Part 39

He who takes off his burnous and goes up to the enemy with the butt end of his rifle in the air, must also be spared.

Shepherds, likewise, have their life accorded to them.

A special share of the plunder is reserved for those who have been sent forward as scouts previous to the attack upon the enemy. It is their just recompense for offering their lives to secure the triumph of their brethren. If a scout loses his mare, he is compensated by one hundred ewes, or another mare, or by one hundred Spanish douros. There is no exaggeration in this estimate, for it is always the best mounted who are selected. If a band returns with booty, a "lance" is bestowed upon the woman of distinction who goes forth from her tent, and lifts up her voice in honour of the victors. In an affair of nif (self-love), the pretty women who accompany the expedition to animate the combatants are entitled to a share of the spoils. Whoever lends his rifle, receives one-fourth of the share that falls to the lot of the borrower.

Suppose an Arab finds a horse at pasture away from its owner, at a time when his tribe happens to be attacked, or is on the point of setting out on an expedition. Suppose he takes the animal, and places on its back a borrowed saddle. Suppose, further, that this saddle is not complete; but that he gets stirrups from one, a girth from another, a bridle and a breast-band from a third, until at last he is completely equipped. He sets out and returns with plunder; but the proprietor of the horse has no right to any portion of it. Had the animal been killed, the owner would have been reimbursed, in the event of success; but if it is brought back safe and sound, he cannot claim anything: "The animal has been nothing more than an instrument of Allah to render service to the brave horseman who exposed himself for the public good." The proprietors, however, of the different parts of the equipment are entitled to a share. The wanderers of the desert have an apologue quite in the Arab style which exactly defines the respective dues of each:

"Quoth the saddle-tree to the horseman: 'Do you purpose to keep all the prize to yourself? Who furnished you with a seat? What would you have done had you not found me there?'

"A pretty story!" exclaims the girth. "The service you brag of, was it after all so very great? Why, you would have done more harm than good, had I not held you on the horse's back."

"Gently, gently!" cry the stirrups. "I acknowledge you may both of you have been useful in your way; but pray tell me who supported the horseman when he dashed forward? On whom did he lean when he made use of his rifle to bring down the enemy from whom he took the spoils about which you are wrangling so sharply? Who was it that enabled him to look far ahead, to stoop down, or turn round, according as he wished to strike a blow, or to avoid one with which he was threatened?"

"It was you," replied the bridle. "There is no denying the truth. And yet, O my sons, by Allah, master of the world! our horseman would not have much riches to boast of to-day had he employed only your services. You did not take the road to the plunder, and assuredly you would be far enough from it now had I not guided you. Cease, then, these disputes. The palm is mine, for it was I alone who enabled you to reach the goal."

"Ah! that is rather too much of a good thing!" the horse ironically observes, after listening thus far without uttering a word. "Somehow I fancied that the greatest praise was due to myself. I thought I had seen you lying forgotten in a corner, and that you were picked up only because I had been found. I was dreaming, no doubt, and it is you who have carried me. I own that I was mistaken. Take me back, then, as quickly as possible to my pasture, or at least let me hear no more of your squabbles."

"To put an end to all this jangling, the horseman divided his booty into six equal parts, one of which he gave to the saddle-tree, one to the girth, and one to the bridle, and kept the three others for himself. Leading the horse back to the pasture he said to him: 'I do not give thee anything, for thou hast the honour of having been useful to thy tribe.'"

If any one lends a saddle complete, he is entitled to one-half share. This distribution is called âadet esserdj, or the custom of the saddle.

When on the point of starting on an expedition, the goum offers up the following invocations: "O Sidi Abd-el-Kader-el-Djilaly! O Sidi-Sheik-ben-el-Dine! O Sidi-el-Hadj-bou-Hafeus! If we succeed and return safe and sound, we promise a camel to each of you. Protect us!" Before any division takes place these three camels are always put aside for the marabouts.

The division of the plunder, as may be imagined, is never carried out without many remonstrances, for the prevention or repression of which the mekadim were instituted. Sometimes the chiefs make choice of five or six individuals of approved discretion. At other times, after a razzia or capture of property, the booty is divided into four equal parts. They who execute the enterprise form themselves into four sections, and each section names a mekadem whose business it is to manage the subdivision. The mekadim search out and demand the restitution of all articles concealed by dishonourable persons, such as jewelry, money, coral, etc. When an Arab is suspected of having purloined things in this manner, and nothing is found upon him, the mekadim make him swear by Sidi-Ben-Abd-Allah, and that oath clears him. In the Sahara, Sidi-Ben-Abd-Allah is held in great veneration. No one would dare to invoke his name falsely, through fear of dying, or of seeing his flocks waste away. The mekadim are acknowledged to be honest among pilferers. They are well treated and receive a handsome remuneration, consisting for the most parts of articles not included in the division of the spoils.

REMARKS BY THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.

I have surprised them with horses of pure race, with sleek coats, foreheads adorned with stars announcing good fortune, flanks lean through exercise, and flesh firm and hard. I have fallen upon them like a cloud charged with lightning that hangs over a defile.

It is a horse that, without ever being fatigued, always finishes by asking pardon of his rider. His head is lean, his ears and lips fine, his nostrils well open, his neck slender, his skin black and soft, his coat sleek, and his joints large. By the head of the Prophet! he is of noble race, and you would never ask how much he cost if you had seen him marching against the enemy.

