# Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 2/Chapter 8

Contents
CHAPTER VIII.
TUNISIA.
ITHIN its present limits, Tunis does not form a geographical unit distinct from the rest of Mauritania. Its highlands belong to the Algerian orographic system, while its chief rivers take their rise beyond the frontiers, which are themselves frequently displaced, and which, since the French occupation, have acquired a purely conventional value. Hence it becomes impossible to study the main physical features of Tunisia apart from the rest of the Atlas regions, of which it forms little more than a special geographical division. Nevertheless, certain natural limits may be traced along a line of rugged and almost uninhabited hills; its historic evolution also differs in several respects from that of Algeria, while its inhabitants are still grouped under a distinct political administration.
Taken in its broader sense, and not in its more restricted historic acceptation, Mauritania forms one of the best defined natural regions in the world. It comprises the portion of North Africa which enbraces the whole of Tunisia, Algeria, and Marocco, and which was designated by the Arabs under the general appellation of Gharb, or Maghreb, that is, the "West," in a pre-enminent sense, and even Jeziratel-Maghreb, or the "Western Island." Belonging, like Spain, the south of France, and Italy, to the Mediterranean zone, it is far more compact than those south European lands, presenting a surprising simplicity of outline instead of a contour broken by deep bights, headlands, and peninsulas. Its general form is that of a regular quadrilateral, limited northwards by the Mediterranean, cast and west by the Gulf of Cabes and the Atlantic, south by another ocean of sands, clays, rocks, and shingle. This very desert space, or at all events a great part of it, may itself have possibly at one time been a marine basin, as Bourguignat has endeavoured to show, and as has since been asserted by many writers. But this Saharian sea, dry land at all events since the early Miocene period, has left no fossils to attest its former existence, and it is now known that the proposed attempts to restore the inland basin could result in nothing more than a chain of lakes flooding the shotts standing at a lower level than the Gulf of Cabes.
But however this be, Maghreb still remains, from the geographical standpoint, a perfectly isolated upland region, connected by no rivers or great natural or ​artificial highways with the fertile and thickly peopled districts of Central Africa. It must remain a simple dependence of Southern Europe until it becomes attached to the Senegal and Niger basins by such routes as modern industry may yet create: in a word, until the vast obstacle of the intervening desert has been suppressed.
The Atlas Orographic System.
The Atlas Mountains, which constitute the backbone of Mauritania, and which would justify its being called by the name of Atlantis, apparently applied to it about the dawn of written history, forms a continuous orographic system from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sicilian waters. But they do not develop themselves in a
brawny shoulders it now bears the world itself, and sculptors represent it as a giant straining every muscle beneath the huge mass of the terrestrial globe. But accord- ing to most authorities, the terra Atlas is simply a softened form of the Berber word A(/r(n; or " AIount«in." In Marocco the range is still called Idraren, or, more simply, Deren, the ♦' Mountains," so that for the last two thousand years— that is, since the time of Strabo — the name has undergone no change, doubtless because the same Berber populations still dwell at its foot. Although now separated from Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar, the Atlas belongs none the less to the same system as the Sierra Nevada and the other sierras of the Iberian peninsula. They are certainly loftier, and, with the southern chain of the anti- Atlas spurs and secondary offshoots, occupy a greater 8Uj)erficial area; but they consist of the same rocks, disposed in the same order, while their general direction from west-south-west to east- north east is maintained almost paralUl with the Spanish ranges. Like these also the Mauritanian highlands are partly interrupted by plateaux of great elevation. Thus, east of ^Marocco, the line of the Atlas is continued throughout Algeria and into Tunisia by the zone of the great plateaux at a mean altitude of over 3,300 feet. The Algerian ranges are in fact for the most part merely border chains skirting the plateaux north and south. The northern or coast ranges have the greatest mean breadth, about 50 miles, those on the south being scarcely 30 miles broad, from the edge of the plateaux to the verge of the Sahara. But, towards the east, on the Tunisian frontier, the two highland zones converge and develop fresh chains, which continue in the normal direction of the whole system. Even the extreme peninsula of Dakhla-el-Mahuin, projecting between the gulfs of Tunis and Ilamniauiat, runs south-west and north-east in the direction of Sicily. Between the Marocco frontier and Central Algeria none of the summits attain an elevation of 6,600 feet ; but in Jurjura and the Jebel Aures, west of Algiers, the highest peaks exceed 7,500 feet. Farther east the hills gradually fall, the loftiest crests in Tunisia rising to a height of not more than 5,000 feet. From one extremity to the other, the system has a length of no less than 1,400 miles. Owing to the parallel disposition of the highlands, plateaux, and plains, in the long Mauritanian quadrilateral, the whole region from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Cabes is distributed in narrow zones, differing from each other in physical appear- ance, climate, products, and inhabitants. The fertile coastland valleys support an agricultural population, while the upland steppes are peopled by nomad pastors and their flocks ; in the southern oases, encroaching on the desert, tillers of the soil again constitute the bulk of the community. Thus are develoj)cd in parallel lines a number of distinct zones, whose inhabitants differ in their pursuits, character, traditions, and often even in origin. An interchange of necessary commodities takes place between the various zones ; but the relations are not always pacific, and neighbouring tribes often contend for the conterminous territory. This natural distribution of Mauritania into longitudinal sections, each with ita distinctive ethnical conditions, is certainly one of the chief causes of the jwlitical dismemberment of the land. The littoral zone, stretching from Cape Bon to Cape ​98 • NORTH-WEST AFRICA. Spartal, was far too long for its slight breadth, and thus became broken into several fragments, analogous to those which destroyed the unity of Italy. But the form and outlines of countries have a continually decreasing influence on the destiny of their inhabitants, the work of man tending more and more to reduce the importance of distances and diminish the contrasts of climate and relief. Tunis is at present more intimately associated with Tangiers in the extreme west than it formerly was with the adjacent districts of Bon and Cabes, separated from Goletta Bay by stormy headlands. In their hydrographic systems Tunisia, Algeria, and Marocco present analogous conditions. The northern slope of the Atlas, facing the Atlantic and Mediterranean, is too narrow to develop large fluvial basins. Hence only a small number of watercourses, rising on the upland steppes, or at least fed by affluents from those reo-ions, have succeeded in forcing their way through the border ranges seaward, thus presenting a development analogous to that of the European rivers falling into the ^Icditerranean. Thus the Maluya of Marocco, the Algerian Shelif, and the Mojerdu of Tunis, are exceeded in length only by the llhone and Ebro. On the Sahara slope there would certainly be no lack of space for the running waters to excavate long channels in the direction of the Niger, the Atlantic, or the Syrtes. But here the rainfall fails, and the streams have no volume corresponding to the extent of their basins. Except the Draa, which rises on the southern slope of the Marocco Atlas, but fails to reach the Atlantic opposite the Canary Islands, there is not a single f«tream in the Sahara region which flows freely on the surface from its source to the sea. The beds formerly excavated, when the rainfall was more abundant, may, however, still be traced in spite of the shifting dunes, and it is evident enough that they formed water systems rivalling in extent that of the Euphrates. One of these old streams, rising in the Atlas, flowed southwards to the Niger ; another, the mighty Igharghar with its vast system of affluents, formed in the Jebel Ahaggar and Jebel Tasili, took a northerly course to the depression of the Algerian shotts ; but within the present geological period it has had no outlet to the Gulf of Cabes. Its area of drainage, probably exceeding 320,000 square miles, is scarcely inferior to that of the Danube. Ethnical Elements. Owing to the substantial uniformity of the physical, hydrographic, and climatic conditions throughout Mauritania, the local flora and fauna must also everywhere betray a certain resemblance, although in many places the migrations have beeii checked by natural obstructions, thus giving rise to many gradual modifications of species. Between Capes Bon and Nun are met representatives of the same races of mankind, differing in their distribution according to the endless variety of the environment and the chequered course of events. Everywhere in Mauritania the Berber element, of unknown origin, constitutes the fundamental stock, and, accord- ing to Faidherbe still comprises at least three-quarters of the present population, estimated at about ten millions between the sea and the desert. But although ​ETHNICAL ELEMENTS. 90 forming the great majority, the Berbers have at all points been driven from the plains to the uplands. Peaceful tillers of the soil, too sluggish to progress, too slow to combine together, they have been fain to yield to the more warlike Arab tribes. The Arabs themselves, forming probably less than a sixth of the Mauritanian population, are found either in settled or nomad communities scattered over the whole region as fur as the Atlantic seaboard. But while more numerous in the central districts, they diminish gradually from east to west, according as they recede from the Arabian peninsula. The blacks, who by intermixture have also tended much to modify the other ethnical elements, were everywhere originally introduced as slaves or mercenaries. But they are naturally most numerous in those districts which maintain the most frequent relations with their native land ; hence they prevail chiefly in Marocco, which enjoys constant commercial intercourse with Western Sudan. Even the imperial family, although claiming descent from the Prophet, is more Nngro than Arab. All the towns throughout Mauritania are largely peopled by " Moors," that is, an endlessly mixed race, resulting from the fusion of Roman, Vandal, Arab, Berber, Italian, French, Spanish, and other ^lediterranean elements. If the Moors present a somewhat uniform type from one end of the land to the other, this is assuredly due, not to racial purity, but to their common historic evolution, to the similar surroundings and pursuits of more or less civilised urban com- munities. The term " Moor " is, however, one of those vague expressions which has often been used in different senses. According to Tissot, it originally meant " Western," while Sabatier thinks it was at first applied to the inhabitants of the upland districts. Mauritania would thus mean " Jlighlands," as would appear from the root wrtwr, mur (Amur), still met with in all parts of the country. But the Spaniards, and after them EurojK^an Christians generally, applietl the term Moors, Moor, in a much wider sense to all Mohammedans, and in ordinary language even to all pagans. At present its use is restricted to the Mohammedans of the Mauritanian towns, distinguished by their settled life and higher culture from the Arabs of the rural districts. Relatively speaking, the Moors are most numerous in Tunisia. Although numerically inferior to the indigenous element, the intruding Arab people were long the rulers of Mauritania, and from them the French met with the most obstinate resistance in the conquest of Algeria. It is noteworthy that they have spread with a certain uniformity, especially over all the open plains and least rugged plateaux — a phenomenon due to the successive migrations pressing the tribes continually forward, and thus producing at diverse epochs a general dis- placement from east to west. Even long before the Ilejira, ^lauritania had already been invaded by Arab tribes, such as the Luata, or Ruadites, who settled in Cyrenaica during the first centuries of the new era, and who under different names gradually advanced to the eastern districU of Mauritania. Then followed the period of conquest and conversion, which also left a certain number of Arab tribes ​100 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. in the country, and four centuries later the great movement of migration, whence are descended most of the Arab nomads at present encamped in the Barbary states. Then the stream of migration was reversed, and many tribes that had reached the Atlantic retraced their steps eastwards. Throughout Mauritania, Tripolitana, and the eastern oases, the tribes who show the longest genealogies and claim the title of Shorfa, or descendants of the Prophet, are precisely those that for a time sojourned in ^larocco before starting on the return journey towards Arabia. Another reaction was that of the so-called " Arabs," who had overrun the Iberian peninsula ; but those conquerors were mainly Berbers, who during their long resi- dence in Spain had become intermingled with Ligurians, Iberians, Kelts, Visigoths, and other local populations. Most of these fugitives, known in Mauritania as Andalus (Andalusians), settled in the towns, where they blended with the Moors, thus adding a new factor to the tangled web of local interminglings. In a region peopled b}'^ such diverse elements, not yet fused in a single nation- ality, it would be vain to look for a spirit of patriotism such as prevails in longer- settled and more homogeneous European communities. Amongst Berbers and Arabs the sentiment of solidarity is restricted to the family or the tribe, so that the consciousness of forming a single people, with common interests and aspirations, is entirely absent. As Mohammedans rather than kinsmen, the Mauritanian Arabs combine against the Christian, who has hitherto always been able to rely on intes- tine quarrels and tribal feuds to hasten the work of conquest. Nevertheless it was a slow process, in Algeria especially, because the country remained long exposed to the incursions of the southern tribes. Even after its reduction, the seaboard continued to be threatened by the neighbouring highland peoples ; and when these were subdued, the inhabitants of the plateaux had still to be conquered. Until the parallel geographic zones were all defended by fortified towns, agri- cultural settlements, and military outposts, the new conquest, destitute of a solid southern frontier, presented a thousand weak pc)ints to the restless border tribes. But the situation was different in Tunisia, which being enclosed on two sides by the sea and on a third by a cham of fortified stations, was limited southwards by lagoons and the desert. It was, moreover, already traversed east and west by a line of railway, so that a protracted resistance was nowhere possible, even if the French invasion had been preceded by a formal declaration of war. But on the pretext of frontier tribal disturbances in the west, the country was suddenly invaded east and west by overwhelming forces, all strategical points rapidly seized, and the capital occupied even before diplomatic relations were interrupted between the two states. Thus the Bey had no option except to sign a treaty presented at the point of the bayonet, which practically converted Tunisia into a French province. The limits of Tunisia being still undetermined towards Tripolitana and Algeria, its superficial extent can only be approximately estimated. According to the planimetric calculations of recent geographers, it has a total area of from 46,000 to 47,000 square miles, including the lagoons and sebkhas, which occupy extensive tracts in the central and southern districts. But the triangulation now in progress must soon reduce the discrepancies still existing between the extreme estimates. ​HISTORIC RETROSPECT. 101 Although cojnprisin<2^ not more than a thirteenth or a fourteenth of the whole of Mauritania, the relative density of its population gives to this region an importance out of all pro|)ortion with its actual extent. Doubtless the population itself must remain somewhat doubtful, pending accurate official returns, and recent estimates have varied as much as from one to two millions ; but Hince the French occupation there ie a general consensus that one million five hundred thousand is about the most probable figure. IJut even accepting the lowest estimate, of one million, Tunisia would still contain a relatively much larger population than either Algeria or Marocco. Historic Retrospect. Nevertheless, even allowing for the consequences of a capricious Government, and for the general displacement of political power, it still seems strange that a country so fortunately situated as Tunisia should have so greatly retrograded, and that it should have been almost completely effaced as a factor in the historic evolution of the Mediterranean lands. Placed at the very centre of the inland sea, at the eastern extremity of Mauritania over against Sicily, possessing a long coastline with deeper inlets and better ports than those of Algeria and Marocco, endowed also with a healthy climate and fertile territory, Tunisia enjoys natural advantages which fonnerly enabled it to take a leading part amongst the Mediter- ranean states. In the interior the relief of the land is no less favourable than its general outlines. The longitudinal zones, elsewhere sharply defined in Mauritaniu, here lose their abrupt contrasts, while the great inlet of the Gulf of Tunis com- pletely turns the rugged coast range, giving access to the inland plateaux through the Mejerda and Melleg vallej's. On the east coast, also south of the Gulf of Hammamat, the marine basin penetrates far inland towards the central regions of Algeria, while the great trade route across the desert has its terminus on the Gulf of Cabes. Through these very gulfs and eastern plains, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Greeks and Arabs found access to the interior, Asiatic and European influences thus penetrating beyond the seaboard into the very heart of Mauritania. On the very shore of the Gulf of Tunis, commanding at once the central channel of the Mediterranean and the natural approach to the Libyan continent, stood the city of Carthage, which became the emporium of the Old World, and which long arrested the destinies of Rome. Even after its reduction, the province of " Africa," now a European settlement, by its commercial, industrial, and intellectual life, caused its name to be applied to the whole continent. Again, in mediaeval times, Tunisia had its period of culture and prosperity. To a near future therefore belongs the duty of restoring it to the place amongst the nations to which its geographical position naturally entitles it. For the Mediter- ranean trade it is better situated than Algiers, better even than Naples or Messina ; while for the communications with the Niger basin the Lesser offers greater advan- tages than the Greater Syrtie, thanks to its more advanced position and less dangerous navigation. ​102 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. Physical Features. The mean altitude of Tunisia diminishes gradually from west to east, although the culminating points, ranging from 4,000 to o,000 feet, are distributed irregularly over the face of the land. One of the loftiest ridges occupies the north-west corner of the country towards the Algerian frontier, where it is disposed in the direction from south-west to north-east. To it may be given the name of "Khurair range," from the now historical group of tribes, who raise their crops of barley, maize, and tobacco in its upland glades. S#uth- westwards it is continued through the scarcely less elevated Ushtetta hills, and by those of the Beni Salah, which are limited southwards by the rugged gorges traversed by the Upper Mejerda in the department of Constantine. Most of their slopes are clothed with forests of leafy trees, and from many of the kefs, or summits, nothing is visible to the eye except a boundless sea of verdure. These hills are furrowed by a labyrinth of steep ravines and narrow glens watered by streamlets, which flow either south to the Mejerda, west to the Wed-el-Kebir, or north to the Mediterranean cirques. Here lofty headlands project far seawards, such as Cape Roux, whose abrupt escarpments and ruined forts mark the frontier between Tunis and Algeria. Farther west the Jebel Mermal develops another promontory, opposite Tabarka Island, which still bristles with Genoese fortifications, and which was formerly connected with the mainland by a dyke, now replaced by a tongue of sand flush with the water. East of the Khumir Mountains stretches the less elevated but still hilly district of Mogod, terminating north-west and north of Bizerta in several capes, such as the Ras-Dukkara, Ras-el-Kerun, Ras-Engela, Ras-el-Abiod, or " Cape White." These northernmost headlands of the African continent advance 20 geographical miles beyond the thirty- seventh parallel, thus approaching 90 miles nearer to the Pole than the point of Ceuta, opposite Gibraltar. Here the Tunisian waters are studded with a few islets and reefs, amongst which are the Fratelli, or " Brothers," known to the Romans as the Altars of Neptune. Further seawards, in a line with the Sorelle, or " Sisters," the island of Galita, over 1,000 feet high, and consisting of trachyte rocks analogous to the andesites of Ecuador and the blue porphyries of Esterel, can scarcely be geologically connected with the neighbouring mainland, from which it is separated by an abyss 170 fathoms deep. , Pliny asserts that the soil of Galita kills the scorpion, a fable still repeated in another form by mariners, who tell us that these volcanic rocks harbour no venomous reptile. The absence of snakes might serve as an additional proof that the island is not a detached fragment of the continent, although it has yielded some land shells of the same species as those found on the opposite coast. South of Mejerda, the region along the Algerian frontier presents no distinct orographic system. Broken into distinct sections by the AVed Melleg and its afflu- ents, the hills here follow the main line of the Atlas from south-west to north-east, leaving everywhere broad breaches mostly accessible to wheeled traffic. This region in fact forms the eastern prolongation of the upland steppes separating the two Algerian border ranges, which slope towards the Mediterranean and the Sahara ​respectively. The Tunisian steppes, forming a continuation of the Aures plateau,
are dotted with isolated eminences, whose summits terminate in tables representing the remains of older formations that have been eroded by the action of water. ​Several of these flat-topped precipitous heights have frequently served as a refuge for whole tribes and their flocks. Such, north-east of Tebessa, is the Kalaa-es-Senam, or "Castle of Idols," 4,830 feet high, approached by a dangerous path leading to a village of the Hanensha tribe, the most elevated group of habitations in Tunis.
Farther east, towards the geographical centre of the country, the plateaux are large and uniform enough to have received the name of hamâda, like the stony plains of the desert. Here the whole region culminates in the Jebel Berberu (4,920 feet), the Ras Si Ali-bu-Mussin (5,050), and the Jebel Haluk (4,810). Kessera most regular of the hamâdas, whose summit consists of an enormous table
10 square miles in extent, contains a small sebkha in one of its depressions, and its precipitous slopes are almost everywhere densely wooded.
North-cast of the central hamâdas the uplands develop a regular mountain range, which comprises the Jebel Jugar and the superb Zaghwan, which during the Roman epoch gave the name of Zeugitana to the whole of this highland region. Of all the Tunisian heights, none is more famous than that of Zaghwan, whose blue pyramidal crest (4,470 feet) is visible from Tunis. From the Jugar and Zaghwan hills Carthage drew its supply of water, and these sourees are still utilised by the modern capital. A conspicuous feature of the landscape is also the Jebel Ressas, or "Lead Mountain," to the south-east of Tunis, from which it is separated by the intervening valley of the Wed Melian. Another steep mountain, the Bu-Kurnein, or "Father of the Two Horns," rises immediately above the southern shore of the Gulf of Tunis, where it is recognised far seawards by its twin peaks resting on a massive foundation of reddish rocks. ​
eastern, on which stood an altar of Mercury, are both fringed with islets and reefs, and the former is continued seawards by the island of El-Kamala (Plane). Near it is the islet of Pilau, so named because its form resembles the dish of rice (pilau) commonly served at Eastern meals.
West of the Ras Addar rise the two islands of Zembra and Zembretta (Simbolo and Simboletto), Jamur-el-Kebir and Jamur-es-Sebir, the Ægimures of the ancients, both inhabited, and in Zembra attaining an elevation of over 1,320 feet. About 24 miles due east of this coast is the better-known volcanic island of Pantellaria, which however depends politically on Italy, and apparently belongs to the European geological system. ​106 NORTH- WEST AFRICA. South of the central Tunisian plateaux the uplands diminish in height, and are interrupted by broad valleys, and limited eastwards by e^xtensive plains, where have been collected the brackish waters of the sebkhas. But beyond these depressions the Sahel, or "seaboard," which advances in a semicircle seawards between the Gulfs of Hammamat and Cabes, merges in a rugged plateau which is terminated by vast plains and sharp headlands. West of the sebkhas, southern Tunis preserves its hilly aspect, mountains here following continuously as far as the great depression of the shotts which forms the natural boundary between Mauritania and the Sahara. Nearly all these ridges are disposed normally from south-west to north-east, in the same direction as the section of the coast of the Lesser Syrtis lying between Cabes and Sfakes. Here rises the remarkable Jebel-bu-Hodma, commanding the saline waters of the Manzuna or En-Nuail scbkha, north-west of the Gulf of Cabes. Its peaks, over 4,300 feet high, rise majestically above a broad region of arid steppes, and in its gorges are still visible the galleries of the old Eoman mines, where auriferous ore has been discovered by Fuchs. Farther west, in the neighbourhood of Gafsa, stands the Jebel Arbet, from whose summit (3,660 feet) a panoramic view is afforded of the surrounding plains, high- lands, seas, oases, and sandy wastes. These uplands are limited southwards by an abrupt ravine, through which will run the future railway from Constantino to Cabes. But beyond this gorge the plateau again develops a series of terraces gradually falling towards the Faraun sebkha. South of the low-lying region of the sebkhas are seen a few hills, the advanced spurs of the range which is continued south-eastwards through the Metmata and Urgharama highlands in the direction of the Jebels Nefuza and Yefren belonging to the Tripolitan system. From the summit of the narrow Urghamma crests are at once visible the Mediterranean and the great desert. They are separated by steppelands from the dunes and rocky heights of the seaboard. IIydrographic System. The Tunisian hydrographic system is readily explained by the relief of the land. Along the " ironbound coast " stretching from Cape Roux to the Ras-el- Abiod there is no space for anything beyond small torrents descending from the neighbouring hills ; but farther east, notwithstanding the slight local rainfall, rivers of considerable size have been developed, thanks to the broad depressions here occurring between the ranges and on the plateaux of Mauritania. Notwithstanding its Wed-el-Kebir, or " Great River," better known under the name of the Wed Ahmor, the northern slope of Tunisia does not boast of a single stream exceeding 60 miles in length. The most copious is the Wed-el-Tin, which discharges into the Eshkol or Eskel basin, whose level and salinity vary greatly according to the abundance of the rainfall and evaporation. It has a meatt depth of from 2 to 6 or 7 feet, and the reefs abounding in the fossil carcUum ediile show that it was at one time a salt or brackish reservoir, probably a marine inlet ​separated from the Mediterranean by a local upheaval of the coast. During the floods the Eskel has an area of over 80 square miles, and its emissary, the Wed-et-Tinja, or "River of the Lagoon," sends down a large volume to feed the neighbouring Tinja Benzert basin. This is the Lake of Bizerta, which communicates through a long channel with the sea. Covering an extent of about 60 square
miles, it has a far greater depth than the Eskel, even near the banks varying from 10 to 16, and in the middle from 40 to 50 feet. Were it connected by a broad navigable channel with the sea, it would form a spacious harbour, large enough to accommodate all the shipping in the Mediterranean. While the water of Lake Eskel is nearly fresh during the rainy season, that of Bizerta is scarcely less ​saline than that of the sea, and the fishes here captured in large quantities all belong to the marine fauna. The alternating current of its emissary, setting now towards the sea, now towards the lake, as already noticed by Pliny, is due to the changes of level caused by the rains, marine currents, and winds. After the heavy rains the channel is converted into a river discharging its overflow seawards; but when the evaporation exceeds the volume contributed by its affluents, the deficiency is supplied by the marine floods.The outflow usually coincides with the east winds, the inflow with those from the west.
The mouth of the Mejerda, the chief river in Tunis, is separated from Lake
Bizerta only by the range of hills terminating on the coast at the sharp headland of Sidi Ali-el-Mekki. The Mejerda, the Bagrada of the Romans and Makarath of the Carthaginians, rises in the same Algerian uplands that send northwards the waters of the Seybus. Following in all its thousand windings the normal direction of the Tunisian coast, it plunges south of the Suk-Ahras plateau into a meandering gorge, now traversed by railway, and by a road which crosses the torrent no less than twenty-seven times. At Ghardiman, within the Tunisian frontier, after receiving the contributions of numerous torrents, it enters an old lacustrine basin enclosed some 12 miles farther down by the projecting bluffs of two mountain ranges advancing in opposite directions. Through this gorge the river has ​excavated a deep channel to the Dakhla plain, an old lacustrine basin at least 300 square miles in extent, which has been filled in by alluvia of the Mejerda, Melleg, and other affluents. To a height of 70 feet above the present level of the plain, traces occur of the sedimentary deposits formed before the emissary from the
lake had cut through the rocky sill above the upper bed, which dammed up the lacustrine waters.
