eat all
sorts of things, so he fed upon snakes, scorpions, glass, and
the leaves of the prickly pear. And his followers, the Ais-
saouas, work themselves into such a state of frenzy that they
swallow glass and snakes, and run themselves through with
swords. Many travellers have the morbid curiosity to go
and see them, but as for me, — never! *'
When the travellers had finished a really delectable
luncheon cooked by the agreeable landlord himself, the ele-
gant guide strolled languidly in and proposed that they
should go at once to the Grand Mosque — Djama Kebir —
* ' the finest in the world. * ' It stands in the northeast part of
the city, near the ramparts, and, with its rectangular walls
and great square minaret, is very imposing when seen from
outside the city; but the guide took them through a maze
of narrow streets whence it could not be seen, and sometimes
it seemed as if the car must be stuck between the walls.
They stopped at the western entrance, which is one of the
two principal doors — not so monumental or imposing as
the gate of Llella Re j ana, but the one most used. The guide
knocked sharply and presented his permit to the tall, severe-
looking Moslem who threw open the door. He admitted the
party reluctantly, and scowled at them as though, if he had
dared, he would have driven them away. They entered at
once into a most imposing and monumental court paved with
white marble and surrounded by a double arcade of columns
[ 422 ]
BACK TO SOUSSE
reinforced by pillars. In the middle of the north side rises
a great square minaret of three stories, each diminishing in
height and breadth of the top. It is not a graceful or beauti-
ful one, but imposing in size. Under the whole is a great
reservoir of water which is reached through openings in the
marble pavement. The party crossed over to the south side,
where high doors give access to the mosque.
If the Two had been amazed at the great court, they were
infinitely more astonished at this interior which is called the
maksoura, or prayer chamber, by Moslems. It was like enter-
ing a great forest of closely growing trees and the shade
was infinitely agreeable after the glare of the sun in the
white paved court. At first they could barely distinguish
this forest of columns, but gradually, as their eyes became
accustomed to the agreeable gloom, they were able to note
some of the details. The guide told them that there are
seventeen naves of eight arches each, each arch resting on
beautiful columns of marble, onyx, and. porphyry, two hun-
dred and ninety -six in all. He then pointed out the various
capitals, some Roman, some Byzantine, a few showing Chris-
tian influence, many of curious style, and some very beautiful.
There are two red porphyry monoliths of especial beauty,
which sustain the last arcade of the central transverse. The
guide then walked over to show the Two the mihrah, or niche,
showing the direction of Mecca, flanked with beautiful red
porphyry columns, brought from ancient Caisarea — now
Cherchel — in Algeria. The walls have the most exquisite
stucco-work and below they are decorated with mosaics of
marble and lapis-lazuli. Through it, when lighted up, can
be seen the original mihrah of Sidi-Okba. Regarding this
the legend says that Sidi Okba was much in doubt where to
place the mihrah in this great mosque he founded. In all
other mosques the imam, who reads the prayers, turns a little
to the right or to the left, to show that the direction may
not probably be right; but in this mosque it is exact, for it
was revealed to Sidi-Okba in a dream after a long prayer.
He was directed by an angel to take his standard and wander
[423]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
around, mornings, in the city until he heard the cry " Allah
akha^* (God is great). When he heard this he immediately
planted his standard, saying: '* Here is the mihrab! ''
At the right of this is the eighteen-foot-high mimhar, or
pulpit. All the panels in this are beautifully carved in wood
brought from Bagdad, and with extracts from the Koran or
inscriptions pertaining to the mosque. The dome is supported
by porphyry columns nearly forty feet high and all the light
comes from the colored glass in it. There are great crystal
chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and myriads of small
lamps in lustres. What most struck the travellers was the
great simplicity of the whole construction, combined with
the grandeur of the proportions which gives this, unlike most
other mosques, as one writer says, ** a cathedral-like aspect.'*
There were lingering devotees here and there, saying their
prayers. A low murmur could be heard all through the
prayer chamber like the humming of bees.
At last the Two — much to the relief of the fierce Moslem
— reluctantly followed the guide out from the cool precincts
of the mosque into the glare of the great white court.
* ' After all, * ' observed the Other-one, as they went out to
the car, *' I never feel that solemn and religious awe in a
mosque, no matter how big or beautiful it is, that I experience
in a cathedral. The one stands for a great and unselfish re-
ligion — * doing unto others as you would have others do to
you'; the other for a voluptuous and selfish cult.**
When the Commander handed the eloquent guide his well-
earned money, as they were about to roll away, he asked if
he might ride with them to Sousse where he had business,
and as it was not in the kind Commander to refuse a reason-
able request, he gave the desired permission. And well that
he did, for not far from Kairouan a tire burst, then another,
in that exasperating way tires have of keeping one another
company, especially if the motorists are in haste to reach a
haven at night. The elegant guide slipped off his silk mantle
and ** put his shoulder to the wheel ** in reality, working with
[424]
BACK TO SOUSSE
a vim but presenting quite another and a very ordinary
appearance in a white shirt and very baggy trousers.
The Motorists arrived late at Sousse well pleased with the
day's excursion, but the jolly Mohamed, a trace less jolly
than yesterday, looked as if he felt their trip to be a blunder
and a failure without him.
[425 3
CHAPTER XXV
BACK TO TUNIS : THEN TO ALGIERS BY THE COL DE TIROURDA
AND farewell!
WHEN the Motorists left Sousse they felt that now their
faces were really turned homeward, for they had
reached, with the trip to the troglodytes and Kairouan, the
farthest eastern points toward which they had laid their plans.
From Sousse their road followed the seacoast northward,
but instead of going as they came by Grombalia, the Com-
mander turned off at Bir-bu-Rekba for Hammamet and Na-
beul. He always desired, when returning to a point, to
change the route if possible and add to his repertory — if one
may say so — some new places. This hot afternoon they came
to the little town of Hammamet asleep on the sands by the
sea. There were old fishing-boats lying high and dry upon
the beach, and some Arab boys, very scantily clothed, were
sporting around them, but scurried off to the car when they
saw it and flung themselves at it in the joy of a new attrac-
tion. There were white bungalows of the winter visitors
scattered among the trees back of the sands, but what most
attracted the Motorists was a picturesque old fort, asleep on
the rocks beyond the beach.
