Three Travellers in North Africa. By the Hon. Emily Ward.
(Lane. Os. net.)—Miss Ward's little book on a motor-tour in Algeria and Tunis in 1919-20, with many photographs by Lord Leigh, is somewhat tantalizing in its brevity. The tour included a visit to the Mozabite region of Ghardaia, due south of Algiers, a visit to Touggourt beyond Biskra, and a trip to Southern Tunisia and the isle of Djerba. Miss Ward was naturally im- pressed with the wonderful ruined cities, which attest the high degree of civilization attained in Roman Africa. Her short chapters on Timgad reminds us that Gaston Boissier's brilliant book on L'Afrique Romaine and other French studies of the subject are almost unknown in England. Yet in no other country are the remains of Roman skill and enterprise so well preserved as in Algiers and Tunis. The barbarians, and especially the Moslems, could destroy, but could not replace ; the flourishing province became a desert and the large inland towns, such as Lambessa and Tebeste, were left empty and desolate. Europe paid dearly for the loss of Roman Africa ; what had been a granary became a nest of pirates who made the Mediterranean coasts unsafe for centuries. France deserves our gratitude for undertaking anew the task that Rome relinquished and restoring North Africa to civilization.
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