Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/302

 1832, it became one of the chief naval stations on this coast. The present harbour, from 18 to 20 feet deep inshore, occupies an area of about 30 acres; while the outer port, protected from the surf by a pier 2,600 feet long, encloses an additional space of 175 acres. But its growing trade, especially with Algiers, Marseilles, and Tunis, requires further accommodation, and it is now proposed to convert a large portion of the outer harbour into a second basin, lined with quays reclaimed from the sea.

About one-third of the motley population of Bona are French, after whom the most numerous elements are the Italians and Maltese. There are about one thousand Kabyles and Mzabites, employed chiefly as porters and labourers, within the city proper, while several thousand natives reside in the outskirts grouped in the picturesque but squalid village of Beni-Ramasses. On the neighbouring Mount Edugh is a pleasant health-resort, whose advantages have hitherto been

somewhat neglected. From the crest of this eminence an extensive view is commanded of the surrounding hills falling northwards in terraces down to the coast, and in the opposite direction down to the depression of Lake Fetzara. On the northern slope, between Capes Garde and De Fer, the only group of habitations is the little fishing village of Herbillon (Takush); but the southern is more thickly inhabited, thanks to the iron-mines of Mokta-el-Iadid, which yield an excellent ore, almost as highly appreciated as that of Dalecarlia, and containing 62 per cent. of pure metal. Over a thousand workmen are employed in these mines, which yield about four hundred thousand tons annually, valued at £280,000, and exported to France, England, and even the New World. But the rich deposits of copper and zine found at Ain-Barbar, in the very heart of the Edugh district, are no longer worked, owing to the extreme difficulty of cartage.