British Vice-Consul, S. Leonardi.—Lloyd’s Agent, E. Carleton.—English Physician, Dr. P. Buckwell.
Cabs (stands near the Marché aux Céréales, p. [381], and in the Rue de Thina, Pl. B, C, 3). Drive within a radius of 2 kilomètres (1¼ M.) from Bâb Diwân, ½ fr.; with two horses, ¾ or 1 fr.; per hr. (one horse) 1 fr. 30, (two horses) 1 fr. 50 or 1 fr. 70 c.; half-day (6 hrs.) 5½, 7, or 9 fr.; day (12 hrs.) 9, 12, or 15 fr.
Diligence Office (p. [173]) in the theatre (Pl. C, 3).—Motor Cars, for excursions, at Garage Pasquier, Rue Lamoricière (100–150 fr. per day); Central Garage, Rue Charles-Quint.
The Sights may be visited in 2–3 hrs.
Sfax, Arabic Sfakês (pop. 70,000, incl. 6400 Europeans, of whom 3100 are Italians and 1300 Maltese), the second-largest town in Tunisia, is also its chief seaport next to Tunis. It lies on the shallow N. shore of the Gulf of Gabes, adjacent to the Kerkenna Banks and opposite the Kerkenna Islands (p. [405]). Many of the natives live in small houses outside the town, amidst the beautiful orchards which girdle Sfax for nearly 10 M. around. Beyond the gardens lies the olive-zone, like them artificially irrigated, covering some 500 acres, and numbering three million trees. It lies chiefly in the Terres Sialines, a region named after the Siala family, but now owned by the state. After the Arab incursions it became a mere desert, but modern cultivation has restored its ancient prosperity. Sfax owes its rapid rise to the export of olive-oil, almonds, figs, and vegetables from the interior, dates from the Djerid (p. [386]), alfa from the steppes, of which cables are made in the Kerkenna Islands, and above all to its trade in the phosphates of Metlaoui (p. [386]) and Redeyef (p. [372]). It is important also as a fish-market and as a mart for the sponges of the bay, especially from the Kerkenna banks. In the sponge-fishery Greeks, Maltese, and Sicilians vie with the Kerkenna islanders.
Sfax, the ancient Taparura, which was one of the smallest seaports on the bay of Gabes, is of little historical note. In the first half of the 12th cent. it fell, along with Mehdia (p. [369]), into the hands of the Normans (p. [323]), and in 1539 it was occupied for a time by the Spaniards, who possessed also the Kerkenna Islands. Its harbour was much benefited by the French occupation of Algeria, as the caravans from the Sudan thereafter went to Sfax, Gabes, and Tripoli (p. [406]). It was not till 1832 that Christian merchants were allowed to settle outside the Bâb Diwân, the sea-gate. When the French arrived in 1881 Sfax, like Kairwan, was a camp of the warlike nomads of central and S. Tunisia, owing to whose resistance the town had to suffer a bombardment and to pay a war-indemnity of 15 million francs. For that disaster and for the decline of its trade with inland Africa the colonization of the environs and the improvement of the harbour (1895–7) have since made amends.
From the open roads at the end of the Kerkenna inlet, where larger vessels formerly had to anchor, a Harbour Canal, 2952 yds. in length and 44 in breadth, now leads into the Bassin (Pl. D, E, 4) of 25 acres, adjoining which is the Bassin des Torpilleurs (Pl. C, D, 4). On the quay bordering the town, 492 yds. long, are the Douane and two large warehouses. On the N.E. quay are the stores of the phosphate railway, whence ships are loaded by means of a long shoot. The Chenal pour petits Bateaux connects the main harbour with the small Darse (Pl. B, 4), the harbour for fishing-boats.
The mud-banks between the new harbour and the old quay (now Boul. de France) have been artificially raised and converted into an area of 50 acres for building. The projected new quarter, with its straight and shadeless streets, has made little progress as yet. Between it and the older suburb, built since 1832, are the Avenue de Paris and the palm-avenue of the Boulevard de France (Pl. B, C, 3), where most of the public buildings are situated.
In the Ave. de Paris are the Contrôle Civil (Pl. 1; C, 3), the Post Office (Pl. 6; C, 3), and the Hôtel de Ville (Pl. C, 3). The last has a small museum (open daily except Sun.) containing Roman antiquities, mostly from Thænæ (p. [383]). Among the mosaics are fishing scenes, Arion on the dolphin, and Pugilists.