ASPECTS OF NATURE IN THE SAHARA. 179 



was constructed of a firm setting of gravel and sand; only at rare 

 intervals did it bury itself beneath an extensive sand covering, and 

 even then it emerged, as clearly marked as before, to continue far- 

 ther into the interior. The caravans have trod the line firmly, and 

 their trail is a broad, open road; but the French have given stronger 

 contour to its outlines by planting one hundred and seventy miles 

 of telegraph poles, and to-day the service is being conducted still 

 farther, to beyond Ouargla. The Arab chief, except in so far as he 

 may be the leader of a caravan, has virtually disappeared from this 

 section of the route; but at two or three days' joiirney the Tua- 

 regs and other wandering tribes, to whom tribute is paid at the 

 point of the spear, hold almost undisputed possession of the desert. 

 It was along this route, considerably beyond Ouargla, that the sci- 

 entific corps of General Flatters, sent out with a view of examining 

 into the possibilities of railroad construction into the far Sahara, 

 was virtually annihilated; and it is for this same route that the in- 

 domitable M. Rolland seems finally to have secured the practical 

 co-opemtion of his Government toward building the road which 

 has been so long outlined. 



Not knowing the exact nature of the country, and least of all 

 the conditions of security which govern traveling in a region so 

 near to that in which unpleasant tragedies had recently been enacted, 

 I applied for a military pass before leaving Algiers, and through a 

 fortunate access to the good- will, in the absence of the governor- 

 general himself, of his representative, Captain Lasson, obtained the 

 following order: 



"The French Republic, General Government of Algeria: 



" We, the Governor-General of Algeria, beg the civil and mili- 

 tary authorities to give aid and protection in case of necessity to 



Messrs and traveling to Fort National, Biskra, 



and Tuggurt. 



" By command of the Governor-General, the Captain, Chief 

 of Internal Affairs and of the Military Service. Algiers, August 

 29, 1896." 



While this paper was naturally a very pleasant addition to the 

 " documentaries " with which we had already provided ourselves, as 

 so often proves the case with papers of its kind, there was no occasion 

 to bring it into use — at least, not for the purpose for which it was 

 prepared. We nowhere met with hostile tribes, and at the wayside 

 caravansary — the Borj, Burg, or fort — received only hospitality and 

 that simple attention which distinguishes the Arab. Humble refresh- 

 ment, except coffee, is hardly to be obtained here, but the refreshing 

 shade of the large stone building is at the service of the traveler, 

 and it is not often that he is tempted to pass without availing him- 



