Sahara

by Angus Buchanan

The three oldest towns in Kowar are: Bilma, Dirku, and Gadzebi. Of these Bilma is by far the most important because of its prolific salt-pits.

As a place of outstanding fame in the Sahara it is naturally rich in local history. At various periods the town has occupied three different situations. The site of the oldest town, known to the natives as Balabili, is about a quarter of a mile south of the Bilma of the present. It is a grave ground, with a gruesome history, for it was almost completely annihilated, at a single blow, about 200 years ago, by Arabs who came from Wadai. The story of the tragedy, as told to me by the Chief of Bilma, is that all the inhabitants had gathered to the mosque on a festal occasion of Mohammedan worship, when they were swooped upon and trapped by their remorseless enemies; and a frightful massacre ensued, from which few escaped. The tragic remains of that awful day are still there for all to see, and I have looked with pity and awe on ground that is thickly strewn with the sun-bleached bones of those who perished. Not a dwelling stands on the desolate site; only a corner of the fateful mosque remains, and that is slowly crumbling and vanishing—vanishing to join the dust of those who once worshipped within its walls.

In time another town, locally called Kalala, was established, farther north, beside the salt-pits. Like Fachi, this was built of salt, and the roofless ruins of the old hutments are still standing. The old Chief of Bilma informed me that it was completely abandoned forty-seven years ago, owing to its being constantly attacked by hostile caravans, who looted everything, and even carried off the women and children.

But gradually, notwithstanding the loss from such disturbances, the present town had grown into being, fortified for defence, and possessing a fort; to which the people of Kalala were in the habit of fleeing to take refuge in time of raids. Comprehending, in this way, the greater safety that the new town offered, harassed Kalala was eventually abandoned, and everyone moved to settle in the quarter that is the Bilma of to-day.

MEN OF THE SALT OASIS

That is something of the history of the famous salt oasis. And the past and the present would seem to have resemblance, for the existing town is decaying. It is already half in ruins, and, moreover, has the woebegone appearance of a place that has lost its spirit—the spirit of the wild in wilderness, that fights to live against any odds; the spirit to endure in the most desolate and unknown places of the earth; the spirit that is found in Fachi.

Nevertheless, the far-famed prolific salt-pits of Bilma remain remarkable. Their crowded hills of cast-up salt debris resemble the outworks of a great minehead, and no one knows how long they have been in existence down through the centuries of time. Their antiquity is acknowledged by all.

The area of ground covered by the mounds of the workings is very extensive, but by far the larger number of pits are idle or old, and just an odd one, here and there, is in use.