The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1912-10-15

Morocco, the desert comes 10 a close
in some localities as suddenly as il 1t
had been cut off with a knife; in
others it merges gradually into the
well-watered and fertile lands OF the
Soudan. This sea-like aspect or GER
tain portions of the Sahara has given
rise to much popular misconception
as to it's general appearance, and mas
even affected the ideas and phrase
ology Of some scientific writer's. IL
is not all the low sand-plain that 1t
is widely supposed to be. 1t is rath-
er a region of the most varied sur
face and irregular relief. Rugged
hills of barren rocky formation,
known as hammada, plateaus OF nrm
clay. mighty fields of loose stones
and water-worn pebbles, shallow pa
sins filled with very salt water, ana
arid steppes covered with sage brush
are interspersed with the famous
sand-dunes which give character to
this remarkable region. Those terri
Bile expanses of shifting sand 50 me
that it actually penetrates the SKIN
of the traveller and makes breathing
distressful lie chiefly toward the
east, in the Eastern Erg, as it is
called.
This is the region which from the
highlands of Algeria and Morocco
looks so much like a storm-tossed
sea. The dunes in all parts of the
Sahara lie generally in long undulat-
ing lines, very like the pillows OF
/ the ocean, with gradual slopes to
windward and an abrupt descent lee
ward. They are usually 90 TO ~
| feet in hight, but are said to attain
in some places fully 800 feet. The
/ sand that forms them is exceedingly
fine. being, in fact, the dust OF rock
battered and powdered by the action
! of centuries of fierce winds and RAIN
| less heat by day and sharp chll by
night. In this condition every slight
est breeze is sufficient to raise II
in choking clouds, though the amaz-
ing reports of frightful sand-storms
which overwhelm whole caravans pc
ing the common thing in the desert
are mere fairy tales Under the IN
thence of the winds all the dunes
are subject to a certain amount OF
continual change, of course, put
their equilibrium is such that IN To-
geographic distribution they are com.
paratively permanent. some Oh
them even have names of their own.
In any discussion of the recognl-
+ion of this great waste it must be
horne in mind that, since by far the
greater part of the Sahara is from ~
feet to more than a mile in eleVa-
tion above ocean level, and those
tracts which lie below ocean Level
are chiefly valleys between the nils
and mountains or the basins OF an
Gent lakes never very extended IN
area a Sahara sea would consist on
.1v of an exceedingly irregular body
of water containing many Islands and
extending into the unfooded districts
in multitude of bays and coves
II would be considerably less than
one-third of the size of the Mediter-
ranean.
IF the Sahara sea should have an
entire area of 100000 square miles
With q mean depth of 1000 feet
and both estimates are generous
If would contain about $4,000, 0OO,-
O00 TONS of water. Whether the ca
nal were cut to the north coast OF
frica or to the west the flooding
would be gradual and the leVel Oh
the Atlantic would speedily be re-es-
tablished.
Would Plan "Unbalance" the Earth
Objections have been made to TINS
gigantic irrigation scheme that II
would "unbalance" the earth, that II
would change the temperature OF
Europe and that it would defect the
great currents of the Atlantic. Emil
nent scientists have shown these OBJ
iections to be puerile and fanciful;;
Another danger that has universal
import consists in whether or not
such a sea would too greatly cool
the winds that blow from Africa
across the Mediterranean to southern
Europe. But it is safe to predict
that while colonists living upon the
shores of the Sahara sea would
doubtless delight in any cool zephyrs
that might blow from its surface
around their homes there would be
no appreciate change in the "Afrie
breezes' that blow across the Medl-
terranean. The Sahara sea would be
merely a big shallow pond, an un-
usually large irrigation reservoir,
compared with the natural seas and
great lakes of the world