| Show 1 T T i lert A HAR A althe the T d discoveries Is co eov cov eries erics of recent african explorers have dispelled many odthe of the popular notions concerning the great desert of sahara it used to be described as aba asa tl nearly level sandy plain this plain it is edw does not exist except at its eastern aua ana aud and western extremities the central portions rise in the form of terraces aee ace to or 1200 feet above the valleys of 0 f the atlas and soudan they are interspersed with ravines cavines and granito granite hills barth speak mountains or feet high in general however the surface surfaces of the desert is nna fla flat br or slightly undulating in some places pla pia c ep covered with a thic thick ked bed of sand in others hard and flinty every aspect confirms the opinion of humbolt that the desert is the belt of a former sea sen elevated by a geological convulsion the traveler almost at every step meets with mounds of fossil sheil abell and other debris of marine animals anim alg aig there are immense deposits of rock lock salt in some places as pure as marble and so compact as to serve berve serve servo lasp 1411 inthe the construction comma 0 of houses es soudan derives salt from thi source of nitre ditre or saltpeter is almost ever everywhere where apparent lions tigers and other otier ferocious anim anif animals mial fial with which the desert has in imagination been peopled are arc met with on only V in the forest or the oasis where alone they can find feodor water the lion is kin king of the tho deser desen tonly vonly toniy in poetry man is the true wild animal with whom the traveler I reads an encounter and bandit bandits a infest every caravan route in the sahara sabara a the sahara is not always destitute of witter water in passing between the tho ro ples thieun alib sun carries with him heavily laden nimbus clouds which not meeting with any mountains high enough condense gon their moisture and cause it to fali fall at if intervals ter vals vais descends occasionally by their on onn gravity and drop their water treasures in gushing tor torrents rents renta which nil 1111 every ravine if is a deluge delugo which lasts but a moment the water disappears in the permeable e soil as fast as it came and forms extensive sheets of water a short distance the surface this fact has been revealed by pum rum numerous erous soundings already excellent artesian wells sune sunk by french engineers have created verdant oasis in places where every vestige of vegetation appeared to be eternally b beneath the sand from time immemorial memorial ini the tho arabs have sunk in the open deserts wells several hundred feet deep till they ahby met with the watery bed which bich they call the tile subterranean sei bea 4 |
