Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/265

Rh something to the youths who surrounded him and who were apparently listening in rapt attention.

"Ja Sidi Heddi (In the name of Sidi Heddi)," frequently punctuated the words of the tall Berber, as he preached with very evident earnestness and conviction.

"He is a messenger of the Haddawa sect, who is preaching to win members for this fraternity. These Haddawas never marry, wander continually from place to place, are great collectors and carriers of news and gossip, smoke kif, a sort of hashish, are ardent lovers of cats and almost always have a goat as a companion in their travels. The sultans and Mahdis make use of these men for the rapid dissemination of news throughout the country, be it a proclamation of war, a revolt or a great pilgrimage to Mecca. This sect, founded by Sidi Heddi of the Beni Arus tribe, is held in contempt and dislike by the mullahs of the mosque &hellip; But see, a quarrel is brewing."

Over in another group an old man with a gray beard had risen to his feet and was gesticulating and delivering himself of a strong tirade against the heretical Berber. Ali bent close and whispered:

"He is the meokkhadem of another sect, the Derkawa, the most numerous and independent of all the religious fraternities and possessing not only their chapels in Morocco, where their members gather for prayer and deliberation, but also their mosques in Mecca and Medina."

One of the statements of my companion to the effect that the Haddawas were used for political purposes aroused my curiosity and my determination to burrow into the matter in detail. The opportunity to do this soon