The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-27

and from December to March addition
al crops of wheat barley and similar
grains may be grown. This is not
theory, for it is actually accomplished
| in a crude sort of way in many of
! the more favored portions of the des-
ert. NJ. de Mezieres declares that
when he departed from the beaten
track of the caravan he found many
rivers which, in the springtime, at
least, were of considerable size, many
of them from three to ten miles wide.
When the water sunk away into the
earth there remained rich meadows
which would offer splendid pasturage
for cattle and horses. Along these val
leys were often to be found fine groves
of palms and for at least three months
in the year the climate is delightful
and not unbearable for the rest.
GREAT SUBTERRANEAN WATER
COURSES.
BY far the most important result sof
NJ. de Mezieres' explorations was the
confirmation of the view long held that
many portions of the desert are under
laid with subterranean lakes and
rivers, for the most part not very
far from the surface and easy to
reach by the artesian drill. 1t has
long been a mystery as to what
becomes of the considerable streams
that take their rise in the great
plateaus of Ahaggar, Muydir Tasili
and others, and after considerable
course above ground are lost in the
sands. Some of these underground
rivers that were explored were found
to contain fishes, crabs and similar ami
NAL life, indicating that in some fash
ion these subterranean channels are
aerated. so that they may sustain life.
In the estimation of all the travellers
who have made close investigations the
artesian wells will afford not only an
abundance, but permanent supply CT
water for irrigation and sustenance,
and that with irrigation groves and
gardens of great value may be fostered.
Indeed, the natives themselves are rap
| idly learning the art of planting wells,
and in the district of Hoggar, where
the F'latters expedition of ten years
| ago dug several wells, there are now
more than 500, whose combined volume
is equal 10 that of considerable river.
The greatest need of the Sahara,
however, is a railway, which shall af-
ford ingresS to white population and
cheap transport for their products In
the desert horses are practically use
less for hauling crops across the sand
and the camels are much 100 expensive
in the end. Count De Lessops and
/
less than the cost of our own Pacific
railway from OMAHA to San Francisco
a line with a total length of about 1000
miles can be built which will reach the
richest and most favored sections. This
| line, which has been surveyed for the
| greater part of its length, starts from
Phillipeville. on the Algerian coast, a
hundred miles or so west of Tunis, and
follows q long valley southwark
through the Oued Rir to Amguid, in
the district of Hoggar, and there forks
in two directions; the western arm
will reach to the great bend of the
Niger, about 100 miles east of Tim
buctoo, where the river is navigable,
from thence to its mouth; the eastern
arm will extend to Lake Tchad and
perhaps southwark to Yola, on the
Benoue river, tributary of the Niger,
which is likewise navigable. A branch
of the eastern arm has also been pro-
iected, which would reach Kano and
the rich country of Haussa.
Such railway would afford an easy
outlet in one direction or the other to
the most remote regions. the most dis
tant being not more than LEGO miles to
water navigation. AS a result a vast
area would be opened up for COLOMBIA
ton of the overflow of Europe This
area can best be likened, for the I'M
derstanding of the reader, to the re-
gion of our own great Salt Lake, or
those portions of our own desert which
are now being reclaimed under irriga-
ton. All the investigations underta-
ken by the French government, subse-
quent to the original explorations of
the surveying parties, has tended to
confirm the practicability and FEAST
bility of the project, and 1t is expected
that a renewed effort will be made to
effect the formation of a French COM
pany to build the line and to induce
the French government to grant a suffi-
Gent subsidy to insure its completion
In the estimation of those competent
to judge, the enterprise seems calculat-
ed to produce far greater results than
any which are likely to attend the nu-
merous projects for the conquest of the
more southerly portion of Africa If
the French develop their plans with
anything like the same vigor of the
British and Dutch in South Africa, the
conquest of the dark continent by the
white man and the iron horse will only
be matter of a few years.
H. F. JOKOSA
SALE OK BANDITS EFFECTS.