Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-07-29
IN A SAHARA SANDSTONE.
The Strange Experience of Party of
Travellers in the African Desert.


The Strange Experience of q Party of
Travellers in the African Desert.
The ever bright sky Of the Sahara is
in strong contrast to our changeable
weather, says an Algiers correspondent
of the Louisville Courier-Journal. The
atmospherical laws, which in our coun-
tries bring rain and wind at almost fixed
periods, are not in force there. The
only regular atmospherical variation is
the equlnoctial sirocco. The light wind
which comes directly from Southern
Africa, where the hottest period pre-
walls in October, is driven northward
by the first rainfall, the latter generally
coming about the close of that month.
Heated under the Iropic of Capricorn
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. 1t generally
lasts from two to three weeks with more
or less intensity, mild during daytime
and increasing toward night, sometimes
to the fury of hurricane. There is no
rainy season, and even in central,
southern, Gnd eastern Sahara, whole
years sometimes pass without drop OF
water falling. During the year of my
soiourn in Wargala, the city was struck
by transforms only three times. These
we're abundant in volume, but lasted
only an hour or two. Only twice was
this storm repeated during my journey
through the desert. A sult1y and va
porous atmosphere generally succeeded
these storms. The nights were clear,
and nowhere have [ seen the stars so
radiant
The weather. is not taken into &C
count in agricultural calculations, irriga-
ton taking the place of rain, so that the
failure of the crops is rarely due to
| drought.
On our journeying from Wargala to
Golea we were struck by one of the
storms alluded to above. We left that
luxuriant group of GASES, 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,
so that the earth still lacked her winter
mantle of green. The conformation of
the land during the first five days was a
variety of firm, pebbly and sandy
ground, while a mountain range leads
directly to FL Golea. In all parts the
firm soil appeared to be excellent for
culture if 1t could only be watered.
Tracts of sand of the color of iron rust
were to be noticed along the Wad Mia,
denoting the existence of some ferru-
ginous spring. The spot where we en-
camped 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
certain distance from us. Several long
and straight eminences, four or five feet
high, with a striking similarity to waves,
were to be seen. Flamingos, gazing at
us from the tops of the dunes, were the
only signs of life the region presented.
This bird, the vulture and raven are the
only winged creatures seen in the Sahara
outside of the oasis. They fly in focks
in the wake OF the caravans, IN expec-
tation of prey, and are often RECALLED by
the death of cameIs or slaves, as the
caravan owners never take the trouble
of burying them.
During the proceeding night the
sirocco had been blowing hard, without,
however, causing much disturbance.
But now an atmospherical rev olution
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 cyclone.
| The horses were neighing and the
! ened and all were obliged to take a
frantic hold of the tents from the inte-
rior. Some tried to get out to pitch the
| tents more securely, but could not stand
| the Whirl of sand. Showers of sand
were beating on our tents like heavy
rain. The more courageous men were
swearing against the impairment ele-
ment which had interrupted their sleep
and was blowing down their f1imsy
shelter. Others were terror stricken,
| fearing imminent destruction. All
were clinging desperately to
their tents to prevent them from
being carried away, but in spite of
their efforts all the tents, one after
another, were blown down. Each man
underneath grasped frantically at one
side of his canvas house and rolled it
around his face for protection against
the sand. The camels, despite their
groaning were little injured by the
gritty whirlwind, and seemed to be quite
accustomed to it.
Their Incompatible vital strength en-
ables them to stand the sorest priva-
| tons and the seVerest weather. They
| live, indeed, day and night in the open
air, and are fed and watered only every
three days, thus becoming Injured to
every hardship and stress of weather.
The horses felt the violent pelting of
the sand quite differently. AS they are
standing up they offer more hold to the
wind, and can resist less than the
camels, which always lie when at rest.
They became distracted and flung fran
tically against their invisible provoker.
The officers shouted to the horsemen to
mind the horses but no one dared
move Finally several horses broke
loose and, blinded by the sand, ran
among the tents, tumbling against the
men, and falling upon them. Screams
and struggles ensued, increasing the
disorder and confusion in the camp.
Those who knew not the cause of thesd
cries were prompted to go out and see
what was happening. Finally, the
horses got up unaided and were cap
tured by some of the Arabs, who, bet
ter accustomed to this hurricane, were
cropping and crawling along with their
faces covered with drapery. The cadi
commanding the Arabs, seeing that we
could not be qualified as warriors of
the desert as we were unable to