Year: 1876




aa OF Biskra and by two Arabs whom Ali accuses oil
having stolen haik, a burnous and other articles
mere IL Is proper TO mention incident: The evening
oeore All Thought he recognized the persons OF the
Arabs the articles OF dress which had been stolen from
nun anu ne naa them put in prison In view OF thlA
promised they would the articles on the condi
tion that the complainant should 60 and the
tomb OF the marabout Sdi Aohammed ben Moussa,
which is situated at Saada the southeast of Bskra
and near the bord caravansary OF Taierrashou that
the things were really his.


II is believed through the country that whoever
takes false oath on the tomb OF the saint is bound
die violent death or at least be the victim Of
cident during the course OF the year. Ali not having
the time go far as saada proposed to the sup
posed thieves to profit by departure for the pur
where they could take the required oath by simply
turning in the direction Of the venerated tomb The
haouch 10 be the official witness Of the oath.


We arrived at thelbord during the night too late to
allow OF the or the accused taking the oath
Tho day at sunrise, with his face turned in the
direction Of Saada there Ali, having changed
his mind putting the accused the position to swear
themselves The latter without hesitation that
they stole nothing at all and rs lArgeau demanded
of A an explanation OF his breach of PROMISE the ne
gro answered But, Mslou Largeau ! am going on
long journey (Uoyage besef, and If misfortune beials
rue on the road il will be said swore falsely" Moral
The thieves or supposed thieves kept the
clothes and we to the conclusion that All, "a
fact, not quite certain that the clothes were MA


We resumed our journey


UNDER cLouDKD SKY


and the weather being cold Some hours ater we
halted at the springs OF Safer where we were ooged
to open umbrellas intended as presents FOR some
sheks order TO protect ourselves from the rain This
was rather singular beginning for an expedition into


We traverscd undulatng plains where the only veg
citation produced was brushwood interspersed Win
tamarands and chches around the feet of which the
sand accumulated in little hocks Of about one yard IN
height In the afternoon we reached the limit Of this
gloomy naked country which is called the Little Desert
of Moran and stopped at the bordj of Chegga
These bordes are kind Of fortified caravansaries for
the most part unnhabted, which placed at certain
distances from Bskra to Touggourt to give shelter,
there being villages TO the few travellers soldiers
who occasionally traverse this solitary country They
are composed invariably of large rectangular court
yard built pse the walls oo2holed and FASHIONED
at the two extremes by diagonal. The animals are
quarered in the courtyard and the in the little bas
tons the roots of which in general broken There
is door Whoever passes goes in and it very sell
dom that all the space occupied. When in an oasis
they are always situated on a height and in such
way in of revolt handful of determined men
could hold the whole population of village in cheek.
The moro important ones are occupied by two spahs
Franco Arab cavary) who in turn act as courers be-
tween Touggourt and Bskra


In the bordj OF Chegga we found three big lazy
chaouches native horsemenL who preferred to pass
their time sitting their launches rather than in try
ing utilize the which flows in abundance from
three wells, which might offer them some in-
ducements TO try little cultivation.


On the morning of the 25th we're awakened by the
prelude vocal and instrumental concert the harmony
of which rather dsagreeaby tcked our ears. II was
Ali who singing Abd-Aah and Amar accompany
ing him with a rudey made flute and q tomtom-the
latter instrument being represented by the bottom Of
can battered by the jolting of our beasts OF burden
He sang:"I love thee oh, daughter OF the air. thine



into deep we'll Of which the pueys were bad and the
ropes rotten 4 called in vain for succor in my
house Oh love thee in thy natural beauty.
with simple ring to adorn thy hand"
AaS as. sS ovsr girl sm S he
does not let alone will complain to the Hakem.
He went down too low beneath the window OF my
chamber; march OF thirty PAGES would put MIN out
ofbreath The moral Of this song translated in all its
simplicity, would be- then, that IL is bad policy to
humiate yourself before the woman that you love II
vou Wi q s seldom
humiate themselves before the women. and that they
treat them more like beasts OF burden than as com
panons of the reside. The fairer half OF human kind
here carries the heaviest burdens while its master
goes before, noby draped in his burnous or better
still, snugly mounted.


We breakfasted at the wells of C,thcl, at present
four in number and dug in the dried bed of the one
whose name they bear Some nomads had gone down
these wells and passed up the water to give their
focks of sheep and goats to drink We were
obliged quencn our thirst after them in the muddy
water which they coHdescended 10 leave for u.s.


In the background of the landscape perceived sew
era pyramids of stones placed in juxtaposition A
camel driver informed me that these rude monuments
cover


THE REMAINS OF A NEzzLA


Traction of trbe which had been surprised and mas
sacred entirely by another tribe Behind us, 70 the
NORTH is always visible the mass Of the Aures Noun
in all their grandiose majesty We traversed the
forest Of Saada Do not let this title OF forest
which is applied to this district lead you to suppose
that able for instant to get into the shade
The forest since forest 1t is called only
OF little shrubs growing thnly, which scarcely reach
the height Of man. Suddenly the scene changes and
gaze Is attracted by landscape worthy the pencil
of artist At feet the plateau, brusquely inter-
rupted and cut like the top of terrace enables to
the western extremity Of that vast salt marsh the
Chott ell MIR. The magnesia which convers the bot
tom OF the Chott produces with the SUMS rays
tinual mirage We fancy we see an immense gulf at
the bottom OF the marsh, with its curves and its reefs
At certain distance islets perceived coming
from the shades and in the distances the indstinct
and vaporous background of the What picture
for q marine painter.


We camped on the very border of the Chott at the
well of kouGia ad Dor, the name OF which recalls
legend.


II is said that sidi Okla, the propagator of Isamsm
in the part of Algeria arriving the border
of the Chott el Mir, believed he vast before
him. and thatathough tired Of the desolate soItudes
he had just raversed heretired before the apparent
obstacle presented by this false sea-from which the
name OF Koudiat ed D0r-turn bride mountain.


The sun dappeared and with IL the mirage. We have
only in front of white, arid fiat, bare and without
horizon The fresh thickets Of the isles the bends and
the reefs only slender brushwood. The olsen
chantment is all the greater the illusion having
been complete. The neighborhood is withal sad and
the climate unhealthy. In summer short stay gives
the most dangerous fevers The water of the well Is
than that, the bordj is infected, and the
only room it contains, and which open
overhead, is too small to contain the four OF
The only interesting thing in the whole place Is
inscription cut the wall of the courtyard and al
ready half eaced which recalls the scientific expedi-
tion to the Chott undertaken by Captain Boudaire.
We followed the example OF the Arabs and slept the
sand wrapped up our bornous The following morn
ing 26th) Largeau called us at dawn to let the
effects OF the mirage when the sun was rising. We
saw fact, rise up from the dried up basin OF the
Chott immense volume Of clear water, upon which
rose higher little sles Of verdure which seemed at
times to glide over the surface OF the waves.


We were now in that long depression which stretches
from north south far the other side OF Touggour
and which Is called the Oued-Zhir. Behind the
last peaks Of the Aur6s Mountains. We could with
great difhculty the shoulder Of the blun Of Sfa
whence for the first time we caught sight OF the DESERT



LAUGHING AWAY PAIN.