HERE AND THERE IN NORTHERN AFRICA 



103 



ers. Now the best qualities of feathers 

 are sent direct to London by parcel post 

 via Khartum, and it is no longer one of 

 the centers for buying ostrich plumes, 

 though second and third rate feathers 

 can still be bought at Tripoli. 



A thriving trade is done in esparto 

 grass, which is shipped to England to be 

 made into paper. The Japanese, by the 

 way, are endeavoring to cultivate esparto 

 grass in their country, and for the past 

 two years they have imported quantities 

 of this paper for their own use. 



THE GREAT WEEKLY MARKET 



Every Tuesday morning a curious mar- 

 ket formerly took place on the crescent- 

 shaped beach, to which natives came 

 from far and near to sell, barter, and 

 exchange camels, donkeys, mules and 

 horses, wool and hides, cereals, fruit, 

 vegetables, and meat. 



The market was a conglomeration of 

 different tribes of northern Africa. Each 

 tribe has its individual tattoo marks, or 

 brands, some of which disfigure their 

 faces terribly. Here the Bedouin from 

 the Sahara has his head shaved and 

 shampooed. Touaregs come in on their 

 racing camels, called mehara, for sup- 

 plies. They dislike towns and prefer 

 their desert homes. The men are fierce 

 and warlike, and can be distinguished 

 from the other tribes by a cloth that al- 

 most covers their faces to protect them 

 from the cutting sandstorms. They usu- 

 ally wear thick woolen bernouses, and 

 their heads are wound with a heavy, long 

 turban or cloth. They claim that the sun 

 burns through the garments, and in 

 order to keep out the heat and sun they 

 wear heavy clothes, even in midsummer. 



Men from Timbuktu were always pres- 

 ent at the market, dressed in the skins of 

 wild animals and decorated with shells 

 and animals' teeth. They wore face 

 masks of skins and skulls, and danced to 

 the beating of iron castanets, about two 

 feet long, with heads as large as saucers. 

 These men of Timbuktu remind one of 

 the Indian medicine men of New Mexico 

 and the Southwest. 



Owing to the failure of crops during 

 the past five years, thousands of Bedouins 

 have come up from the interior of the 



Sahara, hoping to find work and a little 

 food with which to sustain life. Poverty 

 is so great that, until the Turkish-Italian 

 war, one could see daily numbers of 

 Bedouins, with small brooms made of 

 palm leaves, sweeping up manure in the 

 streets in the hope of finding a few un- 

 digested grains of barley or millet that 

 they could eat. 



V 



THE OASES OF NORTHERN AFRICA 

 AND THE SAHARA 



ARAB SALUTATIONS 



When, traveling in the interior of 

 North Africa, one encounters a caravan 

 or a band of mounted Bedouins, the salu- 

 tation, Salam aalikoum, "Peace be upon 

 you," may mean nothing to a stranger, 

 but how eagerly listened to by one who 

 knows, as it means his personal safety 

 and the welfare of all that are with him. 



No one using the greeting Salam aali- 

 koum would ever dare bring down the 

 wrath of God upon his head by attempt- 

 ing to rob your caravan or murder you 

 in your sleep. One can safely pitch one's 

 tents next to the Bedouin using the above 

 greeting, knowing that all will be well. 



But if they do not salute you with 

 those words, then beware. Danger lurks 

 very near. The greeting Salam aali- 

 koum is only used between Mohammed 

 ans. Should a Christian be in the cara- 

 van, they would say "May peace be upon 

 those that accompany the stranger." 



Even in speaking to a friend, or a 

 stranger that one meets alone, one should 

 always say "Peace be upon you" ; you, 

 used in the plural, because this man that 

 you see alone is accompanied by the 

 guardian angel, that you do not see, and 

 you must salute them both. 



No matter the state of one's birth, or 

 power, or dignity, he that is on horseback 

 should greet the man on foot. He that 

 is walking should greet the man that he 

 sees sitting down. A man on horseback 

 should speak first to the man he meets 

 riding a mule. A man on a mule should 

 greet first a poor man riding a donkey. 



The greeting should always be from 

 the highest to the lowest, and never from 



