Part 27

_Syracuse_, Ital. _Siracusa_, the most populous town in Sicily in ancient times, and indeed the most important of all the Hellenic cities, now a mere shadow of its glorious past, with 27,000 inhab. only, lies on an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. It was founded under the name of _Syracusae_ by Corinthians, in 734 B. C., on the island then called _Ortygia_, where a Phœnician settlement had perhaps already existed. Endless party conflicts between the nobles and the townspeople led in 485 to the intervention of the tyrant _Gelon_ of Gela, who made Syracuse his residence. In alliance with _Theron_ of Acragas (Girgenti) he defeated the Carthaginians at the battle of Himera in 480, the same year in which the victory of Salamis (p. 506) saved the mother-country from destruction. The Syracusans thereafter gradually extended their sway over the greater part of Sicily till the year 415 when to their dismay the Athenians, instigated by Alcibiades, intervened in Sicilian politics, and with the aid of the neighbouring towns of Catana and Leontinoi (p. 159) proceeded to besiege the city. In 413 the might of Athens was for ever shattered before the walls of Syracuse, but the dread of being attacked anew by the Carthaginians induced the Syracusans to entrust their government to the tyrant _Dionysius I._ (406–367), next to the Persian monarchs the most powerful prince of his age, who refortified and embellished the city. The tyrant _Agathocles_ (317–289) conducted a brilliant expedition against Carthage, but without permanent success. The last phase of the glory of Syracuse was witnessed in the long reign of _Hiero II._ (275–216). As the Syracusans, after his death, allied themselves with Hannibal, their city was besieged by _Marcellus_ in 214–212, and after its capture was sacked and destroyed. Since then it has never again taken any part in political life, but in spite of its downfall it is still one of the most interesting places in the whole of Sicily, while the beauty of its environs is hardly less fascinating than the monuments of its glorious past.

a. The Modern Town.

From the harbour-station (p. 162) the broad Corso Umberto Primo (p. 165) crosses the strait to the island on which lies the MODERN TOWN, whose narrow winding streets are still of mediæval type. A pleasant walk, with a view of Mt. Ætna, is by the _Foro Vittorio Emanuele Secondo_ and _Passeggio Aretusa_, leading from the Piazza Mazzini and the landing-place (p. 162) along the harbour.

In the grounds at the S. end of the promenade is a statue of the famous mathematician _Archimedes_, who defended his native city against Marcellus. Near it is the _Fontana Aretusa_, enclosed by papyrus-shrubs. From this point the Via Maniace leads to the S.E. to the _Castello Maniace_, a Hohenstaufen castle at the S. end of the island, completed under Emp. Frederick II. in 1239, but now modernized. To the N. of the Fontana lies the Piazza del Duomo.

The =Cathedral= is built into a Doric temple, probably of _Minerva_, the beauty of which was extolled by Cicero in his oration against Verres (p. 157). It stood on a basement of three steps, about 61 yds. long and 24 yds. broad. The ancient columns with their entablature still project on the N. side, and in the interior nineteen columns also are visible.

The =Archæological Museum=, opposite the cathedral, to the N.W., contains valuable antiquities, mostly Sicilian, from the earliest ages down to the Christian period. Adm. on week-days, Oct.–June 9–3, July-Sept. 8–2, 1 fr.; Sun. (not all rooms accessible) 10–2, free.

GROUND FLOOR. In Room I, Early-Christian inscriptions and the sarcophagus of Adelfia (5th cent.) from the catacombs of San Giovanni (p. 165). In Rooms III-V, Greek inscriptions, sarcophagi, cinerary urns, and architectural fragments. Room VI. Earthenware sarcophagi from Gela (6–5th cent. B. C.), Hellenistic and Roman sculptures. Room VII. Chiefly Greek sculptures. In Room VIII, a fine Venus Anadyomene (Hellenistic).

The STAIRCASE and FIRST FLOOR (Rooms XI and XVII-XIX) contain the ancient historical collection, showing the progress of Sicilian culture from the pre-Greek period (from the 15th cent.) down to the 5th cent. B. C.—Rooms XII, XIII. Greek vases from Sicily and Lower Italy, archaic bronzes and coins from ancient Sicily. Rooms XIV-XVI. Terracottas.

