Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-01

here and there through the roof but the
sun is so bright that there is plenty of
light, and the white roof itself shines like
sas of ties Of he of
with boards. They remind one of the
old covered bridges Of Venice or Flor
ence, which had shops upon them, save
that the Tunisian bazaars extend for long
distances and their shops are like nothing
to be found outside the orient In add
ton there are smaller bazaars run
ming off in every direction, and the whole
Is sort of business Rosamond's bower
in which l lose myself again and again In
trying to find my way out.
Old Carthage in Tunis.
Before 1 go on with my description of
the bazaars. let US look at their construc-
ton. The pillars and stones of old Carthage
have been everywhere used. AT the sides
of each little shop are marble columns,
some of which have beautiful capitals.
There are hundreds-yes, l venture, thou
sands-of these columns here to be seen.
and, strange to say, the Arabs have painted
the snowy marble with stripes of red,
green and black. Many are in green, and
some In bright yellow. Similar columns
are to be found in the residence quarters,
and 1t is true that a large part of Mo-
hammedan Tunis has been built from the
ruins of that old PuniC city.
In the baZlars, each trade has It's own
quarter There are long streets filled with
cells, where the Arabs make nothing but
shoes, and others in which the shops are
devoted to weavers. In some silk thread is
sold. and in others only perfumery or gro
ceries There are also bazaars of copper
smiths. booksellers and tailors
The Bazaar of the Tailors.
The bazaar OF the tailors is not far from
the kasbah. We push our way through
the white-gowned, fez-capped, turbaned
Mohammedan crowd and take a look at it.
We are in a covered street, about twelve
feet in width, which is paved with Belgian
blocks worn smooth by the bare feet and
slippers of thousands. 1t is walled with
shops which extend fifteen or twenty feet
back on each side.
The average shop is not more than eight
feet in width. Its floor is about two feet
above the street, and the tailors sit cross
legged upon II before tables eight inches
high. upon which they are cutting and sew
ing. They wear gowns and voluminous
trousers. They have fez caps or turbans.
Many Of them work away with their goods
on their knees and their bare feet and bare
calves plainly seen. Here at my right is a
shop where they are sewing upon a bur-
moose of the finest white wool for some
Arab gentleman and at my left is man
making pair of ten-dollar trousers fo-
some fat Jewish lady. Other tailors are
working on gorgeous jackets and vests for
both men and women. They use silk and
GOLDEN roidered cloths. Indeed, many Of
the garments are exceedingly costly as
you may see by the richly clad customers
who stand in the street outside and bargain
for clothes.
At 10 o'clock in the morning there is an
auction of secondhand clothing in this
tailor street. when gray-bearded men go
about holding fine garments high over their
heads They sing out the prices and quail
ity OF the goods, and beg the people to
buy. ! found hundreds SO engaged this
morning. the crowd being so great that l
could hardly make my way through.
The Sioux of the Perfumes.
But let us go on to the SIOUX of the per-
tuners The word SIOUX is used as a term
fer the bazaars; and when you ask to be
shown the Mohammedan business center
you tell them to take you, not to the ba-
zaars, but to the souks The Mohamme-
dams are fond Of perfumery. Their great
prophet once said that there were two
things which especially delighted him-one
was the society of a beautiful woman, and
the other was sweet perfume.
The Mohammedaas have some of the best
scents of the world. You can buy essence
of jasmine, of violet or verbena that is
worth It's weight in gold; and quart flask
OF the altar of roses, sold in this SIOUX,
would cost a kings ransom. Some of the
perfumery is so valuable that the merchant
measures IL out drop by drop counting the
drops by means of a bit OF cotton which he
takes from his ear - .z-,'.-<,- -
As We enter this bazaar several Arab boys
come to us and try to induce us to pur-
chase at certain shops for which they are
touting. We select one In which a gray
bearded old Abraham in costly raiment is
sitting. He Is in little pen surrounded
by bottles and boxes, with a great string
OF candles hanging down from pole over
his head. There is bench outside his
shop, and We sit down and have cup of
coffee with him, before he asks US to buy
The coffee is as black as ink, as sweet as