WARGLA  , a

town in the Algerian Sahara, 175 m . S.W. of Biskra on the caravan route to the Niger countries, and a starting-point for the exploration of the southern part of the Sahara . Pop . (1906) 3579, the majority of mixed Berber and negro blood . The town is walled and is entered by six gateways, which are fortified . The French fort, barracks, hospital and other buildings are south of the native town . Wargla lies in an oasis containing many palm trees . It claims to be the oldest town in the Sahara, and was for a long time self-governing, but eventually placed itself under the protection of the sultan of Morocco . The sultan, however, had ceased to have any power in the town some time previous to the French occupation . Wargla was first occupied for the French in 1853 by native allies, but it was not until 1872 that the authority. of France was definitely established . The importance of the town as a trans-Saharan trade centre has greatly declined since the suppression of slave-trading by the French . The oasis in which Wargla is situated contains two or three other small fortified ksurs or villages, the largest and most picturesque being Ruissat .

The

total population of the oasis is about 12,000 .