Part 49

Tunisia, unlike its neighbour Algeria, which is shut in all round by high mountains, covered with snow in winter, opens due E. upon the Mediterranean and enjoys a mild winter climate, but in summer and autumn is directly exposed to the sirocco (Arabic _samûm_), the burning wind from inland Africa, which is hotter and drier here than in Algeria. The mean temperature of January is at Tunis 51° Fahr. (minimum 28½°), at Aïn-Draham 42½° (min. 9½°), at Le Kef 45° (min. 23°), at Kairwan and Tozeur 50° (min. 25°), at Djerba 54½° (min. 35½°). The mean temperature of August at Tunis is 81° (maximum 122°), at Kairwan 85° (max. 120°), at Djerba 81° (max. 115°), and at Tozeur reaches 91° (max. 120°). The greatest rainfall in N. Africa is in the region of the Kroumirie (65 inches per annum at Aïn-Draham); to the S. of the Medjerda it decreases to 20–24 inches (at Le Kef 21½ in.); it is still lower at Tunis (17¾ in.), on the E. coast (Susa 16½, Sfax 9¾ in.), and particularly in the district of the shotts (at Tozeur 5 in.). The rain falls in short, torrential showers; owing to the destruction of the forests and the paucity of reservoirs the water rushes down unhindered to the salt-lakes and the sea, inundating the plains on its way. A few hours after each shower the thirsty soil is as dry as before, but the devastation caused by erosion is aggravated.

The fauna and flora are almost identical with those of Algeria (p. 171). The chief products of Tunisia are the tanner’s bark and cork of the Kroumirie, early vegetables from the environs of Tunis, cereals from the Medjerda valley and from the dales of the Sahara Atlas (here horse and cattle breeding also thrive), alfa or esparto grass (p. 171), olive-oil from the Sahel and from Sfax, and dates from the oases of the Sahara. Fish abound on the coast and the sponge fishery also is productive, while the coral-fishing has sunk into complete insignificance. The principal ores worked here are zinc, lead, iron, and copper. At Kalaât es-Senam, Kalaâ-Djerda, Metlaoui, Redeyef, and Aïn-Moularès there are immense deposits of phosphate, the yield of which has rapidly increased the traffic of _Tunis_ and _Sfax_, and is expected greatly to augment that of _Susa_ after the completion of its harbour.

Tunisia owes its ancient culture, the earliest in Barbary, to its numerous Phœnician colonies, such as Utica, Kambe, Hadrumetum (Susa), Leptis Minor, and Carthage. The Carthaginians wisely introduced the irrigation system of Mesopotamia into N. Africa and promoted the corn and vine culture, but the agricultural prosperity of the country was confined chiefly to the littoral, inhabited by Libyan-Phœnicians, a mixed Berber and Phœnician race, and to the valley of the Medjerda. The contiguous region of _Numidia_ was first opened up to Punic culture by _Masinissa_ (B.C. 201–149), the most distinguished of the ancient Berber kings.

The Roman republican period was unfavourable for the development of the new province of _Africa_. The chief events were the war with Jugurtha (111–106), the grandson of Masinissa, and the battles between Pompey, whose adherents were aided by Juba I., and Cæsar, which, after the battle of Thapsus (p. 369), led to the annexation of Numidia as the province of _Africa Nova_. The marvellous progress of the country during the first centuries of the Roman empire is evidenced by the colonization of the central Tunisian and S. Algerian steppe, a triumph of Roman enterprise. A great network of roads was constructed, chiefly from the reign of Hadrian onwards, to connect Carthage, the new capital, and other towns with Tebessa, Hippo Regius (p. 309), Tripolitania, and even the distant Mauretania Tingitana (p. 95), and numerous towns were founded in the interior of Tunisia and Numidia. But soon (about 238) a period of decline set in. Its causes were manifold. The Berbers were constantly rebelling, the Roman soldiers quarrelled, advancing Christianity and expiring paganism were struggling fiercely for the mastery, and the Christians, at length victorious, persecuted with the greatest ferocity. To add to these troubles, the terrible peasant-war of the so-called Circumcelliones broke out in the 4th cent., followed in the 4th and 5th cent. by the religious wars between Catholics and Donatists.

