Part 25

For a brief space resignation soothes their despair. Not a cry, not a sob, troubles these prayers offered in common, these professions of the faith of the deceased, which the pious assemblage repeats on his behalf. On arriving at the cemetery, the bearers depose their sacred burden on the edge of the grave, and the Iman, placing himself by its side and surrounded by the marabouts, recites with a strong sonorous voice the _salat el djenazat_, or the burial prayer:

"Praise to Allah who gives death and who gives life!

"Praise to Him who raises up the dead!

"To Him reverts all honour, all greatness. To Him alone belong the commandment and the power. He is above all!

"Let praise be also to the Prophet Mohammed, his kindred, and his friends! O Allah! watch over them and grant them Thy mercy as Thou didst to Ibrahim, and his, for to Thee belong glory and praise!

"O Allah! N*** was Thy worshipper, the son of Thy slave. Thou didst create him, and didst bestow upon him the good things which he enjoyed. Thou, too, didst take his life away, and Thou wilt raise him up again from the dead!

"Thou knowest his secrets and his innermost thoughts!

"We come here to intercede for him, O Allah! Deliver him from the horrors of the grave and from the fire of Hell. Forgive him. Grant him Thy mercy. Grant that the place he shall occupy be honourable and spacious. Wash him with snow and hail water, and cleanse him from his sins as they cleanse a white robe from the impurities that have soiled it. Give him a habitation better than his own, relations better than his own, and a spouse more perfect than his own. If he was good, make him still better. If he was wicked, forgive him his wickedness, O Allah! He has taken refuge with Thee, for Thou art the best of all refuges! It is a poor man who has gone to share Thy munificence, and Thou art too rich to chastise him and cause him to suffer.

"O Allah! strengthen the voice of the deceased at the moment when he shall render to Thee an account of his actions, and lay not upon him more than he is able to bear. We ask it of Thee through the intercession of Thy Prophet, of all Thy angels, and of all Thy saints. _Amin!_"

"_Amin!_" cry all who are present, at the same time making a genuflection. Then the Iman resumes:

"O Allah! Forgive our dead, our living ones, those of us who are present, those of us who are absent, our little ones, our great ones. Forgive our fathers, all those who preceded us, and all Mussulmans!

"Those whom Thou wilt bring to life again, bring to life in the faith. And those among us whom Thou wilt cause to die, let them die true Believers!

"Prepare us for a good death, and may that death give us rest, and the favour of beholding Thee. _Amin!_"

This prayer being terminated, and while the _tolbas_ recite the _salat el mokteâat_, the body is lowered into the grave, the face turned towards Mecca. Large stones are fitted round it, and every one present makes it a point of honour to throw in a little earth. The gravediggers level the surface of the grave, and cover it with thorny shrubs to protect it from hyænas and jackals.

It is now time to return, and all retake the road to the tribe with the exception of a few women, the friends or relatives of the deceased, who, bowed down with sorrow over the grave, speak to the dead man and question him and wish him farewell, as if they thought he could hear them. At last the _tolbas_ and the marabouts exclaim:

"Come, women. Retire trusting in Allah, and leave the dead in peace to settle with Azrael;[97] cease your tears and lamentations. Death is a tax levied upon our heads. We must all of us pay it. There is no alternative, neither is there any injustice in this event. Allah alone is eternal. What! should we accept the will of Allah when it brings us joy, and refuse it when it brings us sorrow! Depart. Your cries are an impiety."

They understand these words, and with their hands before their eyes they go forth from the cemetery, but at every step turn round to renew their last adieus to him whom they will never again behold until the day of judgment. The foregoing funeral oration is pronounced in the desert over every grave. The monotony of habit is the handmaid of grandeur. If the Arab manners are deficient in variety, they are at least solemn and imposing.

FINIS.

Footnote 1:

_Borak_ is the animal upon which Mohammed was mounted when he made his journey through the heavens. It was like a mule, and was neither male nor female.

Footnote 2:

It is distinguished by the size of the respiratory duct, which enables it to accomplish fabulous journeys.

Footnote 3:

A kilogramme is equal to 2-1/5 lb., a hectogramme to rather more than 3-1/2 ozs, and a décagramme is the 100th part of a kilogramme.

