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 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 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:—

1

. . . I.MAXIM . . .

M.COLVMNI . . . .

. . . . E MAVREL . . .

2

. . . . AIAN

ONES FEC

3

TRAIANI PARTH

VICTORIS VNAC. . . .

T. OB DEDICATIONI

4

~D~RIANI . NEP. DIV

S. EIVSDEM. F.VRI

~O~ . 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:—

MARCVS

AVRELIVS

FELIX PIVS

VIXIT ANOS

XXII.

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:

I delivered my letters from the Bey [of Algiers] and obtained permission to visit the country in whatever direction I should please. I took with me a French renegade of the name of Osman, recommended by Monsieur Barthélemy de Saizieu, Consul of France to that State. With Osman I took ten spahis or horse-soldiers, well armed with firelocks and pistols; excellent horsemen, and, as far as I could ever discern upon the few occasions that presented, as eminent for cowardice at least as they were for horsemanship.

This was not the case with Osman, who was brave, but he needed a sharp look-out that he did not often embroil us where there was access to women or wine. Besides these I had ten servants, two of whom were Irish, who having deserted from the Spanish regiments in Oran and being British-born, though slaves as being Spanish soldiers, were given to me at parting by the Dey of Algiers. The coast along which I had sailed was part of Numidia and Africa proper, and there I met with no ruins. I resolved now to distribute my inland journey through the kingdoms of Algiers and Tunis. I began my journey by land, the middle of September 1765, by Keff to Constantina.

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 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.

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 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 124: Guérin, ii. p. 276.]

[Footnote 125: Sall. _Bell. Jug._ cxix.]

[Footnote 126: Marmol, ii. p. 497.]

[Footnote 127: Guérin, i. p. 114.]