ese drawbacks, the Sahara and the arid lands
southward to the Sudan are by no means destitute of life and wealth. It
is an almost universal custom to speak of the barren condition of the
desert. The contrary is the truth; there is no soil elsewhere so fertile
and productive. It is vastly superior even to the soil of the lands
reclaimed from the bottom of the North Sea.

Water is the magic wand that makes the sands of the Sahara bring forth
crops that are marvellous both in quantity and quality. No fruit grown
elsewhere in the world can compare with that grown on desert lands, and
the French engineers are planning the means whereby water may be
obtained. Surface water that is available to irrigate the wastes of the
Sahara does not exist. The level of the Nile is so far below the surface
on both sides of its own flood-plain that its waters cannot be used for
the reclamation of any part of the Libyan Desert, and the same is
practically true of the Niger, which barely more than touches the
borders of the Sahara. The few wadys, or "dry washes," are destitute of
water except when a cloud-burst may fill them; but this happens at
intervals of years only.

The engineer takes into his confidence a caravan driver--perhaps an
Arab, possibly a Berber, but quite as likely a slave. And the long
experience has taught the caravan man where to find the precious water.
The engineer then brings his science into play and drives an artesian
well. The well thus driven may be a "gusher," but for most of them pumps
are required to raise the water to the surface. The best well, however,
furnishes water enough to irrigate but a very small area. Indeed, all
the lands of the Sahara together irrigated by artesian wells would make
an area scarcely larger than the State of Delaware, and all the water
thus obtained would not supply New York City!

Nevertheless, the water obtained by artesian wells has proved a great
blessing to the dwellers of the desert. If the water is found along one
or another of the numerous caravan routes, an increase in caravan
commerce is apt to result, for along many routes the volume of caravan
commerce depends very largely on the number of wells. The location of
artesian wells has also led to the opening of trade along new routes as
well, for wherever water can be found there will be camels to drink it.

The date palm is essentially a plant of the desert, or, rather, of the
oasis. Nowhere else does it grow in such profusi