Cook's Practical Guide to Algeria and Tunisia

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ...shops are also on that side, overlooking the mountains opposite; the edge of this terrace towers over a depth of about 2,000 feet. The fortified town, or fort as it is called, was built by the French in 1857 as a protection against the neighbouring turbulent Kabyle tribes, and after the insurrection of 1871 the citadel commanding the fort was added. The barracks, arsenal, and other buildings, occupied by a battalion of Zouaves from 600 to 800 strong, are well worth visiting, and the view from the highest point over the Sebaou valley across to the mighty Djurdjura mountains is one of the most extensive in all Algeria. Fort National is a good centre for several excursions. One of the most interesting, by mule or on foot, is to the Kabyle villages of Benni Yenni (12 kilometres). These villages, four in number, are perched on steep places in the mountain, surrounded by precipices. The tribes, numbering 6,000, are very industrious, celebrated for the manufacture of pottery, moulded by hand by women; also for the manufacture of pretty silver jewellery, either plain or enamelled, articles of furniture inlaid with tin, and arms of various kinds. A still shorter excursion of the same description is that to the picturesque village of Taourirt Amokrane, about3kilometresfrom Fort National. It is advisable to walk down the steep path to the right a short distance from outside the fort; then take a mule (or walk) along the spur of the mountain to the end of the village overlooking the valley, visiting one or two of the Kabyle houses to see in what conditions of dirt and discomfort these sober and industrious tribes are contented to live. Another easy excursion is that to The Obelisk of Icherriden, but if the traveller is going on to Michelet he can visit the monument en ...