Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-11

Figuig and Taria. Biskra is somewhat the
same. Its area is about that Of an Ohio
township. and 1t Is altogether about six
miles in length. 1t is divided up into little
fields of garden patches. each of which Is
surrounded by these mud walls of sum
dried brick. There are no pavements. The
streets are dirt roads, with here and there
wide irrigation stream running through
and with bridges Of palm wood crossing 1t
at intervals of every few feet.
There are villages scattered throughout
the oasis. Each of these is entered by a
low gate made of mud bricks and palms
The houses are mostly mean mud huts with
fiat roofs There Is some rain here. and
the water runs from the roof through
pipes which extend out into the street,
giving one a douche on the turban or down
the neck of ones gown.
l understand that the water supply is
comparatively scanty; that water rights
are sold in perpetuity and that there are
at so much per hour. Not long ago one
paid 500 for perpetual stream half an
inch wide and as deep as the rainfall would
stand. and $500 for stream of four inches.
Where the water Is let out by the hour so
often per week an Arab Waterman stands
at the hole where 1t flows out with an hour
glass. and when the sand has run through
shuts OF the supply.
A Dreary Life.
cannot describe the dreariness of COM
mon everyday life in these Saharan cases.
About the only green thing one sees in the
streets Is the palm leaves overhead. Inside
a garden there may be patches of vege-
tables and grass with trees bearing various
kinds of fruit: but in the villages every
thing Is as bare as the middle of the road.
and that in a land which might be tropi-
cal paradise. The houses themselves have
no gardens in or about them They are
Joined close together. and are more like a
catacombs than place where people live,
move and have their being. There are few
signs Of life during much of the day.
There are mo- windows facing the Streets.
and the only means of ventilation on that
side of the house are little holes about the
size Of a paving brick up near the roof.
In villages like these the people look
squalid and dirty but the dirtiest of them
are loaded with jewelry. 1 photographed
one middle aged dame Of a swarthy COM
plexion who had earrings as big as an
after-dinner coffee-cup saucer, and as she
turned around I noticed that she wore
anklets of white metal as wide as tin cup
Is high. Indeed. they looked like tin cups
without bottoms or handles. Even the chill
dren were loaded with jewelry. Some Of
them were not averse to being photograph
ed, although both women and children held
out their hands for meney as soon as their
pictures were taken.
AS 1 walked through the town passed
several Moorish coffee houses in which were
Arabs sitting on the floor. smoking and
chatting. drinking coffee or playing domi-
noes. The coffee houses look not uRlike
an American stable. Their only light
comes in through the door and the people
sit on the mud floor.
In 1.-THE Garden OF Allah" the novel to
which I referred at the beginning of this
letter, some vivid. descriptions are made Of
the Chateau Landon. a wonderful date
plantation belonging to a wealthy French
nobleman. II one would know just how
much water means in the desert he may
t. IL IA
about fifteen acres. and is wonderful be-
tanfcal garden right here on the edge OF the
desert. It Is q date forest fnterspersed with
all sorts Of tropical and temperate fruit
trees and shrubs. There are green hedges
fifteen feet high, as carefully trimmed as
those in the botanical gardens of -Algiers,
or In that of Buitenzorg. Java. About TWEEN
ty Arab gardeners are always busy keeping
not allowed to lie on the paths or walks.
Here and there through the garden are
houses Of Arab architecture, the homes Of
the owner. and in one place there is great
circle cut out under the trees where dances
may be held in the open.
Sidi Okla and His Oasis.
Have you ever heard Of Sid Okba?
He was a famous Arab general who con-
quered the whole of north Africa from the
Nile to the Atlantic about 1900 odd years
ago. All whom he conquered he converted
py teiiing them that they must die IL they
did not espouse the Mohammedan religion;
and It Is said that when he reached the
western ocean he rode into it exclaimin9
that IL 1t were not for this barrier he would
make every people Of the lands beyond wor-
ship Allah or die.
This man was one Of the great NOLAN.
medan heroes. The people look upon him
as saint, and they have named towns.
Gases and other places after him. One of
the most important Of these Is Sfdf Okla
which lies twelve miles from here in the
heart of the desert. In It Is the shrine of
this saint, and the mosque containing 1t Is
said to be the Oldest Mohammedan building
In Africa. The town Is the religious CAPT.
tai OF this part of the world, so holy that
the people make pilgrimages to 1t as they
do to Kairouan, In Tunisia, and to Mecca
and Medina. In Arabia.
/ rode across the desert this afternoon
and visited Il. The way Is over a country
covered with scanty vegetation Of thorny
scrub, through sandy and stony wastes,
and by the GASES OF Ffliach and Chetma.