When the wheat had been thoroughly sifted several times through a sieve of thin canvas, the two daughters of Sidi-Aly, as dirty as their father, proceeded to knead it into a cake without yeast: one of them made a great fire of tamarisk wood, to heat the ground on the spot chosen for baking the cake: when it was considered sufficiently hot, they swept the place and laid the dough upon the earth; the embers were then replaced upon it and covered with loose sand which had been heated for the purpose: when half-baked it was washed, broken in pieces, and thrown into a calabash, full of fat, the remains of the preceding night’s supper; a kind of sauce was now poured over it and a piece of a sheep recently killed was added. All the family and the priests partook of this stew, and when they had eaten sufficiently they brought me a small portion which remained, with a little sauce upon it; this formed both my breakfast and dinner. On the succeeding days they gave me nothing but dates; I represented to Sidi-Aly that they disagreed with me, owing to the complaint in my teeth, which prevented my chewing them without experiencing severe pain. Aly answered that he was sorry for it, but he had no meat to give me; that in this country dates only were eaten during the day and couscous at night: the remainder of the rice which had been given me at el-Arawan, was put into his tent, and the family ate of it without ever offering me any. At length, having no remedy, it was necessary to conform to this mode of living upon dates alone: but how much did I suffer! I had soon a sore on the roof of my mouth, and fearing lest I should be again reduced to the dreadful state in which I had formerly been, I gave up eating these fruits, and determined to beg a little camel’s milk from our neighbours, whom I found but little affected by my petition. Aly had several daughters whose young lovers were frequently coming to his tent; sangleh was often dressed for their breakfast, but they never once offered me any, though they knew that it gave me such excruciating pain to eat the dates. In three days’ time the family of Aly began to persecute me; they conceived they could not do better than imitate the chief, who, on all occasions, manifested an implacable hatred to me. The women appeared to take pleasure in tormenting me; they would not allow me a tent; the moment I lay down to sleep, they played a hundred tricks to oblige me to rise, they pricked me with a piece of wood, dragged me by the legs, took away my wrapper, and threw water over my face. Tired of these endless annoyances I resolved to take refuge in the tent of a good blacksmith who had performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, which was a great recommendation to him in that country: his aged mother was very pious, and received me kindly; she gave me for refreshment milk and water, which beverage they, as well as the Braknas called cheni. The good old woman thought she was performing a meritorious act, acceptable to God, in saying that her tent was mine, and that I might come thither to sleep whenever I pleased. Though a devout Mahometan, she was full of spirits and fond of a joke, nor did I find her given to falsehood like the other women. Sidi-Aly, seeing that his people would not endure me in any of his tents, had one pitched for me alone, but it was impossible to remain in it, for, as the air entered at one side only, the heat was suffocating.
Early on the 2nd of July, the sister of Sidi-Aly came to seek me, holding in her disgusting hands a lump of sangleh covered with hairs, for she had used the same butter to grease her head and to season this mess: though I was exceedingly hungry I had not courage to taste it. This woman, about sixty years of age, took me aside, and said in a low voice: “Listen, Abdallahi, thou who wert brought up among the christians, who know every thing except the path to salvation, thou shouldst be as wise as they are; and I come to pray thee to make me a charm for one of my nieces who wants a husband; if thou consentest, and the charm proves good I will provide thee with sangleh for two days.” She paused a moment to hear my answer; she then added, that she had induced the Moorish priests to write several for her and had paid them well in dragmes, but that they had produced no effect; she hoped that mine would turn out better. The situation in which I now stood did not permit me to reject this proposition: I only insisted upon the clause that she should not put butter into the sangleh. Without loss of time she fetched ink and a straw to use as a pen. She first told me the name of the desired lover, and the names of his parents, and recommended to me particularly to keep the secret: as she had no paper I furnished her with a little bit, and wrote in her presence the charm she wished for. To give it the more importance, I ordered it to be tied round the neck of the young girl, which was immediately done, and finally, to inspire a high idea of my skill in magic, I traced upon a little board another talisman, directing that the writing should be washed, and that her niece should drink of the water which had been used for this purpose. This formality having been punctually fulfilled, the girl came to ask me what time would elapse before the charm would operate. As I knew that I should not be many days in the country, I told her that it would probably not be twenty before she was married. Her aunt Ayesha (this was the old woman’s name) kept her word; she brought me on the morrow, in a very dirty calabash, some sangleh made of barley-meal and without seasoning. The daughters of Aly, having become more civil since I had shewn my talent for bestowing husbands, ceased to molest me; they came and offered me some fresh camel’s milk, and this was the first time that I had drunk any in the dwelling of my host.
Meanwhile the good old aunt who had so strongly recommended secresy to me, gave her friends information of the happy talent which I possessed, and I soon had to write for the neighbouring camps. All the women of the environs made friends with me that, I might give them a charm which would procure husbands for their daughters; they even went so far as to offer me money in payment, which it will be easily imagined I was far from accepting; but I made no scruple of taking milk and sangleh for my support: profiting by this innocent stratagem, I had every day gruel or milk for breakfast. Before chance furnished me with this method of procuring food, I had given my host a little coussabe, entreating him to send me each morning, at least, a small quantity of sangleh: the old hypocrite kept my present, but gave me nothing in return. One day I reproached him for his conduct, and he returned me my coussabe: I changed it for a pair of morocco shoes, for I was barefoot; in the middle of the day, the sun was so scorching, and the gravel and dry herbage cut my feet so much, that I had been obliged to borrow shoes to walk in.
