CHAPTER XVRELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES

Women in the Cemetery, Algiers

A Beggar WomanAn Arab Tam-Tam Player

A Beggar Woman

An Arab Tam-Tam Player

At first the French did not grasp the significance of Islam in their North African territories; now that they have, they use it to advantage, and they give absolute liberty on these questions to their subjects. Even the orders of the White Fathers and the White Sisters do nothing to try to convert the Arab. They realize the little good it would do and the general hostility it would create. They therefore set a good example, teach the boys and girls how to work and lead a clean life, and, if one or two lean toward Christianity, they help them; but it is rare, very rare to find converts.

The Arab dislikes domination, but he realizes the advantages brought by a civilized race who give him roads, laws, railways, commerce; yet he will not tolerate his private life or religion being encroached upon, and if this liberty is granted him he will accept all the rest.

Unfortunately there are missionaries, I hastily add well-meaning missionaries, chiefly from England, who have settled in North Africa, as they have in other Moslem countries, in order to convert the natives. They are too few to do any real harm, but they are wasting their time and their money on people who consider that their own religion is far superior to any other and who see no necessity to change it—a religion which preaches charity and which carries it out, for it is by the rich that the poor live.

“After all,” said an Arab chief one day, “ourreligion is six hundred years younger than yours, and therefore based on later experience, but, even if it wasn’t, what would you say if a band of Arabs, chiefly women, landed in England and tried to interfere with your faith?”

There is no answer. It is folly of the well meaning, who would do better to turn their attention to their own people, who as a whole do not believe, or, at any rate, do not practise their beliefs in the same conscientious manner as do the followers of Mohammed in Algeria.

Apartfrom the daily prayers there are various feasts which are celebrated regularly by all good Mohammedans. They do not come at regular dates as, owing to the fact that the Moslem year is lunar, all the months begin ten days earlier each year.

In order of rotation these feasts are as follows: Race el Ame, new year; Aschana, the tenth day of the first month, sometimes known as the Feast of Moses; those who observe it are promised ten times of all they have; Makante, or Mouloud, the birth of Mohammed; Aïd Serrir, which is celebrated at the end of Ramadan or Mohammedan Lent, and the Aïd el Kebir. The most important are the Aïd Serrir, or Lesser Feast, in opposition to Aïd el Kebir, the Greater Feast or Feast of the Sheep. As a matter of fact the Aïd Serrir causes more rejoicing and lasts three days, probably because it succeeds the Ramadan.

The austerity of this Ramadan fast has given cause to much controversy; it is not for us to discuss its merits, but until one has seen the people actually observing the rites it is difficult to realize how strictly they are kept. The Ramadan starts the day after themuftiorkadiin some definite center has seen the new moon of the season with the naked eye, or, in the event of a cloudy evening, on the report of some trustworthy person in some other place. Far away in the South the localmuftisorkadisare permitted to judgethe moment for themselves, but generally speaking the fast starts at the same time all over Algeria.

It ends as soon as the next new moon is visible, and sometimes, owing to bad weather, the inhabitants of a town may fast one or two days longer than people who live where the night has been clear. From the moment the decree is sent abroad that the Ramadan has begun all believers must observe the fast for thirty consecutive days. During this period they must neither eat nor drink nor smoke from two hours before the dawn until after sunset.

The time-table on the opposite page published for the Ramadan of 1926, which took place in April, gives some idea of the length of time passed without nourishment or water:

The decisive moment of the evening is that at which theimamcan no longer distinguish a white hair from a black, held at arm’s length. A gun is then fired, cries of joy rise from the populace, and the first meal is hungrily attacked. Those who are out on the plain pull out a few dates which they munch until they get home. From the firing of the gun they can eat and drink as much water or milk as they like until two hours before dawn. As a general rule they begin with a big dinner. Then they rest, after which they go out and visit their friends or walk about the streets till midnight, when they return home and have a second big meal followed by bed. At first sight this penitence may not seem rigorous. Perhaps not for those rich men who can convert the night into the day; but to the average worker it is a terrible ordeal.

Fifteen hours or so with nothing to eat and nothing to drink! This last privation is especially trying when the Ramadan falls in the summer months and when consequently the period of fasting is longer.

What is most astonishing is to see how strictlythe rules are observed, and even those who in ordinary times take wines and spirits are not only completely sober for thirty days, but do not touch any intoxicant for some weeks before the fast begins. Some men suffer physically a good deal and their faces become pinched; others who are heavy smokers develop jumpy nerves. Almost all become bad tempered and easily offended and they work as little as possible, their only incentive to do anything being the necessity to have liquid cash to purchase their new clothes for the feast of the last day. Even this does not rouse them much,and they usually end by selling some of their household goods or their wives’ jewels to supply the necessary funds. It is a great time for the Jews and rich Arab merchants, who buy up all they can at low prices to resell to the tourists.

If by any chance the fast is not observed according to letter it does not count, and it must be caught up after the Ramadan. For instance, during this period a man may not touch his wife; if he sees a woman and she creates in his mind any sort of emotion, it is sufficient for the day’s fast to be considered as unaccomplished. If he touches the palm of a woman’s hand, he can not go to the mosque until he has washed all over. All is a matter of conscience, and it would be quite easy for any one to retire to the privacy of his room and eat a piece of bread or drink some water; no one would be any the wiser, but it is a certain fact that it is not done. Those few who do not observe the fast are thoroughly despised.

