The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-07-11
PART /.

but n dreary waste OF red-brown, drlft-
ing sand. one experiences some curious
phases of a life comparatively I'M
known, and little understood in Euro
pean civilization. In the great Sahara
life to-day is the same as IL was ten
centuries ago-the same as it will ever
be; free and charming in its simplicity,
vet with many terrors ever present, and
sun-bleached bones ever reminding the
lonely traveller that pricked water
skin or lame camel means the end OF
all things.
On recent journey from Biskra tc
Mourzoulx, in Fezzan, / foolishly disre'
garied the injunctions Of my old friend
Emile Chandioux, the commandant of
the outpost of Spahis stationed in the
Arab town of In Salah, in the Touat
Oasis, and was rendered extremely un-
comfortable by the astounding dis
covery that the camel caravan L had
joined in Zaouia Timassanin, and with
which had been travelling for twenty
days. belonged to the Kel-lzhaban,
tribe of marauders and outlaws whose
depredations and relentless butchery
Of their weaker neighbors caused them
TO be held in awe from Morocco across
TO Tripoli, and from BislIra to Lake
Tsad. In addition, l ascertained that
our sheilxh, known 10 me as Sidi Ell
Adj. or "The just" was really none
other than the dreaded Abdul MeEk,
the pirate of the desert, against whom
the French government has sent three
expeditions, and upon whose head
price had been set.
With bronzed, aquilinc features, long
gray beard, and keen, deep-set eyes;
tall. erect, agile and of commanding
presence, he was splendid specimen
of the Arab of the plains. Though he
expressed intense hatred for the Inf
del. and invoked curses most terrible
upon the horsemen of the Roumis in
general. and my friend, Capt. Chan
dioux, in particular, he, ne srtheiess,
treated me with naughty courtesy, and
extended to me tho hand of friendship
AS. at the head OF our cavalcade of two
hundred armed horscmen and long
string of caInels, he rode day by day
across the parched wilderness, inter
spersed by small sand-hills and naked
ledges of rock, speclsled with ethel
bushes half overwhelmed by sand, he
was truly an impoSsflg figure. His
burnouse was of finest white wool, en-
broidered heavily with silk; the haick
surrounding his face was OF spotless
china-silk, and around his head was
wound many yards of brown camePs
hair. The saddle upon which he sat
was of crimson velvet, embroidered
with gold and set with precious stones,
and stirrups and spurs of massive silver
completed the trappings of his splen.
did coal-black horse, which he managed
with rare perfection and skill. On my
white Ku-hai-lan stallion, i usually
rode Mt his side, chatting to him in his
own tongue, while two hundred OF his
people. erect In their saddles, and with
their long -barreled rifles slung behind,
were ready to instantly execute his
slightest wish.
Those days were breathless and blaz7
ing. Scorched by the sun, and half suf'
focated by the sand-laden wind, our
way Law through wilderness that ma.
ture had forsaken. AT night, how
ever. when the outlaws Of the desert had
cast sand upon their feet and prayed
their maghrib, and we had encamped
under the palms Of the oasis, eaten our
dates and krouss-krouss, and slnked
our thirst from our water skins, then
commenced the real luxury of the day
the luxury of idleness--as, reclining on
mat in front OF his tent, with coffee
u0d cigarette, the great Abdul-Melik
would relate with slow disunctness
stories OF past encounters between his
people and the hated Christians. While
sentries with loaded rifles kept a VI
rjlant lookout lest we should be sur
prised by the ever-watchful Spahis OF
Cheese urs, half n dozen Arabs would
lequat in n scmi-circle before the great
,sheilh, and. twanging upon their guen,
ibris-those queer little banjoes fash
Toned from tortoise shells over which
skin is stretched-would chant weirdly
in q strange staccato, Arab songs OF
love and war. At that hour n GOODNESS
falls over everything, intense silence
reigns, the sky above grows n deeper
ond deeper blue, and the palms and talha
trees look mysterious In the half-light.
Soon the stars shire out like diamond
points, and il grows darker and dark
or, until the chill night breeze Of the
desert stirs the feathery heads OF the
date palms. Then the lawless nomads,
my companions. would wrap their bur
houses closely about them, scoop out
hole in the warm sand, and there re
pose until the first flush of dawn.
About five weeks after had inadver-
tcntly thrown in my lot with the Kel'
Izhnban, and after penetrating re-
gion that, as far as i ara aware, has
neve. been explored by Europeans, for
IL remains a blank upon the most rc.
cent map issued by the Depot de Ia
Gucrre, We were one evening. at n spot
evidently yrcarranged, joined by body
of 300 horscmen. who armed themselves
with the rifles obtained from our cam.
els packs. and then. leaving tho camcls
81 charge OF hnlf dozen men In rocky
valley called the Anzoua, we all con.