TRANSFORMING A DESERT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17919, 25 October 1932, Page 7

TRANSFORMING A DESERT

ITALY’S PLAN SEQUEL TO FIND OF WATER ROME, Sept. IC. The possibility of transforming a barren desert into rich meadows with 'sufficient pasture for 20,000 camels and innumerable sheep, is being envisaged in Italian official circles as the result of a discovery by Dr. Frobcnius, the famous German explorer of Africa. Dr. Frobcnius lias found water hidden .in the desert of Italian Tripolitania, in North-east Atriea. The soil in this region is chemically of the greatest fertility, but hitherto the area has been quite undeveloped because of the lack of water. The discovery is directly connected with that of the prehistoric rock drawings recently discovered. These rock pictures —some of them painted as well as deeply engraved—served a religious purpose, and were erected where the prehistoric population of hunters, shepherds and peasants gathered together, ONLY WELLS NEEDED * Sucn points wore necessarily connected with the water supply derived from the rivers and lakes, and Dr. Frobcnius said to-day that the river courses below the desert sand can be traced by the lines of engraved rocks which still stand or have fallen in and now lie where they once stood. An area of definite and immediate promise is that of Bcrjuch, between Murzuk and Gat, where .the course of a subterranean river has been traced for a distance, long enough to water 160 square miles of land. All that is necessary is to sink wolls. This piece of country, Dr. Frobcnius .said, had apparently been completely overlooked. Had it been visited the trees still standing on knolls with their roots into tho damp soil would have drawn attention to the possibilities which he has now confirmed. The Italian Colonial Office has lmd long conferences with Dr. Frobcnius since his arrival in Rome, and Signor Mussolini has asked for a special report.