When the next new moon has been observed a final gun is fired and the people rise early in the morning dressed in their new clothes to go to the mosque. The Grande Prière takes place in all its solemnity, and for an hour robed figures bow and prostrate themselves in regular cadence. When it is over every one streams into the street and hand in hand marches leisurely up and down the main ways. As friends or relations meet the brotherly kiss is exchanged; jokes are passed and gaiety reigns supreme.

The girls from the Quarter come out in all the gaudiness of their multi-colored clothes; their jewels glint in the sunlight contrasting with the white burnouses of the men.

At eleven themuezzincalls to prayer from the minaret; the more conscientious return to the mosque before the first midday meal since the Ramadan moon.

The poorest household has scraped together enough to have something extra to eat, and among the rich the meal is interminable. In the afternoon every one is out again wandering hand in hand through gardens and alleys, or sitting under the palm trees chatting and smoking—chiefly smoking. Toward dusk the city takes on another aspect. In the reserved quarter the streets are thronged with soldiers and nomads; the strident skirl of theraïtawith the beat of thetam-tam, and the dances, which have practically ceased during the fast, rebegin. It is a gay spectacle, and it makes one realize the joys of forbidden fruits.

In the European quarter too the younger renegades are flocking, consuming excessive quantities of forbidden wine and beer. As the night draws on, voices are raised, some in laughter, some in song, others in anger, and it is rare for the feast to pass without several nasty knife wounds, while broken heads are numerous. After all, the fast has lasted long enough, the Ramadan must be celebrated, and he who can not contain his emotions must suffer the quick flash of the dagger or the clenched fist of the followers of the Prophet liberated from the fast.

The Aïd el Kebir, which is the great feast of the year, falls two months later. On this day every one who can afford it is supposed to kill a sheep and divide it among the family. Those who are very rich kill several sheep and give them to those who can not afford it. The belief is that when the soul goes to enter paradise it will have to follow a narrow path which consists of a razor-like blade. The soul whose mortal self has killed many sheep will be met by the slaughtered ones, who apparently have no thought of reprisals, and will be carried across the knives. The gratitude of the sheep seems a little unexpected.

The other feasts, such as the Birth of the Prophet,New Year’s Day, the Aschana, are not observed with any great feasting. Candles are lit in the mosques, the Grande Prière is said collectively, and a little more food than usual is eaten.

Quite apart from the orthodox or dissenting religious observances associated with the mosque, there are other rites, which are really private affairs, observed by independent groups of men who venerate some particular saint. They are really little clubs, and though all its members are strict Mohammedans belonging to one of the sects, believing in all the prophets, they are very proud of the particular saint whom they venerate.

There are the followers of Sidi Abd-el-Kader, the greatmarabout, second only to the Prophet; of Sidi-el-Hadj-Aïssa, who founded Laghouat; of Sidi Abd er Rahmane, patron of Algiers, and many others. Twice a week these members of the clubs meet, either in the private mosque dedicated to themarabout, or, if it is fine, before the edifice erected in his name out-of-doors. Here they drink tea, which is either provided by themselves or is often sent by people of the town who wish to find grace in the eyes of the saint.

The men sit round in a circle and sing religious songs in unison while the time is kept by a man with a tambourine. On a clear moonlight night it is a most impressive sight to see the earnest faces of the singers as they sit rigidly intoning the long verses of the chant, which is repeated in a chorus, rising finally into a wild rhythm until it stops suddenly and unexpectedly. Visitors are rare on these evenings, and they sit apart with their shoes off; women occasionally come, but they are heavily veiled and are hidden away in a corner.

The actual tombs ofmaraboutsare much venerated, as are also the little domes erected at placeswhere some holy man has rested; candles are lit and offerings made in their names. Though actual sacrificing of beasts does not take place in the way in which we associate it in the Old Testament, there are many who vow that if they are granted some favor they will kill a sheep in the name of themaraboutinvoked. When the sheep is killed it is cooked and eaten by the supplicant and by any poor friends who like to come in. Occasionally a bullock is slaughtered to bring rain.

There are other beliefs which would be considered by Europeans to be mere superstitions, but they so form part of the religion that practically every one admits them,—the power of spells, the evil eye, the charms against disease. A woman with a headache will wear a piece of paper with words written by amaraboutupon it, and believe that it will remove the pain. In fact, into all the daily life religion is woven until it becomes part of the people’s existence, and from the prayer said in public to the abstinence from wine one can not keep away from it. Its simplicity, its absence of all unnecessary intermediaries in communion with the Almighty, make it very easy to follow. Its laws which, with all their sternness, are yet adapted to the frailty of mankind, seem to give one an assurance of its sincerity. Its recognition of all the prophets we know of gives it a feeling of broad-mindedness, and the picture of its future is easy to grasp.

There is one God and He is alone. God is all-powerful. “What He has destined will take place,” and in their belief of themektoubthe secret of the Arabs’ peace of mind is found. Nothing can alter fate. And if things go wrong it is no good saying, “If I had done this, or done that, I should have avoided this.” No; “Allah willed it, and the puny human can do nothing againstmektoub.”

Havingnow seen the principles of the faith as set out by the Koran, we must turn our attention to the more superstitious side, which, as in all faiths, has grown up with the course of time.

As stated before, the first great fundamental point which dominates the whole of Islam and makes it unlike other beliefs is summed up in that wordmektoub—“It is written.” Generally speaking, every Mohammedan is a fatalist, and believes that nothing can occur which is not ordained; there is no free will and all is in the hands of Allah. There are, however, certain philosophers who discuss this point and who say that it is wrong to lay every evil action on the back of themektoub.

