Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/168

 Igg NORTH-WEST AFRICA. of the Spanish Jews in Tunis, remembering that their ancestors came from the Iberian peninsul», have laid claim to their origin so as to obtain the protection of their ancient persecutors. In the same way, before the annexation of Tunis to France a number of refugees, who had quitted Algeria to evade submission to the hated conquerors, claimed to be* Algerians, with a view to obtaining the support of the French Consul against the Bey's Government. All the Tunisian Jews, whether of native or extraneous origin, follow the Spanish rite, reading the Pentateuch, and saying their prayers in Hebrew ; never- theless, one of their invocations is in Arabic, and this, according to Maltzan, is pre- cisely the one most frequently uttered, and indeed the only one that the women use. This ancient prayer of the persecuted people beseeches the Lord to " let loose his wrath upon Spain, as well as on Ismael, Kedar, and Edom," the three latter names being figuratively applied to the Arabs, Mussulmans of every race, and Christians. In spite of these requests addressed to an avenging Deity, the Tunisian Jews are mild and very pacific by nature ; nor do they appear to merit the reputation for greed which they share in common with all the rest of their brethren ; but they are very adroit in seizing the opportunity for developing new industries. They are increasing rapidly, the number of births being far in advance of the deaths. For some time past they have crossed over the boundaries of the Tunisian ham, or ghetto, to which they were restricted, and have spread throughout all the quarters of the town. In certain parts of the bazaar they have actually driven out the Arabs, gaining ground shop by shop. They are no longer distinguished by a special costume, many of them dressing in the European fashion, as the laws which forbade them to clothe themselves like the Mussulmans have been abolished. But they are easily distinguished by the type of physiognomy, by their bearing, and often by their obesity, the Spanish Jews of Tunis having a singular tendency to become corpulent. Till quite recently, young girls were subjected to a special fattening process, art stepping in to assist- nature in making them " substantial members of society." These young girls are not considered "presentable" till their arms and legs have become large enough to retain the rings and bracelets which their mothers had worn. Whilst in nearly all other countries of this world the Israelitish race is distinguished by the relative purity of its morals, the Jews of Tunis contrast forcibly with the other inhabitants' precisely by their gross immorality ; in fact, they may be looked upon as the chief source of all the vice of this city. The Europeans. Like the Jews, the Europeans residing in Tunis form two distinct classes, the families of the merchants settled in the country for several generations, and the immigrants of recent date, who still look upon themselves as foreigners. The class of the " Old Tunisians," which comprises a few hundred French and Italian fami- lies, till recently constituted a kind of nation within a nation, like the Levantines of Constantinople and Smyrna. Their nationality conferred privileges upon them