ROAD viâ (35½ M.) _Tozeur_ to (51 M.) _Nefta_ (railway to the former
under construction). A carriage may be hired at one of the inns at
Metlaoui, but as the road is bad a mule is preferable. It is best to
ride direct to Tozeur (carrying provisions, wine, etc.). Nefta may be
visited from Tozeur, El-Oudiane best on the way back from Tozeur to
Metlaoui (early start required).
The *=Djerid= (Arabic _Belad el-Jerid_), the narrow isthmus between
the _Chott Djérid_ (65–80 ft. above the sea), the largest salt-marsh
in Barbary, and the _Chott Rharsa_ (65 ft. below sea-level), with its
four picturesque oases of _Tozeur_, _Nefta_, _El-Oudiane_, and
_El-Hamma_ (_du Djérid_), is the largest date-palm region in N.
Africa. The number of palm-trees is estimated at about a million, but
nearly half belong to the ‘hakhana’, an unfruitful species. The yield
of dates is 12½–15,000 tons annually, of which 500 tons only are of
the transparent variety. They are exported chiefly viâ Gafsa and Sfax.
The mildness of the climate (p. 321) adapts Tozeur in particular for
winter residence, but malaria is prevalent in summer. The population
(about 30,000), which is said to have included scattered remnants of
Christian communities down to the 18th cent., is chiefly of Berber
origin, but with the Arab nature fully developed.
_Metlaoui_, see above. The road leads to the S.W., through an almost
bare waste, at first near the left bank of the Seldja and then down its
dry bed.
15½ M. _Bordj Gouïfla_ (269 ft.; no drinking-water), a deserted
caravanserai, lies at the junction of the Gafsa road, beyond the influx
of the Oued Seldja into the _Oued Melah_ (p. 387). We then skirt the
spurs of _Jebel Tarfaoui_ (p. 388). The road to El-Oudiane (p. 388)
branches to the left.
Not far from the delta of the Oued Melah we near the _Chott Rharsa_,
which in the hot season is reduced to a few streamlets and pools, and
next reach the E. border of (30 M.) the oasis of =El-Hamma du Djérid=
(164 ft.; Bordj, quarters 1 fr.). This oasis, the smallest in the
Djerid, with 900 inhab., about 54,000 palms, and a few olive-trees, has
of late had mud-walls (tabias) built to shelter it from sand-drift. The
_Hammâm_, a piscina in a kind of palm-hut, whose water (109° Fahr.) is
in high favour with the natives, is of Roman origin.
The road crosses the (32½ M.) downs of _Drah Tozeur_ or _Drâht
en-Nadour_ (269 ft.), and reveals a striking *View of the green oasis of
Tozeur and the glittering surface of the _Chott Djérid_.
35½ M. =Tozeur= (197 ft.; Hôt. Bellevue, R. 3, B. ½, déj. or D. 3 fr.,
unpretending, with attentive landlady; pop. 10,000, incl. 65 Europeans),
the ancient _Tusuros_, Arabic _Tûzer_, is the seat of the authorities of
the Djerid. The houses, mostly one-storied, built of crude (tobs) and
burned bricks, have a peculiar geometric ornamentation in brick network,
which differentiates them from most of those in the other oases. The
_Souks_ are less important than those of Nefta (see below). Interesting
*Views are obtained from the minarets of the _Zaouïa Sidi Abid_ and the
new _Sidi Mouldi Mosque_ (tickets at the Contrôle Civil).
The *OASIS, which is hardly inferior to that of Gafsa in richness
and variety of vegetation (p. 385), contains about 420,000 palms.
Several hours may be pleasantly spent in riding to the chief points
of interest. Leaving the town we ride to the W., viâ _Chabia_
village, with its curious huts of palm-logs, to the _Râs el-Aïoun_,
where 194 springs unite to form the _Oued el-Mechta_. We then skirt
the S.W. border of the oasis and descend viâ the villages of
_Zaouïet-Sahraoui_, _Djehim_ or _Djem_, and _Abbas_ or _Abbès_ to
the kubba of _Sidi Ali Bou-Lifa_, near the shott, with a huge and
venerable lotus-tree. Thence we should return to Djehim and ride to
_Bled el-Adhar_, a village in the W. half of the oasis. The
interesting mosque here, the oldest in the Djerid, stands on the
site of a Roman temple, which is said to have been converted into a
Christian basilica. The *Mihrâb, or prayer-niche, unfortunately
whitewashed, dating from 1194, is most elegantly decorated in
stucco. We return thence to Tozeur, where the half-dead lotus-tree
and the little mosques present a picturesque bit of scenery.
