CHAPTER XXI.
CONTINUED RESIDENCE IN GHAT.
Parallels between The Desert and The East.—The Divine Warranty for carrying on the Slave Trade discussed.—Visit from Aheer and Soudanese Merchants, and present state of Soudan.—Form of the Cross on Touarick Arms.—Boy taught to curse The Christian.—Medina Shereef's opinion on my giving Presents.—A Negress begs in the name of Ouweek.—Visit to the Governor and Hateetah.—Streams of Water and Corn-Fields in the Fabled Region of Saharan Desolation.—Kandarka will recommend me to his Sultan.—Parallel things between Africa and Asia.—Atkee turns out a Scamp.—Visit from Berka.—Arabic is the Language of Heaven.—Khanouhen ridicules Hateetah to his face.—Hospitality of the Governor towards me, and interesting Conversations with him.—Moorish reckoning of Time clashes with mine.—Medina Shereef turns Beggar like the rest.—Meet The Giant begging at Haj Ibrahim's.—Affecting Case of the cruelty of one Slave to another, and compared to the Jews of Morocco.—Chorus Singing of the Slaves.—Mode in which Ostriches are Hunted.—Arrival of Senna and Ivory from Aheer.—Christians are not Liars.—Farewell Visit from Jabour.—Quick Route to Timbuctoo from Ghat.—Kandarka turns Comedian, and satirizes the Touaricks of Ghat.—Mercantile Transactions of the Governor.—Want of a strong Government in The Desert.—Assemblage of the Sheikhs, and preparations for War.
19th.—Did not go out to-day, but amused myself with noting down in the journal several parallel things between The Desert and The East, which are mentioned in The Scriptures.
"And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." (1 Kings xvii. 12.) We have in Sahara parallel ideas to all and every part of this simple and affecting discourse. The widow speaks with an oath. When anything particular and extraordinary is to be said or done, the people of Sahara must use an oath. The meal is the barley-meal of our people; the oil is used to cook it as we cook our bazeen. The sticks are gathered from The Desert every day to dress our food. The blank and absolute resignation of the woman is the same with every one here, not excepting those of immoral lives.
"And lo in her mouth, was an olive-leaf plucked off," (Gen. viii. 11.) "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard," (Gen. ix. 20.) The olive and the vine are still the choice fruit-trees in North Africa, and were the Mussulmans a wine-drinking people, the country would be covered with vineyards. In the beautiful parable of Jotham, (Judges ix. 8-15,) the third, and the three choicest trees of North Africa are separately mentioned, the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine. These are the only fruits valued or cultivated by Tripoline Arabs in their mountains. The jennah or "paradise" of the Koran is also planted with "palm trees and vines."
"And Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe." (2 Sam. ii. 18.) In this way Arabs speak of one another. Every person who is conversant with Eastern pictures and scenes in Arabic has met with a scrap of poetry of some sort or other, in which the Arab woos his mistress, by comparing her loved eyes to the fine dark full eye of the gazelle. An Arab also, like us Europeans, calls a cunning fellow "an old fox," and stupid fellow "a donkey."
"And it came to pass, in an evening tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house; and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon." (2 Sam. xi. 2.) Everybody now knows, or ought to know, that the roofs of Barbary and Saharan houses are flat, where the people walk and enjoy "the cool of the evening," or "the evening tide" after getting up from their naps or siestas. Here the women gossip and the men pray, but the latter are often disturbed in their devotions by the intruding glimpses of some Desert beauty. Love-matches and intrigues are equally concerted here on house-tops. The flat-roofed house-top, as before observed, is the Ghadamsee woman's entire world; here she lives, and moves, and has her being.
"Woe to thee, O land," &c., "And thy princes eat in the morning." (Eccles. xi. 16.) The principal meal is in the evening, and no people of these countries think of eating a hearty meal "in the morning" like what Europeans are accustomed to eat in the morning. To eat a hearty meal in the morning would be an act of downright gluttony. Here, then, is strikingly brought out the sense of this passage of the Preacher's wisdom.
"We will not drink of the waters of the well." (Numbers xxi. 22.) The Israelites being a numerous host, were obliged to make this promise, for if all had drank, they would soon have emptied the wells, and left the people of the country without water, and their flocks and cattle to die of thirst. The caravans now returning to Ghadames are obliged to go in very small numbers, that they may not exhaust the wells. Having many slaves with them more water is required, which they cannot in any way dispense with. The Israelites renewed their promises about the drinking of the water to other people, through whose country they had to pass.