They alighted from the car and, followed by all the gamins,
went to climb, by rude stone steps, up to the entrance gate,
where a sort of Rip-van-Winkle old guardian let them in,
after routing the Arab boys with harsh gutturals. They
entered an ancient, dilapidated, grass-grown court with some
antique and rusty cannon imbedded in it. They mounted
an old stone staircase — likewise grass-grown — and from the
bastion looked down on the blue sea placidly beating upon
the beach. On the other side, a white mosque snuggled most
picturesquely against the gray old walls of the fort.
[4261
BACK TO ALGIERS
** How placid and sleepy it all is now ! " said the Other-one.
** Once, long ago, — though it does not seem possible now, —
it was bristling with guns and alive with fierce corsairs.'*
Up from Hammamet, the road of the travellers lay through
groves of lemon-trees, for here these trees grow luxuriantly.
Near Nabeul there were also many orange-groves and gar-
dens, and the air was heavy with their fragrance. In the
town — a white, dusty-looking little place — there are some
distilleries for perfumes. The travellers saw many yards
with great kilns at one side, and piles of white earth which
natives were wetting and working, for here they fabricate a
very pretty glazed ware — vases, jars, bottles, and basins
which recall Greek and Roman shapes, and have an iridescent
lustre like the old Hispanic-Moorish plaques.
As there was nothing to hold the travellers here, after view-
ing the potteries, they fled away toward Tunis, to which they
drew near at night when the sky was growing dark and a
silver crescent moon hung high over old Carthage, wliile the
lights of the Oriental city, at the end of the long canal, were
twinkling like millions of glow-worms.
A day or two in Tunis, and then away to Algiers and the
journey's end. The Commander decided to take the road
through the old town of Le Kef, two hundred and two kilo-
metres to the southwest, and to pass the night there if neces-
sary. They went out from fascinating Tunis, running along
its ancient walls and gates to where the road turned off to
La Manouba, whose white villas they left to the right, and
crossed a barren plain with the serrated outlines of old Zag-
houan now coming near and then retreating. They went
across the picturesque Roman bridge at Medijez-el-Bab to
Teboursouk, leaving the road to Dougga — toward which the
Other-one cast a longing glance — to their right. Part of
the time the road lay over plains that were a mosaic of rich
colors with myriads of wild flowers, and there were many
fragments of columns, capitals, friezes, and broken arches
here and there, showing where there once must have been
many flourishing Roman villages.
[427]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
When they came up to the town of Le Kef they found it
dirty and ill-paved, and certainly there was nothing of inter-
est showing, although it contains a recently excavated basilica
dedicated to St. Peter. Sent by the Commander into one of
the small inns to reconnoitre, the Other-one returned to the
car with a face expressive of deep disgust. ** It is impos-
sible ! ' ' she said. * ' The courtyard is a mass of filth and
the dining-room dark and dirty ! ' *
* * Well, let us try the other one, near by. We really ought
to stop here to-night. We are all tired, and it looks like
rain!"
The black-browed landlord at the other small inn wel-
comed her with effusion, but the entrance was through a
dirty saloon where sodden and unkempt men were drinking
and quarrelling. She came back again.
* * Worse and worse ! ' ' she exclaimed. * * Let us sleep in the
car to-night; it will be such fun! And there are four
crackers and six dates left in the basket. We can sup like
royal princes on those with a little exercise of imagination ! * '
** What nonsense! " cried the Commander. "We will go
on to Souk-el- Arba ! ''
There was a threatening, black cloud hanging in the sky
which dissolved in rain before they reached that town whose
poorly lighted streets they entered tired, worn, and hungry.
At the first hotel the landlord declared that his house was
full, but kindly informed them that there was another very
comfortable one near by, kept by an Italian. The Other-one
climbed the dark, steep staircase of the hotel pointed out,
behind a slatternly padrona and gave a glance at the rooms
shown her. Then she rushed to the balcony that ran around
the rooms and called to the Commander below:
* ' It 's worse than impossible ! Oh, I wish we had stayed at
Le Kef ! Do let us sleep in the car with cleanliness and fresh
air around us! "
But the Commander was deaf to her entreaties. The greasy
dinner was served, strange to say, by a fine, large and clean-
looking landlord, a great contrast to his hotel, but at an un-
[428]
MOSQUE OF THE SWORDS, AT KAIROUAN
MTNARET OF THE GREAT MOSQUE, AT KAIROUAN
BACK TO ALGIERS
usually early hour the next morning, the ^lotorists slipped
away without breakfasting, for various reasons.
Tlie morning was sparkling and fresh, for the heavy rain
of the night before had washed the air from dust, and it had
a delicious quality that made the Two glad they were alive
to breathe it. They went up the hills and turned for a last
farewell look over the glorious view spread out — the great
misty mountains dark on their flanks with forests and the
green plain undulating away. Through the shade and spicy
odors of the forests they came to Babouche and the frontier,
and bade farewell to Tunisia, in which they had spent so
many delightful days. They bowled down to sleepy La Calle
with the surf still beating on its rocks, and then to Philippe-
ville, to pass the night in a hotel which by comparison seemed
to the Lady the most elegant, clean, and luxurious she had
ever slept in. However, it did not give her much regret to
leave this rather unattractive modern town, though she re-
membered that Domini had landed here on her way to the
*' Garden of Allah.''
** I wish,*' said the Other-one, ** we might have gone to
the Landon Garden in the suburbs laid out by the Count
Landon. It is said to be as beautiful as the one he laid out
at Biskra; and what delightful memories it would recall! '*
" It is impossible," returned the Commander. ** We must
make the next boat which leaves Algiers. I have a treat for
you, however. We are going up into a beautiful forest at El
Milia on the way to Djidjelli, and from there along the won-
derful road above the sea to Bougie for the night.'*
Never had the wild flowers been more luxuriant on the
wayside and in the fields than on that glorious, sunny day.
