La Main Gauche

A wandering narrator sets out on an aimless trek across the rugged, sun‑bleached lands of Algeria, moving from pine‑filled valleys to the edge of the Sahara. The prose paints the scenery in vivid brushstrokes—scarlet‑berryed arbutus trees, golden‑streaked horizons, and the distant, haunting silhouette of the “Tombeau de la Chrétienne.” As he descends the mountains, the weight of ordinary life seems to melt away, leaving only the pure exhilaration of the open road and the distant echo of Arabic chants.

His solitary journey soon brings him to a remote camp where tents cling to the hillside like shells on a rock. A brief, puzzling exchange with an Arab guide hints at a hidden destination—Bordj‑Ebbaba—while the narrator, clutching two francs, decides to follow a pale, ghost‑like figure into the night. The atmosphere grows tense and mysterious, promising further encounters with the land’s enigmatic inhabitants and the secrets they guard.