Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Sahara Sea

After greeting those whom he had invited to the meeting, Mr. De Charet, after thanking the French and Tunisian officers, staff and dignitaries for the honor of attending the meeting of dignitaries, delivered the following speech: Gentlemen, it must be admitted that, thanks to the progress of science, it is becoming less and less possible to confuse history with legend.History will eventually reveal the legend.Legends belong to poets, and history belongs to scientists, and each scientist has his followers.Today I have to put the legend in the realm of the imagination and bring it back to reality as evidenced by scientific observation.

The new gabes club hall has a hard time rallying the public, making it better for them to follow the speakers into interesting arguments.The audience is given the program to be carried out in advance.As a result, his speech received flattering praise from the outset.Only a few Aboriginal people in the audience seemed to have cautious reservations.This is because, in fact, for half a century, the tribes of the Djerid region, settled or nomadic, have been blind to Mr. de Charais's plans for the study of history. Mr. Descharais added: We would like to admit that the ancients were people who lived by imagination, and historians are used to using their opinions to explain that history is nothing more than tradition.They were inspired by these purely mythical stories.

Gentlemen, please do not forget Herodotus, Pompeius.What Mera and Ptolemy said.The first, in his "History of Nations," does not speak of a district extending as far as the River Triton, which empties into the little bay of that name?Did he not interlude the story of the travels of the Argonauts, in which Asson's boat was driven by a storm to Libya, and thrown west of the cove of Triton, where its western limit was not discovered?Therefore, it should be concluded from this story that the so-called cove was connected to the sea at that time.Moreover, this is what Chiracus tells us about this great lake in his "Mediterranean Travels": by the lake lived the various peoples of Libya, who rightly occupied the present zone of lagoons and salt lakes, but the great lake was due to a narrow The canal is no longer connected to Xiaoshazhou Bay.

After Herodotus came Pompey Nius.Mera, and almost at the beginning of the Christian era, he also noticed that there was this great lake of Triton, Lake Pallas, which still communicated with the bay of the small sandbar, which is now the bay of Gabes, and disappeared due to the decline of the water level due to the evaporation of the lake. Finally, according to Ptolemy, the water continued to decrease and finally settled in four depressions, forming Lakes Triton, Pallas, Libya and Tortu, which are the salt lakes of Malegir and La in Algeria. Ersa Salt Flats, Tunisia's Djerid and Fejedi Salt Lakes, these lakes are often collectively referred to as the Farawin Salt Lakes.

Gentlemen, do catch and throw away, chiefly these ancient legends which have nothing to do with modern science and precision.Nay, Asun's ship was not cast across this inland sea, which had no access to the bay of the little sandbar, unless she had wings as strong as those of Icarus, the adventurous son of Daedalus, To fly over this ridge of the sea!Observations since the end of the nineteenth century have proved irrefutably that a Sahara Sea covering the entire zone of lagoons and salt lakes does not exist at all, because the altitude of some depressions sometimes exceeds the height of the Gulf of Gabes by fifteen to Twenty meters, mainly near the coast, and this sea, at least in history, has never been 550 square kilometers as people imagined.

But, gentlemen, the plan to create the Sahara from the waters of the Gulf of Gabes would not work, even if the sea were to be restored to the extent that the original state of these salt and lagoon regions would allow. Therefore, this is the plan that was put forward by several bold and practical scientists after many twists and turns, and finally could not be implemented. This is what I want to remind you about the history of the Sahara Sea and the futile efforts that have dragged on for so many years. schemes and brutal setbacks. There was a chorus of approval from the audience as all eyes turned to the speaker as he pointed to a map hanging on the wall of the podium.

This map includes parts of Tunisia and southern Algeria, with the thirty-fourth parallel parallel passing through the region between three and five longitudes.A large depression southeast of Biskra is drawn there.The first is the entire Algerian belt of salt lakes, below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, under the names of the Salars of Mélégil, the Grandes, the Asrouj and other salt lakes up to the border of Tunisia.From the edge of the Malakir Salt Lake, there is a canal connecting Xiaoshazhou Bay. There is a plain in the north, full of various tribes, and the endless sand dunes in the south.The main cities and towns of the region are marked with exact locations: Gabes, Lajama on the coast of the Gulf of Gabes; Tongue between Jedi and Djerid; Sedada, Kerry, Tozeur, Nefta, between Djerid and Gelsey Salar Flats; Shebika in the north, and Birkerebia is to the west; finally, Tseribianaga, Tahir Rassou, Mlayye, Fagusa are near the road that crosses the Sahara towards the west of the Algerian salt lake belt.

