Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/180

 148 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. quarries, und with a cavern called the grotto of the " Seven Sleepers " From the summit of this hill, commanding the narrowest isthmus between the Shott-el- Jerid and the Shott Garsa, an admirable view can be obtained of the chain of oases and of the two vast basins of lacustrine origin, which stretch away to the east and west bevond the horizon. In the north rise the mountains whence the Hamamma spies sit^naled the approach of caravans or of solitary travellers to the marauders lying in ambush by the roadside. Not far from Kriz, on the north margin of the Shott- el- Jerid, there is to be seen a round figure surmounted by a crescent, carved on the face of a rook. According to 1 issot this device, representing the moon, is a remnant of the old Libyan religion. In some respects the inhabitants of the Jerid differ in their manners and customs from the surrounding tribes, who accuse them of eating the flesh of the dog. In (he valley of the wed whiih, under the name of Tarfawi, or "River of the Tamarisks," ultimately runs dry in the sands at the eastern extremity of the Shott Garsa, follow in succession a few oases, between which intervene wild solitudes. Towards the source of the wed, here called Bii-IIaya, occurs the first oasis, that of Ferianft, whose two distinct hamlets constitute a zawya or religious establishment for the nomads in the vicinity, who belong to the Ulad Sidi-Abid tribe, and who form a kind of brotherhood. The wretched buildings of Feriana are a poor substitute for the monuments of the Roman city, probably T/ielej>fc, which formerly stood in the vicinity. The ruins explored by M. Guerin occupy a space of at l^ast tlireem'iles in circumference, and nearly all the blocks of stone used in erecting the public buildings, baths, theatres, and even private houses, are of enormous size. The mountain whence this stone was obtained has been quarried to a vast depth ; entire strata have disappeared, and the summit is now crowned by an ancient castle, liesides the ruins oi Mediiict-cl-Kdilimah, ov the "Old City," numerous Roman remains, especially tombs, are also found on both banks of the wed, now almost uninhabited. South of Feriana is a rock which has been blackened as if by fire, whence its nunc of Ilajar Soda, or " Black Rock." Another rock of similar appearance has boon discovered near the El-Hamma oasis by M. Guerin, who supposes that these '• Black Rocks " are aerolites. The Gnfxa oasis, occasionally looked upon as belonging to the Jerid, although it is separated from the isthmus of Kriz by a waterless desert zone of a day's march in extent, is situated on the principal bend of the "Wed Beyash, which is a continuation of the upper course of the Bu-Haya and becomes the Tarfawi farther down. The town, which of all those in southern Tunis has the largest number of inhabitants living in a compact group of houses, stands on a terrace surrounded by a circle of rocks and mountains a few miles distant. One of these mountains is pierced by deep quarries, which branch off into labj'rinthine passages. Founded by Melkart, or the Libyan Hercules, the Kafaz, or " Walled Town " of the Phoenicians, and the Roman C-ipsn, whose name has hardly changed during the course of centuries, is, according to Mannert, synonymous with the fiiiy of Hecatompylic, where Hanno gained his famous victory during the second Punic war. The strategical importance of an oasis situated on the extreme verge of