“Dom Granger, in fact, believed that the Tuareg are Christians, dating from a period which it was necessary to ascertain, but which coincided no doubt with the splendor of the church of Hippon.  Even better than I, you know that the cross is with them the symbol of fate in decoration.  Duveyrier has claimed that it figures in their alphabet, on their arms, among the designs of their clothes.  The only tattooing that they wear on the forehead, on the back of the hand, is a cross with four equal branches; the pummels of their saddles, the handles of their sabres, of their poignards, are cross-shaped.  And is it necessary to remind you that, although Islam forbids bells as a sign of Christianity, the harness of Tuareg camels are trimmed with bells?

“Neither Dom Granger nor I attach an exaggerated importance to such proofs, which resemble too much those which make such a display in the Genius of Christianity. But it is indeed impossible to refuse all credence to certain theological arguments.  Amanai, the God of the Tuareg, unquestionably the Adonai of the Bible, is unique.  They have a hell, ‘Timsi-tan-elekhaft,’ the last fire, where reigns Iblis, our Lucifer.  Their Paradise, where they are rewarded for good deeds, is inhabited by ‘andjelousen,’ our angels.  And do not urge the resemblance of this theology to the Koran, for I will meet you with historic arguments and remind you that the Tuareg have struggled all through the ages at the cost of partial extermination, to maintain their faith against the encroachments of Mohammedan fanaticism.

“Many times I have studied with Dom Granger that formidable epoch when the aborigines opposed the conquering Arabs.  With him I have seen how the army of Sidi-Okba, one of the companions of the Prophet, invaded this desert to reduce the Tuareg tribes and impose on them Mussulman rules.  These tribes were then rich and prosperous.  They were the Ihbggaren, the Imededren, the Ouadelen, the Kel-Gueress, the Kel-Air.  But internal quarrels sapped their strength.  Still, it was not until after a long and cruel war that the Arabians succeeded in getting possession of the capital of the Berbers, which had proved such a redoubtable stronghold.  They destroyed it after they had massacred the inhabitants.  On the ruins Okba constructed a new city.  This city is Es-Souk.  The one that Sidi-Okba destroyed was the Berber Tadmekka.  What Dom Granger asked of me was precisely that I should try to exhume from the ruins of the Mussulman Es-Souk the ruins of Tadmekka, which was Berber, and perhaps Christian.”

“I understand,” I murmured.

“So far, so good,” said Morhange.  “But what you must grasp now is the practical sense of these religious men, my masters.  You remember that, even after three years of monastic life, they preserved their doubts as to the stability of my vocation.  They found at the same time means of testing it once for all, and of adapting official facilities to their particular purposes.  One morning I was called before the Father Abbot, and this is what he said to me, in the presence of Dom Granger, who expressed silent approval.