10 M. La Sebala lies on the S. edge of the marshy Medjerda delta (p. [129]), now called Sebala. 16 M. Fondouk el-Kantara, a caravanserai on the right bank of the Medjerda, near the old seven-arched bridge.
Just beyond (19½ M.) Oued Cherchara a road branches off, to the N.E., past the spurs of Jebel Menzel Roul (541 ft.), once a cape, to (2 M.) the ruins of Utica, the earliest Phœnician settlement in this region. Before the rise of Carthage it was the richest trading town in Barbary, and from 146 to 29 B.C. it was the capital of the province of Africa and seat of the Roman proconsul. It was here that the younger Cato committed suicide (46 B.C.) on the overthrow of Pompey’s party in the civil war against Cæsar. The harbour, entirely silted up since the middle of the 3rd cent., lay between the cape and a small island off the coast. The sea is now 5½ M., and the mouth of the Medjerda, near the Porto-Farina lagoon (p. [354]), is nearly 10 M. distant. The Roman town was destroyed by Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. [322]) in 698, at the same time as Carthage. The ruins, now called Henchir Bou-Chateur, consist chiefly of the aqueduct and cisterns, a theatre, a vast amphitheatre, and large thermæ.
Beyond Jebel Menzel Roul the Bizerta road traverses a desolate plain, strewn with Roman ruins. On the S.E. side of Jebel Kechbata (1370 ft.), and also in the marshy plain beyond it, roads diverge to the right (one 12½, the other 15 M.) to Porto-Farina (pop. 1400, incl. 320 Europeans, mostly Maltese), the Ruscinona of antiquity, a notorious pirates’ harbour in the Turkish period. In 1665 it was destroyed by an English fleet, but it was restored and fortified by Ahmed Bey (1837–55). Potatoes are largely cultivated in the neighbourhood. The Lac de Porto-Farina, on the S. side of Jebel Nadour (883 ft.), once abounding in fish, has been filled up by the deposits of the Medjerda since the middle of last century.
Beyond the dunes of Aïn Bou-Ras, where the new water-conduit of Bizerta, 8½ M. long, has its source, our road runs close to the lake of Bizerta, passes (34½ M.) Menzel Djemil, and ends on the old neck of land on the harbour-canal of (37½ M.) Bizerta (see p. [353]).
55. From Tunis to Dougga (Le Kef).
Excursionists to Dougga usually start from the station of Medjez el-Bab (Hôt. des Colons; p. [328]), 41 M. by train from the S. Station at Tunis (in 1¼–2½ hrs.; fares 7 fr. 40, 5 fr. 60, 3 fr. 95, return 10 fr. 35, 7 fr. 85, 5 fr. 55 c.). Thence by motor-omnibus (starting every morning; 5 fr.) to Dougga direct. Or we may take a carriage (30 fr.; ordered in advance at the Hôt. des Colons) or the diligence (6 hrs.; 2½ fr.) from Medjez el-Bab to (28 M.) Teboursouk, whence we go on to (3¾ M.) Dougga by carr. (5–6 fr.) or on mule-back (3–4 fr.).—The journey may be made also from the station of Pont-de-Trajan (p. [327]; 66½ M. by railway in 2¾–4 hrs.; fares 12 fr., 9 fr. 10, 6 fr. 40 c.); ride thence (mule being ordered beforehand at Béja, p. [328]) viâ Henchir Maâtria to (17½ M.) Teboursouk; or from the station of Gaffour (p. [360]; 75 M. in 4½–5½ hrs.; fares 13 fr. 55, 10 fr. 30, 7 fr. 25 c.); ride thence across Jebel Sidi Abdallah Ben-Cheid to (19 M.) Teboursouk.
The excursion from Tunis to Dougga and back, in one day, is far more easily made by motor-car (p. [330]). Motoring parties are occasionally formed at the tourist offices (p. [331]).
From Tunis to (41 M.) Medjez el-Bab by railway, see pp. [329], 328.—The two roads from Tunis to Medjez el-Bab, one direct (35½ M.) viâ Bordj el-Amri, the other, passing the station and running viâ Djedeïda and Tebourba (p. [329]), unite on the left bank of the Medjerda, near the bridge (p. [328]).
Our road leads from Medjez el-Bab in the same direction as the Roman road from Carthage to Tebessa (see p. [328]), to the S.W., generally a little apart from the Medjerda, past a good many Roman ruins. 9 M. Slouguia (299 ft.; the ancient Chidibbia), a village with a slender minaret, lies on a hill on the right bank.
The road then leads through olive-woods and vineyards to (12 M.) Testour, on the site of the Roman Tichilla, now a little town of 3500 inhab., mostly descendants of Andalusian Moors, with thriving potteries and a large Friday market.