To the N.W. of La Marsa extends Jebel Khaoui or Kraoui (345 ft.; ascent from La Marsa and back viâ Kamart ca. 2½ hrs.). On the top and the N. slope are many rock-tombs, remains of the Jewish Necropolis of Roman Carthage. Fine view, to the S. to Tunis, and to the N.W. over the Sebkha er-Riana to the Medjerda delta as far as Utica (p. [353]). On the N. side of the hill, on the reddish Cape Kamart, lies the picturesque, palm-girt village of Kamart, with the ruined Bordj Ben-Aïed.
54. From Tunis to Bizerta.
61 M. Railway. Express on Wed. only (back on Sat.), corresponding with the steamers of the Comp. Gén. Transatlantique (R. 21), in 2½, ordinary trains in 2½–3¾ hrs. (11 fr., 8 fr. 35, 5 fr. 90 c.).—The High Road (37½ M.) is recommended in the cool season only, as the Medjerda flats are malarious.
From Tunis to (15 M.) Djedeïda, see p. [329]. The train diverges here to the N. from the main line to Algeria.
19 M. Chaouat; 24 M. Sidi-Athman, near the Garaa Mabtouha, backed by the offshoots of Jebel Kechbata (p. [354]). We then run through hilly country, to the W., to (31 M.) Aïn-Rhelal.
40½ M. Mateur (Rail. Restaurant; Hôt. de France, etc.; pop. 5000, incl. 1600 Italians), a small town nearly 1 M. from the station, lies pleasantly on a hill beyond the influx of the Oued Tine into the Oued Jemine or Joumine, and is still enclosed by its old walls, built partly out of the ruins of the Roman Oppidum Matarense. It is the corn and cattle market for the fertile Plaines de Mateur, which were densely peopled in ancient times, and for the Berber tribes of the Bejaoua and Mogod Mts.
A railway runs from Mateur viâ (17 M.) Jefna, in the Nefza Mts., to Djebel-Abiod (p. [328]), whence it is being extended to Tabarca (p. [327]).—Another line connects Mateur with Béja (p. [328]).
The train crosses the plain, to the N., towards the Garaet Ichkeul or Achkel, the Sisara Lacus of the ancients, a freshwater-lake abounding in fish, but very shallow and rapidly filling up. On the S. side is a marshy tract where within the last few decades a large herd of half-wild Italian buffaloes has sprung up. Above it towers Jebel Ichkeul (1667 ft.), noted for its marble, the chief landmark of the bay of Bizerta.
50 M. Oued-Tindja (Hôt. de la Gare) lies on the strip of land, barely 2 M. broad, between Lake Ichkeul and the Lac de Bizerte (Arabic Garaet Tindja). The latter, the ancient Lacus Hipponensis, ca. 30,000 acres in area and 40 ft. deep at places, is now the chief French naval harbour on the Mediterranean next to Toulon.
A strategic railway and a road (omn. 20 c.) lead to the E. from Oued-Tindja to (2 M.) Ferryville (Hôt. de l’Amirauté; Hôt. de l’Arsenal; pop. 3000, largely Italian dock-labourers), the youngest town in Tunisia, named after Jules Ferry (p. [333]), and to (2¾ M.) the small bay of Sidi-Abdallah, on which, 9½ M. from the open sea, a Naval Arsenal, with five large dry-docks, was built in 1899–1908.