32 M. St. Denis-du-Sig (177 ft.; Hôt. du Louvre; pop. 11,900) lies in the fruitful plain of the Sig (called Mekerra in its upper course, p. [186]). The environs are watered by the great Barrage du Sig. Cattle-market on Sundays (‘marché arabe’).—38 M. Bou-Henni (Habra; 66 ft.), at the foot of the Beni Chougrane Mts. (p. [200]), not far from the marshes of the Macta (p. [200]). Melons are much cultivated here.—The train crosses the Habra (p. [200]).
47½ M. Perrégaux (148 ft.; Hôt. des Colonies, Rue de Mostaganem, R. 2½, B. ½ fr., quite good; Hôt. des Voyageurs, near the station for Beni-Ounif; pop. 10,100, largely Spanish), is a pleasant town with a pretty Jardin Public and a detachment of the Foreign Legion (p. [186]). Wednesday market.
Railway to Oran viâ Damesme (Arzew), and to Beni-Ounif, see R. 32.
To the left stretches the Plaine de l’Habra (p. [200]); in the distance rise the hills near La Stidia (p. [200]) and Mostaganem (see below). Beyond (55½ M.) Nouvion-Oued-Malah (420 ft.) the train crosses the hill-region between the main chain of the Tell Atlas and Jebel Bel-Hacel (see below), and at (65½ M.) L’Hillil (410 ft.) enters the Plaine de la Mina, adjoining the plain of the Chélif (p. [208]), one of the hottest regions of Algeria in summer.
A Road (12½ M.; omn. in winter at 1.30, in summer at 8.30) leads to the S. from L’Hillil to the interesting and purely Mohammedan hill-town of Kalàa (pop. 4800; Sat. market), once famous for its carpet industry.
We cross the Mina, 2½ M. below the Barrage de la Mina, which waters some 25,000 acres of land.
77½ M. Relizane (289 ft.; Rail. Restaur.; Hôt. de la Paix; Hôt. de Paris, R. 2, B. ½, déj. 2, D. 2½, pens. 7 fr.; pop. 9000, half Mohammedan) is a small town amidst rich orchards. Our line is crossed here by the Mostaganem and Tiaret line.
From Relizane to Mostaganem, 47½ M., railway in 2¾–3 hrs. (fare 6 fr. 10 or 4 fr. 55 c.). The train crosses the Mina before (7½ M.) Bel-Hacel, and then in a long bend to the N.E. skirts Jebel Bel-Hacel (1694 ft.). It next turns sharply to the S.W. to (18 M.) Mekalia, crosses the hills of the Forêt de Laktoube (1552 ft.), affording fine views of the Chélif valley and of the Dahra range (p. [208]), and then descends to (27½ M.) Oued-el-Kheir. From (34½ M.) Aïn-Tédelès (657 ft.; Hôt. Bellocq; pop. 2900, chiefly Mohammedan), surrounded with olive-groves and orchards, a road leads to (4½ M.) Pont du Chélif (66 ft.) which, situated near the ancient Roman town of Quiza, is named from the bridge built by Spanish prisoners from Mazagran (see below) and rebuilt in 1850. Beyond (45 M.) Pélissier we pass through the charming Vallée des Jardins.
47½ M. Mostaganem (341 ft.; Grand-Hôtel, near the Place de la République; Hôt. du Louvre; Hôt. de la Gare; pop. 22,000, incl. 10,900 Mohammedans and 1100 Jews), a seaport on the E. shore of the Bay of Arzew (p. [199]), situated on an old coast-terrace rising abruptly from the sea (perhaps the site of the Roman Murustuga), owes its foundation, under the name of Bordj el-Mehal, to the Almoravide Yûsuf ibn Têshufîn (p. [95]). It is the oldest garrison of the Tirailleurs Indigènes, a native regiment formed in 1847, and well known as Turcos in the Franco-German war (1870–1). The main quarter of the town, with the station, the fine Jardin Public, the Place de la République, a fine point of view, the Market, and the Chief Mosque, founded by the Merinide Abû’l-Hasen Ali (p. [188]) in 1342, lies on the left bank of the Aïn-Sefra, fully ½ M. above the harbour quarter. On the lofty right bank of the ravine are a second European quarter and (outside the Porte des Medjes) the interesting Mohammedan suburb of Tidjit. The Harbour, now choked with sand and inadequately protected from N. and N.W. winds by two piers, lies between two small tongues of land, La Salamandre on the S.W., and Karouba (266 ft.), with its sacred grove, on the N.E.—The railway from Mostaganem to La Stidia and La Macta (p. [200]) passes (2 M.) Mazagran (459 ft.; Hôt. Pujol), old-Berber Tamazaran, where the Spaniards sustained a severe defeat in 1558, and where a small French force in 1840 repelled the attacks of 15,000 adherents of Abd el-Kâder (p. [221]; monument).
From Relizane to Tiaret, 75 M., railway in 4¾ hrs. (fare 9 fr. 65 or 7 fr. 25 c.). Scenery unattractive. Beyond (5½ M.) Oued-Khelloug the train follows the course of the Mina (p. [207]), which separates the Beni Chougrane (p. [200]) from the Ouarsenis Mts. (p. [209]). 12 M. Sidi-Mohammed-Benaouda (417 ft.), noted for the strange cult of the local saint of that name, in whose zaouïa sacred lions were once kept; the loftily situated kubba, a great resort of pilgrims, is guarded by negroes who are said to be descendants of a servant of the saint (popular festivals in Aug. and Oct.).—27 M. Uzès-le-Duc or Fortassa (840 ft.).—54 M. Méchéra-Sfa-Prévost-Paradol. Near Méchéra-Sfa, on the Mina, are two cemeteries, with several dolmens, of the 4th cent., the sole relics of an ancient Berber town.—69 M. Takdempt, with a ruined arsenal of Abd el-Kâder.