Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-16
THE AFRICAN INLAND SEA.

Not long ago Mir. R. W. Wright, of Chesh- ire, stated some objections in the columns of the JOURNAL AND COURIER to the plan of M. de Lesseps for the construction of an in land sea in the Desert of SahA-~ - --'.-ns a canal f->--- Uus mediterranean through the ..orthern part of Africa. Mir. Wright point ed out that the highest lands in the African desert are about 300 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, the lowest about that depth below it's level, 50 that the waters taken from that natural reservoir, the lar gest in.the world, and constantly receiving two-thirds of the watershed of Europe, le-e. r--s af tleet of waatarn Aaia and one third of that of Central Africa, must have a fall of not less than 1000 feet to reach their proper level. "And they will not, 7" said Mir. Wright, 'stop their mad rush when once broken loose, until the proposed African sea, whether 1t consists of one 'schott' (dry basin) or hundred of them, is filled to the level of the Mediterranean reservoir. Those who visited the Williamsburg dam disaster few years ago, where the water had less than 100 feet fall in the first few miles, will have some small conception of what the destruction will be in Africa when M. de Lesseps comes to tap his vast reservoir north of the Barbary States and south of Europe" Mr. Wright is of the opinion that if M. de Lesseps really desires to ameliorate the condition of the Barbary States and the wild Arab tribes of the desert south of these States, he will drop his scheme of deluging Africa and dig few thousand artesian wells in the Sahara, thus creating as many oases therein, at proper
 
 sand such wells will not cost enc tenth the money of his proposed sand-cut through Tunis, and every new oasis in the desert will be blessing to the wild Arab tribes therein. No land holds water when once received up- on it's surface with greater tenacity than sand, and none admits of wider or more profitable irrigation. And if these wells are dug deep enough to bring the water to the surface, this irrigation MT. Wright thinks, will be far more feasible than that from the Nile in it's palmiest days of irrigation by the ancient Egyptians.
 Mir. Wrights objections to M. dc Lesseps' gigantic scheme have attracted much atten- ton, and the comment upon them is gener ally favorable. Another objector to the scheme has arisen in the person of MT. James E. Sewell, civil engineer, who says that if the project should succeed it would throw the earth of it's balance, inasmuch as it would transfer an unknown number of millions of tons weight from one part of the earth's surface to another. The earth's oen- ter of gravity would of course be changed, and the change would somewhat affect it's relations to the rest of the solar system, and probably make the line of the ecliptic more nearly coincident with the equator. The change in the ocean level would be greatsgt, MT. Sewell thinks, near the Friendly islands in the Pacific. His animadversions on the scheme are based upon the assumption that the area of the new inland sea would be not far from two millions of square miles and it's depth from five hundred to seven hundred i and fifty feet, but, as the Worcester Spy points out, even if this assumption were sound, the effect in disturbing the earth's balance, though demonstrabls in theory, would bs so very slight as to evade detection by the most refined instruments of pre- cision which science and skill have yet provided. But, as 8 matter of fact, it is well enough known that only small part of the are a of the desert is below the sea level
  and, if the facts were as MT. Sewell supposes, a canal to flood that area, in order to supply water faster than it would be lost by eYapo- ration, would need to be some miles in width as well as very deep. It has been ascertainsd, however, with reasonable certainty that the proposed ditch from the Mediterranean in- stead of flooding an area of two million square miles would only fill succession of shotts or basins whose whole area is less than two thousand square miles, and which appar. entity once had connection with the sea- The effect on the earth's balance or on the climate of Europe is not. therefore, likely to be very important.
 Meanwhile M. de Lesseps and his eagi- neers are busily at work examining the coun- try through which it is proposed to cut canal and all the reports received from thsm are favorable.