They plait their hair into three tresses, one above the other; in the lowermost tress they insert various ornaments of glass, or false coral, or silver, and twist in long stripes of black leather, hanging down the back, and to the ends of which they fasten little bells. On the crown of their heads, they fix a piece of silk or woollen cloth, which floats behind. As ear-rings they wear two, and some women three, large silver rings, inserted as links of a chain: their necklace is glass imitating coral; those of the higher class wear round their necks a solid ring of silver, somewhat thicker than the collar usually worn by criminals in some parts of Europe; from this ring, by a chain of the same metal, hangs pendant a silver plate, engraved with flowers and other ornaments, in the Arabian taste. They further decorate their arms and legs, (just above the ancle,) with rings of silver, of copper, or of glass.
I can give no favourable account of the character of the people of Siwah, either from general repute, or from my own observation. I found them obtrusive and thievish. Our tents, and especially my own, were constantly surrounded and infested by this people; and our merchants were under the necessity of guarding their bales of goods, with more than ordinary attention, under apprehension not merely of pillage, but of general and hostile attack.
I was told much of the riches of this people, and should suppose there must be men of considerable property amongst them; as they have a very extensive traffic in dates with different and remote countries, pay no tribute, and have little opportunity of dissipating the money they receive. The policy of the Siwahans leads them to cultivate a strict and close amity with the Arabs to the north of their country, and who occasionally visit Siwah in small troops or parties, and carry on a trade of barter for the dates. Here our caravan disposed of part of its merchandize, receiving in exchange, dates, meat, and small baskets, in the weaving and context of which, the women of Siwah are remarkably neat and skilful, and in the making of which consists their chief employment. Diseases incident to the country and climate, and from which the natives most suffer, are the ague and fever, and opthalmic affections, or disorders of the eyes.
The language of Siwah, whatever words or expressions may have crept in, from various intercourse of people, is not fundamentally Arabic; and this has led me to various conjectures. At first I looked for the root or origin of this language to the East; but on maturer consideration, and from communications with one of the Tuaricks from Twat, with whom I was in habits of intimacy, I am now satisfied of my former error,[6] and that the language of Siwah is a dialect of that used throughout the great nation of Africa, to which my friend, the Tuarick, belonged, and which may be considered as the aboriginal.
The larger collection of Siwahan words, which I had first made, was lost with other papers, by an accident which I shall hereafter have occasion to mention.
The following list I had from a man of Siwah, whom I afterwards got acquainted with at Augila.
| Sun, | Itfuct. | Horse, | Achmar. |
| Clouds, | Logmam. | Horses, | Ickmare. |
| Ear, | Temmesocht. | Have you a horse? | Goreck Achmar. |
| Head, | Achfé. | Milk, | Achi. |
| Eye, | Taun. | Flesh or Meat, | Acksum. |
| Eyebrow, | Temauin. | Bread, | Tagora. |
| Beard, | Itmert. | Oil, | Tsemur. |
| Hand, | Fuss. | Water, | Aman. |
| Penis, | Achmum. | Dates, | Tena. |
| Camel, | Lgum. | House, | Achbén. |
| Sheep, | Jelibb. | Houses, | Gebeun. |
| Cow, | Ftunest. | Sand, | Itjeda. |
| Mountain, | Iddrarn. | Cap, | Tschatschet. |
| Sabre, | Aus. | Catacombs, | Tum-megar. |
| Sword, | Limscha. |
SECTION V.
Antiquities of Siwah.
As we approached the spot destined for our encampment in the Vale of Siwah, I descried to the westward some ruins of an extensive building, a few miles distant from the road, and concluded them to be the same as noticed by a late English traveller, (Mr. Brown,) of whose discoveries I heard first in London, and afterwards, when in Egypt. Circumstances rendered it necessary for me to be particularly on my guard, and to defer any visit to, or actual inspection of, these antiquities, until I had retrieved the confidence of the natives, who, on my very first appearance, (as I was informed,) had taken me and my interpreter, for Christians; and to this supposition they were induced, from our fairer complexion, from our gait and manners, and from our Turkish dresses. When I took advantage of the disturbances at Cairo and its environs, to get introduced as a Mahomedan to the caravan, I could not indeed speak readily, either Turkish or Arabic; but in this, I flattered myself, the assumed character of a young Mameluke might be my excuse; and I further derived confidence from the experience and abilities of my interpreter, who (a German by birth,) had been forced, twelve years past, to embrace the Mahommedan religion at Constantinople, and whose address and knowledge, I hoped, might preclude, or extricate me from, any consequences of jealousy or suspicion.