124 M. St. Paul, junction of a branch-line to (7 M.) Randon. To the left appears the Massif du Beleliéta (876 ft.), in front of Jebel Edough (see below); then, between (127 M.) Duzerville and (130½ M.) Allélik, is seen the low Massif du Bou Hamra (499 ft.), with its very ancient iron-mines, now worked by the Mokta el-Hadid Company (p. 303).

Skirting the fringes of the hills last named the train now runs close to the Seybouse, and beyond the castle-hill of Hippo Regius (p. 311), on the left, crosses the Oued Boudjimah.

135½ M. Bona.—Stations. 1. Gare de la Comp. Bône-Guelma (Pl. A, 4), the chief station, for Constantine and for Souk-Ahras and Tunis (RR. 49, 51).—2. Gare de la Comp. du Mokta el-Hadid (Pl. A, B, 4), for the St. Charles line (p. 303).—3. Gare de la Calle (Pl. B, 4), for the light railway to La Calle (p. 131).

Arrival by Sea (comp. RR. 20, 22). The steamers of the Gén. Transatlantique (agent, De Pleurre), of the Transports Maritimes (agent, Teddé), and of the Navigation Mixte (agent, Fadda) are all berthed at the Quai Nord (Pl. B, C, 3), in the Petite Darse. Cabs, see below.

Hotels (comp. p. 174). Hôtel d’Orient (Pl. a; B, 2), Cours Jérôme*-Bertagna, with frequented restaurant, well spoken of; Hôt. Cramet (Pl. b; B, 3), Rue Prosper-Dubourg; Hôt. Continental (Pl. c; B, 2), Passage des Thermopyles (entrance next the Hôt. d’Orient), with good restaurant, déj. 2, D. 2½ fr., plain; Hôt. Moderne, Rue des Volontaires, new.

Cafés. Café St. Martin, Cours Jérôme-Bertagna; Brasserie du Petit Gambrinus, Rue du Quatre Septembre.

Post & Telegraph Office (Pl. B, 3), Place de la Poste.

Banks. Banque de l’Algérie, Comp. Algérienne, Crédit Lyonnais, and Crédit Foncier d’Algérie et Tunisie, all in the Cours Jérôme-Bertagna.—Booksellers. Faure (Legendre), cor. of Rue St. Augustin and Rue du Quatre Septembre; Borel & Langlade, Cours Jérôme-Bertagna.

Baths. Euvremer, Rue Damrémont; Bains Maures (comp. p. 175), Rue Bélisaire.—Sea Baths. Grenouillère (p. 310), in the Avant-Port; Plage Chapuis and others at St. Cloud-les-Plages (p. 311).—Theatre (Pl. 4; B, 2), Cours Jérôme-Bertagna.—Races, 24th April.

Cabs (stand, Cours Jérôme-Bertagna). Drive 1 (and back 1½) fr.; first hr. 2, each addit. hr. 1½ fr; half-day 8, whole day 15 fr.—Omnibus from the Cours Jérôme-Bertagna to the Plage Chapuis, etc.

Consuls. British Vice-Consul, H. A. Scratchley, Rue du Rempart 3.—U.S. Consular Agency, Rue Thiers.

One Day. Forenoon, Harbour, Cours Jérôme-Bertagna, Hippo Regius (pp. 310, 311); afternoon, Cap de Garde or Bugeaud (p. 311).

Bona, French Bône, Arabic Enneba (pop. 42,900, incl. 28,300 Europeans, mostly French, 11,200 Mohammedans, and 1700 Jews), on the W. side of the Gulf of Bona (p. 128), a fortified town, is the chief seaport of Algeria after Oran and Algiers and the most important outlet for the produce of the département of Constantine, such as phosphates (p. 315), iron (comp. pp. 310, 314), zinc, cork, cattle, and cereals. Besides its fine harbour, the town offers no sights; but it deserves a visit especially in winter, for the sake of its pretty situation at the foot of Jebel Edough (3307 ft.; p. 169), not far from the picturesque Cap de Garde.