In the Dakhla plain the Mejerda is joined by its largest tributary, the Melleg, which is at least 60 miles longer than the main stream. Rising near Tebessa, in Algeria, it flows mainly north-west and south-east, but loses much of its volume by ​110 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. evaporation, whence the brackish character of its waters. The course of the two streams across the plain does not appear to have been perceptibly modified within the historic period, for the old Roman highway runs directly through this alluvial basin, at intervals touching the windings along the left bank. At the confluence of the Beja descending from the north, the Mejerda enters the series of narrow tortuous gorges by which it has forced its way through the surrounding chalk formation. But at the junction of the Zerga it encountered harder rocks, which it was unable to pierce. Hence it is here abruptly deflected southwards to its confluence with the Siliana, where it finds an easier outlet towards the north-east. Below the barrage constructed in 1622 by Dutch engi- neers the Mejerda flows by the west foot of the Jebel Ahmor to the alluvial plain through which it discharges into the shallow El-Bahira (Ghar-el-Melah) lagoon. This basin, which in the seventeenth century was " the finest harbour in Barbary," and which still communicates with the sea through a small channel accessible to fishing-smacks, has been gradually filled in by the alluvia of the Mejerda. Its depth, which now nowhere exceeds 5 or 6 feet, appears to have been diminished by 30 feet during the last hundred years. It will probably disappear altogether bt^fore the end of the century, just as the older Gulf of Utica in the same delta has been converted during the lust one thousand six hundred years into the marshy depression of Mabtuha. The Er-Ruan sebkha and other lagoons in this district are also being slowly effaced, while the shore line between Cape Sidi Ali-el-Mekki and the hills of Carthage is continually advancing seawards. According to Tissot, the land has here encroached on the sea to a probable extent of 100 square miles in the course of the last two thousand one hundred years. During the historic period the Mejerda has often shifted its bed, and by the aid of the old writers and a careful survey of its lower course, it might be possible to reconstruct the map of its delta at different epochs. In the time of the Carthaginians, the Makarath or Bagrada skirted the north foot of the Jebel Ahmor, leaving on the left a ridge of insular rocks from 100 to 150 feet high, and reaching the sea at a point just north of Cape Carthage. The old bed can still be traced by the sands and gravel, in which now grow a few oleander bushes. Subsequently two other beds were excavated farther north, both of which had also their origin in the gorge at the north foot of the Jebel Ahmor. But the present channel runs due north along the depression of the old Lake of Utica, terminating just south of the headland at the northern extremity of the Gulf of Tunis. South of the Mejerda there are no permanent rivers, their mouths being closed by a bank of sand for at least several months in the year. But communication with the sea is effected by one lagoon, the Lake of Tunis, a second Bahira, similar to that into which the Mejerda falls ; it is somewhat larger, however, and attains a greater depth, being some 6 feet in the deepest parts. Its approach is formed by an artificial canal, which has replaced a natural channel farther south, and which will admit vessels drawing over 4 feet of water ; but its waters are rendered impure by the sewage of Tunis, and hence the banks are unhealthy. Like those of the Mejerda delta, this lake, which was formerly crowded by the Roman and I ​Carthaginian vessels, is losing in volume, and is bordered throughout its circumference
by hollows, left by the receding waters, which have become swamps or sandy beaches. The Wed Melian, a term which probably conveys the sense of "Full ​112 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. River," a name it no longer merits, is not a tributary of the Bahira ; it descends from the Zaghwan mountains, and its volume, increased by the water at present collected by the aqueduct of Tunis, flows southwards round a low eminence which bounds the lacustrine depression. The Tunisian Sebkhas. On the eastern shore of Tunis, the coast is skirted by numerous sebkhas, which are separated from the Mediterranean by strips of sand. But at some distance inland, depressions are also found into which fall several rivulets, whose waters quickly run dry in their saline clay beds. Such are the sebkhas which follow in succession west, south-west, and south of Susa, and which are alternately vast sheets of water and saline plains. During winter time Kairwan has often been completely cut off from the rest of Tunis by these quagmires. At the very com- mencement of the rainy season a large portion of the country is transformed into a veritable slough, leaving no other route available to the caravans except the ridges running between the hollows. The most extensive lagoon is the Sidi-el-Hani sebkha, or Lake of Kairwan, wliose surface at the period of the floods is at least 200 square miles in extent, and whose central depression, in rainy years, always retains a little water. It is completely cut off from the coastlands by the Sahel hills, whilst Lake Kclbia, not so extensive but always filled with water and even bearing boats, occasionally discharges its surplus waters into the lowlands over a ledge some 60 feet high. When the rainfall is very abundant — that is to say, on an average every eight years — the emissary called the Wed Menfes attains a coast- land lagoon, the sebkha of Jcriba, which is connected with the sea by the Ilalk-el- Mengol. Travelling at this part of the coast is rendered dangerous on account of the looseness of the soil, and till recently, before the construction of the causeway, not a winter passed without the caravans losing some of their men or animals. According to M^L de Campou and Rouire, Lake Kelbia, whose surface varies from 20,000 to 32,000 acres according to the season, forms the basin of a fluvial system as vast and even more important than that of the Mejerda, The Wed Bagla, which flows into this basin together with its tributaries the Wed Fekka, the Marguelil, and other rivers flowing »from the heights^f Central Tunis, appears on the maps recently drawn up to have a far less extensive area of drainage than the northern rivers. In several essays M. Rouire has also attempted to prove the identity of the Bagla with the river Triton of the ancient writers. But how is it po.ssible to identify with certainty a river which, according to Pliny, forms the source of the Nile, and one of whose branches is lost in the Niger ? And the lake of the same name which M. Rouire identifies with Lake Kelbia, may in fact have been that mysterious basin which different writers have sought in various places along the southern shores of the Mediterranean, Strabo placing it at Berenice, to the west of the Great Syrtis, whilst Diodorus seeks it in the vicinity of the " ocean which surrounds the world." It would assuredly be a hopeless task to endeavour to reconcile all the assertions that ancient writers have made about the ​river and Lake Triton, more especially as not one of their statements harmonises with the present conditions. All the proposed identifications are contradicted by one or another passage of these authors, and beyond doubt numerous changes have taken place in the physical geography of the country, effacing many a topo- graphical detail now vainly sought by the commentators. It suffices to say that, although unacceptable on other heads, M. Rouire's hypothesis concerning the identity of the Wed Bagla with the river Triton, is at least so far in accordance with the writings of Ptolemy, that this watercourse really rises in the ravines of Mount Ussalet, the Ussaleton of the Alexandrine geographers, Moreover, throughout the whole eastern shore of Tunis, the Bagla is the only wed which, rising at some distance inland, flows on in a perceptible bed, if not as far as the Lesser Syrtis, at least, according to M. Houire, as far as " a little Syrtis," to which it brings a small quantity of water. Lake Kelbia, on the other hand, is, in circum- ference, almost exactly the thousand stadia (111 miles) which Scylax assigned to Lake Triton. At the same time, the extent of this lake would seem to be much too great, if the statement of Herodotus is true, that the Libyan virgins, after having engaged in a combat in honour of Athene, " bore the most valiant round the marsh." The prolonged cry which the women uttered at the feasts of the goddess is synonymous with the zagrit, tuluil, or yn-yu, which the Libyan women of all the modern Berber tribes give vent to, tapping their lips to give effect to the sound, on such occasions as feasts, weddings, funeral processions, and warlike expeditions.
To the north-west of Sfakes, another depression contains the saline lake called Mta-el-Grarra ; and farther south, near the regular curve described by the Gulf of Cabes, there is still another depression, filled with water or a saline efflorescence, called the Manzuna, or Sebkha-en-Nuail. But these survivals of former lakes are a mere nothing in comparison with the partially inundated plain which forms the natural boundary between the " Isle of Maghreb " and the Sahara. For over a space of 240 miles from east to west, a succession of sheets of water, saline basins, marshes, and hollows filled with clay, stretch south of Tunis and Eastern Algeria. It is probable in some part of this depression, so remarkable in all respects, that most ancient geographers located the sacred waters near which Minerva and Bacchus were born.
Shaw, towards the end of the eighiteenth century, was the first to put forward the hypothesis that Lake Triton was identical with one of the Tunisian sebkhas. As a zone separating two natural regions, two faunas, and two races, and from a hydrographical point of view appealing to the imaginition both by its vast size and by its divers phenomena, this region ought to prove of much greater interest to geographers than the little lake on the eastern coast, north of the islands. The vast basin of the Igharghar, whose waters formerly flowed into the chain of "Tritonic " lakes, presents a surface of at least 320,000 miles, forty times superior to that of the Tunisian weds which run into Lake Kelbia. This basin, however, has been completely separated from the Mediterranean for a period long antecedent to all historic records.
​Judging from the fossil shells, the marine inlet or the fluvial bed between the Mediterranean and the lacustrine basin of the Sahara, was definitely closed about the postpliocene period. Nevertheless, the riverain peoples of the shott, struck by the aspect of dried-up inlets presented by these basins, persistently maintained that communication formerly existed between the sea and the sebkhas, but that Alexander the "two horned" closed the outlet by his enchantments.
Before the geographical exploration of the country, the Isthmus of Cabes, between the sebkhas and the sea, was merely considered as one of those sandy
beaches such as are found on every shore before the mouths of rivers whose current, even when aided by the ebb and flow of the tides, is not sufficiently strong to clear a passage seawards.
It was supposed that sandhills had gradually raised the bar, which had itself probably been elevated above the sea-level by the effect of some inland disturbance. M. Fuchs, by measuring the height of the sill with a barometer, at last discovered the true state of the case.
From a mean elevation of 330 feet, the little chain of hills revealed two breaches from 190 to 200 feet high, whose geological formation he ascertained to ​consist of eocene sandstone and chalk. The Italian expedition under Antinori, which visited the shores of the Gulf of Cabes in 1875, also found that the sill was partially composed of rocky layers, and not merely of sand heaped up by the winds. The lowest point found by the expedition on the waterparting between the streams which run to the sea and those which flow westwards towards the sebkha, is over 170 feet above the sea-level. Since then, Roudaire, a French officer, has carefully prepared a detailed map of the whole region comprised between the Gulf of Cabes and the Algerian "shotts," and has definitely cleared up all uncertainties. The bar of Cabes still offers at its lowest elevation a height of over 150 feet; the sebkhas, which it separates from the Mediterranean, are themselves situated at a height of from 50 to 80 feet above the sea-level, and terminate westwards at another ridge more than 300 feet high. Beyond this point begin the depressions lying below the level of the Mediterranean. The total breadth of land required
to be excavated in order to connect the basin of the "shotts" with the Mediterranean would be over 100 miles.
The whole system of shotts and wadies — or, retaining the Arabie form, shtuts and widans — which may be called the "Tritonic" system, according to the hypotheses of most archæologists, was at one time probably a fluvial basin commencing at the source of the Igharghar. But this hydrographie system has long been broken up. The river bed is in many places blocked by danes, and the secondary depressions have been separated from it by ridges of upheaved rocks. That of the east especially, the largest of all, is bounded by hilly ridges which effect a junction with the southern Tunisian chains. From the ridge of Cubes to that of Kriz follow in succession north of the basin a series of abrupt cliffs, called the "Lips" (Esh-Sherb), as if the plain of the ancient lake was compared to an immense mouth. The sebkha, known at its cast end by the name of Shott-el-Fejej, at first is narrow, but gradually broadens out west wards; then, beyond a promontory on the southern ​bank, a long rock continued by dunes, the basin, here called Shott Faraun, suddenly becomes three times larger, and forms the Shott-el-Jerid, or "the Shott of the Palms."
At its western extremity this huge lacustrine plain is culled by various other names. It is no less than 120 miles long from east to west, with a breadth, from north to south, at the widest part, of 45 miles. The riverain people say that water remains permanently only in the central part of the Shott-el-Jerid; but this water is not visible, being hidden by a saline crust, which suggested to the Arab authors its comparisons to a silver leaf, a crystal sheet, a bed of camphor. On it the footsteps re-echo as on the stones of an archway.
Besides the deep waters of the lake properly so called, which is concealed under its saline covering, the lowest parts of the lacustrine depression are usually filled
with water, at times of sufficient depth to reach the girths of horses crossing the sebkha, and which under the influence of the wind is displaced from side to side of the depression. When the water is driven on to the saline crust over the hidden springs, it becomes partially dissolved, and the level of the waters of the shott thus often becomes changed. It occasionally happens that the crust of salt is forced upwards by the pressure of the water, or of the inflated gases, into the shape of a cone, just as if a subaqueous volcano had sprung into existence. Thus are formed islands which, thanks to the mirage, when seen from afar appear like veritable hills, and, indeed, are so called by the riverain peoples.
One of the largest of these islands, called Jebel-el-Melah, or "Mountain of Salt," is scarcely twenty paces in diameter and rises no more than about 3 feet above ​THE TUNISIAN 8EBKIIAS. 117 the level of the sebkhu. In the middle of this flat space is an ancient well, now filled up, which has procured for the islet the further title of IJir-en-Xsof, or ** the Central Wells." Numerous springs rise in the hard tracts of land found in many parts of the sebkha, but the water they yield is as brackish as that of the fountains in the surrounding oases. Four islets lying near the si)uthern bank of the Shott Faraun, are collectively termed Nkhal Faraun, or " Pharaoh's Palms," thanks to a legendary rejjort of the passage of an Egyptian army through this lacustrine basin, which the local traditions confound more or less with the Red Sea. The palms found on these four islets are said to have been planted by Pharaoh himself, in place of the olive-trees which previously covered the now inundated plain. These palms belong to none of the varieties known in the Jerid, and the dates they yield never attain a complete state of maturity. The great Tunisian sebkha is crossed by numerous caravan routes, which connect the oases on both sides of the basin. Tissot enumerates nine of these routes, but there are others not so well known, more especially in the eastern portion of the basin, which is hence called Shott-el-Fejej, or " the Routes," on account of the roads which traverse it. Some of these tracks are perfectly free from danger, whilst others must be crossed with the utmost caution, owing to the fissures, in which the wayfarer might suddenly disappear. On commencing the transit, the guide always admonishes the travellers to follow carefully in his footsteps, so as to avoid this danger. The sebkha of Tunis is much more inclined than the Runn of British India, presenting a slope of from 30 to 36 feet from east to west, whilst it is also much more perilous to traverse. A cloud of dust, or a mirage which hides or distorts the landmarks, a mistake on the part of the guide, or a stampede of the pack animals, might hurl the caravan into the midst of certain death. By certain traditional agreements amongst the trilx^s, the course to be followed should be indicated by stones on one side and trunks of palm-trees on the other, a space of a few hundred yards intervening between these landmarks. This arrangement, however, is not observed with sufficient attention ; most of the (jmairs, or guiding marks, are no longer in their proper place, or else have been replaced by the remains of camels. The sides of the road connecting the oasis of Kriz with those of the southern promontory, are bordered by abysses filled with a greenish-coloured water, " more bitter than that of the ocean," and of such a vast depth that the bottom has never been reached by the sounding lines. According to the ancient Arab stories and traditions, the earth has often given way under the weight of the caravans, and the men and animals composing it have been swallowed up by these abysses, whoso mouth has immediately closed over the heads of its victims. South of the lake, in the neighbouring region of Nefzawa, in which numerous hot springs take their source, there is another natural well of unknown depth, which is called by the Berber name of Tawerga, and of which the tribes in the vicinity say, that it demands an annual sacrifice of a human being. According to a local tradition, several centuries ago the site of this abyss was displaced by a violent earthquake. North-west of the great Tunisian sebkha, the cliffs of the "Lips" are continued ​llg NORTH-WEST AFRICA. by an irregular escarpment, which at one point forms a hill some 570 feet high, before losing itself in the sands in almost imperceptible undulations. This chain, whose depressions contain the pleasant oases of Jerid, forms a barrier separating the Shott-el- Jerid from the Shott Gharsa, a basin similar to the eastern sebkha, but of much less extent. The Shott Gharsa, shaped like a crescent with its convex side facing northwards, is much lower than the Shott-el-Jerid. It lies entirely below the level of the sea, and if ever a canal should be opened to establish com- munications between this depression and the Mediterranean, its banks would be under water for some 6 miles beyond the present water-mark. The western extremity of the Shott Gharsa penetrates into Algerian territory and stretches on like a huge arm of the sea in front of a labyrinth of much more extensive shotts, known collectively as Melghigh (Melri'ir). The two basins are separated from each other by low-lying ridges and intermediary depressions. According to the project with wliicb the name of Roudaircs is connected, it was the Shott Melghigh which, together with all the adjacent land, was destined to form to the south of Algeria that "inland sea " which, in the imagination of its projectors, was one day to revolutionise the climate of the neighbouring countries, to attract moisture-bear- inrr clouds to the Aures Mountains, to increase the amount of rainfall, to fill permanently the, at present, dried-up beds of the watercourses, and to bring forth from the soil springs which had long ceased to exist. But although it may be difficult to imagine the formation of a navigable course leading from the ridges of Cabcs to the oases of the Algerian desert, it may at least be understood how useful it would be to restore the ancient route which skirted the southern face of the island of Maghreb, between the Lesser Syrtis and the valley of the Draa, Like those of the eastern coast of Tunis, properly so called, the weds of the Tunisian Sahara are almost always without water. The most important in volume, if not in the length of their course, are the Wed Akarit, Wed Melah, and Wed Cabes. The Wed Cabes is hardly 6 miles long, although at high water coasting vessels can sail up it as far as the oasis of the town. The hypothesis has been put forward that the shallow current of the Akarit or Cabes is identical with the " river Triton " of the ancients ; nor is this supposition altogether improbable, especially as the Libyans, as is proved by the legendary hydrography of Africa, readily believe in the existence of subterranean rivers in the region of the sands. Besides, it is an indisputable fact that the basin which receives the Akarit and Cabes is of considerable extent above the springs where the water wells up very copiously. Hence it may be questioned whether some fissure in the rock may not afford an outlet, through the streams flowing to the Mediterranean, to the deep waters concealed beneath the saline crust of the Shott-el-Fejej. The Tunisian Coast and Islands. Although the mountains which continue the Tripolitan " Jebel " approach the coast in southern Tunis, sufficient space has still been left for the formation of sebkhas, amongst others the Sebkha-el- Melah, or " Salt Lagoon," the Bu-Guerara, ​THE TUNISIAN COAST AND ISLANDS. 11» nnd the Buliirct-cl-Bibun, or " Lake of the Gutes." This latter coasthind swamp, perfectly similar in formation to those found in Languedoc, is separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land known as " The Dog's Nose." In the narrowest portion of this strip of land are two inlets, one of which is so deep that horses are obliged to swim through it. An islet at this point of the coast, lying between the two channels, is occupied by the fortress of Bibtln, or " the Gates," so called on account of the marine passages which it protects, and also because it guards the approach to Tunis from the Trijiolitan frontier. This ixjrtion of the coast seems to have been greatly modified within historic times. Edrisi places at about a mile fcom the beach of the Bib&n fortress an island called Ziru, which is no longer in existence, unless, as many writers believe, it has become merged in the strip of land between the sea and the lake. But in this case it would have changed its shape, and the sea would have gradually eaten it away, for in the time of Edrisi, in the twelfth century, it was covered with villages surrounded by vines and palm groves. Forty miles long by half a mile broad, this island must in any case have been a sandy tongue of land which has effected a junction with the coast. The site of this vanished land is probably marked by the reefs and sandbank of Zcra. At this point a piece of land still stood high and dry in the sixteenth century, and here was assembled the fleet of the Duke of Medina-Coclis, when on an expedition against Jerba island in the year 1560. The islands of Southern Tunis are not of independent origin, like the volcanic cliff of Pantellaria, off Cape Bon, but are merely fragments detached from the neighbouring coast by the erosive action of the water or by the subsidence of the land. The Kerkennah islands, the Cercina and Cercinitis of Strabo, which form off Sfakes the northern limit of the Syrtis Minor, or Gulf of Cabes, present the appearance of a mass of soil incessantly eroded by the waves. It is even very probable that the archipelago of the two islands and the adjacent reefs has been gradually diminished within historic times. Scylax si)eaks of but one island, of which the two present islands are probably no more than a mere fragment ; and the measurements which Pliny and Herodotus assign to Cercina (Cyraunis) and Cercinitis are no longer correct. They have diminished, and the northern portion has been partially demolished by the waves, although the strait which separates the two islands has scarcely changed for the last two thousand years. There are still to be seen the ruins of a causeway, some 4,000 ft^t long, which connected the two banks, and which might be easily rebuilt. At the southern extremity of the Gulf of Cabes, the large island of Jerba, the Meninx of the ancients, which tradition jwints out us " the land of the Lotophagi," has apparently better preserved the shaiKJ it had at the beginning of historical times. However, it is scarcely separated from the mainland, from which it can be easily reached by fording the intervening channel. The island terminates south- wards in two points towards which are directed two promontories from the mainland, and on both sides the coast has been eroded between these capes in such ​a manner as to form a kind of lake, very similar in appearance,to two neighbouring lakes, the Sebkha-el-Melah and the Babiret-el-Bibân. According to Wood, this marine lake is the river Triton, so long sought for on the neighbouring coasts. The western branch of the strait, some 8,330 feet broad, and commanded by lofty hills and cliffs, is the only one which is navigable for shipping, the passage excavated by the action of the tides being from 10 to 50 feet deep. The eastern branch, although broader, is partly obstructed by islets, reefs, sandbanks, and at
ebb there remains scarcely 2 feet of water in the deepest parts. The ford followed by the caravans, which bears the name of Trik-esh-Jemel, or "Road of the Camels," winds to the west of a Roman bridge spoken of by ancient travellers, and of which some remains are still to be seen. Two castles, the Borj-el-Kantara, or "Castle of the Bridge," on the shore of the island, and the Borj-el-Bab, or "Castle of the Gate," in the very centre of the strait, recall the ancient viaduct, worthy of being compared to the works of modern engineers, if not for boldness of design, at least ​TUE SYRTES. 121 for its grcut length. Another inHulur castle protects the Camel Roiul, According to the statement of un ancient traveller, the eastern channel of the strait wa-s navigable during the Carthaginian period. Viewed from a distance, Jerba Island seems to continue the mainland into the sea in the shape of a long flat point covered with palms and skirted with strong castles, formerly raised against the Spaniards or the Knights of Malta. The highest elevations of the land, towards the centre of the island, are but a few feet above sea-level. No rivulets wind through the plains of Jerba, and the natives have no other water than that of their wells. Nevertheless the whole island is densely wooded, and the olive here attains a size unknown even in the Suhel. The Syrtes. The Gulf of Cabes, which extends in a semicircular shape between the Ker- kenuah group and the island of the Lotophagi, was a% much dreaded by the ancients as the Greater Syrtis itself. As long as the Carthaginians monopolised the trade carried on along the shores of the Lesser Syrtis, they were careful to describe the navigation of these coasts as highly dangerous, so as to scare away sailors of other nations ; and those foreigners who were the first to venture into these unknown regions might well have supposed at first that the jealous Carthaginians had not deceived them, when they were surprised by the treacherous tides which distinguish the Lesser Syrtis from all the other s^eas of the Mediterranean basin. The first Roman fleet which penetrated into this gulf, more than one hundred and twenty centuries ago, ran aground in the shallows at low water, and when floated by the incoming tide, the sailors had already lightened the vessels by heaving the provisions and merchandise overboard, and being thus deprived of their supplies, they were compelled at once to return to Sicily. Opposite the mouth of the AVed Cabes, at the extreme end of the Syrtis Minor, the water alternately rises and falls over feet, while on the shores of Jerba Island the average swell of the tide is not less than 10 feet. In the port of Sfakes, at the other extremity of the gulf, the average rise of the tide is nearly 5 feet, but at the period of the equinoxes the difference between ebb and flow is a little over 8 feet. The phenomenon of such considerable tides at this sjX)t is accounted for by the funnel-like shape of the gulf and by the gradual slept* of its bed. The liquid volume coming from the open sea collects in the Syrtis Minor much more readily than in the almost landlocked seas, such as the Adriatic, or in more open bays, such as the Syrtis Major. But the tides of Cabes being now thoroughly understood, are divested of their terrors, and vessels of small tonnage visit these shores without encountering any of the dangers which were formerly so greatly dreaded. Armed with sounding lines, the coasting vessels which cro.ss the gulf sail cautiously along, the sailors standing by the anchor, ready to let go the moment the lead indicates ' that there is not a sufficiency of water under the keel. And even in case of ship- wreck, there is very little danger to be run, the sea for a distance of 6 miles out being so low that the crew could easily make to shore. The waves on this coast never attain a very great height. On the vast banks of soft mud which surround 40— A» ​122 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. the Kerkennah Islands, the surface of the water calms down, let the winds rage ever so furiously on the open sea ; hence in these still waters vessels can find a sure haven of refuge, even in the roughest weather. The Syrtis Minor is known to Italian sailors as the mare mot'to, or Dead Sea, in contrast to the deep waters of the mare vivo, or open sea. The great changes which have taken place in the contour of the islands and continental coastline of Tunis have, by some travellers, been attributed to local Oocillations. Like those of Tripoli, the beaches of Jerba and Kerkennah are said to have sunk and consequently diminished in extent. Grenville Temple endeavours to prove that within the historical period the Kuriatein Islands still formed a portion of the coast between Monastir and Cape Dimas. On the other hand, according to Roudaire and the geologists attached to his expedition, the plateau of Cabes was produced by some internal disturbance, which at the same time upheaved the Shott-cl-Jorid above the level of the sea, and changed its slope from facing eastwards to westwards. The coast of Tunis does undoubtedly show in many places above the sea-level traces of ancient beaches that may still be easily recog- nised. Thus, throughout the plateau of Cabes and along, all the windings of the coastline as far as Sfakcs, as well as on the other side of the headlands on the Susa coast, Fuchs discovered, in 1874, a sandy beach, now lying at a uniform height of from 40 to 50 feet above the sea, although it contains organisms which are still existing in the Mediterranean. But although the e.vistencc of these elevated beaches is a sufficient proof that a change has taken place in the relative heights of the land and sea, it in no way shows that the subterranean impulse is still active, as many travellers believe themselves justified in stating. The silting up of the ports of Malidij^a, Carthage, Utica, and Porto- Farina is quoted as a proof of the upheaval of the coast, whereas, in all these instances, the change may be accounted for by the depositing of marine sands or of alluvia brought down by the rivers. Besides, we must not lose sight of the fact that a port which afforded access to the galleys of the ancients, thanks to their slight draught of about 4 feet, would now be inaccessible to an ordinary vessel, even were it not choked by sand. Xowhere along the Tunisian coast has there been found any inland building showing traces of having at any time been washed by the waves. On the other hand, several islets and reefs mentioned by the Greek, Roman, and Arab geographers still remain almost flush with the water, as in former times. The ports of Carthage, which Beule has had cleared of sand down to the sea-level, have been found precisely at the same level at which they stood some two thousand years ago. Climate -of Tunis. The situation of Tunisia, at the eastern angle of the island of Maghreb, between ' the two basins of the Mediterranean, and at one of the approaches to the Sahara, gives two special characteristics to the climate of this country. Washed by the sea on the east and south-east as well as on the north and north-west, Tunis naturally ​ClilMATE OF TUNIS. 128 enjoys a much more equable clirnuto than Algeria. Being, moreover, destitute of lofty mountains or extensive plat^Miux, whilst its upland regions terminate in wide valleys well exposed to the sea breeze, the t^jmiwrature far inland is much milder than that of the central regions of the Maghreb. As yet no exact meteoro- logical observations have been made for the inland regions of Tunis. Neverthe- less, from the nature of the vegetation it is easy to determine the general charac- teristics of the climate, and observe the contrasts that it presents with that of the conterminous regions. Thus it is that the east winds, which are hot and dry in the Algerian portion of the Sahara, carry a certain quantity of moisture into the Tunisian part of this desert, and nourish plants which are never found in the western solitudes. Although on the average higher than that of Algeria, the temperature of Tunis is at the same time moister and less variable. Nevertheless, the northern and coastland regions are more exposed to the scorching southern winds than the Algerian Tell, and it occasionally happens that, under the fiery breath of the sinioora, the thermometer rises to ll-i^ and even to 118° F. in the streets of Tunis. On the other hand, the atmospheric currents which in winter bring down the cold air from the Apennines, have occasionally produced weather as cold as any experienced in Southern Europe. Ferrini states that in the month of February, 1854, snow fell in Tunis for the space of one whole day. The seasons in Tunis succeed each other with extreme regularity. The winter, which coincides with the rainy season, and which bears the same name of csh-s/ifa, usually commences in January and lasts not quite two monlhs. This is followed by the " green " or spring season, which is also very short, whilst the summer lasts six months, from May to October. The autumn is ushered in by the normal return of the rains, although showers are common throughout the whole year ; on an average the Tunisians calculate that rain falls on J)0 days out of the 365. The winds usually blow from off the sea, i.e. from the north-east to the north-west. The north-cast current, which is the normal jwlar wind, usually prevails during the summer months ; whilst the north-west wind, a continuation of the beneficent " mistral," predominates for the rest of the year. These sea breezes are the most salubrious, and are those which are accompanied by rain ; but they are not so regular as the trade winds, and are often subject to sudden changes. At the period of the equinoxes, violent atmospherical disturbances often arise; towards the middle of September the Gulf of Tunis is almost always thrown into a commotion by a violent gust, which the Christians of the first centuries called " the Cyprian wind," because it generally upptnired on the anniversary of the death of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. The full fury of the winds is usually moat to be dreaded around Cape Bon ; several aerial currents meet at this angle of the continent and struggle furiously for the supremacy. Hence the name of " Bon " or " good," which the Carthaginians gave this promontory, with the intention of flattering the genius of the cape, and thus securing his goodwill. The Arabs often call it R&s Ghaddar, or " the Treacherous Promontorj'," instead of R&s Add&r, or " the Good Cape." The marine currents also meet at the base of this cape, and form as violent a disturbance below as the %nud8 cause above. So power​powerful and so lashed by the winds are the currents of water running from the western waters into the sea of the Syrtes, that vessels sailing westwards would be unable to cross it were it not for the south-east winds, which usually blow off the Syrtes towards Malta, and thus assist them to double this dreaded headland. When the
sky is unobscured by clouds, a view can occasionally be obtained from this promontory of the coast of Sicily, and the horizon has often been seen illumined by a ruddy light caused by the eruptions of Mount Etna.
