The cave dwellers of southern Tunisia; recollections of a sojourn with the khalifa of Matmata; . beetling crags seemed prepared to plunge downthe precipice. On the southern side of this stony waste, andstanding away from the rocky range, were a fewtall cones of truncated form. To make a shortcut I rode between them and the mountain itself,but had to proceed very cautiously, as the groundwas terribly rough. The sun was frightfully hot; not a breath of windstirred as we plodded along, my Spahis chanting nowand then a monotonous song. Beyond us, the plainappeared to quiver in the glare of the sun
The cave dwellers of southern Tunisia; recollections of a sojourn with the khalifa of Matmata; . beetling crags seemed prepared to plunge downthe precipice. On the southern side of this stony waste, andstanding away from the rocky range, were a fewtall cones of truncated form. To make a shortcut I rode between them and the mountain itself,but had to proceed very cautiously, as the groundwas terribly rough. The sun was frightfully hot; not a breath of windstirred as we plodded along, my Spahis chanting nowand then a monotonous song. Beyond us, the plainappeared to quiver in the glare of the sun, reflectedfrom a Ijright, white, gleaming surface, which lastappeared to be a lake, but was only u shott,where the water that had flowed from tlie heightsduring the rainy season rose in vapour. DUIRAT 245 I could not conceive whence came the sound thatduring some few minutes had reached my ear. Ilooked for a cause, but my eyes detected nothing. At last I saw, far away in the shade under theoverhanging cliffs of an isolated peak, some dull,dark spots and dots, and amongst them made out £j^:. DUIEAT. the indistinct outline of a female figure—evidentlya shepherdess with her goats. As we approached,her song rose and fell clear and ringing in the pureair. We now entered the valley, and turned in anorth-westerly direction. Before us lay Duirat, agrey mountain, shaped like a sugardoaf. At first it was impossible to distinguish any 246 CAVE DWELLERS dwellings, but after we had crossed the valley andthe bed of a stream, and had reached rising ground,we made out clearly an old castle on the it, at different heights along the path thatwound upwards, we saw houses, and in one place,amongst or behind these, we caught a glimpse ofdark cavities, which proved to be entrances to cavesin the mountain side. These caves consist of severalvaulted chambers, access to which is through a smalldoorway. The actual chambers resemble in everyrespect those of the Matmata. As a rule, they d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisheretcetc, bookyear189
