Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-26

baths to he had. where bandits might
be expected. and so forth.
Yet from the standpoint of science
| they were mt sufficient. though we
| knew that the Cart ha ginianS did
great business in gold and precious
stones, ivory and slaves. and that
| their commerce was carried in cara
vans across the desert. We deter
mined to trace the routes as far az
| possible.
1t was by no means SO eaay to do
| as II is TO state. The expedition had
| to be planned months ahead. and Spe-
| ciai cars n1arilfac ct ured. cars which
would carry us for six hundred miles
| at a stretch. carrying their own sup
| plies of water and gasoline. thus MAX
! ing us at least partly independent of
the wells and caches of supplies that
were sent ahead and deposited every
| two hundred miles.
We believed. however. that our or
ganiza ion was laid down well enough
20 ohviate difficulty. and that with our
modern equipment we should come
| through with no miShap whatever.
| But we had reckoned without the
| Sahara.
GO far "a we know. the Sahara Of
~ fered few dangers which we had
not foreseen and prepared against.
| It's two principal terrors We're raiding
ands and thirst. or course. there is
third. which may or may not arise
to hattie any caravan. and that is the
ga nd itself No expedition can really
| prepare against sandstorms.
Yet We were optimistic. The people
of the desert were reported tn he
| friendly. and 40 we found them on
-I,<I1 dtffornt1f
| Journey for ne from the one which
was F'latter's last. F'latter was one
Of the heroes Of the Sahara who in the
pusuit Of knowledge. and to provide
Recommendation on the geography of
the Sahara. led an expedition nearly
q hundred strong across the inter.
minable stretches of sand.
He was allowed 10 go forward in
peace until he was we'll ont Of reach
Of renforcements or support. and then
the natives gave him evidence of their
friendship. The expedition was met
with presents Of food. which we're ac
cepted.
The food was dates. and the dates
were mixed with poison that drives
men hysterical. The 'A'mbers of The
expedition ate gladly. and when the
drug had taken effect the treacherous
natives closed in. and the expedition
was wiped out to the last man.
This we knew could not happen
to us. There We're. so far as we knew,
no mara uding hands Of fanatics, and
the French authorities had provided lis
with guards who kept in touch with
us most of the time. The camel
corps had instruction 10 follow the
track of our cars through the desert.
SO that II diSa ster should threaten
help would not he too long delayed.
Yet it so happened that our secu-
rity did not lie in our protectors. but
in the merest chance. A hal nd Of armed
ma IA uders. the largest that had been
reported at large in the Sahara for
many wears. threatened TO cut across
the trail OF the expedition at point
far distant from help.
They were ostensihly on cattle
and camel raiding exploit, having
come down from Morocco for the
purpose. but one knows enough of
the irregulars Of the desert and
enough Of their frame of mind to
know that one expedition Is worth
many camels.
for It. helieve they missed us. and
II was not until we reached Taman
raseet that we knew how close they
had heen or how strong. They
would have outrumbered us so to |.
and I fear that with the hest will in
the world those odds would have
heen nearly insurmountabie.
It seemed strange on the whole