The sons of Sidi-Aly, from twenty-eight to thirty years of age, not wanting my assistance to find wives, did not treat me more kindly than before; they continued to insult me up to the time of my departure; they even carried their insolence so far as to present themselves uncovered before me using the most indecent gestures. Aly, their father, only laughed at this conduct, which he witnessed.
The Arabs of el-Harib are so harassed by the Beraberas, or Berbers, to whom they are tributary, that they are fearful of travelling even in their own country without an escort from among these people; for if these unfortunate Arabs were met by the Berbers, they would be beaten and pillaged: for this reason we could not proceed to Tafilet without an escort. We were therefore obliged to wait for one of the chiefs of this nation, who lived in a village of the Drah or Draha, and had been sent for.
On the 3rd of July, this chief arrived at the encampment Aly gave him a good reception. They agreed upon the price which each load should pay for transport from el-Harib to Tafilet—for this Berber was to furnish beasts of burden; they signed a written agreement in which they mutually bound themselves to fulfil their engagements, and the Berber promised to return in eight days with the camels. Tired of the monotonous life which I was leading in the camp, I resolved for amusement to make a tour among the tribe of Oulad-Gouassim to visit an eminent Mahometan priest, whose sanctity had been highly extolled; his encampment lay about three miles to the east of ours. I approached his tent at the moment when the holy personage was coming out: several old men accompanied him; they had heard me spoken of, and immediately informed him that I was unhappy, and that I had separated from the christians. He answered with an air of indifference and without appearing to take any notice of me: “Well then! he has to thank God for his return into the way of salvation.” I seated myself for a moment upon the ground with him and some of the Moors, who were vicing with each other in obsequiousness to him: he ordered one of them to fetch him a little water, to dissolve some salt which he intended to take as a remedy for an indisposition, pretending that this beverage would give him relief. As the vessel which was brought to him was too full, he was about to pour out some of the water, when one of the Moors in his company, being apparently thirsty, proposed to drink it, but the haughty priest, with a contemptuous air, asked who he was that he should drink out of his satala: the person who aspired to this favour was no doubt worthy of it, for no sooner had he mentioned his name than the priest presented the vase to him. During the short time that I remained in his presence I saw a number of Moors come to consult him on divers maladies; his only remedy for so many complaints was to lay his hand gravely upon the part affected, and, rubbing it gently, to pronounce a prayer. This important person was also the public writer and the instructor of the children.
The only wealth of this man consisted in his knowledge of the Koran; but in Africa this knowledge is worth an estate. From all parts they brought him cotton cloth for his dress, stuff for his tent, beasts to carry him on his journeys, and barley for the food of himself and his people: he received all this in exchange for the charms which he wrote. In his camp he was abundantly furnished with whatever could contribute to his support and that of his friends; in return, he gave talismans for the cure or prevention of all diseases, against thefts, or to obtain husbands for the young females.
As it was late and I did not intend returning to Aly’s camp, and as the priest had not given me an invitation to sleep in his tent, I sought elsewhere a lodging for the night; I addressed myself as is usual to the first man I met, and requested permission to sleep near his tent: this man received me kindly, installed me in the place which he usually occupied, and left me; he then sent me a supply of dates to serve till supper time. I did not touch them, being afraid of them. During the night I was visited by a Moor, who was a cripple, and obliged to be carried by another. I was lying upon the ground; on rising I was astonished to see this little man beside me; he gave me the idea of a mysterious dwarf; I knew not what to think of his nocturnal visit, and conceived that by the assistance of his companion he intended to steal something. Finding that their presence was not at all to my satisfaction, they desired me not to be afraid, but I assured them loud enough to be heard by the neighbours, that if they did not leave me, I should complain to my host. The deformed dwarf threw himself into the arms of his conductor and they disappeared like lightning. About ten o’clock at night, my supper was brought me: it was good couscous with meat, such as I had never eaten in Aly’s family. The chief of the tent brought me water to wash my hands, inquired if I had had a good supper, and took his seat beside me: he put several questions relative to the customs of christian countries, and then withdrew.
On the 4th of July, after taking leave of my generous host, I returned to Aly’s camp. On the road I met two women, whose conversation amused me a little. They begged me to write charms, one to make her husband who intended to quit her change his mind; another to procure a husband for a young woman who wished to marry: they offered me money in exchange, but warned me, laughing, that they should pay nothing till my charms had taken effect. This conversation made the walk pleasant, and beguiled the length of the way.
We arrived at the camp: the blacksmith, to whose tent I often went to sleep, was preparing to transport two cargoes of ivory to Tatta; I perceived that he paid dues to the Berbers to travel through the country in safety. On making inquiries concerning the place to which they were going, I learnt that Tatta is a large town situated five days’ journey to the N. W. of our camp: the route leads through the town of Brahihima, which is two days’ journey from the camp. The goods taken to Tatta are dispatched thence by the merchants of Soueyrah (Cape Mogador.)