Once more, however, the ancient glory of Tunisia revived, though for but a brief period (439–77), under _Genseric_, the Arian king of the Vandals. After he had completed his victorious expedition from S. Spain to Carthage (429–39) he proceeded, in alliance with the Donatist Berbers and with the still Punic speaking inhabitants of the coast, to attack the effete western empire. With his newly formed fleet he conquered Sicily (440), Rome (455), Tripolitania, Malta (456), and Sardinia (458), and in 476, after the overthrow of the W. Roman empire, was recognized by Zeno, the E. Roman emperor, as lord of the whole western Mediterranean. But the incompetence and intolerance of his successors soon shattered this new empire, and in 533 king _Gelimer_ was defeated by Justinian’s able general _Belisarius_. Even in Justinian’s time, however, the new rulers were incessantly attacked by the Berbers of the mountains, while the Byzantine governors (534–698) persecuted Donatists and Arians alike, with the result, according to Procopius’s estimate, that five millions of the inhabitants of N. Africa perished. The fate of the country was thus sealed and its conquest by Islam greatly facilitated.

After eight successive campaigns (647–98) the first Arabian governors (representing the caliphs), _Abdallah ibn Saâd_, _Moauya ibn Hodeij_, _Sidi Okba ben-Nâfi_ (founder of Kairwan, p. 372), _Zoheir ibn Kaïs_, and _Hassan ibn en-Nôman_ (destroyer of Carthage, p. 346), drove the Byzantines out of ‘Ifrikia’ and overcame the desperate resistance of the Berber mountaineers, thus sweeping Christianity from African soil and destroying the last vestiges of Punic and Roman culture. Ere long, however, their ineradicable love of independence led the Berbers, who after the conquest of Andalusia (p. 50) had formed the sect of the _Kharijites_ and later that of the _Shiites_, to unite in opposing the orthodox Arabs and to found (about 740) several small states of their own, such as that of the _Ibadites_ in Tiaret (p. 208) and that of the _Sofrites_ in Sijilmassa (Tafilet, p. 96). In Tunisia the _Aglabides_ (800–909), a Berber dynasty, who were originally governors under Hârûn er-Rashid, declared themselves independent, and in 827 they proceeded to conquer Sicily. Under the _Fatimites_, who also were Berbers, the seat of government was transferred in 916 from Kairwan to Mehdia (p. 369), and in 973, after the conquest of Egypt, it was removed to Cairo (comp. p. 443). The revolt of the _Zirites_, a new dynasty of Tunisian governors, named after _Bologgîn ez-Ziri_, led in 1045 to the fateful irruption of the _Beni Hilal_ (_Hilalides_) and _Beni Soleïm_, two marauding tribes of nomadic Arabs. At the instigation of the Fatimites they overran Barbary like a swarm of locusts, defeated the allied Zirites and Hammadites (p. 270), destroyed Kairwan and many other towns, demolished most of the forests and the irrigation-works, and drove the Berbers back to their mountains. After a time the Zirites partly succeeded in subduing these hordes, but in 1148 the whole of the Sahel with its capital Mehdia was wrested from them by the Normans of Sicily (p. 148). In 1160 the Normans were expelled by _Abd el-Mûmen_ (p. 95), and Tunisia was incorporated with the great empire of the Almohades. At length, under the _Hafsides_ (1206–1573), Tunisia regained independence, with Tunis as the capital. Towards the end of this period troubles began anew. After interminable wars with the Merinides (p. 95) Tunis was captured by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534, and was attacked, though without permanent success, by the crusading Maltese knights (p. 398), by Emp. Charles V. (in 1535), by Juan de Vega (1551), and by Don John of Austria (1573). From 1574 to 1650 Tunisia was governed by Turkish officials (_pashas_, _deys_, _beys_), after which the dynasty of the _Husseinites_ was founded by _Hussein Ali ben-Turki_. From 1705 onwards Tunisia, often only a nominal dependency of Turkey, degenerated into a mere pirate-state, which down to 1830 took an active part in the marauding expeditions of its barbaresque Algerian neighbours.

