davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1923-06-10
tempt 10 solve The mystery Of the


He had to oppose the combined
hatred of the wa3stbrethren) and
pupils of the zawias, religious fanat
les, the villagers who jealously
guarded the privacy of their country
and the passing caravans of pilgrims
and merchants. After being held a
prisoner for nearly a month in his
lonely camp, in daily fear for his
life, he was helped to escape by an
Arab friend.
Now Hassanein Bey, having been
secretary to the Italo-British Mission
which arranged the treaty Of 1915
with the Senussi, was suspected of
the darkest Pan-Islamic designs. For
a week at Benghazi we lived in a
state of suspense. Intrigue was in
the air and every one suspected the
motives of every one else. If a cannon
broke down, we decided that we were
not to be allowed to reach Jedabia.
If Hassanein spoke to a Beduin, using
the Moslem salutatfon, the eyes of
our so-called interpreter would al
most pop out of his head with inter-
est and disnay.
Relays of kindly individuals took
the utmost interest in our. history,
plans, ideas and belongings. We were
pumped" until we could not think OF
anything say; and we, in
turn, pumped every hospitable and
amiable individual who politely and
indifferently asked us our destina-
ton!
However, once Jedabia was reached
we felt happier.
The open desert lay before us and
the lure of the great tracks south!
Somewhere far beyond the pale mauve
line of the horizon lay the secret Of
| the Sahara, the oasis which had be-
come the goal of every explorer, from
the enthusiastic coast guard officers
who dreamed of forcing a trotting
hahn through the sands to the gov
ernment whose camions and light-car
patrols had failed to pierce the
,waterless drifts.
We sent to ask if Sayed Rida, the
brother and wakil (steward or lieu
tenant governor) Of Sidi Idris would
| receive US. He offered us Immediate
ly house to live In while we were
in Jedabia. He wanted to give US
instantly anything from horses to
dates
Our peace, however, was short
lived. For the first few days at
Jedabia we were in fools paradise.
All around us lay the desert. 1t
| seemed so easy a thing to hire a few
| camels and guide and disappear
! over the rim Of the horizon. BY the
! fourth day we had discovered a few
| Of the most important difficulties.
Firstly, there were no camels. There
| had been an excellent harvest The
Bedufn was rich and he didn't want
| to work. 1t was impossible to ex-
plain the exact destination of the
caravan, for the Holy Oasis is far
beyond the bourne of most camel
drivers dreams.
Secondly, all work had to be done
in secret because the whole of our
household were spies with the pos
sible exception of the black cook, Ali
Mustapha had been in the Ufficio
Politico and he dutifully reported the
minutest Of our doings. The head Of
the police, the stalwart Mabruk, was
also not averse to Latin gold, so he
placed his brother to watch us as
horse boy and, lest that were not
Sufficient, he sent US mysterious
servant whose head appeared sud
denly at the glassless window when
Evening star., 1923-06-10

the sandy track ran between the
blind mud walls that I had seen
u In so many countries. II feel"
u said. "as IL had left behind me the
Hast shred of civilization. The sim
plicity of life is beginning to impreg
nate me. I believe that old Bedouins 8
blessing has bewitched me. When we
Ueave the desert I shall be a Moslem."
The great adventure began at Jeda-
sbia, 100 kilometers from Benghazi as
Hhe crow flies. 1t is only a group of
scattered sand houses. with the mys-
terieus wipdowless walls of the east.
flung down ON a wide space of white
rock and sand, yet it is the home of
the great Senussi family. We arrived
there on November day, having
come by divers methods across the
stretch of stony desert which lies to
the southwest of Benghazi, the capital
of Cyrenaica.
The amiable relations existing be-
tween Italy and the Senussi made it
easy for US to reach Jedabia as the
guests of the most hospitable govern
ment, but henceforth 1t was left us to
tend for ourselves.
we coulQ not take our kindly hoStS
into our confidence, as they would
have been aghast at the idea of a
young woman's venturing alone into
A territory as yet unexplored. I
realize it would have been very diff
cult for them to imagine that. the
woman they saw with her French hat
veiled in dropping lace. and high
heels to match the red of her striped
cloak, would metamorphose herself
into Bedouin and attempt a journey
they looked upon as altogether i'm
possible for a European and exceed
ingly difficult even for an Arab.
Benghazi had been fete those
days There We're many ceremo-
nies-a review, 4 great dinner in the
governors palace in honor of Italy's
new ally-which brought streams of
Arab notables as we'll as Europeans
TO witness the fireworks from the
wide verandas of his excellency's
dwelling. + saw the emir (Sidi Idris)
standing aloof from the chattering
crowd, his retinue by him, and won
dered what he thought of US all. Half
The guests were of his own race and
creed, yet not here was his real king
'iom. but among the ten thousand
Evening star., 1923-06-10