For instance, they say that a man who deliberately buys a bottle of wine and drinks it has no right to say that God predestined this. These philosophers are, however, in the minority, and ninety per cent of the Arabs believe that they are powerless to avoid what is fated.

The Arabs say, “When God created the world he took a handful of dust in either hand, cast it to right and to the left. The dust to the right was destined to be people who would always be happy and inherit paradise; the dust to the left only contained woes and eternal damnation.” “God created you, you and all your actions,” Koran Sourate, XXXVII. That is tosay that all, good and bad, are decided and determined by the Almighty. Sins are predestined and are divided into two categories, the greater and the lesser. The greater comprise theft, adultery, usury, wine-drinking, false witness. The smaller are the weaknesses of human nature, but, whatever they may be, man is destined to commit them, and nothing can prevent him from so doing.

That is why Arabs take life so calmly, never hurry, or get into unnecessary tempers when things go wrong. They firmly believe that what is written is written, and that no power but God can alter it. Taking them as a whole, it makes them seem very happy, and it would appear to be the only solution to the worries of modern life.

From this point of view are developed many other beliefs, and it is the basis of the strength of the Moslem faith. Mohammed, though a great religious genius and a reformer, was not a theologist, and it is even curious to note the lack of dogma in the Koran. His great merit was the way in which he created a great and living organization. His successors developed the theological side of the matter, but, if one examines the Koran itself, one is struck by the absence of mysticism. It is, in itself, more a book of laws, such as the Old Testament. The whole of the theology is really compressed into two passages occurring in Sourates II. and IV., which, summed up, convey that the true Mohammedan who wishes to be saved must believe in God; the prophets or envoys of God, with Mohammed as the greatest; the angels, the inspired books—that is to say the Bible, with the Koran as the most important; and the Day of Judgment.

They further believe in heaven and hell, which are depicted very roughly as places of happiness and torment. Above hell is a bridge as narrow as a hairand as sharp as a knife-blade, across which the souls of the dead departed must pass to enter heaven. The sinners slip and fall into hell, while the righteous cross safely with the aid of the sheep into heaven. Mankind is divided into three categories—those who deny Mohammedanism are destined to eternal fire; those who believe in one God, but who, being sinners, pass through a state of purgatory before going into Paradise; those few strict Mohammedans who go direct to heaven.

Hell is very hot; there is nothing to eat butdari, the bitter fruit of a thorny desert bush, and only boiling water to drink. Heaven is a glorious garden where youth always remains and where the blessed lie on carpets beside ever-flowing streams beneath the shade of fruit-trees, drinking a delicious wine which does not intoxicate, while young girls, ever virgins, sit beside the water and live in a state of contemplative happiness. In other words, hell is an accentuation of all the hardships of life in the desert, while heaven promises all those things which an Arab has never seen on earth.

Quite apart from the Koran, and apparently contrary to its principles, is the belief in saints. The origin of this cult is difficult to find, as the whole basis of the faith is that there is only one God. It is, however, generally supposed that it is a relic of other religions which existed prior to the spread of Islam. This theory is rather confirmed by the fact that more saints andmaraboutsexist in North Africa, where the Carthaginians and the Romans held such long sway, than in any other Mohammedan country. Other people will say that the worship of saints is necessary owing to the inexpressible greatness of God—his distance from all things human, which necessitates some kind of intermediary; but this has little foundationto stand on, for even among the most superstitious Mohammedans, who are always invoking some holy man, you will always hear them murmur during their prayer, “There is no God but Allah.”

The veneration of saints is in reality a respect for the life of the person concerned. It may be that his asceticism and his charity have raised him above others; it may be that his exploits in the name of Islam have made him famous; it may merely be the fact that he is easier to visualize than God—the fact remains that he is venerated and that his aid is invoked in times of trouble. But whether he be merely respected as an example of what a true believer should be or whether he be actually called upon as a protector, he is not considered as divine, nor in any way approaching the one and only God.

Apart, however, from what we call superstitions of the actual faith, there are countless others which do not come into the religion, and which, while all have the same origin, differ according to countries.

A few words have already been said on this subject, but it is felt that, in order really to understand the Arab, the question must be further developed.

The belief in spells and witchcraft seems a contradiction in a people wrapped up in religion, but it will never enter their heads that bringing supernatural powers to bear on the matters of this world, be it for good or for bad, is placing oneself on the same footing with the Almighty.

They maintain that, as angels exist, djinns and other creatures of the underworld are just as comprehensible, and can be invoked in the same way to carry out requests. Again and again one will meet people who will tell you that dragons live, and that there are people who have seen them and have spoken to them! All sorts of animals are supposed to bringgood or evil luck, and amulets with the feet of lizards, the feathers of the hoopoe, the tooth of a jackal, can be seen attached round the necks of babies.

The Koran is always placed in the cradle of the newly born, and there are people who keep pages of the Holy Book to hire out to those who can not afford to buy one.

It would take far too long to go into all the details of these superstitions which are held in reverence all over North Africa, and, though at first sight they may seem to be much the same as those told in more civilized countries, they are not really believed elsewhere to the same extent as in North Africa. I will give an example of a case of witchcraft which occurred only the other day in a family which I knew intimately, a family educated and acquainted with the way of the modern world.

A man tiring of his wife and wishing to marry some one else who refused to share the home, divorced his first wife, who was devoted to him. She made no protest, but, with the aid of certain learnedtalebs, set about weaving spells about her ex-husband. The night of his wedding thetalebsaid to the woman:

“Prepare a great feast for all your friends, with music and dancing, and at midnight your husband will return to you.”