It is somewhat remarkable that on the coast of Tunis tempests are rarely ​FLORA OF TUNIS. 126 accompanied by lightning. Thunder is scarcely ever heard, except on the moun- tains, and Ferrini assures us that there is not a single instance on record of its having been met with in the plains. At Tunis and in the suburbs it ha« been thought unnecessary to protect the buildings by lightning conductors. AtSfakes, however, the case is quite otherwise, and M. Gudrin states that a tower in this town was several times struck by lightning in 1882. Taken altogether, the climate of Tunis is one of the finest throughout the whole Mediterranean coastline. The military statistics between the months of August, 1883, and March, 1884, show that fewer soldiers were received into the Tunisian hospitals during that period than in any of the Algerian provinces, or even than in France itself. M. Bertholon considers that the coast of Tunis can boast of as fine a climate as Australia, but that in the inland valleys, where the atmosphere is not renewed by the north winds, endemic fevers are justly dreaded. Flora of Tunis. Belonging to the Mediterranean zone by the nature of its geological formations, rocks, and climate, Tunis is also comprised in the same geographical area, thanks to it« flora and fauna. Like Algeria, the Iberian coast, Lower Languedoc, and Lower Provence, Italy, and Greece, Tunis forms a part of the olive region, which Colu- mella considers to be " the first of all trees." The investigations of botanists show that the Flora of Tunis is almost identical in its special characteristics with that of Algeria ; still, the differences in the relief of the land and the climate have resulted in a far greater intermingling of species in the eastern than in the western region. In Algeria the boundary lines are clearly defined between the flora of the coast and of the uplands of the plateaux, and of the Sahara, whereas in Tunis they inter- mingle in the utmost disorder. The species common to the Sahara, following the coastline along the Gulfs of Cubes and Ilummamat, finally reach the maritime dunes close to Tunis and Bizerta. Wherever sand is to be found, the botanist is sure to observe ten or twelve varieties which he has seen in the Saharian ergs. Conspicuous amongst these is the drin, or arthratenim puuginn. On the other hand, there are found south of the 8hott-el-Jerid, in the same latitude as the southern- most oasis of the Algerian Suf, some plants belonging to the upland plateaux of S^tif. Cabes seems to form the meeting- point of the most diverse floras, comprising varieties from the sea-shore, from the sandhills of the desert, from the clayey beds of the weds and their alluvia, from the argilo-calcareoua plain, which skirts the foot of the mountains, and from those oases characterised by a Mediterranean and almost a European flora. Thanks to its position opposite Sicily, Tunis also pos- sesses a certain number of species common to Sicily and Italy, which are nowhere found in Algeria. Cape Bon, the boundary of the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean, also forms a barrier between two regions whose resjwctivo floras present some points of difference in detail. The entire flora of Tunis, which Dcsfontaines in ​120 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. the last century calculated at 300 species, consists, according to M. Cosson, of 1,780 varieties, of which a few only ore indigenous. From west to east, i.e. from Tunis to Marocco, the special varieties of plants gradually diminish, a fact due to the gradual lowering of the land. Amongst the 563 species found at Cabes, there are only 25 which are not to be met with in the Algerian Sahara. Some of these plants are so numerous that they impart their colour to the plains, which hence are visible for a distance of several miles. Large tracts covered with bind- weed, and other pale blue flowers, appear in the distance like extensive lacustrine basins. The mountains of the Mejerda basin, and those which command the Mediter- ranean watershed between Bizert^ and Calle, are still covered with vast forests. Thanks to the relative moisture of the climate, here are found huge oaks, amongst others the zcoi (^qnerci(s Mirbeckii^, whilst the holly flourishes in the midst of the brushwood, and the wild cherry amongst the fruit-trees. If the Mejerda has plenty of water throughout the year, it is due to the woods which clothe its sides. But in central Tunis, and in the vicinity of the Syrtes waters, the country is almost entirely deforested. The only trees to be found in this region are the olive and the tig, which grow round the towns, overtopping the hedges of nopal, as in Algeria, the plateaux having no other varieties than the wormwood and alfa grass, which is used to manufacture paper. In some spots the ground is completely naked, and has even lost its superficial humus, the hard rock ringing w'ith a metallic sound under the foot of the traveller. However, in these barren regions, at the southern base of the Bu-IIedma mountains, there lies a forest of gum-bearing acacias, which covers a space of some 18 miles long by 7 broad. This is the most northern region of Africa in which is met one species of these gum-bearing trees, viz., the acacia xnyal. But the}- scarcely amount in round numbers to 40,000, the trees being so far distant from each other. They are occasionally used in the preparation of food, but the gum is allowed to run waste, and serves as food to wild animals. The gum which exudes from certain varieties of mastics, as in the island of Ohio, is not employed in the manufacture of mastic or other perfumed essences. The banks of the great shotts, w^hich are separated from the Syrtis Minor only by a narrow isthmus, are covered with the beautiful " groves," as the natives call them, of the Beled-el-Jerid, or " Country of Dates," which contain over a million palms, belonging to more than 150 varieties. The dates vary in taste in a most astonishing manner, according to the climatic conditions. Whilst the palms at Sfakcs and Jerba island are little more than ornamental trees, whose fruit is mostly given as food to the animals, those at Cabes produce excellent dates ; the fruit yielded by the El-llamma oasis is excellent, while that obtained in Jcrid and Suf is even still better. The cause of this is doubtless due not so much to the difference of temperature, as to the different proportion of the atmospheric moisture. Amongst all the varieties of dates, a great difference in taste is noticeable according to where they are grown. In the Jerid the finest is the deglet-nur or *' luminous date," so called on account of its transparent appearance ; the Suf, however, can show dates which are preferable to it. The inhabitants of the oases love their ​FAUNA OF TUNIS. It7 trees as if they wore domestic friends. They never " kill," i.e., cut down, a palm for the purpose of making /akhi, the caryptia of the uneients, except on very im- portant occasions, such as the birth of a child, a niurriago feu^t, or on the arrival of a greatly respected guest. Formerly Jorba, the ancient Meninx, the '• Island of the Lotus-eaters," was famous for the lotus plant, which is not known with certainty to have ever since been f^^und in this region. What was this fruit, of such an exquisite taste that when travellers had eat«n of it they forgot their native land ? Does this Ilomcrio legend refer to some mysterious product symbolical of peace and happiness ? or else does it apply to a veritable fruit which seemed so attractive to the Greek mariners? The descriptions given by the ancient writers seem more esiKJciully to indicate a variety of the jujube-tree {zizi/phus lotus), the seder or sidra, which is still found in Jerba Island, as well as on the neighbouring coast, and as fur inland as the Tuareg country. Its berries are made into a very pleasant acidulated drink, although the fruit itself, of an insipid sweetish taste, is no longer much appreciated. Mohammed 8eaks of the zizyphus lotus as an accursed shrub, which in the Saba country has taken the place of the delicious fruit-trees which formerly flourished in the gardens of that region. The first Greek explorers, who related to their countrymen the wonders of the distant knds they had visited, may possibly have tasted the tine dates of Beled-el-Jerid, without having seen the tree, ond hence they would have attributed this fruit to the jujube-tree; or else the taste of the fruit may have been modified, of which Egypt presents an example in the fruit of the sycamore. El-Bekri relates that the apple-trees of Jerba were unrivalled for the excellent and beautiful fruit they bore ; but its plantations were destroyed because the Christians used to take the apples without paj'ing the islanders for them. Fa IX A OF Trxis. The fauna of Tunis, like its flora, differs from that of Algeria and Tripoli in but few varieties, being somewhat richer in animal forms than the neighbouring desert lands which skirt the Syrtis Major, and not quite so rich as Western Mauritania. A gradual increase in the number of species takes place in the direction from east to west. But in Tunis, as in the conterminous regions, the fauna has been con- siderably modified by the great changes which have taken place in historical times. The destruction of the forests has caused certain species of animals to disappear, or else has reduce<l the extent of the zone inhabited by them. On the other hand, domestic animals have been imported, and also probably wild animals, such as deer, for according to the ancient writers, these animals were not to be found in this region before the arrival of the Carthaginians, who introduced and kept them in a half domesticated state to offer them up us sacrifices to Baal-IIummon. At present a few deer are to be seen in the western uplands of Tunisia, notably south of Tubarka, in the Ehumir and Ushtetta hills. The bear, which is believed to have been very common, judging from the numerous giH>graphicul terms in which its name occurs, appears to have become ​128 NOFl'II-WEST AFEICA. extinct about the beginning of this century. The baboon is no longer to be met with, except in that angle of Tunisia bordering on the southern shotts. Lions still exist in some of the hills on the frontier of Algeria, and more especially in Khumiria, amongst the Ushtetta tribes, and in the Jebel Bu-Ghanem. But they are not nearly so numerous as they were in the time of the Carthaginians, when they preyed upon peasants and travellers in the very outskirts of the towns, and when the roads wore lined with gibbets on which these animals were crucified. According to a popular legend, the BG-Ghanem territory still contained a few thousands of these ferocious beasts some few centuries ago, and the reigning sovereign gave the country to a certain tribe on the condition that they ate no other flesh than that of the lion. Elephants have disappeared with the forests which they devastated, but it is sjitisfactorily shown that they existed in this country in the early period of local liistory ; they were probably exterminated during the Roman sway. In Pliny's time elephants were already brought in. captivity " from beyond the solitudes of the Syrtes ; " but a Spanish writer states, on mere hearsay authority, that this pachyderm was seen in Tunis as late as the latter end of the sixteenth Century. More fortunate than the elephant, the buffalo has not been completely exterminated, a few herds still roaming round Lake Bizerta, and even in the island of Eshkel, in the middle of the lake of the same name ; but they are no longer found in any other part of the country. A few moufflons still survive in the southern hills of Tunis, but in no other part of the country. But, as in the rest of North-west Africa, the domestic fauna has boon enriched bj' the acquisition of that most valuable animal, the camel. According to Tissot, this animal has for at least fifteen centuries been indispensable as a beast of burden to the inhabitants of the Barbary States and Sudan. The reader is doubtless familiar with the accounts of the ancient authors concerning the struggle which the army of Regulus had to sustain on the borders of Bagrada against a serpent more than 116 feet long. But at the present day throughout the whole of Tunis there is not a snake which attains one-fifth of these proportions. The varieties of the ophidian family have also decreased in number, although tliore are probably still many species as yet undiscovered ; while, on the other hand, many of the reptiles which the ancient writers describe as sprung from the blood of the Gorgon, must be classed amongst the fabulous animals. One of the districts most infested by serpents is the mountain region which skirts the Tunisian Sahara ; the natives have even been compelled to quit the Jebel Telja, north-east of the Shott-el-Gharsa, on account of the multitude of snakes, of the tagarcja family, which swarm in this place. Farther east, towards Sfakes, the nomads of the steppes have a great dread of the zorre'ig [rchis cariiiafa), which twines itself round the branches of the tamarisk-trees growing near the springs, and thence darts down upon its prey. It is probably the same species as the j'aculus, or " winged serpent," of the Latin authors. A recent expedition, under the direc- tion of M. Doiimet Adanson, has resulted in the discovery of a " hooded " snake, called bii f'tira, the tiajn of naturalists. The scorpion, another reptile common in Tunis, is extremely dangerous, much more so than the Algerian or Marocco ​FAUNA OF TUNIS. 129 varieties. Its sting often proves fatal. Acconling to the natives, a peculiar kind of fossiliferous siindstone placed ut the threnhuld suffices to prevent scorpions from getting into the houses ; they are said never to be found in the El-Jein amphi- theatre, which is built with these stones. Clouds of hicusta visit the Tunisian Tell, and destroy the harvest; those which devastated Algeria in lH4o were hatched, acconling to the statement of IVUissier, near the Tunisian Jerid. Butterflies are extremely rare in Tunis ; the chief charm of our tields is denied to those of Northern Africa, but a few of these graceful insects are to bo seen hovering over the flowery slojies of the mountains. This scarcity of lepidoptera is duo to the great numbers of birds, which destroy the caterpillars. Tunis possesses a few special varieties of birds, amongst others a sparrow from the Jerid, called the bA-hablbi, or " father of friendship," which flies from palm to (mlm uttering a shrill note like that of the canary. This elegant bird, celebrated in all the songs of the country, is looked upon as a sort of good genius, and the natives protect it zealously against foreign sj)ortsmon ; but all attempts to intro- duce it into the town of Tunis have hitherto failed. The salt lakes are covered with blue and pink-coloured flamingoes, which, from a distance, look like soldiers clad in bright uniforms. Above the fields wheel flocks of starlings, at times dense enough to cloud the skies. The seas which bathe the shores of Tunis swarm with fish. Around Jerba and the Kerkenna Archipelago, which even ancient writings describe as "environed by stakes," the shallow water is divided into irregular compartments formed of palms which rise and fall with the tide, and which enclose channels and chambers into which the fish swim at high water, but from which they are unable to extricate themselves at low water. The islanders are thus enabled to capture a great quantity of fish, which they cure and export to the towns on the neighbouring coast, and even to Italy. The cuttle-fish, which are obtained chiefly on a bank situated between Sfakes and the islands, are dried in the sun and nearly all ex|X)rted to Greece. The Jerba and Kerkenna islanders also fish for sjwnges, either in winter by means of long hooked poles which they drag over the rocks, or in summer by wading in the shallows and feeling for them with their ivct. The shores of Cape IJon, less rich in animal life than those of Kerkenna, are visited by shoals of fish migrating from one basin of the Mediterranean to the other. Enclosures erected along the shore at equal distances entrap the tunny- fish, which are the most highly j)rized of all these migratory fishes. The I^ike of Bizerta, which, according to a legend related by El-Edrisi furnishes exactly twelve varieties of fish, one for each month in the year, is also an imix)rtant fishing- ground, chiefly for mullet, which are caught by a very ingenious device, dating pro- bably from the Punic peritxl. From side to side of the channel is stretched a rope, along which runs a ring retaining a female mullet, who swims easily in the water ; the male fish flock round this enticing bait, and are thus caught in shoals with nets. Palisades of reeds and willows are erected in the middle of the current, through which the fish can easily enter, but are unable to retreat. Finally, on the western coast of Tunis, towards Capes Serrat and Negro, the coral banks stretch from the ​130 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. bay of Tabarka westwards along tbe Algerian coast; altbougb no'.v somewhat iinpovcrislutl, these bunks were till recently visited by hundreds of vessels from Torre del Greco. The fishing for those shell-fish (the murex) which supplied a purple dye, has been abandoned since the time of the Romans. The enormous heaps of mmrx and jmrpura, similar to those on the beaches of Sidon, still seen on the shores of Jerbu and Lake Biban, are a proof of the great importance of this industry to the old rhocnician colonies along the African seaboard. Inhabitants of Tunisia. Beyond the territories of Tripoli, which are mainly deserts, and offer along the coast but few ports, a narrow cultivated zone, and oases few and far between, Tunis must naturally have proved pre-eminently a land of promise to invaders coming either from the sea or from inland. Its fluvial basin, the first occurring in Africa west of the Egyptian Nile, from which it is separated by such vast wastes, its fertile plains, its lakes and gulfs teeming with fish, its ports so excellently situated both for commerce and for the military command of the Mediterranean basin, were advantages calculated to attract warlike nations, and convert this region into a battlefield for rival states. Stations covered with the scattered remains of stone implements and weapons, besides megaliths, menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs, rare in certain re o-ions of Tunis but very common in others, still recall the presence of peoples having either the same origin or the same religion as the primitive inhabi- tants of Brittany and Andalusia. In the very beginning of written history, the Phanicians had already estab- lished themselves at the very angle of the continent, whence they could command the waters of Sardinia on one side and those of Crete on the other. Then the Itomans, become powerful, desired in their turn to conquer this African foreland, without which none of their Mediterranean possessions, Sicily, Sardinia, or Italy itself, would have been free from attack. Thus for more than a century the known world was shaken by the struggles of these two powerful rivals, until the Phanician city was levelled with the ground, and succeeded by a flourishing Iloman settle- ment. The Vandals and the JJyzantines afterwards contended for the possession of Tunis, which many successive invasions of the Arabs brought at last within the circle of the jNIohammedan world. The Turks merely succeeded in giving governors to the country, and the invasions of the European Christians, under Ijouis IX. and Charles V., did not last long enough to produce the slightest per- ceptible change in the civilisation of Tunis. But, on the other hand, piracy, by introflucing a constant stream of slaves into the country, led undoubtedly to a con- siderable modification of type amongst the urban populations. The Berbers and Arabs. The ancient Carthaginian and Roman masters of this region, both of whom ruled over it for many centuries and covered it with towns, fortresses, and monu​THE BEIIBERS AND ARABS. 181 rocnt^, have imparted none of their physical characteristics to the people, aa far at least as can now be detected ; nor have any traditions of their former supremacy survivetl aniong-nt the local conununities. The most careful observers have also failed to detect any traces of Greek or Vandal influences in the outward ap|x>urancc, languages, or usages of the present inhabitants of Tunisia. The only two ethnical elements represented in the country, apart from the Jews and foreigners who have recently immigrate<l, are the various groups rightly or wrongly known by the comprehensive terra of "Berbers," and the descendants of the Arab invaders. These latter, to judge by their sjKjech, and the ascendancy which they owo to their traditions representing them as the conquerors and reformers of the country, apparently compose the largest part of the nation. But those peoples who in the time of the Carthaginians constituted, under various names, the very basis of the population, are in reality still by far the most numerous, however much they have become mixed with those other elements which, by a succession of crossings, have become gradually merged in the native type. The ancient language has not yet entirely died out, and the inhabitants of Jerba Island still speak a Berber dialect, and even wrote it at one time. A book written in Berber is still said to be preserved in one of the villages of this island. The ancient Libyan characters were probably employed in its composition, because the Jeraba, as the islanders arc called, recog- nise the letters of their own alphabet in the copies of Libyan inscriptions which have been shown them. The powerful L'^rgliamma tribe, who arc found in those parts of Tunis near the frontier of Tripoli, also s{x>ak a Berber dialect closely related to that employed by the Jeraba, The mountaineers of the Jebels Dwirat and Metmata, who belong to the same " Kabyle " group as the TriiX)litan Berbers of the Jebel Jefren, also speak this dialect. But it is not true, as was till recently believed, that the Drid or Derid clan in the northern portion of Tunis on both banks of the Mejerda, still speak the Berber language. All the northern and central Tunisian tribes, even those who have jealously preserved their Berber traditions and genea- logies, have become assimilated to the Arabs in speech. Besides, these two ethnical elements have become so closely connected during the last thousand years and more, that many a trilx? bearing a single collective name consists in reality of dis- tinct fractions, some of their elans being of Berlx»r others of Arab extraction. Thus the Khumirs, who are usually considered as forming a homogeneous group, are divided into four secondary tribes, of which one is of pure Berber origin, whilst the three others arc said to be of Arabic descent ; but all alike employ the Maugrabin dialect. Still, the traditional descent of a tribe is not a reliable guarantee for the purity of its origin, because from geneiation to generation the race may have been greatly mo<litied by marriage. It is a recognised fact that, in Xortheni and Central Tunis, the two races have been almost merged in one by these crossing ; Arabs and Berbers have l)ecome mutually assimilated one to the other. The relatively low elevation of the uplands and the breadth of the valleys, which ramify far into the interior of the country, have facilitated this ethnical fusion, and the abrupt contrasts that are met with in Algeria and Marocco between the Kabyles and Arabs, who still differ in appearance and customs, are seldom seen ​182 NOETH-WEST AFBICA. in Tunis. The pure Berber type is to be found only amongst the southern high- landers and in Jerba Island. Uere, as in the Algerian Jurjura, it has been noticed that, compared to the Arabs, the natives have shorter and broader features, that their skull and facial outline are less regular, the hair lighter, the glance more animated, the expression more frank, and that they are altogether of a more cheerful and enterprising disposition. Although the difference between the two races is very clearly defined, that between their several modes of life is much more strongly marked. Both towns- men and nomads, be their origin what it may, present the strongest contrasts, and mutually treat each other as if they belonged to two different nations. According to the latest census, the population of Tunis is equally divided between the " men of the houses " and the " dwellers in the tents." In the northern regions the nomad tribes, surrounded on all sides by towns, villages, and cultivated lands, have a somewhat limited range, whilst in the south they possess the whole extent of the steppes as their free camping-grounds. Besides, families which are but half nomad reside in all parts of Tunis, at one time cultivating the ground in some depression, at another following their herds to the upland pasture lands. Famine, civil strife, and war often break up the friendly relations between the tribes, and the groups composing them often remove to a distance of hundreds of miles from each other. Not a single generation passes without these migrations, which are analogous to those handed down to us bv history and by local traditions. Thus it is that the Drids or Derids, who for- merly followed in the train of the " Bey of the camp "as taxgatherers, have become scattered throughout various parts of Tunis on both banks of the Mejerda ; while the northern Ulad Sidi-Abid tribe, neighbours of the Bejas, have sent an off- shoot into the Xafta oasis, near the Shott-el- Jerid. According to M. Duveyrier, the Dedmakas, or Tademakkas, one of the tribes composing the Khumir group, are closely related to the Kel-Tademakket, now incorporated with the confederation of the Tuareg Auelimmidcn, on the banks of the Niger, and all the other Khumirs, ev^n those who call themselves Arabs, came from the south and from the west some centuries ago. The Tarabelsi also, who cultivate the land in the suburbs of Tunis, are evidently descendants of immigrants from Tripoli, as their name seems to indicate. On the other hand, it is a common tradition in Tunis that the Maltese, those Arab islanders who have become such fervent Catholics, are closely related to the Ulad Said who roam throughout the environs of Susa. At a still recent period a great many nomads lived by war and pillage, either as soldiers ot the Bey, or as professional brigands. The Urghammas, on the frontiers of Tripoli, number some thirty thousand individuals, representing an armed force of at least four or five thousand men, and were exempted from all tribute, for the ex- cellent reason that they refused to pay it ; but they were officially entrusted with the defence of the border lands against foreign marauders. Hence, under pretence of carrying out the Bey's instructions, they crossed into the neighbouring territories at their pleasure, killing the men and carrying off the women, children, and provisions.
