Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/109

 T0P00RA1»HY. 87 Topography. The town of GhadampH presents tbe same constructive features us Siwuh, and the uni'ient Berber cities reachiufj^ as far us Nubia. The streets ure vuulted pussages, udmitting the light only at rure intervuls through upertures in the wulls of the houses. These pussages are used by the men and female slaves alone ; but so dense is the gloom that to prevent collision a warning voice or sound is needed, the men stamping on the ground, the women uttering a sort of plaintive murmur. The better classes never go abroad without a lantern. The houses, either of stone or adobe, consist mostly of a ground floor, serving as a store, and of one story com- prising a central apartment encircled by smaller rooms. The general disposition is the same as in the Moorish houses, only instead of being open to the air the dwellings are lit through a hole in the flat roof. All the terraces, although enclosed by low parapets, communicate with each other, so that the women, for whom this space is exclusively reserved, are able to walk from one end of the quarter to the other ; real streets are even laid down along the houses above the tunnels, set apart for the men and slaves. On the terraces a special market is daily held for the barter of jewellery and textiles, but inaccessible to the men. Grown-up children pass the night abroad, boys in the gardens, on the seats of the cross-roads or in unoccupied houses, girls with some female friend or relation whose husband is from home. The natives of Ghadames are fundamentally of Berber stock, and the current speech closely resembles that of the Tuaregs and of the Siwah, Aujila and Jofra oases. Nevertheless the race is very mixed, both features and complexion betray- ing strains of Arab and Negro blood. The people, who, like the Tuaregs, go abroad either wholly or partly veiled, have regular features ; but they lack the strength and lithe figures of their Algerian neighbours. Most of them are of u lymphatic or nervous temperament, and the stranger is surprised to meet so many with glossy skin, flaccid flesh, lustreless eyes, thick lips, feeble voice. Yet the women are distinguished by really noble features, and a graceful form enhanced by a channing costume. As in most Berber towns, and in the medieval cities of Italy, the population is divided into hostile factions, whose rivalries appear to spring, to a very slight degree, from racial differences. The Boni-Wasit, themselves subdivided into four shueras or secondary groups, hold the southern and eastern parts of the town ; the Beni-Ulid, or Tescu, with two shueras, the north and north-west, the latter devoted mainly to trade, the former chiefly householders and agriculturists. Before the Turkish occupation, both factions often engaged in mortal combat, and although now dwelling peaceably together, such is the force of tradition that they still remain confined to their respective quarters, never exchanging visits or inter- marrying. They meet only on the market-place, or outside the ramparts in the convents of the religious brotherhoods. But many natives of Ghadames will recognise each other as fellow-countrymen only in such remote places as Tripoli, Eano, Timbuktu, visited by them during their trading expeditions.