buried in the earth, which may, perhaps, be found to have protected them from total destruction. Still farther on is Beja, mentioned by Sallust

as Vacca, which Edrisi describes as "a beautiful city built in a plain extremely fertile in corn and barley, so that there is not in all the Moghreb a

city so important or more rich in cereals." It was surrounded by an ancient Byzantine wall, adopted and reconstructed by the Arabs; but this has been to a great extent pulled down, to give place to modern French improvements. The mosque called Djamaa-el-Keber, dedicated to SaidnaAissa (our Lord Jesus) was originally a Christian basilica, restored and embellished-as we learn by an inscription-in the time of the Emperors Valentinianus and Valens.

At the Oued Zergaa, a few miles farther on the line, a horrible massacre was perpetrated by the insurgent Arabs shortly after the French occupation. The station master was burnt alive, and ten other employés were murdered.

Before reaching Tunis the line passes through a portion of the great aqueduct

a broad, square plinth of pisé. The specus is high enough for a man to pass, and the total height varies from twenty-one to twenty-four meters. Having now conducted the imaginary traveler to Tunis from the west, we will accompany him southward along the coast of the Syrtis Minor. We round Cape Bon, or Ras Adhar, the Hermean promontory, beyond which the Carthaginians so often stipulated that no Roman ships should pass. This is the extreme point of the Dakhel, a large tongue of land, which extends in a northeasterly direction between the Gulf of Tunis and Hammamat, and is crowned by a remarkably fine lighthouse, the brilliant light of which is seen from a distance of twenty-five miles.

Beyond is Kelebia, the ancient Clypea, a city founded by Agathocles, Tyrant of Syracuse, the first position occupied by Regulus on his arrival in Africa, and the last which remained to the Christians after the Mohammedan invasion. The ruins of the Acropolis are still very perfect. Near it is Nebuel, celebrated for its pottery, which is really curious, on account of the tradition which it retains of Roman art, and its beautiful yellow and green glaze.

Thence directing our course in a southwesterly direction we come to Susa-or, as the French generally write it, Sousse-the ancient Hadrumetum, capital of the province of Byzacium, the history of which is quite an epitome of that of Carthage; founded by the Phoenicians, made a Roman colony by Trajan; always conspicuous during the Punic wars, destroyed by the Vandals, restored by the Byzantines; occupied by the Arab invaders; a favorite resort of Turkish pirates; taken by Charles V., and subsequently retaken by Dragut the corsair. It is now a military station, and under French rule is regaining some of its former importance. In itself it has no particular attraction save as being the starting point for two interesting excursions-to Kerouan, the holy city of the West, famous for its mosques and other religious institutions, which, alone of all similar buildings in Tunis, are accessible to the Christian traveler. Before the French occupation no Christian could enter its gates without a special permission from the Bey, and a Jew was not allowed even to approach its walls. Now the place is full of stores and wine shops, and the music of the barrel organ is heard in its streets. The pious Mohammedan guardians do not even disdain to earn an honest penny by showing the unbliever over its most sacred shrines.

Next to Mecca and Medina no city was considdered so sacred in the eyes of Western Mohammedans. It was founded by Okba Bin Naffa, in the fiftieth year of the Hegira (A.D. 670). The

country where it now stands was said to have been infested with wild beasts and noxious reptiles, but at his bidding they all retired peaceably, to the great marvel of the Berber inhabitants, who became converted to El-Islam.

Kerouan is surrounded by a crenelated brick wall strengthened by towers and bastions, and pierced by five principal gates and two posterns; but beyond this there are suburbs to the south. and west, which contain several important shrines and several great cisterns. The largest was built by the Aghlabite dynasty, and is capable of containing 5,800 cubic meters of water; a smaller one above of 4,000 cubic meters is intended to receive any débris that may be washed down, and allow only the clear water to flow into the main one. These have been thoroughly restored by the French.

