Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-08-10

thousand and its swarming
II bazars In which everything
under the sun Is exposed for
sale in the open street,presents
a series Of surprises TO the stranger.
Like most oriental towns. "Tls dis
lance lends enchantment to the view
Seen from the Gulf of Tmls--ten miles
away as the crow flies, and sixteen by
the railWay-it Is veritable dream
city, with battlements high in the
hush of the air and the turrets there
on" its white houses rising in tiers
and with a background OF dark hills
dnd olive groves. 10 the southwark,
a broad and fertile plain, cultivated to
the utmost with wheat. corn. cotton
ana tobacco, stretches to a bold range
OF Mountains; and close by. on either
hand, gllsten the waters of the great
salt legoOns, between which the city
stands on its narrow isthmus.
The Tunis OF other days had cir.
conference Of about FIVE miles, en-
closed within double walls. the outer
ramparts pierced by four imposing
gates; the inner wal $, which were very
high and massive, by six gates. The
fences long since disappeared The
marine gate stands all by itself--a lofty
and picturesque landmark. but OF no
possible use, since the walls on both
sides. which once gave Il raison d'etre.
now exist only in the name OF the
nearest street. Rue des Ramparts."
The other gates, grim monuments OF
the past. are the Bah 81 Abd-es-Salem,
Bah ell Hethers. and Babes Sadien, to-
wards the Bardo Palace which Is the
present seat Of government two miles
from the city proper; the Bah Sidl
Adulla, under the citadel; the Bah Sidl
Alewa, on the road to Zaghouan; ana
the Bab-es-Soueka, on the coast ROAD.
All these gates are guarded by soldiers,
and one >neyer wearies of watching the
strange professions that are constant
~ filing through them--camels. drome-
daries of the desert, donkeys laden
from head TO tail wonderfully capari-
soned Arab chargers. Greeks, Turks.
MoOrs, Nublans, native Jews and Eu.
ropeans, each In the peculiar costume
OF his nation. The narrow canal, Gu,
across the strip OF land which separ.
ates the Gulf Of Tunis from I'll Behira
the shallow lake on whose farther
HAflt Ait Wy - ElANHltl 10 AhAillAdllii
ed by strong castle and several de-
tached batteries, There are also the
three forts built in the time Of Charles
V-Bordj Manoubia, Bordj Filfila ana
Bordj Rebta-the latter an eXtraor-
binary specimen of medieval military
architecture. The twin hills back Of
the town are each crowned with IA
fortress-that OF Sidi bel Hassan being
n. oil
most interesting, although modern mu-
niti0ns Of warfare would no doubl
knock Il to pieces like an egg-shell.
The other hill. called Belvedere was
the first position occupied by the
French troops in 1881, and the remains
Of their intrenched camp on the sum-
nit are still distinctly visible from "a
considerable distance.
The sire Is OF Tunis are mostl,
narrow. irregular and excessively
dirty and the houses of dull exterior.
interspersed by handsome mosques and
palaces Of Saracenic architecture. The
city is divided into quarters. distinct
and separate, occupied by the respect
i've ma tionalities that comprise It's popu-
lation 49, Italians Maltese, Greeks,
French, MoOrs, Arabs, Turks. Berbers
and Nuhians, numerically in the order
named, fully one-fifth OF the whole
number being native Jews. The Eu-
ropeans live at the southeast end, where
the streets are wider. better paved, and
IN whole aspect Of things more modern.
The palace of tn BY. with its beautiful
marble courts and galleries Is not more
interesting than the ordinary Moorish
houses, with their prlsonlike exteriorS.
Each covers large space, being built
around a quadrangle, in the centre OF
which is a small fish-pound or fountain.
To visit the castle Of Bardo a permit is
necessary. which the traveller can OBJ
tain only through his consulate. The
European quarter, between the Marine
gate and the lagoon, Is rapidly taking
on a too cosmopolitan air. Its one
wide avenue is bordered by stately
houses. including the French residency.
the principal hotels OF Tunis the Ro-
man Catholic cathedral several banks.
club-houses and the inevitable cafes.
From this avenue wide streets are gra-
duaily branching OF in all directions.
One of these leads TO n fine market
place. which reminds one oddly OF the
Fulton market In New York, except in
the latter place dromedaries are not
seen. nor women wrapped from head
10 foot In white sheets like stage
ghosts. Another street leads 10 a love-
IN public garden, which the Italian
railway company has recently laid out.
Just north OF this European quarter.
the Maltest are congregated in numbers
go great that their habitat has come to
be known as Malta es-Segheira, or
Little Malta" They are said TO be
the quietest and most industrious peo-
ple Of the province, always WORKING
hard and living frugally. with the one
end in view, OF getting rich enough to
20 home to their native island. The
lower mart Of the city and the fau-
hourgs nearest 10 II are given over TO
Christians and Jews, the upper portion
helne reserved exclusively for the Mo-
hammedan population. This Moslem
quarter Is built In the form Of an am
nbitheater crowned by the kasha.
The snuare IN front Of II named SIOUX
rl-Islam. contains the Bey's palace and
two handsome rows Of shops. built In
Moorish style, with the queeresl W ~,
Economical clocks IN the mldale' Nilicn
tells not only the hour but the day "
the month and the moon $ age IN
closed within these four sldes y re-
rular Arabian Nights garden-the sun
nIest and sleepiest Of places iuil oi
bruliant flowers and humming birds
ana tame white doves that perch upon
he antique clock and peer into us lace
with funny air OF anxiety to know The
time Of day.
The interior Of Tunis Il a confused
network OF dirty alleys. crossed by two
or three slightly wider streets. which
run diagonally It's entire length ana
still further complicate the plan for the
stranger. A few years ago these were
almost impossible. owing 10 deep ilud
and 9th in winter and equally annoy.
ing dust In summer: but OF late years
a good many municipal Improvements
have been carried out. dictated by me
French. who really rule the Bey. Now
Inc streets are iolerably well lighled
with gas. and for an African city, are
kept remarkably clean.
More attractive than anything else 10
,ha stranger are the native bazaafS
which x;lll retain their original char
acier amid all the changes that are go.
ING on around them. II Is a perfect
labyrinth Of lanes, so narrow that the
tail houses on either side made perpet-
nal twilight IN them. yet further shad-
owed with banners and mating. Iht
trades generally keep together, 50 that
fha advantage Oh