The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-01

AA< The reported recent successes w of the Turks over the Italians focuses the war news searchlight on Tri- poll of Barbary, a section of northern Africa which is described as a land Of little promise in war geography bulle- tin issued by the National Geographic society from Washington today.
 "Tripolitania occupies the land along the Mediterranean sea from the Iunisiah frontier to the Gulf of Sidra. From the coast southward, with an average width of 40 miles, runs a plain called Jetara. At its southern border rises with steep ascent a chain of mountains commonly called Jebel, of which the most famous part is Jebel Gharian. These mountains form a sort of tableland which slopes slightly southward till it reaches Ham ada-el- -Homra, a flat, rocky plateau or
 about 4O.000 square miles, covered with little red stones, absolutely dry and arid. of Fezzan, a collection of oases in a country of dunes and desert. Fezzan forms a wedge of sparsely inhabited lana into the great Sahara.
 "The coast of Tripoli, which extends over a length of 100 miles. offers few natural harbors The harbor of Tripoh itself is dangerous, because or the many rocks which lie at the entrance. It is only
 on the eastern coast of Cyrenaica, which is sometimes called the Marmarca. that
 we find two harbors of the very best
 quality: Bomba and Tobruk; but as
 neither has a hinterland, their value is | thoJ O. bruk is less than a hundred miles dis tant from the Egyptian frontier.
 "What Is the population now inhabitlng
 Tripolitania, that immense area of 4oo.- GOO square miles (nore than half the size of the republic of Mexico)? No exact
 census exists, but all competent ob-
 servers agree that it hardly exceeds soo.- 900. That means about two inhabitants
 to the square mile. The settled popula- ton inhabits an area of 1900 square miles about one-twenty-drst of the whole land.
 Tn Tripoli every native calls himself with pride an Arab As matter of fact
 a certain number of Arabs came into the
 country with the Mohammedan conquest of North Africa in the sixth century A. D. But the peninsula of Arabia was never 50 densely populated that it could send away many emigrants. The Arabs conquered North Africa and converted its population to their religion. A few of the conquerors remained in the country. and these are still fairly pure representa- lives of their race; they live as nomads. or Bedouins, in tents. and move with the ot@er <o other Their number is difficult to esti-. mate, but 1t is about 5000. The rest of the population, the settled part, are Ber- bers; their blood is mixed witis that of Arabs. and also of negroes. The negro element which we find everywhere in | Tripoli. has its origin in the slave traffic
 of former days, which brought thousands of Sudaness to the coast of the Mediter-
 ranean.
 Agriculture and cattle raising are the chief resources of Tripoli. but they flourish only in small patches; fertile | land we find on q narrow strip along | the coast. in the region of Jebel l Gharian and in Cyrenaica. The prod uct is barely which in the last few years has superseded wheat, olives. figs and vines. Barley is shipped mainly to
 England, but the crops are subject to
 great variations. owing to the uncer-
 tainty of rainfall.
 Much has been said in the press by
 Italian political writers about the l grandiose prospects of the country.
 These prospects are mainly based upon
 the supposition that rripolitania was.
 under the Roman empire. province of flourishing agriculture and enormous wealth. There can be no doubt that Tripoli once saw better days. although the accounts of some of the ancient
 writers seem to be exaggerated. The
 causes of the decline are manifold and
 far from clear. The decline commenced
 when Rome's power began to weaken. The wild tribes of the desert. which
 had been kept down by force, took ad-
 vantage of Rome's weakness and at-
 tackled the boundaries of the colony.
 The elaborate system of irrigation
 could only work when there was ab- solute security. When peace was no
 longer assured. the agriculturist was hindered in his work.
 . .country-which is, however, still a point of controversy--is change in the climatic condition of the region.
 There is probably some truth in this
 assertion. Every man who has seen.
 in the midst of the desert. the ruins of