Chapter VII: Tunisia (1)

Route Page
Geographical and Historical Sketch. Preliminary Notes 319
51. From (Constantine, Bona) Souk-Ahras to Tunis 325
Thuburnica, 325.—Simitthu. From Souk el-Arba, through the
Kroumirie, to Tabarca, 326.—From Pont-de-Trajan to Béja.
From Béja to Tabarca. Chaouach, 328.
52. Tunis 329
a. The New Town, 333.—b. The Old Town (Djamâa ez-Zitouna,
Souks, Dâr el-Bey, Kasba, Mosque of Sidi Mahrez), 334.—c.
Environs (Jardin du Belvédère, the Manoubia Hill, the
Bardo, etc.), 338.
53. Carthage 343
Jebel Khaoui, 351.
54. From Tunis to Bizerta 351
Ferryville. Barrage des Pêcheries, 352.—From Tunis to
Bizerta by road (Utica, Porto-Farina), 353.
55. From Tunis to Dougga (Le Kef) 354
Henchir Maâtria (Numluli), 355.—From Medjez el-Bab to Le
Kef, 357.
56. From Tunis to Le Kef and Kalaâ-Djerda 358
From Bir-Kassa to La Laverie, 358.—From Smindja to
Zaghouan. From Tunis to Zaghouan by road. Jebel Zaghouan,
359.—Maktar, 360.—Kalaât es-Senam. Haidra. From
Kalaâ-Djerda to Kasserine viâ Thala, 362.
57. From Tunis to Susa 363
Jebel Bou-Kornin, 363.—From Fondouk Djedid to Menzel
Bou-Zelfa. From Soliman to Korbous. From Bir Bou-Rekba to
Nabeul, 364.—Takrouna. Hergla, 365.—From Susa to Mehdia
viâ Moknine, 369.—Chebba, 370.
58. From Susa to Kairwan 370
From Aïn-Ghrasesia to Metlaoui (Sbeïtla, Kasserine,
Thelepte, Feriana), 370.
59. From Susa to Sfax 378
60. From Sfax to Metlaoui viâ Gafsa 383
From Gafsa to El-Guettar, 385.—Gorges du Seldja, 386.
61. From Metlaoui to the Djerid 386
The Djerid, 386.—Kebilli. El-Hamma, 388.
62. From (Sfax) Graïba to Djerba viâ Gabes and Médenine 388
The Monts des Ksour, 390.—Tatahouine, 391.—The Island of
Djerba, 393.

_Tunisia_, the eastmost part of the _Maghreb_ (p. 93), a territory of about 50,000 sq. M., has a population of ca. 1½–2 millions, the great majority being Mohammedans (Berbers, Arabs, Moors, Kuluglis, and negroes). Of the remainder about 60,000 are Jews (Arabic _Ihûdi_, pl. _Ihûd_), either natives or settlers (from Spain and the so-called Livornese), 105,680 Italians, 40,850 French, 12,200 Maltese (p. 397), and 4800 other Europeans. The coast, about 620 M. long, extends from _Cape Roux_ (p. 131) to _Râs Adjir_ (p. 406).

The abrupt coast of the _Tell Atlas_ (p. 169), which stretches from the _Fedja Grandpré_ (3783 ft.) on the Algerian frontier to _Cape Blanc_ (p. 129), and comprises the wooded hill-country of the _Kroumirie_, the _Nefza_ and _Mogod Mts._, and several ranges of lower heights, is broken by the small coast-plain of _Tabarca_ alone. The dunes to the E. of Bizerta, rising to 1033 ft., the greatest range of sand-hills on the Mediterranean, separate the _Lake of Bizerta_ from the _Gulf of Tunis_ (p. xxx), into which fall the _Medjerda_ and the _Oued Miliane_, the two chief rivers of the country, forming a number of lagoons and tongues of land at their mouths.

The Algerian _Sahara Atlas_ (p. 170) extends to the N.E. from _Jebel Bou Roumane_ (5250 ft.) and _Jebel Zebissa_ (4167 ft.) near Tebessa (p. 315) to _Cape Bon_ (p. 153), broken by stony plateaux (_Hammada_, _Kalaâ_, _Dyr_), and finally descends abruptly to the sea. Its most important peaks in Tunisia are _Jebel Chambi_ (5217 ft.), _Jebel Bireno_ (4655 ft.), _Jebel Rekaba_ (or _Râs Ali Bou-Mouzine_, 4987 ft.), _Jebel Serd_ (4511 ft.), and, beyond the deep depression of _Jebel Faroua_ (2362 ft.), _Jebel Zaghouan_ (4249 ft.), which last is the most striking landmark for mariners in all Tunisia. The S. slope of the Sahara Atlas is remarkable for its terraced formation due to the action of water. The whole country consists mainly of great basins with floors of clay or sand of recent origin, separated from each other by elliptically shaped hills of more solid rock, chiefly of chalk formation. The _Oued Hathob_ (pp. 362, 370) flows through no fewer than six basins of the kind.

From the _Gulf of Hammamet_, on the S. margin of the peninsula of Cape Bon, to the _Lesser Syrtis_, now the _Gulf of Gabes_, extends an alluvial plain of marine formation. This steppe-like tract, with its large fresh-water lake (_Lac de Kelbia_, p. 370) and many salt-marshes (_Sebkha_, comp. p. 169), is thinly peopled by nomads only, except on the strip of coast, with its lagoons, flanking the _Sahel_. To the W. of the Gulf of Gabes lies the region, 250 M. long, of the _Shotts_ (_Chotts el-Fedjedj_, _Djerid_, and _Rharsa_), belonging to the great _Bassin du Melrir_ (p. 170); it forms the N. fringe of the desert, lying largely below the sea-level, and contains the finest palm-oases in Barbary. The transition from the shotts to the highlands of Tripoli is formed by _Jebel Tebaga_ (1608 ft.), and by the _Monts des Ksour_ (2460 ft.), famed ever since the time of Herodotus for their troglodytes or cave-dwellers, and bounded on the S.W. by the _Erg Oriental_ (p. 285).

Tunisia, unlike its neighbour Algeria, which is shut in all round by high mountains, covered with snow in winter, opens due E. upon the Mediterranean and enjoys a mild winter climate, but in summer and autumn is directly exposed to the sirocco (Arabic _samûm_), the burning wind from inland Africa, which is hotter and drier here than in Algeria. The mean temperature of January is at Tunis 51° Fahr. (minimum 28½°), at Aïn-Draham 42½° (min. 9½°), at Le Kef 45° (min. 23°), at Kairwan and Tozeur 50° (min. 25°), at Djerba 54½° (min. 35½°). The mean temperature of August at Tunis is 81° (maximum 122°), at Kairwan 85° (max. 120°), at Djerba 81° (max. 115°), and at Tozeur reaches 91° (max. 120°). The greatest rainfall in N. Africa is in the region of the Kroumirie (65 inches per annum at Aïn-Draham); to the S. of the Medjerda it decreases to 20–24 inches (at Le Kef 21½ in.); it is still lower at Tunis (17¾ in.), on the E. coast (Susa 16½, Sfax 9¾ in.), and particularly in the district of the shotts (at Tozeur 5 in.). The rain falls in short, torrential showers; owing to the destruction of the forests and the paucity of reservoirs the water rushes down unhindered to the salt-lakes and the sea, inundating the plains on its way. A few hours after each shower the thirsty soil is as dry as before, but the devastation caused by erosion is aggravated.