Since 1881 the French protectorate has paved the way for a new period of prosperity and opened up the greatly impoverished and thinly peopled country to European trade and culture. The present bey is _Sidi Mohammed en-Nasr_ (born in 1855). The minister for foreign affairs is the French resident-general, and the minister of war is the commandant of the French garrison. Finance, postal arrangements, public works, and education are all superintended by French officials, with whom are associated a Mohammedan prime minister and a secretary of state. Europeans and their dependents are under the jurisdiction of the French law-courts; the natives are dealt with by the courts of the Ouzara and the ‘Shaâra’. The bey is allowed a body-guard of 600 men of the infantry, cavalry, and artillery, uniformed like the Zouaves.

Lovers of art will find Tunisia a most attractive country. As in Algeria and Morocco, so here also the megalithic monuments (dolmens, basinas, etc.), built of huge blocks of stone, are the chief memorials of the Libyan (or ancient Berber) culture. The Punic art of Tunisia, at first under Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek influence, but exclusively Greek after the first campaigns in Sicily, has become better known of late, especially since the rich yield of the rock-tombs of Carthage. Apart from the tomb at Dougga (p. 355), as little of Punic architecture remains as in Algeria. On the other hand no other country can boast of such a profusion of Roman ruins (called by the Mohammedans Henshir) as Tunisia.

The early Moorish art of Tunisia, as in the whole of the Maghreb, betrays the influence of Andalusian masters, but most of the buildings are no earlier than the Turkish period. Contrary to their Algerian methods the French have preserved the Oriental character of the country, so that the seaports of the E. coast, Kairwan, and the oasis villages still contain fine Moorish buildings.

Travellers may explore any part of the country in safety and without escort, but they should not enter Mohammedan burial-grounds or shrines (comp. p. xxv). The only mosques and zaouïas open to Christians (but not to Jews) are those of Le Kef, Kairwan, Gafsa, and Tozeur.

The means of communication are similar to those in Algeria (comp. p. 173). The network of RAILWAYS, mostly belonging to the company of the Chemins de Fer de Bône-Guelma (p. 173), extends to central Tunisia only. Between Susa and Sfax (until the opening of the new railway) and between Sfax or Graïba and Gabes the motor-omnibus or the diligence (p. 173) is at present the only conveyance. The shotts are visited by carriage from Metlaoui, or, if preferred, from Gabes. A visit to S.E. Tunisia (Monts des Ksour, Gightis, Djerba) is usually paid from Gabes, where introductions had better be obtained from the authorities of the Territoire Militaire. Susa, Sfax, Gabes, and Djerba are also steamboat-stations (comp. R. 64). In Tunisia mid-European time (1 hr. ahead of Greenwich time), which is observed also on the Italian steamers, has recently been introduced.

First-class HOTELS are to be found in Tunis only. Those in country places are similar to the Algerian (p. 174), but still plainer and less up to date, apart from a few creditable exceptions. In the steppe and on the Sahara one must often have recourse to the fortified caravanserai or to the hospitality of the local authorities.

The POST OFFICE of the regency of Tunis has its own stamps (letter-postage within Tunisia or to France 10, to Italy 20 c. etc.; post-cards 5 c.). A passport visé by the consul must be shown in order to obtain delivery of registered letters.

The COINAGE, since the introduction of the gold standard (1891), has been French, with Arabic and French inscriptions. The gold coins are of 10 and 20 francs, the silver of ½, 1, and 2 francs, the copper of 5 and 10 centimes. Italian, Swiss, Belgian, and Greek silver coins (except 5 fr. pieces) and copper coins are rejected. English or American money should be exchanged for banknotes of the Banque de France or the Banque de l’Algérie (p. 174), or for gold of the Latin monetary union.