She complied with his instructions, and at the midnight hour there was a banging on the door, and the husband in a dazed state appeared, imploring his wife’s forgiveness. She at first refused to see him, and it was not until he had returned a third time that she allowed him in.

I made an investigation of the case, and I talked to those involved, who all corroborated the story. The husband told me that, just as he was about to see his new bride, he felt himself impelled toward his firstwife. He struggled against the feeling, but in vain, and before he knew where he was he had left his wedding and was before the door of his late parents-in-law’s house. All this was explained, of course, by the working of the spell, and any contradiction of this was considered as the disbelief of an infidel; the facts were there, and there was nothing further to be said.

I have known cases where some one has desired to spread discord in a household, and in a short space of time the discord has arisen without the mischief-maker speaking a word to the parties concerned. I have seen men commit the greatest follies and trace them to the intention of some other person who has invoked the aid of a djinn.

To my mind the explanation is hypnotism—the effect of strong will on the mind of some weaker person; perhaps auto-suggestion, but certainly mesmerism carried out secretly.

This, combined with the absolute belief in fate, assures that thorough absence of any sort of free will which makes the weaving of spells easy, and it is difficult to make even the better educated Arabs scoff at its possibilities. All is predestined, and the casting of spells therefore can not be avoided.

What is the good of going into the matter further? It would only lead to unnecessary controversy and a disbelief in God’s power.Mektoub!

It wouldtake too long to cast even a cursory glance over the many holy men venerated in Algeria, and it will suffice merely to touch on the two most important. Some confusion appears to exist in the minds of many as to who Abd-el-Kader really is. The name is spoken of all over North Africa, and is often discussed at cross-purposes. The fact is that there are two Abd-el-Kaders, both of great importance to the Arabs, but as different one from the other as possible.

The first, whosekouba, or shrine, can be seen in practically every town all over North Africa, and whose full name is Abd-el-Kader-el-Djelali, was born in the twelfth centuryA. D.at Djel near Bagdad. God said of him:

“If I had not sent Mohammed before thee to earth, I should have chosen thee as my prophet.”

He is, therefore, venerated as only second to the founder of the Faith. He was apparently a man of proverbial goodness, who spent his life in protecting the poor and the oppressed, whose broadness of mind extended to listening to the prayers of Jews, as well as to Christians, and who was the most merciful of all saints. The miracles attributed to him are innumerable, and the legends would fill volumes, but to the practical mind the greatest miracle seems to have been the range of his travels. Quite apart from the placeshe visited in other countries, he seems to have sojourned in every center of importance in Algeria.

With his roan horse he stopped in the cities of the coast, in the villages of the mountains, in the oases of the Sahara, doing good to those about him, helping those in distress who invoked him at great distance. Space seems to have meant nothing to him, and in every place where he rested akoubawas erected in his honor, and thither the faithful flock regularly and light candles in the shrine and pray for his blessings, while on fine nights they congregate and sing his deeds.

It is said that his death was caused by God selecting him to suffer three-quarters of the diseases which fall yearly on the earth, and that, when suffering and near to death, the angels came and placed him between the third and fourth heavens, for the Koran says:

“God created the seven heavens, and placed them one above the other.”

From this point of vantage Abd-el-Kader remains, and watches over the sufferings of the Faithful.

The other Abd-el-Kader, already mentioned earlier in this book, was a no less famous character than his predecessor, themaraboutafter whom he was named. The son of Mai-ed-Din, who claimed direct descent from the Prophet, he was born in the year 1808, and when quite a boy made a pilgrimage to Mecca. During this pilgrimage it is recounted that an angel in the form of a Numidian appeared to Mai-ed-Din and prophesied that one day his son would reign over all North Africa. The boy was intelligent, and spent much of his time studying and interpreting the Koran; and when, therefore, the French landed at Sidi Ferruch in 1830, he felt that his day was at hand. His father had been appointed leader of the Holy War, but it was felt that he had not sufficient personality nor prestige to carry the Faithful to victory, and, rememberingthe prophecy of the dusky angel, Abd-el-Kader was electedemir, and made his solemn entry into Mascara on November 25, 1832.

For the next fifteen years his military career is one of the most remarkable in history. His successes were no doubt slightly due to the ever-changing principles of the government in Paris, but a man of smaller personality would not have succeeded in not only holding at bay, but in defeating an army containing veterans of the Napoleonic campaigns and equipped with all the modern implements of war. Furthermore, he was an able diplomatist, and employed all kinds of intrigue to compromise with the French when he felt that he could not meet them successfully with the sword.

His renowned piety and his descent from Mohammed raised him in the eyes of the Faithful to a position above all his followers, and one of his greatest achievements was the uniting of all the tribes of Algeria in a common cause. Even when reverses lost him some of his adherents, he was always able to gather them together again at the most critical moment and turn upon his astonished enemy, who thought that his end had come. General after general was sent in his pursuit, but returned with the same tale to tell: an elusive enemy, all mounted, which retreated before an advancing column until it was exhausted or on ground suitable for their maneuvering, then a rapid encircling movement, wild attacks on horseback, and the destruction of the expedition. The French would then try pacific measures and make a truce. Abd-el-Kader accepted these overtures, and employed wise emissaries, which allowed him time to reconstruct for further victories. Now and then he was badly beaten, and, evading capture, would flee with a few faithful followers to the mountains or across the Moroccanborder. The tribes which fought for him would disappear, disowning their leader, and for a time there would be peace. Then the French would make some blunder, expose some lonely garrison to attack, and theemirwould be up and at them. One small victory would be sufficient to bring all the diffident tribes flocking about his standard again, and the wearying war would recommence.