IIASSANEIN gl asped essentials and
L i left me to fill in details. It's
flight on two camels and the caravan
must followed" he said.
!. We sorted out an extra weeks pro-
visions to add to those we had al
ready prepared and the rest we put
into big sacks, with the intention
of sending these latter at midnight.
when the spies were sleeping peace
fully, to some place where they could
be stored until the dilatory camels
arrived and the caravan started.
They would then be packed unos-
tentatiously with all the rest of the
loads and when we joined the cara
van a few days journey on the way
to Aujela, we should recover our most
necessary provisions. We ourselves,
with the tent, two rolls of bedding,
a fortnight's provisions and two suit
cases, chiefly containing films, medi-
cine, apparatus, candles, soap, etc,
would disappear the following night
in Beduin clothes.
At am. then, Hassanein, shrouded
from head to foot in a white jerd, was
waiting just outside the main door.
A few minutes later there was the
faintest scratch on the heavy wood.
Almost before he had pulled IL open
seven dark figures, muf1ed up to the
eyes, utterly unrecognizable, slipped
into the yard. Not a word was ut
tered Dexteriously they shouldered
the provision sacks and stepped away
into the night without a murmur.
Let no one think it is easy to get
into Beduin feminine attire for the
first time. The tight white trousers
presented difficulties over riding
breeches. The red tobh (dress) was
too tight at the neck. The barracan
Oong cotton garment) needed much
adjustment. 1t is all held in place by
thick, red wooden "hezaam" at least
twelve feet in length, which is wound
round and round till ones waist re-
sembles mummy and Is tied one
side with dangling ends. Under this
u wore my revolver belt, with two
Evening star., 1923-06-10
bands who aVept out Of The desert

seized their prey and disappeared
into the 1irnit1esS sands ants upon
an English lawn. We learned many
things that day.
confess to feeling a certain pang
when I realized that I must leave
every single European garment be-
hind except pair of riding boots and
breeches and a wooden sweater.
When we decided on flight as the
only possible means of leaving Jeda-
bia, we, asked Sayed Rida for guide.
He gave us Yusuf ell Hamri and Mo-
hammed Quemish and, calling them
into our presence, he told them that
If anything happened to us, whether
by their fault or not, they would die
i'm edia ately. The men accepted the
statement as undoubted fact.
Sayed Rida took us for a drive in
his car in the afternoon. There are
no roads or even tracks beyond Jeda-
Evening star., 1923-06-10
Feeding the Animals
At Washington's Zoo

The monarch of the plains. King
Buffalo, gets exactly the same diet,
only different. His ground grain is
not mixed with vegetables. he
is not used vegetables
his native heath. and he has a
private dish of his own that is
always kept on tap in his cage or
run-a ball of rock salt for him to
lick whenever he sees fit. Neither
the hippopotamus nor the buffalo
eats meat, which is also true for such
animals as the elephant, camel, kan
garoo, antelope and all their kind,
the mountain goats and sheep, the
deer, the fowl family and such small
creatures as squirrels
The sea lions eat fish exclusively
getting two meals a day And a very
strange thing has happened in con-
nection with monkeys and meat. The
head keeper, Mr.. Black burn, says
that before the world war he gave ali
the monkeys roast beef with their
other food-two meals a day of cook
ed rice, evaporated milk, eggs, nuts
and sunf1ower seeds-but that during
the war it was so difficult to get beef
for them that he substituted horse
meat OF all the ninety odd monkeys
he had to feed not one would touch
the horsemeat. Another human trait.
though humans are said to have eaten
horsefesh without knowing it, and
the monkey, apparently, can tell the
difference. So as beef is still pro
in he
ting no meat at all and are thriving
just as we'll. They do love their roast
beef, though, says Mr.. Blackburn
The mongoose and tayra-some, kin
TO the antelope-get their two meals
of raw eggs, cooked or row meat and
raw fruit, particularly banana. But
the al1igators and snakes take the
cake for diet, If you can call it cake.
For thee esalligator eats raw fish. raw
meat and rats and mice that are
either alive or killed in traps, he does
not care which: The snake, or rather.
the large snake. such as the python.
somewhat similarly eats rats, mice
and ducks, killed or alive.
The feeding times for the alligators
and snakes are curious. An alligator
receives a meal only once every two
weeks and the snakes have three or
four meals after every time they shed
their skins, which occurs. in this cl1-
mate, once every six weeks. Then
the snake dozes off until skin hang
ing time again.
Among tina birds there are, of
course, carnivorous owls. hawks and
eagles. getting, as do all carnivorous
animals. one meal day of raw meat
or fish. But among the feathered
tribe we find more interesting and
greatly more privileged character. In
fact, Monsieur Peacock is by far the
most pampered parsonage in the Zoo.
He wanders, as does the proverbial
will-o'-the-w -wisp, footlose and fancy
free, wherever he wishes to go, visits
the yards of many of the animals and
preens and primps himself in the
roads and paths for the delectation
of visitors. He is friendly with ami
mails and humans, chiefly when there
Is food to be gained by it, for when
food is brought to other animals in
goes the peacock to look il over and
see If there is anything to his taste.
such as grain, bread vegetables, etc.
Mr.. Blackburn says the peacock sue
ceeds in feeding himself SO well that
they do not bother with regular meals
for him. MARY n. S. WH!TELEX,
Evening star., 1923-06-10