The wild convolvulus made a tangle of its pale mauve blos-
soms everywhere, and the fields of blue alkanet seemed to
have borrowed their intense hue from the sky. They passed
wide orange-groves before ascending the hills and then they
ran up into the beautiful forest near El Milia, and the green
shade was delightful after the hot sun.
Here the Commander proposed halting for luncheon but
[ 429 ]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
the small wayside restaurant promised badly for the hungry
Motorists when they glanced into its dark and poverty-
stricken interior. The Other-one saw, however, near a little
path which dipped down under some great trees, a small
guide-post reading, ** To the Cafe Robinat.'* On investigat-
ing they found a tiny cafe in a sylvan spot and a garden
flecked with sunlight and shade. Great masses of rose-bushes
in most luxuriant bloom climbed the walls and house, or stood
in great clumps around it, filling the air with perfume. It
seemed a paradise to the travellers, especially when the tall
and stately landlady ordered a little table, spread with the
whitest of cloths, to be placed under the shade of a tree, and
herself, with the gracious air of a high-born dame, set thereon
a vase of the most fragrant crimson roses. She stood near
while they feasted, pleased to see them appreciative of the
delicious repast. She sighed as she spoke of her old home
in Toulouse, in la helle France, but added that she was con-
tented in this far-off land, for had she not this garden and
these beautiful roses? And she saw that Monsieur and
Madame loved the roses as she did herself.
"With a charming memory of their experience in the forest
of El Milia they sped down to Djidjelli, and off over the
glorious road cut in the great rocks overhanging the sea
which fringed their bases with foam. At night they came
to Bougie, lying on the flank of Mount Gouraya, which was
dark against a golden sky. In the morning, when the car
rolled out of Bougie, the Commander was visibly excited.
He turned to the Other-one two or three times, opened his
mouth as if to speak, then thought better of it. At last he
could no longer control his desire to tell the Lady something.
'* I have a surprise for you,*' he said. *' I was going to
keep it until we arrived at the place, but, after all, anticipa-
tion is more than half. What do you think? I have found
out that we can return to Algiers by the Col de Tirourda
which was covered with snow when we left, but it was opened
only a day or two ago.'*
[430
BACK TO ALGIERS
''Glorious!" exclaimed the Other-one. ''They say the
scenery is magnificent. It will be a fitting ending for our
last day of motoring in North Africa."
The Commander took the road which led up the hills and
through the luxuriant valley of the Oued Soummam to El
Kseur. The river, a muddy stream, ran sometimes near and
sometimes afar, bordered plantations of fig-trees and fields
of barley. The Babor Mountains dropped away and the
Djurdjura began to marshal their serrated peaks into sight,
some streaked with snow. On almost inaccessible crags and
ridges, overhanging gorges and profound ravines, slipping
down steep mountain-sides, were the Kabyle villages, gray,
like strange fungus growths, when seen afar; but nearer,
their red-tiled roofs gave a little color to the gray crags. Now
the clouds began to slip together and the plains and hills
grew dark under their shadow. There was a mist of rain,
but in a short time the clouds opened again showing streaks
of blue sky and a great, white-topped peak, the Llella Kha-
didja, the culminating point of the Djurdjuras. The scenery
grew wilder, the Kabyle villages, on their inaccessible crags,
more numerous. At Tazmalt the road turned off and began
to climb at once and by loops up the mountain. Llella Kha-
didja appeared and disappeared as great, jagged masses of
mountains opened or shut together. The travellers looked
down into tremendous ravines; great gorges opened, and the
small, green patches of Kabyle cultivation disappeared;
rocks were everywhere heaped above them; the car plunged
through tunnels and came out upon scenery more wild, deso-
late, and barren. The grades were steep, the curves abrupt.
The car toiled up on first or second speed, and still up to
greater desolation. There were no signs of life anywhere.
Soon the road was banked with snow, and the track through
was scarcely clear. From the opposite side of a deep chasm
Llella Khadidja looked across. They were almost on a level
with her crest. She seemed to smile at them ; then caught at
a fleecy cloud floating near and veiled herself like a true
431]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
Moslem. It was the summit at last and the Two felt a sensa-
tion of having reached the farthest peak of the world, so
utterly desolate did everything seem around them.
Suddenly they heard shouts of human beings and bleatings
and cries of animals, startling in the stillness, and there ap-
peared around a curve in the road two ragged Kabyle shep-
herds brandishing their knotted sticks and driving a flock
of black and white goats, which were running wildly from
one side of the road to the other and plunging down or
climbing up where there appeared to be no foothold at all,
as though they wished to break their necks to spite the shep-
herds. The car had now reached the highest altitude, six
thousand feet. It is eight kilometres through the pass, and
here begins the descent. Down and down went the car,
guided by the careful chauffeur, who held it back by the
engine, thus saving the brakes, which heat terribly on such
grades. Again they ran through tunnels and skirted the
edges of black gorges and wild ravines. Gradually the
Kabyle villages came again into sight, and then plantations
of olives and of figs, and small plats of maize. Again Llella
Khadidja showed her white head, having cast her veil of
clouds aside, as if to say good-bye to the voyagers.
It was late noon when the travellers reached Fort Michelet
and went into the little hotel for luncheon. As they ran
down to Fort National, the serrated range of the Djurdjura
loomed black at first, and then the clouds dropped a mist of
rain which blotted it all out. They stopped at Tizi-Ouzu
for a meal of gasoline for the faithful and hard-worked car,
and then pushed on to Algiers in the falling rain, though the
enterprising landlord advised them to remain for the night
at his " so comfortable and luxurious hotel and thus avoid
bad colds.''
It was after dark when the travellers came in sight of the
twinkling lights of the harbor of Algiers and ran up to
Mustapha Superieur, stopping at the entrance of that prince
of hotels, which, however, looked dark and inhospitable. The
polite manager came out to say, sorrowfully, that the hotel
[ 432 ]
BACK TO ALGIERS
was now closed for the season. But he hastened to add, as
he saw their disappointed faces, that a hotel close by kept
its arms open the year around for wandering and homeless
travellers, so they betook themselves to this and its genial
proprietor and his kindly wife had pity on the wet and
weary Motorists and made them very comfortable indeed.
