Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/385

 LAOHWAT-MZAB. 809 regions in the province of Algeria. Already connected with Algiers by a carriage road, Ijaghwut (El-Aghwat) seems destined to become the starting-point of the future railway projected in the direction of the Twat oasis. Although standing at an altitude of 2,470 feet, it lies beyond the border ranges of the Algerian plateau, from which it is separated by the valley of. the Mzi, which a few miles farther down takes the name of Je<ldi. An irrigation canal derivinl from this stream circulates through the oasis, winding away between two hills to the plains beyond. On these hills are perched the houses of Laghwat, disposed in amphitheatrical form along the slopes. Like those of other Berber towns, the inhabitants were formerly grouped in two distinct quarters, according to their origin. In the public assembly were etjually represented the Ulad-Serghins of the west, the eastern Ahlafs, and the southern Ulad-el-Haj-Aissa, or "Sons of the Pilgrim Aissa." One of the present Laghwat confraternities belongs to the famous Senfisiya brotherhood. The fifteen thousand palms of Laghwat, which yield dates of indifferent quality, occupy a part of the oasis, the rest of the land being planted with European fruits, such as peaches, pears, apricots, figs, pomegranates, and vegetables, especially onions, besides some olive, lemon, and orange trees. These varied products are largely exported by caravans, mostly under the escort of members of the Larbaa Arab confederacy, who are nearly all affiliated to the Tij&niya confraternity. Below Laghwat the Jeddi traverses districts which in many cases might be brought under cultivation. If properly irrigated, the rich alluvial soil in the depressions, several hundred feet thick, would yield abundant crops. After receiving the waters of the Demraed, flowing from the mountain gorges near the picturesque hamlets of MessAd and Demmed, belonging to the Ulad-Nail tribe, the Jeddi continues its intermittent course across an extensive steppe region frequented by nomad pastors. The oases, projierly so-called, reaj)pear in its lower valley south of the Zab Dahri. Here the most populous settlement is that of the Ulad- Jellals, which comprises no less than fourteen hundred houses, each surrounded by its palms and garden-plot, and possessing its own well sunk to the underground reservoir. The Ulad-Jellals are separated by a feud of long standing from their western neighbours, the inhabitants of the Sidi KhaUd oasis. Ghardaya. South of the sandy and steppe regions frequented by the Ulad-Nail, Larba&, Hajej, and Harazlia tribes, the Beni-Mzab confederation occupies the eastern slopes of the cretaceous plateaux travers(»d by the Wed if zab and other surface and underground streams, which flow eastwards in the direction of the Wed Miya. Lying nearly 1*20 miles south of the advanced French station of Laghwat, the religious and trading Mzabite republic endeavoured long to maintain its political independence; but it was fain, in 1H50, to recognise the suzerainty of France. Its capital, Ghardaya, was seized seven years afterwards by a French