Part 24 (2/2)

The men dress in Arab costume, with the white turban on their heads, a short red jacket, and baggy blue Turkish breeches with boots of red morocco leather. They also wear a huge red cloak in cold weather.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ASPAHI, OR NATIVE CAVALRYMAN OF THE FRENCH ARMY IN ALGERIA.]

They are mounted on small grey Arab horses, and sit in a very high-peaked saddle, and the horses all wear blinkers. Altogether they make very picturesque soldiers, and at the same time are good riders and brave fighters.

A TRAMPING CAMP.

Prom Biskra on the Sahara we started' on a walking tour among the mountains of the desert.

We got a couple of tents, bedding, camp furniture, and food, and two mules to carry it all. We also got two Arabs to guide us and be generally useful. Their names were Rahmoun and Ibrahim.

Our preparations did not take us long, and we were soon camped out on the desert, far from other human habitations, in the glorious suns.h.i.+ne of North Africa.

At night, although the air was keen and cold, we had our beds put outside the tent in the open, and we slept under the stars.

The drawback to camping was the difficulty in getting fresh water and firewood. We generally carried bottles of fresh water with us, as even when we were able to find a trickle of water in a river-bed, it was frequently brackish or half salt.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”We were soon camped out on the desert, far from other human habitations, in the glorious suns.h.i.+ne of North Africa.”]

Then there were no trees or bushes with which to light our fire, so we had to collect the smallest sticks and straws to act as ”punk” and loaded up any parched plants that we could find, and these, together with twigs and branches of little thorn tufts, enabled us to make a fire. It was not a big one, but then a Scout does not need a bonfire to cook his food.

A FORTIFIED FARM.

We left the railway to face the open stony desert and arid rocky mountains with the greatest keenness, in the bright sun and clear air of Southern Algeria.

The last bit of civilisation that we saw was a French. colonist's farm, fortified with a strong loopholed tower, in which the farmer and his family could take refuge and stand a siege if the Arabs should rise in rebellion.

These fortified farms are to be seen in many parts of Algeria, and are a sign, of the farmers _Being Prepared_ for what is _possible_, though it may not be _probable_.

If our own people in South Africa had prepared their homesteads for defence in the same way against the Kaffirs, the Zulus, the Basutos, and the Matabele tribes, they would have saved themselves in very many cases from death at the hands of these savage warriors when they rose at different times in rebellion against the white men.

Any Boy Scout who goes later on to farm in an Oversea Dominion where there are fighting natives will do well to remember this, and to make one of his farm buildings defensible, so that it cannot be attacked or burnt by the enemy, and where he and his family can stand a siege of some weeks, having food, water, and ammunition always ready inside it.

This is _Being Prepared_, and not leaving things to chance.

CLIFF HOMES.

Our way next led us through a mighty gorge between the mountains.

There were high, rocky cliffs on either side, and a stream running among the stones at the bottom of it.

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