Les Touâreg Du Nord

A scientific monograph of exploration, geography, and ethnography written in the mid-19th century. It presents the results of an extended Saharan journey, uniting rigorous mapping, physical geography, and natural history with a detailed portrait of the northern Tuareg—especially the Azdjer and Ahaggar confederations—their society, routes, and commerce. Intended for scholars and policymakers, it reads as both a field report and a foundational study of the central Sahara. The opening of the work sets out the expedition’s aims (to fill geographic gaps, create relations with Saharan peoples, and prepare for deeper ventures south), acknowledges official and scholarly support, and routes the reader through the author’s stages from Algeria and Tunisia to Tripolitania, Ghadames, Rhât, and Mourzouk, amid illnesses and logistical challenges. The foreword distinguishes environmental hardships from human and political obstacles, explains the cartographic method (itineraries, astronomical positions, and controlled indigenous reports), and announces a separate volume on commerce. The introduction outlines the plan: four books covering the physical setting, natural productions, commercial and religious centers, and a full ethnography of the northern Tuareg, plus an appendix comparing ancient and modern geography and clear rules for transcribing Arabic and Berber terms. A formal report from the Paris Geographical Society summarizes the scientific results, highlights the mapped network of routes, the vast Igharghar valley and the mountainous Ahaggar, and praises the map’s value, noting the Sahara’s varied relief and hydrology. A glossary of indigenous terms, errata, and additions precede Book One, which begins by defining the four Tuareg confederations, their broad limits, and then opens the physical geography with a focus on dune zones and the elevated plateaus.