Page 14 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Special Edition 5

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 1 4

Finally I would like to tell a little of the life of the sloeqi in his own warm home country of
North Africa.

The Arab cannot keep any animal just for the pleasure and companionship of the animal itself.

The horse is his means of transport, the donkey his cart, the goat, camel and sheep the
suppliers of butter, milk, wool, etc., the “Kelb" is his watchdog, the “Sloeqi” his hunting dog.

Not a sloeqi who does not hunt, no one, not by speed, perseverance and hunting pace, who
cannot serve his master. Those who are not fit for work are killed unrelentingly. Look for
them no further north than Laghouat or Biskra, preferably further, in the middle of the
Sahara, among the Chaambas and Ouled Sidi Sjeigs and other truly free Sons of the Desert
who are, well, nominally French subjects.

Twenty-five years ago, gazelles were still plentiful within two days' journey from Algiers; now
one must travel five times further.

The ostrich, which used to graze by the thousands on the great plains, has been completely
exterminated, the mouflon displaced; only a single hare can provide work for the sloeqi in
more northern regions.

But, in the far, far South, where in summer the thermometer rises to 140° Fahrenheit in the
shade, where summer is a barren winter, winter is a green summer, there is still the land of
noble game and the noble dog.

On a hike you approach a camp. The large tent is that of the chief, the Caid or Agha or
perhaps of a great spiritual head, a Marabout. The richly decorated tent is beautifully
decorated inside with beautiful tapestries, silver and copper dishes; there rests the aristocrat
of the land of heat and thirst, the beautiful, brown-bronzed Arabian chief, and with him his
sloeqis surely rest.

For now it is summer, the game is lean, the dogs too lazy, but also sand and stones in the
desert so hot that no dog dares to take a step in the day for fear of burning the soles of his
feet. Everything is lazy now. But when winter comes, fresh rain makes the plants grow, the
harsh desert will have turned into green fields, when gazelles and mouflons have plenty of
food again, then the lust for life and hunting will come alive in master, horse and dog and the
sad big lord will become a proud, brave, fiery hunter.