64. From Tunis to Syracuse viâ Sfax, Tripoli, and Malta.
Between Tunis and Tripoli, 544 M.: 1. Società Nationale, Line XIX (Linea Circolare della Tunisia e Tripolitania, see p. [142]) from Tunis Wed. aft., from Susa Thurs. foren., from Sfax Frid. night, arr. at Tripoli Sun. morn. (in the reverse direction leave Tripoli Thurs. aft., arr. at Tunis Mon. morn.). Fare 103 or 75 fr.—2. Comp. de Navig. Mixte (p. [128]) leave Tunis Frid. even., Susa Sat. noon, Sfax Sun. midnight, Gabes Mon. noon, Djerba Mon. even., arr. at Tripoli Tues. morn. (in reverse direction leave Tripoli Tues. aft., arr. in Tunis Sat. evening). Fare 100 or 75 fr.—From Tunis to Susa viâ Sfax and back, also steamers of the Comp. Gén. Transatlantique (p. [128]; leave Tunis Sun. aft., Sfax Mon. aft., Susa Tues, aft., regaining Tunis Wed. morn.).—Between Algiers and Tripoli direct, or viâ Malta, there are also the cargo-steamers of the German Levant Line.—At Gabes, Djerba, and Tripoli gales sometimes make landing impossible; passengers are then landed at the next port and sent back free, paying for their extra food only.—Agents at Tunis, see p. [331]; at Susa, see p. [366]; at Sfax, see p. [380]; at Tripoli, see p. [406].
Between Tripoli and Syracuse, 325 M.: Società Nazionale, Line XX (Linea Circolare, see above), also Line VIII (Catania, Syracuse, Benghazi, Constantinople; R. 66). The vessels of the principal line leave Tripoli Sun. aft., Malta Mon. night, arr. at Syracuse Tues. morn. (returning from Syracuse Mon. night, from Malta Wed. foren., arr. at Tripoli Thurs. morn.); steamers of the other line usually leave Tripoli every second Wed. aft., Malta Thurs. night, arr. at Syracuse Frid. morn. (returning from Syracuse every second Frid. night, from Malta Sun. foren., arr. at Tripoli Mon. morn.). Fare 74 fr. 50 c. or 51 fr.—From Malta to Tripoli there is a fortnightly steamer of the Banco di Roma and occasionally a cargo-boat of the German Levant Line.—Between Malta and Syracuse the Hungarian Adria (p. [132]) plies daily except Mon. (from Malta after midnight, from Syracuse in the afternoon; in 8 hrs.; fare without food 25 or 15, return 37½ or 22½ fr.).—Agents at Malta and Syracuse, see p. [400], 162.
From Tunis to Cape Bon, see p. [153]. Our steamer, generally at night, next skirts the steep E. coast of Cape Bon, passes Râs el-Mirh, and off Râs el-Mustapha steers to the S.S.W. for Susa. On the latter headland lies the little town of Kelibia, the ancient Aspis or Clupea, whose castle-hill is crowned with a lighthouse. The flat coast of the Gulf of Hammamet (p. [364]) recedes from view; beyond it, in the background, are the distant Jebel Zaghouan (p. [359]), Jebel Zeriba (2412 ft.), and Jebel Fadloun (1306 ft.).
Nearing Susa (p. [366]), we have a pleasant view of the olive-clad hills of the Sahel, while the town itself presents a most striking picture with its great expanse of white houses.
Leaving the coast, where the low dunes conceal the salt-marshes of the Sebkha de Sahline, we steer to the E.S.E. towards the Pointe de Monastir, the S. limit of the bay of Hammamet.
The little town of Monastir (82 ft.; Hôt. de Paris, Hôt. de France, both primitive; Brit. vice-cons., A. B. Geary; pop. 9000, incl. 600 Europeans) lies superbly on the olive-clad headland. It owes its name to a monastery, which in early Moorish times still existed as the sole relic of the Roman seaport of Ruspina.
From the steamer we first sight the white pinnacled town-wall and the numerous shrines outside of it. Then, as we pass between the headland and the three islets off the coast (Djezira Sidi el-Rhedamsi or Ile Egdemsi, etc.), appears the dilapidated Moorish Kasba with the tower of En-Nadour. To the E. in very clear weather we descry the lighthouse on the distant Kuriat Islands.
