51. From ( Constantine, Bona ) Souk-Ahras to Tunis

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. ) to Tunis must go viâ La Calle (p. ), Tabarca (p. ), and Béja (p. ).

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. , 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. ).

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. ) 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. ); 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. ) viâ the small village of Nebeur, the terminus of the railway from Béja (p. ), 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. ); 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. ), 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. ), 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. ), stretching to the N. to the sea, to the N.W. to the lakes near La Calle (p. ), 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. ) 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. ) and Hippo Regius (p. ), the outlet for the marble of Simitthu (p. ) 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. ) anchor in the open roads.—For the future railway to Mateur, see p. .

From Tabarca to Béja, see p. .

64 M. Ben-Bachir, not far from the influx of the Oued Mellègue, the ancient Muluth, and of the Oued Tessa (p. ) into the Medjerda. We cross the Oued Bou Heurtma, the Armascla of the Romans. Fine view of Jebel Gorra (p. ).

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. ). The Grande Mosquée, built in the form of an Egyptian cross (p. ), 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. ) and to the S.W. to Nebeur (p. ).

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. ; 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. ).

From Pont-de-Trajan to Teboursouk (Dougga), see p. .

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. ). 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.

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. ), still 7½ M. long, the watershed between the Medjerda valley and the undulating plain of Tunis.

148 M. La Manouba (p. ). We then pass Kassar-Saïd (on the left; p. ) and the (150½ M.) Bardo (p. ), and for a short time skirt the N. side of the Sebkha es-Sedjoumi (p. ). Lastly the train rounds the S. edge of the old town (Rebat Bab-Djazira, p. ) and passes close to the Manoubia Hill (p. ) and the Zaouïa Sidi Bel-Hassen (p. ).

154 M. Tunis (Gare du Sud, see below).