The fauna and flora are almost identical with those of Algeria (p. 171). The chief products of Tunisia are the tanner’s bark and cork of the Kroumirie, early vegetables from the environs of Tunis, cereals from the Medjerda valley and from the dales of the Sahara Atlas (here horse and cattle breeding also thrive), alfa or esparto grass (p. 171), olive-oil from the Sahel and from Sfax, and dates from the oases of the Sahara. Fish abound on the coast and the sponge fishery also is productive, while the coral-fishing has sunk into complete insignificance. The principal ores worked here are zinc, lead, iron, and copper. At Kalaât es-Senam, Kalaâ-Djerda, Metlaoui, Redeyef, and Aïn-Moularès there are immense deposits of phosphate, the yield of which has rapidly increased the traffic of _Tunis_ and _Sfax_, and is expected greatly to augment that of _Susa_ after the completion of its harbour.

Tunisia owes its ancient culture, the earliest in Barbary, to its numerous Phœnician colonies, such as Utica, Kambe, Hadrumetum (Susa), Leptis Minor, and Carthage. The Carthaginians wisely introduced the irrigation system of Mesopotamia into N. Africa and promoted the corn and vine culture, but the agricultural prosperity of the country was confined chiefly to the littoral, inhabited by Libyan-Phœnicians, a mixed Berber and Phœnician race, and to the valley of the Medjerda. The contiguous region of _Numidia_ was first opened up to Punic culture by _Masinissa_ (B.C. 201–149), the most distinguished of the ancient Berber kings.

The Roman republican period was unfavourable for the development of the new province of _Africa_. The chief events were the war with Jugurtha (111–106), the grandson of Masinissa, and the battles between Pompey, whose adherents were aided by Juba I., and Cæsar, which, after the battle of Thapsus (p. 369), led to the annexation of Numidia as the province of _Africa Nova_. The marvellous progress of the country during the first centuries of the Roman empire is evidenced by the colonization of the central Tunisian and S. Algerian steppe, a triumph of Roman enterprise. A great network of roads was constructed, chiefly from the reign of Hadrian onwards, to connect Carthage, the new capital, and other towns with Tebessa, Hippo Regius (p. 309), Tripolitania, and even the distant Mauretania Tingitana (p. 95), and numerous towns were founded in the interior of Tunisia and Numidia. But soon (about 238) a period of decline set in. Its causes were manifold. The Berbers were constantly rebelling, the Roman soldiers quarrelled, advancing Christianity and expiring paganism were struggling fiercely for the mastery, and the Christians, at length victorious, persecuted with the greatest ferocity. To add to these troubles, the terrible peasant-war of the so-called Circumcelliones broke out in the 4th cent., followed in the 4th and 5th cent. by the religious wars between Catholics and Donatists.

Once more, however, the ancient glory of Tunisia revived, though for but a brief period (439–77), under _Genseric_, the Arian king of the Vandals. After he had completed his victorious expedition from S. Spain to Carthage (429–39) he proceeded, in alliance with the Donatist Berbers and with the still Punic speaking inhabitants of the coast, to attack the effete western empire. With his newly formed fleet he conquered Sicily (440), Rome (455), Tripolitania, Malta (456), and Sardinia (458), and in 476, after the overthrow of the W. Roman empire, was recognized by Zeno, the E. Roman emperor, as lord of the whole western Mediterranean. But the incompetence and intolerance of his successors soon shattered this new empire, and in 533 king _Gelimer_ was defeated by Justinian’s able general _Belisarius_. Even in Justinian’s time, however, the new rulers were incessantly attacked by the Berbers of the mountains, while the Byzantine governors (534–698) persecuted Donatists and Arians alike, with the result, according to Procopius’s estimate, that five millions of the inhabitants of N. Africa perished. The fate of the country was thus sealed and its conquest by Islam greatly facilitated.

After eight successive campaigns (647–98) the first Arabian governors (representing the caliphs), _Abdallah ibn Saâd_, _Moauya ibn Hodeij_, _Sidi Okba ben-Nâfi_ (founder of Kairwan, p. 372), _Zoheir ibn Kaïs_, and _Hassan ibn en-Nôman_ (destroyer of Carthage, p. 346), drove the Byzantines out of ‘Ifrikia’ and overcame the desperate resistance of the Berber mountaineers, thus sweeping Christianity from African soil and destroying the last vestiges of Punic and Roman culture. Ere long, however, their ineradicable love of independence led the Berbers, who after the conquest of Andalusia (p. 50) had formed the sect of the _Kharijites_ and later that of the _Shiites_, to unite in opposing the orthodox Arabs and to found (about 740) several small states of their own, such as that of the _Ibadites_ in Tiaret (p. 208) and that of the _Sofrites_ in Sijilmassa (Tafilet, p. 96). In Tunisia the _Aglabides_ (800–909), a Berber dynasty, who were originally governors under Hârûn er-Rashid, declared themselves independent, and in 827 they proceeded to conquer Sicily. Under the _Fatimites_, who also were Berbers, the seat of government was transferred in 916 from Kairwan to Mehdia (p. 369), and in 973, after the conquest of Egypt, it was removed to Cairo (comp. p. 443). The revolt of the _Zirites_, a new dynasty of Tunisian governors, named after _Bologgîn ez-Ziri_, led in 1045 to the fateful irruption of the _Beni Hilal_ (_Hilalides_) and _Beni Soleïm_, two marauding tribes of nomadic Arabs. At the instigation of the Fatimites they overran Barbary like a swarm of locusts, defeated the allied Zirites and Hammadites (p. 270), destroyed Kairwan and many other towns, demolished most of the forests and the irrigation-works, and drove the Berbers back to their mountains. After a time the Zirites partly succeeded in subduing these hordes, but in 1148 the whole of the Sahel with its capital Mehdia was wrested from them by the Normans of Sicily (p. 148). In 1160 the Normans were expelled by _Abd el-Mûmen_ (p. 95), and Tunisia was incorporated with the great empire of the Almohades. At length, under the _Hafsides_ (1206–1573), Tunisia regained independence, with Tunis as the capital. Towards the end of this period troubles began anew. After interminable wars with the Merinides (p. 95) Tunis was captured by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534, and was attacked, though without permanent success, by the crusading Maltese knights (p. 398), by Emp. Charles V. (in 1535), by Juan de Vega (1551), and by Don John of Austria (1573). From 1574 to 1650 Tunisia was governed by Turkish officials (_pashas_, _deys_, _beys_), after which the dynasty of the _Husseinites_ was founded by _Hussein Ali ben-Turki_. From 1705 onwards Tunisia, often only a nominal dependency of Turkey, degenerated into a mere pirate-state, which down to 1830 took an active part in the marauding expeditions of its barbaresque Algerian neighbours.

Since 1881 the French protectorate has paved the way for a new period of prosperity and opened up the greatly impoverished and thinly peopled country to European trade and culture. The present bey is _Sidi Mohammed en-Nasr_ (born in 1855). The minister for foreign affairs is the French resident-general, and the minister of war is the commandant of the French garrison. Finance, postal arrangements, public works, and education are all superintended by French officials, with whom are associated a Mohammedan prime minister and a secretary of state. Europeans and their dependents are under the jurisdiction of the French law-courts; the natives are dealt with by the courts of the Ouzara and the ‘Shaâra’. The bey is allowed a body-guard of 600 men of the infantry, cavalry, and artillery, uniformed like the Zouaves.

