THE DATE GARDENS OF THE JERID 



547 



r 



TOMB OF A MOHAMMEDAN SAINT AT THE EDGE OF TOZER OASIS 



mud-brick village, and, after 9 miles 

 more of donkey back, reached Tozer. 



It was none too soon, for I was well 

 nigh exhausted with the fatigue of be- 

 striding all day the huge padded saddle 

 on which the Arabs generally sit cross- 

 legged. After a hasty dinner, I was in- 

 stalled in the one-storied house, built 

 around three sides of an open courtyard, 

 which was to be my home for the next 

 six weeks. 



In the morning the first duty was to 

 present my credentials to the French ad- 

 ministrator of the Jerid region. That 

 functionary, who enjoys the double title 

 of ''Controleur Civil" and "Vice-Consul," 

 received me courteously and detailed a 

 spahi to accompany me in my explora- 

 tions of the oases. Mounted on a fine 

 gray horse and wearing a uniform con- 

 sisting of a sky-blue burnous over a 

 white ''haik" or jacket, my guide made a 

 picturesque figure. The one-eyed El 

 Hachemi ben Achmid, who spoke passa- 

 ble French, was engaged as interpreter, 

 and was thereafter a constant attendant 

 during my stay in the Jerid. A scrawny 

 boy who carried the camera completed 



the retinue, and without further loss of 

 time we started for the gardens. Cross- 

 ing the open market-place, on which face 

 the modest public buildings, and winding 

 through a series of narrow, crooked 

 streets, we soon found ourselves on the 

 outskirts of the town. Here, in a shallow 

 stream, naked children were disporting 

 themselves, and women, with skirts 

 tucked up above their knees, were wash- 

 ing clothes. We then traversed a few 

 rods of bare sand and plunged into the 

 oasis. 



The transition from the blinding glare 

 outside to the cool shade of the gardens 

 was delightful. Entering one of them, 

 we found it a jungle of date palms, 

 planted in no apparent order, some so 

 close that the stems almost touch, and in 

 other places far enough apart to leave 

 room for little patches of vegetables and 

 lucern and tender young barley. Be- 

 neath the tall palms there were other 

 trees — figs, apricots, and olives. 



Huge grape vines hung in festoons 

 from the trunks, and long runners of 

 melon and cucumber trailed over the 

 ground. Here and there oranges and 



