Djerba has four harbours, Houmt-Souk, Adjim, El-Kantara, and Aghir. The only towns are Houmt-Souk, Hara-Kebîra, and Hara-Serîra; the villages are merely local markets for their districts. The countless little mosques have white domes like most of the houses, but are distinguished by conspicuous slender minarets of the Turkish type, resembling lighthouses. The farm-houses (menzel) scattered throughout the island often have a castellated appearance. In the entire absence of brooks the soil is irrigated from cisterns and wells, among which are two very copious artesian wells. The winter climate (p. [321]) is the mildest in Tunisia, but gales are frequent. For excursions there are few carriages available (20 fr. per day); the usual conveyance is an araba or country-cart; for a mule the charge is 4–5, for a donkey 3 fr. per day. The tourist should beware of the countless scorpions, especially in the warmer season.
Houmt-Souk (Hôt. de l’Oasis or Crolet; Hôt. de France; Brit. cons. agent; pop. 5900, incl. 560 Maltese, French, Italians, and Greeks), the capital of the island, lies on the sandy N. coast, ½ M. from the sea and 5 M. from the anchorage of the steamers (comp. p. [405]). The dilapidated Bordj el-Kebîr on the shore recalls the time of the Spanish domination. Near it is the Christian Cemetery, where repose the bones, collected in 1848, of the 18,000 Spaniards who were massacred here in 1560 after the naval victory of Dragut (p. [370]) and Ochiali Pasha, and yielded trophies for the ghastly Bordj er-Rious (tower of skulls).
In the interesting Souks (Mon. and Thurs.) are seen all the products of the island. Among the numerous religious buildings may be named the Mosquée el-Gheriba and the Mosquée des Turcs.
A road leads to the S. from Houmt-Souk to the Jewish villages of (¾ M.) Hara-Kebîra (pop. 3500) and (4½ M.) Hara-Serîra or Hara-Sghîra (pop. 1500), where numerous goldsmiths make silver-gilt trinkets of antique and Byzantine patterns, with enamel and jewels (mostly imitation). The Gheriba, the synagogue of Hara-Serîra, where, according to an old tradition, one of the tables of the law of Moses was once found, is a great resort of Jewish pilgrims from S. Tunisia and Tripolitania, and is much revered by Moslems and Catholics also.—From Hara-Serîra the road leads to the S. to (14½ M.) Guallala, the centre of the pottery-manufacture carried on in Djerba ever since ancient times (oil-jars, porous water-jugs, vases, etc.). Near it is the hill of Dahrat-Guallala, which yields the clay.
A road leads to the S.E. from Houmt-Souk viâ Hara-Kebîra (see above) and (10⅓ M.) Cedouikeche (potteries) to (15½ M.) El-Kantara, the seaport for Zarzis (p. [392]), not far from the extensive but unimportant ruins of Meninx, the ancient capital of the island.—Another road leads to the S.W. to (14 M.) Adjim, a rising little seaport and market (Wed.), with an artesian well 760 ft. deep. To Djorf Bou-Grara (and Gightis), see p. [392].
Near the E. coast of the island, on the roads to the Râs Taguermess (p. [406]) and the small summer harbour of Aghir, lie the villages of Midoune (Frid. market) and Mahboubine, with many villas of the merchants of Houmt-Souk, situated amid palm and olive groves and charming *Fruit Gardens, where the oranges and lemons blossom in March. On the road to Midoune is the Mausolée de Borgho, the only intact Roman monument in the island.
