From Algiers to _Tizi-Ouzou_, 66½ M., railway in 3½–6¾ hrs.; fares 12
fr., 8 fr. 55, 6 fr. 45 c.; 1st cl. return 16 fr. 90 c. (to
Camp-du-Maréchal, 56 M., in 3–5¾ hrs.; fares 10 fr. 10, 7 fr. 20, 5
fr. 40 c.).—From Camp-du-Maréchal to _Dellys_, 19½ M., light railway
in ca. 1¾ hr. (2 fr. 35 or 1 fr. 70 c.).—From Dellys to _Tigzirt_, 16
M., diligence in 3 hrs. (at night only).—MOTORING TOURS, comp. p. 173.
The railway to Tizi-Ouzou forms the chief approach to =Great Kabylia=
or _Grande Kabylie_, for which the best season is April or May, when
the bare limestone peaks of the Jurjura (p. 258) are still capped with
their winter snow, while the lower hills are clothed with the fresh
verdure of spring. Most travellers are satisfied with a visit to
Fort-National and Michelet and the drive across the Tirourda Pass (R.
39) but the long route from Fort-National to Bougie viâ Azazga and
Taourirt-Ighil (R. 40) also is quite interesting. Beautiful coast
scenery between Dellys and Tigzirt. The ruins at the latter will
interest archæologists. The hotel-charges are everywhere
disproportionate to the services rendered, and the cuisine is
generally indifferent. Fairly good quarters are to be found only at
Tizi-Ouzou, Tigzirt, Michelet, Azazga, and Taourirt-Ighil.
The so-called _Kabyles_ (from the Arabic _kebila_, tribe) consisted,
as far back as the Roman period, of five Berber tribes, united to form
a state with a democratic constitution. In their remote mountain
villages (_thaddart_) they successively repelled the attacks of the
Romans, the Arabs, and the Turks, and it was not till 1852–7 that the
French after protracted struggles succeeded in subduing them. During
the Turkish period they were called _Zuawas_, whence the modern French
Zouaves derive their name. Their language is a Berber dialect mingled
with Latin and Arabic words. The men in the over-peopled W. and S.
regions often migrate to the Algerian towns and even to foreign
countries as hawkers (_iattaren_), or to the Mitidja as harvest
labourers. The women, who are unveiled and often adorned with valuable
trinkets, are seen to advantage at the wells. Many of the girls have
pretty faces and good figures.
From Algiers to (34 M.) _Ménerville_, see pp. 249, 250. To the left of
the train, halfway to Félix-Faure, is the so-called _Mausolée de
Blad-Guitoun_, the sadly dilapidated tomb, originally 33 ft. high, of a
Christian Berber prince (4th or 5th cent.), in the style of the later
Djedar (p. 208), but with an octagonal base. The interior, like that of
the Tombeau de la Chrétienne (p. 238), contains a lion in relief, a
winding gallery, and a tomb-chamber. The pyramid with its steps has
disappeared.
38 M. _Félix-Faure-Courbet._ From the village of Félix-Faure (236 ft.),
formerly called _Blad-Guitoun_, near the station, a road (diligence
twice daily) leads to the N. through the hilly Sahel to (4½ M.) _Zaatra_
and (5½ M.) _Courbet_ (253 ft.), two villages chiefly inhabited by
settlers from Alsace and Lorraine.
The road ends at (8¾ M.) _Port-aux-Poules_ or _Mers el-Hadjadjeh_ (p.
248), a decayed seaport on the site of the Roman _Rusubricari_, the
ruins of which have been almost entirely swept away by the waves.
The train crosses the _Isser_ by viaducts of 110 and 160 yds. in length.
40½ M. _Les Issers_ (82 ft.; Hôt. du Marché, Hôt. des Issers, both
humble) is the station for _Isserville_ (213 ft.; Hôt. Sigé), which
holds a busy Thursday market. Diligence to (24½ M.) _Dra el-Mizan_ (p.
254).
43½ M. _Bordj-Ménaïel_ (53 ft.; Hôt. du Roulage; pop. 1100) holds market
on Fridays.
A ROAD leads to the N. from Bordj-Ménaïel through the Isser valley,
avoiding the sand-hills at the mouth of the stream, and then skirting
_Jebel Djinet_, the ‘frontier pillar’ of Great Kabylia, to (10 M.) the
small bay, opening towards the W., of _Mersa Djinet_, near _Cape
Djinet_ (164 ft.), whose basalt-quarries have yielded paving-stones
for Algiers.
The train leaves the Isser and ascends to the E. in the valley of the
_Oued Chender_ to (51 M.) _Haussonvillers_ (492 ft.; Hôt. des Postes),
peopled by settlers from Alsace-Lorraine. We are now carried over four
viaducts, each over 100 ft. high, and through tunnels on the N. slope of
the finely-shaped _Beni Mekla_ hills (2920 ft.), down to the _Sebaou
Valley_, the chief valley of Great Kabylia. In the distance appears
_Jebel Belloua_ (p. 254).