After a short stay in the Bay of Monastir, on the S. side of the town, we steer to the S.E., past the Dahar Cliffs (on the left), and across the bay; then, beyond the Râs Dimas, along the coast to Mehdia (p. [369]), where the steamer seldom stops long enough to admit of our visiting the town.
Next (generally at night) we pass Râs Kapoudia (p. [370]), the N. limit of the Gulf of Gabes (the ancient Syrtis Minor), where the discrepancy between flow and ebb (6½ ft.) is greater than in any other part of the Mediterranean. Avoiding the silted Kerkenna Passage, the vessel steers round the Kerkenna Islands (Ile Chergui and Ile Gharbi, the ancient Cercina and Cercinitis).
The steamer usually arrives at Sfax (by way of the harbour-canal, p. [381]) early in the morning. Beyond Sfax the vessel skirts the uninteresting coast as far as Râs Tina (p. [383]), and then steers to the S.S.W. across the bay to Gabes (p. [389]), where it generally allows time for a short visit to the oasis.
Leaving Gabes we may in clear weather descry the Monts des Ksour (p. [390]) bounding the horizon. We then steer to the E. to the sandy N. coast of Djerba (p. [393]), and anchor in the open sea off Houmt-Souk (p. [393]). The process of going ashore and returning takes so long that it is hardly ever possible to visit the place.
After losing sight of the lighthouse of Râs Taguermess (or Turgoeness), the E. cape of Djerba, we steer for a long time to the E.S.E., at some distance from the sandy coast with its salt-marshes, where the Râs Adjir marks the frontier of Tripolitania.
The monotonous sandy coast, with its numerous oases, with the little port of Sansur, and the watch-tower of Gergârish (p. [411]), is scarcely visible till we are nearing Tripoli. The Lighthouse, rising above the abraded terrace on the N.W. side of the town, and the ruinous Spanish Fort (1510) at the end of the headland are the chief landmarks. Numerous reefs make it difficult, and in a N.W. gale sometimes impossible, for vessels to enter the harbour.
Tripoli.—Arrival. The steamers anchor in the inner roads, more than ½ M. from the pier, and are at once boarded by the hotel-agents (charges should be asked). Landing or embarking 50 c., but with baggage 1–1½ fr. according to distance and bargain. Dogana at the pier (Pl. B, 1; comp. p. [537]). For a prolonged stay a passport visé by a Turkish consul is necessary, but otherwise a ‘permis de voyage’ (1 fr.) from the Contrôle Civil at Tunis, or even a visiting-card, may suffice. The services of the importunate Jewish guides should be declined.
Hotel. Hôt. Minerva (Pl. a, B 2; Maltese landlord; bargain advisable), déj. 2½, pens. 6–8 fr., tolerable.—Café-Restaurant: Circolo Militare (p. [409]; Maltese host), near the Bâb el-Khandek. Many small Arab cafés on the quay (Marina), near the clock-tower (Orologio), etc.; small cup of coffee (gâhua) 5 c., very sweet ‘hlu’, slightly sweetened ‘gídgid’; cup of tea (shâi) 10 c.; no gratuities.
Moorish Baths (comp. p. [175]), tolerable; the best is the Hammôm (bagno árabo) in Strada del Bagno (Pl. B, 2); Europeans pay 3 fr. or more according to their rank.
Post Offices. Italian, at the Ital. consulate (Pl. 7; B, 2), Strada del Consolato Italiano; French, at the French consulate (Pl. 4; B, 1), Strada del Consolato Francese; Turkish, on the quay (Marina). Poste Restante letters should bear the name of the office where they are to be found.—Telegraph Office. Eastern Telegraph Co. (Pl. 10; B, 2), on the quay; payment must be made in gold or in Turkish money.
Consulates. British (Pl. 5; B, 1): consul-general, J. C. W. Alvarez; vice-consul, A. Dickson.—United States (Pl. 9; B, 4): consul, J. L. Wood; vice-consul, A. E. Saunders.
Steamboat Offices (comp. p. [404], and RR. 65, 66): Società Nazionale, Labi, Strada del Bagno; Comp. de Navigation Mixte, Fratelli Farrugia, Strada del Consolato Italiano; German Levant Line, Sûk el-Harrâra (Pl. B, 2; near Sûk et-Turk).