VIII. SEA ROUTES IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.
| Route | Page | |
|---|---|---|
| 63. | From Tunis to Malta (Syracuse) | [396] |
| 64. | From Tunis to Syracuse viâ Sfax, Tripoli, and Malta | [404] |
| 65. | From Tripoli to Alexandria viâ Benghazi and Derna | [412] |
| Leptis Magna, 412.—The Cyrenaica, 413. | ||
| 66. | From Tripoli to Constantinople viâ Derna and Crete | [415] |
| 67. | From (Marseilles, Genoa) Naples to Alexandria and Port Said | [417] |
| 68. | From Venice or Trieste to Alexandria and Port Said viâ Brindisi | [418] |
| Miramar. Divača, 427. | ||
| 69. | Alexandria | [431] |
| 70. | Port Said | [436] |
| 71. | From Alexandria or Port Said to Cairo | [437] |
| Cairo | [439] | |
| History, 443.—History of Art, 444.—a. Northern Quarters (The Ezbekîyeh Garden, the Muski, Gâmia el-Azhar, Muristân Kalâûn, Gâmia el-Muaiyad), 445.—b. The S.E. Quarters (The Arab Museum, Gâmia Ibn Tulûn, Gâmia Sultân Hasan, Citadel, Gâmia en-Nâsir, Gâmia Mohammed Ali), 450.—c. The New Town (The Ismaîlîyeh and Tewfîkîyeh Quarters, Egyptian Museum, Gezîreh), 454.—d. Environs (The Mameluke Tombs, Heliopolis Oasis, Heliopolis-On, Old Cairo, Pyramids of Gîzeh, Memphis, and Sakkâra), 458. | ||
| 72. | From Alexandria or Port Said to Beirut (Smyrna, Constantinople) viâ Jaffa | [466] |
| From Haifa to Nâbulus; to Damascus viâ Derât (Nazareth, Tabarîya), 468. | ||
| 73. | From Jaffa to Jerusalem | [470] |
| From Jerusalem to Bethlehem, 480. | ||
| 74. | Beirut. Excursion to Damascus | [481] |
| 75. | From Beirut to Smyrna (and Constantinople) | [489] |
| 76. | From Alexandria to Athens and Smyrna (and Constantinople) | [491] |
| 77. | From (Marseilles, Genoa) Naples to Athens (and Constantinople) | [493] |
| 78. | From Venice or Trieste to Athens (and Constantinople) viâ Brindisi and Patras | [496] |
| Corfu, 496. | ||
| 79. | Athens | [502] |
| History, 505.—a. Walk from the Palace round the S. side of the Acropolis (The Olympieion, Stadion, Monument of Lysikrates, Theatre of Dionysos, Odeion, Areopagus), 508.—b. The Acropolis (The Temple of Nike, Propylæa, Parthenon. Erechtheion, Acropolis Museum), 512.—c. Walk from the Palace to the Theseion. Dipylon. Hill of the Nymphs. Pnyx. Monument of Philopappos, 520.—d. The Modern Quarters (Academy of Science, University, Library, Polytechnic Institute), 525.—e. The National Archæological Museum, 526.—f. Walks (Lykabettos, Kolonos, New Phaleron), 528. | ||
| 80. | From Athens viâ Smyrna to Constantinople | [529] |
| 81. | Constantinople | [536] |
| History, 541.—a. Galata and Pera (Galata Tower, Petits Champs, Dolma Bagcheh Palace, Top Haneh), 542.—b. Stambul (Yeni Valideh Jami, Seraglio, New Museum, Chinili Kiosque, Aya Sophia, Mosque of Ahmed I., Great Bazaar, Mosques of Bayazid, Suleiman the Great, and Mohammed II., Land-Wall), 545.—c. The Golden Horn (Eyub, Sweet Waters), 555.—d. Scutari, 556.—e. The Bosporus, 557. |
63. From Tunis to Malta (Syracuse).
258 M. Steamers (agents at Tunis, see p. [331]; at Malta, see p. [400]). 1. Comp. Gén. Transatlantique (Marseilles, Tunis, and Malta line, R. 21) on Wed. (returning Thurs.) afternoon, in 18 hrs. (55 or 40 fr.).—2. Hungarian Adria (R. 22) once a month (cabin, without food, 25 fr.).—Other steamers calling at Malta (P. & O., German Levant cargo-boats, etc.) are mostly bound for distant ports. Embarking and landing, comp. p. [399].—English money is the currency at Malta, but French and Italian gold are in general use.