HERE AND THERE IN NORTHERN AFRICA 



31 



ing so much noise that it was impossible 

 even to think. 



As we entered a semi-nude figure 

 sprang out at us, howling, jumping, and 

 making contortions ; his only garment 

 seemed to be a short skirt, that gave him 

 the ludicrous appearance of a ballet 

 dancer. The men in skins surrounded 

 us, and amidst a deafening noise we were 

 escorted to our seats of honor. Dusky 

 forms had been busy making a great bon- 

 fire. 



Then began a curious dance, that re- 

 minded me in a way of our North Ameri- 

 can Indian dancers and medicine men. 

 The master of ceremonies went around 

 in turn to each guest, and the bagpipes 

 screeched and the tom-toms beat. Every 

 guest gave coppers or a piece of silver to 

 our host, and this devilish-looking man 

 would spring high into the air, hitting his 

 heels together several times, and spin like 

 a tetotum. He improvised original songs, 

 praising his various guests and their liber- 

 ality. Judging from the eager expression 

 of the spectators, the words of these 

 songs must have been witty. 



At last the noise of the bagpipes ceased, 

 to be taken up by flageolets in a minor 

 key. A row of young women and girls, 

 with long hair falling down their back, 

 had crept in, unnoticed in the dark, and 

 taken up their position between us and 

 the bonfire, so that they stood out like 

 black silhouettes against the flame ; all 

 were unveiled. Slowly and gracefully 

 they began to sway and twist their lithe 

 bodies in rhythm to the weird music. 

 Most of the time they danced on their 

 knees, bending and twisting, their hair 

 sometimes standing out almost straight, 

 then falling about their heads. 



It was the far-famed "Dance of the 

 Hair," that few foreigners have ever 

 seen. Toward the end of the dance the 

 bonfire of esparto grass was allowed to 

 grow dim, and the women vanished into 

 the night, for clouds had obscured the 

 moon. 



I was curious to see the fiance and kept 

 asking Brebisch to point him out to me. 

 About the time the "Dance of the Hair" 

 began a dear little boy, not quite four 

 years old (a son of the devil-man), had 

 come over and snuggled close up to me. 



He was so tired that he fell asleep, but 

 when the bonfire died down he awakened 

 and scampered over to the women, and 

 vanished with them. This small boy was 

 the future bridegroom, and his two-and- 

 a-half-year old fiancee, called Machla, 

 which means "The Palm Tree," lived 

 many miles away and could not be pres- 

 ent at the "Dance of the Hair" on their 

 betrothal. 



OUR ADVENTURE WITH ALI, THE 

 FINANCIER 



On our arrival toward dusk at Foum- 

 tatahouine, when my luggage had been 

 taken out of the two-wheeled cart and 

 placed in the house the Cadhi had put 

 at my disposal, I told Ali to go to the 

 fonduk (Arab inn) and curry the mule, 

 give it plenty to eat and water it four 

 hours later. He was to spend all his time 

 looking after that mule, for which I felt 

 a great responsibility. The Caid of Mede- 

 nine had lent it to me, no other animal 

 being available, and it was his pet mule. 

 In certain parts of the Orient a fine mule 

 is preferred to a horse, and costs much 

 more. It lives longer and can pull almost 

 three times as much. 



Ali was a worker, Ali was a hustler, 

 Ali was a financier, and he loved ani- 

 mals and took splendid care of his mas- 

 ter's mule. After 48 hours' rest, I told 

 Ali to return to Medenine with the cart 

 and mule. 



On my arrival at Foumtatahouine I 

 had told Ali, "You see to the mule and 

 I will pay for its stabling and food. I 

 do not wish the Cadhi to pay one cen- 

 time." 



Ali smiled and showed his white teeth 

 and said, "Qui, Monsieur" in his broken 

 Arab-French. 



The Cadhi said, "Now, Ali, Monsieur 

 is my guest and I want to pay for the 

 fodder of his mule." 



Ali answered, "So be it, Sheik Cadhi." 



When Ali arrived in due time at 

 Medenine, he had carried a Maribout 

 and his son from Foumtatahouine to 

 Bir-El-Ahmar (the Red Well), and re- 

 ceived three francs for that and a free 

 lunch. 



On his arrival home he said to his mas- 

 ter, "O noble Caid, I took the stranger, 