taught how to bake fiat, heavy bread
in mud ovens.
TT is amazing how perfect is the
i wireless telegraphy system of the
desert. One night, dining with Sayed
Rida I remarked that 1 was so glad
there was no electric light and that
liked the local coloring and primitive e
lighting effect in Arab houses. This
was translated into the bazaar into,
she is a Moslem She hates all Eu-
old customs as our fathers had them
We knew our campaign had sue
ceeded on the eighth day, when, after
the chief spy, despairing of getting a
| glimpse of US any other way, had
brought US as a gift an absurd black
bird with bald head, brother of
Ali. the cook, arrived from his camel 8
hair tent. He greeted US kindly and
! told US that the Beduins were in SYM
pathy with US, that they knew we
were Moslems and of their own blood.
Even then our kindly host was not
satisfied, but insisted on sending an
| escort with US, ten soldiers of his
guard coal-black slaves. under a COM
Lmander called Abdul Rahim. He also
determined to settle the vexed ques-
tion of camels once for all by send
| ing a caravan of his own to Kufara, to
Evening star., 1923-06-10

Bedouins who spring to horse or camel
sand pilgrims who learn the law from
his zawias! (colleges).
We stood together on a wind
swept balcony and looked down at
a wild dance Of Abyssinian soldiers.
A thousand black figures, each bear
ing flaring torch, gyrated madly in
the moonlight, yelling hoarse songs
of victory and prowess. The three
things a man may be justly proud
of in Abyssinia are killing a lion, an
elephant or his enemy! The fantastic
dance We saw might celebrate one or
other Of these achievements.
~ **
i nouneing the emir's departure for
Italy, had been fired. Hassanein Bey
and I climbed into the car most kind
Iy lent by the government When he
first consented to accompany me- to
the Libyan desert, where his knowl-
edge of the language, religion and
customs was invaluable to me, Has
sanein Bey assured me that he came
for a rest cure. Later on he assumed
so many characters that it was some
what difficult to keep coupt He was
always the quartermaster general of
our little expedition and he used to
produce macaroons at the most Inn
possible moments from equally i'm
possible placesl
He was q chaperon when elderly
Shelby 1p1naAxed my hand in mar
Evening star., 1923-06-10

bring back some of his belongings
and allowing US to travel with 1t.
To any one who does not know the
east. it would now appear that things
were successfully settled. but neither
camels nor soldiers appeared.
Unfortunately It was a race against
time, for every one was growing sus-
picious at my inexplicable desire to
stay SO long In a little mud village on
the edge of the world. The political
aspect was always before their eyes.
In their anxiety to know whether
Hassanein Bey Gan Esyptian) was
plotting a Pan-Islamic empire with
the thirty Egyptian ex-coast guards
who had taken refuge with the
Senussl during the war. they over
looked other possibilities.
We felt that we had one last card
to play that they would never sus-
pect-making our flight at midnight.
We were loathe to use it, however.
We waited patiently for the camels
that did not come. and fenced desper-
ately for time.
The lounging white figures in the
suq (market) stared at me curiously.
They had stoned a Christian dog"
from Zuetina the day before. but L
was the Sayed's guest. Mustapha
said: THE Sayed is great All the
people fear him. Otherwise they
would kill every Christian in the
country"
We decided definitely, on simple
but somewhat desperate plan. We
felt we should be allowed only two or
three more days in Jedabia without
an open fight, and we could not be
certain of the twenty camels neces-
sary for the caravan. Therefore, we
decided to leave practically all our
luggage behind and go off in the mid
die of the night.
Evening star., 1923-06-10

