This tallied exactly with the information I had received from all other sources, and in Algeria to cross the frontier near La Calle was believed to be impossible.
But I had travelled a good deal amongst the Kabyles of Algeria, both in the Djurdjura range and in the Aures Mountains, and I was rather incredulous as to their extreme ferocity. At all events, I determined to make the experiment, and my companion was quite as eager as I was.
On our arrival at El-Badja we communicated our plans to the Kaid, who strongly dissuaded us from attempting even to reach Tabarca by land, but on our declaring that we would only abandon the idea on his formally assuring us that it was impossible and refusing us permission to make the attempt, he so far gave in as to admit that the route from El-Badja to Tabarca might be practicable, but any idea of penetrating the country of the Khomair must be dismissed from our minds as an impossibility. We discussed the question fully over our coffee, M. Gandolphe and the Miralai entertained us with a duet recounting the terrible atrocities of which this ferocious tribe had been guilty; their ignorant and savage nature was such that the moment they saw a European they fired upon him without further question, under the impression that he was a wild beast. Jews had been allowed to pass, but their squalid and filthy dress so nearly approached that of the Khomair themselves as to excite no suspicion; in fact, we were rushing upon our doom, and they washed their hands of the whole transaction. We compromised matters by accepting the Kaid’s offer of two extra spahis to escort us, and we telegraphed to beg the French Commandant at La Calle to send us a boat to Tabarca, in the event of our having to abandon the idea of reaching his station by land.
We left El-Badja at six o’clock on April 25; the weather had been unsettled for several days, but the rain had generally fallen at night only, and as it had poured continuously for the past twelve hours, we entertained strong hopes that it would clear up on this occasion also. We packed our luggage with extra care, covered the mule bearing Kingston’s precious photographic apparatus with a waterproof sheet, and bade an affectionate farewell to our amiable host.
The country through which we passed was extremely rich and well cultivated, and the scenery grander than anything we had yet seen, but the weather was so bad that it quite spoiled the enjoyment of our journey; the rain fell in torrents, and the wind was so high that we could with difficulty keep our seats in passing over some of the most exposed hill-sides. This was no great hardship for us, our excellent waterproofs kept out every drop of moisture; but the poor spahis, with their woollen bernouses were in a far less happy frame of mind. It is true that these are nearly as impervious to rain as indiarubber cloaks, but they become very heavy when wet, and as they have also to serve as bedclothes during the night, it is a serious matter to have them thoroughly saturated during the day. They would fain have turned back before we had been out half an hour; but, as we were determined to advance at all hazards, they could not but accompany us.
At about 13 miles from El-Badja the mountains approach in front, and a stream forces its way through a narrow and well-wooded pass called Khanga Kef et-Toot, or pass of the mulberry tree hill. The river was very much swollen when we crossed it. I feel sure that an hour later it must have been unfordable. In the pass is a hot spring, but it was absorbed into the general torrent, and we could not distinguish it.
This is the entrance to the district of Nefsa, a region even more fertile, better cultivated and more thickly peopled than that we had just passed through; in addition it has the charm of being well wooded, principally with wild olive trees.
During the whole of this day’s ride we observed no traces of Roman occupation nor did the enquiries we made of the Arabs we met elicit any satisfactory evidence that such exist off the line of our route, except near the sea coast; they assured us, however, that there were some remarkable caves in the mountains, most probably those described by Peyssonnel, who, when visiting the French factory at Cape Negro, says:—
‘I accompanied the assistants who went hunting in the territories occupied by an Arab nation called Nevesins (Nefsaouin, or people of Nefsa), five leagues from Cape Negro, on the way to Bega. On the road we went to see the holes in the mountains cut with chisels in the living rock. They have an entrance of three feet square, and inside the height is five feet, and about the same length and breadth. It is believed that these are hermitages of the primitive Christians, but this is not my opinion, for how could the hermits have been at the expense of cutting the rocks of this size and regularity?
‘Moreover, these holes are all near towns; close to those of which I am speaking, we saw the remains of a village; and I observed other similar ones in the neighbourhood of the ancient Tabarca. Neither cross nor other emblem of Christianity is found there. I saw some on the scarped face of the rock at an elevation of fifteen or twenty feet, one above the other, and it was impossible to enter the higher ones without a ladder. Some are very small, others are double, so that at the end of one there is a second smaller one. In the inside are small niches, similar to those which I have observed in the mausoleums which I have had the honour of alluding to,[231] and this makes me suppose that these holes were meant to receive dead bodies, and that they were shut up with large square stones.’[232]