The Horses of the Sahara 31

The Horses of the Sahara 31

Although the actual fighting incidental to this kind of expedition is

devoid of animation and soon interrupted by nightfall, they who take

part in it do not the less run considerable risk. A horseman may receive

a wound sufficiently severe to disable him from continuing his march. In

that case he is lost, unless he happen to be a personage of distinction,

for then he is certain not to be deserted. Some strong, vigourous fellow

takes charge of him, lifts him up, places him across his saddle, and

carries him home dead or alive. As for slight wounds, with the Arab

saddle they do not give much trouble, nor do they prevent the return to

the _goum_. On rejoining the tribe, the spoils are divided among those

who shared in the _khrotefa_.

 

 

THE TERBIGUE.

 

In a _terbigue_ not more than fifteen to twenty horsemen make "a knot,"

and propose to drive off the flocks from the very middle of a _douar_.

They send some of their party to reconnoitre the tribe, and arrive close

to the tents on one of the darkest nights. An isolated _douar_ is

selected, to which they approach as near as two or three hundred paces.

Three of them dismount and stop, while one goes round to the opposite

side, and makes a noise to attract the attention of the dogs. The people

of the tribe fancy it is a passing hyæna, or a jackal, and take no

notice of it. In the meanwhile the two other robbers penetrate into the

interior of the _douar_, loosen the fastenings of ten, fifteen, or

twenty camels, according as fortune favours them, and knock their shoes

together, to frighten the liberated animals and cause them to run away.

They then make off as quickly as they can, rejoin their horses, and all

assist in collecting the scattered camels. After that they separate into

two bands, one of which conducts the captured animals, while the others,

lagging a little behind, allow themselves to be pursued in a different

direction. If by chance they have succeeded in letting loose the

_faâle_, or stallion, their success is certain, for all the females

strive to follow him.

 

Since, in these operations, the secret is generally well kept, they

seldom fail, nor are accidents at all common. Should the _douar_ be on

its guard, the attacking party at once retires. They who venture upon

such enterprises are usually well mounted, and speedily escape from a

pursuit that is rendered almost impossible by the obscurity which

effaces all traces and inspires dread of ambush. For a _razzia_ of this

sort, they do not hesitate to go thirty or forty leagues.

 

Sometimes incidents of a grotesque nature characterise the _terbigue_.

When a party of horsemen does not care to leave a reserve to fight the

enemy, they conceal themselves in an ambuscade seven or eight hundred

steps from the _douar_; while the most experienced robber of the band

strips himself naked, and, taking only his sword with him and tying his

shoes to his head to look like enormous ears, penetrates into the

_douar_. He carries in his hand an old saddle-bow, which he shakes in

all directions, every now and striking the earth. To this dull sound he

joins cries of alarm and terror: "The _goum_! the _goum_! up! up! We are

betrayed!" The clamour, the jumping about, the strange aspect of the

individual, and the noise of the saddle which he keeps on shaking,

strike terror into the animals. Horses, sheep, and camels rush pell-mell

out of the _douar_, and are caught by the concealed horsemen. The others

rush out of their tents, snatch up their guns, and spring into the

saddle; but flocks and plunderers are already far away, fleeing at full

speed, and protected by the night.

 

 

 

 

THE KHRIANA, OR THEFT.

 

 

The _terbigue_ is, in fact, a robbery, but it is at the same time almost

a warlike operation—it is, at least, a _razzia_. The strength of the

party that executes the enterprise, the importance of the wrong

inflicted upon an entire division of a tribe, the high qualities of the

perpetrators of the robbery, who, after all, are real warriors,—all

these circumstances taken together, if they do not suffice as a

justification in the eyes of scrupulous Europeans, are esteemed in the

desert as extremely plausible motives. Since a few brave and reckless

fellows have imperilled their lives to injure a hostile tribe, there

cannot be otherwise than joy and triumph in that to which they belong.

 

In the _khriana_, however, we descend a step lower, and arrive at a mere

marauding expedition, executed by professional thieves. It is no longer

war, even in miniature—it is nothing more than theft. It is no longer a

subject of rejoicing for a whole tribe, though still a matter for praise

and congratulation among friends; always provided the robbery has not

been committed on their own or on a friendly tribe—which would be a

disgrace—but absolutely on an enemy. They say, "Such a one is a brave

man—he robs the enemy." As may readily be imagined, all thefts are not

managed in the same manner, but are adapted to the nature of the capture

that is proposed to be made.

 

 

HORSE-STEALING.

 

This species of theft is practised towards the end of the Mussulman

month. When the moon is scarcely visible, five or six men, having a

proper understanding between themselves, take a supply of provisions

with them in their wallets, and go forth in search of adventures. Before

starting, they give alms to the poor, and intreat them to intercede with

Allah for the success of their enterprise. They then swear by some

well-known marabout, generally Sidi Abd-el-Kader, that, if they succeed,

they will do him homage by putting aside a portion for the unfortunate.

