Plate I.

J. LEITCH & C^o. Sc.

TOMBEAU DE LA CHRÉTIENNE, OR TOMB OF JUBA II.

FAC-SIMILE OF A WATER COLOR DRAWING BY BRUCE.

TRAVELS IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF BRUCE IN ALGERIA
AND TUNIS

ILLUSTRATED BY FACSIMILES OF HIS ORIGINAL DRAWINGS

BY
LIEUT.-COLONEL R. L. PLAYFAIR
H.B.M. CONSUL-GENERAL IN ALGERIA

LONDON
C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1877

[vii]CONTENTS.

[ix]LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Map of
PART OF ALGERIA
and the
Regency of Tunis.

Edw^d. Weller, Litho.

(Large-size, largest size)

[1]INTRODUCTORY.

I must explain briefly how I came to travel in the footsteps of Bruce, and to illustrate the first works of this great father of African travel.

Many years of my life have been passed in and about the countries which he first opened out to geographical knowledge. When, therefore, I found myself at Algiers as Bruce’s successor in office, after the lapse of a century, my interest in him was redoubled. I read the unsatisfactory account of his Barbary explorations, prefixed to the first volume of his travels, with the greatest regret that it was not more detailed, and I resolved to ascertain whether some hitherto unpublished matter might not exist, tending to throw greater light on the subject.

I searched the records of the Consulate in vain; not a document of his time remained; all had been destroyed by fire before the French conquest. At the Record Office in London a series of his reports exists, containing many interesting details of the State of Algiers. They are bound up with Arabic documents relative to treaties of great historical value; but, naturally enough, there is not a word regarding his explorations, which only commenced after he had resigned his public duties in August 1765.

I then bethought me that Lady Thurlow, daughter of the late Lord Elgin, was great-great-granddaughter of the traveller, and heiress of Kinnaird. I applied to her, and was overjoyed to find that she possessed immense stores of his manuscripts, drawings, and collections. Lord Thurlow selected from amongst these everything relative to the first journey Bruce made in Africa before proceeding to Abyssinia, and these he most kindly placed at my disposal for publication, if I thought the subject sufficiently interesting. I went to Lord Thurlow’s, fully prepared to find much valuable matter, but I had no conception that a treasure of such magnitude and importance awaited me. I do not intend to allude to the great mass of drawings irrelevant to my present subject; what especially interested me was a collection of more than a hundred sheets, some having designs on both sides, completely illustrating[2] all the principal subjects of archæological interest in North Africa from Algiers to the Pentapolis, and executed in a style which an architectural artist of the present day could hardly excel.

Mr. Bruce frequently exhibited these drawings during his lifetime, and alluded to the desire he entertained of publishing a work on the antiquities of Africa. Ornamental title-pages for the various parts of this work actually exist, but he appears never to have commenced the letterpress necessary to illustrate the drawings. It is possible that the manner in which his book of travels had been received induced him to abandon the subject in disgust, but it is more probable that the enormous expense of engraving the drawings, estimated at from 3,000l. to 5,000l., rendered the project too costly to be realised.

After his death the increasing taste for the arts and the more general patronage of publications of that nature induced his son to think of making arrangements regarding such a work, but his designs were interrupted by his own death in 1810.

Major Cumming Bruce more than once entered into negotiations with the trustees of the British Museum for the transfer of the whole collection to the nation, but no arrangement satisfactory to both parties could be arrived at, and for the past thirty years they have remained unseen by the present generation, and almost forgotten, in the possession of the Bruce family.

With some of the monuments I was perfectly familiar, and I could judge of their extreme fidelity; others I found to be priceless records of structures which no longer exist; but the remainder, especially those situated in the Regency of Tunis, I could not identify at all, and I immediately formed the determination to follow him in his wanderings as far as it was possible for me to do so, and to ascertain the actual condition of those remarkable ruins, which the depredations of time and of barbarians have not been able to destroy.

To have followed in his footsteps exactly in the same order in which he made the journey would, for many reasons, have been inconvenient; and to have accompanied him throughout the whole extent of his explorations in the districts of the Djerid, Tripoli, and the Cyrenaica was more than I could accomplish. I determined, however, to visit every ruin in Algeria and Tunis which he had illustrated, and so to plan my route as to include all that was most picturesque and instructive in a country hardly at all known to the modern traveller.

No traveller has ever had to contend against a greater amount of ill-deserved obloquy than Bruce. There is hardly an act of his life or a statement in his writings that has not been questioned or received with incredulity; and yet, the more the countries in which he journeyed have been explored, the more his astonishing accuracy[3] and truthfulness have been recognised. I well remember, now nearly thirty years ago, meeting the brothers d’Abbadie at Cairo, on their return from a residence of many years in Abyssinia. I was on terms of intimacy with two of them, and our conversation naturally turned a good deal on Bruce’s travels. They assured me that, though they had occasion to consult his work as a daily text-book, they had never discovered a misstatement, and hardly even an error of any considerable importance in it.

It is not to be supposed that these drawings should have escaped criticism, and some people have even expressed grave doubts as to their having been, in any considerable degree, executed by Bruce himself.

On this point he ought to be allowed to state his own case, and I subjoin all the passages I have found in his MSS. bearing on the subject.

Thus, then, we see that according to Bruce’s own account the drawings were made by himself, with the aid of the camera obscura, and with such assistance as he could obtain from his young artist, Luigi Balugani. That they were done on the spot admits of no doubt whatever. During our late expedition my companion, the Earl of Kingston, took most successful photographs of every building drawn by Bruce throughout Tunis, with the single exception of Hydra; and though time, and the more destructive hand of man, have dealt hardly with some of the ancient monuments, others are almost unchanged, and a comparison of the original drawing and the photograph must satisfy the most sceptical on this point.

One of the most striking instances of accuracy of detail is in the case of the triumphal arch giving access to the Hieron of the three temples at Spaitla (Plate XIV.). In the attic of this building the first course of stones is entire; in the second only four stones are represented as remaining; two of these are in place, and two others have fallen on their sides, and are projecting beyond the surface of the façade. In our photograph these four stones now occupy exactly the same position as in Bruce’s sketch.

The drawings themselves furnish abundant proof, that two people worked simultaneously at delineating the ruins. Nearly every monument is drawn in duplicate, but no two sketches are ever from the same point of view. In some instances the difference of angle is very slight, as if the two companions had chosen positions sufficiently close to be able to converse together. A glance at the itinerary (page 21) will show that they never remained long enough in one place for either of them to have repeated his view of the object designed. Most of the measurements are written in Italian, as if Bruce had taken the actual dimensions and called them out to Balugani, who had recorded them. At the same time Bruce wrote Italian with as much facility as English, and many remarks in the former language occur in his own handwriting.

Sometimes, instead of only two copies of the same monument, there are several; but the same difference is always observable.

[7]One of these sketches, or sets of sketches, is done with the most perfect accuracy and good taste. Generally there is no attempt at accessories of any kind, but where such are inevitable they are always true to nature. The other, as far as its architecture is concerned, is also accurate, but it is marred by the introduction of grotesque figures and impossible landscapes, such as it was the custom of that age to consider, and which Bruce himself has described, as ‘that agreeable ornament to design.’ My impression is that the former are the production of Bruce himself, the latter perhaps in part his sketches, but finished up and ‘agreeably ornamented’ by Luigi Balugani.

There is still a third class of illustrations, finished architectural drawings done to scale; plans, sections, and elevations, with elaborate details of sculpture, columnation, &c. These could manifestly have been done better at home than abroad, and they are executed so beautifully, and with such a profound knowledge of architectural design that it is difficult to believe that they are the unaided work of Bruce himself. They were done during the retirement of the traveller at Kinnaird with a view to his intended publication, and it is just possible that he may have been aided by a professional draughtsman. It may be in allusion to this that he wrote to his friend the Hon. Daines Barrington, ‘You and Dr. Douglas will both testify how willingly I seek, and thankfully and openly I embrace, every assistance. This I think doing justice to the public and to posterity.’

These drawings were exhibited to the Institute of British Architects by Major Cumming Bruce, M.P., in 1837, and the following letter was addressed to him by Mr. Donaldson, their honorary secretary, under date May 17, 1837:—

‘By a special resolution passed at the ordinary meeting, held on Monday last, I am directed to convey to you the grateful acknowledgments of the members for the rich treat with which you favoured them on that occasion, by laying before them the highly interesting series of drawings prepared by Bruce, the traveller, in illustration of the antiquities existing in Northern Africa. The members were struck with that profusion of important edifices which embellished the provinces of the Romans; and they admired the perseverance and skill which enabled Bruce to procure such minute and highly wrought details of these monuments.

‘The members hope that these documents may ere long be published, and thus add another to the long list of obligations which not only this country, but all Europe, owes to his spirit of enterprise and research. These drawings prove that he added the acquirements of the naturalist, the geographer, and the philosopher, to those of the antiquarian, the scholar, and the artist.’

They were also shown at the Graphic Society about the same period, and the following is an extract from their proceedings, dated May 10.

[8]‘Distinguished as Bruce is for his researches in Abyssinia, these drawings furnish ground for an honourable and lasting reputation from a very distinct source. It has been said among some to whom their existence was known that they were not Bruce’s, but the work of a young Italian artist named Balugani, who was sent to him by Lumsden, the author of “Roman Antiquities.”

‘But among the drawings shown at the Graphic Society were some of Pæstum made by Bruce when he was alone, prior to his visit to Africa, where Balugani first joined him. The execution of these prove the same hand as appears in the greater part, and best, of those of the African cities,’—that is, according to my theory, of all those which were not ‘agreeably ornamented’ by Balugani.

They were submitted to several other eminent archæologists and architects of the day; amongst others to Mr. C. M. Cockerell, who, writing under date June 9, 1837, thus alludes to them:—

‘In an antiquarian point of view I consider them of the utmost importance . . . in a practical point of view they offer to the professor of architecture many motives of composition and ornament entirely new; and if not equal to the choicest remains of Greece are, perhaps, of more frequent use, and on both these grounds it is exceedingly to be regretted that they have been so long withheld from the public.’

Mr. W. Hamilton, the celebrated archæologist and diplomatist, who was one of the founders and first presidents of the Royal Geographical Society, and to whom we are indebted for the discovery of the Rosetta stone on board a French transport, writing on the same date, thus expresses himself: ‘They are indeed most interesting documents of his ability, fidelity, and perseverance. . . . I was particularly struck by his correct selection, amongst the many monuments he saw, of those only which were of a good time, and certainly they give a most favourable notion of the state of the arts under the first two centuries of the Roman Empire. We must not, of course, look to that quarter of the world for genuine specimens of Greek art, but these drawings afford the most convincing proofs that taste and judgment prevailed in these distant and flourishing colonies to at least as late a period as they did in Rome itself.’

No man is a better judge of architectural drawings than my esteemed friend Monsieur César Daly. I submitted two of them only for his inspection, and these by no means the most remarkable of the series—the Triumphal Arch and the Capitol of Timegad, which we had visited together. His opinion is worthy of being recorded:—‘The architectural conscience of Bruce exceeds that of most of the best architectural draughtsmen of his time, which nevertheless was rich in talent of this nature. You may remember with what care I myself designed the triumphal arch at Timegad. I intended to publish this drawing of a monument now accessible to everyone, and[9] having, as director of the Revue générale de l’Architecture, a reputation to keep up, my conscience as an artist was most particularly stimulated. Well, I have compared Bruce’s design with mine, and I repeat that I am much struck with his extreme exactness and the great conscientiousness of the man, so rigorous towards himself, regarding the design of a monument which in all probability none of his contemporaries would ever be called upon to verify.

‘During the thirty-five years that I have directed the Revue d’Architecture, that I have visited exhibitions of architecture, inspected the portfolios of architects, &c., &c., I have seen so much inexactness, which has inspired me with the most profound disgust, that I give, or rather I offer with eagerness, the tribute of my sympathy and respect wherever I find talent joined to honesty. I admired Bruce as a brave and intelligent traveller; now I love him as a serious and honest artist. I thank you once more. You will certainly find a means of publishing these treasures; they belong to science; they honour England in Bruce, and will serve most happily to teach us that which existed here and there in our Algeria, and which unfortunately exists no longer, or only in a state of débris.’

Bruce makes frequent allusion to drawings of his being ‘in the King’s collection,’ and in one place he remarks: ‘They composed three large volumes folio, two of which I presented to the King; one, not being then finished, remains in my custody to this day.’

These two volumes of drawings were exhibited by Her Majesty the Queen, through Mr. Woodward, the late Librarian at Windsor, to the Society of Antiquaries of London, on March 27, 1862.[8] I have not had an opportunity of inspecting these, and I am not aware of what the contents of the volumes in question may be: it is to be hoped that they contain drawings of the interesting monuments of which no sketches sufficiently finished to admit of reproduction exist in the Kinnaird collection, namely, the Amphitheatre of El-Djem and the Triumphal Arch of Diana Veteranorum.

All the relics and documents of this traveller have been preserved with scrupulous care; but I cannot resist expressing an opinion that his drawings, of which the Barbary sketches form only a portion, should not be allowed to remain in any private hands, but should be religiously enshrined in our national collection.

To reproduce the entire series would be a work of great magnitude and expense; nor is it necessary, either from an architectural or an archæological point of view. In Bruce’s own days they could only have been published by the costly process of[10] engraving. Photographic processes have now greatly facilitated the publication of such drawings, and permit us to lay them before the public as actual fac-similes.

In making my selection, I have as a rule preferred such drawings as I believe to have been done by Bruce himself on the spot; but I have included some of the more finished sketches to show the share that Balugani had in them, and specimens of those that I believe to have been subsequently executed in Scotland.

A few words are still necessary as to the manuscripts, which the traveller has left, and which are of the most fragmentary and unsatisfactory description.

They consist of the following documents:—

1. A carefully-written autobiography, intended for the Hon. Daines Barrington, Bruce’s intimate friend, after the publication of his travels. It is fantastically, perhaps conceitedly, entitled, ‘Memoirs of One Unknown.’ It alludes with some asperity to the reception his book met with, and professes great contempt of the doubts thrown on his veracity. It extends to about 86 pages of long folio, and bears date April 14, 1788.

2. A rough note-book of Arab manufacture, in which entries were evidently made from day to day immediately after each halt. On the first page is this memorandum:—

This contains a record of his journey from November 5, 1765, till December 30 in the same year. At the end are a few rough details of architecture, and copies of inscriptions.

3. A few sheets of native paper, as if torn out of a note-book similar to, but not exactly the same size as the preceding, containing a note on the Aqueduct at Arriana, and the records of his journey from December 29, 1765, till his arrival at Gabes about the middle of the following month. It is marked No. 7, which is erased, and No. 3 substituted. A fac-simile is given of one page of this manuscript (Plate XXV.).

4. A note-book, 12mo., of Arab paper, marked No. 2, containing notes on the Pentapolis, and of his subsequent journey in Syria and the Red Sea.

5. A similar book, marked No. 6, containing notes on the Pentapolis.

6. A volume containing, as its name indicates, ‘Basso-relievos, Statues, and Inscriptions, 1765.’

7. Draft of original letter, in Bruce’s handwriting, to Mr. Wood, author of the work on ‘Baalbec and Palmyra,’ dated Tunis, April 2, 1766, published in Vol. I. of ‘Bruce’s Travels,’ Appendix No. XXIII.

[11]8. A note on ‘Tripoly in Africa,’ certainly not written by Bruce.

9. An autograph memoir on the Island of Tabarca.

10. An autograph memoir on Tunis and Djerba, the island of the Lotophagi.

11. An original letter, dated London, June 16, 1775, to Mr. Seton (of Touch?), giving an account of his adventure with the Arab chief at Lambessa. This has been published in Major Cumming Bruce’s pamphlet, 1837.

In addition to these manuscripts and drawings, Bruce brought a very interesting collection of antiquities from North Africa, consisting of fragments of sculpture and inscriptions, including part of the frieze of the Temple of Hercules at Kef, a number of medals and coins, a small bronze statue of Mercury, and an exquisite bronze vase, which forms the design on the cover of this work. It has four faces, two of nymphs and two of satyrs, very beautifully executed, of a date probably not later than the second century. These are all in the possession of Lord Thurlow.

There is little doubt that Bruce transcribed his rough notes, and added many particulars, then fresh in his memory, which he did not think it necessary to record in his daily journal. This occurred during his residence at the island of Djerba. Probably this manuscript was not included amongst the books and drawings which he forwarded from Tripoli in Africa to Smyrna, or those which he despatched at Bengazi to Tripoli in Syria, in which case they would certainly have been lost during the shipwreck at Bengazi. His pocket-book was saved there, and may be the manuscript which I have numbered 2, into which 3 would naturally fit, but almost everything else he possessed was lost, especially

In addition to illustrating Bruce’s travels, I have had another object in view—to furnish an advanced hand-book of travel to those who, like myself, dislike diligence routes and French auberges, and revel in the delightful liberty of life on horseback and under canvas. I hope they will find many such suggestions as to routes here, as I should have been glad of myself, though they must not expect to be treated with the same amount of hospitality.

And here I think I ought, in justice to myself, to acknowledge the authorship of ‘Murray’s Handbook to Algeria.’ I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to avoid any allusion to the districts therein described; but this was not always possible, and passages will, no doubt, be found, which, but for this avowal, might lay me open to the charge of obtaining my information from a popular work in everybody’s hands.

Every word of these manuscripts relating to his Barbary journey I have embodied[12] in my text, either in the order in which I visited the places, or, where I was unable to do so, as a continuous narrative in his own words.

I have elsewhere acknowledged my deep obligations to Monsieur César Daly, with whom I had the pleasure of making the first part of my journey. I would also record how much I am indebted to Professor Donaldson, the Nestor of British architects, who, ever since he signed the letter to Major Cumming Bruce, before quoted, in 1837, has felt the deepest interest in Bruce’s work; he greatly aided me in making the best possible selection of the drawings for publication, and in many other respects he has given me the benefit of his great professional knowledge and experience.

I cannot conclude these introductory remarks without allusion to a letter which has reached me since the manuscript was in the publishers’ hands, and which has to me almost the solemnity of a voice from beyond the tomb. Mrs. Whitely Dundas, of Clifton, after stating that she had seen in the papers a paragraph to the effect that I had recently been instrumental in erecting a stained-glass window and memorial brass in the church at Algiers to Bruce, and that I was occupied on a work to illustrate his travels in this country, adds: ‘I can well imagine, even after the lapse of so many years, how proud and gratified my mother would have been could she have lived to see this day. She was Bruce’s only daughter, and died before her father’s fame and veracity were fully established.’

If what has been to me so great a labour of love shall have the effect of adding one leaf to the well-earned laurel-wreath of my favourite hero, I shall be amply repaid. My work has had no other object, although I have thought it advisable to combine the result of my own journeys with his, and thus to give the subject a wider interest, and make it useful for travellers in little-known parts of Algeria and Tunis.

However badly my share of the work may be performed, Bruce’s merits can hardly fail to ensure its success. Never was a trite old saying more aptly applied than that adopted by his biographer, and which I have engraved on his monument at Algiers: ‘Magna est veritas et prævalebit.’

[15]CHAPTER I.

BRUCE APPOINTED CONSUL-GENERAL AT ALGIERS.

The circumstances which induced Bruce to accept the post of Consul-General at Algiers are contained in the following extracts from his autobiography:—

While waiting at Naples for instructions to proceed to his post, Bruce visited Pæstum, the ruins of which were then but little known, and at the suggestion of Sir James Gray, the British Ambassador, made accurate drawings of those ruins, and conceived the idea of illustrating the history of that city from its various coins of different periods. This idea, which he was the first to originate, he executed with great learning and ingenuity. On proceeding to Africa, he entrusted these drawings to Sir Robert Strange, for the purpose of having them engraved; but, from circumstances which have never been explained, copies of them were surreptitiously obtained, and, on his return from Abyssinia, he found that his work had been pirated and published under another name. In his autograph memoir he expresses himself strongly on this subject, but his chief complaint is

To resume, however, Bruce’s own narrative:—

The event here alluded to is an extraordinary example of the terrorism which prevailed in Algiers at that epoch, and of the indignities to which even representatives of the most powerful nations were subjected, without provoking more than a passing remonstrance. The story is recorded in the private memorials of the Congrégation de la Mission, which have been obligingly placed at my disposal by the Superior-General in Paris. Well may he remark: ‘Nos confrères ont beaucoup travaillé et beaucoup souffert sur cette terre d’Afrique, où les Chrétiens avaient été si longtemps persécutés; maintenant la croix a heureusement triomphé, et puisque vous avez étudié l’histoire de ce pays, vous pouvez voir combien il a gagné à être délivré de la domination Mahométane.’

A French vessel had, through some mistake, fired upon an Algerian galliot, which made a prize of it, and brought it into the harbour of Algiers. Monsieur Vallière, the French Consul, went on the following day to request the Dey to restore the boat and its equipage, assuring his Highness that if the latter had been guilty of any infringement of the conventions between the two countries they would be severely punished in France. The Dey answered him that the French were only good at chicanery; they were liars, the greatest enemies of the country, and no better than spies of the Spaniards; he knew how to right himself, and would hear nothing more from the Consul, who might retire.

The Consul did retire, in company with his chancellor. In less than an hour he was again called to the palace, and, without further explanation, he was heavily chained, as were also the Vicar Apostolic, two other missionaries, the chancellor, the secretary, the Consul’s servants, and the crews of the four boats then in harbour, in all fifty-three persons. Every morning they were sent out to the hardest and most degrading labour, and exposed to the insults and jeers of the populace; harnessed two and two to stone carts and heavily ironed, they were compelled to drag their weary burden twice every day from the quarries at several miles’ distance to where the masons were at work, after which, though worn out with fatigue, the good priests’ first care was to console their fellow-captives, and to conduct public prayer in the Bagnio.

It was no vain boast on the part of Bruce that his intercession had saved this man’s life. Monsieur Laugier de Tassy, in his ‘Histoire du Royaume d’Alger,’ published at Amsterdam in 1727, gives the following account of what happened to another unhappy wretch who had insulted a British Consul, and there is little doubt that if Barbary justice had been left to take its course this man would have fared no better.

[19]‘In 1716 Mr. Thomas Thompson, British Consul, going to the Assembly Rooms of the ship captains, met on the pier a young Moor, who, it is generally believed, was drunk. The pier is very narrow, and much rain having fallen, the passage was by no means easy. The Moor would not make way for the Consul, but began to quarrel and even pushed him. The Consul asked him whether he wished to throw him off the pier, adding that he thought it rather impertinent of him not to turn aside. The Moor answered that it was well for a Christian to wish to pass before him, and at the same time seized the Consul, boxed his ears, tripped him over, threw him on the ground and placed his knee on his stomach. The Captain of the Port, having witnessed this scene from a distance, came forward and threatened the Moor, who thought it better not to wait for him and ran away. The Captain took the Consul to the house where the captains met, to console him and to repair the disorder he was in. The Admiral expressed his regret at what had happened. He told him he would report the matter to the Dey, and the Moor would soon be punished for his crime. The Admiral had great regard for the family of this young man, for his father was a friend of his and an honest merchant. When, therefore, he had laid the whole affair before the Dey, he begged him not to condemn the man to death, as he deserved, as he belonged to a respectable family, and that drink, to which he had been tempted by libertines, had been the cause of his crime. The Dey answered that he deserved to be hanged, but that out of regard for him he would be pardoned. As an example, however, and for the sake of the insulted Consul, it was necessary to punish the wretch; the Dey therefore asked the Admiral to choose the kind of punishment he liked. The Admiral chose the bastinado, and the Dey said to him, “Out of regard for thee I will spare him.” The Consul soon after arrived. The Dey, seeing him, said, “Consul, I am doing what you desire. I am sorry for what has happened to you, but you shall have justice; remain there.” He gave orders at the same time to the Moorish Bach-Chaouch to bring the accused before him. As he had not hidden himself, he was soon found and brought before the Dey, who, in great anger, said to him, “Wretch, what hast thou done?”—“I have beaten a Christian, a dog who wanted to be more than myself, and who insulted me.” The Dey, enraged at his arrogance, said, “Is it true that you have treated the British Consul in such and such a way?”—“Yes, my Lord,” he answered. “Is it worth sending for me for such a trifle?” Then the Dey, furious, cried out, “That is enough,” and pronounced sentence, which was that he should receive 2,200 stripes. This was done at once, in the presence of the Consul. He received 100 blows on the soles of the feet, so that his feet were taken off as far as the ankles, or held on by so little that Mehemed Effendi Khasnadar drew his knife and cut the skin by which they hung. As further blows[20] would have caused death, and as the Dey was anxious that he should suffer well before such a thing happened, he gave orders to conduct him to prison, so that he might regain strength. The following day, at nine in the morning, the Dey sent for the British Consul, and also for the prisoner, who there and then received the remaining 1,200 blows on his back, which was so cut up that he lost both speech and breath. But, as he was not yet dead, the Dey ordered him to be taken back to prison, and to be shut up there alone, and without help. This was done, and the poor wretch was suffered to die of pain, hunger, and thirst.’

To resume however Bruce’s narrative:—

As the first portion of Bruce’s journey is not given in the order in which he made it, I subjoin the dates of the various stages, as nearly as they can be made out.

1765.

[23]CHAPTER II.

Julia Cæsarea.

There is no written account remaining of Bruce’s explorations to the west of Algiers, and the only allusion to them is the fact that he first used his camera obscura in delineating the Kubr-er-Rumiah, or Tombeau de la Chrétienne, as it is now called.

The illustrations he has left of Julia Cæsarea, which, doubtless, he visited while still Consul-General at Algiers, are as follows:

1. A perspective view in water-colours and distemper of the Kubr-er-Rumiah, or Tomb of Juba II. No architectural details are shown, as the débris around the base had not then been cleared away.

2. Finished drawing to scale, in Indian ink, of restored plan, and elevation of Tomb.

3. Perspective view in water-colours of the same building, taken from the S.E. In the foreground are architectural fragments, including Ionic capitals, frusta of columns, and portion of entablature. [Plate I.]

4. Finished drawing to scale, in Indian ink, of front and side elevation of capitals of Ionic order; plan of columns. Elevation and section of architrave. [Plate II.]

5. Duplicate of 2; dimensions not figured.

6. Duplicate of 4.

7. Pencil drawings of coins: six coins of Ptolemy, one of Juba II.

8. Pencil drawings of coins: eight coins of Juba, four of Juba and Cleopatra Selene, one of Cleopatra Selene.

9. Pencil sketch of Tomb, very similar to 3.

10. Perspective view of Aqueduct of Cherchel. [Plate III.]

11. A view of the same, in distemper.

12. Elevation and section of the same to scale.

13 to 15. Three ornamental titles of proposed work.

[24]The site of the ancient city of Jol, subsequently Julia Cæsarea, is marked by the modern town of Cherchel, about 72 miles west of Algiers.

After the surrender of Jugurtha to Marius by his son-in-law and ally, Bocchus King of Numidia, the latter reunited to his own kingdom the provinces, which extended from Saldae, the modern Bougie, to Molocath, the modern river Molouia, on the confines of Morocco. At his death, about 91 B.C., he left the western portion of his dominions to Bogud, and the newly annexed portions to his second son Bocchus.

Fifty years later we find these two divisions of Mauritania still existing, and governed by kings bearing the same names as before, but with this difference, that it was Bogud who was King of Eastern Mauritania, and Bocchus who governed the western portion or Tingitana.[13]

The former of these took part with Cæsar in the war, which terminated in the defeat of the Pompeian army at Thapsus, and the suicide of Juba I. King of Numidia. The infant son of that monarch was taken to Rome, where he graced the triumph of the great dictator; a part of the forfeited kingdom was given to Bogud, and subsequently the western province was added by Augustus, during the reign of his son Bocchus III. That prince reigned five years over the two Mauritanias, his capital being Jol, and died B.C. 33.

In the meantime the young Juba had been carefully educated at Rome, where he attained a high literary reputation, being frequently cited by Pliny, who describes him as more memorable for his erudition than for the crown he wore, glorious as it was. Plutarch also calls him the greatest historian amongst kings.

All his works have disappeared, though a long list of them has survived; they treated of a great diversity of subjects, including history, antiquities, arts, science, grammar and geography.

In the year 26 B.C. Augustus, desiring to give to the people of the late monarch a sovereign of their own race, fixed upon this son of Juba, and restored to him the western portion of his father’s dominions, trusting to his thorough Roman education to secure his submission, and on the prestige of his race and name to win the affections of the Numidian races, and to hasten their fusion with the conquering nation.

He removed his capital to the ancient Phœnician city of Jol, to which he gave the name of Julia Cæsarea.

He died in A.D. 19, leaving a son, Ptolemy, the last independent prince of Mauritania, who was far from sharing the high qualities of his father.

Plate II.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TOMBEAU DE LA CHRÉTIENNE OR TOMB OF JUBA II.

FAC SIMILE OF PLATE OF ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS

EXECUTED BY BRUCE AFTER HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND.

(Large-size)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[25]His reign was characterised by debauchery and misgovernment, and the Mauritanians were not slow to rise in revolt, under the leadership of Tacfarinas. This war lasted for seven years, shortly after which Tiberius died, and was succeeded by Caligula, who summoned Ptolemy to Rome, and, after having received him with great honour, caused him to be killed, as he thought that the splendour of his attire excited unduly the attention of the spectators. It is more likely that he desired to appropriate the wealth that Ptolemy was known to have accumulated. This murder was followed by a serious revolution in Mauritania, which lasted several years.

The Tombeau de la Chrétienne figured by Bruce is well known to all visitors to Algiers. It is one of three somewhat similar edifices, one of which is found in each province of Algeria, the other two being the Medrassen, or Tomb of the Numidian Kings in Constantine, and El-Djedar in Oran.

This, however, is the only one mentioned by any ancient author. Pomponius Mela, in his work ‘De Situ Orbis,’ written about the middle of the first century, after the death of Juba II., but before the murder of his son Ptolemy, mentions both Cæsarea (Cherchel) and Icosium (Algiers), and states that beyond the former is the monumentum commune regiæ gentis.

This at once decides the nature of the building, which, though intended to be seen far and near, is yet entirely concealed from view at Cherchel by the mountain of Chennoua, the presumption being that the king would not care to have constantly within sight of his royal residence, the tomb which he had caused to be constructed for himself.

The resemblance to the Medrassen, or Tomb of the Numidian Kings, from whom Juba was descended, is another presumption that it was erected by him in imitation of his ancestral mausoleum.

Bruce’s illustration (Plate I.) of this monument is the only inaccurate one in the whole series. Until long after his time the podium was so encumbered with débris that it was impossible to make out the architectural details, and he has represented this portion of the edifice rather as what he imagined it to be than as it actually existed.

Juba II. married Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the celebrated Egyptian queen by Marc Antony, and there is every probability that this monument served only as his tomb, and that of his wife, who died before him. It is hardly likely that the remains of his son Ptolemy, the last of his race, could have been transferred from Rome to Africa.

The tomb must have been violated at a very early period in the search for hidden[26] treasure. A careful examination of the accumulated earth and dust within revealed traces of successive races, who had visited the place, some of whom had even made it a place of residence, but none whatever of the bodies for whose reception it had been erected.

It is called by the Arabs Kubr er-Roumiah, tomb of the Roman, or rather Christian woman, the word Roumi (fem. Roumiah) being used commonly by Arabs all over the East to designate strangers of Christian origin.

Various explanations are given of this name. Marmol mentions a tradition, that under it were interred the mortal remains of the beautiful daughter of Count Julian, over the story of whose misfortunes the muse of Southey has shed so strong an interest.

Shaw[14] states that amongst the Turks it was known by the name Maltapasy, or Treasure of the Sugar Loaf; and the belief, that it covered some great accumulation of riches, has exposed it to attacks, by which it has been much ruined, and before which a less solid structure would have altogether disappeared. Marmol adds:

‘In the year 1555 Solharraes[15] attempted to pull it down, hoping to find some treasure in it; but when they lifted up the stones there came a sort of black poisonous wasps from under them, which caused immediate death wherever they stinged, and upon that Barbarossa dropped his design.’

Many other legends and traditions are connected with it, which it would be out of place here to reproduce.

The Tombeau de la Chrétienne is built on a hill forming part of the Sahel range, 756 feet above the level of the sea, covered with a brushwood of lentisk and tree heath, situated nearly midway between Tipasa and Koleah, and to the west of Algiers.

It is a circular, or rather polygonal, building, originally about 131 feet in height; the actual height at present is 100 ft. 8 in., of which the cylindrical portion is 36 ft. 6 in., and the pyramid 64 ft. 2 in. The base is 198 feet in diameter, and forms an encircling podium, or zone, of a decorative character, presenting a vertical wall, ornamented with sixty engaged Ionic columns, 2 ft. 5 in. in diameter, surmounted by a frieze or cornice of simple form. The capitals of the columns have entirely disappeared, but they are represented in Bruce’s drawings as having very small volutes, most of the space between which is occupied by a honeysuckle flower. There are two tendrils, one on each side of the flower, but growing out of the surface of the capital, and not continuous with the flower. The necking between the capital and the shaft[27] is composed of a succession of four small petalled flowers, flatly applied, contained between an upper and a lower fillet.

The series of the colonnade has at the cardinal points four false doors, the four panels of which, producing what may have been taken to represent a cross, probably contributed to fix the appellation of Christian to it.

Above the cornice rise a series of thirty-three steps, which gradually decrease in circular area, giving the building the appearance of a truncated cone.

The whole monument is placed on a low platform 210 feet square, the sides of which are tangents to the circular base.

During the Emperor Napoleon’s last visit to Africa he charged the well-known Algerian scholar, M. Berbrugger, and M. MacCarthy, the late and present directors of the library and museum, to explore this tomb, which had never been penetrated in modern times, spite of the attempt of Salah Rais, in 1555, and the efforts of Baba Mohammed in the end of the eighteenth century, to batter it down by means of artillery.

SKETCH SHOWING THE CROSS ON THE FALSE DOORS.

In May, 1866, a hole was drilled by an Artesian sound, which gave indications of an interior cavity, and shortly afterwards an opening was made from the exterior to the interior passage. Entering by this, both the central chamber and the regular door were easily found.

Below the false door, to the E., is a smaller one, giving access to a vaulted chamber, to the right of which was the door of the principal gallery. Above this are rudely sculptured the figures of a lion and a lioness.

From this passage a large gallery, about 6 ft. 7 in. in breadth, by 7 ft. 5 in. in height, is entered by a flight of steps. Along it are niches in the wall, intended to hold lamps. Its total length is 483 feet. This winds round in a spiral direction,[28] gradually approaching the centre, where are two sepulchral vaulted chambers, one 12 ft. 4 in. by 9 ft. 3 in., and the other 12 ft. 4 in. by 9 ft. 7 in., separated from each other by a short passage, and shut off from the winding passage by stone doors, consisting of a single slab capable of being moved up and down by levers like a portcullis.

Julia Cæsarea itself, corresponding to the charming little French town of Cherchel, is situated further on, at a distance of 71 miles from Algiers, and twenty from the nearest station, El-Afroun.

Close to the twenty-second kilometric stone, counting from where the Cherchel road branches off from the main one to Miliana at Bou-Rekika, and at a distance of between six and seven miles from Cherchel, is the subject of Bruce’s second illustration (Plate III.), part of the aqueduct which led the waters of the Oued el-Hachem, and the copious springs of Djebel Chennoua into Julia Cæsarea. This consisted of two converging branches, following the contour of the hills as open channels or traversing projecting spurs by means of galleries. In only two places was it necessary to carry the water over valleys on arches; the first was at the place here illustrated, and the second about three miles further on, at the junction of the two branches, where the united waters were carried over the valley of the Oued Billah on a single series of arches, of which five are still entire.

Many piers of the others remain, and the high road now passes between two of them.

Bruce has, as usual, left no names or indication of locality on his drawings of this structure, but its condition at the present day is hardly different from what it was a century ago. And amongst his MSS. I discovered a small scrap of paper containing a memorandum in pencil, which would have removed all doubts on the subject, had any existed.

‘Shershell arches. View is that of the east side. River Hashem. Shenoa on the east. The mountain of Beni Habeeb that seen through the broken arch.’

At this spot a small stream winds through a deep and narrow valley. The aqueduct is carried over this on a triple series of arches, nearly all of which are still entire, with the exception of the gap exhibited in the illustration.

The lower and middle series consisted each of seven arches, of which five are complete, and the upper one had sixteen, of which thirteen remain.

The construction of the building cannot compare with that of the great aqueduct of Carthage; the arches are irregular in form, where irregularity does not appear to have been necessary. The masonry is of cut stone only as far as the spring of the[29] middle arches, above which it is of rubble; all the superstructure above the bottom of the specus has disappeared, but at the south end there still remains a circular basin, intended, no doubt, to break the fall of the water, which descended at a steep incline, and to collect the stones and other substances which might be washed down by it, and thus allow only a stream of clear water to flow over into the duct beyond.

Plate III.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

AQUEDUCT OF JULIA CAESARIA (CHERCHEL)

FAC-SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

The dimensions given by Bruce of this aqueduct are as follows:—

Cherchel is easily reached in one day from Algiers by railway and omnibus, and is well worthy of a visit. It is pleasantly situated on the sea coast in a very picturesque plateau west of the Oued Billah, and between the mountains of the Beni Manasser and the sea. Ruins of former magnificence exist in every direction, and wherever excavations are made, columns and fragments of architectural details are found in abundance; unfortunately, little or no regard has been paid to the preservation of the numerous remains which existed even as late as the French conquest. Most of the portable objects of interest have been removed to museums elsewhere, and nearly all the monuments have been destroyed for the sake of their stones. The large amphitheatre outside the gate to the east still retains its outline, but the bottom is encumbered with twelve or fifteen feet of débris, and is at present a ploughed field; the steps, excepting in one small corner, have disappeared, and every block of cut stone has been removed. The theatre or hippodrome near the barracks is now a mere depression in the ground, though in 1840 it was in a nearly perfect state of preservation, and was surrounded by a portico supported by columns of granite and marble, to which access was obtained by a magnificent flight of steps. Here it is said that St. Arcadius suffered martyrdom by being cut in pieces. Magnificent baths existed both in the vicinity of the amphitheatre, where is now the Champs de Mars, and on the opposite side of the town overlooking the port. Even as late as my first visit to[30] Cherchel a curious old fort existed on the public place, built, as an inscription in the museum testifies, by the Caïd Mahmoud bin Fares Ez-zaki, under the government and by order of The Emir who executes the orders of God, who fights in the ways of God, Aroudj, the son of Yakoob, in the year of the Hejira 924. This was built out of older Roman materials found on the spot by the celebrated corsair Baba Aroudj, surnamed by Europeans Barbarossa.

Numerous columns of black diorite and the brèche of Djebel Chennoua lie scattered about the place, as well as magnificent fragments of what must once have been a white marble temple of singular beauty. In the museum a great variety of fragments are collected, many of which probably belonged to the same building, together with broken statues, tumulary and other inscriptions, capitals and bases of columns, amphoræ, etc., and in one corner, amongst a heap of rubbish, are some precious specimens illustrating curious facts connected with the state of industrial arts during the time of the Romans. For instance, a small section of a leaden pipe shows us that such implements were then made by rolling up a sheet of the metal, folding over the edges, and running molten lead along the joint. An ingot of the same metal exists, as perfect as when it left the foundry, with the maker’s name in basso relievo. There is a boat’s anchor much corroded, but still perfect in shape, a sundial of curious design, and, most interesting of all, the lower half of a seated Egyptian divinity, in black basalt, with a hieroglyphic inscription. This was found in the bed of the harbour, and may have been sent as a present to the fair Cleopatra, from her native land.

One of the most interesting buildings in the town is the Military Hospital, once a Mohammedan mosque, supported on 89 columns of diorite, surmounted by capitals brought from other buildings, without regard to size or style. The bases are embedded in the ground, it having been found necessary to raise the floor, in order to protect the building from damp. The mosque, which was of immense size, has been divided by partition walls to make four separate wards.

From an antiquarian point of view, there is no place in the province of Algiers so interesting as Cherchel and its neighbourhood, and however reckless has been the destruction of the precious architectural treasures which it contained, abundance still remains to testify to the splendour of the capital of Mauritania Cæsariensis.

[31]CHAPTER III.

START FOR BONE — VISIT THE FOREST OF EDOUGH AND MINES OF AIN BARBAR.

My first expedition in the footsteps of Bruce commenced at Bone early in April 1875, and was devoted to that part of his route which lay within the French colony of Algeria. I was accompanied by a few very valued friends, and I trust that the retrospect of the two months we spent together may prove as pleasant to them as it does to me. One of them was Monsieur César Daly, Architect to the French Government, the learned and accomplished founder of the ‘Revue Générale de l’Architecture et des Travaux Publiques,’ a distinguished veteran in his own department of art, whose voluminous works are almost as highly appreciated in England as they are in France. His thorough knowledge of the subject enabled us to appreciate the Roman ruins we visited in a manner that without such a companion would have been impossible; and I cannot sufficiently thank him for the great aid and encouragement he has continued to give me in the preparation of this work.

Bone is too well known to all the tourists who visit Algeria to require any description; they visit the ruins of Hippo or Hippone, rendered sacred by memories of St. Augustine, and make various other pleasant little excursions round about; very few, however, make the most interesting one of all, the ascent of Djebel Edough, the Mons Papua, where took place some of the most important events in the history of North Africa.

When the Vandal King Genseric laid siege to Hippone, during the year in which St. Augustine died, the inhabitants of this mountain witnessed from their natural fastnesses the extinction of Roman power in Africa. A century later Belisarius reconquered the country, and Gilimer, the last of the Vandal monarchs fleeing before him, took refuge in these mountains, whence before his surrender he sent the well-known message to his conqueror, requesting that he might be supplied with a lyre, a loaf of bread, and a sponge. On being questioned as to the meaning of this strange request, his messenger replied that his master wished once more to taste the food of civilised people, from which he had been so long debarred, to sing to the[32] accompaniment of the lyre an ode to his great misfortune, and with the sponge to wipe away his tears.

In the neighbouring port of Hippo was captured the great treasure of the Vandals: ‘Silver weighing many thousand talents, and a huge mass of royal furniture (Genserick having sacked the palace at Rome), amongst which were some monuments of the Jewes brought to Rome by Titus after the destruction of Jerusalem. Subsequently, at the triumph of Belisarius in Constantinople, a Jew espying the same, standing by one of the emperor’s familiar friends—“It is not good,” quoth he, “to bring these monuments into the palace, for they cannot continue but where Solomon first put them. Hence it is that Genserick sacked the palace in Rome, and now Belisarius that of the Vandals.” The emperor, hearing this, sent them to the Christian church in Jerusalem.’[16]

For several years after the French occupation of Bone, Edough maintained a sort of independence; its inhabitants avoided all intercourse with the conquerors, and abstained from all acts of aggression.

In 1841, however, a Marabout, who lived near the Cap-de-Fer, imagined that Providence had called him to become the liberator of his country, and, as then was always the case, the moment a fanatic began to preach the Jehad or holy war, he was surrounded by a host of followers as ignorant and fanatic as himself.

Several acts of hostility and brigandage were perpetrated, which could no longer be tolerated, and a force was sent to pacify Edough, under the command of General Baraguay d’Hilliers. Three columns ascended the mountain simultaneously, from Constantine, Philippeville and Bone, and compelled the tribes to recognise the authority of the French. For a time, however, the Marabout Si Zerdoud continued at liberty, and urged his followers to resistance. The advancing columns drove the hostile Arabs on to a small promontory occupied by the Koubba of Sidi Akesh, between Cap-de-Fer and Ras Takoush, when, seeing that all further resistance was hopeless, they demanded aman. This was at once accorded; but while the negotiations were going on, a shot from the thicket behind wounded an orderly of the General, who immediately gave the order for a general massacre. Many of the Arabs threw themselves into the sea and were drowned, the rest were slaughtered without pity.

Si Zerdoud escaped at the time, but was captured shortly afterwards, and was immediately shot.[17]

My principal object in ascending Edough was to visit the copper-mine of Ain Barbar, which had lately been acquired by an English company. The road is not[33] absolutely impracticable for carriages, as carts descend daily with timber and ore and mount with supplies; but it is exceedingly rough, and after bad weather must be quite impracticable. By far the best plan is to go on horseback, and we had no difficulty in hiring excellent little animals at a moderate rate in Bone. The road ascends the southern side of the mountain, which is at first rather bare and covered with tufts of diss grass, but very soon cork oaks begin to appear, and long before reaching the culminating point the road traverses a thick forest of these trees and deciduous oak (Quercus Mirbeckii).

On the top of the hill, 3,294 feet above the level of the sea, is the village of Bugeaud, created in 1843 and named after the well-known Maréchal. It is situated in a clearing, from which there is a magnificent panoramic view of the sea on one side, and of the bay and plain of Bone on the other, bounded by the mountains of the Beni Saleh.

The winter at Bugeaud is severe, but in summer it has quite an European climate: and it will, no doubt, one day become a favourite sanitarium for the good people of Bone, who cannot all manage to get away to France during the hottest months. A few villas have already been built in the village and in its vicinity. After having traversed Algeria in every direction, I have seen no place to be compared with it as a summer residence. The distance is only eight miles from Bone, and the road, excellent for horse travellers, could be made fit for carriages at no great expense, especially during the summer months, when even the mud of winter attains the consistency of stone.

About a mile further on is the village of Edough, composed almost entirely of buildings connected with the cork establishment of Messrs. Lecoq and Berthom, who have a concession of 8,000 hectares of forest land. There is a clean and comfortable auberge here, where we had an excellent breakfast on our return.

Instead of continuing along the high road we turned off to the right, and followed a path, which has been made in connection with the aqueduct, that conveys the waters of the Fontaine des Princes to Bone. At the head of the valley is a charming retreat, where breakfast had been prepared for us by our friends at Ain Barbar. In this elevated spot the leaves had not yet begun to sprout in the beginning of April, but so many evergreen trees were mixed with the deciduous oak that we were in the densest shade. The sirocco can never find its way here; if we disbelieved the people who said so, we had only to look at the trees themselves, covered with moss and polypodium, and to the great variety of ferns which lined the roadside and peeped out of mossy nooks and springs. Truly it is a princely spring, and deserves such a name on its own merits; but the Orleans Princes once picnicked[34] here before the days of the Second Empire, and the fact has been perpetuated in their honour.

An abundant and perennial stream flows down this valley, part of which has been diverted and carried in iron pipes for the supply of Bone. The ancient city of Hippo was supplied from the same source, and the Roman bridge still exists which carried the water across the ravine. It is close to where we stopped, and is covered with ferns and wild flowers, and a venerable oak tree grows from the very centre of it. The under-shrub here consists chiefly of tree-heath, myrtle, and arbutus; the wild cherries almost attain the size of forest trees, while the ground is a perfect carpet of flowers and creepers.

At about thirteen miles from Bone, all this beautiful verdure disappeared and was replaced by blackened stumps, and the weird-looking skeletons of what had once been trees. This is the result of the fatal conflagration of 1873, which created such havoc here, and in almost all the forests of Algeria. The fire commenced in the month of April after an unusually strong sirocco; and in a few hours the City of Bone was surrounded by a belt of flame thirty miles deep, which reached almost to its gates. Many lives were lost, but happily the village of Bugeaud escaped. The destruction to the forest has been very great, almost incalculable, when we consider that the prosperity of Algeria depends entirely on its rain-fall, and that every acre of clearing exercises some influence on the climate.

I am quite satisfied, that the great difference in point of fertility between Algeria and Tunis is owing to the almost utter destruction of forests in the latter country. I shall endeavour to prove this when the time comes for me to follow Bruce’s footsteps there. Fortunately many of the trees were only scorched and not entirely destroyed; they are beginning to sprout again, and the under-shrub will soon be as thick as ever. After passing this gloomy belt the character of the scenery changes; Aleppo pines begin to mingle with the oaks, the road takes a turn to the west, running parallel to the sea, and soon the burnt portion of the forest is shut out from view.

The first impression that naturally occurs to the traveller here is, that, though the whole country is an alternation of forest land and grassy slopes, there is not a sign of habitation; yet it is impossible to conceive a locality better suited for colonisation, especially for the growth of vines, which, I believe, are destined, at no very distant period, to become the staple production of Algeria. Wherever the experiment has been tried, the result has been remunerative, and the wine of excellent quality.

The mines of Ain Barbar are situated at about 25 miles from Bone. The right of working the mineral over an area of 1,300 hectares has been purchased by the Anglo-Algerian Mineral Company from the original concessionaires, and, so far as I[35] can learn, the enterprise promises to be remunerative. The principal mineral is sulphide of copper, or copper pyrites, containing on an average 12 per cent. of pure metal, together with sulphide of zinc or blende, containing as much as 40 per cent. Small quantities of argentiferous lead ore have also been found. A large village is springing up at this spot; it is extremely healthy and tolerably cool in summer, being situated at an elevation of 1,460 feet above the sea.

There is a bridle-path by which a traveller can descend to the French iron mines of Ain Mokra, and so by railway to Bone; but the road through the forest is so beautiful that he will generally be only too glad to return by the way he came. A few lions still remain in the neighbourhood, and have been seen within a mile or two of Bone; panthers are more common, but the numbers of both are decreasing very sensibly every year.

We spent two days with our kind hosts at the mines, and it required no small amount of determination to resist their schemes for our detention, but we had a long journey before us, which must be done before the heats of summer set in, and we could not afford to linger at all the pleasant places on our way.

[36]CHAPTER IV.

BONE TO GUELMA — RUINS OF ANNOUNA — HAMMAM MESKOUTIN — ROKNIA — CAVE OF DJEBEL THAYA— MAHADJIBA — THE SOUMAH.

We left Bone on April 13, for Guelma. It is no part of my plan to take the reader over beaten paths and well-known ground—the guide-books will tell him all he wants to know regarding these—but I cannot resist asking him to accompany me in several excursions we made in parts of the country quite unknown to the English traveller, and of which he will find no trace in ‘Murray.’

Our first resting-place was Guelma, and here I must acknowledge with gratitude the extreme kindness I have ever received from General Chanzy, Governor-General of Algeria, during my numerous wanderings in the colony. His letters of recommendation to the civil and military authorities have always ensured me a most distinguished reception, and have enabled me to visit places, which would have been very difficult of access to the simple traveller. I have described Guelma on a former occasion;[18] the only object of interest, which I had not noticed before and which M. Daly seized upon with delight, was a Roman tombstone in the square facing the hotel. It was that of a young man twenty-five years of age, who too confidently hoped that his wife would have rested beside him. The work is rude in point of art, but extremely beautiful in conception. It is a monolith of rose-coloured marble, square in plan, consisting of a pedestal with cornice, plinth and base, supporting a crowning part rising on the same plan, terminating in an architectural feature which has now disappeared. On the principal façade the top piece bears a circular wreath enclosing two portrait busts, in relief, that of the man only being completed, the features of the woman are not chiselled. The plinth has a garland suspended from the cornice, below which the surface is divided vertically for two inscriptions; that of the man only is filled up.

[37]On the left side of the plinth is a folding door just shutting, symbolical of the terrestrial home which is being closed for ever. Above the cornice on the same side is another one opening, representing the life to come. This is confirmed by the opposite side, which bears on the plinth the figure of a winged child with reversed flambeau, while above it is a cock crowing, to represent the opening day. The cock is standing on a figure resembling a loop; it may possibly be intended for a serpent, the emblem of immortality.

At Guelma, the commandant-superior kindly provided us with tents and spahis for our intended explorations; but before commencing these, we visited the hot springs of Hammam Meskoutin, which none of my companions had seen. We also paid a visit to the ruins of Tibilis, which, though easily accessible from Guelma, are rarely visited by the tourist. They are close to the village of Ain Amara, on the highway between Guelma and Constantine.

Just after passing the 87th kilometric stone, a narrow path to the left descends a steep ravine, in which flows the Oued Announa, and mounts to the plateau on which stood the Roman city of Tibilis. The distance in a direct line is not more than three quarters of a mile from Ain Amara—by the road it is about a mile and a half.

The ruins stand on an open platform scarped on all sides except the S.W., where it joins the lower counterforts of Ras el-Akba. The view in the opposite direction looking eastward towards Guelma is extremely fine, and these two considerations, capability of defence, and a picturesque situation, appear here, as everywhere else in Algeria, to have determined the selection of the site. The ruins are worthy of a visit, though by no means in the best style of Roman art. They consist of a triumphal arch of the Corinthian order, with a single opening; on each side are two pilasters, the capital of one only exists; in front of these were disengaged columns, which have entirely disappeared, as also the whole of the entablature.

There are the remains also of what appears to have been another triumphal arch or one of the city gates, with two openings of equal size. The piers, which supported the arches, had a double Corinthian fluted pilaster embracing each angle, or eight pilasters to each pier. There is a Christian basilica, probably of the Byzantine period, and several other buildings of greater or less importance, fragments of the city walls, and frusta of columns lying about in every direction.

Announa was first described by Peyssonnel, who says:—

‘The numerous ruins in cut stone still remaining, show that it must have been a large and beautiful city; four gates similar to those of Paris, though smaller, still remain. They are detached works with pilasters of the order Corinthian-Ionic. Two of these are double, like that of St. Bernard at Paris. Towards the mountain are the[38] ruins of a church, above the door is a cross pattée with an A and a P under the limbs of the cross. There are also great fragments of columns, of which some are four or five feet in diameter, and 30 or 40 feet long, others smaller.’[19] Shaw also mentions Announa by name, but there is no reason to believe that he ever actually visited it.

No important inscription has ever, as far as I am aware, been found here, by which the age of this city may be determined; but, to judge from those hereafter mentioned as existing in the entrance to the cave of Djebel Thaya, the third century was probably the culminating period of its prosperity. Few of the monuments are at all likely to have been built at a period anterior to this date.

There is a little wayside inn at Ste. Cécile, the junction of the Oued Bou-Hamdan and Oued Cherf, near which the road to Hammam Meskoutin branches off. On a previous visit to this place, I witnessed a rather curious experiment in vivisection. Our party had come unexpectedly upon the good people, and found that they had absolutely nothing to give us for supper, not even the usual standing dishes of omelette and sausages. I asked the hostess if, living so close to two rivers, she never had fish; her countenance cleared up at once, and she said that if we cared for the fish of the country, we might have as many as we pleased in ten minutes. She sent her son, with a casting-net, to the river, and he soon returned with a magnificent basketful of barbel, some weighing nearly half a pound. No time was to be lost—we were starving—so our hostess at once emptied the fish into a tub, cut them open, cleaned and brushed out their inside with a little broom made of twigs, and threw them into another tub of clean water. To our astonishment, the fish swam about as if no such liberties had been taken with their interiors, and so continued to swim about, until subsequently transferred to the frying-pan! If my story is discredited, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that Shaw shared the same fate when talking of his lion-eaters, and Bruce’s raw beef was long considered an impudent fiction.

We slept at the hot springs of Hammam Meskoutin on the night of the 14th April, and on the following day made an excursion on horseback to Roknia, a distance of about six miles.

Here, on the west side of Djebel Debagh, is an immense necropolis of megalithic tombs, generally of the same type, rough stones placed in an upright position, enclosing the actual grave, and covered with a large flat slab. We excavated a number, and found them to contain human remains and cups of pottery. Not far off are 300 or 400 caves, some quite natural, others excavated by the hand of man, which have evidently served as residences for the living as well as tombs for the dead. A few[39] fragments of a bronze bracelet were found in one and a bronze ring in another. In the present state of Algerian archæology it is impossible to fix with any precision the age of these dolmens. Notwithstanding the interesting memoirs and researches of General Faidherbe, MM. Bourguignat, Berbrugger, Féraud, Bertherand and Bourjot, we have insufficient data for coming to any definite conclusion; one thing is certain, that if they were commenced in prehistoric times they were continued down to a late period of the Roman occupation. M. Ph. Thomas found in one of the dolmens of Sigus a vase unmistakably of Roman origin, containing a quantity of black mould, amongst which was a coin of Domitian; his bust was crowned and surrounded by a long Latin inscription, recording his titles of Augustus and Germanicus, and his elevation for the fourteenth time to the consular dignity. M. Letourneux is also said to have found in the Aures Mountains megalithic monuments, some of the stones of which were evidently the remains of Roman edifices.

On the 16th April we started for Djebel Thaya, which is about sixteen miles distant. Shortly after leaving the baths, the road crosses the Bou Hamdan, and passes amongst the hills to the left of that river, following a north-westerly direction. Many beautiful views are obtained, especially that from the crest of a spur of Thaya; on the right is a sterile hill called El-Gharar, on the left the lofty and fertile mountain of the Beni Ibrahim, on the top of which is a conspicuous conical rock called Hadjar eth-Theldj, or stone of ice. At last, after a short descent, we crossed the Oued El-Khoorshif, and came in sight of the entrance to the cave, high up in the face of a mass of rock rising abruptly to our left.

We found that three tents had been pitched for our accommodation, and that the Sheikh of the district, Tahar ben el-Fitisi, with a number of Arabs, was waiting to receive us. It was too late to do anything that night, so we contented ourselves with examining the entrance and walking about the neighbourhood, which was most picturesque. The cold was intense, and, though we piled all available garments upon our beds, we seemed to get no warmer. It did not occur to us till afterwards that, as we used canteen beds, which consist only of a single sheet of canvas, stretched on poles, we should have put some of our wraps below us; one side of our bodies was protected by a thick layer of covering, the other had no protection whatever, save the canvas.

Early next morning we commenced our exploration; our party consisted of three ladies and two gentlemen. I dare not venture to describe the costume adopted by the former; it was thoroughly well adapted for the purpose, but, to say the least, it was unusual. M. Daly and I put on some old rags, which we intended to throw away afterwards. All of us had Spanish rope espadrillas instead of shoes, and[40] miners’ lamps in our hands. We had a large number of Arab guides to attend us, each of whom carried a lighted candle in his hand, and an abundant reserve in case of need.

The opening of the cave is on the north-west side of the mountain, which is composed of a compact limestone. The entrance-passage is spacious, being in no place less than ten feet in height; the exterior portion opens out like a hall, well lighted, dry, and adorned with beautiful tufts of ivy-leaved and other ferns. On the sides are carved numerous Roman inscriptions, so much effaced by time as to be hardly legible. M. Bourguignat, who was one of the first to explore this cave, has published an elaborate, but rather fanciful description of it.[20] He counted fifty-three inscriptions on the left, eight on the right, and three on the roof. Nearly all begin with the letters B.A.S.; one, better preserved than the others, has the words BACICI. AVG. SAC., from which it is inferred that this cavern is dedicated to the god Bacax; it is further gathered from the inscriptions, that every year the magistrates of Tibilis (Announa) came, with much ceremony, on a pilgrimage to Thaya, to offer a sacrifice to the god of the cavern. The inscriptions contain the names of consuls who were elected under the Emperors Caracalla and Geta, A.D. 211, and from this date they are mentioned up to A.D. 268. The following is one of them:—

which may thus be rendered: ‘In the year of the Consuls Gentianus and Bassus (A.D. 211), the 7th of the Ides of May, Caius Julius Frontinianus and Modestinus, Magistrates of Thibilis, offered sacrifice to the august Bacax.’ One is commemorative of two brothers, who strayed into the cavern and were lost there, an accident which might very easily happen at the present day, and which probably would happen to anyone entering without experienced Arab guides. The god Bacax is unknown to history; probably he was one of the local deities adopted by the Romans.

On leaving the passage containing the inscriptions, the cave descends at an angle of not less than 45 degrees; the ground is covered with a thick layer of loose stones, which roll down with alarming velocity at almost every step made in advance. Great care should be taken to keep well to the right hand, as on the left there is an abyss[41] which has never been explored, but which must be of great depth, and nearly vertical. This is the most alarming part of the whole descent, and one lady of the party found herself unable to face it, and returned. The two others were made of sterner stuff, and proved themselves the best acrobats of the party.

From the foot of this ramp the cave extends, with many accidents of level, to nearly three quarters of a mile in length and a thousand feet in vertical depth. The descent is difficult, and even dangerous throughout, as deep holes occur at numerous places, in which an unwary explorer might easily be engulfed. Sometimes we had to drop down steep precipices, by the aid of projecting stalagmites, at others to slide down muddy gradients, now to creep through small holes and narrow passages, and again to wade through pools of liquid mud. We traversed vast halls, intricate labyrinths, passages, and chambers of every size and form. Groves of stalactites and stalagmites adorn the sides, while the lofty vaults are hung with the most exquisite fret-work, like the roof of a Gothic cathedral. The finest of all is the great domed chamber, at the bottom, which gives to the cave its Arab name, Ghar el-Djamäa (Cave of the Mosque); it is an immense, nearly circular, cavity, with domed roof; from the ground rise magnificent stalagmites, like the trunks of palm trees, and in the centre is a huge block of stone, which M. Bourguignat imagines to have been an altar to Bacax. It may have been so; we certainly observed marks of fire and fragments of blackened Roman pottery upon it, but it must have been a matter of no small difficulty to convey animals for sacrifice to it.

One of the most exquisite spots in the cave was a long, narrow passage, which, our guides assured us, they had never observed before. It was not convenient to enter, as we had to creep on our hands and knees in water, and could in no place sit upright, but the effect was very beautiful; the walls were of dazzling whiteness, and the floor a series of cells, like a honeycomb, filled with beautifully pure water. We christened this hall ‘Salle Cobden,’ after our companions. I inscribed the name with the smoke of my lamp, on the roof, and I record the fact in order that future generations may know the meaning of the inscription, and not puzzle themselves as much over it as we did over Bacax.

We had an abundant supply of blue lights and red fire, and one of the grandest effects was produced by sending Arabs with these to illuminate distant caves and galleries, while we remained in the darkness of some central hall.

A comparatively small portion of the cave has been explored. The Arabs say that there is no end to it. We spent more than five hours there, and I am sure that we did not see half its beauties. When we did emerge into the light of day, I leave the reader to imagine our condition; I certainly shall not venture to describe[42] it. Luckily there was abundance of hot water awaiting us, and gradually we returned to our normal condition.

In visiting this cave a few precautions are absolutely necessary.

1. The traveller should provide himself with a tent.

2. He should never attempt to penetrate without Arab guides.

3. He should have an abundant supply of candles, matches, and blue lights, or magnesium wire.

4. He should have canvas shoes with hempen soles to prevent himself from slipping, and he should only wear such clothes as he is content to abandon afterwards.

We made up our mind to proceed to Constantine on horseback, by an unfrequented path; so we sent back our tents from Djebel Thaya, and determined to content ourselves with such accommodation as we could find on the way.

We started on the morning of April 18. The road passed through a great variety of scenery—cork forests, fertile valleys, wide stretches of pasture land, everywhere well watered. Some of the streams are as beautiful as if they had been transported from a Highland glen.

At about 10 miles from Thaya, we passed an Arab market, Souk el-Arbäa, where a fair is held every Wednesday. There are a few buildings, generally unoccupied save on market day.

