Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-09-10
BaZaarS i'm Tunis.
TCor. Boston Transcript.

Cor. Boston Transcript.
The most interesting places in Tunis
are the bazaars, where nearly all the
business of the city is transacted. To
visit the great bazaar one passes through
many dirty, winding streets, and at
once finds himself in the midst of a
bowling crowd buying and selling by
auction; on either side of the narrow
communicating lanes are the little 8x10
shops packed with goods. This bazaar
is divided into ten sections over each of
these there is a presiding officer to
whom all disputes are referred The
Jews, with their superior capacity for
trade, have now almost entirely dis
placed the Moors, with the exception of
the trade In carpets and perfumery. In
one of the narrowest and dirtiest lanes
was the jewelry bazaar. Here the jew
elers were working at their little FORCES,
making the rough, heavy bracelets and
anklets which are in vogue here. The
stock-in- trade of each shop consists of
few pairs of bracelets, anklets and ear
rings. Rings appears to be but little
worn here, and they are of very ugly
patterns. There are many diamonds,
but they are badly cut and wretchedly
set. One buys jewelry by weight, and
the work. The bey's mark is then af-
fixed to the ornament by the governor
of the section, showing the quality of the
gold. The penalty for cheating in this
is said to be the loss of hand by the
guilty party. Near here is the depart
ment where the fezes are made. They
are first woven, then clipped and dyed
with vegetable earth, which is rubbed
into the texture The fez which is
made here is of different shape
from the Turkish fez, being of equal
size at the top and bottom; is heavier
and more expensive, costing, with the
silk tassel, which is sold by weight, from
S. to so. The beautiful silk bornouses,
turbans, etc., are all woven by hand
on the most primitive looms. In an
other department the gunsmiths were
still making the long guns with the
curious inlaid stocks. Many of the
locks were for flint and steel, and these
are said to be preferred by the Bedouins
on account of the difficulty in procur-
ing the modern cartridges. The carpet
bazaar is still in the hands of the
Moors. They sit silently in front of
their little shops, dimly lighted by a
little swinging lamp. The valuable
carpets are piled together in the great
est confusion and covered with dust.
In another department the tailors
were sitting cross-legged, making the
magnificent Moorish costumes of many
different colors, embroidered with gold
and silver. They vary in price from
$50 to $1,000, the average price being
perhaps 800. The shoe department is
the largest in the bazaar, all the slippers
and shoes being sewed by hand.
None of the merchants seem TO make
the slightest endeavor to display their
goods or to attract customers. When a
customer enters shop, the proprietor
tries to get him to sit down and drink
cup of coffee, which is brought to him
before commencing business; he then
spreads out his goods, and when asked
the price names an amount much
larger than he expects to get. We found
that one should offer them about one
third of their first price. They all seem
to take the greatest pleasure in bargain
ing. In Fact, the life in the bazaar, COM
bined with numerous daily prayers,
seems to take the place of ordinary
amusements, as they have no concerts,
theaters or books. It is said that be-
fore the French occupation many rich
Moors had shops and made a pretense
of supporting themselves in this way
in order to escape the exactions of the
bey's prime minister. Many of the
Moors are the descendants of the exiles
from Spain, driven out of that country
in the fifteenth century. Some of them
have the keys of their houses and the
plans of their estates in Spain, and look
forward to second period of conquest
when they can again claim them.
Restoring the Dome of st. Peters.