From Souk el-Arba a field-road leads to the N., in the direction of the conduit, somewhat apart from the Tabarca road, to (4½ M.) Bulla Regia, the prosperous ancient capital of the Dakla in the Carthaginian period, and in 203 the scene of Scipio’s victory over Hasdrubal and Syphax. The village lies on a terrace on the S. slope of Jebel Rebia (2123 ft.) and owes its modern name Hammam-Darradji to its spring. Among the interesting Roman ruins are the large *Thermae; a *Nymphaeum, or fountain; a Temple of Apollo, an open court with three cellæ in the style of Punic sanctuaries (comp. p. [357]); a *Dwelling House, with an almost intact groundfloor, a mosaic pavement, vaults, and stairs to the upper floor. The Cisterns now serve the natives as habitations and the old Byzantine Fortress is now a caravanserai. The ruins of the Amphitheatre are less important. Three well-preserved subterranean Palaces and a Punic Fortress have been recently excavated. The rock-tombs of the Necropolis date partly from the Punic period.
From Souk el-Arba to Tabarca, 42 M., by the highroad. (Diligence to Aïn-Draham, in summer only, at 1 p.m., in 6 hrs.; from Aïn-Draham to Tabarca at 10.45 a.m., in 6 hrs., there and back 6 fr.) This excursion, only suitable for the warmer season, introduces us to the most beautiful parts of the *Kroumirie, which, thanks to its ample rainfall (p. [321]), is the most richly wooded region in Barbary. Now and then we meet with an almost virgin forest of cork-trees, evergreen oaks, elms, ashes, and other trees, in whose shade grow luxuriant ferns, while babbling brooks refresh the wayfarer. It was owing to violations of the frontier and thefts of cattle committed by the Kroumirs that the French at length occupied Tunisia in 1881, but the natives are now peaceable herdsmen, wood-cutters, and charcoal-burners. The tombs of this Berber tribe still recall the ancient megalithic monuments of their ancestors.
The road ascends to the N.W. from the Dakla, through a depression between Jebel el-Herrech and Jebel Rebia (p. [326]), to the saddle on the N.E. slope of Jebel Halloufa (1512 ft.), and then turns to the N. into the valley of the Oued Rzella, a feeder of the Oued Bou Heurtma (see below). It passes (13 M.) Fernana (820 ft.; Restaurants Dauteroche and Richetti) and ascends, soon more rapidly, to the (19½ M.) forester’s house of Camp de la Santé and (20½ M.) Les Chênes (2461 ft.; Hôt. des Chênes), a small summer resort superbly situated amid venerable evergreen oaks. The road descends in windings for a short time and then ascends again between Jebel Bir (see below) on the right and Kef Sidi Abdallah (2861 ft.) on the left, on whose slope is the kubba of Sidi Abdallah Ben-Djemel, the chief saint of the Kroumirs.—25½ M. Aïn-Draham (about 2625 ft.; Hôt. de France, Hôt. Serrières, both quite good; Mon. market), an agricultural village amidst cork-trees and evergreen oaks, lies in the heart of the Kroumirie, at the N. base of *Jebel Bir (3327 ft.), which commands a splendid survey of the Kroumirie and the Nefza Mts. (p. [328]), stretching to the N. to the sea, to the N.W. to the lakes near La Calle (p. [131]), and to the S. to the Dakla.
The road now descends across the Col des Ruines (2382 ft.) in windings to (30½ M.) Babouch (1637 ft.; frontier custom-house), a village of immigrant farmers, where the road to La Calle diverges to the W. (22½ M. from Aïn-Draham; diligence 5 fr.). Our road, flanked at first by cork-trees and then passing through groves of olive and fig-trees, now descends the picturesque valley of the Oued el-Kébir, the ancient Tusca, the boundary between the Roman province of Africa (p. [321]) and Numidia.
42 M. Tabarca (Hôt. Tiret, plain but quite good; Hôt. de France; pop. 1300, of whom 1100 are Europeans; Frid. market), a quiet little seaport in the fertile coast-plain between the Oued el-Kébir and Cape Tabarca, was the Roman Thabraca, the busiest harbour on the coast-road between Utica (p. [353]) and Hippo Regius (p. [309]), the outlet for the marble of Simitthu (p. [326]) and for the timber and the wild beasts of the Kroumirie. Hardly a trace of that period now exists. The loftily situated Turkish Bordj Djedid is now used as barracks. Opposite lies the bare island of Tabarca, rising abruptly on the N. side, with a picturesque old Genoese castle. Of the two, originally Carthaginian, quays connecting the island with the mainland the westmost has lately been restored, but the shallow harbour is scarcely used except by Sicilian fishermen. The steamers of the Comp. Gén. Transatlantique (p. [130]) anchor in the open roads.—For the future railway to Mateur, see p. [352].
From Tabarca to Béja, see p. [328].
64 M. Ben-Bachir, not far from the influx of the Oued Mellègue, the ancient Muluth, and of the Oued Tessa (p. [357]) into the Medjerda. We cross the Oued Bou Heurtma, the Armascla of the Romans. Fine view of Jebel Gorra (p. [355]).
71½ M. Souk el-Khemis (427 ft.; ‘fifth-day market’), a thriving agricultural village, the largest at this end of the Dakla. The valley now contracts. 79½ M. Sidi-Zehili.
87½ M. Pont-de-Trajan (Rail. Restaurant), misnamed after a three-arched *Bridge of the time of Tiberius, 99 yds. long and 8 yds. wide, one of the oldest Roman structures in Barbary.
From Pont-de-Trajan to Béja, 9 M., branch-line in 24 min. (1 fr. 45, 1 fr. 10 c., 80 c.). The line ascends the bare valley of the Oued Béja, to the N.—9 M. Béja (715–1000 ft.; Hôt. de France, etc.; pop. 12,000, incl. 1600 Europeans), the Vaga of the Roman period, when it had a great market and was one of the most thriving places in the Medjerda valley, owes its present prosperity to the grain-trade and the culture of early vegetables. To the E., bordering the Avenue de la Gare, is the new quarter of the Italian and French farmers, with the Halle aux Grains. To the W., on the slope beyond the Oued Bou Zegdem, rises the picturesque old town. On its N.E. margin the Grande Rue leads to the Marché (cattle-market, Tues.) and to the Souks (p. [335]). The Grande Mosquée, built in the form of an Egyptian cross (p. [376]), one of the oldest in Tunisia, is famed for its borrowed wealth of ancient Roman capitals. The only Roman ruins are the Bâb el-Aïn (‘fountain-gate’) and relics of Thermae and of a Basin. The Town Walls, with their many towers, were originally Byzantine, but have been repeatedly restored. With the exception of the ‘keep’, the Byzantine fortress on the top of the hill has been superseded by the Kasba, built largely of Roman materials. On the Bou Hamdan (1047 ft.), a hill 1 M. to the N.W. of Béja, lies a large Punic Burial Ground, with rock-tombs.—Railways run from Béja to the N.E. to Mateur (p. [351]) and to the S.W. to Nebeur (p. [326]).