Charles Rabot

“ TO traverse the Sahara from north to south, to join Algeria to the Sudan through the great desert of North Africa, and to subjugate the nomads who wander through that immense region has been one of the principal aims of France in recent years, and one which she has at length attained at the price of long and persevering effort. The hostility of the Touaregs was for a long time an obstacle. Established in the oases scattered over the Sahara, these Berber fanatics and brigands were accustomed to scan the whole desert, and as soon as they spied a caravan to fall upon it to rob and massacre. ”

“ One has no need for anxiety as to feeding the mehari; the desert flora suffices for its food, and in summer it can endure 5 days without drinking, while when plants are green it can go without water for 18 or 20 days.
By this method of penetration in the Sahara, M. Foureau and these French officers have there accomplished progress as important as that effected by Nansen in his Arctic exploration. By adopting the means of locomotion and of existence of the Polar peoples, the Norwegian explorer gained a memorable victory. ”

“ In the same way, by borrowing from the inhabitants of the Sahara their mode of life and locomotion, the French have triumphed over the obstacles which the nature of the soil and of the inhabitants had set against the exploration of the great desert of northern Africa. ”