Lovers of art will find Tunisia a most attractive country. As in Algeria and Morocco, so here also the megalithic monuments (dolmens, basinas, etc.), built of huge blocks of stone, are the chief memorials of the Libyan (or ancient Berber) culture. The Punic art of Tunisia, at first under Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek influence, but exclusively Greek after the first campaigns in Sicily, has become better known of late, especially since the rich yield of the rock-tombs of Carthage. Apart from the tomb at Dougga (p. 355), as little of Punic architecture remains as in Algeria. On the other hand no other country can boast of such a profusion of Roman ruins (called by the Mohammedans Henshir) as Tunisia.

The early Moorish art of Tunisia, as in the whole of the Maghreb, betrays the influence of Andalusian masters, but most of the buildings are no earlier than the Turkish period. Contrary to their Algerian methods the French have preserved the Oriental character of the country, so that the seaports of the E. coast, Kairwan, and the oasis villages still contain fine Moorish buildings.

Travellers may explore any part of the country in safety and without
escort, but they should not enter Mohammedan burial-grounds or shrines
(comp. p. xxv). The only mosques and zaouïas open to Christians (but
not to Jews) are those of Le Kef, Kairwan, Gafsa, and Tozeur.

The means of communication are similar to those in Algeria (comp. p.
173). The network of RAILWAYS, mostly belonging to the company of the
Chemins de Fer de Bône-Guelma (p. 173), extends to central Tunisia
only. Between Susa and Sfax (until the opening of the new railway) and
between Sfax or Graïba and Gabes the motor-omnibus or the diligence
(p. 173) is at present the only conveyance. The shotts are visited by
carriage from Metlaoui, or, if preferred, from Gabes. A visit to S.E.
Tunisia (Monts des Ksour, Gightis, Djerba) is usually paid from Gabes,
where introductions had better be obtained from the authorities of the
Territoire Militaire. Susa, Sfax, Gabes, and Djerba are also
steamboat-stations (comp. R. 64). In Tunisia mid-European time (1 hr.
ahead of Greenwich time), which is observed also on the Italian
steamers, has recently been introduced.

First-class HOTELS are to be found in Tunis only. Those in country
places are similar to the Algerian (p. 174), but still plainer and
less up to date, apart from a few creditable exceptions. In the steppe
and on the Sahara one must often have recourse to the fortified
caravanserai or to the hospitality of the local authorities.

The POST OFFICE of the regency of Tunis has its own stamps
(letter-postage within Tunisia or to France 10, to Italy 20 c. etc.;
post-cards 5 c.). A passport visé by the consul must be shown in order
to obtain delivery of registered letters.

The COINAGE, since the introduction of the gold standard (1891), has
been French, with Arabic and French inscriptions. The gold coins are
of 10 and 20 francs, the silver of ½, 1, and 2 francs, the copper of 5
and 10 centimes. Italian, Swiss, Belgian, and Greek silver coins
(except 5 fr. pieces) and copper coins are rejected. English or
American money should be exchanged for banknotes of the Banque de
France or the Banque de l’Algérie (p. 174), or for gold of the Latin
monetary union.

BOOKS (comp. also pp. xii, 175). _Douglas Sladen_, Carthage and Tunis
(2 vols., London, 1906; illus.); _Frances E. Nesbitt_, Algeria and
Tunis (London, 1906; illus.); _G. Petrie_, Tunis, Kairouan, and
Carthage (New York, 1909; $4.80); _A. M. Broadley’s_ ‘Tunis, Past and
Present’ (London, 1882) gives an interesting account of the French
conquest of Tunisia. Of French books may be mentioned La Tunisie
(Législation, Gouvernement, Administration) by _D. Gaudiani et P.
Thiaucourt_ (Paris, 1910; 12½ fr.); _H. Lorin_, L’Afrique du Nord
(Paris, 1908); _J. Toutain_, Les Cités Romaines de la Tunisie (Paris,
1896; 12½ fr.); _R. Cagnat et H. Saladin_, Voyage en Tunisie (Paris,
1887); _R. Cagnat_, L’Armée Romaine d’Afrique (Paris, 1892; 40 fr.);
_Charles Diehl_, L’Afrique Byzantine (Paris, 1896; 20 fr.); _H.
Saladin_, Tunis et Kairouan (Paris, 1908; 4 fr.). Carthage is the
scene of _Gust. Flaubert’s_ historical novel Salammbô.

MAPS of the Service Géographique de l’Armée (comp. p. 175): sheets on
the scale of 1 : 50,000, each 1½ fr.; on the scale of 1 : 100,000,
each 1 fr. 20 c.; and on the scale of 1 : 200,000, each 70 c.—A
general survey is afforded by the Carte des Routes et des Chemins de
Fer de la Tunisie, 1 : 500,000 (Tunis, 1908). See also Map, p. 319.

51. From (_Constantine, Bona_) Souk-Ahras to Tunis.

RAILWAY from Souk-Ahras to Tunis, 154 M., direct train with dining-car
between Ghardimaou and Tunis (déj. 4, D. 4½ fr.) in 7 hrs. (27 fr. 80,
20 fr. 85, 14 fr. 90 c.; from Constantine to Tunis 14¼ hrs.); also
ordinary train in 11¼ hrs. on Mon., Wed., & Frid.—Custom-house
examination at Ghardimaou, strict as to tobacco and cigars, which are
a government monopoly in Tunisia. All luggage not accompanied by the
owner will be detained at the custom-house.

MOTORISTS from Bona (p. 309) to Tunis must go viâ La Calle (p. 131),
Tabarca (p. 327), and Béja (p. 328).

From Constantine to (134 M.) _Souk-Ahras_, see RR. 48, 49.—The line from Souk-Ahras to Tunis, opened in 1879 (before the establishment of the French protectorate), crosses the Tebessa line (R. 50) and then descends to the S. into the _Medjerda Valley_ (pp. 313, 320), called by the Carthaginians _Makar_, and by the Romans _Bagradas_, the most fertile and most important in Tunisia.

Beyond (5½ M.) _Tarja_ (1611 ft.) the valley forms a short ravine. 10½ M. _Sidi-Bader_, in a meadowy dale, the future junction of the line from Bona to the mines on Jebel Ouenza (p. 314).

The train traverses a lonely mountain-region to (20½ M.) _Oued-Mougras_ (1171 ft.), a finely situated village, and then runs through a narrow valley in the frontier-hills, with dense underwood, to (30½ M.) _Sidi el-Hemessi_ (853 ft.), the last Algerian village.

37 M. =Ghardimaou= (673 ft.; Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. du Commerce; Algerian and Tunisian frontier, see above), a colonists’ village (Tues. market) at the entrance to the _Regba_, the upper plain of the Medjerda, which is fertile only in rainy seasons.

About 7 M. to the N. of Ghardimaou, beyond the _Oued Raraï_, lies
_Henchir Sidi Ali Bel-Kassem_, on a hill between the _Oued el-Hammam_
and the _Oued Henja_. This was the Roman town =Thuburnica=, among the
ruins of which are the cellæ of two temples and a Byzantine fortress.

45 M. _Oued-Meliz_ (584 ft.; Mon. corn-market), a village a little above the Oued Raraï (p. 325) and the mouth of the _Oued Meliz_.

