Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa, Vol. 1 (of 5) : $b being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the years 1849-1855Barth, Heinrich
History
Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa, Vol. 1 (of 5) : $b being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the years 1849-1855
Barth, Heinrich
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, North -- Description and travel
Having kept awhile along this picturesque ravine, we ascended its
eastern side, and then followed the very edge of the steep, directly for
the castle; but before reaching our tent we were obliged to cross a deep
branch of the ravine. There was some little activity to-day about the
castle, it being the market-day; but the market was really miserable,
and the Turkish troops, exercising outside the castle, could ill supply
the want of national welfare and prosperity. If a just and humane
treatment were guaranteed to these tribes, even under a foreign rule,
the country might still enjoy plenty and happiness. Most of the tribes
westward from the Riaina—namely, the Zintán, who formerly were very
powerful, and even at present hold some possessions as far as Fezzan,
the Rujbán, the Fissátu, the Welád Shebel, the Selemát, the Arhebát, the
Harába, the Génafíd, the Kabáw, and, the Nalúd, belong to the Berber
race. With regard to the westernmost of these tribes, M. Prax on his way
to Tuggúrt, has obtained some new information.
After a friendly parting from the Kaimakám, we broke up our encampment
near the kasr, in the afternoon, in order to continue our tour eastward
along the varied border of the plateau, under the guidance of a faithful
black servant of the governor, whose name was Barka. Having passed
several smaller villages, we reached Um e’ Zerzán, a considerable
village, situated on a round hill in the midst of a valley, ornamented
with fine olive-trees, and surrounded by fine orchards. Um e’ Zerzán is
well known among the mountaineers as a centre of rebellion. The whole
neighbourhood is full of reminiscences of the late war, and about two
miles in the rear of the village are the remains of strong walls called
el Matarís, behind which the Arabs made some stand against the Turks.
Having passed a solitary rustic dwelling surrounded with a thriving
olive-plantation, we reached the ruins of a castle or village from which
the Roman sepulchre, known among the Arabs by the name Enshéd e’ Sufét,
burst suddenly upon our view.
[Sidenote: Monday, February 11th.]
After an extremely cold night on this high rocky ground, the thermometer
in the morning indicating only 5° above freezing-point, with the dawn of
day I mounted the hill opposite to the monument, commanding an extensive
view.[11] It was a level tableland, uninterrupted by any higher
eminence; but the landscape seemed to me highly characteristic, and I
made a sketch of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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