Collectanea. 285
Only one man ever succeeded in escaping from the spot. He was a greedy and avaricious fellow who, when he saw the women beckoning, turned his back upon them and busied himself in filling his kerratas (camel-bags) with the precious fruit of the oasis. He then set out for his tent. He marched the whole day, but in the evemng found himself back again at the point whence he had started. On the second day the same thing happened again. He then realised that the oasis belonged to the genii, and that they were preventing him from carrying away their fruit. He accordingly emptied his kerratas and made another attempt to return to his home. But the result was the same as before : in the evening he found himself back again at his starting point. An examination showed that a single date which he had over- looked still remained in one of his kerratas, and it was not until he had thrown this out that he was able to return to his tent. (From a Touareg herdsman of the Hoggar tribe, and some Arabs of my caravan ; the account of the palace is from my Arab guide. The oasis is mentioned in Le Sahara francais, p. 153.)
The Touareg women, when they wish to get news of their lovers who are absent on some expedition, put on their best clothes and go and he down on one of the old tombs in the desert and invoke a spirit called Idebni, who appears in the form of a man. If the woman pleases him, he gives her the news she wants ; if not, he strangles her. {Le Sahara f ran fats, p. 153.)
There are some hot springs in Algeria (at Hammam Meskoutine, I thi?ik, though there is another legend of this place), which are used by the Arabs as a cure for rheumatism. The Arabs say they are heated by a furnace stoked by some genii, whom Solomon condemned to the work on account of some crime they had committed. In order that they should not see, hear, or repeat anything that went on at the baths, he made them deaf and blind, and deprived them of the power of speech. As, owing to these infirmities, the other genii have not been able to acquaint them with the fact of the death of Solomon, they still continue the labour imposed upon them, fearing that if they should cease to do so he would punish them still more severely. I am sorry to say I have not kept a note of my authority for this story, which, it will be observed, is not localized in the Sahara.
" Sand-devils," i.e. whirls of sand raised by the wind into the air, are said by the Arabs to be caused by a genius amusing himself.