56 M. =Camp-du-Maréchal= (184 ft.; Hôt. Frœliger), peopled by
Alsace-Lorrainers, has a Tuesday and a Thursday market. Cork-tree woods
in the environs.
From Camp-du-Maréchal to _Dellys_ and _Tigzirt_, see pp. 254, 255.
We cross the _Bougdoura_. 60½ M. _Mirabeau_ (154 ft.; Hôt. Caratero,
humble).
FROM MIRABEAU TO BOGHNI, 18¾ M., light railway (continuation of the
line from Dellys), in ca. 1¾ hr. (2 fr. 25 or 1 fr. 65 c.). The train
at first runs to the S. on the Dra el-Mizan road (p. 254), through a
eucalyptus avenue in the broad and featureless lower valley of the
Bougdoura, to beyond (4½ M.) _Tléta_. A little farther on it leaves
the highroad and penetrates very narrow cuttings up the winding upper
Bougdoura valley, past (12 M.) _Maatkas_, in the territory of the
tribe of that name, to (18¾ M.) =Boghni= (755 ft.; Hôt. Ricard, Hôt.
Grossiard, both humble). The little village lies in the fertile green
valley of the stream, here called _Oued Boghni_, between the lower
hills and _Jebel Haïzer_ or _Haïzeur_, the chief peaks of which are
_Râs Tachgagalt_ or _Pic Ficheur_ (7044 ft.) to the E. and _Tamgout
Haïzer_ (6965 ft.) to the W. From Boghni to _Aïn-Sultan_ and
_Fort-National_, see pp. 258, 257.
FROM MIRABEAU TO DRA EL-MIZAN (26 M.). The highroad, beyond the
cuttings near Tléta (p. 253), crosses the Bougdoura and runs to the W.
for a short time in the valley of the _Oued Aguergoun_, in view of the
fine S. slopes of the Beni Mekla Mts. (p. 253). It then bends to the
S.W. into the pretty and secluded valley of the _Acif Tléta_ or _Oued
Kessari_, which here intersects the lower hills and for a distance of
17 M. contains not a single human habitation. The hill-sides, however,
are carefully cultivated by the neighbouring villagers, and are well
planted with fig and olive-trees, eucalypti, and cork-oaks. We then
ascend a high plateau, with a superb view of Jebel Haïzer (see above),
to the village of (26 M.) =Dra el-Mizan= (1525 ft.; Hôt. Bellevue,
Hôt. du Commerce, both humble), once famed for its textile fabrics,
situated on the N.W. spurs of the _Beni Smaïl Mts._ (p. 250; 10 M. to
the W. of Boghni; diligence). A picturesque road (7½ M.; diligence)
leads from Dra el-Mizan, to the S.W., across the _Tizi el-Arba_
(beyond this, another view of Jebel Haïzer), to the rail. station of
_Aomar-Dra el-Mizan_ (p. 250).
The train next crosses the _Oued Sebt_, approaches the Sebaou after a
long bend to the N., and then ascends past the Alsatian village of (64½
M.) _Bou-Khalfa_ (161 ft.), near the wooded W. slope of the finely
situated _Jebel Belloua_ (2280 ft.).
66½ M. =Tizi-Ouzou= (620 ft.; Hôt. Lagarde, R. 3–5, B. 1¼, déj. 3, D.
3½, omn. ½ fr., quite good; Hôt. du Square and Hôt. du Roulage,
unpretending; pop. 29,620), the chief town and market (Sat.) in the
interior of Great Kabylia. Jebel Belloua may be ascended hence, and the
poor and dirty Kabyle village at the N. end of the little town may be
visited by the curious.
From Tizi-Ouzou to _Fort National_ and _Michelet_ (Tirourda Pass), see
R. 39.
* * * * *
The LIGHT RAILWAY TO DELLYS (19½ M.; p. 252) descends to the N. from
_Camp-du-Maréchal_ (p. 253) through the broad _Sebaou Valley_, past
unimportant stations; then, near the mouth of the stream, it turns to
the N.E., away from the highroad, and skirts the coast, which is at
first flat and sandy and afterwards bold, and abrupt. To the left rises
the lighthouse, famed for its view, on _Cape Bengut_ (207 ft.), a spur
of _Jebel Ouamri_ (1227 ft.), composed partly of basalt and other
eruptive rocks.
We now proceed to the E., at first through orchards and then on an
embankment 26 ft. high, on the brink of a grand abraded terrace, 1 M.
long, flanked with narrow perpendicular ledges of sandstone. We then
pass through a short tunnel under the ‘dagger-pointed’ _Cape Dellys_.
