The Horses of the Sahara 23
To find the tall grass
Which grows in solitudes dangerous to traverse,
In solitudes defended by the points of lances,
And by the descent of torrents,
I have many a time galloped,
When the birds were yet asleep in their nests.
To hunt the white-skinned zebra,
Whose legs are striped like Indian stuffs,
Or to overtake the antelope that lives in wild regions,
I have ridden horses with flesh hardened by exercise,
It was Allah who created them for the happiness of Believers.
Many a time, too, have I rested my heart
On that of a maid with budding bosoms,
And legs adorned with anklets of gold!
In our incursions of horsemen,
When eye must meet eye,
Many a time have I said:
Forward! forward! O my beloved courser!
Follow up the enemy routed and fleeing!
The value of a horse is in his stock.
REMARKS BY THE EMIR ABD-EL-KADER.
To a King who asked a poet for his horse named _Sakab_, the latter
replied: "_Sakab_ is not for sale, nor is he to be exchanged. I would
ransom him at the price of my life. My family should die of hunger
rather than that he should suffer."
An Arab once said: "My countrymen blame me for being in debt, and yet I
contracted it for a horse of noble race and well rounded forms, who
confers honour upon them and serves as a talisman to my _goum_, and to
whom I have given a slave as his attendant."
An Arab one day sent his son to buy a horse in the market-place, and he,
before setting out, asked his father what qualities the animal should
have. The father made answer: "His ears should be ever in motion turning
sometimes forward, sometimes behind, as if he were listening to
something. His eyes ought to be keen and restless, as if his mind were
occupied with something. His limbs must be well set on and well
proportioned." "Such a horse," the son rejoined, "will never be sold by
his master."
Many of the Arabs of Upper Asia have genealogical trees, in which they
state and confirm by evidence that would be accepted in a court of
justice, the birth and parentage of the colt, so that when a proprietor
wishes to sell a horse he has only to produce his genealogical tree to
satisfy the purchaser that he is not deceiving him.
I have seen among the Annaza, a tribe extending from Bagdad to the
confines of Syria, horses so absolutely priceless that it was impossible
to buy them, or at least to pay in cash for them. These horses are
usually disposed of to great personages or wealthy merchants, who pay a
fabulous price for them in thirty to fifty bills, falling due at
intervals of twelve months, or else they bind themselves to pay an
annual sum for ever to the vendor and his descendants.
"I take them by surprise in the morning, while the bird is yet in its
nest and the moisture from the dew is making its way to the river.
"I surprise them with my sleek-coated courser that by its swiftness
overtakes the wild beasts and never wearies of hunting the gazelle in
all seasons and far from our home.
"He has the flanks of the gazelle, the legs of the female ostrich, and
the straight back of the wild ass standing as a sentinel on a hillock.
"His croup, like to a heap of sand which moisture has rendered compact,
harmonizes with withers rising above the back, like the pack-saddle of
the camel kept in its place by the crupper.
"The swellings behind his ears are rounded like spheres: the headstall
and the headband seem as if they were fixed to the extremity of the
trunk of a palm-tree, stripped of its leaves.
"Fastened by the side of other horses, he bites and demeans himself in
his jealousy as if he were possessed by a demon."
SHOEING.
Contrary to the accepted opinion, the Arabs of the Sahara are in the
custom of shoeing their horses, whether on the two forefeet, or on all
four feet, according to the nature of the ground they occupy. Those who
shoe them on all four feet are the inhabitants of the stony districts,
and these constitute the majority. Among them are the Arbâa, Mekhadema,
Aghrazelia, Saâid-Mekhalif, Oulad-Yagoub, Oulad-Nayl, Oulad-Sidi-Shikh,
Hamyane, etc., etc. It is the universal practice to take the shoes off
in the spring, when the animals are turned out to grass; the Arabs
asserting that care must be taken not to check the renewal of the blood
which takes place at that season of the year.
In every desert tribe there is a _douar_ set apart by the name of
_douar-el-maâllemin_, "the master's douar." It is that of the farriers.
A profession entirely and especially devoted to that indispensable
complement of the Arab, his horse, might be expected to be made the
object of particular esteem. Accordingly, numerous and invaluable
privileges are accorded to them, but I am not certain if the concession
of these privileges is to be regarded as an homage rendered to an art
that refers exclusively to the horse, and not also, seeing that it is
the only art that survives in the desert, as a remembrance of the
encouragements formerly given to the able and learned men of Arabia,
Egypt, Africa, and Spain, by the Arabs of the olden times, the brilliant
conquerors of the Goths and contemporaries of Haroun-al-Raschid.
