THE BEY OF TUNIS.
THE
CAVEDWELLERS
OF
SOUTHERN TUNISIA
RECOLLECTIONS OF A SOJOURN WITH THE
KHALIFA OF MATMATA
TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH OF
DANIEL BRUUN
BY
L. A. E. B.
London: W. THACKER &CO., 2 Creed Lane, E.C.
Calcutta: THACKER, SPINK, & CO.
1898
[All Rights Reserved]
[v]PREFACE
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My journey among the cavedwellers of Southern Tunisia was essentially one of research, sinceI was entrusted by Doctor Sophius Müller, Director of the SecondDepartment of the National Museum, with the honourable task ofpurchasing ethnographical objects for the said museum.
On submitting this work to the public, it is incumbent upon meto offer my sincere thanks to all those who afforded me support andhelp in my travels: the Minister of Foreign Affairs, at whoserecommendation Cubisol, the Danish Consul in Tunis, addressedhimself to the French Regency, and obtained permission for me totravel through the country, and also an escort, guides, etc. DoctorMüller and Chamberlain Vedel, whose respective introductions, givenfrom the National Museum and the Society concerned with ancientmanuscripts, and addressed to other similar institutions,introduced me not only to these, but also to those remarkablyscientific men, Gauckler and[vi] Doctor Bertholon, whose friendship I have tothank for much information and assistance.
England’s Representative in Tunis, Drummond Hay, may be said tohave traced my path through Tunisia, as, on the basis of hisremarkable knowledge of both individuals and of relativecircumstances, he sketched a plan of my journey, from which Irequired to make little or no deviation. The Government andofficers in El Arad, the officials, both military and civilian,showed me the greatest hospitality, and assisted me in the highestdegree; Colonels Billet and Gousset especially claim my warmestgratitude.
Much of what I have recorded has been left in its original form,namely, as letters written home, some to my wife, some to otherpersons, as, for instance, to the publisher, Herr Hegel. I have notaltered these lest they might lose the fresh impression under whichthey were written. Several portions were composed with a view topublication in the French journal the Revue Tunisienne,and in the Parisian magazine Le Tour du Monde.
The illustrations were obtained from various sources. Albert,the photographer in Tunis, obligingly allowed me to make use of anumber of photographs, from which were chiefly drawn the views ofthe town an