Just before we left the wells of Telig, we had been forced to kill two of these animals, which could go no further, and were dying of fatigue; the flesh was distributed among all who wished for it, and we had some for our supper. Part of it was boiled, and the rice which was cooked with it contracted the odious taste of the camels’ flesh, which I disliked extremely. The Moors ate this meat with the greatest avidity, and said that it was excellent, but I was not at all of their opinion, for I thought it very tough, and the little I ate disagreed with me; this might however be owing in part to the brackish water I had drunk. This was nevertheless one of the most comfortable nights I had passed since I had been in the desert; I lay down by a patch of grass, and the heat seemed to me less overwhelming than on the preceding days, which I ascribed to the vicinity of the wells.
The soil was covered with grey quartz, striped with a dirty white, mixed with which were several kinds of small gravel.
On the 28th at sun-rise, we were on our way in a northwesterly direction amongst quartz rocks; here and there upon the ruins of sand grew a few withered herbs which the camels browsed as they passed. About ten we crossed a soil covered with small black gravel, and varied by sandhills extending from east to west; this sand was harder and yellower than what we had seen the day before; in some places we found grey gravel and several rocks of black and grey granite. At half past ten we halted to rest our camels, which were all very weary, and they were fortunate enough to find a few thorny plants[18] which they amused themselves with cropping. These plants have short and flexible leaves; the thorn is short but very hard; by the wise providence of Nature this plant, the only resource of the animals of the desert, has the property of remaining green all the year round, in spite of the burning east winds which so frequently prevail; the camels though not very delicate would refuse the dry leaves. This plant is very tenacious of life, throws out long roots on the surface of the ground, and does not grow to the height of more than eighteen inches; it is found in sandy places, and I have generally observed that it is most abundant on the west side of the hills. The roots are thick and serve for fuel; the Moors use it to cook their provisions, and at sun-set the slaves went to collect it, to boil our scanty portion of rice with water and salt, to which they added melted butter for sauce; this was our frugal supper. My portion was set apart for me in a little calabash: for the Moors did not chuse to eat with me after they had discovered that I had had the scurvy; they held me in utter abhorrence. In spite of the pains which I took to study their habits and customs, they observed that I could never eat rice as they did, making it into a little ball in the hand and tossing it into the mouth; when they meant to insult me, therefore, they always told me that I ate like a christian.
Sidi-Aly, my guide, was a short man, about four feet high, with a wrinkled face, black mischievous-looking eyes, a little grey beard, a rather long chin, and a large mouth, which rendered him still more hideous: this man ate by himself that he might appear to be a person of importance. Thrusting his dirty hands, the chapped skin of which resembled a crocodile’s scales, into a leather bottle, to take out some butter to put into our rice, he stirred our victuals about in this cleanly manner. Notwithstanding all the fine promises of protection which he had made me at first, I soon found how little he was to be trusted. He refused me the necessaries of life, and especially water, although he had been handsomely paid beforehand; the slaves were better off, for he did not prevent them from helping themselves when they wished—thanks to the wells at Telig however, there was no longer a scarcity. Fortunately the heat did not appear to me so great, nor was my thirst so tormenting as heretofore; whether because we were in the neighbourhood of water, or because we were now advancing to the north, I know not; whatever was the cause, I enjoyed some alleviation of my sufferings: a mortification, however, but of a different nature was in store for me.
The Moors of Aly’s party, seeing that he had ceased to behave respectfully to me, were no longer under any restraint; they gave me ridiculous nicknames, calling me Gageba, from the name of the camel I rode on, and I was constantly exposed to their insult and raillery. Encouraged by my silence and patience, they set their slaves to follow their example, and the slaves were delighted to torment me; they talked on no other subject; they were continually ridiculing the form of my face; and they carried their ill-nature so far as to throw stones at me when I turned my back. All this persecution was at the instigation of their masters, who often supplied them with branches of thorns to thrust into my face; at other times they took little pieces of wood, and proposed that the slaves should drive them through my nose, as they do to the camels. These slaves, encouraged by the visible satisfaction of their masters, collected around me, laughing violently, capering, dancing, and showing me first the branch of thorns and then the piece of wood which they had been ordered to run through my nose. In this way I was tormented all the way from Telig to Tafilet. The Moors would often say with contempt, “Look at this slave; I would rather have him than thee, so thou mayst think how little I value thee.” This insolence was accompanied by immoderate laughter. When I was eating, these boors would come about me opening their mouths as wide as they could; then, with hideous grimaces they thrust their fingers into them to mimic me, and called out at last: “He is like a christian!”