The mediæval and modern collections of the Museum are to be transferred to the _Palazzo Bellomo_, a building of the 15th cent., in the Via Capodieci running to the E. from the Fontana Aretusa.

The Via Cavour leads to the N. from the Piazza del Duomo to the Via Diana, where on the left are the ruins of the so-called _Temple of Diana_ (keys at the barber’s opposite; fee 30 c.), but now believed to have been dedicated to _Apollo_. This is one of the most curious of Greek temples. In front stood two rows of six columns each. The side-walls were of unusual length and were each probably flanked by nineteen columns.

b. The Ancient City.

Long before the Athenian campaign (p. 163) ANCIENT SYRACUSE had extended her boundaries far beyond her island of _Ortygia_ and across the high plateau to the N. to the bay of Trogilos and the present tonnara near Cape Santa Panagia (p. 159). The earliest extension consisted in the _Achradina_, the smaller half of which lay between the great harbour and the plateau, while the larger half occupied the E. margin of the latter, and was enclosed by a wall whose ruins still exist. Adjoining the Achradina on the W. were the _Neapolis_, or new city, on a terrace above the great harbour, and the quarter named _Tyche_ after a temple of the goddess of Fortune. The _Epipolae_, the fifth and highest quarter, on the W. side of the plateau, was the chief base of the Athenian besiegers; but it was only completed after Dionysius I. had (about 402–385) enclosed the entire half of the plateau stretching from the Achradina wall westwards, with a huge city-wall, and had built the fortress of _Euryelus_ at its W. end. The circumference of the city, which however embraced a good deal of unoccupied land, was thus no less than 17 M. Of the enclosing wall 10½ M. still exist.

We begin with the ACHRADINA. The Corso Umberto Primo (p. 163), the main street of the new suburb on the mainland, leads in 10 min. to a round piazza whence radiate the Floridia road, passing the central station, and the Catania and Noto roads. The remains of columns on the drilling-ground between this piazza and the small harbour probably belonged to a superb _Agora_ or market-place.

From this point we follow the Catania road to the N., whence an avenue soon diverges to the right to the Porto Piccolo (ferry, see p. 163), now choked with sand, and leads along the shore, below the suburb of _Santa Lucia_, and across a railway cutting, to (25 min.) the _Capuchin Monastery_ (now a poor-house). Close by, on the right, is the entrance to the—

*=Latomía dei Cappuccino= (adm. 30 c.), one of the wildest and grandest of the old quarries of Syracuse, now clothed with rich vegetation. It was here probably that the 7000 Athenian prisoners of war languished in 413 B. C.

Following the road to the W. we skirt the plateau and pass the _Cimitero_ to (10 min.) the road coming from the upper Achradina, and go on by a cart-road, whence, by the _Latomia del Casale_, we see the Catania road before us and the church of San Giovanni below, on the left.

_San Giovanni_ occupies the W. part of an old Norman basilica; steps in the N.E. corner lead to the crypt of St. Marcian (4th cent.). A monk, who shows the church also if desired (fee ½–l fr.; ring, on the S. side, door to the E. of the vestibule), conducts us to the—

*=Catacombs of San Giovanni=, which like most of the catacombs of Syracuse and its environs, far surpass those of Rome in extent. The main passage of this great burial-place (4–7th cent. A. D.), 10 ft. high and 6 ft. wide, runs through the rock from W. to E. for 116 yds., and from it diverge short lateral passages ending in circular chambers. Of the mural decoration little is now left.

A little farther to the W. we cross the Catania road to the region of NEAPOLIS, and follow the road leading to the Greek theatre. To the left, in 5 min., we reach the house of the custodian (½ fr.) of the Roman—

=Amphitheatre=, constructed in the time of Augustus, 153 by 130 yds. in area. In the arena lie many blocks of the marble parapet belonging to a restoration of the 3rd century.

About 120 yds. farther to the W. is the entrance, also on the left, to the great _Altar of Hiero II._ (30–50 c.). On this vast altar, 219 yds. long and 25 yds. broad and originally rising in two huge steps to a height of 34½ ft., were probably sacrificed the annual hecatombs of 450 bulls in memory of the expulsion of the tyrant Thrasybulus (466).

