Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/258

242 strength and with invisible and dangerous beings. In time contempt arose and became so pronounced that smiths among all the nations were obliged to form a separate caste, marrying only within it and passing down their art from one generation to another. Gradually it came about that they practiced as doctors, especially for bleeding and for cauterizing with hot irons the bites of snakes.

Here in the south of Morocco most of these natives of the Sahara or those camping along its borders are smiths and, as such, are despised as pariahs, with whom a Berber will not sit at table, nor can a Berber or Arab fight one of them without injury to the honor and traditions of his family. When a Berber wants to offend and insult some one, he flings at him:

"Haddad ben Haddad (You smith, son of a smith)!"

Leaving behind us the black tents of the smiths, the old crones and the younger damsels of the blazing desert, we were soon out upon and across the open plain beyond which lay the olive-groves of Menar. The neglect at once evident among the olives and other greenery made it plain that the place would not have been worth a visit after the excursion to Aguedal, were it not for a nook that was filled with romance, even though it struck a melancholy note. Over a low wall branches of old fruit-trees hung, and between them one could see a solitary pavilion, roofed in gleaming green tiles. As a native responded to the call of our siren and opened the gate for us, we entered and stopped in bewilderment at the sight of a large lake, framed in stone and reflecting the rays of the sun like a polished mirror. In its silence it seemed