BOOKS (comp. also pp. xii, 175). _Douglas Sladen_, Carthage and Tunis (2 vols., London, 1906; illus.); _Frances E. Nesbitt_, Algeria and Tunis (London, 1906; illus.); _G. Petrie_, Tunis, Kairouan, and Carthage (New York, 1909; $4.80); _A. M. Broadley’s_ ‘Tunis, Past and Present’ (London, 1882) gives an interesting account of the French conquest of Tunisia. Of French books may be mentioned La Tunisie (Législation, Gouvernement, Administration) by _D. Gaudiani et P. Thiaucourt_ (Paris, 1910; 12½ fr.); _H. Lorin_, L’Afrique du Nord (Paris, 1908); _J. Toutain_, Les Cités Romaines de la Tunisie (Paris, 1896; 12½ fr.); _R. Cagnat et H. Saladin_, Voyage en Tunisie (Paris, 1887); _R. Cagnat_, L’Armée Romaine d’Afrique (Paris, 1892; 40 fr.); _Charles Diehl_, L’Afrique Byzantine (Paris, 1896; 20 fr.); _H. Saladin_, Tunis et Kairouan (Paris, 1908; 4 fr.). Carthage is the scene of _Gust. Flaubert’s_ historical novel Salammbô.

MAPS of the Service Géographique de l’Armée (comp. p. 175): sheets on the scale of 1 : 50,000, each 1½ fr.; on the scale of 1 : 100,000, each 1 fr. 20 c.; and on the scale of 1 : 200,000, each 70 c.—A general survey is afforded by the Carte des Routes et des Chemins de Fer de la Tunisie, 1 : 500,000 (Tunis, 1908). See also Map, p. 319.

51. From (_Constantine, Bona_) Souk-Ahras to Tunis.

RAILWAY from Souk-Ahras to Tunis, 154 M., direct train with dining-car between Ghardimaou and Tunis (déj. 4, D. 4½ fr.) in 7 hrs. (27 fr. 80, 20 fr. 85, 14 fr. 90 c.; from Constantine to Tunis 14¼ hrs.); also ordinary train in 11¼ hrs. on Mon., Wed., & Frid.—Custom-house examination at Ghardimaou, strict as to tobacco and cigars, which are a government monopoly in Tunisia. All luggage not accompanied by the owner will be detained at the custom-house.

MOTORISTS from Bona (p. 309) to Tunis must go viâ La Calle (p. 131), Tabarca (p. 327), and Béja (p. 328).

From Constantine to (134 M.) _Souk-Ahras_, see RR. 48, 49.—The line from Souk-Ahras to Tunis, opened in 1879 (before the establishment of the French protectorate), crosses the Tebessa line (R. 50) and then descends to the S. into the _Medjerda Valley_ (pp. 313, 320), called by the Carthaginians _Makar_, and by the Romans _Bagradas_, the most fertile and most important in Tunisia.

Beyond (5½ M.) _Tarja_ (1611 ft.) the valley forms a short ravine. 10½ M. _Sidi-Bader_, in a meadowy dale, the future junction of the line from Bona to the mines on Jebel Ouenza (p. 314).

The train traverses a lonely mountain-region to (20½ M.) _Oued-Mougras_ (1171 ft.), a finely situated village, and then runs through a narrow valley in the frontier-hills, with dense underwood, to (30½ M.) _Sidi el-Hemessi_ (853 ft.), the last Algerian village.

37 M. =Ghardimaou= (673 ft.; Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. du Commerce; Algerian and Tunisian frontier, see above), a colonists’ village (Tues. market) at the entrance to the _Regba_, the upper plain of the Medjerda, which is fertile only in rainy seasons.

