Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-20

in this setting with round brown watch
towers made of sun-dried brick and the
yellow minarets of the village mosques ris
ing above them. On a hill in the center we
could see the mud houses of the village
Zenaga but the other towns of the oasis
were hidden in the forest of palms.
This oasis has. l am told. about the larg-
est number of palms in solid block of
any in the Sahara. Mr.. Pascalet thinks
there are more than a million trees, and
am sure / two or three hundred thou
sand lying in front of and below me as l
stood on the Jorf, one of the highest parts
of the oasis.
Fed by Hct Springs.
Many of the GASES of the Sahara lie along
dred-up water courses, which are flooded
during a part of the year. Figuig is fed by
hot springs. which rise out of hill in al
most the center, and conducted by I'M
dergrouid drains about a foot square, made
of stones and cement, through the fifteen
or twenty thousand acres which are covered
by these trees. Some of these springs are
luhewarm and others have a temperature
o. about 10 degrees Fahrenheit
There are seven villages in the oasis, and
the largest of these springs are found in the
date plantations on the highlands of the
town OF FL -ihid. in about the center of the
oasis. Who first constructed these under
ground drains which carry tie water from
level 10 level 10 one seems to know Mr.
Pascalct has asked many o: the Arabs, but
their Only reply is: we do not know when
they were built. but 1t was many, many
years ago. Il may have been two centuries
ago and II may have been longer. but how
long knows.
These drains are kept in order today and
new ones are constructed from time to time
There must lie hundreds OF miles Of them
for they reach every part of the oasis. be-
ing connected in each Of the village plan
tatons by great reservoirs where the water
is stored when not needed for irrigation.
psh oil riul. at
least twice u week
During my stay visited FL Abid and these
springs. The palms grow all about them
In some places they are only two three
feet apart. and the branches meet overhead
shutting out the sun. Some of the springs
in great watts, some are in hollows or
rovines and others in wells or square tanks
During oar visit the Arabs were bathing
In one of the springs. and crowds of white
gowned mer with rags about their heads
looked out AT me over their long boards as
| took these notes. At place JACK at
tempted to take a photograph of them, but
the Arabs protested and looked angry, only
TO smile again when Mr.. Pascalet told them
that we were taking pictures of the palms
and springs, only and that we had very
goOd-looking men in France and America
and hence did not need to take home pic
lures of the natives of Figuig.
Among the Date Plantations.
Fifteen thousand acres is a pretty big
farm. ard as j estimate it, that is just
about the extent of these GASES. This Figuig
| farm. however. is Ike nothing you can
| imagine. 1t is divided up into little pens or
gardens. each of which is a date plantation.
Many of the holdings are not more than a
| quarter of an acre in size and each is sur
rounded by walls from eight to twelve feet
| In height. The walls are OF sun-dried brick
! pastered with mud; and they usually face
upon the roads. SO narrow that as i rode or
| my horse through them i could easily touch
| the mud bricks on both sides. Here and
| there, wall was broken at the top and /
| could look over and see the date trees and
| the gardens within.
| Many OF the date palms reach high above
| the wall; but others are not more than six
! feet in height and still they bear dates. The
I trees are about eight inches in diameter
| and they seem to carry an even thickness
! from the ground upward. The highest were
/ | judge, not over twenty feet tall. At the
| top they branch out in great fan-like green
leaves. and from the roots of the leaves
| hang the clusters of red and yellow dates
| The fruit is long. fiat and smooth and of
much the same shape as a butternut with
| the shell on. j saw many clusters, any one
| of which, / sure held half bushel of
dates and not a few trees bore half
| dozen clusters or more. Some of the dates
are now ripe and We ate them fresh from
1 the trees. They sweet as honey and
| their flavor cannot be imagined by those
who have only tasted the mushy black
dates of our grocery stores.
Under these palms. apTicots. peaches
pears, pomegranates and other such fruits
were growing: and below them In some