Africa, and is about ten times the size of the great state of Texas.
Most of it is a vast waste of sand and pebbles, where no rain falls. Only here and there are oases, where date-palms and other fruit trees grow.
Caravans constantly cross the desert. They carry gold-dust, ivory and ostrich feathers from the interior of Africa to the coast of the Mediterranean, and take back manufactured articles.
Salt is obtained from various places in the Sahara. Caravans of 1,000 camels go to Bilmah for it.
Crossing the desert.
Let us join a caravan and cross the Sahara. The camel is the only beast of burden that we can use, because he can travel for many days without suffering for want of water.
The driver speaks to our camels and they kneel to let us mount. We now begin our journey. The camels rock us almost as if we were in a little boat on the sea. Some of us feel seasick. Soon something even worse than seasickness comes. A dark cloud is driven toward us by the wind. The air is filled with sand and dust. The sun is darkened. We are in a sandstorm.
The camels turn their backs to the wind, kneel down and put their noses close to the ground. We lie down and cover our faces with handkerchiefs. Soon the storm is over. The camels rise, we shake the sand from our clothes, and begin the journey again.
The sun is scorching hot. The sand almost burns. But as the sun goes down it grows cooler. At last it is really cold. We are thankful for shawls and blankets.
It takes us more than two months to cross the desert from Morocco to Timbuktu on camel-back.
2. The Sudan (soo-dahn'), which we now enter, is a wonderfully different country from the dry Sahara. It is well wooded and very productive.
Cotton and indigo grow wild, and great crops of corn and fruit are produced. Cattle and sheep are raised in vast numbers, and countless herds of antelopes roam over the plains.
The Sudan is the land of the blacks. It contains many independent negro tribes and large cities.
HOMES AND PEOPLE.
In the upper part of the picture on the opposite page we have views of people living in northern Africa. Some of them are called Moors. Their home is in the Barbary states. Can you give the names of these states? Their religion is Mohammedanism. You can see one of their churches in the picture. Five times a day a priest goes into the high tower and calls the people to prayer. Then every good Mohammedan washes himself and prays. The tops of their homes are flat and many people sleep on the housetops. Merchants have their shops on the sidewalk. They sit upon rugs all day selling their goods. Notice that the people dress in long, flowing robes. The women always keep their heads and faces covered when they are out of doors, so that only their eyes peep out.
In the center of the picture you may see some Arab homes, such as they build outside of the cities. You will see that it is merely a tent stretched on poles. These tents are taken down when the Arab wishes to change his home. These people get their living by keeping sheep, camels, and cattle, and they move their homes when they wish to find fresh pasture for their animals. Sometimes many Arabs bring their camels together, forming a caravan, which the merchants employ to carry goods across the desert. You may also see in the center of the picture some negro homes. These homes are built of bamboo sticks covered with leaves and grass, stuck together with mud. They do not have chimneys, as no fire is needed in this warm country. You may see a vast number of elephant tusks in the picture. Long trains of negro porters carry the ivory to the coast.
In the lower part of the picture are some people living in South Africa. The Kaffirs are native negroes, but they keep cattle and build better homes than the negroes of the Kongo. What can you tell about the Boers? In what kind of homes do they live? What use do they make of the ostrich? What other people live in South Africa? Where did they come from?
3. The Belgian Kongo is very productive. Bananas and rice are raised; coffee and cotton
