Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1911 — AGE OF THE SAHARA [ARTICLE]

AGE OF THE SAHARA

Question Upon Which Noted Sci-j entists Disagree. Dryness Has Much Increased Sinc«j Days When Rome Was Mlflhty Empire—Phenomenon Advances With Mighty Strides.

There has long been much disagree-; ment among scientists as to the ques-f tion of the antiquity of the Sahara!, desert, and over the manner in whichj it was formed. They agree, however,j that the dryness has much increased; during the centuries that have passed' since Rome was a mighty ' empire. l <j)ne French savant, who made thearduous journey from the Niger river; to Lake Tchad; brought back much; Interesting information regarding the: progress of the arid region southward. It appears that the country that extends from the Niger to Lake Tchad, between thirteen and sixteen degrees north latitude, is completely barren of permanent water bodies. For more than eight hundred miles it 1b a tropical region without a watercourse. Only yesterday—as geologists count time —all this was different. The Niger received from the left immense: affluents, veritable floods. Then giraffes and elephants, it is believed, wandered even to the borders of Mediterranean Numidla, seeking the abundant vegetation. Presently came the Mohametan conquest, with its tribes of nomadic Arabs, and the invasion of theTuaregs from the east, acceleratingthe Saharan devastation. These invaders burned over great tracts of land, destroying vegetation and leaving nothing to hold the fallen water in check. The hygrometric state of the atmosphere was impoverished. The vapor was no longer cdndensed. The rain failed, vegetation disappeared and the soil and rocks were left exposed to the direct action of heat and cold and of the winds. The decomposition of the granite filled the dry river beds with sand for great distances. The advance of this phenomenon has not stopped at the edge of the tropics. The Sahara, it is thought, has gained toward the south steadily. It is established on all the northern parts of Lake Tchad. A 1 thought It appears slow, its march is extremely rapid, compared with other geologic phenomena. Barth, the German explorer, found water in abundance sixty years ago where the expedition of Peroz suffered from thirst In 1904. The old men of North Adair showed Peroz rivers which, in their youth flowed many months of the year, but were at the time of the French expedition entirely dry. Lakes yesterday permanent, which the French expected to, find full, were dry, and did not replenish themselves, except during the two months of "Winter. —Harper’s Weekly.