Opposite we see the =Latomia del Paradiso=, an ancient quarry 95–130 ft. deep, so-named from the most luxuriant vegetation which now clothes it (entrance through the gateway on the left). In its W. slope is the so-called _Ear of Dionysius_ (entrance below, on the left), an S-shaped cavern, 71 yds. deep, 6–12 yds. wide, and 76 ft. high, tapering at the top, with remarkable acoustic properties. As the tyrant is said to have had prisons where from a certain spot he could hear every whisper, the tradition has been arbitrarily associated with this cavern.

The road next passes under the modern arches of the aqueduct and reaches, on the right, the *=Greek Theatre= (5th cent. B. C.), one of the largest in the Hellenic world. It is hewn in the rock, forming more than a semicircle. Its diameter is 147 yds.; 46 tiers of seats are still preserved; the eleven lower rows were covered with marble. Towards sunset we have a delightful *VIEW of the town, the Porto Grande, the headland of Plemmyrion, and the sea.

Above the theatre is the so-called _Nymphaeum_, a grotto into which the aqueduct (see below) was led. On its left side the _Via delle Tombe_, hewn in the rock, ascends in a curve for 165 yds., with many lateral cuttings and tomb-chambers of the late-Roman age.

From the Catania road, ¼ M. to the N. of the branch-road to the Greek theatre, diverges to the left the NEW EURYELUS ROAD, 3 M. long. It leads to the W., soon passing the _Casa dei Gesuiti_, to which walkers may ascend direct from the Nymphæum. It runs parallel with an _Ancient Aqueduct_ (‘Acquedotto Galermi’), crosses the desolate plateau, very hot in summer, once the site of the Greek Neapolis and of _Epipolae_ (p. 165), and joins the old Euryelus road beyond the S. wall of Dionysius I. A little farther, where the road diverges to the left to the village of _Belvedere_ and the _Posto Semafórico_ or _Telégrafo_ (617 ft.; fine view), is the _Casa dei Viaggiatori_ (rfmts.; open from 15th Jan. to 15th May). Our road ends on the W. side of Euryelus, 130 yds. from the custodian’s house.

The *=Euryelus= (adm. 50 c.), the ‘outer fort’ of the Epipolæ, built about 400 B.C., at the junction of the N. and S. walls of Dionysius, is one of the best-preserved of ancient Greek fortifications. The five massive towers on the W. side, whence we survey the whole site of ancient Syracuse and enjoy a fine view ranging from Mt. Ætna to Calabria, are flanked with two deep moats hewn in the rock. In the first of these are subterranean apertures for sallying purposes.

We may return to Syracuse by the OLD EURYELUS ROAD. On the S. side of the plateau it joins the Floridia road, 1¼ M. from the station.

[Illustration: MOROCCO]

