We found a temple immediately over the fountain, which carried the water in the aqueduct to Carthage; it was very simple, and conveyed little pleasure or instruction.
He did not even make a finished sketch of it; there is a rough pencil outline on one sheet, and on another an equally rough plan with measurements, and a number of architectural details, but neither are capable of reproduction as illustrations.
The building is, in fact, extremely elegant, and in its original condition must have been one of the most charming retreats which it is possible to imagine. It is situated at the gorge of a narrow and precipitous ravine descending from Djebel Zaghouan, but at a very considerable elevation above the plain at its foot.
It consists of a paved area of a semicircular form, but with the two exterior limbs produced in straight lines as tangents. Round the perimeter was a raised colonnade, and at the end, in the middle of the circular portion, was a rectangular cella, which is still tolerably entire. The walls of this latter building are of rubble masonry, but at the extremity there is a niche lined with cut stone, surmounting what may either have been the base of a statue of an emperor or an altar to a divinity. I am inclined to the former hypothesis, as the mutilated trunk of such a statue, in white marble and of colossal size, is actually lying on the ground outside. Above the door are the remains of a beautiful architrave, which doubtless was surmounted by a pediment. To the right and left of this proceeded a lateral gallery, 13 ft. 9 in. broad. The posterior wall was of finely-cut stone, with thirteen square pilasters on each side, between every alternate pair of which a round-headed niche for statuary was sunk in the thickness of the wall. Towards the interior, a Corinthian column corresponded to each of the pilasters, but these have long since been removed, and now decorate the Djamäa el-Kebir, or principal mosque of Zaghouan. Fragments of richly sculptured entablature lie scattered around, and attest the original magnificence of the structure.
Each end of this colonnade was terminated by a handsome monumental gateway, crowned by an entablature, one side of which is still in very perfect condition; both appear to have been so at the time of Bruce’s visit. These gateways were intended for architectural effect and not as exits, as they abutted on the perpendicular face of the wall below them. From the lower surface of the area on either side, a flight of fifteen steps conducted to a basin or nymphæum, shaped like a heart in cards, but with a rounded instead of a pointed apex; in this the spring rose, and was conducted into the aqueduct. The spring is no longer visible, being led into the modern aqueduct before it emerges from the ground.
The colonnade was roofed by one general half-cylindrical vault in the direction of the length of the building, intersected by twelve other transversely directed cylindrical vaults rising from the pilasters in the walls, and the columns in front. A cornice of a bold outline ran all round, serving as impost to the vaults and ornamental doorways, and as capitals to the pilasters. A great portion of the vaults supported by the walls still remain, to show the nature of the construction.
The rear of the wall was strengthened exteriorly by a coating of immense blocks of cut stone to protect it from any rush of water which might flow from the ravine above after heavy rain. There is also a communication from the colonnade to the exterior by means of a small square-headed door in the posterior wall.
A magnificent view is obtained by mounting the hill immediately south of the town, crossing the valley watered by the Ain Ayat. The contrast between the past and present, even of the most modern times, is very striking. Almost every alternate house is in ruins, and the population, which M. Guérin states to have been 2,900 in 1860, has now diminished to little more than 700. We particularly noticed the urbanity and good humour of the people of Zaghouan. Wherever we went, alone or in company with Arabs, everyone we met had a pleasant word and smile for us, and even the little urchins seemed pleased to leave their favourite game of okkaf, the same as our English hockey, and accompany us in our strolls, without being in the slightest degree obtrusive, or seeming to expect a donation of kharoubs.
We returned to Tunis on March 31, the drive occupying seven hours and a quarter, including an hour for breakfast at the Mohammedia.
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