The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1912-02-22
ONE uF MiNCHFsrtRs 'ioBT
TROTTERS.
interesting letter lrom Miss sarah
T.. Dawes. Ahout Northern tfii-

Biskra Algcrie
Dear Miss Chaplin
We have been thinking Tor long
lime Of writing you. 50 while walt
ing FOR the time to 80 to the train
al this little place IN one Of the
srandest Of gorges, | win tell you
a biz about 1t aud the desert beyond,
which we have just visited
The letter head shows you Diskra,
very large fertile date palm oasis
IN the Sahara Desert which We left
Ibis morning and ! would tell you
little about that first Water
from the mountains has come down
10 II ii abundance aud as the
sun shines nearly every day IN the
year, with burning rays in the sum
mer time, the date palm flourishes
luXuriantly. 100000 trees are in the
oasis OF Biskra alone All around
lies the desert. its brown sands In
waving nillorks covered with the
coarse brush the eamels feed upon,
out otherwise lifeloss but when liv-
ing water comes is wonderfully fer
tile
The houses Of the natives are all
built Of sun-dried hides covered
with plastering Of mud Only for
The frame work and door do they
use anything else aud for that the
palm trunks make good timber.
fhere are no windows IN their
nouses and for q chimney a hole in
he ceiling Is visible, but the smoke |
Searchers had to find IT, They have
lat roofs which make the place for
he women TO stay and be out of |
loors As they are Mohammedans |
their churches or mosques have |
ninarets upon them from which the
aithful Musselmen are called to |
prayer five times a day by the |
Muezzen Then the Muezzen comes |
down to The interior Of the mosque |
and leads the Others by standing faC
ng the cast and offering the pray
RS the Koran, their sacred book, |
directs. now standing, now bowling. I
low kneeling, with forehead upon
,he ground We have been in Mos
ques several times when the pray
ers were being said but were not /
allowed TO step upon the sacred I
carpet and were usually obliged to
put on slippers over our shoes. The
markets are very interesting for
the desert people are wandering
tribes who bring In their camel car
ayans, fruit, rugs and produce of all |
sorts from one oasis of the desert |
60 another and at the markets the
merchants from different sections
meet and barter their goods. Such
strange costumes and turbans as
they have. Some are Sndanese or
Negroes and some Jews while the
most are Arabs, with fine intellec-
tual features and light brown skin.
One day we saw large group in
circle and In their center were
three men with tom toms Tor
drums) and other instruments. but
instead Of playing one OF them was
telling a story IN Arabic from the
life Of Mohammed some one told
us, and all were listening as In
tently as If they could not lose
single word, and laughing every now
and then. We could not understand
a word but we could tell that the
others did Another man near was
telling fortunes from the sand while
some were writing letters for other
people On little table we saw a
boy sitting crosslegged while all
about him were round loayes OF
bread he was selling. Immense
boxes of dates were packed up near
by and from them quite large heaps
were spread upon mat right on
the ground and they seemed to
think these as good as the closed
boxes There Is a beautiful gar
den In Blskra where wealthy
count. whose sister owns the hotel
where we staid, has collected won
ierful number and variety Of palms
and with them has hibiscus, ger
bamboo, oleander, acacia.
and other trees and flowers too
numerous to mention. Tie has ar
ranged them too with lovely walks
and arbors where views from the
terrace out over the desert, make
contrast In his house
be has made every room into
separate lovely little white house
IN different part Of the garden.
here the dining room. there the
sleeping rooms and In another place
the salon or parlor We have had
luncheon over there twice and Will
.how you photo taken there when
we come home We enjoyed rides
1ut over the desert to other GASES
very uueb and nna dav eavs a enian-