VI. ALGERIA.

Route Page Geographical and Historical Sketch. Preliminary Information 168 28. Oran 175 a. The Harbour and the Old Town, 178.—b. The New Town, 180.—c. Environs (Fort Santa Cruz, Belvédère, Mers el-Kébir, Promenade des Falaises), 182.—From Oran to Hammam Bou-Hadjar, 184. 29. From Oran to Tlemcen 185 From Oran to Aïn-Temouchent. From Aïn-Temouchent to Tlemcen viâ Pont-de-l’Isser or Beni-Saf, 185. 30. Tlemcen 187 Mansura, 193.—Sidi Bou-Médine, 194.—Agâdir, 196. 31. From Tlemcen to Nemours viâ Lalla-Marnia 197 Oudjda, 197. 32. From Oran to Beni-Ounif de Figuig (Colomb-Béchar) viâ Damesme and Perrégaux 199 From Damesme to Arzew, 199.—From Tizi to Mascara, 200.—From Aïn-Sefra to Tiout, 202. 33. From Oran to Algiers 206 Kalàa. From Relizane to Mostaganem; to Tiaret, 207.—Mazouna, 208.—From Orléansville to Ténès, 209.—From Affreville to the Cedar Forest of Teniet el-Haâd, 210.—From Miliana to Margueritte. From Bou-Medfa to Hammam Rhira, 212.—From Blida to Berrouaghia. From Boghari to Ghardaïa viâ Djelfa and Laghouat, 215. 34. Algiers 217 a. Lower Quarter of the Old Town (Harbour, Mosquée de la Pêcherie, Great Mosque, Jardin Marengo, Archevêché, Cathedral, National Library), 222.—b. The Kasba, 226.—c. Mustapha-Supérieur and Environs (Museum, Chemin du Télemly, Birmandreis), 228.—d. The S.E. Suburbs (Jardin d’Essai, Hussein-Dey, Kouba), 232.—e. El-Biar and Bouzaréah (Forêt de Baïnem), 233.—f. Notre-Dame d’Afrique and St. Eugène, 235. 35. From Algiers to Tipaza and Cherchell 236 a. Viâ Castiglione 236 Jebel Chenoua, 242. b. Viâ El-Affroun and Marengo 243 36. From Algiers to Cape Matifou and to Aïn-Taya viâ Maison-Carrée 247 L’Arba, 247.—Rovigo, 248. 37. From Algiers to Bougie viâ Beni-Mansour 249 Aumale, 250.—Thubusuctu, 252. 38. From Algiers to Tizi-Ouzou. From Camp-du-Maréchal to Tigzirt 252 Port-aux-Poules. From Mirabeau to Boghni, 253.—From Mirabeau to Dra el-Mizan, 254.—Taksept, 256. 39. From Tizi-Ouzou viâ Fort-National to Maillot or Tazmalt 256 From Fort-National through the Djemâa Valley to Michelet; to Boghni, 257.—The Jurjura Mts. Icherridène, 258.—The Lalla Khedidja, 259. 40. From Fort-National viâ Azazga to Bougie 260 Toudja, 262. 41. Bougie 262 Cape Carbon, 264.—Anse des Aiguades. Jebel Gouraya, 265. 42. From Bougie through the Chabet el-Akra to Sétif 265 From Souk et-Tenine to Djidjelli. Mila, 267.—From Kerrata viâ Aïn-Abessa to Sétif, 268.—Périgotville, 269. 43. From Algiers to Constantine viâ Beni-Mansour, Sétif, and El-Guerrah 269 From Bordj-Bou-Arréridj to Bou-Saâda, 270.—Djemila. From Ouled-Rahmoun to Aïn-Beïda and Khenchela, 272.—Aïn-el-Hammam, 273. 44. From Constantine to Biskra viâ El-Guerrah and Batna 274 The Medracen, 274.—Zana. Jebel Touggour, 275.—Jebel Metlili. Gorges de Tilatou, 277.—The Aurès Mts., 278.—Environs of Biskra, 281.—From Biskra to Sidi-Okba, 283.—From Biskra to M’chounech; to Touggourt, 284.—The Oued Rhir. From Touggourt to Nefta viâ El-Oued. The Souf, 285. 45. From Batna viâ Lambèse to Timgad 286 Ichoukkân, 296. 46. Constantine 297 47. From Constantine to Philippeville 303 From St. Charles to Bona, 303. 48. From Constantine to Bona viâ Duvivier 306 Announa (Thibilis), 307.—Bugeaud, 311. 49. From Constantine or Bona viâ Duvivier to Souk-Ahras (Tebessa, Tunis) 312 From Souk-Ahras to Khamissa, 313. 50. From Souk-Ahras to Tebessa 313 Madaura. Vasampus, 314.

_Algeria_, the central part of Barbary (Arab. _Jezirat el-Maghreb_) and since 1830 a French colony, covers an area of about 77,500 sq. M., or, including the S. territories (p. 170), about 342,500 sq. M., and contains 5,232,000 inhab. (4½ million Mohammedans and 730,000 Europeans, mostly of French, Spanish, and Italian origin). It extends from _Oued Kiss_, which was substituted for the _Mulûya_ (p. 93) by the Morocco treaty of 1845, to _Cape Roux_ (p. 131), the boundary of Tunisia, and from the Mediterranean to the _Highlands of Ahaggar_ in the interior of the Sahara. The arbitrary division of N. Algeria into the three _départements_ of _Oran_, _Alger_, and _Constantine_ is a survival of the Turkish administration. The orographical regions, sharply defined except towards the E., are the _Tell Atlas_ (p. xxx), the E. prolongation of the Rîf Mts. (p. 93), the _Great Steppe_, and the _Sahara Atlas_.

