Chapter 22

Leave Mizdah--Gloomy Country--Matrimonial Squabbles in the Caravan--"Playing at Powder"--Desert Geology--A Roman Mausoleum--Sport--A Bully tamed--Fatiguing March--Wady Taghijah--Our old Friend the Ethel-Tree--The Waled Bou Seif--Independent Arabs--A splendid Mausoleum--One of the Nagahs foals--Division of a Goat--March over a monotonous Country--Valley of Amjam--Two new Trees--Saluting the New Moon--Sight the Plateau of the Hamadah--Wady Tubooneeah--Travelling Flies--The Desert Hour--A secluded Oasis--Buying Barley--Ghareeah--Roman Remains--Oasian Cultivation--Taxation--Sand-Pillar--Arrangements for crossing the Hamadah--An _Emeute_ in the Caravan--Are compelled to discharge the quarrelsome Ali.

We started for Mizdah, at length, towards noon, Sheikh Omer bringing us a little on our way, and, begging to be well spoken of in high quarters; and after passing the ruins of two Arab castles that frown over the southern side of Wady Esh-Shrâb, got into a gloomy country, exactly resembling that on the other side of the oasis, except that the strata of the limestone rocks, instead of being horizontal are inclined. The whole desert, however, wears a more arid appearance. Yet there were some lote-trees here and there, and a few tholukhs. The, traces of the aoudad were noticed; and the blacks, picking up its dung, smelt it as musk, saying, "It is very good." As I jogged on upon my camel, the oppressive heat caused me to sleep and dream in the saddle of things that had now become the province of memory.

More quarrels! The chaouches are boiling over again; they must fight it out between them. No doubt they are both correct in exchanging the epithet of "thief." Scarcely has the grumbling of these two terrible fellows died away, when the blacks are at it amongst themselves. He who has two wives gets hold of his blunderbuss, and threatens to blow himself to pieces. Nobody interferes; there is little public spirit in a caravan: so he consents to an explanation, saying sententiously, "My little wife is mad." The fact is, his two helpmates, one young and one old, are vastly too much for him, as they would be for most men. He moves along in a perpetual family tornado. The mother of the young one, a sort of derwish negress, is a tremendous old intriguer, and stirs up at least one feud a day. Quarrelling is meat and drink to her.

It would have been out of character had not Ali got up a little convulsion on his own account. One day, in the Targhee's absence, he took his gun to "play at powder," and using English material, succeeded in splitting the machine near the lock. When the Targhee returned, and found what damage had been done, he began first to whimper, and then working himself up into a towering passion, swore he would shoot the culprit. Scarcely with that weapon, O Targhee! When his excitement was over, I offered to make a collection among the people to indemnify him; but he shook his head, laughed, and refused. The gun was nearly all his property, and he had just bought it new at Tripoli.[2]

[2] The Orientals are prevented by superstitious fear from allowing any article destroyed by accident to be replaced in the way mentioned.--Ed.

All this part of Northern Africa may be compared to an archipelago, with seas of various breadths dividing the islands. Three days took us from Tripoli to Gharian, and three more to Mizdah. We were now advancing across the preliminary desert stretching in front of the great plateau of the Hamadah, which defends, like a wall of desolation, the approaches of Fezzan from the north. At first occur broken limestone hills, as previous to Mizdah; but when we approach the plateau the aspect of the hills changes, and they are composed chiefly of variegated marl mixed with gypsum, and with a covering of limestone. Fossil shells were picked up at intervals. Some huge, irregular masses, that appeared ahead during the first day, were mistaken by us for the edge of the plateau; but we broke through, and left them right and left as we proceeded. They are great masses of limestone and red clay, in which are scooped deep valleys, many of them supplied with abundant herbage. As yet we have never attained a level of more than 2500 feet above the level of the sea. Water must exist underground, if we may argue from the presence of the aoudad and the gazelle. Indeed, out of the line of route, amongst the hills, there are wells and Arab tents. The presence of Roman remains reminds us that the country has seen more prosperous times. We encamped on the 11th in a wady, overlooked by the ruins of a mausoleum, which had assumed colossal proportions in the distance. Some Berber letters were carved upon its walls; probably by Tuaricks, who had formerly inhabited the district.

