Chapter 6 Chapter 6 From Gabes to Tozeur

On March 17, the expedition left Gabes from 5 o'clock in the morning, when the sun was rising over the horizon of the small sandbar, illuminating the long sandy plains of the Salt Lake region. It was a clear day, and a gentle breeze from the north swept across the sky, driving away a few puffy clouds that dispersed before reaching the opposite horizon. Also, winter is over.The climate in East Africa has remarkable regularity, with four distinct seasons, and the rainy season is almost only from January to February.The temperature is overheated in summer, and from May to October, the monsoon is dominated by northeasterly to westerly winds.M. de Charette, therefore, set off with his entourage at a comfortable time.The survey must be completed before the extreme heat, when it is too difficult to move slowly across the Sahara.

It is said that Gabes has no port.The ancient Tenupo Bay was almost silted up with sand and could only be reached by boats with a shallow draft.This is the gulf, forming a semicircle between the Galganay Islands and the Rotofage Islands, which is called a small sandbar, and this small sandbar bay really worried the voyagers of the Grant. so many shipwrecks. The preparatory work for governance is at the mouth of the Mera dry river, where the new port of the canal will appear.The ridge of Gabes is 20 kilometers wide and has a total of 22,000 cubic meters of soil and sand. After digging away, only the strong basin-shaped outer rim retains the water of the bay.It will only take a few days to unblock the basin, but it goes without saying that this work can only be carried out at the last moment, when all the protection, excavation, and deepening of the salt lake area have been completed.In addition, it was foreseen that a bridge would be built to reach this area extending towards Gabes and the Tripoli border area with the railway from Kairouan to Friana and Gafsa.

The relatively short first canal of the Gabés ridge was laborious and costly, since in some sections the ridge is more than 100 meters high, except for two breccias 50-60 meters high. The swell, where the sand is mixed with hard-to-mine boulders. From the mouth of the dry estuary of the Meera, the canal stretched towards the plains of Djerid, sometimes along the northern and sometimes southern hills, and the detachment began its initial journey.From the 20th kilometer, enter the second section, try to walk along the North Mountain to reduce the inherent difficulties and dangers of the natural environment in the salt lake area.

Engineer Dessaray and Captain Aldigon walked at the head of the procession, escorted by a few North African cavalrymen.Behind them followed the convoy of provisions and supplies for the bivouac, under the orders of Sergeant Major Nicole.This was followed by a squad commanded by Lieutenant Viette, forming the rear guard. The goal of this expedition is to survey the traces of the entire process of the canal and confirm where the project is progressing. At first, Larsa was surveyed, and then to the Malegir Salt Lake. The survey had to be carried out slowly.Since the camel caravan really went from one oasis to another, detoured through the mountains and plateaus of Algeria and Tunisia in the south, and covered 400 kilometers within 10 to 12 days, the engineers clearly knew that they had to work more than 12 hours a day, because He thought about the bad situation: the project had clues and old paths along the way.

"We are not trying to invent," said M. de Charley, "but rather to understand the present state of the works left to us by our predecessors..." "It is settled, my dear friend," replied Captain Aldigon to the engineer, "and, besides, there is nothing to be found in the Jared area for a long time. But, as for me, there is no I don't feel bad about making one last trip before the change! Does the region take advantage of the exchange?" "That's for sure, Captain, please come back here..." "In 15 years..." "No, I believe that you will soon discover the vibrant scene of commercial life in the place where you have encountered only a remote desert..."

"It has its charm, my dear companion..." "Yes...if desolation and emptiness can be intoxicating..." "Thoughts like yours, not without doubt," replied Captain Aldigon, "but who knows if the old, devoted admirers of nature regret these modifications which man has imposed on nature!  … ..." "Well, my dear Aldigan, don't be too sorry, because, even if the entire Sahara is below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, believe me, we still have to transform it into an ocean - from the Gulf of Gabes to the Atlantic coast! Like it should have existed during some geological period."

"Apparently, modern engineers don't respect anything anymore!" the officer declared with a smile. "If left unchecked, they will fill up the sea with mountains, and our earth will be like an ostrich egg, a bare ball, Great for building railroads!" One can indeed think that the engineers and the officers did not see things from the same angle during the weeks of their travels through the Jared area.But they are still good friends. Cross the Oasis of Gabes and you are in the heart of a charming place.It is here, between the sand sea and the desert dunes, that there are various specimens of African flora.Botanists have collected 563 species of plants here.They should not envy the inhabitants of this blessed oasis, to whom nature spares her bounty.While banana, mulberry, and sugarcane trees are rare, at least one can find fig, almond, and citrus trees in abundance, thriving under the tall fans of innumerable date palms.Not to mention the hillsides full of vineyards and the endless wheat fields as far as the eye can see.What's more, there are more than one million date palm trees and 150 varieties in the Jared area, where the dates are produced. Among them is the "glowing date palm", whose pulp is transparent and of high quality.

