SAHARA. 



ST.-CYPRIEN. 



398 



and September, at which time caravans do not travel, though it is the 

 season in which the northern parts of the desert are refreshed by 

 showers of rain. 



Pr'jduclumi. The most useful domestic animal is the camel, without 

 which these extensive deserts could not be traversed. The camels 

 which are reared by the tribes that inhabit the desert are distinguished 

 by their extraordinary speed and abstinence, and known in northern 

 Africa by the name of ' heiries,' or ' maharhies.' Next to the camel 

 the most useful animal i* the goat, which is very abundant in the Sahel, 

 as the dry pastures are more adapted to it than to sheep. Sheep are 

 also common. There are some black cattle of a small breed, but only 

 in those places which have good pasture. Hone* are rare in the Sahel, 

 but more numerous farther east There are lions and panthers, and 

 some other smaller wild animals. Gazelles are frequent in all places 

 where bushes and shrubs occur, and in a few places antelopes are met 

 with. In the deceits bordering on Egypt the Dip** jerboa abounds. 

 In the Sahel ostriches are very numerous, and they are hunted by the 

 natives for their feathers from May to July. Vultures and ravens are 

 the only birds that inhabit the deserts, except on some of the lakes 

 along the rooky bills between Feuau and Bilma, where there are snipes 

 and wild-ducks. In some part* the Guinea-fowl occurs. There are 

 also serpents in the desert 



The vegetable productions are few in number. Date-trees are only 

 found in the out* of the eastern districts and at the foot of Mount 

 Atlas. The Tibboos, a native tribe of the Libyan Desert, cultivate 

 'gnbub,' a species of millet, and a little cotton. Among the wild 

 plants then are some species of mimosas, of acacias, and the Hedy- 

 orum alAaji, a thorny plant about 18 inche high, which remains green 

 all the year round, grows in many parts of the desert in the land, 

 and is eagerly eaten by the camels : it is nearly the only plant that 

 supplies them with food while they are traversing the desert. Near 

 the most south-western comer of the Sahel are extensive woods con- 



,-,,. I 



i which by far the greatest part of the gum 



it obtained which in Europe is consumed under the name of gum 



i: . . ,-. 



The minerals an limited to iron-ore and salt Iron-on occurs 

 between Fenan and Bilma. Salt is obtained from springs and lakes, 

 and it occurs also in extensive bwls in the SahcL It is of great import- 

 ance to th* inhabitants, a* it furnish** them with the most abundant 

 article of eosnmenn. Th* count* is* south of th* Sahara, compre- 

 hssid*d under th* name of Soodan, or Sudan, appear to have no salt, 

 and all th* salt whieh is ooasusasd in them I* brought from the Sahara. 

 Theonly places permanently inhabited in the Sahel an those in th* 

 neisdabourbood of which salt is found. 



AUttente. A mat number of independent tribes an dispersed 

 over th* Sahara. They belong to four nations, the Moon, th* Tua- 

 rieks, Tibboos, and Arabs. The Moors seem to be in pcemslon of 

 the whole country we** of the road leading from Timbuctoo to Drah. 

 They an a branch of the Moon who inhabit Maroooo, but have a 

 greater mixture of negro blood in them. Their complexion is in 

 gen*rali>eariy black, but the red oolonr under U i* perceptible : their 

 hair is straight; they have a span body and rather slend*r legs; the 

 spin* is slightly curved, th* face long, th* cheeks hollow, the eye* sunk 

 hot lively. They speak th* Moghnbin dialect of the Arabic language, 

 and though thy live on the produce of their herds, and consequently 

 lead a nosMlHe life, th. y take can of the education of their children, 

 all of whom at* taught reading and some part of the Koran. They 

 an very expert in tanning and preparing leather, and in manufacturing 

 bracelets, earrings, and necklace* of gold, in making knives and daggers 

 aad other arms, and they an even expert in weaving. Many of them 

 an merobaats, and a still greater number an employed in aocom- 

 pasrying th* eafilas OB th* route between Drah and Timbuctoo. The 

 muosroas tribes of th* Tuaricks occupy the centre of the Sahara, or 

 I country which be* between the two gnat caravan routes that 

 ran* it from north to south. The form of their body and their 

 prove that they belong to the aboriginal inhabitant* of 

 Northern Africa, who an known by the name of Berbers, and in 

 lAmashvhis. [Brasilia.] Tb* Tibboos occupy 



Maroeoo re called the 



notice of 

 th* tribes of the Sahara will be found in the article AFRICA. 



Omeurce, Though the Sahara only supplies three commercial pro- 

 duct*, salt, gum-arabfe, and ostrich-feathers, a considerable traffic is 

 earned on between the countries north and south of the desert, which 

 is frequently traversed by canlae, or caravans, consisting of from 200 

 to 600 persons, and of from 600 to MOO camels. A camel's load is 

 MO Ibs. Th* caravans export from the countries situated on the 

 chiefly goods of European manufacture, such as fire- 

 der, and some cotton stnfls, to which an added some 

 manufactured at Fez, and tobacco, dates, Ac. Their returns 

 include gold, ostrich-feathers, and ivory. In traversing the desert they 

 usually toy large quantities of salt which they sell in Soodan at a 

 gnat profit Several routes across th* Sahara an traversed by the 

 eaala*. A caravan route traverses the Libyan Desert, beginning in 

 Soodan at Warm, the capital of th* country of Dar-Zaleb, or Wadai, 

 and ten iidng Borgou and Tibeeti in a north-western direction. From 



the last-mentioned place it runs westward to the great road that leads 

 from Bornou to Tripoli. The most eastern caravan road that traverses 

 the Sahara connects Dar-Fur with Egypt. [DAR-FuR.] 



