French Conquest of the Sahara 



79 



a very mobile and acclimatized troop. 

 It was decided therefore to undertake 

 the creation of troops mounted on 

 * ' meharis ' ' and composed of natives 

 under the command of French officers. 

 This organization was inspired from 

 that of the famous ' ' dromedary com- 

 panies ' ' instituted by Bonaparte in 

 Egypt, and by that of the "camel 

 corps" recently adopted in the Sudan 

 by the British army. 



Since that time the French troops 

 have been on an equality of speed and 

 mobility with the Touaregs, while their 

 superiority of arms ensures victory even 

 against superior numbers. 



These Saharan troops once organ- 

 ized, the officers commanding the ex- 

 treme southern posts upon the Algerian 

 frontier undertook long raids into the 

 Sahara, traversing and surveying vast 

 unknown regions and at the same time 

 acting as a vigilant police. On March 

 26, 1 901, the Touaregs having come to 

 rob the people of Tidikelt, Lieutenant 

 Cottenest started with 130 native troops 

 and reached the mountain mass of the 

 Hoggar and inflicted a severe lesson 

 upon the brigands, returning to In- 

 Sala after having traveled 1,000 miles 

 in 62 days in a country entirely hostile. 

 The same year, from the 16th of May 

 to the 15th of June, Major Laperrine 

 explored the Mouydir, a plateau sur- 

 rounded by valleys from 200 to 300 

 meters deep and containing an abun- 

 dance of water, wood, and excellent 

 pasture. 



Some time later, in 1902, Lieuten- 

 ant Guilho-Lohan returned to the Hog- 

 gar plateau and pushed south to 22 0 

 latitude north. In 1903 Lieutenant 

 Besset effected a raid of 750 miles in 

 the south, and some months later Major 

 Laperrine, accompanied by Professor 

 Gautier, directed a new reconnaissance 

 in the Mouydir and the Ahnet. At the 

 same time Captain Pein effected a raid 

 round the Temassinine in the region 

 situated farther east. 



These different expeditions have com- 

 pleted and transformed the situation of 

 the Sahara. The Touaregs, finding 

 themselves chastised for the smallest act 

 of rapine and always overtaken in their 

 haunts, have now given their submis- 

 sion to Captain Metois, commanding at 

 In-Sala. Only the tribe of Azguers, 

 which wanders in the eastern Sahara, 

 has as yet refused to accept French 

 domination. 



Accordingly a new and decisive oper- 

 ation was undertaken. At the com- 

 mencement of February, 1904, Major 

 Laperrine, quitting In-Sala at the head 

 of a troop of 1 ' meharistes ' ' and taking 

 his route south, succeeded in travers- 

 ing the Sahara and meeting a second 

 troop of ' ' meharistes ' ' which had set 

 out from Timbuctoo. In this way was 

 effected the junction of Algeria with 

 the Niger, previously accomplished by 

 M. Foureau, but now by a more eastern 

 route. 



In this expedition Major Laperrine 

 was accompanied by an astronomer, 

 M. Villate. From a geographical point 

 of view these raids have had very im- 

 portant results. The officers who have 

 commanded them have brought back 

 precise methods and numerous obser- 

 vations of interest. As a result of the 

 reconnaissance in which he took part in 

 1903, Professor Gautier has made a 

 geological map of Mouydir and Ahnet, 

 in the very center of the Sahara. 



The junction of the parties from In- 

 Sala and Timbuctoo took place on 

 April 18, at the well of Tioniaoune by 

 20 0 10' north latitude. The party from 

 Algeria, under Commandant Laperrine, 

 had come through Inzize and Timissao. 

 After he succeeded in joining hands with 

 the southern party, the commandant 

 pushed a little farther south, as far as 

 the well of Tin Zaouatem by 19 0 57' 

 north latitude, but soon resumed the 

 journey northward to In-Sala, follow- 

 ing a fresh itinerary. Scarcity of water 

 and the heat (it was in May) made the 



