The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-01-27
SAHARA NOT A DESERT.
WATER, SOIL AND MINERAL MAY
MAKE A FRENCH EMPIRE.

Devoid of Animal Life and Vegeta-
ton.
From my early youth | have been
immensely interested in the Sahara
and the Soudan. In 1879 | applauded
the project of the Engineer Duponchel
and wrote an article for the Journal
DIES Debats" urging that Algeria and
the Soudan be connected by railway.
Since then | have made numerous
| pleas OF this sort, both in newspaper
articles and in lectures.
In this present work, | treat first OF
the Sahara; | don't hesitate to say
that the Sahara finds its complete re-
Mobilization in my book. A most mis-
chievous legend still beclouds that
vast region. The Sahara is regarded
as an unbroken waste of shifting
sands, without water or rain, and de-
void of animal life and vegetation. Ii
our superficial geographers had their
way they would utterly abolish the
Sahara, and they would think that in
so doing they were getting rid OF an
obstacle and nuisance.
There could be no greater mistake.
The Sahara is worth keeping and
worth exploiting; it has its value, and
a large one at that. The future,
near future, l hope will prove it. The
world has been deceived regarding
both the soil and the subsoil OF the
Sahara. 1t is not waste of shifting
sand On the contrary, all but about
a tenth of it has solid and uniform
SOIL 1t rains there with perfect re-
gularity. Any traveller who has spent
a period of several months roaming
about the Sahara will tell you lie en-
countered transforms, and sometimes
very bothersome ones, or at least that
he saw traces of recent rains.
Besides the water on the surface
there is abundant water underground
The wandering tribes use only what
is at the surface or only few yards
beneath it, as they will have nothing
to do with the spontaneous pools,
which they allow to be filled with
rubbish and polluted by reguse, peo-
pie have jumped to the conclusion
that either water was wholly wanting
or that it wasn't fit to drink, when, as
a matter of fact, very little labor and
very little care are required to reach
sources of healthful water supply
in part of the Sahara.
Gases can be either extended or
multiplied, and GASES mean nothing |
more nor less than plots OF ground
constantly irrigated. Beyond the CAS-
es vast tracts of land water only by
rain can be opened to agriculture, just
as has happened in Tunis. Whole
countries of the southern and western |
Sahara are yeady for ploy and seed; |
the same is true in the central and
eastern regions.
Vegetation is by no means rare in |
the Sahara: a score of foreign plants |
thrive there. Shrubs and brier bushes
often cover the soil; real trees-al-
most forests, some travellers say-are
numerous: not only palms, which re-
mand plentiful water, but also gum
trees. ethels, giant jujubes, danlas and /
teboracs, and many other trees with a |
girth of six feet, trees capable OF shell
tering whole company of cavalry /
each. and in the southern part trees |
each of which might shelter a Fegi-
ment.
The Sahara, to be sure, is not anoth-
err Normandy; but nevertheless the
greater part of it can be made a vast |
Crau or a region where our Causes
can be reproduced on gigantic scale
Given an area ten times that OF France
the transformation of considerable
portion of the Sahara into a modestly
PROSPEROUS farming country, with smil-
ing GASES at short intervals, would |
still mean the establishment o. mag
uificent domain, and Gne of the most
beautiful domains we possess.
Now, the thing that does more than
nature does to make the Sahara de-
serted region is the horrible insecur-
ity that prevails there. Once insure
safety and add to safety satisfac-
tory water supply, and the Sahara
will in a few decades be able to sup
port a couple of dozen million peo-
pie.
Beside sthis resources of cattle rails
ing. agriculture, and in some parts for
numbering, the Saharas has resources
of mineral wealth. 1t is the subsoil,
rather than the surface, that today
contributes toward the possible launch
ing O ia new country. OF course, we |
can't count on finding gold and dia-
mond mines there; but it will suffice
to fnd copper. lead, zinc and nitrates.
Now, ON this point we are well inform
ed Copper VIGOROUSLY abounds there.
To say nothing of the districts border
ing on Tidikelt, Twat, Mouydir and |
Haggar, where the evidences are ex-
cellent. we know from an unquestion-