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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



den of Eden as one can hope to find. 

 Almost everything thrives that can be 

 grown in a semi-tropical country, owing 

 to the rich soil and abundance of water. 



To give a vague idea of an oasis, let 

 me describe that of Tozeur, in southern 

 Tunisia. Eleven thousand Arabs live 

 underneath the shadow of the palms of 

 this oasis, which covers an area of about 

 2,200 acres (900 hectares), and 4,000 oc- 

 cupy small villages on the outskirts. 

 Most of them were born and have al- 

 ways lived in this oasis, and when they 

 die they will be buried in the desert sand 

 near Tozeur. 



The oasis has nourished these 15,000 

 souls and many thousands more ; their 

 wants and needs are simple. Families 

 composed of husband and wife, or wives, 

 and three or four children frequently live 

 on less than ten cents (50 centimes) a 

 day. 



Their mainstay consists of dried dates 

 and a few boiled beans with a little pure 

 olive oil. At almost any turn of the road 

 in the oasis one can buy from an Arab 

 vender, crouched over a large Standard 

 Oil can and fanning the live coals, a co- 

 pious supply of beans cooked until they 

 are mealy and ladled out of the can boil- 

 ing (see page 98). One cent buys 

 enough for a very hungry man. 



THE GREAT DATE MARKETS 



Caravans of nomads come from far 

 and near to buy the dates. 



An hour before sunset the sand dunes 

 around Tozeur seem to be alive with 

 camels, and caravan after caravan ar- 

 rives and encamps for the night just out- 

 side the town. A curious acrid odor per- 

 vades the air, coming from the thousands 

 of camels. The noise is deafening; each 

 camel snarls and groans when forced to 

 kneel ; baby camels bleat like a calf, and 

 swarthy men of the desert call to each 

 other in shrill voices. 



There are camels of all ages and sizes, 

 dark brown, fawn, and cream colored. 

 Frequently six or eight large male camels 

 stampede and, rushing to another camp, 

 become mixed up with two or three hun- 

 dred camels of another caravan. 



The burdens and saddles are placed in 



a large circle that forms a sort of wall, 

 and the camels are forced to kneel inside 

 in rows close to each other. When once 

 down, their knees are tied so that they 

 cannot escape during the night. It is no 

 small matter to settle a caravan composed 

 of four hundred camels. 



At last, when the camels are all se- 

 cured, small camp-fires are built of dried 

 sage-brush and a frugal meal of beans is 

 cooked and some dried dates eaten after- 

 ward. The wants of these nomads are 

 few ; they are like happy, primitive chil- 

 dren. 



As the twilight fades into a wonderful 

 deep blue and the camp-fires flicker and 

 die down a great silence falls over the 

 oasis ; the barking of the dogs has ceased ; 

 the camels are asleep. 



Only the motionless figures of a few 

 nomads guarding their caravans wrap 

 their ber nouses more tightly about them 

 as they stand outlined against a blue- 

 black sky, for the cold is bitter. The 

 sleeping men, wearied from their long 

 inarch, lie huddled close together, as near 

 as possible to the camels for warmth and 

 protection from the wind. 



Suddenly the piercing cry of a muez- 

 zin breaks the stillness of the African 

 night, and it is taken up by a score of 

 other muezzins in their fifth and last call 

 to prayer of the day, and Bedouins dwell- 

 ing in their tents made of woven camel's 

 or goat's hair far out on the sand dunes 

 distinctly hear the words "Allah is Allah ! 

 there is no God but Allah ! Mohammed is 

 his Prophet !" 



NOTE 



The Index for the 1913 volume, together 

 with the Table of Contents and Title-page, is 

 now ready, and members who desire copies can 

 obtain them by application to the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, Hubbard Memorial Hall, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Owing to the ever-increasing growth of the 

 National Geographic Magazine, the yearly 

 volume has now become so large that it cannot 

 be conveniently handled. It has therefore been 

 decided that, beginning with the year 1914, the 

 magazine will be published in two half-yearly 

 volumes, containing approximately 800 pages in 

 each. Indexes will be prepared in future at 

 the end of every six months and will be avail- 

 able to members, on application, in July and 

 January of each year. 



