Notes in North Africa Part 4

They are a curious race, apparently a ma.s.s of contradictions. One thing is certain; you must not treat them in the _du haut en bas_ style. They are very proud, and naturally regard every Christian _ipso facto_ as individually inferior to the Mussulman, more specially in the far interior, where Christians have not as yet penetrated. A---- and his party had started for Kef, _malgre_ my dissuasions. The fact of a man going to explore Punic ruins with one going to discover Mauritanian lions, was, to my mind, like mixing oil and vinegar, or fire and water, or eating meat with your knife, or soup with a fork, or taking two helpings of soup, or anything else incongruous. D---- was to be their interpreter. The Arabs there told them that a lion can carry away a camel on his back, but not lift a sheep. This they firmly believe. The reason a.s.signed is, that in former times (when animals spoke), the lion said, "I will carry off this sheep, with or without the consent of Allah;" and Allah said to the lion, "You shall not;" and from that time the monarch has never been able to lift a sheep. At one time the man and the lion were great friends, and the lion did not know he was stronger than the man. One day, as they were out walking together, a thorn ran into the lion's foot; he limped, and stopped to pull it out, when the man, in derision, said, "What! so strong a creature hurt with a thorn?" Then the lion in anger ran the thorn into the man's eye, who cried out with pain. This proved to the lion the man's inferiority, and ever after they were declared enemies.

At a place called Tibursok, where A----'s party pa.s.sed on their road to Keff, not a Christian, or even a Jew, were to be seen, consequently the Arabs were very intolerant. D---- walked into this town alone, in front of the party, and, speaking Arabic well, questioned one of the Arabs about some ruin, when another came up and said, "Why do you attend to that dog of a Christian?" D---- took no notice, when the other shouted out, "Cursed be your father, your mother, and all the members of your house." D---- then collared him; the Arab inquired, "What for?" "Because you cursed my relatives," said D----, seeing the rest of the party with the Bey's escort coming up, "and now, just show me the Caid's residence, and I will have you bastinadoed."

However, as some of the other Arabs crowded round and begged for mercy, D---- thought it better to let him off.

CHAPTER XV.

HOME!

My fellow-pa.s.senger, the Sportsman.--Pa.s.sage from Tunis to Malta in a Sailing Vessel.--Disagreeables of the Pa.s.sage.--Home, Overland.--Conclusion.

On the steamer _Meludiah_, for Malta, I found a sporting Frenchman on deck. He had been my fellow-pa.s.senger from Bona to Tunis, and carried a revolver and a gun; the first for porpoises, the second for gulls, &c. He recounted to me, with great glee, how he had shot a grosbeak, and some other small birds, near Tunis, and given them to the cook on board for our dinner. It was a Mussulman steamer, and, being Rhamazan, they did not serve dinner till after sunset. I was nearly famished. The first course was salad served with rancid oil, which immediately brought me and the Frenchman on deck. During the rest of the pa.s.sage I made Angelo serve my repasts. The Frenchman was a character. "_Je viens de perdre ma femme_," he said; "_il y a des femmes mechantes vous savez, Monsieur, et des femmes bonnes; la mienne etait bonne! mais bonne! Tenez, je l'ai mis dans le cercueil moi meme, et maintenant je suis ici pour me distraire, car je n'en trouverai pas une comme celle-la, allez. Je ferai le voyage, j'irai en Alexandrie--n'importe ou, travailler j'irai a l'Isthme de Suez._" At last we arrived in Malta. It is a pity for officers and others there is no regular communication by steam between Malta and Tunis; for the _desagremens_ of a sailing-vessel are by no means despicable. Witness a friend of mine's report thereon:--

