Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/410

 882 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. Nevertheless the construction of a trans-Saharian line can hardly be seriously taken in hand until the great Algerian railways are farther advanced towards completion. The xVlgerian system itself has to be farther developed in the direction of Twat, which lies about midway between Algiers and Timbuktu. When the almost unknown desert region beyond this point has been sufficiently surveyed, the trans-Saharian line may be pushed forward in the direction of the Niger. Other schemes have been advanced, which are intended to connect the Igharghar Valley with the Tsad basin across Central Sahara. Administration — Tribal Organisation. The administration of Algeria, which is attached to the Ministry of the Interior, is directed by a civil governor-general, commander in chief of the land and sea forces, assisted by a director-general and a Government council. But the action of this central power is brought to bear through different channels on the natives and the European settlers. The latter enjoy the same rights as in France, whereas the Arabs and Kabylcs are practically at the mercy of the administration. The Arab tribal organisation is nearly always of an aristocratic character. Comprising a group of families which believe themselves sprung of a common stock, the clan recognises a chief at once military and religious. The dwar, or encampment established on the steppe or near the arable lands, is the original unit, out of which is developed the group of tribes. In each dwar the authority is vested in the heads of families, and especially those who can boast of the noblest birth. Several dwars, united in a ferka, are administered by a sheikh or "elder," or even a kaid, when the group is large enough to constitute a whole arsh, or rija, that is, a number of persons which may vary from five hundred to as many as fifty thousand. The kaid is subordinate to an agha, and the latter to a bash-agha or a khalifa, who are all so many absolute kinglets in their respective spheres, uncontrolled by any elected body of advisers. Nevertheless, a certain democratic spirit has been fostered in the dwars, thanks to the jemaa, or assembly, constituted by the heads of families, or by the kobars alone, that is, by the *' grandees," con- sulted by the sheikh of the ferka on all weighty matters. Very different is the assembly of the Berber communes, in which the old customs are still respected. Amongst them the whole people form the assembly, whose authority is limited only by traditional usages. In all Arab communities, questions of genealogy are of paramount importance. At first the French governors adopted the policy of relying on the chiefs of the warlike tribes, in order to secure the pacification of the country, neglecting no devices to attract them by titles, honours, the grant of fiefs and domains. But the aristocratic tastes and traditions of the Arab people have the fatal consequence of engendering fierce rivalries in the struggle for power. Three distinct orders of nobility contend for the ascendancy amongst the tribes : the juads, or sons of chiefs, who by right or usurpation claim to be sprung from the companions of