The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-09-16
irrigation For Sahara.

| Irrigation For Sahara.
Whatever the outcome of the Anglo
Egyptian expedition from political point
Of view, it cannot but result IN good &c
Egypt and the surrounding country, for
members of the expedition have made q
discovery of far reaching Importance not
only to Egypt, but to the desert country
that stretches away from II.
This discovery proves that there is wa
ter in the desert at varying depths beneath
| the sands. The expedition has been sue
cessful in the sinking of wells in the des-
| ert between Wady-Halfa and Abou-
Hamid. The presence Of water al such a
| distance from the Nile has never heretofore
been suspected. either by Europeans or ma
| tives. and this discovery bids fair TO revo-
lutionize not only the desert tribes. but
| the entire conditions of desert life-
The problem of converting the great At
| rican deserts into fertile territory seems TO
| be in fair way toward solution, not by
letting in the sea. as proposed by Count de
| Lesseps and other engineers, but by the
sinking of wells, for in all probability wa
| ter can be found everywhere IN the African
| deserts provided one digs deep enough.
| The knowledge that explorers have gain
| ed in recent years goes to show that the
|
waste of sand most persons were form
| erly content TO suppose. The Sahara is not
| everywhere fat and is by no means entire
| ly desert. Mountain ranges across 1t
1 which in places attain a height OF five
| thousand feet above the sea level and en-
| close verdant valleys dotted with groves
| of trees.
The Sahara has an area nearly as large
| as that of Europe, but Europe supports a
| population of more than 100000. while
| the Sahara does not contain more than
| 100000 souls.
The sands DO not cover the area assigned
70 them in the ordinary maps. which are
Of to small a scale TO show the inter-
change Of different kinds OF surface. 1t is
really region of the most varied surface
and irregular relief, ranging in altitude
from 100 feet below to 5000 or 5000 feet
above the level OF the sea. Besides sand
dunes and GASES il contains rocky plateaus.
vast tracts of loose stones and ranges Of
hills and valleys.
The present population Of the Sahara con-
sists almost exclusively Of Arabs, Berbers
and negro tribes. The Berbers are the great
traders and control the principal caravan
routes. The Arabs of pure stock are very
few. They have become mixed with Ber-
west central region almost exclusively, ap-
pear sometimes in the extreme west and
stretch northward into Morocco and AL
geria. The negro tribe occupy the east
central region northward and northeast
ward from Lake Tchad, and the Arabs
possess the rest of the country.
The Sahara belongs partly TO Algeria and
Tunis and is thus partly under French pro-
lection, and partly to Morocco and TO the
Turkish Empire. The most valuable prod
ucts of the Sahara are dates and salt.
How to make the great desert more pro-
dUctive has been a problem that scientific
men have eagerly discussed in recent years.
France has naturally been particularly in
terested in this problem. Two great French
engineers, De Lesseps and Roudaire, pro-
posed the scheme of making an inland sea
by joining the Gulf Of Cabes with chain
OF salt lakes running along the south of
Tunis and Algeria. The waters are to be
Joined by cutting through a ridge thirteen
miles wide and hundred and fifty feet in
height. But this scheme was abandoned.
Donald Mackenzie proposed a scheme OF
flooding the western Sahara, the district
called FL Juf, by letting in the waters Of
the Atlantic But it was discovered that
FL Juf was not a vast depression, but only
ed.
The practical method Of retaining the
desert is undoubtedly that Of digging wells
and with the water so obtained irrigating
the soil in the vicinity. This method, |
which was apparently known to the an |
clients. has been carried into effect with !
success by the French in Algeria. The |
discovery that wells can be dug In the vi |!
cinty of Wady-Halfa, which Is right on |
the borders of the Nubian Desert, crop |
after the overflow from the Nile. and then |
lie idle for want Of water.
The extent TO which Egypt from Wary |
Halfa to the Mediterranean might be ben |
Gifted by irrigation is strictly limited TO |
the area covered by the aIluvial deposit Of |
the Nile. Two million two hundred thous- |
and acres lie TO the south Of Cairo and |
!, 900, go acres form the Delta. In Lower
Egypt $500, 900 acres are now productive
In Upper Egypt nearly 100000 acres pro-
duce no crop during the summer and au-
tumn.
In the Delta there is within immediate
prospect an addition of 10000 acres which |
might be made 10 bear crops worth az least |
SIS an acre. This means about $500 600
a year if the necessary water can be OBJ
tanned in summer. And this is a modest
compared lndl WHICH WOuIQ De |
reached by the reclamat ton of the vas, re-
gions of swamp and sand-strewn land ly-
ng between the present limits of cultiva-
ton and the sea.
Two thousand years ago Menzaleh. Bour-
os and Edkon were fields yielding rich
narvests TO the Egyptian husbandmen
Centuries later these districts were produc-
ng wheat for export to Rome and furnish
ng immense sums of money TO the imperial
,xchequer- If so much has been done and
70 much remains 10 be done fl Egypt by
means of irriga ton. who can estimate the
.hange that viii be brought over the face
4 the great African desert? Over the NJ
ian Desert now railroad is being rapidly |
'ushed from Wary-Halfa 10 Abou-Harned.
I may not be many years before great
rains come pouring into Wady-Harfa Ia
ten with the produce OF sections that ara
.ow only sandy tracts. More light was
ioethes cry as ne lay dying. but More
Vater," is the cry Of the desert.
Along the Kansas Nls.