The Jewish men wear a costume much more like that of the Turks, except that their full, loose trousers do not fall much below the knee.
The women of the Turkish households in Tunis, as well as in all Mohammedan countries, are regarded more as pets and favorites than as the companions and helpmates which they are in American and European households. Their homes are like gilded cages, for the inmates can leave them only by permission of the head of the household. Even when allowed to go upon the street, they are always heavily veiled from observation.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
THE PROVINCE OF TRIPOLI.
If we leave the port of Tunis on one of the little Maltese schooners, we can, after a sail of some forty-eight hours with a favorable wind, easily discern the walls of Tripoli rising out of the sea from the low, rocky tongue of land in the western extremity of the province.
The coast line is so low that we have been able to see it only upon very near approach to shore. The mountains of the interior, however, were discernible even at a distance of ten miles from shore, and our pilot has not hesitated to use them as safe landmarks by which to direct the course of our little vessel.
As we approach the coast it is seen as a more distinct line above the waves. Gradually it assumes the form of a long crescent, the white walls of the town rising from the center.
The eastern point of the crescent-shaped shore is overgrown with a dense grove of palm trees, which stand like troops protecting the coast, even to the water's edge, by what seems like an advance guard. The western point of the crescent is but a stretch of the yellow sands of the desert, with here and there a stunted growth to break the monotony.
A small gulf forms the harbor of the town. Across the front of this gulf a reef of low rocks serves as a foundation for a natural breakwater. One would think that it would be an easy matter to add to nature's work and make this feature of valuable service to the harbor; but the indolent Arabs have contented themselves with throwing out a frail rampart for a short distance from the shore.