BITS FROM BOOKS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 10 December 1927, Page 9

BITS FROM BOOKS

IN TRIPOLI STREETS. Along the narrow, tunnel-like thoroughfares all occupations seemed to be goiii" on in the face and eyes of the public. Pale “blue-wash” tinted many of the arches, or pink or yellow, yet hardly affecting the general whiteness oi effect. Sometimes the streets were roofed with matting to keep off the scorching sun; or treated, pergola - fashion, with grapevines hanging their clusters overhead, above the hurrying throngs. Weaving with the most primitive of looms went on in one street, each occupation having its own quarter where all shops and houses were devoted to a particular industry. Red and yellow cotton plaids made dusky interiors almost gay as old women bent above their tasks, throwing shuttles and pulling threads in unconsciously picturesque attitudes, while barracans grew visibly under their swiftly flying fingers. But iar more beautiful were the soft white fabrics of camel’s hair, sometimes camel's hair and silk together, more rarely silk alone, making a garment of most poetic quality.

Further on was the arcade of metal workers, where pliable native gold and silver were beaten and cut and hammered clumsily into shape; bracelets of incredible weight and flexibility, golden sequins hung upon chains yards in lengtn, odd ornaments for a people left over from mediaeval times, knowing and using nothing different from those of generations ago. The silent workers glanced up curiously at the passer, and bent once more to their tasks. With the street throngs it was quite different; dosing in about us in a tightly wedged crowd, dozens of personal articles were proffered at double their value. Round, rectangular or oval leathei cushions were found in another quarter, decorated in rough patterns, uie outlines burned to a deep brown, the colouring soft reds and yellows with more or less black. Rugs, too,

were woven in similar colours, but small, without pile, and not always straight or symmetrical; these could be well seen and studied in the bazaars, which contained many products of the region, where African ethnilogy became an absorbing subject.

But in a citv devoid of tourists nothing was arranged with an eye to captivate foreign attention, and one needed to search and inquire for wares which in more sophisticated Tunis or Algiers would be alluringh displayed. By effort, however, dusty shelves and' unsuspected corners could be made to reveal beatiful old brass lamps, manifestly Grecian and Italian, candlesticks, door-knockers, handles, all black with age .and neglect, but graceful and artistic. . . . A few carvers of ivory were still found here and there, and, b;;_giving the design and carefully indicating shapes and uses, fairly good work was obtained. Upon urgent request, parasol handles of ivory with ingenious sliding rings were made, even a monogram carved, although the artisan had not the faintest knowledge of the letters or their significance. One old man continued to make grass and palm fans in shape like a square flag, ordinarily with carved olive wood handles; but very sumptuous ivory handles could be substituted by giving detailed orders, and one’s initials could be neatly woven into the fan itself. A little carving, too. was done by natives on ostrich eggs, but better work in this line was shown bv Italians. Ostrich fOathers from the interior were still exported to some extent, sorting of the dull, brownish plumes as to size, fulness and other qualities being entrusted to Arab and Jewish boys under watchful direction. ... Enormous door keys were carneo conspicuously by Arabs around the street. In Morocco and Algiers the same habit has been noted; but there it probably has a different significance, as a belief still exists that the Moors driven from Granada will one day return to the homes ot their ancestors ; and tile huge keys so cherished. some time to be used again, are the actual ones belonging tc those houses, wiiich their grandfathers brought away when sadly turning their laces from that fail and beloved land in 1492. r.xcept Hanan, lew languages thu: one might naturally be supposed tc have studied were any help in the white city. Unless Turkish, Arabis. Maltese, modern Greek or desert dialects were part ot one’s mental equipment, communication proceeded chieny by pantomime. There wen French, Italian and English consulates, the only European nations having permanent officials in Tripoli; but in the Babel of nationalities overwhelming one’s arrival no familiar word was distinguishable From “Tripoli the Mysterious,” by Mabel LoonjiS Todd.