The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-05-16
A Glimpse at Ka;ruan.

A 6ilmpse NJ hairwan.
Ka'rwan the Holy. tho A ricsn Mecca,
guarded ~ popular fanaii ism, care
Iully mainta ned by its imans. has un-
til recently remained impenetrable. No
intidel sullied it by making his dwelling
there; a few on y passed through it, and
these not without peril. Yet how rich
mine it offers to the otserverl 1t is
to-day. with the exception of Mecca,
the only city where one finds the char
acteristic type of the Arab, the tradi-
tionary lore of the race and cpl, of its
origin, intact as in the primitive DAYS OF
Islamism. These Arabs who. at the
height of their power, were the pro
gressists o. Europe, and had, if not ad-
yanced, at least savei science from the
darkness and the barbarism of the Mid
die Ages, have to-day no science except
that which they call their science OF
God, no physi .ians, no lawyers, no
bankers; but priests are everywhere,
under the varied forms of imams,
mutt S, kood as. and marabouts, whose
lives are passed in writing dull COM
mentaries on the Koran, and in seeking
new. interpretations of obscure texts.
These casuists are the same here as they
are everywhere, and in order to dimin-
ish the moral effect produced by the
fall of Kairwan into infiiel hands, they
have managed to find the French in
vasion predicted in a passage of the
sacred book!
These Moors of Kairwan, to-day in
their decadence, have, nevertheless, a
glorious title to the interest and recog-
milton of the world. Was it not they
who, led by Tarik. a Kairwan general,
made the conquest of Spain, and reared
there that marvellous Hispano-NIoreSque
civilization of which Seville, Granada.
Cordova, still attest the splendor. 1t
was the khalifs, descendants of Ibra-
him-ibn -el-Aghlab. who mastered
Southern Italy, Sardinia, Corsica and
Cree. The African metropOl of Is
lam, remaining poor, has not eJualed
the SPLENDID of her richer colonies, but
the parentage is everywhere visible,
and here and there panel of ara
one of the Alhambra. Later, kairwan
again gathered to herself her children
driven from Europe, and to-day has for
Governor descendant of tn, Almora-
vides who. in PALMER days. reigned
over Spain. The city lies in an i'm
mense plain, partly of marshy, partly
of sandy soil, slightly unduIating to-
ward the sea; it is tordered on the
north by the high ridge of Zaghonan
a. 1872 feet. and on the west by the
chain of the Sefaya.
In spring-time the approach to it is
charming. The ground is covered with
barley, wheat. and tiny tufts of alta, of
q beautiful dull green. already yellowed
earring amidst dazzling multitude of
flowers with their Haunting colors.
Here and there the lower lands. covered
with water, glisten in the sunlight. The
plain spreads out in mOnOtonOus uni
formity, and the eye seeks in vain a
tree, a rock, on which to rest. Dark
specks, sometimes light columns of
smoke. indicate the dOuars-the Arab
villages. Caravans pass slowly in the
distance. The silence is broken only
by the plaintive and curiously modu-
lated Arab songs taken up, one by one,
by the camel driver. The simple calm
of the landscape, the primitive cos
TUNES of the nomads, bring to mind
familiar Bible scenes.
From the top of knoll faint white
line appears in the distance; it is the
Holy City. Following the accidents of
the ground. one loses sight of it for
some moments to find it presently the
more visible. In the crystalline
air the embattled walls are clearly
defined against the mountains.
| Toward the northern end the
, lofty minaret of the Grand Mosque
stands out clear-cut and isolated: pres
emily, little by little, as one approaches,
the wall seems to be crowned with
kobbas. green or white. and with nina
rets. Scarcely expressible, but giving
to the pi.ture a halo of enchantment,
are the transparency of the atmos-
phere. the clear-cut silhouttes, the fine
background, their silver gray pearled
with all lovely shades of rose and blue
of an infinite sweetness and delicacy.
Arriving at sunset, the hour OF PRAYER,
sad and contemplative mood steals
over one; the harsh voices of the muez-
rims from lofty minarets, calling the
faithful ones to prayer. alone breaks
the stiffness of the plain, aglow in the
setting sun: one half fancicS these may
be other Jeremiahs lamenting over the
I'll rs of their country. A ruin indeed,
and desolate ruin is this kairwan,
which has Just presented herself to us
from afar in all the subtle charm of her
Eastern adornments.-A. +. JdcGssy,
in Harper $ Magazine.