Evening star., 1930-06-15
When Storms Sweep the Sahara Sands
THROUGH an Inferno Of Skn-Searing Heat
and Lost Amid the Dunes Facing Mad
ness From Lonely Fear i'm a W>ind-BlaSted
Waste-Lure That Leads Explorers On.

abated somewhat at sunset. After considerable
effort to move car through some newly
formed dunes, we gave it up at last, long past
midnight, and, wrapping ourselves in our
blankets in futile effort to keep out the sand
lay down by the side of the car Through the
magic medium of sleep were wander
ing along the cool meadow streams of France
of England and of sweet Elysium
THE Sahara, under the mighty sweep of a
sandstorm, is the most Internal region on
earth. And at all times, it seems there is the
wind The sand dunes are formed by the wind
countless ages of wind have carved the rocks
into forms fantastic; the whole mighty desert
is one buffeted, tortured wind-blasted devil
haunted God-forsaken waste. Such are the
bitter thoughts and denunciations of the trav-
eler caught in a sandstorm. He curses it
and returns to it again and again!
To me the wind is one of the great afHic-
tions Of the desert. 1t is impossible to de-
scribe the state of ones nerves after several
days or weeks of the harassing torture of the
invisible fiend that sears the eyebals, cracks
the skin, hinderS every motion one takes and
finally reaches into the very brain and makes
ge-podge of that
hate the Sahara more than words can tell
GouS dL AABHC when Cne W1nQ QleS out, when
the sand ceases to Scurry, when the sun splasheS
down and turns the sand clouds into a golden
FURNISHED veil, when that inexplicable desert
peace envelops the landscape, then the fighting
of the day is forgotten, forgiven, and 1 love
again the mystery of the desert and the in
spring grandeur of the land.
In the Sahara never leave camp before the
sun rises, and never leave at any time with a
broken compass You can get lost so quickly
that you haven't the slightest idea how it hap
mad in Faaf fIokBe
may be only few miles from camp possibly
only few hundred yards, but you are lost all
the same At first is quite angry and
chagrined over ones own stupidity then as
time passes anger and chagrin are followed by
exhaustion, and on the heels of exhaustion
comes fear-and then comes madness!
I passed through all of these sensations
save the latter one-one day on our way to
Ghadames. We had been camping by little
water hole near the great Hamada El Homra
and in the hope of getting game of two kinds
a gazele and some Libyan inscriptions re-
solved to penetrate into a rocky region and to
follow for some distance a dried-out water
course. One of our cars had broken down
and 1t would take three four hours of the
early morning for the mechanics to make the
repairs
Feeling that I would have no trouble
in the matter of direction, took my gun
compass and glasses and pushed off before
dawn, intent on exploring a few miles of the
region.
AS the first glimmer of dawn appeared I
found that the terrain was quite uniform and
was sprtnkled with dark gray Sunburned rocks
OF volcanic formation, interSpersed with sand
dunes For two hours / followed the old
river bed, examining the rocks for traces of
the primitive rock sculptures that are COM
mon finds in some of the most desolate parts
of the Sahara. But the quest was fruitIess
and had just decided to follow another old
river bed when it occurred to me that it would
be wise to get my bearings. climbed to the
ton nf yhaf 7 20 b.
mass Of stone, but upon reaching the summit
found that there were innumerable rock hills
on either side, all of uniform height and form
Beyond was the far horizon of mountains
circling around me, garbed in the pale laven-
der hues of the early dawn. They, too, took
a confusing uniformity.
However, / made certain conclusions con-
corning my directions and then decided to
return by a fresh train in order to explore
some new territory. Fully convinced that the
camp was due west, turned south and climbed
for another hour through the monotonous,
never-ending hills. BY that time the sun was
well up in the sky. 1 began to feel its warm
ing rays. After another half hour I hastened
my footsteps and soon found myself almost at
trot, but moving in what thought was the
right direction The beginning
to beat upon the blackened stones and I was
becoming thirsty.
now began to feel foolish. was already
late and delaying the start and time was a
precious element in our rush across the desert
to Ghadames. Then followed anger. The con-
founded hills were all the same size, color and
height. My gun became increasingly heavy,
the sun hotter, and my thirst quite torment
ing. All around me a of internal
rocks. 1t seemed that 1 climbed a score of
them in an effort to catch sight of the camp
kept going west for another hour The loneli-
ness and silence were becoming appalling. The
sky was ablaZe. My brain began to whirl I
kept thinking of Barth, the great German
explorer, who in the Hoggar of Adjzer had
wandered from his camp and became lost while