The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-04-23
\ VISIT To tTGUIG, IN THE NILDs
OF THE WESTERN SAHARA.

Spring--A vast system OF IrfIga-
Ton by Underground Pipcs-Iakine
TN Will the o0r-Fra G.. Car
prnter Make, II Trip icross the Dcs-
c.t From Ne ria INTO on =
Bncking Algerian Coit-HiS Guard
of Soldiers Furnished b" the French
Teni Onnif. Algeria have just
returned from the great OASIS Of Fig
uig, on the boundary between Algeria
ana Morocco 1T lies here IN the heart
Of the Sahara desert, 400 miles south
Of the Mediterranean and 400 miies
from T;mbuktu, In the French Sou
dan. If / should go westward through
Morocco about as far IS from HcW
FORK to PittSburg. ] would strike inc
port Of Mogador, on the Atldntlc ocean
and If took camelS and Travelled 70
the east should have to go through
the sahara for a distance as great as
from Philadelphia To Salt Lake City
before found anything green and
came To the valley of the Nile.
\ Caravan Center.
Figuig has long been a caravan cen
ter, and today the freight from a large
umbe Of GASES is shipped here on
camelS. This is 50 Of Ia1let. IN MO-
rocco, from where the best dates come.
ana of Twdt. q large collection of
odCtE0 III - itf HA'''1 '41'
trolled b. the French, three or fou.
hundrcd miles To the south of US.
some Of his freight still goes to
Figuig. but a large part Of IT has
been diverted to Coiomb Bechar &trd
Benz Ounif. to be sent "y
the new railroad.
This roint is about as far north as
campls can come without danger of
catching cold. If they go farther tlty
get sick and die. For this reason he
goods from other oases We're ohce
brought here and then sent to tie
Mediterranean on donkevs or mules
The exchanges were made at iiguiS
and his caused it to become Il COM
mercial center It's merchants were
noted as some of the OF
the Sahara, and hey sent regular
caravans to Tlemcen and to Mellla; IN
Spanish Africa. on the Mediterrtn"dr
sea. About three years ago the
French completed their railroads y.
this noint and Figuig is rapidly !"s.
ing ita trade.
TIE Heart of the Desert.
/ wish | could take you across The
desert as | saw it today MY Sur-
roundings here are so different from
anything we have in America that j
almost despair of making my picture
a live one. You must first imagine
the bluest of blue skies, out of which
shines a dazzling white sun, who's"
lI1dJ IL 1 " ~ bIiS SN''
which blow over the desert almost rs
so clear that we can see for miles;
regularly as over the sea. The ar -
SO clear that we can see for miles;
and uDon all sides there are ragged
brown mountain in view. Here aud
there among them there are patches
of stony white sand, some as bare as
the Seashore and others showing lit
tie patches of thorny green bushes.
We start out from Benz Ounif, I fOrfl-
fled Wn with many French soldiers
and crowds of MOOrS. Arabs and Ber-
be. $. Camel troops are making thes
way through the streets, officers IL
uniform dash here and there on Arab
ian horses, and companies Of soldiers
in bright reds and blues, are marching
this way and that. This Is one of IN :
Widest ARTS of the Sahara and KS
people are only held in check by the
military forces. Farther eastward in
the Algerian desert conditions are
safer, but here, on the edge II MO-
rocco, no ones dares to go about with
out arms. and Just over those noun
tains the lone traveller would almost
surely be killed.
Across the Desert Guarded by Soldiers.
Indeed, it is impossible to visit the
oasis of Figuig tho an armed eS-
cort. Foreigners have been badly
treated there in the past, and the
Christian who Ventured there a few
tb b5' 1V'A hiip - ~ M $500
The French government will not per-
nit travellers from here to go alone
into Morocco, and it was only upon
my showing Capt. Pariel. the chief OF
the Arabian bureau, q letter which |
have from our Secretary of War to
the governor general of Algeria that
two IRA soldiers were detailed to
accompany us.
These men were armed with repeat
ing rifles. They rode Arabian horses
and kept right in front or close behind
US during our journey. In addition
to them l had with me my son Jack
and Mr.. Pascalet, the proprietor OF
the Hotel du Sahara and one of the
leading merchants of this part OF the
world. Mr.. Pascalet speaks Arabic as
we'll rs French and English, II ne
acted as our guide and interpreter dur
ing the day. He has a branch store
in one of the largest Of the F1Sull
villages and has many friends among
the people.
Buckin@ arabian Colts.
We started at daybreak. The SUI
was just rising as we left Ben Ounif
1t came up a red copper ball out o
the eastern horizon, and in Il few mo
mentS took on a white heat, only Il
be lost half an hour later by the thicl
sky which has ended tonight in tn
sirocco. or wind storm, Of the desert
We rode along single file. Each o
the soldiers sat on Il red Arab saddle
with 4 high pommel and back, am
their horses We're good. Mr.. PaScale
rode Il White Morocco mare, which h
said had cost him q thousand dollar
and upon which he had recently rid
den s~evenIy-five miles in one day
Jack and myself were wit
English saddles on two pure arabian
th-ee-year-old colts which belied tn
gentle nature commonly attributed t
their breeding. They bucked, trotte'
AMI gailoped, and at irregular inter
walls acted worse than the averag
western brOnchO when ridden by
tenderfoot. We managed to keep GU
%eats, however, Notwithstanding til
stony desert and the winding walls Q
He o1rSeS Enclosures. 1t tool us abOu
in hour to reach the from
t,er. We crossed it from Algeria be
tween two high brown rocky noun
teins. and at Once entered Il beautifr
valley filled with thousands OF dat
l-tllnS.
The Oasis of Fiouio.
This vas the oasis of Figuig. Tt cor
eis.s of this valley and has great dat
plantations. Standing at the en-
rance, between Mount Tarla an
Noun Lenaga. each a barren rock
brown mass about 1000 feet high, W
could see a forest Of green-leave
"almS, ranging in width from two t
three miles and extending up a ravin
tor Il distance of seven miles or NOR,
on DOth%SideS and beyond were nOtf