Harry Johnston

“ Coast Features.—The coast is a good deal indented, almost all the headlands projecting from north-east to south-west. A good deal of the seaboard is dangerous by reason of the sharp rocks which lie near the surface. As most of the rivers have rapids or falls actually at the sea coast or close to it, they are, with the exception of the Cavalla, useless for penetrating far inland, and the whole of this part of Africa from Cape Palmas north-west to the Senegal suggests a sunken land. ”

“ There is another very dense forest stretching with little interruption from the eastern side of the St Paul’s river nearly to the Cavalla. The Nidi forest is noteworthy for its magnificent growth of Funtumia rubber trees. It extends between the Duobe and the Cavalla rivers. The extreme north of Liberia is still for the most part a very well-watered country, covered with a rich vegetation, but there are said to be a few breaks that are rather stony and that have a very well-marked dry season in which the vegetation is a good deal burnt up. ”

“ In the third quarter of the 19th century not more than a tenth part of the fertile land was under cultivation, and the yearly charge on the public debt exceeded the whole annual revenue. In these circumstances only the rivalry of the European powers that had interests in Tunisia protracted from year to year the inevitable revolution. ”

“ Frontier troubles had however little effect on the remainder of the protectorate. In 1904–1905 there were famines and some native discontent in the south of Tunisia; but in general the country has prospered amazingly under the French protectorate. The native dynasty has been strengthened rather than weakened, and Tunisia may be pointed out as the best and wisest example of French administration over an alien land and race. Though on a smaller scale it is worthy to be set as a pendant to the British work in Egypt. ”

“ At the south-eastern extremity of Tunisia there is a clump of mountainous country, the wind-and-water-worn fragments of an ancient plateau, which for convenience may be styled the Matmata table-land. Here altitudes of over 3000 ft. are reached in places, and in all the upper parts of this table-land there is fairly abundant vegetation, grass and herbage with low junipers, but with no pine trees. Fairly high mountains (in places verging on 4000 ft.) are found between Gafsa and the salt lakes of the Jerīd. ”

“ Flora.—The flora of Tunisia is very nearly identical with that of Algeria, though it offers a few species either peculiar to itself or not found in the last-named country. On the whole its character is less Saharan than that of arts of Algeria, for the influences of the desert do not penetrate so far north in Tunisia as they do in Algeria. ”

“ But perhaps the ablest statesman that this American-Negro republic has as yet produced is a pure-blooded negro—President Arthur Barclay, a native of Barbados in the West Indies, who came to Liberia with his parents in the middle of the 19th century, and received all his education there. ”

“ On the north-eastern littoral of Tunisia the population is very mixed. The inhabitants of the Cape Bon Peninsula show evident signs of Greek blood arising from Greek' invasions, which began in prehistoric times and finished with the downfall of the Byzantine Empire in North Africa. The presence of the Romans, and the constant introduction of. the Italians, first as slaves, and quite recently as colonists, has also added an Italian element to the north Tunisian population. ”

“ There are three custom-houses, or ports of entry on the Sierra Leone land frontier between the Moa river on the north and the Mano on the south, and nine ports of entry along the coast. At all of these Europeans are allowed to settle and trade, and with very slight restrictions they may now trade almost anywhere in Liberia. The rubber trade is controlled by the Liberian Rubber Corporation, which holds a special concession from the Liberian government for a number of years, and is charged with the preservation of the forests. ”

“ It would seem probable that at one time these shats (at any rate the Shat el Jerīd) were an inlet of the Mediterranean, which by the elevation of a narrow strip of land on the Gulf of Gabes has been cut off from them. It is, however, a region of past volcanic activity, and these salt depressions may be due to that cause. Man is probably the principal agent at the present day in causing these shats to be without water. All round these salt lakes there are numerous springs, gushing from the sandy hillocks. Almost all these springs are at a very hot temperature, often at boiling point. ”

