Then suddenly the cry was heard, “The bridegroom comes,” and in the twinkling of an eye we found ourselves alone in an empty court, the women had all vanished, though how they packed themselves into those wee rooms was a mystery.
Our loneliness was only momentary, for the men swept in like a flood to the sounds of the usual wild music and much banging of tom-toms. Then a group of Aïssaouas began their prayer or incantations, swaying and shouting as they swung themselves backwards and forwards. Happily the bridegroom was impatient, and stopped the performance before any horrors occurred. Whereupon the men were all hustled off the premises, the French officers very reluctantly going with the rest. As the last man disappeared, out fluttered all the butterflies again. It was the woman’s hour, and they made the most of it. They enthroned the bridegroom, a handsome young man, on a dais, covered his head with a beautiful new burnous, arranged to fall like a veil on either side of his face, which it almost concealed. Like the bride, he was preternaturally solemn, and sat there with his eyes shut, pretending to see nothing, whilst thoroughly enjoying many furtive peeps.
Then the revels began, pretty girls danced round him laughing, with lighted candles held on high. With a certain quaint grace they mingled merciless chaff with all manner of elfish tricks, pinching and giving him saucy kisses, deceiving him with pretences that his bride was coming, even going so far as to play at being the bride themselves, and doing their utmost to make him laugh. Only Rembrandt could have done justice to the delightful effects of light and shade, the marvellous play of colour. The girls, with their bright beauty enhanced by the quaint horned caps, the gay silk veils, and chains and jewels gleaming under the flickering lights, the lace sleeves falling away from their bare arms, and their lithe, graceful forms wrapped in bright-hued silk, were a perfect picture.
The bridegroom bore all the teasing with a stolid countenance and a mock air of meekness—it is considered most unlucky to smile—but at last he received his reward. The real bride stood before her lord, veiled, with her head slightly bowed. He rose, lifted her veil, and kissed her. The little ceremony was at an end.
Index
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] F [G] [H] I [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] Q [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] W X Y [Z]
A Ain-Tunga, [129] Aïssaouas, [201], [223] Algiers, [3]-33, [38], [40], [42], [195] Arab Cemetery, [25] Bois de Boulogne, [31] Carpet school, [8] Casbah, [5], [31] Cathedral, [33] Chateau Hydra, [31] Colonne Voirol, [27] Embroidery school, [7] Fort des vingt-quatre heures, [33] Jardin d’Essai, [20], [25] Koubba, [31] Marabout of Sidi Noumann, [27] Moorish houses, [7] Moorish villas, [23] Mosque of Sidi Abder Rahman, [9] Museum, [33] Notre Dame d’Afrique, [31] Penon, [12] Tiger Gateway, [12] Atlas Mountains, [130] Aures Mountains, [74], [78], [83], [95], [130]
B Batna, [42], [93], [94], [98] Belisarius, [109], [185] Berbers, [78], [82] Biskra, [42], [44], [58]-89, [207], [222] The races, [84] Bizerta, [189] Bône, [46] Bougie, [46] Bou Korneïne, [183], [194] Bouzareah, [27], [28] Bruce, [98], [103], [134]
C Carthage, [127], [141], [154], [173], [179]-189, [199] Aqueduct, [185] Byrsa, [182], [189] Cathedral, [184] Chapel of St. Louis, [184] Museum, [182] Punic cisterns, [184] Punic tombs, [186] Roman amphitheatre, [186] Cervantes, [32] Charles V., [142], [173] Chehoud el Batal, [128] Cherchell, [30], [126] Chotts, [207] Claudian, [30] Col de Sfa, [83] Constantine, [107]-115, [195] Baths of Sidi Meçid, [115] Bridge of el Kantara, [108] Casbah, [112] Cathedral, [114] Chemin des Touristes, [112] Gorge of the Roumel, [110] Mansoura, [110] Palace of the Bey, [115] Sidi Rached, [111] Constantine the Great, [108] Creuly (General), [125]
D Damrémont (General), [109] De Bourmont (General), [30] Dely Ibrahim, [20] Dey of Algiers, [5], [11], [32] Dido, [180] Diocletian, [132] Djebel Ahmar Kreddou, [81] Djebel Chenoua, [29] Djebel Djouggar, [185] Dougga, [126]-135 Bab el Roumi, [134] Mausoleum, [135] Temple of Celestis, [133] Theatre, [134] Douïrat, [209]