In this way, listeners will be able to see on the map the full extent of these depressions, in which the almost completely submerged Larsa and Malegir may form a new sea of ​​​​Africa. But, Descharais added, luckily, nature has arranged for these depressions to collect water from the small sandbar bay, but this can only be determined after an arduous leveling project.However, during an expedition across the Sahara from 1872 onwards, the Senators Holland, Pomermer and the engineer of the Rocard mine considered that the project was impossible in view of the constitution of the Salt Lake region.Under relatively certain circumstances, in 1874, Captain Rudel of the Staff Department, who was the first to put forward this extraordinary creative idea, re-studied this project.

Cheers rang out from every corner of the hall for a French officer who had been hailed many times and would always be hailed.In addition, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers during this period, Mr. Devrechner, Ferdinand.De.Mr. Lesseps's name was associated with this name, and they were presently recommending this gigantic project. Gentlemen, the speaker began again, it is precisely this remote date that should be remembered, when we first had scientific knowledge of this region as far north as the Aurès Mountains, thirty kilometers south of Biskra. understanding.Indeed, it was in 1874 that this inland sea project was studied by the intrepid officer, and with what effort he must have worked.But could he foresee so many difficulties that could not be overcome by his own ability?In any case, it is our duty to give this man of courage and scientific mind the respect he deserves.

After preliminary studies by the proponents of the project, the Department of Public Works formally entrusted Captain Rudale with the various scientific tasks of surveying the area.Extremely accurate geodetic observations finally determined the highlands in this area of ​​Jared. Therefore, the legend probably disappeared in the face of reality: some people in this area said that there used to be a sea connected to Xiaoshazhou Bay. In this case, it will never be found.In addition, some people said that the depression was completely submerged from the Gabes ridge to the end of the Algerian salt lake zone, and it can only be a relatively limited part.However, based on the common people's initial opinion that the Sahara Sea does not have a large scale, it is not yet possible to draw such a conclusion: this plan should be abandoned.