“ Arab and Berber have mingled to some extent, though no considerable fusion of the two elements has taken place. In fact, it is thought by some French students of the country that the Arab element will probably be eliminated from Tunisia, as it is the most unsettled. It is considered that these nomads will be gently pushed back towards the Sahara, leaving cultivable Tunisia to the settled Berber stock, a stock fundamentally one with the peoples of Mediterranean Europe. ”

“ Many of the indigenous races of Liberia in the forest belt beyond 40 m. from the coast still practise cannibalism. In some of these forest tribes the women still go quite naked, but clothes of a Mahommedan type are fast spreading over the whole country. Some of the indigenous races are of very fine physique. In the Nidi country the women are generally taller than the men. No traces of a Pygmy race have as yet been discovered, nor any negroes of low physiognomy. ”

“ The indigenous population must be considered one of the assets of Liberia. The native population—apart from the American element—is estimated at as much as 2,000,000; for although large areas appear to be uninhabited forest, other parts are most densely populated, owing to the wonderful fertility of the soil. ”

“ The wild boar inhabits the country, in spite of much persecution at the hands of “chasseurs.” The forested regions shelter the handsome Barbary red deer, which is peculiar to this region and the adjoining districts of Algeria. In the extreme south, in the Sahara desert, the addax antelope is still found. The hartebeest appears now to be quite extinct; so also is the leucoryx, though formerly these two antelopes were found right up to the centre of Tunisia, as was also the ostrich, now entirely absent from the country. ”

“ But all Christians and foreigners are directly governed by the French, and the native administration is supervised by a staff of thirteen French contrôleurs and their French and Tunisian subordinates. Seven of the departments of state have Frenchmen at their head, the other two, Tunisians: thus the larger proportion of the Bey's ministers are French. France is directly represented in Tunisia by a minister resident-general, and by an assistant resident. The French resident-general is the virtual Viceroy of I'unisia, and is minister for foreign affairs. ”

“ The mean annual temperature at Susa is 75° F., the mean of the winter or rainy season 60° and of the hot season 97°. At Tunis the temperature rarely exceeds 90°, except with a wind from the Sahara. The prevailing winds from May to September are east and north-east and during the rest of the year north-west and east. A rainy season of about two months usually begins in January; the spring season of verdure is over in May; summer ends in October with the first rains. Violent winds are common at both equinoxes. In the Tunisian Sahara rain is most uncertain. ”

“ The retama shrub is met with in sandy districts, especially in the Sahara, but also right up to the north of Tunisia. The wild olive, the wild cherry, two species of wild plums, the myrtle, the ivy, arbutus, and two species of holly are found in the mountains of Khmiria, at various sites at high elevation near Tunis and Bizerta, and along the mountainous belt of the south-west which forms the frontier region between Tunisia and Algeria. ”

“ The highest point which the mountains attain in this division of Tunisia is about 4125 ft., near Ain Draham in Kroumiria. The country, however, about Bizerta is very mountainous, though the summits do not attain a greater altitude than about 3000 ft. The district between Bizerta and the Gulf of Tunis is a most attractive country, resembling greatly the mountainous regions of South Wales. It is well watered by streams more or less perennial. The principal river, the Majerda, is formed by the junction of the Wad Malleg and the Wad Kkallad. ”

“ It may be noted, however, as a general condition that the native towns and villages of Tunisia, where they have not been spoiled by the shocking tastelessness of Mediterranean Europe, are exceedingly picturesque, and offer exceptional attractions to the painter.
Industries.—Agriculture is the principal industry. Oats, wheat and barley are the chief crops in the north. In the central region the olive is largely cultivated, in the south the date-palm. Viticulture is also of importance; almonds, oranges, lemons, &c., are also grown for export. ”

“ The native tribes belong more or less to the following divisions, commencing on the west, and proceeding eastwards: (1) Vai, Gbandi, Kpwesi, Mende, Buzi and Mandingo (the Vai, Mende and Mandingo are Mahommedans) ; all these tribes speak languages derived from a common stock. (2) In the densest forest region between the Mano and the St Paul’s river is the powerful Gora tribe of unknown linguistic affinities. (3) In the coast region between the St Paul’s river and the Cavalla (and beyond) are the different tribes of Kru stock and language family—Dē, Basā, Gibi, Kru, Grebo, Putu, Sikoñ, &c. ”

