OCR Text |
Show THE DESERT OF SAHARA. A. M. Largeau, in 1871, visited the valley of the Igharghar with the intention of branching off at Rhadames to study the commerce of that oasis and test the practicality of diverting to Algeria the caravans that come there by the central route of Sondau. He questioned the chambas on the causes of the great Sahara streams, and found that all agreed in saying that these dead rivers once ran full through a country more fertile than the Tell, (the Region north of the Atlas mountain's crest), but could only explain it by legends more interesting than satisfactory. M. Largeau gave the following explanation of the change. It is known that pastoral people have always been great destroyers of forests, for they need large spaces of clear ground to feed the flocks that form their wealth, and to promote security against the wild beasts that lurk in the forests. Even now the Algerian Arabs are seen firing the woods to enlarge the narrow limits imposed upon them by colonization. So, although the great Saharan streams have not been exploded to their sources, yet it is known that they commence on the bare plateaus that are but the skeletons of heights once wooded and fertile. All accounts of the inhabitants of this region agree on that point. Consequent upon the destruction of the forests the periodical rains were replaced by rare and short though violent storms, the waters from which, instead of soaking in as in past ages, slip by on the rocky masses, carrying away the rich surface mold, and bringing about the drying of the springs, and, as a direct consequence, of the rivers. |