One of our blacks this day killed a lêfa, the most dangerous species of snake; and several thobs or lizards were caught. The greyhound of the Fezzanee also ran down a hare. Next day it procured us a gazelle; but with these exceptions were seen only ground-larks, and what we call in Lincolnshire water-wagtails.

It is worth mentioning that at this place our chaouch sprained his ankle, and Dr. Overweg applied spirits of camphor as lotion. This terrible fellow, this huge swaggerer, this eater-up of ordinary timid mortals, was reduced to the meekness of a lamb by his slight accident; and for the first time since the caravan was blessed with his presence did he remain tranquil, breathing out from time to time a soft complaint. In the course of the day he had contrived to make himself particularly disagreeable. First he fell out with the servant of the Germans, Mahommed of Tunis. Then he quarrelled with us all, because he picked up a blanket for somebody and was refused his modest demand of three piastres as a reward. We are heartily glad that he is tamed for awhile.

On the 12th, shortly after we started, I happened to look behind and saw, coming from the west, some clouds that seemed to give promise of rain. Already I felt the air cooled by anticipation, but was soon undeceived. In the course of an hour a gheblee began to blow, and continued to increase in violence until it enervated the whole caravan. Our poor black women began to drop with fatigue, and we were compelled to place them on the camels. Here was a foretaste of the desert, its hardships and its terrors! The air was full of haze, through which we could scarcely see the flagging camels, with their huge burdens; and the men, as they crawled along, were apparently ready to sink on the ground in despair. We breathed the hot atmosphere with difficulty and displeasure.

Right glad were we then, at length, to reach the Wady Taghijah, where I at once recognised my old desert friend, under whose spreading and heavy boughs I once had passed a night alone in the Sahara,--the ethel-tree! It is a species of _Pinus_, growing chiefly in valleys of red clay on the top of mounds, which are sometimes overshadowed by a gigantic tree, with arms measuring four feet in circumference. Of its wood are made the roofs of houses, the frames of camel-saddles, and bowls for holding milk and other food. With the berries and a mixture of oil the people prepare their water-skins, as well as tan leather. The valley is strewed with huge branches, cut down for the purpose of extracting resin. The ethel and the batoum are the most interesting of desert-trees, and I shall regret to exchange them for the tholukh. I wrote down the names of fourteen shrubs found in the valley of Taghijah: two of them, the sidr and the katuf, are edible by man; the rest, with the exception of the _hijatajel_, afford food for the camels.

In this valley, amongst the trees, we found the flocks and horses of the Waled Bou Seif feeding. This tribe--the children of the Father of the Sword--are wandering Arabs, who have never acknowledged the authority of the Tripoli Government. They possess flocks, camels, and horses,--every element, in fact, of desert wealth. All the mountains near and round about Mizdah are claimed by them as their country, which has never, perhaps, been reduced by any power but the Roman. A young man of the tribe, who was tending some sheep in the valley, came to visit us. He was a fine, cheerful fellow, with an open countenance, well dressed, having, besides his barracan, red leather boots, trousers, and a shirt. All his tribe, according to his account, are so dressed. He boasted of the independence of his people, who number three thousand strong, and extend their influence as far south as Ghareeah. The name of the tribe is derived, he tells us, from a great warrior who once lived, and was named by the people Bou Seif, because he always carried a sword.

Our chaouch gave us an account of this young man in the following strain:--"He is in very deed a marabout! His wife never unveiled her face to any man; and his own mother kisses his hand. He is master of wealth, and never leaves this valley. He has a house and flocks of sheep, and a hundred camels, which always rest in the valley, bringing forth young, and are never allowed to go into the caravans," &c. &c.

