458 THE HU?rTING GROUNDS 



tween El Arrouch and El Kantour will be something 

 enormous, ou account of the fearful cuttings, ex- 

 cavations, and tunnellings that will have to be made. 

 The winding of the road round the ravines and hills 

 makes the distance more than three times that by 

 which the crow flies, and even then some of the 

 heights are very steep, so that we had to get out 

 and walk, as the horses could not pull us up. 



The aspect of the country completely changes 

 after passing El Kantour. The hills are bleak and 

 rocky, and there is no wood to be seen. We passed 

 a few roadside inns and cabarets en route, but the 

 country appeared thinly populated until we arrived 

 within a few miles from Constantine, where we saw 

 a few ill-cultivated farms and gardens, in some of 

 which we noticed a few date-palms for the first 

 time. 



The ascent leading to the ancient capital of the 

 Numidian kings is very steep, and it was dark be- 

 fore we passed through the Port de la Breche and 

 pulled up at the Bureau des Diligences, where we 

 were evidently expected, for we were immediately 

 surrounded by touters and agents from all the dif- 

 ferent hotels, who annoyed us so much by pulling 

 about our luggage, poking cards in our faces, 

 quarrelling, fighting, and abusing each other, that 

 we were obliged, in self-defence, to keep them at 

 a distance with the drivers' whips. 



We put up at the Hotel des Colonies, a new build- 

 in or on " La Place," where we found tolerably clean 



