THE HOME OF THE TROGLODYTES. 427 
contrary, like the ancient Troglodytes, excavate their dwellings, scat- 
tered here and there without order, from the compact allivium which 
the rains have long since formed in the depressions of the valley. 
To the rear are the rocky summits where rise the somber Zenatian 
redoubts, Tamezret, Zeraoua, etc., while in front is the open, undulating 
valley where there is nothing, at first sight, to reveal the presence of 
man. <A narrow neck, guarded by a small fort of rough stones, marks 
the limit of the two territories. The descent is made slowly by a steep 
inclination following a ravine which has long since been worn by the 
floods. The hardness and depth of the slimy bank suggest to the un- 
prejudiced mind the possibility of here digging out one’s habitation. 
It is a continuous descent; the valley broadens, the horizon becomes 
visible, a vast extent of land is gradually perceived, and not a sound, 
not a movement to suggest the approach to a populous village. Below 
there however to the right is the Gelaa Matmata, which appears to 
the eye with its abrupt descent and its extensive terrace like a natural 
fortress, where, many a time during the course of a turbulent history, 
the natives have found a refuge. To the left is the west Matmata, out- 
lining the yellowish course of its dried bed, dotted here and there with 
stattered olive trees. Matmata Bled Kebira, the large town of Mat- 
matia, is in truth at our feet without our having perceived it. Let us 
approach. Traces of its presence become gradually apparent. Eleva- 
tions and corresponding depressions in the land become clearly defined, 
and the white Koubba of the Mohammedan priest, Sida-Mou¢a appears 
at the turning of the footpath informing us that these ancient people, 
with their strange manners, whom we wish to approach, have submitted 
to the destructive influence of Islam, and have in consequence pre- 
served only a few of those valuable survivals which we are so desirous 
of studying. 
In Egypt, among the wretched dwellings in mutilated pyramids, and 
in the double dovecots which remind one of the old Pylons; in the 
acropolises of Zenatia at Gharian and Kabylie, in a word, over the 
whole of northern Africa, the Koubba of the priest, the minaret of the 
mosque, symbols of triumphant Mohammedanism, strike the archeologist 
and ethnologist as something abnormal, and I may say entirely out 
of place. These rural constructions, unsightly in themselves, and in- 
congruous when placed side by side with those of the natives, in the 
midst of which they are conspicuous on account of their form and color, 
disturb the harmony of the landscape, recalling at the same time the 
cruel struggles, by fire and arms, for conquest and conversion to the 
religion of the conquerers. The abrupt cliffs of Mount Demer were not 
able to arrest the Hillalien (?) invasion, and Matmati, the Troglodyte, 
has been since then a good Mussulman. 
Two other Koubbas appear, then a square white house, the abode of 
the religious chief, then the dar of the civil and military chief, the 
Caliph Ali-Ould-Kaid-Ahmed. 
