THE GATEWAY TO THE SAH ARA ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS IN TRI OLI ‘ P THE GATEW AY TO THE SAHARA ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS IN TRIPOLI BY CHARLES WELLINGTON FURLONG, W ITH ILLUSTRATIONS B Y TH E AUTH OR FROM PAINTINGS N C OLOR DR W NGS N B L CK AND I , A I I A W H E AND PH O OGR PH S IT , T A NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’ S SONS 1914 O C P RI G B T . 1 909 , 1 9 14 , B Y ¥ ' C HARLE S S C RIB NER S SONS PREFACE I PO LI In B arbar onl Mohamme TR , y, is the y - state A dan ruled in Northern frica, the last c Turkish possession on that ontinent, and out side its own confines is little known . Nowhere in Northern Africa can the life of town , oasis , and desert be found more native H OW and typical than in Tripolitania . long before the primitive customs of this people will give w ay before the progressive aggression of i some Chr stian power , and the picture of an ancient patriarchal life be tarnished with the ma cheap veneer of a commercial vanguard , y be answered any morning by the cable news of the daily paper . The great dynamic forces of modern civiliza tion cause events to march with astounding swiftness . Tripoli , in Barbary, is already in the eye of Europe ; to-morrow the Tripoli of - m to day ay have vanished . We have recently skirted the edge of Morocco W with the French legions , sojourned for a hile [Vii] PREFACE - S in far famed Biskra , wandered in outhern Tunisia and felt the charm and subtile influ A e ence of the Garden of llah , and have visit d — the Pyramids by electric car . But that vast middle region , Tripoli , where the great range of the Atlas runs to sand and the mighty desert e meets the sea, has been left unentered , und scribed . 1 904 N June, , found me a second time in orth A frica ; previously it was Morocco , the western most outpost of the Orient, now it was Tripoli , A the easternmost state of Barbary . specially vised Turkish passport let me into T he Gate w ay to the Sahara— the first American to enter in two years . Within these pages by word and picture I have endeavored to give an insight into this most native of the Barbary capitals , its odd and fascinating customs , industries , and incidents ; a View of those s trange and interesting people who inhabit the oases and table-lands of Tripoli and tania , their primitive methods patriarchal life ; an account of the hazardous vocation of the Greek sponge divers off the Tripoli coast ; 9. story of the circumstances surrounding the dramatic episode of the burning of the United [viii] PREFACE a Philadel hia 1804 St tes Frigate p in , and of my discovery of the wrecked hull below the waters of Tripoli harbor in 1 904 ; a narrative of some personal adventures which occurred during a trip alone with Arabs over some two hundred miles of the Great Sahara ; and a description of the daily life and vicissitudes of the camel S and the aharan caravans , of the trails over which they travel, and of the great wastes which surround them . In recording the impressions of town and desert it has been my endeavor throughout this volume with pen and with brush to paint with at full color , to surround fact with its proper mosphere and to set it against its most telling ar background . Events e described so far as possible in their order of sequence, but it has seemed preferable to present them in subject completeness rather than in diary form . The history of Tripolitania has been practically eliminated from the body of the book , being condensed within a four page Historical ” Note . The native words introduced , are for the most part in common use among the few English and A other foreigners , and are usually rabic or local [i PREFACE vernacular modifications of it ; throughout the most simplified spelling has been adhered to . Translation is in most cases parenthetically given with the first occurrence of a foreign word In re and also the glossary , when a word is ea d p te . Of that portion of the material which has al in ready been presented magazine articles , the ’ main part has appeared in H arper s Magaz ine ; ’ The World s Work The Out the remainder in , ’ l ook A e on s Ma l t az ine. , and pp g My sincere acknowledgments are due to ' m . i li m l a . y friend Mr F Riley, of Tripoli , Consul for Norway and the Netherlands , who by his