Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-13
Copyright. 1907. by Frank G. carpenter)

BENZ OUNIF.
I am In one of the widest parts of the
greatest desert on earth On all sides of
me is the Sahara, stretching to the west,
south and east, for hundreds of miles. The
desert, all told. is larger than the United
States. 1t is so big that if you could lift
up its sandy, rocky surface like a quilt
and transport 1t to our country, 1t would
cover every bit of it, and hide a part of
Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. 1t is
longer than the Mediterranean sea, and
bigger than all Europe. In some places 1t
is 1000 miles wide. Where / now am is
more than 400 miles south of the port of
Oran. and about 1900 miles from Tim
buktu on the Niger, where the great fertile
belt of Africa begins.
This is on the very edge Of the French
Sahara. Just west of it there are wild
rocky mountains as bare as the asphalt
of Pennsylvania avenue, and thirsty as
was Dives when he begged Lazarus to cool
his parched tongue. They mark the
boundary between the possessions OF the
French and those of the Moorish sultan;
but the desert goes farther westward. and
al the southwest 1t does not stop until it
reaches the Atlantic ocean.
The French Military Railroad.
I came here on the military railroad, built
by the French, to guard their people from
the brigands of Morocco. 1t is the road
which, 1t is thought, may some day be con-
tinued clear across the Sahara to Tim
buktu. with possibly a branch going off
to Lake Chad. The road starts at Oran.
and carries one through the rich lands of
the Tell, country as fat our Missis-
sippi valley, which has grain fields and
orchards, and vineyards which make mil
lions of gallons of wine every year. The
scenes there are like those of the best
parts of California. We left Oran in the
evening. and as the night fell We were
still in the Tel.
Wrapping myself in my BLANKET with
my camera under my head as a pillow
slept fitfully all night and awoke on the
high plateau CT the Atlas mountains, be
yond which is the desert. / was passing
through a great plain of yellow sandy soil,
covered here and there with stones, and
spotted everywhere with punches of dry
alta grass. Only in one direction were
there any hills to be seen. and they were
bleak, barren and rocky
The alta was growing right in the sands.
1t is long why grass, which is gathered
by the thousan ds of tons and shipped to
Europe for the making of paper. 1t is cut
by the Arabs and there are companies with
immense capital which handle 1t. 1t grows
to the height of my waist in punches, some
while others sprout out of mounds which
would fill half-bushel measure. 1t looks
tough and dry, but nevertheless large
f1ocks of white and brown sheep, black
goats and camels feed upon it. saw such
animals scattered over the plains. each
flock watched by a shepherd in white gown
and turban, who looked like a ghost as he
stood among his sheep in the early morn
ing.
We passed many tent villages occupied
by such shepherds and their families. The
tents are of a coarse black cloth woven in
stripes. They are SO stretched out that
one has to get down upon his knees and
crawl in. The cloth is made of camels
hair and Sleeps wool by the wives of the
shepherds: it is used as canvas through
out the desert.
Down Into the Desert.
We soon left the Atlas and came on into
the Sahara itself. There was still some
vegetation, but it was only in patches, here