TUNIS, AFRICA, _March 13, 1858_.
From Constantine, the capital of the eastern province of Algeria,
seventy miles in the interior, I proceeded to the sea-coast at
Philippeville and Stora, to embark for Bona and Tunis.
Philippeville is a modern French town on the site of the ancient
Russicada, with an open roadstead; Stora, a league distant, serves as
a seaport, and is protected from almost all the winds. Philippeville
has a future, being the commercial and military centre for Constantine
and eastern Algeria. The environs are picturesque and productive of
tropical fruits. The remains of a Roman amphitheatre are found there,
also statues, Corinthian columns, and the cisterns or reservoirs which
formerly supplied the ancient city. Nine of them have been repaired,
and now furnish the town with water.
From Stora I came by steamer to Bona, the seat of the second military
division. This city was constructed in the year 497 by the Arabs with
the remains of the ancient and beautiful city of Hippona, about two
miles distant. It was founded by the Carthaginians and called Ubbo.
It lay at the foot of two hills, with the river Seybouse passing by,
and vessels came up at that time to the city. In the year 709 of Rome,
Scipio, a fugitive, beaten by the tempest, took refuge here with his
little fleet, which was destroyed by Sittius, the lieutenant of Cæsar.
In the year 429 A.D. the Vandals besieged Hippona and destroyed it in
part. It was retaken by Belisare, but the Arabs took it again in 697,
and transported to Arabia the present French town of Bona. The kings
of Tunis built the Casbah or citadel in the year 1304. It has changed
hands many times, and has been burnt and destroyed; in 1832 the French
took complete possession. Many improvements have taken place; the
country is tolerably cultivated in the environs, and some fine works
have been established.
We had cleverly got to sea from Bona when a sudden norther came down
upon us and obliged our steamer to take refuge under the lee of a fort
and projecting cape; after it subsided we pushed on the next day to
the Bay of Tunis, and landed at the village and port of Goletta, some
twelve miles from the city; it can be reached by land or water, the
latter way by a salt lake.
Here, in this city of one hundred thousand inhabitants, the largest
proportion of whom are Arabs, one finds himself out of the pale of
French civilization. In Algeria life may be considered tolerably safe,
but here, such is the fanaticism of the Musselman, and so little the
respect paid to Christians, that one is naturally cautious in his
movements. The mosques cannot be entered as in Constantinople, Algiers,
and other places; the cemeteries cannot be defiled by infidels.
The five gates of the city are closed at six in the afternoon. All
persons found out by the armed sentinels after seven in the afternoon,
without lanterns, are taken to the guard-house and released upon
the consul’s application in the morning. An instance of intolerance
occurred last June, which created a sensation far and wide. I passed
the gate recently where the Jew (you will recollect the circumstance),
meeting with some obstacle, anathematized Mahomet; he was maltreated,
thrown into prison and condemned to be executed, and notwithstanding
the protestations of various consuls, was decapitated and literally
cut into pieces by the exasperated populace. The French sent down a
squadron, and at last obtained redress from the Bey, in promises for
the future privileges of Jews and Christians. Here one finds African
life in its natural condition, beyond the reach of French officers and
soldiery.
The miserable, sallow-looking troops are dressed in round jackets and
pantaloons, with the fez, or cap of red cloth, ill adapted to a hot
climate. The streets are narrow and wretchedly filthy; all the offal
is thrown into them, and where hogs do not exist as scavengers, the
dogs, who are always numerous, supply in some measure the defect. When
it rains, the black mud is difficult to wade through, as there is no
pavement, and pattens are brought in requisition. The stench from filth
is abominable.
The bazaars are interesting to visit, on account of their display of
rich silks, costumes, smoking pipes with amber mouth-pieces, otto of
roses, embroideries of all kinds, and rich trappings for saddles and
bridles.
The Arab cafés, with their thirty to forty inmates, sitting
cross-legged, sipping coffee in little cups, and listening to guitars
and national airs, are curious to look into. The little barber shops
are found everywhere, and busy enough are their masters, shaving the
skulls of the faithful. A pile of shoes is always at the door, as the
Arabs step upon the mats and rugs, and then draw their shoes off,
and draw their feet up under them. You are elbowed in the streets
by negroes and Arabs of the different races, dark-eyed boys, camels
and mules laden with olives, olive oil, fruits, and vegetables, and
surrounded by the cries of vendors, and the confusion of tongues. The
exterior Moorish architecture of some of the mosques, and the light
and airy minarets, are attractive to the eye as you look up and espy
the Muezzin crying out the hour of prayer. The supreme power is vested
in the Bey, who has several palaces in the city and country. He is now
residing some nine miles hence, along the shore, whither I have been to
witness an Arab fantasie, or display of horsemanship.
An artillery regiment lay encamped directly opposite the immense
palace, with its latticed windows, domes, terraces, and four hundred
and fifty inmates, including the harem, eunuchs, servants, officials,
and relatives of the Bey’s wives. Two huge, uncouth, painted lions
were seen over the inner porch; sentinels, stacks of muskets, and
officers, civil and military, were in the front of the doors, together
with the sons of the sovereign, and when the Bey presented himself
at the window, the equestrian exercise commenced. There were forty
horsemen, accompanied by two Kadis and three Scheiks of tribes in the
interior, who were dressed in the most luxurious costumes of silks
and embroidered cloth flowing robes, their arms, saddles, and bridles
glittering with gold and silver filigree work. Starting at some
distance, they came down singly, and in groups of three or five, upon
full gallop, drawing and discharging their carabines as they passed
by, and suddenly reining up and whirling their guns in the air--a most
exciting and wild scene, beautifully executed. Others were dancing
their horses to the sounds of drums and flutes, and making all sorts
of evolutions around the sentinels, describing a figure eight, and
embracing the sentinels without treading on their toes. The homage paid
was recompensed by rich and costly presents sent out to the victors.
While the authorities are revelling in luxuries, the poor suffer the
penalty. Three thousand troops have just been sent out, to be absent
some months, for the purpose of collecting taxes and imposts, which are
enforced by the bayonet.
The country is beautifully fertile and productive. We rode through
miles of olive groves. The Bey has a famous oil mill, driven by steam
power, under the direction of Europeans. The olives, when fully
ripened, are sent in panniers upon camels’ backs, and crushed by
machinery; the oil is then pressed out. Our Consul and some others
made up a party for Gomart, twelve miles distant, where we found some
catacombs; but to one who had seen those of Thebes they afforded but
little interest.
The friends we visited occupied a palace which had been built by
Christian slave labor during the piratical days of this people. The
amount of labor performed in the construction, with its fountains,
basins, orange, lemon, and date groves, must have exhausted the
patience of these poor prisoners.
The ancient city of Carthage lies along the sea shore, some twelve
miles from Tunis, and is quite accessible by carriage drive. We
visited Mr. Davis, the gentleman employed by the British government in
excavating the antiquities, and accompanied him in these explorations.
The site of the great temple of Esculapius is plainly visible, and
a portion of the foundation walls and staircases. He has forty men
employed, and we discovered the basements of several houses where the
mosaic floors were quite perfect and very beautiful. Many large boxes
have been sent to the British Museum. The ancient port of the city is
still distinguishable.
The traces of the aqueducts are well defined, and large masses of
stone still stand. The reservoirs for water, seventeen in number,
are in the best state of preservation; they are evidently of Roman
construction.
The circuit of twenty miles, where stood the great city, is now under
cultivation, scarcely leaving any vestige of existence above the
surface.