New-York tribune., 1922-12-03

hand TO be ready for an ambush, and n
others, such as IN the great river beds
over the boulders, they viii not be abb
TO make full speed.
Starting from Touggourt, the capital A,
the oases Of the valley Of the Oued Ri,
with $4,000 palm trees, 5000 lnhabItspt'
and 1so Frenchmen, they head towars
Ouargla. This part Of the trip is over /,
great, fiat desert, with wells about ever
sixty miles. The French military he,S.
quarters Of the desert are establish,d =,
Ouargla, which Is an oasis OF $500 /,
bsbitants. From there TO Inifel thew v,n
cross a region Of huge sand dunes az
rocky river beds, with only two we'll. !,
$50 miles. IEifel has only four inb.M
tants and a small French fort II Il en-,
rounded by desert Of soft, shifting s.,l
like dust, but the great rocky nIs,..a
leading 10 the Hoggar can be seen h ,1.
distance. The whole plateau is eov.,.I
with rocks and boulders as though a 0is,.
had sown them by handfuls. Thee 49,
are black on top, as though they had b..,
burned, and dazzling white underns,n
They pass Ain-Guettara, where -
deserted fort was built In 1919 a..
caravan was massacred there On !,
10 In Salah. From there Rey hsv. a.
hardest sand Of the desert 70 cro~ q. - -
is like quicksand.
In Salah Is the last oasis Of nor,,...
Africa and was the center Of yesists,,.
against the French penetration Of ge Ga.
hara. II was finally captured In 1901 bv
Captain Pein and has been relatively ouis,
since then. On leaving In Salah there |,
a long sandy stretch before reaching "a.
plateau Of MOuydi and climbing gradually
up 10 the Hoggar mountains. At Arrrs.
Tit, in the Hoggar, the expedition viii
head out toward TimbuctOo and cross The
Tanezrouft.
II they get across that vateriess stretch
Of 500 kilometers they hope to find stock
Of gasoline at Tin-Zaouten, which Is moth.
ing but a waterhole, with maybe tree
or two beside II. From there they pas
through completely unknown land around
the mountain called Adrar Des Iforas, and
finally reach Kidal, where a lonely FrehA
officer is guarding the approaches 10 civ
ilization. They strike the Niger at Boa.
rem, and follow il at a slight distance
until Bamba, where they make the first
contact with the world, for Bamba boasts
a wireless outfit. From there to Tin.
buctoo will be easy going compared %
what they will have crossed.
II this mission is successful IL viii hav,
solved the greatest problem Of the SARAH
transportation. Everything up 70 he
present has failed, even aeroplanes. A
road was built into the desert south
Touggourt, but the French authorities ha
10 abandon it on account Of the cost q
upkeep. The great winds would buV L
in sand, and it then required the work Of
hundreds Of men for months 10 clear T.
Railways have been planned, but the great
expense, added 10 the difficulties Of even
surveying the ground, caused every one
to hesitate before undertaking such
scheme. The main argument against
trans-Sahara railroad is It's uselessness
commercially. There are few travellers
who would patronize such paSsenger
service, and it would cost less to send
freight from the regions Of the Niger
and Congo by boat than over rails.
Aside from NJ. Haardt, the general
manager Of the citroen Company, and "
Audouin- Dubrcuil, the former aviator and