Oued-Meliz is the station for the village of _Chemtou_ (590 ft.), 2 M.
to the N.E., at the influx of the _Oued Melah_ into the Medjerda, the
=Simitthu= of the Carthaginian and Roman periods. Its once famous
quarries of yellowish red ‘Numidian’ marble are now abandoned. Among
the ruins are a Roman bridge across the Medjerda, where the old road
to Le Kef diverges (p. 360); also remains of the forum (44 by 27
yds.), of thermæ, cisterns, and an aqueduct; an interesting Roman wall
on the bank of the Melah; the fairly preserved *Theatre; and, near the
ancient Tabarca road, the burial-ground with its numerous tombstones.
On the slope of the town-hill (830 ft.), which is crowned with a small
Byzantine fortress, lies the so-called Temple des Boucliers, of the
Punic and Roman periods.

50 M. _Sidi-Meskine_, at the mouth of the Regba, between _Jebel el-Herrech_ (2277 ft.) on the left and _Jebel Bou-Rebbah_ (2431 ft.) on the right. The train now enters the _Dakla_, the central plain of the Medjerda, about 25 M. long, partly swampy in winter and malarious and extremely hot in summer, which from ancient times till now has been the chief granary of Tunisia.

57½ M. =Souk el-Arba= (470 ft.; Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. du Commerce; Hôt. de France; pop. 1500), a thriving village of immigrant farmers, partly built with materials from Bulla Regia, and named after its Wednesday (‘fourth day’) corn-market, the most important in N. Tunisia next to those of Béja and Mateur. Road to _Le Kef_ (p. 360) viâ the small village of _Nebeur_, the terminus of the railway from Béja (p. 328), with important iron-ore mines.

From Souk el-Arba a field-road leads to the N., in the direction of the conduit, somewhat apart from the Tabarca road, to (4½ M.) =Bulla Regia=, the prosperous ancient capital of the Dakla in the Carthaginian period, and in 203 the scene of Scipio’s victory over Hasdrubal and Syphax. The village lies on a terrace on the S. slope of _Jebel Rebia_ (2123 ft.) and owes its modern name _Hammam-Darradji_ to its spring. Among the interesting Roman ruins are the large *_Thermae_; a *_Nymphaeum_, or fountain; a _Temple of Apollo_, an open court with three cellæ in the style of Punic sanctuaries (comp. p. 357); a *_Dwelling House_, with an almost intact groundfloor, a mosaic pavement, vaults, and stairs to the upper floor. The _Cisterns_ now serve the natives as habitations and the old _Byzantine Fortress_ is now a caravanserai. The ruins of the _Amphitheatre_ are less important. Three well-preserved subterranean _Palaces_ and a _Punic Fortress_ have been recently excavated. The rock-tombs of the _Necropolis_ date partly from the Punic period.

FROM SOUK EL-ARBA TO TABARCA, 42 M., by the highroad. (Diligence to
Aïn-Draham, in summer only, at 1 p.m., in 6 hrs.; from Aïn-Draham to
Tabarca at 10.45 a.m., in 6 hrs., there and back 6 fr.) This
excursion, only suitable for the warmer season, introduces us to the
most beautiful parts of the *=Kroumirie=, which, thanks to its ample
rainfall (p. 321), is the most richly wooded region in Barbary. Now
and then we meet with an almost virgin forest of cork-trees, evergreen
oaks, elms, ashes, and other trees, in whose shade grow luxuriant
ferns, while babbling brooks refresh the wayfarer. It was owing to
violations of the frontier and thefts of cattle committed by the
_Kroumirs_ that the French at length occupied Tunisia in 1881, but the
natives are now peaceable herdsmen, wood-cutters, and
charcoal-burners. The tombs of this Berber tribe still recall the
ancient megalithic monuments of their ancestors.

The road ascends to the N.W. from the Dakla, through a depression
between Jebel el-Herrech and Jebel Rebia (p. 326), to the saddle on
the N.E. slope of _Jebel Halloufa_ (1512 ft.), and then turns to the
N. into the valley of the _Oued Rzella_, a feeder of the Oued Bou
Heurtma (see below). It passes (13 M.) _Fernana_ (820 ft.; Restaurants
Dauteroche and Richetti) and ascends, soon more rapidly, to the (19½
M.) forester’s house of _Camp de la Santé_ and (20½ M.) _Les Chênes_
(2461 ft.; Hôt. des Chênes), a small summer resort superbly situated
amid venerable evergreen oaks. The road descends in windings for a
short time and then ascends again between _Jebel Bir_ (see below) on
the right and _Kef Sidi Abdallah_ (2861 ft.) on the left, on whose
slope is the kubba of Sidi Abdallah Ben-Djemel, the chief saint of the
Kroumirs.—25½ M. =Aïn-Draham= (about 2625 ft.; Hôt. de France, Hôt.
Serrières, both quite good; Mon. market), an agricultural village
amidst cork-trees and evergreen oaks, lies in the heart of the
Kroumirie, at the N. base of *_Jebel Bir_ (3327 ft.), which commands a
splendid survey of the Kroumirie and the Nefza Mts. (p. 328),
stretching to the N. to the sea, to the N.W. to the lakes near La
Calle (p. 131), and to the S. to the Dakla.

The road now descends across the _Col des Ruines_ (2382 ft.) in
windings to (30½ M.) _Babouch_ (1637 ft.; frontier custom-house), a
village of immigrant farmers, where the road to La Calle diverges to
the W. (22½ M. from Aïn-Draham; diligence 5 fr.). Our road, flanked at
first by cork-trees and then passing through groves of olive and
fig-trees, now descends the picturesque valley of the _Oued el-Kébir_,
the ancient _Tusca_, the boundary between the Roman province of Africa
(p. 321) and Numidia.

42 M. =Tabarca= (Hôt. Tiret, plain but quite good; Hôt. de France;
pop. 1300, of whom 1100 are Europeans; Frid. market), a quiet little
seaport in the fertile coast-plain between the Oued el-Kébir and _Cape
Tabarca_, was the Roman _Thabraca_, the busiest harbour on the
coast-road between Utica (p. 353) and Hippo Regius (p. 309), the
outlet for the marble of Simitthu (p. 326) and for the timber and the
wild beasts of the Kroumirie. Hardly a trace of that period now
exists. The loftily situated Turkish _Bordj Djedid_ is now used as
barracks. Opposite lies the bare island of _Tabarca_, rising abruptly
on the N. side, with a picturesque old Genoese castle. Of the two,
originally Carthaginian, quays connecting the island with the mainland
the westmost has lately been restored, but the shallow harbour is
scarcely used except by Sicilian fishermen. The steamers of the Comp.
Gén. Transatlantique (p. 130) anchor in the open roads.—For the future
railway to _Mateur_, see p. 352.

From Tabarca to _Béja_, see p. 328.

64 M. _Ben-Bachir_, not far from the influx of the _Oued Mellègue_, the ancient _Muluth_, and of the _Oued Tessa_ (p. 357) into the Medjerda. We cross the _Oued Bou Heurtma_, the _Armascla_ of the Romans. Fine view of _Jebel Gorra_ (p. 355).

71½ M. _Souk el-Khemis_ (427 ft.; ‘fifth-day market’), a thriving agricultural village, the largest at this end of the Dakla. The valley now contracts. 79½ M. _Sidi-Zehili_.

87½ M. _Pont-de-Trajan_ (Rail. Restaurant), misnamed after a three-arched *_Bridge_ of the time of Tiberius, 99 yds. long and 8 yds. wide, one of the oldest Roman structures in Barbary.

