The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-29

bOuLhllH ID d iltdllllS cLlb market for cattle and agricultural pro- duce, with wide, clean, well-shaded streets and large squares, through each of which flows a stream of clear water.
 You might prof1tably spend week at Blidah, the next city of account on the line, in the center of the orange groves whose product is sold in the markets of Algiers and exported to France in large quantities. The Atlas mountains overshadoW the town, and on the other side stretches the beautiful Metidja plain, For miles around the air is per fumed with the scent of orange blos- soms every country road is shaded by trees and bordered with little streams of running water brought down from the hills. The Place d 'Armes, or prin- cipal square, is surrounded by arcaded houses and planted with double rows of trees. Blidha Is q fortified town, with military buildings on an exten- sive scale, large cavalry quarters and barracks which accommodate three thousand men. The five gates in the walls, through which only ingress and egress is possible, are named "Portes' Bab- Sebt de Bizot, de Bab Zaouia, ut bdD ti-Ihtibdl u <Al5Nl ftiit SS NH'AAP 1 des Chasseurs There are orange gar- l dens to be visited in the vicinity, and ' the Bois sacr ("Sacred woods"o,
 group of magnificent olive trees in the
 public gardens west of the city; and
 about two miles beyond the walls is the
 ravine of Oued el Kebir, whose pictur-
 esque beauty is worth going far to see.
 At the head of the ravlne stands the
 venerated Koubbas Gomhsl, of Sldl ! Ahmed El-Kebir, who died in l5SO, ana f his two sons. Interesting fetes take 1 place here every year on the Prophets
 birthday.
 About hundred miles beyond you
 come to the most celebrated baths of
 northern Africa; or rather, you stop at
 the station called Bou Media, and an
 omnibus, which meets the mail train
 from Algiers, conveys you five or six l miles to Hammam RIrha. The road
 leads along the bank of the Oued (riv-
 er) bier, among fig and olive trees, and
 then by numerous zig-zags, mounts
 nearly two thousand feet to the
 springs. They occupy the site of the ancient Roman station known as
 Auuae Calidae, of which only enough
 fragments remain to show that it was
 once place of importance There are
 several fine French hotels; the Estab- 1 lessement des Baines, surrounded by
 beautiful garden the hot springs them
 selves, and another pension farther
 down the hill, being the property of
 M Alfonso Aries Dafour, There are
 several hospitals here, military and
 civil and public houses of all classes,
 from the swellest and most expensive,
 to the modest pension at two francs
 per diem. The waters of Hammam i R'Irha are of two kinds-the hot sa-
 line, with temperature one hundred
 and fifty eight degrees Fahrenheit;
 and the gaseous and slightly ferrugl- nous. used for drinking. The latter
 called by the Arabs Ain .el-Karis--issue
 from a pavilion in the village, within
 an easy walk from the principal hotels.
 It has the usual taste and odor of ad-
 dled eggs, but when mixed with Wine,
 in the French fashion, Is not so pad.
 The effect of half a dozen glasses day,
 and as many more IS one can swallow,
 is simply marvellous on persons aHected
 with gout and rheumatism; and as thls
 is the only place within convenient dls-
 tance from Europe where baths can
 safely be taken in the winter time, the
 hotels are crowded the year around
 The city of Gran, capital of the pro-
 v;nce of the same name, residence of
 the general commandant of the p1shop'
 prefect, and commander Of the lnten-
 dance Divesionnaire, is naturally Of
 great imnortance in local annals. It IS
 a mort of entry. at the head of the
 Cu1f of Oran, only two hundred ana
 twentv-five miles east of Gibraltar.
 like Algiers it is triangular in form,
 rising on the steep slope of the Djebel
 Murdiadio. High above the town, on
 the summit of this ridge, stands the
 Fort of Santa Cruz; and little lower
 down that of St. Gregolre. ran IS not
 mo of the Algerian towns which can
 claim a high antiquity, though some writers attempt to identify it with the
 Portus Magnus of the Romans. It ap- . hears to have been founded at the De- ginning of the tenth century by two
 Arab merchants from spain, who, cofn-
 ing to this coast for commercial purpos- es obtained leave from the dominant tribe to establish a small settlement They called it "Wahran,' meaning a ravine: and until the Spanish conquest , if remained little village beside the
 stream. with an indifferent harbor and q fortification on the shore. After
 holding it seven years in the name ol the caliphs of Spain, the orlglhal , founders were driven out. Subsequent- 7 1v it was several times burnt and re- , built by contending tribes, until 1t fell into the hands of the Almoahldes about the middle of the twelfth centu- , ry. These held it until their overthro" :, hv the tribe of Ben-Zian, in 1270; aftef , which it became part of the new King
 dom of Tlemcen. But on account o1 ,, its valuable commerce with Italy, es- f tablished by the Alnoahides, It re tained considerable independence, be- ? ing allowed to appoint it's own governor ? and simply paying tribute to Ilemceh 9 Being one of the nearest ports to span 9 Oran always maintained an intimate l connection with the Moors of that e country, and to-day it seems as mucf I spanish as Moorish and decidedly more e Moorish than French. When the MO - nammedans of Spain retreated peioT' l the conuuests of the Christians, the! e sought refuge in Oran. Moulat Ben l Hsssan one of the last of the Moorlsf - lxings of Grenada, fled to this plac S when driven from his kingdom by re ! Ityith