"25th.--Came on board the _Gemo_ at seven A.M.; went on sh.o.r.e again at nine, and stopped all day. Dined and slept on board; rough living here, but no cattle, which is a great thing.--26th. Set sail at eleven A.M.; fair wind; fine day, and very hot.--27th. Rain all night; wind light and variable, and one made but little progress. Cape Bona still close to us this morning. We are only going at three and three-quarter knots per hour. A fine breeze got up at twelve, and at seven we pa.s.sed Panteleria Isle, going at seven knots.--28th. Wind fell away early this morning, and about eleven blew strong from the east: the worst quarter it could for us.--29th. This accursed wind has lasted all night, and blows harder this morning; the sea, too, is very high. It is intensely miserable; rough sea, bad grub, no one to talk to, no books, and no idea when we shall reach Malta.--30th. East wind still; an almighty swell on; one can neither sit, lie, nor stand with comfort. The coast of Sicily is very plain this morning. We are about forty-five miles from Malta, but no one can say when we shall reach it. Fresh provisions have nearly come to an end. Let any one ever catch me on board a sailing-ship again, unless I am forced.--1st. Half a gale, and a heavy sea last night; got no sleep, as the ship jumped so; and the mattress--fancy now!--is stuffed with sticks, and is so cursedly hard, that, after five days of it, one's bones ache all over.

A very fine day; but this awful wind still east. At eleven A.M. we were off Gozo, only twenty miles from our destination; but it was impossible to get there. The diet and food on board are awful; I am nearly starved. There was only one thing amusing. A Maltese, who slept in the other berth near me, sneezed nine times in as many minutes; and, after each sternutation, he went through a short formula of prayer, beginning 'Santo Something,' to keep the devil to leeward, I suppose; and, egad, I think he must have been on board _in propria persona_, under some disguise, to have caused us so bad a pa.s.sage.

This afternoon, to vary the programme pleasantly, we had a dead calm.

Our miseries seem to have no end. I begin to think I shall rival the 'Flying Dutchman,' and never make my port, but sail on for ever.--2nd.

A north-west wind sprang up at five P.M., and we reached Malta at seven."

Thus, the sailing-vessel took seven days to do what I did in thirty hours on the steamer. After the usual amount of driving, dining, &c., at Malta, in the words of the poet I bid

Adieu to joys of La Valette, Adieu, sirocco, sun, and sweat; Adieu, ye females without graces, Adieu, red coats and redder faces; Adieu, the supercilious air Of those that strut _en militaire_.

And now the word is "homeward;" and across a track well known to the English tourist, we journey onward, till

The mountains of Trieste afar are seen, And farther yet, the Alps, whose highest peak Now glitters with a gay and snowy sheen In the bright sun; as quick our sailors seek An anchorage in the port, where Turk and Greek, Swede and Levantine, and full many more, The haughty Spaniard, and the German sleek, All races, from the Nile unto the Nore, Into Trieste, in many a varied costume pour.

Along thy silent streets I wander now, Venice, once queen, aye, empress of the sea!

Fairest in art as clime, yet sunk so low Beneath the despot Teuton's rule, I see Thy halls deserted, fallen, yet in thee Much splendour to admire there still exists.

Well could I quit my native land, and flee The rugged northern clime, the vapid mists, With thee to dwell, did I that only what me lists.

The fiery car speeds on her iron way, Through hill, o'er valley quickly do we fly.

There lies the grot of Adelberg, and day Sees us past Gratze's fortress hasten by Like lightning's flash, nor stop until we spy St. Stephen's dome from out the darkness peer.

Like _bas reliefs_ her turrets in the sky O'ertop Vienna, great the pious fear Of holy men, who such vast beauteous structures rear.

There Coeur de Lion lived and almost died, In yonder ruin gray o'erbent by time, But that a troubadour, a servant tried, His well-loved master sought through every clime; Nor sought in vain, for by a simple rhyme, A soft tuned sonnet, in a dungeon cold, Imprisoned here he found him for no crime, And saved. The ruins past, I now behold Prague's lofty palaces arise, and turrets old.

The scene is changed by many a lovely vale: Upon the Elbe my rapid way I went, Where Nature reigns supreme, nor aught avail 'Gainst her the charms a Raphael's touch can lend To Art's supremest works; these all depend On light, on colour, on the master's hand; Nature's own work, so thought I, as I bend My steps through Dresden's galleries, and stand Before Art's fairest deeds in this fair Saxon land!

Swift be my verse, and swifter still my pace (Oh, pardon me, for I'll be sworn I bore) By Berlin's quays, past oft a plain, I race To Hamburg's crowded port, until the roar Of ocean's wave is heard again once more.

