The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-02


:. of coffee with him before he asks ls
!, to buy. rho coffee Is as black as INK
as sweet as molnsscs ana almost as
thick as chocolate. 1t is made pr tie
beans pulvcrised by pounding them in
n mortar and is brought III hot from
4 the Goals.
After we have drunken he begins
to show his perfumes. He takes OUT
n cork and touches II gently To the
backs Of our hands. The next bottie
lis tried on the wrist. and the next by
j pulling up our sleeves To tile elbow
and pressing the cork upon the fore
Inrm. Indeed lie stamps us with so
many brands that when wI leave W.,
ARE walking perfume shops and the
4 scents are so pungent they last Tor
hours. The Arabs use pcrfumory not
/ only on their clothes and In their
! baths, but also in their food and drink.
There Is an essence of orEange flow
ors which is sold here with tea. and
tferee are other perfumes for various
| feeds.
Among the Shocnni<crs.
have spent some time to-day among
the shoemakers. There is "a long street
devoted to their shops, and there were
hundreds of men and boys WORKING
j
cutting out shoes of bright yellow ana
red leather, and sewing them into
shape. The yellow shoes were for men,
and the red ones for the women. -,ey
were also making many shoes for cliil-
dren. About all tile footwear OF the
Nahammedan world is made thus by
hand, and it might be good idea FOR
some bright American shoemaker TO
set up factory here and supply the
trade.
The Tunisian cobbler's bench Is
nothing like that of the American.
These cobbler's cut and pound upon
a section of n tree like butchers
block raised upon legs. They do not
use hammers, but pound the leather
with pieces Of brass so nodded that
they can be easily held In the hand;
they are not unlike a brass paper
weight.
The leather work OF Tunis is famous,
and shoes are sold everywhere. good
pair can be bought for seventy-hve
cents.
Another street near that OF the shoe
makers is devoted to the saddlers, and
Others to jewelers., to the sellers OF cot
tons and silks. There are also many
ba2aars filled with old and new car
pets. and many which have fine brass
work., and embroidery and furniture
inlaid with mother of pearl.
How the Arabs Do Business.
All trading among these Mohammc-
dams is by bargaining. There are no
fixed prices. and the merchants always
ask more than they expect to take.
usually offer one-half or one-third, and
am surprised to find that the dealer
often comes after me and gives me the
goods. This is especially so with the
Jews, who have shops in the souks-
They give a commission OF five or ten
per cent. to the dragoman. and the
first thing your guido does when you
enter the bazaars Is to lead you into
one OF these shops. He pretends that
he works In your interest, but he Isl
really confederate of the shopkeeper.
and gets rake-off from every sale
he brings in. The first day l visited
old Tunis | took along Maltese named
Gaouchi, to act as interpreter. he
warned me that 1 must expect the ner-
chants to charge more than they would
take. and said that when / saw him
draw his handkerchief across his lips
/ might know the price was too high
The first Jew shop we entered had
some magnificent rugs. for each OF
which the man asked about $500. but
Gaouchi's handkerchief remained pm
his pocket. In the next room l was
shown Tunisian silk dresses for which
the man wanted SIC apiece. and stu
there was no sign from Gaouchl. Not
withstanding, l found that could
have bought the rug for one-flfth of
the price asked. and I did buy SIX
dress for little over IS.
Tho souks fairly swarm with boys
and men who beg you to come into
the shops. They will say they want
you not to buy. but only to see. ana
gesture to show what they mean. They
point to their eyes and catch you by
the hand, trying to drag you in. / have
since learned the words for go away
and get out" in Arabic. and / now re-
peat them in that language and In
French, German and English whenever
one of these pests becomes over per-
ct u