Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/204

 1C6 NORTH-WEST AFRICA. with those of the Gulf of Hammamet. The inhabitants of Soliman are of Anda- liiaian origin, like those of several other towns of Dakhelat-el-Mahuin, and, according to Grenville Temple, many still retain the names of Spanish families. The plague of 1819 swept away more than two-thirds of the population of Soliman. The seven thermal springs of Hammam Kurhes (Gorbm), whose temperature (from 77° to 138° F.) is higher than any others in Tunis, rise on the coast not far from the promontory called Ras Fortas, exactly opposite Cape Carthage. About a dozen other boiling springs, visible from afar by the columns of steam arising from them, also bubble up from the sea not far from the shore. On the beach forming the extreme concave curve of the gulf, at the base of the escarp- ments of the " Two-horned " Mountain, flow other hot springs (104° F.), those of Hammam Lif or IIammam-el-Eiif which are used in an ancient palace of the Bey, soon to be replaced by a modern establishment, replete with every luxury and comfort. Autumn is more especially the season in which strangers, chiefly Jews, visit these waters. Hamraan Lif is already included in the extensive municipal jurisdiction of Tunis. Both places will ere long be connected by a railway, which is to be continued to Hammamet, and a small port is soon to be constructed at Hammam Lif. The Mountain of the Two Horns contains beds of argentiferous lead, which are not being worked ; but the Jebel Ressas, or " Mountain of Lead,'* which rises a little farther south, is being honeycombed by hundreds of miners, nearly all of whom are Italians. The basin of the Wed Melian discharges into the Gulf of Tunis near Hades, an ancient village which faces Carthage from the top of the hill on which it stands. Zayhtcan, the only town in this basin, may, like Hammam Lif, also be considered as a dependency of the neighbouring capital. Situated directly south of Tunis, between the heights of 530 and 780 feet, Zaghwan is the health-resort of the Tunisians, thanks to its pure air, its running waters, gardens, and groves of trees, amongst which are many European species. From this place the capital obtains its supply of water. In the near future it will become the outpost of Tunis, from a strategical and commercial point of view, by jneans of a railway which will com- mand the towns of the east and south, such as Siisa, Kairwan, and Gafsa. The newly opened routes have already transformed Zaghwan into a provisioning station and a centre of traffic. A well-preserved triumphal arch and some inscriptions prove that this town had been occupied by the Romans. At the time of the immigration of the Andalusian Moors, a colony of these fugitives was established at Zaghwan, which is still peopled by the descendants of these industrious artisans ; they are more especiilly engaged in cultivating the gardens, dyeing caps, or sheshias, and dressing skins. The water of Zaghwan is said to have peculiar properties for contracting tissues and preparing them to take the colours ; hence the caps of Tunis are preferred throughout the Levant to those of France and other countries. From the summits of the rugged mountain which commands Zaghwan, a splendid view can be had over the whole of north-eastern Tunis, from the coast of Susa to the headlands of Carthage. On one of the