Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/114

 92 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. vation, abundance of water lying at a slight distance below the surface. Artesian wells sunk at several points yield a copious supply for irrigating the surrounding tracts. Topography. According to the local tradition, Rhat is a relatively modern town, having been founded some twelve or fifteen generations ago by the Ihajenen Berbers, jointly with a few neighbouring tribes. Amongst these were the Kel-Rhafsas, in whom Duveyrier recognises the descendants of those who in Roman times occupied the town of liapm. This military and trading station must doubtless have stood some- where in the vicinity at the entrance of the defile connecting the two slopes of the Sahara. But in any case the Ihajenens and other neighbouring Tuaregs have long been the masters, or at least the protectors, of the district. In the town, however, the nomads have gradually l)een replaced by the descendants of traders from other parts of North Africa. Nevertheless the family is still regarded as belonging to the old stock, so long as the descent is maintained through the female line ; for the Ihajenens are Bcni-Ummia, or " Children of the Mother," amongst whom rank and property are transmitted not from father to son, but from uncle to nephew. Hence at Rhat the Berber law reserves to the women, representing the old rulers of the land, the administration of the inheritancy. They alone dispose of dwell- ings, springs, and gardens, in administrative capacity and commercial enterprise showing themselves in no respects inferior to the men. In some families the children succeed to the movable and real property ; but the eldest son of the sister alone can claim the seignorial rights over the serfs, and the traditional dues levied on travellers. Most of the non-Tuareg inhabitants come from Ghadamos and Tw^t, or else are of the hartoies class — that is, the children of Negro women abandoned on the route by their husbands. But all these various ethnical elements, recently increased by the Turkish garrison troops, are sufficiently subject to the local traditions to adopt the native Berber dialect. Most of the inhabitants also wear the Tuareg costume — pantaloons, blouse, and veil — and still adhere to the old trading tradi- tions of the place. For centuries the same routes are followed, fixed by custom and the exigencies of the tribes claiming transit dues in return for their protec- tion. Thus in order to reach Timbuktu, the caravans from Rhat have to make an enormous detour by the Twat oasis. Direct intercourse with the French Algerian possessions is also interdicted by the Turks and the fanatic Seniisiya brotherhood, which has been very powerful in the oasis since the middle of the century. For its support the town is thus reduced to the profits of its trade with the distant Sudanese markets between the Niger and Lake Tsad. The produce of the local industries and agriculture is even less important than that of Ghadames. The surrounding district nourishes scarcely three thousand date-palms, amid which the Tuaregs have set up their stone or earthen houses, their huts of branches, and skin tents. In the oasis the only other centre of population is Al-Barkat {Barakmt, Iberke),