When the travellers went the next day to wander around
the city for a last look, they found that the winter birds had
flown to cooler climes, foolish birds! for the gardens of Mus-
tapha Superieur were more beautiful and fragrant now than
ever ; vines tumbled over the walls in greater luxuriance, and
rose-bushes were bursting with crimson, pink, and white
bloom. Through the gates — now oftener left open — of white
villas, they caught sight of delicious green depths; the shade
of the graceful pepper-trees and the sycamore and ficus trees,
casting lovely etched patterns on the avenues, was grateful;
and when the sea was visible below the green foliage, it was
more richly blue than ever.
But when they went down to the harbor they did not miss
the winter birds. Hanging over the balustrade and looking
down on the busy freight-boats and at the big German vessel
(from which a crowd of eager tourists was pouring down
the ladder onto the pontoons) was the same motley throng.
Loitering along the boulevards and through the Rue Bab
Azoun were more Arab dandies than ever, in their delicately
colored pink, blue, and gray burnouses. Patriarchal sheiks,
in whitest of hdiks, brushed against black Soudanese porters
wearing nothing but gandouras of sacking, and toiling under
their heavy burdens in the hot sun. The balloon-trousered
Arab women, wrapped closely in their white mantles, scurried
through the Place du Gouvernement, which was seething, as
always, with a tumultuous throng; the gayly uniformed of-
ficers of the Tirailleurs, the Spahis, and the Chasseurs d^Af-
rique looked out from the cool retreat of the cafes while
sipping their coffee or absinth, ogling any good-looking
woman who might pass near the little tables; or spurning
the gamins with their blacking-brushes and the tattered beg-
[433]
A MOTOR FLIGHT
gars holding out their dirty hands and crying, '* Meskin,
meskin! '*
A day or two later the '' Charles Roux " was slipping off
her big cables preparatory to departure. Our Motorists stood
on the deck leaning against the rail, watching the busy tumult
on the quay. It was hot noon, and Algiers, rising to the sky
line in white terraces, with the green hills on each side, looked
truly, according to the Arab saying, like " a diamond in an
emerald frame. ' * The Two, occupied with their own thoughts,
were silent for a while; then the Commander sighed regret-
fully and exclaimed,
* * Well, it is all past — those long, delightful rides on per-
fect roads, over the mountains with glorious scenery of green
valleys and snow-capped peaks, across the Desert, by curious
villages and always among a strange and picturesque people.
I would begin the trip over again, to-morrow, if I could! "
The Other-one echoed the sigh.
' * And so would I, were it possible ! It has been, indeed,
an unusual and a glorious trip. AVhat a country for an artist
to visit! Such color in tones and half-tones; such subtle
gradations in tints of which he never dreamed before, in the
color on the mountains in early morning and in the sunset
glow at night, in the sands of the Desert, in the creams, blues,
reds, and yellows of the costumes of the Bedouin women and
in the azure and turquoise of this ever-changing sea ! ' '
"And for the archaeologist," added the Commander,
' ' what interesting ruins of Roman times, of temples, aque-
ducts, baths, cisterns, arches, and columns! But let him
take the trip in a good automobile, and above all with an ex-
cellent chauffeur ! ' '
"I am afraid,'* pursued the Other-one ''that a fashion-
able lady who took the fancy to motor in North Africa would
die of disgust at some of the hotels in the by-places. How-
ever, she might be happy, perhaps, in showing off her fine
clothes at the big caravansaries in Algiers, Biskra, or Tunis.
But after all, when I think back, the inconveniences and poor
[434
BACK TO ALGIERS
inns count for little in the memories of this glorious trip. I
have forgotten the annoyances already.*'
The steamer was sliding swiftly out of the harbor, and
white Algiers was sinking down as the green hills rose up
around it. The Commander began again :
*' And the French administration in Africa — how marvel-
lous it is when you think that for several centuries before
they came to Africa this country had been suffering from the
worst sort of government ; that there were no roads that could
be called such, no schools, no justice, and no agriculture to
speak of! Now, the splendid roads, reaching all parts of the
mountains and deserts; the fair system of railroads; the
thousands of acres of vines, the thousands of date-palms and
the millions of olive-trees they have planted; the hundreds
of artesian wells they have sunk; the paternal interest they
take in the people in giving them schools and a fair and just
taxation, and in many other ways looking after their interests
— all this makes the French occupation and its results the
best colonization scheme yet devised.**
The Two fell into silence, and the boat steamed swiftly
on her way. At last only the outlines of the Atlas Mountains
were to be seen in a blue haze, and the snow peaks of the
Djurdjura shining in the afternoon sun. Soon even these
faded from sight. There was nothing but the azure sea
stretching away on every hand ; and their Motor Flight
through fascinating Algeria and Tunisia became a delightful
memory.