I swallowed my vexation, trembling at the thought of what such men would do to me, if they discovered my real sentiments; they would have made a martyr of me; and I could not but think of the tortures which poor Major Laing must have suffered from beings who were still more ferocious. How I longed for the moment when I should reach Tafilet, and get rid of my tormentors. I had absolutely nothing left but the clothes I had on, and a new coussabe which I owed to the generosity of my Timbuctoo host, besides a padlock which secured the bag that contained my notes: not a day passed that these did not excite the cupidity of my companions; when I asked for water they said: “Give us thy new dress and thy padlock, and thou shalt have something to drink.” They purposely left me in want that I might give them what they wished; but I had courage to resist and they obtained nothing.
The wells were now nearer together, and as we came to them more frequently, we could travel part of the day. When the heat was excessive, during the journey, those who wanted to drink were allowed to have water; on these occasions they pointed at me and said to one another: “Do not let us give him any, till he has promised us something.” I disdained to have recourse to entreaty, and bore both hunger and thirst rather than ask for any thing at their hands; so I turned my head away, and pretended not to hear what they said. Thirst at last compelled me to apply to Sidi-Aly, who muttered when he ordered them to give me water; while I was drinking it he imitated the humming noise made to induce the camels to drink. He durst not refuse me the water for his own sake; for the other Moors in the caravan, who were not his associates, would have been indignant; in their presence he always pretended great kindness for me, and compassion for the sufferings which I had endured in the desert. It was impossible that he could altogether deceive them, for, notwithstanding the abundance of water which we had since we left Telig, I was often obliged to apply to the other Moors in the caravan when I wanted drink: I was also driven out of our tent many times by the rudeness of my tormentors, and took shelter with my neighbours, who were much amused with my conversation, and collected around me, to question me about my escape from the christians, their manners and customs; they asked me also whether I had been ill-treated by my white master. I always took care, as much as I could, to counteract the impression which they all have, that Musulmans are ill-treated amongst us, an idea which proceeds from their intolerant system.
They all showed me their guns and inquired where they were made; and when I told them that they came from France, I observed that they thought them the more valuable: accordingly, if I wanted to flatter a Moor I told him that his gun was of French manufacture, and out of gratitude for the pleasure which I afforded him, he commonly offered me a share of his dokhnou and water.
On the 29th, at six in the morning, we proceeded northward. The soil over which we passed was covered with quartz. About nine o’clock in the morning, we halted in a place where we found some traces of vegetation amidst the rocks. One of the Moors took water in his leather bag, and went to tend the camels; the others were engaged in examining and weighing their gold; they commonly hide it as I have already mentioned, in pieces of rag, on which they put a mark denoting the quantity, and the person to whom it belongs; for this gold is often the proceeds of goods entrusted to them by merchants, when they leave Tafilet.
The camel upon which I rode was laden with ostrich-feathers only. That it might be the less fatigued with the journey, I was never allowed to mount it while it was on its knees; one of the Moors was commissioned by Sidi-Aly to help me to mount; and, for the reasons above stated, this Moor was very ill-natured, and took every opportunity of playing me a trick which might raise a laugh amongst his companions at my expense. At nightfall, rice was cooked for our supper. We had nothing before that but a little dokhnou and water to refresh us; as the roots of this plant were scarce, the slaves were sent to pick up camel’s dung for fuel; though the wind quickly effaces their footsteps, it is always easy to track them by the great quantity of their excrement.