Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/225

 arcades, which can be followed for some distance into the interior of the rock. Some splendid Roman cisterns have also been preserved. The French have chosen El-Kef as their military centre, from which to command the whole region comprised between Kairwan, Tebessa, and Suk Ahras, and the garrison they have stationed has greatly increased the local trade. El-Kef is connected with the Tunis railway by two rough carriage roads which pass through Neber, a small hamlet surrounded by gardens. A geographical and archaeological society has been recently founded at Kef.

In the Mejerda valley, the rising village of Ghardimau, the present frontier military station and custom-house, stands at the mouth of the gorges through

which the river emerges from the Algerian plateau on the rich central Tunisian plains. In spite of the natural importance of this position, which is defended by a fortress, Ghardimau is still a mere collection of wretched hovels. Far different was the Roman colony of Simittu, whose ruins lie north-east of Ghardimau, between two rocky bluffs commanding the plain. Simittu, the Shemtu of the present day, was one of the principal stations on the route from Carthage to Hippo; its site is indicated by the ruins of its amphitheatre and of the bridge which here spanned the Mejerda, continuing the route from Sicca Veneria to the port of Tabarca. The cliffs which tower above Shemtu are composed of beautiful pink, yellow, green, and purple-veined marbles, which the Roman emperors