THB END
INDEX
Abd-el-Kadir, 93
Abd-el-Ouadites, the, 131
Abd-er-Bahman-bou-Kobrin, tomb
of, 47-49
Abou el Hassen AH, the Black
Sultan, 134
Abou-Zemaa-el-Beloui, one of the
barbers of Mohammed, 420, 421 ;
mosque of, 420
Aboul Hassan, Mosque of, 132,
134
Abundance, statue of, 370
Admiralty, at Algiers, 58
Affreville, 95, 169
Aflfroun, 169
Aglabites, cisterns of, 420
Ahmed Ben Yussuf, Sidi, 93
Ain-Beida, Mosque of, 128; town
of, 212, 218, 295-297
Ain-Draham, 310, 311
Ain Tounga, 317
Aissa-ben-SIiman, sheik of Beni-
Isguen, 163, 164
Aissaouas, sect of, 422
Alaoui Museum, 347-350
Alfa grass, 17, 143, 380
Algeria, natural divisions of, 17;
civic divisions of, 277; part
played in French government,
277; power of kaids and sheiks
of, 278; military force of, 278,
279; advantages from France,
279; boundary between Tunisia,
310
Algiers, siege of, by British and
Dutch, 1816, 6; French posses-
sion of, 6, 191; museum of, 52-
54; last look of, 433-435
Almohades, the, 131
Amar-Abbada, Mosque of, 421
Aokos, Cape, 193, 198
Aqttae Calidae, 91
Arabs, conquerors of North Africa,
5
Arba, town of, 103
Architecture, Moorish, examples of,
36, 54 ; finest in Tlemcen, 130
Ariana, 342, 375, 376; promenade
of Jewesses at, 377
Auribeau, 303
Asphodel, the, 95, 96
Atlas Mountains, 11, 94, 97
Augustus, 355
Aumale, town of, 109
AurSs Mountains, 218, 219, 228,
242, 247, 250, 281, 293, 294
Automobile, 1; loading on ship,
2; unloading, 19, 20; troubles
with, 285-291
Azaga, town of, 188
Bab-Azoun, Rue, Algiers, 8, 25,
26
Bab-el-Djazira, a quarter of Tunis,
330
Bab-el-Khamis, great gate of, 138
Bab-el-Oued, Rue, Algiers, 8, 25,
26
Bab-Souika, a quarter of Tunis,
330, 341
Babouche, town of, 429
Bach-agha, of Laghouat, 149, 150
Bagrada, river, see Mcdjerda
Bamboo, 51
Bardo, the, of Tunis, 346, 347
Baths of King Solomon, 91
Batna, Mountains, 218; town of,
228, 291
Bedouins, 141, 249, 253, 286-289;
tents of, 288 j 313
[437]
INDEX
Beggars, in Algiers, 38, 39, 44
Beja, 310, 311, 316, 317
Bekalta, village of, 407
Belisarius, 356
Belvedere Park in Tunis, 345
Benevent, see Landon Gardens
Ben-Merzog, river, 212
Beni-Chougran, Mountains, 128
Beni-Isguen, 154, 162-165
Benni Yenni, 183
Berbers, see Kabyles
Berkani, tombs of the, 85
Berrian, 154
Berrouaghia, 142
Birkadem, town of, 55, 56
Biskra, 100, 156, 172, 228, 231-
239, 242-249, 282-284, 296
Bizerte, 329
Blida, town of, 98, 99, 169
Boghari, 142
Bone, 293, 304-307
Bordj-Djedid, 365; ruins of
cisterns at, 365, 366
Botanical Garden, Algiers, see
Jardin d'Essai
Bou-Kornein, Mount, 340, 346,
369
Bou-Medine, town of, 134; mosque
of, 134-137
Bou-Noura, town of, 164
Bou Saada, 100, 148; meaning of,
101; arrival at, 109; sights of,
112-118
Boufarik, 141
Bougainvillea vine, 102, 238
Bougie, 17, 189-193, 198, 199,
429, 430
Bourmont, General, 124
Bourde, P., quoted, 387
Bouzarea, hills of, 11; highest
point of Algiers, 31
Bugeaud, Marshal, 128
Bulla Regia, 310
Bureau des A f aires Indigenes,
266, 269, 392, 398; Command-
ant of, 262, 273, 276
Bureau of the Marine, 58
Bureaux Arabes, 277
Butler, Allan, quoted, 359
Byrsa, hill of Carthage, 354, 360
Byzantines, occupation of Car-
thage, 356
Caesar, 355, 405, 407
Caesarea, ancient, 127
Cafes, in Algiers, 16, 61, 62; in
Tunis, 337
Calceus Herculis, 229
Camels, first sight of, 117; in
caravan, 199, 200; on the
desert, 251, 252, 255, 294
Canal, from Tunis to the sea, 353
Caquat, Rene, author of a work
on the ancient cities of North
Africa, 81
Caracalla, arch of, in Tebessa,
214
Caravansaries, 122
Carbon, Cape, 198
Carbueca, Colonel, 227
Carthage, 329, 339, 346; ancient,
354-358; in modern times, 357-
375; Punic remains at, 363,
366, 367; Great Basilica of,
363-365; Museum at, 370-374
Castiglione, 79, 124
Catacombs, Christian, at Sousse,
411
Cato, the Elder, 355
Cavallo, Cape, 195, 197
Caxine, Cape, lighthouse of, 76
Celestis, Temple of, 321
Cemeteries, Arab, 7, 40-42; of
Beleourt, 44-49; of Beni-Isguen,
165
Chabet-el-Akra, 199, 200
Chalybeate spring, at Hammam
R'hira, 90
Charles V, expedition against
Algiers, 66; against Tunis, 329;
at Goletta, 353
Charles X, of France, 124
Chasseurs d'Afrique, 278, 326;
birds named after, 403
Chateau d'lf, 2
[433]
INDEX
Chaugarnier, Gen., 93
Chawia, people of the Aur^
Mountains, 219
Chedaker, River, 301
Ch61ia, Mount, 224, 293
Ch61if, Plain, 92; River, 17, 95,
127, 142
Chenoua, Mount, 32, 78, 79, 124;
rock used for building, 86, 125
Cherchel, 83; Roman aqueduct to,
85; the town of, 85, 125, 127,
204
Chiffa, Gorge of the, 32, 78, 97,
98, 141
Chikli, old building at Lake Tunis,
352
Chotts, in the desert, 250, 390
Cirta, ancient, see Constantine
*'Cit7 of God, The,'* St. Augus-
tine's, 304, 306
Clocks, always found in mosques,
24; in minaret at Miliana, 93;
in Tlemcen, 131
Coffee, house, Arab, 61, 62; Turk-
ish, 62
Col de Tirourda, 430
Colin, M., a French engineer, 366
College Museum, at Carthage, 370-
374
Company of the Oued Rir, 258
**Comte de Monte Cristo,'* 3
"Confessions" of St. Augustine,
304, 306
Constantine, Emperor, 128, 206
Constantine, town of, 170, 177,
201, 203-212; fortress of, 205
Cork-trees, 175
Cornelia Valentina Tuceiana, 220
Corniche Road, 191
Corsica, granite from, 306
Costumes, of Arabs, 14; of Arab
women, 15; of dragomen, 20, 21
Cous-cous, national dish of Arabs,
152, 166, 185, 288
Croisette, Cape, 3
Custom-house, at La Calle, 308;
Tunisian, 310
Damous-el-Karita, Church of,
357, 361, 363-365
Dar-el-Bey, Tunis, 338, 339
Date culture, in the desert, 258,
259
Delattre, Rev. P^re, 356, 363, 365.
