Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/356

 286 NOETH-WEST AFEICA. Matamore, to the west Mostaganem proper, which has been almost entirely rebuilt in the European style. During the sway of Kheired-Din in the sixteenth century Mostaganem was one of the great cities of Algeria, and before the opening of the Algiers-Oran railway it formed the commercial centre of the Shelif basin. At present it has fallen to the position of a secondary town with an exposed roadstead, and without railway communication with the interior. South and west are some populous villages, of which the largest is Abukir, and the most celebrated Mazagran, memorable for the gallant defence of its small French garrison in 1840. Near the source of the river Makta lies the modern town of Sau/a, which is the central station of the railway running from Arzeu across the plateaux, beyond the region of the shotts, in the direction of the southern wastes. Some six miles farther south is the large village of Ain-el-IIajar, a centre of the alfa industry, peopled almost exclusively by Spaniards. On a southern terrace of the Beni- Shugran uplands stands Mascara, or the " permanent camp," a former capital of Algeria, and at present one of the chief towns of an arrondissement in the province of Oran. As a commercial and agricultural centre Mascara still enjoys consider- able importance. About 12 miles to the south-west are the mineral waters of Bu-IIancfia, known to the Romans under the name of Aqiice. Sirenses. In the Mascara district prehistoric monuments, as well as the remains of large extinct animal sj^ecies, are numerous. Here were found the skeletons of the elephas ntlanticus, and of a variety of the camel, showing that this animal, which was not found in Mauritania during the early historic period, formed part of the local fauna at an older geological epoch. Perr^gaux, wjiich marks the spot where the Algiers-Oran and Arzeu-Saida railways cross each other, enjoys some importance as a depot for agricultural produce. The district is watered by canals derived from the Habra, in whose valley has been constructed the largest artificial lake in Algeria, containing at times some 1,400,000,000 cubic feet of water. Its barrage, which is 1,480 feet long and 110 feet high, and which has occasionally given way, was constructed by a financial company which farms a domain of 65,000 acres in the Macta valley below the Ilabra and Sig confluence. The centre of this estate is Debrousseville, which is surrounded by extensive vineyards. Arzeu — Oran. Notwithstanding its Arab name, Sidi bel Abbes, on the banks of the Mekerra (Sig), is quite a modem place, dating only from the year 1845. It is the capital of an arrondissement and one of the most charming and flourishing towns in Algeria. North of it and on the same river lies the new town of Saint- Denis, in the centre of a rich and well-cultivated district. Beyond this point the Macta, formed by the junction of the Sig and Ilabra, reaches the coast near the little harbour of Port anx Ponies, north-west of which is the flourishing seaport of Arzeti, one of the best havens on the exposed Algerian seaboard. Occupying the site of