Bona lies on the small Anse du Cassarin, about 1¼ M. to the N.E. of Hippo, which was one of the chief Phœnician colonies on the coast of N. Africa. Under Masinissa (p. 321) Hippo was the capital of Numidia, and under the Roman empire, when it was called Hippo Regius, it was the richest port on the N. coast next to Carthage and rivalled Cæsarea (p. 244). Here in 393 met a council of over three hundred bishops, who for the first time recognized the present canon of the New Testament. On that occasion St. Augustine (born in 354 at Thagaste, p. 313), attended as a presbyter and co-bishop. Chief among the four ‘Latin fathers’ and a keen opponent of the Donatists (p. 322), St. Augustine, after his conversion at Milan by St. Ambrose (387), settled at Hippo, where he was bishop from 395 to 430, and died there during the siege of the town by the Vandals. After its destruction by Genseric and the downfall of the Vandals, whose king Gelimer (p. 322) sought his last asylum on Mt. Edough, Hippo arose from its ruins once more under the Byzantines, but it succumbed to the assaults of the Arabs in 697 and was thenceforth entirely abandoned.

The present town of Bona, founded later by the Arabs on the slope of the Kasba hill, was seized by the Genoese in the 15th cent. for the sake of its valuable coral-fishery. After the conquest of Tunis (p. 332), it was occupied for a short time by the Spaniards in 1535, and afterwards temporarily by the Compagnie d’Afrique from Marseilles. In 1837, soon after the entry of the French (1832), the old Kasba, built under Charles V., was blown up, and since then the native quarter has been modernized in French fashion.

The *Harbour, which has been so improved of late years as to rival that of Algiers, consists of three basins. The Petite Darse (Pl. B, C, 3), 27 acres in area, the old inner harbour, lies near the railway-stations and the mouth of the Seybouse; the Grande Darse (Pl. C, D, 3, 2; formerly the outer harbour), 170 acres in area, is a new basin between the Môle Cigogne (Pl. C, 3) and the small creek of Grenouillère (sea-baths); the Avant-Port is a new outer basin of nearly 100 acres adjoining the Pointe du Lion. The outer entrance to the harbour, 270 yds. wide, between the Jetée du Lion, 1200 yds. long, and the Jetée Sud (Pl. C, D, 4, 3), 1800 yds. long, is difficult of access during N. or N.E. gales. The inner entrances, through the Jetée Babayaud and at the Môle Cigogne (see above), are only 77 yds. wide. The Quai Nord (Pl. B, C, 3) in the Petite Darse is for the large French passenger-steamers, the Quai Ouest (Pl. B, 3) for phosphate, and the Quai Sud (Pl. B, C, 4) for the iron-ore from the mine near Aïn-Daliah (p. 303). Adjoining the last quay and bordering the new reclaimed lands (82 acres) is the new Quai aux Phosphates (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), to be used for the phosphate depots and for the Ouenza iron ores (comp. p. 314).

The broad Cours Jérôme-Bertagna (Pl. B, 2, 3; formerly Cours National), the main street of the town, with the pretty grounds of the ‘Square’, skirts the W. side of the native quarter.

To the W., in the European quarter, are the covered Marché (Pl. B, 2), the interesting Fondouk (Pl. 1, A 2; native market), and, in the Boul. des Jujubiers, the Marché aux Grains (Pl. A, 3).

Outside the W. gates, Porte des Karézas (Pl. A, 3) and Porte Randon (Pl. A, 1), are the Marché aux Bestiaux (Pl. A, 2; Thurs.) and the grounds of the Square Randon (Pl. A, 2).

The Native Quarter, where also the Jews reside, is intersected by the Rue St. Augustin (Pl. B, C, 2).

From the Boul. Victor-Hugo (Pl. B, C, 2), on the N. side of this quarter, we may mount in 10 min. to the Colline de la Kasba, or Colline des Santons (358 ft.), crowned by the Kasba (Pl. C, D, 1; no admittance). The pine-clad slope is skirted by the pretty Boul. des Caroubiers (Pl. C, D, 2, 1).

