The World and Its People Part 57

It is interesting to notice that in no other section of North Africa does the Great Desert approach so closely to the sea as in the province of Tripoli. The Atlas chain of mountains, which, so far, has served as a protection to the Mediterranean sh.o.r.e from the shifting sands of the desert, here dwindles away to a low ridge of hills, and finally disappears entirely in the little Gulf of Systa, which lies west of the town of Tripoli.

On this gulf is the natural seaport of the Soudan, from which, according to Dr. Barth, opens the easiest route to the center of the continent.

The boundaries of the province of Tripoli can hardly be said to be definitely fixed. By some writers the whole area, including Fezzan and Barca, has been estimated at four hundred thousand square miles. Some writers include the oasis of Kufra, east of Fezzan; others declare it to be independent. The total population of the province is estimated at upwards of one million. Of this number about three hundred thousand belong to Barca.

Strange to say, the coast line, stretching as it does over a distance of between seven and eight hundred miles, has only one harbor, that of the town of Tripoli.

The eastern part of the interior is really a continuation of the Great Desert, and has the same general character; hence, large tracts of barren sand are common. The southern portion of the province is partly crossed by the Black Mountains, an eastern range of the Atlas. These slope away into successive terraces, which include many valleys and fertile plains. Off to the west, the surface of the country shows still greater variety; here the scenery is often beautiful and grand.

By far the richest tract in the whole province of Tripoli is Mesheea.

This has a stretch of about fifteen miles of coast line. Its width, however, does not exceed five miles. Its capital is situated very nearly in the center of the district.

The whole district of Mesheea is covered with fertile fields producing wheat, barley, millet, Indian corn, together with madder, saffron, and other crops. Olive groves, vineyards, and orchards producing all kinds of southern fruit, abound.

This fertile little district is divided into small inclosures. In the center of each of them are two upright piles of mason-work. Between them a pulley is suspended, and on this a pointed leathern bucket is made to ascend and descend. Each time the bucket ascends it gives out a stream of limpid water.

The pulley is worked, usually, by a half-clothed negro, who leads a most disconsolate-looking specimen of an ox or cow, as he toils up and down an inclined plane, the lowest part of which is below the surface of the land.

All day and all night this work goes on, from the end of one rainy season till the beginning of the next. During these eight months all the gardens are like so many basins, which are under a regulated system of inundation.

Another curious custom prevails at the season when the sap begins to ascend in the date palm. A man begins to mount one of these trees, aided only by his naked feet and a girdle which holds him to the trunk.

Slowly, steadily, he mounts till he reaches the crown, where the branches spread out. He does not scruple to cut these off until only four remain, stretching out as if to indicate the points of the compa.s.s.

Over one of these branches, where it joins the trunk, he pa.s.ses a fine cord and allows the two ends to reach the ground. He then wounds the tree by making a deep incision between two of the cuts where he chopped off the branches.

Making a descent from the tree, he sends up a bucket by means of the cord, and allows it to hang suspended just under the deep incision he has made. After a s.p.a.ce of twelve hours, this bucket is brought down and another is sent up. The former is filled with a pale gray liquid, not quite clear in appearance. It looks much like barley water, is slightly sweet in taste, and is used as we would use mineral waters.

Exposure to the atmosphere for some hours changes the appearance of the liquid. Bubbles rise to the surface, and under this slight fermentation, travelers tell us, it becomes a refreshing beverage, somewhat like soda water.

Left to stand half a day longer, the harmless beverage changes to a thick milk-white fluid with a pungent odor and a slightly acid taste.

Worse than all, it has become an intoxicating drink, as evil in its effects as brandy.

It is at this stage that the natives prefer it, and the most rigid Mohammedan, who would shrink with horror at the thought of taking a gla.s.s of wine, thinks it no sin to drink a cup of this intoxicating beverage. Without scruple or shame he drinks it publicly, for to him it is only the sap of the palm. If left to stand for another day, it changes to a most nauseating liquid and is unfit for use.

Barca is the eastern division of the province of Tripoli. It lies between the Gulf of Sidra and Egypt. No definite line separates it from Egypt, but several roving, independent tribes serve as a living boundary line between the two races and their countries.

On the south, Barca consists of a desert plain descending gradually to the northerly depressions of the Libyan Desert. The greater part of the province is an oval plateau. It has, in turn, been held by the Egyptians, Byzantines, Persians, and Arabs, and comprised the Cyrenaica of the ancient world.

