Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S 53
It is not my intention to enter into the unfortunate disputes between
Peto and Co. and the Portuguese Government--disputes which terminated in
the abandonment of what would have been for Portugal a great national
work. Doubtless, as in all these cases, there were faults on both sides;
and I believe that one of the main causes of the failure, on behalf of
Messrs. Peto and Betts, to carry out the works, was that their resources
were swallowed up by a great variety of speculations, some of which, as
we have seen, did not in the long run turn out very profitable, and they
were really unable to undertake them. I will proceed to relate briefly
the only other occasion on which I was connected with that firm.
But first I may mention that I completed my work on ‘British and Foreign
Harbours’ (which had occupied what little leisure I could command during
some years) in 1854, having previously, in 1847, published a monograph on
Plymouth Breakwater. I may also add, that conjunction with the late Mr.
John Plews, I constructed a considerable extension of the Cardiff Docks
for the trustees of the Marquis of Bute; as it is fully described in the
above work, I need not here further refer to it.
In the early part of 1859 I was asked to proceed to Tunis, in company
with one of Messrs. Peto and Betts’ agents, to examine into the
feasibility of constructing a railway from the Goletta to the city. I
accordingly started in March, and having embarked on board a French
steam-packet, reached Tunis after a four or five days’ passage, including
a stoppage, for some unexplained reason, of two days at Philippeville.
The view of the Bay of Tunis cannot be compared in picturesque effect
with that of Bona, which we had just left; still there is something
wild and striking about it. On the east the bay is bounded by a lofty
ridge of bare irregular hills, with a narrow strip of level marshy land
bordering the bay. On the west it is bounded by the celebrated peninsula
of Carthage. In front, to the south, there is the Goletta, or channel to
the Lagoon, surrounded by the custom house and a small town, and beyond
is the Lagoon, extending about six miles, at the farther end of which
is the city of Tunis, seated upon a gentle eminence, bristling with
minarets, and a lofty chain of hills in the background, the whole having
a wild, uncultivated appearance, so that at first sight you were puzzled
to conceive whence supplies could be obtained for feeding the metropolis
of the kingdom. We got clear of the Turkish customs after a good deal of
delay, not from any fastidiousness of the officials, for they were easy
and good-natured enough to let anything pass, but from the confused and
blundering manner in which all business is transacted. Everything was
then bundled into a large boat, which was also laden with merchandise
of all kinds, as much as it would hold. We then entered, along with a
Colonel West, who had come out upon a shooting excursion, and set sail
for the capital across the Lagoon, which was about six miles long and
four or five miles wide. The channel was nearly in the centre, and had
five or six feet of water. We passed numerous flocks of wild geese,
ducks, cranes, and flamingoes, disporting themselves in the water. We
reached the landing quay of Tunis, outside the walls, about two or three
in the afternoon, and immediately proceeded to the only hotel in the
place, kept by a Frenchman, and, upon the whole, it was very clean and
comfortable; but before we could get to it we had to wade through a sea
of filthy mud in a narrow lane that was scarcely 12 feet wide, bounded
by the city wall on the one side, and a row of miserable buildings on
the other, showing little more than bare walls, the windows looking into
small courts on the inside, which were approached by solid well-barred
gateways. It was nearly dark before we got installed in our new domicile,
and then we dined at not a bad table d’hôte in the French fashion, passed
the evening agreeably, and went to bed early, rather tired after the kind
of knocking about we had had during the day. Fortunately the weather was
fine after the great quantity of rain which had lately fallen. The next
day was fine also, and after an early breakfast we got a carriage with
a couple of horses, and drove along the west side of the Lagoon to the
Goletta in order to select the line for the railway; nothing could be
more favourable, the country being--to use a homely phrase--as flat as a
pancake, and therefore required no particular exercise of the engineer’s
art.
Having so far completed our investigation we adjourned to the examination
of the ruins of Carthage, of which scarcely anything remains, except
the cisterns for supplying the city with water, which are of massive
masonry, the walls being lined on the inside with a thick coat of stucco,
which was glazed, and presented an excellent, smooth surface. These
cisterns were covered with arches, so that the water was preserved from
the action of the sun, and was thus always kept cool and in the best
state for use. The water was brought, by means of an aqueduct, from a
fine and plentiful spring close by the mountain of Kegouan, about 40
miles distant, and was carried with the requisite inclination by means
of tunnels pierced through the hills, and extensive lines of arched
aqueducts across the intervening valleys, some of these aqueducts being
above 60 feet high, and the total length of the tunnels several miles;
in fact, the whole aqueduct was a series of tunnels and bridges about
40 miles long, and is certainly a most extraordinary work, not to be
surpassed by anything of the kind in existence at the present day. The
conduit for the water was about 2 feet 6 inches wide and 3 feet deep.
In this single example we have nearly all the improvements of modern
times, namely, excellent water, an ample supply, and covered storing
reservoirs. The water required no filtering, but it has not been
ascertained whether it was distributed to each house; probably not; most
likely it was delivered to the fountains, where the natives sent for it.
