New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-06
THE DIFFA.
ENTERTAINING THE SID.
From The Leisure Hour

|
| from Algiers. The party, which was directing z
| its course toward this walled town. CONSISTED VI
| three persons FL Ebib. a negro mule-drlvef ;
tbs Dsh af ana as was
give pleasure to the Sid, that the other Two
Undertook the journey The Sid which, Delhg
Interpreted means Mistress was an Ane aen9
lady and she it who travelled to Stetln along
with III Ebib and Bel-Ouari. and as tn, sid shc
was always known and addressed In the desfr.
| Now the Sid is not an ordinary person. dolh:
each day the ordinary duties that fall TO the lot
| of the ordinary civilized lady. No. she strikse
out paths for herself in life. and they are pains
| very seldom trodden by other people Sne Is
lady of a certain age, as the French say, though
| indeed she herself would frankly say, was sXly
three last birthday :" but she defes time ana his
assaults The Sid will travel all night IN N
| thrd-cass carriage in Egypt, wrapped up III d
macintosh TO keep the dust OH; WIN new 1or
per tied over her face, and VIII not snlo.ne s.
While her fellow-passengers In that carrIaRe e"op
for breath, and fret and fume, che Sld VIII Iie on
| III, floor, with her head reposing on gulde-Dook
and paint-box. and sleep like top. undisturne9
| by noise. iolting. dust, or any other ad'eIsiA'
| The Sid can go without food like a camel Tor an
almost indefinite period, or can dine very Dllss
| fully upon r0uina, which is wheat roasted aho
| coarsely ground. To the ordinary mortal TINS
| is such dry and cbaf-like provender that very
| few grains 90 a long way indeed: But the BIO
munches il gratefully, and derives therelroib
much inward comfort most suitable person u
| she TO travel in the desert. and one not 10 ne
| disturbed by small difficulties nor lightly to DC
Picture a gray stuff dress very useful but not
elegant. stout boots, also not elegant. and
pocket stuffed TO the utmost and no gioves-tnat
is the costume Of the Sid Of the Desert ono
| rides califorchon, like an Arab woman ana
| having once done desnises side saddles from
| that day forth; and thus bestriding her horse
| she will advance against cold head wln1
| through clouds of dust. and make never sound
| of complaint. That is the Sid in the Desert.
| Two black legs, two dirty feet. two dlrter
| hands. one moderately white shirt. one BLACK
| head-that is FL Ebib. He is only negro, only
muedryer and as All negroes S neeG look No a further
description Only let no one imagine tnae t the
negro Of the northern Sahara is at all IKE 'n ne
| fiat-nosed thick Tipped African negro we are 80
| familiar WITH for he is not.
| Be-Ouari, the guide, guard. and lnh'rpreter
was very different sort OF person Ihere was
no deficiency of clothes about him. lie was a
we'll set-up spahi, with good horse, goOd saddle'
and good rifle, all kept in appe-pie order. as be-
came a smart soldier who took pride In hliiseil
and his accOutrements -, o., .u
vowed To do as Arabs did, but her resolution was
put to severe test by her first experience OF rear
Arab life on the occasion of the dina or an
npr at Stetin. Letters Of recommendation from
the commandant at Geryville added certain en-
presseincnt to the national hospitality OF ING
Arab so that the Sid and her escort were Gia-
ciousv received by the Caid Of Stetin, who. IN
deed came to the borders Of the town to NEE.
and greet her on her arrival \ few minutes later
n man seen to ride of ar iull gallOp ior
some unknown destination, whence an hour Iater
he returned with sheep on his crupper. Mean
time the Sid took out her paint-boX. as usua
employed her spare moments in adding anotntr
flower TO her already large collection OF ihe
Worlds fora. This painting OF flowers led
| the natives to form very erroneous WV wv
concerning her powers. They thought her
a medicine woman, well skilled in the properties
Of herbs and under that supp0Siton she received
some curious appeals for assistance, Women
begged to he touched for sore eyes or headache
while even came to her seeking relief from
their woes. go
There was wedding in progress at the village.
and as time seemed to hang heavy upon the hands
Of Bel-Ouar he escorted the Sid TO the festivlty
She was conducted to the place of honor. and sat
down beside the band. which consisted Of huge
horn and some tom-toms and other contrivances
for making life hideous The music. which she
did not admire. was performed an orchestral
accompaniment for two dancers, sort of limited
ballet who with the aid of long scarf, endeav-
ored 10 express all the emotions that the heart is
capable Of 1t was a pantomime of love, and be-
ing danced by two women must have been
sufficiently cnriOns performance.
Then the " diffa" was announced, and again led by
hsf tb Sid sha TO be bagane
hall The table consisted of carpet spread, upon
straw on the ground. The 81 sat down like
rabbit hunched up upon her heels. and the others
crossed their legs in the way affected by Turks
and taors. The first course appeared. 1t was
composed Of bits Of mutton. the ci-devant sheep
the man had fetched on his crupper, roasted on a
stick The stick was handed around and each
guest picked of piece with his insers and ate IT,
Arabs are polite and the Sid was guest, she had
10 suffer the double penalty due to these circum-
stances Did any one pull off the stick a dainty
morSe of more especially appctizing character?
His politeness made him hand the nit to the Sid,
and her pOliteness forced her to eat IT, After
this first course there came long pause, so long,
in fact that the Sid thought all was ended. and
finding that Sleeps kidney roasted and one
small outlet had not allayed the paBgs Of hunger
caused Ey ride of many hours across the desert,
in the teeth of a keen wind, she opened her capa-
cous basket and pulled forth bag of the all,
satisfying rouina She measured out small reed
for each of her men and herself.
They had Just finished their provender when the
piece de resistance was set upon the carpet. This
was the couscousou,' the grand Arab dish, in
fact the one dish of the Arab cuisine. As the
reader will probably never be called upon TO eat
couscousou he may be told how il is made. It's
ingredients -four and water. The Arab women
make it and the process is simple. The right hand
Is dipped into water, and is applied to the left,
which has been dipped into flour: rotary
motion soon evolves small round pellets or dough;
dried in the sun, are cooked in the most approved
modern fashion by steam, being placed over the
pot where meat Is boiling.
Ii was dish of these appetlZing pellets that was
placed before the Sid The dish itself was huge
wooden bowl and the cOuscousou was piled noun
tain high, with a chicken on the top, like boiled
sufficiently admired, FL Ebib, the negro driver,
arose from his crossed legs and removed the
weatherc0ck from the apex of the cOusc0usou
mountain and then another man MADE sort OF
crater in the summit Of the mountain, and each
guest made cave in the base in front of himself
but as there only three spoons TO six guests,
several had to resort to the natural implements
of fingers. The Sid, observing the difficulty got
out her own two private spoons from her basket,
and arming herself with one, lent the other TO
Bel-Ouari. When all the holes were dug somebody
brought in the pot in which the meat lad been
boiled and poured all the liquor into the crater al
the top, and speedily the caves around the base
were filled up with appetizing soup.
Then FL Ebib, the negro seized the weathercock
already mentioned, and tearing il into little
mouthfuls, strewed them about the dish Now
the Sid knew that the negro man had never once
washed his hands since he came into her service
therefor when she saw this horror she closed her
eyes and inwardly SAID, Can live and eat of this
dish ?" But terrifying her soul with quotation
from Victor Largeau. to the effect that he who