Arab Band and Dancer about to Perform in a Southern Town

Pilgrimage to One of the Shrines of Abd-el-kader

Arabs with Flutist Waiting to See the Caravans Going North

What strikes one most in all his career of victories, of reverses, of days of triumph, of moments of desertion, is the perseverance and the faith of the man. At no time was he sure of his people, at all times he was certain of the fate that awaited him at the hands of his enemies, and yet he continued fearlessly to the end. His mobility is almost unbelievable. In a country where roads were unheard of, where the land was overgrown with thick brush, among towering mountains and flooded rivers, he moved with the utmost rapidity. His victories at Mascara in the far west, at Constantine in the east, in the plain of the Metidja, and at Aïn Mahdi in the south give a slight idea of the enormous area covered.

Moreover, it was not merely an army of lightly armed horsemen who swept over the land behind the youthful general. Hissmalaconsisted of thousands of camels, with tents and jewelry and armories, and the families of all the great chiefs, who, though they were kept well in the rear, were always present to celebrate the victories.

It was finally Bugeaud, the veteran of Soult’s army in the Peninsular War, who succeeded in conquering Abd-el-Kader. The old Marshal realized that it was useless to employ the methods of orthodox war against this elusive enemy, and he therefore decided to create mobile columns to pursue the rebels. In the year 1843 a terrible blow was dealt to theemir’sprestige.His greatsmala, which had now become a sort of perambulating capital, with schools to teach the children andkadisto administer justice, was surprised by the Duc d’Aumale near Taguine and completely destroyed.

In spite of this, however, the struggle was kept up, and, after taking refuge in Morocco for a short time, Abd-el-Kader reappeared again. But, though he won a few more victories, his end was near, and in December, 1847, he asked for peace, specifying, however, that the French, in return for his surrender, should allow him to retire to some other Mohammedan country. His terms were accepted, but unfortunately were not kept by the Government of Louis Philippe. He was taken to France, and imprisoned first of all at Toulon and then at Pau, and finally at the Château d’Amboise. Finally, in 1852, Louis Napoleon, then Prince President, visited the exiledemirand granted his wishes. He was transported to Damascus, where he lived in peaceful retirement until his death in 1883.

These pages are too short to go into all the detail of the astonishing career of one who wished to be the hero of Arab independence in Algeria, and to those whom the subject interests let me recommend the excellent work of Colonel Paul Azan.

Some people have wished to compare Abd-el-Kader to Abd-el-Krim of the present day. It would take too long to discuss these points here, but it can be safely said that there is no comparison possible. In the first place, the caliber of the two men is very different; the intelligence of the hero of a hundred years ago was far superior to that of his Moroccan cousin, and, though possibly Abd-el-Krim may have had the same dreams as those which inspired Abd-el-Kader, he never held the same prestige in North Africa. Abd-el-Kader was alone, with ill-armed followers fightingagainst a trained army, and beating them in the open over an area as large as France, while Abd-el-Krim, supported by all kinds of European adventurers, merely held at bay the armies of two European nations where the conformation of the ground made his task comparatively easy.

Abd-el-Kader will always remain a great figure, not only in the history of North Africa but also in that of Islam, as one who defended the Faith against the invasion of the infidel and who died a friend of his former enemies.

This work is not a history nor a political treatise, but merely a handbook for tourists and students of the country, and the name of Abd-el-Kader has only been used to clear up any misunderstanding which may arise when the name is raised: the one Abd-el-Kader, saint and reformer; the other warrior and defender of Islam.

Generallyspeaking the Arab of Algeria is uneducated, and though he is lazy, this lack of education is not fundamentally his fault. In the first place, the instruction he obtains from his own people is singularly primitive. The Koran decrees that all children shall be taught their religion; at the time of its compilation this involved reading and writing of Arabic, but as in Algeria the original pure language has disappeared, and its place has been taken by this mixture of Berber and other tongues which have crept into it during the course of the various invasions, its object as a channel of education has disappeared.

The language of the Koran has, however, not changed in the least, with the result that to read the Holy Book an Arab must learn a completely new language, richer perhaps than any other in the world and full of grammatical rules which take time to fix in the mind.

It stands to reason, therefore, that the number of people who can talk this language are in the great minority, but the order of the Koran must be obeyed. What, therefore, is the result?

A little boy is sent to the localtalebor Arab teacher at the age of seven, and he is supposed to remain there until he is fifteen or sixteen. Here he learns the Koran in the old tongue by heart, reciting in chorus with the other pupils the verses and chapters without thesmallest idea what he is saying. Occasionally he finds a teacher who will take the trouble to explain the scripture and give a few comments on what he is learning, but usually the lad leaves his school with the Koran engraved on his mind like some incomprehensible poem. Naturally he forgets all this very quickly, and though his family teach him his prayers, which are extracted from the Book and are translated, this is all he knows of Arabic. The rest of the sense of his religion is picked up by hearsay, and it may seem astonishing to a stranger to note how much he does know about the laws of the Prophet. It is not, however, as astonishing as might be supposed if one realizes what I have said before, that the whole of his daily life is interwoven with religion, and that if he did not know all this it would be just as if a European remained all his life ignorant of the simplest laws of his country.

The girls are not taught anything by thetaleb, as, though the Koran implies that all children should attend the school, the Arabs consider that if their daughters were thus educated they might get to know too much, and as an oldkadionce said to me, “A woman who could read and write would find it too easy to communicate with her lovers.”

