94 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



and giving a feast in our honour. The other, led by an 

 unruly Arab, head of a section of the Zouia tribe, who 

 always made a habit of opposing the Sayed's wishes, 

 wanted to ignore us. The result was a compromise. 

 They showed us no hospitality, but they met in the zawia 

 in the afternoon and received us with friendliness. They 

 signed their names to a curious document stating that, 

 in accordance with the Sayed's order, they had hospitably 

 received Hassanein Bey and the Sitt Khadija, and I think 

 they were ashamed as they did so, for one, Ahmed 

 Effendi, who came from Jalo to collect the Government 

 taxes, said boldly, "I will sign that when I meet you 

 in my town in a few days." We learned afterwards that 

 he had made a loyal speech in the morning, saying that 

 they must all do honour to the Sayed's guests, and the 

 formal reception in the zawia was probably due to him. 



There are between thirty and forty ekhwan in 

 Aujela. The sheikh of the zawia is Abdul Kasim. The 

 zawia stands on a low rise in the centre of the town. 

 It is a square mud building "w^th heavily barred windows, 

 looking more hke a fortress than a college. Below are 

 gardens of bisset and onions with a few pumpkins. 

 Barley is grown under the belad's broken walls, and in 

 broad shallow depressions one sees rows of sand bricks 

 baking in the sun. In the morning we wandered through 

 the town, followed by a crowd of amazed children who 

 had probably never seen a stranger before. Women 

 peeped at us from low doorways. They were muffled 

 in folds of long indigo tobhs which were delightful in 

 the brilliant sunshine. Occasionally one made a vivid 

 splash of colour in orange or scarlet. They wore gold 

 ear-rings and all had tattoo marks on forehead and chin. 

 Most of the people of Aujela speak a dialect similar to 

 that of the Tuaregs and of some of the Siwa people, but 

 it is not understood in Jalo. 