A beautiful walk may be taken from the Porte des Caroubiers (Pl. D, 1) on the busy *Chemin de la Corniche, round the E. side of the Batterie du Lion, always skirting the shore and passing many villas with luxuriant gardens. It leads to the N.W. to the suburb of (2½ M.) St Cloud-les-Plages, on the Baie des Caroubiers, with its sea-baths (p. 309). In clear weather a pleasant drive may be taken past the little Baie des Corailleurs and the old Fort Génois to (7 M.) the Cap de Garde. At the Semaphore (519 ft.), above the lighthouse, we enjoy a delightful view of the bay.

From the Faubourg Ste. Anne (Pl. A, 1) a hill-road with fine views, but almost shadeless as far as the (5 M.) Col des Chacals (1578 ft.), ascends in windings to (9 M.) Bugeaud (2809 ft.; Hôt. Fuster, Hôt. Kittler, Hôt. Cronstadt, etc.), a favourite summer resort, beautifully situated among woods of cork-oaks. In clear weather the *Panorama from (1½ hr.) Kef Seba (3307 ft.), the summit of Mt. Edough, embraces the whole coast from the bay of Stora (p. 128) to the Kroumirie (p. 326).

The dusty Route de Constantine (Pl. A, 4) leads through the S. town-gate to a (12 min.) Bridge the foundations of which are Roman, spanning the Oued Boudjimah (p. 309). Between this brook and the Seybouse, whose mouth once lay farther to the S.E. and was used as a harbour, extended the site of Hippo Regius (p. 309). The road straight on, beyond the bridge, leads to the (ca. 5 min.) Fortin, which together with the castle-hill (see below) formed the nucleus of the Roman town. Here once lay the Roman villa quarter. Excavations in the former Jardin Chevillot (adm. 50 c.), now belonging to the town, have brought to light several Roman columns and mosaics (Apollo and the Muses, Triumph of Amphitrite, etc.), the foundations of a small early-Christian basilica, and notably a fragment of wall, about 22 yds. long, composed of enormous blocks of granite, 10–13 ft. long, 39 in. thick, and 27 in. high. This last is probably the oldest and most interesting specimen of Phœnician building in Barbary. In the adjoining property of Mme. Dufour part of the foundations of a Roman villa and superb mosaics have been laid bare. Among the latter are a very lifelike representation of a hunt, fishing-scenes, houses of a town, etc. (admission kindly granted). Of the Ancient Theatre a few steps only now exist.

To the right, just beyond the Boudjimah bridge (see above), diverges the Chemin de Beleliéta, whence after 9 min. a fine road leads to the right to the old Castle Hill (181 ft.). On its slope lie the Roman Cisterns of Hippo, resembling in plan those of Bordj el-Djedid (p. 350), but modernized in 1893 for the waterworks of Bona (small fee for admittance). As Lalla Bouna, a famous saint, is supposed to have been buried here, the spot attracts Mohammedan pilgrims on Fridays, when they may be seen picturesquely grouped round the bronze Statue of St. Augustine (1843).

The castle-hill is crowned with the handsome Basilica of St. Augustine, founded by Card. Lavigerie (p. 346), and built by Abbé Pougnet in 1885–1900 in a semi-Oriental style, on the model of the cathedral of Carthage (p. 347).

The Interior is unfinished. Over the high-altar is preserved a highly-revered relic of St. Augustine, whose bones were carried in 496, during the Vandal period, by fugitive Catholic bishops to Sardinia, whence they were removed to Pavia by the Longobard king Liutprand in 722. In front of the church we have a fine view of the coast, with its dunes, as far as Cape Rosa (p. 131).

From Bona to St. Charles (Constantine), see p. 303; to Souk-Ahras, see R. 49; to Tunis, see R. 51.

49. From Constantine or Bona viâ Duvivier to Souk-Ahras (Tebessa, Tunis).

From Constantine to Souk-Ahras, 134 M., railway in 7–9¼ hrs. (24 fr. 30, 17 fr. 35 c., 13 fr.). Change at Duvivier. Railway Restaurants at Le Khroub, Duvivier, and Souk-Ahras.

From Bona to Souk-Ahras, 66½ M., railway in 3¼–5¼ hrs. (11 fr. 95, 8 fr. 55, 6 fr. 40 c.).

