The Last Punic War: Tunis, Past and Present (Complete)
9781465553614
418 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
The wave of conquest has five times at least swept over Tunis, but, with the exception of the Arabs, none of the conquering races have left any visible imprint on the present population of the country. The levelling influences of Islamism has well-nigh obliterated all differences of origin, and the natives of Tunis are very often described generically as Arabs. Of Arabs pur sang, strange to say, there are none, and the name can only with any show of correctness be applied to the nomadic tribes of the interior, which have all mixed more or less with the indigenous Berbers. The term Bedouin is also frequently indiscriminately used when speaking of the tribesmen of Northern Africa. This, too, is an error. The term Bedouin in its strict sense is applicable exclusively to the dwellers on the borders of the Great Desert. The following classification of the inhabitants of Tunis may be conveniently adopted, viz.:—(1) Moors, (2) Arabs, (3) Berbers or Kabyles, (4) Turks, (5) Koulouglis, (6) Jews. The remaining race distinctions, always excepting the large European colony, have no practical importance. The term Moors demands some explanation. It formerly served to denote generally an inhabitant of Mauritania. This use of the word has now entirely passed away. It then served to describe the Saracens, who left Africa to conquer Spain and parts of France and Italy, and who at last returned to the countries from which they came. The Spanish Moors form in Tunis an exclusive and aristocratic clan. The word Moor is also applied to the townspeople of the cities of North Africa, who are essentially members of a more or less mixed race. The picture of the Tunisian Moors has been drawn over and over again. They constitute the most admirable type of the Moslem population. They are generally well made, of almost fair complexion, and possess regular and often noble features. Although they are no longer warlike themselves, they are deeply attached to the religious and political teachings of their creed, and have a considerable influence over their uneducated although more hardy compatriots of the interior. Nearly all the Spanish Moors in Tunis have adopted some kind of trade, and they invariably show a marked preference for those callings which allow a minimum of exertion and a maximum of indolence. They retail silks, perfumes, incense, jewellery, drugs, and bric-à-brac, and it is difficult to say whether foreigners are more impressed by their dignified languor or their suave politeness. A scent-seller in Souk-el-Attarín (Bazaar of Essences) at Tunis is a lineal descendant of the Abencerrages, while his next-door neighbour (a living portrait of our own Henry VIII. in his prime) represents the lordly race of the Almoravides. They possess pedigrees of wonderful length and correctness, and retain as heirlooms the rust-eaten keys of their long lost Andalusian homes. They look on trade as no disgrace, and spend their time in filling and sealing hermetically small phials of the otto of roses and jessamine, in gossiping with their neighbours, and in reading and discussing the orthodox Jowaib, the official organ of the Panislamite enthusiasts at Stamboul. They look on the Bey of Tunis rightly or wrongly as a traitor to the Sultan, anathematise the French invaders under their breath, and await with patience the time when a European complication will allow Abdul Hamíd to have his own again in the Tunisian Pachalik. The Moors have a quick sense of humour, and are able at an emergency to indulge in a keenly pointed repartee. The report of the procès Roustan-Rochefort translated into classical Arabic has afforded them unceasing amusement since the beginning of the year, but their excessive mirth over the adventures of the French Minister and his friends the Musallis led them into indiscretion.
