742 Mr. A. Hennj Savage Lanclor [May 31, 



The Tuareg of the desert are now well kept in hand by the 

 French. The word Tuareg comes from the x\rabic Tank (plural 

 Tuareg), meaning "the God-forsaken people." The Tuareg call 

 themselves Tarogi, the feminine of which is Tarogia ; but more 

 commonly they go by the name of each large division of tribe, such 

 as Imohag, Imotchak, Imagarin. They mostly speak Tamatchek. 

 The Tuareg can be divided into four great divisions, two of these 

 divisions inhabiting the basin of the Niger, the other two the 

 mountainous regions of the central Saharian plateau. Then in the 

 desert were the Sinussis, a troublesome lot of fanatical Mohammedans, 

 living east of the Tuareg country. 



There were two principal religious confraternities, or two great 

 families of Marabu, who held under their religious dependency 

 nearly the entire population of the Sahara. The Tedjadjina, the 

 oldest of these confraternities, was based on the True Light of 

 Islam, and was principally created to unite all the people of the 

 Sahara. The second division, the Sinussi, was organised after the 

 French conquest of Algeria, in order to fight against the ever 

 increasing European influence over Mussulman states, and to preserve 

 the people of the Sahara and Central Africa from European con- 

 tamination. Fanaticism of the most exalted kind was preached by 

 the latter. These people were kept in check near their frontier by 

 a camel corps under the command of Captain Mangin, a man most 

 remarkable for his pluck. 



We find in the Upper Niger Yalley that the important river 

 courses have their birth upon soil of primary formation, and flow 

 between " walls of sandstone," often in cascades, forcing a passage 

 between rocks and along tortuous channels. When at the last stage 

 of this natural stairway, they form immense valleys. The mountainous 

 country constitutes a forest zone rich enough in rubber (the Lan- 

 dolpliia IleiaMotii), Jcarite, fairly valuable woods, and a variety of 

 spices. In mineral wealth, we have iron, gold, and lime. The 

 mineral and forestry resources of the mountainous regions are not to 

 be compared with those which might be brought about by the 

 agricultural development, and the breeding of cattle and sheep, 

 between the forestry zone and the semi-desert zone in the northern 

 part of the French Colony. From Kangala to Sansanding the Niger 

 flows in a well traced bed, as much as 1000 yards wide in certain 

 places. At high water the river floods the surrounding country for 

 a distance, seldom more than half a mile. The level of low and 

 high water in this portion of the Niger varies from fifty to ninety 

 centimetres. The rainy season begins towards the end of ]May and 

 ends in October. During the year 190G, however, the last rains 

 were registered on the 2nd of November. A N.N.E. dry wind, 

 the "harnattan," blows during November, causing a distinct 

 depression in the temperature. The soil in that region is formed 

 mostly of sand and clay in suitable proportions, but has no great 



