Part 32

37 M. =La Macta=, a village at the N. end of the _Marais de la Macta_, or swamps of the river-plain of the _Sig_ (p. 206) and the _Habra_, very malarious in summer, is connected by a branch-line with (7½ M.) _La Stidia_, a village founded by German peasants in 1844, and with (18½ M.) _Mostaganem_ (p. 207).

The train now runs inland, past the E. margin of the morasses, to (48½ M.) _Debrousseville_, in the broad _Plaine de l’Habra_. The village belongs to the _Domaine de l’Habra et de la Macta_, the largest estate in Algeria, watered by a network of cuttings (276 M. in length) from the reservoir of the Oued Fergoug (see below). Since the failure of two private companies the estate has been owned by the Crédit Foncier de France. Of its 70,000 acres 44,000 are pasture-land, and the rest is devoted to grain and fruit. Its headquarters are at _La Ferme-Blanche_, near the railway.

At (55½ M.) =Perrégaux= we cross the Oran-Algiers line (p. 206).

Ascending the valley of the Habra, here called _Oued el-Hammam_ (‘bath-river’), we now penetrate the _Beni Chougrane Mts._, the N. marginal chain of the Tell Atlas. On the left, just before (61½ M.) _Barrage_, lies the *_Barrage de Perrégaux or de l’Oued Fergoug_, the largest reservoir in Algeria, which irrigates some 90,000 acres of land. The embankment, is 550 yds. long, 130 ft. high, and from 130 ft. thick at the bottom to 12½ ft. at the top. The reservoir once contained 33 million tons of water, but the quantity is constantly being diminished by the deposits of the stream.

67½ M. _Dublineau_ (443 ft.). 78 M. _Bou-Hanifia_ is the station for the small baths of _Hammam Bou-Hanifia_, on the right bank of the Habra, 2½ M. to the S.W. (Bath Hotel). The eight saline springs (136° Fahr.) are the _Aquae Sirenses_ of antiquity.

86 M. _Tizi_ or _Thizi_ (1490 ft.; Rail. Restaur.) in the _Plaine d’Eghris_, a lofty and fertile tract between the N. lateral chain and the main range of the Tell Atlas.

BRANCH LINE (7½ M., in ca. ½ hr.) from Tizi to =Mascara= (1903 ft.; Hôt. Bourelly, Rue de Dalmatie, R. 2½, B. 1, déj. 2½ omn. ½ fr., quite good; Hôt. du Luxembourg, Rue Victor-Hugo; Café de la Brasserie, Place Gambetta; pop. 22,930), beautifully situated on a chain of hills on the N. margin of the Eghris plain. This was the capital of the beylic of Oran in 1701–92, and in 1832–41 was the residence and chief stronghold of Abd el-Kâder (p. 221). The chief quarter of the town, with the Place Gambetta as its centre, has a _Mosque_ (18th cent.) in the Place Nationale, and a _Beylic_ (now military offices), built by Mohammed el-Kebîr (p. 178), in the street of that name. This quarter is separated by the ravine of the _Oued Toudman_, now a public park, from the spacious Place de l’Argoub (market on Thurs. and Frid.) and from the barracks quarter. Outside the Porte d’Oran, the W. gate, we have a delightful view. Outside the _Bâb-Ali_, the N. gate, lies the Mohammedan quarter of that name (where burnouses are woven). Mascara is famed for its wine.

At (93½ M.) _Thiersville_ (1601 ft.) the train crosses a range of hills to the stony tableland of _Guerdjoum_ (much overgrown with dwarf-palms). Beyond (102½ M.) _Oued-Taria_ (1618 ft.) it crosses the brook of that name, the chief feeder of the Habra, and at (110½ M.) _Charrier_ (1792 ft.), in the fertile valley of the _Oued Saïda_, reaches the main chain of the Tell Atlas. 122 M. _Les Eaux-Chaudes_, Arabic _Hammâm Ouled-Khaled_, with saline springs (113° Fahr.); 126½ M. _Nazereg_ (2625 ft.).

