THE NEW MILLENNIUM ACADEMY & COMPUTER COLLEGE

HITCH-HIKING ACROSS THE saHARA

(G. F. Lamb)
Q.1. Give an idea of the size of the Sahara?
Ans. The African Sahara consists of great stretches of barren sand. It is the vast
desert. It stretches to the complete width of North Africa. It seems through thousands
of miles.
Q.2.How does the size of the Sahara compare with England?
Ans. The great African Sahara consists of great stretches. It is many times the size of
England.
Q.3.Who is controlling Sahara?
Ans. Mainly the Sahara is under French control.
Q.4. What are the Social and Geographical conditions of Sahara?
Ans. Most of the area has immense stretches of barren sand, intensely hot during the
day, with few wells and little vegetation and inhabitations.
Q.5. Who are occasionally seen wandering in Sahara?
Ans. Occasionally, the Arab and the Berber tribes are seen wandering in it.
Q.6. Who was Robert Christopher?
Ans. Robert Christopher was an adventurous American young man.
Q.7. When did Christopher begin crossing Sahara?
Ans. Christopher decided to adopt land journey in the Sahara in 1956.
Q.8. What do you know about Christopher as a child?
Ans. Christopher was naughty during his childhood.
Q.9.What had Christopher’s foster mother to do with his desire to see distant
places?
Ans. Christopher’s was very crazy during his boyhood. His foster mother used to
threaten him to send him to Timbuktu. However, he had a great desire to see this
strange place.
Q.10. What do you know about Timbuktu?
Ans. Timbuktu is an ancient city in the heart of French.
Q.11.What was his first adventure?
Ans. His first adventure was to go round the world at the cost of 80 dollars.
Q.12. Where did he started his second adventure
Ans. He decided to travel right across the Sahara from Algiers, on the north coast of
Africa, or Timbuktu. It is near the river Niger in the extreme south of the great desert.
Q.13. What was the first town on his way? (OR)
What do you mean by “Port of Sahara”?
Ans. The Trans –Sahara journey began at a little town, Boussaada. The native call it
“port of Sahara”, for it is here that the desert really starts.
Q.14. What were the conditions at the start of the journey?
Ans. The conditions were agonizing. They were traveling at a bare 32 kilometres an
hour. There was unbearable heat in the desert and he wanted to be relieved from the
misery of slowly baking to death.
Q.15. What was the speed of the desert truck?
Ans. It was 20 miles per hour.
Q.16. How did he manage to get a seat in the weapon’s carriers?

Imran Book Stall & Photo State PREPARED BY: MOHSIN AMIN
THE NEW MILLENNIUM ACADEMY & COMPUTER COLLEGE

Ans. The civilians cannot travel in such vehicle. However, when he showed a permit
from War Ministry to the driver, he gave him a lift. According to the permit, he
wanted to write an article on Sahara.
Q.17. Was he really allowed to join the French Foreign Legion? (OR)
How was Christopher permitted to sit in the weapons’ carrier?
Ans. Christopher had been permitted by the War Ministry to join French Foreign
Legion. However, it had later been withdraw but the officer did not see the
“cancelled” stamp. So he was given a lift in weapon’s carrier.
Q.18. Where was he dropped by the weapon’s carriers?
Ans. He was dropped at the town of Ghardaia, a typical desert city.
Q.19. What was the most noticeable feature of the desert city, named Ghardaia?
Ans. There were flies swarming everywhere in Ghardaia. Even the food was covered
with flies. The children wore a mask of flies.
Q.20. How did they manage to drive the heavy truck in the trackless desert with
its soft sand?
Ans. The route lay across an apparently trackless desert. At times the sand became
too soft to bear the weight of the heavy truck. Therefore, ten-foot strips of steel were
placed on the sand to make a runway for the wheels to bite on as the truck moved.
Q.21. What did the driver of the truck tell Christopher about three English who
had attempted to cross the desert?
Ans. The driver told Christopher that there were once three Englishmen who had little
water supply and they wished to cross a part of the desert. Their car had become
struck in the sand. Their dead bodies were found later on. It was known that they had
tried to drink the oil.
Q.21. Comment Christopher’s statement,” My head was pounding with such
pain that it kept me conscious.”
Ans. This is ironic statement. Unconscious state of mind is not generally desired by
the people. But the pain is too intense, they pray for unconsciousness. Ironically,
however, the pain does not let them slip into forgetfulness.
Q.22. Give an account of the little town, named EI Golea, and compare it with In
Salah, bringing out the difference between the two?
Ans. EI-Golea was a little town. It was an oasis and water was available. There was a
little pool also shaded by palm trees and fruit trees. In Salah was a barren desert.
The palm trees were like bushes. It was a horrible place even the people were leaving
their homes. Unlike El Golea, In Salah was losing its battle for survival against the
barrenness of the desert.
Q.23. What happened when Christopher mixed a little wine with water? (OR)
What was one of the worst experience of Christopher from EI Golea
to in Salah ?
Ans. As Christopher drank water mixed with wine, it had a disastrous effect. Fever
ran high, and he started shivering violently. He had lost his senses. Fortunately his
companions woke up, gave him a treatment and he at last recovered his senses.
Q.24. What do you know of Professor Claude Balanguernon?
Ans. He was a French Professor. He was very co-operative and noble. He had
devoted his life to helping the local Africans by adapting himself to their habits and
customs. He also helped Christopher.
Imran Book Stall & Photo State PREPARED BY: MOHSIN AMIN
THE NEW MILLENNIUM ACADEMY & COMPUTER COLLEGE

