Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-02-03
BURLINGTON, VI
masked N0MADs OF DESERT
Tuaregs Are Forever at War
with All Civilization.
Five Main Tribes Masters OF nm Nrcn
Half ms Inrgc rs United Stntcs---
scarcely 5000 Acres Cultivated
Land.

Back Of the troubled areas Of northern
Africa, where war and agitation for war
has been enEendcrcd anew by the con-
taGion of the world-struggle, there lies !
truceless country inhabited by a people.
tho masked TuarcGs, fascinating for the
mystery and eXcHsiVcnees with which
they have surrounded their life. These
people, natives and rulers of the middle
desert. arc the allies of no one. neither of
the Germanic bund nor Of the entente.
but wage furtive guerilla warfare with
all who invade the inhosptablc Sahara
sands of their domain They are the huC~
cancers of the trackless sand. forever at
war with all civilization and it's restraints.
begins a war geography primer just is
sued by the National Geographic society
which describes the people now warning
with the African armies of italy for the
maintenance of their power to levy trib
ute upon the ancient trans-Saharan car
AVIAN routes
Masked Tuaregs are Berber nomads.
white desert people. whose country is
probably the most inaccessible on earth.
Even before Egyptian civilization began
to leave coherent records of its history,
the Tuarcgs. or Bcrhcrs, We're long es
tahlshcd along northern Africa. Tho
great Arab invasion of the 11th century
displaced them from their possessions M
on the seacoast and drove them into the
savage area of the interior desert where
with their hands raised against all who
come into their painless country, they
have maintained themselves through the
n q a
ter, sandstorms, and lack OF farming
land reuuisitionne by force Of arms from
the Arabs and Egyptians. to the north
and east. and from the blacks of the
Soudan. in the south. such necessities and
luxuries as their cherries portion of
mother earth can not supply them.
There are five main tribes in the Tuareg
confederation. and they inhabit the desert
from Tuat to Timbuktu and from Fezzan
to Finder. Their homes are reared in the
unnatural heats and unmarked distances
shroud everything in uncanny mystery.
They are masters of an area half that of
the United States in extent. OF this 100
@o square miles of territory, scarcely 3Ho
acres or less than the area of New York
city is cultivated land This scanty farm
b
struggle with the drifting sands These
fierce adventures who have forced the
/ great desolation to yield them support
number 10000 or more, according to es-
( innate; and they have made themselves
feared by the natives from the Mediter-
ranean to the iungles Of Central Africa.
| The Tuaregs wear the end of their tur-
ban cloth drawn around the face, allow
| hing a.
is Worn for the purpose of protecting the
! throat and lungs from the cutting blasts
Of fine desert sand and. also, probably
as an element enhancing the mystery o1
their life, for they seldom or never re-
| move these masks, whether rowing ole'
the desert or visiting in the cities on the
coast Due to these cloths. they are call
ed Masked Tuaregs. while the Arabs cal
them "People of the VEIL The masks are
dark blue and white. the former ben-
, worn by Tuareg mobiles and the latter 10y
the serfs and slaves.
| Some centcrs for trade. ruareg towns
are situated in the middle desert. Thes'
are Wargla. Timbuktu. Chat, Ghadames
Murzuk and lnsalah. However thu
Tuareg has little cares for trade and in
dustry. He is a fearless, enduring, hard
fighting adventurer along the merchan
disc trails that cross the desert. Two i'm
portant trails leave Tripoli. on the coas:
and traverse 800" miles of sands and bar
rem wastes to the Soudan. where rich car
goes Of skins. gold, ivory, and other -
terror African products are loaded upon
camels and brought northwan. some
times single caravan consists of thou
sands of camos and merchandise to tn
value of hundreds of thousands of dollars
| When passing through the Tuarcg coun
try the leaders of such caravans have ha
10 pay tribute to the chieftans by tn
way for safe escort or run the risk O
losing all their goods
From Morocco to Tripoli, the reentles
ferocty the cunning, and the daring @
, nnDleasant to the more peaceful native