Hotels (comp. p. [324]; sometimes crowded with motorists in spring). Grand-Hôtel, Hôt. des Voyageurs, both at Gabès-Port, ½ M. from the pier.
Cab from the pier to Gabès-Port 40 c. (for several pers. 20 c. each); one hour 1½ fr., each addit. ¼ hr. 25 c.; day of 10 hrs. 10–12 fr.; carr. and four horses, for long excursions, 20 fr. a day.
British Consular Agent, C. Calleja.
Gabes or Gabès (Europ. pop. 900, mostly Italians and Maltese; total, incl. oasis, 10,200), the ancient Tacape, the chief harbour on the stretch of coast called Emporia by the Greeks and a rival of Leptis Magna and Tripoli (comp. p. [407]), is now the capital of the Arad and headquarters for the S. Territories, which are still under military rule. It is the only harbour of importance on the S. coast of the Gulf of Gabes (p. [405]). The chief exports are the sponges of the bay, alfa or esparto grass, dates, and woollen goods. In the war annals of 1881 the bombardment of Gabes from Menzel (see below) and the protracted resistance of the inland tribes are memorable. It was here that Gen. Logerot intercepted the tribes of the E. coast who tried to pass through the Arad to Tripolitania.
The small Harbour, for fishing-boats only, at the mouth of the Oued Gabes, protected by two stone piers, is exposed to every wind and choked with sand.
To the N.W. of the estuary, on the border of the oasis, which is here protected from sand-drift by palisades, rise low dunes; to the S.E., near the lighthouse, is an admirable bathing-beach.
The modern Gabès-Port, adjoining the Camp Militaire, contains no attraction except the garden of the Cercle Militaire. It is garrisoned with 160 native horsemen (Spahis or Cavaliers du Maghzen), who guard the Tripolitanian frontier of the S. Territories. The tradespeople are mostly Jews.
Beyond Gabès-Port, also on the barren right bank of the river, lie the large Berber villages, partly built of Roman materials, of Djara (Grand-Djara; pop. 3500) and Menzel (pop. 4500, incl. about 1000 Jews). The market-place of Djara, a square enclosed by primitive arcades with shops, is frequented chiefly by the S. Algerian caravans.
Almost the only sight of Gabes is the beautiful, but in summer malarious *Oasis, once somewhat over-praised by Pliny, which extends 3¾ M. up the left bank of the river and is 1–1¼ M. in breadth. Among the remarkably tall and well-grown date-palms (about 200,000) are many bananas and other fruit-trees. The river and the small channels, often enlivened by women washing or carrying water, are crossed by numerous bridges of palm-logs. A walk or ride to the most interesting spots takes 3–4 hrs. (mule 2–3 fr.). From Menzel we go upstream to the Barrage du Sidi el-Bey (1894), and past the remains of a Roman Dam, built of huge blocks, to the Râs el-Oued (213 ft.), a hill at the W. end of the oasis often covered with clouds of dust, where the principal feeders of the river, 30 in all, form a number of waterfalls. Turning here, we follow the largest irrigation-conduit to the village of Chenini (pop. 1000) and cross the Sfax road (p. [382]) to the N.W. half of the oasis, where many of the palms are overgrown with vines.
The *Monts des Ksour (p. [320]), bordering the Sahara on the S. side of the Arad, are well worth visiting from Gabes or from Médenine (p. [391]; carr. tariff, see p. [389]; an ample supply of food and rugs advisable; comp. also p. [278]). These barren hills culminate in Kef Toudjane (p. [391]), which is almost everywhere conspicuous from the coast, and Jebel Smerten (each about 2100 ft.), and in Kef Demeur or Jebel Demmer (2460 ft.). The inhabitants, the Troglodytes of antiquity (see p. [320]), are, in the N.W. part, the Matmatas, on the plateau of that name, and, in the S., members of the Ouerghamma League, Berber tribes which for centuries withstood the attacks of the Arabs and the predatory Sahara nomads. They still often live in caverns, with a court resembling a shaft as the centre of their dwelling, and cavities used as side-rooms or offices. The gardens, laboriously irrigated by dams and cisterns, yield olives, dates, and figs; in the valleys grain, chiefly barley, and vegetables are cultivated. The Matmatas often go to Tunis as porters or artisans but always return home in their old age.