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CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER IX

MEDRASEN--PIC DE CEDRES--TIMGAD, THE ALGERIAN POMPEII

A RIDE of two to three days southward from Constantine brings one to Biskra and the Sahara. The route leads over Ain Yacout, nine kilometres from which may be visited the highly-interesting Medrasen, or, as it is commonly called, the tomb of the Numidian kings. Some historians say it was built by the Massinissa family, others during the reign of Micipsa. The same slight haze seems to envelop the history of this monument, that floats in the air when precise facts as to the Numidians are sought after. The form is that of a truncated cone. It is composed of a series of twenty-four circular discs placed one above another, making steps fifty-eight centimetres high and ninety-seven wide. The upper disc has a diameter of eleven and a-half metres, and the lower of fifty-eight and a-half. A gallery was discovered in 1873, leading to a sepulchral chamber directly beneath the middle plate. The blocks of which the discs are made are large, and fit well together. It resembles "le Tombeau de la Chretienne" near Kolia, which served as a tomb for a whole family of Moorish kings.

Batna, one hundred and eighteen kilometres from Constantine, is a place of little importance, except as a starting-point for the ruins of Lambesa and Timgad. A profitable excursion may also be made to the Tougourt or Pic de Cédres, a mountain about six thousand feet high, commanding an extended view of the Aures mountains and the distant Sahara, as well as towards Constantine. The last fifteen hundred feet is covered by a primeval growth of remarkably large cedars. This historic tree, which is dying out in Algeria, struck, as the Arabs say, by celestial malediction, is best seen here and at Teniet-el-Had.

The trip, to be thoroughly enjoyed, should be made in May or June; but if the traveller is hardy, and not afraid of exposure, the cedars may be visited in March, and very grand they then are, standing up tall and black, with huge, spreading branches, from out the snow which covers the mountain top. We climbed to a point about half an hour from the summit, when the snow became so deep we were obliged to turn back.

Tourists should be warned not to stop at the "Maison Forestière," where those taking carriages from the Batna hotels are deposited by the driver, with the remark, "Here are the cedars; this is as far as we go." The average traveller, whose faith is firm in the judgment of the hotel-keeper and his menials, looks with disgust at a dwarf cedar perhaps two feet high, gets into the carriage and returns the long distance to Batna, determined never to search after another cedar. But the sensible man leaves his carriage at the house where the road ceases, and ascends the mountain on foot for at least two hours, which must be done in order to see the trees in their full growth and glory.

A bright cold morning saw us in the saddle at 6.15, with the ruins of Thamugas or Timgad, forty kilometres distant, as our objective point. Our hostess thought the expediency of using our rovers for this expedition doubtful, said the country was wild and hardly safe, and that before reaching Timgad, two and a-half kilometres from the highway, a river had to be crossed, over which there was no bridge. The last statement had a somewhat dampening effect upon our ardour, but we started, notwithstanding the parting remark of the coachman, faithful vassel of the hotel, who called after us, "Vous n'arriverez pas."

Reaching Lambesa, eleven kilometres from Batna, in good time, we stopped to inspect the Roman ruins there, consisting of the usual amphitheatre, baths, basilica, temple of Minerva, etc. The open-air museum contains, besides the relics found at Lambesa, a number of the best statues from Timgad. A short distance beyond Lambesa, another town was passed with Roman ruins, the last on the route, which now wound over bleak hills, and finally, for several kilometres, through a high valley shut in on one side by the snowy Aures, and at the horizon by the Djebel Mettili.

The kilometre stones ceased, as did all signs of human life upon the road. Now and then a broken Roman column or crumbling arch was sighted, which afforded evidence that the Ancients found this a fair land to live in if the people of to-day did not. At length we saw some Arab shepherd boys, whom we questioned, but they only smiled in a daft way at the mention of Timgad. We began to fear we might have missed the route, when we came to a house inhabited by a Frenchman and his Arab wife. From the former, who happened to be intoxicated, after he had recovered from his surprise at seeing us, we managed to glean the information that Timgad was ahead.

Some distance further on we saw a post standing at the entrance of a cart-path, which led over a meadow. From this we learned that Thamugas, Roman city, lay two and a-half kilometres away. We turned into the path, which proved to be so rough that we were obliged to dismount and push our cycles. A shepherd here joined us, who spoke a few words of French, and we questioned him about crossing the oued or river. He said there was no bridge, and offered to carry us and the wheels over on his back for a certain sum. Finding the stream to be about a hundred feet wide, and the water of the ford about two feet deep, we accepted his offer. We were rather surprised when he gave the money paid him to a tall, sinister-looking fellow, apparently about thirty years old, who at that moment came up, and who said he was his son. The truth of this statement we doubted, knowing that an Arab father, who exercises parental authority over his children till long after they are of age, would be very unlikely to surrender his purse so easily to his son. The older man then went back to his sheep. The so-called son followed us, much to our annoyance, to Timgad.

Thamugas or Timgad, at first one of the military posts established to keep in order the turbulent pupulation of the Aures, rose to importance as a city about the year 100, under Trajan. It increased rapidly in wealth and population, was embellished with magnificent forum, temples, theatre, baths and other buildings, and received the name of "Splendissima Civitas." From the reign of Trajan to that of Constantine, it enjoyed great prosperity, and became the centre of a large district covered with flourishing towns and farms. In 305 began its decline, and its fortunes waned during the remainder of that century. In 429 it was sacked by the Vandals, who ravaged the country.