We were detained during the whole of the 13th, because the water was at a distance and our people had to fetch it. There were marks of recent rain in the valley, but there is no well; only a few muddy puddles. Dr. Barth, in wandering about, discovered here a splendid mausoleum, of which he brought back a sketch. It was fifty feet high, of Roman-Christian architecture,--say of the fourth or fifth century. No doubt, remains of cities and forts will be discovered in these districts. Such tombs as these indicate the presence in old time of a large and opulent population.

One of the nagahs foaled this day, which partly accounts for our detention. For some time afterwards the cries of the little camel for its mother, gone to feed, distressed us, and called to our mind the life of toil and pain that was before the little delicate, ungainly thing. It is worth noticing, that the foal of the camel is frolicsome only for a few days after its birth--soon becoming sombre in aspect and solemn in gait. As if to prepare it betimes for the rough buffeting of the world, the nagah never licks or caresses its young, but spreads its legs to lower the teat to the eager lips, and stares at the horizon, or continues to browse.

Our people clubbed together and bought a goat for a mahboub. They then divided it into five lots, and an equal number of thongs was selected by the five part-owners of the meat; these were given to a stranger not concerned in the division, and he arbitrarily placed one upon each piece, from which decision there was no appeal.

On the 14th we rose before daybreak, and were soon in motion. No change was noticed in the country, limestone rocks and broad valleys running in all directions. The ground is sometimes scattered with fossil shells, some of the _exogyra_, others of the oyster species; all flints. There were apparent traces of the hyæna, but of no other wild animals. Some sheep were at graze; and the long stubble of last year's crop of barley, in irregular patches, told us that when there is copious rain the Arabs come to these parts for agricultural purposes. We noticed the English hedge-thorn here and there, and thought of the green lanes of our native land.

Nine hours' journey brought us to the valley of Amjam, where there was a khafilah of senna encamped among the trees. Water--rather bitter, however--may be found here in shallow excavations; and the whole place, with its patches of herbage, is highly refreshing to the eye.

There are two new trees in this wady, both interesting; the _Ghurdok_ and the _Ajdaree_. The _ghurdok_, on which the camels browse, is a large bush with great thorns, and bears a red berry about the size of our hip, or, as the marabout says, of sheep's dung. People eat these berries and find them good, with a saltish, bitter taste, and yet a dash of sweetness. The _ajdaree_ is also a thorny bush, and at a distance something reminds one of the English hedge-thorn. On a nearer approach the leaves are found to be oval and filbert-shaped. The berry, called _thomakh_, is nearly as large as haws, but flatted at the sides: it is used medicinally, being a powerful astringent in diarrhoea.

When the moon was two days old our people practised a little of the ancient Sabæanism of the Arabs--saluting it by kissing their hands, and offering a short prayer.

On the 15th we at length sighted the edge of the plateau of the Hamadah; and pushing on still through desert hills and valleys, arrived at Wady Tabooneeah, having been _en route_ four days from Mizdah. This valley is not so fertile as Amjam; and the water is more bitter. Common salt, the companion of gypsum, was observed to-day; and wherever this is found there are bitter salts. Swallows were skimming over the shrubs, and birds of prey hovered about, now lying-to, as it were, overhead, with beak and talons visible, now circling upwards until they became mere specks. Lizards and beetles abounded as usual; but the only plagues of the place were the flies, which had followed the camels from Gharian, and even from Tripoli. Men usually carry their "black cares" along with them in this way.

As we could not expect to commence the traject of the dreaded plateau immediately, I resolved to go upon a visit to the village of Western Ghareeah. The camel-drivers of the caravan, of course, told us that it was at the distance of one hour--_Saha bas!_ but we found it to be three hours in a north-east direction. Time is of little consequence in the desert, and no means are possessed or desired of measuring it with exactitude. It has already been observed by a traveller, that the Bedawin will describe as _near_ an object a hundred yards off, or a well two days' journey from you. Western Ghareeah was likewise described as _grayeb_, but we thought for some time that we had ventured upon an interminable desert. However, the ground at length dipped, and a green wady disclosed itself. We could scarcely, at first, find anybody to receive us. But after waiting some time, the people came unwillingly crawling out one after the other. We told them our errand--"To look at the country and buy barley." They swore they had none--not a grain; but when we swore in our turn that we would pay them for what we wanted, they admitted having a little that belonged to some people in Fezzan. I was amused with the eloquent indignation of our burly chaouch when they professed complete destitution at first. "You dogs! do you live on stones?" cried he. This was a settler; and showed them that they had knowing ones to deal with. Of course their original shyness arose from fear lest we might rob them. When a bargain was struck they became quite friendly, and brought us out some oil, barley-cakes, and boiled eggs--all the luxuries of the oasis!