mukc a notch in the stock of their guns for every enemy they had killed, and these weapons are still to be seen covered with notches from the butt-end to the very mu/zle of the barrel. The Ilanenshas of Kalaa-es-Senam, entrenched within their upland stronghold, held the Bey's soldiers in such contempt that, when advancing to collect the taxes, the troops were often received with the present of a dead dog, accompanied by derisive cheers and cries of " There is our tribute to your sove- reign." The Ilamamma, who roam over the steppes in the vicinity of Gafsa, claim to bo faithful subjects of the Bey, mainly, however, because they can thus rob with the greater impunity. Every male of this tribe is taken by his father, the very day of his birth, placed upon a horse already caparisoned, and welcomed with the following traditional words : " Saddle and bridle, and life on Islam." That is to say, that the child's only inheritance would be a horse and weapons, and that it would be his duty to earn his daily bread by plundering his ^lussulman brethren, inhabitants of the vast Mohammedan world. At the present time the sons of these bandits, finding it no longer profitable to gain their living by plunder, emigrate to the cities, more especially to Bone and Tunis, where they are employed chiefly as porters. Travellers crossing the Urgbamma territory are often surprised to meet members of this tribe familiar with the French language. These are emigrants who have become rich and returned to their native land. Till recently, before the occupation of the country by the French troops had jwwerfully modified the internal relations, the whole of the Tunisian tribes as well as the other communities, were split up into two «o/', or hostile leagues, which frequently changed sides according to the assessment of the taxes or the exactions of the cadis. One of these two great parties, that of the Ahsimiya, claimed to be that of the Bey. In Central Tunis this faction was more especially represented by the great Hamamma tribe, whilst the Beni-Zid were at the head of the Bashiya.s, or the party of the independent Arabs. They claim to be the descendants of a French renegade, and on this ground they welcome<l the (?xplorer Pellissier, giving him the title of "cousin." The Ulad-Ayars of the Kef district, the Zlaa of Kairwan, the Nefets of Bu-IIedma, the Urghammas, and the Akkaras of the Tripolitan frontier, were the allies of the Iliunmainas, whilst the Metalits of Sfakes the Suas of Susa, the Majers, the Frashish of the Algerian frontier, and the Hazems of Cabcs, were numlwrcd amongst those Be<luins who recognise no masters. Some years ago, by a skilful stratagem, the Beni-Zid obtained possession of the Kasbah of Sfakes, and did not evacuate it till they liberated all the prisoners of their faction whom the Bey's government had imprisoned in this citadel. The Mahadebas of the coast, between Sfakes and the Syrtis Minor, are respected by all alike as a tribe of Marabuts or priests. The Bey has exempted them from all taxes, on the condition that they afford protection and hospitality to the cara- vans. The Nefzawa, who occupy the peninsula of the same name between the Shott-el-Jerid and the Shott-el-Fejoj, are divided between two hostile fac- tions. The tribes composing the independent party attempted to resist the French, but after a few desultory skirmishes they fled into Tripolitan territory. These fugitives, estimated at more than thirty thousand, found it extremely ​difficult to get a living amongst the southern tribes, and the majority returned to sue for peace. The ringleaders of the insurrection belonged to the tribe of the Nefet.
Amongst the town Arabs, often spoken of as Moors, like their fellow-countrymen
in the towns of Algeria and Marocco, the numerous ethnical elements of which they are composed have become so intimately intermingled that it is no longer possible to recognise them. Even the Moors who were driven out of Spain, some ​THE BERBERS AND ARABS. 185 in the fifteenth, others at the commencement r)f the seventeenth century, and to whom cultivated hind in the suburbs of the cities was assigned as special quarters, have left in but few towns and villages descendants who can be distinguished from other Arab townsmen. Some few noble families, however, have j)reserved their genealogies, or have even retained the keys of their mansions in Seville or Granada; these are still spoken of as Aiuluhs or AiulaloH, that is to say, " Andalusians." Moreover, a few towns and villages are mentioned where workmen of Spanish origin carry on a special industry, and wl>cre the traditions of their trade have enabled them to keep alive the memory of their origin. The skilful gardeners of Testur and Teburba, on the lower Mejerda, know that their fathers dwelt on the banks of the Jenil and Guadalquivir ; at Ncbel, on the east coast, the pottery industry is maintained by these exiles, who have retained the name of Andalusians, and who, from father to son, have religiously transmitted the fictile vases brought from Malaga by their fugitive ancestors. At the time of Peyssonnel's voyage, a hundred years after their expulsion from the Iberian peninsula, they still spoke Spanish and dressed in the ancient Andulusian fashion. A certain portion of the " Moorish " population of Tunis is also composed of renegades of all nations, who were brought into tlie country as slaves at the time of the slave trade. The town peoples, and especially those called Tunsi, or Ulad Tunt^, i.e. " Children of Tunis," are much lighter in colour than the nomad tribes ; some few are even of an olive colour, the general hue of the skin resembling that of the Spaniards and Southern Italians. The face is usually olive, the nose long, the eyebrows thick, the beard dark and scanty ; they are of middle height, with well- shaped figures, and graceful and dignified in all their movements. Individuals are never seen amongst them with the slight development of the calf so noticeable amongst the Semites of the Arabian peninsula as well as amongst the Hindus ; few also are met who present such an obese appearance as their fellow-citizens, the Spanish Jews. The majority of the Tunisians are religious, but perfectly free from fanaticism. They are staid, dignified, and benevolent in disposition ; and however much they may be corrupted by a commercial career, they are, as a rule, far honester than their Christian and Jewish rivals. In the days when piracy and the slave trade flourished, the Tunisians were noted for the kindness with which they treated their slaves. It is very probable that the " captive maidens of Tunis and Bizerta," who passed their time spinning yam in the dwellings of the Christian pirates, were less happy by far than the Christian women who became the prisoners of the Tunsi. Except amongst the merchants, there are very few Tunisians who avail themselves of the Prophet's example to espouse more than one wife at a time. In industry, taste, aptitude for business, and finally in educa- tion and literary culture, the Tunisians are considere<l to be the superiors of all the other Moors, who, however, can claim the palm for better morals. Before the Turkish rule, and when the southern tribes cncampfni on the commercial routes had not yet become brigands, Tunis was the great market for exporting the goods of all the peoples of the Sudan. The Negroes of the Niger and Lake Tzad con- sidered all merchandise other than that manufactured by the Tunsi as unworthy ​186 NORTH-WEST AFEICA. of their notice. " Tunis invents, Algiers prepares, and Oran destroys," says an Arab proverb quoted by Theophile Gautier, but for physical energy and love of work the proverb must be read in an inverse way. The Africans of Tripoli are the most indifferent workmen ; those of Tunis are preferable, although inferior to those of Algiers, who, in their turn, have to yield the palm to the natives of Marocco. The Turks. The Turkish element, formerly represented by the Beys and Janissaries, has for some time past been on the wane in Tunis, and now Turks, properly so called, are no longer to be seen in this country. The (Jsmanli, and together with them the rcif niug family, by intermarrying have all become Kulugli, and are gradually beino- absorbed in the predominating race of the Arab '* Moors." The Malekite religion, to which they belonged, is gradually being replaced by the Hanefite ceremonies, which are practised by the bulk of the Maugrabin Mussulmans. Relio-ious heresy has, nevertheless, a large number of followers in the towns of Tunis. The Beui-Mzab, who regularly emigrate to Tunis as charcoal merchants and firemen at the baths, are all Kharejites, or " Dissenters." They are also called Khamsiya or " People of the Fifth," that is to say, that they do not belong to any of the four orthodox sects. Like the Beni-Mzab and the Berbers of the Jebel Nefusa, the Jeraba are also " People of the Fifth," and practise all the rites of the Ibadliite persuasion. They wear the sheshia, the gandura made of cloth embroidered with brilliant coloured designs, look upon the cat as an unclean beast, and hold the chameleon in awe. The rites of their religion oblige them to take off their nether garments when they prostrate themselves to say their prayers. The orthodox religious brotherhoods are represented in Tunis more especially by the Tijaniya, the Madaniya, the Aissawa, and in many tribes live holy families composed of Shorfa, or " Sons of the Prophet." As a general rule, more fanatics are found amongst the townsmen than amongst the nomads. According to Pellissier, this is due to the kind of education which prevails in the Mussulman world, where " those who are the most learned are also the most narrow-minded." Besides, many practices anterior to the advent of Mohamjnedanism are still extant in this country. The natives still tie strands of wool to certain trees pointed out by their traditions; they have a great dread of the evil eye, and protect their dwellings from it by the marks of their five fingers, the numeral 5 — the symbol of the fish — being considered as especially favourable. The father of a large family contents himself with the remark, "I have five children," so as not to mention other numbers of less propitious or even fatal influence. In times of drought, the natives have recourse to charms and witchcraft, so as to open " the gates of the clouds." When the rain is very tardy in coming, and their young crops and harvests are in danger, the people occasionally seize hold of their kaid and plunge him into a spring, taking care to let the water trickle through his
The Jews.
In proportion to the Mohammedan population, the Jews are more numerous in the regency of Tunis than in Algeria. They are grouped together in important communities, not only in the city of Tunis, but also in the other towns of the coast and in Jerba Island. Many of these Israelites are the descendants of Jews settled in the country before the conquest by the Arabs, and it may be asked whether these families, till recently looked on with contempt, do not contain some elements of the ancient Carthaginian masters of the Fig. 40. — Tunisian Jewess. country. The Jews driven out of Spain and Portugal, us well as all those who have immigrated within the lust few hundred years, are generally known by the name of Grana, that is to say, natives of Leghorn — Gurna, or Leghorn, having been the principal market of the Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula. The Grana, most of whom had placed themselves under the protection of the Italian consul, or the representatives of other foreign powers, had rarely cause to complain of the Tunisians, whilst the "Old Jews" were denied all rights to appeal against any injustice or extortion they had had to submit to. A great many families were compelled to abjure their faith to avoid persecution; but although they willingly consort with their ancient co-religionists, they have remained Mussulmans. There are also Jews in Tunis whose doctrines have become modified. Such are the Israelites of Jerba Island who worship saints, and show great veneration for the Mussulman marabuts. So recently as 1868, seventeen Tunisian Jews were assassinated, and no one dared to pursue the murderers, who got off with impunity. A special headdress distinguished the Jews who had no rights from those whom no one dared to molest without the permission of the consuls. By a singular irony of fate, the majority ​Igg NORTH-WEST AFRICA. of the Spanish Jews in Tunis, remembering that their ancestors came from the Iberian peninsul», have laid claim to their origin so as to obtain the protection of their ancient persecutors. In the same way, before the annexation of Tunis to France a number of refugees, who had quitted Algeria to evade submission to the hated conquerors, claimed to be* Algerians, with a view to obtaining the support of the French Consul against the Bey's Government. All the Tunisian Jews, whether of native or extraneous origin, follow the Spanish rite, reading the Pentateuch, and saying their prayers in Hebrew ; never- theless, one of their invocations is in Arabic, and this, according to Maltzan, is pre- cisely the one most frequently uttered, and indeed the only one that the women use. This ancient prayer of the persecuted people beseeches the Lord to " let loose his wrath upon Spain, as well as on Ismael, Kedar, and Edom," the three latter names being figuratively applied to the Arabs, Mussulmans of every race, and Christians. In spite of these requests addressed to an avenging Deity, the Tunisian Jews are mild and very pacific by nature ; nor do they appear to merit the reputation for greed which they share in common with all the rest of their brethren ; but they are very adroit in seizing the opportunity for developing new industries. They are increasing rapidly, the number of births being far in advance of the deaths. For some time past they have crossed over the boundaries of the Tunisian ham, or ghetto, to which they were restricted, and have spread throughout all the quarters of the town. In certain parts of the bazaar they have actually driven out the Arabs, gaining ground shop by shop. They are no longer distinguished by a special costume, many of them dressing in the European fashion, as the laws which forbade them to clothe themselves like the Mussulmans have been abolished. But they are easily distinguished by the type of physiognomy, by their bearing, and often by their obesity, the Spanish Jews of Tunis having a singular tendency to become corpulent. Till quite recently, young girls were subjected to a special fattening process, art stepping in to assist- nature in making them " substantial members of society." These young girls are not considered "presentable" till their arms and legs have become large enough to retain the rings and bracelets which their mothers had worn. Whilst in nearly all other countries of this world the Israelitish race is distinguished by the relative purity of its morals, the Jews of Tunis contrast forcibly with the other inhabitants' precisely by their gross immorality ; in fact, they may be looked upon as the chief source of all the vice of this city. The Europeans. Like the Jews, the Europeans residing in Tunis form two distinct classes, the families of the merchants settled in the country for several generations, and the immigrants of recent date, who still look upon themselves as foreigners. The class of the " Old Tunisians," which comprises a few hundred French and Italian fami- lies, till recently constituted a kind of nation within a nation, like the Levantines of Constantinople and Smyrna. Their nationality conferred privileges upon them ​TOPOGRAPHY OF TUNISIA. 189 of which thoy were proud. Grouped round their n'sfK-ctivo t-onsulH, thoy escaped the extortions to which the natives were exposed, and this priviK'ge<l position had naturally the effect of binding them to their native land. But in spirit and morals they differ strikingly from their fellow-countrymen beyond the seas. Below the families of these merchant princes is a restless crowd of hangers on, mostly im- poverished immigrants. The English consul might surround himself with a veritable army, because the Maltese are much more numerous amongst the Europeans settled in Tunis, if however the name of European can properly be applied to these Arab Catholics. The vicinity of the Maltese archipelago, which is but 20 miles from the jjort of Tunis, enables the poorest to seek their fortunes on the mainland, where they settle down as porters, watermen, merchants, innkeepers, and gardeners. Certain streets in Tunis are entirely occupied by T^laltese, and even on the most distant routes from the capital these island traders are to be seen tra- versing dangerous highland regions on foot, with their wives and children, and driving before them horses laden with various kinds of merchandise. The Calabrians and Sicilians also form a considerable section of the population, and to these must now be added the ever-increasing colony of the Northern Italians. Although till recently inferior in numbers to the Italians and Anglo-Maltese, the French colony was the most important, thanks to its numerous Beni-Mzab and other Algerian allies. The annexation of Tunis to France has naturally resulted in a proportionate increase of French immigrants, and they are settling, not only in the capital, but also in the commercial towns along the coast. Tho railway which crosses the whole country from east to west, the telegraph stations scattered throughout the territory, the camps and fortresses occupying tho strategical positions, and the tracts of land bought up for cultivating vines and olives, all attract to the interior a continually increasing stream of French clerks, merchants, speculators, and workmen of every description, as well as the Kabyles who call themselves Frenchmen, and who come to offer themselves as reapers and harvesters. The social and economic possession of Tunis was much more rapidly accomplished than that of Algeria. This country, after having been so long separated from Europe, and by its history become connected with the Asiatic world, is evidently resuming in the western basin of the Mediterranean the position which it should hold from the nature and relief of the land, its flora, and its climate. Topography of Tunisia. El'Biban, the frontier town near the Tripolitan coast, would be of some strate- gical and commercial importance were the two straits, which it overlooks at the entrance of the Bahiret-el-BiMn, or " Lake of the Gates," of sufficient depth to permit vessels of large size to enter this vast basin. As it is, there is scarcely waterway for the fishing-boats to anchor before the fort. Besides, its export and import trade, at any time but slight, has l)een transferred north-westwards to the har- bour of Zurzis, or Jerjis.a town consisting of five distinct villages, which are scattered amongst cornfields, palm and olive groves. This region was at one time so fertile ​that, according to a local tradition, a canal, excavated in the plains of Zian, or Medinet-Zian, an inland town now in ruins, carried down to the port of Zarzis a stream of olive-oil which the natives collected in barrels and exported. But the plundering hordes of the Akkara and Urghamma Beduins have effectually dried up this river of oil by cutting down the olive groves. Statues, Roman inscriptions, and other valuable antiquities have recently been discovered at Zian. According to Barth, the Copts had at one time very numerous colonies on this part of the coast between Tripoli and Jerba Island.
Westwards are the towns of Metamer and Kasr-el-Mudenin, inhabited by tribal groups of the Urghammas, built on fortified mounds in the midst of the plain.
Before the occupation of Tunis by the French, the Kasr or Castle of El-Mudenin sustained a siege against the bey’s army. In these towns may be seen the gradual transition from the cave architecture to that of houses, properly so called. Buildings are erected in such a manner as to resemble cliffs, in which oval apertures made at various heights represent the openings of caves and grottoes. The natives reach these artificial caves, some of which are five or six stories high, by means of ladders or steps roughly hewn in the face of the wall. In the neighbouring mountains, and more especially in the Metmata range, many such dwellings hollowed out in these beds of soft chalk are very similar to those of the Tripolitan troglodytes. ​TOPOORArUY OF TUNISIA. HI The caves, which serve as dwellings for men and enclosures for doineNtic animals, are hollowed out laterally at the bottom of a kind of pit open to the sky, and with vertical sides. A slightly inclined passage, defended by a closed gate, leads from below to the surface of the earth. In the surrounding plains there are also larger excavations to be seen, similar tt) those made by the Gauls, and which are still used in the country of the northern Ciallas. They were doubtless used bv the natives as places of refuge when their country was overrun by hostile tribes. JSepulchral monuments in the shape of truncated pyramids have also been found in this region of Tunis : they are encircled by an enclosure of stakes, menhirs, or other megaliths. Jerba Island, some 100,000 acres in extent, is the most |)opulous part of Tunis; proportionately speaking, it was nearly as densely peopknl as France, until, a few years ago, many families were swept away by the cholera. Its forty thousand inhabitants look upon their island as a kind of large town, and all its numerous groups of houses, protected by forts of Spanish construction, aie termetl Intuitu, or "quarters." Most of the Jerabas dwell in little hanjletH, or else in i^solated cottages standing in their separate enclosures. The whole island is under cultiva- tion, and although all the water for irrigating purposes comes from wells and cisterns, it is extremely productive, thanks to the ceaseless labours of the patient Beduins who till the land. Jerba Island of all other Tunisian regions possesses the finest olive-trees, the oil from which is greatly preferred to that of the main- land. The other fruits obtained from the orchards — apricots, pomegranates, figs, and almonds — are also excellent ; while the vine, cultivated mainly by the Jews, yields a golden wine which is compared with those of Samos and JSantorin. Clumps of palm-trees, dispersed in the midst of the gardens, are protected by law and yield dates which, although better than those of Kerkenna, are far inferior to those of Beled-el-Jerid. These trees are often used for the manufacture of palm-wine, which is obtained by means of incisions made at the base of the trunk. The agriculture to which the Jerabas pay such great attention is, however, insufficient to give employment to all the inhabitants. The seaside comnmnities are engaged in the capture of fish, octopuses, and sponges, while the jwtters manu- facture a peculiar vessel, which acquires its white tint by being immersed in the sea. Numbers of weavers, each working in his own hut, manufacture those coverlets and materials of silk, wool, and cotton which are so greatly admired in the bazaar of Tunis, and which are exported to considerable distances, even as far as the markets of Bornu. The Jeraba men emigrate in crowds to the large towns of Tunis and Tripoli, and, like their co-religionists, the Beni-Mzab, they are found everywhere, even in the remote inland markets of the continent, as well as in Constantinople and Egyp*^^. Nevertheless, the Maltese are beginning to com|)ete with them in Jerba itsc>lf. In 1860, as many as three hundred had already settled in the principal town of Jerba. The ancient capital, which like the entire island bore the name of Menhir, was situated on the shore of the eastern strait, at the head of the bridge which connected the island with the mainland. The still remaining ramparts of this great city are 8 miles in circumference. In all parts »>f the island, which in the time of ​the Romans was a health-resort for the rich merchants of Byzacenæ, are found other ruins of towns and villas, but no traces of any buildings remarkable for their architecture. On the site of Meninx all that is now to be seen is one of
those hulf-ruined borj or old strongholds, which are dotted round tho whole island. The only humt on the southern shore which merits the name of town, is the Humt Ajim, standing close to the western strait, which is practicable to ships. The present capital of Jerba stands on the northern side, in a ))osition very unfavourable to trade, for large vessels are obliged to anchor some miles from the shore. This town, or rather this collection of scattered houses, is merely known by the name of the " market ; " it is, in fact, the Humt Suk, or Suk-el-Kebir, the rendezvous of all the Jeraba merchants. The Jews, who are very numerous, and are the only persons grouped together in a compact community, inhabit dirty, unsavoury, and dilapidated houses. They claim to have arrived in the island at the time of the Babylonian captivity. In thecenire of the Catholic cemetery, a column perpetuates the memory of the ancient liorj Bins, or " Cuslle of the Heads," a pyramid of bones which the Turks erected in 1560, by heaping up the skulls of the vanquished Spaniards. About the year 1850, the Tunisian Government caused this ghastly monument to be demolished, as a mark of international courtesy. On the side of the Syrtis Minor facing the continent, the largest group of houses is that to which the name of Cabes has been given. It is not a town, but a collection of villages and hamlets scattered in the midst of the palm-trees. Viewed from the sea, the oasis looks like an island of verdure through which glare the white walls of the buildings here and there ; a streamlet, whose up|)er Ix'd is occasionally dry and nearly always blocked by sands at low tide, winds between the villages, ramifying in all directions like canals of irrigation. Near the mouth of the wed stands the Boty Jedid, or " New Castle," surrounded by the wooden huts of a village of " Mercanti," to which the soldiers have given the name of " Coquinville." Many a great city has, nevertheless, sprung from a much humbler beginning than this. Farther up, both banks are covered by the houses of Java, the principal town of the oasis. By the very course of the irrigating trenches, disposed in broken lines, like the ramparts of a citadel, it is at once evident that this was foimerly the site of a fortified city. It was doubtless the citadel of tl.^ ancient Carthaginian town of Ta-Capa, which was successively occupied by the Romans, Byzantines and Arabs, and whose name may still be traced in its present form of CabcM, Gahes^ or Gabs. The ruins of Roman buildings have been employed in constructing the villages of Jara and Meitzel, the latter situated over half a mile farther south, on the right bank of the wed, in the central part of the oasia, where the market is held. Still farther west are many other villages dispersed amongst the palm groves. Altogether the various villages of tho oasis have a collective population of about ten thousand souls, amongst whom are included a few hundrwl Jews. The small European colony has been recently increased by a French garrison, Cabes haing been selected as the capital of a military circle ; a Franco-Arab school has also been opened here. Before the arrival of the French, feuds were of constant ​144 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. occurrence between Jara and Menzel : hence, as has been jocularly remarked, the name of Arad, or " Discord," which has been given to the province. Thanks to their orchards and fields, the people of Cabes may be looked upon as the most highly favoured of all other Tunisian communities. The land, rendered fruitful by the irrigating works, is divided into countless plots, separated from each other by hedges of cactus, earth walls, and thickset palms. Fig, almond, orange, and other fruit-trees grow in wild profusion beneath the fan-like leaves of the palms swaying in the breeze above them ; the vine twines its slender tendrils around the branches of the trees, and barley ripens in the shade of the overhanging foliage. But neither the banana nor the sugar-cane, which composed the wealth of Cabes in the eleventh century, are any longer cultivated, and of its ancient forests of mulberry-trees but a few specimens now remain. The fertility of the surround- ing lands has made Cabes the most important port of call along this portion of the coast ; it also exports the alfa grass coming from Central Tunis, and it is, moreover, of considerable strategical importance. Situated at the eastern extremity of the depression which, through the Shott-el-Jerid, penetrates far inland, Cabes enables caravans and expeditions, by journeying from oasis to oasis, to skirt the southern foot of the mountains and plateaux of Tunis and Algeria. During the Algerian insurrections, it was through this town that weapons and supplies were obtained. A large smuggling trade thus sprang up along this route, which threatened to become extremely dangerous to the security of French power on the Saharian frontier, liy taking possession of Cabes, the French have thus secured one of the gates of Algeria. But Cabes has, unfortunately, no port. The ancient crook of Tacapa, which, however, was only available to small vessels, has been choked up by the sands, and depths sufficient for vessels of heavy tonnage must be sought at some distance from the shore. The creation of an arti- ficial port by means of jetties and dredgings has recently been proposed ; its probable site has already been selected, near the mouth of the Wed Melah, or " Salt River," which receives the waters of the mineral springs of Ain Udref. An artesian well recently sunk near the Wed Melah, about half a mile from the Mediterranean, is over 400 feet deep, and supplies an abundant stream of water, which rises 13 feet above the ground. This projected harbour is to be completed by a railway which will be connected with the Algerian system through Gafsa, Tebessa, and Suk-Ahras. Bona and Cabes would thus become two corresponding ports, the traffic between which would be directly conducted overland, and the merchants would be no longer compelled to skirt the Tunisian promontories to the north. AV^hen Cabes is able to receive vessels of heavy tonnage, no other town of all the French possessions will present greater advantages as a terminus on the coast for a railway crossing the Sahara to Lake Tsad. From the same place will also start the longitudinal line running from sea to sea south of the island of Maghreb. The new town already enjoys a considerable trade, exportitig alfa, dates, and henna by a regular service of steamboats.
