Wells In Deserts

aequiring great iirtíuenco among the desert tribes of Algeria by the iutroduction of useful European arts, espeeially that of boring for water. Beneath certain sections of the (xieat Desort there is either a subterranean lake or river; and this )vs3.been long known to the native -rrj(.9;-among whom thoro are . J r.aï'well-sinkers who form a nunverous ï%xly,vènjoying nuioh considera tion; their work beitig of a dangerou.3 character. T'hey excávate in the ground, and when ttíey reach a certain depth they know by the color of tho soil if water is below. thin crust covers tho subterranean stream, aud wbon it is broken the water in it rushes up with the velocity of petroleum in American oil-wells. In the north of aïgeria, the wcll-sinkcrs endeavor to find a subterranean stream, which is sometknes tappcd at the depih of five hundred aud fifty feet. Colonol Duraas, 1 ■(' io French army, thus describes the mode of excavating hem : " The section is in a square form. - Öne workrnau aloneworks at it; ard, as he advances, he supports tho sides with four planks of palmtrees. By certain infallible signs - for instance, when the eoil becomes black and moist - he kuows that he is near tho spring. He then filis bis ears and nostrils with wax, that he way not be suftoc ated by tho uprising delugo of water, and fasteus a rope under liis arms, bayipg previously arrangod to be drawn up on a given signal. At the j last stroke of tho piek, the water often riges so rapidly that the unhappy well ? linker is drawn up insensible. These inexhaustible spriugs are the common property of tho villago which has discovered them, and are conveyed to the gardens in conduits of holiowed palm tree trunks, It is these spring- whieh are the foundation of the oasis of Sahara." In 1853, when the Fren eb conquests bad extended to tho vast and mysterious solitude ealled the Great Desert, wellboring and sinking apparatus were introduecd, and astonished the Arabs by their simplicity and efFectivenoss. In tho iive years ending 1859-60, fifty welis have been opencd; 30,000 palms aud 1,000 fruit trees have been planted ; many oasis havo rovived from the ruin caused by the failure of springs ; and two villages have beon ereated ia the Desert ; the total expense not having been much moro than 20,000 sterling, which has beéri vepaid by tases and voluntary coltiibutions from the Arabs. Ooi. Öumas observes: "Sncii work givés us ten times more influence than our military v'rctorios " The waters bubbling up from these börings u-e generally chargcd with sulplwtc of soda, in:igi)osi;i, and lime whi'jh makes thein bitter and fait ; but tho Arabs are oily too glad to have any kind of water, and the plunis and other xegetable producís of tho cily thrivo oh it. The boring. of Sidi Sliuian and K'ciour present the eurious phcuomenon of live fish. A parallel to this case was reported by M. Ayme, Governor of the oaíií of Kffypt, to a saientific society in Franco. In clearing a well 325 fect doop, he said " ho had iound fish fit for cooking." The Freneh propose to extend t wells into the Desert, so as to unite the oasis of Totuot (on the direct routo to Timbuctoo) with Algeria, and thus direct the stream of rivcrhuid cominerce into its acoient channol by Algcria. SS" " You can do anything if you have patience," said an old unelo, who liad made a fortune, to bis nephew, who bad nearly spent one. '' Water may be irried in a eievc, it you only wait." "IIow long ? " sskod tin petulant spendJnift, who was impatient for the old inan's obituary. " 'J'ill it freezes ! " was the eold reply.