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:—

From Tunis we ascended the Bagrada, now called the Medjerda; we went to Bas el-Bab; found there ruins of indifferent taste; designed nothing; came to Dougga.

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.

‘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:—

SALVIS . ET . PROPITIIS . DDD . NNN. GRATIANO

VALENTINIANO . THEODOSIO . INVICTISSIMIS PRIN

CIPIBVS . DD . PACIS . EX . MORE . CONDITO . DECRETO.’[228]

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 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.

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 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 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. C{HR}EA

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:—

SVRDIN

NEPTVNO

LISRVFIN

CFOBIN

REMAV

TIFORMF .

TEMINVA

OICVR

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

. . . . . NN VALENT. ET. GA . . . . .

the penultimate letter should be V; the line would thus read

[Dominorum] Nostrorum Valent[iniani] et Va[lentis].

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 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 228: Peyss., ap. Dureau de la Malle, i. p. 214.]

[Footnote 229: El-Bekri, trad. de Slane, p. 137.]

[Footnote 230: Guérin, ii. p. 38.]