At Tarafana, some distance further on, is a remarkable isolated mass of rock, fifty or sixty feet high, on the right of the road; on the west side of it are the remains of a building of large cut stones, either of Roman construction or more probably erected by the Byzantines out of older material. Its position in the centre of this fertile valley clearly enough indicates that it must have been a military post. On a rising ground to the left of the road, opposite to it, are a few large dolmens, which, unfortunately, our time would not allow us to excavate.

Shortly after this we entered a long plain and saw, far off in the distance, the village of El-Aria, which we hoped to reach that night. We felt very tired, not having yet got habituated to marching, and longed to know exactly how many weary miles we still had to travel. Two human beings alone appeared in sight, and they were mere specks in the distance, and might be Arabs, who had no idea whatever of distance or time; as they approached they assumed the very pleasant forms of a well-to-do farmer, out for an evening ride accompanied by his young daughter. He counselled us not to attempt to go any farther that night, but to accompany him to his farm of El-Khanaba, which was close at hand. We needed no second invitation, and I am sure that none of us will ever think of M. and Mme. A——— and their fair[43] young daughter without the most pleasant reminiscence of the night we spent under their hospitable roof.

He took us all over his farm and showed us some interesting ruins, which proved that it must have been an important agricultural establishment in the time of the Romans. The foundations of a handsome villa still exist, mill-stones and immense amphoræ have been dug up, and a perfect mine of cut stones, which have been utilised in constructing the modern farm buildings.

Next morning, April 19, our host and his daughter insisted on accompanying us some distance on our way; poor girl, it was such a boon to her to meet a party of English ladies, that she could not contemplate bidding them adieu without a little moistening of the eyes. She had no neighbour within many miles, and, but for the fact of her being a good horsewoman, must have felt it very lonely, living so far from other Europeans.

They advised us strongly to visit some interesting Roman remains at no great distance, which but for them we should have missed, Mahadjiba, or Kasr-el-Mahdjouba, the Castle of the Female Recluse and the Seniore of the Itinerary of Antoninus.

The position of this city or stronghold was admirably chosen from a strategic point of view, being built on an isolated hill, the top of which is a rough triangle rising abruptly from the plain and sloping backwards towards its base in a series of terraces.

In front of it is an extensive stretch of rich corn and pasture land, reaching as far as Constantine, while behind it on the South is a narrow pass in the Fedj-bou-Ghareb, a remarkable scarped hill of compact limestone, giving access to the plain of the Amer Cheraga and Oued Zenati, in which are situated 83,000 out of the 100,000 hectares of land so lavishly granted to the Société Generale Algérienne by the late Emperor.

Thus this position completely commanded the ancient highway between Cirta and Kalama, as it now commands the Arab road between Constantine and Guelma.

The whole hill is covered with the remains of buildings constructed of huge blocks of cut stone; some of the walls are entire to above the level of the first-floor, the holes for the reception of the joists being distinctly visible. The principal and best-preserved edifice is the tower, from which the ruins derive their Arab name, an elegant and massive building, which perhaps formed the citadel of the place. It consists of a rectangular inner keep about 30 ft. by 18, and 40 high, complete as far as the cornice. It was divided in ground plan into two portions, communicating with a door which was about half the whole interior width; there were probably also two or more stories. This was surrounded on three sides by an outer wall four feet thick, forming a spacious enclosure, the whole being a part of the general system of defence. The fourth side[44] of the tower, towards the body of the place, was not thus surrounded; a simple prolongation of its face completed the enceinte. The walls of the tower are pierced with narrow apertures, like modern loop-holes for musketry, while the outer wall has larger ones, resembling embrasures for artillery.

Two different styles of masonry are observable in the outer walls of this building, the stones in both being identical. The lower courses are accurately and closely joined, the upper ones much more loosely put together. This would indicate that, like many other Roman strongholds, Seniore was more or less destroyed by the Vandals, or suffered to fall into decay during their occupation, and restored by Belisarius or his successor Solomon. Every building in the place seems to have been built with a view to defence. All have the same loopholes, and many of them have what appears to have been a species of portcullis.

This was formed by two immense upright blocks of stone, a, a, having an exterior and interior groove. In the former large flat stones were dovetailed, c, and it is probable that some of these were habitually left out, and only put into position during an actual siege; the lowest one generally exists at present in its proper place. In times of peace, bars of wood, b, one above the other, let into the inner grooves, formed a more temporary barrier.

At the base of the hill below the citadel is an arch of cut stone, giving access to a subterranean passage, whence flowed a stream of water. This is now choked up, and the water has forced itself a passage through the débris about a hundred yards further down, where it has created a little oasis of trees, the only ones as far as the eye can reach. Here, again, the destruction of forests has been taking place. Shaw, alluding to it, says, ‘There is a large tower at this place, besides a fountain of excellent water, and good pasturage, but the forests all about it are so frequented with wild beasts that the Girfah will rarely sit down in the neighbourhood of it.’[21]

M. Renier gives ten inscriptions found here, but none of them of any great importance,[22] and illustrations of the ruins have been made both by Ravoisier and De la Marre.[23]

On the hill to the left are several dolmens and cromlechs mixed up with the remains of Roman tombs and modern Arab graves.

On the opposite side of the valley is seen El-Aria, or, more correctly, El-Haria, the goal of our journey yesterday, twenty-five miles from the cave, and nineteen from[45] Constantine. A caravanserail was built there when the road between Guelma and Constantine passed by it; now the direction is changed, and the building had been abandoned. At the time of our journey a village was in process of construction; it is intended to contain sixteen homesteads, to be occupied by colonists having means sufficient to build their own houses. Each family has received a gratuitous concession of ninety acres of land, but they complained loudly that their allotments were generally in three different positions remote from each other. The Mairie, schools, and other public offices, were to be in the old caravanserail.

After leaving Mahadjiba we went in a south-westerly direction towards El-Khroub, for the purpose of visiting another remarkable ruin, which is only two miles from it, and nine-and-a-half from Constantine, but which is hardly ever visited by English travellers. It is called by the Arabs Es-Soumah, the minaret, a term which they habitually employ to designate any ancient mausoleum or tower-like monument.

This beautiful edifice, the history of which is quite unknown, is in the purest Doric style, and probably dates from the first century. It is built on a mound near the eastern boundary of the territory of Cirta, as has been proved by the discovery of a stone bearing the inscription A.P.C. (ager publicus Cirtensium),[24] and close to the high road between that city and Kalama on the one hand, and Lambessa on the other. Its object was either to serve as the mausoleum of some distinguished person or to commemorate a great victory.

The building as it now exists is composed of three principal parts, a square base, of nearly 10 feet high, surmounted by three gradients, each 20 inches in height. Above these gradients rises a plinth of 3 ft. 7 in., crowned by a splendid cornice, of a bold and firm, yet refined, character, measuring 26 inches in height. At this level a course of stones, 20 inches high, retired from the cornice by 12 inches on all sides, extends like a pavement over the upper surface of the monument, and serves as a footing to four square pillars that occupy each angle, leaving a distance outside of nearly a yard on the two exterior faces. The courses of stone in the pillars are 2 ft. high, and 5 ft. 8 in. on each side. Prominent round bucklers decorate the outward faces of each of these pillars.

Unfortunately, at this point the monument has been thrown to the ground, and it is amongst the ruins that a search must be made for the completion and restoration of the buildings. No doubt, earthquakes contributed greatly to its destruction, but there is abundant evidence that the hand of man was not foreign to the work. Part of the material is scattered in every direction, but it is principally on the north side that it lies heaped up to the level of the floor. We found beautiful capitals of the[46] Doric order, frusta of columns without fluting of any description, soffits decorated with geometric forms, small entablatures, evidently belonging to the interior of the ruined part of the building, and fragments of the superior cornice. No doubt, the square pillars supported columns crowned with a pediment of some sort, and leaving between them an open vista to expose to view and protect some notable object, such as a statue or a sarcophagus.

The whole building is formed of beautifully cut stone, joined with great perfection. No trace of mortar can be perceived.

The ground around it has risen in the course of ages nearly to the level of the base, but in 1861 the south and part of the east side were cleared of débris,[25] and a vain attempt made to penetrate to the interior. The problem of its origin still remains unsolved; but a careful search amongst the accumulated ruins on the north side would, doubtless, be richly rewarded.

No detailed description, so far as I am aware, has been published of this monument, but excellent illustrations, and a proposed restoration of it, are given by M. Ravoisier.[26]

From the Soumah we continued our ride to Constantine, where we arrived just as it was getting dark, and here, for the first time, we found ourselves on the track of Bruce.

[47]CHAPTER V.

CONSTANTINE.

The remarkable situation of the city of Constantine has pointed it out from the earliest times as an important fortress, and as one of the natural capitals of a country which has been the scene of perpetual wars and revolutions.

It formerly bore the name of Cirta or Kirta, a word which in the Numidian dialect signified an isolated rock.

It was the capital of Syphax, who according to Livy possessed a splendid palace here; of Masinissa and Micipsa, the last of whom, as stated by Strabo, adorned it with many fine buildings, and it was the scene of some of the most stirring events of the second and third Punic wars. Here the fair Sophonisba, wife of Syphax, was taken by Masinissa, who himself married her, and on her being claimed by Scipio, as the prisoner of the State, he sent her a cup of poison, which she instantly drank, merely remarking that she would have died with more honour had she not wedded at her funeral.

It was erected into a colony by Julius Cæsar, under the government of Sallust, to recompense the partisans of Publius Sittius Nucerinus, who had rendered him important services, and was called Cirta Sittianorum or Cirta Julia till the fourth century, when it received the name of Constantina, which it ever afterwards retained.

Owing partly to its natural strength, and partly to the fact of its bishop being a Donatist, it escaped destruction when Genseric and his Vandals overran the country; and Belisarius, when he drove out the barbarians, found the Roman buildings still intact.

After the Arab invasion, in the 7th century, it fell into decay, and during the successive sieges which it had to withstand, and the centuries of Arab and Turkish misrule which succeeded, its ancient monuments were destroyed; but it was not till after the French occupation that these entirely disappeared, to make room for inevitable ‘municipal improvements.’

[48]Constantine occupies the summit of a plateau of rock, nearly quadrilateral in shape, the faces corresponding to the cardinal points, and its surface sloping from north to south. Its sides rise perpendicularly nearly 1,000 feet from the bed of the river Roumel, the ancient Ampsaga, which surrounds it on the north and east, and it is connected on the west side only, by an isthmus, with the mainland.

The deep ravine through which the river flows varies in breadth from about 200 feet on the south-east side to nearly double that distance opposite the Kasbah, and it is spanned on the north-east side by four natural arches of rock, about 200 feet above the stream, one of which served as the foundation for the bridge of El-Kantara. Four other bridges spanned it in the time of the Romans, of which the traces are still visible, but the most important, and the only one remaining in modern times, was that just mentioned.

An excellent description of this arch has been left by El-Bekri, the Arab geographer of the eleventh century, who says:—

‘This bridge is of a remarkable structure, its height above the level of the water being about 100 cubits; it is one of the remains of Roman architecture; it is composed of five upper and lower arches, which span the valley. Three of these, namely those to the west, have two storeys, as we have said; they are intended for the passage of water, while the upper ones form a communication between the two sides of the ravine. Regarding the others, they abut against the mountain. These arches are supported by piers, which break the violence of the torrent, and are pierced at their summit by small openings. When there are extraordinary floods, which sometimes take place, the water which rises above the top of the piers escapes by means of these orifices. This is, we repeat, one of the most remarkable buildings ever seen.’[27]

Peyssonnel, who visited it in 1724, describes it as ‘a very fine structure, with three rows of arcades, and a height of about 250 feet, but rather narrow, having fallen.’

Shaw thus describes the bridge in 1728:—‘The gate towards the S.E. is in the same fashion and design, though much smaller, and lyeth open to the bridge that I have mentioned to have been built over this part of the valley. The bridge was a masterpiece of its kind, having had the gallery and the columns of the arches adorned with cornishes and festoons, axe-heads and garlands; the key-stones likewise of the arches are charged with caducei and other figures. Betwixt the two principal arches we see, in strong relief, well executed, the figure of a lady treading upon two elephants, with a large escallop shell for her canopy. The elephants, turned towards each other,[49] twist their trunks together; and the lady, who appears dressed in her hair, with a close-bodied garment like the riding-habit of our times, raiseth up her petticoats with her right hand, and looks scornfully upon the city.’[28]

Plate IV.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

EL-KANTARA OF CONSTANTINE IN 1765

BEFORE ITS RECONSTRUCTION BY SALAH BEY, IN 1792

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

This curious piece of sculpture is still visible in the foundations of the old bridge, though time has worn out the look of scorn in the good lady’s face.

Bruce was the next traveller who describes it, and his is the most interesting of all, because it is pictorial. He has left two drawings—one (Pl. IV.), a beautiful and artistic sketch in Indian ink, which I have chosen for reproduction, and the other, a highly-finished drawing with figures by Balugani, intended, no doubt, for presentation to the King. He says:—

There can be no doubt whatever of the extreme accuracy of Bruce’s drawings when unadorned by Balugani. This one, therefore, has an exceptional interest, as it shows the condition of the bridge before its restoration by Salah Bey; it is the only sketch extant of the ancient structure.

In 1792, Salah Bey caused it to be restored by Don Bartolomeo, an architect from Port Mahon, in the Balearic Islands, who rebuilt the upper part, the two lower arches and the three piers which sustained them being in a perfectly sound condition.

He commenced to obtain his stone from Mahon, but that proving too costly, he made use of such as he found on the plateau of Mansourah, and especially of the triumphal arch, which the Arabs called Kasr el-Ghoula, the fortress of the Ogress, a name familiar to every reader of ‘The Thousand and One Nights.’

Admirably executed illustrations of the bridge thus restored, as it existed after the conquest of Constantine, are given by MM. Ravoisier and De la Marre.[29]

A curious document was found by Monsieur Feraud amongst the papers of the family of Kadi Si Moustafa ben Djelloul, one of whose ancestors was secretary to Salah Bey, relative to the restoration of the bridge by Don Bartolomeo.[30] The translation is as follows:—

‘The Christian who came to Constantine, with workmen of his nation, to construct the bridge formerly called El-Mechebka, and situated at the gate of El-Kantara, told His Highness Salah Bey, who repeated it to us, that the date of the construction of the ancient bridge, carved on the stone in ancient characters, was the 335th year of[50] the era of Our Lord Jesus, on whom be prayer and peace! From the time of Our Lord Jesus to the present date, the end of Djemad eth-Thani, 1206 (February, A.D. 1792), 1792 years have passed, according to the calculation which has been made to us.

‘Written this Friday, the 20th of Djemad eth-Thani, 1206, the very day on which we have heard this statement.’

If this be correct, it must have been Constantine the Great who caused this bridge to be built, two years before his death, and one before his partition of the Empire.

On the 18th of March, 1857, only 65 years after it was rebuilt, at half-past seven A.M., one of the upper piers of the bridge, that nearest the town, gave way, carrying with it the two arches which it supported, also 24 yards of the aqueduct which supplied the city. After this accident it was found necessary to destroy the bridge altogether, which was done by means of artillery, on March 30 following. It was replaced by an iron structure in 1863, under the direction of the Department of Ponts et Chaussées. It is higher than the old one, and its axis, instead of passing by the natural vault where the remains of the Roman bridge are still visible, passes higher up the ravine.[31]

Bruce arrived at Constantine, from Tebessa, on November 30, 1765. The following is the only record he has left of his visit:—

This, unfortunately, is not extant.

[51]The Kasr el-Ghoula here alluded to was thus described by Shaw:—

‘Among the ruins to the S.W. of the bridge, upon the narrow strip of land just now described, is the Cassir Goulah, or Castle (as they interpret it) of the Giant, consisting of three arches, the middlemost whereof is the most spacious. All the mouldings and friezes are curiously embellished with the figures of flowers, battle-axes, and other ornaments. The Corinthian pilasters erected on each side of the grand arch, are pannelled like the side-posts of the gates of the city, in a gusto, as far as I have observed, peculiar to Cirta; but the pillars of the stone order, which supported the pediment, are broken down and defaced.’[32]

This was also described by Peyssonnel, who says: ‘On the other side of the ravine is a small plain on a level with the town, where is a triumphal arch in a very good state of preservation. It is formed of three large gates; that in the middle is 25 feet wide; the others are proportionally smaller. After this arch a great wall is seen, which sustained some considerable building.’[33]

When Constantine was taken by the French, the remains of this building were discovered on the plateau of Mansourah, overlooking the ravine. They consisted of several foundations in cut stone, and two fragments of cornice of an elegant and severe design,[34] but these have all disappeared. The French have done great things for Algeria, and the world owes them a deep debt of gratitude for having converted a nest of pirates and robbers into one of the most charming countries in the Mediterranean: but it is devoutly to be wished that they would do a little more for archæology, or rather establish a strict conservancy of all their venerable ruins, which otherwise will soon disappear everywhere as completely and as unnecessarily as they have done at Cherchel and Constantine.

[52]CHAPTER VI.

BRUCE’S ROUTE TO LAMBESSA — ZANA OR DIANA VETERANORUM — THE MEDRASSEN — BRUCE ARRIVES AT THE AURES — CURIOUS MEETING WITH A CHIEF OF THOSE MOUNTAINS.

We proceeded towards Batna by the diligence. I will therefore follow Bruce’s route in preference to my own.

The Ain Fesgiah here mentioned is 60 kilometres, or 37½ miles, on the road to Batna, and its waters have lately been re-conducted to Constantine for the supply of that city.

This is the territory of the ancient Makhzin tribe of Zemoul, situated between Djebel Gerioun on the east and another mountain to the south-west, the highest point of which is, from its peculiar shape, called by the natives Enf-en-neser, or the Eagle’s Beak.

Tattubt is also in the tribe of Zemoul, not far from the lakes. From the Roman remains here were obtained the columns used to build the Mosque of Souk el-Ghazel, now the Cathedral of Constantine.[35]

The mountain Mustowah above mentioned is a very well known hill near Batna, which has the form of a table or martello tower, whence its name of Geläa, or fortress. It was here that the insurgents, who attacked Batna in 1871, established their head-quarters.

The Haract or Haracta, is a powerful tribe of Berber origin, still speaking the Chawi language and inhabiting the great plains around Ain Beida; they are beginning to abandon nomad life and to settle down to the cultivation of the soil. Like most of the Chawi branch of the Berber race, they are lax Mohammedans, but fanatically attached to their religious confraternities, or Khouans, particularly to that of Sidi Mohammed ben Abd-er-Rahman bou Koberain. The Abdenore, as Bruce calls them, or the Oulad Abd-en-Noor, is one of the largest tribes in the province of Constantine. They now occupy the high plateau between Constantine and Setif. Under the Turkish Government they extended much further south, and at one time actually occupied the plain of Zana, as mentioned by Shaw.

Taggou-Zainah is, as Bruce shows, only the combination of two names, Taggou and Zana. The latter is the ordinary modern name of the district, and is evidently a corruption of the word Diana. The Itinerary of Antonine simply calls this city Diana. In the tables of Peutinger it is called Diana Veteranorum, and beside the name is the figure of a temple dedicated to Diana, the remains of which are still visible.[36]

The site of this city was found by Peyssonnel, in 1725, who thus described it:[37]—

‘The 14th, we arrived at the camp of the Bey, situated near to Izana. Izana is the ancient Diana. It was situated at the foot of a great mountain, now called Arquet,[38] near a beautiful spring . . . the situation is fine, and the city must have been considerable. Two triumphal arches still remain; one faces the east, and has a single gate with four small Corinthian columns. The other is at a little distance, and has also a single gate, but grander and more superb, with two great columns of the Corinthian[54] order. The gate is about 25 feet wide and 38 high, and with the cornice and a great inscription above it, about 50 feet, all in good taste.

‘The inscription is:—

‘These gates are detached works, four feet thick, and well preserved. Beside them is a large building quite destroyed; it was square, and at the four corners was a pavilion or square bastion. This must have been a very fine palace.

‘There are other ruins which do not deserve much notice.’

Of this inscription a very small fragment now remains, so that the above rendering of Peysonnel cannot be verified. M. Léon Renier states that it is very incorrect, and suggests the following re-construction, based on his own researches:—

‘Imperatori Caesari Marco Opellio Severo Macrino Pio Felici Augusto, pontifici maximo, tribuniciae potestatis, consuli designato, patri patriae, proconsuli, providentissimo et sanctissimo principi, et Marco Opellio Antonino Diadumiano, nobilissimo Caesari Principi Juventutis, Respublica Dianensium ex decreto decurionum.’[39]

This, if correct, would show that the building was erected in the reign of Macrinus, A.D. 217-218.

Two other inscriptions were copied by Bruce, but he does not record the exact spots where he observed them:—

[55]Of this last inscription M. Renier supplies two additional lines, and gives the following rendering. It was found on an altar, the lower part of which was probably buried when Bruce saw it.

‘Mercurio Augusto sacrum. Marcus Aurelius, Quinti filius, Papiria tribu, Aemilianus quaestor, aedilis, duumvirum, statuam, quam, ob honorem duumviratus, ex sestertium quinque milibus nummum pollicitus est, posuit, inlatis rei publicae legitimis honorum suorum summis et at fori straturam cubis decem, idemque dedicavit.’[40]

As appears from its name, Diana was inhabited, and probably founded, by a colony of veterans of the Third Legion. This remark, that the town is situated at the foot of Djebel Mestowa, which has always served as a centre of resistance under the Berbers, Turks, and French, favours the impression that it was the same under the Romans. This, no doubt, also induced the Byzantines to build a fortress there, 230 feet square, the walls of which are still standing.

Diana existed in A.D. 160, as is proved by a dedication to Antoninus Pius in the last year of his reign. It had the title of Municipium, and, according to Morcelli,[41] was several times favoured by the munificence of the Emperor.

Fidentius, a Donatist bishop of Diana, assisted at the Council of Carthage in 411.

It appears not to have been destroyed, like Lambessa and Timegad, for at the period of the Arab conquest it was the capital of the region. Moula Ahmed[42] thus mentions it:—

‘When Sidi Okba had conquered the people of Lambessa, he asked which was the strongest city in the country. They replied that it was Diana, where there was a king, chief of the Christians of Zab, a country containing 360 bourgades, having each an Emir. El-Yakoubi says that Adanaa was the largest city in the Western Zab. Okba there encountered the people of the country, and a great battle ensued. The Mohammedans triumphed over the Christians, of whom the greatest part were destroyed, and their power ceased in the province.’

Diana disappeared as a city in the tenth century. El-Bekri,[43] who places it at two days’ journey from Tobna, states that it was ruined in 935, by Ali ben Hamdoun El-Andalousi, governor of Zab, and the faithful servant of the Fatemites. The inhabitants had probably taken part in the great religious and political insurrection which began in the Aures, and of which Abou-Yezid was the promoter.

El-Bekri also states that the Haoura, who dwelt near Magra, having carried off[56] the women of Diana, the inhabitants pursued the ravishers and killed a great number and delivered their women. The battle took place on the banks of a river, which took the name of Oued-en-Nissa (the river of women).

The principal Roman ruins at Diana are the two triumphal arches—of which the finer was drawn by Bruce, though unhappily his sketch is no longer extant in the Kinnaird Collection—the remains of a temple of Diana and a Christian basilica. The ruins of an aqueduct which brought the waters of Ain Sultan to the city are still visible for about nine miles.

From this point Bruce directed his course towards the Medrassen, spending the night of December 7 only eight miles distant from Diana. We descended from the diligence at Ain Yakoob at four A.M. on April 24, and hired mules to convey us thither. There is a road-side inn at Ain Yakoob, kept by a Maltese, and there is usually very little difficulty in obtaining beasts, though the Arabs, seeing travellers entirely at their mercy, without any French authorities to control them, know how to charge accordingly. The distance is less than six miles.

Shaw, in describing this building, says: ‘Five leagues to the east of Tagou-Zainah, upon the northern skirts of Jibbel Auress, we have a very remarkable sepulchral monument, situated between two eminences. It goes by the name of Medrashem, or Mail Cashem (‘the treasure of Cashem’), being nearly of the same fashion with the Kubber Romeah, but differeth in being larger and in having the cornish of the base supported with Tuscan-like pilasters. The Arabs imagine, as they do with regard to other large piles, that an immense treasure lieth buried beneath it, and have therefore made the like attempts as at the Kubber Romeah to lay it open.’[44]

Bruce dismisses the subject of the Medrassen with very few remarks, although he has left a drawing and a plan of it, the former of which is here given (Plate V.)

This remarkable monument, very similar to the Tombeau de la Chrétienne near Algiers, was situated on the high road between Theveste and Diana Veteranorum. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed on a cylindrical base 193 feet in diameter; the total height is 60 feet. The lower portion, which forms a vertical encircling zone or ring, is ornamented by 60 engaged columns, of which not one half are now perfect. The upper part, or roof, gradually diminishes, by a series of[57] steps, each 22 inches in height, and 38 in breadth. The columns are stunted, much broader at the base than at the top, the height being about four times the lower diameter. They rest on three steps, which serve as base both to the monument and to the columns. The capitals are Doric, and above them is an entablature with a large, bold cavetto, as if of Egyptian origin. Commandant Foy,[45] probably following the description of Shaw, calls them of the Tuscan order; Colonel Brunon,[46] criticising the former, remarks that the capitals belong rather to the genre Egyptien than to the Tuscan order, the truth being that they are neither one nor the other, but purely Greek. Greece and Egypt seem to have inspired the ornamentation, while the tumulus suggested the monument itself, as it did the Tombeau de la Chrétienne, Etruscan tombs and the Pyramids of Egypt. The actual conical part has lost its apex, if it ever had one. The exterior masonry is remarkably fine, the stones being of great size, well cut, the joints not more in some places than the thickness of a knife and each stone joined to its neighbour by a massive clamp, probably of iron set in lead, the search for which has greatly contributed to the destruction of the building. Unfortunately the interior masonry was of a much inferior kind, and an extensive subsidence of it has caused a dislocation of the outer coating.

Plate V.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

THE MEDRASSEN OR TOMB OF THE NUMIDIAN KINGS

FAC-SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Various attempts have been made to penetrate it, but till quite recently without success. Salah Bey endeavoured to force an entrance by means of artillery. General Carbuccia commenced to explore it in 1849, and discovered the passage leading to the sepulchral chamber; but, owing to the roof having fallen in, he was unable to penetrate further. Commandant Foy resumed its exploration with no better success; Monsieur le Garde du Génie Bauchetet failed likewise in 1866; but being again sent in 1873, with more ample means, he succeeded in clearing away the débris and penetrating to the central chamber, which he ascertained to be 10 feet 3 inches long by 4 feet 7 inches broad. Nothing of any interest was found inside, but clear evidence was obtained that it had been opened at some former period, and that an attempt had been made to destroy the building by means of fire; great quantities of charcoal and lime (the latter the calcined stone of which it is built) were discovered, and the fire having communicated to the woodwork which supported the roof of the passage, the superincumbent masonry had fallen in and obstructed the entrance. The masonry in the passage and chamber is very inferior to that of the Tombeau de la Chrétienne, and it differs from the latter by the passage going straight to the centre instead of in a spiral direction.

Numerous tumuli, also of a circular form, were discovered around, together with the traces of a bastioned enclosure, proving the place to have been an immense[58] necropolis, subsequently used as a fortress, of which the Medrassen was simply the principal tomb.

There have been many speculations as to the meaning of the word and the destination of the building, which is not mentioned by any classical author. There can, however, be little doubt that the word Medrassen, as it is usually written, or Madghassen,[47] which is the more correct orthography, is the plural of the Berber word Madghes, the patronymic designation of an ancient family from which Masinissa was descended. Ibn Khaldoun says that Madghes was the son of Berr Ibn Kais; he bore the name of El-Abter, and was the father of the Berbers-Botr.[48] The name still exists in that of the tribe inhabiting the vicinity, the Haracta-Mader, and in that of a stream, the Oued Mader.

It is much more probable that this was the tomb of the Numidian kings—perhaps of Masinissa—than that of Syphax, to whom it has been referred, whose capital was at Siga, near the Tafna, and who only occupied Cirta for a short period. This would lead us to assign the date of B.C. 150 as about that of its construction, a supposition amply supported by the style of the architecture.

Here it may be well, before proceeding with my own route, to continue Bruce’s narrative of his.

Alluding to the Aures, he says:—

[61]CHAPTER VII.

OUR ARRIVAL AT BATNA — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE AURES MOUNTAINS.

After having spent some hours at the Medrassen, we continued our way to Batna. The first part of the route was across country for about five miles, after which we rejoined the high road at the Hôtel du Tournant, about six and a quarter miles from Batna. The Governor-General had been good enough to send special recommendations in our favour to the Commandant of that station, General Dastugue, and as chance would have it, General Chanzy was himself on a tour of inspection, and expected to arrive at Batna about the same time as ourselves. We were in a sorry plight, having spent the previous night in the diligence; we were mounted on Arab mules and pack-saddles, and altogether presented a miserably travel-stained appearance. Judge of our horror at having thus to run the gauntlet of all the officials who had come out to meet the Governor-General: the Commandant himself with a brilliant staff, all the judicial authorities in their robes, the Maire and Municipal Council, streets of little boys and girls bearing flowers and banners, and ready to sing a pæan of praise to His Excellency. And, worst of all, we were stopped by General Dastugue in the midst of all this glory; he had recognised us even in our rags and dirt, and wished us to understand that as soon as his official duties were over, he would do all in his power to facilitate our journey, a promise which he far more than fulfilled.

We remained at Batna till the 27th April, and were most hospitably entertained by the General. He sent letters of recommendation in advance to all the chiefs of the Aures, caused good mules to be brought in for ourselves, and supplied us with tents and mules from the train for our baggage. No one could have taken more pains to ensure the success of our journey, and it was with the deepest regret that we heard shortly after our return to Algiers, that his health had broken down, and that he had returned to France with but little hope of being able to resume active service in Africa. Before, however, commencing a narrative of our journey, the reader will be glad to know something of this country, which, as far as I am aware, has never been explored by an English traveller, and is comparatively little known even to the French. Bruce[62] never actually penetrated into these mountains: he merely skirted their northern slopes.

English tourists, who flock every season to Biskra, cannot fail to see and to admire their distant outline; everyone goes to Lambessa; a few may visit Timegad and Tebessa, all on Bruce’s route; but with these exceptions the country is as little known as it was a century ago.

The geographical term Aures comprises at the present day that mass of mountains stretching between the route from Batna to Biskra on the west and the Oued el-Arab on the east. It does not extend further north than Batna, or so far south as Biskra. The greatest length from east to west is 75 miles, and from north to south 44; Ptolemy places here his Audon; Procopius and other geographers speak of it as Aurasion, or Mons Aurasius, but it does not appear that they included under these names the entire range, but rather isolated peaks, like the Djebel Aures, which actually exists as a single peak near Khenchla. To the south of Audon Ptolemy traces a long chain of mountains, which he calls Thambes, and which, with Mampsurus (the modern Dj. Mahmel), would about include the district known as the Aures Mountains at the present day.

Procopius describes it in the following terms: ‘This mountain, the greatest that we know, is situated at thirteen days’ journey from Carthage. Its circuit is three long days’ journey. One can only ascend by steep paths and wild solitudes, but on the summit is an immense plain, watered by springs, giving rise to rivers, and covered with a prodigious quantity of orchards; the grain and fruit are double the size of those in other parts of Africa.’

The general configuration of the Aures is a series of mountain ranges, running with more or less continuity from N.E. to S.W. They are roughly parallel to each other, and in the valleys between them flow considerable rivers.

On the north side, they have only moderate slopes, which convey its waters into the Chotts of the neighbouring plateau. These streams are few in number and of no great volume; the great body of the drainage is from the southern side, where the rivers, after a long and fertilising course, pour their waters into the great marshy basin of Melghigh. The most important of these watercourses are the Oued el-Kantara just outside the range, and the Oueds Abdi and el-Abiad, which flow through it. To the east of these, the rivers assume a more directly southern course.

The inhabitants of this country are called Chawi (plural, Chawia), from the Semitic root cha, a sheep. They are emphatically shepherds, as well as agriculturists, having few or no cattle, but immense flocks of sheep and goats.

They form a branch of the great Berber nation, which has occupied the north of[63] Africa, from Egypt to the Atlantic, since pre-historic times. The Kabyles form another branch. Both speak slightly different dialects of the same language, but the former, shut up in their mountain fastnesses, hardly yet known to the world beyond and rarely leaving their native country, have remained less mixed with foreign elements, at least since the period of the Arab conquest.

These remarks apply particularly to the Chawia of the Aures: the race itself has a much wider geographical distribution, and in the same manner that there are tribes of Kabyles out of Kabylia, so there are tribes of Chawia in the plains and high plateaux all round the Aures, which, from contact with the nomad Arabs settled in their vicinity, have lost much of their distinctive character.

Comparatively little is known of the history of the Berbers before the Roman occupation of North Africa, which followed the long and bloody wars in the second century before Christ. For some time after that, the government of the country still remained in the hands of the native races, and it was not till A.D. 40 that Numidia became finally reduced to the condition of a Roman province.

The accuracy of the description given of them by Ibn Khaldoun, in the fourteenth century, may be verified in a thousand particulars at the present day.

‘From the most ancient times,’ he says, ‘the west country was peopled by this race. They construct their houses either with stone and mud, with reeds and brushwood, or with cloths made of horse-hair or camel’s wool. Those who possess a certain degree of power and govern the others, adopt a nomad life, and wander about with their flocks in search of pasturage. But they never quit the Tell to enter into the vast plains of the desert.

‘They gain their living by rearing sheep and cattle, and reserve their horses for riding and for the propagation of the species. A part of the nomad Berbers breed camels also, thus following an occupation which is ordinarily that of the Arab. The poorer Berbers live off the produce of their fields and flocks; but the higher classes, those who live as nomads, wander over the country with their camels, and lance in hand are as much engaged in robbing strangers as in tending their flocks.

‘Their raiment and almost all their effects are of wool, and they clothe themselves in striped garments, one end of which is thrown over the left shoulder.’[55]

The origin of the Berber name, according to the same author, is as follows:—

‘When Ifrikos, son of Kais, son of Saifi, one of the Himyarite kings or Tobbas of Yemen, invaded North Africa, to which country he gave his name, he was astonished at the strange idioms spoken by the inhabitants, and exclaimed, “What a berbera[64] yours is!” The word berbera signifies a mixture of unintelligible cries, and the name of Berber was ever afterwards applied to designate them.’[56] He further adds that the Berbers of the Aures had previous to this embraced Judaism;[57] certainly, during the domination of the Romans they resigned themselves to the profession of the Christian faith, and submitted to their conquerors, paying without much resistance the heavy taxes imposed upon them. The enormous amount and the magnificent character of the Roman ruins still existing in and around the Aures show how extensive their occupation of the country was. All the fertile plains and valleys must have been appropriated by them, and their hands being as prompt to suppress insurrection as to uphold military discipline, the native races were, no doubt, either entirely assimilated to their conquerors, or driven to mountains and deserts, where even the Roman power was unfelt.

The Vandal invasion, which swept all this away, never penetrated into the Aures, and for a brief period the Berber princes were again permitted to rule their country in peace and quietness. The last Vandal king was Gilimer, and it was in his reign (A.D. 533) that Justinian sent a powerful army under Belisarius to invade Africa. The secretary of that general was Procopius, who has left us a most valuable account of the wars of the Byzantines against the Vandals. In less than six months Belisarius conquered the whole country from Carthage to the Atlantic, and either drove the Vandals out, or forced them to retreat to the mountains, especially the Aures, where their conquerors did not at first dare to follow them.

Belisarius then returned to Constantinople with the captive king in his train, leaving his wisest and most valiant general, the eunuch Solomon, to supply his place. The Berbers soon raised the standard of revolt, and the most formidable chief he had to contend against was Iabdas,[58] who occupied the Aures Mountains. Thither Solomon followed and signally defeated him, compelling him to flee into Mauritania. The conquerors ravaged the country all round the Aures, but they carefully restored the strong places, such as Thamugas, Baghaia, and Theveste. Risings amongst the native races however still continued; and, after a short and brilliant career, Solomon was utterly defeated, and lost his life under the walls of Theveste (the modern Tebessa).

From this moment the power of the Latin race began rapidly to decay. The remnants of the Roman and Byzantine colonies either concentrated themselves in the neighbourhood of a few strongly fortified positions, or retreated to the almost inaccessible mountains now known as Kabylia and the Aures.

[65]At this conjuncture a new conquering power appeared on the scene. Mohammedanism began to extend its conquests beyond Arabia, and when those wonderful expeditions under Abdulla ibn Saad, Moawia ibn el-Hodeidj and Okba ibn Nafa overran the whole of North Africa, they met with but little resistance from the Berbers, who had suffered so cruelly from one set of foreign invaders after another; they regarded the Arabs rather as liberators than conquerors, and willingly embraced the religion of El-Islam and recognised the authority of the Khalifa. These new masters, however, proved even more tyrannical than the old ones, and soon the flames of revolt spread all over the country.

The government of the Berbers was at this time exercised by Koceila, son of Lemezm, who had originally been a Christian, but who had become a Mohammedan during the first Arab invasion, and had returned to his ancient faith under the government of Abou el-Mohadjer. He rallied all the disaffected Berbers to his standard, but he was completely defeated by Abou el-Mohadjer, taken prisoner at Tlemçen and only escaped death by again making a profession of Islamism.

Okba ibn Nafa, who had returned to Africa to replace Abou el-Mohadjer, undertook the conquest of the Moghreb. He penetrated as far as the Atlantic, and received the submission of Count Julian, who governed Tingitana for the Goths of Spain. He retained Koceila in close captivity in his camp and treated him with the utmost indignity. He repossessed himself of the strong places, such as Baghai and Lambessa, and deposed all the Berber princes from their governments. On one occasion however, having sent the greater part of his army to Kerouan, and kept but a small detachment with himself, the tribe of Koceila, with whom their chief had always been in secret communication, profiting by his temporary weakness, fell upon him at Tahouda near Biskra, and killed both him and all his followers.[59]

Koceila fixed his residence at Kerouan, and governed the Berbers and Arabs with great justice and moderation during five years; but in the 67th year of the Hejira (A.D. 686-7) he was defeated by Zoheir ibn Keis el-Belowi, who had been sent by the Khalifa Abd-el-Melek to avenge the death of Okba, and was slain with a vast number of his followers. The remainder of the Berbers fled for security to their strong places and to the mountains.[60]

The Aures was at this time governed by a princess whose name was Dihya, daughter of Tabita, but who is more generally known by the appellation of El-Kahina, the sorceress; according to Ibn Khaldoun,[61] she professed the religion of the Jews, and her ordinary place of residence was at El-Baghai. By this time Zoheir had been[66] killed and Hassan bin Näaman was sent against her. He was signally defeated and pursued by the victorious Kahina as far as the borders of Tripoli. During five years she continued to reign, with as much justice and clemency as her predecessor; but she was subsequently overcome, and she together with her principal nobles fell gloriously in battle, overwhelmed by the superior power of her Arab conquerors.

The very means which she took to arrest the progress of her enemies predisposed the minds of her people against her, and contributed to her downfall. She destroyed all the towns and farms in which the Arabs could obtain shelter, and burnt those magnificent forests, which made the whole country between Tripoli and Tangier one continuous garden. This would naturally have been put down as an exaggeration or mere tradition, but for the chain of Roman ruins still existing to prove how richly cultivated and how densely peopled the country once was, much of which is now all but desert.

The story of El-Kahina is just such a one as the Arabs love to build their romances on. A local tradition is recorded by Commandant de Bosredon.[62] This part of the country was formerly under the rule of a great chief called Aures, whose wife’s name was Khenchla. This powerful family had several castles, the ruins of which are still existing at Daharet-Foua, Bahiret-Sebkha and Khenchla, his usual place of residence. The daughter of Aures, known generally by her pseudonym of El-Kahina, was a person of great beauty and high intelligence. She had received a brilliant education under the direction of her father, and one corresponding to the distinguished rank she occupied. When of age to be married, her father left her free to select her own husband. Amongst the numerous aspirants for her hand, El-Kahina chose Berzegan, whose name is perpetuated in the great ruins situated to the south of the Ma el-Abiad. The marriage act was drawn out, but Aures died before the ceremony could be accomplished.

The successor of Aures was one of those whose addresses El-Kahina had rejected, and who on this account meditated a project of vengeance. Being a man of an evil nature, he abused his power to commit the most infamous actions. Amongst other customs, he introduced one formerly claimed by feudal lords in Europe, and as El-Kahina refused to submit to this indignity, she delayed for some time her marriage. At last, heartsore at seeing the whole nation victims of this unworthy prince, she determined to effect the liberation of her country. She invited some of the bravest youths of her family and acquaintance to a banquet, at the termination of which she made known to them her projects, which met with universal approbation. She then[67] made the necessary preparations for her marriage, and according to the recently established custom, she proceeded with her companions to the residence of the sovereign. She penetrated alone into his apartments, and having in vain endeavoured to divert him from his evil way, she plunged a poignard in his heart, and was hailed as his successor.

Thus we have seen one invasion after another sweep over the country, and always with the same effect—the conquerors, after a short lapse of time, became in their turn the conquered, and were driven for safety to the mountains.

Ibn Khaldoun remarked of the Berbers, that they held the first place amongst nations for bravery and promptness to defend their guests, for fidelity to their engagements, patience in adversity, hospitality and many other great qualities.[63]

This reputation, no doubt, induced the persecuted Latins, and even the Vandals, to seek the shelter of these peaceful retreats, where they soon became assimilated to the aboriginal Berber race. The result is, that these northern nations have left on the Chawia the imprint of their physical and moral character in a way that fourteen centuries have not been able to obliterate.

The features, language, and customs of these people bear unmistakable testimony to their classic origin. All the old writers who visited the outskirts of the country, describe in glowing terms the beauty of its women. Morgan, in his interesting history of Algeria, dated 1728, remarks: ‘What numbers have I seen, particularly females, who, for well-featured countenances, fair curling locks, and wholesome ruddy looks, might not vie with, or even be envied by, the proudest European dames.’ Shaw, who wrote a few years later, observes that they have quite a different mien and aspect from their neighbours, ‘for their complexions are so far from being swarthy that they are fair and ruddy, and their hair, which amongst other Kabyles is of a dark colour, is with them of a deep yellow.’

Bruce, as we have seen, bears testimony to the same fact, and it was unanimously our opinion that in no country within our knowledge is the average of female beauty so high as in the Aures Mountains. It is true that, owing to hard labour from earliest childhood, and constant exposure to the sun, they become old before their time, and even in infancy their skin becomes of a dark brown colour; but the classic regularity of features, which nothing can mar, occasionally combined with light hair and blue eyes, marks in an unmistakable manner their European origin. Their language is full of Latin words, and in their daily life they retain customs undoubtedly derived from their Christian ancestry.

[68]They observe the 25th of December as a feast, under the name of Moolid (the birth), and keep three days’ festival at spring time and harvest; a garden they call orto (hortus), an elm olm (ulmus), and the ordinary New Year’s salutation is Bouiné (bonus annus). They use the solar instead of the Mohammedan lunar year, and the names of their months are the same as our own.

For years after Algeria had become a French colony the tribes of the Aures refused to enter into any relations with the conquerors; their country was a safe refuge for all the malcontents of other districts, and amongst others, the ex-Bey of Constantine and the Khalifa of the Emir Abd-el-Kader retreated to these fastnesses, and kept up a constant agitation, which threatened the security of the great military road between Constantine and the desert. This became quite insupportable, and as soon as the insurrectionary movements in Algiers, which terminated in the defeat of Bou Mäaza at Ain Kebira, had been somewhat appeased, General Bedeau, who had been appointed Military Commander on the departure of the Duc d’Aumale, resolved to penetrate these difficult mountains, and force the tribes to acknowledge French authority.

The expedition left Batna on May 1, 1845, and proceeded eastward. The Chawia opposed it in great numbers, but they were quite unable to resist European arms and discipline. In three days the troops had reached Medina, a central position in the country, where a depôt of provisions was established. They then penetrated the country of the Oulad Abdi, defeated them in a smart combat at Aidoussa, and forced them to come to terms. The other tribes, dismayed at the rapidity and success of this attack, abandoned all resistance, agreed to accept chiefs appointed by the French, and consented to pay the war contribution imposed upon them. The column then traversed the Aures Mountains in every direction, and expelled the foreign recalcitrants who had fled there for safety, and since that time the tranquillity of the country has never been disturbed.

One can hardly ride a mile in the Aures Mountains without meeting Roman remains of considerable importance, such as the foundations of forts, agricultural establishments, tombs, &c., built in the most substantial manner of huge blocks of well-cut stone, all testifying to the high state of civilisation which existed wherever this great people founded colonies.

[69]But it is not so much within the massif of the Aures itself as on its northern slopes, and on the plains at their base, that those splendid cities existed, the ruins of which now excite the wonder and admiration of modern travellers.

Commencing from Lambessa, a complete chain of these cities extended as far as Tebessa, their order from west to east being as follows: Lambæsis, Verecunda, Thamugas, Mascula, Baghaia, and Theveste. Thence, turning towards the south, the chain of military establishments, and towns of a less important character, continue to encircle the mountains, reaching as far as the desert and remounting to the original starting point.

[70]CHAPTER VIII.

START FOR THE AURES — LAMBESSA — EL-ARBÄA — MENÄA.

We started for our excursion in the Aures Mountains on April 27. Our object was not to go by a direct route from Batna to Tebessa, but to obtain a general knowledge of the country, and to combine all that was best worth seeing from an archæological and a scenic point of view. We were, of course, in perfect ignorance of the country, but our good friend General Dastugue had so carefully traced our route in conjunction with some of the principal chiefs that we never had occasion to deviate from it, and so great was the hospitality we received, both from French officials and the Kaids of the districts, that we were never permitted to provide ourselves with a repast during all the period of our wanderings. Wherever we stopped for breakfast, and to pass the night, a sumptuous dhiffa awaited us. Not only were we supplied with every conceivable Arab delicacy, but the neighbouring station of Batna had been ransacked to supply us with unnecessary luxuries. Champagne, Bordeaux, pâtés de foie gras and even chairs and tables, were waiting us at every halting-place; considering all these things, and that our hosts were as perfect specimens of Berber nobility as it is possible to imagine, and looked, indeed, as if they had been thawed out of marble statues of Roman emperors in the British Museum, it is little wonder that our reminiscences of that journey are amongst the most pleasant of our lives.

From Batna we followed the high road to Lambessa, the ruins of which are too well known to require any detailed description. Nevertheless, as this place is amongst those illustrated by Bruce, I cannot pass it by without notice. First I quote his remarks on the place:—

Lambese, Lambæsis, or Lambæsitanorum Colonia, is mentioned in the Itinerary of Antonine,[68] in the Tables of Peutinger, by Ptolemy,[69] St. Augustine[70] and St. Cyprian.[71]

It was one of the most important cities in the interior of Numidia, belonging to the Massylii, and was in Roman times the head-quarters of the Third Legion, Augusta, which was stationed here for nearly three centuries, and was the only one located in Africa. It was the great military centre from which columns were despatched to maintain order or to suppress insurrection. It covered, or protected, the whole of Northern Numidia, and permitted Roman colonisation to attain a degree of importance unequalled in any other province of North Africa.

At present very few ruins remain to bear witness to its former magnificence, and these are by no means in the best style of art. Indeed, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that, valuable as the place undoubtedly was as a military position, the importance of its public buildings has been greatly exaggerated.

The principal ruin here, and the only one figured by Bruce, is that called the Prætorium. He made a finished drawing, which he states to be in the collection of[72] the King; the only one in the Kinnaird collection is a rough pencil outline, with sketches of architectural details and memoranda of measurements. This is the less to be regretted, as photographs of it are in the hands of every traveller who visits Lambessa.

It is a large rectangular edifice, 92 feet long, 66 broad and 49 high. The principal façade to the south had a splendid peristyle, having massive Ionic columns in front, which corresponded with Corinthian pilasters engaged in the walls. This extended only to half the height of the wall, leaving a second storey externally, but there is no trace of this in the inside, which is undivided in height. The other sides also are decorated with detached columns, corresponding to the pilasters of the lower storey, the cornice turning round and forming the entablature. On the north side there are three detached columns on each side of the principal entrance, between which and the smaller doors is a niche to contain statuary. All the keystones are sculptured, but not very artistically. That over the principal gate bears a basso-relievo of a standard, with the inscription ‘Legio tertia Augusta.’ The interior forms a vast hall; on each side there is one large and two smaller doors, and above the central and larger ones another arched opening, used probably as a window. The walls are strengthened interiorly with pilasters, on which are engaged columns; still it appears doubtful whether the building ever was covered otherwise than by a velarium.

The interior has now been converted into a museum, wherein are collected various objects of antiquity which have been discovered in the vicinity; the best of these, however, have been sent to the museum of the Louvre at Paris.

Close to the Prætorium is a small triumphal arch tolerably entire, but of an exceedingly depraved style of art; there are two niches on each side, but without any archivoltes.

The Temple of Æsculapius, mentioned by Bruce, is at some little distance west of the Prætorium: only one of its columns now remains in place. An inscription stated that this temple was constructed by order of Marcus Aurelius, and was dedicated to Æsculapius and to Health.

At Lambessa we turned to the right, and entered the mountains south of the village. After a short ride through a forest of evergreen oak we reached the plateau on the top of Djebel Asker, nearly 6,000 feet above the level of the sea; even at this advanced season there were patches of snow, and during the winter the Pass must frequently be impracticable. At the further side of this is a remarkable gorge, like a huge barrier, in which an opening gives access to the richly wooded valley of Ti-Farasain. At the bottom flows a large stream, and under the shade of some fine[73] old trees by its banks we halted to take our midday meal. It was indeed a lovely spot, but we found so many such that our stock of adjectives soon became exhausted. The time occupied in riding to this place from Batna was four hours, exclusive of our delay at Lambessa.

Beyond this the oak forests continue for some distance, with occasional clearings, in which are seen the foundations of Roman buildings, with here and there a few tumulary inscriptions. At Ez-Zikak the cedars commence, at an elevation of 5,300 feet, and cover an immense tract of mountain. They have remained hitherto almost untouched, and might supply an unlimited quantity of timber for use at Batna. The forest greatly requires thinning, the mature trees being too crowded; but one sees with regret here, as indeed almost everywhere in Algeria, the total absence of young trees; they appear now-a-days to be destroyed by the sheep and goats as soon as the seed germinates. It is a difficult question to decide, whether to protect the young trees by prohibiting the natives from introducing sheep and goats into the forests, or to protect the people who, in a country where there is so little space for agriculture, can hardly live without their flocks, and who have been a pastoral race from the earliest ages.

After quitting the region of forests the road passes over a rather sterile plateau; on the left is a remarkable chain of naked limestone rocks called Djebel Berd, the Cold Mountain; on the right the distant hills are thickly wooded, but the intermediate country is treeless. Pasturage however is good and there are patches of cultivation; at the end of April the corn was not more than two or three inches high. After passing this the road descends rapidly, and, winding amongst small hills and valleys, soon reaches the bed of the river on which El-Arbäa is situated.

It was almost dark when we arrived, but we had just light enough to descend the difficult path which gives access to the village. The military train mules, however, were less accustomed to mountain travelling than our native beasts, and lingered far behind. We were welcomed by the notables of the village, and conducted to a plateau a little above the bank of the stream, large enough to contain two or three tents. One or two Arab tents had been pitched for our accommodation, and carpeted in the most tempting manner; but alas! we soon found out the one great scourge of this lovely country, though its best protection against the intrusion of inquisitive tourists—the armies of fleas by which each village is defended. To sleep there was impossible; it was getting late, and still we saw nothing of our baggage, and we feared that the unfortunate tringlots who had charge of it would never find their way unaided. The Sheikh however was equal to the occasion; he despatched forty or fifty of his people with flambeaux[74] of diss grass to search for the missing attendants, who but for this assistance, would never have reached us that night. A light repast was all we cared for, but a more substantial one, with the usual sheep roasted whole, was provided for our attendants. I recommend anyone who retains enough of his pristine innocence still to like sweets to try a dinner of walnuts dipped in honey and washed down by huge bowls of fresh milk.

It is difficult, without the aid of the pencil, to give any idea of this extraordinary village, and one hardly knows whether most to admire its strange and picturesque aspect, or the skill with which the position has been chosen and improved for purposes of defence.

A deep and narrow ravine runs north-east and south-west, through which flows a small river. On the right bank the hill rises almost perpendicularly to a height of about 700 feet. It is principally blue marl, and as is frequently the case with this formation, the sky line is deeply cut and serrated in the most fantastic manner, contrasting strangely with the level crests of the adjacent hills. The strata have been upheaved into an almost vertical position, so that in some places the face of the hill resembles parallel lines of walls, as at the Portes-de-fer; in others it is scored and perforated, exhibiting the most beautiful effects of light and shadow.

From the terrace on which our tents were pitched a mound rises towards the middle of the cliff. This has been formed by the detritus of the rocks above, and on this the village is built. The houses rise one above another in a series of steps, the roof of one being on a level with the floor of that above it, and actually forms a terrace to it, or part of the public road. All the houses in the Aures are built of small stones and mud, the walls being strengthened by longitudinal layers of timber inserted in the masonry every few courses. The roofs are of Thuya wood rafters, supported at intervals by posts and post plates, and covered with a thick cement of mud and chopped straw, which becomes nearly as hard as stone.

The flocks live on terms of the greatest harmony with the owners, and seem to occupy the better portion of their houses. It is very pleasant to see them returning in the evening from their pasture over the rustic bridge which crosses the river, and winding up amongst the steep lanes which separate the houses, led by the young girls of the family, nearly always of singular beauty and never veiled.

In the morning before starting we went through many of the houses, where we were objects of far greater curiosity to the villagers than they were to us. They may have seen officers of the Bureau Arabe or stray French travellers, but I doubt whether any European ladies had been there before.

On the 28th we started for Menäa shortly after sunrise. The distance is about[75] 16 miles and occupied us five hours of actual travel. We crossed Djebel Tirmis to the south-east, by an elevated pass 5,760 feet above the sea, connecting the valleys of El-Erbäa and Bou Zeina. On each side are the remains of a Roman tower, built to defend this important position. The valley of Bou Zeina is richly cultivated at the bottom wherever the ground is capable of irrigation by the stream, but the upper parts of the hills are bare and stony. After passing the village of Murkäa on the left bank the character of the valley began to change; the limestone strata, which had been running parallel to our route like paved Roman roads, give place to white marble of dazzling brightness, cropping up among the red rocks which lie between; soon the ground becomes almost entirely white, which gives its name to the next village, El-Beidha, on the left of the road. A very short distance beyond is Takoost, pronounced Tagoost, a more important village, where we stopped for a short time, and were entertained to an excellent breakfast by the Khalifa. The ladies of the household did not appear openly, but they were very glad indeed to receive us in their private apartments, and had no objection to allow their comely faces to be seen even by male visitors.

This part of the country is of singular interest from a geological point of view. The high bare mountains to the north-west are stratified like the most beautifully striated agate; behind the village the rock resembles a pavement of huge cubical blocks of stone laid at an angle of forty-five degrees. Many have been detached from their setting, and have rolled down to the village. The deception was so perfect that at first sight we mistook it for Roman masonry of an unusually massive character.

The cultivation round all these villages is very similar, small square patches of corn-land forming perfectly level terraces, irrigated by canals derived from the river which flows along the bottom of the valley. They rise one above another as high as the water can be made to reach them, and are dotted over with, or sometimes bordered by fruit trees, which grow in great abundance and variety. We noticed apples, pears, peaches, apricots, figs, walnuts, and generally all the fruits of temperate countries, and such tropical ones as can stand the cold of winter, like the pomegranate. After passing Tagoost the road crosses the Bou Zeina, here called the Oued el-Ahmar, or Red River, from the prevailing colour of the hills on its left bank, and winds up the chain of mountains separating it from the Oued Abdi. The road is very wild and picturesque, and is bordered on the right by a steep precipice, sometimes a thousand feet in vertical descent. The rock is a conglomerate, or pudding-stone, of large water-worn pebbles, cemented together by a calcareous paste.

Shortly after crossing the summit of this hill the village of Menäa appeared in sight, and in a very short time we found ourselves under the hospitable roof of Si[76] Mohammed bin Abbas, the Kaid of the Aures. It is by no means as an empty term of compliment that I style him hospitable; he is a very grand specimen of Arab nobility, his ancestors being from Morocco, and not of Chawi descent. Every day he is said to feed 200 people, and he even keeps a French cook, the better to entertain the few Europeans who pass through his country. He has many houses in various parts of the Aures. That at Menäa is his principal one, and is almost a small village, containing apartments for himself and family, rooms for his dependants, a Zaouia, within which the family are interred, and spacious and comfortable rooms for the reception of guests. He had gone to Batna to meet the Governor-General, but his son, a noble-looking young fellow of about twenty, did the honours of his house with the most perfect grace. Our table was luxuriously supplied, even with choice wines, and in the evening an exhibition of dancing girls was got up for our entertainment. The Arabs seemed to enjoy it mightily and praised the principal performer as the most celebrated dancer in the country, but I don’t think we appreciated it as we ought, and found the monotony of the cadence, and the constant repetition of the same step, very wearisome.

Menäa is picturesquely situated on the slope of a low hill at the confluence of the Bou Zeina and the Oued Abdi. The streets are extremely filthy, but every year this manure is carefully collected, and employed in cultivation. There are no Roman remains of any interest, but fragments of sculpture and tombstones are found in abundance, generally built into the angles of the houses, while frusta of columns have been hollowed out into coffee mortars, and stone coffins utilised as drinking troughs.

The land about Menäa is highly cultivated in small fields, perfectly level, to admit of irrigation. They are arranged in terraces, which, according to tradition, have existed since the Roman epoch. Certainly, if they were constructed then, they have been kept in admirable repair by this industrious people. Land fetches a high price, and as much as 15,000 francs per hectare, or 240l. an acre, has been paid for ground capable of easy irrigation. Date trees begin to appear here and add a very pleasing feature to the landscape; the fruit, however, rarely ripens, and is never good.

Near this village, and indeed at every other in the Aures, are the remains of watch-towers used in former times as posts of observation; now that the French occupation has ensured the tranquillity of the country these have been allowed to fall into picturesque decay.

[77]CHAPTER IX.

ASCENT OF THE OUED ABDI — MINES OF TAGHIT — ARRIVAL AT OUED TAGA.

April 29.—To-day we commenced our ascent of the Oued Abdi on the right bank of the stream.[72] The scenery was very grand; above the road towered the bleak and arid mountains over which we had passed the day before; on the left bank, behind the first chain of hills, is the elevated range of Djebel Lazarak, of which the two most prominent peaks are named Ti-Keshwain. At about a mile and a quarter from Menäa are the remains of an old Berber town called Es-Sook, or the market, built after the Roman period, and said at one time to have had great commercial dealings with Tunis, whence its name. A short distance beyond, the valley becomes constricted to a very narrow pass, guarded by an old tower occupying a commanding position, with quite the aspect of a castle on the Rhine. This is the boundary of the Oulad Abdi in this direction; immediately beyond it the valley widens out again, and the ground becomes more fertile and better cultivated. It would be impossible for the most civilised nation to turn their land to better account than this rude and secluded people. They rarely leave their own villages, and hardly ever the district in which they were born. I met a sheikh at one village who had occupied his present office for twenty-five years, and in all that time he had only been five times to Batna and never anywhere else. All along the route and generally throughout the Aures we observed small piles of stone, often only two or three in number, placed from distance to distance on the hill sides or on the level ground; these mark the places which the owner wishes to reserve as pasturage for his own use, and his rights so designated are scrupulously respected. The road passes several villages on either bank of the river, all picturesquely situated high up on the bank, built of stone like El-Arbäa and generally with a quaint and very conspicuous minaret. The bed of the river is broad, although, owing to[78] so much water being consumed in irrigation, it generally contains but little during the summer season; in winter it is a wide and impetuous torrent.

We stopped for breakfast at Nowader Ahmama, about 7½ miles from Menäa. The Kaid’s son had sent on the French cook to make preparations, and he had himself accompanied us, so we had only to take the good things provided for us and be thankful.

Instead of continuing to ascend the river we made a détour, so as to visit the mercury mines of Taghit, for which an English company was then in treaty. We struck off the course of the river in a south-easterly direction, through scenery closely resembling what is seen at the Portes-de-fer, on the route between Algiers and Constantine. The rocks, through which the Oued Taghit forces its way, are of sandstone alternating with argillaceous schist; the strata are contorted in a remarkable manner and sometimes upheaved to a vertical position. In many places the softer strata have been worn away by the action of water, leaving the harder rocks standing upright in the voids thus caused; this gives to the hills a most extraordinary appearance, which cannot better be described than by comparing them to the side-scenes of a theatre. After passing through about two miles of this wild scenery, the valley opens out, cultivation again commences, and soon the small village of Taghit is reached.

The mines are situated quite close to the village and have long been known to the natives, who used to work them for the sake of the lead, throwing the more valuable cinnabar on one side as useless. This ore is said to be exceedingly rich, more so than that of Mexico or of El-Maden in Spain. I saw specimens, which contained 30 per cent. of pure mercury, and the average is said to be 6 per cent., which would make the value of the ore about 50l. a ton. The galena also is rich, but whether it could be worked to advantage in such a remote district is doubtful, at least until the means of communication are improved.

At Taghit is the tomb of Sidi bel-Khair, the great Saint of the Oulad Abdi; the height of the village is 4,350 feet above the sea. Here, again, we got an excellent repast, prepared by our friend’s cook, with abundance of Bordeaux and Champagne, and we were joined by the superintendent of the mine, an engineer from the school of St. Etienne, who most obligingly showed us all over his works.

April 30.—From the mines the Oued Abdi had to be regained, and the shortest though not the easiest way was over a pass in a steep mountain called Tizi-Zijan, about 5,780 feet above the sea, from which an admirable idea is obtained of the successive chains of mountains forming the Aures range. The descent to Theniet el-Abid on the left bank of the river was so steep, that we could hardly keep our saddles on the[79] mules’ backs; they were perpetually slipping over their heads, and we found that the simplest and most expeditious plan was to walk.

Here we rested during the mid-day heat, and as usual found that our friend the cook had started some hours before us, and had prepared one of those marvellous breakfasts for which he had become so celebrated; he was most solicitous for our comfort, and never served a meal without begging us to ask for anything more that we might require, as his master never would pardon him if we had any want ungratified in his territory.

We passed several other villages after leaving this place, one of which was Bou Gharara, which had lately been destroyed by an inundation, but which was then being rebuilt in a very superior style a little further from the river, and passing this came to El-Bali, where we encamped for the night. Our day’s journey was only 12½ miles, and occupied four hours.