At home a few have to say the various prayers, but usually their only instruction consists in weaving burnouses and carpets. They also are instructed in the art of cooking; their apprenticeship on these lines is very thorough, and they would beat any professional in a carpet-making competition. Their cooking is, of course, entirely Arab, and is often excellent, especially the pastry and the cakes. The rolling of thekous-kousis their speciality, and though in European households only men act as cooks, they have to hand over the preparation of thekous-kousto women.

It will be seen, therefore, that as far as the Arab teaching goes, little boys and girls of an Arab family are practically ignorant of anything except the Koran by heart and household duties. There is, however, a French law which orders all parents to send their male children to the local school. This law is enforced more or less according to its locality. Generally speaking, in the north the children are sent to school as the parents realize the benefit gained by a knowledge of the Roumis’ affairs; the Kabyles are an exception, and they do all they can to escape from this foreign imposition.

In the south, too, education is avoided by the nomads, for no natural dislike, but merely because the parents of the children consider that they are more useful at home helping them with their work than in learning to read and write. As, however, there is a law about school-attending, it would seem difficult to evade it, and whereas in the case of the nomads it is quite an easy matter, the people of the oases have to try to get round the schoolmaster. This seems incredible at first unless one knows the mentality of the Frenchfonctionnairefar away in the desert. Isolated from his kith and kin and living on small pay, he does not feel really bound to educate all the little wanderers who, he knows, will not profit by his labor.

Those who do attend school are taught to read and write, geography, French history, and a little arithmetic. They usually leave their studies at fourteen and remember nothing a few years after, except the reading and writing. Those who stay on can develop their studies until they reach a standard which permits them to go up for the local examination enabling them to get small scholarships in secondary schools or at Lycées. Those who do very well are educated free at the École Normale, and on leavingare posted as teachers in the French schools. For others there is the Medersa and all the legal situations mentioned in a previous chapter.

These pupils have to learn literary Arabic at the local school, and on this one subject they are, generally speaking, very thoroughly educated.

Quite apart from the official masters, there are the White Fathers and White Sisters. These good people have posts in all the far-flung posts of the French colonies, and their devotion to duty is an example to all. Founded by Cardinal Lavigerie about 1865, their work in North Africa is beyond all praise, and they have done more to pacify the country than any soldiers or politicians. They do not try to convert their pupils, but teach them some trade or occupation, at the same time instilling into their minds principles of good living and moral obligations. The White Fathers produce some wonderful leather work from their workshops, and the Sisters’ carpets are the best examples of Arab workmanship one can find. They also run a small school where they teach all elementary matters, including religion. The Arab children do not usually attend these classes but the Jews do. I have talked to Jewish parents on this apparent contradiction of their principles, but they have replied that the teaching of the Sisters is so much superior to that of the lay schools that they prefer their children to receive it, and the parents can always counteract at home any of the Christian doctrines.

The Lycées in Algiers, and for that matter in France, are open to all Arabs who like to pay to send their sons there. Some Arab chiefs make a point of doing so, but it is noticed that the boys do not really reap the benefits of this education but return to their homes without much more knowledge than their brothers who have studied in the local schools, andwith all the vices of the Europeans with whom they have come in contact.

What does strike an Englishman is the enormous proportion of Arabs who talk fluent French. In India it is the officer and the official who have to learn Urdu to make themselves understood among the natives; in Algeria it is the native who must learn French. This is carried to such an extent that in some of thecommunes mixtesof the north the little Arab boys are not learning their own language as a channel of conversation.

The south is different, as only a few nomads can say a word of French, but in time the language of the conqueror will impose itself into the farthest recesses of the Sahara. It is another example of the results obtained by an administration which at first sight seems a contradiction to all sense, and which yet produces wonderful results.

TheArab who has not become softened by life in European towns thinks more of sport than of anything else. His greatest ambition is to own a horse, and the possession of a breech-loading gun is a dream he rarely realizes. With his old muzzle-loading blunderbuss, however, he does wonderful shooting, and rams down the charge with amazing rapidity.

Game of all kinds abounds in Algeria—partridge, hares, woodcock, bustard, pigeons, quail, wild boar, gazelle, moufflon, and occasional panthers in the mountains. I will discuss the various methods of shooting the animals as employed by the Arabs, as, with rare exceptions, sport in the country is organized by them. Small game is either walked up or driven; usually driven, as the areas are so wide and open that it is difficult to approach within range of the birds. Hares can be walked, and they make very pretty shots as they dart round the tufts of alfa; the bustard seems to be a bulky target and does not appear to fly very fast, but is not too easy to hit. Dogs are taken out, but they are badly trained, and it is preferable to leave them at home and rely on native boys to pick up the game.

The most interesting way of hunting the small game in the south is mounted, with hawks. The breed is a kind of small falcon, and unlike those trained in India and other countries, which once captured arekept as long as they can fly, these hawks of North Africa are caught in the autumn and are released again in the spring as soon as the molting season begins. What is still more curious is that the same birds are found again the following year by the falconers, with their young, to be trained for the first time. A hawk is an expensive luxury, and costs four or five hundred francs to buy, while a falconer must be mounted, clothed, fed, and paid a salary. But it is a noble sport, and perhaps one of the most picturesque in the world.