367
Dellys, 17
Deys, or governors, of Algiers,
old palace of, 7, 42; story of
the last Dey, 43
Dido, Queen, 354
Djama, Arabic for mosque, 21
Djama-el-Djedid, see Pecherie
Djama-el-Kebir, Mosque of, 7 '-
description of, 23, 24
Djelfa, town of, 147, 148, 166
Djem, Colosseum of, 382-384
Djemaa, Oued, 102, 103
Djidjelli, 191, 196, 197, 199, 429,
430
Djurdjura Mountains, 11, 17, 179,
181, 431
Domini, heroine of Hichens' **The
Garden of Allah," 239, 429
Dougga, town of, 310, 317-324,
427
Dragoman, Arab guide, 20, 21
Dufour, Mr., 305
Dumas, Alexander, 2
Edougii, Mount, 304, 306
El-Ateuf, 154
El Amri, village of, 260
El Bahira, Lake, 330
El Barota, sacred well of, at
Kairouan, 418
El Eubbad, town of, 134, 135
El-Had, Oued, 107
El Hadj Ahmed, 207-211; palace
of, 207-209
El Kantara, the ** gateway of the
desert," 229, 230, 232, 283, 290
El Kebir, Mosque of, 132
El Milia, forest at, 429, 430
[439
INDEX
El Ourit Cascades, 129
El Zitouna, Grand Mosque of
Tunis, 332
Enfidaville, 381
Esparto grass, see alfa
Eucalyptus-trees, 175, 176, 303
Falguiere, the sculptor, 231
Ferdinand, the Catholic, 5
Fermantou, 201
Fete days, in Tlemcen, 132
Fetzara, Lake, 303
Fez, shop of the, 335
Flavius Maximus, 227
Forests, hunting in, 90; of Leb-
anon cedar, 142; of Bou-Hini,
188; of El Milia, 429
Fort Michelet, 170, 181, 432
Fort National, 170, 179, 180, 182,
432
Foum-es-Sahara, ** mouth of the
desert," 229
Francis Eegis, Father, 76
Fromentin, the painter, 66, 143,
146
Fruits, 92
G
Gabes, 391, 397
** Garden of Allah, the,*' 228,
Genseric, the Vandal, 356
Geronimo, the Arab Christian
martyr, 53; tomb of, 71
Ghardaia, 122; principal city of
Mozabites, 151, 154; sights of,
155-162, 165
Ghiberti, 136
Gorge of Death, 199
Goums, native soldiery, 278, 279
Gouraya, Mount, 189, 190, 193,
198
Grand Cascades, Hammam Mes-
koutine, 297, 298
Grandes Falaises, the, 194
Greeks, Byzantine, conquerors of
North Africa, 5; ancient in-
fluences, 370
Guelma, 297, 302
Guelt-es-Stel, caravansary, 144,
166
Guerrara, 154
Guyotville, 76 .
Hadramentum, ancient, see
Sousse
Haik, the, 14
Halfaouine, Place, Tunis, 342
Halouat, a sweetmeat, 133
Hammam Lif, 340
Hammam Meskoutine, 293, 297-
302; petrified springs at, 297-
300; legend of, 300, 301
Hammam R'hira, 83; overnight
stay at, 88-91
Hammamet, town of, 426, 427
Hannibal, 354, 355, 381, 404; at
Sousse, 408
Harrach, Oued, 102
Hasdrubal, 205, 369
High Plateaux, the, 17
Hippone, ancient, see Bone
Horses, Arabian, 106, 261
Houris, 23, 45, 244, 245
Hussein Dey, 169
Igarghur, River, 258
Islamism, establishment of, in
North Africa, 5
d'Isly, Rue, in Algiers, 26
Isser River, 142, 177
JARDIN d'Essai, 8, 50
Jardin Marengo, 8
Jewellery, Kabyle, 30
Jews, in Algeria, 19; in Constan-
tine, 203; in Ariana, 377, 378
John of Austria, 353
Juba II, story of, 82, 83; capital
at Cherchel, 85; tomb of, 124;
204, 407
Jules Ferry, Avenue, Tunis, 325-
328
[440
INDEX
Julia Donna, mother of Caracalla,
214
Jupiter Capitolinus, temple of,
222
Justinian, Emperor, 214, 223, 356
Kabyles, earliest historical in-
habitants of Algeria, 5, 19;
jewellery of, 30; history of, 171,
172; traits of, 173, 174, 183,
184; dwelUngs of, 185, 186;
women of, 187, 188; guide, 206;
villages of, 431
Kabylia, Great, 179, 191; Little,
192
Kahar, Mount, 140
Kahenna, a famous Berber queen,
383, 384
Kairouan, the ** sacred city" of
Tunisia, 330, 405, 416; history
of, 417; sights of, 418-424
Kasha, the palace of the deys, 7,
42; description of, 43
Kasr-Menara, Roman tomb, 380
Kbour-el-Abbas, town of, 230
Kebir, mosque of, Kairouan, 422-
424
Kellogg, Clara Louise, 362
Khair-ed-Din, 59, 329
Khenchella, 218, 295
Khrekar, town of, 230
Khroumirs, tribe of, 329
Kilometre, English equivalent, 5
Kleb, river, 212
Koran, illuminated, 8; used in
schools, 402
Kroumiri, tribe of, 310
La Calle, town of, 307-309, 429
La Goletta, 330, 351-353
La Malga, great cisterns at, 361
La Manouba, town of, 427
Laghouat, 122, 148-151, 166
Lakdaars, tribe of, 149
Lambessa, old Boman town, 54,
226-228
Landon, Count, 429
Landon Gardens, in Biskra, 233,
238, 247, 283; in Philippeville,
429
Lavigerie, Cardinal, 11, 233, 234,
356, 377; statue of, 231; monu-
ment of, in Carthage, 374
Le Kef, town of, 427, 428
Lebanon cedar, 142, 168, 169
Llelle Khadija, Mount, 181, 183,
431
Locusts, as food, 252, 269
Luray, Virginia, cave at, 195
Lyon, Rue du, Algiers, 102
M
Maison Carree, 102, 174
