Route Page
Geographical and Historical Sketch. Preliminary Notes 319
51. From (Constantine, Bona) Souk-Ahras to Tunis 325
Thuburnica, 325.—Simitthu. From Souk el-Arba, through the
Kroumirie, to Tabarca, 326.—From Pont-de-Trajan to Béja.
From Béja to Tabarca. Chaouach, 328.
52. Tunis 329
a. The New Town, 333.—b. The Old Town (Djamâa ez-Zitouna,
Souks, Dâr el-Bey, Kasba, Mosque of Sidi Mahrez), 334.—c.
Environs (Jardin du Belvédère, the Manoubia Hill, the
Bardo, etc.), 338.
53. Carthage 343
Jebel Khaoui, 351.
54. From Tunis to Bizerta 351
Ferryville. Barrage des Pêcheries, 352.—From Tunis to
Bizerta by road (Utica, Porto-Farina), 353.
55. From Tunis to Dougga (Le Kef) 354
Henchir Maâtria (Numluli), 355.—From Medjez el-Bab to Le
Kef, 357.
56. From Tunis to Le Kef and Kalaâ-Djerda 358
From Bir-Kassa to La Laverie, 358.—From Smindja to
Zaghouan. From Tunis to Zaghouan by road. Jebel Zaghouan,
359.—Maktar, 360.—Kalaât es-Senam. Haidra. From
Kalaâ-Djerda to Kasserine viâ Thala, 362.
57. From Tunis to Susa 363
Jebel Bou-Kornin, 363.—From Fondouk Djedid to Menzel
Bou-Zelfa. From Soliman to Korbous. From Bir Bou-Rekba to
Nabeul, 364.—Takrouna. Hergla, 365.—From Susa to Mehdia
viâ Moknine, 369.—Chebba, 370.
58. From Susa to Kairwan 370
From Aïn-Ghrasesia to Metlaoui (Sbeïtla, Kasserine,
Thelepte, Feriana), 370.
59. From Susa to Sfax 378
60. From Sfax to Metlaoui viâ Gafsa 383
From Gafsa to El-Guettar, 385.—Gorges du Seldja, 386.
61. From Metlaoui to the Djerid 386
The Djerid, 386.—Kebilli. El-Hamma, 388.
62. From (Sfax) Graïba to Djerba viâ Gabes and Médenine 388
The Monts des Ksour, 390.—Tatahouine, 391.—The Island of
Djerba, 393.
_Tunisia_, the eastmost part of the _Maghreb_ (p. 93), a territory of
about 50,000 sq. M., has a population of ca. 1½–2 millions, the great
majority being Mohammedans (Berbers, Arabs, Moors, Kuluglis, and
negroes). Of the remainder about 60,000 are Jews (Arabic _Ihûdi_, pl.
_Ihûd_), either natives or settlers (from Spain and the so-called
Livornese), 105,680 Italians, 40,850 French, 12,200 Maltese (p. 397),
and 4800 other Europeans. The coast, about 620 M. long, extends from
_Cape Roux_ (p. 131) to _Râs Adjir_ (p. 406).
The abrupt coast of the _Tell Atlas_ (p. 169), which stretches from the
_Fedja Grandpré_ (3783 ft.) on the Algerian frontier to _Cape Blanc_ (p.
129), and comprises the wooded hill-country of the _Kroumirie_, the
_Nefza_ and _Mogod Mts._, and several ranges of lower heights, is broken
by the small coast-plain of _Tabarca_ alone. The dunes to the E. of
Bizerta, rising to 1033 ft., the greatest range of sand-hills on the
Mediterranean, separate the _Lake of Bizerta_ from the _Gulf of Tunis_
(p. xxx), into which fall the _Medjerda_ and the _Oued Miliane_, the two
chief rivers of the country, forming a number of lagoons and tongues of
land at their mouths.
The Algerian _Sahara Atlas_ (p. 170) extends to the N.E. from _Jebel Bou
Roumane_ (5250 ft.) and _Jebel Zebissa_ (4167 ft.) near Tebessa (p. 315)
to _Cape Bon_ (p. 153), broken by stony plateaux (_Hammada_, _Kalaâ_,
_Dyr_), and finally descends abruptly to the sea. Its most important
peaks in Tunisia are _Jebel Chambi_ (5217 ft.), _Jebel Bireno_ (4655
ft.), _Jebel Rekaba_ (or _Râs Ali Bou-Mouzine_, 4987 ft.), _Jebel Serd_
(4511 ft.), and, beyond the deep depression of _Jebel Faroua_ (2362
ft.), _Jebel Zaghouan_ (4249 ft.), which last is the most striking
landmark for mariners in all Tunisia. The S. slope of the Sahara Atlas
is remarkable for its terraced formation due to the action of water. The
whole country consists mainly of great basins with floors of clay or
sand of recent origin, separated from each other by elliptically shaped
hills of more solid rock, chiefly of chalk formation. The _Oued Hathob_
(pp. 362, 370) flows through no fewer than six basins of the kind.
From the _Gulf of Hammamet_, on the S. margin of the peninsula of Cape
Bon, to the _Lesser Syrtis_, now the _Gulf of Gabes_, extends an
alluvial plain of marine formation. This steppe-like tract, with its
large fresh-water lake (_Lac de Kelbia_, p. 370) and many salt-marshes
(_Sebkha_, comp. p. 169), is thinly peopled by nomads only, except on
the strip of coast, with its lagoons, flanking the _Sahel_. To the W. of
the Gulf of Gabes lies the region, 250 M. long, of the _Shotts_ (_Chotts
el-Fedjedj_, _Djerid_, and _Rharsa_), belonging to the great _Bassin du
Melrir_ (p. 170); it forms the N. fringe of the desert, lying largely
below the sea-level, and contains the finest palm-oases in Barbary. The
transition from the shotts to the highlands of Tripoli is formed by
_Jebel Tebaga_ (1608 ft.), and by the _Monts des Ksour_ (2460 ft.),
famed ever since the time of Herodotus for their troglodytes or
cave-dwellers, and bounded on the S.W. by the _Erg Oriental_ (p. 285).
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.