The Springfield herald., 1913-03-14


H the wonderful inventions
- of man. has Just afforded
another ultra-modern contrivance-
the camera-its first chance to snap
a group of dwellings as old in style as
any that man ever built for himself.
1t was the Italian dirigible balloon
"P q that accomplished the feat and
gave the Italian invaders OF Tripoll
additional reason for patting them
selves on the back and feeling like the
vanguard of progress. While the bal
loon hovered high over the arid waste
that lies back of the Mediterranean
coast of northern Africa, the pho
tographer trained his camera on lot
of holes in the desert-appArenty bur-
rowed by animals. Instead of being
that, however, they were all that was
visible of villages teeming with hu
man beings, of troglodyte villages.
whose Inhabitants dig deep into the
earth to find home just as their
forefathors did thousands of years
ago. when the dirigible balloon and
the camera and the Italian nation
were things undreamed of
This unique picture OF underground
dwellings taken from a point far up In
the air by the latest European visitor
to the cavemen has aroused renewed
interest In these African rozlodytes,
whom only a few travellers have ever
beheld.
This most recent visitor sojourned
among the cave-dwellers OF Matmata
back of the Mediterranean coast of
Tunisia, and from these struck still
further inland to the places where the
climbing troglodytes' dwell and the
nomads of the desert store their grain
which, though built above the ground.
are fashioned exactly like the under
ground homes of their neighbors, thus
leading scientists to believe that
their ancestors burrowed into the
ground.
Curious. indeed. are the tales brought
back by this latest adventurer into the
land of the troglodytes. When he ap-
preached the underground dwellings OF
Matmata all the women whom he en-
countered ran away. covering their
faces as they went He was taken
into homes deep down In the earth. yet
furnished with carpets hanging from
the earthen walls, with modern tables
and benches.
But those who went before him
have given us more minute details as
to this extraordinary people. In 1911
an American. pointed out on every
side as the first of his race to venture
into the Matmata region and the des
ert spaces hidden behind 1t. sojourned
for come time with the ka!d. or chief
tain. of Matmata, travelled with guides
provided by this local potentate far
into the hinterland and gathered the
materials for long account OF his
wanderings. to say nothing of splen
did series of pictures. Previous tc
this visit the troglodytes had enter
tained two French chaeologists and
still earlier-far back in the nineties
when they were scarcely known al
all to the outside world-they opened
their curious abodes to Rrunn, Dan
ish explorer. who also lived with the
kaid of his day and gave an interest
Ing account of what he saw
Frank Edward Johnson is the mar
who can lay claim to being the only
American who has lived among the
cavemen OF northern Africa. While
he was in Tripoli some years ago he
became quite chummy with the kait
of Matmata. an intelligent native
whom the French masters of the LAND
had appointed to rule over an INLAND
tribe. This native later became kaic
Of Matmata and. happening to reat
In some American magazines an ar
ticle by Mr.. johnson on troglodytes
he wrote to the author at his home II
Norwich, Conn. that he would i'm
prove his knowledge Of the subject b,
paying his old friend a visit 81 an
troglodyte myself" the writer o.
the letter remarked. So Mr.. johnson
left his Connecticut home. sailee
across the sea to Tunis, transferred
to small coasting steamboat. which
landed him at the desert port oi
Gabes. and after a wearisome journey
over the sands, found himself within
view of the village of Matmata. o.
rather, he didn't find himself withir
view OF it. 1t was there. but h,
couldn't see 1t.
Imagine arriving at town of 5.00t