SHEEP.
No cattle are reared in the Sahara, owing to the scarcity of water, the scantiness of the herbage, the stony nature of the ground, and the frequent removals from one place to another. But, if the desert be unfavourable for the rearing of cattle, it is, assuredly, the veritable country of the sheep. This animal finds there the salt shrubs eaten by the camel, as well as many fragrant and nutritious plants known by the generic name ofel aâsheub. Water it obtains from the ponds supplied by the rains, or from the basins formed by the side of wells, and kept up with great care. The wells themselves are, for the most part, surrounded with masonry, and sheltered from the drifting sands. Sheep, besides, are patient of thirst. In spring, they are given to drink once in five or six days; in summer, every other day; in autumn, every third day; and in winter every fourth day. During the great heats of summer, they are not allowed to touch the pools of water lying on the surface of the ground,—experience having shown that at that period of the year stagnant water, rendered tepid by the sun's rays, is very unwholesome. If a drought happens to have prevailedduring the first two months of spring, and if rain falls plentifully in the third, the herbage grows luxuriantly, and is calledkhelfa, or compensation. As if to make amends for their long abstinence, the sheep eat it greedily, but it is apt to give them a sickness namedel ghoche, or treason. This disease does not manifest itself until after the summer heats. The head and lower jaw become much swollen, the animal coughs continually, and death usually supervenes. According to the Arabs, a rainy autumn, by causing fresh grass to spring up early, greatly tends to mitigate the pernicious effects of theghoche.
Sheep are very prolific. They generally lamb twice in the year—in the early part of spring and autumn. The large tribes possess from two to three hundred thousand sheep, which are divided into flocks of four hundred, calledghelemoraâssa[a stick]. Wealthy individuals have from fifteen to twentyghelem, and the poorest a half, or even a quarterghelem.
In the Sahara there is a species of sheep that yields a magnificent wool, very soft but not very long. This is the wool employed in the manufacture of articles of luxury. These animals are nearly red in the head, and the ewes give a great deal of milk.
It is said of the finest ewes of this breed:
They see like an owl,And walk like a tortoise.
They see like an owl,And walk like a tortoise.
They see like an owl,And walk like a tortoise.
They see like an owl,
And walk like a tortoise.
Their wool descends to their hoofs and so completely covers their head that, literally, nothing but their eyes is visible. In the Sahara and in thekuesours, azedja, or fleece, is worth only oneboudjou, but the price is greatlyenhanced by the time it reaches the Tell, and especially the sea-coast. Some sheep have no horns, and are calledfertass[bald]. Others, again, have four, and are known asel kuerbourb; while others have horns that are bent back, and are namedel kheroubi.
The Arabs take no care whatever of their sheep. They have no sheds in which to shelter them from the severity of the weather, nor supplies of forage to save them from starvation. Consequently, in bad seasons they frequently lose one-half of their flocks, and if blamed for this carelessness, or offered advice, they answer quite simply: "To what purpose is all that? They are the property of Allah [Kher Eurby]. He does with them as it pleases Him. Our ewes give us two lambs every year. Next year our losses will be repaired."
The following sentiments are ascribed to sheep:—
"I love the close hand, that is, to belong to a miser who would neither sell us, nor slaughter us for the entertainment of his guests.
"I love distant market-places; for when they are near to my master, for one reason or another we are sold, or slaughtered.
"And every day a new house; that is, fresh and more abundant pasturage."
Sheep are the fortune of the child of the desert. He says of them: "Their wool serves to make our tents, our carpets, our garments, our horse-cloths, our sacks, our nose-bags, our camel's-packs, our ropes, our cushions. And what remains in excess of our own necessities we sell in thekuesoursor in the Tell, when we go there, after harvest, to buy grain. Their flesh we eat, or give it to be eaten by the guests of Allah. Dried in the sun,it will keep, and be of use to us in our journeys. Their milk is very serviceable to our families, whether as drink or food. We make of itlebenorsheneen[sour milk], and what is over we give to our horses. We also get butter from it, which enters into the preparation of our food, or which we exchange in thekuesoursfor dates. Of their skin we make cushions, and buckets to draw water from the well. With it we ornament theaâtatouches[90]of our women, or we dress it for shoe-leather. We have no need to plough, or sow, or reap, or thresh out the corn, or to fatigue ourselves like vile slaves, or like the wretched inhabitants of the Tell. No; we are independent, we pray, we trade, we hunt, we travel, and if we have occasion to procure that which others can only obtain by sweat and toil, we sell our sheep, and forthwith provide ourselves with arms, horses, women, jewels, clothes, or whatever else affords us gratification, or embellishes our existence. The owner of sheep has no need to labour, nor is he ever in want of anything. So Allah has willed it!"