El-Bali is on the left bank of the river, directly opposite to Djebel Mahmel, the ancient Mampsurus, the second highest peak in Algeria, only 23 feet lower than Djebel Chellia. The village itself is nearly 5,000 feet above the sea. We strolled about before dinner, purchasing native ornaments and admiring the beauty of the women and children. One dear little child, daughter of the Sheikh, quite attached herself to our party, and accompanied us to the tents; she took with the utmost solemnity, and in the most dignified manner, all the sweets and little presents we gave her; but nothing would induce her to taste anything; she would hardly even speak to us, but she devoured us with her eyes, and cried when she had to go away.

The women of the Aures, as I have said, never veil or conceal their faces; their dress is very similar to that of the Arab of the south; the colours chosen generally two shades of blue or other subdued tints. They disfigure themselves very much by wearing enormous circular rings on the upper edge of their ears, which seem as if they would tear that organ off the head; indeed, some such effect is not unfrequently produced, and to guard against it they support their ears by strings tied to the upper part of the head-dress. They also wear numerous and massive bracelets and anklets of elegant design, similar to those used by the Kabyles, and their garments seem to be held together by large brooches, or pins with immense heads, of the pattern which we style ‘the Maid of Norway’ pin. I am sorry to say that these unsophisticated mountain maidens knew perfectly well how to sell us, as massive silver, ornaments which we subsequently discovered to be made of lead, with a very thin coating of the more precious metal.

The young lads of the village are as sturdy little fellows as one could meet anywhere, with clean and muscular limbs, of bold and independent carriage, and with none[80] of that shrinking timidity, which makes the children of an Arab village retreat behind the shelter of their dogs at the approach of a Roumi.

The inevitable dhiffa was, of course, awaiting us here; we had always to get through two daily; there was a strong family resemblance between them all, the staple dishes being the same, a sheep roasted whole, and piles of couscousou, washed down by beakers of milk; but the little additions, petits plats, and European delicacies such as wine, &c., depended on the amount of civilisation of our host for the time being. The roasted sheep is a dish worthy of introduction into the most civilised society; the animal is skinned and cleaned within a few moments of his death; a stake six feet long is passed through his body, entering at the mouth, and a large fire having been prepared beforehand and allowed to subside into a state of hot embers without flame, the animal is laid across it, supported on two posts, constantly turned round, and basted with butter till sufficiently cooked; it is then served up by the stake being stuck upright in the earth, or supported transversely on big stones; and then it is consumed with the aid only of Nature’s knives and forks. It requires some little education to know exactly where to search for the best morsels, but our hosts were always courteous enough to tear these off and present them to us.

Couscousou well prepared is by no means a dish to be despised; the raw material is simply the semolina of hard wheat, the grains of which are large, carefully sifted from the flour, and prepared in a peculiar manner by the ladies of the household, who roll it about and turn it over with their hands in large wooden dishes. When this has to be cooked it is placed in a small earthen dish pierced with holes, on the top of another in which a soup of meat and vegetables is prepared. The steam causes the grain to swell and soften, without rendering it sodden. When the couscousou is sufficiently cooked it is placed in a large flat dish, the soup highly seasoned with red pepper, and thus called mergäa, is poured over it, the meat or fowls and vegetables, if any are procurable, are placed on the top, perhaps with a morsel of butter; and thus prepared, in the tent of an Arab of rank and means, it is as palatable a dish as a hungry traveller need ever desire to have set before him. Sometimes, instead of the meat and soup, sugar or honey, raisins and milk are substituted. The only thing I can suggest as better than either of them is both in succession.

When the guests have finished their repast, the dishes are passed on to the higher retainers, and so on to the various ranks and classes till nothing remains.

On the morning of May 1, we left El-Bali for the Oued Taga; we had to cross the river at the village, above which the valley opens out to a wide stretch of corn-land. The difference between the state of the crops in different parts of the Aures is very remarkable; it is no unusual thing to see the harvest taking place at the lowest[81] part of the Oued Abdi, the corn green at Menäa, less and less advanced as one ascends, and ploughing going on at some of the highest places. When we were at Menäa the corn was in the ear, and here it had barely germinated.

Gigantic thuyas (Callitris quadrivalvis) and junipers (Juniperus macrocarpa) are met with here. We saw some whose trunks were more than 3 feet in diameter.

The last village we met with was Oulad Azooz, on the right bank, near some rather extensive foundations of Roman buildings.

All along our course we had frequently passed through some villages and in front of others; and although we could not remain long enough to alight from our mules, the Sheikhs never failed to come out arrayed in their official scarlet bernouses to welcome us, and bid us God-speed. I cannot call to mind a sulky look, or an unamiable action during all the time we travelled in these mountains.

Shortly after passing the last village, we saw the principal source of the Oued Abdi in a defile which turns the east flank of Djebel Mahmel. The bottom of the pass has an altitude of 5,837 feet above the sea. Its name is Theniet er-Ressas, or pass of lead, from its extreme cold in winter, which is supposed to kill as surely as lead. It is quite impassable during several months in the year, but when we visited it there were only a few patches of snow visible on Mahmel, which rises above it.

After crossing this and several other valleys, which radiate from the extremity of Mahmel, we came to the luxuriant and well-watered plain of Laradam, 5,188 feet above the sea. It contains about 3,500 acres of land capable of irrigation, and is surrounded on all sides by sterile hills covered with huge blocks of stone. The road winds up one of these, and from a pass at its summit, called Theniet Ain-esh-Shair (pass of the spring of barley), we had our first view of Djebel Chellia, now as bare of snow as Mahmel. The valley of Taga is seen on the left stretching far away towards Timegad. On the top of the mountain we noticed two gigantic frusta of Roman columns, 4½ feet in diameter and nearly as much in height. They were probably cut on the spot and intended to be transported elsewhere.

In the valley below is a handsome stone house belonging to the Kaid of the Aures, who had been vicariously our host since we arrived at Menäa. It is fitted up with every comfort—much more, I believe, out of consideration for his friends than for his own use. We not only found him at Taga, but General Dastugue and his staff also, and Si Bou-Dhiaf, the Kaid of Timegad, into whose territories we were about to enter. We spent a delightful day here in company with those good friends, narrating our experiences in the Aures, and planning excursions to the desert with the General next autumn, which alas! could never be realised.

[82]Taga is 3,800 feet above the sea, and has always a pleasant climate, even in summer; it is only an easy morning’s ride from Batna, and it is quite practicable in fine weather to do the journey by carriage in four hours. We observed here a fine stone coffin, used as a drinking trough, and numerous foundations attesting the extent of Roman occupation in this direction. At Chouchat er-Ramel, to the south-west and close to the Bordj, are a considerable number of megalithic tombs similar to those of Foum Kosentina, which will presently be described.

[83]CHAPTER X.

TIMEGAD.

On the morning of May 2 there was a general break-up. General Dastugue and Si Mohammed bin Abbas started on a tour of inspection in one direction and we, under the guidance of Si Bou-Dhiaf, proceeded towards Timegad.

Our new host is, perhaps, the best known of all the chiefs of the Aures, owing to the proximity of his principal residence to Batna. He worthily bears his ancestral name of Bou-Dhiaf, father of guests. His hospitality is unbounded, and he has a very cunning taste in Bordeaux—a little Mohammedan peccadillo, which we certainly were not called on to condemn. He is of a very ancient family, and, probably not without reason, boasts of his Roman descent. It is one of his ancestors to whom Peyssonnel[73] alludes under the name of Sistera (Si-Sedira).

His official title is Kaid of the Oulad Daood, or of Touaba. The ride from Oued Taga to Timegad is quite a short one of about three hours, through a fertile country covered with Roman remains; the direct distance from Batna is not more than thirteen miles. We found our camp pitched in the very centre of the ruined city, which enabled us to devote every hour of our stay there to its examination. Our host remained continually with us, and we found him a most intelligent and genial companion.

Before proceeding with my own observations respecting this most interesting place, I will quote what Bruce says on the subject:—

The ancient city of Thamugas was situated at the intersection of six Roman roads. Two went through Lambæsis in the direction of Sitifis, a third to Diana Veteranorum (the modern Zana), two more to Theveste (Tebessa) by Mascula (Ain Khenchla), and a sixth northwards to Cirta (Constantine).

It appears to have been of greater importance than Lambæsis; its population was as great, if not greater, to judge by the size of its public buildings, especially the theatre and the area covered by its remains, while its architecture is undoubtedly older and purer. There is nothing at Lambessa to equal the triumphal arch here.

The explanation of this probably is that Lambæsis was the great military station of the country, and that Thamugas was rather the centre of commercial and agricultural activity.

It is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Thanutada; in the Itinerary of Antoninus as Tamugadi, and it occurs in various inscriptions as Thamugas. It is elsewhere described as Colonia Marciana Trajana Thamugas, and Colonia Ulpia Thamugas, and on an inscription still in perfect preservation near the forum there is an allusion to the thirtieth legion, Ulpia, and a celebration of the victories of Trajan over the Parthians.

From this M. Léon Renier concludes, that the Emperor wishing to recompense the veterans of the thirtieth legion, Ulpia Victrix, for their participation in the war against the Parthians, established them at Timegad, not only as being a vast and fertile country, but a position of great military importance, from which they might be able to suppress the turbulence of the neighbouring mountaineers.

It is mentioned in the Acts of Saint Mammarius,[75] and in the Theodosian Code.[76] It subsequently became the great focus of religious agitation during the[85] fourth century. Its bishop, Optatus, was considered as the head of the Donatists; he attached himself to the fortunes of Count Gildon in his revolt against the Emperor Honorius. By means of his soldiery, the Bishop was enabled to exercise great cruelty against the Catholics of his neighbourhood, until in 398 he was involved in his patron’s ruin, and died in prison. St. Augustine, who often alludes to Gildon, says that during ten years Africa trembled under his yoke. Amongst its bishops were Novatus, who assisted at the Council of Carthage in 255; Sextus, who lived in 320; Faustinianus, who was present at the Conference of Carthage in 411, and Secundus, who was exiled by Huneric in 484.[77]

When Solomon arrived for the first time in the Aures in 535 he found the city ruined, so that we may assume its destruction to have taken place between these dates. He restored the citadel at least, in the same style as the other fortresses throughout the country; the proof of this is evident, but the other public buildings bear no trace of a restoration posterior to their original construction. At the time of the Arab invasion it was a Christian city, as in 646, under the government of Gregory, a Christian church was built, the ruins of which still exist.

The ruins occupy a large and undulating plain cut into two portions by a watercourse, which has evidently been considerably deepened by winter torrents since the destruction of the city. Some of its course has been embanked, and perhaps covered over to admit of easy communication between the two portions of the city; perhaps also irrigational works existed to divert its waters to the gardens round about.

This stream runs nearly north and south, eventually turning towards the east. On the west side are numerous ruins of buildings, but the only one of importance is the Basilica above mentioned. It is a square building with a circular apse at the east end. It is divided into a nave and two aisles by columns of rose-coloured marble, three on each side, the centre of which only is free; the others are engaged in the walls right and left of the apse and entrance. Over the lintel of the door was inscribed in white marble

The principal buildings are situated on the right or east bank of the ravine. They consist of a Byzantine fortress, theatre, forum, triumphal arch, a large temple, and innumerable other buildings too much ruined to admit of absolute identification.

The first of these was originally of Roman construction. The regular and careful masonry of that people can be recognised in some few places. A posterior restoration[86] by the Byzantines can also be easily identified, as they invariably employed the cut stones of the former buildings, without much regard to perfect adaptation, using also tombstones, and any other material that came most easily to hand. The third restoration is of a very inferior character, the stones being small, irregular, and very loosely put together. The general plan of the enclosure and a great part of the walls are still entire. It is a large quadrangle, about 120 yards by 98, flanked on each side by salient towers three in number. That on the eastern side is not in the middle, and is much more salient than those at the angles. In the part of this tower facing the interior may be seen the remains of a circular brick dome, the crown of which has disappeared, and in its place there is a rude attempt to complete it by means of loosely piled stones. Some remnants of columns are seen in the interior court belonging to a small building, perhaps a church. With the exception of this fortress the city does not appear to have been fortified; no traces of circumvallation can be observed.

The theatre was cut in the abrupt northern flank of a hill, the opposite side of which gradually slopes towards the south. This monument was of considerable dimensions, and as the materials employed were not of a costly nature, we are led to suppose that it was intended for the accommodation of a large population. Nevertheless the building was executed in a substantial manner, the walls being generally of solid rubble masonry faced with cut stones of considerable dimensions. In the interior, where the masonry may have been covered with cement or other material, the angles were made sharp by brickwork. Although the columns found on the spot are all in stone of an inferior description, they are numerous; on the stage may be counted the remains of fourteen.

The building which, with great probability, has been styled the forum, consists of a long colonnade running parallel to an extensive and beautiful valley, bounded by picturesque hills, the general direction of which is from E. to W. Walking under the shade of this colonnade, the inhabitants must have enjoyed one of the most charming views which it is possible to imagine. The back part was formed of a continuous wall, against which were constructed ranges of small buildings, which were probably shops, separated here and there by openings giving access to the body of the forum. Towards the S. extremity of the colonnade, which was of great length, another range of columns runs at right angles to it, and probably formed a second side to the forum; further south are to be seen, still erect, several columns belonging to a building advancing into the valley. Other buildings, particularly on the northern side and touching the colonnade, are highly interesting.

Great numbers of inscriptions lie scattered about in this neighbourhood, commemorative[87] of historical events: such as the Parthian War; of Roman Emperors and of distinguished soldiers and citizens, with which the forum seems to have been filled; many of these are broken and mutilated, but some are in a perfect state of preservation.

Amongst others there are two fine pedestals of white marble of octagonal shape, bearing identical inscriptions; one is broken, but the other is quite entire and measures five feet in height, each face being from twelve to twenty inches wide. This inscription is the one mentioned by Bruce as that of Marcellianus; it runs as follows:—

VICTORIAE

PARTHICAE

AVG. SACR.

EX . TESTAMENTO

M. ANNI . M. F. QVR.

MARTIALIS . MIL.

LEG III AVG. DVPLC

ALAE. PANN. DEC. AL

EIVSDEM. LEG III. AVG

ET. XXX. VLPIAE VICIC

MISSI . HONESTA

MISSIONE . AB . IMP .

TRAIANO . OPTIMO

AVG. GER. DAC. PAR

SING. HS. VIII. XX. PR.

ANNII . M. LIB. PROTVS

HILARVS . EROS

ADIECTIS . A. SE. HS. III.

PONEND. CVRꜸER

IDEM Q. DEDICꜸER

D. D.[80]

The words LEG III have been chiselled out and again engraved on a lower level than the rest of the inscription.

This forum is the building described by Bruce as ‘the remains of a temple, only a piece of side wall now standing.’ The passage in his diary regarding the interment of the statue deserves the attention of future explorers. I only regret that his manuscripts were not in my possession prior to our visit. I have a distinct recollection of seeing the mutilated remains of a statue on the spot, which may have been that of Antoninus, and it is very probable that the bust of Faustina may still be where Bruce buried it.

While this work was going through the press, I have had the pleasure to receive[88] part of the report of Professor Masqueray on his recent explorations at Timegad.[81] He has had the good fortune to discover in an Arab house at Enchir Terfas, on the left bank of the Oued Soutz, about 1,500 metres distant from this part of the ruins, several interesting fragments of inscriptions, which throw great light upon several already published by M. Renier, and one in a single block, which though incomplete, is highly valuable.

This is a dedication to Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta, of A.D. 199, the date of the second nomination of Caracalla to the Tribunal power. When the memory of Geta was abolished, his name was erased and other titles of Caracalla inserted. There is no doubt that these stones were taken to their present position from the forum.

M. Masqueray has also disinterred two very remarkable inscriptions, containing lists of the magistrates of Thamugas, placed according to their ranks, and amongst others the names of the curator and the three perpetual flamens who presided over the restoration of the Capitol, which took place in the reign of Valentinianus and Valens, between 364 and 367.

Towards the north-west of the town, nearly in the axis of the colonnade of the forum from which at all events it formed a striking view, exists the triumphal arch forming the subject of one of Bruce’s illustrations (Plate VI.), and which is one of the most important monuments of the kind in Algeria. It consists of three openings, the central one thirteen feet eight inches wide and the side ones seven feet two inches; above the latter are square niches for statues. The monument is of the Corinthian order; each front is decorated by four fluted columns nineteen feet six inches high, occupying the angles and the spaces between the arches. To each column corresponds a pilaster, both raised on a common pedestal.

Plate VI.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

ARCH OF THE GODS AT THAMUGAS (TIMEGAD)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

The entablature connects all the columns and pilasters together, and was itself surmounted by an attic, with an entablature, a portion of the architrave of which now alone remains. Over the two lateral arches and the square niches and supported by the two columns are two curved pediments, the cornices of which, as also the main[89] cornice profile round, are set back over the columns, an arrangement not unfrequent in the colonies of the Empire. The attic, intended no doubt to receive the dedicatory inscription and perhaps also to support sculpture, appears to have extended over the whole top of the building. None of the original inscription remains in place, but fragments have been found below and near the forum, on which the following words have been read:—

IMP. CAESAR

NERVAE ᵥ F ᵥ NERVA ᵥ TRAIA . . . .

. . . . GERMANI . . . VS ᵥ PO . . . . .

. . . . TRIB ᵥ PO . . . . . . S ᵥ III ᵥ P . . . . CO

. . . . C . . . ANAM ᵥ TR . . . . ANAM ᵥ TI . . .

. . . . DI PER LEG III AV . . .

. . . . . . . NATIM . . . . GALLVS ᵥ LEG

AVG. PRO . . . . . . .

D.

M. Léon Renier restores this as follows:—

The two façades are identical in feature and each is in itself perfectly symmetrical, except that the capitals of the two middle columns on the southern façade, instead of having the angle of the abacus supported by volutes, have eagles in their place. The square niches have had each their separate entablature, and columns supported by sculptured brackets; all the arches have archivoltes.

The mass of the monument is of sandstone, but the columns, capitals and bases of the pilasters, brackets and entablature are entirely of white marble, as was also the crowning of the attic; the sides of the attics were certainly covered by slabs, most probably of the same material. The débris from the entablature and the upper part of the building has fallen round the base of the monument, burying it as far as the imposts of the lower arches.

M. Masqueray has found amongst the ruins of the Byzantine Citadel an inscription which proves that this building was called the arch of the Gods, ARCVM[90] PANTHEVM, and that it was customary to ornament it with statues, some of which may probably still exist amongst the stones and soil with which the base is encumbered.

The next important building is the Capitol or Temple of Jupiter, of which very little now remains, but that little coupled with Bruce’s beautiful sketch of it shows that it must have been a very splendid edifice (Plate VII.)

A large peristyle existed before it, to which access was gained by a flight of six or eight steps. None of the columns are now erect; but splendid fragments, nearly six feet in diameter, lie scattered about. Five are represented as still standing in Bruce’s time, supporting a small portion of the entablature; they were of the Corinthian order, and fluted.

The foundations and part of the superstructure of the principal façade or entrance to the cella are still in place; this was most powerfully constructed and measures nearly six feet in thickness, the stones varying from three to five feet in length from two to three feet in breadth and twenty inches in height. An attic base, in blue limestone, lying on the spot measures six feet in breadth at its plinth. The most massive parts were built of rubble, encased in cut stone masonry composed of blocks of great size.

An inscription was here found on four stones, surrounded by a moulding, of which the following is a copy, completed by M. Léon Renier.

Pro magnificentia saeculi dominorum nostrorum Valentiniani et Valentis, semper Augustorum et perpetuorum, porticus capitolii, seriae vetustatis absumptus et usque ad ima fundamenta conlapsus, novo opere perfectus, exornatusque dedicavit Publilius Caeionius Caecina Albinus, vir clarissimus, consularis, curantibus Aelio Juliano iterum rei publicae curatore, Flavio Aquilino flamine perpetuo, Antonio Petroniano flamine perpetuo Antonio Januiariano flamine perpetuo.[83]

The palm-trees to the right of the picture have beyond all doubt been added by Balugani, to increase the effect of the pictures. No palm-trees exist within many miles of this place, and it is impossible to believe that the simple beauty of the architecture here depicted, and these distorted and misplaced trees could have been executed by the same hand.

Plate VII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

CAPITOL, THAMUGAS (TIMEGAD)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[91]CHAPTER XI.

LEAVE TIMEGAD — FOUM KOSENTINA — MEGALITHIC REMAINS — OUM EL-ASHERA — EL-WADHAHA — ASCENT OF CHELLIA — AIN MEIMOUN — LIONS.

On May 3 we left Timegad, not without considerable regret that we could not afford to spend a longer time there. We would fain have made some excavations, as there is no more promising field for antiquarian research in Algeria, but the season was advancing, and we were compelled to move onwards. We crossed the Oued Taga and the unusually rich and well-watered plain of Firis, the west side of which is bounded by the Oued Foum Kosentina, River of the Gorge of Constantine. This is formed by two streams, the Seba Rekoud and the Oued el-Ahmer, which have worn for themselves deep channels, the precipitous banks of which are in some places five or six hundred feet high. A remarkable tongue of land is enclosed between them, which, probably on account of a certain general resemblance to the plateau on which the city of Constantine is situated, has been named Ktäa Kosentina, and the river Oued Foum Kosentina.

The numerous Roman remains all over the plain of Firis prove that no part of the Aures was more thoroughly colonised by this great people. Lower down the plain, the river formed by the junction of the Oued Taga and the Foum Kosentina, takes the name of Oued Rabooäa, on which are the Bordj and flour-mill of our friend Si Bou Dhiaf. The latter is of French construction, and brings him in a very considerable revenue. The native mills are of the rudest construction, and are rapidly falling into disuse wherever a European one has been erected.

The whole of this district is of the deepest interest to the student of pre-historic archæology. The hills on the west and south of Firis, Djebel Kharouba and Djebel Bou Dreicen are high, barren of undergrowth but well covered with small trees, especially the Betoum, or Pistachia Atlantica. The rock crops out in every direction, and is a sandstone with a very laminated stratification, capable of being easily detached in large slabs of no great thickness.

[92]These hills are covered with countless numbers of the most interesting megalithic remains. Their variety is considerable, but the most ordinary type is that of a low circular structure, nearly level with the earth at the upper part of its base, and varying in height according to the slope of the hill on the opposite side, from three to eight feet, and containing from four to eight courses of rough dry masonry.

The walls are generally about six feet in thickness, the tombs from sixteen to thirty-three feet in diameter, containing a central chamber of irregular form covered by a large slab of stone. A very small number of these have been opened, but such as have been examined were found to contain human bones, and the body appears to have been doubled up by the disarticulation of the femur, so that the feet touched the skull. A few vessels of rude pottery have been found.

In some places the monuments are close together, in others they are separated by a number of tombs of the ordinary dolmenic type, as if the latter were intended for people of less consideration than those for whom the circular ones were constructed.

Below the south slope of Djebel Kharouba on the Oued el-Ahmer, or Red River, so called from the peculiar tint of the earth on its banks, is the village of Oum el-Ashera, or Mother of Ten, where we passed the night. The distance from Timegad is only nine-and-a-half miles, and occupied three hours.

It is a small and unimportant place, of the usual construction, situated at the mouth of a narrow gorge through which the stream breaks into the plain, but to the east of it is a pleasant turfy plateau, which seems as if it had been made by nature expressly as a camping-ground for those who may come to explore the neighbourhood.

On May 4 our journey also was a short but rather adventurous one. We purposed proceeding only as far as El-Wadhaha, a distance of seven-and-a-half miles, the most convenient place whence to ascend Djebel Chellia. The route was unusually mountainous, a constant succession of thickly wooded hills and valleys. When we left the weather was fine though somewhat showery, but we had not been many minutes on the road before the rain began to descend in torrents. The streams increased so rapidly that retreat was hopeless, and we were never sure that we should be able to continue our road. Si Bou Dhiaf who still accompanied us urged us onwards, but our beasts could not increase their pace. We floundered bravely through mud and water till we reached our halting-place, where fortunately the tents had been sent in advance, and pitched before the storm began. A fire was immediately lighted, not of little pieces of wood but with whole trees, so fierce and blazing, that it[93] dried us even as we stood around it in the rain. All the evening it continued to pour and it was nightfall before our baggage arrived, and we could obtain a change of clothing. The Government mules are not well adapted for difficult mountain travelling. Being shod they are much more inclined to slip on bad stony roads than the native animals, and they have not the same marvellous instinct for picking their steps. There never was an animal so unjustly calumniated as a mule. I know none more sagacious, except perhaps the donkey. A horse may be forced to face anything, he has no self-reliance and trusts entirely to the superior intelligence of his rider; but no power on earth will force an Arab donkey or mule to take a single step in advance against its own conviction, and his instincts as to the safety of a road are always superior to his rider’s opinions. We went over some very difficult roads, but none of our animals left to his own sagacity ever came to grief.

El-Wadhaha is merely a place where the Chawia are in the habit of encamping. There is no village near and the only reason for selecting it is, that there is abundance of wood and water procurable, and it is a convenient place for commencing the ascent of Chellia, which we did early on the following morning. Fortunately the storm of the previous day had passed by, and the day was bright and cool.

Djebel Chellia is the highest peak in Algeria, but, rising as it does from very high ground, it is not nearly so imposing as Djurdjura. There was not a trace of pathway visible, but it was very easy and pleasant riding over its grassy slopes, bare of trees but carpeted with the most exquisite wild flowers, amongst which were yellow tulips, blue pansies, and forget-me-nots, and a lovely little white flower resembling a daisy. We saw many which we had never observed elsewhere, and we deeply regretted every hour of the journey that Dr. Hooker, who had originally intended to join the party, had been prevented from accompanying us.

Nearer the summit we passed through woods and clumps of cedars, in which there were more dead than living trees, some still erect, others torn up by their roots, bearing testimony to the violence of the storms which prevail here in winter. There was no great quantity of snow remaining; in sheltered places we saw banks four feet in depth, and the highest point was covered with it. This is accounted for by the previous rainy season having commenced late: very little snow fell before February, and it is only that of November and December which gets sufficiently frozen to last well into summer. We found the ascent by no means difficult, and hardly ever dismounted from our mules till within a few hundred yards of the top; but, had it been hedged about by all manner of dangers and difficulties, the beauty of the ride up and the glorious panorama from the top would have repaid us for them all.

[94]It might almost be thought that Virgil, if he ever visited Africa at all, had this particular peak in view, when alluding to—

The highest point of the small range, which goes by the name of Djebel Chellia, is 7,611 feet above the sea—only twenty-three feet higher than Djebel Mahmel, and sixty-nine more than the highest peak of Djurdjura. On the summit is a rude hut and stone enclosure, the marabout of Sidi Mohammed Kultoom, who used to make this his residence whenever it was possible to remain there; the Chawia still make pilgrimages to it and offer sacrifices of sheep at the shrine of the holy man. We left a record of our visit in a bottle on the summit, carefully secured to a stone; but I fear it stands a great risk of being removed, not for the value of the autograph, but rather for that of the precious vessel in which it was enclosed. Empty bottles are not so common in the Aures as they are elsewhere. An addition to our party was waiting for us at the top; this was the limit of Bou Dhiaf’s command, and he had here to hand us over to Si Mustafa, the Kaid of Bou Hammama, who with his Khalifa both in their official scarlet bernouses, had come to welcome us and conduct us to where we were to spend the night.

The view from the summit is most extensive. In the foreground is the massif of the Aures itself, containing numerous ranges, generally richly wooded, some scarped and precipitous, others striated like agate by the upheaval of the oolitic strata of which they are composed, while on one or two the tops have been worn away between the strata, leaving the latter like huge lines of defence guarding the summits. Beyond this from north to east the hills between Constantine and Ain Beida bound the horizon, and the Sebkhas or salt lakes are distinctly seen in the middle distance. Behind the hills to the south, glimpses are obtained of the Sahara, while the north-west is bounded by the mountains behind Batna.

The slopes of the mountain exposed to the north and west, the prevailing direction whence come the wind, rain and snow of winter, are richly clothed with forest almost to their base. The southern slopes, exposed to the hot wind of the desert, are much more arid.

We descended the opposite side of the mountain through the valley of Tizou-ghaghin, in which a stream rises near the top and encircles the western slope, till it is met by the Oued el-Khezoum, descending from another portion of the summit. It[95] would be difficult to find a more charming ride, at first through a forest of cedar with here and there an old gnarled yew, but both these trees are slowly disappearing. The highest parts of the range are perfectly bare, though an occasional whitened stump shows that even they were once wooded; lower down dead trees are still erect, and the ground is covered with others that have fallen, or have been torn up by the roots. These become more and more mixed with living trees as the traveller descends, till the dense forests on the lower slope are reached.

But even here destruction is doing its work, principally owing to numerous communities of hairy processional caterpillars, which spin a web-like nest on the higher branches destroying all vegetable life as their ravages descend.

After leaving the region of cedars the lower parts of the mountain present new features of grandeur and interest. Ilex, pistachia and juniper begin to appear, and soon the road passes through a dense forest of Aleppo pines, which for picturesque beauty can hardly be surpassed in any part of the country. Eventually we entered the well-watered plain of Melagou, and turning eastward found ourselves at the small village of Bou Hammama.

We had sent our camp on by an easier route, so everything was ready for our reception, the usual dhifa was cooked and only waiting to be eaten. Si Mustafa is quite a different type from Bou Dhiaf, and we remarked that the meeting between them on the top of Chellia was not very cordial. He is not a man of ancient family, nor in fact is he in any way connected with the Aures. His ancestors were Turks and he has risen through military service elsewhere to a high position, which ended in his being appointed by the French, Kaid of Bou Hammama. The district appears a fine one, but the village itself is the poorest we have yet seen, and is only occupied during a certain portion of the year. At other times the inhabitants live in tents, following their flocks wherever pasture is most abundant. To-day we rode about twenty-two miles, which occupied us six hours and a half.

On May 6 we started for Ain Meimoun, a distance of nineteen miles. After crossing the plain of Melagou the road enters an undulating plain, and for some distance is comparatively uninteresting. At last it passes into the long and fertile valley of Noughis, one continuous stretch of corn and meadow land. Its general direction is from west to east. It is bounded on the north by low hills and on the south by a lofty range, clothed to its summit with forests of oak below and cedars above. These mountains, facing as they do the north, from which point all the rain of winter comes, retain their mantle of snow till late in spring. Thus the numerous springs and streams are well supplied, and continue to flow even in summer.

There is no doubt that during the Roman occupation this valley was as carefully[96] terraced and watered as the Oued Abdi is now; traces of retaining walls are still visible, though none of the massive foundations so common elsewhere are to be seen. After a long ride through a country which seems to weary the traveller by its monotonous richness, the culminating point is reached and the streams, which have hitherto flowed towards the west, now run in a contrary direction. In the middle of the narrow pass forming the watershed, called Cherf-Noughis, is a mound on which are the remains of what was no doubt a military post, intended to command it. The view from this spot is very beautiful. To the west is the long plain from which we had just passed, bounded by the ever-narrowing hills on either side, till the vista is shut in by the distant peak of Chellia. To the east in the valley of Tasgeen is a total change of scenery. Every trace of monotony has disappeared; the green pasture land mixing with the darker tints of the forest give both softness and grandeur to the landscape, while in the distance, instead of the mountain scenery of the Aures, the view is bounded by the Sebkhas, or salt lakes of the Nememcha and the plain beyond. The road still continues along the north side of the plain, winding amongst the most exquisite forest scenery till it reaches Ain Meimoun.

Here we were met by Si Ismael, the Kaid of Khenchla, quite a different type from any we had seen before. He is a young and handsome Lieutenant of Spahis, belonging to one of the best families in the province of Oran. He speaks French with perfect fluency, and both frequents and seems to enjoy European society.

This place takes its name from a beautiful and copious spring situated just on the edge of the forest, and at the top of a rich clearing, which it serves to irrigate. There is no village here, but both a civil and a military establishment for preparing cedar timber. The former sends the wood for sale to Batna, Constantine and elsewhere; the latter supplies the public works in process of construction at Ain Khenchla, to which place there is a road practicable for carts. No more pleasant spot could be found for a halt. The traveller might fancy himself in one of the finest parts of Switzerland, but with a new and delightful sensation added, the scent of the freshly sawn cedar with which the air is embalmed. If he is a sportsman he may chance to get a shot at a lion. This is perhaps the only part of the Aures where they still exist. We met a brother of the far-famed Chassaing working at the timber-yard. He told us that he had himself killed seven, and that his brother had bagged between fifty and sixty before his death, and that, though they are exceedingly rare now, two had been heard during the previous night.

These grand old cedar forests are the glory of Algeria. Influences which it is difficult to control are causing their gradual disappearance, and there was a time when the reckless extravagance with which the timber was consumed threatened to consummate[97] the evil even in our own time. But greater order has now been introduced into the administration. Wise laws have been framed to prevent the destruction of forests, and we hope that we may never have to lament the disappearance of this noble tree in the words of Shakespeare when he describes the fall of Warwick—

This was the last night we spent actually in the Aures Mountains. We now entered the plains which skirt their northern base.

[98]CHAPTER XII.

AIN KHENCHLA — ACROSS THE PLAINS OF THE NEMEMCHA TO TEBESSA.

From Ain Meimoun to Ain Khenchla is 17½ miles, which occupied us five hours. We carefully avoided the carriage road, and took the more enjoyable one through the forests with which the hills are covered. Here and there we came to an open space generally full of Roman remains, but we saw none of especial interest.

About half way is an elevated plateau, called El-Kaläa, or El-Geläa as it is more frequently pronounced, the fortress, from which there is a most commanding view of the extensive plain below, and the distant hills, as far as Constantine. In the foreground is one of the Sebkhas, bordered by a crystalline belt of salt and sand, contrasting strongly with the brilliant vegetation around.

Between four and five miles from Khenchla is the Oued el-Hamma, a beautiful stream, passing at the foot of Djebel Serdsum. A spring of almost boiling water issues from a mass of Roman masonry and flows into the main stream, producing at the junction a most agreeable temperature for hot baths: lower down are the ruins of piscinæ, and a few yards off traces of many Roman buildings of the usual solid construction, showing that this was a favourite watering-place of the inhabitants of Mascula. On nearing the modern village, the spring from which it derives its name is passed in a garden of fine old fig-trees. Near it an ancient reservoir was discovered, 82 feet long by 33 broad and 6 deep, which has been restored by the Engineer Department and now forms a handsome public fountain.

The identity of Ain Khenchla with the ancient Mascula admits of no doubt, its distance from known points would prove the fact, even had not an inscription been found recording that, about A.D. 370, Publius Cæcina Albinus rebuilt the town which before had been destroyed.

This interesting inscription has thus been restored:

Mascula is more famous in ecclesiastical than in profane history. Several of its inhabitants are celebrated in Roman Martyrology, especially Archinimus who was condemned to death by Genseric. Its Bishop Clarus attended the Council of Carthage in A.D. 255. Another, Donatus, yielded to the persecutions of Florus pro-consul of the district, and revealed the place where the holy books had been concealed. He was the first of the recreant bishops who was interrogated by Secundus Tigisitanus on the subject, before the Council of Cirta in 305. Another bishop, Januarius, was exiled by Huneric in 494, and a second of the same name assisted at the Council of Carthage in 525.

The value of Mascula as a strategic position, situated as it is in a wide and fertile plain just beyond the northern slopes of the Aures Mountains, has always been recognised. It is probably here that Solomon placed his camp during his second expedition, and there is reason to believe that it is the Malich, the scene of one of the battles of Sidi Okba.

After the first Arab invasion it was still inhabited. El-Adouani thus alludes to it: ‘At the foot of the Mountains of Amamra there are three cities, Baghai, Khenchla, and Guessas, inhabited by Christians, each one surrounded by vast gardens irrigated by the waters descending from Djebel Mahmel.’[86]

Khenchla has now been created a European centre of colonisation, chief place of a circle, with a Commandant Supérieur, Bureau Arabe and a small garrison. Colonists have been attracted to the spot not only by its fine climate, resembling very much that of Provence, but by concessions of from 60 to 100 acres of land given by the State. The great fertility of the soil, its proximity to vast forests and the mineral riches of its mountains, ought to secure the prosperity of this fine though distant settlement. To these advantages may be added its position midway between Batna and Tebessa, and in close proximity to the openings of the various valleys traversing the Aures. It was made the centre for supplying the armies of General Herbillon in 1847, and of General St. Arnaud in 1850, in their expedition against the Nememchas.

We had been overtaken by heavy rain soon after passing Oued el-Hamma, and on our arrival at Khenchla, whither our baggage had preceded us, we were dismayed to see the tents standing in a lake of mud and water. To sleep there was impossible. Fortunately we were once more in civilisation, and found an excellent auberge, in[100] which we passed the night most comfortably. The station was in a great state of excitement, owing to a visit which was hourly expected from the Bishop of Constantine. The bad state of the roads had evidently detained him, and I believe it was dark before His Grandeur arrived. On the following morning the Commandant showed us all over the station and the various public buildings which he has constructed by means of the troops under his command.

He has had the good sense to build all the inscriptions and fragments of sculpture, which he has found, into the walls of the military cercle; the only way of preserving them on the spot, and preventing their being carried off by sacrilegious relic-hunters. He assisted us to procure fresh mules for our baggage and horses for our own use, and generally to arrange for our journey to Tebessa. Here we dismissed the Government mules we had brought from Batna and their attendant tringlots. We were quite sorry to part from the latter; they were the best natured and most helpful fellows possible, always ready to serve us in a thousand ways; never grumbling at any hardships or difficulties that they had to encounter.

Bruce’s route must have passed very close to this place; the only record, however, for our guidance is a memorandum:—

The present road from Ain Khenchla to Ain Beida, on which there is a regular line of omnibuses, passes close to the ruins of Kasr Baghai, the ancient Bagaia; a city which had already attained considerable importance during the Imperial era, as is proved by numerous inscriptions. During the time of St. Augustine it was one of the African cities in which Christianity had attained the most progress. Several councils were held here; but religious dissensions soon began to produce their destructive effect; the Donatists burnt the Basilica and committed the sacred books to the flames.[87] Solomon was charged by Justinian to re-establish order in Africa. One of his captains, Gantharis, sent to operate in Mount Aures, established his camp at Bagaia; Procopius says that it was then in ruins. It is probable that the Byzantines then built or restored the immense fortification, the trace of which is still entire. It consists of an irregular quadrilateral figure, the sides varying in length from 770 to 1,227 feet, with round towers at three of the angles, and a square one at the fourth. The wall is further strengthened at irregular distances by square salient towers. On the N.W. side is a second enclosure or citadel; near the W. angle are the remains of a Mohammedan mosque, decorated with ancient columns still standing.

Instead of following the diligence route, we determined to continue our course[101] straight to Tebessa, over the immense plains forming the summer pasture grounds of the great Berber tribe of Nememcha. The whole country is covered with Roman remains, showing that in former times the land was much more susceptible of cultivation than it is at present. This is attributable in a great measure to the total disappearance of the forests which once covered it. We were especially struck at the frequent occurrence of buildings used for the manufacture of olive oil, in districts where not a tree is to be seen for miles around. Vines were no doubt extensively cultivated, but we only saw one in all our journey, and that was an extremely old plant, which according to Arab tradition has existed since the Roman era.

At about seven miles from Khenchla is a beautiful clear spring, issuing from a Roman wall, and surrounded by ruins of important buildings; it is called Tazou-garet. At Ain Bedjen, fourteen miles further on, is another spring, and here we halted for the night (May 8). We congratulated ourselves on having exchanged our mules for horses; the former are invaluable in the mountains, but their pace is extremely fatiguing over a long plain, the tedium of which can only be alleviated by an occasional gallop.

On the 9th we breakfasted at Ain Kemellel, seven miles from our last halting-place; this is another clear stream flowing amongst Roman ruins; it is absolutely devoid of shade, but an Arab tent had been pitched for our accommodation, in which we rested an hour or two during the hottest part of the day.

It was late in the evening before we reached Oglet-ed-dib, about twenty miles from Ain Bedjen and ten west of Djebel Tasbent. The Smala of the Kaid of the district happened to be here; he himself was absent, but he was represented by his brother. This was the only occasion during our journey on which we met with an ungracious reception, but that even was only for a moment; the Kaid’s brother subsequently gave us the usual dhiffa, and himself accompanied us to Tebessa. Tasbent is a bold, flat-topped mountain, an excellent point to steer by in these interminable plains. Near its northern slope is a Roman mausoleum in a good state of preservation. It consists of two stories; the upper one was shut in by a wall in the direction of the north-west, from which bad weather usually comes, and open towards the east, with two free columns forming a niche for the reception of a statue. It was probably the tomb of a Romanised Numidian; it bears the following inscription:—

[102]As usual with such tombs, it goes by the name of Es-Souma, the minaret. About a mile further on are the remains of a Roman post, supposed to be the ancient Tymphes. It is called by the Arabs Kasr el-Kasir, and a fragment of an inscription was found here bearing the legend

Shortly after passing this the road enters very beautiful mountain scenery; the hills are clothed with oak and Aleppo pine, with here and there a wild almond tree. At the foot of the eastern slope is a spring, Ain el-Amba, which has been led into a drinking-fountain, and from this place, indeed from the crest of the hill above it, there is a good trace of a road commenced by the French but not finished, as far as Tebessa.

The distance from Ain Khenchla to Tebessa is 57 miles, which we did in three days. It is a most unsatisfactory journey to make, and I should recommend anyone following in our footsteps to go by diligence viâ Ain Beida in preference.

[103]CHAPTER XIII.

TEBESSA — RETURN TO CONSTANTINE.

The last of the Roman cities on the northern slopes of the Aures was Theveste, the modern Tebessa. Bruce has erroneously identified it as Tipasa, which is certainly the modern Tifesh, much further to the north. He visited it on two occasions, in going to and returning from Constantine. His remarks are very concise; they are as follows:—

The Hanencha is a once powerful confederation, which governed an immense extent of country along the frontier of Tunis from La Calle to the desert. The name is derived from that of the first Arab chief Hanach ben Abdulla es-Sanani, a native of Sanäa in Arabia Felix. Their principal stronghold, Geläat-es-Senan, also bears the name of his birthplace. Since the French conquest this tribe has lost its former greatness, but a Kaid of the Hanencha still exists at Souk Ahras, and governs a fraction of the old tribal territory.

The subsequent entry is—

This is evidently intended to be supplementary to his former note; he means that nothing remained to the east of the town, save the ruins of a Byzantine fortress, and what he believed to have been the area of a temple, but which has since been excavated, and proves to be a great basilica.

[104]His illustrations consist of three sheets—

1. An Indian-ink perspective view of the Temple of Jupiter, roughly but boldly executed (Plate VIII.)

2. One double sheet containing a pencil sketch of the triumphal arch of Caracalla, with details and measurements (Plate IX.)

3. An Indian-ink perspective view of one face only of the same building.

Theveste must have been a very important town of Numidia, but it is only mentioned by later writers, and not alluded to by Strabo, Pliny or Sallust. It was probably founded immediately after the Jewish War, A.D. 71. And M. Léon Renier thinks that an inscription found in the forum, and containing the letters[88]

must have been in honour of Vespasian, and his son Titus. If it did exist at this period, it was probably a purely military post.

It very speedily rose into importance on account of its situation at the junction of the roads to Carthage, Cirta, Hippone, Lambessa and Tacape (mod. Gabes). It was probably also an entrepôt for the commerce of Central Africa, as well as for the produce of the country.

Christianity was introduced into Carthage about A.D. 150, and Theveste was probably one of the first places to follow the example of the African metropolis. Four bishops are recorded as having ruled over the church here, of whom the first assisted at the Council of Carthage, presided over by St. Cyprian. Their names are-

St. Maximilian and St. Crispin suffered martyrdom at Theveste, the former under the pro-consulate of Dion, the latter under Diocletian. St. Optatus records that a Donatist council assembled here in A.D. 350.[89]

The commencement of the second century was its period of greatest splendour, and it is from this time that we must date the construction of its finest monuments. It must have fallen into ruin during the Vandal occupation, and disappeared from[105] history until restored by the Byzantine armies. Solomon was the second founder of Theveste, which he fortified, as he did many other cities in various parts of Africa. He enclosed it within ramparts and towers, the trace of which exists to the present day, while the citadel is as imposing as when built thirteen centuries ago. Here it was that Solomon himself was slain, after having for four years bravely withstood the constant insurrections which followed the departure of Belisarius from Africa.

A Byzantine inscription, built into one of the openings of the triumphal arch, has thus been completed by M. Renier:—

This is the only inscription found in Africa making any direct allusion to the expulsion of the Vandals. Then came the Arab invasion, which destroyed the last trace of Greek supremacy, and converted Mauritania and Numidia to the religion of El-Islam. During the Mohammedan domination Tebessa partook of the vicissitudes of the dynasties, which at various times held the district, and finally submitted to a French column under General Randon in 1842, although it was not until 1851 that it was permanently occupied.

Tebessa is built in one of the most advantageous positions which it is possible to conceive, about eleven miles from the Tunisian frontier. It is situated to the north of the mountains of Bou Rouman, which enclose the basin of the Oued Chabrou, an affluent of the Oued Meskiana. It has an abundant water supply and is surrounded by most beautiful gardens. In front is an immense plain watered by numerous streams flowing into the Oued Chabrou, which winds along the bottom of the valley.

The modern town is contained within the walls of the Byzantine citadel, which however occupies but a small portion of the ancient city. Its high walls flanked with towers are still in a tolerably good state of preservation, and are evidently built of still older materials.[91]

[106]The French have repaired the walls of Solomon’s citadel, now the outer line of fortification, and have added a modern Kasba containing barracks and other subsidiary military buildings, which latter serves as the present citadel.

It is almost square in form, the perimeter being about 1,170 yards in extent; the walls are built of large cut stones, and it is strengthened by fourteen square towers, four of which are at the angles, and the rest irregularly distributed between them. The height of the walls varies from sixteen to thirty-three feet, that of the towers from thirty to forty, and the thickness of the masonry from six to eight feet. It has three gates, the Bab el-Kedim, or old gate, formed by the arch of Caracalla; the Bab el-Djedid, or new gate, sometimes called that of Solomon; and the Bab el-Kasba, or gate of the citadel, which forms the entrance to the new quarter occupied by the troops.

The Temple of Jupiter (Plate VIII.), situated within the present enceinte, is of the Corinthian order, forty-five feet nine inches long, including the pronaos, by twenty-six feet three inches broad. The material of the main building is compact limestone. Each side is strengthened by four pilasters, and in front is the portico supported by six monolithic columns of marble, four of which are in front. It is raised on a basement or podium twelve feet high, in which are three vaults now filled up, and access to the temple is attained by a handsome flight of cut stone steps.

The entablature is not of a regular form, the architrave and frieze forming one height; over the columns and pilasters are panels ornamented by bucranes or ox skulls. The intermediate spaces are occupied by panels highly sculptured. This is immediately crowned by the cornice, above which is a highly ornamented attic, now about equal in height to the entablature. No doubt, it had a cornice, which has disappeared. In the panels between the bucranes are eagles holding thunderbolts, on either side of which are serpents and branches with trilobate leaves. On the attic, the vertical panels over the columns and pilasters have trophies of armour, and the oblong ones alternately garlands and double horns of plenty.

The attic on the front has no sculpture, and this was doubtless intended to receive marble slabs with a dedicatory inscription. The soffits between the columns are everywhere richly decorated, and between the two central columns is the head of Jupiter Tonans. It was originally surrounded by an enclosure wall, the gate of which now actually serves as the front door of the mosque opposite.

This building has been put to many uses since the French occupation; at first it was a soap manufactory; then the Bureau du Génie; subsequently a prison, and a canteen: and finally it was converted into the parish church, a dome being added, a bell perched on the top, and the interior supplied with ecclesiastical fittings in the worst[107] style of the génie militaire. Happily the dome fell in, and the building is now unused for any purpose; it is greatly to be desired that the hideous modern additions may be removed, and the temple restored to its original beauty.

Plate VIII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TEMPLE OF JUPITER AT THEBESTE (TEBESSA)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

The triumphal arch of Caracalla is a really magnificent monument of the description called quadrifrons, each face representing an ordinary single arch of triumph. The only other known specimens of the kind are the arch of Janus Quadrifrons, at Rome, much inferior to this both in size and beauty, and the great arch at Tripoli, which forms the subject of the finest of Bruce’s illustrations. There is also an Imperial medal in existence containing a similar arch, dedicated to Domitian. This monument is built of large blocks of cut stone. A pair of Corinthian monolithic disengaged columns flank each arch, behind which are pilasters. Each column stands upon its own pedestal, and not, as is usually the case in African monuments, upon one common to each pair of columns.

The soffits supported by these, and also the central ceiling, were richly decorated. The entablature is composed of a highly ornate architrave, with rounded leaves at the angles, above which is a cornice. There is also a lofty frieze, as though for the reception of an inscription, and this also is surmounted by a cornice.

Above the north façade is a small building, intended as a niche to contain a bust or statue; the semicircular base is still in place. It is fronted by two isolated columns, with corresponding pilasters on the right and left of the niche. The whole is covered with a flat roof, with a plain architrave and cornice on the outside. Another was probably built on the south side; indeed, but for the inscription on the inside, one would be tempted to believe that there must have been one above each façade. The head of a bust, evidently belonging to this niche, and supposed to be that of Septimius Severus, was found in the neighbourhood, and is now preserved in the Engineers’ office at Constantine.

From the inscriptions on the interior we learn the history of the building. There was a rich family of Tebessa represented by three brothers, Cornelius Fortunatus, Cornelius Quintus, and Cornelius Egrilianus. The last of these commanded the 14th legion, Gemina, and died leaving all his property to his two brothers on certain conditions.

The first was that they should erect a triumphal arch surmounted by two tetrastyles, enclosing statues of the two Augusti. In the forum also were to be placed statues of the divine Severus and of the goddess Minerva. 250,000 sesterces were to be expended on these works. A further sum of 250,000 sesterces was to be devoted to affording gratuitous baths to the inhabitants in the public thermæ; and lastly 170 lbs. of silver and 14 lbs. of gold were to be deposited in the Capitol for a purpose[108] which is not clear from the inscription. The following is a restoration of this interesting record proposed by M. Léon Renier:—

On the opposite side, namely the right hand on leaving the town, is a tabular statement, very much defaced, but of which the heading is quite distinct:

On each façade, above the arch, was a tablet containing a dedicatory inscription. The western one was in honour of Julia Domna, wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus, and mother of the two Emperors Caracalla and Geta.

This inscription is as follows:—

The key of the arch below is decorated with an eagle holding thunderbolts, supporting a medallion out of which rises a female bust, wearing a high mural crown, typical, perhaps, of Julia Domna herself or of Rome.

Plate IX.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

QUADRIFRONTAL ARCH OF CARACALLA AT THEVESTE (TEBESSA)

FAC SIMILE OF INDIAN INK SKETCH BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[109]Septimius Severus died in A.D. 211, and the two Augusti mentioned in the testament were evidently Caracalla and Geta. Caracalla murdered his brother in 212, consequently the date of the testament is fixed between those two years, though the execution of the work may have been a little later. The east façade bears a dedication to Septimius Severus himself. It has a medallion similar to the W. front, of a warrior in armour, resting on a head of the Medusa, representing probably Septimius Severus himself, and the terror which his countenance was supposed to inspire. It runs as follows:—

The southern inscription is illegible; it is believed to have been in honour of Caracalla; and the northern one is wanting and, if ever executed at all, was probably in honour of Geta to complete the series. The two other medallions are obliterated.

The partial destruction of this arch may date from the fifth century, when the city was deserted by its inhabitants and sacked by the Numidians; but its preservation at all was undoubtedly due to Solomon having so traced the walls of the citadel as to adopt it as the principal entrance gate.

One of the most interesting ruins in Algeria is that of the great basilica of Theveste; this was so much buried in its own débris during Bruce’s visit, that he was unaware of its existence, and alludes to it as the area of a temple. It is situated about 600 yards N.E. of the modern town, and consists of a vast edifice, 213 feet long by 72 broad, enclosed within a wall 588 feet long by 127 broad, strengthened at intervals by square towers, only two of which remain.

The principal entrance to the enclosure is to the S.W. The arch is quite entire, but the numerous subsidiary buildings in the court are razed to the ground, except where they seem to form actually part of the main structure.

The masonry throughout is of immense blocks of stone, carefully cut and adjusted almost without the use of mortar; nevertheless it bears unmistakable evidence of having been constructed at various epochs. The original building, however, was evidently the Roman basilica, pretty exactly as Vitruvius describes it with a nave and two aisles, the further end being furnished with a semicircular apse.

The reader need hardly be reminded that the ancient Basilica was a court of justice; the prætor or principal judge was seated in the apse, with assessors on either[110] side. A railing separated this from the nave, and according to Vitruvius, the lateral aisles were surmounted by galleries looking into the nave. This peculiar form was so perfectly adapted for Christian worship that it was at once adopted by the Western Church. The bishop took the place of the præetor in cathedrâ, and his subordinates in the hierarchy those of the assessors. The altar, like the pedestal and statue of the god among the ancients, was situated before him, separating him from the congregation collected in the nave and aisles; the gallery above the latter became the clerestory, and the open court in front the narthex, in which the unbaptised remained during the performance of religious ceremonies.

The access to this building is by a flight of thirteen steps of unequal width, the greater number of which are destroyed, leading into the peristyle by three doors, a large one in the middle and a smaller one on each side. This court must have been most imposing. It was surrounded by an arcade, each side supported by four columns, between which were pedestals, probably destined for statues; the central portion was open to the sky, and in it was an elevated basin or fountain, the whole resembling very much in design the court of a Moorish house of the present day.

From the right or east wall of this were doors leading into two small chambers, one of which was the baptistery, the font being still tolerably perfect in the centre of the floor. The other chamber is of irregular shape, having been added to at a subsequent period.

Beyond this comes the main body of the building, entered by three doors. It is separated by ranges of double columns into nave and two aisles. These columns are of grey granite, white marble, and blue limestone; they are broken for the most part into numerous fragments; the shafts of some are entire, as are most of the capitals, and the bases of all remain in their original position. These show that there was a double range; a large shaft with a square base, and a smaller one with a round base touching it, towards the aisles; the one no doubt supported the roof of the nave, the other that over the aisles.

It is easy to recognise the period of the Pagan Emperors; a later epoch, with a certain amount of Christian art, and ultimately a period of absolute decadence, probably the last time that Christians worked in this country. The first is marked by Corinthian columns, the capitals of which are in the most correct form, and the shafts of polished marble and granite, and of a beauty which would only have been marred by fluting. The second is represented by fragments of fluted and spiral columns, the capitals of which were richly decorated with foliage; and lastly, there are rough productions in stone, out of all keeping with the rest of the building, the capitals of which bear grotesque representations of fishes, perhaps used as the symbol of Christ.

[111]At the extreme north end is an apse, raised above the level of the nave, with three steps on which to mount to it. On either side is a square chamber, corresponding to the termination of the aisles. From the first to the fourth pillars on each side, and again across from the fourth on one side to the fourth on the other, are grooves to receive a railing, showing that this part was divided off with the apse to form, perhaps, at first the prætor’s court, and subsequently the sacrarium; in the centre of this space is an oblong vault, or cavity. The whole of the floor is covered with tesselated pavements of very elegant designs and admirable execution. These are almost perfect in condition, and have been judiciously covered over with a layer of earth to protect them from injury.

Descending from the east side aisle by a flight of about thirteen steps is a chapel of the form of a trefoil inscribed within a square.

From the north and south apses are communications with small lateral chambers right and left, and from the south one there is access through a small ante-room to a sepulchral chamber beyond; the front of each apse was arched, the arches supported on each side by columns of green marble.

In the centre of the square contained between them was what appears to be the foundation of an altar; the walls were covered, for a part at least of their height, with a mosaic of the richest marbles, porphyry, and serpentine, so disposed as to form either pictorial designs or geometric patterns, while the ceiling was a mosaic of glass, quantities of tesseræ, both coloured and gilt, having been found amongst the débris.

This building was probably an addition, subsequent to the erection of the main body of the basilica. It is also certain that it must have replaced a still older structure, as traces of tesselated pavement were found four feet below the actual floor.

A large sarcophagus of marble, with Christian figures rudely sculptured, was found at the bottom of the stairs.

In the sepulchral chamber above mentioned was found a tesselated pavement, containing four inscriptions recording the interment of individuals beneath them. One is that of Palladius, Bishop of Idicra, near Cirta (Constantine), who died here on his return from the Council of Carthage, under Huneric, in A.D. 484. This inscription was headed by a cross, having in the lower right hand angle the letter Omega. It is curious to observe that the corresponding one on the left hand does not contain the Alpha, as is usually the case. It has been said that this was owing to the fact of the bishop having died out of his own diocese. The tomb was opened, thus destroying the inscription, but the bishop’s skeleton was found perfectly preserved after fourteen centuries. It rested on a bed of laurel leaves, and its brown hair was undecayed. These venerable remains are preserved in the church of Tebessa, or rather in the curé’s house, which serves as such.

[112]Another tomb was opened, that of Marcella, and in it were found perfectly preserved bones, and light hair. The inscription was also necessarily destroyed, but the others (three in number) were allowed to remain intact.

There were various buildings, probably cells or shops, outside and against the main structure, and the whole was surrounded by a strong wall, flanked at intervals with towers, like a vast fortified convent. This it doubtless was during the later years of its existence, but unfortunately its history is entirely unknown, and its original destination, or at least the destination of the older portion of it, must remain a matter of conjecture.

From a careful study of the architecture of this building however, the grand simplicity of its design and the richness of its materials, it is difficult to believe that the earlier portions of it could have been built after the introduction of Christianity into Theveste, when art was already in its decadence. The presumption is strong, that it could not have been commenced later than the end of the first, or beginning of the second century; this would make it older than almost any of the Roman monuments of Algeria, as it certainly was superior to most of them in elegance and simplicity, though less florid in decoration.

There are many other Roman ruins of interest in the circle of Tebessa, and on Djebel Mestiri, west of the town, and extending as far as Djebel Youkous, are a number of megalithic tombs of a circular form. They are about 100 in number, situated in a single line, the right of which rests on the ruins of a Byzantine tower. The largest is about eleven feet three inches high, and from twelve to thirty feet in diameter. They differ from those of Foum Kosentina by being built in successive and gradually decreasing courses, without any single covering stone; they rather resemble the Medrassen and the tombs in its vicinity.

We left Tebessa for Constantine on May 12, by diligence, following pretty much the same route as that taken by Bruce—whose notes are as follows:—

The Ain Shabrou or Chabrou mentioned here is a large spring on the left of the present road, about six and a quarter miles from Tebessa, near which are the ruins of the Roman city Ad Mercuriam. A little to the west of it is Ain Youkous, more correctly Okes, وكيس or Bou Okes, from the Latin word Aquæ. This stream rises in a beautiful cave in the mountains; it is of great depth, and has often served as an impregnable retreat to the Arabs in time of war. The Welled Esa, or Oulad Aissa, is a collective name given to the tribes in the circle of Ain Beida, including the Haracta. In the time of the Turks these formed a great command called the Kaidat of the Aouassi, or descendants of Aissa. Ain Beida did not of course exist in Bruce’s time; it is entirely a French town, the chief place of the Haractas.

This route is especially interesting, as showing that the frontiers of Algeria in Bruce’s time were actually west of Tebessa and of the Miskiana, both of which belonged to Tunis.

Ziganiah is the Roman Sigus, twenty-four miles from Constantine. This was an ancient and celebrated city, memorable as the residence during various epochs of several Numidian kings. The destruction of this place appears to have been very violent, and little remains save the foundations of a few buildings and a considerable necropolis, not only of Roman, but of the so-called pre-historic tombs, dolmens, cromlechs, and menhirs. At Bou-Merzoug also there is an immense number of these megalithic remains, which were first explored by Mr. Christy and M. Féraud in 1863.[95]

We returned to Constantine on May 13, and here my explorations in the footsteps of Bruce may be said to have ended for the season. All that remained to be done was to return to Algiers; but, instead of doing so by railway and steamer, or by diligence, I determined to adopt a more interesting and less known route, on which I will ask the reader to accompany me.

[114]CHAPTER XIV.

CONSTANTINE TO ALGIERS THROUGH KABYLIA.

We left Constantine on May 15, and as the route between that place and Bordj bou Areredj is totally uninteresting, and is described in all the guide books, we took our places in the diligence, spent the 16th at Setif, and arrived at Bordj bou Areredj on May 17.

From this place two routes are practicable to Fort National. The easiest and most direct is by Beni Mansour and the Col de Tirourda; but by far the most picturesque is that by Geläa, Akbou and the Col de Chellata.

Through the courtesy of the Commandant Supérieur we were enabled to hire mules at the very moderate rate of five francs a day; he also supplied us with two tents, furnished us with spahis, and announced our intended arrival all along the road. Tents are quite indispensable if the traveller cares for his own comfort in the slightest degree, as although the Kabyle houses in the territory of the Beni Abbas are clean and well built, those in the circle of Fort National are beyond description filthy and full of vermin.

From Bordj bou Areredj we proceeded to Bordj Medjana, a ride of about two hours through a rich and highly cultivated country. This was the Castellum Medianum of the Romans, and the hereditary residence of the Bach-Agha el-Mokrani, whose family played an important part during three centuries in the affairs of Algeria. Their history is full of great deeds, and their name stands first in the list of feudal chiefs, who ruled the country before the French conquest.

After the disastrous insurrection of 1871,[96] of which El-Mokrani was the principal leader, the Bordj was destroyed, and the whole of his vast property confiscated to the State.

A village, to contain seventy homesteads, is in process of construction. Each concession contains 100 acres of excellent land, in addition to a village and garden lot.

[115]The Bordj, built by the Bach-Agha, under the direction of French engineers, consisted of a bastioned enclosure within which was his residence. This will be repaired, and will constitute a place of refuge for the colonists in case of necessity, and will contain the church, school, and other communal buildings. A beautiful spring issues from some Roman remains below the fort, and forms almost the only water supply of the village.

We pitched our tents close to this spring, and early on May 19 resumed our journey. The road still continued in a north-westerly direction, over rich plains, and eventually amongst picturesque mountain scenery; the valleys are everywhere highly cultivated, and the hills furnish excellent pasturage for sheep. After a ride of two hours and three-quarters we reached Theniet el-Khamis, a small village of stone huts, formerly the property of Mokrani, situated in a pass forming the limit between the Medjana and Kabylia. Immediately afterwards the scenery becomes more wild; Kabyle villages are seen crowning the crests of the hills; the land is more carefully cultivated, and every thread of water carefully employed for irrigational purposes. After a ride of four hours and a half we reached the fort or blockhouse of Boni.

Here we found M. Marchal, the interpreter of Akbou, awaiting us. He had been sent on by M. de Beaumont, the Commandant Supérieur, to arrange for our journey through his command, and we had every reason to congratulate ourselves on the good fortune which procured for us so pleasant and intelligent a companion.

The Bordj of Boni contains a suite of rooms and stabling, for the accommodation of such public functionaries as may have occasion to visit the district. It was built after the last insurrection, and forms a most convenient halting-place for the traveller, who, though he cannot claim admittance, is sure to be hospitably received. There is an excellent spring below the mound, and the views of the Djurdjura range from the summit are very grand.