Many remnants of ancient towns, particularly in the northwest, bear testimony not only to the important place it held in the past, but to the celebrated fertility of the soil. At the present time the fertile tracts cover only about one fourth of the entire province. In the eastern portions only naked rocks and loose sand greet the eye.

Among the productions of Barca are rice, dates, olives, and saffron.

Excellent pasturage is afforded to cattle, and the horses are as much celebrated as in days gone by.

The climate of Barca is very agreeable and healthy in the more elevated portions--often twelve hundred feet high--and in the sections exposed to the sea breezes.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

FEZZAN.

As we journey to the south, on the road to the Soudan, we find the great oasis of Fezzan, which extends far into the midst of the Great Desert.

The rocky plateau of Hammada forms a natural defense for it on the north, and the superst.i.tion of the native Bedouins serves as another obstacle, in addition to those nature has placed along the road.

The Bedouins have a legend of the terrible _Djin_, who are doomed to everlasting imprisonment in the stony Hammada. The Djin were formerly the souls of a great people inhabiting this region. By reason of their great number and strength they not only disdained all humanity, but defied both law and justice, and made themselves feared by all of their neighbors.

King Solomon sent them an apostle, who might bring them to worship one G.o.d. They, however, not only spurned and mocked at the precepts and religious ceremonies of the apostle, but put him to death.

Not satisfied, they in derision placed a pig in their temples in imitation of the sacred niche which in the wall of the mosque indicates the direction of Mecca.

These and other sacrilegious acts they committed, trusting that their great isolation, and the vast distance which separated them from all neighbors, would prevent any accounts of their impiety from reaching the ears of the great Solomon.

It happened that there were many cranes in the land. These were so scandalized at the impious acts that they sent one of their number as a deputy to carry the news to the great prophet. Filled with indignation at what had taken place, he sent a summons to the lapwing, his favorite bird, commanding him to call together all the cranes upon the face of the earth.

When they were a.s.sembled they formed so vast a number that they became a great cloud, which threw the earth into shadow from Misda, near Tripoli, to Murzuk, the capital of Fezzan.

Each crane held a stone in its beak. At a preconcerted signal all dropped their loads upon the heads of the wicked infidels, whose souls, set free, still wander over the solitary waste; while never has a crane been able to fly through this s.p.a.ce of torment.

Some writers trace a resemblance between this Mohammedan legend and the story of the "Pigmies and the Cranes."

The northern part of the district consists for the most part of hills of a perfectly bare sandstone. There are no rivers nor brooks among these hills to irrigate the soil or to render it fertile. The southern part is mostly a level waste of desert sand, of which only about one tenth is capable of cultivation.

In the neighborhood of the villages of Fezzan, some ninety in number, situated mostly in the wadies, or apologies for valleys, we find wheat, barley, and other grains under cultivation. Camels and horses are raised in great numbers, and many wild animals and birds of prey are frequently found.

The inhabitants of Fezzan number about thirty-five thousand, and a nomadic or wandering population of perhaps nine or ten thousand.

The inhabitants are of a mixed race. Their skin is brown and in many respects they bear a strong resemblance to the negro. Their figures are, however, much more finely formed and better proportioned.

Originally of the Berber tribes, they have gradually mingled with the Arabs since the invasion of the country by them in the fifteenth century. Hence the Arab characteristics and language are very marked in their influence upon those of the original Berber tribes.

Generally speaking, the people are far behind the rest of the world in civilization. They spend their time in cultivating their gardens and in manufacturing the most indispensable necessaries of life.

Quite a large trade is carried on by means of caravans pa.s.sing over the routes between the interior of Africa and the coast section.

Murzuk is the capital of Fezzan. It is situated at the foot of a high plateau surrounded by low dunes, or sand hills, thrown up by the wind.

While we can but admire the picturesque situation of the capital, yet, even at first sight, we cannot fail to notice the great barrenness of the scene. This impression is deepened rather than lessened after a few days' sojourn in the town or in its immediate neighborhood.

Cultivation of the soil is simply impossible, except in the shade of the date palms. Here, it is possible to raise only such fruits as the pomegranate, fig, and peach. Vegetables are very scarce, and the milk of the goat is the only kind that can be obtained, since there is no pasturage for cows.

Murzuk is said to have a population of about twenty-eight hundred people. These we find settled in and about the neighborhood of the bazaar. The quarters of the city most distant from it are almost deserted.

A broad street extends from the eastern gate to the citadel. This peculiarity would seem to indicate that the town is more closely related to negro-land than to the Arab territories on the north.

Murzuk is not inhabited by wealthy merchants. It is not so much the seat of a large commerce, as it is a place of transit.