THE GREAT SAHAKA *

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1435, 13 September 1861, Page 5

THE GREAT SAHAKA *

The author of this volume, an accomplished and intelligent English clergyman and a zealous naturalist, being recommended to spend the winter in a more genial climate than that of England, twice visited Algexia, and on the last occasion made, in company with a f nend, * four months' tour in the northern part of the Great Sahara Under Flench auspices and protection the chiefs of the different tribes with which he came in contact received him with hospitality, and he had no difficulty in penetrating as far south as Waregla, a distance of about 250 miles, or about one-seventh of the entne distance to Tnnbucfcoo. Insignificant as this portion of the great desert appears on the map, the natural features of the Sahaia are so monotonous and unvarying that the traveller has only to imagine the oases and wells at greater distances from each other, to be able fully to realise whatmust be the charactei of an expedition acioss this most barren of countries. What its barrenness is may be judged of by the following description of its fertility. "I said that the desert, as viewed from the heights of Laghouat, appeared mtei uainable; but my rides to the Dayats soon showed that even this has its varieties. If any reader has formed his idea of the Sahara from Turner's well known picture, with its unbroken horizon line on all sides, a dying camel m the fore ground, and a vulture soaring aloft, the only objects to break its monotony, let him at once dispel the miaty illusion. The Dayat, which is veiy frequent to the south of Laghouat, may be looked upon as an unimprovab'e oasis, where there is no constant supply of water to be found by boring, but where, from the configuration of the substratum of limestone, it being in fact depressed into something like a saucer, moisture gathers after the rare and uncertain thunder-storms. This moisture affords just sufficient support for a few Terebinth trees and wild Jujubes, under whose shade a scanty herbage, intermingled with some desert plants, is browsed by tioops of gazelles and a few antelopes. Heie the golden eagle and the royal kite hold court and courtship, and cany on a perpetual but bloodless war faie with the raven, and the shrubs below aie occupied by many waibiers little known, and but raiely seen by European naturabsts " | The following extiact gives an idea of the difficulties I to be encountered in traversing this inhospitable coun- j try .— I "From Guerrara our faces weie set steadily southward, and we were well equipped for a forced inarch of three days. The plain, for some time after we mounted from the Wed Seder, was covered withrollingsand-dnfts of fine and almost impalpable powder, driven and npplemarked by the wind, in which our horses sank at eac'i step to their knees. The only plant I could discover was a Garlic, new to me, with ,i leaf about 2 feet long, and scarcely the tenth of an inch in width, and a loot with a flavour stronger than evei was bieathedfiom the mouth of a Tuscan peasant. Soon we rose upon a stony plateau, of different geological character from the country of the M'Zab, composed of secondary limestone, but covered with rough masses of conglomerate, and innumerable sharp pebbles of silex, of every hue, apparently disintegrated from their matrix, which the winds that sweep this elevated tract had carried entiiely away, and deposited in the lower ground through which we had just so painfully waded. Only here and there was the surface dotted by dwarfed and colourless desert shrubs, about 6 inches high. Not sorry were we just after nightfall to reach our appointed bivouac —the bed of the Wed N'ca. marked in the gloom by our gradual descent among clumps of a dwarf Tamarisk new to me (Tarn. Buonapartu, Cosson), and other shrubs, which aftorded us abundant fuel." For about half the distance southward, Mr. Tribtram w as on Fiench teintory; this terminated at El Aghouat, or, a3 called by the French, Laghouat; a city of 2,700 inhabitants, surrounded by mud walls, and embosomed in Palm trees. Being a rendezvous for the wandering tnbe3 of the Sahara, who deposit their corn here when tbey move south for pasturage, it is a thriving place — "The women carry on an active manufacture m ' Djellali,' or horse-housings, which have a great repute ; in dyed ' djerbi,' or blankets, in haiks, and especially in ' filah,' or Morocco leather. The filah, which is always red, is considered equal to that of Morocco. The seciet of its preparation consists simply in tbe tannin used, which is the inner rind of the Pomegianate, a most powerful astringent. So prized is the rind, that hare, wheie the fruit is most abundant, and beneath price, the hkin sells more than its measure in w heat, a very costly commodity. The best rind for the purpose is that of the wild or bitter pomegranate, and it is a common practice to send the crier about the souk or market, exclaiming—'Who will let out his teeth to peel pomegranates ?' and the dyers actually hire masticators to provide them with tannin. But the principal source both of wealth and subsistence, here as in all the oases, are the gardens, of which there are 391, all watered by the Wed Djidi, whose stream is intercepted by a darn just below the groves. These gardens yield three simultaneous crops First of all the closely planted surface supplies Canots, Onions, Melons, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, Red Pepper, Tomatos, Beans, Maize, Cauliflowers, &c, which flourish luxunantly under the thick shade. Over these rites a dense mass of fruit trees, Apricot, Peach, Almond, Quince, and many tiellised Vines ; and above all, a second dome of Date-Palms (djereed). The taxes are raised by a small payment for each fruit-bearing tree, and, besides 20,000 female and 500 male Palm trees, the last census gave 26,000 Apricots, 0,600 Peachtrees, 24,500 Figs, 1,300 Quinces, 2,400 Pomegranates, 800 Pears*nd 1100 trellised Vines. A considerable quantity of 'heimez' or dried Apricots is exported, but the Date-Palm is the most carefully cultivated. The male trees blossom in the month of March, and about the same time the case containing the female buds begins to open. To impregnate these a bunch of male flowers i«i carefully inserted and fastened in the calyx. Towards the commencement of July, when the fruit begins to swell, the bunches aie tied to the neighbouring branches." After leaving Laghouat, Mr. Tristram pursued his journey through the country of the Beni M'Zab, a tribe in friendly relations with the French, and whom he considers as the most interesting people he encounteied. He visited seveial of their towns, and was everywhere hospitably entertained at the expense of the state, eveiy householder being in turn compelled to furnish provisions foi the strangeis. They offer a strong contrast to the nomad tribes around them, being peaceable and industrious, availing themselves to the utmost of the resources within their reach ; in fact, with such a boil and climate to contend again3t, cultivation ie impossible unle«3 umemittingat-

• The Great Sahara. By H. B. Triitram, M.A., F.L S., Bvo. J. Murray,

tention be paid to it. " The cultivation iv these gloves or gardens was excellent, far superior to that of Laghouat. The soil was allaitificial; every sort of mauuro carefully husbanded, then spread and watei ed well bef 01 c being ploughed in, and after the surface had been raked, the seed was sown in drills. Round the root of each Palm was a hollow trench to hold water, and the land was laid in patches for cultivation, aa m Egypt, with little nuniatuie water courses in every direction, dividing it into rectilinear figures of about a yard squaio These watercourses were fed by neat channels of about 4 inches in depth and diameter, beautifully formed of hard lime, and blanching in all diiections from the well, bo that the precious fluid could be conveyed without the slightest waste thiough the grounds. Each garden is daily watered, and planted in every possible space. As at Laghouat, Fines are trellised from Palm to Palm, Fig trees, Quinces, and Pomegranates, add their paler green to the dark wavy trees above them ; while Capsicums, Pumpkins, Carrots, Turnips, and Barley, occupy the suiface." The M'Zab indeed seem to be far advanced in civilisation , they possess seven cities, each having " its own paihament for the settlement of its domestic affairs," while together they constitute a republic, "governed by a djeinmfia, elected by the separate states " Their sewerage arrangements are lepresented as so good that we might with advantage take a hint from them ; and long befoie llifle Volunteers were thought of in England they were enrolled iv Africa, though we cannot but think there h some mistake in the extreme antiquity Mr Tristiani assigns to them. "Here are the butts of the Rifle "Volunteers, at which every foitnight 100 of the citizens are summoned to practise ball firing for three hours in virtue of their dignity as the militia of the confederacy. The taiget is the face of a lock, which, by the practice of centuries, has actually been hollowed into a cave of 12 feet deep, 'this presents the convenience of enabling them easily to re-collect the whole of the expended lead." Ornithology is Mr. Tristiam's favourite pursuit, and we believe that this name is by no means unknown to the followers of that branch of natural histoiy. This being the case, he has lieen foitunate in the country he has selected for his expedition ; for it abounds in laic and interesting buds, being indeed the winter resort of many European species How must his eye have been gladdened by such a sight a& is here described ' " Not fat fiom tins is a small salt lake, which abounds m buds of every variety. Conspicuous among them is the Flamingo. On approaching the lake a long white line could be seen stretching right across it, looking somewhat, by its slightly undulatory motion, like the foam of a line of breakers on a reef. But the alarm is given, the white line becomes animated, rises, and expands — first of a snowy white, then, as the birds simultaneously turn, unfolding thousands of black wings, it appears a dark speckled confused mass ; then as they wheel from the spectator, the soft pink colour of their backs and wing coverts absorbs all other hues, and screaming, with outstretched necks, they fly off, an animated rosy cloud. It is the most gorgeous sight on which the naturalist's eyes can feast. The flamingos ale most difficult of appioach, and it is only by a chance flock crossing overhead that a shot can be obtained. But though the flamingos have gone on the first alarm, myriads of birds remain ; ducks are swimming literally "en masse , " clouds of the pietty white winged black tern are playing overhead, and making feints almost within reach, while the beautiful black-winged stilt, the tamest of waders, daintily lifts his long pink legs as he gi acefully stalks through the shallows, or more hurriedly lea\es the nests which are profusely scattered round us, unprotected and unconcealed, among the mud and grass. The opposite side of the lake is bordered by a mass of tall leeds, into the lecesses of which the waterhens and purple galhnules are hurrying, and fiom whose thickets resounds the harsh note of the great sedge waibler or thrush nightingale, mingled with the gentler strains of many lesser aquatic warblers On all sides of us the collared pratincole is exercising its arts, like the lapwing, to lure us fiom the eggs which he scattered on the hard dried mud, dropped by threes into any chance camel's footmark , and gioups of little Kentish plover are running rapidly by the watei 's edge " Again, at Laghouat " the'Palmgiovesaretheresoits of thousands of migiatory birds, which are busily employed m pecking at the Dates, and keep up a elm ping at times almost deafening Here aie the winter quarters of many of our familiar English birds. The chiffchaff, willow-wren, and whitethroat hop on every twig in the gardens. The swallow and the windowmaitin thread the lanes and sport over the mouths of the wells m pursuit of the swarming inosquitos. The hoopoe solemnly stalks on eveiy dunghill, a cherished and respected guest. The white fehnke perches motion less on the extremity of the Palm leaf, while a pan or more of the Egyptian turtle dove nestle in the centre of the tree, and a landom shot will startle from under the Dates a dozing ' booma,' or little owl " This interesting and instructive volume is completed by an appendix, containing lists of the Fauna and Floia of the Sahara. The latter comprises 610 species, the most abundant families being Crucifene and Salsolaceaj, while "in the whole desert but one Orchideous plant one single Fern (the Maidenhair), and only two bulbs, a very small Alhum and a small Crocus, are found."