The great mosque of Sidi Okba is the principal object of attraction, and occupies nearly all the northern angle of the town. It consists of a rectangle divided off into three parts-the portion exclusively reserved for worship, the vestibule adjoining it, and joining it, and a great cloistered court from which rises the minaret. The effect on entering the first is very grand. It contains seventeen naves, each of eight arches, supported by coupled marble and porphyry columns, the spoil of the chief Roman edifices in North Africa. There are 296 in this portion of the building, and 439 in the entire mosque. The entrance door is of beautifully sculptured wood, with a long inscription from the Koran in relief. The mihrab, or sacrarium, has the archivolt supported by two columns of alabaster, sent by one of the Byzantine emperors to Hassan Bin Naaman in 689. The walls are of exquisite plasterwork, through the openings of which can still be seen the original rude Mihrab of Sidi Okba, which has been jealously preserved in all the alterations and restorations to which the building has been subjected. The pulpit is of wood, splendidly carved, each panel being different. The court is surrounded by a double arcade, with coupled columns, and under it is an immense cistern, occupying the entire area. The most striking peculiarity of the mosque is the grand simplicity and cathedrallike aspect of the interior. There is nothing tawdry about it; everything speaks to the Moslem of the solemn character with which he invests his Jehovah.

The only spring of water in the city is the well called El-Barota, supposed to have a communication with Zemzem at Mecca. There are many other religious edifices, both in and outside the city, all of which can be visited, but the most important is the Djemaat-es-Sehebi, wherein is

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interred one of the companions of the Prophet, Abdullah ibn-Zemaa el-Beloui, whence its familiar name, Mosque of the Companion." With him are buried three hairs of the Prophet's beard-one under his tongue, one on his right arm, and the third next his heart. This has given rise to the superstition amongst Europeans that he was the Prophet's barber! The shrine of "the Companion" itself is a small chamber, with fine embroideries, but the architecture is in the worst taste. All the rest of the building, however the minaret, the vestibule and the cloister-are splendidly adorned with plasterwork and faïence, a perfect marvel of beauty.

A very interesting excursion from Kerouan, which is not now nearly as difficult as it used to be when the writer made it before the French occupation, is to Sbeitla, the ancient Sufetula, where the first great and disastrous encounter between Christianity and Mohammedanism in North Africa took place, when the army of Gregorius was utterly exterminated by Abdullah ibn-Saad, and so much booty was taken that every horse soldier got three thousand dinars and every foot soldier one thousand.

This ancient city must have been one of great magnificence; the form is still perfectly apparent,

and many of the streets can be traced in their entire course. It is full of ruins, but the most important is the Hieron, or sacred inclosure, on the north side of which are the magnificent remains of three temples, partly attached, and together forming one design. It is entered by a triumphal arch of excellent construction. The porticoes of the temples were each supported by six monolithic shafts of great size, and must have been on a splendid scale, judging from the sculptured fragments lying on the ground, of a very decorative character. The cellas are still pretty nearly entire. There are certainly no Roman ruins in North Africa to compare for extent and beauty with those of Sbeitla.

The second excursion which a traveler should make from Susa is to the Amphitheatre of ElDjem, which will require two days. It is all that remains of the ancient city of Thysdrus, where Gordian I. was proclaimed emperor. It is very similar to other edifices of its kind, but in some respects it surpasses all of them in magnificence. The first and third orders are Corinthian, the middle one is Composite, the fourth also was Corinthian, but it is not certain that it was ever finished.

Owing to the strength of its masonry, this vast building has often been used as a fortress, to the

great destruction of the fabric. Fully one-third of the perimeter has been thrown down, and the interior has suffered more than the exterior walls. Still directing our course southward, we come to Monastir, the ancient Ruspina, and farther

year of the reign of Richard II. (1390) the Christians took in hand a journey against the Saracens of Barbary, through sail of the Genoese; so that there went a great number of lords, knights and gentlemen of France and England, the Duke of Bourbon being their general. Out of England there were John de Beaufort, bastard son of the Duke of Lancaster, also Sir John Russell, Sir John Butler, Sir John Harcourt, and others. They set forward in the latter end of the thirteenth year of the king's reign and came to Genoa, where they remained

still to Mahadia, the Turris Hannibalis, or country seat of Hannibal, whence he embarked after his flight from Carthage. This is an interesting place to Englishmen, as being the scene of the very first expedition to North Africa in which their countrymen bore a part. The operation is thus described by Froissart: "In the thirteenth

until the galleys and other vessels of the Genoese were ready to pass them over into Barbary; and so about midsummer in the fourteenth year of the king's reign, the whole army, being embarked, sailed forth to the coast of Barbary, where, near to the city of Africa, they landed. At which instant the English archers stood all the company