Beyond the farthest edge of the oasis, the camel caravan traveled up the Dry Mera River to the dry ridged area through which the new canal opened.This is where engineering takes a lot of labor.But despite the intricacies, low wages, and ultimately no shortage of workers, French companies abroad were able to recruit the Arabs they needed.Only the Tuareg tribe and a few other nomadic tribes came to the lagoon from time to time and refused to participate in the canal work. Mr. Descharais took notes as he advanced slowly.The slopes of the hills, and even the beds of the canals, were to be corrected to find again the slope calculated to obtain a sufficient flow, "a sufficient flow, as Mr. The water level remains at a constant height, replenishing the water that evaporates every day."

"But in principle, how wide should the canal be?" asked Captain Aldigon. "It's only 25 to 30 meters wide on average," replied Mr. De Charais. "It should be fixed so that the water itself can be widened. Although it is a relatively large project and therefore expensive, it must be thought that the width should be 80 meters, as you see today." "There is no doubt, my dear friend, that for the early flooding of the Sahara and the area of ​​the Malegir Salt Lake..." "That's for sure, and I stress that to you, we're relying on the speed of the current to throw sand off the side, and that's going to get a lot of water through the bay."

"Anyway, at first," continued Captain Ardigan, "didn't everyone say that the Sahara Sea would be brought to a normal water level within ten years?" "I know this...I know this..." Mr. Deschaley retorted, "Some people even think that the water will evaporate during the process of crossing the canal, and maybe not a drop of water will reach the Sahara Salt Lake! Therefore, it is still It seems to me that it would be better to follow the original fixed width and make the canal deeper, at least in its initial section. This is very practical and economical. But, you know, this was not the only miscalculation of our predecessors In addition, more accurate research on the foundation can also refute these claims, and it will definitely not take ten years to fill the Algerian depression. Merchant ships can travel from the Gulf of Gabes through the New Sea to the farthest port of Malegil 5 years in advance.”

