The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-06-30
LOVELY GASES.
President Gilman Finds Them in
the Great Sahara Desert.
Ha Says They Remind Him Of Some Of the
Private Gardens OF San Francisco.
Arab Hospitality.

And what did we find in Biskra? A good
hotel, built for the comfort of tourists,
with ireplaces for use at this season, and
with shady, covered corridors for shelter in
summer. and this was all that we cared for
at the moment after our tiresome journey.
Next morning, as we looked out of the win
dows, we saw the camels loading and a
caravan forming for course across the
desert. Soon Mahommedan, who bears the
name of the once-famed Arab chieftain,
ADD Ell Kadir, became our guide, ana undo
his escort we walked through the place.
AS in other Algerian towns, we found
French quarter. with cafes, squares.
Roman Catholic church, fertilization and
a garrison; an Arab quarter, with its mar
kets, its shops and its handcrafts, and
negro quarter. The caravans we're coming
and going But we made short stay in
this part of Biskra, and went on to
THE BEAUTIFUL PARK
And garden maintained by French gem
tleman, NJ. Landon. His success in raising
trees is wonderful. Many acres are COW
cred with beautiful foliage. Here were
palms. oranges, lemons, eucalyptus, acacias,
pepper trees, the banyan and many more
sub-tropical trees. Roses and other SUM-
mer flowers were in bloom. Well-kept
walks led through the grove, and at inter
walls we came upon tea-houses and other
attractive resting places. This estate ex-
hibits the climax of oasis culture. The
effect is not unlike that of some private
gardens in the neighborhood of San
Francisco. The groves of palms which
grow in other parts of Biskra. though not
as beautiful. are very interesting to Oc-
cdental eyes unaccustomed to such sights.
They grow upon narrow strip of land
which may be three miles long and, on an
average, half a mile broad. Within this
tract there are five villages. but instead of
visiting them all we drove across the desert
to another oasis, five miles from Biskra,
the site OF an Arab village named Chetma.
On the way we could see in the distance
the oasis of Sid Okba, where the tomb of
Okba, the Mahometan warrior, Is enshrined
in mosque that is said to be the oldest
MahOmetan building in Africa.
Chetma, which might be called village of
mud, was old enough and quaint enough to
reward us for the trouble that we took to
see it. We entered the place by
NARROW ROAD,
In which it would have been impossible to
pass another vehicle. Mud walls, ten or
twelve feet high. sometimes topped with
pieces of broken glass, and sometimes with
other obstacles to Juvenile curoslty-for
the young Arabs here are like the young
arabs in our American towns-shut out all
access to the groves Of date palms, which
we saw on our right and left We
came to a halt in the middle Of
the village. where the listlesS people, sitting
in the doorways of their mud cabins or
their meager shops, scarcely noticed our
approach. A row of dozen turbaned
Arabs, standing and sitting under the
shadow of mud wall, were being sketched
by French painter, who, with his wife,
had here established temporary residence.
We came to the door of the principal house,
only to be distinguished by its size from the
other dwellings. You must call on the
sheik," said Add ell Kadir; she is a bon
garcon, who has seen many Europeans"
So we knocked at the door, and,
after some delays, the ladies were invited
to enter, while word was brought that the
Sheik would receive US all under the date
trees in his garden. The place which he
pleased to call garden is
A SORT OF BACKYARD
Where there are some plain board seats
surrounding stone table that rests on an
ancient Roman pillar. Here We took our
places and the Sheik soon joined us, ex-
tending his hand in the European way, and
engaging in friendly conversation through
the aid of the dragoman. Dates and nuts
were soon placed on the table, and after
ward strong black coffee. l wanted to
make some return for this hospitality
eAteb!eG 10 II purity of strnn Ssrs, bot -
would not do to offer money. and the only
thing that my pocket contained was pearl
handled pocket-knife that l brought from
Baltimore; So, in the best Arabic that the
dragoman could command, L offered this
souvenir from America 30 our host, WHO
seemed to be pleased with the courtesy. He
is a man of 90 years or more of age, of
slender figure and feeble movements. He
wore the burnOus of the region and sat on
the ground. while we were on chairs
and benches. Poor man, he was suf-
fering, like other dignitaries, with
the grippe, and we did not prolong
an interview which would surely have added
more to his pain than it could to our pleasure.
l doubs whether in our proposed journey we
shall see anything more characteristic of
rural life than this visit to the Sniek of
Chetma. The houses, dresses, manners and
customs have hardly changed in a thousand
years. Add ell Kadir, who has travelled.
apolOgised for the Indulgence of his people.
why do they not change their ways if
they know what is better?" we inquired of
him. because the Arab never changes"
was mis- answer.-Letter to Baltimore Sun.