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FROM TOUGGO

23rd January 1923
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Page 18, 23rd January 1923 — FROM TOUGGO
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0 TIMBUCTOO

How the Sahara Desert Was Crossed b: Caravans Occui Cars in 18 Days, Compared with Camel 75 to 190 Days.

IT IS an 1,800-milp journey across the desert of Sahara to the town which, in our boyhood days, was 'always referred to, for some incomprehensible reason, with derision, and which was regarded as being an impossible sort of place to which no one would want to go, and buried as far as possible in the wilds.

Yet M. Andre Citroen (who, by the way, is first cousin to Mr. David Citroen, the head and front of the Minerva car business in this country), and his coadjutors, have brought Timbuctoo within the compass of a motor-vehicle journey from the Mediterranean coast, and, more than that, they have shown the type of transmission that can conquer those terrible sandy wastes. .

• The wheel has done so much to make transport over hard roads feasible, that a new ideal has been atA up ; that is, to secure a means of traction which shall allow us to transport goods and passengers over what may be summed up in the two words "bad land." All over the world, wild, undeveloped country—unlevel, soft, marshy, roay or sandy, even snowciavered country—lies idle, yet fall of marvellous potentialities, only calling for transport facilities to permit of resources being tapped and brought into use by mankind. But the wheel cannot help unless it has a track laid first of all—a highway or, at least, a partly levelled way, or a railroad if the distances are great. In sandy regions the difficulties of laying or making a highway are insuperable, except at a cost which is not economical, because of the absence of stone. Hence, either a substitute for the wheel must be obtain-ed or a means must be provided—as is done in the chain-track device, for laying a temporary track over which a wheeled vehicle can travel, the track being lifted and rd aid alternately as the vehicle moves forward, In the case of the chain track, this laying and lifting is accomplished by making the track endless arid by causing it to pass over a driving wheel of tho vehicle and a jockey pulley, so that there shall be no waste of time or effort in the lifting and relaying. A number of weight-carrying wheels, or rollers, serve to spread the load over a large area of ground and thus to prevent churning. The chain track was given its great trial during the war, and it then showed that it was reliable, and would permit of traction over land so bad as to be impassable to wheeled vehicles. There is, naturally, much yet to be done in its development; its-durability must be materially increased, and methods of maintenance must be improved, until the replacement of any worn or broken part shall only occupy a few minutes of the time of a labourer ; it must not be an hour's task for a fitter to replace a broken shoe : The life of a chain track is, at present, all too short, and this fact alone is acting in retardation of its more general adoption.

In the case of the Citroen-Kegresse tractor, the vehicle is an 11 h.p. Citroen car fitted with the Kegresse-Hinstin driving belts, which are made of canvas rubber-faced. The belt was originally designed canvas, for use over the snows of Russia. The choice of the route arose from an appreciation of the fact that, if the Sahara could be crossed by motor vehicle, a very important avenue of trade could be established between the West African ports and the Mediterranean. From Algiers to Biskra. and Tonggourt (or Tugurt) and from Tirnbuctoo to Senegal on the west coast, the ways are easy, but in between Touggourt'and Timbuctoo lies 1,800 miles of an arid desert.

Experiments with a Citroen-Kegresse tractor were carried out last year by the Audouin-Dubreuil mission, in order to ascertain the requirements and to make preliminary preparations for the big event timed for the end of the year. The route had been surveyed, and the supplies of water carefullycalculated. Between Touggourt, where the desert commences, and the Hoggar Range, about midway, three wells are to be found in the first 120 miles. After Wargla, the Gara Krima is passed ; this is a flattopped mountain in a district where many prehistoric flint implements have been discovered. Regions of sand dunes occur between the mountain and Inifel, with only two wells in a distance of 200 miles.

From Inifel to In-Sa,lah is described as sinister country, with a well of fairly good water at Ain Guettera. In-Salah is the best oasis of Northern Africa, and thereafter immense stretches of sand have to be traversed and the foothills of the Muydir plateau to he climbed. Climbing continues over great rocky plateaux to the Hoggar mountains; the peak of Daman (9,000 ft. high) being a landmark for many days.

