The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-06-15
NEARLY AS BIG AS EUROPE.


surface this mighty desert takes to
ITSELF 1t covers more square miles
than the whole of the Mediterranean.
If itwere transported across that sea it
would extinguish Europe, for it has
been computed that if you leave out
Scandinavia it would nearly cover the
wholeof it. If it were only sunk in
the sea the waves would roll over it
and It would be remembered no more
forever. But it insists on keeping its
head above water and above ground,
crowding out fertile portions of the
earth, while its barrenness renders ii
unfit for human habitation. There ii
lies on the face of Africa, a huge black
spot deserted by man, as it seems to
be accursed by God. No man passes by
1t or willingly puts his foot there
on. Even the lonely caravan that
skins it like bird leaves no track
behind it any more than the bird in
the air or the ship on the sea. 1t
passes and is gone, leaving not trace
of life in man or beast, or bird, or any
living thing. So far as we can see the
desert San utterly worthless portion
of the globe. With such an incubus
coverAg full half of northern Africa,
tAeE5wqAld seem to be little hope of
lMkAything out of It, since the
'c2WEf 'sssfch renders its condition 80
hopeless cannot be removed. You can
not abolish the desert any more than
you can abolish the sea. There Il Is,
and there 1t will remain forever. Yes;
but you can get over the sea In ships,
or under 1t by telegraphs, so that it Is
no longer bar to the intercourse of
nations. Is there any way Of tanning
the desert or subduing it so that it
shall no longer be barrier to the
progress of civilization? This is the
most important question to be settled
as bearing upon the future of Africa.
OF course, if it were left to the native
inhabitants, all things would continue
as they we're from the beginning of
creation. Nor has Europe at large any
interest in it. But there is one Euro
pean power that has an interest in it.
France has large possessions on this
side of the Mediterranean. Algeria
and Tunis together make country as
large as one of the Kingdoms of Europe.
which France has the ambition to en-
large still further, so as to have great
African empire, as England has her
Indian empire. AS part of the ma
terials for this she has another great
dependence in Senegambia, on the
western coast, a country covering 400,-
900 square miles. If this could in any
way be united to Algeria, if the two
could be consolidated, the new "em-
pire'' would at once assume vast pro-
portions But the desert blocks the
way. 1t splits the proposed empire
like wedge. 1t cannot be removed,
but is there not some way in which it
can be converted into keystone for
the mighty arch that is to span the
continent from the Mediterranean to
the Atlantic? That is the problem
which has long exercised the minds of
Frehch statesmen, and which they in
turn have referred to their engineers,
who are among the best in the world,
with what result may be briefly in
Dictated.
First of all, they have shown that it
Is possible to convert portions of the
desert into GASES by the sinking of
artesian wells. A hundred and forty
miles south of Biskra is the oasis of
Tuggurt, which has long supported
thousands of Arabs, with their focks
and herds, but which was nearly de-
stroyed some years since by the wells
becoming so choked up as no longer to
furnish supply of water. Vegetation
withered until the wretched people,
stripped of what was to them the very
water of life, and too ignorant to be
able to renew the supply, were in de-
spair, and began to leave the country.
Then the French engineers took the
matter in hand, and, instead of trying
to clear out the old wells, commenced
boring the solid earth, and in five
weeks struck water to such good pur-
pose that river rushed forth that
yielded double the quantity furnished
by the great well of Grenelle at Paris.
To the Arabs it seemed like miracle,
and they began to sing and dance in
the widest manner to express their
Joy. The miracle was one which can
be wrought wherever men are willing
to take the labor or to bear the ex-
pense OF course, to accomplish a large
result, in the way of pasturage or agri-
culture, 1t would have to be repeated
on tremendous scale.
But for the purpose of uniting the
two vast territories of Algeria and
Senegambia, the first necessity is that
of direct communication, which can
only he by railroad across the desert
of Sahara. Is this within the bounds
of possibility? Nobody's opinion is of
any value except that of an engineer,
and that have tried to obtain. In AL
giers the American consul took me to
see Mr.. Broussais, who has made a spe-
cial study of the subject and taken
long journeys into the desert to survey
the field Of battle. He did not conceal
from himself the enormous difficulties
of travelling 800 miles with the want
of water, the want of wood for railroad
ties the want of everything. He looked
in the face the possibility of those sand
storms which might bury railroad
train, as they have buried thousand
caravans. All this he had taken into
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