Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-13
ARAB SOLDIERS OF FRANCE
WHO PATROL "GREAT DESERT
How the Sandy Wastes of Sahara Are Polced-Dark Skinned
Riders Wro Cover Territory Of One Hundred
Miles Every Day Under Burning Skies

up by lofty mountains and cut up by water
courses called waddys which are dry the
greater part of the year Its average height
above the sea is about as great as that Of
the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, and
in many places IL is as high as the Ale
ghenies and higher
The sand dunes themselves are sometimes
six hundred feet high. and they rise from
the desert, crescent shaped, the horns of
the crescent being turned away from the
winds. The sand is rolled up by the wind
from the bottom to the top, each grain go
Ing over and until It falls inside the
crescent. As this rolling goes on the lunes
Increase in size. They move along slowly
and If a railroad should be in their way
they would swallow it up. l have seen sim
liar dunes on. the great Peruvian desert at
the foot of the Andes. and have been tod
that they were the chef obstacles to rail
road building In that region. These dunes
grow hard as the wind blows against them.
During my travels through them here not
far from Benz Ounif. l have ridden up them
on horseback and the sand Is almost as
solid that of the seashore.
The Vegetation of the Desert.
There are large regions in the Sahara
which have no vegetation whatever but
many other parts have grass during parts
of the year. This Is so everywhere along
the edges of the dessert. and also along the
dried-up water courses, the beds of which
contain some moisture In many PAGES
there Is slight rainfall during certain
months. The least water causes the grass
to spring up, and the Arabs drive their
focks to such places to pasture. Where the
grass Will not grow there are sometimes
thorn bushes which furnish food for the
camels and nearly every caravan stops
from time to tine upon march for such
food. Along the railroad from here to thu
At mountains there is in places "a thin
growth of tough grass, and | have seen
thousands of animals feeding upon it. The
focks are usually composed of both sheep
and goats, and strange to say, they are
fat. although it would seem that most of
them are grazing upon the bare stones
AS to the GASES. | saw many on my way
here. Thee are chiefly date palms with mud
villages inside nearby | have visited a
number Of them. and will make a special
letter about them in the future.
AS / have said. the road here was built
for military purposes. 1t is an absolute ne
cessity to the French control of the Sahara
The stations along it all fortified, and
the country for miles about here is one
great camp. Every town has its barracks,
there are soldiers at every station. and
troops on horseback and cames are
moving about everywhere. Benz Ounif has
a garrison of seven hundred. A few hours
ride to the northward is Ain Sefra where
Gen. Lyote, the commander of the French
army of the Sahara, is located. and there
are other troops farther south at Colomb
Bechar, at the end of the road
The Gate to Morocco
Benz Ounif is within almost a stones
throw Of the Moroccan boundary, and at the
gate to a pass through the mountains which
separate the dominions of the Moorish sui
tan from African France. The French
have subdued long since the brigands of
their parts of the Sahara, hut the orig
ands of the Moroccan desert make raids
upon the French GASES, and they also at
tack travellers and caravans going to and
fro err the desert. The base of such eX-
petitions Is the oasis of Tablet, In Mo-
rocco, not far from here. where some
of the worst scoundrels of this part of the
world.
1t was a harka like this that brought
about the battle of Figuig. named after an
oasis about eight miles from here where it
took place. Figug is one of the richest set
Elements of western Morocco. 1t has about