Identifier: cu31924011808585 (find matches)
Title: A trip through Italy, Sicily, Tunisia, Algeria and southern France
Year: 1918 (1910s)
Authors: Vanderbilt, William K., 1849-1920
Subjects: Automobile travel
Publisher: New York, Priv. print.
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ilometers from Batna, we passed some fine oldRoman ruins, which are plainly visible from thecar; but as we were pressed for time, we did notdescend to inspect them. Some remarkable workin excavating is being done here by French con-victs, who are lodged in a prison close to the road.Our route hitherto had been fairly straight, butwe now encountered a series of curves, and somefine views are obtained as the car swings round thebends of the road. At the same time one is con-stantly being impressed by the universal dreari-ness of the surroundings. Why the Romansshould ever have chosen this outlandish place inwhich to build a town is a mystery to me. Thereis not a tree in sight, the soil is not fit to till, thereis no water, and the town lying some 200 kilo-meters inland from the sea the place must havebeen very difficult of access. Nevertheless, theold town, which, in Roman days was powerfullygarrisoned, contained a number of magnificentbuildings, and the ruins which remain to this (100)
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o CONSTANTINE TO EL KANTARA day are some of the finest in the world, those offamed Pompeii, in my opinion, fading into insig-nificance by comparison. We reached Timgad about three in the after-noon and drew up before the Hotel de Timgad,which is owned by the proprietor of the Hoteldes Etrangers, at Batna. Between these twohotels a motor omnibus service is maintained,which affords the tourist a capital opportunity tovisit the ruins. The run is accomplished by thiscar in an hour, and judging from the size of themachine and the road on which it runs, I shouldsimply hate to be one of the occupants while itsmechanic is pushing it through on schedule time. Timgad, as Lambese, is being excavated byconvicts. I was fortunate in procuring some goodpictures of the vicinity, notwithstanding the factthat a drizzling rain was falling at the time. Theweather necessitated an exceptionally long ex-posure of the films. The town of Timgad is of great interest. Itwas founded by Trajan, about 100 a. d., a

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