The Detroit times., 1912-12-03
BY CUTCLIFFE HYNE

CATu OI winch ndu Deen Amounted
with luminous paint. Automatical-
ly, too, he counted mis- footsteps and
estimated the distance travelled.
IL was no labor To him TO do this.
lie was one OF those rare men 10
whom map-making comes by in
stinct. There are a handful or them
In the navy, where they are for the
most part wasted; and there are said
to be three in the British army. The
remaining half-dozen for the most
part survey impossible places In the
HimalayAs where nobody wants 10
20, or correct portions or the bad
Official may OF the British Isles, and
send the results 70 publications
which nobody reads.
The spurs OF the Atlas. at this
part. e.. western end. southern
fiank-run more or less parallel to
one another In north and south
direction.
In their lower portions. before
they get muddled up in the foot lis
that border on the sahara Plain.
they are distinct enough, the tops OF
! the ridges being sharp and stony.
and the valleys in between broad.
ana nat, and fertile Al the upper
end they run into the general scheme
Of the range. which IS chaotic. and
Of course IL must always be carried
in mind that the whole thing IS done
on an enormous scale.
AT the end OF another four hours
rapid tramp. and the sailor had
broken into a trot whenever the
ground would permit the pace, he
came to another divide. and looked
over into what was obviously the
valley Bergash had talked about.
The moon had retired by this, but
the clouds had gone. and the sky was
lighted by the wonderful African
stars. and earth below them stood
out like dark photograph The
valley was not lovely: agricultural
land Is seldom that: but IL caught
the eye with an irresistible fascina-
ton. Here was the only example re-
naming today OF the old Roman
4 type OF cultivation in Africa.
! Irrigation was the keynote OF the
whole. A stream. coming from the
unknown heights OF the Atlas above,
tran down the valleys center like a
backbone. II was raised by an aqus-
duct a hundred feet at an average
above the ground level. At constant
Intervals were masonry dams TO catch
the fertilizing food water. Ribbed
across the aqueduct, each perhaps
half a mile below the one above Il,
were other Outs running east and
west from which the water was dis
ltrfbuted in runlets over the fields Oh
II was required.
Infinitely simple was the scheme:
lntolerable must have been the
amount OF labor required to pile up
all those enormous masses OF mason
ry. One can imagine the rage OF
mischevous Moroccan sultans when
they tried to destroy II and failed;
but there II stood las II stands to-
day. as perfect as when II was built
In those old centuries by some soldier
Of fortune who had learned his art
In the hard school OF imperial Rome.
But archaeology was not thing
that troubled Captain Kettle at that
Cor any other) period or his career
He viewed the valley and its appur-
tenances with an inquiring eye. and
scheme that would profit his owners
and relieve the present necessities OF
Miss Emily Dubbs.
The night was dark. and even the
blaze OF African starlight has it's
limit in illumination. To start with,
Kettle saw no trace OF the saints
fortress which he knew ought some
where 10 overhang the valley. From
where he stood. IL lay, as a point OF
fact, against a black background. and
was invisible even to any one who
knew the countryside.
Even when he descended to the
floor OF the valley. and opened out
The rock against the skyline, he had
walked good two miles among the
corn-fields and the irrigating chan
uels before he discovered that II was
anything more than bare rock left
stranded by nature when the great
bulk OF the Atlas above was up
reared
The two highest ambitions of that
old Berber mercenary who had en-
gineered IL were that the place
should be strong, and that II should
not be conspicuous. and to this latter
end he had dovetailed his buildings
into the rock and built them OF stones
Aewr from the rock itself
Captain Kettle walked with head
erect and ears cooked and worked
MS way down-valley along paths that
wound between the high stalks OF
the corn. The valley was filled for
he most part with stiffness. but now
and again the faint sounds OF NOV
Ing things met his ear. and as he
walked farther down these increased.
There were rustlings and there were
lrattlings as the tall stalks OF the
corn knocked against one another,
and presently there was an unmls-
taxable grunt
"Ah," said the sailor. "a wild boar
having its supper" and an he spoke
the night was split with the below
II gun. and the valley roared with
its echoes.
Gruntlng testified \ hit. but from
other parts OF the crops a wild STAN
lpsde bore witness that the pig was
there in goodly number. But, so
Ioresentiy, Il seemed, were the Ber-
bers. Crash. bang. crash. went the
BLACK powder In the guns. and the
lpebbles, the leaden slugs, and the
Crude iron bullets with which they