The Road to Guelma (28 M.; diligence in 4¼ hrs.) leads to the N.E. through a pretty hill-country direct to Medjez-Amar (p. [308]), just before (14¼ M.) Aïn-Amara, and below Thibilis (p. [307]).
Road and railway make a long bend to the W. round the hill-region of Bou Hamdan. Beyond (52 M.) Bordj Sabath (1759 ft.), where, below the influx of the Oued Sabath, the Zenati is called Oued Bou Hamdan, the scenery changes. The valley, whose slopes are richly overgrown with olive-trees and underwood, contracts. In the stony river-bed grow many wild oleanders.
59 M. Taya (1312 ft.), a pleasant oasis with fruit-trees and eucalypti, lies near the stalactite grottoes, not easy of access, in the limestone hill of Jebel Taya (3963 ft.). The valley again contracts in the two Gorges de Taya.
68 M. Hammam-Meskoutine (1312 ft.; *Hôtel des Bains; R. 5–6, B. 1½, déj. 3½, D. 4, pens. 14, motor-omn. 1¼–1½ fr., open 15th Nov. to June), the Roman Aquae Thibilitanae, is now one of the most noted baths in Algeria. The ‘indifferent’ springs are strongly impregnated with chloride of sodium and sulphate of lime; one, containing iron, has a temperature of 187° Fahr., the others 226°. The latter form the *Grande Cascade, 5 min. from the station, on the way to the hotel, falling over a terrace of calc-sinter 42 ft. high, a miniature edition of the terraces of Yellowstone Park, or of Hierapolis (in Asia Minor). Below the terrace rise date-palms and splendid olive-trees, while the bed of the Oued Chedakra with its profusion of oleanders further enhances the peculiar charm of the scene. The curious limestone cones, a few paces to the E., relics of old eruptions, have given rise to the Arabian legend of the petrified wedding party, from which the place derives its name (‘Baths of the Petrified’). Smaller springs rise beyond these cones and also 3 min. to the E., near the railway.
Enclosed by the houses of the bath-hotel is a charming Garden Court, with orange and lemon trees. Most curious among the numerous Roman antiquities (stelæ, funerary inscriptions, etc.) placed here is the house-altar of the Antistii, from Thibilis (see below), on the S. terrace, shaded by a venerable terebinth. The ruined Piscinae are the only relics of Roman buildings.
Excursions. To the S.W. lies the (¾ hr.) Lac Souterrain, a pond 88 ft. deep, in a cavern formed in 1878 by a landslip. In sunshine (best 2–4 p.m.) the water assumes a beautiful blue colour.—To the S., a little aside from the lake just mentioned, we may ride on mule-back, or walk, viâ Aïn-St. Charles and Aïn-Amara (see above) to (2 hrs.) Announa, the Roman Thibilis, lying on a narrow hill (ca. 2300 ft.), high above the Announa Valley, where excavations have been made since 1905. We note specially the East Gate, the Entrance Arch of the forum, vestiges of the Market Basilica, the house of Magister Pagus, and the sadly ruined South Gate, the only two-arched Roman gateway in Algeria. Outside the late-Byzantine town-walls, on the S.W. side of the little town, is the Byzantine Basilica built of fragments of Roman buildings; in the semicircular choir-recess are five rows of seats for the clergy, with the bishop’s place in the centre.—A new road (carr. 12 fr.) leads to the N.W. to (9½ M.) the ancient Berber Necropolis of Roknia, on the W. slope of Jebel Debar (3442 ft.), with many dolmens (p. [324]) and rock-tombs, sadly damaged of late.
The train next makes a wide bend to the S., round the wooded hills of the Beni Addi, past the influx of the Oued Cherf into the Bou Hamdan, which now takes the name of Seybouse. 72 M. Medjez-Amar (958 ft.), amid fine hill scenery.
80 M. Guelma (916 ft.; Hôt. d’Orient, Rue Sadi-Carnot, tolerable; Hôt. de l’Univers; pop. 10,200), a pleasant little town, in a broad olive-clad basin, was founded on the site of Calama, in 1836, when the Byzantine Town Walls of the time of Solomon (p. [315]) were partly used to build the French camp. The striking ruins of the Roman Thermae (2nd cent. A. D.), with walls still about 33 ft. high, and the Jardin Public, with Roman antiquities, are worth seeing. There is a small collection of antiquities also at the Mairie. The restoration of the Roman Theatre was begun in 1907 but never finished.
Guelma holds the greatest Cattle Market in E. Algeria (Mondays; chief of all, last Sunday in April). The poor-looking oxen, mostly light-grey, of the E. districts as far as the Tunisian frontier, are known as Guelma cattle.
An interesting excursion may be made from Guelma by carriage (12 fr. whole day) to Thibilis (p. [307]).