Bona, French Bône, Arabic Enneba (pop. 42,900, incl. 28,300 Europeans, mostly French, 11,200 Mohammedans, and 1700 Jews), on the W. side of the Gulf of Bona (p. [128]), a fortified town, is the chief seaport of Algeria after Oran and Algiers and the most important outlet for the produce of the département of Constantine, such as phosphates (p. [315]), iron (comp. pp. [310], 314), zinc, cork, cattle, and cereals. Besides its fine harbour, the town offers no sights; but it deserves a visit especially in winter, for the sake of its pretty situation at the foot of Jebel Edough (3307 ft.; p. [169]), not far from the picturesque Cap de Garde.
Bona lies on the small Anse du Cassarin, about 1¼ M. to the N.E. of Hippo, which was one of the chief Phœnician colonies on the coast of N. Africa. Under Masinissa (p. [321]) Hippo was the capital of Numidia, and under the Roman empire, when it was called Hippo Regius, it was the richest port on the N. coast next to Carthage and rivalled Cæsarea (p. [244]). Here in 393 met a council of over three hundred bishops, who for the first time recognized the present canon of the New Testament. On that occasion St. Augustine (born in 354 at Thagaste, p. [313]), attended as a presbyter and co-bishop. Chief among the four ‘Latin fathers’ and a keen opponent of the Donatists (p. [322]), St. Augustine, after his conversion at Milan by St. Ambrose (387), settled at Hippo, where he was bishop from 395 to 430, and died there during the siege of the town by the Vandals. After its destruction by Genseric and the downfall of the Vandals, whose king Gelimer (p. [322]) sought his last asylum on Mt. Edough, Hippo arose from its ruins once more under the Byzantines, but it succumbed to the assaults of the Arabs in 697 and was thenceforth entirely abandoned.
The present town of Bona, founded later by the Arabs on the slope of the Kasba hill, was seized by the Genoese in the 15th cent. for the sake of its valuable coral-fishery. After the conquest of Tunis (p. [332]), it was occupied for a short time by the Spaniards in 1535, and afterwards temporarily by the Compagnie d’Afrique from Marseilles. In 1837, soon after the entry of the French (1832), the old Kasba, built under Charles V., was blown up, and since then the native quarter has been modernized in French fashion.
The *Harbour, which has been so improved of late years as to rival that of Algiers, consists of three basins. The Petite Darse (Pl. B, C, 3), 27 acres in area, the old inner harbour, lies near the railway-stations and the mouth of the Seybouse; the Grande Darse (Pl. C, D, 3, 2; formerly the outer harbour), 170 acres in area, is a new basin between the Môle Cigogne (Pl. C, 3) and the small creek of Grenouillère (sea-baths); the Avant-Port is a new outer basin of nearly 100 acres adjoining the Pointe du Lion. The outer entrance to the harbour, 270 yds. wide, between the Jetée du Lion, 1200 yds. long, and the Jetée Sud (Pl. C, D, 4, 3), 1800 yds. long, is difficult of access during N. or N.E. gales. The inner entrances, through the Jetée Babayaud and at the Môle Cigogne (see above), are only 77 yds. wide. The Quai Nord (Pl. B, C, 3) in the Petite Darse is for the large French passenger-steamers, the Quai Ouest (Pl. B, 3) for phosphate, and the Quai Sud (Pl. B, C, 4) for the iron-ore from the mine near Aïn-Daliah (p. [303]). Adjoining the last quay and bordering the new reclaimed lands (82 acres) is the new Quai aux Phosphates (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), to be used for the phosphate depots and for the Ouenza iron ores (comp. p. [314]).
The broad Cours Jérôme-Bertagna (Pl. B, 2, 3; formerly Cours National), the main street of the town, with the pretty grounds of the ‘Square’, skirts the W. side of the native quarter.
To the W., in the European quarter, are the covered Marché (Pl. B, 2), the interesting Fondouk (Pl. 1, A 2; native market), and, in the Boul. des Jujubiers, the Marché aux Grains (Pl. A, 3).
Outside the W. gates, Porte des Karézas (Pl. A, 3) and Porte Randon (Pl. A, 1), are the Marché aux Bestiaux (Pl. A, 2; Thurs.) and the grounds of the Square Randon (Pl. A, 2).
The Native Quarter, where also the Jews reside, is intersected by the Rue St. Augustin (Pl. B, C, 2).
From the Boul. Victor-Hugo (Pl. B, C, 2), on the N. side of this quarter, we may mount in 10 min. to the Colline de la Kasba, or Colline des Santons (358 ft.), crowned by the Kasba (Pl. C, D, 1; no admittance). The pine-clad slope is skirted by the pretty Boul. des Caroubiers (Pl. C, D, 2, 1).
A beautiful walk may be taken from the Porte des Caroubiers (Pl. D, 1) on the busy *Chemin de la Corniche, round the E. side of the Batterie du Lion, always skirting the shore and passing many villas with luxuriant gardens. It leads to the N.W. to the suburb of (2½ M.) St Cloud-les-Plages, on the Baie des Caroubiers, with its sea-baths (p. [309]). In clear weather a pleasant drive may be taken past the little Baie des Corailleurs and the old Fort Génois to (7 M.) the Cap de Garde. At the Semaphore (519 ft.), above the lighthouse, we enjoy a delightful view of the bay.