Page 113 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 1 1 3

I was fascinated by this sign and asked the author what it meant. He answered me and
pointed: “Look closely, the circle in the middle is the campfire we have gathered around. The
four lines next to each other mean that all four of us are lying on the ground with each of us
having our three dogs behind us!”

I have never seen this drawing reproduced in the rock engravings, but it teaches us that
there are methods of memory among the Tuareg and that many signs - or groups of signs -
that are puzzling to us have a specific meaning. Likewise, I would not neglect to mention

that several times I came across drawings on the ground reminiscent of the following.

Fig. 20, Lhote, in La Chasse p.109

They had been drawn by Tuaregs who had seen a mouflon on their visit to the site and so

communicated it to the locals. As can be seen, hunting is closely linked to other human
activities and is directly related to art and writing” (in La Chasse pp. 102-109).

This chapter on mouflon hunting is an excellent description of various aspects of
traditional hunting and the transition to modern hunting methods. The traditional world
of hunting is integrated into natural cycles, which is thrown out of balance by modern

means such as the rifle. As he points out in the last sentence, not only does hunting
connect with the necessities of life, but also with the intellectual abilities of people in
writing and artistic representation. Even in Asterix (and Cleopatra) this relationship is
briefly taken up: “He who can draw can also write.”