OUR PARIS LETTER.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3904, 4 July 1881, Page 2

OUR PARIS LETTER.

(FBOM OUB OWN COBBEBPONDENT.)

VARIETIES,

Tujsis.—- The town of Tunis is situated at twelve kilometres from the sea between two lakes, one of them communicating with the Mediterranean by the Bay of Tunis. It is called the Lake of Tunis or La Goletta, on account of the small town of that name situated between the lake and the sea, which serves as a harbor to the capital of the Regency. The Arabs call it Xl Ba Hivoc, or the small sea ; it is about five leagues in circumference, and on its eastern shore is the railway line from Tunis to La Golletta belonging to the Hubatins Company, and supported by the Italian Government. The Lake of Tunis is not more than one or two metres deep, and can only be used by light boats. In the middle of it is a small island called Chickli, where a fort, now in ruins, was formerly erected. The other lake, situated behind the town, is called Sebkdaes Seldjoum; it is a salt lake, dry in summer. Tunis spreads itself gracefully in the form of an amphitheatre on a slightly inclined slope, presenting to the traveller arriving by the lake and the railway the appearance of a large square fortress, flanked by two long bastions—the Souika Suburb to the north, and the Djezira to the south. The town itself measures 1,600 metres in length, by 800 in breadth, and is surrounded by an embattled wall, flanked with towers, and surmounted on the south side on the summitt of the hill by the citadel or kasbah. The two suburbs, each as large as the town, are also surrounded by walls to the south and west, but open towards the Lake Badira, on the banks of which both of them have lately been spreading rapidly. A few forts on the heights to the west and south, the Admed Eais, Laona, and El Oustani, complete the defences of Tunis. The population at. present exceeds one hundred thousand* inhabitants, accomodated with railways gasworks, and telegraphs. European civilisation having gradually penetrated to the capital of the Regency, Tunis has, however, remained more an Oriental City than any other city on the north of Africa. With the exception of the Place de la Bourse, situated in the Frank or European quarter of the place facing the Palace of the Beyand of that of the Kasbah, which are open and airy, all theother quarters of the town are composed of narrow, filthy winding passages, full of a dirty, noisy, ragged population, always stretched on the ground. The European, quarter at the foot of the town is the only one which contains fine houses,' shops, and the residence of European Consuls, with the exception of the French Consul, who occupies a former palace of the Beyontside, the former near the lake. All round this quarter are the fondorcks, a sort of caravansaries, the residence of the Italian, Maltese, and Greek workmen, who form the principal European population of Tunis. From the Place de la Bourse two long streets cut the town its two ; one goes up to the Xasbad, and the other to the Louks or bazaars. The perfume bazaar is the first of the twenty-five in Tunis. Those of stuffs, leather, and jewellery are the richest and most remarkable. The Jewish quarters are spread in the middle of the Arab town. The Arabs quarters appear relatively clean compared to those occupied by the Jews, which offer ... the most disgusting appearance. Tunis" contains a great number of mosques ; four of the most important are the Maliki for Mahometans, and five for the Hanifi. la the 17th century it is said that there were more than 155 mosques in the town. There are forty professors paid by private foundations. The finest mosque is the one of Djema-ei-Zithoun, or the mosqni 1 of the Olive-tree, the architecture oP which ia worth noticing. It is in that mosque that religious instruction is given to the fifteen hundred Mussulman student! who reside in the Medregas or grand seminaries of the town. The palace off - the Bey, situated near the stuff bazaar, is r inhabited by the sovereign only during the Ramadan. It is a poor building, facing the place of the Kasbak. His real residence is the palace of Bardo, a fortress situated a few kilometres to the N.W. of Tunis, near the railway. The Bardo is not only the Bey's palace, it is also the residence of the Ministers and grand officers: it is a small fortified town, with annexes of all sorts, streets, passages, bazaars, prisons, etc To reach the Bey's palace it is necessary to go through the Court of Lions, a very picturesque hall. The apartments of the Bey are furnished partly in the European, partly in the Oriental fashion, with gorgeous luxury. The marble, gold, rich draperies, most wounderful and expensive decorationsnothing has been spared to embellish this residence, where reign not only the Bey, but a Court of functionaries anxious to make a rapid fortune by delapidating the. State and levying contributions on && There are no less than one hundred a*ae« rals and two hundred colonels for th^thijeeor four thousand soldiers fominft the* Tunisian army, and most of. these oißoul* live at the Bardo or at ih» Jtey's palace in* Tunis. These offals, are generally very amiable people, always willing to shoipr you trough, the. palaces for a fee.