The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-16
IN A SAHARA SANDSTONE.
Strange Experiences of a Party of
Travellers in the Desert.
From the Courter-yownal.

From the Courier-Joyndl.
ALGIERs, June 10.-The ever bright sky
Of the Sahara is in strong contrast to our
changeabls weather. The atmospherical
laws, which in our countries bring rain
and wind at almost fixed periods, are not in
force there. The only regular atmosphere
cal variation in the equinoctial sirocco.
The light wind, which comes
directly from Southern Africa, where the
hottest period prevails ia October, is driven
northward by the first rainfall, the latter
generally coming about the close of that
month. Heated under the tropic of Capri
corn and dried through the deserts of
Guinea and the immense sandy expanse Of
the Sahara, this impetuous wind stirs
the whole surface, heaving up and
driving along showers of sand and
dust, which are perceived in their coming
hundreds Of miles away. IL generally lasts
from two to three weeks with more or less
intensity, mild during daytime and increas.
ing toward night, sometimes to the fury OF
a hurricane There is no rainy season,
and even in central, southern and eastern
Sahara, whole years sometimes pass
without drop of water falling.
During the year Of my sojourn in War
gala the city was struck by transforms
only three times. These were abundant in
volume, but lasted only an hour or two.
Only twice was the storm repeated during
my journey through the desert. A sultry
and vaporous atmosphere generally sue
ceeded these storms. The nights were clear
aud nowhere have | seen the stars SO ra-
diant.
The weather is not taken into account in
agricultural calculations, irrigation taking
the place Of rain, SO that the failure of
crops is rarely due to drought.
On our jourDeying from Wargala to
Golea we were struck by one Of the storms
alluded TO above. We left that luxuriant
group of cases, Of which Wargala is the
chief town, and resumed our way along the
| wild desert, following the dry bed of the
| Wad Mia. Though it was October, no rain
| had yet fallen, 50 that the earth still lncked
her winter mantle Of green. The csn-
formation of the land during the first
| five days was a variety of f1rm, pebbly and
| sandy ground, while a mountain range
leads directly TO Ell Golea. In all parts the
firm soil appeared to be excellent for cult
ure il il could only be watered. Tracts Of
! sand Of the color Of iron rust were to DO no
ticed along the Wad Mia, denotng the
existence Of some ferruginous spring. The
| spot where we enoamped in our sixth stage
| was a sea of sand intersperSed with dunes
| rising from thirty to forty feet. One mount,
seventy feet high, probably formed by
| whirlwind, was noticeable above all at
a certain distance from US. Several
.
| five feet high, with q striking similarity to
waves, were TO be seen. FlAmipgos gazing
at US from the tops of the dunes. were the
| only signs of life the region presented. This
| bird, the yultuTe, and ravep are the only
| winged creatures seen in the Sahara out
side of the oasis. They fly in hosks IN the
wake Of the caravans. In expectation of
| prey, and are often regaled by the death of
camels or slaves, as the caravan owners
never take the trouble Of burying them.
During the preceding nights the sirrocco
| had been blowing hard, without, however :,
causing much disturbance. But now an at
rnosphericai revolution broke upon the
camp. A fearful buster aroused US from
sleep and terrified the horses Blast followed
| blast; our tents were terribly shaken, while
the wind grew rapidly to the force Of O
| cyclone. The horses were neighing
and the camels groaning. Everybody
| was awakened and all were Obliged to take
a frantic hold of the tents frop the inferior
| Some tried to get out TO pitch the tents more
securely, but could not stand the whirl of
sand. Showers Of sand were beating upon
our tents like heavy rain. The more
| courageous men were swearing against Il @
| impertinent element which had interrupt, d
their sleep and was blowing dow n
their flimsy shelter. Others we; g
terror stricken, fearing imminent d, =
struction. All were clinging desperately TO
]
ried away. but in spite of their efforts /
the tents, one after another, were blown
down. Each man underneath grasped fran
tically at one side of his canvas house and
| rolled it around his face for protection
against the sand. The camels, despite their
grooming. were little injured by the gritty
whirlwind, and seemed to be quite accus-
toned to it.
Their Incompatible vital strength enables
them to stand the s9rest privations and the
severest weather They live, indeed, day
and night in the open air, and are fed and
watered only every three days, thus be-
coming Injured TO every hardship and stress
| OF weather.
The horses felt the violent pelting of the
sand quite differently. As they are stand
ing up they offer more hold to the fierce
wind, and can resist less than the camels
which always lie when at rest. They be-
came distracted, and flung frantically
against their invisible provoker. The Off
GERS shouted to the horsemen to mind their
horses. but no one dared move. FINALLY
several horses broke loose, and, blinded
by the sand, ran among the tents, tumblina
against the men, and falling upon them,
Screams and struggles ensued, increas
ing the disorder and confusion in the
camp. Those who knew not the cause
OF these cries were prompted to gC
out and see what was happening. Finally
IAo nurses gov up uualQSQ ana were
Captured by some of the Arabs, who
better accust omed to this hurricane, were
cropping and crawling along with theil
faces covered with a drapery. The cad
commanding the Arabs, seeing that we
could not be qualified as warriors of the
DESERT" as we were unable to brave that
unexpected enemy, ordered his men TO look
to the horses until the tempest ceased.
After two hours Of struggle calm sue
ceeded in the atmosphere and peace in ouI
camp. went out TO see the effect of tbs
storm The dawn which family appeared
through the dust-clouded space threw {
gloomy light upon the camp, revealing the
overturned tents with the human forms un,
derneath like white shrouds covering
corpses. The sand was heaped up apains
their bodies, and had filed all the inter
spaces between the men lying under tn,
same tent, almost levelipg a surface smooth
as a table at the hight of their shoulders
went up TO the animals and found tht
horses shifting and sneeziBg, while zoe
camels a little further on, were lying
partly covered with sand, in perfect quiet
They seemed to have bravely borne tnt
brunt of the storm. Envelopsd IN theil
drapery the Arabs were Sitting on the
ground. with legs drawn up and their bodies