We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
The history of North Africa is dominated by the Sahara, which has always been a vital factor in the lives of the peoples of Barbary and the Western Sudan. The cultural and economic development of both has been profoundly affected by intercourse between the two. Yet they are separated by a desert which forms one of the world's greatest barriers to human intercourse.
A slight increase in the aridity of the Sahara would so extend the waterless stages that the caravan routes would become impassable to camels and therefme to men—leaving, of course, mechanical transport out of consideration. A correspondingly slight increase in rainfall would quickly multiply the waterholes and desert pastures and render man independent of the now necessary camel. The question of climatic change in historic times is therefore a matter of importance to the student of the history of northern Africa.
1 Gautier, E.F. Sahara Algerien(Paris 1908), p. 60 et seq. Google Scholar Lauzanne. Bulletin du Comité de I’Afrique Française, 1921, p. 246.Google Scholar
2 A striking example in the Bardo (Musée Alaoui) at Tunis illustrates Orpheus charming the animals, amongst which is a remarkable picture of the Bubal hartebeest
3 Stéphane, Gsell, Histoire Ancienne de I’Afrique du Nord (Paris, 1921), vol. 1.Google Scholar
4 The Romans appreciated the value of good water and if local supplies were not of the desired purity they did not hesitate to look far afield for their needs.
5 Gautier, E.F., Les Sécles obscurs du Maghreb (Paris, 1927), pp. 14–16.Google Scholar
6 Ibid. op. cit., p. 16.Google Scholar
7 Jugurtha, 79 4.Google Scholar
8 Bell. Afric. LI, 5. LXIX, 5. LXXIX, I .
9 Procopius, . Bell. Vand. 1, 15, 34.Google Scholar De Aedificiis Google Scholar
10 Jugurtha, . 17, 5.Google Scholar
11 Hist. Augusti, Hadrian, 22, 14.Google Scholar
12 The Greeks had learnt the use of elephants during the campaigns of Alexander, first at Arbela and afterwards in the Indus valley where elephants were opposed to them. They subsequently organized elephant hunts in Africa.
13 Res gestae Divi Augusti, 4, 39.Google Scholar
14 Natural History, V, I. VIII, 10.
15 Gsell, . op. cit. vol. 1, p. 99 Google Scholar
16 Annales de Gbogruphie (1917) 26, 231, 377Google Scholar et sep. West Africa I April 1922.Google Scholar The Gambia, Annual Report, 1920.Google Scholar
17 Gautier, E.F., Sahara Algérien (Paris, 1908).Google Scholar Edwardes, H.S.W. Geographical Journal (1919), 53, 206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Col. Mangeot, L’Afrique franpise, (1922), p. 527.Google Scholar
18 Edwardes, H.S.W. loc. cit. Nigeria, Annual Report, 1921.Google Scholar Bovill, E.W. Journal of the African Society (1921), 20, 181–5, 259 et seq. Google Scholar SirHector, Duff, Growing in Nigeria, (London, 1921), pp. 4 8.Google Scholar Col. Tilho, , Geogruphical Journal, (1920), 24, 245.Google Scholar Hans, Vischer, Geogruphical Journal (1909), 33, 259.Google Scholar
19 Nigeria, Governor’s Annual Address, (Lagos, 1924). p. 121 Google Scholar
20 Gautier, E.F. Sahara algérien (Paris, 1908).Google Scholar Chudeau, R. Sahara soudunais (Paris, 1909). pp. 244–55.Google Scholar Annales de Géographie (1916), 26, 455.Google Scholar
21 Henri, Hubert, Annales de Géographie (1917). 26, 384.Google Scholar
22 Conrad, Kilian, Au Hoggur (Paris, 1925), pp. 106,Google Scholar 139-43, 158, 165, 178. Harding King, W.J. Geogruphical Journal (1919), 53, 49.Google Scholar Gautier, E.F., Le Sahara (Paris, 1928), pp. 61–7.Google Scholar
23 Rodd, F.R., People of the Veil (London, 1926), p. 361.Google Scholar
24 Herodotus, , 11, 32.Google Scholar
25 Ibid. IV, 181, 185.
26 Gsell, , op. cit. vol. 1, p. 57.Google Scholar
