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The Land of Veiled Women; Some Wanderings in Algeria, Tunisia
The Land of Veiled Women Some Wanderings in Algeria Tunisia Author:John Foster Fraser General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1911 Original Publisher: Cassell and company, ltd. Subjects: Africa, North Women Algeria Tunisia Morocco History / Africa / General History / Africa / North Social Science / Women's Studies Travel / Africa / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR re... more »print of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: A young girl with no husband coming along inquires as to her destiny by taking one of the yard- long combs used for carding wool, and dressing it in a pious man's clothes ; the dummy is provided with beard and moustaches of wool, and crowned with a turban. It is then set against the wall. The girl sits by it and incense is burnt before it, and the request is made: " My lord comb, who art near the head of the girl, free her by marriage." Ceremonies meaningless to the European, are enacted, all of which lead the girl, during the night, to see a little old man appear, and he tells her the future. The lights have been extinguished in the tents- The coy Arab girls are, I hope, sleeping and dreaming sweet dreams. To the rattle of the hadj's tongue I fall asleep. I wake with a start and shiver, for the night is cold. And a little old man is before me, grunting that it is an hour before dawn, and it is time to make coffee and catch the camels and get on our way before the rising of the sun. A WEAVER IN BOU-SAADA From a painting by Miss Lys Forster CHAPTER V THE CITY OF BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN We went outside the gates of Tlemcen and down a winding path to the soft shade of trees. There we rested, for it was hot, and looked over the most fruitful plain in Africa to the hills. Between a dip we caught a glimpse of the sea. Winsome children were playing about, and I gave them sweetmeats in memory of...« less