About 7 M. to the N. of Ghardimaou, beyond the _Oued Raraï_, lies _Henchir Sidi Ali Bel-Kassem_, on a hill between the _Oued el-Hammam_ and the _Oued Henja_. This was the Roman town =Thuburnica=, among the ruins of which are the cellæ of two temples and a Byzantine fortress.

45 M. _Oued-Meliz_ (584 ft.; Mon. corn-market), a village a little above the Oued Raraï (p. 325) and the mouth of the _Oued Meliz_.

Oued-Meliz is the station for the village of _Chemtou_ (590 ft.), 2 M. to the N.E., at the influx of the _Oued Melah_ into the Medjerda, the =Simitthu= of the Carthaginian and Roman periods. Its once famous quarries of yellowish red ‘Numidian’ marble are now abandoned. Among the ruins are a Roman bridge across the Medjerda, where the old road to Le Kef diverges (p. 360); also remains of the forum (44 by 27 yds.), of thermæ, cisterns, and an aqueduct; an interesting Roman wall on the bank of the Melah; the fairly preserved *Theatre; and, near the ancient Tabarca road, the burial-ground with its numerous tombstones. On the slope of the town-hill (830 ft.), which is crowned with a small Byzantine fortress, lies the so-called Temple des Boucliers, of the Punic and Roman periods.

50 M. _Sidi-Meskine_, at the mouth of the Regba, between _Jebel el-Herrech_ (2277 ft.) on the left and _Jebel Bou-Rebbah_ (2431 ft.) on the right. The train now enters the _Dakla_, the central plain of the Medjerda, about 25 M. long, partly swampy in winter and malarious and extremely hot in summer, which from ancient times till now has been the chief granary of Tunisia.

57½ M. =Souk el-Arba= (470 ft.; Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. du Commerce; Hôt. de France; pop. 1500), a thriving village of immigrant farmers, partly built with materials from Bulla Regia, and named after its Wednesday (‘fourth day’) corn-market, the most important in N. Tunisia next to those of Béja and Mateur. Road to _Le Kef_ (p. 360) viâ the small village of _Nebeur_, the terminus of the railway from Béja (p. 328), with important iron-ore mines.

From Souk el-Arba a field-road leads to the N., in the direction of the conduit, somewhat apart from the Tabarca road, to (4½ M.) =Bulla Regia=, the prosperous ancient capital of the Dakla in the Carthaginian period, and in 203 the scene of Scipio’s victory over Hasdrubal and Syphax. The village lies on a terrace on the S. slope of _Jebel Rebia_ (2123 ft.) and owes its modern name _Hammam-Darradji_ to its spring. Among the interesting Roman ruins are the large *_Thermae_; a *_Nymphaeum_, or fountain; a _Temple of Apollo_, an open court with three cellæ in the style of Punic sanctuaries (comp. p. 357); a *_Dwelling House_, with an almost intact groundfloor, a mosaic pavement, vaults, and stairs to the upper floor. The _Cisterns_ now serve the natives as habitations and the old _Byzantine Fortress_ is now a caravanserai. The ruins of the _Amphitheatre_ are less important. Three well-preserved subterranean _Palaces_ and a _Punic Fortress_ have been recently excavated. The rock-tombs of the _Necropolis_ date partly from the Punic period.

FROM SOUK EL-ARBA TO TABARCA, 42 M., by the highroad. (Diligence to Aïn-Draham, in summer only, at 1 p.m., in 6 hrs.; from Aïn-Draham to Tabarca at 10.45 a.m., in 6 hrs., there and back 6 fr.) This excursion, only suitable for the warmer season, introduces us to the most beautiful parts of the *=Kroumirie=, which, thanks to its ample rainfall (p. 321), is the most richly wooded region in Barbary. Now and then we meet with an almost virgin forest of cork-trees, evergreen oaks, elms, ashes, and other trees, in whose shade grow luxuriant ferns, while babbling brooks refresh the wayfarer. It was owing to violations of the frontier and thefts of cattle committed by the _Kroumirs_ that the French at length occupied Tunisia in 1881, but the natives are now peaceable herdsmen, wood-cutters, and charcoal-burners. The tombs of this Berber tribe still recall the ancient megalithic monuments of their ancestors.

