The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-07-31

good many municipal improvements
 have been carried out, dictated by thu
 French, who really rule the Bey. Nov
 the streets are toerably well lighted
 with gas, and for an African city ar'
 kept remarkably clean
 More attractive than anything else tc
 the stranger are the native bazars
 which still retain their original charac
 ter amid all the changes that are go
 ing on around them. It is perfect
 labyrinth of lanes, so narrow that the
 tall houses on either side make perpet
 ual twilight in them,- yet further shad'
 owed with banners and mating. The
 trades generally keep together, so that
 the purchaser has the advantage o1
 comparing prices. Among the goods | displayed are silks in every variety perfumes and essences of rare quality Jewelry, ancient coins, native cos | Sumes arms, inlaid work and carpets | The usual rules regulating commercial
 dealings in all Oriental countries apply
 here with double force, to wit; avoid
 runners, or middlemen, and provide yourself with endless and imperturba- | ble patience expecting to haggle hours
 over the smallest purchase and to final | ly pay less than one-quarter of the price at first demanded. You need not l trouble yourself to study the native | money, as French coins-so much more easily understood, are actively current.
 It is well, however, to remember that the Tunisian piastre is eXchangeable | at the sale of one and a half piastre | for one franc. The most famous of the | bazars are the Souk elAttarin, or l market of the perfumers; the Souk el- ! Turk, where arms are sold: and the | Souk el-Serajin, or bazar of the sad 1 dlsrs, full of splendid embroidery on | leather. The trade of Tunis, both for eign and domestic, is something amaz- ing. Its linen and woolen and red-cap
 manufactures alone employ upwards of fifty thousand people, and it's morocco leather embroidery and perfume distil- leres as many more. Among it's eX- ports are also sponges, tunny-t1sh, gold-dust, senna, wax, hides and ele- phant tusks. This city is the center of
 the caravan trade of northern Africa, and nothing can be more interesting
 than to stand at one of the great gates and observe the life and movement of these peculiar means of commercial travel Toward evening Oriental life may be seen at ots best in the Halfa- ouine, or central square, where Moors and Arabs, Greeks, Nubians and all the rest of them congregate, to smoke their chibouques and drink their coffee, en- joy eolemn games of chess and listen to the interminable tales of professional story tellers.
 Another most interesting place to the American visitor is the Protestant cem- etery of St. George, belonging to Eng land, but used by other Protestant na- tions It is in the Maltese quarter, and you must go to the British consulate for the keys. It was here that John Howard Payne, author of Home, Sweet Home," was first buried, and here may still be seen the monument which his grateful country tardily erected You remember that he was United States consul to Tunis, where he died in the spring of 1852 Thirty one years later after his immortal song had become dearer to more hearts than any other ever written, his body was transported to the land of his nativity
 
 cemetery near Washington, D. C., at the expense of the late millionaire phi lanthropist, MT. w. w. Corcoran. In the Episcopal church of St. Augustine "a short walk from the Hotel de Paris, which, by the way, is the best in Tu- nis--is a handsome memorial window put in by British subjects in this far country, in honor of John Howard Payne The site of the English sane tuary was granted by the Bey, and the neat little iron building, lined with wood, was erected by subscription.
 Throughout the regency of Tunis ex- cept-strange to say-in the sacred city of Kerouan, Christians are religiously excluded from entering any of the mosques. The greatest one in Tunis city is Djamaa ez-Zeitouna, Mosque of the Olive tree' a sort of university, or Mohammedan monastery, in which a great many young Moors and Arabs receive a religious education. It was founded as early as A. D, 69S, by Has sen el-Ghessani el-Oudjdi, under the reign of the Khalife, abd-el- -Malek ben 1 Merouan, on the site of the cell of a Christian anchorite Being in the very l heart of the busy city, surrounded on | all sides by bazars, nothing can pre- vent infidel eyes from gazing into it's | outer courts; but no feet but those of | the faithful have ever penetrated be- | yond them
 Next in importance is the Djamaa | Sidi Mahrez, distinguished by it's enor- nous dome, surrounded by smaller l ,upolas. There are numerous mosques, 1 medrassts or Mohammedan colleges, | and marabouts; but as we can not get inside of any of them they are 1f little interest to the foreigner. The Mausoleum of the Beys, called Turbet l-Bey, is worth visiting. It has great number of domes, all covered with gorgeous green tiles, and the in erior is wonderfully decorated by ,linth pilasters and entablature of 'ose colored marble, sculptured in the italian style.
 The Kasba, which forms one side of he square, in which the town house of he Bey is situated, at one time con- aimed the ancient palace of that then nore powerful ruler, and immense bar acks for the accommodation of Janis- aries. as well as bagnios for Chris ian slaves It was here that ten thou and of these slaves rose on their keep IFS, when Charles V. was attacking 'unis, and turned the tide of battle in is favor. Now all the old buildings