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.
FROM PONT-DE-TRAJAN TO BÉJA, 9 M., branch-line in 24 min. (1 fr. 45, 1
fr. 10 c., 80 c.). The line ascends the bare valley of the _Oued
Béja_, to the N.—9 M. =Béja= (715–1000 ft.; Hôt. de France, etc.; pop.
12,000, incl. 1600 Europeans), the _Vaga_ of the Roman period, when it
had a great market and was one of the most thriving places in the
Medjerda valley, owes its present prosperity to the grain-trade and
the culture of early vegetables. To the E., bordering the Avenue de la
Gare, is the new quarter of the Italian and French farmers, with the
_Halle aux Grains_. To the W., on the slope beyond the _Oued Bou
Zegdem_, rises the picturesque old town. On its N.E. margin the Grande
Rue leads to the _Marché_ (cattle-market, Tues.) and to the _Souks_
(p. 335). The _Grande Mosquée_, built in the form of an Egyptian cross
(p. 376), one of the oldest in Tunisia, is famed for its borrowed
wealth of ancient Roman capitals. The only Roman ruins are the _Bâb
el-Aïn_ (‘fountain-gate’) and relics of _Thermae_ and of a _Basin_.
The _Town Walls_, with their many towers, were originally Byzantine,
but have been repeatedly restored. With the exception of the ‘keep’,
the Byzantine fortress on the top of the hill has been superseded by
the _Kasba_, built largely of Roman materials. On the _Bou Hamdan_
(1047 ft.), a hill 1 M. to the N.W. of Béja, lies a large _Punic
Burial Ground_, with rock-tombs.—Railways run from Béja to the N.E. to
_Mateur_ (p. 351) and to the S.W. to _Nebeur_ (p. 326).
The picturesque route to Tabarca (45 M.; motor-omnibus or diligence)
leads to the N. from Béja, past the zinc-mines of _Jebel Charra_ (1414
ft.), and through the now treeless valleys of the Oued Béja (_Oued
Djorfane_ in its upper course) and the _Oued Sersar_. It next passes
the richest calamine or zinc-ore mines in Tunisia (_Jebel Damous_,
_Aïn-Roumi_, _Jebel Sidi Ahmed_) and leads through the grand ravine of
_Khanguet Kef Tout_ into the valley of the _Oued Maden_. 25 M.
_Djebel-Abiod_ (Hôt. des Nefzas, quite good), a village in the _Nefza
Mts._, famed for their cork-tree woods, their abundant game, and their
great deposits of hæmatite. (Railway from Mateur to Djebel-Abiod, see
p. 352; thence to Tabarca under construction.) We now drive to the W.,
between _Jebel Kherouf_ (2035 ft.) on the left and a chain of *Dunes
(650 ft.) on the right, to _Râs er-Radjel_, and cross the Oued
el-Kébir to (45 M.) _Tabarca_ (p. 327).
From Pont-de-Trajan to _Teboursouk_ (_Dougga_), see p. 355.
The Medjerda, in its sinuous course, then forces its way through the
bare hill-country below Pont-de-Trajan. For a short distance the train
runs to the N.E. into the side-valley of the _Oued Zarga_, stopping at
(100½ M.) _Oued-Zarga_ (322 ft.), and then returns to the E., through
hilly country, and below _Toukabeur_ and _Chaouach_ (see below), into
the valley of the Medjerda.
113 M. =Medjez el-Bab= (197 ft.; Hôt. des Colons; omn. to the diligence
office 30 c.), a considerable village on the right bank of the Medjerda,
1¼ M. to the S. of the station, was formerly _Membressa_, a busy place
on the Roman road from Carthage to Tebessa (p. 315). The eight-arched
_Medjerda Bridge_ was built in the 18th cent. with the materials of the
Roman bridge; and the Roman _Triumphal Arch_, to which the village owes
its name (‘ford by the gateway’), has lately been almost entirely
demolished for a similar purpose. Important corn-market on Mondays.
On the slope of _Jebel Chaouach_ (1778 ft.), some 5½ M. to the N.W. of
Medjez el-Bab, lies _Chaouach_ (1480 ft.), with the ruins of the small
Roman town of _Sua_ (triumphal arch, nymphæum, town-wall, etc.). About
1¼ M. to the W. of Chaouach are the ruins of _Toukabeur_ (1221 ft.),
the Roman _Thuccabor_, with its ancient cisterns, gateways, temple,
etc.
From Medjez el-Bab to _Teboursouk_ and _Dougga_ (_Le Kef_), see R. 55.
[Illustration: TUNIS]
[Illustration: REBAAT BAB DJAZIRA]
The train now proceeds, generally somewhat apart from the tortuous
stream, at the foot of bare hills (_Jebel Heïdous_, _Jebel Lansarine_,
etc.), to (119 M.) _El-Heri_ and (122½ M.) _Bordj Toum_.
133 M. =Tebourba= (133 ft.; Hôt. Cafort, R. 2, B. ½, D. 2½, pens. 6 fr.;
pop. 2000) is pleasantly situated among olive-groves. On a height (164
ft.) crowned with the kubba of _Sidi Ras-Allah_, between the village and
the Medjerda, are the scanty ruins of the Roman town of _Thuburbo
Minus_. About ½ hr. to the S. of Tebourba lies the dam or *_Bridge of
El-Bathan_, originally Roman, but restored to form a reservoir for
watering the olive-trees. Adjacent are a small manufactory of chechias
(a kind of fez) and barracks. Near Tebourba are large quarries of
gypsum.
139 M. _Djedeïda_, junction for Bizerta (R. 54), with a barrage and an
agricultural school and farm of the Alliance Israélite.
The train crosses the Medjerda and, at the arches of the *_Aqueduct of
Carthage_ (p. 348), still 7½ M. long, the watershed between the Medjerda
valley and the undulating plain of Tunis.
148 M. _La Manouba_ (p. 342). We then pass _Kassar-Saïd_ (on the left;
p. 342) and the (150½ M.) _Bardo_ (p. 339), and for a short time skirt
the N. side of the _Sebkha es-Sedjoumi_ (p. 332). Lastly the train
rounds the S. edge of the old town (_Rebat Bab-Djazira_, p. 337) and
passes close to the _Manoubia Hill_ (p. 339) and the _Zaouïa Sidi
Bel-Hassen_ (p. 339).