Banks. Banco di Roma (Pl. 2; B, 2), in the Piazza (p. [409]); Ottoman Bank (Pl. 1; B, 2), on the quay; Labi, see above. Government offices accept Turkish money only, but Tunisian silver and copper, and in the town even Italian copper, besides 10 and 20 fr. gold pieces, are in general circulation.
Carriages (stand on the S.E. side of the Serâi, p. [409]) 1½–2½ fr. per hour according to the quality of the vehicle; drive round the oasis 3–5 fr.; as few of the drivers speak Italian it is best to get a resident to make the bargain and specify the route.—Donkeys (at the Sûk el-Khobsa, p. [410]), ½ day 1–2, day 2–3 fr.—Rowing and Sailing Boats at the pier; about 2 fr. per hour.
The Language of the natives is an Arabic dialect, interlarded with Berber and Italian words; many of the officials, however, speak Turkish only. In the European colony Italian predominates. This is largely due to the fact that the Italian state supports several schools, which are attended by Jewish and Maltese children as well as Italian. There are three French schools also.
One Day should be devoted to a walk of 2–3 hrs. through the town and to an excursion to the oasis (p. [410]). One must be very careful not to enter mosques, saints’ tombs, or Moslem cemeteries (comp. p. xxv). It should be observed also that the military authorities, dreading spies, are jealous of visitors near the fortifications (comp. p. [175]). Otherwise the public safety is well provided for in the town and environs. For excursions in the interior the leave of the Sublime Porte must be obtained.
Tripoli in Barbary (Ital. Tripoli di Barbería, Fr. Tripoli de Barbarie or d’Afrique, Arabic Tarabulus el-Gharb, i.e. ‘Tripoli of the West’, to distinguish it from the Syrian Tripoli), the ancient Oëa, is the capital of the Turkish vilayet of Tripolitania, presided over by the Vali or governor-general. The town lies in 32° 54′ N. lat. and 13° 10′ E. long., on a triangular peninsula, which consists of quaternary dune-sandstone resting on tertiary limestone rock. A series of rocky islets and reefs, 1¼ M. long, running out from the peninsula, form a roomy but much silted harbour. The mixture of nationalities converging at Tripoli, as one of the chief portals to inland Africa, is unparallelled except in Egypt. Of the 46,000 inhab. two-thirds are Berbers (p. [94]), Arabs, Moors (p. [171]), and Turks; there are 10,000 Jews, 2000 Maltese, 800 Italians, 150 Greeks (besides many Greek sponge-fishers in summer), 200 other Europeans, and lastly some 2000 negroes, descendants of slaves from the Sudan. Negroes are to be found also among the very numerous officers of the garrison of 6000 men.
The town with its white houses, its slender minarets of the Turkish type, its green gardens and groups of palms, the reddish-yellow dunes of drift-sand from the Sahara, and the deep-blue sea, all bathed in dazzling sunshine, present a most fascinating picture.
History. The three Phœnician seaports between the Syrtis Minor and Major, Leptis Magna (p. [412]), Oëa, and Sabratha, together called Tripolis by the Sicilian Greeks, were even in the Punic age connected by caravan routes with inland Africa and by a coast-road, 512 M. long, with Carthage. After their annexation to the Roman province of Africa on the fall of Jugurtha (p. [321]) the ‘three cities’ flourished anew. To them, as also to Tacape (Gabes), the Garamantes, or Libyan (Berber) inhabitants of Phazania (now Fezzan), brought from the Sudan ostrich-feathers, gold-dust, ivory, ebony, elephants, and black slaves, to be exported thence to Carthage, Rome, and the chief seaports of S. Europe. This region yielded also large supplies of corn, while the productive olive-trees were deemed the most abundant on the Mediterranean. To the Roman emperors Septimius Severus (193–211) and Alexander Severus (222–35), natives of this district, the three towns owed much improvement and embellishment. The Punic language and the Greek, which was that of the educated classes, were then still so prevalent that Alexander Severus, for example, was unacquainted with Latin till his arrival in Rome. Sept. Severus made Oëa the capital of his Provincia Tripolitana, and when the artificial harbours of the two sister towns fell into decay Oëa succeeded to their trade and their joint name.
