I sat in silent contemplation of this imposing sight, till interrupted by Hamed, the faithful Hamed, who came up dragging his horse behind him. He told me to turn round and look at the view of the Mediterranean.
Great heavens! how glorious was the sight when I raised myself and looked back. It was so beautiful that even Hamed and the Arabs were awed by its splendour.
Looking down directly over the slopes, the valley, and the mountains on either side, we saw the blue sea far away beyond the plains. In the evening light all the tints of blue, violet, brown, yellow, and green were softly blended and intermingled as into a veil which spread over the whole landscape, and imagination divined more than was actually visible, thus adding to the fascination of the scene.
By the first house, the Sheikh’s, we halted. Some people came out, one of whom, I suppose, acted as his representative, since he invited me in; but Hamed was already off his horse and had gone in to look at the quarters. He returned and announced that they were very bad, upon which I inquired whether notice had been given of my coming, and whether the Sheikh had not directed that I should be given decent accommodation. The spokesman insisted that there was no other room available. I suspected this to be false, and ordered Hamed and Erzib to mount their horses at once, and we rode up a narrow lane and alighted outside Erzib’s dwelling, where he had already told me I should be welcome. I heard the man following us, and saw that a number of people had gradually assembled.
Erzib’s dwelling lay high up on the side of the cliff, but there were others that were higher still, and yet others below. In front of these dwellings ran a narrow path, that, starting from the highest farms, led in a zigzag course down to those below. The outside of the path was on the edge of a steep declivity, down which all refuse was thrown, and was therefore dirty; looking, as did all the other banks when seen from a distance, as though scored with black stripes. On the slope below us was a house with a courtyard between it and the cliff wall. This yard, in which a woman was working, was completely open to view. Thence the ground fell gradually away till it ended in palm-grown gorges and valleys; beyond these were low hills, then a plain, and, last of all, the sea.
Below us, and a little to one side, was the principal edifice of the village—a little mosque, or Marabout’s tomb, outside which a crowd of men had gathered to perform their evening devotions. Kneeling almost simultaneously, they kissed the earth and rose again. A few of them presently disappeared through the open door of the Marabout’s tomb, but the remainder stayed outside.
Looking upwards, the eyrie on the summit was visible above Erzib’s house, that is, one could discern it by stretching one’s neck. On the opposite side, at the end to the left, lay the other village.
In the evening the women sallied forth in numbers to fetch water from the cisterns in the valley, and the village dogs barked, answering each other from every side. Below us, at the foot of the slope, a crowd of men gathered. I could hear their shouts and see their gesticulations, as, with extended arms, they pointed to one figure. Some of them turned and called up the bank to us, one of them being the man who had met me on the Sheikh’s behalf. They shouted that I should come down and live wherever I pleased with the other men, and when I replied that I was well installed, they informed Erzib that fowls, eggs, and bread would shortly be sent, that the stranger guest might have a really good meal prepared for him.
Through a very broad gateway I descended into a court. Opposite was a long house with its own entrance, to the right another resembling it; and between the two was a passage leading to a third dwelling that was situated at the back. To the left was a wall.
On the flat roof of the nearest of these houses stood some enormous rush-bins for corn, and in the courtyard was another. There also were two fireplaces, one on either side, screened off with branches. Behind the screen to the left sat a woman laying small faggots on the fire to warm her hands, for it was cold since the sun had set. Some children came out of the door, but fled when they caught sight of me, wrapped as I was in the folds of Erzib’s burnous. From the door on the left peeped out an elderly and rather nice-looking woman.