Photo by Katrice Nicolson 
COURTYARD OF A HOUSE AT MATMATA, SHOWING THE OPENINGS LEADING TO LITTLE 
CAVES FOR THE ANIMALS 
A Bedouin caravan on the march is 
very picturesque, but annoying when in 
a motor. The camels take fright, and one 
must slow down and even stop, for a 
large camel can effectively block any mo- 
tor, and it is almost as bad in a cart, car- 
riage, stage-coach, or even on horseback. 
When on the march, the women, small 
children, and babies are placed on the 
camels, together with their gourbis, tent 
poles, water jars, and household effects. 
Older children are astride of donkeys 
laden with great panniers containing 
barley and large jars of olive oil. The 
men are very dark and thin, and each 
one carries slung over his shoulder a 
long-barreled flint-lock rifle, with which 
he is a dangerous shot. Powder costs 
money, and these nomads are extremely 
poor. Meédenine is the military head- 
quarters of this part of “extreme south- 
ern Tunisia.” 
Telegraph and telephone connect all 
the garrison towns, and there are regular 
mail routes by stage-coach, horseback, 
and by camel. The barracks, govern- 
ment buildings, post-office, and cercle 
militaire form a camp to themselves, and 
comfortable little villas are being built 
near by, with broad streets and large 
squares, with eucalyptus and pepper 
trees. Last year Médenine seemed al- 
most the ends of the earth, so strange and 
foreign. On my return from the moun- 
tains and my journey to see various 
Troglodyte towns, Médenine, with its 
comfortable little hotel, its French cui- 
sine, and clean rooms, with snow-white 
linen sheets, seemed to me to be civiliza- 
tion. 
The Arab town of Médenine lies about 
half a kilometer away. 
Sallust, writing on northern Africa 
during the period Rome dominated, re- 
marks that he came into a strange coun- 
try, where “the people dwell in curious 
abodes that resemble overturned boats 
cut in two” (see pictures, pages 825-826). 
This description is equally true after 
2,000 years. Centuries come and go; 
