The Horses of the Sahara 44
A yet more dangerous sport than hunting the lion himself, is hunting a
lion's cubs. There are individuals, however, adventurous enough to
undertake even this hazardous enterprise. Every day, about three or four
in the afternoon, the lion and lioness quit their lair to make a distant
reconnaissance, with the object, no doubt, of procuring food for their
litter. They may be seen upon the summit of an eminence, examining the
_douars_, and taking note of the smoke that issues from them, and of the
position of the flocks. After uttering some horrible roars, an
invaluable warning to the surrounding population, they again disappear.
It is during this absence that the hunters cautiously make their way to
the cubs and carry them off, taking care to gag them closely, for their
cries would not fail to bring back the old ones, who would never forgive
the outrage. After an exploit of this nature the entire neighbourhood is
obliged to be doubly vigilant. For seven or eight days the lions rush
about in all directions, roaring fearfully. The lion under such
circumstances is a truly terrible monster. At such a time the eye must
not encounter the eye.
The flesh of the lion, though sometimes eaten, is not good, but his skin
is a valued gift, and presented only to Sultans and illustrious chiefs,
and occasionally, to marabouts and _zaouïas_. The Arabs fancy that it is
good to sleep upon one, as it drives away the demons, conjures up good
fortune, and averts certain diseases. Lion's claws, mounted in silver,
are used as ornaments by women; while the skin of his forehead is a
talisman worn by some persons on their head to preserve the energy and
audacity of their brain. In short, lion-hunting is held in high repute
among the Arabs. Every combat with that animal may take the device:
_Kill or Die!_ He who kills him, eats him—says the proverb—and he who
kills him not is eaten by him. In this spirit they bestow on any one who
has killed a lion, this laconic and virile eulogy: _Hadak houa_—"that
one is he!" A popular belief illustrates the grandeur of the part played
by the lion in the life and imagination of the Arabs. When a lion roars,
they pretend that they can readily distinguish the following words:
_Ahna ou ben-el mera_—"I and the son of woman." Now, as he twice repeats
_ben-el mera_, and only once says _ahna_, they conclude that he
recognizes no superior save the son of woman.
THE CAMEL.[89]
It was said by the Prophet: "The good things of this world, to the day
of the last judgment, are attached to the forelocks of your horses;
"Sheep are a blessing;
"And the Almighty has created nothing, as an animal, preferable to the
camel."
The camel is the ship of the desert. Allah hath said: "You may load your
merchandize in barks and on camels." As in the desert there is very
little water, and there are long distances to be traversed, the Almighty
has endowed them with the faculty of easily enduring thirst. In winter
they never drink. The Prophet more than once gave the following advice:
"Never utter coarse remarks on the subject of the camel or of the wind:
the former is a boon to men, the latter an emanation from the soul of
Allah." Camels are the most extraordinary animals in the world, and yet
there are none more docile, owing to their being so much with men.
So great, indeed, is their docility, that they have been known to
follow a rat, that, in the act of gnawing, pulled a rope smeared with
butter, by which they were fastened. Such is the will of Allah. These
apophthegms suffice to show that the camel is, of all created animals,
the most useful in respect of the wants of the Arabs.
The Arabs of the Sahara can tell the age of a camel by its teeth. They
say it is long-lived, though they cannot give any very precise
information on the subject. They put the case, however, in this manner.
If a camel be born on the same day with a child, it has reached old age
by the time the latter has distinguished himself in combats, which
implies the age of eighteen to twenty-five years. Camels require much
care and experience in managing them. Whenever it is possible, the male
camels are led to a different pasture from the females. After the 15th
of April, they are not sent out to feed until the afternoon, because it
has been remarked that the grass is covered with a sort of dew that lays
the foundation of fatal diseases. Care is also taken to prevent the
camels from eating within the _douar_ what remains in the morning of the
small quantity of grass given to the horses overnight. These precautions
are necessary during the six weeks or two months in which the dew is
observed. Throughout the whole winter, the end of autumn, and the
beginning of spring, the camels may be permitted, with advantage, to
browse on shrubs with a salt flavour; but in the beginning of April, and
at the end of May, they must not be allowed to do so for more than five
or six days.
The shearing of the camels takes place in the latter part of April. They
are made to lie down, and are operated upon by the shepherds and female
slaves, a woman standing behind them to gather the fleece which she
thrusts into bags. It is a somewhat slow operation. _El oubeur_, or
camel's fleece, is used in making canvas for tents, camel-ropes, sacks
called _gherara_, and _djellale_, or horse-cloths. It is mixed almost
invariably with common wool.
