The towns themselves appear to be chiefly inhabited by husbandmen and shepherds; for, though they also contain the Merchants, the Artificers, the Ministers of Religion, and the Officers of the Executive Government; yet, the business of agriculture and pasturage seems to be the principal occupation of the natives of Fezzan.
In every town a market for butcher’s meat, and corn, and fruit, and garden vegetables, is regularly held. Mutton and goats flesh are sold by the quarter, without being weighed; the usual price of a quarter of a goat or sheep is from thirty-two to forty grains of gold dust, or from four to five shillings of English money. The flesh of the camel, which is much more highly valued, is commonly sold at a dearer rate, and is divided into smaller lots.
The houses, like those of the little villages in the neighbourhood of Tripoli, are built of clay, and are covered with a flat roof, that is composed of the boughs and branches of trees, on which a quantity of earth is laid. Inartificial and defective as this covering appears, it is suited to the climate: for as rain is never known in Fezzan, the principal requisites of a roof are shelter from the dews, and protection from the sun.
The heats of the Summer, which begins in April and continues till November, are so intense, that, from nine in the morning till sun-set, the streets are frequented only by the labouring people, and even in the houses respiration would be difficult, if the expedient of wetting the apartments did not furnish its salutary aid. Of this torrid clime the fierceness is chiefly felt from the month of May to the latter end of August; during which period, the course of the wind is usually from the E. the S.E. the S. or the S.W. and though from the two latter points it blows with violence, the heat is often such as to threaten instant suffocation; but if it happens to change, as, for a few days, it sometimes does, to the W. or N.W. a reviving freshness immediately succeeds.
The dress of the inhabitants of Fezzan is similar to that of the Moors of Barbary. The immediate covering of the body consists of a pair of large trowsers, of linen or cloth, which descends to the small of the leg, and of a shirt, which is wide in the sleeves, but close at the breast, and the skirts of which hang over and conceal the upper part of the trowsers. Next to the shirt is worn a kind of waistcoat, which in shape resembles the shirt, except that it has no sleeves, and that it reaches no lower than the waist; and to the waistcoat is superadded a jacket, with tight sleeves which extend to the wrist, but which are left unbuttoned and open from the wrist almost to the elbow. Thus far their dress may be said to be similar to that of a British seaman, its colour excepted, and except too, that the shirt is not open at the breast, that the waistcoat is not fastened with buttons, but is put on like the shirt, and that the bottom of the shirt hangs down on the outside of the trowsers.
Over the jacket is worn a loose robe, which reaches below the knee, and the sleeves of which, though wider than those of the jacket, are made in the same form, and, like them, are left open at the wrist.
A girdle of crimson silk binds the robe to the waist; and a long cloth (called a barakan or alhaique) of the shape of a Highlander’s plaid, and worn in the same way, is thrown over the whole. The legs, as far as the calves, to which the trowsers descend, are covered with a kind of short stockings, which are made of leather, and are laced like the half boot of an Englishman. The feet are accommodated with slippers; and the head is protected by a red woollen cap, which is incircled by the folds of a silk or muslin turban.
Ample as this cloathing may appear, the further provision of a long cloak with a large hood is often considered as requisite. It is called a burnoose, and in fine weather is usually carried on the shoulder.
Such, when complete, is the dress of the inhabitants of Fezzan. But in the Summer months the common people have no other covering than the drawers, which decency requires; and the caps, which protect their heads from the immediate action of the sun, for in other respects their bodies are compleatly naked.
Nature and custom have formed their constitutions to such high degrees of heat, that any approach to the common temperament of Europe entirely destroys their comfort; for Mr. Lucas often observed, in his journey to Mesurata, that when the scorching heat of the noon-day beams had compelled him to seek the shade, his fellow-travellers, especially if the wind was in the North, laid themselves down, upon the sand in the open sun, in order to receive a double portion of his warmth; and when, as their custom was, they enquired after his health, they, almost always, concluded with the expression, “Heack m’andick berd,” we hope you are not cold.