The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-03-31

source or other that some young chap
had flown an aeroplane across from
South America to the shore line of our
country but we had to learn that by
the roundabout way of having the
news go back to America and then
come out to US in letters. We didn't
see him or we might have tried to get
him to fly back with letter to some
of you folks.
This is peculiar country we live in.
Just now and for several months here
tofore we have been having winds
from the northeast. They come to
us laden with Sahara Desert sand so
fine that it is finer than dust. 1t
hangs in the air like dense fog on
the tops of some mountains, so that
it is impossible to see for more than
several hundred yards. This is not
only occasionally; it is constantly for
the months of the dry season. Ones
papers that he forgot to put away
become covered with powdered sand.
The sides of buildings facing north
become grey with sand adhearing to
them. Ones dishes at dinner time
feel gritty. One constantly burns
and smarts. But worst Of all is the
treatment one gets when he falls to
sleep with his mouth open! 1t isn't
flies he gets this time, but he finds
himself splitting sand for as much as
a week thereafter. This harmatan as
the English call it or purdu as the
Buras call it has one nice feature
however. 1t relieves the monotony OF
a temperature which sometimes gets
up to one hundred and twenty degrees
or more. While the sun is hidden by
the sand the atmosphere becomes cool.
After having suffered temperatures of
above a hundred constantly for
months it seems to get quite cool. In
the evenings and mornings one can
enjoy to sit by a fire and toast his
feet or some other part of his make
up if he prefers it.
Some little time ago we decided to
take a little trip up through the
southern reaches of the Sahara and
see how we liked the earth's largest
desert from Tripoli, and had the inter-
esting experience of meeting caravans
that had been travelling for months
and which would, on arriving at their
destination Immediately start out on a
trek of months again. We saw all
kinds of caravans: donkey, hundreds
of them go together; camel, horses
and cows. They have the bumped
back cow here and the hump makes
place to anchor ropes to tie on the
loads. The cattle are as large as two
of our largest ones at home and have
horns that would put the Texas long
horns to shame. We estimated some
of the horns to be eight inches through
at the base and to have a spread OF
from seven to nine feet between the
tops. The natives would tie loads on
these oxen until they looked like they
were ten feet high and then family
would crawl up on top of that and
thus the journey would stretch out and
out. They were at home wherever
they stopped.
We tried to follow the trail thru
the sand with our Harley-Davidson
motorcycle. Sometimes when the sand
was a bit more compact we would
speed it up a little and then strike a
place that was softer and find our
selves skidding around and starting
back for home just as if we had been
on some nice slick North American
ice. At intervals along the route
wells had been dug. Some of them
were four hundred feet deep. They
had been dug by hand, of course, and
were kept from caving in by small
withes or saplings woven together and
lining the well. By these wells stood
tall Arab women, straight as arrows,
drawing the water in little sheep-skin
containers and pouring it in troughs
so the camels could drink. One had
to think of Abraham's servant going
to hunt for wife for Isaac some few
years back. In that kind of country
one could think that it had been but
yesterday, for everything apparently
was carried on as it had been for the
last fifty centuries.
Well, we got home and brought the
Harley-Davidson along. He served US
we'll throughout the entire trip.
will conclude this by telling you
that some days ago the natives came
running to our door with the interest
ing information that "Bulum alta tsi
timma ar yeur," which, being inter
preted is, "The balloons are killing
our sheep" I went down with my
rifle to take a shot at them but before
I got there the natives had frightened
them away and they had gone down
from off the mountain on which we
l. L L.