Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/295

Rh the places where the hidden treasures lie. The reputation of the Sous as the most skilled among treasurehunters may have something to do with the fact that they lost their own wealth and have long continued the search for it. An old Spanish merchant told me that at certain times almost all of the able-bodied men of the tribe trekked north to hunt for these caches which their ancestors made. In any case it is a fact that many ancient objects have been found by these Sous in the ruins of the old Roman towns.

When the great caids with fire and sword established their authority throughout the Atlas, the golden days of freebooting for the Sous came to an end. They could no longer attack with impunity the caravans of the merchants transporting goods and running slaves from the Sudan and Senegal to Fez, Tangier and Meknes. The caids protected these merchants, requiring from them and even from the sultan, in the manner of the old Baltic barons, a heavy fee and saw to it that any robbing of them that was to be permitted should be legalized and for their benefit alone.

Through this change the Sous, after being accustomed to the free and open life of highway brigands and of wandering far in search of finer booty, were compelled to settle down and become agriculturalists. But this was not in their blood, and it was real tragedy that fell upon the tribe, when misery and hunger stalked the villages. They had but little land and no liking for clearing the forests to make more. This struggle with nature on the mountain slopes was no life for a freebooter.

So the men began to emigrate. Who does not know