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 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 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_ 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.

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 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 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.

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.

Yenar Maio Istenbar

Fourar Yunia Aktobar

Mars Yuliez Ounbar

Yebrer Ghusht Jenbar

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.

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.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 55: Ibn Khaldoun, trad. de Slane, i. p. 167.]

[Footnote 56: Ibn Khaldoun, trad. de Slane, i. p. 168.]

[Footnote 57: Ibid. p. 208.]

[Footnote 58: The Oulad _Abdi_ are said to be descended from him.]

[Footnote 59: Ibn Khaldoun, trad. de Slane, i. p. 211.]

[Footnote 60: Ibid. p. 212.]

[Footnote 61: Ibid. p. 213.]

[Footnote 62: Bosredon, _Ann. Arch. Const._ vol. vi. p. 56.]

[Footnote 63: Ibn Khaldoun, trad. de Slane, i. p. 200.]