MT. ABATTUL AND VILLAGE

I regret that I was never sufficiently fluent in Temajegh to learn much of the superstitions of the Tuareg of Air. Such information can only be obtained after prolonged residence among a people, and superficial conclusions are worse than useless. There is no doubt that underlying all their Islamic practices they hold fundamental beliefs dating from their earlier religious practices, regarding which only very few indications are available. The existence of certain apparently Christian survivals led Duveyrier and other authorities to assert that the Tuareg were Christians before they were converted to Islam, and I am prepared to accept this view in spite of the denials which have been expressed by so eminent a writer as Bates. De Foucauld, I understand, was also doubtful of their having been Christians, for among the earlier beliefs which he found to be retained by the Tuareg of Ahaggar he detected the remains of a polytheistic rather than a monotheistic system. Bates has laboriously collected all the references to religious beliefs among the Eastern Libyans, and any reader interested in the subject cannot do better than refer to his work, for even as far as Air is concerned I can add nothing thereto.[246]

There are certain incontrovertible facts which demonstrate the influence, at least, of Christianity among the People of the Veil. Much has been written of their use of the cross in ornament, nor can its so frequent occurrence be entirely fortuitous. I am aware that the cross is a simple and effective form of decoration which any primitive people is likely, unless formally prohibited, to have used; but I find it hard to believe that the Tuareg, who, after all, are not so very primitive in their culture, however much of it they may have lost, had no other inducement than a lack of imagination to drag in at every turn this symbol which their religion expressly forbids them to use. Their cross-hilted sword, which has been likened to a Crusader’s, may be a chance example of the use of a design which is as convenient as it is simple, but the tenacity with which they cling to the form, and only to this form, is none the less curious. The cross in T’ifinagh script for the letter “Iet” (T) is doubtless a pure accident occasioned by the rectilinear character of the alphabet. But in that case the absence of the equally convenient diagonal or St. Andrew’s cross is strange. In other instances the appearance of the cross can be even less lightly dismissed. The traditional form of ornamentation on the Tuareg shield is purely and simply the Latin cross rising out of what in design, apparently, is a traditional representation of glory or light, depicted as a radiating mass. Bates argues that the occurrence of a drawing of a shield with a cruciform design thereon upon a rock in Tibesti is an argument against the view which I have adopted, and that the use of this symbol is probably due to a former practice of sun worship which he finds widespread in Libya. But when it is realised how much the Tuareg of Air, to consider only one group, raided in that direction, and how natural it would be for them to commemorate a success by drawing their shield and cross, which they regard as characteristic of themselves, on a rock, his explanation seems rather lame. In the curved top of the iron camel head-piece of Air I am inclined to see another survival of the cross, such as also is probably the square top of their spoons. The pommel of their camel saddle, a design which is always strictly maintained, is another convincing example, especially if the whole equipment is compared with the Tebu sort. In construction the Tuareg and Tebu saddles are very similar, though the cantle of the latter is generally low. The pommel of the Tebu saddle takes the form of a short upright member without any crosspiece or cruciform tendency; it rarely rises much above the level of the rider’s legs. It may be said, on the contrary, that the cross pommel of the Tuareg saddle is the most prominent part of their whole gear. It is of no practical value whatsoever, for the grip of the rider’s legs never reaches as high as the projecting arms of the cross-top, and it is extremely inconvenient for rapid mounting or dismounting in their flowing robes. The cross is also extensively used in ornamenting the leather-work of the saddle, and it plays a considerable part in the traditional metal-work of the more expensive quality.

PLATE 36

ORNAMENT.

In the course of my wanderings I saw two examples of sticks which are planted in the ground when camp is pitched; they have a crook on one side and are surmounted by a small cross of the same shape as the one on the camel saddle. On these sticks are hung the bridles and ropes when the camels are unsaddled. They are planted outside a man’s tent, and sometimes indicate his high position or prosperity.

At Agades I saw a house door ornamented with a border of tin plate in which was cut the cross and ball design shown in [Plate 36.] A similar example of the cross in design is in the characteristic Agades cross which will be described later.