RAILWAY STATION (Pl. B, 3), in the plain, to the W. of the old town,
not far from the Kasba hill.
ARRIVAL BY SEA. The steamers of the Comp. Générale Transatlantique
(RR. 20, 22; office on the quay) anchor close to the Jetée Abd
el-Kader (Pl. D, 3). Landing or embarkation 30, trunk 30–60 c.; small
articles free.
HOTELS (comp. p. 174). _Hôt. de France & Royal_ (Pl. a; C, 2), Chemin
de l’Hôpital, quiet, R. 4–6, B. 1½, déj. 3½, D. 4, pens. 12–14, omn. 1
fr.—_Hôt. d’Orient_ (Pl. b; C, 2), R. 3–6, B. 1, déj. 3, D. 3½, pens.
10½–13½, omn. ½ fr.; _Hôt. des Voyageurs_ (Pl. c; C, 2), poor; these
two in Rue Trézel, with splendid view.
CAFÉ. _Richelieu_, with terrace, Rue Trézel.
POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE (Pl. 3; B, 3), Place Gueydon, corner of Rue
Trézel.—BANKS. _Banque de l’Algérie_, next to the post-office; _Comp.
Algérienne_, etc.
CARRIAGES let out by _Spiteri_, _Pacce_, and _Ali ben Abdelkrim
Frères_. Arrangements should be made personally with these or the
drivers.—MOTOR CARS let out by _Vogelweith_, Rue Jeanne d’Arc.—MOTOR
OMNIBUS, Messageries Automobiles Djidjelliennes.—DILIGENCE OFFICES,
Place Gueydon and Rue Trézel.
SEA BATHS in the bay of Sidi Yahia (p. 264).
ONE DAY (when time is limited). In the morning, visit to Cape Carbon
(p. 264); in the afternoon, walk round the town and the bay of Sidi
Yahia. Photographing and sketching in or around Bougie are prohibited.
The quiet seaport-town of _Bougie_ (pop. 11,000, of whom 6000 are
Mohammedans and 600 Jews), defended by several forts, rises in terraces
on the W. shore of the bay of that name, at the S. base of the steep
_Jebel Gouraya_ (p. 265). The _Anse de Bougie_ or _d’Abd el-Kader_, a
small bay between two headlands, the _Kasba Hill_ to the W. and the
_Bridja Hill_ to the E., forms the harbour. The so-called _Darsenâa_
(see p. 90), the ancient Roman and Moorish harbour adjoining the plain
to the W. of the Kasba Hill, and near the industrial suburb close to the
station, is now choked with the deposits of the Oued Sahel (p. 251). The
upper part of the Kasba Hill to the N., above the new French quarters,
is the _Ville Indigène_ or Kabylian quarter (Pl. A, B, 1, 2), whose
red-tiled stone huts resemble those of the villages of Great Kabylia (p.
252). A second native quarter, the _Faubourg des Cinq-Fontaines_ (Pl. B,
C, 1), lies in the upper part of the valley, between the two hills.
[Illustration: Port BOUGIE]
The environs of Bougie, owing to the copious winter rainfall (p. 170),
are remarkable for their luxuriant vegetation and their splendid timber.
The town is most beautiful in spring, when the gardens don their
freshest verdure and the terraces and slopes are gorgeously carpeted
with bougainvilleas. In winter the blue bay contrasts most picturesquely
with the snow-clad mountains of Little Kabylia (p. 266).
Under the Carthaginians Bougie, like Igilgili (Djidjelli), was
probably one of the chief seaports on this part of the coast, but its
Punic name is unknown. In the Roman period, under the name of
_Saldae_, it was the principal town on the bay. Its present name
(Ital. and Span. _Bugia_) is derived from the Berber tribe of the
_Bejaïa_ or _Bujaïa_, who settled in the vicinity in the 10th century.
The town attained its brief prime in the middle ages, and was one of
the most flourishing of the minor Moorish principalities when under
the sway of the _Hammadites_ (1090–1152), fugitives from Kalàa des
Beni-Hammad (p. 270). The Pisans, the Genoese, and the Venetians had
their factories here. Wax being the chief export, the French still
call their wax-candles _bougies_ (originally, in Ital., candele di
Bugia). From the 15th cent. down to the French occupation, save during
the Spanish period (1510–55), when it afforded an asylum to Emp.
Charles V. on his retreat from Algeria (1541; comp. p. 221), it was a
notorious haunt of the barbaresque pirates. The recent improvement of
the harbour is expected to revive the ancient prosperity of the place.
The finest mediæval building in the town is the dilapidated =Porte
Sarrasine= (Pl. C, 2; Arabic _Bâb el-Bahar_, sea-gate), probably a relic
of the town-walls erected by the governor En-Nasr, in 1067, extending
along the top of the two headlands, up to the Plateau des Ruines (p.
265).
Since the 16th cent. the bay has been commanded by the _Kasba_ (Pl. B,
3), a fortification of the Spanish period, and the ruinous (originally
Turkish?) _Fort Abd el-Kader_ (Pl. D, 2, 3) on the rocky summit of the
Bridja Hill. Both are now barracks (no adm.).
The =Harbour=, exposed to the infrequent N. and N.E. winds only, one of
the ‘least bad’ in Algeria, and now 65 acres in area, was improved in
1905–9 by the extension of the _Jetée Abd el-Kader_ (Pl. D, 3; a fine
point of view), by the formation of a quay at the Pointe de la Kasba,
and by the construction of the _Jetée du Large_, an outer breakwater,
525 yds. long.
The town is entered from the harbour either by the Boul. des
Cinq-Fontaines (Pl. C, 2, 1) or by the Rue de la Marine (Pl. C, 2) and
Rue Duvivier, all ascending to the Rue Trézel. From the railway-station
we ascend to the Place de l’Arsenal by the Rampe of that name (Pl. A, B,
2).
