A Three Weeks' Tour from Algiers to Tunis
For a visit to this interesting French colony the traveler has choice of several lines of steamships, which, without troublesome transfers at intermediate points, sail directly for, or touch at, either or both of the two principal commercial ports of Algeria-Oran and Algiers. From New York and Boston (in winter), from Liverpool, Gibraltar, Marseilles, Naples, etc., steamers can be taken; but from whatever port the traveler sails, Algiers should be selected as the starting point for his trips to the interior of the country.
| 1st day 2d |
Algiers has been compared, when viewed from the sea, to a diamond, set in an emerald frame. The old town is very hilly. Ascent to the Rue de la Kasba is by a flight of nearly five hundred steps. The European quarter, Mustapha Superior, is beautifully situated amid gardens and pine woods, with lovely views of the Bay of Algiers. Here is located the summer palace of the governor-general of the French possessions in Africa |
| 3rd day 4th |
Michelet. Leave Algiers by rail for Tizi-Orizon (four hours), thence by carriage along one of the most beautiful roads in Algeria to Michelet. From Michelet make excursion by carriage to Fort National, a walled and fortified town in the very center of the beautiful district of Kabylia. Views from' the fort, which is 3,153 feet above sea-level, are magnificent |
| 5th day 6th |
Bourgie. Leave Michelet by carriage through some of the finest scenery in the country for El Kseur, where rail is taken (total time, ten hours). The town of Bourgie is built on the slope of a hill commanding glorious views, and has been possessed successively by Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Spaniards, Turks . and French, and all have left considerable traces of their occupation. |
| 7th day | Kharata. Drive along the beautiful valley of Oued Agrioun until finally it enters the famous gorge of the Chabet el Akhira, a huge defile seven kilometers in length, running tortuously between two mountains from 5,000 to 6,000 feet in height. |
| 8th day | Setif (by carriage in nine hours). An ancient Roman town. |
| 9th day 10th |
Batna (ten hours by rail from Setif) , from which point excursions can be made to the Roman remains at Lambessa and Timgad. |
| 11th day 12th |
Biskra (four hours by rail from Batna). The capital of the Oasis of Biskra, called by the Arabs " the queen of the desert," and the scene of Robert Hichens' romantic story. |
| 13th day 14th |
Constantino (eight hours by rail through the famous Gorge of El Kantara). The capital of the easternmost province of Algeria, whose striking situation has been declared to surpass that of any other city in the world. |
15th day |
Hammam-Meskhoutin (four hours from Constantine), celebrated for its mineral springs, whose waters come forth at nearly boiling point. The source of the springs presents an extraordinary and almost unearthly sight, issuing from the earth in a succession of small cascades; the steaming waters fall into a wooded glen, enshrouded by hills; and alongside the hot stream into which they unite below, the natives may be seen cooking their food and washing their clothes. |
| 17th day 18th 19th 20th |
Tunis (ten hours by rail from Hamman-Meskhoutin), "The Burnous of the Prophet," capital of the state of Tunis, now under the protection of France, and practically as much a part of French territory as is the adjoining colony of Algeria. The city reminds one of the picture of Bagdad in " The Arabian Nights." The Bardo, formerly Palace of the Beys, shows fine examples of Arabian architecture, and in and about the city there is much else to interest the inquiring traveler. Interesting excursions to the site of ancient Carthage should be made, and to the Mosque of Okba at Kairouan. In the English cemetery at Tunis is a monument to John Howard Payne, the author of the most popular song in the English language, " Home, Sweet Home." Payne was the United States consul, and was buried here in 1852. His body was removed in 1883 to its final resting place in Oakhill Cemetery, Washington, D.C. |
| 21st day | From Tunis steamers can be taken to Naples or other ports of Italy, or to France. |