riage, a fanatic Of tho most bitter
type when 1t was necessary to i'm
press the local mind, my Imam when
we prayed in public, a child when he
lost his only pair OF primrose yellow
tie of Marsala from the last Italian
fort and chased a thin hen till, in
desperation. she laid an egg for our
zabaglione! He also made the dark
est plans for being villain and mur-
dering any one who interfered with
our affairs. and 1 nervously listened
to tales of sudden disappearances IN
the Sahara.
Ten minutes after leaving Benghazi
the white towns with it's slender min
arets had disappeared into the sand.
and our camions crawled like great
gray beetles over sunlit waste, with
here and there a line of camels black
against the horizon.
Kufara, the Kababo of old, lies
some 500 kilometers south, family
southeast, of Jalo. 1t is the heart of
the Eastern Sahara and the center of
it's trade, for the only big caravan
route from the Sudan and Wadai to
thC HOibh pdSSCo iii ou6i H. yet IuC
journey Is so difficult that none but
the strongest caravans can attempt 1T.
To me Kufara was almost a
mirage. 1t represented the secret
which the Sahara had rigidly guarded
for so long against Christian eyes.
! The tragic story of Rohlfs' Inflated
expedition fired my enthusiasm to
reach this center of the worlds most
confanatical fraternity. the unknown,
mysterious country untrod by foot of
! stranger, be he Christian or Moslem.
Having regard to the amazing diff
culties of the journey and the almost
maniacal hatred with which stran-
! gers are regarded. 1t Is natural that
with one possible exception, no Euro
| pean should ever have been able to
reach the sacred cluster of zawias
(schools) and morabits (holy place.
at Tai. A French prisoner spent some
time in Kufara during the war; he
was sent there from Uau Szerir by
| order of Sayed Ahmed.
| X X X
InYER forty years ago a German
" explorer made a very gallant at
Evening star., 1923-06-10
T UNDREDS of people visit the
Washington geological Park
every week. Some weeks the

every week. Some weeks the
hundreds become thousands.
They look the animals and watch
the animals. They feed the animals
against the rules, of course-and even
train some Of them, but rare. indeed,
is the person who inquiries as to how
the creatures live, and what, when
and how much they eat.
Old Brother Bruin has to have a
special kind of bread baked for him.
His loaves must be made of a mix
ture of graham, bran and wheat
flour, into a heavy and coarse bread
that exercises his digestive organs
Brown bears, black bears, cinnamon
bears and polar bears all require this
bread They have just two meals a
day, as all the herbiferous animals
do, with grass in the evening, and
amount of meat or fish, some green
vegetables, and occasionally cooked
rice. ,iF~,&faU
There are at present in the zoo
twenty-six bears, including cubs, and
three of the cubs are recent additions.
These new cubs are being fed an in
teresting diet. They have bread and
raw eggs, mixed with plenty Of COW 8
milk to lap out of a platter, as sup
Elementary feelings to nursing their
mother. Quite like modern babies,
formula and all.
Polar bears eat little more of
everything than do other bears, par
ticuIarly meat and fish, and, strange
to say, they take kindly to grain and
vegetables. They do get some greens
in their own home regions, however.
as back from the water a few green
things grow in the summertime.
"Sit up, ELL" said visitor to big
brown bear the other day. Lift your
front paws. Now lift your right
foot" ELI lifted the left. No, said
the right foot, Eli" and Eli changed.
"All right, Eli, here's your stick of
candy"
This was repeated many times, but
Eli lifted the wrong foot every time
and patiently changed. He looked as
though he would do any amount Of
work for that stick of candy. Trained
with peanuts and candy, the visitor
said, just by standing outside his
cage that way.
Another visitor had the sea lions
diving for taffy. Evidently water does
not spoil a sweet tooth. And as for
sweets, did you ever give sweet choc-
olate to deer? They are perfectly
crazy about it. Ducks and swans like
sweet chocolate, too. In fact, all the
Zoo folks are partial to sweets, unless
the lions, tigers and their cousins are
exceptions But sweetmeats are not
on the bill of fare of any of them.
They only get them on the sly, as it
were.
Their regular meals must become
horribly monotonous-the same old
thing, day in and day out, until sum-
mer comes along and gives them
frseh grass, greens and more vege-
tables.
For instance, old man Hippo gets
two meals a day, consisting Of six
teen quarts of cut-up vegetables
mixed with ground bran or other
ground grain. In the, evening, instead
of supper, he gets forty-five pounds
Of hay or grass. Now, would you not
think he would welcome summer and
real grass?
Evening star., 1923-06-10