villages, scattered in the midst of plantations like those of Culx»s, constitute a centre of {X)puluti(m known collectively us El-Ilnmina, or the " Hot Sprinj^s." These springs are the AquoD TacapitanoD of the ancients. The four hot springs, which have given their name to the oasis, have a temperature of from 9JJ° to 113° F. and are still used by the natives, who huve re-erejted an establishment on the site of the ancient hot baths. Beyond the El-Hamma oasis, which is environed by sands and steppes overrun by the Beni-Zid Berbers, the traveller must pursue his way between the escarp- ments of the Jebel Tebaga and the shores of the great sebkha before reaching the palm groves of Nefznira, about -JO milf s distant. These palm groves, some fortv in number, standing in the midst of the sands or encircled by rocks, occupy the lower portions of the triangular peninsula which stretches north-westwards between the Shott-el-Fejej and the 8hott-el-Jerid. The most numerous follow in succession along the shore of the great shott on the southern slope of the chuin of hills and dunes. In many places they form a continuous forest of palms, very picturesque in appearance but very dangerous to live in, on account of the miasmas arising from tl:e surrounding lagoons. In Nefzawa it is by no means rare to see ten or twelve date-trees springing obliquely from the same root, in such a way as to form a vast framework of verdure encircled by graceful clusters of pendent fruit. Most of the villages are enclosed bv walls and ditches, which would be sufficient to protect them from the attacks of the Beduins, but not against- those of an organised force. Kehilll, near the north-east extremity of the Shott-cl-Jcrid, is the principal village of Nefzawa, and in a neighbouring hamlet, to the west, are to be seen some inscriptions which afford grounds for believing that, in the time of Hadrian, the chief Roman station stood on this spot. The settled population of the Xefzawa oasis, now assimilateil to the Arabs in religion and sjx>ech, belong to two primitive races merged in a common nationality of half-brcwls. One of these elements was a tribe of Negro ajfriculturists, the other the Nefzawa Berbers, a branch of the great Lu&ta tribe, originally from Marmaridis. Around these inhabitants of the oasis are the encampments of the Arab tribes, most of whom are of a peaceful disposition. Amongst them are the Merftzigs, who feed their flocks to the south of Nefzawa and frequent the market of Duz ; they occasionally push on their trading exjwditions as far as Ghadames. Farther south, in the few oases and around the wells skirting the southern jmrt of the Shott-el-Jerid, is the powerful Ghorib tribe, which is allied to the Algerian peoples of the Wed Suf, from whom it is separated by the region of sandhills. A nuch smaller tribe, but still very dangerous on account of their plundering habits, is that of the Ulad Yakub, or *' Sons of Jacob," who are not to be confused with another of the same name, encamped in the mountains south of the Mejerda. These Ulad Yakub of the desert wander to the south-east of Nefzawa over upland steppes, whence they com- mand the routes between Tunis and Ghmiames. These are the nomads who have stopped the direct caravan trade between Tunis and Nigritia. Like the Tuaregs, the people of the oases, both nomad and settled, wear the /ifzftw, or veil, which ​conceals the face from below the root of the nose. In the Nefzawa district M. Teisserene de Bort has found numerous polished stone implements.
West of Nefzawa, on the other side of the Sebkha-el-Faraun, rise the hills of the narrow isthmus which is known by the special name of Belad-el-Jerid, "Country of Palms," or merely as Jerid, i.e. "The Palm Grove." a designation often extended to the whole region of the southern oases. The Jerid is, in fact, pre-eminently the date country. Surrounded as it is by shotts and sands, and protected from the north wind by the mountains which rise to the north-east, the Jerid undoubtedly possesses that "fiery air"? which is so essential to the life of the palm. Thanks to its abundant springs, it can supply these trees with all the moisture they require; while the water, slightly warmer in temperature than the atmosphere,
forms veritable thermal rivers which stimulate the growth of the trees. The oases of the Jerid are, as M. Duveyrier expresses it, "natural hothouses," in which tropical plants such as flourish in the West Indies and the Sunda islands might be cultivated; but the natives are content with their exquisite dates — the best of which were formerly reserved for the bey's own table — their no less highly appreciated oranges, fruits of all kinds, vegetables and cereals. Their existence would be one of perfect ease and comfort were they not weighed down by the heavy taxes.
The Jerid has nearly a million palm-trees in a superficial area not exceeding 5,000 acres; 20,000 camels visit this oasis annually, and depart laden with fruit. The women also employ themselves in weaving and making burnous, haïks, and coverlets, which are greatly sought after throughout the whole of West Africa. But the inhabitants of Jerid no longer enjoy the profitable direct trade which they ​carried on with the seaports and with the towns of the Sahara during mediæval times, when they were the purveyors of slaves for the Barbary States. Agents and brokers who have settle: in the country, more especially the Jews and the Mzabites, now export the products of the oases far and wider The Naffa oasis has been named Marsat-es-Subara, or the "Port of the Desert," and the place is still shown whence the vessels are said to have set sail, and where the remains of a ship are even stated to have been found.
Throughout the whole of the "Palm Country," the Arab towns have been preceded by those of the Roman period, the remains of which are still to be seen in many places, although the greater part of the materials have been utilised in building convents, mosques, and defensive works. In the oasis of Tozer, the distribution of the water is still regulated by Roman dykes. As in most of the other
cases, the towns are not compactly built, but consist of quarters scattered amid the surrounding plantations. The western oasis of Nafta, which enjoys a sort of religious pre-eminence, a certain number of its inhabitants being "Sons of the Prophet," comprises nine distinct villages and four convents. Tozer, the largest and most populous of all the oases, is divided into nine quarters, and serves as the political capital of the Jerid; El-Udiân, the eastern group of oases, consists of many villages, amongst others, Dgash, Kriz, and Seddada, which are some distance from each other; lastly, an oasis called El-Hamma, or the "Buths," like that in the vicinity of Cabes, comprises four groups of cottages, sheltered by the palms. The copious hot spring (96:8° F.), from which it has received its name, falls into a basin of Roman construction; it is slightly sulphureous, and the natives endow it with astonishing virtues, due to the merits of a saint buried in a neighbouring tomb.
A rock, standing north of Kriz in the El-Udiân oasis, is pierced with ancient ​148 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. quarries, und with a cavern called the grotto of the " Seven Sleepers " From the summit of this hill, commanding the narrowest isthmus between the Shott-el- Jerid and the Shott Garsa, an admirable view can be obtained of the chain of oases and of the two vast basins of lacustrine origin, which stretch away to the east and west bevond the horizon. In the north rise the mountains whence the Hamamma spies sit^naled the approach of caravans or of solitary travellers to the marauders lying in ambush by the roadside. Not far from Kriz, on the north margin of the Shott- el- Jerid, there is to be seen a round figure surmounted by a crescent, carved on the face of a rook. According to 1 issot this device, representing the moon, is a remnant of the old Libyan religion. In some respects the inhabitants of the Jerid differ in their manners and customs from the surrounding tribes, who accuse them of eating the flesh of the dog. In (he valley of the wed whiih, under the name of Tarfawi, or "River of the Tamarisks," ultimately runs dry in the sands at the eastern extremity of the Shott Garsa, follow in succession a few oases, between which intervene wild solitudes. Towards the source of the wed, here called Bii-IIaya, occurs the first oasis, that of Ferianft, whose two distinct hamlets constitute a zawya or religious establishment for the nomads in the vicinity, who belong to the Ulad Sidi-Abid tribe, and who form a kind of brotherhood. The wretched buildings of Feriana are a poor substitute for the monuments of the Roman city, probably T/ielej>fc, which formerly stood in the vicinity. The ruins explored by M. Guerin occupy a space of at l^ast tlireem'iles in circumference, and nearly all the blocks of stone used in erecting the public buildings, baths, theatres, and even private houses, are of enormous size. The mountain whence this stone was obtained has been quarried to a vast depth ; entire strata have disappeared, and the summit is now crowned by an ancient castle, liesides the ruins oi Mediiict-cl-Kdilimah, ov the "Old City," numerous Roman remains, especially tombs, are also found on both banks of the wed, now almost uninhabited. South of Feriana is a rock which has been blackened as if by fire, whence its nunc of Ilajar Soda, or " Black Rock." Another rock of similar appearance has boon discovered near the El-Hamma oasis by M. Guerin, who supposes that these '• Black Rocks " are aerolites. The Gnfxa oasis, occasionally looked upon as belonging to the Jerid, although it is separated from the isthmus of Kriz by a waterless desert zone of a day's march in extent, is situated on the principal bend of the "Wed Beyash, which is a continuation of the upper course of the Bu-Haya and becomes the Tarfawi farther down. The town, which of all those in southern Tunis has the largest number of inhabitants living in a compact group of houses, stands on a terrace surrounded by a circle of rocks and mountains a few miles distant. One of these mountains is pierced by deep quarries, which branch off into labj'rinthine passages. Founded by Melkart, or the Libyan Hercules, the Kafaz, or " Walled Town " of the Phoenicians, and the Roman C-ipsn, whose name has hardly changed during the course of centuries, is, according to Mannert, synonymous with the fiiiy of Hecatompylic, where Hanno gained his famous victory during the second Punic
the cultivable region, at the outlet of the raountuins, between the lyiiuly plain of Aaniru and the iipproaehes to the desert, was never at any time loxt 8ight of; it fonns the converging jwint of two zonen, differing from each other both in appear- ance and iwpulations, A kusbah, defended by guns, protects this frontier town against the incursions of the Ilainamma tribe; but the Tunisian soldiers are now replaced by those of France, and Gafsu has become the capital of a military' subdivision. The people of this town are well educated and, as in the Jerid, 8|)eak a much purer language than that employed on the coast. Columns, inscriptions, and ramparts recall the ancient Roman Capsa, and many a modern structure contains blocks of stone obtained from these ruins. South of the town stretches a planta- tion of over a hundred thousand palms, whose dense foliage overshadows an undergrowth of fruit-trees. These palms are loftier than those of Nufia, and yield a no less exquisite fruit. The Svater which nourishes the plantation yields a constant and copious supply, sj that the people of the oasis have no need to fight for the possession of this precious stream. The three principal springs, ranging in temjKjrature from 84° to 89^ F., full into basins of Roman construction, still known by the name of termil, antl freiiuented by the Arabs, who bathe in its te])id waters, utilising the chambers excavated in the surrounding walls. Those thermal waters contain a large quantity of fish of the chromis species, which by their characteristics are apparently related to exclusively marine varieties. Tortoises and black serpents, of the newly discovered IropidonodiH family, are also found in the basins and streamlets of Gafsa. Like the other oases of southern Tunis, Gafsa is a busy centre of the weaving industry, and its linen and silken haiks, which are exported by the local Jewish traders, are justly admire<l in the Tunis market. The flocks of the Ilamammu tril)e suj)ply the people with the raw material from which they manufacture rugs and burnous. A Roman road, rediscovered by Messrs. Rebatel and Tirant, connects Gafsu with the shores of the Syrtis Minor, traversing the fountains and the small oasis of El-Gwettar, the country of gum-trees, and the mineral springs of Bu-H(>dma. Along the coast north of Cabes, follow in succession at long intervals camping- grounds and hamlets, in the territory of the MehAdebas, who are the " peaceful descendants of a venerated marabut." The most imjMirtant village on the coast is the now neglected little port of Ma/nrz, whose inhabitants, scarcely a thousand in number, are mostly engaged in making esjMirto gtass into mats and brooms. Beyond this point stands the village of Bogrura, in the midst of the ruins of the Punico- Roman city of Giii/iis. Sfakes. The second largest town of Tunis is Sfakea (S/aks, S/ax), situated on the margin of the strait, about 30 miles broad, which separates the Kerkenna Archii)elago from the mainland. Its population, which Pcllissier calculatwl at eight thousand souls in 1848, appears to have more than tripled since that time. The iKXiple are crowded together in the lofty houses which skirt the narrow streeU of the city, ​150 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. and overflow into the new quarter which has been built along the beach outside the south-western ramparts. Viewed from afar, all that is visible of Sfakes are the white walls of its quadrangular enclosure and the tall minarets of its mosques. The towers, battlements, and angular bastions give the whole more of a mediaeval aspect than is presented by any of the other fortified Tunisian towns. At the southern angle of the ramparts stands a citadel said to have been built by Christian slaves. Situated as it is, at a considerable elevation on a sloping ground, Sfakes has no permanent streams, nor even springs or wells, and all the water used in the town is drawn from numerous cisterns within and without the fortifications. A few Roman remains are to be seen in the suburbs, but no inscription has yet been found which enables this town to be identified with any of the Roman stations mentioned by classical writers, although it most probably stands on the site of the ancient Tnphritra. Some 12 miles to the south-west, on the shores of the gulf, is the ruined town of Thin^, evidently identical with the Thince of the Romans. This place stood at the extreme point of the ditch which Scipio the younger had excavated in the south of the Roman territory, in order to separate it from the country of the Nuiuidians. Some two or three thousand Jews and Europeans (Maltese, Italians, and French), dwell in Sfakes, nearly all in Rabat, or the lower town, where the trading interests are chiefly concentrated ; a recently planted boulevard now connects this quarter with the camp situated north of the town. The Mussulmans live in the upper town, within the ramparts. The " Sfaksika," or people of Sfakes, differ in some respects from their Tunisian co-religionists, with whom they are unwilling to be identified. Hence they may be at once recognised by a special costume, although the chief difference lies in their mental characteristics. They are more enterpris- ing, fonder of work, much more intelligent, and altogether more active and solid than their neighbours. They are said to be zealous Mussulmans, the very children frequenting the mosques, and the women never, as elsewhere, neglecting their prayers. At the time of the occupation of Tunis by the French troops in 1881, the Sfaksikas also gave proof of their patriotic spirit : almost single-handed they resisted the invasion, and fought desperately during the bombardment, which they might have easily avoided. Many of the institutions of Sfakes show the extent of the public spirit of the people ; not only have they founded mosques and convents, but also a hospital" which is well supported. Outside the walls a central reservoir, called the " Help," is due to the munificence of one citizen. The ** 365 " secondary cisterns which surround it, disposed like the crypts of a necropolis, also bear witness to the brotherly feeling by which the rich are animated towards their poorer Mussulman brethren. Other yast reservoirs have been constructed in the suburbs of the town, and some houses are provided with an apparatus which enables the wayfarer to quench his thirst by drawing through an open pipe the water of a hidden cistern. A project is now in hand to construct an aqneduct some 36 miles long, which is intended to supply the town with water from the Bu-Hedma height.*. The people of Sfakes show their love of work by their ​8FAKE8. 161 agricultural labours, which, beyond a zone of sand surrounding the town like a circular road, have brought under cultivation an extent of land varying in breadth from 4 to 12 miles. Some years ago over 1,000,000 olive trees were planted round the town, and in 1874 the total yield of oil in the Sfakes district was estimated at upwards of 5.500,000 gallons. In the outskirts there are said U) be from eight to ten thousand enclosures, all separated from each other by cactus hedges, above which rise fruit-trees and a borj, or square tower, in which the proprietor keeps his implements, and which is strong enough to resist the attacks of marauders. The plain, bristling with thousands of these little forts, resembles the cultivated districts in North Persia, which are kept in a state of defence against the raids of the Turcomans. In summer nearly nil these landowners dwell in their respective enclosures, leaving the town almost deserted. Sfakes lies on the natural boundary between the olive and palm regions. These two trees are not found here in such great numbers as they are in the north and south respectively. But there are nil the more fruit-trees of other varieties, such as the almond, fig, apricot, peach, pistachio nut, and vine ; however, for some years past the culture of the olive, more profitable than all the others, has been on the increase. The zone of the olive plantations is yearly extended by several hundred yards, and if the sjme rate of progress continues, the Sfaksika will soon absorb in their gardens nil the isolated clumps of olives which, having no recog- nised masters, are known as the " Bey's trees." Tlieir plantations will then reach as far as El-Jem. Owing to the frequent rains, the fruit of the palms seldom ripens thoroughly, hence is mostly used as food for the animals. The vegetable most generally cultivated in the gardens of Sfakes is the fakus, or cucumber, a word from which the name of the town is supjwsed to be derived. According to Shaw, Sfakes is equivalent to the " City of Cucumbers." Besides agriculture, the Sfaksika are also very actively engaged in industrial and commercial pursuits. They do not despise any description of work, like the Mussulmans of so many other cities. The market of Sfakes is as well supplied with provisions as that of Tunis itself. The chief imports are wool, leather, and European merchandise, taken in exchange for oil, fruits of all kinds — grapes, figs, and almonds — sponges and drio<l fish, obtained from the Kerkenna fishermen. Of late years English vessels also visit this port to take in cargoes of alfa grass, which is gathered in the western plains and valleys inhabited by the peaceful Met&lit and Nefet Arab tribes. Unfortunately, Sfakes has no port in which to receive vessels of any size. Hence ships of large draught are compelled to anchor at a distance of nearly 2 miles from the shore. Smaller cnifi are able to approach close to the town with the rising tide, which at ebb leaves them high and dry on the mud. The liarlwur, however, is perfectly safe, being well protected from the east winds by shallows and the Kerkenna Archipelag ». This group has no centres of population btvoud a few villages and hamlets inhabited by fishermen. Hannibal and M irius found a temporary refuge in these islands, which were used as places of exile under the Roman Government, and ​162 NORTH- WEST AFRICA. until recently by that of the Bey. For some time past the natives of Kerkenna have cultivated tlie vine, and freely drink of its fruit, notwithstanding the precepts of the Koran. While the coastlund route runs north-east wards, skirting the Has Kapudiah, the most easterly promontory of Tunis, the route from Sfakes to Susa — that is, the ancient Roman road— pursues a northerly direction across the territory of the Met&lit tribe. Towards the middle of this route stood the two important towns of Bararus and T/njsdriis, which have now become the heitshir or " farm " of Ruga, and the wretched village of El- Jem. The ruins of Bararus cover a space of about 3 miles in circumference, and comprise the remains of a theatre, a triumphal arch, and other edifices, whilst Thysdrus still possesses one of the finest monuments in the whole of Africa, the best-preserved amphitheatre which has been left us by the ancient world, not even excepting that of Pompeii itself. When this region of Tunis, at present almost uninhabited, supported a numerous population, the central position of Thysdrus rendered it one of the best sites for celebrating public feasts and games. From all parts visitors flocked to its great amphitheatre, which is supposed to have been, if not built, at least founded by Gordian the elder, in return for having been proclaimed emperor in the city of Thysdrus. The amphi- theatre was also the spot where the chiefs and deleg ites of the southern Tunisian tribes met in 1881 and decided on a general rising against the French. Visible for a distance of 6 miles from all points of the compass, this vast pile towers above a broad isolated eminence itself rising 615 feet above the surrounding plain. Looking at a distance like a mountain of stone, on a nearer approach it dis- appears behind the thickets of tall Barbary fig-trees, between which the path winds According to the measurements of M. Pascal Coste, the Coliseum of Thysdrus, one of the vastest of the Roman world, has a total length of 500 feet in its longer axis, and 430 feet in its shorter axis, which is disposed nearly due north and south. It was probably modelled after the Flavian amphitheatre in Rome. The elliptical fa(;ade, formerly composed of sixty-eight arcades, supported three stories ornamented with Corinthian columns, and presents in its general design a great unity of style. But it is no longer complete. In 1710, after an Arab insurrection, Mohammed, Bey of Tunis, blew up five arcades on the east side, and since then the breach has been incessantly widened by tHe Metalit tribe of El-Jem, who use the materials of the amphitheatre in the construction of their wretched dwellings, besides selling them to the builders of the surrounding district. Inside, the rows of seats have mostly disappeared, and their remains have fallen in confused heaps on the arena. This havoc has been attributed to the transformation to which it was subjected by the famous Kahina, or " Priestess," who converted it into a stronghold against the Arab invaders in the year 689. The traditions of the neighbouring tribes, which commemorate the glories of the Priestess, although she was hostile to the Arabs, relate that this heroine, probably a Jewess, like so many other Berbers of that period, placed herself at the head of her fellow-countrymen and of their Greek allies. Forced to shut herself up in the amphitheatre, which
The town itself has left but few ruins, but excavations have brought to light columns of vast size, and deep cisterns. According to M. Rouire, the nomads of this region are gradually displacing the settled populations. Every village deserted by its inhabitants is immediately seized by the native Beduins, who make it their chief market and remove thither the shrines of their saints.
According to the Metâlit people, the sandstone employed in the construction of
the amphitheatre was obtained from the quarries of Bu-Rejid, situated on the seashore, not far south of Mahdiya (Mahdia, Mehedia), the “City of the Mahdi,” so called after its founder or restorer, Obeïd Allah, in the year 912. Mabdiya soon became an important place, thanks to its strong military position. The Christian seafarers for a long time called it Afrika, regarding it as pre-eminently the stronghold of the continent. Hence it was subjected to frequent attacks. In 1147 the Norman, Roger of Sicily, obtained possession of it, but it was retaken by the Mohammedans thirteen years later, In 1557 Charles V. captured the place after several sanguinary assaults, and caused the ramparts to be dismantled. From that time forward the walls have never been repaired and the breaches have ​154 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. grown wider. The fort, which defended the narrow isthmus connecting the peninsula with the mainland, is now a mere ruin. The two inlets are said to have been formerly united by a canal. The ancient port, excavated by human hands, like those of Utica and Carthage, is now choked with rubbish, and the vessels which come to take in cargoes of oil, fruits, and sponges are obliged to anchor in the roadstead. A foreign colony, composed, as in all the other coastland towns, of Maltese, Italians, and Frenchmen, has been established at Mahdiya, and is engaged in the export trade and the sardine fishery. Over two hundred boats are now occasionally crowded in the harbour. From May to July the sea on this coast teems with fish to such an extent that each boat takes on an average from two to three hundred kilogrammes of sardines in a single night. In order to fish in the day, the native sailors spread mats of alfa grass on the water, beneath the shadow of which the fish flock in shoals. The fishermen then cautiously approach and cast their nets round the space covered by the mats and the fish concealed beneath them. To the south-west, in a well-cultivated district, some distance from the sea, stands the village of Kur-es-Sef, which is a larger place than Mahdiya. At this port is shipped neai-ly all the produce exported by the merchants of the ancient " Afrika." A few miles west of Mahdiya, covering a space of several square miles, stands an ancient necropolis, whose tombs, hollowed out of the rock, have been compared by M. Renan to those of Arad in Syria ; nor can there be any doubt that a Phoe- nician town once stood on this spot. The surrounding region is one of those in which ruined cities are found crowded in the closest proximity together. Some two miles to the south the Uenshir Sclckta occupies the site of Syllcdum, and farther on, near the Ras Kapudiah, the Caput Yada of the Romans, a borj now stands where was formerly the Byzantine city of Justinianopolis. To the north, on the promontory of Ras Dimas, where there is a port protected by the remains of a jetty, ancient stone ramparts, cisterns, and the elliptical wall of an amphitheatre, whose arena is now cultivated, indicate, near Bohalta, the site of the Carthaginian city of T/iaj)su8, celebrated for the victory which Ca3sar here gained over Scipio and King Juba. Beyond this point, on that part of the coast which faces the Kuriatein Islands, the villages of Tcbulba and Moknin, surrounded by secular olive-trees, also occupy the sites of ancient cities. The coastland route then passes on to Lemta, a village which has succeeded to Leptis Minor, or " Little Leptis," so called in contra- distinction to the " Great Leptis " of Tripoli. Still, Leptis Minor was once a con- siderable city : its ruins stretch along the sea-shore for nearly three miles, and here are still to be seen remains of an aqueduct, an amphitheatre, quays, and jetties. The ancient port is now a mere wed, known as the Wed-es-Sak, or " Valley of the Market." The most populous town of this district at present is Jenial, built farther inland, to the south-west of Lemta. Monastir, or Mistir, by its name recalls, perhaps, what was once a Christian monastery ; but it had also been a Carthaginian and Roman town, probably Rmpina, i.e. " the Head of the Promontory." Like Sfakes, it is surrounded by an ​embattled wall flanked with towers; above the ramparts appear the domes and minarets of numerous mosques, surrounded by a magnificent olive grove. It was also till recently peopled by Mussulman fanatics, who would not tolerate any other religion in their town but their own; but, being now visited by a regular service
of steamboats, its colony of Europeans is slowly increasing. It is the cleanest and best regulated town in the whole of Tunis.
