Our first thought was to inquire for horses and side-saddles, our second to forward our letters to the Commandant. The first request proved fruitless. There being no ladies at Saïda, how should there be ladies’ saddles? But M. le Commandant very kindly came to us at once, and told us what to see and how to see it in this oasis, as he delighted to call Saïda. He was a merry, middle-aged gentleman from Normandy, who had seen a good deal of the Desert, and bore the responsibilities of his post--which were heavy--with great ease.
“The life here seems dull,” he said, “but after long marches in the Desert and hard fighting, I assure you I am very contented to remain here. There isn’t a lady in the place, _c’est vraiment triste ça_, but there is an infinity of distractions in the way of work and pleasure. You see I represent both civil and military authority, having 40,000 Arabs under my jurisdiction, and this involves all sorts of intricacies, out of which I make my way as well as I can. I have to act as military commander, mayor, and prêfet, all in one; and these Arabs are difficult people to manage, I assure you.”
“They are miserably poor, are they not?” we asked.
“_Pauvres diables!_ You may well say that, Madame. They are starving; that’s just the truth of it; and what with those who steal and murder because they are hungry, and those who steal and murder because they like it, the road from hence to Fig-gig--our last post in the Desert--is unsafe enough. Without a military escort it is impossible.”
“We were told at Oran,” I said, “that there were some grand waterfalls we could see in the neighbourhood of Saïda. Is the excursion practicable?”
M. le Commandant opened his eyes, and shrugged his shoulders expressively.
“Madame, no one knows in Oran what is going on at Saïda. It is not practicable. I tell you the simple truth when I say that. It is not practicable. I will tell you what you can see here. You propose to remain two days? _Eh, bien!_ to-morrow I will send an escort of Spahis with you as far as the marabout of Sidi-ben-Baila, from whence you can look over the plateaux which commence the Desert; you will see then what sort of country it is; and if you went on as far as Géryville, our next post, and Fig-gig our last, you would see no more. The next day you would like to sketch, probably? _Bien_, I send my servant and a Spahi with you to the ravine, and you will find fine things to draw; and when my work is done, I will ride round and show you what else is to be seen in our little Saïda;” and, after telling us a great deal more that was interesting, the good-natured Commandant left us.