Constantine, and thence to (101 M.) Duvivier, see p. 297 and R. 48.—From Bona to (34½ M.) Duvivier, see pp. 309, 308.

We cross the Seybouse and follow the narrow dale of the Oued Melah to the S.E., with its fine growth of underwood. 107½ (or 40½) M. Medjez-Sfa (476 ft.); the village (758 ft.) lies to the right, on the Souk-Ahras road. We then mount to (113 or 46 M.) Aïn-Tahamimine (about 1100 ft.), with its eucalyptus groves.

The finest part of the line lies between this point and Laverdure. We cross the ravine of the Oued Cherf by a viaduct. 116 (or 49) M. Aïn-Affra (1739 ft.). We ascend the hill-side to the N.E., partly through plantations of young cork-trees and underwood, and then on the crest of the hill turn sharply back to the S.W. Below lies the line just traversed. At several points we obtain a splendid view of the distant hills of the Beni Salah (p. 308). Among the cork-trees appear the first evergreen oaks.

124 (or 57) M. Laverdure (2369 ft.). The village (2526 ft.; Hôt. Arena; Hôt. Raschiero), 1 M. to the W., on the Souk-Ahras road, with its woods and beautiful views, attracts summer visitors.

To the left appears Jebel Mahabouba (4144 ft.), often snow-clad in winter. Passing through woods of cork and evergreen oak, fringes of the Forêt de Fedj el-Makta, we come to the Col de Fedj el-Makta (tunnel), the watershed between the Seybouse and the Medjerda (p. 325).

127 (or 60) M. Aïn-Sennour (2552 ft.). The forest-zone is succeeded by a region of meadows, fields, and vineyards. To the left we sight the bare mountains to the N. of Souk-Ahras.

134 (or 66½) M. Souk-Ahras.—Railway Restaurant.—Hotels. Hôtel d’Orient, in the market-place, with good restaurant, R., déj., D., 2½ fr. each, pens. 7½ omn. 1 fr., quite good; Hôt. de l’Univers, similar charges; Hôt. de France.—Café de Marseille, in the market-place.

Souk-Ahras (2297 ft.; pop. 9000) lies very prettily in a lofty, undulating plain enclosed by distant hills. It is a rapidly rising place, with quite a European aspect, and is one of the pleasantest provincial towns in Algeria. It dates only from 1852, when it was founded as a convenient centre for roads radiating to Constantine, Bona, and La Calle, and as a mart for the phosphates of Tebessa (p. 315). It stands on the site of Thagaste, the birthplace of St. Augustine (p. 310), who mentions it with affection in his Confessions. At the foot of the old castle-hill, an excellent point of view, are placed a few antiquities from Khamissa (see below). Cattle-breeding and vine-culture are the chief industries in the environs.

The Excursion to Khamissa, about 23 M. from Souk-Ahras, is best made by motor-car as far as Ksar Tifech and thence on mule-back. We follow the Sedrata highroad to the S.W., soon crossing the Medjerda (p. 325). About halfway we enter the Plaine de Tifech, watered by the Oued Tifech and once fertile and populous. We then reach the Ksar Tifech (3150 ft.), on the slope of Jebel Tifech (3609 ft.), with the ruins of a Byzantine fortress, the most considerable relic of the Numidian Tipasa. Thence we ride to the N.W., in the direction of the ancient Roman road, to *Khamissa or Khemissa (3084 ft.; no inn), the interesting site of the Roman Thubursicum Numidarum, one of the oldest and most important towns in Inner Numidia. It lies on a hill high above the valley of the Medjerda, which rises a little to the N.W. on the Râs el-Alia (4321 ft.). Among the ruins may be noted the S.E. Gate, a triumphal arch with a single passage, on the Tipasa road; near it, the underground Columbarium (hypogæum); the Thermae; and also, in the Platea Vetus, the chief square in the E. quarter of the town, an unfinished Roman Temple besides other buildings. On the crest of the hill we come upon the foundations of a Byzantine Basilica and a small Byzantine Fortress (‘Ksar el-Kebîr’). On the N. hill-side is the Roman Theatre, with its fairly preserved stage-building (comp. p. 293). The Forum, on the W. margin of the hill, and a Triumphal Arch with three passages were afterwards incorporated with a second Byzantine Fortress. All around are extensive Burial Grounds, some of them with rock-tombs.

