Behind the camel came some women, and the procession was closed by a mule laden with dresses and gifts.
Just as the camel was about to halt beneath the shade of the palm trees in front of me, two horsemen came tearing up. They fired their guns quite close to the canopy. Their horses reared, and I saw their forelegs right up in the air as the guns whirled over the men’s heads.
At short intervals other riders followed, some singly, others in couples, or even three riding side by side. In the last case, the two outside riders leant towards the central figure. All fired off their guns close to the palanquin, where the bride sat ensconced. She must have been unconscious of all save the fiendish noise made in her honour, and the unpleasant rocking motion produced by a camel’s action.
THE BRIDE ESCORTED OVER THE MOUNTAINS.
(From a sketch by Knud Gamborg.)
The horsemen returned to their starting-point after each gallop. The reel and gold canopied palanquin with its pointed top was now just in front of me. The music continued, and the clatter of the horses’ hoofs, and of shots fired into the ground; whilst the spectators in their white burnouses stood almost motionless, enjoying the beautiful sight. The sun shone brightly, and many drew their hoods over their heads to protect themselves from its rays, and the horses were white with foam from excitement and heat.
Behind a couple of the horsemen, a stark-naked negro lad, bestriding a little jennet, came galloping up. He waved his arms and gesticulated wildly with a stick, using it as a gun. Alas! the mule stopped suddenly, sticking his forefeet into the ground. The negro lad, with an indescribable grimace, threw his arms about its neck. The mule reared with a bound; the lad clung fast and anxiously to its neck as he still hung on, but was fated to fall, for the mule finally plunged to one side, pitching the naked boy on to the sand. For the first time I saw the spectators smile, some even laughed aloud. The mule trotted off towards the hills, followed by the shouting lad, whose unclothed form was covered with dust.
Such clowns often appear on the scene during a festival; the part always being played by a negro.
The black boy must soon have caught his mule, for a few minutes after his first performance he again rushed by to repeat his uncouth “fantasia.”