there was an Egyptian settlement here as early as 1500 B.C. Cherchel makes a good midday stopping-place for west-bound travelers, who may have their _déjeuner_ on the terrace of the small local hotel, but let me warn you in advance that the banal modern town contains no architectural reminders of the great days when it was the seat of the court of Cleopatra’s daughter. It is a matter of only about three hours by motor from Cherchel to Tenes, a charming little seaside community on the site of the Roman colony of Cartenna. Here the ubiquitous Compagnie Générale Transatlantique has built the most enchanting traveler’s rest that I have ever seen in any country. On the thickly wooded slopes which rise abruptly from the crescent bay, the company has erected a score or more of white-walled, red-roofed, deep-verandaed kiosks, most of them containing two rooms and a bath and charmingly decorated, inside and out, with vivid tiles and gaily tinted Arab plaster-work, so that they gleam like jewels amid the foliage. The rooms are as comfortably furnished as those of the finest American summer hotels, and meals are served in a central bungalow. There is sea-bathing on the sandy beach, a few yards away, and delightful excursions may be made into the wooded hills behind the town, or to some ruined Roman tombs in the neighborhood, but I preferred to lie at ease in a chaise longue beneath the whispering pines, idly watching the blue sea at my feet and the hibiscus-colored sails of the fishing-craft which dotted it. We remained at Tenes only over the week-end, but I could have spent a fortnight there most contentedly. As it is a long day’s run from Tenes to Oran, with nothing of particular interest to be seen en route, let me suggest that I beguile the tedium of the journey by telling you something of this Algerian land across which we have been motoring for so many days.