. A regional geography of the world, with diagrams and entirely new maps . rarely are they filled with water forany considerable time. Along the semi-desert marginsand on the outskirts of oases, dry, coarse grasses arefound, and there, nomadic tent-dwellers rear herd ofsheep, camels and goats, although their life is somewhatprecarious, and frequently they have been driven toraiding and plundering the more fortunate inhabitantsof the oases. The oases are situated in places wherethere arc permanent supplies of water, as along lines of THE SAHARA, INCLUDIXG TRIPOLI 475 depression, or aloncr the f
. A regional geography of the world, with diagrams and entirely new maps . rarely are they filled with water forany considerable time. Along the semi-desert marginsand on the outskirts of oases, dry, coarse grasses arefound, and there, nomadic tent-dwellers rear herd ofsheep, camels and goats, although their life is somewhatprecarious, and frequently they have been driven toraiding and plundering the more fortunate inhabitantsof the oases. The oases are situated in places wherethere arc permanent supplies of water, as along lines of THE SAHARA, INCLUDIXG TRIPOLI 475 depression, or aloncr the flanks of the Tii)csti Ilij^hlands,or where, o\vin<; to the geological structure of the rocks,water reaches the surfaces, as in an artesian well. Inthe Algerian Sahara, the French have actually createdoases by the sinking of artesian wells. The date palm,a very important food-tree, and quite indispensable tothe desert dweller, is cultivated in all the oases, whilst inthose whose water supply is regular, cereals, especiallywheat and barley, pulses and fruits are THE MAPPA CO . tTO . LOHDOli Fig. 110.—The chief Saharan caravan routes. The Oases and Routes. Travel on the Sahara would be impossible were it notfor the oases and the camel, the ship of the desert Ajourney across the Sahara from the Mediterranean Seato the Sudan is no light task and requires quite a lot oforganizing. Travel by caravan has greatly declined inrecent years: one reason being the practical extinctionof the slave trade, which formed the most valuabletrade of caravans of days gone by ; another being theimproved means of railway communication between the 4/6 AFRICA Sudan and the west coast of Africa, so that much ofthe trade which formerly crossed the desert by caravanis now carried both more quickly and more economicallyby sea. Fig. 130 shows the chief Saharan caravan routes. Itwill be seen that they use as calling-places oases lyingin well-defined depressions. More important than anyof these is t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectgeography, bookyear19
