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CHAD

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 787 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHAD , a See also:

lake of See also:northern Central See also:Africa lying between 12° 5o' and 14° lo' N. and 13° and 150 E. The lake is situated about 85o ft. above the See also:sea in the borderland between the fertile and wooded regions of the See also:Sudan on the See also:south and the arid See also:steppes which See also:merge into the See also:Sahara on the See also:north. The See also:area of the lake is shrinking owing to the progressive See also:desiccation of the See also:country, Saharan See also:climate and conditions replacing those of the Sudan. The drying-up See also:process has been comparatively rapid since the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century, a See also:town which in 185o was on the See also:southern margin of the lake being in 1905 over 20 M. from it. On the See also:west the See also:shore is perfectly See also:flat, so that a slight rise in the See also:water causes the inundation of a considerable area—a fact not without its See also:influence on the estimates made at varying periods as to the See also:size of the lake. Around the north-west and north shores is a continuous See also:chain of gently sloping See also:sand-hills covered with See also:bush. This region abounds in big See also:game and birds are plentiful. In the See also:east, the country of Kanem, the desiccation has been most marked. Along this See also:coast is a continuous chain of islands See also:running from north-west to south-east. But what were islands when viewed by Overweg in 1851, formed in 1903 See also:part of the mainland and new islands had arisen in the lake. They are generally See also:low, being composed of sand and See also:clay, and See also:lie from 5 to 20 M. from the shore, which throughout its eastern See also:side nowhere faces open water. The channels between the islands do not exceed 2 M. in width.

Two See also:

principal See also:groups are distinguished, the Kuri See also:archipelago in the south, and the Buduma in the north. The inhabitants of the last-named islands were noted pirates until reduced to See also:order by the See also:French. The coast-See also:line is, in See also:general, undefined and marshy, and broken into numerous bays and peninsulas. It is also, especially on the east, lined by lagoons which communicate with the lake by intricate channels. The lake is nowhere of See also:great See also:depth, and about midway numerous mud-See also:banks, marshes, islands and dense growths of aqueous See also:plants stretch across its See also:surface. Another stretch of See also:marsh usually cuts off the northernmost part of the lake from the central sections. The open water varies in depth from 3 ft. in the north-west to over 20 in the south, where desiccation is less apparent. Fed by the See also:Shari (q.v.) and other See also:rivers, the lake has no outlet and its area varies according to the See also:season. The See also:flood water brought down by the Shari in See also:December and See also:January causes the lake to rise to a maximum of 24 ft., the water spreading over low-lying ground, See also:left dry again in May or See also:June. But after several seasons of heavy rainfall the See also:waters have remained for years beyond their low-water level. Nevertheless the See also:secular shrinking goes on, the loss by evaporation and percolation exceeding the amount of water received; whilst, on the See also:average, the rainfall is diminishing. In 187o the lake See also:rose to an exceptional height, but since then, See also:save in 1897, there has been only the normal seasonal rise.

The prevalent north-east See also:

wind causes at times a heavy swell on the lake. See also:Fish abound in its waters, which are sweet, save at low-level, when they become brackish. The lagoons are believed to See also:act as purifying pans in which the greater part of the See also:salt in the water is precipitated. In the south-west end of the lake the water is yellow, caused by banks of clay; elsewhere it is clear. The southern See also:basin of Chad is described under the Shari, which empties its waters into the lake about the middle of the southern shore, forming a See also:delta of considerable extent. Beyond the south-east corner of the lake is a depression known as the See also:Bahr-el-Ghazal (not to be confounded with the See also:Nile affluent of See also:CHADERTON 787 the same name). This depression is the termination of what is in all See also:probability the See also:bed of one of the dried-up Saharan rivers. Coming from the See also:Tibesti See also:highlands the Bahr-el-Ghazal has a south-See also:westerly trend to Lake Chad. Near the lake the valley was formerly swampy, and at high-water the lake overflowed into it. There was also at one See also:time communication between the Shari and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, so that the water of the first-named stream reached Chad by way of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. There is now neither inlet nor outlet to the lake in this direction, the mouth of the Ghazal having become a fertile See also:millet See also:field. There is still, however, a distinct current from the Shari delta to the east end of the lake—known to the natives, like the depression beyond, as the Bahr-el-Ghazal—indicative of the former overflow outlet.