The TELL ATLAS (_Atlas Tellien_), the most important part of this vast territory, consists of two parallel ranges of folded hills of recent origin, which intersect a great basin stretching from the Atlantic to the bay of Tunis. The highest points of the range next the coast are the _Traras_ (3727 ft.), the _Dahra_ (5181 ft.), the _Atlas of Blida_ (5345 ft.), the _Jurjura Chain_ (7572 ft.) in Great Kabylia, and the _Babor Range_ (6575 ft.) in Little Kabylia. In the interior rise the _Tlemcen Group_ (6047 ft.), the _Ouarsenis_ (6512 ft.), the _Jebel Dira_ (5938 ft.), and the _Hodna Mts._ (6112 ft.), which last form the only considerable link between the Tell and the Sahara Atlas. The _Littoral_, 842 M. in length, with long, precipitous, and almost inaccessible stretches, has ever been dreaded on account of its storms; it is broken by the bays of _Oran_, _Arzew_, _Algiers_, _Bougie_, _Philippeville_, and _Bona_, but does not possess a single good natural harbour. Flanking the coast, in front of the Tell Atlas, are several ranges of lower hills (_Sahel_), as the _Sahel of Oran_, between Lourmel and the mouth of the Chélif, the _Sahel of Algiers_, and the _Sahel of Collo_, while the _Edough Group_ (3307 ft.), composed of crystalline rock, forms an independent mountain. The extensive plains behind the Sahels, which at Oran are marshy (_Marais de la Macta_) and have besides the remains of great salt lagoons (_Sebkha d’Oran_ and _Salines d’Arzew_), and especially the _Mitidja_ near Algiers, once a bay of the sea, and the _Plaine de Bône_, are the most fertile and richly cultivated parts of Algeria.

The HAUTS-PLATEAUX or _Great Steppe_, an almost unwatered region, was originally a deep depression between the Tell and the Sahara Atlas, which in the course of thousands of years was gradually filled up with the alluvial deposits of mountain-torrents, and thus converted into a great and monotonous undulating plain, 2300–3300 ft. above the sea-level. The saline and gipseous soil is very sterile and is only at a few places adapted for the culture of grain, but has proved suitable for sheep-grazing. In the depressions of the steppe lie a number of extensive shotts or salt-lakes, which in summer are dry and recognizable only by their dazzling snow-white incrustation. Among these are the _Chott Gharbi_ (_Rharbi_) and the _Chott ech-Chergui_ in Oran, the _Zahrès Gharbi_ and _Zahrès Chergui_ in Algiers, and the _Chott el-Hodna_ at Constantine.

The SAHARA ATLAS (_Atlas Saharien_) forms the great barrier between Algeria and the desert. It is ‘a region of grand and wildly fissured gorges, partly caused by erosion in the pluvial period, of valleys worn by torrents, of lofty plains converted into mountains, and of marine basins now filled up’ (Theob. Fischer). The chief heights are the _Montagnes des Ksour_ (7004 ft.), a prolongation of the much higher Morocco Atlas (p. 93), _Jebel Amour_ (6467 ft.), the _Monts des Ouled-Naïl_ (5295 ft.), and, beyond the depression of the _Monts du Zab_ (4304 ft.), the _Aurès Mts._ (7634 ft.), which are wooded in their N. half, and next to Great Kabylia have the finest hill-scenery in Algeria.

The SAHARA, which belongs to the Territoires du Sud or de Commandement, governed by the military ‘Bureaux Arabes’, consists of the _Bassin du Gourara_ or _Bassin de l’Oued Saoura_ on the W., a plateau 330–2600 ft. above the sea, and of the _Bassin du Melrir_, named after the _Chott Melrir_, on the E., lying partly below the sea-level. Within this desert region, which is divided by the limestone plateau of the _Mzab_, are distinguished the _Hammadas_, or lofty plateaux, with rocky or hard clay-soil, entirely waterless and sterile, and the _Areg_ (sing. _Erg_), the extensive sand-hills rising a few hundred feet above the plains. From the Sahara Atlas and from the hills of the S. Sahara descend numerous water-courses, mostly subterranean, towards the plains, enabling the natives by means of irrigation to form a girdle of oases, which like the coast-plains are apt to be malarious in summer.