Shortly afterwards, Salomon, lieutenant of Belisarius, finding the city deserted and destroyed, built a fortress with columns and slabs of the forum, the steps of the theatre and other similar materials, which, though an act of demolition, served to preserve much of archæological value that might otherwise have been lost. For a time peace reigned in Thamugas. Later, the Christian Berbers occupied the city, but were so harassed by the Arabs, that in 692 they withdrew into the mountains. Timgad, having withstood several earthquakes, was destroyed for the last time, about 700, by a fire.

Only the central part of the city around the forum and public buildings, and a few of the principal streets, have as yet been excavated but what has been brought to light shows a luxury and completeness, in all the appointments for public convenience, that could scarcely have been surpassed in Rome itself. Future work will doubtless bring to light valuable material. No statues of the highest art, so far as we could learn, have been discovered, but those seen compare favourably with similar contemporaneous remains in other parts of the Roman Empire. The limits of the ancient city are obscured by the débris under which the ruins are buried; but that it covered a large area is evident from the broken columns which project up from the undulating surface of the soil for a long distance on every side of the excavated portion.

Surrounded by these monuments of the past, which speak with a mute eloquence of the busy activities that were exercised here, the present fades from the mind and we are carried back to the time of Trajan and Constantine, when Timgad, splendissima with its noble buildings for men, and temples to the gods, was the pride of an emperor. We live again with the people who laboured here and lavished their time and treasure in fashioning and adorning the city until it became an epitome of beauty and elegance. We picture their despair when the war-cry of the Vandal was heard as he and his hosts bore down upon, overwhelmed and ruthlessly destroyed it. From the ruins of this civilisation, the fire of whose hearthstones was quenched twelve hundred years ago, comes the question--for what purpose was all this endeavour? why this wanton destruction of so much of the beautiful and useful?

As we left Timgad on our return, we noticed we were shadowed by the same fellow who had followed us up, together with a companion, who had joined him. Nothing was said until the river was reached, when, no other Arabs being in sight, we addressed the one who had taken the money in the morning, and offered him the same amount then paid to put us again on the other side. This he was too cunning to accept. Taking advantage of the fact that we were on the farther bank of the river, he demanded double the price offered. We remonstrated, and, among other arguments, threatened to ford the river ourselves, on which the companion, pointing to his ankles, which were bruised and red, said the bottom was covered with sharp stones, which would wound our feet in a similar manner.

Argument availing nothing, we yielded to his demand, making it clearly understood that he was to transport us and all our belongings over. First he carried one of the party across. On his return, from unwillingness to trust him and the rovers alone together, he was ordered to take them next. This he now refused to do unless the exorbitant price already agreed upon was doubled. He was told that, unless he carried out his contract, his further services would be dispensed with and he would forfeit his reward. Evidently, encouraged by our acquiescence in his previous demand, and not believing the threat would be executed, he remained obstinate. Whereupon, the remaining member of our party drew off his boots and stockings, shouldered one of the wheels, waded easily across on the smoothest of sand, returned and took over the other, the Arab watching the procedure with some astonishment.

Both Arabs followed, and with a third, who now appeared on the scene, stood near while stockings and boots were again being drawn on. When this operation was completed, and we were ready to start, the man was offered one-half the price agreed upon, although he had proved false to his contract, and had performed only one quarter the work. He refused the money, insisting on the whole amount. He was told he must take that, which was more than he deserved, or nothing. At this he stepped forward, with an ugly expression, and laid hold of one of the wheels. This action, together with the discovery of a long, dangerous-looking knife at his girdle, and the recollection of the evil reputation enjoyed by the nomads of the Aures, made it evident that further trifling was useless. The muzzle of a revolver, within six feet of his face, accompanied by some forcible expressions, convinced him we were not so helpless as we had appeared. He took the offered money, turned without a word, and with his two companions forded the river and walked away towards Timgad.

The ride through the lonely region in the morning had seemed long, although accomplished in three and a-half hours. The return was destined to be longer. The highway, from the point where the cart-path joined it, ascended steadily for some fifteen kilometres. The grade was not so sharp but that, under ordinary circumstances, it could have been ridden, but a strong wind, which blew directly in our faces, rendered riding impossible, and we were obliged to make that fifteen kilometres on foot. This was not a pleasant complication in view of the experience we had just had, for we did not know at what moment the baffled Arab might bring the whole tribe of his wild companions, whose tents were visible across the valley, in pursuit. It would have added to our sense of security had we been able on this occasion, as on some others in Algeria, when in a disagreeable neighbourhood, to ride swiftly on and leave it behind.

The country was open and the road fully exposed to the sweep of the wind, and it was long past noon before we could find a place sufficiently protected to warrant stopping to satisfy our hunger. Finally, we drew up behind a clump of thorn bushes, which afforded a partial shelter from the cold blast, and opened our satchels. It is our custom, when en route for the whole day, to carry our luncheon with US. This secures entire independence, and saves time, which is of great importance on a long trip. It also assures a noon meal, which would often otherwise have to be dispensed with, since, in a sparsely-settled country, the uncertainty of arriving at mid-day in a town with an inn is very great.

Those who have not tried it do not realise the zest given to an unconventional meal in the open air by an appetite sharpened by a good morning's work. Sometimes one lunches beneath the soft skies of joyous spring days, amid grand scenery, by babbling crystal fountains, at other times overshadowed by threatening clouds, or perchance by the dusty roadside, under a burning sun, with no water to be had in miles.

Ten kilometres before Batna the wind ceased and a pouring rain began, which added the pleasure of a good soaking to the other adventures of the day. Arrived at the hotel, the landlady remarked, she had felt all day we ought to have taken a carriage to Timgad.