Gentlemen, in principle, says M. de Charet, it seems believed that this new sea might extend for fifteen thousand square kilometers.However, according to this figure, an area of ​​5,000 square kilometers of the Tunisian lagoon must be intercepted, and the altitude of this place is higher than that of the Mediterranean Sea.In fact, according to Captain Rudel’s estimation, the submerged area of ​​the Larsa and Malegir Salt Lake area should be reduced to 8,000 square kilometers, and its altitude is 27 meters lower than the water surface of Gabes Bay. So M. de Charais, with a stick in his hand, drew on the map, detailing a panorama he had brought with him, and he was able to guide his audience through this part of ancient Libya. First of all, in the saltwater lake area, starting from the seashore, the water level is higher than the sea level, and the lowest point is fifteen.Fifty-two meters, the highest point is thirty-one.Four or five meters, the highest point is near the Gabes ridge.Looking west, we only found the first huge depression in the basin of the 40-kilometer-long Larsa Salt Lake area 127 kilometers away from the sea.Then, within thirty kilometers, the terrain rises to the Asruj Ridge, and from here, within fifty kilometers, the terrain descends to the area of ​​the Malakir Salt Lake, within an area of ​​fifty-five kilometers, about Some areas were flooded.From three.There must be four hundred and two kilometers from the point where latitude and longitude intersect to Gabes Bay. Gentlemen, Mr. De Charet went on, this is the geodetic work being carried out in this area.However, since the water level of the 8,000 square kilometers area is lower than the altitude, it must be enough to accommodate the water of the bay, and in view of the nature of the soil, it is not more than 227 kilometers long to dig a canal. Human power?After much probing, Rudale dismissed the matter.Just like Michelson at the time.The question, as Mr. Elena says in a striking article, is not to dig a canal across the desert, as in Suez or in the limestone mountains of Panama, and in Corinth.The ground here is not solid.This required clearing of the saline soil layer, which was dry enough for the needs of the project due to drainage.In the twenty-kilometer radius of the ridge that separates Gabes from the original lagoon, the pick must hit a calcareous strata thirty meters thick.The rest of the canal was dug in soft soil. The speaker thus reviews briefly and precisely the benefits that Rudel and his successors must have seen from this gigantic project.First, the climate in Algeria and Tunisia would improve significantly.Under the action of the south wind, the clouds formed by the water vapor of the Xinhai will turn into rain, which will benefit the entire region and improve agricultural efficiency.In addition, depressions such as the lagoon swamps of Djerid and Fejadi in Tunisia, and the Sahara in Algeria and the current salt lake marshes of Malegir have been purified due to the maintenance of abundant water.With the improvement of these material conditions, can't this area transformed by human hands gain trade benefits?Finally, Mr. Rudale has good reason for emphasizing these last truths: there would be new roads south of the Aures and Atla, and the safety of the caravans passing there would be assured; It would permit the development of trade in the hitherto inaccessible Depression; the landing of troops south of Biskra would secure tranquility and extend French influence in this part of Africa. However, the reporter added that, although the plan had been carefully studied, and despite the scrupulous attention to geodetic calculations, many opponents would deny the region the benefit it derived from the project. M. de Charley repeated one by one the arguments presented in various newspaper articles at the beginning of Captain Rudale's ruthless struggle. At the beginning, some people said that the length of the canal leading to the water of Gabes Bay should go to Larsa Salt Marsh, and then to Malegil. Some people also said that the capacity of the new sea should be 2.8 billion cubic meters, and the depression is the basic capacity. No less. It was then thought that the salty waters of the Sahara gradually seeping through the neighboring oases, rising to the topsoil by a natural capillary action, would have destroyed the large date palm plantations, which were a local wealth. Then there are some harsh critics who are convinced that the sea never reaches the depression and that the water evaporates every day as it flows through the canal.In Egypt, however, the sun was as hot as that of the Sahara, and Lake Manzares, which was thought to be probably underfilled, was filled with water, although this section of the canal was only a few hundred meters away. Next, someone argues that sea building is impossible, or at least that building canals would be expensive.It has been found that the soil texture from the Gabes ridge to the foremost depression is so soft that the measuring rod can sometimes drill down by its own weight alone. And what follows is the most outrageous prediction ever made by the detractors of the project: The banks of the extremely flat salt lake will soon turn into swamps, and there are as many plague hotbeds as there are swamps spreading diseases in this area.Strong winds do not blow from the south, as the planners thought, but from the north.The rainwater formed by the steam of the new sea does not fall on the vast countryside of Algeria and Tunisia, but is thrown in vain on the vast sandy plains of the great desert. In the region and era when fatalism was dominant, these criticisms were the starting point for calling for fatalism. This ending is still fresh in the memory of all people living in Tunisia at that time. Commander Rudale's plan aroused some people's imagination, and also inspired some people's enthusiasm for thinking.Among these people, De.Mr. Lespers kept this matter on his mind until the digging of the Isthmus of Panama made him let go of it. All this had an influence, though relatively small, on the imagination of the nomadic or sedentary natives of the region, who saw the whole of southern Algeria under European domination and their safety. , their ill-gotten gains, the end of their independence.The intrusion of the sea disturbed their peace, and centuries of extreme rule were over.Hence a dull commotion among the tribes, who dreaded touching their prerogatives, at least those they had already acquired. At this