129½ M. =Saïda= (2746 ft.; Hôt. Lugan or Riu, in the market-place, 10 min. from the station, R. 2, D. 3, pens. 7, omn. ½ fr.; Hôt. Vergnon; Hôt. de la Paix; pop. 8100), the southmost town in the Tell Atlas of Oran, founded in 1854, lies in an uninteresting region. In front of the Mairie rises an imposing _Monument_ (1910) to the soldiers of the Foreign Legion who fell in S. Oran. From the Place du Marché Arabe (market on Mon.), where the _Mosque_ is situated, the Rue Thiers and the Rue Nationale lead to the S.W. to the high-lying barracks of the _Foreign Legion_ (p. 186). Above the market-place lies the _Native Quarter_.

The train next passes (on the left) the scanty ruins of the last _Fortress_ built by Abd el-Kâder affording a view of Saïda as we look back, and ascends between barren hills to the tableland on the S. margin of the Tell Atlas. 136½ M. _Aïn-el-Hadjar_ (3360 ft.; ‘rock-spring’), a village of 1500 inhab. in a fertile well-watered district, with a military prison.

On the bleak tableland, between the region of the _Hassasna_ on the N.E. and the _Maalif Plain_ on the S.W., we pass several small stations. 157 M. _Kralfallah_ (3638 ft.), with great stacks of esparto grass, was the scene of the massacre of the Spaniards at the hands of Bou-Amama (p. 222) in 1881.

The train now descends to the _Hauts-Plateaux_ (p. 169), where an occasional caravan or a few grazing camels only are seen, while the vegetation is limited to saline plants and patches of esparto grass (p. 171). 166 M. _El-Beïda_ (3497 ft.), the first fortified station. 171 M. _Modzbah_ (3471 ft.), with its great stacks of esparto grass and the goods-station of a branch-line to (22 M.) _Marhoum_, used solely for the esparto traffic.

192 M. =Le Kreider= (3241 ft.; Hôt. de Paris, R. 2, déj. 1½, D. 2 fr.), on the N. bank of the _Chott ech-Chergui_ (p. 169). commanded by a small fort on the hill above it, was founded in 1881 as a military base of defence against the partisans of Bou-Amama. The barracks, in the neo-Moorish style, are surrounded with plantations which are watered by means of a wind-pump.

We at length reach the salt-marshes, pass between low sand-hills, and are carried through the masses of mud by means of a short embankment to (201 M.) _Bou-Ktoub_ or _Bou-Guetoub_ (3264 ft.), the starting-point of a road to _Géryville_ (66 M.; diligence). We then mount gradually to the N. spurs of the _Sahara Atlas_ (p. 170). Stations uninteresting.

242 M. _Méchéria_ (3806 ft.; Hôt. des Voyageurs; pop. 700), at the foot of the _Jebel Antar_ range, contains barracks for convicts of the foreign legion and a small mosque.—The train again traverses the Hauts-Plateaux. To the left rises the distant _Jebel el-Malha_. Near (262½ M.) _Naâma_ (3825 ft.) is the salt-lake of that name, not visible from the train.

384 M. _Mékalis_ (4311 ft.), the highest point on the line, with a few fruit-trees. The train now crosses the watershed between the Hauts-Plateaux and the Sahara, and descends into the _Faïdjet el-Betoum_, a broad valley so named after its terebinths (Pistacia Terebinthus L.; Arabic b’tom or betoum). The valley is flanked on the E. by _Jebel Aïssa_ (7336 ft.), and on the W. by _Jebel Morghad_ (7008 ft.), the two highest of the _Montagnes des Ksour_, as the Sahara Atlas is usually called here. Beyond (299 M.) _Tirkount_ appear in the foreground _Jebel Mekter_ (6762 ft.), with a Poste Optique or signal-station, used at the time of the conflicts with Bou-Amama, and the long chain of sand-hills near Aïn-Sefra.

305½ M. =Aïn-Sefra= (3577 ft.; Hôt. de France or Plasse, R. 3, déj. 3, D. 3½ fr.; 5 Hôt. des Voyageurs, both in the chief square, very plain; Café Bienvenu), not founded until 1881, with a strong garrison and about 1400 inhab., is grandly situated in a broad valley between Jebel Aïssa and Jebel Mekter. The village, lying on the left bank of the _Oued Aïn-Sefra_ (‘yellow spring’), was devastated by an inundation in 1904. A market (Mon.) is held here for the Berbers of the environs, who still speak Tamâzirt (p. 94). An iron bridge crosses to the _Barracks_, a neo-Moorish building. Through the _Berber Village_ (ksar, p. 281) behind the barracks we may climb in ¾ hr. to the top of the reddish-brown *_Sand Hills_, formed by disintegration of the rock, which give the landscape its very peculiar character, and whose shifting sands threaten to overwhelm Aïn-Sefra in spite of the sheltering plantations.