The Sheikh of Boni had also come to conduct us to Geläa, where he resides. He is quite of the Bou-Dhiaf type—a genial and pleasant host, who feasted us royally.

From this to Geläa is a ride of not more than an hour and a half, through what is, perhaps, the most magnificent mountain scenery in Algeria. The road winds up and down steep hills in a most tortuous manner, sometimes passing over the intervening ridges, and at others encircling their sides. On the right hand is a deep abyss, beyond which is a mass of hills and valleys, clothed to their summits with verdure, resembling a tempestuous sea suddenly arrested and turned into rock. On the left the view is more extensive; the foreground is as wild, while range after range of mountains succeed each other in ever-changing variety of form and colour, till the extreme distance is shut in by the majestic snow-capped ridge of Djurdjura. No[116] other peak can ever depose this from its place as the monarch of Algerian mountains. Chellia and Mahmel, in the Aurès, may be higher, but they rise from more elevated ground, and thus lose much of their grandeur, while for beauty of outline and richness of tints the Djurdjura range, seen from the south, with the Oued es-Sahel at its foot, is superior to them both.

Kaläa—or Geläa, as it is here pronounced, meaning a fortress in Arabic—is one of the most picturesquely situated villages in Kabylia. It is built on the extreme end of a mountain, more than 3,000 feet above the sea, surrounded on three sides by precipitous ravines, through one of which flows a tributary of the Oued Sellam. The cliffs descend in a succession of perpendicular scarps, separated from each other by narrow terraces, so as to be quite inaccessible. The fourth side, where the hill rises behind the village, can only be reached by a narrow winding path, which a few resolute men might defend against an army.

In former times this was a city of refuge for such as wished to escape the justice or vengeance of the Turks, who never succeeded in reducing its inhabitants to their sway.

Its proximity to the Biban, or Portes de Fer, itself a strong position, enabled the Beni Abbas to command that pass, and consequently the route between Algiers and Constantine, and they were in a position to exact a tribute from the Turks as the price of keeping open this communication.

The village of Geläa is divided into two portions, each ruled over by a Sheikh independent of the other. The lower portion belongs to the Oulad Aissa, and the upper to the Oulad Hamadoosh. It is the principal place of the Beni Abbas, a once powerful confederation, extending north and south from beyond the Oued es-Sahel to Boni, and east and west from the river of Geläa to the Oued Maghir. The villages in this district are well built, of stone, roofed with tiles, and very often they have small enclosures, or gardens, attached, while the interiors are finished off with great neatness, and even some rude idea of decorative art.

The inhabitants of Geläa have little or no arable land, but they are famous for the manufacture of bernouses. They make a considerable quantity of olive oil, and are renowned merchants, purchasing the carpets and haiks of the south, and selling them at the markets of Constantine and other great towns. Between the two villages are a number of small springs, quite dry in summer, so that for several months in the year the water supply of each village has to be brought from the valley below.

In the upper village is an ancient mosque, with some good wood-carving over the door; in the cemetery attached is buried the celebrated Bach-Agha el-Mokrani. His body was brought here after the battle of Oued Souflat, where he was killed. It[117] is much to be regretted that his tomb should be quite unmarked. The Commandant Supérieur of Aumale, Colonel Trumelet, has had the happy idea of marking the spot where he fell by a stone bearing this inscription:—‘Ici tomba, mortellement frappé par les balles du 4^ème de Zouaves, le 5 Mai 1871, le Bach-Agha de la Medjana, El-Hadj Mohammed ben el-Hadj Ahmed el-Mokrani, chef de l’insurrection.’

The connection of the Mokrani family with Geläa dates from the sixteenth century, when one of their ancestors, Ben Abd-er-Rahman, established a little principality here after the expulsion of the Spaniards from Bougie. The last of these princes was murdered by his subjects in A.D. 1600.

Mokrani owned several houses in Geläa, and his brother was at one time Kaid of the Beni Abbas.

There is a large guest-chamber in the upper village belonging to our friend who had entertained us at Boni, but we were only permitted to see it. We were conducted to the house of the other Sheikh—of the Oulad Aissa—and installed there as honoured guests. If the first Sheikh resembled our jovial host at Timegad, this one might be compared to the more refined and imperial-looking Kaid of the Oulad Abdi. He received us with the most perfect grace, and with a cordiality which made us instantly feel at home. The Kabyles are renowned for hospitality, but very few are celebrated for their cuisine. A traveller must have been difficult indeed to please had he not been satisfied with the excellent fare provided by our host. It is not the custom here for the women to appear before strangers, but the ladies of our party visited them in their apartments, and were surprised to find a little girl who had been taught by the Sisters at Bone, and who spoke French with perfect facility. The delight of the poor child at finding ladies to whom she could speak in French would have been ludicrous had it not been so touching. She would hardly allow them out of her sight; she insisted on sharing their bed-room, and kept them awake all night with her chattering, and, to crown all, she stained their hands and nails with henna—an operation which in their ignorance they permitted, and which had the startling effect of producing an indelible stain of a bright orange colour, which adorned them for several months after their return to civilised life.

M. Daly became quite enthusiastic about the decoration of the doors in our host’s house, which he copied with most minute accuracy. The designs were quaint but not inelegant, and the colours harmonious, being only red and black.

One of the most interesting sights of Geläa is the extraordinary method employed for storing grain—in enormous baskets of alpha grass, fourteen or fifteen feet high, and ten feet in diameter at the thickest parts, resembling gigantic bottles with the necks knocked off. These are raised about a foot off the ground, and four or five of[118] them are placed side by side in a room. In these vessels, called Zaräa, a reserve supply of corn has been known to keep perfectly good for fifty years. The family of Mokrani were in the habit of keeping their corn in this way on account of the exceptionally good climate of the village, but the stories which have obtained currency of the immense treasures concealed by them here are pure inventions. In troublous times, before the French conquest, such may have been the case, but for many years before the insurrection the treasures of Mokrani had vanished into debts. Somewhat similar grain-baskets, but of a much smaller size, were observed by M. Pricot de Ste. Marie in the island of Djerba; and amongst the Ouerghemma, in the Regency of Tunis, they were in the form of pears, four-and-a-half feet high, and they preserved the grain perfectly, though exposed to the full inclemency of the weather.[97]

There is a direct route from this village to Akbou, but we preferred to make a détour in order to see Ighil Ali, the most considerable village in the Beni Abbas.

We started on the morning of May 21, and after passing through the village we descended a path so steep and difficult as hardly to be practicable for mules. On reaching the bottom of the hill, however, it improves, and soon the high road between Bordj bou Areredj and the Oued es-Sahel is reached. The scenery is still remarkably grand, but less green than before reaching Geläa. The ground is poor, schistose, and only adapted for the cultivation of fig and olive trees, which constitute the principal riches of the country. About halfway is the village of Zeina, the only one we actually passed, though we saw many crowning the heights around.

After about four hours’ riding we reached Ighil Ali; in fact, there are three villages placed so close together as to form but one—Ighil Ali, Tizairt, and Azrou.

The last crowns the hill to the west, while the two others at its foot are separated by an inclined plane, in which is situated the Medressa. It was one of the favourite ideas of Napoleon III. to educate the Arab and Kabyle races in the French language and ideas. Numerous educational establishments were organised with this view, at Algiers, Constantine, Fort National and elsewhere, nearly all of which collapsed with the Empire. Amongst others, a college was established here at which Kabyle youths were taught both Arabic and French. The buildings are still kept in repair, but unused; we occupied them during the day. We remained here instead of putting up at the less comfortable house of the Sheikh; dhifas however were sent in great profusion, and a very cordial reception given to us.

These villages are much better built and more picturesque than most others in Kabylia; many of them have two stories, some even three. The walls are decorated with arches and quaint holes for ventilation, and not a few have arched colonnades.[119] The general appearance of the whole, sloping upwards in a pyramidal form, is not at all unlike many Italian villages. They used to be celebrated for the manufacture of arms, but as that is now a forbidden industry, they have extended their manufacture of bernouses, silver ornaments, etc.; and one of them, Tizairt, is celebrated for its wood-carving. The objects most usually manufactured are maces, not unlike those of Gog and Magog, spoons and trinkets connected by chains cut out of a single piece of wood.

We visited our host, the Sheikh of Tizairt, who has a large and commodious pile of buildings; also the ex-Sheikh, who has built himself a very large house in the French style, and furnished it with chairs and tables, and as many bottles of good things to drink as a buvette at a railway station. He was very anxious that we should recommend him to the authorities, in order that he might be reinstated in his position; but we stopped him at once with the observation that we were guests of Government, as it were, and it would ill become us to interfere with matters which did not concern us. Similar requests were frequently made, but always answered in the same sense.

On the 22nd we set out for Akbou. After leaving Tizairt the road descends rapidly, passing numerous picturesquely-situated Kabyle villages, and enters the Oued es-Sahel, a little below the ruins of Bordj Tazmalt, a fort destroyed during the last insurrection. Here it is proposed to build a village, to which will be attached 6,700 acres of land; each concessionaire will have a village lot, a garden and a patch of olive trees, and two lots of cultivable land, aggregating 80 acres; 1,247 acres are divided into seven farms, and 1,030 are reserved as communal land.

We here entered the great valley called Oued es-Sahel, or river of the coast—known to the ancients by the name of Nasava, or Nasabath—which commences near Aumale, and terminates in the Gulf of Bougie. Like most of the rivers of Algeria, it changes its name according to the territory it traverses; thus it is successively called Oued Akbou, Oued Soumam, Oued Beni Mesaoud, Oued el-Kebir, and Oued es-Sahel. Its average width is about forty yards, but in some places it is as much as two hundred.

After traversing the rich plain of the Beni Melekeuch, covered with corn and olive trees, we pass on our right hand the celebrated Mound of Akbou, and soon reach the village itself.

Akbou is the ancient Ausum, and is the country of the well-known Si Mohammed bin Ali Cherif, who rendered great service to France, and was decorated with the Legion of Honour and created Bach-Agha of Chellata. Having unfortunately allowed himself to be drawn into the insurrection of 1871, he was tried and convicted at[120] Constantine, but subsequently received a free pardon from Marshal de MacMahon, President of the Republic, who better than any man living knew the value of his former services.

A new village has been founded here, to which a vain attempt has been made to attach the name of Metz; it is admirably situated on an elevated mound to the north of the high road, with a charming view looking both up and down the valley. About thirty houses of a superior description were finished at the time of our visit, and the land allotted to the colonists appears to be of an unusually good quality. The great drawback is the want of water, which has to be brought in an open channel a distance of seven or eight miles; this is liable to be deranged by storms, and could easily be cut off by an enemy.

Close to it is the old Bordj of Ben Ali Cherif, purchased by the State before the insurrection, and now used as a residence for the officers of the Bureau Arabe. There are two auberges here, one in the village and the other on the high road below it.

On the opposite side of the river is a ridge of steep hills close to its right bank, called Geldaman, the western point of which has been separated from the rest by the river, and now forms an isolated mamelon in the middle of the plain called the Piton d’Akbou, which is seen from a great distance on both sides. On a small platform at the west side of this hill, and about 100 feet above its base, is a remarkable Roman mausoleum, still in an excellent state of preservation. It consists of a pyramid surmounting a cubical base, three sides of which are decorated with false windows, whilst the fourth had a door, no longer in its place, but also probably of stone. The pivot was of immense size, the hole to receive it being nearly six inches in diameter. The whole structure is raised on four steps, reduced to three on the east side by the slope of the hill. The interior, which is thirteen feet square, has a wagon vault roof, constructed, like all the rest of the building, of finely-cut stone. Three of the sides interiorly are decorated by double arches, once no doubt supported on columns. On the fourth side, the door being a little larger than the false windows, there is one larger arch, and a smaller one on each side. The windows outwardly occupy the position of the interior columns. Of the superior pyramid five courses still remain in place. Above the door was an inscription in white marble, fragments of which still exist in the corners of the panel made to receive it. The execution of the monument is admirable, but the style is debased.

We did not remain at the village of Akbou, but pushed on a few miles further to Azib esh-Sheikh, the charming residence of my friend and near neighbour at Algiers, Ben Ali Cherif. The house is large and comfortable; of the interior, of course, I can say nothing, but outside there is a row of guest-chambers, clean and[121] spacious; and in the ravine below, on the banks of a considerable stream, is a beautiful garden of flowers and fruit trees, in which is a pavilion shaded from every ray of sun, and furnished in the most luxurious manner. He is the only Arab I ever met in the interior of the colony who took any interest in horticulture, or seemed to care for the cultivation of fruit. He has a European gardener in his service, and there are few gardens, even at Algiers, so beautifully kept, and none so plentifully irrigated. In addition to this, he has been most successful in introducing a better system of cultivation on his estate, and has constructed a European olive oil mill, which is most remunerative.

We spent part of May 22 and 23 at this delightful retreat, and having engaged fresh mules, and obtained spahis acquainted with the country from the Commandant de Beaumont, and recommendations to the Kabyle chiefs on the road, we commenced the ascent of the Djurdjura range, through a rich and highly cultivated country, abounding in fig, olive and ash trees. The two first are the riches of the country, the last (Fraxinus Australis) is also of great utility, as its leaves afford excellent food for sheep and goats in summer and autumn when the grass fails.

At two hours’ distance is the village of Chellata, the chief place in the country of Illoula, and the ancestral home of Ben Ali Cherif. There is a large Zaouia here for the education of Kabyle youth—one of the most renowned in North Africa—kept up at his expense; and in the inclosure in front of it are interred the members of his family. To visit such a holy place as this in Tunis or Morocco would be impossible; in Algeria the Mohammedans no longer dare to exclude Christians from their mosques, but it requires very little penetration to see that their presence is most distasteful to them. This we particularly observed at Chellata. Beyond this the place is of no interest, and, like all other villages in the Kabylia of Djurdjura, it is extremely filthy, a marked contrast to the scrupulous cleanliness of those on the other side of the Oued es-Sahel.

We pitched our tents on a grassy slope, well clear of the village and its evil odours, and were on our mules before daybreak on the following morning, hoping to see the sunrise from the summit. It took us an hour to reach the Col de Chellata, one of the passes leading from the Oued es-Sahel, across the Djurdjura range, between the peaks of Tili-jouen on the left, and Tizi-bart (5,670 feet) on the right. From the top of the former, which we ascended, there is an unequalled view, in some respects finer than that from Chellia, inasmuch as the foreground possesses greater boldness and variety of outline.

Commencing from the west, there is a splendid view of the whole crest of the Djurdjura range, with its two most conspicuous peaks, Azrou-n-Tehour (5,980 feet)[122] and Tamgout Lalla Khadidja (7,542). These are crowned by Welis or Saints’ tombs, favourite places of pilgrimage with the Kabyles; indeed, the latter is esteemed hardly less venerable than the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, and a pilgrimage to it certainly more meritorious than one to Kerouan. Beyond these, to the north, are the country of the Beni Illilten, Fort National, and the sea in the extreme distance. More than fifty villages can be counted in this direction. On the opposite side of the pass are Babor, Ta-Babor, crowned with their forests of cedar and pinsapo, and the mountains of the Beni Abbas complete the panorama, while the ever-present mamelon of Akbou, surrounded by a great stretch of level ground, thickly covered with olive groves, occupies the foreground to the south. The effects of light and shade at sunrise can never be forgotten. I have travelled through Algeria in every direction, and in most of the Regency of Tunis as well, but I know of nothing so grand as the view from the Col de Chellata and the short ride between Boni and Geläa.

After passing through this defile the road descends rapidly towards the Tifilkouth or river of the Beni Illilten by a steep and difficult road, but one of exquisite beauty. The whole country is cultivated with as much care as a garden. The road is completely overshadowed by magnificent ash trees, while the banks on either hand are covered with ferns, broom, wild roses, and flowers of every colour. A clear cool stream flows at the bottom, overshadowed with magnificent wild cherry trees. We stopped here for breakfast, and it required all my authority as leader of the expedition to force my followers to mount their mules and leave this fairy dell. The road ascends the opposite bank, passes the village of Tifilkouth, and winds through the most delightfully shady lanes and orchards, mounting and descending almost perpendicular precipices, crossing rapid streams, but always passing from one scene of loveliness to another, till after a ride of two hours from the stream where we breakfasted, or five hours from Chellata, we reached the village of Soumar. The only spot sufficiently level to accommodate our tents was the village cemetery, and here we pitched them, and passed a very pleasant night, undisturbed by the shades of those who rested beneath us.

The head man, or Amin el Oumina, as usual, entertained us with true Berber hospitality, and would fain have had us to lodge in his own house; but, much as we liked our Kabyle friends, and ready as we always were to see their inner life and manners, we could not brave the hosts of fleas with which they are surrounded.

Soumar is situated in the country of the Beni Teourigh, close under Tirourda, at the head of the long stretch of valleys abutting on that mountain. Leaving this, a ride of fifteen minutes brought us to the high road which is being constructed[123] from Fort National to the Oued es-Sahel by the Col de Tirourda, and close to a house which has been erected by the Engineer Department for its employés. The distance hence to the fort is nineteen miles.

The scenery now changed somewhat—it never ceases to be exceedingly grand—and the view of the Djurdjura range improves as it is seen in full front, instead of foreshortened from one end.

But alas! we are once more within the influence of what we have so successfully avoided during the last two months—high roads and guide-books. The admirably engineered, but bare and shadeless road, with its regular curves and gentle gradients, becomes intolerable after the wild and shady lanes and natural scenery in which we have travelled so long; and it is not without a feeling of relief that we reach Fort National, thence to proceed by the prosaic but convenient diligence to Algiers. We made one last protest against civilisation; instead of passing the night in the auberge at the fort, we pitched our tents on the historic battle-field of Icherridhen, and only arrived at the village next morning in time to catch the diligence.

[127]CHAPTER XV.

START FROM ALGIERS ON SECOND EXPEDITION — EARL OF KINGSTON UNDERTAKES PHOTOGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT — ARRIVAL AT TUNIS — SEBKHA ES-SEDJOUNI — MOHAMMEDIA — AQUEDUCT OF CARTHAGE — OUDENA — ZAGHOUAN.

My second expedition in the footsteps of Bruce was made in the spring of 1876, and on this occasion I confined my explorations to the Regency of Tunis. I was accompanied by only one companion, the Earl of Kingston, who undertook to make photographs of all the buildings which Bruce had figured, so as to enable a careful comparison of each to be made at leisure, for the drawings themselves were too precious to be trusted on so hazardous a journey. He succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectation—there are naturally degrees of excellence amongst them, but we had not to deplore a single failure. It was a very anxious subject during the whole course of our journey; the plates were all dry, so the result could not be known till our return to Algiers. There were a thousand dangers and difficulties to be overcome—dangers from clouds of fine penetrating dust, dangers from the tendency that our baggage always had to slip off in the middle of a river, too much light on one occasion, not enough on another. My companion devoted himself to his plates like a mother to her firstborn child, and the result was, that after six weeks’ continuous travelling over a country containing almost every possible element of difficulty and danger (from a photographic point of view), not a plate was broken, and not a picture appeared too much or insufficiently exposed. I regret that I cannot publish as many of them as I could desire, but the aim of my journey was to illustrate Bruce, and even his drawings are far too numerous for reproduction. I must gladly acknowledge that Lord Kingston’s camera ensured the success of the expedition, and certainly his companionship contributed greatly to the pleasure of it.

We debated anxiously whether we should commence our journey from the Algerian side of the frontier line or proceed direct to Tunis; but the difficulty of obtaining horses, mules, and escort, at places remote from the capital, decided us on[128] adopting the latter course. We proceeded to Tunis by the Valery steamer, and arrived there on March 26. Personal allusions in works of travel are generally better omitted, but I hope my esteemed colleague, Mr. Wood, will pardon me if I take this opportunity of acknowledging with gratitude the more than friendly reception we met with from himself and his family, the readiness and solicitude with which he forwarded our views and helped us in our preparations, and the warm hearts, as open as their house, which make the Consulate at Tunis not only the centre of social life, but a haven of rest to all who are in difficulty or trouble.

To describe Carthage or Tunis would be to tell a thrice-told tale. My hero passed over both with commendable brevity, and I will do no more than quote his words regarding them:—

The only drawing which he has left of Carthage is a rough pen-and-ink sketch of the interior of the great reservoirs.

We determined to make two excursions from Tunis before setting out on our journey into the remote interior—the first to Zaghouan, where is one of the springs which supplied ancient Carthage, and the other to Bizerta; both these can be done in carriages, and this enabled me for a little while to enjoy the society of a brother, whose health would not enable him to make a long journey on horseback. It also happened that His Highness the Bey was absent for a time from his usual place of residence, and we could not possibly set out on our journey without presenting our respects to him, and obtaining the necessary letters of recommendation.

We left Tunis early on the morning of March 29, by the Bab el-Djizira, or gate of the island, by a road which has been cut through an Arab cemetery, surrounding the shrine of Sidi Ali ben Ahsan. The heights above are crowned by two very picturesque forts, which are prominent objects in the landscape from every point of view round Tunis. The ground being somewhat undulating, the great salt marsh or lake, called Sebkha es-Sedjoumi, which extends to five miles to the south-west of the town, is concealed from sight till we approach its southern extremity. During the[129] winter months this contains a considerable body of water, but in summer it becomes little more than a fetid marsh, with a broad efflorescence of salt around its margin.

Kingston spent several hours yesterday in shooting around this lake, and reports that snipe, plover, and other wading birds are most abundant.

As we approached the Mohammedia we observed, lying in the middle of the road, a very fine cippus of white marble, which had recently been found at Ain Segal, and was being conveyed to Tunis by order of General Kheir-ed-din. It was so heavy that the caratoni on which it was placed broke down. On our return it had disappeared, and as the inscription is probably unpublished I was glad to have copied it, though very hurriedly, on the outward journey. Its dimensions were 4 ft. 7 in. long, 23 inches broad, and 25 deep.

At eleven miles from Tunis is the Mohammedia, an immense ruined palace, or rather a mass of palaces, built by Ahmed Bey, who died in 1855, at an expense of many millions of piastres, and decorated with great magnificence, but which since his death has been allowed to go to ruin. It has served as an inexhaustible mine for materials with which to build and adorn other palaces; its marble columns have disappeared, its walls have been stripped of their covering of tiles, the roofs have nearly all fallen in, and it is impossible to imagine a more perfect picture of desolation than is presented by this modern ruin. Probably, when the present Bey dies, his successor will choose a new residence, and the Kasr Saeed will fall into decay as this palace has done. The aqueduct from Zaghouan passes through one of the courts of the palace, but it is here low, and by no means a striking object. We observed in one of the dependencies a cippus similar to the one before described, but without any trace of inscription. It was while excavating the foundations of one of the buildings here that the two inscriptions now preserved in the Church of the Capuchins at Tunis were found. These have been frequently reproduced; one contains the names of three bishops, but without designating their sees, the other that of a sub-deacon of the African Church.[99]

[130]Shortly after leaving the Mohammedia the ruins of the ancient aqueduct come in sight, and at a distance of about fourteen miles from Tunis the road crosses the Oued Melian, the Catada of Ptolemy. Here is seen, in all its surpassing beauty, one of the greatest works the Romans ever executed in North Africa, the aqueduct conveying the waters of Zaghouan and Djougar to Carthage.[100]

During all the time that Carthage remained an independent State the inhabitants seem to have contented themselves with rain-water caught, and stored in reservoirs, both from the roofs of houses and from paved squares and streets. Thirty years after the destruction of this city by Scipio it was rebuilt by a colony under Caius Gracchus, but it was not till the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117 to 138) that the inhabitants, having recovered their ancient wealth, and having suffered from several consecutive years of drought, represented their miserable condition to the Emperor, who himself visited the city and resolved to convey to it the magnificent springs of Zeugitanus Mons, the modern Zaghouan. This, however, was not sufficient for the supply of the city, and after the death of Hadrian another fine spring at Mons Zuccharus, the present Djebel Djougar, was led into the original aqueduct—probably in the reign of Septimius Severus, as a medal was found at Carthage with his figure on the reverse, and on the obverse, Astarte seated on a lion beside a spring issuing from a rock.

It was certainly destroyed by Gilimer, the last of the Vandal kings, when endeavouring to reconquer Carthage, and again restored by Belisarius, the lieutenant of Justinian. On the expulsion of the Byzantines it was once more cut off, and restored by their Arab conquerors, and finally destroyed by the Spaniards during their siege of Tunis. It was reserved for the present Bey, Sidi Saduk, once more to restore this ancient work, and to bring the pure and abundant springs which formerly supplied Carthage into the modern city of Tunis.

M. Collin, a French engineer, planned and executed this work. Of course, the advanced state of hydraulic science at the present day rendered it unnecessary to make use of the ancient arches. The aqueduct originally consisted, for a great part of its course, of a covered masonry channel, running sometimes quite underground, sometimes on the surface. This was comparatively uninjured by time, and served, with little repair, for the modern work. Where the old aqueduct passed high over the surface of the country, iron pipes and syphons have been substituted.

The contract price was 7,800,000fr., but the work certainly cost the Bey nearly 13,000,000fr.; and, useful as it certainly is, there is no doubt that it was the commencement of his financial difficulties.

Plate X.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

AQUEDUCT OF CARTHAGE

FAC SIMILE OF FINISHED DRAWING IN INDIAN INK BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[131]The original aqueduct started from two springs, those of Zaghouan and Djougar; and to within sixteen miles of the present city of Tunis—namely, to the south side of the plain of the Catada—it simply followed the general slope of the ground without being raised on arches. From this point, right across that plain—a distance of three Roman, or two-and-a-half English miles—with slight intermissions, owing to the rise in the ground, and so on to the terminal reservoir at the modern village of Mäalika, it was carried over a superb series of arches—sometimes, indeed, over a double tier. The total length of the aqueduct was sixty-one Roman miles, or 98,897 yards, including the branch from Mons Zuccharus, which measured twenty-two miles, or 36,803 yards; and it was estimated to have conveyed 32,000,000 litres (upwards of 7,000,000 gallons) of water a day, or eighty-one gallons per second, for the supply of Carthage and the intermediate country.

The greatest difference is perceptible in the style of construction, owing to the frequent restorations which have taken place. The oldest and most beautiful portions are of finely-cut stone, each course having a height of twenty inches; the stones are bossed, with a squared channel worked at the joints, and the voussoirs are single stones reaching quite to the bottom of the specus, in which there exist, at intervals all along its course, circular manholes, both to admit air and to permit the repair and cleansing of the channel.

Here and there on the faces of the piers may be seen stones projecting from the surface, which it was the custom of the Romans to leave, in order to support the scaffolding used in reparation. The impost of each arch is a course of masonry of the same height as the other courses, but rounded to a semicircular profile, and projecting half its diameter from the face of the pier; it is, in other words, a bead roll. The voussoirs are stepped on the extrados. The cut-stone masonry never extends higher than two courses above the voussoirs, the remaining height being of rubble masonry or concrete.

A great part of the aqueduct, however, is built in a far less solid manner—of concrete blocks or of small irregular stones. The arches were still of cut masonry, but much inferior in execution, and there was a considerable space between the top of the extrados and the bottom of the specus. The mere fact of masonry of this character being used, pisé in fact, by no means proves it to be of modern origin, as Pliny informs us that this description of masonry was much in use amongst the ancient Carthaginians.[101] In some places a threatened danger had been guarded against by the erection of rough and massive counterforts. Along the plain of the Oued Melian, in a length of nearly two miles, we counted 344 arches still entire.

[132]The aqueduct passed the river on a double series of arches. These were all destroyed in order to make use of their foundations for the modern bridge which now carries the water across, and serves at the same time as a viaduct. One cannot but deplore that such a miserable economy was effected at so great a price. We dare hardly vent our feelings of indignation at the wholesale destruction of antiquities daily carried on by the Arabs, after such an act of needless Vandalism.

From this point to Carthage, along the plains of the Mohammedia, the Manouba and Ariana,[102] the ancient aqueduct is completely ruined. It is not clear when Bruce visited this locality, probably during the ‘some weeks excursion of no moment’ which followed his first return from the south. He thus describes the aqueduct:—

Bruce’s illustrations of this work are:

1. A perspective view of five bays of the aqueduct, probably from the plain of Ariana, where it has been entirely destroyed to supply building material for the modern city of Tunis (Pl. X.)

2. A drawing in Indian ink to scale, of elevation of an arch and a half of the above. Also a section and an enlarged drawing of four of the stones.

The dimensions marked on this are:

[133]Leaving the Oued Melian the road follows the line of aqueduct, but our object being to visit the ruins of Oudena before proceeding to Zaghouan, we kept rather to the east of the usual track and arrived there after a drive which occupied us about three hours and a half.

The ancient city of Uthina is mentioned by Ptolemy[104] and Pliny;[105] and in the tables of Peutinger it is indicated, evidently by a typographical error, as Uthica. In Morcelli’s ‘Africa Christiana,’[106] a city of Utina, or Uthina, is mentioned as situated on the Bagradas, which in spite of this error is no doubt the same, celebrated, he says, not only in the records of the Church, but in the works of profane writers. Its bishop, Felix, attended the Council of Carthage in A.D. 258; another, Lampadius, went to the Council of Arles in A.D. 314; Isaac assisted at Carthage in 411; and Felicissimus was its bishop during the Vandal invasion, when the place was probably destroyed by Genseric.

The present condition of the ruins proves it to have been a place of very considerable importance; they cover an area of several miles, and it must certainly have contained a very large population.

Pelissier[107] imagines this to have been the Tricamaron where Belisarius overcame Gilimer, and where all the hoarded treasure of the Vandals and the piratical spoil of Genseric fell into the hands of the Byzantines. The position of that city has never been satisfactorily determined; all that we know of it is, that it was 140 stadia from Carthage, and on the banks of a river which never dried, but so small that the natives attached no name to it. They must have had very different customs then to what prevail at the present day, as there is hardly a stream in the country that does not bear at least three names, in different parts of its course. In fact, in a country like this, where most of the rivers are dry during a portion of the year, it is not so much the water itself as its bed to which a name is attached, and that varies with the locality in which it occurs; thus a stream passing Sbeitla and Sbiba is called in part of its course the River of Sbeitla, and further down the River of Sbiba.

The central and highest point in the city was crowned by a citadel covering an area of about sixty-six yards long and thirty-three wide. The entrance-gate was on the north-west front, facing the amphitheatre. The walls were of great thickness and constructed of large blocks of cut stone.

The upper terrace was surrounded by a parapet; below were several chambers with strong vaulted roofs, still nearly entire. The largest of these measures sixty-six feet long by thirty-three wide. The vaults are supported on square piers, with a very bold and massive cornice, each stone being twenty-four inches in breadth, thirty in[134] height, and three feet in depth. On the northern side is a large arch twenty-three feet in diameter, loosely filled up with squared stones. From the centre of this a passage about three feet in width runs perpendicular to it, and after a distance of about sixteen feet the passage bifurcates to the right and left, and descends at an angle of 45° till it reaches a vast subterranean apartment, which encircles the whole building, and was no doubt intended to serve as a reservoir. The descent is very difficult, owing to the accumulation of débris; but the chamber appears to have been about fifteen or twenty feet high, and nearly the same width, occupying three sides of a square, of which the passages before-mentioned formed the fourth side. We found some human bones and fragments of old pottery, but time did not permit of our making a thorough exploration of it.

To the north-west of this building is a very perfect amphitheatre, with an elliptical arena; the major axis is about seventy-seven yards in length, and the minor one fifty-five. Four principal entrances led into it, and these, together with many of the upper arches, are still in a very perfect condition. No doubt, in the construction of this, advantage was taken of a natural depression on the top of a mamelon in which it is sunk.

Behind this monument, towards the north, may be seen a small bridge of three arches, spanning the bed of a watercourse.

To the south-west of the citadel are the remains of a theatre, and to the south-east of it two very magnificent reservoirs, the northern one intended to contain rain-water, but that to the south was supplied from a well at some little distance, between which and the reservoir are the remains of a solidly constructed aqueduct.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the ruins is one due east of the citadel; it must have been a building of immense size, but it is impossible from its present appearance to form any conjecture as to its original destination. The walls, which were built of rubble masonry, of great thickness, have been rent asunder into huge masses, too large to have been moved by any mere mechanical power likely to have been employed, and yet they lie scattered about, without any apparent order, in every direction. In the midst of these huge masses, confusedly hurled together, we observed a small opening, through which it was just possible to crawl, giving entrance to a series of reservoirs of immense height and size, separated by partitions, yet connected together by arched passages. The cistern by which we entered was about thirteen feet square, beyond it were two larger ones, 79 feet long by 13 broad. There were at least six others, deserving of a much closer examination than we had time to give to them. Semicircular recesses were made in the walls here and there to enable the water to be drawn easily from above. The masonry throughout was quite perfect, not a trace[135] visible of any great convulsion of nature, which alone, one would think, could have effected the ruin of the superincumbent building.

Twenty minutes more brought us from Oudena to the southern end of the plain spanned by the aqueduct, where is a domed building, from which the syphon of the modern aqueduct starts; this is sixteen miles from Tunis, and twenty-and-a-half from Zaghouan.

From this spot we continued our journey through an undulating country overgrown with brushwood, and after a few miles arrived at the ruins of a Roman post, called by the Arabs Bab Khalid, the ancient name of which is unknown.[108] The gate, or small triumphal arch, which gives its name to the place, and which was entire when Guérin visited it in 1860, has now fallen; one half however remains upright. There are numerous cisterns and foundations of buildings scattered about, but nothing of much interest. At thirty-three miles from Tunis is the spot called Magaran, where the two sources from Zaghouan and Djougar unite, and are conveyed in a single stream to Tunis, as they formerly were to Carthage.

The former source will be described hereafter; the latter, Ain Djougar, is situated twenty-three miles further to the west, close to the village of Bent Saida, which occupies the site of the ancient Zucchara Civitas. Like the other, this one also issued from a monumental fountain, now in a very bad state of preservation, but when visited by Shaw the frieze of the building still existed, and bore the following inscription—[109]

At Magaran there is a very neat house, surrounded by a garden, occupied by the French employé in charge of the waterworks, and close to it an establishment, also belonging to a Frenchman, for the collection of alpha grass, which grows abundantly on Djebel Zaghouan.

Continuing our route from this spot, which is thirty-three miles from Tunis, and four from the village of Zaghouan, we reached the latter place in about an hour, having travelled thirty-seven miles in eight hours, or at the rate of 4⅝ miles per hour.

Here we were hospitably received by the Khalifa, Si Hamoud Wuled Fadhel, who lodged us in the Dar el-Bey, and very kindly attended to all our wants. We had taken the precaution to obtain an amra, or recommendation, from the Bey of Tunis, without which it is quite impossible to travel in this country.

[136]The Dar el-Bey is a large and by no means handsome building, used for the reception of guests, but it affords what alone travellers require—a complete shelter, and a few rude beds on which they can pass the night. We found it perfectly free from vermin of all sorts.

After the first destruction of Zaghouan it was rebuilt by a colony of Andalusian Moors from Spain; but, notwithstanding its exceptionally favourable position and the abundance of its water supply, it appears to be falling into decay, half the houses are ruined, and there is no appearance of any modern construction going on. Yet the land in the wide plain below it appears everywhere capable of being cultivated; when cleared it seems to yield satisfactory results, but a large proportion is still covered with lentisk scrub. The olive woods around are very extensive, and ought to be a source of great riches; but the trees are all old, and there is no evidence of the formation of new plantations.

The principal industry of Zaghouan for many generations has been the dyeing of the red caps worn in all Mohammedan countries throughout the basin of the Mediterranean, and here called chachias. In Turkey such a cap is called fez, and in Egypt tarboosh. This is the only place in the Regency where the operation has ever been performed, and the secret is carefully preserved, and descends from father to son.

Many fragments of Roman masonry still remain about the town, and frusta of columns are built into the angles of houses, but its vicinity to Tunis has made it a sort of happy hunting-ground for antiquaries and tourists, and most of the inscriptions have been carried away as soon as they have been published by a traveller.

The Zeugitana regio gave its name to the province of Africa proper, or Zeugitana, and formed the boundary between it and the more southern one of Byzacium. A town of Zeugis is mentioned by Aethicus,[110] and Mons Zeugitanus by Solinus. The modern town of Zaghouan, no doubt, occupies the same site as the ancient one, the crest of a spur proceeding from the north-east side of the mountain bearing the same name.

The only ruin of any importance is the entrance-gate, called Bab el-Goos,[111] which, no doubt, served the same purpose to the ancient city.

Bruce has made two illustrations of this.

1. A rough pencil perspective sketch, on which the measurements are marked.

2. A finished Indian-ink drawing to scale, with ground plan, details of mouldings[137] of impost and base, and of the keystone. The dimensions on this drawing are—

This monument is in a very ruined condition; the attic, if it ever existed, and the entablature had disappeared before Bruce’s visit. The arch is simple, without archivolt; the impost, which was bold and salient, probably encircled the building. Round-headed niches were sunk in the piers below the impost; only that on the left hand on entering now remains. No order decorated its façade.

On the keystone of the arch is the sculptured representation of a ram’s head, with an immense pair of horns, above which is a wreath inclosing the word

surmounted by a figure resembling a mason’s level, the angle being a right one.

Shaw is of opinion that the ram’s head indicates that the city was under the immediate protection and influence of Jupiter Ammon.[112]

At some period after Bruce’s visit, as he does not indicate it, the Arabs have filled up the doorway with a smaller ogival arch, which has contributed to strengthen the ancient one and ensure its preservation. Perhaps it was intended for this purpose; if so, they were more careful in those days than they are now, as not the slightest care is taken to preserve any of the Roman remains throughout the Regency.

The great interest of the place to the traveller is its vicinity to the springs from which the aqueduct is supplied; the distance is about a mile and a half, and there are two paths, one of which the traveller would do well to take in going and the other in returning. The first passes to the south of the delicious valley which runs east and west behind the town, and close to the spring Ain Ayat, which is the cause of its fertility; the other follows its northern border between it and the hill on which the shrine of Sidi Hashlaf is built. This valley is richly cultivated, and produces great[138] quantities of fruit trees; the waters of Ain Ayat are also used to turn a few flour-mills.

The great source however, which flows into the aqueduct, issues from a spot a little further on, where are situated the remains of a charming Roman temple, known to the natives by the name of El-Kasbah, or the fortress.

Bruce, in his notes, dismisses this very unjustly with the following remark:—

He did not even make a finished sketch of it; there is a rough pencil outline on one sheet, and on another an equally rough plan with measurements, and a number of architectural details, but neither are capable of reproduction as illustrations.

The building is, in fact, extremely elegant, and in its original condition must have been one of the most charming retreats which it is possible to imagine. It is situated at the gorge of a narrow and precipitous ravine descending from Djebel Zaghouan, but at a very considerable elevation above the plain at its foot.

It consists of a paved area of a semicircular form, but with the two exterior limbs produced in straight lines as tangents. Round the perimeter was a raised colonnade, and at the end, in the middle of the circular portion, was a rectangular cella, which is still tolerably entire. The walls of this latter building are of rubble masonry, but at the extremity there is a niche lined with cut stone, surmounting what may either have been the base of a statue of an emperor or an altar to a divinity. I am inclined to the former hypothesis, as the mutilated trunk of such a statue, in white marble and of colossal size, is actually lying on the ground outside. Above the door are the remains of a beautiful architrave, which doubtless was surmounted by a pediment. To the right and left of this proceeded a lateral gallery, 13 ft. 9 in. broad. The posterior wall was of finely-cut stone, with thirteen square pilasters on each side, between every alternate pair of which a round-headed niche for statuary was sunk in the thickness of the wall. Towards the interior, a Corinthian column corresponded to each of the pilasters, but these have long since been removed, and now decorate the Djamäa el-Kebir, or principal mosque of Zaghouan. Fragments of richly sculptured entablature lie scattered around, and attest the original magnificence of the structure.

Each end of this colonnade was terminated by a handsome monumental gateway, crowned by an entablature, one side of which is still in very perfect condition; both appear to have been so at the time of Bruce’s visit. These gateways were intended for architectural effect and not as exits, as they abutted on the perpendicular face of the wall below them. From the lower surface of the area on either side, a flight of[139] fifteen steps conducted to a basin or nymphæum, shaped like a heart in cards, but with a rounded instead of a pointed apex; in this the spring rose, and was conducted into the aqueduct. The spring is no longer visible, being led into the modern aqueduct before it emerges from the ground.

The colonnade was roofed by one general half-cylindrical vault in the direction of the length of the building, intersected by twelve other transversely directed cylindrical vaults rising from the pilasters in the walls, and the columns in front. A cornice of a bold outline ran all round, serving as impost to the vaults and ornamental doorways, and as capitals to the pilasters. A great portion of the vaults supported by the walls still remain, to show the nature of the construction.

The rear of the wall was strengthened exteriorly by a coating of immense blocks of cut stone to protect it from any rush of water which might flow from the ravine above after heavy rain. There is also a communication from the colonnade to the exterior by means of a small square-headed door in the posterior wall.

A magnificent view is obtained by mounting the hill immediately south of the town, crossing the valley watered by the Ain Ayat. The contrast between the past and present, even of the most modern times, is very striking. Almost every alternate house is in ruins, and the population, which M. Guérin states to have been 2,900 in 1860, has now diminished to little more than 700. We particularly noticed the urbanity and good humour of the people of Zaghouan. Wherever we went, alone or in company with Arabs, everyone we met had a pleasant word and smile for us, and even the little urchins seemed pleased to leave their favourite game of okkaf, the same as our English hockey, and accompany us in our strolls, without being in the slightest degree obtrusive, or seeming to expect a donation of kharoubs.

We returned to Tunis on March 31, the drive occupying seven hours and a quarter, including an hour for breakfast at the Mohammedia.

[140]CHAPTER XVI.

ES-SABALA — THE MEDJERDA — DRAGONS OF THE ATLAS — BIZERTA — IMMENSE LAND-LOCKED HARBOUR — FISH IN LAKE — DJEBEL ISHKUL — WILD BUFFALOES.

As we had still two days to spare after our return from Zaghouan before we could have an audience with the Bey, we determined to utilise them by a visit to Bizerta. The distance is about the same as our last excursion, and though this journey also can be made in carriages, the road is extremely bad, and after much rain must be quite impracticable.

We left Tunis by the Bab el-Khadhera, passed under the Spanish aqueduct behind the Bardo, the ancient palace of the Beys, and the Kasr Saeed, the present sovereign’s favourite residence, and soon entered a vast olive wood. The trees are extremely ancient, contorted in every possible manner, and seemed actually to have been turned inside out, and cut up into fantastic fretwork. At eight miles from Tunis is a wayside fountain and Arab coffee-shop, called Es-Sabala, near a palace built by the celebrated Saheb et-Tabäa, under Hamouda Pacha, now the property of General Kheir-ed-din. This is the only place in all the Regency of Tunis where we ever saw a plantation of young olive or any other trees, and I examined them with peculiar interest, as I felt sure beforehand that in this country, as in Algeria, the principal cause of its decadence was the destruction of its ancient forests.

Beyond this commences a long alluvial plain, which, broken up by several low ranges of hills, extends to the very gates of Bizerta; it is of great fertility, and tolerably well cultivated.

About six miles and a half beyond Es-Sabala, the Medjerda is crossed by a bridge which was built about twenty-five years ago, on the site of an old Roman one. It is a solid structure of seven arches, with a niche between each pair, pierced so as to admit the passage of water when the floods are high. The original structure was entire when Peyssonnel visited it in 1724; it was a tolerably good one, he says, but the arches were badly constructed.[113] This river rises in the beautiful valley of Khamisa, in[141] Algeria, amongst the ruins of Thubursicum Numidarum,[114] and traverses some of the richest parts of Tunis, districts rendered celebrated by many of the most stirring events in Roman history. It is none other than the far-famed Bagradas, on the banks of which took place the combat between the army of Attilius Regulus and the monstrous serpent, 225 years before Christ. Pliny repeats the fable as one well known in his day. They besieged it, says he, with ballista and implements of war, as one would have done to a city. It was 120 feet long, and its skin and jaws were preserved in a temple at Rome until the Numantine war.[115]

The tradition of such animals appears to have lingered long in the country. Leo Africanus says that ‘the Caves of the Atlas contain many huge and monstrous dragons, which are heavy and of a slow motion, because the midst of their body is grosse, but their necks and tails are slender. They are most venemous creatures, insomuch that whosoever is bitten or touched by them, his flesh presently waxeth soft, neither can he by any means escape death.’ Marmol’s account of these marvellous animals is even more amusing. He also says that they are very numerous in the caverns of the great Atlas; their bite and touch are mortal, but they are so heavy and so badly made that they can hardly move, for their body is very thick about the stomach, and the rest slender. They have the head and wings of a bird, the tail and skin of a serpent, the feet of a wolf; they are spotted with divers colours, and they have not strength to lift their eyelids. This pleasant animal is called by the Arabs Taybin, and is supposed to result from the amours of a female wolf and a male eagle.[116] The word Taybin is evidently Thäaban, the ordinary Arabic word for a serpent; and it is quite possible that, as wolves and bears have become extinct in the country, so there may have been larger species of serpents, like the python or the boa, which no longer exist.

The Medjerda has greatly changed its course within the limits of history; indeed, it is constantly cutting through the banks of alluvion, and depositing the débris elsewhere. Even at this season a considerable body of water enters the sea, but it is a mere thread in comparison to the width of its bed after continued rain. A passing shower will sometimes suffice to produce a torrent capable of washing away sheep and cattle, and even travellers.

The plain on the right bank of the river at this place goes by the name of Outa el-Kebir, or the large plain; that on the left is Outa es-Segheir, or the smaller one, while the crossing itself is called El-Fonduk, from an inn on its bank, more dirty and repulsive than such places generally are.

[142]At seventeen miles from Tunis a second and smaller bridge is passed, spanning a watercourse running along the southern base of Djebel Zana. From this point the road to Bou-Shater, the ancient Utica, branches off. We saw it in the distance, and thought of the unnecessary self-sacrifice of Cato, but had not time to visit it. Bruce, however, did so. He says—

Beyond Djebel Zana is another wide plain, called Bahirah Gournata, in the middle of which is a well. To the right is seen Ghar el-Melah, or Porto Farino, formerly an important naval station and arsenal, now neglected and almost in ruins. While we stopped to prepare our breakfast here, Lord Kingston strolled into a neighbouring swamp, and soon returned with several brace of snipe. We did not require them on this occasion, but many a good dinner did his gun find us afterwards, when we would otherwise have been reduced to hard-boiled eggs, or the remarkably tough and stringy animals which are in the habit of producing them.

The hill which bounds the north side of this plain is Djebel Tella; at its foot is a small stream; and from its summit the first view is obtained of the sea and the Lake of Bizerta, along the eastern bank of which the road now runs. At thirty-two and a half miles from Tunis is Menzel-Djemil, well named the beautiful resting-place, despite of the filth with which it is surrounded. The narrow neck of land, which here separates the lake from the sea, is a perfect garden covered with plantations of fruit and olive trees and fields of corn.

Bizerta itself is thirty-six miles from Tunis. Its name is a corruption of the Arab one, Benzerte, which is as evidently derived from its ancient one, Hippo Zarytus, or Hippo Diarrhytus, the adjunct being necessary to distinguish this city from its neighbour Hippo Regius, the modern Bone.

It was an ancient Tyrian colony, and was fortified and provided with a new harbour by Agathocles in the fourth century before Christ. It was subsequently raised to the rank of a Roman colony, as is testified by an inscription built into the wall of Bordj Sidi Bou Hadid, containing the ancient name of the place.

El-Bekri mentions that this place was conquered in A.H. 41 (A.D. 661-2) by Moaouia ibn el-Hodaidj. Abd el-Melek ibn Merouan, who accompanied him in this[143] expedition, having been separated from the main body of the army, obtained shelter in the house of a native woman. When he became Khalifa, he wrote to his lieutenant in Ifrikia to take care of this woman and all her family—an order which was of course carried out.[117]

Marmol says that, although the city contained only 4,000 inhabitants, they frequently revolted against the Kings of Tunis and the Lords of Constantine, which was often the cause of their ruin. When Kheir-ed-din took possession of Tunis, they were the first to recognise him, and when he was expelled they killed the governor whom Mulai Hassan had sent with a garrison, and received a Turkish garrison into their fort. Mulai Hassan attacked the place by land, while Andrea Doria co-operated with him by sea, and so the place was taken by assault—‘et le Roy chastia rigoureusement les habitans qui s’estoient revoltez trois fois et qui n’avoient jamais gardé la foy ni par amour ni par crainte.’[118]

It can hardly be said that Bizerta is in a very flourishing condition; still, the presence of a hundred and fifty Europeans amongst its population of five or six thousand souls gives a certain amount of life and commercial activity to it, which no purely Mohammedan city appears to possess. There is no hotel of any kind in the place, and the few Europeans who visit it are dependent on the hospitality of their consuls. We were most cordially received by Signor Spizzichino, who is, as was his father before him, Vice-Consul of the United States. He also acts as Consular Agent of Great Britain, though he does not actually hold a commission as such.

The situation of the town is extremely picturesque, being built on each side of the canal which connects the lake with the sea, and on an island in the middle of it, principally occupied by Europeans and joined to the mainland on either side by substantial bridges. The town is entirely surrounded by walls, the entrance to the canal being protected by what in former times would have been considered formidable defences. That on the west is the Kasbah or citadel, and contains a number of residences both of private individuals and of public functionaries; on the opposite side is the fort of Sidi el-Houni, containing the shrine of that holy man. Between these the canal is embanked. The foundations are, no doubt, ancient, though the superstructure is modern. The west wall is produced as a breakwater, but it is very ruinous, and has evidently projected much further into the sea than it does at present. Its length is not sufficient to prevent the sand being drifted in by the north-west winds, whereby the canal has been so much filled up as to render it practicable only for light fishing-boats. Near the gate of the Kasbah may be seen the chain formerly used to protect[144] the entrance. To the west of the town is an isolated fort, called Bordj Sidi Salim, built on a rocky promontory jutting out into the sea.

The only antiquities now remaining, besides the usual frusta of columns lying about and built into the corners of the street, are the two inscriptions recorded by M. Guerin,[119] one a remarkably fine milliary column in the warehouse of Hadj Mohammed Sfaxi, Janissary of the American Consulate, bearing the name of M. Aurelius Antoninus Pius (A.D. 161-180), and the other, which has already been mentioned, built high up in the wall of the Bordj Sidi Bou Hadid, and turned upside down, recording the ancient name of the place.

The important feature of Bizerta, however, is its lake, now called Tinja, formerly Hipponitis Pallus, which in the hands of a European Power might become one of the finest harbours and one of the most important strategical positions in the Mediterranean.[120] Its length from east to west is about eight geographical miles, and its width five and a half; the channel, which connects it with the sea, is at its N.E. angle and is about four miles long and half a mile broad; but the shallow portion which passes through the town is less than a mile in length, with a depth of from two to ten feet. Beyond, it widens out, and has a depth equal to that of the lake, from five to seven fathoms. A comparatively slight expenditure would be required to convert this lake into a perfectly landlocked harbour, containing fifty square miles of anchorage for the largest vessels afloat. At present the anchorage off the entrance is very insecure; vessels are compelled to remain in the open roadstead, and at a considerable distance from the town; there is no shelter from the prevailing bad weather, and if shipwrecks are rare, it is simply because the place is avoided by large vessels.

The lake teems with fish, which produce a yearly revenue of 180,000 piastres, or 4,500l., to the State. They are caught both by nets and in weirs of reeds erected at the narrowest portion of the straits, and are then carried on donkeys to Tunis for sale. They are not only most abundant, of excellent quality, very different from the mud-tainted produce of the Tunis lake, but of great variety. The inhabitants of Bizerta say that there are twelve principal kinds, one of which comes into season each month. This is by no means a modern idea; it is mentioned by El-Edrisi, who says: ‘When the month has expired, the species which corresponds to it disappears, and is replaced by a new one, and so on till the end of the year and every year.’[121] El-Bekri also mentions this succession of fishes, and adds a curious account of the manner in which[145] any particular species is caught: ‘When the merchants come to buy fish, they indicate the kind and the exact number they require. The fisherman then takes a living female of the desired species, lets it loose in the lake, and follows it with his net; he is thus able to take almost the exact number he requires, and hardly ever makes a mistake.’[122]

A favourite means of catching the larger kind is for a man to station himself at the prow of a boat under one of the arches of the bridge, with a ten-pronged grane in his hand and a vessel of oil beside him. From time to time he sprinkles a few drops of oil on the surface to calm its ripples and enable him to see the larger fish passing, and these he spears with great dexterity. Wild fowl of all kinds are numerous on the lake, and for quail and snipe its banks are a sportsman’s paradise.

To the S.W. of this lake is another nearly as large, but with a depth of from two to eight feet only. It is the ancient Sisara, now called the Gharat Djebel Ishkul, or lake of Mount Ishkul, a remarkable hill of 1,740 feet high, situated at its southern extremity, the Kirna Mons of Ptolemy. This, no doubt, was originally an island, as it is now only separated from the mainland by a stretch of marshy ground. The water is almost sweet in winter, when a considerable body is poured into it by the Oued Djoumin or river of Mater, but in summer, when the level sinks, the overflow from the salt lake pours into it by the Oued Tinga, a tortuous canal which connects the two, and then its waters are not potable. The water is generally very turbid, owing to the washing of the clay banks on its margin, and the muddy streams flowing in from the plains of Mater. This lake also abounds in fish, principally barbel and alose (clupea finta), which are held in no esteem by the natives.

Lieut. Spratt observes: ‘Fresh-water shell-fish are rare in this lake, but I procured a species of unio from one of the streams flowing into it. In some of the clay banks along the north and east shores are abundance of marine fossils, principally a carduum, which, by the wasting of the cliffs, are washed along the shore, the sands of which in consequence present the singular appearance of a sea beach encircling a freshwater lake; and, until I discovered the localities whence they were derived, I was led to suppose that they had been living inhabitants of this lake at no very distant period of time, when, of course, the waters were salt, and the scarcity of fresh-water shells leant to the idea of its recent conversion from a salt to a fresh lake. The Oued Tinga is navigable for boats of not more than two feet draught. Its general depth is six feet, and its breadth 25 yards, but at the entrance to the lake of Djebel Ishkul there are shallows with a very rapid current, against which our boat[146] had great difficulty in contending. Above the shallows there is a ferry, opposite the marabout of Sidi Ali Hassan, which is completely enveloped by a small grove of trees. This spot appears also to have been the site of an ancient town of some importance, as there are considerable remains on both sides of the ferry.’[123]

The vicinity abounds in game, and on Djebel Ishkul itself there are a number of wild buffaloes, introduced by a former Bey, which are very strictly preserved.

At the eastern base of Djebel Ishkul there are several mineral springs, which are held in great repute amongst the natives, who bathe in small pools, made by hollowing out the sand, and in these the water bubbles up from the ground. The temperature is about 110° Fahr.

The people about Bizerta seem to affect an exaggeration of the tight and ungraceful costumes with which the Tunisians disfigure themselves; and in addition they have adopted a peculiarly fashioned jacket of white wool with a hood, which they usually wear over the head, leaving the sleeves to dangle unused at the sides.

[147]CHAPTER XVII.

VISIT TO THE BEY AND GENERAL KHEIR-ED-DIN — DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING TRAVEL IN TUNIS — IMPROVEMENT IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COUNTRY — COMMENCEMENT OF BRUCE’S JOURNEY BY THE MEDJERDA — OUR START FOR SUSA BY SEA — SUSA.

Early on the forenoon of April 4 we went to present our respects to the Bey, who received us at the Kasr Säid, or happy palace. This is just beyond the Bardo, and is his favourite place of residence during the winter months. It belonged originally to one of his brothers-in-law, who, having got mixed up with the insurrection of 1867, disappeared and had his property confiscated. Now Es-Saduk Bey has considerably added to and adorned it; but though a comfortable and spacious residence, it has no architectural pretensions as a Moorish palace. Our interview was a most pleasant one. His Highness was very gracious, and seemed pleased to be able to converse with me without the intervention of an interpreter. A little later I paid a visit to the Wuzir, or chief minister, General Kheir-ed-din, at his palace at Manouba, a short distance beyond the Bardo. His Excellency gave us letters of introduction from the Bey, and special recommendations from himself, addressed to all the Government officials throughout the districts in which we were likely to travel, and placed four mounted men at our disposal, two Hanbas and two Spahis, to accompany us wherever we might feel disposed to go.

The great difficulty and unpleasantness of travelling in Tunis is, that without such orders it is impossible to get on at all; no one will exercise any hospitality to a traveller, or will even aid him to purchase such provisions for himself and forage for his horses as may be absolutely necessary. With an order from the Bey, the officials feel bound to supply his wants and those of his attendants, but it is often done with ill-concealed reluctance, most unpleasant to witness. If the traveller, like myself, occupies a public position, all offers of payment are rejected, and if, to satisfy his own scruples, he makes a liberal present on his departure, he is almost sure to do so to the wrong person, who has had no share in furnishing the supplies. Thus the passage[148] of a party like ours is a serious tax on some one, wherever they pass the night. In most cases this falls on the Government of the Bey, as the officials who exercise hospitality in his name obtain a corresponding remission of taxation; but it is extremely unpleasant to feel that a journey, made at great expense to the traveller, is also a heavy burthen to others—a double charge which he is quite powerless to prevent. Should the traveller have no such official character, he will be fleeced unmercifully in every direction, and even at an extortionate price he will often be unable to obtain what he requires. No very great evils result from this, simply because the amount is mitigated by the extreme rarity of travellers in these regions; but in time, as the interesting Roman remains scattered broadcast over the land become better known, they cannot fail to attract tourists, who have tried Switzerland and the Carpathians, and are satiated with the beaten paths of travel in Europe and the East.

I cannot refrain from expressing the great obligation under which I feel myself to his Highness the Bey, and to his minister, General Kheir-ed-din, for the great attention and hospitality we received throughout the Tunisian dominions, and I bear willing evidence to the extraordinary change, which has come over the country since the accession of the latter to power. Before that event the testimony of the few Europeans who have travelled in the country is unanimous, the roads were infested with robbers, tribes were at variance with each other, the husbandman sowed without any certitude that he would reap the fruit of his labour, and the exactions of the governing classes were the most insupportable of all. Wherever we went we heard the Wuzir’s name mentioned with affection and esteem by all good men, and as the terror of evil-doers. We can certainly testify that throughout all our wanderings we found the roads as safe as the streets of Tunis; we were shown places where a very few years ago the traveller could only pass with a strong escort and at the peril of his life, but nowhere were we molested; on the contrary, the hospitality shown to us was even burthensome, not from any love of us, but because the mighty Wuzir would be offended if a British official were not entertained with becoming distinction.

General Kheir-ed-din informed me that he contemplated the creation of a museum of antiquities and Tunisian industrial products, and he begged me to examine some of the former which he had in his own garden, and others which were stowed away in lumber rooms at the Dar el-Bey, or Palace of Tunis, and at the Souk el-Djidid opposite to it. I found many fragments of interest, both of sculpture and of Punic and Latin inscriptions, but no attempt at classification, and unfortunately very few of them marked with the name of the localities where they were found. Amongst[149] others is the white marble sarcophagus which M. Guérin[124] describes as having been found at the Mohammedia, and of which he gives the inscription.

There are also four large blocks of stone, with deep bold characters, the first three of which have evidently formed part of the same inscription. They were brought from Bou Radeh, the ancient Oppidum Araditanum:—

3

TRAIANI PARTH

VICTORIS VNAC. . . .

T. OB DEDICATIONI

4

RIANI . NEP. DIV

S. EIVSDEM. F.VRI

. IN.FORO. POSVIT

There is also a tombstone, very rudely carved, and only interesting as being one of the very few inscriptions found at Oudena:—

There are several more, but they have no particular interest, the locality where they were found not being recorded.

I found it impossible, for various reasons, to follow the line of march adopted by Bruce, who went direct from Tunis to the Medjerda. He thus describes the commencement of his journey:

[150]As we had made up our minds to proceed to Susa by sea, and commence our journey thence, we sent our escort on in advance, and took our passage in one of the coasting steamers of the Rubatino Company. We arrived at Susa on April 6, and were most cordially received by our vice-consul there, Mr. Dupuis, with whose family we spent a most agreeable day, and from whom we received much assistance in our arrangements for hiring horses and mules. It may assist future travellers to know what arrangements we made in this respect. A Maltese furnished all our animals, two horses and five mules; for these three men were supplied, and we agreed to pay ten piastres, or five shillings per diem, for each animal, and to furnish their food, though we were not to be considered responsible for that of the drivers.

Susa is the ancient Hadrumetum, capital of the province of Byzacium mentioned by Sallust[125] as having been a Phœnician colony more ancient than Carthage. Trajan made it a Roman colony. It is often mentioned in the Punic and civil wars, and, like many other cities, it was destroyed by the Vandals and restored by Justinian.

After Okba had built the city of Kerouan, he remained at Susa during a considerable period. Subsequently, when the Turks took up the profitable trade of piracy, this became one of their favourite haunts, whence they made predatory excursions to the coasts of Italy.

In 1537, Charles V. sent a naval expedition from Sicily against the place, which refused to submit to his protégé Mulai Hassan. The command was given to the Marquis of Terra Nova, but after a vigorous assault he was obliged to retire and leave victory in the hands of his enemies. In 1539 another expedition was sent, commanded by Andrea Doria, with better success, but no sooner had he left than it revolted again, and welcomed the celebrated pirate Dragut within its walls.[126]

In all the frequent dissensions between the Arabs and Turks the importance of Susa as a strategic post was so great that its possession was generally the key to supreme power. The town is situated on a gentle slope rising from the sea, and presents a most picturesque appearance from a vessel in the harbour. It is surrounded by a crenelated wall, strengthened at intervals by square towers and bastions. In the interior these walls have arched recesses, which serve as shops and storehouses. At the summit is the kasbah, which it requires a special order from the Kaimakam to visit. The view from the terrace is very fine, but the building itself is entirely devoid of interest. It contains apartments, used by the military governor of the district, or Muchir, whose usual residence is Monastir, and the whole is well kept, the doors quaintly decorated in distemper, and the usual signs of dilapidation rather less prominent than in similar buildings elsewhere. Three gates give entrance[151] to the town, the Bab el-Bahr, or Sea Gate, Bab el-Gharbi, or Western Gate, and Bab el-Djidid, or New Gate, the last of which was constructed only a few years ago. These are all rigorously shut soon after sunset.

The modern port is simply an open roadstead, very slightly protected by a curve in the coast towards the north, where was the ancient harbour, between the Quarantine Fort and Ras el-Bordj. It is said that the remains of masonry breakwaters can still be seen when the water is clear. But the accumulation of sand has rendered the water too shallow to permit vessels to make use of it. A great part of the ancient harbour is, in fact, now dry land.

