The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1898-08-24
ABOUT.GESERTS.
Erroneous Notions as to Their Char
acter and Inhabitants.

dCGer ana AHHdDl6dutss
slOnly one degree less incorrect than
the idea of their submarine origin 10
the notion that deserts consist of un-
broken tracts of sand. 1t is true that
such tracts in certain districts may ex-
tend on every side as far as the eye can
reach, and even much farther; but,
sooner or later, bridges and banks OF
pebbles. or of solid rock, will be met
with cropping up among the sand,
while frequently, as in the Libyan des-
ert. there are mountain ranges rising
to height of several thousand feet
above the level of the plain. And 1t IS
these exposed rocks which form the
source whence the sand was, and still
is derived. Such mountains naturally
attract what moisture may remain IN
the air. and in their valleys are found
7more or less luXuriant vegetation.
Gases, too, where the soil IS more or
less clayey. occur IN most deserts; and
it is in such spots that animal ana veg
etable life attains the maximum deyel-
opment possible IN the heart Oh Uhe
desert. In the most arid and typical
part of the Libyan desert the sahu Is
blown into large dunes, Whlch are Ire
quently tlaU-tOpped ana snow norlZoh-
tai bands OF partly consolidated rock
and between these are open FaHey9,
nartIy covered with sand and partly
streWn with blocks OF rock poIlShea
md scored bv the sand blast, In such
"a.
for days without seeing signs of yege-
tation or hearing the call OF Dlrd or
The hmm Of an insects wing. But even
in many Of such districts 1t is mistake
to suppose that vegetable and animal
life is entirely absent throughout the
wear: IN the Wertern sahara, Ior IN
stance. showers generally molsCeh the
ground two or threr times year, ana
after each Of these a short-nVeo Vege-
tStion springs suddenly up, and, II no
other form OF animal life is observable,
at least a few passing birds may be no
tiCed.
Among the most important and eX-
tensiye deserts Of the world we have
first the Great Sahara, with an approx
innate area of 5000 square miles, near
lysconnected with which is the great
desert tract extending through ARABIA,
Syria. Mesopotamia and Persia. BY
means of the more or less desert tracts
of BaIuschistan. Sind Kuch, this area
leads on to the great Rajputaha desert
of Ida More important is the vast
Cobb desert Of Mongolia and other
parts of central Asia. In southern
Africa there is the great kalaharl des~
ert, OF which more anon. In North |
America there is large desert tract
living 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 Chill. Last |
Nv. the whole of the interior Of Austria |
liza is de- ert OF the most arid and typl-
cal description.
But among these there are deserts
and deserts Tracts Of the typical bar.
rem sandy type are, as already SAID, eX-
tensively developed in the Sahara, a.
they are in the cobb and the Austria
liam deserts Between such and the
plains of the African weld there IS an |
almost complete tr&nSiUlon, so that 1t
is sometimes hard to say whether a
given tract rightly comes under the |
designation of a desert at all. a case
in lpoint 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 a rain large tracts could
scarcely be called a desert at all. Mr.
H. A. Dryden, for instance, when
describing the Kalahari, writes as
follows: "And yet, during the brief
weeks of rainfall no land can assume
a fairer or more tempting aspect, The
dong grasses shoot up green, succulent,
and elbow deep; flowers spangle the
YIELD in every direction; the giraffe
acacia forests robed in fresh dark
green remind one of nothing so much |
as an English deer park; full OF fra
GRANGE, and pans of water lie on every
side. Another month and all IS
drought; the pans are dry again and
travel is full Of difficulty" During the
grassy season herds of springtok used
to migrate in the old days of halSharl,
in the northern part of which glrattes
live the whole year, although they
must exist without tasting water Tor
months. knowledge.