After the Vandal period (p. [322]) and after the domination of the Byzantines, who succeeded only in 567 in Christianizing the Garamantes, the repeated irruptions of the Arabs (p. [322]) brought ruin and misery to the whole country. From 670 onwards, apart from the short periods of occupation by the Normans (1140–59), the Spaniards (1510–30), and the Maltese Knights (1530–51), Tripolitania remained for centuries under Arab or Berber sway, sharing the fortunes of Tunisia (comp. p. [322]), while from 1216 onwards the Genoese had a monopoly of the coast-trade of Tripolitania and Barca. In 1551 the corsair Dragut (p. [370]), driven out of Mehdia, founded a new Turkish tributary state at Tripoli. From that time down to 1816 the inhabitants took an active part in the depredations of the ‘Algerian pirates’, bringing down upon them the sanguinary reprisals of an English fleet in 1663 and of French fleets in 1685 and 1728, which caused the almost entire destruction of the town. In 1804 Tripoli and in 1805 Derna (p. [414]) were stormed by the Americans. The native dynasty of the Karamanli, founded in 1714, was overthrown by the Turks in 1835, after which Tripoli became a usual place of exile for Turkish civil and military offenders and again lapsed into decay. At length, in 1899, the partition of the inland regions between Great Britain and France stimulated the Turks to renewed activity and defensive measures. In spite, however, of these, and of the very favourable situation of the town, the caravan trade with the interior is on the decline and the local industries are inconsiderable.
The Old Town, a pentagon, is still enclosed on four sides by the mouldering Spanish Town Wall, 40 ft. high at places, built of sandstone from Gergârish (p. [411]), and consists of three different quarters. Near the harbour, and behind the Marina (Pl. B, 1, 2) skirting it from the Dogana or Custom House (Pl. B, 1) onwards, lies the quarter of that name, inhabited chiefly by the Christians, and therefore the least Oriental in appearance. To the W. is the Hárra (Kebîr, the great, and Serîr, the little), the Jewish quarter, with its crooked and dirty streets. The purely Mohammedan S.E. Quarter contains the main business streets, which lead to the outer markets and the new town (p. [409]). The principal streets are paved and are lighted at night with petroleum lamps, but many others, especially in the Jewish quarter, being unpaved in Oriental fashion, are almost impassable after rain and pitch-dark at night.
In the narrow Strada della Marina (Arabic Bâb Bahr, sea-gate), leading from the Dogana and the fish-market to the S.W. to the Jews’ quarter, rises on the right the Roman Triumphal Arch (Pl. B, 1), built by the consul C. Orfitus in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) but in 163 rededicated to that emperor’s successors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
The arch, 41 ft. broad and 33 ft. deep, has four fronts (‘quadrifrons’; comp. pp. [315], 316), showing that it stood over cross-streets. Among the sadly mutilated sculptures are still seen statues of Victory, figures of animals, and trophies. The back, with the inscription, is half covered, and the fourth side is almost entirely built over. The lower half is buried in the ground. The interior is used as a shop. The vaulting of the passages is lacunar. The central space is covered with a flat dome, rising from an octagonal cornice.
We next come to the Gurji Mosque (Pl. B, 1), with an octagonal minaret, and to the main street of the Hárra Kebîr (see above), with its numerous workshops, where curious gold and silver trinkets are sold by weight.
From the British Consulate (Pl. 5; B, 1) we follow the Church Street to the S.E. to the Italian Gothic church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Pl. B, 2), completed in 1846, belonging to an Italian Franciscan monastery. By leave of the superior we may ascend the tower, whose gallery (141 ft.) is a fine point of view.
From the Piazza (Pl. B, 2; Arabic Mussâiya) near the church the Strada del Consolato Italiano leads to the S. to the Sûk el-Harrâra (Pl. B, A, 2, 3), the chief thoroughfare between the Marina (p. [408]) and the W. gate, Bâb el-Jedîd (Pl. A, 3; ‘new gate’), opened in 1860. This sûk contains the shops of the cloth and silk weavers and several curious antiquated Bakeries, with millstones turned by camels.
