Science: Rebirth of the Chad

The two French scientists were standing near the dry-mud river bed when they heard the sound of the water. Looking up, they watched a shallow yellow wave ripple across the valley floor, driving before it a bevy of small animals, insects and snakes. Overhead the pelicans circled by the hundreds, diving occasionally to scoop up a flopping fish. Scientists M. Lefevre and A. Bouchardeau hurried back to their base camp to report that for the first time since 1873 the waters were running in the Bahr el Ghazal, outlet of Central Africa's fabled Lake Chad.

Situated in the borderland of the Sahara...

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