The Dermott news., 1916-09-21
BUCCANEERS OF THE DESERT
Masked Tuaregs Acknowledge No Ale glance and Wage War With
 All Civilization.

Back of the troubled areas of north eru Africa there lies a truceless eoun- try. inhabited by people, the masked Tudregs fascinating for the mystery and eNeIusiveuess w&h which they have surrounded their life. These peo- pie. natives and rulers of the Middle Desert. are tbe allies Of no one, but wage q furtive guerrilla warfare with al wEo invade the inhospitable Sa- hara sands of their domain. They are the buccaneers of the trackless sand. forever at war with all civilization and it's restraints. begins a war geography primer issued by the National Geo. graphic society at Washington.
 Masked Tuaregs are Berber no- mads. a white desert people, whose country ts probably the most inacces- sfhIc on earth Even before Egyptian e#yiHza6en began to leave coherent records of it's history the Tuaregs, or Herbess. were long established along northern Africa The great Arab in- yasien af the eleventh century dis
 placed them from their possessions upon the scacOast and drove them into the savage area of the interior desert, where. with their hands raised against all who come into theN pathless coun- Try. they have maintained themselves through the intervening centuries, de- spite lack ef water. sandstorms and lack of farming lands, requtsitienlng
 by force of arms from the Arabs and Egyptians. 10 the north and east, and from the blacks of the Sudan. in the
 south such necessities and luxuries as their cheerless portion of mother
 earth cannot supply them.
 There are five main tribes in the Tuareg confederation and they inhab- it the desert from Tuat to Timbuktu, and from Fezzan to Finder. Their homes are reared in the heart of arid
 wastes where vast soltudes, unnat- ural heats and unmarked distances shroud everything in uncanny mys- terv They are masters of an area half that of the United States in ex- tent CT this .5o0000 square miles of territory. scarcely 5000 acres. or less than the area of New York city, is cultivated land This scanty farm land is oply maintained by an en- during struggle with the drifting sands These fierce adventurers who have forced the great desolation to yield them a support. number 300,000, or more. according to estimate, and they have made themselves feared by the natives from tho Mediterranean 10 the juugles of Central Africa.
 The Tuaregs wear the end of their turban cloth drawn around the face, allowing nothing but the eyes to be seen. It 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 en- hancing the mystery of their life, for they seldom or never remove these masks. whether rowing over the desert or visiting in the cities on the coast. Due 10 these cloths, they are called Masked Tuaregs. while the Arabs call them People of the Veil. The masks are dark blue and white, the former being worn by Tuareg nobles and the latter by the serfs and slaves.
 Some ceuters for trade. Tuareg
 towns. are situated in the Mibdle Desert. These are Wargla, Timbuktu, Chat Ghadames, Murzuk and Insalah. However. the Tuareg has little cares for trade and industry He is a fear less, enduring. hard-flghting adven- turer along the merchandise trails that cross the desert. Two important trails leave Tripoli on the coast. and | traverse 5000 miles of sand and bar ren wastes to the Sudan, where rich
 cargoes of skins, gold, ivory and other interior African products are loaded upon camels and brought northward. Sometimes a single caravan consists of thousands of camels and merchan- disc to the value of hundreds of thou sands of dollars. When passing through the Tuareg country the lead CTS of such caravans have had to pay a tribute to the chieftains by the way for safe escort or run the risk of los ing all their goods.