moment, the frail Captain Rudale was crushed not so much by illness as by disappointment.His dream business was put on hold, and a few years after the Americans redeemed the Panama Canal, in 1904 some foreign engineers and capitalists re-adopted Roudel's plan and established an association, in the name of the French Overseas Company, It is for the benefit of Tunisia, and in turn, the prosperity of Algeria, to start arrangements and complete the project as soon as possible. The idea of ​​going deep into the Sahara was on the minds of many, and in this sense the movement in Aulani, western Algeria, amplified as the abandoned Roudel program was forgotten.In the oasis of Fijik, the national railway has surpassed Beni Unif and has become the leader of the trans-Saharan movement. Descharais continued: I do not want here to go back to the ill-thought-out comments that have been made in the past about the company's capabilities and the gigantic project it has undertaken.The company is known to have influence over this very vast territory, for whom success is unquestionable, and the company has everything to worry about, especially north of Salt Lake, the forestry work the company delivers as a dune fixing task. In terms of benefits, this project uses the method of protecting the coast against the double encroachment of sea water and wind and sand applied in the French wilderness.That is, before realizing its plans, he seems to think that the city must be preserved or built, like an oasis from the future sea (certainly not a calm lake), against which the invasion of the sea must be guarded in advance. At the same time, the entire water conservancy system must manage drinkable rivers.Shouldn't harm to the habits and interests of the natives be avoided?Success should pay that price.Shouldn't some ports be built, and coastal voyages quickly organized to gain direct profits instead of digging canals? As a result of these simultaneous actions everywhere workers' settlements, temporary cities were erected at once, so to speak, where yesterday they were almost desolate.The nomads, though most of them resisted, were stopped by numerous workers.The engineers and technicians do their best, their scientific knowledge does not tire most of those under their command, and they have unlimited confidence in the engineers.During this period, southern Tunisia began to become a really busy place without worrying about the future, where all kinds of speculators, traders, brokers, etc. began to exploit those who could not survive in their hometown and had to take care of them. Subsistence is entrusted to merchants who come from nowhere, and who can be met everywhere where people gather. In addition to all this and these undeniable material needs, one also thinks of some invisible danger around him, feels a vague threat, something like the vague anxiety before a storm, disturbed by a huge storm. A crowd of people surrounded by a feeling of solitude that guesses something unknown, but certainly something mysterious, in these, so to speak, boundless, invisible living beings, man or beast It seems that everything is hiding from the eyes and ears of the laborers. Gentlemen, due to lack of foresight and miscalculation, there has been a failure.French companies abroad have to submit balance sheets.Since then, things have remained as they were, and it is my intention to bring you back to this discontinued enterprise.The company wants to keep everything going at the same time, the various projects that have been done, the various investments, and many of you remember the sad day when the company was forced to stop paying for projects that were too large for them to complete .The map I showed you just now shows the work that the French overseas company has begun to carry out. But these unfinished projects are still there, and the climate of Africa, which is closed in nature, certainly does not damage, or seriously damage these projects, for a new company our Sahara Ocean Company, for the benefit of the company and Success, in light of the damages we bargained for, and in the state of the works available to us, it is only reasonable to make use of them.It is even necessary to understand these projects with one's own eyes and know how to use them.For this reason, I intend to inspect these works carefully, at first alone, then with engineering scientists, but always under the protection of a convoy sufficient to ensure the safety of installations and sites newly built or to be built, Just like our escorts during the journey, please rest assured that we keep the journey as short as possible. Not that I am overestimating it, on the side of the natives, although there have been disputes among the Tuareg factions in the Southern Territories over the division of land, these incidents may have occurred on their own side (when in East Weren't the Bedouins in the desert good collaborators when they dug the Suez Canal?).Right now, they seem stable, but they're wary.Don't place too much trust in their apparent stability.With such brave and experienced fighters as Captain Aldigon, the men under their command must have been well acquainted with the customs and habits of the eccentric inhabitants of this region, and believe me, we have nothing to fear.When we return, we will give you absolutely accurate observation reports, and we will work out an extremely accurate budget for the completion of the project.In this way you will share in the glory and, dare I say, in the benefits of a magnificent cause that was destined to be auspicious and patriotic from the outset.But thanks to you, this cause for the honor and prosperity of our country will be done by us, and the motherland will help us, as she has done in South Auranai, who can turn still hostile tribes into our conquest of nature The most loyal and reliable guardian with unparalleled results. Gentlemen, you know who I am and how much I have contributed financially and intellectually to this great cause, and the combination of these two forces will overcome all difficulties.I assure you that where less equipped than our predecessors failed, we will unite and gather around the new company, and that is what we say to you before we set off for the South.Since you have no doubts and confidence in success and lasting efficacy, the rest is self-evident, so that in a hundred years the French flag will be planted at the Casbah in Algiers, and we will see our French The Fleet develops in the Sahara and supplies our outposts in the desert.