A meeting-place is fixed, and the party rides out in twos and threes, or, in the case of the rich, send on their horses, and motor there in comfort. When every one is assembled a long line is made, converging at the two extremities so as almost to make three sides of a square; the falconers, with the birds, capped, perching on their turbans or shoulders, ride in the center. The horsemen slowly advance. Suddenly there is a shout—a hare has got up; the line steadies its pace, for it is against all rules in any way to hunt the hare until the falcon has got to work. This does not take long, however, for in a second a bird is uncapped and is soaring rapidly up into the air, a second bird has followed it, perhaps a third.

Up they go, flying swiftly above the hunted beast. Suddenly the first falcon swoops down toward the earth, then up again. He has missed, but before the hare has got over this first escape the second falcon comes down; if he misses, the third is there; and, with cries of delight, the Arabs ride up to see the prey held firmly in the falcon’s talons as he pecks savagely at the head.

All this may take five minutes or half an hour. If the hare gets a good start or if the falcon does not see it, at once there is gallop across country, driving thehare in as straight a line as possible by hemming him in on either flank. It is advised in this case not to try to guide the horse, but to let it pick its way among the tufts and holes in the mad pursuit across the rough ground. Many hawks are often loosed, and one may see eight in the air at the same time.

The prettiest sight, I think, is to see a hawk tackling a bustard. The bird gets up heavily, and at first flies low, apparently slowly, but not too slowly for the hawk, whose wings twinkle high up in the sky. After a minute or two the bustard decides to rise; in doing so it loses distance, and the hawk, at the critical moment, stoops and with a graceful upward movement seems just to skim over the large bird’s back, turning on itself again like an aeroplane looping. There is a little shower of gray feathers, the bustard seems to stagger, and then spins down to earth, while the falcon remains high above, marking the place where lies the body.

More often than not, the quarry gets away, and it is then a little difficult to gather in the hawks. The falconers, with loud cries, wave the carcass of a dead hare round their heads until the birds, one by one, return and are capped till the next hunt.

The shooting of bigger game is contrary to all British ideas of sport. The art of stalking is practically unknown.

The wild boar which infests the Atlas range, and especially the mountains of the coast, is driven through the thick undergrowth and killed with a shotgun at short range.

The gazelle of the Sahara is hunted in different ways. The most common method is on horseback. A party of five or six will ride out on to the plain where gazelles are known to be pasturing. As soon as the animals are sighted the horsemen approach cautiously,endeavoring to place themselves on the flank of the herd. The moment the hunters are seen, up go the heads of the gazelles, and in a second there is a wild stampede. At the same time the horses leap forward and the pursuit begins.

If the preliminary maneuvering has been well carried out the line of horsemen will be galloping one behind the other parallel to the gazelles, and little by little the distance separating the hunters from their quarry is lessened.

Suddenly as the leading horseman comes within range he drops the reins on his horse’s neck, raises his gun and fires. His companions follow suit and an intermittent broadside continues until the herd breaks up into terrified groups fleeing in all directions.

The party halts, retainers who have been following hurry up and cut the throats of the dead gazelles, as even in sport the laws of the Prophet must be observed.

It is an exhilarating sport but it needs a little practise to hit anything when both hunters and hunted are at full gallop. It is moreover recommended to use a high-backed Arab saddle and also to ride at the rear of the line, as excitement often makes the Arabs shoot carelessly.

There are others, merely hunting for food, who go out before dawn when the herds are all lying down, approach as near as possible, and then blaze away as soon as it is light enough to see. Some sportsmen hunt them with the native greyhound, but, as this entails much leisure with often no results, the sport is dying out. I have seen gazelles hunted from a motor-car. The vehicle goes bumping across the desert until a herd is seen, and approaches as near as possible. As soon as the animals get the wind they are off, and the car is off after them. As in the case of the hunting onhorseback, the gazelles at first go much faster, but they are soon overtaken and the car rushes along beside them while the occupants discharge their guns into the terrified herd. It is a massacre, but the shooting is not so easy as it sounds and the driver of the car must have courage and judgment. Sometimes it is impossible to get level with the gazelles. In these cases the object may be achieved by the mere tooting of the horn! Nine times out of ten this will cause the gazelles to stop, the car then stops too, and the tooting continues at intervals until—marvelous to relate— the animals begin approaching to see what the noise is. At this moment the heathen kills just as many head as he wants.

There are few dishes more delicate than a roast haunch of gazelle, and the cutlets melt in one’s mouth.

The moufflon—which is not really a moufflon at all, but a sort of goat resembling very closely the animal which is known as the sharpu in Kashmir—is very little hunted. In the first place, he lives in very inaccessible mountains, chiefly in the Aures above Biskra and in the Djebel Amour near Laghouat; secondly, he is getting scarce, and thirdly, his meat not being very tender, is not sought after. If the Arabs see one they shoot it with a shotgun regardless of sex or age; and the European who wants to stalk must understand the game thoroughly himself, be a good mountaineer, and merely employ natives to guide him to the likely spots. It is one of the most astonishing things to see how completely ignorant the Arabs are of all questions of wind or light; their only idea seems to be to rush up to the beasts as quickly as possible and kill in quantity.

But, if the sportsman will take trouble and get into touch with some of the rare Arabs who enjoy this kind of shooting, he will have some excellent sport and get quite good heads.

Panthers are very rare nowadays, and keep away in the highest peaks where there are forests or thick undergrowth. Only when it is very cold do they come down to lower levels and kill a few sheep. The moment their presence is known all the neighboring villages are up in arms, and the wretched beasts have not many days to live.

Jackals and foxes are also shot, as they do a great deal of damage to flocks, and their skins are tanned and sold. Hyenas frequent the plains of the Northern Sahara.

