Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-02-15
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
~ etE
National Geographic Society
AnoI1T THE SAHARA

Passage recently of a meet. OF spe-
cially constructed automobiles across
the Sahara Desert from the Mediter-
ranean to the once mysterious city
Of Timbuktu, in less tina a month
-one-third the time required .py
camel caravans-serves to empha4
size how little is known of this vast
region whose name lis familiar to
every school child In "a bulletin
from it's Washington, d. &C., head
Quarters, the National Geographic
Society points out some of the "Sa-
hara3~ falfactes.., $50 s3Tls - $sS Sc
ssThe trouble with popular know
ledge about the Sahara says the
! bulletin ELS, to paraphrase, that we
knoWtso much thatFfsfft SO. s"ss US
Not a1t'fSea OF sand"
"Everyonez.knows $, that 1t is a sea
I,of sand, for Example, when as a
matter of facts It is predominantly
| a land of rocky piatea us and 1rfoufi-
tains, With sand plentiful enough
but playing a minor role. SUI
I'VE know that 1t is tremendous
ly hot; but we often forget sthat,it
is also tremendously cold after n
sun goes down. &ft@t ~
"We know that the whole segion
is bone dry when in reality rn~
mountains of the Interior receive
considerable rain ana are even said
by some travellers to be capped with
snow during a part of the year; and
area after AREA is being shown 70
have water available from artesian
reservoirs In the earth below. when
the Ssoi1 Is given water it Yields most
satisfactory lily as the oases with their
springs. which are natural artesian
wells, have proved for ages. s9tF,7'i
There are good enough reasons
for the prevalent misconceptions
and the general lack of knowledge
about the Sahara. 1t was known
FIRST from its northeastern corner
where it stretches westward from the
Nile: and there 1t Is in truth a sea
OF sandse The vast1biIIowy, shifting
dunes of the Libyan Desert, Then,
inspired a striking word picture,
| which came to be- applied by the
world to the whole Sahara. TIE
fact chat q band Of sand dunes also
extends pretty much along the en-
tire northern edge of the great des-
eft for Hundred or more miles
inland from the Mediterranean
| coast, furnished further circumstan-
fiai evidence to convict the Sahara
of being a sea of sand t7 7tS
Fanatics Discouraged Exploration
@The deselate sand dunes were
enough in themselves to discourage
most7Wouid-be travellers who might
have found the truth to the south.
Add to this that The people who
came out of the sands were fierce,
fanatical warriors who early estab-
lished regulations for 5massacring
strangers first and wondering about
their errands afterward, and it is
small wonder that the European
world went on century after century
without knowing anything about the
| Sahara. 1870 't'E So - st1s
Behind the bulwarks of sand that
stretch in a semi circle from the
Nile SOUTH of the Mediterranean, be-
low the Atlas Mountains and to the
Atlantic, lies the real, and until re-
Gently the unknown Sahara. Recent
estimates are that loose sands make
upibetween only one-tenth and enet
ninth the area of the Sahara. South
Of Algeria the northern sands give
way TO rising, rocky ground, which
leads to an extensive plateau of mas
sive rock. pebbles and boulders, and
finally 800 miles from the coast are
crags Of the Hoggar Mountains, g.
600 to 5000 feet high. ~
10000 Foot Mountains
This roof-peak Of the Sahara is
almost exactly midway Between the
Mediterranean and the Gulf of Gui-
nea, and not far from the halfway
| point between the Nile and the At
lantfc. From 1t p1ateaus slope in
every direction; but to the SOUTH
east the descent is only temporary,
for farther in that direction lie
other ranges eliminating In the IT,
bestis With q peak 1850 feet high.
It is the highland portions of the
Sahara. regions 'strikingIy different
from the sand dune sections, that'are
the homes of the fierce, yelled Tia-
regs. Believed to be descendants Of
the pre-Arab peoples. They have
constantly preyed on the camel cara
vans that Arabs and Jews have sent
periodically across the desert. ss'
THE French. since their political
entry into northern Africa at Al
giers in 1880, have extended their
control farther and farther into the
desert, establishing posts in the prin-
cfpal cases. They have never satis-
factorily gotten the central plateau
region in hand, however. The re.
cent successful automobile expedi-
ton across sand, rocks and noun
tains, Is looked upon as an Import
ant step in opening up this key re-
gion to the great desert and to the
control of its Important north-south
caravan routes"
n "ENH. thf--+f