No doubt it is because of this very same influence of encroaching civilisation that I noted, in the passing, that the northern Tuaregs were not so alert in examining the tracks of strangers, nor yet so expert as camel-men as their neighbours farther in the interior. Regarding their distribution, one may chance across Tuaregs known by such tribal names as _Ekaskazan_, _Efararen_, _Ehaggaran_, _Kel-Rada_, _Kel-Geras_, _Kel-Tedili_, _Kel-Wai_, and many others; but those are simply names that imply the locality they belong to. For instance, _Kel-Ferouan_ means “The people of Iferouan.” [Illustration: TUAREG LADS WHO SHOW TRACES OF NEGROID IMPURITY] A remarkable fact is that the Tuaregs of the Sahara are in widely separated groups, who hold strangely aloof from one another, instead of associating, as might naturally be expected of people of one race and one country. Some of the main tribal centres are: Timbuktu, Kidal, Aïr, Ahaggar, Ashgur, and the Fezzan. All have the same customs and manners, but vary considerably in dialect. There the connection ends, for each group is a power unto itself, and neighbours are looked upon as feudal enemies. They may fight among themselves over intrigues for local power or favoured pastures, but it is with everyone outside that traditional hostility exists. And it is this state of affairs that has always led to ferment along the highways and byways of the Sahara, and opens the door to brigandage. The Tuaregs exact homage from their serfs, and from the sedentary peoples of the Saharan Oases, who seldom dream of opposing them. They resemble haughty cavaliers who drift, on occasions, into the society of towns where they are strangers, and conduct themselves as such. They do their business and keep their counsels to themselves, and depart as abruptly as they came. Consequently they have few friends, and are, at heart, hated by the townsfolk, who are well aware of their scornful demeanour toward all who work with their hands, which is, to some degree, expressed in a Tuareg proverb: “Shame enters the family that tills the soil.” But, to-day, this attitude sometimes recoils upon them. Many of the Tuareg slaves are captives from Hausaland. These are so addressed, and have to be respectful to their masters. But when the Tuareg journeys south, say, to Kano, where he covets cotton gowns and trade, he finds himself completely out of his own sphere, and often treated as so much dirt. His mortification is complete when, in the busy streets, some bold Hausa native openly addresses him as _slave_, while he is powerless to refute the term, owing to the prejudice of alien surroundings.