On the whole, however, the Arab who is at heart a good sportsman considers that any form of hunting not connected with a horse is more a means to obtain food than anything else. There are, of course, the great chiefs who will organize regular shoots for their friends as is done in Europe, but it is not very general.

Horse-racing is encouraged, and, though it is carried out in rather a wild method, with little attention to handicapping, it is very highly thought of. Every Arab knows how to ride, be he a soldier, a merchant, or a cook, and the smallest boy will mount his steed without fear or hesitation at the first opportunity.

What strikes one, however, is the little care the average man takes of his horse. He very rarely grooms him, he feeds him on any sort of fodder available, and when in camp he hobbles him in a way which is almost cruel. He uses a heavy saddle based on a wooden framework, and the bit, though light, is often rusty. It is nothing for a nomad to do thirty miles a day on an animal which has never smelled a handful of oats in its life. In spite of this, however, the horses seem to thrive, and those who are properly cared for answer to the treatment in an incredibly short space of time.

All along the coast, sea-fishing abounds, but it differs in no way from the same sort of fishing all over the world. The river-fishing inland is not worth speaking about, but it exists, and the rather bony fish which is caught often makes a pleasant contrast to the eternal meals of mutton and game.

This, roughly speaking, is the sport of Algeria. There are, of course, private individuals—European farmers—who do a certain amount of preserving, but they are in the minority, and rarely ask others than their neighbors to share in their shoots.

Game exists everywhere, and, if the sportsman will take trouble, he can have as good fun with gun and rifle as in any country, but he must do it all himself.

Thenomads are the descendants of the original Arabs who invaded North Africa in the seventh and twelfth centuries. Here and there they have been slightly Berberized, but generally speaking they are quite a separate type from the inhabitants of the rest of Algeria. Tall, and tanned by the sun, they look fearlessly before them as they move with that easy gait of men born and bred in the open plain. Their feet and hands are shapely, and though not actually good-looking they have very fine faces, with an expression of great calm.

Their clothes are much scantier than those of their brethren of the towns. Usually there is just agandourahtied about the waist with a leather girdle, bare legs, the feet encased in untanned leather boots, a very rough turban on the head, and a threadbare burnous. Over the shoulder is slung an antique muzzle-loading gun, while in their hands is always a long staff.

Their womenfolk go about unveiled and have little pretention to beauty, which is probably due to the hard life which they lead. They wear simple frocks, sandals and a kind of turbaned head-dress made of many scarfs wound one above the other. Their hair is thick and plaited round the head, leaving two coils to hang out on either side.

The accent of a nomad is quite different from that of the other Arabs; it is deep and guttural, muchsofter than the tongues of the mountains and of the north.

The hardest thing to realize when one meets these people is the fact that none of them ever possessed a permanent home or actually resided in a house. They were born under the tent, they were brought up there, married there, and they will die and be buried under a little heap of stones. Their whole outlook on life has been the open plain, the sky, the storm, the rain, the fierce sun of the Sahara; even the visits to the market towns have been fleeting. The family, which means everything, has been centered round the group of tents.

These tents are not, as might be supposed, gorgeously decked residences or even the tents we associate with shooting expeditions in India. They consist of a kind of very large blanket made of coarse camel’s and goat’s hair. This blanket is placed on posts and pegged down on three sides leaving the fourth open. On the floor are placed rugs and carpets, and in the case of a rich nomad one may sometimes see colored hangings on the walls, but this is rare, as simplicity is preferred.

When the man is married the tent is divided into two by another blanket and the man lives on one side and his wife and children on the other. When the camp is struck the posts are removed, the blanket is rolled up with the carpets and the whole is placed on the back of a camel or donkey.

On some of the camels one may occasionally see what are known asbassours. They are a kind of palanquin consisting of a framework of wicker hoops covered over with drapery, and inside which travel the women and children. The men either walk or ride horses or donkeys.

In the old days, before motor-cars had come intobeing, the caravan of some southern chief moving to his summer quarters in the north was a very noble sight. It consisted of some hundred camels bearing all his family and his household goods. Thebassourof the important ladies was draped about with the brilliant trappings of his tribe and was surmounted by a banner above which shone a brass crescent. All the men rode beautiful horses richly saddled, and the flocks spread themselves about the caravan as far as the eye could reach.

Occasionally one sees this sight nowadays, but very rarely, and only in the far south where roads have not penetrated. To-day the Arab chief sends his family by rail or by car, and it is left to the shepherds to travel in their old-fashioned and picturesque style.

There are, however, real nomads of great wealth who own hundreds of flocks and whose caravans are necessarily very large, but they do not go in for any kind of pomp. It is a most astonishing thing to meet one of the old heads of families, dressed so simply that he might be a humble workman, and realize that he is the owner of thousands of sheep which represent a fortune not to be sneered at in Europe. Here he lives, however, all his life on the desert with his fifty tents or so, his family and retainers growing up about him, but without the least desire to better himself or live in a house.

Most of thecaïdsof the south live this way, and those who inhabit the towns are exceptions, and are merely there for business reasons or because contact with Europe has made them soft.

The camp of my shepherds, which consists of eight tents, comprising some fifty persons, is a very typical example of the average group of nomads. It moves according to the pastures; that is to say, it remains in a place as long as there is enough grazing in that areaand then it moves on to the next feeding ground. The camp forms the center or headquarters, and in it dwell all the women and children. At dawn the shepherds get up, count the sheep and disperse into the Sahara, where they remain with the flocks until the evening, when they return to the camp. The sheep are again counted, and the evening meal is taken in each separate home.

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