To
J. W. H.
TO WHOSE SYMPATHY AND CRITICISM I OWE SO MUCH
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | Kairouan | [9] |
| II. | Sects and Superstitions | [21] |
| III. | An Arab Wedding | [31] |
| IV. | Sousse | [48] |
| V. | Passing Through | [56] |
| VI. | Sfax | [72] |
| VII. | Oasis Towns | [82] |
| VIII. | The Sand Diviner | [96] |
| IX. | The Circus | [106] |
| X. | Round About Gabès | [118] |
| XI. | Customs | [126] |
| XII. | Tunis | [137] |
CHAPTER I
KAIROUAN
It was cold, but a glorious morning when I left by motor for Kairouan. Soon the white houses of Tunis were left behind. The sun was rising as we flung its outskirts behind us, and the car headed for open country. Rocky hills showed themselves on the horizon, and there were abrupt peaks rising out of stretches of carefully cultivated vineyards, orchards of olive trees, and broad fields just tinged with the promise of early wheat. No walls, but occasional cactus hedges. The road climbed a saddle of hill from whence one could look back on the sea. A few houses here and there, flat-roofed and built in the Moorish style, were obviously the homes of the landowners. Not an inch of ground seemed wasted. Arabs were already at work behind their wooden ploughs, drawn either by horses, mules, bullocks, or camels. These last looked as if they were inwardly protesting against the indignity, and stalked along with their usual disdainful air. After a time the road led into wilder country, bare stretches covered only with a sort of rough heathery plant, with scattered encampments of Bedouins, their black tents surrounded by a zareba of piled thorns. At last we caught the gleam of the white domes of Kairouan against the sky.