Not far from the promontory, of which Monastir occupies the western angle, is a small group of islands, one of which is pierced with some fifty artificial grottoes, ​probably of Phœnician origin. They recently served as places of shelter to the tunny-fishers, and have occasionally been used as places for keeping sailors and travellers in quarantine. Farther east, the group of Kuriateïn Islands which is connected with Cape Dimas by a submarine bank, is, according to Tissot the remnant of a considerable tract of land, which was still in existence at the Punic period; however, the documents on which this hypothesis is founded are not definit enough to lend much value to the statement.
Sûsa, Kairwan.
Sûsa, the principal city of the Tunisian Sahel, is considered to be the second Ħtown of Tunis, if not for the number of its inhabitants, being in this respect surpassed
by Sfakes, at least for its strategical importance. A large part of the surrounding territory is under cultivation, and nearly all the natives dwell in fixed, abodes. Sûsa, which is of Phœnician origin, is the port of Kairwan, the principal city and military centre of the interior, and was itself, at one time, also a capital city. Under the name of Hadrumetum, it was in the time of the Romans the chief town of the province of Byzacenæ, and its wealth and military position exposed it ​to frequent attacks from foreign invaders. Vandals, Arabs, Spaniards, and French successively assaulted, destroyed, or bombarded it, and the ruins of different periods have thus been piled up in successive heaps. Blocks, and other remains, covered with carvings and inscriptions, have been used in building modern houses ; but there are no traces to bo found of the great edifices, such as the amphitheatre spoken of by the Arab authors of the Middle Ages. The Hajar Maklubah, or "Overturned Stone," once a magnificent tomple, is now a mere heap of rubbish, while the "cothon," or circular port of the Carthaginians, which was similar to those of Carthage and Utica, can be recognised only by the remains of its two extreme
sluice-gates — huge blocks of masonry which at a distance look like rocks. The greater part of these works has been pulled down and turned into an esplanade. As in nearly all the ancient towns of Tunis, the cisterns, more precious than all other structures, have been always either kept up or repaired under every change of Government. The necropoli of various periods form an almost complete circle round the town. The most ancient, in which sepulchral chambers are still to be seen hollowed out of the soft limestone, are similar in the internal arrangements of their galleries to the caves used as tombs in Phœnicia and Palestine. The city was supplied with water by a Roman cistern. ​Like other towns of Eastern Tunis, modern Sûsa is surrounded by huge quadrilateral ramparts, flanked with towers, and commanded at one of its angles by a kasbah. Altogether, the city is about one mile in circumference; but outside the enclosure, comprising a network of winding streets, is a newly opened quarter in the north-cast, near the beach, which, however, lacks the picturesque appearance of the old town. Here are the depôts of the Jewish and European merchants, with their reservoirs of oil, which is exported to Marseilles for the manufacture of soap.
Olive-trees can be counted by the million in the Sahel of Sûsa, and the plantations could even be still farther increased, although in some places the sand is allowed to encroach on the cultivated districts. Till recently, the casks of oil
which the Sûsa merchants supplied to the vessels in the roadstead were floated, and towed down by flat boats in long convoys. On the return voyage the casks were thrown overboard, washed ashore by the surf, and recovered by their owners. Now, however, a small jetty receives the travellers and merchandise landed from the boats or rafts. Sicilian sloops fish for sardines off the coast of Sûsa, and the produce, as abundant as in the waters of Mahdiya, is exported to Greece and Dalmatia.
Italians and Maltese, always very numerous at Sûsa, till recently constituted nearly all the European population of the town; but the majority of the non-Mussulmans were Jews, who numbered some two thousand, and who enjoyed a monopoly of the inland trade. Hundreds of Negroes, the sons of former slaves, carry on the ​KAIRWAN. 169 trades of innBons, joiners, and house painters. Since the French occupation, former Algerian riflemen, Kabylcs and Arabs, have also come to seek their fortunes at Siisa, where, thanks to their knowledge of French, they readily find employment OS interpreters and foremen. The Susa Mussulmans, amongst whom fair types with blue eyes are by no means rare, vehemently declare that they are not Arabs, but natives of SQsa. Amongst the flourishing towns of the environs there are some which contain, in their scattered quarters, a population equal or but slightly inferior to that of Siisa itself. One of these places is Kelaa Kebira, some 8 miles to the north- west ; another is Madkcn, about 6 miles to the south-west, and surrounded by a dense forest of olives. This latter was, till quite recently, a holy place, which Jews and Christians were forbidden to enter. A tramway on the Decauville system, laid over rugged wastes, hills, valleys and sebkhas, connects the shores of Susa with Kaincan, the religious capital of Tunis, which stands on a terrace commanding an extensive view of a slightly undulated treeless district. Founded by the conqueror Okbah in the year 671, at the period of the first Arab invasion of Maghreb, the city of the " Double Victory " has retained a great prestige in the eyes of the Mussulmans, and pilgrimages made to the pretended tomb of its founder are considered to have a special efficacy in purifying the souls of the Faithful. Kairwan is one of the four " Gates of Para- dise," and " seven days' stay at Kairwan are equivalent to one day at Mecca," entitling the pilgrim to be called a haji. The legend relates that, before founding the town, Sidi-el-Okbah proclaimed to all the beasts of the field that a sacred city was about to rise on this spot, and for three days the lions, panthers, wild boars, and other wild animals, both great and small, quitted the place in troops, leaving it free to the followers of the Prophet. The legend also says that impure men cannot live in this holy city, the spirits of the blessed would destroy them if they ventured near the mosques. The Jews being forbidden to reside in the town, their hara, or quarter, stood at a distance of over a mile from the walls. A certain number of Christians, however, protected by a letter from the Pey, were admitted into Kairwan and politely received by the sheikhs, but they were never allowed to enter the sacred edifices. While all the cities of the Tunisian coast had been successively visited by victorious foreign armies, Kairwan was captured for the first time in 1881 by the French. On this occasion, however, the town threw open its gates without attempting a useless resistance. Since then it has become the capital of a military government, and its ramparts, commanded by a kasbah, have been com- pleted by new bastions. Christians now fieely enter its mosques. Of all Tunisian cities, Kairwan, surrounded by ruins, barren tracts, and saline depressions, is one of those which nature has favoured the least ; it has neither running waters nor springs, all the water coming from cisterns, some of which are flushed at the period of continuous rains by the Wed Merg-el-Lil, whose current becomes clearer from basin to basin. The city has no shady gardens, being sur- rounded by more cemeteries than cultivated lands. Thanks to its central position, it nevertheless presents at first sight an imp)siug and even pleasing appearance. ​Viewed from afar, it commands the surrounding space with its lofty walls, the numerous cupolas of its mosques, and the superb three-storied minaret which stands north-east of the town, above the mosque of Sidi-Okbah. Tunis itself does not boast of such wealthy mosques and convents as this holy city, which possesses over eighty of these religious edifices. Amongst them is the Jemâ-el-Kebir, or "Great Mosque," which has no less than seventeen double parallel naves, and more than 400 columns of onyx, porphyry, marble, and other precious materials. Still more famous than the Great Mosque is that of the "Companion," so called because it contains, in a recess ornamented with marvellous arabesques, the tomb of a companion
of Mohammed, his barber, and also a still more precious relic — three hairs from the Prophet's beard.
repulsive appearance ; they have no strength for work, just as they hod no energy to resist the French. However, the town has a few industries, more esjKKjially muuufuctones of embroidered saddles, chased copjKT vases, and attar of roses ; its bazaars are amongst the Ix^st stocked in Tunis. But provisions of all kinds have to be brought from a great distance ; vegetables and cereals being imported from Hammamet, some 60 miles distant. There are no other towns in the district of Kairwan, and all that remains of the ancient Sabra, which stood about a mile to the south, are two pink columns, which •' shtnl blood " under the siiws of the workmen. The traveller pasHcs, without transi- tion, from the scenes of city to those of rural life. Alf the surrounding peoples are partially or completely nomads, either of Arab or Berber stock. Amongst the latter is the powerful Zlas tribe, south and west of Kairwan, who are said to number thirty thousand, and who occupy the western suburb of that place. The S&sa Arabs live to the east, around the depressions in which are collected the waters of the Sidi-cl-IIani sobkha, whence they extract large quantities of salt. This is piled up in great heaps, on the top of which they burn brushwood, in order by the fusion of the upi)er layers to form a solid crust, which prevents the suit from being dissolved by the rains. To the north-west are the camping-grounds of the Ulad Yuhiya, and to the west, near the sources of the rivers falling into lake Eelbia, those of the Majer tribe. The region now traversed by these semi- Arab Berber nomads is one of those most densely inhabited by settled communities some two thousand years ago. The upper basin of the Wed-el-Fekka, a watercourse which changes its name at each successive confluence, lies in a district of Tunis where Roman remains occur in the greatest abundance. The huge cities and their 8unii)tuous monuments have everj- where left ruins which, throughout eastern Maghreb, are called /irns/n'rs, a term equally applied to all lands under cultivation. Kmrin, the ancient Scyllium, whose remains cover several hills, still preserves a three-storied mausoleum with Corinthian pilasters, besides a triumphal arch and many other buildings, which have not been so well preserved. Near this spot the railway from Cabes to Tebessa will pass under two ancient triumphal arches. East of Kasrin the Sbeitla henshir, commanded by the Jebel of the same name, and traversed by the Wed Menasser, an affluent of the Fekka, has also preserved some magnificent monuments of the Roman jx^riod. When M. Guerin visited this henshir it was inhabited by a solitary priest, who, to the traveller's surprise, proved to be a Frenchman ! Several thermal springs which rise in a dried-up bed near Sbeitla, are sufiiciently copious to form a clear streamlet, as large in volume as the springs of Zaghwan. The water yielded by it suffices for a considerable ix)pulation, and everything, in fact, tends to prove that this now deserted region was very populous some two or three thousand years ago. The ancient Sujfefit/a, that is, in Carthaginian, " the town of the SufFetes," was an important city and the seat of the government of the province till the Arab invasions. The temples, colonnades, triumphal arches, ramparts, towers, and tombs with inscriptions have enabled archax)lpgi8t8 to discover the ground-plan of the town. An imposing temple, with ​162 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. two projecting wings surrounded by elegant columns, crowns a neighbouring eminence. The space before the triple sanctuary was approached through a triumphal arch ornamented, like the temple, with beautiful sculptures, similar to the decorations of the temples of Baalbek. The whole of this region, covered with Roman ruins, appears to have been a vast forest of olives ; near each building are also still visible cisterns and fortalices, whither the settlers took refuge at any sudden alarm. At the present time this olive country, over which roam the Frashish tribe, yields no other produce except the wool of its sheep, which, how- ever, is the most valued in all Tunis. North of Susa the coast route, confined between the lagoons and the sea, traverses the village of Hergla, which now shows no traces of the Roman period, except in its ancient name of Horrea Coelia, and some shapeless ruins. The surface of a nei«»-hbouring plain is covered with dolmens for a space of about one square mile. Beyond this spot, near the jieak of Takruna, on which stands the village of the same name, lies the farm of Dar-d-Bcy, or " the Bey's Palace," centre of the vast Enfida domain belonging to the Ulad-Said tribe, which was so long disputetl by rival speculating companies, backed up by their respective govern- ments. The annexation of Tunis to France terminated the contest to the advantage of a society from Marseilles, to which other domains have also been conceded. This immense tract, which although not yet surveyed, can scarcely comprise less than 800,000 acres, includes lands of a very varied nature, some arid, others fertile, but on the whole constituting one of the most favoured regions of Tunis. Under the Roman government, this portion of Byzacenae is said to have contained no less than seventeen towns, whose ruins are still met scattered amid the surround- ing brushwood. At present not more than three hamlets, peopled with Berber peasantry, occupy the crests of the hills, and a Maltese village has been recently established miles to the north of Dar-el-Bey. Certain parts of this region are planted with olive groves stretching away beyond the horizon ; and other tracts, abundantly watered, might be utilised as gardens. Extensive plains are here covered with cereals ; forests of pines and thuya clothe the slopes of ]!^[ount Zaghwan, and the pasture lands are pre-eminently fitted for sheep-breeding. The . greatest efforts have recently been made to promote this industry, by introducing Algerian stock, and also to increase the vine plantations ; but unfortunately this work of improvement has its drawbacks, due to the interference of managers and foreign capitalists, which have not failed to arise in this region of Tunis as well as in all the other httifnmlia. The interest exacted by money-lenders, the expenses of commission, the employment of useless middlemen, the dearness of labour, and the hostility of the injured natives, always ruin enterprises of this description, or at least prevent them from producing in a proportion equal to that of small properties cultivated by the owner himself. To prevent the failure of their specu- lation, the grantees of the Enfida estate have been obliged to give up personally directing the work of cultivation ; like the Arab suzerains, they content themselves with letting their lands to the surrounding peasants and shepherds. The rent of these lands is little more than is. 8d. per acre, a deduction being made for tracts ​covered with scrub, The work, which had been hailed as the commencement of a
new era in the civilisation of Tunis, is now confined to signing leases and collecting the rent. Enfida is very rich in mineral and thermal springs. ​The little village of Hammamet, called "the City of Pigeons" on account of the innumerable ring-doves which nest in the rocks of the neighbouring mountains, bas given its name to the broad gulf between the Cape Bon peninsula and Monastir Point. It owes this honour neither to its antiquity, since it was founded
only in the fifteenth century, nor to its wealth, for it has but a small population, while the surrounding district is badly cultivated, but rather to the effect produced by its white walls flanked with square towers partly built into the masonry, and to its position, exactly at the southern extremity of the route which traverses the ​NABEL— KELTBIA. 166 nock of the north-eastern peninsula of Tunis. These advantages have endowed it with a certain strategical importance, and made it an indinpensable station for traders and travellers. At this point travellers coming from Tunis reach the shores of the eastern sea, and they have naturally named the bay after the place where the inland route terminates. But industrial and commercial life has moved farther east to the town of Nahely which dates from pre- Arab times, as is indicated by its slightly modified Greek name of Neapolis. Notwithstanding this designation of " New Town," it is a place of vast antiquity. In the ruins of Nabel-el-Kedim, or " Old Nabel," are still found traces of Carthaginian structures, and the Periplus of Scylax already mentions this African " Naples." The soil of the plain, where a " new town " constantly sprang up on the ruins of its predecessor, is strewn with potsherds and broken vases, and at the present time numerous workshops are still surrounded with broken utensils, similar to those rejected by the old potters of Neapolis, showing that the local industry has undergone no change for the last two thousand years. From Nabel more especially come the waterbottles, pitchers, jars, flower- pots, perfume- vases, and terra-cotta lamps which are sold in the markets of Tunis, and which even find their way to Algeria and Tripoli. Nabel also manufactures textile fabrics, while the flowers of its gardens are used in the preparation of essences. Of late years Nabel has acquired a certain reputation as a " winter retreat " for consumptive patients. AV^ell protected from the northern winds by the hills of the north-eastern peninsula, it faces the Gulf of Ilaramamet, which is seldom tempest-tossed like the waters on the northern side of the headland. Hence the streets are seldom exposed to the furious blasts which raise clouds of dust on the highroads of Tunis. North of Ilaramamet, the Vandal kings had a " Paradise ; " but where once stood those magnificent pleasure grounds, scarcely a tree is now to be seen. The sand daily encroaches more and more upon the surrounding plantations and cemeteries. One of the most populous regions of Tunis is the Dakhclat-el-Mahuin, as the peninsula terminating the Has Addar is called. Small towns and large villages surrounded by gardens, orchards, and olive groves, follow in succession along the high cliffs, at some distance from the eastern coast. The shore route traverses Beni-Khriar, Kurbn, Kurahin, Mcnzel'Tcmiii, and Kelibio, this latter the successor of the ancient Clypwa, in Greek Aspis, so called from the shield-shaped hill on which stood the acropolis. Situated near a cape, at the point where the coast curves to the south-west, thus offering a refuge for vessels against the north winds, Kelibia was always of some maritime importance, and, although its two ports are now choked up, small craft overtaken by tempests still seek shelter under its walls. The north side of the peninsula washed by the waters of the Gulf of Tunis is less densely peopled than the opposite side, owing to the narrowness of the cultivable zone comprised between the hills and the sea. Soliman, and the menzel or
the northern part of the plain which connects the shores of the Gulf of Tunis ​1C6 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. with those of the Gulf of Hammamet. The inhabitants of Soliman are of Anda- liiaian origin, like those of several other towns of Dakhelat-el-Mahuin, and, according to Grenville Temple, many still retain the names of Spanish families. The plague of 1819 swept away more than two-thirds of the population of Soliman. The seven thermal springs of Hammam Kurhes (Gorbm), whose temperature (from 77° to 138° F.) is higher than any others in Tunis, rise on the coast not far from the promontory called Ras Fortas, exactly opposite Cape Carthage. About a dozen other boiling springs, visible from afar by the columns of steam arising from them, also bubble up from the sea not far from the shore. On the beach forming the extreme concave curve of the gulf, at the base of the escarp- ments of the " Two-horned " Mountain, flow other hot springs (104° F.), those of Hammam Lif or IIammam-el-Eiif which are used in an ancient palace of the Bey, soon to be replaced by a modern establishment, replete with every luxury and comfort. Autumn is more especially the season in which strangers, chiefly Jews, visit these waters. Hamraan Lif is already included in the extensive municipal jurisdiction of Tunis. Both places will ere long be connected by a railway, which is to be continued to Hammamet, and a small port is soon to be constructed at Hammam Lif. The Mountain of the Two Horns contains beds of argentiferous lead, which are not being worked ; but the Jebel Ressas, or " Mountain of Lead,'* which rises a little farther south, is being honeycombed by hundreds of miners, nearly all of whom are Italians. The basin of the Wed Melian discharges into the Gulf of Tunis near Hades, an ancient village which faces Carthage from the top of the hill on which it stands. Zayhtcan, the only town in this basin, may, like Hammam Lif, also be considered as a dependency of the neighbouring capital. Situated directly south of Tunis, between the heights of 530 and 780 feet, Zaghwan is the health-resort of the Tunisians, thanks to its pure air, its running waters, gardens, and groves of trees, amongst which are many European species. From this place the capital obtains its supply of water. In the near future it will become the outpost of Tunis, from a strategical and commercial point of view, by jneans of a railway which will com- mand the towns of the east and south, such as Siisa, Kairwan, and Gafsa. The newly opened routes have already transformed Zaghwan into a provisioning station and a centre of traffic. A well-preserved triumphal arch and some inscriptions prove that this town had been occupied by the Romans. At the time of the immigration of the Andalusian Moors, a colony of these fugitives was established at Zaghwan, which is still peopled by the descendants of these industrious artisans ; they are more especiilly engaged in cultivating the gardens, dyeing caps, or sheshias, and dressing skins. The water of Zaghwan is said to have peculiar properties for contracting tissues and preparing them to take the colours ; hence the caps of Tunis are preferred throughout the Levant to those of France and other countries. From the summits of the rugged mountain which commands Zaghwan, a splendid view can be had over the whole of north-eastern Tunis, from the coast of Susa to the headlands of Carthage. On one of the ​advanced spurs of this eminence, MM. Rebatel and Tirant have discovered a prehistoric necropolis, comprising nearly three hundred dolmens, all disposed in the direction from east to west. In a defile near Mount Zaghwan is the pass of the Fig. 53. — Aqueducts of Carthage. "Saw," in which the mercenaries were massacred at the close of that atrocious war which threatened the existence of Carthage.
Imposing or pleasant views follow in succession along the skirts of this mountainous mass; but the most charming prospect is presented by the district which surrounds the nymphæum of the great fountain whence the aqueduct of Carthage drew its chief supply. This temple, standing on a terrace over a mile south of Zoghwan, and half-way up the mountain's side, is built on the solid rock, and is finished with peristyles, steps, and basins, whose dazzling whiteness contrasts vividly with the green trees and the various colours of the boulders scattered over the slope of the mountain.
The aqueduct of Zaghwan is connected with that of Jebel Jughar, which carries a less copious stream, and the two currents unite in the now restored Roman aqueduct, which stretches northwards in the direction of Tunis and Goletta for a total distance, including its branches, of 80 miles.
