Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/312

 252 • NORTH-WEST AFRICA. The port, already sheltered from the west, might be easily protected from the north by filling up the gaps in a coral reef, which stretches from the old town eastwards to an islet, on which a lighthouse has already been constructed. The neighbouring villages of Ditquesne and Strasbourg, on the route to Constantino, have become independent centres of European colonisation. In the Wed Sahel basin the chief place is Sefif, the Roman Siti/is, which, thanks to its central position at the converging point of several routes across the plateau, became in the fourth century the capital of one of the Mauri tanias. But for some time after the French occupation it was a mere military station, affording protection to a small European settlement. Since then it has increased rapidly, and is now an important agricultural centre, surrounded by several large rural communities. Some of these places owe their origin to a colonising society of Geneva, which has acquired 50,000 acres of rich land from the French Government. Next to Setif, the largest commune in this district is Ain-Abessa, which lies on the slope of the Maghris, between the two routes over the hills connecting Setif with the port of Bougie. One of these routes runs through Takititnt, Kerrata, and the gorges of the Tubabor, the other through Ain-Rua and the Wed Guergur. Both are remarkable monuments of engineering skill, presenting in their descent from the plateaux to the coast some aspects of imposing grandeur. The modern town of Bu-Arrerij, the chief place in the fertile Mejana Valley, stands at an elevation of over 3,000 feet, near the waterparting between the Wed- Sahel and Ilodna basins, and midway between Constantino and Algiers, on the railway connecting those cities. Before the conquest, Bu-Arrerij held a position of great strategic importance near the gorges of the Biban range leading from the plateaux to the Sahel Valley. About 15 miles north-west of this point, on a bluff in the same range, stands the chief stronghold of the country, the Kalaa (Gala, Guela), or " Castle " in a pre-eminent sense. This citadel of the powerful Beni- Abbes tribe also served as a place of refuge for those flying from the wrath of the Deys and their vassals. Here are woven burnouses highly prized in every part of Algeria. AuMALE — Bougie. In the western part of the Wed-Sahel basin, Aumak, the Roman Auzia, occupies a strategic position similar to that of Setif and Bu-Arrerij farther east. After the French occupation in 1846, its defensive works were restored, and it soon became one of the chief bulwarks of their power in the interior of Algeria. It has also become the centre of a large trade in cereals, wool, leather, dates, alfa, live stock, and other produce of the Tell. But lying beyond the network of railways, Aumale is a very quiet place, except on market-days. Here have been found numerous sculptured fragments and inscriptions, the remains of the ancient Auzia. In the neighbourhood are the populous villages of Bir-Rabaln and Ain-Bessem, and lower down the Sahel Valley the fortalice of Beni-Mansur. Of the numerous agricultural settlements founded in this district, the most important is Ak-bu, officially known