The RUE TRÉZEL (Pl. B, C, 2), which ascends to the S.W. from the lower
ground to the Kasba Hill, is the only fairly animated street in the
town. On the left is the _Hôtel de Ville_ (Pl. 2; C, 2), which contains
a few antiquities, including a Roman mosaic (Oceanus and the Nereids)
found near the hospital. The Fountain in front of the Hôtel de Ville has
a hexagonal column with a Roman inscription in three parts recording the
building of the aqueduct (p. 262).
The PLACE GUEYDON (Pl. B, 2, 3), the focus of traffic, named after
Admiral Gueydon (governor of Algeria, 1870–3), and adorned with a
_Monument_ (a genius in bronze), affords a splendid *View of the bay
from the parapet.
From the Rue Trézel we cross the Place de l’Arsenal (Pl. B, 2) and
ascend the Rue Fatima to the booths of the _Kabylian Market_ and to the
Kabylian quarter, the chief boast of which is the pretty _Mosque_ (Pl.
A, B, 2), completed in 1902. Close by is the _Porte Fouka_ (Pl. A, 2),
the substructions of which are ancient.
_Fort Barral_ (Pl. B, 2; formerly _Fort Moussa_), to the E. of the Rue
du Gouraya (p. 265), dates from the Spanish period. Behind the Hôpital
Civil are the _Citernes Romaines_ (Pl. B, 1; 509 ft.), which have been
frequently altered. These and a few fragments of the _Roman Town Walls_
are the sole memorials of antiquity.
The Rampe des Spahis (Pl. B, 2, 1) descends to the _Cinq-Fontaines_ (Pl.
C, 1), a Mauro-Turkish fountain in the valley, whence the Chemin de
Bridja leads to the _Porte du Cimetière_ (Pl. C, 1), the town-gate on
the Bridja Hill.
A charming walk is afforded by the road from the gate just named,
passing the _Jewish Burial Ground_ (Pl. D, 1), and descending in
windings through olive and carob groves and ruins of old fortifications,
to the beautiful =Anse de Sidi-Yahia=. Thence, at the lime-kiln and
cement-works, we may either turn to the right and go through the tunnel
under Fort Abd el-Kader (p. 263) back to the harbour, or we may follow
the coast-road (p. 265) leading to the E. to the bay of Les Aiguades.
* * * * *
The *EXCURSION TO CAPE CARBON (there and back 3½–4 hrs.) is best made on
foot or by mule (3 fr., attendant 1 fr.). We leave the town by the Porte
du Cimetière and follow the rough road to the N.E., passing (on the
left) the _Catholic Cemetery_ (Pl. C, D, 1), and ascending amidst rich
vegetation on the E. slope of _Jebel Gouraya_ (p. 265).
Passing the pleasant path which diverges to the Petit Phare (482 ft.) on
_Cape Bouak_, we soon reach the _Vallée des Singes_, whence we look down
on the peaceful _Anse des Aiguades_ (p. 265), and the (1 hr.) _Pic des
Singes_, on whose steep rocky slopes we may often see monkeys disporting
themselves (comp. p. 171). Just beyond the short rock-tunnel, where the
road ends, we obtain a superb **View of =Cape Carbon= (722 ft.), whose
limestone precipices, descending sheer on every side, are crowned with a
semaphore and the old lighthouse. We cross the low saddle between the
_Anse des Salines_ (see below) on the left and the bay bounded by Cape
Carbon and the Cape Noir (p. 130) on the right, and ascend past the _Old
Lighthouse_ to the (20 min.) *_Semaphore_, from whose flat roof we have
a splendid survey of the bay and of the bold coast of Great Kabylia as
far as the _Ile Pisan_ (p. 130).
From the saddle just mentioned a path descends to the _New Lighthouse_
at the foot of Cape Carbon.
The beautiful new *COAST ROAD leads round the _Anse de Sidi-Yahia_ (p.
264), passing the marabout of that name and the large quarries and
skirting the abrupt slopes of _Cape Bouak_ (p. 264). It pierces the
point of the cape by means of a short tunnel, and ends, beyond the old
pumping-works, at the *=Anse des Aiguades=. Its extension to the new
lighthouse at Cape Carbon is projected.—When the sea is calm we may
row from the harbour of Bougie (4–5 fr.; bargain necessary), past Cape
Bouak and through the _Roche Percée_ at Cape Carbon, to the _Anse_ and
the _Pointe des Salines_, with the _Grotte Ste. Anne_. On the return
we may for variety land in the Anse des Aiguades and walk back to
Bougie by the coast-road.
The ascent of =Jebel Gouraya= (2166 ft.) takes 2–2½ hrs. on foot or 1¾
hr. by mule (3 fr., and fee of 1 fr.). We first follow the Rue du
Gouraya and Chemin du Gouraya, or else a road on the Bridja Hill above
the _Faubourg des Cinq-Fontaines_, to the Porte du Grand Ravin (Pl. B,
1). A steep road ascends thence in windings, through underwood, to the
_Plateau des Ruines_, where there is a _Pénitencier_ for military
convicts. Hence a path leads in ½ hr. to the small _Fort du Gouraya_,
within which is the shrine of _Lalla Gouraya_. We then ascend to the
right, round the fort, to the cairn on the W. peak, where we are
rewarded with a charming view of the bay, the lower Sahel valley, the
coast of Great Kabylia as far as Cape Sigli (p. 130), and Jebel Arbalou
(p. 262).
Excursion to _Toudja_ (carr. 20–30 fr.), and drive viâ Taourirt-Ighil
to _Azazga_ (and Fort-National), see pp. 262, 261.