From Souk-Ahras to Tebessa, see R. 50; to Tunis, see R. 51.

50. From Souk-Ahras to Tebessa.

79½ M. Narrow Gauge Railway, in 5½–6½ hrs. (14 fr. 35, 10 fr. 25, 7 fr. 70 c.; 1st cl. return 20 fr. 20 c.). Railway Restaurant at Clairefontaine only. Morsott is preferable to Tebessa for night-quarters.

Souk-Ahras, see above. We cross the Tunis line (R. 51) by a viaduct, and descend to the S. into the valley of the Medjerda (p. 325), latterly through underwood and Aleppo pines. 5 M. Les Tuileries.

We next ascend the narrow and picturesque side-valley of the Oued Chouk, through pine and cork-oak woods. Beyond (9 M.) Oued-Chouk (1975 ft.) we skirt the upper course of the stream, now called Oued el-Hammam, in a barren hill-country, and at places through limestone gorges, bordered with Aleppo pines.

17½ M. Dréa (2634 ft.), an alfa (esparto grass) station.

From Dréa we may visit the native village of Mdaourouch (3058 ft.), 3 M. to the S.E., on the N.W. slope of Jebel Bou Sessou (3566 ft.). This was the ancient Madaura or Madauros, the birthplace (about 125 A. D.) of the Roman author L. Apuleius. It was once the seat of a famous school of oratory, at which St. Augustine (p. 310) was educated. On its site, where there are relics of a Roman Mausoleum and the foundations of an early-Christian Basilica, rises the conspicuous Byzantine Castle, dating from the time of Solomon (p. 315), a building curiously irregular in plan, partly enclosed by later (Berber?) fortifications. Large Thermae also have been recently excavated.

Beyond Dréa we traverse fields and poor pastures to the S.W.

22½ M. Mdaourouch (2809 ft.; no inn), the highest point on the line, the watershed between the Medjerda and the Mellègue (see below). In the vicinity is the village of Montesquieu.

A field-road leads to the E. from the station to (4½ M.) the village of Mdaourouch (see above).

Khamissa (p. 313) may be visited from Montesquieu (see above) or Mdaourouch if we are fortunate enough to find mules there. We follow the Sedrata highroad to the W. to (9 M.) the caravanserai (Bordj; 2756 ft.) in the Plaine de Tifech (p. 313), whence we turn to the N. to (13 M.) Ksar Tifech (p. 313) and thence go on to (16 M.) Khamissa.

Beyond Mdaourouch there are long stretches of bleak steppe-like country. The train descends to (30 M.) Oued-Damous (1982 ft.), in the valley of that name. It then skirts the Oued Kebarit and rounds the E. slope of Jebel Kréréga (3251 ft.), a tableland with scanty woods of pine and arbor vitæ. Far away to the left rises Jebel Ouenza (4229 ft.), with the largest iron-mines in Algeria, owned by the ‘Société d’Etudes de l’Ouenza’. (Mineral-line to Bona or to Nebeur projected; comp. p. 325.)

We now ascend the valley of the Oued Mellègue. To the right appear the bare Kef Bou Djabeur (2504 ft.) and Kef Raghma (2700 ft.), similar in type to the hills fringing the Sahara.

38 M. Clairefontaine (2146 ft.; Buffet, D. 3 fr., very fair), an important alfa station, with artesian wells. Sunday market.

Passing between Jebel Mestoula (3488 ft.) on the right and Jebel el-Dzeroua (3432 ft.) on the left, we enter, to the S.E., the valley of the Oued Chabrou. To the S., above the steppe, which is overgrown with alfa and enlivened by browsing camels, rise the ranges of Jebel Metloug (4111 ft.) and Jebel Mzouzia (4514 ft.).

