HITCH-HIKING ACROSS THE SHARA

 

Hitch-Hiking Across The Shara

Question No. 1:  Who is the writer of Hitch-Hiking across the Sahara”?

Ans:     G.F. Lamb is the writer of the essay ‘Hitch-Hiking Across the Sahara’.

Question No. 2:  Give an idea of the size of the Sahara. How does it compare with England?

Ans:     The Sahara is a very vast desert in Africa. It is many times the size of greet Britain. England is very small if compared with this desert.

Question No. 3:  What had Christopher‘s foster mother to do with his desire to see distant places?

Ans:     In his childhood, Christopher’s foster mother used to threaten him to send him to Timbuktu (a city in Sahara) if he got naughty. The threat instead of alarming him aroused a keen desire in him to visit distant places of Sahara.

Question No. 4:  How did he manage to get a seat in the weapon carrier?

Ans:     He requested the French in charge of the weapon carrier to allow him to travel with them. He produced a permit from Ministry of war that he could go to French troops for his article.

Question No. 5:  What was the most noticeable feature of the desert city named Ghardaia?

Ans:     Ghardaia was a typical desert city. Flies were in plenty there. Its flies were even more numerous and stickier than anywhere else. Almost everything there was covered with flies.

Question No. 6:  How did they manage to drive the heavy truck in the trackless desert with its soft sand?

Ans:     When the truck stuck into the sand, they took out steel mesh and placed them together to make a runway for the truck on the sand. In this way, they crossed the desert with its soft sand.

Question No. 7:  What did the driver tell Christopher about three Englishmen who had attempted to cross the desert?

Ans:     The driver told the story to him about three English people who tried to cross the part of the desert in a car. Their car was stuck in a sand dune and thus they died of thirst.

Question No. 8:  Give an account of the little town, named El Golea, and compare it with In Salah.

Ans:     El Golea was a true oasis with plenty of water. In El Golea, Christopher took bath in a little pool. The pool was shaded by palm-trees. He also enjoyed lying on the cool grass beside the pool. On the other hand, In Salah was fighting a battle for its survival. The sand was encroaching it.

Question No. 9:  What do you know of Professor Claude Balanguernon? How did he save the hero’s life towards the end of hitch-hike?

Ans:     Professor Claude Balanguernon was a Frenchman who devoted his life to educate the Taureg people. He was well-aware of the features and routes of the Sahara. He saved Christopher’ life by helping him in time when he missed his route and might die of thirst.

Question No. 10:  Describe the events leading to the killing of a camel? What sort of water did they get from its stomach?

Ans:     When they had dire shortage of water and they might die of thirst, they killed a camel. They obtained a tick yellowish green liquid from its stomach and drank that to save their lives.

Question No. 11:  Describe the journey through ‘The land of Thirst and death’.

Ans:     The area where they killed a camel for water was known as “The land of Thirst and Death”. It was notorious for sand storms and dry wells of water. They also saw a snake and vultures there.

Question No. 12:  How much distance did Christopher cover to reach his destination?        

Ans:     He crossed 3200 kilometers of desert and reached his destination Timbuktu.

Question No. 13:  Describe the stay at In Abbangaret . How did Christopher manage to get water there?