The principal objects of interest in the town are:—

The Kasr er-Ribat, a square building flanked by seven round bastions, with a high tower built on a square base. It is constructed of large cut stones, and there is every reason to suppose that it was once either a Roman or Byzantine fortress. It subsequently became a sort of monastery, occupied by devotees, and perhaps also a barrack for soldiers. The name is evidently derived from the root rabata, to bind, either to religion or to military service. El-Bekri mentions it under the name of Mahres er-Ribat.

There is also an extremely curious Byzantine basilica, now turned into a coffee-shop, and called by the Arabs Kahwat el-Koubba, or Café of the Dome. It is a small building, square in plan up to about eight feet from the ground, thence rising cylindrically for about the same distance, the whole surmounted by a curious fluted dome. The cylindrical portion has four large and four smaller arched niches, with very bold cornices, springing from semicircular pilasters between them. The walls are, however, so thickly encrusted with whitewash that the architectural details are considerably obscured. A good view of the exterior of the building is obtained by mounting to the top of the Morestan, or public hospital, just opposite; the dome is decorated exteriorly by a ridge and furrow fluting, converging at the apex.

There is also a curious old building, either of Roman or Byzantine construction, now used as an oil mill. It consists of a central dome, supported on four arches, three of which give access to narrow chambers, the entrance being in the fourth; beyond the left-hand chamber, on entering, are two parallel vaulted apartments, extending the whole length of the building. The piers of the arches have originally been ornamented with columns, and the ceiling appears to have been decorated with tiles or mosaics.

In the Bab el-Gharbi, or Western Gate, a marble sarcophagus has been built into the wall, and now serves as a drinking fountain. The inscription is given by Guérin,[127] but at the present day it is quite illegible.

[152]There is also a large reservoir, about sixty feet broad and a hundred long, with a vaulted roof supported on twelve square pillars. The Arabs declare that the arches were originally supported on marble columns, but that doubts were entertained of their solidity, and that they were consequently encased in masonry. If this is true, it proves that the vaulting is of modern construction, as there is no instance in Africa of a Roman vault or arch supported on columns. The reservoir is certainly ancient, but the pillars have a most un-Roman appearance. The only other antiquity of much interest that we observed was a handsome fragment of sculpture in alto relievo, lately found on the site of a house belonging to M. Yoones, a Jewish merchant. It is of life size, and represents a chariot being drawn probably by two horses; on the side of the chariot is a triton blowing a horn. In it is standing a man entirely clad in a toga, and holding in his left hand what appears, by the knob at the end, to be a sceptre. Unfortunately, all in front of the horses’ haunches and above the man’s neck is broken off, but the chariot is entire. To the right is seated on a bank another person whose head also is destroyed, but who, from the trace of long hair and beard remaining, and from the fact of his hands being tied behind his back, is probably a captive. He has a waist-cloth, and a mantle over his shoulders fastened in front by a brooch; the breast and arms are naked and exquisitely sculptured, every muscle in the arms and chest being anatomically accurate. Another fragment of a horse, and several pieces of cornice and architrave, were found on the same spot, which was evidently the site of some important building.

The schools, like the mosques, are considered sacred from the intrusion of Christians, but we were able to see the interior of several from the road. The walls were covered with very beautiful hangings of appliqué work on coloured cloth and velvet, similar to what are frequently seen on saints’ tombs in Algeria. The women have a costume different to what I have observed elsewhere; they are entirely muffled up in black, like sisters of charity.

The town has a prosperous appearance, the houses being well built, and as a rule less dilapidated than usual. The population is about 8,000, of whom 1,000 are Europeans and 2,000 Jews. A very considerable part of the trade is in the hands of Maltese, who are here, as everywhere else in North Africa, the most industrious and frugal, and about the best-behaved class of the population. They almost monopolise the carrying trade, with their karatonis, or light carts on two wheels, to which one good serviceable horse or mule is usually harnessed. They also keep horses and carriages for hire at all the principal towns, which are unusually well supplied in this respect. The march of events has forced the Tunisians to abate a good deal of their intolerance, but people are still alive who[153] remember the time when driving in a carriage with four wheels was the exclusive privilege of the Bey, all others, consuls included, being forced to content themselves with two-wheeled vehicles.

It has long been the custom to employ carts as a means of transport in Tunis. Bruce received a present of one from the wife of the Bey, ‘exactly like those of the bakers in England;’ this he found exceedingly useful for the transport of his instruments, and at times, for the feeblest of his attendants. Our Maltese friend was anxious that we should take karatonis for our baggage instead of mules, but I was too old a traveller to listen to his suggestions; they do well enough on the plains, but amongst the mountains they could not advance a mile.

[154]CHAPTER XVIII.

DEPARTURE FROM SUSA — ES-SAHEL — EFFECTS OF THE DISFORESTING OF TUNIS — OLIVE-TREES — EL-DJEM.

On the 7th of April we left Susa in a carriage, having sent our horses and mules on in advance the night before. The journey occupied us ten hours, but the roads were very heavy, owing to a smart shower of rain which had just fallen; under favourable circumstances, the journey ought to have been done in eight hours.

We left by the Bab el-Bahr, and, crossing the Mohammedan cemetery, passed the Bab el-Djidid and the Bab el-Gharbi, and thence took a southern direction. At a distance of three miles is Zaouiat Susa, a poor little village, situated in the midst of a rich plain covered with olive-trees; beyond, on both sides of the road, are Roman ruins, but of no interest. At fifteen miles is Menzel, the only convenient resting-place between Susa and El-Djem. The wayside fountain here is the only water on the road. Beyond this the olive-trees cease, and the traveller enters a wide and treeless plain, part of the district called Es-Sahel, or coast region, extremely fertile when an unusual quantity of rain has fallen, but at other times almost uncultivated, and apparently hardly susceptible of cultivation.

We subsequently journeyed for many days in this region; everywhere we found extensive traces of Roman occupation—vast Roman cities as well as isolated posts, proving beyond doubt that it was at one time capable of supporting a dense population. The entire Regency of Tunis must, during the Roman occupation, have contained little short of twenty million inhabitants, while now, the most favourable estimate places the population at not more than a million and a half. Day after day, in traversing these arid and treeless plains, intersected by watercourses in which no water flows, the soil covered with sand and stones incapable of supporting vegetable life, we pondered over the causes which had turned a region once so fertile almost into a desert. The causes, indeed, are not difficult to find: they are written by the hand of nature on every hill we traversed, and confirmed by the daily actions of the[155] inhabitants themselves. We know that at one time the country was covered with forests. I myself have travelled for days over plains where not a tree exists, and yet where ruins of Roman oil mills were frequently met with. Ibn Khaldoun, in his history of the Berbers, says: ‘El-Kahina caused all the villages and farms throughout the country to be destroyed, so that the vast region between Tripoli and Tangiers, which had the appearance of an immense thicket, under the shade of which rose a multitude of villages touching each other, now offered no other aspect than that of ruins.’[128] Even in modern days the same destruction of forests has been continued, if not wantonly or for purposes of defence, as in the time of the early Arab conquerors, still as surely, by the carelessness of their descendants, who never hesitate to set fire to a wood to improve the pasturage, or to cut down a tree when timber is required, but who never dream of planting another, or even of protecting those which spring up spontaneously, from being destroyed by their flocks and herds.

In Bruce’s notes, written 110 years ago, frequent allusion is made to forests through which he passed, where not a tree is now to be seen, and this is a work of destruction which must go on with ever accelerating rapidity year after year.

Nothing is more certain than that forests and tracts of brushwood not only prevent the evaporation of moisture by protecting the surface of the earth from the sun’s rays, but they serve to retain the light clouds which otherwise would be dissipated, until they attain sufficient consistence to descend in rain or refreshing mists. A hillside deprived of the forest whose foliage acted as a huge parasol to the ground, and whose roots served to retain the vegetable soil which was formed by its decay, very soon loses the power of generating vegetable life at all. The rich mould gets washed by winter rains into the valleys; in the summer months the sand is blown down on the top of this; succeeding rains carry down stones and gravel, till very soon all the most fertile portions of the soil disappear, leaving a residuum which is only capable of supporting vegetation when it becomes fertilised by an exceptional amount of moisture, which as time progresses must become rarer and rarer, like the efforts of the spendthrift to live off income, and spending every year a portion of his capital.

In several places, where deep cuttings had been made by winter torrents, I distinctly observed layers of alluvion several feet below the surface, underlying strata of water-worn stones and barren sand.

Still, in years when rain is very abundant, heavy crops are produced in some places. Mr. Wood, in a late commercial report, mentions single stalks of barley producing 80 and 120 ears, or 2,000 and 3,000 separate grains.

[156]What the date is to the Sahara, the olive is to the Sahel; it thrives almost everywhere, and seems to content itself with the most brackish water, or even without any except that which falls from heaven during the winter months. All along the coast there are fine plantations, containing glorious old trees, but there is not the least sign of a young one being planted, or of anyone attempting to increase the size of the grove bequeathed to him by his ancestors. During all my travels in Tunis I only saw one solitary exception to this, in the plantation of General Kheir-ed-din before alluded to.

There need practically be no limit to the cultivation of the olive-tree in Tunis; the Sahel is its favourite region, but the mountains of the Tell are covered with wild trees of great size and beauty, and there is reason to believe that they would, if grafted, yield more abundantly than in the Sahel, in the same manner that the olive-trees of Kabylia in Algeria are more productive than those of the districts lower down.

The oil made in Tunis is inferior to that of Italy, and even to that now made in Algeria, but this is owing, not to any want of excellence in the fruit, but to the primitive manner in which it is manufactured, and to the want of cleanliness in subsequently storing it, in which no progress has been made during many centuries.

On our arrival at El-Djem we pitched our new tent, one of Edgington’s, for the first time, and were delighted with the ease with which it was put up, and with the great amount of accommodation it contained. I thought often of the dear friends at home who had sent it out to me; it proved an inestimable comfort during all our wanderings; but were I to make the journey again, I should be disposed to go without any tent at all, and with a much smaller amount of luggage than we took with us. It is rare that the traveller cannot find an Arab tent, an old ruin, or shelter of some kind at night, and the convenience of travelling lightly is so great as to outweigh all considerations of comfort.

At El-Djem, for instance, there was a fonduk, or caravanserail, in which a large party could find shelter; the accommodation is, of course, very simple, and the fleas abundant, but these are details which should not affect the traveller’s equanimity. The one great desideratum should be to reduce the number of baggage animals to the smallest possible number. We had sometimes to modify our journey, and to avoid places where there were interesting ruins, owing to the impossibility of obtaining sufficient barley for our horses.

There is nothing of interest at El-Djem, save its amphitheatre, which may be said to be all that remains to mark the site of the ancient city of Thysdrus, or Thysdritana Colonia. The modern village is built entirely from its ruins, and all[157] that is visible of the city itself are a few foundations and tombs, towards the north-west.

This city is first mentioned in history by Hirtius.[129] After the defeat of Scipio at Thapsus it submitted to Cæsar, who condemned it to a fine of corn, proportionate to its small importance.[130] It is also mentioned by Pliny, by Ptolemy and in the tables of Peutinger. It was here that the pro-consul Gordian first set up the standard of rebellion against Maximin, and was proclaimed Emperor in A.D. 238, in his 80th year. He did not long live to enjoy his exalted dignity; he was defeated in battle by Capellianus, procurator of Numidia; his son was slain, and he perished by his own hands after having worn the purple for less than two months. Shaw thinks that the amphitheatre may have been founded by him in gratitude, and states that in one of the medals of the younger Gordian there is the representation of an amphitheatre, not hitherto accounted for by the medalists;[131] but the medal here alluded to is most probably one of Gordian III., bearing on one side the Coliseum at Rome, which was restored in his reign, with the inscription Munificentia Gordiani Aug.

The solidity of the masonry and the vast size of this building have induced the Arabs at various periods of their history to convert it into a fortress; it has frequently been besieged, and on each occasion, no doubt, to the great destruction of the fabric. The first instance on record is during the wars of the early Arab conquerors. After El-Kahina had defeated Hassan ibn Näaman, and driven him as far as Tripoli, the latter received considerable reinforcements from Egypt, and again set out for the conquest of Ifrikia, about 693. El-Kahina intrenched herself in the amphitheatre, where she sustained a long siege before being compelled to evacuate it. The name of Kasr el-Kahina—the palace, or fortress, of the sorceress—attached itself to the building for many ages after this event.

Bruce made careful preparations to illustrate this monument at his leisure, but none of the drawings in Lady Thurlow’s possession are completed—they are, in fact, mere rough working sketches. He says:—

The Kinnaird collection, however, contains only:—

1. A very faint drawing in pencil of exterior of amphitheatre on its major axis: the details of the lower storey have not been filled in.

[158]2. Pencil sketch of interior on major axis.

3. Pencil sketch of interior on minor axis, showing the extent of the breach which then existed.

4. Pencil sketch, tinted in Indian ink, of general plan, covered with notes and dimensions.

5. Drawing in pencil and Indian ink of one quarter of plan of the lowest stages of amphitheatre, showing podium of arena and staircases [Pl. XI.]

6. Drawing in pencil and Indian ink of one quarter of plan of one of the upper stages of the amphitheatre.

7. Careful drawing to scale in pencil of general section, numerous notes, and dimensions on the face, and sketches of parts of the plan on the back.

8. Another rougher sketch in pencil.

9. Rough sketch in ink of section with elevation.

10. Drawing in pencil of section of external wall, with dimensions figured thereon.

The only one of these drawings sufficiently completed to admit of reproduction is the general ground plan, which is of great interest [Pl. XI.] Many sketches of the building itself have been published, generally very inaccurate; but no subsequent traveller ever took sufficiently precise measurements to permit the construction of a ground plan. I have added, by permission of an esteemed friend (Dr. Ritchie, of Belfast), two autotypes [Pl. XII. and XIII.] of photographs taken by his son, the late Mr. Frank Ritchie. One represents a general view of the exterior of the edifice, and the other the interior of the lower corridor. It was almost the last act of his life to take these photographs. ‘Sit tibi terra levis!’

This edifice offers the same exterior divisions as the principal monuments of a similar kind built elsewhere by the Romans, three outside open galleries, or arcades, rising one above another, crowned by a fourth storey with windows. But at El-Djem the architect seems to have tried to surpass, in some respects, the magnificence of existing structures. In the Coliseum at Rome the lower storey is decorated with a Doric half-engaged order, the second with an Ionic, and the third with a Corinthian. The fourth storey was pierced by windows like this one, but pilasters alone are employed, so that the general aspect is that of three storeys, gradually increasing in magnificence as they rise, crowned by a high attic, which supported the masts destined to receive the ropes of the velum. In many other amphitheatres the Doric order is alone employed. But here, at El-Djem, the orders of the first and third galleries are Corinthian; the middle one is composite; the fourth was probably Corinthian also, if it ever was completed.

Plate XI.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

AMPHITHEATRE OF THYSDRUS (EL DJEM)

PLAN OF LOWER STOREY

FAC-SIMILE OF ORIGINAL DRAWING BY BRUCE IN PENCIL AND INDIAN INK.

(Large-size)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Plate XII.

AMPHITHEATRE OF TYSDRUS (EL-DJEM.)

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY F. RITCHIE ESQUIRE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Plate XIII.

AMPHITHEATRE OF TYSDRUS (EL DJEM.)

CORRIDOR OF FIRST STOREY.

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY F. RITCHIE ESQUIRE.

[159]The windows of the fourth storey of the Coliseum are square-headed, as was generally the case in monuments of this kind; but at El-Djem the heads of the windows are neither straight nor semicircular, but segmental, and they are built as true arches, with voussoirs. They are placed at every third interpilaster.

The study of these African monuments would be very interesting to one who would undertake to write the history of arch and vault building. Specimens are frequently met with amongst these ruins, showing that problems had been solved at a very early date in Africa, which many stereotomists suppose to have been known only for a few centuries.

Each of the three lower storeys possessed sixty-four columns and arches, and at each extremity was a grand entrance, but the west one is included in the breach made by Mohammed Bey in 1697, to prevent the building being again used as a fortress. Since then the work of destruction has gone on rapidly, and now fully one-third of the whole of the perimeter is destroyed.

The interior of the amphitheatre has suffered much more than the exterior, doubtless from the fact that it has so often served as a fortress, and partly from the material having been taken to block up the lower galleries, and to build the modern village. Almost all the steps have disappeared, although these are shown in Bruce’s sections as rising in a great bank or incline, and with but one slight break, from the arena to the third storey, and again between the top of this third storey and the face of the attic. El-Bekri mentions this disposition of seats; he says, ‘The height is 24 toises; all the interior is disposed in steps from bottom to top.’[132]

Bruce’s remarks regarding El-Djem are very brief, but they cause the utmost regret that his finished drawings, and especially the subterranean plan of the building, should not be forthcoming.

There is an interesting tradition regarding the subterraneous gallery recorded by El-Bekri,[135] who says that El-Kahina, the celebrated chieftainess of the Aures, having been besieged in this amphitheatre, which she had converted into a fortress, caused a passage to be excavated in the rock as far as Sallecta, large enough to permit several horsemen in line to pass along. By this means she obtained supplies of provisions, and everything she required.

The Sheikh et-Tidjani also says that when El-Djem was subsequently attacked by Yehia ibn Ishak el-Mayorki, Prince of the Balearic Islands, about the six hundredth year of the Hedjira, he was soon compelled to raise the siege after a most ignominious manner. The defenders, to show how well they were supplied with provisions, threw down fresh fish at their besiegers, which they had obtained by means of the subterranean passage to Sallecta.[136] These traditions linger amongst the people of El-Djem to the present day. Careful excavations in the basement of this structure could hardly fail to be richly rewarded.

It is by no means certain that this amphitheatre ever was completed. If we may judge from Bruce’s sketches, as well as the actual condition of the monument, it is doubtful whether the attic ever was decorated with pillars, though undoubtedly some of the pedestals of this order were placed in position. Some of the ornamental details also are in an unfinished condition. The keystones of the arches of the lowest order were probably all intended to be sculptured, as in the amphitheatre of Capua; but they are still in their original rough condition, with the exception of two, one of which bears the head of a human being, and the other that of a lion. Still, neither of these facts actually proves that the amphitheatre remained uncompleted; in many similar buildings it was never intended to finish all the details with minute care, and even in the Coliseum some of the capitals are but roughly sketched out.

The outside gallery on the ground floor, where most perfect, has been utilised by[161] the Arabs as store-rooms for their corn and forage; some of the arches are converted into shops, and there is evidence that the upper galleries also have at some time or other been converted into dwellings, holes in the masonry for the reception of joists being visible in every direction.

Several inscriptions have been found here; the most important has been preserved in the enclosure of the Chapel of St. Louis at Carthage, and has been often quoted: the name of the town is twice mentioned in it, once as Thysdrus, and again as Thysdritana Colonia.[137]

A number of rude Arabic or Cufic inscriptions, accompanied by representations of swords and daggers, have been scratched on the exterior wall above the principal entrance, and one, which is certainly of Berber origin, may date from the era of El-Kahina.

I am not aware of any sculpture now existing which has been found at this place. Desfontaines purchased a small head of Diana in white marble during his visit in 1784, and he mentions a report current that several fine statues had formerly been carried off by English travellers.[138]

The stone of which the amphitheatre is built was obtained from Sallecta on the sea-coast: the Sallecti of the tables of Peutinger and the Syllectum of Procopius, the first resting-place of Belisarius in his march from Caput Vada to Carthage. The natives assured me that between this place and El-Djem the remains of the ancient paved road can easily be traced. The stone itself is of the youngest geological formation (Pliocene age), belonging to the raised coast-beaches found at from 200 to 600 feet above the present level of the Mediterranean. It is a somewhat fine-grained marine shell-limestone, with an admixture of siliceous sand full of fossil shells of considerable size, such as Pectunculus and Carduum, but no microscopic forms of shells are visible amongst the fine grains of shell-sand which make up the rock. Such a material is worked with the utmost facility; indeed, it may be cut with an axe, but it is not susceptible of being dressed with the same precision as more compact stone. The consequence is that the masonry is far inferior to the finest specimens of Roman work in Africa. Mortar has been plentifully used between the joints, and the stones are neither as large nor as closely fitted as usual; the average dimensions are—length, 37⅜ inches, and height of courses, 19⅝ inches.

Another feature of the construction of this building, never seen in others of the best period of Roman art, is the manner in which the appearance of nearly all the stones has been spoilt by triangular lewis holes being cut in their exterior faces, for[162] the purpose of raising them into position. This gives the masonry a very slovenly appearance. The dimensions given by Bruce are:

It is interesting to compare this amphitheatre with some of the best known existing ones in Europe. The table here quoted is given by M. Pelet in his description of the amphitheatre of Nîmes. I assume the accuracy of his dimensions regarding other buildings—those of El-Djem are by no means correct, but that is not wonderful, as accurate information on the subject was not easily obtainable.

[163]CHAPTER XIX.

EL-DJEM TO KEROUAN.

The serious part of our journey may be said to have commenced at El-Djem. So far we had been on highways, accessible to tourists without any special permission, and practicable for carriages. My brother returned to Susa in the calèche, and we mounted our horses and, till our entry into French territory, never again saw a Christian face, with the exception of a telegraphic clerk at El-Baja.

Our party consisted of Lord Kingston and myself, an escort of four mounted soldiers, two of whom were Hanbas and two Spahis; a useless old Maltese servant, horses for ourselves, five mules for our baggage, and three attendants. One of these last, who had been a great traveller, and had visited Mecca and Medina, usually went by the honorific title he had thus obtained—El-Hadj. He was the life and soul of the party, and in all our troubles and difficulties cries of Ya Hadj! resounded from every direction. I never met a better servant, and I tried hard to induce him to accompany me to Algiers; but he said, ‘Susa is my native place; I have neither father, mother, nor wife, but four little brothers and sisters, who have only me to support them, so I must stay and take care of them.’ May they be a comfort to your old age, Ya Hadj!

The Hanbas look upon themselves as more nearly approaching regular cavalry than the Spahis; exteriorly they are distinguished by a prevalence of blue instead of red in their uniform, but both are equally badly mounted, and armed with old and obsolete flint firelocks, or any other weapons they may choose to provide. Neither get any regular pay, but are remunerated by whatever they can squeeze out of the people amongst whom their duty takes them for the moment. The regular rate of pay they expect from travellers is five piastres, or 2s. 6d. a day, and as much more as they can get, by way of Ahsan or present at the end of the journey.

April 9.—We started about seven o’clock. Our people were not well up to striking and packing the tent, and distributing the various loads; and there was a[164] good deal of preliminary discussion, and much subsequent readjustment, to be gone through; but in the end it was tolerably well done. We worked as hard as the muleteers but our escort were far too superior beings to pull a strap, or tie a rope, or degrade themselves with any menial occupation. Our original intention had been to proceed due west from El-Djem, but we were assured on all hands that it was impossible. The country was without resources of any kind, and the only practicable route was by Kerouan.

We had not intended to visit the holy city—it was out of the track of Bruce, and had little connection with Roman archæology; but it is undoubtedly a most interesting place, and we were well pleased to have an opportunity of seeing it.

At about 7½ miles from El-Djem we passed the three Koubbas of Sidi Naser and his two sons, situated in a fertile and somewhat wooded depression. Except the gardens of this oasis, surrounded by cactus, and containing a few olive-trees, there was absolutely nothing to break the monotony of the day’s march. Four miles further on, and about eleven from El-Djem, is Akalat Heneshia, a small douar located near two wells of very brackish water. At 14½ miles is Henchir Merabba, a douar of the Souessi, where we found it necessary to pass the night. We could not reach Kerouan that day, and there is no intermediate place where we could hope to find provisions. But were any to be found here? Apparently not, for no sooner was our intention announced to the Arabs of the douar than yells and shrieks of remonstrance resounded from every direction. They swore by the life of the Prophet, and by our own heads, that there was not a grain of barley remaining in the country; they had still a few grains of wheat left, but if we took that for our animals their wives and children would die of starvation. Fowls and eggs had become quite a tradition in the country, and they were not really sure whether they could offer us a handful of dry couscoussou. Our escort were quite equal to the emergency. We were about to protest that nothing was further from our intentions than to inconvenience them in any way, and that we were quite ready to pay for anything they might supply to us; but they calmly told us to stand aside, and not to interfere. The Bey’s letter was produced, a good many expletives were exchanged, and our unalterable determination was announced to spend the night there, and to spend it comfortably. When our hosts saw us dismount and commence to unload our animals, they became assured that further remonstrance was useless, and very soon two black tents were pitched for our accommodation, barley and grass were brought for the horses, and an abundant dinner provided for the men. We very soon got on excellent terms, by the never-failing expedient of showing them our arms, compasses, &c., and when I subsequently asked them why they had created such a disturbance, they replied that such was the[165] way of the Arabs—they would rather have our room than our company, but as we were here, we were very welcome. They have some show of reason for their objection to entertain travellers, as the Government Hanbas and Spahis pillage the people unmercifully, and I fear that our efforts to prevent them were not always successful. We determined however to provide our own dinner. A judicious combination of preserved meats and vegetables, to make a sort of solid soup, was put on the fire to cook. We were so hungry that we could hardly refrain ourselves till it was ready, but at last the supreme moment arrived, when, to our horror, we discovered that it had apparently been cooked in a strong solution of Epsom salts. In fact, the water of this place is so bitter as to be unpotable for a stranger; this is owing to the vicinity of the salt lake, or Gharra, of Sidi El-Henni, a few miles to the east—the water of which percolates into the wells—and to the large amount of nitre contained in the soil. So we had to do without our dinner, and even the traveller’s greatest solace, a cup of tea, and I am afraid that we were by no means in an amiable frame of mind when we went to bed.

April 10.—We started this morning at five o’clock, the features of the country being the same as since our departure from Susa—an interminable plain, in which here and there small patches of cultivation, and a few rare olive-trees, seemed to indicate the vicinity of inhabitants, but few or none were to be seen; they had probably migrated elsewhere for the cool season, and would return in summer to their now abandoned encampments, marked out with hedges of prickly pears. The cactus is a blessed plant for the Arabs; it not only affords an impenetrable barrier for the protection of the douar, but an abundant supply of delicious fruit without the disagreeable necessity of having to cultivate it.

Everywhere off the high road—if so the beaten track between Kerouan and Sfax may be called—the ground is perforated with rat and jerboa holes, which make riding sometimes rather dangerous. Swarms of beetles cover the ground, and seem to constitute the principal food of these rodents. It is the most amusing thing in the world to see these scarabæi rolling along, with their hind legs, a huge ball ten times as big as their bodies, in the centre of which their eggs have been deposited.

At 17½ miles from El-Djem we crossed the Oued Sherita, a salt stream which flows into the Sebkha from the south-west. At Bir Sedof (twenty-seven miles) are one or two wells of fairly good water, where we stopped to rest a few moments, and to water our beasts. Up to this point the road had been skirting the south-west shore of the Sebkha Sidi El-Henni, or lake of Kerouan, whence all the salt in the country is obtained. Soon after passing these wells it crosses a dried-up bay of the lake, on the opposite shore of which is another spring, called Aioun el-Hedjeb. The[166] water here would be better than any other on the road, were care taken to preserve its purity, but it is permitted to flow unrestrained over a bog of black fœtid mud, caused by the passage of flocks and herds, and the decay of vegetable as well as animal matter. Even thus it is much prized by the few people in the neighbourhood, who have no other supply within a considerable distance.

A short distance to the south-west are the ruins called Kasr el-Aioun, Castle of the Springs, supposed by Davis to be the ancient Terentum.[139] It is evidently a Roman or Byzantine post, built on the edge of the Sebkha, in order to command the path across it. The foundations of a few buildings, and the ruins of a two-storied mausoleum, are all that remain, and these are of the most ordinary description of rubble masonry.

At forty miles the road crosses the sandy bed of the Oued Dellai, the lower course of the Oued Merg-el-leil, now like a piece of the Sahara transported here. It drains the country for many miles around, and its wide and deep sandy bed absorbs, and therefore stores up, a great part of the rainfall which would run to waste over harder and less permeable ground.

Long before reaching this the domes and minarets of Kerouan had come in sight, but mile after mile of hot dusty ground was traversed without the city becoming apparently any nearer. Here and there flocks of camels, either trying to pick up a scanty repast on this barren plain, or toiling dreamily and patiently along, served somewhat to break the monotony of the journey; but it was not for two hours, which seemed to us and to our jaded beasts like six, after first sighting the town, that we entered the gates of the Holy City. The whole distance of the route from El-Djem is about forty-one or forty-two miles.

Next to Mecca and Medina no city is so sacred in the eyes of Western Mohammedans as Kerouan. The history of its foundation is given by Ibn-Khaldoun.[140] In the fiftieth year of the Hedjira (A.D. 670) Moaouia ibn-Abi-Sofian sent Okba ibn-Nafa to conquer Africa. The latter proposed to his troops to found a city which might serve him as a camp, and be a rallying point for Islamism till the end of time. He conducted them to where Kerouan now is, and which was then covered with thick and impenetrable forest, the habitation of wild beasts and noxious reptiles. Having collected round him the eighteen companions of the prophet who were in his army, he called out in a loud voice, ‘Serpents and savage beasts, we are the companions of the blessed prophet, retire! for we intend to establish ourselves here.’ Whereupon they all retired peaceably, and at the sight of this miracle many of the Berbers were[167] converted to Islamism; during forty years from that date not a serpent was seen in Ifrikia. No wonder that Okba is as much venerated here as St. Patrick is in Ireland.

Okba then planted his lance in the ground, and called out ‘Here is your Kerouan’ (caravan, or resting-place), thus giving the name to the new city. He himself traced out the foundation of the governor’s palace, and of the great mosque, the true position of the Kibla, or direction of Mecca, which was miraculously communicated to him by God. In most mosques the Imam, when leading the public prayers, turns ostentatiously a little on one side or the other, as if facing Mecca with even greater exactitude than the building itself; but here he invariably stands exactly in front of the people, thus recognising the miraculous correctness of the sacred niche or apse which indicates the direction of the great sanctuary.

The sacred character of this city has not exempted it from its full share of war and violence. Even the great mosque has more than once been almost totally destroyed by the Mohammedans themselves, but it has never actually been polluted by a Christian invader. According to Marmol, when Charles V. expelled Kheir-ed-din from Tunis the people of Kerouan elected the principal Fakih, or doctor of the mosque, to be their king, and he was reigning, and helped the Christians with provisions, when the Emperor was besieging Mehedia. He was actually recognised by the ruler of Tunis, and a matrimonial alliance was concluded between their children. In revenge for the aid thus rendered to his enemies, the Corsair Draguth conspired against him, and, having won over some of the other Ulemas of the mosque and the people of the town, to his side, he entered the place at night, made himself master of it, and slew the king.[141]

Until quite lately, the city was entirely sealed against all who did not profess the faith of El-Islam, and even now it is only by a special order of the Bey that a Christian is admitted within its walls. A Jew dare not even approach it, and it is said, that when on one occasion the heir presumptive paid a visit to it with a Jewish retainer in his suite, he was compelled to leave the latter at a day’s journey outside.

We were most kindly received in the house of the Ferik, Si M’hamed Merabet, Governor-General of Kerouan and the Djerid, who is universally admitted to be one of the most upright and distinguished officers in the service of the Bey, and has been entrusted with important political missions to France, both under the governments of Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. He was himself absent in the south collecting revenue; his next brother, Si Mohammed, had left the day before our arrival for[168] Tunis; but his two younger brothers, Si Mahmoud and Si Hamouda, did the honours of his house with the utmost courtesy and hospitality. As the family to which these brothers belong is one of hereditary marabouts (Merabets, or men devoted to religion) each member of it bears a name derived from the same Arabic radical as that of the Prophet, hamada, to praise (God).

Here we made the acquaintance of a Frenchman of high education, who had lately embraced the Mohammedan religion, and who has been received by the Governor-General quite as one of his family, and has received a name similar to those of himself and of his brothers, Si Ahmed. We found him a most intelligent and instructive companion, and he gave us much information regarding the mosques that no Christian could obtain by his own means, and which the Mohammedans are usually too ignorant, or too unobservant, to be able to supply.

Si Mahmoud sent his principal chaouch and an escort to accompany us through the town; without this precaution it would be impossible for a Christian to stir abroad, and even their presence did not protect us from scowls, and averted looks, and abuse from children, wherever we passed. This rather spoilt the pleasure of our promenades, as it impressed us with the idea that our mere presence was an outrage to the religious feelings even of our hosts, though courtesy prevented them from showing it. We did not attempt to make any photographs of the city—we might not have been actually forbidden to do so, but we felt sure that so unusual a proceeding would have been displeasing to the people, and might have given rise to an outburst of fanaticism.

The great mosque was founded by Sidi Okba, but El-Bekri states that a century later Yezid ibn-Hatem, Governor of Africa, demolished it all, with the exception of the Mihrab, and rebuilt it. Ziadat-Ullah, the first emir of the Aghlabite dynasty bearing that name, demolished it a second time, and once more reconstructed it.[142]

Exteriorly it has no architectural pretensions, but in the interior there are nearly 500 marble columns, all derived from Roman buildings in various parts of the country; of these 256 are in the internal sanctuary itself, the remainder are in the courts of the building disposed in fifteen naves. On each side of the Mihrab are two columns of greater beauty than the rest, and in the central aisle in front of it are three more on each side, with smaller ones between, regarding which the Arabs have a superstition that only those whose salvation is assured are able to pass between them. Any person in mortal sin, whatever be his stature, however stout or however thin, would certainly find himself unable to squeeze through.

[169]The beauty of the inside is much disfigured by the paint and whitewash which have been used to adorn it.

There is a curious collection of ancient armour lying uncleaned and uncared for, but still jealously preserved, in one of its chambers. Some of the pieces are said to be Roman or Byzantine; others belonged to the early Mohammedan invaders. If in course of time Mohammedan fanaticism should ever become sufficiently relaxed to permit the entrance of Christians to this sanctuary, this armour will form a most interesting study.

Marmol states that, on account of the peculiar sanctity of this mosque, it was selected as the burial-place of the kings of Tunis.[143]

The most exquisite, and indeed almost the only attempt at exterior ornamentation, amongst the religious edifices of Kerouan, is the gate of a small mosque next to that of Seyed Hoosain el-Alani, called the Mosque of the Three Gates, Abou Thelatha Biban. It must be six or seven hundred years old, and is decorated with beautiful Cufic inscriptions all along the façade, which, as its name implies, contains three gateways.

In the Zaouiah of Sidi ben Aissa, that of the well-known Aissaoui sect, there are public readings every night, and the usual performances of the votaries, such as glass, cactus and scorpion eating, every Friday. This mosque contains two magnificent brass candlesticks, evidently brought by the Moors from Spain, and which no doubt at one time decorated some Christian cathedral.

Next in sanctity to the great mosque is one outside the city, within which is interred one of the companions of the Prophet, Aba Zamata el-Beloui, whence its familiar name, Jamäat es-Sahebi, Mosque of the Companion. With him are buried three hairs of the Prophet’s beard, one under the tongue, one on his right arm, and the third next his heart. This has given rise to the ridiculous fallacy amongst Europeans that he was one of the Prophet’s barbers!

The mosques are generally kept in a tolerably good state of repair, especially the domes and minarets, which present a most picturesque appearance from a little distance; this illusion is to a great extent dispelled on closer inspection, as the architecture, though good in its general effect, is entirely wanting in beauty of detail, and even the ancient marble columns, with richly carved capitals, which support nearly every entrance gate, are marred by thick coats of whitewash. A common ornamentation is a roughly executed inscription in projecting bricks going round the four sides of a minaret, generally the ordinary protestation of faith, La illah ila Ullah,[170] Mohammed er-rasool Ullah—There is no deity but God; Mohammed is the Messenger of God. The only really good specimens of Cufic inscriptions, that I saw, were on the Mosque of the Three Doors before mentioned, and on each side of the entrance gate called Bab et-Tunis.

The town is by no means dirty for a purely native one, and the filth appears to be carried away pretty regularly by camels and deposited outside the walls.

The inhabitants are entirely dependent on the cisterns under their houses for a supply of water, and in years of drought their sufferings have been very great. To remedy this three large reservoirs were built outside the walls, the first, called Feskia m’ta el-Yeghlib, or reservoir of the Aghlabites, is circular in shape and 480 paces in circumference. It is in bad condition, and full of impurities, but it still retains water. The two others are the Feskia Saeed es-Sahib, and Feskia Bir el-Bey, both rectangular in form, but utterly ruined and unserviceable.

The only well in the city is one of very brackish water, called El-Barota. Tradition says that on the foundation of the city it was discovered by a sloughi, or Arab greyhound, scratching up the ground. The pious believe that there is a communication between this and the holy well of Zemzem at Mecca. A pilgrim once let his drinking vessel fall into the latter, and on his return to Kerouan he found it in El-Barota! With the exception of Jamäat el-Bey, which is of the Hanafi sect, all the other religious establishments belong to the Maleki or orthodox sect.

The city is full of dervishes, not only the half-witted creatures of both sexes, whose infirmity is supposed to be a sign of divine favour, but men of intelligence, who really are animated by a strong sentiment of religion, and of pure and humble life, who reckon every day lost till their entrance into the joys of paradise.

It is extremely difficult to form anything like an accurate estimate of the population of such a city as this. Mr. Wood, in a recent commercial report, estimates it at 15,000.[144] M. Pellissier stated it at about 12,000. Comparing it with Mohammedan cities in Algeria, the population of which is known, I should be inclined to put it down at considerably less than 10,000.

It formerly possessed a very considerable trade, and was famous for the manufacture of carpets and woollen fabrics; now its industry is almost entirely confined to the manufacture of copper vessels, saddlery and Arab boots and shoes.

As a rule, the physique of the people is poor, and the children are unusually rude and ill-bred towards strangers. There is very little intermarriage between the inhabitants of Kerouan and the people of other towns; the result in so small a[171] community is an inevitable tendency to degenerate. Cancer, sore eyes, and maladies depending on dirt and poverty of blood are very common.

A short distance south of the city is Sabra, the site of Vicus Augusti, mentioned in the Itinerary of Antonine, from which has been derived a great part of the ancient materials employed in the construction of Kerouan, and of the royal residences in the neighbourhood, which in their turn have disappeared.

[172]CHAPTER XX.

KEROUAN TO DJEBEL TROZZA, DJILMA AND SBEITLA.

On the afternoon of April 11 we left Kerouan, by no means sorry to regain our liberty; for although we had greatly enjoyed the society of our hosts, it was impossible not to feel ill at ease in so sacred an atmosphere. I must add, however, that this was the only place in the Bey’s dominions where we saw anything like intolerance of Christianity, and here, considering the venerable traditions attached to the place, its existence was almost excusable. The heat was most intense, but one of our hanbas, out of consideration for my comfort, had provided for my use one of the immense straw hats used by the Arabs of the South, very similar in form to what we are accustomed to associate with the rites of a witch’s Sabbath. Its crown was a truncated cone as big as a sugar-loaf, and the diameter across the brim was little short of a yard. This is worn over the turban or head-dress, whatever it may be, and fastened under the chin with leather straps, when it is desirable to protect the head from the sun’s rays; at other times it hangs down the back by those straps which then pass over the neck. In perfectly still weather it is a great luxury, but when there is the slightest breeze it is extremely difficult to manage. Our route to-day was in a south-westerly direction, and after a short ride of 13 miles we encamped at a douar a little to the north-east of the Koubba of Sidi Ali bin Salem.

Our hosts at Kerouan had sent a spahi in advance to prepare everything for our reception, so we found grain for the horses, and, what we always prized more than anything that could be offered, abundance of fresh milk for our own use.

At half-past five on the morning of April 12 we continued our route westwards. At seventeen miles from Kerouan we crossed the Oued Shershera, an affluent of the Merg-el-leil, both of which are dry at this place; here we passed to the right bank of the latter river, and at about twenty-two miles from Kerouan we came to an end of the weary plain in which we had been travelling ever since leaving Susa, and entered slightly undulating ground surrounded by low hills. To us they appeared magnificent[173] mountains, so ready were we to hail anything with delight, that should break the painful monotony of the landscape. About a mile beyond is Ain Ghorab, the fountain of the crow (Aquæ Regiæ?), near which are the ruins of a Roman position. It is a copious spring near the left bank of the Merg-el-leil, which has here a considerable body of water; the Arabs say that it is never dry at this point, though its waters are absorbed by the thirsty ground a very short distance lower down.

Two and a half miles further on we passed the remains of another Roman town; its site is called Dhahar el-Baidha. We noticed no appearance of inscriptions or ruins of any particular interest.

Near this spot we were met by the brother of the Sheikh Salah, Khalifa of the Oulad Sendasini, a branch of the Jelas tribe, pronounced Selas; his own name is Ali Harioush ben Saidan, and as the great people themselves appear to be always away somewhere, he had come out to meet us in the name of his brother, and escort us to our camping-ground at the north end of Djebel Trozza. Here he had collected a number of the tents of his people for our especial advantage, and he supplied all our wants with the most lavish liberality. What words shall I use to express the delight of those huge bowls of warm milk, awaiting us the moment we had got out of our saddles? The heat had been overpowering for some hours, and no fluid in nature could have been so grateful to us. Our good host was delighted at our enjoyment of it, and repeated over and over again that, if there was anything else we could suggest as likely to minister to our comfort, he would have the country scoured in every direction to procure it. We must indeed have been hard to please if we had not been satisfied with his arrangements for our reception. Barley and grass for the horses were already provided for them, and even a further supply in bags for the next day’s march. A sheep roasted whole, couscoussou, butter, eggs and honey, an abundance of dates and excellent fresh bread, above all a continuous and boundless supply of milk, formed a feast that even Hatim Tai might have set before his guests. Our good host was very curious to see all we possessed, and to know what I was writing in my note-book. I pleased him greatly by telling him, that I was recording his name and the excellence of his hospitality for the information of all future generations.

On the north end of Djebel Trozza, about 380 feet above the level of the plain below, is a remarkable fissure in the limestone mountain called by the natives El-Hammam, or the bath. It descends vertically from a spacious recess or cave, to a depth of about twenty feet, when it widens out into a chamber filled with hot vapour. We had no means of testing its temperature, and indeed did not venture to the bottom, but it cannot be much under the boiling point of water. No water, steam, or fire ever issues from it, but the vapour rises perpetually and appears to be merely[174] heated air, without the addition of any sulphureous gases. The natives have implicit faith in its remedial effects, and come to it from great distances for the cure of rheumatism, and other similar affections. The mountain is comparatively dry and sterile, but it is not without a considerable number of trees, the principal of which are wild olive, tamarisk, kharoub and juniper. There appears to be no water near save what is obtained from the Merg-el-leil, which flows near it. We saw great numbers of red-legged partridges, and my companion delighted the Arabs vastly by the facility with which he shot them on the wing. Our host was a great sportsman himself, but I fancy he was more accustomed to shoot his prey sitting than flying.

Alpha grass grows abundantly here, and indeed in many parts of the country: but this was the only place where we actually saw it being collected. This valuable plant, the stipa, or Macrochloa tenacissima, appears destined to be the great civilising influence in North Africa. Two railways are now being constructed in Algeria, one by an English capitalist,[145] and several others are projected, with the sole object of bringing down this precious fibre to the coast. Tunis cannot compete with Algeria in this respect; still, considerable quantities are annually exported from Susa, Sfax, and other ports on the east coast of the Regency.

The plant grows spontaneously in isolated tufts on the most dry and barren soil; it extends itself in concentric layers, so that the youngest and best leaves are always outside, and therefore most easily plucked. At present it is principally employed for the manufacture of paper, and nearly all our British mills are being adapted to make use of it; but there appears no limit to the number and variety of manufactures in which it can be employed, either in its natural state or in the form of papier mâché. Hats, mats, brooms, baskets, &c., are made of the dried fibre, while a paste made from it has been employed by opticians (for telescopes), manufacturers of artificial limbs, shoemakers, tailors, house decorators, coopers (for making casks), and it has even been suggested to employ it in shipbuilding.

With the alpha generally occurs the diss grass (Empelodesmos tenax), which it greatly resembles, and which is the staple building material of the country. It makes an excellent and impermeable thatch, but the fibre appears not to be suited for papermaking.

Early on the morning of April 13, we started from our camping-ground. Our host, and the two extra spahis who had been sent from Kerouan to accompany us,[175] rode with us part of the way, and after a hard day’s ride of twelve hours, upwards of thirty miles, we arrived at a douar of the Frashish tribe, some miles west of Djilma. The route lay along a wide plain, more undulating and accidenté than that from Kerouan, but almost totally uncultivated. Many parts of it were covered with brushwood, there were even groves of olive-trees in some places, and all along the route at short intervals we observed ruins of Roman stations, showing how extensive the occupation of the country had once been. This is the great highway, if such a name may be applied to a mere track, from Kerouan to the Djerid; and it is quite practicable for wheeled conveyances, although there are one or two rather difficult watercourses to be crossed.

We could not remain any time at Djilma; neither provisions for ourselves nor forage for our animals were to be obtained; so after a very cursory examination of the ruins we continued our route. The modern Djilma is the ancient Chilma or Oppidum Chilmanense, which does not appear to have played an important part in history; if it did, the record is lost. The ruins are not very interesting, though they cover a considerable extent of ground. The most important is a Byzantine fortress, which, as usual, is built of older materials. There can be no doubt that the modern name is merely a corruption of the ancient one; nevertheless, the Arabs have a way of their own of accounting for it. The water of the Oued Sbeitla, as we shall see further on, disappear in the sand a little south of the ancient city. A holy man undertook to make them reappear near Djilma, and on his miracle proving successful all the people flocked to see it, exclaiming in astonishment, ‘Dja el-ma!’ (the water has arrived!) There can be no doubt as to the authenticity of this miracle, as the Oued Djilma has contained an abundant supply of water ever since!

Our reception by the Frashish was by no means very cordial, but after the usual amount of wrangling and threatening we got what we absolutely required, food for our people and horses; our own provisions we always carried with us. They also gave us some goats’ milk, very highly flavoured by the wormwood and other aromatic herbs, which constituted their principal food, but by no means disagreeable in taste.

Early on the morning of the 14th we started for Sbeitla, where we arrived shortly after noon. The road passed along the crest of a low range of hills, following the left bank of the watercourse running between Sbeitla and Djilma, which is here quite dry. The country is as barren as any we had passed through, but it is covered with the remains of Roman posts and towns. One of the latter, now called Meksour Mediouna, about a mile from our camping-ground, occupies a very large area, and appears to have been a place of importance. Near it, on the left bank of a tributary of[176] the river, are the remains of a wayside fountain, attached to which was another building, intended, no doubt, to enshrine a statue, fragments of which, in blue stone, are lying near it. This district, now so utterly barren and deserted, must have contained a large and prosperous population. We did not meet a single individual during our ride of twelve miles. Game is very abundant here, and my companion shot a fair supply of partridges and a lesser bustard or poule de Carthage.

[177]CHAPTER XXI.

SBEITLA.

The modern name of Sbeitla, like so many others in Tunis, is simply an Arab corruption of the ancient one, Sufetula. That, again, is probably a diminutive of Sufes, the modern Sbiba. Though originally smaller than Sufes, it soon became a place of very much greater importance. No city in Africa possessed finer specimens of architecture, and even as late as the Arab invasion it continued to be one of the most considerable cities in Byzacene, and the centre whence all the roads leading through the country radiated. Bruce is of opinion that the name is derived from the Suffetes, a magistrature in all countries dependent on Carthage. Sbeitla is the scene of the romantic account given by several Arab writers, amongst others En-Nowairi, of the first great and disastrous encounter between Christianity and Mohammedanism in North Africa. The story is certainly apocryphal in some of its details, though the main facts are probably accurate.[146]

In the twenty-seventh year of the Hedgira (A.D. 647) the Khalifa Othman determined to effect the conquest of Africa, and on the arrival of the Arab army in Egypt a detachment was sent on to Tripoli.

The Patrician Gregorius, as Theophanes calls him, was at this time Exarch or governor of Africa. He had been originally appointed by Heraclius, Emperor of the East, whose father had held the same office, and who himself had started from Africa on the expedition which resulted in the overthrow of the Emperor Phocas and his own elevation to the purple. Gregorius subsequently revolted from the Byzantine empire, and by the aid of the native Africans made himself Tyrannus, or independent sovereign of the province. Ibn Khaldoun says that his authority extended from Tripoli to Tangiers, and that he made Sbeitla his capital.[147]

[178]The command of the expedition was given to the brother of the Khalifa, Abdulla ibn Saad, under whose orders were placed the élite of the Arab troops, to whom were added 20,000 Egyptians. The number of the whole force did not certainly exceed 40,000 men. On entering the country occupied by the Romans the Arab general sent on a detachment to Tripoli commanded by Ez-Zohri. On their arrival before the city they found it too strong to be carried by assault, and they continued their march to Gabes.

A message was sent to Gregorius offering him the usual conditions—to embrace Islamism or to accept the payment of tribute, both of which he indignantly refused. The invaders continued their march till they met the Byzantine army on the plain of Acouba, situated about a day and a night’s march from Sbeitla.

The army of Gregorius is said to have numbered 120,000 men, but this immense multitude was probably composed of naked and disorderly Moors or Africans, amongst whom the regular bands of the Empire must have been nearly lost.

For several days the two armies were engaged from dawn of day till the hour of noon, when fatigue and the excessive heat obliged them to seek shelter in their respective camps.

The daughter of Gregorius, a maiden of incomparable beauty, fought by her father’s side; and her hand, with 100,000 dinars, was offered to whomsoever should slay Abdulla ibn Saad. The latter retaliated by offering the daughter of Gregorius and 100,000 dinars to anyone who would slay the Christian prince, her father. The combatants had been in the habit of discontinuing the battle every day at noon, but on one occasion, the Mohammedan leader, having kept a considerable portion of his troops concealed and in reserve, recommenced the action with these at midday, and utterly defeated the Christian force. Gregorius and a vast number of his followers were killed, the camp was pillaged, and the beautiful daughter of the prince was captured and allotted to Ibn ez-Zobeir, who had slain her father. Ibn Saad next lay siege to Sbeitla, which was speedily taken and destroyed. The booty found here was so great that every horseman got 3,000 dinars and every foot-soldier 1,000!

Even before this time Christianity had begun to decline; henceforth it almost immediately ceased to exist. Gibbon remarks, ‘The northern coast of Africa is the only land, in which the light of the Gospel after a long and perfect establishment has been totally extinguished. The arts, which had been taught by Carthage and Rome, were involved in the cloud of ignorance, and the doctrines of Cyprian and Augustine ceased to be studied. Five hundred episcopal churches were overturned by the hostile fury of the Donatists, the Vandals and the Moors. The zeal and number of the clergy declined, and the people, without discipline or knowledge or hope, submissively[179] sank under the yoke of the Arabian prophet. Within fifty years from the expulsion of the Greeks, Abdoul Rahman, Governor of Africa, wrote to the Caliph Abdoul Abbas, the first of the Abbassides, that the tribute of the infidels was abolished by their conversion. In the next age, A.D. 837, an extraordinary mission of five bishops was sent from Alexandria to Cairoan by the Jacobite patriarch to revive the dying embers of Christianity; but the interposition of a foreign prelate, an enemy to the Catholics and a stranger to the Latins, supposes the decay and dissolution of the African hierarchy. In the eleventh century, A.D. 1053-1076, the unfortunate priest, who was seated on the ruins of Carthage, implored the protection of the Vatican; and he bitterly complains that his naked body had been scourged by the Saracens. Two epistles of Gregory VII. are destined to soothe the distress of the Catholics and the pride of a Moorish prince; but the complaint, that three bishops could not be found to consecrate a brother, announces the speedy and inevitable ruin of the episcopal order. About the middle of the twelfth century, the worship of Christ and the succession of pastors was abolished along the whole coast of Barbary.’[148]

Shaw observes that Sbeitla is situated on a rising ground, shaded all over with juniper-trees.[149] Bruce says that it is surrounded above by a wood of white firs, by which he means the Pinus haleppensis, from which the inhabitants made pitch; and he remarks that Dr. Shaw has called them juniper-trees by mistake. Desfontaines, the well-known botanist, visited the place in 1783 and noticed both the Aleppo pine and the Juniperus macrocarpa.[150] At present not a tree or a bush is to be seen on the wide plain as far as the eye can range; the inhabitants have disappeared almost as completely as the pitch they once made; and the traveller may sleep in peace amongst the ruins, without any dread of the Oulad Amran—who twice attempted to surprise Bruce’s camp at night, and whom he described as ‘the greatest robbers and assassins in the kingdom of Tunis’—or of the lions, who ‘greatly incommoded’ him, and ‘who came to the door of the tent, and afterwards fell upon the neighbouring dowar.’

One of the most remarkable features of this part of the country, and which evidently led to its selection as the site of the ancient city, is its excellent water-supply. To the north of Sbeitla two ranges of hills diverge to the north-east and the north-west. Several streams flowing in a south-easterly direction drain this district and eventually become the Oued Djilma. One of these is the Oued Sbeitla, which in the first part of its course flows through a deep and narrow ravine, but as it emerges into the plain, the soil of which is extremely absorbent, the water becomes lost in the sand.

[180]In the neighbourhood of Sbeitla the bed of the river is of compact limestone; on either side of it numerous tepid springs are seen bubbling up from the earth, accompanied by free carbonic acid gas. These unite into one stream of volume sufficient to supply an immense city, quite as large as the famous fountain of Zaghouan, and for more than a mile it thus flows in a clear and beautiful stream, never dry even in the hottest part of summer.

We observed numbers of small fish, probably barbel, and a large water-snake of a pale brown colour spotted with yellow; it was probably not venomous, but, even if it had been, its presence would not have deterred us from revelling in the delicious coolness of the stream after our long and arduous journey from Djebel Trozza. The temperature of this stream is just high enough to make it slightly warm in winter, but quite sufficiently cool in summer.

Roughly-built aqueducts brought the upper waters of this river along either bank into the city; that on the left bank crossed by a bridge of three arches, evidently of comparatively modern construction. It is of rubble masonry with conical buttresses to the right and left of the central arch, through which alone the stream flows, and on both façades of it. The piers of the arch are strengthened with three upright courses or bonds of cut stone on each side, evidently from older buildings; in one is a cippus of white marble containing the following inscription:—

The bridge apparently served both as an aqueduct and a viaduct.

The existence of this river induced the late Sidi Mustafa ben Azooz, of Nefta, to endeavour to found a city here about ten years ago. He sent his son-in-law, Sidi Ahmed bin Abd-el-Melek of Siliana, to commence the necessary buildings. One very large house was commenced and even part of it roofed in, but the experiment proved a failure, no one could be induced to live here; so the building and the restoration of the aqueduct was abandoned, and now, save by a few wandering Arabs who come to pasture their flocks amongst the ruins, and wash their wool at the stream, the country is uninhabited.

[181]Since the last Algerian insurrection a douar of Nememchas, who were then compromised and fear to return to their homes, have fixed their abode in the vicinity.

Had nothing but failure resulted from the experiment of Sidi Ahmed, it would have been a matter of small regret, but he drew his building materials, stone, and lime, in the most wanton manner, from amongst the ruins.

Squared stones all ready to his hand, and smaller ones to burn into lime, exist in abundance in every direction, but he seems to have had a decided preference for all the most exquisite morsels of sculpture that he could find. The court of the temples is full of fragments of capitals, cornices, and architraves, every one a gem, which he has thus ruthlessly broken up, and some of those yet unbroken have mineholes drilled in them ready for explosion. The fine paved road leading from the upper triumphal arch, which was tolerably complete when Guérin visited Sbeitla, is now almost annihilated; enough only remains to show its original size and direction. The fragments of slabs, broken up and ready to be calcined, still remain in heaps on the spot. In one of the walls of his house is an inscription placed upside-down, in the peculiar character which marks the Byzantine period. It has been chiselled over again, so that the first line is hardly legible, and it is almost impossible, in some cases, to distinguish between the L, I, and T. It is as follows:—

CRVITOMMVN. . . A . EPC . T

ALFEQVE POMPEIAEIOCAT

LF . AMEN HOC DOLORIBVS

LACRIMIS QIAVEAMCRIDH

ATNVNCVIDENDOIVCITER .

EIFLEIVMEIGEMIIVS INTECRAI

Bruce has illustrated the three temples, with the monumental entrance to the inclosure, in ten sheets.

1. An admirable Indian-ink perspective drawing of the triumphal arch forming the entrance to the inclosure, exhibiting part of the façades of the composite and left-hand Corinthian temples (Plate XIV.)

2. A similar view of the back of the three temples (Plate XV.)

3. An enlarged finished Indian-ink drawing of back of composite temple.

4. A similar view of back of left Corinthian temple (i.e. that on the left hand of spectator, looking through the arch).

5. A front view of right Corinthian temple, in the same style. All these are happily without accessories of any kind.

[182]6. A very slight pencil sketch, showing plan and a few dimensions of the temple area.

7. Drawing in pencil of plan, and details of entrance gateway.

8, 9, 10. Pencil details of the composite order. Bruce, in allusion to these, says:—

The form and disposition of the ancient city are still perfectly apparent, and many of the streets can be traced from one side to the other. There do not appear to have been any defensive works, properly so-called, although the temple area has been used as a fortress at a late period of its history, probably at the time of the Arab conquest.

To the south of the town is a triumphal arch, which Shaw and several succeeding writers have confounded with that of the temple area. It appears to have been erected during the reign, or in memory, of Constantine, A.D. 305-306, as it bears not only his name but that of Maximian, by whom he was adopted.

Although it has but one opening, and is of smaller dimensions than that of the hieron of the three temples, it is in some respects of a richer composition.

The four columns of the Corinthian order, that decorate its principal façade, are not fluted, and instead of being half-engaged were entirely isolated from the walls. All these columns have now fallen down, and lie in fragments at the base of the monument. There is a square niche on either side of the gateway between the pairs of columns. The entablature was surmounted by an attic, the cornice and base of which are still perfectly recognisable. As is generally the case in African monuments of a late date, the arch is without archivolt. The impost turns all round the building and under the arch, except on the faces of the jambs occupied by the square niches, which are situated equally above and below the level of the impost.

On the frieze of that side of the gate which looks towards the country is the following inscription copied by Bruce:—

The total length of the monument, according to M. Guérin, is 10·35 mètres, the[183] opening of the arch 5·70 mètres, and the height to the keystone about 7 mètres.[152] We did not ourselves verify these measurements. Bruce has made no drawing of this building.

The most important of the ruins of Sbeitla is the hieron enclosing three semi-attached temples, the central one being of the composite order, and that on either side Corinthian; the whole, however, forms one composition or design. Shaw has given figures of these temples, which are described by Bruce as ‘in a style much like what one would expect from an ordinary carpenter or mason,’ and adds the remark that he hopes he has done them more justice.

This no one will dispute. The two illustrations selected are done with a conscientiousness and ability, which could not be surpassed, and they are accompanied by none of the accessories which disfigure some of his highly finished drawings. It is to be regretted, however, that he has shown the three temples as an isolated block of buildings, instead of indicating the manner in which they were joined to the general enclosure of the sacred ground. The back wall of the hieron was formed by the rear of the temples themselves, and a prolongation on each side of the line thus formed; on this the two side walls abut, while the front side is opened by a splendid triumphal arch dedicated to Antoninus Pius, and bearing, as is usual in similar inscriptions, the name of his adoptive father Hadrian, as well as that of Nerva.

This monument has not in the slightest degree deteriorated since it was drawn by Bruce. A careful examination of it with the photograph taken by my companion does not enable me to detect the slightest difference, except that the broken column to the right of the arch has now disappeared; even the four stones which remain in the second course of the attic are now exactly as they were.

It is composed of a large central arch and a small one on either side. Four unfluted Corinthian columns, with a complete entablature, envelop these three arches. The impost of the principal arch goes round the building, but stops short of the columns, which project beyond it. The heads of the lateral arches are below this line, and between it and the entablature are square-headed niches, slightly recessed. The entablature is complete in three parts, architrave, frieze, and cornice, and was surmounted by an attic, two courses of which remain, but the crowning moulding has disappeared.

On the frieze above the principal gate is the following inscription:—

[184]Above one of the lateral arches is the following:—

Above the corresponding arch on the other side was a third inscription, now quite illegible. This is probably the one recorded by Shaw,[154] bearing the ancient name of the city, and which, he says, existed on the architrave of the building. There is every reason, however, to believe that Shaw never visited Sbeitla at all, but appropriated the information he received from Peyssonnel, who gives the same inscription, which he found ‘à côté d’une des portes de la ville.’

It ran thus:—

In Shaw’s copy the letters ONIN occur in the second line, which do not exist in Peyssonnel’s, owing no doubt to a typographical error on the part of his editor.

Dr. Louis Frank, who copied the same inscription, gives the word ANTONIN at greater length.[156]

In addition to the principal gate there were large arched openings on the west and east sides, not placed symmetrically; the west one being further from the temples themselves than that on the east. Within the inclosure, and exactly opposite the gate, are the three temples, which have been very accurately described by Sir Grenville Temple, and as he was the first to publish anything like a detailed description of them, I feel that I ought to quote his own words:—

‘The three temples occupy, or rather form, the north-western façade (or side) of an enclosed square, or court, measuring two hundred and forty feet, by two hundred and twenty-nine. The centre one of these temples is of the composite order, and in length, including the portico, sixty-one feet nine inches; that of the cella itself is forty-four feet, leaving seventeen feet nine inches for the pronaos, which, like those of the others, has been destroyed; the breadth of this temple is thirty-three feet nine[185] inches. The cellæ of the two flank temples measure forty feet eight inches by thirty; but as the sites of the porticos are much encumbered with their ruins, I could not well ascertain to what extent they projected. These outward or flanking temples are both of the Corinthian order. The roofs have all fallen in, as have also the porticos and façades. The lateral temples had four columns in front, and six pilasters along the sides; those of the centre one being round attached columns, and of the others square; the shafts of the columns of the centre temple are twenty-three feet three inches long, by nine feet six inches in circumference, and the height of the capital is three feet three inches.

‘One of these temples, judging from its ornaments, seems to have been dedicated to Bacchus. The ornaments of all of them are very rich and of excellent execution. Whatever inscriptions these temples may have borne are now buried under the ruins of the porticos, and the columns and stones were much too large to be removed, at least with the means at my disposal.’[157]

Plate XIV.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

ENTRANCE TO HIERON OF TEMPLES AT SUFFETULA (SBEITLA)

FAC SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Plate XV.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

BACK OF TEMPLES AT SUFFETULA (SBEITLA)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

It may be added that the porticos are raised upon a lofty stylobate, which runs all round the three temples. The front walls that connect the central temple to those on either side, and which rise no higher than the base of the columns, are arched, the voussoirs being flat at the top; this may possibly indicate the existence of vaults, which are hid in the débris lying around.

A peculiarity of the central temple is worthy of notice, as showing the Roman origin of a very common feature in sacred mediæval architecture. A stone lintel traverses the opening of the arch, the ends of it forming the first voussoir on either side.

