545 
SAHARA. 
SAGUS, [a name adopted by Clusius, Rumphius, 
Gaertner, and others, from the Malay Sog-w], in Botany, a 
genus of the class monoecia, order hexandria, natural order 
palmae .—Essential Character. Male, Calyx of three leaves. 
Corolla none. Filaments dilated.—Female, Calyx of three 
leaves; two of which are cloven. Corolla none. Style 
very short. Stigma simple. Nut clothed with scales, im¬ 
bricated backwards. Seed solitary. 
1. Sagus ruffia.—Branches of the flower-stalk annulated.— 
Native of Madagascar. A palm fifty or sixty feet high, 
with pinnate leaves. 
2. Sagus rumphii.—Branches of the flower-stalk even and 
smooth.—Native of the Molucca isles. Leaves pinnate. 
. So much uncertainty attends the history of these plants in 
all botanical writers, that we must content ourselves with 
the above mere references to them, till we can procure more 
clear information. The genus is, no doubt, as Gasrtner 
remarks, very nearly akin to Calamus, and appears to be 
one of those palms which bear a sort of Sago. 
SAG WIRE, a liquor drawn in the East India islands of 
Amboyna, Ceram, &c., from a tree of the palm kind; of 
the same nature as the toddy, or palm-wine. When it first 
issues from the tree, it is clear, and looks like pure water. 
Its taste is sweet, but refreshing. By degrees it becomes 
acidulated, and at last quite sour, which, nevertheless, may 
be prevented by preparing it with a certain bitter wood, or 
the roots of a tree, called the “ sossot” tree, which occasion 
a fermentation in the sagwire, and in about eight hours 
make it fit for keeping. It is thus preserved good for a 
long time. Although it loses its pleasant taste, and be¬ 
comes thickish, appearing like orgeade or almond-milk, it 
is esteemed more wholesome, and has an inebriating quality. 
It is afterwards kept in bottles. 
The tree which yields this liquor has a faded appearance, 
with manv yellow dead leaves, which resemble those of the 
sago-tree. One of these leaves, or rather branches, is cut 
oft', and the sagwire trickles out of it by drops, which are 
received in a bamboo, hung under it for that purpose; and 
when this is full, the contents are drawn off by a tap at the 
bottom. This operation is called “tyffering.” Stavorinus's 
Voyages. 
SAGY, a small town in the east of France, department of 
the Saone and Loire, on the Vaillere. Population 2100; 
30 miles north-east of Macon. 
SA'GY, adj. [ sauge , Fr.] Full of sage; seasoned with 
sage. Cotgravc and Sherwood. 
SAHAB, a village of Khusistan, in Persia; 60 miles south 
of Suster. 
SAHAB AD, a town of Hindostan, province of Ajmeer, 
tributary to the Mahrattas. Lat. 25. 26. N. long. 77. 
10. E. 
SAHADEVA, in Hindoo Romance, is one of the five 
sonsGf Pandu, the heroes of the fine poem the Mahabarat. 
This poem has been thought an allegorical contest between 
man’s virtues and vices; the former personified in the five 
sons; or Pancha Pandu. To these five Pandus it is usual 
to attribute any stupendous structure whose origin is lost in 
antiquity ; such as the excavations of Elephants, Elora, &c. 
Sahadeva is generally said to be a personification of tem¬ 
perance, being a twin brother of Chastity. 
SAHAGUN, a small town in the north-west of Spain, in 
the province of Leon, on the river Cea, which falls into the 
Esla. It has 4000 inhabitants, is defended by a castle, and 
has an ancient and magnificent abbey of the order of St. 
Benedict; 50 miles south-east of Leon. 
SAHALEEL, a village of Tunis, supposed by Dr. Shaw, 
to be the ancient Ruspina. 
SAHAM TONY, a parish of England, in Norfolk; 2 
miles north-west of Watton. Population 771. 
SAHAN, a mountainous district of Arabia, to the north 
of Yemen. 
SAHAR, a mountain of Korassan, in Persia; 20 miles 
south-south-east of Mesched. 