The famous oasis of =Tiout=, 10½ M. to the E. of Aïn-Sefra and 3 M. to the N. of the railway-station of _Tiout_ (p. 203), is a favourite goal of tourists. A horse or mule should be ordered in good time, cheapest at the ‘Subdivision’ (2 fr.; attendant 1½–2 fr.); the traveller may shorten the long ride by returning from Tiout by train. The track leads through the broad, shadeless valley, some way from the brook Aïn-Sefra; we have a fine retrospect of Aïn-Sefra and its sand-hills. We pass several red-sandstone rocks. About halfway the rail. station of Tiout and the oasis beyond it come in sight.

In this little oasis (3445 ft.), one of the highest palm-oases in the Atlas, lies an interesting _Berber Village_ (pop. 400). The low-lying gardens, protected by high mud-walls, yield fruit and vegetables under the shade of the well-kept date-palms. Their irrigation is provided by a small _Reservoir_ to the N. of the village, a charming spot, where we may rest under the palms on the bank of the brook. A few minutes’ walk from this point, to the N.E. of the village, rises a reddish rock, on which, about 65 ft. above the valley, protected by a grating, are traced figures of animals and hunters (archers), a prehistoric curiosity, called the _Hadjra Mektouba_, with later Libyan-Berber and Arabic inscriptions.

About 8 M. to the W. of Aïn-Sefra, on the road to _Aïn-Sfissifa_ (4176 ft.) and the Moroccan oasis of _Ich_ (3724 ft.), is the copper-mine of _Hasi-ben-Hedjir_.

Beyond Aïn-Sefra the train (with the engine now at the other end) follows the valley of that name and rounds the Jebel Mekter group in a long curve to the E. Beyond (312½ M.) _Tiout_ (oasis, p. 202, visible on the left) it descends to the S., lastly through masses of débris and rock-cuttings, to (321 M.) _Aïn-el-Hadjadj_. We then pass through a defile between Jebel Mekter and _Jebel Djara_. To the left, framed by rocks, lies a low reddish-brown sand-hill.

Farther on, to the left, between Jebel Djara and _Jebel BouLeghfad_ (5545 ft.), opens the broad mountain-valley of the _Rouïba_, which at (328 M.) _Rouïba_ joins the Aïn-Sefra to form the _Oued en-Namous_. The train turns to the S.W., at the S. base of Jebel Mekter, a little to the right of the palm-oasis of _Moghrar-Tahtâni_ (2710 ft.; ‘lower Moghrar’), famed for its prehistoric rock-drawings. 340 M. _Moghrar-Foukâni_ (‘upper Moghrar’), beyond which we pass its *Palm Oasis, overlooked by a kubba on a low hill.

We next pass through the _Gorges de Moghrar_, a sandstone ravine full of rocky débris, into _El-Faïdja_, a valley at the S. base of the _Mir el-Jebel_ (6790 ft.) and _Jebel Mezi_ (6988 ft.). 359 M _Djenien-bou-Resg_ (3254 ft.) has a _Redoute_, or fortified camp (on the left), in the style of a Roman camp, a small palm-oasis, and a pretty military club in the Moorish style, shaded with palms.

The train enters the valley of the _Oued Dermel_, one of the sources of the Oued Zousfana. In the distance we sight _Jebel Beni Smir_ and _Jebel el-Maïz_ (p. 204). An iron bridge carries the train across the Dermel, usually dry, to the ruins of (379 M.) _Duveyrier_, at the mouth of the _Oued Douis_, which has been deserted since an inundation in 1904. We then descend between low ranges of hills, _Jebel Tamednaïa_ (2953 ft.) on the left, on the margin of the desert, and _Djermân-Tahtâni_ and _Jebel el-Haïmer_ on the right, to the _Zousfana_ (beyond rises the old fort of _Campo_), where the palms of Beni-Ounif become visible.