"O Sidi Abd-el-Kader," they exclaim, "if we return with joy, loaded with

spoils and free from accident, we will give thee thy lance's share, if

it please Allah!"

 

On leaving the _douar_ the robbers travel in broad daylight, but, as

they approach the tribe they propose to rob, they proceed only at night,

and conceal themselves, when two or three leagues from the tents, in the

bed of a river, or among the herbage, or in the mountains. As soon as

the darkness has become dense, they issue from their hiding-place and

try the different _douars_ one after the other, stopping at last at that

which seems the least securely guarded, and where the dogs are the least

wakeful. If the robbers are six in number, four of them remain about

fifty paces from the _douar_, silent and motionless, while the two

others, the most daring and adroit, make their way into the interior.

Before separating, they agree upon a pass-word; and then the two thieves

go to work. If they find the dogs on the watch, they return for a third

companion, whom they station a little way off, in front of the tent

guarded by the vigilant dogs, and they themselves enter the _douar_ from

another quarter. They agree upon the tent they propose to rob; and while

one of them, called the _gaad_, remains as a sentinel beside it, the

other, the _hammaze_, pushes on to the horses. If the latter comes upon

a horse or a mare, fastened only by leather thongs ropes, he unties or

cuts the knot, seizes the animal by the _goulada_, or necklace of

talismans, and leads it to the side opposite to where the dogs are held

engaged by the _layahh_,[76] the third accomplice who was stationed for

that purpose in front of the tent. The _gaad_ stays behind ready to

shoot with a pistol, or to knock down with a stone or stick, the first

man who comes out of the tent, and then to mislead the rest by flying in

a direction different to that taken by his comrade with the horse. He

then rejoins the _layahh_, and the two quickly come up with the

_hammaze_, when all three return to their expectant companions. A second

robbery is committed, if the _douar_, buried in sleep, has had no

suspicion of what was going on; otherwise they prepare for flight. One

of them, placing his folded _haïk_ on the back of the horse so as to use

it for stirrups, starts forward at a gallop, after naming a rendez-vous

for the morrow or the day after. The others, to escape from the pursuit

which is sure to be instituted in the morning, hide themselves during

the whole of the first night. The one who mounted the horse only

continues his flight if the theft has been committed in the first hours

of the night; otherwise, he passes the whole of the morrow concealed in

a dry and stony spot, where the animal would leave no trace.

 

Should the fastenings of the horse, instead of being woollen, be of

iron, the operation is more difficult. The preliminary arrangements are

the same, but, once fairly at work, the _hammaze_ cautiously raises the

clog up to the knee, and binds it there with his camel's rope, which he

throws round the animal's neck, and leads it out very slowly. As soon as

he has rejoined his comrades and is sufficiently far from the scene of

his exploits, he bethinks him of giving his prize the liberty that is

still wanting. He therefore removes the clog by means of a small saw, or

picklock; at the worst he turns the padlock to the outside of the

animal's legs and shatters it with a pistol ball, or else fills it with

powder and blows it open. The explosion, however, rouses the owners of

the animal, who set out in search of it, but nearly always in vain. The

night is dark, and the robbers separate; though, if things come to the

worst, they abandon their prize to save their lives.

 

Sometime the master of a tent is troubled by the barking of the dogs,

and awakens his people by calling out to them, _El hayi rah hena_,

"there is somebody here." They go out, and, finding nothing, they

conclude that a hyæna, or a jackal, has occasioned the uproar, and so

turn in again. The thieves then come out of their hiding-places, and

perhaps proceed to some other _douar_ that is less upon the watch.

 

In preparing for a _khriana_, each one provides himself with a pistol

which he secretes under his burnous, a knife, a thick cudgel with a cord

at one end, and a poniard. If a robber fancies that the dogs will

distinguish him because of the whiteness of his garments, he leaves them

with his comrades, and enters the _douar_ entirely naked, his knife in

one hand and the cudgel in the other. It is a popular belief in the

Sahara that a man in a complete state of nudity is invisible in a dark

night. A vicious horse, or one that is thoroughbred, or entire, is safe

from robbers. Their habit of neighing on seeing a man would betray the

plunderers. To avoid being scented by the dogs the precaution is taken

to stalk up the wind. There are likewise other details which should not

be neglected—the absence of moonlight, for instance. The twenty-first of

the Mussulman month is the right time for setting out, and the night of

the twenty-second is usually the most favourable for the execution of

the enterprise. Dust and a high wind are useful allies, but rain is

treacherous, for, by moistening the soil so as to retain foot-marks, it

favours the pursuit. The cold season is the best for robberies of this