After the mountains have beep passed comes the worst part of the .journey—the crossing of the Tanesraft, or the " Land of Thirst," where there is no water for 500 kilometres, the first well being at TinZaouaten. At Kidal is a French military post, and thereafter the sandy region is varied by a little vegetation. Bnrem is the. first post on the Niger, winch river is followed to Timbuctoo.

The latter town has been used as the southern base for laying out a hue of depots for petrol, oil, etc., as far as Tin-Zaouaten, whilst from Touggourt a second group of supply cars have vitualled depots at Wargla, Inifel, and In-Sala.h. Between In-Salah and Tin-Zaanaten—a distance of 780 miles—no supplies were laid.

The mission which has essayed the difficult task of crossing the Sahara was composed of five cars, and was directed by M. Georges Haardt, general manager of the Citroen works, and M. Louis AudouinDubreuil, an ex-flying officer, who was technical leader and who has made various attempts to penetrate into the Sahara by aeroplane.

Harking back to the vehicles, no changes were made in the -engine, clutch, gearbox, front axle, or steering gear. 'The engine is four-cylindered, the dimensions of the cylinders being 68 mm. bore and 100 mm. stroke. The radiating surface was increased, the radiator being larger than standard and being supplemented by two extra radiators behind it and along. side the bonnet, whilst a condenser conserved water that otherwise would be wasted in the form of steam. Engine cooling was assisted by windscoops at the forward end of the bonnet.

The special back axle has a double drive, thus giving six speeds with the three-speed gearbox. Petrol consumption over, sand averaged a little less -than a gallon per 12 miles. For the long stretch between In-Salah and Tin-Zaouaten a supply of 66 gallons of fuel was carried on each of three cars,, the fourth having 142 gallons. Water for the :` Land of Thirst" was carried on one car, one carries the photographic apparatus, and so on. Each vehicle had tents and bedding for its crew ; two of them had light machine guns, and all had rifles, in order to counter attack from armed bands, who rely upon pHBf34 lage, are equipped with fast camels possessed of great -endurance' and who are seldom, or never, pursued by French troops.

Touggourt was left on December 17th, and, averaging about 120 miles per day, the River Niger was reached on January 4th, and; on the morning of January 7th Timbuctoo was entered, the last stage, from Burem, having been accomplisned in 27 heurs' running time.

Wargla, was reached on the first day, the distance being 200 kilometres, and on December 18th the party camped in the dunes of Klieghabra, arriving in the afternoon of December 19th at the fort of HasSi Inifel. The Tardenal upland, covered with stones and cut with deep crevices, and in a.country of great desolation, follows, and thence the route descends to the immense sandy plains of Tidikelt, known as the region of the Great Mirages. In-Salah was reached on December 22nd, and, after two days' rest, a start was made at dawn on Christmas Eve. On Christmas night the mission camped in the last Blue Mountains of Goujdir, on the borders of Hoggar, and -on December 26th it entered Alremlit in the Hoggar Territory—the true centre of the Sahara. On the 2eth Tamanrasset was reached, and Tin-Zamiateu was passed through ou the last day of the year. January 2nd saw the arrival of the mission at Kidal, and the next day its departure. A great sandstorm was encountered before Kidal was reached, and it was difficult for the cars to keep in touch with each other in the yellow and suffocating mist. The grassy stepws of the Soudan followed, and Burern seems to have been reached on the night of January 4th, and on the evening of the fith the party camped outside Timbuctoo. On the morning of January 7th, in radiant sunshine, the big Soudanese town was entered by the four vehicles in the order in which they left Touggourt, with all the personnel.

The commander of the Timbuctoo district., ColMangot, accompanied by Major Fauche, the civil authorities, officers, civilians, and a mounted escort, went out to meet the mission, and congratulated it on behalf of the Governor on the success it had attained. Preceded by Col. Mangot and his staff, and surrounded by the mounted troops, the cars entered the:town amidst a scene of great excitement.

The first trans-Sahara motor mail wee carried by the cars, the French Postmaster-General having given authority, and special stamps had been issued for the purpose. It was delivered in 20 days, of which 15 had been devoted to travelling The' missionproposes to return over the same route.


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