Salt is got in great abundance at three places in the Sahel: at 

 Toudeny, which is situated near 21 30' N. lat., 4 W. long. ; at Hoden, 

 or Waden, near 20 N. lat, 13 W. long. ; and at Shingarin, near 17 30' 

 N. lat, 4 W. long. The town of El Arawan sends the abundant pro- 

 duce of .the rocknialt mines of Toudeny to the countries on the banks 

 of the Joliba, especially to Sansanding and Yamina, and receives in 

 return ivory, gold, slaves, wax, honey, cloths of Soodan, and cured 

 provisions. The salt obtained from the rock-salt mines of Hodcn and 

 Shing&rin is carried to the same places and to Sego by the caravans 

 of the merchants of Walet, a town which is said not to be inferior in 

 extent and population to Timbuctoo. The caravan route from 

 Timbuctoo to Benown in Ludamar passes through Walet. 



An extensive fishery is carried on along the coast of the Sahara by 

 the inhabitants of the Canary Islands. This fishery commences on 

 the north at Cape Nun ; the fishermen seldom venturing to go farther 

 north, although fish are equally abundant there, from fear of the Moors 

 on that part of the coast, who possess boats. The fish taken are porgy, 

 mullet of several kinds, rock-cod, and red snapper. The fish are very 

 abundant, and weigh from 8 Ibs. to 60 Ibs. each. This fishery gives 

 employment to between 400 and 500 men from the island of Lanzerote, 

 to about 250 from Fuerteventura, and to a considerable number from 

 the other islands. Fish constitutes the principal food of the poorer 

 inhabitants of the Canaries. The fishermen frequently land, not only 

 to procure water, but to barter their fish with the inhabitants of the 

 desert for wool and orchilla. 



IKtcoreriet. The nature of the Sahara opposes insuperable obstacles 

 to the pt ogress of a conqueror. The Greeks and Romans were only 

 well acquainted with the oases of the Libyan Desert, which are at no 

 gnat distamxi from the western edge of the valley of the Nile, and 

 with those which are contiguous to the rocky region that divides the 

 jssstt from the Mediterranean, aa the Ammonium (now Siwah), Augila, 

 and Cydamnm (now Qadames). The coast of the Sahara was discovered 

 by thePortuguese between 1412 and 1443 [AFRICA, vol. L, cols. 10(5-107], 

 but the interior of that country was unknown up to the end of the 

 1 8th century, with the exception of what knowledge might be derived 

 from a few notices in the writings of Leo Africanus. The first impulse 

 to discovery in the interior of Africa was given by the establishment 

 of the African Association in 1788 ; but before their labours produced 

 any important result, Browne had succeeded (in 1793) in penetrating 

 to Dar-Fur, with the Soodan caravan, through the oases which lie wart 

 of the valley of the Nile. Before he published his ' Travels ' (1800), 

 M ungo Park had returned from the banks of the Joliba, where he had 

 collected some information respecting the south-western districts of 

 the Sahara, though he had only been on the borders of the desert. 

 Two years afterwards the travels of Horneuianu were published, who 

 had penetrated from Egypt to Feuan by the way of Siwah and Augila. 

 In 1819 Captain Lyon entered Africa from Tripoli, and although he 

 did not add much to our knowledge of the Sahara, he collected much 

 interesting information, which was published in 1821. Denham, 

 Clapperton, and Oudney (1833-1824), following the same route, not 

 only traversed the desert in all its width from Tripoli to Bornou, 

 but discovered a considerable extent of Soodan. These important 

 discoveries wen to be enlarged by the travels of Major Laing, who 

 in 1825 likewise departed from Tripoli, and passing through the oasis 

 of Oadames, traversed the whole width of the Sahara, and reached 

 Timbuctoo ; but on attempting to return to Marocco by the way of 

 El Arawan, be was murdered by the natives before be reached El 

 Arawan. Two yean afterwards Cailli^, a Frenchman, who in 1827 

 had traversed the southern portion of Senegambia between 10 and 12 

 N. lat, and then passed through the western countries of Soodan to 

 Timbuctoo, departed from the last-mentioned place, and reached Fee 

 by the route which is frequented by the caravans that carry on the 

 trade between Soodan and Maroooo. A statement respecting recent 

 explorations in the interior of Africa, inclucliag a journey across the 

 Great Desert, is given in the article AFRICA, vol. I, cola. 115-117. 



All the nomadic tribes which inhabit the Sahara are independent ; 

 but Fezzan and Gadames an subject to Tripoli, and the oases along 

 the western edge of the valley of the Nile, as well as Siwah, depend on 

 the Pasha of Egypt 



SAHABUNPOOB, [Dixm.] 



SAIDE. [SiDox.] 



SA1LLANS. [DROMB.] 



SAINS. [AiiJ 



ST.-AFFRIQUE. [Avrrnox.] 



8T.-ALBAN8. [Ai.BAira, ST.] 



ST.-ALVAIRE. [DORDOOICE.] 



8T.-ANDKKWS. [ASDREWS, ST.] 



8T.-ANTHEMB. [PuT-DB-D6llE.] 



BT.-ASTIEK. [DoBDOost] 



8T.-AULAYE. [DORDOOWE.] 



ST.-CATHKIUNKS. [CxSABA.] 



ST.-CHAMAS. fBoccHES-DC-Kii6Kl.] 



8T.-CHELY-DAUBRAC. [AviTRO;j 



ST. CLEAR [CAKRHARTBEXSHIKK.] 



8T.-CYPRIEN. [ 