SAHARA, or Zahara, (which in Arabic signifies the 
Desert), an immense track of territory in Northern and 
Vol. XXII. No. 1521. 
Central Africa, interposed between the states of Barbary and 
Soudan, or the countries watered by the Niger. It presents, 
almost throughout, the spectacle of a naked burning plain 
of sand, destitute alike of water or vegetation, and altogether 
unfit for the support of human life. In its greatest length it 
stretches nearly across the whole of Africa, from the Atlantic 
to the Nile, forming a space of forty-five degrees of longi¬ 
tude, or about 3000 miles. Its breadth from Barbary to 
Soudan is not so great, and may be estimated at 15 degrees, 
or 1000 miles. It forms thus by much the most extensive 
desert to be found in any part of the world. On the northern 
side, the transition from the cultivated land is gradual, and 
often insensible. The mountains of Atlas, and the ranges 
connected with them, send to the southward numerous rivers, 
which render the country fertile in dates, and capable even 
of producing some grain. As these rivers, however, are 
either absorbed in the sands, or received into lakes, total 
sterility begins its empire. A great part of the surface con¬ 
sists of a dead level, stretching on every side like the ocean, 
and over which the eye roves without any object to arrest or 
bound its view. That part over which Brisson passed was 
covered with small stones, sharp as flints. The earth be¬ 
neath the feet resounded dull and hollow, and the small 
stones pricked him like sparks of fire. The reflection of the 
rays of the sun from the sand was scorching; the atmosphere 
was loaded with a red vapour, and the country appeared as 
if filled with flaming volcanoes. Neither birds nor insects 
could be seen in the air. The profound silence was fright¬ 
ful. If a gentle breeze ever arose, it produced extreme 
langour, chopping of the lips, burning heat of the skin, 
with small smarting pimples. In other places, the surface 
is diversified by ravines, rocks, and eminences, so covered . 
with shrubs as to assume, at a distance, the appearance of 
an extensive forest. These, however, on approaching, am 
found to be mere stumps without branches, encircled with 
thorns. Other parts of the desert are composed of moving 
sand, which, being piled up in hillocks, cannot be passed 
without the most severe labour. These, when blown by the 
wind, sometimes produce the most terrible effects, and whole 
caravans have been found buried beneath them. Brown, 
however, doubts whether these moving showers ever pro¬ 
ceed in such masses as of themselves to produce this tremen¬ 
dous effect. He is rather inclined to suppose that the caravan 
.has perished from some other cause, and, being gradually 
covered by particles of sand, which are continually floating 
through the atmosphere, has been supposed to have been 
buried under them. 
This vast track of waste does not present an aspect quite 
uniform, but is diversified by oases or islands, where the 
supply of water admits of a certain degree of verdure and 
cultivation, and affords support to a certain number of in¬ 
habitants. In the eastern part of the'desert, these oases are 
so extensive, as to form species of little kingdoms, of which 
the most remarkable are Fezzan, Asben, and Agades. In 
other parts, particularly the western, these, like Gadamis, 
Souat or Touaf, Taudeny, &c., consist merely of one or 
more detached villages, serving as emporia for the trade 
carried on by the caravans. Sometimes they afford merely 
springs for the refreshment of travellers, but too small a sup¬ 
ply of food to admit of settled habitations. These tracks 
are inhabited by Nomadic Arabs, roving from spot to spot, 
as they exhaust that previously occupied. The most re¬ 
markable are the Monselemines, who inhabit the frontier 
of Morocco, the Woled D’leim, and Woled Abbusebah, 
who dwell in the interior of the desert, and the Mongearts 
and T rasa its, who occupy the southern border, approaching 
to the Senegal. The Monselemines ar-e the most populous 
and wealthy of these tribes. Their soil admits of considerable 
culture, and yields grain, oil, and wine. Their numbers 
are continually recruited by fugitives from the tyranny of 
the government of Morocco. The ground is in common, and 
every one reaps that which he has laboured. When the 
harvest is over, they set fire to the long stubble, and abandon 
the field for two or three years. The corn is deposited in 
magazines, which are large holes in the earth, formed like 
6 Z the 