Footnote 4:

I know for a fact that in certain Mussulman countries in the list of obligatory presents for a Christian personage, the donor wrote down: _Kidar ala Khrater er-Roumi_—"a jade for the Christian."

Footnote 5:

The eye of the Arab stirrup invariably produce exostoses on the front part of the leg. By them you may distinguish at once the rich man from the poor, the cavalier from the man on foot.

Footnote 6:

_Mebrouk_ is Arabic for "the fortunate one."

Footnote 7:

_Guebla_, the south, the Sahara, the desert.

Footnote 8:

_Djellals_ are woollen cloths more or less ornamented with designs according to the wealth of the chief. They are very wide and extremely warm, and cover both the chest and the croup.

Footnote 9:

Slaves from Kora are in great request among the Mussulmans. They learn Arabic with great difficulty, but they are very attentive to their duties, and much attached to their masters.

Footnote 10:

What the Arabs understand by the evil eye is this: Some one may say to you: "Oh! what a beautiful horse, what a beautiful mare you have there!" Fear the worst from such a one, for he has only spoken out of envy. If he had meant it in real kindliness, he would not have failed to have added: "Allah protect you, or grant you his blessing." It is not every one, however, who has the evil eye.

Footnote 11:

Red and all the brilliant colours fall to the lot of good fortune, in the eyes of the Arabs; while the sombre hues, and especially yellow, indicate misfortune.

Footnote 12:

The Arabs consider as green the colour we call a deep yellow dun, especially when it approaches to that of a ripening olive.

Footnote 13:

The Arabs call blue the horse of a grayish colour shot like a starling's back.

Footnote 14:

It is a matter of luxury for the Arabs and especially for those of the desert to possess balls made in moulds. For the most part they use rods cut into small pieces.

Footnote 15:

The Arabs of the desert are so fond of their independent wandering life, that they regard as the most wearisome moment of their existence the season when they are compelled to come to the Tell to purchase their supplies of corn.

Footnote 16:

Feminine of _sherif_, signifying a descendant of the Prophet.

Footnote 17:

In their poetic effusions, the Arabs frequently call the sun _aâin ennour_, "eye of light."

Footnote 18:

Among the Arabs, there are no rejoicings without firing off of guns.

Footnote 19:

When a desert tribe is at peace, the camels are sent away ten or twelve leagues, to graze, and it may be easily conceived that if a sudden swoop be made upon them it needs excellent horses and vigourous horsemen to recover them.

Footnote 20:

Small and restless ears as well as lively and prominent eyes are a sign, say the Arabs, of a healthy action of the heart, and that the animal is full of life.

Footnote 21:

The _mahari_ is much more slender in its proportions than the _djemel_, or common camel. It has the exquisite ears of the gazelle, the supple neck of the ostrich, the hollow belly of the _slougui_ or greyhound. Its head is lean and gracefully attached to the neck; its eyes bright, black, and prominent; its lips long and firm, covering well the teeth; the hump is small, but the chest where it touches the earth when the animal couches down, is strong and protuberant; the dock of its tail is short; its legs, very lean in the upper part, are furnished with muscles from the ham and the knee down to the hoof, and the sole of its foot is neither broad nor thick: finally, it has very few hairs on the neck, and its coat, of a tawny colour, is as fine as that of the jerboa. See General Daumas' work on the "Great Desert." In the desert, the _mahari_ is to the _djemel_ what, with us, a race horse is to a draught horse.

Footnote 22:

_Hôor_, in the plural _harar_. Not unlikely, this word brought by our ancestors from the crusades is the origin of the word _haras_.

Footnote 23:

The nomadic tribe of the Arbâa encamps in the neighbourhood of Leghrouât. It is divided into three great sections: el Mamera, el Hedjadj, and Ouled Salah. (_Sahara Algérien_, p. 45.)

Footnote 24:

All these tribes pitch their tents in the quadrilateral comprised between Sidi-Khaled, Tougourt, the Beni-Mzab, and Leghrouât.

Footnote 25:

The French league is rather less than 2-1/2 miles English.

Footnote 26:

A very populous tribe who occupy the whole of the Djebel-Sahri and the greatest part of the basin of the Oued-Djedi.

Footnote 27:

Berouaguïa is six leagues south of Medeah; Souagui, thirty one leagues from Berouaguïa; Sidi-Bouzid, twenty-five leagues farther on; and lastly Leghrouât, twenty-four leagues beyond that, or one hundred and seven leagues south of Algiers.

