The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-03-26

Copyright, 1906, b.
Millions OF Rosy Checked. .cd-Haircd,
Bluc-ENcd Niricane-IItcir odd Vii
Iu.ce on the Mountain Tops-A PCn
Picture OF i<aDNIc House and
aIm-Whcrc the sheep and Don
keys Sleep With the People
Land OF Village Rcpubiics-irank
-. Carpenter Describes Ills Hundred
Mile Ride Through the Mountains
OF Grand kabtlia.
MaiIlot. lgeria.--Have YOU ever
heard Of the white race of the Atlas
mountains? Its people have features
like ours and some Of them have Dlue
eyes and red hair. Many have rosy
ekins and compleXions SO fair that if
dressed i'm European clEthes they
would not be out Of place in London,
paris or New York. Others are darker,
from their admixture with the Arabs
and Moors. but they are still people
Of their own kind. and strong enough
to impress their brand on their Off
spring.
This race is scattered through the
mighty mountains of northwestern
Africa. 1t is composed of the Ber-
bers of kabyles. who are numbered
by millions ANA are found everywhere
in these hills.
The Atlas mountains begin< oppo.
site the Canary Islands. well down the
Atlantic coast, and run from southwest
10 northeast for distance Of more
than 1,500 miles, ending near cape
Bon. below the island of Sicily. Th@r
are longer than from Philadelphia to
omaha and wider than the distance
between Washington and New York.
The region altogether is more than
one-scyenth the size of the United
States proper. and including the val
IcN& il has a population Of 100000
or more.
The Bcrbcrs Of Morocco.
Fully one-half of these people are
made up Of the descendants Of this
white race and if we take the tribes
which have left the mountains and
gone down into the loWlands and dcs-
erts they Will number still more. The
Tuarcgs. the fierce brigands of the
Sahara, who Wear black wells night
and day and scour the desert on camcir
rohbng the carayans,~ are Of Berber
origin. and 50 are the BiSkris and
others who come from far down in the
Sahara to do the heavy work about
the Wharves of the Algerian ports.
There are several million BerberS in
into hundreds Of tribes. They live in
the mountains and are laWless ana
Wild. The band of kaiSuli. which kid
mapped Ion Perdicars. is one of them,
and they are the main cause of the
danger To foreigners in that country
today.
The oldest White Race on Record.
The Ber5crs are the Oldest whit,
race upon record. and il we coulG
trace our own forefathers back int,
the dark ages We should probably fine
that they are our cousins. They arc
supposed to have come here from
southern Europe, but. if SO, it wa!
when Europe was savage and Wh"r
our ancestors were still eating Will
their fingers aud sleeping on skins il
the WildS OF the forests.
Indeed. the Berbers were here Wh"I
Athens was in its infancy and Whel
Rome was vet TO be born There ar'
records in the Egyptian temples datin:
d. far back as 1900 wears befor,
Christ. which speak OF them as havin2
rosy cheeks. blue eyes and red hal :
and We find them fighting with tn,
Phocricians. the Carthaginians. the
Romans, the Cloths and the Nandals
They We're conquered again and again
but they fed to their Businesses in tn
Atlas ana have kept their individu
ality to this DAY.
When the Arabs came. the Berber
were again overcome, and they adopt
ed the Mohammedan religion but the.
hay" modified it to SRit themselves
and they have still their own ways ant
customs. as they had in the past. Tn
kahNle women do not veil their faces
and the men are satisfied to have bU
OF" wife. \ large number, however
have intcrmaricd With the alien race
and there are noW among them a
many brown skins as fair skins. Th
\ -
hucd I\abNles i'll the summer. and the,
tal< e on the brown rOsoatc complexion
Of Italy. Spain and south France
Among the kabyie> OF Grand Nt..>
| have seen many at these fair
skinned Berbers or Kabyles since
ctInc t. the black continent SOM
months ago. | met them first il
Morocco and again in Spanish Africa
and I nave found them everNWher
during my travels in Algeria. / hav
spent the past week in Grand NaDylia
where they are almost the sole inhabi
tants. and have gone from village t
village Investigating their customs an,
photographing them at work and il
their homes. Within the past thre
days I havo ridden for more than
hundred miles through the widest o
th"se African mountains, crossing th'
Grand Atlas chain from Tizi-OuZon
l1" capital Of kabylia. by Way of For
National and Mjchelet, over i pas
almost "a high as Mount Washington
aud then coming down to this littl'
town of Maiilot in the rich valley o
the Tell. where ] now am.
The road we took over the noun
tains covered q distance of about l..
Giomete1S. 1t was built by tn,
French as 4 military highway to hole
these people in order. and it is =
smooth that one could go over it il
an automobile Indeed, l was Offered
au automobile for the trip at a COS
Of $25 per day, but | found that
should have to pay one days return
fare for every day used the machinc
making the cost really SO per diem
there WAS also danger Of a break
down in the mountains aud | conc!ud
cd 10 hire = carriage instead Th
/ got for $i5 per day. 1t had al
Arab driver and three horses hitchc,