ever-helpful advice and untiring efforts A rendered me invaluable service ; to Mr . lfred - Dickson , then British Vice Consul , for his timely help and interest ; to the rest of that little coterie of kind friends in Tripoli who showed me every courtesy and attention during my — Mr A S In sojourn there . rthur aunders , charge A t of the cable station , M . ugus e Zolia, Chan cell or A - of the ustro Hungarian Consulate , and R d ed P . e Mr . W H . Venables ; also to j asha for numerous privileges and kind assistance ; to the Greek naval officers and sailors stationed [X ] PREFACE at Tripoli for generous aid in work over the wreck of the United States Frigate Phil adel h — in to B a s i ia t s . p particular Captain , Dr hin Z s t. o rafidis S e . S to Georges p , and Dr g ; P A t Am Mr . David Todd , rofessor of s ronomy , herst College , for letters ; to Rabbi Mordecai Kohen , librarian of the synagogue , and to faith ful black Salam who proved his worth in time of need . C . W. F . NOTE TO SECOND EDITION SINCE the first edition of this volume the pre diction ventured in its p reface and on its last two pages has been fulfilled and Tripoli has entered a new era of its history . To complete the romantic story and more fully depict the -da C Tripolitania of to y , two hapters with illus trations have been added to this edition and include the relation of Tripolitania to the k 0 Mediterranean question , a résumé of the ’ Italian War and an account of Italy s real—estate A ' li venture in North frica , from the moral , po t ‘ i i - e . ical , m litary , and econom c vi w points Side by side with the Italian renaissance of Tripolitania— Libia Italiana— W ill drift the old patriarchal life of Barbary ; the camel and his driver will long compete with the iron horse and A for many , many years rab , Berber, Black , and Bedawee will pitch their tents in the oases - and on the sun scorched desert sands . [xiii] C ONTENTS P A G E — Date palms— Their value— Markets or suks Trans portation— Horses— Description of the Tues day Market— A market crowd— A knife seller Character of Arab merchants— An Arab sharper Arab barbers— Fruit— Corn sellers— Butcher shops —A marabout— Cofiee houses— A mental mirage Two points of v iew . CHAPTER FOUR SXLAM A US SL , HA A AVE Black nomads— Si lam— Slave statistics— Hansaland Haus as— Slavery— Slave rights— Slave t raffic ’ Tribute-paying system— Freedom— Si lam e capture —Slave life —Gambling— Cowries— Gambling away ’ ’ freedom— Bashaws persecution— Sil am s master resists Bashaw— Salam sold— Kano— Trade of Kano and Sudan— Tuaregs— Products of Kano— Slave car ’ avans — Kola nuts— Sil am s j ourney— A Tuareg fight— Kola nuts— Si lam sold several times— His master Hadji Ahmed— Escapes t o Ouragl a— Tends camels— Second escape— Sufferings of the j ourney — Reach Ghadfimes— Sent to Tripoli— Arrival in Tripoli— Obtains freedom— Sala Heba— Hadji Ah ’ med again— Plan f or Si l am s recapture— Scheme — — foil ed r A Sudanese dance A brush with Black — ’ fanatics Si l am s courage . CHAPTER FIVE MAS KE D TUAREGS The masked h an gs— Tuareg conf ederation— Tuareg territory— Character— Methods of brigandage Dangers of the trails— Repri sal s— Tuareg convoys — Adventure of tw o French offi cers— Tuaregs of white race— Religion— Character— Massacre of White Fathers— Flatters expedition— Marri age W omen— Social system— Tuareg slaves— First Tu arege seen— Tuareg costumes— W eapons— Shadow ing — Unsuccessful attempt t o photograph them Asgar Tuaregs— Bartering— The Tuareg mask The Sect of the Senusi— The telek and other Tuareg — — weapons The Asgars again The picture obtained . CONTENTS CHAPTER SIX P A G E “ S . IG T P TH E DIS COVE RY O F T H E U . FR A E H ILA DE L PHIA ’ The Mediterranean— B ashaw s Castle— Grounding of Philadel hia— The u n — Th S . a e e e U . Frig t p s rr d r e burning by Decatur— Local traditions— Jewish rec ords found— Hadji-cl -Ouachi— An Arab tradition ’ ’ —The old Arab s story— Ol d guns— B ushag our s houses— More specific resul ts— Start t o explore har ’ bor— Discovery of a vessel s ribs below water— The Philadelphia— Diving— Condition of the vessel Second expedition with machine bo ats and sponge e — S e o on and oc on of ec e e div rs iz , p siti , l ati wr k d t r mined— Third and last expedition— Sponge divers — a ou o again P rts br ght t surface .