Footnote 28:

The Tell is the granary of the Sahara: the master of the Tell holds the people of the Sahara with the grasp of famine. They are so sensible of this that they frankly avow it in a phrase that has passed into a proverb: "We cannot be either Mussulmans, Jews, or Christians: we are forced to be the friends of our belly."

Footnote 29:

A fort built by the Spaniards, and the residence of the general commanding the province.

Footnote 30:

A sort of woollen shirt frequently worn by the Arabs.

Footnote 31:

The Bactrian variety, which has two humps and is much larger than the other.

Footnote 32:

A species of partridge, with a "tucked up" body and very short toes.

Footnote 33:

Among the Arabs of Upper Asia, but chiefly in the Nedjed, when a filly is foaled, it is impossible to form an idea of the rapture that seizes the family. "Allah has sent us a blessing; our lord Mohammed has entered into our tent." Neither wives nor children would suffer themselves to subtract one drop of the milk drawn from the camels, the goats, and the ewes. The whole of it is reserved for the fortunate foal, object of the love and most tender solicitude of all inhabitants of the tent. (_Voyage dans la Haute Asie_, by M. Pétiniaud.)

Footnote 34:

An umbelliferous plant of the genus thapsia.

Footnote 35:

A kind of semolina made with wheaten flour. It is as universal with the Arabs as soup with Continental Europeans.

Footnote 36:

During my long career, in my tribes, by my friends, or among my followers, I have seen upwards of ten thousand colts reared, and I affirm that all those whose education was not begun at a very early age and according to the principles enunciated above, have never turned out other than stubborn, troublesome horses, unfit for war. I also affirm that when I have made long and rapid marches at the head of twelve or fifteen hundred horsemen, horses however lean, if early broken in to fatigue, never fell out of the ranks, while those that were fat or mounted too late have always fallen to the rear. My conviction on this head is based on such a long experience that lately, finding myself at Masseur (Cairo), in the necessity of purchasing some horses, I refused point blank all that were presented to me that had been broken in at a comparatively advanced age.

"How has thy horse been reared?" was always my first question.

"My lord," an inhabitant of the city would reply "this gray stone of the river has been brought up by me like one of my own children, always well fed, well tended to, and spared as much as possible, for I did not begin to ride him till he was full four years old. See how fat he is, how sound in all his limbs."

"Well, keep him, my friend. He is thy pride and that of thy family. It would be a shame to my gray beard to deprive thee of him."

"And thou!" I would then ask of an Arab whom I recognized as a child of the desert, so embrowned was he with the sun, "How has thy horse been reared?"

"My lord," he would answer, "betimes I formed his back to the saddle, and his mouth to the bridle. With him I have reached a distant, very distant point. He has passed many a day without food. His ribs are bare, it is true, but if you encounter any enemies on your path he will not leave you in peril. I swear it by the day of the last judgment, when Allah shall be kadi and the angels witnesses."

"Hola, there! tether the dark chestnut before my tent," I would cry to my servants, "and satisfy this man."

(SIDI-HAMED-BEN-MOHAMMED-EL-MOKRANI, khalif of Medjana, chief of one of the most illustrious families of all Algeria.)

Footnote 37:

A sort of sabretache attached to the pommel of the saddle, in which the Arabs carry their ammunition, their papers, and food, etc., etc. Sometimes the _djebira_ is a marvel of elaborate embroidery.

Footnote 38:

"To-day we went out on horseback with our host Youssouf-ben-Bender, and directed our course towards the desert. He was accompanied by his sons and grandsons, all mounted on fine horses, while his servants proceeded on dromedaries. During this excursion, we met an Arab who caused me some surprise. Without saddle or bridle, with a slight halter, the noseband of which was a thin iron chain, and holding in his hand a wand crooked at one end with which he guided his horse, he started off at full gallop, pulled up dead halt, was off again like an arrow, turned sharp round at full speed, and while going at that pace, made his horse change his feet, off the ground, on the right line. I could scarcely believe my own eyes and I question if our most celebrated riding masters or "sportsmen" could do better. What particularly struck me was the simplicity of the means employed by this son of Ishmael to obtain what he exacted from his courser. In Europe, we study the functions and play of the muscles, only to counteract them. In Arabia also are they studied, but in order to make use of nature, not to do her violence. Besides, it is not merely one Arab here and there who rides well; but all without exception are good horsemen, all love the horse passionately, all understand how to train him. At the bivouac an inhabitant of the Nedjed always sleeps with his head resting on the shoulder of his horse, and every horse lies down at his master's bidding. The latter thus obtains a pillow softer than the ground, and also renders it difficult for any one to steal his horse during his sleep." (_Voyage dans la Haute Asie_, by M. Pétiniaud, General Inspector of the "Haras.")