The two sections of the first day were completed under good conditions. Every time the camel caravan stopped, the engineer needed to check the condition of the canal.It was about 15 kilometers from Gabes when Captain Aldigon gave the signal to stop the advance for the night just before 5 o'clock in the evening. Camp was soon set up in the shade of a small grove of date palms on the north bank of the canal.The knights got down to the ground and led their mounts to a meadow where there was plenty of grass.A brook wound through the grove, and it was believed to be cool and pure. Tents that were only used for sleeping were quickly put up.As for eating, everyone is under the shade of the trees.The engineer and the two officers were served by François, with food brought from Gabes.With only canned meat and vegetables, food for the caravan was guaranteed for a few weeks, and in the towns and cities of lower Tunisia and lower Algeria, near the salt lakes, supplies were always easy to come by. It is useless to say that the sergeant major and his men had an idea. They put up the tent in the blink of an eye after placing the two supplementary wagons at the entrance to the woods.Plus, Nicole loves to crack jokes, and Pistash can't stop laughing at the jokes, Nicole is willing to "think" and "be ahead" before thinking about himself.The venerable horse seemed content with his first day of crossing the Jerrid, answering his master with a long hiss that was mixed with a "heart cut" shriek. It is self-evident that Captain Aldigon took all precautions against the camp.Moreover, the tranquility of the night was broken only by a few howls of wolves, clearly recognizable as coming from nomadic areas. The beast stayed at a distance, and the camel caravan ran into no trouble until sunrise. From 5 o'clock in the morning, everyone was on the ground, and at 5:10, Monsieur François finished shaving in front of a small mirror hanging from the tent poles.The horses were gathered together, the wagons were loaded, and the detachment set out on the march as ordered the night before. Everyone walked along the steep bank of the canal, sometimes on this side of the river, sometimes on the other side of the river, and the terrain was no longer higher than the part of the Gabes ridge near the bay.It's just that the river bank is made of loose soil and weak sand. If the water flow is strong, the river bank will definitely not be able to withstand the impact of the water.At this point, as the engineers expected and the locals feared, the canal would widen itself, shortening the time it would take to fill the two lagoons.But, on the whole, the bed of the canal appears solid, as M. de Charley can attest.Fittingly, digging is faster in the soft strata across the Great Lagoon region of Tunisia than in the land along the small sandbars.After leaving the Gabes Oasis, what appeared in front of us was a desolate and barren land.Sometimes a few groves of date palms and clumps of stipa on the plains are the real wealth of the region. Since its departure, the expedition has followed the canal westward in order to reach the depression called Fejadi in order to reach the town of Rajama.This town should not be confused with another town of the same name on the easternmost edge of Larsa, which the expedition was to visit after passing completely through Feijdi and Djerid. On March 18, after walking the required distance to two campsites in one day, Captain Aldigan came to the south side of the canal, in the town of Lahama, to rent a house for the night. The various towns of this district occupy all the same places in small oases, like villages, surrounded by earthen walls, which can ward off the invasion of nomads, and even the attack of large African beasts. There are only a few hundred local residents, mixed with many French immigrants.A small band of native soldiers holds the fort, and these humble little houses overlook the center of town.North African cavalry, warmly welcomed by the inhabitants, were housed in Arab houses, while engineers and officers were hospitablely received in the home of a fellow countryman. When Captain Aldigon asked what he might know about the Tuareg chief who had escaped from the Gabes prison, the compatriot replied that he had never heard of it.Adiyar was not reported anywhere near Rahama.Moreover, everything leads to the belief that the escapees have returned to the Algerian Salt Lake region, bypassing Feijdi and seeking hiding places among the southern Tuaregs.However, a resident of Lajama who had just returned from Tozeur heard that Gemma had made an appearance nearby, but in which direction she went afterwards, it was not known.In addition, it should be recalled that after Adiyar escaped from prison, he landed on the beach of the small sandbar, and after a brief reunion with his mother near the hermit's tomb (where the horses were prepared for him), his companions and fled with him by a road Gemma had not followed them. In the early morning of March 19th, a little overcast, which foreshadowed a temperate day, Captain Aldigon gave the signal for departure.About 30 kilometers have been traveled between Gabes and Lajama.It's only half way to Fejadi.This probably required a whole day of marching, and at night, the squad set up camp near the salt lake. On the last stretch to the town of La Hama the engineer had to stay away from the canal, and during the first half of the day he turned back to the canal where it entered the salt lake.Therefore, to pass through the long depression of Feijdi, it is necessary to pass through an area of ​​185 kilometers with an elevation of 15-25 meters above sea level, and it is not necessary to pay too much hardship to complete the excavation work. In the days that followed, the detachment was able to walk along the banks of the canal, on land that did not quite meet the required hardness. In the center of the depression, the probe sometimes sank by itself until it disappeared, and what happened to people happened to tools.This lagoon in Tunisia is the largest of all lagoons.Beyond the tip of Boabdala, Fajadi and Jarid (not to be confused with the namesake in the desert) form only a depression up to their westernmost point.Moreover, through Fejadi, starting from the village of Mtoxia, located above the town of Lahama, the canal has been identified and needs to follow the canal's nearly straight line for 153 kilometers, starting at 153 kilometers and bending south , parallel to the coast between Tozeur and Nefta. It's not at all surprising to find lake basins with names like lagoons and salt lakes.With regard to the basins, geographically named Djerid and Fejadi, no water is retained, not even in their central parts, and this is where M. Lieutenant Etter, spoke to them as if this happened to him often. "We can't even see a sheet of water because of a hard salt crust that covers it. But the liquid level is only separated by this crust. It's a miracle of geological structure. You will think that our horses' hooves rattled as if they were walking on the back of the arch "Indeed," the lieutenant replied, "you need to consider whether the ground will suddenly sink..." "It should be noted," added the captain, "that I keep repeating this to our men, and do I not see that sometimes, in the lowest places of these hollows, the water suddenly rises up to the breasts of the horses? . . . " "Such a thing has happened, just when Rudale was surveying this lagoon. Has anyone ever heard of a case of camel caravans suddenly getting stuck when they went to various towns in this district?" "A region, since it is not a sea or a lake, is not land in the true meaning of the word land!..." Lieutenant Viet expressed his opinion. "What you don't have here in Jared, you'll find it in Larsa and Melagir," added Mr. Deschalay, "in addition to hidden waters, there's surface water in these salt lake basins below sea level. ..." "Why, my dear sir," said Captain Aldigon, "it is a pity that this salt lake does not meet these conditions! A canal about thirty kilometers long would be enough to bring the water out of the Gulf of Gabes." , and in a few years we'll be sailing the Sahara!" "It's a pity," said M. de Charley affirmatively, "in fact, not only because the duration and value of the project have been reduced in a considerable proportion, but also because the area of ​​Xinhai has been doubled. It is not 7,200 square kilometers. , instead of 72 hectares, Xinhai covers nearly 150 hectares! Looking at the map of this region, we see that the area of ​​Feijadi and Jarid districts is larger than that of Larsa and Malegir districts, and especially that of Mailkir The Legir area will not be completely submerged." "In conclusion," said Lieutenant Vieter, "since we are walking on an unstable ground, will the ground subside at some point, especially if the water seeps in for a long time? Since the Mediterranean Sea does not flow from the east to the West invades the region, and who knows whether the whole south of Algeria and Tunisia will become an ocean basin, due to slow or sudden changes in the land?  …” "This is our wandering friend Viette," retorted the captain, "who is too impressed with the fantasies of the Arabs' imaginary tales. He wants to race the speed with our righteous Nicole's righteous 'scramble' !..." "Indeed, my captain," retorted the young officer, "I think anything is possible." "Then what is your opinion, my dear Deschares?" "I like nothing but solid facts, precise observations," concluded the engineer. "However, the truth is, the more I study the soil in this area, the more I think it's not normal, and it needs to be considered what changes will happen over time and due to chance that we can't foresee! But, in this In the meantime, while preserving freedom of movement, we can only realize the grand scheme of the Sahara Sea." After many stops - Limagne, Seftimi, Bouadala, towns in the tongue between Fejdi and Djerid - the expedition completed the exploration of the first canal to Tozeur , stopped at Tozeur on the evening of March 30.