The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-04-21

he had recently ridden seventy-fvc miles
In one day Jack and myself were mount
cd with English saddles on two pure
Arabian threc-yenr-old colts, which be-
lied the gentle nature commonly attrib-
uted To their breeding. They bucked,
trotted and gIlloped, and AT irregular
intervals acted worse thnn the average
Western broncho, when ridden III . ten
dertoot We managed to keep our seats.
however, Notwithstanding the stony des-.
ert and the winding walls OF the Gases in
closures. 1t took US about an hour to
reach the Moroccan frontier. We crossed
1t from Algeria between two high. brown.
rocky mountains. ana at once entered g
beautiful valley, filed with thousands OF
date palms.
The Oasis Of Figuig.
This was the oasis of Figuig. IT con-
sists of this valley and has great date
plantations. Standing at the entrance,
between Mount Tarla and Mount
Ieriasa, each barren rocky brown
mass about COCO feet high. we could
sec a forest of green-leaved palms.
ranging in width from two to three
miles and extending up a ravine for u
distance of seven miles or more On
but sand, rocks and mountains. perfect
ly bare, thirsty and dry. The palms
formed great green sheet in this set
ting. with round brown watch towers
made of sun-dried brick and the yell
low rninarets of the village mosques
rising above them. On a hill in the
centre we could see the mud houses
OF tIlc village Zenaga. but the other
towns Z I the oasis were hidden in the
forest OF palms.
This oasis has, am told, about the
largest number Of palms In one solid
block of any in the Sahara. Mr.. Pas
calet thinks there are more than a
million trees, and am sure 1 saw two
or three hundred thousand lying in
front of and below me as ] stood on
the Jorf, one of the highest parts of the
oasis.
Fed by Hot Springs.
Many of the GASES of the Sahara lie
along dried-up water courses. which
are flooded during part of the year.
FiguiS is fed by hot springs, which rise
out OF n hill in almost the centre. and
are conducted by underground drains
about q 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
|
ture OF about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
There are seven villages in the oasis.
and the largest of these springs are
found in the date plantations on the
highlands ofIthe town of FL Abid. in
about the centre of the oasis. Who
first constructed these underground
drains which carry the water from
level to level on one seems to know
AIr. Pascalet H,1s asked many of the
Arabs, but their only reply is: I'VE
dc not know when they were built,
but 1T was many. many years ago"
IT may have been two centuries ego,
and it may have been longer, but how
ilcng no one knows.
These drains are kept in order to-
day, and new ones are constructed from
time to time. There must be hun
dreds of miles of them, for they reach
every part of the oasis, being con-
nectcd in each of the village planta
tons by great reservoirs. where the
water is stored when not needed for
Irrigation. Each tree, am told, gets
o good drink q least twice week
During my stay visited FL Abid
and these springs. The palms grow
all about them. In some places they
are only two or three feet part, and
the branches meet overhead, shutting
liE great watts, some are in hollows or
ravines, and others in wells or square
| tanks. During our visit the Arabs
] We're bathing in one of the springs,
land crowds of white crowned men with
i rags about their heads looked out at
me over their long boards as I took
these notes AT one place Jack at
tempted to take a photograph Of them,
but hte Arabs protected and looked
angry, only to smile again when Mr.
Pascaet told them that we We're taxi
ing pictures of the palms and springs
only; and that we had very good-look-
ing men in France and America, and
hence did not need to take home pic-
lures of the natives of Figuig.
Among the. Date Plantations.
tltteen thousand acres is a pretty
p4s 1arm, and as I estimate 1t, that
Is Ms, iust "a about the extent of these GASES.
RMS figuiS farm, however is like
nothing you can imagine. 1t is divided
UP into little pens or gardens each
or which Is date plantation. MANY
| or the holdings are not more than a
quarter OF an acre In size, and each
Is surrounded by walls from eight ia
| Twelve teet IN height The walls are
| mud; and they usually face upon tha
| roads, so narrow that as Erode on nv
horse through them could easiiy
touch the mud bricks on both Sides,
Here and there wall was broken
at the top, and / could look over and
sec the date trees and the gardens
| within.
Many of the date palms reach high
above the wall: but others arc not
more than six feet In height and still
] they bear dates, The trees are about
eight Inches in diameter, and they
seem to carry an even thickness from
the ground inward. The highest
l We're, / Judge, not over twenty feet
tall, At the TOP they branch out In