Auteur: Aures
Date: 2008-08-16 18:09:59
Aures : books & reviews ( suite)
- Among the Hill-Folk of Algeria. Journeys among the Shawia of the Aurès Mountains
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Bonne lecture
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Reviewed Work: Among the Hill-Folk of Algeria. Journeys among the Shawia of the Aurès Mountains by M. W.Hilton-Simpson
By: J. B.
In : The Geographical Journal, Vol. 59, No. 4. (Apr., 1922), pp. 303-304.
This is an excellent book which well repays careful perusal. The Hill-folk of whom the author writes (at greater length than was possible in the paper read before the Society last November) are the Shawia tribes in the Aurès mountains of eastern Algeria.
This mountainous region is the highest and most easterly of the various massifs " in the range of hills which, more or less continuously, forms the northern boundary of the Sahara desert, from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Gabès on the Tunisian coast," whilst in this sectionit merges on the north into the less rugged central plateau of Algeria. Ofthe Aurès massif itself, the Mons Aurasius of Roman times, the author says, "Were we to traverse it from north to south we should find that its northern slopes are well wooded, its high central valleys less extensively so, while in the south its few poor streams flow through a tumble of barren hills till they lose themselves in the great desert. . . . This mountainous massif of the Aurès is peculiarly well fitted from its geographical position to be the home of ancient survivals, for it offers to its inhabitants magnificent natural facilities for defence against any invader who might be tempted to subjugate them."
Here live, and from time immemorial have lived, the Shawia tribes of Berber stock. Never definitely conquered by the sword until the French invasion of about 1845, these people retain even now many of the manners and customs of people living in a prehistoric period. "Members of the ancient Berber race, their fair hair, blue eyes, and complexions which are pale beneath the tan produced by the great heat of the African summer, distinguish them at a glance from the darker Semitic and negroid types of the desert;while the old Berber language, though no longer written, is still spoken by the Shawia tribes, as the Berbers of the Aurès are called, who have never adopted the Arabic of their new faith."
It was ethnographical research that impelled the author and his wife to spend no fewer than three winters of the period 1912-1920 wandering about in this little-known but fascinating region-living among the shy and often suspicious, but friendly and hospitable, tribesmen, and acquiring an intimate knowledge of them and their ways, such as few or no other Europeans possess.
Describing a typical village situated upon a rocky spur to the east of the great mountain ridge of Jebel Shershar, the author says, "Upon a mighty mass of rock literally overhanging the fertile valley 200 feet below it, stands the village of Djellal. Its houses, built Rush with the cliff edge, crevices in which are even bridged by logs whereon to rest their rough stone walls, unapproachable save along the neck of land which joins the spur to the hill on the western side of the valley, Djellal is invisible from any distance when approached from the north, for its buildings are indistinguishable from the rocks on which they stand."
Much of the book is naturally devoted to ethnography. The primitive systems of agriculture, weaving, pottery and many other arts and crafts are fully described, including the system of "seggias" or canals, by which the scanty supply of water is distributed to the patches of cultivated ground, and the water-clock by which the flow of water is timed, and which was described by the author in the paper read before the Society.
As might be expected, magic and superstition play a large part in the life of this primitive people. The ceremony of the ladle with its prayer for rain, the strange antics of the Sorceress of the Moon, the charms that are hung on the person or attached to dwelling-houses, marriage ceremonies, and many other customs are fully described.
An important chapter is devoted to medicine and surgery. In this region can still be found men who practise the healing art as it has been handed down to them from very early times. Indeed, the author's description of the operation of trepanning as practised at the present day by the Shawia doctor shows that it can differ but very little from that which we know to have been performed in the remote Stone and Bronze ages. To the reviewer, himself familiar with this operation, it is interesting to note that the Berber practitioner performs the operation in almost exactly the same way that the most modern surgeon, in the best interests of his patient, would himself perform it, were he obliged to do so with the tools that alone are available to the Berber, and under similar conditions.
Among the numerous excellent illustrations, which are from the author's own photographs, may be specially mentioned, from the geographical point of view, those of the cliff-top village of Jellal, the Rassira cañon (recalling, though on a much smaller scale, the great cañons of the Colorado), the villages of Kheirane, Taghut, and Khanga-sidi-Naji, and the fine defile of Taghanimin, very similar to many others which form such striking natural features both in Algeria and in Tunisia.
Those who may desire to explore the Aurès for themselves will find helpful details in this book, and especially in the two appendices. One deals with seasons, clothing, equipment, saddlery, stores, maps, and expenses. The other is for sportsmen, giving practical hints to those who desire to shoot the Barbary sheep, the gazelle, the wild boar, and other game animals of Algeria.
The book is well got up, and has a useful map of the region and of the author's routes. It can be strongly recommended both to the general reader and to any one who thinks of paying a visit to these interesting hill tribes.
J. B.
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