Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-10
CHATTER Ill.

CHAPTER Ill
TIE FEAST OF TUE sToRKs.
on the 23rd OF Noyembe, the plain Of
SounR- Ettelate around the walls Of Tr,-
poll afforded a curious spectacle. ON that
day no one could tell if the PLAN were
barren or fertile, for its surface WAS hid
den beneath muiLi-cOlored tents adorned
with feathers and 1ags. miserable gOurbis
with their roofs 50 tatteTed and patched
as to give very insufficient shelter from
That bitter dry wind the "gIhlN,' which
sweeps across the desert from the south;
mere and there were groups OF horses In
rich oriental trappings, meharls stretch
| ed on me sand with their fiat heads like
halfenpJy gOat-s6in bottles, small don
KEYS about Us big as large dogs. large
dogs as big as small dOnkeys, mules with
the enormous Arab saddle that mas the
cantle and pommel ~ round as a camel
hump; hOrsemen were there with gums
across their shoulders and knees up 30
their st0machs, and feet in slipper-like
stirrups and having double sabres at their
belt, gallOping among u crowd Of men,
women, and children, careless of whom
they might run down as they dashed
along: and natives were there almost uni
tOrmly clothed in the Barbary "ha0uly,"
beneath which the women would be iu-
distingulshable from the men, if the men
did not fN the folds to their waist with
brass pin, while the women let the upper
part fall over their faces 30 that they can
only see with the left eye-a costume
which varies with the classes, the poor
having nothing on but the simple linen
mantle, tho more affluent having the
waistcOat and wide breeches of the Arabs
and the wealthy having splendid patterns
in white and blue over second hSOuly Of
gauZe or glossy SILK above HE dead-whlte
of the gold-spangled shirt.
Were they only TripOlitans that had
gathered on the plain? No. The envir-
Ons of the capital We're crowded with
merchants from Ghadames and Sokna, es-
cOrted by their black slaves; Jews and
JeWesses OF the province with uncovered
faces; negroes from the neighbOring viii
lagos who had come from their cabins Of
rushes and palms to assist in the general
gaiety, poorer In linen than in jewellery,
with large brass bracelets, shell-wOrk
collars, strings of teeth, and rings OF silver
in their ears and their noses, and BenOu-
lies and Awaguirs, from the shores of the
Syrtes, to whom the date-palm OF their
country yielded its wine, its fruit, its
bread, and its preserves. Among this ae
glOmeration OF MOOrs, Berbers. Turks,
BedOuins. and Muzatfirs, or Europeans,
were pashas- sheiks, cadis, all the lords
in the land W alklng through the crowds
prudently before the drawn swords of the
soldiers, or the truncheOns or the police
of the zapties as there passed in naughty
indifference the GoYeror-Genera OF this
African cyalet, OF this province OF the
! Turkish empire whose administration be-
! lOngs to the sultan.
II there are more than 100 900 IN Tri-
! poll, with 5000 sOldiers-l. 900 tor the
| Djebel and 500 Tor the Cyrenaic-the town
4 nj Erfr h.a bos FrOE
20 OOO TO $4,000 souls. But on this Occas-
! ion IL appeared as though the population
/ had been at least doubled by the crowd Of
4 spectators coming from all parts Of the
1 territory. These rurals had not, ib ie
/ true, entered the capital OF the Regency.
/ Within the walls OF the notifications
/ neither the houses. which through the
/ wOrthlessness Of their materials soen
/ fall into ruins, nor the narrow, tOrtuOus,
/ uupayed streets, nor the neighbOring mole
| with It's consulates, nor the western
/ quarter inhabited by the Jews nor the
rest OF the town Inhabited by the
| Mussulmans were equal 70 such an in
| YasiOn.
But the plain OF Soung- Ettclate was
/ large enough for the crowd Of spectators
attracted to this feast of the storks whose
/ legend always receives due honor I'm the
/ eastern countries of Africa. This plain
q small fragment OF the Sahara, with It's
/ yellow sand often invaded by the sea. dur
/ ing the violent winds from the east--sur-
| rounds the town on three sides and is
/ about 900 yards across. In strong con-
trast is the oasis Of Menchie-with its
wnite-walled houses, its gardens watered
/ by the leather-chaIn pump worked by a
/ skinny COW, its woods OF orange-trees,
/ citrons, and dates, its green clumps OF
/ shrubs and flowers, its antel0pes, gazelles
| fennecs and famingoes--a huge patch Of
| ground In which live not less than 50, 600
! people. Beyond is the desert, which in
/ no part OF Africa comes nearer TO the
/ Mediterranean, the desert and its shift
/ ing sand hills, and its immense carpet Of
sand on which, saws Baron Kraft, "the
/ wind raises the waves as easily as on the
/ ocean," the Lybian ocean with its mlsts
( Of impalpRDle dust.
/ Tripoil-a country almost as large as
/ Francois bounded by Tunis and Egypt
and 10 the south Dy the Sahara at a dis
tance OF 1870 miles from the Mediterranean
/ coast.
10 was in this province, one OF the least
known in Northern Africa, and which
Will be perhaps one OF the last 20 be
thoroughly explored, that Sarcany had
taken refuge after leaving Tetuan. 4
native Of rripoli be had returned to the
4 country which had been the scene OF bis
/ earliest exploits. Affiliated 70 the most
/ formidable sect OF Northern Africa, he
had sought the powerful protection OF tbs
/ Sen0uBlHts, whose agent for the acquisi-
ton Of arms ana ammunition in foreign
parts he had never ceased to be. And
when be arrived a. Tripoli he had taken
up bis quarters In the house OF the mOqad-
dem, Sidi Hazam, the recognized chief Of
/ the sectaries Of the district.
Alter the capture Of IOrOnthnl on the
/ road No Aice-h capture which Sill re-
manned ineKplicabie to him-1arcany bad
/ lcn Monte Carlo. a lew thousand francs
/ that be- had kept back from his earlier
winnings bad enabled him ~ pny his pas.
sage, aud defray bic expenses. lio bad
good reason a. fear that t0r0nthnl would
I bo reduced 40 despair, and urged lo secs
vengeance 90 him. either BY revealing
bio past iiic, o. giving Information as 70