The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-18

Eir - PART I
Far SOUTH be,ond the Alias noup-
tains. beyond that great nnitless PLAN
known and little understood in Euro
pean civilization. In the great Sahara
where nothing meet, the naked eye
life today is the same as was ten
centuries a3p-the same as II win ever
be; free aud charming In its simplicity,
yet with many terrors ever present.and
sun-bleached bones ever reminding the
lonely traveller that pricked water
ekin or q lame camel means the end OF
all things.
On a recsnt Journey from Biskra to
Mourzouk, In FeZzan, foolfshly disre-
garded the injunctions Of my old friend
Emile Chandioux, the commandment 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 acafel Caravan 1 had
Joined in Zouin Timassanin, and with
which I had been travelling for twenty
days, belonged to the Kel-Izhaban,
tribe of rnarauders 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 Biskra to Lake
Tsad, In addition / ascertained that
our sheikh, known to me as Sidi Ell
Adil or 1.-THE Just" was really none
other than the dreaded Abdul Melik.
the pirate of the desert, against whom
the French government has sent three
expeditions, and upon whose head u
price had been set
With bronzed aquiline features. long
gray beard, and keen, deep-set eyes;
tall, erect, agile and OF commanding
presence. he was a splendid specimen
OF the Arab Of the plains. Though he
expressed intense hatred for the lnh-
del, and invoked curses most terrible
upon the horsemen of the Roumis. In
general, and my friend Capt. Chan
dioux, in particular, he nevertheless,
treated me with naughty courtesy, and
extended to me the hand OF friendship.
As to the head of our cavalcade OF two
hundred armed horsemen and long
string OF camels, lie rode day by day
across the parched wilderness, inter-
spersed by small sandhills and naked
ledges Of rock, speckled with ethel
buhes half overwhelmed by sand, he
was truly an imposing figure. His
bu,nouse was Of finest white wool, en-
broidered heavily with silk; the haick
surrounding his face was of spotless
china silk, mad around his head was
wound many yards of brown camers
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 at 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 blaZ-
ing. Scorched by the sun, and half-suf-
focated by the sand-laden wind. ou1
way lay through a 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 Stacked
our thirst from our water skins, then
commenced the real luxury of the day
the luxury Of idleness-as, reclining on
q mat in front of his tent, with coffee
and cigarette, the great Abdul-Melik
would relate with slow distinctness
stories Of past encounters between his
people and the hated Christians. While
sentries with loaded rifles kept a vi
gilan lookout lest we should be sur
prised by the ever watchful Spahis OF
Chesseurs. half a dozen Arabs would
squat in u semi-circle before the great
sheikh, and, twanging upon their guen-
ibrii those queer little banjoes fash
1oined from tortoise shells over which
skin Is stretched, would chant weirdly
in strange staccato, Arab songs OF
love and war. At that hour a GOODNESS
falls over everything, intense silence
reigns, the sky above grows a deeper
and deeper blue, and the palms and tai
ha trees look mysterious in the half.
light. Soon the stars shine out like di-
amond points, and it grew darker and
darker, until the chill night breeze OF
the desert stirs the feathery heads OF
the date palms. Then the lawless no.
mads, my companions, would wrap Their
burnouses closely about them, SCOOP
out hole In the warm sand, and there
repose until the first flush of dawn.
About five weeks after had inadver.
tently thrown in my lot with the Kel.
1zaban, and after penetrating a re.
gion, that as far as I am aware, has
never been explored by Europeans. fol
It remains a blank upon the most re.
cent map issued by the Depot de la
Guerre, we were one evening, at a spot