A SAHARAN EXPEDITION.
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The Six-wheeled Lorry is Again put upon its Mettle.
THE three pictures reproduced on this page are given full prominence because the detail in them is interesting—in fact, the regret persists that each picture could not, because of the exigencies of space, be given a full page to itself. They illustrate scenes on the expedition which is being conducted by Count Byron Kuhn de Prorok, who is accompanied by a number of lq'rench and American enthusiasts, the intention being to penetrate as far as possible into the heart of the Sahara, the chief objective being the Hoggar range of mountains, which lies to the south of Algiers and about 1,700 kiloms. therefrom, t h railhead, however, being at Touggourt, the distance from which to Tamanraset, in the mountain region, being, approximately 1,500 kiloms.
Our first illustration shows the expedition (which is generally .escribed as being FrancoAmerican) after it has passed over the Atlas Mountains and h a s emerged on to the foothills and gained its first sight of the Saharan desert—that vast, sandy rolling plain which constitutes one of the waste areas of the globe. In the second view we see the vehicles immediately after they have crossed the old Roman bridge at El Kentaro., which, as its name implies, is one of the gateways into the desert.
This bridge is one of the notable remnants of Roman power in Northern Africa, and it was restored by Napoleon. Crossing the bridge when the photograph was taken was a camel caravan, but little of it can be discerned in so small a reproduction.
Our third illustration shows one of the lorries climbing the bank after fording the Oued Eya a few miles south of Biskra, unprecedented rains in North Africa having caused floods which have extended even into these arid regions. This illustration very clearly shows the extent to which the axles are racked in traversing such country, as they are all at different angles to the horizontal line of the frame members.
The vehicles employed on the expedition are Renault six-wheelers with twin tyres on each wheel and, as is clearly shown, each one is amply provided with a stock of spare tyres.