As baths are known to have existed at Carthage, it is probable that the
water was supplied direct to them as well as to the houses of the more
wealthy citizens and to the palaces. Iron pipes were not then known, and
consequently they were obliged to carry the water on aqueducts, otherwise
they had no mean of resisting the hydraulic pressure.
Besides these cisterns, one cannot make out distinctly any other
remarkable buildings; but there are plenty of remains of foundations of
walls, some of them of masonry and some of them of brickwork, showing
great solidity; there are also great quantities of pottery and fragments
of marble sculpture lying about. As to the celebrated arsenals and docks,
it is still more difficult to point out satisfactorily their extent,
form, and position; but from the accounts we find in ancient writers,
and from the well-known recorded fact that the Carthaginians were a
great commercial as well as warlike nation, it is evident that they must
have possessed the means of building, sheltering, and repairing both
classes of vessels, those for commerce and those for war. These docks
and arsenals must have been on the sea-shore; the peninsula is composed
of comparatively high land, and they could not have built them anywhere
else, for the low lands which border the peninsula on the south side were
not, so far as we can learn, included within the walls of the city, and
it was not likely that they would have left such important establishments
as these, upon which in a great measure their power depended,
unprotected. I repeat, therefore, and I believe it is confirmed by most
authorities, ancient as well as modern, that these docks and arsenals
were on the sea-shore; and as they would not have built them on the
northern side of the peninsula, which is so much exposed to the strong
northerly gales, they must have placed them on the eastern shore, which
is tolerably well protected by the opposite sides of the bay. Indeed, I
walked round the northern shores of the peninsula and carefully examined
them, and could find no traces of any works having been executed there;
but upon the eastern shore I could discover traces of considerable works.
The ships of those days were comparatively small and drew but little
water, and by running out moles or breakwaters of loose stone into the
sea, a sufficient space might have been enclosed to answer the required
purposes. We know that the ancestors of the Carthaginians did this to
a great extent at Tyre, and we can have no reason to doubt that they
adopted the same system at Carthage. This is a question still open to
discussion; but I think, after what has been stated, that the arguments
are in favour of the eastern shore; and until more decisive remains have
been found elsewhere, I must adhere to my conclusion, for we must not
forget that this is the weather shore, where all such works should be
carried out, so as to afford the greatest facility for egress and ingress.
As the Bey was not then in Tunis, I determined to make use of the
interval by going to see the remains of the ancient city of Utica, about
twenty miles distant, west-north-west. My two companions were not very
well, and therefore thought that they had better remain at Tunis, in case
anything connected with our business should occur; so I determined to
go alone, as I was told that I should meet with no difficulty, for the
country was perfectly safe. I accordingly hired a carriage with three
excellent horses, and engaged a clever Frank servant, an Italian, half
Jew, half Mohammedan, who had lived many years in Tunis, and besides
English, French, and Italian, spoke the Arabic very well also. He was a
clean fellow, and was well recommended by our vice-consul. Being told
that I should find nothing on the way, I took a good provision basket
and plenty of cloaks. We started soon after noon over a wretched road,
or rather open track made by the peasants’ carts, and as the weather had
been very wet the wheels of the carriage were frequently half-way up to
the axles in mud. The country through which we passed was wild and lonely
in the extreme, not a creature to be seen. After having driven about
eight or ten miles we came to a kind of village, or cluster of about
half-a-dozen mud huts whitewashed, where there was a sort of café of the
roughest kind, and close by it there was a sort of château belonging
to some aga or district chief, surrounded by trees and a rude wall,
the whole having a most solitary and gloomy appearance. There we halted
about half an hour to refresh the horses, which were tired enough, and at
length we reached the caravanserai, a solitary building two stories high,
surrounded by a high mud wall.
It would be difficult to conceive a wilder or more desolate spot. In
front was an extensive marsh, half covered with water, through which the
river pursued its devious course, the banks being covered with rushes; at
the back lay the dreary country through which we had passed; to the right
the marshy plain extended to the sea, some 10 miles distant, and to the
left it stretched as far as the eye could reach, bounded by blue hills of
considerable elevation. There was not a soul in the house but the kanghè
or master, and another man and a boy. He welcomed me, however, very
civilly, and showed me to the upper floor by an outside staircase; here I
found two rooms with bare walls, brick floor, a trestle for a mattress, a
wooden table, and a couple of rude chairs; to my great delight there was
a chimney-place, in which I soon lighted a wood fire. The kanghè brought
up a couple of tolerably clean mattresses, two oil lamps, and some bread,
and water, which was all he had. This, however, was of no consequence, as
I had come provided, and after a good supper, in spite of the loneliness
of the place I slept soundly. As there, was no road any farther, it was
necessary to provide horses to go to Utica the next day, which the kanghè
said he would do. At daybreak we mounted, and were just about starting
when we were joined by an aga, a fine handsome fellow, exceedingly well
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