Once more upon the deck I stand and view Behind that cloud arise old Albion's sh.o.r.e-- Sh.o.r.e that I love, roast beef, plum-pudding too, Pale ale, the _Times_, and scandal, like a Briton true.

NOTES FOR THE SPORTSMAN OR TOURIST IN NORTH AFRICA.

The best time to go to Algeria or Tunis is October, when the heats of summer begin to become cooler. By all means, let the traveller, if he wish to be independent, travel on horseback. In Algeria he will meet with accommodation everywhere, and proceed as safely as in London, or any part of England.

He can go to Boussada or Laghouat, about six days' journey from Algiers, staying every night at caravanserais _en route_. Boussada I did not visit myself, but from rumour, I believe, there is excellent gazelle shooting in the neighbourhood. By the plains of Boussada, the tourist can pa.s.s into Tunisia over the French frontier. At Algiers, the best hotels are the Hotel d'Orient and the Hotel de la Regence, on the Grande Place. For ammunition, I recommend Huet, armourer, near the English Consul's; and for horses--Francois or Francisco, a Maltese, who speaks French and English. The grand thing to be considered is economy of s.p.a.ce. Let every necessary for clothing, if possible, be crammed into the saddle-bags attached to one's saddle, as ammunition, guns, &c. &c., must be placed on the other horses. Well did the Romans call baggage by the appellation of _impedimenta_. In this country it is so literally, not figuratively. It is absolutely necessary to have an interpreter who can talk Arabic; for though in Algeria there are many natives who jabber broken French or Italian, even this _lingua Franca_ is so disguised that it is almost impossible to comprehend them; and in the interior there are very few "indigenes"

who understand anything but Arabic. In Tunisia nothing but Arabic is of any use whatever.

To travel in the interior of Tunis, it is necessary to have a mounted escort, and also a letter of recommendation to the "Caids" (mayors) of the different towns through which you pa.s.s. Here you must expect a great want of comfort, as there are no beds, and you generally have to sleep on the floor. On the Lake of Tunis, close to the city, there is very good flamingo shooting. The flamingoes sit on the water in rows like a regiment, and the method I employed in shooting them was as follows:--I used to take a boat with my gun loaded with buckshot (chevrotine), and my rifle. I fired my rifle at the line of flamingoes when about 400 yards off, which used to bring them flying over the boat for curiosity, when I managed, generally with my gun, to bring down one or two. This is, I am sure, the best way of shooting them, though several Europeans told me at Tunis I could shoot them with the rifle.

The shortest way direct to Tunis is by Malta; and, in pa.s.sing, let the sporting tourist visit Gozo, where, in April and September, there is excellent quail shooting.

The inhabitants of this isle are a simple, primitive race of people, very lively and intelligent; they speak nearly a pure Arabic. They live chiefly by fishing, and also serve as sailors in foreign vessels, where they remain sometimes entire years without being heard of by their families. In this way they often find a watery grave; and in the isle I met some females, whose male relations had all perished in this way.

Navigation appears to have a great charm for these simple islanders; and when they sail along these southern waters, where the sun shines with a brilliant l.u.s.tre, and the moon with a fairy splendour, they forget not the simple home where the members of their family are crouched side by side, enveloped in a sort of bournouse, and drinking perhaps tea which differs only nominally from the tepid waters of the surrounding ocean, and gabbling a jargon which one can scarcely believe that they understand themselves. The charm which binds these poor people together in their sober and modest existence is less the _penchant_ of natural and intimate affection, than the chain of habit, the necessity of a life of fraternal community and sentiment. A certain equality of position and social development gives them the same desires, the same ends of existence, and like ideas produce an easy mutual understanding. Each one reads, as it were, in the eye of the other; and when they talk, each knows what the other will say almost before he has opened his lips. All the ordinary relations of life are thus present to their memory; and so, by a simple intonation of the voice, by the expression of the visage, by a mute gesture, they excite, _inter se_, as many smiles or tears, more joy or vexation, than we, among our equals, could perhaps evoke by the longest demonstrations or declarations. For we civilised ones live, on an average, in intellectual solitude; each of us, thanks to our particular form of mind or education, has received a different bias of character; each of us, morally weighed, thinks, acts, and believes differently from his neighbour; and hence misunderstandings arise so frequently among us, that, even in the largest families, life in common becomes difficult, and we are often, as it were, apart, utterly unknown one to another, and everywhere feel ourselves as on strange territory.