Malek, great Arab teacher, 66
Mammoth Cave, 195
Mansoura, 137-139; mosque of,
138, 139; 204
Mansourah, town of, 194
Marcus Plotius Faustus, 220
Marengo, town at west end of
Mitidja Plain, 87
Margueritte, town of, 92
Marine, the European quarter of
Tunis, 330
Market, of Bou Saada, 116, 117;
of Ghardaia, 155, 156; of Beni-
Isguen, 163; of M^nerville, 176;
of Biskra, 235-237; of Toug-
gourt, 266, 267; of Sfax, 389;
at Sousse, 409, 410
Marriage, among Arabs, 41; po-
lygamy, 41; a wedding recep-
tion, 414, 415
Marseilles, embarking at, 2
Mascara, town of, 128
Massenissa, 204-206, 355
Matameur, village of, 391
Matmatas, a tribe of Troglodytes,
391; village of, 397-403
Mecca, pilgrims from, 63; pray-
ers said towards, 187; head-
gear of pilgrims from, 387;
[441]
INDEX
Mecca — Continued
efScacy of pilgrimage to, 417;
sacred well of, 418
Mechouar, citadel of Tlemcen, 131
Medea, town of, 97, 142
M^denine, 391-395
Medersa, college of, 135
Medersa-et-Tsalibia, mosque of, 37
Medijiz-el-Bab, 316, 317, 427
Medina, the native quarter of
Tunis, 328, 330
Mediterranean Sea, 354, 355
Medjerda, River, 316, 352, 354
Mehdia, 404-406
Melika, 162, 164
Melmir, Chott, 250, 281
Menerville, 17, 170, 176
Metlili, 154
Mihrab, in the Mosque of Aboul
Hassan, 133
Miliana, 88, 92, 168; stay at, 93,
94
Minerva, Temple of, at Tebessa,
214
Mines, of hematite, 92, 93; lead,
340
Mirages in the desert, 390
Mitidja, plain of, 17, 32, 169
Mohammed-ed-Cherif, mosque of,
66
Monastir, 404, 407
Monkeys, 97, 98, 142
Montcalm, 296
Moors, driven from Spain, 5; ad-
vanced civilization of, 19
Moslems, 23
Mourdjadjs, Mount, 140
Mozabites, 151, 153, 159; habits
and dwellings of, 160-162; 236
Mraier, caravansary of, 246, 256-
258, 260, 273-276, 280
Muezzin, the, 201
Mustapha, 8; Superieur, 32; hotel
at, 29; Bay of, 56, 432
Mya, Eiver, 258
Mzabs, the, 122, 123; see also
Mozabites
N
Nabeul, town of, 426, 427
National Assembly, French, 277
National, Eue, Constantino, 203
Negroes, in Algeria, 19; in Biskra,
234, 235, 238
Nemours, Place, Constantine, 203
Nomads, tents of, 118, 212; visit
to, 212, 213
Normans, at Mehdia, 405
Notre Dame d'Afrique, 11, 33
Notre Dame de la Garde, church
of, 2
Numidia, ancient, history of, 205
OCTAVIUS, 83
Oiseaux, Lac des, 307
Olive-trees, 103, 128, 382, 386
Oran, town of, 139, 140
d 'Orleans, Due, statue of, 16
Orleansville, 123, 127, 128
Ouarsenis Mountains, 92, 94, 166
Ouargla, 153
Oubeira, Lake, 307
Oudna, mosaic from, 348
Ouled Nail Mountains, 146, 147
Ouled Nails, 57; dancing-girls,
100, 113-116, 243-245, 271, 272
"Pagoda Fig-trees'* see Eubber
trees
Palace, of Governor of Algeria,
28, 36; of Archbishop, 36, 71,
72; winter, of Governor, 54, 55,
71; in Constantine, 207; of bey
of Tunis, 350, 351
Palestro, 177
Palms, dwarf, 17, 18, 77, 177;
African and Japanese, 50; as
exports, 51
Pecherie, Mosque of, 8; descrip-
tion of, 16, 20, 21; interior, 22;
Koran of, 22
Penon, the island of, 8, 75; the
lighthouse of, 58, 59
[442]
INDEX
Perfumes, Oriental, 333, 334
Philippeville, 429
Pisa, cathedral at, 356
Pistachio-trees, 143
Place de I'Eglise, Miliana, 93
Place du Gouvernement, Algiers,
8, 16
Place de la R^publique, 8
Planier, Isle of, 3
PomSgue, island of, 2
Pompey, 355, 405, 407
Porte de France, or Old Sea Gate,
of Tunis, 327, 330, 331
Possidius, born at Guelma, 302
Pottery, Kabyle, 184; of Tunis,
342 ; of Nabeul, 427
Prickly pear, 177
Publius Marcius Quadratus, 320
Punic-Lybic Monument, Dougga,
321-323
Punic Wars, 355, 369
Pygmalion, brother of Dido, 354
Kahmania, Beligions order of, 48
Reclus, quoted, 229
Bessas, Mount, 340, 346, 369
Rhar-Adim, ''The Marvellous
Grotto," 195
Roads, good, in Algeria, 4, 277
construction of, 4, 5; cost, 5
desert, 277
Roman remains, at Cherchel, 85
at Hammam R 'hlra, 91 ; at
Bougie, 191; at Mansurah, 194:
at S6tif, 201; at Timgad, 219
224; at Lambessa, 227, 228
at Guelma, 302; at B6ne, 304
305; at BuUia Regia, 312-315
at Dougga, 319-323; at Car-
thage, 357
Romans, conquerors of North
Africa, 5; relics of, 52, 53;
votive offerings, 54
Rome, Colosseum of, 359
Bonde Point e des Ci'dres, 169
Rouaras, tribe of, 260, 262, 266
Rubber-trees, India, 51
Rugs, weaving of, 150; of Kairo-
uan, 419
Ruisseau des Singes, 98, 142
Rummel, River, 203, 204, 210
Ruspina, ancient, see Monastir
S
Sabbath, Mohammedan, 7
Saddles, shop of, 335
Saf-Saf River, 129
Sahara Desert, 17; entrance into,
