The Irish standard., 1891-06-06
PIONEERS OF The SAHARA.
The Lay Brotherhood Established By
the Distinguished Prelate
OF Africa.
THE WlLDTRIBESOF THE.DESERT.

y HE WILL lnlOL0VT IHE-ULoLni "
How These Unoouth Human Beings
We're Reclaimed and
EyangeIized.
While the scandals brought to public
notice in the administration OF sbe
Italian colonv in Africa throw such a
lurid light on the method Of civilizlng
the heather to be looked for from 8
laicized apostolate of progress, very diff
Iferent results may be expected on the
other side of the continent from Cardi-
nal I4avigerle's great project for re-
claiming and evangelizing the wild
tribes of the Sahara The official orgie
of robbery and massacre at MassoWah
is about to be investigated by COM
mission, which sailed on April 8; but
however the responsibility for the deeds
done there may be distributed among
the civil and military authorities, there
is no doubt either as to their character
or as to the fact Of their occurrence. 1t
was but four days previous to this date
that there took place at Brlska, in
French Algerian territory, an interest
ing ceremony. linking the progress OF
the nineteenth century to the half
legendary traditions of medieval
Europe. The semi barbarlsm existing
at that epoch could only be thrust back
by the sword guided by religious fervor,
and the similar rule OF violence to
which Africa is now subjected requires
to be met by similar methods Of repres.
sion. The soldier monks, whose func~
tion seemed obsolete In modern society,
have found a new field Of activity
among the horrors of the slave trade
and the unchecked tyranny Of brutal
force prevailing in the newly" opened
continent. and the moral want is no
sooner created than the Pr0tean ener-
gies of the church are directed to sup
plying it. The establishment OF a lay
Brotherhood of Sahara, resolved upon
some time ago by the venerable primaEe
of Africa, has now become an accom-
plished fact. and the first house of the
Order, called either Armed Brothers OF
Africa or Pioneers of the Sahara, was
formally ilaugurated at Biskra on Sun
day, April 5.
The object of the institution is. first
ly, to abolish slavery, and above all the
slave trade in the western Soudan; and,
secondly, to form amilitary agricultural
corporation, charged with res5oring the
former pr0ductiveness of the Sahara,
by the creation Of new cases through
the utilization Of subterranean springs.
Thus he association, in the words OF
it's founder, is indeed ITO open up de,
4initively to the civilized world the in.
terror Of that dark continent, access to
which is still prohibited by the insuper
able barriers presented by ferocious
barbarlsm.o
Briska, situated on the borders of the
province or Constantine, on 5he edge of
that desert, has been chosen as the site
OF the mother house, capable of con-
taininy fifty regular inmates, besides
the sick and otherwise afflicted to be re-
celved by these knights hospltallers Of
the nineteenth century. Here the car
dinal has purchased domain sufici-
emily extensive to give the novices
practical training in the various arts
and industries they Will be required to
practice under the arduous conditions
of their future lives, Years must
pass. - says the Bulletin Of the French
Anti Slavery Society, before the pro-
duct of their own labors will suffice for
their wants. The pioneers must, there.
fole. be provided with arms. not only
for self defence. but for the chase,
which will be. when far from civiliza-
tion, their only means Of providing
themselves with meat. And to their
own requirements must be added those
they Will be under obligation to supply
for the hospitality and succor afforded
to the sick, the fugitive slaves. and to
the nomad communities which they
will seek to attract and establish round
this ASYLUM. The really important part
Of the work Will consist ID impressing
on these barbarous tribes the fact that
they are not sought out in any hostile
spirit, nor even from the wish to infict
well~deserved chastisement. the task OF