Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-20
AMARR1AaE IN THE Sahara.

Gabes In southern Tunisia- They have po-
Iced the Sahara with their camel soldiers.
and are now sending escorts with such Of
the caravans as pass thar way. So far they
have not created the requisite market at
Gabes, and within the past few months the
reputation OF that port has been greatly In
jured. because 1t has no merchants at hand
ready TO buy out large caravan when it ar
rives. The caravans often carry goods to the
value of tens of thousands of dollars, and
big capital is required to handle their
trade The last caravan which called at
Gabes had to put its wares upon the steam
ers there ard ship them to Tripoi.
In Trlpolitana. all such companies must
have their armed escorts, and every indi-
vidual | see in this part of the desert has
gun strapped to his back. l passed several
caravans coming in and going out. dur ng
ride which l took on a camel along one
of the caravan routes a few days ago. The
only roads | could see were the fresh camel
tracks. but these must be obliterated by
every sand storm, and, in some places, for
quite a long distance, there were no tracks
at all. Nevertheless the Arabs and Bedou-
ms travel two thousand miles over such
wastes. and not once lose their way. The
journey to the Soudan takes many months
and the freight must be valuable to stand
the cost
In the Fezzan.
I have heard much about the great GASES
centers from the merchants Of Tripoli.
the desert. and of the gloomy villages
scattered through it. Between here and the
Fezzaa there IS wide plain of hot stones.
upon which travellers almost roast as
they hurry across. This plain, known as
the Hammada, is about as big as Ken
lucky. and its altitude Is near that of the
Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.
The FeZzan. which lies on the other side
Of the Hammada, also covers large terri
fnry 10 1Ean nocin IN hn
desert. spotted here and there by GASES. 1t
lies just about eight hundred miles north
Of Lake Chad, and the chief caravan
routes to Kuka and Pornu pass drought 1t.
has largely consisted of slaves. and
slaves are carried from the Soudan
by that route through the Fezzan to Trip
OH today. From here they smuggled
to Tunisia. Algeria and Turkey, finding a
ready market in the harems of those cities.
They are often taken on the steamers, as
the nominal wives of their masters No
Mohammedan will tolerate any inquiry into
his family arrangements. and such state
ment prevents investigation. Not long ago
the number of slaves carried across the
desert through the Fezzan amounted to as
many as ten thousand per annum. and 1t is
said that the route from there to Lake
Chad can even now be followed by the
bleaching bones Of the human beings who
have died on the way. The capital of the
Fezzan Is Murzuk. a gloomy city contain
ing ABOUT seven lHOuSdnQ people. II De-
ponds almost entirely on the caravan trade.
Ghat and Ghadames.
Another important caravan center Is the
oasis of Chat. which lies in the bed Of a
dry river, and a third is Ghadames. in
another dry river some distance away.
Chat Is famous for it's great fair, which Is
held once year. bringing together traders
from all parts of the Sahara. In ordinary
times the town has only about four thou
sand population, and the fair has to be held
a great plat noutside The city is sur
rounded by walls and entered only by
gates. Its streets are dark passages, with
houses built them, so that going
through it Is like travelling through the tun-
nels of a mine.
ha-dam-es-I hesitate to write the word,
it sounds so much like swearing-is another
! oasis center Of about the same character
as Chat. 1t has been a trading place since
the days of the Romans. and the caravans
of the Fezzan. Tuat. Timbuktu and Lake
Chad all pass through it. Ghadames is
twice as big as Chat. 1t Is surrounded by
wall three miles in length. but the people
live in only one corner of the Enclosure.
The houses are box shaped and are so laid
out that the women can walk from one
TO another on the roofs, which are reserved
for their use.
Some of the most interesting parts of this
region are along the Mediterranean sea
Here in Trpoli we have 10000 people Far
Their eastward, in Barka. is the town of