The road ascends to the N.W. from the Dakla, through a depression between Jebel el-Herrech and Jebel Rebia (p. 326), to the saddle on the N.E. slope of _Jebel Halloufa_ (1512 ft.), and then turns to the N. into the valley of the _Oued Rzella_, a feeder of the Oued Bou Heurtma (see below). It passes (13 M.) _Fernana_ (820 ft.; Restaurants Dauteroche and Richetti) and ascends, soon more rapidly, to the (19½ M.) forester’s house of _Camp de la Santé_ and (20½ M.) _Les Chênes_ (2461 ft.; Hôt. des Chênes), a small summer resort superbly situated amid venerable evergreen oaks. The road descends in windings for a short time and then ascends again between _Jebel Bir_ (see below) on the right and _Kef Sidi Abdallah_ (2861 ft.) on the left, on whose slope is the kubba of Sidi Abdallah Ben-Djemel, the chief saint of the Kroumirs.—25½ M. =Aïn-Draham= (about 2625 ft.; Hôt. de France, Hôt. Serrières, both quite good; Mon. market), an agricultural village amidst cork-trees and evergreen oaks, lies in the heart of the Kroumirie, at the N. base of *_Jebel Bir_ (3327 ft.), which commands a splendid survey of the Kroumirie and the Nefza Mts. (p. 328), stretching to the N. to the sea, to the N.W. to the lakes near La Calle (p. 131), and to the S. to the Dakla.

The road now descends across the _Col des Ruines_ (2382 ft.) in windings to (30½ M.) _Babouch_ (1637 ft.; frontier custom-house), a village of immigrant farmers, where the road to La Calle diverges to the W. (22½ M. from Aïn-Draham; diligence 5 fr.). Our road, flanked at first by cork-trees and then passing through groves of olive and fig-trees, now descends the picturesque valley of the _Oued el-Kébir_, the ancient _Tusca_, the boundary between the Roman province of Africa (p. 321) and Numidia.

42 M. =Tabarca= (Hôt. Tiret, plain but quite good; Hôt. de France; pop. 1300, of whom 1100 are Europeans; Frid. market), a quiet little seaport in the fertile coast-plain between the Oued el-Kébir and _Cape Tabarca_, was the Roman _Thabraca_, the busiest harbour on the coast-road between Utica (p. 353) and Hippo Regius (p. 309), the outlet for the marble of Simitthu (p. 326) and for the timber and the wild beasts of the Kroumirie. Hardly a trace of that period now exists. The loftily situated Turkish _Bordj Djedid_ is now used as barracks. Opposite lies the bare island of _Tabarca_, rising abruptly on the N. side, with a picturesque old Genoese castle. Of the two, originally Carthaginian, quays connecting the island with the mainland the westmost has lately been restored, but the shallow harbour is scarcely used except by Sicilian fishermen. The steamers of the Comp. Gén. Transatlantique (p. 130) anchor in the open roads.—For the future railway to _Mateur_, see p. 352.

From Tabarca to _Béja_, see p. 328.

64 M. _Ben-Bachir_, not far from the influx of the _Oued Mellègue_, the ancient _Muluth_, and of the _Oued Tessa_ (p. 357) into the Medjerda. We cross the _Oued Bou Heurtma_, the _Armascla_ of the Romans. Fine view of _Jebel Gorra_ (p. 355).

71½ M. _Souk el-Khemis_ (427 ft.; ‘fifth-day market’), a thriving agricultural village, the largest at this end of the Dakla. The valley now contracts. 79½ M. _Sidi-Zehili_.

87½ M. _Pont-de-Trajan_ (Rail. Restaurant), misnamed after a three-arched *_Bridge_ of the time of Tiberius, 99 yds. long and 8 yds. wide, one of the oldest Roman structures in Barbary.