60 M. Morsott (2559 ft.; Hôt. de Lyon or Sivignon, good cuisine), below Jebel Hout es-Srir (3445 ft.), a thriving European settlement, with its Monday market and alfa trade, is the starting-point of the mineral-line to (9½ M.) Jebel Bou Kadra (4734 ft.) and the iron-mines of the Mokta el-Hadid Company (p. 303).

Here, partly seen from the train, are relics of the Roman Vasampus: a Gateway of solid masonry, perhaps that of a temple-court; Thermae, with unusually small chambers; and two Mausolea. There are also remains of the foundations of an early-Christian Basilica, curiously planned, 40½ by 16¾ yds. (three portals to the nave, apse with four side-recesses, baptistery behind the choir-recess).

69½ M. Youks les Bains-Boulhaf le Dyr, station for the baths of Youks-les-Bains (p. 318), 7 M. to the S.W., and junction of the mineral-line to the phosphate-beds of Jebel Dyr (4977 ft.). On the right rises the ‘Chapeau de Gendarme’ (4393 ft.; Arabic Jebel bel-Khifeh), whose characteristic form we do not see until near Tebessa. A line of rails to the left leads to the phosphate-deposits of Aïn-Kissa.

In the foreground appear the hills of Tebessa, to the S. Jebel Tenoukla and Jebel Osmor (p. 318), and S.W. the Jebel Doukkan range (5528 ft.). Tents of the nomads are often seen on the steppe. We cross the Oued el-Kébir, as the Oued Chabrou is called here.

79½ M. Tebessa.—The Station lies to the W. of the town, outside the Porte de Constantine, 8 min. from the Place d’Armes. Omn. twice daily.

Hôtels. Hôtel d’Orient & de la Métropole, Rue Caracalla, 2 min. from the Arch of Caracalla, R. 3–3½, B. ¾, déj. 2, D. 3, pens. 8–9½, omn. 1 fr.; Hôt. du Cours, Place d’Armes, unpretending, but very fair.

A hasty visit to the sights, in the following order, takes 2–3 hrs.—For the description of Tebessa comp. also Cagnat’s book mentioned at p. 289.

Tebessa (2717 ft.; pop. 5700, mostly Mohammedans), a poor town, now unimportant except as the centre of the E. Algerian phosphate trade, was the ancient Theveste, one of the most prosperous towns in Inner Numidia from the Punic period (about B.C. 250–200) onwards. It was the first headquarters of the Third Legion (p. 286); in 123 A. D. it was connected with Carthage by a Roman military road; and after its destruction by the Berbers it was re-founded in 535 by Solomon, the general of Justinian (p. 541). Its ruins of the late-Roman and Vandal periods are among the finest in Barbary, but as they lie off the beaten track they are almost forgotten.

The town is still enclosed by the Byzantine Walls built by Solomon, forming a rectangle of 350 by 306 yds., with fourteen towers, two gates, and a sally-port on the S. side. The old upper gallery and the battlements were removed in 1852 when the walls were restored.

The modern W. Gate, the Porte de Constantine, leads first to the pleasant Place d’Armes, the centre of traffic. Two minutes’ walk to the E. of this is the so-called Porte de Solomon, the most interesting part of the fortifications, with a round-arched passage and two square towers 56 ft. high. Outside of it the natives hold market on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The N. Gate, where the walls project a little on both sides, is formed by the *Arch of Caracalla, dating from 214 A. D., once in the middle of the far more populous Roman town, but now at the end of the main street coming from the Place d’Armes.

This arch, resembling the Janus Quadrifrons at Rome, is the most imposing Roman monument of the kind in Algeria, rivalling those of Tripoli (p. 408) and Leptis Magna (p. 412). It forms a square of about 12 yds. each way, with four round-arched passages, 27 ft. high and 15 ft. wide. Each pillar is adorned on its two outer sides with two Corinthian pilasters and two projecting Corinthian columns, all on a common base. Of the sculptures on the keystones of the archways, under the lavishly decorated architrave, there are preserved, on the E. side, a medallion in high relief of Minerva and a Medusa, and on the W. side a Fortuna (goddess of the town) and an eagle holding a bundle of thunderbolts. On three sides, in the middle of the attica, which is 4 ft. high, there are Latin inscriptions referring to Caracalla and his parents, Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. On the N. side, when the arch was restored, there was added an inscription in honour of Solomon. On the S. side is still preserved an ædicula, one of the four destined for statues adjoining the central dome. On the inner side of two of the pillars are long inscriptions from the testament of C. Cornelius Egrilianus, the builder of the triumphal arch.