The subterranean parts of the aqueduct have been to a large extent utilised for the new canal, but wherever the depressions of the ground were crossed by long rows of arcades, the arches have been replaced by underground pipes disposed on the principle of the siphon. South of the passage of the Wed Melian, a section of the ancient aqueduct can be followed uninterruptedly for more than a mile, some ​IQQ NOETH-WEST AFRICA. of its arcades rising to over 80 feet in height ; but almost everywhere the ruins of the aqueduct present little more than short detached fragments, utilised as quarries by the local builders, and stripped of their angular stone facing. The very engineers who repaired the aqueduct have destroyed the finest fragment that still remained of the monument raised by Adrian and Septimius Severus: they have pulled down the bridge over the Wed Melian to form the foundations of their modern aqueduct, which it would have been easy to have carried in another direction without increase of expenditure. The remains of the aqueduct, as well as those of the ancient Roman city of Fdna {Udina), have been used to build the walls of farms, the huts, and now abandoned palaces of Mohammedia. Huge megaliths are scattered around the ruins of Udina, and the cisterns have been converted into dwellings and refuges for cattle. The mean discharge of the springs still utilised was in 1885, 175,000 cubic feet dailv, and this quantity will soon be increased one-half by enlarging the area of 8uj)ply. When these works are completed it is expected that the greatest daily discharge will be 425,000 cubic feet, the mean ranging from 250,000 to 275,000 cubic feet. Tunis. Tunis, capital of the Regency and one of the largest cities of the continent, was second to Cairo alone in population at the beginning of this century. Now, however, it is surpassed by Alexandria, and probably by Algiers, if the total lx)pulation within and without the ramparts be taken into consideration. Although more advantageously situated in many respects than the capital of Algeria, it has been, if not outstripped, at least equalled, in consequence of the political, military, administrative, and economical centralisation which more than half a century of French occupation has effected in the town of Algiers. Viewed from a general geographical standpoint, Tunis still possesses a few of those great advantages which Carthage enjoyed ; it is situated near the projecting angle of the Maghreb, between the two basins of the Mediterranean, and lies also near the mouth of the great valley of the river Mejerda, which with its numerous ramifications penetrates into the heart of the Mauritanian mountains and plateaux. Moreover, it has a very healthy climate, thanks to the free circulation of the north winds. Some three thousand years ago, or even at the possibly still more remote period of its founda- tion, certain local features in the relief of the land, offering commercial advantages and facilitating its defence against attack, must necessarily have had a decided influence in the choice of this site for a new Pha'nician settlement. At this point a chain of low limestone hills cuts off the great plain facing westwards in the direction of the Mejerda ; and this strategical position is all the stronger, that both sides of the rocky ridge are enclosed by vast lacustrine depressions. These are the Sebkha-el-St>ljum to the south-west, which. increases and decreases with the rainy and dry st^asons, and the IJahira, or " Little Sea," to the north-east, whose level never changes, thanks to the " channel " connecting this lagoon with the Mediter​TUNIS. leo ranean. Thus tho town of the Tunisian isthmus was almost impre^able on two of its sides, while it also commanded the valley which connected th^ valleys of tho Mojerda and the Wed Melian. Moreover " the Little Sea," although not very deep, was sufficiently so to receive vessels of light draught. Sheltered from rough weather, they could safely discharge their cargoes on the beach of Tunis. At the same time, certain conditions which were at one time favourable have, during the course of centuries, become the reverse. The low-lying lagoon of the Bahrra, into which our modern veesels of heavy tonnage cannot penetrate, has changed into a vast open drain flooded with foul stagnant water. Thus Tunis now enjoys but a small share of the advantages usually associated with a maritime situation ; it has become an inland town, endeavouring, by an artificial port, to regain the privileges with which nature had formerly endowed it. Probably of an origin anterior to Carthage, Tunis, or Tunes, had its periods of great prosperity. When mention is made of it for the first time, it had already been eclipsed by its powerful neighbour, Carthage ; but, after the destruction of its rival, Tunis became for a short time the most populous city of that region. Carthage, however, was soon rebuilt by the Romans, and again took its place as mistress of the country. At the end of the seventh century of the vulgar era, Carthage, again overthrown, ceased to exist, and since that period Tunis, one of the centres of the Mussulman power, has remained the capital, in spite of constant civil dissensions and foreign wars. Throughout a period of twelve centuries it once alone fell into the hands of the Christians. In 1270 Louis IX. succeeded only in gaining possession of the " castle " of Carthage, dying on his bed of ashes before Abu Mohammed, King of Tunis, was forced to sue for peace. But in 1535 Charles V., assisted by twenty thousand slaves, who had revolted against Kheir-ed-Din, entered Tunis, which he gave to a vassal prince, at the same time erecting the fort of Goletta, so as to command the communications between the capital and the sea. But before the year had drawn to a close it was retaken by Kheir-ed-Din, and from that time it remained under the government of beys, vassals of the Turk, till 1881, when the official suzerainty ceased to belong to the Sublime Porte, and passed into the hands of the French. Before the Turkish rule, Tunis, "the white, the odorous, the flowery, the bride of the west," was looked upon by the Mussulman world as a city without equal. It was the " rendezvous of travellers from the east and the west, and it contained all the advantages that man could desire. Whatsoever the whim of man might fancy could be obtained in Tunis. Its power and glory placed it as a sovereign above its rivals, the capitals of the east and west." Tunis might well have said, " I am the ladder of the temple, by which the faithful mount up to heaven." At the present day Tunis is still considered by all the North African Mussulmans, except those of Egypt and Marocco, the city of good taste, literature, and fashion — in short, a kind of African Paris. Covering a superficial area of over one square mile, and yearly increasing in size, Tunis slopes eastwards on the gentle incline of the hills commanding the western bank of the Bahira. It extends about a mile and a half from north to 48— AF ​170 NORTH-WEST AFEICA. south, with a meaii breadth from east to west of over half a mile. The central quarter, which the people still designate as Medina, the " Town," in a pre-eminent sense, is of an irregular oval shape, its long axis running due north and south throughout nearly the whole of its circumference ; it is still surrounded by an ancient muII connectetl with the fortifications of the kasbah. The northern suburb of liab-es-Suiku and the southern quarter of Bab-el-Jezira (Bab-ez-Zirah) are also surrounded by an enclosure consisting of a broken line of ramparts, which, from the quadrilateral kasbah standing on the hill, stretches from bastion to bastion; but to the east— that is, on the side of the Bahira— these walls have disappeared, yielding as it were to the pressure of the population, which overflows its limits, and quite a new quarter has sprung up along both sides of the central avenue. The Marina, as this quarter is called, runs in the direction of the platform, skirted by jetties, where begins the navigable channel of the lagoon. Since the first years of this century, the border zone of the Bahira has increased by at least 2,330 feet; it daily grows larger, thanks to the alluvia brought down by the drains, and excavations made in the lands covered with buildings. The low level of the soil renders this " Xcw Tunis " the most unhealthy quarter of the town ; but this place, where stand the two railway stations and the port, and where one day will rise the town hall, the law courts, theatre, and exchange, has the advantage of presenting to the builders an unlimited space, and already long rectilinear perspectives have been develo])ed at right angles between the white houses of the European quarter. This perspective will no doubt be one day prolonged across the network of the thirteen hundred sti'eets of the old town. In the vicinity of the kasbah the work of demolition has already begun, leaving open avenues between the public monuments. The circular boulevard, which is now being made round the " Medina," properly so called, is the forerunner of a system of thoroughfares planned in the European style. As in so many other towns, this change, it is to be feared, will be accomplished in a somewhat reckless fashion. Few of the picturesque Moorish houses will gain the benefits of fresh air, light, and comfort, without sacrificing their characteristic features, such as arcades and arabesques, and thus becoming mere formless blocks of stone. However, the exquisite art of the house decorator has not yet been quite lost, and it would be deplorable to allow it to perish. The streets of Old Tunis are naturally much more picturesque and less formal than the regular thoroughfares of the European quarter. None of them are laid down on straight lines, but everywhere present gables, angles, projections and curvos, radiating in all directions. The streets are crossed overhead by roofed arches of various heights, some mere arcades uniting two houses facing each other, others bearing two or three stages on their interlaced groinings. Some of these arches are long enough to form veritable galleries, like those of the Berber town^ in the oases. Columns of marble, brought from Carthage, support these arcades, or else enframe the doors of the houses with their endlessly varied capitals. Wild flowers grow in the crevices of the arches, while trees have sprung up at the comers of the streets, overshadowing some shop, or the seats of a restaurant. ​TUNIS. 171 Towards the upper end of the town, below the kasbah and the Dar-el-Bcy, or " Bey's Palace," are the labyrinthine raniiHcationB of the " Suks," each wtreet of which, vaulted or surmounts! by woodwork, is inhabited by people of the same trade, such as saddlers, linen-drapers, copjKjrsmiths, jewellers, and perfumers. In many an alloy the workshop adjoins the booth where the wares are exjK)8e<l for sale; the linen is woven, the wool carded, the sheshius dyed, the cojiiK-r hammered, in full view of the purchasers and passers-by. Here and there is seen a flight of stairs, and through a half-open door a glimpse can be had of an almost deserted court, encircled by arcades — a religious school it may be, or a mosque, or some other tranquil retreat in the midst of the surrounding turmoil. Few animals except some asses are to be seen in the quarter of the bazaars ; but in the suburbs the streets leading to the gates of the town are blocked with horses, mules, and camels, through which the carriages, jolting over the stones and ruts, make their way with difficulty. The types of different nationalities predominate according to their respective quarters. In the upper town live the Tunisians, properly so called, with whom are intermingled, in the suburb of Bab-es-Suika, the descendants of the Andulusian Moors. Proud of their ancient reputation as the leaders of fashion in Mauritania, the elegant Tunisians excel in the choice of the stuffs of which are made their garments, in which bright hues always predominate. The haik, light blue, delicate pink, peach, or cream-coloured, flows in graceful folds over the shoulders. But the women, amongst whom stoutness is greatly admired, contrast unfavourably with the men as regards the style of their costumes. In spite of the beauty of the striped silks, it is difficult to suppress a feeling of disgust at the sight of those ungainly figures swaying heavily in their broad and short blouses, showing the narrow drawers and the loose stockings. The black veil, with nothing but a slit for the eyes, gives them at a distance the appearance of negresses, who, however, have at least the redeeming features of a glossy skin and white teeth. Side by side of the richly dressed Moors are the more numerous poor Mussul- mans, clothed with their simple burnous of grey wool or with coarse brown caped cloaks embroidered in white. It is only by long observation that amongst all these types the stranger is able to identify the Jarabas, or merchants from the island of Jerba, the Sulfas or immigrants from Suf, the Mzabites, the northern Algerians, and the natives of Marocco, who have become very numerous since the arrival of the French. The Jews, who are grouped together more especially in the eastern part of the Bab-es-Suika quarter, are divided into two classes, according to their origin. The Italian Jews, or " Grana," that is to say, the people of Guma, or IjCghom, wear the European costume, whilst the others are dressed very similarly to the Moors ; their women, however, who are as stout as the Moorish ladies, go imveiled, and wear a gold -embroidered peaked bonnet. The Maltose, who have given their name to one of the busiest streets of the city, form, both by their language and customs, the link between the Arabs and Sicilians, who represent a large portion of the local Italian proletariat. The Tuscans are now represented only by the Jews, ​172 NORTH-WEST AFEICA. although Leghorn formerly disputed with Mareeilles for the commercial supremacy in Tunis, at a time when the whole of the Mediterranean was even known to the Tunisians as the " Sea of Guma." The French, whose numbers have more than tripled since the events of 1881, almost exclusively occupy the new town, near the " Marina," a promenade where meet people of all nations and costumes : Mussul- mans with hats, and Christians with turbans, hybrid beings produced by the contact of two civilisations. The transformation of Tunis into a European city is much less advanced in sanitary respects. Most of the streets having no drains, the refuse from the houses is collected in oix»n ditches, and removed by scavengers at stated times. It often happens that for several days the streets are obstructed by heaps of earth and sand, on which all manner of filth is thrown, so as to harden it by exposure to the air, and thus render it easier to be carried away. The drains of the town, sloping towards the Baliira, run into seven open kandaks, or canals, which discharge into the neighbouring lake. These trenches, never being cleaned, emit an unbearable stench, to which the natives formerly attributed the exceeding healthiness of Tunis, which, however, is probably due to the north winds, liut the districts watered by these foetid streams are precisely those on which the new quarters are to be built. Hence the urgent necessity of a main drainage system for the collection of the sewage, and its chemical treatment at some distance from the town. Although there is not yet a sufficient supply of water for all requirements, there is still enough to put an end to the abominable smells which, no less than the perfumes of its flowers, have procured for Tunis the surname of " the odorous." The question of rendering Tunis, and more especially the French quarter, healthy, is connected with that of the new port, which it is proposed to construct in the neighbourhood of the present " Marina." On the solution of this problem depend the future prospects of Tunis. Large ships are at present obliged to anchor off Golctta, about half a mile from the shore, and passengers and merchandise have to be landed in steamboats or rafts, which penetrate up the narrow canal, either discharging their cargo on the quays of Goletta, or proceeding to Tunis across the shallow la^^oon. In rough weather, the passage from the vessel to the shore is not wuiiout danger, and the cargoes are very often damaged by the sea water. Masts rising above the water mark the sites of sunken vessels, whose keels obstruct the approaches to the coast. The heavy charges for passengers and goods between the port and the offing are also a great obstacle to the development of trade. Since Tunis has been connected N'ith Bona by a direct line of railway, and a double stream f)f traffic established with the interior through the custom-house station of Ghar- iliinau, the commercial movement has been largely diverted to Algeria, thanks especially to the superior advantages of the port of Bona. Even from Tunis itself goods have been forwarded direct to Europe through this port. Hence the urge^t importance of re-establishing the natural balance by creating a well- sheltered and commodious harlwur at this place. For this purpose it is proposed to form a deep entry in the roadstead by means of jetties, and to continue this channel by a cutting
of 6,250 acres south-east of the capital. Standing about 20 feet above sea-level, this malarious slough might easily be drained by a simple cutting south to the neighbouring gulf.
Tunis does not rank as a "learned town," and much will have to be done before it can again merit the praises bestowed upon it in the Middle Ages, when the title of El-Tunsi, or "the Tunisian," was synonymous with a man of science and letters. ​174 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. No doubt, of the five hundred schools in the regency one hundred and thirteen are ♦• Koranic," and the large schools or mcdrcss^ attached to the mosques are always frequented by students from far and near, who recite the Koran, learn the " sciences of traditions," and, like the students of the University of Cairo, repeat grammatical rules, medical formulas, astrological spells, and magical incantations. The Jem^a Zituna, or " Mosque of Olives," the finest religious edifice in Tunis, is frequented by six hundred students, Tunisians and foreigners. Those who come from the interior of the regency nearly all become students so as to evade military service and escape the poll-tax. The Tunisian scholars study more especially law and grammar, so as to obtain a diploma which will enable them to become either pro- fessors or notaries. The mosque possesses two libraries of ancient Arabic com- mentaries, much venerated works, which can only be borrowed by those authorised by the Sheikh-el-Islam, the head of the University. But the movement that is to give renewed life to science must come from abroad, and this extraneous influence is, fortunately, not wanting. Besides the primary Italian and French schools and establishments founded with religious motives, such as the Jewish schools and the Catholic College of Saint Charles, there are also institutions where the Mussulmans can study the French language and the rudiments of science. The Sadiki College, founded in the reign of Sadok, has a hundred and fifty pupils, many of whom have already been sufiiciently advanced to enter the ^lawi College, a normal school of recent foundation, where the pupils are trained as masters for the future schools of the regency, and where the young Mussulmans and Europeans are seated on the same forms. In 188-j the number of Mussulman children who were receiving a French education was calculated at six hundred ; while the Franco- Jewish schools, founded by the Israelitish Alliance, were instructing over twelve hundred children in the same language. But, although possessing valuable private collections of books, Tunis has as yet no public library or museum, and the works which have been presented or left to the town still (1885) repose in the packing-cases. The historian Ibn- Khaldun was a native of Tunis. Outside the fortifications there are no straggling suburbs, and the desert begins at the very city gates ; the bluffs of the chain separating the Bahira from Lake Seljum alone bear a few dilapidated forts and two Mussulman convents. The palace of the Bardo, which stands in the plain, north of the Seljum depression, is not an isolated structure, but quite a separate quarter, with ramparts and towers, set apart not only for the prince but also for the whole court, garrison troops, and a large population of provision-dealers and artisans. The royal apartments, covered with ornaments, hangings, embroideries, painted flowers, alabasters, marbles, offend the eye with their tasteless mixture of forms and colours, and all this sham luxury appears all the more repulsive in association with the torn tapestries, the crumbling walls, warped timber and furniture, revealing the poverty of the place. Some country houses, which stand farther west in the Manuba olive groves, or else north of Tunis in the Ariana and Belvedere districts, and on the sea-shore in the Marsa valley, without being so showy as the Bardo are in reality much finer ​buildings, more gracefully decorated, and surrounded with more luxuriant vegetation. The Bey's usual residence is at Marsa, and near his palace are grouped the
houses of the French minister, the English consul, and other dignitaries. In summer the beach at Marsa is crowded with bathers from Tunis. ​176 NORTII-WEST AFRICA. This runil retreat is directly connected by a short railway with Tunis and with Guletta, a small town of Italian appearance, occupying the western bank of the canal by which vessels enter the Lake of Tunis. On the eastern bank the only buildings are the barracks, a mosque, a manufactory, and the gate leading to Hades. The new houses, which already form a distinct quarter, are built farther west, at the narrowest point of the sandy spit of land known to the ancients as the ligufa. Still farther on the military hospital of Kram, or the " Fig-trees," forms the nucleus of a new district at the foot of the Carthage hills. On these heights Malka occupies the very site of the ancient Carthaginian suburb of the same name, and its houses, like those of Sidi Daud and Duar-esh-Shott, are built with the remains of the old cisterns, ramparts, amphitheatre, and circus. Finally, on the highest point of Cape Carthage, the white houses of Sidi Bu-Said are visible amid the surrounding olive groves. This town was formerly a sacred place, which Christians were forbidden to enter, but it is now much frequented by all classes of Tunisians. It is commanded, from an elevation of about 430 feet, by a lighthouse, and during the hot season it enjoys a fresh sea breeze blowing above the stagnant atmosphere of the plains. Carthage. The first Phoenician colony was probably built at the extremity of the cape, between the sea and the lake, at the spot where now stand the Kram hospital and the half-choked-up basins of the port. But Kombeh (Karabi or Kaccabi), the town of the Sidonian immigrants and, together with Hippone, the oldest colony on the coast, does not appear to have flourished until the arrival of the Tyrian immigrants, when a new city was founded under the name of Kiryath-IIadeshat or Kai'tadanh, whence the Roman form Carthago. The plateau on which the first Tvrian colonists excavated their tombs, outside the city, and where they afterwards built the citadel of Bi/rsa, has been clearly identified by archaeologists. Situated to the south in the Carthaginian hills, it stands at a lower elevation than the Sidi Bu-Said headland, but it offers a much more advantageous and regular site for extensive buildings. The work of nature also appears to have been perfected by the hand of man, by a levelling process similar to that which the Athenians executed on the summit of the Acropolis. In the centre of this platform stood the temple of Eshmun, and, under the Roman sway, Esculapius was worshipped here, representing the same divine force under a different name. Since 1842 this tract of land, presented to France, is commanded by a chapel dedicated by Louis Philippe to St. Louis. According to the local tradition, the French king embraced Islam before his death, and the Arabs still worship him under the name of Bu-Said, or the " Father Lord." A beautiful garden surrounds the chapel, in whose walls are embedded thousands of old remains — Punic, Roman, and Christian inscriptions, busts, bas-reliefs, fragments of sculptures, Wols, statues of saints and martyrs, altars and tombstones. The buildings of the great college which skirts one of the sides of the Byrsa terrace contain, on the ground-floor, fhe most valuable
Zaghwan peak, and, in the immediate vicinity of the plateau, the sparkling and winding waters of the former Carthaginian ports.
On the steepest side of the rock of Byrsa, now covered with vegetable mould, Beulé has brought to light the remains of walls in some places still 16 feet in height, and similar in construction to the so-called Cyclopean walls. A bed of cinders, filled with metal fragments, pieces of glass, and potsherds, is probably a remnant of the fire which preceded the capture of Byrsa by Scipio. The wall ​178 NORTH-WEST AFEICA. which has been laid bare is no less than 33 feet thick, affording room for five or six chariots to pass abreast on its flat top. Recesses were hollowed out in the thickness of the wall, which doubtless served as magazines and retreats for the garrison. The whole of this structure is as hard as the most compact rocks ; the Roman walls erected on Punic foundations are much less solid, and are easily blown up by gunpowder. The other relics of those days, even those hidden under heaps of more recent ruins, have also been destroyed or converted into shapeless masses. In fact, " Tunis and its environs have no other quarry than Carthage. The Arabs are as industrious as moles in undermining the ground ; they proceed beneath it by subterranean passages, and follow along the walls which they demolish and carry away without thinking of what they are destroying." There still existed quite recently a corporation of "stone- seekers." In the Middle At'es the Italian republics caused the ruins of Carthage to be sj'stematically excavated to provide building materials for their own edifices. According to a tradition the city of Pisa was built entirely of marbles brought from this Punic citv. The materials now used in building the surrounding towns and villages are procured from the vast brickfields of Carthage, which lie at the foot of the Bu-Said hill. East of the Byrsa terrace, on the gentle incline of the hill, are the best pre- served of all those cisterns which served as reservoirs for the water brought down by Adrian's aqueduct. Unfortunately deprived at their eastern extremity of the earth embankment which protected them from the inclemency of the weather, they are on this side partly choked up by the remains of vaults, but to the east they are still quite perfect. The rain water which percolates through the soil is here preserved perfectly pure, and from this source the Arabs still draw their supplies. The project of repairing the cisterns of Carthage has often been mooted, with a view to provide Goletta and Marsa with water, and this work, of such urgent necessity, will doubtless be undertaken in the near future. The whole of the Byrsa reservoirs would hold 750,000 cubic feet of water, more than the combined capacity of all the others situated along the Zaghwan aqueduct. The cisterns of Malka have been changed into dwellings and caves by the Arab troglodytes. The old Carthaginian ports, constructed on the site of the first Punic colony, are also easily recognised, although the entrance is obliterated and the military port no longer communicates with the commercial basins. Archaeologists have discovered in the alluvial soil Avails and quays, by which their original form may be conjectured, and the island on which the admiral resided is still to be seen in the centre of the northern basin. But it would be quite useless to attempt to restore the port of Carthage, because modern shipping needs basins with wider entrances and far greater depth than the old galleys. Hence, were Carthage ever rebuilt, as has often been proposed, a new port would have to be constructed, not inland, but in the open sea. A jetty, based on the last spur of the rocky hills at Goletta, would stretch directly southwards to depths of over 30 feet, in such a way as to enclose a vast sheet of water, which, even without artificial shelter, would be always calm, thanks to the protection afforded by the Bu-Said headland from ​the west and north winds. At the time of the French occupation, it might have been possible to have transferred the capital to Carthage by a bold stroke; the plan of the Roman town still shows the streets cutting each other at right angles, so that the modern houses might be raised on old foundations. In healthiness, picturesque beauty, and commercial advantages, no less than in the glory of its
name, the new Carthage might have been far superior to Tunis; but no one has ventured to interfere with vested interests, or modify the trade routes. Moreover, the greater part of Carthage having, like the hill of Byrsa, become the property of the Church, its acquisition for secular purposes would have been attended with great difficulty. The total circumference of the enclosure is said to exceed 16 miles, ​180 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. including, to the north, the hill of Kamart, or Jebel Khawi, at once the quarry and the necropolis of Carthage. The soft limestone of which it is composed is pierced with hundreds of thousands of Punic, Roman, and Christian tombs. At the foot of the hill stretch the Sukhara lagoons, the ancient anchorage of the Punic fleet. Although very badly worked, the saline lakes of Sukhara nevertheless yield more salt than any other in the regency. Although the present capital, Tunis, like the ancient Carthage, lies at the natural issue of the plains and upland valleys of the Mejerda, the basin, properly so called, of this river has no towns whose population can be compared to that of the coastland cities, such as S/akcs and Sum. On the banks of the tributaries of the Wed Meleg, which is the lonf^est river of the basin, nothing occurs except Arab encampments nestling amidst the ruins of vast cities. This region, which at first sight seems to be completely deserted, because the dwellings of the people are almost merged with the ground on which they stand, was in the time of the Romans one of the most jx)pulous countries of civilised Africa. As on the upper affluents of the Wed Gafsa and of the rivers flowing east to Lake Kelbia, the traveller here also meets with imposing ruins covering vast extents of land. One of these ancient towns, situated near the Algerian frontier, some 24 miles north-east of Tebessa, appears to be the Ammfpdai'a of Ptolemy. These ruins, known to the Arabs by the name of Haidra, are about 3 miles in circumference, and include a citadel, a triumphal arch of the time of Scptimius Severus, a theatre, and several Christian basilicas. About 12 miles to the north-east, on the bank of an affluent of the Meleg, stands the still inhabited town of Tlialii, surrounded by the extensive remains of the opulent city t)f the same name, where Juguvtha vainly sought a refuge for his family and treasures. After forty days of repeated assaults the town succumbed, but its defenders withdrew to the royal palace, to which they set fire, and perished with all their effects, thus defying the anger of the Romans and baffling their cupidity. Not far from Thala are the remains of another town, whose thermal waters are still visited by the surrounding tribe of Majer Arabs, who apply the name of El-Ham- mam, or " the Warm Bath," to these remains. El-Kff, the chief town in the Meleg basin imd in Western Tunisia, is likewise a place of great antiquity. It was already famous at the Phoenician epoch, and had a sanctuary dedicated to Astarte, whither i)eople came from all parts to worship this goddess. This worship was continued under the Roman government, pilgrims for centuries still visiting the temple of Venus, whence the name of Sicca Veueria, long preserved under the corrupted forms of SUikka Benaria or Shahhanaria. This was turned by the Arabs into Shok-ben-Nahr, or " Fiery Thorn," which gave rise to the unfounded belief in the existence of volcanoes in this district. At the present time the town is known merely as El-Kcf, or " the Rock." Built in the shape of an amphitheatre on the slope of Jebel Dir, at a mean height of 2,650 feet, El-Kef owes its importance to its strategical and commercial position, at the converging point of nearly all the main routes of Western Tunisia south of the Mejerda. It is extremely rich in springs, a feature of paramount importance in
In the Mejerda valley, the rising village of Ghardimau, the present frontier military station and custom-house, stands at the mouth of the gorges through
which the river emerges from the Algerian plateau on the rich central Tunisian plains. In spite of the natural importance of this position, which is defended by a fortress, Ghardimau is still a mere collection of wretched hovels. Far different was the Roman colony of Simittu, whose ruins lie north-east of Ghardimau, between two rocky bluffs commanding the plain. Simittu, the Shemtu of the present day, was one of the principal stations on the route from Carthage to Hippo; its site is indicated by the ruins of its amphitheatre and of the bridge which here spanned the Mejerda, continuing the route from Sicca Veneria to the port of Tabarca. The cliffs which tower above Shemtu are composed of beautiful pink, yellow, green, and purple-veined marbles, which the Roman emperors ​182 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. largely used in decorating their palaces. The quarrying works have been resumed for some years past, and quite a colony of Italian workmen has been established amid the ruins. The mass of marble which projects above the soil is calculated to contain about 875,000,000 cubic feet. The blocks of marble are taken on a branch line to the main railway, and transported to the port of Tunis. In Roman times they were conveyed directly to Tabarca, across the mountains of Khumiria. Below Ghardimau, and connected with it by rail, is the market-town of Siik-el- ArbA, or "the Wednesday Fair," on the right bank of the Mejerda, and in the centre of the extensive corn-growing Dakhla plain. From a strategical point of view Suk-ol-Arba is also of capital importance, being traversed by the route which engineering -skill has constructed between El-Kef and Ain Draham in Khumiria. A small fortified camp has been established at this place to command the passage of the river, which has not yet been bridged. The future value of this position is so well understood that the railway company have made it the central station of the service between Tunis and Suk-Ahras ; yet Suk-el-ArbS, itself still renfeins a mere collection of miserable huts in the midst of large encampments, almost hidden from sight by the surrounding vegetation. On Wednesdays an immense crowd of buvcrs and sellers swarm on the roads which radiate around Suk-el-Arb&, and the following da}' this commercial movement is directed north-eastwards to another station on the plain, called Snk-el-Khinis or " Thursday Market." The old Roman city of Bi(//a Reyin, where the traffic of this fertile African region was centered, lay north-west of Suk-el-Arba, on the western spur of a little chain of hills, now known as Jebel Larbeah. All that remains of this town are the ruins of its fortresses, of a triumphal arch, a theatre, and a bridge. Its hot baths were supplied by a copious stream which has been recently diverted towards the camp of Suk- el-Arba. BeJA — TJtICA — BiZERTA. Beja, the largest inland town in the district bounded south by the course of the Mejerda, is also of ancient origin. But of the old Roman Vacca or Vagn, whence it takes its name, scarcely any remains have survived. Beja is built in the shape of an amphitheatre on the eastern slope of a hill, above a verdant valley through which winds the wed of the same name ; from all parts towards its gates converge broad roads, here and there enclosing small patches of verdure, and scored throughout with blackish ruts formed by the Roman chariot wheels. Beja is surrounded by crumbling walls and commanded by a grey and red kasbah, now occupied by a small French garrison. The lower part of the town, whose appear- ance is still unchanged by the introduction of European buildings, presents nothing to the view except the irregular terraced roofs of its white houses. The principal mosque, consecrated to Sidi Aissa, i.e. " the Lord Jesus," is an ancient basilica, as appears from an inscription on the wall, discovered by M. Guerin. According to the natives, it is the most ancient religious monument in the whole of Tunisia. Except a few dozen Maltese, there are scarcely any foreigners to be met in the streets of Beja, and Europeans rarely visit the bazaar. Nevertheless this town will ​BEJA— DUGGA. 188 soon be connected with the main Tunisian railway system by a branch line, which will tap a rich and extensive agricultural district. During the fairs it is visited by dealers from all parts, and its population is then nearly doubled. The surround- ing district has retained the six?cial name of Frikia, fonnerly applied to the whole Roman province ; thus by a curious contrast this term of "Africa" is on the one hand restricted to a small rural district, whilst on the other it has been extended to the whole continent. The numerous mines, situated in the hills north of Beja, will soon be traversed by the railway running to Gape Serrat and Tabarka. The basin of the We<l Khallad, which falls into the Mejerda at the mouth of the gorges, is one of those Tunisian districts which most abound in the finest Roman remains. In the upper valley of the tributary are Zenfur, the ancient AsHuras, and Mesf, formerly Mtisfi, with their remains of temples, theatres, triumphal arches, and mausoleums. Farther down Dntjria, the ancient Phoenician and Roman Thuyfja, is still more interesting from an archaeological point of view, for here are still to be seen nearly the whole series of public monuments which usually ornamented the great cities under the Roman Empire. The famous bilingual (Punic and Libyan) inscription, discovered in IGJU by Thomas d'Arcos, and the study of which led to the reconstruction of the Berber alphabet, has been detached from the superb mausoleum, of which it formed one of the faces, and deposited in the British Museum. But the Arabs employed by Read to carry out this work have unfortunately demolished a large portion of the building, and the entrance of the sepulchral chambers is now obstructed by heaps of overturned blocks. About 3 miles north of Dugga lies the little modem town of Tehursuh, in the midst of olive-trees which yield the best oil of this region. Here also stood a Phoenician city, restored by the Romans, and manj' ancient ruins "are still to be seen, more especially around the copious spring near which stood the town of Thihitrsicum Bare. West of Tebursuk rise the escarpments of the Jebel Gorrha, said to be one of the richest in veins of argentiferous lead ; but these mines, pierced with many himdred galleries by the Romans and Carthaginians, are no longer worked, although they could be easily connected with the main Tunis railway by a branch line. The fluvial basin of the Wed Siliaua, which falls into the Mejerda north-east of Tebursuk, is scarcely less rich in old ruined cities than that of the Wed Khallad. The site formerly occupied by the " mysterious Zanm " is sought for in this basin as well as in those of the Meleg and of the Wed Khallad. Not far from the Kessera plateau, which is covered with numerous dolmens, are the still imposing ruins of the oppidum Mactaritanum, the Mnktcr of the present day. The camp of Suk-el-Jeman, situated on a neighbouring plateau, has been selected as an inter- mediate station between Kef and Kairwan. This spot is the strategical centre of the whole of Tunisia south of the Mejerda. Below the confluence of the Wed Siliana. Tcntur, a small town of great anti- quity, standing on the right bank of the Mejerda, is mainly peopled by " Anda- lusian" Moors, whose industry has surrounded it with well- cultivated gardens and fields. Farther down on the same bank the hamlet of Slughia is peopled with ​merchants and guides who point out the fords over the river and assist the passage of tho caravans. Still lower down Mejez-el-Bab, also on the right bank, guards the entrance to the lower valley of the Mejerda; it takes its name of "Ford," or "Passage of the Gate," from a triumphal arch which formerly stood at the northern extremity of a Roman bridge, but of which nothing remains except a few blocks scattered over an old river bed. A modern bridge spans the new channel excavated by the Mejerda. The little villages of Teburba and Jedeïda, which next succeed along the banks of the river, already belong to the outskirts of Tunis, which their inhabitants, many of whom claim to be of Andalusian origin, supply with vegetables and fruit. They have both a bridge over the river, a railway
station, and a few small industrial establishments. Teburba is the modern form of the ancient Roman Tuburbo Minus, and here are still to be seen the remains of an amphitheatre whose arena is now overgrown with brushwood. But the town has changed its site, as the Roman colony stood farther west on the slopes o: a hill.