FROM PONT-DE-TRAJAN TO BÉJA, 9 M., branch-line in 24 min. (1 fr. 45, 1
fr. 10 c., 80 c.). The line ascends the bare valley of the _Oued
Béja_, to the N.—9 M. =Béja= (715–1000 ft.; Hôt. de France, etc.; pop.
12,000, incl. 1600 Europeans), the _Vaga_ of the Roman period, when it
had a great market and was one of the most thriving places in the
Medjerda valley, owes its present prosperity to the grain-trade and
the culture of early vegetables. To the E., bordering the Avenue de la
Gare, is the new quarter of the Italian and French farmers, with the
_Halle aux Grains_. To the W., on the slope beyond the _Oued Bou
Zegdem_, rises the picturesque old town. On its N.E. margin the Grande
Rue leads to the _Marché_ (cattle-market, Tues.) and to the _Souks_
(p. 335). The _Grande Mosquée_, built in the form of an Egyptian cross
(p. 376), one of the oldest in Tunisia, is famed for its borrowed
wealth of ancient Roman capitals. The only Roman ruins are the _Bâb
el-Aïn_ (‘fountain-gate’) and relics of _Thermae_ and of a _Basin_.
The _Town Walls_, with their many towers, were originally Byzantine,
but have been repeatedly restored. With the exception of the ‘keep’,
the Byzantine fortress on the top of the hill has been superseded by
the _Kasba_, built largely of Roman materials. On the _Bou Hamdan_
(1047 ft.), a hill 1 M. to the N.W. of Béja, lies a large _Punic
Burial Ground_, with rock-tombs.—Railways run from Béja to the N.E. to
_Mateur_ (p. 351) and to the S.W. to _Nebeur_ (p. 326).

The picturesque route to Tabarca (45 M.; motor-omnibus or diligence)
leads to the N. from Béja, past the zinc-mines of _Jebel Charra_ (1414
ft.), and through the now treeless valleys of the Oued Béja (_Oued
Djorfane_ in its upper course) and the _Oued Sersar_. It next passes
the richest calamine or zinc-ore mines in Tunisia (_Jebel Damous_,
_Aïn-Roumi_, _Jebel Sidi Ahmed_) and leads through the grand ravine of
_Khanguet Kef Tout_ into the valley of the _Oued Maden_. 25 M.
_Djebel-Abiod_ (Hôt. des Nefzas, quite good), a village in the _Nefza
Mts._, famed for their cork-tree woods, their abundant game, and their
great deposits of hæmatite. (Railway from Mateur to Djebel-Abiod, see
p. 352; thence to Tabarca under construction.) We now drive to the W.,
between _Jebel Kherouf_ (2035 ft.) on the left and a chain of *Dunes
(650 ft.) on the right, to _Râs er-Radjel_, and cross the Oued
el-Kébir to (45 M.) _Tabarca_ (p. 327).

From Pont-de-Trajan to _Teboursouk_ (_Dougga_), see p. 355.

The Medjerda, in its sinuous course, then forces its way through the bare hill-country below Pont-de-Trajan. For a short distance the train runs to the N.E. into the side-valley of the _Oued Zarga_, stopping at (100½ M.) _Oued-Zarga_ (322 ft.), and then returns to the E., through hilly country, and below _Toukabeur_ and _Chaouach_ (see below), into the valley of the Medjerda.

113 M. =Medjez el-Bab= (197 ft.; Hôt. des Colons; omn. to the diligence office 30 c.), a considerable village on the right bank of the Medjerda, 1¼ M. to the S. of the station, was formerly _Membressa_, a busy place on the Roman road from Carthage to Tebessa (p. 315). The eight-arched _Medjerda Bridge_ was built in the 18th cent. with the materials of the Roman bridge; and the Roman _Triumphal Arch_, to which the village owes its name (‘ford by the gateway’), has lately been almost entirely demolished for a similar purpose. Important corn-market on Mondays.

On the slope of _Jebel Chaouach_ (1778 ft.), some 5½ M. to the N.W. of
Medjez el-Bab, lies _Chaouach_ (1480 ft.), with the ruins of the small
Roman town of _Sua_ (triumphal arch, nymphæum, town-wall, etc.). About
1¼ M. to the W. of Chaouach are the ruins of _Toukabeur_ (1221 ft.),
the Roman _Thuccabor_, with its ancient cisterns, gateways, temple,
etc.

From Medjez el-Bab to _Teboursouk_ and _Dougga_ (_Le Kef_), see R. 55.

The train now proceeds, generally somewhat apart from the tortuous stream, at the foot of bare hills (_Jebel Heïdous_, _Jebel Lansarine_, etc.), to (119 M.) _El-Heri_ and (122½ M.) _Bordj Toum_.

133 M. =Tebourba= (133 ft.; Hôt. Cafort, R. 2, B. ½, D. 2½, pens. 6 fr.; pop. 2000) is pleasantly situated among olive-groves. On a height (164 ft.) crowned with the kubba of _Sidi Ras-Allah_, between the village and the Medjerda, are the scanty ruins of the Roman town of _Thuburbo Minus_. About ½ hr. to the S. of Tebourba lies the dam or *_Bridge of El-Bathan_, originally Roman, but restored to form a reservoir for watering the olive-trees. Adjacent are a small manufactory of chechias (a kind of fez) and barracks. Near Tebourba are large quarries of gypsum.

139 M. _Djedeïda_, junction for Bizerta (R. 54), with a barrage and an agricultural school and farm of the Alliance Israélite.

The train crosses the Medjerda and, at the arches of the *_Aqueduct of Carthage_ (p. 348), still 7½ M. long, the watershed between the Medjerda valley and the undulating plain of Tunis.

148 M. _La Manouba_ (p. 342). We then pass _Kassar-Saïd_ (on the left; p. 342) and the (150½ M.) _Bardo_ (p. 339), and for a short time skirt the N. side of the _Sebkha es-Sedjoumi_ (p. 332). Lastly the train rounds the S. edge of the old town (_Rebat Bab-Djazira_, p. 337) and passes close to the _Manoubia Hill_ (p. 339) and the _Zaouïa Sidi Bel-Hassen_ (p. 339).

154 M. _Tunis_ (Gare du Sud, see below).

52. Tunis.

ARRIVAL BY SEA. The _Quay_ where almost all the steamers (p. 331) are
berthed is 10–15 min. from the hotels. The _Douane_ is close by. It is
best to entrust luggage at once to the hotel servants; if a porter
(hamal) is required his charge should be asked (usually 10 c. for
small packages, and 25 c. for each trunk carried to the cab or
omnibus). Cab (into the town 1 fr., each trunk 15 c.) and tramway (No.
1), see p. 330.

=Railway Station.= _Gare du Sud_ (Pl. E, 5; Restaurant), Place de la
Gare (Rue es-Sadikia).—Railway and sleeping-car office in the town,
König & Co. (p. 331).

