Africa of to-day . comparatively small tracts of fertileland, and it is declared that had reasonable intelligencebeen displayed and ordinary care been taken, the en-croachment of the sand upon much of this great tractmight have been stopped; but it was manifestly mucheasier for the farmers, thousands of years ago, to moveaway from the oncoming desert than to struggle againstthe overwhelming sand. As Sir H. H. Johnston inti-mates in his Foreword to Mr. Vischers book:* Whatthe Young Turks had already achieved in the, until then,neglected Tripolitaine, even before the revolution of1908 placed the
Africa of to-day . comparatively small tracts of fertileland, and it is declared that had reasonable intelligencebeen displayed and ordinary care been taken, the en-croachment of the sand upon much of this great tractmight have been stopped; but it was manifestly mucheasier for the farmers, thousands of years ago, to moveaway from the oncoming desert than to struggle againstthe overwhelming sand. As Sir H. H. Johnston inti-mates in his Foreword to Mr. Vischers book:* Whatthe Young Turks had already achieved in the, until then,neglected Tripolitaine, even before the revolution of1908 placed them in power, is a very hopeful promisefor the future condition of Turkish North Africa andshould be a distinct help to the new Turkish Mr. Vischers accounts of how French soldiershave fought recalcitrant Nature and negligent man, andare already beginning to restore a most happy formof civilisation to districts that once enjoyed a radiant * Opus cit. n HC sow O cw JS c O rO r>ow > H N>Z N 5>so. THE SAHARA 73 prosperity (until the desert, and still more the wantonTuareks, got the upper hand), will strengthen the bondsof friendship between France and those other sisternations of hers in Europe who are trying, with occasionalmistakes, it must be admitted but, on the whole, withhappy results, not only to make Africa as good as shehas ever been at her best, but far better as the home ofman and, it is to be hoped, if this is not too presump-tuous, the home for a long time to come of some ofthe most wonderful beast forms that the earth hasever known. In the North African deserts these oases are generallyfound in deep depressions or valleys; the constantlyrecurring wadi of our maps often points to the placewhere these fertile places are to be found, for it is herethat the water comes to the surface in natural springsor is procured by sinking wells which are rarely of verygreat depth. There is good reason to believe that manyparts of the desert are underlaid with w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherchica, bookyear1912