229, 231; trip over to Toug-
gourt, 249-265 ; sunset over, 269,
270; divisions of, 281
Sahari, Mount, 146
Sahel, Plain of the, 17, 32; fer-
tility of, 80
St. Augustine, 302; basilica of,
304; work in Bdne, 304; monu-
ment to, 305, 306; in Carthage,
356
St. Cyprian, 361
St. Cyr, rocks of, 3
St. Eugene, on Pointe Pescade,
church of, 11; village of, 33,
123
St. F^licitas, 356, 359, 360
St. Louis, at Carthage, 356, 368,
376; cathedral of, 357, 375
St. Perpetua, 356, 359, 360, 365
St. Peter, basilica of, 428
St. Philippe, Cathedral of, 36
St. Salsa, Church of, 85, 125;
story of, 126, 127
St. Vincent de Paul, 353
Sakomody, hamlet of, 106
Salah Bey, mosque of, in Constan-
tine, 206, 207
Salt Mountain, 146, 147
Samma, Oued, 107
Scipio, 355, 369, 381
Sebaou River, 178, 187
Sebka-es-Sedjoumi, Lake, 330
Sebka of Moknine, jewellery of,
407
Selene, daughter of Cleopatra, 83
Septimus Severus, 214; arch of,
at Lambessa, 228
[443]
INDEX
Service des Af aires Indigenes,
277, 279
Setif, 201
Seven Sleepers, Gorge of the, 223
Seybouse, Eiver, 303, 307
Sfax, 385-390; history of, 386;
sponge industry of, 386
Shops, in Algiers, 26; in n^'tive
quarter, 60; in Bougie, 191
Sicily, 355
Sidi-Abd-er-Kahman, Mosque tomb
of, 7, 37, 68-70
Sidi-Abdullah, mosque of, 66
Sidi-Abid-el-Gu6riane, tomb of,
418
Sidi-bel-Abbas, 128
Sidi-ben-Ahrous, Mosque of, 338
Sidi-ben-Ziad, Mosque of, 338
Sidi-bou-Said, 339, 368, 375
Sidi-el-Haloni, Mosque of, 133, 134
Sidi Ferrueh, 32, 77, 123
Sidi Mahrez, Mosque of, 342
Sidi Mecid, 204
Sidi-Okba, Eeligious order of, 48;
town of, 239-242; mosque of,
240, 241; vision of the saint,
423, 424
Sila, noted for megalithic monu-
ments, 212
Skylarks, 202, 294
Slave Market, of Tunis, 336
Snake-charmers, 421
SocietS Franco-Africaine, 381
Solomon, a general of Justinian,
214
Sophonisba, 204, 205
Soudane, Oued, 154
Souk-el-Arba, 316, 428
Soulcs, of Tunis, 330-338, 344, 345
Soumman, valley of the, 189, 431
Sousse, 348, 349, 355, 381, 382,
407-415, 425, 426
Spahis, native cavalry, 54, 63, 278,
326
Spanish, in Algeria, 19
Sponge fisheries, at Sfax, 386
Staou^le, 76, 77, 123
[444]
Storks, as omens of luck, 96; prev-
alence of, 202
Story-teller, Arab, 267
Strelitza, banana tree, 51; Stre-
litza Begina, 51
''Summer on the Sahara," 143
Syphax, 205
Tabarca, 310, 329
Tablot, town of, 106
Tachfin, Sultan of Tlemcen, 24
Takitount, 200
Tamit, goddess of Carthaginians,
321, 371
Tangerine oranges, exported, 51
Taourirt Amokrane, 182
Taparura, ancient, see Sfax
T6bessa, 213-218; history of, 213;
basilica of, 215-217
Teboursouk, 318, 427
Tell, the, 17, 229
Telrempt, caravansary, 151, 152,
165
Ten6s, 123, 127
Teniet-el-Had, 142, 166, 167
Testour, village of, 317
Thamugadi, see Timgad
Thapsus, victory of Csesar at , 405
407
Theveste, ancient, see Tebessa
Thignicia, ancient, see Ain Tounga
Thysdrus, ancient, see Djem
Tiaret, 153
Tiberius, Emperor, 91
''Tiger or Leopard Gateway," 58
Timgad, old Koman town, 54, 218-
225; history of, 221, 222, 293,
296
Tipaza, ruins of, 83, 85, 124, 125;
Christian religion in, 126
Tirailleurs Indigenes, 278, 326
Tizi-Ouzu, 170, 178, 179
Tlemcen, 122, 129-137, 139
Tleta Biban, Mosque of, 419, 420
Tomb of the Christian, 32, 80, 81,
88, 124, 323; legends of, 82; in-
terior of, 84
INDEX
Tomheau de la, Neige, 189
Touaregs, tribe of, 236, 245, 266
Touggourt, 245, 260, 265-272
Trajan, Emperor, 214; arch of, at
Timgad, 221, 293
Trappists, monastery, 76
Treaty, between United States and
Algiers, 6
Troglodytes, 398-403; country of
the, 379-403
Tuasin, tribe of Berbers, 392
Tunis, 310, 324-328; history of,
329; characteristics of, 329;
sights of, 340-352
Tunis, Lake of, 352
Turks, activities in Constantine,
206; in Tunis, 329
Utica, 329
Valee, Marshal, 209
Valley of the Consuls, 75
Vandals, conquerors of North
Africa, 5; Siege of Bdne, 304;
in Carthage, 356
Verdeau, Monsieur, of the Jardin
d'Essai, 50, 51
Victory, statue of, 370
Vineyards, 18, 79, 142, 189, 193
Virgil, mosaic portrait of, 349
W
Wheat, principal grain in Algeria,
18
Women, of Tunis, 327, 328, 332 '
Y
Yakotjb el Mansour, Sultan, 134,
137-139
Zaccar, Mount, 88, 91, 92, 168;
water from, 94
Zaghouan, Mount, 335, 340, 346,
348, 427; water from, 366
Zella, ancient, see M6hdia
Zenati, Oued, 296
Zeralda, 78
Ziban, the, 100
Zoreba, tribe of the, 100
Zouaves, 180
[445]
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