Races, indeed, have lived--aye, for centuries--in a state of community of ideas and sentiments such as I have described in the Isle of Gozo.

Perhaps, but only perhaps, the Roman Church of the Middle Ages wished to establish among the nations of Catholic Europe such a state of equality and uniformity of spirit. Hence, no doubt, the reason why she took under her guardianship all the social relations, all the force and manifestations of this life--in fine, man himself, moral and physical man. I will not deny, nor will any one else, that much peaceful happiness, much piety has been established by these means; that human existence in the Middle Ages took an expression of greater fervour and intimacy; that the arts, like flowers, mysteriously developed, unfolded then, and showed to the day a beauty we now admire and deplore, and that the rash and unquiet spirit of modern days cannot imitate. But mind has its rights from all eternity; mind will not be fettered by dogmas, or lulled to sleep by the ringing of a bell; mind has cast aside his swaddling-clothes, and broken the string by which his nurse (the Roman Church) held him, and, in the madness and intoxication of his holiday, has rounded the globe, has traversed all nations, has scaled the Himalayas, and, returning again to Mother Earth, has begun to meditate over the wonders of creation by day, and the stars of heaven by night. We know not, indeed, nor ever shall, perhaps, the number of the stars that shine in the canopy of heaven; we have not yet unveiled the dread mysteries of earth or of sea.

Enough: many enigmas are resolved; we know much--we guess at still more. There remains one question unsolved--it is this: Is there more real felicity in our minds now than there was in ancient times? I will confess that if we look at the many, now-a-days, we could scarcely answer this question in the affirmative; yet, it must also be remembered that happiness, which is in part due to mental tyranny, is scarcely true happiness, and that in the few moments of real intellectual dignity some educated man can enjoy more real felicity than the uneducated coal-heaver during many years of uninquiring tranquillity.

But while, with a certain benevolence, I was dilating on the intentions of the Roman Church, I find myself all of a sudden seized with a zeal worthy of Exeter Hall. So I return to my Gozo friends.

Living among these simple, Christian islanders, of Moorish descent, one is apt to meditate on the mighty transformations which have swept over Europe and left them untouched.

The reason I recommend the route _via_ Malta and Tunis, instead of pa.s.sing by Algiers, as I did, is the miserable accommodation on board the steamers between Tunis and Algiers. The pa.s.sengers on these boats are chiefly bagmen and colonists of different nations. We had a Savoyard, a Spaniard, and two or three Frenchmen and Italians at one table; and the noise, and row, and heat after dinner were very edifying. Bottles were quickly emptied, and heads as quickly filled.

One of the guests sung songs; another neighed; a third shouted in tragic verse; a fourth spoke Latin; and a fifth preached temperance; a sixth gave himself out for a professor, and his lecture was nearly as follows:--"The earth, my friends, is a cylinder, and men are but little diminutive dots spread over its surface, apparently at hazard; but _voila_, the cylinder takes a fancy to turn, the little dots are hustled about, some here, others there, and so emit a sort of vibratory sound, some frequently, others more rarely; and this is the marvellous, complicated music that men call universal history," &c.

&c. A fat-looking German, who kept his nose continually dipped in a gla.s.s of punch, inhaling the steam with a very gratified look, observed that he felt as though he was in the refreshment saloon of the Berlin theatre; while the Savoyard kept looking at us through his gla.s.s, as though it were a _lorgnette_, and the red wine streamed down his purple cheeks into his gaping jaws.