=Hotels= (comp. p. 324; often full in Feb.-April). *TUNISIA PALACE
HOTEL (Pl. c; E, 4, 5), Avenue de Carthage, behind the Casino
Municipal (p. 331), with a small garden, R. 4–10, B. 1½, déj. 5, D. 7,
pens. 13–20, omn. 1½–2 fr.; *HÔT. DE PARIS & IMPÉRIAL (Pl. a; D, 5),
Rue al-Djazira 23bis, R. 3–6, B. 1½, déj. 3½–4, D. 4–5, pens. 9–16,
omn. without luggage 1 fr.—*GRAND-HÔTEL (Pl. b; D, 4), Avenue de
France, R. 3½–6, B. 1½, déj. 3½, D. 4½, pens, from 10, omn. 1 fr.;
*HÔT. ST. GEORGES, Avenue de Paris (N. of Pl. E, 2), near the
Belvedere Park (p. 338), suitable for some stay, R. 3–4, B. 1½, déj.
3, D. 4, pens. 9–12½ fr. (with dépendance HÔT. SUISSE, moderate); HÔT.
DE FRANCE (Pl. d; D, 5), Rue Léon-Roches 8, quiet site, pens. 9–11,
omn. 1 fr.—Plainer: HÔT. EYMON (Pl. e, D 4; ‘Gigino’), Rue de l’Eglise
1, corner of Place de la Bourse, R. 3–4, B. ¾, déj. or D. 2½, pens. 8
fr., good; TUNIS HOTEL & DE GENÈVE (Pl. f; D, 4, 5), Rue d’Italie 12,
R. 2½–6, B. ¾, déj. 2–2½, D. 2½–3, omn. 1–1¼ fr.; HÔT. D’ANGLETERRE,
Ave. Jules-Ferry 37, R. 2½–5, B. ¾, déj. 2, D. 2½, pens. 7½, omn. 1¼
fr.; HÔT. MAISON DORÉE, Rue de Hollande 10 (Pl. E, 5), with
restaurant, similar charges; HÔT. MODERNE (Pl. g; D, 4), Rue de
Constantine 12, corner of Rue de Bône, R. from 3½, déj. or D. 3, pens.
from 9½ fr.; HÔT. DE LA POSTE, Rue d’Espagne 5 (Pl. D, 5).—=Hôtels
Garnis.= HÔT. BELLEVUE (Pl. h; D, 4), Rue es-Sadikia 1; HÔT. RÉGENCE
(dépendance of the Hôt. Eymon), Ave. de France, R. 3–8, B. 1 fr.;
SPLENDID HOTEL, Ave. Jules-Ferry 74; ROYAL HOTEL, Rue d’Espagne 19, R.
from 3 fr.; HÔT. CENTRAL, Ave. de Paris 8; FAMILY HOTEL, Rue
d’Allemagne 15 (Pl. D, 5), near the marché (p. 333), plain.—_Furnished
Rooms_ (20–70 fr. per month) abound.

=Cafés.= _Café du Casino_, in the palmarium of the Casino Municipal
(p. 331), with a summer terrace in the Ave. Jules-Ferry;
_Café-Restaurant de Tunis_, Ave. de France 2, in the Hôt. Bellevue,
much frequented; _Café de Paris_, same street, No. 16. Arabian cafés
(p. 174) in the Halfaouine quarter (Pl. B, 2), at the Bab Djedid (Pl.
C, 6), etc.—CONFECTIONERS. _Engerer_, Place de la Bourse 1; _Wagner &
Co._, Rue d’Italie 24, and Ave. de Paris 8; _Montelateci_, Ave. de
France 7.

=Restaurants.= *_Brasserie du Phénix_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 74, in the
Splendid Hotel (see above); _Café-Restaurant de Tunis_, see above;
_Salvarelli_, Ave. de France, adjoining the Grand-Hôtel; _Maxéville_,
Ave. Jules-Ferry 63 (déj. or D. 1½ fr.); _Maison Dorée_, in the hotel
(see above); _Restaurant du Rosbif_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 56; _Restaurant
de la Poste_, Rue d’Angleterre 8.

Carriages. │ │ Voiture
│ Voiture de Place │de Remise
═══════════════════════════════╪═══════════════════╤═════════╪═════════
│ │With two │
│ With one horse │ horses │
│ (2–3 │ │ │
│ pers.) │(4 pers.)│ „ │
Drive (course) in the town │ │ │ │
(petite banlieue) │ 0.80│ 0.90│ 1.—│ 1.60
Outside the town, up to 8 │ │ │ │
kilomètres (5 M.) │ 2.50│ 2.70│ 3.—│ 4.50
Hour in the town │ 1.30│ 1.50│ 1.80│ 2.40
Hour outside the town │ 1.80│ 2.—│ 2.40│ 3.20
Day (12 hrs.) │ 12.—│ 12.—│ 15.—│ 20.—

The chief limits of the inner town are the Bardo and the Belvedere
Park. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (or in April-Sept. 11–5) a fare and a
half is charged. During festivals and races, and also for long drives,
bargain advisable. Small packages free; trunk 15 c.—There are also
TAXIMETER MOTOR CABS (comp. tariff).

=Motor Cars.= _Auto-Palace_, Rue d’Autriche Prolongée 3; _Garage
Peyrard_, Rue de Belgique 10; _Tunisienne Automobile_, Rue de Grèce.

=Tramways= (fares by zones, from 5 c. upwards; also transfer-tickets),
from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.: =1.= _Porte de France_ (Pl. D, 4), Ave.
Jules-Ferry (Pl. E, 4), Ave. du Port, _Harbour_.—=2.= _Porte de
France_, Rue al-Djazira (Pl. D, 5, 6), Ave. Bab-Djedid (Pl. D, C, 6),
_Place de la Kasba_ (Pl. B, 5).—=3.= _Porte de France_, Rue des
Maltais (Pl. D, 4), Place Bab-Souika (Pl. B, C, 3), _Kasba_.—=4.= _Rue
al-Djazira_ (Rue d’Algérie; Pl. D, 6), Rue es-Sadikia (Pl. D, 5; Gare
du Sud), Rue de Rome (Pl. D, 4), Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 4, 3), Place
Bab-Souika, _Bab Bou-Saâdoun_ (Pl. A, 2).—=5.= _Place Bab-Souika_ (Pl.
B, C, 3), Bab Bou-Saâdoun, _Bardo_ (p. 339; every ¼ hr., 15 c.), _La
Manouba_ (p. 342; every ½ hr., 30 c.).—=6.= _Porte de France_, Rue des
Maltais (Pl. D, 4), Bab el-Khadra (Pl. C, 2), Cimetière Municipal,
_Belvedere Park_ (p. 338; Ave. Carnot, 15 c.).—=7.= _Rue de Rome_ (Pl.
D, 4), Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 4–2), _Belvedere Park_ (Rond-Point; every
10 or 15 min., 15 c.; on week-days there and back 25 c.), _Ariana_ (p.
338; every ½ hr., 30 c.).—=8.= _Ave. de France_ (Pl. D, 4), Ave. de
Carthage (Pl. E, 5–7), Bab Alleoua (Pl. E, 7), _Abattoirs_ (to the S.
of Pl. E, 7).—For the electric tramways to _Carthage_ and _La Marsa_,
see p. 343.

=Post & Telegraph Office= (Pl. D, 5), Rue d’Italie 30; branches on the
quay and in the Place Bab-Souika.

=Steamboat Agents.= For the _Comp. Gén. Transatlantique_ (RR. 21, 22),
Banque de Tunisie, Rue es-Sadikia 3, and on the Quai Ouest; for the
_Società Nazionale_ (RR. 25, 26, 64), Florio, Rue d’Alger 1; for the
_Comp. de Navigation Mixte_ (RR. 21, 26, 64), Ave. Jules-Ferry and
Quai Ouest; for the _Hamburg-American Line_, the _Hungarian Adria_,
and the _German Levant Line_, Siebert & Co., Rue d’Italie 5bis; for
the _North German Lloyd_, Heckmann, see below.

=Tourist Offices.= _Eisen_ (travel and sport), Rue Léon-Roches 6;
_König & Co._, Rue es-Sadikia; _Pernull & Myddleton_, Ave. Jules-Ferry
39; _R. Heckmann_ (Universal Tourist Office), Ave. de Carthage,
opposite Tunisia Palace Hotel; _Lubin_, Ave. de France 5.—_Comité
d’Hivernage_, Ave. de Carthage 8.

