Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/375

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BU-SADA
801

This was evidently a mausoleum of the Numidian kings, older than that erected by Juba near Tol Cæsarea. In the district are several other conic tombs, but of smaller dimensions, Westwards in the direction of Sclif follow several other Roman towns, such as Diana Veteranorum, the present Zana and Zarai (Zraïa), where was found a curious custom-house tariff attesting the former importance of the trade between Mauritania and Sudan.

Fig. 130. — A Nail Arab Woman.

The present capital of the extensive Hodna basin is Bu-Sâda, the "Happy Abode," a picturesque place perched on the brow of a hill in the midst of gardens and palm-groves. Since the French occupation in 1849 its trade has been considerably developed, and its commercial relations now extend northwards to the coast towns, southwards to the oases of the Sahara. South of this place the powerful confederation of the Nail Arabs occupies a vast territory, stretching westwards to the Jebel Amur, eastwards to the Zibân district. These Arabs,