(ite PROGwOOwRS OF SOULHERN TUNISIA 793 
LANDING FROM THE STEAMER 
his wit, table, and hospitality. Fortu- 
nate is the traveler that falls into his 
good graces. 
THE CAVE CITY 
Imagine arriving at a town of 5,000 
inhabitants and not seeing one house— 
only a picturesque mosque, built since 
the French occupation. Matmata is the 
chief town of the caidship of Matmata, 
which covers quite a large area and com- 
prises the villages of Tamezred, Zeraona, 
Benioussa, Toudjane, Benizelten, and 
Hadidji. All told there are about 20,000 
souls living in this district, which is situ- 
ated 45 kilometers south of Gabes. All 
of them are Troglodytes. 
At Matmata, Benioussa, Benizelten, 
and Hadidji the inhabitants live in caves 
dug in the earth (see pages 812 and 
813). 
The holes vary in depth and width, but 
average g meters deep by 15 meters in 
circumference. This great hole, shown 
on page 818, is used as a “patio,” or 
courtyard. Numerous caves dug in the 
Photo by Genet 
AT GABES IN ROUGH WEATHER 
sides of the hole serve as living-rooms 
and storehouses. One enters these dwell- 
ings by means of a passage tunneled 
through the earth or rock. Some of the 
ceilings are roughly ornamented with 
Arabic designs cut in bas-relief in the 
rock and the dates when the dwellings 
were dug. None of them seem to go 
back more than 100 years and many are 
not as old, proving my statement that all 
Troglodytes were originally “climbing 
Troglodytes,’ dwelling in caves on the 
tops of the highest mountain peaks. 
Walking through the passage into the 
large circular courtyard open to the sky, 
one sees large caves cut into the walls of 
the tunnel that serve for storehouses 
and granaries. (Grain will keep here 
for years in perfect condition.) There 
are also caves for the goats, sheep, and 
donkeys. A square masonry trough pipes 
the rain water into a large cistern built 
in the center of the courtyard. It rains 
very little, but when it rains it pours, and 
every drop of water is carefully pre- 
served—so carefully that horses and ant- 
