Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/335

Rh past—save as the key of memory might unlock some of tire lesser vaults.

"La Illah Illah Allah &hellip; Mahommcd Rassul Allah!" came from the lips of an old Arab, squatting on his prayer-mat somewhere near. The crowd began rapidly dispersing to return to their homes and offer praises to Allah, while the riders from the distant nomad camps, where they had left their herds and flocks, scattered among the various inns to wash the grime and dust from their hands and faces that they too might raise them purged to the sky and repeat in His praise tire ancient words:

"There is no God above Allah! His Eternal Name be praised by the men, nations and countries of the whole earth! Allah Akbar, Allah Mani, Allah Rashid, Allah Kadim!"

As I came back to our quarters, full of the thrills and pictures of the afternoon, I overheard one of the officials saying to a spahi:

"Do not neglect to see whether the natives have used all the powder issued to them. If any of it is left, collect it and put it in the storehouse."

It was easy to infer from this that an Arab possessing powder might prefer to associate it in undesirable juxtaposition with lead rather than to explode it in the harmless curls of smoke that decorated the place.

During dinner with Colonel and Madame Pariel and Monsieur de Vitasse the Colonel recounted many interesting stories about the natives, some of which illustrate most clearly certain unique features of their mental field.

One of these dealt with a Berber who, when he