Algeria from withinBodley, R. V. C. (Ronald Victor Courtenay)
History
Algeria from within
Bodley, R. V. C. (Ronald Victor Courtenay)
Algeria -- Description and travel
In the winter we move only a few miles at a time, from pasture to
pasture, but when it begins to get hot and the grazing scarce the
whole camp is packed up and we set out for a long journey to the
mountains in the north. It takes a fortnight or so to cover the
two or three hundred miles to our summer quarters. Here the area is
much more restricted, and the camp remains much longer in the same
place until the time to move south comes round again in the autumn.
Market-day in the villages of the Tell during the summer months
is a most interesting sight. All the tribes are there—Larbas,
Chambas, Ouled Naïls—outnumbering the regular inhabitants,
and one hears the deep voices of these people from the Sahara,
and in the evening the southern pipe is played in all the cafés.
The rich chiefs who live in the oases usually have their country
homes in the mountains, and those who have not are usually related
to the local magnates and spend the summer with them.
There are, of course, a great many nomads who never leave the south
at all, but wander about all the year in the Sahara. The pasture is
very scarce, but there is just enough for the sheep and they get
all the benefit of the first autumn rains. Nomads have prejudices
about moving out of their own areas and prefer to remain in a
country they know.
It is unfortunately difficult to get to know these people well.
They are timid of strangers, and as they can not speak one word of
French the visitor must have a very fluent knowledge of Arabic to
make himself understood. They are suspicious of being exploited,
very quick of temper, and where honor is concerned do not hesitate
to use the knife or the gun. They are very childish in their jokes,
and if they see that one means no ill they soon become attracted and
friendly. Their women are, generally speaking, chaste, and though
there are intrigues, which usually end in some one getting murdered,
they are the exception.
A little story of an incident which occurred in a neighboring camp
to mine will perhaps illustrate the mentality of these people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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