The highroad now descends to the N. to the (7 min.) so-called **Basilica, the most remarkable early-Christian ruin in Algeria, still in some respects an enigma to archæologists. Built mainly of Roman materials, and itself used for centuries as a quarry, it still forms an immense quadrilateral of about 213 by 88–115 yds., systematically excavated for the first time in 1888–92. The oldest parts of the edifice, perhaps of the late 4th cent., are believed to be the basilica and the memorial chapel; the main street, the court, and the ‘stable’ seem to belong to a second building period, perhaps also prior to the Vandal era. The monastery, with its fortifications, and the additions to the memorial chapel date probably from the Vandal period; the small ‘emergency chapel’ is perhaps a later Byzantine addition. The custodian (fee ½–1 fr.) is to be found at the little house near the E. gate.

The E. Gate, the old main entrance, once adorned externally, in the style of a Roman triumphal arch, with Corinthian pilasters and jutting columns, is in fair preservation. Thence ran the paved Main Street, 8 yds. wide, without wheel-ruts, past the Basilica on the right and the court and ‘stable’ on the left, to the W. Gate, the ancient subsidiary entrance.

From the N. side of the main street, formerly flanked with three colonnades, a flight of fourteen steps, 9½ ft. high in all, ascends to the portico of the Basilica, which was once preceded by eight columns. Three portals here opened into the Atrium, the square forecourt of the church, with remains of the Cantharus, or fountain of purification, in the centre. Near the entrance-wall are two side-rooms whence winding staircases ascended to the upper floor and the church galleries.

The Church, built of solid masonry, consisted of nave and two aisles, 50 by 24 yds. in all; but now nothing remains save the external wall of the left aisle, two arcades of the nave, and the choir-recess. The formation of the arcades, with low pillars and Corinthian columns in front, is peculiar. The site of the choirscreen and of the base of the altar is still traceable. Of the galleries, supposed to have been added on the occasion of a restoration of the church, there still lie fragments of the columns and imposts all around. The mosaic pavement is covered with earth.

From the front part of the right aisle twelve steps descend into an almost square outer building (25½ by 22 yds.), contemporaneous with the church. The middle of this is occupied by the Trichorum, a trefoil-shaped hall, with three rounded apses, probably a Memorial Chapel, resembling the early-Christian cemetery-chapels, and dedicated to some martyr or bishop buried under the altar. The four corner-rooms served as Tomb Chambers.

Among the later additions of the Vandal period are the Square Chamber on the S. side of the memorial chapel, which also was used as a burial-place, with its small ante-room, and the Baptistery, accessible only from the atrium by three steps, containing remains of the old font.

To the same period belong the other additions to the basilica. Extending round the church from the memorial chapel on the E. to the W. side of the atrium are twenty-seven square chambers, partly built of heathen tombstones, commonly supposed to have been the Monks’ Cells, though unusually large for that purpose. Between these and the castellated Monastery Wall, whose towers do not project externally in the usual Byzantine fashion, probably lay the Monastery Garden, which was used down to the Moorish period as a burial-ground.

Lastly we note the small ‘Emergency Chapel’ on the N. side of the memorial chapel, a small church, probably hastily built subsequent to the irruption of the Berbers (p. 315), with nave and two aisles, portico, choirscreen, rounded apse, and a square sacristy added on the N. side.

The Quadrangle, 60 by 46 yds., on the S. side of the main street, formerly called the forum, was once divided into four sections by two cross-ways bordered by marble balustrades. In spite of the unevenness of the ground these sections are supposed to have been basins (watering-places for cattle and horses?), the water being supplied from the square reservoir still existing at the S.E. corner of the quadrangle. From the cross-ways steps ascended to narrow terraces enclosing the quadrangle on three sides, that on the S. side being a porticus of twenty-two columns.

