The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-05-02
TUAREGS
Ruthless Buccaneers of the Mid
die Sahara Desert.
AT WAR WITH ALL MANKIND.

These Nomads of the Trackless Sands
of Northern Africa Levy Tribute
Upon All Caravans They Meet and
Live In Mystery and Exclusiveness.
I'm northern Africa there lies truce,
less country. inhabit by people.
the masked Tuaregs. fascinating for
the mystery AMI eXs luSiveneSS with
which they have surrounded their life.
These people. natives and rulers of the
middle desert. are the allies of no one.
but wage a furtiye guerrilla warfare
with all who invade the inhospitable
Sahara sands of their domain. They
are the buccaneers of the trackless
sand. forever at war with all civiliza-
ton and its restraints" says an article
issued by the National Geographic So
ciety at Washington, which describes
the people always willing to fight for
the maintenance of their power to levy
tribute upon the ancient transsaharan
caravan routes.
Masked Tuaregs are Berber no
mads. a white desert people. whose
country is probably the most inaccessi-
BILE on earth. Even before Egyptian
civilization began to leave coherent
records of it's history ~3e Tuaregs, or
Berbers. were long established along
northern Africa. The great Arab in
vasion Of the eleventh century dis
placed them from their possessions
upon the seacoast and drove them into
the savage area of the interior desert,
where. with their hands raised against
all who came into their painless coun-
try, they have maintained themselves
through the intervening centuries de-
spite lack Of water. sandstorms and
lack Of farming land. requisitioning by
force of arms from the Arabs and
Egyptians, to the north and east, and
from the blacks Of the Sudan, in the
south. such necessities and luxuries as
their cherries portion of Mother Earth
cannot supply them.
There are five main tribes in the
Tuareg confederation. and they inhabit
the desert from Tuat to TimbuktE
and from Fezzan! to Finder. Their
homes are reared in the heart Of arid
wastes. where vast solitudes, unnat-
ural heats and unmarked distances
shroud everything in uncanny nys-
terry. They are masters Of an area
half that of the United States in ex-
tent. Of this 100000 square miles Of
territory scarcely 1900 acres. or less
than the area Of New York city. is eul-
tivated land. This scanty farm land
is only maintained by an enduring
struggle with the drifting sands.
These fierce adventurers who have
forced the great desolation to yield
them a support number 100000 or
more. according to estimate. and they
have made themselves feared by the
natives from the Mediterranean to the
iungles of central Africa
1.-THE Tuaregs wear the end of their
turban cloth drawn around the face,
allowing nothing but the eyes to be
seen. 1t 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. fo-
they seldom or never remove these
masks. whether rowing over the desert
or visiting in the cities on the coast.
Due to 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 mobiles and the
latter by the serfs and slaves
Some centers for trade, Tuareg
towns. are situated in the middle des-
ert. These are Wargla. Timbuktu.
Chat. Ghadames. MurZuk and Insalah.
However. the Tuareg has little care
for trade and industry. He is fear
less. enduring. hard lighting adventur-
er along the merchandise trails that
cross the desert. Two important trails
leave Tripoli, on the coast, and traV-
erse 5000 miles Of sands and barren
wastes to the Sudan, where rich car
goes 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 leaders
Of such caravans have had to pay a
tribute to the chieftains by the way
for safe escort or run the risk OF losing
all their goods.
From Morocco to Tripoli the relent-
less ferocity, the cunning and the dar-
ing Of the Tuareg are mingled In all the
traditions unpleasant to the more
peaceful natives along the coast. The
Tuaregs meanwhile openly spy upon
the caravans in course Of Quitting in
the coast cities and thrive upon the
tribute they are able to exact.