Evening star., 1925-04-26
MAKE RICH GARDEN
OF AFR|CAN DESERT
French Have in Somaliland
Key to Traffic With Aby-
sinnia by Railway.

French adventurers have recently
made the first crossing of northern
Africa by automobile from the coast
of Guinea on the Atlantic to Jibuti, in
French Somaliland, on the Indian
ocean, a distance of $3.50 miles. The
little patch of French Somaliland
where the Journey ended represents
Frances only continental territory in
East Africa. says the National Geog.
raphic Society, which describes the
region in a bulletin issued from its
Washington headquarters:
French Somaliland is a small real
ity that France has held on TO in
northeastern Africa after the collapse
of dream of empire in that region,
when the famous Fashoda incident oc-
CURED. French troops camped at
Fashoda on the upper Nile in 1898
and planned cooperation with Abys-
sinia in ffinging band of French ter
ritory all the way across northern
Africa. But the appearance OF
Kitchner's forces discouraged the idea
and the French expedition passed on
to Somaliland. leaving the Sudan to
undisputed British control.
Keeping Pace With Britain.
Parts of French Somaliland have
been in the possession of France since
bought. but the place was not oc-
cupied until 1884, when France be-
- came concerned over the occupation
of the neighboring island of Perrin
The Gibraltar of the Red Sea'-by
Great Britain. Within the next few
years French control was extended
to territory in the vicinity OF Obok,
and the present region, about $500
square miles in extent, was marked
out.
"A glance at the map shows the
strategic value of the colony. Its coast
forms one shore of the Strait of Bah
el Mandeb. the gateway to the Red
Sea. Jibuti. which in 1896 superseded
Obok as the capital and chief city is
a French Aden, and is situated directly
across the Gulf of Alden and about $50
miles from that important British sta
ton. Into Jibuti put French ships of
war and trade bound through the
Suez Canal to Madagascar, French
Indo-China and other French pos
sessions of the East. It's function as
a supply and coaling depot has
brought a certain prosperity to the
port.
Is Port for Railway.
"Jibutis great economic Importance,
however. arises from the fact that II
is the saltwater terminus of the only
railway which taps the riches of
Abyssinia. Started in 1896, the line
was incomplete for many years, eX-
tending only a relatively short dis
tance into Abyssinia. 1t was pushed
to completion during the World War.
reaching Adds Ababa, capital of Abys-
Sinia. Trade passing through Jibuti
jumped with the establishment of this
steel highway. and in 1918 reached
$4,000, 600.
IL
perial Ethiopian Railway is still in
habited by rather wild and unruly
tribes. It's trains are operated only in
the day time. When the first locomo-
tive ran over the line the ignorant
natives thought it a sort of super
lion, and rushing in its path, threw
spears against its steel front and sides.
The loss of legs and arms taught them
that the new beast was invulnerable
to their weapons, but they still harbor
keen resentment against the railway
and its trains. The railway exists
largely for political reasons. and was
built al a tremendous cost Before the
World War the passenger fare was
about % cents a mile. The increase of
business, however, is putting differ
ent economic compeXion on the pro-
ject. The products brought out of
Abyssinia consist in the main of cof-
fee, ivory hides and skins
Has Little Dead Sea"
ut took Imagination and the abil-
tty to look far into the back coun-
try and into the future to see any
economic value in French Somali-
land at the time France began her
acquisitions there. The coast and
coastal strip of considerable width is
one of the most desolate regions i'm
aginable, consisting of sand and vol
10 .nlre
patches of low scrub. The Gulf of
Tajura, 28 miles wide at the mouth,
bites into the land to a depth of
36 miles. Cliffs of volcanic stone
form the shores of this gulf for many
miles, giving way in places to
tumbled masses of volcanic debris.
Some five miles inland from the tip
of the gulf is Lake Assal, Somali-
lands Little Dead Sea-. The sur
face of this lake, five miles long by
four miles wide, lies nearly 500 feet
below sea level. Its shores are en-
Crusted with beaches of shining white
salt. In the terrific heat of the de-
preston natives gather the salt and
its production constitutes one of the
major industries of the colony.
Made Garden of Desert.
Supplies of underground water
have been located and tapped by the
French, and garden plots established
where before the French advent all
was desolation. On the upland plains
inland antelope and other game
abound. Lions and leopards are also
found in considerable numbers.
Italy wanted France to cede Jibuti
10 her at the time she entered the
World War on the side of the allies.
France would not part with her valu-
able coaling station and door to
Abyssinia even in those trying times,
but instead made Italy a concession
on the Tripoli Tunisia frontier. Jibuti
is a town of white buildings, for the
most part one-story structures. 1t
numbers less than 10000 inhabitants,
of whom about $50 are Europeans,
the remainder being a hodgepodge
of Somali and other African natives,
Armenians, Jews, Arabs and East
Indians"
The demand for artificial silk