Infrastructure and Geography

Infrastructure and Geography

Cook’s Practical Guide to Algeria and Tunisia presents the region as organized, civilized, and well fit for the European traveler. Railroads and steamships are all described with highly detailed timetables. These show a swiss watch of a system delivering everything a modern tourist could conceivably need on a strict, regular schedule. The North Africa presented by Cook and Son, if it indeed existed, must have been a strange mix of all the refinements, luxuries, and conveniences of Europe paired with the so-called mystique of the orient. Allusions to the reality on the ground are only briefly made: visitors are advised to avoid public stagecoaches, as they “often leave much to be desired on the score of comfort and sometimes of cleanliness,” (Cook 33) and are advised to book their trips to Algiers with Cook and Son in order to avoid “much trouble.” (Cook 30) At parts of the year, the Cheliff River “interferes with road transit” (Cook 1) between Algiers and Oran. It seems as though Algeria and Tunisia were not the universally well-developed tourist hotspots Cook would have the reader believe. All this suggests that Algeria and Tunisia were perhaps best suited for those not concerned with expense; if unable to afford one’s own stagecoach, afford a good hotel or a guide to show them around the souk, a tourist might be liable to have a highly unpleasant experience.

In the sections on Algerian and especially Tunisian Geography, pride of place is given to the locations, features, and healing qualities of various hot springs. This is perhaps to be expected, as one of the main draws for tourists was the supposed healing qualities of the region, due to its favorable climate and supposedly healing waters. But, even when discussing such seemingly mundane topics as geography, the language of imperialism creeps in. Of the ruins of Carthage, Cook subtly makes digs at the state of pre-colonial Tunisia, accusing the government of the time of taking “no steps…to put a stop to vandalism” (Cook 319) of the site. This is contrasted with the “tranquility and prosperity everywhere” (Cook 29) brought by the French. The landscape of Algeria, meanwhile, is curiously discussed at length with regards to its utility to and potential for European economic development, seemingly quite out of place in a travel guidebook. Cook tells readers about the fascinating mineral wealth of the countryside, but then immediately shifts gears to a mining company at Beni-Saf in Algeria, “said to pay large dividends to its shareholders,” (Cook 9) seemingly encouraging readers to invest in it. Meanwhile, of the agriculture in Algeria, “notwithstanding the advantages of soil and climate, … is disappointing…. In all [districts] there is much room for improvement.” (Cook 10) The bulk of these passages, ostensibly about the lay of the land and the general geography of the region, read more like a pitch to investors than advice to tourists.

Algeria and Tunisia as depicted sound at face value almost as contrived of an attraction as Disneyland – a fundamentally non-adventurous place, with all the touristic refinements and economic advancement expected in Europe, with only a dash of thematically exotic flavor. Additionally, it seems to be a region at the time fit only for the very wealthy. Despite being pitched as “the mysterious, dreamy East…all within three days’ journey from Charing Cross,” (Cook 55) North Africa was at the time certainly not meant for simply anyone who could afford the steamship ticket. This, coupled with hints of a seamy underbelly unfit for Europeans does much to disturb the idyllic vision of Algeria that Cook and Son aim to depict.

Thomas Cook Ltd. "Cook's Practical Guide to Algeria and Tunisia. With Maps, Plans, and Illustrations." 1908.

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