Climatically also Algeria is a land of striking contrasts. The rainfall in the provinces of Algiers and Constantine, on the coast, and especially in the higher parts of the Tell Atlas, is abundant (thus at Algiers 25 inches, at Blida 37, Bougie 41½, Fort-National 45 inches). Being partly sheltered from the rainy N.W. winds by the Tell Atlas, the _Hauts-Plateaux_ have a lower rainfall (16–20 inches), which as in the Tell often takes the form of snowstorms. In the Sahara Atlas and the Sahara itself, where the dry trade-winds prevail during the greater part of the year, the rainfall diminishes considerably as we go southwards (thus at Biskra 7, at Goléa 2¾ inches). Even in the coast-lands, however, the prolonged drought of summer necessitates the use of artificial irrigation by means of _barrages_ across the valleys. The temperature on the coast varies comparatively little (thus at Algiers 54½° Fahr. in winter, 74° in summer), but the moisture of the air renders it almost unbearably hot in summer. On the Hauts-Plateaux, on the other hand, in the Sahara Atlas, and notably in the Sahara, there are great extremes of heat and cold, the variations not only between summer and winter, but also between day and night (in consequence of the great evaporation after hot, cloudless days) being very marked (thus, minimum at Constantine 16° Fahr., at Aïn-Sefra 17½° at Géryville 8½° Touggourt 19½°; maximum at Géryville 109°, at Biskra 118°, at Touggourt 122°).

The fauna of Algeria is comparatively poor. The Barbary lion and the ostrich have been exterminated, and the panther is now rare; but we occasionally see camels, hyænas, jackals, maned sheep (p. 277), one species of ape (Magot, Macacus ecaudatus), a few poisonous snakes, and the unduly dreaded scorpion. The flora on the other hand is strikingly rich and varied. In the coast-zone occur all the usual Mediterranean plants. In the Tell Atlas there still exist, in spite of the wanton destruction of trees by the natives, remains of ancient forests of cork-trees (Quercus suber), evergreen oaks (Quercus Ilex and Quercus cenis), Aleppo pines, and occasionally of cedars (p. 210). In marked contrast to this vegetation is that of the great steppes, where the saline plants, the meagre dwarf-palms (Chamærops humilis), and

## particularly the alfa (halfa) or esparto grass (Macrochloa tenacissima),

of which immense quantities are exported chiefly from the province of Oran, proclaim the proximity of the sterile and dreary desert. At Bou-Saâda (p. 270), in the hottest S. valleys of the Sahara Atlas, and in the oases of the Sahara we find the home of the date-palm (Phœnix dactylifera, Arabic _nakhl_), whose fruit is the chief food of the poorer classes and also an important article of commerce, whose sap yields palmwine, whose trunks afford building material, and with whose leaves are made the mats and bedding of the natives.

The majority of the native inhabitants, who in the S. regions, away from the oases, are chiefly nomadic, are _Berbers_ (p. 94). These, however, since the immigration of the Beni Hilal and Beni Soleïm (p. 323), have mingled with Arabs much more than in Morocco, and outside of their mountain fastnesses have completely exchanged their own individuality for that of the Arab. The town populations, especially in the province of Algiers, are composed of a motley assemblage of _Moors_, descended from Spanish Moriscoes or from pirates (largely Christian apostates), of _Kabyles_ (p. 252), _Mozabites_ (p. 216), _Biskris_ (p. 280), and lastly of _Kuluglis_, descended from Turks and Moorish women. The _Jews_,

## partly settled in Barbary since ancient times, partly immigrants from

Spain, have enjoyed, unlike the Mohammedans, the full rights of citizenship since 1870, but, though thriving materially, they are hardly superior in culture to the less favoured inhabitants.