Túnez :: Comparisson reports

“On the outskirts of the neighbourhood between the lagoon and the hill which closes it off to the east, the ground flattens into a broad, sun-roasted plaza. No tree or bush covers the rocky and sandy ground. Worn mausoleums can be found with Arabic lettering on top; some tombs have partially sunken in or fallen, others are covered by weeds. It is a Moorish cemetery; the place is sombre and disturbing. Men and, especially, women, only Arabs, in mourning go there early in the morning to pray to those who, in life, represented joy and solace for them. At times, you can see women wetting the aromatic herbs with their tears, herbs placed previously on top of the tombs. They direct their nostalgia-filled words to the dead, murmuring through tightly closed lips while facing the ground; but it is all in vain, receiving no response from their dearly departed.”

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria, Tunis. Ein bild aus dem nordafrikanischen leben, Heinrich Mercy, Prague, 1870