Q.25 How did he spend a week in the encampment of the Tuareg

Amenokol(king)?
Ans. It was all due to the assistance of Professor Balanguernon that spent a week in
the palace of the king.
Q.26. Who are ‘Tuaregs’?
Ans. This is a tribe at Tamanrasset. Their king’s name is Tuareg Amenokal. They are
very primitive yet they are people of great dignity, extreme honesty, high intelligence
and with quite an ancient history.
Q.27. Where did Christopher learn to ride a camel? (OR)
How did he find camel riding?
Ans. He learnt to ride a camel at Tamanrasset. It was not an easy task for him. It was
unavoidable because there were no more trucks.
Q.28. How did Prof. Claude help Christopher in his journey from Tamanrasset
to Timbuktu?
Ans. To help Christopher in his journey, Prof. Claude asked his pupil to act as guide
for the first few days of the journey from Tamanrasset to Timbuktu.
Q.29. Describe the events leading to the killing of a camel?
Ans. Christopher was traveling to Kidal with some other people. They had no food
and water. So they decided to kill a camel to satisfy their hunger and thirst.
Q.30.What sort of water did they get from the camel’s stomach?
Ans. They killed the camel and collected the greenish water from its stomach. Its
smell was foul and taste very bad. They boiled it before drinking it.
Q.31. Which was the area, notorious for sandstorm?
Ans. It was the “Land of Thirst and Death”. Once 1200 camels were completely
buried in sand as a result of sand storm.
Q.32. Describe the journey through the “Land of Thirst and Death”?
Ans. This horrible reign fell on the way to Kidal. There were sand storms and dried-
up water holes that posed a threat to their lives. The area was so hot that the dunes
seemed to be set on fire. There were hardships and miseries on every step.
Q.33. Why did Christopher not ride the camel for a couple of days?
Ans: One day when Christopher took his camel across a rock of tiny stones, it fell
heavily, knocking him off its back. Though it was not really injured, it was so
shocked that he could not ride it for some time, but had to follow it on foot.
Q.34. What was the most dangerous part of the journey?
Ans: This dangerous region is 350 miles from Timbuktu. It is on the way from
Tamanrasset to Timbuktu. This region is called the region of “ Land of Thirst and
Death”. A camel was also slaughtered by their thirst. They also killed a big snake
there. The vultures were also seen there
Q.35. Describe the stay at In Abbangarit?
Ans. This is the place where the Christopher and the Professor had to reach on a fixed
day. Christopher reached there rather late. He found a well which was very low. He
tried to get water with the help of strings. He was alone and worried.
Q.36. How did Christopher manage to get water there?
Ans. The well was about 275 metres away from the place. Even water was very low.
So he collected all the strings and kept drawing out water.

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 THE NEW MILLENNIUM ACADEMY & COMPUTER COLLEGE

Q.37. What is ‘Bordj’?

Ans. There is no village at In Abbangarit. The only building is a ‘bordj’ which is a
simple mud. It consists of a roof and four walls. It has one hole to serve as a window
and another hole serves as a door.
Q.38. Why did Christopher not meet Professor Claude at In Abbangarit
according to schedule?
Ans. Due to some unexpected problems during the desert travel, Christopher could
not reach Abbangarit on time. The Professor who had reached as scheduled waited for
some time and then left foe Agades supposing that Christopher might have gone back.
That’s why they could not meet according to schedule.
Q.39. Where was the temperature very high?
Ans. At a place, 100 miles from EI-Golea, the heat was incredible. In the shade of the
mud house the temp was 130F. it was 165F outside. This level was nearly 30
higher than the highest temperature officially recorded.
Q.40. Who was Bhemed?
Ans. He was the driver. He was very smart, genius and experienced.
Q.41. What was the most pleasant and lovely region of the Sahara?
Ans. It was EI-Golea. It was a fascinating little town, a true oasis with water available
in large quantity. There was a little pool also shaded by palm trees and fruit trees.
Q.42. What is the total distance from Boussada to Timbuktu?
Ans. It is about 3200 kilometres across the desert.
Q.43. How did Professor Claude Balanguernon save the hero’s life towards the
end of hitch-hiking.
Ans. Professor sent a rescue party for the young traveller who was in extreme trouble.
He himself had forgot his way but soon arrived there. Thus, he saved his life at the
end of his adventure.
Q.44. What was the last town before Timbuktu?
Ans. It was Kidal.
Q.45. What was the temperature at night?
Ans. The nights were bitterly cold. Without a sleeping bag or blanket they would
freeze to death.
Q.46 Who was Boubaker?
Ans. He was guide arranged by Professor Balanguernon. He was a Tuareg noble and
educated young man.
Q.47. What does Hitch-Hiking mean?
Ans. It means traveling by getting lift from passing vehicle without paying.

Imran Book Stall & Photo State PREPARED BY: MOHSIN AMIN