[95]Féraud, Ann. Arch. Const. viii. p. 108.
CHAPTER XIV.
CONSTANTINE TO ALGIERS THROUGH KABYLIA.
We left Constantine on May 15, and as the route between that place and Bordj bou Areredj is totally uninteresting, and is described in all the guide books, we took our places in the diligence, spent the 16th at Setif, and arrived at Bordj bou Areredj on May 17.
From this place two routes are practicable to Fort National. The easiest and most direct is by Beni Mansour and the Col de Tirourda; but by far the most picturesque is that by Geläa, Akbou and the Col de Chellata.
Through the courtesy of the Commandant Supérieur we were enabled to hire mules at the very moderate rate of five francs a day; he also supplied us with two tents, furnished us with spahis, and announced our intended arrival all along the road. Tents are quite indispensable if the traveller cares for his own comfort in the slightest degree, as although the Kabyle houses in the territory of the Beni Abbas are clean and well built, those in the circle of Fort National are beyond description filthy and full of vermin.
From Bordj bou Areredj we proceeded to Bordj Medjana, a ride of about two hours through a rich and highly cultivated country. This was the Castellum Medianum of the Romans, and the hereditary residence of the Bach-Agha el-Mokrani, whose family played an important part during three centuries in the affairs of Algeria. Their history is full of great deeds, and their name stands first in the list of feudal chiefs, who ruled the country before the French conquest.
After the disastrous insurrection of 1871,[96] of which El-Mokrani was the principal leader, the Bordj was destroyed, and the whole of his vast property confiscated to the State.
A village, to contain seventy homesteads, is in process of construction. Each concession contains 100 acres of excellent land, in addition to a village and garden lot.