Ghareeah Gharbeeah stands on the brow of a limestone rock, on the western side of a valley, which we had to cross in approaching between date plantations and a few fields of barley. It was an ancient Roman city; and there remains still an almost perfect bas-relief of a Victoria on one side of the eastern gateway, which is composed of limestone blocks a foot and a half square. We could trace also the imperfect letters of a Latin inscription, together with some Berber characters. The houses of the present inhabitants are formed of rough blocks of limestone mixed with mud, and roofed with palm-trunks and palm-trees. The water resembles that of the well of Tabooneeah, coming "from the same rock," as the people say: it is slightly bitter and saltish.

With the exception of the little valley we had crossed, nothing could be seen from Ghareeah but a dreary waste, especially to the south and east. A tower of modern date rises to the east, on a solitary rock; and we knew that Eastern Ghareeah was concealed among the hills at a distance of six hours. The inhabitants of these secluded towns are called Waringab, and promise shortly to become extinct. In this Western Ghareeah there are twenty heads of families, but very few children,--scarce sixty souls altogether; and the population of the other place, which gives itself airs of metropolitan importance, is not more than double. How they have not abandoned the place long ago to jackals and hawks is a mystery. They do not possess a single camel; only two or three asses and some flocks of sheep; and depend, in a great measure, on chance profits from caravans, for their valley often only affords provision for a couple of months or so. At intervals, it is true, when there has been much rain, they sell barley in the neighbouring valleys; but this season has been a dry one, and the crop has consequently fallen short. When they have no barley, they say, they eat dates; and when the dates are out, they fast--a long, continual fast--and famine takes them off one by one. The melancholy remnant preserve traditions of prosperity in comparatively recent times. Notwithstanding their miserable condition, however, these wretched people are drained by taxation of thirty mahboubs per annum--so many drops of blood! The eastern village pays in proportion. Possibly in a few years this cluster of wadys may be abandoned to chance Arab visitors, so that the starting-point for the traverse of the Hamadah will be removed farther back, perhaps to Mizdah. There is no life in the civilisation which claims lordship over these countries unfriended by nature. The only object of those who wield paramount authority over them seems to be to extract money in the most vexatious and expeditious manner.

I purchased of the people of Ghareeah a greyhound bitch for four Tunisian piastres, so that we may now expect some hares and gazelles. In returning to the encampment I observed the phenomenon of a column of dust carried into the heavens in a spiral form by the wind, whilst all around was perfectly calm. Such columns are not of so frequent occurrence in the desert as is imagined, but from time to time, as in this instance, are seen.

The evening was spent in making arrangements with Dr. Barth and Dr. Overweg, who had agreed to traverse the Hamadah by day, whilst I was to follow by night, with the blacks. Next morning, accordingly, the caravan separated into two portions, and my companions rode slowly away over the burning desert.

This important day could not be allowed to pass by my people without a tremendous quarrel. Our blacks seemed to be in a peculiarly excitable state. Ali, especially, who has distinguished himself for several days in the obstreperous line, has had a regular turn-to with his father-in-law; and not satisfied with this, nearly strangled Moknee's son. The Mandara black threw himself on the ground and called out,--"Load my pistol, O Chaouch; I must shoot this reprobate Ali!"

This fellow is a pest in the caravan, and I have been obliged to send him off and insist on his return to Tripoli. He may be brought to his senses in this way.