And now to proceed to matters of sport. With regard to small game, partridges, ducks, quails, rabbits, &c., there is abundance to be found in Algeria. Near Algiers there is hawking of partridges and hares among the Arab tribes; and, before the French occupation, falconry was the especial amus.e.m.e.nt of the Arab aristocracy. For shooting of small game I would more especially recommend a caravanserai called Oued el Ma.s.sin, about half way between Milianah and Teniet. Partridges and woodc.o.c.k abound there; the quarters, moreover, are remarkably good, and the _cuisine_, superintended by my friend, Mr. Ball, is by no means despicable. From Oued el Ma.s.sin, a day's journey beyond Milianah, I am convinced excellent shooting may be obtained with a couple of good pointers. Quails are also very numerous. Aquatic birds abound in Algeria, more especially on the lake Fetzara, near Bona, in the province of Constantine. Nothing is more beautiful than the lake Fetzara at sunrise; on its banks are a thousand plants and flowers of every colour and hue, and on its waters repose birds of every description and plumage. As yet it is dusk; everything animal and vegetable is in repose; but with the first ray of the sun come sounds and cries of every imaginable description, and thousands, aye, myriads, of birds are everywhere on the wing. In the impetuosity of their flight, they shake, as it were, the plants and flowers on the border of the lake, who thus pay their morning salute to the sun of Africa. A small barque, however, advances (_vide_ picture), and from this frail skiff suddenly appears the flash of a gun. In a moment the whole air is in motion; grebes with their beautiful plumage, flamingoes with flaming wings, wild swans, and ducks, and teals, by thousands whirl through the air.

Is it really to be believed that Nature has affixed (so to speak) some danger to everything charming? One is almost tempted to say so, after examining the enchanting borders of this lake, whose azure waters flow from the mountainous frontier of Tunisia to the opulent plains of Bona. You botanists, who are attracted by the singular colour or strange beauty of some plant or flower here, beware how you approach.

Under this magnificent vegetation a trap--a mortal trap--is laid: the banks are of quick-sand! One step, and you meet death--a horrible death. The earth gives way, and you disappear without a trace, for those delicious flowers and plants close up their ranks again, like immortelles over your sepulchre. Listen:--A French cavalry officer came from Bona to shoot flamingoes on this lake. He was accompanied by his servant, also on horseback. He shot a flamingo, who tumbled just on the border of the lake, and dispatched his servant to fetch the bird. At three or four yards from the bird, the soldier disappeared with his horse; and some Arabs, coming up, at the cries of the officer (for the Mussulman believes that the genius of the lake, propitious to Mahometans, devours the profane European), with difficulty saved his servant. As soon as the soldier was out of danger, he cried out, with all the gasconade of a Frenchman, "_Je ne laisserai pas la ce maudit oiseau, cause de ma mesaventure!_" In spite of the energetic dissuasions of the natives, whom, by the way, he could not understand, he advanced on foot; but the earth opened again--he disappeared. One moment his head remained above this liquid ground, one moment he cried for aid, and the abyss had swallowed its prey. However, at certain points, this lake is quite approachable; and, there being several barques, excellent sport may be had. I would, however, recommend sportsmen to procure a letter of introduction to some neighbouring grandee. There is an excellent caravanserai close by, at Ain Mokra.

For gazelles one must go quite into the interior of the desert--to Boussada and Laghouat--in the great Sahara desert. Ghazella is, in the Arab language, the synonym for beauty and velocity.

Those persons who really desire sport, however, I would recommend to travel from Algiers to Tunisia by land, and, if possible, let them pa.s.s by Kef, which is the frontier town. In the vicinity of this town there are, no doubt, plenty of lions; and my friend (who visited it with Dr. Davies, the celebrated explorer and excavator at Carthage) heard of several there, though his stay was so short that he did not succeed in bagging one. For lion-hunting, as for many other things, "_il faut bien de la patience_." Thus it very frequently happens that a man may search without success for months and months for the whereabouts of a lion, and then, suddenly, when your hunter is least prepared for it, and perhaps unarmed, the monarch of the desert will present himself to his astonished gaze. Notwithstanding the formidable character attributed to the lion, he will rarely attack any man unless previously molested. There are three sorts of lions in North Africa--the black, the tawny, and the grey, though the latter is by some supposed to be the same genus as the tawny, only grizzled by age.