396 M. =Beni-Ounif de Figuig= (2707 ft.; Hôt. du Sahara, B. 1½, déj. 3, D. 3½, pens. 12 fr., plain but good; advisable to secure rooms beforehand by telegraph; 1300 inhab.), founded in 1903, as being then the terminus of the railway, adjacent to a ksar, or Berber village (_ât ouinîfi_), and a _Camp Militaire_, is now a free mart, rapidly growing in importance. Its total trade with Morocco and the Tuat oases amounts to about 4 million francs. The few and quiet streets, planted with palms, present a marked contrast to those of Biskra, which is now overrun with tourists. The white domed building near the railway-station serves at once as a church, a town-hall, and a law-court. Behind it is a fondouk (p. 281).

The only sights are the _Zaouïa Sidi Slîmân ben-Bou-Smaha_, the chief sanctuary of the Ouled Sidi-Cheikh, a Berber tribe of S. Oran, and the _Ksar_ (p. 281), a poor village inhabited by Harrâtin (p. 94), at the back of the barracks quarter, where the mode of irrigating a palm-oasis may be observed.

Beni-Ounif, situated in a rocky wilderness, commanded on the N. and W. by jagged and fissured mountains, _Jebel Beni Smir_ (6857 ft.), _Jebel el-Maïz_ (6037 ft.), and _Jebel Grouz_ (5328 ft.), and separated from Figuig by a chain of low barren hills, possesses to the full the fascination of a Sahara landscape (p. 172). The most striking view, especially towards evening, of Beni-Ounif, the palm-oasis, and the village of Figuig, as well as of the spurs of the Sahara Atlas, is obtained from _Jebel Melias_ (3986 ft.), a spur of Jebel Grouz, 2 hrs. to the N. of the little town. For this ascent, and for all the longer excursions, travellers must procure an escort of Cavaliers du Maghzen (p. 390), who usually provide horses for the journey (horse for half-a-day 2½–3, whole day 5 fr.; fee to each ‘cavalier’ 2 fr.). Application for the escort has to be made at the Bureau Arabe (p. 174) in the Camp Militaire.

*=Figuig=, to the N. of Beni-Ounif, first visited by a European, Gerh. Rohlfs, in 1862, is the largest and most fertile oasis in the Sahara Atlas of Oran (containing about 400,000 date-palms). According to the treaty of 1845 it belongs to Morocco, but only nominally since its bombardment by French troops in 1903. From the earliest times the oasis has been in high repute. It embraces seven villages (ksûr), in three groups, the _Feghiha castra tria_ of antiquity. In the early 16th cent. Leo Africanus extols the artistic skill of the inhabitants; their industries, however, are now limited to the weaving of burnouses and carpets (similar to the knot-worked carpets of Fez) and to the manufacture of small articles in leather. The place is inhabited by Berbers, besides a large number of Jews, the Harrâtin, and a few negro slaves. Tamâzirt (p. 94) is their chief language, but Arabic also is spoken at places.

The S. margin of the oasis, and its boundary towards Beni-Ounif, is formed by a range of hills running from _Jebel Melias_ (see above), W. to E., to _Jebel el-Haïmer_ (p. 203), and crossed by four passes, the _Col des Moudjâhdine_, the _Col de la Juive_ (Arabic _Teniet el-Ihûdia_), the _Col de Zenâga_, and the _Col de Taghla_ or _Tarla_. The shortest route is viâ the Col de Zenâga, commonly called _El-Kheneg_ (‘the pass’). By this route the whole excursion, there and back, takes 5–6 hrs.; but, time permitting, it is preferable to go by the Col de Taghla, watered by the Zousfana, and bounded on the E. by the sombre rocks of _Jebel Sidi-Youssef_ (3484 ft.), and to return by the Col de Zenâga or the Col de la Juive, a full day’s expedition. The ascent of one of the hills adjoining these passes (stout boots advisable) in the company of an escort is to be recommended on account of the fine view.

