mortal remains of these rulers of the desert are
interred in a mud-built mausoleum lying in the desert
at a distance of about a mile to the west of the
town.
The city was taken by the French in 1854, but
was retaken by the Arabs during the great insurrection
of 1871, when the garrison, consisting almost
entirely of native troops, was massacred, and the
city sacked by the victorious Arabs. After its reconquest
by the French a strong garrison was placed
in the fort, and the town was made the headquarters
of a military district.
The houses on the outside of the town originally
all joined up to each other to form a kind of fortified
wall, and this was at one time surrounded by a
stagnant moat. Many of these houses have now
been pulled down, and in order to make the town
more healthy the moat has been filled up with sand;
but bits of the old wall still remain to show that in
its day Tougourt must have been a very strongly
fortified place for a desert town.
One of our first inquiries on reaching Tougourt
was naturally for the objects of our journey. The
Tawareks, we were told, had not been seen for some
time in the neighbourhood. This was rather a
disappointment, for we had been led to believe at
Biskra that we should possibly find some in Dr near
the town. One, we were told, had appeared in the
market about a month before; but, after staying for
a day or two in the oasis, he had suddenly disappeared,
and no one knew where he had gone. We
were recommended, if we wished to find some
A STRE E T IN OLD TOUGOURT.