There are two ways of hunting the lion, by day and by night. That by day is by battue, when a whole tribe turns out to "beard the lion in his den" and make him break cover. Those who are well armed are posted at the outlets of the cover or beaten tracks by which the lion generally pa.s.ses; any Europeans who a.s.sist are usually so stationed; they, however, need have but little fear, for the monarch almost always attacks the _tawny_ native by preference. Is it from sympathy of colour, _similia similibus gaudent_, or from a sort of instinct that the European is better armed, or because he supposes the Arab will make a better repast? The other way of killing the lion is in ambuscade, of which there are two or three kinds. Sometimes the hunters dig a hole in the ground near the spot where the lion is in the habit of pa.s.sing by night; over this hole they throw branches of trees, which they cover with stones and mortar; they then place some bait near, which can be commanded through holes made in the covering, and when the lion approaches to examine the carcase, he is immediately brought down. Another way of shooting is from a tree. My friend, Count Zamoyski, who has a residence at the Lake Fetzara, shot several in this way. I will, however, refer the reader to Jules Gerard's book for a description of this kind of sport. I did not stay long enough in North Africa to be able to judge of it myself. What I recount now with regard to lion hunting is from hearsay, not from personal experience.

The panther is a more dangerous animal than the lion, and much more cunning. Like his relative, the cat, he is very difficult to kill, and it must be a well-directed ball through the head or heart that will prevent him from avenging his wound. For the rest, he is hunted much as the lion. I will not mention the jackal and hyena, both of which animals can be shot after dusk from the tent or hut, by throwing out some carcase or bait before sunset to attract them. Let us pa.s.s to that animal which, in my opinion, of all creatures presents by far the best sport on the coast of Barbary--I mean, of course, the wild boar, or halouf, as he is called in the Arabic language.

I had long had a desire to hunt the halouf. On my arrival at the Caid's house at Solyman (about twenty miles from Tunis), an old Arab named Mahmoud was sent for, who was reported to be, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord and before the tribes.

The next day we started before sunrise to the river, where the boar was supposed to be.

_En route_ I questioned my Arab by interpreter. "The halouf," he replied, "when wounded, is as dangerous as the lion. I have," he continued, "myself seen a boar repulse the attack of a young lion."

Of boars there are no doubt plenty in Tunisia. They are fond of lying in the thickest brushwood, what the French call _broussailles_, and the main difficulty is to drive them out. It requires some one perfectly conversant with Arabic, and having some authority over the natives, to make them beat properly; otherwise, in a short time they will give over, and pretend that there is nothing there. The best localities for boar are near Solyman, in Tunisia, and Biserta, about fifty miles from Tunis. As for Algeria, the country is now so much frequented by Europeans of all nations, who frighten, if they do not kill, the game, that one has to go a long way into the interior before any sport can be met with.

The French talk a great deal about "_la cha.s.seaux pantheres_" and "_la cha.s.se aux lions_," &c. &c.; but, in my humble opinion, their forte is "_la cha.s.se aux dames_" or, in plain Saxon English, the success of the "_salon_." Let me conclude with a few words regarding regimen. In this burning climate, above all things observe temperance. I do not mean by that expression that you must be a teetotaller, but the more you can abstain from heating liquids or solids, the better. The other extreme, too, is bad; too much lemonade, or water, or sherbet, is apt to produce diarrhoea. Nature seems to have indicated to the Arabs the best beverage in this zone, both to quench thirst and to preserve health, viz., coffee; but as on a march or out shooting you cannot always stop to have a fire lit, the next best drink is a little weak brandy and water, which you should carry from where you start in the morning, as the water of the rivers is pestiferous. To avoid fever or malaria, I would always take a small quant.i.ty of bark of quinine.

During the time I was in Africa I enjoyed most excellent health, as I believe everybody may who takes the commonest precautions, and does not indulge, as he may with impunity in more northern climes.

Finally, let me give one piece of advice to the sportsman. If he comes to these countries with the expectation that he can, as in England, go out with his gun of a morning and return with his bag full in the evening to a capital dinner, he had better stay at home. To do anything in this country, a man must make his mind up to long and fatiguing marches in the heat of the day, with miserable quarters often at night, in places infested by vermin of every description; in a word, he must be content to rough it. I will also candidly own that, from the accounts I had previously received, I was very much disappointed as regards the quant.i.ty of large game to be found in these parts; still, I was, to a certain extent, indemnified for this by the pleasure of visiting a beautiful country, a remarkable people, and magnificent scenery, the entire appearance of which is utterly unlike what one is accustomed to see in the hackneyed countries of modern continental Europe.