Footnote 39:

While with us, in France, the stirrup is not supposed to bear more than the weight of the leg; with the Arabs, on the contrary, the whole weight of the body, when going at a good pace, is thrown upon the stirrups.

Footnote 40:

France was indebted to the hatred of Abd-el-Kader cherished by Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl for the unfailing loyalty of the illustrious chief of the powerful tribe of the Douairs. He had been for upwards of thirty years the Aga of the Turks. Thus, when the son of Mahi-Eddin, at the age of twenty-five, was proclaimed Sultan by the tribe of the province of Oran, the aged warrior refused to yield obedience to him, saying that "never with his white beard would he go to kiss the hand of a mere boy." The consequences of this enmity forced him to take refuge in the _mechouar_ of Tlemcen, where for two years he held out against the _hadars_, or citizens, all of whom were devoted to the cause of him who had assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful. Only when reduced to the last extremity did he demand and obtain succour from Marshal Clauzel, whose column relieved him in 1836. From that period, notwithstanding his great age, he took part at the head of the "goums" of the Douairs and the Zmelas, in all the actions fought in the province of Oran. France recompensed this energetic attachment by a Marshal's baton and the cross of a Commander of the Legion of Honour. Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl was killed by the Flittas, on the 19th May 1843, in his eightieth year, while skirmishing in the rear, protecting the rich booty taken from the Hashem-Gharabas, at the capture of the Smala.

Footnote 41:

Tents pitched in a circle, a subdivision of the tribe.

Footnote 42:

A river in Algeria.

Footnote 43:

The plural form of _Ksar_, a hamlet, village, or town of the desert.

Footnote 44:

The _Stipa barbata_ of Desfontaines. This plant grows abundantly in the Sahara. The inhabitants of that unproductive region wander far and wide to gather the seeds of this grass, and often collect a large quantity. The seed is ground down and used for the same purposes as wheaten flour.

Footnote 45:

This plant is very common throughout Algeria, and is much used for feeding horses. In our expeditions our chargers have often had nothing else to eat. It is the _Lygeum Spartum_. The culms of this grass do not rise above ten or twelve centimètres in height. It is the _Stipa tenacissima_ used in the East for making basket work, etc., and in some parts of Algeria the natives weave it into mats.

Footnote 46:

The Arabs understand by the hot season from April to September inclusive, and by the cold season from October to March inclusive.

Footnote 47:

A very important tribe situated to the North-West of Oran.

Footnote 48:

Gold coins, worth from ten to twelve francs each.

Footnote 49:

An Indian prince who flourished before the birth of the Prophet, and whose riches were proverbial.

Footnote 50:

Poison that is fatal within the hour.

Footnote 51:

_Kohol_, sulphide of antimony, used to stain the eyelids. When a married woman has stained her eyes with _Kohol_, adorned herself with _henna_, and chewed a stick of _souak_, which sweetens the breath, whitens the teeth, and reddens the lips, she becomes more pleasant in the eyes of Allah, and more beloved of her husband.

Footnote 52:

This mile is only a kilomètre.

Footnote 53:

A star in the constellation of Orion.

Footnote 54:

A parasang is equal to about 5,000 mètres. Sixteen parasangs are equal, in round numbers, to fifty English miles.

Footnote 55:

_Sabok_, rapid, outstripping.

Footnote 56:

_Aâtika_, the noble lady.

Footnote 57:

_Hader_, inhabitant of cities.

Footnote 58:

_Bedoui_, inhabitant of the wild parts of the Sahara.

Footnote 59:

In the Sahara this name is given to hillocks the outline of which resembles that of a ship.

Footnote 60:

_Rahil_, migration, a nomadic movement.

Footnote 61:

_Haouadjej_, red camel-litters.

