Ch 12:Hitchhiking Across the Sahara : Book 2

  

Ch #12   “Hitchhiking Across the Sahara”

                                                                                           (G.F. Lamb)

Introduction to the essay

G.F lamb describes in the essay the wonderful and brave experiences of Robert Christopher in the Sahara Desert from its one end to the other. The essay shows us the greatness of this tourist.

The Title of the essay

“Hitch Hiking” means traveling by getting lifts from passing motor vehicles. Thus, the essay is about Robert Christopher’s journey across the Sahara Desert in North Africa on Trucks, buses, jeeps, etc. Without their help in the desert, he could not have survived (continued to live).

Textbook Exercise:

Q1. Where is the Sahara Desert situated? Give an idea of the size of the Sahara in comparison with England and describe its location.

The Sahara Desert in Northern Africa spreads over 3,000,000 square miles and extends from the Atlantic coast to the Nile Valley and from the Atlas Mountains (in north-Western Africa) to Sudan. Thus, the Sahara Desert stretches from one end of North Africa to the other. It is many times the size of England.

Q2. What had Christopher’s foster-mother to do with his desire to see distant places? Or How did Christopher develop an interest in crossing the Sahara?

When Christopher was a child, he was quite naughty. When he did any mischief, his foster-mother, threatened to send him to Timbuktu, an old city in the Sahara Desert. When Christopher heard this threat, he began desiring to see Timbuktu himself. As a young man later, he was filled with the desire to travel to the Sahara Desert and to reach Timbuktu.

Q3. How did Christopher manage to get a seat on the weapons’ carrier?

Christopher was sitting on the front seat of a truck running south from Boussaada. He saw a fast-moving weapons’ carrier overtaking the truck. Christopher managed to get a seat in the weapons carrier by showing the lieutenant in charge a permit from the war ministry. Fortunately, the lieutenant did not turn the paper over and see the "cancelled" stamp.

Q4. What was the most noticeable feature of the desert city, named Ghardaia?

There were lots of flies everywhere in desert city, Ghardaia. Food and other articles were all covered with flies at every place. Flies followed the food into the mouths of the eaters. Christopher had to keep his food free of the files with great difficulty.

Q5. What happened to the wheels of the truck when it was going towards EL Golea? Or

How did the truck driver and part manage to drive the heavy truck in the soft sand?

The wheels of the truck spun, they dug deeper into the sand, but it moved further. The driver placed ten –foot strips of steel under the wheels to make a runway for the truck along which it moved to some distance. This exercise was repeated with great difficulty, and the truck moved on towards EL Golea.

Q6. What did the driver of the truck tell Christopher about three Englishmen who had attempted to cross the desert?

Christopher was on a truck going towards El Golea. The driver told him the story of three Englishmen who had attempted to cross a part of the Sahara Desert in a car. They had only one day’s water supply. Their car got stuck in a sand dune and they die in a miserable and horrific condition

Q7. Give an account (description) of the little town named El Golea and tell how Christopher enjoyed himself there.

Christopher reached the town of El Golea a hundred miles further from Ghardaia. It was a fine oasis (a place with water and trees in a desert). It had a lot of water. Christopher bathed for hours in a little pool that was shaded by palm trees and fruits trees.

Q8. What do you know of professor Claude Balanguernon? How did he save the hero’s life towards the end of hitchhiking?

Professor Claude Balanguernon was a Frenchman living at Tamanrasset. He was educating the Taureg people. He reached “In Abbangarit” where Christopher was staying alone without food and help. He saved Christopher’s life.

Q9. Describe the events leading to the killing of a camel.

Christopher and Boubaker started from Tamanrasset across the Land of Thirst and Death on camels. The little part, two Tuaregs (the of the king’s family), a slave and Christopher, failed to find water. They could only slay one of their camels and get the water from its stomach.

9A. What sort of water did Christopher and party get from the camel’s stomach and with what result?

When the camel was killed, the liquid gathered from its stomach was greenish like thin blood. Even the Tauregs did not like its taste. Christopher got it boiled before drinking and even then he had to hold his nose as he drank it. However, it kept them going for another two days on their journey.

Q10. Describes Christopher’s journey through the land of Thirst and Death.

Christopher and his companions started from Tamanrasset for Timbuktu on camels. They had to cross the Land of Thirst and Death, known for dangerous sandstorms and absence of water. The next day a severe sandstorm attacked them. At Kidal Christopher got killed a snake while making tea on stones.

Q11. Describes Christopher’s stay at In Abbangarit. How did Christopher manage to get water there and who reached there to save his life?

In Abbangarit had only one building, a bordj, which was a mud structure. Christopher stayed here, and he went to the well, 275 meters away. He took water out with a teapot tied to a wire of his tape recorder. At last Dr. Balanguernon reached him on a jeep and saved him from hunger and death.

 

Word	Meaning	Synonyms
Gigantic
Intensely
Wanderlust
Native
Agonizing
Remote
Vigilant
Leisure
Uncanny
Arduous
Grim
Vividly
Pounding
Oasis
Shivering
Contest
Encroaching
Clumsy
Reluctant
Stifling
Persuade
Formidable
Replenish
Parched
Notorious
Drastic
Suffocated
Detour
Vigorously
Notion