And you have to admit it!
HIDE AND SEEK IN THE LIBRARY
Not at all dry, are they—these deserts—when you get down into them? And I haven't told you half there is to tell about them.[32]
[32] John C. Van Dyke, for one, has written a wonderfully interesting little book just about the American desert. It's called simply "The Desert."
To begin with, what does your geography say about deserts—about how they are made?
How do mountains help make deserts?
In and near what zone does your geography locate the great deserts of the world?
How does the Sahara desert compare in size with the United States? (You see, the Sahara is practically a whole United States gone dry!)
Yet, the soil of much of the Sahara is very fertile and with water would yield wonderful crops. But where is the water to come from? Where do we get the water that has made our deserts bloom? Has the Sahara any such sources of supply?
Is it true that the Libyan desert was once covered by the sea, as it was in that story of Phaeton, the boy who set the world afire?