A road from the W. gate leads to the W., past several wells (p. [410]), to the (8 min.) extensive Jewish Cemetery; another, to the N., to the ancient Necropolis (Pl. A, 2), on the abrupt coast (82 ft.), not far from the town-wall, containing many rock-tombs and cisterns.—The Greek and the Catholic Cemeteries (Pl. A, B, 1) lie between the Lazaretto and the lighthouse.
The busiest streets in the S.E. quarter are the Zanga Sûk et-Turk (Pl. B, 2, 3) and, diverging from it at the Piazza dell’Orologio, the Sûk el-Khadra or Sûk Urba (Pl. B, C, 3). The tasteless three-storied Torre dell’ Orologio, Arabic Sâa (Pl. B, 3), which tells Turkish time, was built in 1870. In front of the Arab cafés here auctions are held on Friday forenoons.
The Sûks (p. [335]) consist here in part only of vaulted passages; many have wooden roofs with vine-trellises. The wares are mostly Tunisian or European, and therefore seldom worth buying here. A side-entrance adjoins the Jâma el-Bâsha (Pl. C, 3), the chief mosque.
The massive pile of buildings by the sea, a few paces to the E. of the clock-tower, is the Serai (Pl. C, 2, 3; Arabic Kasba), originally the Spanish citadel. It now contains barracks, many courts, several prisons (habbês), partly underground, and the government offices. The terrace next the sea affords a fine view of the harbour and towards the oasis.
Outside the S. gates, Bâb el-Khandek and Bâb el-Menshia or el-Mnshîa (Pl. C, 3; oasis gate), rises the Fontana Maggiore, an elegant well-house in the Turkish rococo style. Near it is the Circolo Militare (Pl. C, 3; p. [406]), a fashionable resort, especially when the military band plays (Sun. and Frid., 5 or 8 p.m.). The pretty little garden, whence we survey the Moslem cemetery (p. [411]), contains four fine antique statues in marble, all of them torsos from Leptis Magna (p. [412]).
Outside the S. gates lies the featureless New Town (Città Nuova), in which among other buildings are situated the Town Hall (Beledîa; Pl. C, 3), the Azizia (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), erected under Abdul Aziz as a residence for the commandant, the new Vali’s Residence (Pl. C, 4), and the Technical School (Pl. D, 4). The Sûk el-Khobsa or bread-market (Pl. C, 3), with its fondouks (inns), is worth seeing in the early morning.
The sandy beach, nearly ¾ M. long, is the scene, early on Tuesday mornings, of a great *Weekly Market (Sûk et-Tlett; Pl. D, E, 3, 4), attended also by camel caravans from the interior. Among the many products of the country offered for sale here are fruit and cereals from the oases (see below), olive-oil (Arabic zeit), henna (see below), alfa or esparto, reed-mats, pottery, leather goods (such as the girbas, water-skins in goat-leather for journeys in the desert, made at Ghadâmes). It is a market also for pack-camels (Arabic jemél), donkeys (hmâr), sheep, and goats.
Beyond the market are a barracks quarter (Kishla) and the suburb of Dahra, inhabited by Turks, Arabs, and Maltese, with a strange-looking mosque and a Catholic nunnery-orphanage. A little to the S., on the road to Másri (p. [411]), is a Negro Village with conical reed-huts.—To the E. of the market, close to the sea, lies the Giardino Pubblico (Pl. E, 3, 4; bands on Frid. and Sun.).
The Menshia or Mnshîa (pop. about 14,000, mostly Berbers), the coast-oasis of Tripoli, once far more extensive, stretches 7½ M., with a breadth of 1–2½ M., as far as the dunes bordering the Jefâra Steppe. In spring it is one sea of blossom. To the S. of the steppe rise the limestone hills fringing the Sahara (Shára, desert), commonly called the Jebél (mountain; 1300–1650 ft. high). The deep ravines, filled with considerable streams during the winter rains (14 in. per annum at Tripoli, but considerably more in the Jebél), continue to send down a supply of water underground even during the dry season. This water is obtained from countless draw-wells (sânia), bordered with white walls, and generally shaded by tamarisks (Arabic âtel). Day and night oxen or donkeys toil at the drawing of the water, which is then collected in reservoirs and conducted thence to the fields.
