Through holes in
the ground one looks down upon the element flowing mysteriously below;
figs and other trees are set in these hollows for the sake of the shade
and moisture, and their crowns barely reach the level of the soil. This is
no place to wander about at night--a false step in the darkness and a man
would break his neck. There was talk, at one time, of leading this brook,
which is sweet and non-mineral, into Gafsa for drinking purposes, but the
native garden proprietors raised their inevitable howl of objections, and
the project was abandoned.
If you ask a local white man as to the misdeeds of his administration, be
sure he will mention the affair of the railway station which was built too
far from the town, and this of the Sidi Mansur water. And who, you ask,
was to blame for these follies? Oh, the _controlleur_, as usual; always
the _controlleur!_ It is no sinecure being an official of this kind in
Tunisia, with precise Government instructions in one pocket, and in the
other his countrymen's contrary lamentations and suggestions, often
reasonable enough....
Loaded down with a choice selection of Sidi Mansur flints, which are
singular as having a white patina, I returned to Gafsa in the late
afternoon and entered my favourite Arab cafe.
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