. The gateway to the Sahara; observations and experiences in Tripoli. d the direct cause of many up-risings and revolutions. The arrival of a large caravan from the Sudanis a great event, and as it reaches Tripoli groupsof women shrill their cry of welcome. Manysmall caravans may be seen in the Suk whenmarket is held. Frequently toward the end of the market dayI would drop into one of the numerous littlecoffee-houses which border the easterly end ofthe Suk. Low benches lined its sides, and froma dark corner on one of these, I would watch myArab neighbors smoke thoughtfully over theirslender th
. The gateway to the Sahara; observations and experiences in Tripoli. d the direct cause of many up-risings and revolutions. The arrival of a large caravan from the Sudanis a great event, and as it reaches Tripoli groupsof women shrill their cry of welcome. Manysmall caravans may be seen in the Suk whenmarket is held. Frequently toward the end of the market dayI would drop into one of the numerous littlecoffee-houses which border the easterly end ofthe Suk. Low benches lined its sides, and froma dark corner on one of these, I would watch myArab neighbors smoke thoughtfully over theirslender thimble pipes of kief and hashish. Between me and an Arab opposite the hazysmoke wreaths curled and lost themselves onthe heat-laden air. As the hashish lulled hisfeverish brain to sleep in the Fields of theBlessed, perhaps through its fumes he sawmiraged the events of a time when his siresunfurled their banners before Poitiers, flauntingthem for centuries in the very eyes of Europefrom the walls of Toledo and Granada, andBasquan valleys echoed the Mezzins call. [50]. OUTSIDE THE WALLS Through the smoke mist I saw but a repre-sentative of a poor tax-ridden people. I saw thegreat caravan trade through which they acquiretheir main exports, ivory, feathers, and Sudanskins, now almost gone, and her principal export,esparto grass, further back in the jebel [moun-tains] and growing more sparsely each successiveyear. Leaving the coffee-house I crossed thedeserted Suk, just as the great red lantern of thesun lowered from sight and painted the spacesbetween the date-palms with bold slashes of red. [51] CHAPTER FOUR SALAM, A HAUSA SLAVE /iMONG the many nomads who camp for a•^ ^ time in the oasis of Tripoli or on the out-skirts of the town are occasional tribes ofBlacks, who have wandered across the GreatDesert. These are very clannish, and do notmix much with the inhabitants of the towns, noteven with those of their own color. Perhaps themost interesting of these Sudanese are theHausas,
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