In spite of this imperfect mode of irrigation and the primitive wooden agricultural implements used by the natives the excellent soil is wonderfully productive. Beneath the fruit-trees of every variety, olive-trees, mulberry-trees, and alcanna-shrubs (henna, Lawsonia inermis; p. [108]), which thrive under the tall overshadowing date-palms, the soil still gives sustenance to barley (Arabic shaîr), wheat (gammah), maize, lupins, tobacco (dokhàn), madder, rose-geraniums, red pepper (filfil ahmar), onions, tomatoes, spinach, beans, melons, etc. The excellent early potatoes are sent to Europe under the name of ‘Malta potatoes’. The fields and gardens are enclosed by mud-walls 3–7 ft. high, overgrown with Indian figs (prickly pears; Opuntia Ficus indica; Arabic ‘hind’), which prevents them from collapsing in wet weather. It is harvest all the year round. From April to June almonds, apricots, and corn are gathered in, then in July and August peaches (khûkh), from July to September figs and luscious grapes, from October to December dates and olives, from November to April excellent oranges, and at almost any season lemons. In autumn the nomadic Arabs of the steppe pitch their dark goats’-hair tents (beit shâar, house of hair) in the vacant fields in order to gather the fresh yellow dates. The dates of the coast are, however, inferior in flavour to those of the Sahara oases and unsuitable for exportation.
The following Excursion takes about 2 hrs. (best to drive or ride; see p. [406]). From the Sûk el-Khobsa (p. [410]) the road leads to the S.W., cutting through a Moslem cemetery destroyed by an inundation in 1904, to (1¼ M.) Bumeliâna, where a pumping-station supplies several public fountains in the town. It then runs to the E. to (1 M.) Másri, with its large artillery and cavalry barracks, where the dunes command a fine view of the steppe, visible in clear weather as far as the distant Jebél. Turning to the S.E., and passing the mud-built fort, Gasr el-Hâni, we come to (2½ M.) the road leading to the N. to the (¾ M.) official house of the Sheikh of the Menshia (Hôsh esh-Skiûkh; fine view towards the sea from the balcony). About 1¼ M. to the N.E. are the Sûk el-Jêma (Friday market) and the extremely dirty village of Amrûs, inhabited by about 600 Jews, mostly smiths. Thence back to Tripoli 3 M.
On the Sherrashhet, the road leading from Dahra (p. [410]) near the coast, are several country-houses and (about 2 M.) the largest Mohammedan Cemetery, containing two dilapidated domed tombs (of the Karamanli dynasty, p. [408]), visible from Tripoli. Near it, close to the sea, is the Protestant Cemetery, where we have a charming view of Tripoli. About 7½ M. farther, on the caravan-route to Lebida (p. [412]), are the village of Mélaha and the oasis of Tajûra, with its colonnaded mosque.
The W. end of the Menshia is 1½ M. from the town. We may thence cross the undulating steppe, past several mud-built forts, to the small oasis of (4½ M.) Gergârish, with its old sandstone quarries and ruined watch-tower (Gasr Jehalî, tower of the ignorant), originally Roman.
From Tripoli the steamer proceeds to the N.N.E. to Malta (p. [399]). Off the abrupt S. coast of the island, with its numerous caves, lies the uninhabited rocky islet of Filfola, which forms a target for the artillery practice of the British Mediterranean fleet (p. [399]). Farther on we obtain a striking view of the barren E. coast, with the bay of Marsa Scirocco, bounded by Benhisa Point and Delimara Point. On a height rises the old Fort St. Lucian.
Beyond St. Thomas’s Bay, with the old castle of St. Thomas and the bay of Marsa Scala, the steamer rounds the Ponta tal Zonkor, the N.E. point of the island, and soon reaches the entrance to the Grand Harbour of Valletta (comp. p. [399]).
The Voyage to Syracuse is performed at night. We steer to the N.N.E. towards Cape Passero (the ancient Promontorium Pachynum), the fissured headland at the S.E. point of Sicily, with its lighthouse and two small harbours (Porto d’Ulisse and Porto Palo).
Next, on the E. coast of Sicily, stands forth the Penisola della Maddalena (177 ft.), once a coast-island but now joined to the main island by the deposits of the Ciani and Anapo. It ends in the Capo Murro di Porco, with a lighthouse on the top.
Entrance to the harbour of Syracuse, see p. [162].