The ordinary burden of a camel is two _tellis_ of wheat, or about 250
kilogrammes. If not over-driven, it can go from dawn to sunset, at least
if it be allowed, as it journeys along, to elongate its neck and pluck
the herbage that grows on either side of its path. In this manner it
will cover from ten to twelve leagues in the twenty-four hours, and
every fifth day it must be permitted to rest. In the desert, camels are
let out to hire, not by the day, but by the journey, going and
returning, according to the distance. For instance, from El-Biod, among
the Oulad-Sidi-Shikh, to the Beni-Mzab, or about fifty leagues, costs
from two to three _douros_, and from the same point to Timimoun six or
seven _douros_.
The flesh of the camel is eaten as food. The animal, however, is seldom
killed unless it has a broken leg, or is sick. The flesh is sometimes
salted, and, after being dried in the sun, is kept as a provision on a
journey. The love and veneration felt by the Arabs of the Sahara for
their camels are quite intelligible. "How should we not love them?" they
exclaim. "Alive, they transport ourselves, our wives, our children, our
baggage and provisions, from the land of oppression to that of liberty.
The weight they can carry is enormous, and the distance they traverse
very considerable. In other words, they further the relations of
commerce and render aid in war. Thanks to them, we are able, whenever we
please, to shift our encampment, whether in search of new pasturages, or
to escape from an enemy. Moreover, we drink their milk, which is also
useful in the preparations of food, and neutralises the injurious
qualities of the date. Dead, their flesh is everywhere eaten with
relish, and their hump is sought after as a savoury dish. Their skin
serves as shoe-leather. If soaked, and then sewed to the saddle-tree, it
imparts, without the aid of a single nail or peg, a solidity that
nothing can affect. Then, their sobriety and endurance of heat and
thirst permit them to be kept alike by rich and poor. They are truly a
boon from Allah, who hath said:—
Horses for a dispute,
Oxen for poverty.
Camels for the desert.
SHEEP.
No cattle are reared in the Sahara, owing to the scarcity of water, the
scantiness of the herbage, the stony nature of the ground, and the
frequent removals from one place to another. But, if the desert be
unfavourable for the rearing of cattle, it is, assuredly, the veritable
country of the sheep. This animal finds there the salt shrubs eaten by
the camel, as well as many fragrant and nutritious plants known by the
generic name of _el aâsheub_. Water it obtains from the ponds supplied
by the rains, or from the basins formed by the side of wells, and kept
up with great care. The wells themselves are, for the most part,
surrounded with masonry, and sheltered from the drifting sands. Sheep,
besides, are patient of thirst. In spring, they are given to drink once
in five or six days; in summer, every other day; in autumn, every third
day; and in winter every fourth day. During the great heats of summer,
they are not allowed to touch the pools of water lying on the surface of
the ground,—experience having shown that at that period of the year
stagnant water, rendered tepid by the sun's rays, is very unwholesome.
If a drought happens to have prevailed during the first two months of
spring, and if rain falls plentifully in the third, the herbage grows
luxuriantly, and is called _khelfa_, or compensation. As if to make
amends for their long abstinence, the sheep eat it greedily, but it is
apt to give them a sickness named _el ghoche_, or treason. This disease
does not manifest itself until after the summer heats. The head and
lower jaw become much swollen, the animal coughs continually, and death
usually supervenes. According to the Arabs, a rainy autumn, by causing
fresh grass to spring up early, greatly tends to mitigate the pernicious
effects of the _ghoche_.
Sheep are very prolific. They generally lamb twice in the year—in the
early part of spring and autumn. The large tribes possess from two to
three hundred thousand sheep, which are divided into flocks of four
hundred, called _ghelem_ or _aâssa_ [a stick]. Wealthy individuals have
from fifteen to twenty _ghelem_, and the poorest a half, or even a
quarter _ghelem_.
In the Sahara there is a species of sheep that yields a magnificent
wool, very soft but not very long. This is the wool employed in the
manufacture of articles of luxury. These animals are nearly red in the
head, and the ewes give a great deal of milk.
It is said of the finest ewes of this breed:
They see like an owl,
And walk like a tortoise.
Their wool descends to their hoofs and so completely covers their head
that, literally, nothing but their eyes is visible. In the Sahara and in
the _kuesours_, a _zedja_, or fleece, is worth only one _boudjou_, but
the price is greatly enhanced by the time it reaches the Tell, and
especially the sea-coast. Some sheep have no horns, and are called
_fertass_ [bald]. Others, again, have four, and are known as _el
kuerbourb_; while others have horns that are bent back, and are named
_el kheroubi_.
The Arabs take no care whatever of their sheep. They have no sheds in
which to shelter them from the severity of the weather, nor supplies of
forage to save them from starvation. Consequently, in bad seasons they
frequently lose one-half of their flocks, and if blamed for this
carelessness, or offered advice, they answer quite simply: "To what
purpose is all that? They are the property of Allah [_Kher Eurby_]. He
does with them as it pleases Him. Our ewes give us two lambs every year. Next year our losses will be repaired."
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