The hieron was paved with magnificent blocks of stone, some of which are seven feet six inches long by thirty-one-and-a-half inches broad; below was a foundation, six feet deep, of concrete, formed of lime, stones and broken pottery.

In its original condition it appears to have had a colonnade or small apartments round the inside, as is attested not only by the projecting stones in the masonry, but by the foundations of the rooms themselves. These had windows or doors leading to the exterior as well as the interior, square apertures with flat arches, of which seven can still be traced on the west side, filled up with masonry.

The dimensions given by Bruce are as follows:—

Within the inclosure, and to the left of the temples, looking towards them, were two buildings evidently of a later period. One has a round-headed window opening towards the north, and the other a semicircular apse; this was probably a Christian basilica. A number of columns are still standing upright within the inclosure; these probably belonged to the original structure, but were put in their present position at some subsequent period. There are two other buildings outside the enclosure, one on either hand, which appear also to have been Christian churches. That to the south is in a very ruinous condition; near it are several fragments of entablature and inscription of rather a rude character. I could only make out the words CIVIBVS and . . . LESIVS, and again . . . . . ENDORS and IVAEIVALIM . . . . IVM. The building to the east of the inclosure is perfect in ground plan; it consists of a nave twenty-seven paces long by eleven broad, and a semi-circular apse, the diameter of which is sixteen feet.

The amphitheatre is at the north of the city, bearing nearly due north from the triumphal arch; it is almost circular in form, but it is entirely destroyed, and only a depression exists to mark its site. It probably never was a building of any architectural merit.

Other important ruins exist, but they sink into insignificance when compared to those which I have attempted to describe. One is the cella of a temple of admirable construction, against which has been built a vaulted apartment, probably the residence of the Marabout Sidi Ibrahim mentioned by Guérin. We pitched our tent close to these, which afforded an excellent shelter for our attendants. Suddenly, about two o’clock P.M., a very violent storm came on, the sky got completely darkened, as though a total eclipse of the sun were taking place; beautiful dark violet-coloured clouds came up from the west, which seemed to be struggling for the mastery with clouds of fine sand from the east. We saw that heavy rain would soon follow, so we made haste to strike our tent and remove all our property to the Marabout’s house. We had no sooner done this than the rain began to fall in torrents, and continued without intermission till an early hour next morning. Fortunately, it cooled the air, which had been oppressively hot for some days past, and for a short time at least it hardened the soil and made it more pleasant for riding.

[187]This was the only place in Tunis where we received no hospitality or even assistance from the people of the country. One of our spahis had gone on before us to request the Kaid of the district to arrange for the usual supply of forage and food. But he absolutely refused to do so, and but for our good fortune in finding some Algerian refugees near the spot—who sold us a few chickens and a little barley, taking good care to be paid in advance—we should have fared badly; as it was, we were obliged to hasten our departure. Under other circumstances we would gladly have lingered a little longer amongst these remarkable ruins. I feel convinced that excavations judiciously carried out, especially in the hieron of the temples, would bring to light many objects of archæological interest; but the stones, which encumber it, are of immense size, and could hardly be moved without mechanical appliances, and labour would be difficult to obtain.

[188]CHAPTER XXII.

BRUCE’S JOURNEY FROM SBEITLA TO HYDRA.

Here I must make a digression to follow Bruce on his route to Hydra, which time did not permit us actually to visit. The following account is taken partly from his rough notebook, and partly from the narrative written on his return from Abyssinia:—

There are two sheets of drawings of Hydra in the Kinnaird Collection; the first, a single one, containing a beautifully executed perspective view in Indian ink (Plate XVI.), and the second, a double sheet, containing a rough plan of the same building, and exquisite pencil drawings of details of architrave of order, enrichments of soffits, capitals, &c.

On the latter sheet is given the inscription:—

This fixes the date of the building, A.D. 195.

This monument is ornamented with two monolithic, disengaged Corinthian columns on each side of the arch, behind which are square pilasters. They stand on a common pedestal, one-third the height of the columns, and are surmounted by a very high entablature, the frieze of which carries the inscription. It is of unusual height, being three times that of the architrave, and making the entablature half the height of the columns. There is a blocking course above the cornice, but no attic proper. The arch is without archivolt. The impost encircles the building, except that it stops short at the pilasters.

The following are the dimensions given in the plan:—

Plate XVI.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH AT AMMAEDARA (HYDRA)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[191]CHAPTER XXIII.

LEAVE SBEITLA — SBIBA — ER-RAHEIA — HAMADA OULAD AYAR — ARRIVAL AT MUKTHER.

We left Sbeitla early on April 16; the morning was fresh and delightful, and notwithstanding the rain of the previous night, there was nothing like mud on the road, even the watercourses were not running. About half a mile north of the town is a group of ruins, which Guérin imagines to have been a temple,[167] from the number of columns of red marble still standing and lying about. To me it has more the appearance of a Byzantine fortress; it is built on an eminence commanding the plain to the north, which Sbeitla itself, situated in a depression, could not do, and it is evident that older materials have been used in its construction. A little further off, and on the opposite or left bank of the river, are the ruins of a temple. Thence to Sbiba is a distance of nineteen miles; the road lies over a plain bounded by mountains, similar to what we had traversed since leaving Trozza, but quite destitute of trees. It is exactly the same route as was taken by Desfontaines in 1784,[168] who states that for several hours he marched through a forest of pines and the Phœnician juniper before descending into the verdant plain in which Sbiba is situated. There he observed the Turks burning a superb olive-tree of great age close to the ruins, and the process has, no doubt, been carried on vigorously ever since, as the forests which he alludes to have quite disappeared.

Sbiba has been identified with the ancient Sufes, Sufibus, or Colonia Sufetanæ, mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus as xxv miles north of Sufetula, and the same distance south of Tucca Terebinthina, the modern Dougga. M. Guérin discovered an inscription here, placing this beyond all doubt. It commenced with the words SPLENDIDISSIMVS . ET . FELICISSIMVS . ORDO . COL. SVFETANAE . and showed further on that Hercules was the tutelar deity of the city.[169]

St. Augustine, in his Epistle 50, addressed to the elders and chiefs of this place,[192] makes allusion to the martyrdom of sixty of its inhabitants for having destroyed the statue or symbol of this god, ‘quod Christiani signum Herculis confregissent.’

A council was held here in A.D. 524, when the Bishop Quodvultdeus was displaced in favour of Fulgentius. Other Bishops are mentioned as having taken part in the councils of Carthage and in the religious dissensions of the time.[170]

It was probably a lingering memory of this martyrdom which gave rise to the tradition mentioned by El-Bekri (A.D. 1068): ‘The body of a man is to be seen in a fissure of a rock. It is known to have been there since before the conquest of Ifrikia. All the parts of the body, great and small, have resisted the effects of decomposition and the attacks of wild animals. It is said that this is the body of one of the disciples of Jesus. God knows what there is of truth in all this.’[171]

Although it appears to have been a city of some importance, it was far from attaining the magnificence of its ‘little’ neighbour Suffetula. The existing ruins are in a state of great dilapidation, but one can still trace a handsome monumental fountain, baths, Christian churches, and several buildings constructed with older Roman materials.

After passing Sbiba, a bright and limpid stream, the Oued el-Hatab, or river of wood, is crossed. This is mentioned by Bruce, as is also an affluent of it, ‘the small river Gouseba.’ The country was then occupied by the Oulad Hassan and by wandering parties of the great tribe of Drid. We encamped for the night at Er-Raheia, a douar of the Oulad Mehenna, near the marabout of Sidi Ali el-Maregheni, a neat-looking koubba, situated in a pleasant little garden, evidently tended with the greatest care. All along our route to-day we noticed Roman remains more or less important at almost every mile.

As usual, the Kaid of the Oulad Mehenna was from home, but his brother acted for him in his absence; he it was who had refused to send us any supplies to Sbeitla. As our caravan appeared in sight he and his secretary came out on horseback to reconnoitre us. Instead of approaching, he kept at a considerable distance, and allowed us to pass without any sign of recognition or welcome. Our spahis were furiously indignant, and asked each other whose dog he was to offer such an indignity to guests and soldiers of our Lord the Bey; was he going to treat us at his own douar as he had done at Sbeitla? At last he approached us, looking exceedingly sulky, and still without making any salutation. One of the spahis, usually a very quiet and civil fellow, could stand it no longer; he jumped off his horse, ran to the Kaid’s brother, and, after some violent altercation, the two came to blows, and blood would certainly have flowed had I not rushed between the disputants and separated them. The chief was livid[193] with passion at the indignity which had been put upon him before all his people, and I had much difficulty in smoothing matters over by severely censuring the spahi for having dared to strike a person of such importance, and by observing to the aggrieved party, that this certainly would not have happened, if he had shown us the commonest civility, due to any stranger whether travelling with the Bey’s amra or not. He subsequently became more than civil to us, and wished to give us a dhiffa, but I steadfastly refused to receive anything at his hands, save barley for the horses and food for the escort, without which we could not have continued our journey. We prepared our own dinner somewhat ostentatiously, which served as a lesson to him, and was certainly more agreeable to us than any food we should have received from his tents. I tried all I could to induce him to accept payment for the grain which he had supplied to us, but he was deaf to our requests, and even prevented us from giving a present to his retainers.

We started from our camping-ground, at Er-Raheia, about seven A.M. on April 17. Our friend was ready to bid us God-speed, and he over and over again begged us to dismiss anything like ill-feeling from our minds on account of what had taken place last night; he even implored me to overlook the behaviour of the spahi, whom I had contemplated sending back to Tunis, with a letter to the English Consul-General explaining my reason for dismissing him. I saw what an effort this cost him, so I could not but meet his advances more than half-way, and he accompanied us a short distance on our road and left us with renewed expressions of regret at what had taken place. For the first few miles our way led through irrigated fields, and meadow-land traversed by numerous streams of water; our baggage mules had the greatest difficulty in struggling through, and more than once their loads slipped. It was a long time before we got clear of these difficulties, but they were as nothing in comparison to the delight of abandoning for ever the interminable and scorching plains in which we had been travelling so long, and entering fairly into the fertile, well-watered region of the Tell.

The road ascended the north-west end of Djebel Skarna, at a place called Kef er-Rai, the shepherd’s rock, and passed between the Zaouiahs of Sidi Moëlla on the left, and that of Sidi Abou Dabous on the right, while some distance off to the west, on the opposite side of the plain, was a third, that of Sidi Ahmed ez-Zair. These koubbas or marabouts are not only picturesque objects in the landscape, but very useful to the traveller. They mark localities in a convenient manner, in a country where the inhabitants are never long stationary in one place, and to Mohammedans, at least, they afford a grateful shelter when overtaken by night or by bad weather.

At first the hill-sides were bare and arid, soon little patches of cornland began to[194] appear, and when at length we found ourselves on the top and well into the Hamada of the Oulad Ayar, we were delighted to see an amount of cultivation and a richness of soil which we had not met with since our arrival in the country.

When Sir Grenville Temple passed through this district in 1832[172] the people had just killed three lions, whose skins they were sending to Tunis. These animals have now almost entirely disappeared from the Regency. It is said that one is occasionally to be heard of in the neighbourhood of Kef, but even that is doubtful; they are certainly extinct everywhere else.

He also met two Mamelukes who had been sent to collect the duties on tar and pitch, which were made in great quantities in the neighbourhood. The Aleppo pine has not disappeared as completely as the lions; and we did see some branches of it at the Kaid’s encampment, but we never met a tree growing in this part of the country, and it is probable that in a very short time this also will disappear.

On the top of this range is a large fertile plateau, about a thousand feet above the level of the plain below, where we found the tents of the brother of the Kaid of Oulad Ayar. He insisted on our resting in his camp, and gave us a delicious repast of excellent bread, dates and fresh milk. From this place to Mukther, wherever the soil was not tilled, it was covered with a carpet of grass, clover and trefoil, as rich as an English meadow, well watered by streams and springs, a perfect paradise after the dreary region of the Sahel from which we had just emerged. The climate too had changed entirely, partly owing to a general change of weather and partly to the height at which we were. The sky became slightly overcast, a fresh, cool breeze succeeded to the sirocco which dries up every mucous membrane in the body and makes life almost a burden; and our tempers improved and our spirits rose as the glass fell. This is the highest point in the country round about. The streams from its north-west slopes flow towards the Medjerda, while those on the south-east find their way in the direction of the Chotts, or are lost in the great plain of the Sahel.

About 2½ miles from Mukther we passed a mausoleum which the natives call Beit el-Hadjar, the stone house. This was also observed by Bruce, who says:

This fortress is a mountain peak somewhat resembling a castle, and to which they are in the habit of driving their flocks for safety in times of danger. The monument[195] has certainly no architectural merits, but it is constructed in a solid and careful manner of finely-cut stone.

It is rectangular in plan; on each side are six Corinthian pilasters, and four on each end, surmounted by a bold and massive entablature. Within, it is divided into two chambers, each 9 ft. 9 in. broad. The inner or mortuary one is 6 ft. 9 in. long. Several columbaria exist in the walls. It had two doors; the outer one has disappeared, but it must have been of a single slab of stone turning on pivots, the holes for which still exist. Another door in the partition wall led into an outer chamber 10 ft. long, with seats in the wall, and lighted by a window. This door is still lying on the floor; it was decorated with a bas-relief representing a winged figure holding some large object in his right hand. Above the aperture of the door half of a wreath of laurel is sculptured on the wall. The roof was of immense blocks of stone laid across, one of which still exists in each chamber. This is evidently the building erroneously laid down in Ste. Marie’s map as ‘Mausolée de Verrius,’ but the tomb of C. Verrius Rogatus, described by Sir Grenville Temple,[173] is situated on the opposite side of the city, near the aqueduct.

The ruins of Roman constructions which we had observed all along to-day’s route became more frequent as we approached Mukther. Instead of encamping within the circle of the ruins there, we proceeded a little further on, and pitched our tent in a charming dell, full of clear springs and rich grass, and shaded by a grove of fig-trees, nearly south-west of the koubba of Sidi Ali ben Omar.

Here, again, the old scene of wrangling took place before we could get any supplies. The Khalifa of the district told us that the people were completely poverty-stricken, they had not wherewithal to nourish a single horse or mule. Sheep were as much a matter of ancient history as the Roman cities (the hills were covered with both!), and that if we insisted on camping there, we must supply our own provisions, and our animals must be satisfied with the grass which grew on the ground.

I took the head man apart and putting a sum of money in his hand, told him that we had no desire to be a charge on any one; all we asked was permission to pay a fair price for what provisions we might require, and that I would give him whatever more might be due before leaving. His objections vanished in a moment, and we were in hopes that at last we had found a means of purchasing honestly what we required. In an hour, however, he returned with the money in his hand, saying that it would be a disgrace to our Lord the Bey, if a Consul were permitted to travel through his country save as a guest, that everything we required should be supplied, but that payment was[196] out of the question. Our spahis had got hold of him in the interim, and, as usual, they managed to have their own way, which was that we should rather expend our money in presents than in payments, and for very obvious reasons.

The grove where we were encamped was full of pigeons and other birds. My companion, who could never see a pigeon or game-bird without an irresistible longing to bag it, was on the point of loading his gun, when the Arab implored us not to shoot them, as they were in the habit of frequenting the Saint’s tomb, and were considered as partaking of his sanctity. I need hardly add that we were delighted to respect this pleasant superstition.

[197]CHAPTER XXIV.

MUKTHER.

We devoted Tuesday, April 18, to an examination of the ruins of Mukther.

This city has been identified by nearly all the older travellers as Tucca Terebinthina. Bruce, amongst the number, appears to have entertained no doubt on the subject. It was M. Guérin[174] who first pointed out that the similarity of the modern and ancient names, coupled with their recorded distances from known places, left no doubt that Mukther was the Mactar or Oppidum Mactaritanus in the list of African bishoprics,[175] and that Tucca Terebinthina was to be sought for at the modern Dougga, about eleven miles to the south-west, where considerable ruins exist, but which must not be confounded with the more important city of the same name, near Teboursouk.

The position of Mukther is admirably chosen; it is built on a wide and elevated plateau between two water-courses, the Oued Sabon, or river of soap, on the north, and the Oued Mihran on the south. The banks of the former are high and precipitous, and serve as a natural defence on the north-west side of the town. This has been further fortified by a wall constructed of immense blocks of stone, placed loosely and irregularly together, resembling more the retaining wall of a terrace than a regular line of defence.

We commenced our explorations from this side of the ravine, opposite to the lower triumphal arch. On the north-west face of it was evidently the necropolis of the city. The hill-side is covered with tombs. Many contain simply records of the names and ages of the deceased, others have rudely sculptured figures. One tomb was a carefully constructed vault of cut stone, near to which was a handsome cippus, which probably was erected over it before its violation. One only struck me as sufficiently curious to deserve copying. It was evidently a family tomb, containing four inscriptions, the[198] first of which was the rudest and the most injured by time; but what rendered it curious was the existence of two hieroglyphical figures sculptured on the stone in relief before the inscription was engraved.

On the opposite side of the ravine, and rising directly from its right bank, is a large triumphal arch, which forms the first of Bruce’s illustrations. Of this he has left us eight sheets.

1. A rough pencil outline, which has not pleased him, and which he has subsequently cancelled by a waved pencil line of obliteration; on the back are numerous architectural details and memoranda of measurement.

2. Another sheet of similar details and measurements.

3. A beautifully executed perspective view, done on the spot, showing the actual condition of the monument, without any foreground or other accessories. (Plate XVII.)

4. A highly finished Indian-ink drawing, from the same point of view, decorated (!) with an impossible landscape, probably by Balugani; instead of the gentle slope of the hill on the other side of the ravine, bare of trees and destitute of water, there is a foaming cataract on one side, and an extensive vista of river, wood, plain and mountain on the other.

5. A highly finished plan and elevation.

6. A highly finished drawing in Indian ink of the Corinthian order of arch.

Plate XVII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

LOWER ARCH AT MACTAR (MUKTHER)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Plate XVIII.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH AT MACTAR (MUKTHER.)

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY THE EARL OF KINGSTON

Plate XIX.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

LOWER ARCH AT MACTAR (MUKTHER)

FAC SIMILE OF PLATE OF ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS

EXECUTED BY BRUCE AFTER HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND.

(Large-size)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[199]7. A highly finished drawing, representing architectural details of soffits, cornice, and architrave. (Plate XIX.)

8. A highly finished drawing of soffits of architrave of order.

This arch is of a richer architectural composition than that of Trajan, which will presently be described. It has but a single opening, without archivolt, flanked by two square niches, with rounded heads, underneath the level of the impost. Four Corinthian columns corresponding to pilasters enrich both façades. These existed nearly entire in Bruce’s time, and even M. Guérin mentions ‘un petit vestibule soutenu sur deux colonnes corinthiennes,’[176] but these have now entirely disappeared, although the stylobates are still in place. The whole entablature seems as though it had been thrown down since Bruce’s drawing was made, and the stones all piled up again without much regard to order. It is more likely, however, that this may be only a general dislocation of the building, caused by an earthquake. Fragments of cornice highly decorated may be seen here and there in the crumbling mass, and the very rich treatment of the impost, which is in a tolerably good state of preservation, would attest the magnificence of the building, even if Bruce’s exhaustive designs did not exist. To show the present condition of this monument, a photograph taken by my companion, the Earl of Kingston, is also given (Plate XVIII.)

The two façades are identical; on the ravine side the foundations are entirely exposed to view, and consist of a mass of rubble masonry, twelve or thirteen feet in height, between which and the floor of the arch are three courses of substantial cut stones, but there is no appearance of this having been connected with any other structure.

It is difficult to understand that a building of this nature could have been constructed at the edge of a ravine without there being an arch of some kind to span the latter. Mr. Davis says that he observed part of a paved road on the opposite side of the ravine, from which he infers that a bridge must have existed;[177] but after the most careful search, with his work in my hands, I was unable to trace any vestige of this. Probably therefore the ravine, if it existed at all in ancient times, has been much deepened by the action of water during the last sixteen hundred winters.

M. Guérin mentions that he discovered amongst the débris, at the base of the monument, ‘a sculptured Greek cross, which would assign to this monument a date posterior to the Christian era.’[178]

I recognised this stone without difficulty, and though it is much obliterated by time, I feel confident that it is actually the detail of soffit, figured by Bruce in Sheet 7,[200] above mentioned. This is shown on Plate XIX.; the lowest figure, with all the details of the acanthus leaves worn off, might easily be taken to represent a Greek cross.

Unfortunately, no trace of inscription remains, although a search amongst the débris, which encumbers the base of the inner façade, might be rewarded by success.

The dimensions of this arch given on the plan and elevation are as follows:—

Close to the arch is a group of olive-trees, and a delicious spring rises from the ground a few yards further off. During the whole of our ride yesterday we noticed at intervals rocks consisting of a mass of petrified oyster-shells; here also they recur, and in the spring I have just mentioned are two frusta of columns made of this material, which has an excellent effect.

In the ravine below the arch we observed a Lybian tombstone, containing the representation of a figure with the face mutilated, holding objects like ears of corn in his hand, and three lines of inscription below.

From this arch a paved road led towards the south-west, where it conducted to a large building, on the site of which the tomb of one of the members of the family of Sidi Ali bin Amer has been built. Numbers of monolithic columns of limestone lie scattered about, and one still remains in position. Bruce, in his notes, thus alludes to this building:—

Here I identified a small fragment of the inscription recorded by Sir Grenville[201] Temple,[179] from which he concludes that either this temple or the neighbouring amphitheatre was built in the reign of Trajan. The inscription as it now exists is . . . AIANI PAR . . . Sir Grenville supplies two other letters, TH. As the name of Trajan here appears in the genitive case, it is more probable that it was built in the time of Hadrian, and that the inscription would have been, TRAIANI PARTHICI FILIVS.

Continuing along this road, on the left hand, is a small amphitheatre constructed of rubble masonry, faced, no doubt, at one time with cut stones, to judge from the number lying about. It is of elliptical form, the major axis being about 160 feet, and the minor one about 114.

A little further off, and to the right, are the remains of a building which M. Guérin believes to have been a temple of Diana,[180] he having found the name of that goddess on a fragment of marble, which had probably formed the base of a statue. The building is too much ruined to permit any conjecture as to its destination, and though I searched diligently, I failed to find the inscription in question.

The road now leads to the triumphal arch of Trajan, which appears to have stood in the centre of the town facing the south, and which forms the second of Bruce’s illustrations. There are six sheets of designs of this monument.

1. A sketch taken upon the ground apparently, in Indian ink without any landscape. (Plate XX.)

2. A highly finished Indian-ink perspective view with back and foreground of the usual character, a camp of soldiers, sheep, cattle, Arabs, &c.

3. A finished Indian-ink plan and elevation to scale.

4. Finished drawing in Indian-ink, to scale, of details of minor order and its pediment.

5. Finished Indian ink drawing, to scale, of details of major order.

6. Pencil memoranda of details and measurements.

This building in its proportions and treatment is very grand and simple. The solid mass of the front is much higher than it is wide. The principal order is Corinthian, with a single three-quarters attached column near the angle, supported on a lofty pedestal or stylobate; it has the usual base and capital, and the shaft is seven frusta high. The architrave and frieze over the columns consist of one plain block without any mouldings, which is not carried along the face. The cornice is the usual one, handsomely but not elaborately enriched. Three courses of the attic remained in the time of Bruce; portions of two courses only are now in place. In the centre of this block is an archway, having its own peculiar treatment. On each side of the[202] opening is a smaller semi-engaged Corinthian column, raised on a stylobate equal in height to that of the major order; the impost of the arch runs all round the monument, intercepted only by the columns. There is no impost to the arch-head, which consists only of the radiating cunei; and the soffit is quite plain. The capitals of the columns flanking the archway rise somewhat higher than the archway itself, and are surmounted by an architrave, a lofty plain frieze, on which is the inscription, and a simple cornice with a pediment above. In the middle of this there is a square opening, giving access probably to a chamber over the arch. The whole treatment is dignified and reserved.

The inscription on the frieze of the minor order has been given more fully by Bruce than by succeeding travellers, and much more so than can be deciphered at the present day. It runs thus:—

The mention of the twentieth year of the tribunate of Hadrian fixes the date as the last year of his reign, A.D. 117.

The arch has been built up with loose stones, and has evidently been surrounded by a wall, to convert it into a fortified position.

The building has not suffered greatly since Bruce’s time, but it is buried almost to the level of the impost in débris. As Bruce’s sketch shows no sign of the loose masonry wall, it is possible that this may have been constructed by the Arabs; at the same time it is not improbable that he might purposely have omitted it, as having no connection with the history of the building.

The dimensions given on the plan and elevation are:—

Plate XX.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

ARCH OF TRAJAN AT MACTAR (MUKTHER)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

To the south-south-west of this is a very large building, which Sir Grenville Temple and M. Guérin believe to have been a palace or a church, but which I am inclined to consider public thermæ. There is a large central hall, twenty paces long by twelve broad, the north and south ends of which were almost entirely occupied by immense arches. On each of the other sides were three arched openings, the central one of which was the largest, giving access to lateral chambers, now entirely destroyed. Near the north-west angle is a large well, more than twelve feet in diameter, whence probably the water supply of the establishment was derived. The construction was very massive, partly of rubble and partly of cut-stone masonry. This building, like Trajan’s arch, had been converted into a fortress by a bastioned wall constructed of old materials, amongst which I observed two Christian tombstones; one had a cross inscribed within a circle, the other the monogram of Christ, with the Alpha and Omega.

About midway between Trajan’s arch and the double-storied mausoleum was a large and important pile of buildings, which might well have been a governor’s palace. The construction is of rubble masonry, but the voussoirs of the arches and some of the facings are of huge blocks of cut stone. It is much encumbered with débris, in which it is buried up to the imposts of the arches.

Beyond this is the mausoleum just alluded to; it consists of a sepulchral chamber containing seventeen carefully cut columbaria. Above this was an open chamber with a portico in front for statuary, the whole being surmounted by an elevated pyramid. Exteriorly the sides are ornamented by Corinthian pilasters. Above the door was an inscription; this has quite disappeared with the exception of the dedicatory letters D.M.S., which are of unusual size. Below this was a sculptured representation, now almost effaced, but from what remains there can be no doubt that the subject was exactly the same as that on the mausoleum of Julius Proculus, the procession of a bull to the sacrificial altar, one probably in common use like the cross on Christian tombs.

[204]The second mausoleum, to which I have just alluded, is on the right bank of the Oued Sabon, near the lower triumphal arch; it was of similar construction to the other, but has only the lower storey remaining. Above the door the sculpture is in a very perfect condition, except that the faces of the persons assisting at the procession have been obliterated by chisels. Above this, occupying the whole length of the front side is a long inscription, part of which has been thrown down and is lying amongst the débris. Both Sir Grenville Temple[181] and M. Pelissier[182] have given portions of this inscription. M. Guérin,[183] however, has given as much of it as it is possible to decipher. It shows that the tomb was erected to commemorate Julius Proculus, who, ever since his assumption of the toga virilis, had devoted himself to the study of elocution, and was much admired by his fellow-citizens.

To the west of Trajan’s arch is an aqueduct of large cut stones. The piers of the arches are five feet six inches in thickness, and the intervals between them eleven feet eight inches.

Although the ground between the ruins is so thickly strewn with loose stones as to render walking a difficult and painful operation, it was during our visit covered with crops of wheat and barley. It is difficult to understand how any plough could be got to work under such circumstances. There was, of course, no attempt to clear away any of the stones; that would be too much to expect from an Arab husbandman. Perhaps from their point of view they are right; land is so abundant and population so scanty, that it pays them better to sow two acres in a superficial manner than to cultivate one with greater care and thus produce heavier crops.

[205]CHAPTER XXV.

MUKTHER TO ZANFOUR — BRUCE’S ROUTE FROM KEF TO ZANFOUR.

We left Mukther on the morning of the 19th, not without regret; we would gladly have devoted a little longer time to these interesting ruins, and we would fain have attempted to excavate near some of the principal monuments, but my time was very limited, and we had a certain amount of reluctance to remain more than one day in any place, as we could not but feel that our presence was a tax upon the people.

The first part of the road was very difficult for the mules, but exceedingly picturesque; the country was fertile and well watered, and olive plantations numerous.

About six and a half miles from Mukther we reached an elevated rocky pass, under a peak called Djebel Deir Subah. All along our route we had observed, as usual, the remains of Roman buildings even in places where nothing but diss grass now grows. From this point there was a most extensive view. To the south Djebel Trozza bounds the horizon, and the ruins of Mukther are seen in the middle distance; to the north we could plainly see both the city of Kef and the ruins of Zanfour. Descending from this we passed Magherawa, the first stone village we had met since leaving Susa: it is composed of very poor hovels, built on the site of an ancient town, but its position is delightful. Above it is a fine spring, which soon widens out into a little stream; the ground is richly cultivated, and there are numerous fine groves of olive trees. Here it was that Sir Grenville Temple[184] found the Punic inscription, No. 142, which he has given in his work, and fragments of rudely-sculptured bas reliefs of men and animals, but no Roman inscriptions. The mere fact of these people living in permanent stone villages is sufficient to prove them descendants rather of the original Berber races than of their Arab conquerors. Soon the valley widens out into the plain of Sers, by far the richest and most highly cultivated that we have hitherto seen; olive groves are numerous, and stone villages commence to replace the woollen tents of the nomad Arab.

We stopped to rest for a short time at El-Lahs, a small village near a magnificent[206] wood of olive trees. A little before entering it we passed a fine spring of water, which issues from a cavity of the rock; a number of Arab girls were washing their clothes in it, and did not appear particularly averse from seeing or being seen by us; but as soon as our escort came in sight, veils were brought into use, and the youngest of them scampered away and hid their faces till we had gone out of sight. The appearance of Europeans must be rather a startling event, to be talked of for years afterwards, and to serve, no doubt, as an epoch in their simple chronology. I only trust that they did not jump at the conclusion that all Europeans resembled us; they might well style us, as the Chinese did, ‘red devils.’ Our faces and hands were scorched and excoriated by constant exposure to the sun; and our costume, though very convenient for travelling in Tunis, was rather travel-stained and would have been thought peculiar in more civilised lands. Modesty prevents me from making any allusion to my own personal appearance, but I am bound to admit, that my companion looked about as disreputable a character as it would be possible to meet even in the wilds of his native Ireland.

We did not enter the village, but sat down under the shade of the olive trees on a grassy mound outside, and regaled ourselves with a bowl of fresh warm milk. Generally it is difficult to obtain this, save early in the morning, or late in the evening; the milk is kept in vessels, which are never thoroughly cleansed and which turn it almost immediately; but the Arabs like it so, and even prefer it the second day when it has quite curdled.

In the vicinity are some curious ruins, not at all Roman in appearance, but we could not decide whether they were anterior or posterior to the Latin epoch. Sir Grenville Temple also noticed them in these terms: ‘The most remarkable curiosities, however, are several very ancient constructions scattered about in the fields round the villages, formed of large unwrought stones or slabs, some measuring 17 ft. 10 in. in length by 6 ft. 2 in. in breadth, and 1 ft. 8 in. in thickness. With these a number of little chambers are formed, generally in two rows, divided by a passage resembling in their plan some of the tombs of the Pharaohs at Biban el-Melook, near Thebes; that is to say, those which have little chambers on each side of the entrance gallery. The whole edifice is also roofed with similar slabs laid flat. I should feel inclined to attribute their construction to the aboriginal inhabitants before the arrival of the Phœnicians; probably, they are not tombs but magalia or houses. Many of them are in such good preservation as still to be inhabited and used as stables.’[185]

After passing this place, and crossing the Oued Ez-Zerga, and the Oued Zanfour, we came to the Henchir, which now bears the latter name.

[207]Bruce was the first of modern travellers to recognise that Zanfour, and not Kisser, as Shaw supposed, was the ancient Assuras; he read the name on the triumphal arch, the inscription of which he has recorded. Pliny mentions the Oppidum Azuritanum as inhabited by Roman citizens;[186] it is also cited by Ptolemy,[187] in the Itinerary of Antoninus,[188] and in the tables of Peutinger as Assuræ. Several bishops of this place are recorded, and one of the epistles of St. Cyprian was addressed ad episcopum et plebem Assuritanorum.[189]

The most important of the ruins is the triumphal arch above mentioned. Bruce has left two drawings of this monument, one a very elegant sketch in Indian ink, evidently his own work, showing its actual condition, and exhibiting in the background the accurate position of the temple on the left, and of the theatre on the right. The other is a highly-finished Indian-ink drawing of the same subject, in which the hand of Luigi Balugani is very apparent. The entablature and one of the columns have been restored, and a camp of Arab soldiers has been pitched among trees behind it; numerous figures in fanciful attitudes are scattered about, and a cart, which must have had some difficulty in crossing the stream, contains a family party in the foreground. This I have chosen for reproduction, as, in spite of these embellishments, the drawing is more accurate, and the Corinthian temple to the left is given in greater detail. (Plate XXI.)

There are also five other sheets to illustrate this monument. One contains a slight pencil sketch, on which the dimensions are given; another is a finished Indian-ink drawing to scale of the plan and elevation: the other three are beautifully executed plates of architectural details of various parts of the monument.

This arch has but one opening, decorated with a Corinthian order, composed of single isolated fluted columns near each angle of the mass, with unfluted pilasters behind, corresponding to them. It is in a very ruinous condition, but enough remains to show, even had these drawings not existed, that the entablature was rich and complete, and crowned by an attic with cornice and basis. As is usual in such buildings, the impost turns all round the monument, without however interfering with the pilasters and columns, and, which is less common, the arch is decorated with an archivolt.

The dimensions given in the plan and elevation are as follows:—

The columns have all fallen down, and lie in fragments around. Bruce’s sketches show that during his visit the right one on the north-east side was complete, as was half of the corresponding one on the opposite side of the opening, but the condition of the south-west side of the arch is not indicated.

On that portion of the attic above the north-east face was a long inscription, part of which still remains in situ. Some of the stones, however, on which it was engraved have been thrown down and broken; fragments of these still exist amongst the débris, but the most part have disappeared.

The following is the inscription, as recorded by Bruce:—

It was also copied by Sir Grenville Temple,[190] on whose authority, supplemented by his own observation, it has been produced by Guérin.[191]

The most important words of this inscription, COL. IVL. ASSVRAS, were rendered by Sir Grenville Temple as OLIVI . AVSVRA.[192] And Pelissier, accepting this rendering as accurate, imagined the letters OLIVI to be an abbreviation of olivifera.[193] M. Guérin has settled, beyond the possibility of doubt, that the words really are

The beginning, as given by Temple and Guérin, is DIVO OPTIMO . . . . . SEVERO.[209] Bruce’s rendering, besides having been made at a much earlier date than the others, is also more probably correct,

Near this arch is another, but possessing no particular interest. The arch itself is entire, but no portion of the entablature remains in place. Its length, according to Guérin, is 10·90 mètres, breadth 2·75 mètres, opening of arch 5·45 mètres, and height about 10 mètres.[195] We were too busy with other important matters to have time to verify these measurements.

Plate XXI.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH AND TEMPLE, ASSURAS (ZANFOUR)

FAC-SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

A third arch existed at the other side of the town facing the W.S.W. This is now almost entirely destroyed, but the dimensions are recorded by Sir Grenville Temple[196]—

From this there may still be observed a paved street running through the town.

The theatre has been a very remarkable building, constructed of immense and beautifully cut stones. Its form is indicated by the arches round the circumference which still exist; two parallel galleries surrounded the orchestra, and a considerable concentric portion of the proscenium and postscenium is still entire. We picked up a small fragment of sculpture amongst the ruins, representing a serpent coiled up in an attitude of repose, rudely but boldly executed.

Next in importance to the larger triumphal arch, is the Corinthian temple shown in both of Bruce’s drawings of the former building. He has left an excellent sketch of this, and two plates giving finished Indian-ink drawings of the decorative bands.

On the sketch itself he has added—somewhat unjustly, as it seems to me—a pencil remark, ‘Bad taste: it will do for a distance to arch; ornaments bad.’

The monument was more complete in his time than it is now; his drawing exhibits two entire sides of the cella, as far as the top of the pilasters, but no fragment either of the entablature or of the portico. At present the rear wall of the cella remains very much as it then was, but there is very little indeed existing of the other sides. On each side were four pilasters, the angular ones joining on each side; they were crowned with Corinthian capitals, very richly detailed, and having equally rich mouldings at their base; but the peculiar features of the building, which exist in no other one, as far as I am aware, in Africa, are the bands of sculpture occurring[210] between the pilasters at about two-thirds of their height above the plinth. Bruce gives beautifully executed and highly finished drawings of the six which existed. They are all similar in composition, but differing in detail; they are bordered by a very elegant moulding, and contain the usual emblems of the sacerdotal office, such as the bucrane, or victim’s skull, from which garlands depend, supported in the centre by candelabra or vases; there are also introduced the knife, poleaxe, flagon for libations, the lituus, or augur’s wand, the flamen’s cap of office, the aspergillium for sprinkling lustral water, and several other emblems. Similar decoration is very frequent in the friezes of temples, but such sculptured bands on the walls are by no means common; the nearest approach to this feature, of which I am aware, is on the outside wall of the Pantheon at Rome, on each side of the principal entrance.

The other remains of Assuras are of less importance; they consist of several tombs and cisterns, private edifices and defensive works. Two bridges crossed the river, of which the upper was built of cut stone, that lower down the stream being of rubble masonry and brick, probably of a much later date.

The situation of this ancient city has been admirably chosen; it is built on a peninsula of land, surrounded on every side but the south by two water-courses, with deep and precipitous banks, which not only constitute a strong natural defence, but supply an abundance of fresh water.

In front of it stretches the plain of Es-Sers—no doubt, as Bruce remarks, a corruption of the ancient name Assuras. This basin, enclosed by hills on every side, contains about 50 square miles of rich, highly cultivated and irrigable land; but the plateau on which the city stood was cut off from the plain by the river, and was itself, or rather is now, perfectly barren.

The Khalifa of the district had sent his brother, Omar bin Amer el-Ayari, from a great distance to receive and entertain us. Without such hospitality it is extremely difficult for a traveller to encamp amongst ancient ruins in this country; they are usually shunned by the people, and no supplies are procurable within a radius of several miles. We also received a visit from Si Mohammed Esh-Shabi, Kaid of a fraction of the Drid tribe, who was encamped not far off; he was a really grand specimen of the Arab patriarch. He took quite an intelligent interest in the object of my journey, and was delighted with the extracts I translated to him from Bruce’s Diary. There is a considerable divergence between Bruce’s route and mine at this point; he came from Kef by Zouarin. I extract all that he says regarding his journey:—

A portion of this frieze is in the Kinnaird collection; the following is the inscription, as recorded by Bruce:—

Several other inscriptions were copied by Bruce. Some have since been published by Guérin and others. The following appears to have escaped the observation of subsequent travellers:—

Our friend Si Mohammed esh-Shabi confirmed in many curious respects the narrative of Bruce; he was particularly struck with the mention of the fact that this district was occupied by the Oulad Ali. His own tribe, that of the Drid, is one of makhsin, or hereditary soldiery. They wander all over the country with their flocks and camels, and as a rule possess no fixed residence and own no land in fee simple; his section of it however, that of Esh-Sabiah, purchased the territory which they now inhabit in the plain of Es-Sers, from the Oulad Ali, not very many years after Bruce’s visit, and the latter tribe has totally disappeared, at least from this part of the country. Then the ‘wood of firs,’ through which Bruce passed, was in the mountain of Bou Seliah; he was well aware that it had been covered at one time with Aleppo pines; but he assured me that not a single tree now remained. The Oulad Aoun still remain in their own frontiers, and as formerly, are exempt from taxation, like the Sidi Bou Ghanim, the Khomair, and several others, who are not required to pay taxes, simply because there is every reason to believe, that they would not consent to do so, and Government is not strong enough to enforce obedience.

[213]CHAPTER XXVI.

ZANFOUR TO AIN EDJAH AND TEBOURSOUK — DOUGGA.

We started from Zanfour at a quarter to five A.M., and reached Teboursouk at four P.M., a ride of thirty-eight miles, too far for one day, especially during such intense heat as we encountered.

After quitting the plateau of Zanfour we paid a visit to the tents of our friend Si Mohammed esh-Shabi. The good Sheikh was quite distressed that we would not spend a day at his encampment, or even alight to partake of his hospitality; but time was precious, so we contented ourselves with quaffing a lordly bowl of milk to his health, and he filled the haversacks of our escort with dates, bread and fresh cheese, the only luxuries of a portable nature that he possessed. He accompanied us several miles on our way, and we parted with, I hope, mutual feelings of goodwill and regret that our visit had been so short. His encampment did not materially differ from all other Arab villages, if so they may be called. It consisted of a circle of black tents, in the centre of which were the cattle, horses and mules of the family. The intervals between the tents were filled up with prickly brushwood; but the great protection of an Arab camp, which makes approach to it extremely dangerous to a stranger, is the cloud of yelping dogs which rush out from every direction, and can hardly be pacified by the utmost efforts of the owner. The tents are made of strips, sewn together, of black and brown woollen material like sacking, very open in texture, but perfectly impervious to the rain. The Arab knows nothing of the exigencies of fashion; he dresses as his forefathers have done for countless generations, and his tents are exactly the same as when they were described by Sallust as ‘oblonga, incurvis lateribus tectâ, quasi navium carinæ sunt.’[202]

We traversed the plain of Es-Sers from north-west to south-east, over soft springy meadow land, or amongst fields of corn, and crossing a low range of hills which bounds it, entered a valley scored in every direction with deep ravines, only just[214] practicable for laden mules, and so descended into the plain of El-Gharfa. This is drained by a considerable river, the Oued Tessäa, which lower down becomes the Oued Khalad. It contains a small quantity of cultivated land, but much excellent pasturage. A considerable part of it is overgrown with a thick scrub of lentisk, once a favourite resort of brigands, but since the accession to power of the present Wuzir, General Kheir-ed-din, the roads in Tunis have become nearly as secure as those in Algeria.

The heat all day was insupportable; a strong sirocco, I will not say blew, but existed, for the worst siroccos are characterised by an utter absence of air in motion; the atmosphere is deprived of every particle of moisture, the sky is leaden, the mucous membranes of the body get parched, dry and incapable of relief by perspiration; everything one touches is hot and brittle, and the leaves of a book curl up and expand like those of a fan. It is no use to rest under the shade of a tree; the heat is not only in the direct rays of the sun, but everywhere; escape is hopeless and life is a burden.

About four miles before reaching Teboursouk we passed Ain Edjah, where is an interesting ruin, sometimes called Bordj Ibrahim, after a late Kaid of the Drid tribe, who built a stone house here, and surrounded it with a beautiful orchard of fruit trees.

The ruin was evidently a Roman fort, restored by the Byzantines, and converted into a fonduk, or wayside inn, by the Arabs. In some few places the original Roman foundations are still visible. Of the Byzantine restoration a great part of the wall of circumvallation remains; it was of a rectangular form, with square towers at the angles. In one of these the vaults which covered in the rooms on the ground floor and first storey still exist, as well as the stairs which conducted to the upper terrace. From the foundation of the eastern tower issues a beautiful spring, which waters the orchard below. This is the source of Edjah, which gives its name to the district. There is no doubt that this name is simply a corruption of the ancient one, Municipium Agbiensium, or Agbia, mentioned in the Tables of Peutinger. A short distance beyond, on the road to Teboursouk, we observed two milliary columns lying half buried in the earth, with their bases still in place close beside them. One was too deeply covered to permit us to see the inscription, and we had no instruments with which to dig it up. The other was only partly legible, the upper part of the inscription being much defaced by the action of weather. It has been recorded, both by Pelissier and Guerin.[203]

[215]After a very fatiguing journey we reached Teboursouk, and were at once conducted to the house of the Khalifa. Our host was extremely courteous, but at first cool and reserved. He gave up one of the rooms in the ground-floor of his own house for our accommodation, and appropriated an empty building close by for the use of our attendants. He sent us our meals from his own kitchen, where certainly the art of cookery is thoroughly understood, and very soon, through the instrumentality of his son, a dear little fellow about four years old, to whom we presented a few trifles, and whose curiosity was insatiable, the good gentleman thawed considerably and our intercourse became more friendly and unrestrained.

The modern town is no exception to the general law, which seems to have doomed all Mohammedan cities to decay. Its situation is naturally most beautiful, being built on the slope of a hill which commands a valley of singular fertility, covered with groves of olives, and orchards of fruit trees; but the houses are half-ruinous, and the streets in a filthy and neglected condition.

Teboursouk, the ancient Thibursicum Bure, was so-called to distinguish the city of the pro-consular province from another of the same name in Numidia, Thibursicum Numidarum, the modern Khamisa.

Several bishops of this place are recorded, and one of them is mentioned by St. Augustine in his book Contra Cresconium.[204]

It can hardly be said to be now surrounded by a wall, though in some places the wall built on Roman or Byzantine foundations still exists. The most interesting part is towards the north, where one of the ancient city gates still remains entire, though built up and buried to a great part of its height in débris.

This is curious, as it differs from all the triumphal arches I have yet seen in North Africa. The piers on each side consist of two fluted Corinthian pilasters, supporting a complete entablature, from which the central arch rises. As nothing except the arch itself now remains, it is impossible to say how this was crowned. Amongst the stones used in the re-construction of this part of the walls are many fragments of sculpture and inscriptions. The latter have frequently been published. One of them contains the ancient name of the city, THIB. BVRE, another a record of the reconstruction of its walls by Thomas, prefect of Africa during the reign of Justinus II. and the Empress Sophia, A.D. 565 to 578.[205] This Thomas is honourably mentioned by Carippus Africanus in the first book of his poem, De laudibus Justini minoris:—

[216]Three others have been recorded by Bruce, but the precise locality where they were found is not given.

The principal water-supply of Teboursouk is derived from a very fine spring, which issues from a small chamber and flows into a large square reservoir, both of Roman work. The overflow runs through a subterranean passage, and waters the gardens to the north of the town. On the lintel of the door of the chamber from which the water flows may be traced a few letters, which Guérin gives as VG. ARA. They are hardly legible now, but the entire inscription is recorded by Peyssonnel:—

On the summit of the hill above the town is a koubba, from which a very fine view is obtained.

From Teboursouk we made an excursion to Dougga, دُقّة, the ancient Thugga, Cives Thuggenses, or, as it is given in one inscription in the wall of a house near the temple, Respublica Coloniae Liciniae Septimiae Aureliae Alexandrinae Thuggensium.

This city must have been of very considerable consequence, to judge by the extent and magnificence of its remains, which cover an area of about three square miles; and when its temples and palaces were standing, and clear of the cactus and brambles that now invade their remains, it must have been a most striking object in the landscape. The city was built high up on the hill, which bounds on the west the extensive valley watered by the Oued Khallad, a tributary of the Medjerda. A wretched modern hamlet is built amongst its ruins, and the traveller has to wade through the accumulated filth of years to visit the various objects of interest which[217] the village contains. This, however, occupies but a small extent of the ancient city; the remainder is overgrown with cactus and briars, or laid out in delightful groves of olive-trees.

Plate XXII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TEMPLE OF JUPITER AND MINERVA AT THUGGA (DOUGGA) SIDE VIEW.

FAC SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Plate XXIII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

TEMPLE OF JUPITER AND MINERVA AT THUGGA (DOUGGA)

FAC SIMILE OF FINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE (AND BALUGANI?)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

The ancient name probably had the same signification as the modern word Dougga still bears in the Berber language, green grass; and, indeed, it would be difficult to find a more charming position, or one which, from its abundant water-supply, was more likely to be always verdant, than the hillside on which the city was built.

The most beautiful of all the ruins here—and, I am tempted to add, the most exquisite gem of art I have seen in North Africa—is the temple built from the private resources of two brothers, and dedicated, as will be seen, to Jupiter and Minerva. Bruce calls this

And again he says—

Bruce’s illustrations of this temple consist of nine sheets:—

1. A perspective view in pencil of the front of the portico, showing the door of the cella and the apse beyond.

2. Details and measurements in pencil of capital and base of column, and of entablature.

3. Rough pencil sketch of plan, with details in ink of various parts.

4. Perspective view in Indian ink of front; podium in pencil only. The triumphal arch of Septimius Severus is seen to the left.

5. Perspective view in Indian ink of the side of portico, showing the construction of the cella, or the building which has replaced it (Pl. XXII.)

6. Highly finished drawing in Indian ink, taken from an opposite point of view to the last, with landscape and figures of the Balugani type (Pl. XXIII.)

7. Finished Indian-ink plan and elevation, with dimensions.

8. Finished Indian-ink drawing of a capital, details of abacus and base.

9. Finished drawing in Indian ink of soffit of cornice, six of the fifteen flowers[218] for centre of abacus, details of head of doorway of cella, and the same given in petto.

10. Finished drawing in Indian ink of details of pediment and podium of temple.

This temple seems to have suffered very little if any injury during the last century; but it is in a very incomplete condition, and the portico, the noble entrance-door of the cella, and a small portion of the wall, are probably all that remain of the original structure. I am inclined to attribute to a later period, probably that of the Byzantines, the masonry now existing on the site of the cella. It is in a style very commonly met with in Africa.

A course of cut stone was laid horizontally, a long cut stone was erected at intervals of four or five feet on this, and the interstices filled in with rubble masonry, exactly like the long and short bond found in Roman and early Saxon work in Britain. Some excellent specimens of this still exist at Teboursouk, twenty or thirty feet in height. This explains the occurrence of so many upright stones in all ruined cities throughout Africa; the masonry of inferior quality has fallen away, bringing down the whole of the superstructure, and leaving only the uprights resting on the foundations. As this part of the building has a semi-circular apse at its extremity, it is probable that it was intended for a Byzantine basilica.

To return, however, to the temple. It is a tetrastyle, with a noble portico, of the Corinthian order. The columns are fluted, and with one exception, monoliths. The dimensions of the buildings, as given in Bruce’s plan and elevation, are as follows:—

In saying that the ornamentation of this temple was the richest he ever saw, Bruce was no doubt right, especially if he alluded to the monuments still retaining a certain purity of style, which he had met with in Africa; but in Italy the temples of the latter half of the second century were generally most highly decorated. In the case of this temple the frieze has an inscription, but otherwise it is without ornaments of any kind. The architrave is divided, as usual, into three bands, but the mouldings are simple, without oves, pearls, or other ornaments. On the other hand, the cornice is highly decorated, and the pediment is enriched with a grand piece of sculpture.

Bruce, evidently misled by the occurrence of the letters NERVAE in the inscription on the frieze, imagined that these alluded to the Emperor Nerva, and inferred that the temple had been built by Hadrian, and that the sculpture, which represented a male figure on the back of an eagle, was

Sir Grenville Temple’s supposition, that it was intended to represent the rape of Ganymede by the eagle of Jupiter, is much more likely to be correct.[207]

On the frieze of the order is an inscription, now almost effaced, but which has been recorded by Bruce more fully than by subsequent travellers. It is as follows:—

The door of the cella is nearly all that remains of that part of the temple. It consists of three huge stones, a lintel and two door-posts, the former of which projects a considerable distance beyond the latter. These are enriched with a moulding on the exterior edge of the stones, which, instead of mounting in a straight line from the ground to the top of the lintel, as would probably have been the case in an earlier period of Roman art, follows at right angles the course of the projecting portions of[220] the lintel. A similar style is often met with in Etruscan architecture, but in such cases the line of moulding under the projections hardly ever formed horizontal straight lines and right angles, unless painted or cut in the inside of tombs.

On this lintel is a second inscription:—

From these inscriptions it is evident that the temple was built by two brothers, L. M. Simplex and L. M. Simplex Regillianus, at their own expense, sua pecunia fecerunt, in honour of Jupiter and Minerva, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and his colleague in the Empire, L. Aurelius Verus, between the years A.D. 161 and 169.

No strong marks of decadence strike the eye at first sight, but the antæ at the end of the cella walls are wanting, and perhaps other signs of decadence would have been apparent in the cella itself, had it been preserved.

Bruce states that the material of which the temple is built is white marble. If this is not actually the case, it is a very compact and crystalline limestone, full of fossil shells, and susceptible of receiving a high polish; when new it must have been even more effective than the finest description of marble. I am inclined to believe that it is none other than the Lumacchella antica, one of the lost Numidian marbles, of which only two or three specimens are known to exist, and which at the present moment is worth something like its weight in gold. A bold and conspicuous hill was pointed out to us as the spot whence the stone of the temple was obtained, but it was too remote to be included in our visit. I leave the solution of this question to some future traveller.[209]

Altogether this grand monumental fragment is a most interesting historical specimen of the workmanship and architectural genius displayed by the Romans in their African possessions.

The inhabitants of Dougga were not ungrateful to these good citizens for their unusual liberality; they appear to have voted a statue to one of them at least, the pedestal of which was discovered by M. Guérin.[210]

The precincts of this temple are in a state of great filth and neglect. It is surrounded on every side by rude Arab huts, and is used as a yard for sheep and[221] oxen, the handsome flight of steps leading to it are partly buried in a thick layer of manure, and we found it impossible from any point to obtain a view showing the whole columns from base to capital. Nevertheless my companion made some excellent photographs of it, which testify in a remarkable manner to the conscientious accuracy of Bruce’s drawings, when not marred by the unfortunate accessories of Balugani.

Plate XXIV.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

LYBIAN MAUSOLEUM AT THUGGA (DOUGGA)

FAC SIMILE OF ROUGH PENCIL SKETCH BY BRUCE.

(Large-size)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

One day at Dougga is quite insufficient. I would recommend anyone having abundant time at his disposal to encamp for a week amongst its delightful shady groves.

Unrivalled as this temple is as a work of art there is another monument of even greater interest, the celebrated mausoleum from which the Dougga bi-lingual stone was obtained.

Bruce has left a pencil sketch of this in outline merely (Plate XXIV.); but it is exceptionally interesting, as the monument itself was almost entirely destroyed by Sir Thomas Reade, the British Consul-General at Tunis, in extracting the stone on which the inscription was carved. We met people on the spot who were present at this sacrilege, and who described to us the manner in which stone after stone of this, beyond all question the most interesting, because the only pre-Roman, monument in the Regency of Tunis, was hurled by levers and crowbars into the valley below.

Such a proceeding would have been indefensible had the object been to enrich some great public museum, but destruction so wanton to secure an object of interest for a private collection cannot be too strongly reprobated. Half the sum expended in destroying the mausoleum devoted to making a plaster cast of the inscription would have sufficed for every purpose, and even if some future traveller had carried away the precious relic, at least the guilt would not have been chargeable to the British nation. The deed being done, it is fortunate that the two slabs containing the inscription were purchased by the British Museum at the sale of Sir Thomas Reade’s collection in 1852.

The monument was square in plan, two storeys in height, forming what might almost be regarded as two distinct tombs superposed one on the other, the whole surmounted by a graduated pyramidal roof of receding steps. It is supported on five steps, averaging 16·2 inches in height, with treads 10 inches wide. The lower storey 21 or 22 feet square, and 10 ft. 8½ in. high, with semi-plain and slightly projecting pilasters or antæ at the angles, surmounted by Ionic capitals, one volute being on each face, from which spring two lotus-like flowers, one from above and the other from below. A plain fascia, surmounted by a few bold simple mouldings, forms a[222] cornice to the lower order, 1 ft. 9 in. high, or one-fifth the height of the pilaster; it runs in an unbroken line along the four faces of the tomb. A false window appears on three of the sides.

The arrangement of the courses of stone is peculiar. A narrow square plinth or base, rather less than eleven inches high, from which the pilasters appear to spring, is carried all round. Above this is a course four times as high, then a narrow band half as high again as the base, followed by another high course slightly lower than that beneath it. Above is a fifth course, half the height of that immediately beneath it, which contains the capitals of the pilasters, and formerly bore the inscription. The upper storey, of which very little now remains, resembled the lower one in its general divisions and style of construction. It was supported by three steps, 16½ inches high, with treads 10 inches wide, and appears to have been a sort of tetrastyle of the Ionic order, probably with pilasters at the angles, certainly with two intermediate, attached, fluted columns, 15 inches in diameter on each front, separated by an interval of 3 ft. 5 in. On the north and east faces, between these columns, were small doors, closed by portcullises of stone, giving access to the interior. They had dressings all round, and the architrave above them was very high. The construction of this storey is similar to that of the lower one, consisting of four unequal courses, dividing the height of the columns into six parts.[223] The entablature in Bruce’s drawing (Pl. XXIV.) equals one third of the height of the columns. It is divided into architrave and cornice, the former consisting of a plain fascia, with narrow but bold mouldings. The latter has a distinctly Egyptian character, with a high and boldly projecting cavetto, surmounted by a fillet.

In a more recent view of this tomb, taken by Mr. F. Catherwood in 1832 with the aid of the camera lucida, for which I am indebted to Professor Donaldson, there appears an intermediate frieze between these two features, which would give the very unusual height of half the column to the entablature.[211]

Above this rose the pyramid, with a large upright block of stone at each angle as high as three or four of the steps, crowning classically the tomb underneath. Probably this never rose to an apex, but was truncated to receive a group of statuary, like the mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Sir Grenville Temple[212] mentions having dug up at the base, a portion of a draped figure, and at no great distance a small mutilated equestrian statue. He also says that on the base of the monument was a coarsely executed alto-relievo representing a quadriga with a warrior and the charioteer.

The monument contained two tiers of sepulchral chambers, one in each storey, divided into cells by vertical walls.

This mausoleum and the Medrassen in Algeria are the only monuments in North Africa of a pre-Roman origin, and the only examples remaining of the style employed by the earlier aboriginal races. The height of the courses, and the capitals of the antæ in the lower storey, would indicate a Greek origin, as does also the upper storey, which recalls the Tomb of Theron at Agrigentum, but the large cavetto of the cornice, and the lotus flowers with which the volutes of the capitals are ornamented, are identical with the Egyptian type. The whole is of a purer style than Roman tombs generally, and excels in this respect every other similar edifice in North Africa.

The inscription has frequently been published. The first copy of which we have any record was one made by a Frenchman of the name of Thomas d’Arcos in 1631, which he delivered to the learned scholar Isaac Peirese; afterwards it was entirely forgotten until Camillo Borgia copied it again in the year 1815. This copy became known to the world through Münter, Humbert and Hamaker. Two other copies were made by Sir Grenville Temple[213] and Honegger, and published by Gesenius.[214] The last facsimile was taken by order of the Duc Albert de Luynes, from an impression of the stone then in the British Museum, and published in M. Guérin’s work.[215]

[224]The mausoleum appears to have been erected in honour of a Numidian, and not of a Carthaginian, which is supposed to be the reason why the Lybian version of the inscription is more carefully executed than the Punic one, and the place of honour, the right side, assigned to it. The Punic text appears to be the translation of the Lybian one.[216]

The following translation of it is given by Gesenius:—[217]

There was a second Corinthian temple situated on a plateau overlooking the valley beneath, from which it must have been a very imposing object. It is now almost entirely destroyed, but the plan of the cella is still visible, and many columns are lying scattered about, as also fragments of the inscription which decorated the frieze. It seems to have been much more entire when Peyssonnel visited it in 1724. He says: ‘There are the remains of a temple, which was an arc open in the middle. It had a great façade of about 100 paces in breadth. The temple was of a semi-circular shape. The façade was supported by columns, and the columns again supported a corridor all round the temple. On these columns there had been large stones inscribed with Roman characters, but we could not collect enough pieces to make out the sense, as everything was destroyed and overthrown. In the middle of the temple there had been an altar raised about six feet and four feet broad. All this débris indicated a great magnificence and a good taste in architecture, and a style more beautiful than that of Zawan (Zaghouan), although of a form very closely resembling it.’[218]

Plate XXV.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

THEATRE AT THUGGA (DOUGGA)

FAC SIMILE OF ROUGH INDIAN INK SKETCH BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[225]Bruce has left no sketch of this, but there is an unfinished drawing of the theatre (Plate XXV.), which has suffered great dilapidation since his day, and is so thickly overgrown with briars and high rank weeds that it is difficult to see more than the outer walls. These are of solid rubble masonry. The sketch of Bruce is taken looking towards the auditorium, which contains twelve or thirteen rows of seats, occupying about two-thirds of the semi-circular area. Numerous columns are seen in the foreground forming part of the scena.

The other monuments are a triumphal arch of the time of Septimius Severus, represented in the background of one of Bruce’s sketches of the great temple, all the upper part of which has since been destroyed; several large reservoirs, fountains, public buildings of various kinds, in a greater or less state of ruin; besides numerous inscriptions which have already been published by Guérin.

In one of the houses near the temple I discovered a fragment of the inscription first given by Peyssonnel, and copied, without acknowledgment, from his manuscript, by Shaw—interesting, as it records the name of the city in the nominative case. The first two lines do not now exist.

Bruce has given the following inscriptions:—

[226]CHAPTER XXVII.

LEAVE TEBOURSOUK — VALLEY OF LIONS — AIN TUNGA — TESTOUR.

We left Teboursouk at 6.30 A.M. on April 22. The road led at first through a magnificent grove of olive-trees, which evidently constitute the principal wealth of the country. Still, we saw but few young ones, and I am tempted to believe that the system of taxing these precious trees conduces to their destruction.

Each one, after the age of ten years, pays an annual tax of half a piastre, or threepence, without reference to the amount of fruit it bears, and as trees are rarely productive before fifteen years, the owner of a new olive grove would have little or no return for his money during this period, and a certainty of taxation during the last five years of it. Under these circumstances it is hardly surprising, that he does not feel called upon to make an unremunerative investment of his money for the ultimate benefit of his posterity; he cuts down unproductive trees for the sake of their timber, but takes no steps to replace them. If some system could be devised for taxing the produce instead of the tree itself, the déboisement of the country, which is going on at an alarming rate, might to a certain extent be arrested.

About a mile beyond the town the road emerges into open ground, and for a short distance follows the course of the Oued Khalad, which is crossed and recrossed many times. The alternation of hill and dale is most picturesque, and the great want in Tunisian landscape, the absence of wood, is to some extent supplied by the unusually fine tamarisks which fringe the river’s banks. The water was low during our visit, but evidently the stream never becomes actually dry, as it was full of little fish. Quantities of blue jays and blackbirds added their share of attractions to the scene.

This is the Oued el-Asood, or valley of lions, of which Sir Grenville Temple remarks: ‘As the surrounding country abounds in lions it is not prudent to remain here after sunset. Sixteen of these animals had been seen together here four evenings before.’

At seven and a half miles from Teboursouk is Ain Tunga, a delightful roadside[227] fountain, near which is a venerable old olive-tree affording an impenetrable shade. We met here a party of the Oulad Ayar, who had been to Tunis to sell their produce and were returning to their homes in the neighbourhood of Mukther; they travelled like the patriarchs of old with all their belongings about them, houses, wives, children, cattle and sheep. They were busy washing their clothes at the spring, an operation which did not tend to increase its purity. But questions of cleanliness are the last that ever enter into the consideration of modern Arabs; they think nothing of drinking the water of a source, which they are in the very act of polluting, and it is no uncommon thing to see what appears to be a clean bed of sand covered with water, but if a little of the gravel is turned over, a layer of black putrescent mud is seen to exist below it.

