The Constantine train descends to the N.E. into the Oued Bou Merzoug valley.
271½ M. Ouled-Rahmoun (2264 ft.; Rail. Restaurant, plain), around which are many megalithic tombs.
From Ouled-Rahmoun to Aïn-Beïda and Khenchela, 91½ M., narrow-gauge line in 5¾–6¼ hrs.; fares 15 fr. 80, 11 fr. 75, 8 fr. 85 c. (change at Aïn-Beïda). The line traverses a hilly steppe, ascending to the S.E. along the Oued Bou Merzoug, the main stream of which is called Oued Kleb farther up. 7½ M. Sigus (2523 ft.), on the site of the Roman town of that name, with scanty relics of a forum-basilica with three halls. Near it are a Roman and a contemporaneous Berber burial-ground, the latter containing many dolmens (p. [324]) and also remains of old quarries. Beyond (20½ M.) Aïn-Fakroun (3032 ft.) we ascend rapidly to the Col d’Ourkis (about 3480 ft.), which crosses one of the offshoots of the Plateau des Sbakh (p. [274]). 41 M. Canrobert (3041 ft.; Arabic Um el-Buaghi), at the S. base of Jebel Sidi R’gheïss (5341 ft.; with argentiferous lead-mines). The line runs to the E., across an upland plain where ruins abound.
58 M. Aïn-Beïda (3307 ft.; Hôt. d’Orient, Hôt. de Paris, both rustic; pop. 2400), in the territory of the Haractas, a large Berber tribe differing but slightly from Arabs, is the starting-point of a road (diligence in 11 hrs.; railway under construction) viâ (20 M.) Meskiana to (52½ M.) Tebessa (p. [315]). The Jardin Public contains several Roman inscriptions.
From Aïn-Beïda the line turns to the S.W. towards the spurs of the Aurès Mts. (p. [278]). Stations unimportant. 72½ M. Tarf, near the salt-works of the great salt-lake Garaet et-Tarf (2723 ft.). Far to the left rises Jebel Tafrent, rich in phosphates. 83 M. Baghaï (2914 ft.), on the Oued Baghaï, formerly Bagai, was one of the chief towns of the Donatists in the 4th cent. (Thamugadi being the other, p. [289]), where in 394 a council of 310 Donatist bishops was held, but after the 12th cent. it fell to decay. The only memorial of its ancient importance is the ruinous Ksar Baghaï, a Byzantine fortress (built in the time of Justinian, after 539), 360 by 335 yds., with 25 towers. On the N.W. side is a castle dominated by a keep 84 ft. high.—The line then winds up to—
91½ M. Khenchela (3730 ft.; Hôt. de France, Hôt. du Square, both poor), a little town of 2900 inhab., once the Roman Mascula, the key of the E. Aurès passes, and still the starting-point of important caravan-routes to the Sahara. It carries on a thriving art-industry (manufacture of trinkets, etc.) and holds a busy Tuesday market. The Roman ruins were swept away when the present town was founded about 1860; but there is a small collection of antiquities (conservator M. Catalogne).
Road to Timgad, Lambèse, and Batna, see p. [286]. From that road another diverges to the left to (4½ M.) Aïn-el-Hammam (about 3940 ft.), prettily situated in the wooded valley of the brook of that name, with a hot chalybeate spring (158° Fahr.). This was the Aquae Flavianae of the Romans, whose *Thermae, probably erected under Vespasian, and restored under Septimius Severus in 208, the best-preserved in Barbary, are now again in use. We note specially the round hall, once domed, with its circular piscina 26 ft. in diameter, and the large open piscina, 45 by 33 ft., with two vaulted lateral passages, flanked with side-rooms and basins.—A bridle-path leads to the S.W. from Aïn-el-Hammam to (12½ M.) the forester’s house of Aïn-Mimoun (4413 ft.), amidst fine cedar-woods (p. [210]), whence we may descend to the N.E. to Foum-Tizourit on the Batna road.
278½ M. Le Khroub (2051 ft.; Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. Victoria, near the station; Hôt. d’Orient; pop. 9700, all Mohammedans but 500), the next station on the Constantine railway, has an important cattle-market. On a stony hill to the E. of the town (2527 ft.), about 1 hr. from the railway, rises the Mausolée du Khroub, called by the natives Sauma (tower), the tomb of a Berber prince of pre-Roman times, built of huge blocks of stone in the Græco-Punic style. The square pedestal, resting on a basement in three steps, and part of the groundfloor adorned with round shields still exist. The upper story, which consisted of a hall resting on eight Doric columns with a grooved cornice, and the conical (?) summit were probably destroyed by an earthquake.
From (Constantine) Le Khroub to Bona, see R. 48; to Souk-Ahras (Tebessa, Tunis), see R. 49.
Near (281½ M.) Oued-Hamimin we sight the suburbs of Constantine to the left. To the left rises also Jebel Chettaba (p. [297]). 286 M. Hippodrome, station for the Constantine race-course.