The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-04
HOMES OF TROGLODYTES.
FOUa THOUSAND LIVE UNDER
GROUND IN AFRICAN VALLEYS.

7. Hangs Visit to the Homes of
the NJ 1tmstss-The Stories OF the
Ancieuts Found 70 be True.
From Kelo York sun.
The encients knew vaguely that in certain
parts OF Africa there were tribes who had
their homes in caves and excavations. A
part OF the continent now included in South
ern Egypt was called the country of the
Ethiopian troglodytes. They were also said
to inhabit the mountains of North Africa.
| They were represented by the ancient writ
ers as living in holes in the ground and as
being skiIlful hunters, though they subsisted
largely on the flesh of serPents and lizards.
They were said to be very poor people.
Their only trade with the outer world was
said to be confined to the gem known as the
carbuncle, which they obtained from other
/ tribes. Their language was said to have
nothing in common with that Of other peo-
| pie, and their voices were compared to the
strident cry of bat,
| The rather incoherent and fantastic iu~
| formation recorded by the ancients about
| the troglody ties was received with incredul-
| lty by modern geographers, who Felegated
| these stories to the realm of fable Seventy
years ago, however, the world began 10
|
the tales about the troglodytes. In 1921
Capt. Lyons. az Englishman, astonished
| geographers with the report that four days
march southwest of Tripoli was the village
| of the Beni-Abbas, who lived in caves they
had dug in the sandy clay, or which they
! had excavated in the calcareous rock
/ His account was substRntated by Mr.
| Delaport, a French consul, by an Egyptian
sheik, and by other men regarded as truth
full
In 1869 the learned explorer. DR.. Nachti-
| GAL found hidden away in the valley of
Tao (which may be seen on any good map
in the heart of TibestD the caves of the
| Tubu tribe, who were said to DO the direct
| descendants of the troglodytes, whom
Herodotus represented as being the victims
of the Geramantes, the sncienB inhabitants
| of FezzaD. Two centers inhabited hy cave
dwellers had THUG been discovered In mod
| ern times. A third was added to the num-
| Der when French soldiers, two years ago, pen
etrated into the mountains, which rise TO the
southwest Of Gabes. They found there a
| dozen struggling, underground villages
that had been dug into the slopes Of the hills
of Matmata and Toujane. Gabes is a coast
| settlement in Southeast Algeria on the
/ Gulf of Gabes. The cave villages are less
| than forty miles southwest of Gabes. The
| people who lnhabit the caves number about
| 1900, and are kDown as the MatEnatas.
|
| plorers and naturalists, among W HON is f.
I. Hamy, the well-known anthropologist,
who has written an interesting account of
| his visit
1t is not & long road, but it is very
rough one that must be trsversed in going
| from the seacoast to the valleys inhabited
by these troglodytes. A little stretch OF
the arid desert of Araad is crossed, and
then the traveller gradually ascends among
tine hills and mountains till, in the course Of
| two days travel, he reaches the two val
leys inhabited by the cave dwellers Near
them live the Zenati, of the same ethnc
stock, whose dwellings, however, are built
above ground and have the architectural
| features of the ancient Berber cities. whose
ruins are scattered over Tunis.
| AS the traveller enters the first valley in
| habited by the cave. dwellers, he sees a lit
| tic mosque and one or two other buildings
! devoted to public business. Very likely
there is no other sign Of human life TO be
seen far down the valley. fhe people are
engaged at their employments in their sub
terranean houses, OF which nothing can be
seen until the visitor is close upon them, or
they are off out, of view herding their large
| hocks. Soon, however, the first of these
underground dwellings is reached, and then,
as the traveller walks along the slope of the
hill guarding the valley on one side, be
| finds abundant evidence of human occu-
paucy. The village In which Mr.. Hamy
| spent most of his time has about 1000 in
habitants. They say part of the excava-
| lions was made in the time Of the Ro-
mans or earlier. The caverns dug by ancient
workmen are larger than most of those
| which in modern times have been added TO
the number. After digging through the
surface soil the caves are excavated in lime
stone, and finally sort OF milestone ia
reached which IS very difficult to exoayate
| sta
factories are scattered underground through
this valley. In some places one desoends to
the entrance of a dwelling by means of
| short ladder leading to the bottom of an al
| most perpendicular excavation. These
dwellings are lighted from the doorway,
which fronts on the perpendicular shaft
| Other dwellings are deeper III the hillside,
and ere reached by "a narrow ard winding
passageway and lighted by hole in the
| roof,
| Mr. Hamy describes one of the excava-
| lions where the business of preparing oil is
carried on. The Establishment is composed
of three apartments with walls between
| them OF unexcavated rock. The two cham
| bers farthest from the surface were not
wholly completed. The excavation is made
in the limestone by means of pickaxes.. The
larger room contains the grinding mill and
| its accessories. The entrance to this print
tive workshop is decorated with rows OF un.
| polished stones laid without mortar around
the orifice, which serves as a door. This
I architectural detail was borrowed from the
ancient caves, whose dggers lined the en-
| frances TO their subterranean houses with
walls of rock correctly aligned. No wood
stoUe or iron enters into the construction of
the interior, which shows only the bare
| walls of limestone that Is still marked with
| the deep scratches made by the pickRxes
| The walls are reddish IN color, dry and
| hard, ana here and there embedded IN them
are helix shells A ring IS fastened upon a
wall on which to hang a lamp. Other
rings are driven in the walls OF some apart
ments adjoining the living rooms, where
the family horse is tied. Near the ceiling
are excavated shelves, where tho provisions
are stored.
The roofs are invariably vaulted, and
! closely resemble in shape the keel of a boat
| The outer edges of the roofs are gently
curved, and the cavity gives the impression
| of big boat turned bottom up On the sea
| shore with the keel in the air.
The MetmaGas are both tillers of the
! ground and stock raisers. They raise many
horses and have sheep in large numbers,
and the troglodytes make their way TO the
coast to sell their wool, some OF it raw and
some woven into coarse cloths. They raise
| barley, wheat, dates olives and figs, and
take considerable quantities OF these pro
| ducts to Gabes. whore they exchange them
for many objects Of foreign commerce.
| which are more and mere superseding ar
| tjClaa Of horvla rnapufacfr5ra HaEnw