A glimpse of this region is obtained by driving from Gabes to (28 M.) Matmata-Kebira or Kalaâ-Matmata (1838 ft.; p. [388]; quarters at the Kaïd’s), on the Matmata plateau, whence an excursion (on mule-back) should, if possible, be taken to the picturesque rock-village of Hadege. A new but very hilly road leads from Matmata-Kebira through the mountains viâ (12½ M.) Toudjane (919 ft.), a village grandly situated on the slopes of Kef Toudjane (2090 ft.), direct to (37½ M.) Métameur (see below).
The Médenine Road (diligence, see p. [388]) now leads to the S.E. through a steppe-like hill-country, fringing the Monts des Ksour (p. [390]) and intersected by many valleys, passing the small oases of Menara (200 ft.) and (55 M.) Teboulbou (artesian wells; much olive-culture). Next come the valleys of the Oued Merzig and Oued Ferd, with the small oasis of (56 M.) Ketena.
74 M. Mareth (Bordj), a large palm-oasis on the Oued Mareth. We then cross the Oued Zigraou to (77 M.) Aram. Beyond the spurs of Jebel Touati and Jebel Souinia rises the main range of the Monts des Ksour (p. [390]).
Beyond the valleys of the Oued Zeus and Oued Hallouf the road rounds Jebel Tadjera (968 ft.; Poste Optique). 97½ M. Métameur, formerly a ‘camp militaire’, on the brook of that name, below the small oasis and (½ hr.) Berber village of Ksar Métameur (391 ft.), whose storehouses (rhorfas), with keel-arched vaulting, recall very ancient buildings in Asia Minor.
101 M. Médenine (361 ft.; Médenine Hôtel, R. 2½, B. ½, déj. 2½ fr., good; pop. 1000, incl. 100 Europeans), capital of the Ouerghamma (see above), the league of the Berber tribes Khezour, Touazine, Ouderna, and Accara. The high-lying Camp Militaire, with its garrison of Spahis (p. [390]) and Infanterie Légère d’Afrique (‘Joyeux’), is the largest on the Tripolitanian frontier.
The deserted and ruinous *Ksar, in a small palm-oasis, consists of a great number of the old storehouses of the League, some of them in four or five stories, now replaced by retbas or rabtas (p. [338]). They are dug deeply in the hill-side, and are accessible only by stairs of mud or stepping-stones.
Travellers used to privations and content with such poor quarters as the natives can offer may, after consulting the military authorities at Médenine, visit the S. part of the Monts des Ksour (p. [390]). The best centre there is (34 M.) Tatahouine, the seat of the military and civil authorities, with an important market, well attended by caravans on their way from the Sahara and the Sudan by way of Ghadâmes in Tripolitania (p. [285]). The chief villages of the cave-dwellers (Ksûr) near this are Tlalet, formerly Talalati, a frontier-fortress on the Limes Tripolitanus (p. [412]), Beni-Barca, *Chenini, and *Douirat (2090 ft.).
The Zarzis Road (37½ M.) descends to the E. from Médenine through the sandy coast-plain to (15½ M.) Aïn-Mader, near the saline marshes of that name on the S. bank of the Mer de Bou-Grara (see below), and then traverses the hill-region of the Accara tribe (p. [391]), between the sea and the large Sebkha el-Melah.
To the left, a little off the road, 4 M. from Zarzis, are the ruins of the little Roman town of Zita, now Zian, where the small forum is still enclosed with the remains of its colonnade.