SFAX, a city of Tunis, second in importance only to the capital, is situated 116 miles south of Mahadia, on the coast of the Gulf of Gabes (Syrtis Minor) opposite the Kerkenah Islands. It consists of three distinct portions: —the new European quarter to the south, with roads, piers, and other improvements carried out by the municipality; the Arab town in the middle with its tower-flanked walls entered by only two gates; and to the north the French camp. Round the town for 5 or 6 miles to the north and west stretch orchards and gardens and country houses, where most of the Sfax families have their summer quarters. Dates, almonds, grapes, figs, peaches, apricots, olives, and in rainy years melons and cucumbers, grow there in great abundance without irrigation. Two enormous cisterns maintained by public charitable trusts supply the town with water in dry seasons. Sfax was formerly the terminus of a caravan route to Central Africa, but its inland trade now extends only to Gafsa. The export trade (esparto grass, oil, almonds, pistachio nuts, sponges, wool, &c.) has attained considerable dimensions. Fifty-one English vessels (34,757 tons) visited the port in 1884. The anchorage is 2 miles from the shore, and there is a rise and fall of 5 feet at spring tides (a rare phenomenon in the Mediterranean). In 1881 the population was said to be about 15,000 (including 1200 Arabs, 1500 Tunisian Jews, 1000 Maltese, &c., 500 Europeans); in 1886 it is stated at 32,000 (1200 Maltese, 1000 Europeans)....