Besides the Shari, the only important stream entering Lake Chad is the Waube or Yo (otherwise the Komadugu Yobe), which rises near See also:

Kano, and flowing eastward enters the lake on its western side 40 M. north of See also:Kuka. In the rains the Waube carries down a considerable See also:body of water to the lake. Lake Chad is supposed to have been known by See also:report to See also:Ptolemy, and is identified by some writers with the Kura lake of the middle ages. It was first seen by See also:white men in 1823 when it. was reached by way of See also:Tripoli by the See also:British expedition under Dr See also:Walter Oudney, R.N., the other members being Capt,See also:sin See also:Hugh See also:Clapperton and See also:Major (afterwards Lieut.-See also:Colonel) See also:Dixon See also:Denham. By them the lake was named See also:Waterloo. In 185o See also:James See also:Richardson, accompanied by Heinrich See also:Barth and Adolf Overweg, reached the lake, also via Tripoli, and Overweg was the first See also:European to navigate its waters (1851). The lake was visited by Eduard See also:Vogel (1855) and by Gustav See also:Nachtigal (1870), the last-named investigating its See also:hydrography in some detail. In 189o-1893 its shores were divided by treaty between Great See also:Britain, See also:France and See also:Germany. The first of these nations to make See also:good its footing in the region was France. A small steamer, brought from the See also:Congo by Emile Gentil, was in 1897 launched on the Shari, and reaching the Chad, navigated the southern part of the lake. Communication between See also:Algeria and Lake Chad by way of the Sahara was opened, after repeated failures, by the French explorer F. Foureau in 1899-1900..

At the same time a French officer, Lieut. Joalland, reached the lake from the middle See also:

Niger, continuing his See also:journey See also:round the north end to Kanem. A British force under Colonel T. L. N. See also:Morland visited the lake at the beginning of 1902, and in May of the same See also:year the Germans first reached it from Cameroon. In 1902-1903 French See also:officers under Colonel Destenave made detailed surveys of the south-eastern and eastern shores and the adjacent islands. In 1903 See also:Captain E. See also:Lenfant, also a French officer, succeeded in reaching the lake (which he circumnavigated) via the See also:Benue, proving the existence of water communication between the Shari and the Niger. In 1905 Lieut. See also:Boyd See also:Alexander, a British officer, further explored the lake, which then contained few stretches of open water. The lake is bordered W. and S.W. by See also:Bornu, which is partly in the British See also:protectorate of See also:Nigeria and partly in the See also:German protectorate of Cameroon.

See also:

Bagirmi to the S.E. of the lake and Kanem to the N.E. are both French possessions. The north and north-west shores also belong to France. One of the See also:ancient See also:trade routes across the Sahara—that from Tripoli to Kuka in Bornu—strikes the lake at its north-west corner, but this has lost much of its former importance. See the See also:works of Denham, Clapperton, Barth and Nachtigal cited in the See also:biographical notices; Geog. See also:Journal, vol. See also:xxiv. (1904); Capt. Tilho in La Geographie (See also:March 1906) ; Boyd Alexander, From the Niger to the Nile, vol. i. (See also:London, 19o7); A. See also:Chevalier, See also:Mission Chari-See also:Lac Tchad 1902-1904 (See also:Paris., 1908) ; E. Lenfant, La Grande Route du Tchad (Paris, 1905) ; H. Freydenberg, Etude sur le Tchad et le bassin du Chari (Paris, 1908).

End of Article: CHAD

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