Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/325

 KABYLIA. 268 it displayed greater strength than the little centralised Arab states, in which the subjects, following one letider, were vanquished or surrendered with him. In the presence of a common danger confederacies were formed between the different tribes, and young men hu8t<»ned from all j)arts, vowing to sacrifice their lives for the common weal. Before the battle the prayer for the dead was read over them by the marabuts, and they in truth seldom cared to survive defeat. All recognised the virtue of the anat/a, an Arabic word meaning " protection," but also used in the sense of " honour," sjKiken of as " the beneficent king of the Knbyles, who levies no taxes." Should war break out between the septs, the women were forth- ^ath placed under the joint anaya of the contending factions ; in the same way certain roads, districts, or days were reserved by being placed under the same collective guarantee, answering to the " truce of God," which in Europe afforded some respite from the everlasting feuds of Mediteval times. And now that the French in their turn have proclaimed the universal unaya amongst the tribes, they already feel themselves half assimilated to their new masters, and religiously observe the peace. Many are even proud of the pri^•ilege of naturalisation, and but for the fear of being rejected, whole tribes would ask to be enrolled as French citizens. Primary instruction daily spreading, and already obligatory and gratuitous in some communities, will soon raise the whole nation to the same level as many so-called " Aryan " peoples. Assuredly a bright future may be predicted for this brave and industrious race, which, under the name of " Arabs," has already rendered an immense service to mankind by preserving and developing in Spain the knowledge bequeathed by the Hellenic world, at a time when all science was threatened elsewhere with extinction under the night of the Middle Ages. Over the heights, terraces and headlands of Great Kabylia are scattered some fourteen hundred villages, some containing from two thousand to two thousand four hundred inhabitants. Although mostly forming a mere aggregate of huts pressed close together, a certain order may still be detected in the distribution of the different quarters. All persons belonging to the same family group constitute a kharuha, whose dwellings form a distinct district, while the streets or lanes of all the kharubas converge in the jem&a, or place of public assembly. In the centre of this open space an arcade between two houses serves to shelter the benches on which are seated the elders presiding over the popular gatherings. But even in the densely peopled Jurjura district there are no towns properly so called. Fort National, the military capital, is a mere collection of barracks, magazines, taverns, and a few private houses, with promenades and gardens, surrounded by an irregular enclosure, which follows the crest of the hill and falls from terrace to terrace down the steep slopes, whence a ^ iew is commanded of a vast horizon. The present fort was built in 1857, nearly in the geographical centre of Great Kabylia, in the midst of the powerful confederation of the Ait-Iraten tribe, whose black villages crown all the surrounding heights. The great elevation of Fort National (3,050 feet above the sea), giving it the military command of the whole country, prevents it from becoming a large centre of trade and population.