The route over a stony plain to the (½ hr.) _Zenâga Pass_ crosses the _Oued Melias_, the bed of which is generally dry, near the frontier of Morocco, indicated by heaps of stones. The vegetation here is limited to a few thorn-bushes—jujubes (Zizyphus vulgaris; Arabic sedra; French jujubier) and the prickly Anabasis arietoïdes (Arabic ajerem), the ‘chou-fleur du Sahara’ of the soldiers, which is much used in this part of the Sahara as fuel. At the entrance to the pass, about 200 yds. in breadth, we may observe to the left, on the stony slope of _Jebel Zenâga_ (3435 ft.), several graffiti, or rudely engraved sketches on the rock (comp. p. 202), but not very distinguishable under the black patina. Beyond the first palms of the oasis, at the exit of the pass, rise the _Kubba Sidi-Fedel_, surrounded with numerous votive stones (kerkours, rĕ-yems), and the _Haouïta Sidi-Tifour_, an open walled rectangle. We have here a good survey of the lower part of the oasis, with the village of Zenâga (p. 206) and numerous bordjs (round watch-towers), backed by the Jebel Grouz range, while on the edge of the plateau of the six upper villages gleams the conspicuous _Kubba Sidi ben-Aïssa l’Aredj_.

Our route now leads to the N.E. across the barren, dazzling white _Plaine de Bagdbâd_ (2818 ft.). We may first visit _El-Hammâmin_, the two E. villages, _Hammâm-Tahtâni_, on the slope of the high plateau, and _Hammâm-Foukâni_ (2950 ft.), where Bou-Amama was encamped in 1900–2 (p. 222); but it is more usual to go direct to the four W. villages, at first through small fields of barley and vegetable-gardens, and then between the high mud-walls of the palm-gardens.

We ascend through a picturesque defile on the rocky and fissured slope of the upper plateau, whence the water flows down in open cuttings (see p. 94) to the village of _El-Maïz_. We note here the quaint architecture and the lanes arched over with palm-wood beams, under which the natives take their siesta on stone benches in the hot season. Some of the little houses of the Mellah, or Jewish quarter, are owned by Morocco leather-workers.

Through the contiguous village of _Ouled-Slîmân_ we pass to EL-OÛDÂGHÎR (Berber _ât a’addi_), the largest village in Figuig next to Zenâga. Since 1902 this has been the seat of a Moroccan Amel, or governor, who with his few soldiers occupies the dilapidated _Dâr el-Beïda_ (‘white house’) on the barren _H’sen_, as the upper plateau is called (2940–3000 ft.). The mud-built houses of the village, mostly consisting of two or more stories, are overlooked by the new square minaret of the _Chief Mosque_, where the governor attends the Friday prayers. A second mosque has a very old and graceful octagonal minaret. The _Prison_ (visitors admitted), the tents of the Amouriât, the girls of the nomad tribe of the Amour, whose habits resemble those of the Ouled Naïl (p. 215), and the Mellah, where the escort prepare tea in their own peculiar manner, also may be visited with interest.

To the W. of El-Oûdâghîr is the basin of the _Aïn-Tzadert_, a spring which supplies Zenâga also and has often given rise to bitter quarrels between the two villages. From the massive _Bordj_ belonging to the villagers of El-Oûdâghîr, adjoining the basin, we obtain a splendid *Panorama of the oasis and the girdle of mountains around it. At our feet lies _El-Abîd_ (_ât enneï_), with its many towers, the westmost village, now dilapidated and partly deserted.

On our way back, passing the underground _Aïn-Meslout_, with two vaulted baths (hammâm), we come suddenly to the precipitous brink of the plateau (here about 100 ft. high), where we enjoy a beautiful view of the forest of palms around Zenâga.

The village of ZENÂGA (Berber _iznâïn_), 1¼ M. to the S. of El-Oûdâghîr, and 4¼ M. to the N. of Beni-Ounif, with its one-storied mud-built houses, its massive towers, its mellah, and many vaulted lanes, has for its centre the chief mosque and the square in front of it. A smaller mosque lies outside the village. The large basin is fed by underground conduits (p. 94) from the Aïn-Tzadert.

33. From Oran to Algiers.

262½ M. RAILWAY. Day-train, with 1st and 2nd cl. saloon carriages and ‘wagon-restaurant’ (déj. 4, D. 4½ fr.), in 11½ hrs. (fares 35 fr. 5, 26 fr. 5 c., 19 fr.); night-express in 9¾ hrs. (‘lit-salon’ 12 fr. more than 1st cl. fare; sleeping-carriage 12 fr. extra). Scenery as far as Affreville uninteresting. The best places for breaking the journey are _Miliana_, _Hammam Rhira_, and _Blida_. At _Perrégaux_ this line is crossed by the line from Oran to Damesme and Beni-Ounif de Figuig (R. 32).