A ROAD, with fine points of view, leads from Tozeur to the W., viâ
_Chabia_ (see above) and along the S. margin of the dunes of _Koudiat
Oum el-Arouah_ (558 ft.), to (51 M.) =Nefta= (200–300 ft.; Djerid Hotel,
R. 3–4, B. 1, déj. or D. 3–4, pens. 8–10 fr., quite good; carr. at the
Khalifa’s only; pop. 14,000, incl. many Jews but only a few Europeans),
the Roman _Aggarsel Nepte_. The houses resemble those of Tozeur in
style, but blocks of gypsum from the vicinity also have been used as
building-material. We are struck with the great number of small mosques
and zaouïas, among which is the zaouïa of the Kadria (p. 361), the most
important in S. Tunisia and a religious house of the Rahmania order. The
souks, which are much patronized by the Sahara caravans, offer all the
products of the Djerid, such as white frechias (p. 385), burnouses
(‘djeridi’), silk haiks, etc.
Before riding through the *=Oasis= (2–3 hrs.; mule with guide 3–4
fr.), the finest in the Djerid, with its 187,000 palms, we proceed
from the souks to the so-called *_Corbeille_ (Arabic _Kasr el-Aïn_,
‘castle of the springs’), a grand gorge in the middle of the town,
where the copious springs (152, it is said) unite to form a brook. We
then ride to the N.W., past the _Zaouïa of the Kadria_ (p. 387) and
along the mud-walls (p. 387), to the _Parcelle Forestière_ (fine
view), or to the _Poste Douanier_, another good point of view. We then
return, past the mosque of _Sidi Merzoug_ and the palm-garden of
_Ghitane ech-Chorfa_, to the _Barrage_, a Roman dam below the
Corbeille (at the weir, a little lower, good bathing-place), and visit
the elegant kubba of _Sidi Bou-Ali_, in the heart of the oasis.
=El-Oudiane=, the eastmost oasis of the Djerid, with 6000 inhab.
distributed among six villages, lies 6¼ M. to the N.E. of Tozeur and 3
M. to the E. of El-Hamma (p. 387), on the slope of _Jebel Bou-Hellal_
(624 ft.), the W. offshoot of _Jebel Tarfaoui_ (1821 ft.). This oasis,
4½ M. long, watered by a number of small springs, possesses about
185,000 palms and 25,000 olive-trees, while numerous orange and lemon
trees add a special charm. The chief village is _Deggach_ (180 ft.; pop.
3000), built partly of stone. Thence we ride past _Zaouïet el-Arab_,
with its minaret (fine view), and _Kriz_, on the slope of _Jebel Nadour_
(519 ft.), to the walled village of _Cedadda_ (230 ft.). At _Guebba_, a
village adjoining Kriz, close to the shott, are some Roman ruins.
The _Trik el-Oudiania_, a caravan route once used by the Romans but
sometimes impassable after heavy winter rains, leads from Kriz across
the Chott Djérid, to the S.E., to the _Caïdat du Nefzaoua_, a part of
the S. Territories (p. 390) between the shott and the Erg Oriental (p.
285). The first oasis beyond the salt-marshes is (30½ M.) _Debabcha_,
on the peninsula of that name. 43 M. _Telmine_, the ancient _Turris
Tamaleni_, was the westmost frontier-fortress on the Limes
Tripolitanus (p. 412). 47 M. =Kebilli= (quarters in the Bordj), the
ancient _Vepillium_ (?), is now the chief town in the Nefzaoua, with
5000 inhab., a market well attended by the Sahara caravans, and the
finest palm-oasis in this region.
ROADS lead from Kebilli: (1) To the N.E., through the waterless sandy
waste between the _Chott el-Fedjedj_ (p. 389) and _Jebel Tebaga_ (1608
ft.) and past (9½ M.) _Limagues_ and (34½ M.) _Oglet Nakhla_, to (53
M.) =El-Hamma= (quarters at the Bordj), the ancient _Aquae
Tacapitanae_, with hot springs (118° Fahr.) and a charming palm-oasis;
then past the S. base of _Jebel Dissa_ (492 ft.; Poste Optique) to (74
M.) _Gabes_ (p. 389).—(2) To the S.E., through the desert on the S.
side of Jebel Tebaga (see above), past _Henchir Bou-Garfa_ and
_Tamezred_, to (about 68 M.) _Matmata-Kebira_ (p. 391).