Plate XXVI.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

THEATRE OF THIGNICA (AIN TUNGA)

FAC-SIMILE OF ROUGH INDIAN INK SKETCH BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Here are the extensive ruins of the ancient Thignica. Bruce is absolutely silent regarding his visit to this place; nevertheless he has left five sheets of drawings illustrative of it:—

1. Perspective pencil sketch of temple; too faint for reproduction.

2. Very rough pencil sketch, with dimensions, of plan of temple, details of base of order, echinus and fillet, and of a remarkably fine soffit. On the back are careful sketches, in Indian ink and pencil, of other details of the same building.

3. Careful sketches in Indian ink of details of cornice and soffit. On the back is a drawing in pencil of capital of order.

4. Careful sketches in Indian ink of details of architecture.

5. Slight perspective sketch in Indian ink of other ruins at Ain Tunga, including the theatre and arch, but not the Byzantine fortress. (Plate XXVI.)

The last-mentioned is now the most conspicuous ruin in the place. Bruce has left no sketch of it; indeed, throughout all his wanderings he paid no attention whatever to buildings of this period, which, though by no means uninteresting from an historical point of view, are absolutely devoid of any architectural merit.

The exterior walls are in a very perfect condition, as are also the towers at each angle, but the interior is so choked up with a rank growth of weeds and scrub, that to examine it is almost an impossibility. Numerous inscriptions are still to be seen here, which have been given by Guérin; the most important one, in six fragments, records the full name of the place, ‘Municipium Septimium Aurelium Antoninianum . . . . Herculeum Frugiferum Thignica,’ and commemorates the reconstruction of its market-place in the time of Alexander Severus and of his mother Julia Mamæa, A.D. 222-235.[219]

[228]The Corinthian temple must have been almost as fine as that of Dougga; the portico is now entirely destroyed, and all that remains are the angles of the cella. The masonry was of an unusually fine quality, and the columns were magnificent monoliths. In Bruce’s time the portico was still entire, with the exception of one angle of the pediment. It was a tetrastyle closely resembling the Temple of Jupiter and Minerva at Dougga, but even richer and more ornate in some of its details; it has not the defect observable in the latter, the want of antæ; pilasters being distinctly marked in the plan at the end of the cella walls.

Bruce records on one of the sheets a fragment of inscription which has been mentioned by subsequent travellers, and which still exists:—

The dimensions marked on the plan are as follows:—

Three other inscriptions were copied by Bruce; the first has the remark attached to it, ‘This is now in the Bey’s garden, Tuburbo.’

There exist also several other remains of less interest: a small and plainly constructed arch and theatre of rubble masonry, a Christian basilica, besides traces of various other buildings scattered about, which are figured in Plate XXVI.

[229]About four miles further on we came to Testour. Shortly before reaching the town we crossed the Oued Siliana, close to its junction with the Medjerda, at a spot which had once been spanned by a Roman bridge. The ruins of this were perceptible on either side; it was entire during the visit of Sir Grenville Temple in 1832, and he mentions having crossed over it.[221] Beyond we enter the valley of the Medjerda, whose course, as far as we could see it, was marked by orchards and fields of corn, more like a bit of English scenery than is usually met with in Africa.

The modern city is built on the site of the ancient Bisica Lucana, a city unknown to history, but which may probably be the Visica mentioned in Morcelli’s ‘Africa Christiana.’[222]

Shaw records an inscription found here, bearing the ancient name of the place, COL. BISICA LVCANA,[223] which he probably copied from Peyssonnel, who says that it existed in the market-place.[224]

There are still many inscriptions scattered about; the most interesting are two milliary columns, erected during the reign of Aurelius; one is in the house of a ropemaker, and the other in the vestibule of the Djamäa el-Kebir. The former indicates a distance of LXIX and the latter LXXI miles from Carthage. They have been given by various travellers.[225]

I am not aware whether anything of unusual importance was going on at the capital during the time that we were travelling in the interior, but we found, almost invariably, that the head man was absent at Tunis, and it was his Khalifa, or representative, who received us. Here the Khalifa also was away, and there was no one in his place to offer us hospitality; we were not at all sorry to be thrown on our own resources, as supplies were readily obtainable, and we were permitted to purchase them in the open market and to lodge our animals in the public fonduk. The notables of the village received us on our entry, and informed us that the shop of the barber had been cleared out for our reception. They made many excuses for the poorness of the accommodation; every other place, they assured us, was swarming with fleas, and this was the only comparatively clean place in Testour. It might have been so we did not try any other; but we would gladly have compounded for any number of fleas, if thereby we could have secured exemption from the attacks of more voracious insects. To add to our other miseries, it commenced to rain hard almost immediately after our arrival, and continued without intermission all night; so there we lay in a miserable cell, 10 feet square, without even attempting to sleep, making periodical attacks[230] upon the enemy, and oppressed with a horrid dread that after so much rain we should find the Medjerda too full to be fordable in the morning.

Testour is a squalid village, whose sole merit is to have wide and airy streets. The houses are built of a poor sort of rubble, consisting of half-burnt bricks and small stones, and roofed with tiles, only too ready to lend themselves to the prevailing inclination of the place to fall into ruin. Still it is not quite without remains of former grandeur; the minaret of the great mosque, though in a very dilapidated condition, is a good specimen of Moorish architecture, and has been tastefully decorated with coloured tiles. This was probably the work of the Andalusian Moors, by whom the village was peopled, on their expulsion from Spain.

Pelissier describes it as badly built, with a population of two or three thousand inhabitants.[226] Guérin says that it was in decadence during his visit, and contained two thousand souls, including a few hundred Jews.[227] Things have gone badly with it since then, as the population cannot now be more than one thousand, and the Jews are to be counted by the score instead of the hundred.

It is situated in an exceptionally favourable position, on the right bank of the Medjerda, almost dipping into the stream, and on the great highway between Tunis and Keff, and so on into Algeria. Its soil is extremely fertile, and its orchards, which fringe both banks of the river, supply all Tunis with fruit.

If, therefore, we have a right to expect anything like a prosperous village in the whole country, Testour is the place where it ought to exist. Long years of misgovernment, of rapacity in high quarters, of brigandage encouraged for private ends, and of Mohammedan intolerance for everything like progress and civilisation, have produced their natural results. No nation can remain stationary; if it does not progress, it must rapidly retrograde; and nowhere is the contrast between ancient magnificence and present decadence more plainly visible than in the Regency of Tunis.

It was very pleasant here to witness the treatment of a poor half-witted fellow, evidently the village imbecile. Instead of being pursued with hoots and jeers, or at best regarded with indifference or contempt, as might possibly happen in a Christian country, everyone had a kind word to say to him, most of the elderly men stopped and kissed him tenderly on the cheek, and all seemed thoroughly to understand, that exceptional kindness was due to one, whom God had seen fit to deprive of His most precious gift.

[231]CHAPTER XXVIII.

TESTOUR TO EL-BADJA BY THE MOUNTAINS — EL-BADJA.

April 23.—The rain ceased with the appearance of daylight, and though tired and unrefreshed from want of sleep, all our miseries were forgotten at the thought of leaving this unenjoyable place. We sent to have the state of the river examined by experts, and to our great contentment it was pronounced fordable, though not without difficulty, and at a point a little further up the stream; our horses and mules were ordered round, and to our amazement they came covered with clotted blood; every animal, including even the horses of our escort, had been bled in both shoulders to relieve their fatigue and to fit them for the heavy work still before them. They presented a most ghastly appearance; no attempt had been made to remove the blood from their legs, and each limb was decorated with a tuft of hair, which, with a common pin, had been used to close the vein after the operation.

I am not veterinarian enough to pronounce an opinion as to the necessity of this operation, but the Arabs have universal faith in its efficacy, and I am bound to state that the animals went none the worse for it, and bore their fatiguing journey in a manner that daily excited our admiration. The mules seemed absolutely incapable of fatigue, and our plucky little horses were as fresh after a march of twenty-five or thirty miles as they were at starting.

The ordinary high road between Testour and El-Badja is along the right bank of the Medjerda, to Medjez el-Bab, whence it proceeds in a north-westerly direction. This was the route followed by Bruce, who thus narrates the commencement of his journey:—

The Bas el-Bab here mentioned is evidently Medjez el-Bab, which was called by several of the old writers Basil-Bab, and by Peyssonnel Bebo. Bruce made, as he says, no finished drawings here, but amongst his sketches is a rough outline, with details, of the gate, described by Peyssonnel.

[232]‘One sees still an ancient gate, made like a triumphal arch, where there remain two mutilated figures, one of which holds a head in his hands, the other has them joined together. It has the following inscription:—

We preferred a less easy but a shorter and far more picturesque route over the mountains, nearly due north in its general direction, and joining the main road at a point where a bridge has been commenced over the Oued Zergäa, fifteen miles from El-Badja.

I am not aware that this route is ever dangerous, but just before leaving Testour an old Jewess came and with tears in her eyes implored us to allow her son to make the journey to Badja in our company; he was taking some donkey saddles, which he had made, to the market there for sale. Perhaps they might have been tried on the backs of the wrong animals had he crossed the mountains all alone.

At first our road lay up the stream, to avoid the ordinary ferry, which was then impracticable. A Roman bridge had once spanned the river at this point; its remains may still be seen, and a new one is imperatively required, as for a great part of the year the river cannot be crossed in safety.

It was most pleasant to ride amongst the well-kept and highly cultivated gardens which fringe the river-side; everything testified to the richness of the soil and the effect of abundant irrigation. Even the lentisk, which in the shape of tufts of scrub, covers the whole country, seemed to have changed its nature, and grew here to the size of forest trees, shading the road with its dense evergreen foliage.

After crossing the river, which was not done without some risk to our baggage, we skirted the base of a very picturesque mountain, Djebel es-Sakhera, whose red scarped sides and serrated peaks make it a conspicuous landmark for many miles around. On the south flank of it some Roman ruins were pointed out to us, but the spot was far out of our road, and time would not permit us to make a closer inspection of them.

At the foot of the mountain runs a stream, the Oued el-Malah, or Salt River, frequently dry, but during the winter months full of water, rendered brackish by the salts with which the soil is impregnated. To the right of our road are the remains of a stone building, once the Bordj of the Oulad Ayar before their migration further[233] south. We also noticed several miniature zaouias; evidently funds were not forthcoming for the erection of a regular koubba, so a model of one had been constructed about three feet high, of mud and stone, surrounded by a low wall, and here let us hope that the holy man may sleep as soundly in the bosom of the fertile earth, as under a more pretentious edifice.

The road, which had been rising rapidly, now culminated in a wild and picturesque pass over the top of Djebel Kulb-raha (Heart’s Content). There is an utter absence of trees all over these hills, but they are covered with a thick growth of under-shrub, principally of lentisk, jujube, wild olive, cistus, rosemary and diss grass. From this we descended rapidly to the Oued Zergäa, and soon found ourselves in the nearest approach to civilisation we had witnessed since leaving Susa. A calèche and pair was resting by the side of the high road, the course of which was marked by telegraph posts!

The road itself would not be considered very good elsewhere, but it is perfectly practicable for wheeled conveyances, and in fine weather it is no doubt a fairly good one. The lentisk bushes were being cut down in great quantities, to be burnt for the sake of the alkali which their ashes contain, and which, with olive oil, is used to make the soft black soap of the country.

When we had crossed a rather barren ridge we suddenly found ourselves in the plain of El-Badja, a continuous stretch of as fine corn-land as it is possible to see in any country. Not only is the soil naturally fertile, but the crops seem to be cultivated and kept clean with the greatest care. Altogether we pronounced it the best specimen of Arab agriculture we had seen in Tunis.

This town of El-Badja is the chief place of a district, which, together with the territory of the Bou-Salem and that of Tabarca, is governed by a Kaid, a fine old Miralai, named Si Ounas el-Adjaimi. He had taken part in the Crimean War and had evidently formed many friendships amongst the European officers there. He was liberal in his ideas, of great intelligence, and a most kind and courteous host. He lodged us in an excellent suite of apartments on the ground floor of his house, and sent us our meals from his own kitchen.

Native cookery throughout Tunis, at least in the houses of the upper classes, is far superior to anything I have seen in Algeria, probably because the old and faithful family slaves, who are usually charged with it, have become extinct in Algeria. Slavery is abolished in Tunis also, but the institution dies hard, and little boys and girls of tender age are still to be found in many families, but whether they have been born there or imported, was a question which we did not think ourselves called on to resolve.

[234]This city is mentioned by Sallust under the name of Vacca or Vaga; the latter was probably the authentic one, as it is found in more than one inscription still existing. During ancient and mediæval times, it was renowned for its richness and commerce. Sallust says that it was a regular resort of Italian merchants, ubi et incolere et mercari consueverunt Italici generis multi mortales.

It has ever been one of the most important corn markets in Ifrikia, by which name the northern part of the Regency has always been called since it was the Provincia Africa of the Romans.

El-Edrisi (A.D. 1154) says: ‘It is a beautiful city, built in a plain extremely fertile in corn and barley, so that there is not in all the Moghreb a city so important or more rich in cereals.’

El-Bekri calls it the granary of Ifrikia, and says that its soil is so fertile, its cereals so fine, and its harvests so abundant, that everything is exceedingly cheap, and that when there is famine elsewhere, here there is abundance. Every day, he says, 1,000 camels and other beasts of burden carry away corn, but that has no influence on the price of food, so abundant is it.[229]

El-Badja is situated on the slope of a hill, with a commanding view of the plain beyond. The selection of the site was, no doubt, influenced by the existence of a copious spring of fresh water, which the Romans carefully led to a central position and enclosed within a vaulted chamber of their usual solid construction; this exists uninjured to the present day, but the drainage of the town has been allowed to flow into it and utterly pollute its waters.

It is impossible to imagine a city more filthy; the fable of King Augeas, with his stable of 3,000 oxen uncleaned during thirty years, is actually realised. The inhabitants have large flocks and herds, which they drive into the town every evening, and from its streets and houses nothing is ever removed. The old Roman drains are choked up, so that the rain, instead of washing down the streets, only dissolves the black abominations with which they are filled, and makes walking about an impossibility to one who is not hardened to it. Putrid animal and vegetable matter festering in the sun poisoned the air, and we did not require to be told that fever and other preventible diseases were common, especially in the summer months, and that the mortality is sometimes very great. The wonder to our mind was that anyone escaped, and that such a state of things did not bring back the plague, which used to commit such ravages on the Barbary coast.

The ancient city was surrounded by a wall, flanked by square towers, and on the[235] culminating point of the enclosure was situated the citadel. No doubt, this was originally constructed by the Byzantines; the trace was adopted by the Arabs; but as the walls were not continued as the town extended, they soon ceased to surround it, and were allowed to fall into decay. The only part in a relative state of preservation is the Kasba, a great part of which seems to me the original construction of Belisarius or Solomon. Many tombstones and fragments of sculpture are built into the walls, and several interesting inscriptions recording the name of the place, which have already been given by M. Guérin.[230]

The Kasba is a half-ruinous building, on the terrace of which are mounted a few old pieces of ordnance; the view from it is splendid, but what most interested us was the prison in the interior, which, as an exceptional favour, we were permitted to visit. We entered by a small door, three feet and a half high and thirteen inches broad, leading into a passage of the same width in the thickness of the wall.

The door is fastened by a curious and complicated system of chains and padlocks; it has a grating, at which there is just room enough for one man at a time to stand and communicate with his friends outside, but anything like a general rush to get out is quite impossible. Beyond this passage is a large and lofty hall, about fifteen paces long and ten wide, with a vaulted roof supported on two square pillars. It was lighted only by two grated openings in the roof, which secure, happily, a certain amount of ventilation, but are in no way protected from the rain. In this place, on an average, fifty prisoners are always confined, and when I say that none of these are ever permitted to leave the room for a moment, and that no attempt is ever made to clean it out, it may well be imagined that the atmosphere is foul and pestilential beyond the power of words to describe; the unhappy wretches are supplied neither with food nor bedding, but are entirely dependent on their friends outside for subsistence. Woe to the unfortunate, who has been brought from a great distance, perhaps from failure to pay his contributions, and whose family are too poor to supply him with food so far from home. The Arab can subsist and keep in good condition on a very small modicum of food; he is very willing to aid others more unfortunate than himself; he cares little for comfort or personal luxuries, and is always ready to submit with patience to what he believes to be the will of Providence, so he probably gets through his period of imprisonment without any very acute suffering; but twenty-four hours here would turn most Europeans into raging lunatics.

We observed two interesting and hitherto unpublished inscriptions high up in one of the pillars. The first was turned upside down, and the light was very bad, so that[236] it took us a considerable time to decipher them. The operation was a most sickening one.

They originally formed part of the same inscription, but an intermediate portion is wanting. The characters in the last line of each are very much more elongated than the others, closer together, and exceedingly difficult to read:—

IMP. CAES. . . SEPTIMIS . .

. . VTIS. IMP. DESIGNAT.

M. SACERDOTALE . ET. CEA

SS. INTEROGATASVMAMAXARCA

S. II. PP. ET. M. AVRELI. ANTONIN. I.C.

MVSCEILAM CVM . PRON. AVG . . EI

RERVM . CVM . PROSP. . . ENDO . RE. COLONIÆ

TAPEMSVMMDESVOINTVNT

Another fragment of inscription at the entrance of the prison I believe to be unpublished:—

In the outer wall of the Djamäa-el-Kebir, or principal mosque, dedicated to Sidna Aissa (our Lord Jesus), is a remarkably interesting inscription, which was first noticed by M. Guérin, proving that this had originally been a Christian basilica, and that it had been restored and embellished during the reign of the Emperors Valentinianus and Valens, A.D. 364 to 368. M. Guérin makes a slight mistake in the first line, which obscures the meaning. Instead of

the penultimate letter should be V; the line would thus read

Dyeing is carried on to some extent at El-Badja, but the only distinctive manufactures of the place are wooden sandals used by the women, very tastefully carved out of light wood, generally with an old razor.

In the vicinity of the town is a ruined palace and neglected garden belonging to the Bey, which, like that at Tunis, is called the Bardo. This existed as far back as 1724, when Peyssonnel visited the place.

El-Badja can boast of an excellent bath, which we found most refreshing after[237] our long journey. It has also a telegraphic station. The gentleman in charge of it, M. Ferdinand Gandolphe, is Vice-Consul of France, and the only European resident in the place. He has been stationed here for a year, and he assured us that sometimes he almost forgot how to speak his own language.

The telegraphs throughout Tunis belong to the French Government, which defrays the entire cost, except that the Bey provides station-houses, and what transport may be necessary for the carriage of telegraphic materials. For this he and his superior officers have the privilege of sending telegrams free throughout the Regency and to La Calle, but nowhere else.

The Arabic language does not lend itself very easily to telegraphy; every message must therefore be transmitted in French or some other European tongue. It may easily be imagined what an engine of political power this might become in case of need.

We had occasion to send a few telegrams to our friends at Algiers and Tunis. This is generally a very commonplace operation; we were hardly prepared to see the official rush out of his den, shake us warmly by the hand, as if we had been life-long friends, and volunteer to conduct us all over the place. His existence is a dreary one, and the presence of European travellers an opportunity for a little conversation in his own language too precious to be lost. He was exceedingly civil and attentive to us, and we enjoyed his society quite as much as he did ours.

The Bey has just granted a concession to the French Company of Batignolles for the construction of a railway from Tunis to El-Badja, and so on to the Algerian frontier, following the course of the Medjerda. This will be joined to the existing line between Bone and Guelma by a branch passing through Souk Ahras, and it will probably entail the extension of that line as far as Ain Beida and Tebessa. This concession was offered in the first instance to an English company, and, wisely I think, declined by them. No guarantee of interest has been given, but instead, the Government of the Bey has conceded the lead mines of Djebba to the company, together with the buildings and plant which had formerly been erected for working them.

[238]CHAPTER XXIX.

ROUTE FROM EL-BADJA TO TABARCA.

My original plan had been to cross the Algerian frontier at El-Kef, and so proceed northwards to La Calle. But a paragraph in the last commercial report of my colleague, Mr. Wood, H.M. Agent and Consul-General at Tunis, induced me to modify my plans.

He says:—‘The Kabyles inhabit the mountains between the Pashalik of Tripoli and the Regency of Tunis to the south, as well as the ranges forming the western boundary which divides Tunis from Algiers. The former are docile and submissive when compared with the Kabyles of the west, who barely recognise the authority of Government. These latter are jealous, suspicious, and inhospitable. They allow no foreigner (not even an Arab) to visit their mountain fastnesses, which are protected by rugged ascents, and surrounded by the densest of forests. No approximate estimate can be possibly arrived at as to their numbers; but we know that they are able to bring 18,000 fighting men to the battle field.’

This tallied exactly with the information I had received from all other sources, and in Algeria to cross the frontier near La Calle was believed to be impossible.

But I had travelled a good deal amongst the Kabyles of Algeria, both in the Djurdjura range and in the Aures Mountains, and I was rather incredulous as to their extreme ferocity. At all events, I determined to make the experiment, and my companion was quite as eager as I was.

On our arrival at El-Badja we communicated our plans to the Kaid, who strongly dissuaded us from attempting even to reach Tabarca by land, but on our declaring that we would only abandon the idea on his formally assuring us that it was impossible and refusing us permission to make the attempt, he so far gave in as to admit that the route from El-Badja to Tabarca might be practicable, but any idea of penetrating the country of the Khomair must be dismissed from our minds as an impossibility. We discussed the question fully over our coffee, M. Gandolphe and the Miralai[239] entertained us with a duet recounting the terrible atrocities of which this ferocious tribe had been guilty; their ignorant and savage nature was such that the moment they saw a European they fired upon him without further question, under the impression that he was a wild beast. Jews had been allowed to pass, but their squalid and filthy dress so nearly approached that of the Khomair themselves as to excite no suspicion; in fact, we were rushing upon our doom, and they washed their hands of the whole transaction. We compromised matters by accepting the Kaid’s offer of two extra spahis to escort us, and we telegraphed to beg the French Commandant at La Calle to send us a boat to Tabarca, in the event of our having to abandon the idea of reaching his station by land.

We left El-Badja at six o’clock on April 25; the weather had been unsettled for several days, but the rain had generally fallen at night only, and as it had poured continuously for the past twelve hours, we entertained strong hopes that it would clear up on this occasion also. We packed our luggage with extra care, covered the mule bearing Kingston’s precious photographic apparatus with a waterproof sheet, and bade an affectionate farewell to our amiable host.

The country through which we passed was extremely rich and well cultivated, and the scenery grander than anything we had yet seen, but the weather was so bad that it quite spoiled the enjoyment of our journey; the rain fell in torrents, and the wind was so high that we could with difficulty keep our seats in passing over some of the most exposed hill-sides. This was no great hardship for us, our excellent waterproofs kept out every drop of moisture; but the poor spahis, with their woollen bernouses were in a far less happy frame of mind. It is true that these are nearly as impervious to rain as indiarubber cloaks, but they become very heavy when wet, and as they have also to serve as bedclothes during the night, it is a serious matter to have them thoroughly saturated during the day. They would fain have turned back before we had been out half an hour; but, as we were determined to advance at all hazards, they could not but accompany us.

At about 13 miles from El-Badja the mountains approach in front, and a stream forces its way through a narrow and well-wooded pass called Khanga Kef et-Toot, or pass of the mulberry tree hill. The river was very much swollen when we crossed it. I feel sure that an hour later it must have been unfordable. In the pass is a hot spring, but it was absorbed into the general torrent, and we could not distinguish it.

This is the entrance to the district of Nefsa, a region even more fertile, better cultivated and more thickly peopled than that we had just passed through; in addition it has the charm of being well wooded, principally with wild olive trees.

During the whole of this day’s ride we observed no traces of Roman occupation[240] nor did the enquiries we made of the Arabs we met elicit any satisfactory evidence that such exist off the line of our route, except near the sea coast; they assured us, however, that there were some remarkable caves in the mountains, most probably those described by Peyssonnel, who, when visiting the French factory at Cape Negro, says:—

‘I accompanied the assistants who went hunting in the territories occupied by an Arab nation called Nevesins (Nefsaouin, or people of Nefsa), five leagues from Cape Negro, on the way to Bega. On the road we went to see the holes in the mountains cut with chisels in the living rock. They have an entrance of three feet square, and inside the height is five feet, and about the same length and breadth. It is believed that these are hermitages of the primitive Christians, but this is not my opinion, for how could the hermits have been at the expense of cutting the rocks of this size and regularity?

‘Moreover, these holes are all near towns; close to those of which I am speaking, we saw the remains of a village; and I observed other similar ones in the neighbourhood of the ancient Tabarca. Neither cross nor other emblem of Christianity is found there. I saw some on the scarped face of the rock at an elevation of fifteen or twenty feet, one above the other, and it was impossible to enter the higher ones without a ladder. Some are very small, others are double, so that at the end of one there is a second smaller one. In the inside are small niches, similar to those which I have observed in the mausoleums which I have had the honour of alluding to,[231] and this makes me suppose that these holes were meant to receive dead bodies, and that they were shut up with large square stones.’[232]

There is strong reason for supposing that these are sepulchral chambers similar to the caves at Roknia, and the subject is one deserving the attention of a future traveller. There can be little doubt that the opening of the railway to El-Badja will render this country more easy of access, and less hazardous than it is at present.

We had intended spending the night with the Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasr, chief of the Oulad Nasr, whose douar is on the left or western bank of the Oued Malah (salt river), but when we reached the right bank we found it so swollen that we were reluctantly compelled to abandon the attempt to cross it that night. Fortunately there was a douar belonging to Sheikh bou Real (the father of a piastre) at no great distance, and, seeing our trouble, he offered us the most ungrudging hospitality. The Arabs of this country do not as a rule inhabit tents; their abodes are houses with a permanent wooden framework, roofed with reeds, rushes and straw, with walls of[241] hurdle work, so tightly plaited as to be tolerably impervious to the wind, and quite so to the rain—two or three such houses, according to the wealth of the owner, are surrounded by a low fence of dry thorns, and an aggregation of several such within one common enclosure constitutes the douar.

Our host was evidently a person of some importance; his house was forty feet long by twenty broad, divided longitudinally into two portions. That to the right was raised about eighteen inches above the other, and constituted the family residence and general storeroom. Near one end sacks of wheat were piled up to the roof, forming a partition, behind which the ladies of the family retreated at night. Outside of this were two or three platforms of loose planks on wooden trestles, intended as places of refuge from the main body of the fleas, who usually take possession of the place; on these we slept in tolerable comfort, thanks to the priceless discovery we made, that by tucking the trousers inside the stockings, those disagreeable neighbours are to a great extent circumvented.

We were rather a numerous company, and the space on which it was possible to lie was limited, but we were thankful for any shelter, and when we could not sleep, it was a comforting thing to hear the wind howling around us, and the rain pattering on the roof, and to think what our condition would have been, had we been obliged to pitch our tent on the sodden ground outside. The lower division of the house served as the stable; generally it was filled with our host’s own animals, but he hospitably turned these into the yard in order to accommodate our horses and mules. This arrangement is not without its advantages and disadvantages; it was not pleasant to wade through the liquid manure with which it was carpeted; but, on the other hand, this ‘matter misplaced’ remained there, and could not flow uphill to our beds.

The ladies of the house were not very well pleased at being turned out of their ordinary sleeping-place, and were at first inclined to be sulky; but a little delicate attention to the baby, who was suffering from whooping cough, and a few presents of money, sugar and biscuits to themselves, produced the never-failing result, and they soon became quite devoted to us, and showed their affection by gifts of eggs, milk and dry brushwood to keep up the fire.

The Khalifa or substitute of the Kaid of El-Badja happened to be in the vicinity collecting arrears of revenue. As soon as he heard of our arrival, he came to pay us a visit, pressed us to return with him to his tents, which were a mile or two off, and offered to make us far more comfortable than we could be here; but we had already unpacked, and the weather was not such as to tempt us abroad again. So he accepted our excuses, and having caused abundant supplies of straw and barley to be brought, he remained with us till our departure.

[242]Next morning we rejoiced to hear that the river had sunk sufficiently during the night to be now fordable, but the weather was still bad, and there was every prospect that, should it commence to rain again, the torrent would become as bad as ever.

We therefore started very early, taking especial care to see to the security of our loads, and accompanied by all the men of the village, by whose aid we were soon landed on the further bank of the river.

Here we were met by the Sheikh Abdulla, who pressed us most warmly to spend a day at his douar, but we were obliged to decline, as our time was limited, and we knew not what difficulties might still lie before us. He excused himself from accompanying us in person to Tabarca, as there was a mortal feud between his people and those of Mekna, further west, and though both professed to be the dutiful subjects of the Bey, there had been war between themselves for generations. It was only about a fortnight before, that a party of each tribe had met on the neutral ground between them, and one man of Mekna had been killed. He, however, found us a man belonging to another tribe, who undertook to guide us to the douar of the Sheikh of Mekna.

At the douar of Sheikh Abdulla commences a tract of country, in some places 12 miles broad and tapering to a point westward at Tabarca, called by the natives Belad er-Ramel, country of sand, or Ramel es-Safra, yellow sand. This has been engulfed by the sea-sand, which is advancing imperceptibly but irresistibly in a south-easterly direction, blown by the prevailing north-west winds from the beach.

There is no uncertain line of demarcation between it and the rich forest-land beyond; it ends abruptly in a high bank, sometimes rising like a cliff 30 feet high, sometimes sloping gradually down a valley, like a glacier, but always advancing and swallowing up the vegetation in its course. In some places it is absolutely destitute of any plants; in others broom and tufts of diss grass occur, while a few peaks higher than the general level, or some valleys sheltered from the north-west, appear like islands of verdure in this sea, or oases in this desert, of sand.

It is very interesting to watch the process by which it advances; this was quite visible even after the heavy rains which preceded our visit, and which had rendered the surface comparatively hard. It must be much more marked when the surface is dry. On placing the eye so that the edge of the sand-hill stands out in relief against the sky, a distinct haze, caused by minute particles of sand in motion, is observable, and sand and sky appear to be shaded off into each other.

The contrast between this scene of desolation and the glorious forest-land beyond, lightened up with patches of cultivation and broad grassy slopes, is most striking. After passing the sandy district, which is neutral ground between the two hostile[243] tribes, the road passes through the forest, at a place called Sook et-Toork. The trees are of considerable size, consisting of wild olive, evergreen and deciduous oak, aspen and juniper, while the under shrub is of broom, heath and bracken.

A short ride brought us to the head-quarters of Sheikh Murad, head of the Mekna tribe (pl. Amakin). This good man was by no means glad to see us, and did not even offer us a drink of milk, but after some persuasion he sent his Khalifa to conduct us to Tabarca, and show us the best means of crossing the river there, if indeed the operation were possible, which he doubted.

His fears were too well founded: when we reached the right bank of the Oued el-Kebir, which enters the sea close to the island of Tabarca, we found it a deep and rapid river, over which no animal, far less a laden mule, could pass. And although we saw the island and the Bey’s fort not a mile beyond us, we had no alternative but to turn round and seek the hospitality of some douar of the dreaded tribe of Khomair. Our escort looked grave: but as long experience had taught us that they were extremely brave where there was no danger, insolent and exacting when they were sure of meeting with no resistance, but meek as lambs amongst such as set their master the Bey’s authority at defiance, and were little likely to brook interference from them, we paid little heed to their forebodings, and under the guidance of the Khalifa of Mekna, we went up to one of the largest douars in sight, and claimed hospitality for the night.

We appeared to be regarded with some distrust, nothing like a cordial welcome was accorded to us, but the owner of the hut placed it at our service. It was not more than fifteen feet square, reeking with foul odours, the ground splashing with liquid manure, and our party consisted of ten persons besides ourselves. The family of the host added four or five women and children to the number, so we felt that it would be quite impossible for all to spend the night within the building. In spite, therefore, of the glances of alarm which the proposition elicited from our escort, we insisted on pitching our own tent in the vicinity. No sooner was this done, and we had commenced to prepare our dinner of preserved meat with the aid of a spirit lamp, than a great circle of wild-looking fellows gathered around us and watched our movements with wondering gravity. They allowed us to eat our meal without interruption, which done, we commenced to amuse them by the exhibition of compasses, barometers, tricks with pocket-handkerchiefs and string, and my companion, who is an unerring shot, astonished them by the accuracy of his aim. I do not think, however, that it was until we produced a pot of jam, and distributed it to the assembly, that we entirely succeeded in gaining their affections. Suddenly they all thawed in a most amusing manner, and we became the best possible friends. They declared that we[244] must never leave them; they would give us land and sheep—and as for wives! the full number of four each was at our disposal on the most reasonable terms. They at once offered to escort us by land to La Calle, or to take us to any part of their country we pleased to visit, and we felt that the pacific conquest of the dreaded Khomair had been accomplished.

The Oued el-Kebir, which in part of its course is known as the Oued ez-Zan, or river of oak-trees, is the ancient Tusca, which formed the boundary between the Roman province of Africa and Numidia. It continued to be the boundary of the native states which succeeded the Roman occupation, and eventually between the pachaliks of Algiers and Tunis. After the French occupation of Algeria the limit was fixed in its present position, considerably further west.

In some maps it is also called the Oued Barbar; such a name is quite unknown at the present day, but it is given, no doubt, on the authority of Marmol, who accompanied the expedition of Charles V. to Africa, and having for twenty years followed the standard of that Emperor, was subsequently taken prisoner, and remained seven years and eight months in captivity in North Africa. He says:—

‘The Hued-yl-Barbar is another great river, which has its source in the great Atlas, near the town of Lorbus, in the kingdom of Tunis, and makes so many turnings and windings in these mountains that travellers who go from Bone to Tunis pass it twenty-five times, and during all this course it has neither a bridge nor a boat. At the end of its course it enters the sea, near the port of Taburc, at six leagues from the town of Begge’ (El-Badja).[233]

The valley in which it flows is unsurpassed for fertility and beauty; it is hardly possible to conceive one better suited for colonisation, or a locality which could more easily be made a centre of agricultural and industrial prosperity. It is about two miles wide at Tabarca, and stretches far away among the mountains to an unknown distance. It is flat, covered with rich crops and pasture, and dotted throughout its whole extent with fine trees. It is traversed by three streams; the main one is the Oued el-Kebir, the ancient Tusca, the eastern one the Oued es-Sahila, and the western one the Oued el-Ahmer. At present it is perfectly pestiferous, and the mortality amongst the troops stationed at Tabarca is alarming, although the men are relieved every two or three months. Ever since we crossed the Oued Zergäa, on our way to El-Badja, we had met small groups of fever-stricken wretches who had formed part of the garrison here, and who were going back to Tunis to recruit their health. We never failed to get an affirmative answer when we put the question on passing them, ‘Are you from Tabarca?’

[245]The reason, however, is so obvious, and the remedy so simple, that one cannot help wondering why the natives have never attempted it in their own interests. The district which I have already described as the ‘Country of Sand’ commences at Tabarca, and forms a range of sandhills right across the mouth of the valley, except at the one point where the rivers converge and fall into the sea. The valley is so flat that there is no natural drainage into the rivers which traverse it; the consequence is that rain water has no means of escaping to the sea, the land becomes a swamp, and remains so during a great portion of the year, till dried up by solar evaporation. While this operation is being carried on by nature, the inevitable result, malarious fever, is felt in an unusual degree.

When any great and sudden epidemic visits the country, it finds this district thoroughly prepared for its reception. The Abbé Poiret, who visited Tabarca just after Desfontaines in 1785, gives a harrowing account of the ravages committed by the plague during the previous year. Whole tribes were swept away, and the Turkish garrison perished, with the exception of five or six soldiers; the island was twice entirely depeopled, and the harvests were lost for want of labour to gather them in, while flocks of sheep and goats strayed all over the country without any owners to claim them.[234]

A few ditches, so cut as to direct the surface waters into the streams which traverse the plain, would soon remedy this evil, and convert the valley into what it ought to be, one of the finest and most salubrious districts in the Regency. It possesses every condition necessary to ensure prosperity, extensive corn and meadow land, capable of irrigation in summer; numerous flocks and herds; an unusually fine race of horses; an inexhaustible supply of the finest timber, especially oak; cork forests, and, above all, proximity to the sea, and an easy and secure anchorage, at least for small vessels.

There can be no doubt that the country is rich in minerals. A specimen of lead ore was picked up near Tabarca and brought to me. I submitted it for analysis to the English mining company at Ain Barbar, from which I have received a report that it contains 72·70 per cent. of lead, and that each ton of mineral contains 150 grammes, or 5 ounces of silver.

M. Peyssonnel (1724) mentions having visited a lead mine in this neighbourhood on his way from Cape Negro to Badja. He states: ‘We saw on our road, at about five leagues from Cape Negro, a mine of lead very abundant. The Moors, who worked it, stated that it had been opened by the ancient Christians. At the entrance[246] to the quarry was a piece of marble, with a horse in bas-relief. We stopped at the place where they melted the lead. They mix the ore with wood in bad furnaces made with clay, and thus separate the metal very imperfectly.’[235]

The plain is covered with remains of Roman occupation. We observed no inscriptions, but Peyssonnel records four epitaphs[236] which existed in his time, and which are probably there still, so little has this district been visited by Europeans during the past century.

[247]CHAPTER XXX.

TABARCA.

Early in the morning of April 27 we started for Tabarca. The Oued el-Kebir had fallen several feet during the night, and, though the operation was not an easy one, we managed to get across in safety, by the aid of a number of Khomair on foot and on horseback, who went over several times before us so as to tread down the soft mud in the bed of the river into something like consistency.

After passing this, a short gallop over soft elastic turf brought us to the sea-shore facing the island of Tabarca. We found that the boat we expected had not arrived; the bad weather of the last few days had not only prevented its reaching, but had compelled a number of coral boats to take refuge in the anchorage, so that there was an unusual amount of life and stir about the little place.

We were informed that on the previous evening an Arab had come with a letter for me from the Commandant Supérieur of La Calle, but finding that nothing was known of our intended arrival he had returned with it, and we were of course quite ignorant of its contents. We ascertained afterwards that it was to beg us to proceed by the sea-coast overland so as to avoid as far as possible the interior of the Khomair country, and saying that he would meet us and offer us the hospitality of his camp at the frontier. Had we received this letter, we should doubtless have accepted his invitation, but we should have lost the most pleasant and instructive ride in the whole of our wanderings.

I think I have frequently recorded my impression, that some feature of the landscape was more attractive than any we had seen before, and in fact this was literally the case. Our route was so well planned, commencing in the hot and uninteresting plains of the Sahel, passing through the smiling hills of the Tell, and culminating in the magnificent mountains of Nefsa and the Khomair, that each day’s ride was more picturesque than the one before it.

The island of Tabarca lies close to the shore, the strait by which it is separated[248] is about a quarter of a mile broad at the west end, widening to nearly a mile at the eastern extremity. It has a small harbour, much frequented by coral boats when the weather is too rough to permit them to pursue their avocations at sea, and vessels of a larger size sometimes come under the shelter of the island to the east.

It is about 400 feet high, rising to a peak in the middle, on which are the picturesque ruins of a mediæval castle. There are no permanent residents save the Miralai commanding the troops, who occupies the only habitable room in the castle, and an Italian, Signor Lancella, who acts as agent of the Bey and supplies the fishing boats with such provisions as they require.

In ancient times Thabraca was a Roman colony; and after the defeat of Gildon, under whose yoke Africa had groaned for twelve years, by his brother Mascezel, the former endeavoured to effect his escape by sea, but being driven by contrary winds into the harbour of Tabarca, he was taken prisoner and put an end to his life by hanging himself, in A.D. 398.

El-Edrisi (1154) speaks of it as a strong maritime place moderately peopled, and the environs of which are infested by miserable Arabs, who have no friends, and who protect none. It was even then a port of refuge much frequented by Spanish vessels engaged in the coral fishery.

The manner of fishing was exactly the same as at the present day. He says: ‘They fish by means of implements, to which are attached numerous bags, made of hemp. These are put in motion, the threads become entangled in the coral, upon which the fishermen pull up the instruments and extract the coral in great abundance.’[237]

In 1535 took place the celebrated expedition of Charles V. against Tunis. On the conclusion of peace the perpetual right of fishing for coral was conceded to the Spaniards.

About the same period Jean Dorea, nephew of the celebrated Andrea Dorea, captured on the coast of Corsica the no less celebrated Algerian corsair Draguth. On the partition of the spoil he fell to the share of one of the Lomellini family of Genoa, which exacted as the price of his ransom the cession of Tabarca. This was granted by Kheir-ed-din, and confirmed by the Porte.

The Lomellini came to an agreement with Charles V., who undertook the fortification and defence of the island, and built the citadel still existing, principally with the stones of the ancient city on the mainland. The Genoese agreed to pay five per cent. on all the commerce, which they made. Soon, however, the Spaniards neglected to keep up the works or pay the garrison, and the flag of Genoa was substituted for[249] that of Spain, and though the governor was still named by the latter power, he was obliged to render his accounts to the Lomellini.

The inhabitants of the mainland owned allegiance neither to the Bey of Tunis nor to the Dey of Algiers.

Peyssonnel visited it in 1724, when it was occupied by the Genoese. He describes in detail the fortifications armed with bronze cannon, bearing the arms of Lomellini, which he says ‘make the island strong and sure, and in a condition neither to fear the Turks nor the Arabs of Barbary.’ It was inhabited by Genoese, and had a garrison of 100 soldiers, 350 coral fishers, 50 porters with their families, making a total population of 1,500 men.[238]

Near it was the trading station of Cape Negro, which was first founded by private French merchants. It was subsequently taken by the Spaniards, was for a short time occupied by the English, but from 1686 till its destruction it belonged to the French. At first there was a separate company charged with its concerns, called La Compagnie du Cap Nègre, but it eventually merged into the Compagnie d’Afrique, which established its head-quarters originally at the Bastion de France, in 1609, and moved to La Calle in 1681. The establishment at Cape Negro consisted of a director or governor, four or five assistants, a chaplain, doctor and about eighty subordinate employés. The principal trade consisted of cereals, wax, oil and hides.

Large quantities of wheat were exported to France, especially when there was a failure of crops in that country, and in consequence this establishment was regarded as of the greatest national importance.[239]

In 1728 the Lomellini family ceded the full sovereignty of the island to one of its members, Jacques de Lomellini, for 200,000 livres, and a branch of coral every year, valued at 50 piastres.

In 1741, during the war which M. Gautier, the Consul of France, brought about between his country and Tunis, the latter took possession of the island.

The Consul had incurred the displeasure of the Bey on account of a scandalous affair in which the former was mixed up, and on the occasion of a public audience he was openly insulted by the Bey, who said: ‘I am the friend of your master, but not of bullies like you—leave my presence!’[240]

While war was impending between France and Tunis, on account of this outrage, a rumour reached the Bey that the Genoese were in treaty to cede Tabarca to the French Company, which very naturally viewed with jealous feelings the possession by any other nation of so important a trading post between its two factories. He therefore[250] determined to take it himself, before it should pass into the hands of his enemy, and for that purpose despatched a force of eight vessels to attack it by sea, while his brother Yoonus co-operated by land.

The Governor of the island was induced to venture on board the ship of the Tunisian commander, when he was at once arrested, and this spread such a panic amongst the garrison that they did not even attempt any serious resistance.

A part of the inhabitants, about 500 in number, effected their escape to La Calle, and thence proceeded to the island of San Pietro to the south-west of Sardinia, then uninhabited, where their descendants exist to the present day under the name of Tabarcini, and still pursue the coral fishery, as well as aid in loading vessels arriving at their port of Carloforte for minerals.

The Tunisian historian, Hadj Hamouda ben Abd el-Aziz, says that 900 men, women and children were taken as slaves to Tunis,[241] and their descendants still form an intermediate population between the Christians from Europe and the native Mohammedans.

After the capture of the island, Sidi Yoonus caused the defensive works to be destroyed, with the exception only of the castle built by Charles V. He also connected the island to the mainland by means of a causeway,[242] but this has long since disappeared, though some of the masonry can still be seen under water when the sea is clear.

After Bruce had left Algiers in 1765, he visited the island and proposed to the Ministry of the day to obtain possession of it as a station for the British trade in the Mediterranean. He remarked:—

M. Desfontaines, who travelled in Tunis from 1783 to 1786, was equally desirous, that this island should be taken possession of by the Government of France, and expressed his conviction that it would be more useful for his country than Port Mahon was for the English, and that, were it occupied, France would be able to lay down the law throughout the Mediterranean, and that England would be excluded and lose the Levant trade.

On the mainland opposite to the island are several ruins of European construction, and on the hill above, a modern fort, occupied by a detachment of troops from Tunis. Traces of Roman occupation exist in the plain, but no remains of any importance, and we could hear of no inscriptions.

[251]CHAPTER XXXI.

FROM TABARCA TO LA CALLE.

We made a very short stay at Tabarca, only just long enough to obtain the assistance of the Miralai in command to find some trustworthy member of the Khomair tribe to guide us to La Calle, and by his influence to protect us on our way. He induced a highly respected sheikh, Si el-Hadj Hassan, to accompany us, and three of his followers joined us as an escort. We absolutely declined to allow any of the Government hanbas or the Kaid of Badja’s spahis to be of the party, as we were well aware that they were held in small favour, and could render no assistance in these mountains. Throughout our journey they had proved a perfect incubus to us, and though it is impossible to travel in the Bey’s dominion without them, they greatly interfere with the traveller’s enjoyment, and make him painfully conscious that, do what he will, unnecessary exactions are being levied on poor people on his account. In my case this evil was very much lessened by my being able to communicate directly with the natives, but a traveller ignorant of Arabic is entirely in their hands and at their mercy.

There are two roads between Tabarca and La Calle, one by the sea coast, which the Commandant was anxious for us to follow. It has the advantage of being short, though difficult for laden mules, and as it passes through a country almost uninhabited the traveller is less likely to be interfered with by the Khomair. The other is through the very heart of their country, much longer, and in every way more interesting, but it would be quite impossible for a Christian to traverse it without being assured of protection beforehand. This was the unknown region we were anxious to explore, and through which, as far as I am aware, no European has ever passed.

The tribe of Khomair, as the name is usually pronounced—more correctly Akhmair in the plural, and Khomairi in the singular—is one of the largest and most important in the Bey’s dominions. We could not form any accurate estimate of its number, but by all accounts it must have at least 20,000 fighting men, if not more.[252] They are ready enough to admit the suzerainty of the Bey, and to style him Saidna, our Lord, so long as their allegiance is confined to this act, but they steadily refuse to permit any interference on his part with their internal government, and pay no taxes or contributions of any kind. On the contrary, their Sheikhs expect to be subsidised by him, and do actually receive presents of Kisowa, or raiment, from time to time.

Our guide assured us that the country was overrun at one time by lions and leopards, and that red deer were very common. Persons still living have seen all three, but now they are entirely extinct. This is the more extraordinary, as in the comparatively civilised districts of Algeria, bordering on the Tunisian frontier, lions are still found, panthers are common, and the red deer exists in considerable numbers amongst the forests and mountains of the Beni Salah.

Peyssonnel, in speaking of the country between La Calle and Bone, says: ‘As this country is full of lions, tigers, bears, and other wild animals, the flocks of the Arabs are often disturbed, and even the Arabs themselves are not safe in their tents, so that they are obliged to place sentinels, who cry out during all the night, and cause the dogs to bark, in order to frighten away these savage and ferocious animals. The lion, the king of beasts, is not so cruel or so much to be feared as is supposed. He rarely attacks men, still Arabs are found here who have fought and killed lions with their knives, after having received numerous wounds, which these terrible animals have inflicted with their claws and teeth. On the sea coast, where there are woods and quantities of wild boars and deer on which the lions feed, these are less dangerous than in the mountains.’[243]

The tigers here mentioned are probably panthers, or some other of the felines found in Algeria. Bears have long been extinct, although the bones of several species have been found in the cave of Djebel Thaya, and the Abbé Poiret, a zealous and accurate naturalist, saw the skin of one brought in during a visit he paid to Bordj Ali Bey, near La Calle, in 1785.[244] The red deer have quite disappeared from the coasts, indeed from every part of Algeria and Tunis, except in the territory of the Beni Salah.

The following interesting remarks on this subject are taken from the Mémoires of the Archæological Society of Constantine for the past year:—

‘While Captain Sergent occupied the position of chief of the Bureau Arabe at Jemmapes, he collected information of the greatest possible interest on the subject of the recent disappearance of the bear.

‘At the commencement of this century the bear was found all over the mountains situated north of Azeba, between the two rivers of Saf-Saf and Oued el-Kebir. It has gradually disappeared from that country, until then inhabited, consequent on the[253] migration of the tribes, who occupied it, elsewhere. The Beni Mahenna have retained the remembrance of a great number of hunters, who passed their lives in pursuing the deer and the bear, on the crests, covered with arbutus, between Djebel ben-Alia and Bou-Kseïba. The most celebrated of these was Ali En-Nahel, belonging to the tribe of Oulad Ataï; several others are also cited by name.

‘There are numerous sayings which perpetuate the remembrance of the bear. Such an one is said to be as rude as a bear, he grumbles like a bear. Rivers, rocks, springs, and even trees have retained the name of this animal, such as Oued Deb, Geläat ed-Deb, Ain ed-Debba, &c. The bear, moreover, is said still to be found in the mountains of Morocco. From an archæological point of view the bear also deserves our attention; like all the great animals of Africa known to the ancients, it figures in the mosaics and on the earthen lamps preserved in our museums.’

The remarks of Bruce before quoted[245] with reference to the Oulad Sidi Bou Ghanim, were equally applicable to the Khomair; one of the reasons of their exemption from taxation was their utility in killing lions. At the present day they are no longer required to destroy wild animals, but they readily admit the obligation under which they lie to guard the frontier in their lord’s interests against all comers, and so well do they perform this duty, that I am not aware of any Europeans having been permitted to pass through it but ourselves.

There is a general opinion that this tribe is of Berber origin. I am not aware of any direct authority for this hypothesis. There is, of course, a strong presumption that the original Berber stock would have lingered in a purer condition in these inhospitable mountains, than in other parts of the country more liable to be overrun by the Arab conquerors. The Khomair are tall and stalwart fellows, with a bold and fearless demeanour, very different to that of the Arab of the present day; but these are characters which their wild and active life could hardly fail to engraft on any stock; they do not claim any affinity with the Kabyles or Chawia, they speak no other language than Arabic, and we saw no traces amongst them of light hair, blue eyes, or a fair European complexion, such as are so frequently met with both in the Aures Mountains and in the Kabylia of Djurdjura. When pressed to give an account of their origin, they universally declared themselves to be of Arab descent, but that their forefathers came from the Gharab, or West, somewhere in the kingdom of Morocco.

Ibn Khaldoun, in his history of the Berbers,[246] makes no allusion to this tribe, though he mentions an Arab one, the name of which is somewhat similar in its European guise, though totally different in Arabic, the Ghomara inhabiting the mountains of the Riff country. He derives their name from the root غَمَرَ to overflow,[254] on account of the manner in which they, being Arabs, overran the Berber country. He says that they are broken up into an innumerable number of branches and families all over the country, and are found even as far as Tripoli. It is hardly possible that these races can be identical, for although there are certain letters in the Arabic language susceptible of transposition, it is unlikely that the خ kh should ever take the place of غ gh.

Berbers do exist in this valley; we met numbers of the Kabyle race of Zoaoua (whence the modern word Zouave) whose ancestors came from the Kabylia of Djurdjura to take military service under the Government of the Bey; these men were the Swiss of Africa, and went all over the country, as far even as the Pentapolis, as mercenary soldiers.

We had spent the previous evening in a most pleasant and instructive manner amongst our new friends, and were delighted at the idea of passing through their country to La Calle, and perhaps of returning on some future occasion to explore it more thoroughly. As we suspected, the tales of their barbarity and ferocity were very greatly exaggerated; at the same time, I confess I should not like to go far into their country without being accompanied by an influential member of the tribe, who would be responsible for my safety.

We started from Tabarca at 9·15 a.m., and followed the left bank of the Oued el-Ahmer (Red River), the most westerly of the three which drain the valley of the Oued el-Kebir. We proceeded in a south-westerly direction along a tolerably well-cleared path, made by the Tunisian Government for the purpose of bringing timber down to the coast. Even in the driest weather there is always a considerable body of water in the river, and now it was swollen by several days’ hard rain. Beautiful rills and mountain streams descended at every few hundred yards to add their tribute to the torrent; the banks were in some places clothed with ivy and ferns, and everywhere densely shaded by handsome trees, ilex, chêne zan (Quercus Mirbeckii), aspens, and hawthorns of such gigantic stature as fully to merit the appellation of forest trees; while the ground was carpeted with a profusion of wild flowers of every hue—blue pimpernel, centaury, valerian, pink and white cistus, myrtles, wild roses and yellow broom.

Instead of the koubbas so common in other parts of the country, the tombs of holy men are here marked by a few stones, broken pots, and one or two white flags stuck amongst them. The first that we met was that of Sidi Bou Firnan (My Lord, the father of cork oaks), who had possessed a number of these useful trees before his beatitude. As our guide passed his rustic shrine, he stopped a moment, held his hands open as if they were a book, and muttered a short prayer. The good Hadj is a holy man himself;[255] he has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and is delighted to find that I have been to Arabia, and have visited Jerusalem and especially Kerouan, next to Mecca and Medina, the most holy city in the eyes of Western Mohammedans. He is never tired of telling everyone he meets the marvellous tale, and of communicating the fact that the English are the most faithful friends the Sultan has, and are almost Mohammedans themselves. It is not in the heart of the Khomair country, that one would try to controvert this theory of his.

After having ridden for about five miles, we crossed the Oued el-Ahmer, and entered a country called El-Baiadha, now a moor of tree heath, but once a great forest, as the blackened stumps of trees, destroyed by fire, attest. Here and there a few Aleppo pines and junipers are still found, and on the summit of the hill, about 1,100 feet above the sea, and under a gigantic oak, we observed the first appearance of Roman colonisation in this district. Only a few cut stones remain, but there could be no doubt regarding their origin.

We now descended into the valley of the Oulad Sidera, which runs in a north-easterly direction for a distance of fifteen or twenty miles. We entered it at about the broadest part, where it had a width of rather more than a mile. A short distance lower down the hills converge, forming a narrow gorge called Khangat el-Hadeed, or the iron pass; but as our route lay in an opposite direction, we were unable to examine it. Beyond it again appeared the high peak of Djebel Atatfa, but the hills which bound the valley itself appear to have no other name than that of the tribe which inhabits them.

If a poet or a painter wished to depict a valley ‘sacred to sweet peace,’ he could do no better than take for his model that of the Oulad Sidera. It is admirably cultivated throughout, and from every direction beautiful sparkling streams join the river, which flows along the bottom. The pasturage is rich and succulent, and the brilliant carmine of some of the clovers contrasted with the bright yellow of other species, nestling in a carpet of green, still fresh and wet with the late rains, added a richness to the landscape, which can nowhere be seen in a more northern country.

Not only by the river banks, but along the bottom of the hills, and indeed here and there throughout the whole course of the valley, are trees of very unusual size. As a rule, the cork oaks in Africa do not attain the dimensions they do in Spain; yet here we saw some not less than fifty or sixty feet high, and with trunks four feet in diameter. I also observed, what I had seen nowhere but at the Fontaine des Princes in the Forest of Edough, ancient trees of various kinds, the upper surface of whose branches was covered with a thick layer of moss, out of which grew masses of polypodium and other ferns. This is the best possible certificate of climate, for in a[256] locality subject to great heat or drought, especially in one exposed to the sirocco wind, such vegetation could not exist during a single summer.

The villages throughout the district we traversed were carefully concealed from observation, and sites have been chosen high up on the crests of the hills, with the double object, no doubt, of defence and economy of space. The huts are rude and squalid, built generally of branches of trees and diss grass, sometimes with a little plastering of mud. Near the upper end of the valley of the Oulad Sidera, under the shade of some grand old olive-trees, whose age it is impossible to conjecture, stand the remains of a Roman farm. The walls are still in some places fifteen feet high, built of small hammer-dressed stones, with finely-cut masonry at the angles, and here and there an upright course of similar stones in the walls. The building was rectangular, twenty-two paces long by twenty wide, regular in shape except at one corner, where was probably the entrance gate. The interior was so thickly overgrown with briars and weeds that we could detect no remains of partitions.

We saw other ruins further up, and heard of the existence of many more, so that there can be no doubt that even these inaccessible mountains must have been occupied in a serious manner by the Romans.

Peaceful and smiling as this valley seems, it is occupied by a sturdy and truculent race, whom one would rather meet as friends than as foes, and it is the refuge of all the unquiet spirits who have made the plains of Tunis or the frontiers of Algeria too hot to hold them. While we were examining the ruins I have just described, a party of ill-looking fellows kept creeping up to us, dodging from tree to tree, to escape as much as possible our observation. No sooner, however, did they see our friend the Hadj, than they seemed to conclude that all was right; they came forward at once and saluted him with great respect, kissing the palms of each others’ hands. Then I overheard a whispered conversation—

‘Who are they?’

‘English travellers going to La Calle.’

‘By the life of the Prophet, are they English?’

‘Certainly, or you would not have seen them with me. This one has been to Arabia, Jerusalem and Kerouan!’

‘Wallah! has he really?’

‘By the life of your head he has!’

This seemed to satisfy them entirely: we became excellent friends, and they allowed us to examine their arms and curious leathern pouches in the most affable manner. Each had a short straight sword, not much longer than an English drummer-boy’s, with an old-fashioned flint pistol; and two or three leathern bags[257] curiously worked, one containing flint and steel, another powder and ball, a third a small knife, and some had a larger one to contain miscellaneous articles. They laughed at our temerity in coming into their country, through which they assured us that no European had ever before passed; but as the English were such faithful friends of the Sultan, and in the habit of visiting holy places like Kerouan and Jerusalem—in fact, so nearly Mohammedans, we were welcome, and might go where we pleased. I laughingly asked them what they would have done had we been French. My friend gave a broad grin, and passed his forefinger across his throat in reply. Perhaps they might not have adopted such extreme measures; but it is quite certain, that there is not a man along the frontier line, who would permit a Frenchman to advance a step after he was observed; and even an Englishman would find it impossible to penetrate from Algeria. The Khomair are very like Arabs everywhere else when removed from civilisation, wild and fanatical while their suspicions are aroused, but as tractable as children when these are allayed. When a traveller can make them laugh, the victory is gained; hence our success with the pot of jam.

The disturbances in European Turkey had broken out not very long before our visit, and we were much interested to observe the eagerness with which they demanded news of ‘the Black Mountain,’ for under that designation they seemed to include all the disturbed districts; but though they were in a state of great excitement, and would no doubt have marched without the least hesitation to attack a body of Christians anywhere near, if thereby they could have aided in the Holy War, I doubt whether their love of the Sultan, or their attachment to El-Islam would have carried them the length of forming a contingent to go to the scene of war in his defence.

We had not a chance of forming an opinion of the fair sex in this happy valley; every woman, who observed us in the distance, fled into the woods affrighted at the unwonted spectacle.

About half-past two we arrived at the Oued Froor, a picturesque mountain stream, which marks the French frontier; we had some difficulty in getting our baggage animals across—several times their loads slipped off—and we had to enlist the assistance of some of the Khomair, whom we saw there, to enable us to cut a way through the thick brushwood on the Tunisian side. They were most obliging and willing to help us in our difficulties without the least expectation of reward. One of them asked our aid in his trouble—his brother had a wife and baby, the former of whom, on account of some matrimonial difference, had fled over the frontier, and would not listen to any proposition of reconciliation. We could only advise him to[258] apply to the French authorities, who are ever ready to lend their willing assistance in such matters.

Their rule on the frontier is extremely just and paternal. The hatred, with which they are regarded by such tribes as the Oulad Sidera, is the inevitable result of a well-organised system of government, coming into such close contact with savages unrestrained by any power save their own will.

Shortly after crossing the frontier we saw on our left, on the further side of a steep ravine, an important Roman ruin. Time would not permit us to inspect it closely, but it appeared to be either a fortress or a large agricultural establishment. The natives could not tell me whether it contained any inscribed stones, but they said that there were representations of rams and other animals sculptured on the walls. This is called by them El-Kasr, the palace, and the valley Oued el-Kasr. It is the spot marked on M. de St. Marie’s map as Ouksir R. R., but the configuration of the ground, and especially the course of the river, on this map are altogether incorrect.

The Oued Froor, where we passed it, flows in a south-easterly direction, but I had no means of ascertaining its ultimate course. It appeared to be an affluent of some other stream, which probably joins the Oued Oulad Sidera, and not to flow directly towards the Mediterranean.

The river of the Oulad Sidera flows in a similar direction, and is probably an affluent of the Oued el-Kebir in the upper part of its course.

The French have not shown their usual sagacity in fixing the boundaries of their colony, or rather I should say a desire to avoid even the appearance of encroaching on their neighbours, and perhaps some pressure from other European Powers, has induced them to abandon much valuable territory, which, if the prescription of eighteen centuries deserves to be taken into account, undoubtedly belonged to Algeria.

After the fall of Jugurtha, 106 B.C., the country between the east coast of Tunis and the Atlantic was divided into three provinces, Africa proper, Numidia and Mauritania. At subsequent periods these were further subdivided, but two great landmarks remained constant during all the political and geographical changes of North Africa—the river Tusca, or Oued el-Kebir, formed the eastern boundary of Numidia, and the Malua or Molochath, the modern Molouia, the western one of Mauritania Cæsariensis, dividing it from Tingitana, the present Empire of Morocco.

These boundaries continued, almost to the period of the French conquest, to limit the territory owning allegiance to the Dey of Algiers and the Bey of Constantine. When the present boundary question had to be settled, the French naturally claimed the line of the Tusca on the east; the Tunisians as stoutly contended that La Calle belonged to them; so a compromise was effected fixing Cape Roux as the[259] limit; about as unsatisfactory and undefined a frontier line as it is possible to conceive.

The same thing happened to the west. The French claimed the ancient line; the Moroccans demanded the Tafna, and, as a compromise, the Kiss was accepted—a small river which does not run more than twelve miles along the boundary line. This latter compromise was the less necessary as the country in dispute was actually in the military occupation of the French. The consequence is, that Algeria has no natural frontiers at all, and it has on either side of it one of the strongest, most warlike and most turbulent tribes in North Africa, the Khomair to the east and the Beni Snassen to the west.

