February, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



Xlll 



THE PROPOSED TRANS-SAHARA 

 RAILWAY 



A RAILROAD project of great scope is 

 the Trans-Sahara line, which the 

 French government proposes to carry out 

 in the near future. Not long ago several 

 expeditions were sent out in order to study 

 the conditions for running the railroad 

 across the desert region, and this part of 

 the work is now terminated. It is thought 

 that the entire plans can be drawn up be- 

 fore the end of this year. Such a railroad 

 will afford a connection between Algeria, 

 Morocco, and the desert region, with the 

 French colonies situated in the regions of 

 the Congo and the Niger, so as to inter- 

 connect all the colonies, whence a great ad- 

 vantage will be secured not only for com- 

 merce, but also for military purposes, al- 

 lowing the native troops which it is pro- 

 posed to raise in the Senegal and Congo 

 region to be transported to the north of 

 Africa or even across the Mediterranean 

 into France under the protection of the 

 fleet. The present expedition consisted of 

 a number of leading engineers and officers 

 of the War Department, and a caravan of 

 fifty men and 120 camels started from El 

 Aoulef, the southern terminus of the Al- 

 gerian railroad, in order to cross the desert. 

 The expedition divided at Silet in order to 

 explore several different regions. Among 

 others, Dr. Niger took a southeastern route, 

 so as to find the best conditions for running 

 the railroad as far as Lake Tchad. His 

 party then returned through British Ni- 

 geria by way of the new railroad from 

 Kano to the coast. The other expeditions 

 followed different routes in order to trace 

 lines for the general project, and in all 

 cases the proposed lines make connection 

 with already-existing railroads in the south- 

 ern region lying between Timbuctoo and 

 Lake Tchad. 



WILD HONEY IN SOUTH AFRICA 



A NUMBER of curious facts concern- 

 ing the wild honey of the northern 

 Transvaal have been published in a South 

 African agricultural journal, in which the 

 writer, Mr. E. N. Marais says that two 

 distinct kinds of honey are recognized, viz., 

 the ordinary golden-yellow honey, com- 

 mon to all parts of the world, and a snowy 

 white kind, known to the Boers as "sheep- 

 tail fat honey." The latter is described as 

 beautiful in appearance and of most delici- 

 ous flavor; it is also reputed to possess 

 valuable therapeutic qualities. When ex- 

 pressed from the comb it almost im- 

 mediately assumes the consistency of vase- 

 line. Its special qualities are said to be 

 due to the fact that the bees extract it only 

 from certain grasses. The hives are usually 

 in hollow trees ; sometimes in ant-bear 

 holes or ant-hills. 



Gathering wild honey appears to be a 

 favorite pursuit of the Transvaal native, 

 and one that has some peculiar features. 

 The bee-hunter wear no protective cloth- 

 ing, but appear to be so thoroughly inocu- 

 lated with formic acid as to be immune to 

 its effects. 



The favorite honey is produced by a 

 stingless bee, called the "moka," of which 

 there are two species. The larger of these 

 builds only in the ground and in very hard 

 soil. The hive is found at the bottom of 

 a shaft having the diameter of a lead 

 pencil, and from two to five feet deep. 

 The honey is not stored in the comb, but 

 in wax bags, each about as large as a 

 good-sized thimble : these are cemented to- 

 gether with wax, forming a cluster about 

 the size of an orange. 



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