A Busy Corner Tunis c.1910

Peterson described the need for a guide, and a clever one at that, when she was painting in North Africa. 

"If it hadn't been for the ingenuity of my guide Mohammed, I'm sure I should never have been able to paint this street at all. The minute I set up my easel a crowd began to gather around. I think in a few minutes there must have been fully 200 natives pushing and jostling each other to try to discover what was going on and incidentally ruining the view. I told Mohammed he must make them go away and poor Mohammed wheedled and begged and commanded, but with not a particle of effort. 

I was just about to give it up when Mohammed, who had disappeared for a minute, came back with a pail of water and began to throw handfuls in a circle around us, shouting..."get out" [in Arabic] at them constantly. The crowd fell back so that the vista I wanted was disclosed and as long as Mohammed kept throwing his handfuls of water I was able to paint in peace."