SAIGON 



5143 



SAILBOAT AND SAILING 



Excepting on the oases, this vast region is 

 practically without life. Few animals have 

 penetrated to the interior, but on the borders 

 where water is obtainable the lion, the panther, 

 the hyena, the jackal, the fox and some species 

 of ape are found. Venomous serpents are nu- 

 merous, and in some regions the huge python 

 makes its home. 



Climate. The dry climate is due to atmos- 



ic conditions. During the winter the winds 



blow outward in all directions and so bring no 



moisture to the country. During summer the 



intense heat causes the air to expand and to 



absorb all the moisture it .receives. In summer 



the days are exceedingly hot, but the nights 



cool. Terrific windstorms blow over the 



region, carrying such quantities of sand as to 



imperil travelers. 



The People and Commerce. The Tuareg 

 tribes control the caravan routes of the central 

 region. Moors inhabit the Adrar region in the 

 . and nomad Arabs cross the northern bor- 

 der. Tibbus, negroes and Jews are found in 

 the other parts. The population is sparse, the 

 most liberal estimates placing it at 2,000,000, 

 or less than one person to each square mile. 



Caravans cross the desert from Tripoli to 

 Zinder, Kano and other towns in Central 

 Africa. Other routes cross the Western Sahara 

 to Timbuktu. The chief articles of trade are 

 silk, salt, ivory, spices, ostrich feathers and 



O.B.D. 



Consult Sommervllle's Sands of Sahara; Hay- 

 wood's Through Timbuctu and Across the Great 

 Sahara. 



it. I.-H..I v,,i,jecta. The following topics will 

 be of Interest in connection with this article on 

 the Sahara Desert 



Arid Regrion Khamsin 



Camel Oasis 



Cara\an Simoom 



I > M Sirocco 



SAIGON, sigohn', one of the finest cities in 

 Asia, the capital of the French colony of 

 Cochin-Chin i (which see). It lies on the right 

 brink of the Saigon River, about thirty-four 

 miles from the coast (sec colored map of Asia, 

 opposite page 417), and is more than six squ M. 

 mil.- in urea. In 1913 the city had an esti- 

 mated population of 72,000, of whom about 

 12,000 were Europeans. A garrison of 

 2,000 soldiers is stationed here. > ubits 



a pleasing combination of Oriental charm and 

 Western progress. The broad, i reels 



and public gardens arc made attractive by rows 

 of shade trees, and the city enjoys such modem 

 innovations as electric lighting, electric 



ways, a filtering system, telegraph and postal 

 service and railway connection with other parts 

 of the colony. There is an excellent harbor, 

 with accommodations for the largest ocean ves- 

 sels, and in normal years over 600 ships clear 

 the port annually. The city is a center of rice 

 manufacture, anci has also sawmills and fac- 

 tories for making soap and varnish. Notable 

 buildings include the governor's palace, the 

 town hall, a city theater and a $400,000 cathe- 

 dral. 



SAIL 'BO AT AND SAIL 'ING. Almost any 

 small boat may be converted into a sailboat by 

 raising a mast and attaching a sail to it. But 

 unless a boat has great stability it is likely to 

 be capsized by a sudden squall, and so the 

 safest sort of sailboat for boys to go cruising 



to 



Explanation appears in the t. \t 



in is a flat-bottomed boat, or punt. A punt 

 may be turned into a capital sailboat by board- 

 ing over the hull and finishing the inner edge 

 of the deck with a combing, to prevent any 

 water that may splash over the sides from flow- 

 ing into the cockpit. A hole is then cut in the 

 fnrwaid deck and a square block with a hole 

 in the center is nailed to the bottom imme- 

 di <tely beneath. A mast of pine or spruce 

 wood, about three inches in diameter at the 



base Ive feet hinh. is placed ill the 



hole, and held in place by a wire stretching 

 from its top to the bow of the boat. Such a 

 mast will carry a boom foui long, on 



which may be spread a triangular sail eleven 

 hinh and twelve or thirteen feet at the 

 bottom. 



-ail is attached to the mast by a number 

 of sliding rings, and is hauled up and down by 