ever Hassanein Bey and 1 were study
ing the Koran or writing notes. We
were never able to relax our vigil
lance for a second. We knew that
every word we uttered would be
overheard and repeated.
X X <
DAZAAR rumor spoiled our first
- plan, which was exceedingly sim
pie. We meant to persuade an
ekhwan to accompany US to see some
neighboring village, where there
would be a suppositional marriage or
other fiesta. and from there drift on.
We had not reckoned with the fanati-
cism of the Moslem. Tales of
wealthy Christian woman about to
travel into the interior spread like
a bush fire. Mustapha came to me
with lurid tales of throats cut almost
within sight of the suq (market).
Sayed Rida himself explained that no
Christian life was safe beyond the
boundaries of Cyrenaica. and that
any one supposed to have money was
Immediately marked for the lawless
Evening star., 1923-06-10

bias but the sand is hard and smooth.
The Sayed thought it would be good
thing to show himself openly with US,
and indeed, our fame increased after
that drive. When we returned the
whole of our household had attired it
self In clean white garments and
there was an awed moment while
they all reverently kissed the
Senussi's hand
We discovered that one Mannis-
mann, a German, had been killed by
his own Arab guard a few hours out
side the town because he had $4,000
pounds in gold upon him. We heard
Evening star., 1923-06-10
Ouently, still attack any caravans

travelling beyond Taiserbo.
Thereafter we began a Iaborious.
systematic campaign to correct the
impression Of me. as a rich Christian
woman. / discarded my hat for a
beautiful kufiya (head dress), given
me by the Sayed. Early and late I
could be heard reciting verses of the
Koran. Moreover, we used to wander
through the Beduin camps which
fringed Jedabia. talking to the wom-
en- and gradually gaining their con-
fidence.
If sheikh, a Hail, came to US. l
used to murmur the "Shehada" to
him: Ash hadu lila Illaha i'll Allah
wa ash hadu lima Mohammedan rasul
Allah" upon which he generally
blessed me warmly. After a few days
/ was greeted enthusiastically and
introduced to the solemn faced babies
adorned with silver amulets and
Evening star., 1923-06-10

n nean While
Are Being Made for Jey-K, the Forbidden Guarded Pro-
Who'll NarowyE -FrenchP War
Evening star., 1923-06-10

that the Tebu tribes of the group of
GASES enormously known as Kufra
Greatly Kufara) have not entirely sub
mitted to the Senussi rule and. conse-
Evening star., 1923-06-10
BY ROsITA FORBES.
ARTICLE I

TURNED to Hassanein Bey as
the sandy track ran between the
blind mud walls that 1 had seen
Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-12-01
COMING EVENTS

Nov. 25-30--National Radio week.
Dec. 1-Launching of lobster smack
for Willard-Daggett Co. at East
Boohtbay.
Dec. Debate Bates College VS..
Wellesley College and Wellesley.
Dec. 1-Cumberland County Medical
Association event. Portland.
Dec. Golden Rule Sunday observ-
ancc.
Dec. S-Referendum on Daylight Saw
ing Time. Portland.
Dec annual meeting Sagadahoc
Agricultural and Horticultural So-
ciety. $50. Brunswick
Dec. 3--City election. Portland.
Dec. City election. Rockland.
Dec. TX: of P. district convention.
Portland.
Dec. 9-16-Iarding Memorial week.
Dec. 10-City election, Hallowell.
Dec. l0-City election. Bangor.
Dec. 1O-City election. Westbrook.
Dec. 10-13--Maine State Grange, an
nual meeting. lewiston,
Jan: Si-Feb. 1-2-Augusta Winter Car
nival.
Feb. 14-March s-coast-to-coast trip,
sponsored by Portland Ad. Club
Feb. 25-Mar. Annual Portland Auto
Show