IV 



ON THE KIM OF THE DESERT 



The recont openino- of l)raneh railways throuoli the Atlas 

 Moimtains into the desert of Sahara has Lrouo-ht within 

 reach of London a winter climate, almost as superior to that 

 of the Riviera, or the Algerian littoral, as these are to our 

 own ; indeed, if time-tables were strictly adhered to, it is 

 even now possil)le by landing at the port of Phillipville, one 

 hundred and fifty miles east of x\lgiers, to reach the oasis of 

 Biskra, which is well out in the desert, in little over three 

 days from London. If the Algerian trains could be per- 

 suaded to travel at the modest speed of twenty miles an 

 hour, this would l)e accomplished with ease. Although 

 Biskra is not much more than a hundred miles from the coast, 

 tlie tra\'eller has there left behind him the mountains which 

 attract and condense the moisture of the Mediterranean, 

 and, after the bei-innino- of Januarv, he can count on 

 perennial sunshine, except when — and this is seldom — a 

 liigh wind fills the air with a dust-fog almost as imperme- 

 al)le to the rays of tlie sun as a watery cloud. 



The climate was not, however, the chief attraction 

 which drew me thither with two companions one January. 