The Arabs of the Sahara say that their first farriers came to them from
the towns on the seaboard, such as Fez, Tunis, Mascara, Tlemcen, and
Constantine, since when their knowledge and their calling have been
perpetuated in their families from generation to generation. A farrier
must likewise be something of an armourer and iron-smith, to repair
their bits, spurs, knives, guns, sabres, and pistols, besides making
horse-shoes, sowing needles, sickles, small hatchets, and mattocks.
In return he enjoys the following immunities: He pays no
contributions—on the contrary, when his tribe proceeds to the Tell to
buy grain a collection is made for his benefit. This immunity, however,
he shares with the maker of sandals. "The worker in iron and the maker
of boots pay no imposts." Neither is he called upon to offer kouskoussou
or shelter to any one: in other words, he is exempted from the duty of
hospitality, which in certain cases is imposed upon all. The constant
toil demanded by his calling, the unavoidable accidents to which he is
liable through the urgent wants of his brethren night and day, the
sleepless nights he has to undergo, entitle him to certain dues, called
_aâdet-el-maâllem_, "the master's dues." On their return from the
purchase of grain in the Tell every tent makes over to him a _feutra_ of
wheat and barley, and a _feutra_ of butter. In the spring he receives in
addition the fleece of a ewe. If a camel is killed for eating, he claims
the part comprised between the withers and the tail, deducting the hump,
which, being covered with fat, is esteemed a delicacy. In razzias and
expeditions, whether or not he has taken part in the enterprise, he is
entitled to a share of the booty. Usually, it is a sheep, or a camel,
according to the value of the prize. This due is known as the horseman's
ewe. The most important privilege, however, accorded to farriers, the
indisputable token of the protection they formerly enjoyed and of the
esteem in which they are still held, is the gift of life on the field of
battle. If a farrier is on horseback, with arms in his hands, he is
liable to be killed like any other horseman of the _goum_; but if he
alights and kneels down and imitates with the two corners of his
burnous—raising and depressing them by turns—the movement of his
bellows, his life will be spared. Many a horseman has saved his life by
means of this stratagem. A farrier can only enjoy the benefit of this
privilege by leading an inoffensive life, absorbed in the duties of his
business; but if he distinguishes himself by his warlike prowess, he
forfeits the privileges of his calling, and is treated as an ordinary
horseman. These advantages, on the other hand, are compensated by a
serious drawback. Should he happen to grow rich, a quarrel is fastened
upon him and in one way or another a portion of his wealth is taken from
him to prevent him from quitting the district.
A farrier whose tribe has been plundered seeks out the victors, and on
the simple proof of his trade, recovers his tent, tools, utensils, and
horse-shoes. His implements consist of a pair of bellows, which are
nothing more than a goat-skin bag with three openings, of which two are
on the upper part in the same line, and the third at the opposite end.
Through this last protrudes the barrel of a gun, or pistol, that conveys
the blast to the fire. It is the wife's department to work the bellows.
She kneels down before the charcoal which is placed in a hole, and takes
in each hand one of the upper orifices, which she closes by clutching
the skin around them. Then by alternately opening and closing her hands,
she produces a movement that causes a current of air sufficient for the
purpose, though not very powerful. The Arabs of the Sahara give the
preference over a more perfect one to these bellows with their feeble
blast, but which are easily transported in their nomadic expeditions. To
the bellows the farrier joins an anvil, a hammer, files, pincers, and a
vice. These instruments they obtain chiefly from the seabord, though
some of them they make for themselves. Formerly they used to procure the
iron in the great markets of the central desert, at Tougourt, among the
Beni-Mezabe, or at Timimoun, according to the greater or less distance
of those points from their own neighbourhood; but now they begin to
purchase them from us. The charcoal they prepare themselves with the
_arar_, the _remt_, the _senoubeur_, and the _djedary_, the last being
the most esteemed.
The horse-shoes are kept ready made, and always command a sure sale, the
Arabs being in the habit of laying in their supply for the whole year,
consisting of four sets for the fore-feet and four for the hind-feet.
The nails are likewise made by the farriers. When a horseman goes to a
farrier, taking his shoes with him, the latter is paid by his
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기