The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-09-21
Submergfng Sahara.

The French Vice Consul. Dupuis. in
his report this year on the trade of the ;,,,t
Of Susa, Tunig, makes remarks on the sub
ject Of the project for submerying the
region of Djerjd by constructing a canal
al Gabes, and 80 creating an inland sea.
He considers that the recent SURVEYS con
flute the idea OF there having been former
~ connection with the Mediterranean.
and OF the choking up Of the passage for
the waters, an idea perhaps based upon
the iDferjorjty Of level 10 that Of the sea ::
but ia his opinion the observations made
seem TO indorse the fact of all the region
having been under water. Arab writers
unite in describing the country at the date
Of their conquest as having been very
wooded and abuDdantly supplied with
streaming water The wood was cut Down
10 facilitate the subsection Of the tribes,
who for above century fought desperate
ly for their independence, and whole
regions are now condemned 10 sterlili,y
(saye, perhaps, an oasis here and thcre)
which were formerly rich in pastures, and
interpreted with towns The desert has
been gradually extended in the district be
tween Tripoli and Egypt, covering parts
once fertile, and has in like manner en-
croacbed on the Tunisian southern frontier
between it and Tripoli. The diminished
heights and lowering Of the Atlas let in
the sands driven by the southerly winds,
to which the more elevated and uniform
heights of the mountain system oppose a
barrier in more favored Barbary states
westward. 1t is presumed that the disap-
pearancc of the waters is due to the en-
enactment of the desert caused by the
action Of these winds during a long sue
ccssion Of centuries, aided by absorption
and by evaporation occasioned BY the
presence of the vast scorching desert on
the south, and also by the substances
brought down by streams diminishing the
depths and spreading the waters; and
thereby helping in the work Of dcssica-
ton. This was accelerated also By de-
crease in the water supply in consequence
Of the disappearance of medieval forests,
cleared away by the Arabs on and after
their conquest. Hence the periodical
rains, which once fortified the country,
have been replaced by heavier but rarcr
falls, which rush down the slopes and dis
appear in the sands, or mix with the nox-
ious waters Of the Iagoons before they can
saturatc the soil to any depth, washing
away the earth and exposing naked rock
on hillsidcs or high grounds Tunis being
lake country, and recent discoveries
having brought to light vast sheets of wa
ter in Africa, the Vice Consul suggests
that the idea Of an inland sea having cx-
listed need not seem startling to US. The
depression and also the lakes are known
as @ shakhi" (marshc,), and the inference
Is that at the date Of the Arab conquest
there were indications Of recent retirement
Of water. Tie ow-lying wastes Of sand,
where capitalization Of salt abound.
mingled with the minutest particles Of
she'll are in some places marshy, in others
dry, and often conceal trcaclcrous quick
sands. The largest and most westerly
termed Mclrir,' occupies about 4j1
square miles the most ca,tcrly is described
as within fifteen miles Of Gables The
Vice Consul states that in the southern
province Of Tunis the streams which
drain the mountain slopes twenty thirty
miles from the coast are more or less use
less from being iInprcynatcd with salt
from the plains which they traverse