7½ M. Aïn-Douz. Beyond (9½ M.) Zelboun we are carried through the valley of the Oued Zitoun, one of the chief tributaries of the Tafna (p. [185]).
18½ M. Turenne (1969 ft.; Hôt. Fournier and Hôt. Leclerc, poor), a thriving village in a well-watered region. Esparto is the chief export.
28½ M. Sidi-Medjahed, with a camp of wedded spahis (p. [390]). 31 M. Tralimet.
36½ M. Lalla-Marnia (1197 ft.; Hôt. de France; Hôt. de la Renaissance), properly Lalla-Maghrnia, on the site of the Roman castle of Numerus Syrorum, was founded in 1844 on the occasion of the campaign against Morocco, and named after the tomb of a female saint. It is now the most important frontier-town of the province of Oran; it was made a free mart in 1895, and holds a great Sunday *Market, much frequented by Moroccans. Lalla-Marnia forms the portal of the Plaine des Angad or Plaine d’Oudjda. This great plateau is bounded on the N. by the Traras Group (p. [198]) and the fertile Jebel Beni Snassen (4659 ft.), both inhabited by Berber tribes only, and on the S. by the main chain of the Tell Atlas. The old caravan route to Fez by Tâza, the key to N. Morocco, has been the scene of all the expeditions of the Arabs against Morocco ever since that of Sidi Okba in the 7th century.
From Lalla-Marnia a new road (motor-omnibus twice daily) leads to the S.W., crossing the frontier of Morocco halfway, to (ca. 15 M.) Oudjda or Ujda (2241 ft.; Hôt. Figari, good, quarters should be engaged by telegraph; pop. ca. 8000), the chief town of E. Morocco, which is said to have been founded by the governors of Tlemcen in the 10th cent., and was occupied by the French in 1814, 1859, and 1907. The picturesque town, the most fertile oasis in the Angad steppe, lies amidst orchards and olive-groves, not far from the Oued Isly, the battle-field of 1844 (p. [221]). We enter the town, passing the kubba of Oudjda, by the N. gate (Bâb el-Khemis). Straight on is the French Consulate in a pretty garden, while to the left are the Custom House and Post Office. In the S. quarter of the town rises the Kasba or Dâr el-Makhzen, the seat of the Moroccan Amel or governor. At the N. angle of the Kasba is the Chief Mosque, dedicated to Sidi Okba, to the N.E. of which lies the Sûk (p. [335]). Behind the mosque is the new Ecole Franco-Arabe. Outside the E. gate, the Bâb Sidi Abd el-Wahhâb, is the camping-ground of the caravans; and outside the S. gate (Bâb Oulad Amran), on a slight eminence 10 min. from the town, are the quarters of the French troops of occupation. The Thursday market is important. Famous horse-races in October, in connection with those of Lalla-Marnia.
For a visit to Oudjda travellers may use also the railway as far as Zoudj-el-Beghal (comp. p. [197]) on the Moroccan frontier, whence Oudjda is about 8 M. distant.
The Road to Nemours (diligence) leads to the N. from Lalla-Marnia through a hilly region, crosses the Oued Mouïlah, a tributary of the Tafna, near the Hammam Sidi-Cheikh, a small bath with saline springs (91° Fahr.), and then winds up, past the Kubba Sidi-Abdallah (on the left), towards the Traras Mts., which are famed for the beauty of their outlines. In the Jebel Masser, near the top of the pass, the Col de Bab-Taza (2664 ft.), is a cadmium mine, worked like the neighbouring mines of Jebel Maaziz by a Belgian company.—We now descend to the N.E. in many windings, passing not far from the onyx-quarries near the Kubba Sidi-Brahim, into the valley of the Oued Zebaïr.
53½ M. (from Tlemcen) Nédroma (1312 ft.; inn; pop. 4900), superbly situated in a fertile basin, is an antiquated little Berber town, with fine mediæval mosques. The *Market (Mon. and Thurs.) is worth seeing for the sake of the picturesque costumes of the peasants who flock to it from the mountains around. Home-industries are much in vogue in the environs.
The Jebel Fillaoussen (3727 ft.), the highest of the Traras group, to the E. of Nédroma, commands an extensive view, embracing in very clear weather the Sierra Nevada in the far N.
The road soon leaves the Oued Zebaïr and turns to the N.W. to the lower course of the brook, which takes the name of Oued Tléta farther on, and from the influx of the Oued Taïma to the sea that of Oued el-Mersa.