=Consuls.= British Consul-General, _E. J. L. Berkeley_, Place de la
Bourse (Pl. D, 4); vice-consuls, _Chas. A. Goodwin_, _R. Schembri_.—U.
S. Vice-Consul, _A. J. Proux_, Ave. de France.

=Physicians.= _Dr. Domela_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 72; _Dr. Valetta_, Rue
d’Espagne; _Dr. Zammit_, Rue Amilcar (all three speak English); _Dr.
Jaeggy_, Rue d’Autriche; _Mlle. Dr. Gordon_, Rue de Rome 18.—CHEMIST.
_Heyler_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 54 (Théâtre Rossini, Pl. E, 4).

=Baths.= _Dublineau_, Rue d’Allemagne 17 (Pl. D, 5; well fitted up;
bath 1½, Turkish 3 fr.); _Bains Français_, Rue de Suisse 8; _Bains
Maures_ (comp. p. 175), Ave. Bab-Menara.

=Banks= (comp. p. 174). _Banque de l’Algérie_, Rue de Rome 18; _Comp.
Algérienne_, Rue de Rome; _Banque de Tunisie_, Rue es-Sadikia 3;
_Comptoir d’Escompte de Paris_, Ave. de France; _Cooperativa
Italiana_, Rue es-Sadikia 7; _Krieger_, Rue al-Djazira 45.

=Goods Agents.= _Meyer_, Porte de France 35; _Dana_, Rue es-Sadikia 9.

=Booksellers.= _Niérat & Fortin_, Ave. de France 15, and _Saliba_, No.
17.—PHOTOGRAPHS (and photographic materials). _Lehnert & Landrock_,
Ave. de France 17, and _Garrigues_, No. 9; _Neuer_, Rue Léon-Roches 6;
_Vella_, Rue d’Allemagne 4.—NEWSPAPERS. _Dépêche Tunisienne_, _Tunisie
Française, Unione_ (Ital. and Fr.).—SHOP for European goods, _Magasin
Général_, Ave. de France 22 (fixed prices). Oriental goods at the
_Musée Ahmed Djamal_, Souk el-Attârîn 11 and Rue d’Autriche 108;
_Pohoomull Frères_, Ave. de France 17. The Oriental articles in the
SOUKS (pp. 335–337) and even the fezes (chechia) are mostly of
European make and may be bought cheaper at home. Important purchases
should not be made without the aid of a friend who knows the country
and its ways (bargaining necessary). The services of touts, guides,
and hotel servants should be declined, as they tend to raise prices.

=Theatres.= _Théâtre du Casino Municipal_, in the Casino Municipal
(see below), entrance in the Ave. Jules-Ferry, for operas and
operettas, 15th Nov. to 15th April; _Théâtre Rossini_ (Pl. E, 4), Ave.
Jules-Ferry 48, for Italian and French dramas.—CASINO MUNICIPAL (Pl.
E, 4), Ave. de Carthage 1, with hall for concerts and varieties
(‘Palmarium’), a summer terrace, card-rooms, and American bar. The
_Pavillon du Belvédère_, in the park of the Belvedere (p. 338), is the
summer casino of the same company.—BAND on Sun. and Thurs. afternoons,
Place de la Résidence; on Wed. in front of the Cercle Militaire.

=English Church.= _St. George’s_ (‘Egl. anglic.’; Pl. C, 3), Rue
Bab-Carthagène 39, service at 10.15 a.m.

=Sights.= _Bardo Museum_, same as Musée Alaoui, see below.

_Bardo Palace_ (p. 340), week-days, at any hour; tickets at the Musée
Alaoui (comp, below).

_Bibliothèque Française_ (p. 333), week-days 9–11 and 2–4 (in summer
8–11 only).

_Dâr el-Bey_ (p. 336), daily, 9–11 and 3–5; fee ½–1 fr.

_Jardin d’Essais_ (p. 338), daily 8–11 and 1–5 (April-Oct. 7–11 and
3–6).

_Musée Alaoui_ (p. 340), daily except Mon. and great Catholic
festivals 9.30–11.30 and 1–4 (16th Feb. to 15th Oct. 2–5), 1 fr. (Sun.
free); the same ticket admits to the Bardo Palace also, if visited on
the same day.

=Two Days.= 1st. Forenoon, _Ave. Jules-Ferry_ and _Ave. de France_ (p.
333); walk through the _Souks_ of the Medina (p. 335) and the
adjoining _Mohammedan Quarters_ (p. 334); visit to _Place
el-Halfaouine_ (p. 337). Afternoon, _Bardo Museum_ (p. 340) or
_Belvedere Park_ (p. 338), or, by carriage, both.—2nd. Excursion to
_Carthage_, see R. 53.

_Tunis_, Ital. _Túnisi_, capital of the _Régence de Tunis_, and seat of the French Resident-General (p. 323) and of the Mohammedan university, is the largest city in N. Africa after Cairo and Alexandria, and vies with Sfax as a most important harbour. Population about 200,000, of whom about 115,000 are Mohammedans, 22,500 Jews, 41,000 Italians, 14,000 French, 5400 Maltese, and 250 Greeks.

The town lies in 36°47′ N. lat. and 10°10′ W. long., on the E. margin of the narrow tongue of land (rising to 190 ft.) between the _Lac de Tunis_ (or _Lake Bahira_, p. 129) and the small salt-lake _Sebkha es-Sedjoumi_, an old lagoon. The central part of the sea of houses composing the old town is the _Medina_, the oldest Moorish quarter, built largely out of the ruins of Thunes, Carthage, and Utica, and now the chief focus of trade and industry. Adjacent, to the N. and S., are two poor quarters, also chiefly Mohammedan, the _Rebat Bab-Souika_ and _Rebat Bab-Djazira_, formerly N. and E. suburbs. The monotonous European new town in the low ground to the E. of the Medina, exposed in summer to the exhalations of Lake Bahira, is gradually extending from the _Porte de France_ (formerly _Bab el-Bahar_, sea-gate) towards the harbour. On the brow of the hill to the W. of the old town are the old Kasba and most of the public buildings, almost all built under the French protectorate. Some of these lie outside the Turkish town-wall, once 6000 yds. long, erected in the 17th century.

_Tunis_, the ancient _Thunes_, a Berber name given to an earlier
Phœnician colony, appears in history in 508 B.C. as an ally of
Carthage. In 395 it was destroyed by rebellious Berber tribes. It was
from Thunes that Agathocles (p. 163) and Regulus (p. 345) advanced
against Carthage, and here, after the first Punic war, the
discontented mercenaries from Sicca Veneria (p. 360) established
themselves. Tunis was probably destroyed by the Romans at the same
time as Carthage (146 B.C.) and rebuilt later. After the downfall of
Carthage Utica (p. 353) entered into the heritage of her proud
neighbour, but for a short time only; for from 29 B.C. onwards
Carthage resumed her ancient supremacy and continued to flourish down
to her second destruction in 698 A.D. This time Tunis was her natural
successor. But the nomadic Arabs, being ignorant of navigation, and
the Aglabides (p. 323) preferred Kairwan (p. 372), which had recently
been founded in the heart of the Tunisian steppe; and the succeeding
Fatimite and Zirite dynasties favoured the Sahel, with Mehdia (p. 369)
as their new capital, to the detriment of N. Tunisia. At length, under
the Hafsides (1206–1573; p. 323), Tunis became the capital, and
rapidly grew to be the greatest and fairest city in the land, as well
as a zealous promoter of the glorious Moorish art and science of the
13th and 14th centuries. The most distinguished of the Hafside
sovereigns was Abû Abdallah Mohammed el-Mostanser Billah, who in 1270
defended his capital successfully against Louis IX., the Saint (p.
346). After the decline of that dynasty at the close of the 15th cent.
and the capture of Tunis by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534, the city was
attacked by the Spaniards in three different campaigns (p. 323), and
was conquered four times by the Turks and the Algerians (in 1569,
1573, 1689, and 1757); yet in the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks to
its Oriental trade and the booty of its pirates, it again enjoyed
great prosperity.

