Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/184

 150 NOETH-WEST AFRICA. and overflow into the new quarter which has been built along the beach outside the south-western ramparts. Viewed from afar, all that is visible of Sfakes are the white walls of its quadrangular enclosure and the tall minarets of its mosques. The towers, battlements, and angular bastions give the whole more of a mediaeval aspect than is presented by any of the other fortified Tunisian towns. At the southern angle of the ramparts stands a citadel said to have been built by Christian slaves. Situated as it is, at a considerable elevation on a sloping ground, Sfakes has no permanent streams, nor even springs or wells, and all the water used in the town is drawn from numerous cisterns within and without the fortifications. A few Roman remains are to be seen in the suburbs, but no inscription has yet been found which enables this town to be identified with any of the Roman stations mentioned by classical writers, although it most probably stands on the site of the ancient Tnphritra. Some 12 miles to the south-west, on the shores of the gulf, is the ruined town of Thin^, evidently identical with the Thince of the Romans. This place stood at the extreme point of the ditch which Scipio the younger had excavated in the south of the Roman territory, in order to separate it from the country of the Nuiuidians. Some two or three thousand Jews and Europeans (Maltese, Italians, and French), dwell in Sfakes, nearly all in Rabat, or the lower town, where the trading interests are chiefly concentrated ; a recently planted boulevard now connects this quarter with the camp situated north of the town. The Mussulmans live in the upper town, within the ramparts. The " Sfaksika," or people of Sfakes, differ in some respects from their Tunisian co-religionists, with whom they are unwilling to be identified. Hence they may be at once recognised by a special costume, although the chief difference lies in their mental characteristics. They are more enterpris- ing, fonder of work, much more intelligent, and altogether more active and solid than their neighbours. They are said to be zealous Mussulmans, the very children frequenting the mosques, and the women never, as elsewhere, neglecting their prayers. At the time of the occupation of Tunis by the French troops in 1881, the Sfaksikas also gave proof of their patriotic spirit : almost single-handed they resisted the invasion, and fought desperately during the bombardment, which they might have easily avoided. Many of the institutions of Sfakes show the extent of the public spirit of the people ; not only have they founded mosques and convents, but also a hospital" which is well supported. Outside the walls a central reservoir, called the " Help," is due to the munificence of one citizen. The ** 365 " secondary cisterns which surround it, disposed like the crypts of a necropolis, also bear witness to the brotherly feeling by which the rich are animated towards their poorer Mussulman brethren. Other yast reservoirs have been constructed in the suburbs of the town, and some houses are provided with an apparatus which enables the wayfarer to quench his thirst by drawing through an open pipe the water of a hidden cistern. A project is now in hand to construct an aqneduct some 36 miles long, which is intended to supply the town with water from the Bu-Hedma height.*. The people of Sfakes show their love of work by their