Part 49

Forty loads of dates at 7 douros 280

Thirty camel loads of wheat 240

Thirty loads of barley 150

Four khrabya, or enormous earthen vessels filled with butter

Total 1,100 douros.

I estimate at 600 douros the amount of what he may have lent or sold, to the people of the kuesours with whom he has business transactions 600 douros.

In his tent he has 600

Buried in a hose belonging to him in one of the kuesours 1,000

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Total 2,200 douros.

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He has likewise a house in a kuesour in the charge of a khremass, containing his most valuable property 60 douros.

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RECAPITULATION.

Tent and furniture, etc 741 douros.

Wearing apparel of both sexes 815

Arms 219

Harness and Accoutrements 376

Horses, cattle, etc. 20,988

Deposits 1,100

Loans, etc. 2,200

House 60

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Total 26,499 douros.

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An Arab who possesses such a fortune does no work. He attends the meetings and assemblies of the djemâa, hunts, rides about, looks at his flocks, and prays. His only occupations are political, warlike, and religious. A poor Arab equally disdains manual labour. He is not forced to it, for there is no other kind of cultivation than that of date-trees, which is left to the inhabitants of the kuesours. Negroes are numerous and cost very little, and, with the assistance of a few white servants, suffice for the services which the free men refuse to perform for themselves. Some of the latter, however, mend their sacks and harness, but they form the exception. There are likewise farriers, but these, in fact, are artists—the privileges that are accorded to them, of which I have already had occasion to speak, constituting them a sort of special corporation. The armourers are, in truth, mere workmen who repair, but cannot manufacture, arms. The Arabs of the desert are for the most part worse armed than those of the Tell, though their chiefs yield to none in pomp and luxury. This is easily accounted for. As they obtain their arms from Tunis by way of Tougourt, or from Morocco through the Gourara country, the great distance to be traversed prevents them from getting their arms repaired as soon as they need repairs, and the unskilfulness of those who undertake this business will not permit them to do their work very efficiently. Many of the Saharenes are still armed with lances, which they seldom use except when pursuing runaways. Their spears consist of a shaft of wood six feet long, with a flat double-edged head of iron, and are usually carried in a bandolier.

The Arab of the Sahara is very proud of his mode of life, which is not only exempt from the monotonous toil to which the inhabitant of the Tell is subject, but is full of action and excitement, of variety and incident. If beards grow white at an early age in the desert, it is not only because of heat, fatigue, journeys, and combats, but much more from care, anxiety, and grief. He alone does not turn gray who "has a large heart, is resigned, and can say: It is the will of Allah!" This pride in their country and in their peculiar mode of existence amounts to positive contempt for the Tell and its inhabitants. What the dweller in the desert chiefly plumes himself upon is his independence; for in his country the lands are wide and there is no Sultan. The chief of the tribe administers and renders justice, a task of no great difficulty where every delinquency has been provided for and its appropriate penalty fixed beforehand. Whoever steals a sheep, pays a fine of ten boudjous. Whoever enters a tent to see his neighbour's wife, forfeits ten ewes. Whoever takes life, must lose his own; or, if he makes his escape, all that belongs to him is confiscated, save only his tent, which is given up to his wife and children. The fines are set apart by the djemâa for defraying the expenses of travellers and marabouts, and of presents to strangers. Thefts within the tribe are severely punished. If committed on another tribe, they are looked over, and, if a hostile tribe be the sufferers, are even encouraged.

The women attend to the cooking, and weave various kinds of carpets, sacks, stuff for tents, horse-cloths, camel-packs, and nose-bags, while the negresses fetch wood and water. Burnouses, haïks, and kabaya are made in the kuesours. If rich, an Arab is always generous; and rich or poor, he is sure to be hospitable and charitable. He seldom lends his horse, but would regard it as an insult if the animal were sent back to him. For every present he receives he makes a return of greater value. Some men are quoted as never having refused anything. It is a common saying: "He who applies to a noble never comes back empty-handed." It is needless to speak of alms. Every one knows that next to a holy war, and on the same line with going on a pilgrimage, alms-giving is the act of all others the most pleasing to Allah. If an Arab is sitting down to a meal, and a mendicant, who happens to be passing, exclaims: Mtâ rebi ia el moumenin—"of what belongs to Allah, O Believer!"— he shares his repast with him if there be enough for two, or else abandons it to him entirely.