When you see the horses of the goum marching proudly, their heads up, and making the air re-echo with their neighings, rest assured that victory accompanies them. But, on the other hand, when you see the horses of the goum marching sadly, with their heads down, without neighing, but lashing themselves with their tails, be sure that fortune has abandoned them.

Nevertheless, Allah is wiser than man.

Oh! would that I could see my blood flowing over my haïk, white as ivory from Soudan! It would be the more beautiful for it.

OSTRICH HUNTING.

In the desert there are two principal modes of hunting the ostrich—on horseback, and in ambush. There is, indeed, a third method which is only a modification of the second, and consists in killing the bird while drinking at a stream of water.

The true sport is on horseback. Watching for the bird is no better than taking a sitting shot with us. The former is a noble and royal pastime, the latter is only fit for a common fellow, or a poacher. It is not enough to kill, the thing is to run the bird down. For this purpose the general sort of education given to a horse will not suffice. A special preparation is required, just as a race-horse needs a particular training for some days previous to the contest.

Seven or eight days before a hunting expedition, both grass and straw are entirely stopped, and nothing but barley given. The horse is watered only once a day, at sunset, when the water begins to get cool, and he is then washed all over. He is taken out for a long ride every day, now walking, now galloping, during which the rider carefully ascertains that nothing is wanting to the equipment proper for the purpose. At the end of these seven or eight days, say the Arabs, the belly disappears, while the neck, chest, and croup show firm flesh. The animal is then ready to endure the fatigue. This special training is called teshaha.

The equipment also is modified with a view to lighten the weight. The stirrups should be much less heavy than usual, the saddle-bow very light, the two kerbouss, or pommels, of less than the ordinary height and without the stara. The breast-band is likewise omitted, and instead of the seven pieces of felt only two are used. The bridle, in like manner undergoes several metamorphoses. The blinkers and headstall are omitted as too heavy, the bit being simply fastened to a tolerably stout camel-rope, without any throat-band, and kept in its place by a make-shift headstall of cord. The reins are also very light, but strong. All four feet are shod.

The most favourable season for this sport is during the great heats of summer. The higher the temperature, the less energy does the ostrich possess to defend itself. The Arabs describe the exact period by saying that it is when a man, standing upright, casts a shadow no longer than the sole of his foot. Ostrich hunting implies a regular expedition lasting over seven or eight days. It requires preparatory arrangements which are concerted by ten or a dozen horsemen bound in "a knot," as for a razzia. Each hunter is accompanied by a servant, called a zemmal, who is mounted on a camel that carries, besides, four goat-skin bags filled with water, barley for the horse, wheaten flour, another kind of flour parched, dates, a pot to boil the food in, leather thongs, a needle, and a set of horse-shoes and nails.

Each hunter should take only one woollen or cotton shirt, and one pair of woollen trousers. He winds round his neck and ears a kind of thin stuff called in the desert haouli, and fastens it with his camel-rope. His feet are protected by sandals attached by cords, but he also puts on light gaiters [trabag]. He takes neither rifle, nor pistol, nor powder. His only weapon is a club of wild olive or tamarisk, four or five feet long and terminating in a very heavy knob. The party do not start until they have ascertained from travellers, or caravans, or from messengers sent forward for that purpose, where a large number of ostriches are collected at one point. These birds are generally met with in places where there is a good deal of grass, and where rain has recently fallen. According to the Arabs, whenever the ostrich sees the lightnings flash and a thunder storm coming on, it immediately hastens in that direction, however distant it may be, for it thinks nothing of going ten days on the stretch. In the desert it is proverbially said of a man who is particularly careful in tending his flocks and supplying them with what is necessary, that "he is like the ostrich—where he sees the lightning flash, he is there."

The start is made in the morning. At the end of one or two days' march, when the hunters have arrived near to the spot where they were told to look for ostriches, and where tracks are observable, they halt and bivouac. On the morrow two intelligent servants, stripped to the skin, and wearing nothing but a handkerchief round their loins, are sent forward to reconnoitre. They take with them a goat's-skin bag suspended from the side, and a small quantity of bread, and walk on until they come upon the ostriches, which usually keep to the high ground. As soon as they have sighted them, they lie down and observe their movements; and then, while one remains, the other returns to the camp, and says that he has seen thirty, forty, sixty ostriches—it is alleged that djeliba or troops to that number are really to be met with. At certain times, and especially when mating, the ostriches are seldom found more than three or four couples together.

Guided by the man who has brought the information, the hunters advance cautiously in the direction of the ostriches, and on nearing the hillock on which the birds were sighted, they use every precaution to avoid being seen. Having at length reached the last inequality of ground that affords them any sort of cover, they dismount, and two scouts crawl forward to make sure that the birds are still in the same place. If these bring confirmation of the former tidings, each rider gives his horse a small draught of the water brought on a camel's back, for it is rare to find a place where water is to be had. The baggage is piled up where the halt takes place, without any one being left to watch it, so certain are they of being able to retrace their steps to the identical spot. Every hunter is provided with a chibouta, or goat's-skin bag of water. The attendants follow the tracks of the horses—the camel carrying only the horses' evening feed of barley and his own, and water for both men and animals.