Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-03-21
NJ THE GREAT SAHARA.
Strange Adventures of an Explorer

For several months of last year
white man in the garb of a Mohamne-
dan wandered half starved and in peril
of his life among the rowing Moorish
shepherds OF the Western Sahara The
remarkable adventures and hairbreadth
escapes of Camille Douls may be seen,
at first glance, to have not even the re-
motest connection with the fears re
Gently arc used in Europe by the ru-
mored death of the Sultan of Morocco.
1t Is nevertheless true that the same
causes recently filed the statesmen of
Spain, France and Italy with alarm,
and sent men-of-war hurryjng to the
ports OF Morocco, produced the state
of things in the Sahara that crowded
Mr.. Douis' rash journey with thrilling
adventures.
1t was the purpose of the young man
to explore, on behalf of the French
Government, the rich mineral region
of Sus, which skirts the Atlantic sea-
board Just south of 30 degrees north
latitude. He had the advantage of pre-
vious experience in Morocco and of
familiarity with Arabic. Knowing well
that the jealous fears of the Sultan
would thwart any attempt to reach the
mines of Sus from the north, lie de-
termined to land on the coast south of
Atlas, and then make his way north
into the unexplored Fl Dorado, from
whose treasures of silver and copper
the Sultan has for some years derived a
large revenue.
For various reasons Mr.. Douls was
unable to set foot on the coast until he
had reached Garnet bay, over 300 miles
south of Sus. There, late IN January
last, fishing boat from the Canary
Islands landed the daring young man
with his boxes and provision basket.
The wastes of the Sahara stretched be-
| fore him. He set out over the scorch-
ing sands. scanning the horizon for
signs of the desert nomads. They
might Kill him. but at any rate he
could not live without them. He wore
a Moorish white garb, and his story
was that he was An Algerian merchant,
! shipwrecked on the Atlantic coast.
After a while he saw troop of
camels in the distance. His sudden
| appearance, like an apparItion in the
| little desert community, frightened the
black slaves and astounded their fierce
| owners. They did not believe a word
| of his story. No Mussulnal had ever
come to them from the sea. His dress
| was white, while their garments were
! made of blue cloth. He was Christian
| dog, trying to deceive the faithful. and
deserving the death all unbelievers
merit. Suddenly seized from behind.
he was thrown to the ground, and
while one put his foot on his throat,
others bound his hands. His clothing
was stripped of, his money and re-
volver were taken, and one assailant
hit him on the mouth with the back OF
a dagger, breaking two teeth.
| 4 man named Ibrahaim saved him
| from immediate death merely that he
| might be further questioned. When
one of the nomads, crying. Let rs
strangle the Christian ~ made another
rush at the helpless explorer, Ibrahaim,
| gun in hand, said he would shoot the
4 first man who touched him. He took
Douls TO his tent, and told him to con-
sIder himself his prisoner until he
could prove that he was a Mussulman.
| The next morning large party
went to the seashore TO get the boxes
| which the prisoner said he had left
| there. The Moors did not easily find
| their booty, and, shaking their daggers
| in the explorers face, they declared
| that the Christian was trying 10 lead
them where his friends lay in ambush
\ to kill them. lbrahaim, who had as
| little faith as the others in Douls' story,
told him he would be- killed if the
boxes were not found. Just as he
had given himself up for lest they
were discovered, and everything the
explorer possessed was soon divided
among the Arabs, the women and
children coming in for a small share.
For some weeks the explorer ex-
pected every day to be his last. 1t was
fortunate for him that he was proficient
| in the forms of Mohammedan worship,
and that he could recite passages from
| the Koran. Nothing could have saved
him, however, if several sheiks and
holy men, to whom he was taken for
examination, had not expressed the
belief that he was Mussulman.
He was kept in irons until chief Of
one of tine nomad tribes, before
| whom he was summoned. told his
captors that they had been too hasty
in lettering and despoiling him, and
that they might be called to account
at the day of Judgment for inflicting
great suffering upon one of their
brethren. Even then he was not re-
leased until Moor of great authority,
| who had been to Mecca and had
| travelled much, assured the nomade
that their prisoner was a Turkish
.
not TO leave the nomads who had cap
tured him, but to cast his future
fortunes with the Arabs and become,
like them, wanderer in the dssert.
For five months he helped drive
herds OF camels and sheep over the
dreary steppes OF the Western Sahara,
traverslng territory that no white man
had visited before, and crossing here
and there the path of DR.. LenZ, who,
in the guise of a Turkish physician,
travelled over these plains to Timbuc-
too few years ago In their wander
ing5 from one oasis to another the
nemads took their white captive as far
south as the sandy wastes OF Ell Juf,
within 800 miles of TImbuctoo. lie
visited Tenduf, the great slave market
of the Sahara, whence slave caravans
from the Soudan are sent north in all
directions to the Mediterranean coun-
tries. His new ways of life so changed
his appearance that his best friends
would not have recognized him. His
head was shaveD, only one tuft of hair
on top escaping. He was burned red
by the sun, and his privations made
him very thin, as he lived wholly on
camel's milk, with an occasional treat
! of sleeps flesh
at last in their travels the nomads
reached the southern boundary of Mo
rocco, and a way then opened for the
escape of the white man. He had SO
far won the favor of Ibrahaim, who
had saved his life when he first entered
; the Saraha, that the Arab thought he
would make a desirable son-ln-law. He
was accordingly betrothed to the
twelve-year- old daughter of his bene-
factor. 1t was necessary, however, for
him to visit his home to procure the
means needed for his marriage. and,
after the betrothal had been celebrated
with speeches and festivities, Douls
, was permitted to join a caravan that
was starting for Morocco. He Travelled
, through the Sus province, whose ex-
ploration had been the sole object that
took him to the Sahara He says this
region is very rich, rot only in min