30 BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE ALGERIAN SAHARA. 



Laghouat has been inhabited by the Arabs continuously for about 1,000 

 years, during which time the oasis and its environs have been the source 

 of supply of all of the fuel used and for much, if not the most, of the food 

 consumed both by the Arab and his flocks. Naturally, the food for the 

 inhabitants of the oasis is won from the oasis itself, but that for the beasts 

 is derived from the desert. While it is impossible to learn the number of 

 sheep, camels, and goats which from century to century have ranged over 

 the desert pastures, there is no reason for supposing it was not large, as at 

 present is the case. For example, in the department of Algiers, in 1907-08, 

 the number of sheep is reported to have been 2,109,071 ; of goats 1,156,500, 

 and of camels 23,912.* Of these a large percentage is to be found in and 

 to the south of the Saharan Atlas Mountains. In portions of the colony 

 farther south, or in regions even more desertic than at Laghouat, the num- 

 ber of camels, sheep, and goats is surprisingly large. The statistics for 

 1907-08 give the population of the three classes of animals in the southern 

 territories, that is, the territories of Ain-Sefra, Ghardaia, Touggourt, and 

 the oases of the Sahara, as follows: sheep, 1,932,392; goats, 588,121; 

 camels, 126,088. 



The flocks of sheep and goats range at various distances from the source 

 of their water-supply. It is quite usual for the goatherds to gather their 

 flocks in early morning, returning to the oasis in the evening to distribute 

 the goats to their various owners; but probably in most cases the flocks of 

 sheep, with some goats, return to water once in two or three days, thus 

 being able to stray from 20 to 40 kilometers into the desert. Being less 

 dependent on water, the camels range a much greater distance. It thus 

 appears that the area grazed over by the flocks of the Arabs is fairly 

 circular in form, with a radius of 40 or more kilometers from the wells, 

 and that the range of the camels may be much greater than this. It 

 should also be noted that the caravan routes are broad tracts where all 

 vegetation fit for fuel or food has been utilized. Between the two sources 

 of destruction referred to, the stationary and continuous and the frequent 

 but not continuous, little territory passes untouched as a source of food- 

 supply. 



A visit to the wood markets of the town indicates to what ends the 

 natives resort to obtain fuel. (See figs. 2 and 3.) Among many kinds of 

 wood, some are from the oasis itself, such as the willow, plane, and palm; 

 some from the mountains, like juniper, pine, and oak; and some from 

 the oued, like the jujube and Tamarix. Much of the fuel is at present 

 brought three days' journey by camel. Usually the subaerial portions 

 only of the plants are used, but in the case of the jujube both root and 

 branches are gathered. The fuel requirements have apparently brought 

 about the extinction of some species from certain of their earlier habitats; 



Statistique G6n6rale de TAlgerie, 1908. 



