As the day advanced, the heat became stifling, so that I took off my gaiters and bared my legs. But after a couple of hours they were so scorched by the sun that, on arrival at Medinin, I had to ask a doctor to dress them for me, to ease the pain of the sun-scorch, and it was eight days before they recovered.
CHAPTER XII
Metamer and Medinin
Arriving at the palm grove in the hollow we had seen from the distance, we found that it lay by a river bed. The trees were not particularly well cared for, as could be seen at a glance; they were far apart, and there were few ditches for irrigation.
On a slope to the east of the valley and above it, there is a village of peculiar construction, with whitewashed buildings that are dazzling in the sunlight. This is the “Ksar” Metamer. The ground plan of the houses is oblong and rectangular, and their raised roofs are vaulted. They lie lengthwise, as the houses do at home in towns dating from the Middle Ages—the gable ends turning towards the streets. In general they are erected round an open square. The fronts of those facing the plain are without any aperture, except some loop-holes here and there. In other words, every quarter, and also the town as a whole, forms a little fortress. This is the style of building adopted here in the plains; it is, in fact, the same plan as that employed in cave construction, but in this case carried out aboveground; since the natives have found it impossible to reach the inaccessible mountain peaks, or to dig down into the rocky ground. The houses are very often seven storeys high. On every storey there is a well-barred door to the inner gable. This is reached by steps or by stones projecting from the walls. The effect is most peculiar and picturesque. Each inhabitant carries in his hand a key that he takes with him everywhere. This locks his rooms, which are mostly used as corn stores.
Not far from the “Ksar” are barracks for the little garrison, and shops that supply the needs of the soldiers, not only of the place, but also of those quartered in the neighbouring town of “Medinin.” I did not wish to visit the camp just then, so dismounted outside an Arab dwelling, and was invited to enter and partake of stewed kid.
After a hurried visit to the town, and having taken leave of Erzib, who desired to ride a long way towards his home that evening, I procured a new guide and rode eastwards over the plain, so as to arrive before nightfall at the Ksar of Medinin. As we approached its neighbourhood we turned into the highroad from Gabés.
Before us and to our left lay the “Ksar” of Medinin, illuminated by the evening sun. The ends of the houses were turned outwards, producing the effect of a circular wall scalloped at the top. Above these vaulted gable ends I caught a glimpse of higher buildings, and amongst them, in the centre of the town, a large square block. This was the Kasba. Through a narrow opening in the row of houses I saw the inner gable ends of dwellings, and doors disposed one above the other, the whole calling to mind the pictures one sees of Mexican “pueblos.”
A STREET IN BENI BARKA.