The only mediæval buildings in the old town which have survived all
these vicissitudes are three mosques, now much modernized. The
distinctive character of the present town is of Mauro-Turkish origin.
Those who cross the threshold of the Orient here for the first time
will be specially struck with the narrow and crooked lanes of the
Mohammedan quarters, only 12–16 ft. wide, with the motley crowd in the
Souks (p. 335), and with the picturesque concourse of all the tribes
of N. Africa and the Sahara. The poor Jewish quarter (p. 337) is less
interesting. The strange costume of the women, with their kufias or
sugar-loaf hats, loose jackets, and tight-fitting trousers, is now
rarely seen except on members of the older generation, while the
pretty, old-fashioned costume of the girls is a thing of the past.

_John Howard Payne_ (b. 1792), author of ‘Home, Sweet Home’, was
United States consul at Tunis from 1842 until his death in 1852.

a. The New Town.

From the _Harbour_ (Port; see inset map, Pl. E, 1), which together with the Bahira Canal (p. 129) was constructed in 1888–96, the short Avenue du Port (tramway No. 1, p. 330) leads through the _Piccola Sicilia_, a group of workmen’s huts, into the town, ending at the bronze statue of _Jules Ferry_ (1832–93), the French statesman who brought about the occupation of Tunisia.

The AVENUE JULES-FERRY (Pl. E, 4), or AVENUE DE LA MARINE, the finest street in the new town, 66 yds. wide and 710 yds. long, is planted with double avenues of fig-trees. On the left, just beyond the divergence, to the right and left, of the unfinished Avenue de Paris (p. 338) and Avenue de Carthage (Pl. E, 5–7), which together are 2¼ M. long, rises the _Casino Municipal_ (Pl. E, 4; p. 331).

The Ave. Jules-Ferry ends at the PLACE DE LA RÉSIDENCE (Pl. D, 4; band, see p. 331), the centre of the new town. To the left, on the S. side, rises the =Palais de la Résidence= (Pl. D, E, 4), or _Maison de France_, built in 1856–60 for the French consulate (see p. 334), and tastefully remodelled in 1890–2 by _Dupertuys_ as a dwelling for the resident-general. The beautiful garden is not accessible. Opposite the Residence is the =Cathedral= (Pl. D, 4); erected in 1893–7. The Rue es-Sadikia leads to the S. from the W. end of the square to the _Gare du Sud_ (p. 329).

The Ave. Jules-Ferry is continued by the much narrower AVENUE DE FRANCE (Pl. D, 4), intersecting the older European quarter, the favourite promenade of the town. A little to the S. of it, in the Rue d’Italie, which leads to the _Post and Telegraph Office_ (Pl. D, 5), is the _Marché_ (Pl. D, 5; interesting from 7 to 10 a.m.).

In the Rue de Russie, the southmost street in this quarter, is the _Bibliothèque Française_ (Pl. D, 5; adm., see p. 331), which is well supplied with literature relating to N. Africa.

b. The Old Town.

At the W. end of the Ave. de France (p. 333), the starting-point of several tramway-lines (see p. 330), is the Porte de France (p. 332), and beyond it lies the PLACE DE LA BOURSE (Pl. D, 4), which presents a busy scene all day. In and near this square are most of the =Consulates= (British among others), as during the Turkish period. The old _French Consulate_ (about 1650 to 1860), which served also as a warehouse (fondouk), is at No. 15 Rue de l’Ancienne-Douane.

To the W. from the Place de la Bourse run the two chief thoroughfares of the Medina. To the right is the RUE DE LA KASBA (Pl. D, C, 4, 5; p. 336), leading past the Jewish quarter (p. 337) and the _Souk el-Grana_ (Pl. C, 4) to the upper boulevards (p. 336), to which it is the chief approach. To the left is the RUE DE L’EGLISE (Pl. D, C, 4, 5), leading direct to the Souks of the Medina, the main business street of the Christian merchants in the Turkish period.

We follow the Rue de l’Eglise. On the left is the small church of _Ste. Croix_ (Pl. C, D, 4, 5; 1662), to which the street owes its name. Then, on the right, is the _Administration des Habous_, the headquarters of the Mohammedan pious foundations. Lastly we pass through a vaulted passage under the _Direction des Antiquités_.

The Rue de l’Eglise ends at the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, on the E. side of the chief mosque, the =Djamâa ez-Zitouna= (Pl. C, 5), which is said to trace its origin to the tomb of St. Oliva of Palermo, a Christian saint revered even by many Mohammedans. The mosque was founded in 732 by Obeïd Allah ibn el-Habbab, enlarged by the Aglabide Sijadet Allah I. (p. 374), and repeatedly altered under the Hafsides. When Tunis was plundered by the troops of Emp. Charles V. the mosque was used as a stable. Since then the edifice has been much modernized, and is lavishly adorned with spoils from Carthage. The chief portal, behind the colonnade in the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, where on Fridays the clergy receive the Sheikh ul-Islam, or supreme pontiff, and the side-portal in the Souk des Etoffes (p. 335) have each an ornamental ancient pillar as a lintel. The many-aisled interior, with its 161 columns and two domes over the nave, is similar in plan to the Sidi Okba Mosque at Kairwan (p. 374). The new minaret, 145 ft. high, erected in the Andalusian style by _Si Slîmân Ennigro_ in 1894, is a free copy of the old tower. The pile of buildings is best surveyed from the roof of the Dâr el-Bey (p. 336).

The mosque serves also as a lecture-room for the Mohammedan _University_. The instruction is under the direction of the Sheikh ul-Islam; there are about a hundred teachers and 400 students. Admittance to the twenty-two medersas, or colleges, for students from other parts of the country, and to the library famed for 7000 Oriental MSS. is granted to none but Mohammedans.

The Zitouna Mosque lies in the region of the *=Souks= (Pl. C, 5; Arabic _sûk_, market), the market quarter of the Medina, dating from the Hafside period (13th cent.). As usual in the East the lanes are roofed over. The small narrow shops are shut in by a counter, over which the trader swings himself into his seat with the aid of a rope. Most trades have their own streets. It is interesting to watch the people at work in those souks where the wares are made on the spot. The larger bazaars in some of the streets are designed solely to attract foreigners. The busiest time is the early morning. Friday is the Mohammedan, and Saturday the Jewish day of rest. As to purchases, see p. 331. In and near the Souks are many small Arab coffee-houses and barbers’ shops.

From the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna we turn to the right to visit the
=Souk el-Attârîn=, the spice-market, founded in 1249. Besides the
spices and perfumes sold here (such as essence of jasmine and
rose-geranium, sometimes palmed off on strangers as attar of roses),
we observe amber, dried henna-leaves, henna-powder (p. 108), and the
big candles, often branched, which are used at weddings and for the
tombs of saints.—The side-street to the right, opposite the N. side of
the mosque, is the _Souk el-Blagdjia_, for leather-wares.