19½ M. =Dellys= (203 ft.; Hôt. de la Colonie; pop. 3000, of whom 2000
are Mohammedans, mostly Berbers of the Arab type), a quiet little
seaport, the W. sea-gate of Great Kabylia, probably on the site of the
Roman _Cissi_, rises in terraces with luxuriant gardens on the E. slope
of Cape Dellys, at the end of which is a small lighthouse. The deserted
harbour is fairly protected against N. and N.W. winds only; the
unfinished works at the end of the headland have been destroyed by the
waves. Dellys offers little attraction beyond the strikingly beautiful
view, stretching as far as Cape Tedlès (p. 256). A few relics of Roman
_Cisterns_ and _Thermae_ also may be visited. The _Native Quarter_ is
very picturesque. The _Ecole Nationale d’Apprentissage des Arts et
Métiers_, numbering many Kabyle pupils, was transferred hither from
Fort-National (p. 257) in 1871.
The *COAST ROAD TO TIGZIRT (16 M.; diligence, see p. 252) leads to the
E. from Dellys, up and down hill, in many windings, past small headlands
and bays and the estuaries of torrents. At first we observe isolated
European settlements, but farther on we pass through underwood and the
fields and fig-groves of the Kabyle hill-folk. The latter half of the
route leads through remains of the _Forêt de Mizrana_.
16 M. =Tigzirt= (66 ft.; Hôt. des Ruines-Romaines, plain; pop. barely
200), a poor little agricultural village founded in 1888, with a lively
Wednesday market, occupies part of the site of the ancient _Rusuccuru_.
This, as the name indicates, was originally a Berber settlement; it
afterwards became a Phœnician seaport. In the late-Roman period it vied
with Saldæ (p. 263) as one of the most populous places on this part of
the coast, and under the Byzantines it was still fairly prosperous.
The village lies on a low coast-terrace behind _Cape Tigzirt_, a small
headland, running out to a storm-beaten rocky island, with which in the
Roman period it was connected by a quay. The _Roman Town Wall_ extended
from one shore to the other, as did also the shorter _Byzantine Wall_,
which was nearer the promontory. The new buildings erected by the
Byzantines, now a mass of ruins overgrown by bushes, superseded most of
the Roman edifices on the promontory. The sole relic of the latter is a
small *TEMPLE (14¾ by 7 yds.) of the time of Septimius Severus, of
unusually heavy and massive form, which, according to the inscription,
was dedicated to the genius of the municipium of Rusuccuru. The lofty
front-wall of the cella, borne by two columns, immediately adjoins the
small court of the temple without an intervening vestibule.
The Roman ruins between the two town-walls, on the inland side, have
been mostly either destroyed or built over by the modern villagers.
The most important of the old buildings at Rusuccuru is the *BISHOP’S
CHURCH, situated close to the Roman town-wall in the E. part of the
village. Originally a columnar basilica, 44 by 23 yds., probably of the
5th cent., it is now a picturesque chaos of ruins, with remains of the
old mosaic pavement.
The entrances were through the chief portal in the narrow W. vestibule
and by three smaller doorways in the wall of the façade, leading into
an inner vestibule built into the nave. There are still traces of the
two arcades of the nave, borne by clustered columns, all brought from
ancient buildings, which rested without bases on stone pedestals. The
rich plastic decoration of the imposts, with a touch of the Punic
style, is noteworthy. The galleries over the aisles, accessible by
outside stairs on the N.E. side only, were ruined by fire at an early
period.
On each side of the oldest altar-table at the end of the nave four
steps ascended to the choir-recess, where remains of the columns of
the later ciborium altar still exist. Two small doors led from the
apse into the sacristies, which were shut off from the aisles. The
diaconicon, on the left, was adjoined by the quatrefoil-shaped
baptistery, also on the left, containing fragments of the old font.
The W. portal of the baptistery led into a rectangular hall.
In the late Byzantine period the E. half of the nave was walled off
for the use of the greatly reduced congregation, while the old aisles
and the sacristies were converted into burial-places.
A few paces to the S. of the bishop’s church, above part of the ancient
Roman baths, are relics of a smaller early-Christian _Basilica_, ending
in a trilateral apse. Outside of the town lay the E. burial-ground, with
an early-Christian _Chapel_ of similar design.
From Tigzirt we may climb, 1 hr. to the N. E., through underwood, to
the Berber village of =Taksept=, on the crest of the abrupt _Cape
Tedlès_ (870 ft.). Among the stone huts of the villagers are many
fragments of Roman buildings, hardly now recognizable, probably the
ruins of _Iomnium_, whose harbour lay on the E. side of the
promontory. On the highest point of the cape stands the chief landmark
of this part of the coast, the so-called _Phare_ or _Mausolée de
Taksept_, a late-Roman tomb, still about 29 ft. high, with an
octagonal substructure adorned with eight Corinthian columns, above
which probably once rose a step-pyramid.