More enigmatical still is the West Building, 53 by 24 yds., a hall with three aisles borne by pillars. This was afterwards converted, by the insertion of two low partitions, into a central chamber of three aisles with eleven two-storied side-rooms on each side of the outer aisles. The curious stone boxes or troughs (mangers?) on the partitions, together with the holes in the walls, of a kind that recur in many Byzantine buildings (perhaps for the rings to which horses were attached), have led to the conjecture that the building was a stable.

The small building behind the Porticus of six columns on the N. side of the main street, opposite the so-called stables, contains similar stone boxes.

The Kubba Sidi Djaballah, about 5 min. to the N. of the Basilica, near the Catholic cemetery, is a Roman mausoleum with a Moorish dome.

On the way back to the town we call at the Bureau des Ponts et Chaussées, on the right, a little off the road, 2 min. before the Arch of Caracalla, to ask M. Coggia, the curator, for the key of the museum.

The so-called *Temple of Minerva, the best-preserved Roman temple in Algeria, now used as a museum, dates from the 3rd cent. A.D. The only relic of the old temple-court is the gateway wall, adorned with Corinthian pilasters, now forming the façade of a zaouïa (Mohammedan school) in the main street, close to the Arch of Caracalla. The temple, a pseudo-peripteros of 19¾ by 10 yds., on a substructure 13 ft. high, is in a side-street, adjoining the N. town-wall. A new flight of twelve (once twenty) steps ascends to the portico, with four Corinthian columns in front. The structure of the temple shows many of the peculiarities of African provincial art. Instead of an architrave there is a frieze with bulls’ skulls and eagles grasping serpents; above it is an attica in similar style, overladen with reliefs but without a cornice. Instead of a pediment there was probably a flat terrace on the summit. The present roof and the whole front-wall of the cella are modern.

The Town Museum contains antiquities from Tebessa, Morsott, etc. (catalogue for the use of visitors). In the court are relics of antique and early-Christian buildings, inscriptions, altars, Saturn-stelæ and tomb-stelæ, some of them with bowls on the pedestal for the repasts of the deceased. The cella contains bronzes, vessels and sculptures in clay, etc.; a sarcophagus with the Muses; two mosaics from the baths which were removed to make way for the cavalry barracks, one with Nereids and sea monsters, the other with a home-coming ship and numbered figures of a game (bull, ostrich, gazelle, boar, etc.; comp. p. 292).

The Catholic Church, at the N.W. angle of the town-wall, is adorned in the interior with a few fragments from the Basilica. Thus, over the high-altar, are remains of an early-Christian sarcophagus with three curious figures in relief (Christian Roma?).

Environs. The Roman Aqueduct, 547 yds. long, restored in turn by the Moors, the Turks, and the French, still conveys water from the spring of Aïn el-Bled.—About 1¾ M. from the Porte de Constantine (p. 315) are the extensive late-Roman ruins of Tebessa Khalia (‘Old Tebessa’), the nature of which is still unexplained.

Diligence daily to (11 M.) Youks-les-Bains (2625 ft.), with ‘indifferent’ hot springs (95° Fahr.), 2 M. to the S.W. of the Meskiana and Aïn-Beïda road (p. 273).

To avoid the long return-journey from Tebessa to Souk-Ahras, we may ride or drive to the N.W. viâ (26 M.) Haidra (p. 362) to (40½ M.) Thala (p. 362) or to (37½ M.) rail. stat. Kalaâ-Djerda (p. 362). A mineral-line also runs thence to the Algerian frontier and the phosphate-beds on Jebel Kouif (3871 ft.; leave to travel by it is usually granted by the manager).

A road leads to the S.W., past Jebel Osmor (5052 ft.), noted for its Punic rock-tombs, then across the Tenoukla Pass, between Jebel Tenoukla (5118 ft.) on the right and Jebel Bou Roumane (p. 320) on the left, and past Bou-Chebka (caravanserai), to (47 M.) Feriana (p. 371). Diligence viâ Feriana to Gafsa (p. 383) in two days (fare 30 fr.).