Some little distance from where we crossed the frontier, not perhaps more than two miles in a direct line, though we traversed very much more ground to reach it, is a douar of Arabs; and a ruined stone building, called Bordj el-Aïoun, Castle of the Wells, from which a high road, very rough at first, but gradually improving, leads through a magnificent forest of cork oak to the copper mines of Kef Omm-et-Taboul, a large and prosperous establishment exporting 600,000 francs’ worth of mineral per annum, situated on the last slope of the mountain, and so past the fine fresh-water lake of Guerah el-Hout (lake of fish), along the plain to La Calle, where we arrived, men and beasts both thoroughly exhausted, at half-past eight at night. Our day’s march, measured on the map, was not perhaps more than from 28 to 30 miles, but we must have actually gone over at least 44 miles of ground. Our horses, which had borne us so bravely all the way from Susa, here gave in entirely; on the following day they were unable to move, but the baggage mules were as fresh as ever, and seemed absolutely incapable of fatigue.

La Calle is the nearest French town to the Tunisian frontier, and though it has a very small and inconvenient harbour, it is the headquarters of the coral-fishery, and a place daily rising in importance. The old town was contained within the present fortifications, built on a ridge of rocks about 400 yards long, surrounded by the sea, except on the east side, where a bank of sand 150 yards in length connects it with the land. A new town has been built on the mainland, and there is a project for creating a military port and harbour of refuge at a short distance to the west. A new and highly profitable branch of trade has sprung up within the last few years, the salting and preparation of sardines, which bids fair to become one of the staple industries of Algeria. But its former history interested us more than its actual condition. The traveller going from Bone to Tunis usually touches here for a short time, and it is right that he should know what an important part it once played in the relations between France and the Barbary States.

[260]The French Compagnie d’Afrique was established under Louis XIV. Its principal factory was at first established at the Bastion de France, and its object was to fish for coral and to purchase grain; in the latter pursuit it had as a rival an English company established at La Calle, but on its failure, the entire trade fell into the hands of the French, for which privilege, however, they were obliged to pay very heavy taxes to the Government of Algiers and the Bey of Constantine. Gradually, as the coral fisheries began to fail, the Company devoted itself more to commerce, and purchased large quantities of cereals, wool, leather and wax.

An interesting picture of life at La Calle is given by the Abbé Poiret, who travelled in Barbary from 1785 to 1786.

When he landed, the country round was being devastated by the plague, and the comptoir of the French jealously barricaded its gates to prevent all communication with the interior. The Arabs, irritated and jealous at seeing the Christians exempt from a disease which was committing such cruel ravages amongst themselves, tried by every means in their power to introduce the contagion. They buried plague-stricken corpses at the gates of La Calle, and they threw rags saturated with virus over the walls, and, independently of these secret attacks, a continued and open state of hostility seemed to prevail. La Calle was governed by an agent, having the title of governor, with about fifteen other officers under his direction. The Arabs were excluded from the place, with the exception of a few who were retained as hostages, or who were employed in manual labour. The inhabitants were from three to four hundred, mostly Corsicans and natives of Provence. Some were employed in the coral fishery; others, with the name of soldiers, were occupied in guarding the cattle when taken outside for pasture. Sometimes these same soldiers, in the guise of carters, were sent to the neighbouring forests to cut wood. Others, called frégataires, were occupied in loading vessels, transporting corn, cleaning the port, and similar works, and there was in addition a staff of bakers, blacksmiths, masons and other artificers. All these employés were paid, fed and lodged by the Company, but the fair sex was rigorously excluded. If sometimes the Governor was permitted to bring his wife, serious troubles were sure to result, and he was rarely able to keep her there for any length of time.

The climate was then exceedingly unhealthy. Violent fevers were of constant occurrence, which carried off their victims in four days, and the mortality amongst the employés was immense.

These were people of the worst character, as the Company received indiscriminately all applicants, without asking any questions. Most of them were convicts who had escaped from justice in France, men lost through libertinage and debauch, without principles of religion, or the least sentiment of probity.

At La Calle it was only the worst crimes of which any cognisance was taken, all[261] others were allowed to go without punishment, as the Governor had only the shadow of authority, and it was necessary to humour this nest of ruffians always ripe for revolt. In addition to the heavy taxes paid directly to the State, the Company was subjected to indirect taxation to an enormous extent, and was also subjected to the most humiliating restrictions. It was compelled to feed all the Arabs, who chose to present themselves. If an Arab killed a Christian he was liable to a fine of 300 piastres as blood money, which was never paid, but in the event of a Christian killing an Arab, he was forced to pay 500 piastres, which sum was exacted to the last farthing. The Company was not permitted to appoint its own interpreters; these were always named by the State, and the only qualification, that appeared to be required, was sufficient sagacity to enable him to betray the Christian.

In 1806 Mr. Blanckley, the British Consul-General at Algiers, contracted with the Dey for the possession of Bone and La Calle, which latter had been a century and a half in the hands of the French, whose contract had expired. 50,000 dollars, or 11,000l., was the sum agreed on as an annual rent. This was actually paid for some years, without any result following, save that of keeping out the French for a time.[247] La Calle was re-occupied by the French on July 15, 1836, shortly after the capture of Bone.

Here our journey may be said to have terminated; we dismissed our horses and attendants, bade adieu to our Khomair friends, who had accompanied us so far, and proceeded in an open boat to Bone, where we took the steamer to Algiers.

In these two journeys, though I have not actually followed the route of Bruce, I have visited every place of importance which he described, and, with the single exception of Hydra, I have examined and described every ruin which he drew, in Algeria and Tunis.

I could not spare time to follow him in the Belad el-Djerid and eastward to the Pentapolis. There I must leave him to tell his own tale, illustrating this as far as I can by the descriptions of more recent travellers. The temptation to follow him to Tripoli was very great, but I was reconciled to the impossibility of doing this by the knowledge that Mr. Edward Rae, who has already earned the reputation of being an intelligent traveller and an accurate observer, had just returned from a journey through that country and the southern parts of Tunis, including Kerouan. I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance at Tunis, and I have little doubt that his ‘Country of the Moors,’ which is being published simultaneously with the present work, will give much valuable information regarding these little-known regions. It will materially contribute to elucidate the diary of Bruce, which unfortunately is out of all proportion, as regards interest, to his admirable architectural drawings. How different the case would have been, but for that disastrous shipwreck at Bengazi!

[265]CHAPTER XXXII.

BRUCE’S ROUTE FROM TEBESSA TO THE DJERID AND BACK TO TUNIS.

In the third part of Bruce’s wanderings, from Tebessa southward through the Belad el-Djerid, and thence to Tripoli and the Pentapolis, I have been unable to follow personally in his footsteps. I must content myself with giving the journey in his own words, and trust to the observations of others to illustrate his rough and fragmentary notes. It is almost an injury to his reputation to reproduce what was never intended for publication, notes which, in the event of his death during the journey, he had particularly requested should not be published. The reader is requested never to lose sight of the probability that all his fairly copied manuscripts were lost during his shipwreck, and that the present narrative is compiled from the roughest memoranda, letters to his friends, and the autobiographical sketch which he has left, written years afterwards in the retirement of Kinnaird, when the particulars of this journey had been to some extent effaced from his recollection by many years of more stirring events in Abyssinia.

In the first part of this work, page 103, his arrival for the second time at Tebessa was recorded on December 16, 1765; he continues:—

M. Charles Tissot, in a notice about to be published in the ‘Bulletin de la Société de Géographie,’ and quoted by M. Roudaire in his report,[261] thus describes the Chott el-Djerid: ‘The vast and profound depression of the Chott el-Djerid is now to a great extent filled up with recent deposits of sand. The central portion of the basin appears, however, to contain a considerable mass of water covered with a saline crust, which has caused the Arab geographers to compare it, now to a carpet of camphor or crystal, and again to a sheet of silver, or a mass of metal in fusion. The thickness of this crust is very variable, and it is only at certain places that it is sufficiently solid to admit of travellers trusting themselves to it. The moment that they quit those passages the crust gives way, and the abyss swallows up its prey. Even these passages are very dangerous in the rainy season, when the water covers the saline crust and decreases its thickness.’

M. Tissot did not observe the trunks of palm trees set up to mark the path, so often alluded to by Bruce and other old writers; his guide informed him that they had been carried away by the heavy rains, and had never been replaced. A few stones had, however, been placed on the surface at intervals of five or six hundred yards, which, though actually small, were magnified by the mirage, and could be seen at a considerable distance.

About the middle is a circular platform, two or three feet above the level of the Sebkha, to which the names El-Mensof (the Middle), Bir en-Noosf (Well of the[269] Middle), or Hadjarat en-Noosf (the Middle Stone), are given; it is also called Djebel el-Melah (the Mountain of Salt). Here the caravans usually pass the night, if they are not sure of reaching the opposite shore before dark.

[271]Unfortunately, Captain Mouchez was unable to make any observations regarding the tide here during his recent survey, but he remarks that it rises as high as on any place on the Atlantic coast.

It is in this region, just below the thirty-fourth parallel of latitude, that M. Roudaire proposes to pierce the Isthmus of Gabes, which now separates the sea from the region of the Chotts, the ancient Bay of Triton. Thus he hopes to create an inland sea, and introduce fertility, commerce and life into the very heart of the Sahara.

The Governor-General of Algeria sent a mission in 1874 to examine the region south of Biskra; it was commanded by Captain Roudaire, and consisted of several eminent African geographers, amongst whom were Captain Parisot, and M. Henri Duveyrier. M. Roudaire announces that the basin capable of submersion in Algeria occupies an area of 150 kilometres long by 40 broad, or upwards of 6,000 square kilometres, comprised between latitude 34° 36′ and 33° 51′ N., and longitude (of Paris) 3° 40′ and 4° 51′ E. In the middle, the depression below the level of the sea is from 21 to 31 metres. On the north the slope is very gentle, so that there would only be two metres of water at six kilometres from the shore. None of the great oases, but at least three of the smaller ones, would be submerged.

Captain Roudaire was sent in the following year to continue his investigations in the Regency of Tunis, and he reports that two other basins there are capable of submersion; namely, that of the Chott el-Gharsa, the superficies of which is 1,350 square kilometres, and that of the Chott el-Djerid, which has a surface of 5,000 square kilometres.

[272]Whether the scheme prove practicable or not, Captain Roudaire has certainly collected a considerable body of evidence[271] to prove that the basin of the Chotts was in communication with the Mediterranean as late as the beginning of the Christian era, and then formed the great bay of Triton; and he believes that the result of his surveys and levels entirely confirm this hypothesis. He quotes all the ancient authors who have alluded to the locality; amongst others, Herodotus, who mentions ‘the river Triton, which flows into the great lake or gulf of Triton, in which is the island of Phla.’ Scylax, who wrote his Periplus of the Mediterranean in the second century before Christ, also alludes to both river and lake. ‘The entrance to the latter,’ he says, ‘is narrow, and an islet is visible therein at low tide, and vessels are often unable to enter.’ Pomponius Mela, two centuries after Scylax, and Ptolemy, in the second century of the Christian era, also mention the same natural features.

The Arabs have a tradition that Nefta was at one time a seaport, and it is said that no later than the end of last century a vessel of unknown form, probably an ancient galley, was dug up in the sand there.

Unfortunately, the most eminent authorities do not agree as to the possibility of the project. Captain Mouchez, of the French Navy, a very distinguished hydrographer, and a Member of the Institute, surveyed the coast from Algeria to Tripoli in 1876. He states that the coast of the Gulf of Gabes is formed by a natural bulwark 85 mètres high at the sea, and rising to a height of 700 or 800 mètres further inland. If these measurements are correct, and no breach of continuity exists in this chain of hills, it is difficult to see how there could ever have been a communication between the sea and Lake Tritonis, or how a canal can now be cut so as to unite them.

During my journey through Tunis, I made frequent inquiries regarding the custom of keeping tame serpents, and the reply was invariably the same: ‘No one here keeps them, but the tribes further south are said to do so.’ I mentioned the subject to M. Vignard, of Algiers, who has travelled extensively in Africa, and he assured me that on one occasion when he entered a native hut in the island of Goree, near Cape Verd, he saw the mistress of the house sitting on a mat with a tame snake coiled beside her, and he was informed that it was a very common custom to keep such animals, in order to kill rats and mice. They even asserted that the young shepherds took them to the fields with them, and that the tame serpents watched over them while they slept under the shade of a tree, lest their masters should be bitten by poisonous snakes.

[274]M. Repin[278] gives a curious account of the manner in which large quantities of these reptiles are kept in houses built expressly for the purpose, in the kingdom of Dahomey, and guarded with the utmost care and veneration, exactly as Bruce describes them to be by the inhabitants of Djebel Abeide; enough, however, has been stated to prove that this story is not one of the traveller’s tales which Bruce was for so long a time accused of fabricating.

[275]CHAPTER XXXIII.

BRUCE’S ROUTE TO DJERBA, TRIPOLI, AND BACK TO TUNIS.

The inhabitants of that district have in no wise improved during the past century, the very latest account of them we have is given by Captain Mouchez. In a paper which he read before the Académie des Sciences, at Paris, on January 8, 1877, he says that the littoral is extremely dangerous, shelter and ports of refuge do not exist, and when he landed, even for a few hours, to take observations, he found himself surrounded by natives, who exercise the profession of robbery and brigandage on a large scale.

The coast is composed of sandy downs, which stretch inland as far as the eye can range, an absolute desert, without trees or traces of habitation. The beach is strewn[277] with vestiges of wrecks, which have, no doubt, been pillaged and the crews murdered by the nomades who frequent the country, and who recognise neither the Government of Tunis nor the Bey of Tripoli.

‘One day,’ says M. Mouchez, ‘I landed unarmed, with a secretary and an assistant, and had already fixed my instrument, when a large number of Bedouins, on horseback and on foot, appearing from behind the downs, literally fell upon and surrounded us.

‘They first pointed their guns at us to prevent our flight, then approaching, lay hold of me, searched me, and tried to drag me away. This I strongly resisted, and at last made them understand that this violation of the law of nations would be instantly punished, and that my steamer would carry a complaint to the Governor of Tripoli. This had its effect, and they allowed us to go. In the evening we proceeded to Tripoli to claim satisfaction. This was readily granted by the Governor, who was lately a professor at the School of Constantinople; he placed at our disposal a guard of Turkish soldiers, who protected us during our survey of the coast.

‘I never saw anything so extraordinary as the arms of the natives who surrounded us,’ continues M. Mouchez. ‘Some of them had swords apparently of the sixteenth century, beautiful Damascene blades; one took aim at me with a flint gun of great antiquity. I was desirous of purchasing one of these arms, but they did not understand me, and there was no time to be lost in useless talk, for their attitude was by no means reassuring. The Mussulmans of the coast bear no goodwill to the French nation, and do not forgive us the conquest of Algeria.’

[278]CHAPTER XXXIV.

TRIPOLI.

There appears to exist no detailed record of Bruce’s second journey to Tripoli. He resided at Tunis till August, 1766, and again set out for Tripoli by Sfax and Djerba.

Here I insert an extract from a paper found amongst Bruce’s manuscripts, but certainly not in his handwriting, headed, ‘Memo. on Tripoli in Africa.’

The utter defeat of the Christian army and the triumph of the Mohammedan invaders has been already narrated.

Mr. Drummond Hay, Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Tripoli, has been good enough to forward me the following note on the great triumphal arch there, thus redeeming the slur which Bruce casts upon his predecessors:—

‘In the north-east quarter of the town, about a hundred yards from the Marina Gate, in the street which leads directly from it, may be seen this ancient and remarkably fine monument. It was erected by the Consul Scipio Œfritus in the reign of Antoninus Pius, and afterwards dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and L. Aurelius Verus, his successors. The form of the monument is that of a rectangle nearly approaching a square. It is made up of four circular arches surmounted by a dome, and is quadrifrontal, with its largest façades to the east and west. The length of these is 41 feet, while the other two, looking north and south, measure little less than 33 feet. Its height from the ground to the highest corner-stone is at present 23 feet; but to this must be added over five feet of mud and stone, which reach to the dome. At the time of its construction, however, its height was much greater, as the level of the ground was then lower by many feet. Large quantities of sand, carried towards it at some subsequent period by the winds, accumulated round it, burying it to near the middle, in which state it has since remained. Even the half, or little more, above the surface, is now not all visible, because house and shop walls, and rubbish and mortar, conceal much of what remained of the north and east sides. The whole of this structure is composed of fine marble, closely put together in beautiful order, but no cement has been used to fasten the stones together; yet so solid are they that, so far as the ravages of time are concerned, the pile may be pronounced quite uninjured. It is a matter of wonder to the beholder how such enormous stones came to be conveyed from the quarry, and raised to their proper places, in an age when means of conveyance were but limited. Travellers have esteemed this building above any of the most celebrated in Italy, preferring it to the Temple of Janus, which though of marble, has only a plain roof.

‘The upper part is unfortunately mutilated, having received considerable damage[281] from the ignorant curiosity of the Moors. On the outside are enormous groups of whole-length figures of men and women, forming allegorical scenes or representing facts in history, and over each of the four niches on the east and west sides is seen the large prominent bust of a man. Smaller figures and other bas-reliefs are dispersed over the rest of the building. The natives, on account of their religious aversion to images, have knocked off the heads of the four busts, and otherwise damaged them, as well as the other figures which have now become indistinct. Those on the north side are the only ones which have escaped with but little injury, probably because they were concealed by house walls. The ceiling, however, is the part which has suffered least; it is ornamented with beautiful sculpture. Some also of the ornamentation yet visible on the outside is of the finest description, especially about one of the corners where vine branches, with bunches of grapes, are seen woven together.

‘Of several inscriptions only one, partly hidden by a house, is legible, and, unlike the rest, remains in a perfect state of preservation; it runs thus—

IMP. CAES. AVRELIO. ANTONIN. AVG. P. P. ET. IMP. CAES. L. AVRELIO. VERO. ARMENICO. AVG. SER. S. OEFRITVS. PROCOS. CVM. VTTEDIO. MARCELLO. LEG. SVO. DEDICAVIT. C. CALPVRNIVS. CELSIVS. CVRATOR. MVNERIS. PVB. MVNERARIVS. IIVIR. Q.Q. FLAMEN. PERPETVVS. ARCVM. MARMORE. SOLIDO. FECIT.

‘For a long succession of years the arch, having had its openings built up, has served the purpose of a warehouse. Many years ago it fell into the hands of its present owner, an old Maltese wine merchant, of the name of Giovanni Cassar, who, after converting it into the principal wine-shop in the town, again made use of it as a warehouse, and it is now, at the present day, filled with his casks and boxes. Part of the above description is taken from “The History of the Barbary States” by the Rev. Michel Russell, in which book, as well as in Tully’s “Court of Tripoli,” Blacquiere’s “Letters from the Mediterranean,” and Captain Lyon’s “Travels in Africa,” will be found references to the triumphal arch. In both Tully and Lyon are illustrations of the building.’

Plate XXVII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

QUADRIFRONTAL ARCH AT OEA (TRIPOLI)

FAC-SIMILE OF UNFINISHED INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

Bruce has left us a most exquisite and elaborate series of drawings of the arch with all its details, of which I have selected two for illustration (Plates XXVII. and XXVIII.) From these it will be seen that it is an arcus quadrifrons, of which style of monument the only two other specimens existing are that of Janus Quadrifrons at Rome and the arch of Caracalla at Tebessa (Plate IX.) It has a carriage-way in both directions, one crossing the other; and when in its original condition, clear of all obstructions, it must have had a most imposing appearance.

Each archway has subordinate Corinthian pilasters at the angles surmounted by a regular entablature; the face of the pilaster is sunk in a panel and enriched with[282] a running ornament. The arch has a regular archivolt, without keystone, and the spandrils are filled with winged figures of Victory. The general order of the front is Corinthian, and the entablature runs unbroken all around. There are two slightly projecting pilasters on each side of the central opening, raised on pedestals, which have enriched panels, with a vase, tripod, or other emblematic object. The outer pilaster has a panel from base to capital, enriched with running foliage. The pilaster next the arch is fluted.

The entablature consists of the usual features and divisions, and is unbroken round the monument. The frieze is carved in its whole length from the outer to the inner pilasters, but the long interval between and over the arch itself is left plain for the inscription.

Between each pair of pilasters is a fine square-headed niche, two-thirds of the height of the pilaster, surmounted on the east and west sides by a circular panel containing, in alto-relievo, busts, probably, of the Emperors to whom the arch is dedicated. Above these is the frieze as far as the capitals, with two winged boys carrying a garland (Plate XXVIII.)

The soffit of the archivolt has a panel filled in with carving, and there are richly sculptured caissons in the general depth of the arch.

The return faces or sides differ from the principal fronts in having only pilasters close to the angles, without square niches. The face of the work between the angle pilaster and the small pilaster of the archway is filled in with sculptures of figures, trophies, victors in quadrigæ, and other appropriate ornaments. The rough structure only of the attic remains, no regular coursed masonry being perceptible.

Plate XXVIII.

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

QUADRIFRONTAL ARCH AT OEA (TRIPOLI)

FAC-SIMILE OF PLATE OF ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS

EXECUTED BY BRUCE AFTER HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND.

(Large-size)

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

[283]CHAPTER XXXV.

BRUCE’S ROUTE CONTINUED — LEBIDAH — BENGAZI — TEUCHIRA — PTOLOMETA — SHIPWRECK AT BENGAZI — DEPARTURE FOR CANEA.

After some stay at Tripoli, I visited Lebidah, the ancient town of Leptis Magna, three days’ journey from Tripoli, where there are a great extent of ruins, but all in bad taste; chiefly done in the time of Aurelian—indeed, very bad.

It is said that in the time of Louis XIV. seven monstrous columns of granite or marble were carried from this place into France; the eighth was broken on the way, and lies still on the shore.

There were then many statues of good taste dug out of the sands, which were intended to be carried off likewise, but the Government of Tripoli, following their usual ignorant beastly prejudices, would not suffer them to be transported, pretending they were bodies of unfortunate Mussulmans petrified or confined there by magic; so that the Consul could do no better than bargain privately for the heads of those statues, which were struck off and shipped with the columns. All I can say is, that we saw several of very good taste in this mutilated state, one very beautiful colossal statue of black marble, with a quiver hung by a belt over his shoulder, two others something above the ordinary size of a man; these three of Greek workmanship.

From Tripoli I sent an English servant to Smyrna with my books, drawings, and supernumerary instruments, retaining only extracts from such authors as might be necessary for me in the Pentapolis, or other parts of the Cyrenaicum.

I then crossed the Syrtis Major to Bengazi,[287] the ancient Berenice, built by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and arrived there in the time of a most dreadful famine. The inhabitants of the town were dying with hunger for want of grain; two tribes of Arabs, whose territories surround the town, and who, when at peace, by their crops, their milk, butter and flocks, were the sources of its wealth and plenty, were then accidentally at war through the bad and weak government of the brother of the Bey of Tripoli, who then commanded at Bengazi.

The two tribes had fought; those farthest from the town and fewest in number had beaten[285] the most numerous and nearest to Bengazi, called Welled Abeed, and stripped them of everything, and they had forced them to fly into the town.

Sketch Map of
BRUCE’S ROUTE
IN TRIPOLI AND THE CYRENAICA.

(Large-size)

A number of men, women and children, equal to double of those in the town, unprovided with every necessary of life, were forced in among those that were already dying with famine. The streets were every night strewed with people dead or dying with hunger.

Bengazi was situated upon a promontory, which, having lost considerably to the sea, is now, where broadest, less than half-a-mile. Nothing now remains but its port, which, though dangerous in its entry, is certainly the best anywhere on the coast of the kingdom of Tripoli. On the north there are still to be seen, beyond sea-mark, the foundations of several large buildings, of stones eight or ten feet long and three broad, which by their own weight, and being bound with strong cement, have preserved their places notwithstanding the violence of the waves.

Above the port, and below the town to the south-west, are large lakes of salt water, which formerly probably joined to the water of the harbour, and enclosed the south side of the town, forming the peninsula called by the ancients Pseudopenias.

About ten miles to the eastward is the lake Tritonis, with a small island, where was the Temple of Venus, now Monastier, and to the northward of this, the lake Zeian or the Beautiful, formerly called that of the Hesperides, into which a stream rising in a small hill above it runs into the sea, which has a communication likewise with the lake, and is the Leithon of Strabo.

About seven miles from Bengazi, to the south-west, is a small low cape called Teyonis, which, running out considerably to the north, is that which Strabo says makes the mouth of the Syrtis, with Cephala or Cape Mesrata.

The country about Bengazi, for several miles, is chiefly sand and gravel, brought thither from the coast by the violent winds, but beyond the influence of these, towards the mountains, to the east and south-east, it is a reddish clay of the same soapy quality as fuller’s earth; and provided plentiful and frequent rains fall about November, December and January, their seed-time, nothing can be more fertile; but these rains have failed for several years, and now the famine is so great, that people hourly die in the streets, and many people have been detected, chiefly women, with the heads and remains of children, murdered and eaten, all but the parts which were saved for another meal.

There was no staying at Bengazi, the Bey recommended me to a Sheikh of distant Arabs, where the calamity of famine had only reached in a smaller degree. We went to Arsinoe and several cities in the Pentapolis, the works of Ptolemy Philadelphus, which are now totally obliterated.

We went to Ras Sem, the supposed petrified city,[288] concerning which so many lies have been told. It is about nine miles south from El-Wadi, between that and El-Murag, and four days’ smart travelling south, a very little west of Bengazi; it is not so named either from the supposed fable of the Gorgon’s head, or from the petrifactions of men, horses, &c., which have been idly invented and believed, but from a fountain of mineral water of a greenish colour, so strongly impregnated with metal that it instantly, upon drinking, discharges itself by purging and vomiting. The head of a fountain or spring is called in Arabic Ras el-Ain, so that Ras Sem, the fountain of poison, is all that is implied in this name.

[286]The only antiquities here consist of a ruined castle, not of earlier date probably than the wars of the Vandals, perhaps much later, and there are no petrifactions but what are common in many other parts of Africa.

This is all of that immense city which the Tripoli ambassador made Sir Hans Sloane believe was of considerable extent, with petrified men and horses, women at the mill and churn, and cats and mice petrified also. This severe accident has, I suppose, destroyed the breed, as neither of these animals are to be seen in the country now.

Only the jerboa, or rat of the Cyrenaicum, is very plentiful here; our Arabs killed many of them, and eat the hinder part. I engaged one of them on the journey to kill me several hundreds, which was very easily done, in time enough to carry them to Bengazi to deliver them in charge there to my Greek servant, going to Tripoli, who was to dry and take care of them. I brought these home for the lining of a cloak, flaying the tails in the manner they do ermine, happy if we had taken charge of them, and gone home with them ourselves!

The leffah, or cerastes of the ancients, is also very common here. It is a horned viper, generally about 16 inches in length, though often considerably longer. That of which I made a design in the desert of Barca was 22 inches long. The colour varies in darkness according to the colour of the earth in which he lives. It is remarkably supple in the spine, according to the observation of Lucan,

Spinaque vagæ torquente cerastæ.

Luc. Bell. Civ., l. ix.

Its bite is accounted mortal by the Moors, especially in summer, and they immediately fly for remedy either to amputation of the part, deep incisions or actual cautery; however, application of oil of olives, rubbed over the fire upon the wound, after an opening was made by a lancet, never failed to obviate any fatal consequence, even when the poison had occasioned convulsive vomitings and sickness, by having had time to circulate.

Almost as bad as the cerastes is the Istell,[289] a very venomous Phalangium of the Cyrenaicum; it dwells chiefly upon shrubs, and builds a nest of moss like a bird; it is larger than a spider of the largest size in England, and is of a dark black colour, or rather inclining to blue. The male is covered with fine down or hair; the female is smooth. When young they are painted with yellow along the back, with a figure much resembling the representation of the Silphum upon the medals of this country. The bite of this animal is in hot weather said to be attended with death; those who sleep on the ground among the bushes are generally those that suffer. One bit by this animal had his tongue in about half-an-hour so swollen as to be incapable of speech, but had no other mortal symptom. The glands of his throat were much swelled, and down his shoulder and arm. The bite was in the neck, which was but little discoloured; he recovered by rubbing oil upon the wound and places affected, and by repeatedly swallowing, as much as the swelling of his tongue would permit. He complained of pain in his veins, and shivered often suddenly, as before the attack of a fever: he had no remarkable thirst. Many who recover from the bite of this animal and the leffah continue lame in the hand or foot, the parts generally affected. This seemed to me extraordinary, and not easily accounted for, till, upon examining one who was in these circumstances, I found that he had,[287] in his incision into the upper part of the foot, cut the tendons of two of his toes, which, after long torment and suppuration, remained useless. This is the case, I suppose, with the others, for they make no use of outward remedies, and could scarcely believe in or be brought to use so simple a remedy as oil, though they had seen its effects, and admired them, not knowing what it was. Those who have not courage to lay open or cauterise the part, apply to marabouts for charms, and swallow certain characters, or hang them on their persons as amulets; such people, if the bite is given in hot weather, usually die.

At Ras Sem begin the sands, which continue to Ougela, and from thence, as far as is known, to the banks of the Niger. The sands are charged or impregnated to a very great degree with salt, the prevailing mineral in Africa, and from Bengazi to Ougela, and much beyond, the country is as perfectly level as the ocean.

Ougela is the seat of a Bey dependent upon, and named by Tripoli. It is in his district, and not, as has been advanced, in that of Derna, that Ras Sem is situated. Ougela consists of three villages; the largest, or capital, is Zibeel, the next Zaila, about 16 miles south-west, governed by a Caid; the other is Marad, still further south-west, but scarcely inhabited, save by those who come hither to hunt wild cows or beeves, for it is very unwholesome, by reason of stagnant water and marshes full of canes. These habitations are surrounded by large plantations of excellent dates, which are ripe in September, and hither the Arabs of the province of Bengazi come annually to load their camels with dates, for the rest of the year.

Ougela is in the way of the caravan from Fezzan to Mecca, with which come the merchants of Borno and Tombucto, as well as many other black nations to the south and south-east. Those from Tombucto are nearly two months upon their journey to Fezzan, chiefly along the Niger. Ougela is in the direct road from Fezzan to Cairo. From this to Cairo they are twenty-three days. Each camel pays one sequin, 8s. 6d. to the Bey of Ougela. They bring with them manna and gold-dust, some ostrich feathers, &c., but the trade of Tombucto is of late much decreased or turned some other way, by reason of war among the Arabs, through which the merchants have to pass. From Fezzan to Ougela, twenty-eight days. Seven days east and by north of Ougela is Siwah, which pays no acknowledgment to Tripoli, but is governed by four sheikhs of its own; it is situated on a very steep rock, and the way to the town is by a narrow winding passage, only wide enough for one person, till you arrive at the top. The water here is very bad though in great abundance, and this makes the air so bad that it has always proved fatal to those who attempted to conquer it. It is eight long days’ journey due south of Derna, and is the place, which, like Ougela, supplies the Moors of its district, the most considerable of whom are the Welled Aly, with dates.

All the interior of this vast country is very badly laid down, both as to latitude and longitude, in the French maps of Rollin, Delisle and Sanson.

The small islands, or rather rocks, before Derna, are called Kerse at this present by the Moors, and the desert to the southward of Bengazi is still called Barca or Barga.

The most distant community known to the southward of Ougela is Cuffra, that is to say, in the language of the country, the City of Infidels, so the Arabs call a nation or people of blacks, which inhabit the desert, seven days’ journey, or about 130 miles due south of Ougela.

These blacks live within a town enclosed with high mud walls; they are very numerous, but so afraid of fire-arms and horsemen that any surprised without the city are easily taken. There is here a large plantation of dates, and the Arabs of Bengazi, the Jowassi, and Aid Jelleed, who[288] go to buy dates at Ougela, often undertake this journey, which they perform in seven days, carrying water on camels, and make slaves of all the blacks they can surprise without the walls, whom they sell to the Turks to carry to the Levant. After this they encamp near the water among the palm trees, and there wait the ripening of the dates, which they likewise gather without payment, and so return with their booty. These blacks are dressed in sheep or goat skins, and have for arms, bows and arrows—the bow made of wild fennel, the arrows made of the branch of the date tree, about five feet in length, including the head, which is nine inches.

I found at Bengazi a ship bound to Tripoli in Syria. It was out of my way, but it was absolutely necessary to send a part of my baggage, for which I had not occasion, to some place of future rendezvous, safe from such accidents as were to be expected every day in Bengazi.

I had formerly sent my books and most of my arms, and many other articles to Smyrna, and wrote to Mr. Murray, then our Ambassador at Constantinople, to send my firman of the Porte thither; from thence my correspondent was to forward it by another opportunity to Alexandria.

We are obliged in these countries to make use of the first ways that present, however round-about they are, or we might linger long for direct opportunities. I sent a reflector, with some other instruments, and proposed to go myself from Ptolometa to Grenneh, thence to Derna, through the desert of Libya to Alexandria, and the caravan of pilgrims from Morocco would probably have joined me at the latter part of the road.

Ptolometa is placed by the Itinerary forty-six miles from Bengazi, but is in fact Tochara. It is at the point of the mountains which, having run nearly north-west and south-east, now run north-east and south-west. They are of a moderate height, covered to the top with shrubs, chiefly of a plant called jiddāry, a species of thorn.

Tochara is entirely ruined, and is close upon the shore, partly destroyed by the sea, and appears to have had no port; not a piece of marble nor ornament of sculpture or architecture to be found.[290] The earth is reddish clay and very fertile. From hence we continued our way chiefly by the seaside to Ptolometa.[291]

The plain is about two miles broad, the soil the same, covered with a species of whitethorn, but nearer Ptolometa it is gravel. Ptolometa occupies the whole valley, which there is not more than a mile broad, the breadth of the town from south-east to north-west not so much. It seems to have been an oblong square; on the north-east angle is the port, which must have been small, defended by a small island, and much encroached upon by the sea.

The city, though small, seems to have contained a quantity of magnificent public buildings, but the whole is thrown down, and the ornamental parts, except many Corinthian capitals, which lie dispersed about, carried away and applied to the building of two modern castles, one a fort, probably for the defence of the port, the other larger, a little above it. There remain, besides the building here described, only three columns on foot, all of the Doric order, one in front a [true] column, the rest square in the flanks, probably intended as an angular one to a wall which surrounded[289] the portico of the court of the Temple. The other two are about 200 yards higher up, nearer the foot of the mountain.

Near the centre of the city is the fabric delineated[292]; it seems to have been the portico of a temple, but the rest of it is so entirely ruined that no positive account or plan can be given of it. The front is to the mountains; before it was a large court with a colonnade, paved with stones as in causeways, and afterwards covered with rude mosaics. Under these are large cisterns for the reception of rain water. There are likewise wells by the seaside, but a little brackish.

These columns will probably not stand long, two being already undermined by the Arabs in search for lead, which they imagine to bind the joints of the columns. The same search made them, while we were yet there, throw down the small fragments of architrave and cornice yet remaining, and ruin one of the capitals, so that we left the three naked columns standing without any part of the entablature upon them.

A copy of Bruce’s sketch is selected for the vignette on the cover of this work. The building has been so frequently delineated that it was hardly worth while giving a facsimile of the drawing.

Bruce’s account of Ptolometa is very obscure, and in some places hardly legible. Pacho, in describing the same ruins, says:—‘The only ones that have resisted the ravages of time are at some distance from the sea, and on the last slopes of the mountain. One of the most important is a Roman barrack, surrounded by a wide ditch, and having a double enceinte. In the interior exist, still in perfect preservation, the fireplaces which served for the domestic use of the soldiers. On the façade of this edifice are three immense blocks of freestone, on which is a very long Greek inscription,[295] but so dilapidated, that one of our most celebrated philologists, M. Letronne, affirms that a complete rendering of it is, if not impossible, at least very difficult. The little that it tells us increases our regrets, as it contains a rescript of Anastasius I., relative to divers subjects of public administration, and notably to military service. Not far from this barrack, and almost in the centre of the town, are the remains of a pronaos, with three columns erect, the sole remains of a Roman temple, below which[290] is a great vault, divided into nine corridors, coated with cement, and certainly intended to serve as a reservoir. Lastly, at the extreme west of the ruins are two great massive constructions, a sort of Pylon, sloped in the Egyptian style, which appears to have formed the entrance to the town.’[296]

Beechey thus alludes to these ruins in his description of the Cyrenaica and Pentapolis, published in 1828:—

‘The remains marked (a) are the same as those which Bruce describes as those of an Ionic temple; there is nothing however, (that we can perceive), in the disposition of what still exists of their plan to authorise such a conclusion; and we have considered them the remains of a palace or other residence of more than ordinary importance. The three remaining columns appear to have formed part of a colonnade extending itself round the courtyard, which has already been described as situated above an extensive range of cisterns; remains of tesselated pavement are still observable in the court-yard, and the walls which inclose it are very decided; the columns have been raised on a basement of several feet in height, as will be seen in the vignette in which they are represented.

‘Without these, to the northward, are ranges of fallen columns of much larger dimensions than those we have just mentioned.’

Hamilton also has figured the Ionic columns, which he considers as dating from a late epoch when not a tradition of true beauty remained. He stigmatises them as clumsy and badly chiselled, and he did not see in the whole place any fragments of sculpture or architecture in a good style of art.[297]

Bruce’s drawing contains only the three columns, without accessories of any kind. To return to his narrative:—

Here ends Bruce’s narrative of his travels in the Barbary States; the remainder of his notes have reference to his excursions in Syria, especially to his visits to Baalbec and Palmyra. The drawings of Roman remains there are in no way inferior to those I have attempted to illustrate, but they do not come within the scope of the present work. These ruins have, moreover, been so fully described by other writers, and so frequently visited by the modern traveller, that they do not possess the freshness or interest attaching to the others, many of which are almost as little known at the present day as they were before Bruce’s visit a century ago.

Plate XXIX.

FAC-SIMILE OF BRUCE’S M. S. (See page 10.)

(Large-size)

[295]INDEX.

• ABDULLA ibn Säad, 65
• Abou el-Mohadjera, 65
• Acouba, 178
• Adanäa, 55
• Ad Mercuriam, 113
• Agbia, 214
• Ain Amara, 37
• — el-Amba, 102
• — Ayat, 137, 139
• — Barbar, 32, 34
• — Bedjen, 101
• — Beida, 100, 113
• — Djougar, 135
• — Edjah, 214
• — Ghorab, 173
• — Jeleed, 287
• — Kemellel, 101
• — Khenchla, 98
• — Meimoun, 95
• — Shabrou, 113
• — Tunga, 227
• — Yakoot, 56
• — Youkous, 113
• Aioun el-Hedjeb, 165
• Akalat Heneshia, 164
• Akbou, 119, 120
• Aleppo pines, 194, 212
• Ali Cherif, 119, 120
• Alpha grass, 174
• Amadis, 271
• Amakin, 243
• Amamra, 58
• Amer Cheraga, 43
• Ammædara, 189
• Amphitheatre of El-Djem, 156
• Ampsaga, 48
• Andalusian Moors, 136, 230
• Apollonia, 283
• el-Arbäa, 73
• Arches, 159
• el-Aria, 42-44
• Ariana, 132
• Aquæ Regiæ, 178
• Aquæ Tacapitanæ, 269
• Aqueduct of Carthage, 129, 130
• — of Cherchel, 23, 28
• — of Tunis (Spanish), 140
• Arab invasion of Africa, 178, 279
• Arab tents, 213
• Araditanum, 149
• Arsinoe, 283, 285
• Ash, of the Atlas, 121
• Aspinwall, Mr., 15
• Assuras, 207
• Aures, Kaid of, 76
• Aures Mountains, 58, 62, 66, 68, 70
• Augustine, St., 31
• Ausum, 119
• Azib-esh-Sheikh, 120
• Azrou, 118
• Azrou-n-Tehour, 121
• BAALBEC, Bruce’s drawings of, 294
• Bab el-Goos, 136
• — Khalid, 135
• Babor, Mount, 122
• Bacax, 40
• el-Badja, 233
• el-Baghäi, 100
• Bagradas, 141
• Bahira Gournata, 122
• Bahiret el-Arneb, 265
• — Cedret ed-dib, 269
• — Sebkha, 66
• — es-Sers. See Sers
• el-Baiadha, 255
• el-Bali, 79
• Balugani, Luigi, 3, 6, 8, 49, 207
• Barca, 283, 287
• Barota, 170
• Barrington, Hon. Daines, 7, 10
• Bartolomeo, Don, 49
• Bas el-Bab, 231
• Bastion de France, 249, 260
• Batna, 61
• Bears, 252
• Beetles, 165
• el-Beidha, 75
• Beit el-Hadjar, 194
• Belad er-Ramel, 242
• Bel Hanneish, 189
• Belisarius, 47, 64, 130
• Bengazi, 283, 285, 287, 291, 293
• Beni Abbas, 114, 116
• — Illilten, 122
• — Mahenna, 253
• — Melekeuch, 119
• — Moumenein, 58
• — Saleh, 253
• — Teourigh, 122
• — Zeed, 269
• Bent Saida, 135
• Berbers, 63, 64, 253
• Bedeau, General, 68
• Berbrugger, M., 27
• Berenice, 283
• Betoum, 91
• Bey of Tunis, 128, 129, 140, 147, 148
• Biban, 116
• Bilingual Stone of Dougga, 221, 224
• Bir en-Noosf, 268
• Bisica Lucana, 229
• Bizerta, 128, 142, 144, 146
• Boisredon, Comdt., 66
• Bone, 31
• Boni, 115
• Bordj el-Aioun, 259
• — Bou Arreredj, 114
• — Ibrahim, 214
• — Medjana, 114, 115
• Bou Dhiaf, 58, 81, 83, 92
• — Hammama, 95
• — Koberain, 53
• — Merzoug, 113
• — Radeh, 149
• — Rouman, 105
• — Salem, 233
• [296]— Seliah, 212
• — Shater, 142
• — Shemma, 270
• — Zeina, 58, 75
• Bruce appointed Consul-General at Algiers, 15
• — visits Pæstum, 16
• — leaves Algiers, 21
• — arrives at Constantine, 50, 112
• — — — Physgeah, 58
• — — — Tattubt, 52
• — — — Taggou Zeina, 52
• — visits the Medrassen, 56
• — — the Aurès Mountains, 58
• — — Lambessa, 58, 71
• — — Timegad, 83
• — — Baghai, 100
• — — Tebessa, 103
• — — Carthage, 128
• — — Aqueduct of Carthage, 132
• — — Zaghouan, 136, 138
• — — Tunis, 149, 153, 273, 277
• — — El-Djem, 157, 159, 273, 275
• — — Sbeitla, 181
• — — Hydra, 188
• — — Sbiba, 192
• — — Mukther, 194, 198
• — — Zanfour, 207, 211
• — — Kef, 210
• — — Lorbus, 211
• — — Zowarin, 211
• — — Dougga, 217
• — — Ain Tunga, 227
• — — Medjez el-Bab, 231
• — — Tabarca, 250
• — — Feriana, 265
• — — Gaffsa, 267
• — — Tozer, 267
• — — Chott el-Djerid, 268
• — — Nefzowa, 269
• — — Gabes, 269, 275
• — — Matamata, 272
• — — Djebel Abeide, 273
• — — Djerba, 275
• — — Tripoli, 276, 278
• — — Lebidah, 283
• — — Bengazi, 283, 293
• — — Ras Sem, 285
• — — Ptolometa, 288
• — shipwrecked near Bengazi, 291
• — sails for Crete, 294
• — antiquities collected by, 11
• — Itinerary of, 21
• — manuscripts of, 2, 9, 10, 11
• — drawings of, presented to King, 5, 9
• — drawings of, exhibited at Institute of British Architects, 7
• — at Graphic Society, 7
• — by the Queen at Society of Antiquaries, 9
• Bruce, number of drawings made by, 4
• Bucawash, 112
• Buffaloes, wild, 146
• Bugeaud, village of, 33
• CACTUS, 165
• Callitris quadrivalvis, 81
• Canal of Gabes, proposed, 271
• Cape Negro, 240, 245, 249
• Capsa, 267
• Carthage, 128
• — aqueduct of, 129, 130
• Castellum Medianum, 114
• Catada, 131
• Caterpillars, 98
• Catherwood, Mr., 223
• Cattan, 272
• Caves of Djebel Thaya, 39
• — of Nefsa, 240
• Cedars, 95, 96, 188
• Cephala, 285
• Cerastes, 286
• Chachias, 136
• Chanzy, General, 61
• Charles V., 150, 167, 248
• Chausæ, 270
• Chawia, 62, 67
• Chellata, 119, 121
• Chelma, 175
• Cherchel, 24, 29
• — aqueduct of, 23, 28
• Chott el-Djerid, 268, 271
• — el-Gharsa, 271
• Christianity, extinction of, 178
• Chouchat er-Ramel, 82
• Cirta, 47
• Cleveland, Captain, 20
• Cockerell, Mr. C. M., 8
• Col de Chellata, 121
• Collins, M., 130
• Constantine, 47
• Cookery of Kabyles, 117
• — in Tunis, 215, 233
• Copper mines of Ain Barbar, 38
• — of Teboul, 259
• Coral fishery, 248
• Cork trees, 255
• Couscousou, 80
• Cows, wild, 287
• Crete, 294
• Cumming Bruce, Major, 2, 7, 11
• Cuffra, 287
• Cyrenaica, 283
• Cyrene, 283
• DABDABA, 269
• Daharet-Foua, 66
• Daly, Mons. César, 8, 31, 36, 39, 117
• Dar el-Bey, Tunis, 148
• Dastugue, General, 61, 70, 81
• Date trees, 76
• Degeuche, 267
• Derna, 287, 291
• Dhahar el-Baidha, 173
• Dhiffa, 80
• Diana Veteranorum, 9, 53
• Dihya bent-Tabita, 66
• Disforesting, effects of, 34, 154, 179, 191, 226
• Diss Grass, 174
• Djama, 212
• Djebel Abeide, 272, 273
• — Arbet, 267
• — Asker, 272
• — Atatfa, 255
• — Azim, 56
• — Berd, 73
• — Bou Arif, 56
• — Bou Dreicen, 91
• — Chellia, 93
• — Debagh, 38
• — Deir Sabah, 205
• — Demmer, 273
• — Djougar, 130
• — Edough, 31, 32, 255
• — Gerioun, 52
• — Hanneish, 188
• — Ishkul, 145
• — Kharouba, 91
• — Kulb-Raha, 235
• — Lazarak, 77
• — Mahmel, 62, 79, 81
• — el Melah, 269
• — Mesaood, 211
• — Mestiri, 112
• — es-Sakhera, 232
• — Serdsum, 98
• — Skarna, 193
• — Tebaga, 269
• — Tella, 142
• — Tesbent, 101
• — Thaya, 39, 252
• — Tirmis, 75
• — Trozza, 173, 205
• — Usmir, 265
• — Zaghouan, 130, 135
• — Zana, 142
• el-Djem, 9, 156, 273, 275
• Djerba, 118, 272, 275
• Djilma, 175
• Djougar, 135
• Djurdjura, 115, 121
• Dogs, Arab, 213
• Dolmens. See Megalithic remains
• Donaldson, Professor, 7, 12, 223
• Dougga, 216
• Douglas, Dr., 5, 7
• Dowarets, 273
• [297]Dowary, 267
• Dragons of the Atlas, 141
• Drid tribe, 188, 210, 212
• Dundas, Mrs. Whitely, 12
• Dupuis, Mr., 150
• Dursha, 290
• Duveyrier, 271
• Dyeing red caps, 137
• EASTERN question, 257
• Ebilla, 265
• Edough, 31, 32, 255
• Enf en-Neser, 52
• Escort, exactions of, 165
• — required in Tunis, 163
• FATNASSA, 268, 269
• Fedj bou-Ghareb, 43
• Feggara, 275
• Fennick, 269
• Feriana, 265, 266
• Fezzan, 287
• Fig-tree, 121
• Firis, 91
• Fisgiah, 52
• Fish, at Bengazi, 293
• — in Lake of Bizerta, 144
• — in Lake of Ishkul, 145
• — in rivers, 180
• el-Fonduk, 141
• Fontaine des Princes, 33
• Forests, destruction of, 34, 154, 179, 191, 212, 226
• Fort National, 122, 123
• Foum Kosentina, 91
• Frashish tribe, 175
• Frontiers of Algeria, 257, 258
• GABES, 270, 271, 275
• Gaddems, 272
• Gaffsa, 267
• el Geläa in Aures, 98
• el-Geläa of the Beni Abbas, 115, 116
• Geläa Adjmar, 188
• Geläat es-Senan, 188
• Geldaman, 120
• Genseric, 31, 279
• Geryoun, 53
• Ghaara, 269
• Ghar el-Djamäa, 41
• el-Gharfa, 214
• Ghomara, 253
• Gilimer, 31, 64, 130
• Gildon, Count, 85
• Girfah, 44
• Gobal, 266
• Gouseba, 192
• Gray, Sir James, 16
• Grain baskets, 117
• Gregorius, 177, 279
• Grenneh, 288
• Guebilli, 269
• Guelma, 36
• Guerah el-Hout, 259
• HADJAR eth-Theldj, 39
• Hadjarat en-Noosf, 269
• Hadrumetum, 150
• Halifax, Lord, 15
• Hamada Oulad Ayar, 194
• el-Hamma, 267, 269
• Hammam Meskoutin, 32
• Hamilton, Mr. W., 8
• Hanach ben Abdulla es-Sanani, 103
• Hanencha, 103
• Haracta, 53-113
• Hassan bin Naäman, 66
• Henchir Merabba, 164
• Henna, 271
• Henneisha, 269
• Hesperides, 285
• Hesperis, 283
• Himyarite kings of Yemen, 63
• Hippo Regia, 31
• — Diarrhytus, 142
• Hockey, game of, 139
• Hot springs, 266
• Hydra, 188
• Hunter, Dr., 5
• ICHERRIDHEN, 123
• Ifrikos, 63
• Ighil Ali, 118
• Inland Sea, 271
• Iron mines, 34
• JÄARA, 270
• Jerboas, 165-286
• Jibbeleah, 273
• Jol, 24
• Jowassi, 287
• Juba I., 24
• Juba II., 24, 25
• Jugis Aqua, 267
• Julia Cæsarea, 23
• Julian, Count, 65
• Juniperus macrocarpa, 80, 179
• KABYLE hospitality, 122
• — industries, 119
• — schools, 118, 121
• Kabyles of Tunis, 238
• el-Kahina, 65, 66, 157
• el-Kaläa, 98
• el-Kantara of Constantine, 48
• Karatonis, 152
• el Kasr, 257
• Kasr el-Aioun, 166
• Kasr el-Ghoula, 49, 50
• Kasr el-Mahdjouba, 43
• Kasr Saeed, 147
• el-Kef, 188, 205, 210
• Kef er-Rai, 193
• Kef Omm et-Taboul, 259
• Kerouan, 65, 166
• Ketena, 272
• Khamisa, 215
• el-Khanaba, 42
• Khanga Kef et-Toot, 239
• Khangat el-Hadeed, 255
• Kheir-ed-deen, General, 129, 140, 147, 214
• Khenchla, 66
• Khomair, 238, 243, 251, 253
• Khouans, 53
• Kingston, Earl of, 6, 127, 129, 142, 163, 196, 199, 206, 221, 239
• Kirke, Mr. R., 20
• Kirna Mons, 145
• Kiss, 259
• Kisser, 207, 211
• Koceila, 65
• LA CALLE, 249, 259
• el-Lahs, 205
• Lake of Bizerta, 144
• — of Ishkul, 145
• — of Marks, 268
• Lalla Khadidja, 122
• Lambessa, 60, 70
• Laradam, 81
• Lashash, 58
• Latin words in Chawia language, 68
• Lebidah, 283
• Lead mines, 32, 34, 245, 259
• Leithon, 285
• Leptis, 278
• — Magna, 283
• Lerneb, 265
• Lions, 96, 179, 188, 194, 226, 252
• Lomellini, 248
• Long and short bond, 218
• Lorbus, 211
• Lotophagi, 275
• Lotus, 270, 275
• Lowdeah, 268
• Lybian inscriptions, 200, 205
• Lybia Tripolitana, 278
• MACARTHY, Monsieur, 27
• Mactar, 197
• Madghes, 58
• Magaran, 135
• [298]Magherawa, 205
• Mahadjiba, 43
• Makhsin, 212
• Malich, 99
• Mampsuras, 79
• Manouba, 132
• Marad, 287
• Marbles, Numidian, 111, 220
• Maretba, 266
• Marfa, 58
• Mascula, 98
• Massinissa, 58
• Matamata, 272, 273
• Mater, 145
• Mauritania, divisions of, 24
• el-Mechebka, 49
• Medjerda, 140, 141, 229
• Medjez-el-Bab, 231
• Medrassen, 56
• Megalithic remains in Aures, 82, 92
• — at Mahadjiba, 44
• — — Roknia, 39
• — — Sigus, 112
• — — Tarafana, 42
• Mekna, 242, 243
• Meksour Mediouna, 175
• Melagou, 95
• Melew, 265
• Melghigh, 62
• Menäa, 75
• Meninx Insula, 275
• el-Mensof, 268
• Menzel, 154, 269, 270
• Menzel Djemil, 142
• Merabba, 164
• Mercury mines, 78
• Mesrata, Cape, 285
• Metz, 120
• Milliary columns, 214, 229
• Mineral springs, 146
• Minorca, 16
• Miskiana, 113
• Moawia ibn el-Hodeidj, 65, 142
• Mohammed bin Abbas, 76
• Mohammedan conquest, 65
• Mohammedia, 149
• el-Mokrani, 114, 115, 116, 118
• Monastir (in Tunis), 150
• — (at Bengazi), 285
• Morocco, pilgrims from, 276, 288, 291
• Mouchez, Capitaine, 271, 272, 276
• el-Murag, 285
• Murkäa, 75
• Mukther, 195, 197
• Mustowah, 53
• NASABATH, 119
• Neardie, 59
• Nefsa, 239
• Nefta, 272
• Nefzowa, 269
• Negro, Cape, 240, 245, 249
• Nememchas, 101, 181, 267
• Nesse-e-deep, 269
• Norte, 275, 276
• Noughir, 95
• Nowader Ahmama, 78
• OEA, 278
• Okba ibn-Nafa, 55, 65, 150, 166
• Okkaf, game of, 139
• Olive-trees, 121, 140, 156, 226
• Omm el-Ashera, 92
• Omm et-Taboul, 259
• Ostriches, 190
• Oudena, 133, 149
• Ouagheer, 290
• Oued Abdi, 62, 75, 77
• — el-Abiad, 62
• — el-Ahmer, 75, 92, 244, 254
• — Announa, 37
• — el-Asood, 226
• — Barbar, 244
• — Bou Hamdan, 39
• — Cherf, 39
• — Dellai, 166
• — Djilma, 175, 179
• — Djoumin, 145
• — el-Ferd, 272
• — Froor, 257
• — el-Hatab, 188, 192
• — el-Hamma, 98
• — Khallad, 214, 216, 226
• — el-Kebir (Algiers), 119
• — — (Tunis), 243, 244, 247
• — el-Khezoun, 94
• — Madhir, 58
• — Maghir, 116
• — Malah (Nefsa), 240
• — — (Testour), 232
• — Merg-el-leil, 173
• — Beni Mesaoud, 119
• — Meskiana, 105
• — Mihran, 197
• — Milian, 132
• — en-Nissa, 56
• — Rubooäa, 91
• — er-Roumel, 48
• — Sabon, 197
• — es-Sahel, 116, 119
• — es-Sahila, 244
• — Sbeitla, 175, 179
• — Shabrou, 105, 112
• — Sherita, 165
• — Shershera, 172
• — Siliana, 212, 229
• — Soumam, 119
• — Taga, 81, 82, 91
• — Tessäa, 214
• — Tinga, 145
• — ez-Zan, 244
• — Zanfour, 206
• — Zenati, 43
• — ez-Zergäa, 206, 232, 233, 244
• Ougela, 287, 288
• Oulad Abd en-Noor, 53
• — Abdi, 58
• — Ali, 211, 212, 287, 291
• — Amran, 179
• — Aoun, 212
• — Ayar, 194, 227, 232
• — Azooz, 81
• — Aissa, 113, 116, 117
• — Daood, 83
• — Habeeb, 291
• — Hamadoosh, 116
• — Hassan, 188, 192
• — Mehenna, 192
• — Seel, 188
• — Sendasini, 173
• — Sidera, 255
• — Sidi Abid, 267
• — Sidi bou Ghanim, 188, 253
• — Touaoun, 211
• — Urfa, 290
• — Yagoube, 210, 211, 269
• Outa el-Kebir, 141
• — es-Seghir, 141
• PALMYRA, 294
• Palus Tritonidis, 268, 269
• Panthers, 252, 269
• Papua Mons, 31
• Parisot, Capitaine, 271
• Paterson, General, 59
• Pentapolis, 283
• Petrified city, 285
• Pigeons, sacred, 196
• Pinus haleppensis, 179, 188
• Piranese, 5
• Pistachia Atlantica, 91
• Plague, 245, 260, 285
• Portes de Fer, 116
• Prisons, 235
• Pseudopenias, 285
• Ptolemy, of Mauritania, 24
• Ptolemais, 283
• Ptolometa, 288, 289
• RAE, Mr. Edward, 261
• er-Raheia, 192
• Railways in Tunis, 237
• Ramel es-Safra, 242
• Randon, General, 105
• Ras Sem, 285
• Ras Takoush, 32
• [299]Reade, Sir Thomas, 221
• Red-deer, 190, 252
• Roknia, 39
• Roudaire, Capitaine, 271
• ES-SABALA, 140
• Sabra, 171
• Sabrata, 278
• Sand, country of, 242, 245
• San Pietro, 250
• Ste. Cecile, 38
• Saheb et Tabäa, 140
• es-Sahel, 154
• Salah Bey, 49
• Sallecta, 161
• Salt lakes, 165
• Sanäa, 103
• Sambat, 269
• Sbeitla, 6, 177, 191
• Sbiba, 177, 191
• Sebkha es-Sedjoumi, 128
• Selas tribe, 173
• Sem, Ras, 285
• Seniore, 43
• Serpents, monstrous, 141
• — tame, 273
• Sers, plain of, 205, 210, 211, 212, 213
• Setif, 114
• esh-Shabiah, 212
• Shaw, Dr., 15
• Shells, fossil, 145
• Shineny, 270
• Shipwreck at Bengazi, 261, 265, 291
• Sicca Venerea, 189, 210
• Sidi Abd el-Azeez, 188
• — Abou Dabous, 193
• — Ahmed ez-Zair, 193
• — Aich, 266
• — Akesh, 32
• — Ali ben Ahsan, 128
• — Ali ben Oune, 266
• — Ali ben Salem, 172
• — Ali el-Mareghani, 122
• — Ali Hassan, 146
• — Bel-Khair, 78
• — ben Aissa, 169
• — ben Oune, 269
• — bou Firnan, 254
• — Bougeise, 112
• — bou Hadid, 142, 144
• — el-Henni, 165
• — el-Houni, 143
• — Mohammed Khultoom, 94
• — Moëlla, 193
• — Mohammed esh-Shabi, 213
• — Naser, 164
• — Teleely, 266
• Si Ismaïl, 96
• — Mustafa, 94
• — Zerdoud, 32
• Siga, 58
• Signs, 39, 113
• Sirocco, 194, 214
• Sisara, 145
• Siwah, 287
• Snakes, water (see Serpents), 180
• Société Générale Algérienne, 113
• Solomon Strategos, 64, 85, 99, 100, 105
• es-Sook, 77
• Sook el-Arbäa, 42
• Sook et-Toork, 243
• Sournah (Tebessa), 102
• — (Constantine), 45
• Soumar, 122
• Soumat el-Hamara, 266
• Spizzichino, Signor, 143
• Strange, Sir Robert, 5-16
• Sufes, 177, 191
• Sufetula, 177, 192
• Susa, 150
• Syphax, 58
• Syrtis Major, 283
• — Minor, 273
• TABARCA, 242, 243, 245, 247
• Tabarcini, 250
• Ta-Babor, 122
• Tafna, 259
• Taghit, mines of, 78
• Tagoost, 75
• Taggou-Zeinah, 53
• Tamgout Lalla Khadidja, 122
• Thamugas, 84
• Tarafana, 42
• Tarantula, 286
• Tattubt, 52
• Tazmalt, 119
• Tazou-garet, 101
• Tebessa, 64, 103, 189, 265
• Teboursouk, 213, 215
• Tegeuse, 267
• Telegraphs in Tunis, 267
• Telemeen, 269
• Tenoucla, 265
• Tents, Arab, 213
• Testour, 229
• Teuchira, 283, 288
• Teyonis, Cape, 285
• Tezzoute, 58
• Thala, 265, 266
• Thelepte, 265
• Theniet Ain esh-Shair, 81
• — el-Abid, 78
• — er-Ressas, 81
• Thibkah, 269
• Thignica, 227
• Thompson, Consul, 19
• Thubursicum Bure, 215
• — Numidarum, 141
• Thugga, 216
• Thunodronum, 139
• Thurlow, Lady, 1
• Thuyas, 80
• Thysdrus, 156
• Tibilis, 37, 40
• Tide in Gulf of Gabes, 270, 271
• Ti-farasain, 72
• Ti-filkouth, 122
• Tiges, 267
• Ti-keshwain, 77
• Tili-jouen, 121
• Timegad, 8, 83
• Timbuctoo, 267, 287
• Tingitana, 24
• Tirourda, 122
• Tisurus, 267
• Tizairt, 118
• Tizi-Bart, 121
• Tizi-Zijan, 78
• Tobulbu, 272
• Tochara, 288
• Tombeau de la Chrétienne, 23, 25
• Toujan, 273
• Tozer, 267
• Travel in Tunis, difficulty of, 147, 198, 210
• Tricameron, 133
• Tripoli (Africa), 177, 276, 278, 283
• Tripoli (Syria), 288
• Tritonis, Lake (Gabes), 269
• — — (Bengazi), 285
• Tuburbo, 228
• Tucca Terebinthina, 197
• Tunis, 128, 275
• Tusca, 244, 258
• Tymphes, 102
• UTHINA, 132, 133
• Utica, 142
• VACCA, 234
• Valière, M., 17
• Vandals, 32, 47, 59, 64, 105, 133
• Vapour baths of Djebel Trozza, 173
• Vicus Augusti, 171
• WADHAHA, 92
• el-Wadi, 285
• Wargummah, 275, 276
• Warwick, Lord, 5
• Wild boars, 269
• Wood, Mr., 128, 155, 170, 238
• Wurglah, 267
• [300]YEMEN, invasion of Africa by the Tobbas of, 63
• Youkous, 112
• ZAGHOUAN, 128, 129, 135, 138
• Zaila, 287
• Zainah, 53
• Zama, 218
• Zana, 53
• Zanfour, 211
• Zaratt, 272
• Zaouiat Susa, 154
• Zebeel, 287
• Zeian, Lake of, 285
• Zeina, 118
• Zeghalma, 188
• Zemoul, 52
• Zereega, 272
• Zeugitana regio, 136
• Ziganiah, 113
• Zikak, 73
• Zoheir ibn Keis el-Belowi, 65
• Zouarin, 210
• Zucchara, 135