“ In the south communication is maintained chiefly by camel caravans.
Posts and Telegraphs.—The whole of Tunisia is covered with a network of telegraph lines (2500 m.) , and there are telephones working in most of the large towns. The telegraph system penetrates to the farthest French post in the Sahara, is connected with the Turkish system on the Tripolitan frontier and with Algeria, and by cable with Sicily, Malta, Sardinia and Marseilles. There is an efficient post office service, with about 400 post offices. ”

“ This Strophanthus is not remarkable for its rubber—which is mere bird lime—but for the powerful poison of its seeds, often used for poisoning arrows, but of late much in use as a drug for treating diseases of the heart. Coffee of several species is indigenous and grows wild. ”

“ Physical Features.—Geographically speaking, Tunisia is merely the eastern prolongation of the Mauretanian projection of northern Africa, of that strip of mountainous, fertile and fairly well-watered. country north of the Sahara desert, which in its flora and its fauna, and to some extent in its human race, belongs rather to Europe than to Africa. ”

“ But from the fact that the bulk of the Tunisian population belongs to the Iberian section of the Berbers, and to this being no doubt the fundamental stock of most Italian peoples, the intermixture of the Italianized Berber with his African brother has not much affected the physique of the people, though it may have slightly tinged their mental characteristics. ”

“ Gold is present in some abundance in the river sand of central Liberia, and native reports speak of the far interior as being rich in gold. Iron—haematite—is present almost everywhere. There are other indications of bitumen, besides those mentioned, in the coast region of eastern Liberia. ”

“ In these two regions the date palm is never met with growing naturally wild. Its presence is always due to its having been planted by man at some time or another, and therefore it is never seen far from human habitations. ”

“ This region beyond the hundred-miles coast belt is far more agreeable and healthy to Europeans. Forests.—Outside a coast belt of about 20 m. and south of 8° N. the country is one vast forest, except where the natives have cleared the land for cultivation. In many districts the land has been cleared and cultivated and then abandoned, and has relapsed into scrub and jungle which is gradually returning to the condition of forest. The densest forest of all would seem to be that known as Gora, which is almost entirely uninhabited and occupies an area of about 6000 sq. ”

“ The alfa and cork industries employ large numbers of persons, as do also the sardine, anchovy and tunny fisheries. The fisheries are in the hands of Italians, Maltese and Greeks. There are large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats. About 60,000 acres are cultivated by French immigrants and about 15,000 acres by Italians. ”

“ They offered a singular attraction to the Romans, and their presence in remote parts of the country no doubt was often the principal cause of Roman settlement. Even at the presentMineral Springs. day their value is much appreciated by the natives, who continue to bathe in the mined Roman baths. The principal mineral springs of medicinal value are those of Korbus and Hammam Lif (of remarkable efficacy in rheumatic and syphilitic affections and certain skin diseases) , of the Jerīd and Gafsa, of El Hamma, near Gabes, and of various sites in the Kroumir country. ”

“ Order is maintained in Liberia to some extent by a militia. The population of Americo-Liberian origin in the coast regions is estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000. To these must be added about 40,000 civilized and Christianized negroes who make common cause with the Liberians in most matters, and have gradually been filling the position of Liberian citizens. ”

“ The inhabitants of the coast towns belong, in large. part, to the class generally known as “Moors.” The pure Turks and the Kuluglis (sons of Turkish fathers by Moorish women. or slave girls) are no longer numerous. Among the “Moors” the descendants of the Andalusian refugees form an exclusive and aristocratic class.
The present population of Tunisia numbers approximately 2,000,000, and consists of:—
Towns.—Besides the capital, Tunis, the chief towns of Tunisia are Sfax, Susa and Kairwan. ”

“ Administration.—From a native's point of view Tunisia still appears to be governed by the Bey of Tunis, his Arab ministers and his Arab officials, the French only exercising an indirect-though. a very, real-control over the indigenous population (Mahommedans and Jews) . ”