TROGLODYTE COURTYARD, OR PATIO OF THE SHEIK OF MATMATA, SHOWING ENTRANCES INTO VARIOUS CAVES The holes vary in depth and width, but average nine meters deep by fifteen meters in circumference. This great hole is used as a "patio," or courtyard. Numerous caves dug in the sides of the hole serve as living-rooms and storehouses. One enters these dwellings by means of a passage tunneled through the earth or rock. Some of the ceilings are roughly ornamented with Arabic designs cut in bas-relief in the rock and the dates when the dwellings were dug. None of them seem to go back more than 100 years (see text, page 49; see also the remarkable series of illustrations of these cave towns in the October, 1911, number of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE). The girls of this race of desert wanderers are quite attractive, but, owing to the hard life they lead, they soon become old and wrinkled. The women do practically all the labor of the camp-fetching wood, drawing water, pitching and striking the tents, milking the goats and camels, and preparing the food. HORSEMEN READY FOR A FANTASIA Photo by Lehnert and Landrock The Arabs greatly delight in these fantasias, which consist of some of the most remarkable feats of horsemanship. The participants dash forward at full speed, twirling their guns about their bodies and over their heads, shouting and firing their guns into the air, when suddenly, at a given signal, the whole line will bring their horses to so abrupt a stop that any but the most accomplished horseman would be immediately un scated. day, hour after hour, loomed up in the distance. In the foreground the figures of Sidi Hadj, his sons, and the Troglodytes silhouetted against a sunset sky of green and gold; beneath us to the south and west stretched a reddish golden mass of sand-the Great Sahara in all its fascinating mystery. Almost 2,000 feet below us wound and wriggled what looked like an earthworm-a belated caravan of camels heading toward some gourbis (Bedouin tents) whose camp-fire dotted the distant landscape. Everything was still and no one spoke; all felt the spell of that glorious sunset. Even the horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and those vicious, yapping Kabyle dogs seemed quiet. Twilight lasts about three minutes; then comes utter darkness, when the Troglodytes barricade their gates and doors and unloose their numerous dogs. The day's work was finished and we had had a hard day's ride. Those thick Persian rugs seemed very tempting. What mattered it if 18 others slept in the same cave. But I could not let them close and lock the great cave door. A Troglodyte cave has air-tight walls, roof, and floor cut out of solid rock. Hadj begged and pleaded, saying that we would all be murdered; but I remained firm, and the door remained open. Sidi Undressing is quite simple for an Arab. He takes off some of his garments, unfastens his belt, puts his slippers near him, also his gun or pistol, and rolls himself in his bernous. They sleep very heavily, and it is difficult to awaken them. About 2 a. m. I was awakened by a queer noise that I thought was made by thieves. I grabbed my Browning and waited. All the men in the cave slept soundly. A moonbeam fell through the open door, and I saw a large Kabyle dog creeping into our cave. I threw one of my heavy boots at him and he rushed out howling; but, in spite of the noise, no one stirred. Twenty minutes later back he came; this time my other boot caught him on the head, and he made a fearful noise, but every one slept on. A TRAGEDY WITH A HAPPY ENDING Early in the morning, as I was examining Guermessa and taking some photographs of the caves, we heard screams, WILL HE COME? One of the great attractions of these daughters of the desert is the exquisite grace of their carriage and the unconsciously beautiful poses they adopt when at rest. |