Evening star., 1898-09-03
ABOUT DESERTS.
erroneous Notions AS to Their Char
hcterlstfcs and Inhabitants

r.
ncteristics and Inhabitants.
From knowledge
Only one degree less incorrect than the
idea of their submarine origin ts tho ~
toh that deserts consist of unbroken tracts
of sand. Il is true that such tracts in cor.
tain districts may extend on every side as
lar as the eye can reach. and even much
farther; but, sooner or later. ridges and
bands of pebbles. or of solid rock will ha
met with cropping up among the sand.
while frequently. as In the Libyan desert
there are mountain ranges rising to a
height OF several thousand feet above the
level of the plain. And IL Is these exposed
rocks Whlch form the source whence the
sand was, and still is, derived. Such noun
lalhs naturally attract what moisture may
remain IN the air. and in their valleys are
found more or less luxuriant vegetation.
Oases, too. where the soil is more or less
ciayey, occur in most deserts: and IL Is IN
such spots that arimal and vegetable life
altains the maximum DEVELOPMENT possi-
Die In the heart of the desert. In the most
ar1d and typical part of the Iibyan desert
the sand in blown into large dunes which
are frequently fiat-topped, and show hort-
zolital M bands OF partly consolidated rock;
and between these are open valleys partly
covered with sand and partly streyn with
blocks or rock polished and scored by the
SAND blast. In such sand wastes the tray-
eier may Journey for days without seeing
SIGNS OF vegetation or hearing the call of
elrd or the hum of an Insects wing But
even In many of such districts IL is a mis-
take TO suppose that vegetable and ami
MAJ nle Is entirely absent throughout the
year; In the Western Sahara for Instance
showers generally moistcn the ground two
or three times year, and after each of
these short-lived vegetation springs sud-
denly up, and. il no other form of animal
life is observable. at least a few passing
birds may be noticed.
Among the most important and extensive
deserts of the world we have first the
Great Sahara. with an approximate area of
16,Vb square miles, nearly connected with
which is the great desert tract extending
thro ugh Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia ana
Persia. By means of the more or less
desert tracts of Baluchistan. Sind and
Kuch, this area leads on to the great Rat
putana desert of India. More important is
the vast Cobb Desert of Mongolia and
other parts of Central Asia. In Southern
Africa there is the great kalahari Desert
of which more anon. In North America
there is a large desert tract lying east of
the Rocky Mountains, and including a
great part of Sonora; while in the southern
half of the New World there is the desert
of Atacama, on the borders of Peru and
Chile Lastly. the whole Of the interior of
Australia is desert of the most arid and
typical description.
But among these there are deserts and
deserts Tracts of the typical barren sandy
veloped in the Sahara, as they are in the
Cobb and the Australian deserts Between
such and the plains of the African weld
there is an almost complete transition SO
that it is sometimes hard to say whether
given tract rightly comes under the desig-
nation OF a desert at all. A case in point
is afforded by the South African Kalahari.
Although there are endless rolling dunes of
trackless sand, and rivers are unknown,
yet in many places there Is extensive
forest and after rain large tracts could
scarcely be. called a desert at all. Mr.. H.
A. Dryden, for instance. when describing
the kal9haTi, writes as follows: And yet,
during the brief weeks of rainfall, no land
can assume a fairer OF more tempting as
pect. The long grasses shoot up green,
succulent, and elbow-deep: flowers spangle
the weld in every direction: the giraffe
acacia forests robed in a fresh dark green
remind one of nothing much an Eng
lish deer park; the bushes blossom and
flourish; the air is full of fragrance, and
pans OF water lie on every side. Another
month, and all is drouth; the pans are dry
again. and travel is full of difficulty" Dur
ing the grassy season herds Of spriugbok
used to migrate in the old days to Kala-
hari, in the northern part of which giraffes
live the whole year, although they must
exist without tasting water for months.