THE SOURCE OF LIFE OF THE OASES Photo by Lehnert and Landrock "Many oases of northern Africa and the Sahara owe their existence to large springs of hot or cold water that bubble up close to each other, forming a great pool or natural reservoir, whence runs the stream that irrigates the oasis" (see text, page 109) HERE AND THERE IN NORTHERN AFRICA us enjoy life while we live" is their motto. They are hard workers and nothing daunts them. They remain under the water as long as the human frame can stand the pressure. Instead of being pulled up, as divers usually are, they inflate their rubber diving suits by letting the air accumulate instead of escaping and rise to the surface with great rapidity, almost shooting out of the water. This sudden change in atmospheric pressure often causes paralysis and apoplexy, so that on most of the boats there are at least half a dozen crippled divers recovering from this kind of paralysis. The Greek government in days gone by tried to render aid by sending over two well-equipped hospital ships, but the owners of the diving boats resented this interference and hoisted the Turkish flag, thus preventing the hospital ships from being of service. After two years of fruitless effort on the part of the government, the effort was given up. THE SPONGE DIVERS AT PLAY On Sundays and legal holidays the divers, dressed in their holiday clothes, enjoy life as best they can in the little town of Tripoli, where theaters and even cinematographs are unknown. One of their favorite pastimes is to hire Berber horses and race at full tilt up and down the desert just outside the walls of Tripoli, a harmless pleasure and most amusing to onlookers, for they are poor riders and usually fall off. At night they go to some native house, where, in the patio, or large rectangular courtyard, brilliantly illuminated with incandescent lights, they sit about long tables and drink coffee or beer. Six or eight blind musicians play weird strains. in a minor key, while man after man gets up and dances a pas seul. The steps are indescribable, but always graceful. They rarely become intoxicated, and toward midnight they go home. THE SPONGE INDUSTRY The sponges are dried, cleaned, and sent to France and England, where they bring good prices. An ordinary sponge 95 takes about five years to grow and costs from 8 to 20 francs ($1.60 to $4). The Biological Laboratory at Sfax, on the coast of Tunisia, is making a study of the diseases and artificial propagation of sponges, as their ruthless destruction over the coast of northern Africa bids fair to exterminate this industry in a very few years. Great progress has been made in these investigations. It was my good fortune to be in Tripoli while the Turkish and French commissioners were settling the boundary question between Tripoli and Tunisia, and they enabled me to take some delightful excursions with them to various oases in Tripolitania. The different consulates were On friendly terms with each other, and all vied in lavishing hospitality upon us. Three days in the week were holidays, Friday being the equivalent of our Sunday for the Mohammedans. Saturday the Jewish Sabbath, and Sunday the Christian Day of Rest. In the evening, after dinner, we would. often stroll down and take a cup of Turkish coffee at a café overlooking the bay, while the waves rolled in at our feet and the stars shown like electric lights in a blue-black sky. The Oriental town about us seemed asleep, but the distant beating of tom-toms and the shrill notes of bagpipes, or flageolets, that occasionally reached our ears showed that somewhere a fête was taking place. The souks, or bazars, of Tripoli are not remarkable, but are interesting nevertheless. The souks of the silversmiths are composed entirely of Jews. never sees an Arab silversmith or blacksmith. THE EFFECT OF THE HALLEY COMET ON JEWS AND ARABS Rain water is the only drinking water used and is kept in huge cisterns built under the houses. During the passing of the Halley comet the Jews of Tripoli were afraid of dying and took refuge in their great cisterns, which they had pumped dry for the purpose. Twenty-four hours having elapsed, they came out of their hiding places to find the world the same as before. UNDER THE FURNACE OF HEAVEN Photo by Bougault The prime necessities in the cultivation of the palm are water and a hot sun. There is an old Arab proverb which, speaking of the palm, says "its feet shall be in a stream of water and its head in the furnace of heaven" The Arabs said that they were in the hands of Allah and refused to take refuge in their cisterns. So the few foreigners and the Arabs were the only ones that had any drinking water left, and the Arabs sold drinking water to the Jews until the next rains, about six months later. THE HOUSES OF TRIPOLI From the street the houses look like great painted or whitewashed walls, with here and there a small iron-barred window and wooden latticework, painted green (see page 57). The roofs are all flat, and at twilight veiled figures may be seen outlined against the sunset sky. Many of the interiors are beautiful. Once inside these buildings, one is astonished by the graceful courtyard and marble columns (see page 38). In localities where there is water flowing fountains are often seen, and palm and banana trees. Frequently tame gazelles come up and gaze at you. The courtyard is open to the sky and a great balcony runs around the second floor, opening into the women's apartment (see page 69). over Arab ladies are fond of visiting each other and may frequently be seen driving in their carriages from house to house, with thin black veils their faces, through which one can see their profiles (compare page 54). The wives of some of the richer people are cultivated and charming, speaking several languages and quite in touch with the modern ideas of our Western world. Until Khartum came under the British flag, Tripoli was one of the centers to which caravans came from the Sudan or the Sahara, bringing slaves, ivory, and ostrich feath |