The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-17

and few tombs, a modern villag'
 having been entirely out of the ruins
 So solid is the masonry of the amphi
 theater that hundred times during
 the various periods of their history, tht
 Arabs have converted it into a fortress r yet to this day the mighty walls art
 standing, four stories high. In visiting
 Fl Diem, you must bring everything
 required, even drinking water. There
 is an Arab fondouk near the amphi
 theatre, but it is so dirty and flea
 infested that you would better pass the
 night in your carriage.
 Keroun, the Sacred City is surround
 ed by olive-groves of great
 extent. Tn the year 670, Okba
 ibn Nafa. proposed to his troops
 sea, which might serve him as camr
 sea, which might serve him as a comp
 and be rallying point for Islamism
 till the end of time. He led his men to
 where Keroun now stands-then re-
 zion of lions and leoDards and noxious
 reptiles. Collecting around him the
 eighteen chosen companions of the Pro-
 phet, who were In his army, he called
 out in loud voice, "Serpants and sav-
 age beasts, we are the companions of
 the blessed Prophet! Retire, for we
 wish to establish ourselves here .'
 Whereupon-so says Mohammedan his-
 tory--the lions and leopards and tigers
 and snakes departed in orderly process
 sion, never once looking back on their
 exodus to the desert. Okba then plant
 ed his lance in the ground, remarking--
 Here is your Kerouan," (caravanse-
 raj, or resting -place); and Kerouan 1t
 has remained to this day. He, himself,
 traced out the foundations of the gov
 ernor's palace and the great mosque,
 the true position of the direction of
 Mecca from this point having been ml-
 raculously communicated to him by AL
 lah. Before the French protectorate no | Christian could enter the walls of this
 sacred city without special order from
 the Bey, and then he did it at the im-
 minent peril of his life, while a Jew dared not approach within sight of it's
 outer walls. But its sacred character did not exempt it from war and vio- lence. Even the great mosque has
 more than once been almost totally de- stroyed by the Mohammedans them selves, though it was never absolutely polluted by Christian invader. When Tunis was first occupied by the French, formidable preparations were made for the attack of the Holy City, where a desperate resistance was expected and the occupation of which was considered the only means of controlling the fla naticism of the people. Under such a show of force, the uTnisians yielded without word. The governor of Ker ouan opened the gates and voluntarily surrendered the town. Strange to say, this is the only place in the regency of Tunis where Christians are permitted to visit the mosques and religious edi- fees; but to do so, an order Is required from the French commanding officer. Of course the Holy City is strongly walled, with towers and bastions, gates and posterns. Everywhere you see shrines and huge cisterns, mosques ana sacred burial- places. The principal ob- ject of attraction is the great mosque of Sidi Okba, which occupies nearly all the northern angle of the town. How can one describe it The immense rec tangle is divided into three parts-the Maksoura, or prayer chamber; the vestibule, where the shoes are left; and the great cloistered court, where ablu- tions are performed and from which rises the minaret. The simple gran deur of the Malssoura makes the most frivolous feel "the place wherein thou standest is holy ground It has sev- enteen naves, each of eight arches sup ported by coupled marble and por- phery columns. the spoil of the most splendid Roman edifices in northern Af- | rica. There are four hundred and thir- ty-nine magnificent columns in the with capitals lof every style of oman architecture. The central nave is wider t.an the others and it's col umns are arranged in groups OF three It leads from the Bab el-Behou (Beau- tiful Gate) to the Mahrib or sacrarium The former Is of exquisitely sculptured | wood. with long inscri2tion in relief, 1 taken from the Koran. her Mahrib | has two alabaster columns sent by a | Byzantine emperor to Hassan iba Naa- man, In the year 8S9 The walls are of l tinted stucco work through the openings of which can yet | ab seen the original mahrib of Sidi Ok pa. To the right of this is the splendid ! pulpit of carved wood, six meters high every panel being of different design. The great chamber Is dimly lighted by ,olored glass in the dome. The court is by double arcade with coupled columns, and under it an inn nense ctstern occupies the entire area. The minaret, facing the Beautiful 5ate," Is a high duadrangular tower of hree stories, gradually tapering up- yard. Several pieces of Roman sculp- ure are built into the base, and you nay ascend to the top, if you like, by he same steps which Scipio or Caesar nay have trod when Rome ruled the world.
 Close by the mosque is the Zaounia. religious college, or convent of Sidi Abd el-Kadir el-D1ilani. whose confra- ernity has so many votaries in NorNh Africa, although its quarters are t Bagdad, It has a lofty cupola and . he usual cloisters leading to conven- , ual cells. Perhaps the finest specimen f Moorish architecture in the place is mother of these queer Mohammedan ( named after the great Sidi l bid el-Ghariani, who died here in 1402. he entrance is false arcade in black z nd white marble, In which is a square cor, opening into an interior court of wo stories. The upper story, support I q by ancient Roman columns. is divi- ed into cells for dervishes and other f a-caled holy men, 1