Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/111

 time. Amongst the peculiar marriage ceremonies, is the imposition of absolute silence on the bride for the first seven days of the union.

The only local antiquities are the already described Roman reservoir, a bas-relief said to betray Egyptian influences, a few columns and hewn blocks, besides a ruined tower with an inscription in Greek and unknown characters, "perhaps in the Garamantine language," but in any case a precious monument of the commercial relations established at least two thousand years ago between Cydamus and the Hellenic world. Outside the walls Duveyrier discovered a Roman inscription dating from the time of Alexander Severus, a monument of great historic importance, showing that Cydamus, at that time attached to the administration of Lambessa, remained at least two hundred and fifty years under Roman rule after its conquest by Cornelius Balbus in the reign of Augustus.

On the plateau forming the camping-ground of the Azjar Tuaregs stand some shapeless columns, by the natives called El-Esnamen, or "The Idols." According to Duveyrier, these pre- Roman ruins are the remains of Garamantian monuments, perhaps tombs. In the neighbourhood a space of some square miles is covered by the cemetery of Ghadames, in which the older monuments are always respected, and amongst these Roman sepulchral inscriptions may yet be discovered. To the north the isolated dolomitic eminence of Tiikut is crowned by the ruins of a town, whose inhabitants have escaped to Algeria in consequence of a standing feud with their neighbours.

The Derj oasis, lying over 60 miles due cast of Ghadames, in the same area of drainage, might hope to become the commercial centre of the district, if the local traffic depended entirely on the abundance of water and vege tuition. Derj, or the "Step," so named because it occupies the first stage on the Red Hamáda route, is surrounded by plantations containing some three hundred thousand palms, and yielding a far greater supply of dates and other fruits and vegetables than is needed for the local consumption. Hence the Ghadamesians, who from remote times have owned more than half of the trees, draw much of their supplies from Derj.

The inhabitants of the oasis, grouped in four villages, claim some to be Berbers, others Arabs, but are in fact so mixed by crossings with slaves, that they look more like Negroes than Semites or Hamites. In every house a state room is decorated with copper vases representing the price paid for their wives, who pride themselves in displaying all this glittering treasure.

North-east of Ghadames, on the slope of the plateau facing the desert, lie the palm groves of the Sinaun oasis, one of the caravan stations on the route between Ghadames and Tripoli. Rut this oasis is being gradually devoured by the pitiless sands, which are invading the plantations and gardens, filling up the ditches, and encroaching upon the two villages, whose enclosures are already in ruins. A large number of the inhabitants, the Aulad-Bellil, a noble race proud of their descent, have already emigrated to Ghadames.