Footnote 62:

_Taka_, windows: the bull's-eyes of litters.

Footnote 63:

Veils waving over the horses croups.

Footnote 64:

_Houache_, a species of bison, or wild ox.

Footnote 65:

_Ghezal_, the gazelle.

Footnote 66:

_Delim_, the male ostrich.

Footnote 67:

The odour of musk remains where the _ghezal_ has passed.

Footnote 68:

_Mahari_, a riding camel.

Footnote 69:

_Maha_, a species of white wild doe.

Footnote 70:

A thick silver pin used by women to fasten their _haïk_, a long piece of woollen, stuff with which they robe themselves. In the desert this pin is called _khelala_.

Footnote 71:

A small piece of polished wood, with which women smear on their eyelids the _kohol_, or antimony, they value so highly.

Footnote 72:

A kind of seat, more or less ornamented according to the means of each individual, which is placed on camel's backs for the use of women who are going on a journey. _Temag_ are red morocco boots.

Footnote 73:

Many Arabs in battle load their pieces with seven balls or deer-shot; but their fire-arms are generally in such bad condition that this practice becomes the source of innumerable accidents. The number of persons maimed by guns bursting in their hands is very considerable.

Footnote 74:

"Dash on at full speed." The metaphor is taken from the act of swimming.

Footnote 75:

A salt soil that yields nothing but salt.

Footnote 76:

_Layahh_, he who amuses, or distracts the attention.

Footnote 77:

In some of the desert tribes a robber taken in the act is covered from head to foot with _alfa_ (mat-weed), to which they set fire, and the poor wretch rushes away, amid general hooting, to die a little way off.

Footnote 78:

The Beni-Mezab form, in the midst of the populations of the desert, a small nation by themselves, distinguished by the severity of their manners, a peculiar dialect, honesty that has passed into a proverb, and certain differences in their religious ceremonies.

Footnote 79:

The Arab pride is here revealed in its full force. The produce of our horses, our camels, and our sheep, say they, exempts us from the necessity of working, and yet we can procure without difficulty all that these miserable Christians manufacture with so much labour.

Footnote 80:

A large tribe of Berber origin who hold the gates of the Sahara and the Soudan, and levy upon caravans a tax for entering, a tax for leaving, and a tax for passing through, their territory. They deal, also, in slaves.

Footnote 81:

A negro kingdom to the southward, in which certain small tribes still make use of poisoned arrows.

Footnote 82:

The Arabs give the name of _Djouad_ to the military nobility who derive their origin from the Mehal, the conquerors from the East, and followers of the companions of the Prophet. The common people suffer much from the injustice and oppression of the Djouad, who strive to efface the memory of their ill-treatment, and maintain their influence, by generously according hospitality and protection to all who claim them. In other words, they combine in the highest degree the two salient traits of the national character, avidity of gain, and love of pomp and ostentation.

Footnote 83:

Sister is here used in the sense of lover or mistress.

Footnote 84:

Blood money. In the Sahara the _dya_ is reckoned at three hundred sheep, or fifty three-year old camels.

Footnote 85:

A small square chapel surmounted by a dome, in which a marabout has usually been interred. Solitary travellers find in them a resting place.

Footnote 86:

In order to make the purification complete, it is necessary to cut through the œsophagus, the tracheal artery, and the two jugular veins.

Footnote 87:

A kind of leather dressed at Tafilalet.

Footnote 88:

Probably the Guinea-fowl.

Footnote 89:

I am aware that this is not the denomination bestowed by science upon this animal, which is actually the dromadary. However, I have adhered to the appellation of "Camel," because it is the only one used in Algeria. Besides, the Arabic word _djemel_ applies to the camel as well as to the dromadary.

Footnote 90:

A sort of arm-chair placed upon the backs of camels.

Footnote 91:

Goat-skins, generally dyed red, and prepared at Tafilalet in Morocco: it is what we call morocco leather.

Footnote 92:

Money is never buried in the desert as it is in the Tell, lest the floods of winter should betray the hiding-places.

Footnote 93:

About £5,721. The _douro_ worth about 4 shillings and 6 pence.

Footnote 94:

Religious establishments, generally comprising a mosque and a school, and the tombs of their founders.

Footnote 95:

Singular of _djouad_.

Footnote 96: