IN THE DESERT

Evening Star, Issue 21055, 18 March 1932, Page 11

IN THE DESERT

A DAY’S JOUHKEY !N THE SAHARA To the right arc mountains. All around is a sandy, stony waste, sprinkled with scrubby bushes, tufts or fennel, and bunches of camel’s salad. And stretching far away beyond the horizon are tho counties miles of the great desert, with tho sand dunes or Oumache just visible enough to give you a glimpse of what real sand can bn. Tolga, the Arab Zab or village, which, with tho surrounding oases in this part of tho Sahara, gives tho district tho name of tho Zibau, lies twenty-live miles ahead. This is tho goal of our journey. And a long clav’s work is before us. The pace of our caravan is determined by the camels, whoso queer ship-like 'rolling movements cover the distance at only two miles an hour. Tho mules, nothing loth, accommodate their steps to this, generally going either a little in front or lagging a few yards behind, for, in common with horses, they have an extraordinary dislike to the near proximity of camels. Tho men in charge of the animals walk beside them; tho guide rides a small donkey, and is furnished with a pistol. His brothei-, a handsome young Arab of about twenty-four, carries a long-barrelled gun. Those guns are in general use among tho natives of tho Sahara. Doubtless, besides their use for tho chase, they arc sometimes necessary in case of an attack for tho purpose of robbery. Failing a gun, the native carries a knife in a rough wooden sheath or a heavy cluh-likc stick studded with nails.

But, except occasionally, in eases of famine, tho traveller upon tho Toiga road is safe enough. In times of actual distress for food the natives sometimes get desperate. Tho diligence, a clumsy, slow-travelling cart which takes tho mail and carries has been attacked during a season of scarcity. Tho people of tho Sahara hayo so littlo to live upon, and for that littlo arc so absolutely dependent upon the earth and what it will yield, that a had season and failure of tho all-important former and hitter rain simply spell starvation.

STARVATION,

A pathetic little drama, showing what hunger can really mean, was acted before our eyes during the journey to Toiga. Our caravan had halted lor lunch near a small cafe, or rest house, just off the track, built for the French soldiers when they pass over the desert. Hero was water for the animals; here the Arabs could obtain coffee. The morning had been long; wo had.started early, and were quite ready for food. Just as wo had finished, and when there was nothing left but a few scraps, an emaciated cat crept round from behind us. We gave it a chicken bone, which it pounced upon joyfullly. Jnstanty a .still more starvcd-Inoking dog, who had been watching us from a distance, not being able yet to make up its mind whether wo wore really to bo treated as friends, dashed forward and seized the bone from the cat. The next moment an Arab, who was passing, and who, unnoticed by ns, had also been watching, rushed at the dog, took the hone actually out of its mouth, and began ravenously gnawing it himself. To such terrible lengths can hunger and starvation go in the Sahara. As this state of filings is the result of drought and the absence of rain, what wonder that the miraculous power of bringing that blessing is one of the attributes with which the 1 marabout is most frequently credited. Quo of our guides is about to lie married. Tie has tired of his first wife, who had annoyed him by her habit of giving some of the money that lie allowed her to her relations. So ho had divorced her, according to custom, by the payment of six francs to tho Kadi of file village. He has wailed the prescribed time, which in bis case happens to be a very short one. Tim law decrees that u man may not divorce bis wife and marry again during the same year. So if the divorce can bo arranged to lake place in December the remarriage ini'.v bo in January. As they walk beside the camels of our caravan the Arabs practise the weird, barbaric music of the marriage song. A line or verso is sung by the prospective bridegroom, which is answered or followed hv bis friends and I relations in unison. This goes on, over and ovci again, in endless repetition.

The half-melancholy music, punctuated by tho crack of gun and pistol shots, is in keeping with tho scene. Tho minor chords of it belong to tho mysterious harmony of tho half-savage native life. But when it has continued for almost an hour without cessation tho monotony of the sounds at last grows to be almost unbearable. One welcomes something else that may possibly occupy the thoughts and the voices of tho Arabs.

And presently the relief comes, for a wonderful echo claims their attention. The men shout and whistle, and fire off gnus to scare perhaps the mocking spirit who is answering them. For the firing of guns is thought to drive away tho demons. Over and over again from tho distant Aures Mountains tho sound comes back with perfect and unusual repetition.

MIRAGE

A few moments later there is another illusion, and one which might well fill the primitive mind first with expectation and I hen with awe, In tho misty distance to tho loft of onr pathway there is a vision of water with palm trees growing near it; cool, shining, beautiful water, like a lake or a river with fiat hanks. It looks so clear and distinct, so altogether delightful, that after a long journey across the desert one can imagine how the tired camels would long to turn aside and press on towards it. The nearer wo approached the farther it seemed to recode, until at last, when wo wore upon a line with the place wliero it had seemed to be, the beautiful mirage vanished altogether.