Touggourt is already within touch of civilization, for tourists, or a few of the most enterprising among them, come here by the coach in the Biskra season, and put up at the curious little hotel of which the place boasts.
From the top of the big mosque at Touggourt a splendid view is to be had over the desert. I went up there one day with a French officer to have a good look at the desolate region in which I had spent so many days.
I now counted my journey as practically finished.
On the 5th of July I took the coach to Biskra, where we arrived early on the 7th. The coach consists of a ramshackle vehicle, holding three people on the front and three on the back seat. For the first sixty-six miles it is drawn by mules, and for the last eighty-six miles the team consists of three ponies. The track is well defined, but rather heavy going through deep, soft sand. Sometimes the passengers have to get out and help to extricate the cart from the ruts into which it has sunk. The traveller gets well shaken up on the journey, but after a long ride on camels one hardly noticed that. The French sergeant accompanied me as far as Biskra. Biskra did, indeed, mean civilization. Here there was the railway to Algiers, and the fatigues of travelling were made easy. At Biskra there are some six or seven hotels, all of which were empty when I passed through. The season is in the winter, and at that time of year a considerable number of people visit this outpost of civilization. Date palms are numerous, and all water is still obtained from wells. But at Biskra there is no lack of water close to the surface of the ground. At Touggourt the water is so salt that all Europeans have to drink it distilled, but this is not necessary at Biskra.
This oasis is a beautiful spot. Amongst a grove of palms will be seen a pretty little house, by the side of which is a garden well stocked with beautiful green shrubs and flowers. All irrigation is easy here, as water is so plentiful. Hence the contrast as one emerges from the desert into this paradise of verdure and colour is very striking.
I spent only two hours at Biskra. I had just time to don my one and only flannel suit after drinking a cup of coffee, and pay my respects to the officer in command of the garrison, when I had to be back at the railway station, for my train left at 8.30 that morning.
CHAPTER XXV
By rail to Algiers — A difficult project — The resources of the Sahara
AS I settled myself in the railway carriage I had ample food for reflection over the events of my journey. Naturally the part that had made the most impression on me in many ways was the journey across the Sahara. It had taken me exactly seventy-five days to cover the total distance from Gao to Biskra, nearly 1600 miles. Now that the strain was over I began to feel really fatigued. It was pleasant to sit quietly in the train and watch the passing landscape, so different from what I had been looking at for many a long day.
First the train climbed laboriously up the steep sides of the mountains, which lead up into the high plateaux of Southern Algeria. As we stopped at stations and I noticed the number of Europeans about and the bustle that reigned everywhere as soon as the train stopped, it seemed hard to realize that I was not dreaming, and that I should not shortly wake up to find myself again in the Sahara—among those familiar scenes that I had got to know so well, and which were all summed up in the one word desolation.