The _caïd’s_ tribe is subdivided into four or five “fractions,” each under a _sheik_. The _sheik_—about whom so much fantastic literature has been written, and who, though he may be a cultivated man, is usually so by accident—has a small command, and his authority depends on his personality. He can usually neither speak nor write French, and to the casual visitor differs in no way exteriorly from the poorest shepherd in his “fraction.” In fact, with the exception of a few _aghas_ and _caïds_ who are rich and who have come in contact with Europe, the Arab chief, with his silk-decked tent and his _smala_ of glorious beauties, wielding the powers of life and death at a moment’s notice, is a thing of the past. He shambles along on a rickety horse reminding one rather of the bull-ring, and he lives most of his life under a kind of awning which he calls a tent. Since the war, the Government insists that the chiefs it appoints shall have passed the elementary standard at the local French school, but there are many _caïds_ of pre-war nomination who are completely illiterate and who have never lived anywhere but in a tent. Moreover, the official power of a chief is very limited. He is merely a functionary paid by the Government to assist it in its administrative duties in the south, and with this end in view he has the support of all those in authority. Officially this is all. Unofficially there is a great deal more power wielded in the background, power used sometimes quite unscrupulously to attain a personal end. For example, the Bureau Arabe only recognizes the _bash agha_ and his subordinates. A crime occurs among the nomads, the _caïd_ of the tribe concerned is notified, and he sets about making his investigations. On his report alone the Bureau Arabe will act. There are, of course, many of these men who are scrupulously honest and who carry out their duties conscientiously, but there are others who do not, and there are certainly frequent miscarriages of justice through personal reasons. There was a case where the _agha_ had a feud with a _sheik_ of his tribe. The _sheik_ was in the right; the _sheik_ tried to make trouble for the _agha_, and appealed to the French authority. The French authority gave the _sheik_ his right. The _agha_ said nothing at the time, but a few weeks later he sent the _sheik_ on a mission, and while he was away he took his wife and kept her till he thought the vengeance sufficient. The _sheik_ was powerless to act, as the _agha_ had committed no crime in the eyes of the French law, and he knew if he made any more fuss that his life would not be safe. It is better for a nomad to keep in with his _caïd_ if he does not want to lose all he has.