Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/309

 I'lIlI.IPPEVILLE— JIJILI— SETIF. 249 tablets. The roost interesting building is the Moorish palace of the lost Bey, Ahmed, now occupied by the French staff. Near this structure are grouped the new municijml buildings, the Geographical Society, and the other learned institutes established since the French occupation. In order to make room for the continual growth of the city, it is proi^sed to level the Cudial-Ati hill, the site of the old necropolis at the south-west corner, and lay out the space thus acquired beyond the walls as a new quarter. Amongst the extensive remains scattered over the lower valley of the Rummel are the ruins of the fortified town of Tiddi, near which the right bank of the Smendu, a tributary of the same river, is occupied by the tomb of the Lollius family, one of the finest Roman monuments in Algeria. The Alsatian colonists settled in the surrounding villages of Rujfash, Aiu-Kerma, Belfort, Altkirch, and others, have in several places been allowed to utilise these remains for the con- struction of their dwellings. The rapidly increasing local and export trade of Constantine is furthered by several railways, all of which, however, have not stations in the city itself. Thus the junction of the Guclma-Tunis line is at Khrub {Khornb), the largest cattle market in East Algeria, while the two lines between Setif and the Sahara branch off at El'Guerra. East of this point the Algiers line approaches the Uj)per Rummel Valley, where are several centres of European colonisation, such as Aiii- iSmara, Wed Atmenin, C/tdfeaudun, Coit/mierts, Saiiit-Donat (a curious corruption of Saaduna), Paladines, and Saint Ariiaud. Here the Abd-en-Nur nomads have mostly acquired sedentary habits, and their habitations are now everywhere inter- mingled with those of the European settlers. Since the middle of. the century these Berber communities have ceased to speak their native tongue ; and many of them are noted for their light hair and blue eyes. The railway connecting Constantine with the coast winds along the slopes of the El-Kantur hills down to the plains of the Safsaf, which, till the French occupa- tion, were almost uninhabited. Near the line follow in succession the villages of Ji'zot and Conde- Smendu, and the little town of El-Hnrrush, surrounded by gardens and olive groves watered by the Safsaf. The neighbouring hamlets of Saint- Charles, Saint- Autoine, Damrimont, and Valee, have all become flourishing centres of viniculture. Philippeville — JiJiLi — Setif. P/iilippri/le, the seaport of Constantine, is not such a mo<lern place as its name might suggest. It occupies the site of the old Phoenician lius-Licar, the limicada of the Romans, modified to Itan-Skikda by the Arabs, and to Tasikda by the Tierbcrs. But since its occupation by the French in 1838, most of its monuments have disapjKjared, having been utilised for the erection of the extensive fortifi- cations which follow the crest of the hills from east to west, enclasing the whole town and large open spaces. There still remain, however, the ruins of a theatre 48— AF