North of Jedeïda, the Mejerda, which winds through the lowlands and marshes, has no more towns upon its banks. The city of Utica, the elder sister of Carthage, which commands its mouth, is now indicated merely by a kubba, the "marabut" of Bu-Shater, a name meaning the "Father of Skill" or the "Wise Man," ​BIZEBTA. 185 possibly in reference to the famous Cato of Utica, so renowned for his high virtues and calmness in the presence of death. A thorough examination of the ground has brought to light the acropolis, aqueduct, cisterns, amphitheatre, theatre, hot baths, quays, and military port of Utica. By examining the relief of the land, the plan of the town, with its ramparts and buildings, has almost been reconstructed, and many objects of value have been found amongst the ruins, none of which are now visible above the ground. At the extremity of the rock of Utica flows a mineral spring whose waters are exceptionally rich in arsenical salts. East of the headland, on the opposite side of the plain now watered by the Mejerda, rises the cape on which stood the Castra Cornelia, or winter quarters of Scipio during his campaign against Carthage. The town of Rhar-el-Mclah, called Porto Farina by the Italians, is no longer a port, the alluvia brought down by the Mejerda having almost completely closed the passage by which its lake formerly communicated with the high sea. Bizerta, or rather Benzert, the corrupted form of the ancient PhoDnician Ilippo- Zaryte (Ilippo-Diarrhi/tus), lies mainly on the western bank of the shallow canal whence the town took its name of Diarrhytus, or the " Pierced." Thie houses of the European quarter stand on an islet between the two branches of the cantU, and a castle to the south of the bank is called BorJ-el-Zeiizila, or "Castle of the Chain," from the chain which formerly barred the passage at this point. Bizerta presents a fairly imposing appearance, thanks to its walls flanked with towers and its quadrangular kasbah, which stands at the very mouth of the canal. Should its aspirations ever be realised, it will become a considerable city, and the chief arscnul of the French possessions in Africa. Except the strait of Messina, no other harbour could be more advantageously situated than its lake both for sheltering the navy and for guarding the most frequented passage of the Mediterranean. Vessels of more than twenty tons burden are now obliged to anchor in the offing of Bizerta. The coral fisheries, which were conceded to the French Government long before the annexation of Tunisia, formerly gave employment to some twenty Sicilian barks trading under the French flag. There are now scarcely a dozen boats engaged in this pursuit ; but fishing, especially for mullet, and the preparation of botargo, gives employment to a great many sailors. The fisheries are monopolised by a Marseillaise company, who rent it annually. The Andalusian Moors, who occupy a separate quarter outside the walls, and the Maltese immigrants, impart a certain animation to the town, which, however, is not yet of sufficient importance to justify France in laying the railway which was conceded to them in the first year of the conquest. Some of the villages near Bizerta are surrounded with well- cultivated lands ; amongst them is the charming Menzd-cl-Jcniil, or the " Pleasant Retreat," situated on an escarped hill north-west of the lake. The Tunisian shores west of Bizerta are an " iron-bound coast," shunned by mariners. With the exception of Beja, there are no inland towns ; the Mogod, Amdum, and Nefza populations were still nearly independent some years ago, and the Khumirs had frequently repulsed the troops which came to collect the taxes. Tubarka, the Tabrnca of the Romans, a few miles from the Algerian frontier, is •AP ​visited by a few coasting vessels, and, thanks to its position midway between Bona
and Bizerta, bids fair to become a busy port when its jetties and quays offer the ​necessary accommodation, and when the routes running inland are bordered by towns and villages. During the invasion of Khumiria, the operations of the French fleet commenced in the roadstead of Tabarka, where the plan of a new town has been traced out near the shore, at the south-east base of the steep Borj Jedid hills, and south of the islet where still stands the castle occupied by the Genoese Lomellini
family from 1540 to 1742. A few ruins of Roman buildings attest the importance which this place enjoyed at the time when it was connected by broad roads with the marble quarries of Simittu, and along the coast with Hippo and Hippo-Zarytus. Two modern routes now lead into the interior: one running from Tabarka to Calle, ​by the Um-Tebul mines, the other penetrating to the camp of Ain-Draham, in the very heart of Khumiria. A single line of railway will soon bring down to the quays of Tabarka, tannin, cork, timber from the neighbouring forests, and the iron, lead, zine, and silver ores from the Nefza highlands. A second line, starting from the same mining region, which is one of the richest in the world, will run to a small port, well sheltered by the rocks of Cape Serrat. Ancient shafts and piles of rubbish, called "hills of iron" and "mounds of steel," show that many of these mines were probably worked in the time of the Romans. A number of families, who escaped captivity at the time of the capture of Tabarka by the Tunisians in
1742, have settled in various parts of the coast, where they are still known as Tabarkans; nearly five hundred fugitives also succeeded In reaching the island of San-Pietro, near the coast of Sardinia. About nine hundred persons were reduced to slavery, and even till quite recently this trade in Tabarkan men and women is said to have been carried on. At Tunis these refugees remained for nearly a century, deprived of the rights conferred upon Europeans, until, in 1816, the Sardinian consul took them under his protection.
To the south rise the metalliferous and well-wooded mountains, whose products must one day prove a source of wealth to Tabarka, although large tracts of forest have already been wasted, and have disappeared altogether to the south of ​SOCIAIi AND POLITICAL CONDITION OF TUNIS. 189 Ehumiria. On the slope of Fernana, a place much frequontc<l on market days, stands a splendid cork-tree, an isolated giant, whose broad spreading branches cover a circumference of 3JJ3 feet. This trysting-place of the surrounding trilKJs, under whose shade the delegates of the Khurairs formerly assembled to discuss questions of peace or war, is the last survivor of a vanished forest. Ain-Drahnm, capital of this district, derives its chief imj)ortance from the presence of the French garrison troops. But even were the soldiers withdrawn, it may still survive as a convenient market town for the tribes of north-western Tunisia. Near this spot stands the famous shrine of Sidi Abdallah Ben-Jemal, which continues to be visited by thousands of Khumirs on the feast-day of the patron saint. Social and Political Coxdition of Tunis. Tunisia is at present in a state of transition between two irreconcilable political and social systems. Although officially a Mohammedan power, it is in reality a province of the French colonial empire, and those who are called the masters of the country are really subjects, upon whom the burden of subjection weighs most heavih Decrees are still dated according to the Mussulman era, and are preceded by antiquated Oriental formulas ; but a new era has dawned upon the country, and the vital force and power come now from the West. Everything changes visibly under foreign influence : the populations, the appearance of the towns and country, the roads, trade, and the industries are all being rapidly modified. The tide of immigration is almost entirely composed of Mediterranean peoples, because those Frenchmen themselves who emigrate to this regency belong mostly to the watershed of this inland sea. Italians were by far the most numerous of all foreigners before the French occupation, and since then they have retained, and even increased, their numerical superiority, thanks to the proximity of their country, and to the advantages which long-established currents of trade give to new-comers. In 1885 these Italian immigrants were numbered at about twelve thousand. The ranks of those engaged on the public works, agriculture, and the smaller industries are of necessity recruited from amongst these Italian proletariats. The French immigrants look for better- paid occupations, which are much more difficult to obtain. The Maltese, however, who are relatively very numerous, soon break up into two distinct nationalities. Nearly all their poor are devout Catholics, zealously obeying the orders of the French primate of Tunisia, whilst the middle class Maltese, who habitually speak Italian, are naturally connected with Italy in customs and political sympathy. It cannot be disguised that very hostile feelings are harboured towards each other by the local French and Italian colonies. The latter have not yet resigned themselves to the present state of affairs ; they look upon themselves as the natural inheritors of the land, because of its geographical situation, and of the interests which they have here created for themselves, and feel aggrieved that it has been wrested from them by the French. Even in Tunis itself, the struggle for supremacy between these two foreign elements has assumed the character of national animosity. Two railways, the Italian line from Goletta, and ​190 NORTH-WEST APEICA. that of the French from Bona-Guelma, both stop short in the European quarter, and remain unconnected even by a lateral branch running towards the Marina. Nevertheless, the occupation of Tunisia, as a complement to the Algerian terri- torv, has tended to modify the situation to the advantage of the French element. Till quite recently the predominating European language was Italian ; even in the French families the children, accustomed to converse with young playmates from Sicily or Naples, ended by speaking Italian in preference to their own mother tongue. Now, by the reverse process, French is predominating in the European and Maltose circles. In the civil and religious schools, as well as in all public places, both Jews and Mussulmans learn to converse in French, which, after Arabic, has become the language of the country. Regular schools have already been founded in most of the large towns, and Tunis, Cabes, Sfakes, Monastir, Susa, Kairwan, Bizorta, and El-Kef, all possess normal schools for the training of native teachers. The preponderance of the commerce with Marseilles also contributes to assimilate the country more and more to France. Finally the garrisons, and numerous employes scattered through the territory and journeying from place to place, diffuse the use of the French language around Ain-Drahara, El-Kef, Kairwan, Susa, Cabes, and other military and administrative centres. The land is sold almost exclusively to the profit of the French speculators. There can be little doubt that, from the side of the western plateaux, a considerable tide of immigra- tion must set in, and thus introduce French elements, such as those already developed in Algerian territory. Great changes are also taking place in the Mussulman world of Tunisia. The place of those tribes who, accustomed to independence, quit the country in order to evade the rule of the hated " Rumi," is filled by the Algerians who come in great numbers, nearly all with the hope of making their fortunes in the service of the new masters. In every town they are to be mot with in the position of coachmen, porters, and servants. During the harvest the Kabyles also arrive in shiploads of hundreds at a time, and from them the Tunisians have learnt the art of mowing their meadows. The natives of Marocco, who are much more vigorous and energetic workmen than the local Arabs, are also strongly represented, and together with the Sicilians they clear the ground and plant vines on the various properties which the French have recently acquired. The Mussulman population of Tunisia, hitherto kept down by civil wars, the raids of plundering tribes, and oppressive taxation, will probably begin to increase under the new administration. But, judging from the experience of Algerian towns, where the death-rat^ of the Arabs normally exceeds that of the births, it is to be feared that in the long run the same result may be produced in the Tunisian towns, in consequence of the very intimate relations of the Europeans with the Moors. The social state, so intermingled with vices, which we call civilisation, would seem under such conditions to develop its worst features, by placing the elements of corruption within easy reach of the weak, without at the same time giving them the power of resistance. The property around the towns and railway stations is continually changing hands. Since 1861 many foreigners have purchased land from the Mussulmans, ​SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITION OF TUNIS. 191 notwithstanding the uncertainty of the titles and the risks of lawsuits. A great many fresh purchases will probably be made in the near future, when by the adoption of the " Tor reus " Act, introduced from the Australian colonies, tho formalities for the transfer of land will be greatly simplified. The beginning of the French occupation of Tunisia presents a rema;kable contrast to that of Algeria, by the rapidity with which the French obtained possession of the agricultund domains. The total area of the land which, in Tunisia, yearly passes into the hands of French proprietors, is already greater than in the whole of Algeria. The cause of this difference between these two conterminous countries is due to the fact that in Tunisia the purchasers buy the land directly from the native proprietors, whilst in Algeria it is assigned to the colonists by the Government after tedious administra- tive formalities. But although the French property has increased much more rapidly in Tunisia than in Algeria, it is much less democratic in its essential characteristics. In Algeria there are veritable colonists, that is to say, men who themselves handle the spade, bring up their children in the furrows, and mount guard over their crops. They form, even more than the soldiers, the real strength of French Algeria, for they have settled there of their own free-will, and made it their second home. Instead of these sturdy colonists and small landed proprietors, the European purchasers in Tunisia are chiefly representatives of financial com- panies, agents of absentee capitalists, or else, in the most favourable cases, enterprising men who are in charge of vast tracts of land cultivated by foreign hands. The work of colonisation, properly so-called, by the French peasantry has no chance of success except on the western plateaux, where the similarity of the physical conditions on both sides of the frontier tends to produce analogous social conditions. The in)portant work of replanting the country has been commenced only in the Jerid dunes and along the railway from Bona to Guelma. In the Jerid the object has mainly been to solidify the shifting sand-hills, whilst the railway company is engaged in the acclimatisation of new plants. Of the four hundred thousand trees which they have had planted in their domains, the majority are Australian acacias, which yield an excellent tannin, and also a species of eucalyptus known as the " blue gum-tree." A new oasis is being developed near the Wed Melah, in the Cabes district, thanks to the artesian wells sunk by the explorer Landas. But on the other hand, the disafforesting of the country still continues, and the work of destruction by far exceeds that of restoration. Entire pine forests, near the hamadi of El-Kessera, have been destroyed solely for the sake of the bark. The contrast between the two kinds of property in Tunisia and Algeria, is equally striking in the methods of cultivation. Vhil>t at the commencement of the colonisation, and up to a recent period, the Algerian farmers followed in the steps of the French peasants, endeavouring to obtain from their land the various kinds of products necessary for the support of man and beast, such as corn, roots, fruit, and fodder, the Tunisian planters devote their attention almost exclusively to viniculture. Agriculture has thus changed its character and become mainly an industrial pursuit, and tho evolution which has taken place in the economic world, in consequence of the concentration of the capital, is shown in Tunisia by agricul​agricultural methods different from those of the first half century of the French occupation of Algeria. Slavery was abolished since 1842, even before it was officially done away with in Algeria; but the many native day labourers, the Khammes, or
colonists of the poorest class, who cultivate the domains of large landed proprietors, are veritable slaves — serfs bound down by the advances made to them by their masters, and which they repay at exorbitant interest from the share of the harvest ​GOVERNMENT OF TUNIS. 198 allotted to them. Hence it is not surprising that, notwithstanding the great fertility of the land, the populations of Tunisia have often been decimated by famine. The industries, properly so called, have hardly changed since the foreign colony has attained such great iuiiwrtauce in this country. The result of the commercial annexation has been more especially to diminish the productiveness of the Tunisian workshops to the profit of foreign industries. Although the Jacquard looms have been introduced, the Lyons textiles arc gradually driving the local products from the markets of the regency. The large steamship companies, especially those assisted by the State, maintain a regular service along the coast, shipping the produce of the interior in exchange for European wares. France enjoys the largest share of the foreign trade, which is rapidly increasing. The railwoys are producing in the interior of the country changes similar to those effected by the substitution of steamships for sailing vessels. They are abolishing the old method of transport by caravan and changing the direction of the trade routes. The line from Tunis to Bona and Guelma, which traverses the gorges of the Upper Mejerda, formerly avoided by the Roman highways, has diverted to Bona part of the trade of the capital. In the same way the pi-ojected line across Northern Tunisia, via Beja, terminating at the port of Tabarka, will open a new route for commercial enterprise. Another and more important line, from Suk-Ahras to Cabes, rid Tebessa, will skirt the whole of the peninsular region of Tunisia, running directly from the Algerian ports to the Jerid district and the oases of Tripoli. At present the construction of railways is proceeding slowly ; nor is the traffic of much importance, the company, which is guaranteed a return of 6 per cent, by the State, having no interest in developing a local trade by which it would be in no way benefitted. The railways most likely to be first con- structed are the northern line, from Jedeida to Mater, and later on to Bizerta ; the eastern line, continuing that of Hammam-Lif to Hammaraet across the neck of the Dakhelat-el-Mabuin peninsula ; and the southern line to Zaghwan and Kairwan, with a branch to Susa. In 1847, long before the annexation, the French Government had established a postal service in the regency, and later on introduced the telegraph system. The chief towns are regularly visited by postmen, and in every direction the country is traversed by telegraph wires, connecting those of Algeria with Tripoli. The Arabs scrupulously respect the wires and posts, which are useful to them as land- marks and signposts. Government of Tunis. The government of Tunisia is divided between two centres of authority, those of the Bey and of the French. According to the Bardo Convention, the Bey still rules, and even exercises absolute control over all affairs of the interior ; but France, who has converted Tunisia into a protectorate, undertakes the defence of the country and administers its finances through a " resident general ; " in other ​words, she disposes of the capital and military resources of the regency. The power is therefore really in the hands of the French, the Bey and his agents being invested with the mere semblance ctf authority. Nevertheless, in certain respects, Tunisia may be said to have remained a distinct state. It has a political individuality with its own administration, special legislation, and interests now opposed to those of the neighbouring territory of Algeria. In the small towns the relations between the French and the natives are regulated by consuls and "civil controllers," in the same way as those between two foreign peoples. Objections are even raised to the "Bey's subjects " being made naturalised Frenchmen. Both French and Algerian merchandise is examined by the custom-house with the same rigour as if it came from England or Italy, and is charged with an ad valorem duty of 8 per cent. The weights and measures are even different, and the French metrical system, already adopted by some five hundred millions of people in the two hemispheres, has not yet been officially introduced into Tunisia. The civil tribunal of the capital and the six justices recently instituted in Tunis, Goletta, Bizerta, Siisa, Sfakes, and El-Kef, decide cases between Europeans and natives according to the French laws. Since 1885 the magistrates are even paid by the Tunisian budget as officers of the Bey's Government; but they are under the jurisdiction of the Algerian court of appeal. The consular tribunals of the various nations have been suppressed, and in the rural districts the administration of justice is entrusted to the kaids, assisted by the local khalifas and sheiks. The degrading punishment of the bastinado, which was always inflicted by the despised Jews, is no longer applied. The press, which in 1885 consisted of nine papers, is subject to official control.
There are no forms of parliamentary representation, but the absolute power of the Bey is held in check by the supreme authority of the resident general, who has alone the right to correspond with the French Government through the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The officers of the army and navy and all the higher officials are under his orders. The general in command of the troops occupying the country, as well as the archbishop, who is the head of a small army of priests and nuns, and spiritual guide of the whole Maltese community, also enjoy considerable influence in virtue of their respective functions. At the same time an appearance of authority is left to the Tunisian ministry, which superintends the finances, the press, the administration of justice, the public works, the army and navy. But the French governor presides over foreign affairs as the representative of the sovereign power. According to established usage, the office of Bey is inherited by the eldest male of the family, whatsoever may be the degree of his relationship. The present heir presumptive is the Bey's brother. His official title is "the Bey of the Camp," and till quite recently he commanded the forces which are sent from province to province to collect the taxes.
The financial difficulties of the Bey were one of the chief causes which led to the occupation of the country by the French troops. The French and other bankers, who had readily advanced him large sums at heavy interest, and who held mortgages over his property, at last assumed the collection of the taxes, and sought farther security in the indirect possession of the political power. Thus arose the ​GOVERNMENT OF TUNIS. 195 intrigues and slruggles of all kinds which, together with political complications, culminated in the events of 1881. Accordingly, one of the principal clauses of the treaty which put an end to the indeiK?ndence of Tunisia, ntipulated for a financial reorganisation of the regency, *' assuring the administration of the public debt and guaranteeing the rights of the creditors of Tunisia." The revenues of the country were divided into two portions: one for the ordinary expenses of administration, the other and larger portion in security for the public debt of £5,500,000. A financial committee was appointed to represent the creditors, with power to supply any deficit from the State revenues, which for this purpose were placed under their control. The Government was even forbidden to make any reforms, create or change any taxes, issue new loans, or establish any public service without their consent ; and although this committee no longer exists, the interests of the creditors are none the less well protected. The chief revenues assigned to them are the custom-house duties, the tobacco, fisheries, and salt monopolies, the market dues in most of the towns, and the taxes ou the olive-trees in the Sahel and other districts. To the State is left the unpopular mejda, or poll-tax of twenty-two shillings a head, which falls chiefly on the poor, most of the rich having found means to evade it. Another burdensome tax is the kanun, which is charged on olive-trees, in addition to a tithe. In bad seasons the farmers have often cut down their trees to prevent the officers from claiming a tax they were unable to pay. The considerable recent increase of trade, the suppression of smuggling, the dismissal of over four thousand useless officials, and the strict enforcement of the custom-house duties, have all combined to restore order in the financial chaos; and it is even pretended that the receipts now more than cover the expenses, although the cost of the army of occupation and other claims of the French budget, represent nearly the whole value of the public income. The habbus, or church property, said to comprise one- third of the soil, is almost exempt from taxation, paying into the treasury little more than £4,000 a year. In 1885 the French invading force, considerably' diminished by the reinforcements sent to Tonkin, numbered eleven thousand men distributetl throughout the strategical ports of the country. The three military centre? arc Tunis, Susa, and Cabes, and in the interior the chief garrison towns are, Ain-Draham, El-Kef, Kairwan, and Gafsa. The conscription is in force in Tunisia, but the native army, modelled on that of France, is employed chiefly in parade service at the palaces of Marsa, the Bardo, and Goletta. In 1884 this army, which on paper consisted of several thousand, numbered in reality only 500 infantry, 25 cavalry, and 100 artillery; officers on the retired list are even more numerous than privates in active service. But the regular army is supplemented by bodies of tnakhzcn, spahis, and hambas, who act as policemen. In 1884 the Kulvgli, or Hanefiya irregulars, of Turkish origin, and the Zuawa (Zouaves), mostly Kabyles, were disbanded to the number of 4,000. The natural divisions of Tunisia are so clearly traced, that there has been little difficulty in selecting the chief strategical points. The whole of the lower Mejerda ​196 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. Valley, the basin of the "Wed Melian, and the Dakhelat-el-Mahuin peninsula, are included within the military circle of Tunis. The quadrilateral group of mountains and hills bounded south by the course of the Mejerda, has the town of Beja for its capital, and the Camp of Ain-Draham has been established in the centre of this region to overawe the Khumir tribes. The mountainous districts which separate the Mejerda from the affluents of Lake Kelbia have the town of El-Kef as a military centre, while the rugged hamada region is commanded by the camp of Suk- el-Jemaa. Kairwan is the natural capital of the plains and valleys which slope towards Lake Kelbia, and the Sahel at Ras Kapudiuh is divided into two sections, one depending upon SQsa, the other on Sfakes. The natural centre of the steppes and isolated highlands of Northern Tunisia, as far as the depression of the shotts, is Gafsa, and the whole of the southern region as far as the Tripolitana frontier and the desert, forms the military district of Cabes, in some respects the most impor- tant of all, because it commands the entrance of the Saharian regions, and would enable an enemy to invade Algerian territory by the southecn face of the Aures mountains. The regency is divided administratively into iitans, or departments of varying extent, each governed by a kaid, assisted by one or more khalifas, or " lieutenants," according to the importance of the province. The towns, villages, and tribal com- munities are ruled by sheikhs, who levy their fees directly on their subjects. Such fees are known euphemistically as the "price of slippers," the boots worn out in the public service being looked upon by these officials as a justification of their extor- tions. The municipal commissions which sit in a few communes, such as Goletta, El- Kef, Bizerta, Susa, and Sfakes, are composed of resident Europeans, nominated by the Government, and of Mussulmans elected by the notables. The utans have been frequently changed in nimiber. At the time of the French annexation, there were more than twenty, not including those of special tribes, nomad or half-settled, which were administered separately.