From Oran to (16 M.) _Ste. Barbe-du-Tlélat_, see pp. 185, 186. Our train now crosses the _Tlélat_ (p. 186) and the flat saddle between the Tell Atlas and (left) the chain of _Jebel Djira_ (1083 ft.). On the S. slope of these hills lies the _Forêt de Mouley-Ismael_, an expanse of 11,000 acres of underwood, where Sultan Mulaï Ismail of Morocco (p. 96) was signally defeated by the Bey of Mascara (p. 200) in 1707.

32 M. _St. Denis-du-Sig_ (177 ft.; Hôt. du Louvre; pop. 11,900) lies in the fruitful plain of the _Sig_ (called Mekerra in its upper course, p. 186). The environs are watered by the great Barrage du Sig. Cattle-market on Sundays (‘marché arabe’).—38 M. _Bou-Henni_ (_Habra_; 66 ft.), at the foot of the _Beni Chougrane Mts._ (p. 200), not far from the marshes of the Macta (p. 200). Melons are much cultivated here.—The train crosses the _Habra_ (p. 200).

47½ M. =Perrégaux= (148 ft.; Hôt. des Colonies, Rue de Mostaganem, R. 2½, B. ½ fr., quite good; Hôt. des Voyageurs, near the station for Beni-Ounif; pop. 10,100, largely Spanish), is a pleasant town with a pretty _Jardin Public_ and a detachment of the Foreign Legion (p. 186). Wednesday market.

Railway to _Oran_ viâ _Damesme_ (_Arzew_), and to _Beni-Ounif_, see R. 32.

To the left stretches the _Plaine de l’Habra_ (p. 200); in the distance rise the hills near La Stidia (p. 200) and Mostaganem (see below). Beyond (55½ M.) _Nouvion-Oued-Malah_ (420 ft.) the train crosses the hill-region between the main chain of the Tell Atlas and _Jebel Bel-Hacel_ (see below), and at (65½ M.) _L’Hillil_ (410 ft.) enters the _Plaine de la Mina_, adjoining the plain of the Chélif (p. 208), one of the hottest regions of Algeria in summer.

A ROAD (12½ M.; omn. in winter at 1.30, in summer at 8.30) leads to the S. from L’Hillil to the interesting and purely Mohammedan hill-town of =Kalàa= (pop. 4800; Sat. market), once famous for its carpet industry.

We cross the _Mina_, 2½ M. below the _Barrage de la Mina_, which waters some 25,000 acres of land.

77½ M. =Relizane= (289 ft.; Rail. Restaur.; Hôt. de la Paix; Hôt. de Paris, R. 2, B. ½, déj. 2, D. 2½, pens. 7 fr.; pop. 9000, half Mohammedan) is a small town amidst rich orchards. Our line is crossed here by the Mostaganem and Tiaret line.

FROM RELIZANE TO MOSTAGANEM, 47½ M., railway in 2¾–3 hrs. (fare 6 fr. 10 or 4 fr. 55 c.). The train crosses the Mina before (7½ M.) _Bel-Hacel_, and then in a long bend to the N.E. skirts _Jebel Bel-Hacel_ (1694 ft.). It next turns sharply to the S.W. to (18 M.) _Mekalia_, crosses the hills of the _Forêt de Laktoube_ (1552 ft.), affording fine views of the Chélif valley and of the Dahra range (p. 208), and then descends to (27½ M.) _Oued-el-Kheir_. From (34½ M.) _Aïn-Tédelès_ (657 ft.; Hôt. Bellocq; pop. 2900, chiefly Mohammedan), surrounded with olive-groves and orchards, a road leads to (4½ M.) _Pont du Chélif_ (66 ft.) which, situated near the ancient Roman town of _Quiza_, is named from the bridge built by Spanish prisoners from Mazagran (see below) and rebuilt in 1850. Beyond (45 M.) _Pélissier_ we pass through the charming _Vallée des Jardins_.