Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/467

* SAHARA. 427 SAIQA. outward in all directions and so rocoiving little moisture from the seas; and in summer, because the intense heat over the desert exi)ands the air so that it is like a sponge, alisorhinj; moisture instead of parting with it. There is, however, considerable precipitation in the region of the central mountains. There are four months of winter and eight months of summer. The range of temperature is large for a tropical region. Owing to the intense radiation, the hottest days are often succeeded by cool nights. Except in the oases the desert is almost devoid of vegetation save for stunted and thorn.v shrubs in the western Sahara. One of the commonest shrubs is the gum acaciat Wild animals are also rare, though the Sahara is preeminently the home of the domesticated camel, and the soutli western part of it is particularly well adapted for the ostrich. The game includes gazelles, wolves, hyenas, foxes, jackals, wild boars, and leopards. Granite, quartzitc, and porphyry are everj-where the pre- dominant rocks, as far as is yet known, except the Tertiar.v limestones along the Barka coast- line of Tripoli and the similar formations newly discovered in the southwestern part of the desert. The date palm is the staple product of the oases and the principal source of revenue in the Sahara. Under the shade of the palm trees the natives rai.se some wheat, barle,v, and vegetables. Cot- ton produced in most of the oases is the chief filtre used for native spinning and weaving. The ■coarse fibre esparto (alfa) thrives on the Saharan steppes of Southern Algeria and Tunis, and is an article of export. The chief mineral riches is salt, formed by evaporation in the salt pans of the south and west, in inexhaustible reservoirs that suppl.v the whole Sudan. One of them in El Juf is 30 miles long by 12 broad ; 20,000 camel- loads of salt are extracted from it annually. Camels, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, and a few ■cattle are the domestic animals. Excepting dates and salt, the commerce of the Sahara itself is insignificant, but the desert is the highwav for considerable trade between the Sudan and Morocco and Tripoli. The chief trade routes (along the lines of wells) are (1) from Tafilelt (for Morocco and Algiers), via Tuat, to Timbuctu ; (2) from Gadames (for Tunis and Tripoli ) to Tuat and Timbuctu on one hand and to Sokota and Kano on the other; (3) from Murzuk or Tripoli, via Bilma, to Kuka, near Lake Chad, the most frequented of all the desert routes; (4) from Bengazi, via L'jila, to Wara, in the Kingilom of Wadai; (5) from the Nile Val- le.v, via numerous oases parallel to it, to Darfur. Another great camel route skirts the northern fringe of the desert and connects the principal inland towns of the Mediterranean States. The ■west is inhabited by Moorish tribes ( Berbers ) , the centre by Tuaregs. the most formidable rob- bers of the desert and the greatest impediment to peaceful trade, and the east by Tibbu (Sudanese negro stock) and Bedouins. By a convention between Great Britain and France, the right of France to all of the unappropriated Sahara west of the Nile basin has l)een recognized. The French Sahara includes about three-fifths of the desert, the remainder belonging to Spain (a part of the Atlantic coast), Morocco, Tripoli, and Egypt. No estimates of the population of the Sahara are given. Bibliography. Rohlfs, Quer dtirch Afrika Vol. XVII. -28. (T-eipzig. 1874) ; Chavanne, Dir Hahara (Vienna, 1H7S) ; Xaelitigal, Sahara und KmUin (Berlin, 187'.t-8!)) ; Zittel. Die Sahara, i/irc phyniKchf und geoloyische Jtrnchaffinhrit (Cassel, 188:i) ; Bo- nelli, A7 Sahara : rfcscri/jct'dn ffcuyrdfiva, comer- cial II agricoki (Madrid, 188!l) ; Holland, Oto- logic du Sahara algiricn (Paris, 18!)1) ; Cat, .1 travcrs Ic desert ( ib., 18!I2) ; Bissiiel, Le Sahara francais (ib.. I8!)2) ; V'uillot, l/ejtploratioii da Sahara (ib., I8l»r)) ; Tout<ie, Vu Itahome au Sa- hara (ib., IH'.IO) ; Bonnefon, I.e Transsnharien par la mai)i d'nurre iiiililaire ( ib., I<(00) ; Som- merville, Sand.i of Sahara (Philadelphia, IJIOl) ; Foureau, Mission sahariennc Foureauljamy (Paris, 1902) ; and the Comptcs Uemlus de la Hociele tjeoiiraphiiiiie de Paris ( ib., 1882 el se(|.). SAHARANPXJB,, sjVhii'rfm-poor', or SEHA- RUNPOOB. The capital of a district of the same name in the United Provinces of Agra, India, 111 miles north by east of Uellii, on the Damaula Nadi River, near the Doab Canal (Map: India, C 2). The surrounding sec- tion has been made very fertile by means of irrigation and produces grain, cotton", and sugar- cane. Saharaiipir is the commercial centre of this region and also carries on consideralile trade in native textiles. Population, in liJOl, (ili,254. The city dates from the fourteenth century, and during the Mogul regime was a popular sununer resort. It was for a time under the control of the Sikhs, and came under English sway in 1804. SAHXJAYO, sa-wii'v.*.. A Mexican town of the State of Michoacan, liO miles southeast of Guada- lajara, on the southern margin of Lake Chapala. It was conquered bv Nufio de (luzman in 1530. The population in 189.5 was 8443. SAI. One of the many native South American words applied to monkevs. This one seems to be a general term for 'monkey' and to lie at the root of many names, such as 'saimiri,' 'sahui,' 'sajou,' 'saguin,' 'saki,' 'sapajou,' "ouakari," and similar terms which have come down to us through the writings of various early Euro|)ean travelers, by whom they have been variously spelled and changed. SAID PASHA, sa-ed' pj^-shii', Mehemed (1835—). A Turkish statesman, born in Con- stantinople. He served under Fuail Pasha in Syria in 1860, became (iovernor of Cyprus, and commanded a corps in the Kusso-Turkish War. He was afterwards made Secretary of .Stale and member of the Reform Commission by Abdul Hamid II. In 1879 he became Prime jlinister, was removed the following year, but returned quickly to power and remained in oflice till May, 1882. He was restored to his post in July of the same vear. and in Ueceniber became (Jrand Vizier, holding this otlicc till 1885, and again for a few months in 1895. SAI'GA (Russ. sni.(/rt. antelope). An interest- ing antelope i Saiga Tartarica) with an extraor- dinarv infiated nose, due to the size and ]iosition of the na.sal bones, inhabiting the stepiH's of Asi- atic Russia south of 55' N. The sheep-like ex- pression is nmre pronounced in the females, as the male has erect, annulated horns (see Colored Plate of Antei,ope.s) : there is a thick tuft of hair beneath each eye anil each ear. and the ani- mal's coat is fleecy. In some of its habits also it resembles sheep, especiall.v in jumping and butting. This antelope inhabited Western Eu-